Religion That Is Only “A Form of Godly Devotion”

Listening to the Universe

Don’t Let Them Steal Your Car!

A Mile and a Half to Springtime

MARCH 22, 1968

THE REASON FOR THIS MAGAZINE

News sources that ore able to keep you awake to the vita! issues of our times must be unfettered by censorship and selfish interests. "Awake!” has no fetters. It recognizes facts, faces facts, is free to publish facts. It is not bound by political ties; It is unhampered by traditional creeds. This magazine keeps itself free, that if may speak freely to you. But it does not abuse its freedom. It maintains integrity to truth.

The viewpoint of '‘Awake!” is not narrow, but is international. "Awake!’' has its own correspondents in scores of nations. Its articles are read in many lands, in many languages, by millions of persons.

In every issue "Awake!” presents vital topics on which you should be informed. It features penetrating articles on social conditions and offers sound counsel for meeting the problems of everyday life. Current news from every continent passes in quick review. Attention is focused on activities in the fields of government and commerce about which you should know. Straightforward discussions of religious issues alert you to matters of vital concern. Customs and people in many lands, the marvels of creation, practical sciences and points of human interest are all embraced in its coverage. "Awake!” provides wholesome, instructive reading for every member of the family.

"Awake!” pledges itself to righteous principles, to exposing hidden foes and subtle dangers, to championing freedom for all, to comforting mourners and strengthening those disheartened by the failures of a delinquent world, reflecting sure hope for the establishment of God’s righteous new order in this generation.

Get acquainted with "Awake!" Keep awake by reading "Awake!”

Published Simultaneously in the United States by the WATCHTOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY OF NEW YORK, INC. 117 Adams Street                       Brooklyn, N.Y. 11201, U.S.A,

and in England

WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY

Watch Tower House. The Ridgeway London N.W. 7, England N. H. Knorr, President              , Grant sums, Secretary

The Bikie translation regilany uud In “Awake!" Is the New World Translation of the Holy Serlpturoe, 1961 edition. When other tramlatloae aro ,s,d. tklt I, olaarly narked.

CONTENTS

The Christian Message Changes People! 3 Religion That Is Only "A Form

of Godly Devotion"

Listening to the Universe

Don’t Let Them Steal Your Car!

The Precious Cereal Grains

A Mlle and a Half to Springtime 17 A Family Makes a Move

The Terraced Gardens of the Ifugaos

Exploring the Tidelands of

the North Sea

"Your Word Is Truth”

..Did Jesus Speak

Aramaic or Hebrew?

"H it already the hour for you to awake."

--*Mnan> 13d 1

> (higeslteple!

THE Bible gives us many examples of the power of the Christian message to bring about changes in the lives of people. And no wonder, for what a message it was that Jesus Christ and his early followers brought to the people! A message charged with God’s holy spirit and which they backed up by a consistent course of action.

For one thing, the message that Jesus preached contained good news concerning God’s kingdom as having drawn near. It assured his listeners that they had a Father in the heavens who cared for them more than earthly parents cared for their children. It offered them freedom and set high principles before them, appealing to the very, best in them. It showed that not only wicked deeds but also wrong thinking was to be avoided and that goodness is positive; “Just as you want men to do to you, do the same way to them.”—Luke 6:31; Matt. 4:17; 5:28; 7:11; 15:18-20.

No wonder that Jesus* message struck such a responsive chord in the hearts of many of his listeners and effected such changes in their lives. For example, there was Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector. What a change took place in him after Jesus had the opportunity to visit him in his home and give him the Christian message! As Luke the physician relates it, Zacchaeus said to Jesus: “Look! the half bt my belongings, Lord, I am giving to the poor, and whatever I extorted from anyone by false accusation I am restoring fourfold.” —Luke 19:1-10.

As preached by Jesus’ early followers, the Christian message had the same powerful effect. Thus we read that in the magic-saturated city of Ephesus, as a result of the preaching and teaching of_f the apostle Paul and his companions, “many of those who had become believers would come and confess and report their practices openly. Indeed, quite a number of those who practiced magical arts brought their books together and burned them up before everybody. And they calculated together the prices of them and found them worth fifty thousand pieces of silver. Thus in a mighty Way the word of Jehovah kept growing and prevailing.” Yes, that Word changed those Ephesians. No longer did they have anything to do with pagan practices and beliefs,—Acts 19:18-20.

This Christian message had a similar effect upon those who accepted it in the grossly immoral city of Corinth, where the apostle Paul also preached. So much so that later ne could write to them: "Do not be misled. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men kept for unnatural purposes, nor men who lie with men, . . . will inherit God’s kingdom. And yet that is what some of you were.” No longer were they such immoral persons! For the apostle Paul goes on to say: “But you have been washed clean, but you have been sanctified, but you have been declared righteous.” What brought about the change? The Christian message charged with God’s holy spirit or active force.—1 Cor. 6:9-11.

It may seem to many persons that such radical changes in people are somewhat in the nature of a miracle. Indeed, as once noted by physiology professor J. R. Brobeck, of the University of Pennsylvania, the application of God’s active’ force brought about a miraculous change that could not have been accomplished by any biological or psychological force. Although the reality of God’s active force is not recognized by most modern scientists, every true Christian can indeed testify to its wholesome effect upon his life.

True, judging by some reports, one might conclude that with the passing of such miracles as the gifts of healing and tongues, the power of the Christian message to make changes in the lives of people also disappeared. Thus The National Geographic Magazine, October 1967, featured an interesting report on “Madagascar: Island at the End of the Earth.” Among other things, it quoted a native as saying: “The missionaries did their work well here . . . Protestants . . . Catholics. . .. But let me tell you something, monsieur, we Malagasy are merely vaccinated with Christianity. There is not one Malagasy, no, not one, not even among the [Europeanized] people, who would think of building a house without consulting a soothsayer as to the auspicious day to start. The old beliefs are not dead. We Malagasy believe in a single deity; we call him . . . the Perfumed Lord, or Zanakary, but we also believe our ancestors will intercede with God for us if we make sacrifices and pray to them.”

“Merely vaccinated with Christianity”! That is an expression that may well describe not only these Malagasy but also many others. Yet, it may well be that the one who said those words never came in toucn with the witnesses of Jehovah, since there are only some 200 Witnesses among the six million Malagasy on the island. Certain it is that he knows nothing of their teachings and practices, for no Malagasy can become a baptized Christian among Jehovah’s witnesses unless he makes a radical change in his beliefs and life, as did Zacchaeus and the Christians at Ephesus and Corinth.

Jesus said regarding his message: “The sayings that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” (John 6:63) They have not lost their power over the years. Thus a Malagasy woman wrote the Witnesses’ branch office at Tananarive, the capital of Malagasy: “Due to the perseverance of the Witnesses I started to change my worldly ways. I am now a publisher [active Witness] and my elevenyear-old daughter also. My change in conduct caused my aged Roman. Catholic mother not only to stop her bitter opposition but also to embrace my new religion, the worship of Jehovah God.”

No question about it! The Christian message changes people. Each one professing to be a Christian should therefore ask himself, Has the Christian message made a change in me? Am I truly a Christian or merely a 'vaccinated Christian’? If you desire help, the same ones that help the Malagasy to make a change in their lives stand ready to aid you no matter where, you may live.

RELIGION

THAT IS ONLY

"A FORM OF GODLY

DEVOTION

LOOK where we will, we see reports testifying to the fact that there is something wrong with Christendom’s religions, “Methodists Record Decline," New York Times, January 9, 1968; “Anglicans Report Drop in Church Membership," Ottawa, Canada, Citizen, August 23, 1967; “Catholic Crisis, Shortage of Priests Is Growing,” Oakland, California, Tribune, September 10, 1967; “Church Has Failed to Meet World Needs, Moderator Says,” St. Louis, Missouri, Post-Dispatch, November 16, 1967.

In a like vein are the remarks of Dr. Ernest E. Long, “probably the most influential man in Canada’s largest Protestant denomination,” as found in the Toronto, Canada, Daily Star, November 18, 1967: “He cites in the United Church’s Observer, signs that the church is entering a crisis: crumbling influence, loss of membership, financial decline, widespread frustration among the clergy and a growing shortage of new ministers.”

Findley B. Edge, professor of religious education at the Southern Seminary, similarly testified that something is wrong with Christendom’s religions: “Thechurch mouths its pious phrases .. . but it lulls its people to sleep." He further said people were leaving the churches “because they Are looking at the lives of the church as we are living it and they are seeing how phony it is.”—The Christian Index, December 14, 1967.

of godly devotion.” The St- Petersburg, Florida, Times, December 9, 1967, told of the psychedelic happenings at a meeting of Methodist educators in Dallas, Texas. Featured were discordant sounds, a sweep of colored lights and dancers in modern costume against a backdrop of an old movie. It was described as containing “most unchurchly elements,” and caused some to exclaim' “It made me mad”; “It gave me a headache.”

But this was mild compared to the psychedelic program that opened the United States Council of Church and Society, under the auspices of the National Council of Churches last October. That program included “a film depicting in sequence, a profile of a couple engaged in sexual intercourse, a stripper removing her clothes and the gyrations of a topless dancer,” that is, a female dancer stripped to her waist. (U.S. News <£ World Report, November 27, 1967) The Christian Century, a Protestant weekly, described the program as “a somewhat sadistic, psychedelic combination of cacophany [discordant sounds], bizarre colors and garish lights.”

Further testifying to Christendom’s religion as being only “a form of godly devotion” is the Methodist publication World Outlook, for January 1968. It confessed: “Our two chief sins are a legalism that substitutes letter for spirit . . , and a misunderstanding of the nature of the church which leads us to think that it should be modeled after a business corporation rather than a family or a community of love.” This being so, it is easy to understand why those editors also spoke of "a general mood of frustration which pervades the churches in the country but seems particularly acute within Methodism.”

Religion that ‘substitutes the letter for the spirit,’ that is “a form of godly devotion” while proving false to its power, might be likened to whole eggshells that have designs pierced or painted upon them. Artists punch a tiny hole in each end of the egg and suck or blow out its contents. Then with great care and skill they pierce or paint designs, exquisitely beautiful, upon these shells. Obviously such eggshells are not only very fragile but also worthless as far as providing nourishment for a hungry person. And so it is with Christendom’s religions that are a mere form of godly devotion- They may be highly ornamental, but in the pressures and temptations of modern civilization they prove to be extremely fragile and furnish no religious nourishment to those who are truly “conscious of their spiritual need.” (Matt. 5:3) Or, to use another illustration, they might be likened to a piece of termite-ridden timber that has been given a coat of metallic paint, making it look like steel. It is worthless as far as supporting any weight is concerned.

In view of all the foregoing, is it any wonder why a poll taken early in 1967 revealed that 57 percent of those interviewed felt that religion in the United States was losing its hold on the people— four times as many as those who felt that way ten years before?

What Accounts for It?

What accounts for this sorry state of affairs? The Word of God, the Bible, gives us the answer. A like situation existed intermittently in the nation of Israel from the time of Isaiah and even before, to Jerusalem’s destruction in 70 C.E. (Isa. 1: 13-15) And what caused this condition back there? Jehovah’s prophet Isaiah answers: “For the reason that this people have come near with their mouth, and they have glorified me merely with their lips, and they have removed their heart itself far away from me, and their fear toward me becomes men's commandment that is being taught, therefore . . . the wisdom of their wise men must perish, and the very understanding of their discreet men will conceal itself.’* (Isa. 29: 13, 14) And the prophet Jeremiah gives us another reason why the wisdom of those wise men back there perished: “The wise ones have become ashamed. They have become terrified and will be caught. Look! They have rejected the very word of Jehovah, and what wisdom do they have?”—Jer. 8:9.

Not that the religious leaders were the only ones to blame. The same prophet testified: “An astonishing situation, even a horrible thing, has been brought to be in the land! The prophets themselves actually prophesy in falsehood; and as for the priests, they go subduing according to their powers. And my own people have loved it that way.” Yes, ‘like prophet, like people.’—Jer. 5:30, 31.

Today we see the same situation in Christendom. As Baptist clergyman Dr. Criswell admitted, the decline of Christendom is due to the “loss of conviction on the part of the preachers that the Bible is the word of God.” And why is it that the clergy no longer have this conviction? Because of what they are taught at the theological seminaries. Thus the St. Petersburg Times, December 9, 1967, under the heading “Religious Convictions Challenged,” reported on the revolution that is going on in these seminaries. It told of one student shortly to be awarded the degree of bachelor of divinity by the Union Theological Seminary, as evidence of having completed a three-year postgraduate study of Christian theology. He said: “There’s nothing I can absolutely affirm.” In other words, he is not convinced that God exists, not to say anything about believing that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. Is this the kind of minister you would like to guide your life?

True Godly Devotion

A form of godly devotion is not necessarily wrong in itself. Christians are commanded at Hebrews 10:24, 25 not to forsake the gathering of themselves for mutual upbuilding. Coming together at a Christian meeting place is a form of godly devotion, and so is the singing of religious songs and the joining in prayer, and so forth. All such is right and proper in itself, if it is based on the Bible and is not limited to merely such forms. True godly devotion manifests itself by work. As Jesus showed in his Sermon on the Mount, not only will the wise person, a true follower of his, meet with others to hear the words of God and Jesus, thus engaging in a form of worship, but he will act upon them. He will do the things Jesus commanded, thus building his spiritual ‘house’ on a veritable rock-mass. (Matt. 7:24-27) The disciple James, Jesus’ half brother, also urged: “Become doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves with false reasoning.” Those who think that all that God requires of them is a form of godly devotion—are they not deceiving themselves?—Jas. 1:22.

True godly devotion brings forth fruits, works. As Jesus said: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the cultivator. Every branch in me not bearing fruit he takes away, and every one bearing fruit he cleans, that it may bear more fruit. My Father is glorified in this, that you keep bearing much fruit and prove yourselves my, disciples.” To what kind of fruit was Jesus referring? No doubt it included the “fruitage of the spirit,” namely, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, faith and selfcontrol, the bearing of which glorifies God. —John 15:1, 2, 8; Gal. 5:22, 23.

The early Christians brought forth such fruit. As the apostle Paul shows at 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, although some of the Christians at Corinth had been fornicators, idolaters, drunkards, adulterers and what not, by means of the power of godly devotion they had been washed clean, had been sanctified and “declared righteous in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the spirit of our God.”

Jesus spoke of another kind of fruit that his followers would also bear as a result of godly devotion in his illustration of the sower. The seed that fell on good and fine soil produced “fruit with endurance.” What kind of .fruit is this? Since the “seed” of the parable, according to Jesus, is the word of God, such kind of fruit would be the* results from preaching the Word of God to others, sowing it in their hearts. That this is what all Jesus’ followers are to do he made clear in his parting instructions: “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, baptizing them . . . teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you.” And so we find that all the early Christians were preachers. Even when scattered by persecution, they “went through the land declaring the good news of the word.”—Luke 8:9-15; Matt. 28:19, 20; Acts 8:4.

Where Found Today?

Yes, persons who not only had godly devotion but also proved true to its power were the early Christians. But what about today? Is it possible to prove true to the power of godly devotion in spite of the pressures and temptations of modern times? Yes, it is, even as can be seen from the record of the Christian witnesses of Jehovah as testified to by their opponents. Thus Roman Catholic professor of sociology at the Loyola University, Gordon C. Zahn, in his recent book War, Conscience and Dissent (1967), writes: “Describing the execution of Jehovah’s Witnesses at Auschwitz (and significantly enough, comparing them to the. early Christian martyrs . .'. ) Rudolf Hess noted: ‘All who saw them die were deeply moved, arid even the execution squad itself was affected.’ ” Zahn then goes on to contrast the course of the Witnesses with that of others who professed to be Christians.

Testifying to the same effect is the New Catholic Encyclopedia (1967), which, in discussing Jehovah’s witnesses, among other things, states that they have the reputation of being “one of the best behaved groups in the world,” that “their conjugal and sexual morality is quite rigid,” (meaning that the Witnesses adhere closely to Bible principles), and speaks of “their indefatigable zeal.”—Vol. 7, page 864.

Then again, Louis W. Cassels, religion editor for the United Press International, Washington, D.C., gives similar testimony to the Witnesses’ producing the fruits of godly devotion in the form of Christian morality and zeal in preaching. Writing in The Lutheran, January 3, 1968, he says that their “phenomenal growth is the result of a zeal for evangelism which puts the mainline denominations to shame.” He further tells that “Witnesses adhere to their beliefs with great fidelity, even when doing so is very costly,” and that “there has never been a hint of moral scandal or financial corruption in the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society,” the publishing agency of the Witnesses.

Quite likely you received this copy of Awake! from one of these Witnesses. Would you not want to learn more about how you too can express godly devotion not only by form but also with power, to your present happiness and your eternal welfare? Any witness of Jehovah will be glad to assist you toward that end.

LlST|NlkG THE UNIVERSE

By "Awake!" correspondent in Australia

TJERHAPS you were one of the millions r of persons who saw the first globeencircling telecast, "Our World." Your delight and amazement at instantaneously seeing so much occur around the planet possibly left you feeling rather small and thoughtful. The program concluded with a trip to the radio telescope near Parkes, Australia, where you saw recorded the radio signals thought to come from the most distant object in space yet discovered by man with his scientific instruments. The director of that radio telescope said that the source of the radio signals was a quasar, catalogued aS object 0237-23. For many, this was their introduction to the young science of radio astronomy.

Radio astronomy is now only about thirty-five years old. Like many discoveries, radio astronomy grew out of other investigations. Karl G. Jansky, a young university graduate working for the Bell Telephone Laboratories in the United States, was stationed at an experimental station in New Jersey. His work was to account for noises, "atmospherics," in radio receivers. His equipment consisted of a large steerable aerial nicknamed his “merry-go-round." Above the general noise of the set a faint hiss became audible. At first it meant nothing to him.

fowever, after further studies Jansky commented: “I have collected data which shows the existence of electromagnetic waves in the earth’s atmosphere. These apparently came from a direction that is fixed in space.”

At the time, 1932, great publicity was given the discovery, but nothing was done to further the research by professional astronomers. However, with much experience gained during the second world war with radar, scientists, at the war’s conclusion, entered the field of radio astronomy with zest To what did they listen?

Of all the wavelengths in which electromagnetic waves come, there are two windows through which they reach the earth and can be examined: the optical window and the radio window. The great stars emit these electromagnetic waves as does our sun. So while we can see the stars by means of the electromagnetic waves forming light, those of greater wavelength transmit sound. The sounds are too faint for us to hear by ear; they need to be amplified. To do this a big ear, or more correctly, a radio telescope, has to be constructed.

9

Types of Telescopes

These devices for listening to the universe take several forms, but generally have four basic components: a reflector, an aerial, receiving and amplifying equipment and a recording mechanism. As a reflector, some have a movable dish like the instruments at Jodrell Bank, England, and Parkes, Australia. These are very large, having diameters of 250 and 210 feet respectively. Their maneuverability and accuracy in pinpointing celestial objects make them most desirable but very expensive. Others have a fixed reflecting dish. One of this kind has been built in Puerto Rico and is operated by the Cornell University. The reflecting dish has a diameter of 1,000 feet. It is a big concave, scooped out of the limestone ground, and it uses the rotation of the earth for direction.

The aerial and receiving apparatus are principally like your radio, to receive and amplify sound. For the very weak signals that come from outer space to be heard or registered, the equipment needs to be extremely sensitive and powerful. Most of it is experimental and is constantly being improved. The recorder may be a pencil recorder or a computer. The pencil recorder leaves a permanent record for further reference, having registered the variations in power of the electromagnetic waves being received. As a matter of fact, all one “sees” in a radio telescope is the pencil recorder working.

Visit to a Radio Telescope

Now that we know the basic outline of radio astronomy and its ears, let us visit a radio telescope. Here in Australia one is ideally situated in the Goobang Valley, eight miles north of Parkes. Designed by engineers in London and built by a West German firm, the precision instrument was commissioned for service in October 1961. The 300-ton reflecting dish is 210 feet in.diameter and is kept manageable by the 450-ton counter weights, permitting it to sweep in altitude or from¹ horizon to horizon. The dish and its hub are pivoted on an A-shaped turret by two axes fixed above balance point. The turret is mounted on wheels, two of the four sets being electrically operated. This allows the entire structure to rotate in a complete circle. When the radio waves hit the wire mesh of the dish they are reflected to the aerial. The aerial is held in position 90 feet above the dish at the focal point by a tripod, giving the instrument an overall height of 189 feet.

From the aerial the radio waves are relayed to the delicate receiving and amplifying equipment and on to the pencil recorder. This equipment is housed in the three-story concrete tower that supports the turret, huh and dish. On the top floor the control desk is situated. From here the controller directs the giant instrument through the program arranged by the radio astronomer. Any inaccuracy is quickly rectified by an ingenious device that automatically starts the drive mechanism of the telescope and corrects the error. With this radio telescope astronomers have been able to explore large portions of the heavens that have been hidden to astronomers In the northern hemisphere.

Contributions of Radio Astronomy

Because radio stars can be detected at greater distances, radio astronomy has probed deeper and deeper into space. Both the plotting of clouds of hydrogen in space and the discovery of quasars have contributed valuable knowledge to astronomers. The clouds of hydrogen appear as dark masses to optical telescopes, yet, because they emit radio waves, it is possible to detect them with the radio telescope. By carefully charting the intensity and extent of the radio waves from hydrogen in the Milky Way, a turning spiral shape became evident with arms tapering away from the center.

Quasars, as they are popularly known, have also had great impact on astronomical circles, Quasi-stellar objects, abbreviated to quasars, were named such because, while they looked like one star to the optical astronomer, the radio signals were of such an intensity as to account for many stars, in fact, galaxies of stars. In August 1962, radio signals were received from a source that became identified as object 3C 273. Radio astronomers calculated the position of the radio source and from there the calculations Were used by astronomers at Mount Palomar, California, to locate the source with optical telescopes.

A spectroscope was used to analyze the light This method breaks the light down into its various colors. Across the band of color appear dark lines. The- position and number of lines determine- the elements existing in the source of the light. For example, hydrogen, a light element in atomic weight, is usually at the blue end ofi the spectrum. The heavier elements, for example, calcium, chromium and iron, appear in order down at the red end of the spectrum. Should the source of light be moving away from the earth, the light waves seem lengthened and the dark lines move toward the red end of the spectrum, commonly known as the red shift or Doppler effect. When the spectrum of 3C 273 was examined, the hydrogen lines were found at the red end instead of the blue ena, as is normally the case. To the astronomers this indicated that the source of light was traveling away from the earth at upwards of 28,000 miles a second or 15 percent of the speed of light, fasttr than anything discovered at that time.

Since then over 200 quasars have been discovered through the perception afforded by means of the big eyes and ears constructed by man. The most recent and amazing is the quasar listed as 0237-23, which is said to be traveling away from the earth at 83 percent of the speed of light. If the calculations are right, it would mean that light from 0237-23 left its source 13,000 million years ago.

These .observations have caused the world’s theoretical astronomers to reconsider theif previously held theories about the earth’s origin and the origin of the universe. Astronomer Maarten Schmidt, who pioneered the optical side of quasar discovery, said: “If you get the impression of uncertainty about the state of knowledge of quasars, you are right. That is what the situation is.”—Time, April 7, 1967.

The search for knowledge with radio telescopes continues. Larger and more specialized instruments are either constructed or are under construction in the Netherlands, the Soviet Union, the United States, France and Australia. In fact, astronomers earth-wide have their ears to the sky, listening to the universe.

A YOUTH was stopped at a street crossing in Italy by a policeman. Hb immediately protested: "I was driving carefully. I broke no traffic laws. I have my driver’s license. What did I do wrong?’\

“Nothing,” the policeman replied, “except that’s my car you’re driving.” The youth was charged with auto theft.

In France, a passerby was asked: “Would you please help me push my car? I can’t start it.” When the passerby asked the man for identification to prove his ownership of the car, he had none. The passerby, a plainclothes policeman, immediately arrested the thief.

Unusual experiences? To be sure. An uncommon offense these days? Far from it! Car stealing has reached staggering proportions. It constitutes the biggest crime against property in the United States, and is the fastest-growing crime in the nation. For the first ten months of 1967, theft of automobiles and their contents accounted for $60,000,000 of the $163,315,629 worth of property reported stolen in New York city.

Think of that! An average loss of about $200,000 a day in one city alone from theft of automobiles and their contents! In 1966, cars in the United States were stolen at the rate of about one every 56 seconds, some 557,000 of them being taken. This is nearly a 60-pereent increase in thefts in just four years. Some officials estimate that, if the present trend con

tinues, a million cars annually will be stolen by 1970.

Youthful Thieves

Although it is difficult to estimate, probably close to 90 percent of the thefts are made by amateurs, usually teen-agers who take cars for “kicks” to show off, or to use for an evening. In some communities car stealing has become a sort of game among teen-agers.

In New York city a group of six youngsters were rounded up who actually staged a contest to see how many cars eadh of them could steal in a given length of time. And in San Francisco a fifteen-year-old was caught whom the police connected with at least forty thefts. “It’s easy,” he told them. “An awful lot of people are just plain dumb careless, leaving their cars unlocked—and with the keys in, too. Some even leave the engine running.”

Youths bent on stealing generally look around for those cars with the keys left in them. A Justice Department survey of stolen cars last summer showed that in three out of every five cases the keys had been left, in the ignition or the ignition was left unlocked. Other studies have indicated that car doors were left unlocked In three out of every four thefts. In view of this, wise persons will be careful to remove their keys from the ignition and lock the doors when they leave their car.

In some places the chief targets of youthful thieves are parking lots at shopping centers and industrial plants, dften a group of boys will drive into such a lot in one car, and drive out in five. As the fifteen-year-old San Francisco thief said: “It’s easy.” People who leave their keys in the ignition and their car doors unlocked make it that way.

However, even a locked car is no guarantee of safety. This is because, for just a few dollars, a youth can send away for sets of master keys that will open practically every car on the road. According to officials, these keys have become common tools of many youthful thieves. Only a few states, however, have outlawed their sale. No federal law does.

What Can Be Done

Therefore, one measure to stem the rising tide of auto thefts, urged by the National Auto Theft Bureau, is to curtail the indiscriminate circulation of mail-order master keys. That Bureau strongly recommends legislation on both the state and federal levels that would make-it more difficult for unauthorized persons to obtain these potential burglar tools.

Another deterrent to car stealing would be to impress upon both youths and parents the seriousness of the offense. It is not simply a boyish prank. Yet youths are frequently defended: “He’s really a nice boy, Judge. Just a little wild.’’

As a result, youthful car thieves frequently get off without any punishment. In fact, in one reported instance, a youth, arrested twelve times for car theft and released unpunished for the twelfth time, stole the probation officer’s car to go home! It seems apparent that treating lightly such a serious offense serves to encourage it.

And with more than 60 percent of all juvenile crimes in the United States being car thefts, any attitude or policy that might encourage this crime certainly should be avoided. One suggestion that has been made is to fine heavily the parents of underage youths who steal cars, or to have them see that restitution is made. This may move parents to take a firmer hand in disciplining their children, which obviously is needed.

Professional Thieves

Youths, however, are not the only offenders. The number of car thefts by professionals is also rising sharply, although they probably are only in the neighborhood of about 10 percent of all cars stolen.

The main target of professional thieves is late-model luxury cars. Often customers will tell them the exact car they want, even specifying the color and model, and they will.steal to order. Claims one experienced thief: “If a professional car thief wants a car, he’ll get it—that’s all there is to it. You can lock it up . . . and put a fence around it—it’s still an easy mark.”

However, even professional thieves look for cars that are the simplest to get. “The best mark,” one explained, “is a new car parked at the top of a hill or on a dark street.” Whether it is locked or not makes little difference, for getting inside generally is easy for a professional. And a simple wire in his hands is as effective as an ignition key. Said one: “I can start a car that way faster than most people can with keys.”

After. a car is stolen, new registration documents and license tags are usually provided, and. the car may be given a paint job or altered in some other way. Such stolen cars often are moved to distant places, or even shipped out of the country. Thus, cars stolen by professionals are rarely recovered.

Many professional thieves, however, do not want the whole automobile. They steal it for its parts—engine, transmission, bucket seats, tires, and so forth. In a short time professionals can strip a six- to eightthousand-dollar luxury car to a skeleton worth a few hundred dollars.

There is a ready market for new high-powered engines and other choice auto parts, especially among young car enthusiasts. Explained one professional: “You can get rid of anything at drag races. You can sell a four-speed Chevy transmission at a drag race quick for $150 or $125.” Ordinarily they cost nearly $300. Some thieves even take orders for auto parts, and then steal to fill them.

Although close to 90 percent of all stolen cars are said to be recovered by the police, often these are severely stripped or damaged. Even cars stolen for “kicks,” or- “transportation,” are frequently abandoned in high-crxme-rate neighborhoods, where, after a few days, people start stripping them right on city streets. In a single year just one insurance company paid out $1,500,000 to repair recovered cars.

What Auto Makers Can Do

Auto makers can also help to stem the rising tide of thefts by designing cars so that they are more difficult to steal. Some have already taken steps to do this.

For example, some new cars have squeeze-type door handles that cannot be operated with the use of a wire hood inserted from the outside. Also, there are 1968 cars that have a buzzer device that reminds one that the key has been left in the ignition. And the Swedish-make Volvo has a steel-encased ignition wire that hinders starting the car by jumping the ignition.

Some auto makers are planning additional safeguards. Recently it was reported that all 1969 General Motors Corporation cars will have ignition switches that will automatically lock the steering column and the transmission. This is a fine feature, for, being unable to put the car in gear or to stear it, a thief will not go far.

Another feature that would be welcomed by many motorists is a hood lock, perhaps one that could be locked with a key, so that it could be locked or left unlocked as desired. In this way those who might not want to use the key every time they wanted to open their hood would not have to. Such a lock would protect the battery and other parts that are frequently stolen from beneath the hood.

Simple Measures to Safeguard Your Car

You, too, can do something to safeguard your car. Here are a few simple measures which, if regularly taken, will greatly reduce the chances that your car will be stolen, especially if you live in a big city.

First, always remember to take your keys out of the car and to lock it Do this even when you park in front of your house or in the driveway. And when driving to the store, it is wise not to conclude that you will be inside only a moment and so nothing will happen to the car. Form the habit of always taking the keys out and locking your car, and, at the same time, making sure that all windows are rolled up tight. Remember: More than half of all stolen cars had the keys left in them, and three-quarters were left unlocked.

The benefit of this simple measure can be seen in the fact that, when “remove-your-keys and lock-your-car” campaigns have been instituted, a marked reduction in car thefts has been realized. In San Francisco, for example, when there was such a program, a 33-percent drop in thefts was experienced during one month, compared with the same month of the previous year.

Another vital measure is to park in lighted, well-traveled areas. Pick a spot near a street lamp or a lighted store window. As one professional thief explained: "There’s no sense in taking the risk of getting caught stealing locked cars on a lighted street when I know that within a block of that one, I can find another car I can steal under ideal conditions.”

If you must park overnight on the street, do not leave your car in one place for more than a day or so at a time. Such cars are often stolen or stripped. If you have a garage, it would be wise to put your car inside and to lock the garage, at least for the night.

Still another important measure is to put all valuables in the car out of sight. They can be an invitation for a thief to break in, who, as an afterthought, may steal the car too. Also, it is good never to leave your registration papers in the car (unless the law requires it), since professional thieves prize such proof of ownership. And in case your car is stolen, your Initials scratched on the underside of the trunk lid, or in some other obscure place, may help to prove ownership if the car is recovered.

When parking at a parking lot, it is often wise to pick one where the rear and sides are closed in. Generally cars are stolen from the back of lots while employees are busy in front. Also, lots where you can lock your car and take your keys are usually best

Of course, do not neglect the obvious, arid, at times, the surest protection—autotheft insurance.

Additional Safeguards

But there are additional measures, too, which you can take to safeguard your car. Some have had a burglar-alarm system installed. This can be set so that anyone who tries to open the hood or car doors will set off a loud siren, which is almost certain to attract attention and scare a thief away. There are simpler, less expensive measures, however, that have proved effective.

For example, a hood lock. You might want to put/one on yourself. Some have devised a metal rod that is attached to a brace on the hood and that runs down in the back bf the grill, where it , is fastened by an ordinary padlock, hidden out of sight.

Another very effective measure is to install a simple off-on switch. Hide it in some unlikely-to-be-found place—in a locked glove compartment, for example. This switch can be designed so that when it is flipped off it opens the electrical circuit directly at the coil or distributor. Thus, even if a thief gains entry to your car, it will be impossible for him to start the car from the inside as long as this off-on switch is flipped off. And with the hood securely locked, a thief will not be able to get under the hood to start the car from' there. The additional safeguards of a hood lock and an off-on switch have proved very effective in discouraging car thieves.

Living in this time of unparalleled lawlessness when car stealing is the biggest crime against property, it is only wise to take precautions. If you have a car, don’t let them steal it!

The Precious Cereal Grains

f frtRECIOUS” is indeed the word to describe 1 cereal grains. Thus authorities tell us that "no civilization worthy of the name has ever been founded on any agricultural basis other than the cereals,” and that "cereal agriculture, alone among the forms of food production, taxes, recompenses and stimulates labor and ingenuity in an equal degree.” Look where we will and when we will, we find the cereal grains to be the basic source of food for civilized peoples. Leading among these are wheat, rice, corn (maize), barley, oats, rye and millet. Additionally, many of the cereals, such as wheat, rice, com, rye and barley, are used in making various kinds of liquor.

WHEAT is the king of cereal grains, its production in recent years having surpassed rice. Annually some 9,000 million bushels are grown, or nearly three for every person on earth. It is one of the oldest cereals if not the oldest; according to archaeologists, it goes back 5,000 years and more. Fourteen basic kinds are grown; one of these, durum, is used for macaroni and spaghetti. Russia grows more than one-fourth of the world’s crop and still imports some; the United States comes second, with about half the crop of Russia. Wheat is mentioned in the Bible some fifty times from Genesis to Revelation.

RICE comes close after wheat. About 190 pounds of rice are grown annually for each of earth's inhabitants. Asiatic lands produce nine-tenths of the ricegrown, and still Sf one-half of the rice exported goes I to those countries. Rice was an \l ancient symbol of fertility among M the Chinese and from early times was used to pelt newlyweds to wish them । "good luck" and a large family.

CORN (MAIZE) is the largest of all the cereal grains and likely the most recent to be adopted by civilized man. It is the chief farm crop of the United States, which grows as much as the rest of the world put together; nine-tenths of. it is fed to farm stock. The four main varieties are flint, dent, sweet and popcorn. From corn man obtains many foodstuffs, such as corn syrup, cornstarch, com oil and

margarine, and from It and its cobs man also manufactures hundreds of commercial products, including plastics and ethyl alcohol.

BARLEY plants resemble wheat plants, and barley competes with wheat as man’s oldest cereal. It ranks fourth, after wheat, rice and

corn, and some 4,000 million bushels are harvested annually. Russia leads in production. The United States, which is a close second, uses its barley largely for animal feed. Malt' Is obtained from high-quality barley by first sprouting the grains and then drying them. Barley is mentioned in the Bible some thirty-five times.

OATS, of which some one hundred different varieties are grown, is perhaps the most nourishing of the cereal grains. It is unusually high not only |n calories, 1,850 to the pound, but also in protein and fats. Its world production Is the same as barley and is the best of all feeds for horses. Its plant is the most graceful of all the cereals and its straw excels all others for feed and fertilizer.

RYE is the hardiest of all the cereal grains. It can thrive on soil too poor to grow any other. Because it contains less gluten than wheat, its dough is very heavy, for which reason American bakers usually add wheat flour when making rye bread. Rye straw is used widely for commercial purposes and for thatching roofs, as it decays less rapidly than other straws.

MILLET, the pearly grains of which are the smallest of all the cereals, is grown world wide and used for food by about one-third of the world’s population, mostly Orientals. Farmers in India plant 40 million acres of it each year. There are many varieties of millet, and while Japan annually’grinds 35 million bushels of it into flour, millet grown in Western lands is used largely for hay crops.

■ As we note the great variety and value of the cereal grains we truly can agree with the ancient psalmist 'who wrote that Jehovah God Is to be blessed for making "food to go forth from the earth?’—Ps. 104:14.

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By"Awake!"cDrrespoiufeiit in Ecuador In Ecuador we ean do just that!

Why, the warmth of that thought may make you wiggle your toes in your slippers. But wait, let’s not leave too much to the imagination. Pull your chair a little closer to the fireplace and let’s travel together to springtime.

Of course, living as we do here in Guayaquil on Ecuador’s tropic coast, our change to springtime will not be as drastic as it might for you, but it will be just as refreshing.

How Shall We Go?

We will need transportation. We can go by car or bus, but may I suggest something di Her ent? The autoferro. What is the autoferro? Well, it is slower than a bus but decidedly more, interesting! Actually, the autoferro is a motorized, one-unit train.

To get to the railroad we first have to cross the Guayas River. Our arrival at the pier early in the morning starts a commotion between fifteen or twenty baggage handlers, each intent on helping. We have learned the convenience of traveling light and so we carry our own. ■ Shall we take seats on the upper deck?

Below us the routine of daily life unfolds. A man comes aboard with twenty-five brooms. Burden bearers shoulder crates of freshly caught fish, and a working mother breastfeeds her infant son while selling rolls and beverages to hungry clients. As departure time approaches, dozens of commuters rush on board, snatch the morning newspaper from one of the many news vendors and bury

themselves in a form of self-induced isolationism.

77ie First Leg of Our Journey

Exactly at 6 a.m. we throw off our guy lines and head out into the river. The skyline of Guayaquil presents a stubby silhouette. No needle skyscrapers thrust upward. Guayaquil, the so-called ‘Pearl of the Pacific’ sitting a mere nine feet above sea level, has to fight to keep her head above water. The city is actually built over marshy bog. Continued vigilance, the dumping of great amounts of fill, including the city’s refuse, is required to maintain the city’s claim on this land against the protests of the tides that ebb and flow in the estuaries surrounding the city.

Our fifteen-minute crossing brings us within a short walk of our waiting coach. And there it is—all silver and blue! We enter over a red carpet and take our reserved seats on white monogrammed slipcovers. Music plays as we settle ourselves for the trip. Our engineer whistles our departure, but a passenger races to inform us that he has not yet finished his breakfast. Being a man of great empathy, our operator waits and we set out five minutes late.

We head out across the fifty-four miles of coastal delta. Our clattering intrusion into the private nesting grounds of graceful white herons sends dozens of them into flight, legs trailing like disabled landing gear. The tower of a church catches our eye, the landmark of Yaguachi. We can now see the statue atop the church of the well-known Saint Jacinto of Yaguachi. Every year, on the 16th of August, the town becomes the center of a festival of adoration for the “saint.” The image is lowered from its airy perch and the adoring multitudes pin money on it or light candles in homage and thanks for supposed blessing received during the year. The festivities are frequently punctuated with street fights and at times bloodshed, as the merriment of the alcohol-consuming devotees changes to anger.

We sway our way to Milagro, and the terrain begins to change. The main commercial artery is a kaleidoscope of color. Dozens of independent merchants’ stalls cover the street. Brilliant-colored dothiiig, shiny aluminum cooking pots and reflective mirrors produce the excitement of a circus. Small cars, bristling with stalks of brindle sugarcane wait their turn at the large refinery. Chocolate beans, drying in the sun, cover the ground like mib-by carpets.

Our departure is announced and wt move into a different world, a green world where the luxuriant undergrowth is sustained by perpetual precipitation. “Hands” of bananas stretch green and yellow “firt-gers” skyward as we pass through the plantations.

Past Naranjapata there. is a sense of foreboding. The steadily rising hills are shrouded in mist. The undergrowth reaches out as if to stop our very passage. We push on to Huigra, where a wall of purple summer flowers gives us a botanical welcome.

A Trip on the Devil’s Nose

From Huigra we enter upon perhaps the most thrilling portion of our journey. We are climbing steadily now and our speed has been drastically reduced. Let’s talk with the engineer and see if he can give us some interesting information. We learn that during climbs like this the car can attain a maximum speed of only eighteen miles per hour. The pass through which we travel gets more confining until, at Chaneh&n, we have to tunnel our way through, in order to continue. As we pull into Sibambe we feel a flush of excitement. Lode off to the right and straight up to the sky! There it is—the Devil’s Nose, where our train will gain some 3,000 feet of altitude in a series of switchbacks across the face of a lava precipice.

As soon as we refill the radiator with cool water we will be scaling that nasal colossus of a mountain. The engineer whistles the starting signal for our assault and we move out, skirting the sheer drop-off. Now we are stopping, Why? The switching of tracks, the changing of gears; the motors strain and we are moving in reverse. We sit in our seats quietly, almost awed. Hardly anyone talks. The land drops away below us—up, up! The river becomes a ribbon and the people, matchsticks—right below us! Now the engines slow, more switching, and forward again. Through a rock cut, and we are climbing anew. Our operator tells us that we have gone up over 3,580 feet in the last sixteen miles. We catch our breath at the pleasant town of Alausi.

It is now 10:30 a.m. We move on to circle a fantasy land. Alausi overlooks a panoramic valley. The vegetation bursts green and lush where water abounds, but the hills above stretch stolid and brown. Near Tixfin our attention is drawn to the mustard-colored sulfur that lies open on the hills. Next, a minor delay. A donkey, convinced that he has the right of way, is walking ahead of us and quite unconcerned with our approach. We follow him, at his pace, for half a mile (about one kilometer) before he is finally whistled to one side.

Have you noticed the many work crews along the way? The maintenance of the roadbed is a constant battle against the elements. Walls of hewn stone have been erected to keep the raging waters in check during the heavy rains of December to May. The railroad has enemies on all sides. The river below tries to undermine its position or topple some of the 309 bridges, and the rockslides from above threaten to pulverize the ribbon of steel. In 1925 traffic was interrupted between Guayaquil and Quito for forty-one days, due to the heavy downpours and the resulting washouts.

We are now in a great barren pdramo or moor that lies choked and parched. We pass Palmira and see whirlwinds of dust making their spiral descent across the dunes.

Guamote, at some 10,000 feet above sea level, is our next stop. This is exciting! The arrival of the train in this town is the event of the day and almost everyone comes to see. Look at the sidewalk cafes! See the roasted pig? Why, there are three of them! Roasted whole, head and all, and we have heard it said that the pork is especially sweet. One has a carrot in its mouth. Small children with rosy sun- and wind-burned faces beseech us to buy their tasty cookies, cakes and sweets. A thrifty light lunch can be enjoyed in the form of a came de palito (literally “meat stick”), which is really a local variation of the famous shish kebab. Two or three pieces of meat, a carrot and a potato are seared on a stick and can be had for five cents

Entering the Valleys of Springtime

The mountains beckon and we are anx ious to be going. We wonder if the weather will permit us to see the snowcapped beauties for which Ecuador is famous. The sun shines brightly in a blue sky, and as we pass milepost 120 (kilometer 203) we see the white head of the great giant Chimborazo, We may be in for a wonderful show.

From Cajabamba we begin a wild descent Descent? Yes, for, you see, we have actually climbed over a range of mountains. The great Andes chain here in Ecuador splits in two, an eastern and a western range, and in between lies a Series of lovely mountain valleys or plateaus. These valleys stretch for 390 miles from north to south and range out to a width of forty-four miles. They are separated by short transverse ranges called nudos or knots. Actually the two lateral ranges are very much like the sides of a ladder with the transverse ranges as the rungs. The car lurches heavily on the comers as it strains to be free of the course of the serpentine track. At 12:30 p.m. we arrive at Riobam-ba, where we have our lunch stop.

Riobamba is in a unique position, ringed by snowcapped peaks. Graced with clear weather, we get to see El Altar, Sancay, Tungurahua and the King of the Andes, the 20,702-foot-high Mt. Chimborazo. Would you like to pick up an interesting souvenir? The handicraft made from the tagua nut is different. Known also as vegetable ivory, it is used for buttons, chessmen and other carving.

The stay is all too brief, but there is more ahead. Reversing ourselves out of the station, we climb again straight toward Chimborazo. Our engineer explains that here on the high ranges it is very cold at night and frequently snows. How appropriate, then, that we should find a flag stop named Siberia in the path of Chimborazo’s frigid winds. Onward and upward we move. On our right we see several llamas, the hardy mountain burden bearers of the Andes.

A brief run brings us to the summit of our climb, the little station at Urbina, 11,841 feet above sea level. And just to think that eight and a half hours ago, we were two miles below! We look up at Chimborazo towering above us almost another 10,000 feet and the great snows piled high on the giant’s flanks.

Leaving Urbina, we take a turn on the Devil’s Ear, a fast-moving switchback shaped like an ear that lets us down 1,200 feet. We continue our descent to the industrial center of Ambato. Our exit is through a corridor of stone. We are climbing again and our trip is uneventful and serene until we' reach Latacunga and a taste of spring weather—a shower of hail, which leaves the ground covered with peasized white stones. Next, the great hacien-dalof former president Galo Plaza. Here we see the richness of Ecuador’s fertile sierra, which produces the cereals, fruits and meat so vital to the country’s economy. Also to be found here is the fine breeding stock that has been brought from Europe to improve the cattle herds of the republic. We are amazed at the way every available piece of land has been cultivated. Truly the Indian workers love the soil, and their interest is reflected in the feeling one gets of traveling through a continuous garden.

It is cooler now at 4:30 p.m. We are hoping for a view of the 19,498-foot-high Cotopaxi, said to be the highest active volcano in the world. It is overcast at our passing, but we keep looking back in expectation, At 5:30 p.m. the cumulus curtain is briefly lifted and Cotopaxi shows through, rose-colored and snowy.

We travel on in silent reflection of all that we have seen in the 288-miIe trip. We are stirred to reality by the bustling of the other passengers. They are preparing to detrain. Sure enough, there are the lights of Quito, nestled at the foot of Mount Pichincha, 9,375 feet above sea level. Our goal! We are almost there! The “City of Eternal Spring,” where the average mean temperature is a balmy 56 degrees. Ah, springtime and only one and a half miles, straight up from home!

6£T) UT, Dad, I don’t want to move to _D another town. The fellows and I just got started on a new project and I don’t want to leave them behind,” exclaimed twelve-year-old Johnny to his father, Sixteen-year-old Helen said: “Dad, we just can’t move, I can’t leave all my friends. What would I do?” Mother wonders if there is not some way to stay settled in the home to which she has become so accustomed; but then we had decided to move.

In the year 1951 we were living in Spokane, Washington, a city in the northwestern United States. My wife and I had volunteered to spend 100 hours a month to help friends and neighbors with various questions on matters of belief and family living through home Bible education. Our six-year-old daughter had just started school. Now it came to our at-tentioh that many families were desirous of the services of Jehovah’s witnesses in the town of Wenatchee, Washington, some 160 miles to the west. As the family breadwinner, I naturally had questions about our family’s moving. First, would adequate employment be available? What about our daughter’s schooling and a place to live?

Then we decided to view this contemplated move realistically. About 14,000 other people were living in this town and they had jobs or a means of some kind of living. Their children went to schools, and there were places for people to live. So in reality there was no reason why we could not live there also. Our decision was to make the move.

When we moved out of our house we were glad to sort out the accumulation of worthless items and papers and discard the things that really amounted to a fire hazard. Letters of recommendation from previous employers aided greatly in my getting employment. Carolyn, our daughter, was thrilled with the beautiful scenery and the abundance of apples, for which this location is known as the apple capital of the world. During the four and a half years in Wenatchee we made friends that will never be forgotten, but primarily we were able to help many learn about the good news of God’s kingdom.

Then me time came for another move —this time to the one-time semidesert area of Moses Lake, Washington. Here, through a government project, thousands of acres of arid semidesert land is made productive by using the backwaters of the Coulee Dam on the Columbia River some fifty miles to the north. People here, too, were in need of spiritual help.

Many Blessings from a Move to Oregon

After three years, once again the question arose, Would we be willing to make another move, to assist a congregation where there was a demand by local families desiring to learn more about the Bible? Where this time? To the beautiful Tualatin Valley, situated twenty miles west of Portland, Oregon. Having had so many pleasant experiences in past moves, our family’s answer was, Yes. Regretting to leave friends behind, we were nevertheless eager to make new ones in Oregon. How impressed we were with the beautiful valleys and mountains! Out our front window we could view the picturesque 11,000-foot-high, snow-covered Mount Hood.

But what were the results of the main objective of moving to this area, that of helping families to gain a better understanding of the Bible? The response was excellent. In fact, in a short time the one congregation in Forest Grove, Oregon, had to be reorganized twice in order to care for the demand made upon the services of Jehovah’s witnesses by the local citizens. So today there are three congregations serving the vicinity instead of just one. What a pleasure it is to be in a work that gives such satisfaction and where one can see the fruitage of one’s labors!

While living here, the local radio station was so impressed with the Watch Tower Society’s script for the program “Things People Are Thinking About” that arrangements were made for this to be on the air three times each week. Additionally, the local congregation was able to arrange three other fifteen-minute programs based on articles from the Watchtower and Awake! magazines. Also, the management offered a half hour Sunday morning, which was used to read the Bible from the modern English Bible, the New World Translation.

Special Privileges in Oklahoma

Now came a real challenge to our ability to adjust to new locations. In the fall of 1963, after we attended the 'Around-the-World Assembly of Jehovah's Witnesses at Pasadena, California, we had waiting for us a letter to make a move to Oklahoma. I was to serve as a traveling representative of the Watch Tower Society. Ulis would involve visiting a congregation of Jehovah's witnesses for one week and then moving to another nearby congregation and staying there the following week, until we made a complete circuit of nineteen congregations. The purpose of this visit was to give additional training to persons in the congregation that were interested in aiding other families in home Bible education. We could accept such an assignment as this now that our daughter had grown up and herself had entered her career of Bible education. To make a move such as this meant disposing of nearly twenty years’ accumulation and trimming down to just the necessary things in order to be light enough to make a move each week.

On November 11, 1963, we found ourselves among some 600 Witnesses that had gathered in Christian assembly at Muskogee, Oklahoma. For the next two and a half years we were to have the privilege of making close friends of many of them,

A Thrilling Opportunity Opens Up

In December of 1965 we received the opportunity for the move of a lifetime— to foreign missionary service. We had been invited to attend the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead, located in bustling New York city. Questions raced through our mind. Would our daughter be accepted? If so, would she be assigned-to the same country? What country would we be assigned to? Thoughts filled our minds of living in such places as Japan, Africa, India or perhaps South America. The question of where our new home would be was answered a few weeks after our arrival in New York, when the 42nd class of 106 Gilead students received their foreign missionary assignments. How excited we were to learn that as a family we were being assigned to Venezuela, South America! Befdre we were to leave, we soon realized that in the next six months we would very carefully study the entire Bible and also learn the fundamentals of the Spanish language.

On October 24, 1966, our family and two other missionaries boarded a jet at New York’s Kennedy airport and landed the same day in Venezuela. We naturally wondered what it would be like to live in a foreign country. What would the people be like? With what problems regarding health would we be confronted? These and other questions were quickly answered shortly after we were greeted by the open arms of the missionaries that lived at the branch office of the Watch Tower Society located in the capital city of Venezuela. Caracas, a city of one and a half million people, is located at the very comfortable altitude of 3,000 feet and snuggled in a range of mountains that average some 7,000 feet in elevation. Here we learned that the temperature is 75-85° Fahrenheit the year round, with cool pleasant nights.

After a week of orientation we were on our way to our new home, Puerto La Cruz, an oil-export town 250 miles to the east. Its climate is somewhat wanner, but this is alleviated by the trade winds of the Caribbean, which makes living here very pleasant. Nights are pleasantly cool. We were glad to learn that tropical fruits are always in season. There is an abundance of tall gently swaying palm - trees along with the shorter broad-leaf banana and papaya trees. Here and there are poinsettia trees. As we walk in the backyard of the missionary home we often see wild parakeets and canaries flitting about. Nearby we ctm see a harmless brilliant-green lizard sunning himself. A few minutes away is the beautiful blue Caribbean Sea with inviting beaches the year round. In the background are tall green mountains. We are certainly glad to have been able to make this move. Here we find that we have the same quality of friends that we had back home. Also, living with high standards of cleanliness and eating balanced meals, we find that the health hazards are no different here from those in other parts of the world.

Recently, while I, was going along a beach road, a group of about fifteen fishermen had anchored their boats offshore and were cooking an evening meal over an open campfire. Upon my passing them the first time all they did was look at me and stare, not one of them making a gesture of friendliness. But, when I waved to them they all responded. What a change! Approaching them, I found them to be from a neighboring state and that they were eager to learn more about the Bible, and some were acquainted with Jehovah’s witnesses from their home area. After a brief visit and giving them a tract explaining the time when God will make this planet a paradise, we parted. I waved good-bye, and now the response' was vigorous. All had a big smile and all waved in return as to a newfound friend.

Nearly everyone is ready to stop whatever he is doing and enter into a discussion. With this relaxed atmosphere one can really enjoy spending time with families and studying the Bible with them. There is a waiting list of families that want to study as soon as time can be arranged. As we look back now on our first move we can see more vividly than ever how we have been richly blessed by our being willing to make a move, to advance the interests of God’s kingdom.

WHEN mention is made of engineers we often think of blueprints, quadrants and much heavy equipment. We may imagine the engineers to be in plastic helmets, in denim or khaki uniforms. But come and travel with us by helicopter. We will pay a visit to a people who have never seen a slide rule, but who have earned international respect as engineers.

The Philippines is in the tropic zone, but it is cold up there where we are heading, 100 kilometers (about 62 miles) north of Manila into the Cordillera mountain range of Luzon island. Unless one is a native one will need thick clothing even at noontime, specially so in the wet season. Land transportation is via the Mountain Trail, a narrow road of gravel and dust in the dry season, mud in the wet months, with quite a few hairpin turns and deep ravines. By this trail the hardy traveler reaches Ifugao country after some seven or eight hours of very careful driving from Baguio City..

Welcome to communities living in low-roofed huts, clinging precariously to the mountain slopes. The huts are built on square platforms of mountain stone expertly laid together. This is where a tribe of Malay origin, called the' Ifugao, lives. Of medium height, strong and well built, with dark-brown skins and straight hair, the Ifugaos are constructors of what one writer calls "thatwonder of man’s handiwork ... a vast area of stone-walled terraces,” which "stands as a monument to the hard-working, simple-living inhabitants of the Mountain Province.”

Dean Worcester, a former university professor, speaks of the "natural ability of the Ifugaos to handle stone, and mere boys have readily been taught to split boulders, cut the stone thus obtained to the required dimensions, face it, and utilize it in the construction of dignified and imposing public buildings.” This "natural ability” the Ifugaos have put to a practical use in the construction of their walled gardens high up in the Cordilleras.

Wait till the sun rises and the fog that blankets the ranges disappears. Then stretching northward, eastward, westward as far as eye and binocular can reach you will see the magnificent rice terraces of the Ifugaos. The head grows dizzy at the sight of terrace upon terrace marching up, up, up! from the tiny valleys below to the cloud-covered summits of mountain after mountain, some 400 square kilometers (about 250 square miles) of elevated gardens protected by stone walls.

What we see here are probably the most extensive man-made terraces anywhere on earth, being added to year after year as the natives continue to Subdue the mountains and harness them for the production of food. Hungry children may think that these terraces resemble stacks of huge slices of bread ready for a morning meal. Some "slices” are man-high, some taller than a two-story building. A count on one mountain slope shows no fewer than fifty terraces from base to summit. Some "slices” are short, some are kilometers long. Built end to end, they would stretch from here to London, over halfway around the globe, a distance of roughly 14,000 miles, estimate the experts.

No Drought or Food Shortage

At planting time they are immense pools of water. There is no drought in these mountains. There are innumerable springs and miniature waterfalls of crystal-clear water up there on the peaks, and the Ifugao has collected much of that water in pools and channeled it via ditches, flumes and sluices to feed his growing crops of taro, beans, onions, cotton, yams and rice. But mostly rice. Without consulting any agriculturist or technician and not depending on the rain, the Ifugao saw the need for sufficient irrigation and built his own vast irrigation system. Not a drop of water seems to^be wasted.

Where other peoples have denuded mountains and rendered them arid and useless, the Ifugaos have made theirs perennially productive. There is no food shortage up here. Because of the unique irrigation it is possible to harvest two, sometimes even three, crops a year. A hectare (about two and a half acres) yields as much as forty cavahs, or two short tons, of unhulled rice per season, not to mention quantities of yams, legumes and leafy vegetables.

Rice harvesttime comes in June and July, then agaih in December and January. The mountains become one vast sea of nodding golden rice plants. Harvesting is mostly women’s work, but it is the men who bring home the cut stalks in rattan baskets slung over dark-brown shoulders or strapped to back and forehead.

No machinery or work animals are used, not even during the planting season. Perhaps the Ifugao senses danger from heavy machinery or animals heavier than himself on these steep slopes. So careful is he in this regard that there is no record of any terrace collapsing from the weight of earth, water, rice and people on top. These garden walls stand up, not only under irrigation water, but under floods caused by pounding rainstorms.

Generation after generation of Ifugaos constructed this gigantic tribal farm. Over many centuries they erected walls of stone and rock carried up from the valleys and plastered them with clay. Earth and mud were brought up in similar fashion, on baskets like those used today. At other sites the mountainsides were dug with patience to build these gardens.

The Ifugao is still at work on his beloved mountains, chiseling, carving, hauling, laying stone upon stone so precisely, so carefully on slope after slope, like numerous brown marionettes against the face Of the mountain, confident in their footing. The homes and terraces of these tribal engineers are virtually inaccessible to other peoples, and this has no doubt helped preserve these amazing gardens down tO this rlav

EKPlORinc THE TIDELANDS OF THE DORTH SER

By "Awakal" torr»ipond»rrt In Wait Garmany

THE low coastal plain of northwest Germany I is effectively shielded from the first vig-I orous assaults of the sea by a series of islands formed of shifting sand dunes. The waters between the islands and the mainland are called the tidewaters, and this whole area at low tide becomes almost completely dry, presenting the appearance of a huge washboard. These are the tidelands we want to explore, and, as can be well imagined, we have to wait until the sea has retreated to the north. Then those quiet flats take on the appearance of a muddy landscape with a dark-gray and shiny surface. At a distance the area appears to be devoid of life.

But we have heard that it is a real adventure to walk through the tidelands. “There’s much more life there than meets the eye of the distant viewer,” . we were told. So we have elected to join a guided tour that promises to get us safely through this strange amphibian region and back to solid ground.

The mud is up to our ankles. At every step we cqn feel the life in this dark-gray mass around our feet. Many an unseen insebt slides between our toes. Surely no place for the squeamish! Fascinating indeed is the variety of life observed on and about this apparently deserted tideland. Look! What is this? Little geysers are splashing from the muddy sand here and there. These little jets are caused by mussels as they withdraw their siphons or tubes that serve them as oxygen and food channels and connect them at high tide with the water. When we dig at one of these spouts we discover either a heart cockle or a limpet or even a pretty white pepper clam. If we dig a bit deeper we may even find a large gape mussel. Here also is to be found the eatable periwinkle.

There are other inhabitants of this bubbling ground too: the tideland Snail, the slipper snail and the bugle-horn snail. And mud crabs live here in vast numbers, perhaps as many as 16,000 to the square mile. In small pools here and there starfish are to be found. It is truly interesting to take up one of these in the hand and watch its odd method of locomotion. Then we have to be really alert to observe the shrimps disappearing swiftly into the sand on our approach.

“Don’t step on that nettle medusae over there,” warns our guide. It seems that, like the commoner land nettle, this plant has a poison that irritates the skin painfully. There are also^: harmless varieties of related jellyfishes, the ear medusae and the cqmpass medusae, for example. These creatures consist of 90 percent water, and' if cast high and dry by the tide they cannot survive even until the next incoming tide.

Our attention is called to a magificent black and white feathered bird that digs hastily in the mud about 300 feet away. Hh is the oyster catcher, right now busily searching for lobworms. Soon he has one of these succulent creatures in his beak and off he flies with a strange call that sounds like “khiwhip.” Sea gulls, too, break the silence with their shrill cries as they wheel overhead. Yes, indeed, there is more life out here than we had anticipated-

The guide now indicates that it is time to return to terra flrma, for this fascinating tideland area can also be dangerous. A sudden mist or the swift incoming tide can cut an unsuspecting, careless tourist off, robbing him of all sense of direction. As we wash our feet and legs at a shore-side pool we can observe the victorious return of the sea. The vanguard is a white-crested wave from which the wind from time to time rips huge chunks. We landsmen must yield ground as the sea again takes over this strange landscape.

IT IS generally believed that Jesus Christ spoke at least four languages, namely, Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Latin. However, there is no certain way of knowing whether Jesus spoke Greek and Latin. In his teaching ministry there appears, at least, some support for saying that he regularly used either Aramaic or the highly Aramaized popular Hebrew.

Aramaic, Hebrew and Phoenician comprised the northern division of the Semitic family of languages, which seem to have been the only ones written with an alphabet in early times. Though Aramaic differs considerably from Hebrew, it is a cognate language having the same letters in its alphabet with the same names as the Hebrew. Like Hebrew, it is written from right to left and, originally, the Aramaic script was consonantal. However, the Aramaic employed in the Bible was vowel-pointed later by the Masoretes, just as they vowel-pointed the Hebrew.

During the time of the Assyrian Empire, a new dialect of Aramaic became the lingua franca or the international auxiliary language. It was the language used for official governmental correspondence with outlying areas of the empire. In view of its use, this standard form of Aramaic is referred to as “Official Aramaic.” Gradually, however, Greek replaced Official Aramaic as an international language, and it was the international language when Jesus lived on earth.

So what language did Jesus Christ speak? On this question there is considerable difference of opinion among scholars. Concerning languages used in Palestine when Jesus Christ was on earth, Professor G. Ernest Wright states: “Various languages were undoubted¹'⁷ to be heard on the streets of the major cities. Greek and Aramaic were evidently the common tongues, and most of the urban peoples could probably understand both even in such ‘modern’ or ‘western’ cities as Caesarea and Samaria where Greek was the more common. Roman soldiers and officials might be heard conversing in Latin, while orthodox Jews may well have spoken a late variety of Hebrew with one another, a language that we know to have been neither classical Hebrew nor Aramaic, despite its similarities to both.”

Commenting further on the language spoken by Jesus Christ, Professor Wright says: “The language spoken by Jesus has been much debated. We have no certain way of knowing whether he could speak Greek or Latin, but in his teaching ministry he regularly used either Aramaic or the highly Aramaized popular Hebrew. When Paul addressed the mob in the Temple, it is said that he spoke Hebrew. (Acts 21:40) Scholars generally have taken this to mean Aramaic, but it is quite possible that a popular Hebrew was then the common tongue among the Jews.”—Biblical Archaeology, page 240.

It is possible that Jesus and his early disciples, such as the apostle Peter, at least, at times spoke Galilean Aramaic, Peter being told on the night Christ was taken into custody: “Certainly you also are one of them, for, in fact, your dialect gives you away.” (Matt. 26:73) This may have been said because the apostle was using Galilean Aramaic at the time, though that is not certain, and he may have been speaking a Galilean Hebrew that differed dialectically from that employed in Jerusalem or elsewhere in Judea.

Earlier, when Jesus came to Nazareth in Galilee and entered the synagogue there, he read from the prophecy of Isaiah, evidently as written in Hebrew, and then said: “Today this scripture that you just heard is fulfilled.” (Luke 4:16-21) Nothing is said about Jesus’ translating this passage into Aramaic, so it is likely that persons present on that occasion could at least partially understand Bibjical Hebrew. It may also be noted that Acts 6:1, referring to a time shortly after Pentecost 33

Greek-speaking Jews and Hebrew-speaking Jews in Jerusalem.

Jesus Used Aramaic Words

Professor Harris Birkeland (in The Language of Jesus, 1954) points out that just because Aramaic was the written language of Palestine when Jesus was on earth does not necessarily mean that it was spoken by the people in general. And, according to Professor Birkeland, the fact that the Elephantine papyri belonging to a Jewish colony in Egypt were written in Aramaic does not prove that it was their chief or common tongue in their homeland, for Aramaic was then an international literary language. Of course, the Christian Greek Scriptures contain a number of Aramaisms, Jesus using some Aramaic words, for instance. However, as Birkeland argues, perhaps Jesus ordinarily spoke the popular Hebrew, while occasionally using Aramaic expressions.

At Mark 14:36 the expression "Abba, Father” appears. ‘Abba’ is an Aramaic word in the emphatic form meaning “the father” or “papa,” and corresponds with the Hebrew term ‘ha-av,’ meaning “the father.” Thus Ab-ba’ combines some of the intimacy of the English word “papa” though retaining the dignity of the word “father,” and so it is both informal and yet respectful.

While it may not be possible to prove, as Birkeland contends, that the common people were illiterate as far as Aramaic was concerned, it does seem that when

Luke, an educated physician, records that Paul spoke to the Jews ‘in Hebrew’ and that the apostle said the voice from heaven spoke to him *in Hebrew,’ a form of Hebrew was actually meant (though perhaps not the ancient Hebrew) and not Aramaic.—Acts 22:2; 26:14.

Lending further support to the use of a form of Hebrew in Palestine when Jesus Christ was on earth are early indications that the apostle Matthew first wrote his Gospel account in Hebrew. For instance, Eusebius (of the third and fourth centuries CIE.) said: “The evangelist Matthew delivered his Gospel in the Hebrew tongue.” And Jerome (of the fourth and fifth centuries C.E.) stated: “Matthew, who is also Levi, and who from a publican came to be an Apostle, first of all the Evangelists, composed a Gospel of Christ in Judea in the Hebrew language and characters, for the benefit of those of the circumcision who had believed. . . . Furthermore, the Hebrew itself is preserved to this day in the library at Caesarea which the Martyr Pamphilus so diligently collected.”—Catalogue of Ecclesiastical Writers.

Hence, Jesus Christ could well have used both Hebrew and a dialect of Aramaic as a man on earth.

Anglo-American Alterations

<$> Back in the 1940’s, Presi-dent Franklin D. Roosevelt of America and Prime Minister Churchill of Britain forged an exclusive, worldwide Anglo-American partnership that endured for some twenty-five years. However, during the early part of February, the present Prime Minister of Britain, Harold Wilson, had, talks with ILS. President Johnson that cha'nged that historic Anglo-American relationship. No more could Britain be counted on to police the world. She was withdrawing her armed forces from the Far East and Mideast. Her position in NATO is uncertain. In the face of the British move the United States immediately began upgrading her relationship with Japan and West Germany. America's most reliable ally—Great Britain— has become a partner facing a questionable future.

“Garbage War”

New York city was one mammoth garbage bin during the early days of February. A sanitation workers’ strike paralyzed garbage and trash collections. Garbage piled up at a rate of 10,000 tons a day. Health officials declared a citywide emergency. Key issue was the union’s demand for a $600 wage increase a year. Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller of New York picked a panel to mediate the dispute. The panel recommended a pay boost of $425 a year to end the walkout of 10,000' garbagemen. The mayor of New York charged that the governor had capitulated to the extortionists. In an editorial on February 9, the New York Times accused the governor of ‘surrendering to mob rule.’

Cost of Running a Car

Today's rpo tori sts in America spend about $75,000,000,000 on their cars yearly! Researchers at the University of Michigan state that only one car owner in four knows the actual upkeep involved in owning a car. A private consulting firm has found that it costs the average motorist about $11,000 over a 10-year period to operate his car. The figure includes these expenses: $2,230 for gas; $1,415 for Insurance; $1,763 for repairs and maintenance; $1,188 for parking and tolls. A $3,000 car depreciates $850 in the first year and another $600 in the second year, or about half the original price in just two years.

Riots Start Early

<$> The year 1968 was only about one month old when riots in America broke out with bloodshed. A privately owned bowling alley in Orangeburg, South Carolina, -re--,-ov.d to admit Negroes. On February 5 a riot involving hundreds of college students erupted. Several days later there was an exchange of gunfire between students and police. Three students were killed and 50 persons were injured in the four-day period. The first real riot in America in 1967 did not occur until April 1 in Omaha, Nebraska.

Nauru—A New Republic

'$> The tiny Pacific island of Nauru, 400 miles northeast of Guadalcanal and 1,300 miles northeast of Australia, on January 31, hoisted a new flag and became the independent Republic of Nauru. The island has only 5,263 acres and a population of 3,100, which makes it one of the world’s smallest independent countries. Monaco, the smallest country, has 370 acres. Nauru is comfortably wealthy because of her phosphate deposits..

Ecumenism In Scotland

<$> According to a news dispatch from Glasgow, Scotland, efforts to conduct a united Roman Catholic-Protestant church service in that city late in January proved disappointing to the participating clergy. Loud cries of “Down with popery!" repeatedly drowned out the proceedings. Similar ecumenical attempts in Liverpool and London, England, had been met with noisy demonstrations. ,

The Adaptable Flu Virus

<$> Despite the generous use of inoculations during the past several years, this year’s flu epidemic has spread into more than thirty-seven states and threatens to invade every state in the United States. Those with respiratory troubles appear to be in the greatest danger from its ravages, as numerous deaths have borne out. It appears that the flu virus has been able to adapt itself to the presence of antigens in those inoculated, wnat complicates matters is that there are several strains of the flu virus, and It is usually impossible to determine which until it is already too late.

Expensive Pets

<$> There is no definite way of knowing how many dogs there are in America, but some say 26,000,000. In New York State 1,199,242 dogs were licensed in 1967. Even though these animals are pampered and indulged to a degree that challenges the imagination, not everyone views /hern as friends. Ther Department of Agriculture and Markets revealed the excessive damage caused by dogs in only one section of the state. It said dogs killed or injured 10,110 poultry animals, 2,795 sheep, 355 cattle, 647 pheasants, and a total of 1,373 swine, horses, rabbits and goats in 1967. According to Prof. Richard T. Frost of Reed College, “Americans spend more than $3 billion a year on their dogs, cats and other house pets—more than they do on the whole federal war on poverty—$1.7 billion.”

Priests Form Union

> A sorry day it is when religious men find it necessary to unionize to rid themselves of “racism," but such has become the case. Negro priests, on February 9, organized a Union of Black Clergymen and Laymen of the Episcopal Church. The main goal of the union was said to be to “remove racism in the church and in the community by any means necessary to achieve full participation on the basis of equality in policy making, decision making, program and staffing on the parochial, diocesan and national levels.”

Trafficking in Blood

A 53-year-old New Zealander has the doubtful distinction of holding the record in bloodgiving for his country. He has now given more than IOC units of blood, given In quarterly installments.

There is something of a misnomer about calling all who part with some of their blood “donors.” It sounds respectable and readers may take for granted that blood is given freely by healthy people who are glad to serve fellow creatures without charge. But this is not always the case. The Sunday Post (Glasgow, Scotland) of January 7, 1968, for example, carried the story of a young man who was hitchhiking around the world, eking out his travel funds by receipts for blood, his own¹ blood that he had thus far sold in Spain and Greece.

A Pig’s Heart

Science News of January 27,1968, reports the suggestion by Dr. Christiaan Barnard, prominent South African heart surgeon, that animal hearts might in the future be considered for transplant into humans. Though no present research is said to be under way, it is pointed out that "the pig is closer to the human being than any other animal” and that pigs’ hearts may prove to be useful in transplants. Meantime, there are demands for complete investigation of the moral, ethical and religious factors involved in transplant of organs, artificial production of life and other features of scientific experimentation.

A Man-made New Order

<$> Sexless procreation, euthanasia, compulsory birth control, compulsory sterilization of substandard people, use of humans as guinea pigs in dangerous surgical experiments are but a few of the items in the program of scientific planning for a man-made new order, according to a writer in the Daily Colonist, Victoria, B.C., a few weeks ago. All this in the name of the betterment of mankind. This reminds one of the effort toward uplift of the human race put forth by disobedient .artgels of old who forsook their proper place and materialized as men. Result: a reign Of immorality, violence and terror.

Taste of Materialism

Australia’s economic boom just won’t quit. Growth in 1968 may top 5 percent. One reporter stated about improved living conditions: "More than 95 percent of all homes have a refrigerator and a radio, 80 percent of the homes in metropolitan areas have TV. . . . You see . . . more two and three-car families. More chartering of planes for private travel. More and better restaurants. Wine drinking is catching on." Crime is also catching on. Cars stolen in Australia during the twelve-month period ending last August averaged one every twenty minutes throughout the year. This meant that the value of vehicles stolen in the year amounted to about $50,000,000 and represented an increase of 130 percent in car thefts in six years.

Children Going Blind

While men fight wars and waste earth’s resources, each year some 80,000 children in the world under four years of age go blind, and half of them die, because of lack of vitamin A in their diet. Dr. Donald S. McLaren, professor of clinical nutrition at the American University of Beirut, who made the startling declaration, said that emergency injections of the vitamin would carry children through the early years, when they are most susceptible to blindness and death from infection.

Church “Lulls Its People to Sleep”

4 A published Associated Press dispatch said that a Southern Baptist seminary professor, Findley B. Edge, told a gathering in Louisville that "our kind of church is inadequate for our kind of world today.” After stating that the Baptist Church is increasingly irrelevant to the basic issues confronting modem man, he said: “The church mouths its pious phrases about the revolutionary gospel, but in reality it simply lulls its people to sleep, accepting the status quo.”

Fatherless Children

& A news dispatch to the New York Times dated February 6, 1968, discloses that South Korea has to cope with the problem of anywhere from 3,000 to 15,000 illegitimate children of American soldiers. Most were fathered by whites, some 20 percent by Negroes. It appears that, while children of white fathers endure considerable persecution by the native children, those of Negro fathers are treated even worse. Efforts are being made to have many of these children adopted and brought to America, but it seems quite certain that the majority will have to stay in a hostile environment and suffer for the sins of their parents.

98,000 Dead

♦ The automobile is a dangerous weapon, killing some 53,000 persons last year on United States highways. The cost in dollars of accidents was estimated at 511,000,000,000. The 1967 rate was 5.5 fatalities for every 100 million vehicle miles.

Why Mafia Still in Business

According to the National Observer, of February 12,1968, almost all the big figures in the Mafia operate respectable businesses of one kind or another, and at least two of them have enrolled sons for offlcer-training in the United States Army. Behind the scenes they have powerful interests in gambling, dope-peddling and the loan-shark 'business. And the sheepish admission has to be made that they continue operating the hoodlum empire because the man and woman on the street want their services. A sad commentary on the moral fiber of the present generation.

The Business of Thievery

<$■ Late last year the Orange County Reporter (New York) offered some revealing statistics and information on large-scale theft. Predicated.on previous experience, it was expected that during the Christmas season more than two billion dollars’ worth of goods would be stolen by employees and shoplifters from stores and warehouses throughout the United States. Stolen-goods rings, it was stated, even offer to fill orders to suit the size, color and style requirements of the black-market customer. Most of those thieves have regular church affiliations, but they have not been impressed by the Bible’s command: “Let the stealer steal no more.”

YOUR CHILD IS NOT TOO YOUNG

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These radical trends are causing serious-minded persons to look a little closer at the beliefs they have more or less taken for granted. Many are asking themselves: “If, as we have always been told, the religion of our parents is good enough for us, then why are so many changes being made in that religion?”

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