Do You Believe in Miracles?

Taming the Unpredictable Permafrost

Marriage—the African Way

What Is Needed to Dress Well?

JANUARY 8, 1960

THE MISSION OF THIS JOURNAL

News sources that are able to keep you awake ta the vital issues of our times must be unfettered by censorship and selfish interests. "Awake!" has no fetters. It recognizes facts, faces facts, is free ta publish facts. It is not bound by political ambitions or obligations; it is unhampered by advertisers whose toes must not be trodden an; it is unprejudiced by traditional creeds. This journal keeps itself free that it may speak freely to you. But it does not abuse its freedom. It maintains integrity to truth.

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CONTENTS

cause great damage. It can change warm friendships and happy marriages into cold ruins; it can lay waste good reputations; it can transform a crowd of ordinarily peaceful people into a destructive, unreasoning mob; and it can bring upon a person an eternal end to his existence.

As a forest fire leaves a blackened scar in its path that may require many years to cover with new growth, so the damage done by the tongue takes years to heal. There may never be a complete covering of the wound, just as new trees in a forest do not remove the blackened and twisted stumps that stand as stark reminders of the devastating fire that had ravaged it. The bad feelings left by a damaged reputation, a shattered friendsHlp or a broken marriage seldom pass away with time. They remain as bleak tokens of harsh words that were spoken by a careless tongue.

The tongue is a small member of your

body, but it can bring pain, suffering and even death to the whole body. This is pointed out \ I by God’s Word; “The tongue is J/ a little member and yet makes “ great brags. Look! how little a fire it takes to set so great a woodland on fire! Well, the tongue is a fire. The tongue is constituted a world of unrighteousness among our members, for it spots up all the body and sets the wheel of natural life aflame and it is set aflame by Gehenna.”—Jas. 3:5, 6.

The vituperative tongue that slanders persons that strive to serve and to maintain integrity to Jehovah God sets the natural life of the tongue-user aflame in a destructive way and it shows its user deserving of eternal destruction at the hands of God. It was this kind of tongue that the religious leaders of the first century used against Christ and his followers. They spoke slanderously about these servants of the Most High. Because their evil tongues expressed the thoughts of their hearts, they put their natural life under divine condemnation. Jesus pointed this out when he said: “Offspring of vipers, how can you speak good things, when you are wicked? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. For by your words you will be vindicated, and by your words you will be condemned.”—Matt. 12:34, 37.

Their lying tongues started waves of fiery persecution that lashed against the Christians of the first century like the destructive flames of a forest fire and caused many to lose their lives. Because of their wicked action, how could they, as Jesus said, “flee from the judgment of Gehenna”? (Matt. 23:33) The eternal destruction bf their natural lives, as symbolized by Gehenna, awaited them. Persons today who follow their footsteps and use a fiery tongue in an effort to stir up persecution against God’s servants can expect the same fate..

As the comparatively small rudder of a big ship turns the entire ship this way and that, so the tongue, a small member of your body, can send your body along a course to eternal death. Such power makes it imperative that you control your tongue, using it in a beneficial way. “The tongue of wise ones does good with knowledge, but the mouth of the stupid ones bubbles forth with foolishness." (Prov. 15:2) Taking in accurate knowledge of God’s Word helps you to avoid _kthe foolish speech that damages your relationship with God.

It is possible for a dedicated servant of Jehovah God to bring his life into danger of extinction, along with those who oppose God, by not controlling his tongue toward his Christian brothers. Regarding this, Jesus said: “I say to you that everyone who continues angry with his brother will be accountable to the court of justice; but whoever addresses his brother with an unspeakable word of contempt will be accountable to the Supreme Court; whereas whoever says, ‘You despicable fool!’ will be liable to the fiery Gehenna.”—Matt. 5:22.                '

If a Christian allows anger to take such a strong hold on him that he loses control of his tongue and begins accusing his brother of being a despicable fool, he makes himself liable for the eternal destruction symbolized by Gehenna. He is attempting to destroy the good reputation of his brother by accusing him of blaspheming and denying Jehovah God, of being like the senseless person that says there is no God. “The senseless one has said in his heart: ‘There is no Jehovah.’ They have acted ruinously, they have acted detestably in their dealing.” (Ps. 14:1) This is a serious and unjustifiable attack on a servant of God and places the attacker in the camp of those who fight against God’s servants.

Anger does not justify such failure to control the tongue. A Christian must exercise self-control and not permit anger to continue until it bursts into such a lashing, verbal attack against a brother. James shows the proper conduct for a Christian when he says: “Every man must be swift about hearing, slow about speaking, slow about wrath; for man’s wrath does not produce God’s righteousness.”—Jas. 1:19, 20.

Mistakes are bound to be made with the tongue. No human can exercise complete control of it as long as he is imperfect, but that does not mean he cannot prevent it from becoming a biting flame that injures and destroys. Although it is an unruly thing that cannot be perfectly tamed at this time, it is possible to exercise sufficient control over it so that it does not mark its user as meriting divine destruction. It is easier to stop hurtful expressions before they are made than to quench their devastating effect after they have left the mouth. Do not let your tongue be responsible for starting fiery trouble that spreads like a consuming forest fire. Think brfore you speak. Let your tongue be guided by the wisdom from above so that it produces only the sweet waters of truth and not the bitter waters of contention.

the story of Adam

and Eve in the garden of Eden and have labeled it folklore. Scores of scientists have rejected sin as the cause of death. A great number of Clergymen and laymen have renounced the ransom, repudiated the virgin birth of Jesus, dismissed his miracles as trickery and have all but abandoned the Bible completely. Still we believe in them. Why? What reason do we have for believing that which others have concluded to be unsound? Is ours a blind faith, or do we have sound reasons for believing as we do?

Almost all the leading theologians of our day have turned liberal, if not modernist. The views they once held about God and the Bible have all been either greatly diluted or discarded. Many leading churchmen show themselves willing, yes, eager to accept the results of higher criticism. Their course has given rise to controversy and doubt about the accuracy of events related in the Bible. Today differences range over almost every aspect and every detail of the Bible. Many persons wer« led to believe that a world panacea just around the corner would answer all their questions. But their answers never were around the next bend. There Was never a satisfying answer coming forth from the clergymen. As a result, the world has gone to seed with a bumper crop of skeptics, cynics and infidels who do not believe.

Modern man has become very much like the little frog of an Eastern fable. The little frog lived in a well. One day a frog whose home was in the sea came to his well. ‘Who are you and where do you live?” the frog of the well asked. “I am Mr. Frog and my home is in the sea.” “What is the sea and where is it?” “The sea is a very large body of water and it is not far away.” The frog of the well pointed to a board on which he sat, saying, “As big as this?” “Oh, much bigger!” “Well, how much bigger?” “Why, the sea in which I live is bigger than your entire well. It would make millions of wells such as yours.” “Nonsense! Nonsense! You are a deceiver and a falsifier. Get out of my well. I want nothing to do with any such frogs as you,” the frog of the well shouted. So modernists of this materialistic world, devoid of all spiritual knowledge and faith, react toward spiritual things. “Nonsense! Nonsense!” they say. “We don’t believe you.”

To the spiritual-minded ones spiritual things do make sense. And it is only those who have seen something of the deeper things of life and the universe through the spiritual eyes of understanding who can, in some measure, tell us of the wonders that lie beyond. Let us not be like the frog in the well, feeling secure in our own ignorance, ‘for God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are our ways his ways.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so God’s ways are higher than our ways, and his thoughts than our thoughts.’ (Isa.; 55:8, 9) "A foolish thing of God is wiser than men, and a weak thing of God is stronger than men.” He is infinite in power and understanding.—1 Cor. 1:25.

Religion a Matter of Faith

A Christian’s belief is a matter of faith based on the accurate knowledge of God’s Word, the Bible. Such faith is not altered by the findings in the world of fact Discoveries merely substantiate what the Christian already knew about God through faith. God is known to him by the things manifest. “For his invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world’s creation onward, because they are understood by the things made, even his eternal power and Godship, so that they are inexcusable.” The discerning man knows that creation speaks eloquently of an all-intelligent God; therefore, he believes in God’s existence. He lives by means of faith.—Rom. 1:19, 20, 17.

If we consider the physical universe in all jts glory and wonder, its order and intricacy, its awe-inspiring immensity, we cannot help but say: ‘Yes, I believe there is a God. I believe there is an Almighty, Intelligent One who has made all these things.” When we look upon creation we cannot escape the notion of a primary Creator.

Our earth is more than a meaningless ball of matter thrown off by accident from the sun. We are surrounded by myriads of different kinds of plants and animals, all radiant and beautiful and performing their function in life. We find ourselves a part of a marvelous, complex system. Not only is our sun, the source of our earthly light, the nucleus of a solar system, but this system is itself part of a universe. We earthlings are but a tiny integral part of a complex pnysicai creation, uur mukv Way Galaxy, for example, is said to cob-tain about 100,000,000,000 stars. How many galaxies there are in the universe no man knows exactly. James S. Pickering, assistant astronomer at the American Museum-Hayden Planetarium, states: “The 200-inqh Hale Reflector at Mount Palomar, the world’s largest telescope, has an effective range of about two billion [2,000,000,000] light years. Within this range, which represents a tiny bubble about four billion [4,000,000,000] light years in diameter in the great expanse of space, there must be several billion galaxies.” “There are an estimated two billion [2,000,000,000] galaxies in the volume of space which extends out to 250 million light years from us.” (One light-year equals six million million miles.) Our earth, like a tiny speck compared to some stars, hurls itself around the sun at an average speed of 18.52. miles a second, or 66,600 miles an hour, in its yearly trip.

Who on a still summer night dares gaze upward at all this glittering in infinity and say, ‘This is nothing. This all came by accident’? Only a fool would so speak. Who can look into the depths of the sea, or ponder the secrets of a rose, or study the delicate lacework of the snowflake without marveling at the wisdom embodied in creation? The believer and the unbeliever both look at creation. But the believer is moved by faith to say: “How many your works are, O Jehovah! All of them in wisdom you have made. The earth is full of your productions.” In substance he says, “Yes, Lord, I believe.”—Ps. 104:24; 14:1.

Creation of Adam and Eve

“But what about the Genesis account of creation, which says that God made all this about six thousand years ago in six twenty-four-hour days? Is this not stretching a point a little too far?” say the critics.

We have no reason to believe that God created the universe in six twenty-four-hour days. A close examination shows that the Bible does not teach that. In the Bible .a day is representative of a period of time. Peter wrote: “One day is with Jehovah as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.” (2 Pet. 3:8) Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that each creative day of Genesis lapsed into the thousands of years. The Genesis account says: “This is a history of the heavens and the earth in the time of their being created, in the day that Jehovah God made earth and heaven.” Here the word “day” clearly refers to a period of creation. The creative days, therefore, need not be squeezed into six twenty-four-hour days. Rather, each evening and morning was representative of a time period in which a significant step in creation toward the completion of the earth for human habitation took place. This we believe.—Gen. 2; 4.

“Is not the story of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden a fairy tale?” inquires the unbeliever. “Who has seen Adam or Eve ? How do we know the garden of Eden existed? What reason is there to believe that, sin is the cause of death?” We reply, What better and more satisfactory reason is there for our presence here on earth than parents? Every last one of us had his starting point with parents. Why, then, should it be so strange to believe that the human race began with parents? A basic principle of science and philosophy is that everything must have a cause. The adequate cause of the existence of a child lies in its parents, for without parents there would be no child.

The cause that brings about the existence must at least be equal to or greater than the effect produced. The presence of unintelligent, inorganic substances is not sufficient to account for the existence of intelligent life. The material elements of inorganic matter in no way offer an explanation for the existence of the knowledge, the love, the affection, the compassion, the reason, the wisdom, the justice, the consciousness and the natural purposiveness that is evident in life. In fact, intelligent life can be accounted for only by a sufficient cause completely outside of all existing matter and even of the entire material universe! This sufficient Cause of the existence of intelligent life we call God. Thus, God exists! He creates. And mankind is provided with a sound, intelligent reason for believing the story of Adam and Eve, creatures endowed with loving qualities and attributes. Yes, Lord, we believe. In fact, we find it unthinkable not to believe.

True, no man living today ever saw Adam and Eve or the garden of Eden. For that matter, what living man is there who has seen George Washington, Napoleon, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and countless others long dead? Who is there living that has seen the beauties of the ancient city of Nineveh, the hanging gardens of Babylon, the glory of Thebes? Do we refuse to believe that these places and people existed simply because we did not see them? How many of us have actually seen all the great cities and rulers of the modern world? Are we moved to disbelief simply because we have not seen them? Why, then, do we believe? We believe because men or man-written books tell us of these places and men. We must accept some man’s word for what happened in the past. We are just as wise to helieve what the Bible writers had to say about men, places and events, as we are to believe secular historians and present writers. What better explanation can we give for the presence of fossils on top of mountains than the Flood? What hotter explanation can we give for the existence of the Jewish nation than what the Bible gives? Can we today give a better explanation of Christianity’s origin than the Bible? Who is there to disprove that inherited sin is not the cause of death? Simply to deny a matter does not disprove it. “Let them furnish their witnesses, that they may be declared righteous, or let them hear and say: ‘It is the truth!’ ” So, as for the Bible and its proved record, we have no alternative but to say, “Yes, Lord, we believe.”—Isa. 43:9.

Miracles Have Happened

Do we believe that the Israelites crossed the Red Sea on dry land, that God halted the river Jordan at flood stage, that Jesus healed the blind and raised the dead? Yes, we believe! Certainly g Creator capable of creating and maintaining a universe, such as is known to man, would not find it too great a task to split the Red Sea and have his people cross over on dry ground. Note what Isaiah said of Jehovah: He “has measured the waters in the mere hollow of his hand, and taken the proportions of the heavens themselves with a mere span and included in a measure the dust of the earth, or weighed with'"an indicator the mountains, and the hills in the scales.” (Isa. 40:12-17) Would it be too hard for God, who holds all the oceans, as it were, in the palm of his hand, to split the Red Sea? It would be much less a task for him to do that than it would be for a man to divide a tiny drop of water in two. For him to stop the Jordan River would be as easy as it would be for man to stop a faint trickle of water with the palm of the hand.

In view of astronomical facts and the great distances around us, how much greater than time and space and all that fill them must the Great Jehovah be! If he can maintain billions of Milky Ways that contain billions of stars each, he certainly can halt our sun and moon for a day, create a flood, stop the flow of a river and spiff a sea without much ado. Yes, Jehovah, we believe you can do all these things!

The raising of the dead may seem incredible to sbme, but not to the believer. He who made man from the dust to begin with certainly can raise him from the dust and restore him to life again. Why should God’s power and purpose to raise the dead amaze us? Is not life itself a miracle? Who created the natural laws by which we live? Who arranged for our sun to be the right distance from our earth? Who mixed the gases in the air so that they are just right for our existence? Who arranged for the relationship between plants and animals to be just right? Is not the human body a miracle in itself? Look at the hand, the eye, the ear, the brain. Study the digestive system, the nervous, muscular and res^ piratory systems. Who arranged these? How did they come about? By accident? No! As creatures, we should laud the God who made it all. Everywhere we turn there are boundless reasons for faith. Yes, Lord Jehovah, we believe.—Ps. 139:14.

Russians Hungry for the Bible

C The New York Times for August 7, 1959, reported that at the American National Exhibition in the so-called godless land of the Soviet Union “Bibles are being jealously guarded by the attendants in the hope that they will last until the end of the fair next month,” because so many of them have been “lifted.” Thomas J. McLaughlin, who has recently returned from the Moscow fair, stated that the first book taken from the exhibit was “a Russian-language Bible.” The Russians, he said, do not take books to commit a crime. He believes they are just “hungry for foreign books,” which includes the Bible, of course.

PEIftMAFWO

DID you know that a frozen giant slumbers under one fifth of the land surface of the earth? This giant is the permanently frozen subsoil that is under almost all the land north of the Arctic Circle and large areas far south of the “circle.” In fact, more than 85 percent of Alaskan territory, and almost one third of Canada’s land area, and a broad belt in Siberia and regions south of there, are underlaid by this sleeping monster called in English “permafrost.” The Russians call it vechnaia merzlota, which simply means “perennially frozen ground.”

Permafrost has become a major problem to homesteaders wishing to inhabit these frozen areas. Military planners also have had to face it when building airstrips, radar stations and other military installations. Road, rail and bridge builders, city planners and farmers have all had to take into account the slumbering giant, because, when disturbed, this monster can wrinkle a city block as easily as men can crush tissue paper. It can swallow up airstrips, demolish bridges, rip up roads and railways. It can flatten forests, topple buildings and hurl slabs of ice as large as six feet thick and fifty feet long through space. It can unlock streams of usable, clear, delicious water, cause springs to break forth, and act as nature’s deep-freeze locker.

What is permafrost? Permafrost is not simply ice. One scientist defined it as “a thickness of soil or other superficial de

posit, or even of bedrock, at a variable depth beneath the surface of the earth in which a temperature below freezing has existed continually for a long time (from two to . . , thousands of years).”

Actually, there are two kinds of permafrost. There is the dry permafrost, which is perfectly dry ground or grave] with temperatures always below freezing. It is stable and quite predictable. It maintains its shape and solidity. Then there is the wet permafrost, which is the unpredictable, problem giant. It contains “up to six times as much water as solid matter, usually in layers of ice.”

Some authorities believe the ground in permafrost areas to be in three layers. The lower first layer consists of unfrozen ground, known by the Russian name talik. Directly above this layer is the permafrost proper, which remains frozen the year round. According to one authority, “this layer is usually several yards thick, but along the coast of the Arctic Ocean it often exceeds 500 feet in thickness. At Anderma, in northern Russia', permafrost was penetrated to a depth of 750 feet, and the temperatures found indicated that it probably continued down to a depth of 1,100 or 1,200 feet.” The layer of soil directly above the permafrost proper is called the active layer. This layer freezes and thaws, depending on local temperatures. However, when a great body of this wet frozen soil thaws and the water drains out from under it, there is nothing to keep the topsoil from caving in. The bottom literally drops out from under it, and whatever is constructed on this thin layer topples as the soil gives way.

Sometimes the topsoil buckles into huge mounds. This happens when the summer sun thaws the active layer. The water seeps down and collects above the permafrost proper. When the winter sets in and the frost level creeps downward, the collected body of water between the permafrost proper and the active layer begins to freeze. The expanding ice exerts tremendous pressure on the remainder of the water trapped between the two layers. The pressure finally becomes greater than the resistance of the frozen upper layer, causing the ground above to buckle upward and give way,¹ often with violent explosions and force. The earth’s surface in affected areas is split wide open and swellings often attain a height of 300 feet, with a perimeter of more than 3,000 feet. Imagine what such violent eruptions would do to an apartment house or an office building constructed on the site! A Russian scientist described a permafrost bombardment in Siberia that lasted two hours. He said that the bursting lee and earth sounded like the deafening rumble of cannon fire.

Permafrost’s Origin and Treachery

What caused the permafrost to form? Some say the glaciers were responsible for it, but today most scientists do not agree with that theory. Some believe that permafrost has been formed and may now be forming wherever the total amount of heat lost from the earth’s surface by radiation during the year is greater than the amount absorbed from the sun. There are those that say permafrost is receding, that it is being destroyed by the earth’s internal heat. The sporadic permafrost of the southerly zones is considered to be a relic of a once-colder climate, and the southern limits are said to be moving very slowly north as the earth’s climate warms up. Science Digest for February, 1958, states that “wells dug for the city of Mezen, Siberia, in 1837 all bit through permafrost. In 1933, engineers had to go 25 miles north of Mezen to find traces of it.” Still others will just as strongly assert that permafrost “is still forming.”

Permafrost appears to be predominant in the Tanana .Valley, where Alaska’s second-largest city, Fairbanks, is located and Where the largest area of potential agricultural land is found. People moving into this’area must learn to live with the unpredictable giant below them or else it will be their undoing. For example, a homesteader buys himself a tract of virgin land. He settles down to work it. He removes the trees that once provided insulation and builds a house and barn and clears an area for agricultural purposes. Thus large areas get exposed to the sun. The added heat disturbs the permafrost below. It is not long before huge caverns or gullies form in cultivated fields, the remaining trees either fall or remain tilted. The homesteader’s house and barn, which appeared to be standing on frost-free uplifts, are slanted. Big cracks mar the walls; the ceiling is cracked and the windows and doors no longer can be opened or closed. The homesteader is a victim of permafrost.

Taming the Giant

" Men who insist on living in these frozen areas must learn to live with permafrost or destroy it. At one time settlers tried to destroy it in places they were about to inhabit. They fought it with fire, the sun’s heat, cold river water and live steam. They battled it with shovel and bulldozer, but it remained relatively unharmed. Now they have agreed to live peaceably with the giant. The homesteaders now spend about as much money and effort to keep from upsetting permafrost as they once did in trying to destroy it. They have found that the giant can be a friend instead of a foe. When protected from abuse, permafrost is as good a foundation for buildings as concrete. Engineers have learned that heavily greased wooden poles driven into the permafrost make excellent foundations. The greased pole allows the active layer of permafrost to rise and fall around the post without affecting the building.

Hard-surface road and airstrip builders have made peace with the giant. They first dig a ditch, oftenten feet deep, or more if necessary, where the road or airstrip is to be laid. The ditch is filled with chipped rock or gravel and is allowed to freeze. This layer acts as insulating material. The highway or airstrip is built over this. While this procedure is admittedly slow and costly, yet it is very successful. Some companies are using refrigerated coils below the buildings next to the soil, thus insulating the buildings from the permafrost to keep from disturbing it.

Telltale Trees

How can one tell if permafrost exists below? Usually the trees give a general hint if there is any permafrost around. Pine trees with deep roots are unable to flourish in permafrost regions. Spruce trees have shallow roots and are able to thrive where the frost is a foot or more below the surface. Birches can survive, but only at the expense of much of their growth. Stunted birches are generally a sign that permafrost is near the surface. Where permafrost is close to the surface, often blueberry or low cranberry bushes and peat moss are plentiful. The presence of tall birch trees, white spruce, aspen and alder is a good indication that permafrost is more than four feet beneath the surface or that it may not exist at all in the area.

When permafrost is close to the surface, drainage is usually poor and the soil is .cold. If the area is made ready for cultivation, it will take the sun’s warmth about two years to lower the permafrost table beyond the reach of the roots of most annual plants, which would improve soil drainage and the temperature of the soil. What must be remembered is that the permafrost layer sometimes has imbedded within it large, chunks of clear ice. When these melt they can leave a field spotted with large pits. One pit was eight feet wide, fifteen feet long and twenty feet deep—not exactly a pleasant sight in one’s yard or potato patch.

A United States Government bulletin tells of a field that was smooth before clearing in 1908. By 1922 “pronounced individual and connected depressions had formed and by 1926 some trenches between mounds were as much as 5 feet deep. Cultivation stopped a year or two later because the irregular topography formed by the pits and mounds was dangerous to the operation of farm machinery. ... By 1938 the mounds were 3 to 8 feet high and about 20 to 50 feet in diameter." In 1938 part of this field was smoothed, only to start mound formation again the next year, and in 1948 mounds were the same size and shape and in the same positions as in 1938. Of course, there are large areas free of this mound- and pit-forming ground ice. But perhaps the best advice to the prospective homesteader is for him to study closely the tree formation and then consult such sources as the University of Alaska and the United States Geological Survey before settling down on a given area in these frozen regions.

The Giant’s Intriguing Side

At times the; giant is almost boyish in nature. For example, often when the permafrost erupts it will open up streams of usable, clear, delicious water. Some parts of Nome, Alaska, are served by such springs. Frequently the streams are warm and have a strong mineral content. Some springs have a tendency to break forth in the most unexpected spots. Science Digest tells of a spring at Omootnaya, Siberia, that suddenly shot upward, “engulfing a house and freezing solidly in a matter of minutes. When the logs were pried away a perfect replica of the house in solid ice was left.” Another spring is reported to have rushed up into a house in the form of a geyser. Russian scientists have published pictures of such icings in Siberia that show "dwellings completely filled with iee, with frozen waterfalls projecting from every window.”

In some parts of the northland permafrost acts as nature’s deep-freeze locker. It has preserved prehistoric plants and animals. The above-mentioned authority states: "Permafrost’s value as a treasure house of prehistoric plants and animals is unquestioned. In Alaskan deposits, 27 different plants and 20 large mammals have been found, along with rodents, mollusks, and even sponges. In 1901, during a flood near Sredne-Kolymsk, Siberia, the almost whole body of a young male mammoth melted free of its permafrost tomb and floated to the surface, terrifying the inhabitants Who saw it.” In recent years the permafrost locker has added to its collection boots, bone utensils, leather and even a bulldozer, which sank into the permafrost when an attempt was made to bulldoze an airstrip near Aklavik, Canada.

Much about permafrost is still unknown to man. For example, Why should there exist several layers of unfrozen soil between permanently frozen ground? What reasons can be given for the large masses of clear ice imbedded within the permafrost layer? Some of these chunks have been fifty feet in length and up to fifteen feet thick. Some of these huge blocks of ice are by themgelves, others appear in various formations. And the big question. What reason can be given for the permafrost in the first place? At present the University of Alaska is teaching a course in permafrost. Doubtless, full understanding of these northern regions and their multitudinous problems awaits the new world of God’s making, when all the earth will be subdued to his glory. Then, we have confidence, permafrost will be fully understood.

CfT ET’S be gay! Let’s get I i married!” says an old

French song. And certain it is that a wedding is an occasion of joy and gaiety. We simply cannot conceive of it otherwise. Is not that the way the Bible, God’s Word, presents the matter? When Adam was introduced to his bride, Eve, he rejoiced, saying: "This is at last bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” After looking in vain among the countless lower animals for a complement—how long we do not know—what a joy it must have been for him to meet Eve, not a thing but a person, perfect, beautiful, able to walk erect, to think, to speak, and emotionally, mentally and physically his complement. Surely that wedding day was a Happy one!

—Gen. 2:23.

Then too, when the psalmist David desired to describe the radiant sun he likened it to the beaming bridegroom “when coming out of his nuptial chamber.” When the inspired prophet Isaiah wanted to tell how great Jehovah God’s rejoicing over his restored people was, he wrote, "With the exultation of a bridegroom over a bride, your <joa win exult even over you.”—Ps. 19:5; Isa. 62:5.

If you live in a Western land the steps preceding the happiness of your wedding day are not overly difficult: you get acquainted, you look dt each other very tenderly, you exchange ideas much joy in being together, for a certain time the young the coquette, but the presenta-he families are quickly made,-and day for you the two of you get opular custom or tradition does not unduly burden you nor deny you the joy of getting married. But such cannot always be said for those in French Equatorial Africa who would get married.

Marriage Among the Bapoumous

If you call yourself Baounda and you want to espouse the lovely Bimou, how would you go. about it? First, you would have an understanding with her and give her a hundred francs. If she desires you as her spouse she brings the money to her uncle.

You return to your village and inform your parents about the step, and a short time thereafter you have your father accompany you to her village. Your father informs its inhabitants about the purpose of his visit and meets the girl’s family.

When all are gathered together and seated, her uncle stands up and says: “Sometime ago my niece brought me a hundred francs. I inform you that we are in accord with this marriage.” He then boasts about the virtues of his niece: she is serious, a virgin and she will bear her husband a large family. He also stipulates the amount of the dowry, enumerating a dozen or so items, including 10,000 francs in cash, a watch, a hat, a spoon, and so forth.

After the notables have approved the agreement they scratch their chins, and your father pledges to pay the dowry at the occasion of the next market. Only after your father has brought the dowry can you take the beautiful Bimou under your roof.

Among the Laris

If you should happen to be a young Lari that has set his heart on a pretty maiden, you would first seek the companionship of her father, making every effort to meet him, at the market, during a dance or in a hunting party. As soon as you meet him you give him two gourds of palm wine and arrange for another visit, at which time you bring him four gourds of wine. Your prospective father-in-law then invites you to consult with your future mother-in-law. Then you make arrangements for a third visit a few days later;

At that time you present yourself before her family and their guests and offer a gift to your future parents-in-law, bringing with you sufficient palm wine to satiate everybody present. In the midst of the general gaiety you leave the circle where you were sitting, take a glass of palm wine, drink half of it and offer the rest to your intended- If she accepts it, it is a sign that she likes you and that now you are authorized to court her. Immediately she leaves her place and follows through with a glass of palm wine in the same way, drinking half of it and offering you the rest. The parents of both your families now retire to discuss the amount of the dowry. Among the Laris this is determined solely on the basis of the qualities of the girl—the more virtuous, the more the dowry.

When the dowry is finally paid only one third of it goes to her father and the rest goes to your prospective brother-in-law, who becomes your future uncle and, on that account, the head of the family. In exchange for the dowry the father of your fiancee offers you a kid and your prospective brother-in-law offers a pig. These two animals you arrange to have slaughtered as soon as possible and to be served to the two families as part of the wedding feast. During the meal the neck and the skin of the abdomen of the kid and pig are given to your mother and father. The neck is a symbol of strength and the abdomen one of fruitfulness, security and pleasure. When the ceremony is over, the two of you go to your home followed by your mother-in-law, who insists on receiving a gift before she leaves.

Among the N'Toumou

The marriage customs in the African tribe known as the N’Toumou also have their peculiarities. There a young man starts his courtship by presenting himself alone to the maiden he is fond of. If she likes him, they come together for an agreement with the parents of both. If the future husband is accepted by her family, he passes two days in the house of his future in-laws and then returns home to announce the good news.

But the sighing swain wants to be certain that he pleases his future parents-in-law. So he goes hunting and gains honor for himself by catching a palm squirrel or a porcupine, which they are delighted to receive ai)d which make him more welcome. Here also the two families come together to discuss the dowry. In general, it includes 15,000 francs, a suit of clothes, a pair of shoes, and quite a few other items of more or less value, such as a gun, a bedsheet and a pail of water. At a fixed day the dowry is paid—but never in its entirety, as the price is too high. After having feasted on a sheep and a rooster, the parents return to their own village.

The marriage is not concluded by the payment of the dowry. Custom requires that the same evening the young man has to go to the village of his fiancee and find her. He may spend the whole night looking for her in vain. Then he may gain her only with the greatest of difficulty or not at all^How so?

Because parents have an interest in hiding their' daughter so that she can be affianced to another suitor for still another dowry. In fact, there are parents who by this swindle exploit many suitors and end up by auctioning off their daughter to the highest bidder. How would you like to be a lovesick N’Toumou swain? Or a N’Tou-mou maiden auctioned off to the highest bidder?

Among the Toubouri

What if you were a Toubouri maiden? Your father would have absolute authority over you. He could place you with any man he wished to. When you reached a marriageable age, which is puberty, according to tribal customs, a suitor might present himself to your father and request you. To please your father he would offer him a kid or a certain sum of money. In exchange your father would turn you over to him foi’ a certain number of days, usually from four to six, although sometimes longer, but never more than ten days. Your suitor might be old, afflicted with an incurable disease, ugly or even hideous in appearance, but that matters little. If your father so decrees, you must follow this man to his home!

When the time stipulated was over, your father would take you back but only to loan you out to still another suitor. In this way you would circulate from one suitor and his hut to another to enrich your father, and this might go on for years. The final marriage would take place only when you became pregnant. The one you would then marry would not necessarily be the father of your child but rather the one bidding the most cattle. While the dowry may vary according to how beautiful you happen to be, it is never less than twelve head of cattle. This price makes it well-nigh impossible for a youthful Toubouri to win your hand. Are you not glad you are not a Toubouri maid?

Marriage by the Obambas and the Galoas

The Ohambas mourn because their tribe is diminishing; but no wonder when we note their marriage customs. Among them marriage is almost wholly a matter of position and financial considerations. Young, beautiful girls are found in abundance among the chieftains of the cantons, the chiefs of the lands and the exactors of the customary laws, because these men have wealth and enjoy great authority. Men under thirty are not allowed to marry even though they may have the means for a dowry. Nor may a girl marry before she has experienced a trial marriage, which may last from ten to twenty years. Thus it is not unusual to see children assisting at the wedding of their parents. Were it not for these, however, the tribe of the Obambas might have died out long ago.

As for the Galoas, one characteristic of theirs is that of wholly ignoring difference in ages. They become affianced in anticipation. Thus the sheerest infant may be married off.

They have a legend regarding the origin of the dowry. According to it, an extremely ugly man once married a woman of great beauty, a “Venus of Ebony.” To be able to hold onto his wi^e he instituted the material alliance known as the dowry. Included in the dowry that the suitor brings to the girl’s parents are empty white square (whisky) bottles, bark of trees especially prepared for carrying off household dirt, bars of cast iron and copper bracelets.

The wedding day is a noisy one. After the negotiations between the members of the families and the notables are over, then the nuptial blessings take place. The beverages used are hydromel (a liquor made from honey and also known as mead), a symbol of meekness, and Samba, palm wine, the symbol of the bubbling household. The senior of the family presides over the ceremony. To picture the purity of his heart he marks himself and the members of his family with a kind of white chalk. Among other things, he lifts up his arms to heaven to invoke the manes or spirits of the ancestors.

In conclusion, he makes a long discourse for the benefit of the married couple. In this the bride is specifically informed that she is now entering marriage with a “basket without a bottom," that is to say, she is not to come to the village to babble all the frustrations she encounters in her married life!

Food for Thought

As has been noted, even the Scriptures indicate that getting married should be a supremely happy occasion. But how can that be so when a mercenary father dashes to the ground the hopes of both his daughter and her suitor, not to say anything of robbing the suitor of his dowry? Or when a father sells his daughter to the highest bidder without any regard for her feelings? Or when he rents her out for a few days at a time and keeps on doing so for months and even years on end? How far short such a father comes of doing to-others as he would be done by! Real happiness in marriage can be had only when God's laws governing it are conformed to. His law requires that love motivate one’s dealings with others. It prohibits sex relations between unmarried persons and requires lifelong faithfulness to one’s marriage mate. —Matt. 7:12; 19:6-9; Rom. 7:2, 3.

Surely the marriage customs that prevail among these tribes of French Equatorial Africa furnish food for thought. They lay bare the innate selfishness of man that is ever ready to exploit the weak, even to the extent of father^ exploiting their own daughters. They underscore how unjust man’s social institutions can get when he is without a divine guide.—Gen. 8:21; Jer. 10:23.

Such tribal customs should also cause modern woman—so prone to chafe at the Scriptural rule of man’s being the head of the home—to reflect. Her biological role ■ in the reproduction of the species, as well as her mental and emotional qualities, enables her to fulfill the role for which God created woman. She is safeguarded by the divinely given laws protecting her. These laws, however, limit her sphere.—1 Tim. 2:12.

And in particular should all whose attitude toward marriage literally is, “Let’s be , gay! Let’s get married!” ponder well the step they are taking. The wedding day is only the beginning. Of far greater importance is it that there be happiness beyond the wedding day. To insure that eventuality requires building with honesty, wisdom, self-control and affection, and that from the very first meeting onward.

! in the Orient ¹

AR E L I E F

map of Asia shows range upon range of mighty mountains stretching like a great washboard for thousands of miles eastward from the Bramaputra watershed in India to the South China Sea. In between these ranges, in deep gorges, are equally mighty rivers, the Yangtze Kiang, the Mekong, the Salween and the Irrawaddy. It is on these two latter rivers, between the Indian Ocean to the south, East Pakistan, Injlia and Tibet to the west, and China, Indochina and Thailand to the east, that we find the Union of Burma, a democratic republic.

For the past ten years various insurgent bodies, some of them Communist, have fought against the government. From a nadir in 1949, when it held only Rangoon and a few other main centers, the government has progressed so that today it holds control of all but a few remote jungle areas. A political crisis in late 1958 resulted in the invitation of General Ne Win, commander in chief of the army, to take over the premiership, which he did.

The Land of Burma

Stretching some 1,200 miles from north to south and some 500 miles from east to west, most of Burma is inside the tropics. Rangoon, the capital, presently a greatly swollen and rapidly building city of some three quarters of a million, is seventeen* degrees north of the equator—about the latitude of the south of Mexico—while Myitkyina, the northern railway terminus, is just over twenty-five degrees north, or about the same as Monterrey, Mexico, or Aswan in Egypt.

Bordering the tropical Indian Ocean, coastal Burma is always warm and the thermometer at Rangoon usually reaches or passes 80 degrees (Fahrenheit) even in the “cold season,” while it often passes 100 degrees in the hot weather. The cold season runs from November to the end of February. Then in March comes the hot weather. In inland areas

the heat becomes great, but as these areas are free from the high humidity of the coast, the heat is endurable. From March to May the weather is hot, and then when it becomes unendurable along come the southwest monsoon and the wet season with continuous clouds and almost daily rain and a big drop in the temperature, to the relief of all.

The People and Their Religion

Like Israel of old, the Burmese follow a lunar calendar with an extra month thrown in now and thep to equalize it with the solar year. The new year begins in April with national celebration of the “Water Festival,” when, for three days, all serious activity stops while the whole population labors from dawn to dusk hauling water and dousing one another to the accompaniment of dancing, merriment and song. No one is allowed to escape, and should you venture forth clad in oilskins and sou’wester, - these would be firmly opened and a can of water poured over you inside them—all of which is not as unreasonable as it may seem. The weather at that season is unendurably hot, so a few days’ holiday is a great relief, and even a ducking is a very small hardship.

As the name “Union of Burma” implies, a number of distinct peoples go to make up the population. The “Union” is made up largely of the Burmese, with the Shans, the Karens, the Chins and the Kachins. There are other minority groups besides these main five, ranging from the numerous Arakanese to the very few sea Gypsies of the far south. On top of that, most of the main groups have several subdivisions, each with its own language and customs. Thus there are said to be some twenty different sorts of Karens, at least six kinds of Chins and several differing Kachins. Especially In the country districts, many of these people speak only their own language, but in even the remotest parts someone can usually be found who speaks Burmese, because that is the language used in commerce and government. There is a large foreign population, mainly Chinese and Indian and with a very few westerners, so English, Hindustani and Chinese, particularly the Hokkien dialect of Fukien Province in East China, are spoken in most parts of the country.

The Burmese people are friendly, polite, cheerful and hospitable. Most are Buddhists of the Hinayana or southern sect of that widespread Oriental religion. While such Buddhism itself is rather a profound philosophy, the average citizen of Burma is a more practical philosopher. Although the literacy percentage is probably the highest on mainland Asia, a great many people are still illiterate and relatively few are well educated. So while learned monks of the many Buddhist monasteries hold that man has no soul ^but passes at death from one existence to another by immediate reincarnation, many of the common people believe man has a sort of soul or, rather, alter ego called the “butterfly spirit,” which temporarily leaves him when he is asleep or daydreaming and continues active after he dies. Such thoughts, coupled with the worship of spirits by building small houses for them and making offerings and burning candles to them, particularly under the banyan and other big trees, not being really Buddhist are frowned on by the monks but held and practiced by many nominal Buddhists.

Nearly all Burmese practice their religion at least to the extent of giving a little cooked rice to one of the shaven-headed, barefooted, yellow-robed and silent Buddhist mohks who may be seen in all parts of the country each morning, occasionally patrolling in quite large groups in Indian file. There are very many of these monks, and as, in addition, every Burmese Buddhist man counts it his inescapable duty to go through the ceremonies of ordination and to proceed with shaved head and yellow robe from house to house as a monk with his black lacquer rice bowl for at least a few days once in his lifetime, usually when he' is a youth, quite a percentage of the male population wear the yellow robe. They are not priests and firmly reject that appellation. They perform no mediatorial offices and do no regular preaching on the Buddhist sabbaths, which fall on the four quarters of the moon and not at seven-day intervals. They do perform religious functions at weddings, ear-boring ceremonies, dedications of houses and boats, funerals and other such. And on the Buddhist festivals, particularly in connection with the Buddhist Lent, they give long speeches on religious matters to audiences, some of them very large indeed, gathered in large sheds made of bamboo matting, usually in the evening.

According to Burmese Buddhism, a woman is a whole incarnation behind a man, yet they have a religious order of salmon-pink-robed women living in like celibacy in cloisters of their own order and each group going its rounds, in their case once a week, to receive offerings of uncooked rice and other eatables.

With so much religion there are religious buildings innumerable, some of them, like the Shwe Dagon Pagoda in Rangoon, being very large, costly and ornate. Of great interest to the traveler, too, are the very extensive ruins of ancient cities and shrines that rival in number places in current use. Current religious places are considered holy ground to be entered barefooted only.

Mogul invaders from the northeast and Indian merchants from the west brought Islam to Burma ages ago, and this religion is now represented by many thousands of Burmese, Indian and Chinese Moslems with their mosques and schools. There are probably even more Hindus of several sects, who have their temples and schools ,and run a large and efficient hospital at Rangoon. There are a few Parsees and Jews, and a number of Christians of various sects, mainly Roman Catholic and American Baptist. Utterly wearied by almost twenty years of war and other disturbances, there are many who seek a belter hope, righteousness and the true God. The small group of about 120 Jehovah’s witnesses in Burma try to bring them this comfort, but need many more to help them.

What the People Do

The main settled area of Burma lies in the broad valley and delta of the Irrawaddy River. Here we find wide plains and low hills incredibly green and fertile. The great bulk of the population are rice farmers, each with his little plot of ground (or sharecroppers, or agricultural laborers). They live in thousands of villages of half a dozen to a thousand or so houses, each village almost hidden behind large and shady trees, tamarinds, rain trees, mangoes, palmyra and coconut palms_T Houses in old villages are mainly large buildings of sawn teak with gigantic hardwood pdsts from deep in the ground right up to the ridgepoles. Newer villages and some of the poor have light and airy structures of split bamboo and thatch. Buildings in the larger towns and the cities are largely of brick, steel beams and ferroconcrete, just like the West.

The farming season begins with the rains in May. Until then the fields are parched, dry and cracked, and almost as hard as concrete. The rain softens the ground and then each farmer takes out his pair of oxen and his wooden, iron-shod plow, which is often so light he can carry it with ease on his shoulder, and plowing begins. A little later the seed rice is broadcast in the nurseries, later to be painstakingly transplanted by hand, stalk by stalk—a labor performed by many thousands of people bending double all day in water up to the thighs, largely in the rain and with large and hungry leeches ever draining away their energy, to provide a harvest of several million tons of rice. All this is done on flat country, with the fields surrounded each by a low earthen embankment, to retain the water so that each field is a shallow pool. There are types of rice that thrive on dry ground, like wheat, and some of them, unknown in the West, are very nice too. When the wet-ground rice is grown in the hills and high ranges the ground is terraced—a tremendous labor—so that each field can have its level pool.

Other crops are peanuts, onions, cotton, potatoes, beans, sugar cane, wheat, coffee, tea, valuable timber trees, many kinds of bananas and other fruits. Like the apocalyptic orchard, there seems to be at least one new kind of fruit ripe every month, and some trees yield two or three crops a year. There are candlenuts (used in the Pacific Islands for illumination), a few breadfruit trees, soap nuts (used for washing), jack fruit so large one needs a man to carry it, custard apples, marians, sour-sops, bulls’ hearts, the fragrant durian and many others.

Commerce and Industry

Rich in climate and natural resources and yet bordered by some lands poor and overpopulated, Burma has long attracted imrr^;grants. In times ps st enterprising and thrifty foreigners practically monopolized industry, crowding the easygoing and unworried Burmese into the less paying jobs. On attaining independence in 1948, the government adopted a policy of strictly limited immigration. It is now more difficult to get into Burma. Missionaries and those seeking employment and many others who could formerly freely enter are no longer allowed in. As far as possible all employment is kept open for Burmese men and women, of whom there are an abundance for most jobs in this nation that approaches twenty million inhabitants. There is a shortage of medical doctors, and there are probably a few other places in the higher educational and professional fields for which foreigners are still admitted. There is a big new iron and steel works at Rangoon that employs German technicians, and near it is a big pharmaceutical plant employing Englishmen. Both are built and run by the Burma government. Recently there was a suggestion to bring in some thousands of Japanese families to start soya bean cultivation.

Burma needs foreign technical assistance in mining and manufacturing. She could greatly benefit by such in modem farming, particularly in dairying, poultrykeeping, beekeeping (practically unknown in Burma) and up-to-date grain cultivation with the use of machinery, improved seed grains and modem fertilizers. Food preserving and canning are also little done.

The cities have every sort of industry from gem-cutting to shipbuilding. There are some oil fields, and mines for tin, tungsten in the form of wolfram, manganese, silver and other metals, coal and gems, and rubber plantations.

There is free though not compulsory education from the infant classes right to and through college. This is mainly in the Burmese language, with English introduced from the fourth standard onward. Private schools, some of them very large and efficient, teach English, Chinese and Indian languages as well as Burmese from the start.

Older people who cannot endure the cold would find Burma a fine place to live. When one makes adjustments in his diet and ways of life to suit the country, living can be very cheap indeed. For those who cannot endure the heat and humidity of the coast and the plains there are the highlands of the Shan plateau, and the Chin and Kachin Hills, which are never very hot and indeed Quite cold in winter. Burma would doubtless welcome retired pensioners and others with a regular income in foreign currency.

Burma is a beautiful place now. Soon, when God's kingdom rules all the earth and imperfection and the wicked are no more, it will easilv become a flawless paradise.

Ignorance, indifference or plain carelessness may be the reasons for this frame of mind, but in spite of what these men may imagine, their appearance is not good. Other men may be more conscious of their dress but still present a poor appearance for one reason or another. A few suggestions would help both types of men.

Clean Clothing

The first requirement for dressing well is to have clean clothing. Nothing mars personal appearance quicker than wearing clothing that is long overdue for a good cleaning. Because a man may not wear a suit as frequently as work clothes, that does not mean the suit never needs cleaning. It should be given a periodic trip to the cleaners. The same can be said for ties. They are often made of delicate material shoes. These are very often overlooked. A man may look good as far as his suit, shirt and tie are concerned but spoil it all by a hat with a sweat-stained band and by unpolished shoes. When he has the hat cleaned and blocked a new band can easily be put on. The finishing touch to a well-dressed appearance comes with a few minutes spent on polishing the shoes. This is too often overlooked.

What to Wear for Best Appearance

A common mistake that is made with sport clothes is to wear a patterned jacket with patterned slacks. For the best appearance plain slacks should be worn with a patterned jacket or vice versa. Generally, slacks that are darker than the jacket are preferred. This contrasting of patterned clothing with plain also holds true with shirts and ties. A patterned tie goes best with a plain shirt and a striped or checked shirt with a plain tie and plain jacket.

It is poor taste to mix business clothes with sportswear. A sport shirt should not be worn with a suit, and a dress-up hat, , such as a Homburg, should not be worn with sport clothes. The same holds true with shoes. Sport shoes go with sport clothes. Sleeveless pullovarsweaters belong with sport slacks and jacket, not with a business suit.

It is wise to buy clothing that can be matched or mixed. If a man owns a blue and a gray suit he has four suits. The extra suits are gained by mixing. The blue coat can be worn with the gray trousers and the gray coat with the blue trousers. If he owns a pair of tan or brown slacks he can make an additional suit or two by wearing his gray coat with them. Gray and brown go well together. In fact, gray blends nicely with almost any color. By watching the advertisements of men’s wear that appear in good magazines, a man can find good suggestions for making pleasing combinations.

A very poor appearance is presented when a man’s trousers are too short. It looks as if he has outgrown them. For the best appearance they should touch the shoes in front with a slight break. Sometimes trousers will shrink after being at the cleaners a few times. If they cannot be stretched back to the proper length, have a tailor let them out a bit.

The hat that is best for the man with a small or slender face is one that has a narrow brim and a small crown. It should be worn with the back pulled down a bit so it will reveal his face fully. A hat with a rolled brim is best for him. The full-faced man should wear a hat with a wide brim.

Clothing looks best when the pockets are not stuffed with things. Carry as little as possible. Nothing more than a neatly folded handkerchief should go in the breast pocket of the coat- Put pencils, pens and glasses in the inside coat pocket.

What to Look for When Buying Clothes

A suit that fits properly is essential to being well dressed. To get a proper fit a man should know what to look for when he buys a suit. If he does, he will not be confused while standing before a store’s mirror endeavoring to decide whether the suit he is trying on is for him or not.

When trying on a suit it is wise to transfer to its pockets the things you normally carry. A suit that fits well when the pockets are empty may not fit well when a wallet, handkerchief, keys, and so forth, are put in its pockets. This is especially important when alterations are made.

The coat size you take usually matches the measurement of your chest. With the coat on, the first thing to look at is the collar. Does it fit snugly at the back and sides of the neck? It should. One of the most outstanding signs of a bad fit is when the coat pulls away from the shirt collar, leaving a gap. Notice also how much of the shirt collar the coat covers. It should neither hide the collar completely nor expose it completely. Just a reasonable amount of shirt collar should show.

Now look at the shoulders. They should present a smooth, firm appearance across the back with no sign of wrinkling. The back and front of the coat should hang straight from the shoulder to the lower edge, free from wrinkles or bulges. The coat should fall close to the body and should cover the seat of the trousers. When buttoned, the coat should not pull. The lapels should not bulge but lie flat against the chest and present a smooth appearance.

The armholes should not be binding but rather comfortably large. If the whole coat lifts up when you raise your arms, it is a poor fit. When the arms are raised or when the shoulders are moved about, the coat should not feel tight. The coat sleeve should not be so long that it completely covers the shirt cuff. Its length should be such that it leaves a little of the shirt cuff showing, perhaps a quarter of an inch.

If a suit requires major alterations it is best to leave it in the store. Trying to make a suit over ruins it. Look for a better fitting one. Alterations that would include the opening of outside seams in the collar and shoulder of the coat should never be permitted. The raising or lowering of a collar is permissible. If a little more padding is needed in a shoulder, that is all right, because it is inserted from underneath and nothing more than the lining is opened. When sleeves need to be shortened or lengthened, the altering should not require more than an inch.

Trousers should hang naturally, straight from the waist. They should show no wrinkles in the front or in the seat. The seat and crotch should have sufficient fullness so the trousers do not feel tight when walking, bending over or sitting down. They should not be loose about the waist, but should have a snug fit.

Take a close look at the workmanship of the coat. If it is well made, the patterns will match at the seams, in the front and back. They will also match on the pockets, at the sleeves and at the collar. The stitching throughout the garment should be even, and the linings should be smooth and neatly sewed in place. The suit fabric should be smooth. If there is any puckering at the seams or any rippling at the lapels, the suit was not properly made. Both sides of the buttonholes should be sewed. The shoulder padding should be not only smooth but also flexible.

A sure sign that a manufacturer has skimped on material is shown by trousers whose crotch has been pieced. The material of the trousers should ‘be joined to itself there and not to an inserted triangle of cloth. While examining the trousers check the pockets. They should be lined with a firm, closely woven cotton.

There are many fabrics from which a man can choose. If he should decide on a worsted, it is wise to get a two-by-two-ply worsted, as it has much better wrinkle recovery than the two-by-one-ply worsted. This means the fabric has two-ply yams in both the warp and the weft. Look at the label for fiber content. Reprocessed or reused wool is not the best.

Regarding summer suits that incorporate synthetic fibers the magazine Consumer Reports stated: “A good all-wool, two-ply, tropical worsted suiting is more serviceable in a summer suit than any synthetic or blended fabric. A good tropical worsted stands up very well under dry cleaning, has excellent wrinkle resistance and recovery, and docs not ‘pill', cling, or collect dust as do some of the synthetic or blended fabrics.”

It is well to keep in mind that buying cheap *clothes seldom proves to be good economy. Good clothes give a man more value for his money and more satisfaction than cheap ones. They wear better and maintain a good appearance longer.

Hots to Care for Clothing

The man who knows how to dress well protects his clothing investment by giving his clothes good care. If he has more than one suit, he will not wear the same one for several successive days. Clothes give better service when they are allowed to rest. By resting good clothes they restore themselves to proper shape and preserve their press. It is best to alternate your suits. The same can be said for shirts and shoes. They wear longer and preserve their shape better when rotated. Shoes also need shoe trees for prolonging their good appearance.

It does clothing no good to throw it in a heap when you take it off. Hang your suit on a good coat hanger so the wrinkles can fall out. Fold the trousers neatly across the bar of the hanger or hang them up by the cuffs.' By giving the suit proper care it will look good the next time you put it on. While your garments are hanging in the closet allow enough space between them for a circulation of air.

When something is spilled on clothing, remove the spot as quickly as possible with cold water, and at the first opportunity use cleaning fluid. Spots that are left on clothing become imbedded in the fabric and are extremely difficult to remove. Perspiration stains can often be removed by dampening the stained fabric with water and then holding it for a few minutes over the open mouth of a bottle of ammonia. Chewing gum can be removed easily after an ice cube has been applied to it.

A suit should be given a good brushing about once a month, especially the shoulders. This protects the material from becoming imbedded with dust. Once in a while brush out the cuffs of the trousers and the various pockets.

A good protection for trouser cuffs from becoming worn is a small strip of cotton tape sewed to the inside edge of the cuff at the front and rear. Since tweed trousers have a tendency to become baggy, have a tailor sew a lining to the knees. The lining will prevent the fabric from stretching. Pull up your trouser legs a bit when you sit down. It will help preserve their shape.

By never grasping the crown of your hat when you take the hat off or put it on you will preserve its shape and good appearance. The proper way to put a hat on and take it off is by grasping the rim at the front and the back. Go over the hat occasionally with a soft brush. Your brushing strokes should be counterclockwise or in the same direction the fur is lying. When it is not in use, keep it in a box as a protection from dust and dampness.

A tie should never be taken off and hung up with the knot still in it. This is bad for the tie. The stretched fibers may develop permanent wrinkles. When a silk tie becomes spotted with water allow the spots to dry. Then rub the spot with the tie itself or a tissue or a clean silver coin. That should remove the spots. Stubborn soiled spots can often be removed from a tie by first steaming it and then gently rubbing it with cleaning fluid. Be sure to follow the grain of the material.

The type of clothing men wear may vary from one land to another and even in different parts of the same country, but everywhere it is true that it is not difficult for a man to be well dressed' if he gives a little thought and care to his clothes. People appreciate good taste in clothing and are more inclined to listen to a man who presents a nice appearance than they are to one who is slovenly dressed. This is important, not only to businessmen, but also to ministers who carry on their ministry by making personal contacts with people. But whatever a person’s occupation may be, it is worth the thought and effort to be tastefully and neatly dressed.

TRAINING THE Solomon Islan TO PREACH

WHAT and where are the Solpmon Is-lands? They are a double row of mountainous, heavily forested islands, lying 1,500 miles northeast of Australia and stretching out some 900 miles.

The total population of the (British) Solomon Islands is estimated at 108,000. Most of the inhabitants are native Melanesians, a dark-skinned people with thick beards. However, there are also to be found 5,000 Polynesians as well as some Europeans and Chinese. While a variety of languages are spoken, pidgin English is the common or commercial tongue. Among the principal exports of these islands are copra (dried coconut meat, yielding oil), shells for the making of mother-of-pearl buttons, and timber.

For many years various religious missions have operated on these islands. Recently Jehovah’s witnesses have also become active here. They now have two congregations: one at Honiara, Guadalcanal, where the government for the islands is located, and the other on the large island of Malaita.

Though at present many of the Watch Tower Society’s publications are banned here, it is hoped that before long these prohibitions will be entirely removed. In view of this situation the Society’s special representative, a circuit servant,' interviewed the various officials of the government to assure them that the work of the Witnesses is conducive to peace and good will.

Leaving Honiara, the circuit servant took an overnight boat trip to Malaita. Upon arrival he was 7 greeted by a native pioneer minister, whose dark shiny skin stood out against his sparkling pearly teeth and clean white shirt. Let us follow these two as they tell us of their visit with the Witnesses and men of good will on this island.

“After walking along a muddy and slippery jungle trail that at times took us over improvised bridges, we reached the village of Magi. It consists of some fifteen to twenty houses made of narrow grasslike leaves of the sao tree and built upon stilts—a picturesque sight indeed. While all the villagers claim to be Witnesses, only two of them are dedicated and have been baptized.

“At 6:30 a.m., as usual, all meet at the large, newly built Kingdom Hall to consider the text for the day. At nine o’clock, teaching of Bible truths and training for the ministry begins in earnest, with some sixty able to be present. Simple Bible principles are discussed, and sermons are explained and rehearsed. Then ten of the more mature ones are each assigned to teach five or six others. It is indeed heart-cheering to see the diligence with which each of these undertakes his teaching responsibilities, making the Kingdom Hall a beehive of activity. After some days of intensive training like this, the various ones begin to relate experiences they are having in giving their newly learned sermons to their friends.

“But we had more villages to visit, and a happy group of fifteen joined us as we started out in the pouring rain. After a two-day trek across the mountainous island, walking through jungle paths, climbing steep mountainsides, fording swollen rivers and spending a night in a vacant native hut, we reached the mountain village of Tabaa.

“Only one dedicated Witness is living here, but there are so many persons of good will that they have built not only a Kingdom Hall but also a house for visiting Witnesses. Here we also spent several days in a program of intensive Bible education, teaching from seventy-five to a hundred persons of good will.

“Leaving Tabaa, in a few hours our party came in sight of the beautiful blue ocean, and not far from the shore lies the native village of Anifiu, where one dedicated Witness lives. For more than forty years he had been the pastor of the local mission, but now he is a zealous witness for Jehovah.

“How happy this native brother was to see us! With what satisfaction he showed us their new, beautiful and well-built Kingdom Hall! Only one dedicated Witness here, and yet there was a Kingdom Hall and even a home for missionaries!

“Seventy-five persons of good will attended the meetings that afternoon. More meetings were held in the evening, and the next morning we were up in time for the discussion of the day’s text at 6:30. After breakfast we again had a program of teaching and training, with demonstrations in giving Bible sermons.

“Among those present we noted two refined-looking natives who spoke English quite well. Upon inquiry we learned that they had come from a village some four hours’ walking distance away. A few months ago one of Jehovah’s witnesses had visited them, and, as a result of his labors, most of the villagers were convinced that the Witnesses had the truth. One of these men had a list of the names of more than a hundred persons that wanted to be taught the Bible by the Witnesses; in anticipation of their coming to teach them they had already built a Kingdom Hall. In fact, they were even carrying on meetings by themselves as best they could, with an average attendance of about eighty. They were willing, yes, eager to preach. Would we come and show them how? Yes!

“We also found representatives of nine other villages present, in .five of which Kingdom Halls had been built awaiting the arrival of Jehovah’s witnesses! All in all, there were 250 persons of good will in an area where there were only two old dedicated Witnesses of limited teaching ability! What could we do? We promised to return in about six weeks to visit each one of their villages, teaching and training them for the ministry.

“However, il order that they might carry on immediately in some systematic Bible study we gave representatives from each village copies of the daily texts for the next two months. Each morning they were to come, together at their Kingdom Halls and consider the same Bible text as > Jehovah’s witnesses were using earth-wide. We also provided each village group with at least one copy of the Bible-study aid From Paradise, Lost to Paradise Regained, as fortunately there were one or two in each village that could read English passably well. These we then instructed, to the extent time permitted, in just how to conduct a Bible study properly, using this book as a guide.

“Before leaving we called 1o thank all who had worked so hard to make us comfortable during our stay. Then as we came to the outskirts of their village, there they all stood, together with representatives from the surrounding villages, to bid us adieu. While in most case# the spoken words were not understood, the friendly handshakes spoke volumes. Their awaiting our return ttuly calls to mind the words of the prophet: ‘For his law the islands themselves will keep waiting.’—Isa. 42:4.”

DURING the month of December, certain religious groups of Christendom are accustomed to indulge in a holiday on which there is an interchanging of gifts between relatives and friends, and some may be heard to quote 2 Corinthians 9:15, which says: “Thanks be to God for his indescribable free gift,” as a justification for joining in the holiday. Paul’s remark has nothing whatever to do with any Christmas holiday. Neither has such holiday gift-giving anything to do with God's indescribable free gift.

What is this “indescribable free gift” for which Paul thanked God? Some contend it was Jesus Christ. Others say that charitable giving is meant here. One authority states: “The thought of the church bound together through the fellowship of giving and receiving leads Paul to a final exclamation of thanks ... to God. He thanks God either for this unity of diverse groups which come together in such practical brotherhood or, as he considers the rich benefits of what God has given in the gospel, gives thanks for the inexpressible gift of Christ, who is able to save all men and bring them together in one church.”

According to the discussion by which the apostle leads up to his classic expression of thanksgiving, the unspeakable, indescribable free gift of God refers to something broader than his Son Jesus Christ. Some Bible scholars say that to suppose that the “gift” is God’s only-begotten Son Jesus Christ is too wide a deviation from the immediate context. They contend that the apostle would have been bound to indicate such a meaning, but no such indication is given. There is no denying, however, that Christ Jesus is the essential basis and the sole channel for God’s indescribable free gift, but the gift itself is something more comprehensive.

Of all gifts, Christ Jesus is God’s greatest gift of love to mankind, and nothing could surpass that beloved Son as a gift. No man can conceive, much less declare, how great this loving gift is; for “into these very things angels are desiring to peer,” said Peter.—1 Pet. 1:12.

The thought that Christ is God’s gift to men of good will pervades the Greek Scriptures: “For God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son.” “He who did not even spare his own Son but delivered him up for us all.” Even the faith we have to receive Jehovah’s undeserved kindness is a gift from God through Christ: “By this undeserved kindness, indeed, you have been saved through faith; and this not owing to you, it is God’s gift.” Therefore Jesus Christ may be well called an , indescribable free gift, as he is the highest God ever gave to man; though this is not what Paul is speaking about in 2 Corinthians 9:15.—John 3:16; Rom. 8:32; Eph. 2:8.

Paul wrote this letter to the brothers at Corinth in Achaia, Greece. He called attention to their privilege of contributing for the needs of the poor Christian brothers at Jerusalem. Their financial and material contributions would be evidence of Jehovah’s active force working within their hearts. These Corinthians were filled with God’s spirit. They were gifted with an understanding and appreciation of the precious truths of God’s Word. Now Paul calls-on them for some act of sacrificial generosity. He stirs them up to do their utmost in the way of contributions by bringing to their notice the example of their brothers in Macedonia. These Macedonians were poor, but still they gave from their meager circumstances, which demonstrated the extent of their faith and love. Then Paul points to the gracious example of Jesus. He says: “For you know the undeserved kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich he became poor for your sakes, that you might become rich through his poverty,” Richer in heaven than all the other sons of God, Jesus emptied himself of all this and took up human life. While here on earth he made no claim to anything material, not even to a place to lay his head.—2 Cor. 8:9.

Paul’s call to the Corinthians to be generous is a test of how far the good news about the Christ has won their hearts. It is a test of their spirit. The apostle tells the Corinthians that they will be glorifying God by their generosity. As a result of such Christian liberality many people will feel impelled to give God thanks, said Paul. Christians are given the privilege of showing mutual consideration for one another. Also, an escape is provided from laying up treasures on earth, where danger of loss exists. The one who voluntarily gives generously is certain to benefit spiritually. No greater pleasure could be ours than to see those benefiting by our gifts to God’s cause recognize Him as the Cause of such true love and then give him thanks and praise for it.—2 Cor. 9:6-9.

So our gift does not stop with just relieving the needy person. It goes beyond this and causes God to be thanked and served by others. Also, when one section of God’s people contributes to the needs of another group of them, think of the unifying effect it has! How much kindlier and with how much less prejudice the Jewish brothers at Jerusalem could feel toward the contributing Gentiles! They sensed more deeply that God had indeed welded the Jewish and the Gentile members into one body in Christ Jesus, despite their differences. The Jewish receivers discerned more clearly that the Gentile contributors were truly living up to their professions of being subject to the teachings of the good news. The prayers that the receivers offered to God bound them more closely to the contributors, all owing to the extraordinary favor that God expressed to the brothers who contributed.

Such is the wholesome effect when Christians exercise their love toward their brothers. Here is how Paul describes it: “Through the proof that this ministry gives, they glorify God because you are submissive to the good news about the Christ, as you publicly declare you are, and because you are generous in your contribution to them and to all; and with supplication for you they long for you because of the surpassing undeserved kindness of God upon you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable free gift.”—2 Cor. 9:13-15.

It dawns upon us, therefore, that the unspeakable, inexpressible and “indescribable free gift” for which Paul so warmheartedly gave thanks to God is not Christ Jesus. The free gift is that “surpassing undeserved kindness of God” that Jehovah has shown to these devoted Christians. This goodness of Jehovah toward his dedicated people overflowed in their generosity toward the needy brothers at Jerusalem.

Such undeserved kindness of God is so marvelous that it surpasses human power of description or expression. Necessarily such favor includes God’s Son, by whom such favor comes to us. Such gift of God’s exceeding undeserved kindness and favor means the sum total of all his goodness and loving-kindness through Christ Jesus to his people all their days on earth. It abounds to their eternal salvation and to his glory and vindication.

Moroccan Tragedy

<£ Human greed and ignorance combined to form one of the worst tragedies in MeknSs history. Moroccan families use a lot of olive oil for cooking purposes. Some Moroccan dealers thought they saw a quick way to make some extra money. These men purchased cheaply a quantity of surplus aircraft machine oil from a United States air base in the country and mixed it with the icooking oil and sold it to the people at a reduced price. Poor families bought the diluted oil and used it in their cooking. Soon whole families found their hands and feet paralyzed. The streets of Meknes were filled with paralyzed people begging for help. Health authorities rushed to the scene and after desperate effort traced the cause to the diluted oil. The aircraft oil had a chemical in it that attacks the nerves and leaves its victims paralysed. Before all the oil stock was confiscated, 10,-000 people had been stricken, with no cure in sight.

Antj-U.S. Riot in Japan

> The most violent demonstration against the United States since the May Day riot of 1952 took place in Tokyo, November 27. Some 20,000 demonstrators broke through police lines and invaded the Parliament grounds to demand an end to the United States-Japa/iese security treaty. Some 371 persons were hurt in the melee. When darkness fell the crowds withdrew. Peace returned.

Cranberry Jam

® On November 8, Dr. Arthur S. Flemming, United States Secretary _of Health, Education and Welfare, warned American housewives that some cranberries were con-taminated by a chemical weed killer that induced cancer in rate. This produced a nationwide scare. Cranberries were dropped from menu and market shelves. Several states and cities ordered all sales of cranberries stopped. However, a purity test was approved. The bad stock was eliminated and the good cranberries were stamped with an approved label. How serious the scare? One scientist stated that a person would have to eat 15,000 pounds of cranberries a day for many years to suffer any ill effects from the “dangerous" chemical. The chemical appears naturally in cabbage, turnips and broccoli, and no one particularly gets upset over these being on the market. The scare, however, will mean about $100,000,000 loss to growers.

Rocket Talk

<$> Rockets with hydrogen warheads are being produced on assembly lines tn the Soviet Upton at the rate of 250 a year, according to Premier Nik i t a s Khrushchev. “We con id raze a i 1 our potential enemies off the face of the earth,” said the peace-preaching premier. United States officials were unimpressed. They estimate that the Soviet Union has no more than ten intercontinental ballistic missiles.

A Vote Against Atom Tests

A resolution, introduced by Austria, Sweden and Japan that recommended Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States to continue unoJSciaJ suspension _of nuclear tests while Geneva meetings were in progress, was adopted by the United Nations 78 to 0. A second resolution sponsored by the Asian and African nations called on other states to abstain from nuclear experiments, This resolution was accepted by a vote of 60 to 1, with 20 abstentions. France, who plans to have her own nuclear bomb soon, voted against the resolution.

Key to Peace—De Gaulle

<S> President Charles de Gaulle of France said that in the final analysis Europe would decide the shape of things to come. "If the peoples of Europe, regardless of which side of the curtain they are situated on, wish to establish concord between them, then peace will be assured,” said De Gaulle. "But if Europe remains divided into two opposing factions, war will sooner or later destroy the human race.”

Death of an Automobile

•■$> On November 19 the Ford Motor Company announced that it was stopping the pro-d u c t i o n of the Edsel. Edsel sales were disappointing, In 1957 some 50,000 Edsels were sold; 1958, less than 29,00(1; 1959's figure ran about 30,000 sales. The company said it hoped to sell 250,000 Edsels the first year. Fewer than 110,000 cars and station wagons have been sold in the 2 6 months since the Edsel made its appearance September, 1957. The car was developed over a three-year period at a cost of some $250,000,000. Production ended November 18, 1959. The Edsel came to an unexpected end. However, auto dealers sold 4.6 million new ears in the first nine months of 1959, a peak year in car sales. Foreign car sales jumped from 265,919 for the first nine months of 1958 to 455,502 in 1959. Volkswagen is still the best seller in the foreign field, but the Renault is running a close second. Rambler sales increased 123 percent.

$14,000,000,000 for Aged

•$> The United States has some 15,000,000 people who are over 65, and some 70 percent of these draw old-age insurance benefits. To maintain its older people the government spends about $14,000,000,000 a year.

Bishops and Birth Control

A 1,500-wo rd statement approved by more than 200 Roman Catholic bishops made plain that they are not in sympathy with artificial birth control. The statement made clear that the bishops were opposed to the use of contraceptive devices and drugs. It stated that Catholics would not “support any public assistance, either at home or abroad, to promote artificial birth prevention, abortion or sterilization whether through direct aid or by means of international organizations.” United States Roman Catholic presidential aspirant Senator John F. Kennedy supported the statement in part. Protestant Episcopal Bishop James A. Pike stated: The Catholic stand condemns millions in less fortunate parts of the earth "to starvation, misery and despair.” Dr. John C.

Bennett, dean of Union Theological Seminary in New York city, said the Catholic statement presents a view that "has no sound moral or religious belief, and which has been rejected by most other Christian groups.”

Improved Mining Method

<§> The Russians have reportedly developed an inexpensive mining method that far exceeds anything the United States has developed so far. They can sink a ten-foot shaft about three feet in four minutes. A 24-foot hole can be sunk about three feet in 25 minutes. This is about ten times faster than conventional methods.

Earth's Inside Cooler

<$> Scientists assert that the bottom of earth's crust is about 900 degrees Fahrenheit and its center boundary ebre about 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit, which is considerably cooler than previously believed.

Prefer the Antarctic

<§> Dr. Philip Lai, with twelve years of experience on polar expeditions, gave reasons why some men prefer to live in the frozen lands to comfortable homes in so-called civilized countries. He said they want to get away from nagging wives, impossible marriages and the headache of "keeping up with the Joneses.” Men who found it hard to adjust to modern society quite often found happiness and security in the Antarctic, Dr. Lai said.

Advertising to Fill Pews

<§> Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Protestant, and Jewish organizations have at least one thing in common—t hey want their pews filled. To this end they have launched an $8,000,000 advertising campaign, which has as its key slogan: “Find the strength of your life . . . worship together this week.”

VD Jumps 200 Percent

<$> A number of United States cities have seen a 200-percent increase in venereal disease since 1956. The tragic note is that the increase is mostly among youths between the ages of 15 to 19.

Chilled Blood Stops Heart

<§> Since 1957 drugs have been used by surgeons to stop the heart. The organ would begin functioning again as soon as the returning blood would wash away the drug. The new method calls for chilling the blood to 62 degrees Fahrenheit or below. The chilled hlood stops the heart. By using this method patients’ hearts had been stopped for 45 to 60 minutes without any noticeable bad effects to the organ. The new method allows for cold blood to he sent through the heart muscles to prevent oxygen starvation and chemistry changes. It also gives surgeons more time to work on patients, increasing their chance for survival.

Problem with Teeth

<$> About 97,000,000 Americans have decayed teeth that need attention. The nation’s family dental bill reportedly totals $1,700,000,000 a year; still only about 40 percent get dental care. Authorities say tooth decay could be tremendously reduced by fluoridation of the water supply. Political wrangling and operation costs are obstacles that stand in the way. The American Dental Association warned that tobth paste ads that claim they can prevent tooth decay are false and dangerous, because they could result in widespread dental neglect.

Graft Tissue for Face

<$> The skin of a patient's neck is very much like facial skin in color and texture. Recently doctors have perfected a system whereby skin from the neck can be used to repair

; r sets on ft patient’s i: > v. operation heretofore

; ■ successful. Skin can ;*■      ■■. d from the neck in

f> < ipiece measuring as ■" ■ n iour by eight inches.

A Synthetic Penicillin Pill

Soon a synthetic penicillin pill called Syncillin may replace the' penicillin injection. The colorless tablet is not expected to cause dangerous allergic reactions attributed to penicillin shots. What is more, it appears to be more potent, producing twice the blood activity of potassium, penicillin V. However, there is much experimenting to be done with the synthetic tablet before it can he released on the market.

One Teacher—100,000 Pupils

<4. The day is not far off when one instructor will be teaching 100,000 pupils, said David Sarnoff, chairman of the Board of Radio Corporation of America.

This, he asserted, will take place through the medium of television. One gifted profes-■ sor will teach as many students as would require 2,000 teachers under ordinary classroom pattern. “The ablest teachers will be better paid, and will do a better job for more pupils, in less time, at less cost than ever in the past,’’ Sarnoff said. Through educational television, he foresees the time when “it may be possible for those who, for one reason or another, cannot enter college, to earn a college degree in their own homes.’’ The basis for this marvelous educational campaign is a 1-ready laid, he said, in the forty-three noncommercial educational stations now in operation.

Mr. E. Mosquito

The letter “E” stands for “elegant.’’ Every time man studies nature at close hand, new surprises await him. A scientist at the Smithsonian Institution took a close look at the mosquito and remarked that it was “really an elegant insect.” It Is sort of a three-stage rocket, from egg to wiggler to mosquito. From egg to a highly efficient flying machine equipped with ail its dangerous weapons is a matter of only a few days. It makes the bridge from its life in a stagnant pool to life in the air without any adjustment problem. Despite what men think, it is an elegant insect, says the scientist.

Light-Plane Record

# A 56-year-pld flying grandfather from Winona, Minnesota, completed a flight that covered 6,911 miles in 56 hours and 26 minutes in a plane with a single four-cylinder engine. He traveled from Casablanca, Morocco, to El Paso, Texas.

On your doorstep

you have welcomed hundreds of visitors, among them perhaps the one who brought you this magazine. Do you know how many million's of doorsteps have been approached by those carrying publications like this one? A report of their activity for the year 1959 will amaze you, and their experiences in reaching truth-hungry people the world over will thrill you. Obtain and read the

1960 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses

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