Transforming Dry Deserts into Green Farms

Making Mealtimes More Enjoyable

An African Makes His Mind Over

PAGE 20

JUNE 22, 1965

FHB REASON FOR THIS MAGAZINE

News sources that are able to keep you awake to the vital Wues of our times revjt be unfettered by censorship and selfish interests. "Awake!" has ho fetters, it recognizee facts, faces fads, is free to publish facts. It Is not bound by pditlcal tiesj if is unhan*, pered by traditional creeds. This magazine keeps itself free, thai it may speak freely to you. But it does not abuse its freedom, it maintains integrity ti truth.

The viewpoint of **Awake!” is not narrow, but is internathnal. “Awbkel" has Its own correspondents In Scores of nations. Its articles are read in many lands, in many languages, by millions of persons.

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

“Awake!" pledges itself to righteous principles, to exposing hidden foes and subtle dangers, to championing freedon^for ail, to comforting mourners and strengthening those disheartened by the failures of a delinquent world, reflectina sure hooe far the establish, ment of God's righteous new order in this generation.

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

PuBusHsn SntutuNwrasLY nr ths Unhid Stam# by THE WATCHTOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY OF NEW YORK, ING 117Adan>s Street -            . Brooklyn, N.Y. 11201, U.S.A.

ua> in Enoukd st WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY

Watch Tower House, The RI (leeway London N.W. 7, England N. H. Know, President                     Grant Suites, Secretary

Th* libit tnaelitira nsrtirfy ate Hl “Awahtr' It tba One Worth Tranlitlii rt th* Hrty M|tww, IKI idftte. When rthw trnailitlMi ere ate. th 11 It rtMrty marW.

CONTENTS

Do Not Jump to Conclusions

Are Haunted Houses Hoaxes?

Transforming Dry Deserts into

Green Farms

The Common Era

Making Mealtimes More Enjoyable

When You Drive, Look and See!

Furred Acrobats of the Treetops

Exemption for the Sheep

An African Makes His Mind Over How Long Before Fruit?

An Encounter with Death

Church. Group Visits Kingdom HaH

"Your Word Is Truth”

What Were Moses’ Sources for

Genesis?                           27

Watching the World

Jump

ONE Saturday night last February

a Bridgeport, Connecticut, man visited a New York City bar. After a time he discovered that his wallet was missing. Immediately he jumped to the conclusion that two men at the bar had lifted it from his pocket. Accusations were made, and a fight ensued. Suddenly the Bridgeport man grabbed a gun and shot the other two men, one of them fatally. On leaving the bar he went to his car, and there on the seat was the missing wallet! It had slipped out of his pocket

How terrible the consequences can be when one jumps to conclusions! While seldom may the effect be as-deadly as in the above instance, another's reputation often is unjustly damaged. Hard feelings and strained relations can result People may even grow cold toward their neighbors, and avoid them, simply because of failing to decide on the basis of the facts.

For example, it has often happened that a person jumps to the conclusion that an acquaintance is angry with him merely because he failed to speak when they passed each other. As a result the attitude may be taken, If that is the way he wants to be, I won’t speak to him either.’ But nine times out of ten the person has jumped to the wrong conclusion. His acquaintance is not at all angry with him; he may have simply been absorbed in thought and failed to notice. How sad it is that friendly relations should be damaged over such a small thing! Yet this regularly happens when judgments are based on emotions rather than on facts.

Jumping to conclusions can particularly upset family relations. A husband may arrive home late for dinner and by the time he walks in thedoor his wife may be so angry that she lights into him before he has an opportunity to greet her. She concludes that he has been inconsiderate for not advising her that he was going to be late. What an injustice this can be! Especially when she finds out that he was involved in an accident and was in no position to notify her. There is no question that failure to decide on the basis of facts can have serious consequences.

It is not uncommon, for instance, for a person who sees his marriage mate speaking to a friend of the opjtosite sex to jump to the conclusion that much more is going on than meets the eye. There may be no facts or evidence to this effect, only unfounded suspicion; Yet accusations are made, and a verbal fight ensues. The marriage is often the fatality.

Another common mistake is to form opinions of people-on the basis of first impressions. Once in a while you will hear a person remark after meeting someonet.

“She impresses me as ■ being snooty.” On what is the conclusion based? Probably not on any real evidence. Perhaps memories of a former acquaintance who had a similar facial expression or mannerism are responsible for the opinion that this person is of the same disposition. But how unfair to jump to conclusions before getting to know someone! A barrier may be raised to prevent what otherwise might develop into a pleasant friendship. Wise persons are not hasty about forming opinions.

People in positions of responsibility particularly need to guard against jumping to conclusions. When another person’s welfare is at stake, it is no time to make snap decisions. It is a serious wrong to judge a matter without considering all the evidence. One’s personal feeling, or what seems to be so, should not be the determining factor. One ought to be governed by the facts. Appropriately, God’s law requires that matters be decided on the basis of evidence from the mouth of at least two or three witnesses.—Matt. 18:16; Deut. 19:15.

Many times popular prejudices are responsible for biased conclusions. In some localities, for instance, the popular belief is that certain races are inferior and have a greater disposition to criminal activities than others. So when a crime is committed, you will often hear persons jump to a conclusion, blaming the unpopular minority. Yet those who are in the majority here may be in the minority elsewhere, and there, because of a different set of local prejudices, they find that they are under suspicion. How foolish! How unfair it is to jump to conclusions on the basis of popular prejudices!

In the field of religion, too, prejudice often causes people to jump to conclusions. Many persons, for instance, see the hypocrisy of the clergy and so hastily conclude that all religion, is bad. Yet the facts reveal that, just ns in the first century, a few persons are practicing true Christianity and are accomplishing much good. Other people jump to the conclusion that, in view of the charges made by Higher Critics, the Bible can no longer be accepted as true. But neither is this so. Said one leading archaeologist: “I was brought up a ‘Higher Critic,’ and consequently disbelieved the actual truth of the early narratives of the Bible. Since then I have deciphered thousands of tablets, and the more I learn, the more I believe the Bible to be true.”¹

In matters of religion particularly, it Js important to get the facts. Fittingly it has been said that digging for facts is far better exercise than jumping to conclusions! So do not go by hearsay or what is popular. Investigate your beliefs in the light of reliable evidence. Examine the Bible with an open mind. Be willing to study to determine what is true and what is false. By all means, do not jump to conclusions!

the house because of its very reputation of being haunted.

Noises and Flypig

Objects

Footsteps in the night are one of the most commonly reported noises. A haunted house in Lpndon, England, was reported on by the Ottawa (Canada) Citizen Weekend Magazine of October 5,1963; a former occupant of the house

es, “that there is an element of mystery which calls for elucidation, and which the most scientific and critical minds have hitherto failed to make dear.”

It would be a simple matter if one could say that all these 'cases .are hoaxes. Certainly a number of hoaxes have been uncovered, but what about the many men of integrity and note who have reported cases of haunted houses? What about those numerous cases that have been thoroughly checked out by police, detectives or scientists and in which no human responsibility has been uncovered?

Even in the most recent accounts of houses disturbed by flying objects or weird noises, scientists have not been able to solve the problem. In the light of this inability of scientists, there is no reason to doubt the ancient accounts, such as the one reported in the Letters of Pliny the Younger, governor of Bithynia and Pontica about 111 C.E. In Letter 27 of Book VII he tells of an old house in Athens that rented cheaply because of the persistent sounds of clanking iron or chains and how a philosopher purposely rented said a room would turn cold, then footsteps would be heard on the roof— one upon which only the most acrobatic human could walk! “Hundreds of people heard our walking ghost,” said the former occupant “We used to have ghostwatching—or ghost-listening—parties and watch our skeptical friends turn pale and dive for cover when the room chilled and the steps started. Other tenants have been driven out of the house by the footsteps.” Police never found a prowler and had to mark the case down as a haunted house.

Sometimes the noises are inexplicable voices or even a groan. Baptist clergyman John Leland of the nineteenth century had a house in Virginia in which the family was often disturbed by groans. One night the groan even entered the bedroom. The report says:

"It advanced towards them, and gathered strength and fullness, until it entered the room where they were, and approached the bed, and came along on the front side of the bed, when the groan became deep and appalling ... it uttered a groan too loud and startling to be imitated by the human voice. . . . No explanation was ever found.”

Often there are a great variety of 5 noises. Years ago, British poet Stephen Phillips told about a house in Egham, near Windsor:

"No sooner had lire been installed in the place than the uncanniest noises conceivable beset us. There were knockings and rap* pings, footfalls, soft and loud; hasty, stealthy hunyings and scurjyings and sounds as of a human creature being chased and caught and then strangledlor choked.”

In some cases objects in a house appear, disappear or fly about'in a room. In a house in Dublin bricks fell down the chimney, hit the floor and disappeared. While a frightened householder looked on, the hand of the clock disapp ired. In 1962 the press told about a house in Indianapolis, Indiana, where glassware would sail through the air, smashing up all over the house. One piece e™n flew around a corner before shattering. The presence of policemen did not inhibit the glassware from moving about; in fact, one policeman was struck by a glass. Similarly at a house in Seaford, Long Island, New York, a few years ago bottles with screw-type caps would suddenly become uncapped and tip over and objects would move about. Detectives never found any human responsible. One detective watched a sugar bowl sail off a table before his very eyes.

Those who would mark down such cases as these as hoaxes must bear this in mind: No prankster has yet been found who can, without being detected, send Crockery flying and smashing up in the presence of detectives and scientists and who can, at the same time, induce spectators to believe that those flying objects waver, swerve and wobble.

Flyiny Stones

Reports of houses being showered with mysterious stones come from many countries. In South Africa the Durban press reported some years ago about a house bombarded by stones. The climax came when a huge "boulder, embedded in the road nearby, was wrenched from its bed and dropped with a foundation-shaking crash on the roof of the house.

New Zealand’s Auckland Star, in March 1963, had such headlines as: “Stone Barrage Pelts House for Hours.’* The Star’s edition of March 25 said: “While 12 policemen and more than 20 civilians searched the area, a guest house at Brooklyn, a Wellington suburb, was peppered with stones for seven and a half hours last night and early today.” During bombardments thirty police with dogs searched the area. Radar was also used to try to find the stones’ source. Neither the radar nor the dogs helped solve the mystery.

Sometimes stones come in at varying rates, even floating in, as at a house in Big Bear, California. The investigating sheriff’s car was struck by a stone but hardly dented. Some of the rocks were hot and others were cold. A Duke University scientist¹ investigated and found that stones came from various angles. If humans were responsible, it Would take a great number of them working together day and night; but not even sone prankster was found. Said the scientist: “This case fits the classical pattern of poltergeist cases.” A deputy sheriff said: “I don’t think anything human is causing it.”

Variety of Mysterious Phenomena

In some haunted houses a great variety of singular happenings take place. In a house on Chiem-Lake in Bavaria children’s pigtails were cut off but not by human hands; cakes disappeared right out of a person’s hands during baking operations; "holy” pictures were ripped off walls and smeared black; electric hot plates glowed without being plugged in. Professional investigators found no hoax.

From Europe come reports of haunted monasteries and convents and numerous haunted rectories. One of the most famous cases is that of England’s Borley Rectory, built in 1863. One hundred witnesses testified to such things as flying , Debbies, smashing candlesticks, levitating oars of soap, writing appearing on walls right under the very noses of investigators. Famed psychical researcher Harry Price himself saw a red candlestick whiz past his head and crash to the floor. Then he saw pebbles cascade down the stairs. One day Price brought wine from London to share with the rectory’s cleric. As the wine was poured, the Burgundy turned to ink, the Sauterne to eau de cologne. With firsthand evidence and with testimony from so many witnesses about so great a variety of phenomena Price marked the case down, in his book The Most Haunted House in England, as "the best-authenticated case of haunting in file annals of psychical research.”

Borley Rectory was gutted by fire in 1939, a stack of books falling over of its own accord and upsetting an oil lamp. The fire was predicted by a woman who used an Ouija board.

The Invisible Forces Responsible

Whereas police must mark down many cases simply as "haunted houses,” some psychical researchers mark them down as cases of "poltergeist” activity. The word poltergeist is German for "racketing spirit, and is used to refer to a noisy and mischievous ghost or spirit.” But when the poltergeist is said to be some mischievous dead human, what are we to think? We can be certain it is no departed human, for the Bible assures us that the human soul is mortal, that the dead are unconscious and incapable of any work or activity. —Ezek. 18:4; Eccl. 9:5, 10.

Who, then, are responsible? Well, what is the force behind devices for predicting events, such as the Ouija board? What is the force behind witches and sorcerers, following whose threats incidents involving flying stones and other objects have at times occurred? What is the force behind spirit mediums, who are said to have domesticated the poltergeist; some mediums performing telekinesis (controlled movement of an object without any physical contact by humans) ? Further, other spirit mediums can cause objects or even themselves to levitate or rise in the air; some mediums can produce rappings, ghostly apparitions and similar phenomena peculiar to haunted houses.

Since God’s Word warns his people not to have among them a “sorcerer” or those who consult a "spirit medium or a professional foreteller of events or anyone who inquires of the dead,” then the power behind all such activity must be evil. It is. —Deut. 18:10-12.

Evil spirit creatures that the Bible calls “demons” are the ones responsible. (Jas. 2:19) They are, as God’s Word makes clear, “the angels that sinned,” the “angels that did not keep their original position but forsook their own proper dwelling place” in the days of Noah, before the flood. (2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6; Gen. 6:4) Since the “war in heaven,” these disobedient angels have been confined to the vicinity of the earth, where they are causing every kind of "woe,” including that of haunting houses.—Rev. 12:7-12.

By haunting houses the demons derive fiendish delight in harassing or terrifying humans; at the same time they induce people to believe wrongly that the ghost or spirit is some dead human, perhaps one who died in that house, and that the human soul is immortal. So though these haunted houses are not hoaxes contrived by humans, they are in a sense a hoax indeed—perpetrated by the Devil and the demons.

TRANSFORMING

DRY DESERTS

INTO

GREEN

FARMS

A BARREN desert might seem to be the last place on earth to set up a farm. Yet deserts may hold an answer to the world’s food problem. Surprising as it may seem, they can be transformed into productive farms. What is needed is irrigation water.

Striking evidence of the marked change irrigation water can cause in arid deserts can be seen in the southern part of the American state of California. As a person drives through the hot Coachella and Imperial Valleys, he sees inhospitable desert lands baking in temperatures of more than 120 degrees Fahrenheit on one side of the road, and lush farmland, green with fields of lettuce, carrots, melons and other crops on the other side. In the Coachella Valley there are approximately 4,500 acres of transformed desert land covered with groves of graceful date palms and thousands of acres in truck gardens and vineyards. Ninety percent of the dates produced in the United States come from this valley.

A little farther south, remarkable Imperial Valley has emerald patches of cultivated land spreading over about 500,000 acres of what was once bone-dry desert. Here is an eye-opening example of what can be done with a wasteland that receives only three inches of rain a year. Instead of growing nothing but sagebrush and cactus, it produces one-third of the carrots and cabbages for the entire United States during the winter. It also grows 28 million dollars’ worth of lettuce. Having a yearround growing season, with bright sunshine beaming down on the land nearly every day of the year, it and its neighboring Coachella Valley have become one of the richest agricultural areas of the world.

Fascinated visitors see in the productivity of these valleys great possibilities for transforming the arid regions in other places into bountiful producers of food for their hungry people. What is particularly surprising to many is how these valleys can maintain their productivity in view of the well-known fact that, while irrigation water is needed, it can also bring gradual ruin to reclaimed desert land. Imperial Valley had this problem when it began to be developed more than fifty years ago. Tens of thousands of acres of cultivated land had to be abandoned because irrigation water had ruined it for agriculture by poisoning the soil with plant-killing salts.

The Salt Problem

The accumulating of salts in the soil contributed to the ruin of the once-fertile Tigris-Euphrates Valley, where the famous city of Babylon was located ages ago. In ancient times canals between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers provided irrigation water for the valley, making it a rich farming area, but salt poisoning gradually made the land unproductive. The country of Pakistan is wrestling with that problem today. Approximately 100,000 acres of cultivatable land in that country are lost by farmers every year because of salt accumulation in the soil.

Desert lands tend to have a greater concentration of salts than other types of land because rainfall is insufficient to leach them out. When rain does fall or when irrigation water is put on the land, the hot desert sun evaporates a great amount of it. This leaves the salts from the water lying on the surface of the ground. Gradually the salt content in the soil builds up to the point where it kills the crops, making the land unfit for agriculture. Another factor contributing to increase of salts is the raising of the water table by the use of irrigation water for many years. The water table is the tipper limit of underground water. Where underground drainage is not good, irrigation water accumulates in the ground, and gradually rises toward the surface. When it reaches the root system of the plants, it can rot them. It also causes a concentration of salts in the upper part of the soil.

A nation’s food problem will not be solved by using desert land if salt accumulation can put the land out of production in a few years. But that has not happened extensively in Imperial Valley. It has conquered the problem.

At an expenditure of 530 million, 9,500 miles of tile pipe was laid at regular intervals under the fields. At a depth of six feet, the pipe does not interfere with farm machinery, and it allows for good drainage of the land. Irrigation water percolates through the soil, Carrying with it dissolved salts, and then it drains away through the pipes. There is no danger of its coming back to the surface. Eventually it empties into a network of ditches that dump it into the nearby Salton Sea.

Washing Out the Salts

Irrigation water usually contains small amounts of salts. There is not enough to be harmful to crops, but when the water is used on hot desert land where soil temperatures can reach 160 degrees F., a great amount of it evaporates, leaving the salts behind. Accumulation of these plant-killing salts must be prevented by periodic washing of the soil. In a period of only six months nearly two million tons of salts are carried into Imperial Valley by irrigation water. In a few years they could bring ruin to the valley if they were allowed to build up in the soil. But periodically the soil is leached with large quantities of water. Twenty to thirty percent of the water used by the valley is for this purpose. The process requires a field to be flooded to a depth of several inches and the water allowed to soak into the ground. As it does, it washes out the salts, carrying them away in the underground drains. This is repeated until soil analysis shows that the salts have been reduced to a safe level.

In some instances the farming of a desert cannot be done until the soil has-been treated to change its chemical structure. This is the case with black alkali soils that contain abnormal amounts of sodium. By spreading calcium on a field that is being leached, the excessive sodium is replaced with calcium. The excess sodium compounds are washed out. This changes the soil, making the once-arid field a potential producer of bountiful crops.

Lowering the Water Table

A waterlogged field is not a food producer, but it can be reclaimed by lowering the water table. When this is done the plants can extend their root zone with no danger of rotting, soil ventilation is aided, soil erosion is decreased and the growth of soil bacteria is favored.

Pakistan is attempting to overcome its waterlogging problem by means of drainage wells. At present its food production is cramped by having approximately 11 million of its 33 million irrigated acres of farmland waterlogged or badly drained. Its plan is to sink more than 31,000 wells that will be connected with 32,000 miles of drainage channels. The ground water that is pumped into these channels will be dumped behind a number of dams that are being planned.

Pumping out ground water is a good way to lower the water table to a really satisfactory level. However, tiles can be set deep in the ground, as they were in Imperial Valley, or very deep channels can be dug in a field. Once good drainage is established, the waterlogged land can be reclaimed and put into production. In some places the ground water that is pumped out could be stored and reused, but in desert lands this may not be possible because of its high salt content. And where the cost of operating pumping equipment is excessive, it may be that windmills can be used. Obviously, there are many problems that must be solved when reclaiming arid lands for growing badly needed food. The greatest problem, of course, is how to get water to them.

Transporting Irrigation Water

Life-giving water for the Coachella and Imperial Valleys flows from the Colorado River by means of the All-American Canal. This 200-foot-wide canal is 80 miles long, with a 145-mile-long branch going to the Coachella Valley. Twenty-five percent of the Colorado River flows to these remarkably productive valleys. When it reaches the Imperial Valley, the water is distributed to the many fields by means of 2,900 miles of lateral canals.

When a farmer needs water, he puts in a telephone call to the water-control office of the Imperial Irrigation District, where a clerk presses a button on a control panel. This causes the water in the canal serving the farmer’s field to rise as water tumbles in from the main canal. His gate on the canal is opened by an employee of the water office, and the amount of water ordered is delivered.

A major factor contributing to the productivity of these valleys is the fact that they have an alluvial soil that is hundreds of feet deep. But lack of rainfall and a torrid sun kept the area a desert until man began to irrigate it.

The water used in the valley flows along concrete-lined canals. If it did not, 40 percent of it would never reach the farmland but would be lost by seepage. Such waste of valuable water cannot be afforded in desert farming. Furthermore, lining the canals protects the land from becoming waterlogged as a result of seepage.

Concrete does not necessarily have to be used as a lining, although it may be the best material to use. Other materials are helpful, such as asphalt and clay. Even the cost of maintenance is reduced by a good lining. It prevents the growth of canalchoking weeds that must be removed and the need of repairing breaks in the banks of the canal. Still another advantage is that a lined canal can carry more water due to the fact that the water velocity can be safely increased without any danger of eroding the banks.

One-quarter of the earth’s land area consists of deserts, but the greatest problem in transforming them into agricultural land is getting water to them. Not every country that possesses large areas of desert has a river near enough to be tapped for water as does Imperial Valley. Even when there Is water, a large investment of money is necessary to build efficient canals for distributing the water and to lay underground tiles for drainage. But the investment is worth the results of increased food production, especially in lands where food Is in short supply. >

One of the latest efforts to transform a desert into farms is being made by the Israelis. To accomplish this they have constructed a 108-inch pipeline from the Sea of Galilee in the north of Palestine to the Negev desert in the south, a distance of 150 miles. With irrigation water from the Sea of Galilee, they hope to change much of the dry Negev into food-producing acreage.

Not always is it necessary to transport water from a great distance in order to farm desert land. Sometimes it can be found right on the spot by drilling into the ground. In some desert valleys there are underground reservoirs of water within 100 feet of the surface. Even the famous Sahara desert has underground water reservoirs. Two immense ones are known to exist By drilling a well 4,000 feet deep, one was reached at Zelfana, in the northwestern Sahara. Tapping such deep reservoirs requires powerful pumps and lots of electrical power. Installing a number of wells with pumping Equipment, electrical power plants, a system of lined canals and underground drainage tiles is expensive, but when food is needed, the establishing of farms on the desert is worth the expense.

Still another promising source of water for desert lands is seawater that has been processed in desalting plants. The progress being made in cheapening the desalting process is slow but encouraging. With the prospect of using, atomic power to lessen fuel costs, the future for use of seawater is growing brighter. It already is being used on a small scale in a number of placed to provide drinking water. When it is perfected to produce freshwater abundantly at low cost, desert farmlands will have the vast oceans to draw upon for an unlimited supply.

With the world's population increasing at an alarming rate, the growing of sufficient food is becoming a grave problem. This is aggravated by the loss of good farmland to expanding cities. As this continues, growing nations with arid lands will have to give serious consideration to transforming their deserts into green farms.

The Common Era

|Z There are various ways of dating. To the Chinese this is the year 4663, and to the Jews this is 5725 AM. (Anno mundi, or in the year of the world). To many others this is A.D. (Anno Domini, or in the year of our Lord) 1965. What does that mean? The 1965th year since the birth of Jesus Christ. But is it? There is considerable difference of opinion as to the exact year, but there is general agreement that it was some years B.C. that Jesus was born. Thus the present system, as set up in the sixth century by the monk Dionysius Exiguus, is in error. Moreover, Jesus did not become the Messiah or the Christ, which means Anointed One, until he was anointed with God’s spirit at the time of his baptism in the Jordan Rivey. (Matt. 3: 13-17; Acts 10:38) So the Christian era, strictly speaking, did not begin until quite a few years after Jesus' birth. Since the use of A.D. and B.C. is really chronologically Inaccurate, it is more accurate to say that this is 1965 C.E. or the 1965th year of the Common Era. Likewise, B.C.E. would mean Before the Common Era. Why “common”? Because it is the method of dating that is used in common by a large part of earth’s inhabitants. Man has long had problems with his calendars, and he still does.

MAKING MEALTIMES

' JWoreTEnjoijable |

MEALTIME is for many families about the only time when the parents and children can get together. The demands of life are so many that work, school and other activities often prevent family members from being together more than a few moments at a time. The home is more apt to resemble a railroad station, with people coming and going at all hours of the day and night, than a haven of rest and togetherness.

Nevertheless, with a little healthy persuasion, plus some good old-fashioned effort, the parents can do much to change the atmosphere of the home by using mealtimes to strengthen family relations. To begin with, it may be that not every family member will be able to be present. But with determined planning, each one’s activities can be adjusted so that eventually all the family will be able to be together for at least one meal a day.

Mealtimes, above all else, should be joyous occasions. They should be precious moments that every member of the family will look back on with warmth and meaning. But to make even these rare moments memorable, a certain amount of forethought is necessary. Where no planning is done, mealtimes often quickly deteriorate into just eating sessions, squabbling bouts and times for idle chatter. In some homes the mealtime is called “the silent time,’’ when no one speaks. Often it is the period when Dad listens to the news and the children exchange stares and await the signal to flee from the table. But with a little forethought all of this can be changed into delightful togetherness.

The thing to do is to give what you have in the way of knowledge and experience, and the rest will take care of itself. It is not knowing, but sharing, that counts, and there are many interesting things you can share.

Things to Talk About

During the course of a day something humorous or of interest is often heard or witnessed. Keep it in mind, and save it for mealtime. Perhaps it was something read in the newspaper, heard on the radio, an anecdote a friend told or an unusual incident that you saw on the way home from work. Encourage other members of the family also to bring items of interest to the meal table. Keep in mind the particular interests of the family. Are they interested in animals, music, sports, the theater, current events, history, automobiles, gardening, what acquaintances are doing, styles? It will create a pleasant atmosphere

when family members endeavor to relate information that interests others.

A Christian family has the advantage of a common interest in the Bible, and this provides much to talk about. Many families take a few minutes each day at one of their meals to discuss a Scripture verse. Members of the family often prepare for this discussion by reading beforehand the Bible chapter in which the verse appears. This provides background information and equips them to make helpful comments for the benefit of others. When such a discussion is held in the morning, children and adults alike begin the day with good, uplifting thoughts in mind. And prayer before eating reminds the children that the family depends on God and not simply its own ingenuity and strength.

Making Table Talk Interesting

Instructive and constructive play at the meal table may not sound fashionable at first, but when done right it is fitting and is in keeping with good etiquette. Quizzes, for instance, can be conducted in such a way that all may share and benefit. They can do much to bring the family closer together and to make mealtime discussions informative, interesting and enjoyable.

Oftentimes it may not be that a person knows all the answers, but simply asking questions may stimulate thinking and perhaps cause someone to do research in order to bring the answers to the table at another meal. For example, attention may be drawn to the food being eaten. It may be that you are eating chicken, which has become a very popular meat in the United States. Did early inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere eat chicken? When and how did this tasteful meat become popular? Perhaps no one knows for sure, but the inquisitiveness of a family member may be aroused so that he checks an encyclopedia and finds that early Spanish explorers and the Pilgriyns brought chickens with them to the Western Hemisphere. Other information gathered by the researcher regarding the chicken may also be of interest.

Or someone at the table may propose that the family try to identify the different seeds being eaten, Lima beans, green peas, com, rice and walnuts (all of which are seeds) may be on the table at the same time. When one considers the variety of foods in which seeds such as rice, corn and wheat are used, it- is amazing the portion of the diet that is made up of seeds. But which items of food are from the flower and which are from the stem of the plant? When questions like this are propounded, the mind becomes alert and each idea gives birth to a new one. As a result, mealtime becomes an informative session when the family enjoys being together.

A family may use the mealtime to fix in mind information they want to remember. For example, the history of the human family as it is accurately recorded in the Bible. How many years was it from man's creation until the Noachian Flood? How long from then to the birth of the patriarch Abraham, and from the time when Abraham moved into Canaan until seventy of his descendants went down to reside in Egypt due to the famine in Palestine? How long were the Israelites in Egypt, and, after their release, how many years did they march in the wilderness? How long was it after their entry into the Promised Land that a kingship was set up? In what year? How many years did it last? Who were the kings? What were the names of kings and notable personages of contemporary peoples? Children enjoy being reviewed on information that they have studied. But do not cover too much at a single meal. Do not make the discussion so profound that heavy reflection is needed to come up with the answers. Use it to make mealtime an occasion that all the family enjoy.

Vocabulary-building games are also enjoyed by children. At the table they can learn not only how to spell words correctly but also how to pronounce them properly. Make these moments enjoyable, so that if a word is mispronounced or misspelled, the embarrassment will not be too great. See that the laughter is upbuilding. It aids the children not to take themselves too seriously when they fail to answer correctly. Dad and mother in this way are helping the children to emotional maturity.

Learning About Other People

Another thing that provides great enjoyment at the table is to learn how peoples of other nations eat. Not all people eat with a knife, fork and spoon. Some use chopsticks. Others use their hands. Not all use dishes or eat on tables, or sit on chairs. It is a real experience to learn to eat rice with chopsticks. Try it sometime. It is fun. In India a great many people eat with their hands. They mix their foods with their fingers and eat it in a manner that is not the least offensive. Knowing how other people live creates respect and understanding. Have you ever tried to dine at home the Japanese way? Why not try it sometime?

To keep from slipping into the old routine of things, why not become adventurous and every once in a while prepare a meal that is native to a particular country, then have the family learn about that country, its eating and living habits. If you are preparing a trip to another land, cook a few meals that you will be eating along the way and then match your cooking with theirs. If you were to visit the Soviet Union, what would you order for dinner? Would it be a Russian dish? Would you enjoy it? Now is the time to find out at home. If you were a guest in Lebanon, what would you have for breakfast? Give your family the treat of traveling around the world while dining at home.

Lasting Benefits ?

If you put forth the effort to make meal-\ times interesting, joyful occasions, your children will never forget it. What they will remember the longest will not be so much the meals they ate, but what you as parents did to make them happy. And the least costly but most priceless gifts are the gifts of love shared on such occasions, of problems faced together as a family, the gifts of understanding and concern for one another, of laughter and fun. None of these cost anything in terms of dollars and cents, but they are priceless.

When away, children will miss this togetherness. These moments built up at home will provide hours of sweet reflection. The experience received will be re-wardingly rich, unforgettable. Young ones will be equipped to handle themselves better in the company of others, and to be friendly, outgoing and confident. Family mealtime discussions will aid them toward maturity, helping them to develop into knowledgeable, upright men and women.

The lesson that will be learned around the table is that a good family is based on human and spiritual values and not on material possessions. Even with little materially a happy family life can exist. It is not how much money is spent on children, but how much time is spent with them, that is important. Parents, remember, nothing you can purchase for your children can substitute for the gift of yourselves. The family mealtime is an excellent time to give this gift.

AT A place in Maine -where one turns onto a highway there is a sign that reads: “YOU ARE ABOUT TO ENTER THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACE IN THE WORLD.” An exaggerated warning? Not when one considers that just since 1900 over 1,500,000 Americans have been killed in traffic accidents, which is 300,000 more Americans than have died in all wars since 1775! Last year United States’ traffic deaths leaped to 47,800, West Germany’s jumped to nearly 16,000, and the combined French and British total rose to 18,000. Think of it! Traffic accidents in just four countries kill 224 persons, on an average, every day, or about one-person every six minutes! Can there be any question that It is dangerous when one noses' a high-powered automobile onto a highway?

Many reasons are given for accidents’ occurring, such as driving too fast, improper passing, disregarding road signs, and so forth, but the fundamental fault in perhaps the majority of all accidents is failing to look and see. How common the cry after an accident: ‘T didn’t even see him!” But why do so many people fail to see?

Develop Good Looking Habits

A major reason is that they simply fail to look. Their minds ars on other things, and this is as true with pedestrians as it is with ear drivers. A child chasing a ball often is intent only on recovering the ball. So he does not see the driver that slams into him. Parents should impress upon their children that the street is one of the most dangerous places in the world, and that they should never cross one without looking both ways.

Car drivers, too, need to cultivate good looking habits. When driving through sections where children customarily play, be on the lookout for them. Other critical areas are intersections, and when heading out of parking lots. Never fail to look both ways at such places! Do you always make sure to look behind when pulling out from a parking place at the curb? It is vital to do so.

A good driver is always conscious of what is going on behind him. He checks the rear-view mirror about every five seconds or so whenever there are cars ahead or behind. Never does he fail to look back before changing lanes. And when there is a slowdown in traffic or he sees a possible delay up ahead, he instantly checks the situation behind.

It is interesting that one out of every four daytime accidents is said to involve a vehicle going -backward. So apparently many persons fail to look to see what is behind them when they are backing up. The proper way todo it is to turn your head to face the rear. In this way one can get a good view so as to know whether everything is all clear.

Failure to look explains why so many accidents occur in clear dry weather, on straight roads and in light traffic. Under such conditions the driver is more apt to feel secure and to allow his attention to shift to matters other than his driving, causing him to operate his car by habit alone. But beware of complacency! Distractions can be fatal!

Distractions to Proper Looking

A chief distraction to safe driving is concern over one’s destination. Looking for road signs, street addresses or consulting a map often takes one’s attention off the traffic picture just long enough to result in an accident. Or it may be that one is intent on turning at a particular corner, or heading into or out of a parking place. It is said that over half of all traffic accidents occur when drivers get absorbed in such route problems.

The scenery is another distraction that drivers with good looking habits avoid. This can be anything along the road that makes one curious and holds his eyes too long. It may be a beautiful sunset, a majestic mountain scene, or perhaps an acquaintance seen on the street. However, a good driver keeps his eyes moving all the time, and never stops them to fix on any object for longer than two seconds. He does not succumb to the bad habit of window shopping while driving past stores, nor does he allow himself to admire a new model car, an attractive girl or things like that.

Neither will distractions within the car grab the attention of a good driver. He does not turn his head to look at persons when he speaks to them. Nor will he allow disturbances such as quarreling children, a buzzing bee or a heated conversation to interfere with his concentration on driving. His sole attention is riveted on the traffic situation!

Look! Look! Look!

It is not surprising, therefore, that when a study was recently made of a group of professional drivers who have won safe driving awards for twenty years or more, they all were found to excel in one faculty: They drove with total concentration. Their pattern, as one observer put it, was “Look, look, look—drive, drive, drive.”

But proper looking does not mean fixing one’s eyes on the bumper of the car in front. Many persons unfortunately do this, and, strange as it seems, more than once it has occurred that when drivers have pulled oft a highway to stop, the car behind has followed and smashed right into them! A good driver will never allow his eyes to develop such a disastrous hypnotic stare. He will keep them on constant patrol—glancing near and far ahead, to the sides and in the rear-view mirror—seeing things in quick flashes. He will get the bigpicture habit, watching all objects for a block ahead in town, and half a mile ahead on rural roads.

Proper Seeing

Since looking is done with the eyes but actual seeing with the mind, it is vital that the mind pay close attention to what the eyes look at. If one is lost in personal thoughts, overly tired, irritated at another driver or hurrying for an appointment, the mind is less likely actually to see the traffic situations at which the eyes look. For proper seeing the mind must be clear of outside thoughts and centered on one’s driving.

Eye defects can also contribute to faulty seeing. For instance, one may have 20/20 vision and yet his field of vision may cover only objects directly in front of him. This means that a driver with “tunnel vision,” as this defect is called, will not see the pedestrian or car off to his side. Even persons with normal vision have their field of vision narrowed to little more than the width of the road at speeds in excess of 60 m.p.h. So speed is a chief hindrance to proper seeing.

It is, therefore, vital that a driver not only look, but see. If more persons did, there would be far less carnage on the highways.

TIERE they go! Those furred jfl acrobats move swiftly through the treetops, yet speed is just one of their amazing traits. They twist and turn their way through the topmost branches as champion acrobats.

If man could better observe the nightroving flying squirrel, there is no doubt that more would appreciate the agility given this animal by the Creator, Here is a born acrobat that prefers the tallest tree-tops, bounding from one tree to another by leaps so remarkable that the action is much like flight.

Found in many parts of the earth, this acrobatic squirrel scrambles to the topmost branches and prepares to launch itself in space by gathering itself into a ball, feet together. Then it leaps into the air with a tremendous spring, spreading out its hind feet'at right angles to the body. But something else is spread out, something that enables this furred acrobat to perform in an extraordinary way. This is a loose lateral fold of skin on each side of its body, fastened fore and aft to the ankles. So the flying squirrel soars through the air with the help of this parachute membrane. As one would expect, it is not always a straight jump or glide.

Acrobatics with a Parachute Membrane

To change direction in midflight, this squirrel acrobat just manipulates its forearms. If it decides to make a sudden left

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in rapid succession. Beautiful spiral glides are accomplished by holding the turn position. Fancy acrobatics indeed!

But how about the landing? Toward the end of its glide, this miniature acrobat is traveling fast and seems headed for a crash. But suddenly it checks its speed with an upward sweep of its body and tail, and lands, softly and silently, spread-eagled on the trunk of another tree. This ability to check speed is indeed important. It never fails.

How far can these furred acrobats glide? It depends largely- on the height of the takeoff point. Some easily cover 160 feet or more. The record may well be 300 feet, attained when one glided down a steep hillside.

It does not take long for baby flying squirrels to get into the acrobatic act. At the age of six weeks they>are doing limited gliding. By eight weeks they can execute 90-degree turns, lateral loops and other fancy maneuvers characteristic of the older performers. Out of pure enjoyment these furred acrobats sometimes cavort in the moonlight in a game of aerial follow-the-leader.

But how do they make big jumps and yet land safely even on the darkest nights? Their eyes are important, but there is some possibility that they have a sonar system similar to the one the Creator made for the bats; for flying squirrels emit, during a glide, sounds exceeding the upper limit of frequencies heard by human ears. And for an added safety feature certain flying squirrels of Africa have scales beneath their tails—an antiskid device for safe landings.

In Australia the popularly called “flying squirrels” or “gliders” are not really squirrels but are flying phalangers. These acrobatic marsupials resemble the flying squirrels because of the gliding membrane, enabling them to leap from bough to bough, covering 100 feet, the largest of them being able to leap 200 feet or more. When these furred acrobats are in action their outline looks remarkably like an exaggerated sweptwing jet plane. Flying phalangers come in a number of different sizes, one of them being the smallest known parachuting mammal. About equal in size to a mouse, this miniature acrobat is named, of course, Acrobates!

The strangest of the furred acrobats is the cobego or flying lemur of the East Indies, a long-limbed, large-clawed, foxheaded animal that sleeps hanging upside down. The Creator gave this animal an unusual parachute membrane that continues all the way from the neck to the very tip of the long tail! One observer of this singular creature said:

"Words can scarcely describe that jungle oddity, the flying lemur. Imagine, if you can, a cat-sized animal hanging slothlike from the limb of some jungle tree, resembling a giant tropical fruit but covered with silky, soft brown fur splotched here and there with yellowish white. Suddenly it unfolds hidden membranes until it looks like a man struggling into a bathrobe six sizes too large. With amazing speed it dashes along the underside of the limb, springs onto the main trunk, and leaps upward in a galloping motion with almost the agility of a squirrel. At this poipt the now incredulous watcher sees a blurred leap, and out on the still jungle air floats the most perfect gliding machine ... looking for all the world like a small carpet with pointed ends, sailing through space.”

Even with a baby clinging to her chest, mother flying lemur does not quit her acrobatics, necessitating that a youngster hang on to mother for dear life, as she makes her glides up to 100 feet. Man has not fully understood yet how this acrobatic mother lands on a tree without smashing the little one, for it makes no apparent effort to land softly; but, somehow, the youngster survives.

Special Tail for Acrobatics

Not all the furred acrobats are equipped with gliding membranes; some were given by their Creator a prehensile tail, one designed for seizing, grasping or holding. Australia’s “possums” are well equipped in this regard, for these marsupials leap about in trees, using their tail as an acrobatic aid. Some of the ring-tailed possums travel from one tree to another in the prettiest acrobatic manner. They swing by their tail from the end of a slender branch. Then they grasp with their forepaws leaves or twigs of a bough of a nearby tree, release their tailhold, and the next moment they are across the gap.

Another furred acrobat with a prehensile tail is the spider monkey of tropical America. This monkey’s tail is a remarkable one. It has twenty-three vertebrae and is more than two feet long—longer than the monkey’s head and body. The tip of the tail is sensitive and naked and can grasp things with unshakable firmness.

Virtually a fifth hand, the tail enables these monkey acrobats to suspend themselves In the air, leaving all four limbs free for other activities. Or' they can use the long tail to grasp a fruit they are unable to reach with their arms. Those who have seen spider monkeys in a zoo swing from rope to rope or leap about in cages have some idea of their acrobatic agility, although such feats in confined spaces bear little comparison to what they can do in the boundless freedom of their native forests.

If these furred acrobats wish to cross to another tree, they may swing themselves by their tail until they can grasp a branch of the other tree. But they also make speedy, flying leaps. They have been seen dropping straight down twenty feet or more from one branch to another of the same tree. The red spider monkey of Panama thinks nothing of prodigious leaps that may reach a length of 38 feet.

But tropical Americaisnot alone in having champion monkey acrobats. Africa has the very long-tailed (but not prehensile) guenon monkeys that take long flying leaps between trees. Their style, of course, is different They take a short run, jump upward, with arms outspread, and go sailing headlong through the air. By means of their tail, with its long, trailing weight, the monkeys alter their position from a nosedive to an upright stance. Then they land on the side of a mass of leaves and smaller twigs, with arms and legs spread-eagle fashion. They hug the foliage upon landing and then scramble to safety.

Speed Champion With Long Arms

When it comes to speed in acrobatic feats, the gibbon of southeast Asia and some East Indian islands claims the prize. These acrobats do not have a prehensile tail or, for that matter, any tail. They are, nonetheless, well equipped for fancy acrobatics in the treetops, the Creator having given these creatures long arms, so long that the tips of the fingers touch the ground when the animals stand erect. Some gibbons have a tremendous armspread of five feet, with the head and body being only three feet!

In the trees, where they spend virtually all their life, gibbons dash along trapezefashion, using their hands and arms for locomotion, their feet sometimes carrying a small supply of food. “No other ape or monkey can travel through the trees with the speed of the gibbon,*’ says George G. Goodwin, Associate Curator of Mammals, the American Museum of Natural History. Observers have watched gibbons in northern Sumatra forests in trees so high up it made them dizzy just to look up at them, as the gibbons sailed through the treetops with almost the speed of a bird. The gibbons would take hold of a branch only momentarily, sometimes drop twenty to thirty feet, grab another branch and make off again at high speed in their high-altitude homes.

We can be thankful that, after Jehovah God created trees to grace the earth, he saw fit to make them the homes of so many kinds of marvelous animal life, including those furred acrobats of the tree-tops.

ONE of my first impressions in life was the sound of a hollow drum played while my family planted a rice farm. My father spent much of his time hunting to provide for his three wives and seventeen children. When he would bring home a deer it would be dried over a fire and put in a big clay pot filled with red palm oil. This was our only refrigerator.

A deer horn was kept as a god for the family to worship. Farther believed that it was this horn that gave him success in hunting, and at times we would kill a white chicken as a sacrifice to this benevolent horn. We also looked for help from clay figurines called “clay medicine.” My parents taught me that one Supreme God was up, the One giving the horn power, but there was no direct worship or prayers offered to this One. Christianity had not yet reached our town deep in the Liberian forest.

One day a baby in our house became seriously sick. My mother went to the graves of our ancestors with a food offering and prayed to the spirits to reveal to her in a dream the medicine that would cure the child. Babies, it was thought, were gifts from these ancestor spirits, and the village women from time to time would leave food offerings for the ancestors on the banks of a nearby river. We were taught that under those waters our dead forefathers had made a big town.

All praying to such spirits was left to parents though, and as a youngster I was never taught to pray. I had never heard of Jesus.

Polygamy versus Love

One day when I was about ten years old father ordered my brother and me to carry wood to the house of another family who had a daughter about my own age, named Sua. Father had engaged this girl to be given as a wife when she developed sufficiently. From time to time dowry payments, such as money, cloth, or a bucket, were made for Sua. To keep the account straight, a stone representing the value of each payment would be put in a certain bag. Father had such a bag for each wife and engaged girl.

In the case of Sua, she would be given to father in time and he would be privileged to have a child by her. After that he could give her to one of us as a wife. However, if we did not keep carrying wood, father would not give us a wife, we were warned; we would have to hunt one for ourselves.

Once I asked my father: “Why have you married many wives?” “Many wives can make a large farm, increase your income, boost your importance in the community, put you in line to be chief,” was his reply. Frankly, I was not really impressed. “If a wife gets sick,” continued father, “then another can, cook for her.” However, I well knew that my father loved his first wife and not my mother. If the favorite wife got sick, I reasoned, the other wives might easily say, ‘Since you love her, let her cook for you now.’ One day my doubts were confirmed. The wife my fai ther loved became quite, ill, whereupon the other wives quickly decided it was time for them to visit their families. Father was stranded with a sick wife and no cook.

This lack of love in a polygamous relationship was early impressed on my mind. I decided that I would have only one wife, no matter how poor I would be.

Prayers to the Dead

When I was about thirteen, my grandfather, owner of six wives, died. He had a deep love for me and I was filled with sorrow. Thereafter the family frequently called on him for help, in the rice farm, in the house and at his grave. Since grandfather was being invoked at various places, I inquired as to his particular location. No one seemed sure. Despite this, I believed that grandfather wanted to help me. He had more power now, I was told, and that meant he could do more for me in the future than while he was alive.

Up to this point in life my only education was received in the bush school, where I was'taught a trade, tribal customs, respect for older persons, and not to abuse women. Discipline was strict. Noncompliance with tribal customs in later life would bring death.

In time I was giveri to an Englishspeaking woman who had moved to our town to engage in trading. In return for minding her baby and doing domestic work, I was to be taught English and the rudiments of Western education. The following year the Government ordered our town to send children to school. Western civilization was looked upon by my family as interference in their customs, but since I showed interest in Western ways, I was the selectee from our town quarter and was sent to school at Gbamga.

After several years at school, financial circumstances became extremely difficult. If there was ever a time my grandfather should help, it should be now, I reasoned. Prayer after prayer to him brought no relief, however. I began to wonder whether he could help. I thought about the food that used to remain at his grave until it became rotten. He did not seem to benefit from it I decided to ask the Christian people regarding the condition of the dead.

Heaven, Hell and Church Dues

By this time a “Christian bishop” and his “pastor” had gone to our town to advise the people that they should all be baptized if they wanted to go to heaven. They had only to throw away their clay images and pay twenty-five cents to get baptized, and so most of the villagers, including myself, did so. Each one of us was given a church membership card, which we promptly took home to replace the “day medicine.” The cards represented the “Christian God” and were appealed to for healings and various other help. Some would even wash the cards and drink, the water.

I was told by my new spiritual advisers where the dead were: good people were in heaven, but bad ones were burning in hellfire, Since my grandfather was good, he also was in heaven. “Then why is he not helping me?” I cried, perplexed. The ways of God seemed confusing. And when I questioned certain teachings, such as God’s destroying the whole earth because of man’s wickedness. I was told not to raise doubts;

One day I was shocked to witness a young man being beaten for not having paid his church dues. I thought about my new faith and concluded that, if this were God’s way, it was not n\uch different from my former religion.

The Truth Brings Joy and Challenges

Eagerly I began to read any and all religious literature. From a small pamphlet listing many Bible texts I learned that God has a name, Jehovah. At times I would take this pamphlet and go by myself to the forest find pray to Jehovah, though not understanding about praying in the name of Jesus.

One day a Watch Tower missionary visited my home and presented a booklet on the hope for the dead, I grabbed this from him, thirsting to know more about the dead. I begged the missionary to sit down and read at least half the booklet with me before he left

I was overjoyed to learn the plain teachings of the Bible: A soul dies and the hope for the dead lies in the resurrection. Now I was able to understand why my grandfather was not helping me—he was a dead soul, knowing nothing. The earth, too, would remain forever. How satisfying to know that dead ones would return to live once more in the earth made a paradise!

Bible knowledge changed my thinking. I was so thrilled with the information about Christs invisible presence that I actually memorized the entire textbook chapter dealing with the subject. The Bible’s logic was overpowering. Since no human has seen the Father, neither can man see the glorified Son. He is higher than the kings of the earth, not like them. Thus it is not on a literal cloud that Christ sits at his return to be viewed as a human by every single eye. Over and over I sang about these truths in my heart. How great a blessing it is for a boy like me to be living at the time that Jesus rules in Kingdom power! I resolved to make my mind over completely by studying hard and devoting myself to the ministry.

When I told my family what I had learned about the dead, they admitted it was true. They had not received any help from ancestors. However, my father was displeased that I had decided to be a minister for God. He had financed my way through school, hoping that someday I would become prosperous and prominent and be a big help to the family. So, to dampen my zeal for the ministry, father cut oft all financial support. Was not opposition from close family members what Jesus had foretold would come upon his disciples? I was now more determined than ever to be a minister.

After this I became very ill and weak with fever. Father offered to send me with a man to the native fortune-teller to learn the cause of my trouble. I knew I would be told that an ancestor or witchcraft was causing the sickness. I could not now go back to the old ways and reliance on sacrifices to demon power. Instead, I managed somehow to get to a hospital in a distant town. After a few days my father, thinking that by now I must be dead, sent a man to bring back my corpse. When my father learned that I was recovering my health without resorting to demonism, he acknowledged that the God I was serving had power. From that time on,- father began keeping the Bible law on blood, cutting the throats of animals he killed so as not to be eating the blood along with the flesh, in fear of the true God, Jehovah.

As I began to spend more and more time spreading the light of truth among my people, I experienced joy that was indescribable. Should I let anything take me away from God’s work? I had to answer that question, for I began to receive offers of well-paying positions. When I rejected them, despite the ridicule of friends, it meant I would remain materially poor. But God’s truth had changed my sense of values, Spiritual treasures were preferred.

Faith Proved by Fire

In March 1963 a severe test of faith came. Soldiers stopped our Christian assembly and ordered us all to march to the military compound to salute the national flag, I had the opportunity to escape, but I thought of the weak ones who could easily be stumbled by seeing those who had taught them running away. I gave myself up to whatever might come. As we marched along singing, “Do not flee in danger’s hour, you well know your Captain’s power,” I prayed inwardly for the spiritually weak ones in our midst. Why could not this test come only on strong ones? I wondered. Then we could make Jehovah’s name big.

One of the soldier guards was a cousin of mine. He approached me and said: “You, my brother, if you don’t salute, then the family business between us is finished.” His crossed arms meant I would not be treated as a close relative. I replied: “It is better for me to remain in God’s love than to be in love with you by compromising!” He came again, but I kept preaching to him, reminding him that I was not better than Jesus, who suffered. Finally he turned to the other soldiers: “I won’t encourage him to salute again, because the more I talk the more he tells me to become one of Jehovah’s witnesses.”

I made use of the time encouraging others to remain loyal to Jehovah. One soldier pushed me and I fell on an old engine, tearing my clothes and.suffering lacerations. I kept thinking of good Bible examples like Jeremiah, Daniel, the three Hebrews, and others u^ho passed through hard tests. I prayed that there would be no fliws in my faith. I was willing to die, for had I not found the truth? Was I not serving the God of resurrection?

What hurt my feelings most was to see many of my spiritual brothers violate the principles of the Second Commandment They had not set *their hearts. Fear of death made them literally tremble and faint, and some came crashing down like houses built on sand.

Those who remained faithful were given special treatment, the hair on their heads being shaved in the form of a cross, as done to criminals. Said the soldiers: “These are the real Jehovah’s witnesses.” If we were the real Jehovah’s witnesses, we thought, then we would have to stand. Unwittingly the soldiers had encouraged us much.

It had now been three days and nights that we had not been permitted to sleep or even to bend our heads down. My body felt as if it had been beaten with a club. “Why don’t they shoot us down so this suffering can stop?” I groaned. But never the thought of compromising. Then came our release. “Just in time,” I thought. "Jehovah does not allow his people to suffer more than they can bear. It is Jehovah’s will for us to be free to carry on his work.”

Who would have thought that after this persecution some of the very same soldiers would say to us: “You people must continue to do your good work. The way Jesus suffered is the same way you suffered. And you must come and study with us too!”

Suffering like Jesus for upholding Bible principles—this was real Christianity! Against the forces of darkness I had kept the faith. From rank paganism I had learned to do the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. And now I must help others to make over their minds in the same way.—Contributed, from Liberia.

FEELING far from well, Arthur Jones arrived at the Hospital Appointments Office for his routine treatment for hardened leg arteries. Without warning he collapsed. Within seconds, the Appointments Officer was at his side. Though without medical qualifications, he was well experienced in first-aid work—his spare-time hobby. It looked like a heart attack. Very soon breathing appeared to cease. There was no pulse. Sending an emergency call for a doctor, he nevertheless decided that external heart massage must be commenced without a moment’s delay.

Having removed the patient’s false teeth and made sure that the air passages were not blocked, he placed the ball of his hand on the central lower part of the chest, with the second hand covering the first. Using considerable force, he applied sharp presses at the rate of about one a second so as to massage the ribs against the heart. Squeezed thus, the disabled heart was being forced to pump blood throughout the system, and maybe it could be persuaded to resume normal beats under its own power.

The Hospital Medical Registrar, soon on the scene, took over from the now exhausted first-aider. By every sign available to an experienced doctor the man was dead. But with the most modem equipment, a well-organized hospital and several heart specialists at his immediate command, the doctor acted promptly. Within ten minutes five doctors were in attendance and elaborate electrical equipment was alongside. In relays, the doctors were, by rhythmic external compression, maintaining the blood circulation —a task as strenuous as it was urgent.

The "pulse’’ that could be felt at the side of the neck coincided with the movements of the operator but without any sign of the heart’s taking over. It was like attempting to start a flat-battery car engine by cranking it.

Mechanics of the Heart

A hollow muscle lying between the lungs, the heart is a complex pump of remarkable efficiency and at each beat propels through the system about two ounces of blood. Continuously it permeates and bathes each organ and tissue of the body with the lifesustaining fluid. The heart muscle must itself be nourished, and this is taken care of by two short arteries called coronaries, which, together with branches, are embedded in the outer heart tissue.

A small blood clot (or thrombus) had, in Jones’ case, blocked the narrow passageway of the coronary artery system, and the heart had been starved to a standstill. This is known as coronary thrombosis. All the vital functions of the body had, in turn, ceased completely. However, the artificially restored blood circulation was preventing deterioration of the organs— especially the brain.

Defibrillation Equipment

An electrocardiograph machine now attached to the patient was, on its unwinding paper register, recording that the heart was still in a condition known as "Ventricular Fibrillation.” Because the pumping mechanism had suddenly been thrown out of gear, the last of its vital energy was being squandered in a frenzy of fruitless activity. If this irregular quivering could be converged into one single effort, then there might be sufficient power to bring about one complete contraction of the heart. The doctors had a machine, known as a defibrillator, designed to bring this about. An electric current passed across the heart would “tense” all this movement and then, when suddenly withdrawn, a concentrated single movement could possibly restore normal heart contractions.

While the two disc-shaped terminals of the defibrillator were pressed against the chest and back of the apparently inanimate man, all eyes were on the unwinding paper record, A split-second shock caused his body to shudder, but the electrocardiogram indicated no response. The controls were set for a higher voltage. A second shock was spectacular. Definite heart contractions were being recorded. The man actually opened his eyes and spoke a few words. Anxiously the heart’s performance was watched as the beats became fewer and, after about ninety seconds, reverted to fibrillation. Breathing ceased, the pupils of his eyes dilated and once again he was “dead.” To the doctors this was most discouraging, because even if a further shock resuscitated him, it was not likely to be more permanent.

Twenty minutes had now passed since his collapse and it was now suggested that the time had come to call the attendants to remove the body to the morgue. After consultation it was decided that, even if the hope of survival was remote, one more attempt should be made. The machine was reset to a higher voltage and one-tenth of a second, A convulsion coincided with the shock, and instantly his heartbeats were restored. The silent struggle of the heart to contract rhythmically and effectively under such adverse conditions was watched on the still-unwinding electrocardiogram. This time it appeared that the processes of death were really in reverse. The following day, in a hospital bed, he recovered consciousness and from then on was treated as a cotonary thrombosis patient. He made an excellent recovery and was discharged in three weeks. His only apparent disability is a consequence of the strenuous heart massage—two broken ribs.

Temporary Cessation of Life

Asked for his views on the matter, one of the heart specialists explained that incidents such as this were making medical men take another lodk at their definitions. “All the signs normally looked for indicated beyond doubt that Mr. Jones was dead,” he said. “Every organ had ceased to function because the ability of the body to maintain the processes of life had failed.”

“However,” he added, “while we say the man was dead, the individual cells still had life within them and this could continue for hours—maybe longer. By artificially propelling the blood throughout the system we had not allowed these cells to die. Ilie inherent ability, residing within the assembly of cells forming the heart, to rhythmically and powerfully contract, had not yet perished. Assisted by an electric shock, these cells were persuaded to mobilize and coordinate sufficient power from among themselves and a contraction resulted. The reawakened urge to pump soon had blood permeating every organ of the entire body. The processes that maintain life had been restored.”

“This means,” continued the doctor, “that there was a temporary failure of the processes that maintain life and that our patient was temporarily dead. But I regard death as a permanent cessation of life, and so no death certificate was required and no legal difficulties arise,” he concluded.

Mr. Jones, now in normal good health, was asked to provide what information he could as to the hereafter. "I don’t remember anything at all,” is all the help he could offer. He had not temporarily been in “another life”; he was simply unconscious.

Collapse from heart failure is a daily occurrence, but seldom is either the trained personnel or the defibrillator equipment immediately available. If artificial blood circulation is not commenced within four minutes—some authorities say three minutes—then resuscitation efforts are considered ill-advised. Irreparable brain damage has already taken place. There have been some rather pathetic cases in which individuals have been revived after brain deterioration has set in, and this has brought great hardship to them and to their immediate relatives. While the skill of the doctors and the efficiency of their machines revived Jones, the prompt commencement of external heart massage on the part of the First Aid Officer contributed greatly to his complete recovery.

But how long will it last? Medical equipment can provide amazing help in times of emergency, but it cannot forever hold off the eventuality of death. This is the result of sin inherited from Adam, Yet God, who designed the human organism, has made provision to relieve mankind of that burden, and he explains how in his Word the Bible.

CHURCH GROUP VISITS KIUGOOin HULL

• A congregation overseer of Jehovah's witnesses in Colorado reports receiving a tele- [, phone call from a Presbyterian minister: i[ "He asked if I would come to his church and give a talk to their Junior High School group ;> on 'Who Are Jehovah’s Witnesses?’ A date was set, at which time two other Witnesses and myself went to the church. We were [i very hospitably received. About thirty young i[ people from the ages of ten to sixteen were j¹ present, plus about eight adults, including the ;l minister and his wife. In the basement room where they held the discussion, they had a ji bulletin board with the title of the discussion [ I written across the top in bold letters. Under-neath this heading were sheets of paper with [ > a number of questions that they wished us to answer. One sheet had the question, ‘Why i[ do. Jehovah’s witnesses feel the year 1914 is ]i -so important?’ There were other questions such as ‘What do you believe regarding en- !' tertainment?’ and ‘Who do you think Jeho- ] vah, Satan and the Trinity are?' We were able to answer all these questions, using the Bible, and we noticed that the minister and [i his wife were taking notes on all that was «[ said during the question session, as well as during the half-hour talk. Copies of the [i

Watchtower and Awake! magazines were passed out to all in attendance. A total of 180 magazines and 90 booklets were placed among the two groups.

"At the conclusion of our discussion at the church, one of the adults announced to the group of children that they would be attending the meeting of Jehovah’s witnesses at their Kingdom Hall the coming Sunday and that they should bring their copies of The Watchtower, which we had given them, as it contained the lesson that would be studied at the Kingdom Hall. On January 24, 1965, the minister and his wife and six other adults and 16 children arrived and attended our Watchtower study, at which time the lesson was on the subject ‘Why Not to Fear Those Who Kill the Body.' The entire congregation specially enjoyed the privilege of commenting during the study. Following the meeting, we asked them how they enjoyed it. The minister stated that he had learned many things that he did not know about before. One of the ladles who attended with the group said: ‘I really enjoyed your meeting. I want you to know, I really did.’ Thus the church group was able to see and hear firsthand more about what Jehovah’s witnesses believe.”

What Were Moses' Sources for Genesis?

T-IOSE who agree with the apostle Pau] that "all Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial” readily grant that Moses wrote the book of Genesis* Genesis is part of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, and since the Pentateuch is often termed "the book of the law,” and this is credited to Moses by Christian Greek Scripture writers, it follows that he must have written Genesis.—2 Tim. 3:16; Josh. 8:34.

But from where did Moses get his information for Genesis? While he could have obtained it by direct revelation from God or by means of oral tradition, there is evidence that he obtained his information from ancient written sources. Although this view may seem new to many, the fact is that it has long been held by certain students of the Bible. Among these was the Dutch Dr. Campegius Vitringa of the eighteenth century, who based his conclusion upon the frequency with which the expression “these are the generations of” occurs in Genesis.* Is this conclusion sound?

Throwing light on the subject is the fact that “generations,” the word found in so many versions, is not an appropriate translation in every case where the Hebrew word toZeddtft appears. Another Hebrew word for “generations” is dor, which appears some 125 times in the Hebrew Scriptures

* Introduction to the Old Testament OSB9), by Kell, Vol. I, page 79. and is rendered "generations” 123 times in the Authorized Version. But toleddth would sometimes better be rendered "histories” or “origins.” Certainly at Genesis 2:4, where the word toleddth first appears, and where we read, In the King James Version, “these are the generations of the heavens and of the earth,” the word “generations’* is out of place, since the heavens and the earth do not have generations, do not beget offspring. That is why the Catholic Confraternity version uses the word “story”; An American Translation, the word “origins”; Darby, “histories”; Fer-rar Fenton, "productions”; whereas the German Fiber {elder, the French Crampon and the Spanish Bover-Cantera all use the term “history," even as does the New World Translation.

The Hebrew word toleddth occurs some forty times In the Hebrew Scriptures, eleven of these being in Genesis 2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10, 27; 25:12, 19; 36;1, 9; 37:2. These ‘histories’ are not necessarily histories about the men mentioned in the expression “this is the history of ... but, rather, are the histories owned or written by them. No name appears in connection with the first of these histories, but it may be that Adam wrote it since he Was the first man and had communication with God. The rest of these histories are credited respectively to Adam, Noah, Noah’s sons, Shem, Terah, Ishmael, Isaac, Esau (two) and Jacob.

But why is a large portion of this material credited to men such as Ishmael and none of it to that man of faith Abraham? Keep in mind that the names attached to these documents do not necessarily identify who actually did the writing. In some cases they may simply indicate who the owners of the documents were. Abraham’s life of faith is recorded, and no doubt Abraham is the one who provided his sons with the details of it, but the document incorporated into Genesis is one that came to be owned by his firstborn son Ishmael.

Another fact not generally appreciated is that this expression ‘the history (or generations) of’ comes at the end rather than at the beginning of the history. Thus we read, “Such origin heaven and earth had” (Gen. 2:4, Knox), indicating that the reference is to what has gone before. Similarly Pratt, in his Studies on the Book of Genesis (1906) states, “Some interpreters understand the phrase as referring to the preceding section and so [Felix Torres] Amat translates it: ‘Such was the origin of the heavens and the earth.’ ” Rashi, Judaism’s foremost Bible commentator of medieval times, held the same view.

This use of the colophon at the end of the writing is found in the closing verse of the book of Leviticus: “These are the commandments that Jehovah gave Moses as commands to the sons of Israel in Mount Sinai.” The book of Numbers ends likewise: “These are the commandments and the judicial decisions that Jehovah commanded by means of Moses," and so forth. (Lev. 27:34; Num. 36:13) This appears to have been an ancient usage, even eis noted by P. J. Wiseman in his New Discoveries in Babylonia About Genesis.

A characteristic of these histories that perhaps has contributed to its not being generally appreciated that they end with a colophon is that each succeeding history begins with a key word from the previous history. Thus Adam’s name appears very near the end of his history and begins the very next one by Noah. (Gen. 5:1, 3) Noah’s name ends his and begins the one by his sons. (Gen. 6:9) See also “Shem" (Gen. 11:10), “Terah" (Gen. 11:27), and so forth. The reason for this appears to have been to tie the succeeding history to the previous one to make a coherent account in the Bible.

The original records most likely were inscribed on clay tablets and handed on from father to son. Jehovah God saw to it that they were preserved and that Moses had access to them. The writers of these ancient histories were not necessarily inspired and so they are not included in our list of some thirty-nine writers of the Bible.

However, even as God’s spirit directed Jeremiah and Ezra in their selection of material for writing the books of Kings and Chronicles, so Moses was inspired by God in writing Genesis, God’s spirit directing him as to what to select and just where to make additions for the sake of clarification or completeness. This explains the apparent anachronisms that are noted at times, such as Terah’s history recording the age of Shem at his death and of others who outlived him. (Gen. 11:11-17, 32) That is also why we repeatedly find parenthetical expressions giving later geographical names, such as “that is to say, Zoar," “that is, Kadesh,” and so forth, (Gen. 14:2, 3, 7, 15, 17) This also accounts for the fact that the history of Adam states that no rain had fallen, for how could Adam make reference to rain when he had never seen it? No doubt Moses added that “aside.” —Gen. 2:5, 6.

The eleventh history ends at Genesis 37: 2 and brings us well into the lifetime of Jacob. The Genesis record from then on reads smoothly into the book of Exodus, making it evident that Moses composed the remainder of Genesis, even as he wrote the rest of the Pentateuch. The information for this portion of Genesis he could well have obtained through his father Amram from Levi, his great-grandfather.

Surely the foregoing information on Moses’ sources for Genesis increases our faith in the inspiration of Genesis as part of God’s Word of truth.

After Floods, the Winds

The northwestern part of the United States has been ravaged by high waters and raging winds. The Twin Cities —Minneapolis and St. Paul— were hard hit by tornadoes that roared through the state on May 6, killing at least 13 persons and injuring hundreds. The twisters struck the same area where floodwaters had raised havoc a month earlier. On that same May day a whole series of twisters ripped a path across western Oklahoma, causing extensive damage. In Nebraska, on May 9, twenty or more tornadoes stitched a pattern of destruction across the state. The state of Washington counted five dead on April 30 and damage in the millions of dollars in the wake of the Pacific northwest's worst earthquake in more than a decade. Even weather conditions remind us that mankind is badly in need of the Kingdom of God.

Principal Problems

<$> What do Americans worry about most? What do they consider the key domestic issues of the day? According to a Gallup Poll, the number one domestic issue is "education,? and a very close second is the problem of "reducing crime.” Other issues that bother Americans are "conquering ‘killer’ diseases,” "reducing unemployment,” "helping people in poor areas,” "reducing discrimination,” “improving housing,” “improving highway safety,” “reducing air pollution” and “beautifying America,” and in that order of importance. In the New York area, Representative James H. Scheur stated, crime and police protection comprise the most important problem to an overwhelming majority of residents.

Tokyo Grows

The latest census by the municipal government showed the population of Tokyo to be 10,686,660. Without doubt, it is the world’s largest city. The figures showed that there were nearly 300,000 more males than females in the capital city.

Anniversary Parade

+ On May 9 the scene at Red Square in Moscow this year was vastly different from that of twenty years ago, when crowds of Russians shouted "Glory to our Allies,” and gathered around the American Embassy in Moscow to be addressed from the balcony by George 'F. Kennan, then chargS d'affaires. This year most of the ambassadors of the NATO countries stayed away. Only the French and Icelandic envoys of the NATO chiefs attended. However, the parade that marked the twentieth anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in World War H was impressive and precision personified. Moscow rattled its rocketi and unwrapped a 3-stage 110-foot missile for the first' time before the eyes of Western observers. The show was one of military strength.

Major Earthquakes

•$> San Salvador, the tiny capital city of El Salvador in Central America, has experienced five major earthquakes since 1854. The last one, bringing death and destruction, came the first week in May. Over a hundred people lost their lives; some 500 were injured and property, damage ran into the millions of dollars. This represented the fifth major earthquake in this part of the world in little more than a year. The El Salvador government ordered mass* inoculations against typhoid and other epidemics.

How Reverend ?

A published Associated Press dispatch from London told about a squabble in Britain among churchmen over the question, “How reverend can you get?” As things stand now, a vicar in the Anglican Church is called "reverend,” but a dean is referred to as “very reverend,” a bishop “right reverend” and an archbishop “most reverend.” Such has been the order of things since the fifteenth century. Now along comes the “Right Reverend” Dr. Robert William Stannard, a bishop who is a dean of Rochester, and quite literally exploded an ecclesiastical bombshell. He suggested that his church get rid of the "superfluous reverendness.” "What is wrong with reverend for all?” he asked. The fact that the Bible uses the word “reverend” only once and applies it only to God should be reason enough to discard altogether the superfluous nonsense of using it when addressing men. (Ps. 111:9, AV) However, a shower of objections flooded in from the clergy. Many with titles stated that they would hate to give up "very" “right” and "most,” even though, when judged by the heavenly yardstick, all are equal from the pope on down. O how they love those high-sounding titles.

Transfusion Problems

A report from Washington, dated April 19, stated that “at least 30,000 persons in the U.S. got hepatitis from 'blood transfusions last year, and 3500 of them died.” “Ilie American Hospital Association said that this toll indicates blood transfusions pose a far greater peril than anyone had suspected. Hepatitis is a disease caused by a virus that attacks the l|ver. The report said: “The more usual form, known as infectious hepatitis, is seldom fatal. But the kind that occurs after a transfusion, called serum hepatitis, is much more vicious—presumably because it gets directly into the blood of persons already weakened by some other Illness or surgery.” A survey by the U.S. Public Health Service disclosed that 30,000 patients, about one of every 60, who got transfusions last year developed hepatitis afterward, their skin and eyeballs turning yellow. The survey found that about six million pints of blood were given to 1,800,000 patients last year, and 3,500, or almost one of every 500 who got transfusions, died afterward as a result of hepatitis.

Crime Causes

The head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, J. Edgar Hoover, voiced his opinion regarding the causes of crime. He stated that most youngsters are sensible and law-abiding and some even exceed their elders in knowledge and poise. But juvenile delinquency is on the rise. 7116 root of the problem—this problem—he said, is in the home. The steady growth of crime can be blamed on a combination of factors, but “the principal one is breakdown of the home.” “More than 70 percent of the arrests for serious crimes throughout the United States,” Hoover said, "involve persons under 25 years of age. The common denominator in the cases of these young offenders has been parental neglect.” “By overcoming and correcting adult delinquency, we can greatly reduce the delinquency of children,” said America's No. 1 law enforcer.

Haman Guinea Pigs

<$> On March 23 Dr. Henry K. Beecher, a noted medical researcher, said that experiments were being done on patients without their consent or knowledge. Such tests, the doctor stated, “cannot by any stretch of the imagination be construed as for [their] benefit.” Dr. Beecher cited cases where patients died or were left "crippled for life” because they were denied standard treatment. Instances of such practice not only are common, he said, but are almost universal," and are increasing as the amount of experimentation on man grows.

“Early Bird’s” Catch

<$> In 1961 a Canadian bank was burglarized. The thieves escaped with the loot, estimated at from $500,000, to $4,000,-000. The accused mastermind of the burglary, Georges Lemay, was nowhere to be found. On May 6,1965, Police Captain Bob Smith stepped aboard a 43-foot yacht, tied up at the Bahia Mar basin in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and arrested his man. Puzzled, Lemay asked: “How did you people catch me? I very seldom make mistakes.” A boat repairman saw his face on a program relayed by the Early Bird communications satellite, recognized it and notified police. It was as simple as that. Lemay was left speechless for a moment. “Well, Isn’t that something," he said. “It took a satellite to catch me.”

Early Engineers

There is archaeological evidence to the effect that about the time Jesus Christ walked the earth Indians in America had an advanced social order and were operating an irrigation system in southern Arizona. The irrigation system antedates by 500 to 700 years the oldest previously known hydraulic engineering works in the United States. Dr. Emil Haury, director of the expedition, stated that the finding “suggests an immense degree of organization ... to maintain an irrigation system, keep the canals cleared out, and maintain agreement on division of water among the users. We have trouble doing that even today.” Findings also showed that the Indians delicately engraved shells according to modern methods, that they cremated their dead, and their drawings, almost entirely on pottery, depict archers and dancers gracefully.

Religion in Russia

& A researcher of the Institute for the Study of the USSR, an academic corporation with headquarters in Munich, Germany, and with representatives in many parts of the world, stated that modern religious leaders in Russia are keeping abreast of developments in the arts and sciences and of youth interests “for the sake of popularity” with young people. These leaders, the report said, carry tape recorders to youth gatherings to play Western jazz and are as much at ease on the dance floor as behind the wheel of a fast car. They can also talk shop about soccer over a glass of vodka. They call it religion, but does it really draw people closer to God?

Blood Abuse

In American cow-country, it is reported that cattle owners and some dairymen are giving all their calves a pint to a Quart of blood from a dry cow to give them a head start on building up resistance against the common diseases around the farm. It is given as soon as the calves are born. Why the blood? Because a doctor from Dawes Laboratory stated that the protection calves get from colostrum is good but it’s not good enough. What misuse of blood will they think of next?

Canadian Universities

$ New universities are being built In Canada at the rate of about two a year. However, In just seven years, student enrollment has nearly doubled, to 179,000, and In ten years the total Is expected to soar to 480,000. At present the nation's 41 degree-granting institutions are consuming some $350,000,000 In construction, expanding their facilities. While the land today virtually bristles with towers of learning, answers on how to solve the world's woes are slow in coming. In fact, how to cope with the growing educational needs of the nation is In Itself a growing, perplexing problem.

Vatican and Marxists Meet

<$> In recent years the leaders of Roman Catholicism around the world have put forth bold efforts to promote unity with the Protestants and even with the non-Chrlstlan world. The Honolulu Star Bulletin highlighted another avenue in which unity was sought, namely, with Marxism. Some 250 Roman Catholic and Communist scholars met in Salzburg, Austria, between April 29-May 2, to examine social and religious areas in which Marxism and "Christianity" might find common ground. Representing Marxism were 100 or more Communist scholars from Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and East Germany-i-all countries with extensive Roman Catholic backgrounds. None of the churchmen ■ from the “Iron Curtain" countries who were Invited attended the meeting.

Intorfalth Overtures

Geneva, Switzerland, a frequent site for international councils, was the site for the first time of a joint committee of churchmen from the Vatican and the World Council of Churches meeting together to discuss each other’s views and policies. The meetings, which were held .on March 28-31 and on April 5-10, are the first in a series of consultations arranged to establish the foundation for a future dialogue between the two churches. It was viewed as a historic endeavor to replace competition with cooperation.

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Street and Number

Name......................................................................................-  or Route and Box............................................................

Post                                                   Postal

Town........................................................................................ District No.'............County...............................................

ARE YOU READY?...

Preparations for the 1965 “Word of Truth” District Assemblies of Jehovah’s Witnesses are now being completed in those convention cities scheduled in the series after June, In all the places listed below you may still look forward to the delightful and instructive program being arranged for. Are you ready? Have you made final plans and preparations to attend? If not, do so at once. You will carry away with you a wealth of spiritual instruction that will strengthen your faith and equip you to strengthen the faith of others. Plan to take in all sessions every day. You will be richly rewarded.

“WORD OF TRUTH” DISTRICT ASSEMBLIES

of Jehovah's Witnesses

CANADA

July 1-4: Victoria, Victoria Memorial ArenaRooming: 2780 Shelbourne St., Victoria, B.C.

July 3-11: Vernon, BX., Vernon. CMc Arena. Rooming: 4111 27th St, Vernon, B.C,

July 15-18: Regina, Sask., Regina Exhibition Stadium, Rooming: 15th Ave, & Retailack St., Regina, Sask, Sudbury, Ont., Sudbury Arena. Rooming: 485 McNeil Blvd., Sudbury, Ont

July 22*25: Peterborough, Ont,, Peterborough Memorial Community Centre- Rooming: 109 Ware St-, Peterborough, Ont,

July 29-August 1: Brandon, Man., The Wheat City Arena. Rooming: 834 10th St,, Brandon, Man.

August 5-8: Kitchener, Ont., Kitchener Memorial Auditorium. Rooming: 85 Ottawa St. S., Kitchener, Ont.

August 12-15: Quebec, Que. (French), Cambrai Curling Club. Rooming: 215 rue Anna, Quebec, Que.

August 19-22: Calgary, Alta., Stampede Corral. Rooming: 804 12th Ave. SE., Calgary, Alta. Sdint John, N,B,, Thistle Curling Club. Rooming: 185 Mount Pleasant Ave., Saint Jotm, N.H.

August 28-29: London, Ont., Grandstand, Western Fairgrounds. Rooming: 1587 Caledonia St., London, Ont. Sydney,       Sydney Academy Auditorium,.

Rooming; Alexandra St., Sydney, N.S.

BERMUDA

July 1-4: Hamilton, Bermuda, Kingdom Hall, Ewing St. Rooming: Box 72, Hamilton, Bermuda.

UNITED STATES

July 1-4: Monterey, Calif., Monterey County Fairgrounds, Fairground Rd. & Casa Verde Ave. Rooming: 523 Ramona Ave., Monterey, Calif. 93940.

July 8-11: Sacramento, Calif., Grandstand, State Fairgrounds, Cor. Broadway & Stockton Blvd. Rooming; 3965 12th Ave., Sacramento, Calif. 95817. San Diego, Calif, {English and Spanish), English; Balboa Stadium, 1502 Russ Blvd. Rooming: 2035 Adams St,

San Diego, Calif, 02116; Spanish: Ruas Auditorium, adjacent to Balboa Stadium. Rooming; <5035 Adams St., San Diego, Calif. 92116,

15-13; Albuquerque, N.M. (English and Spanish), English; Albuquerque Civic Auditorium, 820 Lomas Blvd. Rooming: 339 Pennsylvania NE., Albuquerque, N.M. 87108; Spanish; Youth Building, New Mexico State Fairgrounds. Rooming: 339 Pennsylvania NE., Albuquerque, N.M, 87108.

July 22-25: Wailuku, Maui. Maui War Memorial Center. Rooming: 346 North Market St., Wailuku, Hawaii 96793. Lubbock, Tex., Fair Park Coliseum, Fairgrounds at Avenue A. Rooming: 129 Temple Ave., Lubbock, Tex. 79415.

July 29-August 1; Fairbanks, Alaska, Nordale School, Hamilton & Eureka Sts. Rooming: Box 1004, Fairbanks, Alaska 99701. Honolulu, Oahu, McKinley High School Auditorium. Rooming: 1228 Pensacola St, Honolulu, Hawaii 96814. Chattanooga, Tenn., Engel Stadium, 5th & O’Neal Sts. Rooming: 4901 Midland Pike, Chattanooga, Tenn. 37411. Corpus Christi, Tex. (Spanish only), Memorial Coliseum, 510 S. Shoreline Drive. Rooming: 3602 Curtiss St., Corpus Christi, Tex. 78405. Memphis, Tenn., Mid-South Coliseum, Mid-South Fairgrounds. Rooming: 3849 Elliston Rd., Memphis, Tenn. 381 IL Odessa.., Tex^ Kotor County Coliseum, 42d St. & Andrews Highway, Rooming; 321 N. Adams Ave., Odessa, Tex. 79761.

August 12-15: Buffalo. N.Y., Memorial Auditorium, Main & Terrace. Rooming: 415 Minnesota Ave,, Buffalo, N.Y. 14215. Minneapolis, Minn., Metropolitan Stadium, 8001 Cedar Ave., Bloomington, Minn. Rooming: 3715 Chicago Ave. S., Minneapolis, Minn. 55407. Nashville, Tenn., Municipal Auditorium, 417 4th Ave. N. Rooming: 1400 Meridian St., Nashville, Tenn. 37207, St. Petersburg, Fla. (English ana Spanish), Bayfront Center Auditorium-Arena, 400 1st St. S. Rooming: 1695 42d Ave, N., St. Petersburg, Fla. 33713.

August 24-29; New York, N.Y. (English and Spanish), Yankee Stadium, 157tb St. & River Ave. Rooming: 77 Sands St, Brooklyn, N.Y, 11201.

For rooms or further information write WATCHTOWER CONVENTION at the rooming address in the city nearest you

32

AWAK&l

¹

New Discoveries Babylonia About Genesis, page 140.