Golden Age, February 25, 1925
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Contents of the Golden Age
Wtr— . — . . ' --------• ~~ ■ : ■
Labob and Economics
Methuselah the Banker......<
Principal Doubles in Ten Years
Four Centuries Would Buy the Earth......... . 326
"As It Was in the Days of Noah”
Social and Educational
Oue Rural Schools........ .
Passing through Abnormal Conditions
Manufactures and Mining
The Manufacture of Paper
Converting Pulp into Paper
Political—Domestic and Foreign
Glimpses at World News
Miscellaneous Items of.News, in America
Items of News from the Ohl World
Egyptian Affairs
Agriculture and Husbandry
New Fumigant. Found to Destroy Weevils in Whe^t . ..... 334
Economic Value and Raising of Skunks......
Skunk Farming for Fur
Science and Invention
The Power of the Mind
Travel and Miscellany
The Busy Wasp .....
Religion and Philosophy
Reports from Canada
The World’s Deliverer . ...............
Cause of Suffering
When Deliverance Will Come . . . '.
Who Will Be Saved?
The World Needs Religion
Christ Has Come to Reign (Poem)...............
Studies in "The Harp of God” .
"ANGELS AND WOMEN”
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<rte Golden Age
■■ ' -■ ■ ■ ii —«
Volume VI Brooklyn, N.Y., Wednesday, February 25, 1925 Number 142
Glimpses at World News
[Radiocast, with other items, from Watchtower WBBR on a wave length of 273 meters, by the Editor]
Senator Curtis a Real American
Senator Curtis, the new leader of the United
States Senate, is a real American, sure enough; for his grandmother was a full-blooded Kaw Indian lass. Curtis was reared in an Indian village, later became a horse jockey, then a hack-driver and finally a law student and a successful lawyer in Topeka, when that city was yet young. He has been in the United States Senate seventeen years, and is acknowledged to be one of the brightest men in the country.
Mrs. Feodorovna Pays a Visit
Mrs. Feodorovna or Vladimirovitch (we are not sure of the name), has paid the United States a visit, and has probably had a pretty good time. While she was here the Vanderbilts and Bakers feasted and entertained her, giving her the best that unlimited money can command ; but otherwise she never made a dent in the American body politic. Her hubby, safe in Bavaria, claims to be the new Czar of Russia; and while Mrs. Feodorovna was here, some were foolish enough to hail her as the Empress. Cheap show!
Automobiles Destroying Central Park
Senator Nathan Straus calls attention to the fact that excess of automobiles in Central Park is gradually destroying plant life in what is the principal breathing space of the city. He advocates the exclusion of all automobiles from the Park, the carrying of the east and west traffic underground and of the north and south traffic on widened streets on the sides.
More Cars Cause More Accidents .
IN THE United States two billion dollars per year are spent for passenger cars—auto-mobiles. Twelve million such cars are in con-
stant operation. The deaths from their use have grown to 22,600 per year, and the serious personal injuries to 678,600 per year, or two and one-half times as many casualties as were sustained by the American forces during the World War.
New Use for Jogs
WE DO not say that the sign “Hot Dogs”, now so often seen on motor roads means that some of our four-footed companions have been passed back to us by the dog catcher and Frankfurter makers; and we don’t say that it doesn’t. But we do say, and confess to a shock at the discovery, that Paris despatches show that at a horse race near there recently, one of the women wore a greyhound fur; and we fear a fall in the price of Frankfurters is impending.
Airplane—Dirigible Air Connections
AT Belleville, Illinois, an airplane has performed the feat of hooking itself to a dirigible and then releasing itself, thus demonstrating that in a new war there would most evidently be full coordination of all aircraft even while engaged in actual flight.
Came Near Seeing a Zeppelin in 1918
NEW YORK came near seeing a zeppelin in 1918. The Armistice came three days before a zeppelin was finished which was intended to be used in making a round trip from Hamburg to New York. The officer who was to guide the vessel had been appointed, and his duty had been assigned of dropping four and a half tons of bombs on the city. It could have been done, no doubt.
Motor Thieves Escape in Fog
TYURINCr the heavy fogs that have prevailed in London recently, one of the post offices in the heart of the city was robbed by thieve®
in motor cars, who escaped with sixteen to a hundred hags of mail, and could not be located on account of the fog. Motor cars are now in general use by thieves everywhere.
Britain and the League
RITAIN wanted the United States to enter the League of Nations on a par with her
colonies of Canada, Australia, India, and New Zealand. Now she writes to the League of Nations that the Anglo-Irish, registered with the League last July, can not be registered with that body, as the League can have nothing to do with affairs within the British Empire.
Spanish Military Rule
NDER the Spanish military rule forty newspapers have been suspended in Ma
drid; and in those that are still publishing it is common to see blank columns or parts of columns where the censors have cut out important news. The yearly expense in the Moroccan war, where Spain is constantly losing ground, runs to 800 million pesetas. The bill for education is 117 million.
Bavarian Public Schools Romanized
ON November 22nd, after four years of negotiations, the public schools of Bavaria have obligated themselves to have the Catholic religion taught in those institutions, either by local Roman Catholic priests or by priests chosen by the Vatican. Payments are to be made by the Bavarian government to the priests and six bishops whose dioceses are in Bavaria.
Will Use the Shortest Routes
HE French and Swiss Governments have come to an agreement that on all goods ex
changed between the two countries hereafter, the goods are to be transported by the shortest routes. This general principle is now recognized throughout the United States, and is a proper one. People who desire for any reason to send their goods by the longest routes should pay for it.
Fascisti do Good Work in Italy
NALTERABLY opposed, as we are, to the seizure of Italy by the Fascisti, evidence
continues to come in showing the great success
they are making of their undertakings. The railroad deficit has been wiped out, traffic has increased, new lines are being built, and the water traffic has so increased that in a maritime sense Italy is now in the third place in Europe.
Prayers of Pilgrims in Rome
HE prayers of the pilgrims to Rome during the “Holy Year” inaugurated December
24th, 1924, are to be made in accordance with the directions of the Pope. They include a prayer for the peace of the world, for the absorption of the Protestant churches by the Church of Rome, and for the dominance of the Roman Church jn the affairs of Palestine.
Terrible Sufferings of Greeks
NDER the terms of the treaty Turkey continues to return Greeks to the fatherland.
Among 1500 of these, recently returned from Konia, sixty died in twenty days from their exposures and impoverishment; and the remainder, with twenty percent of the people sick, are now living in tents, without adequate clothing and almost without food.
Reformations in erusalem
EFORMATIONS are pnder way in Jerusalem. After January first all motor cars
in the city are to have bells in place of horns. Not a bad idea. No bell could ever be made to bring forth such hideous sounds as emanate from some of the vehicles that traverse the streets of New York. In the list of nervewreckers they stand near the top.
Britain’s Promise to Egypt
ORTY-TWO years ago, when British forces seized Egypt, to prevent its separation
from Turkey, Gladstone promised that as soon as order was restored the troops would be withdrawn. The troops are still there. It is a curious situation. Egypt is now supposed to be exercising sovereignty, but is as helpless as a kitten in a well.
Britain’s India-Australia Airships
RITAIN is building two 695-ft.-long airships to carry passengers from Britain to
India and Australia. The standard speed of the vessels will be fifty miles per hour, with a
maximum speed of seventy-two miles. They expect to carry 13,221 passengers each way annually, at a rate of two and one-half cents per mile, which is less per mile than is charged on American railways, and to make a profit of ten percent.
Congo’s Diamond Output Increasing
HE output of diamonds from the Congo region is increasing, from both the Belgian and the Portuguese districts, to such an extent as to be competing seriously with the famous Kimberley field in South Africa. We have the thought that this search for treasure is doing much to open up the Congo to real civilization, which will follow later.
Filipinos in Hands of the Usurers
IKE all the rest of the world, the people of the Philippines are in the hands of the money lenders, only that in the Philippines the rates of interest are so high as to hold the people in abject slavery. There are no prison sentences to back up the laws against usury; and those who are caught in the toils dare not have recourse to the law anyway, for fear of getting into conditions that are even worse than they now face.
Methuselah the Banker
[Reprinted from Golden
(With Apologies to Methuselah)
Age, No. 70, by request]
NOTHING like this ever happened; but it clearly illustrates what is happening. It has a basis of facts, and the calculations are reliable.
Prior to the flood there were ten patriarchs. The years wherein they lived, according to the true Bible chronology, were as follows:
B. C.
Adam ....................4129-3199
Seth .....................3999-3087
Enos .............. 3894-2989
Cainan ...................3804-2894
Mahalaleel................3734-2839
Jared ....................3669-2707
Enoch ....................3507-3142
Methuselah ...............3432-2463
Lamech ................ 3245-2468
Noah, to the flood..........3063-2463
When Methuselah arrived on the scene Adam was getting well along in years; in fact, as the record shows, he had only 233 more years to live; and realizing that he was growing old he said to Methuselah’s father: “Enoch, you have always been a good boy; and now that you have an addition to your family I feel like doing something for your child, John D., Jr., my new great-great-great great-great grandson; so here is $1. I would like to have you put it out for him at interest; and when he is old enough, I would like to have him go into the banking business. I think that there is a lot of money in that business, if properly handled; and I will be ready, as long as I live, to give my best advice as to how to safeguard the fund. My boy Seth wants to borrow $1 from me right now; so we will lend the money to Seth at 6 percent interest. We will let him have it on a sixty-day note; and then at the end of that time he will renew the note, with the interest added; and so on indefinitely.”
Principal Doubles in Ten Years
THIS seemed like an excellent suggestion to
Enoch, and so the transaction was made in due form. Seth gave his note for $1 on January 1st, B. C. 3432, and on March 1st renewed it for $1.01 and so on, at sixty-day intervals, with the following result: For convenience we give the principal of the unpaid note as it stood on certain stipulated dates, omitting fractions:
September 1st, B. C. 3431
January
1st, B. C.
March
1st, B. C.
May
1st, B. C.
May
1st, B. C.
March
1st, B. C.
January
1st, B. C.
November
1st, B. C.
September
1st, B. C.
July
1st, B. C.
......$1.10
...... 1.21
...... 1.31
...... 1.41
...... 1.50
...... 1.60
...... 1.70
......1.80
...... 1.90
...... 2.00
A Thousandfold in a Century
ADAM saw that he was starting Methuselah off on a profitable path. While it had looked at the outset that Methuselah was going to make only 6 percent on his money, yet in actual practice the money had doubled itself in ten years and six months, so that, allowing for a time or two when the note went to protest, and thus brought additional revenues to the young financier, Adam discovered that Methuselah would normally double his money every ten years. In a little while, then, as things went at that time, Seth’s notes on January 1st of each decade were as noted on next page.
On January 1st, 3332, Seth came around to Methuselah and said: “It looks to me as though you are asking too much for the use of that 'dollar that you loaned me a hundred years ago today. I had no idea at that time that it would cost me over a thousand dollars for the use of that dollar for a hundred years.” But Methuselah had begun to see the value of his scheme; so he talked Seth into leaving the note, the same as usual, and let the money pile up, multiplying at the rate of over a thousand times a century, and took a mortgage on Seth’s home, to make sure that the interest and principal would all be paid some happy day. From that time onward business seemed to pick up rapidly.
3412 B. C...................$
3402 B. C. .
3392 B. C
3382 B. C..
3372 B. C. ...
3362 B. C................... 128.00
3352 B. C................... 256.00
3342 B. C................... 512.00
3332 B. C................... 1024.00
A Million in Two Centuries
ON JANUARY 1st, 3232, Adam came around to see how Methuselah was making out and was surprised to find that he had just renewed Seth’s note for the tidy sum of $1,048,576, and to learn that Seth had been compelled not only to give a mortgage on everything he owned but to borrow large sums from his children and his grandchildren to provide the collateral necessary to secure the loan.
In a little while (as things went then), namely, in only a third of a century, as Adam was ill, at the point of death, he sent for Methuselah to find out how the interest plan was working; and when Methuselah told him that Seth’s note at that time was for $10,150,215.68 and that he
held mortgages on all the then existing real and personal property, of every sort on the whole earth, excepting Adam’s own house and the bed upon which he way lying, Adam just curled up and died. .
Indeed, Enoch himself had become so uis-heartened at the way things looked that he, too, left the scene, sick at what he saw coming on the earth, and remained here only fifty-seven years longer. But in that time the bonds and bills receivable, mortgages and other collateral, in Methuselah’s hands had grown until the total was now $536,870,912. And the original dollar was still out at interest, working as hard as ever. .
A Billion in Three Centuries
WHEN the third century came around, January 1st, B. C. 3132, ten years after Enoch had left the scene, the notes had reached to the sum of $1,073,741,824, and Methuselah was as wealthy as the wealthiest man living in the year 1922 A. D.; but unlike him Methuselah was only nicely started in life.
From this point onward things seemed to come Methuselah’s way. In the next century, down to the time of Seth’s death, which was a period of forty-five years, the notes came, rolling in. When Seth felt that he was slipping away, he sent for the young banker to find out how much he really owed him for the loan 345 years previous; and when told in a stern banking tone of voice that it was on that date, January 1st, 3087 B. C., a sum total of $26,815,832,425.92, Seth gave one gasp; and they sent for the undertaker.
Four Centuries Would Buy the Earth
IT WAS only a little while longer to the four hundredth anniversary of the loan. This period soon passed; and when it was expired, January 1st, 3032, the total securities in Methuselah’s hands, covering all the admitted indebtedness of Adam’s posterity, was the magnificent sum of $1,099,511,627,776. This was enough, and more than enough, if invested in a World War, to make the world safe for plutocracy. But Methuselah had more sense. lie concluded to put it into the real estate business; for he knew that, with his interest-machine workingly properly, the world was safe for big business anyway until something happened, . , ;
Looking the matter up in the Rand-McNally atlas of the time, and confirming it by the “World Almanac”, Methuselah found that the total land surface of the earth is 54,807,420 square miles, which, at 640 acres to the square mile, amounts to 35,076,749,800 acres. He purchased the whole outfit at $30 per acre, and had the deed recorded; but as it all belonged to him anyway, he did not have to pay out any money. It was just a matter of bookkeeping. But even according to the books he had $47,209,133,776 left over, after buying the whole earth at $30 per acre, and without ever having done one stroke of work himself, all as a result of a “wise investment” of $1 left to accumulate by perfectly proper banking methods for a matter of 400 years.
How Could the People Pay It?
Y THIS time Methuselah had acquired the appetite for making money. He had learned the interest game thoroughly, and he now went in for it in a large way. During the next four centuries the fortune which he amassed in notes and bills receivable, mortgages, bonds and other collateral on all that was in the earth or ever would be in the earth was as follows:
Jan. 1st, B. C.
2932__.1..$ 1,125,899,906,842,624
2832 _____ 1,152,921,504,606,846,976
2732_____ 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424
2632 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176
At this point Methuselah thought it was time for him to begin to build, and so he decided to build a fine house on each acre of land that he owned. Figuring the matter up carefully he found that on every acre of land surface of the earth, as a result of his frugality in letting that $1 work for him steadily for 800 years, he was able to erect on each acre a building which, would cost him just $34,465,160,155,879 per acre; and allowing that there would ultimately be 50,000,000,000, of Adam’s posterity born, this would be at the rate of $689.30 for each one of them for each acre of the whole earth.
Not being blessed by nature with any more sense than the law allowed, being ignorant of about every item except how to keep his old interest-machine working, Methuselah started to build, using only solid gold, at $27 per ounce, for his building materials. His gold cost him, delivered on the job, $648,000 per ton.
256 Tons of Gold to the Square Inch
IGURING up how much he would need, the old gentleman found that in every acre there are 43,560 square feet of land and 6,272,640 square inches. He reckoned up to see how many tons of gold he could afford to stand on each square inch of the land surface of the earth, and discovered that to place one ton on each square inch he would be loading down each acre with a plate of solid gold amounting in value to $4,064,670,720,000. But as he had more than eight times as much wealth as this on hand, why should he care? So he started to have the work done.
About this time his grandson Noah came along. We say about this time, but actually it was some forty-nine years later, and the building operations were already under way. Noah asked his grandpa how much his wealth was at this time, and was told that business had been good since Methuselah began to build, because he now had thirty-two times as much, and that therefore he intended to put 256 tons of solid gold on each square inch of the earth’s surface, instead of only eight tons as he had originally planned.
Erecting the Gold Standard
OAH tried to reason with him; but the old man was getting cross and childish, and seemed to think that because he was in the banking business nobody else knew anything. So he roughly ordered Noah off the premises, meaning that he should get off the earth. Thinking the matter over Noah perceived that the only thing he could do was to take to the water; so he and the boys of the family got to work on their boat. They worked as hard as they could; for they could see that the old man was getting crazy and that things did not look a bit good for anybody.
Meantime Methuselah continued to do a good business. His little nest-egg had so grown by the time his 900th birthday came around that it was the neat figure of (if the pencil didn’t slip somewhere) $1,237,940,039,285,370,274,899,124,224. This wealth caused the old man’s mind to go back on him entirely; for he found that, building as hard as he could, it was impossible for all the inhabitants of the world to erect the gold as fast as it came flowing in. Therefore he determined to do something that would make his name remembered throughout all time. He had all the gold that could he possibly handled brought into one place; and there he erected on a plot a mile square a building of solid gold, which he called The Gold Standard.
‘‘As It Was in the Days of Noah”
THE great pile grew like magic, and kept get-ting higher and higher. They put in electric elevators and ran them like the wind, trying to keep pace with the delivery of the material, lifting it up and placing it in position. They had gotten up about seventy-nine miles when something happened. Probably nobody will ever know just what it was. Some said that the tower was built too rigidly; it could not stand the strain of the great wind which blew away the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold like the chaff of the summer threshing-floor. Others said it was because the foundation was laid in blood. Anyway, to the horror of all onlookers in the year 2463 B. C., it swayed a few moments, gave a sickening lurch, tore a big gap in the canopy, and came down with a roar, burying Methuselah and all of that civilization in the ruins. It fell, and great was the fall of it.
And when the canopy was torn, down came the waters, ocean deep, floating Noah and all his family to safety. If you look the matter up, you will-find that Methuselah died the year of the flood.
We reiterate the first statement of this article, namely, that “nothing like this ever happened”; but we leave it to the reader to judge whether or not any civilization can endure which is built upon the interest basis. There-will come a time when the burden cannot possibly be borne. The World War has made the burden already impossible. In a little while the great tower will fall and bury civilization in its ruins. When that time comes the only happy people on earth will be those who have learned well the lesson that the Word of our God which liveth and abideth forever is better, far better, than any image of gold that supposedly wise but indescribably foolish financial people of the world have erected or can ever erect for their happiness or protection.
Our Rural Schools
OUT in Western Kansas lies a very fertile valley which is owned mostly by the Garden City Beet Sugar Company, and which is inhabited largely by uneducated foreigners, who rent the land and raise the beets for the mill.
Within this territory lies the the little hamlet of Holcomb. Here was an ideal spot in which to build a model consolidated school, the character of the inhabitants of the locality being such that they might easily be prevailed upon to take the entire dose. The Sugar Company did not care. It could increase the rentals or “hike” the price of sugar to meet the extra tax.
Doubtless similar schools in other sugar districts have contributed their bit towards making the latter course possible, and this may account in part for the higher prices on sugar in recent years.
The “Octopus” came and saw, and the deed was done. The bonds were voted. The one-room school buildings in the region wTere moved into the little town, and utilized in the construction of some of the buildings. A fine school building, a teacherage, and a home for the
By A Farmer’s Wife
superintendent were built. Reo busses were purchased, and a garage maintained for them. The gymnasium, the play-room, and the bathroom were not forgotten. The initial cost was reported to be $225,000.
A consolidated school course includes a four-year high-school course, in our state.
When all was in readiness, lengthy first page articles appeared in “The Country Gentleman” and, later, in “The Kansas Homestead”, describing the Holcomb school plant and extolling its virtues over the usual one-room rural school. Other prominent publications joined in the sobs over the inefficiency of the one-room school—these same one-room schools which have turned out many of our brightest stars in history, the strongest men and women our modern times have known.
Many editorial tears, also, were shed over “the poorly paid teachers”. As far as the teachers are concerned, they have always fared as well, if not better, than those who furnished the money to pay them.
Thus was launched the campaign for con-
solidated or, at least rural, high schools in every agricultural locality.
Many parents were easily prevailed upon to vote for the schools because they believed they were paving the road to easier lives for their children than they themselves had enjoyed. There was some opposition, however; and the gerrymandering and other schemes practised to put these new schools on the map were enough to make Satan dance for joy. ■ Thus were profitable tax-free investments found for a vast amount of funds accumulated by “big business” when the world was being “made safe for democracy”.
Much twaddle has been printed about “the great American charity”, and “the sacrifice that pays”. The woman who gave to charity the money which should have gone to buy her small child a pair of shoes, can hardly be commended for the act. Is it not just possible that charity untempered by judgment may fly wide of the mark and do more harm than good? May it not be that the system which keeps young men and women on charity's roll even after they have finished the grades, is at fault?
Gradually Changing to Play
THE high school course may be all right;
but, judged from appearances, it is designed to eliminate as much work and introduce as much play as possible. One $60,000 high school did not have enough students to fit out a creditable team for the games; so they went out into the highways and byways, and gathered in youngsters who were even below the seventh grade and promoted them into the high school, in order that the school might have a place in the contest games.
How can our students become deep thinkers or even fair students if they are continually keyed up to the highest pitch of excitement over the games? The last game played is hardly out of mind until the new contest looms up. Besides these, there are also many social affairs, both in school and out, to exercise their influence on the pupils’ minds.
Physical culture should by all means have a place in our school; but its true object is defeated in these brutal contest games, which strew the way with thrills and cripples. The youngsters are taught that total disregard of consequences to their own bodies in order to
win a game is heroism. We do not question that there are times when physical sacrifice may be praiseworthy; but should there not be a higher object than the mere winning of a game to prompt it ? ’
The young folks are “wild” to get into high school. They accept what work is necessary, in order that the institution may be called a school, that they may enjoy the “thrills” which the courses include. If they can not be players, they may be “boosters” in the contest games. This means long car rides and many jolly hours.
From the moment our children enter school, they are feasted upon “thrills”. Their very reading lessons are full of thrilling and often impossible stories. No wonder they find ordinary life intolerable, and start out occasionally to manufacture some thrills of their own, as did those two rich young Chicago students.
In districts where these schools exist, they reign supreme. Parents and others are expected to bow to their every mandate. They will brook no interference, excepting the pupil’s own illness, with his school activities.
No students are excused from the games unless upon a doctor’s certificate stating that they are physically unable to take part in them.
Plenty of time may be taken for games and “hikes”, to say nothing of “weenie roasts” and four-o’clock breakfasts, held in lonely, out-of-the-way places, often with doubtful chaperonage. But one day missed from school activities by any pupil for any reason except his own sickness cuts down on his credits. Consequently there are few young hands anywhere to help even their parents in any emergency. Many instances might be cited of mothers seriously ill, and fathers doing housework and tending the sick and the little ones in addition to their own necessary work, in order that almost grown daughters may not miss a day of school. When father is sick, mother milks cows and feeds pigs; for son must not lose his credits.
In times past, son or daughter could have “made up” the lessons missed, but the extra strain this would put upon them would never do now. All kinds of sacrifices are made in order that the school activities of the pupil may not be interfered with. Evidently modern parents readily learn self-sacrifice; but when are the youngsters to learn their lessons of unselfishness ?
One is not considered a good citizen if he does not attend the contest games occasionally and contribute towards their upkeep. If the pupils want anything extra, they get up a food sale or something similar; and the public is expected to buy at generous prices to help the “kids” out.
Passing through Abnormal Conditions
WITH a Fourth of July picnic almost every day, with the old folks to do all the work, and with all their bills paid with little or no effort on their part, are we not giving the young generation a very thorough course in selfishness? Growing up under these conditions, with no weight of responsibility to control their actions, are we not producing an abnormal race? In our efforts to build up a race of physical giants, are we not producing one of moral dwarfs?
In our state a teacher must have completed this high-school course. Is is any wonder that our one-room schools are deteriorating? The efficient teacher is a rare article, and is what he is in spite of, not on account of, his modern educational training.
An ex-county-superintendent, in answer to a woman who was deploring the fact that her children were not doing what they should in school, writes in the Daily Drovers’ Telegram, of Kansas City, Missouri:
“To the Household,-. I would like to say to ‘Evergreen’ in your issue of July 22 that the only thing that will do her children any good in the way of a school is a good teacher. By far too much emphasis is put upon the school building or the number of teachers, rather than the quality of teachers.”
The child is not benefited by the consolidated school to the extent that “boosters” claim he is. Dealers in building material, heating plants, lighting systems, school furniture, school “busses”, etc., are benefited very much, as are also architects, contractors, plumbers, insurance and real estate agents; and they spend time and money boosting these things because it pays them to do so. Educators advocate the same things because it generally means the employment of more teachers, higher salaries, less work, more conveniences, and more congenial surroundings for the teachers.
The bulk of expenses too often falls upon the already over-burdened farmer, who is in the minority and can not help himself, especially if he owns land in a district containing a town. He lives a life of drudgery and sacrifice in order that these people may have modern comforts and conveniences.
A good teacher will teach a good school in a one-teacher country school building. If she is no good there, she will do no good as a teacher in the grade school. The so-called trained teacher is many times a farce, trained ■ only to shirk her duty and to ask more salary for so doing. There are some good teachers, however, true and tried, who are worthy of the profession, and whose service is invaluable. It it a difficult matter to determine who the good teachers are; but send the child to a good teacher, no matter what the school building might be.
An expensive school building will not educate your child any more than a modern church building will make him a Christian or than a massive tombstone will carry his soul to heaven.
The teacher is the school, the whole thing, and the only thing that will help your child; and the country school might have a better teacher than the consolidated district, or it might not.
The course in Jehovah’s school, which began its sessions some 6,000 years ago, is full of peculiar and difficult problems to solve. The student is tried to the utmost limit of his powers, and often goes down to the grave seemingly a failure. The course allows some pleasure as we go along; but the bulk of instruction requires much effort, and is along most sober and humbling lines.
The Great Teacher sees to it that each get* the experiences he needs to insure his creditable passage in the final test, that of the judgment day. Some will fail, it is true; but their failure will be because they are too much the children of Satan, and on no account may it be laid upon their loving Instructor.
When the graduates of this school have received their diplomas and with them the gift of “unspeakable joy”, and are ready to launch out into eternal life, will they begin immediately' to look for “white collar” jobs ? Will they steadfastly' refuse anything in the line of work which they' consider not on a level in genteelness and salary with their educated abilities; choosing rather to live in penury or upon the generosity of friends than to accept a position they think is beneath them? Or will they stop to ask: “Where am I most needed in the world’s field of labor?”
Which will be the paramount question with them? Will it be, “How can I best serve myself?” or will it be, “How can I best honor Jehovah and serve my fellow creatures?”
Will domineering inefficiency prevail then?
The model educational course is outlined for us by an all-wise Creator. Is it safe to vary the proportions of work and play, until the law goes forth from Jerusalem?
The Manufacture of Paper By d. h. Copeland
THE art of writing in some form or other is old. Just how old it is is hard to determine, but it was an old, old art when paper as a vehicle for the expression of ideas and the keeping of records came into existence.
Probably one of the earliest examples of the use of paper is the “Gharibu ’1-Haidth”, an Arab treatise on the rare and curious words in the sayings of Mahomet, written in 866 A. D. It was not until the eighth century that paper was available or much used by any other people than the Chinese, who are perhaps, the earliest known makers and users of the substance. Just when they first practised the art of manufacture is lost in the mists of antiquity.
Originally, paper was made from cotton, flax, rags; and later, as the demand necessitated larger and larger supplies, esparto-grass, the fibres of many plants, such as rice, straw, papyrus, etc., were used. .
With regard to the use of paper in England, it seems to have been fairly common in the fourteenth century. Brown paper was purchasable in 1570, according to old account books of that date; and an early reference (1519) to blotting paper is found in Horman’s “Vulgaria”:
“Blottyng papyr serveth to drye weete wryttynge, lest there be madeblottis orblurris.”
Modern papers are made from a variety of substances. Esparto-grass, straw, flax, hemp, jute, and cotton are still used in considerable quantities, but the principal source of supply of raw material is the forest.
A visit to a modern paper mill is an education in paper manufacture.
Imagine a stream of paper averaging fifteen feet in width flowing out of a machine at the rate of three-quarters of a mile a minute! This is the production of one plant which is only a unit in a number of such plants producing paper for one newspaper only! What the combined production of all the paper machines in the world must be staggers the imagination.
The processes through which the raw material goes before the finished product is produced are many and varied. The preparatory processes are the longest; for the manufacture of paper from the pulp to the roll is a matter of moments only. It is the production of the pulp which consumes the time.
Two kinds of pulp are manufactured, ground wood and sulphite pulp. The process through which the wood goes is considerably different, but a mixture of both kinds is necessary for good newsprint paper.
For the manufacture of ground wood pulp, the small logs in their natural rough state are carried on chain and trough conveyers from the piles to the drum barkers for the removal of the bark. These drum barkers are large cylinders of heavy plank slats on the inside of which angle irons are bolted; and these are revolved in a trough of water. Streams of. water also play on the logs as they roll around inside the drums. As the bark is knocked off against the angle irons it is washed away, and the cleansed logs are conveyed to the grinders to be reduced to pulp.
The grinders are machines in which the logs are held by air pressure against revolving grindstones, and are literally ground to pulp. This ground wood pulp is washed out of the bottom of the grinder to the screens, which remove slivers, pieces of bark, shims, etc.; thence it is carried to the deckers, which thicken the pulp and remove the surplus water.
Converting Pulp Into Paper
HE sulphite pulp is manufactured by a much more involved process, but the resultant product is of a better color and a longer, stronger fibre than the ground wood pulp. It is this long fibre which is desired, as when mixed with the ground wood it adds strength and tenacity to the sheet. In this process the soft part of the wood is dissolved away from the fibre as follows:
The wood is clipped into about five-eighth-inch pieces, and carried to a sulphite digester to be cooked. This digester is a large steel shell which is filled with chips mixed with calcium bisulphite acid, and cooked under 70 lbs. steam pressure for about nine hours. This cooking process reduces the chips to a fine, long silky fibre called “sulphite”, which then is screened and deckered as was the ground wood.
The mixing next takes place. Ground wood to the amount of 75 percent of the whole is mixed by great revolving paddles with 25 percent of the sulphite fibre at a consistency of 3.25 percent in water, and into the mixing ingredients is introduced a quantity of basic blue and sulphite of alum. The blue coloring neutralizes the yellowish tint of the ground wood pulp, and the alum sets the color to the fibres, which otherwise would be washed away as the water is separated from the pulp.
Next the pulp mixture is passed through the Jordan machine, which brushes the fibres out more uniformly and destroys all dry lumps. From the Jordan machine the mixture is fed into one side of a fan pump, and white water fed to the other side at a constant head. The pulp leaves this pump so thin that it flows like water direct to the paper-machine screens, the last safeguard against slivers, lumps or foreign substances which might up to this point have entered the pulp.
The pulp is now on its final journey, which from screen to finished roll is a matter of seconds only. The thin sheet of water-burdened pulp flows into the head box of the paper machine under a slice bar which keeps the quantity graded to an even thickness, and which is adjustable. Under this slice is a 65 mesh bronze Fourdrinier wire screen which permits water but not pulp to pass through. From this sieve the “water leaf sheet” passes over woolen felt wringers, or press rolls which squeeze the greater part of the water out of the sheet.
From the last of these press rolls the sheet, still wet but of fairly even texture and substance, goes to the drying rolls, hollow cylinders heated by steam under seven pounds pressure. Here the sheet passes over one and under another for the length of the machine, twenty or more rolls, to the calender stack rolls, which polish the paper slightly, giving it a better surface for printer’s ink. Some paper receiving more of this polishing is called super-calendered, and is of a fairly high finish.
From the calendering stack the paper is wound and rewound into rolls to a size of about 35 inches on either steel or wood core, covered with heavy coarse paper, weighed, marked, and numbered, arid loaded into cars for shipment. During the winding the cutting to size is automatically done.
This is a necessarily brief sketch of the process of manufacturing the newsprint of our daily papers. Other papers, rag rind cotton stock, hand-laid vellums, etc., are made by entirely different processes, in which many more hand operators are called for, thus necessarily increasing the cost of manufacture, even as the quality is enhanced. A visit to a newsprint mill, however, is a splendid breeder of respect for that carelessly handled and often despised “piece of newspaper”.
The Power of the Mind By a. p. Pot tie, d.o., Ph.c.
THOUGHT is the brain in action. The brain consists of the soft mass of nerves, the grey and white matter in the cranium, and is subdivided into the cerebrum, the cerebellum and five lobes. The human brain differs from that of the animal by virtue of the greater number of convolutions, or impressions wherein the faculty of memory has its origin. It was at one time supposed, and so taught in medical circles, that meditation, conception, ideas or deliberation, was the result of chemical activity, intercellular. It is now demonstrated that chemicals are too slow in action to permit rapid calculation, and this is proof that thought is conducted by an electronic vibratory method.
Dr. Abrams was the first actually to demonstrate that theory through a mechanical instrument. It also explains the hitherto mysteries of so-called mental telepathy, mind reading, and woman’s intuition, of which Pastor Russell spoke upon several occasions.
People of strong mental intellect may attune their mind with the vibrations of another and sense that other’s thought. This is frequently also called a “co-incident”, and can be tested by looking at one person intently for a few minutes; and that person will sense that vibration being played upon him. Others can merely think of another person and not see him, and he will sense the vibratory reaction. It is dangerous to carry these tests to completion, however, due to the wily darts of the evil one and to the tremendous influence of the hypnotic and spiritistic cults. The two should be kept entirely separate; for they are entirely distinct. But due to our finite minds, it is most difficult to distinguish sometimes between them, and therefore it is advisable not to experiment with such a master mind as Satan.
Thought may be basic for every form of activity. It alone distinguishes between a genius and a fool. At first, thought is developed through most difficult, steady persistence; and later it becomes a habit. Small affairs in men’s lives have changed the entire trend of their lives, by changing a thought and then a habit. Words and actions are crystallized thoughts, words being but vehicles of expression, and may betray the true thought of the individual. As one has expressed it: “Your character speaks so loudly that I can not hear what you say.” Another has said: “The greatest prayer which a man is capable of rendering to his Maker, may be merely a frame of mind, without the utterance of a syllable.”
Testing High and Low Qualities
A PERSON may test good music by placing a saucer of grain, or any small round object, on the piano, and then playing popular or ragtime music. Soon the grain will be entirely mixed up, without any regularity or design. Then if classical music is played, there will be formed a perfect design, such as seen in a lace curtain, etc. This can be further demonstrated by unrolling a roll of player music; and without looking at the name of the piece or playing it, one can determine whether it is ragtime or classical by the design which the perforations form in the paper.
This illustrates essentially what occurs to the brain of individuals who habitually think of only base, vile things, and those who have the uplifting experiences. It explains why the character of men can be described in terms of facial features, known as Physiognomy, or cranial characteristics with the scientific term of Phrenology, or even by the fingernails or by the palm, or by the spine, or by the feet. There are books published on each of these arts separately; and if we were only sufficiently intelligent we undoubtedly could determine what a person thinks or does chiefly, his qualifications, etc., merely from a piece of his skin, a hair, or a drop of blood.
Abrams scientifically demonstrated this fact in many details, although experiments are as yet in their infancy. The body throughout tells our story of life; the vibrations show what we are, and do not lie.
That the mind is capable of severely punishing the body, even unto death through fear, anger, madness or hatred, has amply been demonstrated. Undoubtedly many doctors have brought thousands of patients to a permature grave by telling them that there was no hope of recovery; and many others have had their lives prolonged by hope inspired by their physician. Pastor Russell cited a case of an experiment where a man died of heart failure, who thought he was being bled to death, but who really only had water dripping over his arm. Men have turned grey-haired in a moment through terrible fright. The Christian Scientists heal in many cases by merely changing the mode of thought, by giving the sufferers encouragement, which is nothing but a good brand of psychology, although they attribute it to “divine healing”.
Possibilities for Good Unlimited
ENUINE happiness is a mental attainment. It may be temporary or permanent, depending entirely upon the degree to which it approximates that of the spiritual attributes; namely, the fruits of the spirit, particularly perfect love. Man’s mind was designed to be “in the likeness of Jehovah”, according to Genesis; and consequently the possibilities of good are unlimited. As the result of the original sin, we might conclude that mental possibilities of sin are incomprehensible. This can be better appreciated by reading a treatise on the thousands of appetite perversions, the term appetite being applicable in a broader sense.
The human brain may be likened to a radio set complete. It is a broadcasting as well as a receiving set. It is capable of ruling out interference from the outside world, or of being entirely negative, or even of being entirely out of range and not attuned with any other instrument; or if the brain( broadcasting station) be of sufficient calibre, it can demand the entire attention of not only the nation but the world. Think of the millions at one time affected by any decision of Emperor Wilhelm and others.
Great mental attainment is a slow, steady process, although it may not be given the opportunity of material expression; but then when released appears to be a rapid accomplishment. In spiritual or worldly affairs, life is as we shape it. It is the maimer in which we accept experiences, the angle at which we view problems, and our conception of right and wrong, or in other words, the degree to which our conscience is educated.
New Fumigant Found to Destroy Weevils in Wheat
(Page 823, “Chemical & Metallurgical Engineering,” Nov. 24,1924)
FOUR volumes of ethyl acetate with six volumes of carbon tetrachloride has been found by the Bureau of Chemistry to be an ideal fumigant for the destruction of weevils in wheat. It is non-flammable and non-explosive, and leaves no objectionable odor in the flour or other products made from the grain.
The new fumigant was discovered as the result of an extensive research to find something to take the place of the highly flammable and explosive carbon bisulphide, which was used extensively for fumigating grain but the use of which in fumigating box cars loaded with grain has been prohibited by nearly all the railroads in the country, except at a few isolated points, because of the danger of fire and explosion.
Tests were made of more than one hundred organic compounds and various combinations of these upon three species of grain weevils and the Indian meal moth, before discovery of a suitable fumignat that was non-explosive, nonflammable and without injurious action on the grain or the products manufactured from the grain. This new mixture kills practically 100 percent of weevils in wheat loaded in box cars, when used at the rate of not less than forty pounds per 1,000 cubic feet of air space. At present prices the mixture costs ten cents a pound. Figuring the average box car to have a capacity of 2,750 cubic feet and to be loaded with 1,300 bushels of wheat, the cost of fumigating will be less than one cent a bushel or, to be exact, eighty-five cents per one hundred bushels.
Since the old carbon bisulphide method, because of the danger of explosion or fire, has been outlawed by the railroads, except at two terminals, and allowed there only temporarily as an emergency measure, it is apparent that but for the discovery of a safe effective method for fumigating, the practice of fumigating in cars would soon have been discontinued.
The Busy Wasp By Tom C. Cowan (Scotland)
MUCH has been said about the ants, and about the surprising work they might be able to perform, were they as large as cattle; but very little is said concerning the wasps, which are just as active as the ants. Like the latter insects, they have their architects and their soldiers. The survivors of the winter months fly about in the Spring, actively preparing for their future colonies; and woe betide those who upset the vespiary, as the nest with its inhabitants is called.
The neuters are the busiest class of the community; for they build the nest, gather provisions, and deal out punishment to trespassers. Their thievish and revengeful nature earns for them the enmity of the rest of the world. But that is nothing to them; they are quite capable of looking after themselves.
Some tiipe ago a plow cut through a vespiary. The wasps soon made their indignation felt, and it was as much as the plowboy could do to pacify the startled horses. Several hundred of these ferocious insects on the warpath would, without doubt, throw an entire cavalcade into confusion.
When the workers are not occupied in collecting food, which is fairly shared, they are employed in the enlargement or repair of the nest, an operation which is performed with velocity and regularity.
Certain foreign species of wasp place conical knobs of different shapes and sizes on the outside of their nests. These decorations are supposed to ward off the larger enemies, while the entrance hall is so constructed as to eliminate all possibility of an invasion.
It has been stated that the wasps in South America collect honey which, although agreeable to the taste, is of a poisonous nature. In this country, also, they are very fond of honey; and to obtain supplies of it they make a sudden attack on the beehives. The bees are weaker than the wasps; and, taking advantage of the unguarded entrance to the hive, the latter insects enter in a body and levy contributions. Hornets attack the bees when laden with honey, and carry them off prisoners, to whom no mercy is shown. If the captive is too heavy for them, they lighten the weight by cutting off the head and limbs. Wasps adopt the same measures.
Like the ants, wasps have sentinels to give the alarm should danger arise. But if these guards are killed, the neuters do not attack.
Economic Value and Raising of Skunks By J. a. Bohnet
ONCE thoroughly despised and under ban by farmer, poultryman and sportsman, the skunk is now recognized as an asset in the community it inhabits. Not only does the skunk prey upon insects and pests destructive to crops, but it produces fur of great value, especially desirable in Europe. The muskrat alone exceeds it in total value of fur production, the silver fox and mink being next in order.
Captive skunks are readily raised; and when correctly handled, they become a source of considerable profit both for breeding purposes and for peltage. They can be made as tame and harmless as cats and dogs—house pets. The skunk is a very different animal from the fitchet weasel, commonly called polecat, which inhabits Europe and which has an offensive odor. The polecat of Europe is far more destructive to game and poultry than is the skunk of America, which in Europe is practically unknown, save for its pelt.
People are naturally prejudiced against the skunk, as against hawks, owls and snakes; and change of opinion has been very slow. Testimony now is in favor of this animal; and legislation tends to its protection, about twenty states having a closed season. These prohibitive laws were passed at the request of farmers who recognize the usefulness of skunks in the destruction of injurious insects and in deference to the desires of persons interested in. conserving the fur product. A better understanding of the economic value of these animals would probably result in protective laws in every state.
As a rule skunks breed but once a year; in rare instances do they breed twice. The demand for skunk pelts is constantly on the increase, particularly in Europe. Skunks are found all over the American continent; but the smaller species (spotted) is found mostly in the lower and western portions of the United States, and throughout Mexico. The common large skunks are not found outside of the North American continent. There are nine species, with eight subspecies. The more northern forms have the finer fur, and the pelts are graded according to the amount of white in the peltage. The No. 1 grades are those in which there is no white except a small spot on the head or neck. The No. 2 skins have a narrow stripe which extends half way to the tail. The No. 3 skins have narrow stripes the full length of the body, while the No. 4 are broad striped.
The northern skins are the more valuable, the peltage being finer and the black color more glossy and intense than are those of the southern climes. The skins measure from one foot to two feet in total length, and are about one-third as wide. In the fur trade the skin of the small spotted skunk is known as “civet”, and is becoming more in demand for garment dressing.
Skunks neither climb trees nor swim streams unless forced, but are fond of bathing in shallow waters, and if held in captivity should have a bathing- place. They have plantigrade feet and strong claws, well adapted for digging in the earth, although preferring to inhabit the holes that other animals have dug and natural rock cavities or stone-wall recesses. Or they go into hollow logs and stumps or under a building, especially if the floor is warm from a stove in the room above. They are like cats in this respect. Under a country school house is a favorite place.
Skunks are mainly nocturnal. Usually they emerge about sundown, and in summertime seek for food such as frogs, clams, June-bugs, grasshoppers, beetles, locating them largely by their sense of smell and hearing. They dig grubs and other larvse from the ground, leaving the ground surface pitted with small conical holes where the insect food was found.
Scent Glands for Protection
SKUNKS, like other musteline animals, have glands which secrete a nauseous fluid which is their protection when attacked. This extremely offensive fluid is ejected in small jets of spray from six to ten feet. These glands consist of two oval-shaped sacs, located just under the tail beneath the skin, one on each side. They are covered by muscular envelops, and open to the surface through ducts, one leading from each sac. When an enemy approaches, the skunk turns its tail towards the intruder, lowers its head close to the ground, elevates its tail over its back like a squirrel; and—well, you had better stay twelve feet away, or afterwards wish you had not gone so near the innocentlooking creature. Its glands are about as large as a marble, and it carries sufficient ammunition to put an army to precipitous flight, and the discharge from the rear battery clings persistently to whatsoever it touches. If hit in the eye temporary blindness results; but it is the nose that suffers most. Chloride of lime removes the odor from one’s hands, but ruins the clothing. Gasoline is about the best thing to use, or benzine.
The large skunks mate in February and March, and bear litters of from six to ten in the month of May usually. The kittens are born nearly hairless and blind, and do not open their eyes until about thirty days, when they follow the mother about, and stay with her until nearly full grown. They mature in six months, and breed the following Spring. The little skunks are very acute and make nice little house pets. They are much prettier than cat kittens, and they are harmless. They move about much like squirrels.
What the Skunks Eat
THE general belief that skunks feed mainly on birds and birds’ eggs is incorrect. In sixty-two analyses of skunk stomachs made by the Biological Survey, grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, and their larva; formed the larger percentage and most important items of food, and in many instances formed the sole diet. Fifteen of the animals had eaten rats, mice, moles and gophers. Three had eaten carrion; three had taken lizards and salamanders; three crabs, two fungi; two earthworms; six berries and other fruits. In only one were feathers of birds found, and this skunk had been trapped in a henhouse. Two stomachs contained centipedes, sawflies, and cicadas only. These sixty-two stomachs were from animals captured in every month of the year.
The insects eaten by skunks were mostly of injurious kinds. There were army worms and caterpillars and other injurious pests.
Minks and weasels kill poultry, and the skunks share in the plunder by eating the dead bodies after the killer has sucked the blood; and the farmer blames the skunk. It is rarely that a skunk takes a chicken. The skunk can not climb to a hen-roost, and would kill only birds found on the ground, and then only one at a visit. Having once tasted chicken, a skunk will nightly return to the poultry house to get more. In skunk yards chickens as large as robins are often found eating with skunks from the same pan, the skunks never molesting the chickens.
Skunks are very fond of honey, and will readily rob beehives, and the nests of bumble bees and yellow-jackets. They do not much mind the stings, but capture the insects that entangle themselves in their long hair. If the beehive is two feet above the ground, a skunk will not disturb it.
The No. 1 skunk pelt commands generally a market value of from $2.00 to $4.00; a No. 2 pelt from $1.00 to $3.00; a No. 3 pelt from $50 cents to $2.00; a No. 4 pelt from 25 cents to $1. Most of the pelts go to European markets.
The oil of skunks is salable for medicinal purposes and is used for rheumatism and throat affection, applied externally, though there is no great demand for it. Indians and trappers have been known to eat skunk.
Some people believe that skunks throw their scent with their tail. Not so. The skunk will not defile its tail, but throws the tail high over its back and lets fly its nauseating fluid at the intruder. A quick sharp blow across its back paralyzes the hind part, and prevents the discharge, or, if the skunk is box-trapped, it may be drowned in deep water with safety.
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