Golden Age, June 16, 1926

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STAY AWAY

FROM PICKER

.OLD WORLD DYING

CREATOR’S HAND IN

EARTH’S WEATHER

COMFORT FOR THE JEWS

LEVITES OF THE

SELLING GAME

WORLD BEGINNING

Vol. VII Bi-Weekly No. 176 June 16, 1926

5$ a copy — $ 1.00 a Year

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Contents of the Golden Age

Labor and Economics

I/>ss thnn $1200 Per Year

Dye Workers In Paterson and Vicinity

Small Earnings of Farmers

Stay Away From Richer

Farm Hands and Farmers

Social and Educational

Energy and Courage of the Blind .......*

Gon's Hand in .Earth’s Weather

No Testimonials

A Tribute to Lincoln

“Bully” Forbes

Radio Programs ...

Finance—Commerce—Transportation

American Thread Company’s Profits

Aluminum Company of America

BrlUsh-Amcricuu Tobacco Profits

The Levites of the Selling Game

Salesmanship a Modern Invention

Political—Domestic and Foreign

Influence of the Clergy in Mexico

Uncle Sam's World Court Finnegan

Europe Has Learned Nothing

British Forces Out or Palestine

Home and Health

Rewarding Vs. Bribing Children

Houses and Automobiles

Eating Less and Living Bitter

Cascaha Segrada

The Principle of Food Solvents . . . .

Religion and Philosophy

Is It Wrong to Study the Bible?

The Second Epistle of Alexander the Coppersmith to Piiiietus . 399

“He Made It to be Inhabited”

Comfort for the Jews

Israel's “Seven Times”

Studies in “The Harp of God”

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Golden Age

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Volume VII Brooklyn, N.Y., Wednesday, June 16, 1926 Number 176

At Home and Abroad

Pre-Determined Profits Not Acceptable

A COM MITTEE of the National Association of Manufacturers has wisely, we think, expressed disapproval of the plan of making an annual distribution to employes of a pre-determined share of the profits of the business. The bonus system, which creates in every employe the desire to make the business succeed so that he may have a share of what he honestly earns, is better.

American Thread Company Profits

THE American Thread Company, Willimantic, Conn., is capitalized at $15,000,000 and in the last ten years has made profits totaling $13,000,000. These were not enough; and a year ago, after a year in which they made ten percent dividend and placed $1,400,000 in reserve, they decided to cut the wages of their employes. The result was a strike which has now lasted for more than a year, involving great suffering on the part of the workers.

Cost of Fine Furs to Humanity

FINE furs are appreciated by everybody; but they are costly, not only to animal life and to the pocketbooks of the buyers, but to the workers in the fur industry as well. The air in fur shops is laden with harmful dust from animal skins which have been treated with powerful chemicals. Some of the poisons used are arsenic, ursol and lead.

The Cost of Boys and Girls

ACCORDING to the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company a good boy eighteen years of age has cost his parents $6,077, while a girl of the same age has cost $90 more, the only difference being in their clothes. The little beggars cost about $250 before the first stitch of clothing is put on them. Their food bill for eighteen years is reckoned at $2,500.

Aluminum Company of America

THE Aluminum Company of America is getting plenty of free advertising these days. The statement is made that the total investment was less than $3,000,000 but that after paying cash dividends of over $15,000,000 the present assets are over $110,000,000. The monopoly is largely owned by the family of the present Secretary of the Treasury. The claim is made that the increased cases of cancer of the stomach are due to the cookingof food in aluminum ware. Boil water in a porcelain kettle and in an aluminum kettle and pour separately into clear glass jars. The aluminum boiled water will be cloudy with an aluminum precipitate, while the water boiled in the porcelain kettle will be clear. It is claimed that minute quantities of aluminum particles taken into the system are poisonous and set up inflammations from which ulcers and cancers may develop.

Less Than $1,200 Per Year

rpiIE Bureau of Economic liesearch has calculated that fifty-four percent of all the wage earners in the United States earn incomes of less than $1,200 per annum. This being the case, it follows that they are financially unable to pay lawyers’ fees to protect them in their legal rights. Chief Justice Taft has expressed the opinion that to take care of cases of this kind there ought to be in every criminal court the office of public defender, paid for »ut of public funds.

. Dye Workers in Paterson and Vicinity

THE Workers’ Health Bureau calls attention to the fact that in the dye section of the ■ textile industry about 11,000 workers are em-• ployed in Paterson and Lodi alone, exposed to ' great heat, excessive moisture and steam and powerfully poisonous chemicals and dyes that undermine the health. These workers make 679

from $22 to $27 per week, working sixty to seventy hours a week. Deaths from tuberculosis among textile workers are double the rate for the general population.

The Murder of James Knox

TN FIFTY-ONE of its fifty-seven counties J- Alabama still employs the primitive and vicious practice of leasing out convicts to anybody who wants to use them. In other counties the state itself works the convicts in mines; and just now its citizens are much ashamed that in one of the state-managed mines a convict, James Knox, five feet five inches tall, weight over two hundred pounds, was killed by a state warden and a trusty in five days because he could not learn how to mine coal.

Energy and Courage of the Blind

ONE can but admire the energy and courage of the blind, which enables 450 blind persons in New York City to earn their own

livelihood. They are scattered in fifty occupations. Two hundred are in business for themselves. Eighteen are salesmen. Seven are engaged in the practice of law. Eighteen blind music teachers and twenty-five blind musicians are in the list.

Two Aged Jews in Baltimore

rpiIE New York Times tells us of the death in J- Baltimore of Passach Yeserevsky, 111 years old, a Hebrv w, native of Poland. His wife, 109 ears of age, attended the funeral services and declined the aid of an automobile to carry ner back to the Hebrew Home where the two have been residing the past four years. She preferred to walk, a dangerous thing these days.

Postal Service Self-Sustaining

THE increases made a year ago in the postal rates have produced so much more revenue than was anticipated that the postal service is now practically self-sustaining, and this in spite of the considerable increases in pay of employes made a year ago.

Robert Harvey Does Buffalo

Robert Harvey’s fat her is a doctor at Batavia, New York, forty miles from Buffalo, and ' wants his son to grow up able to take care of himself away from home; so the father brought him to Buffalo, saw him established at the Y. M. C. A., left him some money and a letter of introduction to whom it might concern and went back home. The l>oy, only eleven year’s of age, spent three profitable days, seeing many of Buffalo’s most enjoyable attractions, and returned home alone.

Testing the Strength of Dishes

IN THE testing laboratories at Washington some fifteen thousand samples of dishes, glassware and window glass have been broken in order to ascertain their durability. The tests have proved that American-made dishes and glassware are the best, and have also proved that machine-made glasses are as durable as the hand-made ones which cost twice as muck.

Betraying the Babies of the Poor

NEW YORK CITY may well be aghast over the revelations that officials high up in the Health Department, have been parties to a million dollar conspiracy to adulterate the milk which is sold in bulk to hospitals and to the poor. The revelations show that a third of the city’s milk has been watered or otherwise adulterated and a million dollars in graft collected and divided among these meanest of all thieves.

Small Earnings of i armers

TN THE eight years from 1917 to 1925 the number of farm bankruptcies in the United States increased more than sixfold. For the five years ending With 1924, the farmer’s return on his investment was three-tenths of one percent. The year 1924-1925 was better for the farmer than the four preceding years, but even then the return on the capital was only 3.6%.

Mentally Disabled Ex-Service Men

\ LONDON newspaper contains an advertisement appealing for funds for the better care of the mentally disabled ex-service men, of whom is says, “There are 5,000 of them in asylums living under practically pauper conditions, those men who, eleven years ago, answered the call of their country, clear-brained, normal, full of the strength and spirit of youth.” Woodrow Wilson said it was a commercial war. In America it made 4,000 new millionaires. One would think the profiteers would be ashamed of this.

Great Lakes Down Three Feet

IT IS said that the level of the great lakes is down three feet, greatly interfering with navigation. The cause is admitted on all hands to be the vast amount of water which is flowing down the Chicago drainage canal into the Illinois River anil thence into the Mississippi. This flow is admittedly in violation of .American law and in violation of the treaty with Canada.

Hard on the Shoe Business

ALL THE shoe manufacturers are complaining that the increased use of automobiles is hard on the shoe business. People are not wearing nearly so many shoes as formerly because much of their getting about is done by automobile. Millions of men who formerly walked at least part way to their work now go all the way by automobile.

Ninety Percent of Automobiles

IT IS said that ninety percent of all automobiles in the world are in the United States, and judging from the crowded condition of our highways this may well be true. It is also said, and this is not so pleasant to hear, that upon this one luxury the people of the United States spend every year more than the total European indebtedness due to this country.

Influence of the Clergy in Mexico

THE Constituent Association of Mexico composed of signers of the constitution of 1917, says in a manifesto that “the course followed by the Mexican clergy throughout history has always been considered by our legislators as prejudicial to the stability of our institutions”, that it has by every possible means endeavored “to assume actual control of the political life of Mexico” and that it ‘Tias fought every government that has come into power”. With considerable plainness of speech the manifesto goes on to say, “The clergy must not teach in Mexico, because when it had the privilege it ignobly perverted the crystal current of child mentality into the polluted pools of intolerance and religious persecution.” Finally the manifesto sagely remarks: “The clergy say to the oil men: ‘You are uot alone in your attack on nationalism and sovereignty; we are rallying to your banner.’ ”

Uncle Sam’s World Court Finnegan

UNCLE Sam did a beautiful job when lie joined the World Court with the distinct understanding that this was not to be understood as a joining of the League of Nations. But a very little while later the League of Nations called a meeting to convene September 1st., at which Uncle Sam outside the League was invited to confer with the gentlemen inside the League, whether or not the Uncle outside would be an agreeable partner with those inside. “In again, out again, gone again, Finnegan.” The reason we never see any more of the old shell game artists at the country fairs is that they have all become statesmen of the Finnegan type.

Europe Has Learned Nothing

THE virtual collapse of the League of Nations, or at least the splitting of it into two rival camps, has so impressed the American ambassador to Great Britain and the American minister to Switzerland that they have said in effect that the nations of Europe learned nothing from the World War and that the only reason why the situation now is not so dangerous or more so than in 1913 is that the powers are so impoverished that it would be difficult for them to carry on a war. Quite likely, however, it will not be long before they try to do so, anyway.

Regard for Life in Britain

TN THE British Isles, with a population of 39,000,000,the average total nmnber of murders is 150 a year; while in the city of Chicago, with about 2,000,000 it is now running somewhere near 2 per day. According to these figures the regard for life in the British Isles is nearly a hundred times what it is in Chicago.

European Churches Falling in Ruins

N EPIDEMIC of ruin seems to follow European churches. First comes the falling of the steeple at Toulouse, resulting in the killing of three persons in their own homes, then a dispatch announces that the famous Burgos cathedral in Spain must be repaired at once, and now it is the famous Cologne cathedral, weakened by the vibrations and concussions of modern industry. Nothing can save these old structures from ruin and there is no reason why they should be saved. For the most part they represent comforts wrung from the people in the lower walks of life, with little or no corresponding benefits or advantages to mankind and little real praise to the Creator. They make a picturesque showing of the sky line and that is about all.

^.’icrZcan Invention Alarms Britain

CONSIDERABLE alarm is felt in Britain over the new American invention which makes’ possible telephone communication between submarines at sea. Some British writers foresee the possibility tliat the lime may come when a Hock of submarines at thirty fathoms di ptb may be sent against any desired object with almost irresistible power.

British American Tobacco Profits

TH E British-American Tobacco Company has been engaged for years in teaching the Chinese in the most remote provinces to smoke cigarettes. As a result its profits last year were over $25,000,000. The tobacco used is the cheapest American product. Some of the Chinese have doubtless been turned from opium to cigarette smoking, hut this is all the good that can be said of this piece of business.

Demonism in Tripoli

IN A matter of fact way the dispatches from Tripoli report that when Mussolini was there one of the features of entertainment was the act of an old Arab in driving daggers into the abdomens of one dancer after another, while the dancers continued dancing with the weapons buried to the hilts in their bodies. All should • be able to see that this is supernatural and, to grasp the correct thought, that it is the ■work of demonism. The old Arab was a clairvoyant, a spirit medium, a spiritist, under the control of ami in accord with the unseen powers of the air, the demons or devils of Scriptural parlance.

Feminine Joys in Tunis and Algiers

AN ITEM in the Now York Times tells that

the Arab sheiks enjoy riding in the new motor buses which are now carrying tourists about in those lands, but they tell their wives that the buses are only for the men. The one feminine treat is to go to the cemetery on Friday afternoon and talk scandal about their neighbors.

In the Grip of Money Lenders

COMMENTING on the poverty of the rural population of India, the Manchester Guardian says:

Rural indebtedness is, in fact, the key-note of the Indian rural problem. All over the country the moneylender holds the peasant in his grip, and the most pressing part of the Indian rural problem is the lightening of this crusliing load of debt. Intimately bound up with the problem of rural welfare in India are sanitation and public health.

Killing Women and Children in India

THE London Gazette of November 17, 1925, published in full the report of General Sir Claud Jacob, commander-in-chief in India, of the work of the Royal Air Force in Waziristan, India, wherein that body of Christian gentlemen spent forty-two days and nights killing men,, women and children throughout an area of fifty square miles by bombing the native villages from airplanes. The British sustained only one casualty, when one of their machines was shot down. The bombing was done because a tribe of natives wanted amnesty for past offences and wanted a share of the taxes. Sir Claud thinks the bombing was a great success but does not seem certain as to just what permanent effects will follow this characteristically British method of spreading Christianity throughout heathendom. During the World War the British people seemed to think it was heathenish in the Germans to kill women and children by bombing expeditions.

Ice-Cream in China

THE Chinese in this country have discovered that ice-cream is delectable and have spread the good news to their home land. As a consequence an ice-cream factory has just been opened in Shanghai. At first the ingredients will be shipped from America, but it is expected tliat the eventual outcome will be that Cliina will develop the dairying industry, now virtually non-existent.

Distribution of Bibles in the East

OF THE nine million Bibles distributed by the American Bible Society during the year 1925 over four million were distributed in China and almost three million went to Japan. The total output of the society was more than in any other year of its existence and nearly two and one-half million more than during 1924.

God’s Hand in Earth's Weather By A rnold P/tui

TN NUMBER 164 of your journal you have published an article by C. E. Stewart, entitled. “Meteorology and Weather Forecasting,” which impressed me greatly for its clearness, and for the fact that as early as 1890 the writer was in touch with a professor abroad whose private studies led him to the same conclusions. This professor (who, by the way, is the one who taught mathematics to the now great Prof. Einstein of Relativity fame, then a boy in his sixteenth year) was firmly convinced that our planetary system, by reason of its attractive forces as governed by the law of gravity, had a dominating influence upon the general character of our atmospheric conditions and, as a result of such, upon the weather.

11 is views were so advanced that he met with serious opposition from his colleagues, and more so because he also was a linn believer in the Bible and an honest defender of it, just at the time when the theory of evolution began to spread.

1 remember well his saying, “How wonderfully correct is the French expression, "La m&lianique celeste’ ”, meaning, ‘'The mechanism of the sky.” What an accuracy of movement! The course of each planet is held within such limits as to prevent overpowering attractive forces and consequent fluctuations of the atmospheric pressures which •would render life on our planet impossible; and within these fine limitations there is such an intricate and manifold variety of lesser forces that the atmospheric results never repeat exactly.

In 191)0 1 made a number of investigations which fully confirmed the theory that the planetary system, in combination with the sun and the moon, is the dominating factor causing our atmospheric fluctuations. I made a series of diagrams stretching over many years, noting the positions of the planets from the astronomical records available, and calculating the attractive forces between each planet and the earth at various given dates, and then compared the results with the existing atmospheric facts.

I observed that the attractive forces of the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, and Saturn were combined into one resultant force, that is, when they -were all on the same side of the earth; and as far as my investigations carried it was impossible to discover any exact repetition of this combined force, as to amount and direction, on any different dates. I found that a rapid change of direction and amount of this resultant force is always accompanied by seasons of great atmospheric disturbances, such as electric storms in summer and blizzards in winter, earthquakes, mine explosions (many of which I firmly believe are caused by ignition of liberated gases, due to electric causes in the earth and directly traceable to planetary influences), excessive rains, etc.

In going over my old records I have found that whenever the six planets above mentioned were positioned on one side of the earth, so that their attractive forces would combine to make a mighty resultant attractive force (which would naturally cause a very low barometric pressure by pulling up the elastic coating of air surrounding the surface of our planet like as the moon pulls up the ocean and causes high and low tide, and which would result in excessive precipitation), our youngest planet Neptune was always in opposition; that is, on the side of the earth opposite to the other planets, and was also sufficiently close to the earth that its attractive force upon the earth acted as a stabilizing influence, reducing the great attractive force produced by all the other planets.

Who knows but that at the time of the great deluge this attractive force of all the planets was so great that it caused the disastrous flood, due to extremely low barometric pressures prevailing, and that our youngest planet Neptune was then inserted into our planetary system by the all-wise Creator to act as a corrective factor, so ordered as to prevent forever such a reoccurrence; and which promise is distinctly recorded in Genesis 9:11?

May it not be possible, also, that at some time in the future (And may it not be soon?) the same all-wise Creator may cause a comet to be caught by our planetary system, whose attractive force may serve to bring about a radical change in earth’s climatic conditions and transform the surface of our planet into a paradise, wherein disease and death will be no more?

This thought may be scoffed at by many, but there is proof that only the most intricately calculated combinations of forces and influences can keep our climatic conditions within such limits as to render life on our planet possible.

We know that many miracles of nature have been arranged for man’s benefit. Why is it, for instance, that water has its greatest density at 4 degrees (Centigrade) above the freezing point instead of at the very freezing point? The answer is positive and clear: Just because it would render life on earth impossible. Why? Water would then freeze and sink, until all our rivers lakes and seas would be frozen completely through their entire depth.

But the Creator has arranged that when water cools to 4° (C.) above the freezing point it has reached its greatest density; that is, it there attains its greatest weight. Then strange to say, as it is exposed to a still lower temperature it begins to expand again and becomes lighter and remains on top. Thus a layer of surface water cools off to the freezing point, and remains there, forming a crust of ice which protects the layers below.

This peculiarity of water is exceptional. Everything else becomes heavier with freezing, instead of lighter. Why should nature have the kindness to permit such an exception to her rule of expansion and contraction? Is it not reasonable to accede to the fact that an all-wise Creator had His benevolent hand in this matter, and has permitted this exception to nature’s rule for man’s benefit?

There is an unlimited number of benevolent facts in nature like that of the freezing of water. One more may be cited here:

We all know that in winter the barometric fluctuations are much greater than in summer, but that the electrical disturbances are more severe in summer. •

Let us consider the well-known fact that in summer the earth is about three million miles farther away from the sun than it is in winter, but that the sun’s rays strike the surface of our northern hemisphere more perpendicularly in summer than in winter, thus giving greater heat.

On the southern hemisphere there is ■winter when we have summer, and summer when we have winter. Therefore, the sun’s rays strike most perpendicularly in the southern hemisphere at the same time when the sun is also closest to the earth. It would seem reasonable to conclude that the barometric variations caused by the closeness of the sun to our earth, combined with the increased electrical disturbances due to intenser insolation (more perpendicular sunrays), would be disastrous to the southern hemisphere every summer. What then still renders life possible there, same as in our northern hemisphere, in spite of the adverse influences?

The answer is that the Creator arranged that there should be more ocean in the southern hemisphere than in the northern. The water constitutes a regulator, which absorbs heat and gives up heat, like the Great Lakes without which some of our Central States would be climatically out of luck.

What a wonderful field for true science, to harmonize immutable facts with the all-wise purposes of the Creator! What progress scientists could make, if they all were willing to use faith in our Creator as a key to open the door for further scientific investigations, and which would bring them nearer to that knowledge which is not chained to tradition! Man-made religious creeds and man-made scientific conclusions (or ill:’ -ions) and hypotheses may vary, but truth alone is perfect, because it is in harmony with the all-wise Jehovah, the Creator of all things.

NO TESTIMONIALS

FOR the past three years The Golden Age, believing that its columns could be devoted to better uses, has published none of the many hundreds of testimonials that have been received. The recent article “An Editor’s Predicament”, calling attention to the overplus of religious articles received, and inquiring if that is to be taken as indication that a change is desired, brought a chorus of protests from the ends of the earth, and a deluge of testimonials.

Do not be alarmed. The Golden Age has not the slightest intention of changing its policy. It merely wanted to hint to its contributors that it is easier for a thousand contributors to fill one department than it is for a very few to fill the others. The hint brought in some fine manuscripts on a great variety of subjects. More are welcome, any time. If we cannot use them all we will keep them on file for the use of the sons of Kohath.

The Levites of the Selling Game Bi/ Joe Saunders (Written In the breezy style of the West.—Ed.)

WHEN Isaiah, foremost of the prophets of Israel, took occasion to discuss the status of those priests who made lies their refuge, who hid themselves under falsehoods, and who declared that they had made a covenant with death and an agreement with hell, he described with accuracy just what has been accomplished by certain of our nonproducing High 1 hitters, herein designated “The Levites of the Selling Game”.

Timo was when exalted rulers and valiant warriors practically monopolized the limelight, appropriated all the honors and emoluments worth mentioning, and indefinitely retained a strangle-hold on these divinely (?) appointed prerogatives. But a new order lias been established, wherein all other interests are subordinated to the advancement of commercial supremacy, and these two age-long beneficiaries of the divine-right idea have seen their pristine glory outshone by the brilliancy of Mammon.

But no such sudden and inglorious decline threatens the real star today—the live-wire, high-pressure producer, who can by sheer force 01 personality and the clever use of a few well guarded misstatements get the signature on the dotted line and walk proudly home with the bacon. This man is overwhelmingly accorded first place on the list of “Who’s Who”, and is extended the glad hand at every turn. Not even a movie star, with half a dozen divorces to his credit, can crowd the Go-Getter out of the calcium glare, nor dampen the ardor of his admirers.

Salesmanship at Reduced Rates

TO QUESTION the integrity or impugn the motives of the salesman, or to engage in a malicious tirade against all those engaged in that vocation, would be as absurd and as unjust as to contend that there are no honest lawyers or consistent religionists. It might be remarked, however, that those salesmen who walk constantly in the narrow path of truth and probity are about as precious as the golden wedge of Ophir, while those who are unhampered by any scruples of conscience might well be compared to the sands of the seashore.

Now most people are quick to recognize superior ability, and are willing to kowtow accordingly, even to the extent of indulging in a little friendly hero worship. But to look forward indefinitely to a continuous round of obeisance and oblation, at the altar of Baal's modern counterparts, simply because a few self-chosen apostles of efficiency see fit to rattle the tomtoms, is not an alluring prospect.

The number of these self-sacrificing mediators, like the number of repossessed automobiles, has almost reached the saturation point; and the job of being intercessor between the seller and the “sellee” is not the sinecure it once was. About all that these ••best minds” can hope to do now, since normalcy has gone where the woodbine twineth, is to dispose of a limited amount of "whoop ’er up stuff’’ to the predatory interests at reduced rates, and collect the “pe-cuniain infmitam” from the common herd.

Whether long association with the trinitarian idea has fixed the bent of the priestly mind, or whether it has merely yielded to expediency, three distinct forms of activity have resulted, viz:

(1) The deification of the “bunk” artists;

(2) The exemplification of successful high pressure methods;

(3) The dissemination of such propaganda as would tend to encircle their activities with a halo of righteous approval and sanctity.

Boosting the Giants

FEW concrete examples will serve to make these distinctions clear. The prodigality with which some of our popular monthly periodicals continue to advertise the enviable personal traits, marvelous attainments and even the unearned increment of the annexing genii, is as amusing as it is instructive.

Casually perusing a current issue of one of these magazines, we find prominently displayed, midway between the modest announcements of the military academics and the more pretentious haberdashery and tooth paste ads, from one to a hall dozen breezy, well written biographies, replete with personal reminiscences and facetious anecdotes, of the distinguished wizards who have “arrived”. Usually full page photos of the subjects are attached, indicating that they still weai store clothes and wash their teeth regularly. A stereotyped form of story is generally used for sake of uniformity and businesslike appearance, and reads about as follows:

6S5

“Mr. J. Solomon Blank started out in life considerably below par, handicapped by both physical defects and an unprepossessing environment. Being thrown on his own resources at a tender age he wandered aimlessly through the slough of despond until he got a hunch from a Correspondence School ad, explaining that a few weeks mail order training in the coveted art of selling would augment his pay cheque by leaps and bounds and insure him a scat with the scornful. He immediately sent in the coupon and forthwith discarded fifteen ball pool.

“At the expiration of the prescribed course he boldly hitched his wagon to a star and proceeded to sell a right-of-way across the circumambient blue; and by constant application to the job, and strict adherence to the rules of the game, he soon climbed to the dizzy heights of fame and affluence. Today he maintains spacious offices, equipped with mahogany furniture and angel-faced typists, in all the important commercial centers; has severed diplomatic relations with all lus improvident kin; has had all his contributing causes removed by a flock of high-priced surgeons; has mastered the fundamentals of golf and mah-jongg, and has donated a three-acre park to his home town.

“Mr. Blank attributes his phenomenal success to having always rolled his own cigarettes and worn suspenders; the former kept him in constant touch with his overhead, while the latter gave him elastic control over his upkeep. All of which proves that nothing succeeds like success; and any ambitious young man, worth the amount of TNT required to translate him into the kingdom come, should go and do likewise.”

How to Sell a Sawmill

S TO the actual putting over of questionable deals of first magnitude, this matter like-vase has some amusing features. An instance that occurred a few years ago in a mid-western city of ten thousand inhabitants is typical. Probably few cities or towns could be found in the whole country which have not passed through similar experiences:

A young timber buyer, with a full-grown desire to shine in the financial firmament, found himself handicapped by his inheritance of a dilapidated, old saw mill. The machinery was sadly in need of expensive repairs, and the mill yard was covered with wind-shaken logs, worthless except for fuel. The total value of this layout, including the real estate, which lay at the eastern edge of town, was approximately three thousand dollars.

Now the matter of disposing of this outfit for forty thousand dollars, and landing a job as manager of the property at an attractive salary, would have presented insurmountable difficulties to the ordinary layman. But having access to the inner court, and enjoying the loyal cooperation of certain high pressure gentry, tills ambitious live wire was able to turn the trick in exactly nine weeks. When this young mill owner called on the all-knowing secretary of the local Chamber of Commerce, and made known his modest desires, that worthy dignitary at once began to clear the deck for action.

The offices of the local Chamber of Commerce were quickly transformed into a veritable beehive of activity. All the local captains of industry, newspaper men and other pompous “gazebos” were immediately called into conference. Bulky letters and important telegrams were hurriedly dispatched, and telephones were put into constant use; all of which would indicate to the observer that matters of tremendous moment were under way.

Special editions of the two daily papers gave detailed accounts of what was in the wind: C-ville was to have a great manufacturing establishment, and the citizens were to be given the patriotic privilege of contributing to this worthy enterprise, as well as being alTorded a rare opportunity for a safe and profitable investment —a splendid chance to boost a “Home Institution” that would furnish work for the needy and cause the commercial interests of the city to flourish like the proverbial green bay-tree.

Only a meager One Hundred Thousand Dollars worth of Class A, non-taxable, cuhninative, preferred bonds were to be offered to the investing public, hence every one was urged to rush his subscription to headquarters in order to avoid disappointment. The importance of putting this deal across while the iron was hot was quickly discerned by those in charge; so a tall, corpulent, well-dressed wind-jammer was imported from a larger city to direct the campaign.

Arrangements were then made for a “'booster”

1> si qv.'-t. to be given at the largest hotel; and inv'.’-Hons were sent out to all those who might ; '',!y he shaken down for a few shares of

i' ' valuable" stock. At the appointed hour the i< stal board was well filled; the delectable viands were quickly consumed; the gold-banded stogies were passed around; and then, having appeased the physical cravings of those assembled, the flood of high pressure civic oratory was uncorked. Prominent business men outlined the objects of the promoters, and pointed out with much earnestness, what the addition of another virile industry would mean to the inhabitants of C-ville, small and great, and how its benefits would extend even to generations yet unborn.

Silver-tongued representatives of the legal fraternity stressed the matter of civic duty, lauded the men behind this beneficent enterprise as self-sacrificing martyrs to the cause of progress. and branded the dissenters as vile tra-ducers and selfish knockers. A preacher then invoked the aid of God in putting the project over, after which those present were given a special opportunity to come through with subscriptions for “Class A” stock. The well-healed nabobs, of course, cast in something of their abundance; then the small fry in their penury went the limit.

Getting on the Honor Roll

THE following day a large bulletin board was erected at one corner of the Court House, where the progress of the campaign was to be registered. Here the names of the victuns were posted, with the amounts for which they were hooked. Next a half-dozen teams of live-wire solicitors were sent forth to out-talk and overawe the tight wads, and locate any potential easy marks that might have escaped.

In the course of nine weeks subscriptions totaling the desired amount were secured, followed by the usual grand finale—a rousing street parade, embellished with innumerable boaster placards and a liberal supply of red fire, led by the C-ville Military Band, playing “W here Do We Go from Here?"

The hundred thousand dollars all in hand, the enterprising young mill owner now received forty thousand, another twenty thousand was expended to erect and equip a factory building to house the sawmill; but just what became of the remaining forty- thousand is still a mystery as far as the public is concerned.

After many months of watchful waiting on the part of the indulgent stockholders this Onc-Hundred-Thousand-Dollar-Beauty which was to be the pride of C-ville and furnish work for everybody, including father, developed an acute case of managerial inefficiency, and went the way of all the earth.

Salesmanship a Modern Invention

"D UT last, and most ridiculous of all, are the efforts of many prominent pulpit stars, some not quite so prominent, and a few zealous vestrymen, who occasionally assume the prophetic role to tickle the itching ears of the principal of their flocks, by conjuring up sacred precedent and Divine sanction for the up-to-the-minute decalogue of these modern-descendants of Baal.

With great swelling words, and an air of profundity, these sky pilots tell us how completely Moses “sold” the idea of national freedom to his fellow Israelites, by using a clever line of “sales talk,” and how the learned Stoics and Epicureans of Athens almost fell all over one another to accept the tenets of Christianity when St. Paul came and displayed some real “selling pep” in their midst. They even inform us that the lowly Carpenter of Nazareth was the greatest go-getter that ever lived, because He attracted so many followers. They would have us believe that were He here in the flesh today He would be either an oil magnate or a steel king.

Unless we have been extremely careless in our somewhat frequent perusals of the Inspired Record, it plainly states that Moses was so unusually- slow of speech that his brother Aaron had to be selected as his spokesman; also that St. Paul gloried in the fact that he “came not with excellency of speech,” and that he counted all worldly achievements as loss and dross.

Jesus declared that He had been sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and spent His life amongst them. Yet only a handful of the Jews ever believed His teaching or followed His leadership. He was neither salesman nor evangelist, within the modern conception of those terms.

Moses and St. Paul as Salesmen(?)

CONSIDERING the Bible statements a little more in detail, it seems barely possible that the desire for freedom among the desceuda ’a of Jacob in Egypt was augmented considerably more by the inhuman treatment they received at the hand of the hard-fisted Pharaoh than by anything that Moses may have said; and the only “high pressure” method that made any impression on the haughty Egyptian king was the vigorous application of the ten plagues, not the eloquence of Moses.

Again, it seems scarcely reasonable that one endowed with any remarkable aptitude for commercial bargaining, would humbly tend the flocks of his father-in-law for forty years, just for his board and keep. Surely a real producer could have talked the wealthy Jethro out of at least a section of land and a few hundred head of cattle in much less time than that. Then the fact that Moses was not able to get himself into the promised land is ample evidence of his inefficiency as a bargain driver.

!Nor do the recorded experiences of the famous Apostle Paul support the claim that he was such a tower of efficiency when it came to convincing a skeptical and discriminating prospect. The meager results of his efforts at Jerusalem, Athens, Antioch and elsewhere, if measured by commercial standards, would scarcely have entitled him to an increase in salary; and the fact that he left King Agrippa when he was almost (but not fully) persuaded would have “queered” worthy Paul with any present-day sales manager we know of.

Jesus fl'os Always Sincere

EITHER do any of the Gospel writers record a single instance where the Man

of Galilee resorted to chicane, flattery or coercion to secure a following. Nor did He invoke the espionage laws against His traducers. In the case of the easy-going Samaritan, who went to considerable trouble and expense to aid the wounded traveler on the Jericho road, Jesus seemed to prefer the Samaritan’s unbusinesslike methods to the commercial efficiency exhibited by the priest and the Levite, who would not waste valuable time when they saw that the poor traveler had already been robbed of his coin. Furthermore, Jesus said that the meek would “inherit” the earth. We simply can’t Imagine a real go-getter making such a prediction concerning meek ones, unless the idea is that if they ever get anything they will have to inherit it.

But as absurd and ridiculous as these supposedly profound ecclesiastical platitudes appear when contrasted with the facts, we would not for a minute want to discourage these breth ren of Churchianity in their commendable efforts to fathom the mysteries of Holy Writ. On the other hand we would encourage them to try again, feeling confident that a more careful and exhaustive search will reveal at least a few bright and shining examples of real business acumen among the ancients, any one of which might today guarantee its possessor an income in seven figures and a country home on Long Island.

Some Real Business Men of the Bible

OR example, there were those eleven sons of Jacob who palmed off an undesirable half

brother on the unsuspecting Ishmaelites, and increased their own bank roll by twenty pieces of silver. _

Or there was the ambitious and mercenary Gehazi, erstwhile servant of Elisha, who also had an eye for business. When his noble-hearted master had healed the haughty Syrian captain of his leprosy, and refused to accept the proffered fee, Gehazi saw a chance for some easy money and went right after it. Hastening down the road, Gehazi overtook the departing Naa-man, gave him a convincing spiel about the needs of two deserving young preachers, collected two changes of clothing and a couple of talents in cash, with as much ease and pompous serenity as if he had been trained in salesmanship by the best schools of today.

Then these commercially inclined preachers might read of Balaam, who played both ends against the middle, until he could get a line on the winner;- or of the winsome and capricious daughter of Herodias, who so beautifully exemplified the “proper approach”; and then, by a skillful exhibition of the can-can, overcame the scruples of the crafty Herod and was proffered the desire of her heart, even to half of the kingdom. .

Again, they might study the case of one Ananias and his thrifty wife Sapphira, who engineered a little deal in lots such as would make some of our modern realtors look like pikers; and also that of the affable Judas Iscariot, who sold the confidence of his Master for cash and made himself rich in less time than it takes one of our present-day dispensers of wild-cat securities to trim a confiding widow.

No Reason to Be Pessimistic

UT after all, we see no reason to be over-cynical or unduly pessimistic. There is an ever increasing number of hopelessly radical fellows, inclined to be red, yellow or almost any color but green: and whether they are actuated by unrestrained presumption, or by plain “intestinal stamina”, they persist in exercising their own grey matter to a degree that spells nemesis for the aggressive high priests of commercialized bunk. And we believe that it is not displaying an overdose of optimism to predict the early estebl I ncnt of a Utopian state, where plain old f' liioned honesty will head the list of cardinal virtues, and where the services of bunk priests will not be required.

Thore, it is hoped, our present purveyors of best thorn bt will be able to find useful employ-jnient—tillinsr the soil, digging irrigation ditches, building highways, or some similar form of honest labor that will have golf beat for healthful exercise by a city block. Then the residue of men will stand fast in their liberty, being allowed to figure out for themselves just how much they prefer to give to church and charity, what amount they will subscribe for the relief of the French orphans or destitute Armenians, and the extent of their liberality toward the Y. M. C. A. and the new Community Center. In fact they will feel free to pass up any of these worthy causes and spend a whole quarter at the movies, without being compelled to bear the contumely that attaches to the slacker and the tight wad today.

And perhaps it is not too much to hope, when the economic order has been thus refashioned, that the Levites of the Selling Game, now so wise in their own conceits and so bent on their own exaltation, will, to paraphrase the words of a certain Hebrew seer named Zechariah (134,5), become ashamed of their utterances, and will say: I am no priest, I am a farmer, for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.

Stay Away From Picker By L. D. Barnes

BUILT in the heart of the tri-state mining district of Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas, stands Ficher, Okla., a “city of the first class”, but dilTerent from all other western towns; in fact, there is no other place like it in the wrorld. It is built up on leased mining land. The Ore Line. News states that no Ficher lease runs for more than thirty days.

The Indian interests, under the Department of the Interior, maintain an agency at Miami, Okla., to look after Indian affairs and to levy and collect monthly rentals. These rents are enormous, when it is considered that all rights and privileges of the renter or lessee are abrogated.

Mining interests take precedence over everything else in Picher. Drills may be seen running in the middle of the streets or on the side-walks. By streets and sidewalks are meant the gravel roads and foot ways. The inalienable right of the mine operators, Indian heirs and land owners, precludes the making of substantial streets and sidewalks.

Any one may own buildings, but you must sign away all privileges and rights on the land; hence the mine owners can move your house at will, if it stands in the way of the mining game. They can drill in your front yard and cover the premises with mud and slime a foot deep, and you have no power to stop them. They can set up in the middle of your corn field or garden, and tear your fence down, any time they wish.

These inconveniences must be borne for the sake of “working for food to get more strength to do more work to get more food”. But the good people of Picher also manage to get some automobile rides, movies, and all the bootleg liquor they want, on the side.

The little towns of Cardin, Century. Monarch, Treece, St. Louis, Hockerville and others, are built up in close proximity to Picher, while Joplin, Miami, Baxter Springs and Galena are its larger, cleaner and more healthful neighboring cities. But all are akin and bound by common interests; they all depend on the jack and lead business for their existence. With this the hopes of the people rise or fall. With every slump in business thousands of people leave within a fortnight. But just now the whole region is in “white”. That is, the mining district is shown as one of the white spots on the prosperity map. Upwards of a million dollars worth of ores are now being shipped each week. Much of this goes into the laborers’ pockets as wages, then the wages go quickly for rents, necessities, bootleg and trifles of life.

Present prosperity, so called, is manifestly largely artificial. It was reported in Roger Babson circles before the last election that there would be much prosperity provided the people did not elect Lafollette. All at once ore prices went double; but the suspicious part of it was. the demand became no greater. About 15,000 tons per week, according to metal news, is all the market could possibly absorb, either before or since election.

The Richer district is overcrowded, partly on account of the fame of Ficher and partly on account of bogus advertising, doubtless to purposely overrun population, bring about lower wages and thwart the organization of labor. Advertisements calling for “5000 Men Wanted at Richer” are often run in the large city papers when there is not enough work for the home guard. Thus the home-loving man is crowded out by the foreigner and transient. Just now there are three men for every job. STAY AWAY FROM RICHER.

People are living in tents, poorly improvised shacks, wagon and automobile tops. I saw one family last February with a Ford car for a house, and a bed made down on a piece of sheet iron, and only a rug wrapped around them for protection from the wintry blasts. Some want work and some won’t work. Criminals and holdup men find easy picking.

Some of the little houses are mounted on wheels so that when the wells of prosperity run dry in one place all can easily be moved to another. At some of the little camping places ears are conspicuous, which indicates travel when provocation comes to move. This manner of living suits the times and obviates rents and taxes.

But this condition of things is not conducive to honesty. The writer was told by a deputy sheriff that an average of one automobile a day is being stolen in Richer. Even the family cow is not safe in her stall; I know this from experience, which confirms general reports. Liquor flows freely among miners. “You can get it on the streets,” say observers. Where liquor flows, crime grows. Prosperous and poor,' Christian and crook, continually touch elbows.

How we long to see the kingdom of God in operation, to equalize, bless and bring joy, peace and safety to the groaning mass! It is surely the only cure for this evil-eyed and evilized (not civilized) condition of things.

Farm Hands and Farmers By F. M. Bradl

HAVING worked for a market garden farmer for three seasons, and for a hay and grain fanner for one season, nnd then farming for myself for a period of thirty years as a market gardener, I will tell some of my experiences. When working for other people, at the end of the week or month I was sure of a certain wage agreed upon. Although many times the farmers had not sold anything, or taken in any money, he had to have money laid aside or have a bank account to pay his expenses until he sold some of his crops. Then if he had a good crop the prices were usually so low that it did not pay to harvest it. And when the prices were high the crops were always poor, and sometimes no good at all.

After paying for his seeds and fertilizers, his hired help, taxes and upkeep on his buildings, at the end of the year, the farmer often has nothing left; and if the hired man and his wife save part of his wages they many times fare better than docs the farmer.

In my own case my wife and I saved enough money to start farming for ourselves. We had four children to support, and no one to help us get a start except that my wife’s father went security for the rent of the farm we leased. At the end of six years we bought a farm without any payment down. We had bought enough stock and tools to work a farm with, and also saved two hundred dollars during the six years’ farming. But we worked eighteen to twenty hours out of the twenty-four.

] Think of this, you city bred softies, who think $200 a month only moderate pny for your six to eight hours of eusy office work.—Ed.]

The gardening business requires a lot of help, so we had from two to six men working for us by the mouth, and we also hired some help by the day. We also had our berries picked at so much a quart, employing from 20 to 30 berry pickers.

In reference to hired help, we found the conditions somewhat di lie rent from what the "Farm Hand's Wife” suggests in the January Golden-Age ; for we always had to stay at home Sundays or at least be at home at chore time. The horses and cows had to be taken care of. Although the hired men always agreed to be at home on their turn Sundays to do the chores, they didn't always do so. If we had two men, every other Sunday each would have his turn: and if we had four or six men the turn of each one did not come very often.

Many times having come home late in the evening on Sunday 1 have had all the chores to do, and at the end of the season the hired men would get the dollars and I got the pennies.

The industrial giants of our day have control of the prices on everything that the farmer buys or sells, as the Apostle James chapter five, describes: That hire which you fraudulently withheld from those laborers who harvested your fields, cries out, and the loud cries of the reapers have entered the ears of the Lord of Armies.

The great time of trouble, spoken of by the Prophet Daniel (12:1) will he the result of selfishness. But we are glad that Messiah's kingdom vwill soon be established in the earth, bringing blessings to all the obedient. “And it shall come to pass that every soul which will not hear [obey) that Prophet shall be destroyed from among the people.”—Acts 3: 23.

Rewarding Versus Bribing Children By a Bachelor of Sixty-Six

THE It E is a difference between bribing a child, and rewarding a child. In The Golden Age, Number 159, in an article on “Handling the Kiddies’’, by J. A. Bohnet, he rewarded the unruly boys for their good behavior, but bribed the little girl to say, “Please, Mamma.” Bribery is always wrong, but rewards are often advisable ; and sometimes they gain results that could not be obtained in any other way.

Concerning the question, “What does an old bachelor know about handling children?” He may know as much as anyone knows about it, if he takes his knowledge from the Book of Books, the Bible. There he will learn first to be just, and then to rule by love, seeking wisdom from God who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, if we ask in faith. He will remember that he himself is a child of God; he will watch how the Lord deals with him, and will take notice that God promises rewards to those in covenant relationship with Him, as His -wisdom sees best.

Tn His dealings with 11 is people, Israel, God promised them great earthly blessings for obedience to His commandments (mark you, He did not bribe them by giving them blessings to keep His law), and promised them punishment for disobedience. Israel chose to disobey, and they as a nation have received very severe punishment. God always keeps His promises; and now Israel, having received and profited by the seven times punishment, God is fulfilling His promise to bring them again into their own land to bless them.

Let us assume that an old bachelor is the guardian of a child. He should say to himself: "Now I must obey my Heavenly Father's instructions if I am to expect this child to obey mine, for no one is fit to rule who has not learned to obey. I must show this child by my conduct what I wish it to be, ever acknowledging my imperfections and pointing the child to the perfect one, Jesus Christ. I will make no promises that I do not fulfill; I will endeavor to deal with this child as 1 understand Hi rough God’s Word is according to justice, wisdom and love. Tliero should be occasional rewards for encouragement, the rod for wilful disobedience, and forgiveness for repentance. I will never in anger administer punishment. I see that self-control on my part is necessarybefore I can properly correct or control another.”

When a reward is given for right action there is a lesson that needs to be inculcated, viz., one should do right not inert ly for the hope of reward, but do right because it is right. Learn to love righteousness supremely; then you will hate iniquity; you will see that right doing brings its own reward; it will have become impossible to sin wilfully.

Sometimes I think I see a disposition among the children of the King to allow their minds to dwell chiefly upon their chance of getting into the kingdom, seeming to think they are sure of being of the Little Flock. 1 have heard more than one declare in public, “I am going to get there.” I do not think they will be found there unless they humble themselves. Evidently they are striving for the reward, instead of striving for the righteousness that is by faith, which brings its own reward, to wit, “In whatsoever state I am therewith to be content.” “He that humbleth himself shall bo exalted, and he that exalteth himself shall be abased.”

Finally, the object in training children is to inculcate in all a love of righteousness because it is right- This is the class that will get into the kingdom; and all such' will know how to handle children, even stubborn ones. That will be the future business for which they were prepared while on earth, by their experience with fallen human nature, in themselves and in others, that they might be merciful and faithful caretakers.

Houses and Automobiles By J. A. Bohnet

GOING about the country constantly, one cannot but note the striking contrast between present-day conditions and those of forty or even twenty years ago. Whereas in times past people usually sought and built as large a home as they could well afford, and took pride in living in a large house amid spacious surroundings, one finds the people of today seeking and building small cottages of four or five cozy rooms all on the ground floor, even though the family be quite large.

In the front room one finds a davenport or a folding bed. Go around the corner of the cottage and you find a sleeping porch containing one or two beds. Go back of the imitation bungalow and there is the inevitable garage of comparatively large proportion, holding the necessary Ford or other up-to-date car. Sometimes the car is almost as big as the house.

Passing along the street in any direction you will note that nearly every house that displays a “For Sale” or “To Let” sign is a two-story dwelling or an otherwise big house. People of today want a small house and a big car rather than a big house and a small car. This may be because they expect to spend more of their time in the car than in the home.

Again, we find many people constantly moving out of one house into another. Why is this! Do the frequent movers think it cheaper to move than pay rent! Or is it cheaper to move than clean house! At any rate it is very evident that present-day domestics want no large house to keep in order. The little house-on-wheels strikes the fancy of women in general when house cleaning is being considered.

Even the merchants of today seem to prefer little stores and small stocks of goods, then charge for it whatever people can afford to pay. It saves rent, taxes, capital and clerk hire.

Eating Less and Living Better By J. HicHing (Jamaica, B. W. I.)

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