Golden Age, December 12, 1928

Download: PDF — Golden Age, December 12, 1928

crhe Golden Age

A JOURNAL OF FACT HOPE ' TD COURAGE

in thi8 is^ue

CHRISTMAS, ITS ORIGIN

Is churchianity saturated with paganism?

LIGHTNING WORKERS

THE FLORIDA HURRICANE

description of disaster and ruin

A FAVORED PEOPLE

Israel’s! law covenant, its purpose aud its end; discourse broadcast by Judge Rutherford

E V E R Y O T H. E R. W E D N E SPAY 5c a copy -■ 81.00 a year - Canada A Foreign $ 1.50

Volume X - No. 241 December 12, 192 8

<3^ Golden Age

Volume X

Brooklyn N. Y., Wednesday, December 12, 1928

Number 241

Christmas, Its Origin and Purpose By r. h. Barber

WITHOUT doubt, a very few have ever taken the time to investigate the origin and purpose of the day which we call Christmas. Nearly everybody takes the easy course, and takes everything for granted -without taking the trouble to investigate. As a result nearly everybody is convinced that Christmas is the most notable day in. history because they think it celebrates the birth of our Savior. Until about a year ago, I had never investigated this subject myself. Like everybody else, I had taken it for granted that it was a religious festival and that the Bible authorized the observance of the same.

I had concluded that it was proper to observe the day for the following reasons: It was claimed that it was associated with the birth of our Savior; it was backed up by many centuries of popularity; it vTas a day of good cheer and festivity ; millions of people seemed to get so much enjoyment out of it; and the giving of gifts at this particular time seemed to emulate the example of our Savior, who has given so many gifts to the children of men, and who said that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

A Proper Subject of Inquiry

The Scriptures, however, tell us to “prove all things; hold fast to that which is good”. They also urge the Christian to.“be ready always to give to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you”; and they warn us that a true Christian should not be carried away by every wind of doctrine, but that he should be able to give a “Thus saith the Lord” for what he believes and teaches.

Many others have investigated this subject before I have, and it is to them that I am indebted for suc-h a mass of evidence that it is impossible to doubt, its origin and purpose. Both Webster’s and the Standard Dictionary tell us that 11111111111111111

Christmas day is of pagan origin. So do all the encyclopedias. In its issue of December 26, 1927, the New York World carried a full-page article on Christmas, which showed beyond a doubt that the day was observed by various heathen nations for many centuries before the birth of Christ. On the same date, the Chicago Tribune, the Cincinnati Enquirer and the St. Paul Daily News carried shorter articles proving the heathen origin of the day. So did some of the larger magazines of the country. Should any one desire to investigate the subject further, after reading this article, I would recommend a perusal of the following four books: Kitto’s Illustrated Commentary; Wilkinson’s Egyptians; History of Medieval Drama, by Robinson; and The Two Babylons, by Alexander Hyslop, an English clergman. The last-named book is specially interesting in its revelations, not only on the subject of Christmas, but also on other holidays and feast days new so popular.

Be Not Offended at Truth

I fully realize that what I shall say will not please some. However, I assure you that I have no desire to offend any one, nor to be unkind to any one. I am speaking from no other motive than to help you each and all to be better servants of the Lord. I do not wish to offer destructive criticism, but it is my desire to offer that -which will be constructive; something that will help you to understand that Jehovah God has a subtle, wicked and vindictive enemy; and that this enemy is God-enemy anll|dhiliiiiil|l and the <rieiny of all who are trying to do the Lord’s will, and also the enemy of all righteous* nesi.llsril-1 jltilililllllluly lijiiiitbiiisi-iiil- 11^1111111111111111

This enemy has but one purpose, viz., to .mock iGiiiiiiiiHiiiiiii|iiiiiijiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiOiif^ who are trying to serve God, by hiding the truth from them. To do this, this enemy sets up false doctrines and deceives the people into believing that these doctrines are taught in the Billie, and thus brings reproach upon God and His Word. Millions of intelligent people despise God, and doubt the reliability of the Scriptures, because they are led to believe that the false doctrines of eternal torment, trinity, immortal soul, the divine right of kings, and the divine right of the clergy are taught therein.

The Fountain of all Error

All false doctrines come from the ■ Devil. The apostle (1 Tim. 4:1-) warns us against false doctrines in the last days, our day. I quote: “[This know,] that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.”

This enemy also foistsjipon the people many rites, forms, ceremonies, feast days and holidays, and makes the people believe that these are commanded of the Lord; then lie makes these appear attractive by surrounding them with a glamour of piety, sanctity, and sentimentality, in order to further his deceptions and keep the people in bondage to ignorance and superstition, so that he may the better control them.

This enemy will he at once recognized as the Devil. The Bible tells us that the Devil comes as an angel of light ; which means that he uses religion as a cover to conceal his deceptions, for it is well known that deceptions put forth in the name of religion have greater influence than any other form of deception. The Devil assumes to he a friend of mankind, when in reality he is mail’s worst enemy. He tempted mother Eve in Eden, by professing to be her friend. I want to reveal this enemy in all his hideousness, so that none of my readers will encourage or support his wicked designs in the future.

If I can show that Christmas day is a fraud, and an injury to people in general: that it'pro-motes selfishness, dishonesty and falsehood; thui the Devil is its originator, and that his purpose wa?. and is, to hide some of the most im-;^|:ftlhi:lS8^1liWtiful truths of the Bible, then

author of ilio day, and his purpose was t<, deceive, then we should expect that no good thing could be said about it, because Jesus said of the Devil, ‘''There is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his owm: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”—John 8:44.

Practical Objections to Christmas

Before giving the Scriptural presentations, I wish to enumerate some practical arguments against -the observance of Christmas.

Because of the unusual demands upon the people’s time and purse, at this season, and the unusual amount of work involved in purchasing gifts and arranging the festivities, it is always a time of nervous tension and worry. Thus it has become a real burden to the people, and many times do we hear people say, “I shall be glad 'when Christmas is over.”

Again, there is no command to observe the day to be found in the Bible, but we are commanded to observe the memorial of our Lord's death. Satan, however, has taught the people to give more prominence to the birth of the babe Jesus than to the death of the mail Jesus, in order to hide the importance of the ransom, the chief doctrine in the Christian religion. Satan knows full 'well that if lie can east a halo about the babe Jesus, and get people to feast and fast and work and worry to celebrate His birth, they will, to a large extent, overlook and forget that it was the death of the man Jesus “'which taketh away the sin of the world”, and that without the shedding of the blood of the JL.-1A’’ Jesus, there could be no remission of sins.

With this purpose of keeping the ransom work of Jesus in the background, the Devil has caused the world to be flooded with cards, poems, sermons and pictures of the babe Jesus and His mother, until they are worshiped and reverenced far more than the risen Lord. Satan does not want the people to know about the value and necessity of the death of the man Jesus and of his resurrection.

Then, too, scholars are agreed that December 25 is not the date of the birth of Jesus. December is a winter month, in Palestine, and no shepherds are keeping watch over their flocks at that time of the year, as the flocks are not in the fields then. The true date of our Lord’s birth is about October 1. (See Studies in the Scriptures, Vol. 2, pages 54-62.) ,,, :: -

Then again, everybody is well aware of the fact that the profiteers rob the people during the Christmas season; that the spirit of rivalry

and competition enters into the giving of gifts; that the poor people give more than they can afford; that often honest debts are never paid because people spend so much at Christmas time that they can not pay their debts; that millions of useless presents are given, which not only waste money, but are just so much junk in the homes, and a few days later find their way into the waste 'basket. Chief among these are the Christmas cards on which the profiteers make a profit of from 500 to 1000 percent.

Often a gift places the one who receives it under an obligation to the giver, a very unpleasant feeling if one does not have tire money to make a gift in return. Oittimes gifts are given for the selfish purpose of receiving gifts in return. Still again, Christmas trees are laden with expensive gifts for the children of the rich, while the children of the poor go Iio me from the Christmas entertainments with aching, hearts, with an orange or five cents’ worth of candy or peanuts as a sort of sop.

One of the worst features in connection with Christmas is the habit which parents have of telling lies to their children about Santa Claus’ coming down the chimney and filling their stockings; and then in later years they wonder why the children tell them lies. These lies may he little fibs ah first, but the result is a wicked habit formed by the bad example of the parents. The parents are reaping what they have sown.

Aro Honor to Jehovah God

Still again, every one is aware of the spirit of frivolity, debauchery, drunkenness and revelry so prevalent during the Christmas season, and the propensity to overeat, with the resultant siek-headaehes the next day. Surely none of these things honor either Jehovah God or His Son, our Lord Jesus. Every one knows that they are a disgrace, and yet the Christmas season is prolific of all these excesses.

These reasons alone are sufficient to condemn all Christmas festivities, but these reasons are secondary. There are other vastly more important reasons found in the Bible.

According to Genesis 3:15, God told the Devil that the seed of the woman would eventually bruise the serpent’s head. In plain words, God said that <■ future seed cl th>; woman would iii|l|ually destlpgiiiliiDm^ iefieirr

wc==t that is to dost ’'inn that Lad the power of death, that is, the devil”. The Jesus who died on the cross, and whom God raised from the dead on the third day, and who now has “all power in heaven and in earth”, is the One who is to destroy the Devil. The babe Jesus will have nothing to do with destroying the Devil.

What Satan Would Like to Do

When God told Satan that a “seed of the woman” would destroy him eventually, the words “'seed of the woman” would suggest to the mind of Satan the thought of a mother and a. son, and that the son would be the one who would destroy him. Consequently, that son would be the mom tai enemy of Satan. Satan, however, at that time, did not know who the seed was to be, nor when the seed would appear, nor when lie (Satan) would be destroyed. Paul shows us that the “seed of the woman” who is to destroy Satan, is Christ, the Messiah.

The text already quoted (Hebrews 2:14) says that Jesus became a man and died ‘that He might destroy the Devil’. All true Christians know that Jesus had to die and be resurrected to the divine plane of being in order to get “all power in heaven and in earth”, so that He would have both the power and the authority to destroy the Devil. Somehow Satan seemed to grasp the thought that the one who was to be: the Messiah must die and be glorified, and po he determined to make a counterfeit Messiah, a counterfeit “seed of the woman” for the purpose of deception, and also in order to confirm that first lie uttered in Eden, when he told mother Eve that she would not surely die. Let us see how lie did this.

Nimrod and Semiramis

Shortly after the flood lived Nimrod, a greatgrandson of Noah, and a very wicked and licentious man. He married his own mother, whose name was Semiramis. These two together engaged in hunting and drunken debauchery. Email y Nimrod, was slain, and the Devil used the wicked and eumiing^ mother; idiifbiiillilii false Messiah on the v.c-rld. Th* Devil insliget-. ed the plot and used

Sho announced that her s>o« and im.-iwad uad: been resurrected, and was now a g<M, <m invisible spirit, goth 82i=i succeeded in making the people believe ibis lie. Gemiramis was a wicked, duvwd and uascx-upulous woman, mud wanted j-'quh; plow f.u so she bchlD p”*

the cdabn that she was (be "womarih and Hia?

mentioned by Jehovah God. in. Eden, and that the resurrected Nimrod was the one who vas to

:Wrpent. Here was the beginning of the “mother and sm’ idea winch lias been por-ths heathen religions' of earth, and which has hr.-ti adopted into the sorcalled ChriNian religions of earth, and still erd'to in

by Satan, this wicked woman designed a symbol of all this deception, as follows: ||||tI’He- dead Nimrod was pictured by the dead ilW(;itunip ■ of' a: tree. Semiraniis claimed that an ' fevergreen tree grew up out of this dead stump in one night, and that this evergreen tree pictured Nimrod risen and glorified. Semiraniis also gave her son the titles, “the father of gods’’ - and ‘’tile branch”, and adopted the titles, “moth-- er of God’’ and the “queen -of heaven”, for hor-' . self. These titles are found in all heathen religions, and still persist in some cl the so-called Christian religions of our day.

Belittling ear S'srior

Now notice that a title applied to Jesus, in the Bible, is “the Branch”. Koiice, also, that evergreen is a Bible symbol of. everlasting life, but that Scmiramis used it io teach that Nimrod was the possessor of everlasting life. Nimrod, before liisgioath, founded the Babylonian Empire, and built the Tower of Babel. On the stone tablets, recently dug up in the vicinity of ancient Babylon, Nimrod is pictured with a mace crushing a serpent's head; in other words, he is represented as doing just what Jesus is soon to do, viz., destroy the Devil. Thus Nimrod became a false Messiah, and Satan succeeded in I:., getting the Babylonian Empire to accept Ills fraudulent and counterfeit Messiah.

- The Scriptures declare of the true Messiah that He would give gifts unto mon, and the yf...... Scriptures show that these gifts consist of a rcs-

; Urroetion of all the dead, and the further gifts of libnrtv, peace, happiness and everlasting life iiStofSi^ do the will of the Lord.

:3aai;&era’ble counterfeit of thesi- gifts which the Devil instituted.

; Dur presentAtay Christmas tree had its origin in that evergreen tree said to have grown up out of the dead stomp.. Semiramls claimed that the tree laden with gifts every year on the anniversary of the resurrection of Nimrod, and ' ■ thO’Niinr od ^acfeif thebe: gif S ' tier few IM

And no.v comes the explanaliou of the day of December being chosen as the birthday of our Lo-'J. The truth to that December 25 was Nimrod’s birthday, and thm all through the ceu-torim people have keen eelelnwitog tri.; date. Nearly all the heathen religions celebrate this date. Here, then, is where-the Christmas tree idea originated. However, the day Wasmot called Christmas, nor the tree a Christmas tree, until the heathen custom was adopted into the Christian religion, some time in the fourth century after Christ.

The Counterfeit Messiah

This false system, the counterfeit Messiah/ nailed in the Scriptures the “mystery of iniquity”., is in direct contrast to the “mystery If God’’, the true Messiah. This counterfeit system gradually extended to all other heathen nations by the help of Satan, who has led all the world captive at his will. With hardly an exception, all the nations have bad the same “mother and sori’ idea, with the evergreen tree and the giving of gifts in connection therewith; and nearly all of them adopted a date corareponding with-the 25th of December, as the dufe of the birth-, of the son. Candles were always placed on their trees on these occasions. i

In Egypt the “mother and sori’ were called Isis and Osiris: in India (to this day) they are called Isis and Iswara; in Asia, Cybele and I)e-oius; in Pagan Rome, Fortuna and the boy Jupiter; in Greece, Ceres with the babe at her breast, or Irene with the hoy Plutus in her arms; in China, Ching Moo, the holy mother, with a child in her arms.

In Japan, Scandinavia, Thibet and Mexico, wo find the. same “mother and son” idea, and also among the North American Indians.

“When the children of Israel, went into idolatry they served Baal and Ashtaroth, a mother and son, the spurious woman and her seed. (Judg. 2:10-13) No wonder JehovahyGoJvWas--angry with the- Iswiclilos when His ■..■wu loving plans were so miserably counterfeited and misrepresented, and His name rims slandered, and Ills beloved Son thus mocked. The very word “devil? means slanderer. 8ee Ezekiel 36: 20-23: Judges 8:33.

Other Idolatries of Mother and Son

Other names given to the son, the false seed of the woman, in different languages, are, Bacchus, Saturn, Molech, Adonis, Cupid, Tammuz, Achilles and Teotle; while other names given to the mother are, Rhea, Juno, Venus, Minerva and Diana of the Ephesians. The mother is always called "the mother of God” and "the queen of heaven”, while the son is called "the father of gods” and "the branch”. All the heathen religions of earth are based on the miserable counterfeit instituted by Satan through his dupe Semiramis. It is the same general idea, although some of the nations have adopted different customs, feasts and rites with advancing centuries.

In connection with, this idolatrous worship of the mother and son in all the heathen countries of earth, there were held numerous feast days and holidays. These were celebrated with the wildest orgies, licentiousness, debauchery and drunkenness. This fact is doubtless the basis for the Scriptural remark in Revelation 17:4, 5 which reads: "And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: and upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”

Santa Claus the Devil

In the Bible the true church is called a woman, a virgin; and the false church also is called a woman, but a harlot. This false system of ecclesiastic ism. originated in Nimrod's day, is also called "the mystery of iniquity”, because it is the most iniquitous thing that ever cursed the earth. It was originated by the great deceiver of the whole world, the slanderer of Jehovah God, viz., the Devil.

To help you get an idea of how successfully Satan has deceived the whole -world, I want to call your attention to the fact that the name and title "jolty old St. Nicholas” is a deception, for any unabridged dictionary or encyclopedia tells you that St. Nicholas is the name of the Devil. In the English language, we do not use the

and Santa Chw and St Nicholas ar® Be words in different languages

The Magi and Their Gifts

The Bible also tells the story of how this ■wicked creature called the Devil and Satan tried to kill the real seed of the woman, the real Messiah. In the second chapter of Matthew there is a story of how certain "wise men” from, the East (that is, from Persia), came to Jerusalem to locate the babe Jesus. The words "wise -men” are a translation of the word "magi”, which means magicians, who are men under the control of demons, and all through the Old Testa--ment, magicians, star-gazers, astrologers, necromancers, and those having familiar spirits are condemned by Jehovah God, and God commanded that they should be killed by stoning.— Lev. 20:27.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but Satan set a false light in the sky, which sentimental people call "the star of Bethlehem”, and by using this false light led the magicians to Jerusalem instead, to the palace of the wicked king Herod. Satan knew that Herod would try to kill Jesus, and the record shows that Herod, with devilish fiendishness, caused all the male children under two years of age to be killed so that Jesus could not escape. However, God protected His beloved Son against the machinations of the Devil.

The' Devil directed those magicians, but the angel of the Lord announced to the shepherds the birth of the Babe who was to become the true Messiah. It is interesting to note that the Devil's messengers bestowed gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh on the babe Jesus, but the shepherds, God’s representatives, bestowed no gifts but went out and announced the fact that the Messiah was born, a thing which the Devil's representatives did not do. <

Let us Live the Truth

There could be no objection to the proper observance of the birthday of our Lord, an observance which would be an honor to His name, and especially if it were held on the anniversary of His birth, and in no way connected with the. miserable counterfeit of Satan, an observance which would be befitting to sanctified common sense and which would in no way be a deception, nor be made a source of profit by the profiteers..

When our Lord was on. the. earth, IJOO years ago, He established the tru,®. church... ■' This diwrdi eontinued faithful to the Lord during the lifetime of the apoetles; hut in his day the

Apostle Paul said, “The mystery of iniquity doth already work." (2 Thess. 2: 7) Yes, there had already begun an apostasy from the true faith. This apostasy consisted of an effort on the part of certain godless men to adopt all the heathen customs into the true church, and thus increase their membership by making it easy for the heathen to join the church.

The Bible records this apostasy in Matthew 13:24-28, where it tells us that Jesus sowed good seed, and an enemy came and sowed tares. In verses 37-39 of the same chapter Jesus explained the parable in these words: “He that sowetli the good, seed is the Son of man: the field is the world: the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one: the enemy that sowed them is the devil.”

The culmination of this apostasy was reached in the fourth century, when the tares had become so numerous in the true church that they could outvote the true saints, and adopted, in their entirety, all the customs of heathen idolatry and gave to these the name Christian. What a slander upon Jehovah God to have all the Devil's deceptions and frauds called after the name of His Son, Christian I

Easter a Heathen Festival

The “mother and son” idea was adopted into the so-called Christian church, and now we have “'the Madonna and her child”. The evergreen tree which, symbolized the birth of Nimrod, with its festivities, drunkenness and debauchery, was also brought over into the professing Christian church, but for the first time it was now called the Christmas tree. It is significant, too, that' the word “'Christmas” means “'Christ's mass'5.

The prominent heathen festival of Easter was also brought over and engrafted into the so-called Christian church. “Easter” is derived from, the name of the heathen goddess, Astarte, which is only another name for Ashtaroth, the mother of Baal. Easter and its festivals are supposed to be in honor of the resurrection of 1 h»> Lord Jesus. But 1 am at :i loss to know how the pomp and pride, the sell'ishnesa and vainglory, the ext ravaganee and splendor, the bunny rabbits and the hot-cross buns, the colored eggs and Hie cheap.} and poisoned candies displayed ai hauler nuv, can honor the great King ol kings and Lord of lords.

Away with Pagan Humbugs

Thus the so-called Christian church has been thoroughly paganized, and has become thoroughly heathen. The Devil has now succeeded in grafting his counterfeit festivals, feast days, fast days and holy days upon the church, and making it pander to all the pride and vanity and selfishness in the human family. Eight here I want to quote a witness of highest authority on this point. Cardinal Newman, of the Boman Catholic church, in a book entitled “Development” (pages 359, 360), speaking of the adoption of these heathen customs into the church, says: “These are the very instruments and appendages of demon worship, but they are sanctified by adoption into the church.”

Here, then, is the indisputable evidence that these customs are of the Devil and were adopted into the so-called church, knowingly. The Devil has succeeded in getting the people to adopt all his wicked schemes and to give them the name Christian, in order that thus he might mock the great Jehovah God.

For centuries the people have been humbugged with the worship of images, dead saints, relies, holy candles, holy water, Ash. Wednesdays, Christmas trees with their mythological nonsense and falsehoods about Santa Claus and his reindeer: with, eternal torment; trinity nonsense ; with the immortal soul idea; signs of the zodiac; birth months and birth stars; with beads, crosses, forms, rites and ceremonies, all of which have been and are God-dishonoring, foolish and childish.

Away with Demon Worship

Cardinal Newman 'was right when he said that “these are the very instruments and appendages of demon worship”, but he was wrong when he said they were “sanctified by adoption into the Christian church'’. The very opposite is true, viz., the Christian church was degraded and rapidly became filled with tares, children of the wicked one, so that in our day the church is reaping what it has sown, a church whose membership is made up of bootleggers, thieves, murderers, liars, adulterers, profiteers and igiafBlShlMlihas been dishonored and blasphemed and His tnuh has homr trailed in the? mud.-

How glad we are to know that very soon be exposed and the Devil himself is to be bound for a thousand years, so that he may deceive the nations no more. After the thousand years he is to be loosed for a little season and then east into “the lake of fire”, which means his everlasting destruction.

The Bible encourages the giving of gifts, and in most explicit language tells us whom to make the recipients of our gifts. There are no scriptures warranting us in giving gifts to those who do not need them'. Let me quote: “Whoso hath this world's goods, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion, ... how dwelleth the love of God in liim?”

. The Bible further advises that in giving gifts, we do not let our right hand know what our left hand does; but the way of so-called Christians is to hang the gift on a tree or publish the name and amount in the newspaper so that everybody will know about it.

Bulgaria the Beautiful

GORGEOUS rose; fields, deep valleys, dark primeval forests, hills covered with lilacs, snow-capped mountains, the blue Danube on the north and the Black Sea on the east, make Bulgaria, a land of natural beauty and the home of a contented, happy, industrious, prosperous and long-lived people. If it were not for the politicians and militarists at home and abroad Bulgaria would be a paradise, for the Bulgarians are a fine people.

The country averages 280 miles from east to west and 142 miles from north to south, and has an area, of 39,841 square miles. Its area and population are about the same as of Pennsylvania. The country is divided into fifteen districts, for purposes of administration.

The mountains are laiovn to be rich in minerals. The soil is excellent. The climate is healthful. The people are nearly all hard-working farmers. The cultivation of an appetite for sour milk has made them the longest-lived people in the world. Ages to 125 years are not uncommon.

From time immemorial the Bulgarians have enjoyed free rights over communal grazing and timber lands. Therefore the idea of communism does not present the same terrors to them as it does to the two-legged ciphers that have had their thinking done for them by the paid tools of the Power Trust.

Bulgaria is a granary for Italy. Fruit and vegetables are raised in abundance. Wine is |Bhtiful and cheap. Roses are cultivated for the production of the attar, exported to the value of $1,500,000 a year. Silkworms are bred, and tobacco forms an important crop.

Sofia, the capital, is situated in the western part of the country, on the main line of the railroad connecting Vienna and Constantinople. It lias fine government buildings, lias a university for both sexes, with 2,700 students, and is conceded to be the cleanest, most beautiful and most modern capital in the Balkans. Its architecture is a blending of Western progressives ness with Oriental stoicism. The population of Sofia is 154,025. .

Philippopolis, the ancient capital, located in central Bulgaria, eighty miles southeast s of Sofia, is well laid out, has fine parks and suburbs, and has a huge trade in silk, cotton goods, attar of roses, grain, rice, hides and tobacco. Its population is 84,891. '

The only otliex' city in Bulgaria with a population of over 50,000 is Varna, the principal port of Bulgaria on the Black Sea. (The Black Sea, by the way, is not black, but blue.) Varna is one of the termini, of a railway system :of 1,500 miles, and is connected by steamer with Constantinople, 150 miles south. Varna has a population of 60,761.

/I Glimpse at Bulgarian History

IKE the Hungarians, Turks and'Russians, the Bulgarians trace their ancestry to

Mongol or Tartar stock. When they first appeared in the Balkans 1,400 years ago, they are-described as fierce, dark-haired, cruel warriors, living in caravans, a terror to the Greek civilization; but. they settled down, as did our own ancestors, and became rooted to the soil.

A thousand years ago Bulgaria had possession of most of the interior of the Balkan peninsula south of the Danube. In 1.393 the entire country was gobbled up by the Turks, and from that time until 1877 Bulgaria had no history. The Turks ruled them politically, and the the Greeks religiously.

Bulgaria obtained her liberty at the Berlin Congress of Nations in 1878, at the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish war. Her history since then has been a stormy one of wars with Turkey, with the other Balkan states, and as an ally of Germany in the World War. Her militarists have been her curse, and yet have brought some blessings too.

When Bulgaria gained her liberty, she chose a German ruler; and though laden with the old false ideas of government by force, King Ferdinand also believed in education and did much to make the Bulgars a literate people. Illiteracy in the Bulgarian army in 1928 is 17.3 percent.

Bulgaria is the cradle of the old Slavic languages. The Russian language is traced to it. English ig more generally spoken in Bulgaria than anywhere else east of Germany. The old style calendar was abolished in 1916, and the Gregorian calendar adopted. 'The press of Bulgaria is freer than in any of the neighboring states. The national agricultural school is under the presidency of a young professor from the University of Wisconsin.

Bulgarians Not Warlike

IT SEEMS peculiar to say of a people that have recently been in a number of wars that they are not a warlike people; but that seems to- be the truth regarding the Bulgarians. Many of their troubles with neighboring states have been due to the selfish intrigues of the great powers.

It is true that the Greeks hate the Bulgars and the Bulgars hate the Greeks, and that they have been hating each other for 1,200 years. The Greeks hate the Bulgars because, as they think, the Bulgars have broken away from the true church; while the Bulgars hate the orthodox Greeks because, as they verily believe, the orthodox Greek church, is tyrannical, and, for that matter, so it is.

This mutual hatred and distrust leads to all kinds of unhappy squabbles. Imagine a freight car from. Pennsylvania being; stopped at the New Jersey border and all its freight unloaded and reloaded into New Jersey cars, all because New Jersey lines do not .handle cars belonging to earners of Pennsylvania. That is what the strife in the Balkans results in.

The Bulgarians would never have gone into the World War except for their ruler, King Ferdinand, He could not forget his German birth; and against the will of the people, and of the then Premier Stambulisky, forced Bulgaria into the war.

When defeat came he abdicated his throne as an het of honor’; but he did the dishonorable thing of vesting the government in the hands of his son, Prince Boris, in violation of the constitution. Three years after abdication lie tried to reenter the country, but was stopped at the border. He is now in exile, spending his time in the cultivation of rare plants.

Stambulisky and the Militarists

EFORE the World War, Stambulisky, one of the outstanding figures of recent Bulgarian history, was engaged in journalism and had a large following among the common people. When King Ferdinand threw Bulgaria’s fortunes into the war on the side of Germany, Stambulisky went to him and said: "If you plunge this country and its peace-loving people into an unnecessary war, sir, you will pay for it with your head and your throne. The blood of the people will be upon your hands, and the judgment of God upon your soul. I warn you now of your folly.” Ferdinand is said to have stood aghast, speechless and pale, but, regaining his composure, had this brave man thrust into jail for the remainder of the war. He came out-only to be made premier, and the avowed enemy of all corrupt lawyers, judges, professors, priests and bishops.

Stambulisky was a man of strong personality, a tireless worker, an extreme optimist, an excellent orator, an open-hearted and courageous leader. He told the new king, Boris, that he might play king, if he liked, but that he, Stambulisky, friend of the peasants and foe of the militarists and other representatives of the Devil’s organization, would do the ruling, and he did.

The natural result was that Stambulisky was assassinated, the militarists seized the government and ten-thousand peasants were slain in the massacre which followed. Even his enemies admit that Stambulisky7 gave Bulgaria an excellent government, even if he was severe on the militarists, lawyers and priests. Of course they were back of his murder.

Under Stambulisky no man might own and lease to others more than ten acres of land. Owners of land in excess of this amount were required to work it themselves. He was responsible for inflicting long sentences on those to blame for getting Bulgaria into the World War.

Stambulisky stood . more than six feet in height, had an enormous head, a formidable physique and an exceedingly heavy voice. Six weeks before his assassination he won the election with 544,000 votes against 460.000 for all opposition parties put together. At the time of his death he was but forty-four years of age. He was born of humble parents and entirely self-educated.

Boris and Tsankoff

WITH the death of Stambulisky, King

Boris, who seems to be specially interested in motoring, and not in much, of anything else, had the antithesis of Stambulisky in power as premier, in the person of Professor Tsan-koff, representative of the crowd that Stambulisky loathed.

There was violence on both sides; but the violence was started by the murderers of Stambulisky. Editors and public men were shot down in the street like mad dogs. Thousands of farmers wore mowed down by government troops. 'Two thousand were butchered on river barges and their 'oodles thrown into the Danube. .At least fifteen thousand ‘disappeared’.

Under the military rule of Tsankoff, prisoners were tortured; and in one instance innocent men were killed or half killed with axes and ■were buried while some of them still lived and were begging to be dispatched. In reprisals the farmers blew up a cathedral, trying to kill the whole of the Devil’s crowd at one time; but it was too big an undertaking and only made matters worse. After that Bulgaria was a shamble.

Stambulisky had made land reforms. The militarists undid them, but they did continue in force his laws requiring every citizen to donate a certain number of days of labor every year, for road and railway construction and repair.

Since the death, of Stambulisky a law has been passed making the holding of communist views illegal, and this, mind, in. a country which has had communal grazing and . timber lands from time immemorial

syisAtf dehgth; King;;®®®iM;

themselves sickened of the Tsankoff ministry, and a more moderate man, Liaptcheff, was

placed in power. He is believed to be ai just........ :......

man, trying his best to give the country a good ■■ ... government and a rest from wars. ■

Personal Traits of the People .....

THE Bulgarians boast of being a peasant . J- people, enjoying to the utmost the hard -work of simple country life. They look with ; suspicion on the cities, as well they may. Their ambition is not to drift cityward but to prosper on the farms, where they were born. ■........

One person in every 1,700 attains the age of-~......■

a hundred years. These are peasants, brought up to drink sour milk and eventually getting to like it. As all man's troubles start in his intes- ..........

tines, and the sour milk makes the intestines healthy, it is hard to kill a Bulgarian. Few of them have ever received ‘medical attention’ of . any kind. They keep well instead.

Elementary education is obligatory up to fourteen years of age. The Slav church is entirely ceremonial, nothing else to it whatever. The people are very fond of music, but there -is very little national music. Most of that played is of Turkish origin. .

The Bulgarians are very fond of picnicking, one of the simplest and sanest diversions of life. They are exceedingly industrious, and as fond of keeping what they earn as any Scot, but, like him, they pay their bills promptly,

Although, the country of Bulgaria has nearly -as many Jews as Rmnania, yet it has no Jewish question, and it has no Rumanian, Greek. Ser-bi an or German question. This speaks exceed- . ingly well for the people. A year ago the government gave expression to this trait in the following communique:

Up to the present time we have not dreamed fox* a single moment, nor shah we dream in the future, of depriving them of the sacred right of speaking their mother tongue, of bearing the names of their fathers and ancestors. All our minorities have their schools,- ......

where is taught the language of these minorities, their mosques and synagogues, where they pray to God in _ their own idiom. Thanks to this tolerance, which should be common, among all peoples, there is -question in Bulgaria of violating, the Oillil’

ities, there are no persecutions, no complaints. For ‘ this'-very reason •there-

and that is all any people needs. > - .

Lightning Workers By Dr. Charles T. Betts

WHAT chemical action upon potatoes takes place when they are cooked in an alnmi-num waterless cooker? Are their food values changed during the cooking process?

Does the same chemical action apply to vegetables other than potatoes? and are their vita-mines destroyed while being cooked in aluminum dishes?

Should meats be cooked in aluminum waterloss cookers or other aluminum vessels ?

Such questions are received in nearly every mail, which shows that the public are becoming interested in knowing whether or not their foods are being injured, destroyed or made deleterious by being cooked in aluminum utensils. The scientific answTer to such questions would probably not be understood by the average laity, so the writer will use an illustration which any one can comprehend, a simple aluminum device called -“Magic Silverware Cleaner”. The little piece of metal two inches square, one-sixteenth of an inch thick, was made of aluminum and possessed something' called “magic”. Ho-wever, the agent selling the device did not say it was made of aluminum. This quality of aluminum is known as the burning or “catalistic” power. It is very similar in this respect to other metals which possess high “activity”, as radium, etc.

It should he of great interest to all to know7 what happens to the silverware or why it becomes clean and looks polished within three minutes after each piece in the hot water comes in contact with a little soda and the “Magic Cleaner”. As no other metal used in cooking has this “magic” element, this writer thought for our health’s sake, it might be advisable to investigate what action the burning or electric power of aluminum might. have on potatoes cooked therein, with or without their “skins” or “peelings”.

The experiment with the “Magic” cleaner proved to be valuable, as-represented by the aluminum salesman. A whole kettleful of silverware was beautifully cleaned 'within three mi’HHes. saving a whole lot of time, polish and “elbow grease”. After this remarkable experience. this writer became inquisitive and a-kcd wife should krep on hand, thinking that such a powerful deaner would be of no value after if was used several limes. The reply was that one

cleaner was sufficient to clean a thousand batches or kettlefuls of old, tarnished silverware and that the cleaner ivould then not disclose over half a grain loss from its surface. This was indeed astonishing. What could the “'Magic” be, or the phenomena which produced a near ■miracle? Then, while pondering over what we had seen in our kitchen, my eyes viewed two statements joining each other upon the same page of our evening daily paper. -One of them was evidently paid for by aluminum advertisers and occupied about, a quarter of a page. It is quoted as follows:

[I’roin Toledo Blade, Toledo, Ohio, December 19, 1923] ASK YOUR DOCTOR

ASK A CHEMIST

ASK A METALLURGIST

He will tell you that the way to prepare clean, wholesome food is to cook it in

ALUMINUM KITCHEN UTENSILS

ALUMINUM COMPANY OF AMERICA

To complete the above circle they should have added one more item: ask your undertakeb. Otherwise the above ad needs no comment. It is the writer’s opinion that we shall need such men soon enough -without being assisted in their direction by aluminum kitchen utensils.

The other item was just a “home hint”, but by some peculiar coincidence the following item was placed in the column adjoining that with the above ad. The two statements were so at variance and so contradictory that it seemed impossible that any newspaper could make such a mistake as placing them side by side. Here is the quotation, word for word, as it appeared in the Toledo Blade, Toledo, Ohio, December 19, . 1925. ' '

LIGHTNING WORKERS

COOK YOUR RHUBARB' OR FRESH TOMATOES IN THE

DISCOLORED ALUMINUM PAN. THEY WILL ACCOMPLISH IN FIVE MINUTES MORE THAN YOU COULD BY SCRUBBING FOR AN HOUR.

After reading the above quotation, we decided to clean all our old silverware by placing a tomato in an ordinary aluminum dish, -with a pinch of soda, and in this manner the dish, as well as the rih erwaro, would be cleaned. Aluminum evmpauies advise in their printed material, that the tomato used for the cleanin'’, purpose shonld be eaten", but we advise throwing it away, especially after it had been performing; “lightning” service. However, it is my opinion .I<'2 .. • . : , . ■ ■ ’ '

that aluminum kitchen utensils are the '‘lightning workers”* instead of the tomatoes or the rhubarb. .

If a very small piece of aluminum is “magic”, and a larger one made into a dish is “lightning”, it is this writer's opinion that the vitamines so 'necessary to life may be “electrocuted” or otherwise so burned that they are destroyed when they come in contact with the metal, ft may be well to look into the scientific side of the question from the viewpoint of prominent medical authorities and learn if the electric charge or the activity of aluminum compounds affects food accessory substances, called vitamines.

Now we come to the meat question. It takes an average of 101 pounds of oxidizable food material which must be consumed (burned) by the animal before it can possibly produce three pounds of meat (or ash), mostly an alkaline substance mixed with liquids (urine, etc.); therefore? meat is not a food for man, but a substance which is a result produced from eating or the consuming of food. The vitamines have all been used up in the “meat making'” or “growing'’ process. Therefore cooking meat does not destroy any of the elements of life, because they are already dead before cooking. This is why meat is used, principally, to please the palate, like whiskey, and is a similar stimulant, which causes bodily activity in order to rid itself of such intake. Aluminum is an acid metal and has an attraction for alkaline substances; so meat becomes the attacking element upon aluminum cooking utensils and dissolves large quantities from the ware, destroying it. The larger quantities dissolved from the cooking dishes therefore become mixed with the meat or gravy, and a powerful poison is produced; so the ingested aluminum compounds may make dangerous the eating of meats thus prepared, and-especially is this true of chicken standing in the ware after being cooked. Fruits and vegetables, on the other hand, are attacked by the ware, and their food values (vitamines) destroyed. High United States health officials and ex-officials do not agree in this matter. At the present time, one set of men in high official authority advise

Multitudinous Changes in Afghanistan

T^OL LOWING the world-wide practice of com-*■ pel ling everybody to look and think and be has sheared all his legislators of their hair, against the cooking of acid foods (fruits and vegetables) in aluminum utensils, and on the other hand our ex-officials like Dr. A. S. Cushman and Dr. Harvey Wiley caution against cooking alkaline foods (meats) in such ware. It may be possible that if we follow the advice of both, this writer believes, we shall exercise good judgment in avoiding the use of aluminum for any cooking purpose.

Object lessons are sometimes needed. Often in newspapers are reported cases of group poisonings, people made desperately ill at banquets, dinner parties, etc. Such reports have come from various parts of the country. Hundreds of persons made violently ill from eating foods most carefully selected and prepared by their own people for some public gathering-, turning joy into shock and grief and anxiety and death. So often have these events included the preparation in aluminum ware of the food served that suspicion naturally attaches to this incidental fact. Sometimes the food is merely stored for a long period in aluminum. Sometimes it is also cooked in aluminum.

Directly after an extensive group poisoning occurs, many statements appear in. the public press in the particular cities where the poisoning takes place. The statements give the information to the public that aluminum is found in milk, eggs, cherries, all fruits and vegetables, in fact almost everything we eat, including baking powders, drinking water, etc., so aluminum is not a poison, there is no such animal,-etc. Other articles appear which tell of aluminum cooking utensils’ being used in many hospitals, in numerous hotels and at health resorts, where health foods are manufactured and that these facts prove that aluminum cooking utensils-are-not poisonous, etc.

Many of such articles appear in the daily edition of newspapers, within a few hours following the group poisoning. This hasled thblBfilbf; to believe that editors are constantly supplied with such articles in advance, so that when anything goes wrong with aluminum cooking ware at banquets and persons are poisoned, they are prepared for the occasion.

whiskers, turbans, sandals, loose and comfortable shirts and robes and has dressed them all in plug hats, Hoek eoats, gray trousers and patent k-ather shoes. They will use chairs also.

Another Untimely Aluminum Death. By Thomas T. Wier

K.r DAUGHTER poisoned herself through continuous use of food cooked in aluminum vessels. I made her an. offer to read the articles on aluminum which have been published in The Golden Aye; but. she said, -'No.” In eight or ten days she got sick at her stomach and could not sit up. Her condition became more serious, Another daughter came to sq$ how she was and took her home to Oklahoma City. The doctor opened her stomach and she died;

I have iron vessels io cook in and am feeling much better.

The Golden Age Kaleidoscope

Round Trip to Hell

TT7E ALWAYS claimed that hell is the grave, rpi[E new plans for the Sahara include the W and that everybody will make the round J- flooding of 10,070 square miles of land

trip. Now it seems there is in Norway a rail

road station named ITell and round trips to it are sold every day in the year.

Persian Ladies Lose Their Veils

THE Shah of Persia, following the example, of Kemal Pasha, has ordered, the ladies to remove their veils. A rule has also been promulgated that women shall be permitted to attend social functions.

Japan Adopts Jury System

TO QUIET the restlessness of the people and give them greater confidence in the courts the Japanese government lias now adopted the jury system for use in criminal cases where the penalty may be death or three or more years of imprisonment.

International Telephone Service

ALL points hi the United States, Canada and

Mexico are now connected by transatlantic telephone service rvith all points in Great Britain, Germany, Belgium, Holland and Switzerland, and with certain points in France, Den-■ mark, Norway and Sweden.

Dangers of Hypnotism

Dr. D. N. Buchanan, of Cambridge University, England, recently delivered a lecture in which he boasted of hypnotizing students so that they .could pass their examinations and stated that under hypnosis musicians can improvise brilliantly and many blind arid deaf persons can be curs'd. lie did not explain, and probably did not know, that hypnotism invokes and receives assistance from the demons and that they exact a terrible toll, frequently reason and often life itself, in the end.

Details of Sahara Plan

which is now from four to one thousand feet below sea-leveh It is evident that much of this land was at one time cultivated by the Romans, and possibly by some such plan as is now com-templated.

Covering a Town with a Curiam

WITHIN a few seconds, by the mere pressing of an electric button, a town in Germany may now be covered with a cloud of dense white smoke three hundred feet high, stretching over an area of five hundred square yards. It is intended to thus conceal German cities against air attacks.

Stocking Alaska with Buffalo

HAVING stocked Alaska well with caribou, moose and Tibetan yaks, the government has now turned loose in the vast Alaskan plains thirty head of Buffalo, two and three years old, from herds in Montana. It is anticipated that from this nucleus the plains of Alaska will be- .. come richly stocked with Buffalo and that it will become one of the world’s greatest game centers.

Girls Now Boss the Boys

A LONDON headmaster, with over fifty years’ experience, declares that since the advent of short skirts and bobbed hair the girls have become the bosses of the boys in. school life and that if the male is to retain his dominance it is absolutely essential that a dress reform a1 ever. Nobody can. deny that male garb is an absolute disgrace, wholly unsuited to its intended use, tight, stiff, impeimtrable to light and air. unpleasant to look at and uneom-

itiifiiM

..........11M

pwve that the dead an'not dead, and the Bible students marched up and down the streets with sandwich hoards offering to sell a reply to

posed of 5,000 copies of Judge Rutherford’s

......itsmir

■*• mail line to the East Indies, and several planes have already made the six-thousand-mile flight. Eleven flights are planned for 1929. At the first of the year the British will put on a service over the same route which may operate every two weeks.

Ctrlin Cats Uxrn fbe Noise " \ \

BEBEWthas found a way to cut down the .......... poise. When an automobile or motorcycle

:/c~ . driver is politely

arrested, taken to the police court and given a lengthy awl courteous explanation of how to Stive with less noise. It serves all the purpose Mia fine and attains the' desired end of less "noisy driving. '

Preaching to the Power Trust

Rev. Dii. J. Stanley Durkee, Plymouth Congregational Church, Brooklyn, must have been preaching, to the Power Trust when, it is reported, he said in a recent sermon, “Live, laugh, love, grow, force everything to yield your soul command. Squeeze every pleasure as it passes, taking the last drop of sweetness from it.” We don’t see the need of telling the Power Trust toulo something they have already been doing.

Na War, but No EHsarmament

BY THE Kellogg Pact the nations of earth have agreed that war is a beastly and illegal business, but do you suppose that they have agreed or will agree to disarmament"? Not a bit of it. They have been discussing it for ten years. Every fellow is willing that the other nation should disarm, but not his own. Right in the midst of the excitement over the Kellogg Pact conies the news that Britain, and France have agreed to double-cross America in their naval programs, which shows once more just how far anybody can trust a British diplomat, or a French one either’, for that matter.

COM EBODY tried to wreck a New Haven train bearing two million dollars in gold and 350 passengers, by driving a spike between the prrh of two rails. A track-walker saw it and, being unable to remove the spike, flagged the dHiiEihiiYhf®

T T SEEMS from the Federal Census of relig-*vdoiw "fovtfftye®: riiaUW

time nine kinds of Presbyterians, eighteen kinds of Baptists, nineteen kinds of Methodists ami twenty-two kinds of Lutherans, with a grand total of two hundred and thirloen hvD of Christians thwi prretising. Fitly ore-lit million: Americans are not identified with any church. :

Telephone Service Chile to Uruguay

S; H TH ri-w; E u'.re lb pvy u, "d e Action of a telephone n wk • ■ : i

Argentina and Uruguay, and we can he happy with her. These achievements are doing moi 6 for the world than all the battleships, armies and churches could ever do. The cities of South America are beiii" lapidL paved, sewered and put in first class condition. - ?

The Gambler’s Paradise

HD HE gambler’s paradise is tre New York ■L stock exchange. In November a seat, which • carries with it the right to gamble in the greatest gambling hall in the world, was sold for $525,000. What farmer would be willing J:o pay -$525,000 for the chance to gamble with the " weather, the weeds, the pests and the markets for his crops? If he paid that much, would- Im g find Ids farm a profitable venture ? ■ :

Torture in European Prisons ■■■UN

ITALY, Poland, Russia, Rumania and Lithu

ania are named by the MancheMi r (.inaidian as countries in some or all of which political ‘ prisoners are kept in iron eages, or in prison cells the size and shape of coffins, women are kept under male warders, confessions are extorted with clubs and even with red-hoi irons, and in not a few instances inmates have been ’driven to insanity. Mind! These things are taking place to your fellow men in this very year of J 928.

Navigation of Airplanes by Cables

FRENCH inventor, Professor Loth, has demonstrated that airplanes can be guided by induction currents from cables buried underground or in the depths of the sea. It is believed that this invention, now being installed at Le Bourget flying field, will enable the flying of planes without the aid of navigators. All the aviator will have to do is to follow the cable.

Autogyro a Complete Success

e La Cierva’s autogyro is evidently a complete success and solves the question of how to descend from the skies within a small area. "When it came down at Le Bourget, France, after its first flight across the English Channel, it moved loss than three yards after striking the earth. The speed is a hundred miles an hour. The autogyro is a slow riser, but the takeoff may be made after getting up speed by running in circles, something not possible with the ordinary airplane.

Trousers in Persia and Bolivia

IN THE mad rush to get everybody into tailor-made clothing the Shah has now ordered everybody out of their comfortable clothing and into the coat and trousers of the most uncomfortably-dressed beings in the world. When this same rule was recently enforced in La Pax, Bolivia, it is said that ten thousand persons marched the streets in a demonstration against the rule. Probably the number of marchers was exaggerated, but possibly not. La Pax has a normal population of 100,000 persons.

Portuguese Must Wear Shoes

THE edict that everybody in Portugal must wear shoes seems like a most arbitrary ruling. It looks very much as if somebody I ml a surplus of shoes to sell and had got next to the ruling powers of Portugal and had them frame up this law so as to turn the shoes into money. Jtwill be remembered that Uncle Sam put the Porto Ricans in shoes when the natives were being prepared for their partin the World War, backs

eonie to think of it, why should any one man have the nerve to tell another what he must-wear on his feet?

Jawbone Was Really a Jawbone

TRAVELER in Palestine reports having seen a sickle which was literally made of the jawbone of an ass. Six of the back teeth had been removed and knives inserted in their place. Very evidently the weapon with which Samson slow the Philistines was a. weapon with which all the agricultural people of his time were well acquainted.

Robbing the’De&d

HINESE thieves have* robbed the royal tombs of some $50,000,000 worth of jewels.

That is a mean trick, but not half as mean as the Power Trust has been doing, for they have been robbing the common people, charging them extortionate rates, and then forking these} excess earnings over to the Wall Street crowd for speculation purposes. On top of all that, they have been hiring everybody in sight and out of sight to proclaim from the housetops that that way of doing is the only possible way to keep the country from going to the dogs.

Ireland’s Censorship Bill

HE Irish Free State has under consideration a Censorship Bill, and this in a time of peace! Concerning this bill Senator W. B. Yeats, a prominent member of the legislature, a Protestant, recently said to the reporter of the Manchester Guardian:

The Free State Censorship bill, if it becomes law, may inflict a dangerous wound on the Irish intellect. At, the least, it will degrade us in the eyes of the modern world. The object of the whole bill is to hide knowledge from the eyes of our young people, lest, knowledge should be abused. There is the taint of hypocrisy about the whole proceedings.

The young people of Ireland do not deserve to be treated as if they were fools or dolts, and I do not think they will stand it.

They need no more protection than the young people of England or France. Let our zealots do what they will, they can not retain the old order unchanged in Ireland. The new world keeps breaking in. Our young people are right to welcome it, and they must learn to choose the good and eschew the evil for themselves, ■

There was a public burning of Judge Rutherford's book Deliverance in the

of God's kingdom out of the Free State.

The Diner’s Lament By Roy 'Atwell

IN THESE days of indigestion

11 It’s oftentimes a question

As to what to eat and what to let alone, For every microbe and bacillus

Has a different way to kill us,

And in time they always get you for their own.

There are germs of every kind

In anj7 food that you can find

On the market or upon the bill of fare.

Drinking water’s just as risky

As the so-called deadly whiskey,

And it’s often a mistake to breathe the air.

The inviting green cucumber

Gets most everybody’s number,

…