Golden Age, January 4, 1933

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The Golden Age

A JOURNAL OF FACT HOPE AND COURAGE

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in this issue

JEHOVAH’S TROOPS IN JAVA

BIRDS

EARTH’S FIRST INHABITANTS THE GERMAN CRISIS LOAVES AND FISHES OF 1932 POISONING OUR FRUIT WORLD NEWS IN BRIEF THE CREATOR’S KINGDOM

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every other

WEDNESDAY five cents a copy one dollar a year Canada & Foreign 1.25

Vol.XIV - No. 347

January 4, 1933

CONTENTS

LABOR AND ECONOMICS

Syracuse’s Humane Mayor . . .215

Work for a Thousand Men . . .218

SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL

How to Open a Book

Loaves and Fishes of 1932 . . . 205

Birdshot

Emigrating from United States . 215

Homeless, Nameless, Penniless, Jobless Man

Bergenfield’s Persecutors Rebuked 216

“I Believe He Will Come-’ . . . 219

MANUFACTURING AND MINING

Roseville's New Tax Rate .... 215

Public Ownership, Hamilton, Ohio 217

FINANCE—COMMERCE—TRANSPORTATION

Trade with Canada......215

Nome to Patagonia by Air .... 215

Burlington Gave Away Branch Line 215

Barter Between Germany and Egypt 215

New York Central Stock .... 215

Big Banks Not Suffering .... 216

Alas Poor Ananias!

Changes in the Railways . . . .216

Why Wheat Is Low

Air Mails at Chicago

Chicago World’s Fair Coming Along 217

Recommends Federal Reserve . . 218 Shrinkage in Ten Stocks . . . .219 Some of the Recent Losses . . . 219

POLITICAL—DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN

Conferences 100% Failures . . . 215

Not a Dissenting Vote in Mexico . 216

Twelve States Disfranchise Poverty 216 Reformed Church All in One Day 216 Too Many Priests in Vera Cruz , . 216 Daniel Willard Agrees.....217

Culkin and Merrill in Wrong . . .218 Pennsylvania Public Service

Commission........218

Chicago’s New Post Office .... 219

AGRICULTURE AND HUSBANDRY

Earliest Inhabitants of Terra

Firma — The Birds.....197

SCIENCE AND INVENTION

Recovering the Egypt’s Treasures . 216 Huge Bridges at San Francisco . 223

HOME AND HEALTH

Poisoning of Our Fruit Supply . 211 Sixty-one Weeks of Hiccoughing . 217 Discussing Burial Rights .... 218 Kept Chicken in Aluminum . . . 218 Need Better Homes, Better People 219

TRAVEL AND MISCELLANY

The German Crisis......206

No Germs at Nova Zcmbla .... 215

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

Shock Troops of the Lord in Java 195 Fine Witness in Washington . 196 The Radio Witness Work . . .213 “What He Is I Am”......217

The Creator’s Kingdom .... 220 Cows Are the Happiest .... 223

Published every other Wednesday at 117 Adams Street, Brooklyn, N. Y., U. S. A., by WOODWORTH, KNORR & COWARD

Copartners and Proprietors Address: 117 Adams Street, Brooklyn, N. F., U. S. A. CLAYTON J. WOODWORTH Editor E, J. COWARD Business Manager NATHAN H. KNORR Secretary and Treasurer

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The Golden Age

Volume XIV Brooklyn, N. Y., Wednesday, January 4, 1933 Number 347

Shock Troops of the Lord in Java By Clem A. Des ch amp

FROM time to time in the history of Java this island has changed hands. There are lingering traces of the various masters in the features, habits and religion of the Malay people. The Arab has long since lost place as far as rulership is concerned, but is almost worshiped in the religion, which is Islam (Mohamadan, in Dutch). The Spanish, French, Dutch, English, and Dutch again, each in turn “possessed” Java, but the most momentous invasion is that of the “shock troops” of the Lord’s army which have recently entered this colony.

Every contending faction of Devil religion has been practiced on the Malay people; however, they seem to prefer Mohammedanism to accepting the western or modern one. No, there is nothing doing; they will not be ‘Christianized’. “Organized religion” has built hospitals, schools, churches and given better jobs to “Christian” Malays, but still they will not “bite”. There are one or two settlements under missionary control, but ridiculously small, considering the 62,000,000 Malays in the Dutch East Indies.

For the missionaries the Chinese are a better proposition, both financially and from appearance, but comparatively few, in view of the 2,000,000 of them in Java. These industrious people have settled down and are increasing rapidly both naturally and by immigration. These people have a good treaty with the Dutch authorities, enabling them to retain their national customs and exempting the children born in Java from rendering military service (to the Dutch).

With about 500,000 Dutch, next come German, English, French, and American, and some of every other nationality under the sun.

Java is frequently referred to as the “Garden of the East”, and although this is often exaggerated there is some justification for the claim. The country’s being volcanic, mountainous, well watered and tropical is conducive, in the extreme, to luxuriant growth. Consequently every available square inch of land is cultivated, commercially. Rice is the premier crop; then sugar, tea, and rubber, respectively. Java rice is good; therefore much of it is exported because it commands better prices overseas, and cheaper rice is imported to feed the workers who grew the good; and so we learn to love one another.

In passing through from town to town one has to travel high up in the mountains, where the most magnificent scenery is found. A thousand streams and cascades fringed with tropical vegetation are to be seen from the beautiful highways. These also have columns of decorative trees (the natural forests in most parts having long since disappeared). Numerous gorges are crossed on well constructed bridges, providing sights which bring tourists from every part of the world.

With the passing of the forest, so passed wild life, yet in the south, the less settled districts, tiger-cats, crocodiles and monkeys are to be found. Two of Jehovah’s witnesses saw a colony of monkeys that must have numbered many hundreds. They swarmed up the trees at our approach (for we got out of the car to pay them our respects); the very trees seemed to grow monkeys. Authorities warn against this procedure. As there are many small rivers and cultivation cannot be carried on at their immediate banks, this provides space for foliage for live stock and bigger growth, which dispels any chance of the landscape’s being bare.

Java was one of the last places to feel the “sorrows” that would cause “men’s hearts to fail them for fear”, etc., but now, with no outlet for sugar, tea and rubber, and myriads of unemployed (among Europeans as well as Malays) they are asking the cause and remedy. One brother placed about 3,000 books in Batavia (the capital) in five months, while battling with heat, two languages (Dutch and Malay), and social conditions so different from that of Aus-

tralia. With two brothers as reenforcements during the next five months the total was 15,000 books and booklets; that is ten months from the first attack. In harmony with Jehovah’s witnesses in the earth we believe that "this is the day that the Lord has made’ to vindicate His name; therefore we are not surprised at the reception of the literature.

Of course, this galled the clergy, and the “flocks” have been warned against this "terrible literature’, but still the work has just begun and "the half has not been told’. There are stirring times ahead. We are working with only three books and nine booklets, so we still have Prophecy, Light and Vindication to place. There are four workers here and two in Singapore, all from Australia. Many are interested and there is strong indication that a study class would be appreciated if we could speak the language. Jehovah knows those that are His, and He will raise up those that will serve Him in this colony, shortly.

The manager of the Australian branch of the Society is putting out a feeler about radio, and possibly within the next two months we shall be broadcasting here the Kingdom message. This will be in English at first, as that is fairly well known. Workers use printed testimony cards.

The native does the work here, and does it well. He can be found as engineer, engine-driver, guard, electrician, telegrapher, etc., down to the humblest occupation. The ranks of the police are made up of Malay, and likewise the military. Indo-Europeans have equal standing with the European in all ranks, both civil and military.

The low standard of living of the Malay and Chinese point to the necessity of the speedy establishment of the kingdom of God. On the other hand, the arrogance of the masters will not be broken until Armageddon. A large number of these were doing very humble work until they came here, and now they are “ladies and gentlemen” with many servants; and it goes to their head. In the midst of these conditions the Kingdom work goes grandly on. We can all look forward to the time when our brown brothers and sisters may join in with us in singing the praises of our great Jehovah God.

How to Open a Book By an Expert Bookbinder

TT OLD the book with its back on a smooth or covered table; let the front board down, then the other, holding the leaves in one hand while you open a few leaves at the back, then a few at the front, and so on, alternately opening back and front, gently pressing open the sections till you reach the center of the volume. Do this two or three times and you will obtain the best results. Open the volume violently or carelessly in any one place and you will likely break the back and cause a start in the leaves. Never force the back of the book.

Caution: Do not force the flat opening of a book by holding the leaves firmly in both hands, as this will surely break the back and ruin the binding.

Newly bound books: These often require several months to become thoroughly seasoned. If placed in a bookease, they should be held firmly by books on either side; if on a table or stand, they should be kept under other volumes. Care should be taken not to expose them unduly to strong artificial heat.

Fine Witness for Truth in Washington

OFFICIAL Washington was recently presented with copies of Judge Rutherford’s book Government, to the extent of some 25,000 copies. Subsequently President Hoover, addressing the American Bar Association, said, “The people’s interests have been betrayed by false prophets of a millennium promised through seductive but unworkable theories of government.” It is to be hoped that there is no connection between these two items, for it would surely be too bad, for President Hoover, if he jumped to the conclusion that even Jehovah God could not provide a better government than that which America has had for the last four years.

The Earliest Inhabitants of Terra Firma — The Birds

In Three Parts — Part III

The Ostrich, the Champion Runner

The ostrich is the largest, strongest and fleetest of the flightless birds. The males reach a height of eight feet, weigh 300 pounds, and can run up to twenty-seven miles per hour. Contrary to general belief, the ostrich never buries its head in the sand. It has an exceptionally keen eye; and when it discerns a foe at a distance it lies down, in which position at a distance it may be easily mistaken for an ant hill. Its object in lying down is to get measurably out of sight.

When an ostrich settles itself to run, it holds its head lower than usual and a little forward, with a deep loop in the neck. The neck vibrates sinuously; but the head remains steady, thus enabling the bird, even at top speed, to look around with unshaken glance in any direction. The wings are held loosely just free of the plunging thigh. There is no attempt to hold them extended or to derive any assistance from them as organs of flight.

The ostrich in full flight covers twenty-five feet at a stride and can rarely be overtaken on horseback even when hunted in relays. The ostrich believes in plural marriage, family parties consisting of one male and several females. The male sometimes eats the eggs, which certainly seems to show that his morals are, to say the least, questionable. His sidewise kick has been known to kill a horse.

There are ostrich farms in South Africa, at Phoenix, Ariz., Pasadena and Los Angeles, Calif., Jacksonville, Fla., Hot Springs, Ark., and in Oregon. At present there are 1,500 ostriches in captivity on these farms. Each bird yields about $50 worth of feathers per year.

The New Zealand ostrich, now’ extinct, had a height of twelve feet.

The Owl — The Bird of Paradise

The owl is a bird of pi-ey, and quite a savage one at that. A pair of barn owls is considered better than a cat to rid the premises of rats and mice. They also eat rabbits, woodchucks, squirrels, chipmunks, and gophers. Not long ago the city of Conneaut, Ohio, had a plague of owls. They were not content merely to roost in the trees and salute the pedestrians with their “whoo, whoo”, but in several instances flew’ from their perches and attacked persons passing below, probably mistaking them for other animals.

They have been known to attack hunters. At Turner, Maine, a horned owl more than three feet in length picked up a 50-pound calf and flew over a stone wall w’ith it.

The foot of the owl has a unique feature in the outer toe, w’hich may be directed forward, outward or completely backward at will. The eyes, ow’ing to their form, rotate but slightly in their sockets, which accounts for the owl’s habit of following with the head any object at w’hich its gaze is directed. Their prey is usually seized by one foot, then borne aw ay and torn in pieces. Undigested portions are ejected in pellets from the mouth. The voices are singular; some hoot, some whistle, and some laugh.

Owls are of all sizes; the pygmy owl of the Rocky mountain region is not much larger than an English sparrow’. The owd is a useful bird. It is true that he sometimes has his feathered friends on the lunch counter, but he does a much larger business w’ith rats and mice, disposing of hundreds of them every year.

The bird of paradise, a native of New7 Guinea, has the misfortune of looking too beautiful. The bird has such beautiful plumes, and they are so brilliantly colored, that the milliners of the whole wTorld are after him. Some of the varieties are the great emerald, the lesser emerald, the red, the king, the superb, and the magnificent. The beautiful plumage is confined to the adult males, nature’s method of preserving the species. The males have a peculiar way of causing waves to go over their bodies, thus showing off their plumage. One of these males, at the height of his beauty display, was observed at the New York Zoo to hang head downward and go through various contortions, all to attract the admiration of the crowds.

Parrot, the Most Intelligent Bird

The parrot is considered the most intelligent among the birds. Of the 500-odd species the best talker is the red-tailed gray parrot of Africa; next is the yellow-headed one of Mexico. Either of these can be taught fifty or more w’ords. They are quite affectionate, but changeable and quicktempered. In Paris a parrot is alleged to have given the police the name of his master, causing the latter's arrest and conviction as a thief.

A parrot can be trained into a good-disposi-tioned and companionable bird, if care is taken with its diet and language. It is susceptible to

drafts. A parrot can inflict a very severe wound. The older birds, when captured wild, often break the fingers of their captors and sometimes almost sever them. A parrot can be trained to do the work of a watchdog and will fearlessly attack any intruder.

There is a communal parrot; each nest is occupied by several pairs, each in its own separate compartment. There are love-bird parrots, which seem to spend most of their time loving one another. They are most unhappy apart. When one dies, its mate usually survives it only a short time.

The cockatoo is a sort of walking or flying palm-leaf fan. This particular kind of parrot is surmounted by a crest of long and pointed pink or yellow feathers, with their tips directed forward, which can be erected and expanded like a fan, or depressed, at the pleasure of the bird.

The Pittsburgh Press tells the shameful tale that at Nice, where in winter the idle from all over the world walk on the Promenade des Anglais, men sell tiny birds like parrots, beautifully colored, wonderfully tame. These birds sit on a little stick held in one's fingers, and never fly away. A woman discovered that the entire taming process consists in putting out the poor creatures’ eyes. Seeing nothing, they fear everything, and especially to lose their hold on that little stick. Would you think that any man could be so mean ?

Peacock—Pelican—Pheasant

The peacock, most beautiful and vainest of all the birds, has been a garden ornament from the days of Solomon, when, as the Scriptures tell us, “the king's ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.” Oddly enough, though the bird comes from Ceylon, which is on the equator, it can stand very considerable cold.

The albatross (more properly called the pelican), with a wing expanse of twelve feet, is the largest of the web-footed birds. Sometimes flocks of fifteen or twenty of these follow ships from San Francisco for thousands of miles.

Study of the pelican has disclosed that it is a friend of man. It eats no fish that are useful for human food, but it does eat fish that frequently go in great schools into the nets and sometimes tangle the nets so that they have to be cut to get the fish out.

Pelicans can be spoiled. For years the fishermen off Santa Monica, Calif., fed their surplus fish to pelicans. The time came when fish became scarce and the feeding of the pelicans stopped. The surprising result was that the birds almost starved to death, because they did not know how to go out and fish for a living as other pelicans do. The brown pelican is the official bird of Louisiana.

A wealthy Florida yachtsman, some years ago, had 200 pelicans shot, so that a certain small part of the skin and feathers might be taken to make a down robe for his wife. Can you imagine anybody except some spoiled beneficiary of Big Business to be as mean as that?

The pheasants all came from Asia, named after the river Phasis, which discharges into the Black sea. This bird is now being bred in America in the hope that it will keep down the Japanese beetle. $11,000 was distributed among New York state school boys and girls for rearing for the state 11,076 pheasants. The state supplied the eggs.

Hens will raise and mother pheasants, but the pheasant, when he grows up, will kill a rooster, if the rooster starts anything. Pheasants are very valuable in keeping down insect life; the only reason they sometimes attack melons, tomatoes or berries is to slake their thirst.

The Pigeon Family

The dove or pigeon is the opposite of the crow, so much so that the Lord made choice of this beautiful, innocent, gentle creature to represent the holy spirit. It was the dove that was sent forth from the ark, the dove that was acceptable as a burnt offering, the dove that was honored in the writings of David and Solomon, and the dove that rested upon the Lord at the time of His baptism. The dove is so affectionate that if placed in a sick room it will manifest such sympathy for the ailing person as to cause its own death.

The pigeon family numbers several hundred species. One of these, the passenger pigeon, which within a few years existed in the United States by the million, is now supposed to be nearly or quite extinct. Only a generation ago a flock of these birds would fall upon a wheat field and devastate it in a few minutes. The front birds dropped at the first sight of food, the others settling beyond them in regular order, the last birds settling farthest forward. In a few minutes the first birds would be again at the front and thus the entire flock, revolving like a cylinder, cleaned the field of all it possessed.

Another wTell known member of the pigeon family is the homing pigeon. In Europe, and to some extent in America, the releasing of homing pigeons at a distance is a popular sport. Of five thousand pigeons released at Washington in September, 1921, the first to arrive home at a distance of 204 miles consumed six hours on the trip, or about thirty-four miles per hour. In a short flight a homing pigeon will sometimes fly at a speed of eighty miles an hour.

How the homing pigeon finds its way back to its nest is something nobody can explain. For that matter, how does any bird find its way back to its nest? A homing pigeon has been known to fly 7,200 miles, from France to Indo-China. Flights of 3,000 miles have often been made. In at least one instance the Atlantic ocean was flown in such a flight.

In Japan, baseball reports are carried to the newspaper offices by carrier pigeons. The American Army Signal Corps has trained pigeons to fly at night, the distance being increased very slightly with each flight, but the flight made later in the day.

Carrier pigeons have such inhabitiveness that if their loft is moved too far they will roost on the spot where the loft used to stand. Attempts have been made to use the birds in various criminal ventures, but the police have met with considerable success in following their flights with spyglasses, so it is a dangerous game. They have been used by rum runners to communicate with their shore bases.

The British take great interest in pigeon racing, sometimes racing 1,000,000 young pigeons in a month. In the year 1930 the number carried by English railways was more than 15,000,000, and at times there were as many as twenty pigeon trains running in one day. A carrier pigeon’s speed is 1,200 yards a minute in calm weather, but may rise to 2,000 yards a minute in a favorable gale.

Once a year, at Astoria, N. Y., thousands of pigeons are “thrown up for grabs”. This is an annual event of pigeon fanciers. Each sportsman brings a basket of birds. They are all released simultaneously, the idea being to have, the pigeons wing home and take several strangers along. Prizes go to those whose birds bring home the most strangers.

Platypus—Plover—Quail—Quetzal

The platypus is the strangest thing there is. It has the feet of a bird, the tail of a beaver, the body of a mole, the teeth of a pig, the ear of a snake, and the bill of a duck. The young are hatched from eggs, but the mother suckles her young. It is not a bird, but seems to have some features common to bird anatomy. A bird, to be a bird, must have feathers.

The golden plover is the prince of travelers among birds. In the spring he comes overland from South America by way of the Mississippi valley and lands at length in Nova Scotia; but when fall comes he disdains to return by the way he came and sets sail direct from Nova Scotia to the coasts of South America, a distance of 2,400 miles. How he can do this year after year without losing his way is stated by Sir Alfred Newton to be the greatest mystery that the whole animal kingdom presents. The suggestion has been made that the golden plover is sensibly affected by the lines of magnetic force and is thus a living compass.

Of the plover family is the crocodile's dentist, the Egyptian plover. When the crocodile leaves the water he holds his mouth open, facing the breeze. At such times the plover goes into his mouth, picking the leeches and other parasites from his teeth, lips and gums. This dental operation occurs once a year.

Perhaps you know the quail under the name of partridge or the call-name of Bob-white. This busy and cheerful little fellow is one of the early risers. In midsummer he is telling his little story as early as 2: 30 a. m. The quail is California’s state bird.

The quetzal of San Salvador is claimed by some to be the most magnificent bird in the world. It lives in the mountain peaks. It has a plumage of golden green and carmine colors, with long airy tail coverts which spray out two feet beyond the tail.

Reprehensible Robin Redbreast

Lord Grey, in an address on bird life, at Edinburgh, says that the famous robin redbreast of England, though it has a pleasant face, is most quarrelsome, and that its private life is a disgrace. It boldly resents the intrusion into its private domains of even its own kind, not hesitating to resort to fratricide to gain its point. And they are jealous, too.

Perhaps at this point we ought to commiserate our British friends, by admitting that our own robin redbreast is not the same bird that Lord Grey exposed. Let them swallow their chagrin while we express the hope that the handsome American thrush which we call by the name robin is every way a better-behaved bird!

The first point we have to make is that the American bird is a model mother. In a forest fire she will die a martyr to mother-love rather than desert her little ones. But wo quickly cover this statement with the shamed admission that this beautiful bird is killed by the thousands in various parts of the South, where it is used for food. Bobins have even been sold in the markets of Philadelphia.

The robin is the state bird of Michigan, Wisconsin and Virginia. It is a sociable bird. It has been known to build its nest inside a house; the owner let the window stay open night and day until the little family had left the premises. It can make a home in a watering-can or a kettle.

In Emporia, Kansas, a mother robin made her nest in a turntable in the Santa Fe roundhouse and pretty nearly upset the railway system, the workmen were so careful not to disturb her. She seemed distressed when the big engines came too close, and when the turntable was turned, but she had no business to rent a flat in such a location.

Albino robins have been seen. One was almost 100-percent platinum shade. Robins sometimes stay around all winter. In the spring they laugh when they see the man coming with his spade or hoe or plough, for well they know the juicy, luscious earthworms that need only slight preparation to make an exquisite meal. Robins detest and abhor drouths because worms are then scarce and hard to get.

Roc—S’ and piper—Secretary-Bird—Skylark

The roc, or rook, is believed to have been at least fifteen feet high, and, like the moa, probably became extinct within historic times. The shell of one of its eggs was discovered; it was a shell with a two-gallon capacity. One of the leg bones was five feet long. This is the bird that, according to his tale, made things so interesting for Sinbad the Sailor.

The sandpiper, or snipe, in his attitude towards the female of the species, much resembles that of the Sunday morning circus-barker taking his usual stand behind the. meat-block, just before he airs his ignorance to the congregation. As he struts and crosses in front of the female his esophagus is inflated like that of a pouter pigeon. In his own eyes he is a very important person. He summers in British America and winters in Patagonia. This bird, sometimes called the yellowlegs, is said to be the greatest air traveler among birds. Is it lese majesty to call a dominie a yellowleg?

The secretary-bird has a bunch of feathers growing on each side of its head which suggests a bunch of quill pens stuck behind a clerk’s ear. It is famous as a snake-killer, the snake being put out of business by a kick, followed, if necessary, by repeated knocks with the knobbed wings. These birds are frequently tamed and kept about South African barnyards as vermindestroyers.

The skylark is famous wherever English is spoken or read, for its flight song, which is begun in early spring and continued all summer. The lark ascends more nearly perpendicularly than any other bird. When it first rises from the earth its notes are feeble and interrupted; as it ascends, however, in a series of upward springs, they gradually swell to their full tone, and, long after the bird has reached a height where it is lost to the eye, it still continues to charm the ear with its melody. In winter they assemble in vast flocks, grow very fat, and, in the Mediterranean region, are taken in great numbers for the table.

Sparrows and Sparrow Stories

The most abundant birds in the United States are the English sparrows. These were brought into the United States in 1851 and liberated in the parks of Boston and New York. Being a stranger, and therefore without any natural enemies, the sparrow throve so remarkably as to threaten America’s own song birds with destruction. Today there are millions of these little fellows in all parts of the United States; but the crows and blackbirds have discovered that the sparrows make good eating, and are now giving them undivided attention, with the result that it looks bad for the English sparrow. This little bird averages to eat about a hundred insects a day. There are about 500 varieties of sparrows.

The song sparrow stays with us the year round, but in the northern states they are more plentiful in summer than in winter. They sing in every month in the year, but most persistently and sweetly during the breeding season. Given a little sunshine they start their joyous outbursts even in midwinter. The sparrow is of special interest to the child of God, on account of Jesus’ statement that ‘not a sparrow falls to the ground without your heavenly Father’s knowledge’. If God finds pleasure in the praise from a little sparrow, He may also find it in the praise from a little man or woman. And all humans are little in His sight.

Tree sparrows are common around New York city all winter long. The sparrow is quite a late riser, beginning his song in midsummer at about 5: 00 a. m.

A good joke is published on the Soviet government. A public official whose name is the same as the. Russian name for “sparrow” sent a formal message to a city telling them to “keep ready”. He signed it with his name. The serial number of the message was 13,530. The city to which it was sent misunderstood the message to mean “Keep ready 13,530 sparrows”. In desperation they tried to collect the required number and actually gathered in 2,000 of the little birds before the true meaning of the dispatch was made clear. The town was merely to “keep ready” to do whatever might be necessary to win the Soviet program.

The London Daily Herald contains the following story about a sparrow:

Whilst at my work in a railway signal box at Burnley, Lanes., I happened to have occasion to go out of the box, and I saw a hedge-sparrow apparently feeding another one. I paused for a few moments, and the sparrow flew away, and then I saw that the remaining one had been injured, presumably by a goods train which had recently passed. You can imagine my amazement, when, after a minute or so, the sparrow which had previously flown away returned, bringing more food to the injured one. After a few minutes the injured bird tried to hop away, and eventually managed, after much resting (and with the other, whieh I took to be its mate, constantly hopping attendance upon it) to get to the hedge side. I came to the conclusion that it was in much more capable, if not more sympathetic, hands than mine, and proceeded towards the water well, marveling at the lesson which these little sparrows could teach to mankind.

One of our contributors, Susan E. Clark, gives us a somewhat similar story:

One day the family noticed a young chipping sparrow following a female English sparrow about; and fearing that the older bird might turn and fight the little one, they watched them. To their surprise they saw the young bird hop on the back of the other, which made no objection; and soon the English sparrow began picking up the crumbs about the door and feeding the little chippie. This was amazing enough, but later it was observed that the whole brood of chippies was about, which the parents were feeding, while the English sparrow was helping them. One was found to be a cripple, and was watched over by the house people for several days to save it from prowling cats. The English sparrow gave special attention to the little invalid; and finally the parents left him entirely to the care of the nursemaid, and devoted themselves to feeding their healthy offspring. The faithful nurse watched and fed her charge for several days, until one night a drenching rain proved too much for the frail birdling on the ground, and in the morning it was found dead. The family buried it, and soon the English sparrow came to the spot with food in her mouth for her charge. Not finding him, she continued to come at intervals for several days, and waited around mournfully with food in her bill. But the parents of the little one never appeared to look for him.

Starlings and Storks

The starling is a bad actor. He thinks nothing of plucking wool from the back of a sheep to line his nest, and we know where he cleaned fifty goldfish out of a pool as slick as any cashier ever took a bank’s assets for a plunge in the market, or as any bank president ever cleaned the small stockholders out of a big enterprise. Starlings visit the nests of bluebirds and purple martins, suck the eggs, destroy the young birds, and give the parents much anxiety.

The starling was first introduced into America in 1890. In Europe it is much appreciated on account of its activity in keeping down insect pests. When given a crust of bread, the starling first soaks it in water, to make it more palatable.

Washington and Baltimore have both tried to get rid of their starlings with shotguns, smokepots, Roman candles, and even the fire department's hose streams, all to no avail. When they get into a neighborhood they are there to stay. Sometimes a flock of starlings will raid a cherry tree and pick every cherry in a day.

Storks, as is well known, are wont to build their nests on roofs or in chimneys; though they have been known to build them on the ground. A wag in Grimsby, England, recently perched a stuffed stork on his roof, and for many days had the neighbors trying in vain to coax it to come down for food.

The Nile valley has a variety of stork, called the shoebill, which is unable to turn its head without turning the eyeball in such a way that only the white is visible. The effect is so surprising that it has been known to scare children into tears.

This particular bird will catch in his beak, one after another, a half dozen or more biscuits, as they are thrown to him; but he is not fond of biscuits, and after his great lower beak is full he solemnly gives the benefactor a reproachful look, turns all the contents out on the ground, shows the white of his eyes, and stalks off with an air of hauteur that is enough to break up a congregation.

Swallows and Swallow Stories

There are about one hundred species of swallows. The North American tree swallow is one of the first to move northward in the spring, and is frequently forced to retreat before a belated snowstorm or a cold snap. This has led to the saying, “One swallow does not make a summer.”

Last year winter came unusually early in central Europe, and millions of swallows were caught away from their usual winter homes in the lower Balkans. The Viennese took a real interest in their plight and sent to Venice several airplane loads, 25,000 birds to a plane; and 35,000 more were sent in specially heated railroad cars.

The birds liked the ride, but they did not like the looks of Venice, so they straightway flew over the Adriatic sea, back to their old winter nesting grounds in the Balkans. A case is on record where a swallow flew from Antwerp to Compiegne, a distance of 140 miles, in 68 minutes.

One of the metropolitan papers contains the following:

“An army of invading chimney swallows ranging from 7,000 to 10,000 in number will follow their leader down or up a chimney,” Dr. F. M. Chatman said yesterday. “This proves that the bird story from Kingston, N. Y., was not a fish story.” . . . Frank V. Rice, a shipbuilder, and his wife were the victims of the surprise party.

‘When we returned home Tuesday evening the room was filled with birds. The walls were black with the soot from their wings. Some were perched asleep on the mantel; others had crawled into cream pitchers; still others were flying around and around the room. We opened the windows and the doors; we tried to chase them back up the chimney and down to the cellar; but all in vain. They believed that they had found a nesting place for the summer, I guess; for several already had found some thread and string and were weaving these into nests in corners of the ceilings. Finding we could not chase them out, we started action. Chairs, brooms, sticks and anything else we could get were used in saving what was left of the inside of our home.’ Last night Mr. Rice was still counting the dead, which filled two cider barrels and two coal shovels. He estimates that there are 5,000 dead and 5,000 escaped.

While we are about it we give another bird story, this one from the New York Times.

Paris.—Long voyages of migrating birds are well known, yet it is not always easy to obtain tangible evidence of their journeys, and bird-lovers will be interested in the story from Alsace about a swallow’s water travels and sojourn. Last fall a resident of Ost-heim captured a swallow nestling in a gable and released it, with the following message on parchment attached: “During the summer of 1921 I lived with --, at Ostheim. He would be glad to learn where I passed the winter when I return.” The bird now returns to its Alsatian home, bearing the following inscription: “Have been staying with a shoemaker, Joseph Bady, on the island of Martinique, who salutes my present host.”

Tanager—Tegwane—Thrasher—Thrush

What a beautiful thing is the scarlet tanager or firebird! The mature male is a rich scarlet, except his wings and tail, which are pure black. The song is loud, vigorous and merry, and is heard later ip summer than that of most other birds.

The tegwane, of South Africa, is really not a stork, but is sometimes called the hammerhead stork. Of only about the size of a raven, it builds a nest twelve feet in circumference, horizontally and vertically, and so strong that a man may walk back and forth across it without doing damage. On account of its apparently mean and glittering eye, the Zulus regard the tegwanes as bewitched and will not go near their nests.

The thrasher, one of the most pleasing of American migratory birds, is well known to every country boy and has a highly varied song, fairly rivaling in performance that of the mocking-bird itself. The brown thrasher is the state bird of Georgia.

The thrush, as we have admitted, is the proper name of the American robin. It is also the true name of the English robin redbreast, the English blackbird, the nightingale and the hedge sparrow. The wood thrush is the official bird of the District of Columbia.

The nightingale is considered the most beautiful singer of all birds. As its name implies, its song comes in the night. It is not the song of a ladybird, as most of the poets have it, but is the song of joy of the male at having finished his migratory flight from far-off southern climes.

The nightingale does its singing from April 15 to June 15, and is at it night and day, entertaining his mate during the period of incubation. Birds trapped after the mating season are said to languish and die.

Begbie, a temperamental British nightingale, periodically sings to the whole world over the British broadcasting and allied networks. Begbie will not sing until his ambition has been stirred by a couple of phonograph records, and then nothing will drive him from his place at the microphone.

Stormcock—Titmouse—Turkey

The stormcock is a British name for a large thrush, also called the mistle-thrush, on account of its unusual fondness for mistletoe berries. The stormcock has a habit we all might well follow: its song is as fine and as happy on rainy days as on sunny ones.

No bird is more universally loved and enjoyed than the black-capped titmouse known everywhere as the chickadee or pewee. The last names are due to the notes so often heard in their calls. This bird is very active. It can be easily attracted to any spot where food is provided, and, if unmolested by cats or otherwise, will become very familiar. The chickadee, as the downEast Yankee loves to call it, is the state bird of Maine. It is one of the late risers, not beginning its midsummer song until about 5: 00 a. m.

The American wild turkey is one of the cleverest of all the birds. Her nest is hidden with supreme cunning. When she leaves it for a time she covers her eggs with leaves, slips noiselessly out, and then crosses and recrosses her tracks again and again until no animal could possibly follow the scent.

When an enemy is in sight the mother hen pretends that she is crippled. Frantically she keeps up a fluttering and flopping by which she is seemingly barely able to keep out of the clutches of the pursuer. The whole object is to lead the enemy away from the vicinity of the nest.

The youngsters, from the moment they are born, know enough to keep still the moment the mother hen gives them a warning “put”. They may be clucking and gobbling and having all kinds of fun, but the moment the mother utters that sound they are silent as death.

The brush turkey of Australia amasses a heap of several tons of leaves, apparently for the heat produced, for leaves heat like a hotbed.

Vireo—Vulture—Warbler

There are twelve species of vireos in North America. The red-eyed vireo, which is best known, is strictly a bird of the woods and is noted for its quarrelsomeness, activity, and the energy with which on the hottest days it continues to search for its food and to attend strictly to the business of singing its little song.

Nature is good to the vulture. He is endowed with such acute powers of smell and vision that he can locate the dinner table forty miles away. He does valuable work in keeping the fields and woods clear of carrion. In the southern states the vulture goes by the name of buzzard.

In Havana the vultures have been so plentiful and annoying about the new capitol that the gilded dome is charged with electricity, and now every time a vulture (buzzard) bumps into it there is a puff of smoke, a Hash of blue flame, and no more vulture.

The East Indian warbler, commonly called the tailor bird, is just what its common name implies. It sews a dead leaf to a living one or so joins two neighboring leaves together as to form a kind of hanging pouch the lower part of which contains the nest. Actual cotton threads or twisted vegetable fibers are used as thread, the bill serving for a needle in puncturing holes in the leaves and drawing the thread through.

A certain writer, describing the warbler family, says:

The warblers have we always with us, all in their own good time; they come out of the South, pass on, return and are away again; their appearance and withdrawal scarcely less than a mystery; many stay with us all summer long, and some brave the winters in our midst. Some of these slight creatures, guided by unerring instinct, travel true to the meridian in the hours of darkness, slipping past “like a thief in the night”, stopping at daybreak from their lofty flights to rest and recruit for the next stage of the journey. Others pass more leisurely from tree to tree, in a ceaseless tide of migration, gleaning as they go; the hardier males, in full song and plumage, lead the way for the weaker females and yearlings. With tireless industry do the warblers befriend the human race; their unconscious zeal plays due part in the nice adjustment of nature’s forces, helping to bring about that balance of vegetable and insect life without which agriculture would be in vain. They visit the orchard when the apple and pear, the peach, plum and cherry are in bloom, seeming to revel carelessly amid the sweet-scented and deliciously tinted blossoms, but never faltering in their good work. They peer into the crevices of the bark, scrutinize each leaf, and explore the very heart of the buds, to detect, drag forth and destroy these tiny creatures, singly insignificant, collectively a scourge, which prey upon the hopes of the fruit-grower, and which, if undisturbed, would bring his care to naught. Some warblers flit incessantly in the terminal foliage of the tallest trees; others hug close to the scored trunks and gnarled boughs of the forest kings; some peep from the thicket, the coppice, the impenetrable mantle of shrubbery that decks tiny water courses, playing hide-and-seek with all comers; others, more humble still, descend to the ground, where they glide with pretty mincing steps and affected turning of the head this way and that, their delicate flesh-tinted feet just stirring the layer of withered leaves with which a past season carpeted the ground. We seek warblers everywhere in their season; we shall find them a continual surprise.

Water-Ouzel—Weaver Bird—Whidah

The water-ouzel, or dipper, has the power of seeking its food, which consists almost exclusively of snails and water insects, not only by diving, but by partly swimming and partly walking with fluttering wings along the bottom in search of its prey. It can remain under the water tw’o or three minutes at a time if it so desires.

It will propel itself by its wings upstream against a current so strong a man could not keep his footing in it. It occasionally makes its nest back of a waterfall. In winter these little gray birds swim or fly under thin ice from one air hole to another. When these little fellows come to the surface the water rolls from their feathers and they are perfectly dry.

The weaver birds of Africa construct an umbrella-like roof, under which from 800 to 1,000 nests have been found. In all such cases fibers are the materials employed. In some cases the birds of a pair take positions on opposite sides of the structure and the fibers are passed through and through from one to the other.

The nests are generally suspended at the extremities of branches, and over water, so as to afford security against snakes and monkeys.

One type of weaver bird even inserts thorns in the nest as a protection against marauders. A Philippine species builds flask-shaped nests of fine roots suspended mouth downward by long ropes of similar construction.

Polygamy is customary with some birds. One of these natural polygamists is the beautiful long-tailed whidah of Africa. He gathers to himself about six females, which he watches over with as much care as does any sultan over his harem. The grackle is also a polygamist.

Whippoorwill—Woodcock—Woodpecker—Wren

The whippoorwill tells his name many times in the course of a night, always with the accent on the last syllable, but is usually quiet by midnight. He never moves about in the daytime, and therefore his appearance is quite unknown by many who are very familiar with his song.

The woodcock has his busiest hours just after sunset and just before dawn, his principal food being earthworms. He often visits city lawns on moonlit nights. The female woodcock is very solicitous about her young, sometimes bearing them one at a time from a supposed danger to a place of safety.

Woodpeckers, of which there are 300 species, are found everywhere except in Australia and Madagascar. A grub is located in a dry tree, either by listening or by inspecting. Straightway the woodpecker drills a hole until the grub is uncovered. A long sticky tongue finishes the job. The woodpecker is considered so valuable as a timber preserver that stringent laws for its protection are common in the West.

The woodpecker is a most industrious bird. One morning, a Sunday morning at that, one of them evidently heard a worm under the slate roof, and the way he hammered on that roof, at 4: 30 a.m., trying to break his way through the slate, was almost enough to wake the dead. And even though stoned, he came back again and again.

The woodpecker makes his own nest by a hole which he drills first horizontally and then vertically downward. There are about 350 species of woodpeckers. One of these the Negroes call by the opprobrious name of “shirt-tail bird”. That is all just because, innocently, he has white upper tail covers and a white rump. Why blame a bird for something he can’t help?

One of those industrious woodpeckers can do something no darky could do, no matter how good his intentions. He will eat three thousand ants at one sitting, and enjoy them! The woodpecker is distinguished by forty different names. In Alabama it is called the flicker, and is the state bird.

In August, 1932, in the sovereign state of Pennsylvania, Mrs. Anna Chess, a mother who had a large family to provide for, went hunting and shot a woodpecker. It happens to be a bird protected by the laws of the state, and some great (?) and good (?) and wise (?) judge sent her to prison for twenty days. No doubt the woodpecker that was killed was a valuable citizen ; he was certainly as much so as such a judge.

And last, but not least, we have the busy little wren. A lover of bird life, writing of interesting happenings in the neighborhood, says:

Another neighbor acts like a thief in his own woodshed, for a pair of wrens have nested in the woodstack. He creeps in stealthily, moves slowly, is careful where he takes his wood, docs not enter frequently, and makes most of the moments when the bird is away. When necessity demands that he use his own shed, he is scolded vociferously by a midget in feathers whom he could hide in his fist. The situation is absurd but honorable, for the host will not upset a guest who is reposing in his trust!

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“0 Jehovah, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.”—Psalm 104: 24.

The Loaves and Fishes of 1932

(Beprinted from the Los Angeles Record)

JESUS said unto them: They have no need to go away; give ye them to eat.

But the Welfare Workers stepped forward and the Executive Secretaries advanced, saying: First there must be a survey and charts must be made and the names of the multitude listed.

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So the Welfare Workers and the Executive Secretaries went among the multitude with pencils and paper and adding machines and typewriters, listing them and questioning about their names and ages and previous conditions of servitude.

And when this was done, it was dark, and the Welfare Workers and the Secretaries withdrew to their offices and covered many sheets of paper with figures and reports.

And when they had finished, about three weeks later, the figures and reports were taken to the printer, and printed on glossy and expensive paper; and the reports were distributed throughout the cities with an “appeal” for help, aid and assistance, partly to feed the multitude but in great measure to pay the salaries of the Welfare Workers and the Secretaries.

So a great drive was organized in the cities, while the multitude waited and the loaves and fishes grew stale and unpalatable.

Among the Welfare Workers and the Executive Secretaries there were many noon luncheons and pep meetings and great enthusiasm, and they were filled with food and cheer while the collectors went out among the people, coercing and threatening them to fill the quota.

And for many days the drive continued, the poor giving of their substance and the rich giving little, until the quota was raised and the money deposited in the bank.

# * *

Then was a new supply of loaves and fishes purchased, and conveyed to the multitude by the shore of the lake. But upon the multitude there lay a great silence, and the people moved not.

Then the Executive Secretaries and the Welfare Workers looked upon the silent multitude and said: They are dead, but no blame attaches to us. Everything has been done in order, with graphs and charts and splendid surveys showing the percentage of those under 16, and the percentage of those suffering from malnutrition. All is well and the surveys shall be filed away.

But upon the shore of the lake stood the solitary figure of a sad-eyed man, a humble carpenter’s son, stretching out His arms toward the sunshine above and speaking not. . .

The German Crisis By J. Lowell Bito (New Jersey)

THE seething controversy that today storms the governmental structure of Germany may be largely attributed to the rapid growth and increasing influence of ardent Fascism. This militant faction, strengthened by the inability of the government to alleviate unemployment hardships, has won tremendous acclaim through promises of ameliorating the lot of the discontented citizenry. So successful has been this form of propaganda that, at the general elections in September, 1930, Fascist representation in the Reichstag increased from 12 to 107. This made the Nazis (Fascists) the second most powerful faction in German politics. The Nazis then found themselves in a position to influence political maneuvers, and they lost no opportunity in encouraging legislation that fostered their principles; while they fervently and vehemently decried all measures of importance only to other factions. Such deliberate methods in time created a marked spirit of antagonism; and the friction between the factions rapidly developed into bitter and envenomed controversy. It is beneath the furore of this controversy that today the government is staggering in a manner so precarious.

A Republic in the Making

A full comprehension of the German crisis necessitates the consideration of these facts: Germany is adjusting herself to a government that is peculiar to the oligarchic system under which she has labored for centuries. During this period of transition there is, of course, no such soundness of policies and stability of administration as is found in a government firmly entrenched. There is, of necessity, a constant alteration for improvement and still further betterment: a meticulous attempt to substitute one reform for another, and thus to replace each glaring deficiency by measures supposedly more adequate. During the birth of our government, as in the infancy of all democracies, there was pursued a similar trend towards improvement. In our country, for example, the drastic alterations to which the “Articles of Confederation” were subjected finally led to the establishment of our present constitution. But under the “Articles” was there a scintilla of that efficiency vhich now characterizes our government? Did the members of the Union then possess that cohesiveness which now binds us together in endearing fraternity? Germany, like our colonies, is undergoing changes that are invariably necessary to a government still in its infancy.

Ever since the inception of the new German constitution, these governmental vicissitudes caused a skeptic minority of the German people to stigmatize their government as irresolute and vacillating. This group interpreted governmental adjustments as the precarious shiftings of a staggering power. They viewed their government with much the same anticipation as they would a versatile funambulist. However, their views, founded on so strained a hypothesis, lacked conviction, and hence its scope embraced only a small group of adherents.

The Inception of Hitlerism

But of late the distress caused by the current economic maladjustment not only has incited in this sect a more dangerous degree of agitation, but also has provided them with better material for propaganda. They are now enabled to impregnate their arguments with more substantial reasoning and less metaphysical speculation. The result is that their ranks are increasing; and contumacy is beginning to show its brazen front. Thus there is being created a national psychosis of malignant unrest: a psychosis composed of so desperate a feeling of insecurity, so small a vestige of fidelity, that the slightest provocation is liable to cause an ebullition of anarchism.

Cognizant of these circumstances, the German administration sagaciously contrives to maintain its commanding position. Unfortunately, it is now not only confronted by problems that are inherent to a new government, but also harassed by demonstrations of dissatisfaction. These demonstrations are the display of an irate emotion, a spontaneous reaction to a governmental maneuver. During the early ages of civilization the slowness in communication made impossible the present gravity of these displays: time elapsed before the citizens learned of governmental activities; more time elapsed before their feelings were registered at the executive seats; and during the intervening period riled emotions had subsided without any result. But today each parliamentary decree is simultaneously read in every German community. Almost instantaneously there follows a mobilization of forces disheartened by it. On the other hand, the advocates, with equal rapidity, ally themselves in forceful opposition. The result is an

embittered conflict between the elements of satisfaction and discontent, the very clash between Euphrosyne and Niobe. Consequently the government’s attention is diverted from urgent routine work and is given to devise compensatory measures.

Old Obsequiousness All Gone

In the interim the German imbroglio rapidly multiplies in its intricacies and complexities. There is no longer even a vestige of that obsequiousness which the Germans endured under the Hohenzollerns. Unrestrained emotions, pernicious plotting, and overt acts of violence are creating a turbulence of grave potentialities. A turbulence in which policies of conservatism and liberality, labor and aristocracy, religion and persecution, are all equally embroiled. One group praises what the other condemns; a third sect encourages certain measures, while its adversaries croak only reprehension. All factions offer variant plans for supplying the nation’s exigencies, but each is lost in the riotous clamor for attention. Such chaotic conditions have, to varying degrees, characterized all governments while passing through a similar period of metamorphosis. Macaulay, in his “Essay on Milton”, depicts the English Restoration which, with the exception of a few episodic details, is quite similar to the German crisis. Indeed, it is in just this sort of raging caldron in which were molded the foundations of the most puissant democracies.

Against this panorama of national turbulence there looms forth the menacing promontory of the National Socialist movement. It seems incredulous that a political party so insignificant in its origin, so heterodox in its policies, can, in the space of a few years, develop into proportions that overshadow the structure of a national government. Yet Adolf Hitler and his national socialist party (the Nazis) have accomplished this rare feat. It is such a momentous accomplishment that the factors contributing to its success are of exceptional interest.

A Racket, Pure and Simple

Hitlerism is neither a renovation of a forgotten principle nor is it a newly formulated panacea. It is simply a doctrine of government in which there is an incongruous fusion of radical ideas and unrestrained fancies: ideas that wholly separate themselves from reality; and fancies that infer a degree of mental derangement. Quite naturally, therefore, Hitlerism does not find its greatest appeal in the merit of its basic principles. This fact becomes the more obvious when it is remembered that Hitler vehemently exhorted his doctrine during a period of some years, and yet he received, not enthusiasm, but yawning apathy. In fact, it is highly probable that were he to have preached ad infinitum he would never have excited interest, so heterodox were his ideas, and so puerile his fancies.

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