Consolation, November 16, 1938
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Contents
Catholic Fascism in Connecticut 3
Effects of Military Training 6
Sharing the Wealth with Foreigners 7
U. S. A. Department of State 8
Serum Racketeers? 9
Surgery 10
"This Flag-Salutin' Business" 11
The New Government
Kingdom Privileges in Near East (IV) 12
Listening 13
Bethel Publisher Aboard Ship (III) 14
Science and Invention 15
Motoring 16
Counsel by J. F. Rutherford 17
Under the Totalitarian Flag
Great Religionists: Thomas Torquemada 20
Spain
Italian Terror in the Balearics 23
Ninety-five Seconds 23
South Africa 24
South Atlantic States 25
Among the Centenarians 26
By Trail and Stream and
Garden Path—"Comet" 27
British Comment
Co-operative Societies in Britain 28
Fascism in Britain 29
Jehovah's Bounty—Cover Design 31
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Appetizers
Breaking the News
Murphy had been careless in handling the blasting powder in the quarry, and Duffy had been deputed to break the news gently to the widow.
"Mrs. Murphy," said he, "isn't it today the fellow calls for the weekly payment of Murphy's life insurance?"
"It is," answered Mrs. Murphy.
"Well, now a word in your ear," said Duffy. "Sure ye can snap your fingers at the fellow today."—Labor.
For the World's Title
Patrons of a restaurant noticed tacked on the wall a sheet of paper which was printed in bold characters:
"The umbrella in the stand below belongs to the champion heavyweight fighter of the world. He is coming right back."
Five minutes later umbrella and paper had disappeared. In their place was another notice:
"Umbrella is now in possession of the champion marathon runner of the world. He is not coming back."—Labor.
Perfectly Plain
A cockney phoned to inquire the rate to Ealing, a suburb of London. The man at the other end of the line couldn't catch the name of the station; so, in desperation, he asked the cockney to spell it. Quickly came the reply:
"E—for 'Erbert, A—w'at the 'orses heat, L—w'ere yer goes w'en yer dies, I—wot yer sees wiv, N—wot lays a hegg, G—Gawd bless me. Get me?"—Labor.
The Signal That Failed
Mrs. Gump: "I think, Henry, that young fellow over there with his back to us—on the bench with that girl—I think he is going to propose to her—I really do believe he is! We should not listen—whistle so they will know we are here."
Mr. Gump: "I should whistle? And why should I? Nobody whistled to warn me!"
"Go to My Father"
"Go to my father," is what she said. She knew that I knew her father was dead; and she knew that I knew the life he had led; so she knew that I knew what she meant when she said, "Go to my father."
CONSOLATION
"And in His name shall the nations hope."—Matthew 12:21, A. R. V.
Volume XX Brooklyn, N. Y., Wednesday, November 16, 1938 Number 500
Catholic Fascism in Connecticut
WHEN the early settlers of Connecticut established a haven where all might breathe freely the pure air of religious freedom they established a code of laws founded, as they sincerely believed, upon the Higher Law of Almighty God. In the edition of laws of 1672 we find the following:
“We have endeavored not only to ground our capital laws upon the word of God, but also all other laws upon the justice and equity held forth in that word, which is a most perfect rule.”
Their descendants have received from those well-meaning forefathers an excellent inheritance in the guarantees of liberty of conscience, worship, speech and press declared in the fundamental law of the state. Little did those statesmen of the early day think, however, that in years to come it would be necessary for God-fearing people to apply to the highest court of the nation for a further declaration of the right to worship Almighty God in that state. Little did they think that in these later days the Word of God would be trampled upon by public officials, and that heavy fines and jail sentences would be imposed upon Christians for the “offense” of bringing the Kingdom message of Jehovah God to the people. They could not see that the same inquisitorial power which oppressed the peoples of Europe in medieval times would cross the waters and establish an inquisition in the Nutmeg State.
And that is what has happened in this year 1938. The foreign power known as the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, which is oppressing the millions of Europe and Asia, has reached out its tentacles and hooked them onto the municipalities of this little New England state. It has placed its henchmen in key positions in the courts, prosecutor’s offices, and police departments, and has used them to suppress freedom of worship, freedom of conscience, freedom of speech and press, and freedom of assembly. I present to you some of the amazing facts concerning this modern method of attempting to stifle truth by use of the strong arm of the law.
The city of Bristol is entitled to the dubious distinction of initiating the persecution. Early in December, 1937, one James P. Jennings, a Roman Catholic member of the city council of Bristol, in company with a Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus protested to the mayor of Bristol against Jehovah’s witnesses. Jennings proclaimed that the book “Enemies” constituted an indecent attack upon the Catholic church”. The mayor responded with a declaration that no attack upon religion would be permitted in Bristol. This was followed by a most vicious attack on Christianity conducted by the city authorities.
It began with the summoning of three of Jehovah’s witnesses to the police station, where they were ordered by Police Captain Jeglinski to cease distribution of Bible publications in the city. A few weeks later eight of Jehovah’s witnesses were arrested and taken to the police station. The priestly source of their arrest was disclosed in the fact that while they were detained in the police station the telephone frequently rang and the officers were heard to answer in these words, “Yes, Father, we have some of them here now.” All of this was without authority of law, and Jehovah’s witnesses responded with a campaign in which the facts were given to the people by means of a pamphlet entitled “Shall the Priests Rule Connecticut?” The priests then manifested their purpose to rule Connecticut by coercing and bulldozing the police department into wholesale arrests. The strong-arm squads sallied forth and haled sixty-seven publishers before the court, charging them with distributing offensive matter concerning the Catholic church. The arrests were made without regard to law or order. People walking on the streets, sitting in their cars, or driving out of town were taken into custody. On that day the chief qualification for an arrest in Bristol was to be one of Jehovah's witnesses. They were brought to trial before Judge Joseph P. O'Connell, of the Bristol police court, likewise a good Roman Catholic. All the evidence needed for a conviction on the trial was testimony that defendant was one of Jehovah's witnesses, was arrested and had some Bible literature in his or her possession. There was no evidence of distribution. One girl under sixteen was 'graciously released', and the other sixty-six were convicted and each fined twenty dollars.
◆ The inquisition spread throughout the state like an epidemic. One Thomas F. Lawler, priest, and chief beneficiary of 'purgatory' racket in St. Mary's Catholic church of New Britain, made public proclamation that the book Enemies was libelous and obscene and that Jehovah's witnesses should be jailed for its distribution. Catholic police, prosecutors and judges of New Britain then followed with a series of wholesale arrests aggregating over a hundred cases. New Haven, Meriden, Ridgefield, Simsbury, Southington, East Hampton, Hartford, Stratford, Bridgeport, Plainville, and other towns got the fever and joined the hue and cry against Christianity. In the course of a few months three hundred Christian people have been subjected to arrests, abuse, ill-treatment, confiscation of property and farcical trials, in this widespread desperate attempt to censor and interdict the declarations of God's Word against the religious pirates of today. One publisher was convicted for the 'offense' of sending a letter to the police department of Hartford calling attention to the inherent rights of freedom to worship Almighty God. In Plainville five Christian women of unsullied reputation were convicted of distributing immoral and obscene literature. The immoral and obscene literature consisted of some plain, truthful declarations concerning the Roman Catholic Inquisition of medieval times. The Catholic idea that any criticism of the 'holy church' is immoral is readily accepted by the Irish judges of Connecticut. In Bridgeport a priest by the name of John J. McCarthy personally caused the arrest of two of Jehovah's witnesses for circulating the book Enemies. The language in the book which the priest considered offensive was the following, found on page 193. I quote:
". . . It must now be apparent, to all honest people of earth who have any knowledge, that the Roman Catholic organization is a religious political organization, indulging in a selfish work, which blasphemes the name of Almighty God, falsely and fraudulently represents him, carries on a racket in the name of Christ, and is the great enemy of God and of the people. . . ."
That is pretty strong language. It covers a great deal of territory. If the Roman Catholic organization is not a religious political organization, is not blaspheming the name of Almighty God, is not carrying on a racket in the name of Christ, and is not the great enemy of God and the people, it could make things uncomfortable for the author of the book. If the statements are not true, the priests can have a gloriously happy time exposing its falsities. But the difficulty for them is that the statements are true. The beskirted gents know they are true. They dare not face the challenge of the accusations. Therefore they bring the power of the law to their aid, and in this land of the free and the brave throw Christian men and women into jail for exposing their corruption. This same priest and his satellites in Bridgeport brought pressure to bear upon city officials to eject Jehovah's witnesses from their leased hall, so that they would have no opportunity to meet and study the Bible. They didn't succeed. City officials declined to submit to such alien, Hitleristic tactics.
The wicked and malicious nature of the prosecutions is further demonstrated by the great variety of statutes used. Christians do not violate laws which are enacted for the protection of the people. Nevertheless, the ecclesiastical crowd, with its political allies, in their overheated attempt to suppress the truth have resorted to many laws to secure their ungodly end. Jehovah's witnesses were first charged with peddling books without a license. That didn't work. Then they were charged with violation of Section 6194 of Connecticut Statutes, which provides that no person shall publish, exhibit, or distribute printed matter which is abusive, indecent or offensive concerning any person. It was claimed that such literature is very offensive to the priests. Undoubtedly it is. The exposure of a racket is always offensive to the racketeer. The scribes and Pharisees of Jesus' day found His remarks very offensive and therefore crucified Him. The priests of Connecticut would crucify Jehovah’s witnesses today if they only had the power. It was further claimed that the literature of Jehovah’s witnesses is immoral and obscene. Nothing further from the truth could be alleged. Holding people up to contempt or ridicule on account of their religion or nationality was another false charge placed against Jehovah’s witnesses. Soliciting contributions to a charitable cause without a permit; disorderly conduct; trespass; and inciting to violence and riot, were likewise alleged against a peaceful and law-abiding group of people. Never in the history of the state had there been such a feverish searching through the dry and dusty legal tomes for provisions to inflict punishments upon innocent people.
Another proof of the false and malicious nature of these charges is manifested in the unlawful discrimination practiced by the officials. When Jehovah’s witnesses charge the Roman Catholic Hierarchy with carrying on a racket and present proof of its truth, they are arrested, thrown into jail, prevented from presenting their proofs, and heavily fined. But when the Roman Catholic Hierarchy through its official publications circulates abusive, indecent and offensive untruths concerning Judge Rutherford and Jehovah’s witnesses, no action is taken by those sworn to uphold the majesty of the law. I cite the case of The Catholic Transcript, published by the bishop of Hartford, which in its issue of April 21, 1938, states as follows:
RUTHERFORD JEHOVAH
“Father Felix, director of ‘Defenders of the Faith’ has done some splendid work against America’s ace bigot, Judge Rutherford, says the New World. Everyone knows the infamous practices of Judge Rutherford and his marauding band of Jehovah’s witnesses. All through the United States we can see and hear these apostles of hate hawking their anti-Catholic literature. . . . The type of propaganda they hand out reeks with foul denunciations and falsehoods. . . .”
In Stratford, Connecticut, the police went forth and arrested five of Jehovah’s witnesses on the mere statement of a religionist that they were distributing offensive literature. The attention of the chief of police was called to the fact that The Catholic Transcript containing the foregoing false, abusive, malicious and offensive statements was being circulated in Stratford, and would he kindly arrest the ones distributing such offensive literature. He declined to take any action. This conclusively proves that police departments are being used as pontifical inquisitors in support of the unlawful purposes of the Hierarchy.
The part played by the newspapers of Connecticut is such that it cannot be pointed to with pride. They have played up with screaming headlines the arrests and false charges against Jehovah’s witnesses. They have published articles holding them up to ridicule and have often violated Section 6194 with offensive statements concerning them. But when the tide of battle turns in favor of these Christian people the press is discreetly silent. When an honest state’s attorney of Hartford county declined to prosecute a hundred cases the press was silent, or put a few lines in an obscure corner where it would not be noticed. The attitude of the legal profession is almost as bad. The lawyers, in general, are so cowed, so timorous and so fearful of incurring the wrath of the state’s priestly rulers, that they are afraid to take cases involving even their own precious liberties. They would rather see people lose their hard-bought civic freedom than boldly fight the enemies of liberty.
This iniquitous business has been well commented upon by The American Protestant of Washington, D. C., in its issue of October, 1938, entitled “Hierarchy Persecutes Jehovah’s witnesses”, from which the following is quoted:
“It is impossible to find words strong enough with which to condemn this persecution. Although The American Protestant does not agree with Jehovah’s witnesses in all their religious tenets, we most firmly maintain that they have a perfect right to hold and to teach their religious belief. They are law-abiding citizens, and they are loyal Americans. Their teachings contain nothing whatever that may be called subversive of public morals, nor do their teachings infringe upon the rights of others. All this being true, the Constitution of the United States guarantees them full religious liberty. Any attempt on the part of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy to deprive them of this religious liberty is a flagrant and shameful violation of the Federal Constitution. More-” over, the attempt is despicable, vicious, and satanic. The persecutors are themselves the criminals; the persecuted ones are innocent. It is the damnable ‘Holy Office’ of the popish Inquisition over again!
“In every free country, the Church of Rome is more dangerous than a stray dog affected with hydrophobia. She insists upon freedom for herself, but she will allow freedom to none other. Her Dark-Age doctrines cannot stand to have the light of discussion thrown upon them; hence, she must maintain them by feeding ‘the faithful’ only that which she wants them to know. Anyone who dares to challenge these doctrines must be silenced--not by arguments but by persecution! As to our Federal Constitution, this so-called church professedly ‘tolerates’ religious freedom until the time shall come when she will be strong enough to ditch this freedom without danger to herself! How long will the American people let this hydrophobic dog run at large? Has it come to this in the United States that anyone who dares to lift his voice against Rome must be arrested and threatened with fines or a jail sentence? We must show the Church of Rome her place, or else this country is doomed!”
The facts here presented prove that the priests have ruled a large portion of Connecticut and intend to rule it all. Their unlawful rule does not continue without protest. Jehovah’s-witnesses instituted an action in the United States District Court of Connecticut to restrain the enforcement of Section 6194 of Connecticut Statutes on the grounds that said statute is invalid because it infringes upon freedom of worship, freedom of speech and freedom of press. The District Court upheld the validity of the statute. An appeal has been taken from this decision to the United States Supreme Court, and just a few days ago the defendant City of Bristol and its officials were cited to appear before the highest court of the land to show cause why they should not be restrained from enforcing this unjust law against those whose only ‘offense’ is to proclaim the Kingdom message of Jehovah God. The decision of this high court may be instrumental in educating the pontifical inquisitors of Connecticut in the fundamental principles of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
Effects of Military Training
IT seems to me sheer hypocrisy to justify any military activity by stressing any advantage other than preparedness for war. In the first place, the Army does not make men; it simply develops the best that are available. Secondly, any benefit or enjoyment the individual has from the physical training provided is certainly loaded and must be regarded in the same light as the enjoyment the pig has from the best of food he is given to prepare him for the butchery. Physical culture is not provided to keep the army occupied any more than the rifle practice is to enable them to compete in the local shooting competition.
Armies are trained for the business of war; physical training is designed to develop the human material to its maximum strength. Parade discipline is to mould all minds into one --the war machine. Whether right or wrong there are some physical benefits, but the moral effect is hard to find. True, discipline is good, but its effect in the army is felt only in the presence and within the control limits of officers. History provides some not too silent testimony to the rape, thieving and in some cases illegal killings by invading armies temporarily out of control. The World War holds some stories of this kind.
The average law-abiding citizen does not want to fight until he feels he must. The biggest wasters behind the line make the best front-liners. Writers on this subject of military discipline who speak of the moral effect may be thinking of religion. In training a recruit, and keeping him up to his peak after he is trained, religion plays an important part. It holds pride of place with rifle practice. Rifle practice shows him how to use a rifle, and religion shows him why. In the next stoush religion will again be asked to throw its weight on the side of the Devil and religion will again insult and defame the name of Almighty God by responding as usual.--Fred J. Bond, Australia.
Sharing the Wealth with Foreigners
The vivacious argument about the $400,000,000 investment of foreigners in Mexican oil properties has set a lot of us to thinking about foreign investments in our own country. A recent estimate places the stake of foreigners, chiefly British, in the United States at the enormous figure of more than eight billion dollars, or about $65 for every man, woman and child of our population. At 6 per cent annual return (and some of these valuable oil, mineral, real estate and utility properties return a much higher rate than that) it would mean that through this ownership we are shipping abroad about a half billion dollars of income a year which, to the man in the street, we ought easily to be able to keep at home. This half billion which we send abroad every year is more than the total claimed value of all the foreign oil holdings in Mexico. With it we could build each year a quarter of a million $2,000 houses, which would help industry a lot and go a long way toward solving the housing problem.
We seem to be making little progress toward agreeing upon an equitable basis of wealth distribution among our own citizens, but both liberals and conservatives ought to have little difficulty on the subject of sharing our wealth with foreigners. Here is a matter about which even the most cautious of our antediluvian Congressmen can venture to paw the air without the slightest fear of fanning a dangerous backfire among the folks back home. Good and sufficient reasons for doing something about such a condition are quite obvious, but it becomes still more important when we realize that nearly all the countries to whom we are paying this immense annual tribute, chiefly Great Britain, are heavily in debt to us either through defaulted bonds or unpaid war loans.
Several years ago we passed a wise law that no money shall be lent to any country that is in arrears on war debts. Why isn't it just as reasonable to pass a law that no rent, interest or dividends from American securities or real estate shall be paid to any foreigner whose government is in debt to us in any way? If any foreigner should deem such an arrangement unfair to individual investors, it could be arranged that such government could reimburse said investors and take credit on its debt to us for the amount so paid. Thus the amounts which corporations and fiscal agents have been sending abroad would then be paid into our own treasury.
This simple and utterly rational device would, of course, leave the basic investments wholly undisturbed. A more drastic and equally rational method would be to go directly in for exercising the right of eminent domain as Mexico has done. In our case, however, there would be little question as to how much or in what way payment would be made. The answer is that we would pay off in credits upon the money owing us and, as we never expect to get the debts settled in any other way, we could afford to be quite generous in appraising the various values involved.
Absentee ownership is one of the most vicious of all the phases of capitalism. It is possible to put up a pretty strong defense for excessive profits in various industries, such as Standard Oil or Carnegie Steel, when a large part of those profits is spent in our own country on educational or philanthropic projects, such as medical research, universities, libraries, and so on. But what defense can we put up for foreign-controlled concerns, such as the Shell Oil Co., whose only interest in our country is to exploit it, and whose proceeds are shipped abroad and spent there? Tremendously valuable mineral deposits in California and other states are owned abroad. Our people receive low wages and pay high prices for the products of these deposits in order that certain foreign groups shall strut about in luxury. They don't even contribute in any substantial way to philanthropic projects in their own countries.
Those who agree with this line of reasoning would perhaps do well to write their representatives in Washington and stir them up about it. It is a practical timely question that does not rest upon any foreign or domestic ism, but upon simple everyday business principles with which all of us are thoroughly familiar.—Ellis O. Jones, California.
Increase in Executive Branch Workers
◆ In 1933 there were 565,432 workers in the Executive branch of the United States Government. The next year there were 661,094; the next, 719,440; the next, 824,259; and in the year 1937 the number was 841,664.
U. S. A. Department of State
Run by the Moneyed Aristocracy
The State Department is manned, in the main, by men who are reactionary in viewpoint and pro-Fascist in sympathy. They have succeeded under every president in imposing their will on the country, and the result has been that we are now in a position of co-operating with those nations that sneer at democratic ideals, and of penalizing those nations which are fighting for their lives and for the preservation of their democratic institutions.
The State Department has shown repeatedly that it cannot be trusted to adopt or carry out policies which will work for the preservation of democracy. In the future, unless and until the State Department is reorganized from the bottom up, no member of Congress will be justified in accepting the assurance of the State Department that the facts are as represented. — Rep. Thomas R. Amlie, in American Guardian.
James Dunn
◆ It is now understood that the gentleman who is pleased to see American munitions go to Germany and Italy in any quantity, so that they can be used to destroy the Spanish Republic, and who insists that the embargo on arms to Spain shall stand as now, so that the Republic may not recover from the great act of treachery of Franco and his confreres, is James Dunn, born with a silver spoon in his mouth, educated by private tutors, and married into the Armour family. Mr. Dunn, so it is alleged, is chief of the European division of the State Department, adviser of the secretary of state on political relations, and a pro-Fascist. It would be interesting to know his religion.
G'bye
State Department Talking in Its Sleep
◆ The State Department talked in its sleep when it rushed to apologize to Hitler and his gang because Mayor La Guardia referred to some unnamed person as a "brown-shirted fanatic imperiling the peace of the world". It talked in its sleep again when it "ruled" that no American can now go to Spain to aid the Spanish people in their defense of Democracy against Fascism.
It had no more right to perform either of these stunts than it would have to "rule" that an American may not, in a pinch, sleep in his underwear. The clerks and other things down at Washington take themselves too seriously. The Hitler-Mussolini complex is catching.
"May Have Already Begun"
◆ Under the foregoing caption the Zanesville (Ohio) Signal says of the world war now being carried on in Spain:
It has no clear-cut beginning and no clear-cut ending. It is fought under the surface, with trickery and deceit. Never was international politics more dark and confusing. Dictatorship fights democracy today in Spain, and all Europe is involved. Yet the great dictatorships and the great democracies remain at peace. Is this the sort of thing we are going to have, on a steadily increasing scale, for the next decade or so? If it is, the future is indeed terrifying.
10,000 Factories Ready for War
◆ The United States industries are now so organized that over night 10,000 plants could be started making war supplies.
Serum Racketeers?
◆ NOT the worst, but it is a “humdinger”: “Launch City-Wide Poll on Syphilis Tests.”—Chicago Tribune.
Now for a real, honest-to-goodness clean-up, Chicago the first drive. Ascertain by ballot the number of citizens wishing blood tests, in order to know who have and who have not a tainted system. It’s all in secrecy. No names signed to ballot. Just vote “yes” and only your number goes to headquarters. No one will know this secret except you yourself.
Now that “more than one-half million men, women, and children in the United States become infected thusly every year”, it is high time to get busy. But just why test? Why not just conclude that at such a rate of increase the entire population, barring none, are infected? So why the trouble and expense of testing? Oh, yes, Maggie,—but for good reasons. You see, there must be sufficient propaganda and excitement to push the works. While the testing are to be made without charge, the “big stuff” comes heading in when the big show is on. You see, too, after the test, then comes the next step, that of the cock-sure specific treatment.
Oh, yes, to be sure, just brought under control as were diphtheria, typhoid, cholera, scarlet fever, tuberculosis, etc. Yes, it’s going to be a big drive. Even the preachers are to be requested to shout from their pulpits; and the women’s clubs and social workers will see to it that they do their share, too. Yes, sir, it’s going to be a big drive.
This is to be eventually a nation-wide drive; so look out. What a grand renovation there will be! And there is not a doubt whatever about the results. Why, “this syphilitic plague can be brought under control just as was tuberculosis a few decades ago.” Never mind, now, checking up on the number of cases existing yet today.
Well, be that as it may, the great benevolent work is to go forth, regardless. At least, serum manufacturers, etc., etc.,—and, of course, a few doctors, too—can use an extra shekel now and then. But, holy mackerel! What a big job there’ll be, presumably soon enough, to, recombat after-effects, some bad enough, when once such a wholesale and general application of serum has been so mightily distributed! But hush up now. Nothing like that could be possible. Wait and see.—Contributed.
Serums Kill Six in Florida
◆ The merry game of murdering people by pumping their blood full of serums goes on unhindered. It is too profitable to be stopped, and just so long as the people can be bulldozed into believing that they will be healthier if their blood is fixed up for them by the American Medical Association, just so long the American Medical Association will fix it up, at a good, stiff price, and split with the serum makers, or vice versa. A little while ago about a hundred were killed by using elixir of sulfanilamide, and now six persons died in a day after taking the ensol treatment for cancer, in Orlando, Florida. Inasmuch as 125,000 bottles of this “cancer cure” were shipped from the factory in Kingston, Canada, to the United States, it can be seen at once what fine prospects there are for good business on this side of the line, both from the American Medical Association standpoint and from the standpoint of makers, headstones, caskets and other funeral supplies. Why strangle prosperity?
California Vaccination News
◆ A friend of mine had a Chow dog, which had been a good companion to his master. Recently the city went vaccinating dogs. This dog was vaccinated. Two days later he attacked his master and severely bit his left hand, right under the thumb, in the palm, which wound I saw. An acquaintance had a dog some years ago. After vaccination the dog was partially deaf and now and then went into fits. Never had fits before vaccination. The mad spirit in men fighting one another in all parts of the world might be due to some extent to vaccination science. If it affects dogs, why not “dumb dogs”?—D. Davidian.
Nicholas Delucca Vaccinated
◆ Nicholas Delucca, 6, of Coatesville, Pa., was vaccinated, so that he could go to school and learn, and grow up and be a big man. But he won’t grow up; not now, anyway. Reason: He died of lockjaw, a victim of one of the most vicious superstitions ever practiced upon the people.
Surgery
Matt Dempsky's Brain Tumor
◆ Matt Dempsky, of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, had a brain tumor the size of a grapefruit, had headaches constantly, and did not wish to live. Dr. Alfred W. Adson, noted brain surgeon, removed nearly half of his head, stitched it back together with wires, in an eight-hour operation, and now Dempsky is gradually getting well. The surgeon, after the operation, said it would be a miracle if he lived until the morning of the next day, but after three weeks he was able to walk about unaided.
Wife Worried Because
Hubby Stopped Worrying
◆ Dr. Ward C. Halstead, Chicago, Ill., tells of a stockbroker who used to worry much. A brain tumor was removed from the pre-frontal area. The man continued to make plenty of money, but stopped worrying. The only complaint is from the man's wife, who worries that her hubby no longer worries about the things he once worried about.
Brilliant Recovery of Man with One Lung
◆ In September, 1936, C. J. Kagen, New York financial writer, became ill with the formation of a small cancer on one lung. The lung was removed in two stages. First the pulmonary arteries were severed and the blood vessels tied. Then the lung itself was removed. Mr. Kagen's remaining lung has now filled the entire cavity.
The New Form of Splint
◆ The new form of splint, fastened with pins screwed into the bones, has been used on 400 dogs, some horses, and a deer, and is now being experimentally tried on some humans. One dog had a leg broken in six places. Forty-eight hours after the splint was applied he was walking, and in a month, when it was removed, he was as good as new.
16 Fractures in Five Years
◆ Brooklyn has a little lad of seven years of age that has had sixteen fractures of arms and legs in the last five years. The reason for the brittleness of his bones is not known. In one instance his leg broke spontaneously while he was sitting quietly on a sofa.
Successful Pericardiectomy
◆ The rare operation of pericardiectomy was successfully performed at the Mayo Brothers clinic at Rochester, Minnesota. Alick M. Watkins, 27, came all the way from Australia to have a half-inch casing of stone cut away from around his heart. The operation lasted four hours, the surgeon working three minutes and then covering the heart with a warm cloth for three minutes.
Peeling Fat off a Man's Heart
◆ At Milan, Italy, an eminent surgeon, Aldo Defrise, made an incision in the chest of a 52-year-old workman, Alfonso Lelle, extracted his heart, peeled off a layer of fat an inch thick, put the heart back in place, and after fifteen days the patient had fully recovered from the inflammation of the pericardium which had theretofore placed his life in jeopardy.
Thomas Can Swallow Again
◆ A year ago Thomas Lee Scott, of Chicago, swallowed a liquid containing some lye, and his throat closed. For a year he was fed through a tube passed through an incision in his throat. At length up through the incision and through the scar tissue larger and larger instruments were forced, until finally this good-looking little chap was able to swallow again like other boys.
Lived on Diet of Ice Cream
◆ Alyce Jane McHenry, of Omaha, Nebr., lived on a diet of ice cream. She was born with her stomach in her chest. Then, when she was 11, she was taken to Fall River, Mass., and by skillful surgery her stomach was placed where it belongs, and after a time she was able to leave the hospital in sound health and good physical condition every way.
Child Born with One Eye
◆ In New York city a child was born with only one eye, the place for the other eye being sealed shut. Surgeons opened the sealed orifice, made lids for it out of mucous membrane from the inside of the little one's cheek, and at three years of age the little girl now has a nearly normal appearance. A glass eye takes the place of the one lacking at her birth.
Education
"This Flag-Salutin' Business"
Having served in the army I give some pertinent facts regarding this flag-salutin' business. The army is a good school in some respects. The first day is spent learning the rules and regulations. Superior officers answer questions readily. One of the first questions a new man asks is, "When are we supposed to salute?"
The answer given to a new man is that he is not entitled to salute until he receives his uniform, but after that he is supposed to salute all officers who are in uniform, unless such are under cover, as in a public building, hospital, restaurant, canteen, schoolhouse, dance hall or railroad station, or when they are on fatigue or class instruction duty.
We were particularly instructed not to salute when it could not be returned. If a soldier saluted an officer ten times, that officer had to salute the soldier ten times; no matter how much they hated each other, they had to salute. It was not considered a personal act, but respect for the uniform.
We were warned not to fight with each other, because it was the same as striking the flag. Profanity was not allowed, if it showed disrespect to the mother of another soldier. Soldiers were instructed not to salute army chaplains, Y.M.C.A. officers or other Gold Bricks, as such were called; although such wore the same uniforms, they were not regarded as entitled to respect due a soldier.
The army performs a ritual at sundown, called a retreat. A sergeant removes the colors from a mast. As he holds the flag in his hand and stands at attention the soldiers salute; then the sergeant salutes. Thus (theoretically) the soldier salutes the flag and the flag salutes the army.
Citizens or visitors were not expected to salute, as they did not come under military regulations even when on government property. We were told that, as soldiers, sworn subjects of the government, it was our duty to salute; citizens might do so if they wished, but it was not compulsory; they were citizens, not subjects; our government is a government of the people, and we were soldiers of the government of the people; the flag was a symbol of the people's government.
The army recognized all natural-born citizens as Americans and never tried to judge the contents of a man's heart regarding his love for his country. They never tried to club patriotism into anybody. Everything had to be in accordance with the laws of the government. Never did I hear it mentioned that anybody was not patriotic because he did not look or act the part.
Boys under 18 could not join the service without consent of their parents. The army thus taught obedience to parents and respect for all citizens' rights. The American Army has never had an uprising or revolt.
Now! One of the questions I, as an ex-soldier, would like to have answered is, "How is a schoolteacher, a paid servant of the public, entrusted merely with the teaching of reading, writing, arithmetic, qualified to enforce military flag-saluting laws, within a public building, and out of uniform?"
I always thought the Army, Navy and Marines the only authorities on such matters, and still think so. Have you ever seen a picture of Washington, Lincoln or Grant saluting anything? Experience has taught me that it is not the real soldiers that are the flag-wavers. America does not have to maintain a regiment of spies to watch the citizens, as is done in all the flag-waving countries, and real Americans have small use for the school authorities who polish the seats of their pants on a swivel chair and want to wallop some baby when its mother is not looking.—Harold B. Wheeler, Illinois.
"Belief in Any God"
◆ One proof that religion originated with the Devil is found in the fact that the word virtually means "belief in any god". There being but the one God, Jehovah, who is thus brought down by religion to the level of figments of the imagination, what else could religion be but Satan's COUNTERFEIT of devotion to the only and true Source of all life and blessings?
Iodine Lengthens the Skull
◆ The interesting discovery is made that foods rich in iodine so affect the thyroid gland as to lengthen the skull and other bones of the body. As a result, American-born children of persons with square or round heads are taller, and have heads of different shape from that of their parents born in inland Europe, where iodine is deficient.
RIGHTEOUS RULER
THE NEW GOVERNMENT
Kingdom Privileges in Near East (IV)
◆ We drove back that night a hundred and some odd miles and came back to Burjj Saffita. After nearly fourteen hours on the road, we were tired and hungry. We carried the sound equipment to the second floor of a building, and coming down I was so tired I thought there was a banister there, tried to lean on it, and down I went. I nearly broke my leg, and, in fact, my leg swelled up that night and the pain was so severe I could hardly bear it.
Nevertheless, the second morning I picked the highest point in town, on an elevation of about 7,000 feet, and put on the lectures. We played "Exposed" and the people asked for more; so we put on "Religion and Christianity". After we had finished the commissioner of the district sent five armed men after me, telling me that I was wanted. When we had completed the series I went with them, hardly being able to walk.
They forced me to walk three blocks to headquarters, and when I got there I was brought before the magistrate and his face showed he had murder in his heart. He was a Roman Catholic of the worst type and told me that no one in the history of the country had ever dared to speak against the Roman Catholic Church such as the records had done.
I let him talk, and when he had finished I warned him that he is responsible to the Lord and also that if he trespassed on my rights I would bring him before the mixed court at Beyrout. I told him that I was not a native, but an American citizen. When he realized his predicament he tried to get out of it the best way he could and turned me over to the governor, who was a Greek Catholic. He asked me the object of our mission, and I started to give him the testimony, stating the object of our organization, etc. The man seemed happy to hear the message and asked me if I had anything in print. Of course, I presented the books and booklets and was able, by the Lord's grace, to place twenty-seven bound books and booklets with him and several other officers. He said, "Go, and may God be with you." But before I left he asked me to go to the clerk and give him a statement pertaining to our work.
I went to the clerk's office and he began asking me question after question. He accused me of attacking the Roman Catholic Church and I told him we do not attack anybody, but merely tell the truth. And I went on to show him that the Catholic system claims to be the only authority on the Bible; that they claim the pope is its head and that he is infallible; that he is the successor of Peter—all of which is unsupported by the Bible. I told him that his church also teaches that when a man is dead he is really not dead, and that is entirely contrary to the Bible teaching, which says: "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." Also, "Do with thy might what thy hands find to do; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest." Also, "The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence." Further, the Bible teaches that Jehovah created the heavens and the earth in six creative days, and nowhere does the Bible mention that Jehovah created a place in the bowels of the earth and called it "hell", and there appointed Satan to keep the fires going, and further appointed the Roman Catholic priests or clergy to act as a brokerage house for Jehovah and thus receive a commission every time they 'released' someone from "purgatory". I filled a document of seventeen pages, exposing the entire Roman Catholic system and proving that it is anti-God, anti-Kingdom and the greatest enemy of mankind.
This particular clerk, being a Mohammedan, was very much pleased when he learned that the Bible does not teach "the Trinity", but that this doctrine was manufactured by the Devil in the Dark Ages and taught by the Roman Catholic system and their hirelings ever since.
We returned to Tripoli the following day, but visited many Mohammedan towns along the way. One was a large city called Tartoos, which is seventy percent Mohammedan and thirty percent so-called "Christian". It has a population of about 45,000 people, and when we put on the records everybody seemed to come out as one man, and in the course of twenty minutes we were able to leave sixty booklets and two bound books. In the other towns that we called on on our way back to Tripoli we found the people eager and glad to hear the message, as the news had reached them ahead of us regarding this work that was being carried on.
Then the friends at Tripoli and the surrounding territory organized into units and invaded these towns like an army of locusts and carried on the message to the threshold of the Devil's stronghold. In one town we played four records.
The priest listened very attentively and was the first one to contribute for literature and urged everybody else to take it. When we were ready to leave, he went along with us to the next town and stood there and listened. We worked until about ten o'clock at night. Regardless of how tired we were, we were glad to have the privilege of being among those who were carrying forth the message of Jehovah's kingdom and thus bringing this good news to those who were hungering and thirsting after righteousness.
There are several companies now properly organized and they are in better position to carry on the work than ever before. They have ample supply of literature in their own language, but they do need some mixed literature, such as French, English, German, Spanish, and others. Also, they do need some new Arabic books and booklets.
While I was there I was able to bring back with me quite a number of Watchtower subscriptions, and I believe there must be upward of 350 subscribers for The Watchtower in Arabic.
It is with much joy and many thanks to Jehovah that I submit this supplementary report of the activities of the friends in Palestine, Lebanon and Syria.—Joseph E. Rahal, Ohio.
Jehovah's Kingdom publishers in Switzerland, witnessing with transcription machine mounted on bicycle
Listening
◆ Consolation readers from all parts of the country are writing in for more information as to how they may hear WBBR, the Watchtower radio station in Brooklyn, New York.
While WBBR serves the world's greatest metropolis, the Greater New York area, with its 12,000,000 people, unfortunately its service radius is limited. Operating on a frequency of 1300 kilocycles with 1000-watt power, the station is strictly "local" to the New York area. The transmitter, however, ideally situated on Staten Island, sends a good, clear signal far beyond the immediate "service radius". Listeners report excellent reception all year round from up-state New York, Connecticut, most of New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, and Long Island. This takes in a radius of approximately a hundred miles from the transmitter. In the winter-time, when reception generally is more favorable, the program MORNING WORSHIP, at 6:30 in the morning, is heard far out in the Great Lakes region of the middle west, north into Canada, and south to beyond the Mason and Dixon line.
Consolation readers everywhere, no doubt, even where unable to hear "the voice from the Watchtower", appreciate the work done by WBBR in advertising the kingdom of Jehovah as the only hope of the world.
Scene in Glasgow
◆ Scene in Glasgow, September 11. Troop of Jehovah's witnesses proceeding down Argyle street bearing banners "Religion is a snare and a racket". Parade accidentally breaks in half. Out from a side street, into Argyle street, and, to all intents and purposes, part of the "sandwich" parade, comes a double-column parade of religionists known as the Tent-Hall movement. They also carry a banner, which is entitled "Great religious revival". Behind them comes another section of Jehovah's witnesses reiterating yet again, "Religion is a snare and a racket." Result: Angels in heaven get a big kick out of the whole proceedings and the countrymen of Harry Lauder have to lean against the lamp posts or die.
Bethel Publisher Aboard Ship (III)
On page 169 of Enemies the following words appear: "Many good people of England are beginning to see the great danger that now threatens the Commonwealth and that such danger is the Roman Catholic Hierarchy." Those words are absolutely borne out by experiences on board the ships of Britain that dock here. Although on the big liners the Catholic-Fascist spirit is pretty strong and is getting stronger every day, yet there is always mixed in with the rest a class of honest and order-loving persons who see the danger of coming dictatorship that threatens them and their loved ones, and are in dismay as they see their liberties going bit by bit.
Most of the liners of the Cunard White Star were covered in the recent Cure campaign, from the mighty Queen Mary down, and there are indications that it caused quite a stir. Since few of these ships are in port over the week-end it meant that they must be worked in the evenings, and this was done. Of course, many were ashore at the time, but their cabin-mates will pass the message on to them, and there was sufficient literature left on most ships to give them a working knowledge of the Lord's organization, at any rate. Later visits with the phonograph will tend to cement this new interest and feed the people of good will on the only thing worth while.
The Cunard liner Carinthia deserves special mention. Although the Catholic contingent aboard claim it is a Catholic ship and are highly indignant at the invasion of what they claim is their own private property, yet the fact remains that there are 46 bound books and over 100 booklets on this ship alone, and as yet only the surface is scratched. Many copies of the recent "Ship" issue of Consolation were also left, and this should cause some to think deeply. The "Enemies" and "Safety" records were run throughout and caused consternation in the ranks of the enemy. After playing "Enemies" to an appreciative group one fellow came up and said, "This 'ere's a Catholic ship—you can't play that there record on this 'ere ship!" The others just laughed at him, and several expressed their thanks and took literature. In the printing shop the same record was run and five books were placed as a direct result. Many said that what they had heard fully concurred with their own view of the matter—they thought Christianity was all right but the ones supposed to be running it were of no good. Of course, there was the usual element there that had no use for the Bible either, but not much time was wasted on these.
The motor liners Georgic and Britannic are also coming alone fine, with a total of 30 books and 120 booklets between them, and a good sound attendance. On the latter ship the phonograph was run in the fo'c'stle to about twenty seamen who showed deep interest. I placed the machine on a little box that brought out the tone stronger, and with a loud needle the judge's voice filled the messroom. The faces of the men showed how the truth struck home. They were mostly broke, but all accepted booklets gladly and one came up with some tea at the finish. In the stewards' mess the phonograph was shouted down by a group of religionists, but I went from table to table with the literature and many took books that would otherwise never have bothered to look into the matter, only they became curious at the disturbance and wanted to know the reason for such uproar. His satanic majesty always overreaches himself in his efforts to stop the truth from spreading.
The twin ships Monarch of Bermuda and Queen of Bermuda are the pride and delight of the Furness line, and justly so. Their sleek, gray hulls and white superstructure topped by three red and black funnels make them objects of beauty, and this is enhanced by their interiors. It is a sight worth seeing to view these sister ships side by side at night at the same pier, their funnels thrown into bold relief by a battery of concealed floodlights. Each carrying a crew of around 440, there is intense interest on each, as their combined total of 57 books and 182 booklets will show. The "Enemies" record was played on the bridge of both these ships, to the great amazement of the navigating officers there. Several took books, though.—Eric Symondson, New York.
(To be continued) Science and Invention
Chemistry of the Human Body
◆ The body of a man weighing 160 pounds is worth about $2. In weight and composition it corresponds roughly to that of a thousand eggs. It contains some thirty-five hundred cubic feet of gas, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen. It contains fat enough to make eleven pounds of candles, and carbon enough to make about nine thousand lead pencils. It has phosphorus sufficient to make 800,000 matches, and sugar enough to make about sixty ordinary cubes. Of iron there is enough to make seven ten-penny nails. It has two pounds of lime, twenty teaspoonfuls of salt, and two doses of magnesia. Sixty-eight percent of the body is water; so when you look at a 160-pound man you are gazing on 109 pounds of water with 51 pounds of trimmings. [And, says the cartoonist, it is some satisfaction to know one is worth at least $2. The trouble is, try to get it.]
The Wonderful Human Heart
◆ The human heart is the most marvelous machine that imagination could conceive of. When it is turning over smoothly, one is barely aware that he has a heart in his breast. Only when it develops a knock does concern arise. Your heart has been beating 70-odd times a minute, 4,300 times an hour, 103,200 times a day, all the years of your life. Every hour of the day, for it never sleeps, it pumps 50 gallons of blood through a tireless little engine and a marvelous system of pipes. The only rest the heart ever gets is between beats. That is why set periods of rest for men and women are so essential to its well-being. Heart disease is the greatest of modern killers.—Edwin C. Hill, in "Human Side of the News".
The Drying of Lumber
◆ Lumber is now dried for market by dry-kiln methods in which temperature, humidity, ventilation and circulation of air are controlled to a nicety. The water in fresh timber varies greatly. A thousand feet of freshly sawn Canadian yellow birch weighs about 4,700 pounds, of which about 2,000 pounds is water. When this wood is dried the 2,000 pounds of water is reduced to about 190 pounds. The Douglas fir contains only about 900 pounds of water per thousand feet.
The Human Brain and Eye
◆ In a single minute the human brain makes about a hundred connections, which corresponds to the performance of a telephone switchboard functioning with fourteen telephone operators and a supervisor. The telephone bill for the connections which a single normal human brain carries in the course of a year may be estimated at 6 1/2 million Swiss francs.
The human eye, with the precision of an intricate film apparatus, takes in a minute approximately 1,300 pictures, develops them, leads them to the nerve centers and stores them as evidence. In fifteen hours' daily work one and one-half million pictures are taken. The raw material for a film to store such pictures would occupy about twenty kilometers of space and cost, in round numbers, 50,000 shillings. The operating expenses of such a precision apparatus as the eye would amount to about 20,000,000 shillings annually.—Translated from the German.
Searchlights for Exploring Skies
◆ The new searchlights for exploring the skies, prepared by the United States Army, throw a beam 12,000 yards. Each searchlight is approximately 2,000,000,000 candlepower. It seems as if the figures for everything, in these days, run into the billions. What a relief it will be when God's kingdom is in full sway and the savings of the people need not be thrown away on such foolishness.
Air Photographs for Forestry Purposes
◆ The modern forester sits in an office, measures the size and height of the timber in the area he intends to cut, lays out his logging units and cutting areas, and locates his logging roads, dam sites and camps all from air photographs, which, experience has shown, are as accurate as ground surveys and cost only a fraction as much.
Relics of the Lost Legs
◆ Several serpents, notably the boa and python, still have in the rear of their bodies several useless pieces of bone which are what is left of the lost hind legs, thus completely confirming the statement of Holy Writ that the serpent did not originally go upon its belly, but walked on legs as do other animals.
Motoring
Pedestrians Have Rights
◆ The Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided that pedestrians have the same rights on highways without sidewalks as have the automobiles: also that a person walking along the right portion of a paved roadway is not required to turn and look for approaching traffic, or step off the highway to permit an automobile to pass. This is good law, but in practice it seems safest for the pedestrian to walk on the left side of the road, facing traffic, and step clear off the road to let the cars go by, provided he wants to live. Also, and this is important, examination of pedestrians killed in New York in 1936 and 1937 showed that 34 percent of them had been drinking more than was good for them and 38 percent gave evidence of some alcoholism.
Expected to Pay for Itself
◆ At the toll of $1.25 for each car, the new five-span bridge across the St. Lawrence river at the Thousand Islands is expected to pay for itself in fifteen years. The roadway is 150 feet above the river. As the bridge is only 325 miles from New York city it can be crossed the day the car driver leaves the metropolis, and is expected to be used by about 1,000,000 motor vehicles annually.
Highway Bridge over the Neches
◆ The new highway bridge over the Neches river at Port Arthur, Texas, rises from level shores to a height of 176 feet clearance above the water. Piers were sunk 90 to 105 feet below ocean level and are 32 feet in diameter. The superstructure, which rises to a height of 230 feet, is intended to withstand a wind velocity of 130 miles an hour.
Oldest Automobile Driver
◆ The oldest automobile driver in the United States and probably in the world is John Lafferty, age 102, of Xenia, Ohio. He has been driving for twenty years. He has no need of spectacles, and looks to be not over 60.
Aerial Passenger Tramway
◆ The first aerial passenger tramway in the United States has been opened at Franconia Notch, N. H. There the new system of transportation carries 27 passengers up 4,000 feet in eight minutes.
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