Consolation, March 5, 1941

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Contents

"Children Crying in the Temple" (Part 2) 3

At El Cajon, California 3

A Mother's Joy in the Lord 5

Anticipating Martyrdom 8

The Soul of Youth 9

Little Folks Have Their Friends 10

Africa 11

Agriculture 12

Animal Husbandry 13

Asia 14

Australia 15

Counsel by J. F. Rutherford

At the Bier 16

Aviation 18

Balkans 19

Under the Totalitarian Flag

The Pope Job 20

Get Busy, Gene, Get Busy 21

Myron and Eugene Failed 23

Expressing Totalitarian Sympathies 24

British Comment

"Terror by Night" 25

Blackout and Dreamland 26

Renewed Bigotry in Southern Rhodesia 29

Tristan da Cunha 31

The Color Bar 31

Building Up Magazine Routes 31

Published every other Wednesday by

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Notanda

"Perfected Praise"

◆ A young woman who has been in the truth just a little over a year and who has been pioneering for the past seven months has a little son who has just started going to school. His teacher is an elderly unmarried Catholic woman. He has not taken part in the flag saluting. A few days ago at the beginning of the ceremony this teacher noticed he was not taking part and she asked him, "Why don't you salute the flag?" He answered, "I can't." She said, "Why can't you? Does your mother tell you you can't?" He said, "No ma'am. Jehovah God tells me." She was so confounded that she ordered the class to sit down without finishing the flag-salute ceremony.

In another schoolroom there are three little tots of Jehovah's witnesses and none of the three take part in the flag-salute ceremony. The other children called it to the teacher's attention and she told them to hush, saying that conditions in Europe were bad enough and she didn't want similar conditions here. Recently the principal of the school went to that room and asked the teacher if there were any who did not salute the flag. She called up one of the girls and asked her why she didn't salute the flag. She told them she could show them in the Bible, and she cited the scripture and quoted it. The principal said, "We'll let you know later," and walked out.

Doing Justice and Judgment

◆ Doing justice and judgment for the innocent, Superior Court Judge Connelly, at Fall River, Massachusetts, exonerated the father of a thirteen-year-old boy dismissed from the Fairhaven school for failure to salute the flag. The court found that the child's absence from school was due to his own conscience and not to any guilty act on the part of the father. Judge Connelly is manifestly a true American patriot and a just judge.

CONSOLATION

"And in His name shall the nations hope."—Matthew 12:21, A. R. V.

Volume XXII Brooklyn, N. Y., Wednesday, March 5, 1941 Number 560

"Children Crying in the Temple" (In Two Parts—Part 2)

At El Cajon, California

To the Board of Trustees of the Cajon Valley Union School District:

Come now the parents, Orville Dunn and Thelma Dunn and George Thayer and Helen Thayer, and their children, Wallace Dunn, Ernest Dunn, Alice Dunn, Edith Dunn, Betty Thayer, Letha Thayer, and Charlotte Thayer, who have been expelled from this school and denied the privilege of attending because they have refused to violate their conscience by indulging in a ceremony prescribed by this School Board, and request that said children be reinstated as pupils in this school.

These children desire to attend school and their parents desire to send them to school. They have the right under the law to attend the school.

There is no state or national law that requires children to indulge in a ceremony of saluting the flag. Only this Board has made such a rule and this School Board has full power and authority to change or even abrogate the rule. Hence the entire responsibility for the rule is upon the members of this Board.

In the place and stead of the pledge and of the saluting of the flag prescribed by the rule of this School Board, we request that these children be permitted to substitute and to recite the following pledge, to wit:

"I have pledged my unqualified allegiance and devotion to Jehovah, the Almighty God, and to His Kingdom, for which Jesus commands all Christians to pray.

"I respect the flag of the United States and acknowledge it as a symbol of freedom and justice to all.

"I pledge allegiance and obedience to all the laws of the State and of the United States that are consistent with God's law, as set forth in the Bible."

These children are consecrated to the Lord and are therefore God's children and they are entitled to worship and serve Almighty God according to the dictates of their conscience and not according to the dictates of the conscience of this Board or of any other human creatures. Their first duty is to God, and, in rendering obedience to Him, they are certain to obey every law of the state and nation that is in harmony with God's law.

This pledge is in full accord with the rule or law which the Lord Jesus Christ announced: "Render therefore unto Cæsar [the state] the things which are Cæsar's, and unto God the things that are God's."—Matthew 22:21.

This nation and this state claim to be Christian. We assume that the members of this Board claim to be Christians. If Christians, then it is your obligation to obey the Lord Jesus and to teach the children of this school to recognize Almighty God as supreme. If you are not Christian, then you are against the Lord and his Kingdom, because Jesus says: 'He that is not for me is against me.'—Matthew 12:30.

Whether you are Christian or non-Christian, the act of this Board in denying these children the right to attend school because they will not violate God’s commandment and their conscience means that you are fighting against Almighty God and attempting to compel these children to do the same thing. If these children are compelled to obey the rule of this Board as it has been announced and for which they have been expelled, then the members of this School Board are substituting their own conscience for the conscience of others, which is a violation of the Constitution of the United States and of the State and, above all, is a violation of God’s law.

These children and their parents being servants of the Lord God and His King Christ Jesus, any punishment inflicted upon them because of their faithfulness in obeying the commandments of God and of Christ means that the Lord counts that punishment as inflicted upon himself.

These children are not on trial, but we remind you that the Lord Jesus Christ is now present judging the nations and the people of the earth and hence the members of this School Board are on trial before the Lord. The Lord is dividing all the people into two classes, to wit: Those who are for the Lord and those who are against Him and His Kingdom. What any person willingly does for or against one of the Lord’s servants, he is doing it for or against the Lord himself.

In this connection please note these words of the Lord Jesus Christ which apply at this day to all persons on earth and particularly to those who are in responsible positions, to wit:

“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: and before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”—Matthew 25: 31-46.

The responsibility of a state or nation rests upon its officials and public servants. A nation or state once claiming to be Christian or servants of God and then departing therefrom comes clearly within the definition set forth in the Scriptures of those that forget God. For 150 years America has claimed to be a Christian nation. The Constitution guarantees freedom of conscience and the recognizing of God as supreme, and the highest courts of the land have fully supported that conclusion. At this late date to depart from that time-honored and proper rule and to adopt in its place the arbitrary rules that violate the conscience of Christian people and are against God's commandments means that such is following the totalitarian practice and forgetting God entirely. Concerning this it is written in God's Word: "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." (Psalm 9 : 17) It is better to honor God and live.

By permitting these children to recite the pledge which is herein set forth in the place and stead of the one this Board has prescribed, the same honors God and Christ Jesus and puts this Board in a favorable position before the Lord. We call these things to the attention of the Board because it is our duty to do so, and this Board must bear the responsibility.

Respectfully submitted,

ORVILLE DUNN THELMA DUNN

For themselves and their children herein mentioned.

GEORGE THAYER HELEN THAYER

For themselves and their children herein mentioned.

Dated this 5th day of February,

A.D. 1941.

London Convention of Jehovah's witnesses, September 29, 1940. (At the time this remarkable picture of Jehovah's true people was taken London was being bombed day and night by Pacelli's and Hitler's demonized flag-saluters.)

In the Lord's providence Part 1 of the story about Jehovah's little ones crying the praises of His King and Kingdom in the Temple was running while the accounts of their witness in the public schools were engaging the attention of the readers. The foregoing brief, read to the school board of El Cajon, California, by William P. Heath, Jr., February 5, 1941, fits in so well with this story that it is inserted as above.

The school board rejected the pledge submitted, as it 'permitted the pledger to make his own decision' as to what is in conflict with God's law according to the Bible. Whom would the board have make this decision? The action of the board is plainly contrary to God's law and to the Constitution of the United States.

A Mother's Joy in the Lord

Nothing could make a true mother as joyful as to know that the steps of her children are securely set in the way of life. Mrs. Irene Newcomb, Georgia, reflects her joy in her letter below: I have four children: two boys who are 10 and 12 years old and two little girls who are 7 and 8 years old. For over two years now they have been regular publishers in the service. They have their own territory and work it by themselves. All of them are making back-calls on the ones that they find interested. The oldest boy has been holding Model Study for some time. The little girl that is 8 years old walked last month about two miles to a place where she had found interest and carried the phonograph and a bag of books and started a Model Study alone.

I never would have thought that she was strong enough to carry the phonograph so far, so I was surprised to come home from my work one evening to find that she had undertaken it alone. I left everything then and went to help her home, and finally found her on her way home. There was a look of joy on her face and she didn't look at all tired. She said, "I just walked along and thought about some scriptures, one of which is 'The fear of man leadeth into a snare', and I wasn't a bit afraid." I thought surely the 'joy of the Lord is your strength'.

Pioneer home No. 1, London—third pioneer home "bombed" out in London

Immersion at Wellingboro, England

In the territory where the children work they are the talk of the town. All the people are simply amazed to see children that know so much about the Bible. One woman with whom they had been holding a study said, "I have been reading my Bible for years and I am now 40 years old and have been teaching Sunday-school class ever since I was a girl; but I never had my eyes open until these little children came here and helped me to understand what I read in my Bible. I found things I never before knew were in the Bible, and I just thank God for sending these little children here. It just goes to show," she said, "that the Bible is true where it says, 'and a little child shall lead them.' " She told the zone servant and me these things when we made a call on her. She explained how they conducted the study, and it was just as well as anyone could do it. She said that if she didn't understand what a scripture meant they explained it to her. I guess all of you can imagine my joy! Now my boys are wanting to be pioneers!

The next is about a thirteen-year-old boy in Oregon. Agnes L. Brown, pioneer, writes of him:

I recently started a Model Study in a Catholic home where there is a thirteen-year-old boy. Here are some of his comments: "If Jesus established the Roman Catholic Church when on earth, as it is claimed He did, why does not the Bible tell about it? It tells about everything else that He did." Also, "Seeing that the pope is so rich, why does not he give some of that money to the missions in place of begging from poor people all of the time?" And, "Why does the 'Church' make the people fast for many hours before mass, whereas Jesus and the apostles ate their supper just before partaking of the bread and wine." When we were reading the Scriptures concerning Jonah in the fish's stomach, "Out of the belly of hell cried I," and I had explained that that particular place was a dark place, this lad made the comment, "There wasn't any fire in the fish's stomach." He capped the climax by volunteering, unasked, to go out on the street corners tomorrow in the magazine distribution, and has begun to attend Watchtower and service meetings. What a joy it is to help the "other sheep" of the Lord into the Kingdom!

Theocracy publishers, Peterborough, England

Theocracy publishers near a dentist's establishment in Loikan, South Shan States, Burma

A Mother in Massachusetts Writes:

I do not want to take up much of your time but I would like to just tell you about my family. My boy is six years old and he has been a company publisher for a year. Shirley, my girl, is eleven and she has been a publisher for three years. Delore, my husband, has been a publisher for three years, too, and before that he was Catholic. Shirley, Roger and Delore are going to be baptized at the assembly at Hartford, Connecticut. I study with my children every morning, and because of their little daily study they are able to answer questions at our studies at class. I have a pioneer brother here for a while. He sleeps here. I have been a publisher for six years, and I have been able to get my sixty-hour quota ever since we had that quota, except when I was in the hospital. Sometimes it is a little under, but other times it is a little over. I was baptized five years ago. I had a gift of eight dollars given to me a short while ago, and I bought this secondhand typewriter to use in my back-call work.

My children do not salute the flag. When Shirley was in the second grade the teacher threatened to expel her if she did not salute, and told her if she stayed out of school her mother and father would probably have to go to jail. She came home as white as a sheet. I told her to do just as she thought best, but I had told her what was right. She did not salute and the teacher did not bother her again. Last year in the fourth grade she had a different teacher. One morning she asked Shirley why she did not salute the flag. Shirley said, "Because I salute only God." Then the teacher made the children salute again and again, and after each time asked Shirley why she did not salute. She finally gave up trying to make Shirley compromise.

We moved about two months ago, and because both my children had taken their stand concerning flag saluting I decided to go and see their new principal myself. I had taken them the first day and met the principal, and Shirley had gone to her room. I had just met Roger's teacher. I told the principal that I would like to speak to her a moment. I knew there was no use to go easy, so I said, "We are Jehovah's witnesses, we do not salute the flag, and I would like to have my children excused from saluting the flag." Imagine my surprise when I saw her face all light up when she said, "That is perfectly all right, I have read all about you people. I know you respect the flag, but feel that you cannot salute it." Then I had a good opportunity to witness to her. (She is Protestant, but the first grade teacher was standing there, too, and listened to all I had to say. Then the principal turned to Roger's teacher and said, "This little boy will not salute the flag." The teacher is Catholic, but she said, "That will be all right; I will put him in the back row so the children will not bother him." She smiled. Shirley was called into the office, and the principal told her that she need not salute, just to stand at attention.

Shirley's teacher has a radio in her room and every day the children listen to the news. There has been quite a lot about flag saluting on the radio lately, and the other morning, after they had heard about some of our children who will not salute the flag on the radio, one child got up and said, "Anyone who will not salute the flag should not be allowed in this country." The teacher agreed, and a general discussion followed. Of course, it was all done for Shirley's benefit, but she did not mind. Evidently that teacher does not feel the same as the principal about it. (She is Catholic.) The other day it came Roger's turn to hold the flag while the children salute, and the teacher said, "Roger, it is your turn to hold the flag—Oh, no, you do not have to hold it, perhaps your mother would not want you to." I don't suppose it would have made any difference if he had, but I let it go.

I am so glad I went to the principal. The results certainly showed the Lord's blessings, and it makes us realize more fully that obedience is the only thing that is worth while.

Boys Are Brave, Too

Girls learn to be courageous, and have to be for the part they play in life, but the boys are courageous, too—the right kind of boys. Is there anything in the world more precious than a twelve-year-old boy? Think of all the honesty, the courage, the determination, the possibilities, locked up in that frame. That was the age when Jesus wanted to get going; wanted to do something with His life; wanted to know the truth and to live it. Also, and this is of immediate interest, it is the age when a twelve-year-old boy in New Orleans (Edward Vanderdoes) made up his mind it is contrary to the Scriptures, and therefore contrary to God's will, for him to salute or bow down to any flag. His older brother, of admitted excellent habits, and a pioneer witness, agrees with his younger brother. The parents disagree. They insist that the younger boy must violate his conscience or be imprisoned. He stands by his right to worship God as seems to him to be right. It is a thrilling situation. The teachers, without any law and without any reason, are for the new standard of citizenship, that one must worship the flag, and place it above obedience to Almighty God. The boy says he will not return to their instruction. God is as able to take care of him as of Daniel in the lions' den.

Jehovah counts that done to His people as done to himself. "In all their affliction he was afflicted" (Isaiah 63:9), and so there was a certain consistency in the insulting headlines of the Boston Post, referring to experiences of Richard Judson: "Boy of 13 takes jail sentence. Jehovah gets four days instead of $2 fine." Police wanted to crawfish but did not get the chance, in bigoted, liberty-hating, clergy-ridden Massachusetts.

Anticipating Martyrdom

A letter received from a town in southern Germany read as follows: "We are some young folks, grown-up children of Jehovah's witnesses, 16 to 20 years of age, and we mutually exhort one another to love not our lives unto death." Biblical literature is circulating from hand to hand, and they take great pains to copy it by hand even as was done before the invention of the printing art. The Gestapo is not unaware of this. We mention this in order to show how precious to these people is the instruction of God’s Word which they seek, although in so doing they risk their liberty and their lives. It is the source of their strength. —1941 Yearbook of Jehovah’s witnesses.

The Soul of Youth

The young pioneer Eleanor Poisel will be surprised when she sees this letter of hers in Consolation, but the editor came by it honestly. It was addressed “Dear Ma and Pa”; so if you are a dear ma or pa you can think of Eleanor as your little girl and imagine how you would feel if she wrote you like this :

The Lord has blessed my efforts far beyond any expectation. The Bible says if we are faithful and diligent in the Lord’s service, He will pour out such a blessing that we will not be able to contain it! Those words sure are true; for recently Bernice and I have experienced UNSPEAKABLE joy!

It was about two weeks ago as Bernice and I were trudging miles back and forth in our business territory that we determined if it were the Lord’s will we would have bicycles by spring and would work rurals. The Lord says that before we even ask our prayers would be answered! and sure ’nuff. Next day we got a notice from the Society and Sr. Myrtle wanted two pioneers to work with her one of whom drives a car. Bernice didn’t have her license renewed, so I am the one wot drives!!

Now there, the following is the truth, and not a tall story! Every Saturday afternoon we leave for Washington for magazine work. The Government workers leave their cages at 1:00 p.m.; so we get stationed on a corner where a building leaves out and go to work! Imagine me shouting, “Read the uncensored news! Exposes religion as a snare! Read why the newspapers are afraid to print these facts! Only five cents a copy!”

Well, today I was stationed on the corner of 14th and Pennsylvania with my sign under left arm and stick running into left pocket of jacket. Magazines are in right hand. I was calling my magazines when a policeman walks up and sez—“Ya’ can’t do that here! You’ve gotta get out! This is a restricted area!”

Me—“Where can we do this work? Is all Washington restricted?”

He—“Up beyond New York Avenue. But not here.”

Me—“Yes, but there is a newsstand right there, and that man is selling newspapers. What corner CAN I stand on?”

He—“You’ve gotta have a permit!” (He roared)

Me—“But I have permission of the Supreme Court of the United States to do this work.”

He—“Where is your permit. Let’s see it?” (Was he angry!)

Me—“I have a right to do this under the Constitution, of freedom of the press.”

He—“Well, if you don’t go away, I’ll have to take you in. That’s all there is to do. If you sell another magazine you’ll have to tell it to the judge.”

Me—“Well, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to press the case.”

This is the total conversation between two times that I was asked to stop. The first cop rounded up another cop and held a conference, and then the second cop thought he would scare me, and acted real tough. Ah, but they can’t surmount the strength of the Lord! Those words just rolled out of my mouth—and I finished my work, and am free and at ease tonight.

(This was the first time I was even ever approached by a policeman. What will I say when I have more experience?)

In fact the one cop stood across the pavement and watched me for about ten minutes. While he was there, I yelled even louder, “The fear of man bringeth a snare.” His face turned all red, he couldn’t take it any longer, and he walked away. Give praise to Jehovah!

All in all, I placed 13 magazines—12 Watchtower and 1 Consolation—in 1 1/2 hours. ‘Who are they to defy the armies of the living God?’

No one really knows what the joy of the Lord is until he has participated in this glorious magazine work.

I sent in a subscription for Consolation for Sis for a half year. Don’t tell anybody, but maybe she will glance over an article once in a while in this uncensored newspaper and learn something worth while. Maybe she will have her eyes opened, and if not soon, then she is lost, because the last Informant brings out that Armageddon is very near. Maybe Consolation will do the trick and she might renew her subscription in half a year when it expires. At any rate, may the Lord open her eyes before it is too late. If she only knew what I was doing in the seat of the United States government, her hair would stand up on end and she would know what it is to have the strength of the Lord, and to despise shame and fear of man!

Little Folks Have Their Friends

Little folks have their friends. The big Jehovah’s witnesses feel a tenderness toward the little Jehovah’s witnesses that cannot be explained; it goes too deep. But their teachers are often real men and women. Just as this was written, in comes a letter from a mother in Iowa in which she says:

This is the experience of a ten-year-old boy in school that took his stand in regard to participating in Xmas program. Duane asked his mother to write a note explaining our viewpoint towards celebrating Xmas. The mother did so, closing the note by saying she would appreciate it if the boy would be excused, as it was from a sense of giving honor unto God.

The child was excused, and in turn the teacher prepared a story that was given by one of the pupils. It explained that the birth of Christ did not come on December 25, and that Christ had not told us to celebrate His birth, but His death. That people had chosen the date of December 25 and made it a holiday to celebrate His birth. Upon learning that Duane was not going to take part in the program one bothersome boy was told by the teacher (who was principal of the school) in polite phrase to mind his own business.

Besides their parents, and other witnesses for Jehovah, and their teachers, all the little folks that belong to Jehovah have Jehovah himself for their friend, and you have to have Him for your friend to know all that means. A contributor, a Nebraskan, writes:

We were at a funeral. Everyone was quiet and waiting for the body to be brought in; the minister was in his place; the silence was broken by the loud sobbing of a grandson of the deceased woman. As the boy continued to cry, my boy, seven years of age, leaned forward and, before I knew what he was doing, called the other boy by name and said, “Don’t cry any more; your grandma will come back soon and then she will be all well too, so you don’t need to cry.” “How do you know she will come back again?” asked the boy between his sobs. “Well, the Bible says so,” answered the boy; and, due to the tense silence, I am sure that most of the people heard the conversation. A few words of truth from a child brought more comfort than all the smooth words of the modern Pharisee who gave a formal discourse afterwards.

Roy Lee Crauthers

Roy Lee Crauthers, ten-year-old Jonadab, Asra, Oklahoma, lay dying last winter. A short time before his death (pneumonia), he said to his mother, “Mama, do you think I will get well?” The mother, who had been assured there was no hope, said, “I don’t know, son; do you think you will?” The boy continued, “Mama, we are coming back, aren’t we?” The mother replied, “Who is coming back?” And the boy replied, “People who believe in God.” And then he went to sleep, to awaken here in a time of joy and peace and love and honesty and truth and life. On page 5 of Consolation No. 559 you will find the only picture of him. It is the first one on the page. His mother wants it back. She shall have it, and other mothers and fathers too, so that they may teach their boys and girls the truth as Roy Lee was taught it, and find the ultimate way to life as he found it.

“Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom [which is from or out] of heaven.” (Matt. 18:3) That holds for all.

THE END Africa

Italians in Northern Africa

◆ It is but natural for Italians to talk in terms of the Roman Empire, and to aspire to make the Mediterranean an Italian lake. Colonizing of Northern Africa has been going on for years and the Italians have made great improvements. Since the seizure of Tripoli from the Turks in 1911 the population of the city increased from about 30,000 to five times that number. On the Dodecanese Islands, 400 miles from Alexandria, the Italians have a strong airplane base and 55,000 troops, now cut off from supplies except by air. All vessels of British registry were early warned to stay out of the Mediterranean, and shortly thereafter all civilians were removed from those portions of Egypt adjacent to Libya. There is a great force of British convenient to Egypt, Suez and Palestine.

Although this item is headed "Italians in Northern Africa", it is not certain there will be any but prisoners left when Consolation readers get this issue. British mopping up of the Italian empire is going forward with such rapid strides that the Italians are being captured by tens of thousands. In the successes of the British the Free French armies under De Gaulle have had a share, making a spectacular drive across the Sahara into Libya's back door. The organization of a Belgian army of 90,000 men is expected to play an important part in further military developments.

Italian bases in Northern Africa have been occupied by the British in rapid succession. Sidi Barrani was taken December 11; Salum, December 16; Bardia, January 5; Tobruk, January 22; Derna, January 30; Cirene, February 4; Bengazi, February 6. Italians, disgusted, were burning pictures of Mussolini when quitting Bengazi.

Suez Canal Company in a Bad Way

◆ One of the most profitable companies in the world, Suez Canal Company, is now in a bad way, for the reason that it has almost no business. Ordinarily it takes in about $37,500,000 a month, or more than a million dollars a day. It has 5,000 regular employees and several thousand laborers that are paid by the day and there are about 200,000 persons in Port Said, Ismailia, Suez and Port Tewfik whose existence depends upon its operation. The canal is nominally controlled by France, but the British have the most shares.

Cannibalism in Western Africa

◆ Cannibalism continues in Sierra Leone and Liberia, in western Africa. The victims selected are usually children and elderly natives. Hearts and livers are boiled and eaten and the rest of the bodies are boiled down for religious purposes. The cannibals in Liberia drown their victims by pulling them under the water. Primitive cannibalism and modern labor strikes broke out simultaneously.

No Italian Mulattoes

◆ To try to prevent the Italian settlers in Africa from ever having a mulatto problem there are strict laws against marriage of Italians with Africans; they must not frequent resorts set apart for natives; they must not do unauthorized work for them; and they must not become intoxicated and thus lower white prestige. Such mulattoes as have already obtained are counted as natives.

Camouflaged Rifle Barrels

◆ The latest thing in camouflage is rifle barrels on which the sun cannot glint, used by British, Australian and New Zealand troops in Egypt and the Near East. With brown helmets and brown uniforms the units of infantry and artillery are indistinguishable in the desert at a short distance.

Agriculture

Scattering Seeds

◆ In His wisdom the Creator has provided a multitude of ways whereby the earth is fitted for the habitation of His creatures. Dispersal of seed is not the least important means of providing food, shelter, and raiment for mankind. The seed of the New Guinea maple tree affords a unique example. Each individual seed is about six inches wide, comprising the pod containing the embryo and wings of fiber, finer than spun silk and exceptionally light.

When the seeds are ripe, they glide off from the parent tree during a breeze, and may travel for hundreds of miles before they fall to the ground. They have been caught on boats many miles out to sea. Gone with the wind.—Australian Consolation.

Topatoes Have No Starch

◆ The new fruit, grown on the roots of tomato vines, and which are called topatoes because they are a combination of tomatoes and potatoes, produced by grafting tomato vines to the original potato plants, are starchless. For the present, the new fruits are grown in gravel, nourished twice a day with certain chemicals. As these new fruits will hardly increase the weight of persons consuming them, and may have desirable flavors of their own, there is a possible great future for them.

Man Becomes Hay Burner

◆ Man has joked at the horse, calling it a “hay burner”, but now he is liable to become a hay burner himself. Three men have developed a powdered grass which can be added to all kinds of foods, and they claim that twelve pounds of this grass, eaten in the course of a year, will give the man more of the life-giving vitamins than the 340 pounds of fruits and vegetables which he will eat anyway if let alone.

Europe’s Food Shortage

◆ It is claimed that food production in Europe, due to mobilizations, wars and bad weather, is down 35 percent and that it would take five food ships a day to make up the shortage for France alone. It is probable that millions of people will starve in Europe before food can reach them. Famines constitute one of the signs of the “end of the world”, and increasing food shortages may be expected as the day of final reckoning approaches. Yet in all this man has but himself to blame.

Electric Fences

◆ It is claimed that at a cost of ten cents a month for electricity, and a cost per mile of about half that of a fence made of four strands of barbed wire, an electric fence of one or two strands of wire can be installed which will make any horse keep away from it after one shock and any cow after three shocks. There are already over a hundred concerns engaged in making the gadgets needed.

Two Days Before Full Moon

◆ Carefully kept records of plantings of various crops support the argument that the best time to plant is two days before the full moon, and that whether the moon is showing or not. The theory is that as the pull of the moon draws up the sea so it also draws up the water that is in the soil, from a level below the plant roots, and therefore rich in the things a plant requires.

The Papaya Melon

◆ The papaya melon, which grows on trees in Florida, is now becoming known all over the United States, merely because one observing man from the North observed the pleasing flavor and concluded the juice, not the melon itself, could be transported profitably. Everywhere the juice is advertised it becomes instantly popular.

Animal Husbandry

Blessed Are the Merciful

◆ "I killed three red howler monkeys. One bore her baby upon her back. When I killed the mother, the baby clung to her corpse, and we had trouble in detaching it. We tried to bring the baby up, but it died. The last monkey I killed was a red howler. I was inexperienced, and allowed my party to run out of food. This, too, was a female monkey with a baby on her back. The baby was a large, fat one, and contributed to her mother's death, by deterring her in her flight. Most of the monkeys scampered away, but this female with the large baby on her back moved more slowly and I shot her. She fell to the ground wounded. I aimed my gun at her to finish her. She crawled toward me, wringing her hands, while tears streamed down her face. Then she died just as she reached my feet. I shall never forget the expression in her eyes, as she so palpably besought me to spare her. That happened fifteen years ago; I have never killed a monkey since."—Pages 73-75, The Jungle Book.

More and More Fur Farmers

◆ More and more people are going in for fur farming, and making it pay, too. In the year 1938 about 20 percent of all the furs sold in the United States, valued roughly at $13,000,000, were taken from animals raised in captivity. They included 300,000 silver fox pelts and 200,000 mink pelts. The use of furs for clothing is not Scripturally prohibited, but it will always seem regrettable that wild creatures must be restrained of liberty and lose their lives to furnish man's necessities, not to speak of luxuries. In the Millennium, as in Eden, animals will not need to suffer to supply the wants of man. There will be other ways to meet them.

More Twins in Canada

◆ This time it is not the Dionne quintuplets. They are now young ladies of the average age of six years. The twins this time, two pairs of them, are the children of Mrs. Antelope. They live at the Nemiskam National Park in Alberta. Antelope are the fastest things on legs. An odd thing about them is that they can and do signal to their own kind that the time has come to run and to step on it good and fast. There is a white patch of hair on the rump which the antelope has the power to make erect at will. As soon as the antelope is scared by something, he or she shows two double disks of pure white on the rear end. Meantime the front end is so far ahead that there is no chance even to see what it looks like.

Goats Need Three Milkings

◆ Goats need to be milked three times daily. They give from three to five quarts daily, but some prize goats produce seven or more. Butter can be churned from the milk, but no cream forms on the top when it is left to stand. New York city, which makes use of 3,500,000 quarts of cows' milk daily, consumes only 250 quarts of goats' milk, all from three small dairies.

Deer Falls 268 Feet and Lives

◆ At Snoqualmie Falls, Washington, a doe out for a swim got caught in the river and went over the falls, a drop of 268 feet. Charles Lewis and others regretfully gathered a party together and went below the falls to recover the body. They found the doe sunning herself on the rocks, a little bruised, but no bones broken.

Texas Longhorns Disappearing

◆ The native cattle of Texas, known as "longhorns" because the horns continue to grow from year to year, and have even been known to measure eight feet from tip to tip, are rapidly disappearing. They are especially susceptible to the dreaded Texas fever tick.

Asia

Siam’s Monk Business

◆ The Buddhist monk business is one of the principal industries of Siam, now called Thailand. There are now in the country 17,408 monasteries, making one monastery for each 800 people. The number of monks reaches a total of 150,213, with 75,079 as novices, so that one person in 64 is either a monk or a novice. Thus one person in 64 has to be maintained in the country’s chief religious racket. It would seem that nobody would be so foolish as to teach that what Siam needs is more religion, yet that is the politician’s cry today—“Give us more religion.”

Ducks as Insect Destroyers

◆ Javanese in the Dutch East Indies make an excellent living with trained ducks, which travel the highways. There are in some cases 500 to 600 ducks, which are in charge of herdsmen. They are divided into groups, each trained to follow its own flag, carried by the herdsman. The mission of the ducks is to gain employment in the farms and plantations along the road, eating up the worms, slugs and snails, and so cleaning up the land, which they also fertilize. The eggs they lay are sold in the market place of each little village along the route.

Reason for Being Headhunters

◆ An American Negro who speaks six languages, and who is spending his life in the Philippine Islands, trying to teach the headhunters something of Christianity, claims that some of the recent beheadings were caused by professed Christians pushing the natives out of the lands long known by them as their own fishing and hunting preserves. Shoved into the forests, where they could not make a living, the headhunters retaliated against the hypocrites that had robbed them.

Choked a Wolf to Death

◆ In pursuit of his duty David did not hesitate to engage and to slay both a lion and a bear, nor does he fail to give Jehovah the credit for his deliverance. But the account (1 Samuel 17:34-37) shows what a courageous and powerful man can do in an emergency with even a powerful wild beast. In Persia, in the year 1940, a wolf sprang at an unarmed forester, his donkeys took to flight, and he stood his ground and literally choked the hungry wolf to death with his bare hands. He then ran after his frightened donkeys, brought them back to the forest, finished his woodcraft, cut off the wolf’s pelt and took it home and nailed it up.

Jews Dismissed in Syria

◆ Hitler’s inhuman treatment of the Jews follows in every land that comes under his control. His puppet Vichy government, under nominal control of Pétain, and therefore in control of Syria, caused the dismissal of Jews in state posts even in that far-off land. Hitler’s partly Jewish ancestry (a fact he seeks to hide) is believed to lie at the bottom of his terrible antipathy to all Jews.

A Fatal Mistake

◆ Four cows on a rubber plantation in Perak, Malay States, made the last mistake of their lives when they mistook a bucket of latex for milk. They swallowed the latex, and a veterinary surgeon stated, when the cows died two days later, that he believed that the substance had coagulated into rubber in the animals’ stomachs.—James A. Williams.

Mesopotamia to Be Irrigated

◆ Mesopotamia will hereafter be irrigated by a barrage dam along the Tigris river. This dam, which is 1,615 feet long, and which has 56 mechanically operated gates, took 16 years to build and cost £1,120,000.

Australia

A Voice from Long Bay, Sydney, Jail

◆ In the morning a man came to me and ask, "What for you here? You drunk?" I say, "I not come here for drunk. I am Jehovah's witness, true Christian. I'm persecuted here today for witnessing in the street to my Lord's name." The man said, "That's funny to me; what about the Salvation Army and the Roman Catholic processions?" I say to him, "That all belongs to the Devil. The Devil doesn't want people to hear the truth." The man then says he have Bible in jail with him. I tell him I show him from Bible where Jesus Christ comes back to earth, and show him twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew. The man read and say, "What for the Devil put you in jail?"

At nighttime warders come into cell and shook all blankets; one shake them and other ask, "Can you see any literature?" Then they search me but find nothing. All time I have Consolation magazine down my stocking, back of my leg, so I laugh when they go away. I proved the Lord was with me in jail. He made me happy because I find a good man, a prisoner, inside jail. He gave me Bible and another book, and I witnessed to him for Jehovah's name all the time.

Returning back to Central Police Station after six days for my money and belongings, the police officer say to me: "I don't think you go out in the street with that publication again." I say, "Who stop me? I witness for my Lord's name. That publication contains the Lord's message." The police officer said, "That's only a joke." So I say to him, "That's not joke; that's truth. You think I go to jail six days for a joke? No fear!"—An Australian of European birth, as narrated in Australian Consolation.

This Flag-Saluting

◆ Efforts are being made in New Zealand to bluff, frighten, or stampede the Government into issuing an edict making flag-saluting in schools compulsory. So far, however, the rulers have held their hand in the matter while the Education Department suggests that in teaching the young "... the narrow nationalistic interpretation of history should be avoided ... there should be sedulously cultivated a strong faith in a more peaceful, harmonious and prosperous world ... national songs of all nations can be used ... " Looks like a jump on jingoism.—Australian Consolation.

Sydney Mayor Not Interned

◆ Australian Consolation notes the singular fact that though the Sydney mayor went far out of his way to show every possible discourtesy to Judge Rutherford, the world's outstanding opponent of totalitarianism, and followed that up by immediately thereafter extending every possible fawning courtesy upon the German spy von Luckner, yet for some strange reason he had not been interned. No doubt the protecting arm of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy has been thrown about him. The Hierarchy has Australia well in line. England is wiser and has not, as in Australia, permitted the banning of the work of Jehovah's witnesses to please the Roman Hierarchy, which is actually a sinister "fifth column" against democracy.

Australia Means Business

◆ Australia means business about the war with Hitler, as may be judged from the fact that by the middle of 1941, it is estimated, at least 150,000 persons in that country will be engaged, directly or indirectly, in making munitions with which to prosecute it.

Australia Getting Religious

◆ Australian Consolation records the glad boast that at a church dance there were sixty young people, and that four of them actually came out to church the following Sunday. This latter item was left unexplained.

COUNSEL by J. F. Rutherford

At the Bier

NO MAN can properly charge a money fee for conducting a funeral. For such a time of sorrow it is a great privilege to speak the truth to the honor of God and for the comfort of the sorrowing ones.

Is it not necessary that a religious clergyman officiate at a funeral? and, if not, who may officiate? It is not necessary for a clergyman to officiate. Any man who loves God and His Word, the Bible, may serve at a funeral; and a good man should be glad to do what he can on such an occasion to inform the people of the truth and to show them a reason why they should not sorrow as others who have no hope.

Probably the saddest time in one’s life is at the funeral of a loved one. If the survivor is the wife, the burden of the widow is often greatly increased by what comes to pass at the funeral. By the time those who serve at the funeral get their pay then little is left for the poor woman and her children. The sorrow of the surviving relatives is often increased by the words of him who delivers the funeral discourse. If the deceased was not a member of an organized church, words to the following effect are often spoken at the funeral: “This man died outside of the church, and his soul is now in eternal flames of torment.” Not only is such a statement false and adding to the sorrow of the surviving relatives, but the same is a gross defamation of God’s name.

The Bible plainly teaches that funerals should be conducted with a view to bringing comfort to those who mourn; and only the truth can bring comfort to such.

If the deceased is a child, the religionist officiating at the funeral often says that the child is not dead but is with the angels in heaven, and that God wanted the child and He took it. Such a statement also is false; and while it might be made to bring comfort to the surviving mother, it has the opposite effect. The mother reasons: “Why should God want my child, and why should He bring such great sorrow upon me merely to please himself?” Furthermore, if it is good for the child to die, why do we not all die when children?

What may properly be said at the funeral? Should the deceased be lauded and extolled because of his supposed virtues? No, because that would do no good; even as flowers at the funeral do no good for the dead. “The dead know not any thing.” The funeral is an occasion to tell those present the reason why death has taken away this creature, where he is, and what hope there is for him to live again; and these truths are found only in the Word of God.

Why do men die? The scriptures answer that Adam, from whom the entire race descended, violated God’s law and was justly sentenced to death, that all his children were born after he was under such sentence, and hence all were begotten in sin and shapen in iniquity, as the psalmist has stated in Psalm 51:5. Also, in Romans 5:12, it is written: “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”

Is the dead conscious anywhere? and, if so, is he suffering? Even though he were a bad man, yet Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10 is true: “For the living know that they shall die; but the DEAD KNOW NOT ANY THING, neither have they any more a reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” Also Psalm 115:17: “The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence." These scriptures show it would be impossible for a dead man to be conscious and undergoing suffering. Children at death have not gone to heaven; and in proof of this Jeremiah 31: 15-17 reads: "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not. Thus saith the Lord, Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border."

Is there hope for the dead that they shall live again? Yes, there is, because God promised to redeem man from death, and He did so by the sacrificial blood of Christ Jesus, which is a guarantee that the dead shall live again. The apostle Paul, rejoicing in the great privilege of the Christian to comfort those who mourn, wrote, in 2 Corinthians 1: 3, 4: "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." Then, addressing his brethren in Christ, because of their sorrow resulting from death of loved ones, he wrote: "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are ASLEEP [not conscious anywhere], that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. Wherefore comfort one another with these words."—1 Thess. 4: 13, 14, 18.

At the funeral is a proper occasion to point out that the resurrection is the hope for the dead. The resurrection of the dead being true, then the doctrine that they are conscious in a torment hell or in a "purgatory" is entirely false.

"Resurrection" means the raising up again to life. God sent His beloved Son to the earth, and He died and bought the right to life for obedient man that believes, that he might live again. Hebrews 2: 9 states that Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, died for the benefit of all believing men; and 1 Timothy 2: 5, 6 reads: "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."

In 1 Peter 3: 18 it is stated that Christ Jesus died as a man and that God raised Him up out of death a divine spirit creature that He might rule and bless the obedient of mankind. The death and resurrection of Christ Jesus is a guarantee that those in the grave shall have the opportunity to live. The argument of 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, therefore, is that 'Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of them that SLEPT; for since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead; for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive'.

Jesus said: "The hour cometh, in which ◆all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment." (John 5: 28, 29, Am. Rev. Ver.) This is corroborated by Acts 24: 15 in these words: "There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." These scriptures prove beyond all question of doubt that the non-church-member at death did not go to eternal torment and that the child at death did not go to heaven. Both were born sinners by inheritance, and both are therefore, before God, unjust. The hope for both is that in due time God will cause the dead to be brought out of the graves to receive a trial and judgment before Christ the great Judge. As used in the Bible, the word "hell" means the grave, tomb or condition of death. It is from this condition that the dead will be resurrected.

Aviation

Air Mail to Small Towns

◆ It will not be long before many of the small towns of the country will be receiving and dispatching air mail, and air passengers, several times a day. Two small-town air-mail routes are now in operation in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. They travel 1,540 miles daily, make 75 pick-ups, and serve 58 communities. The routes are operated by the pick-up and drop-sack method; landings are infrequent, hence passenger service would be restricted.

The Cost of Planes

◆ The aviation experts claim that the cost of an army plane is $65,000. The Allies are reported to have ordered 4,000 planes, at a cost to them of $600,000,000. That figures out at $150,000 per plane and vaguely suggests that the difference of $85,000 per plane shows just how zealous the plane manufacturers are to help those that in Europe are fighting for their existence against the Mad Mullah of Berlin.

Flights Across the Oceans

◆ Flights across the oceans are so common nowadays that slight attention is paid to them. The line across the Pacific was opened in October, 1936, and in three years 2,148 passengers were carried across. The line across the Atlantic was not opened until May, 1939, but in the first six months 1,734 revenue passengers were carried. While the war is on, the traffic for London goes via Lisbon.

The World's Largest Plane

◆ The world's largest plane, built at Santa Monica, California, in the early part of 1940, has 4 motors of 6,000 horsepower each, a gross weight of 70 tons, a range of more than 6,000 miles, and will be able to transport 28 tons of bombs at one time.

Sees His Plane in Flight

◆ By means of the "flight ray" the pilot now sees his own plane in flight, on a dial in front of him, and need never look out the window even in landing. All he has to do is to keep the miniature plane within the luminous circle and keep the fixed cross lines blanketed by the luminous cross lines and all is well. More than 200 blind landings were made by use of the device before it was announced.

The Boulton Paul

◆ The Boulton Paul, Britain's new fighting plane, is said to be the fastest and most heavily armed plane made. It has a maximum flying speed of 504 miles per hour, with a diving speed of 640 miles per hour. It carries 14 machine guns and 3 cannon, and at last accounts there were 700 of them ready for instant use, and their use had begun.

One Every Two Minutes

◆ New York's new airport at North Beach, representing an investment of $40,000,000, began business with 121 arrivals and departures daily, and has capacity for six times as many, or one every two minutes throughout the 24 hours.

The Bermuda Commuters

◆ The Bermuda commuters, Mr. and Mrs. Jay Holmes, Port Washington, L. I., have a home at Tuckerstown, Bermuda, and average to make a round trip by air once in two months, having made 36 trips in the last three years.

Freight by Air

◆ Airplanes are busy in all parts of North America, Central America and South America bringing out ores for less than they can be brought out by mules, horses, trucks or railroads. Heavy loads are carried quickly and at small cost.

Balkans

“Lebensraum”

◆ What Lebensraum (living space) means in the Nazi mind is illustrated by the story that comes from western Poland that when, in bitterest winter weather, the Poles were moved to the desolated plains of the central portion of the country they were subjected to search in the nude, all valuables, including rings, watches and all money over a small fixed sum were taken away and they were then loaded in box cars, 70 or 80 to each car, and the cars were sealed. There was no heat, no water, no lavatory, and at the end of a two-day journey the people were dumped out and told to shift for themselves. In one case 76 died on a single train and six babies were born in the indescribable filth inseparable from so many people living for so long in the dark, without beds, bunks or toilet accommodations of any kind.

German Control of Rumania

◆ In the German control of Rumania one Gestapo agent is permanently installed in every large hotel and German engineers are installed in all radio, postal and telephone services for the purposes of espionage. German troops in the country are allowed to send home to Germany 100,000 parcels of foodstuffs monthly and by these means the stock of foodstuffs is being depleted. Hardly had this state of affairs been given publicity before Rumania experienced the worst earthquake in her history. Bridges collapsed, railroad tracks buckled, oil wells took fire and thousands were killed. In Bucharest a ten-story building collapsed, burying all its inhabitants. Great fires swept the city. At Focsani 35,000 were made homeless.

Made a Big Mistake

◆ Not long ago a German Timber Commission visited Belgrade to work out a better understanding with the Yugoslavian government. It took some time to complete the negotiations and the Germans requested and received permission during that time to send home a four-pound package each of food each day of the negotiations. The German government was so pleased that it sent formal thanks to the Yugoslavian government for the favor. But the net result was that the Yugoslavian peasants came to the correct conclusion that the people of Germany are near starvation and that Germany is virtually whipped.

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