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    Awake!, November 22, 1946

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    Awake!—1946

    Do Vatican Crusaders Foment a Third World War? The facts of-iuedieval and modern crusades supply the answer

    Mobocracy .Legalized in Iowa

    Shocking conspiracy against democracy at Lacona exposed

    "And There Shall Be Earthquakes"

    Their increase an important sign to this generation

    Von Papen, •Arch-Conspirator

    Review of escapes of this treacherous -

    THE MISSION OF THIS JOURNAL

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    "Awake!" uses the regular news channels, but is not dependent on them. Its own correspondents are on al continents, in scores of nations. From the four corners of the earth their uncensored, on-the-scenes reports come •to you through these columns. The journal’s viewpoint is not narrow, but is nternational. It is read in many nations, in m.any languages, by persons of all ages. Through its pages many nelds of knowledge pass in review'—-government, commerce, religion, history, geogrnphy, science, social conditions, natural wonders—why, its coverage s as broad as the earth and as high as the heavens.

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    CONTENTS

    Do Vutican Crusaders

    Fotiwut a Third World War'’

    ‘the First Crusade

    World War ll a Vatienn CntsadE'

    Vatican Crusaders in Yug-oslavn

    Vatican Chestnuts m the Ji'ire

    Kxcommumiention 'l'ips Vatican's Haud

    Mobocracy Legalized jn Iowa

    Lacona Given Over to the aiob

    Conspiracy Widespread

    Pnblic Opinion

    American Legion Slipping

    "And There Shall Be Earthquakes”

    Increa'led Frequency of Earthquakes

    Von Papen, Arch-Conspirator

    "Thy Word (s Truth"

    Water anti Spirit

    Want More Steuks and Milid

    One Divorce for Every Three Marriages

    Peter the Hermit, Typical Rabble-Rouser

    "'l‘he Prince of Peace" Gladdeens Many Nations 25

    Joy over Etwope

    Gladness to the South

    Watching the World

    Brooklyn, N. V., November 22, 1946

    Volume XXVII

    Number 708

    Do Vatican Crusaders Foment a Third World War?

    DOES this world face a third WOridw world wad That question pops I up from all sides to J?lague war-weary humanity. Now, shortly after the close of World War IT, sides are already forming for a third test of strength, many believe. It is also strongly contended by many that if a third world war does break over the earth it will be a "holy war", a crusade, to borrow a word out of the dim past. To many the word "crusade" lifts war to an exalted level of holiness and godliness. I3nt to the informed it signifies the most bitter and ruthless of struggles. Why, the facts known by so many but appreciated by so few clearly mark the aggressive wars of this twentieth century as crusades. It will he to your lasting interests to alert yourself to crusades, past and present, and to awaken yourself to the subtle movements of the organizntioi that has always inspired them.

    When Palestine was conquered by the Arabs in the seventh century they allowed the pilgrimages so popular with European “Christians”. In the tenth century the country came under Egyptian control, with a subsequent lessening of favor for pilgrims. But with the conquest of JeTnsalem in 1078 by Seljuk Turks fi’om the Caucasus, conditions became intolerable. News of atrocities by the infidels spread over Christendom and kindled the desire for liberation of the Holy Land. Popes fanned the tense situation into the flmnes of war, for two reasons: the opportunity to increase their power in the "\Vest and to extend their power into the East; also it was an opportunity to turn the warlike ardor of the Western princes, so often jn conflict with the ehnreh, against the infidels. Pop’e Gregory VII conceived the idea of launching crusades, but it was Pope Urban II who lighted the fuse that touched off the successive explosions of religions wars that bloodied the earth from the close of the eleventh centurv til the close ♦

    of the thirteenth century.

    The First Crusade

    When the feelings of Europe had been sufficiently heated by the. papal-blessed rabble-rouser, Peter the Hermit, the first crusade took on definite form at a council in Clermont, France, in 1095. Pope Urhan II himself mounted the orators' soapbox and declared: "They who die will enter the mansions of heaven, while the living shall pay their vows before the sepulchre of the Lord. Blessed are they who, taking this vow upon them, shall obtain such a recompense." As this astute moh psychologist emoted nnd played on the tumultuous feelings of the vast crowd, cries of Deus milt (God wills it) broke from the audience. Urban made this cry the battle shout, and those who embarked on the venture wore the sign of the cross. lienee the name cTusade (French aroisaicle, from Latin crux, a cross).

    Priests and abbots caught up the war cry tmd preached a crusade as a “'new mode of salvation, which eiiahled the layman without laying aside his habits of wild license to reach a height of perfection scarcely to be attained by the most austere monk or the most devoted priest". So from al parts of Europe thousands with priest and papal blessing flocked to the war drummed up by Urban 11. In successive waves undisciplined forces totaling some 275,000 began sweeping eastward in May of 1096, committing horrible ravages along the route, especially among the Jews, whom they murdered witliont mercy. These advance expeditions were soon slaughtered or scattered by the Bulgarians and Hungarians and Turb. But by this time the rea] armies of the Crusades made their appearance, seasoned warriors under chiefs of the first rank. By the }nm-dreds of thousands they marched eastward, finally taking Syrian Antioch after a very costly siege of months. During this time wind-jamming Peter the Hermit deserted, and was miles away before he was apprehended. War and famine and pestilence and desertion so fearfully thumed the ranks of the crusaders that by the time their objective, Jerusalem, was captured in 1099 they munhered only 40,000.

    hen the city was finally taken a most horrible slaughter followed. ''So terrible, it is said, was the carnage wliicli followed that the horses of the crnsaders who rode up to the mosque of Omar were knee-deep in the stream of blood. Infants were seized by their feet and dasled against the walls or whirled over the battlements, while the Jews were all burnt alive in their synagogue.''(Ency-clopa;dia Britannica) Thus ended the first of a long series of crusades tliat were sponsored by the Vatican. Was that first crusade Christian f How preposterous to claim so I

    During the 200 years that followed the Vatican inspired at least eight more major crusades. The most tragic and pathetic was the one in J 212. Imown as the Children's Crusade. The Hierarchy (’)aim was that innocent hands could wage the war with God's blessing; which was an admission that previous warring hands were neither innocent nor blessed. The result of this crusade was the hlood-g-uiJt of 50,000 children on Vaticun skirts, since that number either died on the trek to .Asia or fell into the more fearful horror of the slave market. Djd Catholic Hitler ever perpetrate a worse crime? The superstitions, hocus-pocus rituals practiced in dimly lit Catholic cathedrals will never ntone for the Vatican's wanton slaughter of millions.

    Crusade Against Freedom

    From this period of the Crusades skip down the stream of time three centuries. By this time Germany has been split by the Reformation, ancl religious freedom has begun to dawn with what is now recognized as the birth of modern democracy. In papal eyes this was as deplorable as inlidcl occupancy of .Jerusalem; so they whipped up what a:monntcd to another crusade. This time tile ''Church sword" brandished was Ferdinand II, sharpened by Jesuit education and directed by an oath to erlerminate Prot-testants. He eamne into power in 1617, persecutions began, and in 1618 tbey blossomed out into a religious war that stormed over Europe for thirty years hl a vain Hierarchy effort to beat back the advances made by the Reformation ou the freedom front. Yes, vain; becau.se the Thirty Years’ -W.ar ended in Protestant victory and the Peace of Westphalia, concliideU at Miinster in 1648. The oj>pressive Hierarchy lias fought this peace ever since, because "an age of greater toleration was introduced into Germany. In all religio\is questions the Protestan ts secured an equality with the Catholics, mid gained eqnaJ weight in the diet and high courts. o_f the empire". —M'CUutock and Strong's Oyclopa:dia.

    But now the river o£ time plunges us into onr own twentieth century and becomes a churning torrent of destructive events. Through the raging rapids of 'VorJd War I the Vatican, outwardly pretending impartiality, stdes in with the Dreibund to crush freedom. World statesmen were well aware of theRi and hence specifically baned Jier from the peace negotiations. Thereafter she made league with Catholic dictators to smash the freedom gained by the Information and the Peace of W estphalia, to reestablish the Holy Homan Empire and the Dark Ages rule of cl arch and state.

    Do yon ball; at believing that7 Then honestly consider: Alfred Rosenberg, once the chief Nazi ideologh;t, declared iit 1942 that the Germans must helieve that World War II was "another Thirty Years' War”. Not in length, of course, hut in issues involved. Do von remember that when the armistice was signed with France in 1940 H.Xactiiig arrangements were made that it should be done in the same car and in the same forest clearing used for the signing of the 1918 armistice r There Hitler made a bombastic speech about the righting of great wronga, wrongs committed in that same car, in the same clearing in the forest of Compiegne. Appropriate tliat they be righted on tlte same spot committed, Hitler screeched. But note how parallel reasoning dictated the Nazi choice for the final treaty ending \Vorld War II, if she triumphed. Das Schwarze Korps, official Nazi organ, in reporting tlie armistice proceedings with France, said Hitler had decided that the final treatv would be signed in Munster and known as the Treaty or PE’ace of Westphalia! There Crusader Hitler would right the wrongs and erase the smirch of the first Peace of Westphalia that ltas galled the Hierarchy for three hundred years!

    World War ll a Vatican Crusade

    Do you still hesitate to believe'? Per. haps you did not read in the New York Times, in 1940, the following: “The German war aims were outlined tonight as n re-establislunent of the Holy Homan Empire by Dr. iDrhnund A. Walsh, regent of the Foreign Service School of Georgetown University l Jesuit university near Washington, D. C.] ... Dr. Walsli said that he had heard Adolf Hitler say that the Holy Roman Empire, whicli was a Germanic empire, must he re-established."

    Let any wavering hesitancy to believe be overwhelmed by honest reflection on these questions: Why did the Vatican make a concordat with Catliolic Mussolini and bless his rape of E thiopia 1 Why did it side in with and bless Butcher Franco in his slaughter of Spanish democracy 1 Wliy did it make a concordat with Catholic Hitler and its conferences of bishops bless Nazi troops in the wad Why was the collaborationist J>e-tain lauded rs a •'good marshal" and anti-Semitic laws of Hierarchy origin inaugurated l Why did Cardinal Innitzer fly the Nazi swastika over his cathedral to celebrate Hitler's taking over of Austria? Why did Catholic Hitler put the Catholic priest 'fiso at the head of the puppet regime in Slovakia? Why did Catholic priests on mobile truck-churches follow Hitler's legions into Poland aiid on into Russia to consolidate Axis gains f Why did the Vatican espouse the cause of Axis-partner Japan in its invasion of China'! and also recognize the Japanese-sponsored government of the Philippines instead of United States claims! These questions so embarrassing to the unblushing Vatican could be piled np sky-high, but let them be summarily capped by one raised by recent eveuts: Why did the Hierarchy's precious Archbishop Stepinatz align himself with Pavelitch's regime in Yugoslavia under Hitler pro-tectiou and maneuver the murder of scores of thousands in a. modern Vatjcan crusadeY

    When Catholic Mnssolini hurled his armies across the Mediterranean sea and into helpless Ethiopia the Hierarchy gloated and 57 bishops and 19 archbishops telegraphed thanks to the crusading dictator: "Catholic Italy thanked Jesus Cluist for the renewed greatness o£ tlte country made stronger by Mussolbri’s policy." Cardinal Seltnster, close friend of the then pope, Pius XI, chimed in: "The Italian fag is at this moment bringing in triumph the cross of Clirjst to Ethiopia to free the road for the emancipation of the slaves, oponing it at the same time to c.mr misHionai'Y propaganda."

    Aft^r the Vatican's secret agreement or concordat with Fascist .Mussolini in 1929, another' "CJiurch sword" with a crusade complex was welcomed to the fold. The event was marked by the secret concordat negotiated with Nuzi Germany, in 1933. This “sword" was later un-sheatlied and set to its bloody work wli on the Hierarchy wailed that Spain should he saved from "Communism". That papal-styled ''fine Christian gentleman", the Butcher Franco, was crusading all alone against atheirsm; so in came the legions of his Catholic comrades Hitler and Mussolini and together they buteh-ered hundreds of thousands of lionest Catholics along with the new Spanish democratic government set up by the people.

    The prelimiuary dress rehearsals over. the time bad come for the curtain to rise on the major crusade by the Catholic dictators. The admittedly Catholic Hitler Jaunclied his blitzes with stunning speed and power, und in their wal\e the Hierarchy prospered. Clmrch spokesmen were not slow to voice their gratitude. An Associated Press dispatch of Angnst 27, 1940, reported; "A pledge of loyalty to Adolf Hitler by the German Catholic Bishops Conference at Fulda is to be read to the faithful from pulpits at the end of the war, D.N.B., oiTirial news agency, said today." In Jnne, J 941: ''The German Catholic episcopate torlny seut to all dioceses a message describing the war against Russia as a battle of Christianity all over tlje world." (New York Times) In November, 1941 : "A pastoral letter sni<l to have been issued bv the Bishop of Munster, Count Clemens von Gnllen, condemning Soviet Russia and conuuending the 'Christian soldiers of Germany' for their fight against the Soviet Union. has caused widespread interest in Berlin."—New York Times.

    And what did we hear from tlte Italian eviscojjate itself7 Archbishop Mnrgotti oi Italy blessed the crusaders thus: ('Italy lias joined the anti-Bolshevik front with enthusiasm nnd faith of the ancient crusaders, proving that Italian soldiers are ready to give their blood generously for civilizntimj's victory against atheism and harbarism. Therefore, we also iiivite all good Catholi.es to raise insistent prayers to God to concede triumph to the new order and justice/' "Today we salute and bless the Italian legious who are marching with their allies in the common struggle to ope.n the immense inison which encloses the Russian population:' (From the New York Daily Neirs of July 21, 1941, and the New York Times of July 21, 1941) The Fascist press termed the. war a "Christian crusade against the Russian atheists".—Kansas City Star, June 8, 1942.

    The facts of World War II cry out that everywhere the Nazi military juggernaut rolled in triumph there came in its wake persecutions nf Masons and Protestants and Jews; Jews especially, as it was in the first Catholic crusades and the Inquisition and many of the Yatican>s antiSemitic decrees. Jesrtit fingerprints in blood convict the Hierarchy of conspiracy with the Catholic dictators during World W ar II. liany more facts could be called to testify in proof thereof, but let this one close the case for the time: '(Considerable Catholic missionary activity in the occupied South Russian teni-tories is reported by the Catholic newspaper Ultolia, of Milan, arriving here today. The leader of the missionaries is Luigi Cardinal Lavitrano, archbishop of Palermo."

    Agitation to Revive the Crusade

    The Catholic dictators Hitler and Mussolini failed their master at Vatican City. World War IT's crusade into Russia ended as disastrously as did those long ago against the infidel Turks. But the wily Vat:ic;an and its slippery Jesuits have survived major political reverses before, and its double talk and outward sham of neutrality during the past global war are paying off, thanks to^a cowardly and senrile press in democratic lands. Millions have even been convinced that they sbould ignore the facts of Hierarchy action during the war and swallow unquestioningly all the propagainda that now floods out from Vatican mouthpieces. Her diabolical cunning has even enabled her to emerge from the war she fomented stronger than ever, though her side suffered military defeat. And now she busily plans and agitates for a revival of her crusade against atheistic Russia, only this time she seeks to dub the democracies as her crusading "swords''.

    There are 38,000 Catbolic priests in America who, by their consecration swear allegiance to papal Rome. In their churches they preach the "red scare”. By their efforts they bind the spineless Protestant and Jewish religious organizations to their crusade chariot and even have these groups seeing and pTeaching "red". Catholie politicians and Jesuits in key governmental positions point the accusing finger and yell "Red!" at any other ones in government not sympathetic with the Vatican. This bas a tremendous effect on the foreign policy of the United States.

    Throughout the educational systems and social organizations of the country the Hierarchy propaganda lias been infiltrated. Some of the loudest cries of

    "red" have been hurled at labor unions. For example, read the following report from the Se-ptemheT 23, 1946, issue of the Courier-Post, of Camden, N. J.:

    "It is the solemn duty of every Christian labor unionist to attend union meetings, expel the Couummists and assist in a crusade to reduce to impotency the monster of Communism. That ChaJlenge was thrown down yesterday by Bishop Eustace, before nearly 5,000 members of the Holy Name societies. . . . CaUing all men of the diocese to ,join a crusade to wipe out Communism, Bishop Knstace warned there can be 110 peace in the world of labor or the world at large until atheisticism is discredited."

    This.cry for a purging crusade against "reds" in labor unions was thereafter taken up by Willian Green, president of the American Federation of Labor.

    What is happening in the United States of America is also happening in many other lands where the Catholic Hierarchy has any power. The Vatican engineers are working overtime to whip up anothru: crusade against Hnssia, not so much because Russia is atheistic, because the Vatican herself has htuned and otherwise destroyed unnumbered thousands of Bibles in her time. She aims her attack toward Russia because Russia's eyes are wide open to the Vatican's collaboration with tlte Axis and becmiise the Vatican wants to forcibly "convert" atheistic Rnssia to Catholicism to increase her wealth and power and attain world domination. In Europe the Hierarchy is busy organizing for the coming fray. Catholic political parties, such as those in Anstria, Italy, Franee, Belgium, Germany anrl Holland, have adopted catchy names like ((Christian Democrat'' and seek to set up governments of Vatican design. Nazism may be gom. in name, but only in name.

    Vatican Crusaders in Yugoslavia

    In September and October of 1946 the Vatican's crusade complex was cast in brilliant light. So, along with the rest of the world, focus gaze on events occurring in Yugoslavia during that time; but, unlike so much of the world, look at the realities stripped of their distortion by crooked Vatican tongues that are professional emotionalizers. It is a ease of clerics reaping the harvest of what they had previously sown, only not yet in fullness.

    When Hitler's troops took over Yugoslavia and set np a puppet regime, that regime was resisted by large sections of Yugoslavia's predominantly Orthodox Catholic population. Roman Catholics under priestly direction crusaded against the 01’thodox Catholics, and did so under Hitler's protection. But now that their protector is gone and a new government has supplanted the Nazi puppet clique, the collaborationists are being rounded up. And, milike many governments of tlis religionized old world, the Yugoslavia rulers did not think black robes were sufficient to hide blackei' deeds. Catholic clergymen were tried along with others, and to tbe13e the evidence said: ''In thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor imoeents."—Jeremiah 2 : 34.

    Among these “bloody skirts" rounded up was the Yugoslavia archbishop, Step-inatz. He was taken into custody on Septembet 18, charged with "crimes against the people". Fifteen other defendants, all priests or Franciscan Friars, were ulso tried. The evidence brought out at the trial was overwhelming in showing that during the forr years of occupation the Hierarchy forces worked with the terrorists, known as ''Ustashin and “Crusaders”. Indisputable evidence proved the Hierarchy responsible for forced conversions of Serbs to Roman Catholicism, responsible for mas-sncres of thousands of Orthodox Seibs, and proved that Catholic priests made conversions at the point of pistols. Catholic priests of Stepjnatz' diocese "personally incited the Ustashi to mass killings, and in some instances the Catholic priests themselves, with their owu hands, participated in the slayings". For example, in the village of Blagaj, a Catholic priest named Blaza Tornljenovich ordered 520 persons killed on May 6, 1941. Today their dead bodies lie buried in two large pits near his church. And what is noteworthy, most of the witnesses at the trial were Croatian Catholic peasants or laborers.

    Archbishop Stepinatz on the stand was insolent in the face of these eharges and refused to miswer questions. It was the safest way for him to avoid a slip of the tongue. His defense was, f,:M:y conscience is clear.'' He repeated that many times during the trial, maybe to convince himself. When confronted with photographs of himself attending the banquets of the Ustashi he responded: "I see no reason not to go to ceremonies when I'm aslted. My conscience is cam" To which the president of the court observed, ‘‘You must have a very loose conscience if you could be in the company of such people." The Bible calls such a conscience ''seared". As to his blessing of the Ustashi and Crusaders, Stepinatz retorted: "I give my blessing to all who ask." When queried as to whether that included criminals he repljed, "Every one has the right to get blessings/' On that basis he would bless the Devil himself. When greeted by his alleged report to Pope Pius XII, sent in 1944, and defending the Nazi puppet state of Croatia as "in conformity with Catholic interests and against the Orthodox Church and Communism", Stepinatz would not deny he sent it.

    Vatican. Chestnuts in tile Fire

    On October 16 Stepiuatz was convictecL on all fourteen counts of the indictment. Twelve of the counts related to activities with the Ustashi regime of Pavelitch, foremost YugosJav quisling, in which he was Charged with active collaboration with the Axis. The other two counts i‘e-lnted to activities since the end of tie

    war, when he supported Ustashi leaders and Crusaders (Ustashi terrorist bands). Ever the opportunist, the Vatican seized upon the trial and conviction to scream "Persecution of tie church by godless Communists!" She said, "There is the appeal to pubHe opinion." But this appeal did not ring out iii clear tones to refute the charges or meet the issues raised. It was, ''Monsignor Stepinatz is a criminal only as far as the Catholic Church, the church of Christ, n- criminal.” Fine words for emotional effect, but of no force to thinkers who can digest facts. the remark might even convict Stepinatz in the minds of those who remember the criminal record of the Hierarchy during the Dark Ages, the Crusades, the Inquisition and Its “court trials" that were such a travesty of justice, and papal cri.J.nes with the modern dictators tliat pile up so higli.

    Nonetheless, the wily Vatican judged the mentality of many of its Catholic population correctly, and, fanned by priests and bishops aud archbishops and cardinals, the \vail of protest that rises fTom many parts of the earth is loud and insistent. Spellman toyed with rhetoric in denouncing the "satanic. Soviet sycophants)) and the "perfidious pattern of Communist godlessness, barbarism and enslavement''; and warned Americans of the Red danger in their land. (In case you've forgotten, Cardinal Spellman is the one so infatuated with Frnnco the Butcher’s beautiful eyes and Chiis-tlan character.) Catholic papers in America took the cue obediently, one f saying: “U the moral sense of our government is so blunted and its sense of appeasement is so strong that it fails to rise to the occasion, what hope can tliere be that the reign of terror the Red totalitarians have inaugurated will be curbed iu the foreseeable future?" This article agitating for a crusade against liussia by the United States was titled "America on TriaV3.

    Joining in the cries for other governments to pull the Vatican chestnuts out of the Yugoslavia fire, Catholic press leaders sent a message to Tniman urging him to protest tlte trial of Stepinatz. Also, 600,000 Knights of Columbus representatively through Supreme Knight J olm Swift demanded that the state department of the United States protest to Yugoslavia. Cardinal Strich, of Chicago, called for United States intervention. Similarly, in Britain Cardinal Griffin appealed to the British government to involve itself 01 Stepinatz' behalf. As a result of the agitation Dean Acheson, acting secretary of state in the United States, expressed "concern and deep worry" over the trial. Politicians should remember tliat despite Vatican howls the government of Yugoslavia was trying a collaborator for his personal acts, and not the Catholic Church; which point Yugoslavia, from Tito on down, has repeatedly stressed.

    Unanswerable Facts Against Crusaders

    But let us tune out the Vatican's rabble-rousing speechmakers, and note a few more facts. At the trial "Father'' Salle, Stepinatz' secretary, testified that "the church was perhaps too much linked with politics". "Father" Seleaki, also on trial, admitted he had blessed the Ustasbi flag. Another one on trial, a Franciscan Friar called ‘'‘'Reverend" Modesto Mar-tinic, charged Stepinatz with influencing the dergy of Yugoslavia to cany on illegal activities against Tito's regime. He said: '"We are unable to hide tJie fact that the Church collaborated with the Ustashi. Stepinatz chose to fight not only for his ideology but for the Ustashi, not in the way of the Catholic Church. Stepinatz' epistle . . . was written to have influence on the clergy and to spur them to illegal work, and it served its purpose."

    A letter was published in the New York Times from Stephen Lackovic, former seeretai’y of Stepinatz, which was supposed to defend the archbishop but which failed to meet the major charges. Thereafter, the Times (October 15, 1946) published a hetler in reply, written by Sime Balen, counselor of the Embassy of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. It follows:

    NOVEMBER 2£, 191,6

    Like Stephen Lackovic, former seel'etary of Archbishop Stepinatz, whose letter was pub- • lishcd in Tmj T^IMES of Oet. 9, I too am a Croat and a Catholic and was nn eyewitness to the tragic events iu Croatia from 1941 to 1945.

    We can nll rejoice if Archbishop Stepinatz was in any way instrumental in helping "hundreds" of Jewish refugees escape from Croatia to Italy. Yet Mr. Lackovic fails to mention that the Ustashi terrorists of the Paveliteh regime, with which Archbishop Stepinatz was so rlosely allied 1.mder Hitler's protection, murdered during those yem^s approximately 50,000 Croatian and Bosnian Jews, or over two-thirds of Yugoslavia's pre-war Jewish population of 70.000.

    Mi. Lackovic's letter also fails, significantly, to speak of the major sections of the charges against .Archbishop Stepiuatz—the massacre by the Ustashi of over 500,000 Serbs. There were 2,000,000 Serbs in Croatin when Hitler set up the Pavelitch puppet regime there in April, 1941, and the poliey then officially proclaimed was that a third o£ these were to he forcibly converted from the Orthodox to the Catholic faith, a third were to be driven back to Serbia and a third were to be killed. Among the fii’st murdered were hundreds of Orthodox priests.

    Dr. Stepinatz, a member of Pavelitch's Parliament (Sabor,) apostolic viear in Pavelitcb’s army and a member of the committee for the conversion of S<rbs to Catholicism, made no effort to save these priests and did not •even intervene on behalf of his colleague, Dr. Dosi-tej, the metropolitan of Zagreb, who was barbarously tortured before being put to death. It is not difficult to thaw conclusions from Mr. Laekovie's omissions.

    It should not go unnoticed tJiat the Ustashi also killed approximately 31,000 Catholic Croats in Zagreb alone.

    I am told that it is hard for Americans to comprehend the enormity of these crimes, For us wbo lived through them it is hard to forget.

    Excommunication Tips Vatican's Hand

    Since the foregoing facts are unanswerable in favor of the archbishop or the Vatican, Stepinatz neither affirmed nor denied them at the trial and the Vatican has since side-stepped them diligently. A parrot-lilie repetition of the words '(My conscience is clear” hardly suffices to dissolve such wholesale blood-letting, does it? But rather than show any concern for more innocent blood on its religious skirts, the Vatican retaliated by excommunicating aU who contributed morally or physically toward the anest, trial or conviction of Stepinatz. The declaration was issued by the Sacred Congregation of the Council and published in the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano.

    When the Vatican learned of Stepinatz' conviction, she said; "There is the appeal to public opinion." Hence this appeal might be made to public opinion; Catholic Franco butchered men, women and clrildren in coimtless thousands; and the vast majority were Catholic, if that makes any difference. But he was never excommunicated. Were those crimes less offensive to the Hierarchy than the mere sentencing of one man to sixteen years of hard labor Catholic Mussolini likewise slaughtered multitudes in murderous fashion. But he was never excommunicated. 'Vas his bloody course less offensive to the Vatican 1 Catholic Hitler may be charged with responsibility for the blood of millions. 'Was he ever excommunicated 1 Many times groups of honest Catholics requested that the pope excommunicate Hitler, but were only rebuffed. Crusader Hitler was never excommunicated. Apparently the Vatican believes it a more heinous crime to sentence one man to sixteen years; hard labor than to kill and maim millions upon millions. But then, why should the pope excommunicate the obedient crusading dictators 1

    TVake nJ, sleeping 2j?.tblic! Jo\re you so totally blind and benumbed mentally fltat your brain has gone ou permanent strike? If Hitler had persecuted Catholic dignitaries as the Vatican implies, excommunication would have ovP.rtaken him. Actually, wliat persecution he meted out to Catholics was upon ltonpRf and liberal ones that disagreed with the Hierarchy's crusade in World War n; jiist as honest and liberal ones in Yugoslavia who told the truth at. the archbishop's trial are now excommunicated for their b’litlt-telling.And ir the Hiernuchy should seek to refute LUis l>y claiming Ute excommunication was automatic because the archbishop was hied in a civil conrt without Vatican permission, then they are surely adrniWng tliat any acts of Hitler against liberal Catltolies was with Vatican permission, because no excommunication followed, automatic or otherwise. The Vatican has good reason to refuse to meet the issues ill this cnse and not answer them. She will not plead “Guilty" and she can not truly plead •''Not guilty".

    Vatican Crusaders Do Foment lVar

    If you want a shocking contrast, road CJuist Jesus' sermon on the mount (Matthew, chapters 5-7), and then read the following extracts of the Rennon of one of the typical Vatican crusaders that masLtnerade as Christians (New York Tim.es, October 17, 1946):

    Notre DAME Head Calls i.*or Arming

    Father Cavanaugh, at Aviation Clhiic, Urges Bombs for Foes Repudiating .Moral Law

    Oklahoma City, Oct. 16—-A warning that the United States '"had better pile up armaments sky-high and make bigger and better bombs" if it must deal with nations that repudiate the moral law was sounded here tonight by the Hev. John J. Oavauaug-h, C.S.C., president of the Univetsity of Notre Dame. ('The only language such nations mulerstaml is force; the only argument that cjau convince NOVEMBER 2!J, 10.96 them is power and more power," Father Cavanaugh told a dinner meeting of tl1<! annual National Aviation Clinic. . . .

    "Let us hope that before rmch a cataclysm takes place men of all nations will have the sense, the humility and courage to get buck again those principles which alone enable them to livo together in order and peace on this earth." Declaring that "objective moral la w" applies to intli vitlunb nnd nations alike, Father Cavanaugh said he could see no more success for conmiuiii.sm in its denial of b.umun rights than Germany and Italy achieved.

    That •wolf in sheep's clothing’ Ints cast aside his disguise. hasn't lie? For tliat mutter, the mask is ripped olf all the Vatican crusaders and they stand convicted as fomenting a third world war. They are persistently widening the broach between East and West and sabotaging any faint hope that may exist for peace, because they know that the Vatican cannot wheedle Hussia and wrap that nation around her little finger as she so neatly does the democracies.

    But wen of good-will trusting in Jehovah God will not inse hojie .'or lasting peace, despite Vatican machinations for a third world war. That blood-spattered old veteran of many crusades has lived for centuries by the sword, and at Ar-mageddou s!je shall surely die by the invincible sword the New •World's King Christ .Jesus will then wield under Jehovah's direction. Thereafter Armageddon's survivors will never again suffer under man mud Hierarchy and Devil rnle, whether it be democracy or fascism or communism. F'ree sball that New World then he of religious fakers who foment ci'UtiadeH and hlast out their "holy war" ballyhoo! Jehovah God will then rnle through His Theocratic King Christ Jesus, anl 'Tie maketh wars to cease unto the pnrl of the eartit". Then Almighty God's Prince of Peace will hold full sway over enrtlt's affairs, and "of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no eucl".-Psalm 46: 9; Isaiah 9:6, 7.

    Mobocracy Legalized in Iowa

    Christians en route to a Bible lecture Johnson was enforcing the dictatorial ultimatum he had hiirled at three ministers the day before as he stood on the steps of the State House at Des Moines, shouting, “You stay out of Lacona F' Ouly a few days previous these ministers had been mobbed out of Lacona. In

    ''rpHE Constitution does not enter in here !" decreed Warren county Sheriff Lewis Johnson as be and mobsters he had deputized blockaded the public highway entering Lacona, Iowa. In thus turning back sixteen carloads of that Io‘‘‘a town Democracy had been killed, and to fill its place the misguided community gave birth to a squalling brat named Moboeracy. Serving very ably as midwives were Sheriff .Johnson, Mayor Lo Goode, Marshal McFarland and the Lacona city coimcilmen. Standing by to advise and assist were the county attorney aml the attorney general's office. Supplying the “moral law'' were the churches of Laeona. All told, it was quite a conspiracy against democracy. Would you like to look into the delivery room of Warren county and witness the birth of Lacona's illegitimate baby¥ Its howls have attracted nation-wide notice.

    In the latter half of August a representative of J eliovah's witnesses went to Lacona, located about forty miles southeast of Des Moines, to obtain permission to use the city park for a series of Bible lectures. Permission was granted by City Councilman Ripperger and a Mr. Fehrer. On September 1 .Jehovah's witnesses preached from house to house in the monring, and in the afternoon gathered in the park for the lecture. Near starting time a group of townsmen marChed up to the speaker's stand and mounted thereon an American flag. No objection was raised to that. Tlten Mayor Lo Goode and Mr. Fehrer came to speak to the witness in charge; they said the permission given to use the park was canceled. The mayor's parting words were: "If

    you come back there will l)e trouble." Soon thereafter the meeting was held, but throughout the Bible discourse teenagers paraded buck and forth iu front of the speaker, waving a flag right in his face. As the witnesses left izi their cars the delinquents in deinocraey shouted abusive words and threats of future

    violence.

    Lacona Given Over to tile Mob

    The second of the series of Sunda-v Bible lectures was scheduled for September 8. On the morning of that day Mayor Lo Goode was notified that the scheduled meeting would be held, but he said be was going out of town to a <limwr. Did he choose that time to be out of town? to leave the town to moh mlel He bat! told the witnesses before that he knew there would be trouble. How did he know 'l 'Vas he in on tile conspiracy? The witnesses tried to get in touch witli the county sheriff, hut could iiot. When the witnesses arrived at the park that afternoon the ringleaders of the mob were on the bandstand with an American flag, a banner symbolizing things they neither understo.nd nor appreciate. Local towm;-mml converged on the park ft'Qm an directions, and it was evident that tliev had organized for mob action. To avoid trouble the witnesses started to set up the sound equipment some distance from the bandstand. Then the rabble element lost interest in the bandstand tliev Ijad occupied and bore down on the assem-hling Christians. Lacona's pnttsch. for moUocracy was on!

    Charges that Jehovah’s witnesses were unpatriotic and refused to saJute the flag und did not sPTve in the army came thick and fast: nnU all efforts by the witnesses to E>xpluin that they lielieved in the Con-:'ilitntion und were law-ahiding, thnt tli<>Y I'Pspeetccl the ftag- bnt refused to Halute it because of a conscientious belief in God'R hiw conerrning images, that such refusal has been supported by the United States Supreme Court, and that tJie Selective Nervice Act exempted ministers from army duty, ah these attempted explanations were drownpd out by a mob not out for information or reasons but out for hlood. Physical violence came when one ol' the mo bsters jumped a witness from Iwhind us the latter attempted to put away tlw sound equipment. It is axiomatic that criminals detest cameras; hence the affidavit of Witness Lillian Dickey, who weighs 95 pounds, tells us what we would expect to happen when site sought to photograph the mob action:

    Some men came from the park and made a grab £or my camera, one eursing and saying no pictures were going to be taken there. He was told that if he cared for some of the pictures he could have them by giving us his name unU address. He ciU'sed some more and then walked away. About this time four men came at me. One of the men, Lloyd Lancaster, struck me on the jaw with his fist while Harold Leonard hit me in the ribs, knocking me backwards over the fender of the caJ’. Harold Leonard grabbed the camera and threw it over in the park. The !our men continued to beat me with their fists until they had me on the ground und then stood there and kicked me until they were pulled off. The patrolmen that Inter came shook hands with some of the Lacona ^oup.

    One of those in charge of the meeting called the highway patrol for assistance, but that patrol managed to kil two hours fifteen minutes getting there and by that time mob violence reigned uncltecked for an hour in Lacona's park. About 700 per

    NOVEMBER it, 1946 sons jumme d the west side of the square as a nucleus of 25 claiming to be wur veterans lamtehed their attack against assembly, speech and worship. About 30 Sers on s suffered head and fac<> cut;, loody noses and hody braises as fists, pop bottles and club:-; were brought into play in the fracas. A dozen or more skirmishes i nvolving from two to a <lozeu persons ::;wept Uw sqnare for over an boor. After tiit> doting was over Marshal lff':F'arland, who hud been watching from across the street, Rtrolled over to make a gestu rp at trying to disperse the crowd. Latet: eame Mayor Goode, whose only contribution to restoring order wag to sagely observe to the "itnesse8: ''I told you not to come hack." Next to arrive on the scene waR the sheriff, io be fol lowed by the tardy highway patroL These officials believed there would be trouble o; this day, had bepn warned of it, and yet absented themselves from the inciinri during the time set to test out a new freedom advocated by Lacona, namely, freedom for mob rule.

    Jehovah’s witnesses swore out warrants for the arrest of eight of the mobsters. ThE' casE' against si-x: involved charges of assault and battery and disturbing the public peace at a religious meeting. The trial was held at Indianola, and a six-man jury was out only ten minutes before bringing in a verdict of "Not guilty''. Two other mobsters, Lancaster and Leonard, the ones who beat up the woman with the camera, were held for the grand jury on a charge of assault with intent to do great bodily injury.

    Legalizing Rule by Jobs

    After the moh broke up the Bible lecture on September 8, the w itnesses •were to consult with Sheriff Johnson Wednesday morning, September 11. The evening before 300 residents of Lacona and vicinity (there are only a little over 400 persons in Lacona) met in the town hall and decided to block the highway leading into Lacona to prevent the third meeting

    13 of the Bible lecture series. Connty Attorney Dale Ewalt, Sheriff Johnson and Mayor Goode conducted the session. and the promise was ma<le that the witnesses would hold no meeting the following Sunday. The next morning Sheriff J olrn-son served notice on the witnesses that they could not use the park and that if they tried to do so they would be treated as- law violators. This sheriff did not treat any of the mobsters as law violators. Apparently, he considers mob rule legal.

    It was on this morning that some of the witnesses called at the attorney general's office to see him, but were not permitted to do so. Instead, an office assistant, :Mr. Buckles, snntcliecl up a law book, opened it to a place previously marked with a slip of paper, and read law on • unlawful assemhlies. But Bible lectures are not yet unlawful, and when points concerning civil liberties were mentioned by the witnesses they were cut short by the threat, "How would you like to be put under protective custody?” Rounding ont the events of the week, on Saturday, September 14, on the steps of the State House at Des Moines, a committee oi witnesses served notice on County Attorney Ewalt, Sheriff Jolmson and Mayor Goode that meetings would continue to be held and that protection hom mobs would be expected. Jolmson declared: <‘Well, it may be all right, but I tell you folks to stay out of Lacona. And I'll say it loud enough for everyone to hear, too. You stay out of Lacona!''

    The next morning, Sunday, September 15, Sheriff J obuson was in Lacona at 9: 00 a.m., and by V: 30 a.m. had sworn in 200 deputies, many of them being the mobsters of the previous Sunday. These, with 200 other men and U trucks, blockaded foT nve hours the four roads Jead-hig into Lacona. The men were armed with canes, rubber lwses and clubs, just to be sure there would be no violence. •When sixteen car groups of witnesses crone Sherif Johnson and his deputized mobsters tiu’ned them back ''You cadit have a Bible Lecture today or any other day!" ruled the sheriff. To the protests that his action constitnted a denial of constitutional gnarmitees the shortsighted little official decreed: "The Constitution does not enter in here !"

    This poor, befuddled sheriff contends that the blockade prevented violence. His surface-thinlrn1g does not let him realize that appeasement policies in Iowa or internationally, do not work. He feebly reasoned that the wav to halt violence was to cater to the mobsters, deputize them, and arm Hlem with ehibs to make theh^ violent work legal. To appease the mob he killed democratic rights. It never occurred to him that the true remedy might be to suppress the mobsters,

    Conspiracy Widespread

    The birth of mobocrocy in Lacona was literally a religiously "l)lessed event". The Record-Hemld and Indianola Tribune, chief propagajida organ for the bawling brat, said: 'Lacona has Methodist, Catholic, Christian, Nazarene and Lutheran churches. Never were they all so united and pulling together as they are at this time." Mayor Goode said those in Lacona who wanted to go to church that blockade Sunday could, hut that “there wasn’t very many attending though because they were all too busy". This matches the boasting of a Catholic hoy to his boss, who is friendly with but not one of .Jehovah's witnesses. The Catholic youth bragged that all they liad to do was calJ different towns arotmd to get 500 men for the Lacona riot. After the blockade he told how they had a big feed in the Catholic church and that the "Fathei"' blessed them on the good work they ltad done. This Catholic youth also verified other reports that there were not very many G.I/s, but mostly Catholic boys, and that some of the G.I!s got mixed up in it.

    Other facts accumulate to prove the existence of quite a conspiracy_ The American Legion, notorious devotees of mobocracy where .Jehovah's witnesses are involved, played host to the blockad-ers, chicken dinners being served them in the American Legion Hall. Stanley Prall, the attorney tlmt clefenUed the six mobsters that were on trial, and was recently installed Legion commander of Warren Post No. Hi5, was on hand at the blockade "to observe". Twelve state highway patrolmen, who could uot get to the riot the Sunday previous to suppress the mobsters, could very easily and very early get to the blockade this Sunday, ‘‘to direct traffic," they said. Meaning to direct the cars of the witnesses away from Lacona? Attorney General Ranldn did not attend the blockade, but he opined that the local authorities were “justified in blockading the town".

    Present also were Sheriff Hemert of Marion county and Sheriff Neidt of Lucas county. Sheriff Johnsou said he had called them in ‘‘because there was tt possibility of the Jehovah's witnesses moving into one of those counties to hold their rrwetiugs and I wouldn't have jurisdiction". Thus he betrayed that it was not just a meeting in Lacona's town square he was out to stop to prevent violence. He was out to hound the witnesses ancl halt tlieir meetings in other counties. After all, an aspiring dictator likes to bave nwre than nne little county in which to maneuver his storm-troopers. Not only from Lacona, but also from Liberty Center (a laughable misnomer), Woodburn, Milo, Indianola, and other surrounding towns the blockaders eame. ( A recruit from Milo blustered: "VVe're ready to move any place u the county that they try to liold a meeting."

    To aid readers to gauge the shallow logic of Sheriff Johnson, this statement of his to a committee of the witnesses is presented: ''None ol' us wanted the war, but if we hadn't gone over there. they would have come over here, and you wouldn't be able to hold u meeting any place." How hollow hls foolish reasoning, NOVEMBER 22, 1946 when at that very moment he was denying them that very right, despite the war fought to preserve sucli rights! Wliat prompted his statement was the fact that Jehovah's witnesses, a society of ministers, did not serve iu the army. He forgot that the Selective Service Act exempted ministers.

    Public Opinion

    Several fme editorials appeared in the public press condemning lawless Lacona, and many letters frow citizens in Iowa joined in the protest. T'lw Des Moines Register fairly reported the outbreak of moh rule, and editorially spoke like real .Americans, though they did not fully approve of Jehovah's witnesses. The Record-Herald anC Indianola Tribune took strong exception to tile Register's editorials, but, since its logic and rebuttal were about as shallow us Sheriff Jolmson's, they carried no weight.

    Several letters published in the Des Moines Register were from G.I.'s . .A few excerpts follow:

    The ,.A.miericon flag is not a god, but it is the symbol of religious freedom and guarantees to the American people the right to worship GuU in any manner they choose , And the police of the country are hired and paid with the people's nwney, including the memhei'S of Jehovah's witnesses' tax money, to keep the peace.

    For any group, be they the American Legion, V.F.W. or what have you, to take the American lisg, aw) lend it to acts of violence on another group or .American eitizens, such as was alluwlik to happcu in Lacona, Ia., is downright disgusting. If the V.F.W. allows its members to desecrate the .<\.:mieriean flag, like tJiose misguided men Cid at Lacona, I am ashamed oi my membership in such an organi-zatiun.—Dan Harvey, H02 N. Second st., Olin-ton, la.

    I am not a Jehovah's witness and never ('ould he one. But I also rlid not spend about three years of my life in the a:my, mostly overseas in Europe, in order that a few rnis-guided fellow citizens migbt indulge in fascist

    IS tendencies ou a miniature scale hack home in Iowa. Most of my buddies \vith whom I served, 1 am sure would agree with me.

    I am sure the erring few people of Lacona and Warren county "talk’3 democracy, but "your actions speak so much louder than your words that I cannot tell what you ure saying''. —Dwight N. Crotenhouse, Orange City, la.

    The Des Moines Register said, in part, in its issue of September 17, in an editorial entitled ''Not Something to Be Proud Of”:

    A sheriff and his deputies are not authorized to tyrannize the highways. The citizens of Iowa towns are not authorized to determine who muy and who may not enter their boundaries. Not without a court order based on some charge or evidence, at least.

    So if there is to be any more of this—either in Warren eounty or elsewhere—we suggest that the local citizens and especially the public officials begin observing the laws that they are sworn to uphold, and confine themselves to that. As leaders of mobs, they doift add much to anybody's pride in Iowa.

    The Laeonan mobocrats may babble volumes about Americanism, but their actions insult the flag, the Constitution and democracy. 'Che Supreme Court of their nation and the Supreme Court of their state have ruled that Jehovah's witnesses have the right to do what they were doing in Lacona. But lawless souls in Warren county can only wave the flag and clothe their anarchy in its colorful folds; they cannot understand the principles for which it stands. To them it is an image without meaning. They disobey America's laws, her Constitution, Jhu' national and state supreme courts. and trample underfoot her democratic principles of freedom. Their actions would harmonize better with a swastika.

    As for Jehovah’s witnesses, they are now carrying the battle for fl'eedon into the federal courts to restore rights of speech, assembly and worship in' War- • ren county. A.n injunction is being sought to prevent Sheriff Jolmson, Mayor Goode and Marshal McFarland from interfering with Bible lectures. Awake! will report the outcome.

    American Legion Slipping

    Ballyhooed in advance as America's biggest convention, the national convention of the American Legion recently held in Sun Francisco was no ul.tnction to wan vetcruns. Instead of the previously announced 150,000 trong, Legionnaires registered were only 25,000; and instead of the 14-honr parade advertised, ouly some 10.000 to 12i000 marchers participated in a disappointing 4-hour march. The 1651000 Legionnaires right in California did not bother to turn out for the conveution. Of the 120 special ti’ans &i'Tangecl for, only 7 were used. Trade in Sun Francisco wus desultory, and businessmen suid that they “discovered Legionnaire.s were light spenders while ther presence scared away much of the normal trude''. Legion offieials were u<iublc to explain the small attendant- nml Le'gionnnires were so scarce around 'Friseo that the newspapers said trying to count th<.>m wns like trying to deteiwine how many needles there are in u hnystack—you have to find tbern first. They were referred to llS "Lost Legionnaires". Signifieaut wna this observation, appearing in the San Francisco Chronicle of 03toher 2, concerning the parade: "Look at tbc delegations ns they swing by. Tberc isn't a bnndful of youngsters in any 01111 of them—no World War II men at aU, compared to the number of old boys fmm World War I." (Peak attendance at the Glad Nntions Theocratic Assembly of Jehovah's witnesses in Cleveland in Angust wns 80,000.)

    And 'fhere Shall Be

    EARTHQUAKES"

    THIS earth of ours has been trembling and quakmg as long as man has been upon it. The oldest history book in the world, the .Bible, mentions several eartli-qnnkes that occurred before Christ. In the days of Dzziah there was one. (Amos 1 : 1 : Zechariah 14: 5) Isaiah promised tha.t one would come "to Ariel, the city where David dwelt". (Isaiah 29: 1, 6) EJlijah the prophet experienced one when in Mount Horeb.—1 Kings 19: 11.

    The apostles that asked Jesus what would be signs of His second presence and the time of the setting up of His kingdom knew of these former earthquakes. So when Jesus said, among other things, that “there shall be earthquakes in divers places', the apostles knew that the evidence of His presence would be so Rtrong, literally earthshaking, that none could deny the evidence of it. (Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11; Matthew 24:7) At the death of Jesus there was an earthquake, and another at the time of His resurrection. (Matthew 27: 54; 28: 2) About seventeen years later there was an earthquake that broke open the prison at Philippi where Paul and Silas were , held. (Acts 16: 26) But none of these were of sufficient magnitude to constitute the earthquaking "sign", nor did the apostles think that tliey were.

    Thereafter as men watched for the ful-tillment of .J etlus' great prophecy they be-<:'Atie interested in the phenomenon of earthquakes. They began to record the areas affected, the frequency of occurrence, and the damage and loss of life suffered. They devised sensitive inshu-NOVEMBER 2:Z, 1946 ments known a:> seismographs, whicJi were able to record the time, length and tY}je of not only the major and minor shocks hut E>ven the tremors of low intensity.

    The woild's eartJjquake belt is eastward through the Mediterrcmean, Turkey, Persia and the Netherlands East Indies to New Zealand; thence up the Pacific shore through Japan to Alasl\u and down again along the western shore of North and South America to Cape Horn with a loop urouncl the Caribbean sea. lil these areas it is wise for the builder to erect his Jiou::;e on solid rock,* as the motion of eartb particles in solid substances is only a fraction ol' an inch, whereas soft earth is thrown into the air like the billowi of Ute sea when earthquake waves pass beneatli it. Tbis was observed in the l,i:.;hon, San Francisco and Valparaiso eartliqnakes.

    It has Iwon leanied hom the study of earthquakes that there are three general types of vibrations or waves, known as longitudinal. transverse and surface waves. Each lias ih; own peculiar behavior. Longitudinal waveis travel faster than the other two: transverse waves do not pas8 through substance; sneh as liquids and gases ; aud snr!'aee waves cause buildings to rock like a wagon when It i8 driven over a rough road. ..Major earthquakes that cause great havoc are made up of a combination of these three types of waves. Heavy destruction also results when earthquakes occurring beneath ilie surface of the sea cause great waves to sweep over cities.

    There are several tlieoiies advanced

    as to the causes for the teiTifying phe

    nomenon of earthquakes. Generally it is believed that they are caused by a slippage of the earth's ernst; but what causes this slip page is not too well under

    stood. Tlte collapse of subterranean caverns; the explosions of volcanoes; the falling of underwater cliffs to the ocean floor; the explosion of superheated Rteam below the ocean bottom, are all thought to be causes for earthquakes. The moon's pull on weakened areas of the earth's crust, similar to the moon's pull on the oceans that cause the rise and fall of the tides, is also thought by some to be a cause for slippage . expla

    nation is that the slow cooling process of the earth's surface causes a shrinkage which gives rise to internal stresses that in time cause breaks and faults to occur, which in turn cause great earth-shatiugs.

    that the end of this present evil world was at hand. What do we fnd to lie lie case¥

    Only a partial listing of the earthquakes that have occurred since 1914 is here published.

    VEAP.

    LOCATION

    KILLED

    PROPERTY DAMAGE

    Italy, Sicily

    Italy, Avezzano

    39,000

    6 I arge cities razed

    Gtiatemnla

    2,500

    Pueo^to Rico

    igg

    $34,000,000 loss

    Italy. Mugeiio

    Java

    5,100

    Mexico, Orlzaba

    3,000

    China. Kansu Argentina

    200,000

    10 cities razed

    Persia

    4,600

    6 towns destroyed

    Japan, Tokyo.Yokohama 142,807

    $900,000,000

    702,495 homes destroyed

    Japan. Kyoto Palestine

    3,274 1,000

    $7,000,000 loss

    China, Kansu

    100,000

    4 cities destroyed

    Japan, Sapporo

    B.alkan Peninsula

    275,000 homeless

    Outch East Indies

    1,200

    2,000

    Persia

    100 buildings destroyed

    Italy, southern

    1,475

    Turkey

    1,000

    10,000 homeleaa

    Burma, Pegu

    3,000

    Persia

    2,000

    Italy, Naples

    2,142

    Siberia

    Nlcaraoua, Managua

    2,000

    $70,000.000 toss

    New Zealand

    (932

    China, Kansu

    70,000

    Greece

    3,000 homes destroyed loss

    California

    $60,000,000 loss

    Japan, Honshu

    "1,536

    India, Nepal

    20,000

    Mexico. Jalisco

    200,000 homeless

    Persia, Mazanderan

    Foo^mosa

    3,185

    $28,0001000 loss

    Northern Iran

    …