Awake!, December 8, 1951
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ATOMIC POWER
Incredible energy for military and industrial use!
Science Trips the Evolution Fable
Collision with fact strips myth of its glory
Meet Mr. Kidney!
Chief purifier and regulator of body liquids
Clergy’s Kingdom Part of This World
Are modern Catholic martyrs champions
■Bwft of truth or plotters of intrigue?
DECEMBER 8, 1951 semimonthly
THE MISSION OF THIS JOURNAL
News sources that are able to keep you awake to the vital Issues of cur times muat.be unfettered by censorship and selfish interests. “Awake r* has no fetters. It recognizes facts* faces facts* is free to publish facts. It is npt bound by political ambitions or obligations; it is unhampered by advertisers whose toes must not be trodden on; it is unprejudiced by traditional creeds. This journal keeps itself free that it may speak freely to you. But it does not abuse its freedom. It maintains integrity to truth.
“Awake 1” uses the regular news channels* but is not dependent on them. Its own correspondents are on all continents, in scores of nations. From the four corners of the earth their uncensored, on*the-scenes reports come to you through these columns. This journal’s viewpoint is not narrow, but is international It is read in many nations, in many languages, by persons of all ages. Through its pages many fields of knowledge pass in review—government, commerce, religion, history, geography, science, social conditions, natural wonders—why, its cover* age Is as broad as the earth and as high as the heavens.
“Awake I” pledges itself io righteous principles, to exposing hidden foes and subtle dangers, to championing freedom for all, to comforting mourners and strengthening those disheartened by the failures of a delinquent world, reflecting sure hope for the establishment of a right* eous New World.
Get acquainted with “Awake!” Keep awake by reading “Awake 1”
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CONTENTS
Clergy's Kingdom Part of This World 3 Atomic Power—Incredible Energy for
Military and Industrial Use!
Nuclear-powered Aircraft
Beauty Is Only Skin Deep
The Bishop Receives a Witness
“Salute the Priest First”
The Chao Phya River
—Siam’s Servant
“Clean Own House”
New Zealand Re-elects Its Nationalist Government
Meet Mr. Kidney!
Science Trips the Evolution Fable
The Unbridged Gaps Between Kinds 20
Heredity—by Evolution or Creation?
“Your Word Is Truth"
Maimer of the Bible's Inspiration
Youth Sacrificed on a Modem Altar
Watching the World
zuazake:/
£/ “Now it is high time to awake."—Romans 13:11 $
Volume XXXII
Brooklyn, N. Y,, December 8, 19S1
Number 23
Clergy’s Kingdom Part of This World
Are modern Catholic “martyrs" champions of truth or plotters of Intrigue?
HE Roman Catholic Church is having more troubles behind the “iron curtain”. On June 29, 1951, in Budapest, Archbishop Josef Groesz was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for plotting to overthrow the communist government of Hungary.
That a professed Christian should be in court should not alone be shocking. Was not Jesus Christ, the gr$at founder of Christianity, railroaded through a mock trial in a “packed court” at the climax of his stay on earth? Did he not foretell for his true followers a constant state of alienation with the old world?—John 15:18-21; 2 Corinthians 4:4; James 4:4.
But when Jesus’ case is examined, any favorable comparison with papal Rome bogs down. Press reports direct from Budapest described the archbishop, under questioning, as “calm and speaking quietly and distinctly”, as he “confessed in detail to charges in a 12-page indictment”. Specifically, Groesz, successor of Josef Cardinal Mindszenty, sentenced to life imprisonment on similar charges by the Hungarian government in 1949, admitted that he had planned in detail a new royalist regime to succeed the present communist government upon its successful overthrow. Said the United Press report: “Groesz said he had been prepared to take over as chief of state of Hungary if the Communist regime were overthrown, in the absence of Archduke ptto.” A note of surprise was added on the closing day pf the trial with news that, in addition to Archbishop Groesz and his associates on trial with him, six other members of the Hungarian episcopate had been implicated in conspiracy against the government. One of these, Bishop Endre Hamvas of Csand, admitted guilt in return for being released from trial. He gave his promise to become a “fully loyal citizen and abstain from any political activity”. Two monks in the group on trial with Groesz readily accepted their imprisonment and refused to appeal. Reports commented that all had “confessed fluently on the witness stand”. Ferenc Vecer, a Paul-ist monk, confessed to the slaying of a Russian soldier and the organizing of a band of peasants who killed thirty more.
To the actions of the Hungarian government, Vatican retort was quick and fierce. AH Catholic parties instrumental in any way in the trying and convicting of the archbishop and his associates were summarily excommunicated. Groesz’ treatment was termed “sacrilegious”. The Vatican newspaper, LJOsservatore Romano, called the trial result a “flagrantly unjust verdict” and a “cold-blooded crime”.
But, despite the Vatican’s formal protest, little of the sentimental gush that two years earlier accompanied the Mind-szenty trial was evident. In the former case it will be recalled how Rome’s propaganda drive dramatically charged that the cardinal's confession had been obtained through use oPdrugs. Such claims along with wordy repetitions of “mock trial”, “travesty of justice,” etc., constituted virtually the entire Vatican case. After sober reflection, thinking persons saw through such flimsy pretext Mindszenty’s confession was buttressed with documentary evidence of his guilt found on his premises.
Furthermore, it was disclosed that had she wished, Rome could likely have recalled the cardinal before the trial, and the communist government would have offered no argument provided he did not return to the country. Regarding the similar Case of Yugoslavia’s Archbishop Stepi-nac, the New York Times, as late as July 5, 1951, reported that Tito’s government was willing to release the imprisoned prelate if Rome would immediately recall him. But Rome continues to reject such offers. She claims this is because that would provide an admission of guilt. Yet her prelates, seemingly provide all the admissions needed at the time of trial Is this the real reason? Of course, had these men been jerked out of the crucible before the worst heat was turned on, their names might not have provided such glittering subjects for the naming of new schools, etc. Could this fact have anything to do with it?
Responsible sources at length debunked the dope claim in the Mindszenty case, and this time it was decidedly soft-pedaled. Finally, on July 5, the New York Times reported that the hierarchy of Hungarian bishops formally condemned the course taken by Groesz and tacitly admitted the charges against him were true.
We must weigh the merits of these “communist victims” against the measure of Jesus’ standard for Christian persecution. As with Cardinal Mindszenty, no charges respecting the defendants’ religious worship were voiced. Freely and “fluently” they confessed, not to the missionary activities of Christians, but to the conspiracies of common political meddlers-Further incriminating these men is the historical fact that for as long as they have existed Catholic clerics have been notorious for just such intrigue. To take just a few modern examples, recall their open machinations in Mussolini's Italy, Hitler’s Germany, Petain’s France, Franco’s Spain; think of her current political war with communism in Italy and of her “church states” in Latin America. -
Though falsely charged, did Jesus confess to any political conspiracy? No, for he had stayed clear of politics. To Pilate he said in unmistakably clear language: “My kingdom is no part of this world. If my kingdom were part of this world, my attendants would have fought that I should not be delivered up to the Jews. But, as it is, my kingdom is not from this source.” —John IS:36, New World Trans.
If behind only a mask of Christianity the clergy conspire against worldly governments, they must expect the natural harvest of such hypocrisy. God’s Word, by which they claim to be guided, warns them: “But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or a railer, or a coveter of other men’s things.”—1 Peter 4:15, Catholic Douay Ver.
Clergy meddlers prove that their “kingdom” is part of this world. Their hopes are in the world. They conspire with the world. They involve themselves in intrigue. If caught they must suffer the consequences. Certainly no Bible standard can save them. The harsh and totalitarian nature of the government they worked against in no way lessens the wrongfulness of their course. They have taken the sword. Thus the Bible rules they must perish by it.—Matthew 26:52.
the- payoff when the prmfe*® of atomic power begin showing wk dence of fuJ.fl.Ilm ent.
To. understand the incredible ener* gy involved, merely recall that the heat that: diwived Hiroshima and Nagasaki six years ago was released in one-millionth of a second. When this is slowed down the enormow power of the atom becomes available to'drive turbines, wheels and pro pelters. One pound of fissioning U-235 releases hekt equal to that of nwra than 2,000,000 pound® of coal or
IneredMe Energy for Military anti Industrial Use!
Q T.AHTL1NG developments, with stupen-Odous po&sMite have recently been mmounced! Promises of atomic*powered submarines?, planes and industries, of a, few pounds of fuel lasting indefinitely, of planes that could circle die earth without landing and submarines that could travel undetected beneath enemy waters without surfacing, of war weapons more -devastating than ever before; all are now possible and some are already being built.
Perhaps this recalls the promises heard some time ago of uranium pills to run cars and home heaters, of atomic furnaces to melt the Greenland icecap and snake a garden out of Alaska.. Tho$e. promised were nonseme, but: the submarine, airplane and weapons are drawing rapidly nearer.
There is much speculation con* earning them, and sometimes it is contradictory, because, due to military security, news of atomic (tevetopments is often confused and vague. Yet startling- development, formerly hidden, have now been revealed. The signing of contracts for a. nuclear-powered submarine and an- atomic
360,000 gallons of gasoline. On. the basis of the enei*gy released by the bombs dropped on Japan, 6 tons, 12,000 pounds of matter, would ..produce 150,000,000,000 kilowatt hours, the power needs of the United States for a. year!'
A FantaOc Ftete/wo Cr«O
It has long been obvious that the sub* marine would probably be the first craft propelled by atomic* power. This is because the government hold®, the atomic' know* how; because ■ the high cost of atomic ex* periments b no obstacle to military lead*-ers-f. and because the submarine probably above all other craft, can put the atom's tro mendous power to the'greatest u&e, Also, the surroundiing water provider a natural shield, against, radiations. Such a submarine would have almost unlimited range, fmv tastic power and speed—perhaps twice the speed of ordinary subs—and be better equipped for its clandestine excursions into enemy waters to strike, dragonlike, from below the seas.
One method M olfrtahihi# p^wer from atuiniic ^0*
:Heat frw. pile can 1:x> by a hat ftui.d to a
heat exchanger where it producer steam to drive a W* bines,, which turns a generator that produces power ter (dec trie ■ motors
Back in 1947 Admiral Chester Nimitz, chief of naval operations, said an atomic submarine would be "militarily desirable’*. By 1950 the Atomic Energy Commission admitted it was working on models of ship propulsion reactors (the heat-producing unit of an atomic engine), and a recent estimate was that the nuclear-powered submarine would be completed late in 1953 □r early 1954, but Look (September 11) predicted it would be six to eight years before the first one actually sees service
in its controlled atomic reactor the fissionable material will simmer slowly and develop tremendous heat, which can be converted into steam to drive the sub. Just how this will be done is a military secret, but the atomic "fires” (though there is no flame, tremendous heat is involved) will probably heat a molten metal that will flow into a heat exchanger to produce steam that could turn a conventional turbine to propel the boat.
A different theory was proposed by the New York Times (August 23), which said, "It has been estimated that such a craft might have a surface speed of sixty-five miles an hour--.. screws are no more efficient at sixty-five miles per hour than are airplane propellers at six hundred.” It then offered the suggestion that the sub might be propelled by water drawn directly into its atomic reactor, heated tremendously and exploded, jet fashion out the rear. Thus the "nuclear heat [would be] converted directly into jet driving force without going through the ‘heat cycle' used in all other engines”. This water, the Times proposed, might also serve as a radiation shield for the submarine and help dissipate dangerous radiation into the sea.
The main problem is not in “controlling” the atomic energy. This is comparatively simple. The nuclear reactor is easy to operate, but difficult to build; hence the big problem is in the engine’s design and construction.
Any information concerning its design or method of operation must obviously be mere speculation, but it can be based on known principles, Hence the comments of authorities can be only "intelligent guesses”, for, outside the project, no one actually knows how the sub will be powered, and obviously the navy is not expected to tell. It has, however, indicated in its publication All Hands (October 12) that definite choice had not yet been made between two types of reactors that could be used to power the sub.
The Sub's Advantages
The military advantages of such an atomic denizen of the deep are obvious. The atomic engine needs no oxygen, and such an engine has been the submariner's dream. With it a sub should be able to travel submerged for prolonged periods at fantastic speeds;
According to Popular Mechanics (May, 1951) Vice-Admiral Charles Lockwood said that America’s atomic submarine will "outrun, outfight and Gutmaneuver any underwater or surface craft in the world. She’ll have four times the horse-power of her most powerful diesel sisters. , , . Her range will be globe-girdling.... Her super-streamlined hull, designed primarily for underwater cruising, will make her faster when submerged than when operating on the surface—an unheard of thing in modern subs. She is expected to cruise down there at 25 to 30 knots”. This article says that air for the crew can be banked at three- to four-day intervals by a small, inconspicuous, retractable snorkel (an air intake for submerged subs) and that the
“atomic engine is expected to run so quietly that enemy electronic ears will not, in most cases, be able to hear her. Even if they do”, it said, “her fantastic underwater speed will carry her safely out of danger before an enemy ship could turn around.” Further concerning the speed of the “gigantic” atomic submarine, the October 12 All Hands said it would reach 35 knots underwater, a fantastic speed, as yet untested new submarines are not expected to exceed 25 knots.
The range and cruising radius of such a boat would be limited only by the crew’s stamina. This publication said a “single charge” of uranium would propel the craft “tens of thousands of miles”. Of its incredible possibilities, Life (September 3) said, “A sub that never had to surface could travel under ice through the northern routes of the Barents sea to Murmansk or through the Dardanelles into the Black sea.” Does that sound fantastic? Then remember, atomic power w fantastic!
Nuclear-powered Aircraft
Work on the sub is an intermediate step to atomic flight. Last March 23 the Air Force and Atomic Energy Commission announced that authorization had been given for negotiation of a contract “for the further development of a nuclear reactor for aircraft”. Contracts have now been awarded for both the plane and its engine.
This atomic monster, which may dwarf even the huge B-36 bomber, is not expected to be flight-tested before 1955 or 1956, Meanwhile many design problems will be faced. For example, present planes use up a good part of their fuel In flight, and are built to land with much of their weight gone, but this will not be the case with an atomic plane which will use up none of its weight before landing. Also, pilots rely on quick power response when they overshoot a field and must regain altitude quickly, and the atomic plane’s response in such a circumstance may be slower. Another factor that must be considered is the danger of radiation from a smashed engine if a crash occurs m a thickly settled section.
Much speculation about its appearance has been made. David A. Anderton predicted in Aviation Week (June 11) that the “first nuclear-energy-powered aircraft m all likelihood will be a huge flying boat”, which would not be concerned about runway lengths and could be tested in isolated areas. The Los Angeles Examiner (February 23) suggested a flying wing as a possible atomic plane design. But no one aside from the men who are working on it knows how it will look, and even the experts’ guesses may be far wrong.
The engines for the atomic plane and submarine will no doubt be similar. Several principles are known that might be used in the plane. The reactor's heat could develop steam to drive the propellers, but such a plane would, of course, be limited to the speed of any other propellered craft. If the first or later models are supersonic, turbojets might be used; with the jet’s power being provided by the reactor’s heat. The May issue of Popular Mechanics went so far as to suggest the possibility of a ramjet, with the air going right through the reactor to be heated, expanded and exploded violently out the rear.
Whatever method is used, the plane’s practically unlimited power should enable it to strike any point on earth and return to any other point without refueling. It should ride out any length of bad-weather traffic over an airport, and never be subject to power failure on a landing or takeoff. Scientists have suggested that a single pound of Uranium-235, the material used in atomic bombs, has enough energy to drive a giant B-36 bomber 80 times around the globe.
For General Power?
Another field in which atomic energy is causing much discussion is that of the power companies that generate electricity for general use. Its cost will probably be prohibitive for many years to come. However, some engineers believe it may prove an important source of power within twenty years, if only in regions that have no cheap coal, oil or water power. Before this can be done, the amount of fissionable material, which is not great, will have to be vastly increased. Otherwise the atomic age will never live up to its advance claims.
Some background information will enable you to understand this. Take a pound of uranium. It is 40 per cent heavier than lead, so a pound is not large, but smaller, in fact, than a penny matchbox. It is difficult to mine and refine, so this pound costs about $50. However, it cannot produce power. In it is a mixture of atoms of two different weights. For each U-235 atom (the one needed for power) there are 140 of U-238. Gigantic plants like the one at Oak Ridge must be used to separate the U-235 from U-238. Even after they are separated, if we get a full pound of U-235, it still would not fire a reactor. It will not react until a larger amount is present, and when that quantity is present it. reacts automatically. (Incidentally, that is why “uranium pills” cannot run cars and home heaters.)
Tests are under way at Arco, Idaho, to find a way to create new nuclear fuel faster than it is consumed, and these tests may contribute greatly to the development of atomic power. The Arco experiment will attempt to “breed” more and more atomic fuels. Scientists have known that when U-238 (the non-fissionable or unusable part of uranium) was put in a reactor with U-235 and bombarded, it changed into plutonium, which does fission, and hence can be used. They have likewise discovered that another substance, thorium, does the same thing, and it is vastly more plentiful than uranium. They believe U-235 will make twice its weight in both these other products, and that they will then fnake more of themselves. If the Arco work, appropriately labeled "operation bootstrap”, succeeds, then atomic development will have received a tremendous boost.
Atomic Evils to End
Present development, however, is not particularly concerned with peacetime uses. It is on a wartime basis. The atomic sub, plane and bomb are designed for destructive use. Tests in Nevada indicate atomic weapons for use against combat troops in the field have probably been developed. President Truman’s request for $5,000,000,000 more for the hydrogen bomb gives strong evidence it will be built. Senator McMahon, head of the Joint Congres; sional Committee on Atomic Energy, said (September 18) that destruction equaling all that was caused “in the rain of bombs that fell upon Germany across the six-year span of World War H” could now be accomplished by the United States in a single day. He asked for mass production of bombs “at less than the cost of a single tank”, and said, “There is virtually no limit . . . upon the number of atomic bombs which the United States can manufacture.”
Man continues to turn his constructive instruments to destructive purposes. Yet with all of his new-found wisdom, no scientist will ever be able to disprove the fact that Jehovah God created the awe-inspiring power within the tiny atom. He is a God of power, and can easily muster what he needs to permanently abolish man’s evil deeds. Then, in peace, the instruments of war will be replaced once and for all with instruments having constructive uses. Read it in your own Bible at Micah 4:3, 4.
BEAUTY
IS ONLY SKIN DEEP
influence their lives, they have been affected. There can be no deny-
PHRASED according to the Biblical proverb, our title would read, “Grace is deceitful, and beauty is vain?’ (Proverbs 31:30, Am. Stan. Ver.) All must be aware of the modem trend toward the overemphasis on physical charm. No, there is nothing wrong with beauty itself. Look abroad at the physical glories of the splendid earth. Evidently its Creator did not purpose that the globe’s human caretakers should move about amid such beauty, themselves ashen-faced and garbed in black. The Bible does not condemn the “beautiful and well-favoured” Rachel, nor David for his “beautiful countenance”. (Genesis 29:17; 1 Samuel 16:12) Only the Devil’s purpose can be served by purposely mutilating the body or tattooing the skin. —Leviticus 19:28.
But with some persons decking the outward skin with surface charm has reached the point where little else matters. But this can no more preserve an individual from corruption than can material possessions do so for nations. Though the United States i& the most favored land on earth materially, her former president, Herbert Hoover, on August 30, 1951, lamented for the future as he lashed bitterly at “a cancerous growth of intellectual dishonesty in public life which is mostly beyond the law”.
A nation is only a collection of individuals. And the way in which the citizens individually fill their minds and occupy their time will affect the great mental register of the whole country. Women have been hardest hit by the growth of the “beauty cult”. But neither have the men been immune, If only to the extent that women
■ing the mutual sex attraction that makes male and female interdependent. In the beginning, was not woman brought into existence for the very purpose of complementing the man and serving as his able helpmate? Would the influence be for good or for evil? Adam caved in to sex attraction and was drowned by Eve’s beauty and charm to the extent that all other vision, even of his Creator, was blotted out Such unwise choice of values has marked history from then till now, always with disastrous effects.
Hollywood “Touches Up” Delilah
What of Samson and Delilah? How craftily the Devil there used the surface charm of an inwardly rotten woman to trap the integrity of one of God’s servants! Though mighty Samson recovered and repented, he paid bitterly for his folly.
Of course, a modem world, strong for entertainment and weak in Bible knowledge, may be unaware of any but the movie version of the above drama. And since Hollywood is a chief patron of the beauty cult, producers of the film “Samson and Delilah” could hardly bear to let the charming celluloid Delilah wilt away to a cheap sorceress. Hasty adaptations and the famed “Hollywood touch” saved the day and swung her over at the last moment, making her an indispensable contrlb-utor to Samson’s final victory over the heathen Philistines, Not content with warping Samson’s life to where he would have difficulty in recognizing it iiimself, they are currently doing the same thing for King David in the highly touted '’David and Bathsheba”.
Thus are lives and action, the record of which is divinely inspired and preserved for learning in today’s critical times, distorted when fed to a mentally and spiritually impoverished twentieth-century public, The high priests of the "charm sect” must first subordinate everything of true value to sensual beauties and sex appeal, before they minister it to their flocks. Bemoaning the ever-growing tide of public adulation of celebrities, a reader wrote to Time magazine: “perhaps if democracy could find some way to glamorize its better elements, the people wouldn’t fall for so much that is trivial.”
A Look magazine report from Argentina says: "You learn it takes a beauty parlor to make the average American woman presentable, a can opener to get her through the preparation of a meal/' No; America still has a few good cooks. But if the popular trend toward the trivial were followed to the end, little if any time would be left for practical use of the country’s great resources.
To be sure, care for one’s natural features in a tasty and artful manner can work no harm. And discreet use of such artificial aids as cosmetics does not infer that the user has swallowed all the spouting of fantastic adsf such as th£ single package of assorted perfumes that promised to make their user a 'minx, magnet, table-hopper, town trotter, clinging vine, hanky-dropper, flirt, puzzle, fabulous, one dripping jewels, unforgettable, frail, feminine and still a deep, dark secret’. Furthermore, especially since women ate probably judged on observation much more than men, it is only sensible for them to care for the visible evidence. This they can do simply through ordinary cleanliness, selection of clothes, not necessarily expensive, that suit them, and care for small details in appearance, like the arrangement of their hair, their poise in walking, standing, sitting, or just their choice of words and tone of voice.
A "Rogues’ Gallery" of Beauties
But when all such exterior beauty and grace are attained, what then? A girl may be graceful and beautiful in form and attire. Yet she may be completely devoid of all the finer things of life that have to do with her mental attitude and matters of personality and godly devotion and integrity. ’
A man may be gifted with fine features and a glib tongue. He may dress impeccably. Yet these things do not save him from shallow failure if he is vain, irresponsible and lacking in principle. He may be "all talk” or harsh and cruel or selfish and ruthless. Or he may supinely flatter women with meaningless phrase that encourages their wrong use of feminine charm and poise. Or, on the other extreme, he may be a “bruiser”, uncouth to fellow males and wholly lacking in gentlemanly respect for womankind. Whether in male or female, physical beauty and external refinement can cause persons to be high-minded, proud, self-centered, ill-tempered and ungodly in their thoughts and actions.
Do not say that this is being too imaginative. Consider some true case histories from a ''rogues’ gallery” of beauties. Satan the Devil, recall, was, at the time of his creation, glorious to behold and "perfect in beauty”. But a heart of pride overtook him, corrupting his beauty and brightness. (Ezekiel 28:11-17) Vashti, queenly wife of Ahasuerus, king of the Medo-Persian empire, was outwardly beautiful, "fair to look on"; but her disposition was so stubbornly selfish that she lost her royal estate to another that was “better than she*’. (Esther 1:10-12,19) “In all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him." Vet inside, in his heart and mind, Absalom was rotten to the core with jealousy, hatred and rebellion. (2 Samuel 14:25) Jesus denounced the hypocritical religious leaders of his day because they “outwardly indeed appear beautiful but inside are full of dead men’s bones and of every kind of uncleanness". They were like pretty flowerdecorated caskets that held within them decomposing corpses. Yes, indeed, an outward show of grace and beauty can certainly be deceiving and vain.—Matthew 23:27,28, New World Trans,
What* Then, Is Better than Beauty?
So the prominent ones of society in Jesus’ day proved false guides to those who wished to cultivate the truly sound values in life. And what do you think is the case today with those who would paint such a self-righteous surface over exposures of immorality and political corruption? What did former President Hoover have in mind but the cheapest criminal chicanery irrthe highest public offices?
What is better than physical beauty? You can find out from the Bible, the source so often rejected by the haughty fair ones of this world. The Bible proverb opening this article adds: “But a woman thatfeareth Jehovah, she shall be praised." (Proverbs 31:30, Am. Stan. Ver.) The one chosen as “better" than Vashti was Esther. She too “was fair and beautiful" and “obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her". But, in addition, she was completely unselfish, tender and full of compassionate love, and wholly devoted to the pure worship of Jehovah God, whom she reverently feared. Such fear gave her wisdom and understanding that was worth far more than gold or silver, more enduring than her fading fleshly beauty, winning for hgr the admiration of her associates and, what is more, the approval of the Giver of everlasting life.—Esther 2:7,15; Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 3:13-18.
Very soon the outward skin of thin deceit and vanity clothing the present wicked “system of things” will be shredded completely away in the great universal crime probe Jehovah God is now bringing to a climax revealing nothing of the old world worthy of continuance. Only the abiding qualities of true godliness will survive the searching test (2 Peter 3:8-13) Everyone can well afford to take stock of his own worthiness. Though a man has the comeliness of David, let him beware of the treachery of Absalom. Ladies, if you are as dazzling in beauty as Queen Esther, see to it that you are not hollow shells of vanity. Fill your minds and hearts with the same meekness, loving devotion and godly fear that saturated beloved Esther. With old-world standards perishing, all with hopes of life in the new world will be anxious to display its righteous standards now, keeping their minds on ‘whatever things are of serious concern, righteous, chaste, lovable, well spoken of, virtuous and praiseworthy1. (Philippians 4:8, New World Trans.) Thus adorned, whatever your physical grace and beauty now, in the new world you win be blessed with life eternal!
The Bishop Receives a Witness
Elsa is a 14-year-old miss who lives in Ecuador, and the only one in her family who is one of Jehovah's witnesses. A lady friend of hers has tried hard to get Elsa to go back to the church and make her first communion, but without success. One day, on her way home from a Bible study, Elsa and three children (whose mother also has a Bible study in her home) were playing in the park. The lady friend encountered them and asked Elsa if she wouldn't go with her to visit the bishop, as he lived just across the street from the park. Elsa, not being afraid of the bishop, consented to go. When they arrived the bishop's assistant met them at the door and the lady advised him that this was the young lady about whom they had spoken. They went in.
“What is your faith?’’ he asked Elsa. "I am one of Jehovah’s witnesses,” Elsa replied. “Who is Jehovah?” “Why, the name of Almighty God.” “Oh, no, the name of God is Joel—not Jehovah.” Elsa opened her Bible, which she had carried with her to the Bible study, and showed him Psalm 83:18. “Oh, that is according to your Protestant Bible and not the true Catholic Bible?' Elsa told him that there was no difference in the Bibles, they all showed God’s name to be Jehovah. “The only difference is that mine cost $12.00 (60 cents, U.S. currency) and yours $100.00.”
They talked about infierno and the soul, and Elsa explained that hell was a “place of rest in hope”, merely the grave. He asked her, “What about the text 'depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels?' ” Elsa replied that the fire was symbolical. “Then where do the wicked go?” “To the same place, to the grave, or hell.” “But what about the soul?” she was asked. Elsa quoted Genesis 2: 7, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” “No,” said the priest, “the soul of the good goes .to heaven and of the bad to hell.” Elsa asked him if he had ever seen a soul leave the body, she never had. “Then everybody dies just like the animals?” “Yes—the difference being that Christ died for the men and not for the animals.”
At this the assistant bishop took Elsa and the others into the office of the bishop himself, and related the conversation he had had with this “incorrigible” person, “Oh, you are condemned. You are lost!” the bishop told her. "But if you will confess and bow down before me, I will pardon you.” He would also pardon the other children, the bishop assured her, Elsa told him they would not do such a thing, “for,” said she, “when Cornelius bowed down before the apostle Peter, Peter said: 'Get up, I am a man like you are.'” Unabashed, the bishop continued: "Then you may confess standing up if you wish.” Elsa told him if she wished to confess anything she would confess "direct to God in secret”. “You are well instructed,” said he, “who has instructed you in this way?” Elsa told him about the American lady (missionary, graduate of Gilead school) who came and studied the Bible with the family. (The study is with the family but only Elsa has thus far taken a part in witnessing.) The bishop told her she was instructed well enough to teach catechism in the Catholic school, but Elsa refused. The offer of a medal for accepting likewise failed to move Elsa.
Finally Elsa said: “The Bible says that God told Adam he would have to earn his bread with the sweat of his brow. Why don't you work with the sweat of your brow, then?” That was too much for the bishop and the assistant bishop, and so they rose at once and left unceremoniously, leaving Elsa, her three playmates and the lady friend to And their own way to the door.
"Salute the Priest First”
C, The dignity of a priest is so elevated and sublime that If along the road we should meet a priest and an angel, we would salute the priest first.—Translated from the Catholic weekly La Union, August 10, 1951, published in Curacao, Netherlands West Indies.
THE
CHAO PIA RIVER
By “Awake!” corntpondent in Siam
SIAM’S SERVANT
most long-distance traveling, thousands each day depend upon the river for their transportation in boats both large and small.
WINDING its way downward through the rich rice fields of central Siam, passing countless water buffaloes and other life that line its banks, the River Chao Phya journeys southward to meet the sea. A short distance to the south of Bangkok,
Siam’s river port and capital city, the mighty river reaches its destination and flows, together with its load of yellow silt, into the blue waters of the Gulf of Siam.
This river, the Chao Phya, is more than just an ordinary river: it is the faithful servant of the kingdom of Siam and its millions of inhabitants. During the centuries past, and at the present time, it has been like a giant conveyor belt carrying southward from the rice fields the many barges loaded with rice to supply the people with their most important food, as well as to bring many fruits, vegetables, and other important items necessary for life.
Also, it has played an important part in the transportation of the Siamese people themselves. Until the coming of the railroad in comparatively recent years the means of travel and communication between the capital and the interior of Siam, to the north, was either by river boat on the Chao Phya or by traveling overland on the back of an
Elephant, the latter being an extremely arduous journey and often taking many months. Even today, although the train is used for
The name Chao Phya itself shows the great importance of this river to the nation, for Chao Phya is the highest honorary title that the king of Siam may bestow upon nobility. On some English-language maps of Siam the name of the river is given as “Menam”. This, however, is an error inasmuch as the word menam is simply the anglicized form of the Siamese word meaning 1‘river”. In keeping with the river's important relationship to Siamese life the correct name, Chao Phya, is very fitting indeed!
About twenty-five miles up the river from the gulf is situated Bangkok, Siam’s chief port and capital city. More than a million tons of rice each year sail down the Chao Phya from Bangkok harbor bound for many other countries throughout the world. At present, however, the harbor of Bangkok is accessible only to ships with cargo of 2,000 tons or less. This is due to a huge sand bar located at the riv-
er’s mouth, blocking passage of large ships.
Dredging of the bar at the mouth of the river would enable large vessels to enter the river and sajl all the way up to Bangkok to discharge their cargo directly at the piers. Plans to do this have been under way for sometime and work will soon begin on this great task of removing the sand bar. On June 23, 1951, the 288-foot dredging ship “Manhattan” arrived in Bangkok from the United States as a contribution from the United States Economic Co-operation Administration (ECA). Little by little the “Manhattan” will load the giant sand bar into her hold and carry it away for discharging at sea, and Bangkok will be able to take its place among the leading harbors of the East.
To the visitor to Siam a boat trip on the Chao Phya is an unusual and never-to-be-forgotten experience. In many places tall, swaying coconut palms, banana plants, bamboo, and other beautiful foliage line the banks. Along the entire length of the river are to be seen thousands of Buddhist temples (wats) with their colorfully painted three-tier roofs, and numerous pagodas, some of which reach more than 200 feet into the sky.
Life on the River
On the river itself are boats and ships of all sizes and descriptions, from small sampans on up to the large commercial ships and naval vessels that sail between Bangkok and the sea. What attracts the eye most, however, are the small boats, usually about 15 to 20 feet in length, filled with bananas, pineapples, and other fruits and vegetables on the way to the market. Many of the small boats are also filled with passengers, sitting on the floor of the boats, on their way across the river. Standing at the rear tip of his boat the oarsman skillfully heaves his weight forward against the long oar and the boat literally jumps ahead through the water. Often one sees behind the oars women and girls dressed in colorful sarongs or other attire, barefoot, and frequently wearing atop their heads a large, round-brimmed hat made from dried palm leaves, 'pieir skill is no less than that of the meri.
Another frequent sight on the river, especially to the north of Bangkok, is the long chains of rice barges, being pulled by small tugboats, winding along down the river on their way to the rice mills at Bangkok, So loaded with golden grain are they that care must be taken when larger ships are passed that waves of water do not splash up over the side into the rice. Seeing their chance for a free ride, naked little boys swimming in the river catch hold of the barges and of the tow ropes that connect the barges and cling like little human barnacles as they enjoy their ride down the stream. The children can swim like little fishes.
Thousands of people make their homes here along the banks of the Chao Phya. Most of them live in unpainted, bungalowtype houses on stilts with roofs made from dried palm leaves; while others live in floating houses and boats that can be moved to any location along the river that may suit their fancy or convenience. For these thousands of river dwellers the ever-flowing water of the Chao Phya is an important thing indeed, for their entire life revolves around the river. Bathing of the entire family, from baby to grandfather, is done in the river. Dishes are washed in the river. Vegetables are washed in the river. Clothes are washed in the river. And some people, living where water from other sources is not available, purify the river water with alum and use it for drinking. Truly life here is simple!
How different from the complex life in the land of washing machines, bathtubs, and double garages! If little Junior needs a bath, mother or sister just leads him by the arm to the front porch, dips some water out of the river, pours it over Junior, and in a few minutes the operation is successfully finished. As for washing the children’s clothing, that is no worry at all, because they very seldom wear any. Transportation? A boat waits at the porch for ready use, just like a car waiting in the driveway, and passing boats are always available at a very reasonable fare.
As for food, almost anything needed can be purchased from the many market boats that regularly paddle along the river selling steaming-hot coffee, ready-to-eat hot
rice and curry, noodles, ice cream, fruits and vegetables, and a variety of other foods. Each market boat has its own special call, horn or bell to notify, all within hearing range that it is drawing near; and the children here excitedly respond to the familiar sound of an approaching icecream boat as do the children in California ta the. QraA Yrczrnui
man.
The people as a whole seem to be quite happy and contented, and the visitor to this land cannot fail to be impressed with the great simplicity of life here along Siam’s greatest river, the Chao Phya.
— —2T--" ---f
~(£tea* Ot»tt
vTneretore you are Inexcusable, 0 man. whoever you are, if you judge; for in the thing In which you judge another, you condemn yourself, inasmuch as you that judge practice the same things.” (Romans 2:1, New World Trans.} Those words contain fitting reproof for ever so many imperfect human creatures; for instance, the allopathic medical fraternity.
<1 By means of their organized societies the orthodox doctors are ever ready to pounce on those employing unorthodox methods of heal* ing and accuse them of being mercenary quacks. Human nature being what it is, no doubt there are mafiy who practice such therapies primarily with ail eye to the profits obtained rather than to the patient’s welfare. But as to whether or not the regular practitioners are in position to assume the role of judges In this regard we will let the following item, taken from the New York Timas, June 15, 1951, reporting on the national convention of the American Medical Association at Atlantic City, New Jersey, tell:
"SUEGEOJJS WARNED TQ CLEAN OWN HOUSE , <1 ‘'Atlantic City, June 14.-—De I. S, Ravdln, chief surgeon of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Hospital In Philadelphia called upon American surgeons today to clean house of certain practices by a small segment of surgical practitioners which, he said, ’threatens our great heritage? In an address on 'the responsibility of the surgeon to modern society' at the annual meeting of the American Medical Association, Professor Ravdin, one of the world’s foremost surgeons, urged the medical profession to unite for a solution to the following problems:
<1 "(1) Overcharging of patients for surgical services rendered. (2) Elimination of needless operations 'which cater to the whims of the distraught patients? and operations which are 'unnecessary because the symn.tn.03R. q£ these patients are psychosomatic in origin? (3) Splitting of fees between the internist or general practitioner and surgeon. (4) 'Ghost surgery,’ In which the general practitioner employs a surgeon to do operations in cases where the surgeon has had no part in the decision of whether the operation is necessary. In fact, the patient never sees the surgeon and is led to believe that his own physician has performed the surgery, as the surgeon comes in after the patient has been placed under anaesthesia. (5) Calling of consultants in cases where it is unnecessary and at times forcing the use of a. particular <yywilk
ants. (6) Making sure that surgery Is performed only by men who have been properly
trained to do it.”
New Zealand Re-elects Its Nationalist Government
By *'Awake!” cpTrtimmdent in New Zealand
Prime Minister Holland dropped a bombshell in the New Zealand House of Representatives when in July he announced a general election. With a substantial majority in the House his government still had before it eighteen months of its term of office. Why, then, this early appeal to the electors ?
C. The long drawn-out water-front strike had just ended and shortly thereafter came the opening of parliament. The Labor opposition Immediately attacked the National govern* ment on its handling of the strike and moved a motion of no confidence in the government. Naturally, the Labor minority could not carry such a motion, but it gave them the opportunity to present their side of the issue. However, Prime Minister Holland 'accepted the challenge to his government by deciding to go to the country and let the people approve or disapprove the course the government had taken. Thus an election campaign was launched, being marked by unusual rowdyism at the meetings conducted by various candidates..
<L Mr. Holland opened his campaign by defending his stand against the strikers. While regretting his failure to fulfill his promise to arrest the rising cost of living he attributed it to world rearmament and the Korean war, both, beyond his control He promised subsidies on a few commodities with immediate reduction in prices on such. Also he would improve housing and reduce taxation.
<L Mr, Nash, the Labor leader, countered with a much higher bid for the support of the people. His party would increase pensions, reduce rents on state houses, build new homes, reduce taxes, subsidize commodities so that a still lower cost of living could be enjoyed by all. Increased social security benefits were promised, including free dental and optical sendee. Labor charged that the government had neglected the interests of the people and referred to the steep rise in living costs.
<L So all New Zealand went to the polis to elect its House of eighty representatives. Enrollment, but not voting, is compulsory. Most of the candidates, aside from a few Commu. nists and independents, represent National or
J Labor, the two main political parties. Labor Unionists usually vote solidly for; their own J candidates and the Nationalists receive the J support of professional, business and farming / communities. Ab for Communists, the total J vote they received was less than 500.
if
£ <L And now, New Zealand has decided for 5 the Nationalist^ The support given to Labor h was weaker than In 1949, and their loss of popularity may be attributed to a comb tn a-J tion of causes. Undoubtedly the lack of jn-J dustrial discipline emphasized in the recent *. water-front strike weighed against them. ।J Early in the election campaign a spokesman for militant Labor seriously embarrassed the ? Labor party by promising to “line*up” Nash, J the Labor leader, should he be elected as the £ head of the government. The public reaction % to this statement disclosed an awareness of Ij the ominous threat of international comxnu-5 nlsm, and a feeling that a strong government S would afford security from fear of internal J disruption from that direction. They feel that / Mr. Holland’s government will not yield to pressure from the political left.
J <L It must be remembered, too, that When > Labor first took office the plight of a large majority of the people was pitiful, due to the Ji great depression of the early 1930’s. The peo-\ pie looked to government action to bring re-£ lief, and only the Labor party had the vigor 5> and the humanity to cope with the situation. J Now, after years of prosperity, many former J beneficiaries from Labor’s socialist policy ? have becofine successful business people, and J with success has come a change of politics, < from socialism with its controls, to the Na-J tional party and private enterprise,
C New Zealand now faces at least three years of Nationalist rule. There will 'be in-j creased expenditure on defense, a stronger 7 hand In industrial disputes and a free go for J private enterprise. Undoubtedly the cost of S living will continue to rise and with it in-5 creasing discontent among the people. No J political party has the solution to today's \ problems. But there is a remedy soon to be J applied, God's United under its
5 benevolent rule all lovers of righteousness will 5 experience security and blessings without end.
MEET
Chief Purifier and Regulator of Body Liquids
MODERN man has- well said: “The most remarkable of all machines is the human body/’ Some thirty centuries ago, a king, warrior, musician/poet, and prophet of Jehovah, David by name, impressed with the same fact, exclaimed: “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:14) The more we become familiar with the various organs and systems of our body, and the more we understand how they function, the more our wonder grows and the more apparent to us is the folly of those who would have us believe that all this came about by chance, by a blind evolutionary process.
A striking case in point is the kidney. Said the late Dr. A. Carrell, “The functioning of the . . . kidneys is of, prodigious efficiency/’ And according to Dr. Wm. Dock: “A kidney is the most marvelous anatomic structure in the entire human lining o! the abdomen known as the peritoneum. They are each shaped like a bean, and are about 4 inches long, from 2 to'Si inches, wide and a little more than an inch thick;
they weigh from 4} to 6 ounces in the adult male.
The kidney is covered by a fibrous tissue,. firm and smooth. Inside this covering are located at least one million functional units known as the nephrons, which perform the work of the kidney. The nephrons consist of glomeruli and renal (kidney) tubules. The glomeruli are balk shaped meshes of capillary vessels l/120th of an inch in diameter, surrounded on every side by kidney cells as closely as a glove fits on the fingers of a hand. The renal tubules are tiny tubes attached to the glomeruli, which, after winding in an orderly way so as to make the maximum use of space, unite with larger and straight tubes known as the collecting tubules. These lead down to the calices, which in
body.” Other authorities speak of it as the “most delicate human organ”, while the Britannica states: “In minute structure the kidney is the most complex gland in the body.”
Structure of the Kidney
The kidneys are two dark-red glands located in the rear of the abdominal cavity in the region of the tenth and eleventh ribs. They are held in place by a thick layer of fat and by the membranous
-'/■in
lomtrului tubufo
Ki BY
Ureter
DIAGRAM OF TUBULES ANO VESSELS
OF thb»kidney
turn lead to the funnelshaped sac known as the kidney pelvis.
The Function of the Kidney
The human body has well been likened to a combustion engine which bums fuel for the purpose of creating energy. The energy is supplied to the body's cells from its digestive system via the blood, the necessary oxygen to burn this fuel being brought from the lungs. In utilizing this fuel and tum-
Ing it into energy there results a number of waste products which must be gotten rid of lest the cells be poisoned. The blood carries off the carbon dioxide to the lui^gs, where most of it is expelled and takes the rest of the waste products, such as uric acid, urea, cretinin and creatin, to the kidneys for elimination, Thus all matter in the blood that is useless, or would be in the way, Or is poisonous is filtered out by the kidneys. Incidentally, in this work the kidneys have a “junior partner” in the sweat glands of the skin.
Another very important function of the kidneys is to keep the chemical composition of the body fluids just right. They are able to select and remove certain salts, such as sodium chloride, ammonia, etc,, which, together with the removal of waste products, helps to maintain the proper acid-alkaline balance imperative to life. In the process of sustaining life the various body fluids pass through certain membranes, such as the food elements in the small intestines’ being absorbed by the villi and taken into the blood stream. That which governs this activity is the chemical content of the body fluids, which is regulated by the kidneys. -This process of fluids passing through membranes is termed “osmosis”; and the kidneys, by adjusting the chemical content of the body fluids, are said to govern osmotic pressure.
Additionally, the kidneys serve to keep the right amount of water in the body. A rather uniform amount of water leaves the body via the lungs, the skin and the stool, but froin 40 to 60 per cent of it is eliminated by the kidneys, as well as such surplus as may enter the body because of copiously imbibing liquids. We might liken it to the mopping up of water spilled op a floor. The surplus water in the stomach is mopped up by the wails of the stomach and it goes into the blood. The kidneys wring out the mop, filling the pail, the
bladder, which, when full, sends a signal to the brain asking that the pail, the bladder, be emptied, which is done via the urethra.
How the Kidneys Function
Authorities on physiology admit that man has still much to learn in regard to just how the kidneys function. Representative of what man understands at present regarding the functioning of the kidneys is the following: The blood enters the kidneys via the renal artery, which branches out to the tiny tufts of capillary vessels, the glomerular or Malpighian bodies. The kidney cells surrounding these filter out plasma from the blood, water containing minerals, but in normal health not any protein. This filtrate goes into the winding tubules, which reabsorb 99 per cent of the liquid that was filtered out by the glomeruli, together with such chemicals as may be needed to keep the body fluids at the right composition. These tiny tubules also secrete, give off, waste products. What the tiny tubules do not absorb, together with what they themselves give off, then goes to the collecting tubes, then to the calices, to the renal pelvis. The process is one of filtration, reabsorption and excretion.
1 The entire blood of the body passes through the kidneys every few minutes; thus as much as 1,500 quarts pass through in 24 hours. The total surface of the tiny glomeruli exposed to the kidney cells, which do the filtering, is seventy square feet; the aggregate length of the tiny tubules, which reabsorb most of what the glomeruli filtered out, is 280 miles. All this in two small glands, the total dimensions of which are twenty cubic inches. The blood passes through the tiny filters at the rate of 18 inches per hour.
Kidney Pathology
The posterior lobe of the pituitary gland governs the amount of water that the kidney tubules absorb. The adrenals govern the amount of sodium and potassium that these tubules absorb. Thus we can see that if the function of these ductless glands is impaired the kidney will be affected. Above all else, however, the ability of the kidneys to regulate the volume and composition of body fluids and keep them free from waste depends upon there being an adequate circulation of the blood. On the other hand, if the functioning of the kidneys is inv paired, the heart will seek to help out matters by pumping a greater amount of blood into the kidneys so that the result will be the same. When one kidney is removed the other kidney increases in size and the body does not suffer. In fact, persons have continued in life with only half of a kidney. Incidentally, we might ask: Who tells the heart to pump more blood imp the kidneys because their function has been impaired? Who tells one kidney to grow extra large because the other has been removed? And how are these objectives realized?
The kidneys do a prodigious amount of work. “Millions of foot-pounds of energy are utilized in kidney functioning,” says the Americana. And there are many ways in which they can be harmed. Kidney infections may be the remote result of mental, moral or emotional unbalance. And since the main work of the kidneys is the removal of waste connected with protein metabolism, it follows that heavy eating, and especially of proteins, would make more work for the kidneys. Alcohol places extra work on the kidneys. They also may be harmed by certain drugs or chemicals such as bichloride of mercury and sulpha drugs. Blood transfusions and complications resulting from pregnancy also play a role in causing kidney ailments.
In the treating of diseases of the kidneys, as with all other ills, each therapy has its own remedies. Nature doctors place confidence in the use of hot and cold packs and in restricted diets. Since the skin is a junior partner of the kidneys in the matter of eliminating waste from the blood stream, and since there is a direct relationship between the amount of food taken into the system and the1 poisonous waste needing to be expelled, theirs is a sound position. In agreement therewith is the observation of a popular orthodox medical authority that the treatment of certain kidney ills should be “directed towards arranging the diet and life of a patient tn the altered capacity of the kidneys and trying to effect elimination through other channels'*.
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