Awake!, June 22, 1958
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Which Religion Really Matters?
Our Teeth Prove Creation
Earth Gets a Checkup
A Glimpse of Oriental Pusan
JUNE 22, 1958
THE MISSION OF THIS JOURNAL
News sources that are able to keep you awake to the vital issues of our trines must be unfettered by censorship and selfish interests. “Awake!” has na fetters. It recognizes facts, faces facts, is free to publish facts. It is not 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!" 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 wanders—why, its coverage is as broad as the earth and as high as the heavens.
“Awake!" pledges itself to 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 righteous New World.
Get acquainted with “Awake!” Keep awake by reading “Awake!”
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CONTENTS
It’s All for Show
Hot Dog Variety
Which Religion Really Matters?
Our Teeth Prove Creation
Animals in the News
Earth Gets a Checkup
“Oh, I Forgot My Key!”
Anger
The Dog with a Cowlick
A Glimpse of Oriental Pusan
Undercurrents
Museums Can Educate
“Your Word Is Truth”
Was Jesus Christ His Own God?
Jehovah’s Witnesses Preach in All the
Earth—Malaya Watching the World
IN Sierra Leone, Africa, a twenty-one-inch television set sits in the hut of a Syrian diamond trader. There is no electricity in the hut and there is no television station within range of the receiver; yet people for miles around come to look at it.
The set was not bought to be used, but rather to bring prestige to its owner. The fact that he has something that his neighbors cannot afford elevates him in their eyes. They are impressed by this showy display of wealth.
This buying of a television set where it cannot be used may seem very foolish, but the motive behind it is ndt different from the motive that moves an American to buy a mansion and to hire a chauffeur to drive him about in a long limousine, or to buy certain clothes because they contain the label of a famous clothier. It is not different from the motive that moves a family with a small income to buy an expensive Cadillac car when they live in a dilapidated house with barely the necessities of life. The motive is the same—to gain prestige in the eyes of others by a showy display of wealth.
The practice of impressing people by a show of wealth is the very basis of the world’s social structure. The more a person has the higher he is on the social ladder. The higher he climbs the greater is the need to keep up appearances. He can no longer live in a neighborhood that is below his class. He must move to a more exclusive district, have a bigger house and a better car.
The wealthiest are perched on the top rungs of the social ladder, while others take positions below them according to their wealth. Those on the top rungs make up high society. They go to great expense to make a display of their abundance that is fitting to their social status. Persons outside their class are snobbishly looked down upon as inferiors.
Even tribesmen in remote parts of the earth employ this same method of judging social status. Those among them who have the most cows, horses, camels, or whatever they may consider as valuable, are considered socially superior. They have prestige. They are looked up to and honored.
It is folly to consider a person socially superior because he can put on a show of wealth. The practice stimulates greed, selfishness, envy and hatred. It causes many people to live beyond their means,
trying to keep up a prosperous front. It blinds people to what is really worth their life energies.
Seeking to know and serve God is far more important than seeking to impress people. What they think of you is nowhere near as important as what God thinks of you. His approval means life. That is certainly more important than worldly prestige. It is more important than approval from the world or the servile attitude of those impressed by a show of wealth.
The Bible wisely advises us: “Do not be loving either the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him; because everything in the world—the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the showy display of one’s means of life—does not originate with the Father, but originates with the .world. Furthermore, the world is passing away and so is its desire, but he that does the will of God remains forever.”—1 John 2:15-17.
Is not remaining forever better than a short life with social position and^honor in this world? Is it not foolhardy to forfeit your life because of a desire for prestige? Why pass away with the world when you can survive its judgment and live indefinitely in a righteous world? By serving God and exalting him instead of yourself survival is possible.
But the doing of his will is more than just a show of godly devotion. It requires genuine sincerity and complete dedication of yourself to him. It seems that many people are so much in the habit of trying to impress others by means of their material possessions that they do the same with religion. They engage in it for the sake of appearances. They are more concerned about attending services at a prominent and prosperous church than they are about seeking to learn what is in God’s Word and how he wants to be served. They attend the church they feel is best befitting their social standing.
Such persons would not think of attending a Bible lecture put on by Jehovah’s witnesses or of having a witness call regularly at their home to conduct a Bible study. What would the neighbors think? What would happen to their position on the social ladder? The fact that this unpopular group is teaching Scriptural truth and is serving God as the early Christians did does not enter the picture. The only thing that matters is what other people think. Because of this fear they would not associate with these modern-day Christians and join them in following Christ’s example of preaching the good news of the Kingdom.
A person cannot serve God and at the same time seek to please men. He cannot elevate himself in the eyes of others and still expect divine approval. He cannot claim to be a Christian and yet ignore the Scriptures and the example of preaching set by Christ. The person who does is merely putting on a show of godly devotion,
HOT DOG VARIETY
Succulency is a basic requirement for the hot dog, frankfurter, wiener or whatever it may be called. But the hot dog is far from having uniformity in appearance, taste and make-up. Hot dog ingredients in the United States may be all beef, all pork, beef and pork, veal and pork, beef and veal, or beef, veal and pork. Finland has hot dogs made of reindeer meat. A hot dog is made tn South Africa especially for Moslem consumption; its meat is lamb. In some parts of Africa hot dogs are made of antelope. Japan has a hot dog made of whale meat.
Which RELIGION REALLY MATTERS?
QoM is judged by its puAity, and AC?igton accttd-tug to its ^uits. Q^oes gouA AeCigion produce tlte ^Aults that iVouM identify it to be the one Religion that AeaJCy inatteAs? ^udge ^oa youAseflJ and see.
HEN we were children it was a rather simple thing to get little Tommy to accept a nickel in exchange for a dime, especially if it was a bright new one. He would invariably choose the larger but less valuable coin. We felt quite pleased with ourselves for having a better sense of values. Yet in matters more far-reaching and important, how many of us still use Tommy’s method of determining the value of things? Do not the vast majority choose the biggest as being the best—the biggest car, the widest TV screen, the largest house, the most popular religion, the richest church, etc.? How many of us have acquired a wholly sound sense of material and spiritual
values that we always p a b l„e
making wise decisions in all things?
so are ca-o f
We are still anxious to give away our dimes for the shiny nickels.
It takes maturity to be able to make right decisions. The apostle Paul said that mature persons are those who "through use have their perceptive powers trained to distinguish both right and wrong.” Never before in history has there been so great a demand for mature judgment as now. It is because this generation has entered the time of the end, when God is about to put an end to an entire system of things. Survival will depend upon our choosing wisely the one true religion, because all other religions will perish. In this world of many religions it will take mature judgment on our part to pick the one Tight religion. Are you able to do it?—Heb. 5:14.
There is no shirking of this responsibility or passing it on to others, as some persons often like to do. Frequently husbands will say, "Go see my wife. She takes care of the religion in our house.” Churchgoers enjoy shifting their load onto the priests and pastors. Repeatedly, conscientious attendees remark, "I let my priest do all my religious thinking for me.” But choosing the right religion is an individual matter not shiftable to anyone else; Each person must reveal where he stands before God. A failure or a refusal to decide during this crucial time is as calamitous as making a bad decision.
A wise choice will depend greatly upon our having an accurate knowledge of God’s Word, the Bible. Merely being sincere or even being engaged in a religious work is not the deciding factor. Because the Bible says: “There exists a way that is upright before a man, but the ways of death are the end of it afterward,” And Jesus showed the futility of religious works apart from him, saying: “Many will say to me in that day: ‘Master, Master, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name, and perform many powerful works in your name?’ And yet then I will confess to them: I never knew you at all. Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness,” These persons were obviously religious and they had works to prove it. Still Jesus judged them as “workers of lawlessness.” Their religion and their religious works were of no value to them. In fact, their choice of religion was a hindrance to them, a curse, because it blinded them to the true requirements of God for life. They chose badly. They did not choose the religion that really matters,—Prov. 14:12; Matt 7:21-23.
To avoid making a like mistake we must appreciate the prophet’s words: “The way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” It is not left to the discretion of man to say which religion really matters. This an infallible God has decided and set down in his Holy Word. The wise will accept Jehovah’s provision for salvation: “Trust in Jehovah with all your heart and do not lean upon your own understanding. In all your ways take notice of him, and he himself will make your paths straight. Do not become wise in your own eyes. Fear Jehovah and turn away from bad.”—Jer. 10:23, AS; Prov. 3:5-7.
Trusting in Jehovah means relying on what his Word teaches. It means becoming thoroughly versed in that Word so that you will be able to “make sure of all things; hold fast to what is right,” Without an accurate knowledge of the Bible in this world of false religions, man is at a loss to choose the right one. The Bible helps because it identifies the fruitage of the one true religion. Jesus said: “By its fruit the tree is known.”—1 Thess. 5:21; Matt 12:33.
Identifying the True Fruits
The fruits of the religion that matters are identified for us in the Bible as: Belief in the one true God Jehovah and the one Ransomer Jesus Christ, that God is to be worshiped exclusivTely, that man is to love his neighbor as himself, that death is the result of sin, “but the gift God gives is everlasting life by Christ Jesus our Lord.” True religion also teaches that man must dedicate himself to God and make a complete change from his former conduct in the world. Note the apostle’s words: “Keep your minds fixed on the things above, not on the things upon the earth. For you died, and your life has been hidden with the Christ in union with God. ... Deaden, therefore, your body members which are upon the earth as respects fornication, uncleanness, sexual appetite, hurtful desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of those things the wrath of God is coming. In those very things you, too, once walked when you used to live in them. But now really put them all away from you, wrath, anger, injuriousness, abusive speech, and obscene talk out of your mouth. Do not be lying to one another. Strip off the old personality with its practices, and clothe yourselves with the new personality which through accurate knowledge is being renewed according to the image of the one who created it.”—Rom. 6:23; Col. 3:1-11; Ps. 83:13; 1 Tim. 2:5, 6; Ex. 20:5; Matt 22:37, 38.
Therefore, true religion is not simply a belief in God and Christ, but a whole new way of life. It is living in the world as Christ did, which means a definite change in our habits and in our relations with other men. To Christians at Colossae Paul said: “Clothe yourselves with the tender affections of compassion, kindness, lowliness of mind, mildness, and longsuffering. Continue putting up with one another and forgiving one another freely if anyone has a cause for complaint against another. Even as Jehovah freely forgave you, so do you also. But, besides all these things, clothe yourselves with love, for it is a perfect bond of union?1 Jesus said: "By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves.” Without these fruits of Christianity, religion is nothing- It is not true religion even though it may claim to be Christian. Paul speaks of such ones as having "a form of godly devotion but proving false to its power." He advises: “From these turn away." —Col. 3:12-14; John 13:35; 2 Tim. 3:5.
Christendom’s Rotten Fruits
Where in this world can true Christianity be found? Heathendom has rejected Christianity as a way of life. As for Christendom, her religion is a fraud and a curse even though it is labeled Christian. Dr. W. L. PettingiU frankly stated: “Religious teaching that is dished out now is a curse and not a blessing. Most of it is false religion which ignores the teachings of Christ. These false beliefs called religion are our greatest enemies. Even right here in New York City there are many churches which do no more than parade under the name of God. Ninety-nine per cent of religion in this city should be scrapped because one cannot believe man and God at the same time. One must believe God?’
Christendom has had the teachings of Christ for close to two thousand years and she is still not sure what they are. She is a realm divided into hundreds of differing sects and cults. She has rejected the Bible for her traditions, which make void God’s Word. Instead of believing in one God she holds to a trinity of gods, or a three-in-one god. She teaches the Babylonish pagan doctrines of hell-fire, purgatory, immortality of the soul, prayers for the dead and the immaculate conception. She maintains a pagan priesthood and a clergy-laity system of worship. She meddles in politics, upholds ungodly wars and persecutes true Christians, These are but a few of the many things that stamp Christendom as non-Christian, a rotten tree unfit to bring forth good fruit.—Matt. 15:6; 7:15-20.
Further proof of her rottenness is evidenced by her shocking crime rate, her delinquency and laxness in personal and social discipline, her unstable marriages and family life. Who will deny that Christendom’s values are almost exclusively materialistic? She is about as materialistic as godless communism. She has lost all sight of spiritual values. Her revivals and growing church attendance are indicative only of a frantic search for security and social acceptability and not a search for God. Despite her many organized charities there is a definite lack of Christian sympathy or spontaneous aid by anyone for anyone. It is noticeable that the love of the greater number has cooled off. There are innumerable signs of human callousness and indifference. Nobody cares any more. As the apostle stated of our day: “For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, self-assuming, haughty, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, without gratitude, with no loving-kindness, having no natural affection,” and that they truly are.—2 Tim. 3:1-5.
But where in all Christendom is the fruit of Christianity to be found? She is a tree rotten to the core, ready to be cut down and destroyed. She being a house divided, her end was foretold by Jesus: 1‘Every kingdom divided against itself comes to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand?’ How, then, can Christendom stand? Being completely false, she cannot.—Matt. 12:25; 3:10.
live Bible speaks of the world of which Christendom is a part under the symbol of ancient Babylon and says: “She has fallen! Babylon the great has fallen, and she has become a dwelling-place of demons and a lurking-place of every unclean exhalation and a lurking-place of every unclean and hated bird!... Get out of her, my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues.” But where should one go? How does one flee Christendom? The flight is not a literal flight but a spiritual one. It is an escape to the one religion that really matters. And what one is that? It is the one religion that has made Christianity a force in the lives of its members and has the fruitage of Christianity to prove it.—Rev. 18:2, 4-
The One Right Religion with the Fruits
To save time and space and to get at once to the point, we confidently reply that the religion practiced by the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses is that one true religion on earth today. It is the one Christian religion that has stopped fashioning itself after this system of things. Members have made over their minds by fully applying Bible principles and truths. The result has been a loving, peaceful, Christian organization completely free of national squabbles, racial and religious ha' treds, petty prides and rivalries and numerous divisive theories and practices peculiar to the old world. All forms of worldly selfishness, jealousies, envies, egotistic ambitions, religious sectarian wars and persecutions of one another have been abandoned.
The New World society is theocratically organized. It maintains strict separateness from this world. Any member of the society who violates the high moral standards of the Bible is immediately disfellowshiped from the organization. Thus this Christian society is kept clean of all moral corruption. From this one dedicated theocratic organization flows the Kingdom message of life to the ends of the earth. And thousands of people are flocking to it with the hope of surviving this world’s end into God’s new world of righteousness.—Zeph. 2:1-3, AS.
This is the one religion that really matters, because it has the power to preserve alive its members through this world’s end. It has transforming power capable of changing men’s minds and hearts to conform to the image of Christ their Leader. It has God’s promise of victory over death through the resurrection hope. Even now it has the fruitage of the spirit of Christianity, which is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control. It is the only religious organization that proves the existence and power of Jehovah God by its faith and works. It is the only religion that satisfies and develops the true spiritual qualities in man, turning him into a new personality altogether,—John 5:28, 29; Gal. 5:22, 23; Jas. 2:26.
Since the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses adheres closely to the worship of Christ and has the fruits of the Kingdom, it follows that it alone practices the only right religion, the worship of God with spirit and truth. It is not conceit to think or say so; it would be hypocrisy to say otherwise. Therefore, happy are all those now associating themselves with the New World society, because theirs will be an everlasting inheritance in God’s neverending new world of righteousness.—2 Pet. 3:13.
HOW did we come by our teeth? Says the evolutionist: “There is no doubt that teeth should be regarded as modified scales which have migrated into the mouth.”1 And again: “The highly complex tooth structure in man is a product of evolution and of natural selection.” Teeth “are the product of millions of years of evolution and adaptation. From the scales of primitive fish, turned up for biting, to the highly complicated masticating organs of civilized man, there is as much development as from the fins of the same fish to the human hand.”2
But the more we consider these truly highly complex and complicated masticating organs the more it must strain credulity to hold that any blind, random forces of nature, such as adaptation and natural selection, could have produced structures of such beauty, efficiency and durability as our teeth. Rather, our teeth are another link in the great chain of evidence that the psalmist David indeed knew what he was talking about when he exclaimed: “I shall laud you because in a fear-inspiring way I am wonderfully made.”—Ps. 139:14,
Our teeth have a logical and symmetrical arrangement that cannot be attributed to natural selection. Our first, baby, milk or deciduous teeth number twenty. These are replaced by our thirty-two permanent teeth, which consist of four sets of eight. Each set of eight has two incisors or cutting teeth, one canine, two bicuspids or premolars (so called because of having two cusps, points or peaks), and three molars (so called from the Latin word meaning “to grind”). The first of the molars is also the first permanent tooth to appear, in back of the milk teeth and while these are still being used. It is also the largest of all our teeth. The third molar is the wisdom tooth; one is supposed to have acquired wisdom by the time it appears, at about the age of twenty-one.
Our upper teeth are not set so as to rest directly on top of the corresponding ones
lower jaw.
Rather they overlap.
in the
1, ENAMEL
2. DENTINE
3. PULP
4. C EMENTUM
5. PERIODONTAL MEMBRANE
6. BONE
Thus when we lose one tooth its mate is not made wholly useless; it still has part of the surface of an adjoining tooth on which to chew. Further, our teeth are so placed that the points of teeth in one jaw mesh perfectly with those of the other jaw.
The various sizes and shapes of our teeth puzzle the evolutionist: “It is uncertain how the complex back teeth of mammals with their numerous cusps were derived from the simple conical teeth which are generally assumed to have been first in the primitive arrangement/’1 But these furnish no puzzle to those who credit our teeth to a wise Creator!
Structure of Teeth, Dentine and Enamel
A tooth consists of a visible part known as the crown and the part hidden in the jaw, termed its root. Where the two meet is a slight indentation known as the neck. Five kinds of substances go to make up the tooth: the dentine, which comprises the bulk of the tooth; the enamel, which covers the crown of the tooth; the cementum, which covers the root of the tooth; the pulp, which fills the hollow center of the tooth; and the enamel’s skin covering, concerning which it is said: “A highly indestructible pellicle [thin skin] or film indistinguishable to the naked eye and known as the enamel cuticle (Nasmyth’s membrane) /'* Incidentally, no doubt Job was referring to this membrane when he spoke of “the skin of my teeth.” (Job 19: 20) The roots of the teeth are fastened to their sockets in the jaws by means of a thin tissue known as the “periodontal membrane,” literally “surrounding the tooth” membrane.
The dentine is composed of a calcified substance that is harder than bone but not as hard as the enamel. It is about 70 percent inorganic and has tiny tubules or channels running from the hollow center to the enamel and the cementum. Just before reaching their extremities these tubules branch out and connect with each other. In these tubules run dentinal fibers, an extension of the pulp in the center of the tooth/
The enamel that covers the tooth crown is as hard as topaz. The thickness of it varies, it being thickest at the top, where it receives the most wear. It is 95 percent inorganic, and consists of tiny wavy rods or prisms that are composed of beadlike crystals enclosed in a sheath. These rods are so unbelievably small that a hundred of them bunched together are no thicker than a single strand of hair! In a single molar tooth there are ten million of such tiny rods. Note also their position. They extend outward from the dentine to the surface or the “skin” of the tooth, and so are as long as the enamel is thick, at most about a tenth of an inch. This is a most scientific arrangement How so? In that these rods receive their pressure on their ends, where they are best able to take it and resist wear. Surely here is further evidence of special creation!
These wavy microscopic prisms or rods comprise the inorganic 95 percent of the tooth’s enamel. But surrounding them and penetrating them is a spongelike network of organic matter. There is also a kind of organic cement that lies between these prisms in addition to the network of fibers. Together these comprise the 5-percent organic part of the enamel.
Because the enamel contains neither blood vessels nor cells, it was long thought to be static. But not so. By tabbing various elements with radioactive tracers it was found that the enamel keeps renewing itself, even as does the rest of the body. More than that, there is a two-way traffic going on within our teeth. From the blood vessels in the tooth pulp chemical elements penetrate to the outside of the enamel. Likewise the chemical elements in the sa
liva penetrate through to the center of the tooth. This process “establishes an important biological relationship” and “when the traffic is in equilibrium, the tooth’s integrity is maintained.”6 Surely in this process we again have evidence of design, of creation!
Cementum, Pulp and Growth
The cementum that surrounds the lower half or root of the tooth, even as the enamel does the upper exposed half or crown, is not nearly as hard as the dentine it covers', in contrast to the enamel, which is much harder than the dentine. It does not need to be so hard, for it does not do any grinding; but, as its name indicates, it serves as a cement to anchor the tooth to the fibers that extend from the periodontal membrane. It gets thicker toward the bottom of the root, and with good reason, to secure the tooth more firmly. It is about half organic material and half crystallized mineral salts and contains no blood vessels or nerve fibers.4
And finally, there is the pulp in the center or hollow of the tooth. It is composed of cells, intercellular substance and blood vessels and has a very rich nerve supply. The blood vessels and nerves enter the tooth at the base of each of the roots.
A baby begins to show teeth at the age of six months. However, those teeth are already some fourteen months old, as the teeth begin to be formed when the embryo is but three or four weeks old. At that ■time it is but an eighth of an inch long, resembles a tube and is covered with epithelial or specialized skin cells. An indentation forms at one end of the tiny tube; this becomes the mouth and the part above it the head. The turned-in epithelial cells develop into the jaw and produce the enamel of the teeth. The rest of our teeth is formed from an entirely different substance. It has therefore been said that the enamel of our teeth is a “super skin” and the rest of our teeth is “super bone.”*
By the time a baby is born it has not only its twenty milk teeth in its jaws but also the beginnings of its permanent teeth. Since an infant needs no teeth for its liquid diet and before it has enough mind to express ideas, it is born with its teeth within its jaws. Usually by the age of two years its twenty teeth have all cut through or “erupted,” as dentists refer to it. The permanent teeth (or, more specifically, their enamel-covered crowns) keep on growing and when the child is six years old the first permanent teeth begin to appear. From then on the roots of the baby teeth dissolve and the crowns drop out, making way for the permanent teeth. The crown of the tooth rests in the jaw until the proper time when the root starts to grow, pushing up the crown through the gums and to its proper height.
Surely our teeth are remarkable structures and their structure or formation as well as the way they come into being and grow eloquently testifies that man is no mere product of a blind, unintelligent force of nature but is indeed a special creation of God, separate and distinct from the lower animals.
REFERBNCKB
1 The Encyclopodia Britannica (1946), Vol. 21, pp. 874. 875.
- The People’s Encyclopedia (1953). Vol. 18, n. 605. " The Encyclopedia Americana (1956), Vol. 26, pp.
* A manual o/ Oral Embryology, Permar.
5 Hcientiftc American, December, 1957. □□. 109-116.
’ Scientijic American, June, 1953. pp. 39-42.
How many your worses are, O Jehovah! All of them in wisdom you have made. The earth is full of your productions,—Ps. 10$:gjf.
ANIMALS IN THE NEWS
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un. ~ London woman . « a recently took
/er the Job of announcing telephone calls. Every Ime the telephone should have rung the canine herald would bark, but the bell stayed silent. Electrical engineers were called to solve the profdem. They found out that the phone lines had shorted on the iron post to which the 'was tied. When the telephone call came, the **'« buxz instead of the bell. '
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TO IEEP WOLVES AWAY
Oklahoma rancher P. R. Long recently solved his problem of how to keep the wolves away from his sheep. He simply gave the sheep a body odor To apply a smell that was malodorous enough, the ranch-
-*’«t a few drops of
’ Oh the
PONY EXPRESS
At Quorn, England, a Shetland pony named Tom was recently brought to the post office with an address label around Its neck and mailed to its new owner. Reginald Roden, headmaster of a school at Woodhouse Eaves, had requested that the pony be mailed to him. He did this after discovering from post office regulations that “almost anything," as he said, could be sent at one shilling (fourteen cents) a mile plus an extra shilling for “exceptional eg. press delivery charge." Quorn’s sub postmast er, George Smith, received the pony In good humor and affixed six shillings (eighty four cents] worth of stamps on the animal’s hindquarters Alter delivering the pony, Smith said; "We got on wonderfully together. Tom and I, except just once when he shied at a bus. But I ask you—six bob (shillings! for all that. It’s ridiculous. I hope other people around here didn’t get (he idea of sending an elephant."
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BREAMS REO TAPE
A Bengal tiger, enclosed in a crate, was recently put aboard the Berlin-Paris express for a trip to a Dutch too. It finally got to the zoo. but only after a re-crating job. After the train had passed behind the frost Curtain on its westward run. the tiger brake loose from the crafe \ conductor walking into the bag. age car saw the tiger, got out fast id locked the door. Normally there considerable red tape at the Communist East German frontier east of Hannover about the baggage car. But this time Iron Curtain guards waved the train on through. They were in no mood to check a tiger -traveling credentials.
JULY i. 1957> was the date. It marked the beginning of the most extensive physical checkup ever given to earth. Some ten thousand scientists and technicians ’ with the most modern scientific instruments began the eighteen-month examination. Approx!-mately sixty-seven nations are co-operating in the gigantic undertaking.
The checkup is called I.G.Y., which stands for International Geophysical Year. Geophysics literally means “earth physics.’’ It is the study of the earth and the forces that affect it.
Although this co-operative endeavor is unique in its size and its scope, it is not the first international effort in geophysics. Seventy-six years ago eleven nations cooperated in studying the Arctic’s influence upon weather conditions. They also studied jointly the aurora borealis and geomagnetism. The auroas are the colorful arcs,
GETS A CHECKUP
streamers or curtains of light that appear in the skies in polar regions.
■ That first co-< operative endeavor : ■ to examine some of - ■ the physical characteristics of earth was in 1882. It was - called the International Polar Year. It was not until fifty years later that a second Polar Year was proclaimed.
That was in 1932. Twenty nations gathered valuable information that year about the ionosphere, the electrical canopy that covers the earth. What was learned about this layer of ionized atmosphere played an important part in the subsequent development of telecommunications. This is what Dr. Serge Korff said about it: “Without that knowledge, much of which we gathered in 1932-33, our telecommunications would be in a hopeless snarl. The work that took place then opened a whole new era in telecommunications, whose value has been 20 times its cost.’’
Scientists decided that such co-operative efforts in geophysics should be made every fifty years. But it became evident by 1950 that fifty years was too long to wait. Great strides had been made in the development of sensitive electronic equipment that would make an International Polar Year at an earlier date extremely profitable.
A scientist who had given this some serious thought was Dr. Lloyd V, Berkner. When he and some fellow scientists were gathered in the home of Professor J, H. Van Allen one evening in 1950 he made the suggestion that the next international effort in geophysics be moved up twenty-five years. The suggestion was later submitted to one of the international scientific groups and was finally approved by the International Council of Scientific Unions in 1951.
Instead of confining this world-wide effort to polar studies, as was done in the Polar Years of 1882 and 1932, it was decided to give the earth its first global checkup. The International Geophysical Year was the result. This period of study covers the eighteen months from July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958. These dates were chosen because an eleven-year period of solar activity was due to reach a peak at this time. Scientists were particularly interested In studying how these solar disturbances affect the earth.
How Organized
With the co-operation of the sixty-seven participating nations it was possible to establish 2,000 stations throughout the world, from pole to pole.
A special committee was appointed by the International Council of Scientific Unions to supervise this co-operative effort and to oversee the necessary advance planning. This committee is called CSAGI. Its permanent headquarters is in Brussels. It co-ordinates the plans for the principal fields and regions that are being studied. Within the outline it makes, each country plans and executes its own program under the direction of its own I.G.Y. committee.
The total cost of the program is estimated to run around half a billion dollars. Each nation finances its own part.
By mutual agreement the information that is gleaned from this intense examination of the earth will be pooled in data centers for the benefit of all nations. There are three such centers, one in the United States, one in Western Europe and another in Russia. The participating nations send their data to one of these centers, where copies are made and sent to the other two centers. In America the data will be stored in archives in twelve institutions. Each institution will receive the data that concerns the field in which it is outstanding.
Twelve nations have some 50 I.G.Y. stations at Antarctica. These send regular weather reports to Little America, where the information is broadcast to the outside world.
The National Bureau of Standards at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, has been appointed as the World Warning Agency for I.G.Y. When a geomagnetic disturbance seems imminent, or a flare-up on the sun, an alert is flashed to all stations after consultation with other scientists. The disturbance will then receive special attention.
Certain days have been chosen as World Days and World Intervals during the eighteen months. The intervals are periods of ten days that come up every three months. This is when special attention is given to the upper atmosphere, and is, therefore, when most rocket launchings are scheduled.
Meteorology
Although man has been studying the weather and has been trying to predict It accurately for a long time, there is much he does not know about it. It is hoped that I.G.Y. will supply the knowledge he needs for accurate and long-term forecasts.
It is believed that the Antarctic has a profound effect upon the world’s weather because of the extremely cold air mass that hovers over that vast polar continent. The I.G.Y. weather stations there are seeking to prove this theory and to learn how long-range weather forecasting can be done by watching the weather and winds of Antarctica.
Every possible influence on weather is being investigated world-wide. Even the carbon dioxide produced by man’s use of the fossil fuels of coal and oil is being studied with regard to its effect on weather.
In the last fifty years the quantity of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased some 10 percent and is expected in time to increase to 20 percent because of these fuels. Since it is thought that a 20-percent increase will cause a marked change in earth's climate scientists want to get accurate measurements of the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere now, as well as how much is being absorbed by the seas. A comparison with future measurements should give them the means for determining how increases of carbon dioxide affect the weather.
Man’s knowledge of the weather will be greatly improved through the use of earth satellites. They can map from their high altitude earth’s cloud and snow cover, spot the formation of hurricanes and track the route of storms.
Solar Eruptions
It may seem strange that storms and eruptions 93 million miles away should affect earth, but scientists have found that such is the case. Storms on the sun can cause a disruption in long-distance radio communication. To learn how extensively solar disturbances affect us I.G.Y. scientists are keeping a continuous watch on the sun from 126 stations.
The ionosphere is a layer of ionized atmosphere from about 40 to 400 miles above the earth. It is essential for long-distance radio communication, as it bends the signals back to earth. This makes it possible to send radio messages around the earth’s curvature. But when there is a great flare-up on the sun the ionosphere is subjected to an increased bombardment of ultraviolet light and X rays that cause the ionosphere to absorb radio waves instead of reflecting them. The result is a radio blackout.
Radio blackouts occur more frequently in the polar regions. This may be due to a magnetic depression there created by magnetic storms in. the ionosphere. That is one reason so much attention is being given to the polar regions. The hundreds of rockets being sent up into the ionosphere should give man a much better understanding of this phenomenon.
Auroras
Solar eruptions not only create magnetic storms in earth’s ionosphere that disrupt radio communication but also appear to cause the mysterious auroras. These colorful curtains, arcs and flames of light stretching across polar skies have long been a source of mystery and wonderment for mankind. It has been noticed, however, that they increase in number when sunspots increase. “This phenomenon,” observed the New York Times, “is related, in a way not yet fully understood, to the complex electromagnetic apparatus that links the earth and sun, . . . After a solar flare, the aurora expands enormously.”
The auroras in both hemispheres Me under close observation during I.G.Y. Perhaps answers will be found to many questions scientists have about them.
Cosmic Rays
Much is yet to be learned about cosmic rays, the mysterious particles that shower upon earth from outer space. Their origin is unknown. It may be that the intensive research being given to them during I.G.Y. will reveal their source and a better understanding of how they affect the earth and living creatures.
Their intensity in the upper atmosphere is being measured by sensitive instruments in balloons, rockets and satellites.
Seismology
By measuring earth tremors at the many I.G.Y. stations scientists hope to map accurately the earth’s interior. By means of their instruments they are able to learn a great deal from certain shock waves that, when passing through molten matter, act different from when moving through solids. There are other types of shock waves that are also loaded with information, The more readings that are made throughout the world the clearer is the picture this information gives of what is beneath our feet.
Some of the things LG.Y. scientists hope to learn is how much of the earth’s interior is molten and how much is solid, how deep the roots of mountains go into the earth, and how the course and severity of earthquakes can be accurately predicted.
At times seismologists manufacture their own seismic tremors by setting off explosions. Even though the resulting shock waves are weak in comparison with natural earth tremors, yet much can be learned from them about the earth's crust
This method is being used to study the thickness of polar ice. When explosions were set off in the ice near Byrd Station in Antarctica the shock waves that bounced back from the rock underneath revealed that the ice was over 10,000 feet thick in that spot. The Fuchs’ transAntarctica expedition made soundings at regular intervals across that frozen continent. Near the pole it detected mountains beneath the ice that rose to within 1,500 feet of the surface.
LG.Y. scientists are very interested in learning what effect glaciers have on the earth’s heat balance and on the level of the seas, as well as to whether they are receding, thus indicating a wanning up of the earth. By drilling down into the ice and taking out samples at different levels that were deposited in past ages a knowledge of earth’s condition in those ages can be obtained.
Oceanography
During LG.Y. a careful check is being made of the oceans by some seventy ships. Because ocean currents and the heatstoring properties of the earth’s vast bodies of water greatly affect climate, scientists would like to learn more about them. They would like to learn more about the tides and why the level of the seas in the spring is eight inches lower than in the fall. There is also the question about how long it takes the deep, cold-water current from the Antarctic to reach the equator and return. Then there is the question about how long it takes deep wa ter to rise to the surface. If the answer can be found to this, man will know whether it is safe to dump radioactive wastes in deep water.
Man needs to learn much more about the oceans, as they are just as important to his existence as is the atmosphere.
Benefits
What have been mentioned are only a few of the many things that will be studied on a global scale during I.G.Y. There is little doubt that the results of this effort will bring many benefits to man.
Some of the knowledge coming from LG.Y. will be put to immediate use, but other knowledge may have to wait until applied science can find some use for it. But whether the knowledge is applied or not, man benefits from it by gaining a better understanding of his environment. He is getting a closer look at the wisdom reflected in the interworking of earth’s elements and forces. What he sees should humble him before the One who designed the earth to be an ideal home for man.
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1 DID it again. I forgot my key!” How many times have you heard people say that? Has it ever happened to you? Perhaps you are among the more fortunate, but actually thousands of people daily lock themselves in or out of something, or just outright lose their key or keys.
Altogether too frequently we humans are prone to take our metal servants for granted. For example, how many times have you turned a key to open a lock that has been guarding your valuables? Yet, did you ever stop to consider how it
■y “Awake!” corral pondent in Puerto Rico
shapes and outward appearances of locks are as varied as the human mind is able to devise.
Like everything else in creation, the lock has had a beginning. The ancient Egyptian leaders were faced with the same problem that some men have today, namely, having more money and possessions than they could use or personally protect. So the lock was born. Its sole duty was to secure a door or a lid in such a way that only the owner could enter. With this duty well in hand, the lock was off to a good start.
The ancient Egyptian lock and
works? where it came from? or who made it? Of course not. There is not one person in a thousand that gives it even so much as a passing thought. Still the lock has been a faithful servant, one that has undergone many interesting internal and external changes throughout its history.
Today you can buy a lock for as cheap as a few cents or you can pay over a thousand dollars for one. It all depends on its style, material and size. Some locks are as small as a bead of a lady's necklace with a key no bigger than a common pin. Then again there are monstrous-sized locks. The key were made entirely of wood. These wooden locks were built with great care. They were made to last, and that they did. It is said that this same type of lock is still in use today in Turkey. The lock system that the Egyptians employed was very simple but effective. The bolt contained three holes into which three upright concealed pins fell when it was locked. The bolt was hollow. When one wanted to release the lock, the bolt, a slip of wood (key) having three pegs on its upper surface, was put into the hollow bolt and lifted. The pegs were thus brought into play to lift the pins. According to modern standards this old lock and key was clumsy and awkward; nevertheless, it did offer its owner a measure of security.
The Romans made fancier locks. Their models were made mostly of brass and were inlaid with ivory. These were not really locks as we know them today, nor were they like the ones in ancient Egypt. Rather, they consisted of merely a bar lodged in special grooves and could be operated only from one side. The service rendered gave security only as long as someone was in the room. The Chinese locksmith was quick to follow this Roman design. Today a similar arrangement may be seen in our safety bolt found on many apartment doors. In the tropics this same system is used to secure doors and windows that do not have a cerradura, or lock.
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries locksmiths went back to pick up where the ancient Egyptians left off in lock making. The exterior lock cases were beautifully made, but little attention was paid to security and convenience. For example: A lock of the seventeenth century from France, now preserved in a European museum, measures over seventeen inches in length, nine inches in width, with a hand-carved key nearly eight inches in length. One thing sure, whoever thought up that design did not plan on people’s carrying a half-dozen keys that size in their pockets.
In 1774 Robert Barron invented the double-acting tumbler. His lock could be opened only by a key that lifted both tumblers to an exact height so that the talon on the bolt could pass through. In America and England a ward was added to give further protection and security. A ward is nothing more than an obstruction to prevent the entrance of a false key.
Some forty-four years later Jeremiah Chubb, an Englishman, patented his “detector lock,” which proved quite revolutionary. Made of several levers, usually six, it had a detector lever that came into action if any key other than the correct one was used. If some unwary intruder tried to open this lock with another key, the detector lever would be lifted too high, where it remained until the correct key was turned in the reverse direction so that the lock could again be operated. This lock not only gave protection but also informed the owner that someone was tampering with his lock. Some time later an American by the name of Hobbs added a safety lever to the lock. Needless to say, this model proved to be an enormous success.
Internal Change
In the United States almost synonymous with the word “lock” is the name “Yale." Linus Yale, Jr., a young American blacksmith from New York, won fame when he invented a lock system known as a cylinder within a cylinder. In place of pins young Yale used a large number of small metal disks called tumblers, each of which held the bolt from slipping. His system opened the way for smaller keys. It also offered a great deal of security. At one time Yale manufacturers claimed that a key that differed no more than one fiftieth of an inch from the correct one would not work in their locks.
The irregular shape of the keys provided a further degree of security. The notches of the average key may be cut in eight depths. So with five notches the number of different keys possible is eight to the power of five, or the unbelievably large number of 32,768. Then too, a further number of key changes are obtained by milling grooves lengthwise on the sides to correspond to similar grooves in the keyhole. By varying the shape and location of these grooves the number of changes is made almost inexhaustible. As a result, a well-organized institution was formed that makes locksmithing the same world-wide. The trade is one of the greatest enterprises in the modern world.
Keyless Locks
Forgetting or losing one’s key was not the reason for inventing keyless locks, although it may have been a contributing factor. In spite of their many advantages keyless locks are not as popular as key locks. Outside the United States and Canada keyless locks are seldom used. However, they are in demand. Bank vaults and safedeposit boxes well demonstrate their worth.
There are several kinds of keyless locks. There is the combination lock that operates on an arrangement of letters or numbers. There are also time locks that open only at a given time. In the case of a time lock there are three watch movements used to reduce to a minimum the possibility of failure. Practically all modem prisons are now equipped with an integrated lock system operated by means of electricity. In this way all doors can be closed and locked at the same time. Not only does this new method help the morale, but it also reduces the possibility of escape. Each of such locks can be operated manually in case of a power failure.
Locks Do More than Protect
Without doubt the chief purpose for having a lock is to protect one’s property. Still locks do render many other valuable services. For instance, the ignition switch on your car is completed by the use of a lock and key. In industry there are locks that prevent serious accidents and injury to machine operators. The lock automatically stops the machine if some error has been committed or some irregularity has occurred.
One manufacturer claims to produce no less than 1,250 different kinds of locks. Modem locks have as many as fifty separate parts. Before mass production days all locks were made entirely by hand. Skilled craftsmen fashioned each part ingeniously. We can better appreciate their work when we see some of those very old handmade locks still workable today. This writer has seen a lock over two hundred years old that still has its strength in all moving parts.
While the lock business is enjoying a splurge of prosperity now as never before in its history, yet the business itself is destined for extinction. Why? Mainly because under the righteous kingdom of Almighty God there will be no need to put anything under lock and key. There will be no room in the new world for the thief. He will not be allowed to live therein. So fear of thieves and robbers will pass away. You will forget your key no more, because the lock and key will have become a thing of the past.—1 Cor. 6:10.
NIGER
An angry outburst is a poor response to disappointment, because it heals nothing, replaces nothing of what has been lost, and takes its toll of the body. An angry man is not one who is doing something, but one who is suffering something to be done to him. He is allowing his dignity to be lowered, and that is bad enough, but he is also interfering with his digestion, disrupting his circulation, and putting undue strain on his body’s defensive organism.—The Royal Bank o/ Canada Monthly Letter,
HATEVER you call the Rhodesian Ridgeback, whether you call him a “lion dog,” a “Hottentot hunting dog” or just a "dog with a cowlick,” one thing is certain: he is a canine extraordinary. Though purportedly a native of Africa, the species has been exported to many other nations, where it has been readily accepted as a new breed of dog, fn 1955 the Ridgeback was officially accepted by the American Kennel Club, the first breed to be admitted to the club’s stud book in more than ten years. A specialist club has since been this African hound is now a natur can “citizen/'
The modern Ridgeback is a handso mat It stands a bit over two feet high at t shoulders, has a smooth short-haired coat, usually light- or dark-wheaten in color. In these respects it is quite like many other dogs, but in possessing its “ridge” it is distinctly different.
The ridge is a narrow strip of hair on its spine that grows in an opposite direction to the rest of his coat. This cowlick begins at the shoulders, where it develops a crown of hair a couple of inches wide; then with a well-defined boundary it tapers back to its hips, where it disappears.
A note of mystery shrouds the Ridgeback as to its origin. Some authorities say it is indigenous to Africa; others are of the opinion that it originated on an island called Phu Quoc in the Gulf of Siam, being brought to Africa by Eastern traders. Those favoring African origin tell about the same story, only in reverse. At any rate Africa and the island of Phu Quoc are the only places on earth where dogs displaying the ridge have been found.
The African history’ of the Ridgeback dates back before the advent of the white man to this continent. The Ridgeback served as a hunting dog for the Hottentot. When the white man came the capabilities of this breed were soon recognized and they were utilized by big game
THE DOG WITH A COWLICK hunters* They were found to be absolutely fearless in lion hunting. It was their use in this particular field that earned them the name "lion dogs” and led to the belief that the dogs actually killed Hons, The dog's courage and instinctive skill have saved the life of more than one hunter. The story is told of an old Boer hunter who, with his three dogs and rifle in hand, went chasing after a lion. The hunter's first shot missed. The dogs hotly pursued the lion. The wild animal charged for the hunter. His second shot missed. That was all the chance he had, because the Hon d threw him to the ground, where ed to maul his victim. As soon as dropped the hunter the dogs con-upon the lion. So ferocious was their tack that the wild beast beat a hasty retreat. The hunter recovered from his injuries and
within two months was riding horseback again, thanks to the Ridgebacks.
You can almost see these dogs in their attack, as described for us by the author of flop Tales and Trimmings. He writes: "The dogs invariably hunt in packs of four or five, although occasionally one dog is used. On scenting game (not necessarily lion) the pack fan out, one running directly towards the quarry, while the others circle with the object of cutting' off any retreat* At this stage their amazing agility is displayed—the ability to turn in a split second, swerve and feint, or maintain a fast pace should their quarry break and run, and a chase ensue,”
The advent of the long-range rifles with tele-scopfe sights has mainly forced the ridgeback to take up a new vocation, that of a guard dog, a duty that it performs equally well. It is in this role that he now figures proniinentlj^ throughout Africa, India, England and the United States. Although not an aggressive dog, he is distinctly reserved with strangers,and objects to their advances. However, once a friend, always a friend with this loyal canine.
THE city of Pusan lies on the rugged southeastern shore line of Korea. It nestles close to the hills and twists beautifully around the mountains and the sea. It is because of the sea that the weather in Pusan is not as extreme as elsewhere in Korea. Though the winters are cold, with temperatures dropping to 15 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit, the summers are hot and humid. The good-sized harbor with its ships of many nations coming and going creates a very picturesque view from the hillside. But beyond this over-all picture, what would there be for a stranger to see in Pusan? Since it is very unlikely that you will ever get to see this out-of-the-way port city, we have decided to bring the city of Pusan and its life to you.
First, there are the people, throngs of people, people everywhere. What are all those people doing in the streets? you might be inclined to ask. And what about all those children—where do they come from? The answer is simple.
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