Awake!, May 8, 1959
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y Are There So Many Religions?
linquency in the Schools
e Reciprocating Steam Locomotive
THE MISSION OF THIS JOURNAL
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CONTENTS
Do You Put on Weight Yet Starve?
Home Discipline
Why Are There So Many Religions?
The Cobra Known as King
Delinquency in the Schools
Hair
Port Wine, a Specialty of Portugal
"Your Word Is Truth”
The Reciprocating Steam Locomotive
What About the Rich Man
Jaywalker
and Lazarus?
Kenya—African Wildlife Paradise
Watching the World
“Now it is high time to awake/’ —Raman* 13*11
Volume XL
London, England, May 8, 1959
Number 9
; w m nit on mar m sbbh¥
iiTVyHAT a foolish question!” do you W exclaim? Not at all. For it is not enough that we eat sufficient food, we must also eat the right kind or we may be putting on weight and yet be suffering from malnutrition. Thus note what Science News Letter, December 13, 1958, had to say under the heading “Americans Starve as They Eat and Grow Fat.”
“Millions of Americans are growing fat and starving themselves at the same time. . . . Many persons simply starve their bodies of food they need,” such as protein, “while growing fat on food they do not need,” such as excessive amounts of fat, sugar and starch. So it is indeed possible to put on weight and yet starve. Could the same be true in a religious, spiritual or figurative sense? Indeed it can.
Today organized religion is putting on weight in many lands, both organizationally and individually. It is seen in the increase of church memberships and in the construction of new church buildings. And it can be seen in the increased use of religious medals and statuettes and by the popularity of “inspirational” literature and religious entertainment. All this looks very fine, but is it religious muscle or fat?
The steady increase in crime, in divorces, in illegitimacy, in sex offenses, and, in particular, the calloused indifference to corruption in high places, in government, in industry and in organized labor, all testify to the fact that spiritual fat is replacing spiritual muscle. Why this inconsistent condition? Because the people are not being fed wholesome, solid religious food but sentimental sweets. Long ago the apostle Paul foretold this very condition, telling that the time would come when men “will not put up with the healthful teaching, but, in accord with their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves to have their ears tickled.” As a result another of his prophecies is having its fulfillment, namely that men will be “lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God, having a form of godly devotion,” an appearance of spiritual health, "but proving false to its power,” actually suffering from spiritual malnutrition.—2 Tim. 4:3, 4; 3:1-5.
Rather than their being well fed, Amos 8:11 says of their condition that there is a “famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Jehovah.”—AS.
Do you avoid making such mistakes? Do you want to be spiritually well-fed, healthy and strong? Then feed on the nourishing food of God's Word.
TmHY A—
IF YOU were to stand on any busy street in Christendom and ask passers-by the simple question, Why are there so many religions? you would be amazed at the many different answers that you would A
get from a seemingly intel- I
ligent audience. Generally 1
fl'JU01’
Do the many J religions represent different ways lo lhe " true God or is there [ust one way? Jf Only one way . to God, why ore there so many kinds A of religion?
speaking, their replies would go something like this: ‘We have many different kinds of religion because people are different. They have different tastes, different likes and dislikes. So we hear men say, One man’s religion is another man’s poison.’ Others declare religion to be a state of mind. ‘Many minds, many religions,’ they say. Some blame the hodgepodge of religions on religious ambiguity in doctrine, requirements and ideals. One observer took the program “This I Believe’” as an example. He said the radio program had “plenty of ‘believe’ and quite a bit of ‘I,’ but not very much of ‘this.’ There was a great deal of ‘faith’ professed but the ‘believers’ were often sublimely vague about just what it was they believed in.” And so go the reasons for there being so many religions.
It is actually difficult today in Christendom to get two professing Christians to agree on a single cause or give a Bible answer for the many religions. Yet the apostle Paul said to Christians: “I exhort you, brothers, . . . that you should all speak in agreement, and that there should not be divisions among you, but that you may
be fitly united in the
r same mind and in the same line of thought.” This oneness of mind and thought is admittedly sadly missing. —1 Cor. 1:10.
In fact, the very word "religion” gives rise to considerable confusion. There is still no one generally accepted definition for the word. Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines religion to mean “the service and adora-
tion of God or a god as expressed in forms of worship.” On the other hand, some sociologists refer to religion as the “collective expression of human values.” For centuries the Bible itself has revealed to man an authentic account of religion. It shows Adam and Eve did it. The preflood world did it. The children of Israel did it. The people of Jesus’ day did it. And now we see the whole world doing it. Doing what? Doing the very thing the ancients did that was responsible for the rise of so many religions. Where religion was involved, the vast majority of earth’s inhabitants have always leaned to their own understanding. Few and far between were those who consulted God’s Word on the matter. Invariably men preferred their own ideas and opinions to the wise counsel of God. In so doing they plunged themselves into destruction and ruin. Wise King Solomon wrote: “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.” Only a very limited number of mankind heeded this excellent advice.—Prov. 3:5-7.
From One Religion to Many
In Eden there was only one religion. Adam and Eve worshiped Jehovah by obeying his commandments. One of these commands is recorded at Genesis 2:16, 17, which says: “Jehovah God also laid this command upon the man: ‘From every tree of the garden you may eat to satisfaction. But as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will positively die.’ ”
Freedom from death! A chance to be “like God, knowing good and bad”! With such lying claims a new religion was introduced to Eve in Eden. The new religion promised freedom and life without any restrictions. Jehovah told Adam, if you disobey me “you will positively die.” However, the author of the new religion told Eve, if you disobey God “you positively will not die.” The new religion appealed to Eve. She leaned to her own understanding and disobeyed God’s command. Adam followed her in transgression. By so doing Adam and Eve practiced false religion. That which they listened to and served was a lie and it brought them nothing but misery, sorrow and death.—Gen. 3:4, 5.
Who was responsible for the new religion? Not Jehovah, “for God is a God, not of disorder, but of peace.” This false religion brought disorder, confusion, where there was peace. Jesus identified the Devil, “the father of the lie,” as the author of the new religion. The Devil sows his seed of falsehood in an effort to turn all men away from the true God Jehovah.-1 Cor. 14:33; John 8:44.
Since Eden’s day these many falsehoods have given rise to false religions. Archaeological discoveries of recent date show that men before the Flood had a number of religions and that these were based on belief in soul survival after bodily death. Belief in life after death appears to have been popular. There was widespread idolatry and sex worship. The Targum, of Palestine states as to Enosh’s day: “That was the generation in whose days they began to err, and to make themselves idols, and surnamed their idols by the name of the word of the Lord.”
The early forms of false religions drove mankind to gross immorality and violence. The Genesis account says: “The badness of man had become great in the earth and every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only bad all the time.” “The earth became filled with violence. So God saw the earth and, look! it was ruined, because all flesh had ruined its way on the earth.” A ruined mankind was the price of false worship, the penalty for leaning upon his own understanding in matters of religion.—Gen. 6:5,11,12.
True religion, however, managed to survive the corruption and degradation. The Bible testifies: “Noah was a righteous man. He proved himself faultless among his contemporaries. Noah walked with the God.” By following God’s direction and by not leaning upon his own understanding, Noah was moved to build an ark that proved to be his place of refuge during the flood. His worship, the worship of Jehovah, was the only religion that survived. All others were destroyed, which proves that there is only one way to salvation— Jehovah’s way.—Gen. 6:9.
Religion After the Flood
For a time after the flood the worship of Jehovah was the only religion in the earth. However, once again, the Devil set
about to re-create false religion. With Nimrod he started state worship. Then he moved men to build towering temples in defiance of Jehovah. The basic false religious doctrine of human immortality and its correlative doctrine, the transmigration of the soul, were introduced to mankind. Symbols were used in worship. From the worship of symbols to the worship of images was a short step. Sex worship was also reinstituted.—Gen. 10:9.
In many lands the sun became the chief object of worship. Superstitious men would say, What if the sun-spirit should become angry and not shine? How would man hunt, fish and live? So everything must be done to keep the sun-spirit happy. How? Early each morning before sunrise the holiest of men were chosen to climb to the top of a high mountain or hill, so as to be close to the sun, then sing to the sun-spirit and praise him for his kindnesses to men. So sun worship got its start.
Soon thereafter moon and stars were worshiped. Then came the forces of nature, thunder, wind and rain. Nature itself was worshiped. Then men watched tadpoles change into frogs and caterpillars into beautiful butterflies. They reasoned, surely this was proof that life went on after death, that at death man merely sheds one body for another. It was easy for men to believe that mighty men became mighty animals in the next life. So they made images of these animals and worshiped them as they did these men whom they worshiped prior to their death. Soon there were carved images of animals, birds, trees and creeping things. So nature worship passed into idol worship. The Christian apostle Paul said of such worship: Although men “knew God, they did not glorify him as God nor did they thank him, but they became empty-headed in their reasonings and their unintelligent heart became darkened. Although asserting they were wise, they became foolish and turned the glory of the incorruptible God into something like the image of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed creatures and creeping things.” This inspired account shows conclusively that false religions stem from false reasonings* from men leaning upon their own understanding and not upon God.—Rom. 1:21-25.
Let this fact not escape our notice: from Eden’s day forward, true religion has always existed apart from all false religions. Time and again true worshipers were warned not to compromise with false religion. To Israel Moses said: “Jehovah your God you should fear and him you should serve and by his name you should swear. You must not walk after other gods, any gods of the peoples who are all around you, (for Jehovah your God in your midst is a God exacting exclusive devotion,) for fear the anger of Jehovah your God may blaze against you and he must annihilate you from off the surface of the ground.” The Israelites, however, did not always heed this warning. First, they fell victim to idolatry. Later, they succumbed to false religious traditions, which Jesus said made invalid God’s Word.—Deut. 6:13-15; Matt. 15:6.
Christianity and Apostasy
Jesus Christ re-established true religion. He proved that true religion leads to everlasting life, whereas false religion leads to sorrow and death. Of himself he said: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” But what is that way today? you ask. There are literally hundreds of different kinds of so-called Christian religions in the United States alone, all of them teaching contradictory doctrines, and yet all of them claim to be the true religion. How can this be? Why so many “Christian”
religions? How can we recognize and choose the right one?—John 14:6.
After the apostles and their close colaborers died, the true Christian organization was lost sight of and a great majority of professing Christians gradually fell away to the subtleties of false religion. The very apostasy that Paul foretold rapidly came to the fore. Paul said: “I know that after my going away oppressive wolves will enter in among you and will not treat the flock with tenderness, and from among you yourselves men will rise and speak twisted things to draw away the disciples after themselves.” That is precisely what happened. Men arose who spoke twisted things that split the Christian congregations. By 325 (A.D.) the apparent strength of the organized “Christian” apostasy was sought to bolster up the dying structure of the pagan state religion of-Rome. In that year (A.D. 325) Emperor Constantine called the first ecumenical council at Nicaea (Nice) in Asia Minor. After weeks of stormy sessions a statement of doctrine was adopted that incorporated the pagan doctrine of the "trinity.” In the course of a few years other pagan teachings, such as mother-and-child worship, Christmas, Easter, use of the cross, the sacrifice of the mass, prayers for the dead, and purgatory were all made a part of the new religion.—Acts 20:29, 30.
During the ensuing years priestcraft became unbearable. Protests were heard. The Greek part of the original Catholic realm refused to recognize the pope of Rome as the universal sovereign of the church. A split took place. The Greek Catholic and Greek Orthodox religious organizations came into power. The Russo-Greek Church branched from the patriarchate of Constantinople.
Over in France, a merchant of Lyons named Petrus Waldus began to protest against the growing apostasy of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy. His followers were called the Waldenses. A teacher at Oxford University who was also a Roman Catholic priest called John Wycliffe spoke out against the Roman Catholic clergy. His followers were called Lollards. Then came such men as Martin Luther in Germany, John Calvin in France, Ulrich Zwingle in Switzerland, John Knox in Scotland, Thomas Cranmer, Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer and others who shook the very foundations of the Catholic Church. What these men taught began what is known today as Protestantism.
Luther, for example, vigorously protested against the Catholic Church. He drew a great many people after himself. His teachings were called Lutheranism. John Calvin distinguished himself as an important religious writer on Christianity. His teachings became known as Calvinism. John Knox preached in Scotland. His teachings were called Presbyterianism. The Anabaptists appeared on the scene about Peter Waldo’s time. They were the forerunners of a number of Protestant sects, among them the Baptists, the Congregationalists and the Quakers of today.
About this time, too, the Bible began to be circulated in the language of the people. There was much private interpretation and twisting of Scripture, which resulted in a whole new crop of religions. There were the Abecedarians, a sect led by Nicholas Stork, who “opposed the simplest forms of education, even the learning of the A B C’s, on the ground that it prevented divine illumination and hindered spiritual sanctification.” Then there were the Abelites, an African sect that opposed procreation on the ground that it was a perpetuation of sin. Even a Satanist sect arose. The worshipers of this religion prayed to Satan, because they believed he had power to do good and evil. Some religions would accept certain parts of the Bible; other
religions would reject them. A good many have rejected the Bible altogether. So that today there are literally thousands of different kinds of religions.
Who is responsible for this religious confusion? In Jesus’ illustration of the sower he exposes the guilty culprit in these words: "The sower of the right kind of seed is the Son of man; the field is the world; as for the right kind of seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; but the weeds are the sons of the wicked one, and the enemy that sowed them is the Devil. The harvest is a consummation of a system of things, and the reapers are angels.” So the Devil is the one responsible for all the false religion in the world. But Jesus stated that true religion would also be on earth at this time. Do we see it? How can it be recognized? How can we be sure?—Matt. 13:37-39.
Where True Religion Is Found
True religion can be recognized today in the same way that it could in the past. True religion was always associated with the worship of Jehovah. In Eden the first, man worshiped Jehovah. Righteous Abel worshiped Jehovah. Enoch and Noah worshiped Jehovah. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses and Jesus and all righteous men worshiped Jehovah as God. And worshipers who practice the true religion today do the same. They, too, worship Jehovah as God. Men of old kept God’s Word, They were his witnesses: “ ‘You are my witnesses,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘and I am God.’ ” So in this day worshipers of Jehovah are his witnesses—Jehovah’s witnesses.—Isa. 43:12.
Certainly Christendom’s religions bear no similarity to first ^century Christianity. Her clergy teach for hire, mix in politics and support wars for material gain. They teach pagan doctrines, compromise theocratic principles, reject the Bible and advocate schemes of men such as the United Nations in preference to the kingdom of God. Her religions are powerless in the path of communism. They do not worship Jehovah as their God. In fact, they are ashamed of that name. They disown Jehovah and have removed God’s name from their modem Bibles. Therefore, they have no hope, nothing to offer to the people.
On the other hand, the New World society of Jehovah’s witnesses know what they believe and why. They have accepted the Bible as their guide and follow it closely. They are uncompromising in Bible principles. They do not meddle in politics and wars of this world. They have stripped their teachings of all pagan doctrines. They preach the truths of God’s Word and hail the kingdom of God as the only hope for mankind and not some man-made makeshift world-organization as the League of Nations or the United Nations. It is Jehovah’s, established kingdom that Jehovah’s witnesses declare in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations before the end of this system of things. Jesus said Christians would be declaring his kingdom at this time.—Matt. 24:14.
With these truths before you, there is a choice for you to make. In the words of Joshua, you must ‘‘choose for yourselves today whom you will serve.” In making your choice, however, do not err as many men in the past have done and as many are doing today by leaning to their own understanding. Let Jehovah’s holy spirit and his written Word the Bible guide you. They will motivate you into making a wise choice of religion, the decision that Joshua made: "But as for me and my household,” he said, “we shall serve Jehovah.” Serve Jehovah. Associate with his witnesses. Remember, only servers of Jehovah will survive this world’s end to enjoy peace and life forevermore in God’s new world of righteousness. Choose wisely and live. —Josh. 24:15; Prov. 3:5,6,
through the schools of many cities is a current of unrest and delinquency. No mere wave of pranks is this. Rowdyism, extortion rackets and violence are taking place in the schools—on playgrounds, in corridors, even in classrooms.
One New York city teacher recently wrote a prominent judge: “Vandalism, theft, immoral activities, fights and bodily and mental harm done to teachers are not uncommon. We are now teaching behind locked doors, and demoralization of pupil regard for teachers is especially evident. The common joke among the population is that ‘the teachers are scared.’ ”
Stationed at New York city’s most delinquency-ridden schools now are policemen. One of the so-called “difficult” schools with a policeman is Brooklyn’s John Marshall Junior High School. Here, in the month of January, 1958, a thirteen-year-old girl was raped, a patrolman was punched by one of six youths ordered not to loiter in the building, and a recreation director was assaulted by two youths in the basement. The situation has become
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so difficult in some schools that the New York World-Telegram and Sun was prompted to send out a reporter, one George N. Allen, in disguise as a teacher. Reporter Allen, a Columbia University graduate, got a teaching job at the John Marshall Junior High School. After two months he quit teaching and wrote a series of fifteen articles about the delinquency problem for his newspaper. This is what reporter Allen found:
“There is open defiance in the classrooms. Teachers have been threatened with violence by students. . . . Decent children are terrorized by hoodlums in classrooms and corridors.”
When he started teaching, reporter Allen felt almost as if he were beginning a course in lion taming: “One of the first bits of advice I received was this chiller from an assistant principal: ‘You must never let them see that you are afraid,’ he told me. . . . ‘Even if you are afraid, you have to walk into your classroom and make them think that youare not afraid.’ ”
Maintaining discipline in the classroom was a formidable problem, Allen found. “I was conducting a quiet and orderly lesson,” he wrote in one of his articles, “when two rowdies in the back of the room suddenly stood up, squared off and started slugging each other. ‘Stop!’ I shouted. ‘Stop that fighting.’ They kept right on punching. Finally I had to rush to the rear of the room and step between them. . . . The rest of the class was roaring. They howled and shouted and cheered each battier. They banged their desks with their books as I shoved the boys to the front of the room. I lectured them, then told them to return to their seats. But as soon
as I released them they began lambasting each other again.”
Allen’s articles caused an uproar among school officials, but the Telegram stood firm for what it had published, one editor declaring: “We studied every article carefully and toned down all of them. Conditions are much worse than what we said.”
Problem of Big Cities—but Spreading
New York is not the only city troubled with delinquency in the schools. Many of the big cities, especially in the northern part of the United States, are having trouble. In Philadelphia police patrol the corridors of ten difficult schools. Their main job is to keep teen-age hoodlums from entering the school to terrorize it. Philadelphia is now reported to have a shortage of seven hundred teachers. If teachers cannot get assignments to good schools, they often quit. Describing a common type of delinquency, Philadelphia’s district attorney recently said: “We do have a lot of youngsters who exact tribute from the younger children.”
In Detroit teachers report that much of the delinquency in the schools is not made known to the public. If it were it would reflect on the ability of the teachers to control the students. But it is known that teachers have been threatened and ■ struck. Trouble often comes, however, from nonstudents—teen-age hoodlums either unable or unwilling to get a job. They loiter around school buildings and cause trouble. Telling about a male teacher at one of Detroit’s high schools, U. S. News World Report said: “He repeatedly asked his principal for police protection from prowling gangs when he was stationed in the schoolyard to keep order after school. The principal refused to get police help— because of concern over publicity—until the teacher brought a pistol to school and warned that he would use it if attacked.”
The Kansas City Star not long ago told its readers: “The breakdown of discipline in an increasing number of Kansas City’s high schools is spreading at an alarming rate. ... In some classrooms, a hoodlum element has taken control.... Many teachers, by their own admissions, are losing control.”
In Chicago, Superintendent of Schools Benjamin C. Willis reports some improvement: “We have less violence in the schools rather than more, than we had a few years ago.” However, a high police official in Chicago told U. S. News <& World Report; “Very few educators will ever admit there is anything wrong with their schools. They’re afraid they might be fired. . . . Teachers don’t know how to handle the situation, or what to do.” A big problem is nonstudent gangs that loiter around schools. That some classrooms lack discipline is evident from what one teacher told a police official: “I just try to keep order in the classrooms. If the kids behave, I pass them. That’s all I want out of them.”
Though the problem of delinquency in the schools is mainly a problem of certain sections of large cities, the unrest has already spread to small cities. Last May Dr. W. C. Kvaraceus, professor of education at Boston University and a recognized authority on juvenile delinquency, was asked: How widespread is this bad behavior on the part of school children? He answered: “I don’t think that this is unique in the States. I think this is universal.”
Wherever it occurs, delinquency in the schools distracts children from their studies. Teachers become less effective, as their time and energy are wasted trying to maintain discipline.
How is it that delinquency in the schools has become so sensational now? This is not a problem that has suddenly developed, says Jackson Toby, assistant professor of sociology at Rutgers University. “The
'crime wave’ in the schools is no more than a public focusing of attention on 'a chronic problem,” he says. “Recent news stories about rapes, assaults and thefts in public schools are (for the most part) factually correct, but they could have been duplicated in any previous year. A school crime wave occurred in 1958 because newspaper editors . . . decided that school offenses were worthy of more detailed coverage than the hundreds of other crimes committed every day.”
But there is something that is rather recent. Getting right to the crux of the matter, a veteran school official who grew up in New York city says: “Crime is not exactly a new thing in New York schools. It’s been going on as long as I can remember. But there is a change in the pattern of youthful misbehavior. The youngsters today seem to be more aggressive, more violent.”
Why this increased violence in the schools? Why do children become student delinquents? There are many facets to the problem. Some observers feel that teachers and administrators are to blame. Educators, however, have good arguments to show that poor co-operation from parents is a big factor in this terrible situation.
School Discipline and World Conditions
Is the discipline in schools lax? Many authorities contend that stricter discipline is needed. Making.a sharp comment on this matter, Philadelphia's Police Commissioner Thomas J. Gibbons recently said: “We have to have respect for constituted authority, and that’s not only as it applies to the police but in the schools. . . . We’ve gotten away from the custom of giving them a cuff on the ear, as we used to get in school when we got out of order. We learned that you couldn’t do these things in the classroom. But we seem to have gotten away from that. I know for a fact that if any of the youngsters in school today are cuffed around by a teacher, immediately there’s a demand to have the teacher removed, and so you can’t have discipline.”
District Attorney Victor H. Blanc of Philadelphia also feels there is a need for going back to spanking delinquent students. He says: “I know when I was a youngster in school, if I did something wrong, I would get cracked over the knuckles with a great big ruler that the teacher had, or I can remember being sent down to the principal’s office at the public school when I had done something I shouldn’t have done and got a terrific ‘lacing’ from the principal. Nobody thought of taking the principal to the federal court and charging him with a violation of civil rights. But that’s what happens today. . . . The whole lack of discipline in the schools today is something which is very, very frightening. And the police themselves, when they are attacked by kids of this kind, are afraid to let them have it as they should, because they are taken down and charged with violation of civil rights and tried in the federal courts as a result.”
Thus the laws in many localities prevent school officials from applying the discipline that is needed. But even if schools are given the right to spank children, this is recognized as being only a partial solution. “The schools,” says Dr, Kvaraceus, “by themselves, can do little or nothing.” The undisciplined culture in which children live and the violence in the world are formidable factors, says this authority. “I think it’s a reflection of the violence and self-indulgence in our culture. . . . Let me say that all you have to do is pick up any headline in terms of, let’s say, a mock air raid—which is suggestive of violence . . . and the need for a ‘summit’ conference under the threat of war—the implication being that the one way to solve your prob-
lems is to fight your way through to a solution.”
Coping with the Problem
To cope with the problem some schools are suspending delinquent students. This solution, however, only raises another problem: What is to become of youngsters who are branded as ineducable and who are unable to find work?
New York city has approached the delinquency situation by establishing special schools for problem pupils. About 1 percent of New York city's 950,000 school population is described as the hard core of the problem. To cope with this the city has organized the so-called ”600” day schools for the most difficult problem boys from nine to seventeen years of age. These schools, so named because each of them has a number in the 600’s, were first set up in 1947. But with the recent outbreaks of violence in the schools, the city established four emergency schools called ”700” scnools.
Because of the outbreaks of violence in New York city schools, the State Education Department sent two task forces to find out ways to improve the city’s handling of delinquents. The state’s findings were that the “600” schools “in many important respects are succeeding very well.” However, the state’s report, said the New York Times, “termed the city’s efforts wanting in many important respects. The state said there appeared sometimes to be an almost unreasonable dependence upon the schools to effect cures although they cannot deal with the causes of delinquency: slums, poverty and shattered families.” New York city’s Board of Education issued its own findings: “In its basic elements it is a reflection not of the schools but rather of the society in which it exists.” There is a need, said the board, for “full recognition by the whole community that there is no substitute for the principles of religion and morality.”
The Crux of the Problem
What, then, can be done about the student delinquents? The children need to be taught the principles of morality from their infancy. They need to be trained and disciplined from their infancy; and that must be done in the home. “I think the main trouble,” said an experienced New York school official, “is a breaking down of discipline in the home.” J. Edgar Hoover, head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, recently pointed his finger right at the heart of the problem:
“Any program to combat juvenile delinquency can begin in only one place—the home. Abdication of parental responsibility . . . has gained a strangle hold on all too many American households today. One jurist said recently: ‘The (delinquency) problem is not so much an improper youth as it is an improper home.’ Unquestionably, the very heart of the delinquency problem rests with the family.”—This Week magazine, November 2, 1958.
So delinquency in the schools is just another facet of the whole juvenile delinquency problem. If children are not properly disciplined in the home from infancy, how can they be expected to behave in school? If home discipline is weak, then even intensified school discipline will hardly solve the problem. Only parental training and discipline can solve the twin problem of student delinquents and nonstudent hoodlums. Note carefully what man’s Creator has to say about solving the problem:
“Train up a boy according to the way for him; even when he grows old he will not turn aside from it.” “Do not hold back discipline from the mere boy. In case you beat him with the rod, he will not die. With the rod you yourself should beat him,
that you may deliver his very soul from Sheol itself.” “The one holding back his rod is hating his son, but the one loving him is he that does look for him with discipline.”—Prov. 22:6; 23:13, 14; 13:24.
Obedient and well-trained children may come into contact with the delinquent element in the schools. To guard against contamination, Christian parents also train their children as to the importance of right association, in harmony with the Bible rule; “Bad associations spoil useful habits.”—! Cor. 15:33.
The main responsibility for right training and discipline rests with the parents, not the schools. Unless this is recognized there will be little progress made in wiping out delinquency in the schools.
THE psalmist said that wine makes the J. heart of man glad. Those who live in Portugal feel that they have just the wine for that purpose. It is known throughout the world for its superb taste and aroma. It is the famous port wine or, as some like to call it, “bottled sunshine.”
Although this world-renowned wine has the name of Portugal’s second-largest city, the grapes needed to make this delicious nectar do not. come from Oporto (in Portuguese, Porto). They are specially selected and must come from a certain region in Portugal known as the Douro River valley. There was a time when the boundaries of this area were very vague and uncertain. But in the second half of the eighteenth century the government stepped in and definitely determined what would be called the Douro region.
As the Douro River cuts its way through the rugged mountainous terrain of Portugal, if leaves behind beautiful landscaped mountain slopes terraced to make vineyards. Some of the terrace walls are as high as twenty to thirty feet above ground and represent many days and months of tedious work done by the peasants. The soil in this region is composed mostly of schistose rock, which seems to give the plants the essential nutritive elements that the grapes need to be used for port wine.
Then, too, the climate is another factor that cannot be overlooked. The winters arc very cold. It is not surprising to see the thermometer touch the freezing mark. However, this cold weather is a blessing in disguise because it kills many of the parasites that attack the vines. Then in the summer we have the other extreme, foi’ the temperature reaches as high as 107 degrees in the shade. It is perhaps due to the intense heat and sunshine that the grapes receive that some refer to port wine as “bottled sunshine.” Without this heat and sunshine the grapes would never reach the high sugar content needed for the wine. By the way, not all grapes grown in the Douro River valley are suitable for
port wine. They must come from a certain height above sea level.
It is interesting to note that these vines are not watered by man-made irrigation, but depend solely on the rainfall, October to March being the rainy season. During this season the workers make small ditches around each plant so as to form a small reservoir of water to trickle down to the roots, because in all probability during the long hot summer months there will be no rainfall. Also during the cold bitter rainy months of winter the peasants can be seen pruning the vines. But what makes this scene even more picturesque is the strange attire tfiey wear as protection against the rain. They wear huge cloaks or capes made of various layers of straw and a straw hat. From a distance they appear as bundles of straw among the bare grapevines.
Wine-making Time
Let us now get to the wine-making time. This is when there is plenty of hard work to be done. The peasants by the hundreds, men, women and children, migrate to the vintage sections of the country. These workers are easily spotted as one goes along the road or passes the railroad station, They all have certain things in common. The men usually have a stick or staff over their shoulder, at the end of which is tied a burlap sack with their belongings. The women carry their things in a basket well balanced on their heads. The men also carry a troixa. It is cylindrical in shape, made of leather or strong cloth stuffed with straw. It has a wide strap that goes around it, the upper part going over the top of the head, causing the leather part to fall between the shoulder blades. It is used to rest the large baskets of grapes on the back of their necks and heads; these they must carry from the mountain slopes to the large cement vats called lagares, where the grapes will be transformed into liquid. The women and children are used to pick the grapes and fill the basnets, which weigh from 100 to 150 pounds. They work from sunrise to sunset. The men, to lighten their laborious task of carrying these heavy baskets, often walk in a line marking time to a whistle,, which the first man in line will blow. Sometimes he will play a mouth organ or a small accordion.
The part of the work that the men seem to enjoy the most is the treading of the grapes in the lagares. This is still done with the human foot. They claim that this ancient method insures more depth of color and richness without any bitter flavor from the skins, pips and stalks. In this vat that will make about 100 to 110 "pipes” (or casks, holding about 550 liters each) of wine there will be over twenty-five men treading the grapes, wading in must well over their knees. To get the grapes fermenting will take about four hours of treading, which is usually done at night from nine o’clock to one in the morning; this after the men have been working since sunrise. Some of the men tread independently, or they will line up side by side joining arms at the shoulders and one will mark time as they slowly move around the lagar. Also, while treading, many times one will play his mouth organ, another will play the accordion, others sing, and still others dance around to the music. All in all, there is much laughter and frolic.
When the men get through treading the grapes, fermentation is allowed to reach a certain point. At this time they check it by adding aguardente (brandy made from wine). They usually add about a hundred liters of aguardente to a cask. This new wine is then allowed to mature in chestnut or oak casks through the winter months there at the vineyards. The cold winter helps to clear the impurities in the wine, which fall to the bottom of the cask. After a few months the wine is drawn off
and put into another "pipe” ready for shipping to the wineries.
Most of these wineries are located in Villa Nova de Gaya, a town on the Douro River across from Oporto. There was a time when all the wine was shipped there by boats called rabclos, which are peculiar to the Douro River. They are*flat-bottomed, having a long wooden rudder of a peculiar shape, which is fixed in the stern and acts like a powerful lever. But more and more the wineries are using the railroad 'and truck companies, for they can operate at any time of the year, whereas the rabelos could be used only in winter when the river was high. Once the port wine reaches
Villa Nova de Gaya it is stored and aged in the wineries for many years. They claim that the wines should not be much more than thirty years old. From this town they export the port, mostly in casks, not bottled, to all parts of the world.
Made to Suit Your Taste
One will find that there are many kinds of port wine. The color will vary from deep ruby to white. The coloring of the wine comes from the action of the alcohol on the pigment in the skin of the grape. Therefore the more they tread the grapes the darker the wine. For the white port they use a special white grape. Also, they blend various ports to obtain the color desired. Although both the red and white port come from the same region, they have characteristics of their own. The wine with a marked aroma and more body is the red port. White port may be lacking in these qualities to a certain degree but certainly makes up for them by its more refined taste and mellowness. Besides the choice in the color, you can have your port dry, sweet or semisweet. You will find that even though port is a wine, it has many characteristics of a liqueur, due to the aguardente added while fermenting.
READ THE NEXT ISSUE!
0 Mary have prayed to God to show them what hope there is. God’s answer provides comfort now and everlasting blessings for the future. You will find cause for real hap. piness when you read about it in the article "God's Answer to the Prayer of Distressed Humanity."
Television is proving to be a boon to modern education, providing better education for more students. Adults, too, have the opportunity to expand their education without going to school. You will want to read "Teaching by Television" in the next issue.
Port wine is under strict control of the Institute of Port Wine,-which insures quality, issues certificates of origin, and supervises all export of wine. The wine must have 19 to 21 percent alcohol by volume, so at times more brandy is added to make the desired strength. Then the Institute has “tasters” to check the quality. They are not interested in quantity. Many times what we may consider good wine will not be shipped out as port wine because it does not meet the high standards. The tasters get samples of many different ports, not knowing from which winery they come. A sip of wine is taken, swished around in the mouth allowing the taste buds to react, then spit out. These men know wine.
So you can enjoy a glass of port at almost any time of the day. The sweet port makes an excellent dessert wine. To one making a social call port wine is usually offered. If you feel you need a tonic or a sedative to calm your nerves, port wine may be the answer.
Therefore the next time you have a glass of port wine from Portugal, enjoy it, remembering the work required to make it. But also remember the counsel of the apostle Paul: “Let your moderation be known unto all men.”—Phil. 4:5, AV.
THE RECIPROCATING
STEAM LOCOMOTIVE
_ _NE of the most fascinating pieces of mechanical equipment man has ever made is the reciprocating steam locomotive. Reciprocation means an exchange of acts, a mutual giving and returning, and thus can be well used to identify the backward and forward motion of the pistons and rods that cause a wheel to rotate through the action of a crank. It is very interesting to most people to watch this type of engine work because its parts are operating in full view, but when we see these power plants applied to a railroad locomotive, pulling hundreds of tons of freight at high speed, or hustling a passenger train along at upward of eighty miles an hour, the impression of its ability to accomplish tremendous tasks is great. While it is true that more power per ton of fuel can be obtained through the use of Diesel, electric, or some of the later steam-turbine locomotives, yet these engines do not capture the imagination in the same way as the reciprocating engine does, for there is no impression of the power that makes the wheels rotate. Let us go down to the railroad yards.
See, here is a four- or five-hundred-ton giant that has just come in trailing a hundred cars. What a feeling of tremendous power, held captive in the great boiler, we get as we hear the hiss of a jet of steam forcing the draught of the furnace as it hustles the smoke up the short smokestack, and note the air pumps pulsing to replace the pressure just now expended in bringing nearly a mile of freight cars to a stop! Look toward the front end of the big machine. Do you see the great cylinders, one on each side, bunched up like the tremendous shoulder muscles of a monstrous giant? Now, do you notice the shining piston rods protruding from the center of each cylinder in the direction of the driving wheels? Notice that these correspond to the upper arms of man. Now look at the rods that connect the ends of the piston rods to crank pin bearings on the outside of one pair of driving wheels —for all the world like giant forearms and hands gripping the crank handle of a wheel. And do you also see the long horizontal side rods coupling all the pairs of driving wheels together? These spread the power of the pistons over a larger surface of wheel tread and rails. You are looking at something that has fascinated and intrigued millions of people during the past hundred years.
Like thousands of other persons, as you notice the engineer reaching into nooks and crannies with a long-spouted oil can and then climbing back into the cab, you wonder what it would be like to ride with him and watch the manipulation of the scores of controls you glimpse within, to send this thundering monster on its journey across the countryside. But there is the signal to go. Slowly he pulls a little on the long throttle lever so as not to apply too much power at the start and cause the great wheels to slip, but admitting the steam pressure into the cylinders easily and steadily. Slowly the piston rods push
out, one a half stroke ahead of the other, and the cranks begin to turn the great wheels. Back the rods move into their cylinders, slowly and steadily, and then come out once more, and the movements are accompanied with full-throated, roaring chuff, chuff, chuff, chuffs, as the exhaust steam, in great clouds, rushes free at last from the intolerable pressure of the boiler back into the air from where it had originally come. With a steady gathering of speed, the impression of a living giant, slaving in the interests of man, its master, becomes stronger. We do not wonder that this steam giant has so captured the imagination of boys the world over, that many of them keep their youthful interest on into their adult years and, as members of amateur railroad clubs, operate working models of engines and track systems, with all the various items of controls and rolling stock, just as if they were actually working for a real railroad system.
Ho tv It Developed
Did you ever wonder about the development of this vital form of transportation and think about the when and why and how of it all? There is so much history, geography, drama, tragedy, social development and industrial expansion in association with the subject that many volumes of books would be required to tell us all about it, so let us just touch the high spots.
We can trace the idea of a steam jet pushing a vehicle to Sir Isaac Newton in the year 1680. By 1770, Nicholas Cugnot of France experimented with a steam-powered, heavy wagon for hauling artillery along roads. Following this. James Watt applied steam power to the problem of keeping coal mines pumped dry enough to enable them to be worked. Auxiliary engines were also coming into use to assist horses in hauling heavy loads up inclines around the mines. About this time crude tracks were being laid from mines to canals, it having been found that horses could pull much more coal, ore or rock in trolley cars, than by using wagons over roads. In 1803, Trevithick’s steam locomotive appeared, designed to pull more of these loads than horses could. It did, handling ten tons of iron, five wagons and seventy men, at Pen-y-darran, near Merthyr, Wales. It had no resemblance to today’s engines. Its cylinders worked indirectly, and the power was brought down to the drive wheels through gears.
By 1807, Fulton was applying steam power to boats over in America, and steadily the required knowledge of this new science was building up. Hedley’s "Puffing Billy’’ appeared in 1813, to be followed by Stephenson's “Blucher” in 1814. Next, in 1829, George and Robert Stephenson built the famous “Rocket.” It developed twenty horsepower, operated on a boiler pressure of fifty pounds per square inch, and pulled a carriage of people at twenty-four miles an hour. In this engine we can trace the design that has now become so familiar to us all. It utilized exhaust steam to increase the heat of the furnace by the simple expedient of sending it up the chimney, and its power rods worked direct onto the wheels by fixed cranks. This engine won an open competition after several days of tests, and can now be seen at the Science Museum, at South Kensington, London, England.
The Stockton-Darlington Railway was now developing and, due to the work of Stephenson, soon discontinued the use of horses for passenger haulage, and steam took over. Wooden rails surfaced with strips of iron, and the short fish-bellied rails, something like the grates in a furnace, soon proved impractical and the development of the modern type of rail began.
Opposition to the new method of transportation flared up and then began to die out, and in due time illustrations comparing a derailed locomotive, and passengers scrambling desperately for safety, with horse-drawn coaches gliding serenely and safely along in obvious superiority, began to cease, and those who prophesied the end of all things in clouds,of smoke and scalding steam, with trains hurtling down into the Apocalyptic abyss, began to be discredited and ignored. Stronger boilers, bigger engines, faster speeds, all came into being, and engines developed into two general classifications, the heavier, smaller wheeled, more powerful and slower freight types, and the larger wheeled, higher geared, lighter engines for faster passenger service. The “Flying Scotsman” is a modem example of this latter type. So as the century rolled along, first industrial areas and later cities and rural areas were linked together with a network of steel. Actually, the industrial revolution was a power revolution, and the reciprocating steam engine provided that power.
Use in America
Meanwhile, in America, some crude trolley tracks had come into use for the same reason as in Britain, enabling horses and mules to pull heavier loads to canals. But with the eastern range of mountainous country, canals could be built only to the north and from the Hudson to the Great Lakes. This meant that millions of acres of empty land lay idle, while the population tended to bunch up along the Atlantic seaboard. Forward-looking men began to see the possibility of steam locomotion through the mountain passes, to develop the rich lands to the west and south. So we note that in 1829 the “Stourbridge Lion” was imported from England and, built by Foster Rastrick and Company, was the first steam locomotive to operate in America. Next came the “Best Friend,” claimed to be the first engine built for actual commercial operation in America, also the “Tom Thumb,” which lost its early lead in a race with a horse-drawn rail coach due to a mechanical mishap, enabling the horse to win. “John Bull,” another Stephenson product, was imported in 1831, and again sound, lasting principles of design were seen in this engine. Matthias Baldwin patterned “Old Ironsides” after its general design, and it, in turn, served well for some twenty years. Soon the combination of better railroad track and more knowledge of the science of steam power began to show results. It is claimed that by 1837 the “North Star” became the first engine to exceed sixty miles an hour. Longer boilers and more driving wheels appeared on the scene, the “Madison” of 1860 having two pairs coupled together, and Winan’s “Camel,” in 1863, connecting four pairs together.
With the end of the Civil War and the following depression subsiding, attention was again turned toward settling the many empty areas of the country, and this period saw longer trackage and increasing size of both locomotives and trains. Mountain types of engines had to be designed, and the problems of long grades and sharp curves led into the Mallet articulated design. This Swiss engineer designed what amounted to two engines, free to move separately, under the one long boiler. Thus weight and power were increased and good cornering maintained.
Continued Improvement
Now the trend is to bring the mighty freight locomotives more in line with passenger train speeds so that perishables are whisked along at speeds undreamed of a few decades ago. All this has meant higher steam pressures, some engines working on 300 or more pounds per square inch. Incidentally, a speed record of 112.5 miles
an hour is claimed for "Old 999” in the year 1893. In America today there are giants of over 500 tons weight, 140 feet long, including the tender, from five to six thousand horsepower, and capable of performing at a hundred miles an hour. Their appetite for coal or oil fuel, and water, is seen from the tremendous capacity of their tenders, which tag along with twenty-five to thirty tons of fuel and a refreshing drink or two of some 25,000 gallons of water. No fireman could feed such a glutton with a shovel, so for many years now automatic stokers have taken over the job.
Economy with the steam generated has received much thought, particularly for when the locomotive has gathered speed and momentum. This has meant a development of the valves that admit the steam alternately into the cylinder on each side of the piston and that provide an outlet for it when it has expended its power. Stephenson’s shifting link motion was used for many years, but the use of Walshaert's motion, driven from the crosshead (elbow), and an eccentric crank, has brought improvement. Being on the outside of the wheels, it is far easier to keep lubricated. We must also mention the automatic coupling, which has saved so many hours of tedious and dangerous handwork and has proved to be one of the big advances made in railroading. Mention must also be made of the air brake, which eliminated the laborious task of scrambling from car to car to apply each individual mechanical brake. Now the engineer controls all brakes simultaneously by a valve in the cab.
In America, as elsewhere, there is a large variety of designs of locomotives, but, large or small, they are all classified according to the number and disposition of their wheels. For instance, a 2-4-2 would simply mean that there would be one pair of leading wheels, two pairs of driving wheels and one pair of trailing wheels. A mountain-type Mallet could be 4-S-8-4. Notice a few different types of engines and you will soon get the idea.
There are about three quarters of a million miles of railway Jines, or tracks, in the world today and, mindful of the marvelous ingenuity of man in making the mighty locomotives to run on them, one could easily conclude that these rails, in every land, would all be laid the same distance apart. But not so. Too often men do not agree when there is an opportunity to disagree. The standard width of track, known as the gauge, we regard as four feet eight and a half inches, and this is used in England, America and Canada. Ireland has a gauge of five feet three inches and, in case you should smile at the Irish railroad, Spain and Portugal use one of five feet six inches, and Russia, five feet. Some other lands may vary from three feet to five feet.
For more than a hundred years the reciprocating steam locomotive has done enormous volumes of work; it has spread man’s physical and cultural horizons. But today other types of power and other modes of transport have taken over in many places. What the future holds for steam-locomotion, we will have to wait to see.
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