Awake!, November 22, 1963
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Fortify Your Mind with the Word of God
Waste Disposal—A Growing Problem
Do You Know How to Hold Your Job?
Dealing with Death
NOVEMBER 22, 1963
THE MISSION OF THIS JOURNAL
News sources that are able to keep you awake to the vital issues oTyepr times must be unfettered by censorship and selfish interests. “Awake!" has no 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 an; it is unprejudiced by traditional creeds. This journal keeps itself free that it may speak freely ta 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 notions, in many languages, by persons of all ages. Through its poges many fields of knowledge pass in review—government, commerce, religion, history, geography, science, social conditions, natural wanders—why, its coverage is as brood as the earth and as high as the heavens.
“Awoke!” 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
Do You Procrastinate?
Fortify Your Mind with the Word of God 5
Waste Disposal—A Growing Problem
Do You Know How to Hold Your Job? 12
Your Nails and Their Care
The Storm Plant
The Tape Recorder’s Many Uses
Dealing with Death
A Snail’s Life
The Day of the Race
Fastest Trains
A Jungle Nut in Modern Cities
“Your Word Is Truth”
‘Marry Only In the Lord’
Watching the World
Volume XL1V London, England, November 22, 1963 Number 22
IT HAS been meaningfully said that indecision is the thief of time and procrastination is .its best accomplice. Much more could be accomplished by communities and by individuals if persons could do away with putting off until tomorrow what might just as well be done today. If you procrastinate you may not only be thieving valuable time—you may also be losing out on much of the enjoyment to be had from life by putting more into it.
Of course, we know you cannot do everything you might want to do each day. None of us can. But did you know that output and production in numerous fields have simply boomed through the employment of better planning and improved work methods—with no additional effort? You and your family can easily apply the basic principles of production increase. To a large extent they attack the thief's accomplice, procrastination. It has to go.
Webster’s dictionary tells us that to procrastinate means “to put off intentionally and usually habitually and for a reason held to be reprehensible (as laziness, indifference to responsibility).” You may not have thought of the habit of putting off as being quite that censurable. Of course, there are times when deferring things may be wise and beneficial, but why not face it? You may be wearing yourself out as you lean back in an armchair, wondering, “Should I or should I not?” When you know you should, why not do it? You will feel much better if you reserve your well-earned relaxation until it can be fully enjoyed with the exhilarating feeling of duty accomplished.
But, aside from your own personal satisfaction, there are other more important reasons why something has to be done about procrastination. Time is running out fast in this old world, and there is yet room for beneficial things to be done if someone—like you, for instance—will just do them. You may be a person who has found a way to be of real service to your neighbor by wise use of this elusive thing that others may call “spare time.” If you know how to do good, then there is every reason for you to strive to get the most out of each minute of the day. You may recall the words of Jesus’ disciple James: “If one knows how to do what is right and yet does not do it, it is a sin for him.” (Jas. 4:17) Might not procrastination lead one into committing this sin? If you are aware of a friend who is pursuing a course that can lead him headlong to his doom, does your conscience allow you to procrastinate in doing your utmost to change his course? In these times, putting off until tomorrow can be just that serious.
A fellow disciple of James wrote about diligence in the exercise of Christian love and added: “Do this, too, because you people know the season, that it is already the hour for you to awake from sleep.’* Why? “For now our salvation is nearer than at the time when we became believers.” (Rom. 13:11) And that was nineteen hundred years ago! It makes you think, does it not? This writer was the vigorous, energetic, time-conscious apostle Paul. Did he do anything to help people other than write letters about the situation? Listen: “Therefore keep awake, and bear in mind that for three years, night and day, I did not quit admonishing each one with tears.” A procrastinator? Not Paul!—Acts 20:31.
Did you ever hear of buying out time? It can be bought, not with money, but probably at the cost of other pleasurable interests. Your Bible tells you about it in Ephesians 5:15-17. Here the inspired writer Paul explains how time can be bought, and you will notice that part of the process involves ‘keeping strict watch’ on how we walk. Have you ever tried that? Use your diary for a few days to watch closely how you use your time. You may be surprised to find how much time you spend doing "nothing.” And, yet, if you take stock of your achievements you may also wonder why so many details have had to be left uncared for because you did not have enough time. But didn’t you?
The scripture we just suggested reading also tells us to “cease becoming unreasonable.’’ Now, you may feel that you are only being reasonable with yourself as you take time out for relaxation, even at the sacrifice of things you know down deep should be handled. But are you sure you are not rationalizing? You know, being reasonable with yourself can be confused with being self-sparing. Some persons are religiously methodical in their use of time for personal pursuits, pleasure, theatergoing and hobbies. Nothing must interfere with these things; there is no thought of putting them off until tomorrow. Many of these pursuits may not be wrong, and, to some extent, they may even be necessary, yet they are not the really important things in life. Indulged in to a reasonable degree, they can be beneficial; over indulgence can be disastrous. Does one just have to spend so much time on that chinning bar, watching TV, or reading a novel? The honest answer is, probably, No. Is there essential reading waiting to be caught up with or are there appointments to be kept? The truthful answer is, probably, Yes.
Remember, to procrastinate can be dangerous. It is really taking chances. Is it truly wise for a car owner who knows that his brakes are failing to put off fixing them until he can “find enough time”? Will tomorrow be soon enough?
Did we hear you say “manana”? The old Spanish word has come to be used internationally because of the old Spanish custom it implies. But the truth is that tomorrow—rnanana, domani, lendemain, or whatever language you say it in—now more than ever may never come for many people. You have good intentions? Fine. You know how to be of service to your friends, your family and yourself? Better still; but do not put it off. To procrastinate is just a waste of time. You know it is. And it has cost lives.
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WITHIN recent months the return to the United States of several Americans who had defected to the Communist side during the Korean War focused attention on the process that led to their defection in the first place. They were among the twenty-one Americans who had originally chosen to remain behind and live in Communist China.
Not only twenty-one, but many other soldiers had compromised in varying degrees. When the Korean War ended, Western military authorities were positively shocked and horrified by the number of American soldiers who had defected from the standards of behavior expected of them while they were in Communist prison camps.
After these prisoners returned, the pieces of what had happened were fitted together. What emerged was a clear picture of the indoctrination program used on prisoners by the Chinese Communists. The term “brainwashing” is used to describe this process.
The Chinese program in Korea was successful in undermining morale to the extent that about one out of three American prisoners collaborated with their captors in one way or another. Some broadcast Communist propaganda. A number of air force officers accused their own country of germ warfare. Others informed against their fellow prisoners. Then there were the twenty-one who accepted communism to the point where they refused repatriation and went to live in China. Lesser compromises included such things as signing Communist peace pledges. Many even gave up the fight to survive altogether and quickly died without any apparent physical cause.
Mental Pressure
Scientific experiments reveal the absolute necessity of the mind’s taking in proper impressions from the senses, such as the senses of hearing, sight and touch. Without this, the brain ceases to function in an adequate way and abnormalities of behavior develop.
The Communist technique took advantage of this fact. No actual physical torture was used, but the more effective mental pressure was employed. The monotonous life in the camps was combined with periods of isolation, deprival of sleep and constant interrogation. Under this combination of circumstances, designed to reduce the mind to a state of helpless misery, the individual’s thinking started to break down, even to the point of his having hallucinations. In such a muddled state of mind, truth was confused with falsehood, and many prisoners produced almost any statement in order to satisfy their captors and escape this mental pressure.
When the prisoner began to produce what was demanded of him, the interrogators began to show kindness, supplying the victim with more food, better living conditions and other privileges.
A significant finding was that when some were kept in confinement without trial and without hope, they became profoundly depressed after a few months. Life ceased to have significance for many who had every relationship that gave their life meaning taken away from them.
The entire process of thought reform touched on the two most basic fears in man: the fear of annihilation and the fear of being totally abandoned.
What Was Missing?
Those with strong convictions had been better able to withstand the brainwashing technique. Those without such convictions were easier prey. Since they did not have strong moral or religious roots, many of these did not risk losing their comforts to stand up for what was right.
It was also noted that a great number of prisoners were self-seeking, interested only in their own lives and not in the lives of others. They became strangers to one another, unloving and untrusting, yes, isolated even as they were submerged in the mass. The attitude all too prevalent was “you take care of you, I'll take care of me.”
That such compromises and selfishness could exist in the prison camps should not surprise anyone who has kept up with the times. One who has been alert to the news of recent years can readily see the reason for such a wholesale breakdown of moral values.
When a child sees his father cheating on his income tax, the child will not think it too wrong to cheat when he takes examinations at school, especially since others do it too. Later, when he enters the world of business, he is confronted with “dog-eat-dog” tactics, competition for business and profits, padded expense accounts, the struggle for jobs regardless of the tactics required to obtain them, the dishonesty, lying, stealing and crime of the times, even in high places. Without any firm moral background or strong religious conviction, he may feel that he must adopt any tactic that will assure his security. Yes, during his lifetime in a world where selfishness has gone to seed, he is actually being brainwashed to feel that in life anything goes that one can get away with.
In addition, many are spared hard work in their youth because of living in a time of plenty. Pampering parents have not required them to carry their own load while young, so in a time of serious mental struggle they fail. Their minds have not been conditioned to work hard and honestly, so they do not have the stamina to undergo privations.
With this background common to so many, we can see why the prisoner would not stand up for what he is not sure is right, when that standing up could cost him his comfort, freedom from fear, better food and relief from tremendous mental bombardment.
Where to Turn
It is true that an individual cannot change the entire society that breeds this kind of compromising mentality. But the individual, while he will not change society, can change himself and can fortify his mind with what is needed to keep strong when put under severe mental pressure.
The mental fortification necessary comes from the only source in the universe that can completely overcome these devilish tactics. That Source is God. The Almighty God, who had the power to create the amazing visible universe, has the power to assist lowly man. God created man in the first place; he can surely sustain him if he chooses.
How does this fortification from God come? Is it automatic? Does a person just need to wait until he is in extreme circumstances and then pray for help? No, a person must begin to fortify himself before the time of stress comes. The athlete does not wait until the contest begins before conditioning himself. The mind must also be prepared before mental pressures are brought to bear against it. What do we use to do this? Jesus Christ gave the answer. when he said: “Your word is truth.” (John 17:17) He recognized that God’s Word, composed and compiled in written form in the Bible, is the source of truth that will fortify the mind with proper material to enable it to withstand any pressure brought against it.
By studying the purposes and requirements of God, we will build a mind that will stand like a tower of strength in time of stress. The Christian apostle Paul saw the need of doing this when he encouraged: “Quit being fashioned after this system of things, but be transformed by making your mind over, that you may prove to yourselves the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Rom. 12:2) Those who have been making their minds over by taking in God’s thoughts will be in tune with him and wall have the moral strength of conviction to resist pressure. Those who have not been making their minds over in this manner, but, instead, are fashioning themselves after this corrupt system of things, will leave themselves open to becoming victims of brainwashing.
In addition to building moral and mental strength, there is another essential benefit that comes from studying God’s Word. One who seeks to learn of God and makes his mind over to God’s way of thinking will please God. When he pleases God, he becomes acceptable in God’s sight and God now works in his behalf, answering prayers that are in harmony with his will. Thus, even in isolation, God will help one with something he would not have had before, and that is God’s holy spirit, his dynamic energy. This active force will operate on the individual and impart strength that would otherwise not be present. No interrogator can break down God’s spirit.
Has God’s Word and the backing of his spirit proved effective in thwarting brainwashing efforts? Yes. Thousands of Jehovah’s witnesses who have emerged from Nazi and Communist concentration camps can testify to this. They have stood the test and amazed their captors. Even death did not deter them, as they had the sure hope of coming back to life on a paradise earth by means of the resurrection from the dead, as Jesus promised.—John 5:28, 29.
One of these Christians who emerged from years of confinement in Communist prisons stated this: “There are no guns, no walls, no prison bars that can keep the spirit of God from reaching his people! If we have applied ourselves to a study of his Word and allowed it to sink down deep into our hearts, there is nothing to fear.”
The answer to brainwashing is definite. God’s Word will supply the fortification needed. His spirit supplies additional strength in time of severe crisis. By your taking in the life-sustaining truths contained in the Bible and then using them, your thinking will never be clouded under pressure, for, as the apostle Paul observed, you will be among those “who through use have their perceptive powers trained to distinguish both right and wrong.” —Heb. 5:14.
WASTE DISPOSAL —A Growing Problem
Surprised householders who get a glassful of detergent foam from a water faucet instead of good drinking water are made uncomfortably aware of a serious problem in our modem age—how to dispose of a steadily increasing volume of wastes without polluting the water supply. Whether a person lives in a farmhouse, a small town or a sprawling city, he should know something about waste disposal, because it directly affects the purity of his water and the health of his family.
During the nineteenth century when people were ignorant about safe disposal of sewage and the health hazards of polluted water, the city of London dumped untreated sewage into the Thames River, from which the people drew their drinking water. It is not surprising, therefore, that they suffered from repeated epidemics of cholera that killed thousands of people. Although it is still the custom for cities to pour their wastes into rivers from which they draw their drinking water, cholera epidemics are seldom experienced in the world. This is due to the purifying treatment that the wastes pass through before they are discharged into the receiving river and to the purifying treatment that is given river water before it is used for drinking. Despite such sewage treatment, however, pollution problems are steadily increasing.
In many countries drinking water is so polluted that it is unsafe to use unless it is first boiled. The pollution of streams, rivers and offshore waters near coastal cities is destroying fish, shellfish and other water life. It also is rendering many bathing beaches unusable.
In Canada a sudden outbreak of polio in the city of Edmonton was attributed to sewage pollution of drinking water. In the Soviet Union the polluting of rivers by wastes is damaging the Russian fishing industry to the extent of about a quarter of a billion dollars a year. There is grave concern in the United States over the pollution of the nation’s water supplies and the destruction of its fish. There are about 100 million Americans drawing drinking water from rivers and streams into which 120 million people dump their wastes. The mass of sewage is becoming so great that the margin of safety in the natural ability of rivers and streams to purify themselves is becoming dangerously narrow.
What further complicates the problem is the development of approximately 10,000 new chemical compounds every year that ultimately appear in the wastes that are dumped on the soil or in rivers. Preventing these chemicals from getting into drinking water is not an easy matter, as is evident from the frequency that detergents foam out of household water taps. Aside from this is the danger of radioactive pollution of water from atomic wastes. These come from thousands of institutions that are using radioactive isotopes, as well as from bomb factories and atomic power plants. Wherever they are dumped, into the oceans or into deep holes in the ground, there is always a possibility of their contaminating human food or water supplies. Their safe disposal has become a serious problem.
Recycling of Water
The thought of water being recycled or reused by cities located on a river may, to some people, be most unpleasant. But experience has proved that proper treatment of sewage along with the natural purifying ability of a flowing river can make recycling of water a safe practice. When this becomes dangerous is when growing cities come too close to one another so that there is insufficient distance between the sewage disposal pipe of one city and the water intake pipe of a downstream city or when the amount of sewage is so great that it exceeds the ability of the river to purify itself.
Some municipalities find that sewage treatment by sedimentation is sufficient if they have plenty of swift-moving river water that is well oxygenated. Before pouring sewage into the river they pass it through a large tank where the solids are permitted to settle to the bottom of the tank. The effluent, or outflow of liquid wastes, is quickly diluted as it is discharged into the fast-moving water of the river. Bacteria in the river feed upon the small organic matter suspended in the sewage, causing it to break down. This is known as aerobic decomposition. For it to take place there must be ample oxygen in the water, which is not possible when the flow of sewage is excessive. The process is free from odor and maintains a reasonably clean condition in the river so that plants and fish are not destroyed. Disease-causing organisms gradually die. The polluting substances are either destroyed or converted into simple constituents that are normal to clean streams and rivers.
There are several processes through which sewage can be passed in treatment plants that produce effluents that vary in purity. It is possible to treat sewage so that the outflow from the treatment plant is of the same quality as that of a normal river.
Primary Treatment
The primary treatment of sewage begins when it passes through racks or screens of steel bars that are set from one to two inches apart. These protect sewage pumps in a plant from trash that could damage them. Revolving cutters that grind up the trash are frequently used in place of the screens. Preceding the cutters is a widened channel where the rate of flow slows a bit to permit heavy inorganic materials such as sand to settle out. This is called a grit chamber. The sewage now goes into a sedimentation tank that might be from eight to ten feet deep, where much of the solid material in the sewage drops to the bottom of the tank. The time required for it to pass through this tank may vary from thirty minutes to three hours. Approximately 40 to 55 percent of the solids settle out. If chemicals are added to the sewage to cause coagulation practically all the settleable solids will be removed, but that increases the cost of treatment. Scum that floats on the surface must be removed.
Sometimes a special tank is used for skimming grease, oil and other matter from the sewage. Compressed air is blown into the sewage, causing much suspended matter to be lifted to the surface of the tank, where it is skimmed off and disposed of by being either buried or burned.
Activated-sludge plant using mechanical aeration
Filters
An additional processing step, known as secondary treatment, that many municipalities use is to pass the fluid coming from a sedimentation tank through a filter. Usually this will be what is called a trickling filter. The filter does little or no straining of the fluid but serves to put oxygen into it and to provide surfaces where oxidizing bacteria can live. It consists of broken stone or slag that is laid in a bed that usually is from five to six feet deep. Sewage that is sprayed on this stone trickles down to a system of underdrains at the bottom. The film of bacteria built up on the many surfaces of the stones stabilizes the organic matter by oxidation, changing it to inoffensive compounds including nitrates and sulfates. Since this filter does little straining but principally changes the nature of the suspended matter, the fluid from the filter must be passed into a sedimentation tank, where much of the floating material is removed. The processed fluid can then be discharged into a river.
In some plants the effluent is given a final treatment by being passed through a sand filter. This filter brings the sewage into contact with more bacteria, which have an excellent purifying action. When a sand filter is used following previous biological treatment, the resulting effluent is hardly distinguishable in appearance from drinking water.
Activated Sludge
The solids that settle to the bottom of settling tanks are referred to as sludge. As they settle, mechanical scrapers remove them. Usually the sludge is pumped to a heated digestion tank, where bacteria convert it to a relatively stable mineralized form that is without odor. The gas produced by the process of decomposition is used to heat the digester tank and sometimes serves as fuel for the engines that operate blowers, compressors and pumps. Processed sludge frequently is used by farmers and gardeners as fertilizer.
The use of activated sludge in processing sewage is favored by large cities. The effluent from sedimentation tanks is passed into aeration tanks, where sludge with a rich culture of bacteria is added to it. The mixture of sewage and biologically activated sludge is aerated either by mechanical agitation or by pumping compressed air into the tank. The aerobic bacteria flourish and decompose the sewage. After a treatment that lasts from four to eight hours, the sewage passes to final settling tanks, where the activated sludge drops to the bottom of the tank and is removed. Some of it is returned to the aeration tank to be mixed with incoming sewage. The effluent that flows out of the final settling tanks is clear and ready for discharge into a river or stream.
Detergents have caused problems at sewage treatment plants because they create thick layers of foam over the tanks, tend to prevent solids from settling out of solution and resist the action of bacteria. Consequently some detergent passes through treatment plants into the receiving river and eventually shows up, at times, in drinking water. Recently a new type of sewage treatment was developed that appears capable of removing detergents from sewage.
Privies and Septic Tanks
People living in rural areas are faced with the problem of waste disposal without the aid of central sewage treatment plants. The manner in which they dispose of their wastes is directly related to their health. If care is not exercised, drinking water can be contaminated with infectious agents of typhoid and paratyphoid fever, dysentery and cholera. If untreated human wastes are dumped on the surface of the ground, surface water is contaminated and there is danger from fly-borne diseases, parasitic tapeworms and hookworms.
A simple pit privy is a safe method of handling human wastes in rural homes that are without running water. With a suitable covering over the pit flies will not have access to the wastes. It has been found that pollution from the wastes in the pit do not penetrate very far into the soil. The downward travel of typhoid and dysentery bacilli in porous soils is limited to two feet and in denser soils to one foot. They have very little horizontal movement into the soil. Intestinal bacteria have a horizontal movement of only about one foot, whereas their downward movement is up to five feet.
As a protection to underground water that supplies wells with drinking water, a privy should not be dug so deep as to penetrate the water table. If that is done the privy will pollute the water supplying the nearby wells. The pit should terminate at least five feet above the water table. In the case of cesspools, they should terminate at least ten feet above it. A privy should not be dug where there is limestone or fissured rock. Pollution from the privy can easily seep great distances through their crevices.
A privy, cesspool or septic tank should, if possible, be located downhill from a well. In any event they should be at least 50 to 100 feet away, especially if groundwater rises into a privy during rainy periods. Depending upon the number of persons using a pit privy, it should serve for ten years or more when no garbage is thrown into it. Lime can be used to help control odors, but disinfectants should never be used, as they will destroy the bacteria that are necessary for decomposing the wastes. In the event that water should get into the pit, a cupful of kerosene poured into it at weekly intervals will discourage the breeding of mosquitoes.
Cesspools have disadvantages that cause many health authorities not to recommend them. The pores in the soil around the cesspool can, in the course of time, become choked up. This can cause it to overflow, creating an unhealthy situation. There is less likelihood of this when the cesspool is used in conjunction with a septic tank, receiving only the effluent from the tank. In both the cesspool and the septic tank anaerobic bacteria decompose the solid matter and change its nature. Most diseasecausing organisms are destroyed.
It is unwise to discharge the effluent from a septic tank into an open ditch, as it still contains a large amount of solids and great numbers of bacteria. Running the outflow from the tank through buried clay pipes with open joints is a safer method of disposal. The effluent can then seep into the soil. By the time the liquid reaches the underground water table it will have been purified by its passage through the ground. A septic tank requires a porous soil. Heavy clay soils are unsatisfactory.
Since human wastes can spread healthdestroying diseases, parasites and death, it is imperative that they be disposed of in a safe manner. No person can afford to ignore this. The problem of waste disposal is an extremely important one and must be solved in a safe manner no matter where a person may live. Growing population and industries have caused waste disposal to become a thing of major concern to health authorities and conservationists. The use of wise sewage treatment in cities and rural areas is an important factor in making certain that sickness and possibly death do not lurk in our water supply.
DO YOU KNOW HOW TO
LOSS of employment can be a severe blow to a man and his family, especially when they have many monthly bills to pay.
It can cause a great amount of anxiety. Whether you have had the experience of losing a job or not, it is wise to know what can be done to avoid being fired or being among those that an employer lets go when he finds it necessary to reduce his payroll. There are certain things you can do that will help you to hold your job or at least to keep employed.
In some countries there are employers who, when reducing the number of their employees, will follow a seniority arrangement. Disregarding a man’s ability and diligence, they will keep him on the payroll or let him go on the basis of the number of years he has been working for the company. There are other employers, however, who base their decision upon the man’s value as an employee. With technical advances wiping out approximately 35,000 jobs every week in the United States alone, a man should give some thought as to how he can increase his value to his employer or how he can develop ability in another industry in case automation eliminates his job or the business he is in suffers a severe economic setback.
One of the best assurances of steady employment is for a man to upgrade himself by developing a new marketable skill or by improving the one he has. If he decides to develop a new skill, he should first investigate to find out what skills are in demand and what training courses are available. Rather than waiting until he is unemployed before he begins such job training,
JX!
mixito
he
would be wise
to start it before
he is out of a job. His mind is much freer to concentrate on what he is being taught when he has money coming in to pay his bills than when he is unemployed.
Self-Examination
There is great value in taking stock of yourself from time to time to see how you can strengthen your hold on your job. Perhaps you have developed habits that are weakening your position. Do you have the same enthusiasm and show the same diligence now regarding your job as when you first began working at it? There is a tendency among many people to become lax after working at a job for several months or years. Their initial interest wanes. They get into the habit of being late for work, of wasting time on the job and of making only a halfhearted effort to do their work. They seem to forget how much they need that job.
By reviewing your work habits objectively from time to time, you can note what you are doing that reduces your value to your employer. Instead of being habitually late for work, make it a point to arrive a little early so you can be at your job before the starting time. You make a better impression on the management when you are working before that time rather than coming in late or just standing about, waiting for the starting hour. The same holds true at the end of the day. It is easy to get into the habit of watching the clock and stopping work a little before quitting time. The impression you make is much better when you are working when that time comes and even a little beyond it.
During working hours do you work diligently to produce as much as you can with good quality workmanship? That is what your employer is paying you to do, but if you get into the habit of wasting time during the day, of producing less than you are capable of doing and of turning out work of inferior quality, how can you expect to be among those that your employer will keep when he trims his payroll? You are not giving him full measure for the wages he is paying you. It is only right that you give him the time he pays for, as well as the best of your talent and effort. When you do you become a valuable employee that he will want to keep.
Your self-examination should take your attitude into consideration. If it is not good, it can create a bad impression with your employer. Although you may dislike the type of work you are doing, it is unwise to manifest your dislike for it. Recognize the fact that you need the job for the wages it brings you; so try to cultivate an interest in it. Be respectful of your employer and considerate of your fellow employees. Be willing to accept instruction and correction. If you have the attitude that you know it all and cannot be told anything or that your capabilities are far superior to the position you hold, you are not likely to hold your job, much less make advancement.
What Employers Want
In a survey of 129 personnel officers, it was found that the principal causes for persons being fired from their jobs were absenteeism and poor performance. Other causes were poor attitudes, failure to get along with fellow workers, theft, acting as a bookmaker for racing bets and reporting to work while intoxicated. Workers of this type are no asset to an employer. He has no substantial reason for keeping them on the payroll.
An employer’s success in business depends to a large extent upon the productivity of his employees. When he has employees that give him full measure for the wages he pays them, he is benefited, and the success he enjoys directly affects his employees. They are assured steady work with the possibility of increases in pay. It is, therefore, to your best interests to work diligently and conscientiously at your job. You are not doing this if you are frequently absent.
Employers realize that during the course of a year an employee might get sick and must be away from work for a few days. Usually they allow for this by permitting him to have a certain number of days for sick leave. But this provision does not mean a person should claim to be sick when he is not, just so he can use up this sick leave. Such dishonesty does not build up respect from his employers. No matter how understanding an employer may be, he is certain to lose patience with the person who repeatedly is not at work. Frequently-absent employees do not help an employer to have a successful business.
It is only logical that an employer, when trimming a payroll, will favor the employee who is regular and dependable rather than one who is frequently absent. It often means more to him to have a worker that he can depend on being on the job than one with greater skill that cannot be relied on. There was a case of a building contractor who had a worker that was not particularly skilled, but he could always count on that man’s being at work and working hard while there. Whenever there was a seasonal drop in construction work and some workers had to be laid off, he would keep this man on the payroll. The man that can be depended upon to be on the job and to produce, as in the case of this man, recommends himself as a desirable employee. Usually he keeps his job.
The employee that performs poorly, having a low output, is actually a drag on the business. The cost for his labor is not being balanced out by his productivity. This does not help a business to compete with competitors, Low productivity raises production costs. The higher those costs go the less profit the business will make, especially in a highly competitive market. A person should realize that he has a better possibility of keeping his job by having a high productive output with good quality than if he fails to exert himself and has a low output
An employer wants a worker he can depend on to do what he is told, not one that is better at thinking up excuses than doing the work. He does not want to keep a man who will glibly lie or tell half-truths to explain away his failures, his mistakes or his laziness. He can never be certain that he can trust such a person or that the man will be on hand to do a job or, if there, to do it properly. It should be evident that a person who can be trusted, who is truthful and who is dependable is more valuable to an employer than a talented person who is not. These qualities strengthen Job security.
Conflict of Duties
Loyalty to a company and willingness to work extra hours when necessary are appreciated by an employer. But there are limits to what an employee can give conscientiously to his job. When he is a Christian minister, he has ministerial duties to care for. In the event of a clash between these duties and secular duties, he must give first consideration to his ministerial duties, as they are his career.
Some companies expect employees in supervisory positions to spend many evenings attending business meetings, going to social affairs that further the interests of the company or working extra hours as a constantly regular thing. The higher a position that a man holds in a company the more he is expected to center his life around his job. A Christian must center his life around his service of God and his family. He will give full measure of work for his wages, being willing to do extra work occasionally when it is necessary, but he will not permit secular duties to crowd out spiritual duties.
Within reason, a person can serve the interests of his employer with diligence, ability, loyalty, honesty and dependability, giving his employer solid reasons for keeping him on the payroll. By being conscious of what he can do to keep his job and by being alert to ways he can upgrade himself with knowledge in other lines of work, he can do much to avoid the unpleasant experience of being unemployed. By applying some of these suggestions, you can get a firmer hold on your job.
CONSIDER for a moment how marvelously the ends of your fingers and toes are designed. Is it not remarkable that each of them is fitted with attractively shaped, serviceable nails? What a brilliant idea it was to adorn these extremities with such practical and, at the same time, handsome appendages!
The fingernails make it possible to do with ease many everyday tasks often taken for granted. Without them it would be difficult to sew or to pick up small objects. But especially do the nails serve to protect from injury the sense of touch, so delicate in the fingertips.
Growth and Composition
You will observe that your nails are inserted into a fold of skin about i half inch from the tips of your fingers. The root of the nail is buried in this fold, where it is unseen to your eyes. It is here that the miraculous transformation into hard, horny cells takes place. From this production center the nail is pushed forward over the nail bed at the rate of about one-thirty-second of an inch a week, taking some four to five months to grow out from base to tip. While the nail bed does not apparently take part in the production of nail cells, it seems to contribute to their nutrition, for when the nail becomes detached
Nails are made of the same substance as hair, hoofs, feathers and turtle shells, all of which are composed of protein keratin. This complex substance is colorless and transparent when formed into healthy nails; the pink shade being caused by the blood showing through from the skin beneath.
What Your Nails Tell
Due to this characteristic pink appearance of the nails, which disappears and returns promptly when pressure is applied and released, a doctor can obtain a fairly reliable index of the hemoglobin concentration. The lack of healthy red blood corpuscles in the anemic person will cause the nails to appear almost white.
But this is not the only sickness of which the nails give indication. Over 2,000 years ago Hippocrates, called the “father of medicine,’’ described nails of unusual size and shape as being due to lung and heart diseases, and recent medical research has revealed that there is truth to this observation. Doctors have on occasion been guided to the correct diagnosis of a certain serious heart ailment by the appearance of the nails, and it has been found that a peculiar smooth, symmetrical bulging of the nails, sometimes referred to as “banjo nails,” may be symptomatic of lung troubles.
Your nails can also tell something regarding your occupation. A seamstress may find nails of sufficient length helpful in her work, whereas shorter ones may be worn by a typist or nurse. Often carpenters, gardeners and those who do physical labor can be distinguished from office workers by the condition of their nails. Some people will even notice whether your nails are in keeping with your professed occupation. If, for instance, you profess to be a minister, but your nails are dirty and unkept, they may question your claims and, perhaps, even the message you bring.
It is easy to tell a very tense, nervous person by the way his fingernails are chewed off. Certainly this is a bad habit that ruins one’s appearance, but breaking the habit can be a difficult problem. Perhaps wearing gloves at times of excitement will help. It may also help if you continually remind yourself that nail-biting is an ugly, offensive habit. Science Digest reports that a group of college nail biters cured themselves by standing before their bathroom mirrors while going through the motions of biting their nails, all the while repeating: “This is what I am supposed not to do.” Whatever method is used, selfcontrol is required.
Care for Your Nails
Since your nails can advertise what type of person you are, it is wise that they be cared for. Dirty nails are not only unsightly, but they can transfer germs to an itchy spot by scratching, or even to food that may be handled. In order to keep them clean you may find it helpful to rub softened soap in, around a\jd under the nails before you work in the garden or around the house. The dirt will later be removed with the soap when you wash with water.
While they are still young, children should be trained to scrub their nails with a brush, and while drying their hands to take a few extra moments to push back their cuticles with the edge of the towel. While it may take a little effort to get into this habit, the attractive nails that will result will be worth it. Such a practice will also help to avoid those troublesome little hangnails that result when a shred of dry, hard cuticle breaks away from the side of the nail.
If hangnails should occur, attend to them immediately. Do not pull them off, but clip them with a small pair of scissors and then apply a disinfectant. If scissors are not immediately available, apply a band-aid or some tape to keep the area from further injury. This will also ease the pain.
Some people, especially women who continually put on and take off nail polish, have trouble with brittle nails that split and break off. Soaking the fingertips in warm oil and rubbing them with nail cream nightly has been found helpful. Also a teaspoonful or two of gelatin taken daily in water has remarkably Improved brittle nails.
A natural, well-groomed nail is truly a thing of beauty. It is indeed a tribute to its Master Designer who exercised such thought in adorning even the extremities of our fingers and toes.
* Did you know that certain plants are very much affected by electrical disturbances in the atmosphere? So sensitive are they that they fold their leaflets at a storm’s approach, not opening them again until the air is clear. One of such plants is the storm plant, a leguminous vine that grows in India and many tropical countries. This amazing plant not only folds and droops the leaflets, but during a thunderstorm the folded leaves are strangely agitated.
TODAY the magnetic tape recorder is serving a multitude of varied purposes. To an ever-increasing extent it is proving invaluable in communication and transportation, in science and industry, in education and entertainment—not overlooking religion.
So much is this the case that a leading authority in the field of audio engineering writes: "It would be difficult to state what modern-day development has had the most widespread effect, but it is certain that magnetic tape recording and the machines that use it come high on the list.” More than that, those who discuss the merits of these do not seem to be able to praise them too highly. Says one music critic, “The Millennium did indeed arrive for music lovers with the development of the magnetic tape.”
Ever since the year 1900 attempts at magnetic recording had been made but little progress was apparent until the 1930’s when wire recording appeared. Then around World War II the Germans developed tape recording, using it to broadcast Hitler’s speeches at all hours of the day. Hearing these broadcasts convinced United States army engineers that the Germans had something they wanted. The Germans did their best to keep this invention from falling into the hands of the Allies, and succeeded for a time, but eventually the Allies did get hold of it, together with scientific information. They at once made use of these recorders; and with the end of the war those who had to do with them, upon returning to civilian life, pushed their development still farther.
Advantages of Magnetic Tape Recording
It is not without good reason that magnetic tape recording has become so widespread, for its advantages are indeed many. One such is fidelity of sound. That is why record companies make their initial recordings on tape. Television tape has the same fidelity. It is almost impossible to distinguish it from live television.
Another advantage is that tape does not require developing or processing; it can be replayed immediately. More than that, a tape recording does not wear out as does a phonograph record, and the same tape can be used thousands of times for recording and still be good. Even television tape, which takes quite a beating because of the high speed with which the machine's rotating recording heads pass over it, can be used some two hundred times.
Then, again, there is the advantage of editing. A tape can be cut, pieces taken out, or added, or replaced, as when some mistake has been made. In view of all these advantages it is no wonder that producing television shows by tape has cut the cost of production some 50 percent, certainly another decided advantage.
Still another advantage is its compactness. One of the most popular and highly rated machines, with enormous power and high fidelity, measures but 12 by 11 by 7 inches and weighs only twenty pounds. As for portable transistorized tape recorders —one measures but 8| by 6 J by 2J inches and weighs a mere two pounds. Tape recorders used in satellites weigh as little as eight pounds, can be held in the palm of a hand, yet are able to hold as much as three million bits of information. And recently a machine was developed for long-range plane service that uses an inch-wide tape having forty tracks, making possible forty hours of music on one reel.
In flight-testing aircraft today, there are ever so many facts that, after being recorded, must be processed before they can be analyzed. Because signals on magnetic tape can be fed directly into highspeed computer machines, such as the IBM 701, for processing, flight engineers state that “magnetic tape is one of the most important tools we have” for achieving “rapid and accurate processing of flight test data.”
Further, since the reflexes respond more quickly to what is heard than what is seen, recorders are used to give warning signals, as in the bombers of the United States Air Force. Likewise in certain chemical plants where the hazard is particularly great, warnings are sounded by tape recorders rather than depending merely on visual warnings.
fn Science, Industry and Business
Whether man probes outer space by means of satellites or the ocean depths to ascertain the kinds of sounds fish and other animals therein make, he employs the tape recorder. Does he go to Antarctica to see if the earthquakes that occur there from one to six times a day are caused by huge icebergs breaking off the Ross Ice Shelf? Then he also takes along his magnetic tape machine to make records, to be compared with those of the seismologists.
Or does a scientist wish to study a singular language, such as that of the “Whistling Gomeros” of the Canary Islands, which language has immense carrying powers? He also uses a tape recorder. Are scientists interested in the language of birds? Then they also study them with the aid of a tape recorder, and from which study they found that bird language generally falls into two classes, either the emotional warning sound or sounds by which they convey information to one another.
Magnetic tape machines are also used to record the conversation between the pilots and the men in the control towers. In fact, even the conversations taking place among the men in the plane’s cockpit are recorded. And so are the instrument readings while a plane is in flight. All this information can prove invaluable in the event of an accident
The uses of magnetic tape in the commercial world are well-nigh numberless. The factors of speed, economy, versatility, portability and fidelity no doubt largely account for this. Computing machines use magnetic tape recorders as a memory section. These machines are ideal in employee training, in audio and visual presentations and in retail business. In British Commonwealth countries tape-recorded music Is used extensively in supermarkets and launderettes.
Business conventions are taped and then edited and sent out to those unable to attend. By editing them an even better program is made available than was heard at the business convention, since so often speakers digress to entertain or inadvertently repeat themselves. And a tape recording of the voices of the speakers carries an impact that no printed page can do.
Tape recorders are ideal for making interviews, and especially in connection with an accident, and if made right on the spot. While tape recordings generally are not admitted into, court, because of the ease with which they can be edited, yet such recordings serve well to remind the witnesses of just what they did say at the time of the accident. A tape recording did get into the New York State Supreme Court in 1962, in connection with a hearing as to the noise created by a rifle range.
Even farmers have found tape recorders useful; to wake up hogs in the middle of the night with sounds of grunts so as to get them to eat more and fatten quicker. Recordings are also used to chase away birds; as in Washington, D.C., where they effectively got rid of a host of starlings that were creating a nuisance.
Tour guides fitted out with tape recorders containing excellent descriptions are becoming increasingly popular. At one large religious edifice in western United States, tourists can at all times hear its famed choir and organ by means of a tape recording.
For Entertainment
Among the many entertainment uses of tape recording are the recording of musical programs live, off radio or television or from phonograph records. In this way music lovers can arrange their own programs. Nor is drama to be overlooked. Some make a hobby of collecting various sounds, such as the bark of dogs and the song of birds. And more and more prerecorded tapes are available.
Tape-recording enthusiasts like to go In for corresponding by tape. It is quite economical, saves time as well as effort and is enjoyed far more at each end than is the written letter.
Perhaps the most significant role that magnetic tape plays in the field of entertainment is in television. Television tape looks just like other tape except that it is two inches wide. A reel holding sixty-four minutes of program costs $250. Four tracks are recorded at one time, for sound, for picture, for editing and for regulating the speed. While the speed of the tape as it moves lengthwise is only fifteen inches per second, its several rotating recording heads move crosswise over the tape at the speed of 1,700 inches per second.
Not content with commercial television, engineers in leading countries are working on a home television tape-recording machine. Although possible even now, except for the price, $12,000, it is hoped that by 1965 it can be produced for $500 to $1,000.
In Education
The uses of magnetic tape recording in education are limitless, and are being exploited by alert educators. Thus the Philadelphia Hahnemann Hospital used tape recorders in driving home to a gathering of a thousand physicians that the stethoscope is by no means an obsolete instrument. Leading universities use textbooks and tape recordings for home study of courses for which there is not a sufficient demand for full classes. History courses are made more interesting by the recorded voices of the very men that made history, such as William Jennings Bryan, Roosevelt and Eisenhower.
ARTICLES IN THE NEXT ISSUE
• The Problem of the Trinity.
• Religious Intolerance Flares Up in Mexico.
v Are You a Good Wife?
• History’s Happy Accidents.
• Mahogany—The Wood for Superb Furniture.
In particular is the tape recorder a valuable instrument for learning a language. A leading French school, the Ecole Normals Superieure, has perfected a system of teaching languages by tape recorders. In such classes each student is in a soundproof booth and hears an expert speak a phrase, which he is then given the time to repeat and which is recorded. Then after filling the tape, he plays it back and so can compare how he says each phrase with the way the expert said it. He can erase his own remarks but not those of the expert. At the same time the teacher in charge of the class is in touch with each student and so can tune in on any or all students whenever he wishes. He is also able to counsel individually or collectively as he sees or, rather, hears the need for it. The machines are adjustable to the pace convenient for each student.
Then, again, all manner of professional men, who are interested in the quality of their voices or who play an instrument, have found the tape recorder a valuable asset. Christian ministers have found the tape recorder an aid in improving their spedking voices and their sermons or in becoming more familiar with their talks, it being one of the easiest ways of going over a Bible lecture, listening to one’s recording of it! Recorders also serve well to furnish the music for congregational singing when no other form of musical accompaniment is available.
Understanding Your Tape Recorder
The first time you hear your voice on a tape recorder you may be disappointed. Why? Because you are now hearing your voice the way others hear it. You see, you have two avenues of sound for hearing your own voice. The one is by sound waves, the way you hear everything else, including others’ voices; and the other is by means of the vibrations of the bones in one’s head and which favor the lower tones. Both sets of vibrations reach the inner ear at the same time, where they blend, but also cause one to hear his own voice much more pleasing than it actually is!
As for the tape recorder itself, it may be said to consist of four basic systems: a “transport” system,
the motor that pulls the tape from reel to reel; the “heads” for recording, playing and erasing; the electronic system for the reproduction of the sound, tubes, amplifiers and speakers, and the push buttons or controls.
If you choose to have a tape recorder, what kind should you buy? That depends upon your pocketbook and your taste. If you can afford to spend the equivalent of several hundred dollars and want top quality, then make sure the machine you buy has three heads and more than one motor. But for the average person one motor and two heads are adequate. Generally you pay more for better quality, although it does not necessarily follow that you will get commensurate quality.
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