A Tribute To The Home of His Childhood

Maine, 1916

By Rev. George B. Ilsley.

Where was it? In Limerick — one of the best of all the towns in York county, Me., encircled by hills on every side — with excellent farms and orchards, having "fine variety of hard and soft wood growth." The old academy stood upon one of its most sightly hill tops — with the village just below it to the north. From this eminence a splendid view of Mt. Washington was obtained. Except for the climb, it was an ideal spot for scholars. It was a High school, indeed! The village with its three meeting-houses and numerous stores was a centre for trade to surrounding towns. Stages ran daily to Portland, Saco and every other to North Berwick via Alfred.

Not a mile south was the home of my childhood. In 1825 grandfather and father bought one of the Felch farms, and lived together upon it, till 1856, when within three weeks they both died. Until then for 16 years it was my happy home. Working on the land was conducive to physical health and vigor.

Going to the summer and winter terms at the old schoolhouse, developed our mental abilities from the A B C's up to admission to the academy where I began to fit for college in 1856.

"How dear to my heart are those scenes of my childhood!" The making of maple-sugar was strenuous recreation — to lug up the sap from the woods and the boiling of it down to syrup! But, oh how sweet it was! Then came the putting up the gaps in the walls which the frosts had made all around the fields and pastures. It was an early spring task. In haying 5 and 6 would be mowing one after the other. It was fun for us boys to follow up and spread it; and then ride the horse to rake it with "the old revolver."

Sometimes it would be September ere we finished.

The old farm of 200 acres seemed immense to my childish comprehension. It was two miles around it. To go through the woods to the Marr's pasture, where the sheep and oxen were kept, was quite an expedition. But it was always a delight to go with father to salt the sheep!

The farm was well located, all in one solid block, bounded on the west by the Main road, on the north by the county road to Limington, on the east by Peter Fogg's pasture, and south by Isaiah Guptil's farm. (He had six boys, Moses, the triplets, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Hiram and Stillman, and five girls. At one time five in the family could not walk alone.)

To the south Ossipee Mt., 4 miles away, was the highest point to gaze upon. Shapleigh hills and plains were beyond. To the north those of Cornish and Limington appeared. The outlook, going back and forth to the village was always beautiful and inspiring. It is still so as I return to it. No other scenery is quite like it. II. No neighbors were quite so good as those just at a near by "Felch Corner". Shall I name them? Across the garden, below, was uncle Jeremiah's house, with cousins Ben and Ed. The Allen sisters, who sold out to Stoddards and moved to the village, one was my earliest school teacher. Then the Meserves, and aunt Polly and son, Nathaniel L. The Brackett Leavitt family with Shubel, Sarah and Louise; across on the corner. The FelcheS, Amos Gene, Amos Jr, and Alvan, the preacher, then beyond Major his son, Moses Fogg. Westward a bit the little Knowlton home, and then the Pierce family, Daniel and Josiah brothers; then the old wooden school house now since 1858, the brick one then, Albion Bradbury, mother and sisters, then the Doles and Gilpatricks, just on the brow of Favor's hill, where we had our best coasting in winter. Half a mile from Felch's Corner to the East way Tufts bridge. Here was the trout brook running through Bradbury's and Tufts field above the road and through Fogg's pasture south of it, and then into Cradbourne's, then into Pierce, and Gilpatrick's meadows. Do I not still see the hole where I caught my first one? Yes indeed, and going back to it 40 years later cutting away the alders I took another out of the same place. I may do it again before I'm eighty.

The new Dole, Gilpatrick, and Hodgdon saw-mill in which father had a share was a place of great attraction to me and all the boys of the neighborhood. In early spring we could get a big trout, and in summer pickerel. It was a fine place for swimming also, and for building rafts to paddle over the pond to fish and dive from when in bathing.

Many a pleasant picnic was held here, as well as on the old farm when the cousins came in summer time from Portland and Chelsea. But now the old mill is all gone.

Planting time always had some excitement about it, carting out the barn dressing, then plowing it in. Breaking up new ground required all the oxen and steers we could muster. It was a big team sometimes.

One year, Abe Guptil was the hired man, one of the twins. We began spring work April 9th and got all the planting done on May 13th. Then came the sheep washing when the flock was driven to the County Bridge over a mile away. Sometimes we boys, in ducking the big lambs, got plunged in ourselves by their vigorous resistance. This with the shearing and the marking of the lamb's ear, by splitting them was a time of great interest to us. There was nothing dull or dreary about such childhood days.

The hoeing, when the twitch-grass was stout I never enjoyed very much. But I recall one time when grandfather was about 80 and I 15. We had a race to see who would hoe his row out first. I did my best, but he beat me. Up to 83 he was a smart man to work, no matter whether it was hoeing or mowing, digging potatoes or husking corn, he was sure to do his part.

Seventy years ago we as boys had no boughten toys. We had to make our traps for squirrels, skunks and woodchucks if we caught them. Our bows and arrows to shoot with, and our kites to fly we made.

Grandpa being a cabinet-maker in Portland brought many of his tools to Limerick, and had a shop for them. This was our resort on rainy days; and we were not slow about using them to make what we felt we wanted most. At one time I strove hard to construct a violin, but failed in glueing it together. At bow-guns, stilts, traps and sleds, we became quite proficient.

When grandpa found that we had dulled his saws, planes or chisels, and each of us answered that "I didn't do it," he would make his earnest reply to us, "Nobody did it." "Nobody did it."

But we loved him if sometimes he did seem to scold us. We knew he loved us. He was a kind and great hearted, Christian man.

Every morning just before gathering about the big, round breakfast table, when all were present, was his time to furnish devotion. A chapter was read from his Bible, taken down from the dinning room shelf, then he knelt in prayer on our behalf. At every meal it was his custom to ask God's blessing on the food before us.

When the weather was too cold for the Sunday evening prayer meetings to be at the school house our dining room was the usual place for them, at early candle light, where 50 or more, by opening the sitting room, could be seated. In this he always took some part by prayer or testimony. He was a good singer and joined in every song. As a small boy I remember how I helped bring in the chairs and arrange them in rows, for men on one side and women on the other. The light-stand with the Bible and hymn book for the minister was always near the sitting-room-door. The young folks used to gather and those who were not church members used to take the sitting room.

It was grandfather's custom to have a song service after the people had gone.

It was his delight to rehearse many of the old hymns, and have us gather round and help him. With my three sisters and two brothers we had a good time of it; especially when he got out the old bass viol, and uncle Jeremiah came in with his clarionet, and if Aunt "Nodie" was there with her excellent soprano voice, those to me were pretty fine concerts. Here I took my first lessons in music. One of his favorite hymns was "How Firm a Foundation Ye Saints of the Lord." Such influences tended to draw me early into Christian life, and later all my brothers and sisters.

Our aged grandpa's example and life were a constant benediction upon us, filling the home with the sweetest of good influences. His benignant face stills hangs upon my study wall.

It was always a pleasure to be with him in the field, in the carriage, or in the old meeting house on the Hill. One of my boyish amusements in the square pew at the right of the pulpit, with closed door was the getting of flies and wasps into a paper box which was made for that purpose. In the winter Grandma had her foot stove there. Old Elder Flanders of Buxton, who had a very big nose, whom my father used to shave, before he went to church Sunday morning to supply, was one of the first I can remember. He used to put up at our house. When he blew his nose with a big red bandanna handkerchief he made a loud noise of it. In the "40's" when Josiah Tilton was pastor I remember going to the Donation Party at the parsonage and the eating of blancmange of which I still have a fondness. Then came Elder Tripp who taught one term of winter school, whereby my thirst for knowledge was much strengthened. After he came Rev. Jeremiah D. Tilton under whom I joined the church in 1854.

It is with grief I think now of the diminished membership and the closed doors on Lord's Day of the Little White church on the Hill.

Most of the people of 70 years ago are buried in the cemetery close by. What a joy it would be to go back and meet them there again as in the days of childhood.

"Backward, turn backward,
O Time, in your flight,
Make me a child again
Just for to night!"
***. (To mother)

"Many a summer,
The grass has grown green
Blossomed and faded,
Our faces between;
Yet with strong yearning
and passionate pain
Long I tonight
For your presence again.
Rocke me to sleep mother
Rocke me to sleep."
—Earnest Leslie.

"Be it ever so humble,
there is no place like home;
A charm from the skies
Seems to hallow us there,
Which, seek thru the world,
Is ne'er met with elsewhere.
Home, home sweet, sweet home."
— John Howard Payne.

—The Fryeburg Post, Fryeburg, Maine, Sept. 12, 1916, p. 8.

Makes Odd Funeral Request

1916

Wealthy Man's Ashes Buried With His Two Wives.

WASHINGTON, Pennsylvania — James S. Stocking, 77 years old, former legislator, county clerk of courts, Civil War veteran and one of the wealthiest men of this city, was buried under the provisions of his will, which are extremely unusual. The portion of his will relating to his burial follows:

"I direct that my body shall be cremated, and no religious services shall be held on my body, ashes or grave. I direct that my ashes shall be divided in two parts and placed in two strong and air and water tight urns, one to be buried in my first wife's grave and the other in the grave of my second wife."

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 11.

Temperance Notes

1900

The first temperance journal to be published in Russia is the Viestnix Tresvosti (messenger of temperance). Its first issue appeared Sept. 1, 1899.

The Kansas Senate has passed a bill to make more efficient the enforcement of the prohibitory law. According to its provisions, the third violation of the law subjects the liquor seller to a term of from one to three years in the penitentiary.

Twenty-six thousand arrests for drunkenness a year and eight thousand imprisonments is the appalling record of one of the most enlightened of American cities. It means one arrest to every four families. The net cost to the city was therefore more than $100,000.

The Herald and Presbyter says: "The best authorities tell us that for every dollar of revenue the saloons bring in, they occasion a cost, direct or indirect, of $21. Blot out the saloons with the costs they compel, and the raising of the incurred deficit in the revenue would be as easy as laying aside one dollar out of twenty-one that you put in your pocket."

The terrible ravages of the opium trade in China is indicated by the number of suicides. In Yunnan province there are on an average a 1,000 attempted opium suicides per month. The average for the whole of China is not less than 600,000 per year. Dr. William Park says here are over 800,000, and that the number of deaths from opium poisoning is not less than 200,000 a year.

Rev. J. Q. A. Henry, superintendent of the Anti-Saloon League in New York, said recently concerning the church and the saloon: "One or the other is right; one or the other is wrong. One must triumph. If the saloon stays, the church must go. The solution of the problem is in the church. The charge cannot be turned over to any other body. The saloon is hostile to Christianity, to citizenship and to true Americanism."

A law which will go into effect in Germany in 1900, places every confirmed drunkard under the espionage of a "curator." This person will he empowered to put the individual whom he regards as a dipsomaniac anywhere he pleases, there to undergo treatment for the malady as long as the "curator" wishes. The law defines an habitual drunkard as one who, in consequence of inebriety, cannot provide for his affairs or endangers the safety of others.

Iowa first tried license laws, then prohibition, and now tries, in its larger cities, what is known as a mulct law. Under the license law, the number of penitentiary convicts was 800; under prohibition, 532; under the mulct law, 1,171. By a recent decision of the Supreme Court, brought about by the Anti-Saloon League, two-thirds of the saloons were temporarily closed, because they had not filed the consent petitions required by the new code of 1897.

The establishment of an asylum, or hospital, for drunkards by the state is being urged in South Carolina, the home of the state dispensary scheme. One set proposes to establish the asylum, or institute, as an annex to the State Insane Asylum, conducting it under the same management. Others urge that the Legislature pass a law making drunkenness a crime, and establish a reformatory for drunkards, where they can be given hard work in a cotton mill, machine shops and on a farm.

From the official report of the superintendent of the Washington police it is shown that while the whole number of arrests in the District, with a barroom for each 441 of its population, was equal to one arrest for every eleven of its population, the number of arrests made in the First precinct, with a barroom for every 113 of its population, was equal to one for every three of its population, and in the Ninth precinct, with a barroom for every 1048 of its population, the number of arrests was only one for every eighteen of its population. A petition to Congress to prohibit the liquor traffic in the District of Columbia is being prepared.

—The Ram's Horn, March 17, 1900, p. 15.

An Agnostic Marriage

1901

First Ceremony of Its Kind Performed in Cincinnati.

The much heralded marriage of agnostics, declared to be the first marriage of the kind to be celebrated, took place the other day in College hall, Young Men's Mercantile Library building, in Walnut street, when Frederick Federle, employed in a very modest capacity by the Pittsburg Coal company, and Miss Martha Seaman were married according to the pledges and rites prescribed by the new agnostic society of Cincinnati, of which Charles S. Sparks is the head.

At the conclusion of the agnostic Sunday school services the couple were made man and wife on the stage of the hall, which was decorated with the American colors and mottoes of the society, says the New York Times. Mr. Sparks acted as master of ceremonies. Mr. Federle and Miss Seaman repeated the pledges after Sparks, and acquiesced in them by spoken words and by nods. The voluminous pledges were in effect that they be frugal in habits, that the man at once insure his life for the benefit of the woman, that they avoid wrangling, and if they found in time they were not "mated" that they separate. The woman also repeated the words: "I will not bring children into the world not born of affection." Both promised to rear their children, should children be born, in the agnostic faith and after the teachings at the agnostic Sunday school.

Magistrate Alexander Roebling took the couple after they had taken the agnostic pledges and completed the ceremony, according to the civil law requirements as administered by magistrates. The magistrate, however, according to instructions from Mr. Sparks, did not use the word "obey" in his form of ceremony. After the magistrate Mr. Sparks again stepped to the front and in loud tones declared, "These who have thus bound themselves together in a marriage contract let no man or woman put asunder, or seek so to do under pain and penalties of dishonor and of the law."

Says Man, 85, Broke Up Home

1930

Cult Leader is Named in a California Divorce Case.

(By the Associated Press)

CHICAGO, Feb. 25. — An 85-year-old leader of a health and religious cult in Los Angeles was blamed today for breaking up the home of Herman R. Huber, architectural draftsman, who filed suit for divorce from Mrs. Anna C. Huber, 50, a follower of the cult.

The aged man was described as "Ottoman, czar of Adusht, master mind Hanisch of the Mazdazans," whose temple is at 1159 S. Norton avenue, in Los Angeles.

Huber, in his suit, said his wife had become "fanatical, idiotical, and unreasonable by following the repugnant rituals of moaning, raving and silly actions of the cult." He said the power that the "master mind" held over women made them think more of his teachings than they did of their homes and families.

—The Kansas City Star, Feb. 25, 1930, p. 5.

Mazdaznan Leader Nabbed In Chicago

1920

Sun Cult's "Little Master" on Way to Coast to Answer Charges of Children

Ottoman Zar Adusht Hanisch, the "Little Master" of the Mazdaznan cult, was arrested upon his recent arrival in Chicago and his enforced return to Los Angeles to answer serious criminal charges broke up the "feast of Gahanbar," a celebration of which by his Chicago followers was planned from midnight Christmas eve to the last minute of the year.

And he hadn't any idea, up to the moment of his arrest, of going in that direction. On the contrary, he had intended to sail for Europe in a few days, with Zurich as his objective.

But then the "Little Master" hadn't much to do with the journey. His fate was fashioned by a Los Angeles grand jury and by Lieut. Charles A. Jones of the police force of that city.

On June 14, 1918, the grand jury secretly voted ten indictments against Hanisch after hearing serious charges. Several of the complainants are children, girls as well as boys, ranging in ages from 11 to 15 years.

The Los Angeles police have been looking for Hanisch ever since. They learned that his real name is Otto Zachariah Hanisch, that he is a Russian, that his father is Richard Hanisch, a Milwaukee music teacher, and the fugitive had been lecturing under the name of Dr. Ken Wilson.

Well Known in Chicago

Chicago knows Hanisch well. He maintained his temple for years at 3016 Lake Park avenue. His disciples lived on fruits, nuts, vegetables, garlic, dewdrops, violets and sunshine, and danced alone — when they danced — breathing rhythmically and deeply, and greeting each other at every turn with "Hail to thee! Ten thousand hails!"

Hanisch got a lot of notoriety out of the "Billy" Lindsay case. "Billy's" mother, Elizabeth H. Lindsay, was a member of the cult. The boy was kept in the "terrestrial temple" and fed on white grapes and beer, it was said.

Wealthy relatives in Chicago and Pittsburgh cooperated with the Juvenile Court authorities to save the boy. Hanisch was taken into court, but the boy and his mother fled.

Seized Near Coal Bin

The Lindsay case, however, led to an investigation of the cult, and it was found the sex idea predominated. Hanisch sent an alleged obscene book by express to another State, and on March 4, 1912, a raid was made on the temple and he was arrested. He was found, in all his silken glory, wedged into a niche near the coal bin in the basement.

He was convicted of sending obscene literature in interstate commerce, fined $2,500 and sent to the bridewell for six months. The literature in question was his book of "Inner Studies," which sold for anywhere from $10 to $50, according to the wealth of him who bought it.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 1.

Figs and Thistles

1900

Worry wears.

Haste makes waste.

Wishing is not willing.

Faith frames fate.

It is best to kill serpents in the egg.

Courtesy is never costly, yet never cheap.

When heaven is in the heart heresies are kept out of the head.

No man was ever healed of a disease by reading a medical book alone.

Only they who have known the great change now know no changes.

Good things are always beautiful, but beautiful things are not always good.

The indiscriminate lash will drive ten devils into the boy for one it drives out.

The prescription for salvation must have an application as well as an understanding before healing is found.

The difficulty that the Bible presents to many skeptics is not that it will not stand deep and rational examination, but that it will not stand superficial examination.

Patriotism is based on principles.

Restraining prayer is retaining care.

That only is done which the heart does.

God's work must have God's power.

No furnace can ever burn out the gold.

To take up a cross is to lay down a care.

— The Ram's Horn, Nov. 17, 1900, p. 5.

Good Exercise Needed for Body and Spirit

1896

A Vexed Question

The great problem is how to train and keep the physical system at the top of its capacity for work and enjoyment all the time. Those who do not get an abundant of outdoor exercise in their regular avocations must secure its equivalent in some other way, or suffer the consequences.

The more exacting the work of the brain, the more needful is it to keep the whole system toned to the highest degree of endurance and vitality. How to do this each must settle for himself as best he can, with such professional advice as he can command; but to do it in some way is both an interest and a duty.

There is a religion of the body as well as of the spirit; indeed, true religion includes both body and mind. It is not a crusade on calisthenics and the other methods of physical training that is wanted, but a wiser and more general use of them. We have mastered the art of making a perfect tree, and persuading a rose to bloom in any color we may choose; we know exactly how to rear just such a horse or dog as we desire; but who shall tell us how to develop and train the human body to perfection?

When we go back and study the old Greek and Roman models, our pride oozes out and we are inclined to question whether we have not lost in one way quite as much as we have gained in another by this intangible something we call civilization.

Gossip About Women – "The New Woman"

Feb. 1896

Ella Wheeler Wilcox believes in reincarnation.

A training school for waitresses is a new Philadelphia institution.

Miss Helen Culver, of Chicago, has presented the University of Chicago with $1,000,000.

Mrs. Livermore has explained that when she called newspaper reporters a "pestiferous set" she spoke in a Pickwickian sense.

Victoria Morosini-Schilling, who started the fashion of eloping with coachmen, is now in St. Joseph's Convent, in Rutland, Vt.

Twenty-one sculptors competed for the statue of Sarah Siddons to be erected in London. The model chosen is by a Frenchman, Chevalier.

Mrs. Anna R. Aspinwall, a millionaire recluse of Pittsburg, Penn., has just died in Edinburgh. Her property is estimated at $4,000,000.

Annie Besant was a religious enthusiast in her early years and was inclined to become a nun, but compromised by marrying a clergyman.

Girls of sixteen are called "under buds" in fashionable designation, and have occasional social relaxations the way of a dance or a matinee theatre party.

E. W. Clark, of Nevada, Mo., tried to make Mrs. Caroline Stewart pay him $50,000 for declining to marry him, but the jury decided that he was undamaged.

The Society of the Daughters of the Holland Dames, Descendant of Ancient and Honorable Families of the State of New York, has been incorporated at Albany.

Two contemporary miniatures Joan of Arc, now in a private collection at Isenheim, in Alsace, are said be portraits of the Maid of Orleans, taken from life.

Miss Clara Barton is going to Armenia herself, to head the work of the Red Cross Society in relieving the distress of the Armenians. Five million dollars are asked for.

For several years a woman has driven the stage between Mancelona and Bellaire, Mich. She handles the reins as well as any man in that region, and has never been troubled with stage robbers.

It is reported that the Home Secretary of the British Government has consented to reopen the Maybrick case, and the friends of the unfortunate woman have high hopes of her at last gaining her liberty.

Mme. Dandet, wife of the French novelist, has a beautiful voice and thinks that this fact has caused the rumor that she was an actress before her marriage. She has never sung outside of her own salon.

The new woman is very much in evidence in Marcellus, Mich. The Town Council is composed of women, the local barber is a woman, the undertaker is a woman and many of the business houses are run by women.

Miss Melvina M. Bennett, a graduate of Boston University, has been appointed to the chair of Public Speaking and Vocal Interpretation in that institution. Miss Bennett is the first woman to gain a professorship in the university.

Girl ushers have just been appointed in the Arkansas City (Kan.) Opera House in place of men hitherto employed, There are six of them, and they are alleged to have been chosen from among "the handsomest young ladies in the city."

The Dowager Empress of China has been much affected by the Japanese war. She used to be a rather loud and violent person, who imagined that the whole world was created for her special benefit, but now she is quiet and humble and listens to advice from those who formerly dared not address her. She shows signs of aging rapidly.

Women in Hungary will henceforth be allowed to enter the Budapest University and become doctors and apothecaries, or study in the philosophical faculty. They must pass the same high school examinations as the men, however, and for that purpose the Government will provide them with opportunities to study Latin and Greek.

Dramatic Funeral Ceremony of the Lascars

1893

How the Lascars Prepare Their Dead For the Grave

In the deadroom of the Medico-Chirurgical hospital recently a strange and dramatic ceremony took place. The occasion was the observance of the last rites and ceremonies by the crew of Lascars of the steamship Lanark over the body of one of their shipmates, who died in the hospital. The body had as usual been prepared for the undertaker by the hospital staff soon after death, and the body was removed from the ward to the deadroom. As soon as the steamship crew learned of the death of their countryman they all presented themselves at the hospital and asked to see the body.

The scene that followed was an impressive one. The dimly lighted room, the still form lying on the table surrounded by a dozen or more of his sorrowing people, with strange costumes, dark, handsome features and pointed beards formed a memorable picture. As the men stood with bowed heads and clasped hands and muttered their prayers to Allah, those who witnessed the scene were filled with emotions of respect and sorrow for those strange people, far away from their sunny tropical home among strangers.

They requested a bountiful supply of warm water and soap and 20 yards of clean new linen. This being provided they reverently removed the winding sheet. Every time their hands came in contact with the body they offered a prayer in concert. Then they removed their own shoes and stockings and washed their feet and ears and nostrils. After this they began the ablution of their late comrade, pouring the water over the head and face of the dead man. The entire body was thoroughly cleansed, the men touching it lovingly and reverently.

The new linen having been prepared by one of their number and the body having been dried the sailors requested another table, the one in use being thought contaminated by the water. This was provided. The shroud was placed upon it and sprinkled with camphor. Then the body was gently lifted and laid on the shroud while all offered up prayers in concert. It was rapidly enveloped in the winding sheet and strict instructions were given in broken English and by signs to those of the hospital staff present not to touch it. The sailors then formed in line, one who seemed to be the leader standing alone, the others standing behind in threes and fours. Turning their faces to the east and raising their hands above their heads they solemnly committed their comrade to Allah's care.

No Christian can touch the body after performing this rite, so the Lascars presented themselves at the hospital again the nest morning and placed the body within the coffin. — Philadelphia Press.

Two Women Stopped Selling Books, Feared Pro-German

Ohio, 1918

GIRL STUDENTS WERE CANVASSING FOR A PRO-GERMAN BOOK

Sheriff Charles Swank was called to Hanover last Friday to make an investigation of two young women, of Mt. Vernon, who were selling a book, said to be pro-German. They were in the village in the morning of that day and the sheriff did not receive the call until the afternoon and by that time they had left.

Yesterday they were again reported to him and he found them on the road between Hanover and Purity. He gave them orders that no more of the books were to be sold in Licking county. Both of the young women were students and were canvassing to make a little extra money during the summer vacation, and were perfectly innocent of doing anything out of the way. Upon the advice of the sheriff they returned to Newark with him and returned to their homes at Mt. Vernon from here.

The title of the book was "A World In Perplexity," and the substance of it was that the American people wanted peace at any price. The book was put on sale by J. C. Castle, head of the Ohio Tract Society. They also were taking orders for another book, "The Prophesies of the World," but had no copies of it in their possession and were selling it from a prospectus. The Sheriff carefully examined this but found nothing that pointed to the fact that this was pro-German, nevertheless the sale of both books will be prohibited in this county hereafter.

—The Newark Advocate, Newark, Ohio, June 11, 1918, p. 5.


TWO MORE GIRLS FOUND SELLING FORBIDDEN BOOK

Sheriff Charles H. Swank was called to the south-eastern part of the county yesterday afternoon to make an investigation of two young women who were selling books in that vicinity. He met them one-half mile north of Brownsville and found they were selling the same books as the two girls found near Hanover, Monday. They gave their names as Earline Trapp and Violet Murphy, both of Mt. Vernon, and were working for the same people as the other two girls were.

The books are being put out by J. I. Castle, head of the Ohio Tract society of Mt. Vernon, and the one book, "A World in Perplexity," has been found to have pro-German tendencies and the sale of the same has been forbidden in Licking county. The other book, "Our Day in the Light of Prophecy" was carefully examined by the sheriff and he found it to be alright, with nothing in it detrimental to the government and gave them permission to continue selling it.

The girls were entirely innocent of any wrong doings and were very much overcome when the sheriff told them that the one book was pro-German. The had sold a number of copies of the book, which met the approval of the sheriff and as soon as the information spread over the community, orders were canceled over the telephone practically at the very house they stopped at. The girls had worked hard in making the sales as they have walked the entire distance over the county and to find that their work had been all in vain was quite a blow to them.

Sheriff Swank gave them one of his personal cards, stating that the text of the latter named book was alright and that it met with his approval and allowed them to continue the sale of the same, but the distribution of the other book will be prohibited in this county.

—The Newark Advocate, Newark, Ohio, June 13, 1918, p. 6.

Note: "A World in Perplexity" was by Arther G. Daniells, published by Pacific Press or Review and Herald, which are names for the Seventh Day Adventist church folks' publishing house. The other, "Our Day in the Light of Prophecy," was by William Ambrose Spicer, same publishing info. I don't know these particular books, but I've seen books like them, in which they size up all the bad news of the day as signs of God's work of judgment and final deliverance. Even "progress" is seen for its negative aspects, how families are broken up, girls go off the the city and are disgraced, etc. I would guess they would portray Germany as being very formidable, lots of men, lots of armaments, since these big battles at the end of the world can't be minimized, and that's the problem for the Sheriff, and that they don't actually take a "pro-German" view. Their business was religion and conversion, not politics or sedition. As for Brother Castle, the one article definitely gives a "C" for his middle initial, the other is hard to read but looks like an "I."

India's New Year Days; Celebrated Frequently

1915

INDIA'S NEW YEAR DAYS

They celebrate the occasion frequently by knocking off work and holding funerals. Some bury their dead, some burn them and some feed the corpses to buzzards.

India beats the world for the number and variety of its New Year days and this is so because of the large number of races and religions.

When a traveler who expects to spend some time in the country goes to the bank with his letter of credit, usually a card is handed him on which is printed the various holidays. This is for his convenience, so that he will not let himself get out of funds and go to the bank in a hurry, only to find it closed on account of some holiday. The holiday may be Christian, Mohammedan or that of any one of the numerous Hindu sects.

"When the usual card was given me in Bombay," says a writer, "I noted the number of these holidays which were ascribed to New Year. They did not exactly bear out the humorous description of every day in the year as a New Year day, but there seemed hardly a month of the Christian calendar which did not have at least one New Year designated, and in some months there were more."

Kaleidoscopic Bombay observes all these New Year days because the stream of Asiatic life which circulates through it includes all the civilization and all the races and legions of the Orient, with some additions from the Occident. The spirit is one of catholicity.

All the races and all the religious sects observe the New Year of the Christian calendar, because British rule of India is reflected in this day; but they also observe the New Year of the different races and religions among themselves, at least to the extent of knocking off work.

Whether in Bombay or Benares, the monkey temple has its throng of Hindu worshipers, and the Mohammedans often are not unwilling to share in the observance to the extent of foregoing their business activities. The Hindus on their part are apt to think it a shame to work on a Mohammedan New Year day when the Moslem population may be thronging the Jumma Musquid mosque. So it goes all round the circle of New Year holidays.

There is a simple arithmetical method of calculating the time from the Hegira in the terms of the Christian era, but the easier way is to accept Without question the fact that such and such a day is the New Year of the Mohammedan era. Similarly, the New Year of the Buddhists and the Brahmins and the Jains and the Sikhs may be accepted without bothering about the calendar.

The British New Year in Bombay or Calcutta, or Delhi is much the same as in England

While the Christian New Year is formal and stately on account of British authority, it has less standing than the New Year of the Parsees, because it is a single day's observance, while the Parsees take two days. The year I happened to be in Bombay was the Parsee Yazdezardi, 1276, and the New Year days came on September 13 and 14.

On this day I was afforded the opportunity of witnessing the Parsee religious observances, or Zoroastrian services. It was in the Allbless Bagh, on the Charni road. Their churches or temples of worship are free from architectural pretensions without and within. They are more like an ordinary hall.

In this temple the women were gathered at one end of the room and the men at the other and in the space between was a stand holding a lamp with the eternal fire under glass. The flame was very clear. A venerable bearded priest stood beside the lamp. His discourse was earnest and solemn. Both man and woman hearers were very attentive.

The ceremonies of worship are quite simple, but the mysteries of the faith may be less so. The Parsees who have been educated in England and many of those whose English education has been obtained in Bombay resent the designation of fire worshipers.

One of them gave me a monograph, written by a Parsee barrister in London, which explained the creed of the followers of Zoroaster as one of good thoughts, good words and good deeds, with the sacred flame as a symbol of the effulgence of the deity. It is not denied, however, that contact with Hindus and Mohammedans has caused corruptions to creep into the creed. The Hindus and Moslems regard the Parsees as fire worshipers.

It was on a New Year day that I drove out to Malabar hill, where are located the Towers of Silence, or the Parsee cemetery. Every traveler takes his drive. It is past the other cemeteries, Christian and Mohammedan burial grounds and the Hindu burning ghat. The cemetery of the Christians is no longer used, but on almost any day there will be Mohammedan funerals and Hindu cremations.

On this day there were two Mohammedan funerals and three parties of Hindu mourners, with their respective burdens at the burning ghat.

Malabar hill is the choice spot overlooking the Arabian sea. Within the cemetery grounds are flagstone steps, shaded walks and arbors and bowers, luxuriant vegetation covers the rocks, and there is everything that goes to make a beautiful garden of flowers.

The towers of Silence, of which there are five, are hardly towers at all. They are about 275 feet in circumference and perhaps 25 feet high. The material is whitewashed stone and cement or mortar. A near approach to the towers is not allowed strangers to the Parsee creed, nor entrance permitted to the fire temple, where the sacred fire is kept alive and seven kinds of incense are burned.

A model of the towers is shown in the registry room and an attendant explains them to visitors. The attendant explained to me the circular rows which the bodies were placed — one for the children, one for the women and one for the men. When the bodies have been stripped of their fleshly covering by the vultures, which takes perhaps half an hour, the bones remain for a while, and are then dropped into a well in the center, which is provided with drains and water flushes. Charcoal is the chief purifier.

On this New Year day there was a Parsee funeral, which could be observed only at a respectful distance. There were the four professional body bearers, with the bier on their shoulders, and a procession of perhaps fifty mourners in their white robes walking two abreast, each pair holding a handkerchief. The Parsee accounts say that the body is received by two bearded attendants at the entrance to the towers, and that by them the shroud is removed and then vultures do the rest. This is probably what happened that day.

All I could note on this occasion was a sudden movement of the vultures in the palm trees. There seemed to be hundreds of them. They paused for a minute on the outer edge of one of the towers and then disappeared within. In a few minutes they reappeared.

The Parsee method of disposing of the dead is, perhaps, as the Parsees say, more sanitary than the Christian burial in the earth, or even than the Hindu cremation. It meets the tenet of their faith that fire, water and earth are too sacred to be polluted. But the western mind cannot become accustomed to it.

In conclusion, it may be said that there are other New Year observances in India besides the New Year of the Christians, Mohammedans, Hindus and Parsees. There is a Chinese colony in Bentinck street, Calcutta, and the Chinese there observe the New Year as they do in the United States, or in any other section of the world in which they are found.

Curious Forms of Taking Oaths Around the World

1903

Customs Followed by Chinese, Hindus, Persians, and Other Peoples

The bill to repeal the law providing for extra judicial oaths in all civil courts calls attention to the variety of oaths that might be brought into practice in a court of world-wide cosmopolitanism, says the Milwaukee Sentinel.

The section of the law which it is sought to repeal has been on the statute book for many years, but has rarely been invoked by either of the parties to an action. It's existence has, however, sometimes been prejudiced to the impartial administration of justice.

Chinese witnesses must be sworn in several ways if they are to be bound to tell the truth. In some cases the witness breaks a plate and assents to the imprecation that his soul may be shattered in the same way if he strays from the paths of veracity.

With a large section of the Chinese the formula is for the person administering the oath to light a match or candle and. blowing it out, tell the witness that thus will his soul be extinguished if he does not speak the truth, to which he assents by giving a short nod.

Some tribes living on the Thibetan tableland can only be sworn in court by cutting off the head of a live gamecock. The Hindoo law says:

"Let a judge swear a Brahman by his veracity, a soldier by his horses, his elephants, his grain or his money, and a souder by all his crimes."

Quakers, in all civil cases, are allowed to give their evidence in affirmation, as also are the Moravians and Separatists.

A Galla of Abyssinia sits down over a pit covered with a hide, imprecating that he may fall into a pit if he break his word.

A Brazilian savage, to confirm his statement, raises his hand over his head and thrusts it into his hair or touches the point of his weapons.

Among the Aracans, an Asiatic tribe, the witness swearing to speak the truth takes in his hand a musket, a sword, a spear, a tiger's tusk, a crocodile's tooth or a stone celt. The hill tribes of India swear by a tiger's skin and the Ostraks by a bear's head.

The sacred oath in Persia is "by the holy grave," that is, the tomb of Shah Besade, who is buried in Cashmere.

Members of the Kirk of Scotland are sworn by lifting the hand while the book is laid open before them; Jews are sworn on the Pentateuch with their hats on; Mohammedans by placing the right hand flat on the Koran and the left on the forehead, and then bringing down the forehead to the book, and finally gazing a while at the book. The highest oath of the man who dwells by the Ganges, in India, is taken on the water of that river.

India Feels the Effect of Woman's Forward March

1895

Dropping Old Forms

In an interesting article lately written Mrs. Ernest Hart says: "I had the pleasure of meeting a large number of Brahmo-Somaj ladies in Calcutta and seeing a great deal of them. They are highly educated, many of the younger women having been trained in England, and some of them having passed the ordeal of university examinations. At home they live like English women.

"My husband and I were entertained at parties at their houses and I attended the service of their church on Sunday. They interested me deeply, and I sincerely trust that the acceptance of an exalted faith and a high civilization will not separate them in sympathy from their Hindu sisters, of whom they are the natural leaders in matters of reform, education and in the bettering of the position of women in India.

"In the Brahmo-Somaj church in Calcutta there is a screened gallery where sit unobserved ladies who have not yet made up their minds to 'come out' of the zenana. The step is a great one for them to take, and even when the husband and father approve, there is much hesitancy. Some women have been influenced by Christian teaching, others by the doctrines of the Monotheistic faith, but I was informed in Calcutta that every year ladies come out of the zenana and join no church. I met several of these ladies; they had a self-assertive manner which was not pleasing.

"The ladies of the Brahmo-Somaj wear a graceful dress. Over a close-fitting bodice and straight skirt, the soft silk or muslin sari hangs in folds and is gathered up on one shoulder. Out of doors a low bonnet or toque is worn, which is frequently trimmed with gold lace.

"There are a large number of native women studying medicine, midwifery and nursing in the medical schools of India. Of the two hundred and twenty- four women returned as studying for the year 1893 no less than one hundred and thirty-six are native women. Among these are eighteen Hindus, twenty-eight Bengalis, sixty-five native Christians, seven Karens, nine Burmese and one Shan." — London Queen.

The Jollier (humor column)

1922

A big wheat crop is predicted. Say it with flour.

These June nights are even better than the famous Arabian nights.

Nineteen seniors at an Ohio girls' college are engaged. And yet people ask: "Does education help?"

A success is a self-starter. A failure is a self-stopper.

Hint to Ireland: An alley-apple a day won't keep the doctor away.

At the time of going to press another movie star was married.

In Indiana, a janitor stole $80,000 from the bank. This was the best he ever cleaned up.

An optimist is a man who plants an orchard near a school house.

Thanks to radio broadcasting sermons, a man can stay at home and claim he has been at church.

One way to keep a daughter at home is to feed her on onions.

A school of politics for women has opened. First lesson should be smoking bum cigars.

It's an unlucky angler who doesn't even catch one to lie about.

Americans in Germany say they are charged too much. Germans want them to feel at home.

This business revival could stand a little more shouting.

The only objection to living in the country is you have to go to town for your vacation.

No girl buying clothes wants the most she can get for her money.

In Detroit, a madman whipped his landlord and escaped. But all mad men can't do that.

We will investigate Turkish atrocities. The Turks will be glad to give a demonstration.

—The Coshocton Tribune, Coshocton, Ohio, June 19, 1922, page 4.

Appetite for Peyote Seeds Up Since Prohibition

1922

NORTHWESTERHERS ARE EATING PEYOTE SEEDS

Since the Prohibition Laws New Appetite Has Gone Even to the Orient.

A new form of intoxication, viewed as a social menace among Northwest Indians and Orientals in Washington, is the eating of peyote or button-like seeds of an Arizona cactus.

Thousands of these types of Northwest inhabitants are now alleged to be peyote drug fiends, a spree occurring several times a year and lasting many weeks. The effect of the cactus button on its victims is sleeplessness, morbidness and an increased mental desire for hilarity and games of chance.

The peyote is a pear-shaped species of cactus common in parts of the Southwest. The top bears seeds resembling red-coat buttons. These are sold by pickers to dealers for $2 per thousand.

The button-like seeds are generally eaten in the dry, brittle state, from 5 to 50 in a single night.

From time immemorial the peyote has been used in the Southwest among the aborigines and Mexicans for producing an intoxication of soul and body to aid them in gambling, dancing, or ill-timed deeds.

Since the abolition of liquor and the ban on narcotics, the peyote fans gradually moved northward along with other vile drugs. The consumption of this bean has invaded the Northwest to Alaska, and many bushels of the peyote buttons have been taken to the Orient.

—Oneonta Daily Star, Oneonta, New York, April 24, 1922, page 7.

Unitarians Don't Just Vote for Unitarians

1908

Sensible Remarks

The Christian Register, the able organ of the people who profess the Unitarian faith in this country, indulges in the following sensible remarks concerning the religious opinions of political candidates: "Unitarians in America have never acquired the habit of voting for a candidate because he was a Unitarian, or of voting against a man became he was a Roman Catholic or a Methodist. But, if they were inclined to carry their denominational interests into politics, they would be restrained by the saving grace of common sense. They remember the sad fate of Mr. Burchard, the honest gentleman who by the alliteration of the three R's, rum, Romanism and rebellion, was charged with defeating Mr. Blaine, the candidate whom be supported. Any public man who in his private capacity is a loyal Unitarian has the right to let his denominational preferences drop out of sight when he becomes a candidate for office; and he is neither a consistent Unitarian nor a wise supporter of such a candidate who challenges the vast majority who are not lovers of Unitarianism "to make it an issue at the polls." All of which seems a rather pertinent deliverance.

--The Charleroi Mail, Charleroi, Pennsylvania, September 19, 1908, page 2.

The American Breed, Girls Smoking, Welsh Evangelist

1906

The American Breed

Professor Edward A. Ross, of the University of Nebraska, uses the term "the American breed" to describe what he calls a distinct type of man — the restless, strenuous people so different from the easy-going types of Europe. There are reasons why our immigrants should become nervous and energetic in one or two generations, but Professor Ross seems to think that the restlessness is not acquired here, but is the reason why these types left Europe. America is therefore weeding out the energetic folks from Europe — they are selected, venturesome natures and constitute a type. Whatever the reason is the type is fairly distinct and the chances are that much of our prosperity is due partly to our energy and not altogether to our tariff.


Girls Smoking

Cigarette smoking among girls is stated by the secretary of the Leeds, England, branch of the Anti-Cigarette league to be on the increase. The practice is particularly prevalent among the factory and warehouse girls in Leeds. Many of them, however, have taken the following pledge: "I promise, with God's help, to abstain from purchasing or using tobacco in any form, at least until I reach the age of 21, not only for my own sake, but for the good of my country." The league has now 4,000 pledged members.


Evangelist Endowed

Evan Roberts, the Welsh evangelist, has been given an income of £5 a week for the remainder of his life by will of Mr. Robert Davies, a millionaire philanthropist. Mr. Davies' idea was to enable Mr. Roberts to engage in continuous revival work wherever he felt called upon to go, without having to think too much about the money question.

--The Weekly Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Indiana, April 18, 1906, page 4.

Easter, The Glory of the Lord is Risen Upon Thee

1906--

EASTER -- festival of the springtime, commemorative of the great event which is the foundation of our religion and upon which is builded our hope of better things -- is the great Christian holiday. The resurrection and its lesson -- these are the keynote of our belief; around them gather our hopes and upon them is firmly established our faith. There is no heart that does not respond to the inspiration of the Easter thought; there is no soul that is not awakened by the lesson that it brings.

Hope and faith -- these are the suggestions of Eastertide. Hope of better things and faith that these things are to be, these are as natural to the human heart as is the song of the bird in the spring sunshine. The faith for which Easier stands is inherent; it "depends upon a sense of it begotten, not upon an argument for it concluded." As the spring sunshine, obscured for a time by lowering clouds, finally bursts forth in renewed splendor, so this faith, weakened perhaps at times by doubts, conquers them at last and finds strengthening power in the passing trials of this life.

And our hope, renewed by this faith, finds proper expression in the jubilant note of Easter, the highest thought of the soul. The Christian church has not invented this festival; the human heart has ordained it in response to the demand born within us for an expression of the reviving hope of eternal life. The austerity of the old Puritans frowned upon this, as upon other church festivals, but it has survived as all ceremonies must endure which have their origin in some deeply rooted necessity of the human nature.

In the awakening of living things from apparent death which takes place at the Easter season, we find the symbol of the eternal life for which we hope and in which we have faith. Our physical being responds to the inspiring call of the springtime and our spirits answer to the call of Easter; we find abundant reason for singing its carols; these songs are the expression of the heart's desire; they are the voicing of our strengthened hope. It is the song which the prophet sang, ages ago: "Arise, shine; for thy light has come, and the glory of the Lord is arisen upon thee."

--The Anaconda Standard, Anaconda, Montana, April 15, 1906, page 1 of editorial section.

Beautiful Decorations on Easter Eggs

1906--

Easter eggs play an important part in heathen as well as Christian countries. Before the Christian era eggs formed a part of pagan worship and were symbolic of the awakening of nature after the long winter months. After the coming of Christ they were retained as tokens by the early Christians, and though not worshiped in that sense as the heathens did, eggs were used in decorations in the churches when the anniversary of Christ's resurrection was celebrated.

The first Christian church in Egypt adopted the egg of the ostrich as symbolic of faith, and the custom is still observed to this day in the East. Before the high altar, with its six silver lamps, ostrich eggs are suspended in the form of a wreath, one of them without ornamentation and others containing the most exquisite designs.

In the Orient ostrich eggs play an important part as an article of commerce, and the Soudan supplies hundreds for the market. In the spring of the year they are in great demand, and artists are kept busy covering them with beautiful designs. One of these eggs is on exhibition in the museum of art in Detroit, and on its shell are engraved representations of men and animals similar to the recently discovered works of art in the old ruins near Cairo.

In Japan a similar custom prevails, and the eggs of the Australian ostrich are made use of by Japanese artists for representing all the weird imaginings of their versatile minds. Many of them are beautifully painted, but as a rule the natural bluish hue of the egg is retained and the engravings thereon shaded accordingly. Beautiful landscapes are engraved on the shells, as well as portraits and scenes of daily life in Japan.

In the countries bordering on the northern coast of Africa ostrich eggs are also held sacred for purposes of worship, and they are regarded as of great value. They are ornamental in various ways and form a part of church and house decoration.

South America also follows the custom, and in the Argentine Republic every little store in the main street has on exhibition eggs of all colors and designs on the first spring day, as announced by the calendar. One particular design is usually adopted, showing a planter astride of his horse, with a young girl sitting behind him. Another popular design contains on one side a map of the republic, and on the other side two clasped hands, with a liberty cap below and the rising sun above. Small geometrical figures enclose the design. The designs are engraved rather deep, which is considered an art in itself.

This custom is centuries old, and the ornamentation of Easter eggs is regarded as a great work of art in the countries of the East. In fact, the history of the art in those far-off lands really had its birth in the crude designs which embryonic artists first etched on the shells of ostrich eggs. Strange to say, however, the United States has not as yet followed in the footsteps of other nations in this regard, though the day seems not far distant when some of the prettiest designs by the artists of the day will be found on egg shells when Easter comes and will form a part of our home decorations.

--The Anaconda Standard, Anaconda, Montana, April 15, 1906, page 2 of editorial section.