JULY 15, 1912 



A few days ago I was in a hurrj'. as I 

 wanted to catch somebody before he got 

 out of sight. I started off on a run, a good 

 deal as I used to do when a boy. I caught 

 mj' man, delivered my message, and com- 

 menced to walk back deliberately. Some 

 old farmer on a wagon (I do not know who 

 he was) said, "2klr. Root, it rejoices my 

 heart to see you able, at your age, to start 

 up like that and run like a boy.'' I told 

 him it rejoiced my heart too. everj- day, and 

 I was thanking God for it ; and I hope that 

 the beautiful text may induce a lot of my 

 old friends to have more faith in. Bible 

 promises, to strive harder to obey God's 

 laws, and to hold on to physical strength 

 as long as possible. We must not let the 

 idea get hold of us that we are getting past 

 usefulness. Good sense, aside from Bible 

 teaching, should prompt us to eat sparing- 

 ly and to be sure to take plenty of physical 

 exercise in the open air eveiy day of our 

 lives, whether we feel like it or not. The 

 old sa}"ing, 



Satan finds some mischief still 

 For idle hands to do, 



will apply right here to elderly people who 

 are liable to get the idea that they are too 

 old to do some useful work, or that they do 

 not need to work any longer, etc. That 

 beautiful promise, that we shall ''run and 

 not be weary, and walk, and not faint," is 

 not to people who sit still and do nothing, 

 even if they are growing old. 



SUNDAY EXCURSIONS, ETC. 



I presume the great wide world, or at 

 least a gi'eat part of it, will continue to 

 laugh and make fun of me because I per- 

 sist in beliering that God's wrath falls on 

 those who forget to "remember the sabbath 

 day to keep it holy." During a Sunday ex- 

 cui-siou at Buffalo, on June 23. so many 

 people piled on a wharf where the steamer 

 stopped that the whole structure went down 

 in twelve feet of water. I want to give you 

 a newspaper heading clipped from the 

 Cleveland Plain Dealer: 



BKLrEVE 40 DEAD I>f XIAGAKA CRASH; SKABCHKSS 



RECOVER SEVEXTEEX BODIES ■WHERE DOCK 



COItLAPSED ; PARK EMPLOYES KBFrSE TO 



AID RESCUERS, AXD DRUXKEX MEN" 



HIXDER. 



Xow read the following paragraph: 



EMPLOYES REFVSE TO AID. 



There was considerable disorder at Eagle Park 

 after the accident. Employes of the place reinsed 

 to lend any aid to Dr. Stocker. the deputy medical 

 examiner, in his efforts to recover bodies! and his 

 investigations were hampered by drunken men. No 

 representative of the sheriff appeared, and Dr. 

 Stocker finally ordered all the bodies sent to Btii- 

 falo as rapidly as they were recovered. 



From the above it would seem that the 

 physician, when he an-ived. was hampered 



by the drunken crowds — too drunk to care 

 whether anybody lived or died. -A list of 

 those who lost their lives is significant from 

 the fact that about nine out of ten of them 

 were women. It has been frequently com- 

 mented on that the women far outnumber 

 the men in most of our churches; but may 

 God forbid that the women shall outnum- 

 ber the men in Sunday excursions. Perhaps 

 one explanation of this state of affairs is 

 that, unlike the Titanic tragedy, the men 

 here took care of themselves, and let the 

 women struggle and die. 



By the way. there are just now several 

 reports of women being drowned because 

 the new-fashioned hobble skirt would not 

 permit them to make a rational effort to 

 save themselves. In fact, a young woman 

 who was an expert swimmer has just lost 

 her Life in our nearby Chippewa Lake be- 

 cause she was so. hampered by her modern 

 skirt which prevented her from using her 

 Umbs at all. Of course, as a rational rea- 

 son for the loss of life on this and every 

 other Sunday catastrophe, the crowd who 

 had no regard for the sabbath was compos- 

 ed largely of a class Uke those described in 

 the clipping: and it is a risky- thing for both 

 life and limb (to say nothing of morals) 

 to be found in such a crowd. 



If you think I am ''superstitious'' in in- 

 sisting that more accidents happen on Sun- 

 day than on week days, read the following, 

 cKpped from the Cleveland Plain Dealer of 

 July 2: 



Judging by the number of fatal accidents that 

 occur on the first day of the week, a safe and sane 

 Sunday is strongly demanded. 



This is not the first time the Plain Dealer 

 has uttered similar sentiments, especially 

 after a long list of accidents and fatalities 

 Sunday after Sunday. 



Later. — Since the above was taken from 

 the daily papei"s. I learn from a periodical 

 published near the scene of the accident 

 that the number of lives lost was about 40. 

 many of them having been swept by the 

 rapid eiuTent over the falls before there 

 was a chance for rescue. 



SHALL WE PITT TO DEATH THE LSTOXICATED 

 MAX WHO COMMITS MURDER, AND AL- 

 LOW THE MAN WHO SOLD HIM THE 

 DRINK TO GO SCOT FRKE? 



The following letter has presented the 

 matter of capital punishment to me. at 

 least, in a new light. Read it : 



Vengeance is mine : I will repay, saith the Lord. 

 — ROMAXS 1-2:19. 



A. I. Root : — Referring to the article in Glea:k- 

 rsGS, page 119, I doubt not that the paramount ob- 

 ject of our lives is that we may so live as to become 

 I^omoters of the Redeemer's kingdom among men, 

 and that we aUke deplore the depravity and unre- 



