The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1891, Page 10

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

10 The Lutheran Pioneer.

A Japanese Snow-storm.

There are many parts of Japan in which a | from the rope, such as may be seen anywhere
snow-storm is no rarity, but in the region of | in Japan wherever there is a sacred place among
Kobe and Osaka snow seldom falls to the depth | the mountains.
of more than an inch or two. This morning, |
however, an early outlook from the window
gave me the impression of a general whiteness | one on the top of the other, and surrounded by |
As daylight grew an orange with green leaves, such as the idol-|

over all the landscape.

| with a rope of straw stretched from one end to
| the other, and strips of white paper suspended

In many stores were represented in snow the
f “‘mochi,”’ made of rice-fl
two round cakes of ‘‘mochi,’’ made of rice-flour,

Why Not Sooner ?.

Rev. W. W. Gill reports that at a meeting
of native Christians in the South Sea Islands
an old man rose and said: ‘‘ There is one thing
I want to ask: Can it be that the Christian
people in England have had this Gospel of

| peace for many long years and have never sent

it to us until now? Oh, that they had sent it

stronger I saw that the snowy covering was worshipers always offer to the gods on New/sooner! Had they sent it sooner I should not

fully seven inches thick. This

seems very little to one accustomed

to the heavy snow-falls of Minne-
sota or even the lighter ones of
Ohio, but here it occasioned quite
an excitement. I had a meeting
for women in the afternoon, and
the walk of two miles from our
house to the place of meeting was
a very interesting one. Busy hands
and artistic skill had transformed
the white material into a variety
of: shapes which would have done
credit to a sculptor’s studio or a hall
of art in any country. There were
snow-white or white snow rabbits
peering out of shopdoor-ways; little
lapdogs in attitudes of play and at
rest; cats, from the large reclining
one, two or three feet in length, on
a back street, to the more frisky
little kittens in the shops. Foxes
stood on all-fours, with ears and
- tail erect, one holding a small flag
in its mouth. Old men and women
of snow, with black woolly eyebrows
and charcoal eyes, stood gazing
upon the passers-by. An elephant,
with five-foot-long proboscis, re-
clined next door to an “‘yebisu,”’
one of the gods of good luck. This
god was six or seven feet in height,
and the fish which he had just
caught, and which.still hung to
the hook, was about two feet long.
In one shop was 2 small boat with
masts, the hull being made of snow.
On a street-corner a white bear sat
on its haunches. Its mate I saw
nearly two miles away as I returned
home after the meeting. On an-
other corner and various other
places were imitations of the stone lanterns
seen in every Japanese garden and on temple-
grounds. One of these was the only unfin-
ished piece of work I saw; a man was aiill
carving its sides with a broad-bladed knife.
An immense frog sat in one street, just ready
to apring through the door in front of him in
case any one should open it. This frog was
about four feet long, and not far away was a
turtle about the same size. :
A rat, Jarger by several sizes than any that
gnaw their way into our storerooms, was climb-

ing a snowy cliff; rugged mountain-scenery

was represented in many of the streets; and in
various places were two pinnacles near together,

——S— ——

CHRIST ON HIS WAY TO CALVARY.

Year’s. In one store was a fire-bowl with a
tea-kettle set on as if to boil water for tea, but
all of snow. Out on heaps of snow in the
middle of one street were several flowerpots
that looked like marble, with real plants grow-
ing in them. I suppose these were made by
covering the earthen pots with snow.

The salutations of the afternoon as the women
came together were not ‘‘Good afternoon” or
‘“How do you do?” but ‘‘How much of the
cold thing has fallen?”— Mission Dayspring.

24-0 +

WE do not belong to this life, but are called
to another, and a far better.—JZuther.

to-day be solitary, sad-hearted,
mourning my murdered wife and
children. Oh, that they had sent
it sooner!

When Kapiolani, Queen of the
Hawaiian Islands, was told by an
old priest how a little boy had been
offered in sacrifice, she hid her
face with her hands, and weeping,
said: ‘“‘Oh! why did not Christians
come sooner and teach us better
things?”

When Miss West spoke to an Ar-
menian converted woman at Har-
poot about returning to America,
“Oh, don’t go; stay longer and
teach us!’’ she exclaimed, and
added: ‘‘Why didn’t the mission-
aries come before? If they had
only come when I was young,
I too might have worked for
Christ !”’

We.all can understand such lan-
guage. Most of us are touched by
it for the time being. Some are
moved to tears. How many are
moved to work? How many are
incited to more extensive reading,
and more liberal giving, and more
earnest praying? While we are
hesitating and putting off from day
to day and year to year what we
know to be our Christian duty and
noblest privilege, the heathen are
languishing in misery and woe and
perishing at a stupendous rate.
A thousand millions of the human
race have not heard of Christ.
How many of us realize the mean-

—_______—_ ing of such figures?

They’re crowding down the slopes of death,
A thousand millions strong:
A soul is lost, at every breath,
Of that benighted throng.
They’re groping ’mid sin’s hopeless ways,
A thousand millions, blind;
On them have dawned no Gospel rays,
No path of peace they find.
O Christians! these have never heard
Of Jesus’ precious name,
Have never read His holy Word,
Know not to die He came. :
“Go, preach my Gospel!’ Christ has said;
*€Go, all my famished feed —
To every creature give Life’s bread,
O’er earth my message specd!??

Missionary.