included. Asafetida, however, is the main agency, as the odor of this substance is believed to have the desired effect. The business of the conjurer is to heal diseases, treat the sick, secure affection, and bring ill luck to enemies. The sick-room also comes in for its share of superstitious lore. Under no consideration should that section of the floor under the bed of a sick person be swept. The dust and other accumulations must not be disturbed, otherwise the patient will surely die. In some homes, sand is sprinkled on the floor around the bed of the sick one. This is to keep away the witches who come to produce death or keep the person ill. When the witches approach the bed, they will stop to count the grains of sand, and while this is being done, it will take such a long time, the ordinary course of treatment will relieve the patient, and by natural consequences he will recover. These, dear reader, are but a few of the problems that must be met and overcome by your missionary among the poor Negroes of the South. There is but one thing that will lift these people out of their gross ignorance, that will lead them from darkness to light, and that one thing is the eternal Word of God which your missionaries preach and teach to those to whom they are sent. Let us never cease to pray that the gracious Father would send His light into the dark places of the earth. CONVENTION OF THE TEXAS DISTRICT. Central Texas was suffering from a drouth that brought a crop failure. And while the parched cornstalk and dwarf cotton-plant in the field was begging for life-sustaining moisture, the Texas District met and counseled as to how the languished soul in this world should be supplied with the Water of Life. Within the drouth-stricken area at Walburg, some ten miles from Georgetown, in the congregation of Rev. J. Sieck, Sr., this year's convention was entertained. Sessions were held from July 8 to 14. Dr. Pfotenhauer represented the General Body. His sermon on the theme "Ye Are the Light of the World" not only made us more definitely conscious of our calling as Christians, but his message stirred one to zeal. It was remarkably fitting, too, when the District President, Rev. H. Studtmann, in his annual address referred to our having zeal of God, and then stressed that it be according to knowledge. The doctrinal discussions were based on Article VI of the Formula of Concord. Prof. C. W. Eifrig, of River Forest, Ill., led the discussion. The Professor had committed much of his paper to memory and presented the subject-matter in lecture style. Texas comprises one of the larger Home Mission Districts of our Synod. The missionary field secretary reported that forty-seven parishes had been subsidized during the past year. The Wharton-Beasley, McAllen, and Houston Heights parishes became self-sustaining in the bygone year. Our mission endeavors in the Republic of Mexico received due attention. Our Synod should have church property in Mexico City. Due to conditions peculiar to Mexico, $50,000 must be available to acquire suitable property. Texas cannot raise that sum alone. The Mission Board was requested to begin work among the Mexicans and Bohemians residing in our State. Sound antilodge practise and establishment of Christian day-schools were stressed as necessary in establishing sound Lutheran parishes. The District supported thirty-three indigent students, and thirty-seven persons received aid through the Board of Support. The synodical college is to be established at Austin pursuant to the decision of Synod's Board of Directors. The first building will be erected in the near future. The District requests that the college also offer courses for training churchschool teachers. Editors for the District's publications were elected. The Rev. Paul Birkmann is to edit the English, while the Rev. H. Schmidt edits the German periodical. Sunday was a festival day. Band and choirs assisted in giving it that atmosphere. In the afternoon a missionary rally was conducted in the grove near the church. Addresses on various missions were delivered. At the same time the Rev. J. W. Behnken spoke in the church in English. Fellow-Lutherans covered distances of more than fifty miles in cars to attend these services. The congregation at Thorndale invited the 1927 convention to be held in its midst. Waco, Tex. G. H. BIAR. CORNER-STONE LAYING FOR THE NEW DORMITORY OF CONCORDIA COLLEGE, ST. PAUL, MINN. On Sunday afternoon, August 9, the corner-stone was laid for the new dormitory of Concordia College, St. Paul, Minn., for which the ground was broken on the 4th of June in a short service, conducted by Rev. H. Meyer, President of the Minnesota District. At the corner-stone laying Rev. H. Bouman, of Hamburg, Minn., Vice-President of the Minnesota District, delivered the German address, answering the question: "Why Do We Lutheran Christians Cheerfully Support Our Christian Dayschools? 1. Because in these schools the truth is taught; 2. because this truth alone can make us free." Rev. M. F. Abraham, of Young America, Minn., President of the Alumni Association, delivered the English address, in which he stressed the fact that those who love God will cheerfully erect and maintain schools in which the Word of God Rev. E. G. Nachtsheim Laying the Corner-Stone. From right to left: Rev. E. G. Nachtsheim; Prof. L. Blankenbuehler; Mr. O. Thorshov, Architect; Mr. A. M. Hillmann, Member of Board; Rev. M. F. Abraham; Mr. J. H. Henke, Member of Board; Prof. F. Wahlers; Rev. H. Bouman; Prof. A. Schlueter. On other side of stone: Mr. Clark and Mr. Johnson of the Madison Construction Co. rules supreme. Rev. E. G. Nachtsheim, of Minneapolis, Minn., secretary of the Board of Trustees, then laid the stone according to the rites of our Church, enumerating the various articles placed in the stone. The new dormitory building will take care of one hundred students, besides prefect quarters. The building, in Tudor style, will be constructed of reinforced concrete faced with a soft-colored, warm red brick to harmonize with the new classroom building already on the campus, and trimmed with Bedford stone. It will have two stories and a high basement. Reading-, recreation-, and piano practise-rooms will be located in the basement. The study and dormitory rooms will be located in the first and second stories, with the study-rooms on the east side of the building. Two large lavatories will be located on each of the two dormitory floors. The building will be heated from the central heating-plant. This building will be ready for occupancy, it is hoped, about October 15. E. G. N. EPHPHATHA CONFERENCE. Of the eighteen missionaries to the deaf fourteen assembled at the Church of Our Redeemer, Chicago, Ill. (Rev. A. C. Dahms, pastor), July 17-21, for their annual conference. Rev. M. Heinicke was welcomed as a new member. The Board of Mission to Deaf-mutes (Rev. A. H. Kuntz, chairman) was represented by four members. During the morning sessions the following papers were read in the sign-language: the Fourth and Fifth Chief Parts of Luther's Catechism (Rev. J. Beyer); the Gospel-lessons for the Seventh to the Tenth Sunday after Trinity (Rev. O. Schroeder) and for the Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima Sundays (Rev. E. Mappes). The afternoon sessions were devoted to various business matters and to the rendering of reports by the missionaries. The Board reported a deficit of $25,000 in the treasury. Though the deaf contribute liberally toward the support of their pastors, none of the congregations is self-supporting, and the contributions of their hearing fellow-Christians are needed to carry on the work. In order to familiarize our hearing congregations with the work done by their missionaries among the deaf, a set of stereopticon slides showing "The History and Development of Lutheran Deaf-mute Missions" has been prepared and is ready for circulation. A manuscript, either German or English, accompanies the set. A lantern with a 110-volt lighting system or with a 6-volt storage battery will also be furnished upon request. Congregations desiring this lecture are requested to apply to Synod's Committee for Publicity and Lectures (Rev. Geo. Luecke, 6150 Nassau St., Chicago, Ill.). From the reports of the missionaries it was evident that the Lord is blessing the Word proclaimed in more than one hundred stations by means of the sign-language. The number of communicant members is steadily increasing. More than two hundred deaf are now receiving instructions and are being prepared for membership. Chapels are needed in several of our larger mission-centers. New and promising fields are awaiting the services of a missionary, and more men needed to supply them with the Gospel. are On Sunday, July 19, two services were held. In the morning a joint service for hearing and deaf was held in Bethel Lutheran Church (Rev. L. Schmidtke, pastor), in which Rev. Boll preached the sermon, which was interpreted for the deaf by Rev. J. Beyer. In the afternoon divine services were held in the Church of Our Redeemer (deaf) in which one of the girls from our Detroit institution was confirmed by the superintendent of the school, Rev. Wm. Gielow. The ready manner in which this young girl gave account of her faith in the Savior showed the thoroughness of the Christian training which our deaf children are receiving at this institution. an A vote of thanks was extended to the ladies of the Church of Our Redeemer, who served the meals, and to the members of Bethel Lutheran Church, who housed the conference. God willing, the next conference, in 1926, will be held at St. Louis. Portland, Oreg. P. EICHMANN. KENDALLVILLE REDEDICATES. St. John's Church of Kendallville, Ind., had cause for much rejoicing when their new church was dedicated on July 19. Services were also held on the 20th and 21st. On Sunday morning the Rev. William Broecker of Pittsburgh, a former pastor of the congregation, preached the German sermon, while English sermons were delivered on Sunday afternoon by Dr. P. E. Kretzmann, in the evening by the Rev. Paul Miller, Fort Wayne, on Monday evening by the Rev. E. C. Kuehn, and on Tuesday evening by the Rev. John C. Baur. While the foundation of the old church was used, and certain parts of the old walls, especially in the tower, are embodied in the building, the whole style of the building has been changed, so that it is practically a new church, being built in the Tudor Gothic style, with the clerestory arrangement. The style is carried out very consistently in every detail, and all visitors seemed to agree that they seldom saw a more correct and churchly edifice. The material is of the best throughout. It is a brick building with stone trimming and a threefold beautifully carved Gothic stone entrance. Special features of the building are the Gothic pillars and arches, the high wooden ceiling with its exposed beams, the antique artglass windows, the massive, though simple furniture, all in natural oak finish, and the altar, also in natural oak, with much appropriate hand carving. May God make this house of worship a true gate of heaven to all those who come to seek their Savior here! The old brick church, which served for over fifty years, although it was remodeled and enlarged about twenty years ago, was destroyed by fire May 5, 1924. Ever since that time the congregation was busily at work erecting this new house of worship, while services were held in the school auditorium. St. John's Congregation was gathered in 1859 and organized early in 1860. From the beginning it fostered its Christian day-school, even before it had a resident pastor. A new schoolbuilding was erected in 1913. This building is now connected with the church-building, and the space between the church and the school has been built in, to serve in part for Sundayschool purposes. Other Sunday-school rooms are provided in the school-building and in the extension to the church on the south, where the Bible classes have their rooms. All those interested in the history of the church may procure a copy of the souvenir booklet, issued for the dedication, by writing to Pastor M. F. Kretzmann and enclosing a two-cent stamp for postage. Kendallville, Ind. M. F. KRETZMANN. LUTHER DAY AT BELVIDERE, ILL. The thirteen congregations of the Eighth Visitors' Circuit of the Northern Illinois District of Synod joined in a Luther Day celebration on July 26, 1925, at the Boone County Fair Grounds, Belvidere, Ill. A fine summer day, a location known for its natural beauty, a great crowd, well-delivered addresses, beautiful congregational singing, fine chorus and instrumental music, all helped to crown the day and its cause with success. In the regular pastor-layman meeting of the circuit on February 16 the project was first broached and at once enthusiastically received. Immediately committees were appointed, and the usual long, tedious, and thankless preparatory work was done with unselfish devotion. Almost every available means of dignified advertising and publicity was used; even a newspaper, the Kishwaukee Lutheran, made its initial appearance in the interests of the day. Thousands of copies of the paper and other printed matter were distributed through the mails and at every possible place in the six counties. But man's labors would have been in vain if Almighty God had not showered blessings upon the humble efforts of His servants. This was seen at the very outset in the beautiful harmony that existed between the pastors, laymen, committees, and entire congregations. One aim, one purpose, was in the minds of all "to present to the community the Word of God as it is daily taught in our churches." No distance was too great, no labors too arduous; everything was cheerfully done to the glory of God. The congregations of the circuit are: Belvidere, Pastor Heinemann; Genoa, Pastor Bramscher; HampshireBurlington, Pastor Meier; Hinckley, Pastor Burmeister; Lindenwood, Pastor _Schulenburg; Marengo, Pastor_Brauer; Monroe Center, Pastor Klaus; Rochelle, Pastor Bartusch; Sycamore-De Kalb, Pastor Frenk; Union, Pastor Linnemeier; Yorkville, Pastor Fuelling. It was at the request of the local Chamber of Commerce that Belvidere was selected for the celebration, and the Fair Grounds were indeed an ideal spot for the great gathering. Two services were held. In the morning service two sermons were delivered. The first (and chief) topic, "Lutheranism and Christian Education," was well presented by the Rev. Walter E. Klaus, of Monroe Center, Ill. He was followed by Pastor H. E. Brauer, of Marengo, Ill., who eloquently spoke on "The Lutheran Church and Democracy.' In the afternoon service Pastor W. Burmeister, of Hinckley, Ill., delivered a timely address on "Our Glorious Church," in a very masterly manner. Our visiting officer, the Rev. E. A. Bartusch, acted as chaplain in both services. Prof. E. Hoffmann's Band of Emmanuel Church, Aurora, Ill., led the beautiful congregational singing. A chorus of 140 voices, under the direction of Prof. H. Burmeister, and a large children's chorus, led by Professor Heinitz, and several vocal solos by Mrs. Foster Johnson added beauty and dignity to the services. It is estimated that from six to eight thousand people attended the services and heard "God's Word and Luther's doctrine pure." That such a great number was able to hear every spoken word was due to the efficient service of Radio Station WMAQ, Chicago Daily News, which supplied the committee with the Radio Amplification System of their Public Speakers' Service. Many favorable comments by Lutherans and non-Lutherans have been received, and, D. v., we shall make this Northern Illinois Luther Day an annual event of our Visiting Circuit. F. NOTES AND NEWS. "We could begin mission-work in fifteen localities in and around Detroit right now if we had the money and the men." Rev. R. H. C. Meyer at Michigan District meeting. The Atlantic District has gotten out a fine and effectively worded folder entitled "Will You Help?" in order to boost its Church Extension Fund. There is also a German edition. The Central District Messenger has printed a series of articles on congregational constitutions which deserve thoughtful attention. Especially what was said about "Unalterable Paragraphs." The author is Rev. Geo. Gotsch, of Jonesville, Ind. "Shall our past be forgotten?" The young people of Texas, at their recent convention at Port Arthur, Tex., resolved to finance the collecting of literature and pictures pertaining to the history of the Church in Texas. A lantern-slide lecture is to be prepared.-G. H. B. Rev. W. H. Storm, of Trinity Church, Goodland, Ind., has delivered two lectures on the subject "What Lodge Ought a Christian to Leave?" to which the public was invited through the newspapers. Rev. Storm's announcements specified the Freemasons, Knights of Pythias, and Modern Woodmen. The meetings were "open" and were held on week-day nights. St. John's Congregation of Wagner, S. Dak. (Rev. F. C. Gade, pastor), last year ordered the LUTHERAN WITNESS for every member and also for those who attend church regularly, but have not yet joined. "This has given general satisfaction. and the same thing is done this year, with the exception that a subscription for the Public Library has been added." In the Sparta News-Plain Dealer, Sparta, Ill., of August 13, we find the following news item: "In a speech at Hoyleton recently Judge Louis Bernreuter, of Nashville, declared that the large increase in crime in America to-day can be traced directly to lack of religious education in children and the general indifference to the Church and its teaching. R. G. B. Grains of Comfort. Grain the Second: Time was, not so very long ago either, that every German Lutheran Susan who was married to an Irish Catholic Michael devoted to the Roman Church, by a pledge given to the priest, all children that were to come. Now Michael goes to "instruction" and is confirmed a Lutheran before the wedding-bells ring. It is much the better way. Good news that never comes: 2. Rome, Italy. The Osservatore Romano reports a rumor that the Holy Father has recently spent much time reading Dallmann's Life of Luther. His Holiness is said to contemplate the calling of a special conclave in order to consider some highly necessary changes in the Catechismus Romanus. A moratorium on prayers to St. Canisius has been declared. Remarks by Dr. Bryan, President of Indiana University, at the meeting of the National Education Association, July 1: "I shall not here and now discuss the calamitous fact that, in avoiding, as we must, the entanglements of Church and State. we are not free to use in our schools the greatest book of morals the human race possesses. We must do the best we can in spite of the handicap. There is no adequate compensation for it." The value of our parochial school property in the Northern Illinois District is $3,000,000. The annual expense of maintaining these schools is $500,000. Each scholar costs the congregations of the District $37.32, while the State has to pay $61.15 for its own. In other words, our Northern Illinois brethren, by maintaining their own schools, save the State annually the sum of $1,000,000. There are now in this District 126 schools taught by 290 teachers. The New York Sun (quoted in Literary Digest, August 8. 1925) has this to say about Wm. J. Bryan's knowledge and use of the Bible: "As for his literary accouterments, familiarity with the language of the Bible was far and away his most useful asset. He had an amazing knack of building up a rhetorical period and capping it with a paraphrase of a familiar passage of Scripture which meant more to the average hearer than any amount of logical discussion could mean." How well do you know, and how often do you use, your Bible? A. K. Baptists do not baptize their children; Methodists do, but it doesn't mean anything. They regard baptism as a fine, symbolical act, but not as a means of grace. So it can happen that they add trimmings which Lutherans would regard as a disgrace to the Sacrament. In Algiers, La., only last month they baptized a Methodist baby with Klan ceremonial. "All the lights were turned out except those in the choir, and at the same instant the glowing light of the fiery cross appeared at the entrance, followed by the parents who carried the baby, and immediately behind them about fifty to seventy-five Klansmen and Klanswomen in their uniforms, with masks rolled up. It was a beautiful and solemn scene." This is the comment of the Minneapolis Journal on the Tennessee Law: "Newspapers, like individuals, may have religious opinions. We consider the Tennessee law forbidding the teaching of evolution in the schools a sound law. Certainly. if the Bible cannot even be read, evolution should not be taught in the grades, and it should be explained only in the colleges. It is bound closely to the Bible by its reverse teaching. The Bible declares that God created heaven and earth 'and all that in them is.' Therefore, to teach evolution and not to teach the Scriptures is as inconsistent as it would be to teach the Scriptures in the schools. No one ever advocated teaching the Scriptures in the schools - which is wisdom. Therefore, no one should teach evolution in the schools. We hope the courts will sustain the Tennessee law. It is sound to the core." We are in receipt of a little folder, entitled "A Rare Opportunity," published by one of our churches in Louisville, Ky., in the interest of its Christian day-school. Four thousand of these folders, we are told, have been distributed. In a direct, clear-cut manner the cause of Christian education as offered in a Lutheran day-school is presented, and a general invitation is given to all parents, asking them to send their children to the congregation's day-school. The point is stressed that there is no tuition charge. No doubt this school will receive new children this fall as a direct result of this publicity. But there will be other results as well; the general public will know where this congregation stands in the work of careful, painstaking, Christian training of the young; and some parents, in the church and outside, will be moved to do some serious thinking with regard to the spiritual welfare of their own children.-W. G. P. Reading Pilgrim's Progress once again, we happen upon the famous reference to the Roman Catholic Church found at the end of the journey through "The Valley of the Shadow of Death." It is worth copying out: "Now I saw in my dream that at the end of this valley lay blood, bones, ashes, and mangled bodies of men, even of pilgrims that had gone this way formerly. And while I was musing what should be the reason, I espied a little before me a cave, where two giants, Pope and Pagan, dwelt in old time, by whose power and tyranny the men whose bones, blood, ashes, etc., lay there were cruelly put to death. But by this place Christian went without much danger, whereat I somewhat wondered; but I have learned since that Pagan has been dead many a day. As for the other [the Pope], though he be yet alive, he is, by reason of age, and also of the many shrewd brushes [stiff fights] that he met with in his younger days [the Reformation is referred to] grown so crazy [rickety] and stiff in his joints that he can now do little more than sit in his cave's mouth, grinning at pilgrims as they go by and biting his nails because he cannot come at them." This picture shows four generations of colored Lutherans, members of our congregation at Possum Bend, Ala.: Maria Dockery, her son Floyd, Floyd's daughter, and his two grandchildren. It looks as if we had come to Alabama to stay. If President Coolidge succeeds in keeping alive within his soul the spark of faith, it is not through the aid of his preachers, but in spite of them. Now he is at Swampscott, Mass., at the "summer White House," and whom must he hear but a Congregationalist preacher who says that "the Second Coming of Christ was realized when he sent leaders to abolish slavery and intemperance"! But the newspaper adds a crumb of comfort, in this way: "Before beginning his sermon, Dr. Beale remarked that two weeks ago his name had been honored by being linked with that of the President of the United States, 'and the clippings haven't yet stopped coming in; but that also has its penalties. Those who saw a picture alleged to be mine in one of the Boston papers will realize that in my case the penalty quickly was exacted.' Mrs. Coolidge laughed at this, as did most of the congregation, but the President gave no sign that he was amused. The President's face, those who watched him thought, grew a little stern as the minister, in his comments on the President's attendance just before starting his sermon, spoke of the 'white light that beats upon the throne.' Its sternness had not relaxed when the Boston newspaper picture was mentioned." So the unbeliever in the pulpit at least did not have the satisfaction of making a President of the U. S. A. heehaw right out in church. G. In one of the hospitals of Edinburgh lay a wounded Scottish soldier. The surgeons had done all they could for him. He had been told he must die. He had a contempt for death and prided himself on his fearlessness in facing it. A rough and wicked life, with none but evil associates, had blunted his sensibilities and made profanity and scorn his second nature. To hear him speak one would have thought he had no piously nurtured childhood to remember and had never looked upon religion but to despise it. However, it was not so. A noble and gentle-hearted man came to see the dying soldier. He addressed him with kind inquiries, talked to him tenderly of his life beyond death, and offered spiritual counsel. But the sick man paid him no attention or respect. He bluntly told him that he did not want any religious conversation. "You will let me pray with you, will you not?" said the man at length. "No; I know how to die without the help of religion." And he turned his face to the wall. Further conversation could do no good, and the man did not attempt it. But he was not discouraged. After a moment's silence he began to sing the old hymn, so familiar and so dear to every congregation in Scotland: O mother dear, Jerusalem, When shall I come to thee? He had a pleasant voice, and the words and melody were sweet and touching as he sang them. Pretty soon the soldier turned his face again, but its hardened expression was all gone. "Who taught you that?" he asked when the hymn was done. "My mother." "So did mine. I learned it of her when I was a child, and I used to sing it with her." And there were tears in the man's eyes. now. The ice was thawed away. It was easy to talk with him The words of Jesus entered in where the hymn had opened the door. Weeping and with a hungry heart he listened to the Christian's thoughts of death, and, in his last moments turned to his mother's God and the sinners' Friend. The Welcome. WHAT SHE WAS LEARNING. It is recorded of a certain great philosopher that a friend who went to visit him met the philosopher's little daughter before he met the philosopher himself. Knowing that the father was such a deeply learned man, he thought that the little girl must have learned something very grave, something very deep from such a father, and he said to her: "What is your father teaching you?" The little maid looked at him with her clear, blue eyes and just said "Obedience." That was what the great wise man taught his little girl, and I believe that is the most important lesson for children to learn, "to be obedient." It is a lesson necessary for their happiness, for their safety, and, I think we may say, for their lives. The Lutheran. SHUT THE DOOR. A man was standing in a telephone booth trying to talk, but could not make out the message. He kept saying, "I can't hear, I can't hear." The other man by and by said sharply, "If you'll shut the door, you can hear." His door was not shut, and he could hear not only the man's voice, but the street and store noises too. Some people have got their hearing badly confused because their doors have not been closed tightly. Man's voice and God's voice have become mixed in their ears. They cannot distinguish between them. The trouble is partly with the door. If you'll shut that door, you will be able to hear. - S. D. Gordon. Lutheran Laymen's League. TURNING OVER THE ENDOWMENT FUND TO SYNOD, AND HOW IT IS NOW SAFEGUARDED. If the L. L. L., both the individual members and as an organization, were not devoted to such self-effacing service, I should have been tempted to begin this column with the remark that the proudest moment in the history of the L. L. L. was the moment, or succession of moments, when on June 16, 1920, during the Detroit convention of the Delegate Synod, its treasurer, Mr. Fred C. Pritzlaff, with a few modest words, so softly spoken that many in the big auditorium could barely hear them, officially turned over to Synod the sum of $2,050,095.25 as the nucleus of an endowment fund for the incapacitated servants of the Church and their dependents. Really, this momentous act was attended with very little formality. President Lamprecht, it is true, had a few minutes before made a speech in which Synod was officially advised of a fact with which unofficially it was acquainted, namely, the fact that during the preceding three years the L. L. L. organization had attempted to collect a fund of $3,000,000 and had succeeded in this unprecedented enterprise to a much greater degree than most people had expected. Synod acknowledged this simple, though very consequential, act of the Lutheran Laymen's League by a rising vote of thanks. In spite of the absence of "pomp and circumstance" everybody in the hall, those who received the gift as well as those who made it, were conscious of a sense of grateful exhilaration over the accomplishment of a feat which a few years before would have been regarded as simply impossible. As it were overnight the art of giving a large sum had within our Synod advanced from occasional dilettantism to a fairly general vogue. This is said not in a spirit of disparaging the splendid work done by and in the Synod in the past, but in a spirit of rejoicing over the awakening of a fuller realization of our obligations and of our capabilities. To what extent the L. L. L. campaign paved the way for Synod's splendid performance in the Building Fund collection it is perhaps impossible to determine, but it is hoped and rather expected that the Missouri Synod and its membership has now, after the L. L. L. success and the Building Fund success, positive proof of its financial capacity. In 1923, at the Fort Wayne convention, with even less formality than three years before, the Lutheran Laymen's League, through its officers, turned over to Synod an additional amount of $250,000, which brought the sum total up to $2,300,000, more or less. Synod accepted this with thanks and, to quote from the Synodical Report, "acknowledged the zeal of the League by rising and wished the League God's blessing in reaching the goal of $3,000,000." These are two facts from past history. Now a fact from current history. The keeping of this sacred fund is surrounded with all the safeguards that can be contrived by mature judgment and relevant business experience on the part of those in charge, together with the up-to-date ingenuity of modern methods and appliances that business practise provides. The fund is invested in the highest grade Government bonds. These bonds, as an additional precaution, are all "registered." The bonds themselves are deposited in a rented strong box in one of the most highly reputed safe-deposit establishments in the city of Chicago. The responsibility for them is vested in seven men, two of whom are officers of the L. L. L., while three are officers of Synod and the remaining two laymen elected by the other five. These seven men appoint a committee of three from their number who are charged with the actual task of safeguarding the bonds. Two of these three must always be present when access is had to the safe-deposit box by the treasurer of the fund, at present Mr. Paul Schulze of Chicago. He receives all interest as it falls due direct from Washington and promptly passes on the amounts thus received to Synod's treasurer for the relief of the Veterans of the Cross. His very check when it comes periodically, sometimes in amounts as high as $40,000, seems to radiate multiple happiness-happiness of the trust treasurer, whose precise signature adorns it; happiness of the synodical treasurer, who receives it; happiness of the Synod's Board of Support, which will spend it; happiness of the superannuated, the widows, and the orphans, who will share its benefits; and, most particularly, happiness of the L. L. L. members, whom God has blessed with the privilege of providing all this multiplied happiness. E. SEUEL. St. Louis, Mo. If you are not a member of the L. L. L. for 1925, join now. Any contribution from $5 up makes you a member and also gives you a year's subscription for the LUTHERAN WITNESS, our official organ, or, if you prefer it, for the Lutheraner. All you need to do is, send your name and address and the name of your pastor and congregation together with your membership fee to our Milwaukee, Wis., office, 288 E. Water St., which will then enroll you as a member. Do it now! It is worth while! Obituary. † J. F. H. ZASTROW. † St. John's Congregation of Chester, Ill., lost a faithful servant and the Church Militant an unbending soldier of the Cross when the soul of J. F. H. Zastrow (born in Germany, 1863), for forty-two years teacher and organist of St. John's, entered into the rest prepared for the children of God. While seated at the organ, Sunday morning, August 2, Teacher Zastrow suddenly fell forward and was instantly dead. It had always been his wish that he might die in the service of the Lord, and the Lord in His mercy answered his prayer. He is survived by his widow and eight children. The mortal remains of this man of God were laid to rest August 6. The Rev. J. H. Hartenberger, Prof. W. H. Behrens, and Rev. H. C. Schreck officiated. † GILBERT J. M. HOLSTEIN. † A student of Concordia Theological Seminary, Springfield, Ill., was suddenly called to his heavenly home on July 2— Gilbert J. M. Holstein, son of Rev. J. Holstein of Plainview, Nebr. He was born December 7, 1902, at Martinsburg, Nebr. In 1922 he entered Concordia Seminary, Springfield, Ill., for the purpose of preparing himself for the office of the ministry. At the time of his death he had but one more year at the institution before his graduation. During the coming year he intended to do supply-work at Riverton, Wyo. God, however, had ordained it otherwise. On July 2 he, with his brother and two other students, went bathing, and not knowing the treacherous bottom of the swimming-pool, he drowned before help arrived. He is now at home with his dear Lord, whom he loved and whom he confessed, not only with his mouth, but also by his manner of living. He attained an age of 22 years, 6 months, and 25 days. May our daily prayer be: Who knows how near my end may be! May death be here and life be gone! |