THE TORCH OF REASON, SILVERTON, OREGON, THURSDAY, JANUARY 2 1 , 1 8 9 7 .
S e c u la r News.
It Ufa
R. D. Allen donated seventeen
Teacher in Natural History:
volumes of valuable books.
—“ What animal has the greatest
The Y. P. S. S. C. proves to l>e a affection for man?”
source of great amusement and in- Smart little Boy:—“ Woman!'
struction. The meeting last Fri- Six-year old Ted to his sister:
day was well attended. 1 he de- —“ Let’s plav Adam and Eve.”
McMinnville Secular Sunday
school elected the following officers
Sunday January 17:
Mrs. Addie Oleson, supt.; Mabel
Hopkins, nssi taut supt.; Maggie
Date on fne q u e s t io n ;
u n s o lv e d
S h e :--“ But how can we d«»*’i*tYo
Daniel, secy.; L. Triplett, treas.
that Cuba should be free,” was de­
Ted:—“You tempt me with an
Lora Ames was elected secretary cided in favor of the affirmative, apple and I’ll eat it.”
of the Silverton Secular Sunday
S o m e strong points were brought
He:—(Telling a hair-breadth ad-
school last Sunday in the place of
out. 1 he subject for debate the venture.)—“And in the bright
Mrs. Nora Guiss, resigned.
22nd is “ Resolved that the study moon-light we could see the dark
The Secularists of Silverton of books is more beneficial than the muzzfes of the wolves.”
should have a larger building in study of nature,'’ and promises to
She:—( Breathlessly)—“Oh, how
which to hold their Sunday school. be interesting. A splendid pro- gja(j yOU must have been that they
Those people who say Secularists gram will be rendered.
ha<l j , ejr muzzles on.”
cannot organize, should pay our
All students of the university are
—Harpers Bazar.
Sunday school a visit.
entitled to jointhe society. Others
Isaac C. Robison.
\\ hen Dr. A. K. Olds made his niay join by being voted in. A fee
will he left a certain sum, the in-
cents a month will be
Died, at his home in Amity, Ore-
come from which, is to be given to cbarged. An admission fee o f ten gon, Isaac C. Robison, aged 70
the Secular cause as his daughter f.en^s will be charged people not years. The funeral was conducted
Nettie dictates. The result of this members, ho wish to attend the at the home, Nettie A. Olds de­
is that $20 was paid into the press meetings.
livering the oration. Mr. J. K.
fund this week.
Sears, of whom the deceased had
Portland News.
We are in receipt of a pamphlet
requested the favor, spoke at the
Glory
to--------the
wanderer
has
entitled •‘Bibleand Church Degrade
grave. The ceremony was a touch­
Women,” written by Elizabeth returned. Everybody felt better ing tribute t* the honor and virtue
Cady Stanton and published by IL when she resumed her old place at of the deceased.
L. Green, Chicago. The articles the piano last Sunday morning,
Mr. Robison was one of our ear-
are very well written and should
The new innovation in the Sun- liestandm ostavowedLiberals,ad-
be read by all women who imagine day school is proving successful, yocating its glorious truth when he
the bible is their friend.
The Some of the pupils do not like to gtooj aimost alone in the ranks,
pamphlets may be had from the come in late, so they are making jqe wa8 a subscriber to the T orch
publisher at ten cents each.
an earnest effort to be on time.
0F R eason and Truth Seeker and
Our business manager goes to
We are making great prepara- his hospitality and generous sup-
Portland to deliver a lecture at the ' tions for the entertainment, to be port always greeted the lecturers in
Paine celebration .January 31.
given on the anniversary of the the cause who came within his
The Silverton Secular Sunday birth of Thomas Paine, and strain- reach. None knew him but to
school will give a Paine celebration ing every nerve to make it a success, respect and honor him. In his
at Liberal hall, Sunday eve, Janu- The singing section of the Portland death the cause of Freethought
ary 31. A fine program will be ar- Turn-Verein will assist us.
loses a staunch supporter,
ranged consisting of a lecture by
Last Sunday we introduced some
L e tte rs from F riends.
J. E. Hosmer, vocal and in- new movements in the calisthenic
strumental music, recitations, etc. exercises. Miss Edith Kemp is the
Jan. 13, 1897.—To the Edi-
The Silverton Marine Band orches- leader.
tor: Enclosed you will find 25
tra will assist with the music. Mrs. Blanche Wensley has been <*nts f°r which please send me the
Admission free. All are invited to seiectej
taj.e tj,e position in the T orch of R eason for three months,
attend.
, musical department at the univer-
received a copy of your paper
The article, Freethought Ad- sity, lately resigned by Miss Ada ^oni a friend, Michael Johnson, of
vance, appearing in this paper, was Dewey. From what we know of Vale, Oregon, and must say it is
written by John Leitch, of Mazo Mrs. Wensley (and we are pretty just the thing needed to open the
Manie. This old gentleman is well acquainted with her) we think eyes of some of those radical Chris­
deeply interested in the cause of she will prove to be a thorough tians of these western states and to
Secularism. He has donated quite and capable teacher in this and in prove to them that the foolish
teachings of the bible are showing
liberally to the cause in Oregon vocal music.
and has made his will by which
We have found a teacher, who is their absurdities more every day.
he leaves $1000 to the Liberal so interested in her class, that al- Hoping that the T orch of R eason
University. This is the kind of ready she has begun to bring spec- niay^)e s,en and felt over tin* whole
enthusiasm it takes to make Secular- imens of reptiles etc., for their country, I remain respectfully,
M organ P. G ifford ,
ism succeed.
instruction.
“J oebert ”
Council Valley, Idaho.
U n iversity Notes.
Six Sm iles.
Attendance is steadily increasing
Young Lady:—“Do you believe
and everybody is well pleased with in the laying on of hands?”
the school. A new building is next Old Lady:—“Most certainly I do,
in order.
I cured my boy of smoking,
A great interest is manifested in
the successful experiments before
the chemistry class.
The university library is growing
steadily and now contains some
splendid books on scientific, moral
and educational subjects. Remem-
ber the reading room is open every
evening from 7 to 9 o’clock and all
day Saturday and Sunday. It is
perfectly free to all who wish to
way.”—Prog. Age.
He:—“What do you think of
young Jones?’’
“I think it he lived in bib-
lical days, Balaam s ass
would
never have attained such promi-
nence.”
Miss Bloomerite:—“ What kind
of a tree is that?”
Her Companion.:—“ Why, that
is a dog-wood. Can’t you tell it
read or study.
by its bark? ’
'/■
1
th a t
subscript’ons for the
T orch . He
works seven days in the week and
yet has some time to devote to the
cause of Secularism. Let others
pattern after him and we will swell
the subscription list wonderfully.)
S cappoose , O r .—Dear Sir: En­
closed find money order for $7.
Two dollars from Mrs. Maria West
and $5 from myself. Please send
me the P orch of R eason one year
and use the rest for paying for the
press. Wishing you success, I am
yours forFreethought,
.J ohn P rice ,
N. B. I will subscribe $10 for
the university fund.
J. P.
From
Zenith.
Will some of our friends please
answer the following questions?
Are our souls made as they are
wanted, or does God keep them in
stock? If our bodies are only an
earthly home for a spirit, does that
spirit grow and become wise as our
bodies enlarge? Can the spirit of
man leave the body and return at
will? If so are we to be damned,
and cast into that ever-lasting hell
because our spirit goes off on a lark
while we are innocently sleeping?
If a live man (with a soul) should
be hermetically sealed in a casket,
would that soul leave the body and
fly away up to heaven, or would
both soul and bodvdecav
»
» the same
as an ox? Or if an infidel, while
working in a gold mine to earn
bread for his family should be
buried alive, would his soul start
downward for hell?
IL C. P age .
t
Mr. H. C. Davenport, the great
caricaturist has been making a tour
of Europe aud while in Rome he
wrote to his cousin, P. W. Geer, of
the T orch of R eason , as follows:
“ What a benefit a sight of Rome
would be to you; a sight that you
never could forget. You would get
so sick of church that I dare sav
you would be moved to take great
steps in other directions.
“The sight of monks and priests
grows to be sad—sad to see so
many fat monks fed by poor starv­
ing people who can hardly support
themselves.
“Yesterday,, we climbed Mt.
Vesuvius and our eyes are still full
B utte , M ont ., Jan. 13, 1897— of smoke. To see Pompeii makes
you feel very modern.”
Dear Sir: I here enclose a P. O.
order for $3.75 for another club for
After death there is nothing.
the T orch of R eason .
Death itself is nothing— only the
I think we ought to have a good most recent arrival, or goal, reached
Secular union here, but it seems in the velocity of space. Let the
like everyone is after the almighty avaricious ones discard their hopes
dollar, and as for me, I can’t do who would expect happiness after
verv much in that wav as I am a death aud let anxious ones set
poor working man. I am working aside their fears who would fear
a smelter seven days a week, so punishment after death. Dost thou
you see that lets me out of all the betray any curiosity to know where
Sunday school work, but I am thou wouldst rest after death?
willing to do what I can.
Where do those rest who have not
Yours respectfully,
come into existence at all? Rapa­
I). A. K ennedy .
cious time swallows us up, and we
(M r. K ennedy has sent us ten merge in to chaos.—Seneca (Troades)