where the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned

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Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to the promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwellcth righteousness.'

18

Testimony from D. L. Moody.

Mr. Moody describes the Chicago fire as follows:

"It was my sad lot to be in the Chicago fire. As the flames rolled down our streets, destroying everything in their onward march, I saw the great and honorable, the learned and wise, fleeing before the fire with the beggar, the thief, and the harlot. All were alike. As the flame swept over the city, it was like the Judgment Day. Neither the mayor, nor the mighty men, nor the wise men could stop those flames. They were on a level then, and many who were worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in the morning were left paupers at night.

"In like manner, when the Day of Judgment comes, there will be no difference. When the Deluge came, there was no difference; Noah's ark was worth more than all the world. The day before, it was the world's laughing stock, and if put up for auction, would not have been bought for fire-wood. And when the Day of Judgment comes, Christ will be worth more than ten thousand worlds. And if it was a terrible thing in the days of Noah to die outside the ark, it will be far more terrible for us to go down in our sins to a Christless grave."9

Let us give heed to the solemn and yet kind exhortation of our Saviour: Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the

Later Fires.-The great fires in northern Minnesota. Michigan, and Wisconsin were not behind any former ones in extent and terrible destruction of life and property. Between Friday morning and Sunday evening, Sept. 1-3, 1894, sixteen towns became a prey to the flames in the three States mentioned. Besides these, millions of acres. of valuable timber land were destroyed. For nine weeks no rain had fallen, and when the fire was started, a terrible storm fanned the flames into a sea of fire which melted and devoured everything in its way. The following items are from the Nebraska State Journal Sept. 3 and 4, 1894

"Death by Flame.-St. Paul, Minn., Sept. 2.-Only the horrors which accompanied the historic Chicago fire can be cited in comparison with the terrible scenes and experiences in the flameswept pine region of Pine, Canabec, and Carlton counties of Minnesota, and Burnette county, Wisconsin. At least four hundred settlers, their families, and others were burned to death or suffocated before the flames had reached them, and the death list may reach another hundred or more. In the city of Hinckley, which was a prosperous town in Pine county, sixty-seven miles southwest of Duluth, all the people are now dead or homeless and destitute. At a conservative estimate two hundred and fifty men, women, and children of this doomed town were unable to escape from the merciless, swiftly advancing sheets of flame. They fell on the railroad tracks or on the old territorical road, either to be cremated or die the merciful death of suffocation from the clouds of dense smoke and the heat-laden atmosphere."

"Some were Saved.- Just as the flames were raging fiercest around Hinckley, a train arrived over the Eastern Minnesota, and five hundred people clambered aboard. It was a great Godsend to the people who offered up prayers of thankfulness as the engineer sent the train at rapid speed away from the burning town, and back to safety in Superior.”

"Another party had rushed for the train on the St. Paul and Duluth, but as the fire cut off their way in that direction, they ran to a shallow pond near by. There, like rats in a trap, they perished one and all. One hundred and five bodies were removed from the miserable pond by the relief committee, where they had been literally roasted to death. There was absolutely no escape."

Thrilling Event.- One of the most thrilling events was the experience of the train which left Duluth at 2 P. M., Saturday, for St. Paul. It was the limited passenger, the best train on the road, and was crowded with passengers. The smoke from the forest fires was so dense that lamps were lighted in the cars. When the train came within about a mile of Hinckley (a town of about 1200 inhab itants), the engineer found he could proceed no further, as the people were already fleeing for their lives from the town."

"The train was met by a hundred or more fugitives from the burned town. Mothers carried in their arms small children; others followed close behind, hanging to their mother's skirts. Some carried a few household goods, and were crying and bewailing losses already sustained. Many were so exhausted that they could scarcely climb on the train. Nearer and nearer the flames were approaching, and finally the engineer was compelled to reverse his lever and run back, leaving behind scores of unfortunate ones who had not been able to reach the train, the only available means of escape."

"It was a four or five mile run back to Skunk Lake, which is little more than a mud-hole, the mud and water covering not more than an acre. The train had gone but a short distance before it was surrounded by fire. Hot blasts of flames struck the coaches, setting them on fire in places, and breaking the windows on both sides."

"Jim Root, the brave engineer, had taken this train into the midst of the flames. The escape of hundreds from what seemed certain death from the fire on each side of the track, and the saving of these human souls by the heroic acts and fidelity to duty of the engineer and fireman of the train, are worthy to be handed down in. the annals of calamities as masterpieces of heroism."

"At Skunk Lake he had scarcely strength to shut off the steam. As he pulled the lever, he sank to the floor exhausted and bleeding, the broken glass in the cab having cut him in a number of places. Quickly two men rushed to the cab and carried him out to the embankment below. Here he lay all the night, covered with mud and dirty water, and dying, as most of the passengers believed. [He was afterward removed to a hospital.]."

"At Skunk Lake sixty or more women, children, and men found refuge in the shallow and dirty water and mud. With their hands they bathed their faces in mud and water. Many of them were seriously burned on the train. Many lay in the mud covering themselves with it. Some died of suffocation within a few rods of