The labor world., 1899-07-15

dull ending Of cold and drearS
L day. But a cheerful fire blazing ID ID
the crate made a delightful contrast
to the general gloom outside,and with
blinds pulled down and both the Doc.
tor and ourself in our comfortabiye
chairs, quietly gazing into the curling rim
flames that warmed the roOm-alls COM
Z bined to make the time opportune for
rcfeciion.
sMr. Williams said the Doctor as
pile of coal tumbled sidewise Use. and 1t
added .;biiaze to the fuel which was '55e be
ING consumed, ''WhatsSa wonde1rfu1l II u
thing ;s5iire. So short aSt1me ago that that
material, now burning was solid, IN IN
animate, heavy piece of coal. Now its
cslor is red, it is sending rt#tierce i':e'
Sleat. 1T is crumbling and passing
away. An hour hence and it will have
! nearly all passed and gone. d.
Iere to, Doctor r.
..Into the atmosphere ready to come
forth5in another form.
;ssSWhat do you mean by that, Dr..
-T'enrose
. .sI mean, Mr.. w lliams, that this coal.
though consumed by fire, is not lost. :st.
It's condition only has changed. It has has
passed into the atmospher to becoms,
s. q part Of something now assuming " g 9
form. IL may become part Of a
growing plant, q tree, as vegeta Die, '.;s
blossom = :35
# g Yes, Doctor j have often wondered ed
at growth, how from hat quart OF y
earth a vine would stretch away fiji
teen or twenty feet and bear six, eight 81
i or more enormous pumpkins. F,vi- /:
.dently that growth must come from
the atmosphere z
s.Ye Mr.. Williams, and this disso- SO
luton o coal fire but the chang.
ing, Of form. Not q particle Of i tis
lost. twill exist in .someso ther coiid = E
stion, possibly for awhile as q minute i
dust, and that dust in turn may pain t
the rose, may give beauty to he5laugh--
ing child, may come forth as part of i
a.delicious fruit to return to earth and
come again in a the c-.sand different
forms, ever changing but never, lost ~
Il is interesting to- think Of the iu-
n,1nerable changes that this fuel may
undergo and to consider that with al
the. myriad forms through which it
may pass, in animate and still life, it
3 may be said to besnever dead, but ever
ready to come forth in some other con-
dition. The poet says
There is no such thing as death -
In nature nothing dies;
From each sad remnant of decay
Some forms of life arise.
The little leaf that falls n 1: a
Allsbrown and sere to earth,
Ere long will mingle with the buds
That give the flower its BIRTH
.',True, DR.. Penrose, this, to the re.
fective mind, is all interesting. And
this leads up to the question of what
becomes Of the human being who I'M
dergoes the change called death? We
will agree that the individual retains
his identity in the spirit world and
starts as he leaves OFF here.
''Let us use reason, Mr.. Williams
il we do not have clear intelligence OF
the hereafter. from returning spirits
Admitting that we go into spirit ex.
istence, that we are there the same
individuals that we are here, except in
spirit form, it is reasonable to suppose
that we would stand on something
and that mething is an earth, spirit
earth if you choose to call it such, but
nevertheless an earth.''
eff we admit there is earth there
Doctor, then conditions there must re
semble conditions. here?"
j eyes, Mr.. Williams, the consensus o.
opinion is, from out Of all the disjoint
ed communications received from spir
it land, that conditions there, in the
beginning of spirit life, resemble con
ditions here
..Would work be necessary there
Doctor?"
.sCertainly, Mr.. Williams. Think TO.
a little while. In that existence WI
will have motion. We will move from
place to place. Motion makes waste
That waste must be supplied. Tha
will involve the necessity of obtaining
food-and preparing FOOD. That vii
mean employment, and employment
will mean happiness to the activ'
mind.''
where will we get that food ?"
'.If we move upon an earth in tn