The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-07-31

toll in concentration camps by thousands.
 Their relief is simply literal interpretation of the Bible as pro- phecy rather than history.
 At any moment, they say, the great Battle of Armageddon will begin, in which the forces of Satan will be pitted against the forces of Heaven. Satan's forces will be de- feated, and every human who has failed to accept Divine protection will be killed. Then the dead of all past ages will return to earth, and be judged, Those who had no opportunity in life to accept the Truth may be pardoned. The others will die again, permanently. All persons now living who have accepted the true belief. however, will never die, but live on through countless ages in an earthly para disc, in which there will be no sin, no poverty, no toll, no death.
 Two prophets have led them, Founder was Charles Taze Russell, a Pittsburgh haberdashery store owner. From boyhood he was ob- sessed with an abnormal fear of an old-fashioned hell of fire and birthstone; when he was r he went about Pittsburgh on Satur- day evenings writing with chalk on walls, warning all persons to attend church next morning.
 For time he became an infidel, and then after profound study de- cided the Bible threatened no such punishment as he had grown to fear. He became pastor of a small local group, eventually pastor of 1900 congregations of his converts. PASTOR RUSSELL
 OFTEN IN COURT
 Pastor Russell wrote voluminously, supplying most of the material for two bi-monthly magazines with total distribution of 50,000,00 copies, wrote books of which 100000 copies were sold, weekly sermon syndicated to newspapers, with an aggregate circulation of 15,00O,O ,OO0.
 He engaged in prolonged court battles. One grew out of his ad- mitted sale of miracle wheat" for planting at $60 bushel - wheat supposed to have come from seed discovered in an Egyptian tomb Of Bible times. Another was the long and sensational divorce suit brought by his wife. He said she wanted too much of her own writing published in his magazine; she charged him with numerous and specified i'm moralities with fair members of his congregations, employees, and others. Pastor Russell predicted the end of the world would come in the fall of 1914. When it did not he said his calculations had been in error, and it would come in 1918 instead. Latest prediction was that it would begin with Armageddon in 1922. be completed by the spring of 1926. Since then no dates have been set, and followers of the belief now insist 1t is 8 long. slow process, go- ing on today, but imperceptible to the eyes of any except the initiate.
 Counsel for defense in the Russell divorce hearings was Joseph Frank lin Rutherford, a Missouri lawyer who campaigned with William Jen- nings Bryan in 1896, rose rapidly in the Russell movement. Since Pastor Russell died in 1916, MT. Rutherford has been the sole prophet, spokes- man and leader of the group.
 Sentenced to 20 years in Atlanta federal prison in 1918 for urging young men in army camps to resist military service. he was released after serving nine months.
 BOOK SALES
 l5o. .0oo. eco COPIES
 4 brilliant orator and a shrewd publiclst, Judge Rutherford. as he calls himself. built the organization far beyond the dreams of hls pred- ec1ssor. He claims sale Of i50,- Feanoo eenlas e bis books in the