fulfillment of the God-given prophecy: “I will cause my two witnesses to prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days dressed in sackcloth.” (Rev. 11:3, NW) Toward the end of 1916 Russell began to fail rapidly; and finally, on a return speaking trip from California, he died aboard a train near Pampa, Texas, October 31.e By the fruits he brought forth in his multitude of labors as a minister of the gospel, Brother Russell surely proved to be a faithful witness of Jehovah. He had fought valiantly in defending Bible truth to the extent of the enlightenment then available. During his 32 years as the Society’s president his many devoted Christian associates supported him to perform a phenomenal work under the leadership of the foremost Faithful Witness, Christ Jesus, to the praise of their Creator.f

Following Brother Russell’s death, years of crisis set in, producing within the organization the pressures of opposition, judgment and cleansing. Satan and his seed were ready to wield, in addition, external blows which were destined to strike down the Society in such weakened state to a sudden deathlike condition. After such a gigantic build-up of warning witness which had occurred with respect to that prophetic date of 1914, many of the associates became weary of well-doing. Rebelliousness among congregation elders came to the surface, and unhealthy spiritual conditions in general set in, to put many of the anointed witnesses to the test as to their real love and loyalty to their invisibly present King, Christ Jesus.g (Revelation, chapters 2 and 3) For three and a half years (1,260 literal days) they carried on their preaching in this critical period from the fall of 1914 to the spring of 1918 in a “sackcloth” condition of mourning and reproach. Finally, in 1918, “when they have finished their witnessing, the wild beast [collective earthly ruling powers] that ascends out of the abyss [the symbolic deep sea of men raging against God] will make war with them and conquer them and kill them. And after the three and a half days spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon those beholding them.” Here we have the prophetic description of those years of crisis, and the historic record here reviewed shows the prophecy’s fulfillment by the facts.—Rev. 11:3, 4, 7, 11, NW.

For the two months of November and December, 1916, a transitional administration of the Society was in the hands of an Executive Committee of three, Vice-President Ritchie, Secretary-Treasurer Van Amburgh and legal adviser Rutherford.h In connection with a Watch Tower corporation meeting a convention was called to be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, January 6 and 7, 1917. The chief business of that meeting was election of a president and other officials to succeed the Russell administration. Six hundred attended the business meeting on Saturday, January 6, where approximately 150,000 votes,i represented in person or by proxy, were unanimously cast for J. F. Rutherford for president and W. E. Van Amburgh for secretary-treasurer, and a majority for A. N. Pierson for vice-president.j The next day, Sunday, the newly elected president, J. F. Rutherford, addressed 1,500 at the convention. Thus commenced a new administration for the Society, which Rutherford was to supervise for twenty-five years.

A brief biographical sketch is in order as to the Society’s second president, Joseph Franklin Rutherford.k He was born November 8, 1869, in Boonville, Missouri, of parents who were Baptists. He was 16 years old when his father consented to his attending college to study law, provided he would earn his own way, since his father was merely a farmer and could not afford to assist him. After completing his academy education, he spent two years under the tutorship of Judge E. L. Edwards and finally at the age of twenty became the official reporter for the courts of the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit in Missouri. At 22 he was admitted to the bar and began to practice law at Boonville, becoming a trial lawyer for the law firm of Draffen and Wright. Later he served four years as public prosecutor for Boonville, and still later, as Special Judge in the same Fourteenth Judicial District of Missouri.l For 15 years he practiced law in Missouri.

In 1894 he came in touch with Watch Tower Society representatives and twelve years later, in 1906, dedicated his life to Almighty God, thus becoming ordained for the Christian ministry.a In 1907 he became the Watch Tower Society’s legal counselor at the Pittsburgh headquarters, to handle its court cases, and at the same time he was sent out to give public talks as a pilgrim representative of the Society.b In 1909 he was admitted to the New York bar as a recognized lawyer for that state; in the same year (May 24, 1909) he also was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States at Washington, D.C. He traveled widely as a public Bible lecturer in the United States, speaking at many colleges and universities by special request and before packed-out public audiences in this country and throughout Europe. He also visited Egypt and Palestine. In 1913, accompanied by his wife, he visited Germany, where he spoke to audiences totaling 18,000.c In 1915 he won a series of Bible debates in Los Angeles, California, against the “Rev.” J. H. Troy,d a Baptist, representing the clergy of southern California. In 1916 Rutherford was chosen to deliver the funeral talk at the death of his long-time, warm friend C. T. Russell.e

(To be continued)

St. Charalampus Punished for Neglect!

Many are the superstitious peasants who take their “saints” very seriously. However, seldom do they take them so seriously as did a certain Cretan, according to the following press dispatch: “HERAKLEION (Candia), Crete 24 (Our Correspondent’s Dispatch) Geo. Emm. Tsaggarakis, a resident of Jerapetra (Crete) went to the nearby village Murnies and, having entered Saint Charalampus church there, gathered together behind the outer gate the various church books, the leaves of three inner doors and many other effects, and then set a fire to them, causing serious damage to the church. Being arrested and examined, he admitting starting the fire and stated that he did so because . . . although he had prayed to Saint Charalampus for two years to heal him, he had noticed no improvement in his health. His illness is said to be of a nervous nature.”—Eleftheria, Athens, Greece, May 25, 1954.