Opening New Country Rich Land and Prosperous Territory Now Being Made Accessible by New Santa Fe Line The new line of the Santa Fe through northwest Texas is giving rail- road facilities to a country already well developed and prosperous. The Texas counties to be crossed by this new line, Lipscomb, Ochiltree and Hansford, have been well settled in the last ten or fifteen years in spite of the fact that it was fifty or sixty miles to the nearest railroad. The prosperity of these settlers has attracted the Santa Fe and the one hundred miles of this new line branching from the Santa Fe at Shat- tutk will be in operation this year. That it is good territory is proven by the willingness of the original settlers to go so far from a railroad. Their live stock and the improve- ments put in on their farms show how they have been making money. The building of the railroad is another testimony to the worth of the territory from the farming standpoint, as the railroad is looking for farm- ers' products to haul to market. A number of families of the Church of the Brethren are among the prosperous settlers in this territory and recently a church congregation has been organized. There is still much good land in this territory which can be secured at very favorable prices, running from $18 to $30 an acre and 10 years' time. If you are interested in getting good land for a little money write to C. L. SEAGRAVES, Industrial Commissioner, Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway System, 1101 Railway Exchange, Chicago, for free illustrated folder and names of parties having the land for sale. »»»»» ^ I International Conference Church of the Brethren June 7' IS, 1917 The following quotation from the pen of Elder D. L. Miller, in the Gospel Messen- ger of October 21,1916, amply presents the claims of the Santa Fe Railway: " In 1872 the Santa Fe Railway was completed to Wichita and the town began to grow rapidly. The Santa Fe has been one of the greatest factors in developing Kansas and other States through which it passes. It will, without doubt, serve our people well who come to the next Conference. It is a good road and gives fine and ample accommodations." The Brethren will remember that Elder P. H. Beery has been connected with the Santa Fe for the past 10 years and knows thoroughly the customs and the tastes of his people, and will see to it personally that every convenience and comfort is provided. The Santa Fe is a direct route. Spe- cial trains will be operated from Chica- go and Kansas City, details of which will be announced later. The Santa Fe also offers excellent service from Cali- fornia, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas points. For further information write to J. M. CONNELL, General Passenger Agent, Santa Fe Ry., Topeka, Kans. W. J. BLACK, Passenger Traffic Manager, Santa Fe Ry., Chicago, III. 1^ «^ BrIthren Family Almanac n n The Year 1917 is a Common year of 365 days; the 141st of the Independence of the United States; the 6630th of the Julian Period; the 5678th of the Jewish Chron- ology (beginning at sunset Sept. 16th) ; the 1336th of the Mohammedan Era (beginning Oct. 17 th), and the 400th since the beginning of the Reformation. CHRONOLOGICAL CYCLES AND CHANGEABLE FESTIYALS. Dominical Letter G Sexagesima Sunday.Feb. 11 Easter Sunday April 8 Epact 6 QuinquagesimaSun. Feb. 18 Ascension Day May J 7 Lunar Cycle or Golden NomberlS Shrove Tuesday Feb. 20 Whit-Sunday May 27 Solar Cycle 22 Ask Wednesday Feb. 21 Trinity Sunday June 3 Roman Indiction 15 Palm Sunday April 1 Corpus Christi June 7 Septuagesima Sun. ..Feb. 4 Good Friday April 6 1st Sun. in Advent . .Dec. 2 Ember Days :—1st, Feb. 28th; 2d, May 30th; 3d, Sept. 19th; 4th, Dec. 19th. THE FOUR SEASONS OR CARDINAL POINTS. Begins, enters the Vernal Equinox Spuing Sun T j March 20th, at 10: 30 in evening. " Summer Solstice Summer " "^ Ed, June 22d, « 6:21 " " evening " " Autumnal Equinox . .FaUj ' :i^, Sept. 22d, " 11:10 « " morning " Winter Solstice Winter " " y^j Dec. 22d, " 3:53 " " morning ECLIPSES FOR THE YEAR 1917. In the year 1917 there will be Seven Eclipses—Four of the Sun and three of the Moon. The First is a Total E^clipse of tlie Moon.—January 8th at 12 o'clock, 09 min. in the morning. Visible here. Visible also to Western Europe, Northwestern Africa, North and South America, Northeastern Asia and Eastern Australia. Tlie Second is a Partial Eclipse of the Sun.—January 23rd at 6 o'clock, 49 min. in the morning. Invisible here. Visible to Eastern and Central Europe, Northern Africa and Eastern Asia. The Third is a Partial Eclipse of the Sun.—June 19th at 6 o'clock, 08 min. in the morning-. Invisible here. Visible to Northern and Western Asia, Eastern Europe and the North Polar Regions. The Fourth is a Total Eclipse of the Moon.—July 4th at 4 o'clock, 13 min. in the evening. Invisible here. Visible to Asia, Austria, Africa, Europe and South America. The Fifth is a Partial Eclipse of the Sun.—July 18th, at 10 o'clock, 06 min. in the evening. Invisible here. Visible to the South Polar Regions. The Sixth is an Annular Eclipse of the Sun.—December 14th, at 3 o'clock, 55 min. in the morning. Invisible here. Visible to Eastern Australia, the South Polar Regions and Southeast portion of South America. The Seventh is a Total Eclipse of the Moon.—December 28th, at 4 o'clock, 25 min. in the morning. Visible here. Visible also to North and South America, the Pacific Ocean, Eastern Asia and Australia. Jupiter ( 2/ ) is called the Ruling Planet this year. EXPLANATIOIf OF SIGNS. ©Sun. JJi Jupiter. 7^ Pleiades. I2 Saturn. 9 Yenus. 6 Conjunction, % Mars* ij Uranus. S Opposition. Quartile. New First Full Last ^ Mercury J) Moon. Moon, Quarter. Moon. Quarter, ^ Neptune. ^^ Earth. THE TWELYE SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC. Aries, or Kam. SI <^!^ Leo, or Lion. / ^ Sagittarius, or Bowman. Capricornus, Taurus, or Bull. TTjj ^ Virgo, or Yirgin. yS ^si^ or Goat. AquariuSjOrWaterman. n Gemini, or Twins. :£^ ^ Libra, or Balance. ^ ^ 03 Cancer, or Crabfish. ^ ^^ Scorpio, or Scorpion. X ^ Pisces, or Fishes. £1 Ascendinor Node Planet crossing tlie Ecliptic toward the North. ^ Descending Node—Planet crossing the Ecliptic toward the South. distance north (,'<t south) from the cclipllc, aa seen GR HEL. Lat. N. (or R.) : Greatest heliocentric Intitude, or greatest angular from the center of the Sun. — Gli. 1-;L0N(}. K. or W.: Greatest elouL'ation, or greatest angular distance, cast or we^ triinj:.tli»^Ue.«^^ PERIHELION: Near the Sun.— APHELION: Far from Sun.— PERIGEE: Near the Earth.— APO{.LK: J;^.a»*r^^h«4i.a5tii.^-^*^ STATIONARY: When the planet, jthrough its relative motion to that of the Earth, appears to rcmaattui oi^eaflxoe.^ • \ (^ the mcrid K'^^_ SOUTHS (so., 8.): Planet is on the highest point of the sky or crosses ' 12 midnight.idniarht. X-, ».m.—ante-meridian: Between 12 o'clock midnight and 1'2 o'clock noon.— p. m.—post^mcridian: Bctw 12 noon and The calculations In this Almanac are made to Solar or A )arent Time. L. J. HEATWOLE, Calculator, Dale Jnterpriso.ya n O C 8 ^) <^'^ ^esTER co;^ JANUARY First Month—^31 Days 1917 I Moons Clock Sun Sun I Moon I Weeks and Time rises sets r. & s. I I and IMPORTANT EVENTS I Days Signs |h. m. h. m. h. m.|h. m. I 1 12. 4 7.23 4.37 12.33 Mon|C. Hope starts for Denmark, 1876. | S5 1 2 Tues| Surrender of Port Arthur, 1905. \^ 3 12. 4 7.23 4.37 1.35 3 Wed Chinese Inland Mission founded, 1860. j?J^ 12. 5 7.23 4.37 2.40 | I 3 4 Thu Corrections for this department solicited jpifi 12. 5 7.22 4.38 3.38 | 3 I 5 Fri Robert Morrison was born, 1782. 12. 6 7.22 4.38 4.30 I \ a^ 3 6 Sat Joan of Arc was born, 1412. 12. 6 7.21 4.39 5.27 I | (^ 3 j) 1st Sunday after Epiphany Day's length, p hours i8 min. 7 Sun Elder Peter Nead was born, 1796. ^.3 12. 7 7.20 4.40 6.27 8 Mon Galileo died in Italy, 1642. !^© 12. 7 7.20 4.40 rises 9 Tue Florida and Mississippi seceded, 1861. «»© 12. 7 7.19 4.41 6.11 10 Wed C. H. Balsbaugh d. in Pa., 1909. m © 12. 8 7.19 4.41 7.29 11 Thu B. F. Heckman d. China, Jan. 12, 1913. «© 12. 8 7.18 4.42 8.30 12 Fri Eld. Henry Kurtz died in Ohio, 1874. <f«r © 12. 9 7.18 4.42 9.34 13 Sat Menno Simon died in the year 1559. «t© 12. 9 7.17 4.43 10.29 2) 2nd Sunday after Epiphany Day's length, p hours 26 min. 14 Sun Mary Quinter died in India, 1914. 12. 9 7.17 4.43 11.19 1 «© 15 Mon Edward Everett died in Boston, 1865. ^*© 12.10 7.16 4.44 11.54 16 Tue Edward Gibbon died in London, 1794. 12.11 7.15 4.45 morn 17 Wed| Benj. Franklin was born in Mass., 1706. )^ C 12.11 7.14 4.46 12.30 18 Thu C. H. Balsbaugh d. in Pa., 1909. 12.11 7.13 4.47 1.31 1 tf^C 2.43 19 Fri 1 Gen.