The Airplane New Guineas Workhorse

LONG before the development of man-made engineering marvels, there existed a structure far superior to any of them. This structure is the human body.

The some six hundred muscles of your body burn fuel, even as does the engine of an automobile, converting this fuel into usable energy. But the human body is far superior to the automobile in that it manufactures its own fuel from raw materials, does its own cleaning and repairing, and replaces worn-out cells by the millions each day. Would it not be wonderful for car owners if their automobiles could do the equivalent of that?

Structural Masterpiece

Ages before engineers of ancient Rome constructed the dome atop the Pantheon, the dome of the human skull already roofed the human head. And millenniums before those Roman engineers built arches to support their aqueducts, the arches of the foot provided springy support for the body’s weight, and the arched ribs formed a highly efficient flexible cage protecting the organs within the chest. Also, long before the great Greek and Egyptian columns were conceived, man was being held upright by his own columns, his legs.

Your bones, for combined strength and flexibility, far surpass building materials devised by man. The shinbone can bear about thirty times the weight of the man resting upon it. Iron itself would be no stronger. And iron would be too rigid to accommodate the stresses of body motion, and far too heavy for practical purposes.

Encasing the body’s bony structure are tissues that neither splinter, chip nor weather away as do man-made building materials such as wood, brick, cement, stucco and paint. Your eyes have eyelashes for protective shades, eyebrows as overhanging eaves, and shutters that close automatically. The internal organs of your body are surrounded with fluid that acts as a shock absorber. Truly, as engineers engaged in the field of bioengineering continue to study the human body they cannot help but marvel at its engineering excellence.

Pumping, Filtering, Circulation

Consider a pump that no human engineer could ever duplicate perfectly—the heart. This tiny pump pulsates, on the average, seventy times a minute, forty million times a year and passes about 7,000 quarts of fluid a day, nearly 200,000 tons in the average lifetime.

Nor can any manufacturer of industrial specialties offer a high-pressure filtering apparatus like the kidneys. These consist of approximately two million filter units complete with filter sheet, strainer and reabsorbing mechanism. The kidneys can filter 200 quarts of fluid daily, though being comprised of only two structures, each small enough to fit into the palm of your hand.

Consider also the circulatory system of the body. It can be likened to a city’s system of roads, railroads and shipping facilities that supply the daily needs for food and necessary materials of life. A city also has a system of sewage, sanitation and waste disposal. Similarly, the human body is served by blood circulation that provides the distribution of supplies and removal of wastes.

The United States, for example, has many miles of roads to supply food to its some 200 million inhabitants. However, the human body alone has about 100,000 miles of “roads” and “pipelines”—arteries, veins, and capillaries—which transport the life-sustaining nourishment to some 30,000,000,000,000 cells! And how long does it take the body’s some five quarts of blood to make a complete circuit of this vast system? Astonishing as it may sound, it takes only about one minute!

Traffic problems of the body’s “roads” for circulation are ingeniously controlled to perfection. The blood, for instance, can go in only one direction. This one-way movement is achieved by ideally engineered valves built into our veins, known in engineering terms as “check valves.” The blood is pumped by the heart through the arteries under great pressure to the capillaries. Then, returning to the heart from the lower extremities under very little pressure, the blood is forced upward through the veins by the exertion of leg and stomach muscles. The tightening and contracting of these muscles force the blood through the veins. In addition to the muscle action, flow in the direction of the heart is maintained by means of the “check valves.”

But how is it that an even supply of blood is provided throughout the thousands of miles of the body’s circulatory system? In any piping system where a fluid is circulated for a specific purpose, say, that of sending hot water throughout a building to radiators for heating, consideration must be given to the control of the quantity of water flowing to each radiator. Throttling or balancing valves must be installed to assure even water distribution throughout the system.

Thus, too, an even flow of blood throughout the human body is achieved by means of stopcocks in the tiny arteries in the tissues and organs. These control the volume and flow of blood, whether near the heart or remote from it. In addition to controlling the proper flow of blood to each organ, these stopcocks will open and allow an increase of blood flow above normal if temporary circumstances may require it. Truly, in the body, we can readily see the marvels of hydraulic and traffic engineering in their finest form.

Thermal and Environmental Control

Modern engineers construct buildings that maintain year-around comfort regardless of exterior weather conditions, whether it may be extremely hot or bitterly cold outside. However, your body far surpasses the most elaborate environmental control system. It regulates its temperature with an ingenious application of thermostatic control. Regardless of the surrounding air temperature, the body’s thermostatic controls keep the tissue at about 98° to 99° F.

In the cold of winter, we know that heat is obtained by the burning of a fuel of some sort. As the fuel burns, a combustion process takes place and heat is released by means of oxidation. But what about your body? How is heat generated in your body, since there are no “fires” within you?

Actually the body utilizes a combustion process, and heat is derived from oxidation. Glucose is manufactured in the body, and molecules of glucose are shattered within the body and energy is subsequently released as heat. This production of your body heat is known as metabolism.

Then, too, when exposed to the cold, have you noticed that your muscles become tense? This also is one of the body’s ways of producing heat, employing the use of the muscles. If you get cold enough you begin to shiver. Commenting on the effects of muscle tension and shivering, Professor Arthur C. Guyton, noted physiologist, states in the Textbook of Medical Physiology:

“The resulting muscle metabolism increases the rate of heat production, often increasing total body heat production as much as 50 percent even before shivering occurs. When shivering begins, body heat production can rise to as high as 200 to 400 per cent of normal.”

Equally amazing as the body’s heat-generating system is its cooling system. When exposed to warm weather, we perspire. This is the body’s way of dissipating heat by evaporation. Evaporation, basically speaking, is one of the main principles modern refrigeration. The evaporation of the water produces the cooling due to the change from water to vapor. Yet your marvelous body was employing this technique long before human engineers began using it.

Advanced Optics

The lens of the human eye is still another marvel. Through this lens various forms are perceived; then they are focused on the retina. Eye focus is similar to the optical system of a camera. The lens adapts to distance by changing shape. But whereas a camera is manually adjusted, the lens of the eye automatically changes its thickness and curvature to adjust the focal point for various distances.

There is another interesting phenomenon in connection with human sight. This has to do with the fact that when an object is transmitted through a convex lens, such as we have in our eyes, the image transmitted appears inverted, or upside down. This is how images are transmitted to the retina and subsequently to the brain. But our brain automatically interprets the image so that the world does not look upside down to us, but right side up. It is simply another example of the ingenious operations of the body.

Such a brief examination of the engineering marvels of the human body should deeply impress upon one the wisdom of the Grand Creator of the human body.Read more articles

IMAGINE, if you can, a delicate display of colors fluttering from blossom to blossom. The rays of sunlight play on its silky blue wings as it settles on a large hibiscus flower. Nearby you might overhear a discussion such as this:

What does it do on the flowers? young Mary asks.

Watch closely and you will see, replies Uncle Will.

While still hovering just above another blossom, the insect unrolls its slender coiled tongue, lowering it deep into the nectar container of the blossom.

Why, its tongue is just like a tiny hose, exclaims John.

But not really. It is split in half. Located between the two bulging eyes, it is coiled like a watch spring when at rest, but extends straight out when in use. The suction, incidentally, is performed by a pump much like a bellows.

As you watch this dazzling winged jewel, the Brazilian Blue, various others appear on the scene, all busy refueling. Young John runs after one and soon comes back, holding it by the wings.

Now your hands will be full of fine dust, John. Look here. I brought along this pocket microscope. Put some of the dust from your fingertips on the slide. Do you see the shape of the particles of dust? They are actually minute scales. In different species the shape of these scales varies. Often they are arranged in regular rows on the wings.

Now you know, Uncle Will continues, why butterflies and moths get the scientific name, Lepidoptera a word derived from Greek words, lepis (scale) and pteron (wing), that is, scaled wings.

What wonderful blue. exclaims John.

And so fragile. adds Mary.

Well, actually, on both counts appearances are deceiving, explains Uncle Will. Seen under the microscope, the color is plain brown, but the transparent scales on top interfere with the light rays in such a way as to make the color appear different. And these creatures are not really as fragile as one might imagine. The legs are tubular parts of the skin, which serves too as skeleton, affording protection and resistance. Also, within the body, composed of head, chest and abdomen, there are a heart and a stomach.

An Amazing Transformation

Tell us, Uncle, how butterflies are born, Mary begs.

Well, little one, first the male and female butterflies must get together. For this purpose the males are equipped with a pair of antennae made up of many tiny segments, and with this they can detect the presence of a female at great distances, even several miles away. Perhaps odor is the secret, for the male always has his antennae turned to the wind.

When the male approaches the female of his choice, it is said that he displays all his colors in a kind of fluttering dance. After fertilization the female secretes some substance with which she covers herself in order to repel any other male. Then she lays her eggs, perhaps as many as a thousand. Having achieved her purpose in life, she refuses to eat, lives only a few days and then dies. The male, too, soon dies.

Then what happens, Uncle?

The eggs hatch, and out come caterpillars, hungry caterpillars, Mary. This usually occurs eight to ten days after the eggs are laid. And they dont need mother to feed them, for they come equipped with strong jaws and eight to ten eyes with which to search for food. Juicy green leaves are their bill of fare. Observers once noted that during a fifty two day period one caterpillar devoured 120 leaves, drank fifteen grams of water, and grew to 86,000 times its weight at birth.

Caterpillars are quite vulnerable to enemies, continues Uncle Will, so they have to watch out. Some feed only at nighttime; others on the underside of leaves; still others hide in webs or tubular retreats made of twisted leaves. Others have the most amazing ability to camouflage. The reflection of light from their immediate environment produces a nervous response, resulting in a change in the color. For example, the larvae of the red underwing moth, when subjected to green surroundings, become bluish green, and in a dark colored background they become bluish gray.

What finally happens to the caterpillar? John asks.

Well, one day, it instinctively retires to a hiding place, spins out some silky threads into a cocoon, and enters into its last stage, the chrysalis something that looks like a horny, cylinder shaped wrapping. This stage can last from one week to several years. Inside the cylinder a real miracle takes place, the remaking of the body of the caterpillar into another creature. Then, one warm day, the tight shell bursts open, and what do you suppose emerges?

I know, I know, bursts out Mary. A butterfly.

Thats right, a butterfly or a moth, whatever family the egg belonged to. But imagine. No longer a slimy caterpillar, but a breathtakingly beautiful, winged creature and perhaps a very colorful one. It spreads its wings, injects into them a fluid from its inner body, and when the wings dry it is ready for its maiden flight.

Earth wide Distribution

Are there many kinds of butterflies?

Well, Mary, counting butterflies and moths, at 80,000 species have been described, and it is believed that some 120,000 species exist. Brazil is understood to have the greatest number. One naturalist observed in the Amazon region seven hundred in the space of just an hour.

So can they be seen in all parts of the world? queries John.

Their range is practically the same as for flowering plants. Only the very cold regions such as around the poles are avoided. At least forty six species extend within the Arctic Circle. But no resident butterfly is known in Iceland. The most beautiful ones live in the tropics.

Fossil butterflies have been found, too, notes Uncle Will, such as those embedded in Baltic amber. Yet such ancient samples exhibit no material difference from those fluttering around today. There are no traces of development over the thousands of years. They were evidently made by God according to their kind on the fifth creative day, to which the Bible refers. Gen. 1:20 23.

Curious Wanderers

But Uncle, do butterflies travel far? Yes, John. Here again, though, there are wide variations. Most species live but a few days or weeks and stay in one locality. Others live for months, and fly thousands of miles either alone or in large groups. Take the monarch butterfly, for instance. In summer it is common in northern latitudes as far north as Hudson Bay. It winters in California or Mexico, each successive generation returning to the same locations. In spring this butterfly has a new lease of life and takes to the air for the long trip north again. By June it arrives there, lays its eggs and dies.

How are they able to migrate to the same locations, Uncle?

God gave them that ability, Mary. It has been suggested that scent plays an important role here. Each hind wing of the male monarch has a dark spot, and the scales on this spot are black and hollow. They give off a perfume faintly resembling that of the honeysuckle. It is used mainly in connection with mating, but it could be that they also leave a scent trail behind when traveling in large masses.

Of course, not all species fly in the same direction. In Africa, masses of butterflies headed in different directions have been observed meeting and crossing paths, so to speak. But each kind keeps to its own course. Not even a rainstorm deflects them. And some of their swarms are huge. One band was observed in Europe that was forty miles wide and took three days to pass over a given spot at a speed of six miles per hour. The number in the swarm was estimated to be about three billion. Is that their usual speed?

Not necessarily, John. Research into the matter has produced some really astonishing facts. Butterflies observed in England were clocked at forty two kilometers per hour. One, followed by a helicopter, flew 220 kilometers in 4 hours 42 minutes. And these insects do not burn up anywhere near the fuel used by mans flying machines. The helicopter consumes 4 to 5 percent of its weight in fuel in a one hour flight; an airplane uses 12 percent. But the butterfly in the same time uses only six tenths of one percent of its weight.

Other Oddities

How big do they get Uncle, Mary asks.

There are some really big ones. The female Troides Alexandre of New Guinea, for example, is ten to twelve inches across. The Ornithoptera Cassandra of North Queensland, Australia, is six and a half inches, and another species in Borneo is seven inches across the open wings.

Then, too, continues Uncle Will, there are the skunks of the butterfly world. These give off an obnoxious odor to ward off enemies mainly birds. Also, their wing designs are often well calculated to provide camouflage. In one type the wings look like the eyes of an owl; another looks like a dry old leaf; yet another has a design similar to the number 80 or 88 on the underside of its wings.

So what is the difference between moths and butterflies?

Generally speaking, John, butterflies fly by day, moths at night. But there are exceptions. Indeed, you have probably seen moths flying around in daylight. When at rest the butterfly usually keeps its wings, the front ones at least, closed and vertically erect. The moth leaves its front wings open, obliquely inclined. And then, too, moths do not as a rule sport such vivid colors as do butterflies.

One more thing, Uncle. Are butterflies useful for anything?

Yes, they are, Mary. In addition to being a delight to the eyes of appreciative people, they also perform an important function in behalf of plants. They carry pollen from one flower to another, in this way making possible the reproduction of the plants. Also, you have heard of the silkworms. They, too, become moths, but in the larva stage they spin cocoons of pure silk, which man uses for his own purposes. But now, children, the sun is going down and it is time to be on our way.

Thank you, Uncle, says John, for telling us all about the lepi . . . what was that again?

Lepidoptera. Remember? Scaled wings.

REVERENT men have often marveled at the intelligent planning of the solar system. The Creator placed the earth at just the right distance from the sun to receive the proper light and heat to make life possible. Also, the moons distance is nicely balanced to perform its services to the earth not too far to give adequate light at night, nor so close that the tides reach disastrous heights.

But did you know that this adjustment of distance that allows for ideal living conditions on earth also is crucial for making possible the beauty of the total eclipse of the sun?

In diameter the sun is actually 400 times as large as the moon, but its distance from the earth is also 400 times as much as that of the moon. If the moon were appreciably nearer it would blot out the suns chromosphere and much of the corona. If it were only a little farther away, it would be too small to cover the sun and we could never see a total eclipse.

Is it just a coincidence that the Creator, who gave the earth a beautifully transparent atmosphere so that its intelligent inhabitants could see and study the universe; who also provided an unending variety of cloud formations to play with sunlight and produce sunsets of gorgeous beauty; who paints the sky so delightfully with the wondrous rainbow that he also set the moon in such an orbit that it would give man a rare glimpse of the glory of the eclipsed sun?

Consider further that the endowment of this spectacle is a gift unique to the earth. It does not occur on other planets, which are not inhabitable. The two moons of Mars are so tiny that they would not cover the sun as viewed from Mars. Jupiter has larger moons, but they are so close that they would appear much larger than the sun to someone on the surface of that planet. But even on earth the spectacle of the total eclipse is far from common.

When the total eclipse of the sun took place this past March, even many of the spectators may not have fully appreciated what a really rare experience it is.

On consulting an almanac, we learn that a total eclipse actually occurs in most years somewhere on earth. There have been forty nine in this century. But this somewhere is most likely to be out over the oceans, which cover 71 percent of the earths surface. Then, too, half of the land area is uninhabited desert, jungle, tundra or ice field. Few of the eclipses are visible in populated areas. If you stay where you are, you can expect to see a total eclipse only once in 360 years and then it will, likely as not, be cloudy. Nine persons out of ten would live and die without ever enjoying this experience. On the other hand, if you can travel a few hundred miles at the right time, you will probably have an opportunity at least once in your lifetime to see a total eclipse.

Why should such a magnificent exhibition be visible each time to so few? Because the moons shadow is very small where it strikes the earth. It would be larger if the moon were larger or closer, but that, as we have seen, would spoil the show. So the moons shadow must be only 100 miles or so across, and traveling as it does at more than 1,000 miles per hour, it can cover one spot for only a few minutes. Appreciating this, we marvel at the Creators wisdom shown in his design of this wonder.

Really, we should feel perhaps dissatisfied, not with the rarity of the eclipse, but with the shortness of life. True, the One who designed the total eclipse made it to be seen only three times in a millennium. But then, as the Bible shows, He designed the spectator to live forever.

Flowers God’s Delightful Gift to Man

WHOSE heart is not gladdened at the sight of a flower? A bouquet of roses can immediately brighten up a day, cheer a gloomy face, lift a depressed heart, even cause friendship to sprout and love to flourish.

In the spring who can pass a body of water, its surface glistening with the beauty of the water lily, without some appreciation of life itself? Or in the fall who can walk through a field decorated with the brilliance of purple asters and gleams of the goldenrod without feeling enriched? What window has not been beautified, or kitchen enhanced, or living room transformed by the presence of lovely, delicate flowers or plants?

Men have referred to them as “the stars of the earth,” “the smiles of God’s goodness,” “an autograph from the hand of God.” “Flowers,” said the English statesman William Wilberforce, “are God’s thoughts of beauty, taking form to gladden mortal gaze;—bright gems of earth, in which, perchance, we see what Eden was—what Paradise may be!” How much less pleasant the earth would be without flowers!

Jesus Christ appreciated the presence of plants and flowers on this earth. He observed them closely and drew meaningful lessons from them. To his disciples he said: “Take a lesson from the lilies of the field, how they are growing; they do not toil, nor do they spin; but I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these. If, now, God thus clothes the vegetation of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much rather clothe you, you with little faith?” (Matt. 6:28-30) To Christ, flowers told of God’s constant care. What do flowers mean to you?

To many men and women flowers are more than creations of decorative beauty. They are delicate living things that excite the imagination. They inspire faith in God and cause thanksgiving and praise to flow to him. The fragile shapes of flowers and infinite colors of perfection reveal a God sensitive to human needs and emotions.

“Think of it,” said a housewife, “we may touch a flower and it may die, still that same flower is sturdy enough to survive a rainstorm unharmed! It’s simply wonderful.” In an interview she spoke of flowers as meaning many things: warm affection, understanding, appreciation and, perhaps most of all, tender love. She liked flowers.

Flowers Through the Ages

Appreciation for flowers is one thing that ancient man and modern man have had in common. The Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Medes and the Persians were ingenious in their decorative use of flowers. Their parks were magnificently designed and their feast and banquet tables were often decorated with awe-inspiring miniature gardens. According to an inscription, King Rameses III of Egypt donated no less than 500 gardens and 19 million bouquets of flowers in honor of the god Amon!

When Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire, the ancient art of floral decoration began to show its influence in Rome. In Nero’s courts it was customary to escort the guests inside at great banquets over a carpet of flower petals and offer them a wreath of roses as well, which, when laid upon the head, had a cooling effect.

Some of the most artistic forms of floral decorations have come to modern man from Japan. The ability and skill of the Japanese in this field are closely associated with the deep-seated love they have for the earth.

Indoor Gardens

When flower gardens move indoors, something wonderful happens. They become intimate companions. Windowsills are lined with potted plants and bouquets brighten rooms. Each new shoot becomes important. Every new leaf is watched from earliest infancy. Each flower becomes a personal friend, practically a guest in the home. From small nub to full-blown maturity, hardly a move is missed in this beauty of flower growth.

Some people especially enjoy fragrant flowers. When winter really takes over, how the smell of the outdoors is missed! An indoor garden enables one to enjoy some of that summertime fragrance all year. Flowers are often chosen for the house because of this. Watch them unfold and send their fragrance throughout the house. There are plants the leaves of which, when gently crushed, perfume your fingers with a variety of refreshing odors. What delightful gifts of fragrance!

Arranging Flowers

Creating a flower arrangement is a great art. It means more than thrusting flowers into a vase. The Japanese say that each stem, leaf and blossom is a vital part of a pattern, and that even the space between them can be used to good advantage. Twigs and flowers of various lengths arranged gracefully often combine to make stunning compositions.

A large bouquet is not always necessary for a good effect. A copper can with a few brightly colored zinnias or yellow sunflowers set against a light-colored background can do wonders for a room. The effect is as though the drapes were drawn aside and the sun was allowed to shine in. A few pansies in the kitchen or a little earthenware mug of snowdrops or anemones are an uplift. They make you think that someone is smiling at you all day. And what happy smiles these are!

Long stalks are set off to best advantage when placed in tall vases, but care must be exercised that the bouquet does not become a “broom.” In order to keep the entire arrangement as natural and serene as possible, the stalks must fan out from one central point and not be thrown together in a crisscross pattern.

Design requires a planned relationship between the flowers, the leaves and the container. In a miniature vase, only very small flowers are used. Very large blooms require a container large enough to fit them. A small composition may go on a small desk or table. For a large, heavy table in a spacious room, a massive arrangement in a suitable container is in order. So flower arrangement calls for balance.

By carefully observing the tastefully arranged flowers in flower-shop windows, much can be learned. In a composition of mixed colors, each color may be used in drifts or masses, instead of being spotted about like a Scotch plaid. With few exceptions, blooms are not placed one directly above the other or in ordered steps.

As for containers, in general, neutral colors are best, because these can be used for many different flowers. Gray-green, antique white, and pale gray are well-chosen colors. Forms should be simple and pleasing to the eye.

Flowers for Every Season

Every season has its beauty that can be brought indoors; no single season will let man down. During the winter months, the witch hazel and the blackthorn can be enjoyed to the full. Springtime rejoices us with the ornamental magnolia, the soft-tinted plum, peach and cherry blossoms, alder and willow catkins and the early rhododendron. Summer makes it very easy for us by providing us with a wide variety of blooming shrubs, such as the laburnum, the hawthorn, and the jasmine, while the cut stalks of asters, red barberry, the fire thorn, and the orange sea buckthorn, to name just a few, are in the autumn season especially suitable for creating a rare bit of floral decoration. A simple earthenware tray, with the help of a few berry shrub branches, can be transformed into a fascinating piece of outdoor beauty inside your living room.

In fact, a single, freakishly formed shrub branch, placed in a jar or bottle with a narrow neck, can become a peculiarly artistic creation and a conversation piece in the home. The beautiful fruits or splendidly colored leaves of certain sorts of shrubs provide very fitting decorations that bridge from one season into the next without confusion.

On and on we could go exploring more and more means of bringing God’s delightful gift to man—his beautiful plant creation—within our reach, especially if we normally are not in the position to get out into the open and enjoy the exciting beauty of the outdoors.

What intense joy will be the portion of those who live to see the day when the Creator of the universe will deem it his appointed time to bring his promise of a spiritual paradise also to a physical fulfillment: “The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing”!—Isa. 35:1, 2, Revised Standard Version.

“QUAKE LEAVES 100 DEAD IN CAJACAY.” “LANDSLIDE BURIES 18: SAYAN.” “40 DIE BURIED BY ROCKS IN CAJATAMBO.” “YUNGAY TOTALLY DESTROYED.”

Any one of these headlines would be enough to arrest its reader with shocking concern. But that they should all appear in rapid succession, bringing reports of the western hemisphere’s worst natural disaster in recorded history, strains credibility. When the final tally is known, if indeed it will ever be accurately known, the toll taken by the violent earthquake that rocked Peru on Sunday afternoon, May 31, may well exceed 60,000 dead!

The results of the quake, flashed on television screens and in newspaper headlines throughout the world, defied imagination. Chimbote, a thriving fishing and industrial port of over 100,000 inhabitants, was 85 percent destroyed. Huaraz, Caraz and Yungay, nestled in the travel-poster setting of the beautiful Huaylas valley, were in ruins; Yungay being completely swept away and its remains buried beneath a sea of mud and ooze.

The capital, Lima, too, felt the quake at 3:24 that Sunday afternoon. But when a quick check of different sections of the city showed little property damage and only three deaths, the citizenry began congratulating itself on having experienced just another susto (scare). They settled back to watch the opening game of the world soccer tournament being held in Mexico and televised via satellite around the earth. Lima bedded down for the night totally unaware of the tragedy in its neighboring cities to the north.

Chimbote and Casma

Not until Monday morning did the first reports reach Lima, as vehicular traffic along the Pan-American Highway began to arrive. A member of the office staff of the Watch Tower Society and his wife were returning to Lima after a short vacation with friends in Trujillo, and they were among the first to reach the capital with a report of what had taken place. Let him narrate his experience.

“The drive from Trujillo to Chimbote had been pleasant but, as Lima was yet another five-hour drive away, we decided to stop and freshen up a bit before continuing our journey. We pulled up in front of the Hotel Chimú, overlooking the placid Chimbote bay. The engine had hardly died when everything was gripped in the throes of a violent upheaval. The automobile lurched frantically from side to side and up and down. The hotel, an imposing three-story building, leaped and twisted about. Windowpanes shattered to the ground. I backed the car into the middle of the parking area and there we rode it out.

“The once-calm bay was seized with giant choppy waves, and the beach began to sink and fall away toward the ocean. Large fissures opened in the street. The front wheels of one car dropped into a wide crack that had opened up suddenly beneath them. A glance toward the mid-town section revealed a rising cloud of gray dust that reached a height of one hundred feet blanketing the entire city.

“All about us the city lay in ruins. Frantic cries of pain and grief pierced the air. In panic, people ran to and fro searching the debris for loved ones, calling names, listening for voices. A father ran aimlessly down the street, the lifeless form of his little boy draped in his trembling arms. Many were still too stunned to do anything except stand in the street casting questioning glances about them.

“The quake lasted but forty-five seconds—a short span, indeed, in any circumstance but an earthquake. In those fleeting, prolonged, interminable forty-five seconds, there were drastic changes in the lives of hundreds of thousands of persons.

“When the initial fright had passed, the thought came to us: ‘How had our Christian brothers, Jehovah’s witnesses, in Chimbote fared?’ They were probably having their weekly Sunday meeting. So we made our way to the nearest Kingdom Hall. There are three congregations in Chimbote.

“Only five minutes had elapsed when we arrived at the Kingdom Hall. It was demolished, but the whole congregation was safe and alive! A steel girder had remained suspended at one end by its reinforced concrete column. Though the roof had caved in on either side, it had remained sufficiently high to permit all to crawl out to safety. Only minor injuries were received by a few.

“Shortly, someone arrived and reported that the roof had held at their Kingdom Hall. Although some had sustained fractures, it appeared that only one young girl was critically injured. Since the third congregation had not been holding its meeting, nothing was known immediately as to their plight.

“All the Witnesses had lost their homes and belongings, being left with only the clothes on their backs. It was later discovered that only one Witness and the wife of a Witness had perished in Chimbote.

“No telephone lines remained. So we decided to return to Trujillo and from there notify the Watch Tower office in Peru by telephone. We did not know at the time that Trujillo, too, had been badly hit. When we arrived at the mountain pass north of Chimbote, we found it filled with huge rocks and impassable. So we turned around and headed on to Lima.

“The first town south of Chimbote was Casma. It took about thirty minutes to find the Kingdom Hall where the Witnesses had been holding their meeting. None of them were found. However, we learned that one had been critically injured when a wall of the hall fell in on him. He died that night.

“Night had fallen by the time we resumed our race to Lima. Shortly we found the road blocked by huge boulders. Our car was small enough to negotiate the road blockage, but when we got to the Casma Bridge we were unable to get over the two-foot rise caused by the sinking of the macadam approach. We returned to a safe spot out in the open, away from possible falling rocks, and waited the long night out. We could not sleep. All through the night repeated shakes and tremors, accompanied by an unearthly rumble, continued to rock our car.

“It was dawn on Monday morning when finally the bridge was opened to traffic. So we were able to drive the remainder of the four-hour trip to Lima.”

Relief Organized

Immediately telephone calls were made to all of Jehovah’s witnesses in Lima who had phones. Instructions were given to gather food and clothing, blankets and medicines, and to pass the word on to others to do the same. The loving response was immediate. That night the lobby of the Watch Tower office in Lima began filling up with bags of clothing and boxes of foodstuffs. Money was received in donations large and small.

So great was the response that by midnight Tuesday, just thirty-six hours after receiving the word, a convoy of five vehicles including a ten-ton truck left Lima headed for Casma and Chimbote with relief supplies! They carried blankets, clothing, food and 275 gallons of drinking water, as well as kitchen and cafeteria equipment and canvas tenting materials. The Watch Tower caravan was among the first to reach these stricken areas with aid.

A truckload of provisions was left in Casma. All the Witnesses there had gathered at the property of a Witness on the outskirts of town where no damage had been registered.

In Chimbote the Witnesses were found in good spirits in spite of the great loss. In the two days following the earthquake they had cleaned up the debris from the Kingdom Hall and put up walls of woven matting all around it. This made for a secure place to leave provisions until they could be distributed.

The two other congregations in Chimbote had set up camp on a hill overlooking the city. When members of the expedition arrived they found a tiny city established. It was neat and orderly and functioning harmoniously. Tasks had been assigned. In the mornings the Witnesses cleaned up the debris from around their fallen homes. And in the afternoons they visited the homes of stricken people offering consolation from the Bible. A school had been set up to keep the children occupied.

Soon the Witnesses were enjoying their first warm meal in three days. That night they were able to sleep warmly under the blankets and heavy clothing that had been provided. Having cleared the site of the Kingdom Hall, the congregation continued its meeting schedule without interruption. The Witnesses had given attention first to their Kingdom Hall, leaving their own homes until later!

The Huaylas Valley

But a large and foreboding question mark still hung over the city of Huaraz. No word had been received from the congregation there. Nor had any news been received from Caraz, farther north of Huaraz, where there is an isolated group of Jehovah’s witnesses. Even after eight days no word had been received concerning the Witnesses in the Huaylas valley. As the reports of the magnitude of the disaster continued to pour in, we really feared for the plight of our fellow Witnesses there.

The winding roads to Huaraz and Caraz that climb tortuously into the Andean “altiplano” were never good at their very best. Now they were practically obliterated. A monumental task befell the corps of Army road engineers to open them as soon as possible.

True, aircraft had been dropping in supplies. But due to their restricted payload, as well as the risk of lives and the great expense, it was vital that ground transportation into the area be opened up. Already four helicopters and one plane had gone down, with eight persons killed. Hundreds of tons of relief goods were waiting to reach the stricken ones as soon as the road could be opened.

The road crews worked around the clock in an almost superhuman race against time. One convoy sent by Jehovah’s witnesses was thwarted by the still-blocked roadway, and the supplies were carried on to Casma and Chimbote. Finally, on Monday, June 8, word was officially received that the road would at last be opened. Another convoy was organized, and it was among the first fifteen vehicles waiting a mile or so behind the road crews, moving forward as each new stretch of road was opened up.

One member of the convoy observes: “As we restlessly tried to catch some sleep in the bitter cold while waiting for the road to open, we were mindful of our fellow Witnesses and their little children who would also be trying to sleep. But they would have no roof over their heads, and few blankets and little clothing to ward off the freezing temperatures.”

At last the way was free and the caravan continued its dusty climb into the freezing, rarefied atmosphere of the heights above!

The Search

The warming rays of the dawning sun found the caravan winding its way at last down into the valley where Huaraz had once stood. The total destruction of villages that were passed along the way brought somber thoughts to the minds of the travelers. Surely a destruction so complete must have wiped out some of the Witnesses, if not all of them.

The convoy broke ranks with the other trucks and began the task of trying to locate the Witnesses. The city lay in ruins. All around its perimeter, camps of refugees had sprung up. Rumors and leads were followed disappointingly to their dead ends.

Using walkie-talkies to keep in touch, two members of the convoy threaded their ways among the camps from tent to hut to lean-to, inquiring. At sundown two separate leads brought them almost simultaneously to the campsite of Jehovah’s witnesses. Tears of joy streaked down cheeks as they embraced one another. All of Jehovah’s witnesses and their immediate family members, some sixty persons in all, were alive and safe!

Little by little the tale of survival began to unfold. Some had been able to reach open ground while others sought refuge in their doorways, that part of a building that is most often left standing. There were close calls.

One Witness dug frantically to uncover his young son who had been buried beneath two heavy adobe walls. Fighting suffocation from the dust and dirt, the boy had the presence of mind to limit his breathing until his father could clear the debris from around his face and head. He got off with only a fissured jawbone.

An eleven-year-old daughter of a Witness had gone out on her bicycle to buy bread for the evening meal. Her mother, on the second floor of her home in the very middle of the most devastated area, rode out the quake under a doorway while the rest of the house crumbled down around her. A search was made for the little girl. Two hours after the quake her uncle stumbled onto several pieces of bread among the rubble of the street. Then the mangled part of a bicycle, and just beyond under large adobe bricks and roofing tiles, the missing child. She is now recuperating in a Lima hospital from multiple fractures of arm, leg and pelvis.

Utter Desolation

Ten thousand others were not as fortunate. For it was officially estimated that many persons were still buried in the narrow streets of Huaraz under tons of debris.

When the first tremors were felt, thousands scrambled for the safety of the open spaces. They never had a chance. Their own homes came tumbling down upon them.

The rubble in the streets now reaches the height of what once was the second floor, so it is difficult to tell where the streets were.

Reports from farther down the valley, revealed yet greater and more complete destruction. Apparently a gigantic chunk fell away from the north face of Mount Huascarán into Lake Yanganuco, spilling its waters over into the canyons leading to the Huaylas valley below. The resultant onrush of water, mud, stones and ice reached the city of Yungay and its neighboring town, Ranrahirca, burying the two and claiming over 20,000 lives! All that remains visible of the city of Yungay are the tops of four tall palm trees that once marked the central “Plaza de Armas.” Those who might have survived the terrible quake were killed just ten minutes later by the inundation.

The city of Caraz was spared total destruction from this terrible avalanche when it stopped just short of the city limits. Though the road there was still unopened, a message finally arrived from the Witnesses in Caraz. They were all safe!

From all over the 22,000 square miles shaken by the cataclysm came stories of terrible desolation. Two hundred and fifty cities, towns, villages and hamlets reduced to rubble, rendering from 800,000 to 1,000,000 homeless. Jehovah’s witnesses are indeed happy that they need count only three dead and very few injured among the approximately 400 Witnesses that live and work in the areas hardest hit.

Recovery

Now the mammoth task remains of caring for the injured, burying the dead, finding homes for the hundreds of orphans left in its wake and rebuilding the cities that lay in waste. But there is confidence this will be accomplished. For the Peruvian has learned resilience in living with the ever-present possibility of earthquakes and avalanches.

In this century alone twelve major quakes have rocked Peru. And many other areas of the earth have likewise been shaken by numerous major quakes since 1914, with death tolls ranging from hundreds to close to two hundred thousand in each of these disasters. Jehovah’s witnesses see in these cataclysms further evidence that we are living in the last days of this system of things. For Jesus Christ specially said that “earthquakes in one place after another” would mark “the conclusion of the system of things.”—Matt. 24:3, 7.

From around the world has come aid to assist the earthquake victims to recover from this disaster. Jehovah’s witnesses in New York city donated well over ten tons of clothing, categorized it for easy distribution, packed it in over a thousand cartons, and sent it to Peru early in June. Such efforts have helped Peruvians recover from the western hemisphere’s worst natural disaster in recorded history.

SAFETY belts are fastened, the plane banks steeply on the approach to the unbelievably tiny airstrip, and soon the wheels touch down on an uneven gravel surface. We taxi to a stop and immediately we are surrounded by painted, befeathered villagers beating drums, waving spears and bows and shouting traditional war cries.

Happily they are our friends, for this is the inauguration of a new airstrip in the eastern highlands of New Guinea. Most of these primitive people are already familiar with the giant bird or balus as they call the plane in their native tongue, but for many this is the first time they have seen one landing.

The skies above New Guinea truly hum with the sound of planes. The growth of air transport since its inception here late in the 1920s has been phenomenal. By 1968 the number of airstrips on the mainland and the islands comprising the territory had increased to 248. The plane is certainly New Guineas workhorse. In one month last year two million pounds of freight were lifted to highland airstrips from one center alone! And here is the opening of one more airstrip.

A Trip on The Milk Run

But while the celebrations go on, lets reflect on the airplanes role in this mountainous land of jungle and deep gorges. The Douglas DC-3 is quite common here. Without padding or the usual comforts of the modern airliner, they are bare shells, designed to carry a maximum of freight as well as passengers. Canvas and metal seats are ranged along each side of the plane, passengers facing inward where the center floor space is reserved for the goods that will be picked up or dropped off along the route.

The passenger may note at his feet a bamboo basket containing two hens; farther along may lie a fender or mudguard for a truck. Fresh bread, frozen meat, spare parts for a tractor, medical supplies, bundles of newspapers and periodicals, water pipe for some village project, odds and ends of construction material—any or all of these may make up the daily cargo.

Up forward, toward the cockpit, there will be stacks of mailbags. How anxiously these are awaited in the isolated communities where this flying workhorse will touch down! By the door quite likely there are cane baskets of lettuce, carrots, cabbage and tomatoes destined for the coast. A big crate may house a large fat pig—probably part of a bride price for a wedding ceremony.

The passenger load can be almost as varied as the cargo: a native policeman going home on leave, a mechanic with a large box of tools for repair of earth-moving equipment on some new road, a planter and his family returning home after a weekend in town, perhaps a naked pickaninny asleep on his mothers knee, and some nervous villagers in bark loincloths. Decorated with shells and feathers, and with bows and arrows at their feet, they would be on their way to the coast to trade cowrie shells, the traditional currency of their highland home, for dollars.

The pilot climbs over the freight to the flight deck, the door is locked and with a roar the engines are started. Every rivet, every bolt seems to shiver and shake as the big bird taxis to the runway, the noise magnified in the unlined cabin. Then with a burst of speed and an upward surge all that load is airborne. The natives strain forward against their seat belts, eyes closed, teeth bared, great beads of perspiration on their foreheads. Probably it is their first frightening flight in the giant bird!

Discovering the Reason Why

As the plane circles to gain altitude and climbs through the clouds to pass through a gap between towering mountains, one can begin to realize why the plane is such a valuable workhorse in this region. Running the entire length of the mainland area for some 1,500 miles is a massive cordillera, one of the great mountain systems of the world, with peaks attaining 15,000 feet. Crisscrossing the island are great gorges and fertile valleys. Roads are expensive to build and maintain in this rugged terrain. Indeed, in these areas human carriers and donkeys are relied on to get the produce to the nearest airstrip.

Twisting and turning along the valleys, one gets glimpses of grass huts and orderly gardens. Rumbling below tells the passengers that the landing gear has been lowered, and soon the great bird alights on a grassy slope, perhaps the first level stretch to be seen since takeoff. Native laborers, wearing only grass or bark aprons and a few leaves behind, swiftly load and unload cargo. Planters and public servants wait for some long-expected parcel or urgently required spare parts. A jeep may arrive in a cloud of dust, bringing a doctor to pick up his medical supplies and a patient bound for the hospital at Mount Hagen. Yes, the plane here often becomes an aerial ambulance.

Under the watchful eye of government, the air industry here has earned an enviable reputation for safety and service. Though the road network is gradually expanding, so also does the network of airports as new airstrips are completed in outlying areas. In the early days German Junkers used to do most of the air hauling. Later the Bristol aircraft, with its front-end loading, became a familiar sight in these skies, continuing until 1966.

The natives used to think of the planes as huge birds, and would even bring great loads of vegetables to feed it. In fact, a story is told of one native policeman who grew rich by telling the credulous people that the bird would eat only pigs. Today, however, the peoples of the territory value the airplane, not alone as a link with the outside world, but particularly as the workhorse that hauls their loads of produce to market.

A roar of applause brings us back to the present, and the renewal of singing and dancing means that the official ceremony of inauguration of this new airstrip has been concluded. Our little aircraft is again inspected by tribal dignitaries, and the local luluai or chief and his councillors are taken for a short flight.

Finally we board our workhorse and take off for home, just twenty minutes away. People traveling by road will take nearly four hours over rough and sometimes dangerous tracks to reach the same destination. That alone tells volumes about the role of the airplane as New Guineas workhorse.

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