[12] Less than one-tenth of 1 per cent.
[13] Decrease.
CHURCHES, DEAD
There is a Scandinavian tradition which tells of seven parishes of the Northland that lie buried under snow and ice, but whose church-bells are heard ringing clearly.
May not churches ring their bells and maintain all the forms of life, and yet lie buried under the snow and ice of death? (Text.)
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Table No. 6—Church Property—Gain by Decades. (See [Church Statistics].)
| YEAR | VALUE OF CHURCH PROPERTY REPORTED | |
| Amount | Per cent of increase over value at preceding census | |
| 1906 | $1,257,575,867 | 85.1 |
| 1890 | 679,426,489 | 91.7 |
| 1870 | 354,483,581 | 106.5 |
| 1860 | 171,397,932 | 90.3 |
| 1850 | 87,328,801 | ..... |
CHURCHES, SELFISH
Most churches are religious cisterns instead of spiritual reservoirs. A cistern has all the trenches dug, the pipes laid, the roofs shaped to catch the showers of the favoring sky, and the water runs into it to be dipped out by the owner or occupant of the building, for the purpose of consumption. A reservoir has streams running into it, but all its trenches are dug and pipes laid in order that the water shall flow away from it, for the purpose of distribution.—Theodore S. Henderson.