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f. k [. | K A? ' I J\ PO!! ? uS>?^ \ I 1 "\ jj ANNIE | ij EDWARDS. \ CHAPTER XVI. 17 Continued. ';. "'It "was her way oi looking at Gi1 ford, and speaking iso low," she oj plained when, long afterward, sh found a eonfulant respecting the trial of that first evening?"speaking so Iot and tremulous, whet},, not a minut before, she had given loud orders t my servents about her boxes. An (then her hat?a modest woman, seet iug a situation among young childrei with a hat like that upon lker head and her mantle trihimed actually wit velvet, and a dress that might hav stood alone, when she said herself tha her mamma had scarce the comrno necessaries of life! These were th things that set me right as to her rea # nature from the filst moment I sai her." Ami as Jane never mentioned anj thing about Miss Fergus-son's yout and beauty, and Gifford's evident an warm appreciation of tbe same, it i to be held that these petty considers tions did not really influence her i the opinion to which she referred. Miss Fergusson was very lively am pleasant at tea; and indeed during al the rest of the evening. Quite earl, In the entertainment she asked Mis Grand, as a girl may ask a middle aged woman, to call her at once b; foer Christian name?Matty. "It is really Mathilda, you know, bu mamma always calls mc Matty, and should be very glad if you would d< so too." mi 1 ?-ToriA foe I lmrcoir +1 , '"Auereuy matting; uauc ? be old enough to be Matty's mother and Gifford to think -what a natura unaffected creature this poor neglecte< child managed, after all, to grow up. "How many years is it exactly sinc< you. and Mr. Mohuu met?" said Jani in the course of Miss Matty's little con tinental reminiscences. "Four? five you could not have been such a ven young child then, after all. Four yean ago you were " "Nearly fifteen," said Matty, com posedly. "I didn't look my age, did I Mr. Mohun? I was very short mdee< for a year after that, and poor dea; mamma r.lways would dress us to loo! like children of eleven. What a life i Af norfflot Mnilnr as sill >Y 43 O . KJJ CO VI (/v?%vvi# said this?"oscillating between Em! and Spa and Wiesbaden and Baden ii summer, and Hamburg and Franklori in winter?poor papa always playing playing at that horrible tapis vert whether we had money for dinner 01 not; and dear mamma still dressinj and going to all the concerts and balls ) when I'm sure there was enough ai home to break her heart if she hat felt things even as much as we chil dren. Do you know, Miss Grand, mj sister and I have often gone round t< the hotels at dinner time and begget bits of broken meats. as the dishef came out from *h<> 'table d'hote? ant this, perhaps, at the very time whei poor mamma wouid be dressing her self elegantly for the Redoute in th? evening. Such things must hav< seemed almost incredible lo you, 1 am sure." Mohun glanced at Jane, as much as to say, "You see what I have told yoi about their bringing up was true;" bin he also looked favorably upon Miss Matty's flushed, candid lace. Ja^ie fel that the girl was saying precisely whai put herself in the best position?allow ing facts that Gilford's memory mus: make it impossible for her to ignore and improving them to the utmost N Mohun had forgotten *?very syllabN of her letter within hnIt an hour o1 reading it; but Jane tenaciously remembered those -words: "Our happj circle," "our dearest father and moth or.'' and- opposed* them to the picture of starved innocence begging brokei meats, while unworthy parents wast-t their substance on their own frivolity and miserable pleasures! That morning?nay, not an hour ag< ?Gitford, with the vision before hin of Mrs. Fergusson and the frecklot children, ha? been cynical, suspicious and very near the truth in his remark! upon what Miss Matty must have grown up; Jane, all charity, forbear ance, generous sentiment toward tin friendless girl site was going to be friend. They had seen the poor friend less girl, ami loi sDe was iair to 1001 upon, plausible of speech and attrac tive in manner. And.now Mr. Mohui was disposed to like her, and to stare well content, in lier handsome fac< and listen, well diverted, to her livel; foreign talk; and Jane?the mild, tin charitable, the kindly?had ahead; gone a long way on the road towan hating her, and suspected a hiddei motive or detected a palpable decei under every one of the pretty littl< romances her childish tonguo babble< ' forth. Was she commonly, meanly jealou then??she, who had always held her sen aDove uie meie auajjiviuu ? ouv. a feeling. When that long evening had -worn t a close, all Miss Matty's amusing stor ies over, and Mohun was lighting hi cigar previous to departure, Jane stol out after him to the little hall, am with .1 quiet conscious feeling of he own despicable weakness, attemptei to sound him on the subject so tei ribly near her heart. "You judged her too hardly, Gifford She is a very nice girt, after all. am ?and unusually haudsome, Gifford, i she not?*' Mr. Mohun was standing under th x porch way now. his face upraise heavenward, and his mind evident) deeply interested in the lighting of hi cigar. . "Very handsome face, has she no Clifford? Just the style of beauty tha is so taking at first sight?" ' Hang the thing, it's cut again!'' r( sponded Gifford, and as Jte spoke h applied himself to getting another v< suvius from Jbis case. "I jbeg you . OR, jjj V FOR HER % \ FATHER'S ? \ ?. I OF ] HONOR;\ | panloc, Jan*1, what is it yon were saying? The Fergusson handsome! Oh [- -well, yes? uot bad; forward in mnnnei c- though, just Tvbat I told you a datighe 1^r ol' Mrs. Fergusson's must be. s Tbank you, Jane!" She was buttoning v liis coat across his chest, in fond feai e of the mild aic of the soft spring o night. "My own dear Jane, so good, d so kind?a thousand-fold above all the c- Matty Fergussons living!" ), Then?qpd remember, be knew quite I! well .he admired. Matty, and was on h the eve of a flirtation with her?Mohun e had the exceeding baseness to hold t poor Jane's hand fondly, and even i> press it to his lips, as he had Dot done e for a very long time past, before he ii left her. v I don't think she was quite reassured, but she tried to say to herself that she was happy, and that she had misin11 terpreted all the looks that Gifford'fi ' v,!? annc hnfl hppn <11 111 III !?>?> JPUftUOOUii o vjvo s exchanging duringthe Inst three hours. l* At all events, she went in again with 11 a strong determination to succumb 110 more to any of the torments of idle jealousy, and was mueh more genial 1 in her tone to .Matty now, they were y alone.than she had found it possible to s be while that young lady was appealing at every instant to Mr. Mohun for Y sympathy^and'admiration. Miss Fergusson. however, after sayt ing "yes" and "no" at the proper inter* vals, for about five minutes, wa6 seized 0 with the most violent intermitten fits of yawning, and gaVe evidence of ex0 treme abstraction in her own replies. '? "How very different some young peo1 pie are when they have not the stimu* ins nf a man's Dresence,' thought Miss Grand. "In another five xninutos tie e girl would be asleep in her chair." e Still, she "was not sorry herself of any ' excuse for escaping from the society of lier visitor; and as Miss Matty 1 eagerly jumped at the first mention of s going upstairs, it fell out that long . before Mohnn had reached his own house the'little society, so very much ' awake when he left, had retired, quite worn out with fatigue, and with each 1 other, to the silence of their own rooms, ^ Jane to perform the accustomed pious offices with which every day of her life, * whether happy or disappoined, was 5 closed; Miss Fergusson to unpack her ' dresses, think over the success of this her first evening's campaign,and finally ' write a letter to a sister of hers, Miss ' Fanny Fergusson, of Cheltenham. ; Of this letter, reader, you may, if ' you will, have the benefit. It would ' iiave been well for Gifford Mohun could such a privilege have been, extended to him as well. T -> TPnrt 4>1A nf + ?) P ntrt' JL ilUJf i' an, iu ijuc i> v< i?v j onouiy's country, not a mile and "a half j from Mr. Mohun of Yatton's place, . and Mr. Mohun ol Yatton has been [ spending" the ..evening here and has j looked vastly flattered by my pretty speeches to .him. j and he is a, very , heavy-looking man of 'thirty, dressed > like a gamekeeper, and with no man[ ners at all, and 1 should say fond of eating and drinking, the latter pre. eminently; and 1 do think I've got an , excellent chance before me, and I hope t you will be most careful in all your , letters, when you write, ns 1 am stayt ing with an old maid, and there is no i saying she might not be opening some of them by mistake. Tell dear mamma (. her plan was an excellent one, and I carried out everything just as she said, j Miss Bristowe was very cool and very > much surprised to see me at first, and pretended quite to have forgotten that . she had ever been to school with r mamma; but when I brought in Lady Churchill's name, and told her also that papa knew Mi*. Mohun of Yatton, she , got decently civil, and said I might 1 stop on a few days, though she couldn't . do anything in tne way 01 recommciming meherself. I lost no time in send5 ing the note mamma wrote to Yatton, j and next day?will you believe it??I ] got a letter, signed 'Jane Grand,' asking ine to come for a week, and promising 5 to do something to lielp me. (I hope 3 the something will substantial, for, " tell mamma, I bought a hat?the new > shape?as \ passed through Bath, and I've only eleven and eightpence left out of 1 lie three pounds I started with), j Of course, 1 accepted, and I came here . last night. Miss Grand is an old maid, , rather snappish and suspicions, but I should think, from the look of the j house, with a tidy little income. I ^ suppose she is a relation of the Mohun, 2 for she calls him 'Gi fiord'?such a v name!?and he puts his heels upon the j sofa. Oh. Fan, what bears, what cubs, , what Goths these English country, gent tlemen are compared to such men as you and I have kuown! Poor Alexis!? I to think, after caring for him, I could bring myself to look sweetly on such a s being as the Yatton bumpkin! "What a thing poverty is, and what i it brings one to! Be sure you keep in all you can with Lady Churchill, and if o any one asks for me say I'm staying ? ui. ~ ..~i?"vii. TVfrkf Vnt. s toil. She looked very suspicious at my e dress?I saw that before she opened J her lips; but, which character was ! to r do, the dowdy nursery governess for [I her. or Matty Fergusson at her best for - Mohun? I decided I liked Matty Fergusson the most, and that he was the I. most important to win, au premier (1 coup. Discrepancies of dress could be s explained away to the woman afterward, but nothing could explain away e the want of good looks to a man. So d me voila in that lovely silk Lady y Churchill gave me, and mamma's s clonk (so kind of her to lend it me), and the Bath hat?tiny, and one atom t, of scarlet in front?aforesaid. You t should have seen them when I came in! Mr. ' Mohun actually jumped, lie ?- thought me so handsome, and la vieille e fille and her maid servant looked as ?- though they would shrivel up and be ;r buried, themselves and their cottage, and China ornaments and everythinj ! under the splendor of my regal doubl , skirt. Fan, I write nonsense, but ' don't feel in spirits. Something tell r me That this monster with his mone i (its all nonsense about his being ruined , Miss Bristowe says the timber alon ' will pay all the debts in two yean something tells me, Fan, it is going t | be serious, and I think of Alexis > Why are handsome, refined creature > without a sou? And why are men wit L money like Mr. Gilford Mohun? I mus 1 go to sleep on the question. My lov 1 to rnaromn. and if I possibly can I'! > get some cash out of Miss G.; but i , not, and if I see that it's necessary, ' hope she will manage to send me I pound or two directly I write for r ; Mr. M. said something about ridin last night, and I haven't a single pai of riding gloves with me; besides, 1 1 a village there may be charity sermon and all sorts of expenses that I kno^ nothing about. "Hoping you are getting on bette : than when I left, 1 am, my poor Far your attached, M. F." ' "P. S.?I shall hang on here as Ion, as I possibly can, even suppose nott ! ing serious comes. of my visit. L vieille fille will do anything Mobu: ,l bids her, and I shall take good care h 1 won't want me to go away. M. F." i CHAPTER XVII. And Miss Matty kept her word. Th > week for which she had been orlginall; invited passed on without any allusioi having been made to her wishes of ot x~ J ? no n Tini'CDVr lilllilllg ttliipiuJ uiLii i. a.? u uuiovi^ ov . erness; and Mr. Mohun came daily, ani , for hours at a time, to the cottage, ani (as far as it was possible to judge o him by any outward indications o manner) had not the remotest intentioi that Miss Fergusson should go away. With a pain above all common jea: ousy, a pain keener than any of th natural pangs that a woman must fee in seeing her lover tufn to one younge and fairer than herself, Jane looked oi at the-progress of the< intimacy tha was'being carried on beneath her roo and in her very presence. It was no GiCford Mobun alone that Matty wa robbing her of. Her life, for years, ha< been sustained by the thought that sh had been sacrificed for his good. T< have married her father's daughte would have been to sink him in hi own eyes and in the sight of the world and her barren, single life had, a least, that one happy thought to set of its desperate isolation?she was givinj lip all the fairer^portion of human ex istence for his 6ake! For her to b lonely and unloved was better thai for Gifford, and for Gifford's children through her, to have inherited dishonor But what if he married Matty Fer gusson? For what empty dream ha< all her happiness been set aside if hi married this girl, bred up to the knowl odge of every evil'of continental life and with such h parentage, both on he father's and mother's side? Warrei Fergusson had certainly not. died witl the taint of a felon's name upon him but what was the moral guilt of a mai who fcr his own miserable passloi could rob his own children of bread t< the full as great as her own unhapp] father's had been. Would not Made moiselle Ursule Grandet, the nameles French singer, have been as worthy ai ancestress for future Mohuns and Yat ton, as the crafty, unprincipled, livlnj adventuress which she intuitively knev Matty Fergusson's mother to be? Fo: liprspif .Tnne felt a perfect thrill o: shame when "she thought what she wai and what,.all her,.life had been, an< with what love she had loved Mohnn and now saw the kind of woman wh< in-very*, truth suited'him best?the tall that amused him, the ideas so con sonant to his own, the level where. s< entirely and beyond all question. h< found the most normal and genial at mosphere for his soul to breathe, say, Matty was not robbing her of Gif ford alone, but of her last lingering be lief in Gilford's worth, her reverenci for her own fond articles of faith wbicl until now she had held as much abovi the sacrilege of doubt as the prayer she put up to heaven every night an< morning of her simple life. She felt it to be so; and she said t< herself: "It is well. If Gifford can love thii Matty Fergusson, and if my life an< my love for him have been one mis taken sentimental dream, it is well fo: me to be awakened." (To be Continued.) Forj?ot Wlmt Electricity Was. A Denver newspaper devotes a larg< space in an unavailing effort to answei n correspondent's question, "Doe! anybody know what electricity is?' A: somebody has observed, tbat re minds no of a story. "There is now in Prineville, Ore., : lawyer who, some years ago, was : college student bacl: East. One daj in the classroom the subject of die cussiou was electricity. This studen had read all he could find in his text book about electricity, and considers himself primed for the occasion. Th< professor opened the ball with this direct question, flashed peremptorily at this particular student: "Mr. Blank, can you tell us wha electricity is?" Mr. Blank squirmed in his seat hemmed and hawed for a time, am finally admitted: "I. did know, professor, but I've for gotton." TJivi professor gazed at the stud?P' with an expression of unspeakabli sorrow. Then he said sadly: "Mr. Blank, you do not know wha you have done. Alas! what a sad losf to science! You are the only man tba ever lived who has known what elec tricity is?and you Lave forgotteu."Pnrtitiml Orpfouian. The Duke of Abrnzzt. The Duke of Abruzzi is fearless. H< has been shot over a hedge while mo toring; he has listened while the ic< pack cracked his ship's ribs in a Prince Rudolph Island, and escape* with lrost bitten fingers; he has sur veyed the world from his balloon an< attained points on the Alps before uu explored. A Wise Girl. Dr. W. D. Grace, England's most fa mous cricketcr, recently gave a Iittl< girl his autograph. She returned fo another, and in explanation said: " gave the other in exchange for tw< bishops." She goi her fiutfl grajah. h Plan to Tax Automobiles. f|BI' " Ifgjl N Lis annua] report. sube la iyi mitted to Governor | 11 T Stokes. E. C. ButchinsoD, * p-| i==i State Commissioner of pub3 HH Ol lie roads of New Jersey, a suggests a no\el plan for dealing with automobiles?, wbicb in the S last year or two it is claimed have r played havoc with the improved roads n that have been long tiro pride of Jers seymen. The commissioner urges the v taxing of automobiles on the basis of their destructive power to the public r. highways, the measure of which he thinks should be the maximum speed of which each, machine is capable. ? The justification for such a, method ?f '* taxation is that owners of automobiles; e thnnki bA ebareed, as nearly as possi- | a ble, for tlie actual damage they flo to | e the roads. Unless some limitation is enforced the commissioner believes that much of the money which has been spent by the State in the improvee ment of the roads will be wasted. y The report further recommends the n licensing of chauffeurs and uie passage of a law prohibiting the use of armored tires, chain tires and blowers, all of (I which add to the destructive forces of j the automobile. In discussing the subf ject, Commissioner Hutrhinson say?: I f The automobile is now a recognized Q means of conveyance, and as such is entitled to the use of the highways, |. but there are certain appliances used e upon them which arc detrimental to ] our roads. These are the armored r tire, the;chain tire and the blower. a The damage done to the surface of our J t macadam< and gravel road9.by these, f 't appliances is' so' great that the ques - *~ nnncirlor. t tion 01 a remeuy i& ucuuut iuu?.uv. s able agitation all over the different 3 counties of the State. e The temptation to get all the speed j> possible out of any means of locomor tion is almost irresistible, therefore no a. one should be allowed to run a malt chine upon our public highways witht out first obtaining a license, granted j after a proper examination, as a mat jority of the accidents ere caused by - incompetent chauffeurs. If the high e speed machines are to be allowed upon q our highways they should be taxed in i, proportion to the maximum speed of which they are capable. In other - words, they should pay for the damage I they do, and all. money paid into the e State treasury for such lictnses should . be applied to the maintenance and ropair of our roads, r The dust raised by an automobile i when running at a rate of less than i twenty miles an hour is not any worso ! than that raised by many wagons, but i when the limit is exceeded the autortnei nntQn DPP I LLIUUliC UCtVlUtO tU f ?*V?OW 1AU.VW.V.. [> Many cures for the dust annoyance j "have been suggested, as the sprinkling - of our roads with crude oil and differs ent Lolutions of absorbent salts. These i will prevent the dust, but are too expensive to be generally used. Our I remedy, therefore, would be a strict 7. enforcement of the ..peed limit, the ab? r olition of armored tires, chain tires f and blowers, and a cprinkling of all s our improved roads early in the morn1 ing :and .late In the evening. This ; would preserve the roads and would ? reduce the cost of repairs materially, j ..at. the same time, giving us a better - smoother and more dustless surface a than before. e Sonnd In Principle and Policy. ! The proposition thai Congress shall . appropriate money to aid the States _ in highway construction is sound in a principle r.nd patriotic as policy. It i6 ^ not new, except that the favors of the & general government have for many g years been turned into other channels. 5 The aid extended to the Pacific railroads, covering hundreds of millions of . monev and nublic lands, a'^d the hun J " dreds of millions spent on rivers and s harbors was all based upon the theory I that the government but served its own good when appropriating money r to increase and improve the transportation facilities of'the country. That is a sound proposition, and if adhered to by the Congress mus't lead to the early extension, of government aid to. the Spates in road improvement. The * government rests upon the loyalty of the people. The people sustain it in ' times of peace and defend it in times of war. The people are the government. Whatever policy will benefit 4 the people becomes a national obligation to be observed by those entrusted with power. Road ouiitling is a rccognized function of government in \ every civilized country but ours. No ' country has ever witnessed systematic j road construction except by governv ment aid. Our national experience is ' ample to justify the declaration that , the States of the Union will never have systematized road building until t the general government leads the way i in co-oneration with the States. {How William) Got a Gifi. A quarter of a century ago there . ; lived in a Western village a gentle old man subsisting 011 u meagre salary. I One day lie learned that his brother > had died in San Francisco and left him a fortune of $50,000,000. The transit tion was staggering, especially so since 5 it was followed by a shower of apt peals for money from every quarter . of globe and from persons known and unknown to liim. His son. who acted as his secretary, noticed with regret that the father seemed unable to grasp the meaning t of his new power, and was glad to ^ have him at last evince a little iuterest in one of his begging letters. It I proved to be from Williams College, J asking an endowment on the plea that the old man's birthplace was near the I institution. "I'd like to do something for that school," said he, meditatively. "Well, I would, father, il' I were you," his sor. encouraged him. "I believe I will." Hie old man's " ardor kindled. "I believe I will give e them something handsome." r "So you should," the son pursued. * ''Why not?" 9 "I will. I'll give them "?he thought * for a moment?"I'i! give them $1.00!" ?Boston Herald. THE GREAT DESTROYER | SOME STARTLINC FACTS ABOUT THE VICE OF INTEMPERANCE. The Mo?n06 hi New York Ar? Poor Becnnne of Their Henvy Drink Bill?Dr. Peters Say# That New Torkerg Spend a Million a Day For Liquor. Commercialism is the characteristic disease of the American people, writes 1 lie Rev. Madison C. Peters, Church of the Epiphany. New York, in the Sunday World. Our Presidential campaigns for neariy fifty years have been waged and won on simple questions of trade. The most successful thing for | any party to do is to toueii the pocket nerve of the American people. Therefore, to make a winning case for temperance we must array the commercialism of America against tlie liquor traffic. Considered i merely as a question of dollars and cents the liquor problem will seme day become a burning issue in our . polities'. Thetentirg. amount received for tariff is approximately' $225,000,000 per annum, while the total output of gold in this country is something like $80,000,000 per annum, and the silver product is perhaps $60,000,000l or, combined, as much as the annual liquor bill of New York City, which is estimated at $1,000,000 a day. As an economic question neither the tariff nor the gold nor silver issues is in it with the drink problem. The ordinary expense of the United States Government for all departments is about $600,000,000 annually (in jlbuo it was less than $375,000,000). That is to say, our city's drink bill is more than half the amount required to run the entire Government of the United States. It is nearly twice as large as our ! tariff revenue, more than four times j the amount of our gold product, and | six times as great as the entire value of the sliver product of. the country. The city's 'annual' drink bill is more than one-third our National debt. It ,is two-t|iirdsras. much asjtljeitotal receipts of our National Government, outside of customs, and it is nearly half the total capitalization of the National banks of the country. It is more than twice the salaries of the teachers in all the public schools of the country, and is twenty times the income of all the Protestant foreign missionary societies of the world, American, European or otherwise. Our oitv's annhal drink bill is equal to the value of our entire mineral product, including gold, silver, iron, copper, zinc, lead, quicksilver and aluminum. The amount spent-in New York every year is equal to the value of all the bituminous and anthracite coal produced annually, and is nearly equal to the vahie of all our woolen manufactures. The number of building and loan associations in the United States is less tban<7000, and their total assets about $600,000,000; or, in other words, we spend about as much for, drink every twenty months in this city as the whole country does through building and loan associations to emancipate itself from rervitude to landlords. The interest on the city's' annual drink bill at-five per cent, would about equal the income of all the universities and colleges of the United States. The value of the corn crop in 3905 was $1,210,000,000; against $492,000,000 in 1895; wheat, $525,000,000, and cotton, $575,000,000, so that we spend annually for drink in our city nearfr one-fourth the value of our enormoiis corn crop, and one-third the combined value of the cotton nnd wheat crops. The economic aspect of the liquor traffic should . challenge our attention. The diversion of so vast a sum from the lines of productive industries must affect them seriously; $365,000,000 turned from the saloons into the channels of legitimate trade would materially improve our industrial condition. Instead of'spending" $365#b0,000' a I year in this city for drink, suppose we turned it into channels of useful industry, see what it would do. Fifty million dollars extra expended for food and provisions, what an impetus to the grocery business all over the city! Fifty million dollars more for clothing; what employment would this furnish for woolen and cotton mills, for tailors and dressmakers! Suppose we could put woolen dresses and underwear on " - -* 1 5onri children an me uruimttiuD miu and woolen blankets on all their beds, would not tbat create a greater woolen boom than any tariff that could be levied? Suppose we should spend $25,000,000 more in New York every year for shoes, what a boom to shoe and leather factories! One hundred million dollars more spent for new houses, what demand for lumber, building material, carpenters, masons and medianics! One hundred million dollars more expended for furniture, what an increase in furniture and .upholstery establishments! Then we would still have $40,000,000 left to build and maintain places of amusement, where men, women and children could spend their evenings with profit. Jacob Rils, in his "Battle With the Slums," has pointed out districts in New York where there is a saloon to every 191 of the poulation; that is, thirty families of poorly paid laborers +~ enrmnrt n saloon. Whicll UI1U IUUUCJT IV , requires an ordinary outlay of say $lf> a day, or th'.rty-seven cents for each family; thirty-seven cents a day, if saved at four per cent., would in twenty years build a good home in a nearby suburb. If the money thrown away by New Yorkers in the last teu years had been put into homes every renter in the city might be living in his own house. Neither open mints nor open mills will do' so much to abolish poverty, stamp out crime, insure general prosperity and guarantee our people their inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness as closed saloons. Tctnpernuce Notes, The Government of Honduras has prohibited the importation of whisky, i rum and anisado iu barrels, casks or f demijohns. I No power of legislation and no power I that can be obtained by labor combinations can help the laboring ruau who spends his money in drink. J Patrick P. Carroll offered the Council of Seattle, Wash., a city hall, a public hospital and $?">,000,000 for the exclusive right to sell liquor in that city for +?n -ponrst -with certain restrictions. The catechism of Socialism is brief, 1rue and easily learned. How to enrich the people; make them sober. Fearls die in the dark. The dramshop lives in the dark. That is the difference between a pearl and a peril. The good men and women who are devoting their time and spending tlioir money for social reform without pointing to the saloon as the prime cause of poverty lire striking with a straw, writing on Hie .surface of tlie water, and seeking tigs where only brambles $row. London has one licensed drinking place to every 43G inhabitants. / " < ' k 4 ' " ' . : J-. ' - ' THOUGHTS Q uietr yfeouR. Ax Strange Sale. Some yearn ago p strange sale took place in one of the, dark, hidden clefts of the Scfcv/nnzwald. It was midnight and a number of torches cast their yellow *-.ra against the giant tree^. A group of ?i?, of vud? aspect and armed to the teeth, were seated in a circle. One of il u stood in their midst offering certain acticles for sale. They were a band -of highway rob-, hers, who had plrnderod. during the cveivng, a traveling wagon passing that way. According to their custom they were now selling the booty - ?? ?? r.i? ? ,-u.c A ftov mnnv ;i cost A J 11 Oil?, ?w..v ly garment anci several otlier things bad Deen offered for so.le, while a bottle of liquor -vas being passed around, the salesman held aloft a New Testament, adding m."? jeering remarks?, whJ."h were loudly applauded. One of the company propored that the f-ctioneer iw.d a chapter, in order that 1bey m.ght b. enabled to judge the worth of the Eook. "Ihis proposition-met .with general approval, and in a mocking way they began to read a chapter. There was no end to the laughing and jeering, and it thus escaped tneir notice that me of their number?the oldest among them?who was usually the foremost U:ir robberies ano. drinking Lcuts, wac sitting down quierly, in a contemplative mood. His folded hand3 were resting upon his knees, and he seemed to be absorbed in deep thought. And r.o wonue-, for t>e chapter that was being read was the same chapter his rati* ?r had read, thirty years ago, at the family 'jtar- tne very morning when ~e. i:i order to escape the hands of the police, had left the naternal home. He had never seen it since; and hearing now these Scriptural words, the happy family circle seemed to stand afresh before him. Hi? ?aw all of them seated arouud the breakfast table. His aged father sat with the open Bible before hlui.' reading a chapter. He beheld his mother listening to God'a^Wprd w/tli her char-' acteristic"earnestness, and-his broth ers and sisters taking part in the hour of quiet devotion, which was to consecrate their labor and strengthen them against the power of evil. Yes, he saw himself, and his heart was breaking; for since that morning he had never prayed, and he had entirely banished the thought of death and I -X il- X liU V. eitriJJljf nuui ui: unu t. But new it seemed as if his soul was awakened out of a thirty years' sleep, as if the crust of ice that covered his heart was melting under the warm rajs of the Gospel. Each word that hie good father or -mother had spoken to him while he was yet a child and a young man returned to him in memory. Absorbed in a thousand taoughts, he forgot what passed around him, so'that he heard not the mockings ?f his companions. Suddenly hist .neighbor woke him up Dut.oLhis reveries by a hard blow on bis shoulder, asking him. "Say! old 3reamer, how much will you give for that Bool;? You have more need of it than any one of us, for you are. without doubt, the greatest sinner iu existence." \ "Yes. that I am," he auswered, in an earnest tone.. "Give me the Book. [ will pay you full value." The morning dawned. The robbers went to the neighboring villages to .lispese of the spoil. The purchaser of Ihe Bible, however, betook himself to a solitary, hidden retreat among the :ocks. Here he spent the whole day and the following Bight In terrible anguish and gnawings ot conscience. Every now and then he laid down the Bible, thinking that forgiveness of sin and salvation were no longer possible to him. But God caused the words of peace and pardon to sink into his ueafrt. He concluded to visit the minisI ter of the nearest village, to have a Mayor Tom Johnson, of Cleveland, Ohio, alarmed at the official report that there have been eighty-six suicides in Cleveland in the last nine months, has appointed a commission, -whose duty it -will be to attempt to dissuade wouldbo suicides from taking their own lives. The commission is made up of Director of Charities Cooley, W. A. Greelund, a member of the Charity Bureau, and State Senator-elect F. C. Howe. Every man or woman in Cleveland who is contemplating suicide is invited to write n letter to tho anti-suicide commission, and tell their troubles. I talk Y.ith liim. He was 111117 aeier-; mined to bid farewell to the band, and not only give upliis shameful profession, but also to atone, according to law, for his former evil deeds. The next (lay he went to the village. There he learned that, during the aight, the band had been captured by a detachnunt of soldiers and lodged in prison. Thpse tidings strengthened liim in his. purpose. He paid the preacher a visit and told him his whole life's history, confessing at the same time that he had betaken himself tc the Saviour's Cross with all his sinful Jeeds. The minister assured him thai Jesus ?as rolling to accept graciously the greatest of sinne-s if he hit turn to Him with a broken heart, as the only Saviour. He then requested the minister to accompany him to the judge, tr- whom he confessed all hi? rrinie;- This voluntary confession ?avm his life. >11 oi his companion? tvere condemned to die, but he ok tained ;nercy at ?be hands of the arch Juke, unto whom tne adventures of hi? life had been communicated. He was sentenced to a ten years' imprisonment, out by means of . is exemplary conduct are term wasshortened.so thai' lie regained his If edom at the end of seven years. A Ohrist.au nobleman took him into his serv.'.e, where he proved a blessing to his master's house till iie -.ied in peace. With his expiring breath he blessed his Saviour who came i:.."> -the world to save sinners.? Translated from the Dutci;. by Eev. T. Hoffman, in - .hristian Intelligencer. Preaching Power. When Summerfield was dying he said, Ch, now, if I could return to my pulpit for one hour, how I coald preach! For I have seen God face to face. A personal acquaintanceship with God is the source of a minister's ! power. Then sentences burn into the minds of the hearers and inspirations come from simple things.?Rev. Clarence A. Vincent. Consecration of an Old Time Saint. 0 Lord, Thou knowest what is best for us, let this or that be. done, as Thou shalt please. Give what Thou wilt, and how much Thou wilt, and when Tlion wilt. Deal with me as Thou thinkest good, and as best pleaseth Thee. Sot me where Thou wilt, and deal with me in all things just as Thou wilt. Behold, I am Thy servant, prepared for hll things; for I desire not to live onto myself, but unto Thee; and oh, that I could do it worthily ami perfectly! Amen.?Thomas a Keinpis. ' " " :'% THE ""SUNDAY SCHOOL . INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS , \ f-OR FEBRUARY 18. , Iflbjeri: A Day of Miracleft In C?pfrnit??, Mark 1., 21-34? Golden Text. M?rk, I., 34 ? Memory Veraes, 38, 34 ?TopNJ Josdb the Great Physician. , T. Christ teaching witii authority1 / (vs. 21, 22). 21. "They." Jesu? had M ; the four disciples just called. . "iDto N.' Capernaum*" A city on the northwest coast of the Sea of Galilee. "Straightway." In Mark's narrative scene follows srene in quick succession. An early tradition says that Mark wrote iLiis fcuapci iia xrtriri uintiieu iif this is made probable by its vividness nnd the rapid sweep of the story* "The synagogue." After the return from the captivity synagogues sprang! up everywhere among the Jews. The rooms were so arranged that the peo-j pie. who squatted on the floor, faced the temple in Jerusalem. See 1 Kings 8:29, 30; Dan..6:10. From a,pulpit the Scriptures were read and the address : delivered. (Luke 7:1-10)., .."Taught." * It* was common to 'call upon- any; suitable persbnto speak in trfe-synagogue. 22. "They were astonished." At* the matter, manner, spirit and authdr- , ity of His teaching. 3. At the range / of His intellectual gifts.. 2. The'force of His illustrations. 3. His acquaintance with the human heart. .4. His deep knowledge of the divine law. "Authority." He . spoke as one coip- * missioned by God, nnd He laid great stress upon Himself. He said, "I sayiunto yon," without quoting their < teachers. He was, 2. Dignified. 2. Original. 3. Convincing. 4. Consistent. "Not as the scribes." The scribes were without spiritual life, their manner was cold, and, with an unholy ambition, the 'ought their own and not * God's glory. II. Power over evil spirits (vs. 23- f 28). 23. "A man with an unclean *\ L spirit." Luke says he had "a spirit otf Wt an unclean devil" and "cried out with a? loud-voice" (Luke 4i33). Ther& has been much discussion regarding this 1 /'unclean spirit." Many . hold .tftat ^ . thqae-'who were said, t'p have,>'devifa' were simply diseased people, and that. their strong paroxysms wei only"fits." "We cannot agree with this, uuwever, uiiu ixjubi. iubjei niti i, uiuituiv as it may be to understand, yet real demons did inhabit this man and those referred to in verse 32. 24. "Let ns alone." The devil always desires to be let alone, and bad ' '/ men do not want to be disturbed witi? anything good. TVe hear this cry the. moment we undertake to deal w*.th ui*clean things to-day, such as intemperance and the social evil. "What have we to do with thee?" Nothing at alt There is no concord between Christ . and Belial. "To desti oy us." To drive us from our abode back to our native place. See Matt. 8:29. "I know Thee."* J Imagine some disease, like the ap<P* plexy, thus addressing Christ! N<V Christ is dealing with"devils now, and th?y know Him well/ "The Holy One - v of God."7 The Messiah, who has,.come to destroy tie kingdom of the devil'(1 t-i? n n\ or h r tf JOiiiJ a:o). &>. Jesus reuu&eu jjjiij. He does not desire the testimony of devils to prove His Messiahshij). Throughout His ministry Christ rwver for i a moment cpuntenances anything that might be construed into a true? with Satan. "Hold thy peace." Liter- \ ally, "be thou muzzled." It is a word for a beast. "Come out of him-." He speaks with authority. He will show; who He is by casting out the deviJ. 26. "Torn him." Or convulsed him. Luke says the devil threw the man, and came out of him, and hurt him not "Came out." Even the devils obey Hi? ? word of command. 27. "What thing: is this?" "What is this? a new teaching!" R. V. Jesus taught by His actions as well as by His words. What He did was as important as whatjje said. " "With-.authority." Christ'#'authority and pfcwer is recognized even by the unclean demons, and they obey< Him.' 28. "Fame spread abroad." This miracle was wrought in publie aud those vbo saw it published it, and y the people throughout all that region were soon discussing Him. "T TT 1! 2_ ? 1 f-^cI OOQ11 ill. nettling ill a UVLUC \r a. /. 29. "They entered," etc. Peter and his brother Andrew, although natives of Betbsaida (John 1:44), were now liv- v inpr at Capernaum. Jesus, James and. John had entered Peter's house. 3?.: "Simon's wife's mother." Thus we see that Peter was a married man. "Lay* sick of a fever." Luke calls it a great * . fever. See Luke 4:38. She was prostrated with a burning fever. "They. tell Him." This was really a request for healing. They knew He could re-J store her. s 31. "Took her by the hand." CouJdl anything on this side the unlimited! power of God effect such a cure? "Thej fever left her." Christ has power.overj disease. He can, and frequently doesJ \ heal to-day, and yet we cannot test} the state of the souhby the health of| the body. "She ministered." She was{ perfectly recovered and performed the) ordinary duties of the household. IV. Many miracles (vs. 32-34). 32." "When the sun did set." The Sabbath ^ ended with the setting sun and theni they brought their sick to Him. "Unto; Him." Christ has a panacea for all' A our aches, ills and troubles. All a suffering world needs to do is to go tO; Jesus. He is sun tne same jivjug,mighty One. and is able, willing audi anxious to deliver us l'roin the power; of the devil. 33. "All the city." Notj necessarily every person, but a very! large company. 34. "Healed many."'. Matthew says, "all that were sick."Luke says He laid hands 011 them., .' Jesus healed all who came, and theyj were many. "Diseases?devils." Al distinction is made here that we musti not fail to notice: diseases were! "healed" and devils "cast out" ' "Suf-! ferod not." Sec on verse 25. This! ' had been a great day at Capernaum, day filled with stirring events. Apple Tree 135 Yean. (V An apple from a tree at least 135 j ears old was brought to the American office this week by Josiah H. Higgins, of Ellsworth, says the Ellsworth (Me.) American. When his grandfather, Levi Higgins, moved from Eastham, on Cape Cod, to Maine in 1770 he brought with him this apple tree and set it out on the place at Hull's Cove, in what is now the town of Eden. There Mr. Higgins, and his father before'him, " V./W-K K/von nn +ll/\ nlnca n to thf* fruit. A UVlll UUIH V" f v? ? 4 m A No*el Target. ^1 Off Gibraltar the British Channel \ Flee*: has been practicing night tiring at a novel target. It is shaped like M destroyer, and is outlined with incandescent lamps that can be switched on or off at will from the towing boat. The idea is to make the practice a9 realistic as possible. Out of the darkness the "destroyer" suddenly springs, giving the gunners only a few seconds to take aim before she disappears .again. . Newspaper Reading Car*. , The Japanese railways have intro dated newspaper reading cars. A