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MIGHTY ANTlSEPTIC Dr. Talmrage'on Christian R e ligion as a Preventive of THE WORLD'S ILLS. It Is an Active Princ ple, Which Constantly, Works for the Welfare of Body Mind and Soul. Dr. Taimage is now traveliig inor way, where he has been deeply interett ed in the natural p-henomea and the quaint social life of that wond~rful land. In his discourse this wetk he argues, contrary to the opinion of 1113ny that religion is an active prnCiPliC which works constantly fcr the welfare of body and mind and soul. liistext is Luke xiv, s-4, Salt is good." The Bible is a dictionary of the finest similes. It employs, among liv ing creatures, storks and eagles and doves and unicorns and sheep and eat tie; among trees, sycamores, ad tere binths and pomegranates and almonds and apples; among jewels, pearls and amethysts and jaciuths and cbrysoprases Christ uses no stale illustrations. The lilies that he plucks for his sermons are dewy fresh; the ravens in his discourocs are not stuffed specimens of birds, but warm with life from wing tip to wing tip; the fish he points to are not dull about the gills, as though loag captured but a-squirm in-the wet net just brought up on the beach of Tiberias. In my text, which is the peroration of one of his sermons, he picks up a cratal and holds it before his congregation a; an illustration of divine graee in the heart when he says, what we all know by ex periment, "Salt is good. I shall try to carry out tMe Saviour s idea in this text and in the first place say to you that grace is like salt in its beauty. In Galicia there are mines of salt, with excavations and underground passages reaching. I am told, 280 miles. Far under ground there are chapels and halls of reception, the columns, the altars and the pulpits of salt. When the king and the princes come to visic these mines. the whole place is illumi nated, ana the glory of crystal walls and crystal ceilings and crystal floors and crystal columns, under the glare of the torches and the lamps, needs words of Crystal to describe it. But you need not go so far as that to find the beauty of salt. You live in a land which pro duces millions of bushels of it in a year, and you can take the morning rail train and in a few hours get to the salt mines and salt springs. And you have this article morning. noon and night on your table. Salt has all the beauty of the snowfiake and water foam with durability added. It is beautiful to the naked eye, but under the glass you see the stars and the diamonds and the white tree branches and the splin ters and the bridges of fire as the sun glints them. There is more architect ural skill in one of these crystals of salt -than human ingenuity has ever demonstrated in an Aihambra or St. Peter's. It would take all time, with an in fringment upon eternity, for an angel of God to tell one-half the glories in a salt crystal. So with the grace of God. It is perfectly beautiful. I have seen it smooth out wrinkles of care from the brow. 1 have seen it make an aged man feel almost young again. I have seen it lift the stooping shoulders and put sparkle into the dull eye. Solo mon discovered its therapeutic quali ties when he said, "It is marrow to the bones." (t helps to digest the food and to purify the blood and to calm the pulses and quiet the spleen, and in stead of Tyndal's prayer test of 20 years ago, putting a man in a philosophical hospital to be experimented upon by prayer, it keeps him so well that he does not need to be prayed for as an in valid. I am speaking now of a healthy religion-not of that morbid religion that sits for three hours on a gravestone reading Harvey's "Meditations Among the Tombs"-a religion that prospers best in a bad state of the liver! I speak of thbe religion that Christ preached, I suppose when that religion has conquered the world that disease will be banished an~d tsat a man a hun dred years of age will e se in from business and say: --i ne ured I think it must be time for mc to g' and without one physical pang teaVm will have him. But the chief beauty of grace is in the soul. It takes that which was hard and cold and repulsive and makes it all over again. It pours upon one's nature what David calls "the beauty of holi ness." It extirpates everything that is hateful and unclean, if jealousy and pride and lust and worldliness lurk about, they are chained and have a very small sweep. Jesus throws upon the soul the fragrance of a summer gar den as he comes in, saying, "I am rose of Sharon," and he submerges it with the glory of a spring morning as he says, "I am the light." Oh, how much that grace did for the three Johns! it Look John Bunyan, the foul mouthed, and made him John Bunyan. the immortal dreamer. It took John Newton, the in fidel sailor, and in the midst of the hurricane made him ery out. M mother's God, have mercy upon me!" It took John Summerfield from a life of sin and, by the hand of a Christian maker of edge tools, led him into the pulpit that burns still with the light of that Christian eloquence which charmed thousands to the Jesus whom he once despised. Ah, you may search all the earth over for anything so beautiful or beautifying as the grace of God. Go all through the deep mine passages of Wieliezka and amid the underground kingdoms of salt in Hallstadt, and show me anything so exquisite, so transcendently beautiful as this grace of God fashioned and hung in eternal crystals. Again, grace is like salt in the fact that it is a necessity of life. Man and beast perish without salt. What are those paths across the western prairies? Why, they were made there by deer and buffalo going to and coming away from the salt "licks." Chemists and physi cians all the world over tell us that salt is a necessity of life. And so with the grace of God; you must have it or die. I know a great many speak of it as a mere adornment, a sort of shoulder strap adorning a soldier, or a light, frothing dessert brought in after the greatest part of the banquet of life is over, or a medicine to be taken after powders and mustard plasters have failed tco do their work, but ordinarily a mere superd.iity, a string of bells atound a horse's neck while he draws the load amri in nowise helping him to draw it. So far from that I declare the grace of God to be the first and the last necessity. It is food we must take or starve into an eternity of famine. Itis clothing without which we feeze to the mast of infinite terror. it which we can float shoeWa-d. IL the ladder, and the only ladder, o1 which we can climb up into the light 1t is a rositive necessity for the sou" YOu can tell very easily what the et fcet would be if a person refuied t, taC aL, into the body. The ener 1 is would fail, the lunes would stru gle with the air, slow fevers woul crawl through the brain, the heart woull flutter, and the life would be ione. Sal a necessity fur the life of the body: tL grace of God a necessity for the life o the soul. Again I remark that grace is like si in abundance. G od i as rtrexu _at it vast profusion all over the contirelts Ru.sia seems built on a saltceiiar. Ther< is one reeion of that c.'untry that turn: ou. $fJ) t!00 ton. in a year. Eogland an< BtRusia and Itali have inshaustible re sou:e s in tiis respect. Norway an Sse nr. White 'h snow above, whim wi it b-eatb. Austria, yieldins 9iuo.v0 toss annually. Ncarly all th< natiorn ri.h in it-rock sal-, spring salt sea salt. Christ, the Creator of th< worLd, when he uttered our text, knew it would become moreand more signifi ant as the shafts were sunk and thi spring were bored and the pumps wer worked and the crystals were gathered So the grace of God is abundant. Iti: for all lands, for all ages for all condi tiors. It seems to undergird every thing. Phrdou for the worzt sin, com fort for the sharpcst sufferieg. brightes light for the thi-ckestda kncss Aroun about the salt lakes of Saratoy ther are 10,000 men toiling day a-id night and yet they never exhaust the salin trcasures And if the 1,601)(10 000 o our race should now cry out to God fo his merey there would be enouzh fo all-for those farthest gone in sM-, fo the murderer standiog on the dryp o the gallows. It is an ocean of mercv and if Europe and Asia, Africa. Nort] and South America and all the island of the sea went down i it today the: wouhd have room enouzh to wash au come up Clean. Let no u-a-i thin] that his case i. too touch a ore for G u, to act uvon. Though your sin m'ay b, deep and raging, let we t-ll you tha God's grace is a bridge not built oi earthly piers, but suspended and span ning the awful chasm of your guiit, on end restiog upon thie roek ,A eterna promises and the other ou the founds tions of heaven. Demetrius wore a rob so incrusted with jewels that no one af ter him ever dared to wear it. but ou King. Jesus. takes off the robe of hi righteousness, a robe blood dyed an heaven impearled, and reaches it ou to the worst wretch in all the earth an' says; "Put that on! Wear it now Wear it forever." Again, the grace of God is like salt i the way we come at it. Tne salt on th surface is almost always impure--tha which incrusts the Rocky mourtain and the South American pampas audil India: but the miners go down througl the shafts and through the dark laby rinths and along by galleries of roe and with torclhes and pickaxes, find thei way under the very foundations oi th earth, to where the salt lies that make up the nation's wealth. To get to th best saline springs of the earth hug machinery goes down, boring depth be low depth until from under tb very roots of the mountains the saline water supplies th aqueduct. This water is brough to the surface and is exposed in tank to the sun for evaporation, or it is pu in boilers mightily heated, and th water evaporates, ana the salt gather at the bottom of the tank-the worki completed, and the fortune is made So with the grace of God. it is to b profoundly sought after. With all th concentered energies of body, mind an, soul we must dig for it. No man stuta bles accidentally on it. We need t o down to the very lowest strata o earnestness and faith to find it. Super fiial exploration will not turn it up We must strive and implore and dii until we strikk the spring foaming witi living waters. Then the work of evapo ration begins, and as when the salin, waters are exposed to the sun, the va pors float away, leaving nothing but th, pure white salt at the bottom of th tank, so, when the Christian's soul i eposed to the Sun of Righteousness the vaoors it pride and selfishness an< worldliness float off, and there is chiefi; left beneath pure white holiness of heat Then, as in the case of the salt th< furnace is added. Blazing troubles stirred by smutted stokers of darkness quicken the evaporation of worldliness and the crystallization of grace. Have you not been in enough troubl, to have that work go on? I was read ig of AM~itotle, who said there was feld of flowers in Sicily so sweet tha once a hound, coming on the track o game. came to that field and was be wildered by the perfumes and so los the track. Oh, that our souls migh become like "a field which the Lorn hath blessed" and exhale so much o the sweetness of Christian charaetc that the hounds of temptation, comin on our track, mii ht lose it and go howl ing back with diaryointment' But, I remark agaiu. that the grac, of God is like the satoi its preservativi quality. Lou know that salt absorb the moisture of articles of food and in fuses them nih brine, which preserve them for a lugg while. Salt is th, great anti-putrefactor of the world Experimenters in preserving food have tried sugar and smoke and airtigh jars and everything else, but as long a the world stands Christ's words will b, sugestive, and men will admit that a a great preservative " salt is good. But for the grace of God the cart would have become a stale carcass lor, before this. That grace is the oni, preservative of laws and constitution and literatures. Just as soon as a go ernent loses this salt of divine graec Iit perishes. The philosophy of thi day, so far as it is antagoniti.: no ihi religion, putrefies and stinks Th, great want of our schools of learnini and our institutions of science tola; is, not more Layden jars and galvani batteries and spectroscopes and philo sphical apparatus, but more of tha grace that will teach our men of sciene that the God of the universe is the Go< of the Bible. Ho3w strange it is tha in all their magniticent sweep of thi telscpe they have not seen the morn ing star of Jesus and that in all thei experiments with light and heat the; have not seen the light and felt thi warmth of the Sun of rie bteousness! X want more of the salt of God's grace iJ our homes, in our schools, in our col leges, in our social life, ia our Chris tianity. And that which has it wil live; that whieh has it not will die. proclaim the tendency of e-verythin, Iearthly to putrefactio3n and deathth religion of Christ the only preservative My subject is one of great congratu lation to those who have within thei souls this gospel antiseptic. This sal will preserve them through the tem~pta tions and sorrows of life and througl the ages of eternity. 1 do not mean t, say that you will have a smooth tim because you are a Christian. On th contrary, if you do your whole duty. will romise you a rough time. Yo, march throuch an ene-ny's country, an they will try to double up both flank supIeA. kne war you wage - 1 i be wit.h ia arrows. but with swor3 plunged to the hilt %ud s; nrrNg on .voursteed er ,ears of the slia. But I think that Gr.d omnipotent ,wil1 see you throuch. I thin'k h . , But why do I ta'k like an athe-st wnen I - 'ught to say I k"ow 1 wll? Kept by the pohr . droughi faith unto complete s.2auon. When Goveruor Geary of Pennsyl vania died. years ago, I lost a good friend. lHe impressed rue mightily with the horrors of war. In the eight hours that we rode together in the ears i he recited to me the scenes through which he had passed in the civil war. He said that there esme one battle upon which everything seemLed to pivot. Telegrams from Washington said that the life of the nation depended on that strukge. le said to me: "I went into that battle, tr. with my son. His mother and I thought everything of him. You know how a fLiher will feel toward his son who is coming up manly and brave and good. Well, the b ittle opened and coacentered, and it was awfun Horses and riders bout and twisted and pilel up together. It was awful, sir. We quit firing and took to the point of trle bayonet. Well, sir, I didn't feel like myself that day. I had prayed to God for strength for that particular battle, and I w.ent into it feeling that I had in my r:ght arw the sirngth of tcn giants ' And as the g(vernor brcught his arm down on the back of the scat it fairly made the car tremble. "WL," hie said, "the battle was desperat.', but after awhile we gained a little. Qad we mUarehed on a r 1it:ie. I tuned roud to the troops r and .shouted, "Come on, boys!' and I r stepped across a dead soldier, and, lo, it was my son! I saw at the first glance he was dead, and yet I did not dare to stop a minute, for the crisis had come in the battle. So I just got down on my knees and I threw my arms around him, and I gve him one good kiss and said, -Go(odby, dear,' and sprung up and shouted. 'Come on. bny " So it is in the Christian conflict-it is a ierce fi11t. -ernal ages seem de pendii on the t-rife. Heaven is wait iue for tho bulietin to announce the tr.,Uor us issue. Hail of shot, gash a ar fall of battle-ax, groaning on every -ide. We cannot stop for loss or hereavement or anything else. With one ardent embrace and one loving kiss r we utter our farewells and then cry: -Come on, boys' There are other heights to be captured: there are other foes to be eorg red; thre other crowns to be won." Yet, as one of tie L.rd's surgeons. I must bind up two or three wounds. Just lift them now, whatever they be. I have been told there is nothing like de. to stop the bleeding of a wound. t and so 1 take this salt of God's gospel s and put it on the lacerated soul. It swarts a little at tirst. but see-the bleeding stops. and, lo. the flesh comes again as the flesh of a little child. k at is good." "Coafort one anothel with these words. C s THE TEACHER'S CONVENTION After a Most Successful Meeting e Closed Friday. The National Educational Society, t which met in Charleston last week, s concluded its labors on Friday night tand adjourned sine die. There were many distingushed educators from all s over the United States p'rssent, and -many valuable pap:rs were read on Sschool matters at the different sessions of the convention. Tae following offi cers were elected for the eoming~ year: -Pesident-J. M1. Green. Trenton, N. 3 . First vice president, 0. T. Corson, Obio; second, J. A. Foshay. California; thrd, H. P. Archer. South Carolina; -fourth, H B. Brown. Indiana; fifth, Francis WV. Parker, Illinois; sixth, L. 1W. Bacholez, F:r.rida; seventh. W. H. Bartholomew, Kentucky; eighth, 0. SH. Cooper, T x .s; ninth, Win. M1. Davidson, Kansas; tenth, Ri. B. Ful ton, 31ississippi; eleventh, Gertrude a Edmnonds, M1assachusetts; twelfth, H. 5 .E. Kratz, Iowa; treasurer, L. C. Green lee, Colorado. 'M3r. Irving Shephard, the treasurer, holds over. The selee tion of the convention city for 1901 twas leFt to the executive comnmittee. SAt the closing session the comnmittee >on resolutions made its report. Their Sfindings urge the battering and spread >ing of the common school and the cxten - sion of the American system into Cuba, SPuerto Rico and the Philippines. Con gress is requested to reorganize the bureau of education upon broader lines, in order t. meet the increased require m nents and to atablish it as an indepen dent department on a plane with the depart ment of labor. The departme nt of school admninistra tion elected the following officers: President, WV. S. Ellis. Anderson, Ind.; first vice pr.sident, 1. II. Peres, M1em phis, Tenn.; scond, .John Ogren, Charleston; third, Dr. W. A. Hunt. Northfield, MIinn.; fourth, Graham 11 SHarris, Chicago; fifth, RI L. YDager. 3Kansas City; secretary, Win. t arge SBruce, Mlilwaukee. Jumped From the Train. SA negro was killed Thursday night on . the Coast Line railroad in the Southern ,portion of the city-. Coroner Green theld an inquest thi m-,orning, but it was a not definitely ascertained wvhat the Snegro's name wa. lie wes variously called Smith. Davis or sonme other name, so he was denominated unknown. H le was stealing a ride on an incoming freight train and jumpned off just as the train got under the~ Seaboard trestle Sand was killed. H i hea was crushed. -It is said that he came from. WAedcefeld. 1 he verdict was that he cameo to h'is ucath by jumping off the train while Sstealinge a ride. T1he railroad campany aburied the remains-Columbia Rcord. 'BDevoured by Cannibals. Bushmen from Cape Oxford, accord -ing to a letter received fromt Sydney, twere killed and eite-n by cannibals on Sthe coast of New Britain. Tihe most I horrifying part was when several men twore captured alive and dragged to the scene of the feast their bodtes wore to provide. They were clubbed and after wards roasteda and~ eate:2. This tribe of native ghouls is one of the most notorious in the islands for man eating, who kill for food solely. The victims were not all killed at on ce, some of t he m witnessing the Lillin;g of their en.t and the first part of the canmniG.~ !eaat. LA Foolish Charge. The Springfield R~epuubb -au says: "One of the odd things in this chargte that Mr. Bryan was responsible for the -ratification of the Paris treaty is that rit leaves out of account M1r. M1cKinley, t two-thirds of the United States senate - and the sudden outbreak of war at Mla i nila the day before the vote was taken. If Brian had more to do with ratifica tion than those three forces, he does Snot need to be inaugurated as president of the United States to run the Ameri can peop'le. lie is, in that case, the bigest force in the country already, and he ought to start 16i to I a-going f without being elected.' CAMPAIGN OPENEI). Thirteen Thousand People Present to Hear the Spieches. BRYAN AND OTHERS SPEAK. Several Very Strong Piesent ations cf the Democratic Doctrine. Appeal to the Voters of the Nation. The informal opening of the Demo cratic presidential campaign took place at Lincoln, Neb., on Tuesday of last week. In two ratification meetings, one in the afternoon, conducted by the Populists and Silver Republicans of Nebraska, and one in the evening con ducted by the Democrats, Wm. Jen nings Bryan, Chas. A. Towne, Gen. James B. Weaver and other leaders of the parties, outlined the work of the campaign in the interest of Bryan and Stevenson. Probably 13,000 people, a good proportion from distant points in the State, listened to the speeches and paid homage to the leaders of the par ties to which they owe allegiance, nearly 3 000 people packing the auditorium in the afternoon, while 10,000 gathered in the capital grounds in the evening. Mr. Bryan and Mr. Towne spoke at both meetings, although it was their intention to deliver addresses only at the evening meeting, and their re marks, forecasting as they did the fusion of the three parties on the Deam ocratic national ticket, were received with unbounded enthusiasm. Mr. Stevenson, who is Mr. Bryan's guest, was somewhat indisposed and did not appear at the afterro.r meeting. He was present at the evening meeting, however, and received an ovation. At the afternooon meeting thespeak ers were Mr. Bryan. Congressman Sha forth of Colorado. "Cyclone" Davis of Texas, former Assistant Secretary of the Interior Webster Davis, Charles A. Towne, and Gen. James B. Weaver. Mr. Bryan spoke last and only in re sponse to repeated calls. He was wildly cheered as Chairman %dmonston intro duced him as "Mr. Bryan of North I 'eel almost as if I ought to apol z" for not being able to call myself .ormer Republican," said Mr. Bryan, .::1id laughter. Mr. Bryan then paid ,t.qnent tribute to Gen. Weaver, 'harles A. Towne and Webster Davis, ortner Republicans, saying he "wander el how the Republican who is not tied -o his party by office could refuse to Iave the party and cast his lot with hose who believe in the Declaratien of ndependence here and in South Africa -L. simply want to say now that the campaign is begun so far as the tickets and the platforms are concerned," Mr. lryan continued, "and from now until election day it will be the duty of every citizen to take these issues before the country and weigh them. It will be the duty of every citizen to see where his duty lies. There is a privilege in being an American citizen, and th.ere is a responsibility cnmmensurate with the privilege. If we lived in a land where a king thought for us. we would feel no responsibility for the action of that kiae. But we live in a land where the people determine the policy. We live in a land where the citizen impresses his own opinion upon the government, where the policy of the government may be determined by the vote of one citizen. And I want to leave a thought with those who are to vote this fall. I want every citizen to vote as he would vote if he knew that his vote would determine this next election. (Applause.) "Remember what it means. You vote in Nebraska, and your vote may determine the vote of this State on the presidentiali ticket and your State may determine the result. (Applaue) "When you get to the polls to vote, remember that you are an American citizen. (A~pplause.) Remember that your vote may determine this nation's position and that this nation will, in a large measure, determine the public opinion of the world on the doctrine that governments come up from the people. (Great applause.) For 124 years this nation has held before the world the light of liberty. For more than a century it has been an example to all the world. You tell me that we can now be indifferent to what is going on? You tell me that a man who lifts his voice against the doctrine of im-. prialismi is pleading the cause of tbe Filipino? I tell you he is plead iaz the cause of American citizens-yea, he is championing the rights of the struxg gling masses of the world who look to A merica for example. (Great applause.) If every Filipino were to die the world wou-i go on, but if this nation, the reatest republic of the world's history, pus out its light, if this republic turns aato the doctrines which we loathed a celitury ar~d a quarter ago, then to wha ra in o0 the world can the people lok for hcpe aui insipiration? So you ought to be proud that you are an Aerican citizen and are able to say -'if the republic goes down I am not to blame for its downfall!'" (Greait applause.) TiHE EVENINO MEETIN(G. At the evening meeting Mr. Bryan and Mr. Stevenson we:e given a tre mendous greeting by the crowd. Both were cheered again! and again as they apeared on the platform. Mr. Towne delivered the most extended speech of the evening meeting, outlining the cam paign arguments on which the Demo ratic party will fight the campaign of 1900O. Mr, Towne gave his first atten tion to the 'monetary question, admit. ting that the issue had changed in im portance since 1896, but ine-isting that it was still a live issue; that the princi ples of bimetallism are as true now as they were in 18%it. Trusts were de nouced as an inherent part of the Re publican administration. Mr. Towne devoted considerable attention to im perialism, condemning the course of administration. Mr. Towne was fullowedi by Mr. Bryan, who wa,~ itncruced amid tre uendusz:~ ,ause. He sp'ke as fol -I am deeply grateful to the good :ope of this city and State for their v ry cordial approval of my nomina tion. Four years ago the State gave me about 13,000 plurality, and on three occasions since that time the people of Nebraska have declared their adher ene to the political principles for which I have been contending. I am not vain enough to believe that their support is meant as a personal compliment. I ac ept it as an evidence of their steadfast devotion to the principles to which I have been wedded. We enter thi3 ampaign under conditions far more favorable to success than those which surrounded us in 18%6. But whether we win this year or not, the fight must be to control the affairs of the nation and it becomss again a nation of the people. "I do not care to enter at the pres ent time upon a discussion of the issues presented by the platform adopted at Kansas City. I can say, however, that it is, in my judgment, the greatest platform adopted in recent years, if not in the history of the country. It is greater than the Chioago platform, for it endorses the principles set forth in that platform and in addition there to presents the party's position upon several new and vital questions. There is no evasion about the platform, no ambiguity and no double dealing. It is as clear as the tones of a bell-as clear as the tones of a liberty bell. It deals honestly with the American people. Its candidates are pledged to its main tenance. "When the convention came to the station of naming a candidate for vice president there was diversity of opin ion. Some preferred an eastern candi date, believing that he would strength en the ticket in the cast. Some pre ferred Mr. Towne, knowing of the sac rifices which he made for principle and of his devotion to the principles set forth in the Chicago platform. But the choice fell upon a distinguished Illinois Democrat who once discharged with great credit the duties of the office. In the campaizn of 1896, when plutocracy and democracy met face to face, Adlai E. Stevenson was an able and cour ageus defender of the cause of democ racy. Daring the campaign he spoke in seven of the close States. "I know that some of our allies felt aggrieved that they were not given the second placs upon the ticket, but I am sure that they cannot feel unkindly toward one who, like Mr. Stevenqon, was loyal to the ticket nominated at Chicago and who is able to defend the magnficent party creed set forth at Kansas City. In this campaign issues are greater than men. I shall not ask anyone to vote our ticket merely be cause it is the ticket of the party. It deserves support because it stands for the Declaration of Independence in dealing with the Philippines and foi the doctrine of equal rights for all and special privilege fo r uone in all douas tic questions. Gen. James B. Weaver spoke at some length, outlining the work to be done by the Democratic, Silver Republican and Populist parties and appealing for harmony for the common cause. He also paid tribute to Mr. Stevenson's record in congress. THE SIN DANCE. A Religious Rite Among the Natives of the Philippines. The Manila correspondent of the Philadelphia Record says the almost naked body of a woman lying in a ditch near San Lazaro started an investiga tion by the police recently that led to startling disclosures as to the character of the Filipinos. Their treachery was common knowledge. Their savagery was not so well recognized until dis coveries in connection with the finding of this quite decomposed body gave sufficient evidence to clear up any im. pressions that the Tagalo was ..nlighten ed. The woman had died during the peni tent dance on Good Friday, and in so doing had disgraced herself to thc ex tent that her relatives had refused to have anything to do with her after death. The native priests have encour aged this relic of barbarity. Men, wo men and children indulge in the dance with a view of obtaining expiation for the sins of the year. The place chosen for the ceremony is always isolated. The more remote it is the more pleased are those who partici pate, for then there can be that aban don thrown into it which would be im possible near any town. The fanatics gene rally strip most of their clothing, and are ready for the dance. They form a circle, giving their bodies a slightly swaying motion, and all the while cut and lash each other with tough switches. It is considered a dis grace for any of the participants to give way to fatigue until the dance is over, the only way to find favor in the eyes of the Supreme Being consisting of a fortitude that makes light of the fearful switching. A dismal chant is kept up during the dance, only ceasing when the chosen leader gives the signal to stop. The dead woman had participated in one of these d.nces, and had held out for hours. Those who were with her in the dance expressed surprise that she held out as she did. Late in the after noon, however she had succumbed and fallen utterly exhausted. She was dragged out of tne circle and thrown into the ditch, where she had remained until the officers found her. The Spanish government did what it could to stop these rites, which closely approach those of the American Indi aos in their medicine dance, and now the United States will have something more to contend against in killing such practices. Carries a Spine. A western man man wrote to Life, kver satire weekly of New York, ask i,g it to state its position in the na tioniai campaign. Life responded: "We are no~ going to support M1r. McKinley nor Mr. Bryan. We are not going to suppo'rt imperialism. The elcetion of Mr. Bryan would not mean free silver. He could not force it upon the country if he tried. Congress is for gold, and will so remain. Mr. McKinley's re lee'ion, especially with Mr. Rloosevet at bis elbow. would promise a pro loge'i andi hyody orgie of imperialism -that is. tf conquest, debt and dis honor. As to the two candidates per sonally we prefer Mr. Bryan. He has convictions-such as they are-and he carries a spine." The Two Issues. Senator J. K. Jones, chairman of the Democratic national committee says: "The Democrats made free sil ver the issue in 189G," declared the Senator, "aod they will make anti im perialism the issue in the coming cam paign. The lhp'ublicans may try to make othe~r q 1estions paramount, so as to keep imperiialism and trusts in the back groun~d, but we will not allow them to dej so." No Increase of Trade. We refer our imperialists to the offi cial report of our trade with Manila. The New York Evening Post, after summing it up, says: "Practically all the increase in our exports is caused by the presence of our army in the Philip pines. Remove it, and there would he no more left of cur export to those islands than there is of a soapbubble when it has burst. The Cotton Crop. The outlook for cotton is bad. The monthly report of the statistician of the department of agriculture will show the average condition of cotton on J'ily 1 to have been 75.8, as compared with 82.5 last month, 87.8 on July 1, 1899, 91.2 at the corresponding date in 1898, STATES HER CASE. China Defines Her Position in a Royal Decree. TEXT OF THE DOCUMENT. In it the Boxers are Charged With Originating the Dis turbances Now Going on in China A dispatch from Washington says an imperial decree dated third day of sixth moon was received by telegraph Wed nesday by Minister Wu, from the Tao tai of Shanghai, transmitted on July 1st from the treasure of the Chihli re public who received it by special courier on June 30 from the board of war, who in turn received it from the privy coun cil in Pekin. This decree is as fol lows: "The circumstances which led to the commencement of fighting between Chinese and foreigners were of such a complex, confusing and unfortunate character as to be entirely unexpected. Our diplomatic representatives abroad, owing to their absence from the scene of action, have had no means of know ing the true state of things, and accord ingly cannot lay the views of their gov ernment before the ministers of foreign affairs of the respective powers to which they are accredited. Now we take this opportunity of going fully into the mat ter f ,r the information of our representa tives aforesaid. "In the first place, there arose in the provinces of Chihli and Shan Tung a band of rebellious subjects, who had been in the habit of practicing boxing and fencing in their respective villages, and at the same time clothing their' doings with spirituilistic and strange rites. The local authorities failed to take due notice of them at the time. Accordingly the infection spiead with astonishing rapidity. Within the space of a month it seemed to make its ap pearance everywhere and finally even reached, the capital itself. Every one looked upon the movement as super natural and strange and many joined it. Then there were lawless and treacherous persons, who sounded the cry of 'Down with Christianity.' About the middle of the fifth moon, these persons began to create disturbances without warning. Churches were burnt and converts were killed. The whole city was in a ferment. A sit uation was created which could not be brought under control. At first, the foreign powers requested that foreign troops be allowed to enter the capital for the protection of the legations. The imperial government, having in view the comparative urgency of the occa sion, granted the request, as an extra ordianary mark of courtesy beyond the requirements of international inter course. Over 500 foreign troops were sent to Pekin. This shows clearly how much care China exercised in the main tenance of friendly relations with other countries. The legations at the capital never had much to do with the people. But from the time following the troops' entering the city the guards did not de vote themselves exclusively to the pro tection of their respective legations. They sometimes fired their guns on top of the city walls, and sometimes patrolled the streets everywhere. There were repeated reports of persons being hit by stray bullets. Moreover, they strolled about the city without re straint, and even attempted to enter the Tung lHua gate (the eastern gate of the palace grounds ) They only de sisted when admittance was positively forbidden. On this account both the soldiers and the people were provoked to resentment, and voiced their indig nation with one accord. "Lawless persons then took advan tage of the situation to do mischief, and became bolder than ever in burn ing and killing Christian converts. The powers thereupon attempted to rein force the foreign troops in Pekin, but the reinforcements encountered resist ance and defeat at the hands of the insurgents on the way and have not yet been able to proceed. The insur gents of the provinces of Chihli and Shan Tun had by this time effected a complete union, and could not be sep arated. The imperial government was by no means reluctant to issue orders for the entire suppression of this in surgent element. Bat as the trouble was so near at hand, there was a great fear that due protection might not be assured to the legations, if tbe anarch ists should be driven to extremities, thus bringing on a national calamity. There also was a fear that uprisings might occur in the provices of Chihli and Shan Tung at the same time, with the result that both foreign missiona ries and Chinese converts in the two. provinces might fall victims to popular fury. It was, therefore, absolutely nec essary to consider the matter from ev ery point of view. "As a measure of precaution it was finaily decided to request the foreign ministers to retire temporarily to Tien Tsin for safety. It was while the dis cussion of this proposition was in pro gress that the German minister, Baron von Ketteler, was assassir~ated by a riotions mob one morning while on his way to the tsung-li-yamen. On the previous day the German minister had written a letter appointing a time for calling at the tsung-li-yamen. But the yamen, fearing he might be molested on the way, did not consent to the ap pointment as suggested by the minis ter. Since this occurrence the anar cists assumed a more bold and threat ening attitude and consequently it was deemed wise to carry out the project of sending the diplomatic corps to Tien Tsin under an escort, However, orders were issued to the troops detailed for the protection of the legations to keep stricter watch and take greater precau tion against any emergency. "To our surprise, on the 20th day of the fifth muoon (-Juno 16,) foreign ] (naval) ofiicers at Taku called upon Lo Jung Kwang, the general commanding, and demanded his surrender of the forts, notifying him that failing to re ceive compliance they would at 2 o'clock the ncxt day take steps to seize the forts by force. Lo Jung Kwang I being bound by the duties of his office to hold the forts, how could he yield to the demand? On the day named they actually first fired upon the forts, 1 which responded and kept up a fighting all day and then surrendered. Thus the conflict of forces began, but cer tainly the initiative did not come from our side. Even supposing that China were not conscious of her true conditicn, how could she take such a step as to en gage in war with all the powers simul teneously, and how could she, relying upon the support of an anarchistic populace, go into war with the powers? Or position in this matter ought to be clearly understood by all the powers. AB50EVTELY i Makes the food more de ROYAL MRO PM "The above is a statement of the wrongs we have suffered, and how China was driven to the unfortunate position from which she could not es cape. ' Our stveral ministers vill make known accurately and in detail the contents of this decree and the policy of China to the ministers of foreign affairs in their respective countries and assure them that the military author ities are still enjoined to afford protec tion to the legations as hitherto, to the utmost of their power. As for the narchist. they will be severely dealt with as circumstances permit. "The several ministers will continue in the discharge of the duties of their Difice as hitherto without hesitation or loubt. This telegraphic decree to be ransmitted for their information. Re pt c this." FREE BLOOD CURE Lu Offer Providing Faith to Sufferers Eating Sores, Tumors, Ulcers, are 01 curable by B. B. B. (Botanic Blood Balm,) which is made especially to cure ll terribie Blood Diseases. Persistent ores, Blood and Skin Blemishes, crofula, that resist other treatments, re quickly cured by B. B. B. (Botanic Blood Balm). Skih Eruptions, Pims ples, Red, Itching Eczema, Scales, Blisters, Boils, Carbuncles, Blotches, atarrh, Rheumatism, ete., are all due o bad blood, and hence easily cured >y B. B. B. Blood Poison producing Eating Sores, Eruptions, Swollen ;lands, Sore Throat etc., cured by B B. B. (Botanic Blood Balm), in one to ive months. B. B. B. does not con 'ain vegetable or mineral poison. )ne bottle will test it in an case. For ale by druggists everywhere. Large bottles $1, six for five $5. Write for ree samplebottle, which will be sent, prepaid to Times readers, describe imptoms and personal free medicaf dvice will be given. Address Blood Balm Co., Atlanta, Ga. Scholarships For Girls The South Carolina Federation of Woman's Clubs has received from Con verse college one scholarship of free tu ition for each county in the State. All competitors for these scholarships will be required to pass a satisfactory exam ination in the following four subjects: 1. Latin, including grammar, com poition, and four books of Caesar, or an equivalent. 2. Mathematics, which will include arithmetic find algebra, covered by such text lok as Olney, Wells or Went worth. 3 English, which will include gram mar, analysis, composition and elemen ary rhetoric, and a fair knowledge of English and American literature. 4 History, which will include ele mentary English and United States his ory. These examinations will be held in each county on August 1, 1900. Those desiring to enter the contest will please send their names before July 0 to Christie H. Poppenheim, chair an education departoent, 31 Meeting treet, Charleston, S. C. The Cotton Outlook. Except in Fiorida, Texas and Okla homa where cotton is doing perhaps as well as usual considering the vast ter ritory and diversity of climate and soil embraced. the prospects have not been bettered during the past week and cot ton fields with few exceptions are foul with grass and weeds over the entire belt east of the Mississippi. Many ields in Tennessee, Alabama and South arolina have been abandoned. To what extent the productive acreage has een affected cannot now be deter mined, but a low estimate of aban oned fields equals the increase in acre age planted. The plants in general are nt fruiting well, and in places are stedding, but it is probable that the recent more favorable weather has ap plied nature's remedy for those com plaints. Within the past few days moderate rains have fallen over nearly he whole of ['exas, supplying the rain fall needed to keep the plants in a vig rous, growing and fruiting condition. t has been many years since the crop s a whole presented such a variety of ondition, ranging from as fine as could e wished to the very poorest. Deafness Cannot be Cured y lecal applications as they cannot each the diseased portion of the ear. [here is only one way to cure deafness, ad that is by constitutional remedies. eafness is caused by an inflamed con lition of the mucous lining of the ustachian Tube. 'When this tube is lahmed you have a rumbling sound or npe feet hearingand when it is entire y closed. Deafness is the result, and Lless thxe inflammation Can be condi :ion, hearing will be destroyed forever; me eases cut of ten are caused by Jatarrh, which is nothing but an in lamed condition of the mucous sur 'aces. We will give Oce Hundred Dollars or any case of Deafness (caused by 3atarrb) that cannot be cured by Hall's iatarrh Caire. Send for circulars, free. F. J. CIIE.\EY & Co., Toledo, 0. Sold by all Druggists 75c. Hall's Family Pills are the best. Loses the Left Arm Friday afternoon Mr. Joel E Brun en, while superintending the work of is shingle mill, near Kingstree, un orunately got his left arm entangled the saw of the same and before the 1ni1 could be stoped his left hand and )art of the arm was crushed and almost ntirely cut off. Mr. Brunson was amediately brought into town. Ura. icott, Johnson and Epps were called in ,nd the injured arm was amputated st below the elbow. The injury is erious and $ainful, but Mr. Brunson doing as well as could be expected. Gainesville, Ga., Dec. 8, 1899 Pitts' Antiseptic Invigorator has een used in my family andlI am per ectly satisfied that it is all, and will Lo all, you claim for it. Yours truly, A. B. C. Dorsey. P. .-i am using it now myself. t's doing me good.-Sold by The Mur y Drug Co., Columbia, S. C., and all ruggists. tf kingdom for a cure. You need not pay so much. . twenty-five cent bottle of L. L. & K. Will drive all ills away. POWDER IRE licious and wholesome M Co., IEw vom. Sees Victory for Bryan. Blanton Duncan of Los An geles, Cal., who predicted the defeat of Mr. Bryan in 1896 shortly after his nomination by the Chicago convention, pub lishes a letter in the Kansas City Times claiming that political conditions have changed to a re markable extent in the past four years, and that Mr. Bryan will be elected next November. Mr. Duncan estimates that 15,000,000 votes will be cast in the election this year, of which Mr. Bryan will receive 7,400,000 and Mr. McKinley 6,700,000. The Middle-of-the-Road Popu lists, he thinks, will not poll over 250,000 votes, half of which will be cast in Alabama, Georgia and Texas. The Social Labor vote is estimated at 100,000 and the Prohibitionist at 250,000. Mr. Duncan believes that not less than 1,000,000 Scandinavi ans, Dutch and Germans who supported McKinley in 1896 will vote this year for Mr. Bryan. California, he says, will return a majority of at least 12,000 for Bryan. The States which ac cording to Mr. Duncan, will give their electoral votes to the Demo cratic nominee are as follows: California, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, New York, Nevada, Utah and the "Solid South," including Kentucky. These States have 250 electoral votes, or 32 more than are necessary to elect. The States conceded to McKin ley are Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont, with 128 electoral votes. The "doubtful and contested" States are Connecticut,Idaho, Montana Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming, with 63 electoral votes. Not only will Mr. Bryan be elected President, but from Mr. Duncan's point of view, the Democrats will have a majority of at least fifteen in the next House of Representatives. Will Support Bryan The Augusta Chronicle says many commercial travellers who helped elect McKinley are now just as eargerly working to de feat him. Thousands of them are out of jobs today-this day of boundless prosperity-and they are the victims of trusts. A very prominent member of the T. P. A. puts the case, if anything, more tersely than Chairman Richardson did at Kansas City. After "roasting" Hanna and the convention plat form this gentleman concludes as follows: "It is just a month ago today that our organization announced that it would support William Jennings Bryan and his running mate. That the Re publican party fears the organi zation, is evident by the large sums of money now being spent by Mark Hanna trying to organ ize a commercial travellers Re publican club. The Commercial Travellers' and Hotel Men's Anti-Trust League will put all its might into the fight to aid in the election of Mr. Bryan, who we know means what he says on the trust q'uestion. The trust question is going to be one of the important issues of the coming campaign, and the traveling men. are going to be among the most efficient workers for the Demo cratic party." The "drummers" are among the brightest, keen est and most energetic of men. They are famous talkers and hustlers' They helped much to turn the tide against Bryan, in 1896. They will help mightily to elect him in 1900. Cheeky Depew. One thing the Republican leaders have and that is agood supply of cheek and that old1 humbug, Senator Depew, of New York, has more than his share. In his speech before the Philadelphia convention Sena tor Depewv made a vigorous at tack on the ice trust of New York, referring only to a fewv Democrats, who hold stock in the trust. The ice trust is offi cered and managed by Republi cans, and the trust was finally demolished and broken up by the Democratic newspapers. Noue of these things occurred to Mr. Depew on the spur of the mo ment perhaps, nor did it occur to him to mention the several hundred other criminal and op pressive trusts which are rob bing the people under the pro tecting power of the Republican party. In dealing with the ice trust the Republicans only men tion the Democratic end of it. Nothing is said about the other end, and the entire middle, which is Republican. The De mocratic newspapers got after the few Democrats and run them to cover, and the Republicans are using this to blind the eyes of the public to the fact that three-fourths of the trust is Re pnblican, and the Republicans have done nothing to run their men out of it. No doubt the hypocritical Depew himself has a large block of this very ice trust's stock. THE outlook for Bryan and Stevenson is very bright, and the indication are that they ~ will win a grand and glorious vicor for the people.