The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, April 15, 1897, Image 7
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BUILDING THE CITY, j
OR. TALMtGE ON NEHEMIAH'S RIDE
IN WRECKED JERUSALEMTh?
Enchantment of the Moonlight and
m Nthtmlkh'i Re?olv?-Lov? of the Church
of God Rain end Redemption The
Great Good That Comee From Trouble,
Washington, April 4 From the
weird And midnight exDeriences of one
of ancient times Dr. Talmage in his
sermon draws lessons startlingly aopropriate.
His text was Nehemiah ii,
15,4Then went I up in the night by
the brook and viewed the wall and
' turned back and entered by the gate of
the valley, and so returned."
A dead city is mo** suggestive than
a living city past Rome than nresent
Rome ruins rather than newly frescoed
cathedral. But the best time to
visit a ruin is by moonlight. The Coliseum
is far more fascinating to the
traveler after sundown than before.
You may stand by daylight amid the
monastic ruins of Melrose abbey and
> study shafted oriel and rosetted stone
and mullion, but tbey throw their
strongest witchery by moonlight.
Some of you remember what the enchanter
of Scotland said in the 4'Lay
of (he Last Minstrel
\ Wouldst thou riew fair Melrose aright,
t 'Go visit it by the pale moonlight,
Washington Irving descri bes the
Andalusian moonlight upon the Aihambra
ruin as amounting to an enchantment
My text presents you Je
rnsalem in ruins. The tower down.
The gates down. The walls down.
Everything down. Nehemiah on
horseback by moonlight looking upon
the ruins. While he rides there are
>some friends on foot going with him,
lor they do not want the many horses
to disturb the suspicions of the people.
These people do not know the secret
KaKomiiK'o Vij>o?+ V?,if than bm crri.
VI 41VUVUIIMU IJ UVUt VU? tUV^ ?*?v gv
ing as a sort of bodyguard. I hear
the clicking hoofs of tne horse on
-which Nehemiah rides as he guides it
this way and that, into this gate and
out of that, winding through that gate
amid the debris of once great Jerusalem.
Now the horse comes to dead halt at
the tumbled masonry where he cannot
pasa. Now he shies off at the charred
timbers. -Now he comes along where
the water under t*?e moonlight flashes
from the mouth of the brazen dragon
-after which the gate was named.
Heary hearted Nehemiah! Riding in
and out, now by his old home desolat-ed,
now by the defaced temple, now
amid the scars of the city that had
gone down under battering ram and
conflagration. The escorting party
knows not what Nehemiah means. Is
he getting crazy? Have his own personal
sorrows, added to the sorrows of
the nation, unbalanced his intellect?
Still the midnight exploration goes
' on. Nehemiah on horseback rides
through the flsh gate, by the tower of
# the furnaces, by the king's pool, by
* the dragon well, in and out, in and
out. until the midnight ride is com
pleted, and Nehemiah dismounts from
his horse, and to the amazed and confounded
and incredulous bodyguard
declares tbe dead secret of his heart
when he says, "Come now. let us
build Jerusalem." "What, Nehemiah,
have you any money?" "No."
"Have yeu any kingly authority?"
"No." "Have you any eloquence?"
44No." Yet that midnight, moonlight
ride of Nehemiah resulted in the glorious
rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem.
The people knew not how the
thing was to be done, but with great
enthusiasm they cried out, 4'Let us
rise up now and build the city." Some
people laughed and said it oould not
be done. Some people were infuriated
.and offered physical violence, saying
the thing should not be done. But the
workmenwent righton,standing on the
wall, trowel in one hand, sword in the
-other, until the work was gloriously
completed. At that very time in
Greece Xenophon was writing a history,
and Plato was making philosophy,
and Demosthenes was rattling his rhetorical
thunder. But all of them together
did not do so much for the
world as this midnight, moonlight
ride of praying, courageous, homesick,
close mouth Nehemiah.
My subject first impresses me with
the idea, what an intense thing is
church affection. Seize the Dridle of
that horse and stop Nehemiah. Why
are you risking your life here in the
night? Your horse will stumble over
these ruins and fall on you. Stop this
useless exposure of your life. No.
Nenemiah will not stop. He at last
tells us the whole story. I?e lets us
know he was an exile in a far distant
land, and he was a servant, a cupbearer
in the palace of Artaxerxes LoDgiman
us. and one day, while he was
handing the cup of wine to the king
the king said to him. "What is the
- w. matter with you? You are not sick.
I know ^you must have some great
trouble. What is the matter with
you?" Then he told the king how that
beloved Jerusalem was broken down;
how that his father's tomb had been
desecrated; how that the temple had
been dishonored and defaced; how
that the walls were scattered and broken.
"Well," says King Artaxerxes.
"'what do you want?" "Well," said
the cupbearer Nehemiah, "I want to
go home. I want to fix up the grave
of my father. 1 want to restore the
beauty of the temple, I want to re1
M J xl ? a. 1 11
ouua me masonry 01 me cuy wanf
Besides I want passports so that I
shall not be hindered in my journey.
And besides that," as you will find in
the context, "I want an order on the
man who keeps your forest for just
so much timber as I may need for the
rebuilding of the city." "How long
shall you begone?" said the king. The
time of absence is arranged. In hot
haste this seeming adventurer comes
to Jerusalem, and in my text we find
' him on horseback in the midnight
riding around the ruins. It is through
the spectacles of this scene that we
discover the ardent attachment of Nefiemiah
for sacred Jerusalem, which
in all ages has been the type of the
clurch of God, our Jerusalem which
v we love just as much as Nehemiah
| loved his Jerusalem. Th* fact is that
j sou love the church of God so much
that there is no spot on earth so sacred,
unless it be your own fireside.
The church has been to you so much
comfort and illumination that there is
nothing that makes yeu so irate as to
have it talked against. If there hare
been times when you have been carried
into captivity by sickness, you
longed for the church, our holy Jerusalem,
just as much as Nehemiah
longed for his Jerusalem, and the first
day you come out you came to the
house of the Lord. When the temple
was in ruins, like Nehemiah. you
walked around and looked at it, and
in the moonlight you stood listening
if you could not hear the voice of the
dead organ, the p?alm of the exoirpd
Sabbaths- What Jerusalem was in
Nehemiah, the church of God is to you.
Skeptics and infidels may a -off at the
church as an obsolete affair as a relic
of the dark ages, as a cod vention of
goody goody people, but all the impression
they have ever made on your
mind against the church of God is absolutely
nothing. You would make
more sacrifices for it today than any
other institution, and if it were needful
you would die in its defense. You
can take the words of the kingly poet
as he said. "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget her
cunning." You understand in your
own experience the pathos, the homesickness,
the curage, the holy enthusiasm
of Nehemiah in his midnight,
moonlight ride around the ruins of
this beloved JerusalemAgain,
my text impresses me with
the fact that before reconstruction
there must bean exploration of ruins.
Why was not Nehemiah asleep under
iae covers f wny was uui uu uurw
stabled in the midnight? L?t the police
of the city arrest this midnight
rider, out on some mischief. No.
Nehemi&h is going to rebuild the city,
and he is making the preliminary exploration.
In this gate, out that gate,
east, west, north, soutn. All through
the ruins. The ruins must be explored
before the work of reconstruction can
l begin. The reason that so many people
in this day, apparently converts,
do not stay converted is because they
did not first explore the ruins of their
own heart. The reason that there are
so many professed Christians who ip
this day lie and forge and steal, and
commit abominations, and go to the
penitentiary, is because they first do
not learn the ruin of their own heart.
They have not found out that "the
heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked." They had an
idea that they were almost right, and
they built religion as a sort of extension,
as an ornamental cupola. There
was a superstructure of religion built
on a substratum of unrepented sins.
The trouble with a good deal of modern
theology is that instead of building
> the right foundation, it builds
on the debris of an unregenerated nature.
They attempt to rebuild Jerusalem
before, in the midnight of con-'
viction. they have seen the ghastliness
of the ruin. They have such a poor
foundation tor their religion that the
first northeast storm of temptation
blows them down. I have no faith in
a man's conversion if he is not converted
in the old fashioned way John
Bunyan's way, John Wesley's way,
John Calvin's way, Paul's way,
Cod's way. A dentist said to me,
"Does that hurt?'' Said I: "Of course
it hurts. It is in your butiness as in
my profession. We have to hurt before
we can help." You will never
understand redemption until you understand
ruin.
A man tells me that some one is a
member of the church, It makes no
impression on my mind at all. I
simply want to know whether he was
converted in the old fashioned way, or
whether he was converted In the new
fashioned way. If he was converted
in the old fashioned way, he will
s(and. If he was converted in the new
fashioned way, he will not stand. That
is all there is about it. A man comes
to me to talk about religion. The first
question I ask him is, "Do you feel
yourself to be a sinner?" If he say,
"Well, I yes,"the hesitancy makes
me feel that that man wants a ride on
"VTaViomioVi'o VinmM hv midnight th much
the ruins in by the gate of his affections;
out by the gate of his will and
before he has got through with that
midnight ride he will drop the reins
on the horse's neck, and will take his
right hand and smite on his heart and
say. "God be merciful, to me a sinner,"
and before ha has stabled his
horse he will take his feet out of the
stirrups, and he will slide down on
the ground, and he will kneel, crying:
"Have mercy on me, 0 God,
according to thy loving kindness, according
unto the multitude of thy tender
mercies. Blot out my transgessions,
for 1 acknowledge my transgressions,
and my sins are ever before
theeAh, my friends, you see this
is xujt a complimentary gospel. That
is what makes some people so mad. It
comes to a man of a million dollars,
and impenitent in his sins, and says,
"You're a pauper." It comes to a
woman of fairest cheek, who has never
repented, and says, "You're a sinner."
j It comes to a man priding himself on
his independence, and says, "You're
bound hand and foot by the devil."
It comes to our entire race, and says,
"Ynu'rfl a ruin, a pnastlv ruin, an
Illimitable ruin." Satan "sometimes
says tome: "Why do you preach
that truth? Why don't you preach a
gospel with no repentence in it? Why
don't you flatter men's hearts so that
you make them feel all right? Why
don't you preach a humanitarin gospel,
with no repentence in it, saying
nothing about the ruin, talking all
the time*about the Redemption?"
I say, "Get thee behind me, satan."
I would rather lead five souls into
safety than 20,000 in perdition. The
redemption of the gospel is ?a perfect
farce if there is no ruin. "The whole
need not a physician, but they that
are sick." "If any one, though he be
an angel from heaven, preach any
other gospel than this," says the apostle,
"let him be accursed." There
must be the midnight ride over the
ruins before Jerusalem can be built.
There must be the clicking of the hoofs
' \
before there c?n be the ring of the
trowels.
Again. My subject gives me a specimen
of busy and triumphant sadness.
If there was any man in the world <
who had a right to mope and give up j
everything as lost, it was Nehemiah.
You say, "He was a cupbearer in the <
palace of Shushan, and it was a grand i
place." So it was. The hall of that I
palace was 200 feet square, and the i
roof hovered over 36 marble pillars, I
each pillar 60 feet high, and the in- '
I* Ul.._ _/ 4U 1. i
ICLlfcC UIUC U1 tuo oajr, aJJU IUC uccp i
green of the forest foliage, and I he i
white of the driven snow, all hung <
trembling in the upholstery. But, 1
my friends, you know very well that 1
fixir architecture will not put down
homesickness. Yet Nehemiah did not i
iwe uj Then when you see him <
?:oing ? nong these desolated stre?- s, <
and by these dismantled to*cr?, aud i
by the torn up grave of his father, you <
would suppose that he would have 1
been disheartened, and t'i he would (
have dismounted from ins horse and ]
gone to his room and said: "Woe is j
me! My father's grave is torn up. ]
The temple is dishonored. The walls ]
are broken down. I have no money i
with which to rebuild, I wish I had
never been born. I tfish I were
dead." Not so says Nehemiah. Although
he had a g -ief so intense that (
1 ' 4- v.;-1
11 exciiea UlOU'JUiuicuMftrjr vi U19 mug,
yet that penniless, expatriated Nehe- (
miah rouses himself up to repuild the
city. He gets his permission of absence.
He gets his passports. He
hastens away to Jerusalem, By night
on horseoack he rides through the
ruins. He overcomes the rao3t fero
cious opposition. He arouses the piety
and patriotism of the people, and
in less than two months namely, 52
days Jerusalem was rebuilt. That's
what I call busy and triumphant sadness.
My friends, the whole temptation is
with you when you have trouble to
do just the opposite to the behaviour
of Nehemiah, and that is to give up.
You say, "I have lost my child and
can never smile again." You say, "I
have lost my property, and I never
can retain my fortunes." You say, <
"1 have lost ail in life and I never
can start again for a new life." If <
satan can make you form that resolu i
tion and make you keep it, he has ruined
you. Trouble is not sent to crush (
you, but to arouse you to animation, j
to propel you. The locksmith does j
not insert the iron into the forge and 1
then blow away with the bellows and <
then bring the hot iron out on the
anvil and beat with stroke after stroke
to ruin the iron, but to prepare it for
a better use. Ob, that the Lord God j
of Nehemiah would rouse up all bro- ;
ken hearted people to rebuild!
Whipped, betrayed, shipwrecked, im- j
prisoned, Paul went right on. The
Italian martyr Algerius cits in his 1
dungeon writing a letter, and he'dates
it, "From the delectable orchard of ,
the Leonine prison." That is what I
call triumphaat sadness. I knew a '
mother who buried her babe on r riday
and on Sabbath ao pea red in the j
house of God and saia: "Give me
a class. Givs me a 8abbath school ;
class. I have no child now left me,
and I would like to have a class of i
little children. Give me a class off <
the back street." That, I say, is beautiful
That is triumphant sadness. ]
At 3 o'clock every Sabbath afternoon
for years in a beautiful parlor in Phil- ,
adelphia a parlor pictured aud statuetted there
were from 10 to 20 des j
titute children of the street. Those
destitute children received religious ]
instruction, concluding with cakes
and sandwiches. How do 1 know ]
that that was going on for 16 years?
I know it in this way: That was the ;
first home in Philadelphia where I
was called to comfort a great sorrow. ]
They had a splendid boy. and he had
been drowned at Long Branch. The '
father and mother almost idolized the
boy, and the sob and shriek of that i
father and mother as they hung over
the coffin resound in my oars today.
There seemed to be no use of praying,
for when 1 knelt down to pray the i
outcry in the room drowned out all
the prayer. But the Lord comforted ,
that sorrow. Toey did not forget
their trouble. If you should go any ,
afternoon into Laurel Hill, you would
find a monument with the word
"Walter" inscribed upot. it and a
U / U 44 '
wnam ui ircau uuwora aruuuu iuc .
name. I think there was not an hour
in 20 year, winter or summer, when ,
there was not a wreath of fresh flowers
around Walter's name.
But the Christian mother who sent
those flowers there, having no child
left. Sabbath afternoons mothered 10
or 20 of the lost ones oi! the street.
That is beautiful. That is what I call
busy and triumphant sadness. Here 1
is a man who has lost his property.
He does not go to hard drinking. He
does not destroy his own life. He
comes and says: "Harness me for I
Christian work. My money's gone.
I have no treasure on earth. I want '
treasures in heaven. I have a voice 1
and a heart to serve God.'^ You say 11
that mat man nas iauea. ne nas nui
failed he has triumphed.
Oh, I wisn I could persuade all the
people who have any kind of trouble
never to give up! I wish they would
look at the midnight rider of the text,
and that the four hoofs of that beast 1
on wpich Nehemiah rode might cut
to pieces all your discouragements
and hardships and trials. Give up!
Who is going to give up when on the 1
bosom of God he can have all his !
troubles hushed? Give up! Never
think of giving ud. Are you borne
down with poverty? A little child
was found holding her dead mother's i
hand in the darkness of a tenement <
house, and some one coming in the
little girl looked up, while holding i
her dead mother's hand, and said, '
"Oh, I do wish that God had made 1
more light for poor folks?" My dear,
God will be your light, God will be
your shelter, God wul be your home.
Are you borne down with the bereavements
of life? Is the house lonely
now that the child is gone? Do '
not give up. Think of what the old
sexton said when the minister asked
him why he put so much care on the
little graves in the cemetery so much
more care than on the larger graves
%
and tbe old sexton said, "Sir, you
know that of such lit the kingdom of
heaven, and I think the Saviour is
pleased when he sees so much white
clover growing around these little
graves."
But when the minister pressed the
old sexton for a more satisfactory answer
the old sexton said, "Sir, about
these larger graves, I don't know who
are the Lord's saints and who are not,
but you know sir, it is clean different
with i:he bairns." Oh, if you have
bad that keen, tender, indescribable |
sorrow that comes lrom the loss of a
ihild, do not give up. The old sexton
was right. It is all well with the
bairns. Or. if you have sinned, if
you nave sinned previously sinnei
until you have been cast out by the
:burcb, sinned until you have beea
:ast ou". by society do not give up.
Perhaps there may ba in this home
one toat could truthfully utter tbe
lamentation of another:'
[)nce I was pure as the snow, but I fell
Fell like a suowflake, from heaven to hell
Fell to be trampled as filth in the streetFell
to be scoffed at, spit on and beat,
Fraying, cursing, wishing to die,
Selling my soul to whoever would buy,
Dealing in shame for a morsel of bread,
Hating the living and fearing the dead.
Do not give up. One like unto the
3on of God comes to you today, saying,
"Go and sin no more,1' while he
cries out to your assailants, "Let him
that is without sin cast the first stone
at her." Oh, there is no reason why
any one ia this house by reason cf
any trouble or sin should give up.
Aw? wrtn <* fnivivnei* and in a fitrancft
land? Nehemiah was an exile. Are
you penniless? Nehemiah was poor.
Are you homesick! Nehemiah was
homesick. Are you broken hearted?
Nehemiab was broken hearted. Bat
just see him in th?5 text, riding along
the sacrileged grave of his father and
by the dragon well and through the
fish gate and by the king's pool, in
and out, in and out, the moonlight
falling on the broken masonry, which
throws a long shadow, at which the
horse shies, and at the same time that
moonlight kindling up the features
of this man till you see not only the
mark of sad reminiscence, but the
courage and hope, the enthusiasm of
a man who knows that Jerusalem will
be rebuilded. I pick you up today,
out of your sins and out of your sorrow,
and I put you against the warm
heart of Christ. "The eternal God is
thy refuge, and underneath ye the
everlasting arms."
Board* of Education.
The following boards of education
have been appointed by the State
Board:
Abbeville J. M. Knight, Abbeville;
3. P. McElroy, Due West.
Aiken R. L. Gunter, Aiken; Jno.
V. Krepn, Lingley.
Anderion W.F, Moncrief, Anderson:
L M. Mahafej. Anderson.
Barnwell R. H. Harley, Williston;
T. P. Lide, Barnwell.
Beaufort Wm. Elliott, Jr., Beaufort;
T. 0. Hutson, Beaufort.
Berkeley F. W. Dantzler, Mt.
Pleasant.
Charleston W. M. Whitehead
Charleston; Robert E. Seabrook,
Charleston.
Cherosee RO. Sams, Gafney, N.
EL Little john, Gafney.
Chester S. B. Latham, Cheater;
J as. Hamilton, Chester.
Chesterfield B. F. Hargatt, Chesterfield;
A. H. Mcirm, Cheraw.
Clarendon J. H. Lesesne, Manning;
E. J. Browne, Manning.
Colleton J. E. Purifoy, Walterboro;
J. T. Hiers, Walterboro.
Darlington Jas- R. Coggeshall,
Darlington; J. B. Floyd, Darlington.
Edgefield E. H. Folk, Edgefield;
H. 8. Hirtzog, Johnston.
Florence D. McDuffie, Friendfield;
W. N. McPherson, Darlington.
GreenviUe Julius L. Eilcew, Piedmont;
O. B. Martin, Greenville.
Hampon T. H. Fits, Hampton; J.
W Rouiir. Hamilton.
Horry D. A. Spivey, Conway, W.
C. Graham, Socastee.'
Kershaw Thos. Pate, Camden; W.
J. Villepigue, Camden,
Lancaster J. T. Green, Lancaster;
J. H. Foster. Lancaster.
Laurent J. B. Parratt, Highland
Home; J. B. W&tkins, Laurens.
Lexington L. B. Hayne, Leesville;
F. E. Dreiser, Ljxineton.
Mario a P. H. Edwards, Mullins;
J. D. Me Lucas, Marion.
Marlboro J. D. Moore, Bennettsvilie;
J. A. Calhoun, Clio.
Newberry, G. G. Sale, Newberry;
W. H. Wallace, Newberry.
Oconee W. J. Stribbling, Walhalla;
W. A. Dickson, Broyles.
Orangeburg Robt. Lide, Orangeburg;
A. H. Moss. Orangeburg.
Pickets J. EL Parson, Pickens; 8.
W. O'Dell, Roanoke.
Richland, E. B. Wallace, Columbia;
C. E. Johnston, Columbia.
Saluda Jas. P. Bean, Johnsto:i; J.
L Bowles, Paynes.
Spartanburg W. J. Wall, Spartanburg;
C. E. Elmore, Clifton.
Sumter S. H, Edmunds, Sumter;
H. F. Wilson, Sumter.
Union C. B. Waller, Union ;C. H.
n 1
L~etme, uiuuii,
Williamsburg E. G. Chaniler,
Kings tree, Wm. G. Gamble, K.ngstree.
? ?
York J. A. Barron, YorkviUe; J.
W. Thomson, Rock Hill.
The State Su perintendent of Education
was instructed to fill all places
left vacant.
L.om of Life and Property.
Memphis, April 7. The following
table closely estimates to date tho loss
of life and property occasioned b 7 the
present great flood along the Mississippi
:
Total number of lives lost.........200
Total number of people made homeless
150,000
Total number of refugees reported
50,000
Unaccounted for, but probably res
cued.......................100,000
Total number of farm animals drowned
10,000
Total square miles of land submerged........
.........10,000
Total damage to property. .$100,000,000
Number of mer. fighting the flood20,000
HELP FOR HELPLESS.
President McR inley ilki an Appreprlitlon
tor Flood Saffarora.
Washington, April 7. The President
sent this message to congress today:
"To the Senate and House of Representatives:
Information which has
recently come to me from the governors
of Arkansas, Mississippi and
Louisiana and from prominent citizens
of these States and Tennessee, warrants
the cor elusion that widespread
distress, involving the destruction of
a large amount of property and loss of
human life has resulted from the
floods which have submerged that
section of the country. These are
stated on reliable authority to be theM
i] AnlMtAilnA A /Nrl A iltni UnrTA ArrAW
mint ucairucuvc uuuunusii uavcovw
devastated the Mississippi valley, the
water being much higher than the
highest stage it has reached before.
From Marion, Ark., north of Memphis,
to Greenville, Missa distance
of more than 350 miles by river, it is
reported that there are now at least 50
towns and villages under water and
a territory extending from 100 miles
north of Memphis to 200 miles south
and from 5 to 40 miles wide, is submerged.
Hundreds of thousands of
acres of cultivated soil with growing
crops are included in the submerged
territory. In this section, alone there
are from 50,000 to 60,000 people whose
property has been destroyed, and
wtwse business has been suspended.
Growing crops have been ruined,
thousands of cattle have been drowned
and the inhabitants of certain areas
threatened with starvation. As a
great majority of the sufferers are
small farmers, they have thus been
laaf* nniioalo rloclilit 1a qnH tvi 11 ha nn.
prepared lor work even after the flood
have subsided. The entire Mississippi
valley in Arkansas is flooded and communication
with many points cut off.
In Mississippi a like condition exists.
Ttie lrvees ia Louisiana, with a single
exertion, l ave held, but the water is
rising and the situation there is reported
as bsing extremely critical.
Under such circumstances, the citizens
of tbiieo States look for the copoeration
and support of the national government
in relieving the pressing cases
of destitution for food, clothing and
shelter which are beyond the reach of
local effbrts The authorities who
have communicated with the executive
recognizs that their first and most
energetic duty is to provide as far as
possible the means of caring for their
own citizens, but nearly all of them
agree in the option that after these re
sources nave been exbausteo, a sum
aggregating at least $150j000 and pos
sibly $200,000 will be required for immediate
use. Precedents are not
wanling that in such emergencies as
this congress has taken prompt, generous
itnd intelligent action, involving
the expenditure of considerable sums
of money, with satisfactory results.
In 1874 $590,000 was appropriated and
in 1882 $350,000 was also appropriated
for relief in the same direction, besidet
large sums in other years.
"I'he citizens relief committee of
Mem phis, which has taken prompt action,
has already cared for from 6,000
to 7,000 refugees from the flooded districts
and they are still arriving in that
city in Jaige numbers daily. 8up
plies and provisions have been sent to
the various points in Arkansas and
Mississippi by the committee, bat the
utmost tnat can be done by these efforts
is to partly relieve the most acute
cases of suffering. No action has yet
been taken for the great majority of
the in habitants living in the interior,
whose oondition has already been described.
Under these conditions and
having exerted themselves to the fullest
extent, the local authorities have
vAhifttantlv mnfeued their inabiiitv
to further cope with this distrearing
situation unaided by the government
It has therefore, seemed to me that
the representatives of the people should
be promptly informed of the nature
and extent of the suffering and needs
of these stricken people and I have
communicated these facts in the hope
and belief that the legislative branch
of the government will promptly re
enforce the work of the local authorities
in the States named.
"William McKinley."
"Executive Mansion, Aonl 7,1897."
appropriation made.
Washington, April 7. The joint
resolution making appropriation for
the ilood sufferers passed through
both houses of congress with a rush
and was signed by President; Pro
Tern. Frye of the senate and Speaker
Reed of the house and rent up to the
White House for President McKinley's
approval.
Bryan and MoKlnlay Meet.
Washington, April 6. There were
some important callers at the white
house this morning before the cabinet
assembled at 11 o'clock. First came
Senator Hanna, of Ohio, who had
just returned from Cleveland, whither
ho went to cast his vote at the municipal
elections yesterday. He was
with. Mr. McKinley half an hour.
When he emerged he said, comment!
ing upon the elections, that they were
without any save local significance.
Wh ile Mr. Hanna was still in the
t white house, Mr. Bryan, late Demoj
cratic candidate for president, called
with Representative McMillen, of
Tennessee, and Attorney General
Smythe, of Nebraska, to pay his respects
to his successful rival. They
were immediately ushered into Mr.
McKinley's office. The president,
who was talking with a group of gentlemen,
advanced and the president
and the ex-candidate shook hands
co:*dially. Mr. Bryan remarked upon
the president's apparent good health
and the latter spoke of the fact that
he had seen by the newspapers that
Mr. Bryan was here to argue a case
before the supreme court. He also
said he had received a copy of Mr.
Bryan's book a few days ago, but as
yet had not had time to read it
"There is no law which compels you
to read it," remarked Mr. Bryan, smiling.
After a further exchange of
courtesies and pleasantaries, Mr. Bryan
retired.
CROPS OF THE STATE.
RAINFALL GENERAL AND HEAVY-ALU
FARM WORK BEHIND.
In tha Northern Tier of Coantlee Practically
Nothing Hm Boon Dono Toward!
Planting Uplands Being Too Wot Bros*
A General Review.
Columbia, April 7. Director Bauer
resumes today his weekly summary of
reports of the weather and crops in
the State. In view of the recent longcontinued
rains, the first report will
be extremely interesting to business
men in the towns and cities as well as
the farmers of the State:
weather.
The general weather conditions during
the present crop reason were unfavorable
for the preparation of lAnds
for planting and in consequence tne
season is late, being variously estimated
from ten to twenty days later than
usual. It is due mainly to tbe excessive
rains of February, followed by
continued cloudy and rainy weather
during March, with light winds, except
for a few days during the third
decade of March, whea clear, cool and
windy weather prevailed. This in
turn was followed by rains which suspended
plowing and planting up to
date.
The temperature during the week
covered by this bulletin averaged
slightly cooler than usual, with minimum
temperature below freezing m
far eastward as Berkeley, where thin
ice was noted on the morning of
March 23. Frost was general on that
date, killing in exposed places, but
owing to the backwardness of the season,
injury was limited, being con- - *
fined to corn, where up, and to fruit,
which was materially damaged in
York, Spartanburg and the north wee- ,
tern counties generally, retries sutfered
most.
During the week the temperature
ranged between a minimum of 26 da- *
grees at Greenville and a maximum
of 79 degrees at Shaw'* Forks.
The rainfall was general over the
State and was heaviest over the western
counties, where it averaged nearly
one and a half inches, while for the
entire State the average was 1.33
inches. The greatest amount for the
week was 2.75 inches at Hillsvillc, and
the least 0.36 at Barksdale. The normal
for the same period is approximately
0.75 inch.
The week was deficient in sunshine.
In places there was practically none,
9 percent of the possible being reported
from Elmore, Orangeburg County:
the largest percentage was reported
from Forrestviile, Florence County,
with 52 per cent The average for the
entire State was about 30 per cent, of
the possible; the normal sunshine at
this season of the year being about 65
per cent
CHOPS.
As previously statbd. and for the
reasons given, farm work is very much
behindhand in 8outh Carolina, except
in Horry, Marion and Marlboro
Counties, where the conditions have
been more favorable and planting is
more advanced. In the northern tier
of Coanties from Chesterfield westward,
practically nothing has hero
done towards planting, far even the
uplands toere too wet to pretap except
for a few days in the latter part of
March, after which more rain again
made plowing impracticable. It is in
those counties that the season is most
backward.
But little can as yet be said in detail
as to crops, for planting has not yet
fairly begun, except that-in the northeastern
Counties corn planting is
nearing completion and the stand fair
where it has come up. In other sections
of the State some few farmers
have planted corn, but the work is not
yet general. In Dorchester, Berkeley j
and Colleton some seed is rotting in
the ground and replanting will be necessary.
In the extreme eastern eounties
cotton planting has fairly begun,
but in the central and western counties
very little or none has been planted
and very little of the lands pre- pared.
Wheat and oats are looking promising
over the entire State. Few spring
oats have been sown, as the ground
was too wet. In many sections cor re
spondents report the intention of farm
era to plant sorghum cane largely for
a feed crop to substitute for oats. Sor
ghum cane seed reported scarce.
Fruit generally looks promising,
except mat it is greauy iearea in&t
peaches were materially damaged by
the frost and freeze of March 28 as far
eastward as Orangeburg and Colleton
Counties. As is usually the case the
frost was more severe in some places
than in others. In York, Spartanburg
and Greenville Counties it is the unqualified
opipion of all correspondents
that peaches were about all killed.
Elsewhere the extent of injury is as
yet uncertain.
Fruit, other than peaches and plums,
is apparently safe.
The following extract from the National
Bulletin for the month of March
summarizes the extent of planting for
the two principal crops of the South:
"Some corn has been planted as far
north as Tennessee, and the southern
portion of Missouri and Kansas, planting
in Texas and Louisiana being
about completed, and in Alabama,
Mississippi and Texas the early planted
is up."
"Cotton planting in Texas has progressed
favorably, and some has been
planted in South Carolina, but in other
States of the cotton belt practically
no planting has been done up to tue
close of the month."
J. W. BAUER,
Section Director.
J
A Modern Bluebeard.
Lewisbubg, W. Va., April 9. The
body of Mrs. Zona Schue, who died
suddenly at Richlands, Janijag0t?8,
was disinterred and it was fotuM ihat
her neck was broken. The coroner's
jury charged 8cfcue with killing her
and be was arrested here. It is said
that she was Schue's fourth wi/e and
that each of the other three died suddenly.