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EE?. TAIIMS SIMON. Cora (Mi?iig, ite Snljaet o? His Bis? Tex*: Job 5:26.?As the Shock of Corn Cometh In In His Season. This is the time of the year for hu-king corn. If you have recently been in the fields of Pennsylvania, or New Jersey, or New York, or ?ew England, or iu any of the country districts, you know that the corn is ait cut. The sharp knife struck thrown, the stai ks and left them all along the" fields until a man came with a bundle of straw and twisted a few of these wisps of straw into a band, and then gathering up as much of the corn as he could com pass with his arms, he bound it with this wisp of straw, and then stood it in the field in what is called a shock. There are now at least 2,000.000,000bushels of corn either standing in the shock, or having been already husked. The farmers gather, one day on one farm and then another day on another farm, and they put on their rough husking apron, and they take the husking peg, which is a piece of iron with a leathern loop fastened to the hand, and with it unsheath the corn from the husk and toss it into the golden heap. Then the wagons come along and take it to the corn-crib; About corn as an important cereal, of corn^asSa metaphor the 3; Me is con stancy speaking. You kn>w about the people in famine coming to buy corn of Joseph, and the foxes on fire running into the "standing corn," and about the oxen treading cut the corn, and about the seven thin ears of corn that in Pha jraoh's dream devoured the seven good ?ars, and the "parched corn" handed to beautiful Ruth by the harvesters of Beth flehem, and Abigail's five measures of "parched com" with which she hoped to appease the enemies of her drunken Jhusband, and David's description of the valleys "covered over with corn," and :"the handful of corn in the earth," and ;'*the full corn in the ear," and Christ's ^Sabbath morning walk through cornfields, and'the disciples "plucking ears of corn," And so I am not surprised to find cora li asking time referred to in my text: "As a shock of corn cometa in in his season." How vividly to all those of us who fwere born in the country comes the re jmembrance of husking time. We waited if or it as for a gala day of the year. It was 'called* frolic. The trees having for the mostpart shed their foliage, the farmere wad?a through the fallen leaves and came through the keen morning air to the gleeful company. The frost which ihad silvered everything during the night Jbegan to melt off the top of the corn shocks. While the fanners were waiting |for others, they stood blowing their breath through their fingers, or thrashing I their arms around their body to keep up ?warmth of circulation. Roaring mirth [greeted the late farmer as he crawled iover the fence. Joke and repartee and rustic salution abounded. All ready, jnow! The men take hold of the shock of jcora and hurl it prostrate, while the moles and mice which have secreted themselves there for warmth, attempt escape. The withe of straw is unwound from the corn shock and the stalks heavy with the wealth of grain are rolled into two bandies, between which the busker sits down. The husking peg is thrust in until it strikes the corn, and then the fingers rip off the sheathing of the ear, and there is a erack as the root of the corn is snapped oil from the husk, and the grain, disimprisoned, is hurled up into the sunlight. The air is so tonic, the work is so very exhilarating, the com pany is so blithe, that some laugh, and seme shout, and some sing, and some banter, and some tease a neighbor for a romanfic ride along the edge of the woods a an eventide, in a carriage that holds but two, and some prophesy as to the number of bushels to the field, and others go into competition as to which shall ri?a the most corn shocks before sundown. After a while the dinner horn sounds from?the farmhouse, and the table is surrounded by a group of jolly and hungry mea. f From all the pantries and cellars and the perches of fowl on the place the richest daint:e3 come, and there is carnival and neighborhood reunion, and a scene which fills our memory, part with smiles but more with tears, as we remember that the farm belongs now to other owners, and other hands gather in the held, and raanv of those who min gled in that merry husking scene have themselves been reaped, "like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season." There is a difference of opinion as to whether the orientals knew anything about the corn as it stands in our fields; but recent discoveries have found out that the Hebrew knew all about Indian maias? for there have been grains of corn picked up out of the ancient crypt3 and ext?aed >from hiding places where they were put down many centuries ago?, and they have been planted ia our time and hiwWiiie up just such Indian maize as we raise in New York and Ohio; so I am right when I say that my text may refer to a shock of corn just as you and I bound just as you and I threw it, just as you an I husked it. There may come some practical and useful and comforting lessons to all our souls, while we think of coming in at last "like a shock of corn coming in in his season." It is high time that the kin? of terrors was thrown out of the Christian vocabu lary. A vast multitude of people talk of death as though it were the disaster of disasters instead of being to a good man the blessing of blessings. It is moving out of a cold vestibule into a warm tem ple. It is migrating into groves of redo lence and perpetual fruitage. It is a change frm bleak March to roseate June. Jt is anhange of manacles for garlands. It is a transmuting of the iron handcuffs of earthly incarc?ratioi into the di imond ed wristlets of a bridal party ; or to use the suggestion of my text, it is only husking time. It is the tearing off of the rough sheath of the body that the bright and the beautiful soul may go free. Coming in "like a shock of corn cometh in in his sea=on." Christ broke up a funeral pro cession at the gate of Nain by making a a resurrection day for a young man and his mother. And I would that I could break up your sadnesses and halt the long funeral procession of tne world's grief by some el/eering and cheerful view of the last transition. We all know that husking time was a time of frost. Frost on the fence. Frost on the stubble. Frost on the ground. Frosc on the bare branches of th? trees. Frost in th^ air. Frost on the hands of the buskers. You remember we used to hide bstween the corn-stacks to keep off the .wind, but still you remember how shivering was the body and how painful was the cheek, and how benumbed were the hand.*. But after a while the sun was high up and all the fros's went out of the air, and hilarities awakened the echoes, and joy fromjone corn-shock went up, "Aha, sha!'' and was answered from another corn-shock, "Aha, aha?" So we all realize that the death of our friend is the'nipping of many expectations, the freezing, the chilling, the frosting of many of our hopes. It is far from being & south wiod. It comes out of the frigid north, and when they go away from us we stand benumb'd in body and benumbed in mind and benumbed in soul. We stand .among our dead neighbors, our dead families, and we say, "Will we ever get overii?" Yes, we will get over it amid the fhoutings of heavenly reunion, and we will look back to al! these distresses of bereavef&ent only as the temporary dis tresses of husking time. "Weeping may endure, for a nij?ht, but Joy cometh in the j morsing." "Light ana but for ft mo- I m?nt,'' *&id the apostle as he cisppei hU ? ir-, : ; _ bands, "light, and but for a moment." The chill of the frosts followed by the gladness that cometh in "like a shock of co rn cometh in in his sea son." Of course the husking time made rough work with the ear of corn. The husking peg had to be thrust in and the hard thumb of the husk* ier had to come down on the swathing of the ear, and then there was a pull and there was a ruthless tearing, and then a complete snapping pff before the corn was free, and if the husk could have spoken it would have said, "Why do yon lacerate me? Why do you wrench me?" ?h! my friends that is the way God has ar ranged that the ear and the husk shall part, and that is the way he has arranged that the hody and the soul should separate. Ton can afford to have yovrr physical dis'ressfs when you know that they arj only forwarding the soul's liberation. Every rheumatic pain is onlv a plunge of the hu king peg. Every neuralgic twinge is only a twist by >he husker. There is gold in you that must c?me out. Some way the shackle "must be broken. Some way the ship must be launched for heavenly voyage. You must let the heavenly husbandmin husk off the mortality from the immortality. There ought to be great consolation in this for all who have chronic ailments, eince the Lord is gradually and more mildly taking away from you that which hinders your soul's lib?ration, doing gradually for yon what for many of us in robust health perhaps he will do in one fell blow at the last. At the close of every illness, at the close of every paroxysm you ought to say, "Thank God, that is all past now; thank God. I will never have to suffer that again; thank God, I am so much nearer the hour of libera tion.v You will never suffer the same pain twice. You may have a new pain in an old pbce, but never the same pain twice. The pain does its work and then it dies. Just so many plunges of the crowbar to free the quarry stone for the building. Just so many strokes of the chisel to compiete the statue. Just so many pangs to separate the soul from the body. You who have chronic ailments and disorders, are only paying in installments that which Bomh of us wili have to pay in one payment when we pay the debt of nature, Thank God, there fore, ye who have chronic disorders that you have so mnch less suffering at the last. Thank God that you will have so much less to feel in the way of pain at the hands of the heavenly husbandman when "the shock of corn cometh in in his season " Perhaps now this may be an answer to a ques tion which I asked one Sabbath morning, but did not answer: Why is it that so many really good people have so dreadfully to suffer? You often find a good man with enough pains and aches and diseases you would think, to dipcip. line a whole colony, while you will find a man who is perfectly useless ening about with easy digestion and steadv nerve.? sr d shining health, and his exit from the world is comparatively painless. How do you explain that? Well, I noticed in the husking time that the husking peg was thrust into the corn and then there must be a stout pull before the swathing was taken off the ear and the full, round, health y, luxuriant corn was developed; while on the other hand there was corn that hardly seemed worth husking. We threw that into aplace all by itself, and we called it "nubbins." Some of it was mildewed, and some of it was mice nibbled, and some of it was great promise and no ful fillment. All cobs and no com. Nubbins! After thegoo 1 corn had been driven up to the barn we came around with the corn-basket and we picked np those nubbins. They were m orth saving bat not worth much. So all around us there are people who amount to compara tively nothing. They develop into no kind of nsefulne s. They are nibbled on one side by the world, and nibbled on the other side by the devil and mddewed all over. Gre it promise and no fulfillment. All cobs an I no corn. Nubbins! They are worth saving. I suppose many of them will get to heaven, bus they are noi 'worthy to be. mentioned in the same day with those who went through gr?at tribulation in!o the kiugdom of our God. Who would not rather ha ve the pains of this life, the misfortunes of this life?who had not rather be to:n, aud wounded, and lacerated, and wrenched, and husked, and at last go in amid the very best grain of the granary, than tobe pronounced not worth husking at all? Nubbins! In other words, I want to say to yoa people who have distress of body, and distress in business, and distress of all sorts, the Lord has not any grudge against you. It is not de rogatory, it is complimentary. "Whom the Lord loveth he chastenefch," and it is proof pis itive that there is something valuable in you, or the Lord would not have husked you. You remember a'so, that in the time of husk ing it was a neighborhood reunion. By the great fireplace in the winter, the fires roaring cround the glorified back-logs on an old fash ioned hearth, of which the modern stoves and registers are only degenerate descendants, the faomers used to gather and spend the evening, and there wonld be much sociality ; but it was not anything like the jo.* of huskiug time, for then all the farm?ra came, and they came from beyond the m,vadov, and they came from be yond the br.-ok, and they came from ?vgions two and thiee miles around. Good spirits reigned supreme a?-.d th*re were great hant* shakings, and there was carnival, and there was a recital of the brightest experiences in all their lives and there was a neighborhood re union, the memory of which mikes all the nerves of my bod* <remb!e with emotion as the strings of a harp when the fingers of the ayer have swept the chords. Too hnsk^ig time was the time of neighborhood reunion<, and s"> heaven will be j:i t that. There they come up! They s ept in the old villa e churchyard. Theie they come up! They reclined amid the fountains and the sculpture and the parterres of a city cem teiy. There they come up! They weut down when the ship foundered off Cape Hatteras. Thev come np from all sides?from the potter's fi Id aud ont of the solid masonry of Westminster Abbe ! They come up! They come up! All th-rhiudi anees"to their better n\ rnre bn-ked off. All their spiritual despond encies hnske I t.ff All their hindrances to nsc fulness kusked off. The grain, the golden grain, the God-fashioned grain, visib'e and c>nspic:ton-?. So-re of them on e?rih were such d sagr cable Christitns yon could hardly stand it in their presene ?. >w in heaven thy a*e so radiant you hardly know tb^m The fact is. all thei?- imperfections h v.* been husked off. They did not m?*an ?>n earth to be disagreeable. They meant w;-;i motigli, but th^y told you how sick you 1? diced, and they told you ho-.v many hard things tb-y had heard abon- you. and they told vor. h ?w often they had to st md u?? for Tou in - -me ba?les until you w.shed a' mosi they had ? een slain in som"? of die battles. Good, ploys, consecrated well-meaning di a greeables. Now, iu he ven all their offendve ness. h:?s been hnsied off. Each one is happy as he cau be. Every ne he meets is as hap* Ey as he can be. Heaven, one great neigh n>hood reunion. Ail kingi and Q-teeni, all songsters, all m.Ilion ?rea, all ?-auqueters. GoJ the Father, wi; h his children all around him No "goodby"in the air. No grave cat in all the hills. Eiver of crystal rolling over bed of pearl under arch of Chrysoprase,into seas of glass mingied with fire. * Stand at the gate of the grauary and see the grain come in; out of the ?roste into the sanshin*. out of the darkness into th; light, ont of the tearing and the rippling and the twisting and the wrenching and the lacerating and' the husking time of earth into the w.dop-n door of the kings granary, *?Itke as a shock of corn cometh in in his sea-on." Yes, heaven i? a pi cat socub'e. with joy like the joy of the busking time. No one there f eiing so biz h-i declines to speak to some one that is not so large. Archangel willing to listen to sraalies: che? :i!>. No bolting of the door of caste at one heavenly mansion to ko:-p out the citizen of a smailer mansion. No clique in one corner whispering about a clique in another comer. David taking none of the airs of a giant killer. Joshua making no one halt until he passes because he made tlie t>un and moon hair. Paul making no assumption over the most ordinary preacner o: rignteousness. Naaman. captala of the Syrian host, no more honored than the captive maid who to'd him whe:e he could get a go.nl doe or. O, my soul, what a country ! The humblest man a king. The poorest woman a qa en. The meanest house a palace, the shortest lifetime eternity. And what is more s* range al*>ni it all is w may all get there. *'Not I," says some one, standing back under the galleries. Yes, you. "Not I " sav s some one who has not been in church in fifteenyear* before. Yes, you. '"Not I," fays some one who has been for fifty years filling up his lift- with all kinds of wickedness. Yes, 3 ou- There are monopolies on tartb, mo nopolistic railroads, and monopolistic telegraph companies, and monopolistic grain dealers, but no monopol es in rel'gion. Ail who want to be saved may be saved "without money and with out price." Salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ for ali (he people. Of course, use common ense in this matter. You cann?t ( xp ct to get to Charleston by taking the ship for Portland, and you canuoi get to heaven by going in an opposite direction. "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou ehalt be saved. Through that one gate of pardon and peace all the race may go in. "But." gays some one, "do you really think I would hi a' home in that supernal societv if I should reach it.-'' I think you would. know you would. J remember that in the husking time there was great equality of feeling among the neighbors. There at one com shock a farmer would be at work who owned two hun dred acres of ground. I he man whom ho was talking with at the next corn shock owned but thirty acres of ground, and perhaps eli that covo? cd with a mortgage. That e\\ ning, at the ck se of the husking day. one man drove home a roan spau so Irisky, so full of life, ?hat thev got their feet over the traces. The other man walked Lome. Great difference iu education, great difference in worldly meaus ; but I no ticed at the hulking time "they all seemed to enjoy each other's society. They did not ask I anv man how much property he owned or what j his education had b en. They all seemed to be j happy together in those go;)d times. And so it will be iu heaven. Our Father will gather bis ! children around him, and the neighbors will | come in, an i the past will be rehear.-ed. ! And fonie o:ie will tell of victory, and we will all celebrate it. And fome one will teil of a great rugale, a"d we will all praise the grace thai fetched him oui of it. And omo one will sty. ''Here is my old father that X put away with heartbreak; Just look at him, h? it S3 ygpg m any of oaf Ajid. some one r wi?Tsav, "Here is my Jarl?ng child tliaf bur ied in Greenwood, and all the after years of my life were shadowed with desolation?just look at her! She doesn't teem as if she had been sick a minute." Great sociality. Great neighborhood kindness. Go in and dine. What though John Milton sit down on one side and John Howard sit down on the other side. No embarrassment. What thongh Char lotte Elizabeth ait down on one side and Hah nah Moore sit down on the other? No embar rassment. A monarch yourself, why be embarrassed among monarchs? A songster yourself, why be embarrassed among glori ous songsters'? Go in and dine. All the shocks of corn coming in in their leason? Ob, yes, in their season. Not one of you having died too soon, or having died too late, or having died at haphazard. Planted at just the right time. Plowed at just the right time. Cut down at just the right time. Ilnsk edat just the right time. Garnered at just the right lime. Coming in in yonr season. Oh, I wished that ihe two billion buehels of corn now in the fields or on their way to the seaboard might be a type of the prand yield of honor and glory and immortality, when all the shocks come in. I do not know how you are constituted, but I am so constituted that there is nothing that so awakens reminiscences in me as the odors of a cornfield wh< I cross it at this time of year after the corn has been cut and it stands in shocks. And fo I have thought it might be practically useful for us today to crois the cornfield,'and I have thought perhaps there might be some reminiscence roused in our oui that might be salutary and might be sav ing. In Sweden, a prima donna, while hex house in ihe c ty was being prepared, took a house in the country for temporary residence, and she brought out her great array of jewels to show a friend who wished to eee them. One night, after displaying these j-wels, and leav ing them on the table, and all her friends had gone, and the servants had gone?one summer n:ght?she sat thinking and looking into a mirror just in front of her chair, when she saw in that mirror the face of a. robber looking in at the window behind her and gazing at those jewels. She was in great fright, but sat still, and hardly knowing why she did so, she began to sing an old nursery song, her fears making the pathos of the song more telling. Suddenly she noticed, while looking at the mirror, that the robber'd Lc : had gone from the window, and it did not come hack. A few days after the prima donna received a letter from the robber saying: ' I heard that the jewels were to be out that night, and I came to take them at whatever hazard; but when I heard you 6ing that nursery song with which my mother so often sang mo to sleep. I could not stand and Ithd, and I hava lesdved upon a new ~**d honest life." Oh, my friend*, there are jewels m peril richer than hose which lay upon that table that night. They arc the j weis of the immortal souL Would God that some song rolling up out of the deser^d nursery of your childhood, or some song rolling up out of the cornfield*, the song of the busker twenty or forty years ago. might turn all our feet out ol the paths of sin into the paths of righteous ness Would God that those memories wafted in on odor or song might start u-; this moment with swift feet toward that blessed place where so many of our loved ones have already pre ce d d us, {,as a shock of corn cometh in in.hi? season."_"_ AN AGREEMENT PROBABLE. The Ultimate Sueeess of the Monetary Conference Assured* ? cablegram of Tuesday from Brussels says: The committees appointed by the international monetary conference to consider the proposals of Mr. Alfred de Rothschilds, will also consider the plans suggested by 51. Levi and Professor Adolphus Soeller. Professor S.;elber's pl?:n is to establish one gramme of fine gold as the interrational unit of value and to stop the minting of coins contain ing less than 5.80G5 grammes of pure gold. The circulation of coin of foreign countries of less than new standard will be prohibited by the countries sign ing an agreement, and gold coiu of infe rior value will be withdrawn within five years. Private inviduals will be allowed to coin gold upon the payment of an agreed seigniorage. Gold certifie lUs may be issued against sold held iu re serve. Professor Soelber's plan also in cludes the coinage of silver in the pro portion of twenty value units of that metal to one of gold, but private indi viduals will not be allowed the free coinage of silver. Of the comm'ttee five are avowed bimetal lists, six monometal lism and one is doubtful. It will sit twice e-ch day. It is the general expect ation that Mr. dc Rothschild's proposals will be accepted by the committee and refer? ed to the conference and govern ments with the modifications suggested by the schemes of Mr. Levi and Professor Soelber. One of the modications will un doubtedly be that all gold coins below the value of twenty francs be with drawn from circulation and replaced by silver notes. The adhesion of the Ger man delegates is considered certain, as Herr de Cleben, formerly president of the reichstag, approved the main lines of Professor Soelber's proposal. The French representatives will also accept the plan, which was communicated by M. Tirard, French ex-minister of finance, and was favorably received by the French dele gates before it was submitted to the con lerence. With the prospects of an early agree ment, nobody now talks of the failure of the conference, which at first was the only prediction. It is reported that the conference wiil likely conclude next week. The American delegates are disposed to support Mr, Rothschild's proposals on the principle that half a loaf is better than no bread. PENSION FIGURES. Secretary Noble Furnishes Estimates fer ihe Next Fiscal Year. A Wushington dispatch of Mor.day says: Treasury officials view with some surprise the estimates sent up by Secre tary ?soble for pensions. They are, in their opinion, too small, but as it is their duty to put them in the "book of estimates." in they go. Secretary No ble's figures in round numbers are $165, 000,000 for pensions for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1894, and $10,500.000 as a deficiency for the fiscal vcar 1S93, which, with the appropriation of $147, 000,000, brings up the pension money for the fiscal year of 1893', $157,500,000. The treasury department is now pay ing out pension money at the rate of $13,500,000 a month. This makes the present rate $162,000,000 a year; but this rate is increasing each month and unless the pension office stops work al together and does not allnw any new cases or increases, the rate it is estimated must increase to at leas' $14,000 000 be fore this present fi-cai year is end ed. When the fiscd year 18i?:J !>4 is reached, for which Secretary Noble says $100.000,000 will be sufficient, the pension rat--, tt is believed by the t>e>t posted fhVinls in the tre?sury depart ment, will be $15,000,000 a month, or $180,000.000 a year, which will have a deficiency of $14,000,000 for the second session of the fifty-third congress to pro vide. _ OUR LIFE SAVING SERVICE. General Superintendent imball Makes His Annual Report. General SuperintendentKimball, of the life saving service, states in his annual report that the number of disasters to vessels within the field of operation of the service during the year was 837. There were on board of these vessels 2,570 persons, of whom 2,500 were saved and seventy lost. The number of ship wrecked persons who received succor at the station was 747. Estimated value of the vessels and cargoes involved iu the disasters was $8,234.520. Of this am unt $7,111,005 was saved. The number of vessels totally lost was fifty. California's Vote. A special of Tu sday from Sau Fraucis co says: The official vote of all counties iu California, with the exception of Siu Francisco, give Harrison a plurality of 14*2. Re'urnsircm ail but nine pre oincts in the city reduces Harrison's plu raiity in the state to 810, It is possible tbat when the official vote has bcren com pleted upon individual electora the elec toral vote may be divided between Har rison and Clevelaad. SARDINE FISHING. An Extensive Industry on the Coast of Brittany. How the Fish Are Caught and Prepared for Export. F. S. Dellenbaugh, in a paper upon Finist?re, read before the American Geographical Society, describes the sardine industry as it is practiced off Pontaven on the coast of Brittany. At times, he says, there arc as many as 12?0 boats collected at this point, where the sardine, while on its north ward journey, attains , its most desir able size for taking and packing-. The boats are about thirty feet long, entirely open, except for a short deck at the stern, and carrying two masts that can readily be taken down. The net, about twenty feet long and six or eight feet broad, is weighted on one long edge and buoyed with cork floats on the other, so that when it is in the water behind the boat it assumes an upright position like a wall, and in this position is towed through the water by one end as the boat moves slowly along. The captain mounts the little deck; at the stern with a bucket of bait called rong, the eggs of codfish, under one arm, and his practiced eye ranges the water. "When he discovers the proximity of the fish he scatters a little of the rong ou one side of the net aud they rise in a scltool to take it. This is the critical moment. He throws a quantity on the opppositc 6ide. and the fish, making a dart for it, are entangled iu the meshc3. When the sardines are numerous the boat does not halt to take the net on board* by means of a certain pull the meshes are tightened and, with a buoy to mark i-, it is cast off and left till a full calch is made. Another net is put out and the operation is repeated till all the nets are used. Then comes the picking up and ex traction of the fish, the latter work being performed with great care, be cause handling(the fish injures them. The net is caught up at the ends aud eeasawed till all the fish drop into the bottom of the boat, where they re main until the arrival in port. There the fish are counted by the two hun dreds into coarse baskets and dipped in the water beside the boat to free them from loose scales and other mat ter. Thence they are carried to the factories and thrown upon long, low tables, on each side of which is a row of women and girls, who, with a short knife prepare them for the salt vacs,where they remain for two hours. After that they are placed in coarse baskets and given a bath of sea water under a pump. Then they are put to dry in the open air on wire racks When the fish begin to shrivel the racks are taken to the oil room, where four or five tanks of olive oil are con stantly boiling. Each rack is plunged for a moment or two into the hot oil and then set aside to drip, after which the fish are selected and carefully laid in tin boxes of various sizes. When the box is full it is passed along to the oil tap, where the space remaining is filled with oil, The box is now ready for sealing and parses along to the solderer. After the sol dering a hole is punched in the cover to Jet out the imprisoned air aud im mediately closed with solde.. Next the cans are placed in a huge iron crate and lowered into tanks of boil ing water. If there is still air in the can it will explode or bulge out, and the trouble can be corrected before the final packing iu wooden boxes for export to all parts of the world. A Fight Between Giraffes. There is a deal of human nature in a giraffe?in his native state. The old fellows insist on ruling the herd as long as possible, and never give it up till the younger ones whip them out, and as the weak ones are whipped out in the start, the result is that each boss giraffe is a polygnmisi on a large scale. This leads to savage lights, and as the hunters penetrate into South Africa they occasionally witness these duels. A hunter gives this accounf of such a combat between an old and a young giraffe, witnessed from an adjacent thicket: "Presently the belligerents came within a few yards of each other. Then commenced a scene that baffles all description. Some people might call it ludicrous ; it was far more, it was side splitting, and but for my de sire to see the end 1 must have given way to convulsions of laughter. Al though the giraffe possesses a certain beauty when at rest, it loses its grace when in motion, and the greater its speed the more ungainly does it ap pear. But when two mature bulls begin to wa'tz and dance violently around each other, each endeavoring outdo the Other in agility, at tin? same lime mumbling their jaws and emitting fearfully discordant roars, it is cer tainly one of the most, absurd sights human eye ever looked upon. 1 have often seen a ciane dance?a function common euough north of the Vaal River. It is more than funny?it is ridiculous?but cannot for an instant be compared to the aulles of these two mam moi h lu nie-;. ' They began rearing as if to bear ea<-li other down, their mouths ail the iinie open i<> grip i' opportunity oc curred. At length the violent exercise began t<> teil u on the older beast. Wo iliade some mis ako in a parry, and ?1k? younger seized vvi ii his teeth the foot <<j' ?he ve?eian, wboin return laid Iioid <?f iii- opponents ear. For sum ? moiiKMts there was paust?. )i wa ve: brief, :*i!<! risen tin striigg- ? wa renewed. Vv i h m ??i^s.u?ic effort ihr vounger gir:.ft-i threw the old hero uiKUi ills hutjuches, Ho looked yery much as if lie bad played Iiis last card, but there was pluck in his aged heart yet, though the battle was not for him; years iold against him, and victory lay with the youngster, who celebrated it by trying to drag the the vanquished after him. This oper ation must have been painful, for the shrieks that the defeated warrior ut tered were heartrending. After a linai worry the hero of the hour walked off, and, willingly followed by all. took lite lead. I After such a defeat the old fellow usually becomes a "solitary," and lives and dies alone.? [London Graphic. Novel Measuring of Water Depths. Frederick J. Smith of Trinity Col lege, Oxford, explains a curious way of finding the depths of a piece of water at a distance. ''About two years ago," he says, "I wished to know from time to time iho rate at which a river was rising after a fall of rain. The river was a con siderable distance from the spot where its height was to be known. By means of the combinai ion of two organ pipes and a telephonic circuit described in (he following lines I have been able to make the required measurements with in rather close limits. At the river station an organ pipe was fixed verti cally m au inverted position, eo that the water in the river acted as a stop per to 3 pipe, and the rise and fall of the water determined the note it gave when blown by a small bellows driven by a very small vrater wheel. "A microphone was attached to tlie upper end of the organ pipe ; this was in circuit with a wire leading to a town .station at some disLance; at the town etation there was an exactly similar organ pipe, which could be lowered into a vessel full of water while it was sounding. By means of the telephone the note given by the pipe at the river was clearly heard at the town station ; then the orgau pipe at this station was lowered or raised by hand until it gave the same note. The length of the organ pipes under water at the two stations were then equal, so that the height of the water in the distant river was known. "The determination cau be made in less than a miuute by any one who can recognize the agreement of two similar notes. The arrangement wheu first tested was so placed that the height of water at two places near together might be easily compared. 1 found that a lad with an average ear for musical sounds was able to get the two heights to agree within one-eighth of an inch of each other, while a per son with an educated ear adjusted the instrument immediately to almost ex act agreement. The total height to be measured was seventeen inches. ' A difference of temperature at the two stations would make a small dif ference in the observed heights. For iustance, taking a note caused by 250 vibrations per second, a difference of 10 degrees C. between the temperature of the two stations (one not likely to occur) would make a difference of about 0.02 feet in the height, a quant ity of no moment in such a class of measurements. The organ pipes were of square section and made of metal to resist the action of the water."? [Nature. The Birthplace of Old Glory. The house in which was made the first American flag, with its unlucky number of etripes aud stars that f? r the first tim?, in history belied an old proverb, still stands on Arch street. The building is moreover noted as the scene of one of the first meetings be tween French Envoy Genet and Mise Clinton,daughter of one of New York's most noted governors, who in time became Mme. Genet. Genet, himself, standing at an upper story window of the Arch etreet building, saw a youiig lady go by on horseback, and it was evident that she had considerable to learn on the subject or equine man agement. The Frcuchmon hurriedly descended to the street, and approach ing Miss Clinton's uncontrollable ani mal was just in time to catch the fair equestrienne in his arms as she was failing. With the magnanimity of his race, Genet insisted upon bearing the burden thus imposed upon his j arms until the young lady had been deposited by him upon a sofa in the ! Arch street house aud revived by a j whiff of smelling salts. Tuo episode terminated in the Genet-Clinton wed ding that long agitated society in those colonial days.? [Philadelphia Pres.?. rabVEye" Pills. It is not generally known that up to recent years a medicine was prepared from the common crawfish, in the stomach of this creature there are al most always found small calcareous concretions, from the 6ize of a pin's head to the size of a pea. The little stony bull is composed of carbonite and phosphate of lime, and was formerly powdered and used in doses of three or four grains to correct acid i itv of the stomach. Prepared chalk - j has now taken the place of the ! ?'crab'fc-cyes," as these concretions I wore called, but occasionally persons i arc found who consider them more efficacious than the loss repulsive sub stitute. Cherokee Strip Xol a Strip. I have just crossed the Cherokee ! Strip, and was surprised to find it j took the train over three hours to j cross if, says a St. Louis Globe-Dem i ocrat man. The general impression j as to the strip is that it is a narrow j'teck of laud only a few miles across, j j tescrved as a highway or oui let for J ' the Chcrokecs. A> a matter of fact, ! the snip i? eighty miles across and is ? larger in area than sum:; of the >tates j o? the / . Tue entire eighty miies is covered wbh ilic best quality ol I blue grass, and it is doubtful who'Iicr j ev<\o in the bo?t part? o? Tex is il U to I ho ujj ?eutccl. PRAIRIE CHICKENS. Like the Buffalo, They Are Fast Disappearing. , . Almost Exterminated by Hunt ers on Western Plains. The exhilarating sport of hunting the prairie chicken on the plains of the West, according to C. M. Ilargerin in the New York Advertiser, will soon be as extinct as that of shooting buf falo. The quick whir-r-r of the bird is heard less and less frequently, and the hunters encounter a far greater wariness than of old. Only a few years ago. and the sportsman was in clover when he reached the prairies of Kansas. Special cars, with hunters aboard, stopped iu the midst of the level plains, and when the men came back it was with shoulders heavily laden with the toothsome aud attrac tive game. But the heartless and indiscriminate slaughter, in season aud out of season, to which the different varieties of grouse and quail have been subjected during the past decade lws almost ruined the sport on the plains of Xansae, Nebraska, Iowa and other sec tions of the West. To be sure there is yet game, but it has so decreased in quautity that the present season sees not one-tenth the amount that existed a few years since. There is little sport more enticing than the shooting of prairie chickens ?or pinnated grouse. Nothing can be compared to it except the hunting of the wild tarkey. Wliile turkey is sought in the timber of the bottom lands, the prairie chicken lives boldly out on the plain and trusts to his keenness of vision and rapid flight to protect himself. To creop upo?i a flock of the fowls at home is a sight to be remembered, The rich, plump bodies of the hens shading from dark grayish brown on the breast and wings to a light gray neck and dark head, aud the larger build of the males, with the distinguishing long black feathers on the neck, reaching down like the ends of a yoke, make a delicious contrast for the lover of a rifle with the green of the prairie sod. They are large enough to make a good legitimate prey; they are excel lent eating?rich, tender, gamey. But their outposts hear you, and a quick, clucking warning is given. Iu an in stant every head drops, the bodies crouch close to the ground and ap parently disappear. Unices you are a practical hunter you will declare that half a second has sufficed for some of the birds to sink into the earth. But they are all there. This one behind a little grass dumb; that in a tiuy hol low made by some pony's foot; another spreading its wings as it squats at the base of a weed stalk. To the amateur eye it is remarkable if, without considerable search, more than two or three can be detected, so closely do the colora of the birds blend with the shadows and tints of the sod. The professional knows that they are all there, and the bunch is speedily flushed, [n an instant they rise about you as if suddenly created from dust. One was less than a yard from your feet, yet you did not see it. Their flight is a peculiar one. tiising to a height of from twenty to fifty feet, they take a horizontal course, churn ing the air rapidly with the stumpy wings until momentum is acquired, then sailing with outstretched pinions for many rods. A prairie chicken is never awkward or ridiculous except when in the air. On taking flight the birds do not, like quail, go as a flock, but radiate in every direction, so that he is a good gunner, indeed, who makes both barrels count. The prairie chicken is non-migra tory, and, like quail, turkey and rab bits, might be preserved for all time if afforded a reasonable amount of protection. Grouse and quail can etand a comparatively close settlement of the country, al least one as close as most parte of the West will admit of, and with the proper enforcement of rigidly drafted game laws, as well as a manly forbearance on the part of the sportsmen themselves, would preserve the now unequal ratio between the in crease and slaughter. As it is now there is practically no proiection, and from June to December the markets of Western cities show forbidden game. It is not alone grouse, but quail, wild turkey and other varieties 6uftcr. Poachers go with dogs out of season and bring in loads of the pretty game, and it finds its way mysterious ly into the stalls of the cities. Mustn't Meddle With Mexican Railroad. An American traveling in Mexico cannot fail to be impressed by the splendidly mounted and equipped bands of cavalry guards that dash up to the railroad depots and stations whenever a ail train arrives. These are the famous Llura les, the flower of the Mexican army, to who General Porfirio Dia/., i lis President, has trusted the railroads and border customs as a special favor. Aud rijjht proud and jea'ous arc they of the trust. Their vocation is to guard the customs on the borders and to protect the railways and trains from robbers aud wreckers: and to well have they done their duty that no money could tempt the most foolhardy bandit to intet fere wirb the railroads. They are a c?a^s of mon eminently adapted to their calling, combining something of the cowboy of the plains, something of ?w trooper inured to : harships, and good deal of the dash and splendor of ornamental soldiers. They ride lik'j dem ?ns <>n fiery horses, light like tiger- and coolly smoke ^ cigarettes in the face of death. All that is l'hoir h;t-iiics> and ihey fairly When, they had train robbers to hunt, it is asserted on authority from the City of Mexico, they never turned and fled. Nor did they ever let the robbers slip through their fingers. A band of three or more is ever ready when the train stops. Should the conductor or engineer report any interference with the train these sol diers are away at once in quest of the offenders. Quite often they ride on trains as a guard, so that traveling is done in safety south of the Rio Grande. Mexico is exceedingly strict in dealing with bandits who meddle with the railroads. The penalty has been told. But so strict is this law it seems harsh, or, in fact, arbitrary. Even the most insignificant act that ! would injure a railway bed assures ! the same punishment. To remove a single spike, to chip iff' a spliuter from a tie is punishable by the fusil lade of Rurales bullets as much as a desperate attempt at wrecking a train is; for email as they seem it is still a matter for engineers, not laymen, to determine whether such acts would not derail a fast-running train. Wells, Fargo & Co.'s people will say that their money is safer it'ider this regime than in the better settled and more populous Pacific States.? [San Francisco Examiner. The Most Ancient Idol. In the temple of Mecca, wherein is a square stone edifice, which, by tra dition, is said to have beeu built by Abraham and his son Ishmael. It is this part of the temple, known as Caaba, which is principally rever enced by the Mohammedans, and to which they direct their prayers. The edifice is indisputably extremely an cient, and its original use and the name of its builder are lost in a cloud of traditions. The Mohammedans ?.flirm that it is almost coeval with the world, and that Adam set it up after Iiis expulsion from Paradise. After Adams death his son Seth built a house of the same form, which, being destroyed by the flood, was rebuilt by Abraham and Ishmael after the same model. In the corner next the door on the east side is the "black stoue," the most celebrated idol amongst the Mohammedans. Tiiis stone is set in silver, and, according to the Mos- j lems, was one of the precious stones of Paradise which fell down to the earth with Adam, and being taken up again, or otherwise preserved at the deluge, was brought back by the angel Gabriel to Abraham when he was building the Caaba. It was at fust whiter than milk, but became black by the sins of mankind, or rather by the touches and kisses of so many people, the surface only being black, the interior still remaining white. This stone has been the object of idolatrous worship from the most remote times to the present day. The outside of the Caab is covered with rich damask, changed every year, which is provided by the Turkish rulers. The covering for the Caaba recently sent by the sultan to Mecca was valued at fifteen thousand pounds, aud that sent by the kh?dive of Egypt eleven thousand six hundred pounds. Pilgrims who have performed the holy journey to the C i?ba and kissed its ancient idol never om?t to add the proud titile of Hadj to their name.? [Yaukce Blade. X Queer Tribute. Iu many instances, particularly in olden times, large and powerful na tions have demanded tribute from smaller and weaker states. This de mand was generally complied with by the petty ruler, who fancied that such a step would render his throne secure. When a tribute-paying king thought he conld whip the other ho generally stopped making any payment, and then there was a fight about it. As a rule, the tribute consisted of so much gold or some rich product of the country. A queer tribute, however, was exacted by King Edgar the Peacable, who ruled over a part of Brillan about nine hundred years ago. Then were several petty Kings scattered here and there, and a much larger number of fierce wolves ran wild. So in 961 King Edgar commanded that all who paid him tribute should pay him in wolves* heads, and from Wales he demanded three hundred annually. As there were plenty of wolves this tribute was easily paid at first, and j people in those days did not regard i the selection of wolve's heads as at all queer, for the payment of tribute wTas merely an acknowledgment of the other nation's strength. So the wolves' head tribute was regularly paid, until wolves began to get pretty well thinned out, and parts of Eng land were entirely divested of the animals, which, perhaps, was just what the King wauled. ? [Harpers Young People ?. ? An Unknown River of Brazil. The Upper Orinoco of Brazil has never been thoroughly explored. Bar on Von Humboldt, as long ago as 1808, made a journey along its course, aud contributed the first accurate j knowledge the world had of that por tion of the continent. Jn 1848 he was followed by another German, Dr. Schornburgk, who has written the most valuable and extended treatise that exists. There are but few towns along the river, and the torests arc in habited by a race of wild but not sav age Indians, who gather rubber, co [canuts, ion qua beans, vanilla beans and other products of the forests aud catch the turtles from whose livers j tue pate de fois gras ut' ?he epicures I is made. ?f D-troit Free l\*cs$. I Pari? Un ivei s ily is the largest in f .he world, having 9215 student*. I Vienna University romes ' with I 0229 student*, and Deiijn U?(iversi'.y j i? third. INDIGESTION. Most Common of All Ailments Which Affect Mankind, Cause, Prevention and Proper Method of Treatment, Of nil the ailments of misery jn? ordinary and daily existence, there i* one, says Dr. Frank H. Ingram in the New York World, which carries the honors. This is indigestion. There is, perhaps, a mass of people suffer ing from an improper nourishment and a faulty distribution of food which outranks the victims of cholera iu all the epidemics which history hax recorded. Indigestion may be due to the character of the food, to imperfect mastication, to impoverished or irrita ble co di! io of tiie stomach, to a "bad liver," or to faulty intestinal ac tion. It may be acute or chronic the latter outweighing the former iu the number of cases occurring. The first may be simply due to an overloaded stomach or to some slight indecretion in the way of eating and drinking;" the second is an acquired condition, ; a result of repeated disregard of ! foods or a weakened digestive tract. Acute indigestion correte itself in a short time. It is characterized by a sense of weight iu the stomach and oc casionally by a a ? in the region of the stomaclu It usually manifests itself after a heart meal or in the morning upon arising. A cup of hot coffee, without cream or sugar, will often dispel it, or a dose of salts or effervescing magnesia before break fast may be equally good. A mustard plaster over the stomach may not be ignored if the pain be acute. Chronic ind gestion is a different affair altogether, combini :g the fea tures of the acute form with mental depression, physical debility, constipa tion and many other things not in con- - sonance with a healthy system. It is gradual in its development and pro tracted iu its retirement. It is above all things a misery. Those who are numbered among its victims are the ones who are ever seeking advice and who walk about with furrowed fore heads and *< long faces." A little prudence iu eating, care in personal attire and a few eimple aud homely remedies may do much to make life comparatively comfortable aud to pave the way for au ultimate cure. Of these the first is of greatest importance, and a short rule encom passes the entire field. Do not eat rich or highly seasoned foods nor anything which is known to give you discomfort, and do not drink the spirituous liquors or strong tea or coffee. Keep your dig2stive tract clear and go to bed when you*arc tired. Many a person who has suf fered the torments of indigestion for years has been cured by rest. In the matter of clothing, the stom ach and bowel s should ever be warmly covered, and the head, feet and hands kept at au even leuiper I ature. Of the remedies ever at hand, the best is a draught of hot water taken abcut half an hour before eating. This tends to clear the stomach and to put the glauds in healthy action. Iu addition to this, a pinch of baking soda may be of benefit if the ailment is particularly distressing. Above all things, however, the food must be thoroughly masticated. The Mexican Army, The Revista Militar Mexican pub lishes an interesting account of the composition of the Mexican Army. The army consists at present or three classes?the Standing Army, the Re serve of the Standing Arm and the ; General Reserve, haviug a total nom I inal strength 160,000 men?viz., in fantry, 130,000; vavalry, 26,000, and artillery, 4000. The standing army, distributed over eleven military dis tricts, numbers 40,000 men of all arms, 26,000 of whom belong to the infantry, S,000 to the cavalry, and the rest to the artillery, cngiuccrs aud subsidiary branches of the service. The infantry is armed with the Rem ington rifle. The field artillery is very inade quately armed with some forty 3 15 inch Bange guns and a number of old bronze guns; but steps are to be taken as soon as possible to sup ply deficiencies with guns which are to be manufactured at the New National Gun Foundry. The in fantry are also to receive a fresh armament as soon as arrangements can be made to manufacture a new rifle, the invention of a Mexican engi neer officer. The horses ridden by the cava lay arc small, but exceedingly hardy. Mules arc mostly employed for draft purposes. All the establishments connected with the army have a military organ ization and only soldiers are employed in the works. The President of the Republic is the titular commauder-in chicf of the army, but as a rule he de pu'cs his authority to the Minister ot War. The army is mostly recruited from full-blooded Iudiaus, who are very brave and easily amenable to dis cipline. As soldi irs they are excellent marchers and are second to no other troops in the world on this score and iu frugality aud contentment. Wheu on guard or off duty their appearance is not taking; they appear too i ido l?n- and sicepy looking, but on parade they have an excellent appearance and :t is difficult to let.iize that they are the same men as were loafing about apparently halt asleep a few minutes previous:}'. Peach *tone- arc used for fuel in California. Th-y gjvc more heat in proportion weight than c?al. The stones aro collected at tho fruit can* iieries aud $uU2 at $15 per tou,