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THE SIX" OF GOSSIP."' Rev. Dr. Talmage Denounces the Whispering of Evil. AMONG GREAT VILLAINIES, j More Harmful Than Open Slan\ ders. Destroying Good Names the Worst of Crimes. Iq this discourse Dr. Talmage vigorously arraigns one of the great evils have cursed the world and urges generous interpretation of the character of others; text, Romans i, 29, "Full of" envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity?whisperers." Paul was here calling the long roll of the world's villainy, and he puts in the midst of this roll those persons known in all cities and communities and places as whisperers. They are so called be- J *ause they generally speak undervoice ana m a connaeauai w?), uicu uauu vv the side of their mouth acting as a funnel to keep the precious information from wandering into the wrong ear. They speak softly not because they! have lack of lung force or because they are overpowered with the spirit of genleness, but because they want to escape the consequences of defamation. If no one hears but the person whispered unto and the offender be arraigned, he can deny the whole thing, for whis- j ? -i perers are aiways uui waso naig. Some people whisper because they are hoarse from a cold or because they wish to convey some useful information without disturbing others, but the creatures photographed by the apostle* in my text give muffled utterance from sinister and depraved motive, and some-times you can only hear the sibilant sound as the letter "S'J drops from the tongue into the listening ear, the brief hiss of the serpent as it projects its Vf*noro. Whisperers are masculine and feminine. with a tendency to majority on the side of those who are called ;ithe lords of creations." Whisperers are heard at every window of bank cashier and are heard in all counting rooms as well as in'sewing societies and at meetings of asylum directors and managers. They are the worst foes of society, responsible for miseries innumerablej,thgy_ are the sca^^^ers~of^i5"worldTHriving their^&rt through every community, ?- and today I hold up for your holy anathema and excreation these whisperers. From the frequency with winch -ram speaks of them under different titles I conclude that he must have suffered somewhat from them. His personal presence was very defective, and that made him perhaps the target of their ridicule, and besides that he was a bachelor, persisting in his celibacy down ^nto the sixties?indeed, all the way through?and, some having failed in their connubial designs upon him, the little missionary was put under the raking fire of these whisperers. He was no doubt a rare morsel for their scandalization, and he cannot keep his patience any longer, and he lays hold of these miscreants of the tongue and sives them a very hard setting down in my text among the scoundrelly and tie murderous. "Envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity?whisperers." The law of libel makes quick and stout grip of open slander. If I should in a plain way, -calling you by name, charge you with fraud or theft or mur^ der or uncleanness, tomorrow morning I might have peremtory documents served on me, and I would have to pay in dollars and cents for the damage I had done your character. But these creatures spoken of in my text are so 4-1*AYT flortona flio fir>P Olllrtiii mau uuoj gev?y\/ vmv comb of the law. They go on, and they go on, ^scaping the judges and the juries and the penitentiaries. The district attorney cannot find them, the sheriff cannot find them, the grand jury cannot find them. Shut them off from one route of perfidy, and they start on another. You cannot by the force of moral sentiment persuade them to desist. You might as well read the Ten Commandments to a flock of crows, expecting them to retreat under the force of moral sentiment. They are to be ^ found everywhere, these whisperers. I their paradise is a country village IP jfejl^OOO or 2,000 people where WJjm Bp^Bcws everybody, but they fcrand in large quautuies Tftiey have a prying disposition. They look into the basement windows at tite tables of their neighbors and can tell just what they have morning and night to eat. They can s<je as far through a keyhole as other people can see with a doos wide open. They can hear conversation on the opposite side of the room. Indeed, the world to them is a whispering gallery."- They always put the worst construction on everything. Some morning a "wife descends into the streets, her eyes damp with tears, that is a stimulus to the tattler and ^ is enough to set up a business for three or four weeks. "I guess that husband ' and wife don't live happily together. I wonder if he hasn't been abusing her? It's outrageous! He ought to be disciplined. He ought to be brought up before the church. I'll go right over to my neighbors, and I'll let them know about this matter." She rushes in all out of breath to a neighbor's house and says: ''Oh, Mrs. Allear, have you heard the dreadful news? Why, our neighbor, poer thing, came down ofi the steps in a flood of tears. That brute of a husband has been abusing her. Well it's just as I expected. I saw him the other afternoon very smiling and very gracious to some one s ho smiles back, and I thought then I would just go up to him and t*ll him he had better go home and look after his wife and family, who probably at that very time were ap stairs crying their eyes out. Oh,x Mrs. Allear, do have your husband go over and put an end to this trouble! It's ^simply outrageous that our neighborHtfSbod should be disturbed in this way! W It's awful!" K- The fact is that one man or woman 1 set on fire of this hellish spirit will keep F a whole neighborhood a boil. It does | not require any very great brain. The I chief requisition is that the woman L ha?e a small family or no family at all, ?L because if she have a large family then L she would have to stay at home and I Voi: after them. It is very important that she be single or have no children J at all, and then she can attend to all L the secret3 of the neighborhood all the time. A woman with a large family makes a very poor whisperer. w*~ It is astonishing bow these whisper>rs gather up everything. They know rajerything that happens. There are Mfc^hone and telegraph wires reaching gyTrom their ears to all the houses in the V neighborhood. They have no taste for W healthy news, but for the scraps and peelings thrown out of the scullery into g the back yard they have great avidity. On the day when there is a new scandal in tie newspapers tney cave ay imL i-j go abroad. On the day when there arc four or Ave columns of delightful private letters published in a divorce case she stays at home and reads and reads and reads. Xc time for her Bible that day, but toward night, perhaps, she may find time to run out a little while and see whether there are any new developments. Satan does not have to keep a very sharp lookout for his evil dominion in that neighborhood. He has let out to her the whole contract. She gets husbands and wives into a quarrel and brothers and sisters into antagonism, and she disgusts the pastor with the flock and the flock with the pastor, and she makes neighbors who before were kindly disposed toward each other over?nsnif?ioas and critical, so when one of the neighbors passes by in a carriage ! they hiss through their teeth and say, j "Ah. we could all keep carriages if we never paid our debts!" When two or three whisperers get to| gether, they stir a caldron of tiouble, ! which makes me think of the three witches of "Macbeth" dancing around a boiliDg caldron in a dark cave: Double, double, toil and trouble, Fire burn and caldron bubble. Fillet of a fenny snake In the caldron boil and bake; Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of bat and tongue of dog, Adder's fork and blind worm's sting, Lizard's leg and owlet's wing For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a heli both boil and bubble. Double, double, toil and trouble, Fire burn and caldron bubble, Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf, Witches' mummy, maw and gulf Of theravin'd salt sea shark; Make the gruel thick and stark; Add thereto a tigers chaudron For the ingredients of our caldron. Double, double, toil and trouble, Fire burn and caldron bubble; Cool it with a baboon's blood, Then the charm is firm and good. I would only change Shakespeare in this, that where he puts the word "witch" I should put the word "whisperer." Ah, what a caldron! Did you ever get a taste of it? I have more respect for the poor waif of the street I that goes down under the gaslight with no home and no Grod?for she deceives I no one as to what she is? than I have for these hags of respectable societywho cover up their tiger claws with a fino ekoTsrl onf3 Krtlf t.hp li^ll nf their Jieart-mth.a diamond breastpin. The work~oFmasculine whisperers is chiefly seen in the embarrassment of business. Now, I suppose there are hundreds of men here who at some time have been in business trouble. I will undertake to say that in nine cases out of ten it was the result of some whisperers's work. The whisperer uttered some suspicion in regard to your credit. You sold your horse and carriage because you had no use for them, and "k^Trr'kiorKir/vreoir! "Knl^ Tlia TlfVTSP STld uug RiilOj/V&Vl OMA\A? carriage because lie had to sell them. The fact that he sold his horse and carriage shows he is going down in business/' One of your friends gets embrassed, and you are a little involved with him. The whisperer says: "I wonder if he can stand under all this pressure? I think he is going down. I think he will have to give up." You borrow money out of a bank, and the director whispers outside about it, and after awhile the suspicion gets fairly started, and it leaps from one whisperer's lips to another whisperer's lips until all the people you owe want -their money and want it right away, and the business circles come around you like a pack of wolves, and, though you had assets four times more tnan were necessary 10 to meet your liabilities, crash went everything. "Whisperers! Oh, how much business men have suffered! Sometimes in the circles of clergymen we discuss why it is that a great many merchants do not go to church. I will tell you why they do not go to church. By the time Saturday night comes they are worn out with the annoyances of business life. They have had enough meanness practiced upon them to set their whole nervous system a-twiteh. I think among the worst of the whisperers are those who gather up all the harsh things that have been said about you and bring them to you?all the things said against you, or against your family, or against your style of business. They gather them all up, and they bring them to you; they bring them to you in the very worst shape; they bring them to you without any of the extenuating circumstances, and after they have^^deyonrfeelings all raw, 4ery raw, towel and rub it in until itsinf^-^K^ bone. They make you the pincushion in which they thrust all the sharp things they have ever heard about you. "Xow, don't bring me into the scrape. Now, don't tell anybody I told you. Let it be between you and me. Don t involve nje in it at all." lney aggravate you to the point of profanity, and they wonder you cannot sitg psalm tunes! They turn you on a spit before a hot fire and wonder why you are not absorbed in gratitude to them because they turn you on a spit. Peddlers of night shade! Peddlers of Canada thistle! Peddlers of nux vomica! Sometimes they get you in a corner where you cannot very well escape without beiDg rude, and then they tell you all about this one, all about that one, and all about the other one, and they talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. After awhile they go away, leaving the plaoe looking like a barnyard after the foxes and the weasels have been around; here a wing, and there a claw, and yonder an eye, and there a crop. How they do make the feathers fly! Rather than the defamation of good ?.-.si 4 4- OAAnftfl i- r\ ?/*/% if 01 _ LL&LLLC3 X \J OUCLUO IV luc Jiu rr vuiu iyv> uj. most as honorable and useful if you just took a box of matches in your pocket ?ad a razor in your hand and go through the streets and see how many houses you can burn down and how many throats you can cut. That is not a much worse business. The destruction of a man's name is worse than the destruction of his life. A woman came in confessional to a priest and told him that she^ had been slandering her neigh bors. The priest promised her absolution on condition of her performing a penance. He gave her a thistle top and said. "You can take that thistle and scatter the seeds ail over the field.'' She went and did so and came back, "Now," said the priest, ';gather up all those seeds." She said, "I can't." "Ah," he said, "I know you can't. Xtither can you gather up the evil words you spoke about your neighbors." All good men and all good women have sometimes had detractors after them. John "Lesley's wife whispered about him, whispered all over England, kep? on whispering about that good man?as good a man as ever lived?and kept on whispering until the connubial relation was dissolved. Jesus Christ had these whisperers aiter mm, and they charged him with drinking too much and keeping bad 1 <111 uitfWi company. <;A wine bibber and ihz j friead of ptiblicans and sinners." Yon j take the best man that ever lived and I put a detective on his track for ten years, watchiog where he goes and when he comes with a determination to discover everything and to think he goes here for a bad purpose and there for a bad purpose, with that determination of destroying him, at the end of the ten years he will be held despicable in the sight of a great many people. Some people say there is no hell, but if there be no hell for such a despoiler oi womamy cnaracter it is mgu uiue that some philanthropist built one! But there is such a place established, and what a time the v will have when all the whisperers get down there together rehearsiDg things! EverlastiDg carnival of mud. Were it not for the uncomfortable surroundings you might suppose they would be glad to get there In that region where they are all bad what opportunities for exploitation by these whisperers. On earth, to despoil their neighbors sometimes they had to lie about them, but down there they can say the worst things possible about their neighbors and tell the truth. Jubilee of whisperers, Semiheaven of scandal mongers stopping their gabble about their diabolical~ neighbors only long enough to go up to the iron gate and ask some newcomer from the earth, "What is the last gossip in the city on earth where we used to live?" Now. how are we to war against this I inirtiilft* nnvzoc OTTOT*T7 O ATTl TY* T? 711 fXT ; iiiiu uilj* nuiuu vuiovu v ? vx j I on eartb? First, by refusing to listen to or believe a whisper. Every court \ of the land has for a law and all decent | communities have for a law that you j must hold people innocent until tney are proved guilty. There is only one j person worse than the whisperer, and that is the man or woman who listens | without protest. The trouble is, you hold the sack while they fill it. The receiver of the stolen goods is just as bad as the thief. An ancient writer declares that a slanderer and a man who receives the slander ought both to be hanged?the one by the tongue and the other by the ear?and I agree with him When you hear something bad about your neighbors, do not go all over and ask about it, whether it is true and scatter it and spread it, You might as " ? r -A _ 1 J well go CO a smallpox nospitai aau. tase a patient and. carry him all through the community asking people if they really thought it a case of smallpox. That would be very bad for the patient .1 ii for all the neighbors. Do not retail ?"i]o**Ao??a 'r-Vkiarmririorfl T)/v , II ~ - - I make yourself the inspector of w; rts, and the supervisor of carbuncles, and the commissioner for street gutters, and the holder of stakes for a dog fight. Can it be that you, an immortal man; that you, an immortal woman, can 2nd no better business than to become a ? ? i o gutter inspector: Beside that, at your family table sllow no detraction. Teach your children to speak well of' others. Show them the difference between a bee and a wasp?the one gathering honey, the other thrusting a sting. I read of a family where they kept what they called "A Slander Book," and when any slanderous words were uttered in the house about anybody or detraction uttered it was all put down in this book. The book was kept carefully. For the first few weeks there were a great many entries, but after awhile there were no entries at all. Detraction stopped in that household. It would be a good thing to have a slander book in all households. Are any of you given to this habit of whispering about others? Let me persuade you to desist. Mount Taurus was a great place for eagle3, and cranes would fly along that way, and they would cackle so loud that the eagles would know of their coming, and they would pounce upon them and destroy them. It is said that the old cranes found this out and before they started on their flight they would always have a stone in their mouth so they could not cackle, and then they would fly in perfect safety. Oh, my friends, be as wise as the old cranes and avoid the folly of the young cranes! Do not cackle. If there are people here who are whispered about, if there are people here who are slandered, if theie are people here who are abused in any circle of life, let me.say for your encouragement that these whisperers soon run out. They may do a little damage for awhile but after awhile their detraction becomes a eulogy and people understand them just as well as though some one chalked all over their overcoat or their shawl these words: "Here goes a whisperer. Room for the leper. Room!" You go ahead and do your duty, and God will take care .of your reputation. him? You have "Can yo^orffil^^HBBP^our reputa tionY (jet down on your knees beiore God and settle the whole matter there. That man whom Grod takes care of is well sheltered. Let me charge you, myf-iends, to make right and holy use of the tongue. It is loose at one end and can swing either way, but it is fastened at the other end to the floor of your mouth, and that makes you responsible for the way it wags. Xanthus, the philosopher, told his servant that on the morrow he was going to have some friends to dine, and told him to get the best thing he could find in the market. The philosopher and his guests sat down the ucau uay at u-uc tau;ui jljjluj aav/ujuling but tongue?four or five courses of tongue?tongue cooked in this way and tongue cooked in that way, and the philosopher lost his patience and said to his servant, "Didn't I tell you to get the best thing in the market?" He said: "I did get the best thing in the market. Isn't the tongue the organ of sociality, the organ of eloquence, the organ of kindness, the organ of worship?" Then Xanthus said, "Tomorrow I want you to get the worst thing in the market.'7 And on the morrow the philosopher sat at the table, and there was nothing there but tongue?four or five courses of tongue?tongue in this shape and tongue in that shape, and the philosopher again lost his patience and said, "Didn't I tell you to get the worst thing in the market?'' The servant replied, "I did, for isn't the tongue the organ of blasphemy, the organ of defamation, the organ of lying?'' Oh. my friends, etnpioy the tongue which God so wondorfully cr^atod as the organ of taste, the organ of deglutition, the organ of articulation to make others happy and in the service of God! If you whisper, whisper good?encouro(Tomarif f/-V tVio 'Pollo'n onrl linnp t,n flip lost. Ah, my friends, the time will soon come when we will all whisper! The voice will be enfeebled in the last sickness, and, though that voice could laugh and shout and sing and halloo until the forest echoes answered,-it will be so feet>le then.we can only whisper consolation tc" those whom' -77Q Ica^e behind and only whisper our hope of heaven. While X speak this very moment there are hundreds whispering their last utterances. Oh, when that solemn hour comes to yon and to me, zs come soon it will, may it be found that we did our best to serve Christ, and to cheer our comrades in the earthly strrggle. and that we consecrated not only our hand, but our tongue, to God. So that the shadows that fall around our dying pillow shall not be the evening twilight of a gathering night, but the morning twilight of an everlasting day. This morning at half past 4 o'clock I looked out of my window, and the stars were very dim. I looked out a few moments after, and the stars were almost invisible. T looked out an hour or two afterward. Not a star was to be seen. What was the matter with the stars? Had they melted into darkness? No. They had melted into the glorious light of a Sabbath morn. New England's Crime. The loss of her cotton mill industry is not the greatest calamity that the future has in store for New England. Her greatest calamity is to be found in her exceedingly low birth rate. An average of about two children to the family is the rule among the old New Englanders. Observers of the decline of the old New England stock as a result of this low birth rate declare that it is only a question of time when the prolific inflowing French-Canadians will one day possess New England's rural districts, while7 the children ot the Irish and other foreigners will possess its cities. There is no doubt about the correctness of this position. Old New England is passing, and in a few more decades a new population will have supplanted the old. This is a patent fact to all but those who dwell within the sacred precincts of New England, but- it will become plain to them even in a few more years. In curtailing the birth rate ihe people of New England have committed a great crime against their section, and as a punishment their inheritance will be taken irom tnem and given to others. The impending fate of }\ew England should be a warning to up of the South. We should arnestly pray that the Malthusian ontagion may not invade our beauitnl So toudth -lanany great extent for many years to come, for should it do so it will mean that the Negro will supersede us, as the French-Canadians are the old New England stock, and in herit the land of our fathers. A high I birth rate among the whites of the | tSouth is the easiest and simplest so- j lution of the race problem, that we hear . to much, about from time to time. Already great alarm has been felt owing to-the belief that the blacks were increasing much more rapidly than the whites. But happily the last census established beyond question the fact that the whites are increasing faster than the blacks in proportion to population. Whether this desirable ratio will be maintained by the census of 1900 and those that folbw remains to be seen. It cannot be doubted that upon the comparative birth rate of the t*o races as determined by investigation during the nest few decades will de t i t A pend. tixe remote History ana wenare of the southern states. The South should profit by New England's sad experience and pray for a high birth rate among her white people, as therein lies her only safety from Negro domination in the distant future. Cow Thieves Captured. The Augusta Herald says: 1'Charley Jones, colored, was arrested Wednesday afternoon by Sergeant Norris of the Augusta police force and Officer Webb. mi , 1 r* 1 11 _ i_ _ ? iney arrested mm at xne msiauce 01 Detective Gr. B. Kictrell of Orangeburg county, S. C. The detective arrived here yesterday and had a conference with the police. He said he was after Charley Jones, who had been stealing cows in Orangeburg county and who was wanted for the murder of a man some years ago. Sergeant Norris' and Officer Webb took the trail. They arrested Jones out near Railroad avenue about dusk. He was sent to the station and is there now. He denies the charge. This morning another party, who is said to be concerned in the cow stealing case with* Jones, was arrested by Officer Webb at about the same place where Jones was apprehended. His name is nothing less than Simon Washington Hampton. Both are charged with cow stealing, but the first one captured also has the charge of murder overhanging him. They will be taken to South Carolina. There is a bit of uncertainty about the man Jones being the one wanted for murder, but he will be taken to Orangeburg county and the matter fully investigated." * Corn Crop Rum&a. The Coluic'Dia State says Capt. D. J. Griffith, superintendent of the penitentiary, returned from the State farm Tuesday and tells of a bad state of affairs on the bottom lands of the DeSaussure farm. The young corn on 250 acres has been completely destroyed by worms, bugs and other pests. He brought back a number of specimens of stalks ruined by the depredations of the worm. The stalks are eaten almost through and the leaves are shredded. A lew acres on the Reid farm have sutf<-red in like manner and a number of neighboring farmers state that their bottom lands have been visited by the pest". The uplands have fared better, and for this reason Col. Griffith thinks the vermin germanated in the spring freshets which flooded the lowlands. ' marriage in ine rninppmes The Negritos have a curious marriage custom, says Self Culture. When a young man makes known his preference, the young woman flees from him, while he gives chase and catches her in his arms. She struggles and frees herself, whereupon the chase is renewed, and so on until he has caught her the third time, when she yields, and he proudly leads her back to her father's dwelling. The father and mother of the bride-elect then meet with, the contracting parties, the 'latter kneeling side hv side. The father then takes some water in a cocanut shell and throws it over them. Continuing the ceremony, he takes each by the neck and bumps their heads together several times, and they are then a^jud-red to be duly married. A wedding tour of five days' Si journ alone in the juaountaitM foiio-vs, ...ter which they take up their abode as staid citizens among their friends. A Thoughtful Act. Governor McSweeney Las obtained through a Chicago concern a very handsomely bound scrap book which contains clippings from all newspapers in the United States that had anything to say about the death of his predecessor either in its editorial or news columns. The volume is indeed a handsome and valuable one the pages being admirably fitted for the purpose for which they are used. Gov. McSweeney will send the book to Mrs. Ellerbe with his compliments, having obtained it for that purpose. Such a volume is of course invaluable to the family and no doubt the gift will be most highly appreciated. Educational ConferenceThO educational conference recently held at t-apron Springs, Va., was a most important gathering and is engaging the attention of thoughtful men in all sections of our country. The representative character of those who uar ticipated in the proceedings has left its impress upon the public mind. Tbe presiding officer was Dr. J. L. M. Cur ry and a list of the leading spirits present includes prominent southern educators and men well known for their interest in the cause of southern education. There was no evidence of any sectional feeling and those who came from the north freely recognize that the chief part of the problem of southern education is to be found in the prefer and thorough education of the white race as the independent and permanently dominant race. Most of the addresses and papers, says the Augusta Chronicle, dealt with only one phase of the broad subject of education in the south, but four of them handled the entire subject with the greates ability and calmness. These were the addresses made by Dr. Curry, President Wilson, Dr. Dickerman, and President * * mi J - .M.JJ iL. joaiawin. anese uisuaguisueuu tu? conference, it is believed, above uny similar body that has met in this country for a generation, if not for the entire period of its history. Dr. Curry gave a review of the entire field. He showed what the south had been and what it is, in so far as to illustrate his daim that the present condition date3 back to the end of the war. He gave the following data: In 1860 the northern states had a population of 19,000,000, 205 colleges and universities, with 1,407 professors and 29,044 students. In the samj Tear the southern states had a population of 8,000,000, 262 colleges and universities, with 1,48S professors ana 27,055 students. These are the figures of the last censu3 before the war. At the same time the norlh was spending for its universities and colleges $1,514,688 and $4,603,749 for its academies yearly; and the south was spending $1,662,419 for its colleges and universities and $1,328,127 for its academies yearly. The showing is tremendously in favor of the south, and Dr. Curry said it fully explained the fact that before the war the great leaders of men?the Washingtons, Jeffersons. Madisons. Henrvs. Clavs, Taylors, Scotts, etc.?weie found in the south, the product of the southern school system. "With the war everything succumbed to the general disaster. Now the northern colleges and universities have a productive fund of $102,721,451, while the southern colleges and universities have a productive fu nd of only $15,741,000. Under such conditions, he said, it is no wonder that the south finds herself utterly unable to keep up with the rapid progress of the northern states. He also spoke of the great work that the south has done tor education since the war. In thirty years it has spent $500,000,000 in educational work, $100,000,000 of which went for the Negroes, an amount largely in excess of their just proportion, if the sum had been equally divided between the two races on any basis whatever. Good systems of public schools, which Br. Curry declared to be the most original and highest idea yet conceived by the American people, had been established in every southern state. This he declared to be the grandest work ever accomplished by any people in so short a time after so great a disaster. An Unqualified Success, The News and Courier, of Thursday, says: "Col. Asbury Coward, superintendent of the South Carolina Military Academy, returned to the city from Orangeburg Tuesday night, and was yesterday asked aoout the encampment and the prospects of the nest session of the Academy. Col. Coward said that unquestionably the visit of the cadets to Orangeburg had been one of the most pleasant incidents in the history of the school, and he was inclined to think one of the most useful. The people of Orangeburg were untiring in their efforts to make the stay of the cadets and officers agre eable and they succeeded most admirably. The cadets. hv their soldierlv conduct and gentlemanly deportment, he was sure, had made an excellent impression upon the people of that section, and it was thus, mutually beneficial. In talking of the next session Col. Coward- saMthat the future o^fche Academy _??<>*tied . very bright. TnftreTTiiibe nine ben&?; ficiaries admitted"at tlie next term, and -tWe will come, one each, from the followinz counties: Aiken, Anderson, Clarendon, Greenville, Horry. Newberry, Orangeburg, Pickens and Charleston. Blanks of application to enter competitive examination, with sheet giving necessary information, can be obtained from the respective county superintendents of education. All applications, fully and clearly made out, must be in the hands of the chairman, Col. C. S. Gadsden, by August 1. Besides these there will be one vacant _ r scnoiarsnip in rne disposition oi tue City of Charleston. Information concerning this scholarship can be obtained from the city authorities." Anti-Trust Delegates. Wednesday the governor received a letter from Chicago announcing the postponement until Sept. 1316 of the proposed conference on combinations and trusts that was to have been held in that city this month. The governor was asked to appoint seven delegates to the conference to represent this btate. 'ibis He aid, announcing tne following: First district?J. H. Marshall. Second district?L. W. Youmans. Third district?J. E. Boggs. Fourth district?T. L. Gantt. Fifth district?J. S. Brice. Sixth district?A. H. Williams. Seventh district?S. H. Rodgers. Ate Poisoned Candy. Mrs. Elsie Scheib, 610 Ellis Street, San Francisco, ate of some candy reserved by mail on Friday and since has been seriously ill with symtoms of arsenical poisoning. On the day mentioned a box of candy and a letter were^ re Deived at Mrs. Scheib's house. They had not been sent to her, but were addressed to her friends, who frequently visited her. The box was opened and some of the candy was offered to a half dozen young women who were employed as dressmakers by Mrs. Scheib. They declined to take the candy, but Mrs. Scheib ate a small quantity. Soon afterwards she became alarmingly ill, with every symptom of having been poisoned by ax'senie Antidotes were administered and she is reco*7 ring. Mach mystery surrounds the ca_?. A Fair Exchange. A Perkins, Okla., bachelor started to Joplin, Mo., not long ago with a wagonload of peanuts, and on the way he met a widow with seven children. It was a case of first-sight love, and marrying her the next day, he carried a wagonload of family back home with him. THIS CHOPS AKD "WEATH2R. c | What the Department of Apiculture Says ADont ijiem. The following is the weekly bulletin * of the South Carolina section of the climate and crop service of the United ( States weather bureau issued last week by Director Bauer: Columbia, S. C., July 4, 1S99. The week ending July 3d averaged * lightly cooler than usual, especially J over the western portion of the State,1 * during the latter half of the week, with j minima temperatures generally below j sty degrees. ' The^e were numerous showers from June 27th to the 30th, heavy and well i distributed over the eastern half of the e Stace, and light over the north central and northwestern portions, where the rainfall was poorly distributed, and I where more rain is needed, except over very limited areas. Over the areas of deficient rainfall, 8 crops are not making satisfactory growth, but over the eastern portion of the State generally, they are up to, or above, their average condition on July 1st, and are generally very promising. Worms continue to destroy corn; bat worms to injure tobacco; and caterpillars to devastate rice; while lice on cotton have appeared at various points. Cotton continues to make seasona- " ble growth and is bloombg and fruiting freely, with no reports of shedding. mi. . 11? :??j xne piauis are gu.ueia.ny uuuusucu, but vigorous and healthy. The nights have been too cool latterly for the best development of sea island cotton. ] Corn, is in a few sections, very prem ising. but on the whole it is below its seasonable average condition. "Wire worms are destroying old corn at many points. Corn is being laid by. Tobacco varies areatlv in condition. with many reports of injury by bud worms. In places the need of rain is urgent. Cutting and curing is as yet making slow progress, although some ^ inferior grades have been sold in open market. Late reports on wheat confirm earlier estimates of small yields. The sann is true of spring sown oats. The bulk of the rice crop is very promising, but caterpillars continuetoHovaat.ate lafp iVtantintrs ?nrl wa ter for flooding is not available in 1 places. Melons are ripening but do not promise a large crop. Many sweet potato slips have been set out during the week. Sugar cane, sorghum and gardons show some improvement. Peas are being extensively planted, and coming up to good stands. Haying is in progress on the coast meadows. J Illustrated by a Fable. ? There is a touch of humor in the situation anent the Samoan kingship that reminds one of the oyster in the fable. Of that famous bivalve it is related that it was discovered on a sea VlTT 4-TTrr\ fliAm U7<XV/u uj c ry u vt <xj iai yi stooped and picked it up, but the other one claimed it by reason of the fact that he saw it first. The dispute was left to j a lawyer who happened to pass that way. He calmly opened the bivalve, . swallowed the juicy morsel inside, and, ^ parting the shells, gave one to each of the disputants. The island kingship is the oyster on the beach, the ownership of which the three commissioners of ' the powers have settled by swallowing, giving Malietoa Tanus and Mataafa a shell each. Killed by a Woman. A terrible tragedy was enacted on Monday last on the shore of Grand i Lake, immediately in the rear of the | village of Charenton. La., in which Thomas W. "Webb was shot and instantly killed by Mrs. W. F. Smith. It ap- ( pears that Smith and Webb were en- * gaged as partners in gathering and preparing moss for market, and in the division of the moss Webb used very insulting language to Mrs. Smith, who was present, whereupon she seized a dobule-barreled shotgun loaded with jbuckshot near at hand and discharged u the contents of one barrel into the t breast of Webb, killing him instantly, e Deputy Sheriff Pecot buried the re- e \\7aUV* aw/1 rtWAefar? .QnmfVi on/1 I UU4LLL3 UI 11 OUU AUU aub0l\>u tjuinu uuu his wife and thsy are now in jail at,J Charenton, La. _? ? Slown Overra Fence. j A cyclone struck New Tork State < .jioar Gtens Falls Wednesday'afternoon. < Large trees were up-rooted and other ? damage was done. James Nesbitt, a farmer living east of Lake George was driving, was blown, with his horse * and buggy from the road ov3r a fence and into a field. He was injured so severely that he died. HON! I THIS High ftrm Sewing Yw&lj gvamfeced tsr tea yi sJ5 fee latest \ Price $18.C Mamy wtfrotei char SO ii Btt as geed at 1&* $&Sd to ?**** * Tt Bihaipirtui Tin Parai ? ffaaiifi, Sasyrate, S?vii I Atea I 1 100 & HI2 Sr< ??.. . ,r , ' j ! if anion ilUUiGJ 26 SMiTH STREET, f| Cor. Vaxderhorst, g-||g q CHARLESTON, S. C. ** W ? ^ ALCOHOL dORPHINE )PIUM rOBACCO CIGARETTE JSING Produce each a disease having defin j te pathology. The disease yields i :asily to the Double Chloride of Geld j Treatment as administered at the above j ?eeley Institute. N. B.?The Keeley Treatment is j idministered in South Carolina T/ CHARLESTON. | I All We Ask of! nrYOU ! STf?ANYTHING | D tbe Machinery or | Mill Supply Line _ is that you give us an opportunity to submit our prices and make comparisons. We ask this because we believe we can make it to YOUR advantage. TRY US. rVe make a specialty of equipping IMPROVED MODERN" GINNERIES OF ANY CAPACITY WITH THE SIMPLEST AND MOST EFFICIENT COTTON HANDLING-. ^APPARATUS IN EXISTENCE?THE MURRAY SYSTEM. Correspondence with intending puricasers solicited. W. H. Gibbes & Co.. COLUMBIA, S. C. SOUTH CAROLINA AGENCY Liddell Co., Charlotte, N. C. A. B. Farquhar Co., Ltd., York, Pa. Sagle Cotton Gin Co., Bridge water, Mass. Jtraub Machinery Co., Cincinnati, 0. I To get strong and healthy use due bottle Mtjr*"* * -*"r? rv TTTV /^v"*T UTTTr tlAI SlJtlUIN 1U1Aiure. Price 50c I HE HAY DRUO 09., Macfeat's : . School of ammnrciAim wimisuiiiu ?AND? .TYPEWRITING COLUMBIA, S. C. This School has the reputation of being the? >ett business institution in the State. Gradlates are holding remunerative positions in aercantile houses, banking, insurance, real state, railroad offices, &c., in this and otaer states. Write to W. H. Macfeat, C igrapher Comulbia, S CJbri<>-rgv-"**'~: ? ?life? ' i vegetable for Mild, :ure forLiv- the Pleasant, >r, Kidney & LIVER Sore. itomach troubles, and 25, 50, $1. -KIDNEYSSold wholesale by? I l H The Murray Drug Co. Columbia j Dr. H. Baer, Charleston, S C, I Machine kxtb, fitted -ritfc. ^ esatffollj orn?rs too if machine Sfea \f ftt.00 *a?bia?s ^ ||| jrttsA jm vast. fW tare, Staves, jyfpjjSj ag Sacftiaes, The Padgett Fur *ad Street, i nrr'i r.-m n -TyfrnrfSi ^ \ . % \ -~'H \ ' J I I I A IS I L, L?K < NOTHING- LIKE IT J FOR s 4 IConstipation, 1 1 Indigestion, 1 t ^ bbjbw?' ? Wholesale b^-RJ,y DRUG CO., ! THE MOTRAc0iumtia, S. C. I Dk. H. BAER.cWeston] S. C. i x i \ I I I ' ^ Ginning t m Machinery. o The Smith Pneumatic Suction Elevating, Ginning and Packing System Is the simplest and most efficient on i tne market, jjorty-eignt complete j outfits in South Carolina; each one giving absolute satisfaction. Boilers and Engines; Slide Valve, Automatic and Corliss. / My Light and Heavy Log Beam Saw Mills cannot be equalled in design, ef- . ficiency or price by any dealer or manu<* -X xL . CI . il. . . ^ racurrer in iae ooum. Write for prices and catalogues. V. C. Badham, 1326 Main Street, COLUMBIA, S. C. It is the= Custom But a Terj poor one, to wait until the ginning season is on before lot king to see what fix the gin is in. Now is the time to HURRY YOUR GIN 10 TIE ELLIOT GIN REPAIR WORKS. ~ Do not delay and then ask us to let you have it at once, for thorough work cannot be done in a harry. The attention giren i mis matter now win more taiui when .the cotton is white in the fields and the gin house crowded. I>e work is coming in already, so sliip^ at once to the References by permission:?W. H. Gtbbes & Co ,.V C. Badham, Jno. A. Willis. * *' your name and shipping point oo work sent and prepay the freight. The Elliott Bin Repair Works, W. J. ELLIOTT, Proprietor, No. 1314 Gates Street, COLUMBIA, S. C. ! SAINS! I THIS EIJ5GAJTT No. 8 COOKING STOVE Only $10.00. Hag 17x17 inch oven, foor 8 inek pothoiea; large fine* |nnk-' teed a jood baker. We It thfc J Store up with forty pieeee cC van I fljj tucladiAg the latest stove ran. To advertise oar linitewi we | will sell this No. 8 Cookx&f Stort, fitted with 40 piece* of ware for $10.00 CASH. niture Co. i ftttgnsta, Ga. --->. .v.;,:'