The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, January 06, 1886, Image 3
FACTS FOR THE CURIOUS.
According to a vulgar error prevalent
in days gone by, poison was supposed to
swell the body.
Recent discoveries prove that the art
of wood engraving originated with the
Arabs about the ninth century.
Rosemary was one of the evergree.ns
with which dishes were anciently decorated
during the season of Christmas.
A lady who received through the postoffice
a postal card containing 1,0:50
words, written by a gentleman, replied
on a card containing' 1,0-10.
In Santa Clara couuty, Cal., there is a
cat, allied to the ground nesc masing i
species, which climbs small trees and j
makes a compact nest of twigs among
the branches, something after the manner
of a gray squirrel.
Dr. Antonin Martin says that the
flavor of cod-liver oil may be changed to
the delightful one of fresh oysters, if
the patient will drink a large glass of
"water poured from a vessel in which
nails have been allowed to rust.
The artists of Dresden and Dusseldorf
dissatisfied with the inelegant costume
for men in our times, have decided to
adopt the picturesque garments worn by
Eubens and the artists of the seventeenth
century?black velvet breeches, marine
blue stockings, velvet ve3t trimmed with
red silk and broad felt hat.
In the time of Henry I, (10T0 A. D.) i
the widow was entitled to her dowry
(when delivered to her before witnesses)
and her "marriage gift" and one thiid of
the common earnings of herself and husband,
as well as her clothing and furniture.
If a wife died without children
her relatives divided her share with her
husband.
TIip Pjilmn. Christo Dlant. now being
extensively planted in parts of South |
Carolina as a substitute for cotton, is as |
easily cultivated as corn, requires no j
particular care in handling the seed, and j
yields a large profit. The climate of !
lower South Caro'ma is all that could be j
desired, and on the sea islands the plant |
attains remarkable growth without
labor or attention.
The common potato is indigenous
to both -North and South America, and
is found growing wild at the present
day over vast tracts in New Mexico, j
Arizona, and southward in the cool ele* |
vated regions of Old Mexico. It again
appears in similar situations in the Andes
of South America, but is not found in
what are called tropical climates, but
always in cool or cold ones. Who first
carried the potato from this country to
Europe is now unknown, but the date
of its introduction is supposed to be !
1580, or about three hundred years ago.
Formerly cockfighting entered into
the occupation of o'd and young.
Schools had their cockfights. Travelers
agreed with coachmen, that they were
^~ ~ * ^ *?? A nn o
IU Willi a UI^Lll 11 IUCIU tlCIC it I.Vklkll^u? I
in any town through which they passed. I
When English country gentlemen had j
sat long at table, and the conversation 1
had turned upon the relative merits of !
their several birds, a cockfight often re- j
suited, as the birds in question were I
brought for the purpose into the diningroom.
Co:kfighting wa? practiced on
Shrove Tuesday to a great extent, and
in the time of Henry VII. of England,
seems to hive been practiced within the
precincts of the court. The earliest mention
of this ''passtime" in England is by
Fitzstephen, in 1191.
Clean Hands.
According to the fearful experiments
Of Dr. Forster, of the Italian Medical Gazette,
there is no such thing as the possibility
of clean hands on anybody.
Washed with soap *nd water, with carbolic
acid, with all and any of the
disinfectants in common use, our hands
will still remain scientifically unclean,
that is to say, that a preparation called
sterilized gelatine, absolutely destitute
of living organisms, on being touched
by the finders thus washed aud supposed
to be clean, immediately develops
livinz organisms acquired from the
fingers. But if the hands are washed in
a dilute solution of bichloride of mercury,
or corrosive sublimate, one part to
one thousand parts of. water, perfect
cleanliness is attaiued, and no living
organisms will be developed by
the touch of the fingers. It is
pitiful to think that we are really
bo palpably inude of the dust of the
-earth; but it seems that we must endure
it, since corrosive sublimate can hardly
be made the adjunct of our daily toilettes,
and if it were, then the next time
we shook hands, or t?g>k up a book, or
Went into the street, we should but develop
a fresh crop of micro organisms.
The fact is that these discoveries of
science show us, if they do nothing else,
how fearfully and wonderfully we are
made, and, and if we regarded them
seriously, there is nothing we could eat
and nothing we could do which would
not make death seem to hang imminent
in the air. There is one refuge for the
unscientific, and that is in whistling the
whole matter down the wind, keeping
clean to the best of belief, and thus
taking care of one's self, letting the
micro organisms take care of themselves.
' ?Harper's Bazar.
A Missionary Story.
One evening when Dr. Moffat was
stopping at the farm of an African boer,
his host, hearing that he was a missionary,
proposed that a service should be
held. At length the family were
seated.
' But where are the servants?" asked
Mouat.
"Servants! What do you mean?"
"I mean the Hottentots, of whom I
see so mauv on your farm."
"Httentots! Do you mean that, then? i
Let me go to the mountains and call the j
baboons, if you want a congregation of !
that sort. Or. stop, I have it; mv sons,
call the dogs that lie in front of the door
?they will do."
The missionary quietly dropped an at- ;
tempt which threatened a wrathful end- i
ing, and commenced the service. The
psalm was sung, prayer was offered, and
the preacher read the story of the Syrophenician
woman, and se ected more es- ;
pecia ly the words, "Truth, Lord, but
even the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall
from the master's table." He had not J
spoken many minutes when the voice of
the old man was again heard: "Will
mynheer sit down and wait a little? lie
_v~n i?? t,.f? >>
ttliiiu uavc iiiu iiuucuiuio.
The summons was given; and the motley
crowd trooped in, many who proba- j
blv had never been within the door of
their master's house before, and many
more who never befDre had heard the
voice of a preacher.
When the service was over, and the j
astonished Hottentots had dispersed, tl^e
farmer turned to his guest and said, "My
friend, you took a hard hammer, and
you have broken a hard head."?Lives of
B/jbert and M?r>j Moifttt, \
t There are 23,000,000 acres of unsuri
vcyed land in Washington Territory, of
which it is estimated that 16,000,000 are
V excellent agricultural lands. The Territory
now has a population of 140,000. ;
I
JffiLL STBEETH4GNATES
I
j Glewirgs from Gotham',-3 Mosey
Mar:?Anecdotes of iln Lata
William H. Vanderbilt.
I '
Jay Gould's Retirement from
* Wall Street?Some of His
Successors.
[Special New York Litter.]
Many and varied arc the stories told of
how old Commodore Vanderbilt gave his
oldest son "William up as the "Ne'er do
well" of the family, and how he finally
took him up and left him the most of
his fortune.
WILLIAM IT. VAXDERBILT.
One of the stor;c3 is that the Commodore
endeavored to 4,use" William ou j
one occasion, as was his custom with all
who dealt with him at times, by giving
him pointers on stock and then taking
the exactly opposite course advised his '
son. The son discovered that his father 1
was pursuing a different course from
that advised him, and so whipped 1
around and followed the commodore in
his actions rather than in his advice, I
without, however, the knowledge of his
fa her. Consequently when the commodore
called him up a few days later,
and asked him how much he had lost by !
following nis advice, inasmuch as the
market had gone directly opposite, j
uriii: it
M iU.'illll 11. SltUCU LlltlU 11G Mao OwtUiUi
thousand dol'ars ahead in the transaction,
and when asked for an ex planation,
stated that he had found out the coursc
of the commodore on the market l?y
private means, and thought that course ;
good enough for him to follow, and \
whi'e every one else had lost money by the
pointers he had come out ahead. This j
increased the commodore's respect for ;
him wonderfully, and he laughed heartily
over it, never trying to use his son ;
William again. i
Another story is to'd'of how when the
commodore went to St. Petersburg, Kus- 1
Bia, on the steam yacht North Star, he
was accompanied by his son William,
who was constantly smoking. The commodore
didn't like it, and abruptly went
up to him with the remark, "I wish you j
would give up that smoking of yours:
I'll give you SI0,000 if you'll do it."
The son quietly threw the cigar overboard,
remark'ng. "You need not give
me any money; your wish is quite sufficient,
father,*' and the habit was given
up. |
William H. "\atiderbilt started as ai
clerk in the office of Daniel Drew and at
a salary of $150 a year, at the ago of 18
years. This was considered a sutliciently
good start for him by his exacting father,
at that time, aud he made him no extra
allowance. Even when he married a
poor girl, a few years later, he had to
depend upon his salary alone for support,
and that was $1,000 per annum.
This early neglect was perhaps a good
thing for the son, who died with r.n income
of $10,000,000 a year,in a resideuce
that cost nearly $3,000,000. It cost him
$200,000 a year for family expenses alone.
Even his stables would be considered
palaces by most, people.
It is aston'shing how soon the great
names of even the greatest are forgotten
In this city, or remembered only by their
friends, and Vandcrbili's will be no exception
to this rule. Already Wall street
looks forward for his successor, and the
bears waut to squeeze him and the bulls
intend to gore him as soon as possible?
the sooner the better most of them think
?and his sons will have to be remarkably
sharp if they escape. One of them j
is reported to have lost ten millions, and I
another three miliio ;s in Wall street '
within the last two years, aud the street |
stands ready to down the others, and
only waits a good chance to scatter the f
vast wealth which has already passed
through two#generations.
Mr. Chauncey M. Depew was the most
~e aa'.v, tj i
IIUMUU ilUlUUliUUb U1 IT 111. XI, * iWlUCl' I
bilt, and it was he wlio engineered
through to a successful termination j
(II Vl Xr'EV M. PKI'EW
the purchase of the West Shore railroad.
It is claimed that the fierce fight which
has been raging between the Central and
the West Shore for so many months,
wore very materially upou Vanderbilt,
that the tension was too much for him, ',
and that only after the final settlement :
of all the affairs did its weakening inilu- ;;
ences become apparent in the breaking ;
of the blood vessel in his brain which
caused his death, known generally as
apoplexy. Mr. Dopew's position as ,
president of the New York Central and ;
the trusted friend of Vanderbilt brings j
nun into special prominence at this time. .
and his policy now that his chief is dead !
will be looked at critically. As the lease j
of the West Shore to the Central runs ij
for 475 years, or until the year A. D. I ]
23G0, Mr. Depew's troubles from j <
that road arc at an end for ]
some time to come, and at the end
of that time the majority of the present 1
public and Mr. Depew will together take 1
but little interest in the renewal of the
lease, and won't care whether the rate <
to Buffalo is one or ten cents per mile, ;
but his policy meantime will be of much '
interest. ?
Neither Mr. William II. Vanderbilt or 1
any of his sons were members of the 1
| Stock exchange, and it is said that the
1 commission? paid to brokers by them when
j they were all trading was over a million
dollars per annum. This would have, of
course, enriched any broker in a short
time if fine firm had done the business
alone, but it was so scattered among
different brokers that none of them
, made auy great fortune out of it. Jay
Gould hus also never been a member of
the Stock exchange, and his deals are estimated
to have been worth a half million
a year to broker.-! as commissions.
The men of Wall street seem generally
to I elieve that the withdrawal of Jay
Gould from active operation in the street
is not one of the usual canards, but
RUSSELL SAGE.
an actual fact. The number of men
who annually drop out of Wall street
and into obscurity is not enumerated,
and not cared for by the general public,
but the withdrawal of .lay Gould of
course occasions more or less comment,
and also leaves one prominent landmark
1 ir* flitn V* t of A?-i o ofronf OuO nf tllA
iCOS XII IIXIO lilSLUIIVy OblUVU. VUW V 4 Wwv
most prominent left is Russell Sage, always
a staunch follower of Gould in
rain or shine, and who was not
overjoyed at the prospect of
Gould's withdrawal, since Gould's
name alone has helped Sage
time and again by its close apparent connection
with his interests. Russell Sage
has been known for years as the "put"
and "call" king of the street, and his
movements in this line have been
watched and followed by scores of
smaller speculators simply because he
was supposed to have a lirm grip upon
Jay Gould's inner consciousness, and
from the fact that his oilice was next to
that of the great financier. When Gould
suffered, Saire generally felt one or two
momentary pangs,and when, as was gene;ally
the case, Gould reaped a harvest,
Sage came in for his share of the spoils.
All this will be changed if Gould takes
his personality out of the street, and goes
atound the world in his handsome yacht,
and nobody knows it better than Mr.
Russell Sage. Mi-. Sage is supposed to
have lost more money dnriug the few
weeks following the Grant & Ward faillire
flmn he ever lost before in anv vear
of iiis connection ou the street, but, like
Mr. Gould, he has made up for it since.
Another prominent operator who will
loom into greater proportions, if the luck
of the past keeps up in the future, is
Deacon S. V. White. Never since
the days of Daniel Drew has there
been such a fortunate religious speculator
on the street, that is, whose
title indicated his religious inclination.
DEACON S. V. "WHITE.
Deacon "White is supposed to have been a
special protege of the late Horace B.Claflin,
ons of whose sons made apart of the
firm of S. V. White <fc Co. The Deacon
doesn't trust to general luck and chances
as so many do on a number of stocks,
but selects out some special line, quietly
goes to work upon it, puts his money
and energy in that alone, and the first
thing the boys know the Deacon has
caught them napping, and gives them a
fearful squeeze on the stock that he
knows all about, and they go in on as
they do on most of them, rather blindly.
This policy has made the Deacon a terror
to the street, &nd has likewise netted
him a large fortune since his advent,
until now he is looked upon a3 one of
the leaders in the street. He is estiraaced
to have made a million in cne little
deal in Delaware and Lackawanna alrne.
A friend of mine poinled out to mc a I
few nights ago a man who had just borrowed
a dollar from him that day, and
remarked that it hadn't been very long
since this same man could have given
his check for a million, and it would
have been accepted by any member of
the Produce exchange. Now he hasn't
money enough to p:iy his ferriage over
to Jersey City to see his family, who
were livb.g with relatives, or at least
that had been hi3 case t hat day. This
same man had lent Charles WoerMiolTcr
it is said $2,500 years a<;o to assist him
in purchasing his se it in the Stock exchange.
Now 'WoerishoelTer is worth
his m ilions, and this man who was then
in affluence is now so hard up that he
stated he had actually walked from the
Battery to Central Park and back twice
one night to keep himself from doing
something desperate, and (in lily went to
a police station for the night on his own
application. As the distance fr^m the
[KirK. IU IUU L>illLC*r^ JS uvi'l JlMIi ill 1 IIT.N,
lay condition at that time can be appreciated.
Such is the luck of the sticet.
Sl'IKTO GKNTIL.
The Finger Nails.
A manicure said to a Pittsburg Dinpatch
reporter: The white spots oil the
nail, which we were told as chiHren indicated
gifts, arc really a nail disease,
resulting, I think, from slight diseises
Hang-nails are where the nail adhere to
the cuticle, and proves more than tinything
else the use of the manicure's art.
Hypertrophy often afflicts the naiis,
causing an excessive growth and a dull,
yellowish color, and often produces extreme
pain from ingrowing nails and
other irritation. This can be remedied
I?y a skillful manicure, but cannot be
cured. I
Trne Prayer.
"?but vain has been mj prayer?
For rest, sweet rest."
Not nil In vain, not all,
For when my prayer did fnil
To have quick onswor from my Lord,
I I knew ho heard my cull,
But it could not prevail,
For prayer without true faith is dead;
And so I prayed again,
With cry lrom inmost heart.
This time He heard aud answer gave,
So that I cotdd attain
My wish, the better part
I That is to those who live their prayers!
? The Tianscrip\
KhLllilUUb KhADliNu.
The week of l'rayer.
The United States branch of the
Evangelical Alliance has just issued
an address on the Week of: Prayer,
which commences Sunday, Jan. 3,
188G, with the programme in full for
the several days of the week. It say3:
Never was a time, perhaps, when
God's people had more need, with
prayer and supplication and thanksgiving,
to spread forth their hands toward
heaven. We affectionately and
earnestly invite you, whether singly
or collectively, to lift up your hearts
and voices to God during the Week of
Prayer appointed for the ensuing year.
TOPICS FOR EXTIORTATION AND
TKAYEK.
Sunday, Jan. 3.?"Sermons." "Occupy
till I come."?Luke 19:13.
Monday, Jan. 4.? "Praise and
Thanksgiving." lor the Spirit of
Prayer vouchsafed us; for all the bounties
of Providence; for God's long
suffering goodness in that he has not
taken away his lloly Spirit from us
on account of our little faith and
many provocations; for his faithful
promises in Christ Jesus; for continuing
and multiplying opportunities of
proclaiming his gospel of grace; for i
the progress of Christian missions |
among Jews and Gentiles, and the free j
*i,? r .^?,i
uuuise given ti; una huiu ml viir, xjvlu,
notwithstanding all the opposition of
infidelity and abounding iuiquity.?
Psa. 147. 2 Sam. 0:12-19. Psa. 116.
1 Chron. 29:10-15. Isaiah Gl. Acts
4:-18-33. Isaiah 54.
Tuesday, Jan. 5.?"Humiliation and
Concession." National sins; social
sins; personal sins. Want of appreciation
of the love of Christ; hardness
of heart; unfaithfulness and
slothfulness in service; false shame in
confessing the name of Christ before '
men, and especially among our own
class and lciudred. Want of zeal in j
missionary work, both at home and
abroad. Want of brotherly kindness
and charity.?Isaiah 58. Psa. 51.
llom. 2. 1 Cor. 3. Isaiah 47. Jer.
3:12-23. 1 Thess. 5.
Wednesday, Jan. 6.?"Home and
Foreign Missions." Pur the revival ;
and increase of a missionary spirit in !
the hearts of all who believe ; for
Hume Missions and Evangelistic efforts?that
more laborers, lull of tiie
spirit of loye and power, may be sent
forth, and that a great ingathering of
souis may take place; for Native
Christians among the heathen?that
they may be kept steadfast and zealous
in seeking the salvation of their
countrymen; for Missionaries and
Teachers?that great grace and wisdom
may be given to them; for God's
ancient people, Israel?that they may
be brought into the faith of Christ,
and for the maintenance of religious
liberty in all lands.?Ezek. 37. Acts
10:34-43. llom. 11: '22-36. Joel
2:21-32. Acts 20: 12-23. 1 Thess. 1.
Micah 4. Zech. 4.
Thursday, Jan. 7.?"The Church
and the Family." That the Church
of Christ may be more united in the
bunds of faith and love; that, holding
fust the Head, it may grow with the
increase of God; that it may be delivered
from false apostles and wolves in
sheep's clothing; that Christ may be
all and all in its teaching; and that
the grace and power of the Holy Spirit
may rest more and more on Christian
families; on all instructors and
pupils in institutions of learning, on
Sunday-schools and on Christian Associations
of young men and young
women.?Ephes. 4:1-24. John 15:1-12.
John 17: G-26. Col. 3:1-17. Prov. 23;
13-26. Gal. 5. Acts 20:29-38. Epistle
Jude. Proverbs 4.
Friday, Jan. 8.?"Nations and Governments."
For rulers and a'l in authority;
for the spread of justice and
peace; for the defeat of malicious plots
and conspiracies: for the manifestation
of a Christian spirit between employers
and employed; for the removal of
all race and sectional prejuoices; for
the abolition of truffle in slaves, opium
and intoxicating drinks, and all other
immoral trades and practices: for a
favorable reception of Christian missionaries
by heathen rulers and peoples:
and for the coming of Christ in
ilis Kingdom.?1 Tim. 1:1-6. Psa. 11.
2 Tim. 3. 2 Thess. 2. Psa. 72. llom.
13:1-8. Psa. 29. Matt. 24:29-51.
Saturday, Jan. 9?"The Christian
Life." For increase of Faith, Hope
and Charity; for the deepening of our
spiritual life in Christ and such conformity
to Ilim as may fit us for being
more used to our Saviour's glory; for
more love to the Bible; for the better
observance of the Lord's day and family
worship; for the success of efforts
to prevent or cure intemperance, to
relieve the sick and to rescue the perishing;
for benevolent institutions and
Christian work of all kinds.?Eph. 1:
15-23. Matt. 6. 1 Cor. 13. Phil. 2:
1-16 and 4:1-13. Pom. 12. .lames 1.
Sunday, Jan 10.?"Sermons." "Let
your loins be girde;l about, and your
lights burning; and ye yourselves like
unto men that wait for their Lord."
?Luke 12:35, 36.
"When a poor little blind boy was
asked what forgiveness is, he paused
a moment, and then, taking his pen,
wrote: "It is the odor which the i
trampled flower gives out to bless tha
foot which crushed it."
]\Ir. L. M. ilall, superintendent of the
Women's Keformatory prison, at Slierbom,
Mass., publishes tliat out of an
examination of 204 inebriate women he
has found that 128 began their drinking
by the use of beer, thirty-seven by
drinking whisky (as punch at first,
usually), twenty began with wine, eight
with gin and eleven could not remember
what beverage was first used. Several
hopeless drunkards, far gone toward
insanity, had never drr.nk any other intoxicant
than beer.
' / - ' - : .
; ' |g|2|gg^ f
MMMMMMMDrUMMHaMMMa
DS. TALMAGES SERION.
Winter, and How to Meet It.
Text:?"Pray ye that your flight b?
not in the winter." St. Matthew, xxiv.,
aa
The inhabitants of an ancient city were
here told that tiiey must flee for their lives.
Such flight would be painful even in the
Hush of springtime, but superlatively aggravating
in cold weather; and so the Lo:d
Jesus gives the advice of the text: "Pray
ye that your flight bo not in the winter.''
We have had a few shrill, sharp blasts already,
forerunners of whole regiments of
storms and tempests. No on 3 here needs to
be told that we are in the op3ning gate?
of the winter. This season is not
only a test of one's physical endurance,
but in our ereafc cities is u test of moral character.
A vast number of j.eople have by one
winter of dissipation bean destroyed, and
forever. Seated in our homes on some stormy
night, thp winds howling outside, we imagine
the ship] in ; helplessly driveo on the coast;
but any wmter night, if our ears were good
enough, we could hear the crash of a thousand
moral shipwrecks. There are many
people who come to our city 0:1 the first of
September who will be blasted by the first of
March. At this season of the year temptations
are especially rampant. Now that the
long winter evenings iiavo come there are
many who will employ them in high pursuits,in
intelligent socialities, in Christian work, in
the strengthening and ennobling of moral
character, and this winter, to many of you.
will be tho brightest- and the best in all of
your lives, and in anticipation I congratulate
you. But to others it may not have such
effect, and I charge you, my beloved, look
out where you spend your winter nights.
In the first place, I have to remark that at
this season of the year evil allurements are
especially busy. There is not very much
temptation for a man to plunge in on a hot
night amid blazing gaslights, and to breathe
the fetid air of an assemblage; but in the
cold nights Satan gathers a great
harvest. At sujh times the casinos
are in full blast. At such times
the grogshops in cne night make moro than
in four or five nights in summer. At such
timo3 the play bills of low places of entertainment
seem especially attractive, and tho
acting is espscially impressive, and the applause
especially bew.tching. Many a man
who has kept right all the rest of the year
will be capsized now, and though last autumn
he came l'rom the country and there was lustre
in the eyes and there were roses on the
cheek and elasticity in the step, by the time
tho spring hour has come you will pass him
in the street and say to your friend: "What's
the matter with that man? how differently he
looks from wha^ he looked in September."
Slain of one winter's dissipation. At this time
of the year there are many parties. If we
rightly employ them, and they are of the
right kind, tliey enlarge our societies, allow
us to make important acquaintances, build
us up in our morals and help us in a thousand
ways. I can hardly think of anything better
than a good neighborhood. But there are
those e itertainments from which others will
come besoiled in character. 'lhere are those
who by the springtime will ba broken down
in health, and though at the opening oE the
season their prospects were bright, at the
close of the season they will be in the hands
of tliB doctors, or sleeping in the cometery.
The certificate of death will be made out,
and the physician, to save the feelings of the
family, will call the disease by a Latin name.
The doctor knows and everybody else knows
they died of too many parties. Away with
all these wine-drinking convivialities. How
dare you, the father of a family, tompt the
appetites of the young people? Perhaps at
the entertainment, to save the feelings of the
minister, or some other weak temperance
man, you have the decanter in the sidoroom,
and only a few people are invited there to
partake, but it is easy enough to know when
you come out, by the glare of your eye and
the stench of your breath, that you have
been serving the devil. Men sometime? excuse
themselves and say after late suppers it
is necessary to take some sort of stimulant
to aid digestion. My pain opinion is
that if you have no more self-control
than to stuff yourself until your digestive
organs refuse their office, you had better not
call yourself a man, bat class yourself among
the beasts that perish. At this season of the
year the Young Men's Christian as ociations
of the land send out circulars asking toe pastors
to speak a word on this subject, and so
1 sound in your ear the words of the Lord
God Almighty: "Woe unto him thatputteth
thebottie to his neighbor's lips." Rejoice
that you have come to the glad winter months
that remind you of the times when in your
childhood you wero shone on by the face of
father, mother, brothers, sisters, some of
them alas! no more to greet you with "Happy
New Year," or a "Merry Christmas." But
again and again havo we seen on New Year's
day the sons of some of the best families
drunk, and young men have excused cfaemsalvos
by the fact that the wine cup has been
offered by the ladies; and again and again it
has been found but that a lady's hand has
kindled the young man's thirst for- strong
drink, and long a ter all the attractions of
the holiday have passed that same
woman crouchol in her rags and
her desolation and her woe, under
the uplilted hand of the drunken monster
to whom she had passed the fascinating
cup on New year's day. ir we wane to
go to ruin let us go aloue, and
not tako others with us. Can we
not sacrifi e our feelings if need be? When
the good ship London went down, the captain
was told he might esca- o in oue of the lifeboat*.
"No," he sai 1, "I'll go down with the
Eassengers." All the world applauded his
eroism. And can we not ?a?rifire our tastes
and our appetites for the rescue of others?
Surely, it is not a very great sacrifice. Oh,
mix not with the innocent beverage of the
holiday feast the adder, the poisons of adders.
Mix not with the white sugar of the cup the
snow of this awful leprosy. Mar not the
clatter of the cutlery of a festal occasion
with the clank of a madman's chain.
.Pass down the street and look into the pawnbroker's
window. Elegant watch, elegant
furs, elegant flute, elegant shoes, elegant
scarf, elegant books, elegant mementos. Tou
sometimes see peopiewith pleased countenance
looking into such a window. When I look
into a pawnbroker's window it seems to me
a? if I had looked into the window of hell I
To whom did that watch belong? To a
drunkard. To whom did those furs belong?
To a drunkard's wife. To whom did those
shoes belong? To a drunkard's child. I take
the three brazen balls at tho doorway of a
pawnbroker's shop and I clang them together,
sounding tho knell of the
drunkard's soul. A pawnbroker's shop
is only one of the eddies in the great
hnrrAiif. nf municinal drunkenness. ''Oh,"
says someone, ''I don't patronize such things;
I have destroyed no young man by such influences;
I only take ale and it will tako a
very groat amount of ale to intoxicate."
Yes, but I tell this assemblage there is not a
drunkard in Brooklyn or New York that did
not begin with ale. Three X's?I do not
know what they mean. Three X's 011 the
brewer's dray, tbrej X's 011 the door of the
gin shop, three X's on the side of the bottle.
Three X's. I asked a man. He could not
tell me. I asked another man what is the
manning of the three X's. He could not tell
me. Then I made up my mind that the
three X's were an allegory and that
they meant thirty heartbreaks,
thirty agonies, thirty broken up households,
thirty prospects of a drunkard's grave,
thirty ways to perdition. Three X's. If I
were going to wriio a story, the first chapter
1 would call Three X's, and the last chapter
1 would call the Pawnbroker's Shop. Oh,
beware of your influence. Lot not your flight
to hull be in the winter.
Tiio winter season is especially full of temptation
because of the long evenings allowing I
such full swing for evil indulgences. You
can hardly expect a young man to go into his
room and sit there from 7 to 11 o'clock in the
evening, reading Motley's Dutch Republic 01
John Foster's Essays. It would be a very
beautiful thing for him to do, but no will not
do it. The most of young men are busy in
factories, in banking bouses, in stores,
in shops, and when evening conios they
want fresh air, and they want si^ht-s?eing, j
and they must have it, they will have it, and J
they ought to lmve it. Most of the men here
assembled will have throe or four evenings
of leisure on tho winter nights. After tea
the man puis on his hat anil coat, and he goes
out. One form of allurement says: "Come
in hithor." Another form of temptation says,
"Come in here." Satan says: "(Jo in." An
ovil companion says: "It is bosfc for you to
go in; you ought not to bo so green; by this
time you ougnt to have seen everything."
And ttie temptations shall bo mighty in dull
tinvssueh as wo have had, but which I bo
liovo are gone, for i hear all over the land tho
prophesy of great prosperity,and the railroad
men and the merchants, they all ted mo tho
days of prosperity they think are coming,
and in many departments they have already
como, and they are going to come in all do- <
?
a? "
I
partments; but these doll times tbrongh
which we have passed have destroyed a great
many men. The question of a livelihood is
with a vast multitude the great question.
There are young men who expected before
this to set up their own households, but they
have been disappointed in tho gains they have
mads. They cannot support themselves,how
can they support others' And to the curse cf
modern society the theoi'y is abroad that a
man mu3t not marry until he has achieved
a fortune, when the twain ought to start
at the foot of the hill and together climo to
the top. That is the old fashioned way and
that will bo the new fashioned way if society
is ever redeemed. But during the hard
tiuior), iuo uuu biiuua, 3u many mtJU were uibcouraged,
so many men bad nothing to do,
they could get nothing to do, a pirate bore
down on the ship when the sails were down
and the vessel was making no headway.
.People say they want more time to think.
The trouble is "to many people they have h id
too much time to think, aud if our merchauts
had not bad their minds diverted,
many of them would long bafore this have
been within the four walls of an insane
asylum. These long winter evenings,
bo careful where you spend them. This winter
will decide the temporal and eternal destiny
of hundreds of men in this audience. ;
Then the winter has especial temptations
in the fact that many homes are peculiarly
unattractive at this season. In the summer
monthi the young man cau sit out on the
steps, or he can have a bouquet in the vase on
the mantel, or the eveniugs being so short,
soon after gaslight he wants to retire anyhow.
But there are many parents who do
not understand how to make the long winter
evenings attractive to their children, It is
amazing to me that so many old people do J
not understand young people. To hear some
of these parents talk you would think
thoy had never themselves been young, and
had been bora with spectacles on. Oh, it is
dolorous for young people to sit in the house
from 7 to 11 o'clock at night and to hear parents
groan about their ailments and the
nothingnoss of this world. The nothingness
of this world? Hew dare you talk such
j blasphemj ? It took God six days to make
I this world, and He has allowed it six thousand
years to hang upon His holy heart, and
fUi'? lioo nn vnn nitrl Kla:carl VAJt
CLI1D I* IU UUO OllWllU VU J VU Mit'4 wtwjowv* JVM I
and carressed you for these fifty, sixty or
seventy years, and yet you dare to talk about
the nothingness of this world. Why,
it is a magnificent world I do not believe
iu the whole universe there is a
world equal to it, except it be Heaven. You
cannot expect your children to stay in the
house in those long winter evenings to hear
you denounce this starlighted, sun-warmed,
shower-baptized, flower-stream, angelwat?hod,
God inhabited planet. Oh,make your
homes bright. Bring in the violin or the
picture. It does not require a great salary,
or a big house, or chaste silver, or gorgeous
upholstery to make a happy home. All that
is wanted is a father's heart, a mother's heart
in sympathy with young folks. I have known
a man with $700 salary, and he had no other
income, but he had a home so happy and
bright, that though the sons have gone out,
and won large fortunes, and the daughter
havo gone out into splendid spheres and became
princesses of society, tney never can
? P aamI ? Tt* ! f Vl/MI f- frt O HO A f
I UIIiUK. UL tuau UUI Ijr uuuio uii/u<juu waio ui.
t emotion. It was to them the very vestibule of
heaven, and all their mansions now, and all
their palaces now, cannot make them forget
that early place. Make your homes happy.
You go around your house growling about
your rheumatisms anl acting the lugubrious,
and your sons will go into the world and
plunge iDto dissipation. They will have
their own rheumatisms after a while. Do
not forestall their misfortunes. You were
young once, and you had your bright
and joyous times. Now let the young
folks have a good time. I stood in front of a
house and I said to the owner of the house:
"This is a splendid tree." He said in a whining
tone, "l"es, but it will fade." I walked
around in his garden and said: "This is a
glorious garden you have." "Yes," he said,
"but it will perish." Then he said to my little
child whom I was leading along, "Come
and kiss me." The child protested and turned
away. He said. "Oh, the perversity of human
nature." Who would want to kiss him!
I was not surprised to find out that his
only son had become a vagabond.
You may groan people 'out of decency,
but you can never groan
them into it, and 1 declare in the presence of
thesa men and women of common sense that
it is a most important thing for you to make
your homes bright if you want your sons and
your daughters to turn out well. Alas! that
old people so much misunderstand young
folks. There was a great Sunday school anniversary
and there were thousands of childred
present; indeed, all the Sunday schools
i.l.? tiaha ?n ImI ! 1 /l 1r? it tot o a
UL bUU l/U WUL WCIO 111 luu UUUUH15, nuu iu f? ua
very uproarous and full of disturbance, and
the presiding officer on the occasion came
forward and in a very laud tone shouted "silence"!
and the more noise the presiding
officer made the more noise the children
made. Some one else rose on the
platform and came forward, and with more
Stentorian voice shouted: "Silence!" And
the uproar rose to greater height, and it did
seem as if there would be almost a riot and
the people would have to be called in, when
old iJr. Beaman, his hair white as the driven
snow, said: ".Let mo try my hand." So
he came forward with slow step to the front
of the platform, and when the children saw
the venerable man and the white hair they
thought they would hush up that instant and
hear what tha old man had to say. lie said:
"Boys, I want to make a bargain with you.
If you will be still now while I spoak, when
you get to be as old as I am I will ba
as still as a mouse.': There was not another !
whisper all the afternoon. He was as much
a boy as any of them. Oh, in these holidays
let us turit back our natures to what they
were years ago, and be boys again and girls
again, and make all our homes happy. God
will hold you responsible for tho influence
yoa now exert, and it will be very bright and
very pleasant if soma winter night whei
are sleeping under the blankets of the snow,
our children shall ride along in the merry
n.irtv. and hushinz a moment into solemnity,
fook off and say" "There sleeps the best
father and mother that over
made a happy New Year." Arm
yourself against the39 temptations of December,
Jauuary and February. Temptation
will coma to you in the form of an angel
of light. I know that the poets represent
satan a3 horned and hoofed. If I were a
poet and I were going to picture satan, I
would represent him as a human being with
manners polished to the last perfection, hair
falling in graceful ringlet3, eye a little bloodshot
but floating in bewitching languor, hand
soft and diamonded, boot exquisitely shaped,
voice mellow as a flute, breath perfumed as
though nothing had ever touched the lips but I
balm of a thousand flowers, conversation I
facile, carefully toned and Frenchy. But I I
would have the heart cncased with the scales j
of a monster and have it stuffel with all
pride and beastliness of desire
and hypocrisy and death, and then
I would have it touched with the rod of disenchantment
until the eyes became the cold
orbs of the adder, and to the lip should come
the foam of raging intoxication, and to the
foot the spring of the panther, and to the solt
hand the change that would make it the
clammy hand of the wasted skeleton, and
then I would suddenly have the heart break
out in unquenchable flames, and the affected
lisp of the tongue Income the hi s of the
worm that never dies. But until disen
-i .-.1 J rli'nmrmrWl and Hut
I L'llUUI 1 illgJCbVU uuu I
voiced and conversation facile, careful
ly tonel and Frenchy. Oh, wha
a beautiful thins it is to see
young man standing up amid these
temptations of city life incorrupt while hundreds
are tailing. I will tell your history.
You will move :n respectable circles a 1 your
days, and some day a friend of your father
will meet you and say: "Good morning; g!ad
to see you; you seem to be prospering; you
look like your father for all tne world; I
thought you would turn oub well when I used
to hold you on my knee; if you ever want
any help or any advice, come to me; us long
as I remember your father I'll remember you.
Good morning." That will bo the histpry of
hundreds of these young men. How do I
know it? I know it by the way you start. But
hero is a young man who takes the opposite
route, vices of sin charm him away. Ho reads
bad books, mingles in bail society. The glow
has gone from his eluok, and the sparkle
[ from his eye, aud the purity from his soul.
Down ho goes, lictlo by littlo. The peorle
I who saw him when he came to town while yet
! hovered over his head the blessing of a pure
mother's prayer, and there was on his lip the
; dew of a pure sister's kiss; now as they see
! him pass, cry, "What an awful wreck!'
j Cheek bruised in grogshop fight. Eye bleared
with dissipation. Lip swollen with" indulgen
cies. Be careful what you say to him, for a
trifle ho would take your life. Lower down,
lower down, until outcast of
God and man, Iio lies m tne asy
luin, a blotch of loathsomeness and pain.
One moment ho calls for God, and then he
calls for rum. He prays, lie curses, he laughs
as fiends laugh, then bites his nails into the
quick, then puts bis hands through the hair
banging around his head like the main of a
wild beast, then shivers until tho cot shakes,
with unutterable terror, then with his fist
I fights back the devils, or clutches for ser1
pents that seem to wind around him their
r-.iT ^ur/.-.^v'-j ?; ?>. '" ,'>v ri^?N^SS?-3i
'V* * 7" * " V'' ' ' ' ^ ' '* '
:
? - .
awful folds, then asks for water, which is
instantly consumed on his cracked lips. Some
morning the surgeon going bi? rounds will
find bim dead. Do not try to comb ont or
brush back the matted locks. Straighten 006
the limbs, wrap him in a sheet, put him
in a box, and lot two men carry bim down
to the wagon at the door. With a piece of
chalk write on th9 top of the box the name
of the destroyer and the destroyed. Who is
it? It is you, oh, man, if yielding to the temptations
of a dissatisfied life you go out and
perish. There is a way that seemeth bright . : ^
and fair and beautiful to a man, but the end
thereof is death. Employ these long nights
of December, January and February, in nigh ?
persuits, in intolligent socialities, in innocent
amusements, in Christian work. Do not waste
this winter, for soon you wiil have seen
your last sun shower and have gone up into
the companionship of Him whose raiment is
as white as snow, whiter than any fuller ,
earth could whiten it. For all Christian
hearts tho winter nights will end in the June
morning of heaven. The river of life from
under the throne never freezes over. Tho
foliage of life's fair tree is never frost bitten.
ine lesiiyiwes, tue mianues, me ltiuiuv
greatings of earthly Christmas times will
give way to larger reunion and brighter *3
lights and sweeter garlands and mightier joy
in tho great holiday of heaven!
'' M
?1
TEMPEE4NCEDEPARTMEHT 3
Three Chains
There are three chains which bind men
in captivity; custom, habit and appetite.
These different forces play into
each other's hands. First custom comes
with its insinuations and solicitations;
then follows habit with its bands and
fetters; and finally comes appetite withits
fiery energies, sweeping the soul as with
a cyclone, and hurrying a man to irretrievable
ruin. The time to snap these \
chains is at the beginning. A three fold 5
cord is not easily broken. Let those .
who hate bondage remember that tyranny
in its beginning is insidious and unsuspected.
and that those who fail to resist
the beginning of evil will find them- jgg
selves powerless to war against it when
it is completely developed and fully
JJIU wu.
How [Tien Bccomo Drunkards.
William Hargreaves, SI. D., of New . ' 3
York, in the Voice, says: '-.i:
Though alcohol leads to excess, vetmen
do not become drunkards at once;
it sometimes requires the habit of years
to proiuce habitual drunkenness. Every
mother who has dosed her child with ,'J
mild opiates and auodynes, knows that
a few drops had the desired effect of
lulling the child - to sleep when first
given.
She also knows that after the use for a
week or two the do9e had to be increased,
and if still longer continued 4
teaspoonful or more had to be given to
obtain the effects that were produced
first by a few drops. This law of increase
governs all narcotics. Alcohol
demands an increase of dose. The man
who may be exhilerated liy a glass of
wins or heernt firsf: if rnnf-.innonfho
habit, may require twice or ihrice as
much to produce the exhilaration oc, ;
narcotization desired. ;:M
Hence the quantity of strength must
be increased to produce the excitement v"'
desired by the blunted or narcotized
nervous system. The appetite for altohoi
being formed, light wines and beer
in large quantities are required to arouse
the blun'ed and narcotized nervous system.
The blunted nervous system now
demands a large glass of brandy and
whisky, and alter a time a pint of whisky
may be required to produce the
effects that were once produced by a
glass of beer or wine.
This is the process by which men and
women aro narcotized, until they become
habitual and occasional drunkards* .
/
Hence malt liquors and light wines create
the appetite for dislilled spirits. Men,
and women too, drink in order to feel
a certain degree of alcoholic narcotiza.
J* A ..J 1* _ A1_ 1* " *
lion. as mouerauou una me mages 01
the door of excess, a glass of wine whets
the appetite for the stronger liquor.
True, beer docs not contain so large a
per-cent. of alcohol as whisky or brandy;
but the quanity will not satisfy; and
what malt liquors lack in strength, is
made up by drinking a larger quanitityj
to produce the feeling desired.
As far as the alcohol is concerned,
two ounces of beer will not do as much
injury as two ounces of brandy or whisky;
but the same quantity will not surffice.
A glass of beer that will satisfy to-day
may fail to produce that effect to-morrow,
and much more will be required. Then,
again, while a glass of spirits would
satisfy the drinker, he will take a quart
of ale or beer, and will thus consume
more alcohol than if he had taken a
svlnaa A f tnUial-TT At* l\rO n r! T7 f.hfl
^ I liJO Vi ?I UlOUjr VI ^ ?a*V
inebriating effects are sought.
Temperance Xotcf,
?Toll us not in mournful jingles
Life is but an o'er full dram;
For when brain with whisky mingles
Such a life's au awful sham. '
?Gooda'ls Sun.
An international conference has been
held at Antwerp against the abuse of
alcoholic diink. Important statements
were made by French, English and
German doctors, who proved that a!cphol
is more destructive than cholera or
war. A federation is to be formed to
diffuse information on the subject.
The temperance Lwpltal of London
has recently had its capacity enlarged by
the completion of its west wing, enabling
{.the admission of 122 additional
patients. Last year the number of inpatients
was 584, and of out-patients
upwards of 2,000. Altogether since its
opening, the number of patients had
been 22,000.
The doctors who, a few years ago
were great at prescribing intoxicants (in
moderation, of course), are now, we believe,
very generally recognizing their
terrible error, and some of them
are accusing beer, with all ils strange
ingredients, as a cause of the incurable
disease of the kidneys named after ita
discoverer. There are doubtless other
causes for the prevalence of that disease,
Mid it may sometime attack total abstainers
also, theugh we have never
heard of such a case.? New YorkWitneM.
C
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