The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, June 15, 1887, Image 3
Wm. DR. TALMAGE.
|BrHE BROOKLYN* DIVINE'S SUNjHgf
DA V SERMON.
^HPrcached to Soldiers From ThirtyBH
One States at the National
Drill Kncanipnient iu
Washington.
WM Texts: "Fifty thousand which could keep
H^Hran/e," I. Chronicles xii.. Xi: and '"Every one
^^tcould sling stones a hair's breadth and not
I^Entss," Judges xx.. 10.
|9| Companies of infantry, cavalry, artillery
Hand zouaves, please notice the lirst Scripture
^Hpassago applauds the soldiers of Zcbulun,
^Hbecause they were disciplined trooj?s. They
^Hraay have been inefficient at the start and
^Hlaughed at by old soldiers because they
|^Keemed so clumsy in the line, but it was drill,
^Hdrill, drill, until they could keep step as one
JHman. "Ft'ty thousand which could keap
^Hrank." The second Scripture passage ap|Hi)lautls
a regiment of slingers, in the tribe of
^ Benjamin, because they are dextrous marks[^Knen.
When they first enlisted thev may have
^Hbeen an awkward squad and all their fingers
NHwere thumbs, but they practiced until when
^Hthey aimed at a mark they always hit it.
^ ' Every one could sling stones at a hair^Hbreadth
and not miss." Both texts couibin^Hing
to show us that if we must fight wa
^ should do it well
io cmnothirKy <ihcnrhmo> in fcliA niili
Iltary science of the Bible. In oTden times all
Ithe'men between twenty and fifty years of
[age were enrolled in the army and then a levy
I was made for a special service. There were
[only three or four classes exempt: those who
had built a house and had not occupied it;
those who had planted a garden and had not
reaped the fruit of it: those who were engaged
to be married and had not led the bride
t* the altar; those who were yet in the first
year of wedded life; those who were so nervous
that they could not look upon an enemy
but they fled, and could not look upon blood
but they fainted.
The army was in three divisions?the centre
and right and left wings. The weapons of
defence were helmet, shield, breastplate,
buckler. The weapons of offence were sword,
spear, javelin, arrow, catapult?which was
merely a bow swung by machinery, shooting
arrows at vast distances, great arrows, one
arrow as large as several men could lift; aud
ballista, which was a sling swung by machinery,
hurling great rocks and large pieces
of lead to vast distances. The shields
were made of woven willow-work
with three thicknesses of hide and
a loop inside through which the
arm of the warrior might be thrust: and
when these soldiers were marching to attack
an enemy on the level, all these shields
touched each other, making a wall, moving
but impenetrable, and then when they
attacked a fortress and tried to capture a
battlement this shield was lifted over the
bead so as to resist the falling of the missiles.
The brestplate. was made of two pieces of
leather, brass covered, one piece falling over
the breast, the other falling over the back.
At the side of the warrior the two pieces
fastened with buttons or clasps.
The bows were so stout and stiff and strong
that the warriors often challenged each
other to bend one. The strings of the bow
were made from the sinews of oxen. A case
like an inverted pyramid was fastened to the
back, that case containing the arrows, so
that whin the warrior wanted to use an
airow he would put his arm over his
shoulder and pull forth the arrow for the
fight. The ankle of the loot had on an iron
boot. When a wall was to be assaulted a
battering ram was brought up. A battering
ram was a great beam swung on chains in
equilibrium. The battering ram would be
brought close up to the wall and then a great
number of men would take hold of this beam,
push it back as far as they could and then
let go and the beam became a great swinging
pendulum of destruction.
Twenty or forty men would stand in a
movable tower on" the back of an elephant,
the elephant made drunk with wine, and
then headed toward the gneniy, and what
with the heavy feet and the swinging proboscis
and the poisoned arrows shot from the
movable tower, the destruction was appalling.
War chariots were in vogue and they were
on two wheels so they could easily tuna. A
sword was fastened to the pole between the
horse so when they went ahead the sword
thrust aud when they turned around it would
mow down. The armies earned flags beautifnllv
embroidered. Tribe of Judah carried a
flag embroidered with a lion; tribe of Reuben,
embroidered with a man: tribe of Dati. embroidered
with cherubim. The noise of the host,
as they moved on, was overwhelming. What
.with "the clatter of shields, and the
rumbling of wheels, and the shouts of
the captains, and the vociferation of the entire
host, the prophet says it was like the
roaring of the sea Bccausa the arts of war
have been advancing all these years, you are
not to conclude th ft these armies of clden
times were an unco tollable mob. I could
quote yon four or five passages of Scripture,
snowing you that they were thoroughly
drilled; they marched step to step, shoulder
to shoulder, or, as my text expresses it, they
were "Fiftv thousand which could keep
rank," and "Every one could sling stones a
hair's breath and not miss."
I congratulate you, the officers and soldiers
of this national encampment; that if a
foreign attack should at any time be made
you would be ready, and there would be
millions of the drilled men of Js'orth and
South like the men of mv first text "which
could keep rank," and like the men of my
second text, that would not miss a hair's
oreauui.
At this national drill when thirty-one
States of the Union are represented, and between
the decoration of the graves of the
, Southern H-ml. which took nlsoc a few da*\s
ago, and the decorations of the graves of
, the Northern dead, which shall take
place to-morrow, I would stir the Christian
patriotism and gratitude not only of this
soldiery here present but of all the people by
patting before them the difference between
these times when the soldiers of all sections
meet in peace and the times when they met
in -contest. Contrast the feeling of sectional
bitterness in with the feeling of
sectional amity in 1SS7. At the first date
the South had banished the national air, the
Star Spangled Banner, and the North had
banished the popular air of "Way Down
South in Dixie." The Northern peopie were
"mudsills" and the Southern people were
"white trash." The more Southern people
were killed in battle the better the North
liked it. The more Northern people were
killed in battle the better the South like
it. For four years the head of Abraham
Lincoln or Jefferson Davis would have l>een
worth a million dollars if delivered 011 either
side of the line. No need now standing
in our pulpits and platforms or saying
that the North and South did not hate each
other. To estimate how very dearly they
loved each other,count up the bombshells that
were hurled and the carbines that were
loaded and the cavalry horses that were
mounted. North and South facing each other
all around in the attempt to kill. The two
sections not only marshaled all their earthly
hostilities, but tried to reach up and get hold
of the sword of heaven, and the prayer of
the Northern and Southern pulpits gave
more information to the heavens
about the best mode of settling this trouble
than was ever use;l. For four years both
[ sides tried to cet hold of the Lord's thunder
OOIts, but could noc quite reacn tnem. -1.1,
the breaking out of the war we had not for
months heard of my dear uncle, Samuel J.
TD&lmage, President of the Ugletliorjw L"niversity
in Georgia He was about the grandest
man I ever knew and as good as good
could be. The first we heard of
him was his opening prayer in the Confederate
Congress in Richmond, which was report|
ed in the New York paj>ers. which praver, if
answered, would, to say the least, have left all
his Northern relatives in very uncomfortable
circumstances. The ministry at the North
prayed one way a'idthe ministry at the South
prayed the other way. No use in hiding the
fact that the North and the South cursed each
other with a withering and all-consuming
curse.
Beside that au tipathy of war-time I place the
complete aocord 01 this time. Not long ago a
meeting in New Yoi*k was held to raise money
to build a Home at Richmond for crippled
Confederate soldiers,the meeting presided over
by a man who lost an arm and a leg in lighting
on the Northern side, and the leg not lost so
hurt that it does not amount to much. The Cotton
Exhibition held not long ago at ^Atlanta
was attended by tens of thousands of Northern
people, and by" General Sherman, who was
gi eeted with kindness, as ttiough they had
never seen him before. At the New Orleans
Exhibition held two years ago, every Northern
State was represented. A thousand-fold
kindlier feeling after the war than before the
war. No more use of gunpowder in this
country except for rifle practice or Fourth
of July pyrotechnics or at a shot at a roebuck
in the Adirondacks. Brigadier-Generals in
the Southern.Confederacy making their fortunes
as lawyers in the northern cities. Rivers
of Georgia, Alabama and North Carolina
turning mills of New England capitalists.
| The old lions of war?Fort Sumter and
i Moultrie and Lafayette and Pickens and
Hamilton sound asleep on their iron paws,and
instead of raising money to keep enemies out
of our New York harbor, raising money for
the Bartholdi Statue on Bedloe's island, figure
of Liberty with uplifted torch to
. light the way to all who want to come in.
I Instead of war antipathies, when you could
t not cross the line between the contestants
I without fighting your way with keen steel
I or getting through by passes carefully scrutiI
nizeil at every step by bayonets, you need
i only a railroad ticket" from New York to
j Charleston or New Orleans to go clear
j through, and there is no use lor any weapon
j sharper or stronger than a steel pen. Since
j the years of time began their roll has there
ever been in about two aecaues sucn an overmastering
antitnesls as uetween tne war time
of complete bitterness and this time of com!
plete sympathy?
I Contrast also the domestic life of those
J times with the domestic life of these times.
Many of you were either leaving home or far
i away from it. communicating by uncertain
letters. What a morning that was when you
left home! Father and mother crying, sisI
ters crying, you smiling outstile but crying
I inside. Everybody nervous and excited.
> Boys of the blue and gray! Whether you
started from the banks of the Hudson, or
the Savannah, or the Androscoggin, don't
you remember the scenes at the front door,
at the rail car window, on the steamboat
landing. The huzza could not drown out the
suppressed sadness. Don't you remember
those charges to write home "often and take
care of yourself, be good boys, and the goodbye
kiss which they thought and you thought
might be forever. Then the homesickness as
I you faced the river bank on a starlight night
on pickct duty and the sly tears which you
wiped off when you heard a group at the
I camp fire singing the plantation song about
j tho old folks at home. The din|
ner of hard - tack on Thanksgiving
I day and the Christmas without any presents,
and the long nights in the hospital so different
from the sickness when you were at home
with mother and sister at the bedside, and
the clock in the hall giving the exact moment
for the medicine, and that forced march
when your legs ached. and your head ached,
and your wounds ached, and, more than all,
.your heart ached. Homesickness that had in
I iv 4.: 1
i\j <1 MIUUL'UCIUU auu a nmac tuuu uvttuu.
You never got hardened as did the guardsman
in the Crimean war, who heartlessly wrote
home to bis motlier:
"I do not want to see any more crying letters
come to the Crimea from vou. Those I
have received I put into my rille after loading
it: and I have fired them at the Russians,
because you appear to have a strong dislike
I of them." If you have seen as many killed as
I have, you would not have as many weak
ideas as you now have.*1
You never felt like that. When a soldier's
knapsack was found after his death in our
American war there was generally a careful
package containing a Bible, a few photographs
and letters from home. On the other
hand tens of thousands of homes waited for
news. Parents saying: "Twenty thousand
killed! I wonder if our boy was among
them." Fainting dead away in postoftices
and telegraph stations. Both the ears of
God filled with the sobs and agonies of kindred
waiting for news or dropping under
the announcement of bad news. Speak,
swamps of Chickahominy and midnight lagoons
and fire-rafts of "the Mississippi, and
gunboats before Vicksburg, and woods of
An tie tam. and tell to all the mountains and
villages and rivers and lakes of North and
South jeremiads of war times that have
never bean syllabled.
Beside that, domestic perturbation and
homesickness of those days put the sweet
domesticity of to-day. The only camp fire
you now ever sit at is the one kincUed in stove
or furnace or hearth. Instead of a half ration
of salt pork, a repast luxuriant because
partaken of by loving family circles in secret
confidences. Oh, now I see who those
letters were for, the letters you, the
young soldier, took so long in your
tenu IU ??iiw: U?U cuciu J\J 14 HWW w
particular to put in the mail without anyone
seeing you lest you be teazed by your comrades.
(rod spared you to get back. Though
the old people have gone j*ou have a home of
yonr own construction, and you often contrast
those awful absences of filial and brotherly
and loverly heartbreaks, with your present
residence, which .is the dearest place you
will find this side of heaven, the place where
your children were bora and the place where
you want to die. To write the figures 1SG2 I
set up four crystals of tears. To write the
figures 1887 I stand up four members of your
household, figures of rosy cheeks and flaxen
hair, if I can get them to stand still long
enough.
Living soldiers of the North andSouth,take
new and special ordiuation at this season of
the year to garland the sepulchres of your
fallen comrades. Nothing is too good for
their memories. Turn all the private tombs
and the national cemeteries into gardens. Ye
dead of Malvern Hill, ar.d Cold Harbor, and
Murfrepsboro, and Manassas Junction, and
Cumberland Gap, and field and hospital receive
these floral offerings of the living soldiery.
But thev shall come again, all the dead
troops. We sometimes talk about earthly
military reviews, such as took place in Paris,
in the time of Marshal Ney, in London, in
the time of Wellington, and in our own land;
but what tame things compared with the
fin.il review. when all the armies of the aires
! shall pass for divine and angolic inspection.
St. John says the armies of heaven ride on
white horses, and I don't know but
some of the old cavalry horses of
earthly battle that were wounded and worn
out in service may have resurrection. It
would be only fair that, raised up and ennobled,
they would be resurrected for the
grand review of the Judgment Day. It
It would not take any more power to reconstruct
their bodies than to reconstruct ours,
and I should be very glad to see them among
tne white horses of Apocalyptic vision. Hark
to the trumpet blast, the revoiHe of
the last judgment. They come up. All the
armiesof all landsand all centuries, on which
ever side they fought, whether for freedom
or despotism, for the right or the wrong.
They come ! They come ! Darius and Cyrus
and Sennacherib, and Joshua aud David,
leading forth the armies of Scriptural
times. Hanni'tal and Hamilcar leading
forth the armies of the Carthaginians.
Victor Emanuel and Garibaldi leading on the
armies of the Italians. Tamerlane and
GhengisKhan followed by the armies of Asia.
Gustavus Adolphus, and Ptolemy Philopater,
and Xerxes, and Alexander, anil Serniramis,
and Washington leading battalion after battalion.
The dead American armiesof 1776
and 1812, and one million of Northern and
Southern dead in our civil war. They come
up. They pass on in review. The six million
1 alien in -Napoleonic battle, the twelve million
Germans fallen in the thirty years war, the
fifteen million fallen in the war under Sesostris,
the twenty million fallen in the wars of
Justinian, the twenty-five million fallen in
Jewish wars, the eighty million fallen in the
crusades, the ISO million fallen in the wars
with Saracens and Turks. The thirty-five
billion men estimated to have fallen in battle,
enough according to one statistician, if they
stood four abreast, to reach clear around tho
earth 442 times.
But we shall have time to see them pass in
i review before tho throne of judgment, the
cavalry-iren. the artillery-men. the spearmen,
the infantry, the sharp shooters, the
gunners, ihe sappers, the miners, the archers,
the skirmishers, men of all colors, of all epaulets.
of all standards, of all weaponry, of all
countries. Let the earth be especially balanced
to bear their tread. Forward ! Forward
! Let tlia orchestra of the heavenly
galleries play the grand mnrch, joined
by all the lifers, drummers and military
bands that ever sounded victory or
defeat at Eylau or Borodino. Marathon or
Thermopylae, Bunker Hill or Yorktown, Solferino
or Balaclava, Sedan or Gettysburg;
| from the time when Joshua halted astronomy
( above Gibeon and Ajalon till the last man
surrendered to Garnet Wolseley at Tol-elKebir.
Nations, companies, battalions, ages,
centuries and the uui verse: Forward in the
grand review of the Judgment! Forward!
Gracious and eternal God! On that day
may it be found that we were all
marching in the right regiment, and that we
carried the right standard, and that we
fought under the right commander, all
| heaven,sonio ou Ametbystin* battlement and
i others standing in the shining gates, some on
! TK-arly shore and others on the turreted
| heights giving us the resounding, millionvoiced
cheer. "More than conquerors."
' Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from ever,
lasting to everlasting, and let the whole earth
be tL'Jcd with His glory. Amen and Amen.
Tiik ltev. John Webb and a big black
bear had an encounter recently in the
woods of Pocahontas County, West
Virginia. Mr. Webb spent the next
five hours in dodging around the beast,
and finally killed him with a pocketknife,
the only weapon he had about
him.
[RELIGIOUS READINGS.!
Tho Baby's Boon.
Take the gift, and for the Giver,
Rear it, mother, tenderly;
Let it b? your high endeavor
From the world to keep it free.
There is now no spot upon it,
It is like the Giver, pure;
But the sinful world will lure it,
And the Tempter seek it, sure.
I
j Guard the procicus one, and guide It,
Tell it of the Heavenly way:
Bear it often up before Him
Who hears mothers when they pray.
j Knowest thou the wreath of treasure
Thus committed to thy care?
Far more precious tbau Golcon la!
It may yet outshine a star!
No such charge on earth is given
As tho little infant, sweet,?
Take it, and in Him believing.
Lay it at the Master's feet.
E. D. B.
A Iloly rife.
I A holy life i9 made up of small things,
j Little word9, not eloquent speeches or
| sermons; little deeds, not miracles or
! battles, nor one great heroic act of
j mighty martyrdom, make up the true
Christian life. The little sunbeam, not
the lightning; the waters of Siloam
"that so softly" in the meek mission of
4-V*n ((nrofAfQ
j ICilCdUiliCUt, JiUt bUO noiwiij v* vuviiivt)
I great and many," rushing down in noisy
j torrents, are the true symbols of a holy
life. The avoidance of little evils, little
I sins, .little inconsistencies, little weak|
nesses, little follies, indiscretions and
; imprudences, little foibles, little indul-1
J gences of the flesh?the avoidanc i of
such little things as these goes far to
make up, at least, the negative beauty
of a holy life.?[Itonar.
IIiw t<? lCeac.lt the
1 Precept.?Go out quickly into the
| streets and lanes of the city, and bring
. in hither the poor and the maimed, and
| the halt, und the blind.
Go out into the highways and hedges,
and compel them to come in, that my
house may be filled.
Let us not be weary in well doing.
As we have opportunity, let us do good
unto all men.?[Paul.
Visit the fatherless and the widows
in their affliction.?[Jame3.
Let him that heareth say come?Jesus.
2. Example?Jesus went about all
Galilee, teaching in their synagogues
i ana preacmng rne v^ospei 01 me Kingdom,
and healing all manner of sickness,
and all manner of disease among
the people.
When he saw the multitudes, he was
moved with compassion on them?he
went about doing good, and healing all
j that were oppressed of the devil.
A friend of publicans and sinners.
The Son of Man is come to seek and
to save that which is lost.
01<1 Aite
Dean Bradley, successor of Stanley
in the deanery of "Westminster, tells an
anecdote of him as he neared hs sixtieth
year. He was traveling in Germany on
a Rhine steamer, and getting acquainted
with a boy, (he loved children), the boy
asked him his age, which being answered,
he said, "Why, all your life is
over.
" No,'' said the dean, "the best is 7et
to come."
"You must be on the wrong side of
sixty," said one acquaintance to another
"No,1' he replied, "I am on the right
side." Old age is cheerless enough to
one lacking faith in God and Christ;
but bright and divinest hopes when one
has for his portion the Christ, whom to
know with the Father is eternal life,
i Let every man mourn as old age creeps
upon him if he be without faith in the
Holy One. Let every man rejoice as
; age comes upon him, if he trusts in Him
| who said, "Because 1 live, ye shall
live." Life here is only the state of inJ
fancy.
I A plain London lighterman, only a
I navigator on the Thames, was in the
Abbey, standing before the monument
of John Wesley, and as he talked with
the dean, knowing he had been to Palestine,
said, -'It must have been beautiful
to have walked where the Saviour
walked." "Yes,'' and with a saintly
look, he said, "Beautiful to walk in the
steps of the Saviour." Stanley's words,
as he spoke of death, are so beautiful
we quote them: "There the soul finds
itself on the mountain ridge overlooking I
the unknown future; our company be- j
fore is ?onj: the kinsfolk and friends
ot muiiy years arc passed over the dark
river, and we are left alone with God.
We know not in the shadow of the night
who it is that touches us?wc feel only
that the everlasting arms arc closing us I
in: the twilight of the morning breaks, |
I we are bid to depart in peace, for by a j
| strength not our owu we have prevailed,
I and the path is made clear before us."
Great and many are the compensa- '
tions of advancing age.?[Selected.
The divinest attribute in the heart of j
man is love, and the mightiest, because j
j the most human principle in the heart of j
j man is faith. I.ove is heaven; faith is j
| that which appropriates heaven.?[F.
W. Robertson.
I lind that when the saints aro under ;
trials and well humbled, little sins j
raise great cries in the conscience; but |
in prosperity conscience is a pope, that j
gives dispensations and great latitude to i
our hearts.?|Samuel Kuthnrford.
Temperance News and Notes.
There are manufactured daily in the United
States 301,736 gallons of whisky. i
New York city spent $12,000,000 fn 1S8R to
maintain charitable and reformatory institu- i
tions. Intoxicating drink necessitates 76 per
cent, of this great outlay.
The saloon-men of Ts'ew Orleans have oom,
bined and raised ?10,000 to tight the Sunday
laws which are bein^ strenuously enforced by
the Law and Order League.
The law compelling saloons to close on !
Sunday is being rigidly observed in New 1
j York. Even hotels refrain from supplying
j guests with wine at meal times.
BUDGET OF FUN.
HUMOROUS SKETCHES FROM
VARIOUS SOURCES.
Rather Confusing?The Same Old
Place?Wanted a Change?Early
Marriage?What the Gun
was Good For, Etc.
In a barber shop. Customer?"You
6ay the black horse won
' Yes, sir."
"Why, a man just now told me that
the bay horse was beaten!"
"Er?sir?''?Detroit Free Press.
The Same Old Place.
"Are you going to take in any of the
watering resorts this summer?"' asked [a
well kuown landlady to her milkman.
"Oh yes, I have always taken a little
recreation every summer and I always
derive pecuniary as well as healthful
benefits by taking in those resorts every
summer."
" Where do you expect to go this season?"
asked the lady.
"Oh the same old watering place?
the town pump."?Curl Pretzel.
Wanted a Change.
" Got the cholera in town ?" asked a
Nankin farmer who was ou the market
yesterday.
"Whv. 11c!" answered the nerson in
terrogated.
"Heard so out at my place yesterday. I
Heard there were twenty-six cases."
"Oh, that's all nonsense. Are your i
neighbors much excited!"
44Not a bit. We began down there;
with the measles and whooping cough ,
last October, and we are now tapering j
off with catarrh in the head and a ring-1
ing in the ears. Excited? Why, I'
come in to get a case of cholera for a
change!''?Detroit Free Press.
Early Marriage.
Constance is a very young, but she is j
also better worth quoting than most ]
grown people. Her envy was somewhat;
aroused by the fact that a wedding was i
about to take place in the family of her
little playmate, and that the playmate
thereby had the advantage of her; so she
remarked, very complacently, to her
little friend's mamma:
"Airs. , did you know that I was |
engaged to be married?"
"Why, no, Conny. Is that so?"
"Yes, ma'am; l"m engaged to Fits j
Wnrd" (small boy of her acquaintance). \
"He doesn't know it, but I've got to ex- j
Dlaiaitto him."'
"Well, Conny, do you expect to be !
married soon?"
''Well, I hope so. TL-e fact is, I'm-i
tired of being spanked, and I think we'll j
be married very soon."?Harpers Magu- j
sine.
What the Gun Was Good For. j
"Yes, gentlemen," said one of the few
vet unboycotted liars of the Bohemian |
Club, as he finished a snipe-shooting j
story; "that was the most remarkable !
gun I ever saw. Wouldn't take a thou- j
sand dollars for it."
4'It's nothing to a gun I used to own." j
said an ex-champion prevaricator, waking
up just then. "It was simply impossible :
for a bird to get away from that gun. It |
made the closest and most regular pattern |
vou ever saw. I traded for a fiftv-acre
lot.".
"To Bogardus, eh?" said the other liu- I
ished equivocator, sarcastically.
"No, to Simpson, the big wholesale '
druggist. He used it to shoot holes in i
porous plasters?fifty at a clip.''
And then nothing could be heard ex-;
cept the scratching of the other man's !
pen as he wrote out his resignation.? j
The Wasp.
I
An Unexpected Suggestion.
"Say, Gaddersby." said Mr. Smith, as
he came into the fish stpre with a lot of i
tackle in his hand. "I want you to give j
me some tish to take home with me. Kiad ;
o' fix 'em up so that they'll look as if
they've been caught to-day, will you*"
"Certainly, sir," said the grocer.
"How many?"
"Oh, you'd better give me three or
four bass. Slake it look decent in quan- j
titv without appearing to exaggerate, !
you know.''
"Yes, sir. But you'd better take white
Bsh, hadn't you?''
"Why? What makes you think so?''
"Oh, nothing, except that your wife
was down here early this afternoon and (
said said if you dropped in with a fish 1
pole over your shoulder and a generally 1
woe-be-gonelook, to have you take white !
fish if possible, as she liked that kind j
better than any other."
Mr. Smith took white fish.?Merchant
Traveler.
Getting the Best of the Banana.
He was a short mau pervaded by a;
generally rural air, and wore a derby hat j
that looked like a chocolate drop.
He paused near the Post Office build- I
ing in front of an Italian banana cart, j
ami lncnu(.?f.rl tlm fruit wirh "Tfat interest.
~ ? => ;- I
"How's bernanners?'' he inquired.
"Ze best bananas in ze city." said the ,
merchant from Italy earnestly. "Zis ze j
banana season. All of zem sound and :
ripe.''
"IIow much for the veiicr ones?"
"Two for five.''
"Well, give me one," said the short
man. He passed over three ccnts, and
selecting a banana began to remove the
skin. The fruit was slightly overripe,
however, and being exposed, a soft spot
on one side gave way and the edible portion
of that banana vanished in the gutter.
There was an expression of intense surprise
011 the purchaser's face. He looked
at the empty banana skin in his hand,
and then said to the vender: "I thought
you said this was the season for bernanners?"
"So it is."
"Maybe that was a last season's bernanner."
"No, no," said the dealer impatiently,
"zat was all right. You should have
eaten him.''
"I didn't get a chance to eat it. Gimme
another. ' '
Tke dealer objected, so they compromised
on another banana for two
cents.
The man with a chocolate-drop derby
passed over the pennies, und as he grasped
the second banana, he remarked:
"I ain't agoin' to let no Kyetalyun fruit
beat me. Plagued if I don't eat skin
and all this time."
And he did.?iVVto York Tribune.
A Joke on Barnnm.
At a recent dinner, by the way. a story
was told of Barnum. "ile is a temperance
man now," said one of the party,
"but I remember when he set up the
drinks for a distinguished crowd. He
didn't do it out "of pure good nature
either. It was twenty-six years ago, at
the Profile House, in the Franconia
mountains. Barnum was feeling pretty
smart in tho?c days, and he had been
playing his jokes and cute tricks rather
freely about the house. A lot of guests
sat on the piazza of the hotel. Among
them were Commodore Vanderbilt, William
H. Vanderbilt. another of the
family, Governor Gilmore's son. John
Hyde, the artist, Barnum and a number
of others, including myself. Young Gilmore
was a lively young chap then,
but he has deteriorated and become a
minister since. Gilmore put up the job
and let us all into it. He twisted the
talk around to physical prowess, and got
Barnum to brag about how fast he could
run. Across the plateau in front
of the hotel was a rail to which horses
were tied. Gilmore proposed that we all
start from the piazza and run to the rail
and that the last man to touch the rail
with his hand pay for the drinks for the
crowd. Everybody agreed, and we got
into line, all except the Commodore, who
sat on the piazza and ^ave the word. P.
T. was lively and confident, and waited
impatiently for the word. The Commodore
said 'go!' and away went the greatest
show on earth like jumbo in a sprint
race. He took the lead right away.
Everybody else pretended to run for all
that was in them, but took care not to
get ahead of P. T. The showman got
there in great style, put his hand on the
rail, and turned arouud in triumph.
There stood the rest of the crowd in line
behind him, not one pf them touching
the rail. When he heard the Commodore
roar, he took in the situation. He was the
only one who put his hand on the rail at
all. Barnum set them up. but he wa3 so
mad that he couldn't tell a plausible
fairy tale for a week..?2few York Letter.
Horn-Books.
One of the rarest, and certainly one of
the most interesting, books in the library
of the British Museum is what our ancestors
called a "horn-book." It was, in
fact, their primer, the ordinary means
by which they began their education;
and down to the reign of George II.
must have been very common, for we see
by an entry in the account book of the
Archer family that one was sold in 1789
for two pence. At present there is no
book more difficult to obtain. The one
in the British Museum was found a quarter
of a century ago in a deep closet, built
in the thick walls of an old farm house in
Derbyshire. It is said a laborer engaged
in pulling down the walls of the ancient
house recognized it as that from which
his father had been taught to read. Upon
the back is a picture of Charles I. on
horseback, giving some approximation to
its date. It is a single leaf, containing
upon the front side the alphabet, large
and small, in Old English and Roman
letters, ten short columns of monosyllables
founded on the vowels, and the
Lord's Prayer; all set in a frame of oak, #
now black with age. and protected by
a slice of transparent horn, hence the
name horn-book.
There is a handle by which to hold it,
and in the huudle a hole for a string, so
ik could hang from the girdle. A picture
of 1720 represents a child running in
leading strings, with a horn-book tied to
her side. A cheaper kind of horn-book
had the leaf of priuted paper pasted upon
the horn, and perhaps the greater number
were made in this way. If so, it is not
singular they should be scarce, for they
would be very easily destroyed. Shenstone
writes in 1742 of
Books of stature small,
While with pellucid horn secured all
To save from fingers wet the letters fair.
The alphabet upon the horn-books was |
always headed by a cross, and so was
frequently called the Christ Cross Row,
or, in common speech, the Criss Cross
Row, this being the title under which a
very wo rn specimen is catalogued at Oxford.?
Christian at Work.
Wholesale Slaughter of Birds.
The law, the newspapers, the Audubon
Society, and other useful agencies, have
put some check to the barbarous fashion
of wearing dead birds for ornaments in
the politer neighborhoods, but it must
linger in the rural districts. A Laurens
correspondent of the Ioica State lleyiitcr
calls attention "to a great wrong that is
being d juc in this section of Iowa. There
are a large number of men and boys engaged
in killing small birds, and one day
last week there were bought at this town
over three thousand birds, and they average,
shipping by express, from one to
four barre's a day. of sixty dozen to the
barrel. The birds all go to New York
City. The?e birds ate all insect destroyers,
and if there is not a stop put to it,
farm crops must suffer from the extermination
of these useful creatures." If they
are brought "to New York City," it must
/.V,inritr m-innfoohirft nnrl
tiou in the finished state to country markets.
Thus concentration of the business
here affords an excellent opportunity for
friends of the birds to strike a "swashing
blow'' at the evil by pursuing the consignors
here of this melancholy freight,
whose possession of it is an offense under
our law. These dealers must be well
known, and ought to be complained of,
the New York law providing a handsome
reward for complainants in such
cases. Meanwhile the statutes, of Iowa
provide a remedy, inflicting a penalty of
not less than $5 nor more than $2.1 for the
offense of destroying most birds or their
eggs.?Evening Post.
Oddities in New York Store Windows.
A fan fourteen feet lonr.
A pair of breeches, twenty-five cents.
One-toed and five-toed socks.
A pocket knife with sixteen blades.
A wheel that turns so fast that it
seems to stand still.
A Ihirty-button kid glove. It is
fastened at the shoulder.
A pair of Valcnciennes hose, with lace
fronts. $18 a pair.
A steam engine that draws its own
water and consumes its own smoke. .
Two heads of horses and a pair ol
pigeons sketched with a sewing machine.
A pair of elephant's tusks that measure
seven feet eight inches and weigh 270
pounds.
A $400 dress in brocade, velvet, and
lace. Nile preen en train. It was made
by Pinchon of Paris.
A sponge measuring ten feet in
circumference when wet. Another one
as small as a bullet.?New Yvrk Sun.
Fighting Fish.
There is a hot tempered little fish,
known as Bctta pugnax, and kept as a
sort of domestic pet by the Siamese, to
fit<n!:w its nrowess for the Mongolian
amusement. When in a state of quiet,
its dull colors present no remarkable
sight, bnt if two be brought together, or
I if one sees its own image in a lookingI
ghiss. the little creature becomes suaI
denly excited, the raised fins and the
I whole body shine with metalic colors of
dazzling beauty, while the projected gill
membrane, waving like a black frill
round the throat, adds something of grotesquencss
to the general appearance. In
this .state, it darts at its real or reflected
antagonist.
The Siamese keep these fishes in globes i
like goldfish, and the Malays often stake I
large sums, or even the freedom of them- I
selves aud their families, on the prowess '
of a particular betta. J
HOUSEHOLD MATTERS.
Good for Everything.
One of the most useful articles in domestic
economy is borax. Its medicinal
properties are cleansing and healing. It
is a good wash for weak eyes in a weak
solution. It is excellent for sore throat.
Mixed with honey it cures canker thrush
and sore mouth "of any kind. ,It will
cure a stubborn case of ringworm by beinrr
riiKKn/1 nn cupfnnn nf thn Qlrin HI
dusted over the spot. For dressing
wounds or cuts, it is very healing when
dissolved in warm water and used to
carefully wash the tender parts. It is
excellent for cleansing the hair or for
chapped rough skin. It is a cure for
prickly heat or for sunburn. It will
keep moths out of furs and roaches and
ants out of closets. It also is a good
'disinfectant. It can be used lavishly in
tiie laundry without injury to the finest
clothes, making them white with less
rubbing and no boiling. Flannels andlaces
are less liable to shrinkage ii
washed in it than if with soap, and it
makes black cashmere, well blued, as
good as new.?Detroit Tribune.
Washing Helps.
Lately we have tried putting a little
kerosene in the water when the white
clothes are soaked over night, and it
acts like a charm. At first I thought it
might have an unpleasant smell, but such
is not the case. The rinsing has a great
deal to do with the clear look of the
clothes. Hard water is the best for this
purpose, and only a little blueing is to
be allowed. The chief thins is to get all
the suds out at' the articles. Colored
fabrics should be washed for the first
time in salt and water. If the colors are
delicate, the goods should be washed,
rinsed, starched and well shaken out,
then hung at once on the lines. It is
always better to fold clothes the night
before ironing; it seem3 to help the
smoothing process. A great help to
washing day is a mangle, and that family
is fortunate who possess this very useful
help. Here, again, kerosene comes in to
assist iu laundry work, a spoonful mixed
in the starch, being one of the aids to
polishing, not always known. Sufficient
attention is not given to sorting and
soaking white clorhes, and sometimes
the quality of soap makes a great difference,
and this can be discovered only by
a fair trial. Anything that helps to
make washing day easy is to be done.
And of all the ingredients used as a
washing fluid, I prefer plain borax, that
can be used without injury to fabrics, or
to the hands of the laundry maid.?
Rural New Yorker.
Recipes.
CnocoLATE Cake.?Beat the whites of
. a.? - A
two eggs witn a quarter ui u puuuu ui
powdered sugar into a frothy cream, add
the juice of half a lemon and six ounces
nf finely-grated chocolate; drop this mixture
in spoonfuls on a flat tin, and bake
them slowly.
Silver Cake.?One cupful of sugar
mixed with two tablespoonfuls of butter;
add one cupful of flour with one teajpoonful
of baking powder, half a cupful
of cornstarch, half a cupful of milk, the
whites of three eggs, flavor with vanilla.
Bake in a moderate oven.
New Potatoes.?Put into a stewpan
a piece of butter rolled in flour, a gill of
cream, pepper, salt, a very little nutmeg,
also the juice of half a lemon; stir these
over lire until boiling; then add sliccs of
freshly boiled new potatoes, and, after
warming them up in the above sauce,
serve very hot.
Strawberry Tart. ? Strawberries,
sugar, puff paste. Pick over the strawberries
carefully, and arrange them in
layers in a deep puff crust, sprinkle each
layer thickly with sugar; fill very full,
pour in a teacupful of strawberry juice
made from the soft berries that have
been squeezed through a fine cloth. Cover
with the pastry, and bake.
Tomatoes axd Egos.?One dozen
large tomatoes, four ounces of butter.one
small onion, seasoning, six eggs. Peel
1 1 1 * - r - *- i-- Kllf
me SKIDS irom IUC LUUILLIUCA, pui, mc uuitcr
into a frying-pan, add the onion
minced fine,and pepper ami salt to taste.
Fry the tomatoes, and from time to time
chop them while frying: when theyar6
well cooked break the egqfs into the pan,
stir the whole quickly and serve hot.
Cnow-Cnow.?One-half bushel green
tomatoes, one dozen peppers, one dozen
onions chopped fine, one pint of salt, let
stand over night, drain off and cover with
vinegar. Cook slowly half an hour, add
two pounds of sugar, two tablespoonfuls
cinnamon, two of allspice, one of cloves,
one of pepper, half-cup ground mustard,
one pint of grated horseradish, vinegai
to mix, boil and mix with the ingredients.
Cuors a?*d Cauliflower.?Broil the
chops and serve them in a circl? on a
hot platter around cauliflower prepared
thus: Soak the cauliflower, face downward,
in cold water for two hours; tliii
takes out whatever insects may have
harbored therein. Cut off all the
green leaves and boil in salted watci
from twenty minutes to half an hour, it
J *? ..1 oa;ivn.
uepcnus iijiuu uik'suc. lit >?.n.
fork from time to time to see if it be
done. When thoroughly done pour ofl
the water and pour over the vegetable a
sauce made thus: Bring to boiling point
a half-pint of milk, add a piece of fresh
butter size of an egg, stirring all the
while; then add a teaspoonful of arrowroot
smoothed in a little crcam. Let il
boil up once.
An Indian Scholar's English.
The following was written by an Indian
scholar in the Hampton school:
4iOue day, bright day. and a little bird
happy and stood on a log and sang all
day long. That bird doesn't know anything
about cat. She thinks nobody is
near to her. But beliind the near log
one sly o!d cat is watching. She want
to eat for supper, and she thinks about
stealing all the time. The old cat came
very slow, and bv-and-bv she go after tho
little bird, but she does not see him, and
1 fl- - ?i 111
s.in,!? aioua again. oiiu sun^ j"?i
this: 'I always try to do what is right;
when I ever die ! I go to heaven.' That
bird said these nil words, and I shall not
forgot the bird what it said, and these all
words it said and after two three
minutes go died: that cat jumped and
catch and kill, eat up all except left little
things from bird, wings, legs, or skin,
and that bird is glad to die because she is
very good bird. That little bird has last
time sang, and very happy was the little
bird, after that. I think the old cat have
good dinner and happy just same as bird
was first time."
The Zains.
Happily, ono Hindoo scct exists which
is so universally merciful to all animals
as to include even dogs. I allude to the
Zains. whose creed seems to combine the
teachings of Brahma aud Buddha, and
who especially hold the doctrine of transmigration
so practically, that they look
on everything that has life as the possible
embodiment of some dear friend or near
relation: consequently, all living creatures
should be tenderly dealt with.
?Mia Gordvn Cummivg.
TEMPERANCE.
The Wicked, Cruel Spider.
I know a dingy corner, where a wicked spider
clings;
Where he spins his web round bottles, glasses,
jugs, and other things;
And I listened in the shadow as one day I
passed along,
And I neard the wicked spider, as he sung
his cruel song:
"Will you take a little cider? Will you call
while passing by ?' i
Said the wicked, crafty spider, to the buzzing
little fly.
liTirni ..x.. -
"Wllljruu uuttj u. Ulriw la^cu uuicij jvo
will not decline
Just to take a drink for friendship; say, just
sip a little wine."
"He is coming for his cider!" said the wicked,
cruel spider;
"He is coming for his wine, and my cords
shall round him twine;
While he sits and sips his lager, I will whet
my little dagger,
And when he has drunk his wine, he will find
that he is mine!
Ha! the little fool is coming, I can hear him
buzzing, humming,
He who comes to visit me, vainly struggles
to be free.
********
"You are welcome to my parlor, I am glad to
see you come,
Do not stay outside the entrance, please to
make yourself at home;
Will you take a little lager, while Isharpen up
my dagger?
Will you take a drop of wine? then yoa
surely shall be mine:
I will bind you, I will grind you, though yoa
struggle, weep and pray,
I will tie your hands behind you, you shall
ncvci gcuanuj,
I will fight you, I will smite you, I will stab
you, I will bite you,
I will make you poor and needy, I will make
you old and seedy,
I will make you bleared and bloated, and
with rags and tatters coated,
And your hat will look so shocking, that the
boys will all be mocking,
I will haunt you till you die, then 111 hang
you up to dry."
0 my boy, beware of cider, and of lager and
of wine,
Then the wicked, cruel spider ne'er shall get
a child of mine.
Let us storm his ugly castle, let us tear his
web away;
Let us drive away this spider, Heaven in
mercy speed the day!
?The Little Christian.
rfhe Killing of Editor Gambrell.
Last week we chronicled the murder in
Haverhill,Ohio,by saloonists, of Dr. Northup.
This 'week we chronicle still another murder
by the liquor interest, and the murder of as
brave and true and talented a young man as
the State of Mississippi can boast. Last
Thursday night R D. Gambrell, editor of the
Siuoi-d and Shield, of Jackson, Miss., was
waylaid by a party of whisky men as he was
passing over a bridge on the way to his home,
and was shot dead. He was a young man but
twenty-three years of age, of Christian character,
ofspleudid talents, heroic courage, and
devoted with his whole soul to the cause for
which he has fallen. His father is one of the
most prominent Baptist clergymen in the
State, and his mother is one of the State officers
of the Women's Christian Temperance
Union. His chief assailant, Jones D. Hamilton,
was last year leader of the anti-Prohibition
forces in the desperate contest in Hinds
County, which resulted in the victory for
Prohibition. Young Gambrell was one of the
most promineat in that contest, and has also
beon one of the most trusty leaders of the
Prohibition party in that State. Threats and
attempts at assassination were made then. In
spite of them he has gone ahead exposing the
enormities of the traffic, and the political corruption
of those engaged in it, daring the
hatred of the political boss before whom
others trembled. For this he has fallen, murdered
in cold blood, a martyr to the cause of
the home, a hero as true as ever braved the
wrath of hell. As for us, our pen trembles as
we write, and our vision is blurred by the
tears that arise.
He was'one of our most trusted corresponddents,
and has been ever since the Voice beI
can. The terrible traeedy that laid him bleed
uig from the wounds "of the bullets that
E lowed him through and through, and
raised by the fiendish blows inflicted with
, the butts of their pistols by his assailants,
has come to u3 like the death of a personal
friend. God help those to whom he was
dearer than to all else, and strengthen them
to bear the awful horror that has fallen upon
them! Dead in his youthful manhood! Dead
in the promise of a noble and unselfish life!
Over and over that scene flashes before us:
The lonely walk upon the bridge, as the
young man, alono and unwarned, took his
way homeward; the fateful flash of a pistol
upon the dark night; the sudden cry which
those who have once heard can never again
forget?"Mcrder!" the hurried tramp of
feet: flash following flash in rapid succession;
aud then that silence that was, for one, a si- .
lence that shall never end until the grave
gives up its dead at the command of its Conquerer!
Haddock ? Xorthup ? Gambrell I
Citizens of America, what do you think of
them; What do you think of the cause for
which they were willing to die, and for
which there are thousands of men and women
as ready to die as were they? "What do you
think of the murderer of these and of thousands?the
legalized dram-shop system of our
land? God Almighty lias grown tired of
waiting for deaf ears to open and blind
eyes to see. Heaven help us, poar fools that
we are, who cannot awake to these awful
crimes against Him and against us until a
baptism of blood tells us that the Great
Avenger has taken the' cause in his own
hands and out of ours.?Voice.
A Practical Temperance Sermon.
The Rev. John Rhey Thompson preached
an eleoquant and earnest sermon upon tha
temperance question recently in New York.
He said in substance:
"It is my purpose to-night to discuss in a
living way a practical question and to discuss
it 011 the solid basis of conceded facts. I shall
give a record of the sale and use of intoxicating
liquors as a beverage, in a single week, in
the cities of Brooklyn and New Jersey, as reported
iu the daily papers."
The speaker then read accounts of sixtyone
arrests for murder, robbery, arson, wifebeating,
assault aud battery, and a number
of cases of suicide. Proceeding he said:
' This is no exaggeration. It is a terrible
reality, and yet it is all under the sanction of
the law. And this is all among the lower class
of people. Now look behind those lace curtains,
into the homes of the wealthy, whose
money keep their names out of the paper,
there is wife-beating there. We hear of so
many wealthy men dying of brain fever.
Thoil* doctors could tell you a different story.
Add New York City to these accounts, then
aid the world, and then just stop and think.
Bad as New York is, it is nothing to bo compared
with England. Just think of the waste
of labor, waste of time, waste of health, waste
of will,waste of heart that ram causes. What
is this cause? Is it the law/ Who makes the
law? is it a better enforcement of the laws?
Who elects the Aldermen or appoints the
cities' officials? The iminediateness and infectiousness
of the danger justifies words of
expostulation and admonition, of warning
and entreaty. No home is safe. If the
choiera were prevailing in a mild form in
this country, would you not be apprehensive?
If last week there had occurred l^OO deaths
from cholera ea-t oi Loiorauo, wouia you noc
take the utmost precautions against the disease!
And vet rum cause 11,000 deaths this side
of Colorado this last week, and will continue
to do so until wo check it in its mad career.
1 call upon good men everywhere to combine
in undying hostility to intemperance. It
desi'rvos, and I hereby solemnly invoke upon
it, Hie swift and just judgment of Almighty
Uod.''
! '
The Drunkard's Feeble Offspring.
On the subject of inheritance, it has been
truly said that the blood of the inebriate parent
is so vitiated and his energies are so
wasted that even when there is a sober
motlier the innocent progeny are often
brought into existence puny, stunted and
debilitated. Body and brain having been insufficiontlv
nourished, the vital powers of
such infants are so very defective that, in
their earliest years, they are literally mowed
down. In the causation of the terrible infantile
mortality which is such a disgrace to
civilization, the drinking habits of the parent
or parents have the largest share. Even
when grown up to manhood, the constitutions
of the offspring of intemperate parentage
are frequently so enfeebled and impaired
that they succumb to a premature death from
their lack of recuperative power after the exhaustion
following some acute illness, which
a vigorous system would have perfectly recovered
tvom.?Boston Herald.'