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*" i; IF NO WERE YES. V> If No wero Yes, and Y'es were No, The world would topsy turvy go, A veto then would be assent, Defeat would join hands with Content. J And war would mean arbitrament, If No were Yes, and Y'es were No. , If No were Yes, and Yes were No, ] The timid would the bolder grow, <t A blush of shamo would bring del'ght < And harsh rebuffs would gain the fight, j The blackest night would then be light, ! If No were Ye3, and Yes were No. I If No were Yes, and Yes were No, The poor would harvest weal from woe, I For Plenty, with a sulbn face, Would seek then out in every place, And ugliness would th9n ba grace, If No were Yes, and Yes were No. If No were Yes, ani Yes were No. . j The weak were strong, th9 high wero low, Grim disappointment would be bliss, ( "WhowOn would lose, who hit would t miss, ? A frown would thus presage a kiss, If No were Yes, and Yes were No. ( If No were Yes, and Yes were No, Thy scorn would be my dearest foe. Thy coquetries, which now I fear, [ Would bring thy day of conquest near, For through thy wiles I'd win thee, dear, If No were Yes, and Yes were No. ?New York Times. ? I MRS. RAYNE'S MONE I. "There's very, very little worth living t for," sa:d Margaret Lee, locking discon- < aolately down the street, as she set out ' from her mother'3 house for her daily f work. i "That hot, humdrum store; those people, always the same?looking out a for themselves, never caring how much i trouble they give or how torturing they t are with their whims! I always ex- s pecttd to earn my own living, but I didu't expect to earn it this way. I'm i tiled of it; I'm tired of everything!" ^ "You were pretty nearly late this t morning," said Janet Kandell, the girl a who stood at the sectiou in the great store T L 3 ir i. ? W next to Margaret s. jauui. auu iuurguret g E -were fast frionds, and were talking to- * getlier in a moment's lull. t f"Yes, it was so delightful outside, c *nd so close and stully in here!" said a Margaret, with a half groan. c 4-I saw Mr. Ives look rather sharply at you as you took your place." t ? 4-Oh, I dare say," said Margaret. <kLet him look?" s "But you might loose your situation. You wouldnrt like that." I | ''Well,I don't know that I should carc I much. It's one form of slavery here, a a The worst that could happen would be I an exchange for another." s B "There conies vour terror." said i Janet, gliding back to bcr own place. The "terror" was a lady who had of t j late much frequented her counter, look- ' ing over her laces, giving a good deal of t trouble, and seldom making a purchase, s The saleswomen were allowed a small percentage upon sales?a fact which b rendered such customers a severe trial to i bT their patience. t "I wish to ma'.ch these pieces," said the lady, showing some samples. t Box after box was rausasked, and after an hour's search, two of the samples were matched. a *'I am quite sure we haven't anything \ nearer than this," said Margaret, refer- d Sv ring to the third. "See; it is so nearly like it that the difference could scarcely t be seen." b "We have not looked in those bixcs,'" said the lady, glauciug toward a row oa * high shelf. c "Those are of an entirely different ? atyle, madam." - v But the lady insisted, and Margaret I opened the boxe?, one by one, for hei s ' leisurely inspection. I' impaueni customers, iireu ui wuuug, i l . went away. From time to time Marga- 3 ret cauglit sympathizing* glances from > Janet, but these were not all. She knew d she was being keenly observed by Helen i & Winter, a girl who stood near her on the e ' other side. Helen had a cousin for t: whom she wished to obtain a situation in d the store, and Margaret knew well that information of any failure in patience on d v her part would promptly find its way to her employers. ii Margaret showed no signs of annoyance. v "It seems to me you keep a very poor assortment," said the lady, at last, turn- li ing away. n Next came a party of customers, who, it mignt be nopea, wouia ue less aara to g. please?a bevy of laughing high school girls, who, satchels ia hand, had come 1 iF in to take a peep at finery for the ap- t' proaching graduation exercises. C They looked at laces, ruching and rf'. - fans, with long discussion over every I *;V article, ending in most cases with a decision to refer the matter to mother or sister. Ttey were not very pro fl table customers, but it was pleasant to serve & ^them. I As the sound of their merry voices g died away, a feeling of longing for the u good things which were a part of their kv -' i i: ? nappy, pruapcruus uvea iuua. pJSSCSMUU r of Margaret. She had looked forward r to these things once, before the cruel t fortune came which had bound her to this b tiresome counter. Again the burden pressed heavily on her heart. r As one of the relays of clerks was in b the lunch room, Mr. Ives, the superin- I k. tendent, entered. a "He has his speech making face on," whispered Janet to Margaret. r "And he's turning his attention to- i; ward us," said Margaret. "Young ladies," 3aid Mr. Ives, pre- t Bently, "I am sorry to be obliged to in- fi form you that a customer has lo3t some s money in the store. Mrs. Rayne visited several of the counters this morn- s; r fog?'' t; "Oh yes. she did!" came iu an under- g tonorl crrnnji frnm r>rif> nr fvvn viotime U I 4'And has reported at the office the toss of a hundred dollar hill." t There was a small sensation, while 1 toany eyes turned upon Margaret. 1' "Those of you with whom .Mrs. Rayne s dealt will please make very careful search <> for tht* money anion;/ your goods."' ba'dT' exclaimed Janet, as the h man left the room. "That bothering a Woman kept you fooling over her trashy k bits all the morning, Margaret, and now you'll have to spend the best part of the " afternoon looking for her bill. And after t all, she has probably lost it somewhere t else, or not lost it at all."' c "Yes." said Margaret. "I shall have I to go to the bottom of every box, and c ^v-shake out every piece in the stock, foi f g ?he wouldn't be satisfled until I had t shown her the very last inch this morn- c ing. But I do hope some of us will find \ U." 11 ^ - _ Margaret used every chance moment of leisure to search for the missing bill. (V heavy shower brought a check upon ihe rush into the great store, and with patient hands and keen eves she turned )ver her laces. At closing-time the girls gathered in little knots, discussing with anxious looks, the affair of the lost note Margaret said little, but listened to the jthers with a face which showed that the n/\n/.arn frvr fHft timo cTlllf Allt ?&?A?Wl UVUW1U 4K?U *W? **" ~ ill minor worries. ' It's a shame, I declare," said Janet, taking Margaret's hand in her own, "for these rich people to come and make troujlc for us poor girls about their money!" "When they've so much of it that thev lon't know how to take care of it!" shimed in another. "If I were so careless as to lose it, I ibould want to keep still about it." Mr. Ives came about with a sober, injuiriug look as the tired girls busied ;hemselves in putting things in order iftcr the day's work. Margaret begau to pack the choicest )f her laces, to be stored in the vault in which the most valuable articles were sut away at night, her eyes still keeping lp their search, although she had given ip all hope of finding the bill. The safe was at the back part of the itore, and she made several journeys to t before the things under her care were ill put away. "What's that?" Just as she was stepping out, after debiting her last armful, something on he floor caught her eye, so vaguely in ;he gathering shadows that she was not sure that it was more than a passing ancy. Yet ho?v could she be mistaken _ 11.-J. J:_ ?,uOI,2 U IUill UILL1 Ui U1Ugj With a heart beating in sudden hope, he quickly ran back into the vault, and vith a little cry of joy snatched up somehing, and again turned toward the masivc door. Creak?bang! Just as she reached it, t closed in her face. Without dreaming vhat this might mean, she pushed on he door with her hand, calling out: "I .mhere! Open, pleas2!" But another creaking sou"d had minted itself with her words. Mr. Ives, vho had seen her come out, had then urnod his head to speak to some one lse, failed to see her rush in agaiu, nd had turned the knob which set the ombination. Janet Randall sprang quickly toward rim. "Margaret Lse is in the vault!'" she ? aid, excitedly. "No; I saw Miss Lec come out before closed it." "She ran back. Hear her! Open it ,t once, please!" "Bat I cannot. The combination is et, and I do not know it?" be said, gaz g at Janet in growing uneasiness. "Where is Mrs. Adams?" cried Janet o tbe girls who were gathering near. 'She hasn't gone home, has she? Bring ier?quick! Margaret is shut up in the afe!" A chorus of dismay ros*, while a numier of the girls hurried to seek Mrs. Ldams, who was the only cmploje who mew the combination. "Margaret!" cried Janet, going close o the door. "Yes, Janet, here I am!" "0 Margaret, you're not frightened, re you?" "No," Margaret replied; "but why i lon't they open the door?" "They will, in a minute. You see, h be combination's sprang, auJ they're 11 iringing Mrs. Adams to opou it." "I hope she'll hurry." ' ? "She's coming now. We'll have you >ut at once. j Mrs. Adams, intercepted just as slia fas going out, was brought back in hot i lasto. She uttered a little scream when i he was told what w;is the matter. i "Why, I can't remember the combina- i ion! Where's Mr. Barrow? Where's I Ir. Price?" Quietly and firmly equal to the every- ' lay demands upon her, Mr3. Adams ailed completely in the moment of this I mergency. With another cry of disress, she sauk down in a hysterical eonlition. "Why, the girl will smother?she will if> in therft!" ahp exclaimed. I "Where is Mr. Price?" Janet asked, j 11 desperation. 1 "Mr. Price has gone to a lawn festi- ; al over in Etcn Park," said Mr. Ives. i "Telephone to him, and tell him it is ] ife or death whether he gets here im- . lediately." i "Margaret!" again called Janet. ] "Yes?" "Have patience a little longer, dear. I 'here is a delay in opening, but everyliing is being done to get you out. i !ourage, Margaret! Speak to me!" 1 "Janet," Margaret called, "tell Mr. I ves?" I "Yes, here I am." I "I?I?I've found?" i The voice seeniod to die away. 1 "Qo on, Margaret," screamed Jauet. i Jut no answer camc, save an occasional ] ;asping murmur, and Janet crouched I ,pon the floor in speechless agony. , There seemed no hope. Mrs. Adams I ,ras more hysterical than ever, and could | ecall nothing of the combination. The ' elcphone rang, but Mr. Price could not < ?, retiuucu. , After the closing of the door, Marga- ] et had turned and glanced about ber, < ialf-expccting to see some rays of light. J tut the absolute blackness frightened I nd oppressed her. < "How dark!'' she said. "I never 1 eally knew before what real darkness I 3." i She heard Janet's call faintly through < lie thick door, and after exchanging the I r3t few words with her, waited with 1 uch patience as she could summon. I The confusion of excited voices out- i ide very soon conveyed to her a thought < hat her danger of suffocation might be I reater than she had iu the first few loments imagined. A slow terror crept to her heart, as he sounds seemed to take on increased j gitation, and one or two screams reached , icr strained ears. Ifer heart-beats came lower, and her breath already seemed ^ iitiicult to draw. I Janet called again, and cacli one of , icr reassuring words seemed to tell auew if the fate which might be closing about , ler. ] She guessed too well what the delay i nust mean. She knew that Mr. Barrow, < he senior partner, was out of town; that , lis junior lived in the suburbs, and could j lot be reached before?what? , With strong shuddermgs she strove to Iraw a free breath, but already the sufocatiug air seemed to refuse any relief . o her gasping lungs. In a paroxysm of tnonuir ciw? flnnor h^rSfilf UDOQ the ffOOf. .vopc. w. o 1 _ | Life! life! life! How precious an<l | >eautiful a thing it w#3! How sweet ; ... - -i .'VV ' j had been the light of the sun and the freshness of the air! The modest home with which she had been discontented, the routine of work which had wearied her?how their details seemed to stand T out in vivid brightness! How delightful would be the aum of the busy store, how kindly the most unsympathiz'ing Si iace in it woutu seem 10 smue upon her! And her mother! With a cry of anguish, Margaret sprang up, and tried in vain to call out. She scarcely & heard the sounds without, though she had a dim sease that Janet was call- th ing her. However, with the thought of home came a determination not to give ra up while there might be hope. She re- ir membered having heard that bad air siuks to the floor, and again forced herself upon her feet. hi Bat her limbs tottered,and with trein- th ^ ? , 1?/1 hf uua? uiuussue leit lur a duiuii oiup-iav*- ^ der which she knew wa3 ia the vault. th She brought it close to the door, and so fis leaned upon it that if her senses failed it a? would keep her from falling. ^ In doing this,she noticed that she still & held in her hand the bill which she had ti< found. She crumpled the bit of paper n? in fierce anger. Had she, indeed, given her life for it? in Then a fearful thought came; when la those without should at last reach her, 4jj might there not be some who would be- j lievc she had concealed the money with th the intention of keeping it? The dreadful suggestion spurred her 0]! to one last effort. If she could tell them vn how she had found it, no one could er think that she had stolen it? But an iron hand seemed closing upon p( her throat as she again strove to speak, nc Her voice sounded to herself hollow and th indistinct, as with her last conscious breath, she tried to send it through the ci iron door. tn Two minutes later Mr. Barrow, who was supposed to be at his summer cottage among the mountains, entered the tii store, and looked in surprise upon the !vi sjene of confusion. "The combination. Open the vault, quick!" be Mr. Ires had gone to rind experts to force open the vault, but through the th clamor of joy and fear the girls soon of contrived to let Mr. Barrow know what lil was wanted. jn He knew the combination, and at a lo; few turns of his hand the heavy doot aD swung open, and Margaret fell forward " into the arms wailing to receive her. po In les? than half an hour she opened dr her eyes to gaze into the kindly one3 ,fc which smiled and cried over her. ^ "I received a telegram calling mo pc back on important business," Mr. Bar- 83 row explained. "I did not guess how imnnrfcsnt it mio-ht nrove to be." ne 1 O ?- ( -- # "It must Lave been sent itraight from ca Providence,'' whispered Janet. Margaret was taken home in a car- er riage by Janet and Helen Winter. A9 de the carriage was about to drive away, Janet held out to Mr. Ives the hundreddollar bill, which she had taken from pr Margaret's band. Jn "No," he said; "let her return it to is i ? aj its owner. sjj Mrs. Rayne came to see her, and el cried and laughed as Margaret told how J the bill was found. ? "You poor dear child! To think th what a result my careles3nes9 might have t?< had! It caught on some of your laces, ^ and then dropped into the vault. Now dr I shall positively never take it back. I'm uj sure you earned it, going into that ** J - - ? ? m J read ful place foi it." Margaret's face whitened at the thought pa of accepting the money. ^ "I shall feel that you have not forgiven me if you refuse to keep it," said ht Mrs. Rayne. "Put it in the bank for a se nest-egg. I think you will have more to Bfcl adcl to it, for I have told Mr. Barrow cc that, of all the saleswomen I have ever ki ruet, you are the most patient, atten- a$ tive and ladylike. I fancy he kuows when he has an employe worth paying ht well." ce i'T t'kinl- T V*Inrr mnrn fhnn X CUIUIY X Auuuu ayiuv-miUg #MV4%' ??? the money," said Margaret.?Youth11 nE Companion. pi Mi Cfl How Tea is Carried in Tibat. The packages of tea, each about four st feet long, six inches broad and three or lfc OI gy four thick, ana weighing from seventeen y to twenty-three pounds, are placed hon- di zontally one above the other, the upper was nrniflff.innr sn as tr> nnmfi over the r..J a ? porter's bead. They are held tightly to^cthcr by coir ropes and little bamboo ab stakes; straps, also of plaited coir ropes, tb pas9 over the porter's shoulders, while a little string fastened to the top of the cr load helps to balance the huge structure, wi which it requires more knack than j strength to carry, for its weight must 1 bear on all the back and only slightly on dr the shoulders. In their hands the por- ti< fcera carry a short crutch which they place under the load whoa they wish to an rest without removing it from their w? backs. The average load is nine packiges, or from 190 to 200 pounds, but I ^ passed a number of men carrying seven- an teen packages, and one had twenty-one. ?n A. man, I was told, had a few years ago brought an iron safe weighing 400 m, pounds for Mgr. Biet from Ya-chou to co ra-chien-lu in twenty-two days. Old tri jr decreipt people commonly travel jt. xlong this road borne on the backs of porters. Many of the women porters th :arried seven packages of tea, nearly 200 pounds, and children of five and six rr trudged on behind their parents with wl me or two. The price paid for the sl1 ivork is twenty tael cents (about twentyive cents) a package, and it takes about an seventean days to make a trip from Ya- 1,1 :hou. So lar as my knowledge goes there arc no porters in any other part of th the world who carry such weights as hs these Ya-cliou tea-coolies; and strange Pl is it may appear, they are not very mus- * :ular, aud over half of them are con- ni firmed opium smokers.?Century. ra ^ re al The Despair or Astronomers. lb The statement is made that the forty- th inch telescope will bring the moon to th within one hundred miles of the earth, in While not entirely accurate, such a com- K* |)ariso:i will serve to show how little will 0j be disclosed of all that wc want to know fo most about the surface of the moon. a! From the summit of a high mountain is jther mountains at a distance of one tb hundred miles mav be seen on clear days; i,, but they appear only as clouds. Details flj cannot be made out. A forest seems a patch of color; the largest buildings are J? mere spccts when viewed from such a ^ distance. And as for the surface of our ar neighbors, Venus and Mars, the case ar would, of course, be more hopeless still, te ?Ban Francisco Examiner. in - 00 An acre of bananas will support ta twenty-five times as many persons as aa ^ acre ol wheat. * KEV. DR. TALMA6E. HE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SU] DAY SERMON. nbject: 'The Evils of Liquor DrinJ ing."' Text: "Noah planted a vineyard, and, 'ank of the wine and was drunken." anesia ix., 20, 31. This Noah did the best and the wor ing for the world. He built an ai ;ainst the deluge of water, but intr iced a deluge against which the hume ,ce has ever since bee:> trying to build s k?the deluge of drunkenness. In my te: a hear his staggering steps. Shera at iphet tried to cover up the disgrace, bi ero he is, drunk on wine at a time in tl story of the world when, to say the leaa ero was no lack of water. Inebriatioi iving entered the world, has not retreatei bigail, the fair and heroic wife, who save e flocks of Nabal, her husba jd, from coi cation by invaders, goea home at nigl id finds him so intoxicated, she cannot t m the story of his narrow escape. Uria me to see David, and l>avid got hii unk and paved the way for the aespolii m of a household. Even the church buhoj ?l- > 1? -I 1 U ??/4 leuoj IAJ LH5 UUIUKCU IV I/O guutu auu ui ven to too much wine, and so familh are people of Bible times with the stagge j and falling motion of the inebriat9 tin alah, when he comes to describe the flni slocation of the worlds, says, "The earl all reel to and fro like a drunkard." 3 ver since apples and grapes and wheat gre e world has been tempted to unhealthf imulants. Bnt the intoxicants of the oldc ne were an innocent beverage, a harmle angeade, a quiet syrup, a peacef-1 socL iter as compared with the liquids of moi n inebriation, into which a madness, as fury, and a gloom, and a Are, and a suioidi id a retribution have mixed and mingle: srmentation was always known, but it wt it until a thousand years after Chri at distillation was invented. Whi ) must confess that soirfe of tt icient arts have been lost, tl iristian era is superior to all others i e bad eminence of whisky and rum an a. The modern drunk is a hundredfol ni'se than the ancient drunk. Noah in h boxication became imbecile, but the vii ns of modern alcoholism have to struggl ith whole menageries or wild beasts, an ngles of hissing serpents, and perditions ( blaspheming demons. An arch fiend arrived in our world, an i built an invisible caldron of temptatioi a built that caldron strong and stout fc 1 ages and nations. First ne squeezed inl e caldron the iuiees of the forbidden fru Paradise. Ihen he gathered for it a di lation from the harvest fields and tt chards of the hemispheres. Then he poure to this caldron capsicum and copperas an 5wood and deadly nightshade and assau id battery and vitriol and opium and rui ,A an/1 eiilnKurirt QAi/1 and fKoff on itash and cochineal and red carrots an >verty and death and hops. But it was y compound and it must be moistened, an must be liquefied, and so the arch fier iured into that caldron the tears of centi ? of orphanage and widowhood, and 1 iured in the blood of twenty thousand a ssinations. And then the arch fiend took a shovel tha i had brought up from the furnaces h ;atb, and he put that shovel into this grei ldron and began to stir, and the caidro igan to heave and rock and boil and spu r and hiss and smoke, and the nations gatl ed around it with cups and tankards an mijohns and kegs, and there was enoug r all, and the arch fiend cried: "Ahi tampion fiend am I! Who has done moi an I have for coffins and graveyards an isons and insane asylums, and the popula gof the lost world? And when this caldrc emptied I'll fill it again and I'll stir ;ain, and it will smoke again, and thi loke will join another smoke, the smoke < ,KJl lliCUi) man cu^ouuovu ivi ot v* uuu w>w< drove fifty ships oa the rocks of Net undland, and the Skerries, and the Goo< ins. I have ruined more senato: an gather this winter in the ni mal councils. I have ruined more lor< an are now gathered in the houi peers. The cup out of which I ordicaril ink is a bleached human skull, and tt )hoUtery of my palace is so rich a crimsoi (cause it is dyed in human gore, and tl osaic of my floors is made up of the bom children dashed to death by drunke irente, and my favorite music?sweefo an Te Detim or triumphal march?m vorite music is the cry of daughters turne it at midnight on the street because fath< ts come home from the carousal, and tt ven hundred voiced shriek of the sinkin earner, because the captain was not hie If when he put the ship on the wrou urse. Champion fiend am II I hat ndled more fires, I have wrung out moj jonies, I have stretched out more mil ght shadows, I have opened more Gc >thas, I have rolled more Juggernauts, ivo damned more souls than any oth< nissary or diaoonsm. cnampion nec ill!" Drunkenness is the greatest evil of th ition, and it takes no logical process -ove to this audience that a drunken natic innot long be a free nation. I call your a ntion to the fact that drunkenness is m ibsiding, certainly that it is not at a stam ill, but that it is on an onward march, an is a double quick. There is more ru fallowed in this country, and of a wor nd than was ever swallowed since the fir stillery began its work of death. Whe lere was one drunken home there are fo runken homes. Where there was 01 unkard's grave there are twenty drunl d's graves. It is on the increase. Tal out crooked whisky?by which men mea e whisky that does not pay the tax to eo^ nment?I tell you all strong drink ooked. Crooked Otard, crooked Cognai ooked schnapps, crooked beer, crooke ine, crooked whisky?because it makes in's path crooked, and his lite crooked, an 3 death crooked and his eternity crooked. If I could gather all the armies of thedea unkards aud have them com3 to re3urre< >n, and then add to that host all the armic living drunkards, five and ten abreas d then if I could have you mount a hon id ride along that line for review, yo >uld ride that horse till he dropped froi haustion. and you would mount anothe irse and ride until be fell from exhaustioi id you would take another and anothei id you would ride along hour after hou id day after day. Great host, in regiment brigades. Great armies of them. An en if you had voice stentorian enough t ake them all hear, and you could give tb mmand, "Forward, march!" their fir amp would make the earth tremble. I d it care which way you look in the commui j to day the evil is increasing. I call attention to the fact that there at ousands of people born with a thirst f< ong drink?a fact too often ignorei long some ancestral lines there runs tl rer of temptation. There are childre aose swaddling clothes are torn off tl roud of death. Many a father has mac will of this sort! "In the name of Go* len. I bequeath to my children my houa id lands and estates; share and share sha ey alike. Hereto I affix my hand and s& the presence of witness." And yet pe ips that very man has made another w at the people -have never read, and thi is not been proved in the courts. That w it in writing would rtad something lil is: "In the name of disease and appeti id death, amen. I bequeath to my cnddn v ?vil hnhite mv tankurils shall ho their y wine cup shall be theirs, my destroyt putation shall be theirs. fcJhare and sha ike shall they in the infamy. Hereto I a c my hand and seal in the presence of a e applauding harpies of hell." From the multitude of those who ha1 o evil habit born with them this army is b g augmented. And I am sorry to say that eat many of the drug stores nra abattir is evil, and alcohol is sold under the nan bitters. It is bitters for this aud bitte r that and bitters for some other thin id good men deceived, not knowing the: any thralldom of alcoholism coming fro lat source, are going down, and some dc man sits with the bottle of black bitters c s table, and the cork flies out, and after es a fiend and clutches the man by li roat and says: "Aha! I have been aft >u for ten years. I have got you noi own with vou, down with you?" Bitter hlyes. T'heymakea man's family bitb id his home bitter and his disposition bitt< id his death bitter and his hell bitter. Bi rs. A vast army all the time increa ft seems to me it is about time for che li 0,000 professors of religion in America ke sides. It is going to be an out and 01 ittle with drunkenness and sobriety, b reen heaven and jheli, between God and tl devil. Take sides before there is any furthei national decadence, take sides before yout sons are sacrificed and the home of youi daughter goes down under the alcoholism of ? an imbruted husband. Take aides whil? your voice, your pen, your prayer, your vote may have any influence in arresting the despoliation of this nation. If the 17,000,000 professors of religion should take sides on k- this subject it would not be very long before the destiny of this nation would be decided in the right direction. Is drunkenness a state or hational evil? _ Does it belong to the North, of does it belong to the South? Does it belong to the East, or . do^s it belong to the West? Ah, there is not 2* an American river into which its tears have not fallen and into which its suicides have not plunged. What ruined that Southern plantation??every field a fortune, the proprietor and hi3 family once the most affluent id supporters of summer watering places. What jt threw that New England farm into decay and 1Q turned the rossate cheeks that bloomed at ^ the foot of the Green Mountains into the ^ pallor of despair? What has smitten every j, street of every village, town and city of this xi continent witn a moral pestilence? Strong a. drink. it To prove that this is a national evil I call ill up two States in opposite directions?Maine h and Georgia. Let them testify In regard to m this. State of Maine says: "It is 90 great an evil up here we have anathematized it as j8 a State." State of Georgia says: "It is so jt great an evil down here that ninety counties ir of this State have made the sale of intoxicar. ting drink a criminality." So the word comes ?" oil wai?fa a# fKa lonrl F.if.hflP HmnL*. " enness will be destroyed "in this country or ;h the American Government will be destroyed. Drunkenness and free institutions are comw ing into a death grapple. al Gather up tha money that the working >n classes have spent for rum during the last 3s thirty years, and I will build for every work? ingman a house, and lay out for him a gari den, and clothe his sons in broadcloth id and his daughters in silks, and stand at his a, front door a prancing span of sorrels or 1. bays, and secure him a policy of life insuris ance so that the present home may ba at well maintained after he is dead. The most le persistent, most overpowering enemy of the le working classes is intoxicating liquor. Itif la the anarchist of the centuries, and has boyln cotted and is now boycotting the body and id mind and soul of American labor. It and nuatly swindles industry out of a large peris centage of its earnings. It holds out its o- blasting solicitations to the mechanic or le operative on his way to work, and at tha d noon spell and on his way home at even iJJ. A_ CI-4. 3-? ?U ikA AMA )L 1/1U0. VJU oauuiuajr, nuou tuo na^ca am paid, it snatches a large part or toe money " that might come to the family and sacriflcas > it among the saloon keepers. Stand the >r saloons of this country side by side, and it is 5? carefully estimated that they would reach from New York to Chicago. s* This evil is pouring its vitriolic and damnable liquors down the throats of hundreds ~ of thousands of laborers, and while the ; ordinary strikes are ruinous, both to em11 ployers and employes, I proclaim a universal strike against stroDg drink, which strike, if 'd kept up, will be the relief of the workir x d classes and the salvation of the nation. I a will undertake to say that there is not a d healthy laborer In the United States who, d within the next twenty years, if he will ren fuse all intoxicating beverages and be sav10 ing, may not become a capitalist on a small 9- scale. Oh, how many aro waiting to see If someit thing cannot be done for the stopping of in2 temperance 1 Thousands of drunkards wait't ing who cannot go ten minutes in any direcn tion without having the temptation glaring t- before their eyes or appealing to their nosi trils, they fighting against it with enfeebled d will and diseased appetite, conquering, then . h surrendering, conquering again and suri! rendering again, ana crying, ,lHow "0 long, 0 Lord! how long before these >d infamous solicitations shall be gone!" j t- And how many mothers are waiting to see i >P if this national curse cannot lift? Oh, ia it that the boy who had the honest breath who ?t comes homo with breath vitiated or dis)f guised? What a change! How quickly tho3e I r. habits of early coming home have bean ex- | * cnangea lor iae rawing 01 mo ui^ut noy m 1- the door Ions after the last watchman has ra gone by and tried, to see that everything was a- closed up for the night. is Oh! whata change for that young man, se who we had hoped would do something in y merchandise or in artisanshio or in a profes* 10 sion that would do honor to the family name, a, long after mother's wrinkled hands are faded 10 from the last toil 1 All that exchanged foi as startled look when the door bell rings, lest ? something has happened; and the wish that Jr the scarlet fever twenty years ago had been iy fatal, for then he would have gone directly d to the bosom of his Saviour. But alasl poor old soul, she has lived to experienc) ie what Solomon said, "A foolish son is a g heaviness to his mother." Q- Oh! what a funeral it will be when that ig boy is brought home dead! And how mothro er will sit there and say: "Is this my boy e that I used to fondle, and that I walked tha i- floor with in the night when he was sick? Is >1- this the boy that I held to the baptismal I font for baptism? Is this the boy for whom >r I toiled until the blood burst from the tips of id my fingers, that he might have a good start Twhv hwfc Them lei | auu a gwu uvatvi v>, .. m?j ?_ is me live to see this? Can it be that these to | swollen hands are the ones that used to wan>n der over my face when rocking him to sleep! t- Can it be that this swollen brow is that ] at onca so rapturously kissed? Poor boy! how i- tired he does look. I wonder who struck id him that blow across the temple? I wonder m if he uttered a dying prayer? Wake up, my se son; don't you hear me? wake up I Oh! he. st can't hear me! Dead! dead! dead! 'Oh, re Absalom, my sod, my son, would God that an I had died for thee, oh, Absalom, my son, 1 ae pon ?" I . I am not much of a mathematician and ] it cannot estimate it, but is there any one here n ijaicfc enougn at nguras to estimate now j. many mothers there are waiting for somei9 thing to be done? Ay, thera are many (. wives waiting for domestic re3cae. H9 3 promised something different from that a when, after the long acquaintance and the l(j careful scrutiny of character, the hand and the heart were offered and accepted. What 4 a hell on earth a woman lives in who has a .. drunken husband! O death, how lovely >3 thou art to her, and how soft and warm | t thy skeleton haud I The sepulcher at mid- j jg night in winter is a King's urawm^-rouia i u compared with that woman's home. It is not n so much the blow on the head that hurts as )r the blow on the heart. j The rum fiend came to the door of that r beautiful home, and opened the door and ? stood there and said: "I curse this dwelling g with an unrelenting curse. I curse that father into a maniac, I curse that mother 0 into a pauper. I curse those sons into va^al0 bonds. I curse those daughters into profligjt acy. Cursed be bread tray and cradle. [0 Cursed be couch and chair, r.nd family Bible j. with record of marriages and births and deaths. Curse upon cursf." Oh, how many .a wives are there waiting t j see if something )r cannot be done to shake hese frosts of the j second death off the orange blossoms I Yea, God is waiting, the God 'vho works through ,a human instrumentalities, waiting to see j0 whether this nation is going to overthrow le this evil, and if it refuse to do so God will j wipe out the nation as He did Phoenicia, as , ^ He did Rome, as He did Thebes, as He did jj Babylon aj Ay, He is waiting to see what the church of God will do. If the church does not do F* Its work, then He will wipe it out as He did th? church of Kphesus, church ofThyatira, ... church of Sardis. The Protestant and Ro> man Catholic churches to-day stand side by . side, with an impotent look, gazing on this I evil which costi this countrv more than a billion dollars a year to take care of the 300,jH 000 paupers, and the 315,000 criminals, and ' the 30,000 idiots, and to bury the 75,000 f drunkards. Protagoras boasted that out of ',j the sixty years of his life forty years he had spent in ruining youth; but this evil may make the more infamous boa. t that all its ? life it has been ruining the bodies, minds and souls of the human race. ' Put on your spectacles and take a candle ? and examine the platforms of tho two lead* ing political parties of this country, and sea what they are doing for tho arrest of this evil and for the overthrow of this abominar? tion. Resolutions?oh! yes, resolutions about H Mormonism! It is safe to attack that orlj ganized nastiness two thousand miles away. But not one resolution against drunkenness, which would turn this entire nation into one l" bestial Salt Lake City. Resolutions against el political corruption, but not one word about drunkenness, which would rot this nation 3' from scalp to heel. Resolutions about proeI tection against competition with foreign in31 dustries, but not one word about protection t. of family and church and nation against tho 3. scalding, blasting, all consuming, damning tariff or strong arink put upon every finanr,. cial, individual, spiritual, moral, national i to interest. * t iaai. !?. /jlwartfian tkfl f\t ' ill I nwnmauUrati uucv..^, ?. God is the grandest and most glorious institu11 | tion on earth. What has it in solid phalanx ] accomplished for the overthrow of drunkenness? Have ita forces ever been marshaled? No, not in this direction. Not long ago a great ecclesiastical court assembled in New York, and resolutions arraigning strong drink were offered, and clergymen witn strong drink on their tables and strong drink in their cellars defeated the resolutions by threatening speeches. They could not bear to give up their own lusts. I tell this audience what many of you may never have thought of, that to-day?not in the millennium, but to-day?the church holds the balance of power in America; and if Christian people?the men and the women who profess to love the Lord Jesus Christ and to love purity and to be the sworn enemies of all uncleanness and debauchery and sin?if all such would march side by side and shoulder to shoulder this evil would soon be overthrown. Think of three hundred thousand churches and Sunday-schools in Christendom marching shoulder to shoulder I How very short a time it would take them to put 4ftwn t.hia Avil \f all t.Kfl phnmhAB r\f flnH transatlantic and cisatlantic, were armed ou this subject? Young men of America pass over into the army of teetotalfsm. Whisky, good to preserve corpses, ought never to turn you Into a corpse. Tens of thousands of young 3ien have been dragged out of repectaoility ind out of purity, and out of good charicter, and into darkness by this infernal stuff Killed strong drink. Do not touch it! Do not touch itl In the front door of our church in Brooklyn, a few summers ago, this scene occurred: Sabbath morning a young man was entering ?or divine worship. A friend passing along the street said, "Joe, come along with me; (am going down to Coney Island and we'll jave a gay Sunday." "No," replied Joe; "I lave started to go here to church, and I am roing to attend service hnre." "Ob, Joe," his friend said, "you can go to church tny time! The day is bright ind we'll go to Coney Island, and we'll have a splendid time." The temptation nas too strong, and the twain went to the beach, spent the day in drunkenness and nou Jtug tJTeuiiig uaiu dwuuiu uu uviu Brighton. The young men were on it. Joe, H his intoxication, when the train was in lull speed, tried to pass around from one seat to another and fell and was crashed. Under the lantern, as Joe lay bleeding his 3fe away on the grass, he said to his comrade: "John, that was a b*d business, your taking me away from church; it was a very bad busiuess. You ought not to have done ;hat, John. I want you to tell the boys tomorrow when you see them that rum ind Sabbath breaking did this for tie. And John, while you are tolling rtiem I will ba in hsll, and it will be your !ault" Is it not time for m9 to pull out from She great organ of God's word, with many banks of keys, the tremolo stop? ' Look not apon the wine when it is red, when it moyeth Itself aright in the cup, for at last it bitetb like a serpent and stingeth like an adder." But this evil will be arrasted. Blucher came id just before night and saved the day at Waterloo. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon it looked very badly for the English. Generals Ponsonby and Plckton fallen. Sabers broken, Jags surrendered, Scots Grays annihilated. Dniy forty-two men left out of the German arlgado. The English army falling back and '.ailing back. Napoleon rubbed his hands together and said: "Aha! aha I we'll teaoh shat little Englishman a lesson. Ninety thancea out of a hundred are in our favor. tfagniflcant! magnificent.1" He even sent messages to Paris to say he had won the day. But before sundown Blusher came up, and he who had been the conqueror of Austerllta became the victim of Waterloo. The name which had shaken all Europe and filled even America with apprehension, that name went iown, and Napoleon, muddy and hatless, and rrazei with his disasters, was found feeling for the stirrup of a horse, that ho might mount and resume the conflict. WelL my friends, alcoholism is imperial, md it is a conqueror, and there are good people who say tho night of national overthrow ia coming, and that it is almost night. But before sundown the Conqueror of earth md heaven will ride in on tha white horse, find alcoholism, which has had its Austerlitz }f triumph, shall have its Wat ar loo of defeat. Alcoholism having lost its crown, the grizzly and cruel breaker of human hearts, opa7?1 with the disaster, will be found feel ing in vain for the stirrup in which to remount its foaming charger. "So, 0 Lord, let Thine memies perish r CURIOUS FACTS. Scientific men live longest. The rarest of cents is that of the year 1799. The ancicnt name of the city of Paris was Lutella. New York City is the homo of 1000 millionaires. The City of Intelligence is the city of Berlin, Germany. A Michigan man i3 making a fortune by raising skunks for their fur. A vessel is building in Boston, Mass., which is intended to carry molasses in bulk. It is said to be a phychological fact that staring at a persoa sound asleep will wake bim up. A Chinese laundryman in Chicago was adjudged insane because he starched the stockings of his customers. The oldest architectural work known to exist is believed to be the rock cut temple at Ipsamboul. in Nubia, ou the left bank of the Nile. A man with a mania for starting engines has been arrested at Fresno, Cal. Ua Vino oforfa/l aovapal Ancrinp^ WPlfl UC UOO ovamvu >?v/(viui vu^twvw ?MW? ,, vaw side-tracked and caused much damage. The composition called pinchbeck used in manufacture of cheap watches and jewelry derives its name from Christopher Pinchbeck, a London (England) jcwsler, who first made it. The Esquimaux trade seal-skins, walrus teeth and seal oil to the Danes through the small Danish settlement in Alaska for tobacco, shotguns and ammunition. The Danes invariably get the better of the bargain. An Italian nobleman, the Count dc Lorgues, is owner of an ancient wood engraving of Christopher Columbus which is believed to be a true likeness. It will probably have a place in the coming American exposition. James Storey, of Parsons, Kan., has patented an artificial egg, said to resemble the hen's natural product in all particulars. The inventor claims that with a $500 plant he can manufacture a carload every day at a cost of three cents per dozen. The form used by the King of Sweden in addressing the members of Parliament differs from that used by many other rulers. His speeches begin with "Good gentlemen and Swediau men." xney end, usually, also with "Tae blessing of God be upon you, good gentlemen aLd Swedish men." A wealthy Russian married a girl-wife at eighty-five, and has just died aged one hundred and twenty, lie survived tho girl's expectant relatives, and leaves her 1 ..A. J .11 j Tlift a weauny out muiuie uljuu nmun. ?nv joy which this malicious old man took iu attending the funerals of his wife's people is said to have been 1-gigantic." If the value of pictures be judged by their prices per square men, some <n Meissonicr's must certainly be pronounced the mcst precious art "gems" in tho world. The "JNapoieon, iur iu->i iuu-j, which Mr. Buskin bought in 1SU9, was sold in 1882 for ?30,450. The little picture is only 12^ by 9$-, so that it was worth $260 the square iuch! E. B. SiARS, of Boston, haa bought the famous English St. Bernard dog Sir Bedivere, paying for it $6,500, Bather a cosily J rice for unoowrarted sausage. r PJ>. SABBATH SCHOOL INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR MARCH 22. Lesson Text: "Elisha's Defenders," 2 Kings vl., 8-IS?Golden Text: 2 Kings vl., 10 ?Commentary. 8. "Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, say ing, In such and such a place shall be my camp." Between the story of Naaman ana Gehazi and this lesson the Holy Spirit has written the record of a house building near Jordan by the sons of the prophets, and tho miraculous recovery of a lost ax, from which we see the need, humanly speaking, of the money which Naaman offered Elisha; but the prophet prefers to rely wholly and only upon the God of Israel, who can make even iron to swim, and to whom nothing is impossible. And now see the king or Syria, the captain of whose host had been healed by Israel's prophet making war against Israel, as if the God who could heal the leper and make iron to swim could not defeat His enemies. How blind is unbelief! How full of ingratitude the human heart! 9. "And the man of God sent unto'tha king of Israel, saying. Beware that thou passnot such a place, for thither the Syrians are come down." How often we are reminded that "All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of fiim with whom we have to do," and that 'The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good" (Heb. lv., 18; Prov. xv.t 3.) But here 13 wondrous grace and continued grace to a wicked man. The king of Israel was Jehoran, son of Ahab, and he wrought evil in the sight of the Lord, cleaving unto the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat (chap, iii, 1-3), and yet this is not the first time that God has shown him kindness through Elisha. See chapter ill., 16-19. God would if possible win this wanderer back to Himself. He would bv goodness lead him to repentance (Rom. if., 4) for He is not willing that any should perish (II Pet. iii., 9.) 10. "And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once, nor twice." "God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this, that power belong* eth unto God," and this power is continually being put forth on behalf of sinful man to bring back his soul from the pit, btit though ' Godspeaketh once?yea, twice?yet man perceiveth it not (Ps. lxii., 11; Job xxxili., 14, 29). How loving Gol is! How hard and bliud is man! 11. "Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing." It was not his sins that troubled him, but th? fact that he could not catch his prey, and that his enemy so successfully eluded him. He saw that some one was working against him who know all his nlarw nnrf thmicrht that it must be a traitor in the campy one of bis own men, who was taking tkeluag of Israel's part and fore-warning him. 12. "Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber." Like the servants of Naaman these servants seem wiser ^ than their master, for "Great men are not * always wise" (Job xrxii., 9). 18. "And he said. Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him." The Lord so effectually bid Elijah that Ahab and all his searchers could not find him anywhere in all the land (I Kings xviiL, 10). He also hid Baruch and Jeremiah so that their enemies could not find them (Jer. xxxvi., 20). Yet this unbeliever thinks to capture one who could say of God, "Thou art my hiding place; TlToushalt preserve me from trouble; Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance" (Ps. xxxii.. 7). "And it was told him saving, Behold, he is in Dothan." It was at Dotban that Joseph found bis brethren, when they plotted to kill him, and afterward sold him as a slave (Gen. xxxvii., 17); and these aro the only two references to tbe place in the whole Bible. In the one case God permits the captivity of His child and in the other He prevents it, but in each case it is for their good and His glory. 14. "Therefore sent he thither horses and chariots and a great hc?3t, and they came by ' night and compassed the city about." Surely they had their man now, and escape was impossible. Thus it seemed to human eyes. But on a previous occasion the armies of Judah were encompassed by the enemy, and when they cried unto the Lord He delivered them. And a little later Jeho6apbat alone was surrounded by the Syrian soldiers, who were abont to kill him, but he cried out and the Lord helped him, and God moved them * to depart from Him (II Chron. xui., 13-10; xviii., 31). "An/1 trhavi fha sarvnnt of tha man Of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold I an host compassed the city both with horses I and chariots." While Elisna slept the enemy | encompassed him about, but Elisha's God I neither slumbers nor sleeps, and Elisha rested in Him, and feared no evil. His servant, however, had not the faith of his master, and we may imagine bis fears as this sight met his eyes. "And his servant said unto him, Alas, mr master .'how shall we do?" Ho probably felt * something like Israel when tlioy saw the hosts of Pharaoh pursuing them, the mountains on either side of them and the sea before them. It was another case of man's utter helplessness, to do anything for himself, but "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godiy out of temptation" (II Pet. iL, 9). 16. "And he answered, Fear not." From Gen. xv., 1, to Rev. i., 17, how often that precious word "Fear not" has stilled the troubled soul! "They that be with us are more than tho* that be with them." What is it that Eli?h* sees that bis servant cannot see? Is he giving utterance to a honj or to the assurance of a reality? We shall see that he means just what he says and is fully persuaded of every word of it. 17. "And Elisha prayed and said, Lord, I pray Thee, open his eyes that he may see." What a simple prayer, how short, how comprehensive! No preliminaries and no coosOmoiak nnf awon an iiicrf; * qmcrlft petition, asking as from a familiar friend for just what he wanted. ''And the Lord opened the eves of the young man, and he saw: and behold tha mountain was full of horses and chariots of Are round about Elisha." Now we know why Elisha said, Fear, not, and why he said to his servant that their helpers were more numerous than the enemy. Let no one dare to explain away these unseen realities of God's love and care and power. But rather let the weakest believer rejoice that he is ministered unto and watched over by these unseen ones who love to do the will of God (Heb. i., 14), and let us joyfulJy anticipate the day when we shall take part in a great triumphant march of heaven's cavalry for the rescue and redemption of multitudes of Israel (Rev., xix, 14). 18. "And when they came down to him, ciicVin nmtro) unto tha Lord and said. Smite this people, I pray Tae?, with blindness." Another brief prayer; a single petition. Can this man ask and receive anything he desires? A river divided, a spring healed, oil multiplied, a Son given, life from the dead, food multiplied, a leper healed, a man made leprous, iron to swim, eyes open to see angels, eyes dimmed to S33 not at all or to see wrongly? How bas ha obtain ed this power? With whom is he in partnership? Ah, dear reader, if we would clin? to Jesus, as Elisha clung to Elijah, for a double portion of the Spirit, then we too might know the meaning of such words as these, "Whatsoever yo shall ask the Father in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." "And he smote them with blindness, according to the Lord of Elisha." So did the angels to the men of Sodom (Glen, xix., 11). In Him we live and move and have our being. Read the next four verses and see how royally Elisha treated these his enemies and conquered them with kindness, so that they came no more into the laud of Israel. Is there in us the love that conquers??Lesson, Helper. XPKKrsH soxuiers are very poor marasmen. liecent target contestj in the Turkish army demonstrated the fact that not one soldier in twenty could hit a man at twenty paces. A target about four feot in diameter, placed thirty rods awf.y, was hit on an average only once cut of thirty shots.. One-half the philosophers and humanitarians of the world go wrong because they pity and sympathize with men who would be the better citzens it tied up within reaching distance of a Bogardus Kicker. ; iJ'V,?v. '*,