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\ KEY. DR. TALMAGE. $HE BROOKLYN DIVWE'S SUN DAY SKK31UN. Subject: Unappreciated Services." Text " Through a win'lo>p, ?n a basket, teas I let down by the wall."? II Corinthians XL. 33. Damascus is a city of white and glistening architecture sometimes called '"the eye of the East." sometimes called ".i pearl surrounded by em*?r:ilds," at on-* time distinguished for sword* of tlio best material, called Damascus blades, and upholstery of richest fabric, called damasks. A horseman ot the name ot Paul, riding toward this city, had been thrown from the saddle. The horse had dropped nnder a flash from the sky. which at the same time i "was so bright it blinded the rider for many days, and I think so permanently injured his eyesight that this defect ot vision became the thorn in the flesh he afterward speaks of. He started for Damasous to butcher Chrisk tians, bat after that hard fall from his horse he was a changed man and preached Christ In Damascus till the city was shaken to its lounaauoo. The mayor gives authority for his arrest, and the popular cry is "Sill him! Kill himThe city is surrounded by a high wall, and the gates are watched by the police leet the Cllician preacher escape. Many of , the houses are built on the wall, and theli balconies projected clear over and hovered above the gardens outside. It was customary to lower baskets out of these balconies and pull up fruits ami flowers from the garden. To this day visitors at the monastery of Mount Sinai are lifted and let down in baskets. Detectives prowled around from house to house looking for Paul, but his friends hid him, now in one place, now in another. He Is no coward, as fifty incidents of his life demonstrate. But he feels his work is not done yet, and so he evades .assassination. "Is that preacher here?" the foaming mob shout at one house door. "Is that fanatio here?" the police shout at another house door. Sometimes on the street incognito he passes through a crowd of clenched fists, and sometimes he secretes himself on the housernno At loot the infuriated neoDle eet on but? track of him. They have positive evidence that he is in the house of one of the Christians, the balcony of whose home reaches over the wall. "Here he is! Here he is!" The vociferation and blasphemy and howling of the pursuers are at the tront door. They break in. "Fetch out that gospelizer and let us hang his head on the city gate. Where is he?" The emergency was terrible. Providentially there was a good stout basket in the house. Paul's friends fasten a rope to the besket. Paul steps into it. The basket is lifted to the edge of the balcony on the wall, and then while Paul holds on to the rope with both hands his friends lower away, carefully and cautiously, slowly, but surely, farther [ down and farther down, until the basket ' strikes the earth and the apostle steps out. and afoot and alone starts on that famous missionary tour, the story of which has astonished earth and heaven. Appropriate entry in Paul's diary of travels, "Through a window, in a basket, was I let down by the wall." a Observe first on what a slender tenure c great results hang. The rope maker who s twisted that cord fastened to that lowering s basket never knew how mach would depend c on the strength of It. How if It had been f broken, and tne apostle's life had been dashed j out? What would have become of the Chris- a Man Church? All that magnificent mission- , ary work in Pamphylia, Capadocia, Galatia, Macedonia, would never have been accom- a plished. All his writings that make up so f Indispensable and enchanting a part of the ^ New Testament would never have been written. The'story of resurrection would f never have been so gloriously told as he told It. That example of heroic and triumphant u endurance at PhilippI, in the Me Jlteocanean t euroclydon, under flagellation and at his be- g L heading would not have kindled the courage e of 10,000 martyrdoms. But the rope holding . I that basket, how much depended on it! So ? again and again great results have hung on c what seemed slender circumstances. t Did ever ship of many thousand tons e crossing the sea have such important pas- t senger as had once a boat of leaves, from s taffrail to stern only three or four feet, the c r vessel made waterproof by a coat of bitumen a add floating on the NUe with the infant law- t giver of the Jews on board? What if some c crocodile should crunch it V What if some of the cattle wading in for a drink should e sink it? Vessels of war sometimes carry c forty guns looking through the portholes, j ready to open battle. Bat that tiny craft on s the Nile seems to be armel with all the guns ? of thunder that bombarded Sinai at the law- f giving. On how fragile craft sailed how much ot historical Importance. The parsonage at Epworth, England, is on fire in the ni^ht, and the father ru9hed , through the hallway for the rescue of hi3 children. Seven children are out and safe on the ground, but one remains In the consuming building. That one wakes, and finding his bed on fire and the building orumbllng, comes to the window, and two peasants make a ladder of their bodies, one peasant standing on the shoulder of the other, and down the human ladder the boy descends? John Wesley. If you would know how much depended on that ladder ot peasants, ask the millions of Methodists on both sides of the sea. Ask their mission stations all round the world. Ask the hundreds of thocsands already ascended to join their founder, wi>o womld have perished but for the living stair of peasants' shoulders. An English ship stopped at Pit cairn island, and right in the midst of surrounding cannibalism and squalor the passengers discovered a Christian colony ot churches and schools and beautiful homes and highest style of religion and civilization. For fifty years no missionary and no Christian influence had landed there Why this oasis of light amid a desert ot heathendom? Sixty I years before a ship had met disaster, and one ] ot the sailors, unable to save anything else, went to his trunk and took out a Bible which his mother had placed there and swam ashore, the Bible held in his teeth. toe oook was reaa oa an aiaes uiim mo rough and vicious population were evangelized, and a church was started, and an enlightened commonwealth eetablished.and the world's history has no more brilliant page ' than that which tells of the transformation > of a nation by one book. It did not seem of 1 much importance whether the sailor con- 1 tlnued to hold the book in his teeth or let it fall In the breakere, bat upon what small cir- > cumstance depended what mighty results! i Practical Inference?there are no insignifl- 1 oancos in our lives. The minutest thing is 1 Eft of a magnitude. Infinity is made up of 1 flniteslmals ; great things an aggregation f small things. Bethlehem manger pulling 1 on a star tn the sastern sky. One book in a drenched sailor's mouth the evangelization 1 of a multitude. One boat of papyrus on the Nile freighted with events for all ages. The 1 fate of Christendom In a basket let down 1 from a window on the wall. What you do. 1 do welL If you make a rope, make it strong 1 and true, for you know not how mnch may depend on your workmanship. If you fashion a boat, let it be waterproof, for you know not who may sail in it. If you put a Bible in the trunk of your boy as he goes irom home, let it be heard in your prayers, for it may have a mission as farreaching as the book which the sailor curried in his teeth to the Pltcairn oeacb. The plainest man's life is an island betweeD two eternities?eternity past rippling against his shoulders, eternity to come touching his brow. The casual, the accidental, that which merely happened so, are parts of a great plan, and the rope that lets the fugitive apostle from the Damascus wall is the cable that holds to ito mooring the ship of the church in the northeast storm of the centuries. Again, rtotice unrecognized and unrecorded services. Who spun that rope? Who tied it to the tassel? Who uteadied the jasrrtons praiener as no stepped into it f Who relaxed not a muscle of the arm or dismissed an anxious look from his face until the basket touched the ground and discharged its magnificent cargo? Not one of their names has come to us, but there wan no work done that day in Damascus or in all the earth compared with the Importance of their irorir. What if they had In their agitation tied a knot that could slip? What If the sound of the mob at the door had led them to say, "Paul must take care of himself, and we will take care of oureelvee." No, no! They held the rope, and 1n doing so did more for the Christian Church than any thousand of us will ever accomplish. But God knows and has made eternal record ot their undertaking. And they know. How exultant they must have felt when , they read his letters tn the Romans, to the | Corinthians, to the Galatians, to the Ephe- i sians, to the Philippians, to the Colosslans, to the Thessalonians, to Timothy, to Titus, to Philemon, to the Hebrews, and when they heard how he walked out of prison with thf earthquake unlocking the door for him and took command of the Alexandrian corn ship when the sailors were nearly scared to deatb and preached a sermon that nearly shook Felix off his judgment seat! I hearthe men and women who helped lilm down through the window and over tho wall talkinu in private over .the matter, ard saying, '"How glad I am that we effected .hat rescue! In coming times others may get the glory of Paul's work, but no one s'uall rob us of the satisfaction of knowing that we held the ropp." There are said to be abou. 69,000 ministers of religion in this country. About 50,000, I warrant, came from earlv homes, which had to struggle for the necessaries of life. The sons of rich bankers and merchants generally become bankers and merchants. The moet of those who become ministers are the sons of those who had terrific struggle to get their everyday bread. The collegiate and theological education of that son took every luxury from the parental table for eight years. The other children were more scantily appareled. The son at college every little wnile got a bundle from home. In it were the socks that mother had knit, sitting up late at night, her sight not as good as once it was, and there also were some delicacies from the sister's hand for the voracious appetite of a hungry student. The years go by and the son has been ordained and is preaching the glorious gospel, and a great revival comes, and souls by scores and hundreds accept the gospel from he lips of that young preaoher, and father md mother, quite old now, are visiting the 10m at the village parsonage, and at the close >f a 8abbath of mighty blessing father and nother retire to their room, the son lighting he way and asking them If he oan do anyhing to make them more comfortable, sayng if they want anything in the night just o kqock on rne wan. And then all alone father and mother talk >ver the gracious influences of the day and ?y: '-Well, it was worth all we went through o educate that boy! It was a hard pull, but ve held on till the work was done. The vorld may not know it; but, mother, we held :he rope, didn't we?" And the voice, tremuous with joyful emotion, responds: ''Tea, falher: we held the rope. I feel my work is lone. Now, Lord, lettest Thou Thy servant lepart in peace, for mine eyes nave seen Thy jalvation. "Pshaw!" says the father. "I never felt so much like living in my life as now. I want to see what that fellow is going jn to do, he has begun so well." Oh, men and women here assembled, you jrag sometimes how you have fought your way in the world, but I think there have >een helpful influences that you have nevex fully acknowledged. Has there' not been tome influence in your early or present home hat the world cannot see? Does there not each to you from among the New England lllls, or from western prairies, or from south)rn plantation, or from English or Scottish >r Irish homes, a cord of influerce that has cept you right when you would have gone istray, and which, after you had made a srooked track, recalled youV The rope may mve been as long as thirty years, or 500 nllee long or 3000 miles long, but hands that ?ent^)ut of mortal sight long ago still hold UO IU^/C| You want a very swift horee, and you need o rcwel him with sharpest spurs, and to let hereins lie loeseuponthe neck,and to givea hout to a racer if you are going to ride oat >f reach of your mother's prayers. Why, a hip crossing the Atlantic in seven days can't ail away from them! A sailor Dads them >n the lookout as he takes his place, and inds them on the mast as he climbs the ratines to disentangle a rope in the tempest, md finds them swinging on the hammock yhen he turns in. Why not be frank and acknowledge it? The most of us would long igo have been dashed to pieces had not gracious and loving bands steadily and lovngly and mightily held the rope. Bat there must come a time when we shall lnd out who these Damascenes were who owered Paul in the basket and greet them tnd all those who have rendered to God and he world unrecognized and unrecorded e trices. That is going to be one of the glad incitements of heaven?the hunting up and licking out of those who did great good ou tarth and got no credit for it. Here the hurch has been going on nineteen cenuries. and this is probably the first sermon iver recognizing the services of the people in hat Damascus balcony. Charles G. Finney aid to a dying Christian, "Give my love to It. Paul when you meet him." When you ind I meet him, as we will, I shall ask him r\ |ntf>n/1nna ma fA fVinoa nnnnlo mhn him >ut of the Damascene peril. Once for thirty-six hoars we expected ivery moment to go to the bottom of the cean. The wave3 struck through the skyights, and rushed down into the hold of the hip, and hissed against the boilers. It was in awful time, but by the blessing of God ind the faithfulness of the men in charge we tame out of the cyolone, and we arrived at lome. Each one, before leaving the ship, hanked Captain Andrews. I do not think here was a man or woman that went off hit ship without thanking Captain Andrews ini when years after I heard of his death I vas impelled to write a letter o! condolence o his family in Liverpool. Everybody recognized the goodness, the :ourage, the kindness of Captain Andrews, >ut it occurs to me now that we never hanked the engineer. He stood away down n the darkness amid the hissing furnaces loing his whole duty. Nobody thaneed the mglneer, but God recognized his heroism, md his continuance, and his fidelity, and h(*v?A will ho inaf ?a htoh rfltrnrrt for triA An jineer who worked out of sight as the capain who stood on the bridge of the ship in he midst of the howling tempest. a unnuwsn wwaan was seen going along he edge of a wood every eventide, and the leighbora in the country did not understand low a mother with so many cares and anxle:ies should waste so muoh time as to be idly launtering out evening by evening. It was 'ound out afterward that she went there to pray for her household, and while there one evening she wrote that beautiful hymn, famous in all ages for cheering Christian hearts: I love to steal awhile away From every cumbering care And spend t te hours of setting day lu humble, grateful prayer. CVioll fhoFU Kn nrt fqwo rH fnr an oh nnnra tending yet everlasting service? We go into long sermon to prove that we will be able to recognize people in heaven, when there is one reason we fail to present, and that Is better than all?God will Introduce us. We shall have them all pointed out. You would not be guilty of the impoliteness of having friends in your parlor not Introduced, and celestial politeness will demand that we be made acquainted with all the heavenly household. What rehearsal ol old times and recital of stirring reminiscences. If others fall to give Introduction, God will take us through, and before our first twentyfour hours in heaven?if It were calculated by earthly timepieces?have passed we shall meet and talk with more heavenly celebrities than in our entire mortal state we met with earthly celebrities. Many who made great QOlse of usefulness will sit on the last seat by the front door of th?i heavenly temple, while right up within arm's veach of the heavenly throne will be many who. though they could not preach themselves or do great exploits for God, nevertheless held the rope. Come, let us eo right up and accost those en this circle of heavenly thrones. Surely, they must have killed in battle a million men. Surely they must have been burled with all the cathedrals sounding a dirge, and all the towers of all the cities tolling the national erlef. Who art thou, mighty one of heaven? "I lived by choice the unmarried daughtei in a humble home that I might take care of my parents in their old age. and I endured without complaints all their querulousness and ministered to all their wants for twenty years." Lst us pass on round the circle of thrones, m Who art thou, mighty one of heaven? "1^ was for thirty years a Christian invalid and suffered all the while, occasionally writing -4 note of sympathy for those worse off than I, and was generaf confidant of all those who had trouble, and once in awhile I was strong epough to make a garment for that poor family In the back lane." Pass on to another throne. Who art thou, mighty one of heaven? "I was the mother who raised a whole family of children for God, and they areoutlnthe world Christian merchants. Christian mechanics, Christian wives, and I have had a full reward of all my toil." Let U3 pass on In the circle of thrones. ' 'I had a Sabbath-sohool class, and they were always on my heart, and they all entered the kingdom of God, and I am waiting for their arrival." But who art thou, the mighty one of heaven on this other throne? "In time of bitter persecution I owned a house in Damascus?a house on the wall. A man who preached Christ was hounded from I ' Street to street, and I hid him from the assassins, and when I found them breaking in my bouse and I could no longer keep him safely I advised him to flee lor his life, and a basket was let down over the wall with the maltreated man in it, and I was one who helped hold the rope," And I said, "Is that all?" And he answered, "That is all.'' And while I was lost in amazement I heard a strong voice that sounded as though it mfffht once have been hoarse from manv ex posures and triumph as though It might have belonged to one of the martyrs, and it said, "Not many mighty, not many noble ire called, but God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the thinsrs which are might}*, and base things of the world and things which are despised hath Sod chosen?yea, and things which are not ?to bring to naught things which are. that do nesn snouid glory In His preeenoe." And [ looked to see from whence the voice came, and, lo! it was the very one who had said, 'Through a window in a basket wa3 I let down by the wall." Henceforth think of nothing as insignificant. A little thing may decide your all. A Cunarder put out from England for New fork. It was well equipped, but In putting ap a stove In the pilot box a nail was driven coo near the compass. You know how the aail would afifect the compass. The ship's officer, deceived by that distracted compass, put the ship 200 miles off her right course, ind suddenly the man on the lookout cried, ''Land, ho I" and the ship was halted within a few yards of her demolition or Nantucket shoals. A sixpenny nail came . <?ar wrecking a Cunarder. Small ropes hold mighty destinies. A minister seated in Boston at his table, lacking a word, puts his hand behind his head and tilts back his chair to think,and the ceiling falls and crashes the table and would have crushed him. A minister in Jamaica at night by the light of an insect, called the candlefiy, is kept from stepping over a precipice a hundred feet. F. W. Robercson, the celebrated English clergyman, said that he entered the ministry from a train of circumstances started by the barking of a dog. Had the wind blown one way on a certain day the Spanish Inquisition would have been I established in England, but it blew the other way, and that dropped the accursed Institution with 75,000 tons ot shipping to the bottom of the sea or flung the splintered logs on the rocks. Nothing unimportant in your life or mine. Three ciphers placed on the right side ot the figure 1 make a thousand, and six ciphers on the right side of the figure 1 a million, and our nothingness placed on the right side may be augmentation illimitable. All the ages of time and eternity affected by the basket let down from a Damascus balcony! POPULAR SCIENCE. I Jupiter liaa a red spot and a white spot, and both puzzle astronomers. About half a pint of water is said to be thrown off by the lungs every half hour. Horseshoes of aluminum weighing but seven ounces eaoh are talked of for the use of the cavalry horses in the army. The famous "agricultural ants" of the Southwestern United States often build their houses or nests from twelve to twenty feet high. Twenty-six Western railroads now liave a system of watch inspection by which the time pieces of employes are regularly examined and regulated. At Hot Springs, Esmeralda County, . Nev., a new spring of cold water has made its appearance at the base of a large rock which separates two hot springs. In the Western deserts a spot of ground becomes excessively heated, causing the air above to descend. This produces an influx of the atmosphere from all sides, but unequally, the result being a gyratory motion and a sandstorm. The newspapers are discussing the preparations of the Arctio explorers who intend to go North this year. The concensus of opinion is that a small, compact expedition like Lieutenant Peary's would probably accomplish more than would a large and /v-ioflTT orriorlit.inn nf the old tVT>e. ? A member of the Royal Meteorological Society has experimented on the size of raindrops, which vary from a speck so small as to 'oe almost invisible up to a diameter of two inches. Drops of the same size do not always contain the same amount of water. Some of the largest drops are hollow. Land snails are distinguished by an extreme tenacity of life in every stage of growth. Dr. R. Stearns, in his report on the mollnsk fauna collected during the voyage of the Albatross in 1877-86, tells of one snail living without fool for at least six years and being apparently no worse for the long fast. Aluminum is gradually working its way into various produots in the iron line. Experiment has proved that aluminum mixed with iron make the latter metal ponr smoothly, prevents blow holes and liability of cracking and benefits the iron in every way. Such experiments have been made by the Michigan Stove Company at Chicago. The success of the test will undoubtedly arouse interest in iron manufacturing circles. A celestial body is said to be eclipsed when it is immersed in the shadow of another. Thus a lunar eclipse is caused by tbe moon entering the shadow 01 the earth. Jupiter's satellites are frequently eclipsed by passing through the shadow cast by their primary. A solar eclipse is due to the interposition of the moon between the sun and earth, and the phenomenon is strictly an occulation, but the former term is retained for convenience. Pump Shotguns For Robbers, Messengers and guards for the United States Express Company are being furnished with rapid-tire repeating shotguns with which to guard the property in their charge. Beside the bullet and bomb proof doors to the I express cars and the burglar-proof ! safes, which cannot be opened even by the messengers, train robbers will find guards and messengers supplied with these guns in addition to the revolvers they have always carried and ready and willing to engage in a shooting scrap at short range. To ex-Senator Thomas C. Flatt, President of the United States Express Company, is due the adoption of the 1 repeating shotgun. He has been experimenting for some time with guns of various makes, and perhaps he would yet have been undecided as to what make was best for the purpose, but a practical demonstration of the value of one gun was made when one Devery, a would-be-robber, drew a pistol on Guard Bell in the Washington depot. Bell had a Winchester "pump" shotgun with six cartridges in it, and he tired twelve large-6ized buckshot into the person of Devery, and he was carried to a hospital to have his wounds dreBsed. The attending physician expressed surprise at the wounds, and said that at forty yards a man would be riddled with the discharge from it. ?Detroit Free Press. RELIGIOUS READING. WHAT TO DO NEXT FOB CHKIST. Do the next thing unless it is something wnic& you cannot ao tor unnst. \> nen ai>y ono has determined to begin the Christian life, and sometimes when a Christian of some experience is decided upon living henceforth in a more thoroughly consecrated way. there often occurs a kind of pause or interval before the new manner of life is fairly entered upon. We know this delay to be needless and indefensible but we do not quite see how to prevent it. Do the next thing for Christ. In the case of Matthew it was to rise up and accompany Christ, and he rose up and followed Him. After Paul's vision it was to submit himself to those who had been His followers and to let them guide him to hi3 journey's end he did so. Whenever any one comes facfe to face with Jesus, so to speak, and acknowledges allegiance to Him, the next step is to do the next thing for His sake in whole-hearted faithfulness, whether it be making a cake or a bargain, loading a hay cart, solving a philosophical problem, comforting some invalid, appealing to some other sinner, or something else. But if the next thing in the old order has become wrong by reason of the change of one's purpose and cannot be done for Christ, what then? Dntv then means refusal, as if a bar-tender were to give himself to Christ when on the point of mixing a drink for some toper. Do the next thing, whether positively or negatively, so as to show that you have become Christ's servant. The importance of this next thing lies in the fact that it presents the first opportunity of illustrating the principle of loyalty newly adopted, of clinching the determination to be true to the Redeemer. Neglect of that opportunity means unfaithfulness. It involves the weakening instead of the strengthening of holy purpose. THE BIBLE SCHOOL. The Advance of Chicago has some very sensible remarks on the Bible school as follows It would be safe to affirm, that not one-half is being done through the agency of the Sunday-school which might, and which because it might, ought to be done. More urgently than words can express, there is need of a "great awakening" on ali sides to this matter. The exigencies of these tremendous social, industrial and other crimes and revolutions, which some look upon with exceeding hopefulness, others with deep alarm and foreboding, aurtVi na nniv n oniilf-v hlindness of mind and hardness of heart can disregard. Ministers might oftener preach on the matter tnan they do. In the midweek prayer-meeting conferences might well often be held, and with an intensiveness of practical interest as though it were a "council of war" in anticipation of the impending conflicts. And, more than all else, everybody who knows the time and is actually intent on doing his own part, "without tarrying for any," obedient to his own diviner impulses, may add his individual momentum to the common movement More can be brought in. There can be better teaching. The intellectual element can be made more worthy of the theme of study. There could be a great deal bettor preparation on the part of the teacher. In the home the subject of the les-ons from week to week might be made matter of common interest and investigation, and in way9 that should give delight to all mental activity and make revealed truths seem of all things mo9t winsome. Then when one comes in. as a member of the church school, the church at school, he will come to stay. THE DRU>'KA.RD'fi APPEAL. - " i Mnnfa M%?. J. lie liquur UU91L1CS3 U1 X1UU.U uuu finer sensibilities of the man who engages in it. His heart becomes adamant. His conscience is hardened. His soul becomes imbruted. But occasionally the sting of remorsa arouses him to a proper view of the awful situation in which he has placed himself. A young man entered the bar-room of a village tavern, and called for a drink. "No," said the landlord, "you have had the delirium tretnens once, and I can't sell you any more." He stepped aside to make room for a couple of young men who had just entered, and the landlord waited on them very politely. The other had stood by silent and sullen, and when theyhad finished ho walked up to the laudlord and thus addressed him: Six years ago, at their age, I stood where those two yoting men are now. I was a man of fair prospects. Now, at the age of 28, I am a wreck?body and mind. You led K"? HrlnL- Tn this room I formed the habit that has been my ruin. Now sell me a few more glasses and your work will be done! 1 shall soon be out of the way; there is no hope for me. But they can be saved. Do not sell it to them. Sell it to me and let me die, and the world will be rid of me; but for heaven'3 sake sell no more to them. The landlord listened, pale and trembling. Setting down his decanter. he exclaimed, "God help me, it is the last drop I will sell to any one!" And ho kept his word ?Selected. "Ble3sed be the God of all comfort?who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble." Try to recall the joy and peace and thankfulness that have ever filled your heart when you became sure that God hail relieved you from some great dauger, or shed upon you some great blessing. Think how you thanked him! Thiuk how your happiness filled you with kindliness to other people. : But ask yourself at the same time, did any I such thought as this come up fore| most to my miud and seem to I me the most precious pan, ui uu my blessings that God had done this for me, to make me a fitter and more transparent medium through which ho might send his comfort to other men? I think no man can really mount up to the idea that God personally cares for him enough to reach down and turn the bitterness of his cup to sweetness, without being, as it were, compelled to look beyond himself; and the only way to make it our joy and mission to help mankind is to feel all through us the certainty that the help which ha3 come to us, has come from God.? Phillips Brooks. Economy in the season of prosperity is on? of the lessons of the hour. While sickness, accident and misfortune have reduced some to want, while others have been compelled to straggle even in prosperous times to supply themselves nnd those dependent upon them, -111' ii'na nottmllv needed for comfort. I mm ? j it cannot be denied that there are persons,now brought intostraits,who by prudencein the p.ust might have escaped their present embarrassments. In the times when they were receiving good wages, they lavishly spent .them as fast as they received them. They assumed that tomorrow shall be as this day, and even more abundant; and now their families must suffer or be the recipients of charity. The past cannot be changed: but its errors and mistakes can be corrected in the future. Frugality and thrift go together. Lavish expenditure and want are close companions. The former should be cultivated; the latter avoided. It is well to heed this lesson of the hour. The last sacrifice a Chinese woman mates to her faith in Jesus Christ, is the unbinding of her feet. When the feet are ilrst bound, the agony is inteuse, until they reach the proper size, then by keeping them loosely bandaged, the pain leaves them. To unbind the feet causes as great agony as to bind them, and the process is a very slow one. Little by little the bands are loosed, and the life-current is allowed to flmv in, where every throb is like the plunging of a knife into a nerve. A Chinese Christian woman when asked why she unbound her feet knowing what agony she would have to endure, replied : "It I could endure such torture for the devil, I surely cau do as much for my Saviour."?Mission N' udies. Education of the Kaiser's Son. The Emperor of Germany has bought a villa near the new palace at Potsdam, with extensive grounds reaching to. the river Havel, as a residence for the Crown Prince, who is not quite twelve years old. The military and general education of the Prince will be continued in this residence until ho is prepared to enter the university. Tho reason that a residence for the Prince was chosen in proximity to the river is due to a desire of tho Emperor that his son receive a naval training. He Wouldn't Be Vaccinated. Joseph Holmes, of South Boston, Mass., was convicted of refusiug to be vaccinated, and was sentenced to pay a Una of $5. Tbis is the first case to be prosecuted by the Boar J of Health. WOMAN'S WORLD. PLEASANT LITERATURE FOR FEMININE READERS. azrv cnprfl xrnstn ttpi?. Chicago has the first woman setter of music type in the person of Mrs. L. S. Jones. Mrs. Jones is said to be the pioneer of her sex in this work in this country. She thinks it a valuable and very suitable trade for women, as it i requires patience and neatness rather than strength. She is of New England birth, and learned her trade in Boston against pronounced opposition from the members of the other sex working at it.?New York Times. VEILS THAT BLIND. The injurious effect on the eyes caused by wearing dotted veils is an old warning which has been sounded to no purpose, and the fact that oculists are growing rich under this reign of fashion does not alarm the wearers of this attractive bit of feminine vanity. The dots are larger or smaller, closer together or further apart, as they are more of less becoming, while the possibility of impaired eyesight is left entirely out of conai^ATftf-inn. It has been discovered lately that the dots are not their only harmful quality. There is some substance U3ed in stiffening or coloring the net which is poisonous if it chances to find its way into the eye.?New York Sun. THE OVEBSKTRT fTKRK. The overskirt, unmistakable and undisguised, is here. The round, "apron front" of fifteen years ago is reappearing. There was an extremely pretty dress on exhibition last week whose prettiness was spoiled by this piece of ugliness. It was of very heavy dark blue eerge, with a perfectly plain skirt. The bodice consisted of i tight-fitting Eton jacket and a vest of yellow crepe and chiffon. The cuffs of the jacket were of yellow satin, under a heavy dark blue braiding, and the broad shaped girdle was of the same material, says the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette. But beneath this simple and satisfactory waist a senseless, useless J.J 1 U1?? ? Ualf I ruuuucu picuc Ui uiuc OCL^o UIUI^ uau way down the skirt and over the waist. It was faced with dark blue silk. The back of the overskirt consisted of a straight, plaited piece of bine serge about as long as the apron front. THE BLOUSE OF THE PERIOD. All the dressmakers are crying ont against the continued popularity of the blouse, which reads for them ruin to a great extent. At least, so they imagine, but they are absolutely . wrong as a matter of fact, for the blouse to-day is very different to what it was yesterday. It ifl no longer formless, liningless and boneless; it is made on a tight foundation, fitted absolutely like a bodice, preserving but X? "LI T i. /?? iU? rts D10U.8C UUHrHCLCIIBblUQ OU Ittl CK? bliC loose front and the belt around the waist are concerned. A charming blouse I have seen this week is made of velvet, the fullness reaching only three inches below the bust, extending thence perfectly plainly, and a broad sash of black watered silk wound twice around the waist and fastened in the front with diamond brooches at the top and bottom. This, of course, preserves the outlines of the figure at its best, and equally, of course, has need of the artist to insure its charm. T* - ii mil ?li. iA XI IS rULJJtJi UlillUUlt tu ycu tUO YCIYOI/ blouse comfortably beneath the tightfitting jacket, which fashion ordains should be ours this winter, but still for those who wear a semi-fitting coat, it may be highly recommended. Very delightful bodices are made of watered silk, and on the whole it may be noticed that cerise is the most popular shade, and beautiful this really looks in connection with the mink and lace so invariably connected with all this season's costumes. READY MADE FROCKS. The shops do their best to help alone: home dressmaking. Skirts come ready, are cut and gored, and the insertings of lace topped with braid or other woven trimming, as merely the lace, are set in, needing only the band to complete it. The waist material is similarly planned out with its trimming and sleeves as well. In the cashmere robes, plaiting of silk, combined with embroidery, are adjusted. Another novelty for white gowns are exquisite flounces of nainsook and sheer muslin, edged with bands of pale pink and blue and lace trimmed, or tiny violets Ueacl a Duttonnoie edge 01 heliotrope on Dresden china colorings above lace; the variety is large and the choice correspondingly difficult. In making up the striped or brocaded black grenadines it is a good rule to have the silk lining the color of the contrasting stripe in the grenadine, or of one of the colors in the bouquet of the pattern. These are not cheap dresses, but they are very elegant. They are not particularly cool, but are serviceable for the seashore rather than for the country. Plain black grenadines are laid in accordion pleat for the skirt, over a lining of rose color or pale green. Bayadere stripes are figured with raised knots of color, such as brown, marine blue, moss green, India blue and gray. A i blue grenadine, which is always a most distinguished dress, has Bayadere stripes of coffee brown or emerald green. These stripes again have flecks of blue upon them. ?New York Advertiser. MAKING A PLAIN OIRL PRETTY. She never thought she had any points; she had quite made up her mind to the irredeemable ugliness which, she had been told, was her lot. Then spoke a good, sweet, wise woman : "Ask your mother to let you eome to spend the day with me when next you are going to a party, and we will see what can be done." So the poor ugly duckling went, and this is what her fairy godmother did for her, says the Housewife : i She took, her first for a short expedition. which interested and amused but did not tire her. Then she gave her a thoroughly comfortable lunch, and made her lie down in a warm < room for two or throe hours. The ihort, refreshing sleep induced by the warmth and quiet ended, and a cup of tea enjoyed, the dressing began. Now, at home, the routine of the day had never been interrupted because there n was to be a party that night. The recrulation work and afternoon walk having been taken, the girl reached H home tired, just in time to have a hasty cup of tea and dress. The operation of dressing was carried on in a cold room, giving time to get thoroughly chilled, so that the transition to a warm drawing-room sent the ] blood with unbecoming force to the face. But the wise woman did nothing bo foolish. She made the girl dress ^ leisurely before a good fire. She taught her it is a great mistake to stand before a looking-glass to do the hair. It is better to sit and take it jj easy, else a tired expression comes ~ into the face. She allowed no hasty " washing with water to irritate the Cl skin, but refreshed her face gently a: with a cloth dipped in rose water. * She kept up a running commentary on the girl's points as she brought them a out one by one. . "Your hair looks bright as the light ^ falls on it. I admire that pretty chestnut brown, with shades of red and gold " in it. There, now your complexion n looks as clear as possible. My dear, a how bright and rested your eyes look! n Now do use the hand mirror to see a Vinw -nrptk-r that onrve of vour neck is, with those little curls just waving IJ about it!" And the fairy fingers of hope and 81 happiness touched this girl's eyes with 0 light and tinged her oheeks with soft ?! color, and gave her gait a firmness and elasticity which prevented all awk? wardness, and when she entered the ,, crowded room she was able to look ^ people in the face and let them see her eyes, with the new-born light of pleas- _ ure and satisfaction dancing in them, g] and the rest of this girl's story, is it not written in the chronicles of her happy life, and is not the name of this dear, judicious woman engraved upon her heart? The moral of my little preachment ? is that if a girl is plain, you won't make her any prettier by dinning into j her ears that she is plain. And that r attractiveness, if not prettiness, is " within the reach of all women who ? realize what their good points are. And that it is a mistake to tire one's & self ont before a party. y u FASHION NOTES. O Mutton-leg sleeves are invariably ti narrowed at the wrista to suggest deep a cuff. ii A very high band of velvet is worn ^ about the throat and fastened with a * square buckle of the same width. ^ 3mall diamonds are never used to 11 more advantage than in the dainty flower-wreathed brooches that are in 13 vogue. ^ French sateens in changeable tint- ^ ings and with a shimmer almost equal Sl to silk are among the new importa- ^ tions. n Black flowers on colored bonnets b are one of the fashions of the day, r< black violets more especially, with ti green foliage. p Three large rings of cased silver set w * ? ?onn Vionrr arrainaf ti m ?u uiiiumcubcu t ooo u?u^ the wall and are intended to hold ^ cards and letters. " Every garment that extends below ^ the waist line hangs in godets to the lower edge, apparently increasing the size of the figure. " A new material %r party toilets closely resembles crepe, except that it is as glossy as satin and is manufactured in the most exquisite colors. , Amethyst is a favorite color and the p newest silk waists show stripes of it << with tlie inevitable soft velvet collar Q of a deeper shade to be worn with the b waist. y. Many of the new bonnets are van- a] dyked at the edge with guipure. Chip fi will be qnite a favorite, and roses close a] set together are introduced under the fc brims. a: A fad for answering social invitations in verse is said to have sprung w up. To the other treats of a hostess w this will add increased danger of ner- a* vou8 prostration. Embroidery done by intricate ma- ^ chine procesaea, but having all the effect of handwork, ia to be thia year more than ever favored, as it can be ^ so constantly utilized on bodices and skirts of new gowns. Fashion still approvea all the eccen- ^ tricitie8 employed in broadening the p: feminine shoulders with berthas, pre- w tellee, cape collars, revers, puffs, frills ^ and all sorts of wide spreading ele- jj. gance in lace, velvet, silk and moire. ai Short skirts seem to be the rule for ai the spring, and we may expect to see ti a new arrival in the shape of dainty w footgear if the shortening keeps on. p] Especially women who go in for ath- ca letic exercise, such as bicycle riding m and walking, will adopt the ankle m lengths. w Woman is a natural martyr. She ti dies a dozen deaths in one ordinary tr life from a masculine point of view. n< What with straps and steels and tl springs and wires and belts, buckles di and bauds, the probabilities are she st has been the greatest impediment to her own progress. cc Skirts do not change greatly in style Y or shape, remaining close about the ? hips and flaring from the knee down. e* Many, when made of single width 8 goods, are of half circle shape, with J. the single eeam up the back, while others of narrow width silk and other material have gored breadths and godet plaits in the back. 18 Moire silk petticoats are decidedly ^ elegant. Those in yellow aud pale ca colors are shown for evening wear. m Dark ones for the street are stiffened tjj to help give the dress skirt that flare wj which is so desirable. Silk petticoats w] will wear much longer if they are ij. lined with cashmere, a light quality 1 behi? selected for the purpose so not j'f) to add to the weight. k; A dress pronounced beautiful was in the result of a happy idea, the com- hr billing of two old dresses, a tan cloth JsT( und a striped green silk. The cloth skirt opened on a front of the striped silk. The coat bodice was made with uarrow cutaway fronts showing a wide, m tight fitting vest of the silk. The full lo puffs of silk for the sleeves were fin- El ished with close cloth cuffs. So many Ja different material are combiuod this Ai season that a little tasto will accomplisli wonders. Ai ? > .V RAREST OF GEMS. r IS THE ORIENTAL, OR PIG-+ EON'S BLOOD RUBY. !ovr Rubles Are Found In Bur-* ma and Other Parts of Asia?King Theebau'a Jars of Gems. ' :.V rHE true or oriental ruby the gem of gems, and ex- " ceeds in value, when perfect, even the diamond, says the opnlar Science News. But to give il* lis great value its color must be of lat peculiar shade of red called pigeon's blood," which is a pure, eep, rich red, without a tinge of lue or yellow. And when of this ?il>A tmkw 10 a marmiA. ccp, I1UU 1CU lUC X SJL UJ JO w UM(3U?U ent and resplendent gem, whioh the Qcients gave a heaven-born origin by myth representing that it drops in lood-red crystals from the clouds mid the flashes of lightning. In the language of gems the ruby if tie emblem of elegance and beauty. !y the ancients it was also considered > possess the power to correct evil* ssulting from mistaken friendship, ad to reveal poison; and in the liddle ages it was regarded as an mulet, protecting against the plague, idness, evil thoughts, wicked spirits,, 1 health, danger and death. The oriental ruby, the oriental ipphire, the oriental amethyst, the riental emerald and the oriental quamarine are all "corundum or pure lumina, having the same form of rystallization, like composition, and tie same hardness. They are all, therefore, the same mineral, and difsrence in color is the only reason for hanging its name, in calling the blue aby a sapphire, the green ruby an merald, and the purple ruby an methyst. Rubies are usually found in aaDciation -with sapphires, topazes, ircons, rutile, magnetic iron and old. The crystals of the gem are ^metimes found perfect, tapering at ach end, but more often abraded or ounded; while frequently various olors in bands extend across the rism of the crystal, as when both nds of the crystal are white and the enter red, or the reverse, or wheii ny one of the colors is replaced by ellow or even black. These gems are sually obtained from layers of earth r river beds and streams, near cryailline rocks, such as gneiss, mica, late and granite. Rubies are found1 1 Farther India, in the kingdom of va, in Siam, and in the Capelan Iountains, in Pegu. They also occur i Ceylon, at Hohenstein.on the Elbe, 1 the Rhine and Danube, in Australia*, nd in the rivers Auvergne and Iser, i "Rnh^min,. The ruby mines of Burma, from hence for ages the finest rubies have een obtained, are situated about sventy miles from Mandalay, and ex5nd over an area of a hundred square liles. For centuries this district has een regarded by the natives with ? sverence almost approaching veneraion, and no stranger has ever been ermitted to approach the mines here the precious stones are oblined. All that is known of them is lat they are worked by sinking pits 1 the earth until the ruby-bearing ;ratum is reached, which varies in epth from two to twenty feet. Theee lines produce annually vast quanties of rubies and sapphires, besides riental amethysts and topazes, toether with chrysoberyls and spinal ibies. For centuries these mines' ere regarded as the special appanage f the crown, and one of the highest wirraA fiftna nf fKo TTinnrr\f Rnrma vaa Lord of the Rabies." Though the overnment did notworkthese mines, at leased them at a monthly rental, et it reserved for the royal treasury II stones that were worth more than' fty dollars, thereby giving the King [most a monopoly of the ruby fields, >r it is only very small rubies that :e worth less than this sum. Though the superintendents closely atched the miners, many large stones ere carried away by stealth, and ;ain, when a ruby or a sapphire worth tore than $50 was discovered, the nder, in order to be able to retain le gem, broke it in twain, and tiro* iany fine stones were ruined. When 1 unusually large and fine ruby waa >und, a procession of grandees with ildiers and elephants was sent to ring it to the royal treasury. When le late King Theebau wished to imress a visit r with his immense ealth, he conducted him into hi* easury and permitted him to thrust is arm into the great jars of rubiea id sapphires which stood in rows*ound the apartment. In this collecon, the rarest and finest in the orld, were many gems ;of almost riceless value. When Theebau abdirted the throne he took with him any rare and beautiful gems, but ost of the jars of rubies and sapphire* ere looted during the interregnum lat followed tne sovereign 8 deparire. The rubies from Ceylon, though jt found in as large quantities as lose m Burma, are very tine, and are scovered in river beds and large reams. The oriental or true ruby is often >nfounded with the spinel ruby, bich is an inferior and entirely difrent gem, containing about twentyght per cent, of magnesia. These ones are often sold through error, or ith the intention to defraud, but the flference may be easily detected by ie inferior hardness and lower spefic gravity of the spinel ruby. Thw particularly the case with Ceylon inels. This is an old error, for in icient times all red stones were called rbuncles and rubie6, and even at the esent time this name is applied inscrimately to various red gems, bich is very deceptive to the novice, bo imagines the ruby to mean only e red corundum. Even the two rge stones exhibited by Queen Vicria as rubies at the London Exhitiou of 1862 were found on an emulation of their specific gravity and irdness to be spinels.?New York ews. , Regular Christian N'arnes. According to statistics, Mary is the ost popular of Christian names, folwed in ord?r by William, John, lizabeth, Thomas, George, Sarah, Lines. Charles, He'rry, Alice, Joseph, an, Jane, Ellen, Emily, Frederick,inie, Margaret, Emma, Eliza, Robert,. rthur, Ed war J. ?Detroit Free Preaa*: (