The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, January 09, 1895, Image 3
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IBEV. DR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLVN DIVINE'S SUNDAY
SERMON.
Subject: "The Fire Worshipers."
?V V '*
T*tt ! "There came wise men from the
Xast to Jerusalem."?Matthew it., 1.
These wise men were the Parsees or the
?-called lire worshipers, and I found theft
descendants In India last Ootober. Thett
heathfntem Is more tolerable than any of the
??? ll~l --J I... mA.?
(uiuur ioiao ronyiuuo auu uoa uivio o>tu v mtlons,
and 'while la this round the world
series I have already shown you the worst
forms of heathenism to-day I show you the
least-offenstve.
The prophet of the Parsers was Zoroaster.
| of Persia. He was poet and philosopher and
reformer an well as religionist. His disciples
thrived at first in Persia, but under Mohammedan
persecution they retreated to India.
^ where I met them, and in addition to what I
saw of them Rt their headquarters in Bombay,
India, I had two weeks of association
With one of the most learned and genial of
'their people on shipboard from Bombay to
jBrindisi.
The Bible of t ho Parsees, or flro worshipers,
as they are inaocurately called, i3 the
Zend-Avesta, a collection of the strangest
books that ever came into my hands. There
(were originally twenty-ons volumes, but
' (Alexander the Oreat, in a drunken fit, set
Are to a palace which contained some of
them, and they went into ashos and forgetfulness.
Bat there are more of their sacred
volumes left than most people would have
patience to read. There are many things in
the religion of the Parsee that suggest
Christianity, and some of its dootrines are
are in rooord with our own religion. Zo
{roaster, who lived about 1400 years
before Christ, was a good man, suffered
persecution for his faith and was assassinated
while worshiping at an altar. He announced
the theoryj "Ho is best who is pure
of heart," and that there are two great
spirits in the world, Ormuzd, the good spirit,
,.|?nd Ahximan, tho bad spirit, and taat all
"who do right are under the influence of
U Ormuzd, and all who do wrong are under
Ahriman; that the Parsee must be
"born on the ground floor of the house
and must be buried from the ground
floor; that the dying man must have
prayers said over him and a sacred juice
{riven htm to drink; that the good at their
twcease go Into eternal light and the bad
Into eternal darkness: that, having passed
out of this life, the soul lingers near the .
<oorpse three days' In a paradisaic state,
enjoying more than all the nations of
fvth put together could enjoy or in a
pandemonlao state, suffering more than all
the nations put together oould possiblv
uffer, but at the end of three days departing
for its final destiny, and that theft will be a
resurrection of the body. They .are more
eareful than any other people about their
j ablutions, and they wash and wash and
iwaab. They pay great attention to physical
jhealtb, and it is a rare thing to see a slok
iPanee. They do not smoke tobacco, for
they consider that a misuse of fire.
<. . ; At the close of mortal life the soul appears
' ?t the bridge Cbinvat, where an angel pre*
tides and questions the soul about the
, thoughts ana words and deeds of its earthly
ptate. Nothing, however, is more intense In
the Parsee faith than the theory that the
Beady body is Impure. A devil Is supposed
fsf fit a tflaarl HaH r All
KV (IIB.O |IVW03IVU Vk IMV WWMU www,;. ?...
rwho ton oh It are unclean, and henoe the
jrtrange style of obsequies. Bat hers I mast
give three or four questions and answers
v. ; bom one ot the Parsee catechisms
| Question?Who is the most fortunate man
to the world?
. L Answer?He who is the most Innocent.
, Q.?Who is the most innocent man in the
Urorld?
f - A.?He who walks In the path of God and \
'ic Anns that of the devil.
> Q.?Whloh Is the path of God and whioh
',r that of the devil?
W&: A.?Virtue is the path of God and vioe that
\ bfthedevlL ,
! Q.?What constitutes virtue and what
I A.?Good thoughts, good words and good
Ideeds constitute virtue, and evil thoughts,
- ?vil words and evil deeds constitute vice,
j Q.?What constitute good thoughts, good
words and good deeds and evil thoughts,
evr- 1 .. * j > * J.1)
<TU woros ana bvu uooubi
i A.?Honesty, charity and truthfulness
constitute the former, and dishonesty, want
of charity and falsehood constitute the latter.
And now the better to show you these Parages
I tell you of two things I saw within a
short time in Bombay, India. It was an
M'. afternoon of oontrast.
< We started for Malabar hill, on whloh the
Wealthy classes have their embowered homes
(and the Parisoes their strange temple of the
' - |dead. As we rode along the water's edge
I jthesuft was descending the sky. and a disB
cflple of Zoroaster, a Parsee, was in lowly
I posture and with reverential gase looking
I into the sky. He would have been said to
have been worshiping the sun, as all Par*
I Isees are said to worship the fire. But the
* intelligent Parsee does not worship the
ft fire. Ho looks upon the sun as the emK.
bleth ol the warmth and light of the
{ ft |Orealor. Looking at a blaze of light,
HH whether on hearth, on mountain height or
M in th* sky, he can more easily bring to mind
the glory of God?ar least so the Parsees
Indeed they are the pleasuntest
MHheathen I have met. They treat their wives
||H|?a eqaals, while the Hindoos and Buddhists
77 jheat them as cattle, although the cattle and
: / Isheep and swine are better off than most of
the women of India.;
' This Fusee on me roaosiae on oar way 10
> * Malabar hill was the only one of that religion
I had ever seen engaged in worship.
Jgto knows bat that beyond the light of the
tun aq. whioh he gazes he may oatoh a
glimpse of the God who Is light and "In
whom there Is no darkness at alIV
We passed on up through gates Into the
garden that surrounds the place where the
Panees dispose of their dead. This garden
was given by Jamshldji Jljibhal and is beautiful
with flowers of all fans and foliage of
til styles of vein and notch and stature.
There is on all sides great opulence of fern
snd cypress. The garden is 100 feet above
the level of the sea. Not far from the entrance
is a building where the mourneis of
the funeral procession go in to pray. A
light is here kept burning year in and year
out.
We asoend the garden by some eight stone
steos. The body of a deceased aged woman
was being carried in toward the chlet "tower
of silence." There are five of these towers.
Several of them have not been used for a
long while. Four persons, whose business
It Is to do this, carry the corpse. They are
. followed by two men with long beards. The
tower of silence to which they oome cost
150,000 and Is twenty-five feet high and 276
feet around and without a roof.
' The four carrier* of the dead and
the two bearded men come to the
door of the tower, enter and leave the dead.
There are three rows of places for the dead?
?' the outer row lor the men, the middle row
for the women, the Inside row for the children.
The lifeless bodies aye left exposed
M fur down as the waist. As soon as the
$-v employes retire from the tower of silence the
vultures, now one, now two, now many,
iwoopupon the llttlese form. These vultures
fill the atr with their discordant
voloes. We saw them in Jong rows on
the top of the whltnr?shed wall of the
^ tower 'of silence. In a few minutes
v they have taken the last particle of flesh
. from the bones. There had evidently been
other opportunities for them that day. and
some flew away, as though surfeited. They
\ sometimes carry away with them parts of a
\ body, and it Is no unusual thing for the gentlemen
in their country seats to have dropped
Into their dooryards a bone from the tower
:of silence.
. Ia tbe centre of this tower is a well, into
{which tbe bones are thrown after they are
bleached. The hot snn and tbe rainy season
'and charcoal do their work of disintegration
and disinfection, and then there are
aluloes that oarrr into the sea what remains
of the dead. The wealthy people of Malabar
bill have made strenuous efforts to have
these strange towers removed as a nalsance.
.but they remain and will no doubt for ages
remain.
' : I X talked with a learned Parsee about these
aaartuary customs. He, said: "I suppose
-T" .you consider them very peculiar, but the
| >fact is we Parsees reverence the elements of
? j nature and cannot consent to defile them,
f ' iWe reverence the Are, and therefore will not
'ask it to bum our dead. We reverence the
water and do not ask it to submerge our
'dead. We reverence the earth and will not
asc it to bury our dead. And so we lot the
vultures take them away."
i He confirmed me in the theory that the
Panees act on the principle that the deal j
are unolean. No one must touch such a body.
The earners of this "tomb of silenou" must 1
"-If,, * ' V
f
not pat their hands on the torm or tne departed.
They wear gloves lest somehow
they should be contaminated. When the
bones are to be removed from the sides of
the tower and put In the well at the center,
they are touohed carefully by tongs. Then
these people besides have very decided theories
about the democraoy of the tombs. No
snoh things as caste among the dead.
Philosopher and boor, the affluent and
the destitute must go through the same
"tower of silence," lie down side by side
with other oocapants, have their bodies
dropped into the same abyss and be oarrlel
out through the same canal and float away
on the same sea. No splendor of Necropolis.
No sculpturing of mausoleum. No pomp of
dome or obelisk. Zoroaster's teacnlng reunited
in these "towers of sllenoe." He
wrote. "Naked yon came into the world,and
naked you must go out."
As 1 stood at the close or day In this gar*
den on Malabar hill and heard t&e flap of
the vultures' wings coming from their repast,
the fnneral custom of the Parsee
seemed horrible beyond compare, and yet
the dissolution of the human body by any
mode is awful, and the breaks of these fowl
are probably no more repulsive than the
worms of the body devouring the sacred
human form in cemeteries. Nothing but
the resurrection day can undo the awful
work of death, whether It now be put out of
eight by cutting spade or flying wing.
Starting homeward, we soon were in the
heart of the oitv and saw a building all aflash
with lights and resounding with merry
voices. It was a Parsee wedding in a building
erected especallly lor the marriage ceremony.
We came to the door and proposed
to go in, but at first were not permitted.
They saw we were not Parsees, and that
we were not even natives. So, very politely,
they halted ua on the doorsteps. This
temple of nuptials was chiefly occupied by
women, their ears and necks and
hands aflame with jewels or imitation of
jewels. By pantomime and gesture, as we
had no use of their vocabulary, we told them
w? were strancrera and were curious to see
by what process Parsees were married.
Gradually we worked oar way Inside the
door. The building and the surroundings
were illumined by hundreds of oandles
in glasses and lanterns, in unique
and grotesque holdings. Conversation ran
high, and laughter bubbled over, and all
was gay. Then tbere was a sound of an advancing
band of muslo, but the instruments
for the most part were strange to our ears
and eyes. Louder and louder were the outside
voioes and the wind and stringed instruments.
until the prooession halted at the
door or the temple and t&e brlftegroom
mounted the steps. Then the musio
oeased, and all the voioes were
StilL* The mother of the bridegroom,
with a platter loaded with
aromatics and articles of food, oonfronted
her son and began to address him. Then
she tookirom the plattar a bottle of perfume
and sprinkled his face with the redolence.
All the while speaking in a droning
tone, she took from the platter a handful
of rioe, throwing some of it on his head,
spilling some of it on his shoulder, pouting
some of it on his hands. She took from the
platter a coooanut and waved it about his
head. She lifted a garland of flowers
and threw It over bis neck and a bouquet
of flowers and put it in his hand. Her
part of the ceremony completed, the band
resumed its musio, and through another
itnnrtha hrHftcrnnm was AOndncted into the
center of the building. The bride was in
the room, but there was nothing to designate
her.
"Where is the bride?' I said. "Where is
the bride?1' After awhile ahe was made
evident. The bride and groom were seated
on chairs opposite each other. A white cartain
was dropped between them so that they
could not see each other. Then the attendants
put their arms under this curtain, took
a long rope of linen and wound it around
the neck of the bride and the groom in
token that they were to be bound together
for life. Then some silk strings
were wound around the conple, now around
this one and now around that. Then the
groom threw a handful of rice across the
curtain on the head of the bride, and the
bride responded by throwing a handful of
rice across the curtain on the head of the
groom. Thereupon the ourtatn dropped,
and the bride's cnalr was removed ana pat
beelde that of the groom. Then a priest of
the Parsee religion arose and faoed the cou
pie. Before the priest was placed a I
platter of rice. lie began to address the
young man and woman. We could not hear !
a word, bat we understood just as well as if
we had heard. Ever and anon he punctuated
his ceremony by a handful of rice,
which he picked up from the platter ana
flung now toward the groom and now toward
the bride. The ceremony went on interminably.
We wanted to hear the conclusion,
but were told that the oeremony would go
on for a long while, indeed that it would
not oonolude until 2 o'clock in the morning,
and this was only between 7 and 8
o'clock in the evening. There would be a
recess after awhile in the oeremony, but it
would be taken up again in earnest at half
past 12. We enjoyed what we had seen, but
felt Incapacitated for six more hours of
wedding oeremony. Silently wishing the
coaple a happy life in each other's companionship,
we pressed our way through the
throng of congratulatory Parsees. All of
them seemed bright and appreciative of the
occasion. The streets o at side joyously sympathized
with the transactions Inside.
We rode on toward our hotel wishing that
carriage in all India might be as much honored
as in the ceremony we had that evening
witnessed at the Parses wedding. The Hindoo
women are not so married. They are
simply cursed. Into the conjugal relation.
Many of the girls are married at seven and
ten years ot age, and some of tbem are
grandmothers at thirty. They con never go
torth into the sunlight with their faces uncovered.
Ttoey must stay at home. All
styles of maltreatment are theirs. If
they become Christians, they become
outcasts. A missionary told me in India
of a Hindoo woman who became a Christian.
She had nine children. Eer husband
was over seventy years of age. And yet at
her Christian baptism he told her to go, and
she went out homeless. As long as woman
is down India will be down. No nation was
ever elevated except through the elevation
of woman. Parsee marriage is an Improvement
on Hindoo marriage, but Christian
marriage is an improvement on Parsee marriage.
A fellow-traveler in India told me he had
been writing to his home in England trying
to! K?t a law passed that no white woman
oould be legally married in India until she
had been there six months. Admirable law
would that be t If a white woman saw
what married life with a Hindoo Id. she
would never undertake ir. un wiui iuo
thick and ugly veil from woman's fac. Off
with the orushing hardens from her shoulder
! Nothing but the gospel of Jesus Christ
will ever make life in India what it ought
to be.
But what an afternoon ot contrast in
Bombay we experienced ! From the temple
of alienee to the temple of hilarity. From
the vultures to the doves. From
mourning to laughter. From gathering
shadows to gleaning lights. From obsequies
to wedding. But how much or all
our lives is made up ot such opposltes! I
have carried In the same pocket and read
from tbem In the same hour the liturgy
of tbe dead and the ceremony ot espousals.
And to the tear meets the smile, and the
dove meets the vulture.
Thus I have set before the best of all the
religions ot ibe heathen world, and I have
done so in order that you might come to
higher appreciation of the glorious religion
which has put its benediction over us and
over Christendom.
Compare the absurdities and mummeries
of heathen marriage with the plain "I will"
ot Christian marriage, the hands joined in
pledge "till death do yoa part." Compare
the dootrlne that the dead may not be touched
with as sacred andjtender ana loving a kiss as
VI f Ufc l,uu IHOl AIM VI ilj/o % uai UO t^L
ngain will speak to as. Compare tbe narrow
bridge Chlnvat over waloti the departing
Paraee soul must tremblingly
cross to tbe wide open gate ot
heaven through which the departing Christian
soul may triumphantly enter. Compare
tbe twenty-one books of the Zend Avesta ot
the Parseo which even the soholars of the
earth despair of understanding with our
Bible, so much ot it as is necessary lor our
salvation in language so plain that ''a wayfaring
man, though a fool,need not err therein."
Compare the "tower ot silence." with
its vultures, at Bombay with the Greeenwood,
of Brooklyn, with its sculptured
angels of resurreotion. And bow yourselves
In thanksgiving and prayer as you realize
that if at the battles of Marathon and Saiamla
Persia bad triumphed over Greece instead
of Greece triumphanting over Persia,
Parseelsm, whioh was the national religion
of Persia, might have covered the earth, and
you and I instead of sitting In the noonday
light of our glorious Christianity
- "'H
?^4?~~
might have been groping in the depressing
shadows of Parseelsm, a religion as Inferior
to that whloh is oar inspiration in life and
our hope in death as Zoroaster of Persia was
inferior to onr radiant and superhuman
Christ, to whom be honor and glo^jr and dominion
and victory and song, world without
end. Amen.
CURIOUS FACTS.
Bermuda farms bear three successive
crops in one year.
A house in Calhoun County, Georgia,
has been struck by lightning thirteen
times.
A fair article of molasses can be
? J - / it. _ e xi. _
mauo irurn (uh bmiiis ui tut) uummuu
maize.
The Greeks had oats B. 0. 200, bat
used them only as food for their
horses.
The Russians make a soup of sardines.
It is said to be as rich as the
Rothschilds.
Jefferson McKenley, colored, of
Great Barrington, Mass., is 100 years
old and the oldest person in the State.
The "Ministry of Old Boots" supply
30,000 garments and 2000 pairs of
boots to the neefly ones of London
annually.
There are about 100,000 islands,
large and small, scattered over the
oceans. Amerioa alone has 5500
around its coasts.
A Minnesota sheriff spent $1000 and
traveled 5000 miles to capture a man
who stole a $40 wheel. He got the
man and the wheel.
m "Wefc-grouud snuffs are always allowed
to ferment after grinding, and
various perfumes and essenoes are then
added to give the desired flavor.
From 18S7 to 1881 Russia sent 621,000
persons to Siberia, fully 100,000
relatives of prisoners having accompanied
the exiles of their own accord.
Edible birds' nest, prepared for use,
are worth from $1 to $5 per pound,
according to quality. There is a constant
demand in CJhina for all that can
be obtained.
Darius Hyataspes in 480 B. 0. introduced
a system of assessment and
taxation of land, and made himself so
obnoxious by it that he was called
Darius the Trader.
xne xowers 01 ouence in Persia ara
stone structures provided with gratings
within on which bodies are exposed
to be devoured by the flooks of
vultures that always infest the locality.
Lemons are iu season all the year
roun3, but March and April in the
spring, and September and October,
in the autumu, are the times when the
crops are gathered in large quantities.
Qrand Duke Alexis, of Bussia, a
brother of Alexander IIL, is the most
elaborately taitooed Prince in Europe.
A huge Japanese dragon extends almost
from wrist to shoulder of his
right arm.
In a i hurricane at Bathurst, A us
trana, a mass or timber weigning eiga*
tons was detached from the show
ground pavilion and carried 200 yards.
The timber in the pavilion was all
splintered like matchwood.
There is a timber ohnte ont in the
Oregon Mountains 3328 feet long,
where the logs oome whizzing down
the mountainside into Columbia River
with a velocity of a cannon-ball and
make the distanoe, which is abont
three-fifths of a mile, in twenty seconds.
There are only 450,000 persons in
the State of Washington. If that State
was as closely settled as Switzerland
it would have 12,000,000 persons; as
Franoe, abont 17,000,000; as Holland,
about 25,000,000; as England, at least
40,000,000, and as Belgium more than
50,000,000.
Ttr T
" JLJ, JLO^U, UL J.lUW?ib0j fruou.f AO
exhibiting oat there some samples of
seal and sea lion leather, also shoes of
the same material, made bj him. He
Bays the seals and sea lions are very
valuable for their hides and oil, and
that they are easily procured. The
leather is very tongh and soft and
takes a fine finish.
EngllsITaad American Postmen.
The difference in compensation between
the postmen in London and the
United States is remarkable, the highest
sum paid to a London postman being
$34 a month and the lowest paid
to postman in the United States being
$50. The pay of a London postman
is only from eighteen to thirty-four
shillings, or from $4.50 to $7 a week
in our money. But he nay obtain
three good-conduot stripea, each of
which entitles him to one shilling, or
twenty-live cents, a week extra. The
firat stripe is given for five years' faith?~m\
f Kn n A Sk j-t T* sJ ^f on o T1 /I + K 11
J.UL ODi?WC| tuy dduuuu xv; vou ?u-JL vuo ;
third for fifteen. He receives fall pay
when absent from duty on account of
sickness, is provided with gratuitous
medical attendance and is awarded a
pension when he iB too old or too disabled
to work. He also is furnished
with two suits of uniform eacii year,
one for winter and one for summer.
Thus a London postman oannot get,
even after fifteen years of faithful service,
a larger salary than $3^2 a year,
while the pay of an American postman
is $600 at first, then $300 and finally
01000.
The number of auxiliary postmen or
"subs" in London is 2361:, who manage
to earn from six to sixteeen shillings
a week?that is, from 01-50 to
$4? according to the amount of work
thAy perform.
Twelve deliveries a day are made in
the downtown or business districts and
from six to eight in the residence section.
Postmen are employed for eight
hours a day, but their work isn^t con
I* ? martonn nf twnop thrBB
WUUUUO. AV AO w. ...
or sometimes four turns of duty of
two to four hour6 eacii.?Chicago xidcord.
Triumph of Antl-Toxlne.
The first praotical test Ht 8t. Louis, Mo.,
Of the benefits of the recently discovered
anti-toxine us a cure for dipntherla was
made, a few days ago,and was proved a success.
The subject upon which the experiment
was made is tho three-year-oM child of
Fioyd Sohock. The child's condition was
fcuch that tracheotomy had been decided
uj.ou as a lnst resort to save Its life. The
parents, however, consented to the experiment
of antl-toxine and its effect was instantly
apparent. The ootid breathed easier,
and in twelve hours all diphtheritic
symptoms had passed away.
Queen Victoria's Eyesight Falling.
London Truth says that Queen Victoria'a
?yesl?ht is faWng,
\
RELIGIOUS READING.
THE COUNTY IXSTITUTIOKS.
Miss Grace Dodge has written an article on
a subject too important to be passed oy, even
if it did not offer to many people lust the opportunity
for "Christian effort that they
are looking for. How many of our readers,
dwelling in oountry towns and villages, have
ever seen their own county institutions?
How many have viBited their inmates? How
many have so much as given a thought to
their existenoe?
We admire those men and women in our
great cities who devote time nnd thought to
the condition of those who are ehut up in
the great institutions?the almshouses, refuges,penitentiaries,and
many of us who ao not
live in cities envy them their opportunities. Yet
it is possible that the small institutions that
lie within an hour's walk or a morning's
drive need such ministrations still more. To
begin with, the wardens and matron* of
county institutions are often of a lower Intellectual
grade than those In city and State
Institutions; they may be even more wellmeaning
and conscientious, but they have a
narrower experience and none of the quickening
influences that come from contact with
other people, attendance on public meetings,
access to the literature of the subject, ana
the like. Your visit may be most welcome to
tbem, not to speak of those under their
charge, and most valuable, spurring them to
new interest in their charge, giving them a
new motive for well-doing?tne consciousness
of the interest and sympathy of others?
and Inspiring them with a desire for a better
knowledge of methods ?nd principles.
And the inmates of tbese institutions, how
much they need a "Friendly Visitor" I " What
sadness and gloom are found In a small
county prison or poorhouse," says Miss
Dodge. These people are usually not monsters
of iniquity. If they were they would
still need lo. king after in a judicious way,
but most of them are as much sinned against
B8 sinning, ana tne unionunntes?an: now
unfortunate they are! In the lonely, gloomy
almshouse may be, as Miss Dodge says, some
little, lame child. What a life for it! What
a blessed day for it when some unknown but
never-to-be forgotten friend drives up, talks
kindly to it, lifts it Into the carriage or wagon
and takes it away for an hour's outing, leaves
it a picture book and bids it good-bye with a
kiss or a kindly pat on the head. Can we
imagine the brightness of that day to such a
ohild?
Or there may be, Miss Dodge reminds us
some blind man or woman to whom an hour
of pleasant chat, a bit of news read out, or a
pleasant story from a simple book would be a
comfort ndescribable. And then, if there
Jhould be abuses, neglect, inadvertent or deSigned,
such visits would go far to remedy
the evil, though no word of reproof were
uttered aDd no complaint made. "Siok and
in prison, and ye visited me" applies to these
country institutions as well as to those great
centres of Iniquity and cruelty which a Howard
and an Elizabeth Fry purified and blessed
by their Christ-like labor. And here is an opportunity
that lies near the hand of many a
oue who desires to do good.?Messenger.
THE MOTHEB TOO, - .
A blue-eyed slip of a girl gnve her heart to
the Lord Jesus in our cliildren's meeting,
one afternoon, and the following
week I was led to go to tne cni.as morner
who I knew was not a Christian. Bat how
could I spare an hoar or more from my
own precious little parish on that busy afternoon?
However, I started with my bit
of paper containing the address that had
been given me, and reached 16 street,
to find it a shop with the rooms above quite
vacant The man in the shop knew no one
by the name I gave, bnt the woman next
door, at number 14, said, "Oh, yes; she
lives in the roar of this house, go through
that gate and you'll find it." So through tne
gate I weut, and down some 6teps and along
a narrow walk, and up some more steps and
I had reaohed the home. Such a noma!
Lots of dirt and disorder, but very little
sunshine and not much air. The
woman had such a tired, disheartened look
and no wonder. She was sick and lonely and
times were hard, and no one knew her here
in th:s great city, and no one cared. And
oh, wasn't it sweet to tell her about One who
had himself been homesick and tired, and
lonely, and poor, and who knew her and who
'""rod"?wb^ cared so much that he went to
Calvary?for her.
cue leaiizeu net hopeles, helpless condition
and her need of such a Friend as this, and in
a most childlike way she received him, begfAMtlvA
hop un/4 intra hot l?_
UltU IU 1V15*<V MVk *MUV> ?? ? UM
There were tears in her eyes and on her
chpfkc when she said pood-bye, but they
were glad tears, and the discouragement look
was all gone.
jl ati> *tek now she is in her place at our
mother's meeting, for it lightens the burden
and biightens the way, to come and rest at
his feet.
And there are so many, many in these
homes in Chicago, just as ready as he ehe
to hear of a Saviour. I wonder why we are
slow to go to them??J. E. Hand, in Record
of Christian Work.
THE BUSINESS MAN 8 LE880N.
He was an upright business man. In his
heatt he believed the religion of Christ to
be true. But he was very busy, and when
Sunday came he was thoroughly tired. He
had become interested, too, in his Sunday
paper, so he gradually dropped off going to
church. His wife went regularly, and sometimes
the children. One morning, just after
his wife had set out, he was comfortably
seated reading the money article, when he
heard his boys talking in the next room.
Said oight-year-old Willie:
"When you grow up, shall you goto church
as your mother does, or stay at home like j
father?"
"I shall do neither," said the one, decidedly.
"When I'm a man I Khali have my
horses, and be on the road Sundays, and enjoy
myself."
The newspaper suddenly lost its attraction.
Between the father and it ti ere came a picture
of his boys associating with loose men.
and drifting Into a godless, reckless life, and
of himself looking on it in bis old age as the
fruit of his self-indulgence. Five minutes
after he was rapidly walking
toward the church. When the service
was over, bis wife, coming down
the aisle, saw him waiting at the door.
Thert> was questioning, glad surprise in her
eyes, but he only remarked that he had taken
a walk, and thought be would join her on
her way home. Next Sunday, however, the
whole family were in their pew, and all the
rest of the day there was a kind of peace
about the home that reminded him of his
boyhood happy days in hi? father's home. ,
And who will say that he was the less fitted
for another week of business life by bis share
in the services of God's house, instead of
staying at home all Sunday to rest?''? ,
8unday School Times. I
OUB SINS AS TBB EANDS.
A poor fisherman's wife came to the minister
with her hands full of bund saying, "Do
you see?" Oh, my sins, my Bins, as the oands
of the seashore for multitude, as the sands of
ineHetusuure: n um yuu not- iir
snidhe. "Down by the beacon." "Go down
by the beacon and dig up a pile of sand an
high as ever you can," said the minister and
wnit for the tide to come in." She went down
by the beacon and heaped up the sand. She
watched the waves as they crept higher and
higher and swept over iier pile of sand, and
ir was gone; then she clapped her bands for
joy. It was a pantomime of tho glorious
gospel. The tide, tho crimson tide, rolls in,
which taketh away the sins oi the world.
"It cleanseth me,it cleanseth me! Oh praise
the Lord, it cleanseth me!"
We may not all be able to say with St.
Paul: "I have fought a good fight; I have
kept the faith!" But, thank God, we ctin all
say with him : ' I know whom I have believed.
and am persuaded that he is able to
keep that which I have committed to him
against that day."
Low Prices of Living.
No. 1 Oregon flour is P9lHng at $2.75 per
barrel of 200 pounds; earned tomutoo3 are
selling at sevenly cents oei dozen, though
canners say that the onns cost that sum,
without allowing a cant for the contents t
dry eranulated sugar is solllnar in New York
at cents; middling ^plpnds cotton is
changing hands at New Yo? ? at b% cents.
These are prices whioh have never been
paralleled; thny command the thoughtful
attention of all who are tfoaoerned for the
future.
Cast Lots for the Shrievalty.
At Ellzabetbtown, Ky., the rote for Sheriff
in Larue County was a tie. Lots were cast
for the offloe and the Republican won. E*
Immediately appointed his opponent his
ohlef deputy.
%
r
SABBATH SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR
JANUARY 13.
Lesson Text: "Feeding the Five
Thousand," Mark vl., 30-44?
Golden Text: Luke 1., 53
?Commentary.
30. The apostles, having been sent forth to
heal the sick and to preach the gospel. re.
tarned and told Jesus all things, both what
they had done and what they had taught.
They went forth in His name and wrought
and taught In His came and returned and
reported to Him. This Is just the thin? for
every worker to do?go forth from Him,
work and apeak in His name, and then tell
Him all and leave it with Him. v
31. No leisure even to eat. What n description
of the life of Him who went about
doing good! Truly He pleased not Himself
(Bom. rv., 3). He lived wlnwly unto God
and sought to lead wear? ones into His own
rest and peace, even to rest in God and la
His pleasure. No leisure for Himself, but
every moment for others and their good.
Though He considered not Himself, He did
consider His apostles and their comfort;
hence His Invitation to come aside and rest
awhile.
83. They went by ship, and Ho went in the
shin with them. Thev were n little nomtmnv.
yet one was an unbeliever, bat He Io7ed
them all and sougottbolr welfare. Tbereare
aboat 1200 souls on this ship, and He loves
them all. and many of them love Him, bat
there are many unbelievers. We can tell
them as far as possible of His love and leave
results to Him.
33. The people saw them crossing the lake
and ran afoot and outwent them and oame
unto Him. Would not multitudes oome unto
Him to-day if He were kept before them in
somewhat of His loveliness by the doing and
teaching of His followers? Multitudes in
heathendom woald come to Him if they only
knew of Him aud His.love for them.
84. He was neither angry nor grieved
when JJe saw the multitudes, although He
had K..ftight His disciples apart to rest, but
He had compassion, was sorry they had no
shepherd ana began to teed their hungry
souls. In Ezefc. xxxlv., 2, we read of shepherds
who feed themselves instead of their
flocks and scatter and neglect the sheep instead
of caring for them.
85. It did not prove sach a resting time as
many seek, for He taught them till the day
was far Bpent, and the disciples began to
iqidk mac it waa time 10 aenu mem away.
How little ot their Master's spirit these men
had?how little we have! He oame not to be
ministered unto, but to minister and to give
His life a ruD3om for many (Math, xx., 28),
36. The disciples felt sorry that the multitudes
were hangry, bnt bad no thought of
feedlngthem, only of sending them away to
get something. It la so muoh easier to send
people away than to spend oar thoughts and
time and strength in oaring for them. If Is
so muoh more like Jeans to care for them,
even though it takes time and strength and
care and denial of self.
87. How surprised the disciples must have
been, when instead of sending them away, as
th<?y suggested, He said: "Give ye them to
eat I" Their surprise is manifest In the
question of this verse. John says that Jesus,
to prove Philip, asked Him whence they
should buy bread to feed this multitude.
And Philip suggested that 200 pennyworth
might give every one a ' little. Thus vain
and fruitless are all our calculations and
plans in reference to the Lord's work.
88. He asks what they have lu the way of
Andrew riiiuwppra that a InH hnn flm
loaves and two small fishes, but thinks the
fact hardly worth mentioning (John vl., 8,
9). We are such creatures of sight that we
seem unable to believe that the thing can be
done uBless we see the wherewithal. Moses
failed in this matter wben he asked if nl
the flocks and herds should be slain to give
the people the meat the Lord promised
(Num. xl., 21, 28). Sarah failed when she
laughed at the Lord's promise (Gen. xvili,,
18,14). Let us walk by faith, not by sight,
and let our hearts cry out, "Ah, Lord God,
there is nothing too hard for Thoe" (Jer.
xxxU., 17).
89. He now begins to work, they having
calculated and looked around, apparently in
vain, ai d having come to their wits' end, but
everything must be done in order; hence
they are commanded to sit down in com[mnies.
There is no peace nor vlotory by
ooklng wltbin or around, but only by looting
unto Him.
40. In oompanles convenient to be waited
upon they are now seated upon the green
grass, for there was much of it. See last
verse and John vl., 10. "Let all things be
done decently and irr order" is a law of
Scripture (I Cor. adv., 4), for, although we
read in Gen. i., 2, that 4,the eurth was without
form and void," we read in L?a. xlv., 18,
that the Lord did not make it that way. See
B. V.
41. The loaves and fishes pass from the lad's
hands into fhn hnnrta of Joana. Th? tad
gives them wholly and unreservedly up.
Then Jesus acknowledges the Fathor'by
looking up to heaven for a blessing upon
them, after which Ho passes the food to the
disciples to be passed on to the people. All
can see that the disciples are not doing this,
but are simply the messengers or waiters, and
Jesus acknowledges that He is not doing it,
but the Father in heaven, even as He said in
John xlv., 10.
42. "And they did all eat and were filled."
Not eaoh one a little, as Phillip had suggested,
but each as much as they would (John
vl., 11). It is not the Lord's way to give a
little, but rather to fill full, "fie filled with
the Spirit," "Let the Lord dwell in you
rlohly," "Drink abundantly, 0 beloveil!"
are some of His words which* indlcnte His
pleasure He would have us full of joy and
peace (Rom. xv., 18) to oar good and to His
great glory?no cares nor anxieties nor
Silons nor worries, bat the quietness and
oyfulness of children.
43. He will have nothincr of His lost (John
vi., 12), and if bo careful "about loaves and
fishes how much more about His redeemed
ones bought by His precious bloo.l! Yet
there at e saved ones who cannot seem to
trust Him to keep that which Ho has redeemed
with so great a price. Let all such
consider their own carefulness of precious
things and ask It they are better than He.
Let them eat and rest on John x., 23, 29; II
Tim. I., 12.
44. The number fed and filled was 5000
m&n, besides women and children (Aluth.
xlv., 21), but It was not wonderful to Him,
svho for forty years had fed millions miraculously.
He is the very same Jesus still,nnd
:an usb you, dear reader, to feed and bless
hunprry thousands If you will only put yourjelf
ns unreservedly in His hands as the lad
put his loaves, and be willing to live wholly
knd onlv for His pleasure. This seems to be
:he only miracle recorded by each of the four
JvanKellsts. May it not be to teach us that
:he great mission of every bsliever is to have
sompasMon upon and save and tend the perjshing??Lesson
Helper.
We Rat too much of One Kind.
The nutritive value and cost of food is discussed
at length In a bulletin of the Agricultural
Department, based on investigations
maria hv th? Rnrann nf Animal Tnriiifi.
try. The results of these studies, says the
bulletin, -confirm the general Impression ot
hyglenists that our diet is one sided and that
we eat too much. Owing to the large consumption
in this oountry of sugar and the
use ot large quantities of fat meats, the food
which we actually eat has relatively too little
protein and too muoh fat, starch and
ugar.' It is luund that the protein of ordlnary
meats, fish anl milk is readily and completely
digested ; that of vegetable loods is
much less completely digested than of animal
foods. One-fourth or one-third of potatoes,
wholewheat and rye flour may escape
digestion anil thus be useless for nourishment
and one-sixth of the protein of wheat
flower, corn meal, beans and peas may be
assumed to be undigested wheu cooked and
eaten in the usual way.
"Of the meat extracts In the market," continues
the report, "some contain very little
and others practloally no material which
builds tissue or yields energy. Animal 10003
gratify the palate In many ways whloh the
vegetable foods do not, Hnd wliat is perhaps
of greater weight in regulating the uctual
usage of communities by whose demand the
prices are regulated, they satisfy a real need
by supplying protein <\nd fats, which vegetable
foods lack."
Wheeled a Mile la 1.21.
John J. McLaughlin, a Columbia (Penn.)
bicycle rider, rode an unpaced mile over the
[ro'ivllle Pike, in 1.2! flat. This beats the
paced and unpaced records held respectively
>V .l'ohntton In 1.25 2-5 and Penseyer 1.532-5.
.MrL.iuifhlin's first attempt was made la
L36. Six watches were held on him.
AGRICULTURAL.
TOPICS OF INTEREST RELATIVE
TO FARM AND GARDEN,
DOCKING PIGS* TAILS.
The pig's tail is too small to be
of mnoh service to it in keeping off
flies. Nor is the tail good for anything
to whoever eats it off. Most
old farmers, however, dock their pigs
ttrViwn t/hav ata eiclit to tfin warVh old.
j r*? ? 1
thinking that the animal thrives
better for it. The story is that one
old farmer remarked that it cost an
extra bnshel of corn to maintain the
growth of the pig's tail, and at last
it wasn't worth anything for any purpose.?Boston
Cultivator.
QUANTITY OP MANUKE THAT HAT BB TSED.
The quantity of mannre nsed on
the land is regulated generally by the
supply of it. The quantity that may
be usefully applied has never yet been
discovered, for market gardeners who
have made use of aj much as 100 tons
to the aore have thought that they
might profitably have UBed still more,
and some have even nsed a ton of
fertilizer on an acre in addition to
the manure. A great deal depends on
the method of cultivation, for it is
this that enables plants to make use
of more food. It is a common thing
for persons who try to grow prize
vegetables to plant the seeds in actual
beds of manure, and the mammoth
equtshes and cabbages shown are
grown in this way, and by the help
of liquid manure as well. Thus it
cannot be said that the ultimate
quantity of manure that may be
profitably applied has ever been
settled by experience.?New York
Times.
WINTERING IDLE HOBSES.
On most farms there is not enough
work during the winter season to keep
conotantly employed half the number
of ttiams kept busy during seed time
and harvest. Many farmers think it
economical to winter the idle horses
at th<a straw stack, but such economy
is mure imaginary than real. If these
horses had their shoes removed and
were allowed to run loose in a twelve
by fourteen ground floor box-stall and
fed a less qantity of straw than they
er* and trample under foot in the
open yard, their condition would be
fur better at the opening of spring.
It should also be remembered that
only young horses whose digestion ia
good and that are known to be easy
keepers, can be successfully wintered
on straw alone. Oats aze the natural
food of the horse and should be fed
during enforced idleness rather than
grain or meal of a more stimulating
nature. If keiit in a stable they should I
have new bedding as needed, and be
curry-oombed and brushed daily
?-L-Al XT
WUtniier iiuojr mo dubuicu ui m uuo
open air. A feed of potatoes, carrots,
tor nips, beets, or apples should be
given weekly. Suoh food is fully
worth the market price for feeding to
horses in winter.?American Agriculturist.
WORKBENCH AND TOOL CLOSET.
The ordinary workbench is too
often a litter of tools, shavings, bits
of wood, nails, screws and other
articles, affording no little inconvenience
whenever it is desired to nse
the bench, says the American Agriculturist.
Tools are thus frequently
lost, and many of them made dull by
contact with each other, and with
nails and other hard substances. There
is frequent rusting also when the
A HAND! TOOL OLOSET.
weather becomes damp. A plan is
shown in the illustration by which
the tools may be kept each in a safe
place, and yet conveniently at hand
the moment one is wanted. Nails and
screws should be kept in boxes with
apartments for the various sizes, and
these boxes may also find a place in
the closet at the head of the benoh,
or, if desired, a drawer for nails,
screws, etc., may be made below the
bench.
STORING HONEY.
Mrs. Jennie Atchley, in American
Bee Journal, says the public, for some
reason or other, especially the consumers
of hooey, have oometo believe
it wnn't. dr> to hnv honev in lar^a
quantities, thinking it will soar and
spoil. Bat it is a mistase, for good,
ripe honey kept in a good vessel will
keep for a lifetime and be good. It
will no doabt solidify, bat it can be
brought back to its liquid state by
melting it in boiling water, by placing
the vessel containing the honey in
another with the water, and let it remain
until all is melted; and the
honey will be as clear and as good as
the day it was put up.
I would keep the the barrels in the
cellar or some cool place, but a warm
place will not hurt it, only the barrels
may shrink, and eventually leak if
kept where it is too warm. But a
warm room will not affect the honey.
Now, the foregoing directions are
for keeping honey for home use, and
for you to tell your customers how to
keep their honey when they buy a
i barrel or kecr from vou at a time. Of
course I do not expect you to keep
' your honey any longer than you can
find sale for it, and sometimes we may
have our honey engaged before we extract
it. You may say that people
ought to know how to keep honey,
but I tell you the public need schooling,
and they look to you to tell them
how, etc. Some bee-keepers fail to
build up a honey (home) market just
by not schooling people about honey,
and being ready and free to advise.
Comb honey is somewhat more
troublesome to keep than extracted,
J , ' ! V > /-A
and ought to be kept in a warm, dry
room instead of a cellar. Keeping
section honey free from moth and ant#
in Southern countries is sure enough
a problem. But I have kept it nioe
and good for years, by keeping it ia
tight cases on benches or tables, with
the legs in water to keep ants front
getting in it. Preserves can be kept
free from ante the same way. Just
place a table in the centre of a small *
room, for instance, or any room, anJ
keep the legs in pans of water, and ?
little kerosene oil put into each pair
will make it all the better and surer,
as ants can spoil honey quickly, so we
cannot well be too carefoL
Stone jars or crooks are splendid to
keep honey in for family use, bnt are j
a little hard to keep corered tightly; m
but I can place a beeswaxed cloth H
over the top, then the cover, and it 9
does splendidly. I have kept grees M
fruit in jars for a season by sealing
tight with beeswaxed cloth*.
HOME-MADE BOLLBB. '
I have had a oheap and convenient
hand roller in use for some time, says
a writer in American Gardening. It
is made of a piece of stove pipe, say.
three feet long and from five to eight ' ,
inches in diameter., Circular pieces
of wood, the heavier the better, are
fitted in both ends, and the pipe i*
fllled with sand or old pieces of lead
and dirt and rammed down to keep it
solid. The handle is a heavy oak or
hickory sappling, split up far enough
to make the bow as shown m she out.
An axle may be made of. an iron rod
running through the blooks in the
ends of the pipe, and completely
through the cylinder, or thej may be
screw bolts running into the blooks.
The block should be put in one end of
the pipe and securely nailed; then the
pipo should be filled with sand, or
' . 'VV:
A 9
f V IHi
HOHB-MADB BOLLEBS.
other heavy matter, and then the
block should be put in the other end
and this should also be wjell nailed.
An old piece of store-pipe, the larger
in diameter the better, a hiokory sapling,
say eight feet long, a rod or bolts
for the axle and a couple of ronnd
blocks of the same size as the pipe,
and an hour's time will make as good
a hand-roller as can be bought for $4
CR of tViA KanlvaTS abtm Thtt
roller may be put in a framework made
of old boards, and an old lawn roller- -~\
handle used instead of a sapling. Ik
is well to paint the stove-pipe to keep
it from rusting.
Such a roller is very ;useful when
putting in radishes, turnips of any
small or light seed. Figure A shows
how the handle is made with a sapling.
Figure B shows a handle made
of board with an old handle from a
lawn mower or something of the sort.
FARM AND GAHDKST NOTWL
Twenty hens will give -as much yearly
profit as a cow.
Give the hen house a good cleaning
up and whitewashing.
Fresh cut bones as a poultry feed
are gaining friends every day.
Don't forget that "green food" you
mean to feed daily now that the
ground is frozen.
In order to hare plenty of eggt'
fresh blood should be introduced into
the flocks every year.
In breasting a mgn-scruag con, uua
with a nervous temperament, think
twice before yo& strike him with the
whip.
Crowd the fattening stook with all
they ean be made to digest and don't
wait too long before disposing oi j&kH
them. - .
Short-necked horses never look
well, and when added to this unbecomI
ing feature is a big coarse head they
have no attractions at aiL
Regularity in feeding and exercising,
together with good grooming and ^
proper shoeing, will prevent you paying
many a veterinary bilL
It is stated that a horse can live five
days on solid food witboat drinking,
seventeen days without eating or
drinking, or twenty days on water
alone.
If the hen housa is so cold as to
freeze water solid daring the day,
give it twice a day and a little warm
at that?not so hot as to soald the
fowls in their eagerness to get a
' drink.
After the flowers perish, carry the
plants back, and keep them oool until
the weather in May and Jane allows
you to keep them oat of doors. No
success can be obtained with them
without careful watering.
Have you "banked up" the hen {
house yet? It is getting late and
fresh eggs are bringing good prices.
Hens don't lay eggs while they are
huddled up in a oold, dreary hen
house trying to keep warm.
The noble, intelligent horse will
not be lost sight of in the advanoe of
civilization. Belief from the heavier
duties will leave more energy for the
driving, of which every American citizen
of means and leisure is fond.
An eminent veterinary authority
oottq . "ftran stumiK decidedlv fore
most as the food most generally in
use for the working horse. It aots as
a laxative, is frequently tempting to
the appetite and easy of digestion."
Flowering plants which may be introduced
from titne to time, oat whioh
cannot be easily grown in the house,
are chrysanthemums in the autumn i
and early winter, followed by oycla- I
men, lioman hyacintu, paper-wnite
narcissus, liiy of the valley an J canary
broom or cytisus. If
Dutch bulbs, hyacinths, tulips narcissus
and crocus can be grown at
home without much trouole. Th*
story is a simple one, but too long to
tell now. With the aid of a cool cellar
or a cold frame the windows tilled ]
with the foliage plants ua.nei aoovo J
may be turned into a gay m&aa oL m
bright bloom. J|