The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, October 16, 1901, Image 7
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HALF-WAY TOWN.
BY TBANK WALOOTT HT7TT.
IA.n easy road runs smoothly down
To Half-Way Town;
For everything that's but begun,
And everything that's never done,
-Just rolls aside, and one by one,
Goes into Half-Way Town.
Half-finished walls are tumbling down
In Halt-Way Town.
Half-finished streets are always lined
iWith half-done work of every kind*
lAnd all the world just lags behind
In dreary Half-Way Town.
Keep straight along, and don't look down
Toward Half-Way Town.
They say, if every one should try
To keep on moving, brisk and spry,
iWe should discover, by and by,
There'd be no Half-Way Town.
?Youth's Companion.
jj| Stella's guipier Trip |j
By Ella M. Heos. ^
^ ^ AM sick anil tired of this life!
I I would rather die now than
I endure it year after year, with
? out a nope or release: oieuu
Monito threw hor crochet work to the
other side of the small room. "If I
could go to the seaside like other girls
I might make a suitable match?one
that would save me from the bondage
of poverty!"
Netta sadly looked up from her
lounge.
"You have much to be thankful for,
dear Stella," she said softly. "Your
health?a beautiful face "
"What is the good of my beauty?
iWhom do I see now? No one but Dr.
James, .and lie is old and stout, and
knows our poverty too well to think
of me."
At this juncture Mrs. Monito, a
iquict, ladylike woman, entered the
room, and looked from one to the other
of her daughters.
"What is the trouble?" she asked.
"Mamma, Stella is tired and wants
to go to the seaside," Netta said softly.
"Poor Stella is weary of this life,
and I think I had better give her Uncle
L.oerime's gift, and then she can have
her way."
"Netta!" exclaimed the astonished
mother.
"Yes; my money increases very slow
ly, and perhaps, after all, I may not
get better."
At the girls' last birthday their
mother's brother had giveu each $100.
Stella had bought some handsome
finery with her money, but Netta, who
shad been for years crippled by a fall,
laid hers aside, hoping to save enough
to take her to some celebrated physician.
Buoyed up with that hope she
'had painted little pictures for the
stores, and saved each dollar carefully,
but Stella's constant repining
. was wearing, and she determined to
give up her hope and let her have her
long looked for trip.
"Do you really mean it, Netta?"
Stella questioned eagerly.
"Yes."
'Then I will tell you what I'll do,
you dearest of sisters! I shall be sure
! fto make a conquest, and when I am
married I will take you to France,- to
(the physician you wish to sec."
A 4- fKrtf mnmAnf OAma nnA fonnorl of I
lUUl UiUUl^Ub oviut UUL uv
(the <loor, and a moment later Dr.
James, a tall, rather stout man of
about forty-five years of age, with a
grave, kind face, entei'ed.
Two "weeks later Stella Monito was
boarding in an aristocratic resort.
Time went by, and her letters homo
iwerc not very frequent. Finally one
morning the postman brought one that
Tan thus:
4,My Dear Mother and Sister?I am
about to be married and bid adieu to
a life of poverty forever. Mr. Leland,
my future husband, is immensely
;wealthy. He owns a magnificent residence
in the city and one on the Hudson.
But there is one thing which I
am sorry to mention?he does not wish
me to acknowledge my relatives after
marriage. Of course I shall not forget
you, mother and Netta. and shall re
turn the money which brought me
here at the earliest opportunity. My
lace has been my fortune. Stella."
Mrs. Monito covered her face with
3ier hands.
"My child has forsaken me!" she
<rried.
Netta could hardly utter a word of
consolation. What was there to say?
She knew her sister worshiped at the
ehrine of wealth, and cared not how
many hearts she broke if she only
reached her longed-for goal.
A few weeks later Dr. James made
J'oem a visit which was not strictly
professional.
"Netta," he said. Sitting down beside
her, "your sister's summer trip has
won her a husband. I read the marriage
notice in the paper yesterday.
Now, I have a favor to ask of you. I
a 1 tired of being alone in the world;
J want a wife to take care of. and
ithere is no one else who would please
imo hilt" "UAll T ham rnn
since you were that high"?with a motion
of his hand?"anil if you will
(have me I will take you to France to
N the physician you have set your heart
on seeing. If they cure you I shall rejo:
e; if they do not, I shall love you
ell the more."
Netta looked up in his kind eyes in
surprise ? his words were so unexpected.
"No, no!" she cried. "I will not
" take advantage of your generous offer.
1 will never be a burden to any man."
And all the arguments he could use
iwould not induce her to change her
mind.
The days wore slowly on. A letter
tame from Stella:
"My Dear Sister ? I am ashamed
(that I have not been able to return
your money, out tne truth Is, though
my husband is immensely wealthy,
and I am dressed in the richest of
gowns, and waited upon like a queen,
I have not a peuny of money under
any control. Everything I have Is ordered
and paid for afterward, but byand-by
I shall contrive a way to get it
tfor you."
"Foor Stella!" the mother sighed.
''I am afraid that in the end she will
(think her summer trip a failure."
"And her marriage, too," rejoined
INctta, 'as all marriages not based on
(true love prove."
"I have some good news for you!"
ODr. James cried, as he entered the
room followed by a strauze srentleman.
'Tut away jour letter, Netta', and lis*
ten."
Netta did bis bidding, and the stranger
introduced himself as a lawyer.
He informed that an uncle of Mrs.
Monlto's had died and loft her heiress
to his wealth?a goodly sum.
Several weeks later found Mrs. Monito.
and Netta en routo for England.
Dr. James's nephew intended u> cross
the ocean, and the doctor had intrusted
them to his care.
"God grant your dearest wish may 1
be granted, Netta," lie said to her
when parting.
Months went by, and Netta was on
the road to recovery. By degrees she
found her old strength returning, and
at the end of a year was able to walk
about without assistance.
She was very happy, and to crown
all. her sister Stella and her husband
visited them. They -were making a
tour, and as her relatives were wealthy
now, Mr. Leland had no objection to
his wife's associating with them. !
They insisted that Mrs. Monito and
Netta should bo of their party.
"For Stella's sake," Mrs. Monito
said, "Netta, I will consent. She is unhappy
enough. She sold herself foi
gold, and only too late realizes what
that bargain means."
Another six months passed away. I
Netta had a number of suitors, but to
I nnno did shf> srive encouragement and
Theadore Dunscombe, tJio doctor's
nephew, interpreted that sign favorable
to himself.
He wrote to his uncle that Netta's
health was perfect, and her life was
now a happy one; then he "hinted that,
in time, he dreamed of winning her.
"Theadore is a good hoy," the doctor
whispered, jvhen he read the letter.
"They will be a suitable pair, and I
must forget my wild dream."
lie went to meet them when they
returned, and congratulated Netta on
the fulfillment of hoi dearest wish.
After that he called but seldom, and
was grave and restrained when they j
met by chance.
Dunscombe's wooing did not prosper,
and at Inst he begged of his uncle to
use his influence for him.
"She thinks so much of your opinion
that she will heed you," he pleaded,
and the doctor at last consented.
Ho went to see Netta, and made his
errand known. She looked at him
with a flushed face.
"I cannot accept your nephew." she
said decidedly. "I do not care for
him as a woman should for the man
sut; uiutiico.
"But in time you might."
"Never! I shall never love but ons
man, and he has had my heart since
childhood."
"Netta, I never dreamed of this!" ho
said. "Who is ho? Tell me!"
"Need I?" she asked softly. "Who
cared for me when I was poor and
afflicted, and would have burdened
himself with me then? If he has
| changed, I "
; "Netta!" Ke opened his arms to fold
I her in his embrace. "I never dared
hope for this moment!"
I Theadore Dunscombe did not stay
to his uncle's wedding, but Stella and
her husband came to witness it.
"May God bless you, my unselfish
sister!" Stella whispered to the bride.
And to all appearances her prayer is
answered.?Waverley Magazine.
KoneymoonH Awheel.
Much Interest was taken recently in
a marriage solemnized at Christ
Church, Guildford, England, in which
a motor car played a prominent part.
The bride was a well-known Guildford
lady, while the bridegroom carries on
hiieinpss in Worthincr as a maker of
cycles and motor apparatus. The
gentleman, accompanied by his best
man, drove up to the church in a superb
motor car, and immediately after
the ceremony the happy pair started
straightway for their honeymoon on
the motor, their tirst stopping place
being Worthing.
A similar honeymoon took place in
France not long ago. when a wealthy
and eccentric baker espoused the
daughter of a provincial farmer. The
wedding was solemnized in Rouen,
the girl's native town, and from that
place a motor car conveyed the couple
to Paris. The affair caused much excitement
in the districts through
which the honeymooning pair passed,
and large crowds turned out to cheei
them as their car dashed through the
country lanes and roads.
Males Fight Among Themselves.
Tho ceneral nroDOsition mav be laid
down that among the hoofed animals
only the males fight among themselves.
Females are 3elfish and crowd
and push and strike with heads and
horns to clear a path for themselves
or their young, or both, but they do
not wage formal combats. The one
attacked commonly makes way at
once, or if she turns in anger the
other promptly retreats. On the other
hand the mother will light in defense
of her young. Not always, of coursesince
no doubt there is as much difference
of temperament among fourlegged
mothers as among those who
walk erect?but often. This, however,
is but the courage of despair, since
all ungulates trust for sufety to their
legs rather than to any weapons of
defense with which they may be provided.
The fawn or calf or colt running
with Its mother, and pursued,
sticks as close to her- as it possibly
can, running almost under her belly
and obviously depending on her for
safety.
TVeJrd Courtships.
Touched with infinite pathos, as wett
as with surpassing weirdness, was
the courtship of a young Lancashire
miner who wooed his cousin, a girl of
nineteen, across me uying ueu or ttie
former's father. The girl, who had
been summoned to nurse the old man,
fell In love with the son through
watching his tenderness to his ailing
sire, and thus it came about that while
the aged life was ebbing away two
young lives were converging toward
each other. The father in his final
moments guessed their secret and
joined their hands, and thus did this
remarkable wooing wear to its end.
In Germany, where the mortuary
system is far more complete than our
own, and where both male and female
attendants are employed, it is no uncommon
thing for courtships to be
carried on in these halls of the dead,
and many marriages have been
planned and arranged amid their
surroundings.?Tit-Bits.
DK. TALMAGEVS SERMOT
SUNDAY'S DISCOURSE BY THE NOTEC
DIVINE.
(3 object: The* Defeat of Oblivion?Thorn:'
the Earth and All Thereon May Fas
AwsTp Yet Every Soul Will Be lie
meenbered In Heaven.
[Copyright, 1901.1
Wastitwgto*, D. C.?In this discours
Dr. Talmage shows how any one can b
widely and forever recollectcd and cheer
despondent Christian workers; texts, Jol
xxiv, 20, "He shall be no more remem
bered." and Psalms cxii, 6, "The righteou
shall be in everlasting remembrance."
Of oblivion and its defeats I speak to
day. There is an old monster that swal
lows down everything. It crunches indi
viduals, families, communities, States, na
tions. continents, hemispheres, worlds. It
diet is made up of years, of centuries, o
aces, of .cycles, of millenniums, of eons
That monster is called by Noah Webste
and all the other dictionaries "Oblivion.'
It is a steep down which everything rolls
It is a conflagration in which everytbinj
is consumed. It is a dirge which all or
chestras play and a period at whicl
even-thing stops". It is the cemetery o
the human race. It is the domain of for
getfulness. Oblivion! At times it throw
a shadow over all of us, and I would no
pronounce it to-day if I did not corn
armed in the strength of the eternal Go<
on your behalf to attack it, to rout it, ti
demolish it.
Why, just look at the way the fami'ie
of the earth disappear. For awhile the:
are together, inseparable and to eacl
other indispensable, and then they part
some by marriage going to establish othe
homes, and some leave this life, and a cen
tury is long enough to nlant a family, de
velop it, prosper it and obliterate it. Si
the generations vanish. Walk up Penn
'ylvania avenue, Washington; Broadway
New York: State street, Boston; Chest
nut street, Philadelphia; the Strand. Lon
don; Prirces.s street, Edinburgh; Champ
Elysees, Paris; Unter den Linden. Berlin
| and you will meet in this year 1001 no
| one person who walked there in the yea
I 1S01. What engulfment. All the ordi
nary efforts at nerpetuation are dead fail
ures. Walter Scott's Old Mortality ma;
go round with his chisel to recut th
faded epitaphs on tombstones, but 01;
Oblivions has a quicker chisel, with whic]
he can cut out a thousand epitaphs whil
Old Mortality is cutting in one enitaph.
Call the roll of the armies of Baldwin 1
or of Charles Martel or of Marlborouel
or of Mithridates or of Prince Frederic!
or of Corte3. and not one answer will yo
hear. Stand them in line and call the rol
of the 1,000,000 men in the army of Thebes
Not one answer. Stand them in line, th
1,750,000 infantry and the 200.000 cavalr;
of the Assvrian army under Ninus, am
call the roll. Not one answer. Stand ii
line the 1,000,000 men of Sesostris, th
1.200.000 men of Artaxerxes at Cunaxa
the 2.641,000 men under Xerxes at Thei
mopylae and call the long roll. Not on
n-- - c rxr?
answer, ai sue opening ui uui ^i?w in
the men of the Northern and Souther
armies were told that if they fell in battl
their names would never be forgotten b
their country. Out of the million me;
who fell in battle or died in military hos
pitals you cannot call the names of
thousand, nor the names of 500. nor th
names of 100, nor the names of fifty.
Oblivion! The world itself will ro'
into it as easily a9 a schoolboy's rubbe
ball rolls down a hill, and when our worl
goes it is so interlocked bv the law c
gravitation with other worlds that the
will go, too, and so far from having ou
memory perpetuated by a monument c
Aberdeen granite in this world there i
no world in sight of our strongest tel<
scope that will be a sure pediment for an
slab of commemoration of the fact tha
we ever lived or died at all. Our earth i
struck with death. The axeltree of th
constellations will break and let dow
the populations of other worlds. Stellai
lunar, solar mortality. Oblivion! It ca
swallow and will swallow whole galaxie
of worlds as easily a3 a crocodile take
down a frog.
Yet oblivion docs not remove or swa
low anything that had better not be r<
moved or swallowed. The old monster i
welcome to his meal. This world woul
long ago have been overcrowded if nc
for the merciful removal of nations an
fenerations. 'What if all the books ha
ived that were ever written and printe
and published? The libraries would b
their immensity have obstructed intell
gence and made all research impossible
The fatal enidemic of books was a mercifi
epidemic. Many of the State and Nations
libraries to-day are only morgues, ii
which dead books are waiting for som
one to come and recognize them.
What if all the people that had bee
born were still alive? We would hav
been elbowed by our ancestors of ten cei
turies ago, and people who ought to hav
said their last word 3000 years ago woul
snarl at us, saying, "What are you doin
here?" There would have been no rooi
to turn around. Some of the past genei
ations of mankind are not worth remen
bering. The first useful thing that man
people did was to die; their cradle a mi;
fortune and their grave a boon.
In all the Pantheon the weakest go<
dess is Clio, the goddess of history, an
instead of being represented by sculptoi
as holding a scroll might better be repri
sented as limping on crutches. Faithn
history is the saving of a few things on
of more things lost. The immortalit
that comes from pomp of obsequies c
granite shaft or building named after il
founder or page of recognition in some ei
cyclopedia is an immortality unworthy (
one's ambition, for it will cease and is n
immortality at all.
Oblivion! A hundred years. But whil
I recognize this universal submergence c
things earthly, who wants to be forgotten
Not one of us. Absent for a few week
or months from home it cheers us to kno'
that we are remembered there. It is
phrase we have all pronounced, "I hop
you missed me." Meeting some menc
from whom we have been parted man
yean* we inauire, "Did you ever see me bi
fore?" Ana they say, "Yes," and call x
by name, and we feels a delightful sens;
tion thrilling through their hand into ou
hand and running up from elbow t
shoulder and then parting, the one cu:
rent of delight ascending to the brow an
the other descending to the foot, movin
round and round in. concentric circles ui
til every nerve and muscle and capacity (
body and mind and soul is permeated wit
delight.
Now, I have to tell you that this obi
vion of which I have spoken lias its di
feats, and there is no more reason why w
should not be distinctly and vividly an
gloriously remembered live hundred mil
ion billion trillion quadrillion quintillio
years from now than that we should t
remembered six weeks. I am going to te
voy how the thing can be done and wi
be done.
We may build this "everlasting remen
brance," as my text styles it, into the si
pernal existence of those to whom we d
Kindnesses in this world. You must r<
member that this infirm and treacheroi
faculty which we now call memory is i
the future state to be complete and pe
feet. "Everlasting remembrance!" Notl
ing will 3lip the stout grip of that cele
I f ? 1 fc% (lit Ifv
Did you help a widow pay her rent
Did you find for that man released froi
prison a place to get honest work? Di
you pick up a child, fallen 011 the curl
stone, and oy a stick of candy put in h
hand stop the hurt on his scratched knee
Did you assure a business man, swampe
by the stringency of the money marke
that times would after awhile be bettei
Did you lead a Magdalen of the stre<
into a midnight mission, where the Lor
said to her: "Neither do 1 condemn thei
Go and sin no more! Did you tell a mai
clear discouraged in his waywardness an
hopeless and plotting suicide, that f<
him was nearby a laver, in which 1
might wash and a coronet of eternal bles
edness he might wear?
What are epitaphs in graveyards, whz
are eulogiums in presence of those whof
breath is in their nostrils, what are unrea
biographies in the alcoves of a city librar;
compared with the imperishable recort
you have made in the illumined memoric
of those to whom you did such kindnesset
Forget them? They cannot forget then
Notwithstanding all their might and splei
dor, there are some things the glorifie
of heaven cannot do, and thia is oe'e <
them.
. J
T They cannot forget an earthly kindness
' done. They have not cutlass to part that
cable. They have no strength to hurl into
oblivion that benefaction. Has Paul for%
inlioliifnnl-a nf "Malta wllft P7.
tended the island hosnitalitv when bo and
others with him had felt, added to a shipwreck,
the drenching rain and the sharp
I, cold? Has the victim of the highwayman
? on the road to Jericho forgotten the good
Samaritan with a medicament of oil and
wine and a free ride to the hostelry? Have
the English soldiers who went up to God
from the Crimean battlefields forgotten
Florence Nightingale?
e Through all eternity will the Northern
g and Southern soldiers forget tho Northern
[j and Southern women who administered
to the d.vinc boys in blue and gray after
a the awful fights in Tennessee and Virginia
and Georgia, which turned every
house and barn and shed into a hospital
i. and incarnadined the Susquehanna and
J. the James and the Chattahoochee and
~ the Savannah with brave blood? The
g kindnesses you do to others will stand as
? long in the appreciation of others as the
, gates of heaven will stand, as the "house
p of many mansions" will stand, as long aa
> the throne of God will stand.
i. Another defeat of Oblivion will be
; found in the character of those whom we
- rescue, uplift or save. Character is eteri
naL Suppose by a right influence we aid
f in transforming a bad man into a good
- man. a dolorous man into a happy man, a
s disheartened man into a courageous man,
t every stroke of that work done will be ime
mortalized. There may never be so much
i as one line in a newspaper recardin* it or
5 no mortal tongue may ever whisper it into
* ?i _i ii
fcuman ear, due wncrever nut sum ?uu
g go your work upon it shall go, wherever
v that soul rises your work on it will rise,
jj and so long as that soul will last your
| work on it will last. Do you suppose
p there will ever come such an idiotic laDse
in the history of that soul in heaven that
it shall forget that you invited him to
0 Christ; 'that you, by prayer or gospel
work, turned him round from the wrong
wav to the right way? No such insanity
will ever smite a heavenly citizen.
i- It is not half as well on earth known
s that Christopher Wren planned and built
i, St. Paul's as it will be known in all heaven
t that you were the instrumentality of
r building a temple for the sky. We teach
i- a Sabbath class, or put a Christian tract
I- in the hand of a passer-by, or testify for
y Christ in a prayer meeting, or preach a
e sermon and go home discouraged, as
1 though nothing had been accomplished,
h when we had been character building with
e a material that no frost or earthquake or
rolling of the centuries can damage or
bring down.
f1 Oh, this character building! The struc?
* ture lasting independent of passing cen'}
turies, independent of crumbling rnausoII
leums, independent of the whole planetary
' system. Aye, if the material universe,
e which seems all bound together like one
V niece of machinery, should some day meet
d with an accident that should send worlds
a crashing into each other like telescoped
e railway trains, and all the wheels of conL?
stellations and galaxies should stop, and
*" down into one chasm of immensity all the
e suns and moons and stars should tumble
r like the midnight express at Ashtabula,
that would not touch us and would not
e hurt God, for God is a spirit, and characy
ter and memory arc immortal, and over
n ' that grave of a wrecked material universe
'* might truthfully be written, "The rightea
ous shall be held in everlasting rememe
brance." 0 time, we defy thee! 0 death,
we stamp thee in the dust of thine own
'? sepulchers! 0 eternity, roll on till the last
J star has stooped rotating and the last sun
d is extinguished on the sapphire pathway,
>t and the last moon has illumined the last
y tiight, and as many years have passed as
r all the scribes that ever took pen could
I* describe bv as many figures as they could
IS write in all the centuries of all time, but
thou shalt have no power to efface from
y any soul in glory the memory of anything
t we have done to bring it to God and
18 heaven!
? There is another and a more complete
" defeat for oblivion, and that is in the
J* heart of God Himself. You have seen a
sailor roll un his sleeve and ehow you his
arm tattooed with the figure of a favorite
ship, perhaps the first one in which he
ever sailed. You have seen a soldier roll
up "his sleeve and show his arm tattooed
'* with the figure of a fortress where he was
is garrisoned or the face of a great general
d un'der whom he fought. You have seen
't many a hand tattooed with the face of a
ci loved one belore or atter marriage, xms
d custom of tattooing is almost as old as the
d world. It is some colored liquid punc*
y tured into the flesh so indelibly that noth>
ing can wash it out. It may have been
5- there fifty years, but when the man goes
'} into his coffin that picture will go with
him on hand or arm. Now. God says that
a He has tattooed us unon His hands. There
e can be no other meaning in the forty-ninth
chanter of Isaiah, where God says. "Ben
hold. I have graven thee on the palms of
e My hands." It was as much as to say,
l" "I cannot open My hand to help hut I
e think of you. I cannot spread abroad My
d hands to bless but I think of you. WherS
ever I go ut> or down the heavens I take
n these two pictures of you with Me. They
r* are so inwrought into My beinir that I
i- cannot lose them. As lone as My hand?
y last the memory of. you will last. Not on
s- the back of My hands, as thouah to announce
you to others, but on the palms
I* cf My hands for Myself to look at and
d study and love. Though I hold the winds
's in My fist, no cyclone shall uproot the in?.
?wftnr namo .mrl voup fane, and
d though I hold the ocean in the hollow of
't My hand its billowing shall not wash out
y the record of My remembrance. 'Bc-hold,
,r I have graven thee on the palms of My
s hands.'"
What joy, what honor, can there be
comparable to that of being remembered
0 by the mightiest and most affectionate
being in the uni\ferse? Think of it?to
4 hold an everlasting place in the heart of
God! The heart of God! The most beau;
tiful palace in the universe. Let the arch'8
angel build some palace as grand aa that
tv if he can. Let Kim crumble up all the
a stars of yesternight, and to-morrow night
Je and put them together as mosaics for such
a palace floor. Let him take all the suny
rises and sunsets of all the days and the
e" auroras of all the nights and hang them
13 as upholstery at its window*. Let him
l". take all the rivers and all th? lakes and
ir all the oceans and toss them into the foun0
tain3 of this palace court.
Let him take all the gold of all the hills
Z and hang it in its chandeliers and all the
* pearls of all the seas and all the diamonds
jf of all the fields and with them arch the
jj doorways of that palace and then invite
into it all the glories that Esther ever saw
at a Persian banquet or Daniel ever
'1 * *? /iiofloo nr
g_ waiKeu amonjj iu jmujiuiuuu uu?va
re Joseph ever witnessed in Pharaoh's throne
d room and then yourself enter this castle
j. of archangelic construction and see how
n poor a palace it is compared with the
,e greater palace that some of you hav? alii
ready found in the heart of a loving and
J1 pardoning <?od and into which all the
music ana all the prayers and all the ser j.
monic considerations of thin day are trying
to introduce you through the blood of
l0 the slain Lamb.
2- Oh, where is oblivion now? From the
is dark and overshadowing word that it
n seemed when I began it has become somer
thing which no man or wo-nan or child
v who loves the Lord ncec' r fear. Obs
livion defeated. Oblivion %ad. Oblivion
sepulchered. But I must not be so hard
;? on that devouring monster, for into its
tn fjrave go all our sins when the Lord for
d Christ's sake has forgiven them. Just
b- blow a resurrection trumpet over them
is when once oblivion has snapped them
:? down. Not one of them rises. Blow
d again. Not a stir amid all the pardoned
t, iniquities of a lifetime. Blow again! Not
one of them moves in the deep grave
it trenches. But to this powerless resurrecd
tion trumpet a voice responds half hue.
man, half divine, and it must be part man
i, and part God, saying, "Their sins and
J LL will T no more."
u tI1U11 iliKjuaica Win x
>r Thank God for this blessed oblivion. So
le you see I did not invite you down into a
s- cellar, but up on a throne; not into the
graveyard to which all materialism is desit
tined, butt into a garden all abloom with
je everlasting remembrance. The frown of
d my first text has become the kiss of the
y, second text. Annihilation has become
is coronation. The wringing hands of a
:s great a,r0ny have bccome the clapping
\'t hands of a great joy. The requiem with
i. which we began has become the grand
a- march with which we close. The tear of
id sadness that rolled down our check has
jf struck the lip on which sits the laughter
of eternal triumph.
THE GREAT DESTROYER
50MF STARTIJNC FACTS ABOlTk
THE VICE OF INTEMPERANCE.
(low New York Societ* Women Drlnli
?The Guzzlers Are Wlmt the World
Call* T.ndie* ? Girls Sit and Order '
Drinks Without Food.
Mrs. Fib A. P.oole. President of the
New Yarl- State Women's Christian Ternpernnce
Union, has been making ?nme investigations
concc-ninT the imbibing ol
ir>tovior>T\ts in prb';c pbces bv the women
of Gotham, -md furnishes the following
significant table of lu^hcons taken at
the places named to the New York World:
No.
No. of nsinc What the
Ple.ce. women .liquors, women drank,
TleWon'eo'a NO *5 Wine or cocktails.
Wnidnrf-Astoria.100 05 Wine or cocktails.
fi'NeilJ's pn 7-7 Wine.co'ta's.beT
Sherry's ?5 J.1? Wine or cocktails.
Manhattan 60 4(1 Wine or cocktailft
Savov 5 4 Wine or coektailsir
Maillard's 75 21 C'ktails or liq'ura.
The women who furnished the raw ma/
terial for Mrs. Boole's table were not disreputable
characters who had stasreer^d
in from the street'. The names of the
places at which the observations wore
made are suffic;ont to indicate t,h?t the
puzzlers were what the world calls ladies.
I More tnan tnat. inese wine w>nm-ii .
stitute. or help to constitute, that which
is known a" the highest social circle.
At ill the fashionable restaurants in
New York the larger naH of the receipts
are said to he derived from th* sales of
wines. whisky and other alcoholic drinks.
F.ven popular candy stores of the metropolis
now serve champagne, cocktails and
hicrhballs. Restaurants in the shopping
districts that reach out especially for the
patronage of the women who trade in the
dry goods stores, and where men unaccompanied
by Indies are seldom seen, serve
drinks to at least seventy-five por cent, of
their customers. This i? a description ol
the ofppe witnessed by Mrs. Boole at the
Wa'dorf-Astoria:
"There were twenty-s'X tables in the
first room, seating two, four, six or eitrht
persons. In the eourse of an hour the
guests at most of these tables had changed
once.
"Of the persons at these tables thirteen
were drinkin? at one time, and eight waiters
with empty cocktail glasses came from
tables that were nartially hidden by the
stone columns in the room.
"With three, possibly four, exceptions,
mioofa wore nil women?women with
srray hair, fine-looking women of thirty,
young girls of eighteen.
"One young ?rirl, of nerhars sixteen or
seventeen, drank a cocktail and also a glass
.of wine."
Tn the restaurants in the shopni?<: district
it is customary, we are told, for
women and eirls to sit down at the tables
and order drinks without calling for any* I
thing to eat. This may he a little mow
genteel than leaning aeainst a bar and
drinking, but it is probably just as dangerous.
It has been customary for people in
general to look unon Chicago as the wickedest
placp in. the world, but it wriMld
surely be impossible for anyone to brint?
such an indictment against the women of
this city as Mrs. Boole ha? brought against
the feminine half of New York's smart set.
The saloons which flourish here indicate
that, there must be a great, deal of drinking
by Chicago men, but it has not become
nccessary to turn candy stores in grogshops.
as yet, and no first-class hotel in this
city has thus far found it necessary to
maintain a special deoartment for the use
of men and women who may wish to meet
by appointment and drink together.
It is hardlv surprising, considering all
t- e facts in the case, that Mrs. Boole cries
out:
"In the lamp of womanhood, in the interest
of the children yet to he born, we
call unon every class of society women
and every woman who loves her $nd to
discourage the custom of social drinking
and help save the womanhood of 0>e nation
from the curse of drunkenness."
But Mrs. Boole must not make the mistake
of regarding New York as the nation.?Chicago
Record-Herald.
Paying Tribute.
There was once a man who drank very
heavily; in fact, he was known as a
drunkard. He lived in a small village,
and wa.< generally admitted to be the bum
of the town. One morning he started for
the hotel for his first drink, and as he entered
he saw the landlord's children playing
in the yard. Thev were bright-faced,
well-dressed, clean and were children that
any father and mother might be proud of.
He stopped and looked at them. They
were romping, running and having a good
time, and he could not help but admire
them. As he stood and watched these
children he could not help but contrast
them with his own children that he had
left at home?five ragged looking urchins.
They were dirty, barefooted, and their
clothes were tattered, and they were
really a disgrace to any man. He stopped
to think what was the difference between
the children, and he came to the rightful
conclusion that the difference was that instead
of clothing and caring for his own
family he was clothing and caring for the
family of the rumseller. He stopped. He
thought a moment. He turned and went
home, and has never drank a drop since.
One of his sons is new superintendent of
a division of a large railroad. Another is
the confidential cleri: in a banking house,
and the three daughters are well and respectably
married.
Burden of Hereditary Weakness.
Dr. A. Baer, royal sanitary counsellor,
head physician at the penitentiary, plotzensee
near Berlin, author of "Der Alkoholiamus"
and other works upon this subject,
says: '"Not unfrequently the children
of topers die of hereditary weakness, not
only showing a pronounced tendency toward
diseases of the brain, epilepsy and
idiocy, but they are also frequently subject
to vicious inclinations and criminal
tendencies. They lack perception for that
which is moral and which contributes to
a steady, well-ordered career. Weighted
with the burden of hereditary mental
weakness, they not unfrequently take to
cramping, fall into crime, or become the
victims of drunkenness or insanity. The
tendency to drink degenerates not only
the existing race, but also the coming generation."
A Serious Evil.
. It is a most serious evil that idle and
worthless parents should lounge in public
houses ana go on boozing themselves into
stupidity or raging brutalism till midnight,
while their miserable, neglected children
are often left to run loose about the corrupt
and filthy slums until their parents
return, otten only to oeat ana terruy mese
perishing little ones.
The Crusade In Brief.
The Anti-Saloon League baa decided to
take a new tack in fighting saloons in
Ohio, and purposes to make a test case
on the claim that a saloon is a public nuisance,
and should be abolished.
The license system proceeds on the plan
of sacrificing life for the sake of saving
money. It deliberately immolates men by
the thousand upon the blood altar of Bacchus
in order to relieve taxpayers.
Recently the ten-year-old son of an expressman
in New York City was found unconscious
in a hallway a few doors from
his home. His case was diagnosed as alcoholism
by an ambulance surgeon.
Thanks be to the enlightened temperance
sentiment of the times and to the
progressive spirit of the profession we
liave a class of physicians that know that
alcohol is not needed in any form as a
medicinal remedy.
Next to the physician woman rules in
the sick room and at times she rules him
and may and can rule him far more fully
than she does in the matter ot aieononc
stimulants as a medicine and to the better
jiterests of herself and family.
Dr. Dana, of New York, expresses regret
that the law does not permit the legal
commitment of inebriates for a lcng
term, declaring that "the ideal treatment
is supervision of the case in an institution,
.nsuring absolute abstinence from alcohol
{or at least one year."
- . V
GOD'S MESSAGE TO MAN
PREGNANT THOUGHTS FROM THE
WORLD'S CREATEST PROPHETS.
loar Choice?Character Attained Only by
Embracing Daily Snch Opportunities
as Present Themselves?God Pity the
Man Wlio Neglects His Duty.
Why choose the evil, when the good
More lovely, more divinely fair,
With heavenly graces are imbued
Awaits the searcher everywhere?
Why go the downward ways of sin
'Mid vain regrets and wild despair;
Why quell the good each soul may win,
Why lose all hopes of heaven here?
Peace like a river flows serene
Beeide the path the righteous tread;
Joy, as the sunshine, gilas each scene
And falls with blessing on his head.
Yet where the evil-minaed go
Sharp thorns of selfishness prevail,
And want and misery and woe
The wretched sinner shall assail*
Oh, mortal, wake; too soon thy soul
All chance for good shall see no more,
While evil deeds with vengeance roll
To scourge the guilty o'er and o'er,
Arouse ye, seek the narrow way
By all the wise for ages trod;
Seek paths of pleasantness that lay
Through fields of virtue up to God.
?Oacar B. Smith.
Open Doors.
It is interesting to note how often trio
word door occurs in the New Testament.
The writers all seetn to have conceived of
everything worth anything as lying over
against us to be entered by a door. And
it- i'a frno TViat-o ?rp trreat nossessiona
awaiting every man, but each one must be
entered by its appointed door.
We know at once how true this is wben
we think of some of the commonest objects
of life. Thus one's profession must
be entered by the door of long training in
schools and colleges. One's trade must be
entered by the long service of apprenticeshin.
The realm of knowledge cannot be
had for the asking, but must be entered
by the door of long reading and study.
Now, the same thing is true of the religious
life or character. It is something
to be entered also by a door. Here character
stands over against every man, calling
him to enter into it and possess it. It is
the one thing on earth worth entering. It
is above and beyond all other things.
Everything also exists for character; other
things are passing, while character is
eternal. Now, right over against this
world of character God has set ODen doors.
We have merely to choose to walk through
them.
Thus the church is one door. It is not
primarily a place of men holding some belief,
not primarily a place for preaching.
But first of all it is a door?a door from
lower life to higher, from sin to righteousT*A<-Kin/mflaa
f r? nranfor frr.m
?arth to heaven. What is the true church?
Not the church that believes this or believes
that, but the church that is a door
for souls to pass over into the life of
Dhrist and the consciousness of God, is
;he true church.
The teacher ought to make the Sundayichool
such a door?a door through which
fouth passes over into a,manhood of purity.and
purpose, and a knowledge of God's
ways.
Duty is a door. Obedience leads over
nto knowledge. Duty leads over into God.
tt is one of the,doors God dpens to every
humblest man. Every opportunity of service
for doing a kind deed is a door. God
pity the man that passes by duties and opportunities;
he is passing by' doors that
ppen right into the heavenly villas.
!rNot once or twice in our fair island story
The path of duty was the way to glory;
He, that ever following her commands,
On with toil of hearts and knees and
hands,
Thro) the long gorge to the far light has
Hia path upward, and prevail'd,
Shall find the toppling crags of duty
scaled
Are close upon the shining "table lands
lo which our God Himself is moon and
sun."
And then there is the door, greater than
ill others, over into righteousness, Jesus
Himself. He once said: "I am the door;"
again He said: "I am the way." Yes,
His life is the life that leads over into
character and heaven. His truth sets us
free. His faith opens the gates of invisible
things. His love is the door over into
the world of largeness and joy. Service
done in His name is the door to God Himself.?Christian
Work.
Religion Not Something Apart.
Religion is not something apart from
(ife; it is not something for Sunday, although
there would be little religion if
there were no Sunday. Religion is not
primarily for wasted energies and tired
aerves nor for the sick chamber and the
deathbed. Religion, at its best, is life at
ita fullest and best; it is its animating
purpose, its consecrating energy. It gives
man an ideal worth striving for, one as
full of inspiration as the sun is of light,
and helps him so to marshal and direct
his powers that he can attain it. When a
man says that he has not time for religion
he confesses that he has not time to cherish
the best of which he is capable. Most
of the service rendered to God and humanity
is given by busy men. and women,
those who are the most crowded with
caree, and these are the most ready to respond
to increasing calls upon their time
and energy. There is a psychological reason
for this. Such persons have a definite
aim and purpose. It is a high and noble
one that continually refreshes them and
gives them such a mastery over their powers
that they can always find time to do
anything that is best worth the doing.
Religion helps rather than hinders. It is
like air, like light?it inspires everything
that grows; it is the strength, the joy,
the deliverance of the soul; it bears burdens,
soothes sorrows; it takes the sling
out of disappointments and shows us at
the end of the journev, not a grave, but a
life fit to employ the soul's full-blown
powers forever in noblest exercise.?N.
W. Christian Advocate.
Governed by the Higher Law.
A man to be morally strong must fee*
that all his endowments are from God,
who made nothing in vain. Every atom
in the world of space is governed by a
higher law, and in the same way man is
governed by a higher law, which might be
p,i11pH our law nf gravitation. Under that
law we live and move and have our being.
In obedience to that law lies our only
safety.?Rev. Dr. J. E. Rankin.
The Brotherhood of Man.
Mankind's advancement by trade and international
treaties is simply finding out
by long, zigzag paths the sweet truth of
Scripture that all are made for all, each
needs each throughout this vast brotherhood
of men.?Rev. S. Edward Young,
Presbyterian, Pittsburg.
|
Square Your Thoughts With Christ's.
Before the judgment scat of Christ no
honest man need fear. The difficulty of
getting the truth into a human mind is
owing to the fact that we don't know ourselves.
When a man sees himself as he is,
the end of all discipline has been reached,
i Never will a man see himself as he is un'
til his thoughts and Christ's are accordant.?Rev.
Dr. Reuen Thomas, Congregationalist,
Boston.
Priceless In Value.
Kindly words, sympathizing attention#,
watchfulness against wounding others
sensitiveness, these cost very little, but
they are priceless in value.
The American Match Industry.
Tt has not been such a long time sine?
all the matcneg usea in tnis country were
imported, hut at the present time 50.000,000
feet of lumber are annually used here
in the manufacture of matches, and this
industry employs about 15,000 persons.
One factory alone in Ohio turns out 100,000,000
picces every day.
Africa Not a Wllderne?i.
With railwavs in South Africa in opera- j
tion covering 5000 miles, and others under J
construction which will add 2000 to the
total, this portion of the Dark Continent j
can hardly be longer looked upon as a v. i!- I
dcrness.
a
;: I
THE SABBATH SCHOOL
NTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS
FOR OCTOBER 20.
'
<nl>Ject: Joseph Exalted, Gen. xll.. 38-4> ''I
Golden Text, I. Sam. II., 30? Memory
Verses, 30-41 ? Commentary on the
Day'* Lesson.
38. "Unto his servaota." The kings of
indent Egypt were assisted in the man
L 1 *1? nt
igemeiib ui bluic citiauts uy mc outiwc
the most distinguished members of the
priestly order; and, accordingly, before
idmitting Joseph to the new ana extraordinary
office that was to be created, those
ministers were consulted as to the expediency
and propriety of the appointment.
"Such a one as this." Doubtless the history
of Joseph had been told Pharaoh
?nd his servants, and they saw that his
long experience with Potiphar as well as
his present wisdom would especially fit
him for the proposed work. The spirit
Df God is." Here is an acknowledgement
of the existence and power of the true
3od. Joseph had expressly told Pharaoh *
(v. 16) that the interpretation of the
dreams was not in him, but that God
would give the answer; and pow the king
attributes Joseph's wisdom to the spirt
Df God in him. Such an one would have
wisdom, could be trusted and would be
attended with the blessing of God.
39. "Discreet." Intelligent, having a
:lear insight into matters. "Wise." This
denotes a capacity to devise and employ;
proper measures to gain the ends desired.
40. "Thou." This was very unexpected
to Joseph and also to Pharaoh's servants.
When Joseph was counseling the king to .
appoint a man to gather grain, he could
n/\f Kava KaH file ramnfoot iHoa fhnf. hp
would be the man; and the servants who
were so very willing that Joseph's plan
should be carried out (v. 37) are silent
now, when Joseph's name is proposed.
"Unto thy word." Joseph honorea God
before Pharaoh and God honored Joseph .
in the sight of Pharaoh. A little time ago
he was traduced as one of the vilest of
men; now the king honors him as a man
of incomparable worth. We may learn
from this not to be greatly dejected by
reproach, nor puffed up by praise. The
best of men have passed through good report
and evil report.
41. "Over all the land." Behold one .
hour hath changed his fetters into a <*hain
of gold, his rags into fine linen, his e ocka
into a chariot, his jail into a palace.
42. "Took off nis ring." This was a
token of the highest dignity and also an ,
instrument of power, for it undoubtedly
' ave validity to the documents to whica
it was affixed. Thus Joseph was given
chief authority in Egypt. People in the
East do not sign their names. They have
seals in which their names and titles are
engraven, and with which they make an
impression with thick ink, on all occasiona
for which we use the signature. 'Tine
linen." A costly fabric, worn by persona
of rank as a mark of honor. It was exceedingly
soft and of dazzling whiteness,
and has been sold for twice its weight in
gold. "A gold chain." This was a badge
jf high office; an emblem of civil authority.
43. "The second chariot." The becond
state chariot in the public procession.
Herodotus tells us that Egypt was noted
for chariots, both for peaceful and war- (\
like purposes. "They cried before him.'*
4-Vk/% k orl Irln iirknaa /lllfv if
JLUatf U3f bile UlUg O liCiaiUO) n uuow uuv(r ?w
was to go before and announce the comim?
of the royal procession. "Bow the knee.
The heralds cried. "Abreck!" This ia
supposed to be an Egyptian word, and its v
meaning is not definitely known. It may
mean "rejoice," or "we are at thy service."
Others think it means. "Cast your- , /
selves down?do homage." "Set him over
all the land" (R. V.)) This high position
to which Joseph was exalted was a full
recomnense for his years of patient suffering.
It was also a proof of the equity and
goodness of God, and it should be an encouragement
to all good people to trust
God.
44. "I am Pharaoh." This was the ,
same as thouzh he had said I am king,
for "Pharaoh" was the common title of
the sovereigns of Egypt. "Without thee."
Joseph's authority was to be absolute and
universal. Thus did God put honor upon
this youth. Joseph had been tested and
had stood the test. His integrity, courage.
patience, faithfulness and faith in
God had been thoroughly tried.
45. "Zaphnath-paaneah." This name
has had various interpretations, some of
which are as follows: "Preserver of life,"
"The revealer of secrets." "The treasury
of glorious comfort." "Governor of the
Living One." "Bread of life," "Saviour of
fhp xvni-lH " ninrlce thinks it was raerelv
"an Egyptian epithet, designating the
office to which he was now raised." "Asenath."
His naturalization was completed
by this alliance with a family of high distinction.
On being founded by an Arab
colony Poti-phera, like Jethro, priest of
Midian, mignt be a worshiper of the true
God; and thus Josenh, a pious man, will
be freed from the charge of marrying an
idolatress for worldly ends. "On." Or
HelioDolis, meaning "sun" or "light."
Called Aven (Ezek. 30: 17), and also Bethshemesh.
Jer. 43: 13. "Over all the land."
No doubt for the building of granaries
and appointing proner officers to receive
the corn in every place.
46. "Thirty years old." This was the
age which was appointed for entering the
priesthood, and we will remember that
this was the age when the New Testament
Joseph entered upon his ministry of love
and mercy. "Stood before Pharaoh."
This meanR that he was admitted into
the immediate presence of the king, and
had his unlimited confidence. Among the
Asiatic princes the privilege of coming to
their seat and standing in their presence
waa granted only to the highest favorites.
Joseph though so suddenly and remarkably
raised is not puffed with pride.
47. "By handfuls." A singular expression.
alluding not only to the luxuriance
of the crop, but the practice of the reapers
grasDing the grain in their hands.
This probably refers principally to rice, as
it grows in tufts, a great number of stalks
proceeding from the same seed. There
was not a place in the then known world
? ?-11 fA nrA/?iiAfinn nf crftin
BU WCI1 aua|jbbu VV vuu wmmvw. 0
as Egypt.
48. ''Gatherer! u[>." This was according
to the advice given Pharaoh (v. 34),
that a fifth part be gathered up. This was
the Government tax, or was bought up afc
low prices such as would then prevail.
Doubtlsss the people also stored up grain
for themselves, but according to their
faith, which was much less than Joseph's.
49. "Joseph fathered." The king and
his subjects owed their lives to Joseph.
Through the blessing of God he was anlfr
to supply not only the Egyptians, but
other nations with corn when the famina
came.
New Vork'g Children'* Court.
To protect the 12.000 children who annually
come bptore the city courts for various
petty offences, as far as possible,
from vitiating contact with older prisoners.
New York City will open a children's
court on January 1. 1902. This plan,
m.?de nossiblc by the new charter, pro?
j__
vidcs that the case or every crnm. uuun
sixteen vears of age shall he beard in the
children's court, where all misdemeanors
and felonies will be disposed of finally,
misdemeanors going to Special Scions
and felonies to Oer.eral Sessions. Magistrates
will serve the court in rotation.
Sacred Study For Pnbllc School!.
The Public School Council of Cleveland,
Ohios has voted to add the Lord's Prayer,
the len Commandments and the Twentythird
Psalm to the course of study now
taught. "We ought to be improving the
moral as well as the mental capacities of
the children," said Mr. Hobart, a member
of the board, "and I know of no more fitting
way in which to do this than to add
the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments
and the beautiful Tcenty-third
Psalm to the studies." ,
American Locomotives in Spain.
The English Consul at Bilbao, commenting
on the importation of American loco
motives into Spain, nays all the orders
^ i -tr 1
i were ac nr.st unmu u> uuukm mum, uu*
went to America, owing to the quickncsa
of delivery guaranteed by the American
firms and also because the price was lower
than that asked by the English. The Consul
admits the superiority of the Amerij
can locomotives over the British for Spanish
railroads.
i