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SUNDAY SCHOOL "Lesson VI.?Third Quarter, For Aug. 8,1915. v JHE INTERNATIONAL SERIES. ~Text of the Lesson, I Kings xii:6-16. Memory Verse, 16?Golden Text, r Prov. xvi, 18?Commentary Prepared I by Rev. D. M. Stearns. I In this record of the division of the kingdom and its cause we still see God over all controlling and in all working, for He has foreseen everything from j the beginning and provided for every so called emergency and always tolls the final outcome. This division of the kingdom has never been healed till this day, but it will be in His time, according to Ezek. xxxvii, 21, 22, "I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one . king shall be king to them all, and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all." The immediate cause of this division is found in chapter xi, 9, 10, "The Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned from the Lord God -of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing that he should not go after other gods." Therefore was the kingdom rent in twain. Departure from God and disobedience to Him is back of all trouble, as a rule, and the devil is back of that, but the time will come when on this earth there shall be no more trouble, and from this earth and this atmosphere the devil shall have ? i o. ?i i/i.l gone xorever iiiev. i.v, iu, a.\i, .i-x, xxlW 3-5). Whether it be providing a king for Israel, as we have seen in the case of Saul, and David, and Solomon, or dividing the kingdom, as we ar4 about to see, the Lord generally works ;by ordinary human instrumentality. In our lesson story today we see Hadad Rezon and Jeroboam and Ite.lioboam and old men and young men all doing seemingly as they saw tit, ' but behind the scenes is an unseen hand controlling. "The Lord stirred -nn an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad, the Edomite." "God stirred him up I another adversary, Rezon, the son of Eliadah."' "Thus saitb tbe I.ord, the God of Israel, Behold I will rend the kingdom' out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to thee." "The cause was from the Lord, That He -might perform His saying, which the Lord, spake by Ahijah, the Shilonite. unto Jeroboam, the son of Nebat" "Thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not go up nor fight against your brethren, the ^children of Israel: return every man to his house, for this thing is from Me." (I Kings xi, 14, 23, 31; xii. 13, 24). Even the devil cannot touch a child of God without God's permission, as we see in the case of Job and of Simon Peter. The believer who aims to walk with God in humility and obedience may live In continual peace and quietness, assured that all things are God's best for him and that no real evil can ever befall him. But if there is disobedience or willfulness God will in love and wisdom ohasten for our good. Solomon being dead, Kcboboam. his son. ?* 1 * - oil T ovo aI hnrinfr xeigueu ill ills* aicau, ttii lotuvi ? made him king at Shechem txii, 1; II Cliron. x, 1). When Jeroboam heard in Egypt that Solomon was dead he returned and, with a deputation, waited upon Reboboam with a request that he would lighten the burdens which his father's magniflc-ent reign had caused to be placed upon them. He asked for three days to consider their request, and meantime he consulted first with the old men and then with his young men. The former advised moderation and that he speak kindly to the people, but the latter advised Increased severity. So when the third day came and Jeroboam and-the people came again for his reply he spake to them as the young men.had advised, for the Lord was by their evil counsel working out His purpose (verse 15), as He also wrought by the counsel of TTnchnt whinh was evil toward Absa lom, to overthrow him. "The counsel of the Lord standeth forever. . the thooghts of his heart to all generations," but all other counsel or device He bringeth to nought (Ps. xxxill. 10. 11). "Whatsoever the Lord pleased that did He in heaven and in earth, in the seas and all deep places" (Ps. cxxxv, 6). However people may associate themselves against Him or take counsel together against His people, all shall be broken to pieces and come to nought (Isa. vill, 9, 10). For "the Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it com? to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand." (Isa. xiv, 24). He maketh the wrath of man to praise Him, and the remainder He restrains. He saith to the sea, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed." (Ps. lxxlv, 10; Job xxxviii, 11). If our hearts are whole toward Him He will hold strongly with us and cause others to see and know that He Is with us; but if we are self willed and rely on huAian wisdom He will work against us and < overthrow us, though He may bear '.long with us. He has a purpose for ^every individual life of His redeemed, as well as for the church, which is His body, and for His people Israel and for all nations; and He will accomplish His nuroose throueh His will ing people individually and coHectively. "We never heard of anything so great -as the love of God. vi . BECKER PAYS DEATH PENALTY. (Continued from page 1.) current pulsed through the body. The shock lasted seven seconds. After a hasty examination, Dr. Farr asked that a third shock be given. This last five seconds. An examination that took several minutes followed. Three physicians among the witnesses then made an examination and Dr. Farr, at 5.55 o'clock quietly announced: "I pronounce this man dead." During the night Becker penciled on a piece of paper what he captioned "My Dying Declaration." It was take^ to the warden's office, where ^ two copies were typewritten, which Becker signed in a bold hand with ^ his fountain pen. To Deputy Warden Johnson, who had charge of the ; execution in place of Warden Thomas Mott Osborne, who does not believe in the death penalty, the one ' time police lieutenant gave his fountain nen as a erift. "It is the last , thing that I have to^give away and I . want you to give this statement to . the newspaper men." j Becker's message read: "Gentlemen: I stand before you in my full senses, knowing that no power on earth can save me from the grave tha^ is to receive me. In the face of that, in the teeth of those who condemned me, and in the pre- J sence of my God and your God, I proclaim my absolute innocence of' the foul crime for which I must die. P You are now about to witness my : destruction by the state which is organized to protect the lives of the innocent. May Almighty God par- 1 don every one who has contributed ! in any degree to my untimely death. !J And now, on the brink of my grave, 1 I declare to the world that .1 am proud to have beea the husband of the purest, noblest woman that ever,1 lived?Helen Keeker, lhis acknow- < ledgement is the only legacy I can 1 leave her. I bid you all goodbye.. Father. I am ready to go. Amen. (Signed) "Charles Becker." After his wife had said fdrewell, shortly after midnight, Becker maintained a casual conversation with Deputy Warden Johnson, who sat beside, the screen in front of his cell. Sometimes he smoked cigars, after which he would let his head fall upon his hand and gaze reflectively at the concrete floor for minutes at a time. Pinned Wife's Photo Over Heart Dawn found him seated on the edge of his cot carefully pinning a photograph of his wife on his white shirt just over his heart. Then as if he desired to have her all to himself.' Becker put on a thin black alpaca coat which he tightly buttoned. The ' photograph was not seen by the witnesses until the prison physicians ' opened his coat as he sat in the death chair. r> ~ i. x~ J i.t_ i j.r. _ .Deliver was put iu ueuui uy me state executioner whose name is un- : known to the public. This man sue- : ceeded .State Electrician Davis and < he.said he would not take thfe job : unless his name was kept secret. He i lives in a little town up-state and < went about his work briskly. Becker's executioner said that in ] his opinion the man had died instantly at the first contact. ,i An autopsy was performed, ac- : cording to law immediately after the : execution. After Becker's body had been removed from the chair, Samuel Haynes, a negro murderer, was brought -into the execution room and electrocuted. jl One of Becker's last requests to 1 Warden Osborne was that he be put : to death before the negro. j.' Mrs. Becker's last effort to save her husband was made yesterday when she appealed personally to Gov ernor Whitman for a reprieve so that an appeal may be taken to the state 1 court of appeals. Missing the governor at Albany, Mrs. Becker met him at Poughkeepsie. The plea was fruitless and the untiring wife hurried to Sing Sing to bid her husband farewell. She was with him for an hour, j leaving the death house at 12:30 o'clock this morning. She left soon i afterwards for New York, outwardly displaying no effects of the severe mental strain. John Becker, her brother-in-law, and John Lynch, her brother, accompanied her. i 'A lengthy statement to Governor Whitman was given out by Becker late yesterday. Becker reiterated his innocence and declared he never had offered to plead guilty to second i degree murder. Mrs. Becker Plans Exposure. [. A statement credited to Mrs. Beck- \ er was given out here shortly after \ her husband's death. "I shall ne'ver rest," she was quot- : ed as saying, "until f have exposed i the methods which were used to con- | vict my husband. Whether he was t guilty or innocent, there was no jus- ] tification for the means employed to j convict him. ] "I would rather lose all the other members of my family, as dear as < they are to me, than lose Charlie. No .1 one can take his place. In all of the 1 I i ;en years of our married life, I never lad occasion once to regret that I vas his wife." "Charlie was no angel. H* made 10 pretense of being one. H<? was ust an ordinary human bein,; -and jerhaps that is why I loved him so.'" Dr. W. O. Stillman, of .t*nurn, vho assisted in the autopsy said that Becker showed unusual resistnnce to ;he electric fluid. After the autopsy, Dr. Stillman said: "I noticed no urjsual effects upon Becker's vital organs. The way he resisted th? ?tvonw :urrent was remarkable, showing him ;o be an unusually powerful man."' It was expected that Becker's body vould be removed some time today ;o New York, where funeral services probably will be held on Sunday. Becker went to his death three pears and a day after his indictment and arrest, and slightly more than 15 months after the execution of the four gunmen convicted of the actual murder of Rosenthal. Becker is the first man who left the death house when granted a new trial, to return there and suffer the death penalty. All others who have left Sing Sing's death house after being granted a new trial have " -'1 _ i 1. _ A xl ? raueci to return mere lor sume reason or other. . Gunmen Kill Rosenthal. Herman Rosenthal, the gambler, for whose murder Charles Becker sentenced to die in the electric chair, was shot to death by hired gunmen in the early morning of July 16,1912 in front of the Hotel Metropole on 43d street, a few steps from Broadway. The murder was the swift culmination of sensational charges made i a few days before by Rosenthal j against Becker in which Rosenthal | asserted that Becker, then head of i the strong arm squad of detectives, | freely sold police protection and had j accumulated thousands; of dollars of graft money. Rosenthal went further than that. He swore that. Becker was his silent partner in a gambling enterprise that failed and that Becker, angered by losses where he had expected large profits, raided the Rosenthal establishment and drove. Rosenthal out of business by stationing uniformed policemen on his premises dayi and ni^ht. These cnarges were published and District Attorney Whitman began an investigation of them. He summoned Rosenthal to the criminal courts building and listened to his story. An appointment was made With Rosenthal for the next day. Before the time came, Rosenthal was murdered. When the assassins had done their work, they ran across the street, jumped into a gray automobile which was waiting at the curb and whirled away uptown. A bystander caught the license number of the car. First News of Murder. District Attorney Whitman, notified by telephone of the murder, reached the police station where Rosenthal's body lay before dawn. He aroused his detectives from their sleep and spread a dragnet over the city for the murder car. It was found before night. It's driver, Louis Shapiro, and Louis Libbey, par owner, were arrested and Mr. Whitman asserted openly in an emphatic statement that the police had abetted the murder. New York city, already interested in the charges of police corruption, responded to the newd of the murder as if to a call to arms. Becker, who had been the chief of tiial's accusations, was openly suspected. He was relieved of his command of the strong arm squad and transferred to the Bronx. Jack Rose his graft collector, walked into the criminal courts building the day after the murder and surrendered to the district attorney/declaring he had nothing to fear. Harry Vallon and Bridgie Webber, gamblers and friends of Rose and Becker, were arrested as witnesses. ' The grand jury began its investigation. Rose lay in prison 12 days without word from Becker, and, believing his chief had deserted him, confessed. Vallon and Webber corroborated his story. He t6ld of his long associal: Ii.L T> ? ?1 - * - liuu wim cei'Ker, oi police COITUption which existed as Rosenthal had charged, of thousands collected by Becker for police protection and, finally, of his commission by Becker to arrange to .have Rosenthal killed by gunmen?a commission he executed. That night, July 29, 1912, District Attorney Whitman summoned the 1? 1 gianu jui,y uy tcicpnuiie ana teie?raph, laid his evidence before it and within two hours obtained the indictment of Becker on a charge of murder. Four East Side gangsters were indicted as the actual murderers. Rose had testified that these men were assigned by "Big Jack" Zelig, a gang leader who had ' been arrested by Becker's men on a trumped-up charge, to do the murder. They were to receive 81,000 and Zelig was to be released. Zelig's orders had been is sued from the Tombs to the gunmen. These gunmen?known in the ~ streets of the East Side as "Gyp the Blood" Horowiui, "Lefty Louie" Rosenberg, "Dago Frank" Cv$fici and "Whitey" Lewis?were rounded up one by one. The last two were arrested. "Gyp ;he Blood" and "Lefty Louie" were not found till September, hiding in a Brooklyn flat. With them were found their young wives, who, to divert suspicion, had died their light hair black. * To give standing to the testimony of Becker's three accomplices who had turned informers?Rose, Webberr, and Vallon?a corroborating witness, who was not implicated was needed. Sam Schepps, a dapper little gambler who had fled the city, was the man who could do this. He was found at Hot Springs, Ark., and brought back to New York and the people's case against Charles Becker was complete. It went to trial on October 7, 1912. Verdict of Guilty Returned. A verdict of guilty of first degree murder was returned at midnight Qctober 24, 1912, after the jury had deliberated reven hours and 57 minutes. Becker was sentenced six days later to die in the electric chair during the week of December 9, 1912. Within less than a. month the four gunmen were placed on trial as the actual slayers, found guilty and sent to the death house. More than a year later, on February 24, 1914, the court of appeals decided that Becker should have a new trial. The gunmen's conviction was upheld and they paid the penalty with their lives on April 14, 1914. One of the number, "Dago' Frank," confessed the guilt of his three associates, but maintained his own innocence. His confession, made on the eve of the execution, became known the day they were put to death. Becker was brought back to the Tombs. His second trial was begun May 6. 1914, and ended May 22, with a verdict of guilty. He was sentenced to die during the week of July fi. 1014. An arneal was filed, hilt the conviction was upheld by the higher court in a decision handed down May 25 last, and the date of the execution was set for the week beginning July' 12. Shortly after the court of appeals denied Becker a third trial, W. Bourke Cockran became Becker's chief counsel. He appeared before United States Supreme Court Justice Hughes and argued for a writ of error, which was* denied. "During the week previous to that in which Becker was sentenced to die Gov. Whitman granted the condemned man a reprieve of two weeks as ' he had learned, it was stated, new motions were to be made in Becker's behalf. Becker's Final Effort. On July 20, a 15,000 word statement by Becker was forwarded to the governor. The statement was said to contain new facts and made public mention for the first time of the name of the late Congressman Timothy D. Sullivan in connection with the case. The governor de- ] clined to commute Becker's sentence after reading the statement. Beck- 1 er's attorney thereupon appealed to Supreme Court Justice Philbin for a third trial and on July 23 the justice signed an order for District Attorney Perkins to show'cause why a new 1 trial should not be granted. The or- : der was returnable before Supreme i Courfe Justice Ford on July 26. The justice reserved decision and devoted nearly all of his time for the next j two days to going over papers in the nnc,* CUaUI.. 1 A ->-1 - -1 il i>aoc, unvi ui; m lci iu u uiock on me night of July 28, Justice Ford announced he had denied the applicat- 1 tion, and Becker's only hope remained in possible executive clemency by Gov. Whitman. Wife Wa? Loyal. Throughout Becker's troubles his ] wife remained loyal to him and was his constant adviser. She labored apparently without tiring in his behalf, < assisting his counsel in every way possible. She appeared to be crush- < ed when the court of appeals upheld , his second conviction, but soon turned her energies toward eleventh hour work to save him. It was largely at ? her urging that he joined in the plan to ask Gov. Whitman, his prosecutor, for clemency. mere was one other woman who, ( if reports are true, followed Becker's career through the courts as closely as his own wife did. This was Herman Rosenthal's widow. Soon after Becker's second conviction she disappeared. Not long ago she was ] found, broken in health and spirit, and living with an oldtime friend. "I am living for only one thing," she was quoted as saying, "to see the day that Becker pays the penalty." Never the Right Road. i It's plain enough you get into the wrong road i' this life if you run ] after this and that only for the sake 1 o' making things easy and pleasant ] for yourself.?George Eliot i V FRESH AIR BA BETTER C ""V^ES! I am doinj 1 a NEW PERFEC NEW PERFECT stove this summer/' "It bakes bread so rich delicious biscuits ? i cake." The secret is the curr< passing continually o1 food?drying out the ting sogginess, an tj of the NEW PERF1 I With a NEW PE] CookstoveandaNEM Oven you can have a < all summer. No wo to carry," no smoke o 'The NEW PERFE gas stove. It is rti Needs no priming, and 4 burner sizes, and general stores eve i Use Aladdin 1 or Diamond 1 to obtain the best ' Stoves, Heaters perjE ohJFook STANDARD OI Washington, D. C. (New Jen Norfolk, Va. (BALTIMC Richmond, Va. > REUNION OF ORR'S REGIMENT j Westminster August 19 and 20, Program for the Occasion. ?J Following is the program for the ^ reunion of Orr's Regiment, August . 19 and 20, to be held at the ischool ? s auditorium in Westminster: ^ Thursday, August 19. 8.00 o'clock- p. m.?General reunion of veterans at town park. s Aiimiat 70 n 10 o'clock a. m.?Call to order by * /ice president. * Invocation by chaplain. T Music?"Dixie." a Address of welcome?Mayor H. B. 1' Gilbert. Welcome by Chapter?Mrs. J. M. ? Bruner. ^ Music?Quartette. J Response to address of welcome? Col. J. C. Stribling. h Address by H. R. Hughs. Subject: a 'The Confederate Soldier?His Service to Us; Our Duty to Him." ^ Adjournment for dinner. 2.00 oclock p. m.?Business session. Election of officers. n Memorial service. I Music (solo)?Mrs. T. Reden An- v ierson. d . Music (solo)?Mrs. D. L. Mulkey. r Address?Gen. M. L. Bonham. j, Song and recitation?Miss Maggie Abbott. \ Dismissal with prayer?Rev. R. L. Duffie. c P Average Normal Nation. The object of the average normal nation is to have more prosperity to ^ raise more taxes to build more battleships to seek more markets to tl sell more goods to have more prosperity to raise more taxes to build ^ more battleships to seek more mar- ^ kets to sell more goods to have more prosperity and so on until something a unforeseen happens.?Life. MM?in m\ mu - 3MB??| ' i| KING MEANS :ooking ' . , ; : ; v3''7 all my baking in TI ON Oven on a HON Oil Cookily browned?such ? such light, fluffy .fs i ent of fresh hot air j ver and. under the. . i steam and prevenrclusive advantage ': '5 ACTION Oven., | RFECTION Oil I 1 PERFECTION sool, clean kitchen od to cut; no coal rashes. _ ; CTION is like a y idy day Or night..*i * * i *1' % *> 1 . iviaae in 1, l, s Hardware dealers 1 V ; jrywhere. Security Oil . ' * White Oil results in oil ' i. and Lamps. . . -i- ; i . s ? feoN, L COMPANY . Cbiriotke. N. C? ** ^ - - )RE) Charleston, W. Va. 1) Charleston, S. C. ... (I. " * 5RYAN SAYS AMERICA IS WITHOUT RIGHT TO ENTER WAR San Francisco, July 26.?William F. Bryan said in address last night at he First Congregational church that hose who are looking for "the big [tick in the scriptures would think he writers of holy writ were molly:oddles." ' ' ' ' "There is a phrase about speaking > oftly but carrying a big stick," said tfr. Bryan. "The man responsible or that phrase never found it in the Jible and his reputation as a wise nan could nftver HptiptiH on ilone. If he gets a> big stick, he oses his soft voice." . , Mr. Bryan declared the United States had no warrant to conceive yar against Germany or any other luropean power. ... ' "To 'go to war with Germany now" ie said, "would be like challenging ,n insane asylum." VILSON TO PLAN DEFENSE OF NATION Washington, July 24.?Official anouncement was made at the White' louse to-day that President Wilson nil take up the question of national efense with Secretary of War Garison and Secretary of the Navy Danjls on his return from. Cornish. This statement was issued at the Vhite House: "Of course the President has been onsidering every phase of this imortant matter and intends while way to give much of his time to a all consideration of it. Upon his ream from Cornish there will dobut?ss be conferences between him and j tie Secretaries of Navy and.War. "The purpose of the conferences rill be to procure information upon 'hich he can base a fair, reasonable nd practical program of national efense." '