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H FAITH IN GOD SEEMING HINDRANCES IN THE END ARE FREQUENTLY RE VEALED AS HELPS. ALL who think deeply upon the subject of God's providences must exclaim with St Paul, "O. the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God: how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out" God's ways are indeed often inscrutable to us. Sometimes we misinterpret his dealings; sometimes we allow our selves to doubt whether God's hand is concerned hi this or that occurrence, and we cannot see how. things which he allows to obtain are compatible with his justice. - Let me say th?t we Bhonld be care ful not to interpret God's providence In fragments. This evil which to us seems overwhelming, may bs only temporary, may be only a link m a chain of a great and a permanent good. So the reverses and humilia tion of a nation are often the prelude to the greater development and the higher manhood or its citizens. In adversity the material of men and na tions is made manifest. Human chi. acter must go through fire before it becomes steel. Forty years ago our land passed through a great crisis Its consequences are not yet worked out, but they are far greater than the mere abolition of slavery. God works not out his purposes rn a day, or a year, nor in 100 years. Four hundred years Israel was in Egypt, and then It pleased God to raise up the emanfci ator. A thousand years the world waited for the Lord's salvation, and then came the fullness of time. Let us remember that in our lives, and lt would lighten many a burden and put a silver lining to many a cloud that God's providence is not to be in terpreted by this or that occurrence, but that these are only links in the golden chain of his goodness. And Paul a Prisoner. Now we come to the story of our text Piuil is ti prison in Rome. That in i'self ls strange. Paul' the ambassador of Jesus Christ in prison)! Can the work he has been doing be God's work? Would God allow it to be thus hiudered? Can Paul be a true servant of Jesus Christ? Think j of the effert it would have upon the poung, struggling churches when they heard that. Fri al the great missionary was in prison. Would they not be tempted to give up the unequal strug gle and disb:'.::d? These questions and others night have presented themselves to many men in those days, and to-d:ty many would think . the same. What does Paul say about lt all? With his missiciiary enthusiasm we would expect to Ind him in despair at being shut up in prison. But on the contrary he writes to the Philip pians, "I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which hap pened unto me have fallen out rather to the furtherance of the gospel." How was that possible? "My bonds In Christ are manifest in all the pal ace, and in all other places." His circumstances are conducing to the spread of the gospel in Rome. His rcry imprisonment, which was intend ed to put an end to his activity, ls in Itself a mission. Its connection, not with political or social causes, but with ChFist. is well known through out the imperial guard, and to the Romans in general. Moreover, the Roman Christians have felt a spiritual Impetus, and his captivity has nerved them to bear a bolder v\ : mess In the eyes of their heathen neighbors. Lesson Worth Learning. It ls a lesson worth learning which j St Paul learned in that prison; that hindrances are often helps; that cir cumstances most untoward may be advancing the kingdom; that faith placed in the goodness, purpose and helpfulness of God is never misplaced. Oh. that we could learn that lesson to accept God's providences as they come with a quiet mind, firmly be lieving that all things shall work out for good to them that love him. Note here also that moral and spir itual things are always higher than what ls individual and personal. Pani was in prison, but the gospel was not bound. Paul's liberty was restrained, but the gospel had free course. Re member that your spiritual nature is above any physical circumstances, that your mission to the world is above any physical well-being. Paul lost his life In the struggle, but the gospel went on. So it has ever been. The consecrated cobbler of England. William Carey, gave his life to India, and hosts of men and women have fol lowed in his steps Livingston died In the African jungle, and it meant the opening of the Dark continent to the gospel. "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, and their works do follow them." We also gather from our text that the spread of the gospel depends on no one man. That is z wonderful comfort It does not depend on this or that imperfect Christian, on you or on me. It did not even depend on the great apostle St. Paul. Let us remem ber that In our congregational life or In the church at large, when good and great men are taken away, and let us thank God that the work of bis king dom depends on no man, but on the living power of the word, and upon the work of the holy spirit and upon the living presence of our savior. Jesus Christ Bible Publications The British and Foreign Bible so cieties printed 7.394.593 copies or the Bible-9G3.377 Bibles, 1.584.262 Testa ments and 4,841,884 smaller portions. (Conducted by the Woman'a Christian Temperance Union.) VIEWS OF EX-SALOONKEEPER Former Owner of Many Dramshops Details Some of His Experiences Drunkard is Idiot Ben Parker, at one time the owner of many saloons in Des Moines, backed heavily by the brewing interests, who afterward gave up the business, says of his former experience: "I defy any man to present one single argument that will stand the acid of criticism in favor of the liquor game. I have wltneessed the working man spend for drink the money that ought to have bought shoes for hie children; have watched the business man spend money over the saloon bar that belonged to other people, and 1 have been particeps criminis to more woe than the bubonic plague ever spread in its most aggressive form. I tell you that the drunkard is more to be pitied than censured. He is a helpless, weak-brained idiot, and it fostered in his prostration by the evils of his surroundings. If all men were strong-minded the saloon would soon go out of business, but unfortunately most men are weaker than their en vironment and fall before the allure ments of vice. It is the absolute rre moval of these surroundings that witt assure the betterment of society, and the way to do it is to stamp out the saJoon, the brewery and the distillery. It will require the united effort of the strong to bring about the desired end." SALOONS MISSED HIS WAGES Entombed Miner Was Glad One Pay Day Passed Without Saloonkeep ers Getting His Pay. In one of the mines of Pennsyl vania there was a cave-in which Im prisoned a miner named Jack Thorn ton. The accident happened on Fri day afternoon, and the fellow-labor ers of the entombed man set to work at once to dig him out It was not until Sunday morning, however, that they reached his prison chamber, and by this time they were wondering whether he had been suffocated or starved to death. One of them stuck his head through the aperture made by the picks of the rescuers and call- ; ed out: "Jack, are you all right?" "All right," came the reply, and then, after a pause, "What, day is this?" "Sunday," answered the friend. "Gee!" exclaimed Jack. "Pm glad of that That was one Saturday night when those saloonkeepers didn't get my wages." BACK DOOR TO THE SALOON Made Use of by Liquor Dealers ta Cast Out Those No Longer Profit able to Their Trade. It ls said that it is better to have the "front doors" of a saloon open than its "back doors." Many of u9 think that it is much better that any business which tends to the de moralization of a community, should be done on the sly, and In violation of law, and amid conditions tending to disgust and repel, rather than un der the sanction of law, and with sur roundings calculated to attract cus tomers. But, however that may be, the "open door" saloon (that ls, the saloon that pretends to observe the restrictions In a license law) ls al ways attended by Its "back door" sa tellites, or those saloons that cater to the poor creatures who have been first lured to ruin by the "open door," and then cast out as no longer fit to be served at no-called decent bara. Col. Fred K. Dow. Its Subtle Influence. It 1B because of the narcotic nature of alcohol, which paralyzes first the highest and noblest functions of tho brain, then gradually the nerves and muscles, and finally consciousness, that the drinker thinks himself better than before, while he is gradually losing the ability to locate himself and to take note of the serious distur bances going on In the machinery and substance of his body-Dr. W. Pfaff. Claim of Saloon Keeper. Thn claim of saloon keepers to free don: in their trafile ls the claim to spre; .: disease, sin and pauperism. Ed ucation, the elevation of the masses, lil ert. -all that the age admires-is set at -aught by this dreadful evil. The ii:;';vidual conscience is the first arm i.>: opposing it, but thc individ ual conscience has to be strengthen ed am] npplemented by brw.-Arch bishop Ireland. Well Answered. 'The Cl ristian Endeavorers aim to wipe out ?he saloon by July 4, 1920. Would lt not be better to Influence the men t-^ that they would use the saloon temperately?"-Both Sides (liouor journal). "Well, dear 'B. 8./ we have been try ing that kind of thing for many a day, but as soon as we get the men Just about 'learnt' they slide Into the slams or are 3ent to the penitentiary or slip their necks into the hangman's noose!" -The Northwestern Patriot \ EVERY UNDERTAKING FOR SO j CIAL BETTERMENT MUST FIND HER DEEPLY INTERESTED. IHAVE been asked about my opin ion of the relation of the church to specific undertakings for social bet terment. Let me say that today every movement for commercial im provement asks for the church's back ing and frequently seeks to be tak en up as the church's own work. Un discriminating critics often protest: "Why are not the churches investi gating the milk supply, providing playgrounds, grappling with the social evil?" eta There ia need for a clear definition of the church's distinctive mission. It is not its task to supply a whole some recreation, or to rurnish sani tary dwellings, or to sell cheaper gro ceries, or to provide education for a community, or to take up the scale of wages in shops and. factories. There may be-there undoubtedly are -circumstances ande?* wuich it be comes necessary for the church to do such things, because no other agency ia meeting au imperative need. A man lying wounded at the roadside has cl; iras on priests and L?vites, al thong. first aid to the injured is not their specific vocation. But the church's proper task, like her Lord's, ia to hold up the ideals, furnish the motive3, and convictions, and provide the devoted men and women who. through the state or private compa nies or benevolent societies shall fen der this social service. And the church's function is to in spire, not to direct. The mediaeval church undertook to control every de partment of human life, crowning and uncrowning kings, decreeing what rate oi interest was legitimate and what was usurous, and the like. The church of today, with voices on every side summoning her to undertake this, that, and the other program of social prog ress, must remind herself of the strict limits within which her Lord confined himself. Duty af the Church. Tho church has quite enough to do, bas the hardest and biggest of all tasks to fulfill in furnishing the world with religion, with principles and faith, the principles and faith of the Son of God. The precise methods by which they shall be embodied in the structure of society it is not for her to say, for she ha? not been told. She will be sympathetic with every at tempt to incarnate Christian ideals; but her unique function is to proclaim the ideals, train the men and women who espouse them, and supply in the person of her Lord the compelling power and guiding wisdom for their embodiment Tho social unrest of today dei*?&?ft* ! of her intelligent and daring Chris j Uan leadership. This unrest is large ly materialistic in that it is primarily interested in a juster distribution of wealth; but even so, it is dominated by a fine ethical idealism. It is the church's duty to sympathize with and then spiritualize this discontent -to make people restive because existing relations are cramping and ruinous to the consciences and souls of men; to hold forth plak'ly the social princi ples of Jesus Christ, and above all to proclaim the living God as the only adequate architect and builder of the holy city of our aspirations.-Rev. Henry Sloane Coffin, D. D. Revealing the Secret Thoughts. It ls a curious thing that a speaker win taken an audience into his confi dence to a degree impossible with even the closest friend. If we want to know a man's inmost mind on the highest subjects fn the world, we have to go to his books or hear some dis course of his. There ls a reserve that seems to tighten the nearer we ap proach each other, and release itself when we are In the presence of our fellow-creatures. To this anomally we owe the fact that the injunction of Jesus aa to secrecy In prayer may be fulfilled in public worship. In tho presence of a common humanity bent on the same purpose the secrets of men's hearts have been brought into prayer. "Enter into thy closet." be comes a spiritual direction, and in the public sanctuary men find themselves praying in secret aa nowhere else. What lifelong intimacy will not bring la realized in what friends hear from one, though a stranger, who apealo* of things too private for personal con verse, bat true to what is in the com mon heart Association brings oat what isolation hides. "Where two or three are gathered together in my name," Jesus said, "there ara I in the midst of them."-Christian Register. What Failure Means. Have you t*?er felt that all your ef forts have been of no avail? and that however hard you have tried, you must know at last that you have failed? But when there comps a time when you can be alone with God. have you not seen that he can bring again from thc dead all our decayed hopes and stupefied ambitions? and cause to bloom again the flower of unself ish achievement? He has come "walk ing in the cool of the day"; he tar ries long after the fevered conditions of life's exacting sun haTe made their inroads, and when the sh^ows of evening fall. He Is there tb say if we have risen from failure to meet him coming to us. that it is well, and that though we have been cast down, ?re "shall not utterly fail." The real tragedy of life ts not In being limited tc one talent, but In the failure to UBe the one talent Ed*ar w. Work. PRO EESSIONAL DR. J. S. BYRD, Dec tal Surgeon OFFICE OVER POSTOFFICE. Residence 'Phone 17-R. Office 3. James A. Dobey, Dental Strrgeon Johnston, S. C [ OFFICE OVER JOHNSTON DRUG CO A. H. Curley,] Surgeon Dentipt Appointments at Trenton On Wednesdays. I Crown and Bridge work a Specialty King of Externals Accepted by the Mothers of America as the one and only external preparation that positively and quickly CURES all forms of in flammation or Congestion snch as Pneumonia,Group, Coughs, Colds, Pleurisy. Since Gowans Preparation hus been introduced here it has gained a strong foot-hold in many ot our best families whom I know are giv- j -, ing yon advertisement right along i I without solicitation. lt always makes good. . Weidling & Son, Tiffin, Ohio. Druggists. BUY TO-DAY! H?VE IT IN THE HOME All Dra??isf?. SI. 50o. 25c. GOWAN MEDICAL CO. Suaraotwd. and nomi ref ja4?<) b) four Druggist Seed Irish Potatoes. We aro now prepared to till youi order for seed Irish potatoes such ai Kliss Triumph, Irish Cobbler, etc., of all kinda. We sell only the Eastern grown potatoes that ari thoroughly reliable in every respect Penn &> Flolstein Soir N TO ONE AND ALL: I will have by May the public in repairincr Also will have a first Dam Mills, and will c; my planer mill stand. One car One car One car One car I also have a compli 3'our many wants at p E Edgefield Fertili Cotton I Soda,Bloi Mixed g( Royster, can Agr Georgia 1 Call and se Citation. The State of South Carolina, Coun ty of Edgefield. By W. T Kinnaird, Probate Judge. Whereas, J. C. Adams baa made suit to me, to grant him Letters of Administration of the Estate of . and effects of Wm. J. Adams. These Are Therefore to cite and admonish all and singular the kin dred and Creditors of the said Wm. J. Adams, deceased, that they be and appear before me, in the Court of Probate, to be held at my office ? at Edgefield C. H., S. C., on 9th day of May next, after publication thereof, at ll o'clock in the fore noon, to show cause, if any they have, why the said Administration should not be granted. toi? Given under my Hand this 22nd day of April A. D., 1918. Published on the ?3rd and aoth April and 7th dav of May 11)13 ia the Edgefield ^Advertiser. W. T.jKinnaird, J. P. E. C. Pedigree'JSeed. Landre?h's need hive been known for years by the title, Seed which Succeed. They succeed because they nre vital. They succeed be cause they have quality. Let us have your orders for anything you need in garden seed. Mail or.ders wih have our prompt attention W. E. Lynch & Co. Ice Cream Delivered in Quantities.^ cfe^ We are now prepared to fill or ders for ice creara delivered in 3ny quantities at your residence. Or ders sent in SaturdaV for Sunday will be delivered Sunday morning. We can funvsh all of tho popular flavors. Give us a trial. Tirnmons ?fe Morgan. Pasturing Stock. r I solicit your stock for pasture. i Have 500 ?ores under wire on , Horn's Creek, will give stock my ? personal attention. See me for ; prioes. L. T. Bryan. 4-2?-4t. lething Nee OTIC 15, IQ13, a first-class machine all kinds of machinery such as class machinist, Mr. J. C. Wal arry in stock a complete line ol I have just received kerosene oil gasolene flooring and ceiling lime ete line of merchandise at the d rices to compete. I solicit your . S. JOHOSC Mercantile izers and Fertilizer Ma For 1913. Seed Meal, N od,Kamit, 16p< Dods manufac Armour, Swii icultural Cher. Chemical Woi One car patent pl One car brick Two cars shinglef e Mr. R. C. Pad A. E. Padgett. Light Saw, Lathe and Shin gle Mills, Engines, Boilers, S upplies and repairs, Porta qle , Steam and Gasoline En gines, Saw Teeth, Files, Belts and Pipes. WOOD SAWS and SPLITTERS Gins and Press Repairs. Try LOMBARD, AIWUSTAL. GA.. Very Serious It ig a very serious matter to ask for one medicine and have the wrong one given yon. For thia reason we urge you in buying to be careful to get the genuine BUCK-DRAUGHT Liver Medicine The reputation of t!iis old, relia ble medicine, for constipation, in digestion and liver trouble, is firm ly established. It docs not imitate other medicines. It is better than others, or it would not be the fa vorite Kver powder, with a larger sale than all others combined. SOLD IN TOWS F2 LUNG nmm "After four in our family had died of consumption 1 was taken with a frightful cough and lung trouble, hut my life was saved anal gained 87 pounds through using 'S W. K. Patterson, Wellington, Tex. PRICE 50c and $1.00 AT AU. DR?66ISTS. shop and wish to serve is used in this country, ker, now of the Braver piping and fittings at epot and can supply ? patronage.