The Aiken recorder. [volume] (Aiken, S.C.) 1881-1910, April 01, 1892, Image 3
REV. DR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN*
l DAY SERMON.
Subject: “Og, Kins of BadKan."
^ Tut: “Only Og, king of Bashan, re
mained of the remnant of giants} behold hit
bedstead teas a bedstead of iron; it it not in
Rabbath of the children of Ammon f Nine
cubits was the length thereof and four
cubits the breadth of it”—Deuteronomy
iii.. 11.
The story of giants is mixed with myth.
William the Conqueror was said to have
been of overtowering altitude, but when in
aftertime his tomb was opened his bones in
dicated that he had been physically of only
ordinary size. Roland the Hero was said to
have been of astounding stature, but when
his sepulchre was examined his armor was
found only large enough to flt an ordinary
man. Alexander the Great had helmets
and shields of enormous size made and left
among the peonle whom he had conquered,
so as to give the impression that be was a
giant, although he was rather under than
oyer the usual height of a man. But that
in other days and lands there were real
S ants is authentic. One of the guards of
e Duke of Brunswick was eight and a
half feet high. In a museum in London is
the skeleton of Charles Birne, eight feet
four inches in stature. The Emperor Maxi-
mi n was over eight feet.
Pliny tells of a giant nine feet high and
two other giants nine and a half feet. So I
am not incredulous when I come to my text
and find King Og a giant, and the size of
his bedstead, turning the cubits of the text
into feet, the bedrtead of Og, the king, must
have been about thirteen and a half feet
long. Judging from that the giant who oc
cupied it was probably about eleven feet in
stature, or nearly twice the average human
size. There was no need of Rabbinical
writers trying to account for the presence of
this giant. King Og, as they did, by saying
that he came down from the other side of
the flood, being tall enough to wade the wa
ters beside Noah’s ark, or that he rode on the
top of the ark, the passengers inside the ark
daily providing him with foo 1, There was
nothing supernatural about him. He was
simply a monster in size
Cyrus and Solomon slept on beds of gold,
and Sardanapalus had 150 bedsteads of gold
burned up with him, but this bedstead of
my text was of iron—everything sacrificed
for strength to hold this excessive avoirdu
pois, this Alp of bone and flesh. No wonder
this couch was kept as a curiosity at Rab
bath, and the people went from far and near
to see it, just as now people go to museums
to behold the armor of the ancients. You
say what a fighter this giant, King Og,
must have been. No doubt of it. I suppose
the size of his sword and breastplate corre-
sponded to the size of his beadstead, and bis
stride across the battlefield and the full
stroke of his arm must have been appalling.
With an armed host he comes down to drive
back the Israelites, who are marching on
from Egypt to Canaan.
We have no particulars of the battle, but
I think the Israelites trembled when they
saw this monster of a man moving down to
crush them. Alas for the Israelites! Will
their troubles never cease? What can men
five and a half feet high do against this war
rior of eleven feet, and what can short
swords do against a sword whose gleam
must have been like a flash of lightning?
The battle of Edrei opened. Moses and his
army met the giant and his army. The Lord
of Hosts descended into the fight, and the
gigantic strides that Og had made when ad
vancing into the battle were more than
equaled by the gigantic strides with which
he retreated. Huzza for triumphant Israel!
Sixty fortified cities surrendered to them,
land of indescribable opulence comes into
eir possession, and all that is left of the
giant king is the iron bedstead. “Nine cubits
was the length thereof and four cubits the
breadth of it.”
Why did not the Bible give us the
size of the giant instead of the size of the
bedstead? Why did it not indicate that the
giant was eleven feet high instead of telling
us that his couch was thirteen and a half
feet long? No doubt among other things it
-was to teach us that you can judge of a man
by his surroundings. Show me a man’s
associates, show me a man’s books, show me
a man’s home, and I will tell you what he is
without your telling me one word about
bim. You cannot only tell a man accord
ing to the old adage. “By the company he
keeps,” but by the books he roads, by the
pictures he admires, by the church he at
tends. by the places he visits. Moral
giants and moral pygmies, intellectual
giants and intellectual pygmies, like physical
giants or physical pygmies may be judged
by their surroundings.
When a man departs this life you can tell
what has been his influence in a community
for good by those who mourn for bim and
by how sincere and long continued are the
regrets of his taking off. There may be no
pomp or obsequies and no pretense at epi-
tapheology, but you can tell how high ne
was in consecration, and how high in use
fulness by how long is his shadow when he
comes to lie down. V\ hat is true of indi
viduals is true of cities and nations. Show
me the free libraries and schools of a city,
and I will tell you the intelligence of its
people. Show me its gallary of painting and
sculpture, and 1 will tell you the artistic ad
vancement of its citizens. Show me its
churches, and I will tell you the moral and
religious status of the place.
From the fact that Og’s bedstead was
thirteen and a half feet long, 1 conclude the
g iant himself was about eleven feet high.
ut let no one by this thought be induced to
surrender to unfavorable environments. A
man can make his own bedstead. Chan trey
and Hugh Miller were born stonemasons,
but the one became an immortal sculptor
and the other a Christian scientist whose
name will never die. Turner, the painter,
in whose praise John Ruskin expended the
greatest genius of his life, w&s the son of a
barber who advertised “a penny shave.”
Dr. Prideaux, one of the greatest scholars of
all time, earned his way through college by
scouring pots and pans. The late Judge
Bradley worked his own wav up from a
charcoal burner to the bench of the supreme
court of the United States. Yes, a man can
decide the size of his own bedstead.
Notice furthermore that even giants must
rest. Such enormous physical endowment
on the part of King Og might suggest the
capacity to stride across all fatigue and
omit slumber. No. He required an iron
bedstead. Giants must rest. Not apprecia
ting that fact how many of the giants
yearly break down. Giants in business,
giants in art, giants in eloquence, giants in
usefulness. They live not out more than
half their days. They try to escape the
consequence of overwork by a voyage
across the sea or a sail in a summer yacht,
or call on physicians for relief from insom
nia or restoration of unstrung nerves or the
arrest of apoplexies, when all they need is
what this giant of my text resorted to—an
iron bedstead.
Let no ohe think because he has great
strength of body or mind that he can afford
to tr.fle with his unusual gifts. The com
mercial world, the literary world, the artis
tic world, the political world, the religious
world, are all the time aquake with the crash
of falling giants. King Og no doubt had a
throne, but the Bible never mentions his
throne. King Og no doubt had crown, but
the Bible never mentions his crown.
King Og no doubt had a scepter, but
the Bible does not mention his scepter.
Yet one of the largest verses of the Bible is
taken up in describing his bedstead. So God
all. up and. down the Bible, honors sleep.
Adam, with his head on a pillow of Edenic
roees, has his slumber blest by a divine gift
of beautiful companionship. Jacob, with
his head on a pillow of rock, has his sleep
glorified with a ladder tilled with deacending
and ascending angels. Christ, with a pillow
made out of the folded up coat of a fisher
man honors slumber in the back part of the
«torm tossed boat.
la Bible times, when people arose at the
voice of the bird, they retired at the time
the bird puts his head under his wing. One
of our national sins is robbery of sleep.
Walter Scott was so urgent about this duty
of slumber that, when arriving at a hotel
where there was no room to sleep in except
that in which there was a corpse,'inquired if
the deceased had died of a contagious disease,
and, when assured he had not, took the other
bed in the room and fell into profoundest
slthnber. Those of small endurance must
certainly require rest if even the giant needs
an iron bedstead. .
notice, furthermore, that God’s people on
the way to Canaan need not be surprised If
they confront some sort of a giant. Had not
the Israelltish host had trouble enough al
ready? No! Red sea not enough. Water
famine not enough. Long marches not
enough. Opposition by enemies of ordinary
stature not enough. Ther must 1 /W
the giant of the iron bedstead. “Nine
cubits was the length thereof and four
cubits the breadth of it.” Why not let these
Israelites go smoothly into Canaan without
this gigantic opposition? Oh, they needed
to have their courage and faith further
tested and developed 1 And blessed the man
who, in our time, in his march toward the
Promised Land, does not meet more than
one giant. Do not conclude that yon are not
on the way to Canaan because of this ob
stacle.
As well might the Israelites conclu le they
were not on the way to the Promised Land
because they met 0& the giant. Standing
in your way is some evil propensity, some
social persecution,some business misfortune,
some physical distress. Not one of yon but
meets a giant who would like to hew you in
twain. Higher than eleven feet this Og
darkens the sky and the rattle of his buckler
stuns the ear. But you are going to get the
victory, as did the Israelites. In the name
of the God of Moses and David and Joshua
and Paul, charge on Him, and you will
leave his carcass in the wilderness. Yon
want a battle shout!
Take that with which David, the five-
footer, assailed Goliath, the nine-footer;
when that giant cried, with stinging con
tempt both in manner and intonation,
“Come to me and I will give thy flesh unto
the fowls of the air and to the beasts of the
field,” and David looked up at the monster
of braggadocio and defiantly replied: “Thou
comeet to me with a sword, and with a
spear,, and with a shield; but I come to tbee
in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of
the armies of Israel, whom thou has defied.
This day will the Lord deliver thee unto mine
hand, and I will smite thee and take thine
head from thee, and I will give the carcasses
of the host of the Philistines this day unto
the fowls of the air and to the wild beasts
of the earth, that all the earth may know
that there is a god in Israel.”
Then David, with probably three swirls of
the sling about his head, got itinto^uffleient
momentum and let fly till the cranium of
the giant broke in and he fell and David
leaped on his carcasss, one foot on his chest
and the other on his head, and that was the
last of the Philistine. But be sure you get
the right battle shout and that you utter it
with the right spirit, or Og will roll over
you as easily as at plght ne rolled into his
iron bedstead.
Brethren, I have made up my mind that
we will have to fight all the wav up to the
Promised Land. I used to think tnat after
awhile 1 would get Into a time where it
would ba smooth and easy, but the time does
not come and It will never come in this
world. By the time King Og is used up so
that he cannot get into his iron bedstead,
some other giant of opposition looms up to
dispute our ways. Let us stop looking for
an easy time and make it a thirty years’
war, or a sixty years’ war, or a hundred
years’ war, if we live so long.
Mast I be carried to the skies
On flowery beds of ease,
While others fought to win the prise
And sailed througu bloody seas?
Do you know the name of the biggesf
giant that you can possibly meet—and you
will meet him? He is not eleven feet high,
but one hundred feet high. His bedstead
is as long as the continent. His name is
Doubt. His common food is Infidel books
and skeptical lectures and ministers who do
not know whether the Bible is inspired at all
or inspired in spots, and Christians woo are
more infidel than Christian. You will never
reach the Promised Lana unless you slay
that giant. Kill Doubt or Doubt will kill
you. How to overcome this giant? Pray
for faith, go with people who have faithl
read everything that encourages faith, avoid
as you would ship fever and smallpox the
people who lack faith.
in this battle against King Og use not for
weapons the crutch of a limping Christian or
the sharp pen of a controversialist, but the
sword of truth, which is the word of God.
The word “If” is made up of the same num
ber of letters as the word “Og,” and it is
just as big a giant. If the Bible be true.
If the soul be immortal. If Christ be God.
If our belief and behavior here decide our
future destiny. If. If. If. I hate that
word “If.” Noah Webster says it is a con
junction; I say it is an armed giant. Satan
breathed upon it a curse when he said to
Christ, “If Thou be the Son of God.”
What a dastardly and infamous “If.”
Against that giant “IP’ hurl Job’s “I
know" and Paul’s “I know.” “I know that
my Redeemer liveth.” “I know in whom I
have believed.” Down with the “IP’ and up
with “I know.”
Oh, that giant Doubt is such a cruel
giantl It attacks many in the last hour.
It would not let my mother aloue even in
her dying moments. After a life of holi*
□ess and consecration such as I never heard
of in any one else, she said to my father,
“Father, what if after all our prayers and
struggles should go for nothing.” Why
could she not, after all the trials and sick
nesses and bereavements of a long life and
the infirmities of ol 1 age, be allowed to go
without such a cruel stroke from Doubt, the
giant? Do you wonder I have a grudge
against the old monster? If I could I would
give him a bigger bounce than Satan got
when, hurled out of heaven, the first thing
he strack was the bottom of perdition.
With Og’s downfall all the sixty cities
surrendered. Notning was left of the giant
except his iron bedstead, which was kept in
a museum at Rabbath to show how tall and
stout be once was. So shall the last giant
of opposition in the church’s march suc
cumb. Not sixty cities captured, but ail
the cities. Not only on one side of Jordan,
but on both sides of all the rivers. The
day is coming. Hear it, all ye who are
doing something for the conquest of the
world for God and the truth, the time will
come when, as there was nothing left of Og,
the giant, but the iron bedstead kept at
Rabbath as a curiosity, there will be notn-
ing left of the giants of iniquity except
something for the relic hunters do examine.
Which of the giants will be the last slain I
know not, but there will be a museum some
where to hold the relics of what they onoe
were. A rusted sword will be hung up—the
only relic of the giant of War. A demijohn
—the only relio of the giant of Inebriation.
A roulette ball—the only relic of the giant of
Hazard. A pictured certificate of watered
stocks—the only relic of the giant of Stock
Gambling. A broken knife—the only relic
of the giant of Assassination. A yellow
copy of Tom Paine—the only relic of the
f iant of Unbelief. And that museum will
o for the later ages of the world what the
iron bedstead at Rabbath did for the earlier
ages. Do you not see it makes all the differ
ence in the world whether wo are fighting
on toward a miserable defeat or toward a
final victory?
All the Bible promises prophesy the latter,
and so I cheer you who are the troops of
God, and though many things are dark now,
like Alexander I review the array by torch
light, and I give you the watchword wnich
Martin Luther proclaimed, “The Lord of
Hosts.’” “The Lord of Hosts. 1 ” and I cry
out exultingly with Oliver Cromwell at the
battle of Dunbar, “Let God arise, let His
enemies be scattered.” Make all the prep
arations for the world’s evangelization.
Have the faith of Robert and Mary Aloffatt,
the missioners, who after preaching in
BeChuanaland for ten years without one
convert when asked what they would like to
have sent them by the way of gift from
England, said, “Senda communion service,
for it will be surely needed;” and sure
enough the expected ingathering of many
souls was realized and the communion ser
vice arrived in time to celebrate it. Ap
propriately did that missionary write in an
album when his autograph was requested:
My album Is the savage breast.
Where darkness re:gns and tempests wrest.
Without one ray of light.
To write the name of Jesus there
And point to worlds both bright and fair.
And see the savage bowed m prayer.
Is my supreme delight.
“Whatever your work and wherever you
work for God—forward I You in your way
and I in my way. With holy pluci fight on
with something of the strength of Thomas
Troubridge, who at Inkermann had one leg
shot off and the foot of the other leg. an 1
when they proposed to carry him off the
field, replied: “No. I do not move until the
battle is won.” Whatever be the rocking of
the church or state, have the calmness of the
aged woman in an earthquake that fright
ened everybody else, and who, when
asked if she was not a frail, said,
“No: I am glad that I have a God
who can shake the world.” Whether your
work be to teach a Sabbath class, or nurse
an invalid, or reform a wanderer, or print a
tract, or train a household, or bear the
querulousness of senility, or cheer the dis
heartened, or lead a soul to Christ, know
that by fidelity you may help hasten the
time when the world shall be snowed under
with white lily and incarnadined with red
rose.
And now I bargain with you that we will
come back some day from our supersteller
abode to see how the world looks when it
■hall be fully etnparadised—its last tear
wept, Its last wound headed, its last shackle
broken. Its last desert gardenisod, its last
giant of iniquity decapitated* And when
we land, may it be somewhere near the spot
of earth where we have together toiled and
struggled for the kingdom of God, and may
it be about this hour in the high noon of
some glorious Sabbath, looking into the up
turned faces of some great audience radiant
with holiness and triumph.
SABBATH SCHOOL.
i
INTERNATIONAL LESSON
APRIL 3.
FOR
Lesson Text* “The Wav of the
Righteous,” Psalm i., 1-18—
Golden Text: Psalm i, 1
—Commentary.
1. “Blessed is the man that walketh not in
the counsel of the ungodly, nor standech in
the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of
the scornful.” The whole book of Psalms is
divided into five books, the endings of which
are easily seen (xli., 13; IxxiL, 19: Ixxxix.
5‘2; cvi., 48; cxix., ti). The anc.ent Rabbins,
saw in the live books of Psalms the image of
the five books of the law. It has been said
that the Law is the Lord’s fivefold word to
the congregation, and the Psalter is the con
gregation’s fivefold word to the Lord.
Psalm i. is the preface to tne whole book or
or the text of the sermon. The sub
ject is the happiness of the right
eous and the destruction of sinners.
The word translated “Blessed,” or more
literally, “O the blessings,"’ is used over
forty times in the Old Testament, twenty-
five of which are in the Psalms. The first
is in Dent, xxxiii., 29, and the last in Dan.
xii., 12. It is a different word from another
which is translated “Blessed,” signifying to
bend the knee to, or worship, and used over
3CC times. In this negative description of
the happy man observe the three times three
of the down grade of the wicked, which be
avoids—walketh, standetn, sittetn, the
counsel, the way, the seat, the ungodly, sin
ners, the scornful. The counsel would be to
let religion alone. The way is toat of the
theater, the gambler, the drunkard. The
seat is that of confirmed impiety. By resist
ing the first we get victory over all. The
following are very heipfui texts in reference
to counsel: Ps. cvi., 43; xxxiii., 10, 11;
Ixxiii.. 24; xxxii.. 8, margin.
2. “But his delight is in the law of the
Lord, and in His law doth he meditate day
end night.” This is the positive description
. 2 the happy man and the secret of his
blessedness. In the word of God ha finds
God Himself, and God becomes his deligut.
The entrance of the word has enlightened
him, caused him to see bis sinfulness and
plead guilty, led him to the blood tnat
maketh atonement for the soul, and now he
is the happy man whose transgression is for
given, whose sin is covered and to waom
iniquity is not imputed (Ps. cxix., 130;
xxxii., 1, 2; Rom. iii., 19, 24; Lev. xvii., 11).
Having, as a poor man—one possessing
nothing but sin—found the riches of the
Lord, yea, durable ricaes and riguteousness
(Prov. viii.,18,19), his heart goes out to others
who as poor as he once was, and so car
rying to them the word of the Lord which
made him rich,and seeing the Lord s grace to
them, he learns to delight greatly in the
Lord (Ps. xli., 1; Isa. Iviii., 8, 11, 14).
3. “And he shall be like a tree planted by
the rivers of water, that bringeth forta his
fruit in bis season; his leaf iuso snail nos
wither; and whatsoever he doetn shall pros
per.” He learns to say with Thomas A.
Kempis, “I have no rest but in a nook wita
the Book,” and thus eating the word day and
night, his roots go down deep by the living
water and he learns to say to God, “All my
springs are in Thee” (Ps. Ixxxvii., 7). And
though he may be outwardly oppressed and
afflicted, even falsely accused and imprisoned
like Joseph, or actually beaten like Paul and
Silas, yet he prospers, and can make bis joy
in the Lord to be heard and felt (Gin. xxxix.,
2, 23; Acts xvi., 2o<. The fruit of the
tspirit, love, joy, peace, etc., is only ripened,
mellowed and brought out more beautifully
by the fruits of affliction. In Jer. xvii., 7,
8, there is a very similar description o2 one
whose trust in in the Lor f, an 1 wuosa hope
the Lord is. The secret is that the Al
mighty God is the all sutfleient home of tha
soul—or, in other words, in Jesus dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and
we are filled full in Him (Gen. xvii., 1; II
Cor. vi., 17, 18; Col. ii., 9, 10).
4. “The ungodly are not so. but are like
the chaff which the wind drivetu away.”
And yet Christ died for the ungodly (P,om.
v, 6) and is not willing that any should
perish (II Pet. iii., 9),entreating tnose wnose
sins are as deep dyeu as scarlet and crimson
to come to Him and bs made whiter than
snow (Isa. i., IS). But if they will not turn
to Him, persisting in disobedience and re
bellion, then when He gathers in His wheat
into the garner He will burn up the chaff
with unquenchable fire (Math, iii., 12). He
will say unto some, ‘•Depart from Me, ye
cursed, into everlasting fire prepared tor the
devil and his angles.” “These shall go away
into everlasting punishment, but the right
eous into life eternal” (Math, xxv., 41. 46).
Chaff is just like wheat in form, but it is all
form and no substance. Let us take heed.
5. “Therefore the ungodly snail not stand
in the judgment, nor sinners in the congre
gation of the righteous.” Thus early m
Scripture do we find reference to the dis
tinctive resurrections and judgments of
unrigbteousnes which are so c.eariy spoken
of in the New Testtment. Ihe word “stand”
in this verse is in Ps. Ixxxviii., 10, and else
where translated “arise;” so we might read,
“The ungodly shall not arise in tne judg
ment.” The Scriptural programme is simply
this: At death the spirits of the rigateous
enter into conscious bliss, the spirits ot tne
lost into conscious torment, the bodies of all
alike going to corruption; when Curist comes
to the air tor His saints their bodies rise, and
soul and body reunited appear at His judg
ment seat to receive rewards for service and
places in His kingdom. Only believers are
in that judgment. They return with Him to
judge tne living nations ana convert Israel
and bring in the millennium, or thousand
years, at the end of wnich the ungodly arise
to stand before the great white throne and go
away into the lake of fire (Luke xvi., 22, 23;
Phil, i., 21, 23; IThess. iv., 16-18; II Cor. v.,
10, Lukexix., 11-15; Rev. iii., 21; I Cor. vi.,
2; Rev. xx., 1-15).
6. “For the Lord knoweth the way of the
righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall
perish.” He looks with approval upon the
way of the righteous for they walk in His
way. Their prayer is “Show me Thy wav,
O Lord teacn me Thy paths” (Ps. xxv., 4),
and they find that all His ways are pleasant
and His paths are peace (Prov. iii., 17). The
ways of the Lord are right, and the just
shall walk in them, but the transgressors
shall fall therein (Hos. xiv., 9). The way of
the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord
(Prov. xv.. 9). There are openly ungodly
people who confess that they care not for
the way of the Lord , tbese are not
the worst enemies of Christ, although by
their own confession they are without hope
in the world. There are others who bear the
name of the people of God, and, like the
remnant in Jeremiah’s day, say. “Pray for
us unto the Lord thy God, that the Lord
thy God may show us the way wherein
we may walk and the thing that we may
do ” Then when God’s way is made known
to them, because it does not happen to be to
their liking, they turn their backs upon God
and do their own pleasure. (See Jer. xlii.,
2, 3; xliv., 16, 17).—Lesson Helper.
The Des Moines Register rises to
exclaim that “the patron-saint of all
nurses is the great singer, Florence
Nightingale. Her labors in the
Crimean war have immortalized her
name more than the sweetest songs
that ever fell from her lips.” Where
did you get it, Mr. Register? What
authority have you for saying that
Florence could sing any better than a
woodpecker? Call in your musical
editor, examine your library, and
then blame the whole thing oa some
luckless compositor.
The more the girls pine for some
young man the more spruce they be
come.
LADIES* DEPARTMENT.
The great foundation of civil virtue
is self-denial; and there is no one
above the necessities of life but has
opportunities of exercising that noble
quality, and doing as much as his
circumstances, will bear for the ease
and convenience of other men.
WOMEN PHRENOLOGISTS.
Among carious additions to the
professions <,1 wenaen is the woman
phrenologist She is fast gaining in
popularity, and, in short, it is ex
pected she will rival the fortune-teller
in her mysticisms and trickeries,
though, of course, you must admit
that she hes science of a certain kind
on her side. Just now she is quite a
refined faddist and performs only
among the select “400,” who pay her
a goodly sura to keep exclusive and
amuse only those of their set — [San
Francisco Examiner.
OLD FASHIONS REVIVED.
In looking over a rare old book of
illustration of fashions 120 years ago
it is noted that many of the modes of
the present day are almost identical in
feature with those of long ago. For
instance, the bell skirt, with borders,
ruches and other horizontal trimmings;
bodices with round waists finished
with clasps, girdles and chatelaine or
naments; the leg-o’-muttop sleeve
buttoned half way up the arm, etc.
These fashion prints also show the
coiflure corresponding in several styles
to the present method of arranging
the hair. — [Chicago Post.
WOMEN KEEPING BANK ACCO' NTS.
The president of one of the big up
town banks, ^uated near Murray
Hill, tells me that during the past few
years a wonderful change has come
over womankind. Hundreds of
women now keep small bank accounts
and when they pay their bills they
draw checks for the amounts, just the
same as men and thus avoid a good
deal of annoyance. Time was when
women were as much afraid of keep
ing a bank acount as of a buzz saw in
action, and they grew nervous, blushed
and hemmed and hawed when tiiey
signed a check. All this is changed
now. New York women are becom
ing accustomed to business ways.
They no longer carry rolls of bills in
their pockets or knotted in their hand
kerchiefs. Instead they carry dainty
little check books. It’s the fashion,
and who ever knew a New York
woman to be out of the fashion?
— [New Ybrk Mail and Express.
WOMAN’S STATUS IN CHINA.
During her first ten years the girl
enjoys as much freedom as a boy*
Like a boy, she wears her hair in a
long “pigtail,” and frequently goes
about in boy , *y attire, especially where
there are no in the family, for in
that case thc^Kiese wish to maintain
the illusion thafiUhe house is not with
out male decendants. During this
time also, no m.lter what her station,
she is trained in all household duties
and woman’s handicrafts, writes Pro
fessor Areudt in the Chautauquan. A
high value is put on becoming de
meanor, decent bearing and clothing,
and in many houses it is considered a
point of honor for the daughter to be
able to prepare a large part of her
dowry with her own hand.
“While the Chinese girl may be no
less fortunate than a European child
during these years of impressionable
childhood the Chinese parents, with
few exceptions, commit the first wrong
to their daughters by letting them
grow up without any schooling. This
applies especially to the North; in the
South, particularly in the Quang-Tong
province, in which Canton lies, a bet
ter report was obtained; although
there education among women did not
begin to be so common as among men,
there were a few schools for girls un
der women’s direction, while many
received instruction from private
teachers at the homes of their par
ents.
evenings
talking
ngo
HOW MEN PROPOSE.
The I. S. O. S. Club was
the matter ever a few
and one woman held the floor.
“Of course, Charlie’s case has
brought the matter forcibly before
me just now,” she said mournfully;
“but I always have contended that
men don’t know when and how to
propose. I’ve refused at least three
whom I’d have married if they had
asked me at the right time.”
A woman in a brown ulster, who
sat off in one corner, suggested that it
might have been bad policy to marry
all of them, but the speaker treated
this remark with the contempt it de-
i served.
“Charlie, yon know,” she went on,
“poured the story of his passion into
my ear at Harrigan’s Theatre, during
a performance of the “Lust of the
Hogans.” and while the Knights of the
Mystift Shrine were singing their
touching lay. He said it reminded him
that he had been worshipping at a
certain shrine, etc. I refused him on
the spot.
“A man whom I'll call George
selected a particularly cold evening
last month, when the mercury was
burrowing in the ground, and made
his little speech on my front steps.
My teeth were chattering, my nose
was red, I had a cold in the head and
it was getting .worse every minute.
My refusal of George was kind bui
prompt” *
“My experience was worse than
that,” said auither member. “The
youth proposedIto me at supper, after
the theatre, an
varied by bites (f bread and butter,
remarks were
and bj delicate attentions in the way
of urging food upon me. I actually
became so confused before he got
through that I didn’t know whether
he was offering me himself or the cold
chicken. Anyhow, I declined them
both. I want a man who can stop
eating long enough to ask a woman to
be his wife.”
“The most interesting proposal of
my experience,” remarked a third,
“was that of an absent-minded young
man who used notes. I was giving a
little reception, and of course, my
time was much occupied. The young
man realized that this wonld be the
case and, to facilitate matters, he
brought with him a memorandum. I
afterwards found it on the floor,
where he had dropped it in his agi
tation.
“Montion raise in salary.
“Mention loneliness.
“Mention pleasure in her society.
“Mention pro-pects from Uncle Jim.
. “Never loved before.
“Propose.
“I’m being a sister to him now.”
“You’re all very critical,” said the
President, “but what do you think a
man ought to do?”
“He should exercise tact,” said one.
“He should wait until the two are
aloue, with no chance of interrup
tion,” said another.
“He should be sure that the sur
roundings are in harmony with the
situation.”
“He should give his uudivided at
tention to the woman.”
Above all this rose the quiet voice ,
of a little woman who had not spoken
before.
“The man who doesn’t propose at
the right time is exasperating,” she
said softly; “but what of the man
who doesn’t propose at all?”
There was a sudden calm, and over
the face of every member settled a
look of patient suffering. — [New York
World.
FASHION NOTES-*
Plaids and checks are very largo at
present.
Enameled jewelry is made to imitate
rosettes and bows of ribbon.
Spangles of different sizes and colors
are employed in profusion for trim
ming bonnets.
Striped taffetas sprinkled with jar
diniere effects are only found in light,
delicate shades.
Blue, iu all shades, is in great de
mand, and especially the medium and
very bright blues.
A pretty fashion for dressing the
hair is the use of soft puffs fastened
with jeweled pins.
Immense buttons of bone, ivory or
smoked pearl fasten the openings oa
long basques or jackets.
The newest skirt is either the um
brella shape or that with a crosswise
seam down the centre of the front.
The new goods displayed in the
shops are coarse, light and loud. The
hairy effects of the winter material*
are produced in lighter colored and
more lightly woven textures.
There is a great deal of trouble in
store for the fashionable woman who
wants a perfectly fitted dress. The
new dtapery must be arranged after
the wearer has the dress on.
Evening gowns are made of velou-
tines, of very heavy soft silks em
broidered in Byzantine patterns, silken
crepes, changeable gauze embroidered
in Japanese designs, bamboos and
chrysanthemums in silken and golden
thread.
The buttonhole flower of the season
is the green pink. Thanks to chemi
cal invention everything can be
changed now to suit fashionable ca
price. The green pink looks like tis
sue paper cleverly cut. It is frightful,
but correct.
The most popular wrappers just
now are dainty, airy creations, to be
worn over the night-robe. These are
of India silk, accordion-plaited from
top to toe. A bow, made of wide
satin ribbon with long ends, is tied at
the collar, and the ends should fall to
the bottom of the wrapper.
The newest dress wraps are a sort
of princess garment with double-
breasted front opening down the entire
length of the side over a panel of some
ceutrasting material. There are full
elbow sleeves of plain goods edged
with fur, over close-fitting sleeves of
the material like the panel.
Black silks are to be worn more
than ever for dress occasions, but they
will be brightened up by admixtures.
A front and sleeves of black silk, with
a rosebud spray, will be used with the
plain goods. They will also be made
with narrow ruflles around the skirt*
each rufll: headed with a colored gimp.
Tiie Louis Quatorze waist will remain
popular.
J Hawk’s Fight IFIf/t a Rooster.
J. Ii. Huff of Nickujack had a novel
adventure recently. Hearing a dis
turbance among his poultry he stepped
to the door just iu time to see a large
hawk swoop down and fasten his
talons iu a fine Plymouth rooster.
Having nothing in his hands to make
war upon the daring robber, his first
impiuse was to save ids fowl from in
jury, and rushing forward to where
the struggling pair lay he seized the
hawk around the neck with one hand
and disengaging his talons with the
other, he easily effected his capture.
The hawk measured four feet from tip
to tip.—[Savannah (Ga.) Nows.
. IF 1 . 'WA2R,]SnB3ICEl
BAKER & CONFECTIONER.
AND PEA Lick IN
DRY ROODS, SHOES, I0TI0IS AID GROCERIES,
AT ROCK BOTTOM PRICES.
TOBACCO AID C1GABS ifl Great Yarietj. Toys, Fireworks, etc., in Stock.
Lauren* Street and Park Ivenut, Aiken, S. C.
The Waverly House,
%
G. T. ALFORD, Proprietor.
In the Send of KYiig- S tree tv
CHARLESTON, S. C.
Large and Comfortable Rooms.
SATES, *2,50 PER DAT.
•iTT *
THREE
^Pozzoi^i’s
POINTS
COMPLE
POWDER: SAFE; CURATIVE; BEAUTIFYING. (.2.3.
THREE
Stteil
All Druggists
Vanoy BtorsJ | TINTS
WRIGHTS HOTEL.
S. L. WRIGHT i SOBS, Props.
COLUMBIA; m m m 3, C r
Table supplied with tke best. Booms tar** aa«
'/e Li furnished. On* of tfeo Most comfortable bo Ml*
Iu Ut South.
/yppp\\
/// CUR ES \V
^/sCFlOFULAVy
/ PPP \
f CURES
RLOCD- POISON
P P F
C U F* ^ S
R H EU MAT I S N/l
p p p
CURES
M Al_ A R IA .
, P P P
k C U R E. S
AoYSPERSIA. 1
MZf/j
LiPPrA =\N BR°j
c - 11,
For Sale by
W. J. PLATT, Aiken, S. C.
$3000;
YpU WAN-r A DOG ? !£
If ho. ►cud for DOG BUYERS*
. . GUIDE, coutaiuiug colored plate,,
l.V ^>4/. \ 10O eiiiiravinus of different breeds,
I < vJ&iEi Price* 'bey are worth, and where to
buy them. Directions for Traill .tic
| rJfYv"*■ Dozm and Breeding Ferret.. Mailed
for 1.5 Cent*. Also Cut* of Dog
! ■ ih> FurnNhiiiB Good* of all kinds.
BU iNTERESTED IN POULTRYv
Then ►end for I'mcticnl POUL
TRY BOOK. lOO paae.i beau
tiful colored plate ; engraving*
of neo-ly all kinds of fowls ; descrip
tions of the breeds; how to c.ponise ;
plans for poultry houses; informa'ion
shout incubators, and where to buv
Ebb* from bent .lock at SI ..50 ,
per HittiiiB. S 611 * t Qt 13 Cent.
.tpiDYDU KEEP CAGE BIRDS *
237
If *o. yon need the BOOK OF CAGE
BIROS. 1‘iOpage*. 150Illun-
I (ration*. Beautifulcolored plate.
I Treatment and breeding of ail kinds Cage
biids. for pleasure and p ntL. Diseases j
and their care. How to build and stock
an Aviary. All about Parrota. Prices of
all kinds bird*. ca?es, etc. Mailed for |
13 C’entn. The Three Books, 40 CtS.
ASSOCIATED FANCIERS,
South Eighth St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Scientific American
Agency for
Patents
TRADE MARKS,
DESIGN PATENTS
COPYRIGHTS, etc.
For information and free Handbook write to
MUNN & CO., 3fil Bhoadwat, New Yobk.
Oldest burean for securing patents in America.
Every patent taken out by ns is brought before
the public by a notice given free of charge In the
Scientific J^mericao
Largest circulation of any scientific paper In the
world. ***— — • —
d. Splendidly illustrated. ~I»o'*TnteUlgent
m * n B £‘ 0 2) d without it. Weekly, 93.00 a
year; *U0 six months. Address MUNN A CO-
Fnauamna, 361 Broadway, New fork.
A. YEABt I undertake to briefly
I teach any fairly intelligreut person of either
I sex, who can read and write, and
[after instruction,will work industriously,
_ 'howto earn Three Thousand Dollar* a
Year in their own loc»Hties,wherever they live. I will also furnish
the situation oremploymeut^at which you ean ♦■arn that amount.
No neoney for me unless successful as above. Easily and quickly
learned. 1 desire but one worker from eoch district or county. I
have already toujrht and provided with employment s Ihtce
number, who are making over $3000 a rear each. Its NT EW
and SOI.ID. Full particulars FK EE. Address at ones,
E. C. ALLEN. It ox 420, Augusta, Maine.
NUBSERIES,
JPOSXOISLA. IN. O.,
Are know* fry their frutte, ae
are testifying for themselves alM
through the Southern and border-
States and giving flattering reports^
Every fruit that is known to suae
cecd in the South is being added
from all parts of the globe. Over
300 acres its actual nursery stories
Some of the speeUslHes are the Kel
seys, Japan, Baton and Satsumm
Plums. The Lucy Duke Pear and
all the new fruits, as well as the old*
Evergreens, Shade Trees, Roses and
'everything usually kept in a first*
class nursery. Fore lari^^areen
[houses. Chrysanihemun\^Bni>* %t £
I tions and man v Greenhouse Plan
• Rose growing a specialty. Plants
from Greenhouse ready to be pul
.out in April and May. Descriptive
Catalogue No. 1, Fruit Trees, Vines,
'do., and Greenhouse Catalogue No.
2 will be sent free to applicants.
Special rates to large planters. Cor*
vesponden.ee soltclSod.
Address
Pomona Hffl Nurseries,
POMONA. N. C.
NEW ARRANGEMENT.
AUGUSTA HOTEL RATES.
$1.50, $2.00 *r< $2.50 Par Day
Ths &wt Table Board Can be HU at
Per Week, in Clube of S or 10.
Rooms at Very Low Sommer Rate*
Omnibus and Porter at every train.
B. S. DOOLITTLE, Proprietor.
2EPREAGE
We Preach—Yo^
Practice. la
©ther words, wc
will teach yoa
FRBR, and start
you in bustneMg
at which you can
rapidly gather in
the dollars. Wc
can end will, if
you please,teach
you quickly how
to earn from $£»
to SIO a day
•t the start, and
more as you go
On. Doth sexes,
alleges. In any
part of America,
you can com-
menre at home,
firing all your
time, or spare
moments only,
to the work.
What we offer ia
new and it has
been proved
over and over
again, that great
pay is sure for
every worker.
Easy to lefm.
Ko special sbili**
ty required.
Reasonable in
dustry only nec
essary far sura.
Urge eucceste
We start you*
furnishing ev
erything This U
one of the great
strides forward
ill useful, inventive progress, that enriches all workers. It ia
probably the greatest opportunity laboring people have evei
known. Kow Is the time. Delay means loss. Full particulars
free*. Better write at once. Addrees, OEOltCiKS
SSTIXSON JL Co., Box 4»3,I*ortJ—4, Maine*
B UNION
and warts il1 " ^ ^ PAIN
LIPPMAN BR0'5 DRUGGISTSPROPS SAVANNAH GA
For sale by
W. J. PLATT, Aiken, 3. C.
RMAN SffSMJ
FOR ONE DOLLAR.
A Ont-cUsM Dictionary gotten oat at rmM
I price to eacourag. the stuffr
I Language. It give# KnglUh
■wequtvaleaU. and Oerntnn wc
knltloai a verr cheap
wards with
anUwiJT
book. 8en« il.
IS* Leo«*r4 mu. 1