The Manning times. (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, April 04, 1888, Image 7
"ON BROKEN IECES."
Sermon by Rev. T. De Witt Tal
mage, D. D.
Lessons Drawn fram a Notable Shipwreck
-In the stru;xgge with Sin and I)oubt,
Let All E!se Go and Cling to
the Beam of the Cross.
BROOKLYN. N. Y., Jan. 1d.-Dr. Talmage
took for his te::t this morning a part of the I
forty-fourth verse of the twenty-seventh
chapter of Acts: -Some on broken pieces
of the ship." He then said:
Never off Goodwin Sands, or the Sker
ries, or Cape Hatteras, was a ship in worse
predicament than in the Mediterranean
hurricane was the grain ship, on which two
hundred and seventy-six passengers were
driven on the coast of Malta, live miles
from the metropolis of that island called
Citta Vecchia. After a two weeks' tem
pest. in which the ship was entirely dis
abled and captaia and crew had become
completely demoralized, an old missionary
took command of the vessel. He was small,
crooked-backed and sore-eyed, according
to tradition. It was Paul, the only un
scared man aboard. He was no more
afraid of a Euroelydon tossing the Mediter
ranean Sea, now up to the gates of Heaven,
and now sinking to the gates of hell, than
he was of a kitten playing with a string.
He ordered them all down to take their
rations, first asking for them a blessing.
Then he insured all their lives, telling them
they would be rescued, and, so far from
losing their heads, they woul not lose so
much of their hair as you could cut off with
one click of the scissors: aye. not a thread
of -it, whether it were gray with age or
golden with youth. -here shall not a
hair fall from the head of any of you."
Knowing that they can never get to tho
desired port, they make the sea on the four
teentb. night black with overthrown cargo,
so that whe' the ship strikes it will not I
strike so hem :.y. At daybreak they saw
a creek, and in their exigeney resolved tc
make for it. And so they cut the cables,
topk in the two paddles that they had on
these old boats. and hoisted the ma; .sail,
so that they might come up with sua force
as to be driven high up on the beach by
some fortunate billow. There she goes,
tumbling towards the rocks; now prow
foremost; now stern foremost; now roll
ing over to starboard: now a wave dashes
clear over the deck, and it seems as if the
old craft has gone forever. But up she
comes again. Paul's arm around a mast,
he cries: "All is well; God has given me
all those that sail with me."
Crash!.went the prow with such force
that it broke off the mast. Crash! went
the timbers till the seas rushed through
from side to side of the vessel. She parted
amid-ships, and into a thousand fragments
the vessel goes, and into the waves two
hundred and seventy-six immortals are
precipitated. Some of ti 'at had been
brought up on the sea-: .ore and had
learned to swim, and with their chin just
above the waves and by stroke of both
arms and propulsion of both2 feet they put
out for the beach and reach it. But, alas,
for those others ! They had never learned to
.swim, or they were wounded by the falling
O the mast, or the nervous shock was too
grew, them. And others had been
weakened by long seasickness.
Oh, what will become of them! "Take
that piece of a rudder." says Paul to one.
"Take that fragment of a spar," says Paul
to another. "Take that table." "Take
that image of Castor and Pollox." "Take
that plank from the lifeboat." "Take any
thing and head for the beach." What a
struggle for life in the breakers! Oh, the
merciless waters, how they sweep over
the heads of men, women and children!
Hold on there! Almost ashore, keep up
your courage! Remember what Paul told
you.
There, the receding wave on the beach
leaves in the sand a whole family; there
. crawls up out of the surf the centurion;
there another plank comes in with a life
- cimging fast to it; there another piece of
the shattered vessel with its freightage of
an immortal soul. They must by this time
all be saved. Yes, there comes in last of
all-for he had been overseeing the rest
4the old missionary, who wrings the water
from his gray beard and cri es oat: "Thank~i
God all are here!"
Gather them around a fire and call the
roll. Paul builds a fire, and when the
bundles of sticks begin to crackle, and,
standing and sitting around the blaze, the
passengers begin to recover from their
bhill, and their wet clothes begin to dry
and warmth begins to come into all the
shivering passengers, let the purser of the
t'essel go round and see if any. of the poor
creatures are missing. Not one of that
crowd that were plaged into the sea. How'
It relieves ot anxiety as we read: "Some
on broken pieces of the ship, and so
it 'came to past they all escaped safe to
lan1"
Having on previous occasions looked at
the other passengers, I confine myself to
day to an exauhination of those who came
in on broken pieces of the ship. There is
___something about them that excites in me
an intense interest. I am not so much in
terested in those that could swim. They
got ashore, as I expected. A mile of water
is not a very great undertaking for a strong
swimmer, or even two miles are not. But
I can not stop thinking about those on
broken pieces of the ship.
The great Gospel ship is the finest vessel!
of the universe and can carry more passen
gers than any craft ever constructed, and
you could no more wreck it than von could
wreck the throne of God Almighty. I
wish all the people would come -aboard of
her. I could not promise a smooth v oyage,
for oft times it would be a tempestuous or
a chopped sea, but I could promise a safe
- arrival for all who took passage on that
. Great Eastern, so called by me oeause its
Commander came oiut of the east, the star
of the east a badge of His authority.
But a vast multitude do not take re gular
passage. .Their theology is broken in;
pieces, and their life is broken in pieces,
and their aorldly and spiritual prospects
are broken in pieces, and yet I believe they
are going t-i r-tch the shining shore, and I
am encoura~2 by the experiences of those
people who nare spoken of in the text:
"Some on broken pieces of the ship."
One object of this sermion is to encoturage
all those who can not take the whole sys
tem of religion as we believe it, but who
really believe something. to come ashore
on that one plank. I do not underrate the
value of a great theological system, but
where in all the Bible is there any thing
that says: Believe in John Calvin and tliou
shalt.be saved; or, believe in -Arminius
and thou shalt be saved ; or, believe in the
Synod of Dort and thou shalt be saved; or,
believe in the Thirty-nine Articles and
thou shalt be saved A man many be or
thodox and go to hell, or orthodox and go
to Heaven. The man who in the deep af
fection of his heart accepts Christ is saved,
and the man who does not accept Him is
lost.
I believe in both the Heidelberg and
Westminster catechism, and I wish you all
did, but you may believe in nothing they
contain except the one idea that Christ
came to save sinners, and that you are one
of them, and you are instantly rescued. If
oucan comnein on the grand old ship, I
wal rte have yo e bgdt ig
you can Imd only a piece of wood aslong
as the human body. or a piece as wide as
the outspread human arms, and either of
them is a piece of the cross, come in on
that piece. Tens of thousands of people
are to-day kept out of the Kingdom of God
because they can not believe every thing.
I an talng with a an thoughtful
about his -soul, who has ?lely travel:d
thtrough N\w Eughmdj rt and pags: the iiigh.t
at Andover. lie say to me: -'i en not
believe that in this lfe' desi i irrevo
cably fixedi I think there viil be another 1
opportumity of repentance after deadh."
I say to himn: '-My brother, what has that
to do with yout Ih,:'t yea r.ai that the
man who waits .or anrter hanc atter
death, when he has a z..d ch:,nee before
death, is a stark fto *i Tat you be;ter
take the plank that is t'.rov ii to you now
and head for shore r'ther ta.in wait ior a
plank that may by in viib'le'-t hans be
thrown to you alter you are dead ? )o as
you please. but as f-r myseif, with pardon t
for all my sins .ff m. 1e now and all the
joys of ti:'" a eternity offered me
now, I instantly t he imiin rather than run
the risk of stuc otter chiance as wise men
think they can peel off cr twist out of
a scripture passage that has for all the
Christian centuries been interpreted an
other way.
You say: "I do not like Princeton the
ology or An'liv ert h ly." I do not ask
vou on board eit be< f thnt great men. f
war, their part-holchs i ll'd with great siege
guns of eaeiaisiastiial hi:LIlo. But I do ask
tou to take the one plank of the Gospel
that you do beliete .n and strike out for
the pearl-st: unig i'e-ih of IIcaven.
Says sone other in:i: "I would attend 4
to religion if 1 was guite sure about the
loetrine of election ant free agency. but
that mixes me all1 up." Trhso things used
to boter mn. he i have no tnira te rplex
it about theit. :t' I say to myvsel I: --i I
love Christ and live a goiod, honest. useful
life. I am elected to ie saved: and if I do
not love Christ ani live a bad life I will bec
danmed, and all the theological seminaries
of the universe can not make it any dieter
et." I floundered along while in the se:a
of sin and doubt. and it was as reugh as
the Mediterranean oni the fourteenth ni:ht
when they threw the :Crain otverbotar.: but
I saw there was :gyrey for a sinner, and 1
that plank I took, and I have been warmn- 1
ing myself by the bright lire on the shore
for three decades.
While I anf alking to another man about
his soul he tells ne: "I do net become a
Christian because I do not bteltiv't :e is
any hell at aL' Ahl! don't you Do all
the people, of all beliefi and no belief at all,
of good morals andi had morals. go straight
to a happy Heave:: D.a the holy and the
debauched have the sate lestinations? At
midnight. ii a ha: i-wvay, the own r of :
house and a burghar miet eahii oter, and t
they both lire, and both are wounded, but
the burglar dies in five minutes and the p
owner of the house lives a week after. Will n
the burglar be at tie gate of Heaven c
waiting when the house-owner comes in!
Will the debauche and the libertine got
right in amwong tie: families Of Heaven? I 1
wonder if Herod is playing on the banks t
)f the River of Life with the children he
massacred. I wonder if Charles (uiteau a
and John Wilkes Booth are up there shoot- b
ing at a mark. I do not now ',itrovert it, a
although I must say for such a miserable a
Heaven I have no admiration. Bat the c
Bible does not say: "Believe in perdition c
and be saved."
Because all are saved, according to your c
theory, that ought not to keep you from t
Loving and serving Christ. Do not refuse p
to come ashore bec.(ause all the others, ac- d
ordig to your theory. are going to get t
ashore. You may have a differenit theory
about chemistry, about :istrtonmv, about i
the atmosphere, fram th.lt which others u
adopt, but you are not therefore hindered t
rrom action. Because your theory of light s
s different from others. you do not refuse n
to open your eyes; because your theory of c
air is different, you do not refuse to
breathe; because your theory about the a
stellar systema is diffeirent, youi do not re- t
use to acknowledge the no'th star. Why
should the fact that your th.-'oligical the- e
)ries are different hinder you fronm act-ing a
1pon wvhat you kinow: If you have not a
ahole ship fashioned in the ii:wological dry t
locks to bring you to wharfiage, you have
t. least a plank. *-Some on brokein pieces t
yfthe ship."
" But I do not believe in revivals !" Then t
o to y-our room, andI all alone with your ]
loor locked give your heart to God and
join some church whiere the thermometer 1
ever gets higher thaan liftyv in the shade. t
But I do not believe in baptism !" Come
n without it and settle that matter after
avard. "Butt there at-e so many inconsist-t
tnt Christians!" Then conte in and show c
athem by good example bow professorse
ught to act. '-But 1 don't believe in the I
3d Testament!" Then come in on the
ew. "But I don't like the Blook of Ro- i
nans?' Then come in on liatthew or I
Luke. Refusing to come to Christ, whom
ou admit to be 'the Saviour cof the lost, be- .a
ause you can not admit tiher' things, you ~
tre ljke a man out there in that 31editer
anean tempest and tossed in the 3Melita r
reakers, refusing to come ashore until be 1
:an mend the pieces of the br-oken ship.
hear him say: --I won't go in
y any of those plainks until I
mnow in what part of the ship they be
ong; when I can get the wvinidlass im the
right place, and thte sails set, and that keelc
oiee where it belotigs, and that floor tint
oer right, and these rapes untangled. I will
o ashore. I am an old sailor antd know all
bout ships fc; forty year's, and as soon as
[can get 'the vessel alleat in good shiape I,
avill come ini." A matn drifting by on a
piece of wvood heat's himi andl says: "Yotu
will drown be'fore you get that ship rt'con
structed. Betteir do ais I am i'n!. I know
nothg about ships. and never' satw one be.
ore I came ott boatrd this, ail I ean not
swim a stroke, but I am going ashore on C
this shiv'ered timber." The man in the
oflng while trying to mend his ship goesc
lown. The man who trusted to the plank ~
is saved. 0, my brotiter, let your smashed
p system of theology go to the bottom
while on conie ini on ax splintered spar'.
"Some on broken pieces o-f the ship."
You maty get all your' difficulties settled
s Garibaldi, the mgeiIainothis
gardens niade. When the war' between
Austria anid Sar'dinia broke out lhe was lit
Eg at Caprera, a very rougit and untcult
a-ed islantd le1me'. But lie went forth with
ais sword to achieve ti-c liberiaiion of Naples a
md Sicily, andi gave i,.AO peole free b
ov-ernment undet' Victor Emianluel. Gara
baldi, after being absent two years frontt
Caprera, returned, and, whent he ap- h
proachd it. hte found that his home had by b
ictor Emanuel. as suiri'se, beent Edfn-s
tzed. Trintmeda shrubbeary hani taken the
place of thiorny hc s ardent t'ie ttlace
of barrenness. andi t he ohi ro'r ii. tn wi . It
ie once lived liad given" wy to a0 itet-'
itred imansitn w'he"re hei I.-ititt comfot
thetrest of hisoi day .A I tell yo fyouin
wvill ce andtt enlit-a tn-r t ht- liatnner of
our Victiort Emaneut'l, n fllow im
through tiek ad hin,111 a. I itiht Htis 1bat
ties an endure Ris saeriiice- yit wtilinil
after awhile that lHe h.as chtn.i-.1ed a yor
heart fr'otm a jun;le of thtrny skulp. -igms 1
into a garden ll i-bloiomi Ith Ilunin iant
joy that yon have neva. dreaeti of.1 t'omi e
a tangled Calprera of sadness int) a par'at'-,x
lise of God! I1
Idonotknowv how your theological sys-' a
Lq ma Wn tpinec It may be that y our -
arouts started you with only one plank
md you beli ve little or nothing. Or they
ay have i-ein too rigid or severe n
-eligious discipline and cracked you ovel
!le head wtitht a psatlm book. 1t may be
.::at somne par'tner in business, whbo w as a
n~iemer of an evangelical clLt:re, played
n you a ii t hat dig !stc.i youe with re
',on. It .;:y ,, "'.:a y have associates
vo ive 1:1e : v.ti Christianity it
mtd. you x's e! ir thiugs y'ou do no1
eClievei thaal~ on ting': youl di, believe. You
Ire in une r'pe*t ii- I Lrd Nelson, when
sinL wI:11?am ifs th~at hie wished to disro.
ard. t. he. ie' . -lass to his blind
ye I... sid: . real:y do ut see the sig
ial." 0. im: iw0arc:-, put th, field giass 01
he G3opel.no longecr to your blind eye an
ay I can not see, bat put i: to your other
ye, the eye of failh, and youi will sC(
'hrist, and He is all ycu need to see.
If you can believe notting else, you cer.
ainly believe in vicarious sufTering, foi
-ou see it adlost every day in some shape.
.ast month the steamtship Knickerbocker,
if the Cronwell line, running between
ew Orleans and here, wirs in a great
torm, and the captain and crew saw the
chooier Mary 1). Craunler in distress,
?he weather cold. the waves mountain
igh, the first oithe-r of the steamship and
our1 mien put olut in a lire--boat to save th<
rew of the schooner, and reached the yes
el and towed it out of danger. the wind
hifting so that the schodncr was saved.
ut the five men of ti he steamship comling
>aek, their boat capsized. yet righted
gain and camne on, the sail
rs* coated with ice. The boat
apsi'ed again, and three times upset and
vas righted, and a line was thrown the
toor fellows. but their hands and arms
u-ere frozei so 1hiiy coul not grasp it, and
great wave ro lie, ier them, and they
etvi donit. never t0 rse till the sea give"
Ip its dead. App1t' tate Ithai heroism and
elf-sacrifice of the brave fellows we all
an, and can we not appreciate the Christ
vho put out in a more biting colic and into
more overwiiheiimg surge to bring us
ut of infinite peril mt' everlasting safety.
'hie wave of hunan Late rolled over Hin
n one side. and the wave of hellish fury
oiled over 1i1im on the ouithr side. Oh, the
hickness of the night and the thunder of
e temptst into which Christ plunged for
uur rescue!
Come in on that one narrow beam. the
teamn of the cross. Let all else go and
ling to tlat. 'ut that under you, and
ith the ea-nestness of a swimmer strug.
ing for his lift' pit: out for the shore.
heree is a great warm lire of welcomc
lready built, and l'arndy many, who werc
s far out as you ..re,. are st.mding in its
enial and Ihavenly glow. Tre angels of
iod's rescue are waliiig "ut into the surf
o clutch your hand. ami they know hou
xhausted you are, :iti all the redeemed
rodigals of Heaven are on the bench witl
ew white robes to clothe all those wlc
Olie in tIn broken pieces of the ship.
3Iv smnpat lils are for such all the more
cause I was aturally .keItical, disposed
0 question every tng about tlls life-and
he next, and was in dan;ger of l'ing furth
r out to sea than an; of the two huadred
nid seventy-six in the 3lediterranean
reakers, and I was sotni' tnint's the annoy
nce of my theoingieai professor because I
sked so many gucstils. But I camne in
nt a plank. 1 knew C h rist was the Saviour
f sinners, and that 1 was a sinaer, and ]
ot ashore, and I 'do not propose to go out
n that sea a:ain. I have not for thir
r minutes discussed the controverted
oints cf theology in thirty years. And
uring the rest of my life I do not propose
discuss them for thirty seconds.
I would rather, in a mud scow, try tc
reather the worst eyelene that ever swept
p front the Carribean than risk my ilt
mortal soul in useless and perilous d:scu.
ions in which sonie of my brethren in the
inistry are indulging. The y remind nc
f a company of sailors standing on Rams
ate pier head. from which the life-boats
re usually launched, and coolly discussing
he difere-nt styl of' ur-l'ocks and how
eep a boat ought to set in then water, while
hurricane ws in full b~last and there
re three steame.rs crowded with passen
ers goig to pices~ i m e ofing. A n old tar,
be museles of is~t' xac workiing with nerv
u5 exc.itemeinti ries Iut Tiis is no0 time
a discuss suchi tingsI~. Mali tile life-boat.
Tho will voluntceir Out with her into
he surf ! 1Pull my lads, pull for the wreck !
al hal now we have them. Lift them in
ud lay them down oit the bottom of the
oat Jack, you trny to bring themi to. Put
hese flaunels around t heir hands and feet,
d I will pull for the shore. Giod heilp
tel There! L-auded:I Utzza!" When
here are so mnany strugglilt in the waves
f sin and sorriow and wret<:bedness, let all
ise go but salvation for time anid salvation
orver.
I bethink nmyself that there are some
ere whose opportunity or wvhose life is a
ere wreck, antd they have only a small
ieee left. You startetd in your youth with
11 sails set, and ev-ery thing promised a
rand voyage, but you have sailed in the
rong dire~ion or have foundered on a
ock. You have onily a fragment of time
hft. Then come in oni that one plank.
Some on broken pieces of the ship.".
You admit that you are nll broken up,
ne decade of your life gone by, two do
des, three dlecades, four decades, or a
al century, plerhapns three-quarters of a
entury gone. The hour hand and the
dnute hand of your clock of life are al
lost parallel, and soon it will be twelve
ud your day eudehd. Cleat' discoauraged,
re you? I adimit that it is a sad thing to
ive all of your lives that arc worth any
lng to sin and the devil, and then at last
> make God a present of a Iirsterate
orpse. But the past yotu can not recover.
et on board that old ship, you never will.
ave you only one more year left, one
more month, one muore week, one more
ay, one more hotur-comec in on that. Per
aps if you get to Heavetn God may let you
o out on some great ission to some other
orld, whtere you can somewhat atone for
our lack of seric in~il this.
From matny a deal h-bed] I have seen the
auds thrown tip hi depk rationi something
ke this: "My lifte has been wasted. I had
ood menttal fac~ulties, and line social posi
on. anid gre:e opportuntityt, but through
'orldliness and reet negle~ct alt has gone
)waste save thecse fev wmremain ing hours.
now accept of Chriist, anid shall eater
leaven throutgh His me; but, alas!
tas! that when I might have entered the
aven of eternal rest wvith a full cargo, and
een greeted by the wvavimghands of a maul
tude in whose salval iin I had bont a
lessed part, I niust contfess 1 now enter the
rbor of Heaven o.; h'oken pieces of the
Mtxv a poet han s lput his tardest work in
a long poem, wish-ing thus to give his
anme to poter1ty '-' umake it iimmnortal.
[e mayti succe'd, hu: I ikely to tail The
ng.' work stan Is ud. tett distinguished
nothing~ but i's sia. whiilt his fante is
,nete.i writhi a vre 01' hine, the pro
uetion of wvhich c' u I--1 him no effort, and
ar'dhv a thou-h. A linie full of soul is
tta' than a volumte without it.-United
uembri, that nmtk.et us iean'd. It is not
*hat we inttn-, bu t w.e- do that miakes
useftul. It is nit a ft-w faint wtishes, but
lifelong struggyle, that makes us yaliant,
,t:u t .* . '
NEW USE -FO BELLS.
Bow a Restaurant Manager Obviates the
Old System of Bawling Out Orders.
"Where's my ham and eggs:" impa
tiently asked a man of the waiter in a
Clark street restaurant the other day.
"They's a ccmin' sah, they's a comm."
"But I didn't hear you give the order."
"No, sah: we doan give no ordahs; we
touch de bells."
"I've got a new scheme," said the man
ager, who had overheard the conversation.
"I don't know how it is with you, but it
takes away my appetite to go into a res
taurant where the waiter, when he gets
an order, bawls it out at the top of his
voice. Now, in some places, after order
ing just what you did here you'd hear the
waiter shout, 'one in the dark, white
wings, hog to come along,' and if you
told him that you wanted the eggs cooked
on both sides, he'd sing out, 'shipwreck
thcm white wings.' Of course the cook
understands that ham and eggs and a cup
of coffee are the articles called for by this
order, but to the uninitiated it is all
Greek. Waiters' slang is the most com
plex jargon ever used, and why they use
it they are unable to explain themselves.
Now, by my system all the noise and con
fusion are done away wiih. You never
hear any order given, and the waiters are
not obliged to leave the dining room.
But come with me and I'll show you."
The manager led the way to a table near
the center of the room. Upon it were
about twenty white buttons, and at the
base of each was a label. Every button
was capable of transmitting several or
ders. For instance one of the buttons
was labeled "eggs," and upon a card were
the following directions: "For boiled eggs,
ring once; eggs on toast, twice; scrambled
eggs, three times; omelet, four times."
It was the same with steaks, as by a
different number of rings the distinction
between tenderloin, porterhouse and sir
loin, rare, medium or well done could be
conveyed to the kitchen with as much ac
curacy and with more speed than by the
voice.
"We'll go down to the kitchen and see
how that end of it works," remarked the
manager, leading the way to a flight of
stairs. A savory smell of cooking meat
was wafted to the visitor as he descended
the stairs. In front of half a dozen big
broilers stood as many white jacketed
cooks, with equally white caps placed
rakishly upon their heads. The man:ger
said that the caps were not worn for
adornment, but to prevent hairs and
dandruff from falling into the food. "I
don't know why it is," said he, "but con
stant working near a fire seems to have a
tendency to cause the hair to drop out.
Of course that would never do, so we
oblige the men to wear linen head gear
in order to prevent any mishaps. Then,
too, it looks cleaner, and in a restaurant
looks are everything."
Opposite the ranges, surrounded by a
little railing, was an annunciator re
sembling those used in hotels to denote
the numbers of rooms. In front of it was
seated a lad about 15 years of age with a
number of tickets in his hand. Each
ticket had a number printed upon it cor
responding to the number given one of
the cooks. These were called off in rota
tion, so that each one of the cooks would
get the same number of dishes to serve.
Suddenly there was a whirring sound,
followed by a quick snap. The boy looked
up and saw the word "steak" on a tri
angular piece of metal. Then came two
short rings and a long one. The boy
looked- at a card acid called: "No. 3. ten
derloin steak rare, with mushrooms."
The triangular piece of metal yas put
beck in its place, and in a trice a juicy
steak was sizzling on the iron. It was
getting along toward 6 o'clock then, and
the orders began to come in thick and fast.
"We don't serve anything here but
short orders," said the manager, ."and,
though I have over fifty articles on my
bill of fare, I have never found one that
could not be ordered by means of the bell.
I don't believe there's another system
like it in the country, and you can see for
yourself how much time and trouble it
saves."-Chicago Herald.,
Hog Guessing on Lonig Island.
The season is rapidly approaching when
harvet homes will be superseded by hog
guessing, the favorite amusement of Long
NIshmaer. The manner of proceeding is
as follow's:
Ha~ndhills are printed announcing the
time and place of the proceedings. The
namne andl assumed weight of the hogs, to
gether w ith the cost of the tickets, are also
aidvertised Each person registers his es
timate of the *veight upon the ticket be
fore surrendering it. Then a hog whose
namie ad assumed weight has been ad
vertised is killed and dressed. TIhe per
son who guesses the exact weight of the
slaughtercd animal takes him, or the
guess nearest the correct figure entitles
the guesser to the meat. "Reckoning"
or "allowing" is not permitted. Par
ticipatnts, howvever, can guess as many
timnes as they are willing and able to pay
for the privilege. Some of the swine
slatughtered are of enurmous dimensions
anud tip) the scales anywhere from 400 to
600) pountds.
V arious artifices are resorted to by
which thie w eight of the animals is ascer
tained or approximated beforehand. Fre
quently metasurements are taken upon
which guesses are based, and sometimes
th'e actual weight is ascertained at night.
--New York Evening Sun.
Queer Indian Customs in Brazil.
The Indian prayer meetinigs in tile
country are rather a singular admixture
of superstition and devotion. A (loll is
dressed in silk clothes, with candlgs on
each side, a good bit of tinsel work about
it atnd at ribbon tied about its waist. It
rests on the table. Eight or ten Indian
men statnd around. One has a large
drum, wich lhe heats continually. The
women sit on t-he 1loor, while the men
sing prayers to the saiit, the womien re
sponding. They commi~ence praying about
7or 8 o'clock and keep it up twvo or three
hours. Theni the womecn with their litt le
childien kiss the ribbons, asking favors of
the saint. The men then go through the
samie ceremony. The saint is then locked
un~ in a box, and (dancing commences and
lists the rest of the night. ]'requent 1po
ions of whisky are imbibed by the men,
co~ee and wine by the womeni. When
tie men become too drunk to dance
longer~ they retire to their haimmocks and
sleep util sober. -Pittsburg Con mer
cial-Gaztette.
French Love of Glory.
The F rench chaimi to be the Romans,
anod alro everyt hinmg they undheitake to
(10 thev" reLfer to a Romuani precedent. Glory
is onc'of th ee tings. Tlhe En-:tlish dwellI
unon the idlea of power. The F'renchmman
has' no part icular care for powter unhess it
brings' himi action, admiration and artistic
trlite.-"Gath"' in Cincinniati FEnquirer.
IA public school system is to be estab
lishied in Alaskna by agents of the Federal
Financial Bliackmailer In London.
It is a favorite plan of the promoters of
American enterprise to seek capital ir.
Europe, notably in London and Amster
dam. It is not an easy task by any mean!
to induce foreign capitalists to invest in
new projects on this side of the water,
especially since there have been so niany
enterprises taken up by them in whicl
their money has been spent without re
turn, and they are apt to look upon every.
thing that has an American stamp as a
wholesale swindle until they have looked
closely into it. But they are not without
tricks themselves in London. The presi
dent of a leading railroad corporation whlC
has raised large amounts of money' " "r
at different times for various enterl.risct
said the other day: "You can be sure rn
nothing in London in raising money untL
you have the cash in bank. 1 had $1,OJ0,
000 already counted out for ine and the
papers drawn and ready to sign, and yet
had the money put back in the vaults and
the papers back into my pocket. London
is full of financial blackmailers, and it
was one of these that rung in his little
game on me. It cost me at least i100.fi00
to get my negotiation through, but I had
the satisfaction of knowing that the black
mailer got no money from it.
"They watch the American newspapers
for accounts of new enterprises that are
likely to seek capital abroad, and then
they watch on that side of the water for
the man who isto negotiate the securities
and cleverly manage to ingratiate them
selves by proffered assistance and other
wise, so as to be in a position to know
every stage . of his progress. They will
wait until the last moment before his
negotiation is conducted and then strike
him. They generally have a newspaper
at their back and frequently succeed in
scaring their victim into paying a good
round sum to prevent an attack on his
scheme, which he knows will be disturb
ing and disastrous to his enterprise, even
though unfounded upon any reasonable or
just claim. After one or two experiences
in London, I have always made my trips
there with the utmost secrecy, allowi:g
no newspaper mention to be made at
home of my departure. On my arriv:d
there I have gone to unfrequented hotels
out of the *ay of friends and acquaint
ances, until all my negotiations were con
cluded. That is the safest way."-New
York Tribune.
Cats in Bustles and Dogs in Muffs.
Fashion has long been favorable to dogs.
Cats are now coming forward. Some
charming belles at Luchon thought this
season of using the Pyrenean cat-wh ich
is a pretty creature, and not so wild as it
looks-as a suivez moi, jeune hoinie.
The notion sprang up in this way. A
beauty down there was given, In one of
her excursions, a lovely cat. But as her
arms were laden with mountain flowers,
how carry it? A peasant suggested cut
ting a hole at one of the ends of a hand
basket for needlework, just large enough
for the cat's neck to be held in without
strangulation when the lid was fastened
down. As the basket was padded and
lined with satin, and bedizened with
fringe and ribbons, pussy did not object
to being a prisoner therein, and to being
placed on the lady's bustle as a pack.
There was no other means of carrying the
feline unless there. So the basket was
fitted up with strings to tie on to the
waist; and so borne into Luchon. The
arrangement was daring, original aid
piquant. It found imitators, and in a few
days there were not Pyrenean cats enough
for the ladies' bustles. Fashion even
dared to invade the sanctuary at Lourdes
with a mountain tom or tabby on the dor
sal hump.
A fashion prophet tells me that next
winter the back part of the muff will con
tain a pouch in which a cat is to lie. A
contrivance of this sort was first hit upon
by Mile. Schneider for her black and tan
terrier, which regarded the inside of the
muff as a prison and wanted to look about
when keeping the hands of his mistress
warm. The Duchess de Bauffremont
then took up the arrangement and used to
carry about as many puppies as could lit
into the pouch. Princess Isabeau de
Beauvais Craon used to remind me of a
maternal kangaroo. Her muff had the
pocket in front and a parcel of pups'
heads of various breeds peeped from out
of the opening at the top.-Paris Cor.
London Truth.
The Hiurricane Geyser.
The most wonderful of all the wonders
at the Norris Basin, Yellowstone park, is
known as the Hurricane geyser. It is a
recent outbreak, scarcely a year old. The
crater is about twenty by thirty feet, and
Is inclosed by a solid wall of rock, about
ten feet in depth, to the surface of the
water, and no one can tell how far below
this rocky inclosure extends. Several
days ago we could sit on the north end of
this rock rib and watch the torrid waves
rush do'wn the inclosure, strike the wall
beeath our feet and sink into the earth,
to reappear at the upper end with undi
minished force. Now, eight days later,
we find that the boiling flood shoots out
over the wall where we formerly sat.
The Hurricane presents the appearance
of a revolving liquid globe. There is a
huge bowlder in the center of the quad
r:mgular crater, over which the water
dashes with such force as to give it the
appearance of an immense wheel in per
petual motion. The intense he-at may
be realizedl, in a measure. when it is stated
that the rocks ten feet fronm the edge are
so hot that the naked hand can-only be
held on them for an instant. The water
is turbid and bears evidence of the fact
that the subterranean chambers are be
ing enlarged. They are evidently ab
sorbing the material that has been dis
harged at other geysers.-Cor. St. Paul
Pioneer Press.
When a Family Moves.
Society news in the daily papers does a
reat deal more than tell people what is
transpiring in the fashionable world. The
owners of moving cars watch the society
losely. As soon as they see that a fama
ily is to chuege location from one city to
another, they go after themt to see what
they have to move rind otter their ser
vices. Thent follows the man with storage
room, then a sewing machine agent to see
if you have anything in his line for sale,
thn the seond hand furniture dealer,
and last the dealer in second hand clothi
ing,. and perhiaps a piano dealer. When a
marriage is announttced aheadl for some
months. there is the dlressmaker and dry
goods merchant to call on the ladies, the
cnterer to see~ what he -nn do for the table,
and the llorist to see if his services are re
quired. This class of people doab~tless
work m) a large and profitable business in
that way.-Physician iin Globe-I)emaocrat.
Sj,iderg' Webso in Washaingtonl.
The use of electric light on public
bidiings at Washington has led to a
geat increase ini the numbdtler oif spiders'
webis. The lights ~attra:ct multitudes of
iscts, and these in turn attr-act the
spidefrs. in many cases architectural
utines have become badly obscured by
the. w..e-.ChiengO Times.
How Charles Sumner M:.de Tea.
Mr. Sumner was a man of simple tastes.
When he dined alone and knew that he
was to have no company but one dish was
served, and that was often a porterhouse
steak dressed, with oysters. This, with
bread and butter and a glass of claret.
composed his solitary dinner. Occasion
ally he would treat himself to a dinner of
cerned beef and cabbage, if he was sure
there would be ti'me enough before the
arrival of visitors to disinfect his house of
the scent. His breakfast, when alone,
would be without meat or fish, and would
consist of tea, toast, eggs, fruit and some
sort of pancakes and butter; but the tea
would be selected as carefully for the
breakfast as the wine would be for the
dinner. Ile would brew it himself with
great care. He took the tea from the tea
caddy himself, placed it dry in a cup,
which had previously been heated by il
ing with boiling water from the urn; a
teaspoon, which stood In the cup when
the boiling water was poured, remainedi
in the cup: then boiling water was drawn
from the urn on to the tea; a saucer was
inverted over the top, and after it had
stood for several minutes it was consid
ered ready for drinking.
Once when I was breakfasting with
him he asked my opinion of the particular
tea he had given me, and he was disap
pointed in my answer. He seemed sur
prised as well, and tasted the tea from his
own cup, snuffing its aroma. Then dip
ping a teaspoon in hot water, he tasted
the mixture in my cup and inhaled its
perfume. This seemed to solve the riddle
"Why," said he, "I must have given you
a cold spoon; that spoon in your cup car
ried off the flavor. Throw out those slops
and let me give you a fresh cup."-Ar
nold Burges Johnson in The Cosmopol
iran.
Tyndall on Lightning Rods.
Professor Tyndall, in a letter on light
ning conductors, points out that the
abolition of resistance is absolutely neces
sary in connecting a lightning conductor
with the earth, and this is done by closely
imbedding in the earth a plate of good
conducting material and of large area.
The largeness of area makes atonement
for the imperfect conductivity of earth.
The plate, in fact, constitutes a wide door
through which the electricity passes
freely into the earth, its disruptive and
damaging effects being thereby avoided.
A common way of dealing with light
ning conductors adopted by ignorant
practitioners is, Dr. Tyndall remarks, to
carry the wire rope which forms part of
the conductor down the wall and into the
earth below, where it ends without any
terminal plate. Such a "protection" is a
mockery, a delusion and a snare. Some
years ago a rock lighthouse on the Irish
coast was struck by lightning, when he
found by the engineer's report that the
lig htning conductor had been carried
down the lighthouse tower, its lower ex
tremity being carefully imbedded in a
stone perforated to receive it. If the ob
ject had been to invite the lightning to
strike the tower, a better arrangement
could hardly, he believes, have been
adopted. He vetoed the proposal to em
ploy a chain as a prolongation of the con
ductor, as the contact of link with link is
iever perfect.-Scientific American.
The Colored Folks in Maryland.
The average negro cares only for the
present. He forgets the past and disre
gards the future. Prospective rainy days
bave no terrors for him. If he makes $1
today instead of his usual fifty cents, he
will not work to-morrow. There are four
preferences which are common to colored
men-linen dusters, razors, chickens and
cathartic pills. To the country darky a
line'a duster is the insignia of prosperity.
IIe generally gets it a size or two too large
and has it well starched. He wears it as
often as he possibly can. Not long ago
an excursion, by water, of colored people,
came here from over the bay. Nearly all
of them, women as well as men, wore
linen dusters. Just why nine negroes out
of ten carry razors cannot be explained,
but that they do carry thenm is a fact, and
in every free fight some one always gets
slashed. At a colored camp meeting held
a few weeks ago this notice was conspicu
ously p)osted:
Dinner, 25 cents; with chicken. 50 cents.
It was the most eloquent kind of evi
dence as to the negro's appetite for this
fowl. The hoarding tent keeper was a
man of experience, and although chicken
was very cheap in that section, he knew
that a twenty-five cent dinner would not
pay for the chicken a colored man could
eat. As to the pills, the darkies are al
ways imnagthing themselves sick. They
know of bet one remedy-pills.-Cor.
New York Times.
The Vanderbilt Children. *
Mrs. William H. Vanderbilt, relict of
the man, who, when he lived, was the
richest man on earth, was a Miss Kissam,
daughter of an American clergyman,
whose stock was originally English. She1i
had the extreme good fortune to marry
Vanderbilt when he was working for his
father for $1,000 a year, poor, dependent
and as thoroughly in awe of the old com
modore as when he was a lad. She bore
Vanderbilt eight children-Margaret, now
Mrs. Eliot F. Shephard; Cornelius, Wil
liam K., Emily, now Mrs. Emily Thorne
Sloan, wife of the great carpet dealer;
Frederick W., Florence Adele, now wife
of W. McK. Twombly, the pushing
westerner, now in charge of some of the
heavier Vanderbilt interests; Lela. who
married Dr. W. Seward Webb, son of the
old fighting editor, Dr. James Watson
Webb. and now head of the New York
Centrad Parlor Car company, and George
W., the eighth child and fourth son. NotI
a girl has married what in England is
called an "aristocrat''-an idler. Every
one of their husbands made his way in
the world before he married a Vanderbilt.
The boys also took care of themselves.
The Argonaut.
United States Troops in Mexico.
The victories won by the United States
trops in Mexico years ago have generally
been ascribed to the superior fighting qunal
iies of the Americans over the Mexicans.
But Capt. Lester S. Bartlett, of the Spen
cer Riile company, who was recently in
Mexico, mentioned this theory: "An old
Mexican soldier told me that it was the
American sharpshooters that broke up
their troops. All over Mexico you will
find what are called arroyas. They are
what we would call gulches, and occur
everywhere on the plains. They have pre
cipitous banks and sometimes men walk
into them without seeing them. They seem
to be the rifts at the bot tom of a sea which
one day may have covered the country.
The American riflemen would dlrop into
these arroyas, which formed natural rifie
pits for them, and having superior rifles
for those (lays were able to pick off the
Mexicans before the latter got within
shooting distance with their blli mouth
guns. Thue slaughter that resulted always
broke .up the Mexicans before they got
within lighting distance.'"-New York
TPribune.