The Manning times. (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, September 18, 1889, Image 1

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

VOL. V. MANNING, CLARENDON COUNTY, S. C., WEDNESDAY; SEPTEMBER1818DNO4. SPiRITUAL CASTAWAYS. Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage Preaches a Marine Discourse In Portland, Oregon - Spiritual Ship. wrecks and Their Causes-How to be Saved - Prayers for Divine Help Is Essential. Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage preached recent ly to a vast audience at Portland, Ore.. taking for his text I. Cor ix, 7: "Lest I myself should be cast away.' Following is the sermon: In the presence of you who live on the Pacific Coast, I who live on the Atlantic Coast may appropriately speak on this ma rine allusion of the text, for all who know about the sea know about the castaway, The text implies that ministers of religion may help others into Heaven and yet miss it themselves. The carpenters that built Noah's ark did not get into it tbaelves. Gown and surplice, and diplomas, "ad ca nonicals are no security. Cardinal Wolsey, after having been petted by kings, and hav ing entertained foreign ambassadors at Hampton Court, died in darkness. One of the most eminent-ministers of religion that this country has ever known, plunged into sin and died; his heart, by post-mortem ex amination, found to have been, not figura tively, but literally, broken. We may have hands of ordination on the head, and ad dress consecrated assemblages, but that is no reason why we shall necessarily reach the realm celestial. The clergyman must through the same gate of pardon as the ayman. There have been cases of ship wreck where all on boardescapedexcepting the captain. Alas! if, having "preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." God forbid it. I have examined some of the commen taries to see what they thought about this word "castaway," and I find they difer in regard to the figure used, while the- agree in regard to the meaning. So I shall make my own selection, and take it in a nautical and seafaring sense, and show you that men may become spiritual castaways, and how finally they drift into that calamity. You and I live in seaboard cities. You have all stood on the beach. Mlany of you have crossed the oceai. Some of you have managed vessels in great stress of weather. There is a sea captain, and there is another, and yonderis another, and there area goodly number of you who, though once you did not know the difference between a brig and a bark, and between a diamondknot and a sprit sheet sail knot, and. although you could no t point out the weather cross Jack brace, and though you could not man the fore clew garnets, now you are as familiar with a ship as you are with your righthand, and if it were necessary you could take a vessel clear across to the mouth of the Mer sey without the loss of a single sail. Well, there is a dark night in your memory of the sea. The vessel became unmanageable. You saw it was scudding toward the shore. You heard the cry: "Breakers ahead! Land on the lee bow!" The vesselstruck the rock and you felt the deck breaking up under your feet, and you were a castaway, as when the Hercules drove on the coast of Caffraria, as when the Portuguese brig went staying, splitting, grinding, crashing on the Goodwins. But whether you have followed the sea or not, you.all understand the figure when I tell you that there are men, who, by their-sins and temptations, are thrown helpless! Driven before the gale! Wrecked for two worlds ! Castaways! Castaways! - By talking with some sea captains, I have ifund-out that there are three or four causes for such a calamnity to a vessel. I have been told that it sometimes comes from creating false lights on the beach. This was often so in olden times. It is not many years ago, indeed, that vagabounds used to wander up and down the beach, getting vessels ashore in the night, throwing up false light in their presence and deceiving them, that they may despoil and ransack them. All kinds oi infernal arts were used to accomplish this. And one night, on the Cornish coast, when the sea was coming in fearfully, some villains took a lantern and tied it to a horse, and led the horse up and down the beach, the lantern swinging to the motion of the horse, and a sea captain in the-offing saw it and made up his mind that he was not anywhere near the shore, for he said: "There's a vessel--that must be a vessel, for it has a movable light," and he had no apprehension till he heard the rocka grating on the ship's bottom, and it went to pieces and the villains on shore gathered up the packages and treasures that were washed to the land. And I have to tell you that there are a multitude of souls ruined by false lights on the beach. In the dark night of man'shdanger false re ligion goes up and down the shore, shairing its lantern, and men look off and take that fiickering and expiring wick as the signal of safety, and the cry is: "Heave the main topsail to the mast! All is well!" when sudden destruction cometh upon them, and they shall not escape. So there are all kinds of lanterns swung on the beach philosophical lanterns, educational lan terns, humanitarian lanterns. Men look at them and are deceived, when there is noth ing but God's eternal lighthouse of the gospel that can keep them from becoming castaways. Once, on Wolf Crag light house, they tried to baild a copper figure of a wolf with its mouth open, so that the storms beating into it the wolf would howl forth the dangers to mariners that might be anywhere near the coast. Of course it was a failure. And so all new inventions for saving man's soul are unavailing. What the human race wants is a light bursting forth from the cross standing on the great headlands--the light of pardon, the light of comfort, the light of Heaven. You might better go to-night, and -destroy all the great lighthouses on the dangerous coasts-the Barnegat lighthouse, the Fastnet Rock lighthouse, the Sherryvore lighthouse, the Longship lighthouse, the Hollyhead light house-than to put Out God's great ocean lamp-the Gospel. Woe to those who swing false lanterns on the beach till men crash into ruin. Castaways! Castaways! By talking with sea captains I have heard alsothatships sometimes come to this calam ity by the sudden swoop of a tempest. For Instance, avessel is sailing along in the East Indies, and there is not a single clo'ud on the sky; but suddenly the breeze freshens, and there are swift feet on the ratlines, and the cry is: "Way, haul away there !" butbefore they can square the booms and tarpaulin the hatchways, the vessel is groaning and creaking in the grip of a tornado. and falls -over into the trough of the sea, and broad side it rolls on to the beach and keels over, leaving the crew to struggle in the merci less surf. Castaway ! Castaway ! And so I have to tell you that there are thousands of men destroyed through the sudden swoop of temptations. Some great induce meat to worldliness, or - sensuality, or to high temper, or to some f<,rm of dissipation, comes upon them. If they had time to ex amine their Bible, if they had time to de. liberate, they could stand it; but the temp 't'ation came so suddenly--an euroclydon on the Mediterranean, a whirlwind of the Ca ribbean. One awful surgo of temptation and they perish. A nid so we -onen hear the old story: "I hadn't seen mzy friend ina great many years. We were very glad tc meet. He said I must drink, and he tool me by the arm and pressed me along, an filled the cup until the bubbles ran over the edge, and in an evil moment all my goo resolutions wereswept away, and to theout raging of God and my own soul, Ifell." 0 the story is:. "I had hard work to suppor my family. Ithoughtthat by one false entry by one deception, by one embezzlement] mightspring out free from all my trouble; and the temptation came upon me so Berce ly I could not deliberate. I did wrong an having done wrong once, I could not stop-' O, It isathe first step that costs; the seconc is easier; and the third; and on to the last Once having broken loose from the anchei .t isanot so easy to tie the parted strands How often it is that men are ruined for the reason that the temptation conies from some unexpected quarter. As vessels lie in Mar gate Roads, .safe from southwest winds; but the wind changing to the northeast, they are driven helpless and go down. 0 that God would-have mercy upon thoseupon whom there comes the sudden swoop of temptation, lest they perish, becoming cast aways! castaways! By talking with sea captains I have found Out that some vessels come to this calamity through sheer recklessness. There are three million men who follow the sea for a living. It is a simple fact that the average of human life on the sea is twelve years. This conies from the fact that men by fa miliarity with danger sometimes become reckless-the captain, the helmsman, the stoker, the man on the lookout, become reck less, and in nine out of ten shipwrecks it is found that some one was awfully to blame. So I have to tell you that men are morally shipwrecked through sheer recklessness. There are thousands who do not care where they are in spiritual things. They do not know which way they are sailing, and the sea is black with liiratical hulks that would grapple them with hook of steel and blind fold them, and make them "waik the plank." They do not know what the next moment may bring forth. Drifting in their theol ogy. Drifting in their habits. Drifting in regard to all their future. No God, no Christ, no settled anticipation of eternal fe licity, but all the time coming nearer and nearer to a dangerous coast. Some of them are on fire with evil habit, and they shall burn on the sea, the charred hulk tossed up on the barren beach. Many of them with great troubles, financial troubles, domestic troubles, social troubles; but they never pray for comfort. With an aggravation of sin they pray for pardon. They do not steer for the linhtship that dances in gladness at the mouth of Heaven's harbor; reckless as to where they come out, drifting further from God, further from early relig ious influences, further from happiness; and what is the worst thing about it is, they are taking their families along with them, and the.way one goes, the probability is they will all go. Yet no anxiety. As uncon scious of dangeras the passengers aboard the Arctic one moment before the Vesta crashed into her. Wrapped up in the business of the store, not remembering that soon they must quit all their earthly possessions. Absorbed in their social position, not know ing that very soon they will have attended the last levee and whirled in the last schot tische. They do not deliberately choose to be ruined; neither did the French frigate Medusa aim for the Arguin banks, but there It went to pieces. I wish I could wake you up. The perils are so augmented, you will die just as certainly as you sit there unless you bestir yourself. Are you willing to be come a castaway? You throw out no oar. You take no surroundings. You watch no compass. You are not calculating your bearings while the wind is abaft, and yon der is a long line of foam bounding the horizon, and you will be pushed on toward it, and thousands have perished there, and you are driving in the same direc tion. Ready about! Down helm I Hard down! Man the life boat! Pull, my lads, pull! "He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall be sud denly destroyed and that without remedy." But some of you are saying within your selves : "What shall I do?" Doi Do? Why, my brother, do what any ship does when in trouble. Lift a distress signal. On the sea there is a flash and a boom. You listen and you look. A vessel is in trouble. The dis tress gun is sounded, or a rocket is sent up, or a blanket is lifted, or a bundle of rags anything to catch the eye of passing craft. So if you want to be taken off the wreck of your sin, you must lift a distress signal. The publican lifted the distress signal when he cried: "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!" Peter lifted the distress signal when he said: "Lord, save me, I perish!" The blind man lifted the distress signal when he said: "Lord, that my eyes may be opened." The jailer lifted the distress signal when he said: "What must I do to be saved !" And help will never come to your soul until you lift some signal. You must make some demon - stration, give some sign; make some Heaven piercing outcry for help, lifting the distress signal for the church's prayer, lifting 'the distress signal for Heaven's pardon. Pray! Prau! The voice of the Lord now sounds in your ears: "In Me is thy help." Too proud to raise such a signal, too proud to be saved. There was an old sailor thumping about in a small boat in a tempest. The larger vessel had gone down. He felt he must die. The surf was breaking over the boat, and he said: "I took off my life belt that it udght soon be over, and I thought somewhat indistinctly about my friends on shore, and then I bid them good-bye like, and I was about sinking back and giving it up when I saw a bright star. The clouds were break ing away, and there that blessed star shone dorn on me, and it seemed to take right hold of me; and some how, I can not tell how it was, but somehow, while I was trying to watch that star, it seemed to help me and seemed to lift me." 0, sinking soul, see you not the glimmer between the rifts of the storm cloud ? That is the star of hope. Deathstruck. I ceased the tide to stemn, When suddenly a star arose, i was the star of Bethlehemf. If there are any here w~ho consider them selves castaways, let me say God is doing every thing to save you. Did you ever hear of Lione. Luken iHe wvas the inventor of the insubmergible life boat. All honor is due to his memory by searfaring men, as well as by landsmen. How many lives he saved by his invention ! in after days that invention was improved, and one day there was a perfect life boat, the Northumber land, ready at Ramsgate. The life boat being ready, to test it the crew came out and leapod on the gunwale on one side to see if the beoat would upset; it was impos sible to upset it. 'lhen, amid the huzzas of~ excited thousands, that boat was launched, and it has gone and come, picking up a great many of the shipwrecked. But I have to tell you now of a grander launching, and from the dry-docks of Heaven. Word came up that a world was beating on the rocks. Inathe presence of the potentates of Heaven the life boat of the world's redemp tion was Mlaunched. it shoved off the golden sands amid angelic hosannas. The surges of darkness beat against its bo, bv it sailed on. and it comes in sight of us th i hour. It comes for you, it comes for m! Soull soul! get into it. Make one xeap for Heaven. Let. that boat go past and your-opportunity is gone. I am expecting that there will be whole families here who will get into that life boat. In 1833 the Isabel camei ashore off Hastings, England. The air was flied with sounds-the hoarse sea trumpet, the crash of the axes, and the bellowing of the tor nado. A boat from the shore came under the stern of the disabled vessel. There were women and children on board that ves el. Some of the sailors jumped into the small boat and said: "Now give us the children." A father who stood On fleck took his first born and threwf him to the boat. The sailors caught him safely, and the next, and the next, to the last. Still the sea rocking, the storm howling. "Now," said the sailores, 'now the mother;" and she leaped, and was saved. The boat went to the shore, but be fore it got to the shore tho landsmen were soiptetto help the suffering people that thywddclear down into the surf with blakets and clothing, and promises of sue or. So there are families here who are go Ing to be saved, and saved altogether. Give us that child for Christ, and tihat other child, that other. Give us the mother, give us the father, the whole family. They must all come in. All heaven wades in to help you. I claim this whole audience for God. I pick not out one man here nor one man there; I claim you all. There are some of you who, Ithirty years ago, were consecrated to Christ by your parents in baptism. Certainly I am not stepping over the right bound when I claim you for Jesus. Then there are many Shere who have been seeking God for a good while, and am 1not right in claiming you for Jesus? Then there are some here who hav been further away, and you drink, Lnd you swear, and you bring up your ramifies without any God to take care of hem when you are dead. And I claim you, ny brother; I claim all of you. You will nave to pray some time; why not begin now, while all th white and purple cluster of livine prodise bend over into your oup, rather than postpone your prayer until your chance is past, and the night drops, md the sea washes you out, and the appal iug fact shall be announced that notwith standing all your magnificent opportunities, you have become a castaway. PARASITES OF SPEECH. Bothers Should Fight Them as Energet ically as They 11o Other Pests. The duty each of us owes to his mother ongue should constrain i;m to seek dili ;ently after the best ways of clothing ideas. If there is a better fashion of speech than yur own we should not be content until it s ours. Slovenly language is more digrace ul than slovenliness of apparel. The great md grievous error in home and school edu ation is that children are allowed to speak is they like. The house mother who wages ,ontinual war with tlies, barricades her windows against musquitocs and would go nto hysterics at the suggestion of the red Bedouin of the sleeping-room, allows her -hildren to double negatives, contract pro vincialisms, and enwrap their daily talk in lang as with a garment. She was a wise woman who insisted that ier children should give neat and definite ,xpression to what they had in their mind o say. If they began a sentence it must be inished. "What you think, you can say," was her rule. "The sooner you learn to say it well the better." it goes without saying that as men and women they were admirable talkers, never aking refuge in -What-you may-call-'cns" mud "I-don't-know-whats," "You-knows" mud "It-seems-to-nies." The pains given to the cultivation of the arasitical gibberish we call "slang," if ightly bestowed, would make charming alkers of our boys and girls. There is lit tle wit as euphony in willful mispronuncia tion of words, nor does the substitution of abalistic phrases for intelligible English dd piquancy to sentence or paragraph. If ,he truth were known, few. slang-venders tre on sufitiently intimate terms with .heir mother tongue to take liberties with er.-Home-Maker. Danger of False Tenderness. The danger of false tenderness in the raining of children was finely illustrated it one time in this manner: A person who vas greatly interested in entomology se :ured, at great pains, a fine specimen of an emperor moth in the larva state. Day by lay he watched the little creature as he mvove about him his cocoon, which is very singular in shape, much resembling a flask. Presently the time drew near for it to merge from its wrappings, and spread its arge wings of exceeding beauty. On reach ng the narrow aperture of the neck of the lask the pity of the person watching it was to awakened, to see the struggle necessary :o get through, that he cut the cords, thus naking the passage easier. But alas! His false tenderness destroyed all the brilliant >olors for which this specie of moth is oted. The severe pressure was the very - thing needed to cause the fiow of fluids which created the marvelous hues. Its wings were small, dull in color, and the whole development was imperfect. How )ften we see a similar result in character, when parents, thinking to help a child over some hard places, rob him of strength of >urpose and other qualities essential to the iighest attainments in mental and spiritual ife.-Farm and Fireside. The Beauty of Kindness. What-a beautiful quality is kindness! tow soothes the careworn! How it heers us when we are sad and despondent! It costs very little to administer it, and yet ,t carries with it a heaven of sweetness. Life at best p&-messes a large share of bit Arness, and has so much need for kindly words and kindly sympathy and aindly as iistance. Many a sad heart on every hand is almost breaking for want of some loving ne to share its burden. And these aching earts do not comprise the few of earth, ut the many; in reality, they include early all of mankind. The secret balm of ealing for all these wounded hearts is imply that loving kindness which is the re lult of living for others, each one for-getting self and sharing the heart-ills of others. h! let us become dead to self and live for yne another; then we have heaven here. Bear ye one one anothers burdens and se ultill the law."-Home. Rational Attention to Dress. Appearances should not be wholly beneath the consideration of any man. Nature does mot disdain them. Nothing is omitted that :an enhance its beauty. Every thing is trouped and arranged with the most consum :ate skill and with the direct and manifest bject of pleasing exterior vision. The man. therefore, who plays the philosopher on the trength of neglecting his attire, and who opes that the world will rate the superior t of his intellect in direct ratio with the .nferiority of his hat, is no philosopher at ill, because the true wise man thinks from ature, through himself.-N. Y. Ledger. -There is nothing-no, nothing-innocent r good, that dies and is forgotten; let us hold to that faith, or none. An infant, a prattling child dying in the cradle will live igain in the better thoughts of those that loved it, and play its part through them in redeeming actions of the world, though its body be burned to ashes or drowned in the eep sea..-Dickens. -There is no fit sear-ch after truth which does not, first or all, begin to live the truth which is known.-H. Bushnell. Was It a Faith Cure? Two weeks ago an incident occurred a fewv miles belkw Mlarion, which is ac ee~td by many as an evidence of the truth of the doctrine of ''faith cure," as held by manny pecople in our County. Carrie Dozier, the t wel ye-year-old (aughter of Mr. D). R. Dozier, had heen sick two weeks with r-heumatismn, and was confined to her lbed. She was help. less and hand to be carefully and closely nursed and attended. On) Sunday. Au gust 25th, she wans visited by R-ev. Ken neth Barnes. That day she was anppa rently no bet ter- than she lad beein at any time during her- sickness. One who was ther-e and saw her says thnere can be no shadow of dloubt as to the serious ness of her illness thbat dlay. D)urilng his visit a service of prayer was conducted by Mr. Barnes, in which at special peti tion was offered for the recovery ot the irl. Immediately after the prayer Mfr. Barnes left, and in a few minutes there after the girl arose, completely restored to health. 11er recovery has apparently been permanent, as shne is nowv as strong and vigorous as before she became sick. Was it a faith eutre?-Jfarion Inder. An Editor's Big Salary. n-. Duinop, thne new- wanaiger- and edditor-in-cief of then Chicago ines, is fort-four years old. lIe was born n the WVest Indies, but removed at anear-ly age to Canada, and from Canada he went to Chicago. He learned the trade of printer, and from the ease lhe went to the proof-reader's desk. At the age of twenty-seven he started out at as a re porter, made a hit at once, and was soon after promoted to thie position of city editor. He made a great reputation im (Jbicago by exposing the official rings Federal, State and munmcipal-and nearly every man that he pointed out as guilty was indiected and convicted. Dun lop is to receive a salary of $25,000) and an intere in the paper. A TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE BROLIE'S STORY OF HIS PLUNGE OVER NIAGARA. He Prayed Hard at the Brink, Vividly Recalled All the Sins or His Life and Then Lapsed Into Unconsciousness. He Will Try It Again. NEW YORK, September 8. - Steve Brodie sat in the little room above his Bowry saloon to-day and received the congratulations of his friends upon his safe return. Steve explained the whole situation over and over again. The thing which impressed him more strongly even than Niagara Falls was the Canadian court where he was tried. "I've been thinking about Niagara Falls for years," said Steve, "an' if I hadn't gone over when I did I'd died a crazy man. You see that picture of Niagara? It's all marked under it in black where it has been handled so much. Many a night I've looked at it, and I say to me ole woman, 'I'll jump Niagary or I'll die,' and I did jump it, and de man dat says I didn't is a para lyzed liar." RUNNING THE GAUNTLET. Steve then went on to tell about the trip to Niagara. At Clifton a customs in spector who was posted to watch him was seen at one end of the train, and Steve avoided him by getting out of the car at the other end. "I was rigged up so me own brother wouldn't know me," said Steve. "I had blue specs on, blue clothes an' a duster.. I wasn't arpund long till I started out to look for a place to start from. A nigger driver took me up de bank to a place called Cedar Island, on de Canada shore. I took bits of wood and flung 'em into do water an' saw by de way de current went that it was de best place to start from. We spent de night at de hotel. I never slept a wink all night. MISTAKEN FOR CROOKS. "De hotel proprietor was told we was crooks from New York, pickpockets bound fur de Toronto fair, and he kept nien.watching us all de time we staid with him. It was three o'clock Saturday morning when I got up. 'I can't sleep no longer, Bill,' says I to Harding. 'an' I'm a goin' to have dis thing over once an' for all.' We had about two miles to go to Cedar Island. Harding an' Ledger went below to fish me body out when I went over, an' Jerrold an' McCarthy went along wid me. "I was tired when we got there an' laid down. '"Are you weakening, Steve?' says McCarthy. "'No,' says I. 'Give me a drink,' an' I took a drink. Then they put dis suit on me. First of all he wrapped me around with cotton an inch an' a half thick. And then they put this over me. I got into it at 5:30 an' started out for the trip. IN THE CURRENT. "Me neck was bound too tight aa' I started to come back. 'He's afeard,' says Jerrold. Well, the word nerved ie an' I began to paddle out. I couldn't come back, anyhow. There was too much current." "How did you feel going over. the Falls?" asked one of the crowd. "Feel?" replied Brodie; "I can't begin to tell you. I remembered every sin I ever done, and me hair got cold and me scalp felt like ice water was drippin' own on it. I felt a kind of a plunge when I bit the top of the Falls, then a secondplunge when I landed on mist. I guess it was about then I lost me senses, for I don't remember rightly just how it was I got out. It seemed to me I was a month in de water before I was hauled out. CONSIDERABLY sHAKEN UP. "I was brought to de Waverly, an' !a doctor came. I felt like all me bones were broke. I tried to get up at 12 o'clock, but I began heav.n' up an' had to go to bed agim. When I was arrested de Judge says: "1-f you'll say you didn't go over de Falls I'll let you go.'" 'Well,' says I, 'I didn't go over den.' 'You'll swear to dis paper,' says he, an' he hands a big, long paper certifyin' that me, Steve Brodie, fixed up a job on de public an' never went near to de Falls.' 'Ilold up your hand and swear to de statements, so help your God,' says "-Judge,' says I, 'I am at your mercy. You goJt me here an' 3 OU can do whiat you want to wid me. But, Judge. I'd lay and rot for fifty years before I'd swearto a lie. I went over Niagery an' I am proud of it. Now you can hang me if you want to.' Now, while I was taking me lawyer never said a word. After it was all over I found out dat all de time he was standin' in wid de Judge. WILL TRY AGiAIN. "What are -you going to do now?" some one asked. "I am goin' over Niagerv agin," re sponded Steve. promptly '"They have put up $1,000 for me, an' as me bail was only $500. I'll give this sucker $500 and~ go on about me business. Paul Bunton, I hear, says he's goin' over himself soon." "1 will take an oath, and hope I may drop dead and may my arms rot off me if I didn't see Ste~e Brodie go over the Fals." said Lewvis Ledger yesterday. "Hek was thrown out about ten feet, may be more. by the water, and I saw him as plain as I see you now. I put a 200-foot rope around me and 1 swam over to him. Harding stood on shore and pulled us in." Had to Speak First.. Oliver Hampton Smith was elected Senator from indiana in 1836. When the election was over, Smith, who was a good lawyer and had been in Congress eight or ten years before, took a drove of hogs down to Cincinnati, going on foot all the .way. On the way he arrived at a tavern, covered with mud, unwashed and unshaven for many days. hc crowdl surrounded him, eager for news of the election. "Who's elected Senator? Hendricks?" "No." "~No lhr~e wa~s a dead silence for a moment and thenn some one asked: "Who are out" A stump speech, with all the mud clinging to his clothes, was neces sar to convince them of his right to the title of Senator in the Congress of the United States. A Singular Coincidence. Maryv Thompson and Daniel Shelly were both upwvards of 77 years of age, both were members of the Methodist church, lived within two miles of each other for the last forty years, were highly respected by their neighbors, and in the decline and decrepitude of age were well provided for by their children, and Iboth died last Sunday within one-half hour of eah other.-Horry herald. The Whistle of the Postman. The postman with his bundles and his whi-tie shrill and clear, Trudges gaily on his journey, while we list as be draws bear, He has letters, he-has papers, he has parcel-, many a one, Which he deals to eager watchers, from rise to set of sun. His whistle sounds, in echo, yet many blocks away, Saying, as he comes nearer, "there's news for you to-day;" A note enveloped daintily, a paper loosely tied, A missive in deep mourning, congratulations for a bride. Invitations to a wedding, a lover's tedd.r words Of sentiment and sighswell mixed, of moon livht, flowers and birds; A mother's fervent blessing, a father's earn est prayer. With tender thoughts encouraging "to nobly do and dare." A photograph of loved ones from "down East" or "out West;" A pattern just in fashion, "the latest and the best.' A circular of wonders,. telling how the sick are cred, How "the ills that flesh is heir to" need no 'longer be endured. An imposing legal document "to be duly signed and seakd;" Others telling what of fortune new invest ments sure will yield; A flaming advertisement of great bargains just in store, Of life insurance figures hinting of the "shining shore." A school-boy's showy penmanship of free and flowing hand, " Recounting excel-ior achievements and sounding very grand; A cramped and labored address from min gled ink and tears, Each pen-stroke drawn in tenderness presag ing hopes or fears. "We have another baby, little mother's doing well," While grandma's face grows tender, aunt Ilettie says "do tell;" "Mother's had a second shock, father's fever is no better," Then t.'ar-drop stains appear disfiguring each letter. A loved one is departing, going out a pre clous life, A sister or a brother, a husband or a wife; Trembling hands unfold the missive and open it with pain, For aching hearts to tell the story to aching hearts again. "J,.hn is deid," "dear Sue is married," and "Mary's very ill," "Robbia broke his leg while racing with Nel lie down the hi'l;" - "Little Neddie has tne measle.'," "Jennie's baby has a tooth," "Mother's coming fora visit with Tom, Dick and Ruth." '-Pete has struck it rich in mining," "Bill's employers have failed." A wayward son arrested-"not guilty-will be bailed;" "The rain has spoiled Joe's wheat crop and mercy only knows How his little flock will winter in the face of coming woe-s." "There's man1 a slip 'twixt cup -and .lip" and the postman brings the news, Having sometimes welcome messages, some times giving one the blues; But we "watch, 'and wait-and listen" with hope suidued by fear, such a med'ey brings the postman with his whistle shrill and clear. . -Good fowekeeping. THE NEW COTTON CROP. September Report of the National De partment of Agriculture. WASHINGTON, September 10.-The cot ton report of the statistician of the De parttent of Agriculture for September represents the crop as comparatively late. Too abundant moisture is gener ally reported, producing a rank weed and retarding the development of the bolls. Rust has appeared quite gener ally on sandy uplands. The gray soils of the Atlantic coast show the most rust. Red lands and heavy soils have been less effeced or entirely ex empt. Drought has not been reported except in the ligh t pine lands of Mississippi, similar soils in Louisiana and in-a considerable part of Texas. In these districts there was abundant moisture till June or July. There has been a considerable dropping of forms and of young boils in the areas most a ffected by the extremes of moisture and temperature. The plants are still grow ing and blooming in most locations, though in light soils bolls are small and and not developing rapidly. The general average of condition is 86.0, against 89.3 last month and 83.8 in September of last year. State avegges are as follows: Virginia 62, North Caro lina 79, South Carolina 87, Georgia 90, Florida 94, Alabama 91, Mississippi 88, Louisiana 91, Texas 81, Arkansas 90, Tennessee 84. The presence of the caterpillar and boll worm is reported in all the Gult States and in Arkansas. The, first brood of the former has webbed up, and preparations are generally made for a vigorous use of Paris green and London purple, which have been very effective with the first generation. The damage has been slight East of the Mississippi and not generally serious further West. With a few exceptions, correspond ents recognize the large valuie in the present crop of the factors of good an tumn weather and late killing frosts in determining the aggregate of production. SOUTH CAROLINA CROPS. The Reports to the Department of Agri culture Indicate an Encouraging Out look for Cotton, Corn and Eice. The following summary of the con dition of the crops in South Carolina on September 1, 1889, is based on re plies received from 246 special corres pondents of the State Department of Agriculture, coveringr every County in the State. Ninety-six correspondents report the weather favorable and 133 un favoable: CoTroN. Excessive rainfall during the first two weeks of the month caused the plant to shed in a number of localities, but the succeeding fair weather has done much toward bringing out and improving it. Sixty-two correspondents repiort "cater pillar" and 167 "110 caterpillar," the reports not indicating any damage from this source. A tabulation of the re rts received shows the condition for pper Carolina to be 94; Middle Caro lina 85 and Lower Carolina 87-average for the State 89, against 86 on the 1st of September, 1888. CORN. The reports indicate a slight improve ment in the condition of corn since the 1st of August, when it was reported at 101, and the pro0spects at tis (late are that a fine crop) will be gathered. The condition in Upper Carolina is 104: Middle Carolina 103 and Lower Caro lina 102-average for the State 103. against 83 on the 1st of September, 1888. RICE. Rice is generally reported in good condition, and reports indicate an in - creased yield and superior quality of grain. The condition in Upper Caro lina is' 98: Middle Carolina 92 and Lower Carolina 96-average for the State 95, against 84 on the 1st of September, 1888. - O-rHER CROPS. The condition of the other crops is reported as follows: sorghum 99; sugar ne 97 ndr pensn 9-. - TERRIFIC ITALIAN EAILSTOR. A Most Extraordinary Phenomenon Wit nessed at Villafranca, Piedmont. News has just been recei.ved here, says a Paris dispatcb, of an extraordi nary phenomenon which occurred a few days ago at Villafranca, in Piedmont. The peasants were engaged in the fields in taking in the harvest when sud denly h dull, rolling sound was heard, and the sky became as black as ink. The e was no thunder or lightning, but a tew hailstones of enormous size fell. some penetrating into the ground and otbers rebounding to a distance of several yards. This preliminary shower ceased for some minutes, during which the peasants crept under the carts and hayricks in their neighborhood. Some, however, were unable to find shelter, and when the storm was over they were in a pitia ble condition, with the blood flowing from their numerous wounds. A boy of 15 and a girl of 11 had their skulls fractured and expired a few hours afterward. More than a hundred per sons were badly hurt. The weight of some of these monster hailstones is estimated in the reports at two pounds. The crops have been totally destroyed, many of the trees have been wrecked, and the roofs of the houses and cottages considerably damaged. The Advancing Prosperity of the South. The New - Orleans Times-Demoerat's annual review of the progress of the South makes a most encouraging exhibit for the year ended August 81st, 1889. There has been, it is shown, a steady advance everywhere and in every line of business. There has been no boom, ex cept in a few isolated spots, but there has been no set-back, no financial dis tress, no business depresson to stay the march of improvement. The extent of the general advance since the census year may be judged from the fact that the assessed wealth of the South which was $2.164,792,795 in 1880, is now $3,759,053,367, an increase of 73.9 per cent. The "trne valuation" of the South to-day is estimated at $8,647,890,028, an increase of $2,922,890,028 in the nine years. In the same period the debts of the Southern States have been reduced from $124,066,897 to $89,557,730. With a reduction of the rate of taxation from 4.60 to 4.23 mills per dollar, the revenues have grown Tron $13,201, - 866 to $21,128,633, an increase of 60 per cent. Railroad r-ileage has grown in the nine years from17,808 to 36,686 miles, with 2,447 more miles under con struction. Cotton mills have increased from 142, with 542,148 spindles, to 830, with 1,859,626 spindles. Cotton seed mills show a still larger development, the increase having been from 45 in 1880 to 214 in 1889. The valne of the oil pro duced in 1880 was $7,690,921, to-day it is $17,669,710. These figures do not simply indicate progress; they point to the transfer of an important branch of manufacturing industry from the North to the South. The statistics of the irou production of the South suggest a like movement. The admis';ion is, in fact now general that the orth ca produce iron as cheaply as ttf6iath, with its exceptional advantages, and that the future home of the great iron industry of the country is in Dixie. The product of pig iron in 1880 was but 212,722 tons; this year it is 1,245,595 t-ns-figures that signify a great deal. Related to the production of iron is the production of coal, which is now 12.376,500 tons per annum, against 1.963.574 tons in 1880. The value of the annual product of minerals ot all kinds was $3,347,445 in 1880; in 1889 it is $29,47G,432, an increase~of 780 per cent. Tne lumber product has more than doubled in value, and tho same may be said of the fruit product. Live stock has increased in annual value from $391,312,254 to $551,528,731. Agricul tural pro;ducts show a growth in annual value from .$611,0.79,048 to $868,979,523. Tbe total addition to the agricultural, industrial and mineral wealth of the South last year was $1,631,513,686, as against $1,089, 366,6054 in 1880, showing a large increas~e of productive capacity. Along with this increase of profits there has been a gratifying in crease of expenditure for schools. In 1860 the outlay for public schools was $6,145,706; in 1889 it is $13,905,304, an increase of 127.8 per cent. 1.ai every item of the list the percentage of growth has been in advance of the growth of population. In 1880 the population was 14,639,714; in 1889 it is estimated to be 19,304,123, an increase of 32.2 per cent. The South, it will be seen, is better off as respects material wealth than for many years past. Its social, intellectual, moral and political condition has improved, it is believed, at an almost equal rate. The white population, not having been affected by immigration, is American still to the backbone, and is animated by senti ments of dlevotion to cons'itutional gov ernment which renders the South the conservative element of the Union. Its growth in wealth, in culture, in popula tion and political influence is, t':;re fore, i0 the intereset of free institultions5, to be desired by the whole country. Baltimore Sun. A Prophecy of Wendell1Phlips. At this time, when Southern resources are attracting so much attention and caital, a prophecy of Wendell Philips, the nlotedl abolitionist, is worth rep~eat ing. In the course of a speech shortly before his death he said: "The hand writing is so plain on the wall that none but a fool need mistake it. New Eng land is doomed just as sure .as natural laws will p~roduce fixed results. New England has no soil worth mentioning, and her wealth has all been derived from her manufactures. These are gradually leaving her, and eventually they will go; ~some to the West, the most to the South, where the advantatges for profitable man ufacturing are all located. The coal and iron in the South are easily gotten at, are inexhaustible in amnunt, and the iron mills, the foundries andl ma chine shons can go to them better than they can be carriedl to the shops. Then the cotton and woolen mills must go there, for the raw materials are, and are to be, p~rodutcedt there most cheaply, uniformly and better. Then look at the advantalge of t he extra hours of daylight in a year's run. This, of itself, is ni smalI inam Ier. As thec Soih grows stronger and stronger ibe wealth, cul ture and power- of the country will be centered there until she will becotme, not alone the mistress of America,Ibut the central empire of the world." A curious strike is in progress at Rochester. The osterologists and taxi demists in Ward's natural science es tablishments, where Jumbo's skeleton was prepared, have stopped work, and as a result many rare birds and animals beig -prepared for colections3 in dif ferent parts of the country are leff partly mounited and the loss will be MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE. W. D. Merriman Convicted in the Ches terfield Court of the Murder of A. G. Douglas -Both White Men. CaEr.w, Septniber 10.-[Special to The Register.]-In the Chestertield Court of General Sessions to-day, after being out only twenty minutes, the jury brought in a verdict of guilty of mur der in the first degree against W. IU. Merriman for killing A. G. Douglas, a prominent turpentine man, near here, on the 6th of May last. The trial occu pied live days, there being a large num ber of witnesses, and was one of- the most interesting cases that has ever been tried in this County. The court house was crowded from the beginning till the verdict was rendered. The killing of Douglas was brought on by a dispute over some land which both Douglas and Merriman claimed. Some time after the dispute Merrimair laid in ambush for Douglas and shot him with a double-barrel gun loaded with buckshot. The defense employed four of the most prominent lawyers of the Cheraw and Chesterfield bars. The Judge (Wallace) has not yet passed sentence on Merri man. If he is hung it will be the first execution to take place in Chesterfield County for over forty years. W. D. Merriman is about 25 years old. le is married and has one child. There is another murder trial on the docket-The State against Robert Moore, colored, for stabbing and killing his brother Alfred, on the 9th of August. The general belief is that he, too, will he convicted. About twenty factory hands passed through town from Rockingham, N. C., going to Darlington to-day. The Rock ingham mills will not be running for three months, on account of damage by floods. Race Antipathies The collisions between the whites and blacks in Mississippi bring into strong relief a characteristic of mankind that lacked explanation and rationale until the appearance of the "Origin of Spe cies." From that epoch-making work we learn that race prejudice is not con fined to man. Desperate struggles be tween different species of the same fam ily of animals are raging now and have ever raged. Every acre of territory is fought for, and wide regions are totally depopulated of fauna of one variety by another species differing, pefhaps, only in color. The red squirrel looks upon the presence of the black as an imperti nence, and the black is made uncom fortable hy the neighborhood of the gray Evern plants have antipathies that a philosopher would blush to own, and have their Waterloos in which sap flows like water. At any rate, there is many an Alsace and Lorraine in the vegetable world towards which we half fancy that the vanquished and expelled look back with longing eyes, amid much rattling of stems and brandishing of thorns. And, had the Greeks known anything of the "survival of the fittest," no doubt they would have linked into verse and ashioned into legend the !aments _of Dryaud-Jmydriad, when the syca more drove tie oak from watered banks ri the pine expelled it troi e r slopes of Olympus. But it might be thought that, though white clover will not con sent to dwell in peace with red, and the red fox declines to accede to any modus vivendi with the gray-it might be thought that men would be wiser. Are we not all brothers? The truth lies in the other direction. The animosity of animal.s arises only pon contact, the antipathies of man time can hardlv'blunt or distance soften. The Celt hates the Saxon, though jibe ocean rolls between England and America; though more than two centu ries lie between our day and the battle of the Boyne. Slav, Maggar, Teuton, by their'undying animosities, keep alive the undying Eastern questlon-a ques tion that blood and iron alone can solve. German and Gaul d well side by side in the provinces wrested from France by Bismarck; but which of the two is ~to be master there is a question that will yet choke the Rhine with corpses. The Indian is a man and brother; yet the sentiment has been boldly uttered and heard with the ap plause due, to wit: that dead Indians aone arc good; and just the other day tbere rose amid the fluttering of flags and the blare of trumpets-there rose in philanthropic New England a stately monument to a man who would have been banded down to eternal execration ad his prowess been exhibited against the white race insteatd of tbe red man. To us, accustomed to see men of every nationality pouring into our broad borders, the race animosities of Europe seem hardly intelligible. But wve know that they exist as fundamental and in eradicable facts that no statesman can ignore or for a moment forget without peril. That there are troubles at the South, therefore, no thoughtful man will find surprising, when the t wo races, un like those of Europe, differ by the total width of the sk39 No nation in the tide of time eirer'had so momentous problem on its hands-a problem so fraught with serious impossibilities that to make light of it is the mark neither of a wise head nor a patriotic heart.--New York Onn merial Adcert iser. A Family of Elopers. A romantic ceremony was performed at Jacksdn, Miss., Monday night by Rev. Frank H-allam of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. The contracting par ties were Dr. Robert Lowry of Canton, and Miss Mary J. Foote of Oakland, California. Miss Foote, who is the daughter of Henry S. Foote, one of the California State Supreme Comit com missioners andl formierly a citizen of Mississippi, was visiting relatives in Canton, where she met young Lowry, son of Governor Lowry, and a practic ing physician of that city. An attach ment sprang up bet ween the t wo, and it is supposed that on account of the youthful age of the yoiung laidy her relatives objected to a wedding, but love laughs at locksmiths, hence the elopement to JTackson. Governor Lo~wry has eleven children, nine of whom are now married. One of his daughters and two of his sons eloped. Gave Him the Job. A business man in Albauy advertised for an office boy recently, and, its usual, got a big bundle of answers. lHe got fairly tired of reading the various good things the young applicants for the place had to say of themselves, but finally he s.ruck a letter that really rested him. It was written on a very much soiled and. crumpled piece of paper that had never been very white, anid ran as follows: "I'm 12 years old. I haint got no father .r muther. I'm an orfen and I've got to hustel. It jus.t betes all how hard times is." He rcad no more of the let ters, but at once sent for tile writer of ih one and save him the job. TANNER'S TUMBLE. THE CORPORAL'S RESIGNATION AC CEPTED BY THE PRESIDENT. An Interchange of Mutual Admiration. Correspondence Between Tanner and Earrison-Gossip as tp the Corporal's Successor-Several Candidates Named. WASHINGTON, September 12.-The fol lowing is Commissioner Tanner's letter of resignation and President Harri son's reply thereto: DEPARTMENT GF THE INTERIOR, Bu reau of Pensions, Washington, D. C., September 12, 1889.-To the President: The differences which exist between the Secretary of the Interior and myself as to the policy to be pursued in the ad ministration of the Pension Bureau have reached a stage which threatens to embarrass you to an. extent which I feel I should not call upon you to suffer; and as the investigation into the affairs of the Bureau has been completed, and [ am assured both by yourself and by the Secretary of the Interior that the report contains no reflection on my in tegrity as an individual or as an officer, I herewith place my resignation in your hand, to take effect at your pleasure, to the end that you may be relieved of any further embarrassment in the matter. Very respectfully yours, JAMEs TAixE, Commissiener. EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, September 12, 1889.-Hon. James Tan ner, Commissioner of Pensions.-Dear Sir: Your letter tendering your resig nation of the office of Commissioner of Pensions has been received, and your resignation is accepted, to take effect on the appointment and qualification of your successor. I do not think it ne cessary, in this correspondence, to dis cuss the causes which have led to the present attitude of affairs in the Pen sion Office. You have been kindly and fully advised of my views upon most of these matters. It gives me pleasure to add that, so far as I am advised, your honesty has not at any time been called in question, and I beg to renew the ex pression of my personal good will. Very truly yours, BENJ. HAERIsON. CANDIDATES FOR THE VACANT PLACK Gossip as to Tanner's successor is now engaging all attention. To-day ex-Con gressman Wm. Warner of Missouri, ex Commander-in-Chief of the G. A. B., is believed to be most likely to be appointed. He is said to have left Kansas City. in response to a. telegraphic summons to meet the Secretary of the Interior. Other candidates are ex-Pension Agent Poole of Syracuse, N. Y., Gen. Charles E. Brown of Cincinnati and Gen. Powell of Illinois. The impression of yesterday that Tan ner would be provided for in some way by the administration still prevails, but just where cannot be learned, if, indeed, it has been decided. A Western paper published a statement that he would en ter upon the practice of law after leav ing the ension Office, but a close friend of Waa~s that is entare a s.b It is laid to-da a Id did idt telegraph to Tanner a'vwng-or urging him not to resign. If he ex pressed any view at all upon the matter it was verbally and to a third party. Governor Foraker's position is also said to have been misrepresented by yester day's reports. To-day's information on the subject is to the effect that he pot only did not advise Tanner not to resign, but gave him advice directly to the contrary. The Haunted Czar. "Uneasy lies the head th~wears- a rown" is an old and often'quoted say ing, but no ruler of modern times has - been made more sensible of its truth than the Czar Alexander. Who was it that also remarked that "Russia is'a despotisin tempered by assassinationt'" This, also, is true, and no precauitions taken by the Czar can relieve from the. constant apprehension -that - some - desperate act of some desperate man or body of men will nli mately bring about his death. Even in his summer palace, surrounded as it is by a double cordon of guards, letters have been foud warning him of his doom. He has been shot at and at empts have been made to blow him up with dynamite, and on his~ last journey to the interior an accident oc curred to the train in which he was, with loss of life, and no one knows to this day whether it rose from a defective rail or was the work of conspirators. In his summer palace he shifts his sleeping place from one room to another, and that in which he sleeps is said to be kept secret from all until the next morn ing. There may be exaggeration in this, but there is no exaggeration in the pre autions taken to protect his life. The coaches of the new train in which he travels are covered with iron armor and lined with cork. It consists of several saloons so completely covered that no one can tell from the outside where one saloon begins and the. other ends, or in what compartment the Czar may at any time be found. Every mile of the railroad undergoes a rigor ousi examination beforehand, and guards are stationed at intervals to be ready for any emergency. It would be a ques jion with most men whether life would be worth living nnder such circum stances. But the Czar is compelled to bear his heavy burden as best he may, while with an apparently inflexible will he continues to- exercise his desp~otic au thority and trusts to the vigilance of the special police of the "third section" to protect him from the conspiracies that are const antly being organized for his destruction. - May Murder, But Not Steal. The Stanford (Ky.) InteriordJournial. has an interesting story about a drum mer's adventures in Harlan and Bell Counties. While asleep in a moun taineer's cabin the traveling man's pan taloons were stolen, and the owner hav ing but one pair, the drummer was com pelled to drive four miles without any. There is something strange about this, the commission of theft in the moun tains. This is a crime practically un known there. A man who might shoot you with a Winchester from behind a tree would never think of taking your property. If stealing is going on it has been introduced by the fast encroach ing railroads. If that mountaineerhad been at home when the drummer got up he would have loaned him his only pair of breeches to wear away.--Louisville u rier-Journal. No Demand for rhM Bustle. Talors bustle manufactory at Bridge port,'Connecticut,.*where 600 girls have - been employed, has shut down. The suspension is likely to be indefinite, from the fact, it is saidthat the'bustle has gone so largely -out of fashion that comn ~ai-cly n demand for it remains.