The Manning times. (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, June 12, 1895, Image 4
WHICH?
Some must sow,
Though others reap
Some must go.
While others sleep;
Some must sigh
While joy bells ring
Some must die,
While others sing.
Some will laugh,
While storm clouds burst;
Some will quaff,
While others thirst;
Some will grope
While others sail
Some will hope
While others fail.
Some will sin,
Some will win,
In cause unjust;
Some will greed,
While others give
Some will need
While mortals live.
Voices raise
Upon the air
Some in praise,
And some--despair!
Thus the ills
And joys must be;
Thus fulfills
Our destiny.
Keep this thought
Within thy mind,
"Peace was brought
For humankind."
Who hath braved
Life's sea--storm tost,
Some are saved,
And some are lost.
---Cleveland Plain Dealer.
THE STROKE OF RUIN.
BY MAURICE THOMPSON.
It was moonlight and rather late in
the balmy evening, with a breeze flut
tering along Royal street, and the
sound of a guitar coming from an in
definite distance. No street cars were
running and but few strollers-these
most creoles in high-heeled shoes tap
ping lightly on the banquettes-went
up and down the narrow way.
Boyle Harding leaned back in an
easy chair on the iron-railed balcony,
or gallery, which overhung the side
walk. an'd smoked slowly, with half
closed eyes. He was waiting the ar
rival of his young friend. Francois
Rapin, who had lately interested him
to a singular degree.
Even at the moment, upon the un
carpeted stairway came the active cre
ole's feet, two steps at a time, alc';g
with a lively tune sung almost breath
lessly through a curving black mus
tache.
"Ah, but here I am!" he cried, is
suing through the doorway and trip
gay step along the floor towards
"Well, and what is it?" demanded
the New Yorker. "What have you
found out?"
"Bah I" He produced a cigarette
and asked for a lioht by an inimitable
pantomine with Yiead and shoulders.
"Maybe she wentto the French opera.
Go with me; I have a box; come."
"But haven't you yet.seen her?"
"Seen her-how should I know?
Monsieur Harding forgets the condi
tions." He laughed in his atrociously
frivolous French way.
"I beg pardon," said Harding,
quickly; "I had, indeed, forgotten
that I did not know her name, her
place of residence, nor yet even the
color of her eyes. Yes. I will go with
yon to the opera. Everybody goes,
"Not everybody, but everybody of
the best. It is the distinctton; we
draw the line in front of the boxes."
"Not the dead line, I hope."
"Even that sometimes, yes. I have
known a glance of sweet eyes to cost
a man his best blood under the oaks.
Are you a good fencer?"
Boyle Harding made no3answer, but
flung his cigar stump over the iron
filagree down into the street, where it
coruscated on the cobble-stones. and
then he rose and shook himself light
las one does who forms an imperfect
laor feels vaguely impatient over
elayed expectations.
The sky above New Orleans was as
blue as a sapphire, and the irregular
old houses along Royal street caucoht
many a stray glint from the splen 'd
mood. Harding was in a mood to feel
all the force of such a scene. He had
come South a fortnight past with let
ters of introduction to influential peo
ple, but he was not seeking society; a
quiet sojourn in New Orleans with his
eyes and ears opened suited him bet
ter. He was young, however, brimful
of blood and surcharged with a poet's
imagination.
What was, perhaps, just the thing
he would have most desired came to
him unexpectedly one day. Is was a
twinkle of romance in the gloom of
Royal street. He suddenly met a
beautiful young woman face to face
at the door of Gardin's old book store,
a dingy hole where you find the con
tents of French libraries that have
-been sold at successive sales or picked
up at auction. Warm eyes exchange
an involuntary look which seeme to
have a glow of inquiry struck out of
iris points. Harding was electrified,
and impulsively lifted his hat. She
passed him with a half smile, leaving
a breath of violets and the rustle of a
gwn quietly elegant in the air round
The color of her hair, her height,
the tint of her eyes, her complexion
-he could not fix one of these in his
mind, but he knew that she was the
loveliest, the most enchanting girl
that ever breathed. The impression
entered his consciousness so suddenly
and set itself so deep and with such a
thrill of romantic pleasure, that he
stopped short in the door, and stood
there, hat in hand, smiling reminis
oenly and listening to the purr of his
onbodsweetly quickening along
his veins.
A lover is a great fool; but he is
the only man who knows what song it
was that the stars sang; and to him
you must go if you would learn the
secret of heavenly happiness and the
value of dreams as nutriment for the
imagination. A lover's soul will tre
ble its stature by feeding one moment
on a smile.
In fact, Boyle Harding had felt this
sudden growth within; it had quick
ened, broadened and sweetened his
suiritual vision, while affording a fine
and richly mysterious increment to his
enjoyment of his new surroundings.
Thswas midway inthe fifties, when
New Orleans had reached the splendid
zenith of her wealth, and when the
peculiar color of her social life was
most azzling and romantic. As an
American city she stood apart, a hot,
almost tropical heart of passion, lux
ury, pleasure and abounding hospi
tality. And with it all went the old
freeom of chnivalric personal courage
and the love of spectacular results in
matters of honor.
Harding and his young creole friendi
set out on foot; it was but a shortI
step to the Opera House, and as theyI
went along Rapin was prattling on
the subject of fencing, always a great
vogue with the jeunesse doree of New
Orlans. He was himself a rich orphan,
living upon an almost unlimited in
come, and had long been a confirmed
habitue of the fencing halls. Having
seen some rapiers and foils in Hard
ing's rooms, he was saying:
"But you must be interested in
sword play-in fencing. It is the
noblest of all the exercises for gentle-~
men, and your physique is precisely
made up for it. You must be a mas
ter, or you could be."
"I have had good masters," Hard
ing replied in an evasive tone, "but I
am limg interest in it.'
"Your masters were in New York'"
""No; Paris. I had 1. Duval for
three years.'
"31. Duval: You had M. Charles
Duval for three vears:
"Yes."
"Ah, what fortune: He, and he
only, teaches the 'stroke of ruin,' the
pass which pierces across from shoul
der to shoulder, disabling the victim
for life, yet never killing him:" Ra
pin spoke enthusiastically, and after
a moment's pause added almost breath
lessly:
"And you learned his stroke: Oh.
but I am overjoyed: and you will
teach me to do it' Ah, Monsieur. I
shall be your lifelong debtor. I have
dreamed of that incomparable thrust:
I have made two journeys to Paris to
learn it; but, you must know. M.
Duval is an ancient enemy of my
father. I could not go to him, and
his pupils are so few and so, so. so dis
tinguished and exclusive that I could
not reach one of them.
Harding laughed at the youth's
frankness and told him pleasantly
that he should be glad to give him the
secret instruction. Thereupon Rapin
almost hugged him, and they were
just entering the Opera House.
A great curve of splendor. a ilash of
faces, jewels, laces. eyes. fans--a be
wildering horizon of corsages, coif
fures, necklaces, bracelets, rings: a
foam of airy growns sinking and swell
ing gently, like surf froth against a
beach of fairy land. Harding gazed
in half-blinded stupidity, so he felt,
and could see no details, could make
out no individual face distinctly. It
all struck him as some vast spectacle
of barbarous gewgaw splendor. and
yet nothing that he had ever seen
could compare with it in unity of
effect. The boxes were all full, and
full of beauty and queenly costume, so
accentuated that nowhere else could
such insistences upon decoration have
been tolerable. There. however, it
was the perfection of color, brilliance
and condensed, passionate beauty of
expression such as the Greeks of Alex
andira dreamed of in their luxurious
exhibitions.
Harding and Rapin were the only
persons in their box, which was well
to one side of the great curve. On the
stage a celebrated ballet favorite was
kicing neatly through one of her
captivating passages.
"We will begin the lessons to-mor
row," murmured Rapin: "I shall be
an apt scholar, Monsieur."
"Yes." said Harding, absently. He
was gazing along the great sweep of
beauty and light.
"But excuse me for a moment or
two," the creole added after a while,
when the curtain was down, "I am
going to call at the box of a friend."
He went, and Harding continued his
survey, which, now that his eyes had
somewhat accustomed themselves to
the glamor, became more real and ab
sorbingly interesting.
Presently he saw pin in a box, a
magnificent one, near the centre,
talking with a tall, young woman
and it was she. There could be no
doubt for a moment. The thrill
through Harding's heart told as much
as the girl's resplendent, yet, ina way,
subdued beauty.
Harding', eyes were fixed; the trance
of that old-time love which men used
to acknowledge was upon him. His
strong, healthy, boyish nature plunged
into the thick of a passion-romance as
fervid as it was pure and sincere. And
at the very central moment she turned
from Rapin and looked straight at
him. Moreover, he could see a light
of quick interest come into her face;
they were speaking of him.
The prosy fact was that Rapim, in
his enthusiastic way, had been telling
Mlle. Marie de Montmartin-that wvas
her name--about his good fortune in
finding a master to teach him the
"stroke of ruin," and he had directed
her attention to the young man in his
box. But for Mlle. Marie de Mont
martin we may as well say that she
glanced mechanically, then looked
again. Harding was a superbly hand
some young athlete, a flower of per
fact manhood with a face never to be
forgotten by any woman.
Rapin presently returned to the box,
bringing with him, or at least Hard
ing fancied it, a breath of that ex
quisite violet perfume which had been
haunting Harding's memory for days
and nights together.
"Who is she-the young lady in the
box where you've been?"
The abrupt inquiry and a certain
timbre of Harding's voice betrayed his
emotion to the quick creole.
"Oh, she-that is Mile. Marie de
Montmartin. Lovely, isn't she? You
might envy me, M. Harding. She is
my betrothed."
"Ah"-Harding hesitated and a
palish change passed over his face, like
a fleece cloud over some glorified
space of sky. Then he coolly added:
"I doenvy .you. Yes, she is the most
beautiful girl that I have ever seen.
She is the one I met in the old book
store door. You are quick to find."
Rapin colored.
"Thank you," he said, as the cur
tain went up and the prima donna
strode forth with a superb swing.
The next day Rapin came to Hard
ing's rooms for his initial lesson; but
the young man begged a postpone
met; he was not feeling in good form,
e said, and was averse to exercise.
And now Harding's powerful letters
of introduction came into play. The
only son of General Stanhope Harding*
had the key to open even the exclu
sive gate of the mansion wherein the
ncient family traditions of Montmar
tin were kept in an atmosphere of
their own. Here the young man~
found Mlle. Marie even more fascinat
ing than his imagination had pictured
We must acquit him; he did not de
iberately seek to gain her affections:;
indeed there was no need to seek; she
claimed him at sight, and the way wasI
love's sweetest path. Rapin was for
gotten as a merely conventional lover
nust always be when the true one
omes rushing in all aglow and all|
>owerful.
Marie's parents were delighted.
rhere was no obstacle, religious or
ther, and an alliance with the Hard
ing family was something to be proud
of. So, in due course of time, the en
agement was announced and the wed
lin g day approached.
Hadng had been to New York: hie
returned late in November, radiant
with happy aspirations, and took
rooms as before, but now in the St.
Charles. He brought some frienids
with him, and his parents would be
coming a little later.
I have said that a lover is a fool.
His vanity, moreover, cannot be over
estimated, and the selfishness of his
passion plays him small yet irresisti
ble tricks. Harding had a desire to
o ag'ain to the old book store of
Garcian, on Royal street, anid have his
first meeting with Marie over once
more in his imagination. He slipped
away from the hotel furtively and
with a foolish stir in his blood.
The morning was like a summer's
dream, clothing the old city in films
of chastened splendor. Up aind down
the narrow streets clacked the high.
heeled boots of the little creoles.
Fruit stands, heaped with luscious or
anges, bananas. apples, dashed the air
with a rich bouquet, and there were
roses ever-ywhere. Harding held his
head high and walked swiftly.
When we go to seek an illusion wve
are pretty sure to find a reality. It is
not the scheme of nature to humor us
ing came abruptly face to face with
Francois Iapin, whom he had not
seen since the announcement of the
coming nuptials. Somehow it was a
surprise, but Rapin's face showed a
qticK Sine'.
Harding stopped short in his tracks.
and would have probably put forth his
hand in a friendly offer of salutation:
but just then his ht was lightly tapped
from his head by lapin. who innedi
ately picked it up and handed it to
him, saying:
"Monsieur Harding will now re
member his promise to teach me the
mysterious stroke of M. Duval."
He bowed low and was gone: while
a card Buttered down at Harding's
feet: it bore Rapin's address.
At first Harding's heat of temper
was great, but reflection led him to
consult his friends, who ridiculed the
thought of a duel. He was glad to
escape. for, although a born tighter,
this was no time to be risking his life
or to be killing a man.
He had however, consulted but one
side of that advisory board which al
ways exists in such cases. His North
ern~ friends were unanimously opposed
to the duel, but he must be frank and
ray the matter before his fiancee's
familr.
"You must fight him, sir," said
Montmartin.
"Of course, there is but one way
open to a gentleman," sighed Marie:
"you must challenge him."
The Montmartin household and all
the Mlontmartin circle were as a unit
on this point. No evasion was to be
considered, since Rapin smilingly re
fused to apologize, and so Harding
sent the challenge. which was prompt
ly accepted.
They met at sunrise under the
"oaks' so well known to duelling his
tory. Merrily clinked their rapiers
for honor's sake and Marie's. That
was but about forty years ago: and
yet what a distance: What a far spin
the world has made down the "groove
of change" since then: Farragut and
Butler have been in the city, the re
construction terror has come and gone:
the reassertion of State authority fol
lowed the victory of the citizens over
the alien soldiers; the lottery has gone:
the city is rich once more: see the bales
of cotton, the hogsheads, the barrels,
the bags on the levee: And there are
no more duels.
Yesterday a white-haired man, whose
shoulders drooped strangely, and
whose two arms dangled half-paralyzed
beside him, walked down Royal street.
"That is Francis Rapin," said a
creole Lo some friend. "He got that
wound in the celebrated duel with
Harding."
"Y-e-e-s, drawled another of the
group, with a queer little shrug.
"Y-e-e-s, Mr. Harding taught him the
'stroke, of ruin,' la: ha: c'est vral,
n'est ce pas?"
I followed with curious gaze the re
treating from of Rapin, recalling at
the same time that Boyle Harding and
his wife were now living in Nice,
where, in most comfortable circum
stances and well loaded with is me,
Harding writes his novels and plays
with his grandchildren. His wife is
said to be still beautiful and very
domestic.-New York Vanity.
BLACK BUCKNER BUCKS.
But the Illinois Legislature Rejects His
Bloody Shirt.
SPRINGFIELD. Ills., June 7.-A bill
appropriating 815,000 to enable the
State of Illinois to participate in the
Atlanta exposition passed the House1
today by a vote of 79 ayes to i8 nays.
The l~ill, which was introduced in the
Senate by Henry Evans, a Republican1
of Kane county, passed that body
some time ago, but when it went to
the House the appropriations commit
tee made an unfavorable report on it.
Col. Jonathan Merriam of Tazwell
county, a distinguished Federal soldier
took up the fight for the bill and:
through his efforts it was taken from:
the public table and advanced on the<
calendar. Today he called it up
ag'ain and it was read a third time and
paced on its passage.1
The debate which followed was a
stirrinG' one. John C. Buckner, a col-1
ored 1Representative from Chicago.
took the floor against the measure and]
made an attack on the bill. He said
the melnbersof his race could not at
tend the exposition and be treated as ]
citizens of a great State. With bitter
ness he spoke of the lynching of col
ored men in the South and declared <
his hostility to any measure that would 1
benefit the South unti! colored men ]
were allowed their rights in the South.
ern States. He declared that at some.
of the building erected at the World's
Fair by Southern States, the blackest I
Eottentot was welcome, while colored I
:itizens wvere denied admittance. <
Col. MIerriam, in defending the bill,<
said: "I am informed that 25,000 old 1
soldiers have already signified theirt
purpose to visit the Atlanta Exposition.1
I'hey are survivors of the legions who
bore the flag through storms of shot .I
nd shell as they fought their bloody:<
way under the leadership of Sherman
and Logani acro'ss the valleys of Re
saca and up the heights of Kenesaw t
ntil their victorious banners waved e
aout Atlanta, and thence took their e
way to the sea. Now, after thirty years f
f peace, with fraternal feelings re- e~
stored, ther want to meet again under i
hat flan' as it floats over that historic t
ity amY greet with friendly clasp the a
rave men who fought with --gual de- a
otion for the lost catuse, and there I
emonstrate anew that peace hath her t
ictories no less renowned than war."'
Col. Bryan of DuPage called MIr. a
Buckner's'attention to the fact that I
he colored people had been recognized c
n the Atlanta Exposition, and as a (
:epublican he deplored the attempt a
ade to excite any feeling against the t
South. Other speeches in the same a
ein were made.
A Sensation in st. Paul.
Sr. PAUL, MIinn., June 2.-Ambrose
sborne, a negro, 2S years of age,
arrowly escaped death at the handst
f a mob at 5 o'clock this morming at
he corner of Lexington avenue and
nglehart street. S3hortly after 4
'clock Osborne entered the home of
hree sisters. MIaggie, Frida and An
nie Kitchell, aged~23, 18 and 11. Os
orne seized Frida by the throat and f
egan choking her. The other sisters I
ere awakened by the scuhile at d ran
ut to the street and gave the alarm.
Aton Kitchell, who lives close by,
was the first to respond and ran aft'er
the brute. The chase was a hot one
for a mile, but the negro finally gave
p and was brought back to the corner
f Lexington and Inglehart, where
the whole neighborhood had been
roused, app~rised of the brute's act
ad were ready' for a lynching bee.
sborne was led to a. tree, a rope se
ured, and he was given a few nun
utes to confess. This lie did and was
swung to the limb of a maple tree.
This threw the wvomen into hysterics,
ntI Kitchell, the captor. begged that
osborne be spared. He was thereupon
taken down and turned over to the
police.
A Disastrous Flashi of laihtning. I
H.Iulro, Junie 1.-The fire which 1
wssatdin the petr'oleumn sheds on 1
Wihlsurg Island yesterday after- 1
non, as the result of a stroke of light- c
nng, has left a track of deiastation
three hundred metres wide. The Gaiser t
Factory and the IIamburg:Amer~ican
Company's depot are safe, the wind s
having driven the Ilames in the oppo
S[HAMGAR'S OXOAI).
ITS USE AS A WEAPON AGAINST THE
PH ILISTINES.
Rev. D)r. Talmage -'nforces tihe Neeessity
of Uing ihe W-apmn We Have at Hand
For All Great Emergencies- hut We
31u1t Have God With Us.
NEW YonK, June 2.-In his sermon
today Rev. I)r. Tahnage discusses one
of the most heroic and picturesque
characters in ancient Jewish history.
a man who like many others who ac
hieved high distinction. came from the
sturdy rural classes-the subject of the
sermon was "Shamgar's Oxgoad," the
text being. "After him was Shamgar.
which slew of the Philistines 600 men
with an oxgoad" Judges iii. 31 j.
One day while Shamgar. the farmer
was plowing with a yoke of oxen his
command of whoa-haw-gee was chang
d to the shout of battle. Philistines.
always ready to make trouble. march
up with sword and spear. The plowman
had no sword and would not probably
have known how to wield it if he had
possessed one. But fight he must or
go down under the stroke of the Phil
istines. He had an oxgoad-a weapon
used to urge on the lazy team; a weap
on about eight feet long, with a sharp
iron at one end to puncture the beast.
and a wide iron chisel or shovel at the
other end with which to scrape the
lumps of soil from the plowshare.
Yet, with the iron prong at one end of
the oxgoad and the iron scraper at
the other. it was not such a weapon as
one would desire to use in battle with
armed Philistines. But God helped
the farmer. and leaving the oxen to
look after themselves lie charged upon
the invaders of his homestead.
Some of the connentaries to make
it easier for Shamgar suzgest that per
haps lie led a regiment of famers into
the combat. his oxgoad only one of
many oxgoads. But the Lord does
not need any of you to help in making
the Scriptures, and Shamgar. with the
Lord on his side, was mightier than
iU0 Philistines, with the Lord against
them. The battle opened. Shamgar,
with muscle strengthened by open air
and plowman's and reaper's and thras
her's toil, uses the only weapon at
hand, and he swings the oxgoad up
and down, and this way and
and that, now stabbing with
the iron prong at one end of it,
and now thrusting with the iron scrap
r at the other, and now bringing
:own the whole weight of the instru
nent upon the heads of the enemy.
rhe Philistines are in a panic, and the
supernatural forces come in, and a
blow that would not under other cir
:umstances have porstrated or
;lain left its victim lifeless,
2ntil when Shamgar walked over the
eld he counted 100 dead, 200 dead.
00 dead, 400 dead, 500 dead, 600 dead
-all the work done by an oxgoad
with iron prong at one end and an iron
;hovel at the other. The fame
)f this achevement by this
armer with an awkward weapon
)f war spread abroad and
ionized him until lie was hoisted
.nto the highest place of power and be
.ame the third of the mighty judges
f Israel. So you see that Cincinnatus
aas not the only man lifted from plow
o throne.
For what reason was this unpreced
mted and unparalled victory of a far
ner's oxgoad put intothis Bible, where
here was no spare room for the un
mportant and the trivial:
it was, first of all, to teach you, and
.o teach me, and to teach all past ages
;ince then, and to teach all ag'es to
:ome that in the war for God and
igainst sin we ought to put to the best
se the weapon we happened to have
>n hand. Why did not Shamgar wait
intil be could get a war charger, with
eck arched, and back caparisoned,
Ld nostrils sniffing the b'attle afar
>f, or until he could get war equip
nent, or could drill a regiment, and
vheeling them into line command
hem forward to the charge?
['o wait for that would have
een defeat and annihilation. So
ie takes the best weapon he could lay
iold of, and that is an oxgoad. We
Lre called into the battle for the right,
nd against wrono, and many of us
iave not just the -ind of weapon we
vould prefer. It may not be a sword
>f argument. It may not be the spear
>f sharp, thrusting wit, it may not
>e the battering ram of denunciation.
3ut there is something we can do and
ome forces we can wvield. Do not
vait for what you have not, but use
hat you ~have Perhaps you
tave not eloquence, but you
ave a smile. 'Well, a smile of en
ouragement has changed the behavior
f tens of thousands of wanderers, and
>rought them back to God, and en
hroned them in heaven. You cannot
nake a persuasive appeal, but you can
et an example, an d a good example
Las saved more souls than you could
ount in a year if you counted all the
ime. You cannot give $10,000, buti
-on can give as much as the widow of
he gospel. whose two mites, the small
st coins of the Hebrews, were bestow
d in such a spirit as to make her more
amous than all the contributions that
ver enowded all the hospitals and
niversites of all Christendom of all
ime. You have very limited vocabul
ry, but you can say 'yes" or "no"
ndl a firm "yes" or an emphatic "no"
as traversed the centuries and will
raversed all eternity with good ir
uence. You may not have the cour
ge to con front a large assemblage,
t you can tell a Sunday school class
two -a boy and a girl-how to find
~hrist. and one of them may become
William Carey to start influences
bat will redeemIndia, and the other
Florance Nightingale, who will il
mline battlefields covered with the
ving and the dead.
That was a tough ease in a town of
:ngland where a young lady, apply
ag for a Sabbath school class, was
>d by the superintendent she would
ae t'o pick up one out of the street.
'he worst of the class brought from
r'eet was tone Bob. He was fitted out
rith respectable clothing by the su
erintendent. But after two or three
abbaths he disappeared. He was
und with his clothes in tatters, for
chad been fighting. The second time
ob was well clad for school. After
oming once or twice he again disap
eared and wvas found in rags, con
aquent upon fighting. The teacher
ras disposed to give him up, but the
aperintendent said, "Let us try him
gain," and the third suit of clothes
:as provided him. Thereafter he came
util lie was converted, and joined the
hurch. and for the gospel mimtstry,
nd became a for'eign missionary, pre
cting and translating the Scriptures.
Vho was the boy called Bob? The il
astious Dr'. Robert Morrison. great
n earth and greater in heaven.' Who
is teacheri w'as I know not, but she
sed thec opportunity opened,.
d great has been her reward.
ou may not be able to load air Arm
trong gun. You miay not be able to
.url a Hfotchikiss shell. You may not
*e able to shoulder a glittering musket
ut use anything you can lay your
ands on. Try a blacksmith's hammer
r a merchant's yardstick, or
marso trawel, or a carpen
er pane, 0or a housewife's broom, or
farmer's oxgoad. One of the surpri
es of heaven will be what grand re
ults came from how simple means.
tise Joyce, the vile mn, became
a great apostle of righteousness not
from hearing John Wesley preach.
but from seeing him kiss a little child
on the pulpit stairs.
Again, my subject springs upon us
the thought that in calculating the
prospects of religious attempt we must
take omnipotence and omniscience
and omnipresence, and all the other
attributes of God into the calculation.
Whom do you see on that plowed field
of my text? One hearer says, "I see
Shamgar." Another hearer says, "I
sae 600 Philistines." My hearer, you
have missed the chief personage on
that battlefield of plowed ground. I
also see Shamgar and 600 Philistines,
but more than all, and mightier than
all, and more overwhelming than all
I see God. Shamgar, with his unaid
ed arm, however muscular, and with
that humble instrument made for ag
ricultural purposes and never con
structed for combat could not have
wrought such victory. It was omnip
otence above, and beneath, and back
of and at the point of the oxgoad. Be
fore that battle was over the plowman
realized this, and all the 600 Philis
tines realized it, and all who visited
the battlefield afterward appreciated
it. I want in heaven to hear the
story, for it can never be fully told
on earth-perhaps some day may be
set apart for the rehearsal, while all
heaven listens-the story of how God
blessed awkard and humble instru
mentalities. Many an evangelist has
come into a town given up to world
liness. The pastor say to the evange
list: "We are glad you have come,
but it is a hard field, and we feel sor
ry for you. The members of our
churches play progressive euchre, and
go to the theater, and bet at the horse
races, and gayety and fashion have
taken possession of the town. We
have advertised your meetings, but
are not very hopeful. God bless you."
This evangelist takes his place on plat
form or pulpit. He never graduated
at college, and there are before him 20
graduates of the best universities. He
never took one lesson in elocution, and
there are before him 20 trained ora
tors. Many of the ladies present are
graduates of the highest female semi
naries, and one slip in grammar or
one mispronunciation will result in
suppressed giggle. Amid the general
chill that pervades the house the un
pretending evangelist opens his Bible
and takes for his text, "Lord, that my
eyes may be opened." Opera glasses
in the gallery curiously scrutinize the
speaker. He tells in a plain way the
story of the blind man, tells two or
three touching anecdotes, and the gen
eral chill gives way before a strange
warmth.
A classical hearer who took the first
honor at Yale and who is a prince of
proprieties finds his spectacles becom
ing dim with a moisture suggestive of
tears. A worldly mother who has
been bringing up her sons and daught
ers in utter godlessness puts her hand
kerchief to her eyes and begins to
weep. Highly educated men who came
to criticise and pick to pie:es and find
fault bow on their gold headed canes.
What is that sound from under the
gallery? It is a sob and sobs are catch
ing, and all along the wall and all up
and down the audience, there is deep
emotion, :o that when at the close of
the service anxious souls are invited to
especial seats, or the inquiry room,
they come up by scores and kneel and
repent and rise up pardoned; the whole
town is shaken, and places of evil
amusement are sparsely attended and
rum holes lose their patrons, and the
churches are thronged, and the whole
community is cleansed and elevated
and rejoiced. What power did the
evangelist bring to bear to capture
that town for righteousness? Not one
brilliant epigram did he utter. Not
one graceful oesture did he make. Not
one rhetoricaY climax did he pile up.,
But there was something about him
that people had not taken in the esti
mate when they prophesied the failure
of that work. They had not taken into
the calculation the omnipotence of the
Holy Ghost. It was not the flash of a
Damascus blade. It was God, before
and behind,and all around the oxgaoad.
When people say that crime will tri
umph, and the world will never be
:onverted because of the seeming in
sfficiency of the means employed,
they count the 600 armed Philistines
on one side, and Shamgar, the farmer,
awkardly eguipped, on the other side;
ot realizing that the chariots of God
re 20,000, and that all heaven, cheru
ic, seraphic, archangelic, deific, is
n what otherwise would be the weak
ide. Napoleon, the author of the say
ng. "God is on the side of the heaviest
rtillery." lived to find out his mistake,
for at Waterloo, the 160 guns of the
English overcame the 250 guns of the
French. God is on the side of the
right, and one man in the right will
eventuall'y be found stronger than 600
en in the wrong. In all estimates of
any kind of Christian work, do not
ake the mistake every day made of
eaving out the head of the universe.
Again, my subject springs upon us
he thought that in God's service it is
est to use weapons that are particu
arly suited to us. Shamgar had, like
any of us, been brought up on a
farm. He knew nothing about jave
ins and bucklers and helmets and
>reastplates and greaves of brass and
atapults and ballistw and iron scythes
fastened to the axies of chariots. But
ie was familiar with the flail of the
trashing floor and knew how to
ound with that, and the ax of thej
oods and knew how to hew with:
hat, and the oxgoad of the plowman
nd knew how to thrust with that, and
ou and I will do best to use those
eans that we can best handle, those
eapons with which we can make the
nost execution. Some in God's ser
ice will do best with the pen, some
with the voice, some by extemporanes
us speech, for they have the whole
ocabulary of the English language
alf way~ between their brain and
ongue, and others will do best with:
ranuscript spread out before them.
Some will serve God by the plow,
aising wheat and corn and giving
iberally of what they sell to churches
ad missions: some as merchants, and
ut of their profits will dedicate a
enth to the Lord: some as physicians,
rescribing for the world's ailments.
nd some as attorneys, defending in
ocence and obtaining rights that
therwise would not be recognized,
nd some as sailors, helping bridge the
eas, and some as teachers and past
ors. The kingdom of God is dread
ully retarded by so many of us at
empting to do that which we cannot:
o-reaching up for broadsword or
alchion or bayonet or scimiter or en
ield rifle or paixhian's gun- while we
ught to be content with an oxgoad.
thank God that there are tens of
housands of Christians whom you
ever have heard of and never will
ear of until you see them in the high
places of heaven, who are now in a
uiet way in homes and schoolhouses,
ud in praying circles, and by sick
eds, and up dark alleys, saying the
aviig word and doing the saving
eed, the aggregation of their work
verpowering the most ambitious sta
tistics.
the regiments pass the Lord of Hosts.
here ~will be whole regiments of
urses and Sabbath school teachers
nd tract distributers and unpretend
ing workers, before whom, as they
pass, the kings and queens of God and
the lamb will l.ift flashing coronet
nd bow down in recognition and
revrece The most of the Christian
work for the world's reclamation and
salvation will be done by people of
one talent and two talents, while the
ten talent people are up, in the astro
noincal observatories studying other
Worlds. though they do little or noth
ing for the redemption of this world.
or are up ini the rarefield realms of
"higher criticism" trying to find out
that Moses did not write the Penta
teuch. or to prove that the throat of
the whale was not large enough to
swallow the minister who declined
the call to Nineveh and apologizing
for the Almighty for certain inexpli
cable things they have found in the
Scriptures. It will be found out at the
last that the krupp guns have not
done so much to capture this world
for God as the oxgoads.
Years ago I was to summer in the
Adirondacks and my wealthy friend,
who was a great hunter and fisher
man, said, "I am riot going to the
Adirondacks this season, and you can
take my equipment and I will send it
up to Paul Smith's." ' Well, it was
there when I arrived in the Adi
rondacks. a splendid outfit, that cost
many hundreds of dollars. a gorgeous
tent and such elaborate fishing appa
ratus: such guns of all styles of ex
quisite make and reels and pouches
and bait and torches and lunch bask
ets and many more things that I could
not even guess the use of. And my
friend of the big soul had even writ
ten on and engaged men who should
accompany me into the forestand car
ry home the deer and the trout. If
the mountains could have seen and
understood it at the time, there would
have been panic among the antlers
and the fins through all the "John
Brown's Tract." Well, I am no hun
ter, and not a roebuck or a game fish
did I injure. But there were hunters
there that season who had nothing
but a plain gun and a rug to sleep on
and a coil of fishing line and a box of
ammunition and bait, who came in
ever and anon with as many of the
captives of forest and stream as they
and two or three attendants could
carry. Now, I fear that mar.y Chris
tian workers who have most elaborate
educational and theological and pro
fessional equipmentand most wonder
ful weaponry, sulicient, you would
think, to capture a whole community
or a whole nation for God, will in the
last. day have but little except their
fine tackling to show, while some who
had no advantages except that which
they got in prayer and consecration
will, by the souls they have brought
to the shore of eternal safety, prove
that they have been gloriously success
ful as fishers of men and in taking
many who, like the hart, were pant
ing after the water brooks.
What made the Amalekites run be
fore Gideon's army? Each one of the
army knew how much racket the
breaking of one pitcher would make.
So 300 men that night took 300 pitch
ers, and a lamp inside the pitcher,and
at a given signal the lamps were lifted
and the pitchers were violently dash
ed down. The flash of the ltght and
the racket of the 300 demolished pitch
ers sent the enemy into wild flight.
Not much of a weapon, you would
say. is a broken pitcher, but the Lord
made that awful crash of crockery the
means of triumph for his people, and
there is yet to be a battle with the
pitchers. The night of the world's
dissipation may get darker and dark
er, but after awhile, in what watch of
the night I know notall the ale pitch
ers, and the wine pitchers, and the
beer pitchers, and the whisk-y pitchers
of the earth will be hurled into demo
lition by converted inebriates and
Christian reformers, and at that awful
crash of infernal crockery the Ama
lekitish host of pauperism and loafer
dom and domestic quarrel and cruelty
and assassination will fly the earth.
Go out, then, I charge you against
the Philistines. We must admit the
odds are against us-600 to 1. In the
matter of dollars. those devoted to
worldliness and sin and dissipation,
when compared with the dollars devo
ted to holiness and virtue-600 to 1.
The houses set apart for vice and de
spoilation and ruin, as compared with
those dedicated to good. 600 to 1. Of
printed newspaper sheets scattered
abroad from day to day, those deprav
ing as compared with those elevating,
600 to one. The agencies for making
the world worse compared with the
agencies for making the world better,
00 to 1. But Moses in his song chants,
"How should one chase a thousand
and two put ten thousand to flight?"
and in my text one oxgoad conquers
00 uplifted battleaxes, and the day of
niversal victory is coming,unless the
Bible be a fabrication and eternity a
:nyth, and the chariots of God are un
whieeled on the golden streets, and the
last regiment of the celestial hosts lies
ead on the plains of heaven. With
s, or without us, the work will be
one. Oh, get into the ranks some
here, armed somehow : you with an
needle, you with a pin, you with a
ood book, you with a loaf of bread
for the hungry, you with a vial of
edicine for the sick, you with a pair
f shoes for the barefooted, you with
ord of encouragement for the young
an trying to get back from evil
vays, you with some story of the
hrist who came to heal the. worst
ounds and pardon the blackest guilt
nd call the farthest wanderer home.
say to you as the watchman of Lon
on used to say at night to the house
iolders, before the time of street
amps came: "Hang out your light:"
Hang out y our liglit:
A Liquor Constable Killed.
CusNToN, June 1.-This morning
bout half-past 10 o'clock ex-State
onstable John Workman and State
onstable Sam Duncan engaged in a
hooting scrane, in which Workman
was killed. It seems that Workman
hought that Duncan had something
o do with his discharge from the force
ast year and approached Duncan in
egard to it this morning. The first
thmg anyone discovered was Work
an hitting Duncan with a stick. He
truck him twice with a stick and
uncan grabbed the stick. Workman
hen shot him twice in the hips, and
uncan then shot Workman three
imes, once under the arm, once in the
rist and once in the back of the head.
ork-man fell and was carried off.
uncan gave himself up and wired
he sheriff to come for him. The ver
~ict of the coroner's jury was that
orkman came to his death by gun.
hot wounds at the hands of S. M.
uncan. It seems to have been a case
f self-defence.
Woman Betrays Pickler.
CASON. N:3, .June 5.-The 8S0, 000
an gold bars stolen f rom the Carson
int was recovered yesterday in in a
ost unexpected way when the Gov
~rnment otlicers dug up the treasure in
the wood shed of Wm Pickler, an em
loee in the melters' and refiners' de
artment. who had not even been sus
ected. Pickler was betrayed by a
roman with whom lie had been liymg
nd whom he hand abused. She came to
the olhicers on Monday night and told
hem that she would disclose yesterday
the hiding place of the missing bullion
rue to her promise, she appeared and
ave minute directions for digging im
ne corner of Pickler's wood shed.
here the bars of gold were unearthed
ust as they had been stolen from thme
int. Th'is discovery bears out the
rase which the Governmeut experts
ad formulated against thme employees
n the departmient. If any one of the
~annow turns State's evidence the
Anhot truth will come out.
A HOT WAVE.
FROM LAKES TO GULF--FROM THE
MISSISSIPPI TO THE SEA.
The Record for the Second of June sroken
in Numnerous Places Charleston One D.
gree Hotter than Ever Before on the
Same Day of the Year.
WASHINGTON, June 2.-The hot
wave, which has hovered over the
Eastern and middle sections of the
United States during the past few
drys has been a record breaker, and
the officials at the weather bureau are
unable at the present time to predict
any relief. There is an area of high
pressure that is central over Tennessee,
which has caused the present excessive
heat to beso intensely felt. This high
pressure, which has persistently hoverd
over Tennessee, is known as the per
manent high, and has been contributed
to very largly by southerly winds.
During the past twenty-four hours in
Western Pennsylvania and Marylanu
the temperature has not been quite so
high, a falling off from 2 degrees to
6 degrees in different sections of these
States having been noted.
The followingare some of the inaxi
mum temperaturesreached: 94 degrees
at New York, 96 degrees at Harrisburg,
96 degrees at Philadelphia, 94 degrees
at Pittsburg, 94 degrees at Baltimore,
and 96 degrees at Washington. At
Philadelphia the record has been
broken by 2 degrees. At Washington
the thermometer has been even higher
than 96 degrees at this time of the year,
as in June, 1874. when the tempera
ture rose to 102, degrees 6 degrees war
mer than it was today. In lew York
city it was 3 degrees hotter than on any
2d of June in the past decade.
The Southern cities east of the Missis
sippi River have been feeling the ef
fects of the hot wave to a great degree.
The following are the cities in which
records of high temperature for this
date was made today; Vicksburg 98,
degrees 2 degrees above; Memphis 9S,
1 above: Chattanooga 98, 4 above;
New Orleans 94, 2 above: Mobile 96, 1
above; Atlanta 98, 7 above: Augusta
100, 1 above: Savannah 98, 1 above:
Charleston 98, 1 above; Charlotte 9S,
5 above; Raleigh 98, 6 above; Louis
ville 9S, 2 above; Indianapolis 98, 4
above.
Notwithstanding the fact that the
record shows that the thermometer
has been 6 degrees higher in Washing
ton than it marked today, it is doubt
ful if the people and animals ever suf
fered more. The attendance upon
churches was seriously affected and
all means of conveyance down the
river and into the surrounding coun
try were crowded. Hotel arrivals
were the smallest for months. One of
the visitors down the river was seized
with a hemorrhage, induced, it is
thought, by the extreme heat, and died
before reaching the city. He was
Chris Kraft, a cigar maker, aged 40
years.
James Murray, a stonecutter, white,
about 30, was overcome by the heat at
the corner of 37th and M streets,
Georgetown, and died almost immedi
ately.
CHCAGO, June 2.-The hot weather
in Chicaoo continues and is causing
much suYering. The weather bureau
reported the highest temperature of
the day as 92 degrees. This was 4
o'ciock this afternoon and is two de
grees only less than the temperature
of last Fiiday. The thermometers on
the street registered as high as 97 de
gree in the s ade. The mean tempera
ture of the day, as offieially reported,
was S2 degrees, 10 degrees higher than
the normal temperature of June 2
averaged for the past twenty years.
People overcome by heat on the
streets today were revived in nearby
drug stores and only one case so far
learned was serious enough to send to
the hospital.
PmIunELPHIA, June 2.-The tropi
cal heat that has prevailed since Thurs
day has reaped a terrible harvest of
death in Philadelphia. The prostra
tions from the heat number several
scores and on Friday there were two
deaths, three yesterday and the climax
was reached today when seventeen per
sons died from heat prostrations.
The thermometer today in the
weather bureau office at its maximum
at 2 o'clock, registered 95 degrees, t wo
lower than yesterday's maximum.
The lowest point touched by the ther
mometer today was at 5.30 this morn
ing, when it stood at 7) degrees. From
that time on until 2 o'clock the mer
ury went booming upward until it
reached 95 degrees. To the gasping
thousands compelled to breathe the
smperheated air from the bricks of the
houses and the scorching asphalt of
f the streets the difference of two de
grees in the mercury from yesterday
was not noticeable, ard the suffering
among the residents of Philadelphia
was as great as has been on any date
f the prevailing hot spell. Fortun
tely the day was Sunday and the
workers in the mills and factories were
ble to rest and seek what coolness
hey could. But for this the mortali
y wrould, undoubtedly, have been
much higher than i.t was. Besides
he seventeen there were a score of
rostrations reported by the police,
and how many more there were in the
ouseholds of many families they
aone know.
Shortly after 2 o'clock a thunder
hower cooled the air, and the ther
ometer fell 12 degrees in an hour.
t 8 o'clock to-night the thermometer
,as 81 degrees. Reports received from
oints throughout Eastern Pennsyl
ania show that the heat in that sec
ion has been as great as in Philadel
hia, although not so deadly in its ef
fect.' Little promise of reli~ef is held
ut by the weather bureau, and
nd another dreadful day of suffering
eems in store for Philadelphians to
norrow.
BALTIMORE. June 2-The mercury
gain hovered about the nineties to
ay. 95 degrees being the highest re
orded at the observer's office, On the
op floor of Johns Hopkins University
uilding- In other parts of the city
he readings rei'orted were as high as
02 degrees. 'There was but . little
reeze to temper the intense heat of
he sun's rays. Fifteen prostrations
ere reported, two cases resulting fat
lly. John Pierce, 60 years old, a far
ner, and Daniel Bates, aged 40, a
olored stevedore, succumbell to the
orrid heat and died shortly after ar
iving at the hospital.
CLEVELAND OHIO, June 2.-The oli
ial thermometer at the weather of
io marked 90j degrees today. but
treet instruments were as high as 100
egrees. It was the hottest day for
everal years. Not a breath of air was
stirring and the heat was sickening.
o fatalities are reported, although
>rstrations of a more or less serious
haracter were numerous. The beach
esorts were crowded.
CIscINNATI, Ouro, June 2.--Al
hough the heat was terrific today not
case of sunstroke had been reportedI
p to 8 o'clock to night. At noon the
ercury registered 96 degree, at 6 p.
. 90 degrees, at 8 p. m. 89 degree. A
ight breeze sprung up after sundown.
PITTsBURG, PA., June 2.-The hot
pell still continues in this~ vicinity.
oday the thermometer registered 95
egrees and tonight it pegged at 90
egrees. As far as known no serious
rostrations from heat occurred today.
KAsAS CITY, Mo., June 2.-The
weaher here today was intensely hot,
RQYAL' 2~
AKII
POWDER
Absolutely Pure.
A cream or tartar narmg powder.
Highest of all in leavening strength.-La .
test United States Government Food Re
port.
Royal Baking Powder Company,
106 Wall St.. N. Y.
although a strong wind blew from the
southeast. The off cial thermometer
registered S degrees but street instru
ments ran up to the 100 degree mark.
No prostrations were reported.
GETTING TOGETHER IN AIKEN.
Patriotic Action of the County Executive
Committee.
AIKEN, June 1.-The county
Democratic executive committee
met to-day and took important action
looking to the restoration of peace and
harmony betweent the two rival fac
tions in the Democratic party in this
county. After discussing the political
situation in the State and county the
following preamble and resolutions,
prepared by Senator 0. C. Jordan,
were introduced:
Whereas, it is the earnest desire of
the Democratic executive committee of
Aiken County that unity of action
may be had by all of the Democratic
voters of the county in the approach
ing primary election for delegates to
the Constitutional Convention, and
that peace and harmony may prevail
amongst the white people of our
county: and to that end we, as such
committee, do hereby prescribe the
following rules to govern and control
said election for delegates to said Con
vention. Therefore, be it resolved
1st. That all candidates to be voted
for in the primary election shall con
form to the rules governing their can
didacy as prescribed by the State Dem
ocratic executive committee, and shall
in filing their pledges as required by
said rules, state therein to which fact
ion of the Democratlc party they be
lono
2d. That there shall be an equal di
vision of the delegates between
the Reformers and Conservatives
in making up the ticket to be
voted for in the general election, and
which said candidates to be voted for
in the general election shall be chosen
in the following manner, to wit: The
two Reformers receiving the greatest
number of votes in said primary, and
the two Conservatives receiving the
greatest number of votes in such pri
mary, shall be declared as the nomi
nees of the Democratic party of Aiken
County for delegates to the Constitu
tional Convention.
During the discussion that followed
the reading of the paper a motion was
made and adopted inviting Capt Geo.
IW. Croft. Col D. S. Henderson and Mr.
M. B. Woodward prominent Conserva
tives, to come into the committee room
and give their views, which they did.
The resolutions -were unamiously
adopted.
A motion to call a mass meeting to
ratify the action of the committee
in this matter was voted down.
There will be no factional fight in
this county, as our people are heartily
tired of the strife and dlivision that has
existed for the past four years.
No candidates have yet been an
Inounced, but a number of names have
been mentioned. On the side of the
Tillmanites there is talk of running
Governor Evans, Senator 0. C. Jor
dan and Dr. Timmerman, son of the
Lieutenant Governor. Conservatiyves
Messrs Geo. W. Croft, D. S. Hender
son, Judge Aldrich and M. B. Wood
ward.
The North Carolina Experiment
station gives the following rules for
making a second crop of Irish potatoes:
The potatoes fr-om which it is desired
to grow the second crop) should be al
lowed to remaniin where they grew till
perfectly ripe and the tops are dead.
If they are selected from the culls in
digging the partly matured crop for
shipping, there will be much uncer
tainty as to their sprouting. When
the tops are dead take them up and al
lOW them to remain a day or so ex
posed to the light until they turn
greenish. Then spread them in any
convenient place on the ground and
cover with pine or other straw.
Sprinkle the straw and thereafter- never
allow it to get all through. Prepare
the land as for the early crop except
that the fertilization need not be so
heavy, and run out the rows by going
twice in a furrow with a turn-plow
and clean out the furrow full six in
ches deep: As the potatoes under the
straw begiln to star-t the eyes. which
will be from the first to the middleo
August. plant th:em in the deepur
rows but cover the-m not more than
an inch over the top of the tuber-s un
til the 'rrein leaves be'gin to grow.
Then graidually lill ini the soil to them
as they grow. until it is level. The
after culture must be as level as possi
ble and no hilling should be done, the
object at this season of the year be
ing to prevent the drying out of the
soil. Tihe pota~toes will sprout earlier
if. before bedding thet'm under the
str-aw, a small pice~ is clipped off one
end and rejected. No further cutting
should be done when planting. The
planting should all be done by the
middle of August. This crop will
grow green until the frost cuts the
tops down, and their immaturity pre
vents their sprouting before planting
time, so that when they grow it is
with the strono orowth of the termi
nal bud, which gives them a great ad
vantage over the nothern potatoes.
that have been long out of the ground
and have had the sprouts rubbed off
thema in the cellar.
A Young Fiend~ in Jail.
WicuLiAsTox, June :.-A young
demon in the form of a fifteen-year
old negro boy committed a rape on a
four-year-old negro girl in this county
near- Cooley's Bridge. six miles from
this place. The boy is hired to the
parents of the victim. When the
larger mmember-s of the family had
gone to the iield, lie began the accom
plishment of his purpose. Another
child ran to tile field and grave infor
mation. Tihe parents hastened to the
house and caught the boy in flagrant
deico. He was arrested and guarded
all night in a house near
the scene of his crime from two parties
-the friends of the gir-l, who desired
to lynch him. anid the friends of the
boy who desired to rescue him. Sonm of
the best white men in the community