Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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TLE LIFE OF JOSE PII. REV. DR. TALMAGE SHOWS IT TO BE FULL OF PRACTICAL LESSONS. It [lustrates the Fact That You Cannot Keep a Good Man Down and That the World Is Compelled to Honor Christian Character. WASHiGTOx, April 12.-The sermon of Rev. Dr. Talmage today is full of stirring and practical lessons for all. Washington has many men who, like the hero of the to, started from al most nothing and rose to high place. The texts chosen were: Genesis xxxvii. 2S, "They drew and lifted up Joseph out of the nit and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver." Genesis xlv, 26, "He is governor over all the land of Egypt." You cannot keep a good man down. God has decreed for him a certain point of elevation. He will bring him to that though it cost him a thousand worlds. 'You sometimes find men fear ful that they will not be properly ap preciated. Every man comes to be valued at just what he is worth. You cannot write him up. and you cannot write him down. These facts are powerfully illustrated in my subject. It would be an insult to suppose that you were not all familiar with the life of Joseph-how his jealcus brothers threw him into a pit. but seeing a cara van of Arabian merchants trudging along on their camels, with spices and gums that loaded the air wita aroma, sold their brother to these merchants; who carried him down into Egypt; Joseph there sold to Potiphar, a man of influence and office; how by Jos eph's integrity he raised himself to high position in the realm until, under the false charge of a vile wretch, he .as hurled into the penitentiary; how in ,rison he commanded respect and confidence; how by the interpretation of Pharaoh's dream he was freed and became the chief man in the realm, the Bismarek of his century; how in the time of famine Joseph had the con trol of a magnificent storehouse which he had filled during the seven years of plenty; how when his brothers, who had thrown him into the pit and sold him into captivity, applied for corn he sent them home with the beast of burden borne down under the heft of the corn sacks; how the sin against their brother which had so long been hidden came out at last and was re turned by that brother's forgiveness and kindness, the only revenge he took. You see, in the first place, that the world is compelled to honor Christian character. Potiphar was only a man of the world, yet Joseph rose in his estimation until all the affairs of that great house were committed to his From his servant no honor or confidence was withheld. When Joseph was in prison he soon won the heart of the keeper, and, though placed there for being a scoundrel, he soon convinced the jailer that he was an innocent and trustworthy man, and, released from close confinement, he became general superintendent of pris on affairs. Wherever Joseph was placed, whether a servant in the house of Potiphar or a prisoner in the peni tentiary, he became the first man every where and is an illustration of the truth I lay down-that the world is compelled to honor Christian charac ter. There are those who affect to des pise a religious life. They speak of it as a system of phlebotomy by which the man is bled of all his courage and nobility. They say he has bemeaned himself. They pretend to have no more confidence in him since his conversion than before his conversion.. Bnt all this is hyporisy'. There is a great dsaof hypocrisy in the church, and there is a great deal of hypocrisy out side the church. It is imposslble for any man not to admire and confide in aman who shows that he has really be cornea child of God and is what he professes to be. You cannot despise a son of the Lord God Almighty. Of course we have no admziration for the sham ofreion 1 was ata acea few hours after the rufns bad gone into therail train and demanded that the passengers throw up their arms, and then these ruffans took the pocketbooks, and satan comes and suggests to a man that he throw up his arms in hypocritical prayer and pretension, and then steals his soul. For the mere pretension of religion we have abhorrence. Redwald, the 'ig after ' pis, had an altar of Chrstan acifce and an altar for sacrifice to devils. and there are many' men now attempting the same thing half a heart for God and half a heart for the world-and it is a dead failure, and it isa caricature of religion, and the only successful assault ever made on Christianity is the inconsistency of its professors. You may have a con tempt for pretension to rehigion, but when you behold the excellency of Jesus Christ come out in the life of one of his disciples all that there is good and noble in your soul rises up into admirat~ion, and you cannot help it. Though that man be far beneath you in estate as the Egyptian slave of whom we are discoursing was beneath his rulers, by an irrevocable law of your nature Potiphar and Pharaoh will al ways esteem Joseph. When Eudoxia, the empress, threat ened Chrysostom with death, he made the reply, "Tell the empress I fear nothing but sin." Such a scene as that compels the admiration of the world. There was something in Agrip pa and Felix which demanded their respect for Paul, the reb~el against gov ernment. I doubt not they would willingly have yielded their office and digni ty for a thousandth part of that true heroism which oeamed in the eye and beat in the heart of that uncon querable apostle. Paul did not cower beoeFelix. Felix cowered before Paul. The infidel and worlding are compelled to honor in their hearts, al though they may not eulogize with their lips, a Christian firm in persecu tion, cheerful in poverty, trustful in losses, triumphant in death.. I find Christian men in all professions and occupations, and I find them respected and honored and successful. John Frederick Oberlin alleviating igno rance and distress; Howard passing from dungeon to lazaretto with heal ing for the body and soul; Elizabeth Fry going to the profligacy of New gte prison to shake its obduracy as te angel came to the prison at Philip pi, driving open the docrs and snap pmng loose the chain, as well as the ivsof thousands of followers of Je sus who have devoted themselves to the temporal and spiritual welfare of the race are monuments of the Christian religion that shall niot crumble while the world lasts. A man said to me in the cars: "What is religion? Judging from the character of many professors of religion I do not admire religion." I said: "Now, suppose we went to an artistin the city of Rome and while in his gallery asked him, "What is the art of painting?' Would he take us out in a low alley and show us a mere daub of 'a prentender at paint ing, or would he take us down into the corridors and show us the Rubenus, and the Raphaels, and the Michael Angelost When we asked him, 'What is the art of paintingin' he would point to the works of these great masters and say, "That is painting.' Now, you pro+s t fnd the mere caricature of religion, to seek after that which is the were pretension of a holy life, and you call that religion. I point you to ihe splendid men and women whom this gospel has blessed and lifted I and crowned. Look at the masterpieces of divine grace if you want to know what religion is." We learn also from this story of Joseph that the result of persecution is elevation. Had it not been for his being sold into Egyptian bondage by his malicious brothers and hi% false imprisonment Joseph never would have become agovernor. Everybody accepts the promise, "Blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heav en," but they do not realize the fact that this pr ncivle applies to worldly as well as spiritual success. It is true in all departments. Men rise to high of ficial positions through misrepresenta tion. Public abuse is all that some of our public men have had to rely upon for their elevation. It has brought to them what talent and executive force could not have achieved. Many of those who are making great effort for place and power will never succeed, just because they are not of enough importance to be abused. It is the nature of men-that is, of all generous and reasonable men-to gather about those who are persecuted and defend them, and they are apt to forget the fault of those who are the subjects of attack while attempting to drive back the slanderers. Persecution is eleva tion. Helen Stirk, the Scotch mar tyr, standing with her husband at the place of execution, said: "Husband, let us rejoice today. We have lived together many happy years. This is the happiest time of all our life. You see we are to be happy together for ever. Be brave now-be brave. I will not say 'Good night !' to you, for we shall soon be in the kingdom of our Father together-" Persecution shows t the heroes and heroines. I go into another department, and I find those great denominations of Christians which have been most abused have spread the most rapidly. No good man was eves more violent ly maltreated than John Wesley-be lied and caricatured and slandered, until one day he stood in a pulpit in London, and a man arose in the audi ence and said, "You were drunk last night,"and John Wesley said: "Thank God, the whole catalogue is now com plete: I have been charged. with ev erything but that." His followers were hooted at and maligned and call ed by every detestable name that iifer nal inoenuity could invent, but the hotter the persecution the more rapid ly they spread, until you know what a great host they have become and what a tremendous force for God and the truth they are wielding all the world over. It was persecution that gave Scotland to Presbyterianism. It was persecution that gave our land first to civil liberty and afterward to religious freedom. Yea, I might go farther ba:k and say it was persecution that gave the world the great salvation of the gospel. The ribald mockery, the hungering and thirsting, the unjust charge, the ignominious death, when all the force of hell's fury was hurled against the cross, was the introduction of that religion which is yet to be the earth's diliverance and our eternal salvation. The fsate sometimes said to the church, "Come. take my hand, and I will help you." What was the result? The church went back, and it lost its estate of holiness, and it be came ineffective. At other times the state said to the church. "I will crush you." What has been the result? Af ter the storms have spent their fury the church, so far from having lost any of its force, has increased and is worth infinitely more after the assault than before. Read all history, and you will find that true. The church is far more indebted to the opposition of civil o-overnment than to its appro val. T'ie fires of the stake have only been the torches which Christ held in his hand, by the light of which the church has marched to her present glorious position. In the sound of racks and implements of torture I hear the rumbling of the gospel chariot. The scaffolds of martyrdom have been the stairs by which the church mount e. Learn also from our subject that sin will come to exposure. Long, long ago had those brothers sold Joseph into Egypt. They had made the old father believe that his favorite child was dead. They had suppressed the crime, and it was a profound secret well kept by the brothers. But sud denly the secret is cut. The old father hears that his son is in Egypt, having been sold there by the malice of his own brothers. How their cheeks must have burned and their hearts sunk at the flaming out of this long suppressed crime. The smallest iniquity has a thousand tongues, and they will blab out exposure. Saul was sent to destroy the Canaanites, their sheep and their oxen, but when he got down there among the pastures he saw some fine sheep and oxen too fat to kill, so he thought he would steal them. No body would know it. He drove these stolen sheep and oxen toward home, but stopped to report to the prophet how he had executed his mission, when in the distance the sheep began to bleat and the oxen to bellow. The secret was out, and Samuel said to the blushing and confused Saul, "What meaneth the bleating of the sheep that I hear and the bellowing of the cattle?" A, my hearer, you cannot keep an iniquity still. At just the wrong time the sheep will bleat and the oxen will bellow. Achana cannot steal the Baby. lonish garment without being stoned to death nor Arnold betray his county without having his neck stretched. Look over the police arrests. These thieves, these burglars, these counter feiters, these highwaymen. these assas sins, they all thought they could bury their iniquity so deep down it would never come to resurrection, but there was some shoe that answered to the print in the soil, some fale keys found in their nossession, some bloody knife that whispered of the death, and the public indignation and the anathema of outraged law hurled them into the dungeon or hoisted them on the gal lows. Francis I, king of France, stood counseling with his officers how he could take his army into Italy, when Aeril, the fool of the court, leaped out from a corner of the room and said, --You had better be consulting how you will get your army back," and it was found that Francis I, and not Ameril, was the fool. Instead of consulting as to the best way of get ting into sin, you had better consult as to whether you will be able to get out of it. If the world does not ex pose you, you will tell it yourself. There isan awful power in anaroused consience. A highwayman plunged out upon Whitefield as he rode along on horseback, a sack of money on the horse-money that he had raised for orphan asylums-and the highway man put his hand on the gold, and Whitefieldl turned to him and said: "Touch that if you dare! That be longs to the Lord Jesus Christ." And the ruflian slunk into the forest. Con science! Conscience! The rumlan had a pistol, but Whitefield shook at him the tinger of doom. Do not think you can hide any greatand protracted si in your heart, my brother. In an unguarded moment it will slip off the lip, or some slight action may for the momeat set ajar this door that you that in this life you hide it, and you get along with this transgression ourning in your heart, as a ship on fire within for days binders the flames trom bursting out by keeping down the hatchets, yet at last in the judg ment that iniquity will blaze out be fore God and the universe. Learn also from this subject that there is an inseparable connection be tween a!l events, however remote. The universe is only one thought of God. Those thin'g which seemed fragmentary and isolated are only different parts of that great thought. How far apart seemed these two events -Joseph sold to the Arabian mer chants and his rulership of Egypt, yet you see in what a mysterious way God conrcted the two into one plan. So the events are linked together. You who are aged men look back and group together a thousand things in your life that once seemed isolated. One undivided chain of events reaches from the garden of Eden to the cross of calvary and thus up to the king dom of heaven. There is a relation between the smallest insect that hums in the summer air and the archangel on his throne. God can trace a direct ancestral line from the blue jay that this spring will build its nest in the tree behind the house to some one of the flock of birds which, when Noah hoised the ark's window, with a whir and a dash of bright wings went out to sing over Mount Ararat. The tulips that bloom in the garden this spring were nursed by the snowflakes. The farthest star on one side of the uni verse could not look toward the farth est star on the other side of the uni verse and say, "You are no relation t^ me," for whom that bright orb a voice of light would ring across tha heavens, responding, "Yes, yes, we are sisters." Nothing in God's uni verse swings at loose ends. Accidents are only God's way of turning a leaf in the book of his eternal decrees. From our cradle to our grave there is a path all marked out. Each event in our life is connected with every other event in our life. Our losses may be the most direct road to our gain. Our defeat and our victory are twin brothers. The whole direction of your life was changed by something which at the time seemed to you trifling, while some occurrence which seemed tre mendous affected you but little. God's plans are magnificent beyond all com prehension. He molds us and turns and directs us and we know it not. Thousands of years are to him as the flight of a shuttle. The most terrific occurrence does not make God trem ble. The most triumphant achieve ment does not lift him into rapture. That one great thought of God goes out through the centuries, and nations rise and fall, and eras pass, and the world changes, but God still keeps the undivided mastery, linking event to event and century to century. To God they are all one event one his tory, one plan, one development, one system. Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty! I was years ago in New Orleans at the expo sition rooms, when a teleeram was sent to the president of the United States at Washington, and we waited some 15 or 20 minutes, and then the president's answer came back, and then the presiding officer waved his handkerchief and the signal was sent to Washington that we were ready to have the machinery of the exposition started, and the president put his fin ger on the electric button, and instant ly the great Corliss wheel began to move-rumbling, rumbling, rolling, r'oling. It was overwhelming, and 15,000 people clapped and shouted . Just one finger at Washington started that vast machinery, hundreds and hundreds of miles away, and I thought then, as I think now, that men some times touch influences that respond in the far distance, 40 years from now, 50 years from now, 1,000 years from now-1,000,000 years from now-one touch sounding through the ages. We also learn from this story the propriety of laying up for the future. During the seven years of plenty Joseph prepared for the famine, and when it came he had a crowded store house. The life of most men in a worldly respect is divided into years of plenty and famine. It is seldom that any man passes through life with out at least seven years of plenty. During those seven years your busi ness bears a rich harvest. You scarce ly know where all the money comes from, it comes so fast. Every .bar gain you make seems to turn in to gold. You contract few bad debts. You are astonished with large divi dends. You invest more and more capital. You wonder how men can be content with a small business, gather ing in only a few hundred dollars, while you reap your thousands. Those are seven years of plenty. Now Joseph has time to prepare for the threatened famine, for to almost every man there do come seven years of famine. You will be sick, you will be un fortunate, you will be de frauded, there will be hard times, you will be disappointed, and if you have no storehouse upon which to fall back you may be famine struck. We have no admiration for this denying oneself all personal comfort and luxu ry for the mere pleasure of hoarding up, this grasping for the mere pleas-, ure of seeing how large a pile you can get, this always being poor because as soon as a dollar comes in it is sent out to see if it can find another dollar, so that it can carry it home on its back. We have a contempt for all those things, but there is an inteligent and noble minded forecast which we love to see in men who have families and kindred depending upon them for the blessings of education and home. God sends us to the insects for a lesson, which, while they do not stint them selves in the present, do not forget their duty to forecast the future. "Go to the ant, thou sluggard. Consider her ways and be wise, which, having no guide, overseer or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer and gathereth her food in the harvest." Now, there are two ways of laying up money. One of these is to put it in stock and deposit it in bank and in est it on bond and mortgage. The othr way to lay up money is giving it away. He is the safest who makes both of these investments. There are in this house men who if they lose every dollar they have in the world would be millionaires for eternity. They made the spiritual investment, but the man who devotes none of his gains to the cause of Christ and looks only for his own comfort and luxury is not safe, I-care not how the money is invested. He acts as the rose if it shoud say, "I will hold my breath, and none shall have a snatch of fra grance from me until next week; then I will set all the garden afloat with my aroma." Of course the rose. re fusing to breathe, died. But above all lay up treasures in heaven- They never depreciate in value. They nev erare at a discount. They are always available. You may feel safe now with your $1,000 or $2,000 or $10,000 or $20,000 income, but what will such an income be worth after you are dead? Others will get it. Perhaps some of them will quarrel about it before you are buried. They will be so impatient to get hold of the will they will think you should be buried one day sooner than you are buried. They will be right glad when you are dead. They are only waiting for you to die. What hn will all yourearthly accumuia tions be worth? If you gathered it all in your bosom and walked up with it to heaven's gate, it would not purchase your admission, or if allowed to enter it could not buy you a crown or a robe. and the poorest saint in heaven would look cown at you and say, "Where did that pauper come from?" May we all have treasures in heaven. Anen! KNIGHTS OF HONOR. Annual Meeting of Grapd Lodge of the State. CoLUMBIA. April 17.-The grand lodge of Knights of Honor in the State of South Carolina met in its 20th an nual session, in the Knights of Pythias hall, on Wednesday at S o'clock p. M. All but two of the 64 lodges in the jurisdiction sent each one delegate, and these, with the cllicers of the grand lodge, gave an attendance of about 80 members. Coming from all parts of the State, they might justly be con sidered representative men and from their grave demeanor, if not from their venerable looks, they might have been taken for a lot of clergymen in attendance upon a church event. There were few quite young men in the number, the larger part being men with silvered locks, who evidlent ly had loved ones depending upon them, and for whose future sul.port they were anxious to provide in case of the disaster which sooner or later comes to every one. The following named officers answered to roll call: Past Grand Dictator N. W. Trump, Columbia. Grand Director J. E. Holmes, Spar tanburg. Grand Vice Dictator L. H. Wanna maker, Orangeburg. Grand Assistant Dictator P. F. Dunn, Charleston. Grand Representative L. N. Zealey, Columbia. Grand Treasurer J. L. Robertson, Abbeville. Grand Chaplain. Rev. A. Buist, Blackville. Grand Guide J. W. Todd, Seneca. Grand Guardian J. J. Vernon, Welford. Grand Sentinel J. G. Lewis, Ander son. Grand Trustees J. G. Tompkins, B. M. Lebby, G. E. L. Sparkman. Committee on Finance -Louis Sher fesee, J. L. Hunter, M. Ryttenberg. Committee on Laws---IM. A. Carlisle, J. C. Shepard, L. W. Perrin. Immediately after organization the annual reports of the officers were presented to the lodge. They were given in printed form, so that a care ful and thorough perusal could be giv en to the business of the order during the past year, not only by the mem bers present, but also by all the mem bers of the suborninate lodges to whom the proceedings would be sent. The reports showed earnestness and fideli ty upon the part of the officers, and an encouraging state of affairs through the order. There have been 41 deaths in the membership in the State, to whose families $80, 500 have been paid. Among these were two members of the grand lodge of long standing, whose loss to the order, as well as to the State, might be considered as al most irreparable-Dr. George Howe for 16 years the medical examiner of the State, and Rev. G. W. Holland, Ph. D., D..D., thegrand reporter from the organization of the grand lodge till his death. Touching memorials of these departed members were pre sented and adiopted by a rising vote. A lengthy and weighty report on the good of the order was presented, which elicited a discussion ~of hours, and which showed that the interest of the members in the order had in no degree abated, and that the success of the past was but the shadow of great er things in the future. Plazas ywere adopted for more intense effort during the year to come, and the minds of all the lodges were more deeply impress ed with the stability and strength of the order. Very few changes were made in the officers of the lodge, L. H. Wannamaker declining to accept re nomination, W. A. Templeton of Ab beville was elected vice dictator. Mr. Wannamiaker wat elected representa tive to the supreme lodge. Tne other app ointments were as follows: Trustees-J. G. Tompkins, H. C. Moses and A. C.-Smith. Committee on Laws-M. A. Carlisle, L. W. Perrin, G. W. Pollitzer. 'The officers were installed, P. G. D. Sheppard representing the supreme lodge, on Thursday afternoon, and the lodge adjourned. The session of the grand lodge was most harmonious duhring the entire sitting. Matters of great importance to the order in this grand jurisdiction were considered and acted upon, no tably preparation to place a solicitor in the field. The election of Grand Dictator John E. Holmes was a re-election-the first in the history of the order-which was a tribute to his earnestness, zeal and fidelity during the first year of his grand dictatorship. The financial condition of the order was never so flourishing.-State. A Murderous Piot Unearthed. The following, which is clipped from the Augusta Herald, is certainly startling. The Herald says: "Josh Johnson, a negro detective of this city, has just returned after having worked r'p a sensational case in South Carolina. Certain citizens of Lexing ton, S. C., wrote here for a compe tent colored man to investigate an im portant case and Johnson was sent. He reports that as a result of his ef forts W. P. Bowers, a prominent and well-to-do white farmer residing t wen ty miles from Lexington in Lexing ton County is now in jail in default of $1000 bond to wait preliminary trial. Johnson says several houses and barns in the vicinity has been burned and the people suspected that Bowers had incited tramps to do it; but could nev er get satisfactory proof. Then it be came known that Bowers had tried to bribe negroes to mur der several neigh bors. It was to work up this charge that Johnson was employed. The Augusta darkey turned up at the Bow ers place as a tramp. He asked for work and said he knew all about saw mills, having heard that Mr. Bowers intended putting up one. Bowers be came very friendly and Johnson also got confidential, saying that he had left Georgia because of a crime com mitted there. This seemed to please Bowers very much. Finally one night he whispered to Johnson that if he would kill C. S. Matthews, John Tricks and ill Mears he would make him independent for life. This star ted Johnson, but he kept his nerve and agreed to do it. Then Bowers told Johnson to go down into the river iswamp for a week and come back ready to do the wo:-k. hen he return ed he set a trap for Bowers. On a dark night Bowers unfolded his plans in full to the supposed tramp and also gave him the cartridges with which to commit the murders. Lying in the dark a few feet away five or six citi zens overheard the conversation, one of them being Matthews. Bowers' arrest followed and Johnson came home. All the men whom Bowers wished put out of the way are related to him. Fatal M1ine Explosion. DauRIAM, April 14.-An explosion has taken place in a colliery at Will ington ne ar this place. Eight miners are known to have been killed and it is believed eighteen persons in all will lose their live through the disaser. LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE. "Bill Arp" Philosophises on the Past and Present. Outside of revelation, there is surely sufficient proof of original sin and mor al turpitude in human kind. If a man could be lifted up in a balloon high enough to see the earth roll under him and could keep his position until it had turned a time or two upon its axis the scene that would pass his vision would be proof enough. What a horrible rwelation of of war and bloodshed and suffering would pass beneath him in almost every part of the earth! We boast of modern civilization, but has every ad vance to be baptized in blood? Sun pose a man could see at one time all the present misery of the world and all the crime that caused it, could he endure the awful picture? Would it not paralyze his soul and obliterate his power of vision and make him a maniac? Every day we read of these horrors and shudder, but they are afar off and we have become almost har dened to them by their daily repitition. If familiarity with danger breeds con tenOt, for it so does, a daily recurrence of crime and suffering and grief breeds indifference. Unless we see it with our own eyes we are not greatly affected. The weeping prophet exclaimed: "Oh, that my head were waters and mine eves a fountain of tears!" but there is no prophet to weep nowadays. We have no time to weep. The poet says: "Man's inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands mourn," and if we could actually see every bat tie-field and all the blood and agony, and into all the prisons and chain gangs, and into every hovel and gar ret and dark alley where the poor do congregate and into the hearts of all the mourners at all the funerals, we would never smile again. The mem ory of them would haunt ui, and. we would be more willing to quit this hor ible world and take our chances in another. But we will let the preachers talk about this. We must look on the brighter side. There is no comfort in pondering and lamenting what is going on in Turkey and Abysinia and Cuba, or over the long continued quarrels at Washington, or the shameful broils in Kentucky, or the daily crimes and murders and suicides and lynchings that fill the newspapers. Now is the blessed springtime, when all nature is smiling upon us. When the flowers are blooming and the grass is springing and the birds are singin. Even the beasts of the field and the fowls in the yard are happy, and every created thing save man seems to rejoice in the goodness of the Creator. What is the matter with man, anyhow? Wo man is not so, nor are the little chil dren who play and sport around us. The poet says: "Every prospect pleases And only man is vile." But after all, there is comfort in knowing that there are some good men. Yes, lots of them. You can pick them out in town and city and country, and a great traveler who has been all over the world and mingled with Gentiles and Jews, and Arabs and Hottentots. and the heathen Chinese, says he found good, kind-hearted people of every tribe and nation an d religion on the globe. He said that a traveler would never be a sectarian or be intolerant, like so many of our so-called Chris tians are. Last Sunday I went out in the coun try with a friend to visit an old lady who is on her last beta. She have lived eighty-three years and I reckon never had an evil thought in her life. She was pleased to see us and the nearness of death gave her no alarm. "For the sake of my grandchildren," she said, "I would like to live a little longer to help them and guide them in the right way." Her Bibble was printed away before the war and had been patched and pasted and mended until it would hardly hold together, but she knew a good deal by heart and told us what portions of it were her greatest com fort. These old-fashioned mothers are the best people on earth and when they have passed through all the perils of motherhood they seem to outlive the men. There are three times as many old women in this town as old men and they are most all of them widcws. I had rather insure the life of a wo man of forty-five than that of a man of thirty. I would get the premiums longer. The old-fashioned men lived longer than they do now. They had simple habits and limited desires. I mean the well-to do men who lived in comfort. But ever since King David made the declaration that the days of our years are three score years and ten that has been the alloted age of man. It is still the average age of a prudent man whatever may be his oc cupation. Man is very much like a wagon. If it is kept greased and painted and under shelter it will last 4wice as long as if it be neglected. Of course, the mind has much to do with the health of the body. Trouble will shorten life and bring the gray hairs sooner to the grave and that is why a farmer's life is the most conducive to longevity. It is the most independent of all occupations. It is sub.iected to less temptation, less hazard, less wor ry, and iu is a little closer to god in its daily communion with nature. The accepted tables give to laborers forty four-years, to mechanics forty-seven, to merchants forty-eight, to profes sional men fifty-two, and to farmers sixty-four years. If long life is an index of good health and prosperity then the farmer is blessed above all other people. There is force and truth in the old maxim that "God, made the country and man made the town." But af ter all the crime and misery that we read of, this age is a great im provement on Sodom and Gomnorrah. Abraham could find more than ten good men in any town or city in this country. I believe he could find fifty in Cartersville and a hundred and tifty women. The Lord's pity and consideration for sinners is very won derful if He will save a whole city full for the sake of ten good men. May be that is why He doesn't rain fire and brimstone on the wicked now. It might do harm to the righteous. The ungodly ought to give Christians crediit for that. If the wicked people of this world were all bunched in one country and not a good man in it how long, I wonder, would the storm stay ollf ? ow long would the wicked stay there if they could possibly get out? It is a redeeming trait in human na ture, however wicked and depraved, to respect virtue and good people. There are but few of the ungodly who would abolish the churches if they could, or who would roear their chil dren in any but a Christian country. BILL ARP. served Him Right. NEW CAsTLE, P~a., April 14.-Mrs. Susan Shaefer, aged 76 years, and her housekeeper, Mrs. Martha Burt, we alone at their home, near Bessemer, last evening, when an unknown Ital ian ps-ared and attempted to assault Mrs. isurt. She ran to another room, pursued by the man and just as he was about to seize her, she grasped a revolver and shot him, the ball taking effect in the bowels and instantly kill. TILLMAN IN KENTUCKY. South Carolina Senator Makes a Speech at Lexlr.gton. LEXINGTON, Ky., April 13.-United States Senator Tillman had an ovation at the auditorium where he appeared to make a speech on the currency question and its relation to the presi dential contest. He was introduced by Rev. W. T. Bowling. When Senator Tillman arose the audience cheered for several minutes. He began his speech by saying that he was ashamed to appear before such an audience after he had been heralded by the newspapers as such a terrible creature. He paid the usual compli ment to the Blue Grass region, but he said he found the :Democracy of Ken tucky much more rotten than he thought he would. They were like a lot of sheep without a leader. The men who had been trusted by Ken tucky Democrats in the past had de serted the party and stabbed Kentucky candidates in the back. Referring to the defeat of Senator Blackburn he dramatically exclaimed: "You are betrayed, bamboozled and debauched by them!". These same men, he continued, now pleaded for harmony, as if there could be any harmony among Kentucky Democrats. They were in same fix as those of South Carolina. They would have to repudiate old party leaders and take, up silver men- "and they must be honest, too"-and send them to the state convention, for it would be an everlasting disgrace if Kentucky Democrats should instruct for Carlisle for President. Mr. Tillman denounced as untrue the report of an interview in which he was quoted as saying that all the old leaders in the silver party ought. to be thrown overboard, including Joe Blackburn. He declared that Black burn was a true Kentuckian and had not betrayed his fellow citizens for a mess of pottage. He was for free sil ver when he was elected, said the speaker, and he is for silver now. This elicited the wildest cheers. "I am charged," he went on, "with being no Democrat, but I have been a Democrat all my life, as my father was before me. I have always advo cated Democratic principles, and have never advised any desertions from the party. But if Cleveland or Carlisle are to set the pace for Democracy, t am no Democrat." Senator Tillman scored Breckinridge saying that he was glad that the la dies of the state had given him his walking papers. He sail he pitied Henry Watterson, as a man who had done so much for true Democracy but who had to accede to the wishes of his master and turn traitor to his party. "I had rather have taken a knife and. cut my thorat," he exclaimed, 'than to have remained longer in the employ of such scoundrels." He advised his hearers to organize and go to work and be true Democrats and not Sherman and Carlisle Republi cans. He saide that the press of coun try had sold out bag and baggage to the money power .for the purpose of keeping the people in bondage. In referring to the silver question he denied the statement of Secretary Carlisle that law does not affect rates. He denied, also, that there is more money in the country now than ever before. He said that when the popula tion was only 31,000,000 there was as much if not more, money in the country than tnere is today, when there ar-e 70,000,000. In conclusion, Senator Tillman said: "If you send silver men to Chicago we'll force honest men to leave the Republican party, and we'll tell the Democrats who are against us that we'll vote for no man for president who is not for silver." At the close of his address Senator Tillmana was presented with a Ken tncky cob pipe, made by M. A. Mc Murry of Nicholasville. The presenta tion speech was made by J. A. Parker, editor of The Free Republic, a free sil ver paper of Louisville. The pipe was made in imitation of the serpent on the South Carolina flag and was trim med with silver. In accepting the pipe the senator said that for once he would like to be a smoker, so that he could have a nice smoke of tobacco from a Kentucky cobpipe; but, he added, the pipe of peace could never be smoked in Ken tuckey until the Democrats redeemed themselves by coming out solidly for free silver. Another Advance Made. The Keelev cure has been introduced intothe St. Agnes Hospital, Baltimore, Md. The good Sisters realize that in the Keeley cure is found the only hope for those addicted to the liquor and morphine habits, and have made a contract with the Keely Institute of Maryland by which the Keeley treat ment shall be administered at their hos pital by regular physicians instructed by Dr. Keeley. This is another argu ment proving that the Sisters of Char ity occupy the front place in the care of the diseased and in the service of suffering humanity. The treatment was adopted four years ago by the United States government and is used at the National home. Proving so ef ficacious the treatment is now given at Fort Leavenworth Post, to the ofli cers and enlisted men of the regular army. During the past two years the States of Maryand, Minnesota, Colo rado, Louisiana, North Dakota, Wis consin and others hiave by legislative enactments provided that indigent liquor and morphine habitues be given the treatment. The Keeley Institute of South Caro lina continues its good work at Co lumbia, and any information desirect may be had by addressing that insti tute or drawer 27. Negroes Meant Murder. SELMA, Ala., April 15-.-News reached the city at 11 o'clock last night that the residence of Judge Alonzo Irwin, seven miles west of Selma, was surrounded by negroes who threatened to murder the family. Sheriff Kennedy and a posse hastened to the scene- The negroes heard the posse approach the house and dis persed. The leader, Lewellen 03 borne, was found in his house, a short distance away. He refused to come out- The door was forced open and Osborne stuck a gun through the crack and attempted to shoot. The sheriff fired into the house and Os borne, who had refused to surrende r, ran out gun in hand- The posse open ed fire on him and he fell mortally wounded. He lived 50 minutes. His dying statement was to the elfect that the mob around the house inteuded to set fire to it and murder the family as they ran out. Terrible Tornado. FAULhKTON, S. D., April 16.-A tor nado passed through Faulk county northeast to southwest yesterday, re sultin g in two deaths and several in jured. Considerable damage was nne at Cresbard, Millard and Burk more. Several houses and barns were blown away. The residence of E. T. Evans, near Cresbar, was com pletely destroyed, his two children killed and Evans and wife badly in jured. At Burkmore, the Winona Mill compan'v's elevator was demol ished. At Cresbard a church was CROPS IN SOUTH CAROLINA. The Weekly Builetin of the Department of Agriculture. COLU3IBIA, S. C., April 14.-This bulletin covers the weather and crop conditions for the week ending with Saturday, April 11th, and in its preparation were used reports from one or more correspondents in each county of the State. wEATHER. The general weather conditions dur ing the week were not the best for growing crops, although more favor able at the close. The week opened cold and windy and light frosts on the 5th and 8th were recorded as far Eastward as Berkeley County. It is generally reported that these frosts had no injurious effect other than to retard the growth of vegeta tion. The temperature averaged about four degrees per day below the seasonable, and ranged from a mean of 53 to 54 degrees in the extreme Western counties to a mean of from 53 to 60 in the extreme Southeastern counties. The average temperature for the week for the whole State was 56 and the normal for the same period is approximately 60. The extreme range of temperature. as reported, was from a maximum of 83 on the 10th at Gillsonville, Eampton County. to a minimum of 30 on the 9th at Santuc, Union County, on which morning thin ice was noted at various points in the hill country. There were two days with rain. On the 7th a sprinkle of rain fell at a number of places and on the evening of the 9th there was a general light rain over the entire State; too light to be of much benefit. The greatest amount recorded was 0.20 of an inch at Statesburg, Sumter County, and the amounts ranged from that to "Trace." The normal amount for the same period is approximately 0.90 inch. The deficiency in rainfall since March 1st, 1896, is about three and one-half inches. There was more than the usual amount of sunshine with an average of 67 per cent. for the, State. There was least cloudiness in the Western por tions of the State and most in the East central portion. CROPS. Planting made rapid progress dur ing the week. The only unfavorable condition, against the thorough prep aration of lands was a tendency of I ground to bake, or become too hard by reason of dryness, and this condition was confined to clay lands. It was too dry and cool for the rapid germi nation of seed and poor stands are, in consequence, reported at this time. The progress of the various crops is briefly given below, averaging the re ports, so as to give the prevailing con dition, and nothing such exceptions only that are at wide variances with the general terror of the reports: Upland corn about all planted and much of it up or coming up. Perfect stands the exception. Cool weather affected its color. Bottom lands being planted. Cotton planting progressing rapid ly and is drawing to a finish in the Southeastern counties while only fairly begun in the extreme Western counties. Some early planting is up but affected by cool weather. Sea is land cotton about all planted. Reports indicate that tobacco will receive considerable attention this year. Beds did not do well except 'where wnell protected. Some farmers are about reidy to transplant. The sowing of rice has been in pro gress during the past two weeks. . Wheat is reported as looking prom ising, but making slow growth. There is a want oQf uniformity in the reporas on the condition of oats, some reporting fair to good and others. fair to poor stands. In some localities fall sown cats are doing best; in others spring sown. The prevailing condi tion is no doubt promising, but oats stand in need of warm weather and rain. Rye is heading. Pastures do not as yet afford graz ing in the central and Northwestern counties. It is the general opinion of corres pondents that early- fruit, especially Le Conte pears and St. John and Al berta varieties of peaches, are greatly damaged, but that late varieties are as yet safe. Wild' plums and berries are putting on fruit heavily . Gens continue backward, but gardens planted in the fall are yield ing vegetables for use now. Ship ments of early vegetables and fruits from the coast continue. Straw berries, asparagus and lettuce largely, peas in small quantities. Irish potatoes mostly planted and up. The early planting touched by frost but scarcely injured. This crop needs rain badly. J. W. BAUER, Section Director. Give the Littie One something to Do. The House Wife says children from five to ten years of age can open and air the beds in the morning; can wash and wipe dishes; can bring from the cellar all the wood and coal to be used in other parts of tbe house, by repeat ing the journey many times with light loads each time. They can wash the inside of windows; can clean silver; can sew on buttons. They can s weep the back stairs or any bare floor, not a heavy car pet; and a large room may be divided into sections and swept by small hands. They can tend a baby -not by' lifting; no growing child should lift a heavy baby-and can take a baby to ride in its carriage. They can cut after the mother has mixed it. a batch of cookies or dough nuts, and it allowed to use their fan ey somewhat in the figures, will con sider this a most delicate employment They can stone raisins, sort over beans, pick vegetables, pare potatoes, break the macaroni. They can set and clear away the dining table. They can dust the livingrooms, wipe the mopboards with a damp cloth, hang out the small pieces of washing and bring them in when dry, iron the handkerchiefs, napkins and towels. The boys can learn to use the needle, the girls to handle a hammer. It is eminently fit and desirable that boys and girls should understand something of each other's traditional tools. Tasks should be made easy to the children; when done ina womanlike manner it should be recognized and commended. If a child, not naturally lazy, shows a spe cial distaste for any particular duty, it is right to relieve him from the task, if possible; something else can gener ally be substituted.- Children that help to prepare a meal might be allow ed to suggest part of the bill of fare sometimes. In performing a task, it should not be considered completed until the implements that may have been required are returned to their usual shelves or hooks. Wrecked by Dynamite. SAGINAw, Mich., April 15.-The schol building on the West Side was wrecked by dynamiters early this morning. It was the oldest and larg est of the big schools on that side of the river, and for 'years has been a bone of contention. At 2 o'clock a terrific explosion occurred, which wrecked the building and which was followed by fire. A portion of the li brary was also destroyed. The build ing contained 27 rooms, and had a ca pacity of S00 pupils. Loss $40,000, with $27,000 insurance.- A vigous ef fort will be made to unearth the dyna miters. J. W. Burham, who was watching the fire, was run down by a ieycle and fatally injured. Absolutely Pure. A cream of tartar baking powder Highest of all in leaveningstrength. Latest United States Government Food Report. Royal Baking Powder Co. 106 Wall St., N. Y. A Wrong Assumption. In discussing the financial and cur rency question all the advocatesof the gold standard assume that the United States must have a monetary system in accord with that of England. This, as the National Bimetallist says, is a confounding of all distinctions. Our interests are directly the reverse of those of England. She is the greatest creditor nation in the world. We are the greatest debtor. If "dollars" can be doubled in value (i. e., purchasing power) she collects twice as much. If "dollars" be doubled in value, we pay twice as much. That is the difference in a nut shell. Eogland is a creditor to the extent of $10,000,000,000. We are a debtor to the extent of $6,000, 000,000. This is about the amount of our foreign debt. Bat the reader mast not infer that foreigners have sent $6,000,000,000 over here and in vested it. Not at alL As shown by General Warner in his Monograph on our debt abroad, published in No. 3. of the National Bimetallist, in 1869 our total foreign debt amounted to on ly $1.200,000,000. Since then we have exported $606,921,720 more gold and silver than we have imported, and $1,749,395,231 more merchandise than we have imported. This makes a total balance in our favor of $2,356,000,000. And yet our foreign debt has risen from about $1,200,000,000 to $6,000, 000,000. How has this startling con dition arisen? Simply by the rein vestment of profits. The foreign cred itor has drawn out such sums as he needed. while the remainder has been reinvested. Of course each reinvest ment means an additional burden of interest, which the American producer must annually pay to the foreign creditor. Tnus in a great measure the tremendous productive capacity of the United States has beenused to increase cur debt, and add to the tribute we must annually pay to Europe. a large portion of which goes to England. The more profitable these reinvest ments, the greater the debt becomes. But when the reiavestments cease to be profitable, they cease to be made, and the E aropean creditor takes -a larger and larger proportion of his American income abroad. Then away goes our gold, as fast as "ocean grey hounds can carry it." One more fact of the momentous significance. To pay our present foreign debt of $6,000, 000,000 on a gold basis, would take as in 1869 or 1873 would have aid a debt of $12,000,000,000-the priees having fallen one half. So that without hav ing received an additional dollar from abroad, and after having exported $2,356,000,000 more of gold, silver and merchandise than we have imported, our foreign debt has in effect increased from $1,200,000,000 to just about ten times that sum. And yet we are se riously told that we must be in accord with the financial policy of England, and continue to pay our debts at the rate of two dollars for one, in order to be "honest."-Times and Democrat. Le; as suppose a Case. The monometallists high and low treat free silver cainiage as if it were a ne w thing never heard of before, a rad ical scheme to disturb values, impair contracts and repudiate one-half of all honest debts, a semianarchical attack on the ich, cunning proposition to rob creditors for the purpose of reliev ing debtors. The answer to this is that the free silver coinage cause is not to make a new and cheap metal money, but to restore an old one. It is not a proposition to defraud the creditor, but one to protect the debtor from being defrauded. It is not a scheme to in troduce something hitherto unksown and untried, but to go back to some thing well known and tried which was surreptitiously taken from thle people twenty-two years ago. Free silver coinage was a right of the people from the beginning of the government down to 1873, when it was taken from tbem by a measure as revolutionary, radical and contiscatory as it was cun ning, and the demand of the people now is nothing more than that this unjust measure be repealed and the sutnject of coinage put back wh.ere~ it was in 1873. Suppose says the ,t Louis Post Dispatch, the act of 1873 suspending the free coinage of silver had never been passed. Would the - country be worse off than it is now? - There is not a reputable banker or fi nancier in the land whose opinion is worth listenmng to wh >will assert it. So far from it, the colun try would be immeasurably better off ta in it is t day. Silver, instead of hiaving a mar ket value of 67 cents an oiocs. wo dd be worth $1.29 an ounce; the mines of the mountain states would be the cen tre of thriving industries; the popula tions of those states would be thrice as great as they are this day; wheat corn, cattle, hogs, horses, wool and cotton would be a third to a half hiarher in price; farms would be worth twice as much; farmers would be prosperous, and their larger capacity for consumption would make mining and manufacturing more productive. The country would be full of money -not "inflated" and "cheap" money but first rate ultimate money, redemp tion money, United States money, gold and silver coin, with the option to the debtor of using either or both in the discharge of his obligations. The higher price of all products of labor for the period of twenty years would have discharged the national debt, the state debts and all county, municipal and district deb~t, the government would be spared the humiliation it is subjected to at the hands of the money lenders, and instead of needing to bor row $100,000,000 it would be consider ing how to get rid of a surplus of half that amount.-Times and Democrat. Fire Works Explode. Cuicaoo, April 15.-One lof the main buildings of Chicago Fire Works Company, at Gross Po~int, fourteen miles North of this city, blew up this morning resulting in the death of two employees and the serious injury of six more.- Tne dead are: Nicholaus Baree and Annie Boree.- The cause of the explosion is not kno wn, but it is supposed to have been caused by some grains of powder being ignited by con cussion in the machinery used in mak