Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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STORY OF A MARTYR, TALMAGEICISCOURSES ON THE STON ING OF STEPHEN. Fine Fic'ures Displayed-Stepben Gz!ng Into Heaven; Stephen Looitug at Cbrlst' Stephen Stoned: Stephen in ?Ss D731 Prayer and Stephen Ailee p. The discourse of Dr. Ta-:: which we send out is a vivid story of martyr dom and a raptarous vi-> cf the world to come; text, Acts vii, 56 60. "Behold I see the heavens opened," etc. Stephen had been preaching a rous ing sermon, and the pecple could not stand it. They resolved to do as men sometimes would like to do in this day, if they dared, with some plain preacher of righteousness-kill him. The only way to silence this man was to knock the breath out of him. So they rushed Stephen out of the gates of the city, and with curse and whoop and bellow they brought him to the cliff, as was the custom when they wanted to take away life by stoning. Having brought him to the edge of the cliff, they Dushed him off. After he had fallen they came and looked down, and, seeing that he was not yet dead, they began to drop stones upon him, stone after stone. Amid this hor rible rain of missiles Stephen clam bers up on his knees and folds his hands, while the blood drips from his temples to his cheeks, from his cheeks to his garments, from his garments to the ground, and then, looking up, he makes two prayers-one for himself and one for his murders. "Lord Jesus receive my spirit!" That was for himself. "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge!" That was for his assailants. Then, from pain and loss blood, he swocned away and fell asleep. I want to show you today five pict ures-Stephen gazing into heaven, Stephen looking at Christ, Stephen stoned, Stephen in his dying prayer and Stephen asleep. First look at Stephen gazing intto heaven. Before you take a leap you want to know where you are going to land. Before you climb a ladder you want to know to what point the lad der reaches. And it was right that Stephen, within a few moments of heaven, should be gazing into it. We would all do well to be found in the same posture. There is enough in heaven to keep us gazing. A man of h wealth may have statuary in the and paintings in the sitting room and works of art in all parts of the house, but he has the chief pictures in the art gallery, and there hour after hour you walk with catalogue and lass and ever increasing admiration. el, heaven is the gallery where God has gathered the chief treasures of his realm. The whole universe is his palace. In this lower room where we stop there are many adornments tessellated floor of amethyst, and on the winding cloud stairs are stretched out canvases on which commingla azure and purple and saffron and gold. But heaven is the gallery in which the chief glories are gathered. There are the bghtest robes. There are the richest crowns. There are the highest exhilarations, John says of it, "The kings of the earth shall bring their honor and glory into it." And I see the procession forming, and in the line come all empires, and the stars spring up into an arch for the hosts to march under. The hosts keep step to the sound of earthquake and the pitch of avalanche from the moun tains, and they flag the bearis the flame of a consuming world, and all heaven turns out with narps and trumpets and myriad voiced acclama tion of angelic dominion to welcome them in, and so the kings of the earth bring their honor and glory into it. Do you wonder that good people often stand, like Stephen, looking into heaven? We have many friends there. There is not a man in this house to day so isolated in life but there is some one in heaven with whom he once shook hands. As a man gets older the number of his celestial ac quantances very rapidly multiplies. Wehave not had one glimpse of them since the night we kissed themn good by, and they went away, but still we stand gazing at heaven. As when some of our friends go across the sea -w<. sand on the dock or on the steam tug and watch them, and after awhile the hulk of the vessel disappears, and then there is only a natch of sail on the sky, and soon that is gone, and they are all out of sight, and yet we stand looking in the same direction, so when our friends go away from us into the future world we keen looking down through the Narrows and gaz ing and gazing as though we expected hat they would come out and stand on some cloud and give us one glimpse of their blissful and transfig ured faces. While you long to join their com pnonhip, and the years and the dasgo with such tedium that they bekyour heart, and the viper of pain and sorrow and bereavement keeps gnawing at your vitais, you stand still, like Stephen, gazing into heaven. You wonder if they have changed since you saw them last. You wonder if they would recognize your face now, so changed has it been with trouble. You wonder if amid the myriad delights they have the care as much for you as they used to when they gave you a helping hand and put their .shoulder under your: burdens. You wonder if they look any older, and sometimes in the eve ning tide, when the house is all qu;iet, you wonder if y ou should call them by their first name if they would not answer, and perhaps sometimes you do make the experiment, and when DO one but God and ycnntself are there you distinctly call their names and listen and sit gazing into heaven. Pass on now and see Stephen look ing upon Christ. My text says he saw the Son of Man at the right hand of God. Just how Christ lo-oked in this world, just how he loo is in heaven, we cannot say. A wri' er in the time of Christ says, describnsg the Sav iour's personal appear me~e, that he had blue eyes and ligh t complexion and a very graceful structu~re, but I suppose it was all guesswork. The painters of the different ages have tried to imagine the features of Christ and put them upon canvas, but we will ha',e to wait until with our own eyes we see him and with our own ears we can hear him. And yet there is a way of seeing and hearing him now. I have to tell you that unless you see and hear Christ on earth you will never see and hear him in heav en. Look! There he is. Behold the Lamb of God. Can you not see himi Then pray to God to take the scales off your eyes. Look that way-try to look that way. His voice comes down to you this day-comnes dJ 'n to the blindest, to the deafest soul. saying, "Look unto me, all ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved, for I am God, and there is none else." Proclama tion of universal emancipation -for all slaves! Proclamation of univer sal amnnesty for all rebels! Belshaaazar gathared the Babylonish nobles to his table, George 1 entertained the lords of England at a banquet, Napo leon III welcomed the car of Russia the emperor of Germany was glad to hsve our minister. George Dancroft, sit down with him at his table, but tell me. -e who know most of the world's 'history, what other king ever asked the abandoned and the Loricrn and the outcast to come ad sit besides him? Oh, wonderful invitation! You can ta;e ittoday and stand at the head of the darkest alley in any city, and say: "Come! Clothes for your rags, salve for your sores, a throne for your eter nal reigning." A Christ that talks like that and acts like that and par dons like that-do you wonder that Stephen stocd looking at him? I hope to spend eternity doing the same thing. I must see him; I must look upon that face once clouded with my sin, but now radiant with my pardon. I want to touch that hand that knock ed off my shackles. I want to hear that voice which pronounced my de liverance. Behold him, little chil dren, for if you live to threescore years and ten you will see none so fair. Behold him, ye aged one,. for he only can shine through the dim ness of your failing eyesight. Behold him, earth. Behold him, heaven. What a moment when all the nations of the saved shall gather around Christ! All faces that way. All thrones that way, gazing on Jesus! His worth if all the nations knew Sure the whole earth woald love him too. I pss on now to look at Stephen stoned- The world has always want ed to get rid of good men. Their very life is an assault upon wickedness. Out with Stephen through the gates of the city. Down wita him over the precipices. Let every man came up and drop a stone upon his head. But these men did not so much kill Ste - phen as they killed themselves. Eve- .y stone rebounded upon them. Whir these murderers were transfixed by the scorn of all good men Stephen lives in the admiration of all Christen dom. Stephen stoned, but Stephen alive. So all good men must be palt ed. All who will live godly in Christ must suffer persecution. It is no eu logy of a man to say that everybody likes him. Show me any one who is doing all his duty to state or church, and I will show you men who utterly abhor him. If all men speak well of you, itis be cause you are either a laggard or a dolt. If a steamer makes rapid prog ress through the waves the water will boil and foam all around it. Brave soldiers of Jesus Christ will hear the carbines click. When I see a man with voice and mouey and influence all on the right side and some carica ture him and some sneer at him and some wink at him and some denounce him and men who pretend to be actu ated by right motives conspire to crip ple him, to cast him out, to destroy him. I say, "Stephen stoned !" When Isee a man in some great moral or religious reform battling against grogshops, exposing wicked ness in high places, by active means trying to purify the church and better the world's estate, and I find that some of the newspapers anathematize him and men-even good men-op pose him and denounce him because, though lie does good, he does not do it in their way. I say, "Stephen ston ed!" The world, with infinite spite, took after Frederick Oberlin, Paul and Stephen of the text, but you notice, my friends, that while they assaulted him they did not succeed really in killing him. You may assault agood man, but you cannot kill him. On the day of his death Stephen spoke before a few people in the san hedrin. Now he addresses all Chris tendom. Paul the apostle stood on Mars hill addresng a handful of phi losophers who knew not so much about science astalmodern school-gir]. Today he talks to all the millions of Christendom about the wonders of justification and the glories of resur rection. John Wesley was howled down by the mob to whom he preach ed, and they threw bricks at him, and they denounced him, and they jostled him, and they spat upon him, and yet today, in all lands, he is admitted to be the great father of Methodism. Booth's bullet vacated the presidential chair, but from what spot of coagulat ed blocd on the floor in the box of Ford's theater there sprang up the new life of a nation. Stephen stoned, but Stephen alive! Pass on now and see Stephen in his dying prayer. His first thought was not how the stones hurt hiq head, nor what would become of his body. His first thought was about his spirit.' "Lord Jesus. receive my spirit !" The murderer standing on the trapdoor, the black cap being drawn over his head before the execution, may grim ace about the future, but you and I have no shame in confessing some anxiety about where we are going to come out. You are not all body. There is within youa soul. Isee it gleam from your eyes, and I see it ir radiating your countenance. Some times I am abashed before an audience not because I come under their physi cal eyesight, but because I realize the truth that I stand before so many im mortal spil-its. The probability is that your body will at last find a sepulcher in some of the cemeteries that surround your town or city. There is no doubt but that your obsequies will be decent and respectful, and you will be able to pillow your head under the maple, or the Nor way spruce, or the cypress, or the blossoming fir, but this spirit about which Stephen prayed-what direction will that take? What guide will es rort it? What gate will open to re reive it? What cloud will be cleft for its pathway? After it has got beyond the light of our sun, will there be torches lighted for it the rest of the wayi Will the soul have to travel through long deserts before it reaches tna good land! If we should loose our pathway, will there be a castle at whose gate we may ask the way to the city? Oh, this mysterious spirit within us! It has two wings, but it is in a cage now. It is locked fast to keep it, but let the door of this cage open the least, and that soul is off. Eagle's wing could not catch it. The lightnings are not swift enough to take up with it. When the soul leaves the body, it takes 50 worlds at a bound. And have I no anxiety about it? Have you no anxiety about it? I do not care what you do with my body when my soul is gone or whether you believe in eremation or inhuma tion. I shall sleep just as well in a wrapping of sackcloth as in satin lined with eagle's down. But my soul-be fore this day passes I will in d out where it will land. l'hank God for the intimation of my text, that when we die Jesus takes us. That answers all questions for me. What though there were massive bars between here and the city of light, Jesus could re more them. What though there were great Saharas of darkness, Jesus could illume them. Wha~t though I get weary on the way, Christ could lift me on nis omnipotent shoulder. What though there were chasms to cross, his hand could transport me. Then let Stephen's prayer be my dying litany. "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." It may be in that hour we will be too feeble to say a long prayer. It may be in that hour we will not be able to say the "Lord's Prayer," for it nas sex-en pettions. Perhaps we may be too feeble even to say the in fant prayer cur mothers taught us, which John Q aincy Adams, 70 years of age, said every night when he put Now Ilay me downl I pray the Lord my -oul to ke" We may be too feeble to emn either of these familiar forms, bu prayer of Stephen is so short, is concise, is so earnest, is so comp 'e, sive, we surely will be able to say "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." O, if that prayer is answered, how sweet it will be to die: This world is clevcr enough to us. Perhaps it has treated us a great deal better than we deserve to be treated, but if on the dyir zpill there should break the ligh. f better world we shall ha-e no regret about leaving a small, damp house for one large, b and capacious. That dying in Philadelphia some years ago e fully depicted it when in the ment he threw up his hands a out, "I move into the light:" Pass on now, and I will shoC yoi one more picture, and that is Sphe asleep. With a pathos and simplicity peculiar to the Scriptures the text says of Stephen, "He fel: asleep." "Oh." you say, "what a place that 7,as to sleep! A hard rock under him, stones falling down upon him, the blcod streaming, the mob howling. What a place it was to sleep !" And yet my text take that symbol of slumber to describe his departura, so sw eet was it, so contented was it, so peace' ul was it, Stephen had lived a very laborious life. His ch work had been to care for tiae poor. How many loaves of bread he distributed, how many bare eet Lo had sandaled, how many cots of s.ck ness and distress he blessed with min isteries or kindness and love I do not know, but from the way he lived and the way he preached and the way he died I know he was a laborious Chris tian. But that is all over now. He has passed the cup to the last fainting lip. He has taken the last insult from his enemies. The last stone to whose crushing weight he 'is susceptible has been nurled. Stephen is dead: The disciples come. They take him up. They wash away the blood from tite wounds. They straighten out the bruised limbs. They brush back the tangled hair from the brow, and then they pass around to look upon the calm countenance of him who had lived for the poor and died for the truth. Ste phen asleep! I have seen the sea driven with the hurricane until the tangled foam caught in the rigging, and wave rising above wave seemed as if about to storm the heavens and then I have seen the tempest drop and the waves crouch and everything become smooth and burnished as though a camping place for the glories of heaven. So I have seen a man whose life has been tossed and driven coming down at last to an infinite calm, in which theie was the hush of heaven's lullaby. Stephen asleep! I saw such a one. He fought all his days against pover - ty and against abuse. They traduced his name. They rattled at the door knob while he was dying with duns for debts he could not pay. yet the peace of God brooded over his pillow, and while the world faded heaven dawned, and the deepening twilight of earth's night was only the opening twilight of heaven's morn. Not a sigh;- not a tear; not a struggle. Hush ! Stephen asleep! I have not the faculty to tell the weather. I can never tell by the set ting sun whether there will be a drought or not. I cannot tell by the blowing of the wind whether it will be fair weather or foul on the morrow: but I can prophesy, and I will propa esy, what weather it will be when you the Christian, come to die. You may have it very rough now, It may be this week one annoyance, the next another annoyance. It may be this year one bereavement, the next an other bereavement. Before this year has passed you may have to beg for bread or askr for a scuttle of coal or a pair of shoes, but at the last Christ will come in, and darkness will go out, and, though there may be no hand to close your eyes and no breast on whicih to rest your dying head and no candle to lift the night, the odors of God's hanging garden will regale your soul, and at your bedside will halt thte chariots of the King. No more rents to pay, no more agony because flour has gone up, no more struggle with "the world, the flesh and the devil," but peace-long, deep, everlasting peace. Stephen asleep! Asleep in Jesus! Blessed sleep, From which none ever wake to weep: A calm and undisturbed repose, Uninjured by the last of foes. Asleep in Jesus! Far from thee Thy kindred and their graves may lbe, But there is still a blessed sleep From which none ever wake to weep. You have seen enough for cne morn ing. No one can successfully examine more than five pictures in a day. Therefore we stop, having seen this cluster of divine Raphaels-Stephen gazing into heaven, Stephen looking at Christ, Stephen stoned, Stephen in his dying prayer, Stephen asleep. AGAMNST ADJOURNMENT. oongress Not in Favor of ILeaving rhe Presaent on Deck. Some of the most pronounced Cuban Sympathizers in congress are becom ing very impatient. They say that the propositions for solving the Cuban problem, which have been latlely put forward as engrossing the presiden's attention, are similar to those .sur gested as long ago as the adminis tration of President Grant, and hav ing failed utterly, ar e unworthhy o serious consideration now. Some believe that the report of the naval court of inquiry is being delayed, not for the purpose of putting the cou try in an adequate condition of de fense, but in order that congress may be out of the way and the president settle the question on some basis which will satisfy the financial interesis of' the country and prevent war at any cost. This belief has its only origir In the undoubted activity of lead> men who are regarded as repres I. tatives of the administration, in direction of securing a speedy f journment of congress. Senator I an na expressed himself as certain tha nothing better could be done than t leave the whole matter in the hans' of the nresident. Senator Platt, of New York, sings the same song. "Nothing could be better," said he, "than to have congress speedily ad journ and allow the president to handle this question in his own way enator Elkins talks in the sa~m strain On the other hand, inere ae at leas; ten Republican senatort . shown by a canvass yesterday, will not agree to adopt this rr gramme. "i1ghting Bill" CGnandler. Senator Chandler seems to worked himself up .to the ii'. point. He is much more bellicose now than he was when Joe Blackburn~ grabbed his ears, but Joe had a pretty good hold on him and some advant age. He would keep his ears out o the way of the Spaniards. Japan's Navy. Japan has under constru cnfu immense battleships, ten large cesis ers and twenty-three torp-do i-o:s, which will make her navy ts hra largest in the world. The Ja"ausse fleets will have so~methij' tosv THE ACTS OF ASSEMDBLY. 3OME OF THE LAWS PASSED AT THE RECENT SESSION. The Text in Full of Some of the Principal Ad ditio=s to the Statates of South Caro- 1 1:na. UiSTRES FoR RENT. An Act to establish and declare the law as to distress for rent. Section 1. Be it enacted by the Gen -::1 Assembly of the State of South 1 Carolinia: That in case any lessee for 2 or lives, terms of years, at will or otherwise, of any messanges, lands or t tenements, upon the demise wherof I any rents are or shall be reserved or c arde payable, shall convey or carry t oil from such demised premises his I goods, or chattels. it shall and may be 2 lawful to and for such lessor or i landlord, or any person or persons by t him for that purpose lawfully em powered, within the space ofi five days I next ensuing such conveying away or carrying off such goods or chattels as aforesaid, to take and seize such goods j and chattels whenever same shall be found, as a distress for the said arrears of such rent, and the same to sell or otherwise dispose of, in such manner as if the said goods and chattels had actually been distrained by such les sor or landlord in and upon such de mised premises for such arrears of rent, any law, usage or custom to the ( contrary, in any wise, notwithstand- i ing.t Section 2. That nothing herein con tained shall extend, or be construed to extend, to empower such lessor or landlord to take or seize any goods or chattels as a distress for arrears of rent which shall have been sold bona fide and for a valuable consideration be fore such seizure made, no property shall be seized under a distress war rant for such, except such as belongs I to the tenant in his own right: Pro vided, that nothing herein contained shall interfere with or in any manner abridge the right of such -lessor or landlord to take or seize any or all of such goods and chattels whenever they may be found as distress for ar rears for rent, when any tenant so in arrears shall make an assignment for the benefit of his creditors, or when any tenant after the contract of ten ancy has been entered into shall mort gage said goods and chattels. Section 3. That when tenants pur autre vie and leases for years or at will hold over the tenements to them demised after the determination of such leases, it shall and may be law ful for any person or persons having any rent in arrear or due upon any lease for life or lives, or for years, or at will ended or determined, to dis train for such arrears, after the deter mination of the said respective leases, in the same manner as they might have done if such lease or leases had not been ended or determined: Pro vided, that such distress be made witt in the space of six calendar months af ter the determination of such lease, and during the continuance of such landlord's title or interest, and during the possession of the tenant from whom such arrears became due. Section 4. That any person or per sons havi'ng any rent in arrear or due upon any lease or demise for life or lives, may bring an action or actions of debt for such an-ears of rent in the same manner as they might have done in case such rent were due and reserved upon a lease for years. Section 5. That every distress for rent shall be reasonable and not too great, and any lessor or landlord who makes unreasonable and excessive dis tress shall be liable for all amages sustained by the tenant whose goods i are distrained by reason of such exces- 2 sive distress. That such damages e may be recovered by an action in any c Court of competent jurisdiction. 1 Section 6. That when goods and d hatte.!s have been distrained for rent a reserved and due upon any lease or 1 on^-ract whatsoever, and the tenant n whose goods have been taken shall 2 not, within five days after such dis- e tress and notice thereof, replevy the i same with sufficient security, to be t given according to law, then, in such r ase, the person making the distress g shall cause the goods distrained to be 1, appraised by two sworn appraisers, t and, after such appraisement, sell the g same, in the same manner as goods y aken under execution are required by j law to be sold. t Approved the 19th day of February, 3 A. D. 1898. PUBLIC SCHOOL TEXT BOOKS. a An Act to amend an Act entitled an u Act to provide the pupils attending s the free public school with school a text books at actual cost. a Section 1. Be it enacted by the Gen- c ral Assembly of the State of South a arolina: That an Act, entitled "An t: Act to provide the pupils attending b the free public schools with text books v at actual cost," approved February 17, b~ A. D. 1897, be, and the same is hereby fa amended in Section 1, line 4, by striking out the word "empowered," and by substituting in lieu thereof the word "required," so that said section a when amended shall read as follows, J viz: "Section 1. Be it enacted by the C eneral Assembly of the State of South s Carolina: That the county boards E f education of the several counties of p this State be, and they are hereby, 3 authorized and required to set aside ? fron the public school funds of their s resrective counties an amount not ex- 1 :eding five hundred dollars, for the 8 purpose of providing the pupils at- s5 ending the free public schools of their u ounties with school text books at ac- 13 ual cost, or exchange prices." t Section 2. Said Act is hereby fur- ft her amended, in Section 3, by adding p o the end of said section the following, a iz: 'And the places where said school 0 ext books are kept and sold and shall fi e deemed depositories, under the con- d rol of the State, as provided in the i eventh article or provision in the ontract made in 1893 with the pub is'rers of school text books," so that ,xid section when so amended shall 9 -edas follows, viz: "Section 3. Phat the amcunt so set aside by the p ounty board of education shall be I ad remain a permanent fund in the y ands of the county superintendent a >f education, to be used in purchasing a and keeping on hand school text it boks for sale to pupils attending the s] free pubiic schools of his county, for n csh, at actual cost or exchange prices, s< and to be used for no other purpose h and in no other manner; and the T laces where said school text books ti re kept and sold shall be deemed de- o ositories under the control of the a Sate, as provided in the seventh arti- a Sor provision in the contract made o a 1893 with the publishers of school xbos." Provided, that the pr :sn of this Act shall not apply to' t:e city of Sumter: Provided, that a n the counties of Beaufort, Charles- 3 on. Chesterfield, Edgefield, George. a own. Marlboro and Richiand, the h ounty boards of education are here- e: by authorized and empowered, but not f< required, to carry out the provisions t. f this Act. section 4. That in all schools and b olleges within this State which are t< upported in whole or in part from the t: ree school funds it shall be unlawful t] o use any text book which has been g ondemned or disapproved by the b St a 1oar o1 f eaion.a Approved the 21st day of February, . D. 1898. TOWN AND COUNTY CHAIN GANGS. kn Act to authorize town authorities to exchange labor of town convicts with county authorities. Section 1. B-s it ordained by the Gen ral Assembly of the State of South ,arolina: That from ana after the iassage of this Act whenever any own or municipal authority in this !tate have not a sufficient number of onvicts sentenced to work on the ublic works of the town to warrant he expense of maintaining a town hain gang, the town authorities if said town shall be authorized to lace said convicts on the county hain gang for the time so sentenced, .nd the county authorities of the coun y in which said town is situated shall ie authorized and empowered to ex hange labor with said town authori ies and place county convicts on the iublic works of the town for the same tumber of days that town convicts vork on the public works of the coun y. Section 2. That this Act shall go in o effect immediately upon its approv 1. Approved the 21st day of February, L D. 198. DOCKETS Or1 AGISTRATES. kn Act to require all magistrates to submit their dockets to the coun ty board of commissioners quarter. ly, and said board to report on same to Court. Section 1. Be it enacted by the Gen ral Assembly of the State of South "arolina: That all magistrates be, nd are hereby required to submit heir dockets to the county board of ommissioners at their regular quar erly meetings, and that said boards, espectively, shall make report an ually, prior to fall term of Court, to he foreman of the grand jury as to aid dockets, and any irregularities hown thereby. Section 2. That magistrates shall Lot hereafter be required to make re poarts or file transcript of their dockets n any manner and at any other time han herein prescribed, any law to he contrary notwithstanding. Approved the 19th day of February, L D. 1898. Democratic oonvention in May. The Columbia State has discovered hat according to the constitution of he Democratic party, the only State )emocratic convention to be held this ear will be on the third Wednesday a May. Says the State: The present onstitution provides for the holding if a convention on the third Wednes lay in May, and for no other. It also irovides for the holding of enunty onventions in the severai counties in he State on the first Monday in May or the purpose of electing delegates o that convention. Of course the eorganization of the precinct and mard clubs will take place prior to hat time throughout the State. It is hus seen that State and county poli ics will be stirring much earlier than ny one expected. When the conven on meets there will doubtless be no nd of political log-rolling. The con ention will have to elect a new State xecutive Committee. and attend to uch other matters as may come be ore it. Those who were talking of he outlook, expressed the view that he liquor referendum plan would be aid before the convention when it eets, the legislature having declined o take action in regard to it on the -round that the proper body to con ider it was the State Democratic Con ention. How much of an issue this rill become and the probable action of he convention in regard to it, are iurely matters of conjecture at this tage. _______ A Bemarkable Gander. One of the most remarkable birds a the state is owned by Mr. James L. Kinkead, secretary of the Hardin ounty fair association. It is a gan er, and everybody in the neighbor ood is acquainted with it. The gan er's name is "Solid Silver," and it nswers to its name as quick as any and on Mr. Kinkead's farm. The under acts as a watchdog would bout the place, and no stranger dares nter the yard unattended by a mem er of the family, as those who have ied to and been forced to beat an ig ominious retreat will attest. The ander has sense, like a horse, and arns new tricks almost every day in he week. This gander goes to the ranary and shakes a plank when the ellow corn will roll out for its daily :od. It follows its owner to and from e field just as a dog would do. hen the bell is rung calling the .ands to their meals his gandership ets up a quacking and continues it ntil all have come in, when he him lf goes to the granary and, by shak loose plank with his bill, shakes own corn for his dinner. If. per hance, 'Solid Silver' is in the house nd any member of the family leaves re door ajar, he does not rest until he as closed it. His owner will be pre ailed on to have 'Solid Silver' on ex ibition at the next Elizabethtown dr.-Louisville Post. He is Ready. Gen, Joseph L. Stoppelben, of Sum ervile, writes as follows to the Hon. .W. Stokes: "The people of South arolina stand ready and willing to red their blood in defense of the tars and Stripes, and if ever our ople were united, they are today. 7e know no factional or party lines rhen the honor of the country is at ;ake. As you know, I command the trgest body of cavalry in the United tates. My command and I are at the arvces of the president, and, while I nderstand militia cannot be pressed ito service for a longer period ian 90 days, I now, through you, >rmally tender my services to the resident in the volunteers for 90 sonths, if need be. The people of fSouth Carolina have implicit con deuce in the wisdom of the presi ent at this critical moment, and feel it he will do the proper thing." Cnre of Mange on Hogs. John Cruze, of Lee county, Iowa, rites to The Rural World as follows: Have just had some interesting ex erience with mange or scab on pigs. ost 14 out of 36, from doseing them ith everything I heard or read out .-Was in dispair, until com ion sense came to my aid. I figured out that it was a parasite under the tin, and to cure the pig the parasite ust be destroyed. So I mixed up >me turpentine and coal oil, half and alf, and added quite a bit of zelphur. hen, while the pigs were at the 'ough, I squirted the mixture all ver them, from nose to tail, by eans of a machine oil can. Hlave ot lost a pig since, and have not been bliged to repeat the dose." The Cowardly Assassin. At y aitman, Ga., Wednesday night a unxnown party slipped up to the 'ndow of the house of Henry Raines, prominent negro, and shot him and is two-year old baby to death. Elev a buckshot entered Raines' head, ur lodged in the baby and twelve in i wall. Raines' wife was sitting be geen him and the window, and it is elieved that the murderer intended >kill her also. Raines had been otting the baby on his knee, and had ie gnn been fired while that was oing on the baby would not have een killed, but at the time it vwas re heawas in theat of kissing it. The Vrginius Os's If Spain expects the United States to act now as she did in the case of the steamship Virginus she is sadly mis taken. This case should be kept in mind now by all persons who desire to see the honor and dignity of this coun try sustained in the Maine affair. It shows just exactly what may be ex pected by a government that handles Spain with too much consideration in diplomacy. It shows also what results can be achieved with her by determina tion and pronpt action. During the late war the V.rginius -as a blockade runner into Southern ports and in 1870 when the Cubans were trying to break away from Spain, the Virginius resumed the old cccupation, only with a change of base. For three years it succeeded in carrying on its business without being captured. She was un der the command of a cifizen of the United States, Captain Fiy, who had served with distinction first in the United States navy and then in the Confederate States navy. The crew consisted of Americans, Englishmen and Cubans. On one of her trips the Virginius was run down and captured by a Spanish gunboat called the Tor nado. Captain Fry protested that his was "an American ship, carrying American colors and papers, with an American captain and crew." All this Tas true, but far from being "sav ing truth." The vessel and all on board were taken to Santiago de Cuba. They were immediately tried by a drumhead court. The United States consul at the place was not allowed to leave the consulate or hava any inter coursa with the prisoners until the last day. The trials. condemnations, and executions were in squads. In the first batch was a gallant soldier, who had served in iie Federal army during the war, but who was then a brigadier general in the Cuban army. In the second batch the gallant Fry himself was shot. Not a man would have escaped the fury of the cruel Spaniards, but before the butchery was comvleted a British cruiser, the Niobe, which happened to be in the vicinity, steamed into Santiago. Sir Lambert Larraine. the commander of the Niobe, had heard of the butchery, and without the slightest ceremony demanded that the butchery seace. He told the Spanish butchers that he represented the United States as well as Great Britain and that if another man was executed he would shell the town. That settled it, and ninety three men under sentence of death were saved by the brave and humane interference of the brave commander of the British cruiser, Sir Lambert Larraine, who should be held in high esteem by all Americans. Then fol lowed a series of diplomatic negotia tions, Secretary Fish took the sensible position that the Virginius, having been registered as an American ves sel carrying official documents regu lar upon their face, and bearing the United States flag, was entirely be yond the jurisdiction of any other power on the high seas in the time of peace; if she had secured fraudulent entry or committed any other fraud against the laws of the United States it was for her to be turned over to the United States courts for punishment, and not for her to be captured and punished by some other power. This was a goou beginning to a pitiful end ing.- The final result must have made all Spain chuckle with delight. The contention of the United States was conceded by Spain, and she agreed to sends as far as shecould the great wrong she had done the United States. The men who had been rescued by the Niobe were put on board the Virginius in the remote port of Bahia Honda, and there, before a handful of witnesses, the Spaniards went through the farce of a salute. The Spaniards should at least have been compelled to take the Virginius into the harbor at Havana, and there in the presence of all the people, made to pay homage to the Uftited States. We agree with an exchange which says cases like that of the Virginius breed contempt and lead to outrages. No nation ever won respect or peace, that could endure, by such a coarse as that followed by the United States in the case of the Virginius massacre. It is well to remember that fact now. Hesitation and half measures with a nation like Spain serve only to pile up trouble for the future. No nation has in its history such conclusive proof of this as our own. No nation has suffered such loss and provocation at Soanish hands as the North American Union. We now stand fast on the line that marks the limit. Itema of Intercst. SENATOR Tillman says there is no avoiding war with Spain, and we be lieve he is eminently correct. THE Galveston N.ews thinks Spanish privateers would have a fine old time hunting for the American merchant flag on the high seas-"that is if they hunted for the fun of hunting." WAR with Spain, in our opinion, is inevitable. There seems to be no doubt now but that the Maine was destroyed by Spanish treachery, and of course the United States must pun ish her for it. EMPLOYEES over sixty years of age in the Union Pacific shops at Omaha are being discharged, and it is said that in the future no one will be em loyed by the company who is near or bove that age.' Are these old and faithful servants to be turned out to starre? THE~ Republican administration ap propriated $50,000,000 out of the sur plus left over from the proceeds of Cleveland's bond sales without an effort, The Charleston Critic, notic ing this fact, says Democratic econo my has always proved very timely for the grand old party when in power. Da. L. G. Broughton, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Atlanta, an nounced Sunday that he nad inaugu rated a warfare against the devil, and the Charleston Ccritic says the rever end gentleman will not have to go far to find him, as his Satanic Majesty has raade that city the headquarters of his war department of the Gulf for many years past. THE Greenville News makes an ex cellent point when ?t says: "Depend upon it-every Veteraua who goes to Charleston at the time of the reunion will enjoy himself more than will tose who go to the great reunion in Atlanta. We hope that all the Vet erans who can will go to both the Charleston and Atlanta reunions, but if to one-let it be Charleston." A Kansas woman thought to amuse her children by putting on some of her husband's clothes and playing burglar. One of the kids wanted to makie the thing very realistic and got his father's pistol. As his mother emerged from the closet he blazed away, and though he fortunately missed her he came near scaring her to death. She wiIl never play burglar again. THlE St. Louis Republic says the uestion of responsibility and repa ration for the destruction of the Maine is going to be settled, and settled right. The question of securin4 for Cuba that independence to which she is entitled under the laws of nations is going to be seitled, and settled right. The United States wilh force settlement by Spain.- War may or may not come tat depends upon Spain-but settle ment will cme, with or without war. FARMERS DAUGHTERS. The Imporsant Pazt They Take in i & Managetment of the Placo. There are many farmers throagh out the country who are sufficiently liberal to the boys, but who think that girls' wants should be supplied as they suggest themselves, and with no regard to individual preference. Af ter harvest, the son, who has driven the reaper or helped at threshing, has his share of the profits to control and do with as he pleases. Certain of the stcck have teen given him-a pig, a calf or colt, which he will eventually sell and put the proceedes in his pock et. The farm offers all sorts of op uortunities for earnings great or smal, to which his right is never questioned. By and by, he drives his own horse, joins a club, buys books and goes to college-a right which he has earned and to which he is fairly entitled. With the girl it is usually very dif ferent. It never occurs to any one that she too, would enjoy a small in come which she could count upon as her very own, and invest as she saw fit without restraint or objection. The butter and eggs are sometimes her es pecial commodity, and from their sales she has a limited supply of pock et money. But it is extremely limit ed. and frequently very uncertain. Yet her labor in the home, "about the place" has done as much toward establishing the family prosperity as the labor of her brother. She is up at daybreak to get breakfast ready. She prepares frequently unassisted, three meals a day for 365 days in a year. She sometimes does the wash ing and irononing, the sewing and mending, and is still at work long after her brother is in bed asleep, or away visiting the neighbors. She, too, has an additional tax during har vest, and at those seasons when the work upon the farm is especially heavy but she rarely receives any reward for the extra service required of her. It is a manifest injustice. A good many overcareful fathers excuse themselves upon the plea that girls have no judgment in money matters Well, they certainly will never ac quire wisdom without experience if tne means for so doing are withheld. The financial faculty in most wo men lies dormant for lack of ezercise, but it has been marvelously developed when it has been put to the test. There are thousands of women in the country, widows, who have assumed the management of affairs upon the death of the husband, who have suc ceeded brilliantly, when the better half failed; the mortgage paid off, stock improved, modern farming im plements have been purchased and the crops cultivated according to mod ern and intelligent ideas. The profit sharing system should include girls as well as boys, and there is no question but that it wiU pay. Another Coast Line Short Cut. The Augusta Chronicle of Sunday contained the following of much con cern to South Carolinians: "It is stated that the Atlantic Coast Line is now surveying the route of an exten sion of their line that will put them a great deal nearer fo Augusta than at present. The ir!rmation is" to the effect that the new Ime will be run from Denmark to Martin's Station on the Port Royal and Western Carolina division of the Charleston and West ern Carolina. The reason for the building of this short line, is obvious. The Atlantic Coast Line now owns the Charleston and Western Car olina and, at the same time, is running its trains into Augusta over the tracks of the South Carolina and Georgia. By the construction of this short line it would be enabled to reach this city over it own tracks for the entire distance. Just when the work of grading, and of laying the tracks will commence can not be stated. It is believed that the Coast Line in the future will make a very strong bid for the business of this section and that by shortening its route to the east and running over its own tracks it will compete, not only for the passenger business, but for the freight to such an extent that Augusta will'enjoy even lower rates than she now has to the east and from there." Supplies for the Cubans. A relief fund of $9,033 and twenty one carloads of provisions and cloth ing collected in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma for the starving Cubans of Matanzas were forwarded south from Kansas City. to-day. These relief measures are being carried out under the management of the Kansas City Star, and agents of the Star will aid in the distribution at Ma,!tanza. The United States government has guar anteed the transpotation from New Orleans to Matanzas. The principal articles of food sent are wheat, flour, corn meal, rice, potatoes, rolled oats, condensed milk and soup extracts. The contributions of clothing include a great number of calico dresses for women and children, mostly of the "Mother Hubbard" pattern, made by various church sewing circles. Activity at Pensacois, Powder, shot and shell continue to arrive at Pensacola in large quantities for the forts and batteries ciefending the harbor. Three of the eight big mortars for the new battery on Santa Rosa have also arrived and they will be mounted as quickly as poasible. There is great activity at Fort Pickens. In addition to the 6 and 8 inch guns a 15-inch gun is being mounted on the fort. Capt. J. W. MacMurray com manding the two batteries of the fort artilery at Fort Barrances has been promoted to be major of the Fifth artillery. The woraL of deepening and widening the new chaniel on the bar is progressing steadily, and the largest merchant steamships now pass through it without difficulty. It is expected that 28 feet of water will soorn te ob tained. Our Two New oruisers. A dispatch from London says the final contract providing for the. sale of the warships Amazonas and Almi rante AbroualI to the United States has been signed. The price is $2, 500,000 for both ships. THE CHICKEN CRoP.-It is estimated that this country con tains .350,000,000 chickens, and that t: e.y lay nearly 14,000,000,000 eggs eaua year, worth $165,000,000. The value of the poul try meat each year is estimated at $125,000,000, the total annua' poultry produce being $290,000,000, w cta ex eeds the value of swine, woum and sheep combined, being almost greater than the production of oats, tobacco, potatoes, whieat or cotton. ?ner. nlab never been a correct census of pjUitry and eggs, however, and the figures claimed may not be correct. A HINT To THE GIRLS.-A bachelor philosopher remarks that "no man ever wants to kiss a girl after he has once seen her hold a nickel the con ductor has given her for change be tween her teeth while she gets her purse open," and he further intimates that such a girl is only fit to kiss a pug :og. Of course bachelors are not al ways responsible critics. A dispatch to a New York paper from London says it is reported there that Spain has raised sixty million las+-.+r t hecae of war ships Royal makes the food Ptrr, wvholcsomc and dcic -u POWDER Absolutely Pure ROYAL AAKINC POWDER CO., NEW YORX. An Awfl Picture. Senator Proctor has reported to the United States Senate what he saw in Cuba during his recent visit to that unhappy island. Senator Proctor said: I went to Cuba with a strong con viction that the picture had been over drawn, that a few cases of starvation and suffering had inspired and stimu lated the press correspondents, and they had given free play to a strong naturally and highly cultivated im agination. Before starting, I received through the mail a leaflet published by the Christian Herald, with cuts of some of the sick and starving recon centrados and took it with me, think ing these were rare specimens got up to make the worst possible showing. I saw plenty as bad and worse; many that should not be photographed and shown. I could not believe that out of a population of 1,600,000, 200,000 had died within these Spanish forts, practically prison walls, within a few months past from actual starvation and disease caused by insufficient and improper food. Inquiries were entire ly outside of sensational sources. They were made of our medical oi cers, of our consuls, of cities alcades (Mayors), of relief committees, lead ing merchants and bankers, physic ians and lawyers. Several of my in formants were Spanish born, but every time the answer was that the case had not been overstated. Speaking of the non-combatant Cu ban, who are driven by Weyler's or ders from their homes in the country into the towns, where without employ ment and without resources of any kind they have gradually died from starvation and disease, Senator Proc tor says: "When they reached the towns they were allowed to build huts of palm leaves in the suburbs and vacant places within the trocha and left to live if they could. Their huts are about ten by fifteen feet in size, and for want of space are usually crowded together. Tney have no floor but the ground and no furniture, atd after a year's wear, but little cloth:ag except such stray substitutes as they can ex temporize. With large families,or with more than one in this little space, the commonest sanitary provisions are impossible, Conditions are unmen tionable in this respect. Torn from their homes, with foul earth, foul water and foul food, or none, what wonder that one-half have died and that one quarter of the living are so diseased thlat they caanot be saved. A form of dropsy is a common disease, resulting from these conditions. Lit le children are still walking about with arms and chest terribly emnaciat ed, eyes swollen and abdomen bloat ed to three times the natural size. The physicians say these cases are hopeless. Deaths in the streets have not been uncommon. I was told by one of our consuls that they have been found dead about the markets in the morning where they had crawled, hoping to get some stray bits of fooa from the early hucksters, and that there has been cases where they had drooped dead inside the market sur rounded by food. These people we:. independent and self supporting before Weyler's order. They are not beg gars even now. Of the hospitals I need not speak. Others have describ ed their condition far better than I can. It is not within the narrow limits of my vocabulary to portray." Can any one read the above without shuddering with horror? Can the United States stand idly by and let such an outrage against civilization go unrebuked at its very doors? Will this nation be guiltless of the blood of these starving Cubans if it does not raise a hand to save them from the cruelties of the Spanish barbarians? Every instinct of manhood cries no. The United S:ates should interfere and that speedily to save the Cuban peo ple from the horrible fate that awaits them. It seems to be the deliberate purpose of the brutal Spaniards to starve to death the liberty loving native Cubans and then repopulate the island with brutes like themselves. Can the United States affo;rd to per mit such an outrage? Let those in uthority answer. superb Grauite. Forty hands were busy recently re oving rubbish and lay ing the side track just across Broad river from olumbia. Inspectors have ascertained that the granite which is of superb uality, covers a space of ten or more acres. Located as it is near the city, ihis quarry will certainly be a bonan za to some one, Already large con r.ets for granmte have been received. Boaux,-Every ho~usekee-per ought o know the vir tue of a gargle made f salt water and borax. It relieves a child in a short while of a cough orE irritative throat by gargling every half nour, or if you have an ulcerc<r white patch in your throat, app y dry borax until it disappears. It as xedient in all throat irritaticns and acts like a charm. It is so cheap and harmless to have in the house that the sooner one becomes accus~o med to using it the better, for it is invaluable, not only as a medicine, br. as a puri fier and disinfectant to pour down the itchen sink and around water pipes. THE MoCKma~ EID--re7w per sonS in the South are aware of theC fact that the mocking bird is found only in the outh. Mason and Dixon's line is the northern boundary line of its home, and it is seen in the north only in cap. tivity. It is by far the sweetest sisg er ot the feathered tribe. Switzerland may rejoice in the turneful linnets, la. elie France glory in her sof t-throated orioles, the Mediterranean isles exult in their liquid voiced songsters, but our South land excels them all in the possession of the heaven-voiced mock