University of South Carolina Libraries
OUR SCiOOL SYSTEM +--+ssted Against by Dr. Tal mage in a Sermon. HIS WARNING TO PARENTS. Finds aTimeiy Lesson In the Sac rifice of Jephthah's Daughter. Thousands of Children Ed ucated Into Imbecility. In his sermon Dr. Talmage lodges a protest against the parental heedless ness and worldly ambition which are threatenina the sacrifice of many Ameri can children; text. Judges xi, '36, ")1 father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord. do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mourzth.'' Jephthah was a freebooter. Early turned out from a home where he ought to have been cared for, he consorted with rough men and went forth to earn his living as best he could. In those times it was consideied right for a man to go out on indepenent military ex peditions. Jephthah was a good man according to the light of his dark age, but through a wandering and predator. life he became reckless and precipitate. The grace of God changes a man s heart, but never reverses his natural temperament. The Israelites wanted the Ammonites driven out of their country, so they sent a delegation to Jephthah, asking him to become com tander in chief of all the forces. He night have said, "You drove me out when you had no use for me and, now you are in trouble, you want me back," but he did not say that. He takes command of the army, sends messen gers to the Ammonites to tell them to vacate the country and, getting no fa vorable response, marshals his troops for battle. Before going out to the warJephthah makes a very solemn vow that if the Lord will give him the victory, then, on his return home, whatsoever first comes out of his doorway he will offer in sacrifice as a burnt offering. The batt.e opens. It was no skirmishing on the edes of danger, no unlimbering of batteries two miles away, but the hurl ing of men on the points of swords and spears until the ground could no more drink the blood, and the horses rr art d to leap over t be pile of bodies of tht slain. In th'.!e old times opposin4 forces wot Id fight until their sword were broken. and the n each one woulo throttle his man until the-y both fell. teeth to teeth, grip to grip. death stare to death stare, until the plain was one tumbled -muss of corpses from which the last trace of manhood had beet, dashed out. Jephthah wins the day. Twenty citits lay captured at his feet. Sound tht victory all through the mountains of Gilead. Let the trumpeters call up the survivors. Homeward to your wives and children. Honsewurd with your glitterinz treasures. Homeward to have the applau-e of an admiring nation. Build triunsphal arebes. swing out flags all over Mlizrah, open all your doors to receive the captured treasures. through every ball spread the banquet pile uip the viat ds, till high the tank ards. The nation is redeemed, the ini vaders are routed and the national honor is vindicated. 'Huzza for Jephthah, the conqueror! Jephthah, seated on a prancing steed. advances amid the acclaiming multi tudes, but his eye is not on the excited populace. Remembering that he had made a solemn vow that, returning from victorious battle, whatsoever first came out of the doorway of home, that should be sacrificed as a burnt offering, he has his anxious look upon the door. I wonder what spotless lamb, what brace of doves will be thrown upon the fires of the burnt offering. Oh, horrors! Paleness of death blanches his cheek. Despair seizes his heart. His daughter, his only child, rushes out the dooway to throw herself in her father's arms and shower upon him more kisses than there were wounds on his breast or dents on his shield. All the triumphal splendor vanishes. Holding back this child from his heav ing breast and pushing the locks back from the fair brow and looking into the eyes of inextinguishable affection with choked utterance he says: "Would God I lay stark on the bloody plain. My daughter, my only child, joy of mny home, life of my life, thou art the sacri fice!" The whole matter was explained to her. This was no whining, hollow hearted girl into whose eyes the father looked. All the glory of sword and shield vanished in the presence of the valor of that girl. There may have been a tre mor of the lip, as a roseleaf trembles in the sough of the south wind; there may have been the starting of a tear like a rain drop shaken from the anther of a water lily. Bat with a self sacrifice that man may not reach and only wo man's heart can compass she surrenders herself to fire and to death. She cries out in the words of my text, "My fa ther, if thou hast opened they mouth unto the Lord do unto me whatsoever hath proceeded from thy mouth." She bows to the knife, and the blood, which so often at the father's voice had rushed to the crimson cheek, smokes in the fires of the burnt offer. ing. No one can tell us her name. There is no need that we know her name. The garlands that Mizpah twist ed for Jephthah, the warrior, have gone into the dust, but all ages are twisting this girl's chaplet. It is well that her name came not to us, for no one can wear it. They may take the name of Deborah or Abigail or Miriam, but no one in all the ages shall have the title of this daughter of sacrifice. Of course this offering was not pleas ing to the Lord. es.pecially as a provi sion was made in the law for such a contingency, and Je-phthah might have redeemed his daughter by the payment of 30 shekels of silver, but before you hurl your denunciations at Jephthah'i cruelty remember that in olden times when vows were made men thought they must execute them, perf orm them, whether they were wicked or good. There were two wrong things about Jephthah's vow. First, he ought never to have made it. Next, 1having made it, it were better broken than kept But do not take on pretentious airs and say, "I could not have done as Jeph thah did." If in former days you had been standing on the banks of the Ganges and you had been born in India. you might have thrown your childret. to the crocodiles. It is not because we are naturally any better, but because we have mce gospel light. Now I make very practical use of this question when I tell you that the sacrifice ef Jephthah's daughter was a type of the physical, mental and spiri tual sacrifice of 10,000 children in1 this day. The.re are paraats all un wittingly bringing to bear upon their children a class of influences whieb. torch destroyel dephtu iaugntr While I speak the whol- nation, with Oult emoLionl arnd without shame, looks upou the stupendous tacrifice. in the fir-t place. I remark that Luh of the syztem of education in our iay is a system of sacrifice. When -bildren spend six or seven hours in school and then must spend two or three iours in preparation for school the next lay, will you tell me how much time they will have for sunshine and fresh air and the obtaining of that exuber. ince which is necessary for the duties Of coming life? No one can feel more thankful than I do for the advancement of common school education. The printing of books appropriate for schools, the multiplication of philoso phical apparatus, the establishment of normal schools. which provide for our children teachers of largest caliber. are themes on which every philanthrop its ought to be congratulated. But this herding of great mutitudes of clil dren in ill ventilated schoolrooms and poorly cquiped halls of instruction is making many of the places of know ledged in this country a huge holocaust. Politics in many of the cities gets into educational affairs. and while the two political parties are scrabbling for the honors Jephthah's daughther perishes. It is so much so that there are many schools in the country today which are preparing tens of thousands of invalid men and women for the future; so that, in many places, by the time the child's education is finished the child is fin ished' In many places, in many cities of the country, there are large appropiations for everything else, and cheerful appropriations, but as soon as the appropriation is to be made for the educational or moral interests of the city we are struck through with an eco nomy that is well nigh the death of us. In connection with this I mention what I might call the cramming systern of the common schools and many of the academies; children of delicate brain compelled to tasks that might appall a mature intellect; children going down to school with a strap of books half as high as themselves. The fact is in some of the cities parents do not allow their children to graduate for the simple reason, they say, "We can not afford to allow our children's health to be destroyed in order that they may gather the honors of an institu tion." Tens of thousands of children educated into imbecility, so that con nected with many such literay estab lishments there ought to be asylum, for the wrecked. It is push and crowd and cram and stufE and jam until thc child's intellect is bewildered. and th oewory is ruined. and the health i -uined. and the health is gone. Ther. .re children who once were full o kompir and laughter and had check" ,-rimson with health who are nov. turned %ut in the afternoon pale faced. irritated asthmatic old before their time It is one of the saddest sights on earth. an old mannish boy or an old womanisl girl. Girlt 10 years of age studying al gebra! Boys 12 years of age rackin ' their brain over trigonometry! Chi dren unacquainted with their mothei tongue crying oxer their Latin, Frenci anld German lessons! All the vivacit' -f their nature beaten out )f them b the heavy beetle of a Greek lexicor.! Adou docwr them for this, and yo' gijve tem a little medicine for that and you wonder what is the matter o them. I will tell you what is the mar t-r of them. They are finishing theit education! In my parish in Philadelphia a liti l. child was so pushed at school that sh. was thrown into a fever, and in her di ing delirium all night long she was tr. ing to recite the multiplication table. I' my boyhood I remember that in out class at school there was one lad wha knew more than all of us put together If we were fast in our arithmetic, he extricated us. When we stood up for the spelling class, he was almost always tne head of the class. Visitors cam' to his father's house, and he was al ways brought in as a prodigy. At 18 years of age he was an idiot. He lived ten years an idiot and died an idiot, not knowing his right hand from his left or day from night. The parents and the teachers made him an idiot. You may flatter your pride of forcing your child to know more than any other children, but you are making a sacrifice of that child if by the additions to its intelligence you are making a subtrac tion from its future. The child will go away from such maltreatment with no exuberance to fight the battle of life. Such children may get along very well while you take care of them, but when you are old or dead alas for them if, through the wrong system of education which you adopted, they have no swarthiness er force of character to take care of themselves. Be oareful how you make the child's heatl ache or its heart flutter. I hear a great deal about black man's rights, and China' man's rights, and Indian's rights, and woman's rights. Would God that some body would rise to plead for children's rights. The Carthaginians used to sacrifice their children by putting them into the arms of an idol which thrust forth its hand. The child was put into the arms of the idol and no sooner touched the arms than it dropped into the fire. But it was the art of the mothers to keep the children smiling and laughing until the moment they cied. There may be a fascination and a hilarity about the styles of education of which I am speaking, but it is only laughter at the moment of sacrifice. Would God there were only one Jeph thah's daughter! Again there are many parents who are sacrificing their children with wrong system of discipline-too great rigor or too great leniency. There are children in families who rule the household. The high chair in which the infant sits is the throne, and the rattle is the scepter, and the other children make up the parliment where father and mother have no vote! Such children come up to be miscreants. There is no chance in this world for a child that has never learrned to mind. Such people become 'he botheration of the church of God and the pest of the world. Children that do not learn to obey human au rhority are unwilling to learn to obey 'Iivine authority. Children will not re -pect parents whose anthority they do not respect. Who are these young men that swagger through the streets with their thumbs in their vest talking about their father as ""the old man," "the governor," "the squire," "the old cap." or their mother as' the old wo man?" They are those who in youth. n childhood never learned to respect authority. Eli, having heard that his sons had died in their wickedness. fell over backward and broke his neck and died. Well he might. What is life to lfather whose sons are debauched?The dust of the valley is pleasant to hi3 taste and the driving rains that drip through the roof of the sepulcher are sweeter than the wines of Helbon.. There must be harmony between the father's government and the mother's government. The father will be tempt ed to too grerat rigor. The mother will be tempted to too great leniency. HeIr tnderness will overcome her. Her bettdr fitted c pulli ut L. ort atnd soothe a pang. Children wanting any thing from the mother. cry for it. They hope to dissolve her with tears. But the mother must not interfere, must not coax off. mjust not teg for the ehild when the hour comes for the assertion of parental sULreniwcy and the subjuga tion of a chiild's temper. There comes in the history of every child an hour when it is tested whether the parents shall rule or the child shall rule. That is the crucial hour. If the child tri uniphs in that hour. then he will some day make you crouch. it is a horrible scene. I have witnessc'i it. A mother come to old age, shivering with terror in the presence of a son who cursed her irrav hairs and mocked her wrinkled face and begrudged her the crust she munched with her toothless rums' Pow sh!per than a Ftget's tooth it is To i.ve a thak!,s cbi.i! There are many who are sacrificig their children to a spirit of worldliness Some one asked a mother whose chil dren had turned out very well what was the secret by which she prepared theti for usefulness and for the Christian life, and she said: "This was the se cret. When in the morning I washed my children. I prayed that they might be washed in the fountain of a Saviours mercy. When I put on their garments I prayed that they might be arrayed in the robe of a Saviour's righteousness. When I gave them food. I prayed that they might be fed wi.h manna from heaven. When I started them on the road to school, I pran ed that their path might be as the shining light, brighter and brighter to the perfect day. When I put them to sleep, I prayed that they might be infolded in the Saviour's arms. Oh, you say, that was very oid fashion ed. It was quite old fashioned. But do you suppose that a child under such nurture as that ever turned out bad? Further on thousands and tens of thousands of the daughters of America are sacrificed to worldliness. They are taught to be in sympathy with all the artiticialties of society. They are in ducted into all the hollowness of what is called fashionable life, They are taught to believe that history is dry, but that 50 cent stories of adventurous love are delicious. With capacity that might have rivaled a Florence Nightin gale in heaveniy ministries or made the father's house glad with fihal and si terly demeanor their life is a waste, their beauty a curse, their eternity a demolition. I lift up my voice against the flee of children. I look out of my low on a Sabbath, and I see a gro: . .hildren unwashed, uncombed. Christianiztd. Who cares for t, -? Nho pray- for them? Who utte:s to hem one kind word? When the .y :uissionary, pasaing along the paik in New lork. saw a ragged lad and 1 .ntd '4iM swearing, he said to him: "M -on -top swearing! You ought to go t. the house of God today. You ought t-- be a Chris:ian." Tie lad looked in his face and said: "Ah, it is easy for you 0 talk, well clothed as you are anu .vell ted. But we chaps hain't got no ohance!' Who lifts them to the alter or baptism? Who goes for-h to snatch them up from crime and death and me? Who toiday will g, forth atw -n ing them into schools and churches? \o; heap them up, great piles of rag, tnd wretchedne,.s and filth. Put un 1-rneath them the fires of sacrifice, stii up the blaze. put on more fago's, and 'hile we sit in the churebes with fold darms and indifference crime and dis a-e and death will go otn with the *g* ntzing sacrifice. During the early French revolution at Bourges there was a company of boy s who used to train every day as 3 oung .toldiers. and they carried a flag and they had on the flag this inscription, "Tremble. Tyrants, Tremble; We Arc Growing Up." Mightily suggestive! This generation is passing off, and a wightier generation is comina on. Will they he the foes of tyranny, the foes of ,in and the foes of death, or will they be the foes of God? They arc coming up! I congratulate all parents who are doing theii best to keep their children away from the alter of sacrifice. Your prayers are going to be answered. Your children may wander away from God, but they will come back again. A voice comes from the throne today, encour aging you, "I will be a God to thee and to thy seed after thee." And though when you lay your head in death there may be some wanderer of the family far away from God, and you may be 20 years in heaven before salvation shall come to his heart, he will be brought into the kingdom. and before the throne of God you will rejoice thar you were faithful. Come at last though so long postponed his coming. Come at last! 1 congratulate all those who are toil ing for the outcast and the wandering. Your work will soon be over, but the in fluence you are setting in motion will never stop. Long after you have been garnered for the skies your prayers, your teachings and pour Christian in fluence will go on and help to peop'~le heaven with bright inhabia tas. W\hich would you rather see. which a-e':. would you rather mingle in in the l?et great day, being able to say. "I added house to house and land to land and manufactory to manufactory: I owned half the city; whatever my eye saw I had, whatever I wanted I got," or on that day to have Christ look you full in the face and say, "I was hungry, and ye fed me; I was sick and in prison, and ye visited me, inasmuch as ye did it t'i the least of these my brethren, ye did it to me?" An exchange gets off the following: I want to be a farmer and till the vir gin soil, and labor in the sunshine to sweat and stew and boil; I want to earn large acres whereupon the rye to sow. and watch the cornstalk waving, and hear the mortgare grow: I want to be a fartmer, and grow a lfubjbard squash. the pumpkin and potatoes. and other tuff. by gosh: I want to be a farmer. I :o upon my soul, h-it I haven' g ot thle money to buy a gopher hole. A SPECIAL dispatch to the New York World from Manila says: "It is the uni ersal opinion among army men here.1 hat it will require the presence of 50, 00 American troops to occupy the erritory that has been taketn antd o keep open cotmmunications amnon he islands." We would infer f. his that our forces are uaomin much prgress towards pify'ing the atives of the Philippines. A paper published a long obituary says an exchange, of a man who had :ied in the community, closing with the s atetment that a "long procession of friends followed the remaitns to the last roasting place." The family read the no'e and discovered the supposed error and asked the editor to ma~ke correc tion in the word "roa,-tin." but lhe said he could not do it until the seven years back subscription which deceased owed him had been paid. The only man that doesn't mxake a fool of himself occasionally is the one STATE DiSPENSARY. The Formal Report of the Legis hative Committee. EVERY THiNG IS ALL RIGHT. The Profits and Losses, Receipts and Disbursements, Assets And Liabilities Tabu lated. The lCg1lativc committee, after ma ng a formal inspection of the dispen sary, has submitted its report. From the figures submitted the expense was greater than the profit the last quarter. the timoc covered by the report. The total rece:pts for the quarter amuounted! to 877.694.24 and the total disburse m.ents to $891.236.537, bringing down the balanee in the S:ate treanurY at the first of the year from $46,073.24 to 832.433.91. The report follows: DLear Sir: The committee appointed by the officers of the general assemb!. to investiaitze and examine the l!oks of :he State dispensary for the year 1q99 bcgs leave to submit the following report for the quarter ending March The stock on hand was taken on Mareh 31st and April 1st by D. F. Efird, representing the committee. an Messrs. Miles and Bo3kin, represent ing the State board of control. All 1:'quors. supplies, machinery and offiet tixturres wicre exhibited and taken, as per inventory submtutec. The committee met A pril 17th and proceeded to examine the books and vouchers for the months of Jauuary, February and March. We found the collections and expenditures. with vouchers for each and every item prop eriy recorded. We append hereto the follouing statements: Assets and liabilities for said quarter; profit and loss account, and cash statement of receipt and dis bursemnents. We find that the books of the institu tion correspond with the cash balance of the Statc treasurer, with the excep tion of warrants issued which have not been presented for payment. All of which is respectfully submit T. .1. Stanland. D. F. Tird, A. C. Lyles. Quarterly statement of State dispen sary for quarter ending March 31: ASSETS. Cash in State treasury March31.............$32,438.91 Merchandise in hands of di-pensers March 31... .. 210,283.18 3Ierchandise at State dis pensary ..............135,449 98 Supplies............ .... 35.421.70 ['eams and wagons........ 150.00 Machinery and office fix tures... ....... ......2,500 00 Contraband.............. 7.75 00 Real estate. ............34,899 4. Suspended accounts....... 3,517.95 Personal accounts due State for royalty on beer, etc.. 7.255.88 Total assets..........$462,696.43 LIABILITI ES. %ehool fund.............$406 325.58 Personal accounts due by Snate for aupplies, whis kies, wines, beers, alcohol. etc.. .......... .... .... 5G.370 85 Total liabilities... .....$402,696.43 Statement of profit and loss account for quarter endine 31arch 31st: - PROFITS. Gross profts'on mnerchan disc sold during the quar ter ..... .... .. ...... $100,334.40 Discounts on whiskey pur chases.... .............1.323 31 Contraband seizures... .. ...1,904.17 Permit fees................4 50 Profits from beer dispensa ries................... 6,422.98 Total gross profits.. ..$109,989.36 LOSs ES. Supplies, bottles, corks, labels, wire, tin foil, boxes, etc., used during quarter........... ......8 31,773.32 Dep~reciated value of teams and wagons..............30.00 Depreciated value of ma chinery and office fixtures :388.30 Constabulary .... .... .. ..12,692.77 Breakage and leakage... 131.73 Freight and express charges 19.,242.22 Labor.... ....... 3.997. 03 Insurance .. .. ... ..... ....217.50 Expense accou-.t .. .. .. .. ..5 200.69 Litigation...:.. .... .......I 8t.00 Loss by robbery at Salke hatchie dispensary.... 14.72 Loss by fire at Jacksonboro dispensary...............22;6G Worthless wines at W. J. 3Iotts dispensary..... 59.10 Enidercredit of prices of tcoods at the Manning dis pensary ..... ... ...1.00 00 U at i-nse by dispenser . at Ceas. the profits of thtdispiensary not being sufficient to bear expensts 50.00 Total expenses ... .... . 74.854.24 Net profits on sales for e ptar ter, passed to the eroit of the school lunid.. .. ...35.195.12 Total .. .. .. ... .. .. ..$.'.i 2; Cash statement for quarter cnding March 31st, 1899: RECEIPTS. Balance in State treasury. .8 4t.073.24 January receipts.........1:39.740.76 February receipts.. . ..... 117,747.19 March receipts..........120,116.29 Total.... .. ......8423.G77.48 iDISDUIRSEMENTS. .January disburse ments . . .151,59 14 F'ebruary disbursements.. 13356. March disbursements. ...00.073.48 Total .... .... .......$39,23657 IN 1511 when the Spaniard-. no- -r \elacquez, were dcro:-:I .. a chicf byv the namn ' ii :-'. wI e-m-t demned to -- alive. When ur ,. dtombace Christian . . - might 11ind adlmission jo lcaven. he. inquired if the white men would go there. On being an swered in the affirmative, lie exclaim ed, "Then I will not be a Christian: for I would not gto again to a place where I must find men so eruel!" What impressions of Christianity are we giv ing the heathens of the Philippines? TrE New York World's ne.~iunt of the burning of the Vanderbilt country place, " Idle H-our," where WV. K. Van derbilt. Jr.. and his bride were spend ing their honeymoon, contains this bit of information: "Two Pinkerton de tectives were on the premises. One was outside the house. the second had accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt to 'Idle Hour,' at the express wish of the bride, and occupied a room on the They Aro S1.m1 Made, Largely for :.Z port. "Oh, yes. paper collars are still made." said a haberdasher, smilingly, in reply to an inquisitive customer 'Thirty years ago they were worn by men who considered themselves very good dressers. Now their use is con ined to a few old fellows who won't change and, of course, they have to be manufactured to order. There are several customers for them here, and a wealthy planter who lives some dis tance north of the city orders them by thousand lots. I was In New England last summer, and while visiting a little town famous for its collar-makers saw an old plant used for turning out the paper article. It had been rusting away in suence for years, and I was astonished at its size. The buildings easily covered an acre, and the mach Inery was enormous. I was told that in its heyday the concern shipped its product all over the world, and sold paper collars even in the Fij Islands. I supposed they must have been used as trimmings for missionary ragout. "The celluloid collar inaustry is still very much alive, and you may be sur prised to know that its trade last year was the largest on record. Who buys them? Lots of different people. Thou sands are sold to seafaring men, par ticularly thos2 whose voyaging takes them into the tropics. France, Ger many, and Italy import an immense number. Another big lot Is supplied under contract to the Russian army a fact not generally known-and I understand there is a large sale of them in Turkey. "The principal market in this coun try is in the West. The lumbermen up in the Minnesota and Wisconsin re gions regard them as very recherche, and they buy them by the bale. In the cities they are worn generally by policemen, who would find it impossi .e to keep a linen collar looking neat In bad weather.The great objection to celluloid collars used to be their in fiamability. Their composition is very like gun-cotton, and it was formerly a common joke to touch a match to a fellows neck-gear and see it vanish. You can't do that now. A new pro cess has rendered them fireproof." The Best-Lighted City. Paris is now said to be the best lighted city in the world and a model for all cities that are bent on introduc ing electric lighting on a grand scale. It is the great installation under the vast central markets of Paris that has enabled he municipality to command the situation and to carry out a scheme which has been settled, not hastily, but after a patient, scientific and systematic study. This installation, however, has never been intended for the general work of lighting. It is for experimental pur poses, and also for acting as a regu lator of charges, each division of the city, radiating from a centre, being leased for a limited term to a responsi ble electric company. The old troublesome question of how to dispose of wires never arises in Paris, where, thanks mainly to the subways, there are absolutely no ob structive wires. Tea Ctgarettes. The ordinary much-maligned tobacco cigarette, says a medical journal, must yield up the finest place as a destroyer of nerves and vitality and general ene my of mankind. Its successful rival, which has appeared recently in the feld, is the tea cigarette. It is made from unbroken leavt -of green tea mix ed with a little tea dust. The combina tion Is moistened, rolled and inserted In a paper wrapper so that outwardly it looks like an ordinary cigarette. The effects are peculiar. The smoker first experiences a thickening sensation of the head and Is afflicted with a desire to sit down. This phase is followed by a period of intense exhilaration, which, presumably, accounts for the habit; the third phase Is nausea and disgust for all food. The beginning of recovery Is marked by a yearning for tea in any form. The tea cigarette habit Is said to be peculiarly difficult to overcome. An ingenious Device. Formerly the ashes on steamships were gathered into great cans, hoisted to the decas with more or less difficulty and thrown overboard. Among the new devices for labor saving in this direction is a chute Into which a very strong air current is forced. The ashes are placed in the chute as they ac cumulate and are almost instantly blown through this conductor into the sea. The amount of labor saved by this means can scarcely be appreciated by those who have not watched the wearisome dragging of the enormous quantity of refuse from the furnaces in steamships and large plants of this description. Good W1ork of the Anclents. Eighteen hundred years ago or there abouts, the Roman emperor T rajan built a bridge across sne Danube, the piers of which are found by the Rou manian engineers solid enough to sus tain a new structure, which will unite the towns of Ternu Severin, In Rou mania, and Gladova, in Servia. In the middle of the struieture the statue of Trajan will stand tour squares to all the winds that blow. School Chiudren Provided For. At Roubaix, one of the socialist strongholds of France, the 11,000 pub lie school children receive free food and clothing at the expense of the town. Their dinner at school consists of soup, bread, vegetables, meat and a glass of wine. At the beginning of s'mmer and of winter each child re ceives a complete suit of clothes. A Strange ret. Perhaps the strangest pet ever kept by a man was a wasp which Sir John Lubbock caught in the Pyrences and resolved te tame. Hle began by teach ing it to take its meals on his hand, and in a very short space of time it gre-v to expect to be fed in that way. Very Hard Wood. Some of tae petrified wood found In Arizona. It is said. Is so hard that steel tools will not work It. the petrifications being only threc deret' le in hard ness than a diniionul an exchange gets ofi tihe following: I want to be a farmer and till the virgin soil, and labor in the surnshine to sweat and stew and boil; I w::nt to carn large acrs, whereupon the rye to sow, and wa rht:e cornstalk waving, and hear -t.::r.e grow; I want to be a arer, and grow a Hubbard squash, 'he pumpkin and potatoes, and other stuff, by gosh; I want to be a farmer, do, upon my soul, but I haven't got the money to buy a gopher hole. On the Trail of a Pension. A somewhat pathetic letter comes from an old colored citizen. It is as follows: "De rain has done beat down my cot ton, an' most er my co'n is done ruint, y son wuz a sojer in de war wid de Spaniels. He lost two legs in it. Do you reckon de guv-ment will give him $2 a leg fer 'em?" Level Sea Bottom. The bottom of the Pacific between Hawaii and California Is said to be so level that a railroad could he laid for 500 miles without grading anywhere. This fact was discovered by the United States surveying vessel engaged in making soundings with a view of lay The Wretch-.s Body Mutilated Be. fore He Was Fired. CONFESSEDTHE MURDER. But He Denied the S ubseautnt Outrage. Said a Negro Preacher Paid Him to Do it. In the p p nee of ;:cly 2.000 peo :le who selt aloft elk i detiine anid hunts of joy, 8::m Hos,. a Negro who :omuit tcd two of the bazeat acts known :o crime. was bui ned M ti; staa Ii :i Oublic road one and lct ha il fro.-i Newnar-, Ga., Sunday afternoon. Ie tore the ior-: h was applied to the pyie. he Ner waS d '.Vd of LIs eais ingers anA other port ons of his ana omy. The Negro pleaded pitifully for ais ;le while the mutil-tion was goin .n, but stood the orde:i of fire with sur 1-risirg' fortitude. Ifore the bod. ..as cool it was cut to pieces. the bones x:,re crushed into small bits and even ' tree upon which the wretchi met his fate, was torn up and disposed of as -Ivenirs. The Negro's heart was uut i :everal p'eces, as ias also his liver. )e unable to obtain these ghastly el.s direct paid their more fortunate possessors extravagant sums for them. .-uall pieces of bone went for 25 cents. ind a bit of liver, crisply cooked, sold for 10 cents. One of the men who lifted the can of kerosene to the Negro's head is said to be a native of the com monwealth of Pennsylvania. His name is known to those who were with him. but they refuse to divulge it.. The mob was composed of citizens of Newnan, Griffin. Palmetto and other little towns in the country ioand about Newnan, and of all the farmers who had received word that the burning was to take place. Hion. W. Y. Atkinson. fo:nergover nor of Georgia, met the mob as he was returning from church and appealed to them to let the law take its course. Ia addressing the mob he used these words: "Some of you are known to me and when this affair is finally settled in the courts, you may depend upon it that I ill testify against you.". A member the mob was seen to draw a revolver ;d level it at Governor Atkinson. but is arm was seized and the pistol taken t-'m him. The mob was franticat dc ys and would hear to nothing but burning at the stake. Hose confessed to killing Cranford, i.ut denied that he had outraged Mrs. Cranford. Before being put to death the Negro stated that he had been paid $12 by "Lige" Strickland, a Negro preacher at Palmetto, to kill Cranford. 1ouight a mob of citizens is scouring the country for Strickland, who has left his home and will be lynched if caught. Sam Hose killed Alfred Cran ford, a white farmer near Palmetto and outraged his wife, ten days ago. Since that time business in that part of the state has been suspended, the entire popu!ation tu:xing out in an effort t, capture Hose. Governor Candler has b- en asked to send trcops here to pre serve order for a day or two, as it is feared the Negroes mal wreck venge ance, many threats to that effeet havi ng been made. The Great Reunion. The great reunion of the Veteran:. of the ever to be venerated Confedetacy is now but a little more than a motah off. The undying patriotism of dear old Charleston is oozing at every pore and such extensive preparations arc be ing mnade for the reception and eniter tainmnent of the thousands who wil visit the 'ld shine of chixairy as wil cause this to overshadow.all other rt uu ions, e4pecially in opeu-haude.d hospi tality and the coning together tuf the scattered survivors of the heroic armies that stood the shock of the world's charges in legion for more than four years. As the Rock Hill Herald says it is to be a great occasion and every old Veteran who followed the Starry Cross ought to be there, and as the bat. talion's move once again over Charles ton's proud thorougatares, hear as in days of yore the invincible "rebel vell. It will be there and will awaken mem~ro ries of the immortal achievements of the grandest armies that evcr faced ::n overpowering foe in battle. Gen. Joe Wheeler will deliver the oration and the ever-faithful city will be gorg..ous in holiday attire in honor of the coming once again of the men who stood her firm defenders for so mary years. The Veteran visit to Charlest'm may be their last pilgrimage to the lieeca of Southern chivalry and bonor. and there will be no disappointments. Tlhe News and Courier tells us of the great p lre parations being made, andu from it we learn that more money has been sub scribed than in any of the other lieunion cities and the end is not yet. Nearly $15,000 have been raised and the sources of contribution have by no means been exhausted. In addition to the funds secured for the entertain ment of the Veterans the city has ex pended over $:30.000 in the erection of thc handsomest Auditoriuwn in the Southern States. There is another very sigaiticant indication of the general interest in the Reuniorn, and that is of all the money raised rnot $500 have come from people or places outside of city of Charleston, and not a cent of the fund for the entertainment of the Veterans is the result of municipal ap propriation, but represents the patriotic offerings of the people of the city to the men who wore the Grey. The com mittee on quarters and housing has pro ided sleeping places for 30,000 visitors and every day new names arc added to the list of those who will assist in tak ing care of the guests. A very im portant feature of the arrainemnts for the reception of the people is the spe ial effort that is being made to give the ladies every comfort that is possible under the eireuwistances, to which re ference is made elsewhere. The conm nittee on restaurants has secured the ames of places where meals can be furnished to 25,00)0 persons daily. Large Landholders. OJne of the largest landedproprietors in Europe is the prince of Schwarzen berg, who owns 207,371 hectares of land in Austria, Bohemia and Bavaria. As many as 296 different industries are carried on in them, giving employment to 7,108 persons, of whom 1,480 are females. Artificial Flowers. Artificial flowers were unknown to the ancient civilized nations of Europe. They are first mentioned in Italy in the fourteenth century, but in China they were known at an earlier date. Memory's Foes. A German scientist claims that the memory is stronger in Summer than in Winter. He says that among the worst foes of the memory are too much food, too much physical exercise, and A Spanish Midshipman's Thril ling Account of What He Saw. A RAIN OF PROJECTILES The Havoc Wrought by American Shells at the Time Cervera's Fleet Was Destroyed. Behavior of Officers-Trying Adventures in Cuba After Swimming Ashore-Dodging the Cubans and Keeping Away From Hungry Sharks-Will Never Forget ii4 Adventures. The following account is given of the action in which Admiral Cervera's squadron was destroyed by Midship man Navia, of the Oquendo, and of the subsequent adventure he and a few survivors encountered in their success ful endeavors to make their way back to Santiago. His story reads more like a chapter out of James Grant's novels than a page of real life, and when relating his adventures Midship man Navia doubted whether they would be believed. though he vouched for the truth of every word he said. The narrative of his story has been somewhat condensed below: The flagship opened fire while we, being the last, were still some way from the harbor mouth, yet before ~we cleared the entrance we got struck by a few shells. I was in the forward central torpedo room, and as, accord ing to orders, the portholes were shut, I could see but little of what was tak ing place outside. We did not at once use our torpedoes, for shortly after the action began a heavy projectile crash ed through the upper deck and destroy ed the shield. near which I was stand ing. I was knocked down by the force of the explosion, receiving a slight leg wound from a fragment of the shell, while a splinter of the star board gangway was driven into my chest near to the heart. On recover ing my feet I found that the starboard torpedo tube was smashed and that the deck was strewn with dead and wounded, a few of whom were seeking to go up the gangway, which was also destroyed. Very shortly we all had to clear out of the room, as it became impossible to breathe there, owing to a lot of material taking fire. I sunk half choked in the upper deck near the starboard hatchway, but was revived by some one turning a hose on my head. On rising again I found myself close to the second commander, Don Victor Sola, who was encouraging the crew, and Senor Nunoz, who put his arm round me, exclaiming, "They are mak ing a man of you to-day." At that moment a heavy shell burst behind me, small particles lodging in my neck and behind nay ear. This shell killed Don Victor Sola, whom I saw fall on his face without uttering a word. Right across his body fell that of First Gun ner Don Cristobal. When Capt. Laz aga heard that the forward magazines were ablaze he followed the lead of the Teresa, heading for land and run ning the vessel ashore. When this was being done I was in the forward cabin whence two torpedoes were launched at an enemy who sought to cut us off. We left the battery and went on deck, where several were stripping preparatory to swimming ashore. I went back to the torpedo room and stripped. When I got back on deck my companions were gone, so I got through the port-cannon embra sure and slipped down a chain to the water. Before going I noticed Capt. Lazaga standing on the bridge with folded arms, looking quite calm; near him were several wounded officers. I never saw him again. A quartermas ter whom I met later told me he saw Lazaga lie down near the forward gut and shoot himself, being deaf to the entreaties of the officers that he should save himself. Many of the Oquendo's crew were swimming around me, and It took me twenty minutes to reach land, as I had to help some who could not swim. When I was landed I was in my shirt and drawers. Twenty sailors gather ed round me, and we went inland along a narrow path that led toward a hill. Observing a tree on which the fruit had been recently bitten, I concluded it was by the mambises (Spanish name for the natives). and suggested we should alter our route. Some, through not hearing me, went on, and I soon saw the first man squat down, crying to those behind: "Look out; I am covered by a gun, and we are told to halt." The man who held the gun or dered us to stop till .ie warned his party, and soon reappeare'd with a cou ple of negroes, armed with Mfausers. We were then ordered to go forward, one by onc; while the advance party did so, we behind sided off into the jungle, fleeing from the insurgents. Those who went forward were brained by the insurgents, a great number of whom were close at hand. At midday I found myself accompanied only by an engineer and a marine of the Oquen do. We heard some terrific explo sions, and on gaining a hilltop we saw American boats saving the ship~wreck ed crews. We were now overcome by thirst, and sought a rivulet, where we might slake it. Fortunately we found one, and, while drinking, were joined by a stoker from the Vizcaya. We followed the stream seaward and came on a mango tree, the fruit of which we ate. though it was still un ripe. While so) engaged we heard talking, and saw- a couple of afmed mambises approaching. Tb.ey had not coticed us, so we bur'riedly slipped ii to the bush and began to climb a hill, from the top of which we could see the ships still burning. One was taken to be an American, and my companiois burst out cheering, but I quickly put a stop to that lest the enemy should ear us. Night fell, and we lay down to try to sleep, but the cold was terri le, and the noise of the bush, with the attacks of mosquitoes and land crabs, ombined to drive away slumber. I was dozing off when a large crab bit one of my naked toes. I jumped up and crushed it with a stone. Next ay, the sun giving us our direction, we continued our painful journey, all he morning having nothing to eat or rink. In the afternoon we came on a stagnant pool, and though the water stank, we drank it eagerly. The stoker, who had a boina and blouse on, went through the bush, thus open ng a way for us, who were next to aked. A native carrying a basket of food once crossed our path, though for unately he did not see us. Had we oly had a pistol among us we should ave dined that day. Once we sat own to rest, and so weary were we hat wve fell asleep. Strokes of an xe against a tree awoke us, and we where - e wore we saw ar. arm of the sea ahead whech we tock to be Cabanas bay, and we made for it with the in tention of crossing it in its narrowest part. Hearing voices behind, we hid to let the speakers pass, and found they were some of ours. a quartermaster of the Teresa and two sailors of the Furor. They were in better conditions than we, for they had had the good luck to find some food; but one of the sailors had a piece of a shell in his leg and a severe head wound. As we neared the water we could occasionally see a shark rise to the surface. This made my companions hesitate about enter ing, but at last I persuaded them, two of us assisting one of the marines who could not swim. When we were half way across a big fish rose behind us ind gave us a great fright, but we were all so desperate that we scarce cared if we lived or died. We got safely to the opposite shore, though how we es caped I know not, for I was afterward assured the bay swarmed with sharks and cainians. A sailor now guided us, as he said he knew the way to Fort Socapa, but when night fell we were again lost in the bush. We lay down ard slept in our wet clothes, but were awakened by the firing of heavy guns. This gave us our direction, for we took them to be the guns of Socapa. After a sleep we resumed our journey in the direction whence we had heard the fir Ing during the night, and were again all the morning without solid food, though we did get some - water. A sailor climbed a tree and made out dis tinctly Fort Morro. This news restor ?d our sinking courage and we pushed on till we came to a small beach; but there our strength failed and we sank axhausted to the ground. * Yet, just when we had finally given ourselves up 'or lost, help came in the shape of some Spanish guerrillas who discovered us ind relieved our wants, afterward tak !ng us off in a boat to the Mexico, where ended a journey I shall never orget. How It Feel% to Be S10'. Lieutenant Hains, commanding an rtillery platoZon under Captain Potts in Porto Rico. was wounded on August 12, the day the war ended. Talking vith his brother, Captain T. Rankin qains, he said: "On the morning of the 12th Captain Potts was ordered to proceed up the San Juan road with five guns for the purpose of sLielling the Spanish trenches at Asomanta. "Soon after we slackened our fire the memy took heart and began to re turn. General James H. Wilsor-sent me with a gun up the road in advance of the rest to try and enfilade the mnemy. I went up the road on horse >ack about 200 yards and found a com pany of Wisconsin infantry on a bend of the road which formed a cover from ihe Spanish fire. I passed beyond them, and the gun was unlimbered in the next turn of the road in a some what sheltered position. My men lay down by the roadside to escape the Spanish volleys, the Mausers coming in a storm with each volley. "I told' the sergeant we would have a try at them for luck, anyhow. As I could see no Spaniards nearer than 500 or 600 yards, I had him run the gun out of the road a little. We had no sooner done this than the fire sud denly increased fiercely, so the gun could not be served. We hauled the gun back to the next turn in the road, where we were joined by the second gun, still unable to do any great execu ion owing to the sheltered pdaition of the enemy. The fire continued with fierceness, but from our new position we brought a house into view. I had the gun instantly trained upon it,. as I saw several Spaniards outside of' it, and felt certain It was not empty. The very first shot landed fairly upon the side of the house and, penetrating, burst inside, sending things flying. The enemy broke cover and I turned to the sergeant, saying: "That was a good one; now give them --. "As I turned something struck me through the body. I knew I was badly hit, but felt no pain after the first shock. It was like being-struck over the shoulders with a club. I passed my hand to my side and brought it away full of blood. "The sergeant saw me and ran to my side. 'They've got me this time,' I said. He put his arm around me and led me away and let me lie down." Fortune's Wheel Turned. The Hottentots, now one of the low est species of mankind, were ages ago oe of the most highly civilized. Burglar 0na urang-tiutanlg. Some two years ago a retired officer o the merchant service, living in the Rue D'Alesia, Paris, M. Duchesne, brought home an orang-outang from Borneo. Since growing to its full size the brute is a terror to the neighbors. Its master wvon't hear of its being chained up, contenting himself with shutting the animal in his bedroom be fore going out. Nicholas Bargeve, alias "the Devourer." had determined to make ai -rofessional call at M. Duch esn's apartment with intent to burgle. Now this illustrious character was un aware that such a pet as the orang outang was tolerated in these particts lar rooms. Coneoquently when the burglar we s :denly pounced upon by two ha:ny paws he was somewhat sur prised. and his screams soon brought help, with the result that M. Bargeve was drawn out of the room by his feet, hi a very ignominious fashion. He 'was taken to the infirmary, and it Is re ported that he has gone mad and new imagines himself to have been changed into an ape. nRver of Death. The Yellow river. which has been named the "Sorrow of China," is prob ably the most destructive stream on. the face of the earth. In less than 100 yars it has changed its channel four ti-mes. and the -point where it empties into the sea has from time-to time been moved up and down the coast a dis tance of 300 miles. It runs through'a vast alluvial plain, and is fed by streams from a great system of moan tains in the north. When the snow melting on this range comes at a time of heavy rains, the result is sure to be a terrific flood. It has been estimated that in the past three centuries over 10,000,000 human beings have perished in the floods of the Yellow river. For destructiveness. both of lIfe and prop erty, this stream is unparalleled, and the sobriquet bestowed upon it is am ply justified by its history. The Greatest Scorcher. You may talk about the scorcher And the century he has made, But the sun's the greatest scorcher When a century in the shade. Not Worried. A newly discovered story about Hen ry Clay is to the effect that when his wife was asked if she was not worried by his gambling she replied: "Oh, not at all. Mr. lay alwaye wins."