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ELDER BRiiER A Lesson From the Parable of the Prodigal Son. REV. DR. TALMAGE'S Denunciation of Self Righteous ness and the Lack of Sym pathy for the Fallen and Ur.fortunate. In this discourse Dr. Talmage pleads for a hearty reception to all those who have done wrong and want to get back, while the unsympathetic and self righteousness are excoriated: text, Luke xv, 23, "And he was angry and would not go in." Many times have I been asked to preached a sermon about the clder brother of the paralle. I re"eived a letter from Canada saying, "Is the elder son of the parable so unsympa thetic and so cold that he is not worthy of recognition?' The fact is that we ministers pursue the younger son. You can hear the sapping of his rags in many a sermonic bret ze ard the cranch ing of the pods for which he was an un successful contestant. I confess that it has been difficult for me to train the camera obsCura upon the elder son of the parable. I could not get a nega tive for a photograph. There was not enough light in the gallery, or the chemicals were too poor, or the sitter moved in the picture. But now I think I have him, not a side face or a three quarters or the mere bust, but a full length portrait as he appears to me. The father in the parable of the proi gal had nothing to brag of in his two sons. The one was a rake and the other a churl. I find nothing admira ble in the dissoluteness of the one, and I find nothing attractive in the acid so briety of the other. The one goes down over the Jarboard side, and the other goes down over the starboard side, but they both go down. From all the windows of the old homestead bursts the ministry. The foor quakes with the feet of the rustics, whose dance is always vigorous and re sounding. Th" neighbors have heard of the return of the younger son from his wanderings, and they have gathered together. The house is full of congrat ulators. I suppose the tables are load with luxuries, not only the one kind of meat mentioned, but its concomitants. "Clap!" go the cymbals, "Thum!" the harps, "Click!" go the chalices, up and down go the feet inside, while out side is a most sorry spectacle. The senior son stands at the corner of the house, a frigid phlegm'itic. He has just come in from the fields in very substantial apparel. Seeing some wild exhilarations around the old man sion, he asks of a servant passing by with a goatskin of wine on his shoulder what all the fuss is about. One would have thought that, on hearing that his younger brother had got back, he would have gone into the house and rejoiced, and, if he were not conscientiously op posed to dancing, that he would have joined the oriental schottish. No, there he stands. His brow lowers; his face darkens; his lip curls with con tempt. He stamps the ground with'in dignation; he sees nothing at all to at tract. Trhe odors of the feast, coming out on the air, do not sharpen his ap petite. The live'y music does not, put any spring into his step. He is in a terrible pont. He criuicises the ex pense, the injustice and the morals of of the entertainment. Ti-e father ruahes out bareheaded and coaxes him to oome in. He will not go in. He scolds the father. I1e goes into a pis quinade against the younger brother and he makes the most uncomly scene. He says: "Father, you put a premtum on vagabondism. I staid at home and worked on the farm. You never made a party for me; you didn't so much as kill a kid. That wouldn't have cost half as much as a calf; but this seape grace went off in fine clothes, and he comes back nor fit to be seen, and what a time you make over him! He breaks your heart, and you pay him for it. That calf, to which we have been giv ing extra feed during all these weeks, wouldn't be so fat and sleck if I had known to what use 2,oa1 were going to put it. That vagahvn' - --d'rves to- be cowhided instead of banquec d. \cei is too good for him." That < ei while the younger son sat telhag a father about his adventures and askius about what had occurred on the place since his departure, the senior brother goes to bed disgusted and slams the door after him. That senior brother still lives. You can see him any Sun day, any day of the week. At a meet ing of ministers in Germany some one asked the question. "Who is that elder son?" and Krummacher answered "I know him; I saw him yesterday." And when they insisted upon knowing whom he meant he said, "Myself; when I saw the account of the conver sion of a most obnoxious man I was ir ritated." First, this senior brother of the text stands for the self congratulatory, self satisfied, self worshipful man. With the same breath i" which he vituberates against hL5 younger brother lie utters a panegyric for himself. The self right our man af my text, like every other self righteou~s man, was full of faults. He was an ingrate, for he did not ap preciate the home blessings which he had all those years. He was disobe dient- for when father to', him to come in he staid out. He was a liar, for he said that the recreant son ijad devoured his father's living, when the father, so far from being reduced to penury, had a homestead left, had instruments of music, had jewels, had a mansion, and instead of being a pauper was a pr'n se. This senior brother, with so many faults of his own, was merciless in his criticism of the younger brother. The only perfect people that I have ever known were uttedly obnoxious. I w:s never so badly cheated in my life as by a perfect man. He got so far up in his devotions that he was clear up above all th rules ef common honesty. These men that go about prowling among pray er meetings and in places of business, telling how good they are-look out for them; keep your hand on your pocket book! I have noticed that just in pro portion as a man gets good he gets hum ble, The deep Mississippi does not make as much noise as the brawling mountain rivulet. There has been many a store that had more goods in the show window than inside on the shelves. Again, the senior brother of my text stands for all those who are faithless about the reformation of the dissipated and the dissolute. In the very tones of his voice you can hear the fact thati he has no faith that the reformation of the younger son is genuine. H is entirej manner seems to say: "That boy has come back for more money. He got a a thir of the property;.now he has neve~ ae mietted to atay on : S , -fall away. I would go in to* and rejoice with the others if I thought this thing were genuine; but it is a ,ham. That boy is a coanfirmed inebriate and dtbaunchee." Alas, my friends, for the incredulity in the church of Christ in regard to the recla mation of the recreant! You say a man has been a strong drinker. I say, "Yes but he has reformed." "Oh," you say, with a lugubrious faze, "I hope you are not mistaken; I hope you are not mis taken." You say: "Don't rejoice too much over his conversion, for soon he will be unconverted. I fear. Don't make too big a party for that returned prod izal or strike the timbrel too loud; and, if you kill a calf, kill the one that is on the commons and not the one that has been luxuriating in the paddock. That is the rea.on why more prodigals do not con'e home to their father's house. It ii the rank itflidelity in the church of J.d on this suiject. There is not a house on the streets of heaven that has not in it a prodigal that returned and staid home. There could be unrolled before you a scroll of a hundred thou sand names-the names of prodigals who came back forever reformed. Who was John Bunyan? A returned prod izal. Who was Richard Baxtt r? A retururned prodigal. Who was Gcorge Whiteficld, the thundrer? A returned prodigal. And I could go out in all the ailes of this church to day and find on either side those who, once far astray for many years, have been faith ful, and their eternal salvation is as sure as though they had been ten years in heaven. And yet some of you have not enoueh faith in their return. You do not know how to shake hands with a prodigal. You do not know how to pray for him. You do not know how to great him. He wants to sail into the warm gulf stream of Christian sym pathy. You are the iceberg against which he strikes and shivers. You say he has been a prodigal. I know it, but you are the sour, unresponsive, cen sorious, saturnine, cranky elder broth r, and if you are going to heaven one would think some people would be tempted to go to perdition to get away from you. The hunters say tha; if a deer be shot the other deer shove him out of their company, and the general rule is-away with a man that has been wounded with sin. Now, I say, the more bones a man has broken the more need he has of a hospital, and the more a man has been bruised and cut with sin the more need he has to be carried into human and divine sympathy. But for such men there is not much room in this world-the men who want to come back after wandering. Plenty of room for elegant sinners, for sinners in velvet and satin and lace, for sinners high salariea, for kid glovos and patent leathered sinners for sinners fixed up by hairdresser, pomatumed-and lavendered and colonged and frizzled and crimped and "banged" sinners-plenty of room! Such we meet elagantly at the door of our churches, and we invite them into the best seats with Chesterfieldian gal lantries; we usher them into the house of God and put soft ottomans under their feet and put a gilt edged prayer book in their hands and pass the contribution box before them with an air of apology, while they, the gen erous souls, take out the exquisite portemonnaie and open it, and with diamonded finger push down beyond the $10 goldpieces and delicately pick out as an expression of gratitude their offering to the Lord--of 1 cent! For such sinners plenty of room, plen ty of room. But for the man who has been drinking until his coat is thread bare, and his face is erysipelased, and his wife's weddin& dress is in the pawn broker's shop, and his children, instead of being in school, are out begging broken bread at the basement doors of the city-the man, body, mind and soul on fire with the flames that have leaped from the scathing scorching, blasting, blistering, consuming cup which the drunkard takes, trembling and agonized and aifrighted, and presses to his parched lip, and his cracked tongue and his shrieking yet immortal spirit no room. Oh, if this younger son of the parable had not gone so f.r off,if be had not dropped so lowv in wassail, the protest woald not have been so severe! But, going clear over the precipice, as the younger son did, the elder son is angry and will not go in. Be not so hard in your criticism of the fallen lest thou thyself also be tempted. Do you know who that man was who Sabbath before last staggered a p and down the aisle in a church, dis tur bing the service until the service had to sto'p until he was taken from the room? He was a minister of the gos pel of Jesus Christ in a sister denomi nation! That man had preached the gospel, that man had broken the bread of the holy communion for the people. From what a height to what a depth! Oh, I was glad there was no smiling in the room when that man was taken out, his poor wife following him, with his hat in her hand and his coat on her arm! It was as sok mn to me as two funerals-the funera of the body and the funeral of the soul. Beware, lest thou also be tempted! An invalid went to South America for his health and one day sat sunning himself on the beach when he saw something crawling up the beach wrig gling toward him, and he was affrighted. He thought it was a wild beast or a rep tile, and he took his pistol from his pocket. Then he saw it was not a wild beast. It was a man, an immortal man, a man made in God's own image, and the poor wretch crawled up t" 'me feet of the invalid and asked lvr strong drink, and the invalid took his wine fask from his pocket and gave the poor wretch something to drink, and then un der the stimulus he rose up and gave his history. He had been a merchant in Glasgow, Scotland. He had gone down under the power of strong drink until he was so reduced in poverty that he was living in a boat just off the beach, "Why," said the invalid, "I knew a merchant in Glasgow once, a merchant of such and such a name." And the poor wretch straightened him self and said, "I am that man!" "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." Again, I remark that the senior brother of mnyt tex stands for the 5pirit of envy and jealousy. The senior brother thought that all the honor they did to the returned brother was a wrong to hina. He said, "I have staid at hocm, :ud 1 ought to have had the ring, a~d 1 ought to have had the banquet, and I ought to have had the garlands." Alas for this spirit of envy and jeal ousy coming down through the ages! Cain and Abel. Esau and Jacob, Saul and David, Haman .and Mordecai, Othello and lago, Orlando and Angel ica and Torquatus, Casar and Pompey, Columbus and the Spanish courtiers, Cambyses and the brother he slew be ause he was a better marksman. Diony sius and Philoxenius, whom he slew because he was a better singer. Jeal us among painters. Closterman and Geoffry Kneller, Hudson and Reynolds. Frncia, anxious to see a picture of Raphael, Raphael sends him a picture. Francia, seeing it, falls in a fit of jeal phen and Plato living at the same time, but from their writings you never would suppose they heard of each other. Religious jealousies. The Mohamme dans praying for rain during a drought; no rain coming. Then the Christians begia to pray for rain, and the rain comes. Then the Moharamedans met together to account for this, and they resolved that God was so well pleased with their prayers he kept the drought on so as to keep them praying, but that the Christians began to pray, and the Lord was so disgusted with their pray ers that he sent rain right awvay so he would not hear any more of their sup plications. Oh, this accursed spirit of envy and jealousvl Let us stamp it out from all our hearts. Oh, what a God we have! Bring your doxologies. Come, earth and heaven, and j in in the worship. Cry aloud. Lift the palm branches! Do you not feel the Father's arm around your neck? D,) you not feel the warm breath of your Father against your cheek? Surrender, youngerson! Sur render, elder son! Surrend~r, all! Go in today and sit down at the banquet. Take a slice of the fatted calf, and af terward, when you are seated, with one hand in the hand of the returned brother and the other hand in the hand of the rejoicing father, let your heart rejoice. It is meet that we should make merry and be glad. for this, thy brother was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. IS THIS WAR? Or Is It Prodigious Lying or Wan ton Massacre? The accounts which come from Ma nila of battles of Filipinos engaged in by our troops have attracted the atten tion of other newspapers besides The State. The Springfield Republican says: The day's news from Manila tells of fighting in Luzon in which two Ameri cans were killed and the Filipinos "lost heavily"; of fighting in the island of Samar, in which two Americans were wounded and 155 natives left dead on the field; and of fighting in the island of Leyte, in which 125 natives were killed, with no American casualties. Reports of the character of- the two last have been frequent in recent weeks. Thus some days ago it was recorded that three detachments of the Forty-fifth regiment surrounded a number of natives, a majority of whom were armed only with bolos, and killed 8) of them. There were no casualties among the Americans. No mention wa? made of any wounded or captured natives. The inference left by the dis patches was that the whole body of the enemy had been wiped out. This was certainly the case in the reported en counter, at about the same time, of Lieut. Batech and 20 men of the Thirty seventh regiment with 50 bolo men. The latter were cornered in a river and "every one of them" was shot, "the bodies floating away." One American was killed. It was further reported the other day that Gen Bell's men, in the course of clearing the province of South Cama rices, met with many smal squads of bolomen and "killed a total of 125." No American casualties; no wounded or captured natives, apparently. At the same time an'ither fight was re ported in Albay province, where Capt. Gordon and three companies of the Forty-seventh regiment routed a large force of insurgents and killed 53 of them; no casualties on the American side, and no mention of wounded and captured natives. Gee Otis reported a janth ago that from January 1ito April I, 1,4'>6 Fili pinos had bee~n killed and left on the field. On Friday last he cabled that during the niorsth of A pril 1 721 Fili pinos had beim "kiled, wounded and captured." The reports of the fighting in detail above given show that the "wounded and captured" must have been added by way of softening the statistical exhibit of cur progress for the month, and really had no place in connection with the flezure given. Our loses in April were 13 killed and 27 wounded; one American to 132 natives. Is this war? But if it is not war, what is it? We might compromise on Bishop Potter's description. It is a little discussion of an "academic" char acter. Is this war? asks our Massachusetts contemporary. To our mind it is not -it is either prodigious lying or wanton massacre.-Columbia State. WORK OF AN INCENDI&RY. A Double Tenement in New York Set on Fire. An apparently deliberate attempt was made Thursday morning to burn a big double tenerrent at the northeast corner of Madison and Jackson streets in New York. Nearly 100 p'~rms were placed in peril of their live and twenty families were rendered homeless by the blaze. Mrs. Margaret Lane, who lives with her husband, the janitor of the build ing het two brothers and two sisters on the second floor of 391 Madison street, was awakened at 2 o'clock by a noise in the hallway. She heard the shuf ling of feet and the rusting of newspa pers. Her husband went down stairs to investigate, and found a quantity of newspapers in the hall. rhinking that some late homecomer had thrown them there carelessly, he went back to bed. Shortly before 5 o'clock Mainie Law ler, the twenty-year old sister in-law of Mrs. Lane, was awakened by a smell of smoke, and the noise of crackling lames in the hall outside of her door. She awakened those in the Lane apart ments and then made her way upstairs, shouting a warning to the other tenants in the building, and escaped in safety to the house ao joining, No. 10 Jackson street. The waiascoating in the hall and along the staircase was ablaze by this time, and through dense smoke could be distinguished the pungent odor of kerosene oil. The occupants had no time to escape by the stairways. Ba bies were thrown from the second story window to those on the streets and children whose ages ran from seven to twelve were tossed into blankets stretched out to catch them. All es caped with nothing more serious than bruises, parents of the little ones slid ing down ladders. The police are in vestigating. Cuban Editor Killed. Senor Alberti, editor of the Don Claridades, published at Gibora, CJuba, was shot and killed instantly by an un known assassin at the cheatre recently. Alberti was an active politician and his paper recently has been criticising the action of the American officials, parti ularly the eleetion orders. Hidalgo, who killed Capt. Smith, collector of this port, in January, was editor of the Don Claridades. Alberti has received threatening letters which he ridiculed n his paper. TEs BAMIR:iiLING. Ret. Mr. Johnson.Giveu'Ela Versioz f the unfortunato Affair. Rev. W. E. Johnson, who shot and killed Court Stenographer Bellinger at Bamberg last week, was bailed by Jus tice Pope at Columbia on Friday in the sum of three thousand dollars. At the hearing numerous affidavits of a most interesting character were presented on both sides, throwing much light on this most unusual criminal case. THE MINISTER 8 VERSION. The following version of the killing was given by Mr. Johnson in his affi davit: That he is 36 years old and has been ordained minister of the Baptist church for 11 years past, and for the past three years has been in charge of the Bam berg Baptist church at Bamberg in said State. That the pastoral residence or parsonage in which defendant resides with his family, which consists of his wife and four children, is situated upon the same part of the town with that of Mr. Bellinger, immediately adjoining each other and separated only by a di viding fence. That deponent moved to his said residence in October or No vember, 1898, and up to the month of June, 1899, t he relations between the two families were peaceable; that in the month of June, 1899, deponent was cal!ed on professionally to perform the marriage ceremony between Mr. Joseph E. Brown and Miss Jennie Bellinger, the daughter of the sail Joan R. Bel lirger, .oq., both of whom appeared to be, and deponent is informed, were of lawful age, i. e :. above the age of 21, ycars. That after this marriage, which it seems did not meet the approval of Mr. John R. Bellinger and his family, they became extremely hostile to de ponent, often abusing him to his face and in the hearing of his wife and chil dren in the most extreme manner, and showing this hostility towards him by many of those irritating unneighborly ways which are so easy to do and so hard to bear; deponent bore it all with that fortitude and resignation which his calling sequired. That the manner in which he was treated by this family became a matter of public notoriety, and he was assured by many that he ought to take steps to have it stopped, as it was lessening his influence for the rood of the community. That about - x weeks ago a young man of the town ..t Bamberg, in sympathy with the Bel iogers, without the slightest cause, rudely accosted deponent in one of the 1 ublic streets, called him a liar, and struck him in the face, forcing him to defend himself. That about two weeks ago a colored painter by the name of Walker, who was painting Mr. Bellin ger's house and fence, came to depon ent's house and asked leave to come in deponent's yard to paint the division fence between the two lots. Deponent consented provided he would paint the bottom board of the fence as well as the balance. This he promised to do, but he did not do so; ceponent called his attention to it from time to time, each time receiving a promise that he would paint the said board before he left, but he never did do it. About a week ago the said painter returned t, put on a second coat, and deponent in formed him that he must do the work in accordance with the agreement or it could not be done at all. He promised to do it, but did not, and deponent, see ing that he did not intend to do it, or dered him to leave the yard. On Thursday the man. Walker, was in the yard painting, and the deceased, Wil liam T. Beilinger, was sitting on the fence at the intersection of the division fence and the front fence on the street. Deponent ordered Walk er to get out of his yard; he hesitated, looking first at the deceased and then at deponent; Blellinger ordered the man to paint on and deponent inristed on his going out and he started to go and Bllinger ordered him to paint on, and the painter would act as if he intended to obey, when deponent peremptorily ordered him out and he went. Mr. WV. T. Bellinger then said that the fence would be painted, and cursed deponent for a d- long lipped - of a - and much more of the same abuse, repeating that he would see that the fence was painted; deponent Einally said he could not come into the road and talk to the deponent that way, when deceased jumped off the fence to his father's gate, came out and stood by the post with a drawn pistol in his hand; deponent had not noticed before that he had a pistol, and said "you are armed, eh," and turned and walked back into the house. Nothing more passed that day. The next day depon ent came out of his gate to go to the postoffice, when he met Mr. Joe Brown in his buggy, who asked him to take a seat with him, and they drove down town. Mr. Brown told deponent that he had heard of the difficulty of the day before and that he had heard of the threats made by the deceased against deponent, and warned him to protcct himself. Mr. Brown got out of the buggy at Jones' stable and told de c eut to drive around to the postoffice and to bitch the horse there in the rear of the pa)s tii~e. which deponent did. Deponent got ii mail and returned home. While at the postoffice deponent was warned to look out for Mr. Bel linger, that he had made threats to kill him. On deponent's return home he saw Mr. Joe Browa coming towards his home in his buggy, and deponent start ed out to meet aim, and seeing Mr. WV. T. Bellinger across the street, he pinked up a gun which a friend had put into his possession the day before, telling hin to use it to protect himself with, and that he would need it to protect his life, and took it out with-him, holding it in his hands. Mr. Bedlinger came walking towards his father's house, while deponent was walking by the buggy with his hands upon the shafts, the horse being rest less, moving forward a step at the time, Mr. Brown pulling him back and endeavoring to restrain him, which drew deponent and deceased nearer to gether, when suddenly Mr. Brown pulled his horse suddenly back, and backing some feet, left deponent and Mr. Bellinger in plain view of each other; immediately when without a word from each oth~er Mr. Bellinger raised his pistol and dired on deponent at a distance of 10) or 15 steps; in quick succssion he fired a second time, and as he was in the act of firing the third time deponent fired the gun one time and deceased fell; deceased fired again, making four in all; deponent raised his gun to fire again, but seeing that de ceased had desisted from firing he shot no more. The deponent regrets more than he can tell, the necessity which he was under to shoot the deceased, and would only have done so in defense of his life. THE OTHER SIDE. The State presented a number of strong affidavits from good people. Miss Lulie Bamberg, a student at tending the Carlisle Fitting school, and a daughter of Gen. F M Bamberg, said at last Friay morning aot half' piazza oi the girl's boarding hall of the fitting achool, facing on the campus; saw Mr. Joe Brown drive up the street from toward Railroad avenue, turn the corner, and stop his buggy in front of Mr. Johnson's gate. In a few minutes Mr. Johnson came out of the house towards the buggy with a gun in his hand: the impression made on the de ponent was that he was going hunting. The deponent then saw Willie Bel linger in the path leading diagonally across the path to his father's house. He had a paper in his hand. Mr. John son did not stop at the buggy, but walked rapidly across the road that runs in front of his house to the tele graph pole in front of Mr. Bellinger's lot, and as Mr. Bellinger turned into the short path leading to his house, the deponent, fearing something would hap pen from the manner in which Mr. J( h 1son was carrying the gun in his hand toward Mr. Bellinger, went to the hall door to go into the piazzs when she heard a loud report, as of a gun, followed by several pistol shots, and, looking back, saw Mr. Bellinger falling with his pistol in his hand, shooting The loudest report was the tirbt. "Miss Verbena Brabbam was with me on the piazza at the time. I could not tell whether the first loud report was one gunshot or two bimultaneously. It was as two barrels discharged almost to rether. After Mr. Jehoson shot and Mr. Bellinger fell, Mr. Joe Brown drove up by Mr. Bellinger, looked at him, and drove off." Miss Verbena Brabham, daughtcr of Dr. R. C. Brabham of Hawthorne, an nother student, said that last Friday morning she was on the front piazza of the hall (upstairs), with Miss Lulie Bamberg, a little after 10-half after when she saw Mr. Brown drive up and stop in front of Mr. Je'hnson's front door. "Mr. Johnson walked out in a hurry with his gun, and from where I was standing, on the end of the piazza, I had a side view of him, and be went near the telegraph post. It did not seem to be exactly behind it from where I was. He was carrying the gun in his hands and raised it in a burry, stopped a second ard shot. Mr. Bellinger had his paper in his hand, and I saw him pull his pistol as he was falling, and shot twice, I think, I am sure Mr. John son shot him down before he drew his pistol. I did not leave the piazzi until after the crowd got there. When Mr. Johnson came out of his yard he did not touch the buggy, but went by it in a hurry." The above statements are sustained by Nathaniel M. Salley, a teacher of the fitting school; James L. Cleckley, F. E. Dibble and L. 0. Hiers, particularly as to the loud report coming first. James Grant said that he is between 14 and 15 years of age, a native of Charleston, and moved to Bamberg about the first of last November; that last Thursday afternoon he was askel by a tall white man, unknown to him. who was standing by the artesian well to go to the hardwrre store and get him a box of loaded buckshot shell, and gave him 50 cents to buy them and 5 cents to get some 33 calibre. centre fire, pistol cartridges. "I went into Mr. Brooker's store and told the clerk what I wanted. He gave me some buckshot loose and some pistol cartridges, as re questd. I went and gave them to the man who asked me to get them. He sent me back the second time to get some loaded shells for the gun. This time I got some loaded shells and re turned the loose buckshot. The sales man who waited on me was Mr. Hooten F'elder. The man told me to tell Mr. Felder a man at Mr. Counts' store wanted them. I don't know who the man talking to me was." Blown Up in Street Car. A car on the St. Louis and Suburban Railway was blown from thc track and twisecd sideways by an explosion Thurday. Several of the ua'ssengers were slightly injured by the fir~gglassI and broken timbers which came upI from below. Four wars taken bak to tnle city for treatment. There is a strike on the road. Tfhe explosive was nitro-gly cerine, which had been spread on the- track for some distance. Thbe car was filled with persons returning from a Dewey celebration. It was rain ing hard at the time and liphining fashed continuously across the car. Many women were among the passen gers, and they screamed wildly. Every person was hurled from the seats and fell pellmell into the aisle. At first it was thought that a bolt of lightning had struck, but when the motorman and conductor, after an examination, announced that the car had been blown up by strikers there was more confu sion, and the men prepared for an at: tack. This was the signal for more screams, and many of the passengers got off the car and braved the terrible downpour. No attack was made, how ever, and the wrecked car was removed to the sheds. Will Support Bryan. "It has been said that I shall support Bryan if he is the Democratic nominee for president," said W. .Bourke Cockran, who spoke at Montgomery, Ala., Thurs day night at the race conference "That depends, I say frankly, upon the Kansas City platform and the spirit in which it is submitted to the American people. If that platform is only a reiteration of the platform of 1896, 1 shall not support it or the nominee. I am unalterably opposed to the Mc Kin Iy policy toward our new possessions. I oppose militarism. I oppose imperial ism. I oppose trusts. If the rlatform takes a decided stand in opposing these questions and the spirit is in favor of making theta predominant, I shall sup port it and do all I can in my State for the ticket. Otherwise I will not. I con ider these questions the issues of the eanpaign. [The money plank, it it must, can remain the same as in 1896, because it is impossible to make it ef fective, and the other issues are graver and far more important from the standpoint of present conditions. As to New York State, I can say nothing, for I am there only as a private citizen." Stands at the Head. Th-> Bailtimiore Sun says President McKinley has in four years demon strated his capa::ity for changing his mind oftener or presenting that ap pearance more perfectly of having two minds at the same time on the same subject, which is popularity described as "facing both ways," than any light ning-change artist in the profession. No BLACKUST oN SOUTHERN.-As sistant, General Superintendent J. B. S. Thompson, of the SouthernRailway, s~id in Atlanta Thursday that the sys tem would not use a black list against the telegraphers who struck recently. "The road has never used a black list," said Mr. Thompsan, "and has no in tention of doing so either against the telegraphers or any other employes. "It has been published that we would use the black list and this is to deny the report. We apprehend no serious results from the threatened boycott THE CROPS. Weekly Bulletin Issued by Sec tion Oirector Bauer. HOW THE CROPS ARE DOING. Review of the Situation and Summary of the Outlock for the Year. Warm Weather. The following is the weekly bulletin of the condition of the weather and crops of the State issued Wednesday by Director Bauer of the South Carolina section of the Unitcd States weather bureau's climate ard crop service: The week ending Mlonday, May 7th, was slightly cooler than the previous one, wiih low night temperatures after the 3d, :ausing light frosts in portions of Greenville and Spartanburg coun ties, but without doing any perceptible danage except to young cotton, and slightly checking the growth of tender vegetation. There were numerous light, scattered showers, generally confined to the mid dle anid lower Savannah valley, ana along the immediate coast. These showers were beneficial, and a warm rain is needed over the entire State to soften the ground, which in clay lands is becoming baked and hard to hasten the germination of recently planted seeds, and to supply moisture to wheat and oats while heading and blooming. Damaging hail occurred in Abbeville county. Planted fields are becoming grassy, and stand in need of cultivation, which has begun where corn and cotton are large enough. Bottom lands are just becoming dry enough to begin to pre pare them for planting. Corn is coming up to generally good stands, and cultivation has made con siderable progress. Over the western portions of the State very little corn has been planted, being deferred until cotton is all planted. Cut worms and crows are very troublesome on bottom lands, necessitating much replanting. Cotton planting made rapid progress during the week, and, where least ad vanced, is from half to two-thirds fin ished. Early plantings are up to fair stands, but the recent cool nights are very injurieus, causing some cotton to die. Lands are not all prepared for cotton. Chopping out is well under way. Rust on wheat has become quite gen eral and is spreading. This crop is in many places less promising than here tofore, having been apparently injured by the excessive rainfall of April. Oats have improved. Both crops are head ing. The buik of the tobacco crop has been transplanted, and the work is nearly finished. There was no scarcity of plants, except at a few points. Rice was badly damaged, in the Georgetown districts, by high water, but to what extent cannot now be estimated. Apple and pear trees are blighting badly; some peaches dropped, but enough remain to make a full crop; wild berries are abundant. Sugar cane, sorghum and melons have eome up to good stands, tho latter beginning to run to vine. Sweet potato slips plen tiful in beds, but few have been trans p'anted. White potatoes doing well, but bugs are very numerous. Large truck slipments being made. FREE BLOOD CURE. An Offr Providing Faith to Sufferers Eating Sores, Tumors, Ulcers, are all curable by B. B. B. (Botanic Blood Bairm,) whch is made especially to cure all terrible Blood Diseases. Persistent Sores, Blood and Skin Blemishes, Serufula, that resist other treatments, are quickly cured by B. B. B. (Botanic Blood IBim). Siih Eruptions, Pim ides, Red, Itching Eczema. Scales Blisters, Boils, Carbuncles, Blotches Catarrn, Rheumatism, ete., are all due to bad blood, and hence easily cured by B. B. B. Blood Poison producing Eating Sores, Eruptions, Swollen glands, Sore Throat etc., cured by B. B. B. (Botanic Blood Balm), in one to five months. B. B. B. does not con tain vegetable or mineral poison. One bottle will test it in an case. For sale by druggists everywhere. Large bottles $1, six for five $5. Write for free samplebottle, which will be sent, prepaid to Times readers, describe simptomns and personal free medicaf advice will be given. Address Blood Balm Co., Atlanta, Ga. Strange Elopement. Esta C. Shamley and Miss Della Dimmick, of South Haven, Mich., de sired to marry but the girl's parents were opposed. The lovers decided to cross the lake te Chicago Thursday night. Miss Dimmick went to the steamer Kalamazoo, which leaves at 8:30, and, enraging a statero~om, locked herself in. Her parents, with the po lice, went to the bat, and was ordered to come out, but refused. Shamley was watchtd. but his friends assisted hite. Just before the boat started a crowd rushed down the pier with him, and when the steamer pulled out he was beyond the reach of arrest. "The couple clasped arms and waved hand kerchids to the angry parents ard bafld police. who stood upon the dock. The elopers came to thc residence of the bride's sister, Mrs. Ora Stanley, Waukegan, Ill , and were married. Dictionary Girls. A Sad Girl-Ella G A Nice Girl-Ella Gent. A Rich Girl-Mary Gold. A Sweet Girl-Carrie Mell. A Nervous Girl-Hester Ical. A Warlike Girl-Millie Tary. A Musical Girl-Sarah Nade. A Smooth Girl-Amelia Rate. A Lively Giri-Annie Mstio~n. A Clinging Girl-Josie Mine. A Great Big Girl-Ella Phant. A Flower Girl-Rhoda Dendron. An Uncertain Girl-Eva Nescent. A Profound Giri-Metta Physics. A Muscular Girl-Callic Sthenics. A Geometric GirI-Hettie Rodox. A Clear Case of Girl-E. Lucy Date. A Disagreeable Girl-Annie Mosity. A Mammoth Whale A special dispatch from Conway, S. C., to the Celumbia State says: "A mammoth whale has been washed ashore near the terminus of the Con way Seashore railroad, and President Burroughs has been running excursions to accommodate the crowd wishing to ee the 'big fish.' It is 66 feet in Length and 24 in breadth. It has in its ide a harpoon with about 30 feet of ope attached. The suppos'tion is that it was attacked by a whaling crew and :hat it escaped but died from its wounds. To prove to those that did 2t see it that this was not a 'fish story' ,f the usual type, several took snap ABSOLUmEF b Makes the food more del ROYAL BAKINO POWO DAZZLING LIGHT. Illumination of a Car That Has Been Short-Circuited. Electricity played a queer prank on a Northern Central car the other night. To lookers-on at a saf. distance it was merely a remarkable display ,the like of which as never before seen in St. Louis. To those on the car It had many elements of tragedy. One man narrowly escaped death by fire and others of the passengers may have been injured in the panic that fol lowed. Even the officials of the United Railways Compaay Wave not yet ar rived at he exact extent of the damage done. The cars on the Northern Central line are the oldest in the service. Their fus es burn out freuently, but that night's occurrence was the most serious acci dent of the kind that has yet occurred. At 9:Z0 o'clock a car was rounding the sharp down-grade curve at Thomas street and Leffingwell avenue. It was half filled with passengers. Suddenly there was a grinding noise, which deafened those in the car and awakened residents in the neighbor . hood. The car came to a sudden stop. What followed is told by an eye-wit ness. who was attracted to his window by the unusual sound. "When I looked out," he said, "the street was lit up for several blocks as if a powerful searchlight had been turned into it. The brilliancy all radia ted from the car, which I at first thought was on fire. I could see the car distinctly. It seemed a shadowy form, seen through a halo of light. The outer edge of this light was a brilliant, dazzling white, but the inner portion, the nucleus, as it were, nearest the car, was the deep red of a consuming blaze. "With the first play of the flames I heard passengers in the car cry out in alarm. Two young men jumped through a window and the other pas sengers rushed for the back door. I saw a man leap from the rear platform with his coat smoking. He pulled the garment off as he left the car. "The Illumination could be seen at a great distance, apparently for people come flocking from blocks around to see the illuminated car. Most of them walked home. Another car pushed the disabled one to the sheds." Investigation Saturday morning showed that the accident was one of a number of electrical freaks caused by the recent damp weather. At the power house of the Northern Central line it was said that the current had become short-circuited. This meant that the current on coming from the wires, In stead o2 going through the controller on the front platform operated by the motorman, went through the one on the rear platform. Unable to get into the motors by that route it passed out again and sought the nearest route to the rails. This was by way of the met al work about the sides and roof of the car. Oi its journey around the car a por tion of the current escaped into the moist atmosphere, causing the appear ance of a halo. Enough of the current went through the controller and the motors to burn them out, which caused the red light of consuming flames. It was the burning out of the controller that Ignited the coat of the man who stood near it on the rear platform. Street railway men agreed that the ac cident was a most unusual one.-St. Louis Post Dispatch. TH REE JOINTS. Removed From a Mar.'s Backbone and He Still Lives. Minus three joInts of his backbone, John Kaller, of No. 60 Willoughby street, Brooklyn, N. Y., lies on a cot In St. John's Hospital, Long Island CIty. making a brave fight against death. The missing pie oes of his spInal column were removed on Thursday last by five surgeons. It was an opera tion almost unparalleled In surgery, but it was his only chance for life. Zaller has been a telephone lineman, Recently he was sent to repair wires along the Shore Road, In Astoria. About noon he was working at the top of a pole near the Woolsey estate. Just how it happened neither Kaller nor any one else knows, but suddenly the line plan found himself In the clutches of an electric current. He had grasped a live wire, his body was twisted In tor ture and puffs of smoke arose from his burning hands. The man kept his senses. Hanging there, burning and in terrible pain. he realized that to remain In contact with the wire for but a few seconds more meant death to him. With strength born of that knowl edge Kaller tore hiruself free from the live wire on which ha had fallen and deliberately threw himself to the road way. He fell 35 feet and struck upon hIs head and back. He was taken to St. John's Hospital. and doctors worked over him for eight hours before the dangers from the electric shock were removed. Then they performed the operation. In falling Kaller ha d broken his back. The seventh, eighth and ninth verte brae were badly fractured, and splin ters of the broken bone pressed on the spinal cord. The fressure had produced paralysis, and would have caused death if not removed. Dr. John Francis Burns was In charge of the or'eration. Assisting him were Dr. H. A. 3.irGronen, Dr. J. J. Mulcahey, Dr. Thomas Cassidy and Dr. John F. Farwell. Technically, the doc tors took out the spinous prosesses and transverse secticns of the seventh, eighth and ninth vertebrae. The oper ation was successful. "I do not know of an exactly similar case," said Dr. Burns, last night. "Three vertebrae were badly fra'tured, and had to be removed, leaving aren-. to protect the spinal cord. But Kal er's other injuries make his recovery doubtful, and at my suggestion his rel atives have telegraphed to his mother, askIng her to come to his bedside. She lives in Illinois." Kaller's condition is very grave. He has remained conscious from the first, and has taken a keen Interest in the remarkable operation performed upon him. Following closely upon the rumor of the retirement of John Burns, of Eng land, from all active participation in the great movement of organized labor, in Great Britain Is the loss of another famous leader In the person of Joseph Arch, the well-known agricultural la borer and member of Parliament. Mr. Arch confirms the rumor that he will retire from all active work in the la bor field at the next general election. Gainesville, Ga., Dec. 8, 1899 Pitts' Antiseptic Invigorator has een used in my family and I am per ectly satisfied1 that it is all, and will o all, vou claim for it. Yours truly, A. B. C. Dorsey. P. S.-I am using it now myself. It's doing me good.-Sold by The Mur ay Drug Co., Columbia, S. C., and all ruggists. tf A. kingdom for a cure. You need not pay so much. A twenty-five cent bottle of L. L. & K. Will drive all ills away. LRE cious and wholesome mR Co., HEW woR. SPOOK FURNITURE. If Not This, Then What Could It Be? -A Peculiar Story. A singular story is related by the New Orleans Times-Democrat. It was told by a well-known professional man at a stag dinner, and the unusual ex perience stated in his own words is well worth repeating: "In the spring of 1892," he said, "I was living in a house in North Ram part street, which I had taken on a one-year's lease, expecting to build. Our family consisted of myself and wife, our little boy, then only 5 years old, and my unmaried sister. The house was a two-story brick, which had been built before the war and the interior arrangement was very sim ple. The front door opened on a hall, which contained the staircase and ran * all the way through on the right-hand side, while on the left was, first, our parlor, then the dining-room, and lasto ly, a small unused apartment not much larger than a closet. Upstairs were bedrooms, and in the rear was a detached kitchen. We allowed the lit tle room on the first floor to stand vacant for several reasons. To begin with it was actually too small for ac tual service, and It was badly lighted by only one high, narrow window, be sides some of the plastering had fallen from the ceiling, and I was afraid the rest might come tumbling down on our heads. That was undoubtedly a source of danger, and prevented us from using it for storage, so we sim ply left it as we found it-entirely em pty. I suppose the room was con structed originally for a pantry. I have been a little particular in de scribing these details because, as you will see, they have a direct bearing on my story. "We had been living in the house almost a year," continued the speaker, "when one Sunday In June, as nearly as I can remember, I went with my wife and child to see some friends near Audubon Park. My sister was visiting at Biloxi at the time, and we let the servant off for a holiday. We got back at 5 o'clock or thereabouts, for I recollect It was still quite light, and as we were walking-toWard the house I noticed that somebody had left a stepladder standing directly in front ct the high window opening into the litie disused room on the ground floor. 'That's rather a cordial invita tion to prowlers;' I said halt joking. 'Let's see whether any have availed themselveq of it.' So when we went inside we galked back together to the last door and I pushed It open. 'Whyl what does this mean?' I exclaimed in astonishment. There was nobody there, but the room, which had always been entirely vacant, contained sev eral pieces of furniture. A rough looking table stood in one corner, with an old-fashioned straight-back chair In front of It and opposite was a small bed cot. There were some papers and other things en the table and a relig ious print stuck on one of the walls. I started to go in, but my wife held me back. 'Don't go In,' she pleaded, 'the plaster may fall. Those things mst belong to the cook. It struck me very strange that the cook should mo've In without asking permission, but I noticed that my wife was very nervous so I drew the door to and we went Into the parlor. A few minutes later I walked outside to shift the ladder, and as I picked It up I glanced through the window. The room was perfectly empty. "I am not superstitious, and - the proof of It Is that I thought Immediate ly I was the victim of some practical joke. I re-entered the house quietly from the rear and again I opened the door. The room was as empty as a drum, and It was evident at a glance that no sort of trickery was remotely possible. I won't attempt to describe my feelings. I was so shocked, so be wildered, so frightened to tell you the truth that for a moment or two I was sumply rooted to the spot. Then I pulled myself together somehow and went back to the parlor., My wife saw at once tilat something was wrong. "It's that room!" I blurted out. 'There's nothing in It now-not a stick!' "And Immediately I had a case of hysterics on my hands. That's about all there Is to the story. Next morn ing I examined the place carefully by broad daylight, and It was plain from the dust on the floor that no furnish-. ng of any kind had been there for years. We left the house before the end of the week, paying a month's for fet on the lease, not because we be lieve in spooks, but because we didn't care to stay in a place where unac autantable things happen. It's bad for the nerves. My wife and I have talked the matter over a thousand times, carefully comparing notes, and as far as we know we both saw the same things. My boy must have seen them, too, for when we went back into the parlor he asked his mother 'whether that wasn't Aunt Hattie's chair.' Aunt Hattie is an old relative of ours, who has a favorite straight-back chair, sim ilar to the one we saw In the room. Of course we have never allowed our selves to refer to the occurrence be fore the child, so I am unable to say positively what else he observed. What I saw myself was as plain and as distinct as you are at this moment. I even noticed that one of the table legs had been mended with a piece of slat, and my wife remarked the same thing. The house Is still stand ing, and has since been occupied by several successive tenants. As far as I am aware none of them have ever bad any unusual experience." BLACK EYES. 'ratment for the Kind That Are Not Given by Nature. When the patient Is seen early, be fore discoloration has set in, cold com- - presses or evaporating lotions are in dicated; this reduces the swelling and limits the subsequent discoloration. But if the patient is seen after he has a fully-developed "black eye," hot - compresses and massage are required. The affected portion is smeared over with vaseline and rubbed for 10 min utes several time a day. By frequent massage and continuous hot applica tions the discoloration may be almost entirely removed within twenty-four hours. The professional "black eye" artists use a poultice of the scrapings of a root, which is thought to be bry-,. ony root. A single human hair will support four ounces without breaking. A Strange Case A dispatch from Hartsville, S. C., to the Columbia State, says t be remains of a colored man were found on Black Creek about eight miles from Harts vlle one day last week. The body was fastened to a stake in the ground, and bore marks of violence. Bait, so I ar as can be learned, no one is missing from that section, so it must be the corpse, of a stranger. The case has been re ported to the coroner, and 1t 1s to be hoped that he will spare no pains to solve the mystery. The killing must have occurred some weeks, possibly months, ago.