The Manning times. (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, November 21, 1900, Image 4
SELEI I T11 I )UGTK
R v D. Tlrnag Urg- s t Lif of
Helpfulness to Oters.
PRACTICAL LESSONS DRAWN
From the C.;ptvity ;f Job, Who
Pray-d for His F ien-s.
The Effic:cv of
Prayer.
In this disceurse Dr. Talmage wars
en narrowness of view and urges a lice
helpful to others; text, Job xlii, 10,
"And the Lrd turned the captivily of
Job when he prayed for his friends"
Comparatively few people read this
last chapter of the book of Joh. The
earlier chapters are so fall of thrilling
incident, of events so dramatically por
trayed, of awful ailmescs and terrific
disaster, of domestic infaeliity, of star
eatopaassage, of resounding address, of
emnipotency proclaimed, ot utterances
showing Job to have been the greatest
scientist of his day an expert in mining
and precious stones, astronem -r and ge
ographer annd scologist a: 1 -lectrician
and poet, that most readors stop before
they get to my text, which. strangely
end mysteriously, announces that "the
Lord turned the captivity of Job when
he prayed for his friends."
Now, will you please explain to m
how Job's prayer for his friends halted
his catastrophes? Give me some good
reason why Job, on his knees in behalf
of the welfare of others, arrested the
long processions of calamities. Mind
you, it was not prayer for himself, for
then the cessation of his troubles would
have been only another irstarce of
prayer answered. Bait the portfolio of
his disaster was rolled up while he sup
plicated God in behalf or Eliphar the
Temanite B:ldad the Shahite the Tema
nite, Bildad the Shubite and Z.pcar
the Naamsthite, I must confess to you
that I had to read the text ever and
over again before I got its full meaning
- "And the Lord turned the captivity
of Job when he prayed for his friends."
Well, if you will not explain it to me
-I will explain it to you. The healthi
est, the most recu crative thing on
earth to do is to s:; thinking so much
about ourselves avid go to thinking
about the welfare of others. Job had
been studying his misfortunes, but' the
more he thought about his bankruptcy
the poorer he seemed, the more he
thought of his carbuncles the worse
they hurt, the more he thought of his
unfortunate mnarriage the more intol
erable became the conjugal relation,
the more he thought of his house blown
down the more terrific seemed the cy
elone. His misfortunes grew blacker
and blacker. Bat there was to come a
reversal of these sad conditions. One
day he said to himself: "I have been
dwelling too much upon my bodily ail
ments and my wifes temper, and my be
reavements. It is time I b !gan to think
about others and do something for
others, and I will start now by praying
for my three friends." Then Job drop
ped upon his knees, and as he did so
the last shackle of his ciptivity of trou
bles snapped and fell off. H-ear it, all
ye ages of time and all ye a.;es of eter
nity, "the Lord turned the captivity of
Job when he prayed for his friends!"
The fault with most of us is too much
self ooncentration-our health, our for
tunes. our advancement, our social posi
tion, our achievements, our losses, our
defeats, our enffrings, our persecution,
our life, our death, our immortality
Of course there is a lawful and right
eous selfishness. In a world and in a
time of such activities and rivairies and
temptations we mutt look after our own
interests and our own destiny or we will
go under. Do not wait for others to
take care of you. Take care of your
self. But it will not hinder our preser
vation and prosperity if we enlarge the
sphere of our wishes and prayers so as
to take in others, The law in the natural
world would do well for the moral and
spiritual world. The centripetal force
in nature would throw everything in
toward the center and the centrifugal
force in nature would throw every thing
out from the center. But the centripeta
and the centriugal work beautifully
gether. The one fore that would
throw everything toward the center is
balanced by the force that would throw
everything outward.
Our world, with its own interests,
feels the pull of other worlds. No world
no nation, no community, no man, no
woman, can afford to exist only for its
self or himself or herself. The hour in
which Job has that soliloquy about the
enlargement of his prayers so as to take
in his friends and he put into ex :cution
his good resolution, was the hour when
he felt a tonic, a sedative, a nervine,
a eataplasm that helped to cure his body
and revived his fortunes till they were
a hundred percent better than ever be
fore, for the record is "the Lord gave
Job twice as much as he had before,"
and tended to make him a wonder of
longevity, for he lived 140 years af ter
his troubles were gone. Oc, what a
mighty medicament is the contempla
tion of and the effort for the welfare of
othera!
"But" says some one, "it is easy
enough for Job to pray for his friends.
Anybody can do that, There are those
to whom we are obliged for years of
kindnas. They stand so close to us in
sympathy and reminiscence and antici
pation that it is easy for us to -
their welfare." Well.
understand that
were the .
- .~,they
- - : --.,yhim a whole
e and seven nights, and
...ra is "none spake a word to
eaim." What a disreputable and wicked
silene! Mind you, they professed to
be religious men and they ought to have
been able to offer some religious conso
lation. Instead of that they were dumb
as the sphinx which at that time stood
in the African desert and stands there
still. Why did they not say something
about reunion in the heavenly realms
with his children who had been slain?
Why did they not talk to him about the
satisfactory explanations in the f ature
world of things we do not understand
in this world? Why did they not go to
the apothecary and buy a poultice that
would have soothed the carbuncles, or
some quieting potion that would calm
his nerves, or a few drops of fobrifuge
that would cool his heated frame? No!
Tor seven days and seven nights they
did nothing and said nnthing for his re
lief. They must have almost bored him
to death.
After these three friends had com
pleted their infamous silence of a week
they began to lecture Job. First, Ei
phas the Temanite opens with a long
story about a dream which he had in
the night and irritates the sufferer with
words that make things worse inistead
of better and sets him in and attitue of
the en'd' a rcwa asndig and
_a-ru'oUs and practically tells
iM- th's h., doerry d all that he g";
ard-the if he had behaved h'mlf
aright he w.uld not have lost his ho':q
.*r h's children or hie estate. H,,
t.ractically says: "Jh, I will tell ycu
what is the matter with 0you Y ou are
bad; you are a hypocrite; you are now
getting paid for your wickdnes' Ni
wonder that there came from Job an
outburst of indignation which calls out
the other quondam friend. Z .char the
Naauia'hite, who begins denouncing
Job by calling him, a liar and keeps on
the di-court ur.til Job respou!il to a.l
three of them in the sarcastiC words,
N doabt bu' ye are :h- peoplo, and
wisdosn shall die with you
Oh. what friends Job bad! Heaven
deliver us from havng one such friend,
1 ,o sty ;.othing of having thr:e of them.
It was for such friends that Job prayed,
and was it not a religious triumph for
him so to do? Would you, the very
best of you, be in very devoat mood
and capable of making intercession for
people who had come to you in a day
of trouble and said: "Gn)d for you.
You ought to be chastised. You arc
being taken in hand by eternal ju'tiee.
If you had behaved yourself aright,
you would not have been sick or ie
poverished or made childless." OU,
no, my frend, you would not have felt
like J-b when he prayed for his friends,
but mo re like Job when he cursed the
day of his nativit !
N.ahing is so unhealthy as to get
miu .. It is a shock to the whole physi
0al organiza:ion a' well as to your men
sal and moral condition. It is no unt
'iual thing for people to drop down
,iesd in a fie of anger. You people who
weigh over 200 pcurds avoirdupois had
btttcr never logo your temper, for at
such times apop!exy is not far off Get
the equipoise of Job in the text, and it
vili help you in business directions.
Paying fo.r all ,ffndrrs you will have
more nerve for large undertakings; you
will have a better balanced judgment;
you will waste no va'urble time in try
ing to get even with your enemies. Try
this height of prayer for your antagonist
today, and if ycu fail try it tomorrow.
Keep on until you accomplish it,"and 1
should not wonder if, in addition to
the m :ral and religious strength it gives
you, it shoul-i add a hundred per cent
to your worldly prosperity. Job xii,
10, "The Lord gave Job twice as tuch
as he bad before."
What we all need is to get out of our
selves and go to helping others, whether
friends or foes. As beautiful an in
stances of how this can be done I found
last summer in Lyndon in the person of
Florence Nightingale, the heroine of
hospitals and of battlefields when there
,vere no hospitals. The lounge on
which she lies prostrate is a throne of
power, and, though she has passed into
the eighties, she trains nurses for sick
beds, and her influence is now felt
among the wounded in South Africa,
while her memory is fall of the story of
Balaklava S :bastopol and Inke:man,
where E igland and France and Russia
grappled. She told mo that she had
not been h .py urtil she undertook to
alleviate suf ring and that since she
began that w. rk she had never seen an
unhappy day. To that work she con
secrated her lire, her claisic attain
mnnts, her s->eial position, her bril
liant personality. Her whole life for
others, and her face shows it I think
so much of heaven is to be found in no
other human c.untenance- Tennyson's
"Charge o! the Light Brigade" is not
mare thrilling to me than the womanly
bravery and sacrinice that took care of
those who were shot from the saddles of
the "irnm ,rtal six hundred."
My text enthrones prayer and gives
it a scepter to wave over our temporal
and eternal life. Uader G .d is cured
Job and fired up his finances and re
stored his home aud made him so ro
bst of health that he lived 14 decades.
"But,' some one says. "I do not be
lieve in prayer for friends and foes,
bee tuse I do no think that God is go
ing to cha2ue the laws of nature be
cause we ask him so to do." Naither
do I thi ak that God will change the law
of nature at our request, but I am sure
that he answers prayer through natural
law. Not a physician of any skill, allo
pathic or homeopathic or hydropathic
or eclectic, but has some time been sur
prised that what was thought to be a
fatal disease suddenly relaxes its grasp
of the patient, and he recovers. Not
one law of nature has been fractured.
Prayer may have given the sudden turn
to that illness. A business man may
be in diffculty inextricable-mortgages
against him foreclosing, goods to be
sold for some reason become unsalable,
new invention in machinery making the
old machinery of his factory worthless,
all kinds of commercial troubles pounc
ing upon him at once. Mort business
men have at least, once in their lives,
been put in such agonizing crisis, but
the harried merchant or manufacturer
gets out of it. Creditors become more
lenient, the wheels that were made use
es for making one kind of fabric turn
out, to be good for making another style
of fabric, the stoec of goods that could
not be sold comes into unexpected de
mand, and whereas all things were
against him all things are now for him.
No law of nature is broken and no law
of trade. Prayer may have given that
extrication. God, by making a law,
does not tie his own hands with it. If
you are free to do what you are asked
to do, is not God just as free, or are
you mightier than yo" ".er
What a s" . . that whal
in - ,-. bree years,
- 1harbor!
.new that
- son was
- . .,ruk the
-on the rooks, and
wasn ote strewn on the beach.
---taemotercontinued all night in
prayer for her son's safety, and in the
morning a knock was heard at her
door, and the door opened, and
in came her long absent by ex
laiming, "Mother, I knew you
would pray me home!' But you need
not go so far for illustration. I have
in my own life had answers to prayer
so pointed, so direct, so startling, that
I dare not recite them lest I be misun
derstood. I could pick many startling
instances right out of this audience.
You dare not doubt the integrity of
those who present such evidence. You
would believe them as witnesses in any
court of law standing before judge and
jury, and certainly you ought to be
ieve them when they give solemn tes
timony as to what they have seen and
felt in answer to prayer -silent prayer,
audible prayer, ejaculatory prayer, in
teressory prayer, extemporaneous
prayer, liturgical prayer; prayer in the
morning to start the day right,
prayer in the evening to correct the
mistakes of the day, prayer at the be
ginning of the year as we launch out
upon its uncertainties and prayer at the
close of the yaar reviewing the vicissi
tudes of the 12 months; prayer for our
sees, prayer for others; not formal
and heartless prayer, which is of no
more use than the prayer of the heathen
' Timbuktu, who writes his petition
on a board and then washes it off and
catches the water in a cup, giving it to
the prayer cf the people of L et. who
put thcir petitio-i in a cvlinder at d
turn the cr'-nk and as many tiit
?ht cylinder tu- is is 'h< pr-yer af
fc-ed; "r the' 1 prye -'T olt-dia we"i h i
inade in behalf of thew'ty by the
.eople hirei tores i the K ran dav atd
uizht for the bcnct of th.. employer.
Prayer is w1at soe one has caled
"the slender uerve th:t mQoveth the
muscles of omLnipetence." Precr i.
the healthful respiration of the sout.
It is the whisper of helplessness into
the car of help. It is laying hold of
almightiness, omniscience at one and
the same time. Prayer is the laying
hold of a pulley fastened to the hc.v
enly throne. Prayer is the first br..ath
of a ne bern soul and it is heard in
the last gasp of ear~hl ctristiao vx,-r
iences. Prayer! In an instant it
mounts the highest he :y:as Nu;thr
Seraph or archangel evr fley swiker
or higher than the infsat's petition at
her mother's knee. What an o; por
tunity is prayer! Why noc-t oftner use
it praying for ourselvcs ard, like Job,
praying for others? Wat better werk
would we do, what better lives would
live, what better hopes w;'n!d we en
tertain, if we multiplied . nd intens fied
our prayers!
Scme one asked a soldivr of Stone
wall Jackson the secret of the great
general's infiuence over his men
"Does your general abuse yeu, swear
at you, ti make you mirch? "Swear,"
replied -the seodier. "N(,!' Ewell
does the swearing; Stewall does the
praying When S-onewall wants us
to march, he looks at us soberly, just
as if he were sorry for us, and says,
-ien. we have got to make a long
march.' We always know when there
is going to be a long march and right
smart fighticng. for S onewall is power
ful on prayer just before a big fight."
When Stonewall Jackson was asked
the meaning of the passage, in con
stant prayer," and he said: "If you
will not mistake and think I am set
ting up myself as an example, which I
am not, I will give an illustration from
my own habit. I have so fixei the
habit of prayer in my mind tnat I never
raise a glass of water to m y lips with
out a moment asking of God's blessing.
I never seal a letter witbont putting a
word of prayer under the seal. I never
take a letter from the post without a
brief sending of my thoughts heaven
ward. I never change my classes in
the scetion room witheu- a minute's
petition for the cadets who go out and
those who come in." Djn't you
sometim:s forget? said a friend. He
replied: "I think I can say that I
can say that I scarcely do. The habit
has become almost as fixed as breath
ing." "But," says some one from a
different section of the country from
that in which General Jackson lived,
were his prayers answered?' Yes, as
earnest prayers are always answered,
in God's way, and God's is always the
best way, while our way may be the
wrong way.
In all :he tossing of this life lay hold
of the rope of prayer mentioned by
John Newton, who was converted on
shipboard from being a blasphemous
sailer to become a great preacher of
righteousness and who said: -Wheo
[ first amused myself with going to
sea, when the winds rose and the
waves became rough, I tumbled and
tossed about like a porpoise in the
water. A t last I caught hold of a rope
that was floating abour, and then I was
enabled to stand upright. So when a
multitude of troublous thoughts invade
your peace, or when the winds and
waves of temptation arise, look out
iur the rope, lay hold of the rope and
stay yoursel'vos on the faithfulness of
God by ker-ping his promises.
My hearer, I will tell yc-u the time
when you can afford to cease praying.
It will be when you have no sins to be
be pardoned, no sorrows to be comfort
ed, no more friends or foes who need
your intercessions. Queen Elizabeth
said to Walter R deigh, "Releigh, when
will you stop beggingf' Raleigh, rc
plied, "When your majesty leaves off
giving" And your time, my hearer,
to stop prayer will be when God has
no more pardon and mercy and strength
to bestow and the recourses of the In
inite are exhausted. Havelock knew
the value of prayer when he arose at 4
o'cock in the morning for his d'r >tiens.
The soldiers of the Fourteenth Massa
chusetts regiment showed that they
knew the joy of worship when they
took a delegate of the Coristian com
aission to see what they called their
"praying place.''
Now, if God has during these re
marks shown us the uses, the impor
tance, the blessedness of prayer, sup
pose we try to do what Job did when
he prayed for his exasperators. Many
of us at the beginning of this sub-j-:ct
felt that while we could pray for our
sevles and pray for those who were
kind to us, we never could reach the
high point of religious experience in
which we could pray for those who an
noy us and make us feel worse instead
of feeling better. That was a Matter
horn, that was an Alp, to the top of
which we feared to climb, but we
thank God that by his omnipotent
grace we have reached that height at
last. Let us pray 1 0 Christ, who
didt pray for thine assassians, we no,
pray for those who despitefully use
us and say all manner of evil against
us. For their eternal salvation we
suppliate. When time is no more,
may they reign on thrones and wear
coronets and sway scepters of heavenly
dominion. Meanwhile take the bitter
ness from their soul and make them
soon think as well of us as they now
think evil. Spare their bodies from
pain and~their households fr-um'bereave
ment. After all the misunderstand
ings and controversies of this life are
over, may we:- keep with them eternal
bilee in the mansions on -the .hill.
And as thou didst turn the capitivity
of Job when he had prayed for those
who had badly used him and health
came to his body and prosperity to his
estate, now that we hi.ve by thy grace
been able to make supplication for our
antogonists, cure our diseases if we are
ill, and rastore our estate if it has been
scattered, and awaken gladness in our
homesteads if they have been bereft,
and turn the captivity of our physical
pain or financial misfortune or mental
distress. And thine shall be the king
dom and the power and the glory for
ever and ever Amen.
What China Will Pay
A dispatch to The New York Herald
from Washington says: Secretary Hay
is much irritated over reports from
Pekin showing that the ministers are
determined to punish every influential
Chinaman who they think is respon
sible for the recent outrages, and show
ing also that the indemnity to be de
manded will reach $600,000,000O. The
secretary is anxious that the powers
sball submit demands that can be ac
cepted by China- Officials at Washing
ton hold that examples should be made
only of those conspicuously guilty, and
that the amount of indemnity should
certainly be not more than $200,000,000.
It is pointed out that if all the leading
men are sentenced to death, they will,
in self-defense, organize a resistance,
which will inecessitate further military
operations, the end of which no one can
SLAIN BY RUSIA N3.
The Channel Chek dl Wth D, ad
Cl:inat'n
The Lou'v'. G b- Weeda:ca af- r
noOn publise a 1 'caer frota a R! ig:an:
gentLiL.'i who ! as been trave'ing to
Ski: vi ' he Trans Siberia, railria I.
ie dsri under d.c of September
6 ai . s on the A:,it river
ii. st ,t o; rpas s in b.rr-r ths'
pre iu-s!-; publi ed.
"The scenes I have wiine sed dur
in thi; three days since the steanm.
left Bl3agovttchensk," he says, "are
I orrib- teyond tte powers of decrip
tioc. It is the lcbsiinr tablau of a fear
fal human tragedy. Two thousand were
deliberately drowned at Morxo. two
thousand at Rabs and tight theusand
around Biagovetchensk, a total of
trelve thousand ccrpses encumbering
the river, an.oc which were thousands
of women and children. N .vigation was
ali but impossible. L.st week a boat
had to plough her way through a tangled
and mangled mass of corpsos lasned to
gether by their long hair. The banks
were literally covered with eerpies. In
the curves of the stream were dark,
fut rid, smelling massess of human fi- sh
and bone, surging and swaying in the
steamer's wake and wash. The captain
vainly ordered full epeed ahead. The
sight and smell will be ever with us
"From Blagevctohensk to Aigun. 45
kilometers, numerous villages studded
the bank, with a thriving, industrious
population of over 100,000 That of
Aigun was 20.000. No one will ever
know the number of these who perished
by shot, sword and stream Not a vil
lge is left. The silence of death was
arcutd us, the smoking ruins of Aigun
on the right, with broken down, crumb
ling wails and shattered, iocfl- s
hcu:es.
What It Means.
The re cle:tion of William McKin
ley means the indorsement of every vio
lation of law, every wilful perversion t f
the principles of free government made
by the party in power ducing the past
fouir years. It m -ans that the ancient
landmarks set up by the fathers for the
guidance of the servants of the people
are to be devoted to vandal destruction
by men intrusted with political power;
that the century-and-a quarter old sys
tem of government of the people, by the
people and for the people is to be
relegated into disuse and in its place is
to be erected a government of the trusts,
by the trusts and for the trusts; that
the Deciaration of Independence
which not only nerved tne arms, ir
radiated the minds and magnified the
souls of the heroes who fought, bled
and endured all manner of hardships in
the days of L xington, Banker Hill,
Brandywine and Yorktown, but proved
a fountain of courage and hope to their
des cencants and was a "bow of promise"
to people in other lands struggling for
freedom and self government-is an
outworn aid useless document no longer
to serve as the guile and inspiration of
a republic growa populous, prosperous
and mighty through adhesion to an i
ois rvance of its grandly truthfi I pro
nouncement ; that the c nstitution
whieu has been the rock, the stay, the
palladium, the protector and interpre
ter of our entire f-brie of laws is a
thins to b pu' aside, to be dis-egarded
at the whim of the president and con
gress, as no longer controlling anid
limiting their pwe:rs; that these agen
oihs shall conduct the functions of gov
ernent acc-rding to the directions of
an oligarchy of comniercial combines by
virtue of whose corrupting money they
hold cffce and place; that we are to
swing loose from the moorings of a Re
pubhea'i essence in government and
givo the lie and the scoff to our splendid
and heroic past by becoming servile imi
tators of old world empires and king
doms that are upheld by bayonets, con
ducted for the benefit of a privileged
class and builded upon the toil and
blood of unhappy millions.
The New Issues
The Nw York Churchman, proba
bly the abltst churen newspaper- maga
zine published in this country, has this
to say on the issues of the late election:
"IThe victory of Tuesday ends all dis
pute as to currency standard. This
eliminates an issue w hich has perturbed
American politics for over a century.
T'here remain, however, the Ather two
great issues which loomed ugon the
horizon in serious form for the first
time during the past canvass. Oae was
the attitude of the United States upon
foreign aff airs, and the other was the
demand for the use of the powers of
the generaL governmnent in order to re
strain, to regulate and to load with in
creased taxation, the great accunula
tions, some of them by individuals, but
most of them held by great bodies of
stockholders, whos3 growth constitutes
the most important social phenomenon
of the past twenty years. These two
issues remain to be fought out, and
they will come up for settlement in
1904, without any question like the
cutrency to aid and support those who
are defending these great accumulations,
or to hinder mne attack of those who be
lieve that they are not paying their fair
share of the expensas of the govern
ment." These are the issues upon
which Bryan will be nominated aa
elected in 1904 He is the logical can
didate as long as these questions are
unsettled.
H. Could Tell.
Last winter, writes W. E. Curtis, in
the Chicago Record, two little children
were standing in front of the main en
trarnce to the Senate Chamber, when
Senator Chandler, who, as you know, is
a great wag, anda friend came through
the door. One of them, a little girl of
11, burning with curiosity, spped up
to them and asked: "Mister, how
much does it cost you to go in there?"
"You better ask that gentleman com
ing up the corridor," said the Senator
from New Hampshire, pointing to Sen
ator Clark of Montana, who was leis
urely approaching the entrrnce.
School House Burned.
A dispatch from Yorkville to The
State says the graded school building
caught on fire Friday morning about 11
o'clcek, caused by a burning chimney.
It is a total wreck. All the children
got out safely, but a number of them
lost their books and wraps. The furni
ture was all lost by fire and breakage.
This building was formerly the old fe
male college. It was sold some years
ago for $6,000, but cost much more than
that. The insurance on it was $2.000.
TRAILING SKIrTs.-The Medical
Record calls attention to an ediat
against the long skirts worn by women.
The board of health in Vienna has
placed placards in all the public gar
dens and parks, directing the women
who visit the places to hold up their
skirts if they trail upon ehe ground.
The trailing skirt is a promoter of filth
and disease and it ougcht not to be nec
essary to issue an edict against it.
Common decency ought to drive the
SOME GIANT SCALES
New Ones That Will Weigh a Load
of 1O Toni.
Everg tody is perhaps aware that the
large scales upon which entire freight
cars with their loads of many tons are
weighed are considered immense, but
with all their immensity Uncle Sam
has gone all the railroads in this coun
try one point better. says the Washing
ton Times. by installing at the navy
yard one of the largest pair of scales
in the country. This machine can out
weigh the largest railroad weighing
machine by fifty tons. and its results
must be accurate to the pound. while
railroad scales are considered good
enough if they approach anywhere
near fifty pounds of being correct. The
new scales are placed on the track go
ing south from the great gun shops
and just opposite the forge shop. They
are forty-eight feet long and twelve
feet wide, and rest upon a cement base
built upon long piies. The ground is
somewhat low, and it was necessary to
utilize the services of pile drivers to
secure a stable foundation, which is
one of the requisites of an accurate
weighing machine. The cost was about
$1.200.
Much of its fine and sensitive balanc
ng apparatus was manufactured for
special use in the new machine, and
the completed structure is considered a
model and marvel of modern mechan
ism and American ingenuity.
In order to illustrate the accuracy of
the counterpoise of the machine to a
reporter the superintendent of the
yards and docks picked up a half brick
that was lying on the ground near by
and tossed it on the huge platform of
the machine. He then consulted the
long brass lever In the reading box
along the side of the scales and found
that the record of the of the brickbat
was just a pound.
Turning to the reporter he said that
the machine was so sensitive that It
could weigh anything from a pound of
sugar to a trio of 13-inch naval guns,
and weigh them accurately, though it
will probably eke out a long existence
at the famous gunshop without having
the chance to weigh an ounce of the
former. The capacity of the new
scales is 150 tons, or double the ca
pac.ity of the old scales, which has just
been replaced. A 13-Inch gun weighs
about 55tons, and it can be readily
seen that the new scales can weigh
two of the monsters, reclining on a
forty.elght foot track, and not tax its
capacity to any great extent. All the
new guns of the navy yard will be
weighed upon these colossal scales.
Story of "The Lost Chord."
In London, in the early part of this
decade, Col. Wentling was a frequent
visitor at the houses of many of the
nobility, and became acquainted,
through his excelent knowledge of mu
sic, with many of the best musicians
of the English metropolis.
"It was while there," said Col. Wen
tling, "that I first heard the story of
the birth of 'The Lost Chord,' a song
that has been sung in every quarter of
the globe, and which will live forever.
If ever there was such a thing as in
spiration, the song was inspired.
"There are very few Englishmen
who do not remember Fred Sullivan,
the great comic star and brother of Sir
Arthur Sullivan. He played in all the
original Gilbert and Sullivan operas.
and has never been equalled. He was
later followed by George Grossmith.
"One day Sir Arthur Sullivn was no
tified that his brother Fred was very
ill. He made every effort to reach the
house where his brother was lying at
the point of death, but arrived too late
to see him alive. The two brothers
were devoted to each other. and the
blow was a bitter one for Sir Arthur
Hie was closeted with the body of his
brother for two .hours. at the expira
tion of which time he caine down stairs
and went to the pinno. Throwing the
instrumuent open he began to play. and
the bar. 'The Lost Chord.' was evolved.
The composer sadly put his new com
position on paper and stored it away.
"The song is the wail of a throbing
heart, the grief of desolation. All
through its beautiful harmony can be
heard the strain of grief. So profound
an ipression did the association of
the song with the death of .his brother
make on Sir Arthur that he is said to
have, even at this late day, an aversion
to hearing it performed. New York
Sun.
A Quaint Ceremony in 3Madrid.
The Queen Regent held at the palace
in Madrid the ceremony of the investi
gation of eleven Gra~ndees of the first
class ,who have succeeded to Duke
domns. MarQuisates and Earldoms cre
ated between the years 1368 and 1010.
They were invested in the order of
their precedence, the Duke of Medina
Coeli, the Premier Duke and Premier
Peer of Spain. possessing twenty titles
and ?150,000 income, coming nirst, fol
lowed by the Marquis Astorga, Count
Oropesa, Dukes Arcos, Luna, Aliag,
Huescar. Baena and Arnon, the Mar
quis Santa Crus and Count Castrillo.
The Queen stood surrounded by the
high dIgnitaries and ladies of the
court in the royal anti-chamber, where
the new Grandees, accompanied by
theIr sponsers, who are Grandees of
the same class, were successfully ush
ered in by the Lord Chamberlain and
the Lords-!n-Waiting. All the Gr'andees
present uncovered whea a new Peer
entered. and remained so until the sov
ereign said to the new Grandee. "Cov
er your head and speak," which he had
to do in a short discourse on the merits
of his ancestors who preceded hin' In
title. After the investiture the Gran
dees passed before the Halberdier
Guards drawn up on the palace stairs,
in order that the Guards might know
them and pay them the usual honors
when they enter the precincts of the
palace, where alone they have the right
to remain uncovered In the presence et
royalty-Pall Mall Gazetts.
"To prove my Iove," he cried des
prately, "let me tell you during hew
many weeks I have scarcely closed my
eyes in sleep, during how many days
I have eaten only--"
Here, with an imperious gesture, she
waved hIm to silence.
"Statistics prove nothing!" she said.
Ah, but what a cold dictum! It was
lte an icicle plunged Into hia 'erob
big hearA!-Dtroit Journal.
Little Edwin-M!amaa, what is liquid
air?
Mamma-I don't know. Ask your pa
pa. He's always going out between
the acts "to get a little air."
Eaten by Cannibals
The steamer, Mosootte, which has
arrived from the South seas, brings tales
of cannibalism and massacre by the
blacks on the savage islands. For the
past two years, the Mascotte has been
trading between the Solomon Islands
and New Gainea. Her deck, rails and
sailes bear marks of cannibal spears
and bullets. The schooner arrived at
Kemali, in the Admiralty group, just
after the murder of Herman Matzke,
the trading agent there. Captain Mac
o and a boat's crew went ashore and
found the Copra House looted and the
trader's home a wreck. In the yard of
the latter a big spot was still sizzling,
and in it were some bones of the trad
er. The cannibals appeared and opened
fire with guns found in the agent's
house. Captain Macco and his crew
retreated to the schooner and turned
loose all the available arms and the
cannibals were driven oft. The Mas
cotte met the German sloop of. war,
Seadle, near the Carolines, and notified
the captain of the murder. Both the
schooner and the warship returned to
Kemali. The native villages were then
shelled. Eighty villages were destroyed
by fire, lti natives were killed and 20)
OLD INDIAN LANDS.
A Louisiana Grant Thrt Troubles the
Gove nm ent.
After a quiet oIf several years the
Houma land grant has again come to
the front to occupy the attention of
the United States courts. Probably
no public lands in the country' have
given the United States more trouble
than those of the Houma Indians.
There have been more lawsuits over
them, conspiracies, riots and disturb
ances than over any other part of the
federal domain. The question has fre
quently figured in local politics and
more than once has obtruded itself on.
congress. The Houma Indians occu
pied a considerable part of south Louis
iana when the French landed there.
There was a Houma village on the
present site of New Orleans. The Indi
ans were quiet and peaceable; they
gave the whites no trouble. In conse
quence the whites had a great deal of
trouble themselves. The Indians were
gradually crowded out of all the fer
tile lands they owned, and took refuge
in the swan:ps on both sides of the
Anite river in Livingston and Ascension
parishes.
In 1629 the tribe became totally ex
tinct and the lands were thrown open
by the government to settlement. It
was found, however, that there were
old French and Spanish claims to them
--for the Spanish piled their olaims
three or four thick on every acre of
land in southern Louisiana. An at
tempt was made to oust the squatters
in Livingston parish. but they proved
a rather lawless lot, and as everybody
in that section was a squatter the mat
ter was finally settled by perfecting
their titles.
There was the same trouble in Ascen
:ion parish. The government opened
the land to public settlement in 1339.
and again in 18?:. Quite a number of
.*ntries were made in the latter year.
,)ut when those who had entered the
land attempted to take pcssession of
their property they. found it already
occu.ed by squatters, both white and
i>s.ek. who had he'd it for several get
fr:tiors without the slightest title.
This brought u;) the old Livirston
trouble. The squatters refused to
.enye, and threatened to resent any at
tempt at dispcssession. After much
parleying a compromise was finally
reached whereby the squatters agreed
-o p:ty a certain sum of money. either
n lump or in installment. prerided
rhey were left in their possession
IPut :-eain in 1397 the United States
and ofilee threw these lands opt a to
Antrv for the third time and roman,
entries were made. The oeutpants of
the ;an.ds. squatters and others. began
a new mode of war. They decared
that they were heing pestered, by land
enect a:t:-s, that the entries were
r:.a<nl~ert and not in good faith and
n:erd::s to milk and fleece them: and
!: organized a committee known as
!he "Lan(' Incstigating Cnmmtt:e of
\,r-nsion parish' to invezdig:ite the
z.:etrr ani see who were the men in
;neIst il in getting up these larn
res. The committee devoted much
i:ne anl attention to this matter and
reported that the entry scheme was
w-ng worked from New Orleans. lands
.)eing fraudulently entered there. corr
e!lin~g the occupants of these lands n
wy them from those who got titles
r brough the United States land of!ce.
The squatters and other occupants
f the public lands in dispute, who con
c:itute a large part of the population
,t thie eastern halt of Ascension. be
iere that by this criminal proceeding.
ind the conyietion of the men making
hese entries, they have put an end
"o the troubles from whieb they have
mt'ered so long and which have com
pelled them to organize again and
again to keep their farms. They have
made it too hot, they say, for the land
speculators. But if congress or the
United) States land of~ee could interfere
and prevent further trouble and dis
puting of titles in the Houma land
grant It would prevent a great deal of
ill feeling, smooth down politics and
prevent litigation over a question that
has been before the oourts for nearly
7a years.________
Showing Their Hands.
Senator Scott comes out as favoring
a large standing army and makes a plea
for an increase "especially in the artil
lery branch." Do we need field artillery
to suppress the frequently suppressed
Filipinos to settle the Chicese question
or to protect our costs? Not especially.
It is Deeded, says Senator Scott, be
cause "for the purpose of quelling riots
in the cities it will be every bit as ef
fective as infantry"-or more so, we
should say. Mr. Bryan you may re
member. gentle reader, was denounced
as a dangerous agitator when during
the campaign he declared the Republi
cans wanted a large standing army to
man forts near the large cities for the
purpose of intimidating labor. Mr.
Bryan's idea is now confirmed by this
prominent and iiuential Republican
senator, so Mr. Bryan's reputation may
yet be cleared. Senator Scott reminds
us of Lord Salisbury with his habit of
"thinking aloud" things that, for pol
icy's sake, were best kept quiet. It was
Senator Scott, you will remember' who
at the dinner to Roosevelt just before
the election ventured to suggest that
the trusts are very desirable things-an
opinion in which his party associates
then and now fully agree, but which
they cenfide not to the public. The
State. __________
Water and Fever
There is nothing more definitely set
tLe d in sanitary cience than the fact
that the probagation of typhoid fever
is due to a speo fie germs whiah most
frtquently enters the system by means
of the drinking water. Ordinary
wells are particularly exposed to such
contamination in consequence of the
usual defective soil drainage in their
vicinity. All this is so well known
that it is difficult to understand why a
common water supply of a given and in
fected community is not cut off as soon
as the initiative cases occur. This, sin
fact, is one of the main reasons why in
fectious diseases are reported to health
boards and why the latter are granted
the requisite powers to control epi
demics. With our present knowledge
of the dangers of the wells we must
speedily come to the conclusion that
the more modern and efficient water
systems must make them unnecessary
The house faucet must take the place of
the "old oaken bucket," and poetical
sentiment must give way to common
sense. It is not too much to predict
that of all the old wells were closed up
the cases of fever would be reduced
fully 50 per cent. We are told that the
particular water in question was con
sidered more than ordinarily pure,
amply proving that the presence of the
dangerous germ is not manifest to
sight, taste or smell.
MOLASSES TAFFY.-Put a quart of
molasses is in an iron saucepan over a
slow fire and boil for half an hour,
stirring to prevent boiling over. Set
from the fire an instant, if it boils too
high. When in begins to thicken, ad i
half a teaspoonful of dry and sifatd
baking sods. When brittle, pour it out
.ART OF SNAKE CHARWNO
Feats Which Are Nothing But Tricks
of the Trade.
A few days ago there appeared in one
of the daily papers a wonderful story
bf a snake which was charmed by the
strains of a Jews-harp. The story was
to the effect that a oountryman meet
Ing a dangerous reptile in the road,
was horrified at seeing the creature
prepare to attack him. Being an en
thusiastic performer on the jew's
harp he immediately struck up the
tune. "St. Patrick's Day in the Morn
ing," which either paralyzed the ser
pent or sent series of sentimental chills
down its undulating vertebrae. At
any rate it discarded all hostile Inten
tions and became motionless, when the
countryman mercilessly ground its
head in the dust.
I This is an example of the many
"snake stories" which appear constant
ly before the eyes of credulous human
ity. It originates, like all of its kind.
from superstitious sources. Snakes
are utterly devoid of any sense of ap
preciation of music. They have no
ears, and although they may distin
guish vibration of heavy sounds upon
their heavy scales, a voracious, hungry
serpent is entirely ignorant of the
presence of the chirping bird, provid
ing it does not see or scent its prey.
The familiar exhibitions of the East
Indian fakirs, during which the deadly
cobra is made to "dance" to the
music of a flute, have led many to be
lieve that these creatures are extreme
ly sensitive to the sound of music. But
exhibitions of this character are only
tricks practiced by the clever Hindoo.
and the cobra, instead of being in a
quiescent, charmed condition as it
waves its body to and fro, is really
in a fit of intense anger.
Not long ago a large cobra was in
the possession of Dr. Joseph C. Thomp
son, of the United States navy. This
reptile was purchased by Dr. Thomp
son in South Africa. It was then in
possession of some professional snake
charmers. After it had left their hands
it was made to go through a lively
performance without the accompani
men.t of the wierd music of the fakir.
The operation of making the cobra
dance is very simple. The reptile has
the characteristic habit of elevating
the forward part of the body from the
ground when annoyed, spreading its
neck or hood and glaring fiercely at the
object of its anger. When in this p0.
sition it keen eyes watch eagerly for
a chance to deliver a deadly blow, ob
serving every movement of the object
or person in front of it. If one mov
es, no matter how slightly, there is a
corresponding nervous movement on
the part of the snake. Here the entire
secret of the snake dance is explained.
When the Hindoo opens the snake bas
ket the cobra rises ominously to their
peculiar position of defense. He now
commands the snakes to dance, at the
same time beginning a lively tune up
on his flute, and swaying his body from
side to side in time to the music. The
nervous cobras follow the motion of
the supposed charmer. They are not
dancing to the music, but, Intensely an
gered, are seeking to revenge them
selves upon their human captor.
The snake charming act of the be
spangled female with the giant boas
and pythons at the circus, is even more
simple, says the New York Times. The
large snakes used in these exhibitions
are in the first place of a harmless
nature. Secondly, they are most in
offensive in their habits. The lazy
boa will lie for hours or days motion
less in its cage, when suddenly awak
ened from a long nap Is utterly indif
ferent to what is going on around it.
After a few weeks in captivity these
huge reptile. become very tame, and
seem to enjoy being handled with one
familiar with their movements. The
chief requisites Of a "snake chamber"
are great deliberation and sufficient
nerve to handle a 10-foot boa, or ana
conda without the slightest hesita
tion. A nervous movement is apt to
annoy the snake and cause it to bite,
while if treated gently and handled
with movements corresponding to its
sluggist habits, it evinces the utmost
good nature.
Accounts have been published of
large snakes coiling themselves around
the object of their annoyance and dem
onstrating in an exceedingly uncomi
fortable, if not dangerous manner the
power of their scaly bodies. This
characteristic is popularly supposed to
be commonly resorted to b~y the "bo&
constrictor," but the idea is purely er
roneous and originates from an av4
sion to the serpent race from 'which.
have sprung innumerable fallacies and
superstitions.
Dog-Tight Gates.
According to a recent decision of a
Prussian court, the railroads in that
country must have dog-tight crossing
gates, or stand liable for any caine
injuries resulting from a failure to do
so. Some .time ago, while the gates
were closed at a railroad crossing in
Munster, an aristocratic hunting-dog,
in the active pursuit of his vocation,
eluded the obstacle and struck the
track at that point simultaneously with
an express train. The train passed on
unscathed says Law Notes, but the dog
had to be picked up with a sponge.
In a suit by the owner to recover $50
damages for the taking off of his blue
blooded pet, the railroad company
claimed that it had performed its whole
duty in shutting the gates, and that If
the dog was so ill-mannered as to
climb over or crawl under in the face of
such a manifest desire to exclude him,
then the blame was with his master.
The Court, howe"'r, held that it was
the duty of the railroad to keep the dog
off its tracks, and appointed experts to
determine whether the barriers provid
ed were reasonably calculated to pre
vent the passage of unwary dogs. They
reported adversely to the defendant,
and. after a further reference to ex
prts in canine pedigree to determine
the value of the deceased, the plain
tiff was awarded $60, with interest
from the date of the catastrophe.
"Why, darling," exclaimed the pret
ty bride of three weeks as she rushed
to embrace her husband, "how good it
was of you to skip baseball once and
come home early! You're just too
sweet."
And he accepted It all without say
ing a word about there being no game.
Detroit Free Press.
Miss Chase-That sporting widow
who got the brush to-day has been in
at the death a god many times.
Miss Hunt-Yes, and each of them
left her a fortune.--Brooklyn Life.
FREE BLOOD CURE.
An Offer Providing Faith to Sufferers
Eating Sores, Tumors, Ulcers, are
all curable by B. B. B. (Botanic Blood
Balm,) which is made especially to cur,
all terrible Blood Diseases. Persisten,
Sores, Blood and Skin Blemishes,
Srofula, that resist other treatments,
are quickly cured by B. B. B. (Botanit
Blood Balm). Skihi Eruptions, Pim
ples, Red, Itching Eczema. Scales,
Blisters, Boils, Carbancles, Blotches,
Catalh, Rheumatism, etc., 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
simptoms and personal free medicaf
advice will be given. Address Blood
WIND PESSURE IN TROTTING
Secret That Has Been of Great Beaeit
to Many Very Shrewd
Dri ers.
"Not one man in a hundred\, even
hmong professional drivers, seems to ap
preciate the importance of taking ad
vantage of the wind," said an oldidriver
the other day, relates the Chicago In
ter Ocean. "I have studied it for years,
and many's the time it has been worth
dollars and cents to me in driving a race
or in showing a horse to a buyer under
the watch. Not long ago a man came
here to see a mare in my stable, with a
view to buying if she could show a
quarter in 35 seconds. The wind hap
pened to be blowing good and strong
from the west, so I raid to him as I took
the mare out on the track for the trial:
'I'll just move her- slow through the
home stretch here so you can see her
way of going, and when I get around
the turn I'll step her fast up the back
stretch.' Well, It wasn't any trick at
all for her-to go that quarter with the
wind In 33 seconds. Mr. Buyer never
tumbled, and I got my price for the
mare. Now, If I had tried to show the
frst quarter down the home stretch,
going against the wind, she couldn't
have trotted it in 0:38. Another time
away back in the first part of April I
drove a green trotter a quarter one day
in 0:30/2. It caused: a big stir, and lots
of people who timed the trial saidIwas
a fool for doing it. so early In the sea
son. They didn't notice that my horse
was going before a stiff wind. I didn't
say anything to them, but I say to you
that it was easier for that horse to trot
that quarter In 0:301/ than it would
have been to drive him a quarter the
other way of the track In 0:38. Yet if
he had trotted over the same ground
the other way in 0:36 nobody would
have thought it was worth talking
about.
"I learned to take adivantage of the
wind when I used to drive races on the
kite track at Independence, Ia.," con
tinued the trainer. "I remember one
time I had a little soft-hearted mare
that couldn't go the last end of a mile
to save her neck, and she was entered
in a race against some game horses of
greater speed. I thought I would be
lucky to get fourth money, One of
those prairie winds was sweeping over
the kite almost in the faces of the
horses as they went away. I happened,
to get off right behind two of the good
ones. They were fighting for the lead
and trotted together like a team. Pret
ty soon I noticed that, while they ap
peared to be laboring, my mare was go
ing easily. For a moment I couldn't
understand it. Then it struck me that
she was in a good, position where she
was protected from the head wind,
which the horses in front of her had to
breast. I just let her trail until we
got around past the turn, where the
wind caught us the other way. Then I
turned her loose. The good horses were
exhausted and my little soft-hearted
mare stepped right away from them in
the race home. I've won many a race
by those tactics since then.
"By the way, did it ever strike you
that the secret of Ed Geers' style of
driving a race is right there in the way,
he has of protecting his horses from
the wind? Geers nearly always drops
behind the pole horse, you know, and
trails until he strikes the home stretch;
sometimes until he Is half way down
the stretch. I don't know whether he
does It intentionally, but he gets his
horse In a position where the at
mospheric resistance Is next to noth
ing, and there he stays while some
body else breasts the wind. To my
mind It accounts for a great deal of
Geers' sucepss. Even on a still day
a horse trotting a 2:10 gait has to plow
through what seems like a strong wnd,
and a mere gentle breeze seems like a
gale when you're going against It
"To go back to the kite track at In
depen dence, I remember one day when
the wind was whistling over the prairie
George Starr set out to drive Direct a
mile against time. He went down the
half in something like .1:01, with the
wind, of course, and). lots of folks
thought he was going to knock the
world's record Into a cocked hat. I
don't remember how fast the mile was
-not much better than 2:10, though.
When he struck the head wind he
wilted, and before he got to the wire
he was so tired that he couldi hardly
put one foot before the other. He Just
staggered home like a dead one, though
no gamer horse was ever foaled. I'ye
seen many another game one do the
same."
Letters in London.
The traveler is Interested In getting:
his letters promptly. At his London
hotel there are 15 deliveries a day. He
may drop a card In a post box at eight,
In the morning, get an answer at noon
and mail a reply which will get to his:
friend before evening. Within the lasti
three years, whenever the post ofcee
bill has come up in the house of repro-:
sentatives, there has been discussion ast
to the practicability of the pneumatlo *
dispatch. One might as well d'iscuss
the practicability of the telephone..
They would smile at auch suggestions,
in London or Paris, where a alight ad-:
dition to the postage will secure a rapid
delivery by pneumatic dispatch. An
other great convenience in the postal
system abroad is the method of paying.
money orders. One Is not obliged to go'
a half mile to a branch, or three miles
to the central post oface, to get his
money. The postman who brings the
order brings the money with him. You
receipt for it, and that in the end of it.
--Forum,
The Blacks on Top.
A dispateh from Honolulu says Rob
ert Wilcox, the independent socialist
candidate, has been elected Hawaiian
delegate to congress by a small majori
ty, over Samuel Parker, Repubhecan.
Much depression has resulted among
all whites, as Wilcox was strongly op
posed by Republicans and Democrats
alike. His campaign was an anti-white
canvass, with promises on the part of
some of his campaign workers that if
he were elected. Qaeen Lilioukalani
should be restored to the throne. The
result of the vote shows the native bit
terness over annexation to be still ap
parent. The independent native party
carried the house of representatives by
a large majority. It is likely as a re
sult of the election that congress will
be asked to establish some limitations
upon the voting privilege. Many of
the whites want a property quahuics
ion for voters. It is arguea that in
oting upon a simple color line many of
he blacks have shown themselves un
fit for universal suffrage.
GOOD ADvIaz.-The Gibson Record
hus advises the farmers: "Get your
heat in the ground and get in shape
o live, good time or bad times. The
ideawake farmer who makes his flour,
nat, syrup and potatoes, never knows
when hard times come. If meat goes
igh he has it to sell instead of buy;
f flour goes up he is all right, don't
are which way the wind blows, and we
an't see why all the farmers don't do