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Before It Is Too Late. If you have a gray-haired mother In the old home far away, Sit down and write the letter You put off day by day. -Don't wait until her tired steps Reach heaven's pearly gate But show her that you think of her Before it is too late. If you've a tender message Or a loving word t, say, Don't wait till you forget it But whisper it today. Who knows what bi ter memories May haunt you ifyou wait'. So make your loved ones happy Before it is too late. We live but in the present, The future is unknown Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is all our own The chance that fortune lends to us May vanish while we wait, So spend your life's rich treasure Before it is too late. The tender words unspoken, The letter never s nt. The long forgotten messages. The wealth of love unspent. For these some heatrs are breaking, For these some loved o; es wait So show them that you care for them Before it is too late. TALN&QE'S SEROfiN. Dr. Talmage Pleads With Those Given to Quick Anger. A delicate and difficult duty is by Dr. Talmage in this discourse urged upon all, and especially upon those given to quick temper; text, Ephesians iv, 26, "Be ye angry and sin not." Equipose of temper, kindness, pati ence, forbearance, are extolled by most of the radiant pens of inspiration, but my text contains that which at first sight is startling. A certain kind of anger is approved-aye, we are ecm manded to indulge in it. The most of us have no need to cultivate high tem per, and how often we say things and do things under affronted impulse which we are sorry for when perhaps it is too late to make effective apology! Why, then, should the apostle Paul dip his pen in the ink horn and trace upon parchment, afterward to be printed upon paper for all ages, the injunction, "Be ye angry and sin not?" My text commends a wholesome in dignation. It discriminates between the offense and the offender, the sin and the sinner, the crime and the crim inal. To illustrate: Alcoholism has ruined more fortunes, blasted more homes, de stroyed more son!, than any evil that I think of. It pours a river of poison and fire through the nations. Millions have died because of it, and millions are dying now, and others will die. Intemperance is an old sin. The great Cyrus, writing.to the Lacedemonians of himself, boasted of many of his qualities, among others, that he could drink and bear more wine than his dis tinguished brother. Louis X and Al exander the Great died drunk. The parliament of Edinburgh in 1661 is called in history "the drunken parlia ment." Hugh Miller, first stonemason and afterward a world renowned geolo gist, writes of the drinking habits of his day, saying: "When the foundation was laid, they drank. When the walls were leveled f or laying the joists, they drank. When the building was fin ished, they drank. When an appren tice joined, they drank." In the eigh teenth century the giver of an enter tainment boasted that none of the guests went away 8ober. Noah, the first ship eaptain, was wrecked-not in the ark, for that was safely landed but he was wrecked with strong drink. Every man or woman rightly construet ed will blush with in~dignation at the national and international and hemi spheric and planetary curse. It is good to be aroused against it. You come out of that condition a better man o- a better woman. Be ye angry at thai abomination, and the more anger the more exaltation to character. But that aroused feeling becom'es sinful when it extends to the victim of this great evil. Drunkenness you are to hate with a vivid hatred; but the drunk ard you are to pity, to help to extri Just take into consideration thai there are men and women who onee were as upright as yourself who have been prostrated by alcoholism. Per haps it came of a physician's prescrip tion for the relief of pain, a recurrence of the pain calling for a continuance of the remedy; perhaps the grandfather was an inebriate and the temptation to inebriety, leaping over a generation, has swooped on this unfortunate; per haps it was under an attempt to drown trouble that the benumbing and narco tie liquid was so'ught after; perhaps it was a very gradual chaining of the man with the beverage which was thought to be a servant, when one day it an nounced itself master. Be humble now, and admit that there is a strong prob ability that under the same circum stances you yourself might have been captured. The two appropriate emo tions for you to allow are indignation at the intoxicant which enthralled and sympathy for the vcetim. Try to get the sufferer out of his present environ ment; recommend any hygienic relief that you know of and, above all, im plore the divine rescue for the struggle in which so many of the noblest and grandest have been worsted. Do not give yourself up to too many philippics about what the man ought to have been and ought to have done. While vour cheek flashes with wrath at the foe that haa brought the ruin, let your eye be moistenee, with tears of pity for the sufferer. In that way you will have fulfilled the injunction of the text, ".2~Be ye angry and sin not." hThere is another evil the abhorrence of which you are all called to, and it is on the increase-the gambling prac tice. Recent developments show that much of this devastation is being wrought in ladies' parlors. It is an evil which sometimes is as polite and gracious as it is harmful. Indeed, there never were so many people try ing to get money without earning it, But it is a haggard transgression that comes down to us from the past, blight ing all its way. I have seen in the archives of the nation in this national capital a large book in which one of the early presi dents of the United States kept an ao count in his own handwriting of gains and losses at playing cards-on One page the gains and on the other the losses, and there are many pages. Ii other days many of national reputation went from the halls of c )ngress and the senate chamber to spend the night in naotoriou3 gambling saloons. One of the ablest men of the centuries, Charles Fox, got ready for his speeeb against '-The Petition of the Clergy' by spending 22 hours at the gaming table. Irving's life of Oliver Goldsmith says that the great poet lost ?30, al. his earnings, in a short tour to see the world. Gibbon, the author of "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Er pire," camne to his own decline and fall tho-g gamin pratices and m a But let me confess at this crisis of my sermon that there is not sa injunction in tho Bible more difoni to obey than the words 01 the text. W~hile it applauds a wholesome ind nation,it warms acainst sinfulanger. Acd therc is in all the realm of p s.ion nothing mre destrae tive than indiscriminate hate. First of ci all, it frenzies the nervous gangli. Those of people who easily fiare up on little th provocation go into high dudgeon, take umbrage without reason, snap you up quick, have ruined their nerves, and W there is only one tiing worse to ruin, go that is the brain, and we say of one that tic is given to frequent ebuilitions of temper to that he is an unbalanced man. A busi ness man of our acquaintance said: "I a cannot afford to get mad. It hurts me th so." And if sinful anger damages the til body how much more it rives the dispo- mi sition. There are thousands of men en clerks in stores who would been men- ac bers of great busincss firms, and under- pe mechanics who wo&d have been boss m carpenter., and attorneys who would er 'tave been leading advocates, and W preachers to.congregations who a:e stare- ac ing ?tiem to death who might have had hi appreciative surroundings, who have nc bean kept back ani kept dawn by un- an governable tempar-. The outbreak lat- it: ed only a little while, but it impeded a sn lifetime. co Surpassing all other characters in the de world's biography stands Jesn3 Christ, ki wrathful against sin, mercitul to the se sinner. Witness his behavior toward at the robed ruffians who demanded cpi- cis tal punishment for an offending wo- to man-denunciation for their sinful o. hypocrisy, pardon for her sweet peni- re tene. He did not speak of Herod as w< 3 "his majesty" or "his royal highnezs," br but dared to compare him to a cunning tit fox, saying, "Go ye and toll that fox." ch Bat, alert to the cry of s.uffeaing, he rig finds ten lepers, and to how many of ea the ten awful invalids did he give con M valeseence and health? Ten. Rebuk- ri ing Pharismism in the most compressed ag sentence in all the vocabulary of ana- ro thema-"Ye serpents, ye generation fo of vipers, how can ye escape the dam- at nation of hell?'-yet looking upon w; Peter with such tenderness that no at word was spoken-and not a word was to needed, for the look spoke louder than m l words. "And the Lord looked upon ci Peter, and went out and wept bitterly. h( On what a look it must have been to si break down the swarthy fisherman bi apcstle! It was such a hart look, such al a loving look, such a forgiving look! nc Was there in any other being since ti: l time began such a combination of wrath gi against wrong and compassion for the th wrongdoor? "Lion of Judah's tribe!" cii t Hear that! "Lamb of God who taketh t1 away the sins of the world!" Hear al that! - c Defying the mightiest government of er the world, the Reman government, yet ar rubbing his hand just below the fore- he head of the blind mand until the optic di nerve of him who was born sightless is th created, and the sunlight has two new m paths; to tread. Best illustration the yc world ever saw of anger without sin- pE anger against the abominations which to have mauled and blasted the earth from en its deepest cavern to its highest cliff, ki but so much pity for the sinning and tl suffering nations that he allowed them ai to transfix him upon two pieces of wood he nailed across each other on a day that i Iwas dark as the night; the window of in heaven shut because the immortals at could not bear to look down upon the c Sassassination of the loveliest being gr rthat ever walked the shore of the lakes Xe or, without pillow or blanket, slept on t the meuntains. Iil Like him, let us hate iniquity with ci complete hatred; but, like him, may we help those who are overthrown and be ti willing to suffer for their restoration. in Then, although at the opening of this is discourse our text may have seemed to w command us to do an impossible thing. h< awe will at the close of this sermon, with re ra prayer to God for help, be more rigid af and determined than ever before ti against that which is wrong, while at d 3the same time we shall feel so kindly ta toward all the erring and work so hard E tfor their rescue that we will rnel z , that at we have scale the Alpine, the H imala- ti 1yan, height of my text. which enjins, -a t'Ba ye angry and sin not." y What M[other Taught Me, g A clergyman, who is stationed at one hi ofhou largest insane asylums, relates tefollowing ineid at: One Sabbath ~ as I was leaving the hall in which I had 'I as usual preached to a large number of these uni-ertueates, f.or wham I awass O felt a decp compasuion, knowing tat most of them are incapacle of appre ciating the words I speak, one cf the men, with a friendly grin on his expres sionless face, stopped me at the door P< and said in a whisper, ' I can pray to>." W The words surprised me, for this poor ar felilow was regarded as a perfect idtot. fl He had forgotten everything: his nam, h his age-about none of these he could ai give the least information. So I asd d somswhat doubtfally, "What can you a pray?" He naswered proudly, ."What h myoth-:r taught me." "And what did G oth tacti you?' I further asked. 01 He folded his hands and dev -udy ct began: i "L ord J'esus, who dost love me, Xe 0 apread Toy wings above me, And shield ma from alarm:" tr IH: recited the whole stanza without gi mistake. Then the vague staring ex pression returned into his face, and he g -was again the same unfortunate imnbe- ni cile that ha had always been. He had W forgotten all-he could not recili a sin- y gle occurrence of his whole life, only "what mother taught him" to pray had et not been erased from his poor mind. at O3, that all mothers would know and el consider what power God has pui into ha their words! c. Hanged Him to a Tree. Robert White, a negro, was lynched tr Tuesday near Tallahasse, E lmore coun- ol ty Ala., Robert White and brother, at Winston, were tenants on the :!arm of a d Mr. Goodwin and their chickens annoy- a] ed a truck farmer named Thomas. The ga latter killed all the fowls belonging to a the Whites. Monday night the two c negroes attacked Thomas and fired w several shots at him, but doing no di dmg.Thomas returned the fire ai and aiightly wounded Winston White, w, Robert White was arrested and while 0a on the way to Watumpka a mob took te him from the officers and hanged him to w a tree-.h STHE Charlotte Observer says a~ that the gold rniners who have H been operating a hydraulic plant h D in the Cataw ba river have made the discovery that the black sand in the bed of the river - is a rich with gold. An assay of a of quantity of this sand rccently a made, shows a yield of $:35u per pc Iton. This is an extraordinary in ric'a yield, and if all the sand in ~ the company's workings holds a up to it, the result will be a ~ veritable bonanza. Weather conditions have been fa- w vorable for farming operations and a much' effective work is being done to a th very backward crop. Stubble lands si are being seeded down in peas and a w genuine effort to make hay will be gen- it letter in l7 t; sid: "I have undone is no purpose to con e: I ra c T;u my abominaole madness and :olly. i. have neverlost so much in fl; days as I bave tonight, and I am in debt to the house for the whole.' There is-another sin that we are often times called to be angry with, and that is fraud. We all like honesty, and when it is sacrificed we are vehement in denunciation. We hope that the detee tives will soon come upon the tracks of the abs onding bank cffiial, of the burglar who blew up the Safe, of the clerk who sk:ilfuliy cbangcd the figures in the account bock, of the falsifier who secured the loan on valueless property, of the agent who because of his per centaze wronzfuliy admits a man to the betest of a life insurance policy when his heart is ready to stop and who comes from an ancestry characteristicaliy short lived. ):e art of fraud told of in big head lines in tLe morning papers rightfully arouses the nation's wrath. It is the interest of every good man and good woman who reads of the crime to have it exposed and punished. Let it go un: ecathod, aLd you put a premium o fraud, yea depress public morals, yo. induo those who are on the fence be tween right and wrorg to get down or the wrong side, and you put the busi ness of the we rld on a down grade. Th< constabulary and penitentiary must de their work. But while the mereiles and the godless cry: ' Good for him I am glad he is within the prisol doors!" be it s our work to find out if tha man is worth saving and what were th< causes of his moral overthrow. Per haps he started in business life under f tricky firm, who gave him wrong notion; of business integrity; perhaps there waf a eonbination of cireumstances almos1 unparalled for temptation; perhaps there were alleviations; pe-haps he was born wrong and never got over it; per haps he did not realize what he was do ing, and if you are a merciful man yet will think of other perhaps which though they may not excuse, will ex tenuate. Perhaps he has already re pent and is washed in the blood of th; Lamb and is as sure of heaven as yot are. What an opportunity you have nos for obeying my text. You were angra at the misdemeaor, but you are hopefa for the recavery of the recalcitrant Blessed all prison reformers! Blessei are those governors and presidents wh< are glad when they have a chance t< pardon! Blessed the forgiving father wI o welcomes home the prodigal Blessed the dying thief whom the Lori took with him to glory; saying. "Thi day shalt thou be with me in paridise! There is another evil that we ough to abhor, while we try to help the vie tim, and that is infidelity. It snatches the life preserver from the man aflom and affords not so much as a spar or i plank as substitue. It would extin guish the only light that has ever bees kindled for the troubled and the lost Lit the spirit of infidelity take hold o a neighborhood, and in that town th marriage relation is a farce, and goot morals give place to all styles o immorals. Let it take possession o: this earth, an: there would be no vir tue left in all the world's circumference All the sins rebuked in the Ten Corn mandmnents would be dominant. Th torch that shall kindle the confiagratioi of the earth in its last catastrophe wil not do as much damsge as wou'd infi delity and agnostieism if they got th chance. Be angry with such theorie of unbelief and hatred of God. ~Neve laugh at the witticisms of those wh would belittle the Bible with their ;j ecu larity. Qiote to them the four lines o Whittier: And weary seekers of the best We come back laden with our quest To find that all the sages said Is in the book cur motners read. Have a lightning in you eye and: fiish in your oneek and a frown on you brow for a dastardy that would blot on the sun and moon and stars of Chris tianity and leave all things ia an arcti night, the cold equa' to the darkness You ao well to be angry, but how abou those who have been flung of sceptic ism, and that is more millions than yo1 will ever know of until the j adgmen day reveals everything. Ah, here coma your opportunity for gentleness; kind ness and sympathy. The probabilit: is that if you had been plied with th Eame infinenees as this unbeliever ther, would not be a Bible in all your hons from cellar to atti. Perhaps he was il some important transaction swindled b; a member of the church whose takin| of the sacrament was a sacrilege. Per haps he read agnos tic books and hear. agnostic lectures and mingled in agnos tic circ es until he has been befogge< and needs your Christian help mor than any one that you know of. De not get into any labored argument about the truth of Christianity. Hi may beat you at that. He has a whole artillery of weapons ready to open fire Remember that no one was ever re formed for this life or saved for the lif< to come by an argument, but in hum blest and gentlest way, your voie< sbdued, ask him a few questions. Ad him if he had a Christian parentage and if he says yes ask him whether th old folks died happy. Ask him if h has ever heardi of any one going out o this life in raptures of infidelity an agnosticism. Ask him if it is not somewhat remarkable fact that th Bible, after so many years, sticks to gether and that there are more copie of it in existence than ever before. As] him if he knows of any better civiliza tion than Christian civilization an< whether he thinks the teachings o Confucius of Christ are preferable. As] him if he thinks it would be a fair thin, in the Creator of all things to put 1. this world the human race and giv, them no direct communication for thei: guidance and, if they did wrong, te] them of no way of recovery. I think i a famous infidel of our time, instead a being taken away instantaneously, ha4 died in his bed after weeks and month of illness he would have revoked hi teapings and lef t for his beloved famil, consolations which they could not fin< in obsequies at which not one word o Holy Scripture was read, or at Fres] Pond crematory, where no Christia: benediction was pronounced. I do no positively say that in a prolonged ill ness there would have been a retrac tion, but I think there would. Thre renowned infidel, Mr, Baker, af ter spending his long life in leeturin, against Christianity in all our cities an< in publishing large and elaborate book in depreciation of the Scriptures, in th' losing years of his life wrote to me tha he had changed and that he woaild lik< to stand in my pulpit and undo the evi that he had wrought for the most of hi lfetime. I wrote him in congratulatioi for his soul's saks that he had tu-nst back from infidielity, but that Ithough he could not undo the work of a lifetimi and that he had talked so long on tha wrong side I did not think he could di anything by talking on the right side The mercy of Gad is so great that wan; of the mighticat arntagonists of our reli gion haye in their last days been brough to repentance and eteroal life. Let th thunder of yo:Lr wholesome indignatioe be followed by the kindly rain of pit ,a love "Be yaoe a nr adsn non. ARP ON SUICIDES ye Chopping Wood is a Sure Cure Diseases Other Matters. The increasing prevalence of sui lee indicates an unhealthy condition mind and body and I have thought at if the man would quit thinking out his iroubAs and go to chopping od or digging in the garden, or even hunting and get up a good circula >n he would feel better and conclude live on a while longer. The body cots the mind and when the blood in e veins gets thick and sluggish and e secretion become stagnant, the ind gets diseased and morbid, the lotions are out of tune and the man tually believes he would find rest and sc: in death. It is strange that a:ny in of education or refinement would tertain sela an unreasonable hope. hat did the schoolteacher of Dothan complish by killing Dr. McNeil and mself? Where is the sehcol:eacher w? When two enemies fight a duel d both are killed, how do their spir emeet in the other world? Do they ake hands or renew the fight, for, of urse, they are not in heaven? What es the young man aocomplish by iiing his sweetheart and then him ix? Are they not then forever separ ed? What does anybody gain by sui e? As Hamlet says: "Is it not better bear the ills we have than fly to hers that we know not of?' Why not n away from yoursell? Ran to the yods-keep on running-jump the anohes, swim she rivers, get wet, get :ed-work in the garden, dig, hoe, :op wood, mount a horse and ride fu usly-anything to divert the dis sed mind from its train of thought. y good old father was afflicted with teumatism and when he felt the acute, onizing pains caming on he would use up and limp away nnd make r the farm, and would walk faster d faster as the pains increased, and yld actually mke them ashamed td they woula leave him for a day or ro. To keep the mind in a good, nor al conditon the body must be exer sed. Sedentary occupation are not ,althy for men, and even woman ould fly around the house with a 'oom or wash the windows occasion, ly, or dig among the f )wers. It wili >t do for them to sit and sew all the e. 1 am sorry fo: these unmaried ris who have to r'n the machine all .e day long and get no healthy exer se except for the ankle bones. When ey get married and the babies come ong they are pretty safe, for little jidren give a mother division tough. A mother with a babe in her ms never thinks of suicide. Even if ,r husband is cruel to her or is a unkard, she will live on and on for e sake of the child. We note that ost of the suicides occur am ng the ung men and are caused from intem ;rance or disappointed love or failure make money fast, or being caught in a'jezzlement (alias stealing) O.hello led himself because he. found out at he had wrongfully killed his wife, d Sbu-kespeare says "he was great or ~art." I reckon he was, considering at he was a Moor and did not believe a heareafter. It was the best thing ~d the most heroic thing that he uld do. It was -the very intensity of 'ef and repentanca and has no paral I in modern suicides, for most all of Lem are selfish or revengeful. It was e the Harikiri of Saul, or of the an ent generals when defeated in battle. The most alarming feature aboaut eee su-cides of our young men is the dication that they are not believers the Christian religon. Noe sane man ill take his own life if he believes in ~avan and hell and a future state of wards and punishments. He will be raid to. The infinence of modern fie on on the youthful mind has much to >with it, for a great deal of it is inted with atheism and infidelity. van some of the stancard writer3, oeb as Hume and Disraeli had left Lir had impression. The latter threw dark shadow over life and says thar >uth is a blunder, manhood a strug e and old age a regret. Is it not far better to take a more ypeful view of life and say like the ot, Horace Smith: 'he World is very lovely'! Oh, my Gcd. I thank thee that 1 live." r, to sy like Longfellow 'Life is real-life is earnest, And the grave is not its goal." It is easy to diagnose a poet's temn ram~nt of a philosopher's by his rtings-some are, gloomy and some 'a bright and oheeriul. I was rmi ting about there young men who ve just graduated a; my alama mater d the other home cilleges, and won ~ring how many of them would prove success in life and twenty years ance exclaim with the poet, "On, my 4d, I thank Thee that I live." Fifty. tn years ago I was at Athens, in the ass of' 47 and of the forty-two then ing there are now but half a dozen t. Many of them lived and died and ada no signs. Some of them saw ouble and some made good citizens od husbands and fathers; and just history re peats itself all along the nerations. it grieved me that I could > attend the centennial and commune Wth the alumni and re jsice with the >ng and feel lonely with the old. Then there is old college and new eol ;e, and the chapel and the campus 1d the two halls that are still un iangd. I wonder how many bays ve occupied the old room that Bris se and 1 lived in for two long years saw it in the picture and felt like it is still my room. The ailanthus ses (by a misnomer called the tree heaven) grew close to our windows td extenaer heir nauseating odors to irmitory waere we slapt, and the boys I along the line complained, but the culty said it would soon pass away, d the trees were imported from ina, the Celestial Empire, and they ane called the trees of heaven. Se one ark night the boys (not 1) got axes ad girdled them and they died and nt to heaven in China, where they me from. For some months I roomed new college, and so did our tutor, Li was cross and never smiled, for was an old bachelor-peace to his hs. He wouldent let me nor Chess award play on the flute after study urs at night, nor let Ben Moseley nor ek Farmer play on the fiddle. Said it noyed him, and so some of the boys at i) got some o'd cannon balls from e armory and away in the dead hour night, when deep sleep falleth upon man or a tutor, they rolled a six >under along the long hall 200 feet ht by his door, which was about idway. When it got to the other end other boy slipped out and rolled it tk again, and the rolling and rumb >g was kept up for a time until there ppened j ast what they thought >uld happen. The tutor had opened crack in his door, and when he heard , ball coming for the fifth time he ip~ cue suddenly and stopped it ith his it and picked it up and took in his ron. That w just what the boys (not 1) wanted, for they had another one in the ire geitiog =lot. In due time they took it in tho shovel and sent it slowely down the ally. and it stopped rot far from his door. Q2ickly he stepped out and the light frum his room showed him the ball. He seized it with his right band and straightway dropped it and used some language that was unbecoming, and retreated to his room. The next day his hand was tied up in a wbite handkerchief, which was a kind of flag of truce, for he was much more considerate to as and seem ed to like music. I never perpetrat:d much mischief while in college, but I was an apt scholar to look on and en joy all the fun. Chess Howard was an expert, and could play ball better than anybody, especially a hot cannon ball. Chess came to see us some time ago and after while asked me and my wife to give them some music. And so she seated herself at the piano and I took my flete and asked what he would like. And he said play that good old piece that we used to call "Sillie Baxrer" when we went serending in Aeas. So we played it, and before we were aware cf it Chess had slipped his own flute out of his pocket ard was toothing ae behind me Sallia was our col legg sweetheart, but we dident get her, for a Bird flew there and she followed him off to Baltimore and is living there yet. But we never thought of suicide. Bat I forbear. It is sweet and it's Ead to recall the memories of '45, '46 and '47, and I would have felt lost and lonely in Athens. It was college then. It is a great university now, and many ch:nges have come over it, and we old veterans have to keep up with the pro cession whether we like the modern methods or nor. They have got inter collegiate baseball in the curriculum now and I reckon it is to keep the boys rom committing suicide. It diverts heir mix ds from the strain of trig onometry and calculus and conic sec tions. Progress is the order of the day in colleges as in everything else. Oe hundred and fifty years ago old Dr. Johnson said to Boswell, "In our great schools there is less flagging than for merly. Consequently, less is learned there. So what the boys get at one end and they loss at the other." Now there is no flogging anywhere, and the teach ers and professors are thankful if they escape it from the boys. Bll Arp. CONDITION OF CEOPS. Weekly Weather and Crop Report of Director Bauer. The following is the weekly bulletin of the condition of the weather and the crops issued Wednesday by Director Baner of the South Carolina section of the United States weather bureau's cli mate and crop service: The week ending Monday. July 1, averaged slightly warmer than usual with a maximum temperature of 102 at Batesburg on the 25:h, and a min imum of 60 at Cheraw on the 27th. The temperature was generally favor able for the growth and development of field crops, and there was about the normal amount of sunshine, High winds caused some damage to corn on the 25th. There were numerous, scattered showers throughout the week, genera'l; light, but heavy in places, witha amax imam rainfall of 2.0 inches in Packens county. Cultivation made fair progress where the rainfall was light, but muchI land remains too wet to cultivate, and many fields continue to be grassy, al. though much grass was killed during the week. There are complaints of the ground becoming very hard as it dries. Damage by hail occurred in Abobevillo, B zmberg, Barnwell, Newberry and Saluda counties, and light hail was re ported from a few other points. There ?re numerous reports of corn and cotton fields being abandoned on account of their foul condition and the cost and difficulty of cleaning them. There was a general improvement in the condition of cotton, greatest on red lands that could be worked, and in the sea island section, while on sandy lands the plants continue to die to some extent, ar-d generally ara not thriving. Cotton is unusually small for the season, but has begun to bloom in places, although yet it is fruiting sparsely. The general condition of cot ton continues to be unpromising. On lowlying lands is decideily off color. The condition of corn varies greatly, although generally poor over the east ern hatf of the State, where it is be ing laid by. Upland corn looks well over the wostern counties, but in bot toms it was almost entirely destroyed and is now being replanted to some extent Planting stubble lands in corn is also underway. Over the greater portion of the to bacco regions the plants are backwatn and small, but in Kershaw county to. bacco is doing well. Cutting and cur ing made slow progress in Fiorence county, and has not been begun in other sections. Rice is generally thriv ing. Wheat ind oats are being threshed, and many correspondents re port the yields the best in years. Oats were greatly damaed by rain after cut ting, but the d emage to wheat was elight. Minor crops are generally ia a thriv ing condition, but peaches and plume are rotting extensively as they ripen. Apples continue to drop. Pastuares and gardens, with somns exceptions, arc flne. O2 the whole, there is a marked improvement in the crop prospects, but they are still reported discurag ing. _________ Englandl's New Warships. A special from London says: In the house of commons Friday, Arnold Fors ter, the secretary of the admiralty, an nounced that the year's shipbuilding progress included three battleships of a new improved class, six cruisers of the Monmouth class and ten improved tor pedo boat destroyers. The battleships will be of 16,500 tons and 20 feet longer than those of the Formidable class. Their indicated horse power will be 18, 000 and their speed 18 1 2 knots. The armor of the new battleships will be a belt eight to nine inches thick. A pe culiar feature of the new ships will be six inch guns not mounted in separate casements but enclosed in a battery with seven inch armor. Ihe ship's ar mament will consist of for forward fire, two 12 inch guns, two 9 2-in ah guns and two 6 inch guns. Aft fire, of the same suns of the Formidable character. It is thought these ships will ecmpare favoraby with any thing buildinog by any Euopean povor. The new ships will be named the King Edward, the Domin ion an d t be Common wealth. to comemo rate the great support to king and conn try by the two krear branches of the kindred race. The cruisers will be of a speed of 23 knots. Their armament wil be heavicr than the Monmouth's. It is believed that the cruisers which are about to be built will. be equal to anything likely to be brought against them. The torpedo boat destroyers will be of stronger construction. All the new ships will be fittcd with wire less telegraphy as will also all the other British warships as they come in for TepaiLs. TAFTTAKES CHARGE Judge Taft Installed as Civil Gov ernor of Philippines. PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE. Governor Taft Hopes Filipinos Will Soon b t Olsd They are Not Free. Gen. Chaff e Relieves M'Arthur. Civil government in the Philippine: was auspiciously inaugurated Thursday, Commisioncr Taft was escorted b3 Gen. MacArthur and Gen. Chaffee from the palace to a great temporar3 tribune on the opposite side of thi Plaza Piacio. S anding on a projectini centre of the tribune, Mr. Taft took th< oath o cflae as civil governor of th< Philippine islands. The oath was ad ministercd by Cbicf Justice Arnello Gov. Taft was then intrcdaced by Gen MacArthur, the gun of Fort Santiag< being fired by way of a salute. A feature of the inaugural address o Gov. Taft was the announcement tha on Sept. 1, 1901, the commission woul< be increased by the appointment o three native members, Dr. Wardo De tavera, Benito Legarda and Jose Luz2 riaga. Before the lit of September departments will be instituted as fol low, the heads being members of th United States Philippine commission Interior-Worcester. Commerce and Police-Wright. Jastice and Finance-Ide. Public Instruction-Moses. Of the 27 provinces organized, Gov Taft said the insurrection still exist in five. This will cause the continu ance of the military government ii those sections. Sixteen additiona provincee are reported without insur rection, but as yet they have not bees organized. Four provinces are no ready for civil government. Gov. Taf said that with the concentration o troops in large garrisons it would b necessary for the people to assist th, police in the preservation of order Fleet launches will be procured, h said, which will facilitate communica tion among the provinces, as well a aid the postal and revenue depart ments. In connection with educational of forts, Gov. Taft said that adults shoul< be educated by an obs rvation c American methodh. He said that ther was a reasonable hope that congres would provide a tariff, suitable to as sist in the development of the Phi) ippines and not a mere application c the Uaited State; tai if According to Gov. Taft there is a unexpended balance in the insula treasury of $3,700,000 ard annual it come of $10,000,000. The governor said that any possibl friction between civil and military out ordinates should be discouraged. Tb patriotism of the leading Filipinos wa com mended. In conclusion Civil Go' ernor Taft reiterated a h->pe expresse by the president that in the future tI inhabitants would be grateful for ti American: Philippine victories and ta they would be indissolubly linked i ties of affeedon with the comno country. . ' The reading of President McKinley message of congratulation was enthus aetically cheered. The entire frontc the tribune, a bloek long, was decoral ed with fibgs and several hundred o1 ficers with their families and friend were a ated therein. Gen. MacArthui Civil Governor Taft and Military Goa ernor Chaff e occupied the centre, wit the other fenerals on their right. Re; Admiral Kempff and his staff were o their left. The United States oommit sionrs and the justices of the suprem court were immediately in the rear wit the foreign consuls. The mass of tlh people stood in the park opposite. Th Filipino leader3 were there, but ther were more Americans than Filipinc present. The president's message is as fo lows: "Taft, Manila: "Upon the assumption of your no duties as civil governor of the Phi ippines, I have great pleasure in en ing congratulations to you and yet assoaiate commissioners and my thank for the good work already secon plished. I extend to you my full coni dence and best wishes for still greate success in the large responsibilitie now devolved upon you, and the assul anee not only for myself but for m countrymzen of good will for the peep] of the islands and the hope that the: participation in the government whic it is our purpoce to develop amon them may lead to their highest ad vanoement, happiness and prosperity "(Signed) William McKilnley." The transfer of the military author ity to Gen. Cheff.:e was carried out i: the presence of the generals, in Gen MacArthur's cffi:e. Thiere was no foi mality. Gen. MacArthur presented th new comrmande: to the generals an rcmarked: "I bepruath to yen all my troubles. All the high civil and army officer accompanied Gen. MacArthur to th river front, where he formally embark cd. Gen. Chaff ce then returned to th, palace and received the public. Four Negroes Hanged. At Vernon, Fia., four negroes wer< hanged Friday morning for murder. Tb: names of the negroes were: Bsltor Hamilton, John Simmons, Jim Harri son and Will Williams. Williams H arrison and Hamilton had been con victed of killing a helpless negro an almost killing his wife. It was adduc ed in the evidence that the three hai warned their victim. Jeff iDavis, t< leave a certain turpentine camp. Davii obeyed instructions at once but wai forced to return on account of lack o. transportation of his household goods, He came back on Oat. 2 last and wa; at once spotted by his enemies who sur rounded him inihis heme, and station ing themselves behind convenient tree; proceeded to riddle the cabin with rifli balls. Davis was told to put his gur outside, which he did and was soor afterwards dragged from his house and shot to death while in his wife's arms Daring the trial Hamilton on cross exam ination confessed, saying: "I'm guilty before God I am guilty, and I ought t< be hung until dead." By his confes sion also the others were convicted, John Simmons had killed anothe negro. The town of Vernon is without railroad connection and long rides of 16 mile: were made by all classes of people. Al least 2 500 were present. The four me groes were made to ascend the gallowl at one tim2 at 10:55 a. in., and afte: short statements from each, who claim ed to be on the road to heaven. Th< trap was sprung and the four wer< plunged into spae, remaining suspend ed for 50 minutes. Only one neck wai broken, and the others having die; from strangulation. NEIGHBORS. When Farmer Never-mind-It found The winter had fulfilled its span, He hustled out, and hurried 'round, And hired his neighbor's extra man; And through the spring till almost May He frittered half his time away. He let his broken fences lie Just where the winds had thrown them last; As for the weeds, he wondered why They got ahead of him so fast; But, when a weed began to show, He let it go, and let it grow. When Farmer Perseverance sowed His valley-gardens, rich and wide, He mended fences, weeded, hed, With all a sturdy toiler's pride; And, all the growing season through, He said he found enough to do. And when upon his well-kept farm i A blight would satisfy its greed, He made amends for every harm, And kept ahead of every weed; And, if the weather fouled or cleared, He persevered. and persevered. -Frank Walcott Hutt, in Farm Journal. ------w w wwwwtr. .".- -.? HER PUNISHMENT By Henri DeForge. (Copyright, 1901 by Authors Syndicate.) OU will never be a success, my friend." Martha Dubreuil said this in a tone half railing and half jesting. Pierre raised his head without an swering and twitched nervously the page blackened by ink. It was the twentieth time at least that his wife had made such remarks, and what was worse, he realized sorrowfully that she spoke the truth. Once he had written a book of which he had been proud, a novel launched timidly by a publisher who made him pay the cost of publication. That was an hour of ambitious dreams, long since dissipated by the grim reality. "I will amount to something in the world," he had said resolutely. And he believed it as did those who ad mired him-which is to say his mother, his sister and some of his friends who read the book. Martha, his wife, was not one of these admirers.- She told him frankly again and again: "You will amount to nothing." He had no answer to make to Mar tha's sneers, and he suffered keenly in recalling the lucky days when they walked together as lovers along paths 9 bordered by flowers and they made vows to each other and kissed. "You will be a great man, my darling," she had said then. Pierre believed that he had been faithless in not keeping his promise of 9 greatness made four years before. 8 She had brought him her youth and beauty, and he ought to have given her in exchange the literary fame she had expected, and have earned a fortune for her by his pen. But now she had a abandoned those cherished dreams of r reflected glory. The poor fellow recalled the happy days that had preceded theirmarriage, e and the delights of their companion ship during their-honeymoon. And he e answered to her taunt: 8 "So much the worse, my dear. But -we love each other, and that is enough." dHe would not have cared for the plaud' 0 Its of the crowd if he had had the love e of Miartha. But she broke into laugh t ter that froze his feeble smile. 1l "Oh, yes, indeed. That's well 12 enough. One can't live on love. It is all very well to say so in the novels you S write-or count on writing-butin real -life things are different." if When summer came they went to - the seashore, Pierre securing an ap -pointmnent as the resort correspondent S of a newspaper. When he told her that , they were going, she said: "Ah, you -. are a nice husband, after all." And she i smiled, but the smile was given as in r alms. n At the seashore she was soon the - belle of the place, and people forgot e about her husband, the reporter, who i remained in the shade. Some men were e with her much of the time, and gossip e linked her name with that of a wealthy e idler.. Pierre ventured to speak of it. g "What of it?" she asked. "The man amuses me with his compliments. You . know that I am an honest woman. But I need amusement." Dubreuil's sufferings were intense. SThe thought of that imbecile who was ever at Martha's side bruised his Lheart. He wanted to strangle him in the crowded ballroom; and longed rfor a duel. But the man was influ ential and a litterateur of renown. A duel between them would have been grotesque and useless. The count deigned to interest him self a little in Pierre. "Let us write a piece, my young friend," said he, "and I will give you rrecommendations. A man has talent, when he has the sense to win a wife gas pretty as yours." "Ys Pierre, why haven't you some thing on hand?" said his wife. One evening when he was in the little room, he seated himself at his work table, while his wife, who had danced too much, slept peacefully. He rested his head on his hands and Sthought sadly: "Yes, Martha's love f or me has passed." White paper w'as in front of him. It was one of those silent nights that *tempt a writer, a night of stars and silence. "I will try to work," he mused. Feverishly he took up his pen. He wrote of things and thoughts such as he had in his heart, speaking of the happy past and the chagrin of the present, of charming memories and 3the painful reality. All night he worked upon his work of life and emotion. "Up already, Pierre?" exclaimed Martha when she opened her pretty eyes in the morning. "At what are Iyou working, my early bird?" "W~hat difference does it make?" said he, coldly. "You know well that I am capable of nothing.". Express Train Robbed. According to advices to Chief of Polie O'connor, at St. Paul, Minn., train No. 4 on the Great Northern leaving Seattle Sunday evening, was held up near Wag ner, Mont., about 1 o'clock Wednesday afternoon by a gang of outlaws. The Great Northern Erprea safe was blown open and $40,000 is said to have been secured. __________ Died of Charbon. A special from Vickeburg, Miss., Friday, reports the death of another human victim of charbon, a negro liv ing near Rosedale, Miss. It is added that fully 1,000 animals have died of the disease in Bolivar county alone. THE Sumter Watchman and Southiron says the cotton seed oil trusts will surely meet with the same fate that befell the cot ton bagging trust when it un dertook to squeeze the farm ers. The farmers have abundant use at home for all the cotton seed that they can produce and need not sell them to the trust unless the price is high .enough So each evening while Martha ale Pierre worked. He arose stealt like a robber to write without aro Ing suspicion. He felt that it was his last chance to write something worth while. Several days later Pierre and his wife went back to the city. He was loath to leave, but Martha was hap py in anticipation of new triumphs. Her devoted count had promised to open new, and yet more fashionble, houses to her. "We will push your husband," he said, in a protecting tone. "Work, Pierre," added Martha. "The indorsement of the count is val uable. Don't throw away the chance." Pierre Dubreuil did not answer. Nowadays he appeared to be indif ferent to all that went on around him. One day at the end of a melan eholy dinner tete-a-tete with Martha he said: "By the way, the Gymnase will pre sent a play of mine in a few weeks. The newspapers made the announde ment this morning." "What!" exclaimed his wife, curi ously. 'iou have said nothing of it to me!" "What was the use? I have always bad such bad luck with my work that, I have not mentioned this one even to you." Martha was satisfied and the thought of a play by her husband pleased her vanity. She liked to im agine herself in a box on the opening night. She kissed her husband on both cheeks. "Are you content?" he asked, anx iously. "Yes indeed, my husband," she answered. When the time approached for the representation Martha was happy." For the newspapers contained many advance notices and most of them spoke of the play as excellent. The play presented .at the Gymnase was not a comedy, but a drama of great depth and emotional strength representing a drama of the strong est human emotions. The blase pub-.r lic was delighted. It was a triumph with few precedents in the enthusi asms it aroused. It was a master's::. work that people said would place - the author among the rank of the world's foremost dramatists. Martha, charmingly dressed in mauve, was in a box with a crowd;" of friends, among who was the per sistent count. From the first worTs of the play she was surprised. .e story acted on the stage was fai to her. It seemed as if she had had : the same experiences in the days of her courtship. She clapped her litl bands in applause, proud to listen to the clever words and charmed to see the dead days revived. She sought to glance in the eyes of her husband hid den behind a curtain of the box. In the second act the action grew quicker. A crisis came between the man and wife.. The words they spoke were those that had passed between Martha and Pierre. Evidently he had put his own experience into the play. It was interesting, but what would come next? Martha had been so in different to Pierre that she could noti guess. The third act was admirable. In the drama the suffering of her lims band was analyzed with a master's hand, cruel in his resignation, 4or ture and tenderness. The role of- the woman was studied with a psycholo gy delicate and mocking. It was - masterpiece. Martha listened with beating heart. Each phrase spoken by the comedi ans was for her like the stab of a dagger. Was it possible that she had - made Pierre suffer like that?- For by this time she knew that her true -his- - tory was being~ told on the stage. - - "Bravo," shouted the count, who did not understand the real meaning of the play. "My friend, your husband, Is a clever fellow, and we will make something of him." But Martha did not answer. -She stified her emotion. - "Take my arm," said the count-at the end. "Not to-day," she answered. "I shall be proud to go on the arm of my husband." Pierre followed her with diffiulty, making a passage through the admir - ing crowd. When in the street s friends crowded to congratulate them. They wished to give them a supper. When the supper had ended and-the reached home in that house where Pierre had experienced so much hap piness and grief, Martha fell on her knees before him and broke into tears. Thirteen Not a Hoodoo. "Well, Miss Bingham isn't super stitious." The remark was made during the performance of "The Climbers" by a - man with a statistical turn of mind. "Here's little old No. 13 all over the place. There are 13 letters in the names of Amelia Bingham, Frank Worthing, Madge Carr Cook, Ysobel Haskins, Florence Lloyd and Joseph Physioc, the scenic artist. You find t again in the names of some of the characters: Freddy Trotter, played by Ferdinand Gottschald; Julia Goodesby, by Clara Bloodgood, and Jessica Hunter, by Maude Monroe." "I can climax that," remarked a bystander. "Clyde Fitch read 'The Climbers' to Miss Bingham on a Fri day; contracts were signed on the following Friday, and it 'was first read to the company on the thir teenth of the month." "How do you know?" testily in quired the first speaker, annoyed that anyone else should have taken away the glory of- his discovery. "I happen to be Mr. Fitch."-N. Y. - Telegram._________ -An Arizona Procession. Plioenix, Ariz., recently had a proces. sion in which groups of cowboys were followed by groups of Indians, city of cials and Chinese. Coiuldn't Be Done. Ostensible Head of the Family. Maria, there was a book agent around to-day who wanted to sell me a wor on etiquette and good behavior. Teaches it in six lessons. I told him I'd ask you if you thought we wanted Real Head-It's a humbug,.Tohn. It esn't be taught in six lessons. I'veI been trying to teach it to you for 1(j years, and haven't succeeded yet Chicago Tribune. Achievement's Instability. *Fame is not an honest mountaj" . We can conquer for all tig;. *No; It is a moving hillside Slipping backward as w' climb. -Dletroit Free Press. THE Atlanta Journg saya mark Hanna's Ohio RepuutAcan don't want ballot boxes stuffed because if it becomes popular there will no longer be any ne cessity to "fry the fat" out of the trusts, for whose benefit the pnpne are etaxed.