Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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t i..: ■: Calm age ertnon By Rev. Frank Dc Witt Taimatfe, D. D. Los AiijjpIos. Cnl.. March 20.—In this j Sermon the preacher points out the many dangers in business and morals I of reckless indorsement and the evils ot Indiscriminate recommendation. The text is Proverbs vi. 2, "Thou art j snared with the words of thy mouth.” There are many ways of killing game. The one is to go after it with gun, ar row or spear; to slay it. as "Scotty” McDougall slew Krag. the Kootenay ram of Mountain SktH‘p range; or to lie in wait for it, as did Itoualeyn George Gordon Gumming, the mighty "lion hunter” in African jungle; or to relentlessly follow it through American forests, as did Pathfinder in the old "Leather Stocking Tales;” or to course for it, as the old English sportsman with hounds used to chase the foxes over the Laneathire fiats; or to pursue it with hawks, as the knights of old in falconry would hunt the birds of the air. As the eyes of the jungle mon- archs or the kings of the air look into the fearless and unflinching eyes of man, the hunter knows that an un- Bteady hand or a bullet miscarrying 'Its mark one inch may mean his own death. Then the “lives of the hunted” might become the “lives of the hunt ers." Mighty must be the exhilaration of a brave man when killing big game. Al most intoxicated with excitement must be that modern Esau, Chanler, who, in the solitude of an African forest hun dreds of miles inland, hears the wild roar of a man eating monster coming nearer and nearer to the deer licks. Lying there, he knows that if he can only slay yonder mountain of muscle he will save scores and perhaps hun dreds of human lives, for a man eating lion or tiger has been known to live for years upon human flesh. So fear ful do the natives become of such hu man destroyers that they have depopu lated whole villages and towns, fleeing from tjjeir ravages. Next to the actual experience of per sonally hunting the wild beasts of the forest is the fascination of reading about the marvelous deeds of the stortsmen who destroy them. Hunting such animals single handed and alone always has had and always will have an attraction for brave men. The hunter’s life is a dramatic and an ex citing one. But there is a more ef fectual means of depopulating the for ests of their game than the gun, tne arrow or the spear. The trapper's work has always been more fatal to game than the aimed rifle of a Kit Carson. Where modern ' • v '.er , '’"n Nimrod has been a >e to shod on*- mountain lion in a night the trapper of the Hudson Bay Fur company was able to come into camp staggering under the pelts of ten, twenty, fifty wild beasts aitle i in the same night. Yes, the trapper's work is the most widespread and dan gerous and deadly to the wild beasts sin. “For among my people are found wicked men. They lay wait, as be that setteth snares. They set a trap. I They catch men.” Indorsers are innocently caught in a trap. I low? The merchant is sitting i in his office, and a friend enters. He says; “Hello, Mr. So-and-So. I am j glad to find you in. I am in a finan cial hole and want you to help me out. You know spring is here, arid. 1 must i lay in my goods now for the winter, j My business was never better than I now or prospects brighter. However. I In order to compete with my rivals I must branch out and get more stock. | ment if at the j The wholesale firms say if you will in ! dorse my note they will let me have the goods. Of course there is abso lutely no danger of your ever being called upon to pay. Will you Indorse for old friendship's sake?” You pin the man down. By long argument ho seems to prove that there Is no possi ble danger of your being compelled to pay. Then, for friendship’s sake, you sign the fatal note. Or perhaps the man wants a respon sible position. He is about to be ap pointed cashier of some institution. He says he must have certain indorsers, and down goes your name. Now, my brother, it would be all right for you to sign your name there if you felt you could afford to make good that pledge if it ever came back to you. But the trouble is that most of us, with our present financial struggles, cannot af ford to pay. Aye, 1 go further than this—nine men out of ten. ninety-nine men out of a hundred, nine hundred and ninety-nine men out of a thousand, never can pay or intend to pay the notes they indorse for the benefit of their friends. As soon as the notes fall due and come back upon the in dorsers they begin to squirm and twist and try to wriggle out of their diffi culties. Sometimes by fair, but, alas, ofteu by foul, means they try to shirk and repudiate tbeir debts of indorse ment, even as some dishonest men clear off their debts by putting their money in their wives’ names and then, going into a bankruptcy court, ask for a clean financial sheet. A True Picture. Is not the picture true? What would you do if you were asked to pay the dishonest debts of your friends which you indorsed? Would you do it? Would you do it even if you had In dorsed their notes and could find a loophole to crawl out? Would you do it, as did Sir Walter Scott? Would you do it even though it cost you your life to die an honest man? Would you pay those indorsed notes, as William McKinley paid the ones he indorsed for a friend? In order to pay those notes he literally gave up all his own money and all his wife’s money. A short time before his death he was talking to a ministerial friend of mine, and he said: -Mr. Campbell, people sometimes won der why I am so devoted to my wife. Could any husband but an ingrate be otherwise when his wife willingly gave up all she ha 1 to ave his honor?” William jl. ivhih-y never expec*od to be J tr . ai t » pay those Indorsed notes, but he paid them. Would you pay, if necessary, those notes you are about to Indorse, as William McKinie.* paid? Ur would you repudiate or at least try to repudiate those debt , as hundreds and thousands have done? Dare you, with your present financial 1 burdens, risk the sinful temptation he could deny nothing when lie was alive, had to deny themselves every thing when lie was dead. Ills only sou, the pride <d' his heart, the boy to whom he gave unlimited pocket money an 1 sent across the seas on pleasure trips, applies! a few years ago in Chicago fo; the position of a janitor, and he coul 1 not get work at that. This was the aftermath of the career of a man who purchased the unstable friendships ot a liceting moment by being untrue to the best interests of bis own wife and children. Now, men, you have no right to heli> your brother with an indorse- same time it compels you to become untrue to those who are dependent upon you. You have no righ. hbors of a forest As the Rocky mountain bear might put his great shaggy paw ! of repudiation which you may have to into a merciless trap, whose iron Jaws snap shut and whose teeth probe their way through his flesh to the hone, this Bilile scone of my text describes the predicament of the indorser who fool ishly becomes the guarantor of a friend’s or an acquaintance’s honor. As old bruin tugs and pulls to get his leg loose and keeps on tugging and pulling until at last he pulls on his leg or In des peration eats it off to get free and then goes hobbling away to his den, so King Solomon describes the somewhat similar predicament df the unfortunate man who has become a surety for his friend. “My sou,” said he, “if thou be a security for thy friend, * • * thou art snsred with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.” It is maiming or de struction by an unseen trap. The in dorser’s dangers are great. I preach this sermon to warn^my hearers and readers against these eusnarements which are set for many of us. And when I warn you against the indorser’s perils I also warn you against the sins of an unjust recommendation of In competent friends or mere acquaint ances for positions which you do not positively know they are able to till. These two evils come In the same cate gory. Th« Indoraer’s Predlrament. Why is the indorser's predicament like that of a wild beast caught in a trap? First, because he is enticed ir.to Its dangers unawares. He does not seek them out of a silly curiosity or from mere Idle desire, like the ante lopes that come nearer and nearer to the white flag waved by the hunters lying hidden in the grass. He does not charge them, as g wounded stag might turn upon the hounds or aa angry boar, caring not what happens, might rush against the fatal spear held out for his destruction. But the indorser goes into ills trap as unsuspectingly and Innocently as the wild turkeys are caught. The trappers build a cage with a small opening. Then they scat ter corn along the path leading to the cage, and the wild turkeys, with tlH if heads down picking up the com, walk into the trap, and when they lift their heads they cannot see the exit and are easily slain. He goes Into it and is captured as the mighty Bengal tiger Is caught in n cage. The agile beast makes one spring upon the bleating sheep tied to the stake in the middle of the cage, and immediately the trap door slams shat. Ho the Indorsers are caught ami are like the victims that Jeremiah describes as good men being entangled unawares In the meshes of face if you become a financial surety for a friend? But a.s I see the old mother bear struggling to get her paw out of the fatal trap I do not pity her. even with nil her sufferings, nearly as much as I do the little cubs who are dependent upon her for their lives. As I see a man struggling in the indorser’s trap, with all his misfortunes, I do not feel nearly so sorry for him as I do for hi * wife and especially for his children who are dependent upon him for finan cial support. Yet to hear some people talk you would suppose that in order to be kind, loving, big hearted, gener ous, a man should be ready to help all ids friends and when they need it to sign all their notes, no matter what might he the financial danger that man may run in reference to bis own chil dren. Now, my friends, I believe one of the best tests of a true, big hearted man is not how he looks after his friends’ notes so much as how he first looks after his own flesh and blood. Too Big a Price. Do you mean to tell me there is any honor, any Justice, any big heartedness, in a man going upon a friend’s note when In order to do it he may have to take the very' bread out of his chil dren’s mouths and the clothing off their backs and the old homestead away from their inheritance? This Is Just what many men have done in order to win the name of being big hearted. I recall to mind one of this type whom the world eulogized as a kind man. but who purchased that eulogy at a fearful price. The man of whom I speak was for years the president of a New York company. His income was at least $20,000 per year; but, though he made much, he spent much. Every person in distress could go to him for succor and get it. His name was on scores of notes. Every little while he would gather five, ten, fifteen, of his daughters’ friends together and give them a banquet and a "good time.” The last act of his life was to buy n family plot for a policeman who was ftl>out to bury his little girl. When that man died the beautiful acts of kindness which he did were recounted at his bier. But would you like me to tell you the aftermath or the second sowing of that life of indiscriminate generosity? The notes he had signed for friends his estate had to pay. The moneys he had lent here and there and everywhere were never paid buck. Caring for ev ery one but those of bis own bouse, hr became in the sight of God worse than an Infidel. His two daughters, to whon to give the luxuries to your uei until you first provide the necessities for your own household. Fan you af ford to pay that indorsement for your friend? Imre you risk the temporal ; and perhaps the spiritual welfare of | your children by that hidden trap? A CarelCNN Method. But another danger lurks over the indorser's trap. By going upon a friend’s note a man may be teaching bis friend to be careless—aye, sinfully careless—with money. Dr. Bowers once wrote: “Temptation resembles the rocks which rest their jagged sides j above the waves when it is low water. No vessel dare come near them. But after awhile the tide comes sweeping into the bay and buries the rocks under a flood of water, so that the largest ships may ride In safety above their teetli of death, together with the light est skiff.” That is a beautiful orator ical figure. But the incoming tide will soon be the outgoing tide. Then woe betide the boat that lingers thbre over tue Jagged rocks of death! Yet the temjKjrary financial help we give our brothers by indorsement or unjust credit may be the means of carrying them into a position where they shall soon meet temporal as well as spiritual shipwreck. Why temporal and spiritual wreck? you ask. In the first place, I start with the premise that many people are tempted just as much as they can bear. Place upon them one extra temptation, and you may lead them to become dishonest men and women. For instance, the other day I was reading al>out one of the great pre ventives of crime which are decreas ing the proportion of the number of our criminals. This preventive is the reg istering machine which is now plac ed at almost every cashier’s desk and In every street car. No sooner is the five cent piece collected than the con ductor has to ring up the fare. No sooner is the spool of cotton or the | pound of sugar or coffee bought than i the register records the sale. At the end of the day the clerks or conductors must have their registers tally with the amount of money on hand. Temp tation Is now being placed at a mini- ' mum. Lessen the temptation to crime, i and you lessen the number of future criminals. This premise granted, do you not see how you increase the temptations of your friends if you place money in their hands for whi* h they are unable to give security? You practically say j to that young men: “Here, my friend, is my capital. You are worth nothing You take this money, and I will rrus* you.” What thought, then, is apt to come to that young man? He says to himself: “If I risk that money I may be able to double it. If I lose it, why then I might as well be financially krt for a sheep as for a kid. I am worth nothing now. I shall Ik? no worse off even if I fail.'’ And what is the re suit? We see thousands of men going into wildcat speculations with other people’s funds. We see thousands up on thousands of dollars lost because men are risking money which Is not their own. My friend, as an indorser you have no right to lead your brother into temptation. If a brother has no money and no security do not teach him how to tx? criminally reckless with capital not his own. The Greateat Danger. The indorser’s trap may not only en danger the Indorser, but also the In dorser’s loved ones and the indorsee us well. Ralph Erskine once said, “There is no devil so bad as no devil.” That means, interpreted in plain Eng lish, “There is no temptation so dan gerous as where one does not expect to find a temptation.’’ But I do not see how Ralph Erskine’s words can bo applied to my text, for I see dan gers everywhere hovering about the indorser’s trap. I find them here for the man who sets the trap. I find them for the person whose fingers hold the pen which is caught in the trap. I find them for all the dear ones on both sides of the indorser and the Indorsee. Every argument that can be urged against the cause of willfully running into debt may be applied here to the sin of indiscriminate indorsement But a man to become a security for a friend or an acquaintance does not necessarily have to sign a note for money. He can give to an acquaint ance a letter of recommendation. That letter may be of more value than money. When Ulysses 8. Grant form ed his famous Wall street partnership with Ferdinand Ward he did not put into that firm much money. Though he had been lieutenant general and twice president of the United States, he never had much money. He lived and died a poor man. But be had more than money. He gave Ferdinand Ward n financial standing in the business com munity and the confidence of the pub lic. The multitude of admirers of the hero of Appomattox poured their wealth into his office. As a result Ward was able to cheat the trustful public out of Its hundreds of thou sands. For the crime of that misap propriation Ward was sent to prison. What Ulysses H. Grant did for Ferdl nand Ward some of us on a small scale have been doing for our friends and acquaintances. If a man is out of a position and wants help we say, rer and gold have l rone, but such as i anvc give 1 unto thee.” This, however, ,s not the gift of grace, but of a false letter of recommendation. We fre queutly give such letters of recom mendation when we know that the men to whom we give them are in- compet* ut or at least unknown to us, and the result is that there are thou sands of frauds being perpetrated all over the country not because had men are instigating them—there are had men evcr\where—but because good men have allowed their names to lie linked to those frauds carelessly. And there are thousands of good men out of the positions in life which they are qualitied to fill merely because medio ere and Incompetent men for friend ship’s sake have been pushed into those positions by what is commonly termed a “pull.” My brother, never be secu rity for u friend unless you are first sure that what you recommend by let ter is “the truth, the whole truth .and nothing but the truth.” PoNtinortriu Luuiiatlon. But my text lias even a wider sweep. If men despise those for whom we un wisely have become sureties they are apt to despise us also, and if they learn to despise us they are very apt to learn to despise the religion we represent, for, say what you will, every unfaith ful Christian is a representative, how ever sadly delinquent, of the God in whom he professes to believe. We aie, or should be, the lights of the world —the cities set upon a hill, which : cannot lx? bid. If we are unfaithful in our dealings with others our faith lessness reflects on religion and is an offense against God himself. This fact is never better demonstrated than ; when a minister is untrue to his Divine Master and his sacred calling. At the public funeral of a worldly man or a worldly woman sometimec in order to give comfort to the living a minister will try to smooth things over, though the dead man may have been an ex- i tortioner, a drunkard, a libertine, a gambler or a desplser of the church of i the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course we should speak no evil of the dead, and it is not necessary that any one should cause pain by reflections at a funeral, but surely there is a limit to postmor tem laudation. Yet he will talk about a twelve gated gospel. He will say there was pardon for Faul, who was , the chief of sinners, and therefore there 1 is pardon for us. He will not quote the passage, “Except ye repent ye shall | all likewise perish,” but he will talk I from the text, “God Is love,” and he j will try to make people believe that the unrepentant soul has entered through the paradisaical gates. But I tell you, my brother, even with the men of the world it won’t go down. If we dishon or ourselves by trying to become a surety for our friends we dishonor God also. I once hoard a minister dishonor Qod in this way: Many years ago out m the country a person of evil life was buried. That life had been wholly a worldly life, but In order to please the relatives, who were members of his ! church, the minister whitewashed the record, and, though the dead laid died, j as far as we knew, unrepentant, the j indulgent speaker opened the gates of i heaven and had the departed living in the whitest mansion nearest to the great white throne. After the service was ended a man of the world said to me: “What does that minister mean by talking like that? If heaven Is for J such a one, then I am sure of reaching there, blasphemer as I am.” No, my j friends, you cannot be untrue in your commendations or recommendations j without at the same time dishonoring him of whom you as Christians stand ; before the world as the represent:!- , lives. I would beseech of you, therefore, in the smallest details of your life al ways remember you are the representa tives of Jesus. Christ. Spurgeon once said, “Many horses fall at the bottom of a hill because the driver thinks the danger past and the need to hold the reins with firm grip less pressing.” Many men lose their Christian disciple- ship at the foot of the hill after they have climbed Calvary and descended on the other side. They lose it be cause they do not serve God in the lit tle things. They lose It because they needlessly throw themselves into temp tations by becoming false sureties for their friends. They lose It because, un thinkingly, they throw moral dangers in the way of others. They lose it be cause when they dishonor themselves they dishonor Christ. May God help us. one and all, to be true to Christ; then we shall be true to our fellow men in every way. [Copyright. 190G. bf Louis Klopsch ] | R. A. JONES | £; General Merchandise f |E Heavy and Fancy Groceries, Hardware, Wagons, ^ £ Buggies, Tobacco, Cigars, Guano and Cotton. ^ Gaffney, S. C., March 1st, 1905. “5 TO THE FARMERS:— ^ ■»— H you are going to buy fertil- ^ g: izers this season, 1 would recommend that you get ^ Sp the best, instead of an inferior grade at the game price. =3 I can conscientiously recommend the old reliable ^ 5^ “Plow Brand ’ and “Etiwan ’ high grade guano manu- ^ factured by the Etiwan Fertilizer Co , of Charleston, :3 ^ S. C. and the Atlantic Guano and Atlantic Cotton Grower manufactured by the Atlantic Chemical Co., 3 Norfolk, Va., as being the very best on the market. I ^ have handled these brands for years and know what ^ ^ they are, having sold them to the best farmers of ^ ^ Cherokee county who recommend them highly and con- ^ ^ tinue to use them, which, after all, is the best recom- 3 mendation yet. Call on me and examine goods and ^ get prices before buying. Respectfully yours, ^ p R. A. JONES. ^ ^iUiUiUiUiUiUiUiUiUiUiUiUiUiiiiUiUiUiiUUiUiUlUiUiUR THE 3 GAFFNEY HARDWARE CO, i i HAS OPENED with a large and complete line of Hardware, Cutlery, Fanning Imple ments, Harness, etc. Your patronage is solicited. : 5 : : s EVERYTHING LIMESTONE ^EET. Oiiu A Tempernnce Lecture I» Fljfnrea. One distillery company In Kentucky turns out every seven days 1,200 bar rcls of rweet mash whisky. The out put for a year would be 02,400 barrels. Tim cost of all this to the manufactur ers may be fairly estimated at $374,- 400, and they receive from the whole saler a profit of from $1 to $2 per bar rel. The government comes in for a nice little rakeoff, but the fellow who has to pay it all, including transporta tion charges, government and local li cense fees, salary of barkrep and rent of building*! Is the man Imforc the bar, and for these 62,4tM) barrels of booze he lets go of $24,761,078 and then goes home and beats his wife because sup per isn’t ready.—Lincoln (Neb.) Jour nal. EmiiroidBry Sale! I have now on sale tho largest and best se lected stock of Embroideries to be found in town, at all prices, from 1c to 25c per yard. The ladies have a special invitation to call and inspect these goods whether they buy or not. Just received, lot of A. F. C. Ginghams, Toile, du Nordsand Per cales at way down }frices. I have some great bargains in Ladies’ Underskirts. Big lot Negligee Shirts from 25c to $1.00. Clothing, Hats and Shoes for everybody at all prices. I have a few pairs of Blank ets left; also a few Quilts, and now is the time to get them at bargain prices. : : See me for Seed Irish Potatoes and Onion Sets. :::::: He Had • Friend. “When I was umpiring in the Ameri can league,” saya Jot? Cautlllon, “I took au acquaintance out to the south side grouuda one day and sent word In to ComUkey I had a friend with me for whom I wanted a pass. Back came Secretary Fredericks with an armful of passes and Instructions from the ‘old Roman’ to give my guest every at tention, as I was the first umpire be had ever heard of who had a fPeod on 811 j parth.” W. J. MOORHEAD Yellow Front, Blacksburg, S. C. I have just received a complete line of Hardware, such as Plows, Steel Plow Shares, Hoes, Wheelbarrows, and everything usually carried in a Hardware Store. Sugar, Coffee, Flour, Meal, Mt^at, Molasses. I have the “W. S. Wilkerson” Horne-made Molasses, 50 cents per gallon —try a gallon. I carry a general stock of Dry Goods; also Hats, Capa, etc. Have just received a good line of Shoes and Hats. In order to make room for Spring Clothing, etc., can make special prices that will make them go. If you want the goods. I’ve got ’em at the right prices. With satisfactory arrange ments I can furnish farmers on time. Come to the Yellow Front. The volume of business is what I want and will put up with short profits. MOORHEAD, Yellow BlacUetmrg;, CT.