The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, July 14, 1891, Image 1
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VOL, VII._ L AURENS, S. C TUESDAY, JULY 14, 1891. ~~ NO. 50.
GOSPEL OF THE WEATHER.
DR. TALfvHGE PniACHE8 ON THE
COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE RAIN.
The Wonderful Imagery of the Hook of
Job?How the Study of It Has Made
Weak Men Into Infidels-Never Wade
Into a Myslerv Over Yoni Head.
BROOKLYN, July 5.?Dr. Talinage's
sermon today is on a kind of gospel in
which few people believe. The weather
is a common object of complaint and
fault Unding, but Dr. Talmage finds a
gospel in it, which today he proclaims
from tho text, "I huh the rain a father?"
Job xxxviil, 28.
This Hook of Job has been the sub
ject of unbounded theological wrangle.
Men have made it tho ring in which to
display their ecclesiastical pugilism.
Home say thut the Book of Job is a true
history; others, that it is an allegory;
others, that it is an epic poem; others,
that it is a drama. Some say that Job
lived eighteen hundred ycari before
Clir'iBt, others say that he never lived at
all. Some say that tho author ot this
book was Job; others, David; others,
Solomon. The discussion has landed
some in blank infidelity. Now, I have
uo trouble with tho Books of Job or
Revelation?tho two most mysterious
hooks in the Dible?because of a rule I
adopted somo years ago.
I wado down into a Scripture passage
as long as lean touch bottom, and when
I ennnot then I wado out. I used to
wade in until it was over my head and
then I got drowned. I study a passage
of Scripture so long as it is a eomfort
and help to my soul, but when it be
comes a perplexity and a spiritual up
turning I quit. In other words, we
ought to wado in up to our heart, but
never wade in until it is over our head.
No man should ever expect to swim
across this great ocean ol divino truth.
I go down into that ocean as I go down
into tho Atlantic ocean at East llamp
tou, Long Island, just far enough to
buthc; then I come out. 1 never had
any idea that with my weak hand and
foot I could strike my way clear over to
Liverpool.
mod's mysterious GOVERNMENT,
I suppose you understand yom- family
genealogy. You kuow something about
your parents, your grandparents, your
great giandparonts. Perhaps you know
whero they were born, or where they
died. Have you ever studied the par
entage of tho shower, "Hath not tho
rain a lather?" This question is not
asked by a poetaster or a scientist, but
by the head of the universe. To hum
ble end to save Job God asks him four
teen questions: About the world's ar
chitecture, about the refraction of the
sun's rays, about the tides, about tho
snow crystal, about the lightnings, and
then ho arraigns him with the interroga
tion of the text, "Hath tho rain a fath
or?"
With 111 $ scientific wonders of tho rain
1 have nothing to do. A minister gels
through with that kind ot seroious with
in the first three years, and it ho has
piety enough he gets through with it iu
the first three months. A sermon has
come to me to mean one word of four
lottcrs, "help!" You all know that the
rain is not an orphan. You know it is
not ensi out of the gates of heaven a
foundling. You would answer the ques
tion of my text in the alllrmative.
Safely housed during the storm, you
hear the rain beating against the window
pane, and you find it searching all the
crevices of the window sill. It first
comes down in solitary drops, pattering
the dust, and then it deluges the Heids
and angers the mountain torrents, and
makes tho traveler implore shelter.
You know that tho rain is not an acci
dent of the world's economy. You know
it was born of the cloud. You know it
w is rocked in the cradle of tho wind.
You kuow it was sung to sleep by the
storm. You know that it a flying evan
gel from heaven to earth. You know it
is the gospel of the weather. You know
that God is its father.
If this be true, then how wicked is
our murmuring about climatic changes.
The flrst eleven Sabbaths after I enter
ed the ministry it stormed. Through
the week it was clear weather, but on
the Sabbaths the old country meeting
house looked like Noah's ark before it
lauded. A lew drenched people snt be
fore a drenched pastor; but most of the
farmers stayed at homo and thanked
God that what was bad lor the church
was good for the crops. I committed a
good deal of sin in those days in denounc
ing the weather. Ministers of the Gos
pel sometimes fret about stormy Sab
baths, or hot Sabbaths, or inclement
Sabbaths. They forgot the fact that the
same God who ordained the Sabbath and
sent forth his miuisters to announce sal
vation also ordained the wei ther. "Hath
the rain a father?"
inck8sant com plaints OK TUB
WEATHER,
Merchants, also, with their stores Iii 1
ed with new goods, and their clerks
hanging idly around the counters, com
mit the samo transgression. There
have been seasons when the whole
spring and fall trade has been ruined
by protracted wet weather. Tho mer
chants then examined tho "weather
probabilities" with more interest than
they read their Bibles. They watched
for a patch of bluo sky. They went
complaining to the atoro and camo com
plaining home again. In all that season
of wet feet and dripping garments and
impassable streets they never once asked
the question, "Hath tho rain a father?"
So agriculturists commit this sin.
There is nothing moro annoying than to
have planted jorn rot in the ground bo
cause of too much moisture, or hay nil
ready for the mow dashed of a showor.
or wheat almost ready for the sickle
spoiled with the rust. How hard it is
to hear the agricultural disappointments.
God has infinite resources, but I do not
think he has capacity to make weather
to please all the farmers. Sometimes it
IB too hot, or it is too cold; It is too wet,
or it Is too dry; it is too early, or it is
too late. They forget that the God who
promised seed time and harvest, sum*
mer and winter, cold and heat, also or
dained all the climatic change*?* Thero
in one question that ought to bo written
on every barn, on every fence, on every
haystack, on every farmhouse, "Hath
the rain a father?"
If we only knew whtt a vast enter
prise it is to provide appropriate weath
er for this world we should not be so
critical of the Lord. Isaac Watts at ten
years of ago complained that ha did not
like tho hymns that were sung in the
English chapel. "Well," said his fath
er, "Isaac, instead of your complaining
about tho hymns, go and make hymns
that are better." And he did go and
make hymns that were better. Now, I
say to you if you do not llko the \> cat he
get up a weather company and have a
president, and n secretary, and a treasur
er, , and a board of directors, and ten
million dollars of stock, and then pro?
vldo weather that will suit us all. There
is a man who has a weak head, and he
cannot stand the glare of tho sun. You
must have a cloud always hovering over
him.
I hko the sunshine; 1 cannot lire with
out plenty of sunlight, so you r ust al
ways have enough light for me. Two
ships meet In mid-Atlantic. The one is
going to Southampton and the other is
coming to Now York. Provide weather
that, while it is abaft for one ship, it is
not a head wind for the other. There is
a (arm thut is dried up for tho lack of
rain, and thoro is a pleasuro party going
out for a Held excursion. Provido weath
er that will suit tho dry farm and tho
pleasuro excursion. No, sirs, I will not
take one dollnr of stock in your weather
conipauy. There Is only one Being in
the universo who knows enough to
provide the right kind of weather for this
world. "Hath tho rain a father?"
CJOU IS INFINITE IN INFINITESIMALS,
My text also suggests God's minute
supervisal. You sco tho divine Sonship
in every drop of rain. The jewels of tho
shower nro not flung nwny by a spend
thrift who knows not how many he
throws or whero they fall. They arc all
shininr princes of heaven. Thoy nil
havo an eternal lineage. Thoy aro all
thoehlldrcn of a king. "Hath tho rain a
father?*' Well then. I say if God takes
notice of every minute raindrop ho will
take notico of tho most insignificant affair
of my life. It is tho astronomical view
of things Mint bothers mo.
We look up into tho night heavens,
and wo say, "Worlds! worlds!" and how
insignilicnnt wc feel! Wo stand at the
foot ot Mount Washington or Mont
Blanc, and we fuel that we arc; only in
sects, and then wc say to ourselves,
"Though the world Is so large, the sun
Is one million four hundrend thousand
times larger." "Oh!" we say, "it is no
use, it (Jod wheels that great machinery
through immensity he will not take tho
trouble to look down at me." infidel
conclusion. Saturn. Mercury and Jupi
ter are no more rounded and weighed
and swung by tho hand of God thau arc
tho globules on a lilac bush the morning
aller a shower.
God is no more in magnitudes than he
is in minutitc. if he has scales to weigh
the mountains, he has balnuces delicate
enough to weigh the infiuitcsimul. You
can no more sco him through the tele
scope than you can seo him through tho
microscope; no more when you look up
than when you look down. Are not
the hairs of your head all numbered?
And if Himalaya has a God, "Hath not
the rain a lather?" I take this doctrine
of a particular Providence, nud 1 thrust
It mto the very midst of your everyday
life. If God fathers a raindrop, is there
anything so insignilicnnt in your nllairs
that God will not father that?
When Druysc, tho gunsmith, invented
the needle gun, which decided the batllo
of Sadowa, was it a mere accident?
When a farmer's boy showed Bluchcr a
short cut by which he could bring his
army up soou enough to decide Water
loo for England, was it a mere accident?
When J,ord Byron took a piece of money
and tossed it up to decide whether or
not he should be alllanced to Miss Mill
bank, was it a mero accident which side
of tho money was up and which was
down? When tho Christian army was
besieged at Be/.lcrs, and a drunken drum
mer came in at midnight andrang tho
alarm bell, not knowing what ho was
doing, but waking up the host in time to
iigth their enemies that moment arriving,
was it an accident?
Whcu in one of tho Irish wars a starv
ing mother, Hying with her starving child,
sank down and fainted on the rocks m
tho night nud her hand fell on a warm
bottle of milk, did that just happen so?
God is either in tho affairs of men or our
religion Is worth nothing at all, and you
hand better take it a vny from us, and
instead of this Bible, which teaches the
doctrine, gives ub a secular book, and
let us, as the famous Mr. Fox, th > mem
ber of parliament, in his last hour, cry
out. "Bead me the eighth book of Vir
gil."
Oh! my friends, let us rouse up to an
appreciation of the fact that all the af
fairs of our lite are under a king's com
mand, and under u father's watch.
Alexander's war horse, Bucephalus,
would allow anybody to mount him when
ho was unharnessed, but as booh as
they put on that war horso Bucephalus,
the saddle and tho trappings of the con
queror he would allow no one but Alex
ander to touch him. And II a soulless
horse could havo so much pride in his
owner, shall not we immortals exult in
the fact that wc. are owned by a king?
"Hath the rain a father?"
GOD'S WAYS ARE PAST FINDING OUT.
Again my subject tenches me that
God's dealings with us arc inexplicable.
That was the original forco of my text.
Tho rain was a great mystery to tho
ancients. They could not understand
how the water should got into the cloud,
and getting there, how it should he sus
pended, or falling, why it should come
down in drops. Modern science comes
along and saye there arc two portions ol
air of different temperature, and they
aro charged with moisture, and the ouo
portion of air decreases In temperature
so the water may no longer be held in
vapor, and it falls. And thoy toll us
that some of the clouds that look to be
only as largo as a man's hand, and to
bo almost quiet in the heavens, aio great
mountains of mist four thousand feet
from base to top, and that they rush
miles a minute.
But atlcr all the brilliant experiments
of Dr. James Hutlon, and Saussurc, and
other scientists, there is an inllnito
mystery about tho rain. There is an
occau of tho unfathomable in every rain
drop, and God says today as ho said in
iho time of Job, "If you cannot under
stand ono drop of rain, do no bo sup
prised if my dealings with you arc inex
plicable." Why does that aged man,
decrepit, beggared, vicious, sick of the
world and the world sick of him, live on,
while here Is a man in mid life, consecra
ted to God, hard working, uselul in
every respect, who dies? Why <loes that
old gossip, gadding along tho street
about everybody's business but her own.
have such good health, while tho Chris
tian mother, with a flock .Mittle ones
about her whom she is preparing for
usefulness and for heaven?the mother
who you think could not be spared an
hour Irom that household?why does
she lie down and dio with a cancer?
Why does that man, sel?sh to tho
coro, go on adding forluno to fortune,
consuming everything on himself, con
tinue to prospper, while that man. who
has been giving ten per cent, of all his
income to God and tho church, goes into
baukruptcy? Before we mnkq stark
fools of ourselves., let us stop pressing
this everlasting "why." Let us worship
whore wo cannot understand. Let a
man take that one question, "Why?"
and follow it far enough, and posh it, and
he will land in wretchedness and perdi
tion. w? want in our theology fewer
t 1 ol \
interrogation, marks and more exclama
tion points. Heaven is the place for
explanation. J5ar?l? is the place for
trust. If you cannot understand so
minute a thiug as a raindrop, bow cau
you expect to understand God's deal
ings? "Hath tho rain a father?"
Again, my text makes me think that
the rain of tears is of divine origin.
Great clouds of trouble sometimes hover
over us. They are black, and tboy are
gorged, and they are thunderous. They
are more portentous than Salvator or
Claude ever painted?clouds of poverty,
or persecution, or bereavement. They
hover over us, and they get darkor and
blacker, and after awhile a tear starts,
and we think by an extra pressure of
the eyelid to stop it. Others follow,
and after awhile there is a shower of
tearful emotion. Yea, there is a rain
of tears. "Hath that rain a father?"
OOD SEES QUM TEAKS.
"Oh," you say, "a tear is nothing but
a drop of limpid lluid secreted by the
lachrymal gland?it is only a sign of
weak eyes." Great mistake. It is one
of the Lord's richest benedictions to
tho world. There are people in lilack
well's Island insane asylum, and at
Ulica, and at all the asylums of this
land, who were demented by the fact
that they could not cry at the right
time. Said a mauiac in one of our
public institutions, uuder a Gospel ser
mon that started tho tears: "Do you
see that tear? that is the first 1 have
wept for twelve years. I think it will
help my brain."
There arc a great many in the grave
who could not stand any longer under
tho glaneler of troublo. If that glacier
had only melted into weeping they
could have endured it. There have
been times In your life when you would
have given the world, if you had pos
sessed it, for one tear. You could
shriek, you could blaspheme, but you
could not cry. Have you never seen a
man holding tho hand of a dead wife,
who had been all the world to him?
The temples livid with excitement, the
eye dry and frantic, no moisture on the
upper" or lower lid. You saw there
were bolts of anger in tho cloud, but
no rain. To your Christian comfort,
ho said, "Don't talk to me about God;
there is no God, 01 if there is I httte
htm; don't talk to me about God; would
ho have left mo and ttieso motherless
children ?"
Uut a few hours or days after, com
ing across some lead pencil that she
owned in life, or some letters which she
wrote when he was away from home,
with an outcry that appals, there bursts
the fountain of tears, and as the sun
light of God's c jnsolation strikes that
fountain of tears, you tlnd out that it
is a tender hearted, merciful, pitiful and
all compassionate God who was the
father of that rain. "Oh," you say, "it
is absurd to think that God is going to
watch over tears." No, my friends.
There are three or four kinds of them
that God counts, bottles and eternizes.
First, there are all parental tears, and
thero are more of these than of any
other kind, because the most of tho race
die in infancy, and that keeps parents
mourning all'around the world. They
never get over it. They may live to
shout and sing afterward, but thero is
always a corridor in tho soul that is
silent, though it once resounded.
My parents never mentioned tho
death of a child who died fifty years be
fore without a tremor in the voice and
a sigh, oh, how deep fetched! It was
better she should die. It was a mercy
she should die. she would have been a
lifelong invalid. Hut you cannot argue
away a parent's grief. How often you
hear tho moan, "Oh, my child, my child."
Then there are tho filial tears. Little
children soon get over the loss of par
ents. They are easily diverted with a
new toy. But where is the man that
has come to thirty or forty or fifty
years of age,'wbo can think of the old
people without having all the fountains
of his soul stirred up? You may have
had to tako care of her a good many
years, but you never can forget how
she used to take care of you.
There have been many sea captains
converted in our church, and the pecu
liarity of them was that they were
nearly all prayed ashore by their
'mothers, though the mothers went into
tho dust soon after they went to sea.
Have you never heard an old man in
delirium o* iomo sickness call for his
mother? ' he fact is wo get so used to
calling for her tho first ten years of our
lifo wo never get over it, and when she
goes away from us it makes deep ior
row. You sometimes, perhaps, in days
of troublo and darkness, when the
world would say, "You ought to b'i
able to take care of yourself"?you
wake up from your dreams finding
yourself saying, "Oh, mother! mother!"
Have these tears no divine origin?
Why, tako all the warm hearts that
ever boat in all lands, and In all ages,
and put them together and their united
throb would bo weak compared with
the throb of God'8 eternal sympathy.
Yes, God also is father of all that rain
of repentance.
Did you ever seo a rain of repent
ance? Do you know what it is that
makes a man repent? I see pooplo go
ing around trying to repent. They
cannot repent. Do you know no man
can repent until God helps him to re
pent? How do I know? By this pas
sage, "Ulm hath God exalted to be a
prince and a Saviour to givo repent
ance." Oh, it is a tremendous hour
when one wakes up and says: "l am
a had man. 1 have not sinned against
the laws of tho land, but I havo wasted
my life; God asked me for my services
and I haven't given those services. Oh,
my sins; God forgive nie." When that
tear starts it thril's all heaven. An
angel cannot keep his eye oil it, and
the church of Goi assembles around,
and there is a commingling of tears,
and God is the Father of that rain, the
Lord, long suffering, merciful and gra
cious.
TUB QRY OF A MOTHER'S HEART,
In a religious assomblange a man
arose and said: "1 have been a very
wicked man; I broke mother's heart, I
became an infidel, but I havo seen
my ovil way, and I have surrendered
my heart to God, but it is a grief that
I never can get over that my parents
should never have heard of my salva
tion; 1 don't know whether they aro liv
ing or dead." While yet lie was Standing
in the audience a voice from tho gallery
said, "Oh, my sonl my son!" He looked
up and he recognleed her. It was his
old mother. She bad been praying for
htm a great many years, and when at
the foot of tho cross the prodigal son
and the praying mother embrace 1 each
other, thero was a rain, a tremendous
rain, of tears, and God was the Father
of these tears. Oh, that God would
break us down with a sense of our sin,
and then lift us with an appreciation
of bis mercy. Tears over our wasted
life. Tears over a grieved spirit. Tears
over an injured father. Oh, that
God would move upon this audience
with a great wave of religious emotion.
Tho king of Carthage was dethroned.
His people, rebelled against him. He
was driven into banishment. Ills wife
and children were outrageously abused.
War., went by,and the king of Cartha
go made many friends. He gathered
up a great army. He marched again
toward Carthage. Ileaohlng the gates
of Carthage the best men of the place
caire out barefooted and barehoaded.
and with ropes around their necks cry
ing for mercy. They said: "Wo abused
you and we abused your family, but we
cry for mercy." The * 'ng of Carthage
looked down upon the people from his
chariot and said: "I came to bless, I
didn't como to destroy. You drove me
out, but this day I pronounce pardon
for all the people. Open the gates and
let the army come in." The king
marcbed in and took tho throne, and
the people all shouted, "Long live the
king!"
My friends, you havo driven the Lord
Jesus Christ, the King of the church,
away from your heart; you have been
maltreating bim all these years; but be
come back to-day. He stands In front
of the gates of your soul. If you will
only pray for his pardon he will meet
you with bis gracious spirit and he
will say: "Thy sins and tbiue iniqui
ties 1 will remember no more. Open
wide the gate, I will take the throne.
My peace I give unto you." And then,
all through this audience, from the
young and from the old, there will be
a rain of tears, and God will bo tho
father of that rainl
MORE DEVASTATION.
A Cyolono In Mississippi ami a Storm In
Texas.
New Oulkans, La? July 7.?A
Times-Democrat, Madison Mississippi,
special says: A cyclouo struck this
place about 11 o'clock yesterday. It
was preceded b> a fearful rumbling sound
that came from tho southwest. Disas
ters are reported as follows:
II. E. McKay's plantation, destroying
negro cabins, killed Wesely Young,
colored and, wounded several others,
Dr. J, II. McKay's building was wreck
ed. Tho s'.orm than passed across tho
rail road levelling telegraph poles. Tho
resideuces ofGlascock and Brown were
first reached in town. Both houses
wero. wrecked, and much of the furuituro
was destroyed and stock injured. Tho
Presbyterian church and school building
wero completely swept away and onjA.
M. Jones' place outstanding buildings
were destroyed and stock was injured.
Trees, orchards and shrubbery were
ruined. Pasung out of the town to the
northwest, tho cyclono completely de
stroyed two colored churches and the
residence of Handy Lee, colored.
Gaijvbston, Tex., July 7.?The
storm which raged here Saturday night
and Sunday culminated Sunday even
ing about 9 o'clock. A driving south
southwest wind, accompanied by rain,
caused much of tho lower portiou of tho
city to become practically inundated.
At 7 o'clock the wiud readied a velocity
of lifty-livo miles per hour.
The electric light plaut was useless,
and the darkness, added to the fury of
tho storm, made anything like travel
impossible, and causad many to fear a
repetition of the storm and lloodot 1885.
The most damage dono was along the
gulf beach where the terrific force ot tht
surf carried away almost everything
within its reach. The breakwater In
front of the Beach hotel was completely
wrecked and destroyed. Tho electric
railway tracks wore undermined and
curried on the shore.
At the east shore end, wt.ich is ex
tremely low and fiat, the heavy sea did
much damage. Buildings were greatly
damaged. In many instance'* the occu
pants were compelled to asccud to the
second floor to avoid tho water. On tho
bay side of tho city, or cast end, small
boats were called into requisition for
travel, but boating was dangerous nud
but lew attempted to get about in that
way. Much uneasiness is felt for the
steamer "Franklin" from the Blue
Fields, (the banana fields of Nicaragua)
duo since last Friday.
Tho occupants of Pagodas and many of
the beach resorts had to be assisted here
by means of life saving lines. Through
out the city houses wero blown down,
and steps and stairs were carried away.
Pcoplo wero blown against houses and
fences, and fractured arms were tho re
sults :n several cases. Amass of twist
ed polrs, timbers and debris o :cuples un
army of workmen today. Taken in all,
it was the most disastrous storm which
Galveston hos seen for years, and it will
toko thousands of dollars to repair the
damage.
C*ntWell la ?tili Supervisor.
Charleston, s, c, July 2.?Judge
Wallace rendered his decision in tho
Cantwell case this afternoon, speaking
brielly but emphatically on tho points
of law. He reviewed the case as made
out against Cantwell, and also the au
thority of tho governor to remove. It
was in tho power of the governor to ap
point, with the approval and consent of
the Senate, and jt was also in his power
to remove, with exactly the same con
ditions. They must bo contemporane
ous. There was a special act by which
trial justices, auditors and treasurers
could be suspended, pending a meeting
of the Senate, but no general law. On
tho letter of the governor about tho two
otlices, the judge said that the law had
been decided unconstitutional in the
Supremo Court relating to appointive
olllces; that the discharge of tho duties
of clerk of the county commissioners
did not at all conflict with those of su
Eorvlsor; that they were not incompati
lc; and that ho must grant tho prayer
of Mr. Bryan in favor of Mr. Cantwell.
?State. _
Kell Into the Glowing Crater.
Home, July 2.?Vesuvius has renewed
its volcanic activity, and the torrent of
lava rushing down the mountain sido is
rapidly increasing in volume. Yester
day two Brazilian tourists nsconded tho
mountain, and had just reached the sum
mit and wero standing on the verge of
the crater when they wero suddenly en
veloped ina dense cloud of smoke which
rushed out upon them from the volcanic
depths. When tho outburst bad sub
sided it was found that one of the gen
tlemen had become asphyxiated and had
fallen into the mouth of the crater.
His companion was only saved by the
presence of mind of the guido who had
accompanied them. As tue sulphurous
smoke puffed out from the crater's
mouth he rushed forward and dragged
one of his patrons out of dangor, but
was unable to save the other. The vic
tim of the accident was Dr. Silva Jar
din, of Bio Janeiro, Brazil, a journalist.
He fell a sheer distance ot 170 feet into
the glowing lava of tho erat* r.
The Itata Case.
San Dieqo, CaL, July 8.?U. S.
Marshall Guard says ho will seize the
Itata today. Tho office? of tho.Itata
offer to pay $500 penalty for sailing
without clcaran.'.o papers, und it is re
ported here that orders havo bcon re
ceived from Washington to accept it and
discharge Ofilcers Mauzel and Tejeda.
Tho United States District Attorney is
now proparing papors upon three
charges: First, clearance without prop*
er papers; second, kldnapp:ng a doputy
United States marshal; third, violating
the neutrality law. He will tako pos
session of the Itata immediately upen
her release by the customs officers. He
says t le action Is against the vessel aud
not against tho men. Mauzel and Tej
eda went to Los Angoles yesterday to
consult with their attornoy.
A RAILROAD MASSACRE.
AWFUL DESTRUCTION OF LIFE AT
RAVENNA, OHIO.
A I'assenger Train Kun Iuto from the
Uear l>7 a Freight Train, Train Fright
fully Wrecked and Set on Fire?Num
bers of the Dead ltoasted to a Crlan.
Ravenna, ?., July 3.?The worst
railroad accident ever occurring in this
vicinity happened at 3 o'clock this
morning. The horrible calamity has
fairly appalled the town aud neighbor
hood. Twenty people were killed aud
their bodies burned to a crisp. More
than that number were injured. The
charred remain:? of the dead were taken
from tho ruins of the demolished pas
senger train as fast as tho flames could
be subdued t>y the townspeople who
rallied to the rescue. _Such terrible
sights us were witnessed in the early
morning hours made the people almost
sick. ?
An express, loaded with sleeping pas
sengers, was run into by a freight train
whilo the express was at a standstill in
this city. Tho wreck of the passenger
train was terrible rnd complete. To add
to the condition of the unfortunate pas
sengers who were imprisoned in the de
bris the train caught lire and was con
sumed. In this way death fairly swept
through the wrecked train. By day
light twenty bodies, nearly all of them
charred in a horrible manner, were tak
en out. Twenty-three injured had also
been rescued. A large number of the
killed were glassblowers who were on
their way east from Findluy,
The freight train that telescoped the
express is the dressed meat express from
Chicago, and was running about thirty
miles an hour when it struck tho pas
senger train. Tho accident was due to
carelessnees in leaving a switch open.
The passenger train, which was the
vestibule express with eight coaches
from Cincinnati to New York, on the
New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio
Railroad, was forty-six minutes late,
and tho engineer w'as trying to remedy
the fault In tho engine when tho fast
freight was sighted in the roar. A
brakeman was sent back, but the heavy
freight train of twenty-four cars could
not be stopped on tho down grade in
time, and it crashed into the rear of tho
passenger train.
Tho rear coach contained forty-six
passengers, all glass-workers recently
employed at the Richardson Glass
Works in Findluy. who .were on their
way to their homes In New York State.
The car was completely demolished, and
a terrible slaughter occurred.
George Holman, tho engineer of the
freight, said to a reporter: "1 cannot
see that I am to blame. Oh, my God, if
I could have got sand I could have
stopped, the train, but the rails were
wet and the sand would not take. I
Was not warned in time, and could not
see the lights on the rear of the passen
ger, owing to the darkness and fog. I
reversed the lever as quickly as possi
ble, and with the fireman jumped from
the train, sustaining a severe fracture
of the right hand." Air. Holman seems
to think that the man of the passenger
train, Fred Boynton, could have Hugged
from a greater distance.
Tho lire department of Ravenna was
soon on the scene, and extinguished the
Uauies, but not before terrible havoc
had been wrought.
Resides tho victims in tho rear coach,
four passengers in tho Pullman car
next forward were killed. Two men
and one woman were burned to death
in this car, whilo their bodies wero
partly out of tho windows, their at
tempts to escape having been fruitless.
Oue woman was heard screaming hor
ribly while being burned, but she could
not bo reached. Two headless bodies
of men could bo seen caught in the out
rigging of tho locomotive inside the
telescoped car, and another dead body
was suspended from tho cow-catcher.
The brakeman who was sent buck had
got only about fifteen yards before he
met tho freight train.
The scenes hero at the wreck this
morning wero heart-rendering. A
nurse girl, whose name is unknown,
and a baby about a year old, which she
was caring for, wero burned to death
before the very eyes of tho horror
stricken spectators. Heroic ettorts
wero made to save them, but they were
apparently bound down by the broken
timbers of the car. Tho poor girl
pleaded piteously for somebody in
mercy to kill her. Tl e ilames almost
enveloped tho car and repeatedly drove
the rescuers away. Finally tho workers
were compelled to fall back and aban
don the girl to her awful fate. This
was but one of the awful scenes being
enacted.
When the groat freight locomotive
ploughed through the rear coach, it
mangled into unrecognizable masses of
ilesh and bones several of the passen
gers. Their deaths, horrible though
they were, wero cosy compared to that
of some of their friends. When the
locomotive had come to a standstill, live
forms were seen to bo pinioned between
the head of tho boiler and the torn and
twisted timbers of tho coach. Two
were undoubtedly dead or unconscious,
but the other three weakly swayed their
bodies and waved their hands in an
agonizing endeavor to free themselves
from tueir frightful position. Quickly
the debris of the coach caught lire, and
in a few minutes the forms of tho poor
fellows wero enveloped in smoke and
ilames.
ANOTHER RAILROAD DISASTER.
1'lftoen l'or-ot>H KID.xi and Fifty-Bight
Injured.
0lIARLB8TON| W. Va., July 4.- Tho
greatest disaster In tho history of this
community was tho wrecking of a Kun
awha and Michigan train at Farm, a
villago eight miles north of this city,
this morning. There is a trestle there
thirty-live feet high, wnlch caught liro
at some time during the night f rom an
unaccountable cause, probably from a
cinder from an engino passing about
midnight. Whilo tho bridge was not
consumed, its foundations wero so bad
ly damaged as to render it unsafe to
cross. No notificatian of the fact was
received here, however, and the train,
the first of tho day, attempted to cross
it as usual. Tho engino, tern or and
baggage car passed over safely, but the
two coaches went through. Engineer
Pat Connor seemed to realize the sltua
tion and pulled open tho throttle, in the
hope of pulling all over safely, but it
whs too late. Roth coaches wore
crowded, and scarcely any one in them
escaped Injury. The station is three
miles from tho nearest telegraph olllce,
but as soon as possible a relief train
was sent from this city, which returned
about 2.15 p. m , bearing the dead and
wounded.
One of the most pathetic incidents of
the accident was that, of the annihila
tion of the Welcher family. Mr. Welch
er, his wife and little child wero on
their way to Point Pleasant to visit
friends, being their first trip outside of
the city for years. Mr. Welcher was
instantly killed, and his wife was
brought hero a few hours later so badly
inj used that she dlod shortly after her
arrival. Their littio child, aged two
{ears, was somewhat bruised and bleed
ng, three fingers of its right hand
balng cut off.
Tho care were crowded, and it is a
wonder that there wore not more fatal
ities. Scarcely any one in them es
caped unhurt. The list of injured
numbers 58: killed 15.
HANGED FOR HIS CRIMF..
Hrauhaiu. th? Negro Murderer of an Ital
ian. Will Kill No More.
Charlotte, N. 0., July 2.?The
hanging of Brabham, the negro who
murdered the Italian Mocca, took place
at 10:4-1 this forenoon.
A day or two ago he expressed a
deslro that his execution take place
about 11 o'clock that he might take din
ner "in hell," yet he changed his irrev
erent mood this morning and had a con
versation with three clergymen, to
whom ho confessed repentance and nope
of pardon.
He met his fate with firmness in the
presenco of about 200 persons. He
made no remarks to the crowd himself,
but ltev. I'. P. Alston, the colored
clergymen, at Brabham's request said
that he had confessed his guilt of the
crime for which ho was to be hanged,
and that he was also guilty of the rob
bery which occurred at the Buford
house some days before the murder.
Brabham, however, declined to betray
an associate in the robbery, who, he
said, was in possession of some of the
stolen goods. He refused to go further
in his confession.
He bade farewell this morning to all
his comrades in jail with the exception
of Caldwell, who had twice assisted
Sheriff Smith in defeating his attempts
to escape from jail. He had. however,
on tho previous day included Caldwell
in Iiis rarewell.
Ho ate nothing since yesterday morn
ing, and also declinedstimulants, which
were offered him. He slept well last
night, and seemed to have good control
of himself when ho was brought to the
! scaffold.
He was the seventh victim who has
been hanged on tho same scaffold. The
drop was cut, and the fall was four and
a half feet, which did not sullice to break
his neck. Death ensued in eleven
minutes.
Tho hanging caused much interest
hero through tho brutality of tho crime,
threats of lynching which followed,
and a con "let between whites and
blacks in the neighborhood of the jail
In which he was imprisonod. The fact
that he has only recently made a des
perate attack on Sheriff: Smith with his
shackles, which, but for the intrepidity
of that ollicer and tho interference of
Caldwell, a prisoner in jail for gam
bling, would have proved successful,
added to the public interest in the af
fair.
There was no race feeling, however,
tho justice of tho sentence having been
acknowledged, quito a number of wit
nesses being negroes.
A novel feature of the occasion was
that tickets of admission to the jail,
issued by the sheriff were eagerly
sought, being pedaled around at from
50 cents to S5 each.
The crime for which Brabham was
executed was committed last April. He
entered tho small store of an Italian
named Mocca, where calling for a glass
of cider, he drew a car coupling pin,
concealed under his coat and dealt the
death blow while Mocca's back was
turned drawing the cider. This occur
red at 11 o'clock at night, and Brabham
today, said he had the pin concealed un
der bis coat from 1 o'clock on the pre
vious afternoon, awaiting his oppor
tunity. _
Tho Davis Monument.
Nashville, Tenn., July 2.?Capt.
John W.Childers, chairman of the com
mittee from the Southern Press associa
tion, delegated to collect a fund and at
tend to the details of erecting a monu
ment to tho memory of Jefferson Da
vis, is just back from a meeting of the
committee at Atlanta.
He says that the committee feel much
encouraged at the progress of affairs.
About 820,000 have already been raised,
but before the actual work is com
menced on the monument they expect
to raise $50,000. Active measures will
bo taken at once in soliciting for the
fund.
It was decided to select a general
agent to look after collections, whoso
name will bo announced in si low days.
The committee determined to request
President Screws, of tho Southern
Press association, to call a meeting of
the association at Nashville not, later
than October.
At this meeting tho committee is to
report S?O.000 raised, that will insure
tho erection of a monument, to submit
plans and specifications, und to receive
full instructions.
An Honor Declined.
Columbia, S. C, July 2.?Previous to
the appointment of Dr. Babcock as
Superintendent of the Lunatic Asylum,
an account of which appears elsewhere,
tho position was tendered to Dr. W. H.
Naruin of Anderson, who declined the
honor in the following letter:
lion. II. It, Till man, Governor, Co
lumbia, S. C.
Dear Siu: Your esteemed favor of
tho 27th Inst. to hand. Please accept
my thanks for the honor conferred up
on me l>y your selection for the high
and lesponsible position tendered, and
it is with regret that 1 am forced to de
cline the honor, first from a sense of my
unfitness for the position, and second
the unwillingness to raise my growing
family thus surrounded. With highest
esteem and hoping you may mid one
more worthy.
I am with respect vours truly,
W. II. NA It DIN.
T.rrlblc Storm in <;nrm><ny.
Berlin, July 2.?A terrible storm ol
thunder, hail and rain passed over a
large part of Germany, last night, caus
ing immense damage to property and
loss ol life in tho villages of Suchtellon,
near D?sseldorf and Siltard.
In the Crofeld district, also near the
D?sseldorf, many houses were com
pletely wrecked and tho inmates buried
in the. ruins. Thirteen bodies have al
ready been recovered.
The tori.ado caused terrible destruc
tion throughout the lower I thine dis
trict. Riflemen's hall at Crofced was
lifted Irom its foundations and carried
clean away. The circus was blown over
and the pavilions wero damaged and
thci. contents shattered. Several at
taches sustained injuries.
Murriercu* Negro Klllril.
Savannah. Ga.. July 8.?Osnus Lee,
colored, ran amuck the Kastern part of
tho city to-night and attempted to kill
half u dozen people, among them Po
liceman Andrew Clayton, wliom he shot
twice through tho body. Policeman
Neidlinger ran to tho rescue and as he
came up Leo snapped an empty pistol
in his face, having emptied tho cham
bers in attempting to kill Clayton.
Neidlinger returned the fire, killing
Leo Instantly with a bullet through his
heart.
Konnd Dead In lied.
AUGUSTA. Ga., July 8.?Julius Neil
son, a young Dane who has been over
five months in Augusta, was found
dead in his boarding house to-day with
five wounds in his stomach, three of
which were fatal. He had been unwell
and it is not known whether It is a case
of suicide or murder.
HORRORS OF THE ELECTRIC CHAIR.
't'?.r11 Mo Work or tho Deadly Current on
the Victims.
New Yokk, July 8.?The Evening
World, iu its sporting edition, says: The
body of Murderer Harris A. Sin Her was
brought to Ulis city this afternoon. The
body had been claimed by Smiler's
widow, the woman he married and de*
serted for tho womau whom ho atter
wards murdered. The body was takeu
Irom the train to tho undertaking estab
lishment at 205 West One Hundred and
Twenty-tilth street. Three or four huu
drcd people were gathered Micro to wit
ness the arrival of the body. By a pre
vious arraugemont with tho undertaker,
an Evening World roporter was in wait
ing at the rooms to see the body of tho
executed murderer. The coffin was
taken to the basement by the undertak
er's assistants, and tho lid was quickly
taken off, exposing the dead man's face.
The reporter stood close bv, and was
horrified at the sight that mot his eyes.
Smiler's face had been burned nud
seamed by the electric fluid until it pre
sented tho appearance of haviug been
broiled. Tho hair on the front of tho
head, tho moustache and eyebrows had
bceu Kinged and burned oil'. The tace
was furrowed and scarred as though
with a hot iron. These marks were not
tho80 oi a dissecting knifo or scalpel.
They were palpable burns. Prcssiug
closer to see. the dead man's face plain
er, tho reporter attracted the attention
of the undertaker's assistants, and they
seized him by the slum.der and com
pelled him t> leave the place before any
other portion of tho body was exposed.
In reply to repeated requests to be al
lowed to see tho body, tho reporter was
informed that no one but the undertaker
and his assistants would be permitted lo
seo It until it had becu fully prepared
for burial. It was learned through one
of the undertaker's rssistnnts that
Smiler's left leg was burned to the bone
and the eyes were badly burned.
A Terrible Tale of the Seu.
London, July 7.?A dispatch from
Auckland, Now Zealand, reports that
the bark Corn padre, bound Irom Calcutta
for Chile, recently caught fire at sea.
After an ineffectual effort to subduo the
flames the captain steered bis course for
Bluff Harbor, a seaport of tho province
of Olaga, New Zealand. He had suc
ceeded in bringing his burning vessel to
tho mouth of the harbor when a tremen
dous hurricane overtook iier. Tho ex
hausted crew spent their last energies
iu attempting to keep dowu the ragiug
flro and at the same time force tiio un
fortunate bark to face the tremendous
winds and seas which beat upou und
rushed over her. It was, however, all
to no avail. After a desperate struggle
witli tho opposing elements, tho Com
pndro became waterlogged and was
driveu with tearful force upon the rocks
of the lesolatc and uninhabited Auck
land Islands. Atter incredible suffering,
tho crew of tho bark succeeded in swim
ming ashore. Here, in one of the latter
years of tho nineteenth century, l ho
miserable men were forced to spend 103
days and nights, suffering the oxtrcmcst
wretchedness of exposure and starvation.
On the one hundred and fourth day of
their being cast away their distress sig
nals were observed by a passing scaling
Vessel, and the sorely tried sailors were
taken oil' in safety, but in a distressing
condition of weakness and emaciation.
During their enforced stay ou the island
one of their number wandered into the
bush and was never heard of again. It
is supposed that suffering drove the man
mad.
Look up Your tax ltecolpts!
COLUMBIA. 8. C, July 8.?Accord
ing to the reports made to the Secretary
of State the agents of the sinking fund
and land agents are doing splendid work
in their respective fields. Dr. A. E.
Williams, the agent for Beaufort, Collc
ton and Hampton, was in f he city to-day
to make a monthly report. His terri
tory Is very large and the greater part
oi his time is spent in making the rounds.
Secretary Tindal made the interesting
and suprising statement to-day that Dr.
Williams had discovered and is now rec
tifying fully three hundred errors in tax
receipts, tax executions, etc., and in re
claiming lands to the State. In a case
called to attention to-day executions
were levied and collected against a tract
of land in Collcton in which the owners
held receipts but were not entered on
tho treasurer's books. This is shown to
be not the fault of sherilfor treasure!,
but of tho carelessness of the deputies
who were charged with the collection of
taxes.
This is only one of a great many of
the same kind. It is evident that the
State must be out the amount of such
unroturned collections. Secretary Tin
dal says that it is paying the State well
to employ these agents, and that the
way they arc working is very satisfac
tory to the property owners. Williams
left hero to-day for Wolterboro and will
continue his work the following week in
Beaufort.?News and Courier.
I'lniit I .cum Cotton.
At a meeting of Marlhor > County Al
liance held at Bcnnettsvillc, on July 3,
1801, the following resolutions were
passed:
Resolved, First. That we pledge our
selves to plaut only ten acres of cotton
to the noi80 in 1802, provided we can
get the co-operation of the cotton State,,
so as to decrease tho production oi' cot
ton and so obtain a due reward for our
labor.
Second. That we request tho State
Alliance to call for a convention of the
cotton growers of the South, irrespect
ive of class or color, to meet at->
not later tlinn December lirst, next, to
consider tho same.
J. U. Thomas, J. J. Lane,
Secretary. President.
Itroke Her Spinn.
Boston, July <},?On Saturday last
Mrs. Jennie C. Crockett, aged thirty
four, of Boston, a professional balloon
ist under tho name of Nellie Wheeler,
made an ascension from the grounds or
tho Waverly Land Company as a means
of advertising a land sale. At a height
of 1,200 foet she grasped her parachute
and descended, Whed about thirty
feet from the grountl site became fright
ened at the prospect, of landing in a
{greenhouse, and lotting go of tho
t?ndle, fell on her back, breaking her
spine. She cannot survive, Mrs. Wheel
er had made many successful ascen
sions. She is the mother of u boy of
twelve. Her husband is said to live in
Providence, IL I.
A Female Aeronaut Killed.
Cleveland, July 4.?As Mmo. Zo
otta Bentley was making a balloon as
cension at Elyria, O., to day, a strong
gust of wind caught the air ship and
dragged the trape/.e upon which she
was sitting through tho trees. She was
not able to retain her hold, and fell to
the ground, a distance or sixty foet.
she was instantly killed. Every rib in
her body was broken.
SWEPT BY A CYCLONE.
DEATH AND DESTRUCTION IN LOU
ISIANA'S CAPITAL CITY.
The Factory and Hospital ut the 1'enttea
tlury DeUAOlUhod?Ten Persona Killed
und Thirty Injured?-Damage In tho
citv.
Yb\V Orleans, July f.?A cyclono
at i lud in llouso this morning brought
death ami destruction to that city. The
steamboat Smoky City was blown to
pieces thoro being nothing leit of her but
the hull. Several of horcrow wore bad
ly Iu lured. Two squares in tho east
side of Baton ltougo woro destroyed.
Tho cyclono passed ovor the lower
portion ot the town, unro 'ing housos,
tearing up immense trees 1 carrying
missies along the air for n .ny blocks.
Tho governor's mansion was directly in
the path of tho hurricane, which made a
clean swoop of ovcry chimnoy aud clear
od the front lawn ot its largo trees. Tho
roof of a haudsome residence belonging
to Mr. Marsh, was carried away, and
other damngo dono to tho place. Tho
boulevard is ono mass of treos that havo
been torn up by the wind, and tho street
is tilled with pieces of bouso tops and
other timbers of almost every descrip
tion.
The penitentiary walls woro Mown
down and ten persons killed and thirty
wounded. The factory building was de
molished and the hospital of the peni
tentiary blown down.
What household goods bare not beon
carried away by the wind have boon
ruined by tho water. Strcots aud cel
lars are Hooded, nnd it is feared that
some persona have been drowned In tho
lower part of the city.
At tho penitentiary tho sccuo was a
terrible one. Without any warning the
I walls of the factory, in which 101) con
victs were at work, were crushed iu as
it' they had been mere pasteboard. The
guards were helpless, and as most of tho
men at work wero either killed or wound
ed, little could bo done toward extricat
ing tho unfortunate victims until help
arrived from the main prison building.
To add to the horror of the situation,
the ruins caught lire from the fuanacc iu
tho engine room, but owing to tho heavy
min which was falling the threatened
holocaust was averted. Tho rescuers
went quickly to work and besjan tho
task ot extricating the dead and dying
from beneath the ruins. Of the lorco at
work when the storm struck the build
ing, it was discovered that ten bad been
killed and thirty seriously injured, and
all the others more or loss bruised.
This was not the worst. The hospital
of the penitentiary in which was lying
a number of maimed and helpless con
victs, was leveled to tho ground by
the fury of the storm. The work of res
cue from the factory buildimr, where a
larger number of lives were in danger,
diverted attention from the uuforfunates
In the hospital, and it was not uutil
most of the working force had becu res
cued that tho prison ollicials found time
to turn their attention to tho hospital.
Here the work was even more difficult
than at the factory, owing to the weak
ness of the in m nies, who were uuable
even to give the rescuers an indication
of their presence In the debris by shouts.
The work therefore, proceeds but slow
ly. Up to noon, however, it is beliovou
that most of the patients have been res
cued.
The rain is still falling in torrents and
shows no signs of abating.
The storm approched from a south
western direction and swept a path three
hundred feet or more In width diagon
ally across the city, levelling everything
ns it went. The southern portion of tho
city, styled "Catfish Town," suffered
great loss and damage to property. It
is the greatest loss Baton Kongo, has
ever sustained, whether from a cyclone
or a fire. The total damage done Will
reach several hundred thousand dollars.
Full Two Hundred Feet.
New Lisbon, ??. July 4.?Fully
} .000 people were assembled here today
to sec Prof, Brady, of Cleveland, mako
n balloon ascension and parachute leap.
When the word was given and the bal
loon shot upward, the multitude was
horrified to see a man hanging head
downward immediately below the car of
the balloon. The man whose leg was
entangled \\ a rope disentangled himself
and droped to the parachute, striking It
iu such r way that the knife cut the rope,
detached the parachute from the bal
loon, and he and the aeronaut fell to the
ground with great force. The upper
man fell about 200 teet and was instant
ly killed. The parachute broke Brady's
fall, but he was seriously, though not
fatally, hurt. The name of the man killed
was William Hcnnessy, a resident of this
place, who was helping to 'milate tho
balloon, He was nlly years old and
leaves a widow and four childjcn.
Died Clutching: lila Gold.
San jose, Cal., July 0.?Prof Herman
Kottinger, who up to twenty yeuis ago
was tho leading violinist on the coast,
and well known as a writer of prose
and poetry, died yesterday in a squalid
hut on Colfax street. He was worth
hundreds of thousands of dollars, ac
quired by a lifetime of miserly. Hut
one child, William Kottinger, was pres
ent at tho death. When the old man,
in his death throes raised himself iu
bed, tho son rushed to his side. His
father, inistakingtho act, with a frenzi
ed yell waved him back, and clutching
at t he bed clothes pulled them back, dis
closing to view a quantity of gold coin.
He mad a grab at it with both hands,
and, with tho bright pieces in his lin
gers, fell back with a gaspjtnd expired.
A Mud Accident.
Blaokvillb, s. C, July 2.?Mr.
James McDonald, a highly respected
and well-to-do citizen living about a
half mile from F.lko, went this morn
ing with a party to Capt. W. W. Willis's
null on a fishing expedition. About 10
o'clock ho and his two grown daughters
went out into tho pond in a boat, and
while paddling up the pond the boat
struck a tree, throwing out the younger
daughter. Ho immediately jumped
overboard to save her when they both
went to the bottom aud did not rise
again. Tho daughter loft in the boat
managed to get the boat out and re
ported it. Tho bodies have not yet
beon recovered, but they are being
searched for.---Nows and Courier.
Ax Had ii? ii ItattM, .p-ft.* t(
Sydney, N.1s. W.. July ?.?Tho Brit
iah war ship Cordelia, Capt. Harry T.
G'renfell, ten guns. 2,280 tons and 2,420
horso porter, has iust returned to this
port after a most disastrous trip to sea
for target practico with her big guns.
Capt. Oronfell reports that while prac
ticing with one of the Cordelia's six
inch breech-loading guns the latter ex
ploded, killing Lieut. Wm. B. Hillyar.
Lieut. Cordon and four ser.men ana
wounding three midshipmen and ten
seamen. Tho Cordelia is a single screw
corvette, built of steel and iron, cased
with wood. She Is attached to the Au
stralian station.