The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, August 25, 1898, Image 6
^a^CTM^^SHMSW^SHBm fP^THE
COUNTY RECROD.
Published Every Thursday
?AT?
KINGSTREE, SOUTH CAROLINA
LOUIS J. BRI8TOW, Kdltor an<!
Proprietor.
? A little mental arithmetic, based on
naval figures seut from Washington,
serves to show that the three rear-admirals
senior to Dewey will all be
retired bv the ace limit before the
opening of next year, so that by January
1 the hero of Manila will be the
ranking officer of the service. That
is one thing the Spaniards have done
to him, to offset several things he did
to them.
V v * "?
According to a report to the State
Department by Consul-Gencral
Gowey, at Yokohama, in regard to
foreign residents of Japan, it appears
that Japan has been gradually getting
rid of the assistance of foreigners.
Throughout recent years the British
have numerically predominated. Of
5G7 foreigners, for instance, who
were in the employ of Japanese, both
government and private, 227 were
British, 203 Americana, 44 French, 40
Germans, 7 Dutch, 5 Swiss, 2 KusBians
and 2 Italians.
Russia ranks among the nations of
least natural aptitude for the modern
mode of fighting, says the Chicago
Times-Herald. This is a fact that-is
overlooked in the discussion of the
great world war. now supposed to be
imminent. "Whether we contemplate
the outbreak as a promiscuous struggle
among nations, or as the final contest
for supremacy-between the two races,
the Anglo-Saxon and the Slav, the
enormous power of Russia must be
taken with this limitation. It may be
true that the Slav is to dominate the
world. But if so it will be through
first an alliance with part of the great
machine-lighting nations against the
others, and afterward divisions among
these allies themselves.
A report issued by the British Foreign
Office says: "So far as Great
Uritain it cnnpornoil tlio mr\c+ /Tic.
- ?? ? ?'
turbing feature of the Japanese trade
of last year was the immense strides
made by American competition. The
value of United States imports rose
* $5,128,195, or fifty-seven per cent.,
' while those from Great Britain were
*
only $1,662,440, or five per cent,
higher than in 1896. In the latter
year we held thirty-six per cent, of
the import trade into Japan; last year
the proportion had fallen to twentynine
per cent. Germany is not making
headway. In 1890 the value of
United 3tates goods entering Japan
was only $6,874,531; last year it had
risen to $27,030,537. In the same
space of time British imports grew
from $26,019,102 to $65,402,266. Thus
the American race of increase has been,
roughly, fourfold, while ours has been
only two and a lialf fold."
Under the heading "Justice for the
Navy" the Army and Navy Journal
makes comparisious of pay of officers
in the naval and military" "service,
showing that the latter are the better
paid. The pay of naval officers varies
somewhat, according to the nature of
the service. The table as given by
the Army and Navy Journal is as follows:
i "Rear-Admiral ?4,C0D to*SG.0C0
Commodore 3,0CD to 5.000
Captain 2.SO0 to 4.500
& -Commander 2.800 to 3,500
Lieutenant-Commander 2,000 to 2.SOO
Lieatenant 1,200 to 2,400
Ensign 1,000 to 1,400
_The pay of the corfesponding officers
of the army is:
Major-Ceneial t7,"00
Brigadier-General 5,500
Colonel 4,500
Lieutenant-Colonel 4.000
Major 8,500
Captain 2,l05
fceeond-Lieutenaijt 1,500
A comparison of these figures shows
that the highest pay in the naval
service is less than the regular pay to
officers of corresponding rank in the
i:a : n-i,? t v..,?
LLLLilltti j ct'i ?lUc. x llv ?jl! iuj auu i.1 a > j
. Journal, without reflecting on the
. army, points out that almost everything
that has been actually accomplished
thus far in the war has been
done by the navy. It thinks such
good service should be recognized by
Congress by having the pay of naval
officers made equal to that of the army
officers. This is a demand that will
strike the public as just. The American
Navy has always given a good ac
count of itself. Its recent achievements
should briug substantial reward
in the form of increased salaries, so
that the pay of naval officers shall
equal that of officers in tlio military
service. _____________
"When there is a story "on" a man,
how he wishes he could censor tiie
news, as the government does at Key
iWest!
.
* >
i
'FIELDS OF ADYEMTUE.
: THRILLING INCIDENTS AND DARINC
DEEDS ON LAND AND SEA.
A Prairie Episode Which IlluatrateR the
Diflcrence Between Meeting: a Wild
1 Animal With a Itepeat'nji Kiile and
an Old Flint Lock.
: Iu the "liighfalutin" language of an
older time, William J. Snelling, a
journalist and explorer of the early
part of the century, once related an
nrli?Anf n vo ATI flto rtVOIVlOQ 1 >1.
aut V VU IUO Ui^ 1UO lr litvu Au
teresting not only for the singularity
of its incidents, but as an illustration
of the difference between meeting a
wild animal with a modern repeating
rifle and with an old flint-lock.
Snelling was engaged in his explorations
in Minnesota in winter, and
was out on the prairie with his flintlock
rifle, lie espied a big bull buffalo
in the distance, and was tilled
with a desire to shoot it. He succeeded
in creeping up on the auimal,
j and gave it a shot.
| He seemed to have wounded it, but
' not very seriously, for the bull immed!
iat^iv ehnrced nnon him at a terrible
j pace. Snelling ran at the top of his
j speed, but he could see that the bull
I was railing faster. His gun?useless
now, of course?embarrassed him,and
he threw it away. On came the buffalo.
Snelling looked in vain for shelter;
there was neither rock nor tree in
sight. In another moment he was
likely to be overtaken.
Just then he came upon one of those
little ponds which in winter, particularly
after a rainy autumn, abound on
the western prairies. It was frozen
solidly, and the ice was snowless and
smooth. Snelling had heard that a
buffalo could 110 more run on ice than
a pig can, and he felt now that his deliverance
was at hand.
He sprang upon the ice. The buffalo
did not follow. The pond was
? # 1 -V T i - . J It- -
oniy ft iew yarns iu (uameier, ami uie
bull kept walking around it. The
man could only keep as uear the centre
as possible. He grew terribly cold,
but still the bull walked around the
pond, with horns down.
Some drops of blood revealed the
fact that the animal was wounded: but
he continued to walk around the pond
for four hours. Snelling wished that
he had kept his gun. He was sure to
freeze to death soon. Night was coming
on. He wondered if the buffalo
would go away when darkness fell.
The animal did not wait so long, but
just before the sun set, he gave a loud
bellow, aud heavily marched away.
Snelling waited until he felt sure
that the buffalo had reached a sufficient
distance. and then made for his
gun. He got it, and followed the buffalo.
Then he saw that the animal was reeling.
His shot had, after all, taken effect.
though the effect was long delayed.
At last Snelling saw the animal fall.
Meantime the weather had grown bitterly
cold. He must build a fire or
die, for he was twenty miles from
camp. He now discovered that, in his
rnn from the bufi'alo, he had lost the
marten-skin in which he carried his
flint, steel and tinder.
But ho had sometimes made fire by
picking the flint of his gun. He now
essayed to do this with his knife. He
I struck at the fliut, and with the first
! blow knocked it out of its place and
| ten feet away in the snow. He searched
i for it in vain. It was uow almost
j dark.
He heard the howl of wolves iu the
distance, and felt sure that he should
' r v _ l r it "n..i
C.'ban camplire, "have seen the hJeini110!"
Afro-Indian scouts. In the early
eighties, when 1 was a Lieutenant,
my regiment was stationed at out Fort;
Clark, and was assigned to command
these same scouts. They were a motley
crowd, half African, half Indian,
and a glance over their muster roll
would reveal snch euphonious names
as Ben July. Pompev Perriniau, Jim
Warrior, and Friday Bowlegs. Black
as solid hunks of ebony, and as fond
of whisky as a baby is of milk, they
were, nevertheless, the finest trailers
and scouts on earth.
"Southwestern Texas at that time
was a pretty wild stretch of country.
Civilisation stopped at San Antone,
and the duty of these Afro-Indians
was to keep that border free from
smugglers, marauding parties, and
hostile Indians. The men Lad had a
good many sharp brr.slies with the
redskins, an 1 when they were warmed
up with Honor they liked to tell of
these affairs. The commander at
Fort Clark was a little skeptical about
these Indian stories, and one day ho
said to me in a joking way: 'I don't
believe there is an Indian in West
Texas, and I'll give SoO to any man
in your command who will bring in
a dead redskin.'
"There was one Mexican in command,
Julian Longonio, and he was
one of the best trailers the Southwest
ever saw. Longonio heard the Col
iuniiMi i, jueui iur iiitiu. diu
suddenly a thought occurred to him:
Why not wrap himself in the skin of
the buffalo?
j He fell upon the animal's carcass in
an instant, and with a few strokes had
the hide stripped on. It was thick and
heavy?too heavy for him to lift entire.
But dragging it away from the carcass,
: which was sure to attract wolves, he
I rolled himself in it, with the fur iu1
ward, and lay down on the prairie, coni
fident, he says, that "neither Jack
i Frost nor the wolves could got at him,
. through an armor thicker and tougher
I than the sevenfold shield of Ajax."
I Ail night the wolves howled, but
j they made no attack on the prostrate
; i; 1 v?j ....
; in tt . i? ;:ui iiivi iuu iuirii^u n
| cold freeze him. Xe\t morning he
j rose and, picking up his flmtless -run,
i and leaving the buffalo's hide where
he had slept, made his way home.
The Making of a Good Indian.
"You, gentlemen, who have served
in southwestern Texas," related a
i.\llv \V*>c* Pniuf rVttfoin orminJ ?i
oncl's remcrk and his beadlike eyes
snapped as he turned away. For my- j
self I thought 110 more of it until it ,
was forcibly recalled to my mind some '
time later. The next day we left Fort '
Clark for a scouting trip. At Newton,
where the Los Moras empties into the
Rio Grande, Longonio rode up and
j asked permission to cross the river,
j Fancying that he wanted to visit some |
i friends, and knowing that there was
; no immediate need of his services, I 1
I readily crave mv consent. The crreaser i
swam his pony across the river and j
disappeared in the chaparral. The
next I saw of him was two days later,
' when I rode into Fort Clark for my
1 mail. In the afternoon Longonio rode
down the officers' line and stopped in
front of the Adjutant's office. Several
officers were standing around and
gazed in open-mouthed astonishment
at sight of the Mexican with a dead j
Indian behind him. He refused to i
answer any of their queries and asked j
for 'El Colonel.' Hearing the com- ;
motion the Colonel came out, and j
before he could say anything Julian [
cut the rope that bound the Indian to j
his saddle, threw the corpse on the j
porch at the Colonel's feet, and in j
that soft, drawling voice so peculiar '
to the Mexicans, said:
" 'Cin cueuta pesos, Senor el Col- j
onel.
"Well, the Colonel was so thunderstruck
at tirst that he was speechless,
but recovering himself presently, he
gave Longouio such a talking to as
I never heard before or since. The
Mexican sat like a sphinx on his horse,
pretending not to understand Euglisk,.
and when the Colonel was through, he
simply pointed to the dead Indian
and agaiu said:
" 'Cin cuenta pesos, Senor el
uoionei.
"He got his 'cin cnenta pesos' final-1
ly, but the Colonel intimated that if
lie ever caught him around there again
he'd have him shot. Longonio pocketed
the money and rode away with a
broad grin on his face to regain the
scouts. It seems he had lassoed the
Indian first, and started to bring him
in alive, but after dragging him a mile
over the cactus plain, poor Lo's spirit
fled and another bad Indian was made
a good one by way of the Paradise
valley route."?New York Suu.
A llattie Incident.
There is some quality in the inhab|
itants of the British Islands which
. 11 Af aa 1 t? Ian .la fit am 4- a lia/iAma
uun \JiAij iC/(iao buuiu IU ucn'iuu j^uuu j
soldiers, but makes it a point of honor
for those of them who are officers to
render brave personal services to the
men under their command. It is seldom
that one hears of any such incident
among European Continental
armies as the following which is related
in connection with a recent
fight in the Khyber Pass, in Afghanistan;
the Continental officer feels
himself under obligation to carry
wounded soldiers on his back.
Colonel Plowden's command formed
a part of General Hamilton's rearguard,
and had to cross a bit of exposed
ground swept by the tribesmen's
tire.
Here three men were struck by bullets;
two of them could walk, but the
third was disabled. Xo snrrreon was
I ? o
present, and Colonel Plowden himself
dressed the man's wounds.
After this the men had to retire
across the exposed ground, and Corporal
Bell was killed. Colonel Plowden,
Lieutenant Owen and Lieuten;
ant Fieldeu carried the dead man up
a hill; and by and by the command
had to cross another exposed spot.
Somebody was sure to be hit now; it
happened to he private Butler, and
the ball struck him in the leg, so that
' he could not walk. Captain Parr
| dressed his wound and Lieutenant
Carter took the wounded man 011 his
pback and carried him.
I But alas! midway of the exposed
i ground poor Butler, as ho lay on the
Lieutenant's back, was struck again,
and the force of the ball knocked the
Pfi-tt-ilv-Ptilpv. mi'mr nl)ic(>r ilnn'n Tfr>
' sot ;ii> anil ouce more shouldered his
! burden, when Lieutenant Bidden
| earae to his aid, and together these
officers carried Butler to a place of
i safety. Then it was found that he
; was dead as the result of the second
I shot.
Meantime Colonel Plowden and
I Lieutenant Owca were carrying Corporal
Bell's body across the dangerous
j ground, and both of them were
; wounded in doing so. They strugj
gled on in spite of their wounds, aud
! reached cover with their sad burden.
Kiieb 111 rodents hvmrr the. soldier
i near to his officer, and make him
: readier even than he might otherwise
i be to lav down his life for his ^ountry
! and his commanders.
Jlodost Hero's Work.
! A number of boys were playing 011
die bridge which spans the river at
foms River, X. J., when Martin
; Schwartz, eight years old, was dared
I to cross the structure outside the guard
ail. Roy like, he took up the chal'
lenge, atid was accomplishing the feat
, when another hoy thumped his hands,
i He let go of the guard rail and fell
i into the stream. The water at this
: point is about twenty feet deep, and
the boy came up for the last time just
I as Mr. Bush, of Elmira, was crossing
the bridge to take the train for Xew
York. Mr. Bush sprang over the rail,
1 <rvo \1\rwl I wl Qwom witli liim
shore, loft lain in tiio hand0, of the excited
crowd that had begun to gather,
and with his clothes dripping wet ran
1 for his train, which he caught as it
moved out of the station.
IJurs.nr-i'roof Safes.
Tiie host imrglar-prool sales are
made of alternate layers of hard ami
sol't mci;;!. which are welded together.
This combination will not yield to
either drill or sledge hammer.
The mining laws of the republic of
"Mexico insure tho prospector lull protection
and enjoyment of anything
valuable lie may liml.
I GOOD EOADS NOTES, ?
^?^'^?10jQ'$S0jQ($fG{^?NG'0$0:<$f?!O{G??/l?r?i\5{^
Had Koads and Feuds.
Hayden Brock, a young mountaineer,
who lives in Laurel County, Kentucky,
and bus been a student at the State
College in Lexington for three years,
was asked recently what, in his opinion,
caused mountain feuds. He hesitated
before answering, but he dually
said:
"Bad roads. You see, our roads
are so bad that a four-boree team can
haul only 2500 pounds of goods from
London to Manchester. This can be
done only during the summer and
fall months. In the winter and spring
it is impossible to haul empty wagons
over this road, and the mail has to be
carried on pack mules. We are therefore
shut oil'from the world during at
least live months in the year, aud
when we do have communication, it is
so slow and costly that many of our
people have never seen a railroad train,
?ii tu: 1 t. on
UUU KUUW IlUlUHl^UUUUlUlllCfl. llicac
l>atl roads prevent our children from
going to school during the winter
months and the result is that we have
a great deal of illiteracy. The mails
are few and necessarily slow, so that
we are entirely out of touch with the
world and all that is going on in it.
Freights are also very high. It costs
thirty-five cents a hundred pounds to
haul freight from London to Manchester,
and to Hyden, the county seat of
Letcher County, it costs seventy-five
cents a hundred.
"Owing to the poor roads, very little
work can be done in the winter,
and the enforced idleness breeds ignorance
and crime. Many of our peo
pic ojjcuu tuv.li uicuij vt liiivx virtj o auvi
nights in making and drinking moonsliino
whiskey, and this often results
in shootings and killings, and often
starts feuds. If we had better roads
wo would have more and better
schools, there would be fewer illiterates,
and our people would have something
else to think about besides
shooting and killing. We have many
bright young people in the mountains,
but fliey have no opportunities and the
bad roads keep them at home, so they
usually drift into feuds aud often become
outlaws. Bad roads are the
bane of the mountains and they cause
*11 the feuds."
The Rev. J. ,T. Dieke. a Methodist
minister, who baa been working among
the mountain people, of Kentucky, for
fifteen or twenty years, and who has
studied their character closely, thinks
the only hope of the people in the
mountain part of the State lies in more
education and better roads. It has
been suggested to use the convicts in
building highways through the mountains,
instead of allowing them to remain
in the penitentiaries engaged in
pursuits which keep thonsauds of
workmen who are not criminals from
having employment. Putting the convicts
to work on the roads of the
mountains would present a curious
spectacle.
As there seem to be so many different
opinions as to the causes of the
feuds in Kentucky, it is to be inferred
that they are the result of various
causes, which the persons interviewed
have clearly pointed out. A concerted
effort will be made at the next session
of tlie Kentucky Legislature to have
vends built through the mountains by
the convicts.
It is believed that good roads and
good schools will relegate the "fortylive"
to the rear.?New York Sun.
The Movement In Canada.
Good-road making and the wide
agitation therefor in the United States
have attained suftieient importance to
serve as a stimulus, or at least as a
good example, across the northern
boundary. The road inspector of the
province of Ontario dwells in his report
on the progress of the reform
lien* ill nil emieuvui" 10 uiuune niiercm
there. That interest is lacking is evident
from the detailed reports from
existing conditions. Summarizing
these, the inspector says: "Acentury
ago the roads of Ontario such as existed,
and they were very few, were
mere trails. To-day, notwithstanding
the amount of money and labor
placed on them, the majority are a
little better than trail?. This criticism
may seem overdrawn to tho3e
who drive over some of the host gravel
roads during the summer season, but
if the journey had to be made in the
fall or spring, the rainy seasons, its
fairness would become more apparent.
From the middle of October until the
end of December, and from the first of
March to the middle of May, a period
of iive months, by far the greatest part
of the mileage of the province is mad,
ruts and pitch-holes. This may vary
somewhat at the more northerly and
more southerly parts of the province,
but it is the general rule of the average
year. Of this period ot live
months there ure at least tv\*o months
of the year when the roads are practically
impassable for loads. From
the middle' of November until the
middle of December, from the middle
oi jMarcn unui me middle 01 .tprii me
agricultural tracio of the country is
practically cut off. For the remaining
threo months of the live the roails
are barely passable." The estimated
loss to the province by the absence of
good roads the inspector estimates at
$(551,570,000, capitalized at three per
cent.?New York Post.
Will Help to Keduce Taxes.
The wide-tire measure passed by
the New Jersey legislature was due,
says Assemblyman Crispin, its originator,
to "its inestimable value to the
taxpayers who were constantly being
called upon for increased appropriations
for road improvements, by both
V?.? fnwiiors on<1 hicvclista wliich call
would be unnecessary if the broad
tire was adopted, as it would be of a
two-fold service; first, in making the
roads hard and smooth; second, in
doing away with the complaint from
>
bicyclists that the heavily loaded farm
wagons cut the road to pieces?besides
lessening the annual appropriation
for the roads about fifty per cent."
?L. A, W. Bulletin.
Notes.
It is suggested that the Government
] put wiito tires on the army wagons.
Street pavements need to be some;
thing more than hard and durable,
i They should be smooth, noiseless and
| easily cleaned and repaired.
I Water should not be allowed to stand
1,1
uiuu^ iu? ruuuBjue. i_mciies biiouui
bo kei>t clear and open in order to
carry it off quickly, as it is liable otheri
wise to tind its way under the road)
bed.
Steel tracks are claimed to make
i the most perfect surface known; after
! it comes crushed stone, on which five
times the power is required to haul a
load; then gravel, requiring ten times
the power; and, finally, common earth,
retiring twenty times.
The Sagacity of a Dog.
A wonderful story is told of the
sagacity of a dog in connection with
the warlike incidents of Chickamauga
Camp. This dog had been'adopted in
a wealthy Columbus (Ohio) family.
He became a great favorite with all
the members of that family, especially
with the youngest son. Meanwhile
the war with Spain broke out and the
eldest son, a member of one of the
regiments, 0. N. G., went to the front
and reached Chickamauga Camp. He
had been away from home but a short
time when the owner of the dog called
and claimed his property.
It was reluctantly given up, and the
youngest boy especially was loth to
part with his pet. For pet he was,
although by nature fierce, for he was
a black-eyed full-blooded bulldog.
The other day this youngest scion left
for Chickamauga Camp to visit his
brother, provious to his departure to
I Tampa and the seat of war. He was
at breakfast one morning in one of tbe
taverns about the camp, with an eager
appetite, when he felt something tugging
at his trousers. He thought it
might be a cat or some other freacherous
quadruped. He paid no attention
to it for a while, but the tugging
became more violent, ayd looking under
the table, what did he see there
but his old canine pet, the blackeyed
bulldog, apparently tickled to
! death that his master had finally couI
sented to recognize him.
There was not much breakfast for
1 the boy after that. He gave the dog
all he had left of his breakfast and
ordered some extra meat for him besides.
Meanwhile the owner of the
dog came upon the scene, and learning
the facts from the son of his old
friend, consented to have the animal
returned where, for so long a time, he
had enjoyed a comfortable home.?
Cincinnati Enquirer.
IJcer Hunting With Eagles.
The berkute or bearcoote, the golden
I eagle, is trained and used by the
' natives of Tartary and the Kirghis
I steppes for hunting foxes, wolves,
: boars and deer. Mr. Harting quotes
! this description from Atkinson: "We
! had not gone far when several large
I deer rushed past a jutting point of the
; rocks und bounded over the plain
i about 800 yards from us. In an in1
stant the bearcoote was unhooded and
! his shackles removed, when ho sprang
from his perch and soared into the
| air. I watched him ascend a? he
j wheeled round, and was under the'
! impression that he had not seen the ;
: animals; but in this I was mistaken. |
j He had now risen to a considerable
i height and seemed to poise himself for
i a minute.
"After this he gave two or three
; Haps with his wings and swooped oil
j in a straight line toward his prey. I
could not perceive that his wings
j moved, but he went at a fearful rate
I of speed. I gave my horse ki3 head
and a touch of the whip; in a few
I minutes he carried me to the front,
I and I was riding neck and neck with
, uuo of the keepers. When we wero
! about 200 yards oft'tlxe bearcoote struck
! his prey. The bearcoote had struck
I one talon into his neck, the other into
j his back, aud with his beak was tearing
into the aniuiai's liver."?Forest
and Stream.
tSnsine*8 Life in Manila.
The average day of a foreigner en!
gaged in business in Manila is some'
thing as follows: A bath iu the early
! morning and then a light breakfast,
j At seveu o'clock the men go to their
1 business ofiices and work until twelve,
j when offices are closed and everybody
: takes a two hours' rest, during which
! luncheon is served, and then a short
j siesta taken. From two o'clock until
I six or seven business is carried on as
J in the morning; even the banks keep
open until live o'clock. When business
is over for the day, the employes
put on fresh white clothes and help to
swell the throucr of people who prom
enadc the streets,-so that they are al!
most impassable. At eight o'clock
I everybody is at dinner, which is the
j social function of the day. The staple
i food is rice, which is eaten by rich
} and poor alike. Chicken is always
j served at dinner, and native fruits, j
; All the potatoes that the Europeans
: get come from China, and all the
; wheat and Hour from California. The
' apples are brought from Hong Kong,
' and sell at from ten to fifteen cents
apiece. The cost of living for a Eu
! ropeau is very high on account of the
extremely heavy duties imposed by
Spain.?San Francisco Argonaut.
Provisioning a i!Ig Steamer.
The quantity of food used in a
J twenty days' trip per an ocean greyhound,
Bombay to London, with about
550 passengers, consists of: Eggs,
32,000; meat, 23,000 pounds; vege1
tables, 8200 pounds; potatoes, nine
j tons; ducks, 1200; game and poultry,
| 1100 head; tish, 11,000 pounds; llour,
; -M barrels.
*
GOD'S MESSAGE TO MAN.
PRECNANT THOUCHTS FROM THE
WORLD'S CREATEST PROPHETS.
"Unto Mi-"?The Sin of Magnifying TrllVea?<hrintian
Soul the Lord'* Garden?The
Ooora of Human I.ife?Overcoming
tiie World?God'* Guidance.
A weif upoll the cheerless, wintry street,
l>rea?ting the driving suow, the scathing
sleet,
Hungered, with pale, wan face and shoelesa
feet;
I heard a whisper: "'Help her! Pity her!"
I passed her by!
A little lad. threading the city's ways.
Guileless of heart, with pure and trustful
gaze,
Yet heedless of the countless snares that
maze
Concealed. "Oh, speak to hiin!" the
whisper said.
1 passed him by!
My neighbor lay upon a couch of pain;
Through weary days and sleepless nights In
vain
She longed for gentle ministry, for strain
Of soothing song, for breath of fragrant
bloom.
1 passed her by!
And yet, "Oh, had I wealth beyond compare,
Or noble talents. Lord, or genius rare,
Some glorious work how gladly would I
dure.
To prove my ardent love for Thee!" I cried.
Mistaken 1!
That night in dream my Saviour said to me,
Thou lovest n:e? Aia.s! how can it be?
Thrice ha?t thou paused Me by! Canst thou
not see
That, in the humblest iittlo one, myself
Thou passest by?"
Meta E. B. Thorn#.
The Sin of Magnifying Trifles.
The sin of magnifying trifling matters is
very common. Most of us regard it as a
weakness rather than a sin. Certainly i* is
a weakness. But it also is a sin. It involves
self-deception and often the deception
of others. It is a violation of
truth. It means the substitution as
an object of thought and endeavor of
somctuing of little consequence for something
of real importance, as if their actual
value were reversed. It causes distorted
views of life, misdirected effort,
unsatisfying results and mental and spiritual
unhappiness. They who are guilty
of it soon lose the confidence of others in
some measure because it becomes evident
tliat their judgment cannot be trusted, even
if nothing worse is believed of them. More
is involved thau the mere loss of the habit
of accuracy. The habitual lack of just discrimination.
the growth of a weakened and
misleading sense of proportion?these affect
the moral quality of life. Evils lose something,
if not the whole, of their sinful
duality and the good is not sure of being
recognized and honored for what it is. It
is hard enough to do right when we know
clearly what the right is. But when
we have allowed ourselves to look
upon minor matters as vital, It becomes
much more difficult to be
sure of duty and to do it. This sin is peculiarly
objectionable also because it is so undignified
to magnify petty things iuto importance.
There are sins which, without
ceasing to condemn them, we nevertheless
recognize as characteristic of great and noble
natures. But this is not one of them. It Is
mean and contemptible. It deteriorates
character rapidly and mischievously, and its
influence is wholly and lastingly evil, exI
ceDtiog when it serves, as it sometimes
| inuy. as a warning. It causes needless
| worry, inexcusable peevishness and prev- v
alent Ml-temper. and it goes far to hide
one's really noblo qualities and to blind
| others to the honorable and ChrlstfTke eft*forts
which one makes. It is especially like
| ly to be a temptation to those whose lives
centre chiefly in some single sphere of ne[
tion. tlie home, the schoolroom, the offlce.
I It is to be corrected by the sturdy refusal to
be petty, by the cultivation of largo and noble
views of life and truth, by effort to be
exa? t in judgment and in speech, and by
prayerful, loving imitation of Jesus Christ.
Christian Soul the Cord's Garden.
Th" christian soul is a garden of the
Lord's planting, a bit of soul-couutry reclaimed
by regenerative processes from
the surrounding devastations of sin, and
only maintained in freshness and fruitfulness
by a method of spiritual irriga|
tion. by tiie constant waterings of prayer,
praise and meditation. We are not of
those who believe that by some process
of fanciful evolution human nature can
of it.-eif. unaided, develop graces of
character, but that such moral beauty comes
of the working of the divine down into the
: v.,0.(0 !1 Mftt nf '
i grace which will blo.-som Inter. The s| ices
of superior virtu*' are never found in gardens
, where thoro has been previously no moral
| planting by a Divine Husbandman. . . .
I Among these "chief spices" of a gracious
| character may be mentioned the frankincense
of a worshipful spirit; the spikenard of a
j generous liberality, which expends itself in
; loving alacrity "upon the person and
work of Him who is altogether lovely;
l the myrrh and aloes of a tender sympa|
thy. which is laid with soothing touch
j upon perished hopes and broken hearts;
! the camphire or henna of a Christian cheerI
iness, which brightens ail things with
I Its ruddy hopefulness; the cinna|
mou of an intelligent willingness, a sweet
I reasonableness, which is pure, gentle and
| easy to he entreated; the stimulating
j saiTron of an alert enterprise, a spirit|
ual resourcefulness, and the calamus of
; a delicate tact, careful eonsiderateness of
I the peculiarities and feelings of oth|
ers. There are latent in every believing
| heart many fragruncies of faith, which
' ordinary occasions do not evolve and ex!
hibit. The spice trees must be blown upon
! by the coaxing gales of mercy, or perhaps
I the violent beatings of disciplinary visita
tion. that tin* pi<|uaucies of piety inay be
8eus.eil.-N. Y. Observer.
The Doors of Human I.ife.
God ha* many doors into human life.
Some nro grand portals, which seem not
unworthy of the" visitor?days of puntecost,
or of the burning bush, when the surround- ,
ing.s seem to bear witness to His presence.
Hut He conies also by ail sorts of muchused.
every-day and insignificant en|
trances, to mingle the grace His presence
brings with th" humdrum duties and
work-a-day employments of His people.
He can help a woman to nurse a sick
child, or a laborer to plow a clay field, as
certainly a? a martyr to I' ur the fire, or
an apostle to preach the Word. He rejeots
lovingly our measur-sof great and small,that
Ho tiuiv iuf:i??. 11is. trrcaiuc-s into the petty
I duties anil patience > <>f His people's lives.
: lie owns the cup of eold water given for His
| sak?> as amply as the surrender of an estate
i tft His service. I.et us not, therefore, be
Christians as to the few urea: things of our
lives and atheists as to the many small
things which till up a far creator space of
them. God is in both.waiting for the glory
we can give Him in them.?S. S. Times.
Overcoming the World.
Overcoming the world implies overcoming
a state of worldly anxiety. Worldly men
are almost incessantly in a fever of anxiety
- " i -u 1).,4
lest tlieir worldly seiiemes snouiu i;m. uui.
[ the man who gets above the world pets
, above tliis state of ceaseless and corroding
anxiety.?Charles G. Finney.
God's Guidance.
God stirs many men's spirits: some listen
ami act: some list'-n and tarn away to their
own scilish dreams. Oh. what a difference!
It is the action or the inaction that shows
the tnan.?Pilgrim Teacher.
/