University of South Carolina Libraries
THE COUNTY RECORD. Pnblished Every Thursday ?AT ? KINGSTIiEE. SOUTH CAROLINA. ? BY ? C. W. WOLFE . Editor and Proprietor. Emperor William says the future of jGermany lies on the water. Alas for Spam! tier tuture inusi oe somewuere else. > : . Porto Bico manifests an amiable disposition to settle down aud become a thriviug and creditable suburb to the United States. The Boston subway has proved a great success. It is nearly two miles long, with five large underground stations, two of thein under Boston Common. For the most part the bottom of the tunnel is thirty-nine feet below the surface. The tunnel is wide enough for two electric car tracks and in some places for four. Three years and a half were consumed in its con struction, and its cost is within the original appropriation. 87,000,000. * That American manufacturers of electrical machinery and appliances have a food field for work in the Philippine Islands is shown by a statement recently communicated to one of the leading technical journals. In these islands there are only about 720 miles of telegraph line and about seventy miles of steam railway and no electric railways. The city of Manila boasts.* telephone exchange, which communicates with the subscribers by overhead wires. There is also an electrip-lighting station, which ' supplies current to some 12,000 incandescent lamps and 260 arc lamps. The latter installation is of British origin, and the engineers of that country are endeavoring* to push their business throughout the East. It is unfortunate that the teacher's nrofession is not more highly es teemed, so that the ablest men and women might be attracted and remain in it, says the Self Culture Magazine. Men of the largest abilities usually find greater inducements in other professions. Under the present conditions a nan of great ability, unless he be a philanthropist, can scarcely afford to devote his talents to ordinary educational work. If we are to have better ednoation we must have a higher appreciation of its importance. We must learn that the solution of educational problems requires the highest order of intelleot, skill and wisdom; so far from being a mere routine of appointing lessons and hearing recitations, is a professional work requiring the highest intellect and moral l In the English schools of the lowest 1 gradethere is a class of drudges known ! as pupil-teachers. They are mainly ; girls from thirteen to sixteen in age, j who are employed in teaching the elements of reading, writing and arithmetic. There are about thirteen thousand of these pupil-teachers in English schools supported by local taxation. This system of having children as teachers has not worked well. It was cheap and reduced expenses. It was cheap also in quality and efi ficitocy. A parliamentary committee has Teieutly condemned the system, and proposed various measures for ret. 1 A iorming II. It ua> huwscu iuc unmotion department to raise the age of the child-teacher from thirteen to fifteen, # 1 and in the course of a few years to make it sixteen. It has also proposed a system of training reachers for primary work. England is far behind America in methods of primary instruction. What are the objects and aims of a college of forestry? First and fore most, they are to find the surest means of saving our present timber growth from destruction and disappearance. Wood is one of the indispensable requisites of the human race. Forests not merely supply wood, but they prevent the washing away of the earth in mountain-slides, which can never be' restored. Forests hold the water that drops from the clouds and allow it to penetrate si ? vlv into the streams. Instead of rushiugto the ocean in floods, leaving a pathway of destruction in its brief court* and a parching waste beXL _ x _ rpt. . mnu mi me next raimuu comes. xue forest is nature's reservoir. It is a reservoir which costs nothing in the beginning, but which, when once lost, can never be rebuilt. There are wide spaces on the earth's surface which once supported a dense population, but tfhieh are now uninhabitable because the forests were cut down and the soil which furnished food for man swept away in consequence. 9 *;0K::3k: :e I TILES OF PLBGK 1 J AND ADVENTURE. J! wi ii..-,V.:j'.C OJC.^/iO(?i6fcJ?k;rQK :3K;:'9'sCvi~A A Tcrrifir Fight With Alligators. Perhaps the most exciting alligator hunt ever known is the one in which the attacking force were a party of English officers of Her Majesty's skip Pelican anil two other young Englishmen, Henry Forbes anil Frank Winters. The latter are authority for the story as it is now being tolil in Panama, near which place the hunt for the sauriaus took place. The party left the bay of Panama in llio Polir-on'a lnimrOi nr?r>nmnariipil by native guides. They were armed with Remington rifles and with revolvers. The launch made a run of twenty miles to the south of the Rio Sucio without incident. The hunters presently peached a kind of open pool, with small streams and back-waters radiating in every direction. The air was heavy with the sickening, heavy smell of musk, which indicated the proximity of the haunts of the sauriau. Guided by a peon the boats turned up a small creek, and upon rounding a sharp bend the hunters were greeted with a wonderful spectacle. A vast stretch , of mud was entirely covered with a living mass of basking alligators. There were hundreds of the repulsive reptiles. The place was literally paved with scaly saurians, big aud little. A person could have walked all over the island without once touching the mud itself. In attempting to get close to the , vast herds both boats grounded. The , occupants were so excited that the grounding was considered a small thing. With one accord the men stood up and began pumping lead into the-unconscious 'gators. The scene that ensued is beyond the power of 1 words to describe. Up to this time the hunters had not realized the gravity of their predica* inent in being aground. The unpleasant fact dawned upon them that the boats were between the hundreds , of angry alligators and the river behind, so that in order to escape the reptiles were compelled to pass them by some means. No sooner had every . rifle been discharged than the whole ( hideous herd made a dash for safety, which was right over the boats. It was a question of courage and promptness then. % Death stared them in the face. The barking guns poured a deadly - nan 01 ieaa lmo me auvanojng , saurians. To the horror of the hun- : ters the brutes did not seem to care | for the hot fire, notwithstanding that > numbers of them were already dead . on the river bank. Hundreds and- 1 hundreds of the repulsive creatures , were crawling down upon the boats, , their long tails trailing in the mud as ^ they advanced. On the right hand side of the boats nine or ten of the largest 'gators lay in their death throes, lashing the reeking mud with their tails and ' hurling the stinking filth high into ' the air. The monsters crawled over one another in their hurry to escape. There was a widerness of snapping , iaws and catapultic tails before the hunted hunters. The revolvers came into active play, and the spiteful barks of the weapons were mixed with ttie iioarse roars 01 tue maaueneu brutes. It was a perfect avalauehe of alligators. At the critical moment an accident occurred which for a time palsied the nerves and froze the very blood of the men, whose eyes shone with the light of battle. Several of the brutes dived into the mire under the canoe, which had the effect of heeling the little craft over. The sudden movement threw Winters, who was standing in the bow, into the semi-liquid mud with a tremendous splash. The 'gators snapped at him from all sides, and he was resoued only after a terrific and well-directed fire had created a diversion in the unhappy man's favor. Presently the saurians began to whip the mire with their tails. There was a general tattoo, and as a result of the tvemendons blows it raised foul-smell ing, green and black mud. In a minute or two tlie boats were nearly half filled with blood and water, and the men's clothes were covered with the loathsome mixture. A peon was in a stooping posture slashing at the brutes with his machete, when his arm was nearly broken by a blow from a swinging tail. There were numerous accidents that heightened the excitement of the struggle. The greater number of the reptiles had got past the crafts. As a result of the unprecedented battle there were about 150 dead reptiles. It was a hunt that will never be forgotten by those who participated in it. The boats started back for Panama the next morning, a night being spent j on the bank upon which they were nrnnnil Aftpr ATI nhspnpA nf tllirlv- i five hours the young men got back to ! Panama, surfeited with alligator hunting. The clothes of each were torn and covered with the malodorous slime. Theirjeyes were swollen, their noses r twice their ordinary size owing to the i attacks of the mosquitoes. The sun , had peeled off the skin, and they were j suffering from ague and fever through j breathing the tainted atmosphere of the churned up mud. A Frontier K;>isoile. The ability to rise superior to all manner of accidents of the road is one i of the qualifications of a settler in a > new country. On a chilly day in March, 1SD8, Mr. | Vincent Boruie, of Camas Prairie. ] Wash., was ridiug and swimming his horse across the swollen current of the Klickitat Biver. The horse struck his knees against a sunken boulder and floundered against it. In another moment be was rolling over and over down the stream, carried away by the rnshing torrent. Mr. Bordic sought to free himself and make an independent straggle to reach the shore, but his feet were fast in the stirrups, and he could not pull them out. At one moment he was above the j water, and at another beneath it; ^ sometimes the horse was on top, and ^ sometimes the man. Bordie resolved to put an end to (his state of thiugs, ^ aud succeeded in drawing his knife from his pocket, intending to cut the stirrup straps. However, before he could cut them his feet came free of the stirrups, aud he struck out for the ^ oltnro He found the bunk steep and rocky, affording him no foothold or handhold. He was out of breath, and was swept downward along the bank. By and by he came to a tree whose branches overhung the water; he seized a branch and clung to it until he had regained his breath. While hanging here he looked about him, and across the river, on the opposite busy bank, he saw his horse caught in tho bushes and unable to rise, but clear of the water. Bordie, by the aid of his branch, now felt that he could get ashore, but he was not the man to leave his horse in such a situation. He climbed up on the branch far enough so that ho coi\Jd remove his clothes, aud took them all off, having uo fancy for swimming in dangerous. water with his clothes and boots on. When they were laid off he dropped into the river again, and swam over to where his horse was. He udsaddled the animal, assisted it to rise, mounted it, aud picked out the best place he could find to swim the horse back across the river. He got across with some difficulty, and still mounted, as a frontiersman should be, but a little cold in the March wind, rode on down-the stream in search of his clothes. He found them, put them on, and continued his journey as if nothing had happened. A Brave Deed. This is the story related in the r -r 1U. ?? /T...1:?\ T;.,. issue Ul WJU .uttuua \iuiua| liuicd \JU the day following the deed it chronicled: "One of the bravest deeds ever witnessed in Madras was performed yesterday by a yonng sailor of the Boston clipper Hurkaru. Ho had been intrusted with a letter by Captain Shipman of the Hurkaru to send off to his ship by catamaran. The Captain had met with an accident, and \va3 unable to reach the shore in person. When the boy arrived at the pier he found plenty of boatmen, but the surf was running so high that the most daring of them declined to make the venture. The boy offered as muoh as 1000 rupees to the man who would deliver the letter, but could find nobody who! would risk his life. It was evident rrorn the appearance of the sky the cyclone was about to begin, and it ,li:i /loofl, tn St'eillt'U UUf UUUIUU^ tCliaiu uvaiu vv? attempt the perilous feat. i "The gallant young sailor borrowed 1 a sou'wester from an English seaman, 1 giving in return bis own suu topee, 1 and putting the letter in the lining of the sou'wester, tied it firmly to his i head. He then purchased for ten 1 rupees eight annas a catamaran and t paddle from a lisherman, and was 1 soon embarked on it, and battling 1 with the surf. At least half a dozen times he was hurled back on the 1 beach. Fortune, however, favored 1 him. Taking advantage of a smooth < spell, he darted out, and by a splendid t struggle got outside the line of the breakers, and paddled out in the direction of the Hurkaru. He was r watched from the pier, and we are in- " J .1 i 1 .1 A i iormea inm ue w as uusci vcu iu icut.i his vessel just as the storm smote her. We trust that the good, news will be confirmed by the safe return of the ship to port. All honor to this gallant young Yankee!" Israel Putnam's Exploit Matched. Near Pearl, in Boise County, Idaho, a mountain-lion, shown to be of great size by its trail, was tracked to a cave by Charles Lockerman, who had two or three men with him. Then the question arose, "How was the cougar to be got out of the cave?" "One of the men with Lockerman" so the hero is designated volun- j teered to enter tne cave, ligui a nre, ( creep out aud leave the animal to be smoked out, so that Lockerman could shoot him. Now a mountain-lion of full size is quite aj3 formidable as a wolf, and to enter the cave with him must be as great an achievement as that which is legendary concerning Israel Putnam. But this anonymous person did not hesitate. At the risk of encountering \ the wild beast, he took some brush and matches, crept into the cave, made a tire, and crept out again. Soon the smoke filled the cave; 6 soon also the mountain-lion, snarling, came bounding out. Lockerman was i - ? _ t.-n c i.: i?;,i reauy, ana a uan irum um hud iuu tlie creature low. It was measured, I ami found to be seven feet in length, t c A Wealthy IJejurar. A man named Gustave Marcelin, professional beggar, was found dead ^ in his room in the Rue Puy Guillaume, Avignon, in. November, 1892. A search led to the discovery of French Government bonds and various securities to the value of 8100,000. He left 1 a paper requesting that his savings might be divided equally between the ? city and the Bureau de Bienfaisance. j Aluminum Mimical Instruments. t A new use for aluminum is reported 1 from France, where attempts to con- ? trirvlina Iiq ea. ti <1 (11 nnil ntlipv 1' string instruments of th>s metal have beer entirely successful. It is stated thatthc?e instruments produce a richer r sound tha\ those manufactured of I wood, and that thi& : * especially the c case with higher notes. \ -J - | GOOD ROADS NOTES, I What flan Been Accomplished. During the comparatively brief period that there has been concerted iction to secure an improvement in lie condition of the roads throughtout lie United States a great deal has ieen accomplished. The League of American Wheelmen has been among he most active workers in this worthy ;ause. As a body it has agitated the matter persistently, while the inlividu.n members have forwarded the propaganda throughout the cities and rillages in all sections of the United States. Tlie agricultural eiemern uus >een surprisiugly slow in waking up :o a realization of the value of good oads, but the farmers everywhere are low beginning to take a more active nterest in the subject than ever be'ore. Let a farmer once realize that le can transport a much larger lead of iroduce and with less wear and tear in his horses over a good road than iver a poor one and he at once sees he practical importance of the ques;ion to himself personally. Some rears ago a careful comparison was nade between the relative cost to the farmers of the Southern States and ;he farmers of France in the matter of jetting their produce to market. In ;he latter country a man and two lorses can accomplish more than two nen and four horses are able to do iver some -of the notoriously bad oads with which we are aiflicted. Many of the roads which run for hunIreds of miles through the Alps, over ofty passes and at great distances rom large towns, are of a sort such is the average American farmer never law. And at the same time leading int of the capital of the United States here are roads of a sort that have not ieen seen in Western Europe for cen :nries. It is indeed time that the vhole country was waking up to the mportance of the question, and gatherings such as that held in Omaha are / loing a good work, and a work that should be helped along in every way. Gravel ltoad*. Road improvement is one of the most mportant questions for consideration )f the farmers, and should be thormgh'ly discussed in the Institute and Farmers' Clubs during the winter. Good roads are absolutely necessary or the comfort and convenience of the 'armer, and now is the time to put the oads in good shape to meet the win;er storms; all holes and depressions ihould be filled or leveled. Where vater stands after a rain is the best vay to ascertain where repair is de nanciea. Where good gravel can be obtained t mak^s tho best and cheapest road, md can be put on the roadbed during ;he winter. It should be borne in mind that a ;ood gravel road once well constructed lon't require the constant care and expense of the common clay road. A ream can haul four tons over a good oad easier than the same team can laul 1200 pounds over the mire bods hat our common roads become after a vet spell. Then a farmer who owns a nipe carriage and has good horses and harness I :o match hates to have them all splashed ind covered with mud when he drives | ;o town. A good gravel road will be ree of both mud and dust. Some argue in favor of macadam or jroken stone, but the western stone von't resist the action of frost and lon't pack and become smooth like :he gravel. Where Good Koads l*ay. ~ It is acknowledged, says the Nashua relegraph, that if the Granite State is , ,o hold the prestige of the past and itill remain the great Mecca for visitors in d tourists, that the State must see ;o it that, the roads are put in the best rondition possible. The people of ifhor flfatnn are hnildinff svstems of splendid roads which form a very attractive feature, and one that will do nach to attract outsiders. New Hampshire has got to do the same, and a grand State road up the Merrimack . alley to the mountains is an immeliate demand of the condition of affairs it the present time. Increasing Prosperity. The stone roads that have been built iround Charlotte, N. C., mainly by :onvict labor, have done much for the irogress of the place. Fifty miles of lard roads are down and they ere to >e extended to the county borderine. ijt is said that it used to be a eat wor.th bragging about for a farmer o get to town wun iour Daies 01 colon on a wagon drawn oy four horses, )ut now he thinks nothing of bringng six bales on a wagon drawn by :wo. Paragraphs About the Crusade. The motor carriage will be another ihouter for good roads. And what the highway most requires s better drainage and broader tires. The many cycle-paths on Long island afford such good all-the-year iding that wheels can be advantagetusly used there at almost all seasons. The plan of appointing an engineer is overseer of the roads of South Grange, X. J., is being considered. It mght to be done. The practice there if annually throwing earth and sod ipon tne inacauam to ~ proiecv u i* u lisgrace to so progressive a town. The hard roads of Loiig Island are 10 attractive to wheelmen that increasng numbers are constantly using hem. Two years ago 40,000 cyclists raveled on the Long Island railroad; ast year 1 Go, 000, and this year over !50,000, going to and from different iding points on the island. The Boston Dispensary, the oldest nedical charitable foundation in New England, trc?*-?d 26,291 new patients luring the year 1897. THE AMY IS TIE IM.I' _ 3 Secretary Alger's Annual Report Contains Some Remarkable Figures. s AN ARMY OF 100,000 WANTED, i Of 143J Alen Htirt Only Thirteen Die:! From lVonnds Loss of Life in the War the Smallest KecortlrfS in History The p fiovprament is Urged to Build a Hail road in tnlia to Cost S 0,000,000. Washington*, D. C. (Special). The :in- kT .nunl report of Secretary of VAr Alger is a complete history of the Spanish-American war. and, with its 231 pages, is one of the ^ largest and most important documents ever issued by the War Department. In addition to the Secretary's history of the war, the report contains all the official dis- ^ patches passing from his own office to the commanding generals in Cuba, Porto Rico and the Philippines, as well as the dis- '1 patches from those officers to the head of the War Department. Secretery Alger allows the story "to tell ^ Itself," and makes but little comment ex- y cept when he refutes the criticism made concerning alack of surgeons with the Santiago army, and he calls attention to the small loss of life in the army. yy He recommends that the standing army be increased permanently to 100,000 men, wants twenty more cadets appointed annually, and recommends the enlistment of na- ^ tlves of the captured islands into the army of the United States. The Secretary's most ! riking recommendation is the buildiDg of a railroad at a cost of *20,000,000 the length of Cuba; the expense to be borne by the Government. ^ Referring to the deaths in the army, the n Secretary snvs: "The deaths in the army from May 1 to ,.j October 1, including killed, died of wounds ^ and disease, were 2910. the smallest death jt rate recorded of any army in history, a remarkable fact when it is considered "that over 50,000 of our troops, born and reared in the temperate zone, were campaigning t in tropical countries, subject to rain and i( heat almost unprecedented." 5 Secretary Alger recommends the prompt discharge of the volunteers in the camps *c in the South with two months' pay. As to the standing army, the report w makes the following recommendation: "In view of the needs of a military force 'j in the islands occupied by the United States, it is earnestly recommended that the regu- ^ lararmy be permanently increased to 100, 000 men and the requisite officers; rtmt a t portion of this army be recruited from the jjj inhabitants of those islands, to be mustered j into the service of the United States and ",{ commanded by the officers of our army, ~w discretion however to be civen tO the II President to make appointments of officers ^ from tlie force so recruited." The expenditures for the fiscal year ending June 30 last were $62,534,784, and the ~w estimates for the next fiscal year, begin- , ning July 1, 1899, are *195,250,377. Of this ^ great estimate the sum of $65,430,909 is charged to the pay of the army. The estimates of extraordinary appropriations re- V( quired.for the six months ending June 30. 1899, are $60,177,539, and the estimates for j. that period, combined with those of the next fiscal year, reach a total of $255,427,917. The reports of General Miles and other t, generals are printed in full in the report. _ q The cost of carrying the Spanish prison-' ers to Spain was $1,513,000. I Secretary Alger recommends that many ? engineers, skilled in electricity, be educat- . ed at West Point. He also recommends the continued manufacture of a good mag- . azine rifle until the number shall reach 1 500,000. MARKETS FOR THE FARMERS." The Agricultural Departinpnt Will Kstahllah Agencies in the Orient. ^ Washington*. P. C. (Special).?Secretary ? .- f 1 " n or Agriculture Wilson, in nis annum report, asks for an emergency appropriation to ^ pay for the exploration by scientists of our li new territory. The Secretary thinks that <lairy prod- " ucts can be profitably exported to P France and Germany whenever the h home supply snail exceed the demand. t> He has sent an agent to Japan and China "to establish agencies to which the depart- S) ment will make trial shipments and gather P all information possible for the American c' producer." b The Secretary says that he distributed a 190,000 bulbs during the year; that a dip P has been perfected which takes the b fever ticks from cattle; that experi- f1 ments in antitoxin serum to prevent '' hog cholera should be continued under v Government auspices; that the depart-! * ment's vaccine is gradually wipingjout the blackleg disease; that good work h v-?" hoan iinna in h vhrlrllzimr the orance b and the crossing of pineapples; that four h scientific explorers of the department are P abroad getting seeds and plants in Russia, * the Mediterranean region, the China Sea ti and South America, and that the popular- h ity and valud of the official farmers' bulle-' A tins is increasing. f< Owes >early a Million. Isaac D. Smead/at one time one of the wealthiest men of Toledo, Ohio, and P known from ocean to ocean as a manu- a facturer of ventilating and heating appar- . y atus, filed a petition in bankruptcy in the y United States court at Toledo, a few days w ago. Smead places his liabilities at *900,- c 000, so far as he knows, with no assets. H His creditors are banks and commercial ^ houses in every large city of the country, a and debts vary from thirty-six cents to n *47.000. ? Aguinaldo Demands Ransom. a The Spanish Government received an im- ? portant dispatch a few days ago from tho c Philippine Islands, in which it is stated p that Agulnaldo, the insurgent leader, ?le- g mands $1,500,000 ror tlie release oimouu- g prisoned friars. o li The Health of the Arm v. w Reports to the Surgeon-Genera! at Wash- 11 iogton show a great improvement in the V health of the army. 1 Nine Men Drowned. The steamer Ainsworth was wrecked near Balfour. British Ccyumbia, a few days ago, and nine men were drowned. < w b The C'hieaso in Coinini*?ion. The United States steamship Chicago is j again in commission and is one of the most si formidable ships in tbe service. sj C< ~ - t( 1'rince ueorga Accepts. I The Ministers of Great Britain, France, Russia and Italv went to the palace of the Kins of Greece at Athens a few days ago and offered to Prince George of Greece the high commissionership of Crete for a period of three years. The king accepted Ci the offer on behalf of his son. C! el Ten Seamen Drowned. Ci The British steamer Fitzjapes ha:, found- le ered off Beachy Head, England, and ten of c' her crew were drowned. The steamer 0| Olive 'saved three of the crew who were g 1 found ollngling to pieces of wreckage- g, v iOD'S MESSAGE TO MAN. RECNANT THOUCHTS FROM THE WORLD'S CREATEST PROPHETS. od?and I?Growth in Graci'-Interpretin k God to Men?A Prayer for Solace ?No Need to Attk?How the Church 3! ay Be Cured. \\ no stands tilery at my uo^r < nkempt. in rags, on faltering feet, 'u.-heltered from the noonday heat? God knows not I. Mavbap in other years A mother's holy tears . ell in love's shower upon that sin-bowed head; Mayhap in better days w He won a father's praise. 1 od knows, not I, how far those feet have lied. Who knocks there at my door? i tattered, faded shawl clutched fast, rith eyes half-bold, half-downward cast? God knows not I. Long since, in summer hours, She gathered joy's sweet Bowers, or dreamed that sin was waiting just before : Those eyes were true and bright, Not clouded as tonight he stands there shelterless outside my door. Who pleads there at my door? soul.elud in the dreadful rags of sin. nd saying low. "Will no one take me in?" God hears and I. , Soul! My heart-doors are wide, Here dweileth One who died, hose blood has cleansed me from darkest stain. Come in. and shut fast the door, Alone thou art no more. itli <;<><J. we two. at last our home sball train. Ada Melville Shaw, in Zion's Herald. Growth in Grace. The Christian cannot stand still in the atter or his spiritual development. He us't either advance or fall back. Every ny makes its impression and Its differice. Growth in grace is the law of his iing as a true, healthy believer. It has s signs which ure plain for others to a<i. and often plain for him. If wo ob rve him exhibiting increased steadiness Christian purpose and effort, more fidely to every duty, more earnestness, mote jtivity, more satisfaction in spiritual irvice, we regard him as growing in race. He need not undertake novel irms of effort, but if he travel day by ly in the pathway of customary duty ith growing zeal we can trust him. The Tect will be visible in bis daily occupaon whatever it be. Thank God that we m prove our growth in grace by the doig of common things. We need not arch afar for the heroic. It will reveal self in unexpected places and ways to im who steadfastly does one duty"at a me for Christ as thoroughly as he in. Often this growth in grace becomes oticeabie llrst in relation to the Bible, 'e lind new meanings in it for ourselves, 'e love it more. We open it oftener. The ime is true of prayer. As wo develop owlv into something of the divine likeness, e leiirn better how to pray and how to disjver the answers to prayer. Many a prayer leeting has been thrilled by a new tone and lirit filling the utterances of some perhaps imiliar voice, because it unconsciously reaals a new inner experience. You cannot row in grace and keep the fact a secret >ng. It will out in look, and voice, and st. It is worth noting that we are not alayslbe best judges of our own growth in race. Sometimes others are aware of it lien we are despondent about ourselves, n the other hand, sometimes others do not 1 - *. .1 1 ercfive it cieariy nn mv iuiuiv mcj uu^uk ). Then usually it is we who are inistalreo. ut when we feel our love for Christ growig within us so imperatively that it must nd fuller expression, we need not doubt >nger about the fact of our growth. Interpreting God tp Men. One of the gravest hindrances to the pread of the Gospel is that men do not unerstand God's dealings with them. This is ue not only in reference to missions but Iso in Christian lauds, in our own commuitie#. The mystery which often shrouds ie motives, and even the actions, of the ? ivine Being was so depressing to the beever before he surrendered himself to lod that he ought not now to wonder lat unbelievers are perplexed and reellcd by it. It is his mission to elp them in regard to it. He is to e God's interpreter. He has learned to rust. He has experienced the safety and itisfaction of unfaltering faith in spite of u rospect no matter how threatening and dis- 1 ouraging. He has learned something of the eavenly Father. He therefore may serve - * K??i%rr.iun flA/1 an/1 V*ia fallnivmon ? iV iilirw UCIHCCU UVU uuu uw ivi<vnu?vu. [e Is in sympathy with both. He can tell is fellows what he has found out about rod and duty. He can tell them this looklg also at the matter from their point of iew, for once it was his own. Here is rhere much of the strength of the Christian es as a worker for souls. Let him recall is own earlier growings after God, it may e even his own disregard of God, and let im mentally put himself once more in the lace of him to whom he would appeal, 'hen let him make his plea with courtesy, ?ct, kindliness and unaffected sincerity,and e will not wholly fail. If he do no more at rst, he at least will make an opening for iiture efforts which may succeed. A Prayer for Solace. Speak to us, 0 God, in words of calm and ower that the troubled sea of our desires nd griefs may be at rest. We have striven nd failed. We have climbed and fallen. Ir'e have hoped and been disappointed, et we have never sought for thee with our rhole hearts, but we have found thee lose at hand. Our purest and most intimte affections speak to us of thine enuring, all-embracing love. When we re wear)- we remember that thou weariest ot. When we have fafled we take refuge 1 the thought of thy long-suffering pity nd enduring righteousness. When we art verburdened and distressed we 11'! ?ur earts to tnoe. in an my expenenv ? .117 ompletion meets and sustains our ineomletion. Everywhere thou addest gift to ift until we are uplifted und our hearts are lad. So hold us, Lord, above the level of ur doubts aud fears,so quicken us to childke trust, so glorify thyself in us through ork and pleasure, life and death, that we iny share the peace of God that passeth nderstanding. We ask in the name of esus Christ' whom thou hast made our eace. Amen. No Need to Ask. Do I need to ask if the tide is going down hen I look ut the estuary, nud see the uoys all heading down channel, and the liid-bars dying in yellow barrenness? Do need to ask if the early sense of spirituality i ebbing away for lack of the inrush of the inctifying power of Christ when I see that ;range and unmistakable secularizing of juntenance growing on ore who, refusing > let Christ enter and dill the inner life, is X /vl rfi:uuiiU? urcn u; me IJIUMUJ ui n??Charles Cuthbert Hall, D. D. ^ fm How the Clmrrh May Be Cured. "I cannot sweep tbe darkness out. but I in shiuo it out," said John JJewton. We inuot scourge dead works out of the tiurc'\but we can live them out. If we ac-: use the church with having the pneumonia, it us who are individual air-cells in that tiurch breathe deeply and wait patiently ad pray believingly, and one after another f the obstructed cells will open to the pirif till convalescence is re-established in rery part.?A. J. Gordon, D. D. f \ k /