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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Advocate, 1896-4-30, Page 3ROSE TO HIGH PLACE. PRACTICAL LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF JOSEPH. The World Honors Christian Character - The Result of PorSecution is Elevation -- Bin Will Surely Come to Bxposure--The Propriety of Preparing for the Future. Washington, April 19.—The sermon et Rev. Dr. Talmage to -day is full of stir- ring and paretical lessons for all. Wash- ington has many men who, like the hero of the texts, started from almost nothing and rose to high place. The texts chosen were: Genesis xxxvii, 28: "They drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit and sold. Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver." Genesis xiv., 26: "He is governor over all the land of Egypt." You cannot keep a good man down. God. has decreed for him a certain ppint .of elevation. Be will bring him to that :though it cost Him a thousand worlds. iYou sometimes find. men fearful they will not be properly appreciated. Every Man comes to be valued at just what he IS worth. You cannot write him up, and .you cannot write him down. These facts are powerfully illustrated In my subject. ;It would be an insult to suppose that ,you were not all familiar with the life 'of Joseph—how his jealous brothers ;threw him into a pit, but seeing a cara- van of Arabian merehants trudging along on their camels, with spices and gums that loaded, the air with aroma, sold. their brother to these merchants, who carried him down into Egypt; Jo- seph there sold to Potiphar, a man of in- fluence and office; how by Joseph's integ- rity he raised himself to high pesition in the realm until under the false charge of a vile wretch he was hurled into the penitentiary; how in prison he com- manded respect and confidence; how by the interpretation of Pharaoh's dream he was freed and became the chief man in the realm, the Bismarck of his century; how in the time of famine Joseph had the control of a magnificent storehouse which be had filled during seven years of plenty; how when his brothers, who had thrown him into the pit and sold. him into captivity, applied for corn, he sent them home with the beast of burden borne down under the heft of corn sacks; how the sin against their brother which had so long been hidden came out at last and was returned by that brdther's forgiveness and kindness, the only re- venge he took. You see, in the firs* place, that the world is compelled to honor Christian character. Potiphar was only a man of the world, yet Joseph rose in his estima- tion until all, the affairs of that great house were committed to his charge. From his servant no honor or confidence was withheld. When Joseph was in prison, he soon emu the heart of the • keeper, and, though placed there for be- ing a scoundrel, he soon convinced the jailer that he was an innocent and trust- worthy man, and,released from close con- ' finement, he became general superintend- ent of prison affairs. Wherever Joseph , was placed, whether a servant in the ! house of Potiphar or a prisoner in the penitentiary he became the firstman everywhere and is an illustration of the truth I lay down—that the world is com- pelled to honor Christian character. I There are those who affect to despise a re- ' ligious life. They speak of it as a system of phlebotomy by which the man is bled of all his courage and nobility. They say he has bemeaned himself. They pretend to have no more confidence in him since .his conversion than before his conversion. I , But all this is hypocrisy. There is a great deal of hypocrisy in the church, and there is a great deal of hypocrisy outside the church. It is impossible for any man not to admire and. confide in a man -who thews that he has really become a child of God and is whatshe professes to be. 'You cannot despise a son of the Lord God Almighty. Of course we have no admira- tion for the sham of religion. When Eudoxia, the empress, threatened Chrysostom with death, he made the re- ply. "Tell the empress I fear nothing but sin." Such a scene as that compels the aareiration of the world. There was something in Agrippa and Felix whieh demanded their respect for Paul, the rebel against government. I doubt not they would willingly have yielded. their office and dignity for a thousandth part of that true heroism which beamed in the eye and beat in the heart of that uncon- ' querable apostle. Paul did not cower be- ' fore Felix. Felix cowered. before Paul. 1 The infidel and. worlding are compelled to honor in their hearts, although they may not eulogize with their lips a Chris- tian, firm in persecution, cheerful in pov- erty, trustful in losses, triumphant in death. I find Christian men in all pro- fessions and occupations, and I find them respected and honored and successful. John Frederick .Oberlin,lleviating ig- norance and distress; Howard passing from dungeon to lazaretto with healing for the body and soul; Elizabeth Fry go- ing to the profligacy of Newgate prison to shake its obduracy as the angel came to the prison at Phillippi, driving open the doors and snapping loose the chain, as well as the lives of thousands of follow- ers of Jesus who have devoted themselves _ to the temporal and spiritual welfare of the race are monuments of the Christian religion that shall not erumble while the world lasts. A. man said. to me in the cars: "What is religion? Judging from the character of many professors of relig- ion I do not admire religion." I said: "Now, suppose we went to an artist in the city of Rome and while in his gal- • lery asked him, 'What is the art of paint - 4.4 ing?' Would he take us out in a low alley and show us a mere daub of a pre- tender at painting, or would. he take us down into the corridors and show us the Rubens and the Re,phaels and the Michael Angelos? When we asked him, 'What is the art of painting?' he would point to the works of these great masters and say, 'That is painting.' Now, you propose to find the mera caricature of re- ligion, to seek after that which is the mere pretension of a holy life, and you call that religion. I point you to the splendid men and women whom this gos- pel has blessed and lilted and crowned. Look at the masterpieces of divine grace if you want to know what religion is." We lawn, also from this story of Joseph that the result of persecutions is eleva- tion. 'Had it not been for his being sold into Egyptian bondage by his malicious brothers, and his false imprisonment, Joseph never would have become a gov- ernor. Everybody accepts the promise, "Blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the king- dom of heaven," but they do not realize the fact that this principle applies to a worldly as well as spiritual success. it is true in all departments. Men rise to Mall official positions through misrepresenta- tion. Public abuse is all that some of our public men have had to rely upon for their elevation. It has brought to them what talent and executive force could not have achieved. Many of those who are making great efforts for place and power will never succeed, just because they are not of enough importance to be abused. It is the nature of men—that is, of all generous and reasonable men—to gather about those who are persecuted and defend them, and they are apt to for- get the faults of those, who are the sub- jects df attack while attempting to drive back• slanderers. Persecution, is eleva- tion. Helen Stirk, the Scotch martyr, standing with her husband at the place of execution, said: "Husband, let us re- joice to -day. We have lived together many happy years. This is the happiest tbne of all our life. You see we are to be happy together forever. I will not say 'Good night!' to you, for we shall soon be in the kingdom of our Father together." Persecution shows the heroes and hero- ines. I go into another department, and I I find that these great denominations of Christians which have been most abused have spread the most rapidly. No good man was ever more violently maltreated than John Wesley—belied and caricatured and slandered, until one day he stood in a pulpit in London, and a man arose in the audience and said, "You were drunk last night," and John Wesley said: "Thank God, the whole cat- alogue is now complete! I have been charged with everything but that." His followers were hooted at and maligned and, called by every detestable name that infernal ingenuity could invent, but the hotter the persecution the more rapidly they spread, until you know what a great host they have become and. what a tre- mendous force for God and the truth they are wielding all the world over. It was ' persecution that gave Scotland to Presby- terianism. It was persecution that gave our land first to civil liberty and after- ward to religious freedom. Yea, I might I go farther back and say it was persecu- tion that gave the world the great sal- vation of the gospel. The ribald mockery, the hungering and thirsting, the unjust charge, the ignominious death, when all the force of hell's fury -was hurled against the cross, was the introduction of that religion which is yet to be the earth's de- liverance and our eternal salvation. The ' State sometimes said, to the Church, "Come, take my hand, and. I will help you." What was the result? The Church went back and it lost its estate of holi- ness, and. it became ineffective. At other times the State said to the Church, "I will crush you," What has been the re- sult? After the storms have spent their foxy the Church, so far from having lost any of its force, has increased and. is worth infinitely more after the assault than before. Read all history, and you will find that true. The Church is far more indebted. to the opposition of civil government than to its approval. The fires of the stake have only been the torches which Christ held, in his hand, by the light of which the Church has marched to her present glorious position. In, the sound. of racks and. implements of torture I hear the rumbling of the gos- pel chariot The scaffolds of martyrdom have been the stairs by which the Church mounted. Learn also from our subject that sin will come to exposure. Long, long ago had those brothers sold Joseph into Egypt. They had made the old father believe that his favorite child. was dead. They had suppressed the crime, and it -was a profound secret well kept by the broth- ers. But suddenly the secret is out. The old father hears that his son is in Egypt, having been sold there by the malice of his own brothers. How their cheeks must have burned and their hearts sunk at the flaming out of this long suppressed crime. The smallest iniquity has a thous- and. tongues, and they will blab out ex- posure. Saul was sent to dsetroy the Canaanites, their sheep and their .oxen, but when he got down there among the pastures he saw some line sheep and oxen too fat to kill, so he thought he would steal them. Nobody would know It He drove those stolen sheep and oxen toward home, but stopped to report to the prophet how be had executed his Mission, when in the distance the sheep began to bleat and the oxen to bellow. The secret was out, and Samuel said to the blushing and confused Saul, "What means the bleating of the sheep that I hear and the bellowing of the cattle" Ah, my hearers, you cannot keep an in- iquity still.. At just the wrong time the sheep will bleat and the oxen -will bel- low. Achan cannot steal the Babylonish garment without being stoned. to death, nor Arnold betray his country without having his neck stretched. Look over the police arrests. These thieves, these burglars, these counterfeiters these highwaymen, these assassins, ;hey all thought they could bury their iniquity so deep down it would never come to resur- rection, but there was some shoe that an- swered to the print in the, soil, some false keys found in their possession, some bloody knife that whispePed of the death, and the public indignation and the ana- thema of outraged law hurled them into the chingeon or hoisted them on the gal- lows. Francis I.'King of France, stood coun- seling with his officers how he could take his army into Italy, when Ameril, the fool of the court, leaped out from a cor- ner of the room and said: "You had bet - tee be consulting how you will get your army back," and it was found that Fran- cis I., and not Ameril, was the fool. In- stead of consulting as to the best way of getting into siege you had better consult as to whether you will be able to get out of it If the world does not expose you, you will tell it yourself. There is an aw- ful power in an aroused conscience. A highwayman plunged out upon White- field as he rode along on horseback, a sack of money on the horse—money that he had raised for orphan asyluras—and the highwayman put his hand on the gold, and Whitelleld -turned to him and said: "Touch that if you dare! That be- longs to the Lord Jesus Christ." And the ruffian slunk into the forest. Conscience! Conscience! The ruffian had a pistol, but Whitefield. shook at him the finger of doom. Do not think you can hide any great and protracted sin in your heart, ray brother. In an unguarded moment it will slip off the lip, or some action may for the moment set ajar this door that you wanted to keep closed. But suppose that in this life you hide it, and you get along with this transgression burning in your heart, as a ship on fire within for days hinders the flames from bursting out by keeping down the hatches, yet at last an the judgment that inigaity will blaze out before God and the -universe. Learn else from this subject that there is an inseparable connection between all events, however remote. The universe is only one thought of God. Those things which seemed fragmentary and isolated are only different parts of that great thought. How far apart seemed these two events—Joseph sold to the Arabian es elm:hunts and his ridership of Egypt, yet you see in what a mysterious way God connected the two Into one plan. So the events are linked together. You who are aged men look back and group to- gether a thousand things in your life that once seemed isolated. One undivided chain of events reaches from the garden ' of Eden to the cross of Calvary and thus up to the kingdom of heaven. There is a relationship between the smallest insect that hums in the simmer air and the archangel on his throne. Goa can trace a direct ancestral line from the blue jay that this spring will build its nest in the tree behind the house to some one of the flock of birds which, when Noah hoisted the ark's window, with a whirr and. dash of bright wings went out to sing over Mount Ararat. The tulips that bloom in the garden this spring were nursed by the snowflakes. The farthest star on one side of the universe could not look toward the farthest star on the other side of the universe and say "You are no relation to me," for from that bright orb a voice of light would ring across the , heavens, responding: "Yes, yes, we are sisters." Nothing in God's. universe swings at loose ends. Accidents are only God's way of turning a leaf in the book of His eternal decrees. From our cradle to our grave there is a path all marked out. Each event in our life is connected with every other event in our life. Our losses may be the most direct road to our gain. Our defeat and our victory are twin brothers. IThe whole direction of your life was changed by something which at the time ' seemed to you trifling, while some occur- rence which seemed tremendous affected ; you but little. God's plans are magnifi- cent beyond all comprehension. He molds us and turns and directs us, and w4 ; know it not. Thousands of years are to him as the flight of a shuttle. The most terrific occurrence does not make God. tremble. The most triumphant achieve- ment does not lift Him into rapture. That one great thought of God. goes out through the centuries, and nations rise and. fall, and eras pass, and the world changes, but God still keeps the undi- vided mastery, linking event to event and century to century. To God. they are , all one event, one history, one plan, one I development, one system. Great and mar- velous are Thy works, Lord God. Al- • mighty! I was years ago in New Ot- leans at the exposition rooms, when a telegram was sent to the President of the • United States, at Washington, and we waited some 15 or 20 minutes, and then the President's answer came back, and then the presiding officer waved his hand- kerchief, and. the signal was sent to Washington that we were ready to have • the machinery of the exposition started, and the President put his finger on the electric button, and instantly the great Corliss wheel began to move—rumbling rolling, rolling. It was overwhelming, and 15,000 people clapped and shouted. Just one finger at .Washington started that vast machinery, hundreds and -hun- dreds of miles away, and I thought then, as I think now, that men sometimes I touch influences that respond. in the far distance, 40 years from now, 50 years from now, 1,000 years from now -1,000 - 000 years from now—one touch sounding through the ages. We also learn from this story the pro- priety of laying up for the future. Dur- ing the seven years of plenty Joseph pre- pared for the famine, and when it came he had a crowded storehouse. The life of most men is divided. into years of plenty and. famine. It is seldom that any man passes through life without at least seven years of plenty, During those seven years your business bears a rich harvest. You scarcely knctsv where all the money comes from, it comes so fast. Every bargain Iyou make seems to turn into gold. You contract few bad. debts. You are aston- ished with large dividends. You invest Imen can be content with a small busi- ness, and more capital You wonder how gathering in only a few hundred dollars, while you reap your thousand% Those are seven years of plenty. Now Jo- seph has time to prepare for the threat- ened famine, for to almost every man there do come seven years of famine. You will be sick, you will be unfortunate, you will be defrauded, there will be hard. times, you will be disappointed, and. if you have no storehouse upon which to fall back you may be famine struck. We have no admiration for this denying one- self all personal comfort and luxury for the mere pleasure of hoarding up, this grasping for the mere 'pleasure of seeing how large a pile you can get, this always being poor because as soon. as a dollar comes in it is sent out to see if it can find another dollar, so that it can carry it home on its back. We have a contempt for all those things, but there is an in- telligent and noble minded forecast which we love to see in men who have families and kindred depending upon. them for the blessings of education and. home. God sends us the insects for a lesson, .which, while they do not stint themselves in the present, do not forget their duty to fore- cast the future "Go to the ant, thou slug- gard. Consider her ways and be wise, which, having no guide, overseer or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer and gathereth her food in the harvest." Now, there are two ways of laying up money. One of these is to put it in stock and deposit it in bank and. invest it on bond and mortgage. The other way to lay up money is giving it away. He is the safest who makes both of these in- vestments. There are in this house men who if they lose every dollar they have in the world would be millionaires for eternity. They made the spiritual invest- ment, but the man who devotes no gains to the cause of Christ and looks only for his own. comfort and luxury is not safe, I care not how the money is in- vested. He acts as the rose if it should say, "I will hold my breath, and none shall have a snatch of fragrance from me until next week; then I will set all the garden afloat with my ammo." Of course the rose, refusing to breathe, died. But above all lay up treasures in heaven. They never depreciate in value. They never are at a discount. They are always available. You may feel safe now with your $1,000 or $2,000 or $10,000 or $20,000 income, but What will such an income be worth after you are dead? Oth- ers will get it. Perhaps some of them will quarrel about it before you are bur- ied. They will be so impatient to get hold of the will they will think you should be buried one day sooner than you are buried. They will be right glad when you are dead. They are only waiting for you to die. What then will all ye= earthly acounmlations be worth? If you gathered it all in your bosom and walked up with it to heaven's gate, it would nob purchase your admission, or if allowed to enter it could not buy you a crown or a robe, and the poorest saint in heaven would look down at you and say, "Where did the pauper come from?" Mee wo all have treasures in heaven. Amen.! GIRLS' SHIRT WAIST. With Detachable Collar and Cuffs. This new pattern differs but slightly from those of last season, the only marked change being the full bishop sleeve with turn -over cuff. There is a shallow pointed, yoke in the back, and in makng up striped materials a pretty effect is given by cutting this bias and having the stripes meet in the oenter. The collar and cuffs are detachable, so that various ones may be used with the same waist. Wash silk, silk. flannels, and a great variety of cottons, linens and batietes are made up in this simple fash- ion because the garments are so easily laundered. Medicinal Uses of Borax. Few articles within one's reach pos- sesses the virtues of borax for general purposes In the household. Chemically speaking borax is, a salt, and in appearance closely resembles table salt. It also has similar preservative qualities, and Is equally harmless in its effects upon the system. It differs, how- ever, from common salt in being a bibor- ate of sodium instead of a chloride Borax is provided by that wt. nlerful process of nature crystalization, in one of its purest forms. As a simple domestic remedy for the many ailments of the household borax is unrivalled. If the eyes, from exposure to the light, cold or other causes are weak or inflamed, a daily washing with a mild solution of borawill strengthen and cool them. For hoarseness or tickling in the throat, a small quantity of powdered borax dissolved in the mouth and swal- lowed is effective A cold in the bead can be readily cured by snuffing borax freely, and the seine treatment will be found excellent for Ca- tarrh in the head, Acidity of the stom- ach can be corrected by taking a small pinch of borax several times a day. Borax applied to canker spots inside the tongue, or used as a wash for a sore mouth gives relief. The bites of mosquitoes and other in- sects, as well as summer rashes will cease to give pain if bathed in a solution of borax, which Is quite as efficacious in , curing burns, scalds and other hurts of the family. For a wound borax is nature's own remedy. being antiseptic, disenteotant emollient and safe to use in every way. Corns and bunions may be cured by wetting frequently with a strong solution of borax, and tender feet relieved from burning by the same application. Being cleanly, cooling aed sedative in its effects, borax may be relied upon as Useful In almost any ills of the house - bold, and should always be on hand for emergencies. In the Sick Room. Give the room which has the best means of ventilation and the most sun- shine to the invalid. Have dark -green Holland shades at the windows. Green tempers the glare of the sun in a way very soothing to tired eyes. Have a big screen in the room which may be used either to shut out the bright light when the patient wishes to sleep or to keep off draughts when the windows are raised and lowered. Change the bed linen as often as possi- ble. Once a day is not too often. In mak- ing the bed be sure that the under sheet Is stretched as tight and smooth as a drum cover. Wrinkles in the under sheet cause continual discomfort and some- times sores. Banish creaking chairs from the sick room. Nothing so grates upon the pa- tient's nerves and so irritates him as unnecessary harsh sounds. Don't whisper outside his door. That is intensely eggra- vating to him, and conversations with the doctor may be just as well carried on outside the invalid's nearing. Keep the medicine bottles, glasses and spoons out of sight of the patient. Every sick -room should be provided with a small bottle cabinet where :medicines may be kept. If thisis out of the ques- tion a couple of swinging shelves cur- tained in silk may be used. Du not ask the patient what be wants to eat. Ask the doctor what he should eat, prepare it daintily and in samll quanti- ties and serve it to him, arrayed as temptingly as possible. Cover the tray with a spotless linen cloth, use the pret- tiest china and the brightest silver and glass and adorn the tray with a flower or two. Daintiness is a groat appetizer. The Guilt of Idle Hands. ase The guilt of idle hands bet:ernes more apparent as we consider the activities everywhere present The great moral and physical forces of the world are neaer still. The tides ebb and flow with cease- less sweep. Evaporation, condensation and gravitation never halt. 'Men are ever being drawn toward good or evil, life or death. The forces of evil are never speechless nor handless; they press along the streets, bearing down the callow young and filling the air with subtle death. A fearful battle is raging for the possession of the souls of men, Heaven and heal meet on the battlefield of death. Souls are won or lost with every ,;tinccess or reverse. Heaven is :sailing to the idle for recruits. There is no lull in the Strife, nor sinking from exhaustion. The ranks of evil are always full and pressing to the front, and sin has no idle -handed follow- ers. The angels are filled alternately with transports of hope by diligent haucls at work or depressions of despair at the in- efficiency of those who ought to he ac;ivr for good in the contest. Now —1r ars unwilling to see anything in worse than neutrality, won, What the gilt Of inactivity Mame was cursed FAMILIAR SAYINGS. "Go to the dickens" is a,popular abbrev- iation and Corruption of ego to the devil- kins," or little devils. "Go to pot" is a reminder of the days when boiling to death was a legal punish- ment of parricides. "To be in a brown study" is a corrup- tion of brow study, a studyrequiring much thought and contraction of the hems. "Knocked into a cocked hat" is expres- sive of the ease with which this article, especially when old, assumed almost any shape. "As dead as a herring" is an expression arising from the fact that herring die very quickly after being taken out of the water. "Please the pigs"' is a corruption of "please the pyx" a receptacle used by clergy of the Roman faith to contain the host of sacred wafers. "To catch a weasel asleep" is indicative of the extreme vigilance of these animals, who are disturbed and made wide awake by any sound, however slight. "As jolly as a sand boy" represents the hopping to and fro of a marine insect seen everywhere along our coasts, whose leaps give the idea of mirth and jollity. "To cave in" comes from the English coal mining regions. After a mine had been worked out and abandoned, the last item in its history was the caving in of the ground above. "To curse with bell, book and candle" was the most formal excommunication practised by the Church of Rome. It was an anathema pronounced with the most solemn ceremonies. "To knock the spots out of anything" is an illusion to the traditional skill of Western cowboys and famous rifle shots who would ehoot the spots out of a card held between the fingers of a friend., "To throw up the sponge" is borrowed from the prize ring, it formerly being the custom, when a prize fighter had. been worsted, for his second to throw up the sponge used for wiping him off. "Do at Rome as Romans do" is credited to no less an authority than St. Augus- tine, who advised a convert, doubtful about the propriety of some custom ob- served at Rome, to do as other people did. "Tell that to the marines" indicates the contempt which, oven to the present day, professional sailors feel and express for the soldiers who form a portion of the complement on board a man-of-war, The term "blue stocking" is as old as the year 1400, at which date in Venice a society of literary ladies and gentlemen was organized, the members of which as a distinguishing badge wore blue stockings. "As tight as Dick's hatband" originated in the days of Richard Cromwell, f the great Oliver, who, in the humorous parlance of the time, found the crown so tight that he could not put it on his head. "By the holy poker" is a popular abbre- viation of an oath which became common during the Crusades. "By the holy sep- ulcher" was in the mouths of all English- inm during the two centuries that the Crusades went on, "As deaf as an adder" is an allusion to the fact that the hearing of many kinds of serpents is far from acute, owing to the circumstance that their auditory appar- atus is covered by the outer skin or epi- dermis, which is shed every season. "The dog watch" a term used by sail- ors, was once the Sedge watch, a short watch being introduced between those longer in duration, in order that too great an amount of work should not be put upon the same men in the course of the day. "To haul over the coals" recalls the for- mer legal custom of trial by fire, the ac- cused walking barefoot over a bed of glowing coals, and his innocence or guilt being deduced freest the condition of his feet after a certain number of days elapsed. "Post haste" recalls the days when everybody who was in a hurry and could afford the expense traveled post; that is, with relays of horses at the end of every five or ten miles of the journey, the fresh animals thus enabling greater speed to be made. "You whistle for it" originates in the sailor superstition of whistling to raise the wind. As a great deal of whistling was sometimes necessary when a calm pre- vailed, the expression to denote failure to achieve an end came into common speech. The expression "a grass widow" has several fanciful explanations, but is most probably a corruption of the French ex- pression, venve de grace a widow by grace or courtesy; that is, a woman who has left her husband or has been deserted by him. FIGS AND THISTLES. The whisper of a slanderer can be heard farther than thunder. Some of the devil's best helpers sit close to the pulpit in church. A mean man can get religion, but he can't stay mean and keen it. Too many men go to praying just as God wants them to go to paying. Finding fault with another is only a roundabout way of bragging on yourself. There are too many people in the church who can't be religious in cloudy weather. If some men had killed Goliath, they would remind the Lord of it every day of the week. , It would puzzle angels to know what some men mean when they put a "2 -cent piece in the hat. Don't talk much about giving the devil his due until you are sure if he had it he would not have you,—Ram's Horn. THE CONDENSER. It takes 70 men to make a knife. Hard luck is almost a synonym for lazi- ness. An ordinary piano contains a mile of wire. , • Thereare gold washings in almost every part of Idaho. Germany has an army of 8,000,000 agri- cultural workers. A. dozen varies in. number in different trades from 2 to SO. American women are gnawing taller, while men are getting shorter. The nations richest in horses are the Ale gen tine Republic and Uruguay. The coalfields of India cover 35,000 square miles, one-half the size of Missouri. Of 1,000 men who marry, 332 marry younger women, 579 marry women of the same age, and 89 marry older women. Australia has extreme heat id summer. A scientist says that matches accidentally dropped on the ground there were ignited. A. YOUNG LAD'S RESCUE. CONFINED TO Ills ROOM FOR MORE' THAN A YEAR. An intense Suffertr Through Pains in the Muscles of His 'Legs and Arms --Reduced Almost to a Living Skeleton. From the Wolf rule, N. S., Acadian. Mr. T. W Beckwith is the proprietor of the Royal Hotel, Wolf -villa, the most important hostelry in the town, and is a man well known mid esteemed through- out that section. He has a bright hand- some looking son, 13 years of age, named Freddie, who is a lad of more than aver- age intelligence. It is pretty well' known In Wolfville that Freddie underwent a very severe illness, though perhaps: the I means to which be owes his recovery is not so generally known, and, a statement Of the case may be the means of helping some other sufferer. On the 96th of De - comber, 1898, Freddie was taken ill and was confined to his room and his bed un- til March, 1894. Two different.pfieeicians were called in during his long illness. One said he had la grippe and the other that his trouble was rheumatic fever. He was troubled with severe pains Through the muscles of his legs and arms. after three or four days was obliged to take to bed, where he lay nearly all win- ter, suffering terribly from the pains. He became reduced almost to a skeleton and. was unable to relish food of any kind. During his illness he suffered relapse ow- ing to trying to get up sooner than be. should. Boylike lie was anxious to get out and enjoy the beautiful spring sun- shine and for several days was carried out and taken for a drive. This brought on the relapse. The doctor was again called in, and as be continued to grow worse he was ordered once more to bed. Things then looked very dark, as despite the medical care he did not get any better. At last his father decided to try Dr, Wil- liams' Pink Pills: Soon after beginning - their use Freddie began to feel better. His appetite began to return and the pains were less severe. As he continued. the use of the Pink Pills he regained strength and health rapidly,and in about a month was apparently as well as ever, the only remaining symptom of his trying illness being a slight pain in the leg, which did not disappear for several months. It is over one and a half years ago since Fred- die took his last pill, and in that time he has not had a recurrence of the attack. There is no doubt that Dr.Williams' Pink. Pills cured him, and both the boy and. his parents speak highly in their praise. Dr. Williams' Pink Pills are the medi- eat marvel of the age. In hundreds of oases they have cured after all other medi- cines had failed. They are a positive cure for all troubles arising from a vitiated condition of the blood or a shattered ner- vous system. Sold by all dealers or by mail, from Dr. Williams' Medicine Com- pany, Brookville, Out., at 50 cents a box, or six boxes for $2 50. There aranumer- ous imitations and substitutions against which the public is cautioned. Soinething That Made a Bride Hesitate to Make a Court -room Marriage. Among the applicants for marriage li- censes who were before Judge Eller wore Fred. Randall and Berths Brubaker, who had come up from Beatrice to be joined in matrimony. They were both up to the requisite age, and Mr. Walksnp did tot hesitate to draw up the preliminary affi- davits. When be had dotted the last i and crossed the last t the young woman, who had apparently been buried in deep thought, remarked:— "1 don't believe 1 care to get married." "You don't?" cried the startled bride- groom. "No, 1 guess not," and started out. The young man followed her, and they held a brief conversation among the books and papers of the outer office, when Mr. Walkup, with dreams of an elopement in his mind, suggested that they might have the inner room for a private discussion if they desired. They entered and were for some time engaged in earnest talk, the bridegroom expectant arguing for all he was worth. Finally the girl gave in and agreed to carry the affair through, and the judge was called from the bench to fix it up before she could again change her mind. "By thunderl it was mighty lucky, and it was nearly unlucky that you had a judge around handy then," observed the newly married man, as he wiped the perspiration from his brow. "What was the matter?" the clerk in- quired. "Why, there's some kind of a lawsuit going on in there, isn't there?" indica- ting the direction of the court -room, from which the voices of attorneys in dispute were heard, It was a case in which one member of a family living in South Omaha was trying to get money from another, and some vigorous family truths were being told. "Wall, she bad been listening to the way they were testifying about family troubles, and it had scared her out." It was true. The. dissensioz bred by marriage in the South Omaha family and wafted over the transom had nearly spoiled the hopes of another couple, — Omaha World -Herald. AFRAID TO RISK IT. And There You Are. An Arkansas editor has let himself out in this fashion: "You may have all the stars in a nidi keg, hon.'"the ocean on a rail fence to dry, put the sky in a gourd to soak, unbuckle the bellyband of eter- nity, let out the sun and the 'moon, but never delude yourself with the idea that you can escape the place on the other side of purgatory 'unless you pay the printer," Olx, Tay Y. Editor' (to printer)—You've ruined me. In describing the great ball I wrote that the famous lecturer on dress wore nothing that was remarkable. 'You've printed' it, "Mrs. B. wore nothing. That Was remarkable." Get your money of the cashier and go. We've no use for a man like you around here.