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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times, 1891-7-2, Page 2SAVE6 BY RAVENI •A. OW -Climbing Adventure in ememusanameiennelMillemespe his gaffs, lifting himself lightly upward, over the precipice and was received below 'Deis Was the most perilous spot a alh for by a boat whieh lay by the lower end of the above him was a steeteh of about fifteen feet rope. A wild hurrah went up from ads de - a bald cliff ; beloko him lay an abyss nearly lighted friends, bat no one made a- louaer four Imedred feet deep with surging sea demonstration of joy than Jack who went and cruel rocka at the bottom. To turn, his screaming down the abyss and perched in Labrador, 1 head and look down would be terror and the boat beside his beloved master, The itamediate destruction, so he climbed on mainland party returned home by the ny a,11.7.,M colonies. and on, shifting hie gage from one 110111filg marshes and reached the dockjust as George point to another, stickieg his knees hard. arrived there by the dehermen's eta. E Two brothers, George and Frank Black- against the clifl and hardly ever finding a burn, lived with their father in one of the spot to place his foot. Then the simunie liligration to Africa. largest settleinente on, the Labrador coast. was reached and he sprang lightly upon the George was 17, and Frank 15, and both the rim of guano -Inane(' sod. There are indications of a growing aentie boys in summer ranged the coast in a small The two breathless watebeers below pulled mut among the negroes of the Southern skiff, eolleeting birds' eggs and other speen 1 off their caps arid hurrahed, bob he stood- States in favor of emigration to Africa mens. George owned a pet reven, which he silently at the aizzy top till the echoes of 1 Officers of the American Colonization society had trained to follow Wan, carry small their voices in the cliffs had died, Raising 'tt Washington assert that thensands are pares in its moutla, and, do mealy other his band to get their attention he shouted =ions to go as soon as they can arrange intelligent 'things, and the bird was exceed- in a etroug, mournful tone, eau never j heir affairs and secure the mennseif inaktng ingly attached to hien. Whenever George go back. Don't wait for me, but try if you the Momentous and expensive change. This went into the woods or among the hills, cene get help." Then he at down upon a, statement ia confirmed by the Unit •el States Jak, which Was the raven's name, followed rock, exhausted from a desperate clirob. commercial agent at Leanda, who says that bin calving and. ehattering, sometimes The top of the island was about three acres 1 many hundreds of southern negroes are walking, sometimes fluttering, and frequent. in area, and was inhabited by more than eagerto go to Africa ; by Dr. Blyden of ly darting far ahead with loud delighted five thousand birds. It would be almost Liberia who prophesies that "fifty years screams. Efe liked also to go with his young impossible to take a step in any direction hence the current of Afrie at humanity set. tang eastward wilt be absolutely irresist- ible," and by Dishop Turner of the African hiethodist Episcopal Church who states thab ins face with their wings and Pecking sox, t iousan s of negro farmers, carpenters agely ?,t hini. The wings ef the other birds:blacksmiths, and 'machinists in the South hovering about and flying across the island are looking anxiously towards the laud o fairly darkened the ground and there were their fore -fathers. Various cause& operate hi prokbacing this sentiment which however is chiefly duo to the inveterate prejudice of the whites widen denies the negro any social status and heaps upon him numberless indignities, and the attra.nions which Africa itself, espeeielly Liberia and the Congo State, hold out to the eivilized black xnau. Says Bishop Turner in referring to the social ostaeisin of lib fellow country- men, "The only remedy is for the self.re. Haut, seif.resuecting negro conseious of his own worth, to return teAlr. land of his fathers, taking his civilization and Christian. ity with him, to establish civilized colonies and build up civilized nations in Africa." That the Arm:dean negro eon return to tropical Afriea, and live there in good health has long since been demonetrated. In hilmeirt he stiffen for a few months from slight attacks of fever, but he speedily becomes acelimated. In this regard there- fore Ile would find slight inconvenieuce, evhile according to I.Ir. Stanley, Africe has both work and rewards for the American negro. One wonders whether this is to lei the ultimate solution •of the "race problem' whieli is becoming each 4 disturbing factor Aletericen politica, master in the boat, but this he was seldom without treading into a nest, and the moth- ers became infuriated as George walked about, and rose with shrill cries, brushing permitted to do. One lovely June morning the two boys and their cousin, Ned Bradshaw, put otit from the little wild doek in an open skiff with two tanned sails, to make an excur- sion to Cormorant, Island, about three leagues down the cont. Jack k.eame hopping and tlyikag down tbe roeke appealing pite- ously, with loud cawing, to be taken on board. George raised his hand andel-touted, " No, daek ; earileame. Ileum dock," and then the altitT was pushed. off, whiletlienoor lonesome bird steed on a rock close by the water's edge. Then he raised his wmgs, flew out over the water and eireled over the boot, calving and looking over at George as if begging hien to relent and take hint on board. But George arose in the boat and, in a stern, angry vOiCe ordered him to go home. Tee diseppoated bird turned mei flew quietly ashore, perching on the edge of a =row strip of meadow, looking ells. eonsolately after the fast disappearing beat, The object of the visit to Cormorant Is. land was to. got some of the cps of the core morant, whish are rattier cliftioult to obtain. The boys had not told. their parents where they were going, but they had decided upon nothingless than the ascent of the island, the sides of evhich rose ablest pexpendicue larly out of the sea to a height of nearly 400 feet, The island bad three sides, and on one of these sides was a series of rocky shelves resembling; a stairway, but some of them were so narrow that it was impossible to get a steady foothold upon them. When the veast fishermen passed. the islaud they shuddered, became() AR many tragic events were connected with its name. Ewe or she adventurous persons bad scaled its shelvy sides, and. got up among the multi- tude of birds but nob a man of them had aver been ablie to make the deseent. As a cliff climber of considerable experieiace my- self, I may tell my young readers that a precipice which you may climb with safety may, in the descent, defy the skill of any human being. The boys very well knew the history of the island and. its clangers, but Georgebad. for more than two years been studyang the problem of how to get up and down an safety, had examined every rock - shelf on the side through a glass, tracing the same on paper, and had talked with every fisherman on the coast who knew any- thing about the place, and obtained his opinion as to the safest ways of descending. So he had quietly provided himself with two short hand -gaffs, with stoub wooden handles; on ene end rimming loop ot toed to be fastened around each evaist, and on the other end a strong steel hook. These were designed for getting a hold. in cracks and fissures in the face of tho cliff where it would be impossible to draw one's self up by means of the fingere, for George knew that the most daring and expert climbers bad used gaffs with success. The coast was bald and, desolate, and con- tained no human habitation between the dock from which the skiff had set ont and the Wand, or for aeveral leagues beyond. When they reedited the base of the island which stood close to the nutioland they pulled their slciff upon a small platform or rock, got out their guns and began shooting the birds that circle around the island and nested on the terraces. Then George told that he was goitag up. They knew how ex- pert he was, and remembered all the dan- gerous .places that he had climbed before, but their faces grew white with fear as they looked et the four hundred feet of somber rocky wall that towered above them. "Now, boys," said George, as he threw off his coat and tightened his belt, "Don't be a bit frightened about me ; with these gaffs I can climb up there without any trouble and I can come back too with the greatest safety. I'll take your bag, Frank, for the eggs, only put plenty of oakum in it so they won't break when I am coming down. Frank brought him the bag and his hand trembled as he put it around his brother's neck, but neither of the boys seem- ed to know what to say. "Now, good-bye boys, for the present; I'll be through in 'twenty minutes ; these cormorants defend their nests so that I may be able to gaff some of them. Look out for them as / throw them over." Then seizing his gels tightly in his hand he sprang toward the cliff, running nimbly up a half-dozen paces almost as light-footed as a weasel. The two boys looked at him in speechless terror, but they had greatfaith in his skill and courage. He found little difficulty in passing the first dozen ledges or so, for he could easily reach them, and they gave sure footing. Every minute or so he stopped. to consult his drawing, which was a complete chart of the face of the cliff. After a third of the ascent was made he paused, and, as the boys could see from be- low, looked somewhat nervously about him and again carefully studied his drawing. It was plain that the path which he had traced out for himself in a dotted line was an impossible one. Nevertheless, he turned his hand behind him and waved a signal of encouragement, but be never once looked back or down. Then he seemed to gather resolution • stuck fasb one gaff, and then another, into two tiny rifts in the cliff and drew himself up over a space of seven or eight feet to the ledge above. Then, for the first time he turned and looked. down. These rifts ran obliquely, and from his gestures it seemed only too plain that he doubted if he could get back. But his courage did not fail him and after half a minute's rest he assumed his perilous journey,sonaetintes being suspended O the air by both arms, sometimes by one, with no place to pub his toe; yet it was marvelous to see the progress he made up the iron-staiued face of the steep wall. Whenever he reached a terrace that he could stand upon, he rested a few seconds, hitched up his trousers, and began the ascent again. Near the top the cliff beetled out above his head, and he crept along the lenge, first to one side then to another, looking for some part of the rock above him where he could get I hold for his steel hoahe. He tried one place and another, but was afraid to trust himself, and at last discovered a mall rift through which a tiny stream of water trickled, encl into thea he thrust both SUNDAY MIR TIe Ohemio'rv of' Oharaotor. Sohn, and Peter, and Robert. and Paul, - God in lits wisdem created them alt. John eras 11, steteetnan. and Peter a slave. Robert a preacher, and Pa—was a knave. Evil or good, as the case might be, John, and Pet ea an white or coloured. odribivobnedrr afnrede—pant Goa in His evistlom created. them all. out of eartleselenionM, mingled with dame, Out of life's componocl of glory and shanaa Fashioned and shaped by no will of their own, And helplessly intolife's history thrown; Bornby the law that compels men to be, Born to conditions they could not foresee. John, and Peter. and Robert and Paul, God, in His wisdom. created them all, John gwisesatt.he head and heart of his state, Was trusted and honored, was noble and Peter was intide loath liters burdens to groan, And neve, once dreamed that his soul was his 11 zealouslyp vaching what no one bellev- ,or 0.0.tvirn.a Rob gre tertiary and honour received. ed. Paul of the pleasures of sin toot his , Prom ao. and its conflicts, all died. the same Anal,: hisufe to the service ot 111. It chanced that these, men, in their passing ate:)vivkag:Ytal e, „ John a, mourned through the lenstli and r breadth of the land, Peter fell Meath the lash in a merciless band, Robert died with the praise of the Lend on ids Whilo Paul waseonvieted of murder and hung, John. and Peter. and Robert and Paul,' 1.'he purpose of life was fulfilled in tbeill all. tumult and auger among all the weaker - ante at the intrusion upon their abode. George struck several of the birds with one of his gaffs and, after killing them by pound- ing their heads against a rock, thew teem over the precipice to the boys below'for he knew they would linger about the base of the island for a while before returning home. Then with despair in his heart, he sat upon the sod, near the verge of the and watched Inc the departure of the skiff. The air Was filled with the harah cries of the birds, and the echoes hi the cliffs turned the place into nutter Babel. He sat there for half an hoer and by that time the sun eauk in the far western waters. Now he noticed the sails of the staff and the brisk breeze carried her swiftly awned the nearest head - lane' and left lam there with the gloomy shadows creeping upon the island, leagues from everythiug human and surrounded by screaming, angry birds, whose oyes gleamed in Ns face as they brushed past in the gath- ering dusk. Night very soon fell upon see and land; the buels cease d their tumult and settled among the rochs and upon the ledges, but the wind freshened and whistled about hie ears, 'while the restless, inoanhikery of the sea came to hint from below. Not a star Tliere is an evil under the sun anti it is was to be seen, buthuge, black clouds came trooping out of the South filling the heaveus conunon among the elturelten the keeping to leeward, It was not long before the night up of several separate intereets n gam was suddenly riven with ohne—with vommunity, merely for the sake of denomin- ationalism, when one or at least a less nuns - thunders bellowed across the heavem" nein- ing to shake the island and the QUM about ; then torrents of rain were loosened, drenthing to the:skin the poor boy as he lay there upon tile bleak sod. George had a brave heart, but he felt that his chances of escape were very slim. Down the island wallbe eoehl not go, and in what, other way could he leave the place? Then arose in his heart a feeling of remorse that he had concealed from his parents his in- tention of climbing the island, ami far more bitter to him than his own misery was the thought how his mother would feel when his brother and cousin reached home with- out him. He knew they had been crying out some words to him before they left, bat the noise of the water, disturbed by the freshening breeze) lmd prevented him from hearing goat they said. So he sat there, through the pitchy dark, hour after hour, terrified by the blinding lightning and deafening thunder and. de- luged by the pitiless ram. The great black birds everywhere about him crouched close upon their neste and huddled behind the rocks for shelter. Not once through that long and terrible night did he close his eyes in sleep, and when the gray dawn appeared lus the east a great throb of hope went through his heart. The clouds had rolled away and the sun burned upon the edge of the sea like a large scarlet furnace. And with the elan of the sun came the voices of his parents and friends from the main land ask- ing him how he had fared during the nigbt, and telling him to keep up his spirits. Be could see his mother in the group, and he saw that she was weeping; her voice came distinctly from among all the rest, telling him that God was good and that he would be in some way rescued. Then some of them tried to throw across food made up in tins and little parcels, but they all fell short and dropped into the gulf below, He was now tortured with hunger, and on the advice of hismother, who stoodin the front of the assemblage on the main land, he built is fire out of the denayed grasses and weeds, the dry bones of birds and nest materials, and roasted a half-dozen eggs selecting the fresh ones when cooked and c.ating them. So far no one could devise any means of reaching him. It was impossible to stretch a ladder across, access from below was equal- ly impossible. A number. of fishermen had gathered around the base of the island in their boats but they were nonplused like those on land, His father and several of the fishermen tried for hours to fling a rope across the chasm but fell short fully forty feet from the brink of the island. The group stood there in mute sorrow, the mother con- stantly shouting across words of encourage- ment. - Hour after hour passed till the sun had passed the meridian, then the party on the mainland heard a wild cawing close beside them, and, turning, saw that Jack, poor George's raven,had joined them. Evidently the bird had followed the party at a pafe distance, remaining all these hours in the background, but had at last ventured to show himself. No sooner did George see him than an idea flashed through his mind and raising his voice he cried "Catch Jack and fasten the smallestrope you have toltis leg and I will get him to bring it across.' Fortunately one of the party had brought along a reel of cod line, so the bird was captured and the line fastened to his leg, after which it was placed in a loose coil by the brink of the mainland cliff. " Come, Jack, come," shouted George, Thi returns of the Irish census show a and immediately upon the bird being re- decrease in the population of Ireland, leased he plunged out into the air adross the amounting in the decade to close upon half gnu with exultant chattering, dragging the a milhon. The only two counties which line, and made straight for George, perch- show an increase are Dublin and Antrim, Mg at his feet and looking at him with wide and among the great cities, Dublin and Bel- ourions eyes. The party on the mainland fast are the only two who show an increase. understood the expedient and immediately Cork, Limerick, Londonderry, Waterford, fastened the end of one of the heavy, °alb of Galway, and Wexford all show a decrease rope to the small line and then fastened in the population. There is a decrease in carefully together all the heavy coils. the total number of families of 51,982. The Taking the small line in his hand number of houses out of occupation has en George drew across the heavy coil, and •creased by 7460—the largest number ever when he got hold of the end of it recorded, even after the famine. The not - dragged it to a Perpendicular rook and tuna increase of the population has been caremlly fastened it around it. The men 267, 653, but the emigration of 798,105 per. 00 the main land then threw the joined ions during the same period caused a cle- cable over into the gulf, and it went with a crease of 500,452. There are 3,545,856 swash down into the sea, George next un- Roman Catholics,600,230Protestant Episco. fastened the line from Iack's hea, then say- palians, 446,687 Presbyterians, and 55,235 ing a few cheery words to his mother, got Methodists. • Only the Methoeists show an upon the rope and descended swiftly down increase in numbers. Too Many Churches. ber would provide ample religious instruc. tion for all, For not only does the practice involve a useless and unwarrantable (repeal. ditnre 01 1050 and means which mightother- wise beemployedinevangelizing the heathen, it also impresses unfavorably many of those etheine whom the ohurches arc anxious to each. Rev. Walter Barrows, an American minister, has been collecting statistics on this subject, and finds that there aro in the Umted States no fewer thau 40 Protestant denominations, that in Japan are represen- Wives of 26 missionary societies, in India 38, and in China, 39. Taking the State of Massachusetts be finds there are 1000 churches in moot of Which substantially the mune doctrines are preached. He estimated that one out of every four of the churches Could be closed up. " Afterwards," Le says, "the people in such regions would miss nothing of church privileges but de- nominationalism only. .All of the Gospel — the religion of Christ and the means of sal- vation—would still be dispensed to all who 'wished to hear it as pew occupants, One laborious and studious city missionary as- sures me that one.fourth of the houses for evangelical worship in Boston could be spared without idamagingthe supply of the Gospel to all who can be nduced to hear it. In Boston there are open every Sabbath 250 places for Protestant worship. One-fourth of these, or 62 could be closed without damage to Protestant worship." Thom are facts worth pondering by those wile are res- ponsible for the perpetuation of the present condition of things. A Marvellous Invention. The "Kinetograph " is the name tha Edison has given to his latest invention, an instrument combining electricity and photo- graphy and intended to reproduae motion andsound. If bis other works were ingeni- ous even to wonderful, and earned for 'him the epithet wizard, this is doubly so. Hear what Edison himself has to say of it: "If it is desired to reproduce an opera or a play I will get the company to gtvea dress rehearsal for me. I place back of the or- chestra on a table a compound machine con slating of a phonograph and a kinetogramh, with a capacity of 30. minutes' continuous work. The orchestra ploys, the curtain rises, and the opera begins. Both machines work simultaneously, one recorcliug sound and the other taking photographs, recording motion atthe rate of 46 nhotographsper second. Afterward the photographic strip is developed and replaced in the machine, a projecting lens is substitute -1 for the photo- graphic lens, and the reproducing part of the phonograph is adjusted. Then, by means of a calcium light, the effect is repro- duced life-size on a white curtain, reproduc- ing to the audience the original scene with all its sounds and all the motions of the actors exactly as in the original scene." Who can estimate the possibilities of this little instrument, or who can predict what effect it will have upon the attendance at all places where men and women congregate to see and hear? By means of the Kineto- graph plays and operas may be reproduced in private parlors, sermons repeated, funny speeches and antics of children brought back, and—well who can say what it may or may not effect? Perhaps it will be well or the public not to place its expectations too high, notwithstanding the Confident as- surances of the inventor, , ---- Result of The Irish Census. 3,/eu said of the statesman, "Row noble RM. brave:" Rut Peter. alas 1 "he was only a slave,' Of Robert. "'Us well with his soul -41$ well." While Paul thsy consigned to the torments or Horn by one law through all nature the sante "What made them ditfor and who was to blame/ John, and Peter, and Robert. and Paul— OW in Ilia wisdom created them all. Ont in that region of inilnite NI, here the soul of the blaele manta pure as tbe white, Out 'where the eine% through soma' Made wise. No longer resorts to deception and lies— Out where tho flesh eau AA Mager control. The freedom nue faith ot OW -given soul— 'Macon determine what change may befall John, and Peter, and Hobert, and Paul John may in wisdom and goodness increase,— Peter rejoice Mau infinite pence— Hobert may learn that the truths of the Lord Are Twain the spirit and less intim word— And Paul may be blessed. with a holier birth Titan the paceeenset Man had Allen -ea Men on eerth. John. and Peter, and Robert, and Pmal. Owl in His wiedem will eare for tbem all. Deane; With Doubt, The F,H. Revell Company publish, as one of their Veil= Series, two admirable ad- areases of Profeseor Drummond, the first of whit* bears the above title. It would be is wise benelivence to nutecopy of thierteldrese in the hands of every minister in the United States. It would be exeeptionally useful at this juncture in the ministerial ranks of the Presbyterian Church, We quote from it a few eharauteristie sentenees ; bot they fail to interpret adequately the spiritual sig. nificauce and value of address from which we pluck them : Heresy is truth in making, and doubt is the prelude of knowledge. There are ten good years of a man's life in investigating what is m 0 leaf, and there are five good years more in investigating the things that are in the things that twain the leaf. All religious truths are doubtable. There lane absolute proof for any one of them. Never let us think evil of men who do not think as we do. Christ never failed toelistinguish between doubt and unbelief. Doubt is ean't believe; unbelief is won't believe. The Church says [respecting the heretic] "Brand. him," Christ says "Teach him," Faith is never opposed to reason in the New Testament, but to right. It would 1)03 great pity if all those prob. lems could be solved. The joy of the intellectual life would be largely gone, "Lend me to the Rook thatis higher than I," That is evolution. It is the development of the whole man in the highest directions —the drawing out of his spiritual being. An Historic Order. The Whitehall organ lately removed from the Chapel Royal, by the Queen's order tr. the Church of "85. Peter ad rincula" in London Tower, is a splendid instrument with an interesting history. It was built in England by Father Schmidt by order of Charles II.; rebuilt in 1877. It contains 39 stops, 1,968 pipes, 3 manuals, 6 couplers and 6 composition pedals. Recently a new depot of the British and Foreign Bible Society has been opened in Madrid, and the leading papers of the Spanish capital gave considerable space to descriptive reports of the event and of the work in which the society is engaged. Dur- ing last year 700,000 Bigles,Testaments and tracts were sold and distributed to the Span- ish people. • St. Bartholomew's church, New York City, had a most remarkable class presented to the Bishop for confirmation tins year. It included every grade of men, high and low, rich and poor. There were eighty in all, forty-four of them men, aud all of mile ture age—many of them well advanced in years. A Rescue Mission sent twelve, then there were three Jews, six or seven Syrians and Armenians, five or six Chinese, and Ger- mans and Irish beside. Making Itehgious Soldiers. "The Churchman " describes a new ex- perinient in successful working in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a plan to organize the street arabs into companies under military drill, and so bring them under moral and religioue discipline. Boys love to march and drill. Religious exercises are combined with every dri waAslli.sstispu ed for May 13, containing John iii., plement to the Clkristian Herald" 16, in 58 different tongues, counting the Chinese as three. It is, indeed, a unique and interesting eichibit. At Benares a large Hindoo bridal peaty had gone on the river, exceeding to custom, to worship the Ganges, when the bottom of She boat gave way, nineteen persons, in- cluding the bride anci bridegroom, being drowned. Sunday Chat. The Briggs heresy case has been described by a religious journal as a burning (pies - tion." It would have been rather more of a burning question, remarks a Plieladelphta paper, a century or So ago. Rome was at work in China. two hundred and fifty years before Protestant missions had commenced in that land,while in Japan, ivhere Protestant missions only date back to 1860, Romish missions began in the time of Xavier, more than three centuries ago, Yet, during the short time of their ex ietence Protestant missions hay row ith rapidity that they have already mere than overtaken those of the Church of Rome, Moody, the evangelist, was once aragged, ignorant lad in the streets of Chicago. He eauntered into a Sunday school. The teach- er found the place in the Bible for him, sax- ing him from the repellingsnecre oraaughter of his classmates. 'rhea decided hint to sten', and turned him into the path of religions zeal. The Rev. Dr. Dale, of Birminghern, in speaking at the eighty-seventh annual Meet- ing of the British and Foreign BibleSoeieter, mid he learned with dientay that the society were in debt for over X14,000, although there had been an increase both in the eontributionsmal sales, The total income is reported at over £217,000. Within the last few months the Rais.sian Government haVe caused 11101'0 Jews 50 j?in. the Christian church than all the Jewieh eocieties tbat have ever exieted. The Russian newspapers aesert that over 50,000 Israelites have joined the Orthodox Greek church within a year, and that many thousands have within the same period embraced Lutheranism. Vassal Ivanoff; 0115 a the principal lead- ers of the Russiau Stundist movement, who hes been in jail since Augusb last charged withpropagat Mg Protestantism, stillremains there untried. Tbe polies have been engaged in trying to collect evidence ageing -him, but their efforts have totally failed- It is now reported that the notion of trying him at Jaw will be E,iven up, and that as soon as the road across the Cenceses is passable he will heveto tramp acros,e the mouuta10ath ehaina, and settle in eine of the Tr4145CaneaSlarl pro. vinces under police surveillance. Pleaehing A trial sermon in presence of all audience of only two persons must in any ease be a. trial to one's nerves, bnt especially AR when the two happen to be the Arch. bishop of Canterbury, Dr. Tait, and Dean Stanley. We rend of such an unfortunete young "candidate for priest's orders" so preaching in tha rather awful presence. In his confusion he stammeeedoutees be begen, "1 will divide my congregation into We— the converted and the unconverted." Dr. Tait interrupted him with, "1 think, sir, AA there are only two of us, you bad better say whieh is which." When sneak -thieves get so low as to steal a barrel of sermons and other manuscript matter, which it minister had stored away in WS barn, it looks as if we had fallen upan degenerate times. Such a catastrophe hap - petted to one of our Congregational ministera m Colorado not long age. 'What is some future parish's loss however, may inure to the eventual gain a the good 1050 80 sud- denly bereft. We recafl the remark of A former Vale theological professor who ex- prneti to his class one day his decided eon - valet* that ifs sweepiug fire should con. mune in one night all the old sermons in the Sut:te of.Connectieut it general revival would begin an the nest Sunday.—[Congregational- A bulletin recently isoued b the Ameri- can Census Department gives the statistics of the minor religious denominations of the United States, The Cumberland Presbyter. ian Church is Presbyterian in polity, has it creed Whiell is described as a via anodic& between Calvinism and Arrninianlem, and owes its origin to a revival movement at the beginning of the present century. It has 2,791 organizations, 2,059 church edifiers and halls, with a seating capacity of 754,- 005, and 104,040 communicants. The German Evangelical Synod, with only 870 church organizations, has 167,432 communicants. It is 50 yeais old and represents in the United States the State Church of Prussia, which is a union of the Lutheran and Re formed Churches. The Church of Jesus Chriab of Latter Day Saints, which luta 424 organizations and 144,352 communicants, is hierarchical in government and baees its faith chiefly on the book of Mormons. The German Evangelical Synod, which numbers only 36,156 communicants, is probably the most liberal in doctrine in the world, for it has no confession of faith whatever. —ir In Too Groat a Hurry. To count one's cbickens before they are hatched is a very common practice. It is sometimes very expensive however, as the Dominion government is 'likely to realize. Ten years ago when the nor thwest land bemii was on the government, carried away with the popular expectation, sent out its survey- ors to make ready for tbe tens of thousands of new comers who were expected but who nev- er crme. So rapidly didthese agents perform their work that by the end of 1884 they had surveyed 55,479,006 acres, more than 76 per cent of the total surveyed up to date. The consequence is that now when settlers are coming in the original survey is of little ser- vice. Says the Edmonten Bulletin: "There is a general complaint from land seekers in nearly every section of the district that the survey stakes cannot bo found. The sur- veys were madein 1882, 1883 and 1884, since which time the lines eat through woods have grown up so that they are very diffi- cult to follow, corner stakes have rotted or burned down and mounds have disappeared —if they ever existed, which is doubtful in many cases. As a rule the surveys were roughly done and many inaccuracies and in- complete lines exist which further confuse the ititending homesteader." That blame attaches to anyone for this great haste in marking out the boundaries does not neces- sarily follow, nevertheless it is unfortunate that the government; had not followed the well -tried saying and made haste slowly. • ••111141A Bonbons of Courtship. It is a populay fictiotethat a girl can marry it mao without, as the saying is marrying his family. It is not true. Someti'mes a grape does spring from a thorn, a,nd a pure, tem- perate son descends from a vile, sinful father. His mother's blood, perhaps, has saved him. Still in marrying this mark you marry the soiled family record, and must, to some ex- tent, share in the suffering caused by his father's sins. Heredity we may or may ,not believe in, but we have all seen charactriais- tics pass one generation `by, to appear in greater strength in the second. Y ou run the risk then, even if your busband is all that he should be, of beirg an unhappy, anxious mother. I am not speaking in favor of the selfish, mercenary marriage, but I am advo- cating the intelligent counting of the cost before the contract is signed. Parents who would be shocked at their daughter's choos- ing, as an intimate friend, a girl of whose antecedents they knew nothing, do not al: ways refuse to allow that same daughter to marry a man whcse fornily they met for the first time at the weduhig. It is one thing to entertain animmaculately attired caller who brines bonbons in one hand and roses in the other, and quite an- other to see him off -guard with his brothers and sisters in Ws environment, not the one your parents' culture and success have given you. He does not seem like a stranger in your home, and yet you might never be any- thing out an alien in his.. What Days Them WU. Say, Jim, what days them wnse somehow can't tomb. 'em, beeease They're double seamstitohea in my nature, part Wall 'at's goodanpoble in MY heart. Springtime now is j. es. the same as then, But barefoot boys grow into white-haired, men., sit here in ray rooter now an* look Oat through the winder, with the Rely Book Wide open on my knees, an' hear the birds Mir/An their melody, for which the words Vir.-s never written out, bus tbe hi-nacos* Rid in our hearts among their treasurn store, An' emochow thorn songs do take ine Rack Oyez tbe struggle is' itte's twistin" track. When wo two youngsters played AS all here doss' What deys thou 'mei D' Get 11)1411 stihme o.zs' coatsatdSup ngm Our boots into the woodshed an' go scoothe' Down to the river where the logs was shoothe Over the rapids, an' play river driverl There wasn't no King Fisher or .flellDiS liras ninditer than lea theta days yea kno*, It somehow ,secnied impossible to go slow. What shots, w wasat spearin' suckers. Simi Lord 1 WO WAS. lightenin , hang on by a itinb An' sock 15 50 'en's tboy flirted by: why, even now 111411111 hear you, ern 'Struck a, etreomu oder, DM; hang on 111)' leg tirtv.v him in, An how you'd brag Because you caught & big-4er mien ine. Bat oilers wind up, Ve1J, v, er see, Bill. Pol:euolst dleaTdralrt he:tiverallmazit,d00 c 4. Tto les! turned sixty, jim,rue you/ Eh1 dolnus in it, canin'sixty-twol The rheum:dim hod me..gtiess fe got 4, But 1 woulti like eme day again, I wo Jes" to be boys when pinintrees was w Itc.hcatl- ed An' eery ineb o' ground was fairly cadet]. With Mayflowers bloomM', an' co iipsnme Them yeller buttercups we used te bene AM:nacelle oel straw hats. Art`Ji ' gay. Jim t Itow'd Ter 11110 tze gain tern swim An' dive front 110 aid black rock. 51' see With% could stay under longet, y n or mei An' Jim--duro how ogeoffects otrs s eyes. Tito water will run out no aide li w much he Ter ketreigt back. No, no, not so Jim. but. Seemyon terbe tools about the ewn way. too. 'Tondo 011 it, NJvihntaltdscryseetzhoolhval .1.1zbrcenee— 'it • W. Sfunt.gY. 001ITIVATINa NTMENT. dluch of the bappiuh of life is lost by sacrificing the substansFe to the shadow, the, real to the seeming. We all desire to halve the best the wori5.1 can give, hut we Oitfer very much in our idea of what the ,,best is. Toe often our standard is set by rum neighlmro,atet by our- selves, mul We wear ourselves out in *Uhl to live up to lt. People of limited Men aspire to 1040 lueuries nowadays, that never entered lute the itnagination of their fathers as being passible for them to Attain to. There are many families in exactly the sition in which the old prophet prayed to --having "neither poverty nor miles." There is enough to live on in 'comfort if the income is spent tor comfort and not far ehow. Thia io 1 matter peculiarly within the - province 'of mothers, end particularly o? young mothers. It is the wife, as general rule, new regulates the expenditure of the household and the manner of living. If she is satisfied, her imahand is apt to acquiesce. There is a certain amount of money to be spent, and she must decide what she will geb with it. It will buy all the necessaries of life and many of its comforts, Including ease of mind; or, it may be used to plircharo pensive luxuries, whose possession Willey* the family a certain atanding in the e3 es of its neighbor*, and with them the discomfort of doing without things that would lighten the daily toil and make work easier. With a moderato income oho cannot/have both without encountering the fret and worry that .come from living beyond one's means. If a mother can teach Ler children that it is what email is, and not what he has, that, entitles him to respect, end helpthem to live lip to the noble ideal thae she sets be. fore them, she has done them it service that -will benefit them all their lives. Wo are, expressly told that the life ietmore than meat and the body than raiment,t ; and yet, how many of us act its if what Ito ate and what, wo wore were the all-important points; and the bum life, that these things ars meant to nourish and minister to, was ot no importance whatever. We do not seem to realize that displayis vulgar—in the real meaning of that much - aimed word. To hove everything in per- fect, keeping is a much surer eviesnee of re- fined taste than to have handsome garments for great occasions, and shabby ones for everyday wear, and the same discrepancy in the various details of our daily live3. Dress is the great touchstone -aith us all, and specially with women to svhom it is— and rightly so—a matter of extreme interest. We like to be beconiingly and well dressed, and a few—a, very few—know how to com- bine economy and elegance. For theothers, who have not this gift, et only remains for us to cultivate simplicity. It is bard not to buy pretty things for children, they loOk„, so sweet in them. The young mother may console herself by thinking that expensive materials are, as a rule, unsuitablefor child. , inn. Skill and velvet and plush are out of place on a child. They should wear nothing that does not suggest freshness and dainti- ness. A hat overloaded with feathers is as absurd On a childish head as a baby waits would be on a dowager. Children who are brought up in e refined. home where there is no attempt to make things seem other than they are ; where it e is frankly admitted that there are some things their parents would like which they cannot home because they cannot a fford them, but which they can cheerfully do without because they have so many other blessings. Children who early learn to be pleased with simple pleasures; who are taught, that their - claim to the respect of others must rest on their own merits and not on any accidental surroundings, have learned the lesson of cOn- tentment that will make thsi! lives better and happier than any fortune could without it. The high sense of honor that scorns a mean act, the steadfast adherence to duty , that would rather stiffer wrong ,than do wrong, the truthfulness that spurnideeein - the tenderness and forbearance and ourtesy .,that strength should show to weakness—if a mother can give these to her girls and boys she need not regret that she had note; been able to give them all the luxuries; sluthei craved for them. —[Ladies Home journal. - The discovery of an enormous undergroun reservoir of water in the mieest of the S1.. - harm Desert will undoubtedly develop tr and travel throughout that region.- plorations have shown that there are ja`rge portions of the Sahara which are reedly cap- able of cultivation, and after a time it will doubtless be as completely nenced from the map as has the Great American Desert. An English exchange is angry because la grippe has not been placed within the ;each of the Infectious Diseases Notification Act ' by local authorities. lune House of Coni'c mons the president of the Lacal Government Board recently made the statement that in- fluenza, comes within the mending of the Act, being distinctly infectious. That, no doubt, :is a fact. At all events, ono effect Qtf action on the part of local authorities 'could be to limit the reports of influenzt. videenics. It Some of the actresses do not draw, but all would dissolve the fashionableglamor which of them pant. hangs around the disease.