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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times, 1895-4-11, Page 6f t THE EXET R TtMES M THE GOSPEL SIRE i�V Mt TALMAGE DRAWS A LW SON FROM THE ARK. t of Salvation Trough Cheist-a Sure Verence in "Rime of Ifeouttle-Anie Loads atone or God Dearing, T,ife•--Brina our Loved Ones at the Rona New York, IViaroh. 31,--A1though his Oratory is at all times magnetise and elo- quent, there is one theme with which, whenever he makes it the groundwork of Ina sermon, Dr. Talmage never fails to communioate to his auditors the entlausi- aren he himself feels, That theme is the gospel invitation, and when, this after - neon, he took for his subject "The Gospel Ship" the great audieoce that crowded the Academy was in full syntpathy. The text selected was Genesis vi, 18, "Thou shalt come into the ark, thou. and thy pone and thy wife and thy sous' wives With thee." In this day of the steamships Lueania and niajostio and the Paris I will show you a ship that in ome respeots eclipsed • them all and which sailed out, an (mean • underneath and another ocean falling npon it. Infidel scientists ask us to be- lieve that in the formation of the earth there hay e been a half dozen deluges, and yet they are not willing to believe the Bible story of one deluge. In what way the catastrophe game we know not -whether by the stroke of a comet, or by flashes of lightning, chang- ing the air into water, or by a stroke of the hand of God, like the stroke of the as between the horns of the ox, the earth staggered. To meet the catastrophe God ordered a great ship built. It was to be without prow, for it was to sail to no shore. It was to be without helm, for no human hand should guide it. It was a vast structure, probably as large as two or three modern steamers. It was the Great Eastern of olden time. The ship is done. The door is open. The lizards crawl in. The cattle walk in. The grasshoppers hop in. The birds fly in. The invitation goes forth to Noah, "Come thou and all thy house into the ark." Just one human family embark on the strange voyage, and I hear the door slam shut. .A. great storm sweeps along the hills and bends the cedars until all the branohes snap in the gale. There is a moan in the wind like unte the moan of a dying world. The blackness of the heavens is shattered by the flare of the lightnings that look down into the waters and throw a ghastliness on the face of the mountains. How strange it looks! Row suffocating the air seems? The big drops of rain begin to splash upon the up- turned faces of those who are watching the tempest. Crash go the rocks in con- vulsion! Boom go the bursting heavens! The inhabitants of the earth, instead. of flying to housetop and mountain top, as men have fancied, sit down in dumb, white horror to die, for when God grinds mountains to pieces and lets the ocean slip its cable there is no place for men to fly to. See the ark pitch and tumble in the surf, while from its windows the passen- gers look out upon the shipwreck of a race and the carcasses of a dead. world. Woe to the mountains! Woe to thesseal I am no alarmist. When, on the 20th of September, after the wind has for three days been blowing from the northeast, , you prophesy that the equinoctial storm is coming, you simply itate a fact not to be disputed. Neither am I an alarmist when I say that a stemu is coming com- pared with which Noah's deluge was but an April shower, and that it is wisest and safest for you and for me to get safely, housed for eternity. The invitation that went forth to Noah sounds in our ears, "Come thou and all thy house into the ark." Well, how did Noah and his family °epee into the ark? Did they climb in at the window, or come down through the roof? No. They went through the door. And just so, Lf we get into the ark of God's mercy, it will be through Christ the door. The entrance to the ark of old mast have been a very large entrance. We know that it was from the fact that there were monster animals in the earlier ages, and in order to get theni into the ark „two and two, according to the Bible statement, the door must have been veep wide and very high. So the door into the, mercy of God is a large door. We go in, not two and two, but ba hundreds, and by thousands and by millions. Yea, all the nations of the earth may go in 10,000,- 000 abreast. The door of the ancient ark was in the side. So now it is through the side of Christ -the pierced side, the wide open side, the heart side -that we enter. Aha, the Roman soldier, thrusting his spear Into the Saviour's side, expected only to let the blood out, but he opened the way to let all the world in. Oh, what a broad gospel to preach! If a man is about to give an entertainment, he issues 200 or 800 invitations carefully put up and directed to the particular persons whoria he wishes to entertain. But God, our Father, makes a banquet, and goes out to • the front door of heaven, and stretches out his hands over land and sea, and with a voice that penetrates the Hindoo jungle, and. the Greenland ice castle, and the Brazilian grove, and the English factory, and American homes cries out, "'Come, for als1 things are now ready I" It is a wide door. The old. cross has been taken apart, and its two pieces are stood up for the doorposts so far apart that all the world can Wine in. Kings scatter treasures on daye of great rejoicing. So Christ, our Xing, conies and scatters the jewels of heaven. Rowland liril said that he hoped to get into heaven through the crevices of the door. But he was not obliged thus to go in. After having preached the gospel in Surrey ohepel, going up toward heaveri, • the (gatekeeper cried, "Lift up your heads, ye everlasting gates, and let this man • eeme in!" The dying thief went in, Richard Baxter and Robert Newton Went ln. Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America stay yet go through tide Wide door Without croSeding, P`o, every one -all conditions, all ranks, all people• ! Luther said that this trUth. was Worth •aarryiag aix otte's knees from Rome to Jerusalem, but I think it worth berrying all around, the globe and all around the heavens -that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son; that Whosoever believeth 1x Kim should not perish, but Meets oVerIaeting life."Who, soever evill, let hixn eome through the • large door. Archimedee 'Wanted a ful- • arum on which to place his lever, and then he said that he eould move the world, Calvet"' is the etilertem, and the etesS Sif (Theist is the leer, end by that power All eartatedeeefteall. etet bet Tatther. 'it a 'dder that swiugs both wars. I do not irltaw Whether the doot of the aneient ark was lifted or rolled on hiliges, but this deer of Christ opeus both Ways. It swtngs oat toward all our woete •It swings in toward the raptures ot • heaven. It syringe to let ue in, It swings out to let our MilliSteriDg OneS Conte Ont. All are oue lix Cartst-Christiaus ou earth and salute in heaven. One army of the living God, At hie command wral)ow, Part Of the host have oreseed the flood, And part are massing mew. Swing. In, 0 blessed door, until all the earth shall go in and. 'eve, Swing oat until all the heavens mime forth to cabs- brate the victory. Bat, further it is a door with fasten. Ings, The Bible says of Noah, "The Lord. abut him in." A. vessel without bulwarks or doors would not be a sitfo vessel to go in When Noah and his family heard the fastening of the door of the ark, they were vary glad. Unlese those doom were fasteued, the first heavy surge of the sea would have whelened them, andtheyenight as well have perish- ed outside the ark as inside the ark. "The Lord shut him in." Oh, the per- fect safety of the ark! The surf of the sea and the lightnings of the sky may be twisted into a garland of snow and are - deep to deep, storm to storna, darkness to darkness -but once be the ark all is Well. "God shut him in." There comes upon the good man a • deluge of financial trouble. Be had his thousands to lend. Now he cannot box - row a dollar. He ouce owned a store in New York and, bad branch houses in Bos. tan, Philadelphia and New Orleans. He owned four horses and employed a man to keep the dust off his coach phae- ton, carriage and ourricle. Now he has hard work to get shoes in which to walk. • The great deep of commercial disaster was broken up, and fore and aft and aoross the hurricane deck the waves struck him. But he was safely sheltered froin the sterna. "The Lord shut him in" A. flood of domestic troubles fell on him. Siokness and bereavement came. The rain pelted. The winds blew. The heavens are &thane. All the gardens of earthly de- light are washed away, The mountains of aria are buried fifteen cubits deep. But standing by the empty crib, and in the desolated nursery, and in the doleful hall, once a -ring with merry voices, now silent forever, he cried: "The Lord gave; the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be • the name of the Lord." "The Lord shut Ilfin in." All the sins of a lifetime clamored fox " his overthrow. The broken vows, the dis- honored Sabbaths, the outrageous profani- ties, the missdemeanors of twenty years, • reaching up their hands to the door of the ark to pull him out The boundless ocean of his sin surrounded his soul, howl- ing like a airaoom, raving like an euro- clydon. But, looking out of the window, he saw his sin sink like lead into the depths of the sea. The dove of heaven brought an olive branch to the ark. The wrath of the billow only pushed him to- ward heaven. "The Lord shut him in." The same door fastenings that kept Noah in keep the troubles out. lam glad to know that when a man reaches heaven all earthly troubles are with hira. Here he may have it hard to get bread for his family. There he will never hunger any more. Here he enety have wept bitterly. There "the lamb that is in the midst of the thione will lead him to living foun- tains of water, and God will wipe away all tears from his eyes." Here he may have hard work to get a house, but in my Father's house are many raansions, and rent day never comes. Here there are deathbeds and ooffins and graves. There no sickness, no weary watching, no chok- ing cough, no consuming fever, no chat- tering chill, no Wilzig bell, no grave. The sorrows of life shall come and knock at the door, but no admittance. The perplexities of life shell come up and knock on the door, but no admittance. Safe forever 1 Ail the agony of earth in one wave dashing against the bulwarks of the ship of celestial light shall xtot break them down. Howl on, ye winds, and rage, ye seas! The Lord -"the Lord shut him in." Oh, what a grand old door! So wide, so easily swung both ways and with such sure fastenings. No burglar's key can pick that lock. No swarthy arrn of hell can shove back that bolt. I re- joice that I do ,not ask you to come aboard a crazy craft, with leaking hulk and broken helm arid unfastened door, but an ark fifty cubits wide and 300 cubits long, and a door so large that the round earth without grazing the post naight be bowled in. Now if the ark of Christ is so grand a place in which to live and die and triumph, coine into the ark. Know well that doer that shut Noah in shut others out, and though, when the pitiless storm came pelting on their heads, they beat upon the door, saying: "Let me in! Let me in!" the door did not open. For 120 years they were invited. They expected to come in, but the antediluvians said: "We must cultivate these fields, We must be worth more flocks of sheep and herds of cattle. We will wait until we get a little older. We will enjoy our old farm a little longer." But meanwhile the storm was brewing. The fountains of heaven were filling up. The pry was be- ing plated beneath the foundations of the great deep. The last year had come, the last month, the last week, the last day, the last hour, the last moment. • In an awful dash an ocean dropped from the sky, and another rolled up from beneath, and God rolled the earth and sky into one wave of universal destruction. So men now put off ,going into the ark. They say they will wait twenty years first. They will have a little longer Mtn° with their worlcUy associates. They will 'wait until they get older. They say; -you cannot expect a man of lily attain- ments and of my position to surrender myself' just now. But before the storm comes I will go in. Yes, I will. I know what I ani about. Trust " After awhile, one night about twelve o'clock, going borne, he passes a eca,flolding just as a gust of wield strikes it, and a plank fans. Dead, and outside the ark, Or, riding in the park, a reeklees -vehicle crashes into hint, and hie horse becomes -unmanageable, and he ithentS:. "Whoa! Whoa 1" and takes another twist in the mins, and plants hle. feet against the dashboard, and pulls back. But no use. It is not So mt1611 doWn the avenue that he flies as on his way 'to eternity. Out of the meek of the tresh his body is drawn, but his soul is not pleked up. It fled behind a swifter enamor into the groat fame. Deed, arid outside the ark 1 'Dr a0M0 night he Wakes up with a dia, tapes mar reOraennernia lpOreleses lalall he ehrteks out with RP), The doctors come in, and they give hint twenty drape, hut ne relief; forty drops'fifty arops, sixty clrepst Inet no relief. No tinie for prewar, No time to read. one of the promithe. No time to get a single sin pardoned. The whole home is =used in alarm. Tbe ohialren airman The wife Wats. The pulses fall. The heart stops, The 00111 flies. Dead, and outside the ark! I have no doubt that derision kept many people oot of the ark, The laughed to see a man go in and said: "Here ie a man etarting for the ark, Why, theae will be no deluge. If there is one that miser- able ship will not wether go- inginto the ark I Well, that is too good to keep. Here, fellows, have you heard the news? This man is going int the ark." Under this artillery' of scorn the man's good resolution perished. And so there are buralrode kept out by the fear of derieion. The young man asks himself: "What would they' say at the store toonorrow morning if 1 should become a Christian? Whew' go down to the clubhouse, they will shout: 'Here comes that new Christian. Suppose you will not leave anything to do with us now. Get dovne on your knee, and let us hear you pray, Como'now, give us a touch. Will not do it, eh? Pretty Clues- tia,n you are.' '1 Is it not the fear of bo. ing laughed at that keeps you out of the kiogdoin of God? Which of these scorn- ers will help you at the lest? When you lie down on a dying pillow, which of them will be there? In the day of etern- ity will they bail you out? My friends and neighbors, oome right away. Come in through Christ, the wide door -the door that swings out to- ward you. Colne in and be saved. Come and be happy. "The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come.' Room in the ark. Room in the ark. But do riot come alone. The text in- vites you to bring your fanilly. It says, "'Thou and thy sons and thy wife." You cannot drive them in. If Noah had Wed to drive the pigeons and. the doves into the ark. he would. only have scattered them. Some parents are not wise about these things. They snake iron rules about Sabbaths, and they force the catechism down the throat as they would hold the child's nose and force down a dose of rhubarb and maenad. You cannot drive your children into the ark. You can draw your children to Christ, but you cannot drive them. The cross was lifted. not to drive, but to draw. "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me. " the sun draws up the drops of morning dew so the sun of righteousness exhales the tears of repentance. Be sure that you bring your husband and wife with you. How would Noah have felt if when he heard the rain pat- tering on the roogof bhe ark he knew that his wife was outside in the storm? No; she went with him. And yet some of you are on the ship "outward bound" for heaven, but your companion is -unshelter- ed. You remember the day when the Marriage ring was set. Nothing has yet been able to break it. Sickness came, and. elle finger shrank, but the ring, staid on. The twain stood. alone above a child's grace, and the dark mouth of the tomb swallowed up a thousand hopes, but the ring dropped not into the open grave. Days of poverty came, and the hand did many a hard day's work, but the rub- bing of the work against the ring only inade it shine brighter. Shall that rine ever be lost? Will the iron clang of the sepulchre gate crush it forever? I pray God that you who have been raaaaied on earth may be together in heayen. Oh, eby the quiet bliss of your earthly home, by the babe's cradle, by all the vows of 'that daet when yen started life together, I beg you to see to it that you both get into thceark. But tliis does not include all your family. Bring the children too. God. bless the dear children! What would your homes be without them? We may have done much for them. They have done more for us. What a salve for a wounded heart there is in the soft palm of a. child's hand! Did harp or flute ever have such music as there is in a child's 'good- night?" From our coarse, rough life the angels of God are often driven back. But 'who comes into the nursery without feel- ing that angels are hovering around/ They who die in infancy go straight into glory, but you are expecting your child- ren to grow up in this world. Is it not a question, then, that rings through all the corridors and windings and heights and depths of your soul, what is to become of your sons and daughters for tam and for eternity? "Oh," you say, "I mean to see that they have good manners!" Very well. "I mean to dress them well, if I have to go shabby." Very good. "I shall give them an education. I shall leave them a, fortune." Very well. 13ut is that all? Don't you mean to take them Into the ark? Don't you know that the storm is coming and that out of Christ there is no safety, no pardon, no hope, no heaven? How to get them in? Go in yourself. If Noah had staid out, do you not suppose that his sons-Shem, Ham and Japheth -would have staid outYour sons and daughters will be apt to do just as you do. Reject Christ yourself, and the prob- ability is that your children will reject him. On one of the lake steamers there were a tether and two daughters journeying. They seemed extreircely poor. A benevo- lent gentleman stepped ap to the poor man to proffer sorne foien of relief and said, "You seem to be very poor, sir." "Poor, sir," replied the man. "If there's a poorer mau than me a-trotibling the world, God pity both of us." "I will take one of your children and adopt it if you say so. I think it would be a great relief to you." "A what?" said the poor man. "A relief! Would it be a relief to have the hands chopped off from the body or the heart torn from the breast f A. re- lief indeed! God be good to us 1 What do you mean. six'?" However many child- ren we have, we have none to give up. Which of our families can we afford te spare out of heaven? Will it be the oldest? Will it be the youngest? Will, it be that ono diet was sick sonio Mtn° ago? Will it be the husband? Will it be the wife? No, tol We must have them all in, Let Us take the children's hands and statt now. Leave not one behind. Como f at her Come, mother! Conte, sofil Come, daughter! Como, brother Come, sister! Only One step, and we are in. Christ, the door, swings out to admit us, and it is not the hoarseness( of a stormy blast that you her, but the voice of a Loving and. patient God .that addresses yoin saying, "Come thesu and all thy house into the ark." And there may the Lord shut lie inl THE •SUNDAY SCHOOL. INTERNATIONAL LESSON, APR. 14. Easter Lesson.1 Ca1, 55. 3-14, golden 're Cur. 15. 20. 1, Oessenat, SUrittgEsr• Our Easter lesson is not rio muoh an account of the resurreotion as an argument coneerning it. That resurrection rests on the evidence of many eyewitnesses, inolucl- !iv in a very true sense Paul bimself, and la the great face preached as the ground- work of the Gospel. They who deny the resurrection in general must deny that of Chriete and the consequences of the latter will be that Ohrietian preachuig and faith are vain. The accounts of the resurrection by the four evangelists should be very carefully obudied, and a mote made of the ten reoorded appearances of the risen Christ. The letter or epistle from which this lesion was extracted was written aboue Easter, A. D, 57, from Ephesus, to the church in Corinth, whioh wee torn by schismatic oontentions, and deny membeis of which denied the general resurrection of the eaints. It was inevitable that Paul should try to outroot heresy before it had gone far, and the vigorous chapter from which this eirtract is made le his effort to lead them back to the true dootrine. The force of this passage is greatly increased when we remember that it was written about twenty-five years after the resurrec- tion of Jesus. EXPLANATORy AND PRACT/CAL NOTES. Verse& I delivered unto you. Those who fancy thegorimitive Churoh to have been ela- borate in ts ritual aike the modern ritualistic Churches, are far from the truth ; but it would be as false and mistaken to believe that they were, even during the lifetime of the apostles, without a formulated creed. It would be hardly possible to preaoh the new doctrines without summarizing the articles of faith, and that a profession in creeds with this summary was required of candidates for baptism may be inferred from eats. 8. 37. This verse and the next form the nucleus of the so-calledApoetlessCreed. The Greek wordtranslated "deliver" carries with it this thought of formal instruction and creed. Compare 2 These. 2. 15 and 3.6. First of all. lereaning, primarily. First in import- ance,not neccessarilyfirstin time. Literally, among the foremosdpoints. That which 1 also received. Doubtless in many ways. In his early Christian life he was taught by the Christian aisciples in Damascus and in Jerusalem; then, too, his great mind was open to the Holy Scriptures, whiah he carefully examined with prayer, and which revealed to him truths that had never been plain before ; and, added to all the rest, we must believe that he received special and unmistakable revelations from God. See Gal. 1. 12, 16, and 1 Oor. 11.23 Chritst died for our dna Literally,he died from our sins. tie died for the taking away of our sins; in behalf of them, as we might say. According to the Scriptures. At the most, probably the only part of the New Testament written at this time was three epistles, . and therefore the term "Scripture" must refer to the Old Testa. men t. 4. Be was buried. Referred to as an added proof of his actual death, though it is probable that none doubted that Jesus was slain on the cross. What they doubt- ed was that he was the Messiah. Rose • again. Hath risen. The resurrection was not a past fact; it continued and continues. According to the Scriptures. Isla. 53. 10-12 fairly implies the resurrection of Christ. It is a noteworthy fact, to which Bengal directs us, that Pa.ul puts the testi- mony of Scripture above that of those who saw the Lord after his resurrection. 5. Seen of alphas. Peter (Luke 24. 34-- 36), The twelve. This ,is probably an allusion to the appearance in john 20. 19. Thomas was then absent, but " the twelve' had come to be a sort of technical term or title. 6. Five hundred brethren at thee. Of this gathering we know nothing, It prob. ably was in Galilee where his most solemn and public appearance occurred and his special promise was given (Matt. 26. 32; 28. 7, 10, 16). The greater part remain unto this present. This shows the youth- fulness of many of the early adherents of Jesus. Paul refers to these living witnesses as men who can be seen and their evidence cross-examined. Fallen asleep. In tbe sure hope of awaking at the resurrection (Acts 7.60)." -Jamieson. 7. Seen of James. The brother of our Lord. (Gal. 1 to 19.) It has been conject• ured that this appearante of Jesus after his resurrection led to the conversion of James, for a short time before his death, and probably at his death, the Lord's brothers did not believe in him. All the apostles. This is probably here used as a getieric phrase to include all who had seen the risen Lord. "Apostles" originally had a much wider use than when applied to the twelve only 8. Last of all. Up to the time of this writing: he yeas afterward seen of John (Rev. 1 18.) Seen of me also. Oa the way to Damascus. ft The least of the apostles. See Eph. 3. 3. The name "Paulus" in Latin means "last." An, • not meet to be , called an apostle. Not fit to bear that honored name. I persecuted the church. God has forgiven him abundantly, and Paul cannot forgive himself. 10. By the grace of God I ani what I am. Paul's work, as Lies says, was only Paul's so Mr as God's grace and favor enable him to perform it. Hie grace. . . was not in vain. Having less fitness, he tried harder than the rest. 11. We preach. The word iii used in a much broader sense than now. 7t means proclaim, not necessarily take a text, 12. If Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some? The force ot this question id : Do you discredit us who are witneesea of Christ's resurrection 1 and if not, do you not see that the general resurrection is a necessary corisequence of Christ's resurrection 13. If there be no resurrection . . then is Christ not risen, Here is the same truth turned around. Christ died to raise us front the dead to eternal life, but if he had hot power to raise himself he cannot raise us. But if the resurrection be an ism possibility, at oleo of you teach, then, of course, he had not power to raitte himself ; if you deny either, you must deny both. 14. Our preaching vain, and your faith s . vain, All Christian doetritie" is intertwined -in a sure sense rooted -in the doctrine of the resurrection ; all Christian hopes group themselves about this precious teeth. "Now is Chrust Aden from the dead t" Uproved) by the unbroken testi - Men), et Osseo Who Wete its jertuntlein at the tint° (2) by a direct revelntion to Peel ; (3) by Christ's islifillseent of his promise to Bann the Holy Ghost; (4) by the Power whieh hat( Attended the Chureh through tts trinumhanteareen Tberesurrees Dion of Chrjetfrom thedead;therepureeotion of our dead friends from the grave; the res- urrection of our souls from the death of sin; the resurrection of the great family of hUnaanity to (fluster about the throne of God forever -these are all vital parts of the stupendous etheme of everlasting life re- vealed by Ofirist Jeet10- BRITISH RULE IN AFRICk. .Justice is Dispensed With Due Regard tog the Habits and Customs swum Feeple. Among the African countries to which England fell heir es the result of the Egypt tian twat:motion of the Soudan, was the strip of coast opposite Aden, in Arabia, extending for some three hundred miles along the eastern bulge, or horn, of the aoatinent. The aecesegity for its occupation lay in the fact that it serves as a base of food supply for Aden, in British hands, the danger that thie supply might be cut off by the appropriation of the territory by France or Italy, and the desirability of preventing the near approach of other powers to this part of ehe British road to India. A pro. tectorate of the ooast was,therefore,formal. ly proclaimed some ten years ago, placed in charge of the resident at Aden, and agents tient to acisniuister the country, with the support of Berne companies of Indian troops, An article in the London Times, from which we condense, gates some of the re- sults accomplished during the decade of occupations and leaves little doubt that the change from Egyptian to B rash rule has been beneficial to the Somalis and satisfao tory to the English. Administration has been wisely adapted to the conditions of a people hardly yet emergiug from barbarism and] ustioe has been dispensed both in civil and criminal cases With due oonsideration of their habits and customs and their initial stage of civilization. The result of these methods and the further fact that tbe settlement of religious questions has been left to the loettl Moham- medan leaders, is that the people appeal freely to the British courts and to the British officials in the settlement of tribal disputes, and that throughout the entire country there is a fair degree of peace and contentment. Along the immediate coast law and order is sternly enforced, the pre- datory habits of the natives being held in check by the aid of the Indian troops, a • native police and camel corps, while schools, hospitals and dispensaries and employment of Various kinds has served to promote the well-being and prosperity of the people. With all this has followed a considerable development of trade,though in the heated wants of the natives it, may be doubted whether trade s ever likely to be large, unless minerals are discovered,or the coun- try becomes the outlet for the traffic of the interior. The district contains the best port on the coast, that of Berbera, and it is -probable that with increasing traffio through it, the natives may realize the advantages of the larger market, and so concentrate a trade there which now flows" through many small ports by many caravan routes. Meantime the British hold on the country has been assured by treaties under which the principal tribes bind themselves not to cede their lands to any other foreign state,to suppress the slave traffic arid afford protection to British travellers, while boundary questions have been settled by conventions with both France and Italy. Altogether, the ohances for the peaceful and orderly development : uf the` couittry seem exaellent, the results of the ten years of British oneupation going to prove anew the flexibility of British rule,and the readi- ness With which it is adapted to the needs of even the least civilized peoples. . e • Sells His Wife for Money. A despatch from Anderson, Ind., says: - According to the terms of a trade consum mated in this city, Joseph Mir disposes ce: his wife and all his household effects to Joseph Badgely, a farmer. About two years ago Mix married Laura Clearwater, who, previous to the *marriage, had bene the housekeeper for Farmer Badgely. Since the wedding Badgely has lived the life of a lonely man. On Tuesday morning Badgely drove up to the residence ot Mix and going into the house, Inquired how much he would take for his wife andall the household accts. He replied promptly that a $5 bill would buy what Badgely wanted. rit just make it $25 said Farmer 13adgely, so the terms of sale were agreed upon. Badgely, brought Mrs. Mix to the oity and together they went to the law office of Kittenger & Reardon. There terms of the deal were fully explained and the law firm retained. to bring divorce proceedings for Mrs. Mix. As soon as the divorce is procured Badgely will make Mrs. Mix his wife and take her to his home, 'Fear the Big Ditch. • A despatch from Washington says :-- Some eminent engineer has suggested that the Chicago drainage canal, when it Is run- ning in full blast, may lower the level of the great lakes. The people of Cleveland have taken great fright at the possibility of this calamity and have made a protest to the war department. General Thomas Lincoln Casey, chief of engineers, would not say, on the spur of the moment, Whether the drainage canal would make any noticeable reduction in the lake level. He was inclined to look lightly_ 'on the statement of the engineer who had set the people of Cleveland in turmoil. Accordiug to the Clevelaud view of the matter the drainage canal will let nide inches of water out of the great lakes when the flood gates are opened, The harbor at Cleveland could not spare this water, e.ndsit is quite probable that none of the harbors on the lakes could. The war department has not yet given the matter serious attention, A Peculiar Affliction. Beanie me, said the truthful traveler when the flask was passed round, but catinot join you. Why not? inspired the company. It distorts my counteno.nee. In what way ? I never take a drink of whisky wiehout making a rye fade. Madge--"Oh,dear,it's so hard to deal. de." Alice-- 'What ?" "Why, whether Charlie ought to ewe° his money to build tie a home in the apring or take the money to go sleigh riding thee this winter." IT CONOIJETIS THE FLANK WHAT BALI; IN THE NOZZLE OF A FIRE HOSE WILL DO, No Longer NeCeaSity. for Loss of Itin Either from Sufrocatton or Dire -A1) instance orfts EgIcieney-A Solid Wel of Weller PietWeen the Firemen an, the smoke and riatue. It Was ie August that Charles Y. Polloek, while experimenting with an ordinary 'awl sprinkler, discovered a secret of natm which promises faareaching results in our domestio ecionorny. Mr. Pollock found that a ball placed loosely in a bellahaes tee- selleaa TIM SEW DOzgiA. nozzle, without anything to hold it 11 position, would resist all pressure of watei and oreate a spray, and that no possible pressure would dislodge the ball. Follow. ing it up and searching out, the preotical usesao which his discovery might be appli ed, Mr. Pollock has found that it will serve many purposes of human necessity, most important of which is that of adding to the present fire equipments a spray of suoti powerful effeot that it is doubtless not claiming too much for it to say that in every case where fire departments are prompt in reaching fires there will be no longer necessity for loss of life either from suffooation or fire. • It was found that by using a large bell and ball and applying such a nozzle to fire hose it would create e solid sheet of water and give out the same quantity of water as given out through a straight nozzle without, creating any back pressure on the hose. Careful study was given to developing the ball nozzle for this purpose, and after ex- periments extending over a period of several months the best form pt bell was found and a new appliance was given to fire departments vvhich ia certain to increase to a very large extent their efficiency. The ball nozzle was immediately adopted her the fire department in Des Moines, Iowa, the home of the inventor, and since Re adoption the record of the fire department has been a marvellous ono; not a single serious loss has occurred, and the chief of the fire department testifies that he has by the use of the ball aozzle saved many lives BALL NoZZLN CONQUERING TUB rIRE DIMON% and thousands of dollars' worth of property. In one particulat instance, when one of the largest lumber yards in that city took fire. and for a few minutes threatened a valuable portion of the city, the timely arrival of the department and the use of the ball nozzles averted a most disastrous conflagration:. As is generally known, the most diffi cult thing to coutend with in the early stages of fires is the smoke which quickly fills the entire structure, making it impos- sible 'for firemen to enter, and for. this reason it may besaid that thousands of lives have perished and millions of dollars' worth of property have been destroyed. Efforts have constantly been made to pro- duce an effective spray with sufficient power to drive smoke, and quench flames, but up to the time of the discovery of the ball nozzle alai important result had not ben accomplished. The difficulty has been to secure &spraying device that would permit the flow of a sufficient amount, of water to give it driving power and at the same time to overcome the back pressure of the hose, but the ball nozzle accom- plishes these important results, and is withal more easily handled than the ordin• ary straight stream. Indeed, while it take e two or more men to handle a straight stream, one man can easily handle the ball nozzle, which creates a solid wall of water between the firemen and the smoke and flame, enabling him to pursue the fire to its 15011ree, no matter where it is in a structure, cover a large areit quickly and rescue people, if there are any, who might otherwime perish. Where a powerful straight stream is used it is otten the coste that as much damage results from water as from fire. The ball nozzles obviate this to a very large extent, as the foroe, while great enough to quench flame, is not suffi- cient to cause unnecessary destruction' of fragile interior property. His .Occupation. A negro wee oa the witnese stand -one of the old fashioned kind, tot impudent but plain -speaking. The lawyer got along fairly well until he asked the witness what his occupation Was. I's a carpenter sir. What kind of a carpenter? They call me a jaek.leg earpenter, sah. What is a jack -leg carpenter He hi a carpenter who is nob a fietitailaes carpenter, sah. Well, explain fully what you underetand a jack -leg carpenter te lie, insisted the laWyers Boss, I deolar' I dune° how to niplain any irio' 'cent to say hit am if:fa de tonne &dunce 'Mixt yeu ati' er firet•olame IMPROVEMENT IN TRADE. In4fleations Point let a 'revival la Dual- pesa-WheatIs Scarce and Flour Going Wheat is the barometer rf Outariont anci within the present low range , ,here ie now an upward tendency. The miters see offeriug but little-seareely nough to sepply the Millen of the Pro. since. Everetinoe the opening of the year :eliveries front the OW hands have been mall; and the priowt ere now higher than hey have been for many months. Flour i( going up, and titers Is no doubt this tendency will continue, as it 18 several years since the stooks have been so email as st preeent. The infiueoces which tend to itiffen the market give every evidence of uontinnance, It will Ds but a few week most tiil the country roads become almost impassable ; and, although this may temporarily interfere with other lines of business, it will further strengthen the inarket for oountry &educe. The snowfall has been unueually heavy, and..hrs messy teetions farmers have found the drifts im- passable and have been driving over the adjacent fields, When the break-up comes tt will be all the more prolonged, and for some time the delivery of grain will be in possible. . With this bregkom in view and the des eland for flour strong, it 13 fair to conclude that prices will range still higher than at presexit. The opening of navigation will .loubtless have a, stimulatiog eu'eot, as it will faoilitate the movement toward points ef shipment. The leather trade is also re- porting a marked improvement. For some time it bas been demoralized,svith prices a.na !exalts extremely uncertain. But recent developments have caused a marked change toward stability and a general otiffening of prices. This cannot be attributed entirely to the'efforts of the trade in the Province En the westeruStatesa a strong demand for ' tildes has sprung up, and shipments are Low made from Canadian points to Chicago. This has had Iv:narked effect on the price of hides in 1°09.1 markets. At the same time there has arisen in England. a demand for Canadian loather. And this combina- tion of influences has been advantageous to he Canadian tanneries. Their business is now in a better coadition than tt has been for many years. While there are always avo opposite points of view from which a rise in prices may be viewed, these natural advances in Cauada s staple products invar- iably, make for the prosperity of all our business • in terests. CONDITION OF FOREIGN CROPS. Cold Weather Ras Caused M melt Maniac • to Winter Seedinas. The report of the European agent of the United States department of agriculture tor February has beea made public. It treats of the conditions reepeoting the crops pro. veiling in most of the turopee.netteountries. In Great Britain the month has been one of continued frost and low temperatures. No field work has been done in any part of the country for five weeks. From Scotland the report is of violent snow storms, con. tinued frosts, impassable roads, gailway bleckadea and suspended agricultureawork. In France it is believed that the sudden alterations of temperature in the early part of the month before there were heavy enoW falls have injured wheat -and rye. In Geie many no anxiety is felt as to the condition •of winter wheat or seeding. In Spain very cold weather has continued throughout the whole of February, but the great falls of snow have protected the crops. in Italy the winter has been of ueprecedented se• verity, but much snow has fallen and re. Mined on the grounds° that no evil effects are anticipated. In Austria winter seed. ings have been protected by the snow, but in Hungary the situation is not quite so satisfactory. In Roumania, after an die. usually mild January,the suceeedihg month was ushered in with the severest storme teat went over all Europe. Greece is the only country of Europe that has escaped February of remarkable • severity. It ' Russiaseports made by officials state that the area under wheat ana rye 15 diminish- ed this year by no less than 25 to 30 per cent. •, The Wife Should Know. In a neighboring city,very lately, a man dropped dead in • the street, killed by a sudden spasm of the heart. After the fun.. nal and slight recovery frorn the shock of her husband's death, the widow began an investigation of his affairs, confident that a comfortable provision for the family re. trained. There was, firsts she was sure, a considerable life insurance, for the' matter had been spoken of by her husband, but no trace of the • policy or designation of the company could be.tound. Investnaente,too that business friends knew of, and the wife could recall references to,could not be veri- fied; no papers substantiating them being found, and from a oondition bordering on affluence, with every confidence for its con- tinuance, the family in a month was reduced to abject poverty because property helong. Mg to them could not be traced. Theenji a question of conjugal obligation involved in this and similar cases, all too commoti. Every man is under a moral obligation to keep his wife informed approximately, et least of the condition of his financial affaite it is not necessary to nave a man eternally talking "shop," and preaching needless ' economy, to bring this ahoutahe ebould, though, let his wife understand fully what way of living his income permitted, and, above all, she should have a knowledge of any provision for the future which he may have made. Bloom ers Shock Victorians. The Victoria, B. C., polio° have decided that bloornere are not suitable for ladies' street wear, even when worn as a bicyoling costume, and heve taken steps to enlace this deoleion. Miss Ethel Delmont 13an enthiadastio evheelwoman, pretty and graceful. Last week she made her appear- ance in the bloomer osstume and if Leda Godit a had herself essayed a repetition of her famous ride the serum tion could not have been greater. The town mane forth to gaze and for the tnornent the policemen were petrified With • areagement. Then they roused to action and-14nm Ethel received an official vesitor who ieformed her that a repetition of her appearance in the objectionable costume wOuld mean a polio court summon* oe the charge of creating a diettirbortoeson a public street. Mies Delrnont's 'Autumn* ess diseeisierl