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The Exeter Times, 1895-12-19, Page 3TJDB OPENING. 1fINTBIts %EV, DR. TALMAGE'S SERMON AT THE UTROPULITANS 100yrol'41 erthe Special Anurementa or Me Benson—Poenta should Blake noose Artraerive—Nrin the Yong; Mathis! Irematations—ralun's Morrows. • Washington, DeeeMber 8.--Toe1aYDr Talmage those as. the sabjeet of his ser- • mon "The Opening Winter," Altaough • the cold comes earlier or leter, accord- ing to the letitude, this sermon is goon- er or Liter as appropelate everewhere ae ft is in W'ashington. The text select- ed will be found in Titus iii, 12. " • have determined there to winter." lea,u1 was not independeut of the sea - BOWL Ile sent for his overcoat to Troas on a ratunorable ocaasion, Pend • caw in the text he is making arrange- ments for the approaching cold weath- ine, and makes an appointment with Titus to meet him at Necopolis, say - "1 have determined there to win- ter." Well, this ft the 8.101 day of De- cember and • the second Sabbath of winter. This sesame is not only a test • what". • We have heel a few shrill sharp blasts already, forerunners of Whole• regiments of storms and tem- pests.. No One here needs to ae told that we are in the opening gates of of one's physical endurance, but in our great eities is a teet of moral charac- ter. A vast ntunber of people have by one winter ef dissipation been de- stroyed, and forever. Seated in oar homes on some stormy night the winds howling outside, we imagine the ship- ping helplessly driven on the coast, but any winter night if our ears were good enough, we could hear the • crash Igo thousand moral shipwrecks. There are many people who came to the cities on the let of September wbo will be blasted by the let of March. At this season of the year temptations are 88- peoially rampant. Now that the long • winter evenings have come, there are many who will employ them in laigh pursuits, intelligent 'socialities, in elaristian work, in the stiangthening and ennobling or moral character, and • this winter to many. of you will be the brightest and, the best of all your lives and in anticipation I congratulate you. • But to others it may not have 'such ef- feat, and I charge you, my beloved, look out where you spend your winter • nights. Io. the first place I have to remark allurements are espeoially busy, There is not very ranch temptation for. a anan to plunge in on a hot night amid blitz- jag-ie.-a:slights and to breathe the fetid air 111. sue assemblage, hilt in the cold eights satan gathers a great harvest. • At such time the casinos are in full blast. At such tines the grogshops in one night make more than in four or five nights in summer. At suoh times aaaeedieileagelaybills of low places of entertain- ment •seem especially attractive, and the acting is especially impressive and the applause especially bewitching. Many a man who has kept • right all the rest of the year • will be ca,psized now, and though . last autumn he came from.the country, and there was 'raster in the eye, and there were roses in the cheek and elas- • ticity in the step, by the time the spring hour has some you will pass him in the • street and say to your friend: "'What's the matter with that man? How dif- ferently he looks from what he looked • last September 1" .Slain of one win- ter's dissipation. At this time of the year there are many entertairunents. If we rightly employ them and they are of the right kind, they enlarge our • socialities, allele us to make important acquaintance, build us up in our morals and help us m a thousand ways. I can scarcely think of anything better than good neighborhood. But there are those entertainments from which others will come besoilecl in character. There are those who bythe spriogtirne will be i broken down n health, and, though at the opening of the season their pros- pects were bright, at the close of the season they will be in the hands of the doctors or sleeping in the cemetery. The certificate of death will be made out, and the physician, to save the feel- ings of the family, will call the disease by a, Latin name. But the doctor knows, and everybody else knows, they • died of too many levees. Away with all these wine drinking convivialities. How • dare you, the father of a family, tempt the appetites of theyoung people? Per- haps at the entertainment, to save the • feeling's of the minister or some other weak temperance man, you leave the • decanter in a side room, and only a few people are invited there • to partake, but it is easy enough to know when you come out by the glare of your eye and the stench of your breath that you bave been serving the devil. Men some- times excuse themselves and say after latesuppers it is necessary to take some sort of stimulant to aid digestiori. My este-• plain opinion is that if you have no more • self-control than to stuff yourself un- • til your digestive organs refuse their office you had better not call yourself a man, but •class yourself among the beasts that perish. • At this season of . the year the 'Young Men's Christian As- • sociations of the land send out circul- ars asking the pastors to speak a word on this subject, and so I sound in your ear the words of the Lord God Almighty, "Wee unto him that pritteth the bottle to his neighbor's lips." Rejoice that you have come to the glad winter months tbat remind you of the times when in • your childhood you were shone on lay the face of father, mother, brothers, sis- ters, some of them alas ! no more to • meet you with a "Happy New Year," or a "Merry Christmas." But again and again have wo seen on New 'Year's day the sone of some of the best families • drunk, and young men have exeused themselve-s by the fact that the wine cup has been offered by the ladies, and again and again it has been found out that a lady's hand hag kindled the young man's thirst for strong drink, and long after all the attractions of the holiday have .passed that same • woman orouches in her rags, and het • desolation, and her woe under the up- lifted hand of the drunken monster to • vvliona she had passed the faseinating oup on New Year's day. If we want • to go to ruin, letois go alone •and,not take others with us. Can We not sac- rifice our feelings if need be ? When the goal ship London went down, the eaptain was told that he might escapes in one of the lifeboats. _"No," he re- plied, "rn go down with the priesene gerse* All the World applauded his te the owner ot the houee, ' Is is a heroine, And MA we not sacrifiee our eidendid OM" He Paid in a whining tastes and our appetites for the moue tone, "Yee, but it will fade:" I walked ot othere ? Surely it ft not a very ' etround his garden and said, "Thal ft great saorifice. Ole mix not with the a glorious garden you have." :"Yes" innocent beverage of the holiday the • he said. " but it will perish" Thee' poison of adders I Mix not with the he said, to my little ehild whams I Wag white sugar of the cup the snow'ofthis lea -ding along, " °erne and kiee me." awful leprosy 1 Mar not the elatter of . The child piatested. and turned away, cutlery of the festal occasion with the ' II°. said, "Oh» the perversity of human dank of a neadearin's elialu I • i nature 1" Who would want • to kiss Pass down the street and look into 41rrd I was not surprised to find out the pawnbroker's window., Elegant ehat his only son had. become a vaga- watehes, elegant furs, elegant flute, ole- bond. You neaY green People out of ant shoes, elegant retort elegant ;decency, but you care uever groari them ooles, elegant mementos. yea some., into it, and. 1 deolare in tbe 'presence of these men and women of . Gaon= times see people with pleased eounte•-• maces looking into such a weedow, 'sense that it is a most important thin When 1 loole into a pawnbroker's win- for you. to Make your homes bright dow, it seerole to me as if I had look- Yon want your sons and slaughters to eel into the window of hell I. To whom I turn out well. Alas, that old people ea much mis- did that watch belong? To a drunk -e understand young: folks I There was a arch To whom did those furs belong? Sunday SO o1 anntstersaryo and To a drunkard's wife. To whom did. great there were thousands of •thildren pres- those shoes belong? To a drunkard's oldish I take the three brazen balls at aut.' indeed all the Sonda•Y sobools of n were ,in the building, and it the doorway of , a pawnbroker's shop the tow f and I clank them together, sounding was Very uproarious and. ull of die - the knell f the drunkard's soul. turhance, and the presiding officer on o ' pawnbroker's shop is only one at the the occasion came forward and in a ;very loud tone shouted "Silence I" and eddies in the great torrent a rau.ni- eoeh, says some the more noise the ieresiding officer cipal drunkenness. • 1 made the more noise the children. one, "I don't patronize such things. made, Someone else rose on the plat - have destroyed no young man by such form and. came forward and with more influences. I only thke ale, and it will teritorian voice shouted. "Silence I" cate.es, but I tell you there take,,a a great amount of ale to intoxi- e and the uproar rose to greater height, Yis and it did seem as if there would be not a drunkard in America, that did not begin with ale. Three X's—I do alulast a riot and the police bave to be called in when old Dr. Beaman, his not know what they mean. Three X's the ' [hair white as, the driven snow, said, on the brewer's draer, three X's or, Let me try my hand," So he came door of the ginshop, three X's on the ' 1 asked !forward with a slow step to the front side of the., bottle. Three X's, platform, and. evhen the ehildren a reale He could not tell. 1 asked'a the saw the venerable man and the white another what is the meaning of the hair they. thought they would hush up three X's. He could not tell me. Then that in,stant and 'hear what the old I made up my mind that the three X's , were an allegory, and that they meant:mad had to say. He said"Boys, I make a bargain vvith you. If 00 heartbreaks, 30, agonies, 30 broken }youwant to will be still now while I speak, uphousehold.% 30 prospeots of a drunkel when you get to be as old, es I am I era's grave, 30 ways to perdition. Three , X's. f I were going to write astory be as still as a =ruse." There was I, e,i;r the first chapter I would call "Three T not another -whisper that afternoon. He X's" and. the last ohapter I would callwas as ranch a boy as any of them.' 10h, in these approaching holidays let "The Pawnbroker's Shop." Oh, be- us ware of your influence. turn back our natures to what they The winter season is especially full 1 were years ago and be boys again and girLs again and make all our of temptation, because of the long homes happy, God. will hold you. re - evenings allowing. such full swing for t ex- ,sponsible for the influence you • now evil indulgences, You can scarcely exert, and. it will be very. bright and peat a young Men to go into his TOOM !very pleasant if some winter aight and it there from; '7ottolelyeso'onelln the,when we are sleeping under the blan- evening reading M ''' 'kets of snow our alaildren shall ride publio," or John Foster's essays. It ialong in the merry party, and. hushing would be a very beautiful thing for i a moment into solemnity look off and him to do, but he will not do it. The ssaY, 'There sleep the best father and most of our young men are busy in 'mother that ever made a happy new offices, in factories, in banking houses, , ....,. Arm yourself against these in stores, in shops and when evenin ir--r," emptations of December, January and comes they want the fresh air, an as...e.,, Temptations will come to they want sightseeing, and. they must - --.11nrK• you in t e form of an angel of light. have it. Most of the men here assem- know that the poets represent sa- bled will have three or four evenings tan as horned and hoofed. If I were a poet and I were going to picture satan, I would represent him as a human being, with , manners polished to the la.st perfection, hair falling in graceful ringlets, eyes a little blood- shot, but floating in bewitching lan- guor, hand soft and diamoaded, foot the temptattons should be mighty pa exquisitely shaped, voice mallow as a dull times such as we have had, but flute, breath peel -tined as though =- which, I believe, are gone, for I hear thing had ever touched the lips but all over the land the prophecy of great balm of a thousand flowers, conver- Prosnerity, and the railroad men and salon facile. carefully toned and the merchants, they all tell me of the Frenchy. But I would have the heart days of prosperity they think are com- mg, and in manepartments they incased. with the scales of a monster, y dand have it stuffed with all pride and have already come, and they are going beastliness of desire and. hyprocrise, and to come in., all departments, but ,.ng death, and then I would have it touch - dull times •through which we have ed with the rod. of disenchantment un - passed have destroyed a _greet many til the eyes became the cold orbs of men. The questioia of a livelihood. is the adder, and to the lips should come with a vast multitude the great clues- the foam of raging intoxication, and to tion. There are young men who ex- the foot the spring of the panther, pected before this to set up their house- ancl to the soft hand the change that ;hold, but they have been disappomted would. make it the damy hand of in tb.e gains they have made. They cannot support themselves—how can the wasted skeleton, and. then I would suddenly. have the heart break out m they support others? And to the curse' untinenchable flames and the affected of modern society the theory is abroad.lisp of the tongue became the hiss of the that aernan retest not marry ante. he worm that never dies. But until rift- encha-nted ringleted. and diamond.ed and flute voiced, and conversation fa- cile, carefully toned and Frenchy. Oh, what a beautiful thing it ft' to see a young man standing up ataid these temptations of city life incorrupt while hundreds are falling. I will tell your history. You will move in respec- table circles all your days, and. some day a friend of your father will meet you and say: "Good morning. Glacl to see you. You seem to be prospering. You look like your father for all the world. / thought you would turn out well when I used to hold. you on my knee. If you ever want any help or any advice come to me. As long as I remember your father I'll remember you, Good morning." That will be the history of hundreds of these young men. How do I know ? I know it by the way you. start. But here's a young of hundreds of men m this audience. man who takes the opposite route. Then the winter has especial tenapta- yokes of sin °harm hire away. He tions in the fact that many homes are reads pbad, books, eculiarly unattractive at this season. mingles he bad, so- ciety. The glow has gone from his In the summer months the young man cheek, and the sparkle from his eye, can sit out on the steps, or be can bave and the purity from his soul. Down he a bouquet in the vase on the mantel, gees, little by little. The people who or the evenings being so short, soon saw him when he came to town while after gaelight he wants to retire any- yet hovered over his bead the blessing how. But there are many parents who of a pure mother'sprayer, and there do not understand how to make the was on his lips the aew (de pure sis_ long vvinter evenings attractive to their eer,s kiss, now as they see him pass • children. It is amazing to me that so cry, "What an awful wreck I" Cheek many old people do not understand bruised in grogshop fight. Eye bleared young people. To hear some of these with dissipation. Lig) swoolen With in - parents talk you. would think they had dulgences. Be careful what you say never themselves been young and had, to him; for a trifle he would take your been born with speetacles on. Oh, it Hee. is dolorous for youngpeople to sit in Lower down, lower down, until, out - the house -from Pr to 11 o'clock at night cast of God and man, he lies in the and to hear parents groan about their „triune, a blotch of loathsomeness and ailments and. the nothinness- of the 4 moment he calls for God, world. This nothingness ofgpam. One this world? and then he calls for rum. He prays; Hove dare you talk such blasphemy? he curses; he laughs as a fiend laughs, It took God six days to make this then bites his nails .into the quick, world, and he has allowed_ it 6,000 years then .puts his hand through the hair to hang upon his holy heart, and this eaa world has shone on you and blessea hanging puts his head like the and caressed you for these 50 or mane of a wild beast, then shivers un - you 7O years, andeyet you dare talk aboutil. the cot shakes with unutterablet terror, then with his fists fights back the nothingness ot this world I Why, it is a. magnificent world. 1 do not be- the devils or clutches for serpents tbat seem to wind around him their awful lieve in the whole universe there is a folds, Y world equal to it except it be heaven. instantly consumed on his crackedthen asks for water, which is ou eannot expect your children to stay lips. Some morning the surgeon going in the house these long winter evenings, his rounds will find him dead. Do not to hear you denounce this star lighted, try to comb out or brush back the sun warmed, ,shovver baptized, flower matted locks. Straig.hten out the strewn, angel watched, God inhabited planet. mobs, w1.1 him in a abed, put him in Oh, make your home bright! Bring a box, an let two men carry him in tbe violin or the picture, it does not down to the wagon at the door. Witha require a great salary, or a big house, piece of chalk yrite on top of the boa the name of the destroyer and the or chased. silver, or gorgeous uphol- destroyed. Who ft it ? It, ft you, 0 stery to make a happy bouse. All that man, If yielding to the teraptations of is wanted is a father's heart, a ma- a dissipated life, you go out and there) heart, in sympathy with young ,perish. There ft a way that seemeth folks. I have known a man with $70 right • and. fair awl beautiful to a salary, and he had no other income u the snman, but the end thereof is death. Era - but he had a home so happy and bright 3,.,..y. these /0xi g n Em - that, threagli oe have gone out le ights of December, . and won large fortunes and. the daugrhe =nary and Februaryin high pur- ters have gone out into splendid suits, in intelligent secialties, in Irmo- ____rn' , amusements , is winter for soon spheres ance d beeome princesses of so -in Christian work. ciety, theDo not waste thy can never think of that you will have seen your hest snow early home without tears of emotion., It was to them the vestibule of heaven, shower and have gone •up into the a and all their mansions now, n n otollanionship of lum whose raiment their palaces now, cannot make them ' a , is w lie as snow, whiter than any full - forget that early., place. Make Yr°11 er on earth could whiten it, For ell homes happy. You go around your, Christfto hearts the winter nights of house growling about your rheum- earth Will end ie. the June mortieg of tisms and acting the lagobrious, and heaven, The river of life from, under plunges into diseipatiou They will a e of Mee fair tree is hovel. froste The foie - the throne never freezes over, your sons will go into the world. and have their own rhewalatiams after dtten. The festivities, the hilarities, awhile. Do hot forestall their misfore the family greetings of earthly Christ- tune,e. Yon were young once, olla you roap times will give wita to larger re- lied your bright, mad Joyous times, New union and, brighter lights mod sweeter lee the young folks have a good time. eareandal ,nd. mightier joy in the great, olulay '.. hertven. / stood in front, of a house and 1 said h of leisure on the winter nights. After tea the man pats on hft hat and coat and he goes out. -One terra of .allure- ment says "Come in here." Satan says: "It is best for pal to go in. You. ought not to be so green. By this time you ought to have seen everything," and has achieved a fortune, when the twain ought to start at the foot of the hill and together climb to the top. That is the old fashioned way, and that will be the. new fashioned way if society is ever redeemed. But during the hard times, the dn1.1 times, so many men were discouraged, so many men had nothing to do—they could get no- thing to do—a pirate bore down on the ship when the sails were down and the vessel was making no headway. People say they want more tirae to think. The trouble is too many people have had too much time to think, and if our merchants had. not had their minds diverted many of them would long before this have been within the four walls of an insane asylum. These long winter evenings, be careful where you. spend them. This winter will de - aide the temporal and eternal destiny 1,11DAY SCIIOOL. INTERNATIONAL LESSON, DED.22,'9 A'00,41.1.0 4 1111 1114:01:E.ollN;i0j3e rti7fAri,e7stc—isilui:144;11:1NIT. " The boar long foretold has dawned dawned at last, and Christ, the Shilob of ./acoles propheeY, the Anointed of David's psalm hag cones. It le an hoar of peace throughout the world, for the nations have been meted uuder the ebaryoaelofwolIntsidooflaRtorMieee: wide =id the de - God. While all earthaeVerelmoeoleligti'invrniit:1- Yearning for some owrv o 0 norance, the eager eyes of angels watch the carpenter and his wile in tbeir journey from Naza,re wthhee r ea nt he eesyt rare' e thoo mb bee ethno fr otlollhe uitdpll'oslenblietiThee, census of the Roman empire. The 'khan ft crowded with wealthier gueste, and the Mother of earth's Redeeroor can find no room, save in the pirice, allotted to the beasts, In such lowly surround.- ings her babe is born, and laid for his first rest in a, manger, The first news of the greatest event in all history ft born by aogelio •messengers, not to kings or philosophers or rabbis, but to a company of shepherds wa,tehing their flocks at night on the hillside. The Song ethoe,s upon the startled air, pro- claiming, "Peace on earth, good will to men ;" and, as it dies away and, the vi- sion of angels recedes, the believing shepherds hasten to the manger at Bethlehern. to feast their eyes upon the eight of their Xing. The news which they bear ft heard by others with won- der, if not with faith; while the maid- en mother, with thoughts too deep for words, presses her babe to her bosom and ponders over the wondrous events that have attended his coming. EXPLANATORY NOTES, • Verse 8.. In the same country. Vi - dolt/ or neighborhood is meant, for the resfereric,e is to the pasture fields around Bethlehem. Shepherds. The high, honor of receiving the first new of the Saviour'r birth is bestowe& not upon those wham the world regards as noble, but upon plain workingmen, plying their vocation. (1) The distinctions of rank and riches are as nothing in the eyes of God. Abiding in the field. In orien- tal countries shepherds remain with their flocks all night, sometimes in tem- porary huts or booths. Keeping watch. "Watching- by sections," to guard their flocks from robbers and wild beasts, and keep them from straying. 9. The angel of the Lord. The life of Obrist on earth began with angelic an- nouncements of his coming, was attend- ed with angelic comforters in his temp- tation and his agony, and ended. with angelic messengers of his rising and ascension. (2) Even in his humiliation the Son of God ft accompanied with manifestations of his divine origin. Came upon them. "Burst upon them," a sudden appearance, The Cory of the Lord. A supernatural divine illum- ination, such as • accompanied most messages of God. (3) • Row glorious must the Xine appear whose servants are so bright r Sore afraid. "Feared a great fear. So trembled Marioali and Zacharias and Mary at the angel's com- ing. (4) Even the purest hearts be- come conscious of nafitne.ss when God's messengers are before them, ..(5) If saints tremble at the coming of an an- gel, how will sinners quake when they meet the Lord! 10. Fear not. The angel, like the Gos- pel, first awakens fear -and then re- raoves it. Good tidings. News of par- don to sinners, salvation to men, the coming of Israel's King, the bruising of Satan's head, the universal estab- lishment of Messiah's rule—surely these are good tidings! To all people. In the original, "the people;" referring originally to Israel, yet through Israel to the rest of the world. 11. Unto yob,. (6) He ft a Saviour to us as surely as to the, shepherds. City of David. A name given to Bethle- • hem as the birthplace of King David, and in the prophecy of Micah announc- ed as the birthplace of the Messiah. A Saviour. The most precious title of Christ is that which announces his mis- sion "to seek and to save that which was lost." Christ the Lord. Christ is the Greek word, the same as Messiah in Hebrew, meaning "Aneinted." So he is here called "the anointed Lord," at once proclaiming his royalty and, his • divinity. 12. A sign unto you. Not a sign to strengthen their faith, for none • was needed, but a token to distinguish the babe. Find the babe. Rather, "find a babe." They were to behold in a help- less newborn infant the world's Saviour and God's Son. (7i See in all this the humanity, the humility, and the sympa- thy of our Saviour with us he every stage of our being. Swaddling clothes. Not garments, but bands wrapped olose- ly around the body. Lying m man- ger. The mangers from which cattle feed in the East are generally made of small stones and mortar in the shape of an open box; and it ft not unusuarfor little children to sleep in them still. (8) The hearts of men are like the inn of • Bethlehem, in which the Saviour, crowded out of the highest place, is com- pelled to Wee the lowest. 19,14. A multitude of the heavenly host. That is, te throng of angels and heavenly beings, of whore there may be many orders (see Col. 1. 16). "An angel choir in, the gallery of the firea- ament."—'Whedon. Glory to God in the highest. This may mean either; (1) The highest measure of glory; (2) From the highest order of creation (angels)- (3) To God, the bighest over a11; (4) In thehighest heaven, as eon- trasted with ,the peace on earth. 011 earth peace. These angel choirsters saw the ultimate result of the Gospel, in bringing pease to men: (1) Peace be- tween God and man, through the atone- ment; (2) Peace between man and -man, through a common love to Christ; (3) Peace among nations, through the in- fluence of the Gospel. Not without significance is the feet that Christ was born at the only time, for centurieS, when there was peace thatnighout the world. Good will toward men. Eith- er meaning that the birth of Christ is a token of God's love toward men; eras home translate, "good. will =one Men.' 15. The angels were gone. The vi sioo &des, leaving the shepherds and their flocks, (9) liours oe rapt glory are occasional, and they leave tft with the rugged realities of lite. Let us now go. The latter douse of the verse shows that this is nob the uttovance of a doubt, desirous of testing the truth of the mes- sage, but of ardent tab, eager to aee that in whish it drawly believes. (10) It 18 our privilege notanly to hear about Bethle ad see 1118.miles 1 ge of • jndab, ix of Jerusalem; fanious in Old Testament history es the Jamie of Boaz and ftutli and the birthplace of David, It is now kneven seBeitlehan, a viliage of three thoueaud intieleitaate, mostly Greek Chrietianse A eaves, tia- thtlonafly tie tbe Owe of Clirist'e birth, is shown near the wall, 16. They eaMe Witil baste. Showing their faith by tlie eagerness of their works, and willing to leave their toots to look upon their Saviour, (11), No earthly plajeet is too dear to be forsaken for Christ, Joseph, The husband of Mary atv0-3±he reputed father of Jesus. As histi,Ime is not mentioned after Christ is twelve years old, he ft presum- ed to have died before the public Min- istry of our Lord began. 17, 18. Made known. abroad. Probab- ly they related. the wonderful events • only in their ewn oircle of aequaintence, and to Joseph and Mary, as there is )20 indication that the news reached the court or the capita'. (12) Those who have seen, Christ should be his message - bearers to others. The saying, That is, the words of the arigel and the throng of the celestial company. Heard it wondered. There was a vast differ- ence between the ea,ith of the shepherds and the wonder of the hearers; one led there to Christ, the other•probably eaoa afald eau", evamy enint.to doubt or forgetfulness. (18)1ffeartarest ft better then emotion. 19, 20. Kept all these Climes. Trea- sured in her /clear!: all these significant events, the angelio predictions, tbe heav- enly song, and the midnight visit. Pon- dered, "Weighed them," thought of tacit, importance and the destiny of her child. (14) How much thoughtful moth- ers may influence the lives of their children. Returned. They had accom- plished their mission, and could serve God among their sheep better than in a more publics life. Perhaps some of them lived long enough in after years toiopireescaelfl othhreissetevente and become dis- • THIEVES' VEHICLE& Cabs With False Numbers One or the Traps • In London. Is the report true about there being in London bogus cabs witli false num- bers, and so on? asked a frequ.ent con- tributor of one of the best-known de- tective inspectors of Scotland Yard.' It is quite true, and is done far often- er than the public ever suppose, so that following a cab clew where clever pro- fessional thieves are concerned ft often hopeless. An inconspicuous private hansom is weed, and both cab and driver's number displayed are false. Often ,enough we receive the most positive instructions, on the feith of notes made by hotel porters and shop commissionaires, that a certain man left in a cab of a given number. We seek out that cab, and find beyond a doubt that the cab was never out at the times in question, and we have a regular list now of numbers whieh we positively know have been counterfeited. in one case where a swell shoplifter had driven round from one jeweler's to an- other, no fewer than nine distiact badges and numbers were used in one day. Four -wheelers are regularly and con- stantly used by thieves—the same sys- tem of false numbers being one of the precautions used—for such a vehicle is a fine one for conveying stolen goods that are not too heavy. Only recently we had information of a four -wheeler which is got up exactly like the vehi- cles used by commercial travelers, as they call from place to place. It drove up dose behind the vehicle of a jew- eler's traveler anastopped at the same tradesman's door, a very smart travel- er alighting and entering a shop near. The driver of the bogus vehicle tried to get into conversation with the driv- er of the real one, pretending that there was something wrong with the horse of the latter. The genuine driv- er got down and was examining his horse, never doubting the character of the other conveyance, when, happening to glance up, he saw the swell traveler entering vehicle No. I, the real thing, in fact. The man made a hasty ex- cuse, pleading that he had mistaken the cabs—but we know that he has made the same mistake many times and successfully on two occasions. Smart traps are generally the con- veyances used by burglars and the gen- erality of thieves other than swell ones. It is most difficult to trace these—which generally belong to some regular mem- ber of a gang—because the name on them is blacked out and another paint- ed on in whitewash letters, or several different pickings out ba paint are dope at the quiet stages of the journey, and the markings of the horse or pony are changed by means of white and. other washes. You may be surprised how oft- en and how easily this is done, especial- ly at night. Perambulators are amazingly useful vehicles to thieves, such as housebreak- ers, burglars, and so on, and the appar- ently innocent laundress,seen first thing in the morning taking a "pram" full of clothes, has often enough been to fetch some " swag " or other. Gass Dresses and Curtains., Articles of dress are now being ex- tensively made of glass. A Venetian manufacturer is turning out 'bonnets by the thousand, the glass cloth of whioh they are composed having the same shimmer and. brilliancy of color as silk, and, whet is a great advantage, being impervious to water. In Russia there has a long time existed a tissue manufactured front the fiber of a pe- culiar filamentous stone, from the Si- berian mines, which by some secret pro- cess is shredded and spun into a fabric which, although soft to the touch and pliable in the extreme, is of so durable a nature that it never weers out. This is probably wbat has given an enter- prising firm the idea of producing spun - glass dress lengths. The Musoovite etuff is thrown into the fire when dirty, like asbestos, by which it is made absolutely dean again; 'bat the spun -glass silk ia simply brushed with a lard brush and soap and water, and is none the worse for being either stained or soiled. The rea,terial is to be had in white, green lilacs, pink and yellow, and. bids fair !to become very fa.shionable for evening dresses. An Austrian is the inventor of this novel fabrie, which ft rather costly. Table- cloths, napkins and window eurteins are also being -made of it. It bas also been diseevered that glass is capable of being turned into a fine cloth, whieh can be worn next to the akin without the elightese discomfort. • -- • Obeying Gliders. Mistress—I told you that I did not Want you to have so many Male call - ere in the kitchen, Pretty Doelestice-Yesen. Mistress—Last night you were enter- taining three policemen. Doreestie—Yea'ra1 had them there sons to keep the others outs Tit@ KEN ON THE BRIJ) DIVISION OF DOTY AMONG 0 .ERS OF AN OCEAN LINER» e cantata Oessonalose tem a lieselal Mare ,:tithrirge7PItiATUO grit*:;:714 The transatlantic traveller noveadelo rcarrely0 Ingots 40 elPY 0°12f trhigeehnOtiVOre0::efai: °Lee. PtTletelleettepefatitzlis abendeetrallien:r13:esaLt4id. Leess a eyelid figure on all the vessels. ac:hderthetyhamesee:tehimis ong eZei:resiooux7101Y., wTenPah"e tab,: babisilet4:, in the saloon, when the weather sethrIgebbteUrmiedxagyeee.PbetInsweherneonutglabieeeroerm:feoyagrigaraWelaat3,Qh: SS- tbe rtbab hyElles: sbiletbsinsi 1:e0heggiCr I Ipefcgoeil4(18tee0:134 sfegla°' 14vwertieltuellrn6lli he ehaS iMes'eoentlIn navigation S:wt btitelly all sI stealer. Whenisnoatb°011nt dteekh° arekiswinn-- specting various parts of the vessel. His thief business is to look after the daily work of the crew. He takes 831 observation oa tbe bridge with the oth- er officers every day at twenty min- utes before noon, but with that excep- tion is rarely seen there. The other officers are seen only when one looks up at the bridge. In the newer ships their quarters are placed above the shade deck. Not only do they do their pswhaosarakenegr neeteire:but beixmeals a lbyaattof conetaaat three served in a special mess room on the dea On all the large steamships there are a Captain, Chief Officer, three second officers, one third arid one fourth offi- cer. The second officers are known as senior second, junior wand, and extra second. The general duty of the second officers is the navigation of the ship undertthofficersesetheeaptstands ain'sdirections. Each o A FOUR HOURS' WATCH on the bridge. The third and fourth officers stand a watch of six hours, al - or fourth officer on wateh on the therefore, always a second and a third tberrnidgaeti.ng with each other. There are. The duties at sea are entirelydiffer- ent from the duties on entering or leaving port. In the case of the latter every officer is on duty, and the work is so subdivided that a ship glides up to her pier or leaves it without confu- sion, and almost as if there were no one giving directions constantly by means of two distinct systems of tele- graph to various parts of the vessel. On leaving port the Chief Officer is stationed on the forward deck where he ean be teen by the Captain on the bridges. By a wave of the band the Captain indicates just what he wants tdhoenea,.fteTrhedeseekn.ior second officer is on Orders to him are transmitted by a docking. telegraph. The junior second officer ft with the senior officer, aft, assisting in the work there, The ex- tra. second is stationed on the bridge with the Captain. He has charge of the engine -room telegraphs. He tran- mits the Captain's ordera when to stop or go at half speed or to reverse or any of the often swiftly changing orders whieh it is necessary to mad to the en- igne room at the time of docking or leaving port. The third officer has charge of the forward gangway until it is pulled ashore when the ship is leaving, and then he hastens to the bridge, where he has charge of the docking telegraph and of sending sig- nals to the second officers, who are 032 duty aft. The fourth officer remains at the after gaineway until it is pulled away, and then he hastens to the dock- ing telegraph aft. When the ship is dear and really starts on the voyage a new set of du- ties begins and lasts until the pilot is dropped and sea routine begins. THE CHIEF OFFICER is busy about the deck seeing that the vessel is put in, shipshape. The hatches are made fast, tbe ropes are made taut, the railings are lashed, and the entire ship is made snug. The senior second officer is in charge of the ship forward. Anything special that needs attention he looks after. The junior second has charge of the storage of all the bag- gage. The extra second remains on the bridge attending to the engine tele- graph. The third officer ft also on the bridge. His special work ft to attend to the whistle and to send signals aft by the docking telegraph when signals are to be made and the flag on the taffrail is to be dipped. The fourth of- ficer also is stationed on the bridge, and his work before the pilot is dropped is to pass the steering orders to the quarter master at the wheel and to note all the incidents of leaving port in the log book. These eotries usually consist of notes of the time of passing certain landmarks. The pilot dismissed, sea routine is taken up promptly. To the Chief Offi- cer belongs the duty of inspection and of executive management. The senior second officer stands his watch every day from 4 p.m. to 8 pm. and from 4 aem. to 8 a.m. The junior seeend is on watch from noon to 4 p.m. and from midnight to 4 a.m. The extra second is on watch from 8 a.m. to noon, and from 8 p.m. mita midnight. The third and fourth officers are on alternate watehes from 6 to 12 o'clock and frora 12 to 6 o'clock. In addition to this watch ths third officer has charge of all the flags and signals by night and day, and be also keeps the compass book. The fourth officer has enaree of the condition of the boats, be addition to his work on the bridge When a, vessel is in port there is another routine. The Chief Officer has supervision of all the work that is going on. The senior second has gen- eral ebarge of the ship's stores. The junior second has oharge of loading the forward holds and the ears of the baggage and its stowage. The extra serand looks after the lite connections and the ship's glasses and other in- struments. He has also charge of re- ceiving the mails. The third and fourth officers make themselves useful in as- sisting the higher officers in looking after delails. With the exception of the Captain the work of the officers is nearly as (trauma and almost es full of responsibility in port as at sea. The wOrk of strengthening. the forti- ficatious of the Dardanelles is proceed - lag night and day. Soldiers are at work thrown:1g up free% defences, and. busy e wijas ui et ea Wal lOs Print* Chrietiteu, Quos Vietonls/o grandson, will follow the Prioee perial's• 0114110M exti,Mple mo grei Ashaeitl, John Lietrigetouts, n brother et the great African explorer, 86 years 01 age, is voitieg hie sea% who axe role dents of the Pacifio mast. Lady Sandherst ft the oray iady tsr more than 300 yeere On 13/110r4 honor of the freedom of the eity London has been conferred. The Dachese of Albany lute ioveet ed 8 school desk and seet tor veil:eh the SaniterY Inetitexte hate awerded her a gold medal at ite exporsitioo 18 London, Lieutenant •Peary has lea -rued to speak the Eskimo language with all the eests of a iaative, Itt is almost as easy to reach the north pole as to fee - quire that tongue, Countess Fritz Ilobenau, cousin to Enaperor William of Germany, lute title year introduced, the custom of iicling astride, axicl, organized a club of aristo- cratic women to lead their counteaanee to the new. sey1e. John Ruskin has so far regained hie physical stremeth that be frequently walks eight miles a day without seri- ous fatigue. Els mind is dearer than it was, but he says he can leaver de any more writing. Lord Bennet, the evangelist neer who recently married Miss Van Mar, ter, of Taconite Wash., ft said to have been a sceptic up to four years ago, when he became converted. ele is a. successful leader in ahem work in Lon- don, President Diaz, of IVIezie0,, 18 a. Mau of tremendous energy. At sixty-five he possesses the bodily and mental activ- ity pf a man twenty years younger. He attributes his health to the eact that he has been a great eater and a good. deeper. There are f30)Xle alliStriOUS names in the new list of conscripts for the French army, among them those of the Duke of Itoche.foucauld-Dowleau- ville and half a dozen others -with titles. The sons of the Frerieh Ambas- sadors to London and Madrid are aleo among tbe new recruits. Sir Henry James, who might have been Lord Cheneellor had be liked, wears the stablest elotlees, perhaps, of the celebrity of the day. His tall hats are, however, always conspicuous for their immaculate glossiness. He is a great favorite with the Prince of Wales. Following the exaraple set by the late M. Carnot, M. Faure causes all the game shot at the Presidential chase to be sent to -tete Paris hospi- tals. In M. Grevy's time some of the game was distributed • among the friends of the family at the Elysee, tbe rest being disposed of at market rates to the Parisian poulterers. Sir William Vernon Harcourt, des- pite his unwavering political attach - went to Gladstone, was a close • per-. sonal friend of Lord Beaconsfield, arid one of the choicest treasures in his home in New Forest is an original miniature portrait of Byron that once belonged to the great Tory leader. leIr. David PIunket, member of Parliament for Dublin University, who has just been raised. to the peerage, though not a wealthy man, has prob- ably more money standing in his name than any single private citizen in tha world. He is trustee for many rich people, including. the Guinnesses, and generally holds m that capeeity from $15o,000,000 to $200,000,0oo worth of se- curities. Additions to the list of vietime at Monte Carlo continues to be made. The other day the Countess .Tomdes, mem- ber of a well-known noble family, and her 16-yeax-old daughter were found dead in one of the hotels of the city. They had taken poison, it was found upon investigation, after. losing 460,000 at the tables, practically becoming penniless. They lad been in Monte Carlo only a week. Princess Maud, says the Lady's Pic- torial, always looks well dressed, de- spite the frequent simplicity of her toilettes, and has been known. to "sport" a single eyeglass with very chic effect. Latterly, the Princess ,tuad her sister have been more smartly eastumed than was the case even two or tbree years ago, when, if Dame Gossip may be believed, Princess Maud once got so tired of a particular dress that one day she took ber courage in both bands, a wax match ID her fingers, and—the . garment in question came to a, most mconsistent- ly brilliant end. Amputation Not in Favor. Dr. A. Pearce Gould, he his oration the other day before the Medical Society of London, alluded to the fact that am- putation has become much less frequent In surgical practice. At best it is a confession of failure. "We have to ad- mit that at times it la an inevitable sten, and may be a great boon to the patient, saving lift life or health or freeing him from the ineumbrance of a painful and useless member; but, all the same, it is a therapeutic tragedy, an irreparable disaster. Now, not so long ago, surgeons took a special in- terest, even a wide, in their cases of. amputation. To -day, I venture to say, there are no operations in surgery that excite less enthusiasm than ainputa-, tions, none of which are felt to be more opposed to the whole spirit of surgical art; and a ;surgeon rarely approaches one without not only a certain imager,- ing, but a painful sense of disappoint- ment, ff not et failure. The readiness with whioh he resorts to amputation is recognized to be a rough working test of a surgeon's unfitness to practice his art." Masks for Soldiers in Warfare. Masks for • soldiers engaged in war. fare in the eolonies, .not as a elefense against the.sword or the bullet of thd enemy, but as a protection from the nb less dangerous cohorts of fevers—such is the original proposition which has just been submitted to the Academy of Nledieine. It emanates from Dr. 18u - rob, professor at the Rheims Sahool. of Medicme, who argues that the use of this mask would prevent the' germs from penetrating to the lungs of the soldier en.geged in &denial vs -striate, who, as he is not aeclimated, and la over- worked, is nitteh more liable to rata& from fever than 'other people, In short, as he maintains, it would, place a bar- rier between the deleterious atmosp- here and the organs of respiratioe, How Diamonds are Valued. Thes prise of diamondis as involved siebjeot end requires life-long study. Tiie old rule was that the value et two &monde of like quality is proportion- ate to the square, of their weights. Thus, if a one-oarat stone is worth $126, a ieves-earat gem would be woxth $44.0, a three -carat. $900.