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HomeMy WebLinkAboutExeter Times, 1896-10-8, Page 7, st?' TEE DAY 18 AT HIND but I think Christian nations. have gradually learned that war is disaster to victor, as well as vanquished, and that almost anything REV. DR. TALMAGE PREACHES UPON is bought at too dear bougat byr blood a pewee I wieli A RAPTUROUS OUTLOOK.. to God this nation might be a model a willingness for arbitration. No need of kaluag another Indian. No need of saorificing any more brave General Ousters. Stop exasperating the red man, and. there vrill be no more ar- rows shot out from the aixtbushments, A general of the United. States arina in 'high repute throughout this land, and. who, perbeps, had been in more Indian wars than any other officerand who had. been wouoded again and again in behalf of our Government in battle against the Indians, told me that aal the warts?• that had ever occurred be- tween Indians and white men had been provoked by white meu, and there was no exception to the rule. While we are arbitratin.g with Christian nations let us toward barbarians carry our- selves in a manner unprovocattve of contest. Let me put myself in their place; I inherit a large estate, and. the waters are rich with fish, and the woods are songful with birds, and my cornfields are silken and golden., Here is my sister's grave. Oat yonder under the large tree my father died. An invader coraes and proposes to drive me off and take possession of my property, He crowds ine back, he crowds me on, and crowds me into a closer cor- ner, until after awhile I say, "Stand bade! Don't crowd me any more, or IT strike., Wliat right beve you to come here and drive me off my premises? got this farm from my father, and he got it from hie father. What right bave you to come there and. molest me?" You blandly say, "Oh, I know more than you do. I belong to a higher civilization. I cut my hair shorter than you do., I could put this ground to a great deal better use than you do." And you keep crowdieg me back and orowthee me on into a closer corner ancl closer corner. until one day, 1 loola arttund upon my- suffering family, and, fired by their hardships, I hew you. in twain. Forthwith all the world comes to your funeral to pronounce eulogium, comes to my execution to anathematize U1. You are the hero. I ant the col - Plat. Behold the United, States Gov- ernment and the North American In- dian 1 The red man has stood more wrongs than I would, or you. We would have struck sooner, deeper. That which is right in defense of a Wash- ington home, is right in defense of a here() on top of the Sierra Nevada, Be- fore this dwindling red race dies com- pletelyout I 'wish. fleet, this genera- tion might by contiaion justice atone for the inhumanity of its predecessors. In the day- of God's judgment I would rather be a blood smeared Modoc than a swindling United States officer on the Indian reservation. One was a barbarian and a savage, and never pretended to be anything but a bar- barian and. a savage. The other pre- tended. to be a representative of a Christian nation. Notwithstaueing all this, the general disgust with war and the substaution of diplomatio skill for the glittering edge of keen steal is a sign unmistakable that "the day is at hand." I find another ray of dawn in the compression of the world's distances. What a slow, snaillike, almost im- possible thing would have been the world's reetification with 1,400,e00,000, of population and no facile meanes of com- munication, but now, through tele- graphy for the eye and telephonic in- timacy for the ear, end through steam - boating and railroading the 25,000 miles of the world's circumference are shrivelling up into insignificant brevity. Hongkong is nearer to New York than a fetv veers ago New Haven was. Bombay, ,Iosco-tv, Madras, Melbourne within speaking distance. Purchase a telegraphic chart, and. by the blue lines see the telegraphs of the land and by the red lines the cables under the ocean. You see what opportunity this is going to give for the final movements of Christianity. A fortress may be months or years 'in building but after it is constructed it may do all its work in 20 minutes, Christianity has been planting its bat- terie.s for 19 centuries anci may go on in the work through other centuries but when these batteries are thorough- ly .planted, those fortresses are fully built, they may all do their work in 24 hours. The world sometimes derides the church for slowness of movement. Is science any quicker? Did it not take science 5652 years to find out so simple a thing as the circulation of the human blood/ With the eaxth andthe sky full of electricity, science took 5800 years before it even guessed that there was any subtle and. mighty element. When good men take possession of all these scientific forces and all these agencies of invention, I do not know that the redemption of the world will be more than the work of halt a day. Do we not read the Queen's speech at the proroguing of Paxliament the daybe- fore m London? If that be so, is it anything marvelous to believe that in 24 hours a divine communication can reach the whale earth? Suppose Christ should descend on the nations -many expect that Christ will come among the nations personalay; suppose that to-mogrow morning the Bon of God from a hovering cloud should descend upon these cities. Would not that fact be known all the world over in 24 hours? Suppose he shouldpresent His gospel in a few words, saying: "I am the San of God. I came to pardon all your sins to heal all your sorrow. To prove that I am a supernatural be- ing I have just descended from the clouds. Do you believe Me, and do you believe. Me now?" Why, all the telegraph stations of the earth would be crowded as none of them were ever crowded, just after a shipwreck. I tell you all these things to show you it is not among the impossibilities that Christ will conquer the whole earth, and do it instanter when the time comes. There are foretokenings in the air. Something .great is going to happen. Lilo not -Umiak that Jupiter is going to run us down or that the axle of the world is going to break, but I mean something great for the world's blessing and for the world's damage is going to happen. I think the world has had it hard enough. Enough the famines and plagues. Enough the Asiatic ,tholeras. Enough the wars. Enough the shipwrecks. Enough the conflagrae tions. I think our wooled could stand right well a procession of prosperities and triumphs. Better be on the look- out. Better 'have your observations open toward the heavens and the lenses of your most powerful telescopes well polished. Better have all your Leyden jars natty- for some new pulsation of mighty mfluence. Better have new fonts of type in your printing offices co set up some astounding bannerthat has never been carried ready for sud- den processions. Better have the bells in your chuech towers well hung and rope within Teach, that you may ring out the marline of the King's Son. Cleanse all your court -houses, for the Judge of all the earth may appetite. Let all your legislative halls be gilded, for the Great Lawgiver may be about to come. Drive off the throne e of despo- tism all the occupants, for. the King of heaven and earth may be about to reign. The darkness of the "Pt.. Ale Says it Shonlet Stir the "World to Gladness -Arbitration a Better Mau Battie-Itays or Dawn in the Day ot: Progeess. Washington, Sept. 27, -If the darion note of this sermon delivered at the national capital could sound through Christendom, it would give everything good a new stert. Dr. Talmage's text was Romans xiii, 12, "The day is at heed," Back from the .utowataine and. the sea side, and the springs, and the farm house, your cheeks bronzed. and your spirits lighted. I hail you, home again with the words of Gehazi to the Shur aegananaite: "Is it well with thee?" Is "Tt well with thy husband?: Is it well with the child?" On eiame faces I see the mark of recent grief, but all along the track of tears I see the story of resurrection, and reunion when, all tears are done, the deep plowing of the keel, followed by th,e lash of the phosphor - essence. Now tape 1 bave asked you ID regard. to your welfare, you natur- ally ask how I tun. Very well, thank you., Whether it was the Inswing air of the mountains or a bath in tlite surf of Long Wend beach, or whether it is the joy of standing in this great group of warna-heaxtes1 friends, or whether it ID a new appreciation of the goodness 111 of God, I cannot tell. I simply know I am happy. It was said. that John Moffatt, the great Methodist preacher, occesionalle got fast in his sermon, a,nd to extricate himself would cry "Halle- luiah!". I am in no meth predicament to -day, but I am full of the same zbapsodie ejaeulation, Starting out this morning on a new ecclesiastical year, 1 want to give you the keynote of nay next twelve months' ministry. 1 want to set it to tbe tunes of "Antioch," "Ariel" and "Coronation.' I want to put a. new trumpet stop into my aermons. We do wrong if we allow our personal sorrows to inter- fere with the glorious fact that the kingdona is coming. We are wicked If we allow appreheusion of national disaster to put down our faith in God end. in the mission of our American people. The God who hath been on the side of this nation since the Fourth of July, 1776, will see to it teat this nation shall not commit suicide on Nov. 3, 1896, By the time the unparoleeled har- vests, of this summer get down to the stir[tt, oard we shall' be standing in a sunburst of national prosperity that will paralyze the pessimists who by their evil prophecies are blaspheming the God who hath blessed this nation as He hath blessed. no other. The first ray of the dawn I see lathe g.rea,clual substitution of diplomatic skill for human butchery. Within the last twenty-five years there have been in- ternational differences which would have brought a shock of arms in any other day, but which were peacefully adjusted, the pen taking the place of the sword. The Venezuelan controversy at; any other age of the world would have brought shock of arms, but now ID being so quietly adjusted that no one knows just how it is being settled. The Alabama question ail any other age of the world would have caused war between the United. States and England, How was it settled? By men- of-war off the Narrows or off the Mer- sey? By the gulf stream of the ocean crossed by a. gulf stream of human blood.? By the pathway of nations in- carnadinede No. A few wise men go into a quiet room at Geneva, talk the matter over, a.nd telegraph to 'Wash- ington and to London, "All settled." Peace, peacel England pays to the United States the amount awarded - pays really more than she ought to have paid. But still, all that Alabama broil is settled -settled forever. Arbi- tration instead of battle. So the quarrel about the Canadian fisheries in any other age would have caused wee between the 'United States and England. England said, "Pay me for the invasion of my Canadian fisher- ies," The 'United States said, "I will not pay anything." Well, the two na- tions say. "I guess we had better leave the whole matter to a commission." The commission is appointed, and the commission examines the affair, and the commission reports, and pay we ought, pay we must, pay we do. Not a pound of powder burned, no one hurt so much as by the scratch of a pin. Arbitration instead. of battle. So the Sam.oan controversy in any other age would have brought Germany and the United States into bloody col- lision. But all is settled. Arbitration instead of battle. France will never again, I think, through the peccadillo of an ambassa- dor, being on a battle with other na- >dons. She sees that God, in punish- ..ment at Sedan, blotted out the French e, empire and the only aspirant for that throne who had any right of expecta- tion died in a war that has not even the dignity of being respectable. What ID the leaf that England would like to • tear out of her history ? The Zulu war. Down with) the sword and up with the treaty! • We hi this country might better have settled our sectional difficulties by ar- bitration than by the trial of the sword. Philanthrophy said to the north, "Pay down a certain amount of money for the purchase of the slaves, and let all those barn after a certain time be born free." Philanthrophy at the same time said. to true South, "You sell the slaves and get rid of tnis great nation- al contest and trouble." The north re- plied, "1 wont pay a cent." The south replied, "I went sell," War, war 1 A. • mdlion dea,d men, and a national debt wilich might have ground this nation to powder. Why did we not let Wil- liam H. Seward of New .Yak and Al- exander- It Stevens of Georgia go out • and spend a few days under the trees on the banks of the Potomac and talk the matte,' aver and tsettle it, as settle it they could, rather than the north pay ID cast a war $4,700,000,000 and the south pay e4,750,000,000, the destroying angel leaving the first-baln dead in so many houses all the way from the Pe- nobscot to the Alabama? Ye aged men whose sons fell in the steefe, do you not think that would have been hotter? Oh, yes 1 We have comae to be- lieve, I think, in this country thatear- bitration is better then battle. I may be mistaken, but 1 hope that the lest war between Christian nations Is ended. Barbarians may mix their war paint and Chinese • and Japanese go into wholesale massacxes and Af- ghan and Zulu hurl poisoned arrows, 4*, THE EXETER iri,manp eight is blooming ancl wititening into the lilies of morning cloud and. the lilies reddeniug into roses of stronger day- -fit garlands whether White or Ted, for Him on wholes heed. are maey erowme. The day is at band." One retire ray of the cla.wia 1. see in tote ohronologmal and. mathematical. Come now, do not let us do' another stroke of work until we have settled. one matter. What is going to be the final issue of this great contest between sin and righteousness? Which Ls going to prove himself the stronger, Gor or Diabolue Is this world going to be all garden Or all desert' Now, lotus bave t hat matter settled. If we be- lieve Isaiah and. Hosea and Micah and Kalaelli and John and Peter andEaul Ind the Lord Himself, we believe that it is going to be all garden, But let ue have it settled. Let us know, while her we are working on toward a suc- cess or towaed a dead, failure. If there is a child in your house side and you are sure he is. going to get well, you sympathize with present pains, but all the foreboding le gone, If you are in a cyclone off the Florida coast and tlae captain assures you the vessel is stanch and that winds are chenging for a- bet- ter stilarter, and he is sure he will bring you eate into the harbor, You patiently submit to present distress with the thought of safe arrival. Now, I want to know whether we are com- ing on toward dism,ay, darkness and defeat or on toward laglat and blessed- ness. You and I believe the latter, and if so every year we spencl is one year subetracted from the world's wee, and every event that passes, whether bright or dark, brings up one event nearer a happy consummation, and by all that is inexorable in chronology and mathematics I commend you to good cheer and courage. If there is any - ng in arithmetic, if you ;subtract two from five and. have three, then by every rolling sun we are coming on to- ward a magnificent terminus. Then eve* winter paesed is one severity less for our poor world. Then every summer gone by brings us nearer un - fading arborescence. Put /our alge- bra down on the top of your Bible and.' rejeice. If it is nearer morning at 3 o'clock than it is at 2, if it is nearer morning at 4 o'clock than it is at 3, then we are nearer the dawn of the world's de- liverance, God's clock seems to go eery slowly, but the pendulum swings, and the hands move, and it will strike noon. Tim sun and the moon stood ettfl onoe. They will never stand still again, until they stop forever. If you believe arithmetic. as well as your Bible, you must believe we are nearer the dawn. " The day is at hand," Beloved people, I preach this ser- mon because J. want you to toil with the sunlight in your facesel want you old men to understand before you die that all the work you did for God while yet yeen ear was alert and your foot fleet is going to be counted up in the final. victories, I want all these younger people to understand that when they toil far God thee always win the day; that all prayers are an- swered and. all Christian work isin some way effectual. and. that the tide IA setting in the right direction, and thiet all beaven is on our side -saint- ly, cherubic, archangelic, omnipotent cliariot ana throne, doxology end pro- cession, principelities, and. dominion, He wlee bath the moon under Bas feet, and all the armies of heaven on white horses. Brother, brother, all I am afraiA of Is not dant Christ will lose the teethe but that you and I will not get into it, quick enough, to do somethirg worthy of our blood bought immortelity. Christ, how shall I meet Thee. Thou of the scarred brow, and the, scarred back and the scarred bawl, and the scerred foot, and the scarred largest, It I have no scars or -wounds gotten in Thy service? It shall not be so. 1 step out to -day in front of the battle. Come on, ye foes of God, 1 dere you to com- bat. Come on, with pens dipped in malignancy. Come on -with tyres soak- ed m the scum of tbe eternal pit. I defy you I Came an; I ben; me 'brow; I uncover any heart. Strike! I cannot see my Lord until I have been hurt Lan Christ. 11 we do not suffer with Hen on earth, we cannot be glorified with Hine in heaven. 'Peke gaol heert. On, on, on! Sae. The skies"bave bright- ened] See, the hour is aliew to come! Pick out all the cheeriest of the an- thems. Let the orchestra string their instruments. "The night is far :pent; the day is at hand." THE SUNDAY SCHOOL INTERNATIONAL LESSON, OCT. II. I WONDER. The. sun has sat, IL is faintly light. The pink hi the west is chill and. blight. Voices are somewhere, the air is still; A. fax is barking on Crow Nest Hill. Through the long dim lane, to tha pas- ture' bars, John drives the cows 'neath the early stars. aohn is handsome and brown and ball; He is looking up ehrough the trees at the Hall. "The grand old house is ablaze with liglet; The heir gives his lairthclay ball to- atigh t. The captain's sons are home from towe, They have brought their dogs and horses down, There's no lack of dinners and belle and wine, For their city friends. white-hancled and fine. 1. saw the heir,as he rode to -day, Scented and trim, on his prancing bay, Disease on his form had left its trace, And a frown disfigured his thin, dark face. I wonder if he would give his wealth For my brown -limbed. strength and rud- dy health, I wonder," says John, "I wonder." "Tall and stately, there by his side, Rode the girl theysay is to be his bride, With a proud fair face and white -lid- ded eyes* As duskly dark as yon starlit skies. I wonder which has the sweeter face, My haughty lady of high-born race. Or blue-eyed Nannie, as shy and sweet, As the violet abloom 'neath her little feet. I wonder," says John, "I wonder." "But, although the lady is proud and fair, They say it is not her golden hair, Nor her silver voice, nor her glances eweet, That have brought the heir of the • Hall to her feet. The bride is well dowered, so rumors rule 'Tis hex yellow gold that his heart has won, I wonder which love will the truer be, Though Nannie brings naught but her- - self to me. I wonder," says John, "I wonder." "They are very rich, I know, at the Are they happier for it, after all? There's bad blood twixt the brothers; • the gossips say, The captain's brow wears a frown al - wept'. And his lady, in spite of her gems and lane. Has but a fretful, unhappy face, Wealthy palace or humble cot, I wonder which is the happier lot. I wonder," says John, "I wonder." 111. letontgomery. Wige VII0lee." 1 Kings 3,5-15, Golden Text. psalm. 111,1e. GENERAL STATEMENT. The reign of Solomon began with a great religious eervice, which was the last ever celebrated at the dome of the old tabernaele. It took Place at the - height of Giixot, six miles north of Jerusalem, where fee a generation the sacred tent and the brazen altar had stood, while the ark of• the covenant was resting in its temporary shrine on Mount Zion. At Gibeon were assembl- ed all the nobles of the realra, and a thousand burnt offerings smoked upon the andent altar, while the trumpets of the Levites accompanied the chant- ing cif the psalnas of David. Under the splendor a the outward rites, true warship was not wanting. Day after day the young king continued in pray- er before the altar, and at night the spirit of comruunioa with God entered into his dreams, He seemed to see the forra of Jehovah by his bedside, and a Voice bade bizu melte his ohoice for life. He was a youth, with youth's fiery blood. throbbing hi his veins, with the world's visions rising in his sky; yet his choice was not of outwaxd things, as not men choose now, and. 0.1S naost men chose then; it was not of pleaeure, or a prosperity. He re- membered the miglity trust reposed to last care, and forgetting himself, asked for wisdom to execute it. Only one Weller elloice could he have made, the aspiration after God, the highest good, and likeness to his character. The King ef kings acceprect tite deeision of the young monarch, and well pleased, prom- ised that it should be granted. Wis- dom should be his, and as its result would come prosperity, aael riolaes, and honor, 011e tint only was given of his danger, in the admonition to walk ID the ways of God., and gain thereby long life and enduring success. The vision faded, and Solomon knew that it was a. dream. Yet it was a dream which revealed the young king's char- acter, end pointed onward to his des- tiny., PRACTICAL NOTES. Verse 5. In Gibe•on. A hilltop six miles north of J'erusttlem, where the ansient altar and tabernacle were stand- ing in the days of Solomon. Hit her Solomon had come to offer secrifices, whin the Lord spoke to him. The Lord appeared. Solomon's mind, had been up- lifted by the devotions of the day, and at night his thoughts were still fixed upon the subject of Ids, prayer; and in his vittiens God met him. In a dream. I . . bis was but one cut the menv forms ID whdi Go I hid made Itimselt known before the full reveller...1i of hs will in the, Scriptur:e. Aek what I shall give'Goe knew ltoth Solomon's neea.s and his desires, bus h 14'.1.V3 hint the privilege, as a tee: a les character, and as a lesson to others. (1) Our dreams le- night. are often the refleetion of our •beueli-s by day. (2) Every young man. like Seamen. mikes his own choice of an Pell in life. Selomon siie. Ile rests hs pall - len upon thmercy which Gel had shwa to hi; faille-, whet now eneour- :tees lam to :Lek like Ilessiage. 'Unto he ser Devel„.gret: merey. To Davie God hid given prceparity, suticees, ei ie cen -news, etel a settled eirtpre. Lefore thee in truth. David hed ineeed P,rved Gd with an earnest h?art. He had sinned, lut his crimes were suih as no other oriee t el mos rch tvould hive consider- ed worthy o" noteie, 'ur1 his. repentenee hid been deep and full. In truth. In '112 slneere delleng to truth as it waa revealed to hen. Tie; great eiad- ness. . a en. In. centrast with Saul, it Igoe house kid leen cat of, David's famlie tees rermated to nettin tin tit:one. (3) Gail's reward; are iu pro- perte-e to tbe fidaate of our eery:ea (4) Children rean tee benefits of their fat s gela 7. Tem his mete; thy servant lane. SZ.s."43/3,- felt thee hts 'ro'e was Gal's gat a.-acl not h'sby tepee. In- stead of David. To suce..eA. th • Frciat- esli statesmet, poet ani,eadier of the age was a ta,sle- what na:ght wen make a yomeg man trenable, 1 ren liut a little ch id. H:s pree.-Le, age at this, time is miknewn.; Jese,has says it was fourteen; but mcd:rn writers regard it as somewhere fram IDh een to twenty- ett-o. To go out or come in. An expies- seen referring to pubee life in ,presence of the people. (5) He is best qualaied to 'nee whi fettle hie otve weakness and looks to God for help. 8. In the midst of thy people. Among the diffi:ulties cent -mane Solomon were the central of hs titer irothyri, an.1 the court; tb.s quelling of tribal jealousies letween Ephraim and Ju - •dab; the subordinetion ca. a tureueent tine independent people.; the putting down of watery, wh cli NV -13 still prev- alent; the regulation of conquered states always ready fon relellion; • and the worlelv, secaler eine:items of Israel as a people. Net all ot Oa:se pioblems were successfully solved during his reign. A great people, that cannot be numbered. A hypeabolical reference to the growth of Israel, which at that time numbered nearly seven millions. 9 Give therefore. Solomon's choice was wise, but not of ills highest wisdom; ID was of this world, not of heaven; it was of human wistlem, not of divine. David would heve said, "Give me to know God and have fellowship with him." An understanding heart. A nierst endowed with quiek and clear pen- etration, to see where right lay amid conflicting opinions. To judge. A judicial wisdom, to discriminate and de- cide wisely, and upon exeunt' of right. Solomon sought not only Ireennets of perception, but righteousness of aim, as his own Proverbs shoW. (6) The only wise ch,aioa in lite is a choics of the right in God's eight. 10. The speech pleased the Lord. Though it was a dream, it was no c:ommon dream, but a state of trance, ID which tbe mind was in possession of ail its powers, and lifted up to high spir- itual perceptions. So it was Solomon's choice, though made while asleep.. U. God said. Perhaps by an inward voice to the spirit of the sleeper.Thou bast asked this thing. • God. Wks pleased because Sclo.mote had not asked for himself, his Own pleasure or prosperity, or what a young man would be apt to choose. Long life. Ever regarded as a blessing,even isa t.he trotibles of our ehrtlile state. Riches for thyselt, Which most men now seek after as the greatest end of their been. The life of thine enemies. Sush a choice as Salome made, demand- ing the head a John the 13a4tLsti Sol - canon had enemies as Jeroboam, Hadad, and Rezon (1 Kings 11), whose destruc- tion, 84 an oriental) king, he would na- turally desire. • ' 12. I have done according. (7) Every man fie& what be seeks far in life, in charaoter, though not eiways in degree. Given thee a wuse. . heart. God will grant eveey mane prayer for wisdom (James 1. 5). Sodompeas wisdom came from. God, yet was eat gained without thought, study, &lid practice. None like thee before thee. In knowledge of all truth, in practicel discernment, and en. power to adapt his knowledge to the need of the hoer, Solomon was the wise - est of the ancients, Neither after thee., "In tile keowledge of what was in man and in tlite wisdom to direct men's go - hies, he was to be the wisest o/ all mere mene-Speakera Commentary. 13. That which thou hest not asked. (8) Every man's ehief aim in life car- ries with it other subordinate aims. (9) God gives to men always better than their prayers. Riches end honor. Tbus the result of his wisdona in government were the prosperity of his realm., and his own enrichment. Foreign trade, a long period of peaee, a wise administra- tion, made his reign an era af great wealth. Yet thee wealth was one of the influences whicia corrupted tile na- tion and led to its decline and downfall, The wealth was Gal's gift, the abuse of it was man's fault. • 14. If thou wilt walk. This promise was conditioned mem Solomon's faith- fulness to God; bit ha failed, and its fulfillment was not granted. I will iengPeel thy days. Solomon fell in- to nn, forsook :the God of bis father, and fell short a old age, dying at lees than sixty years. No character in Scripture is more mingled of opposiug elements, and none mare disaaalacenting in its results. 15. It was a dream. Tliough &mare, Ib was real, and showed his true desires and God's; purposes. Stood before the ark. From tb.e altar at Gibe= he journeyed to the ark on Zion, and there renewed his offerings. Burnt of- ferings. Sacrifices wholly eonsumed, ex- pressive of entire consecration. Peace offerings. Sacrifices of which a part was eaten in a 'feast before the altar, indicative of conamunion with God. A feast to all his servants. A sacrificial tmheealse, eoxynice. sisting of the flesh of the an- imal saerific,ed, and ea,ten as a part of STORIES OP NANSEN'S CREW. Polar Bears Too Familiar "when the Frain Was Frozen. In. As is only natural, all the people of Tromso take tbe liveliest interest in tlae Namsen expedition, more especially as three men of the ship's complement, viz., Piot jakobsen and two sailors, belong to that port. So any of the Frana's• men who happen to be about ID always surrounded by a, knot of eag- er listeners, to whom he has to re- count his adventures, often illustrat- ing his meaning by a rough sketchwith a Piece of chalk or a pencil. The men are all good-natured fellows, and seem willing enough to talk, and. many is the excited discussion as to whether the Ifram should have exttered the ice north or south of the New Siberian Islands, and so forth. Here are some of the yarns erbich have delighted the Tromso people: In the perpetual darkness of winter, ID the deso1at polar regiens, we could hardly see our bands before our faces. One night when the whole ship's com- pany were snug below, we suddenly heard the dogs barking most furiously. It was ship's carpenter Mogstad's watch, so he went up on deck to see if amythbig unusual was going on, but as he coulkt stse nothing, he went down below again, coeclutling thet the dogs were jeer, barking for tee sake of bark- 1,...is their ki ant. However, the xweee was repealed at intervals, so he • went up an deck again, and, taking a Inn.ern, saw that several of the ani- mals had disappeared, and that some Leber& were Ge.E.EtBOARD ON THE ICE. elegs.ad called ou.t for Henriksen, and they both let themselves dawn on to • tee ice icom the deet of the ship, tvhich et the 1.11110 was high above the ICE sur- face. alley -walked off a little distance from the ship, to see if they could tend tiny traess. As they were searchin.g about, with na more formidable weapon than a small lantern between them, all at once a polar bear sprang up before them. The.n there was a race between the theee-the two men and the bear -to the sheia Mogstad, a bit more light- ooted than his mate, reached thee -ram first, but fell down twice an to the ioe xis ha was climbing up her side. 1 At the second fall he mild not help muttering to himself, "Now the bear's got you, my friend." But despair steadied his nerves, and he managed to hoist himself safely up behind the ship's bulwarks. He had hardly got on aoterd, however, when he heard his comrade call out, and saw that the beer had got hold of hien, and had. bit- ten him. .But Henriksen, who is a big, powerful, resolute fellow dealt his as- sailant sucli a blow on the head. with the lighted lantern he was carrying, that the brute, half stunned, and half scared, let go its prey, and Henriksen seized tb.e opportunity, to skip up the -etram's side. The bear revenged itself by seizing one of the dogs. Ou a. dos- er investigation bey- e made, it was found that the beat -nue paid two vis- its to the ship during the night, creep- ing hi through an open port hole, and •h,ad carried off a dog each time. One day wben Neilsen and Johansen had. to pass along a somewhat narrow path they were suddenly ATTACKED BY A BEAR. ;fohanisen, evho is a man of no ordin- ary strength, caught hold of his ene- nay's throat with a grip of iron, and. held him at arm's length till Nansen was able to get his ilile and lay the hear low. North of 84 degrees no ani- mal life was found to exist, and this would seem to cast some discredit on the hitherto prevalent theory that if a sufficiently high latitude could be at- tained, one would come to dry land and open water, because binds are to be seen flyimg toward the extreme north. This northerly flight of tbe birds is now believea to be attribteted to their having lost their way or being blown out of their' course. One day at 82 degrees latitude a seal was perceiv- ed from on board the Fram, with a flounder in its mouth. On the approach of the vessel, the seal went up away over the ice. A flounder was also ab - Served at about eleven miles from Bear Island,. The depth of the water in the extreme north also seems to indicate that there can be no land near. Sound- ings taken at 84 degrees latitude gave a depth of from 1310 to 1530 fathoms (2400 to 2800 meters) and farther north the lead reached even greater depths - as much ats 2186 fathoms (4000 met - ens), it es said, "- fee14 ah. dea '1" 'r;I:".?‘1 " ah11"4- eallteble,1;',act?eeat" ateaa-41a;01-tal-eaatai ',4he eliae ee;e'e,` e eele,"•.‘"I'l7„aa tazt!ita ‘411.4 IF UNCLESAM IS AT. rrems OP INTEREST ABOUT THE • BUSY YANKEE. Neighborly Interest In Hie DoIngs-alatters of Moment and rlirth Gathered from its • .Datly Record. Of hides and skins for tanning pur- poses this coentry last year exported 36,002,859 pound, valued at $2,310,323. It is said in Delaware "thee Ambassa- dor Bayard will return to that state lieet March and take active measures ID procure Ids election to the Senate. A• cow wanaered into the town hall of Kingman, Ariz., where the county records aro kept, and. ate same of them and tattered he rest.; It is estimated that 810,000.000 has withdrawn from legitectate trade chan- nels in Chicago by tbe speculative jug- glery and failure of the Moore Bros. • A one -legged. newelooy in Buffalo serves a route of papers by witarling on a, bicycle. Hie waodert leg is so fitted that it turns one of the pedals., It has lae.en estimated that electric railways have displeeed in the United. States no less than 275,000 horses, and. the movement has not yet been stop- ped, A Chicago women is eaid to have been arrested 700 times in the. la.st 25 years, an averatee of about once every two weeks. Intemperance is lier besetting • weakuess Rev, Daniel B. Jenkins, of New Lon- don, Pa., bas been elected president a Parson's College, at Fairfield, Ia., tofill the vacantly occa.sioned, by the resigna- tion of Dr. Ambrose C. &meth. Mr. Jen- kins is a comparatively young man, not 30 years of age. In the la,st six years t,here were 43,- 902 homicides in the United States -an annual average of 7,317. During the same period there were 723 legal execu- tions, and 1,118 lynelaings. Walter D. Wellman, a San Francisco bookkeeper, has succeeded in writing 7,069 words ort an ordivary postal card. The words cemprised an extract from one of Victor Hugo's novels. Albert Nelson Prentiss, professor ol botany at Corneal, who died recently, was cam a the few remaining instruc- tors who had been connected with Cor- nell College frotm the first, Thomas Watson, the populist nominee Lor Vice -President, made famous the phrase, "Where am I at?" Cobb, ot Aaabaxaa, had used it in, a book, wiateh appeared a couple of weeks later. Among the most beautiful flowers brought from Japan is the fragrant annul= lily. It is of easy culture and free from enemies. Spring is the time for planting, and the large builis are the best. Barney afeKernan, of Phoenixville, Pa., says he 'is one of the two men now living in this country who took rt in the famous charge of the Light rigade. He was born in Ireland sixty- nine years ago, and came to this eoun- try forty years ago. Rev. Mr, Meese, of Auburn, Ind., re- cently gave a matrimonial reunion to all the couples at whose weddings be had officiated. A. raatrimonial address delivered, and all the married people joined in a grand march. President Octae Chanu.te, of the America,n Society of Civil Engineers, has offered a prize of $100 for the best mo- nograph on the kite, giving a fall the,ory of its raechanic.s and stability, with quantitative c.amputations ap- pended. Sarau.el E. Stone, of Brewer, Me., who is by .trade not exactly a rail splitter, he being a carpenter, wears his whis- kers in much the same style as did Pre- sident Lincoln, and has the same, or nearly the same, characteristics of face mad figure. A. J. eIoxara, the millionaire, who is reported as having contributed e25,- 001.1 to the fund of the English ground rent taxation campaign, is a partner of Congressman Toro. L. Johnston, in works at Johnstown, Pa., where a son of Benry George is employed. It is understood that the firm of ALexim-Nordenfeldt, of England, -which manufactures guns of that name, pro- poses to establish gun plants at Hart- ford, Can., and Pittsburg, Mesa This action is taken because of the active part this company is taking in the gen competitions•whieb are being held in this country. Dr. Alice Bennett, who has just re- signed the dfice of superintendent of the woman's department. of the Penn- sylvania State Hospital for tha insane, after holding it for sixteen years, was the first women ever appointed to the independent charge over a woman's hospital.. She is ieeog.nized mac of the greatest alienists in the country. The recent death of Prof. "Whitney leaves Prof. Child the oldest instructor ID active service at Harvard. Although he began his profession as teacher in the ca,pacity of instructor in mathe- matics, Prof. Child is now renowned the world over for his investigations into the ballad literature of England • and for his Anglo-Saxon and Chaucer- . . ian studies. Vertical penmanship, which has long been required in many County Clerks' offices and other places where records are kept, and came into vogue in the fashionable schools in New York a couple of years ago, superseding the Englieh style, has just been adopted by the Kansas City Board of Education as the system which must be hereafter tau.ght in the public schcols. THE NEW FARKINIL Bacteria to Be Feed to Fortillr.e Neve cliseoverSileel 4:eea,1113alsCl.tese art isms°ther. inItthise reali offeVecre7r:Irisine ()chrgtata: t, words raicrobe and bacteria were reedit ett mr4beic7loonlibestg abeufflurafxr:elifaya rx:tetmetrghs:wil:mtly sWilway: mi sloortitunarieyrahenes 'or MY 00"WS. For it itt no ,thbeuttnittlrhei944adbavanct4targiaeousillatallarde ID is known ;that no phase of plant life can go on succe.ssfully without the intervention of teese mic.roscopie aids. So it is to microbes again that we owe the chemical changes that charaderize the dairy, The changes from freak Milk to butter are due to the action 01 kuse:fpulitbriest'4b.rt eivl'eoeksstetrtiolizeexpxnoislek ;wilt to l bacteria win. hasten its changes of form and qua,Iity. Milk is Pasteurized or denticrobod by heating it up to about 150 degrees Fahrenheit. This kills the, bacteria, after whioh teey rand lee excladed by tight bottling The air is simply an ever full labors- eraan of nainute ohemietta; they operate everytbing, ourselvesin- cluded. Erea.lth as well as disease It INS/181E14E NEIGHBORS. In our gardens we are learning that Cultivation =sista( riot simply in stir- ring and in feeding tact soil, but in ad- ding to it OT in removing (tom it those bacteria, that affect plant growth. It will not be bag before every farmer will have what he may call his bacteria stable, as much as he now has his horse stable. In fate, we are likely te lose our horses, but not be able to get ort at 011 without microbes. Such a stable or room will hold not only ep- paratue ancl substances for destroying fungoid attacks that destroy the nigh vitaa proceeses cif plants, bat it will hold "cultures" of beneficial microbes. These can be preserved and put in es - able conditions, as yeast is prepared for the kitehen or "Rare cultures" of lase- teria for the dairyman, The ro.ast recent discovery alang this line is that of the famous Prof. Nob - be, of Saxony. He hue made it his specialty to prepare what we might call farmers' yeasts, or bacteria, use- ful for plant geowth, in such form that a farmer may saw it in his field, or otherwise bring it into contact with the seed that he places in the groand. It is caily a few years sinoe it was found that the leguminous plants, by some means, could directly extraet nitrogen from the air. On the roots of clover you. will find small and very beautiful nobules. Thew, it was Suss pected, had something to do with the nitrogen; bu.t it wee a long while be- fore it was founcj out that these no- dules were the work of bacteria, that at first they axe parasitio growths, „ which later become passive, feud that then the bacteria. permeate the clover or the beaaa plant and give a new, faculty -that ot nitrogen -filiation. But it is not the saute bacteria that aids the clover and the beans. It was Clear, that if this power could. be transferred, or inaoulated just as we inoculate flour with yeast, it would be of GREAT VALUE TO AGRICULTURE. A new field of experiment was opened.' Hereafter it would be sought not only; ID destroy mischievous bacteria but ID multiply and transplant the use. ful. It was found that where baotexia had worked RI eo-operation with beans or clover the soil was richer in nitro- gen rather than poorer, and that =cif soil could bsa sowed upon and worked irtto other soil poor in nitrogen to give it power to extract nitrogen from the air. This wee ID oultivate and s nitrogen -feeding baet.eria. B took from 1500 to 2000 pounds o prepared soil to fertilize an aore. was expensive, and practically nullifie the utility of the discovery. Prof. Nobbe set about endeavoring ID secure a culture, that is a pure '- product a bacteria, or what you itught call a bacterian yeast, which could be bottled, and carried aboat, and stored, and planted in any gail where it might be wanted. The news now comes that he has succeeded, and that what itte calls "Nitragin" is now for sale. It cat ID had for a. vexy small sum indeed - enough to nitragenize an acre for lees than e2. This pure culture is placed. in contact with the seed. before the lat- ter is sown, or is itself sown and worked bato the soil to a. depth of 3 inches. The culture, which we might just as well call yeast, is kept m bottles, and taust not be exposed to light or heat above 98 degrees Fahrenheit. A QUESTION DECIDED. The sun sorter winks when a cloud passes by, • In a knowin' and amiable way, An' the boughs they lean low o'er the spot where 1 lie, Like they had somethiee pleasant ter say. An' I know wbut they mean, fur it's Perfectly true That they's sense in their blinkin' an' swishine Thee want mae ter tell 'em whut I'd • ruther do, Or go fishine I'm retkn' my leisure ter ponder it o'er, Fur 't's pleasure ter doze an' ter • dream; It's fitne where the mosses grow thick • on the shore, And the shiftin' light spangles the stream. It's silent an' cool; and I'm there out o' view Of them es thinks life hez a mission, I don't know of nothin' that I'd ruther do Than go fiehin'. "This is the dayCZe which our house is to burn down.", "Gracious I What a oyou meant" "Why, buildings alwaye ?burn down the day alter their insur- ance hes expired." LL-• ELECTRICITY IN CITIES. Compared with other large European towns, London, is easily at the head for the magnitude of its electrical supply. Paris, for instance, has only an equiva- lent of about half a million 8 -candle- power lamps, as compared with the 1,- 20J,000 lamps in London. Manchester and Liveepocia have respectively about 51,000. Glasgow 70,000, Edinburgh, 43,- 000, Dublin 16,000 and Cardiff, 9,000. Of the total capital expended in the whole of the United Kingdom for the supply of electricity. London has spent more than one -half. -Boston Trascrnipt. • FRANK. t It was a hot Sunday afternoon, ana during the eermon a man in a smock frock, sitting in the gallery over the clock, every now and then leaned over to see the time. After some time the irritated preacher could stand it no longer, and addressing himself to the gallery, he exclaimed: I beg to inform that men who continues to look at the dock that it is tweety-three minutes past four, and I shall have dome my dreary serfami in a minute or two. If you please, six, came the unexpect- ed answer from the gallery, I warn't bit tired o' your sermon, but the cows mann be milked. SOME MAN HATERS, A woman who died recently used to boast that she had not spoken to a man for over 30 years, and another was equally ,jubilaett aver the fact, that she had lived 5 years in one hotese 'without • ever a man crossing the threshold. I301 , probably the bitterest men -hater of modern timee was an Austrian woman, who, at the time of her cleath, was en- gaged in developing it plan for the ulti- mate extinction of the whole male sex. ., 'SOON RUNS OUT. ' He (well-boen, but not well-bred, PomPolielY)-11 takes six g\ ienerations. 4, you know, to make a gentleman. au She (innocently) -Yes. What it pity it only takes one so unmake hen. .2 '•,r4slts".. 4 ,