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HomeMy WebLinkAboutExeter Times, 1897-11-18, Page 3THE EXETER TIMES PO'rES iliVDCOMMENTS. A 1 o ti ge the ni mo r that Lord Sal- tsbu deeires to lay down the burden of hie high office is denied by himself, ii has been current for some time, and is apparently justified by the condition of his own and Lady Salisbury's health. Mat been intimated, ine,aed, that his deeire to rettre is so strong that but for the many serious questions pending - the Cram -Turkish, South Afrietin, and others -it would have already taken place.• But whether true or false, the rumor will, as forsbadowing the old - mate withdrawal from political life of one who may rightly be called the greatest of acting European statesmen, be carefully weighed in every contin- ental capital. Lord Salisbury occu- pies a higher position in European poll - tics, and, wields a greater influence and power within his sphere of action, than any other active statesman., .iii.art of this pre-eminence is due, no doutt, to the position occupied by Great Britain in European, affairs, a position which, in the division of Europe into two great laostile camps by the Triple and Dual Alliances, makes England, in her ability to turn the scale by throw- ing her weight on either side, the ar- biter among the powers. Very natur- ally, a prime minister upou whose de- cision largely reste not alone the out- break of war, but its ultimate issue, attains an importance not accorded, to other statesmen, and in the desire of both parties to secure his co-opera- tion, exerts an influence which woula not otherwise be conceded. But while this is true, in the main Lord Salis- bury's pre-eminence is due to the posi- tion he holds in English public life and to his personal character, to the fact that he is at once premier and foreign • secretaxy, and to his wide experience and intellectual ability, The union of these two offices in one person makes their possessor virtually a dic- tator in foreign affairs, the only check upon him being the qualified veto of the cabinet with respect to radical changes of policy; and. of late Lord. Salisbury's dictatorship has been em- phasized by possession of a mandate from both the great political parties. •••••••••,••• Moreover, his long experience in European politics tends to confirm his position and. extend his influence, for as the only great statesman still in active service who took part in the Berlin conference of 1878, he has an tnekle knowledge of political affairs the value of which can hanily be over- estimated. Again, whatever else be may do, he never falls into small er- rors, never flounders about without a, policy, even though he may fail to do what he intended to do, while his intel- lectual equipment is so complete as to give him a Dam grasp of every pease of a subject, AU this is not saying that as a statesman he is without faults, and perhaps the neost serious one of them is the fact that he does grasp all sides of a question, that he sees too many lions in the way, is, in short, in the language of the scien- tists, unable to isolate his phenomen- on. The result is a certain timidity and indisposition to strike straight for the ends upon which he has apparently determined, a Weakness doubtless at the bottom of Prince Bismarck's re- mark that he was "a lath painted to look like iron." He never seems fully to realize that the longest way round is not always the shortest and safest way home, and is always inclined to avoid responsibility when prompt ac- ceptance of it would be the best and. easiest solution of the difficulty, as it would olearly have been in the Turkish muddle. KAFFIR WHEN OFF DUTY. south, Arrieito mine labourers Lead a mon- , (Amiens lire. Life on a South African mining pro- perty can hardly be monotonous. The report of a traveller fresh from the Cape gives a curious insight into one phrase of labour on the Rand. It used to be the custom of the Kaffir, on re- ceiving his salary' -usually 05 per week -to ,sally forth and invest all his earnings in bottles of brandy. He would then return to his hut, squat down and drink it like beer until he succumbed. This went on regularly aanong the min- ing staffs of all the large companies until, in order to prevent a weekly ces- sation of labour, the companies adopted. the method of enclosing all their na- • tive employes inside a compound and shutting them in like prisoners until their time of service has elapsed. 'Visitors to the compounds often take in a pound or so of the native coarse tobaoco, for a handful of which the Kaffirs, under stress of their depriva- tion of tobacco, as well as liquor, will • often gladly exchange fine old native • bracelets and knobkerries. After the pipe is filled several long pulls are • taken arid the smoke swallowed. The bowl is then ta,ken off, the stem is in- serted in a bowl of water and the water is sucked through it and swal- lowed also, Then comes the tug of war. The man who can hold out longest witleout coughing is considered u. hero. After a short time - the smoker will convulsively cough for fifteen or twenty minutes, and one can quite un- derstand why the Kaffir is not allowed out to buy tobacco. In the ease of the traveller, who gives these details, the mine "manager asked him to cease bar- tering the vile stuff for native trink- ets, otherwise the whole relay would he unfit to go down when their time eame. The Kaffir usually returns home after six months or a year at the alines and is coosiaered a rich mazr. tie buys /AV() tia melte vvives and takes its ease while they do ail the work. THE LIFE FOR. OTHERS ruiai IS A LIFE WORTH LIVING Bk.,CAUSE IT IS A LIFE FOR GOOD. Lire, ir Pursued by Desire For Nona- aud Worldly Enjoyments Is Assuredly aF011iare-The Lite of Torture and Litl4 or nciigiiis contrasted. Rev. Dr. Talmage, on Sunday morn- ing discussed a subject) vital to all, and never more timely than now, when the struggle for power, position, wealth and happiness is so absorbing. Tbe text is Semite, iv. 14. "What is your life" If we leave to the eyolutionists to guess ivbere we came from and to the theologians to prophesy where we are going to, we still have left for con- sideration the important fact that we are here. There may be some doubt about wbere the river rises, and some doubt where the river empties, but there can be no doubt about the fact that we are sailing on it. So I am not surprised that everybody asks the'question, "Is life worth liv- ing?" Solomon in his unbappy moments says not, "Vanity," "vexation of spir- it," "no good," are Ins estimate. The fact is that Solomon* was at one time a polygamist, and that soured his position. One wife makes a man hap - Pr. More than one makea him wretch- ed. But Solomon was converted .from PaYganaY to monygamy, and the last words be ever wrote, as far as 'we can read them, were the words "moun- tains of spices." But Jeremiah sae's lite is woath living; In a book aup- posed to be lugubriousand sepulchral I and entitled "Laxaentations," he plain - Iy 'ntimates that the blessing o mere- ly living is so great and grand a bless- • ing that though a raan have piled on • him all misfortunes and disasters he • has no right to eoraplain. The ancient prophet cries out in startling intone, tion to all lands and to all centuries, " Wherefore doth a living man com- plain?" . . A diversity of opinion in our time as well as in olden tinae. Here is a young man of ligbt hair and' blue eyes and %sound digestion and generous salary • and happily affiaueed and, on the way to become a partner in a commercial firm of wbich he is an important clerk. Ask him whether. life is worth living. He will laugh in your face and say, "Yeeyes, yes" Here is a man 1 who has come to the forties. elle is , at the tiptop + of the hill of life. Every ' step bas been a stumbla and abruise. The people be trustedhave turned out deserters, and the money he bas bon- estly made he has been cheated out of, His nerves are out, of tune. He has poor appetite and the food he does eat does not assimilate, • /forty miles elunlung Up the hill of life have been , to him like elinehing the Matterhorn, and there are forty. miles yet to go clan, and descent is always more ' dangerous than aseent Ask, hirnwhe- ther life is worth living, and he evil' drawl out in shivering and lugub- rious and appalling negative, "No, no, no!" How are we to deride this matter righteously and intelligently? You , will find the same lean vacillating, os- cillating In Ills opinion from dejeci- tion to exuherance, and if be be very mercurial in his temperament it will , depend very much on wbieh way the wind blows. If the wind blows from '• the, northwest and you. ask him he will say "Yes," and if it blows from the northeast and you ask him be will , say "No." How are we then to get the question righteously answered 1 Suppose we call all nations together in a great convention on eaetern or west- ern hemisphere, and let all those who are in the affirmative say "Aye," and all those who are in the negative say "No." While there would. be hundreds • of thousands who would aiesever in the affirmative, there 'would be more mil- lions who would answer, in the nega- tive, and because et the greater num- ber who have sorrow' and misfortune and trouble the "Noes" would have it. The answer I sball give will he differ- ent from either, and vet it will com- mend itself to all who hear me this day as the right answer. If you. ask me, "Is life worth' living?" I answer. "Iet all upon the kind of life you. iv In the first place 1 remark that a life of mere money getting is always a failure because you will never get as much as you want. The poorestpeo- pie in this country are the millionaires. There is not a scissor -grinder on the streets of Neal York or Brooklyn who is so anxious to make motley as these men who have riled u.p fortunes year after year in store- houses, in Governm.ent securities, in tenement houses, in whole city blocks. -You ought to eeta them jump when they hear the fire bell ring. You ought to see thern in their excetement when a bank explodes. You ought to see the agitation when there is proposed a re- formation in the tariff. Their nerves tremble like barp strings, but no music in the. vibration. They read the re- ports from Wall Street in the morn- ing with a concernment that threat- ens paralysis or apoplexy, or, more pro- bably, they have a telegraph or a tele- phone, in their own house, so they teeth every breath of change in the money market. The disease of accumulation has eaten into ehena,--eaten into their heart into their :lungs, into their spleen, into their liver, into their bones. Chemists have- sometimes analyzed the human body, and they say it is so molt magnesia, so much lime, so much chlorate of potassium. If some Chris- tian chemise would analyze one of these financial behemoths, he would find he is made Up of copper and gold. and sil- ver, and zine ' and. lead and coal and, iron. That is not a life worth living, There are too many earthquakes in it, too many agonies in it, too many per- ditioris in it. They build their castles and they open their picture galleries, and they summon prima donnas, and they offer every inducement for. hap- piness to come and live there, but hap- piness will not come. They send. foot - manned and. postillioned equipage to bring her. She will not ride to their door. 'They send princely escort She will pot take their arra. They make their gateways triumphal arches, She will not ride under them. They set it golden theolee before ' a golden plate. She turns away from the banquet -They call to her from u.phoistered balcony. She will not listen ]ark you, Mark you, this is the failure of those wbo Alava had. large aeoumulation. eza then you must take into consid- eration that the vast majority of those who make the dominant idea of life money -getting fall far short of afflu- ence, It is estiraitted that only about two out of a bundred business men have anything worthy the name of suc- oess. A man who spends his life with cumulation .spends a life not worth the one dominant idea of financial ao- So the idea of worldly approval. If that be dominant in a raan's life he is iniserable., Every four years the two most unfortunate men are the two men nominated for the presidency. The reservoirs of abuse and diatribe and malediction gradunily fill up, gailon above gelion, hogshead above hogs- head, and about midsummer these two reservoirs will be brimming full, and a hose will be attached to each one, and it tvill play away on these nome- nees, and they will have to stand it, and lake the abuse, and the falsehood, rnd the earicature, and the a.uatbeina, and the caterwauling, and the filth, and. they will be rolled in it and be rolled over and over in it until they are choked and submerged and. stran- gulated, and at every sign of return- ing consciousness they will be barked. at by all the hounds of political parties frora ocean to oceah. And yet there are a hundred men to -day struggling for that privilege, and there are thou- sands of men wbo are helping them in ilae struggle. Now, that is not a life worth living. You ceee get slandered and abused oheaper that that. Take it on a entailer scale, Do not be so ambit- ious to have a whole reservoir rolled over on you. But what you. see in the matter of high political preferment you see in every tennnaunity in the struggle for what is called ecnia,1 position. Tens of thousands of people trying to get into that realm, and they are under terri- fie tension. What is social position? It et it diffioult thing to define, but we all blow what it is, Good morals and intelligence are not necessary, but wealth, or a show of wealth, is abso- lutely indispensable, There are men to- day as notorious for their libertinism as the night is famous for its darkness who move In what is called high social posi- tion. 'There are bundreds of out and out rakes in American society whose names are mentioned among the dis- tinguished guests at the great levees. They have annexed all the known vices adniatatent areioin. Good forotiledr worlds of als are diabolism to conquer. Good morals are eniort len; eoe$8af soreietin ruanY of the exalted 'Neither is iatelligenee necessary. You fint in that realm men who would pot know an adverb from an adjective tf they met it a hundred times in a day, and wbo would not write a let- ter of acceptance or regretswitle the ant of a secretary. They buy their li- braries by the square yard, only anx- ious to have the building Russian. Tbeir ignorance is positively sublime, making English grammar almost dis- reputable, and. yet the finest parlors open before them. Good morals and intelligence are not necessary, but wealth or a show of wealth is posi- tively indispensable. It does not make any difference how you got your wealth if you only got it. The best way for you to get into social positioa is for YOU to buy a large amount on credit, then put your property in your wife's name. have a few preferred creditors aad then make an assignment. Then disappear from the conamunity until the breeze is over and eome back and start in; the same business. Do you not en how beautifully that will put out all the people who are in coinpeti- teen with you and. trying to make an honest living? How quickly it, will get you into high social position! What is the use of toiling forty or fifty years when you can by two or three brig/at strokes make a great fertun.el AO, ray friends, when you really lose your money how quickly they will let you rop. There. are thousands to -day in that realm who are anxious to keep in it. There are theusands in that realm who are nervous for fear they will fall out of it, and. there are thanges going on every year and every month and every bour which involve heartbreaks that are never reported. High social life Is constantly in a flutter about the delieate question as to whom they shall let in and. who they shall push out, and the battle is going on -pier mirror against pier mirror. chandelier against chandelier, wine celiar against wine teller, wardrobe, against wardrobe, equipage. against; equipage. Uncertain- ty and inseeurity dominant in that realm veretchednees enthroned, tor - tare at a premium and a life not worth living. A life of sin. a life of pride, a life of indulgence. a life of worldliness, a life devoted to the world, the flesh and the devil. is a failure, a dead fail- ure, an infinite failure. I care nob how many presents you send. to that cradle, or how many garlands you. send to that grave, you need to put right under the name on the tomb- stone this inscription, " Better for that man if he had never been born." But I shall show you a life that is worth living. A young man says: "1 am here. I am not responsible for my ancestry. Others decided that. I am not responsible for ray teropera.ment. God gave me that. But here I am, in the evening of the nineteenth cen- tury, at 20 years of age. I am here. and. I must take an account of stock. Here I have a body which is a divinely ionetructed engine. I must put it. to the very best uses, and I must allow nothing to damage this rarest of math- tnery. Two feet, and. they mean lo- comotion; two eyes, and they mean capacity, to pick out my own way; two ears, and they are telephones of communication with all the outside world, and. they mean capaeity to catch sweetest. music mid the voice.; of friend- ship, the very best music ; a tongue, with almost infinity of articulation., Yes, hands with which to weloome or resist, or lift or smite or wave or bless -hands to help myself and help oth- ers. "Here is a world, which after 6,000 years of battling with tempest and ace cident. is still grander than any amh- itect, 'human or angelic, could +have drafted. I have two lamps to light me -a golden lamp and a silver lamp -a golden lamp set on the sapphire mantel of the day, a sliver lamp set on the Jet mantel of the night. Yea, I have, that at lettenty years of • age which defies ell inventory of valuables -a soul, with capacity to choose or re- ject, to rejoice or to suffer, to love or to hate. "Plato says it is immortal -An old. book among the family relies -a book with leather cover almost worn out and pages alraost obliterated by oft Pertsal-jeins the other books in say- ing I am immortal. I have 80 years Air a lifetime, 60 years yet to live. I may not live an hour, but then, I must lay out my plans intelligently for a long life. Sixty years added to the 20 I have already lived -that will bring me to 80. I must remember that these 80 years are Gale' a brief preface to the five hundred thousaod millions of quintillions of years which will be nay obief residence and existence. Now, I understand my opportunities and ray responsibilities. If there is any be- ing ip the universe all wise and all P a juncture, I want him. The old book found arriogg the family relics tellsme there is eGod, arid that for the sake of His Son, one Jesus, He will give belle to a man, To Hiria I appeal. Coed help met Here I have sixty years yet to do for myself and to do for others. I must developthis body by all industries, by all gymnastics, by a.1.1 surisbine, by all fresh air, by ell good babits, and this soul I must have swept and garnished and illumined and glorified by all that I can do for it and all that I can get God to do for it. It shall be a Luxem- bourg of fine pictures. It ghatl be an oreheetra of grand harmonies. It shall be a palace for God and righteous-. ness to reign in. I wonder haw many kind words I can utter in the next 60 years? I will try. I wonder how many good deeds I can do in the next 60 years? I will try. God hely me i" That young man enters life. He is buffeted, he is tried, he is perplexed. A grave opens on this side, a grave opens on, that side. He falls, but he rises again. He gets into a hard battle, but he gets the vietory. The main course of his life is io the riglit direction. Tie blesses everybody he comes in contact with. God forgives his mistakes, and makes everlasting record of his holy en- deavors; end at the close of it God. says to him; "Well done, good and faith- ful serve/It. Enter into the joy of thy Lord." My brother, my sister, I do not care whether that man dies at 80, 40, 60, 60. 70 or RI years of age. You can chisel right under bis name on the tombstone these words: "His lite was worth living." Araid the hills of New Hampshire in olden times there sits a mother. There are six children in the household -four boys and two girls. Small faxen Very rough, hard work tocoax a living out of it. Mighty tug to make the two ends of the year meet. The boys go to school in winter and worn the farm in summer. 'Mother is the cihief pre- siding* spirit. With her hands she knzts ali the stockins for the httle feet, and she is -the tailor for the boys, and she le the milliner for the girls. • There is only one musical ins( rumen t in the house -the spinning wheel. The food is very plain, but it is always well provided. The winters are very cold, hut are kept out by the blankets she quilted. On Sunday when she *Me pears in, the village ehurch, her chil- dren around her, the minister looks down and is reminded of the Bible de- aoription of a good house wife, "Her children arise up end call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her," Some yearsgo by. and the two old- est boys want a collegiate education, end tbe bousehold economies are see - 1 orate and the calculations are closer, 1 and until those two boys get their edu- cation there is a hard battle for bread. I One of these boys enters the eativersit.y, 1 stands in a, pulpit widely influential and preaches righteousness, judgment and repentance, and thousanas during his ministry are blessed. The other lad who got the collegiate edu- catioxi goes into law and then into leg- islative halts, and altar a white be commands listening senates as he makes a plen for the downtrodden and the outcast. One ot the younger boys beeame a merchant, starting at the foot of the ladder but climbing on up until his sueeess and his philanthro- tics are recognized all over the land. Tete other son stays at home because he prefers farming life, and then he thinks he will be able to take rare of father anti mother when they get old. Of the two daughters, when the we.r broke out, one went through the hos- pitals of Pittsburg Landing and Fort ress Monroe, cheering up the dying and the homesick and taking the last mes- sage to kinclred far away, so that every time Christ thought of her He said as of old "The same is my sister and mother." The other daughter has a bright home of her own, and in the afternoon, the forenoon having been devoted to her household, she goes forth to hunt up the siok and to en - encourage the discouraged, leaving smiles and benediction, all along the way. But one day there start five tele- grams front the village for these five absent. ones. saying: "Come. Mother is dangerously ill." Bat before they can be ready to start they reteive anoth- er elegramt saying: "Come. Mother is dead." The old neighborhood gather in the old farm house to do the last offices of respect., but as that farming son, and the clergymen, and the senator, and the merchant. stand by the casket of the dead mother taking the last look or lifting their little cluldren to see once more the face of dear old grand- ma I want to ask that group around the casket one question. "Do you real- ly think her life was worth living r A life for God, a life for others, a life of unselfishness, e useful life, a Chris- tian life, is always worth hying. I would not find it hard to persuade ybu that the poor lad, Peter Cooper, making glue for a living,. and t en amassing a great fortune until he could build a philanthropy tvitich has had its echo in ten thousand philanthropies all over the country -I would not fina ib hard to persuade you that his life was worth livm,g. Neither would I find. it hard to persuade you that the life of Susanuah Wesley was worth hying," She pent out one son to organise Me.. tthociisna an ie other son to ring his a,nthems all through the ages. I woul dt, t find it - to persuade yOm that the We of Franois Leere was worth living, as she established in England a school for the scientific nursing oS the sick, and then when the war broke out between France and Germany went to the front, and with her own hands scrapea the mud off the bodies at the soldiers dying in the trenches, and with ber weak ann-standing one night in the hospital -pushing back a Germa,n soldier to his couch, as, • all frenzied with his wounds, he rushed to the door and said: "Let me go, let me go to my liebe mutter," major -gen- erals standing back to let pass this angel of mercy. • Neither woold 1 have hard. work to persuade you that Grace Darliagg lived a life worth living -the heroine of the lifeboat. You are not wondering that the Duchess of Northumberland came to see ber, and that people of • all landsasked for her lighthouse, and that the proprietor of the Adelphi Theetre in London offered her $100 a night just to sit in the lif ,boat while some Shipwreck scene wasingenacted.. But 1 know the thoetght in the minds of hundreds of you to -day. You say, "While I know all these lived lives worth living, 1 don't think my life amounts to much." Ah, my friends, wbether you 'Lye a life conspicuous or incoiaspecuous, it is worth living if you live aright, and I want my next seo- tenet) to go down into the depths of your souls. You are to be rewarded not wording to the greatness of your work, but aecordeng to the holy indus- tries with which you employed the talent von really possessed. The maj- ority of the crowns of heaven will not be given to the people with ten talents, for most of them were tempted only to serve themselves. The vast major- ity of the crowns of heaven will Le giv- en to people who bed one talent. but gave it all to God, and. remember tbat our life here is introductory to anoth- ler. It is the vestibule to a palaiee but who despises the door of a Madeline because there are grander stories with- itit ? Your life if rightly lived is the first bar of an eternal coral ono. aud who 1 despises the first note of Haydn's soma phonies ?And. the life you live now is all the more tvorth living because it loperis into a life that shall never end, and tbe last letter of the word "time" is tbe first letter of the word "etern- : My I" . INVENHONS FOR KLONDIEERS. A nanooil for the Journey arid•it Paten nigger for Working Frozen. Ground. The patine will soon see a convey- ance that the inventor expects will re- voluttonize the traffic over the snow- covered paths to the Yukon gold fields. It is the Klondike balloon the inven- tion and naanufaeture of Joseph de Mt - one, who has been successful in many scientific inventions. Mr. de PEtoile is in the maploy of the Interior Department at Ottawa. From what can he learuel about this latest loventioa, it is an airship, Ta- • tter small and eigar-shaped. On the bow is placed a two -bladed propeller at- tached to a shaft which extends to the rear. On the stern is a peculiar steer- ing apparatus. Directly underneath the balloon is a car, in which is placed a small engine of special design. wlaich will furnish the motive power and. gen- erate the hot air with which the bal- loon is to be filled. Tise car is revered zri en all aides and will hold about eiglat paesengers with provisions and all necessary apparatus to complete tlw, !trip. From the car the course and! speed of the machine will be directed tas the steering gear will lea.ti from the ;rudder to it, and a chain or belt will conaraunicate with the propeller abaft., On top of the balloon is a trap by' which the supply of hot air may be eontrolled and the vehicle brought, to the ground, or RAISED NVIT,H EASE. Aluminum enters largely into the con- struction of the balloon and all its parts. It is not many weeks since the pro- ject was conceived. but during that time everything necessary bps been ac- complished and the in:whine completed and made ready for Retrial. Mr, de la Etoile has been studying this invert- tiou for years. A company of Ottawa capitalists took hold of the project as likely means of overcoming thu diffi- lculties and hardships of the journey to the Klondike and invested a sufficient =must of money to make the build. - nag of the balloon a success. No con- cise information wilh be given before the trial trip, which is to be made within the next ten days. The pro- moters of the enterprise. have confid- ence in the soheme aria expect that the Government will utilize their =Wines for the transfer of mails between ,Ed - mouton and the gold fieldsthe propos- ed passenger route of the airsbip. E. B. Hatreock,. mining engineer of Ottawa, bas secured a patent on a contrivance which is expectea to ob- viate the difficulties of mining in the Klondike. At present mining is car- ried on there only with great difficulty lin the frozen ground. 'lite ground, has to be thawed out with wood. fires. and when the pay dirt under the fires is thawed the ashes are scraped off and the soft gravel is removed. The op- eration has to be repeated. and it gen- erally takes four men sixteen days to make a hole TWENTY-FOFR FEET DEEP. Washing out the gold froni the gravel can be carried on only for two or three months in the year, owing to the scar - City of water and during the remain- ing months the miner works at getting out his pay dirt. Mr. Haycock's invention is designed to overcome all these difficulties and render mining and washing -out opera- tions possible the whole year round. It consists of a thawer and excavator. The thawer' is a contrivance of the size of the hole it is desired. to make. It is heated to a high temperature with hot air and driven into the ground. as fast as the soli beneath it is softened. The heat is inereaseti by the action of an - °thee' apparatus, whose working Mr. Haycock will not disclose. After the gravel beneath the thawer has been softened it is drawn out by- the ex- cavator, which raises it to a durapling platform„ where. it is put through the sluice boxes. These boxes have been so contrived that the water passing through them., can be used over and over again, with very little waste. B,y means of this machine, Mr. Haycock believes eight men: co.n sink a shaft twenty-fourdeep in one clay. The cost in operating also will be greatly in favor of the machine, the estimated expense of making a hole twenty-four feet deep by present method. being $960 and. by his machine $160. SPIDERS AS BAROMETERS. One of the best, weather prophets is the spider. If there happens to be a web in the secluded &finer of the poach. watch it carefully for a fetv days or weeks, and the spider will un- failingly predict the coming of storms, Wben the spider sits still and dull in the raidale of its web rain is not far off. If it be active, however, and eon- tinues soduring a shower, then it will be of brief duration, and sunshine will follow. • NO FEAR, OF FACULTIES. Ambitious Youth -Oh, if I only had a little money ! I'd enter college at once. 1+ Friend -Enter college? May be you could riot get in without a long course of preparatory study. Ambitioua Youth-Nonsensel Have- n't I just passed a ciVil serVice ex- amination for fourth assistant spit- toon cleaner? fHE •SUNDAY SCHOOL INTERNATIONAL LESSCIN, NOV, 21, "The (*risible Armor." Colu 41, 1044. tioiden 'rest, Epb. 6; • PRACTICAL NOTES. Verse 10. Finally.. " Heneeforward," as in Gal. 6. 17. Be strong in the Lord. Literaily, "be strengthened in the Lora," Our courage in Go serviee is not to be mere self-assurance, but strength imearted from on high. Re who clothes us with Obi armor must also confirm is with the tower of his might, or mighty power," as in Ehh- 1. 19. 11. Put on the whole armor of God. An armor which we cannot buy or forge for ourselves;' it is furnished by God. Compare Psalm 30. 1-3. It is only by God. Compare Psalra 85. 1-8. It is not "carnal," -that is fleshly, fitted. Lo our physieal bodies -but. spiritual, 2 Con 10. 4, and fitted to defend every side of our spiritual natures. 2 Con 0. 7. The fabled. hero uas invulnerable except in one heel. The Christian is in every part weak and susceptible, hut nuty be in every part so abundantly ly defended thee Satan cannot reach tongue or eye or ear, hands or feet, brain or stonutch, or heart. The "ar- mor of God" is called the "armor of light" Rpra. 18. 12., for it antagonizes the powers of darkness." It includes offensive tveaeons as well as defensive mail. for it. is " mighty tbrougu God to the pulling dpwri of strongholds." Able to stand. invincible. The wiles. The "stratagems," or 'sehemes." The devil. Paul profourelly believed in a personal devil, WhO rules an organized kingdom of evil spirits. 12. We tvrestie not. "Our wrestling IS Mit." ete. The word in the. original is that which expresses an individual band -to -hand struggle. Not sexily is there a general warfare between good and devil; each person must. fight bis own battle with his own foe. Flesh and blood. Human foes. It scenes strange that Paui (mold thus uritii in the face of Jerusalem's mobs and Roine's per- secutions. Surely it was "flesh and blood," that had hunted him, stoned him, locked him in inner prisons, thrown hine to wild beasts. and subject- ed his poor holy to numberless strains and pains; but he saw that batik of all "flesh and blood foes" stood the real foe -the devil, and it was with him that the real conflict roust be waged. Ag- ainst principalities. againet poners. .Againet tpe princepalines, against the powers." Paul repeatedly alludes to Die ranks into which the wend of epirits, bethi bad and goad, is divicied. Compare Rom. e. 38, 1 Cor. 15, 24; Col. • , 15. Cee ain philosophizing teachers in weetern Asia Minor hat given names to these ranks and orders. 1 ant ignores all such useless faneiesbut. clearly teitehes the elaborate organiza- tion of the entire world of devils for Ahove all. ,Nutt "on top of alt," but 'in addition to all." elle shield. The shield of the' Roman infantry sol- dier was oval. in form, two and a half feet broad, and foar feet long, natide of wood or wiekerwork covered it ith leather, and curved C.11 the inner side. It was held on the left ano a. handle. Faith. A strong trust in , 'which will de end the beart in every trial. Fiery darts. Literally, "the darts, those which have been eet on fire." In ancient warfare burning missiles were often thrown: upon tae foe; sometimes arrows; bound around with tow, besmeared with pitch, and set aflame; sometimes larger missiles made on the. same plan. The thought of the text is not only of flaraing temp- tation, but of temptation impelled from a distance. The.flame, of Satan's ar- rows spreads. Temptation acts on inflammable material; bat the shield of faith takes away fuel from the dart. The wieked. "The wicked one." Satan is conquered by faith in God 17. Take the helmet( of seavation. In place of "take,' read "receive," as from God. The meaning is, "the helmet which is salvation," protection for the head. It was wsually a cap of leather - covered oaetal. and furnished with a visor to defend the face. In the head our thinking is done. The strokes of false doctrine, dealt. despair, are all aimed by Satan's soldiers at our heads. Dr. Iloege says, "That which enallies the Christian to hold up his head with confidence and joy is the fact that he 1 is saved." Sword of the Spirit. The only offensive weapon named, end alt that is needed, is the sword which was forged by the Spirit ami bestowed upon us by the Spirit -the word of I God. We should follow Christ's ex -1 ample in temptation. Matt. 4. 1-11, and meet Satan with Seripture. 18. Praying. "Prayer must buckle on, all the other parts of the Christian armor." -Matthew Henry. Always. Better. "on every occasion." All pray- er. Prayer of every kind, public. se- cret, vocal, silent, impromptu, ritualis- tic. Prayer and supplicat ion. One word denotes prayer in general; the other, special petitions. Watching thereunto. Watching for occasions of prayer; giving our minds to prayer. With all perseverance. Never weary- ing. For all saints. Especially for the c,hddren of God. 19. For me, The holiest Christian most acutely feels his needs. That ut- terance may be given unto me. He did not seek prayer for his liberty from the chain and the moldier by his side, but for courage and freedom in the declaration of the Gospel inessege. Boldly. Note the differeni order of words in the Revised. Version. "Boldly" should connect with "make known," not with e open my mouth." Mystery. That truth to which men eeed.ed in- tradaction--revela tion. 20, Ambassador. Though a prisoner to ROM% still an ambassador of Christ. In bends. Literally, "in a chain," cou- pled by ixo.as to the wrist of his' guard.' the dreadful purpose of accomplishing the spiritual ruin a mankind. The rulers of the darkness of this world. The "world -rulers of thts darkness" -- the bad powers lyhtelt control this de- praved world. The devil and his lieu- tenants are usurpers of our Lorcl'e rightful. kitedgona. Spiritual wicked- ness in high' places, "The spir- itual hosts of wickedness in the re- gions of air." 'The apostle is as great- ly Impressed by the wickedness of our spiritoal antagoniste as by their pow. er. The Greek is literally "heaveethie places;" but the devil is "the Prinked of the power of the air, end that thought is that or the invtsible spirit- ual surronadiog of every human be - log. Our eaemies infest the very re- algil"sspiWribteurael 9710:::itrngits11- alinbleea7enarlYe to be found, for we are "blessed with places." Jilph. 1, 3. 1a. Wherefore. In view of the foes la gaakiesnt t whrhare up'"bGaveed toeuptverieteenecle, with armpr ; we must put it ou. In the evil day. The day of hard trial and conflict, HaVing done all. Hverything which the criee.e demands. To stand. "To stand firma", like that Roman sen- try who stood imraovable at the gate of Pompeii while the fiery shower of astie.s burned hian with the .doomed city. and whose skeleton was tutu(' still up- right, seventeen centuries after. Stella - fastness and perseverance are as lin- portant as earnestness and courage. Those who make the boldest beginnings may yet come to cowardiet efaittietietteene there is not a more nc.AiStng duty than this, "Havingdone all, to stand." 14, Loins girt about. The girdle or belt, made of leather and covered with scales of metal, was an important part of the clamor; it kept the several wee* in place and protected the most deli - cafe parts of the body. Truth. Sin- cerity, frankness to God. and Men, 2 Cor. 1. 12; I Tim, 1. 5, 18; 3. 9, Let this virtue keep together the flowing robes of our life, and we shall be in- staotly ready for God's commauds. So "faithfulness" was the .girdle of the Messiah. Isa. IL 5. Ranee on. "Have itneogusVeets. aziLe 'Beer! a5s9t.plla7t.:e Uepfrrigight-- nese of character is one of the COrie- tian's stroogest defenses. But in 1 These, S. 8. the breastplate is describe pediaates, 'e'llofirftaietflimalleoevveeer'eaThtheeb:ueeaustei,, dere and breest. It was at first a shirt made of liuen or leather with wales of horn or metal rammed upon it. Lat- er hands of steel folding over eaelt otiot r were introduced. There were cuir- asses also of chain mail. Some. were made of very hard leather carved bat detail so as to resemble the human liody. •,When placed upon its lower edge such a cuirass stood erect. It was made in two parts, one for the breast, and one for the back., and thev were coniaected by bands passing over tile shoulders. So should faith. tvorleiee rigbtousness by love. surround us and keep us sale. 15. 'Your feet shod. The Romeni soldiers wore shoea or sandals with soies thickly studded with nails, giving firmness of looting. They were ound by thongs over the instep awl around. the ankle. Pretteration of the gospel. "Preparedness of the Gospel, reedit. Imes in the °mulish" In the service of the Gospel "the feet of the soldier should be the residenee of readiness! alertness. nimbieness."-Whedon. The peat* within. writes Dr. David Brown, forms a beautiful contrast to the ra iog of the outwaed conflict. Isa. 26. fPhiL 4. 7. JUST A FEW THINGS Of various Minters at Trublifuluess and interest. The claim was made by a New York man that he has kiseing and hugging ; fits, when he finds it itupissible Lo re - 8181. the temptation to hug and kiss • sainnyet.good-looking woman who tomes i his way. 'The pinkie magistrate inform- ; 1/1(411 *in a fit, and he had to eay for , one on the spot.. 'Mere has been nune ed him that he would make the assess-, 1 There is said to be a ghost at Graves- end, England, that throws cual at everyone who tries to invade its quar- ters in the tittle of an oid bouse, Of course such a thing would. be. Impose sible in this country. The coal trust would secure an injunetion or else shove up the Nice until it forced the ghost into bankrupt**, According to the Zeuricher Post, hydrophobia is sometimes introduced into Switzerland by foxes and wolves (*owing down, in severe winters, from the mountains of eastern France, at- tacking dugs and other animals and infecting them with the venom of the terrible disease. Down in Kentucky a school teacher undertook to whip a girl pupil for some infraction of discipline. Imme- diately afterward he went home and. put a piece of raw beefsteak oil lana eye, and up to the present time there has been nothing to indicate that the ' 1 was wbipped. One of the important officials of the German eourt is said, to be the " ire - penial pants stretcher." And. as the Emeeror hes over a hundrerl pairs of trousers and changes them with con- siderable regularity it. is easy to see that the maiden is far from being Ian honorary one. /A runaway horse at Florence, S. C. jumped a six-foot gate, and, the clang» ling cheek rein catching on a picket, the horse's head was pulled in such manner that the annual turned a som- ersault, landing cm its back, but it gained its feet and ran on. In order to stop the practice of flirt- ing with commeroial travellers an Ohio village Couneil has decreed that no gin shall he allowed to loiter in the vivenity of the railroad station un- less she Call produce e railroad ticket. A London magistrate has decreed that a householder cannot interfere with an organ grinder unless he is dis- turbed in his business, has sickness in his liouse or is affected in his health by the sounds of the organ. A Long Island bicycle thief was re- cently overhauled by a trolley ear, the wheel recovered a,nd the man arrested, Laundry rates in certain portions of Kentucky have been advanced because of the great scarcity of water, FIVE ARAB MAXIMS. Never tell all you know; for hewho tells everything he knows often tells more than he knows. Never attempt all you eau do; for he who attempts everything he can do often attempts more than be can dq. Never believe all you hear; for he who believes all that he hears often believes more than he hears. Never lay out all y ou can afford; for he 'who lays out everythlog he can afford lays out ,more than he een aff or cl Never deeide upon all you may ,tee; for he who decides upon all thee he seeS, often decides on more thee he sees. •