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Home My WebLink AboutExeter Times, 1898-7-14, Page 3NOrES AND CallaIENTS Although no official annouaeement liala yet bee e mude a the settlement .of the dispute between Peance and Eng- land over the Nigel: territory in West Afrane the terms a settlement are give •en oat; so authoretativeiy by the French prose as to indicate that agreement is not far, from completion, From the tone of French, comment, Lt e evident that the tiegotiations have beeu cone .ducted on the principle of give and take, the regret expressed by thePai is press at the loss a Bousse, and so •of an 'important commercial port on the Niger, being tempered by an ex- tension a French rights to the west :and by concessions as to trade routes. While in the entire controversy Great Britain has had the weight of law %largely on her side, French contention has been most stubborn, with respect to the eegion on the right bank of the Niger, and especially the province "hf Berge. Whiele forms the hinterland .a both the British colony a Lagos and the Freneh possession of Dahomey. --- Under a treaty concluded with the King of anew, in 1890, this Province was added to the territories of the Bri- tish Royal Niger Company, but though .at the time France apparently acquiesc- ed in the transfer, when, three years later, she conquered Dahomey, she de- alared the treaty- invalid, on the ground that the real sovereign of Bor. ga was the King of Niki. Thereupon the Niger Company promptly made a A(' treaty with that potenate, thus es- tablishing beyond doubt its right to the territory; but as it failed to fol- low this action • by actual occupancy, the French, on the ground that treat- ies with savages without occupation: .amounted to nothing, in.vaded the pro- vince and took possession of the prin- .olpal towns. As the effect of this -ocoupation, if acquiesced in, would be to derive the British colony of Lagos <if its hinterland and confine it to a narrow strip a coast, just as the Bri- tish colonies of Gurabia, Sierra, Leone and the Gold Coast have already been hemmed in by the extension a the hinterland of French Senegal, and al - .so to give France control of the Mid - elle Niger, the London Government de- manded the immediate evacuation of the province. The negotiations follow- ing this demand have been prolonged but have, apparently, reached a con- -elusion in the establishment a anew boundary between the British and French spheres in that quarter. o This boundary begins at Ilo, a town 'on the west bank of the Niger, in about latitude eleven degrees thirty seven • minutes north, and runs somewhat west of south to Niki, thence to the •crossing of the river Nan.ou and the ninth degree of latitude, and thence with a slight de-viation to the most northeasterly point of Dahomey; all west of this line remaining French, and all east being British. A.s the tem- porary boundary, previously in force, ran from the northeastern part .of Dahomey due north to Say, on the Niger, France gains under the new agreement a considerable wedge of territory extending from Ilo to Say and south to the ninth parallel. On her side, Great Britain secures the La- gos hinterland, though soraewhat re- duced by the e'rench wedge, with con- trol of the whole of the lower Niger, and possessions oe Bousste on the right bank, the commercial port of the ree gion and the head of navigation in the dry season. With this settlement the -chief ca, -use of contention between- the two powers in West Air/ea is removed, but a definition of the boundaries of the Gold Coast hinterland, and of their respective spheres of influence eastward from the Niger to Lake Chad, must be reached before all questions at issue are amicably adjusted. As the French negotiators have thus far been able to make the concessions deemed impera- tive by British opinion, there is no rea- son 'to believe that they will not find a, way of doing so in the remaining matters of dispute. • DOMINION POSTAL There are 1,267 letter boxei in use in the Dominion. Of these, 148 hang in railway stations. Their cost aver- ages about 61.500 each. The average life of a mail bag is five years. Post -office tietter scales cost 82.49 each; pareel scales cost: 65.50. There are 180 postal cars in the Dominion. They travel 15,118,526 miles in a year. Three hundred and eighty-five employes are employed in that department. Postmarking is now done by elec- deity, Postmen's uniforms cost $7.25 each., The number of letters sent by post in Canada in 1887 was 74,300,000. In 1897 it 'WAS 123,830,000. • The net revenue of the Post-effice' Department for the year eva,s $8,202,938. Stamps and funds stolen from post offices dining the year amounted to $1,010 in velue. The sum of 01,350,786 is paid all - nuttily to railways, and. 1¢83,731 to steamers and sailing vessels Mr carry - Ing her Majesty's mail in Canada. There are 9,191 post offices in the Dominion. Of these 3,198 are be On- tario, THE STOP -OVER PRIVILEGE, Passenger—is this ticket good to stop off. Conductor—Yes'at. 13,u.t it won't be good to gilt on again. POSITION ROT EVERYTHING DR, TALIVIAGE PREAOHE ABOUT KING SOLOMON. •'Picture or the leenes elagaiiieent Every Wish Grimace, Yet he Way Me hoppy—Wenith a Seed mini; to ;nave If otten Itonestiy end, 'meet 11•11-wanue— Some Lessons ironj the etre of soiomen. A. despatch from Washington says; —Dr. Talmage preachecl from the fol- lowing text: "Vanity of vanities, Bath the preacher; all is vanity."— Eco 8 When a book is placed in your hands, the first question you ask is:"Wbo ,„ wrote it ?" Not ale tho politica as- tuteness, and. classic grace, and an_ paralleled satire of .Tunius's Lettere oan satisfy yeti,: because you do not know who Junius was--weether john Horne Tooke, or 'Bishop Baler, or Edmund Burke. lerightier than a book always is the man who wrote the (book. Now, who is the author of this text? King Solomon. It seemed, as if th world exemisted, itself on that man. It wove its brightest flowers intohis garland. It set its richest gems in his coronet, It pressed the rarest; wine to hi h tip. It robed bine in the pur- est purple and embroidery. It cheer- edhim with the sweetest music in that • land of harps. It greeted him with the gladdest laughter that ever leap- ed from mirth's lip, It sprinkled his •cheek with spray froin the bright- est fountains. Royalty bad no • do minion, wealth no luxury, gold no glitter, flowers no sweetness, song no melody, light uo radiance, upholstery no gorgeousness, waters no gleam, birds no plumage, prancing coursers no metal, arehiteotere no grandeur, but • it was all his. Across the thick grass of the lawn, fragrant with tufts of caniphor from En-gedi, fell, the long shadows of trees brought from distant forests. Fish -pools, fed by ar- tificial channels that brought the streams from hills far away, were perpetually ruffled with fins, and golden scales shot from water cave to ivater cave with endless dive and swirl, attracting the gaze of foreign potentates Birds that had been brought from foreign ttviary glanced and fluttered among the foliage, and called to their mates far beyond the sea,. From the royal stables there came up the neighing of twelve thou- sand horses, standing in bia,nkets ot Tyrian purple, chewing their bits over troughs of gold, waiting for the king's order to be brought out in front of the palace, when the official dignitar- ies would. leap into the seddle for some grand barade, oir harnessed to some of the fourteen hundred chariots of the king, the fiery chargers, with flaunting mane and throbbing nostril, woadmake the earth jar with the tramp of hoofs and the thunder of wheels. NVIele within and without the palace you could not think of, a single luxury that could be added, or of a single splendor that could be kindled, down on the banks of the sea the dry docks of Ezion-geber rang -with the hammers of the shipwright e who were constructing larger vessels for a still wider commerce, for all lands and climes were to. be robbed to make 11P Solomon's glory. No rest till his keels Shalt cut every sea, his axemen hew every forest, his archers strike every rare wing, his fishermen whip every EreaM, his merchants trade in every beater, his name be honored by every tribe; and royalty shall have no do- minion wealth no luxury, gold no glit- tee song no melody, light no radiance, water.; no gleam, birds n.o plumage, prancing coursers no metal, uphols- tery no gorgeousness, architecture no grandeur, but it WAS all his. "Well," you say, "if there is any man happy he ought te be." But I hear him coming cet throng)] the palace, ana see his robes actually encrustect with jewels as he stands in the front and looks out upon the vast domain. What does he say? King Solomon (peat is your dominion, great is your joy? No. While standing there amid all that splendor, the tears start, and his heart breaks, and he exclaims "Vanity of vanities; all is vanity." What 1 Solomon not happy yet ? No; not happy. I learn from this subject, in the first place, that official position will never give solace to a man's soul. I know there have been very happy men in high positions, such as Wilberforce, as Theodore Frelinghuysen, as Governor Briggs, as Prince Albert. But the joy came not from their elevated po- sitions; it came from the Lord God whom they tried to serve. This man Solomon was king thirty-five years. Ali the pleasure that conies from pa- latial residence, from the flatter of foieign diplomats, from universal sycophancy, gathered. around him, For a long while els throne stood firm and the people were loyal, and yet bear this awful sigh of disheartenment in the words of my text. How many people in all ages have made the sathe experiment with the same failure? often you see people who think: "If I could only g.et this or that position —if I could be a m ayor, or a. governor lor a senator, or a president, I should .) e perfectly happy ?" The honors and the emolumeets of this world bring so many cares with them that they bring also torture 'and disquietude. Pharaoh sat on one of the Newel; ear. thly eminences, yet he is miserable be- ceuse there are some people in his realm that do not want any longer to make bricks. The head of Edward 1. achee under hie orown beceuse the people will not pay the trtices, and Llewellyn, Prince of Wales, will not do him homage, and Wallace will be a hero. Frederick William III., of Pelle- ale, is miserable because France wants to take the Pruesittn. provinces. The world is not •large enough for Louis XIV and. William, The ghastliest suffering, the 111081; shrivellieg teat., the most rending jealousies, the most gigantic disquietude, has walked amid obsequious Courtiers, and. been cloth- ed in royal apparel, end cseti on judg- rnentt texas of power: Honor and 'truth end, justioe cermet go so high tip in authority as to be beyond the range THE EX1TR TIMES of inmate essaalt, The pure eed the gooi. in ail ages have been exeorated be the 'woe weo cry out: "Not this trian but Berehbaa. Now, Parabbee was a robber." By patriotic devotion, by .11QM61;Yt by haeriettieet principle, I would have you, ney bearer, entek her the levet' and tbe confidence of your feliowanen ; but ao not; leek upon some, high position in echiety as though that were away.% sunseine. Tee naountains or earthly honor are like the moun- tainof Switzerland, covered with per- petual ice and sbow. Having obtain- ed the ociefidenee aid the love of eour assoeitites, be content with such things es you have. You brought nattier; into the world, and, it is very certaix. you can carry nothing out. Ceese Ye from man, whose breath is in his nos- trils. There is an honor that i$ worth possessing, but it is en h0110r that; corn% from God. This day rise up and take it. 13ehold what; -manner et love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. Who aspires not for that alty ? Come now aud 3m kings and Prleste upto God and the Lamb for ever. Still further; I learn from my sub- ject that werldly wealth cannot sat- isfy the soul's longing, The more money a man has, the better, if he gets it honestly and uses it lawfully. The whole teaching of the Wold of God has a tendency to create those kind of habits that kind of raental acumen which leads on to riches, A man who balks against wealth as though it were a bad thing, is either a knave or a fool not meaning whet, ee says, or ignor- ant of the glorious uses to which money can be put. But the man who builds his soul's happiness on 'earthly accu- mulation is not at all Wise, to put it in the faintest; shape. To say tea Solomon was a millionaire gives bub a very imperfect idee of the property he inherited from David his father. He had at his command, weed to the value of six hundred and. eighty million pounds, and he -had silvee to the value or ope billion, twenty-nine mil- lion three hundred and seventy -even Pounds sterling.. The Queen of Shaba made him a nice little preseet of seven hundred and twenty thousand pounds, and Hiram 'made him e prese,nt of the aeme amount. If he had lost the vane of a whole reatra out of his pockee, it would. have 'aerate' been worth his while to stoop down and pick it up; and yet, with all that affie.exace, he writes the words ofmy teat: "Vanity of vanities; all is vanity." Alas! if that man could not find in all his worlay possessions enough to satisfy his immortal soul, no amount that you and I will ever gather by the sweat of our brow, or by the strength of our arm, will make us happy. I have been amused to hear people when they start in life say at what point in life theywill be contented with worldly possessions. One man says: eI want to get twenty thousand dollars, and I will be satisfied." Another: "I want to get fifty or a hundred thousalid, or a million, and then 2 will be satisfied. Tlae.n 1 will say to my soul: 'Now, just look at that block of storehouses. Just look at those bonds and mortgages. Just look .what lucrative investments you have. Now my soul, take thine ease; eat, -drink, and be merry!'" Thou leen • If you are not happy now with the smaller possessions, you will never be with the larger possessions. If with decent and comely apparel you You are not grateful to God, you would be ungrateful if you had a prince's wardrobe cro-wded till the hinges burst. If you sat this morning at your table, the fa,re was so poor you coin -- planed, you would not be satis- fied though you sat down -to partridge and pine -apple. • If you are notcon- tented with an income to support" com- fortably your household, you would not be contented though your incom.eseroll- ed in on you fifty or a hundred tholes - and. dollars a year. It is not what we get, it is what we are, that makes us happy or miserable. If that is not so, how do you account for the fact that mealy of those who fare sumptuously every day are waspish and dissatis- field, and overhearing, and for - boding, and cranky, and uncomprom- rising with a countenance in which wrath always lowers, and a lip which scorn curls; while many a time in tee summer eventide you see a laboring man going home in his shirt sleeves, with a pail on his arm and a pickaxe over his shoulder, his face bright with smiles, and his heart With hope, and1 the night of his toil bright with Hamel ing auroras? It is an illustration and proof of the fact that it is not out- ward condition that makes a man happy, .A, man came to Roths- child, the great London. banker and said: "You, must be a thoroughly hap- py man." He said: "Happy? Me hap - Py ? Happy, when just as I am going to dine, a man sends me a note, saying: If you don't send nee fiye hundred pounds before to -Morrow night, I will blow your brains out.' Me happy?" 0; I wish this morning 1 could by the power of the Lord Almighty, break • the infatuation • of those men who are neglecting the present sources of sat- isfaction. hoping that there is to be something in the -futere for them of a worldly nature that will satisfy their souls. The heart right, all is e right. The heart wrong, all is wrong. But I ask you to higher riches; to s erowns diet never fade, to investments that always declare dividends, Come up this day and get it,—the riches of God's s pardon, the riches of God's mercy, the riehes of God's peace. Blessed are all they who put their trust in Him. go still further, and learn from this y subject; that learning and science cern- a not satisfy the, soul. You know that Solomon was one of the largest con- t tributors, to the literature of his day.. le He wrote one thousand and five songs. T He wrote three thousand ptoverbs. He i wrote about almost everything, The n .13ible says distinetly he wrote about. Iv plants, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that groweth out: of the wails ; and about birds,. and tenets and e fishes, No doubt he put off his royal .6 robes, and put on hunter's trapping, It and went out wieh his arrows to bring r down the rarest Specimens of birds; ti and then with his fishing apparatus 'si he went dotwe to the stream to bring up the denizens of the deep, and plung- p ed into the forest, and. found, the tar - eat specimens of flowers; ana then t he merle back to his study and wrote t books about: 'zoology, the scienc,e of s menials; about; iohilyelegy, the soieitice t of fiohes; about ornithology, the soi- h ems, of 'tires ; about botany, the sae r teice of plants. Yet, notwithstanding re rat hi s achievemecits he cites eat in h my nitexti " Vanity of vanities; all h vanity" Have pie ever eeen a elan fa try , alai:0 .1etteithig.. and ecienee his of Goci'a Did erne eirer, know sacii a fear- w fa ' au to biograpby- as that a 'Teen Stuart Mill, a man who prid.ed hirrieelf ott his plailesophy, and had e wonder- ful streegte of intelleet ; yet neer. et - ter hie death, les autoblegraphy goes forth to the worel showing that his whole life was a gigantic wreteeedness. We heee seen men go oat with miner- alogiet'e hammer, and geologist's Pry, and botanist's knife and oreitholog- nitcu'e in ahher beitterrrtned tctleeetikeisugolcimcaVoef. ,,.a 15 tallouydregele7ayodveseertap(nil.nde 1.) aletteht,tloov;a ni• asdutihihaettae:Irtiti eights, end your ears for all sweet seunds, and your soul for all great thoughts, et you go forth in the place where „Gad breathes in the a,roma. of flovvers, and talks in the wind's rust- ling, and sings the roar of forest and mountain cataraet, then you know why Liraaeue spent his life amidplants and Caviar found intelligent converse among beasts, and Werner grew ex- bilarant among ininerals, and Audu- bon reveiled among birds, and Agassiz found untravelled worlds a thought In a fish. But every man who bas tes- tified, after trying the learning and science of tlae world for a solace, testi- fied that it is en insufficient portion. The philosopher eas often wept in as- tronomer's observatory, and chemist's laboratory, and botanist's herbarium, There are times when Lhe soul dives deeper than the fish, and soars higher than the bird. and though it may be nallafrratullWeclorl'with the beauties of the 01 life that never wither, VsN‘e.itthl oleo, ha!ndafftoeurnttarieness that never dry up, and stars that shall elene 'after the glories of our earthly nights have gone out for ever. 0, what discontents, what jealousies, what in- controllable hate bas sprang up am- ong those who depended upon their lit- erary success. 'low often have writers, with their pens, plunged into thehearts of their rivale—pees sharper than sey- meters, striking deeper than bayonets. Voltaire hated Rousseau. Charles Larab could not endure Coleridge. Waller warred against; Cowley. The hatred of Pluto and Zenopeen is as immortal as their works. Corneille had am utter contempt for Racine. Have you ever been in 'Westminster Abbey? In the "Poet's Corner,"' in Westminster Ab- bey, •sleep Drayton the poet, and a little way off, Goalie, who said the for- mer was not a poet. There sleep Dryden, and a little way off, poor Seabee'', who pursued him with a fiend's fury. There is Pope. „anti a little way off Is John Dennis, his implacable enemy. They nerer before came so near togeth- er without quarrelling. Byron had all • tlihta„ertagreny applause lcaouusleclogoinvied a. man, and that byyet a:yliaagte:r poet most ggirvaepheiemaalln; and - scribes both his aentas and his grief The nations gazed, and wondered mucli • anci praised: Critics before birn fell in humble plight, Confounded fell; end made debasing signs To catch his eye; and stretched, and swelled themselves To bursting nigh, Lo utter bulky words Of admiration east: and many, too— Many that aimed to imitate his flight, With weaker wing—unearthly flutter- ing made, And geve abundant sport to. after days. I come to -learn-one more lesson teem my subject, an,d that is that there is no comfort 'in, tee life a a voluptuary. [dare not draw' aside the curtain. ',hat hides the excesses into whieh Solom- on's dissoluteness plunged him. Though he waved. a sceptre over otbers, there arose in his own soul a tyrant that xnastered lara. With a mandate that none dare disobey, he laid the whole land under tribute to his iniquity. De- lilah sheared the locks of that Sam- son. From that princely sera,g,lio Lhere went forth a ruinous blight on the whole nation's chastity; but after awhile remorse, vrith feet of fire, leap- ed upon his soul, and with body ex- hausted, and loathsome, and dropping apart with putrefaction, he staggers out froin the hell of his own 'iniquity to give warning to others. 0 how many have ventured nub on that wild sea of sensuality, driven by fierce winds of passion, hurled against rocks, swa.11owed in the whirl of hell's mael- strom; that was the lest of them. No I that was not the last of them. Ever- lastingly ruined wttn their passions tuesubdu.ed and burning on the soul fiercer than unquenchable fire, they shall writhe in a torture that shall make the cheek of darkness pale, and utter blasphemy that shall shook devil's damned. 0 how many young men have gene On thrbt path. of sin because it seemed blooming with tropical splen - doer, and the sky was bright, and the air was balm, and froro; the castles /that stood on the shores of glittering. seas there came ringing up laughter as mer- ry es the waves that dashed on the cease beneath. By some infernal spell their eye was blinded and their ear was stopped, or they would have heard the clank of chains and the howl of woe, and across their vision woild have pass- ed spectres of the dead, with shrouds gathered up about faces blistered with gathered up about faces blistered with pain, and eyes starting from their sock- ts in agony, But alasi they saw it not, they heard it nob,, until from the lippery places the long, lean, skeleton hands of despair reached up and snatch- ed them down, destroyed without de - pair 1 Has this sorcerer oast its eve on you ? 0 young man, have you been' se and again to the places where the pure never go? !Have you turned our back upon a mother's prayer and sister's love, and while speak does our conseimace begin to toll dismally he burial of your purity and honour ? tit back now or never. Put ,back hat shadow that; falls upon your soul s from no passing cloud. but from a ighi, deep. starless eternal. God's eye etcheth thy footsteps. A little fur, her on and no tepee eon wash out thy in, and no prayer will bring a pewi- t. Put; back new or never! I tear rf the gerlands which hide this death's ead, and hold before you to -day the eeking alma of sinful pleasure. Na - ens have gone down undee this n. Exhumed, cities on broken filers, and rei temple Walle have reserved in i ti famous scut ptere the ernory of scenes before which the an- iquarian turtle les bead and 1,181c8 here be a God where SO long has lett His vengeance. The world still rambles under the weight of this be - emote of iniquity, end from the my - tad graves in which it holde the scar - d carcasses of the slain lifts up its ands, crying: " How long, 0, Lord, ow long ?" Prom iehristian (tholes, 'one the very Altars of Goa, the reeks ruin are made up. They march on ith ecorehred feet over a pethwaeeof 00 fite, the ground trembling with earth- quake, and die air hoe with the breath of woe, and sulphurous with the lige tninee ol ocP4 wrath, pions strike out et every stele MI- l'"e 'worm that eever dies" lifts its awEC, crest, with 'torrid folds to crueb tee debaeoluid. 0, there is no peae,e in tee life of a VOhlpt.,11ary. Solomon answers. •"None I none!" • Bat, my friemls, if Lhere i no,com- Plate setiefaction in worldly office, in worldly wealth, in werldly "peeping, in sinful tndulgence-etvbere is there WO Hes God turned es out on a desert to dih? Ah, po ; look at this one that cranes tais morninge-thes fair one- Ica" mortal garlands on her brow. The song of heaven bursting from her lips! "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and ell her paths are peace." Ia °brie is peace. In Christ is pardon. In Christ is everlasting joy, and nowhere else. "Substantial comfort will not grow, In nature's barren soil; All we can boast till Christ we know, Is vanity and toil. "13a where the Lord ems planted grace Ancl made his glories known; There fruits of heavenly joy and peace, Are found., and there alone." THE KAISER'S VISIT TO PALESTINE. 11,000 Turkish Troops. "All eti New tine Yonne," to Meet Ithal. The details of Lhe journey of the German Emperor and Empress to Pal- estine are interesting, The party will number 90 persons, and no newspaper men will be officially permitted to an - company them. Their Majesties will spend six days in the Holy Land. They will land at jaffa, where thew will be received by &Turkish smolt 100 strong Besides, there will be present 12,000 Turkish troops, all in new uniforms. They will leave Jaffa on October 26 for Jerusalem, ,pitching their tents for the first night beside the ruins of Caes- area. They will arrive in Jerusalem on October 29, and will attend divine ser- vices on the morning of the 301h in ehe Protestant church at Bethlehem, and in the afternoon on the 1VIount of Ol- ives. The Church of the Redeemer at Jerusalem will be consecrated on Oc- tober 31. Their Majesties will encamp.' the same night on the plain of Jericho, and will, visit the River Jordan and the Dead Sea on November 1. Then they will spend four days sight-see- ing at Jerusalem. They will probably return by way of Nazareth:, whence they will visit the Sea of Galilee and Mount Tabor. They will go to Jaffa and thence .to Beyrout, On. November 10 they will visit Damascus and the ruins of the Temple of Baal, They will return homeward via Constan- tinople, whither they will be escorted by nine Turkish warships. SOAP AND ITS USES. Great lirlialu Tfses /Tore Soap Than Any Other Nation. There is now exported from Great Britain more soap than was used in Great Delta -in at the beginning of the present century, and, besides, accord- ing to authentic figures, • 400,000,000 pounds of soap is used in Great Bri- tain every year, exclusive of 55,000,000 pounds exported to other countries, chiefly English colonies. The French manufacture of soap amounts approx- imately to 300,000,000 pounds a year, the larger part of w/aich is made in the ciey of Paris. The sale in other countries of French soap, and partic- ularly French perfumed soap, is a con- siderable item of commerce. The ex- ports of soap from Great Britain in recent years lave been as follows: 1875, 12,500 tons; 1880, 19,500; 1885, 20,100; 1890, 25,000; 1895, 27,500. What were known in England. as the soap taxes originated during the reign of Queen Anne, and were originally fixed at $150 a. ton, yielding in the year 1830, a pub - revenue, in excess of $7,000,000, An • official estimate recently made shows the average consumption per inhabitant of Great Britain to be nine pounds a year; a similar average pre- vails in France, Belgium and Holland, though a popular belief Ascribes to tbe last country a much larger use of soap, particularly for housecleaning. There are no official figures on the subject, but there is a general belief that very little soap is used in Spain. Cer- tainly no soap is imported into that country and pone is exported from it. " COWBOY AND WAITER. The Irish nature is notoriously well prepared for any emergency of the wits, Not long ago one of the sensation.. mongers, who, in Eastern cities, pose as untamable men of the Wild West, went into a cheap restaurant and de- positing his sombrero onthe table and shaking his long hair menacingly, ca.11- ed out: Waiter! flyah, waieteee-eerrer 1 A bald little Irishman in an apron tripped up. Yis, sore phvvat will ye have, sore? Give me is bear -steak, extra rare and give it to me right quick, too! A bear -steak, is it, sore? faltered. the hitilc Irishnien. Yes is beaea-a,rrrerta-steak Yts, sore. An' phwett koind of a bear - steak wad ye ewe, sort ? What kincl of it bear -steak? • Yis sorr, We have black bear, griz- zly bear, cinnymin bear, brown bear, white or Polar bear, goggle-eyed bear, Irish beer, woolly -bear, Wall Street bear— Hold onl said the imitation cowboy, in a rather low torte. Ef hear is as plenty round these parts as that, I'll ee switched ef I went any 1 Ye can bring me a. plate 0' pork an' beans. DROWNING. The sadden drowning of a good ewiramer is not due to a cramp, as generally supposed, There is no rea- son, says a high medical authority, why cramp in it leg should prevent, an ordinary swimmer supporting himself tbe water by the hands or on bis back, or cause him to throw up hie hands a,nd siek once for all like a stone. The exile...elation is that the drum of the ear is peeforated and the pres- sure of water oauses vertigo and un- eonsciousness, • Ilifi SUNDAY SCHOOL. INTERNATIONAL LESSON, JULY 17, .‘ Jt1Jjni en cannel." 1, hiug, IS' 20'39 Colden Tette 1. Kings 18, 30. :;:4CT::;tS Vers3AIIiahSid'unto a1 t1ePe;P1"ThsPeoPel4iigllu4 j1svin4 etlIeoihe.Ir0- Peets of Baal to seeure aa answer from their god, Come near., Tee Septuitaint, (the aneleet Greek version of the ota l'estantent) tells us tthet first Elijah lied bidden the prophets of Baal to depart. The people came near. The crowd closed around, their enthu,siasin ringing with every act of the prophet of God. Repaired the altar of tire Lord. Which probably heel been broleen down in Jezebel's persecution.. • 31. Elijah took twelve stones. Tee region is full of stones. Tbe altar it- self was built of detaehed stones. Twelve of these were taken, emblem- atic of the'tribes of Israel. Notwith- standing the frequently -returning jealousy and •bitterness between the royal "muses of Judah and Israel there wae always, especially am.ong the de - Teeter part of the people, a • deep feeling of national unity. The sons of Tune, The source of the national unity. Unto whom the word, of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be thy name. When the word of the Lord came to that effect (and there are two records of this—Gen. 32. 28; 35. 2-10) it was to announce the adop- tion of th'e patria.reh as the son ot tbe Great God, and it was this holy adoption that Elijah would now re. call to the populace. He was not die. cussing a question of kingdoms se muee as 'a question of religions, 32. With the stones he buelt: Pro- bably without mortar. free name of the Lord. Dedicated to Jehovah. trench. A deep dial. TWO measures of seed. There is more or less doubt about most scriptural measures, but there seems to be no doubt that a"two- seah measure" (margin) was small, less than six gallons, and it is generally understood eeough. 1,0 hold this measure in an up- r:gdhetrwlstooltdiotnhth ,at e trench was deep 33. Put the wood in order. Elijah had found the altar of Jehovah &shape- less pile of dirt and stones. His work was to level this ,and make it fit for sacred uses, and then to arrange thei twelve stones around it as buttresses. I Car the beaten to of the structure he arranged'broken wood in orderly fash- pen. Cut the bullock in pieces. Ac- cording to the ordadned methods of the priests of Israel, Four barrels. Great • ears, often carriecl by women on their heads. One of the natural features which have helped to identify the place where Elijah and the, prophets of Baal ha.d their conflict is a spring that nev- er fails even in driest weather. 84. Tluve was in ancient times 8Yre- bolieal of divinity; a sacred number. • 35. Ran about the altar. Poured over the bullock and. wood and earth and. stones. It trickled out oxtail sides and Elijah kept on pouring until the ditch was full. • 36. Lord God of Abraham. It is im- portant to remember throughout that Lord means Jehovah, and. that Jehovah Was a proper name, as much so as Baal'. The priests of Baal had. appealed to Baal as the God of Israel, for Ahab and Jezebel had so adopted. him. Elijah calls on Jehovah as the God of Israel, and I asks him to demonstrate that he is in- deed the nation's God. That thou art I God in Israel, and that I am thy ser- vant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. A prayer of sin- gular comprehensiveness. If Jehovah did not in aoraeunusual way prove himself not merely divine, but the di- vine ruler of Israel, then the people are lost. If in thus securing his own di- vine glory he does not also indorse Elijah, the lesson of the drought and this challenge will be lost. If Elijah does not make plain that he is merely Gods servant, the people may glorify hheimroaanhdownont by Eh J od.D:117e thorough con- secration is not often shown than is 37. Hear rae. The destiny of the na- tion was at stake, They had forsaken their fathers' God. and. Elijah's high- est desire is that they may be brought back to his service. 38. The fire of the Lord fell. How we need not know, We new think of an intensely brilliant flame from out a clear sky, The stones and the dust. The intense heat crumbled. the stones, tarneo4. dnrecleiced the eaeth to a fine pow- der, and dried up the water .in the 39. They fell on their faces. Thor- oughly sufijected. The Lord, he is the God. Jehovah must hereafter be re- cognized as the God of the nation. • WHAT THEY WEAR. The Sultan of Turkey is always seen attired in pale brown garments; the Emperor of Austria affects grey. The young German Eraperor has what may be callecl a loud taste in clothes, and is never so happy as when wearing the showiest of uniforms or hunting cos- tumes; indeed, when attired in the latter he looks as though he had step- ped out of Drury Lane pantonahne, so extraordinary and faiatestic is his get- up on these occasions. The Emperor of Russia, on the other hand, likes the simplest, darkest form of extdress ani - form, end he habitually wears that which beeenie so familiar in all the photographs of his late father. NIGHT BLINDNESS. Night blindness le is peoulia,r affec- tion of the eye in which tlie patient sees very well during die clay, but be- come.% blind as night appeoaehes. It is mostly mot tvith ih • warm climates, .and, useally gives way to mild treat - Ment, RICHES. , • "Thy etre reel enough to have a home in the couhtty, ere they riot 'Yes, but they will never be satisfied Until they • ere rieh eneugh to get a herea girl ta etny oat there.' MEMORY OF PETER THE GREAT. IffleW Ithe tArellt exor l WOINIAlliCd Itieallite empire. Peter has beeeme elmeet Quit int Ruesitt. (lo to bis cottage on the banks of the Neva on a Ruesien holie day, and you will have to fell into queue and squeeze your NVeY 411.4 1114 1 little remits, ostensibly to ales e hole picture, but tele 1101Y picture bs mired uP in the Reseian's mind with Peter the Great, Tee moujik looks around on the little home Peter built himself/ on the Neva marshes,as if he looked ori the relics of a saint. Peter was. essen- tially a map of action, an artisan of genius, es his handiwork and the tools he used prove; yet a bent commander, , reatiess, inteles,s, Ween near tee site „ of his future St. Petersburg he sew a tree enured with it mark high above the eround, and, he asked of a peasant ' near: "What is thatV' Ate height to which tete water road in 1680," replied the peasant. "You list- cried Peter. He cut Chet tree down. He waa not to be deterred, by the fact tea floods had swept over his chosen site, and hie, masterfelness le to -day felt by the Russia:is entil theW eave nearly made a god of him. it is i1i-11)084)1e now to see the exterior et Peter',s cottage on the Neva'sbanks. ler a atone house was built by Cala- erine fl. over it as a shell to preserve. t.hes wooden cottage, and $o Lhe out. weed appearance is gone. Inside this atone building you see, the wooden building, but this bus very foolish's\ lately been painted to imitate bricks.; but inside you can see in one room. tee type of place Peter lived and wol.ked in. Here in this one little room—there are but two in the eottage—ere the oak furniture, old leather obairs, a little ceoking service, some of the sails of his boat and tee worn little wooden bench on which he sat at his door and dreamed ot THE FUTURE CAPITAL, or raved at those who carried out his orders or failed to clo so. In this room he transacted business with his minis- ters of state and. received foreign am- bassadors. T.he very greatness of the man forces itself upon one by this act alone. He, the +sear, with all the jeweled group of the Kremlin to enshioudhimself with, sitting on his be.neet or in his timber hut, and. creating a power that in less than two centuries was to rule half the world. The other roont ot the cot- tage is also greatly transformed; it was Peter's sleeping and dining -room; now it is a chapel, and a picture of our Saviour which Peter took with him. upon all his travels and which he bore with him at the famous battle of Pol- tava, hangs there. It is in a gilt frame with a jeweled crown that, as is usual in Russian towns,' quite overshadows the pieture. Not long ago I went out to the cot- tage on a Russian saint day, and ser- vice was being perforraed in the cbapel. A small choir of men in ordinary dress were squeezed in behind the little altar and a priest in robes was chanting the serviee. The people were packed flatly together in the MOM and. outside around the door, and under the passage of the outer building that protects the cottage. Some tried to get others to pass in lighted candles to place before the pictute, and others crushed and squeezed until ,some moving on gave a, chance to get in. All devoutly bless- ed. the picture and crossed themseavea continuously, and when they got out went with reverendal air and looked at Peter's room and the boat lee built, this latter placed between his cottage and the outer building. The heat in the little chapel, with the lighted can- dles and the PACKED LITTLE MASS of not too clean humanity, was exces- sive, an.d the perspiration stood out on the faces of priests and choir, who went about their work in a quiet, bus- iness -like fashion; but the devotion of the crowd to memory, to a something they themselves percbance could not explain, was very apparent. Ostensibly it was the holy picture, but it is the link between the picture and Peter that gives so much value and makes it so revered. This Peter who built St. Petersburg gave Russia a port and a navy, ani started her on her world -influencing career. The fierce, reraorseless, in- domitable restlessness of the man and his crimes are forgotten; all the blood- :hed he caused hi seizing upon the sole ule and his ill-plenned campaigns— even the one great, terrible crime of the murder of his awn son, Alexis, which rumor and tradition ley to his charge --all is forgotten in the memory of the man leho by that same indomitable force of character started Russia ont her aggrandizing career. Everything that is associated with him, his clothes, bis trappings, his jewels, the tools with whice he worked, bis writings, hiet books, everything is treasured up and looked upon with such reverence be the Rustions that even strangers begin to feel they are in the presence of relies of e man of men. The common folk may well be excused for so crowding to the little house where he lived and worked almost; as they live end work. to passionately venerate the holy pic- ture, that receives their worship of ths founder of St. Petersburg. MILLIONS IN INVENTIONS. These in venti one Which brought large fortunes to the originators, were the ottcome of an acteulent. The bent hairpin has made $50.0,000 for the in- ventor, whose wife twisted one day the old-style beirpin to hold a partioue lady rebellious lock in place, An old Scotohmen bear a wire about a, °elk to hold it in ebe, bottle, An observing bystander grasped the idea, end bas made $1.0,000,000 out of the eeheme of his patent cork fasteners. The little shoe clasps, about, which the strings are wrappea anil held in place, have brotight to the inventor the neat lit- tle sum of 4300,006. The head. of a pier an red farmer had put in his ;shoe sug- gested this petent, The mart who put the tubber bells onstrings oil the merket realized Sh000,000. Me child tied a ribbon from, her doll's dense about the ball she Was elaying with and enronseireisly laid the foUndatien of her father's wealth,