HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1899-5-5, Page 6BrI7ssELS POST.
MAY 5, 1899
PDT 1 RING ON HIS HANDL
REV. DR. TALMAGE SPEAKS OF
THE PRODIGAL SOL
A. d'r1'eeg impression ,Abroad es to Deli -
Are Axxlired el EtotvliU De.
Domes 81'M, the Ring ur Christ's Aden'
ileo IIpon One Ilanit-lie linden% You
With All Itis `I'ealth-An Unlnalledl
Invitation Mr ail to Come tO I.ed.
A despatch from Washington says:
-Rev. 'Dr, Talmage preached from the
following text: "Put a ring on his
hand," -Luke xv. 22.
T tvi11 not rehearse to you the fam-
iliar story of the fast young man of
the parable. You know what a splen-
did home he left. You know what a
hard time he had.. And you remember
how that after a season of vagabondage
and prodigality he resolved to go and
weep out his sorrow on the bosom of
Parental forgiveness. Well, there is
great excitement one day in front of
the door of the old farm house. The
servants Dome rushing up and say:
"
What the matter? What is the
matter?" But before they quite arrive
the old man cries out: "Put a ring
on his hand." What a seeming absurd-
ity. Whet can such a wretched men-
dioant as this fellow that is tramping
on toward the hone want with a ring?
0, 1318 is the prodigal son. No more
tending of the swine trough. No more
longing for the pods of the carob -tree.
No more blistered feet. Off with the
rags! On with the robe Out with the
ring l Even so does God receive every
one of us when we come bank. There
are gold rings and pearl rings, and
eornelian rings, and diamond rings ;
but the richest ring that ever flash-
ed on the vision is that whioh our
Father puts upon a forgiven soul.
I know that the impression is abroad
among some people that religion be -
means and belittles a man; that it
takes all the sparkle of his soul; that
he has to exchange a roystering in-
dependence for an ecclesiastical strait-
jacket. Not so. When a man becomes
a Christian, he does not go down, he
starts upward. Religion multiplies
one by ten thousand. Nay, the multi-
plier is in infinity. It is not a blotting
out, it is a polishing, it is an arbor
escence, it is in efflorescence, it is an.
irradiation. When a man comes into
the kingdom of God, he is not sent
into a menial service, but the Lord God
Almighty from the palaces of heaven
calls upon the messenger angels that
wait upon the throne to fly and "put
a ring on his hand." In Christ is the
largest liberty, and brightest joy, and
highest honour, and richest adornment.
"Put a ring on his band."
I remark, in the first place, that
when Christ receives a soul. into His
love Hie puts upon him the ring of
adoption. To my church in Philadel-
phia, there name the representative of
the Howard Mission of New York. He
brought with Line sight or ten chil-
dren of the street that he had pick-
ed up, and he was trying to find for
them Christian homes ; and as the lit-
tle ones stood on the pulpit and sang
our hearts melted within us. At the
close of hte services a great-hearted,
wealthy man came up, and said: "Pll
take this little bright-eyed girl, and
I'll adopt her as one 02 my own chil-
dren ;" and he took her by the band,
lifted her into his carriage, and went
away. The next day, while we were
in th'e church, gathering up garments
for tile poor of New York, this tittle
child came bank with a bundle under
her arm, and she said: " There's my old
dress, perhaps some of the poor 0hil-
dren would like to have !t," while she
eterself was in bright and beautiful ar-
ray, andthose who more immediately
examined her said that she had a ring
on her band. It was a ring of adop-
tion. There are a great many persons
who pride themselves on their ances-
try, and they glory over the royal
blood that pours through their arter-
ies. In their line there was a lord, or
a duke, or a prime -minister, or a king.
But when the Lord, our Father, puts
upon us the ring of his adoption,
we become the children of the
ruler of all nations. "Behold, what
manner of love the Father hath be-
stowed upon us, that we should be
called the sons of God." It matters
not how poor our garments may be in
this world, or • how scant • our bread,
or how mean the hut we live in, if we
have that ring of Christ's adoption up-
on our hand, we are assured of eternal
defences. Adopted I Why, then, we
are brothers and sisters to all the good
of earth and heaven. We have the
family name, the family dress, the
family keys, the family wardrobe. The
Father looks after us, robes us, defends
us, blesses us, We have royal blood
in our veins, and there are Browne in
our line. if we are His children,
then princes and princesses. It is only
a question of time when we get out
coronet. Adopted i When we have
the family secrets. The seoret of the
Lord is with them that fear Him."
Adopted! Then we have the family
inheritance, and in the day when our
neither shall divide the riches of heav-
en we shall take one share of the
mansions, and palaces, and temples.
Henceforth lot us boast no more of an
earthly anoestry. The insignia of
eternal glory is our coat -of -arms. This
ring of adoption puts upon us all hon-
or and all privilege. Now we can
take the words of Charles Wosle', that
prince of hymn matters, and sing:
"Come let us join our friends above,
Who have obtained the prite;
And on the eagle wings of love
To joy celeatiai rise,
" Let all the saints terrestrial sing,
1, iLh those to glory gone;
For all Elle servants of our king,
In heaven end earth, are ons."
I have been told that When any of
the members of any of the great tw-
eet sooielies of this oottnt ry aro to
diatant oily, slid are In any kind of
trouble, and are set upon by enemies,
they have only to give acertain signal,
and the members of their organization
will (look around for defeuoe. And
when any man Uelun s to hla great
e
at
Christian brotherhood, if he gets in
trouble, in trial, in persecution, in
temptation, be has only to show this
ring of Christ's adoption, and all the
armed cohorts of heaven will come to
his rescue,
Still further: when Christ takes a'
soul into his love He puts upon it a
marriage ring. Now that is not a
whim of mine. "And I will betroth
thee unto Me for ever ; yae, I will be-
troth thee auto Mo In righteousness,
and in judgment, and in loving -kind-
ness, and in meanies," Hosea U. 19. At
the wedding altar the bridegroom puts
a ring upon the band of the bride, sig-
nifying love and faithfulness. Trouble
may come upon the household, and the
carpets may go, the pictures may go,
the piano may go, everything else
may go; the last thing that goes is
that marriage ring, for it is consider-
ed sacred. In the bridal hour it is
withdrawn from the hand and kept in
a casket, and sometimes the box is
opened on an anniversary -day, and as
you look at that ring you sea under
its arch a long procession of precious
memories. AN ithin the golden Circle
of that ring there is room for a thous-
and sweet recollections to revolve, and
you think of the great contrast be-
tween the hour when, at the close of
the "Wedding March," under the
flashing lights and amid the aroma of
orange -blossoms, you set that ring on
the round finger of the plump hand,
and that other hour when at the close
of an exhaustive watching, when you
knew ihrtt her soul had fled, you took
from that hand which gave back no
responsive grasp, from that emancipat-
ed finger, the ring that she had worn
so long and worn so well. On some
anniversary -day you take up that ring,
and you r'epolish it until all the old
lustre comes beak, and you can see in
it the flash of eyes that long ego
chased to weep. 0, it is not an un-
meaning thing when I tell you that
when Christ receives a soul into His
keeping, He puts on -it a marriage
ring. He endows you from that mom-
ent with all His wealth. You are ono,
Christ and the soul -one in sympathy,
one in affection, one in hope. There
is no power in earthor hell to effect a
divorcement after Christ and the soul
are united.. Other kings have turned
out their companions when they got
weary of them, and sent them adrift
from the palace gate. Ahasuerus
banished Vashti; Napoleon forsook
Josephine; but Christ is the husband
that is true, for ever. Having loved
you once, He loves you to the end.
Did they not try 10 divorce Margaret,
the Scotch girl, from Jesus? They
said: "You must give up your religion."
She said: "I oan't give up my religion."
And so they took her down to the
beach of the sea, and they drove in a
stake at low-water mark, and they
fastened her to it, expeoting that as
the tide Dame up her faith would fail.
The tide began to rise, and came up
higher and higher, and to the girdle,
and to thet lip, and int the last mom-
ent, just as the wave was washing her
soul into glory, she shouted the praises
of Jesus. 0 no. You cannot separate
a soul from Christ. It is an everlast-
ing marriage. Battle and storm, and
darkness cannot co it. Is it too much
exultation for a elan,, who is but dust
and ashes like myself, to cry out this
mot ning: "I am persuaded) that neith-
er height, nor depth, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor
things tocome, nor any other oreature
shall separate me from the love of
God which is in Christ Jesus my Lord?"
Glory be to God that when Christ and
the soul are married they are bound
by a chain, a golden chain, if I might
say so, a chain with oue link, and that
one link the golden ring of God's
everlasting love,
Is the harbour where you can drop
safe anchorage. Would you not like,
I ask you -not perfunctorily, but as
oue brother might talk to another -
would you not, like to have, a pillow
of rest tee put your head ono And
Would, you not like when you retire at
night to feel that all is well, whither
you wake up to -morrow morning at
six o'clock, or sleep the sleep that
knows no waking? Would you not
like to exchange this awful unoer-
Ininty about tbe future for a glorious
assurance of heaven 2 Accept of the
Lard Jesus to -day, and all is well. If
on your way home some peril should
cross the street and dash your life out,
It would not hurt you. You would
rise up immediately. You would stand
in the celestial streets. You would
be amid the great throng that for ever
worship and aro for mot. happy, 11
this day some sudden disease ahonld
come upon you, it would not frighten
you, If you knew you were going you
could give a calm farewell to your
beautiful boane on earth, and know
that you are going right into the com-
panionship of those who have already
got beyond the toiling and the weep-
ing, You feel on Saturday night dif-
ferent from the way you feel any other
night of the week,. You come home
from the bank, or the store, or the
shap, and you say: "Well, now my
week's work Ls done, and to -morrow is
Sunday.' It is a pleasant thought.
There Is refreshment and reconstruc-
tion in the very idea. 0, how pleasant
it will be if, when we get through the
day of life, and we go and lie down
in our bed of dust, we can realize:
"Well, now the work is all done, and
to -morrow is Sunday -an evailasting
Sunday,"
I go a step further, and tell you
that when Christ. .receives a soul into
His love ele puts on him the ring of
festivity. You know it has been the
custom in all ages to bestow rings on
very happy occasions. There is no-
thing more appropriate for a birthday
gift than a ring. You delight Lo be-
stow such a gift upon your children
at such a time. It means, joy, hilar-
Ity, festivity, Well, when ibis old
man of the text. wanted to tell how
glad he was that his boy had got
bank, he expressed it. in this way. Ac-
tually, before he ordered sandals to be
put on his bare feet, before he ordered
the fatted calf to be kille& to appease
the boy's .hunger, he commended: "Put
a ring on his hand."
0, it is a merry .time when Christ
and the soul are united. ' Joy of for-
giveness! What tt splendid thing it
is to feel that all is right: between
me and God. 'What a glorious thing
it is to have God jus, take up all the
sins of my life and put: them in one
bundle, and then fling them into tbe
depths of the sea, never to rise again,
never to he talked of again. Pollu-
tion all gone. Darkness all illumin-
ed. God reoouciled, The prodigal
home. "Put u ring on his hand."
Every day I find happy Christian peo-
ple. I find some of them with no
second coat, soma of them in huts and
tenement houses, not one earthly com-
fort; afforded them;• and yet they are
as happy as happy can be. They sing:
"Rock of Ages" its no other people in
the world sing it. They never wore
any jewelry in their life but one gold
ring, and that. was the ring of God's
undying effe.otlon, 0 !roes happy re-
ligion makes us. Did it make you
gloomy and sad? Did you go with your
head cast down? I do not think you
got religion, my brot:ber. That is not
the effect or religion. True religion
is a joy: "Har ways are ways of plea-
santness, and all her paths are peace."
Why, religion lightens all our bur-
dens. It smooths all our way. It in-
terprets all our sorrows. It changes
the jai' of earthly [Mooed for the peal
55festal bells. In front of the flam-
ing runtime of trial it sets the forge
on whioh sceptres are hammered out.
Would you not like to -day to come up
from the swine -feeding and try this
religion? All the joys of heaven would
Dome out and meet. you, and God. would
cry out from( the throne: "Put a ring
on his hand." , You are; not; happy, I
See it. There' is no peace, and some-
times you laugh when you feel a great
deal more like ,Crying. The world is
a Chat. It first wears you down with
its follies; th'ent it kicks your out into
darkness. It comes back from the
maasaore of a million solus to 12 ti mope
the dcsbruetion of your soul t.o-day. No
peace trot of God but here is the fowl.
lain that enn slake Ito thirst. l-1ere
"0, when, thou city of my God,
Shall I thy courts ascend?
Where congregations no'er break up,
And Sabbaths have no end."
There are people iu the house to -day
who are very near the eternal world.
If you are Christians, I bid you be of
good cheer. Bear with you our con-
gratulations to the bright oily. Aged
men, who will soon be gone, take with
you our love for our kindred in the
better land, and when you see them,
tell them that we are soon Doming.
Only a few more sermons to prettoh
and heat'. Only a few more heart-
aches. Only a few more toils. Only
a few more tears. And then -what an
entrancing spectacle will open be-
fore usl
"Beautiful heaven, where all is light,
Beautiful angels, clothed in white,
Beautiful strains that never tire,
Beautiful harps through all the
choir,
There shall I join the chorus sweet,
Worshipping at the Saviour's feet."
I stand before you on this Sabbath,
the last Sabbath preceding the great
feast day !n this Church. On the next
Lod's day the door of communion will
be open, and you will all be invited to.
come in. And so I approach you now
with a general invitation, not picking
out here and there a man, or here and
there a woman, or here and there a
child; but giving you an unlimited in-
vitation, saying: "Come, for all things
are now ready." We 'invite you to the
warm heart of Christ and the enclos-
ure of the Christian Church. I know
a great many _ltink ;,Sat the Church
does not amount to much ; that it is
obsolete ; that it did its work and is
gone now so far as all usefulness is
concerned. It is the happiest place I
have ever been in except my own
home, I know 'there are some people
who say they are Christians, who seem
to got along without any help from
others, and who culture solitary piety.
They do not want any ordinances. I
do not belong to that class. I cannot
get along without them, There are
so many things in this world that take
my attention from God, and Christ,
and heaven, that I want all the helps
of all the symbols and of all the Chris-
tian associations; and I want around
about me a solid phalanx of men who
love God and keep His commandments.
Are there any here who would like to
enter into that association?. Then by
a simple, childlike faith apply for ad-
mission into the visible Churoh and
you will be received. No questions
asked about your past history or pre-
sent surroundings. Only one test -do
you love Jesus? Baptism does not
amount to anything, say a great many
people ; but the Lord Jesus declared :
Ho that believeth and is baptized,
shall be saved," putting baptism and
faith side by aide. And an apostle de-
clares: "Repent and be baptized, every
one of you." I do not suckle for any
particular mode of baptism, but I put
great empbasis on the feet that you
ought to be baptized. Yet no more em-
phasis than the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Great Head of the Chureh puts upon it.
The world is going to lose a great
many of its votaries next Sabbath. We
give you warning. There is a great
hast coming in to stand under the
banner of the Lord Jesus Christ,
Will you be among them? It is go-
ing to be a great harvest day. Will
you be among the gathered sheaves?
Some of you have been thinking of
this subject year after year. You
have found cut that this world is a
poor portion. You want to be Christ-
Lacs.. You have come almost into the
kingdom of God; but there you stop,
forgetful of the fact that to be almost
saved is hot to be saved at all. 0,
my brother, n.fter having (some so
near to the door of mercy, if you turn
back you will never come at all. After
all you have heard 02 the goodness
of God, if you tarn away and die, it
Will not: be because you did not have
a good offer.
God's Spirit will not; always strive,
With hardened, self -destroying man;
Ye Who persist His love to grieve
Mee, never hear His voice again."
May God Almighty this hour move
upon your soul and bring you bank
from the husks of the wilderness to
the le'ather's house, and set you at the
banquet, and "put a ring on your
hand.
INDIe1'S RICHEST PERSON.
The richest person in India in pri-
vate life is a eix-year-old boy, who has
just inherited an estate of $0,000,000,
MS is the son of the late Sir Asmau
Tall, and his mother has been appoint-
ed solo executrix of rho estate until
he becomes 01 age. The estate is esti.,
mated at 27 crones, which is equivalent
ftp L1,800,000.
There were 178 ocean disasters in
15(81!.
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QUEEN VICTORIA AS A HOUSE-
IEEPER.
Queen Victoria is a first rate house-
keeper. She is the mistress of palaces,
castles, and country -houses, and, al-
though the aatcal daily housekeeping
is, of course, done by deputy, the !toy-
al head of the establishment remains
ever in a very real sense the mistress.
She perceives immediately anything
amiss, and perceives also the remedy.
She is a kind but also an exaoiing
mistress, and as she pays well, and
never fails to consider a reasonable ex-
cuse, quite properly demands good ser-
vice and tolerates no shirking. A recent
little volume upon her private life re-
lates several entertaining household
anecdotes of the Royal lady's ways.
She has, it seems, a dislike to cold
meat, whioh she never eats. But eti-
quette demands that at luncheon aside
table shall stand ready provided with
oold fowl and a oold joint, no matter
what varieties of hot food the dining -
table may offer. These' viands being
never cal,ed for, the nook grew careless
and one day the Queen's quick -eye ob-
served that the side -table presented
only a very mean and meagre half
of a small and unattractive -looking
fowl.
Promptly giving e hint to her near-
est neighbors, the Princess Beatrice,
and Lady Ely, her Majesty requested
a slice of cold chicken, the other two
ladies desired the same. The poor lit-
tle fragment was brought into sudden
prominence, to the consternation
and confusion of the cook, who never
Se far forgot himself as to sl, ht that
side -table again.
Like every good housekeeper, the
Queen knows and remembers her vain -
able household possessions, and is fully
aware of their individual merits and
the places where they ought to be kept.
She does not know them all, for they
number thousands. But hundreds of
them she does know; and elaborate
catalogues are kept of the real, -fur-
niture, brio-a-brao, china, glass, silver;
draperies and other furnishings -by
her order, and in large leather-bound
books provided in a000rdanoe with her
ideas.
Only a small proportion of her many
hundred articles for table service are
actually in ordinary use; and she is
in the habit of using but three of her
many servioes of plate and china at
Windsor Castle.
But ones after a talk, with the Ger-
man Ambassador, who was visiting her,
the members of the Queen's household
were surprised on coming to the table
to behold strange china set before
them, each plate adorned with land -
It
It soon appeared, that the Ambassa-
dor, having mentioned in the morning
that his birthplace was Furstenberg,
the Queea bad recalled to mind n ser-
vice of china, never used, and for nine
years put away and forgotten by ev-
etyone but herself, whioh had been
manufactured there, and was decorated
with painled scenes of the town and its
vicinity.
She knew exaotly where it was, and
how it looked, and by her order it had
been produced and used at dinner -
suety a very pretty attention from a
Royal hostess, as well as something of
a feat of memory in a Royal house-
keeper.
TO CLEAN LINOLEUM.
Linoleum should never be touched
with either soap or a scrubbing brush.
Have it well wiped over with a soft
flannel cloth and warm water, drying
it carefully with another Olean cloth.
Skimmilk is also a very good thing to
wash it wtih, as it gives it the gloss
you wish for. The great rule is to
wash linoleum .as seldom as -possible,
unless you use skim or sour milkfor
thepurpose, and every now and then
polish' it with linseed oil or occasional-
ly with beeswax 'and turpentinefurni-
ture polish. Sept in this way it will
both look nicer and wear infinitely bet-
ter, for scrubbing wears it out and too
much water rots it.
[SPONGE AND ANGEL CAKES.
A rioh sponge cake is made by the
following rule: Six large eggs, three
gills of sugar, three gills of flour and
one lemon. Wipe the lemon very clean
and grate a little of the rind into a
deep saucer, squeeze the juice on this;
beats the eggs, yolks and whites sep-
arately; add the sugar to the yolks,
and beat until light; add the lemon -
juice and rind, and boat a little long-
er; put the flour and the whites of
tbe eggs into the flavored sugar and
yolks, adding only a little at a time
and doing the work lightly and gently,
seas not to break down the frothy egg;
pour the mixture into paper -lined pans
and bake in a moderato oven. The
time of baking will depend upon the
thickness of the loaf. If it be three
inohes deep when put into the pan it.
will take one hour to bake. The slow
oven will cause the sponge to rise,
evenly, making the cake tender, etch
and moist.
Angel cake names under the head of
sponge cakes ; !t le one of the most
delicate Oakes that is made, and is as
nearly "next to nothing" as It is pos-
sible to be. This cake should be baked
in a round tin with a funnel in Limo
center, fund the tin should not be
greased. If you aro going to form the
angel cake habit and make it fre-
quently 1 would advise that you keep
a pan 'sacred" to the baking of this
special cake, It will etc more likely to
bo always in condition. The sucooss
of angel cake depends upon the baking
and the proper beating of the eggs,
For thi8 Cake you will use the whites
of five eggs, one want gill of pastry -
flour, after siftin 'o e
flour, measure g, n and
nen-help Hill,: or nrtvdar•orl air nn,•
half a teaspoonful of cream of tartar
and one half a teaspoonful of vanilla
03(100ot, Mix the cream of teeter with
the flour, and sift four times; this 15
so that the flour will be as light as
11 da possible to mairo it, and not
packed at all. Beat the whites of the
eggs to a stiff, dry froth, sift the pow-
dered sugar 011 2110 eggs, and boat for
three minutes; add the vanilla ; gradu-
ally add the flour, and beat it in
quickly; bake for about forty minutes
in a rather cool oven. When the cake
is baked take the pan from the oven
and invert it, letting it rest on a sieve
or rack, so that there shall be a bur -
rent of air all around the cake while
it cools,
FOREHANDED.
Thrifty housewives aro looking well
to the ways of their household by in-
ventorying the summer's sewing, and
repairing old garments and making
such new ones as shall be required for
ass in the early spring -time.
Let us begin with the linen first.
Carefully inspeot the table linen.
Cloths that are too much worn to
longer do duty on the dining table,
can be out into napkins, tray or lunch
cloths. While such pieces as are not
sufficiently good for these purposes
should be neatly hemmed and used for
wiping the silver.
Why not hemstitch the new linen?
Time was when the "drawing of the
threads" in such firm fabrics was a
most disagreeable teak, but this ob-
stacle has been removed since the
learned to soap the threads to be
drawn with a bar of hard soap, toilet
and laundry are equally effective,
The bedd ng should be looked over, re-
paired where possible and make a
good supply of new, so that frequent
changes can be made during the heat-
ed season. There Is real economy in
thus changing. The bedding is more
easily washed, consequently will last
longer, and the housewife is less tired
than if obliged to wash dirtier pieces.
Next in order come the undergar-
ments and hoisery for the various
members of the family. By the time
these are done with, the everyday
work dresses and kitchen aprons, the
wash suits of the wee !eddies and lit-
tle maidens can be made. There are
so many pretty designs for these gar-
ments illustrated in the pattern page
that no one need dress herself or any
member of her household in any but
modern and b000mingly made gar-
ments. It is well to remember that
the simpler styles are the mors ele-
gant, and that inexpensive but pretty
and durable fabrics should be select-
ed in wash goods.
HOW TO CLEAN GLOVES.
Flora is a glove "wrinkle" used by a
well-known society lady, and which ie
vouched for by her us infallible int its
effects: She prooures a tin box, or a
jar with a tight, close fitting cover.
and puts into the bottom a lot of lump
ammonia. Then she suspends the
gloves in the box or jar, closes it tight-
ly, and allows it to remain this way
four or five days. At the end of this
time she removes the gloves, and
every spot will be. found to have van-
ished.
EVER, -READY GLUE.
To prepare glue for use all any time
it is only necessary to put the quan-
tity desired into a bottle and cover it
up with whiskey. Cork tightly and
set it away for a few days, when it
will be fit for use. Glue thus pre-
pared will keep for years.
CAPTURING A PYTHON.
Remarkable Exhibition of Strength In a
Snake.
Pythons are numerous in the Philip-
pines. We often heard lee very large
ones, says Mr. Dean C. Woroester in
his interesting account of these much -
talked -of -islands, but the nearer we
got to them . the smaller. they .grew.
Finally, however; we got a fine specie
mem Some Men had found':him oohed
up under a fallen ares. Arranging
rattan slip -nooses so that he could not
well escape them', they had then poked
him' till Ile crawled into their snares,
when they jerked the knots tight, and
made the lines fast to trees and rocks.
When we reached the python I
nearly stepped. on bine, for he was
stretched out on the ground and look-
ed for all the world like a log. A ven-
omous hiss warned me of my mistake,
and caused Me to beat so sudden a re-
treat as to afford great delight to the
assembled crowd of Tagbanuas.
The reptile had about three feet of
play for his head, and I thought it
wise to treat him with respect. Drench-
ing a handful of absorbent cotton
with chloroform, I presented it to him
on the end of a piece of bamboo.
He bit it savagely and it caught on
the end of his long, recurved teeth,
so that he could not get rid of R.
Then I saw a most remarkable exhibi-
tion of brute force.
Under tho stimulus of the chloroform
that python broke green rattans three-
quarters of an inch in diameter, and
that without apparent exertion. There
was no thrashing about. It was all
quiet, steady pulling. He soon broke
or twisted out of every one of his fast-
enings except a running noose around
his neck ; and getting a hold for his
tail around a stump, be pulled until
it seemed as if his head would come
off.
Eventually the chloroform quieted
him somewhat, and I gave him more.
When he was 8ti11, I stabbed him, to
the heart to prevent further diffi-
oulty, and removed his skin. He meas-
ured twenty-two feet and six inohes,
ago
A VITIATED TASTE.
I suppose, she said, you are a close
student of literature?
No, answered the young man with
black eimmed glasses, I'm a student Of
illttcraiure. I like dialect startles.
What a lawyer doesn't think ha
TO TELL THE WEATHER.
THE VARIOUS WAYS BY WHICII I7'
CAN BE FORETOLD,
...-• ilk
one Knows Ilea to Head Nai,u'e's Slg
the llovernn,ent iialletlnx are Uaneees.
eery-'l-'eld by Actions or Animals sad
AP110111,1111d0 et the Pleads,
Atmospheric phenomena in all ages
has been a source of great speculation
nut only to the soieniifio mind. but to
those of lowly pretences; in fact, no
class of men aro or !rove ever been free
from the luvo of prognosticating the
weather. The aeoumulated observa-
tions of ages has demonstrated that
many signs of atmospheric changes are,
without doubt, to be depended upon
excepting in very, vary dry weather
when ell signs tail and even the wahine
thio signal service finds its prodloiions
aro faulty.
Coming events -in a weather sense -
always oast their shadows before them,
and it is only necessary to read those
shadows correctly in order to become a
fair prognosticator or weather prophet.
The instinct of animal and insect life
and the sensitive vegetables and plant
furnish the most numerous data by
which the common people of the world
foretell the o„ming weather, and it is
remarkable how true are their predic-
tions. The sun, moon, planets and
stars all have, been closely observed by
the unlettered, and their appearance
to the eye, regardless of their astrono-
mical situation in the heavens, are
made to forecast all and every change
and condition ob weather.
Among the popular prognostics whiob
indicate wet weather, are oats washing
their faces, dogs becoming drowsy,
hogs running with straws or leaves in
their mouths, spiders leaving their
webs and crawling about on the fences
and walls, swallows skimming the sur-
feoe of tee earth, insects of all kinas
drawing near the ground, flies becom-
ing very troublesome and stinging
with unusual vigor, frogs making con-
tinuous noises, leeoees in jars being
very aotive,
1L13EUMATIC PEOPLE.
complaining of aches, and numerous
others, alt of which have for ages been
"sure signs" of atmospherio disturb-
ances and rain,
An old provers nae it
Au evening red, and a morning gray,
Are sure signs of a fine day; '
Be the evening gray, and the morning•
red,
Put on your hat or you'll wet your
head.
Sailors have their signs and proverbs,
and it must, be said that .they very
seldom sail in their predictions, even
where they atm cirrus clouds, which
they cal! mares' tails, they know that
a rain is close at hand; and the sunset
and sunrise always indicate the weath-
er for the following day. They say:
Red at night, sailor's delight,
Red at morning, sailor's warning.
And again they have it:
If woolly fleeces strew the heavenly
way.
Be sure no rain disturb the summer
day.
During clear weather if ons sees
clouds form and disappear in quiok
succession it is a certain indication
that the fine. weather is over; and -
When clouds appear like rocks and
towers,
The earth's refreshed by frequent
showers.
A halo around the sun or moon de-
notes rain in summer and snow or
sleet in winter, and the larger the
Menlo the nearer is the downfall of
moisture.
When the new moon rests upon his
back wet weather is sure for nearly
seven days. But when the moon
rests upon one horn with its back to
the west clear weather may confident-
ly be predicted. l
Probably the. most noted plant which
beeeousts the weather is' the "chick-
weed," and it is a
MOST EXCELLENT GUIDE,
There wit be no rain when its flowers
are expanded freely, for with the least
moisture in the air the flowers begin
to close, and when the rain comes they
are closed entirely,
"The poor man's weather glass" is
the pompern-1, and the regularity
with whioh it closes its petals at the
approach of wet or foul weather is
truly remarkable.
All water fowl become more active
and noisy just prior to storms, and sea-
birds approach the shore with very few
exceptions. Geese and ducks will dive
and splutter in the water, and barn-
yard fowls becomo agitated. The
hooting of owls in the afternoon de-
notes rain, and the piercing sor'eam of
the peacock is always heard before a
storm, Water rats will invariably
leave the water before a thunder
shower, and mine and rats will quarrel
and fight among themselves; ants hus-
tle about, parrying their eggs, and
seem very uneasy before approaching
wet weather,
Bats flying of a summer evening and
remaining out late at night, denote
pleasant, dry, weather, but if they
seek shelter and enter the houses, wet
weather is sure to follow.
Sheep are very rentatant to leave
their pasture when rain is expected,
and they seem to have au extra good
appetite at such times,
,!'hese are only a few of the signs,
mostly for summer weather. But the
Indian sign for wet weather has novel'
been known til fail. They say: "When
it is cloudy all round and pouring
down in the middle, then expect wet
weather."
DRUNKENNESS ON INCREASE.
Statistio0 oolleoted by a London tem-
perance society show that drunkenness
Is on rho increase in England and
Wales. T,he increase in the number of
prosectitiolls brought during the past
year over those in the preceding
Lwelvemontb was 0,077. The total
number of prosecutions was 110,789, tee
which 67,207 were brought against per -
ewe. lee wenn the nirn or 21 anti ep.
EXPLORING THE UNKNOWN
TWO LARGE EXPEDITIONS TO START
FOR THE ANTARCTII IN 1000.
'1'nun England Money ix Seemed n q dand
liernatny \I'1111'uI Thea, 111 the Mehl-
Thoy l:xpeat to be 4one Two Yearx-
O,lillno or theft. Selontllle Programme.
The splendid douatioa of $120,004
whiob Mr, L. W. Langstaff, a Fellow
of the Royal Geographical Society, hat
just etude for the purpose of equip-
ping a British Antarotio expedition,
settled the question of Great Britoin'1
participation in the work of disoovery
in that vast unknown expanse which'
Germany will enter upon next year,
The Royal Geographical Society start-
ed the subseriiption with $20,000, and
these two donations, amounting tit
$100,000, assure the finances of the en-
terprise. It is not at all unlikele
that the fund will be increased to al
lsimst $200,000, which is the amount the
society desired to raise. At tiny rate,
a sufficient sum' is already secured to
enable England to oo-operate with the
finely equippjid German expedition
which will enter the Antarctic: field
next season under the command of the
distinguished Greenland explorer, Dr.
Erich von Drygalski, whose writings
on Arctic glaciers are conceded to be
the most authoritative on that topic.
Scientific societies of Great Britain
and Germany have been planning
since 1805 for this renewal of Antarc-
tic
ntarestic exploration on a scale so large as
to take part of the world oat of the
realm of the unknown. A year, ago
last month the Getman Commission
met at Lelpeig and adopted the plan
of exploration which Drygalski will
est aboat carrying out next year, It
is probably the
MOST THOROUGH SCHEME
of polar investigation ever devised.
The British experts fully approve of
the German programme, and instead
of working independently on lines of
their own they will join the Germans
in carrying out their ideas of what is
best to be done in Antarotio explora-
tion. This does not mean that they
will occupy exactly the same field, but
that they will have the same scientific
programme in view. Sir Clements
Markham, President of the Royal Geo-
graphical Society, has distinctly an-
nounced since Mr. Langetaff's gift as-
sured the sending of a British expedi-
tion that the British vessel will co-
operate with the Getman expedition.
The fact that the two expeditions will
be engaged in work on the same lines
gives additional interest and import-
ance to the German plan of action, of
which the following are the leading
features:
The Drygalski expedntion proposes to
sail about the beginning of August,
1900, and to return in dune, 1002, an
absence from home of nearly two
years. The exploring steamer will
carry twenty-five mon, of whom five
a geographer, geologist, biologist, ob-
server of magnetic phenomena and
physician, will compose the selentifio
staff. There will be five ship's of-
ficers, including two engineers, end
fifteen mon in the anew. The purpose
is to winter on Victoria Land, discov-
ered by Ross, fifty -Dight. years ago, and
the nearest approach to the South
Polo yet made; in the southern spring
of 1001, to advance over the toe of Vic-
toria Land by sledges toward the
South Pole; in the summer and early
annum:. to fix the location of the south
magnetic pole, anti if possible to ex-
plore the west coast of Victoria Lend.
whioh has not yet been visited, and
later in the same season to start north-
ward for home,
The advance mato the Antarctic area
wilt be made on the meridian of
KER,G Uk7LlN ISLAND,
whose advantages for this purpose are
believed to be that'nti attaok,apon thee
eou1h polar regions hits yet been rondo.
along this line; that- the magnetic
work of thn expedition may be diroot-
ly .connected with the records at the
observatory at Melbourne and the
tropical observatory at' Mauritius;
that the oceanographical work will
continue that done by the Gazelle
deep-sea expedition and to be done by
the Chun expedition now afloat; and,
further, what is known of the Lae con-
ditions in those waters ,justifies the ex-
pectation that they will be favorable
for navigation south of the Kerguelen
for the next year or two.
During the journey to Victoria Land
the expedition will endeavor definitely
to locate tee coasts of alt lands dis-
covered, to oolitica geological speei-
mens from then and from the masses
oil earth found on drift ice, study tho
origin and structure of the drift ice
and the sea as to els depth, tempera-
ture, ubemical conditions and Organic
life, collect plankton, or ocean or'gan-
istus, peculiar to i.he surface waters for
the study of surface currents and take
deep sea temperatures to determine
the origin of the deep son currents that
emerge from the Antarctic area' iota
the epos oceans; regular magnetic oh•
sor'val.ions will be iltade on board ship
and also on land and Lee when oppor-
tunity. occurs, anti nlel:eorological ob
servalitpns will a Iso be a part of the
regular rnutlne. The saute pro-
gramme will be carried out during the
return,
It is expected that the station on
Viol oria Land will be maintained at
lent n full yen,' and the work there
meLerologiral tine mngnet.le obeerva-
tuetdoroliogimtt and tint geode observe -
geological journeys and collections,
zoological and botanical collections,
studies or the land los and its [never
nlchts, hydrographic week, including
tidal measurements, astronomical de-
lernlieation 0C the site of the hit tion,
map work and pendulum nbseevetions.
Duringthe s Fin .
o p g and s un
tutor will are
our the southern sledge journey, ex-
peditions along the coasts and the lo-
cating of the south magnetic polo.
Theta 18 a paradox in pride--tL makes
some 11011 tidiculotts, but prevents oth'
ars from becoming so. -.Colton,