Newspaper Page Text
BUTLER. GEORGIA, TUESDAY, JANUARY % 1894.
VOLUME XVIII
NUMBER 6
According to the New York Mall
and Express nearly four thousand chil
dren in that city are refused admission
to the public schools for “lack of ac
commodation.”
There arc but two colored officers in
che United States Army—Lieutenants
J. H. Alexander and Charles Young, of
the Ninth Cavalry, which is composed
entirely of troops of their own race.
The Paris Exposition of 1900 will be
• in a more central site even than the
last one. It will extend from the
Trocadero to the Tuileries Garden, so
that visitors will not be taken so far
from the shops and restaurants.
The Hartford Journal declares that
moneyed men of to-day have their per
sons as well guarded as the Czar of
Eussia, to protect them from the
murderous cranks which now infest
the whole country.
Over seventy-two per cent, of the
population of India are of the Brahm-
unic religion, nineteen per cent. Mus
sulmans, three per cent, of Animistic
or aboriginal forms of worship, and
0.80 per cent, are returned as Chris
tians.
Otto Wells, a full-blooded Coman
che, who entered the Carlisle (Penn.)
Indian School in a blanket as a boy
pupil, stood up in a dress suit at the
school the other day to be married to
Miss Parkhurst, an Oneida girl. So
far as Lo is concerned civilization is
not a failure.
The street railroads of New York
City had, until the introduction of the
cable system, 20,000 horses in service,
and the total number of horses and
mules on American street railroad:
was not far from 400,000. Now, with
7000 miles of trolley roads, and over
1500 of cable, there is decidedly less
demand for horses and mules, and
correspondingly smaller demand for
hay for fodder.
It has been decided by an English
court that it is not libellous to call a
lady a woman. This recalls the fact
to the New York Tribune that in a
Western town a couple of years ago a
yougg^^BJajJ^gho^ worked as a clerk
~in a drygood store threatened, to sue a
newspaper for libel because it referred
to her as a saleswoman and not as a
saleslady. She did not carry out her
intention, however, as she was ad
vised that she hnd no case.
About ten years ago a number ol
Germans, who had migrated to the
Northwest, disgusted with the hard
ships of that cold country, determined
to remove to the South. They accord
ingly bought at $10 an acre a worn-
out plantation of some 2000 acres in
Lauderdale County, Alabama, and
settled there. They proceeded to im
prove. their property along practical
and intelligent lines. They cleared
away the broomsedge and planted
clover and grasses and began raising
cattle. ' They sold hay and small graiu.
They planted orchards and vineyards
and utilized the products in every avail
able way. The result is that the St.
Floriau colony is among the most
thrifty and prosperous communities in
the State of Alabama. Their land is
now worth at- least $-50 per acre and
they are happy and independent.
Professor Garner’s announcement
that his visit to Africa to study the
language^'! the monkeys has been en
tirely successful is necessarily of great
interest, observes the New York
Times. It is of the greater interest
because he has brought back with him
two chimpanzees, with whom ho
"claims” to have established conversa
tional relations, and with whom,-
doubtless, he will consent to converse
in public—not necessarily for publica
tion, but as a guarantee of good faith.
Of equal interest is his statement that
whence was anchored out. in a cage
in the middlo of an African forest,
eavesdropping on the circumambient
apes, he kept a phonograph, and by-
trick and device induced the monkeys
to talk into it. Their remarks will
doubtless be ground out again for the
benefit of learned societies, in the
wheezy and asthmatic tones into which
the phonograph converts all sounds.
The wages of train-robbery do not
seem to the San Francisco Chronicle
to bo large enough to make the pursuit
attractive. Within the last three
months there has been an epidemic of
this crime, but in nearly every case
the robbers have been run down and
either captured or shot-. Eveil where
bloodhounds are not used the fugitive
is placed at a terrible disadvantage,
as he is usually seeking to escape from
men who know every trail and hiding
place. Before the day of the telegraph
the criminal had some chance of elud
ing pursuit, but in the present day of
instant communication his lines are
not cast in pleasant places. It would
make a curious exhibit were one to
bring together the profit and loss of
train-robbery in a single year. It
would be found that the men who ex
pend rare skill for weeks in planning
a crime seldom realize anything for
their pains. An honest, piodding day
laborer makes more in a year than one
of the higher class criminals who risks
.life and liberty a dozen times for
petty gain* -----
LIFE,
Dining and sleeping j
Laughing and weeping,
Bighing for some new toy;
Loving and hating,
Wooing and mating,
Chasing the phantom, Joy,
Losing and winning,
* Praying and sinning,
Seeking a higher life ;
Hope and repining,
Shadow and shining,
Care, and worry, and strife.
Hoarding and wasting,
Loitering^ basting,
Missing the golden mark,
Praising and flouting,
Trusting and doubting—
Taking a leap in the dark.
—Clarence Henry Pearson.
TEE MARSEILLES CLOCKS.
HEBE is a
tradition in
Marseilles
that on a par
ticular night,
many years
ago, all the
clocks in that
city were put
forward one
hour—a tradition which is said to
have had its origin in the following
story:
There lived in the vicinity of that
city a M. Valette, a gentleman of an
cient family and of considerable for
tune. Ho had married Marie Dan
ville, daughter of the Mayor of the
city, and, with their two sons and two
daughters, dwelt in a beautiful villa
near the city—a seat which had been
the favorite residence of his ancestors.
As his children grew up, however,
he was induced to move to Paris,
which place both he and Mine. Valette
conceived to be more suited to the ed
ucation of their family. The removal
of M. Valette and of his family was
deplored by his tenantry, to whom he
had been ns a father, but particularly
as M. le Brun, whom he had left fac
tor on his estate, was,' though a just
man, of harsh and unaccommodating
temper.
M. Valette found it necessary in
Paris to adopt a mode of life which but
ill accorded with the moderation of
his fortune. He made frequent de
mands for renewed remittances upon
his factor; an .1 the latter was forced
to use rigorous and oppressive meas
ures to procure for his master the nec
essary means. The scanty vintage of
the preceding year had made such de
mands doubly hard to obey, and Le
Bruu became as odious to the tenantry
aB Valette had been respected and be
loved.
These circumstances were but little
known to Valette, or he would have
revolted from a manner of life which
wrung from his tenants almost all their
hard-earned snbstance. One night, as
lie slept in Paris, the form of his fac
tor appeared to him, covered with
blood, informing him that he had been
murdered by the tenantry onM. Va-
lettc’s estate for rigor in collecting his
revenue, and that his body had been
buried under a particular tree, which
it minutely described. The ghost of
Le Brun requested, moreover, that M.
Valette would immediately hasten to
Marseilles and deposit his remains in
t he grave of his ancestors. To this
request Valette assented, and the ap
parition at once disappeared.
The morning came to dissipate the
gloom which the vision of the night
had occasioned; nud though he had
been for some time astonished at-the
unusual silence of Lo Brun, yet he
could not help considering the whole
as a mere illusion, Stories of ghosts
he had always considered as fit only
for the nursery, To take so long a
journey on such an errand he knew
would be regarded as the height of su
perstition ; and ho made no mention
of the incident.
You are more thoughtful than us
ual, father,” said one of his daughters
to liim next morning at breakfast.
“I am thinking, my dear,” said M.
A alette, “why I have been so long in
hearing from Lc Brun. I need money
and my demands have not been met.”
Night came again, and about the
hour of midnight Le Brun again ap
peared. There was an evident frown
on his countenance, aud he inquired
of Valette why he had delayed in ful
filling his request. Valette again
promised immediate obedience, and
was. no longer disturbed by the unwel
come intruder. Morning came again.
“It must still be a dream,” said ho
to himself “though a remarkable one,
certainly. To-day will probably bring
me the expected letters froinLeBrnn. ”
The third night the vision appeared
with a teJrrible frown on its counten
ance. It. reproached Valette for his
want of friendship to the man whose
blood had been spilt in his cause, and
for disregarding the peace of his soul.
“H
you will grant me my request, ”
said the phantom, “I promise to give
you twenty-four hours’ warning of the
time of your own death, to arrange
your affairs and to make -your peace
with God.”
M. Valette promised in the most
solemn manner that he would set off
next morning for Marseilles, to exe
cute the commission; and the appari
tion of Lc Brun disappeared.
Valette rose early next day, and, al
leging to his family that business of
the most urgent necessity called him
immediately to Marseilles, departed
for the seat of his ancestors, after an
absence of ten years. There he found
that the narration of the murder of
Le Brun was but too true. Under the
tree that had been so minutely de
scribed to him he found the mangled
remains, which he caused to be de
cently interred in the family vault. In
vain, however, ho made search for the
murderers. The same causes which
occasioned the death of the unfortunate
Le Brun led the tenants to the most-
obstinate concealment of the manner
of it, and Valette saw, with horror and
regret, the misery they had suffered
that he might he furnished with the
means of extravagance.
“Had I imagined,” he exclaimed,‘
that my unsatisfactory - pleasures
would have cost so dear, I would long
since.have retired from Paris. I shall
return to my estate immediately, that
my children may learn to relish its
tranquil pleasures. ”
M. Valette no sooner returned to
Paris than he communicated bis reso
lution t 9 h|s wife, Mme, Yajette.
ing accomplished the principal object ! MRS. PEARY AT THE POLE.
of her residence in Pans—the educa
tion of her family—assented with
pleasure to a return, and in little more
than a year they found themselves
again in the chateau of their an
cestors.
About eight years after their return
from Paris, the family mansion de
manding repairs, they found it neces
sary to remove for some time to Mar
seilles, where they resided in the
house of M. Danville, the father of
Mme. Valette.
Time bad effaced the impression of
his dream from the mind of Valette.
Sitting one’ night after supper in the
midst of his family, a loud and sud
den knoexmg was heard at the gate;
but when the servant went to open it,
he found nobody without. After a
short interval the same loud knocking
was again heard, and one of Valette’s
sons accompanied the servant to the
gate to see who demanded admittance
at so unreasonable an hour. To their
astonishment no one was to be seen
there. A third time the knocking was
repeated, still louder and louder, and
a sudden thought darted across the
mind of Valette.
“I will go to the gate myself,” said
he; “I believe 1 know who it is that
knocks. ”
His presentiment was too truly re
alized.- As he opened the gate Lo
Brun appeared, and whispered to him
that next night at the same time—for
it was now the twelfth hour—he must
prepare himself to leave the world.
Then, waving his hand, as if to bid'
adieu, Le Brun disappeared.
M. Valette returned, ghastly as the
phantom he had seen, to the family
circle; and, upon their anxious and
urgent inquiries as to the cause of his
nneasiness, related for the first time
the incident of the dream and the
promised warning he had just received.
A sudden gloom and melancholy was
spread over the faces of all present.
Mme. Valette threw her arms round
the neck of her husband and embraced
him with tears. M. Danville, how?
'ever, obstinately declared his incred
ulity, and considered the whole as one
of those unaccountable illusions to
which even the strongest minds are
sometimes liable. He declared his
son-in-law must he the victim of
some delusion, and, although he could
not account for his dream, said that
this last vision must be mere imagina
tion.
No sooner had M. Valette retired to
his apartment than M. Danville en
deavored to impress the same opinion
on the family of his son-in-law. Ap
prehensive lest the very presentiment
of the event might occasion it, or at
least be attended by disagreeable con
sequence, he thought of a device
which, as Mayor of the city, it was in
his power easily to accomplish. This
was to cause all the clocks’ of Mar
seilles to be put forward one hour,
that they might strike the predicted
hour of twelve next night when it
should be only eleven; so that when
the time set by the ghost should be
believed by Valette to have passed
over w’ithout any event supervening,
ho might be persuaded to give up the
fancies with which he was so deeply
impressed.
Next day the unhappy Valette made
every effort to arrange his worldly af
fairs, had his will executed in duo
legal form, received the sacrament,
and prepared himself for the awful
event he anticipated. The evening ap
proached. From a large open window
which looked into a beautiful garden,
he saw the sun go down, as he believed,
for the last time.
The lamps were now lighted in the
ball, and he sat in the midst of his
family and partook of the last supper
which, ho believed, he was to eat upon
earth. The clocks of Marseilles tolled
the eleventh hour.
“My dearest Marie,” said he to Mme.
Valette, “I have now only one hour
to live. There is but one hour be
twixt me and eternity.”
It approached. There was an un
usual silence in the company, The
twelfth hour struck, when, rising up,
he exclaimed:
“Heaven have mercy on me! My
time is come.”
Ho heard the hour distinctly rung
out by all the bells in Marseilles.
“The Angel of Death,” said he, “de
lays his coming. Could all have been
a delusion? No, it is impossible!”
“The ghost,” said M. Danville, in a
tone of irony, “has deceived you. He
is a lying prophet. Are you not yet
safe? The whole thing is the illusion
of an unhealthy imagination. ■ Yon
should banish, my friend, a thought
which so completely overwhelms yon. ”
“Well,” rejoined Valette, “God’s
will he done! I shall retire to my
chamber and spend the night in grate
ful prayer for so sigual a. deliver
ance.”
After Saving been nearly an hour in
his chamber M. Valette remembered
that he had left unsigned in his library
a document ’ of importance to his
family, to which it was necessary his
name should he affixed. In passing
from his bed-chamber to the library
he hnd to cross by the head of a flight
of stairs which led immediately down
to the wine-celler. At this spot he
heard a faint murmur of voices below,
and instantly ran down to the bottom
of the stairs to ascertain the cause.
No sooner had he descended than an
unseen hand stabbed him to the heart.
At this moment the clocks in Mar
seilles struck one in the morning, or.
ns it really was, twelve at night—the
exact time predicted by Lo Bruu.
The celler of M. Danville had bees
broken into by robbers, who, perceiv
ing themselves discovered, saw nc
other means of escape than by mur
dering the ill-fated Valette. by whom
they had. been surprised. These men
were unconscious instruments in the
hand of fate.—Argonaut. __
Chinese Executions.
At Canton, China, the average num
ber of executions is about 300 per
year, but in 1885 50,000 rebels were
beheaded. Females are sometimes
strangled and the worst criminals are
nailed upon a cross. Sometimes the
sentence directs that the criminal
while living shall be cut into a number
of pieces, which' number never ex
ceeds thirty-six. The headsman for
merly received $4 a head, hut the sup
ply and competition lias reduced the
’wage to fifty cents apiece. Most of'
the criminals who are belieadpd are
Life Among the Eskimos—Comical
Adventure With a Baby Walrus
—Eskimo Method of Osculation.
BS. JOSEPHINE PEAByI
the wife of the explorer,
has published a journal of
her twelve months’ experi
ence on the shore of McCormick Bay,
midway between the Arctic Circle and
the North Pole. She is the only white
woman who ever penetrated so far
within the frozen zone as did the
members of Lieutenant Peary’s last
expedition. The most interesting
chapters in the book are those which
Mrs. Peary devotes to the manners
and mode of life of the Eskimos with
whom she came in contact.
These natives belong to a little tribe
of about 350 individuals completely
isolatedfrom the rest of the world,
and dwelling on the northwest coast
of Greenland. They are separated by
hundreds of miles from their neigh
bors, with whom they have no inter
course whatever. They had never
seen a white woman before, and some
of them had never beheld a civilized
being.
The steamer Kite, which left New
York on June 6, 1891, landed Lieu
tenant Peary and his party near Whale
Sound, and a oamp was built here and
named Bedcliffe. The sailors went in
search of an Eskimo settlement, and
brought back several of the natives,
who were induced to live at Bedcliffe
for nearly a year. Mrs. Peary says
they were the queerest, dirtiest-look-
ing individuals she had ever seen. Clad
entirely in furs,- they reminded her
more of monkeys than of human be
ings. Ikwa, the first man who came,
was covered with a garment made of
bird skins, the feather work next the
body, and outside of this a garment
made of sealskin, with the fur on the
outside. The two were patterned ex-
! actly alike, made to fit to the figure,
| cut short at the hips and coming to a
! point hack and front. A close-fitting
! hood wa3 sewed to tho neck of each
| garment, and invariably pulled over
i his head when Ikwa was out of doors,
j His legs were covered with sealskin
trousers reaching just below the knee,
where they were met by tanned seal
skin boots. Mrs. Peary learned later
that sealskin trousers were worn only
by those men who were not '-fortunate
enough or able to kill n bear.
The woman’s dress differed from the
man’s in pattern only in the back,
where an extra width is sewed in,
which forms a pouch extending the
entire length of the back of the
wearer and fitting tight around the
hips. In this pouch or hood the baby
is carried; its little body, covered
only by » shirt reaching to the waist
made of the skin of a young blue fox,
is placed against the bare back of the
mother, and the head, covered by a
tight-fitting skull cap made of seal
skin, is allowed to rest against the
mother's shoulder. Mrs. Peary
writes:
“Early iu the morning Ikwa came
running into our house apparently
much excited, crying, ‘Awick, awick!’
This we had learned was walrus. The
boys tumbled out. of their beds and in
a very few moments were in the boat
with Ikwa, pulling in the direction of
a spouting walrus out in McCormick
Bay. In a short time they returned
with a large mother walrus and her
baby in tow. The mother had been
killed, hut the baby—a round bundle
of fat- about four feet long—was alive,
and very Muck so, as we found out a
little later. Mr. Peary wanted to get
photographs of the little thing before
it was shot, and the boys left the baby
walrus about a hundred yards up on
the beach. Suddenly we heard cries
of help coming from the shore. On
stepping to the window I saw one of
the most comical sights I have ever
seen.
“The little walrus was slowly but
surely making his way to the waters
of the bay. Mane, with her baby on
her back, was sitting in the sand, her
heels dug into it as far as she could
get them, holding on to the line at
tached to the walrus without ap
parently arresting its progress in the
least, for she was being dragged
through the gravel and sand quite
rapidly. While I looked, Matt came
rushing to her assistance, and taking
hold of the line just ahead of where
Mane held it, he gave it one or two
turns about his wrists and evidently
thought all he had to do would he to
dig his heels into the s md and hold
hack; but in an instant he was down
in tho sand too, and both he and
Mane were plowing along, the sand
flyiug, aud both shouting lustily for
help. So strong was this little
creature that, had the other hove not
rushed out and secured him, he would
easily have pulled Matt and Mane to
the water’s edge, where, of course,
they would have let him go, and he
would have been a free walrus once
more. ”
Mrs. Peary spent a Thanksgiving
Day at Bedcliffe, and by that time
there were several native women about
the place. She writes:
“The native whom Ikwa brought
back, with him from Koati is named
Mahoatehia, and Ikwa says that he and
the one-eyod bear hunter, Mekhtoshay,
exchange wives with each other eveiy
year.
* ‘While I am writing two native
women, M’gipsu, wife of Annowkah,
with her baby on her back, and Tooky-
mingwah, the twelve-year-okl girl, are
both sitting tailorrfashion on the floor,
chewing deerskins. Thenative method
of treating the skins of all animals in
tended for clothing is first to rid them
of as much fat as can be got oft' by
scraping with a knife; then they are
stretched as tight as possible and al
lowed to become perfectly dry. After
this they are taken by the women and
chewed and sucke 1 all over, in order
to get as much of the grease outas pos
sible. Chewing the skins is very hard
on the women. They cannot chew
more than two deerskins per day, and
are obliged to rest their jaws every
other day.”
Writing iii her journal just before
Christmas.Dav, Mi-3. Peary says-:
“M’gipsu is sitting;.on the floor in
:oy room Hewing. ancl her hnsba'nd,
. jmowkali, comes'iii as often as he can
And excuse for doing so. Be fro?
piently rubs his face against liers, and
at each • other r this takes
water pirates or load bandits.-wPhi- ikey sniffle at oacb other; this takes this year ;
pa#) Sftr&ia. . v :\ ' t the place pf hissing, I should think amount to
they could smell ooeh other without
doing this, hut they are probably s-j
accustomed to the—to me—terribla
odor that they fail to notice it. ”
Mrs. Peary spent thirteen months al
Bedcliffe, and she says sfe> fcilt home;,
siek when she finally packed up her
things to return fe civilization.—New
York World. ’ :
WISE W0K9*.
Where there are no tarn* oat
will be king.
The collector of mummies will in
time be one.
The ignorant are never defeated in
any argument.
When the sense of Ghame is lost ad
vancement ceases.
Genins hears one individual and then
comprehends ten.
With a mote in the eya ■ one cannot
see the Himalayas.
Before trying horseback one should
learn to ride on oxen.
Negligence looks at the b.’.Y’eliell,
"then makes its arrows.
Give to the hero the jewelled sword;
to the beauty, perfume.
Be not lenient to your own faults;
keep your pardon for others.
A 1000-foot embankment will be
broken by the hole of an ant.
Who steals goods is called a thief;
who steals dominions a ruler.
The fish which escapes from the
hook seems always the largest.
The hat, hanging upside down,
laughs at the topsy-turvey world.
Society, more a stepmother than a
mother, adores the children who flatter
her vanity.
Seeking information is a moment’s
shame; hut not to learn is surely a
lasting shame.
He who does not bestride success
and grasp it firmly by the mane lets
fortune escape.
Next to the pleasure of admiring the
woman we love is that of seeing her
admired by others.
Sit in quite and consider your oven
faults; do not spend yonf time in dis
cussing those of others.
If the water be too pure fish cannot
live in it j if people he too exacting
fellow-beings cannot stand beside
them.
If the mind is clear even in a dark
room there will he a radiance; if the
thought is dark, at noonday there will
be demons.
Superiority of American Fruit.
On the subject of fruit growing in
America, Mr. de Yilmorin, a famous
French pomologist, said: ‘ ‘It is evi?
dent that much attention is being
given, and with handsome pecuniary
results, to the growing of fruit in this
country, hut more especially in tho
State of California. The display of
fruit at the World’s Fair after August
and continuing to the close of the Ex?
position was probably the finest and
most extensive and varied that was
ever brought together. I find that a
great deal of attention is being given
to the subiect in each State, not only
by private independent growers, but
by the local horticultural and agricul?
tural organizations, and f»y the aid of
the experimental stations supported
by the different States and by the Na
tional Government. Through this sys
tematic organization a comparative
study of the fruit developed and tho
adaptability of particular varieties to
particular States and sections of the
country are intelligently determined.
With this study of the influence of lo?
cal conditions is associated iiivestiga?
tion as to the particular insects most
destructive to different species, and
much knowledge is gained of a valua
ble nature with regard to fungus dis
eases, so that fruit-growers are famil
iar with all the recent appliances
which science has discovered to aid
them against their enemies. Iu con
clusion, I may say that more attention
seems to be paid and to better pur
pose to fruit-growing in this country
than in most European countries. The
apples, peaches and grapes exhibited
by the different States at the World’s
Fair and i’effewed by daily contribu
tions from exhibitors, was one of tlie
striking features of the conduct of
that department. Large consignments
of fruit were sent every morning from
different States, so that the specimens
should he kept fresh all the time, and
their display gave, not only proofs of
successful cultivation, but of enter
prise and organization which it would
not he possible to match in any other
part of the world.” — New York
Tribune.
Bise ami Fall ffx Clipper Ships.
Clipper ships were first built in 1840,
at the time when English steamships
were beginning to take business away
from the Yankee packets. Tho latter
had been the rulers of tho seas from
the establishment of the Black Ball line
in 1816. That was just after Uncle
Sam’s rights on the high seas had been
vindicated by the outcome of the War
of 1812. The first clippers were built
for speed, regardless of carrying ca
pacity, but were not very profitable,
because of their small, freight and their
structural weakness.
They were called into being by the
demands of the California trade, and
in 1851 the secret of building swift
ships that were also stanch and ca
pacious was solved by the Challenge,
the Invincible, the Comet and the
Swordfish. These vessels were of enor
mous size tor those days, the Challenge
being of 2000 tons, and their appear
ance was beautiful in the extreme.
The arrival in the Port of New York of
a clipper that had won repute as a fast
sailer always .excited the wildest and
most patriotic enthusiasm. She caused
corresponding emotions of chagrin
when she touched at British ports.
Nor was the advantage altogether sen
timental, for the swift Yankee ships
could command much higher freigfRs
than slow-British vessels, $30 a ton
freight being readily paid to American
skippers from. China to 1 Liverpool,
while $20 was’thought enough Jor En
glish masters. Hadit not beenj’or tho
fact that the English were first'?’ - to use
iron in building steamships, and i ke
destructive work of-the Alabama during
the Givil ’War, America might yet be sn -
ipreme on the wave. —New York Times.
ported*: 0,000,
this yeariti
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE’S SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject: “The Morning Star."
.....a , tin! i
eim- r ; v
Text: "J am Ilic bright 'and ike morning
star."—Revelation xxii.. 1C.
This is Christmas Eve. Our attention and
the attention of the world is drawn to the
star that pointed down to the caravansary
where Christ was born. But do not let u3
forget that Christ himself was a star. To
that luminous fact my text calls us.
It seems as if the natural world were
anxious to makeup for the damage it did out
race in iilmis’uing the forbidden fruit,
that fruit wrought death among the Nations,
c now all the natural product shall become a
symbol of blessing. The showering down of
the wealth of tho orchard will make asthma
of him whom Solomon describes as the apple
tree among the trees of the wood, and the
flowers of tangled glen and cultured parterre
shall be the dew glinted garland for the brow
of the Lord Jesus. Yea, even the night Bhall
be taxed, and its brightest star shall be set
as a gem in the coronet of our holy rsligion.
Have you ever seen the morning star ad
vantageously? If it was on your way home
from a night’* carousal, you saw none of its
beauty. IF you merely turned over on your
pillow in the darkness, glancing out of the
window, yon know nothing about the
cheerful influence of that star. But there are
many in this house to-night who in great
passes of their life, some of them far out at
sea, have gazed at that star and been thrilled
through with indescribable gladness. That
star comes trembling as though with the
perils of the darkness, and yet bright with
tho anticipations of the day. It seems.emo
tional with all tenderness, its eye3 fill with
tho tears ol many sorrows. It is the gem on
the bands' of the morning thrust up to signal
its coming. Others stais are dim, like hoiy
candles in a cathedral or silver beads count
ed in superstitious litany, bnt this is a living
stars, a speaking star, a historic star, an
evangelistic star—bright and brilliant and
triumphant symbol of the great Redeemer.
Thetelegraphicoperatorputs his Anger on tne
silver key of the electric instrument, and tho
tidings fly across tho continent. And so it
seems to mo that the Huger of inspiration is
placed upon this silvsr point in the heavens,
and its thrill through all the earth. “Be
hold I bring you good tidings o[ great joy
to all people. Behold, 1 am tho bright and
morning star.” The meaning of my text is
this: As tho morning star precedes and
promises the coming of the day, so Christ
heralds the natural aud spiritual dawn.
In the first place, Christ heralded the com
ing of the creation. There was a time when
there was no order, no sound or beauty. No
wing stirred. No word was uttered. No
light sped. As far as God could look up, as
far out; tliero was nothing. Immeasureablo
solitude. Height and depth and length and
breadth of nothingness. Did Christ then
exist? Oh, yes. “By him were ail things
made that are made-; things in heaven and
things in earth and things uuder the earth.”
Yes, ha antedated Ihocreation. He ledforth
Arcturus and his sons. He shone before the
first morning. His voice was heard in the
concert when the morning stars serenaded
the advent of our infant earth, when, wrapped
in swaddling clothes of light, it iuy in the
arms of the great Jehovah. He saw the first
fountain laid. He saw the flrstlight kindled.
That hand which was afterward crushed
updn the cross was thrust into chaos, andit
brought out one world and swung it iu that
orbit, and brought out another world and
swung it in another orbit, and brought out
all the worlds and swung them iu their
particular orbits. They came like sheep
at the cajl of a shepherd. They knew
his voice, and lie called them all by
their names. Oh, it is an interesting
thought to mo to know that Christ had some
thing to do with the creation. I see now
why it was so easy for Him to change Water
into wine. Ho first created tho water. I
see now why it was so easy for Him to euro
the maniac. He first created the intellect. I
see now why it was so easy for Him to hush
the tempest. He sank Geunesaret. I see
now why it was so easy for Him to swing fish
into Simon’s net. He made the fish. I see
now why it was so easy for Him to give sight
to the blind man. He Created the optic nerve.
I see now why it was so easy for Him to raise
Lazarus from tho dead. He created the
body of Lazarus aiid the roek that Shut him
in. Some suppose that Christ Came a stranger
to Bethlehem. Ob. no. He created the
shepherds, and the flocks they watched, and
the hills on which they pastured, and the
heavens that overarched their heads, and the
angels that chanted the chorus on that Christ
mas night. That hand which was afterward
nailed to the cross, was an omnipotent and
creative hand and the whole universe was
poised on the tip of one of His fingers. Be
fore the world was Christ was. All the
world came trooping Up out of the darkness,
and Ho greeted them, as a father greets his
children, with a “good morning,” or a “good
Uight.” Hail. Lord Jesiis, morning star of
tho first creation.
Again, Christ heralds the dawn of comfort
id a Christian soul. Sometimes we come to
passes in life where all kinds of tribulations
meet Us. Yon are building Up some great
enterprise. You have built tho foundation—
the wall—you are just about to put on the
capstone, When everything is demolished.
You have a harp all strung for sweetest ac
cord, aiid some great agony crushes it.
There is a little voice hushed m tho house
hold. Blue eve closed. Color dashed out o.
the check: The loot still Instead of the
quick ioet in tho hall, the Heavy (read o
those who march to the grave. O i. wbai
lip until the blood comes. Some wring their
pale hands. Some fall on their faces!" Some
lie on their backs helpless and look Up into
what seems to them an unpitying heaven.
Some pull their hair down over their eyes
and look through with a fiend’s glare. Some,
with both hands, press their hot brain and
want to die and cry, “O God, O God!”
Long night, bitter night, stupendous night
of the world’s suffering! Some know not
which way to turn. Butnot so the Christian
mail. He looks no toward tho heavens. Ho
sees a bright appearance in tho heavens.
Can it bo only a flashing meteor? Can it he
only a falling star? Can it be only a delu
sion? Nay. nay. The longer he looks the
more distinct it becomes, until after
awhile he cries out, “A star—a morn
ing star, a star of comfort, a star
of graee, a star of peace, tho star of
the Redeemer!” Peace for all trouble.
Balm for\ all wounds. Life for all dead.
Now Jesus, the groat heart healer, comes
into our home. Peace! Peace that passeth
all understanding. We look up through our
tears. We are comforted. It is the morn
ing star of the Redeemer. “Who broke off
that flower?” said one servant in the garden
to another. “Who broke off that flower?”
Andthe other servant said, “The master.”
Nothing more was said, for if the master had
not a right to broak off a flower to wear over
his heart or to set in the vase of his mansion,
who has a right to touch the flower? And
when Christ comes down into our garden to
guther lilies, shall we fight Him back? Shall
we talk as though Ho hud no right to come?
If any one in all the universe has a right to
lhat which is beautiful in our homes, then
our Master has, and He will take It and He
will wear it over His heart, or He will set it
in the vase of the palace eternal. “The
Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away:
blessed he the name of the Lord.” Peace,
troubled soul! I put the balm on your
wounded soul to-night. The morning star,
the morning star of the Redeemer.
Again, Christ heralds the dawn of millen
nial glory. It is flight in China, night in In
dia, night in Siberia, night for the vast ma
jority of the world’s population. But it
seems to me there are some intimations of
the morning. All Spain is to be brought
under the influence of the gospel. What is
that light I see breaking over the top ci the
Pyrenees? The morning I Yea, all Italy
shall receive the .gospel. She shall have
her schools and her colleges and her
churches. Her vast population shall
surrender themselves to Christ. What is that
light I see breaking over the top of the Alps?
The morning;- All India shall come to God.
Her idols shalLbe cast down. Her jugger
nauts shall be broken. Her tgmple3 of in
iquity shall be demolished.: Jyhat is that
light I see breaking o ver thetop of the Him
alayas? The morning. The empurpled
clouds shall gild the path of the conquering'
clay.. The Hottentqi will coine;out'i> r * ’
hovel to look at the dawn • •
-issnss 6n tfcq graffiti
is i-onks”
owded?
come oUMo seo tin
ofjju^orld’s ago:
tsred under tropical sun?. These shivered
uuder Icelandic temperature. These plucked
the vineyards in Italy. These packed the
teaboxes in. China. These were aborigines
lifting up their dusky faces in thedawn. And
the wind shall waft if, an l every mountain
shalljbScomea transfiguration, and the sea
wilflooeomo the w liking place of him who
‘.rod the waYMctiff? of stormy Tiberias, ani
the song of joy sli ill rise :o-.v ir-.l heaven, aud
the great sky will become a sounding board
which shall strike backthsshout of salvation
to the earth until it rebounds again to the
throne of the Almighty, and the morning
star of Christian horn will beeo.no tho lull
sunburst of millennial glory.
Again, Christ heralds the dawn q: heaven
upon every Chrlslian’s dying pillow. I sup
pose you have novice,i that the character
istics 'of people in their healthy days are
very apt to be their characteristics in their
dying days. The dying words of ambitious
Napoleon were. “Head of the army.” The
dying words of poetic Lord Byron were, “d
must sleep now.” The dying words of
affectionate Lord Nelson were, “Kiss liie.
Hardy.” The dying words of Voltaire were,
as ho saw one whom ho supposed to be
Jesus in the room, “Crash that wretch.”
But I have noticed that tho dying words oi
Christians always mean peace. Generally
the pain is all gone, and there is great
quietude through the room. As one ol
these brothers told me of his mother in the
last moment: “She looked up and said,
pointing to some supernatural being that
seemed to be in the room, ‘Look at that
bright form. Why, they have ecaie for me
now.’”
The lattice is turned so that tile light is
very pleasant. It is peace ail aronDd. You
ask yourself. “Why, can this he it dying
room? It is so different from anything I
ever expected.” And you walk the floor,
and you look -out of the window, and you
come back and look at your watch, and you
look at tho face of the patient again, aud
thero is no change, except that the face is
becoming more radiant, more illuminated.
The wave of death seems coming up higher,
and higher, until it has touched the ankle,
then it comes on up until it touilies the
knee, aud then it comes on up until
it reaches tho girdle, and then it come3
on up until it reaches tho lip,
and the soul is about to bo floated away intc
glory, and you roll back the patient’s sleeve,
and you put your linger on the pulse, and it
is getting weaker and weaker, and the pulse
stops, and you hardJy know whother tho life
has gone or not. Indeed, you cannot tel]
when sho goes away, she goes away so calm
ly. Perhaps it is 4 o’clock in tho morning,
md you have tho bed wheeled around to
the window, and tl is dying one looks out
into tho night sky. and sho sees something
that attracts her attc ntion, and you wonder
what it is.
Why, it is a star. Jt is a star that out Ol
its silver rim is pouring a supernatural light
into that dying experience. And you say,
“What is it that you are looking at?” She
says, “It is a star.” You say, “What star is
it that seoms so weilto please you?” “Oh.”
sho says, “that is tho morning star—Je3us!”
I would like to have my death bed under
that evangelistic star—I would like to have
my eye on lhat star, so I could bo assured of
the morniug. Then the dash of the surf of
the sea of death would only be the billowing
up of the promise. “When thou passest
through the waters, I will he witii thee, and
tho rivers, they shall not overflow thee.”
All other lights will fail— the light that falls
from the scroll of facte, the light that flashes
from the gem iu the beautiful apparel, the
light that flames from the burning lamps of
a banquet—but this light burns on andburns
on. Paul kept his eye on that morning star,
until ho could say: “I am now ready to be
offered, and the time of my departure is al
hand. I have fought the good fight. I have
finished my course. I have kept the faith.”
Edward Paysou kept his eye on that star
until be could say, “The breezes of heaven
fan me.” Dr. Goodwin kept his oyo on that
evangelistic star until he could say, “I am
swallowed.up in GoJ.” John Tennant kepi
his eye on that evangelistic star until he
could say, “Woleome, sweet Lord Jesus-
welcome, eternity.” No other star ever
pointed a mariner into so safe a harbor. Nc
other star ever sunk its silvered anchor intc
the waters. No other star ever pierced such
accumulated cloud, or beckoned with suck a
holy luster.
With lanterns and torches and a guide. w>’.
went down in the Mammoth cave, of Ken
tucky. You may walk fourteen miles and se?
no sunlight. It is a stupendous place. Home
places the roof of the cave a hundred feet
high. The grottoes flllod with weird echoes,
cascades falling from invisible height to in
visible depth. Stalagmites rising up from
tho floor of the cave—stalactites descending
from the roof of the cave, joining each
'other, and making pillars oi the Almighty’s
sculpturing. There are rosettes of amethyst
in hails of gypsum. As the guide carries his
lantern ahead of you, tho shadows have an
appearance supernatural and spectral. The
darkness is fearful. Two people, getting
lost from their guide only for a few hoars,
years ago. were demented, and for years sat
in their insanity. You feel like holding
your breath as you walk across the bridges
that seem to span the bottomless
abyss. The guide throw? his calcium light
down into tho caverns, and the light rolls
and tosses from rock to rock and from depth
to depth making at every plunge a new rev
elation of the awful power that could have
made such a place as that
A sense of suffocation comes upon you as
roll think that you are 250 feet in a straight
line from tho snnlit surface of the earth. The
guide after awhile takes you.into what is
:alled the “Star Chamber,” and then he
says to you, “Sit here,” ami then he takes
the lantern and goes down under tho roeks,
and it gets darker and darker, until the night
is so thick that tho hand an inch from the
eye is Unobservable. And then, by kindling
me of the lanterns and placing it in a cleft
:: me roek, tnero is a reflection cast on tne
dome of the cave, and there are stars com
ing out in constellations—a brilliant night
heavens—and you involuntarily exclaim
’‘Beautiful! beautiful 1” Then ho takes the
intern down in other depths, of the cavern,
and wanders on, and wanders off, until he
eomes up from behind ttie rocks gradually,
and it seems like file dawn of rite morning,
and it gets brighter and brighter. Tho guide
is a skilled ventriloquist and lie imitates the
voices of the morniu.r. and soon the gloom
is all gone, and you stand congratulating
yourself ovor the wonderful spectacle. Well,
thero are a great many people who look d own
mto the grave as a great cavern. They think
I; js a thousaud miles subterraneous, and all
echoes seem to be the voices of despair, and
tho cascades seem to be tho falling tears that
always fall, andthe gloom oi earth seems com
ing up in stalagmite, and the gloom of the
eternal world seems descending in the stalac
tite. making pillars of indescribable horror.
The grave is no such place at that to me,
thank God.
Our Divine Guido takes us down into the
great caverns, and we have the lamp to our
feet and the light to our path, and all the
echoes in the rifts of the roek are anthems,
and all tho falling waters are fountains of
salvation, and after awhile we look up and,'
behold! the cavern of tho tomb has become
a king’s star chamber. Aud while wo arc
looking at tho pomp of it an everlasting
morning begins to rise, aud all tho tears of
earth crystallize into stalagmite, rising up
in a pillar on the one side, aud all the glo
ries of heaven seem to’ be descending iD
stalactite, making a pillar on the
other side, and you push against
the gate that swings between
the two pillars, and as the gate flashes open
veu find it is one of the twelve gates wbicu
are twelve pearls. Blessed be God that
through this gospel the mammoth cave of
the sepulchre has become the illumined Star
Chamber of the King!
I would God that if my sermon to-day
does not l6ad you to Christ, that before
morning, looking out of the window, the
astronomy of the night heavens . might lead
you to the feet of Jesus.
Hark! Hark! To God the chorus breaks ■
Prom every host, from every gem;
But one alone, the Savior speaks--
Is the Star of Bethlehem.
The Governor of Alaska writes, m
answer to a private inquiry touching the.
condition of that Territory in this season
of depression, that the great indns’
of the country have been fairly -
perous this year. • t The Tjsherie.3,
yielded well, and the .catch Of
log animals was good, -Many^.
digo-ino's have been discovered,-and
have yielded ,Ltr beyond expert
The timber intere>ts are, ■ bantperr
aw that prohibits tlih shi.pimmt;
mr out ol the terrimiy. lu cons
*~ hi? It docs uotApay to
HH!
Tie PMlososlier Luxuriating in the
Sunny Land oi Flowers,
He is Delighted in the Surroundings of
His Temporary Winter Home.
Clear Water Harbor.—It is a glorious com
fort this winter weather to bask in the sun
shine of the gulf by day and luxuriate iu
the moonlight on the waves by night. No
wonder that Tom Ochiltree was inspired to
say to the yankee lady in Galveston, who was
in ecstasies over our moonlght: “Ah. mad-
ame, you should have seen onr moons beforo
the war.” We do not know what kind of weath
er you have had the past week in north Geor
gia, bnt it must have been right bitter for it
iB cool enough here to enjoy fires in tho early
morn, and these people are apologizing for it
as though they were afraid the weather would
hurt our feelings. This delightful climate is
a good part of their capital stock, and always
will he. Money is nothing when compared
with good health, and 1 ruminated over this
when all night long I heard the consumptive*
coughing in their berths on the sleeper~as we
came down. They were coming to Florida to
die or perhaps prolong their lives. That the
climate is good for all lung diseaies or bronchial
affections I have no doubt, for the grip has
certainly left me since my arrival, and the
little orphan, for whose sake we came, seems like
a new child. She is bright and happy all the
time, and has ceased to cough. We were all
caught iD a hard rain at Tampa, and I was
alarmed for the child, but no harm camo of it.
Yesterday we came over here from Tampa by
private conveyance, thirty miles. It i3 only
half that distance by a straight line, but
Tampa bay'was between and we had to circle
its northern boundary. We could have trav
eled by rail, but it was 120 miles by Lacoochee
and ten hours’ lay oyer there, or we could have
gone down to St. Petersburg by boat and from
there by rail next morning, and so we choose
the piney woods, and were delighted with the
journey. It is a beautiful road, about eight
feet wide and quite firm for a snmiy country.
It is wide enough, for the houses are
ten miles apart, and we passed but one vehicle
the entire journey. At some places the bay is
in view, and at others there are small lakes,
with white cranes adorning them for orna
ments. We saw fox Fquirrels and. quail along
the road and ran upon two buzzards who were
greedily dissecting a monster rattlesnake, that
somebody had killed the day before. The girls
wanted the rattles, but the driver had no knife
and I would not put mine into the venomous
carcass. Its head had not been mashed and
was as large as a buiscuit, nor was there any
sign to show how it had been killed. No tracks
of feet, no stick, no stone. If ilie buzzards did
not kill it it must have been shot from a ve
hicle, for we did meet some Tampa hunters,
one of whom told us be shot a rattler that had
seventeen. rattles, and left him in the road.
The one wo saw had only seven, but rattles do
increase in numbers as the story is repeated.
A day’s journey through these piney woods is
very monotonous. We longed for a change of
scenery, a hill, a creek, a few rocks or stones,
a noise, a habitation, with dogs to bark. At
one house where there was a luxuriant orange
grove we stopped to inquire the way, and the
whole family came to the front. I have no
idea that the children had seen any st^an germ ——
a month, and it was a feast to them. The
house was a miserable hovel, but it was a shat
ter, and that is all that the average piney
woods settler wants. But, as we neared the
gulf, we found some pleasant homes, and a
better class of people. I said to our ho3t,
“what is the name of the man who lives three
and a half miles from here in a large white
house?” He came to tho gate and took his hat
eff to the ladies, as wo stopped to ask some
questions-
“Oh, that is little Dan McMullen.” said he.
“There is little Dan and big Dan and Uncle
Dan aud some other Dan, and there is Jiih
McMullen and Jimmie McMullen and
Jimmy Jim McMullen and a few more,
but no Jim Jams. They are all clever
people,. who came here before the war, anrf
have multiplied and named most of the b6y
children Dan or Jim.”
Clear Water is a hamlet of three or four hun-
dred people. It is on a bluff that is from twen
ty to thirty feet above the water and overlooks
the little islands and the dark green waters of
the gulf that lie between and beyond them.
This bluff is ornamented with a dense growth
of moss-covered oaks aDd hickories, while just
behind them are the beautiful homes of wealthy
people who winter tliere. All around are or
ange trees laden with golden fruit, fruit that
is not enough for sale, but abundant for use.
From almost every residence tliere is a plank
staircase descending to the beach and a walk to
a bath house that is a hundred yards out in the
water. Boats are near at hand for rowing or
riding or sailing at your pleasure- The wharf
is still farther from the shore, and from there
you can see the porpoisee-turning their somer
saults among the schools of mullet. . One of
them was shot this morning and brought
ashore—a huge black monster, with a snout
and teeth just like a long-nosed hog. Tarpons
are caught here, and sharks are not uncommon
in the passes between the islands. But these
sharks are not maneaters, though I heard that
a boy made a narrow escape from one last snm-
mtr. Boys frequently go in bathing near the
islands while the sharks are in sight, and it is
easy to drive them away. In fact, everything
is afraid of hnm&n kind, except when driven by
some hard necessity. I don’t belibve in the
horrible narratives about lions and bears and
sharks and snakes.
Clear Water is a very old place that has re
cently taken on new life on account of its
health and beauty of location, and its summer
breezes that blow softly from the gulf. These
wealthy people represent nearly as many states
as these are homes on the bluff. They are
kind and courteous, and seemed pleased to offer
to us the privileges of Iheir bath houses.
Most of them are past middlo age and have
retired from active business. Their houses
and gronntfs are beautiful, bnt there is no
ostentations display and no frigid seclusion.
There is a shell mound near the bluff that oc
cupies about an acre of ground, but it is grad
ually disappearing, as the shells are taken away
for paving streets and other uses. The origin
of this mound is hidden away hack in the cen
turies when tho Indians were lords of this land
and this was their seat of government. The
rains of Fort Harrison are very near a fort that
our government established during the Seminole
war. All this region for some miles around is
rich in soil, 4 mueh'riclier than the piney woods.
In fact, the pines are scarce and in thoir stead
are seen oaks aud hickories and palmettoes and
a growth of chapparal that is almost impene
trable.
Everything seems strange to those who have
not visited Florida. A stroll along this bluff
with the beautiful honses and groves behind
you and the green sea of waters before you,
and the shell-covered beach below you. with the
balmv breath of the tropics inflating yonr lungs,
one feels like he has just found the fairy land
that we read about in our childhood. I think
that I shall buy a lot here and get somebody
with Aladdin’s lamp to build me a house in a -
night- No I won’t, either, for I am happy
where I live and I don’t eoe anybody that.is
bapp ; er even in the gorgeous halls of Tampa Bay
hotel. It is weU to admire everything that is
beautiful, but fine homes and gardens and syl
van views do not bring contentment,, thof&h
they may conceal the skeleton that is in toe
closet. As we journeyed from Lake City to
Tampa along the Florida Central railroad we
were charmed with the lakes and groves that
alternate that beautiful country. When we
rode around Tampa with our hospitable friend,
Mr. Fall, we wi re charmed again. Our stay .at ~
the Palmetto house was made pleasant in every
way, aHd now we are delighted here. - But with
all this I am not happy—delighted, but hot
happy, for my horns is broken, my lpved ones
scattered, and when I return it will still'"be ...
broken, for some will remain here, and that
little child who is my comfort and • delight wilt
soon forget me. I sing the old song f
"This world is all a fleeting fjhow
For man’s illusion given.”
Bilii Abp, in Atlanta.Constitution.
heir Eeslgnations Annouucetl.
of ThurEday from
he vice-president . ’ 7 '
jmties announced ' :
-o -p^gdejir ~ • - 7 :