Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

She JJlonf§owetg Jttomtor. D. 0. SUTTON, Editor and Tfop’r. DR. TALMAGE'S SERMON. THE GENUINE HARDSHIPS OP THE WORKING CLASSES. ; "So the carpenter encouraged th: p:»usraitli, and lie that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil.-»lsaiah xii, 7. You have reen m a factory r mere ot mechanism pass from hand to hand and froir room to room, and one mechanic smites it, and another flattens it, and another chiscli it, aud another polish s it until the work is done. Smithery comes in, carpentry comet m, four or five different occupations em ployed. Thus was that of the making: of th« idols in older, time, nnd that is what the text refers to. "The carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, nnd he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil.” They came together and they con sulted about their work, and they p anned for each other's welfare, and they were in full sympathy. They were in a bad business, for the making of idols is an insult to the Lord Almighty. But 1 have thought that if men engaged in bod work may cheer nnd help each other, most certainly all trades, all oc cupations that, are doing honest work ought to cheer and help each other on the way. The Bible goes to the very last minutia. It tells us how many dollars Solomon paid for his horses. It tell us in Deu teronomy what kind of a roof wo ought to have on our house. It ap plauds the Israclitish spinsters for their Industry and ingenuity. It gives us speci mens of ancient needle-work, leather making, tanning establishment, pottery, brick kiln, city water works, ship building, and proves itself iu sympathy with them all. But very few men realize the hardships outside of their own trade or profession. Every nmu's bur den is the heaviest, and every woman’s task is the hardest. So I find people every dav who think they have got into the wrong trade'or o cupation, and the artist says: “Oh, if I were only a lawyer;” aud tho lawyer Rays; “Oh, if I were only an artist.” And the banker or merchant comes home at night, his head hot with commercial agitations, and he says; “Oh, if 1 were only a mechanic, then I could lie down and sleep, a healthy mind in a healthy body. Here I can’t sleep.” At tho very time the mechanic is saying: “Oh, if I were only a merchant. I could bo beautifully appareled every day ..and I could give my children bril liant opportunities, and I could move in an other sphere.” Each man understanding the annoyances and the hardships of his own oc cupation and having no full appreciation of those in other trades or businesses. Now, Iho beauty of our religion is that it teaches us '.hat Clod is sympathy with all tradesmen, with all mechanics, with all toilers, whether with brain, or hand, or foot. I pro pose this morning in this series of sermons which I am preaching and shall continue on following Sabbath morn ings to preach on the great labor agitation, to speak about tho genuine hardships of tho working classes. You may not belong to these classes, and yet you are bound as Chris tian men and women to be sympathetic with them, and you are bound as political econo mists to come to tho rescue. There was noth ing more beautiful in tho life of Lord Shaftes bury than when, an old man, he said in the presence of an audience, liis eyes full of tears: “Ladies and gentlemen, as I feel old age creeping on me and I know I must soon die, I do not want to die, because I cannot bear to leave this world while yet there is so much misery unalleviated.” So said t hat man, the master of large estates, Lord Shaftesbury, and no wonder that when a presentation was made to him in a public hall a sow years before his death, the work ing classes of London shouted until they were hoarse with enthusiasm for Lord Shaftes bury. There is great danger that tho pros perous classes of America, because of some of the bad things that have been said by the false friends of labor during tho last two or three months, shall come to tho con clusion that all this agitation is a hullabaloo about nothing. Do not go off on that tangent. You would not submit, nor would 1 submit without sol- Bmn and tremendous protest to some of the oppressions which are being practiced upon the working classes of America to-day. You may do your duty with your employes, but I here declare that the mightiestand the largest business firm in America to-day is Grip, Gouge, Grind & Co. Look, for instance, at the wrongs practiced upon the womanlv toil ers of this country. They have made no strike. They have not lifted their voices. Men have cried aloud for their rights, but women are dying by thousands, dying by Inches. The last labor report just out con tains a few sentences that I wish to r/ad, showing what female employes endure: “Poisoned hands and cannot work. Had to sue the man for fifty cents.” Another: “About four months of the year can by hard work earn a little more than three dollars per week.” Another: “She now makes wrappers atone dollar per dozen. Can make eight wrappers per day.” Another: “Wo girls in our establishment have the following fines imposed: For wash ing your hands, twenty-five cents. Eating a piece of bread at your loom, one dollar. Also, for taking a drink of water, and many other trifling things too numerous to men tion, twenty-five cents.” Some of the worst villains of New York and Brooklyn have theso women in their em ploy. They beat them down to the last cent, and then try to cheat them out of that The woman must deposit one dollar before she gets the fabric on which to work, and in some rases when the work is brought back it is re- i jeeted, an insignificant fault exaggerated, ! the wages refused and tho one dollar deposit ! not returned. The Women’s Protective Union of New York exposed this fact: A ! young woman who ha t been living on starva tion wages found a bett r place to work, sc she resolved to change, and she went to get j her wages that were due. She entered the office of her employer, and he greeted her by say- i ing: “You are going to leave, are you?” She said: “Yes: I can get better wages, and j I have my invalid father and mother to sup port, and I ha -e to go, and I have come for ( my wage-.” The man looked down and said I nothing for a long while. Then she said: “Are vou not going to pay me”’ “Yes,” said he, “I’ll nay you,” and lie kicked her down stairs. I never swore a word in my life, but when I read that incident I felt in tny soul a stirring that was far from devotional! Women getting two-thirds, or getting only half as much pay as men get for doing the fame work—doing it just as well, perhaps doing it better, yet getting less compensation. Beginning with the government at. Washing ton. women in the national employ, in the government offices getting #9OO for doing work for which men get 11.800. The wheel of oppression rolling over the necks of a vast multitude of women. Some of the largest commercial e-tabli-hments pushing off into death and darkness scores of women because of unrighteous wages. Large commercial j establishments accessory to these evils, j Th“V know it. Is there a God? Will there lie a Day of Judgment? Some of the largest commercial establishments —if God rise- up to avenge the wrongs of work ing women—will be swallowed down quicker than ever South American earth quake took down a city. God will take those •ppressors between the in' stones of llis wrath aud grind them to powder. By what law of fairness or justice do female princi i pals of s bools in some of the cities get $835 hlld tnal» pn'ivipa'c. for ildiiig the fanis kind of ttoi'k, get #1,05(1. (>li. the greandf woman; [ hood comes through this (lay's sunlight, riot a j cry like that of those who are suddenly i hurled out of life, but a slow, grinding, i awful wasting away. Sixty-five thousand | sewing girls in New York and Brooklyn. Look at the blanched cheek: Look at the pin bed fa e. Look at that lmngor-struok countenance. Hear that hard, dry, hacking, merciless cough. I At ok dt the premature stoop in tl»c shoulders. I once presided at a meeting of sowing women in the city of Philadelphia while l was pastor in that city. There wits a groat audience. There were gentlemen there who made grand speeches, but the mightiest, addro: s made that niglit Was male by a sowing woman, who, unin "it d, came up the steps of the platform, and throwing aside her failed shawl, with a shrivel d arm hurled a thunderbolt of eloquent! i into that audience until their souls t cmble I tts she spoke ofit of the horrors of her owtt experience. YOU take ymte si and at six- or seven o’c'Ock in the monvug in New York at the corner of the street and see Iho wc.rkingxvoirt n go to theirwrrk. Sonic of thorn with no break fast, some of them with only a few era ml is left from the niglit before, and chewing llioso crumbs as they go along the street. Why do they not ride? Thev cannot afford tho five cents for the car. You want to know how Latimer and Itidley looked iu the fire? Look at that Woman’s face,in a worse martyrdom, dying a more agonizing death. Ask how much she gets for making a course shirt, nnd she will tell you six cents nnd find her own thread? Mv Lord and my God, have mercy upon the workingwomen of New York an I Brooklyn, I speak thus fully of the wrongs, tho sufferings of the foma’e employes of these cities bocaii-o no oilo else speaks, or if they do speak I have not heard their voice for some time. Ah! We understand tho suf ferings of masculine employes better. Last. March, iu Missouri, a colored man came into my room to made the fire. I said: “Sam, how much do tho people get here for wages.” He said, “they get ton dol lars a month.” “Hare yon a family?” “Yes,” said lie, “a wife and • hildren.” Ten dollars a month! One hundred and twenty dollars a year to support a family on! It is only a little door open, that,to an awful scone all over this land, north, south, east and west. It is not a hullabaloo about nothing. There are awful outrages being enacted, and you are not, because of some unwise things that have been said and done, to overlook these thing- and forget these things. First of all, there is the hardship of phys ical exhaustion. There are athletes who start forth in the morning at six or seven o’clock, do their work and return at night fall, and they are as fresh ns when they started. There are men so constructed that they can turn their back on tho shuttle, or on the rising wall, or on the forgo after a day’s work, ami go whistling all the way home. But they are the exception. I have noticed that when the factory boll taps for six o'clock the most of the workiwn wearily put tho arm in the coat sleeve, and they go home resolved thev will bo cheery anil make their homo bright and entertain their children, and yet they sit down and in five minutes are sound asleep because fagged out, body, mind and soul, and they riso in tho morning only half rested, and there will lie no rest for that mail’s body, no real, good rest—until ho gets in that nar row spot which is tho only complete rest fur the human body. I think they call it the grave. Oh, workingmen and women of America, whether you hear my voice, or in some other way the discourse shall come to you, let mo say, if toil has frosle l tho color from your cheek, if the spontaneity has gone out of your laughter, if hard work lias subtracted the spring from your step and the lustre fr m your eye, lot me say it will all soon be over. There is coming a great holiday. Oh that homo, nnd no long walk to get to it. Oh, that bread and no besweatiug toil to earn it. Oh, that deep well of rapture,and no heavy buckets to draw up. To-morrow, above the hiss of tho furnaces and above the groan of the foundry, and above the rattle of the shuttles, hear a x oice, not tho voice of a taskmaster, not the voice of a master, but the voice of au all sympathetic God. 1 wish the weary men and women of America would put their heads down on tho pillow stuffed with tho down from the wings of all God’s promises. There remaineth rest for all the jieople of God. How many tired peopleare there here to-day? A thousand? More than that. Two thou sand tired people? More than that. Though all of you were the children of luxurious j ease, more than that There is a woman with . her head bowed. Why? Ask her. “Oh,” j she says, “it has been hard work forme,” j and as she bows her head, or puts her face in : her handkerchief, she says: “Oh, Lord, will 1 I ever get rested—will lever get rested?” Ho i tired are you, sister, mother? Ho very tired? ■ “Oh,” says someone, “all this is gone j through with; with tho invention of the j sewing machine all tho hard work of tho j needle disappeared.” No, no. Thousands | of people are dying amid sewing machines, i Tho needlo has killed more than tho sword, ■ But who enu tako tho statistics of women I crushed under the sewing machine—being I crushed now? A Christian man passing ; through tho streets of New York saw a house j of a good deal of destitution. He went in, j and there was a woman with a sick child, and he was telling her what a good woman she ought to be, and how she ought to have faith In God. “Oh, sir,” she said, “I have no God. I work from Monday morning to .Sat urday night, and I find no rest. I never bear anything that does my soul any good. I haven’t any bonnet to wear to church on Sunday. I sometimes kneel down to pray, but I get up very quickly, and I say to my husband: 'My dear, there's no need of my trying to pray, it don’t do any I good. And I a m so distracted I can’t pray, I : can’t pray.’ And then, sir, to go right, on from year to year and know there is nothing ! brighter ahead, and to see this little one . getting thinner and thinner, and my poor I man almost broken down, and to feel that wo are not getting any nearer God, but all the time getting further and further away from Him. Oh, sir, I wish I was ready to die!” 1 May God have mercy on the working classes of America. The awful groan comes this dav through American society. Then they are the hardships that come from privation of taste and sentiment. There are working people ivho have beautiful homes, ' but you know they are the exception. Tho most of the working classes live in crampsd apartments, and they live where they do not want to live, but where they have to live. I can think of but few things more distressing than for a woman to have a fondness forort,, for pictures, for sculpture, for music, for beautiful skies, for glorious sunsets, and yet j never be able to raise a dollar for an oratorio, and never be able to buy her way to the country where she can see the blue expanse of the heavens and hear the birds sing, and ! never have a picture, while sometimes , men of affluence have works of art for which : they have no appreciation, and they buy ) their libraries by the square yard, and the ; pictures they have on their walls are miser - able daubs that the artists are glad to get out of their studios. Yet I know men arid women xvho will reign in the Kingdom of Heaven finally as artists who cannot have a good . picture, and they cannot hear a sweet sound, and they cannot play upon a beautiful musi cal instrument. Oh, ye who are so hindered in your taste and your sentiment, let rne tell you to look up. The King of , MT. VERNON. MONTGOMERY GO., OA.. THURSDAY. J FLY s. 1 SHti. Babylon had a hanging garden that, has j excited the admiration of the continues. | You have a better hanging-garden than that, j All tho heavens are to tie yours, for they be long to your father, aud’ what belongs to j your (fit her belong* to you. All these ap jirehorisiotis dud these dppressnn?? surround i lugs (if tlio working classes ate povterfulty I described by one of the English writers When : ho says • “To boa poor man's child and look through the rails of the playground anil envy richer I boys for tho sake of their niariy books, arid ! yet. to be doomed to ignorance; to be appren i tico Ito some harsh stranger aud feel forever ) banished from a mother’s tenderness and a sisters love; to work when very wearr and work when tho heart is sick and the head is sore; to see a Wife or a darling child wasting away and not lie liMo to get tlio best advice; to hope that better fool Or purer riif might set her up again, and tlirtt food you cauuot buy, that air you must never hope to breathe; to lie obliged to let her die; to come home from the daily task some even ing and sco her sinking; to sit up all night in hope to catch again those precious words you might have heard could you have afforded to Stay at Homo till day, but never hear them; to Have Ho mbit filers nl the funeral mill even have to carry oil your shoulder through the! merry streets the light deal coffin; to see huddled into a promiscuous hole tho dust which is so dear to you and not venture to mark the spot by planted flowers Or lowliest stone; some bitter winter or sonte costly spring to barter for food the cloak or the curious cup board. or tho llrtury’s Commentaries on which you pride yourself ns the heirloom of n frugal family, arid never lie able to redeem it; to fed that you are getting old, itotutmf laid aside and present earnings scarce suffi cient: to change the parlor floor for the top story, and the top story for a singleattic, and Wonder what change will lie next.” I have had a groat many beautiful flowers given 1 1 mo, but the most beautiful bouquet 1 ever had given was lust week—-three flow ers and threo or four leaves—around this bouquet tho words: “Thank you, front it Workingman. ” If you are here to-day, I thank you. Now, I cannot spend any more time this morning in talking about the hardships ol' the working cias.se i, for 1 have two or three words of grand and glorious good cheer, tine is, that, all tlieio sorrows are going to be alleviate I and extirpated. How. I cannot now sav, but jilst as certainly as there is a God in Heaven, a God of justice and loveand mercy, all these wrongs are going to bn righted. Politicians cannot do it, worldly organizations cannot accomplish it, but the Lord God Almighty will do it. In sonio way t believe Ho will soon do it. I want to encourage you also bythe thought that the greatest liiudranci against all temp tation and against all evil is plenty to do- When n man commits a crime wheredocn tile police detective go to find him? Not, amid the dust of factories, not amid the men who have on their overalls, blit among tho people who stand with their lmn ls in their pockets in front of the saloons, or the taverns, or tint restaurants. I saw a pool of water in tho country and 1 said to it: “Thou fetid filthy, slimy tiling, what does all this mean?” “Oil,” says the pool of water, “I liavastoppetl hero, lam going ta stay here.” But I say to the water: “Did I not see you dance in tho summer shower?” “I >li, yes,” says the water, “I i-nme down from God shining like nil an gel.” 1 say to the water: “Did 1 not see you drop like a gem into a casket of gems nnd tumble over tho rock?” “Oh, yes. I went over cliff and through meadow.” Did 1 not see ynt busy with the shuttles and tho grist mills?” “Oh, yes. I used to work for my living, but I have stopped, and I am going to stay here. I am disgusted with the shuttles and the grist mills, lam going to st,o i. Accursed of God am I and shunned of man, and 1 am going to stop.” Thank God every day if you hnvo hard work, it is the mightiest preventive against all evil. Sin, the old pirate, b -ar doecu?on those vowels that have sails idly flapping in the wind. The arrow of sin has tough work to got through the leather of a working apron. Make the anvil, make tho rising wall the fortress in which you can hides and from which you shall fight down the temptations of this life. Thank God morn ing, noon and night, Sunday and weekday, if you have plenty to do. Another encouraging fa-t. is that your children are probably to have bettor oppor tunities than those brought up in luxury. People brought up in luxury find by twelve years of age they are going to be wealthy and there is no struggle and sometimes they go out into dissipations and they are many of them useless to society. There are business men to-day grasping, grasping, grasping, what for? To get onough money to spoil their children. Fifty veins gather ing up. Tho hoys scattered it in five years. Tho lord of prosperity aud luxury, lie may pass out of the gate and go into dissipation and die. The son of the porter at the gate learns his trade, g C s a good physical consti tution, starts out and wins great success. Who is that man to-dav standing in some mighty place for God and tho truth? His mother laid him under the shadow of a tree while she spread tho hay. Tho mightiest men to-day, in Htate and National legislatures, are those who ate out of iron spoons and drank out of coarsest earthenware, and every stop in life has been a forced march. Thank God that you have plenty to do. It is going to be a great thing for you and a great thing for your children. Trouble is not going to damage you if you put your trust in God. The clip per likes a stiff breeze. The sledge hammer does not hurt the iron it pounds into shape. Trouble is the host hone for sharpening keen razors. Boliert Burns was a shepherd. Pridean swept out at Exeter College. Gifford was a shoemaker, and for the son of the toiling man and woman there is largo moral and worldly success if he trusts God and keeps busy. I cheer all workingmen alto by the fa-t that they have so many more opoortuniUes for information than were afforded to their predecessors. Why, Plato paid $1,300 for one book. Countess of An iou paid 300 fiieep for ono book. Gerome ruined himself finan cially by buying one copy of Origan. But hear now the printing presses go, the cylinders of the Appietons, the Harpers, the Lippincotts, the Peter sons, tho Ticknors, and you can Imv for fifty cents more thau Beniamin Franklin knew. Every workingman in Brooklyn has a newspaper ora book. Passing nlougat night fall the workingman sees a book in the window an 1 it, is five dollars, s > exquisite is the bind ing. “Oh,” be says, “I wish f could have that book.” Just wait for a few months aud you will getall the value of that book,all the read ing of thatbook in pamnh'eti for ten cent,i. Put ten boys of f he common selio >le of Brook lyn on one bench ami ton of the ol I philoso phers on another bench right opposite, nnd the boys could examine tho old plidosophe-s, and the old philosophers could not examine the boys. Here comes no an old philosopher and ho says to a lad of seven years: ‘What is that?” “That is a railroad.” “What is that?” “That is the telegraph.” “What is that?” “That is tho telephone.” And nfter it is nil explained to him, in- says: “Well, I guess I'll go back to rnv pillow of dust. I am bewildere !, my In-a/l is tone i.” Oh, thank God, working men and women of America, that veil have so maav opportuni ties of information. Toank God. And it Is no more true for you thau it is for those in other profession-, other occupations, other business men—thank God that all these trials are preparative for Heaven. “Boh Id. I bring you glad tidings of great, joy,’ that Christ, the carpenter of Nazareth, is the “SUB DEO EACH) FOItTITER workingman's ,(. vou’ get His loVo into your lionrb an i y\»»» siu jj o'i thn wait amid tho hailing of tln> st >r*n, in the shop amid tho of th ' piano* iiinl in tho mine amid th' tduncpni; of tho orowhar, and on tho .ship’s do *k just before you climb tho ratlin-; Christ counts fill your drons of swivit. lit' who counts tin lylirs « f f tho bond • omits tin* drops of sweat. Are you u\ f Ho ill give you rost, Are you siokV lE' will pjivu yu’u.tvulth Art' you rold ' Ho will writy around yo\\ flirt Warm man,tlo of His IbVo. And then it is all introductory atfd ptwfa tory. Soo those bright ones heforo tho throne. “Sec.” you sti’y, “they must be tho royal family of Hen veil.” Th»*y dross like princes, they walk like princes, they are princes. None of tho common peo ple among thorn. Ah! vou make a mistake, you pinko it mistake. That bright spirit be fore the t hrodd foilcil ns hard ns she could on earth dud carried only two shillings a d »y. That bright spirit before t.lb* t.Hrduo \Vhy,h« toiled, amid tho Egyptian l/rick kilns. That bright spirit before til'd throne —• why, her drunken father turned j her »>.;t into the midnight cold aud she froze into heaven. Tint great array be fore tho throne, who are they/ Why, some of them came up from tho Hirtningluru mill*, sbntd from L >woll carpet factories, and they tiro so radiant now. f wish vou could hear their noiig. Thev sin:; in su h porfe* t accord ns thiaiirli flirty 1m l been all eternity prac ticin.. If you could only hear theirs »njr,w hv, it Would make tho burden so light, It. would make thopilgriin'a journey so short. I ask what is that sweet song, find th *y tell mo it is the song of tho ransomed working peoplo. And tin'll rtn angel comes up and points to t hem find says: “Who are they? who are they?” a ltd a voice answers: ‘Those are they who <■nine out of great, t ribulation and had their robes washed and made white iu the blood of tho Lamb. Hallelujah! Amen!” THE BOGUS BUTTER BILL. .Im Pas.age ltv lit.- 11.. ii m(- Some ol' li* liojt.oi loot leal ore*. On a final vote in the lowor branch of Congress t lie bill defining nnd taxing oleo margarine lias been passed by 177 yoai to 101 nays. The bill,as it passed the House,contains the following features: Butter is doflnod to be n food product made exclusively from uiilk or cream or both, with or without cotn- I mon salt, and with or without additional col oring iiiat! or. Oleomargarine is defined a* “nil substances made of oleomargarine, oleo, oleomargarine oil, buttorino, Inrd iue, suiin- nnd neutral: all mixtures and compounds of oleomargarine, oleo, oleomargarine oil, buttorino, suino and neutral: all lut’d extracts and tal low extracts; and nil mixtures and com pounds of tallow, beef fat, suet, lard, lard : oil, vegetable oil, aiinotto, and other coloring matter, intestinal fat and offal fat made in Imitation or semblance of biittor, or when so made, calculated or intended to lie sold nr butler or for butter.” SjwM'inl taxes are imposed as follows: On manufacturers, $('.00; on wholesale dealers, $■180; on retail dealers, SIH. The existing in tertill revenue laws, so far us applicable, ace made to apply to these special taxes. Penalties mo imposed on any person xvho shall deal in oleomargarine without j paying the special tax. Provision is made for th«- proper stamping and labelling of every pa'-kage of oleomargarine. A tax of five cents a pound is imposed on all oleomar garine manufactured and sold, and a penalty is prescribed for the purchase or reception for sale of oleomargarine not branded or stamped according to law. A number of sections of tho bill are devoted to providing machinery to carry the law into effect. His Wonderful Memory. “You hail better put them do wn on a piece of paper,” said Mrs. H. on giving her lirst order. “Ob, no,” said Mr. 8., “my memory is good.” “Well, then, a spool of sixty ( outes’ black thread.-” “Yes.” “Ayard of not too light arid not too dark ( alico.” “Yes.” “A small j hammer, u can of peaches of the I’assa dena brand, a dozen small pearl button , ! two yards of cardinal ribbon, sillc on one j side, satin on the .fiber.” “Yes,” said j Mr. K., thoughtfully. “A pair of slip pars for baby, a dozen lemons, a good \ tooth brush, a pineapple, two ounces of sky-blue German yarn, an ounce vial of bomuopathic nux vomica pellets, a “Wait a second,” said Air. S., counting ! on his fingers. “And a bottle of vanilla ! extract, and a yard of t riple box-plaited j crepe lis-e melting and three yards of small-checked nainsook and -” Hut Mr. B. laid seized his hat and was run- i ning for the station. What the poor man brought home was a yard of bedlicking, three yards of black crepe, a bottle of vinegar, eight yards of nankeen, a scrub brush, a pound of green yarn,sixty spools of coat thread, a yard of very black ( al ico, and a pint bottle of homo op .thic pills. “There, my dear,” throwing down Ins package triumphantly, “I don't thiuk you’ll find a thing missing. Who says a mart can’t do shopping?” Revenge is Sweet, jlpif “That’s the sixth rnan that has ignored me this evening. Nevermind! Heaven help the man that, gets mol— Flic'jtwle Blaetter. Wanted—The rnan who can address a . c unday school without beginning bis speech with “When J was a little boy.” I The Evolution of Slates. The ettfiotis process of evolution by which Bfafcs iri the American Union arc made 3' 'V» ,t t\ v tflvrst: rated in the case of Dakota. It xvil.s Mn-stWlly ft port of the territory claimed by I’Vilritc, iWrd styled ♦ New France, including wlmt is fltrifr fW 4 i »da, tho entire Northwest, and all flic territory west of the Mississippi River, j throughout ils entire extent from the ■ frozen North to tho Gulf of Mexico. As li (•oiisoqi'fcrfce of tho European wars from lTitfi to and the defeat of France, that part of Nett franco now known as Canada was coded to Great Britain, and all west of tho Mississippi was ceded to Spain. In 1800, during ( he Napoleonic wars, and ns a result ol : the. French victories everywhere on the , Continent of Eufbpty all of the territory that had been ceded to Spttin was reced ed to France. In 1803, during !lm ad ministration of Jefferson, tho “Louislartsv purchase,” as it was called, was effected, and the United States became tho owner of the territory. At tho time when tho purchase of the territory was effected it included Louisiana, Arkansas, lowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Iho Indian territory, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and Dakota, with lliadowy claims to what is now Oregon and Washington. Tho claim of tho Un ited States to the territory west of the Rocky Mountains was subsequently rati fied by treaties with Great Britain, which had prcviotisly claimed the entire western slope and coast to the north lino of Mexico, now tho north lino of Califor nia. Congress divided the territory into Orleans and Louisiana in 1801. In IRIS Orleans was admitted into tho Union as Hie Slate of Louisiana, and the name of Louisiana Territory was changed L> Mis souri Territory. In IHSI tho State of Missouri was admitted to tho Union, and Arkansas followed. After that time the almost boundless tract remaining wan loosely styled the Northwest Territory. In 1831 ell east of the Missouri River was organized into the Territory of Michigan, in IH3ti tho present Slate of Michigan came into the Union, leaving the balance of the country as Wisconsin Territory, or “Ouiskonsan,” es it was then called. In 1840 and 1848 lowa and Wisconsin were made into States, anti then the balance of the outlying acres was called Minneso ta Territory. In 1858 Minnesota, with its present limits, caino into the Union, and the balance of the tract was in law nameless, but was called Minnesota Ter ritory, to distinguish it from the State of the same name. In 1801 the Territory of ■Dakota, with its present boundaries, was [established by act of Congress. Such is the long process by which, through tho occupation of tho country for settlement, by pushing tho frontiers farther away into tho mountains and tho wilderness, and by the progress of civilization, Amer ican States arc made. It is a system of evolution and growth possessing great interest for the student of politics and history. Silenced. The Scotch often use humor to settle a question which, otherwise, might give rise to an excited argument., involving much hair splitting logic. Tho follow ing anecdote of Norman McLeod, tho eloquent preaener, illustrates this happy use of the wit which transfixes a man as an entomologist does a bug. He was on iiis way to church, to open a new place of worship. As he passed slowly and gravely through the crowd gathered about the doors, an elderly man, with the peculiar kind of a wig known in that district —bright, smooth, and of a red. dish brown—accosted him. “Doctor, if you please, I wish to speak to you.” “Well, Duncan,” said tho venerable doctor, “can not you wait till after wor ship?" “No, doctor, I must speak to you now, for it is a matter upon rny conscience.” “Oh, since it is a matter of conscience, ( tell me what it is; but be brief, Duncan, for time passes.” “The matter is this, doctor. Ye see the clock yonder, on the face of this new church? Well, there is no clock really there; nothing but the face of a clock. There is no truth in it but only once in the twelve hours. Now, it is in my mind very wrong, and quite against my con science, that there should be a lie on the face of the house of tiic Lord.” “Duncan, I will consider the point. But I am glad to see you looking so well. You are not young now; I remember you for many years; and what a lino head of hair you have still.” “Eh, doctor, you are joking now; it is long since I have had any hair.” “O Duncan! Duncan! are you going , into the house of the Lord witli a lie upon your head?" This, says the story, settled the ques tion ; and the doctor heard no more of the Lie on the face of the clock. VOL. I. NO. 18. My Own Country. Tlio tts'e'-wlml blows, tlio milled rose - 1 la drooj.’ttitn vmtlio vale; Tlio fragrant ?k*"’rs of woodland Iww'n' Mnko sweet the Spring gale. Earth’s flow’rs may h.'wia u-whilo for some, lint nevermore for me! The sun is low, and I must go' Home to my own country. Ob: sweet and fair the flowers there. Yen, sweeter far than here: One spring 4 'r aye; one emlloss day: Fields never fining servt Oh, sweet are all titwstreant* that roll Along each heavenly fw»'l No pain nor gloom can ever soon* Into my own country. 1 would not live: I could not grieve- Isingjr >t> this strange land, Since 1 may trend the streets o’ersproaa With gold by Owl's i«ire hand! Ah! tlion adieu, sweet friends, to you; Would you could go with mo; To walk the streets, and taste Uvn sweets. Which bless my own countryf Oh, stay not long svhen I am gono; Cnroo over soon to mo: Yon'ro wclcomo where the blest ones nre. Conic to my own country! Earth’s flow’rs may bloom awhile for somt,,. ltut never more for mo! The sail is low, and I nut* go Homo to my own country. —(/. 11". Kettoman in tli.n Cnrr-nt. HUMOROUS. A foot rule—Don’t wear tight shoes. Another washout On the clothes line. Desirable quarters -Twenty-fivo cent pieces. The century plant.-- Burial of Wash ington’s body servant. A button on the coat is worth two in the church contribution box. Singers are the only people who wish to hold a note for a long time. It, is not considered necessary in nocicty to return n bill collector’s calls. Urukenien will Is: sorry to learn that “trains” are to be made unusually long. The Boston girl never says “it is rain ing pitchforks." Win: says “it is raining agricultural implements.” It used to bn “Bee that my grave’* kept green." The new and popular ver sion is: “Oh," keep my*ashes bottled, love.” “What does boycott mean?” inquired the teacher of a frisky youngster. The little fellow, remembering an unfortunate excursion to the pantry, replied: “A had licking.” A Chicago landlord shot one of his boarders for joking about his butter. His interference was unnecessary. It in said the butter was strong enough to take its own part. “And now, my dear brethren, what shall I say more?” thundered the long winded minister. “Amen!” came in sepulchral tones from tlio absent-minded deacon in the back of the church. “What’s your business?” asked the judge of a prisoner at the bar. “Well, s’pose you might call me a locksmith.” “When did you work last at your trade?” “Last night; when I heard a call for the police I made a bolt for the door. Little Willio refused to put on his shoes the other morning, and when his mother urged him to do so, li« said with an eager expression on his childish face, “Mamma, did you not tell me that God was everywhere?” “YYs!” “Well, if he is everywhere, ho must lie in my shoo and I don’t want to step on him.” Wife -Leave me sonic money, please. I mil going to make a loaf of cake, and I shall want a little change to buy some of the ingredients. Husband- Half a dol lar enough? Wife—l don’t know. I am going to make it according to the re ceipt in the cook book. Husband — Il’in! Well, that makes a dillereucc. Here’s aton-dollar bill! There was a young lady in Gingham Who knew lots of songs and could sing ’em, But couldn’t mend hose And wouldn’t wash clothes, Nor help her old mother to wring ’em. The Wolf and the Kid. A kid was one day browsing in a val ley, while a shepherd reclined on a hank hard by. Suddenly a wolf, with a hand organ, came up and said: “Let mo play a merry air while you dance.” “All right,” replied the kid. “Fire away.” The music began, and the shepherd, with his lingers in his ears, disappeared; and as soon as he was out of his sight, the wolf seized the kid and devoured it. Moral; This fable teaches the varied powers of music.— Life. Sealed. Father—You and Kate Carter have come to an understanding, have you, Fred ? Fred —Yes, sir. Father—Sealed it with a kiss—eh, my boy? Fred—No, sir; with wax, sho wrote her refusal.— Tid Bite.