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About The Nebraska advertiser. (Nemaha City, Neb.) 18??-1909 | View Entire Issue (March 20, 1908)
AN ANSWER OF FIRE Elijah, the Prophet, Overcomes (he Prophelt of Bunl. STORY BY THE "HIGHWAY AND BYWAY" PREACHER l'i)ii!ht,lMl. IJ Hi Author, n. ftloou ) Scripture A utliot-Ity. 1 Kings, Chap tor 18. SERMONETTE. "The God that answercth by $ fire, let him be God." Fire was J the element over which the god j Baal was supposed to have spc- clal power, and when Elijah pro- $ posed his test It appeared $ In overy way reasonable to the J people and the prophets of Baal. The fire should be a sign to the people as to which was the true God. The result of the test we jl know. Fire was the symbol of God's tf. presence, and it was the fire which God had kindled and which the priests were to keep J constantly burning by which the J fire on the altar of sacrifice was J to be kindled. Long since be- J cause of the apostasy of Israel had this fire been quenched, and now if the altar fire was re- $ kindled it must be from God. J T.hus was Elijah choosing a token which would at once test the strongest claim of Baal and at the same iime bring the peo- pie together In the divinely-or- dercd form of worship, and moke possible the revelation of God's if. presence and power. The child of God need never fear the test which involves the J true elements of worship and seeks the revelation of God's J presence and power. But we must remember that Elijah was J three years getting ready for this task on Mount Carmel. J Three years of waiting. Three J years of prayer. Three years of fellowship with God. Three years of simple, childlike de- pendence upon his care and J protection. And then came the call from God and the opportu- $ nity for service. It was the testimony of Moody as under his leadershiD the fires it of revival were kindled wherever J he went, that it was the result of the long-continued prayers and the patient waiting of some saint or group of saints. It is J prayer and faith which brings down from heaven the manifest J power and presence of God- to the defeat and the destruction J of the evil. Fire typifies a two-fold proc- ess of manifestation of God. 4- That of purifying and cleansing and that of judgment. God's children are purified and J cleansed by the operation of his J word. "Now, ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you," said Christ. if. Just as the impurities are y. burned out and the pure gold left, so by the processes which God is carrying out in his chil- dren he is burning out the dross in order that the pure gold of righteousness and truth may be made manifest. God is spoken of as a consum- ing fire, and thus is typified J the judgment of God upon evil. THE STORY. 117HAT! Thou hast seen Elijah ff anil hast let him got quite away again?" and tho shrill voice ;f Jezebel with rising inflection anil atlil ed Intensity with every word plainly indicated the astonishment, indlgua Hon, scorn and contempt which surged .over her. King Ahah In confusion struggled to make answer, hut he had WARNINGS FOR Tenants of Building Get Even with Miserly Agent. There is an apartment house in The Hronx whose agent's Idea of thrift and economy is "spend not a penny today that can be saved until to-morrow." He buys but one load of coal ut a time for this apartment house, and never orders a second load until the first is all gone. Then it takes the coal denier 12 to 21 hours to deliver. Meantime the tenants burn gas and shiver. The agent also instructs the janitor to be extremely saving In the use of coal, in the furnace and in the holler. The result Is that some days the so-called hot water is only warm and on other days it is entirely cold. Tho tenants hnve grown tired of this routine and several of them have moved out since tho winter set in. Others are posting notices In the hall for .the benetlt of flat hunterg. Two samples hre as follows; only spoken u few faltering words when .lezebel broke out again: ' Here thou hast been seeking for thy enemy and the enemy of thy peo ple for the past three years, and when the gods give him Into thy hands thou lettest him get quite away again!" "Hut II was not the gods that gave 1 i I in Into my hands," Ahah protested, 'for he came boldly to meet me, say lug his God had hoiiI him." "Ills (Jod!" scornfully repeated .J ex.. ehel. "What god Is there beside tho god Dual whom we worship?" "And he has asked that all the prophets of Itaal and the prophets of the groves who eat at thy table shall meet him on Mount Carmel," Ahah continued, without answering .Jeze bel's question. "Thou Tool!" shrieked Jezebel, let ting her passion quite get the better of her and so distorting her face that she seemed more demon than woman. "Thlnlvst thou that he will meet thorn there? Surely, he seeketh only to put thee to further confusion and shame. The dirty dog, tho vile hypo crite, dare not show his face before the prophets of Haal." "Hut Ohadlah deolareth that there Is no doubt but that Elijah will lie on Mount Carmel at the ap pointed time," protested Ahah. "And what reason hath Ohadlah for supposing anything'.'" contemptuous ly demanded Jezebel. "Verily, I be lieve sometimes that It is lie who has kept Elijah hidden from my wrath during all these years." "Thou speakest unjustly," protested Ahah, "for the king hath no mor faithful servant than this man Oha dlah." "But somebody who Is close to thee and hath known of thy plans must have kept the prophet warned, else could he not have escaped our search all these years. And who but Ohadlah could do this thing?" "And it was Ohadlah who first brought me word to-day that the prophet Elijah was In the laud and close at hand," reluctantly admitted Ahah, as he recalled how Ohadlah had sent him to meet the prophet that day. "Ho, ho! As might have been ex pected, and yet thou needest to be told what ought to be plain enough to thee. And now thou art foolish enough to believe that the prophet will keep his word. He hath but slipped through thy fingers again, and while the proph ets of Haal are gathering on Mount Carmel Elijah will be far, far away." Ahah was silent. The influence of his wife was so strong upon him that when in her presence she dominated his every thought and action, and now that which before he had not called Into question seemed uncertain and doubtful. He wondered now how he could have been so weak as to let the prophet Elijah escape him. He recalled how when first Ohadlah had brought him word anger and revenge filled his heart against the prophet. and he fully intended to call him to a severe accounting, but as he had come Into that commanding presence his courage had failed him and with a desperate efTort at the display of kingly dignity and authority he had demanded: "Art thou he that trouhleth Israel?" And then the piercing eyes of the prophet had been fixed upon him, seemingly looking right through him, nd making him quail and tremble as his words of accusation and con demnatlon were thundered forth. With bowed head he had listened, and when the prophet had commanded him to summon all the prophets of Haal to Mount Carmel he had .prom ised like a child to obey. Hut now under the spell of his wife s suspicions and wrath a revulsion of feeling had taken place and he began to doubt himself and everything and everybody. Such is the evil Influence or a wicked life which conies to com pletely dominate another. "Shall we not summon the prophets to Mount Cnrniel?" at last he ven tured to ask, hair doubtfully. A wicked gleam came Into the eyes of Jezebel as a sudden thought came to her and she said: FLAT HUNTERS "No; we don't furnish hot and cold water. We furnish two kinds of cold water." "Six days in the week -shall thou havo steam heat, and on the seventh day thou shalt burn gas or freeze, as pleaseth thee most." New York Press. The Anti-Monopoly Crusade. Uncle Jeptha The railroad Is sellln' tickets ter Chicago fer four dollars. They can't afford ter do It at that price. Uncle Steve No: that's what Hlrani said. He went an' bought nine tiekots an' didn't use one of 'em. Said If he had money enough he'd keep on huyln' tickets till he'd busted up the hull railroad monopoly. He's got It in fer the trusts, Hi has. Puck. Giving her policemen helmets, Spain Is also seudlns them to school for IS montlis. "We will let Ohadlah decide. Tf he IhlnkcHt his Mend Elijah will keep tryst, with the prophets of Until, lot them ho summoned. Hut," and sho fairly hissed the words ns she leaned toward Ahah, "If Elijah come not and he won't verily thfl lire or Oha dlah shall he forfeited. Me shall atone with his blood for the affront of fered Haul." Without n word Ahah turned and left the npnrtment. He knew It would be useleas to protest, even though hn chose to do so. The decision of sum moning tho .piophets must rest with Ohitdfnh. "Remember," lie exclaimed later, when Ohadlah had come to him In re sponse to his summons, "remember, It means thy lire ir the prophet. Elijah nppeareth not!" "Yes, I know," was the quiet re sponse. "Me will come. Let the prophets he summoned." On the day appointed, with much pomp and ceremony tho great com pany or Haal set forth for Mount Car mel, their gorgeous apparel and ban ners and images borne before them making an Imposing display and call ing forth the shouts of admiration and approval of the great crowds or people as thoy Ifolowed. "Haal shall have a fitting sacrifice to-day," whispered Jezebel to her chief prophet just before he took his place in the procession. And then as her eyes sought out Ohadlah where he stood surrounded by the guard she hnd caused to be appointed, she add ed: "Let him not escape." The hours passed wearisomely to the queen. Her usual pleasures and diversions failed to hold her atten tion. Confident as she was of the outcome of the gathering on Mount Carmel, her spirit was strangely ill at ease. That night troubled dreams came to break her rest and the next day found her In a state of nervous ex. cltement and irritation from which late In the afternoon she sought re lief by resting upon her couch. Not a breath of air was stirring and the sun seemed more fierce In his heat than ever, and as she lay down she said to herself: "Surely the gods will be appeased this day and will send rain." How long she slept she knew nor, hut she was suddenly aroused by a loud crash in the room and sprang up to find the wind blowing In a perfect hurricane and the heavens so black with clouds that she could scarcely see in the gloom the broken frag ments of the big urn which had stood before the open window. Trembling and frightened she turned to flee and ran squarely into the arms of some one who at that moment had come hurrying down the passageway. A sud den Hash of lightning revealed the awe-stricken face of Ahah bending over her. "What aileth thee?" she whispered. "Taketh thou the death of Ohadlah thus to heart?" "Nay. Ohadlah liveth." Ahah ex claimed, "and the prophet Elijah hath appeared on the mount and his God hath answered him with fire, and the prophets are slain." "All the prophets?" she asked, trembling like an aspen. "Yea. all!" On Cutting Sermons -Short. "It's a fact," remarked a well-known local minister of long experience the other day, "that a minister cannot be successful these days unless he holds his sermons down to reasonable brev ity. These jokes you hear about long sermons aren't Just jokes. The peo ple of to day won't put up with long sermons. 1 found that out a number of years ago in another city. I had noticed that the congregation had been gradually thinning out. and I began to preach sermons of not more than ".0 minutes In length. The regu lar attendance at church increased fully one-half In less than two months. I think a minister should hold his sermons down, no matter how many good things he has to say, because he can then get a bigger audience and consequently accomplish more." Cleveland Plain Dealer. A Blessing, Not a Blow. "Here's a good one," said the telo graph operator. "A dear old minister fame yesterday and sent this telegram to a conference that had assigned him to a charge: 'Acts 20::i2.' Ho h plalned that tho citation was: 'And now, brethren, I commend you to God "Well, the careless operator at the other end handed the message to the conference so thnt it read: 'Acts 2H:2.' That text, the bewildered confer ence found on reference to Its Plhlo, reads: " 'And the high priest Ananias com manded them who stood by to srnlta him on the mouth.' " Household Philosophy. A new broom always sweeps clean, but a new cook doesn't always mako good biscuits. Probably tho best salvo for healing the broken heart of a woman Is a mix ture of time and another man. Cupid Is a wise llttlo chap. He leads the couple to tho altar, then quits tho game. Chicago News. HURT HOME TRADE WHAT GREEDY, SHORT-SIGHTED PEOPLE DO. WAYS THAT KILL CUSTOM Fair Treatment by Tradesmen Assists in Building Up Towns and In creases Business for All. One of the troubles In small towns seems to be that petty jealousies keep the business men from working In har mony. There Is just so much business to be hnd, and it either goes to the home stores, the mall order houses, the department stores or some near by city, or perhaps Is let go to a more progressive neighboring town. It should be the aim of every town to make its trade territory as large as possible. It Is the attitude of the business men that counts. One good, live man in business in a small town Is a benefit to the whole place. lie brings trade to all. People are swayed to and fro by opinions that are formed sometimes without careful reasoning. It Is the best policy to treat each and every one fairly and honestly. Let the average farmer think that lie has been given the worst end of a bargain, and he will ponder over' the matter for years. It Is not a good Idea for a merchant to have a scale of prices for different customers. Charge John Jones $12 for a suit of clothes, and sell the same suit to his neighbor, Jim Smith, for $11, and Jones will find it out and feel that he has been treated unfairly, and Jones la right about It, too. There is one town, a county seat, in a western state, a place of nearly 3,000 popula tion. Its trade territory extends for a dozen miles In each direction. The country has a large foreign popula tion. They are the best classes of customers, liberal buyers and not quihblers over prices. Still, they de sire just, treatment. A few years ago thousands of dollars in trade was di verted from the town through a deal er in agricultural implements being a poor business man. A wealthy Ger man purchased from him several hun dred dollars' worth of agricultural ma chinery, wagons and other goods. The farmer wanted a harrow. A price was made $:!:. A few days later the farmer was at a town where there were but two stores and an ele vator. He saw the same kind of har row and was told that $28.50 would buy It. He visited the county seat a few days later, called on the man from whom he purohased his imple ments and again asked the price of the harrow, and was told the same as before. He then stated that the same make and kind of harrow had been offered him for $1.50 less. After some talk he was told that he could havo the piece of machinery ror the same price. He did not take it, but secured the one offered him by the man in the smaller town. He did not like the style of the dealer In the larger town. In fact, ho concluded that the other storekeepers of the place were of the same caliber, lie quit trading, and not alone was his trade lost to the county seat town, but the trade of a score of his neighbors, and even they changed their post of fice addresses to the smaller place. The trude of this one farmer lost to the county seat was the means of building up .a healthy trade in the smaller town and bringing to it other business places. D. M. CAHIt. Korean English. Our translator has handed in the fol lowing conundrum: The magistrate of Palk Chyon Mr. Palk Iwkl asked the dlsmlsBlon for own position and said that he is impossible to suppress the insurgents as he is qulto Ignorance of any education, othorwlse there are nothing to help the people hut trouble. Korea Daily News. THE OLD HITCHING POST. It May Be Useful, but Is Unsightly and Generally a Town Nuisance. That good old hitching post! What a familiar object to all or us who had the good fortune to bo reared near a country town. Still, while tender momorles hang around tho old post, thero is much about It at times worthy of condemnation. Thero is nothing that makes a mnln street of a small town look so shabby and thoroughly countrified and bnck-woodlsh as a row of rickety old hitching posts on each side of the street. 'Constant tramping and pawing near them makes holes in tho ground, unsightly mud-holes In damp weather and 111-siuelllng and of fensivo In numerous respects. It may appear a bit of enterprise on the part of the merchant to erect a number of posts In front of his store, but does ho gain business by It? How often do you see Enrmor Shortcrop drive In, tie his team to the post in front of Smith's store and go over to Greon's to do his trading? As long as hitching posts ar allowed to occupy places. In front of PMCE8 OF COMMODITIES. "Labor Should Reap Its Reward" Is the Ky-Note of Commerce. Tho matter of prices and profit Is always interesting, not alone to retail ers of merchandise, hut to consumers as well. There has been nothing that has been so troublesome to every class as the matter of prlcos. It is all easy, there is no great problem to solve, and It nil rests in the little phrase, "lnbor shock! reap its reward." Cost is an all important thing in ovory product. There is the raw material, the expense of putting the manufac tured article in mercantile form. It matters not what the product is, it is the expense of preparing it for tho consumer, the price of the raw mate rial, cost of manufacture and distribu tion that counts. Allowance must bo made for an equitable compensation to all having n part in the production of any article of commerce. Wo hear of cut prices, of cheapness In this or that staple, but when it is given con sideration, where is the cheapness? Every article has or should have a standard value. There is no good reason why the worker in tho shop should not have fair and equitable compensation for his labor. Tho man ufacturer who has thousands of cap ital invested should have interest and pay for his time; the man who places the product in tho hands of the re tailer is entitled to pay according to his ability as a salesman, and tho retailer should have equitable Inter est on the capital he has Invested and compensation for his time and labor. Here you have all in a nutshell. The elimination of the middleman de stroys one of the established customs and industries. When any article of commerce is placed on the market at a lower price than cost of manufac ture and the expense of placing It bo fore the consumer, somebody Is tho loser. Here Is food for reflection, and It behooves the merchants and con sumers to think the matter over. KEEP TO THE- FRONT. Energy and Progresslveness Demand ed by Present Strenuous Times. Do you hear the rumble? The noise of the wheels of the car of progress? If you are deaf to It Just make up your mind to join the ranks of the nonprogressive and the failures. This Is a strenuous age, and a time when to succeed In business requires work, In telligent work, and a lot of It. System Is the watchword, and work, work steady and directed by brain, is what brings success. There are so many who are engaged in trade that aro little equipped for it. These days, to succeed, It Is necessary that every phase of the business you are in be understood. What rules to-day may undergo a change to-morrow. Tho man In business must be up-to-date or very likely he will soon be the loser. Keep posted on the markets, the con ditions of trade in genernl, on the latest methods of doing business. If you do not well, just put your name on the back-number list and drop out. The sooner the better for your own pocketbook and the welfare of your family. Don't keep in the rear of the pro cession. There is plenty ot room up front. Once In the rear, you may be Inclined still to further lag behind and let the procession get clear out of sight. Lots of room In the front, and if you can carry the banner, all the better. Good old Step-Lively is al ways there, and he can hear every command, and right from the front, too. He can watch the maneuvers of the enemy and has by far the best chance or doing his duty well. The boy in the rear can only see tho movements of those before him, and is pretty likely to get a stray shot from a point outside his view. If you want to succeed in lifo, don't get in the rear. The Two and Ono Game. It takes two to mnke a bargain, but only one of them gets it. Puck. stores on main streets it will be Im possible to keep the streets In the neat and good condition that they should ho In. Ear better to havo on somo unoccupied street within easy reach of the business sections posts where the farmers can hitch their teams, livery town which has tho power to control Its own affairs should make regulations that will keep tho hitching post from "ornamenting" the main streets. Owl Caused Conflagration. An owl flew out of a burning chim ney at Coverach, Cornwall, Englund, with its feathers on fire, and perched on n hoy-rlck near at hand. The re sult was that tho rick was completely destroyed, and several stacks of straw barely escaped. How Paris Deals with Rats. A direct and Immediato system of dealing with tho rat pest Is thnt of tho Paris sewers. A naked electric wire Is stretched about six inches abovo the ground, and on it aro strung piecoa or horseflesh. Tho rats paw at tho wire and are "electrocuted.'