pattsmoufh 3lonnwl
C W. HIKRJIAX. PuhlUhrr.
TLA1 T.lIOuTu N KB KA K A
A BACKDOOR NEIGHBOR.
Sternal Vlffilance Is the Price of
Household Liberty.
When the Corbys moved from A
City to B Center, the family suc
ceeded in finding' a house which in size,
condition and surroundings suited them
admirably. It was a pleasant fran-e
structure, sufficiently large for Mr. and
Mrs. Corby, their three children and
one servant, with an ample lawn
around it ami fruit trees and grape ar
bor in the rear. To the city-bred fam
ily, the sense of extended space and
breathing room in these surroundings
and the detached houses was an experi
ence as novel as it was delightful.
Their household effects arrived Tues
day morning, and then followed the
uupacking, arranging and settling, all
the labor of which only those who have
moved from one town to another can
appreciate.
That afternoon, when in the midst of
work and confusion, Mrs. Corby, her
head well covered in a close-fitting gray
sweeping cap, and clad in her oldest
gown, which she meant should take a
ewift pilgrimage to the rag-bag the
moment the chaos in the house was re
duced to order Mrs. Corby, I repeat,
heard a slight tap upon the back door.
She opened it, wondering who could
have come, and found herself confront
ing a smiling-faced lady, faultlessly at
tired, who carried a napkin-covered
plate in her hand.
"Good afternoon; Mrs. Corby? Ah,
yes! I am Mrs. Jemson, your next-door
neighbor. We shall be great friends, I
feel sure. Do excuse me for interrupt
ing, but I came to tell you if you need
ed anything, and we could serve you,
not to hesitate to ask. And as I knew
youTnust be so busy, I was sure this
cake for tea would not be amiss."
"Oh, thank you!' cried Mrs. Corby,
In pleased surprise, blushing at the
thought of being seen for the first time
In so unbecoming a garb, yet wonder
fully impressed at her new neighbor's
kind generosity. "How very, very good
of you."
"Don't mention it," Mrs. Jemson as
sured her. "It's a mere nothing."
"What a desr little woman," thought
Mrs Corby tc herself, as she put the
cake carefull aside and ran upstairs
to see how the work progressed there.
It would be a novel experience having
neighbors, and she was sure one like
Mrs. Jemson would be delightful. She
pictured to herself the grim city street
from which they had moved, where for
years they had lived next door to a
family of whose members they knew
nothing save that their name was
Brown and that only from the door
plate. Of the family on the other side
they had not that information. She
had not thought much about it before,
but it suddenly occurred to Mrs. Corby
that city life was extremely selfish and
cold, so withdrawn from one's fellows,
and savoring so much of suspiciou and
distrust of the majority of human be
ings. "We shall have delightful neighbors,
I think, Harry," Mrs. Corby assured
her husband, as they sat down to a
rather hastily put-together meaL "The
family on the left is named Jemson.
Mrs. Jemson has been over already."
"Great Scott! She didn't lose any
time!" her husband ejaculated.
A day or so later .Mrs. Jemson made
a more formal call. She came to the
side door this time and had the grace
to wait until most of the house had
been settled.
"1 told Mr. Jemson," she chattered,
"that I would try to be a little more
well not ceremonious, you know, but
more in accordance with the usual
rules. But I'm sure 1 know you well
enough already to know that you aren't
one of the painfully particular kind.
Now do be real reighborly."
In due time Mrs. Corby became ac
quainted with her other neighbors, all
pleasant ladies, who seemed to "stand
upon ceremony," for they waited until
she had her carpets down. One by one
she was informed of their character
istics and peculiarities by Mrs. Jemson,
who in her frequent neighborly morn
ing visits, running- in quite informally
through the bacK door, told her in con
fidence the entire history of the neigh
borhood. Mrs. A. was very nice, of
course, but well, her reliptous views
were so peculiar. Mrs. B.'s house was
;ortpaged and, as Mrs. Jemson told
Mr. Jemson, it was a mystery to her
how they kept up so well on Mr. Ii.'s
small salary. Mrs. C. was forever go
ing somewhere, and it would be a great
deal more becoming in her if she stayed
home more and took care of her chil
dren, who were growing up like wild
Indians. As for Mrs. D., she was too
much of a home body; was not neigh
borly one bit. As she often said to Mr.
Jemson, what was the good of having
neighbors if you did not see them and
feel free with them.
Mrs. Jemson had her good parts. She
really was no more of a gossip than
some women; she simply gossiped
oftener. She readily grarted favors;
she took Mrs. Corby riding; she was al
ways running in with flowers and fruit
or some dainty. To be sure, she might
have been accused, perhaps justly, of
often coming full-handed simply as an
excuse for coming at alL And yet, you
will admit, that it was kind of her.
6he was naturally generous and sym
pathetic, and but for her absorbing pas
sion for neighboring without ceremony.
all would have gone welL
As it was, well you know, dear
housekeeper, how it is. You try to
keep things spick and span, yet the
kitchen floor is not always iiamaculate,
nor does the range invariably shine
like burnished silver. At such times it
is not desirable that a stranger miling
ly appear, equipped by nature with the
means, in the shape of keen eyes, of
taking in all domestic loose 6crevrs and
culinary preparations. Nor do you en
Joy a neighbor making runway of
your dining-room, immedately after a
meal, when these aforesaid keen eyes
are most certainly making an accurate
estimate of the variety, great or little,
of your breakfast, dinner or tea.
This la what happened at Mrs. Cor
by. Iler city training and inexpe
rience had totally unprepared her to
meet such a neighbor as Mrs. Jemson
proved to be. In the first flush of that
lady's excessive neighborliness Mrs.
Corby responded with enthusiasm. She
went half way and met her neighbor
on her town ground. Whenever Mrs.
Jemson made her appearance Mrs. Cor
by gave her a smiling welcome, and,
though her neighbor did come rather
often and usually by way of the back
door, still Mrs. Corby overlooked much,
because of the kindness she had re
ceived from Mrs. Jemson's hands.
She even went so far, once or twice,
running over to see Mrs. Jemson, as to
make her entrance through the rear
door. But there was something about
this mode of approach that shocked
Mrs. Corbv's sensibilities. It struck
her as trespassing on forbidden ground,
of intruding on privacy; and after but
one or two of these attempts to be
neighborly in Mrs. Jemson's fashion,
she gave it up.
That lady, however, did not appear
to care, one way or the other. She her
self had determined to be neighborly
by way of the back door, but Mrs. Cor
by could do as she pleased, and,
though the latter did not return one
in ten of her neighbor's visits, Mrs.
Jemson knew that she "was tied down
with her children and did not expect it"
of her.
By and by, these frequent and un
ceremonious visits became unspeaka
bly annoying to Mrs. Corby. She was
a faithful, conscientious housekeeper,
and Jane a servant above the average,
but, nevertheless, there were at times
little things, or certain holes or corners,
not intended for Mrs. Jemson's eyes.
which those eyes persisted in seeing
because of her determination to be
neighborly by way of the back door.
But what could she do? Could she
tell her, with blunt truthfulness, that
her visits were ill-timed, or that her
mode of entering was not extremely
tfreeable? She tried to hint sometimes
that back doors were for the use of
butcher and grocer boys and those con
nected with the establishment; but
Mrs. Corby was not good at giving an
insinuation or Mrs. Jemson at taking
It was amazing how entirely the in
ner workings of the Corby family were
brought to Mrs. Jemson's knowledge.
She seemed to possess a sixth sense.
She knew when a bushel of potatoes or
a roast of meat was carried in through
the back door. She knew the exact in
stant when Tommy Corby came down
with measles. She knew when her
neighbors had company and who they
were and what part of this broad land
they hailed from and what they had to
eat. She knew how Mrs. Corby man
aged her household and how she made
over her last year's silk, and how much
Mr. Corby paid for his shoes. It was
wonderful. Mrs. Corby often thought.
that Mrs. Jemson knew more about the
family than she did herself.
Upon the occasions of Mrs. Corby s
visits to her old home (Mrs. Jemson
having full and complete data of every
thing concerning expense, route and
wardrobe of the lady and her children)
her neighbor instituted herself a com
mittee of one to look after the Corby
premises and kept her eye upon things
in and out of the house in a manner
that would have put to blush nine de
tectives out of ten. Mrs. Jemson knew
the exact number of times that Jane
had company, how often 6he played
on her mistress' piano, the occa
sions of her sweeping the front
part of the house and just what
hour Mr. Corby came home of even
ings, bhe tola Mrs. uorDy anerwaras.
"Confound that woman!" muttered
Mr. Corby, one evening, after Mrs.
Jemson had been over (for the second
time that day) and had regaled them
with a dilute conversation concerning
what she had said to Mr. Jemson and
what Mr. Jemson had said to her.
Mr. Corby had been aching to take
up an interesting book and had been an
unwilling martyr to "neighboring."
Perhaps he will be pardoned for his
expression: 'xoniound that woman!
"O Harry! what am I to do with
her?" asked Mrs. Corby, helplessly.
'We are being neighbored to death. If
it were not that we are so near, I
should do something desperate, decisive
and end it alL But we are so close to
gether, it would make it very uncom
fortable to have any ill feeling. I will
endure almost anything rather than
have a neighborhood trouble."
"Mrs. Corby," respoiided her husband,
solemnly, rising to his feet, and look
ing down at her with feigned earnest
ness, "you might cover that woman
with insinuations and not really offend
her. And why? Because she must be
intimate with some one. She is one of
those unfortunate females who must be
going to some place to cackle, or else
die. The very thought of spending a
half hour by herself has to her almost
as fatal a result as a drop of prussic
acid to o ther people. You might tell
that woman, point blank, that she ap
pears in our domicile too often, and
though she might fo home with fire in
her eyes, in a few days she would re
turn again, as if nothing bad hap
pened."
Tapering?" inquired Mrs Jemson, a
few mornings after, appearing "infor
mally" in the dining-room, and gazing
meditatively at the few lengths of paper
already in place. "I thought it was wall
paper. I saw a man leave here yester
day It's very pretty, I'm sure. I told
M. Aemson only the other day I didn't
see what 3-ou were thinking of to allow
that old paper to stay on. It was so
gloomy. Why didn't you get ingrain?"
"We prefer the figured," Mrs. Corby
answered, making up her mind to be as
uncommunicative as possible. Yet be
fore her visitor left she had found out
where the paper was purchased, what
it cost and how many rolls were re
quired for the room.
Mrs. Jemsou ran over in the after
noon to see what progress had been
made. She also ran over the nest
morning, quite early, to note the effect
f the finished work, having told Mr.
Jemson that It was wonderful how dif
ferent a room looks newly papered.
Now it happened that the second time
Jane was not in a particularly angelio
mood. Something had disturbed her
equilibrium, and she was not in a tern
per to be trifled with. The screen door
was hooked, and she did not hurry her
self to let Mrs. Jemson in. Indeed, so
far as she was concerned, she would
have looked on cheerfully while that
lady fairly sizzled in the sun.
"Dear me, Jane, how slow you are!
exclaimed Mrs. Jemson, her usual smile
darkening to a frown.
"There's a front door to this place,
there is. 1 ain't hired to be a lettin
folks in the back way," Jane mur
mured, under her breath.
Mrs. Jemson heard, as Jane meant she
should.
"I shall tell Mrs. Corby of your im
pudence," she cried, scornfully, sweep
ing into the dining-room.
"Mrs. Corby, how can you endure
that insolent creature in your kitchen?
She positively insulted met I think
she is the most independent piece I fter
saw!"
"Indeed?"
"And wasteful! If you could see, as
I do, what she throws away. I should
think she'd ruin you. Time and time ;
again, when I've run over in the morn- i
ing, I've noticed that she left enough
oatmeal in the kettle to feed a good- !
sized family." I
Mrs. Corby sighed, though not, as
Mrs. Jemson supposed, at Jane's short- '
comings. After a shorter call than I
usual, the visitor took her departure by j
way of the side door, conveying the im- !
pression, in a few disdainful words, I
that she never cared to look on Jane's '
face again, and evidently thinking i
that she left Mrs. Corby in a quite
anxious frame of mind, for fear she
would allow Jane's unladylike allu
sions to interfere with future neigh
borliness, or cause her to be more cere
monious.
She stayed away for three whole
days. It was delightful. Mr. Corby
read for three blissful undisturbed
evenings. Mrs. Corby sewed and man
aged her household, for three never-to-be-forgotten
days, herself.
But this, as they knew, was too good
to last. The fourth morning Mrs.
Jemson appeared (at the back door) as
smiling as usual. She beamed upon
Jane as if nothing had been unpleasant
between them. After that she was, if .
possible, more neighborly and less cer
emonious than before.
At the time that Jane took her va
cation, and Mrs. Corby was obliged to
become for the nonce her successor,
Mrs. Jemson was most kind. She
brought over a pie one day and a cake
or a batch of cookies the next. That
was really kind and neighborly, of
course. liut she spoiled it by trenerally
following her contributions up herself
and spending a good share of the
morning in the Corby kitchen.
"Don't mind me; po right on as if I
weren't here. I'll just sit a minute."
Mrs. Corby, flushed and nervous,
made a virtue of a necessity and went
on, but not in a manner satisfactory to
herself or to her work.
Jane came back in two weeks. She
was rested and in good humor and all
was apparently going welL But one
day. by accident, she spilled a panful of
grease upon the floor. Housekeepers
will agree with me when I say that
was just the moment to leave Jana
alone. But Mrs. Jemson did not know.
Just at the evil hour that the girl was
trying to repair the damage Mrs. Jem
son appeared at the screen door. Jane
was well Jane was furious.
"I wish folks would come visiting as
they had ought, to the front door, like
Christians, 'stid o' poppin in on you
mornin' noon and night," she muttered,
as she slowly rose to her knees, in a
voice carefully pitched so that every
word reached Mrs. Jemson's ears.
"Never saw such people as are in this
town. Never know when they're
about a-pokin' an' a-pryin' an a-mind-in'
everybody's business but their
own."
Mrs. Jemson heard. Mrs. Jemson
fled. She remarked to Mr. Jemson that
evening that she had always felt that
Mrs. Corby came of poor stock, but
woman who kept a servant like that
was common positively common. She,
for one, Mr. Jemson was assured, did
not think she should trouble Mrs. Corby
very soon again.
"Mrs. Gray, if you knew what I had
done for that family," she said, solemn
ly, giving her version of the affair to
another neighbor. "I have actually
put myself out often, to be neighborly,
because they were strangers. More
than once Mr. Jemson has said:
'Susie, you will have your trouble for
your pains. You will not be appre
ciated.' And I would say: 'Mr. Jem
son, perhaps 1 will not, but I must do
my part. They really seemed so nice
a family at first, don't you think? But I
made up my mind some time ago that
they were very peculiar. Mr. Corby is
quite nice, but it's easy to see he's hen
pecked. It's Mrs. Corby that rules in that
house. And children! Well, I never saw
any like them. Perfect little outlaws! To
tell the truth, I became disgusted with
the family long ago. As for house
keeping, Mrs. Gray, if 1 told you of
some of the things I saw in that house,
you wouldn't believe me. You see,
living so close I cou'dn't help knowing.
As I told Mr. Jemson I never saw such
a family in all my life."
For all that o'jly eternal vigilance i
the price of tre Corbys liberty. Ther
has never beta an open break betweec
the ladies; Mrs. Corby i; far too well
bred. But -there is a dec'-.led frigidity
in the matuer of the e.itire family,
from Mr. Corby to Jane, in their atti
tude toward the Jcmsooi As by in
stinct, each knows that Mrs. Jemson
will pounce upon the faintest overture
with avidity and be as neighborly as
before. Indeed, she has shown plainly
that she is willing to forgive and for
get, but if the Corbys can help it sh
will never have an opportunity.
Mrs. Corby has learned that there
are neighbors and neighbors. She has:
gained much experience. Hereaftei
she will promptly nip in the bud th
first symptom that may appear in any.
one living near her of being neigh
borly by way of the back door. Mar
E. Child, in Good Housekeeping-.
MR. HARRISON'S APOLOGY.
The Ex-President's Weak Effort In III
Own Defense.
Mr. Harrison is quite right in the
position that an ex-president is not
necessarily a political deaf mute if he
has anything pertinent to say. But
why does he describe himself as "a man
who has been honored by his fellow
citizens with the highest civil plac: in
the government?" Surely he knows
that his fellow-citizens, that is to say,
a majority of them, never honored him
with any such place. On the contrary,
a majority of them went to the polls in
November,. 1888, and expressed the
opinion that it would be best for Mr.
Harrison to continue the practice of
law at Indianapolis. It would probably
have been better for his fame if he had
done this; it would certainly have
been better for the country. But the
eccentric operation of our electoral
machinery made him president against
the wishes of the people. For that he
was not to blame, but why recall it by
saying that his fellow citizens did a
deed of which they are innocent?
So far from objecting to Mr. Harri
son's being heard in his own defense,
every thoughtful American must feel
that the time has come when he is
bound to speak, or allow the judgment
of posterity to go against his adminis
tration by default. We say the judg
ment of posterity, because that of his
contemporaries has repeatedly been
rendered against him. It began in his
own town shortly after his inauguration
and from that time to the great over
throw in 1S92 there was an almost un
precedented series of votes of want of
confidence. His contemporaries have
spoken. It is only the judgment of his
tory that is not yet pronounced. If
Mr. Harrison desires to be heard on a
motion in arrest of judgment, it is time
for him to speak.
Mr. Harrison's administration found
the treasury full, and left it empty. It
found the currency enjoying the confi
dence of everybody, and left it in so
uncertain a condition that a general
MAKING IT HOT FOR THE GRAND OLD PARTY. N. Y. World.
failure of confidence produced the al
most unparalleled spectacle of a coun
try's suffering from want in the midst
of an excessive supply of the neces
saries of life. The folly and criminal
ity of legislation, combined with the
greed of the monopolists who had been
allowed to dictate legislation for a
pecuniary consideration, had for once
in human history neutralized the ex
traordinary bounty of heaven and
snatched from the mouth of toil the
bread which its hands had earned.
While production had outrun the wants
of the people, the course of distribution
had been so altered by iniquitous laws
that distribution sat down by the side
of abundance, and died of starvation
under the shadow of storehouses full
of unsalable food.
These changes were made, not by
Mr. Harrison alone, but by laws which
received his assent. Thus much was
done; much more was attempted. An
effort was made to take the control of
elections from the people and hand it
over to a clique of petty despots, hold
ing office for life, who would have un
derstood that they were appointed for
the purpose of counting in republican
candidates. The republican party had
resolved that in future it would do its
own registration, its own counting, its
own certification. When it had secured
that privilege, it calculated on an eter
nal lease of power. Along with this
revolution in our domestic affairs it at
tempted a reversal of our foreign pol
icy. It proposed incessant interference
in the affairs of other nations, a re
versal of well-settled principles of in
ternational law, and the forcible an
nexation of such foreign territory as
contained American adventurers who
desired to obtain bounties from our
treasury. These revolutionary designs
were defeated; but enough was accom
plished to leave the country in a most
deplorable condition.
Such are some of the leading counts,
imperfectly pleaded, in the great in
dictment preferred by the American
people against the administration of
ex-President Harrison before the bar
of impartial history. If he has any
thing to say that is pertinent to his de
fense he should say it II is speetsh at
Indianapolis would seem to imply that
what he has to say is wholly irrelevant
It is only a plagiari-sm from the wolf in
Esop's fable that accused the lamb down
stream of muddying the water. Mr.
Harrison joins the republican press in
the assertion that the present distress is
not due to anything that has happened,
but to something that is going to hap
pen. In other words, the laws of the
universe have been changed and effects
now precede their causes. Such a de
fense as this is something worse than
silence. Mr. Harrison has uninten
tionally furnished an argument to
prove that sometimes, at least, an ex
president had better be a political deaf
mute. Louisville Courier-Journal.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
The republicans of the senate de
sire to prolong the business uncertainty
with tariff hearings. Have they not
heard sufficiently from the whole coun
try? Philadelphia Record.
After Mr. Harrison closes his
California lecture course he might come
east and deliver another course on the
science of emptying a full treasury and
scattering a gold reserve. N. Y. World.
Mr. Tom Reed has already re
flected upon the fact that the old ban
ners and signs reading "The Man from
Maine" could be used in 1S96 with a
great conservation of time and cam
paign funds. Chicago News.
The protected industries have had
all the "hearings" to which they have
any right. The representatives of the
sugar, whisky, glass, steel and other
trusts could no doubt make eloquent
pleas against a reduction of their sub
sidies, but they have all had their day
in court. It is the peoples turn now.
Indianapolis News.
Those republican papers that are
calling the Hawaiian queen such ugly
names, and accusing her of that which
most debases a woman, should bear in
mind that she sat at the table of Min
ister Stevens and was an honored guest
whenever accepting his hospitality.
Race prejudice seems to be carrying
some of the g. o. p. organs clear off
their feet. Detroit Free Press.
Senator Gray sums up the con
duct of Stevens at Honolulu with pre;
cision and moderation. He maintains
that Stevens should have adhered to
our constitutional principle of nonin
terference. "Here were avowed revo
lutionists who disclosed to him their
objects. He did not rebuke them nor
try to dissuade them, but he promised
just what they asked." Mr. Stevens
will need three more columns in the
salmon region journal he conducts to
meet that concise statement of his
duty and his violation of it. Chicago
Herald.
Some impressive truths were ut
tered by Gov. McKinley at the Lincol
day banquet in Columbus. He told the
truth when he said "the people are
tired of this tariff -tinkering, bond-issuing,
debt-incseasing, treasury-depleting,
business paralyzing and wage-reducing"
work. They are weary of it.
Maj. McKinley's swindling tariff law
made tariff tinkering a necessity. His
party made the issue of bonds and the
increasing of debt necessary by its de
pletion of the treasury. It paralyzed
business and reduced wages by trade
restrictions and heavy burdens. St.
Louis Post-Dispatch.
The chief soloists in the repub
lican chorus have now been heard.
The keynote is sounded. Reed, Har
rison and McKinley have lifted up
their voices, and Tray, Blanche and
Sweetheart know the concert pitch to
which their cries must be attuned.
When the hubbub of the chorus has
subsided consideration should be given
to a few facts that are relevant and im
portant. The Wilson bill will be
passed. Industry will revive and pros
perity will return under it. Wider
markets will demand enlarged produc
tion, and this in turn will increase the
employment of labor. N. Y. World.
Indisputably Decided.
The vote by which the McCreary
resolution was adopted in the house
177 to 75 probably represents very
fairly the sentiment of the country on
the course of the present administra
tion and of that which preceded it in
relation to the Hawaiian business. It
was a party vote, to be sure, and there
is, no doubt, a disproportionate repre
sentation of the democratic party of
the country in the house at present,
but the division among the people on
this occasion is not along the party
line, and we have no doubt that if the
single issue could be put to a popular
vote, after a fair discussion, the course
of the Cleveland administration would
be sustained by fully the ratio of 177
to 75. There never was a question
seriously disputed upon which the mer
its were so clearly on one side, and all
the posing and pretending of the poli
ticians in congress would fail to upset
the plain common sense and sense of
right of the people of the United
States. N. Y. Times.
SCHOOL AND CHURCH.
There are four women missionary
physicians in Persia.
Teachers in the Mexican publio
schools are paid $30 to $40 a month.
The Band of Hope in Australia has
a membership of over 2,000.000 of
younsr people, and an annual income
of 10,000 pounds, employs 29 lecturers,
and last year sold 1,240,000 publica
tions. The Catholic laymen, having in
charge the proposed memorial to the
Marj-land legislature asking for state
aid for parochial schools, have been
requested to drop the subject, and sev
eral Catholic members of the legisla
ture say that no bill will now be intro
duced for a difis'on of school funds, as
the opposition to the project has been
too pronounced.
The course of instruction in naval
architecture recently established at
the Massachusetts institute of technol
ogy provides for a thorough training
in the theory and methods of devising
and building ships, together with a
study of the properties requisite for
safety and good behavior at ?ea. It is
arranged to occupy four years, and
leads to the degree of bachelor of
science.
Mrs. A. H. Clough has recently
given the sum of 1,000 to Newnham
college for the purpose of endowing a
scholarship, to be called by the name
of her husband, Arthur Hugh Clough.
It is intended that the scholarshipshall
be awarded each year to the best-qualified
candidate, who, having studied at
Newnham college for three years,
wishes to continue her studies there
for a fourth year.
According to the statistics in the
annual report of the Japanese mission
(American board), there are 109 Con
gregational churcher in Japan with a
total membership of 10,960. The num
ber of additions by confession last year
was 1,096, an increase of fifty-six over
the preceding year. There are 129
preachers and 22 Bible women. The
contributions for church purposes were
$25,709, a gain of nearly $5,000 over the
year before.
According to a London Daily
Chronicle telegram from St. Peters
burg, the exiled Baptists and Stundists
in the governments of Tifiis and Eliza
vatpolsk continue to be persecuted,
and almost every week fresh families of
nonconformist peasants arrive to swell
the army of those who are now suffer'
ing in exile for their faith. Last yea
the Baptists owned a meeting-house in
Tiflis. but this has now been shut up
by the police. They are, therefore,
obliged to hold their meetings outside
of the town in the mountains, where
they meet in secrecj-.
John Berridge, one of the great
preachers of England, was not content
to preach only in his own parish, and
was often reprimanded by his bishop.
At the end of a dialogue, in which the
witty Berridge foiled the bishop at
every turn, they parted with these
closing sentences: "As to your con
science," said his lordship, "you know
that preaching out of your parish is
contrary to the canons of the church."
Berridge replied: "There is one canon
which I dare not disobey, and
that says: 'Go preach the Gospel to
every creature ' "
The resignation of Rev. T. De
Witt Talmage of the Brooklyn Taber
nacle will, it is believed, and the exist
ence of the church. No other man
could fill the vast auditorium, holding
as it does five thousand persons, every
Sunday. The tabernacle was built es
pecially for Dr. Talmage. end without
him it must be closed. This is admit
ted by Leonard Moody, president of
the board of trustees, who says that if
Dr. Talmage leaves the church it must
be sold for the benefit of the two cred
itors, Mr. Sage, to whom is owed, with
interest, '$175,000, and Mr. Willis, to
whom is due, with interest, $32,000,
making a total of about $207,000. The
church property as it stands costs
5450,000.
A Small Matter.
A Detroit man, noted for his very
serious and earnest manner, went out
not long ago with his wife to find
apartments. After a time they found
a pleasant place and had agreed to take
it.
"By the way," said the landlady, "I
forgot to ask if you had any chil
dren ?"
"We have a boy," responded the
mother.
"Indeed? I'm very sorry," protested
the landlady, "but I can not permit
anv children to come into my house."
'Oh, that will be all right," said the
gentleman encouragingly, but with
great seriousness. "We can fix that
with very little trouble, indeed. We
will just kill the boy," and they went
on to other places which, like Heaven,
suffer little children to come unto them
and forbid them not. Detroit Free
Press.
Not Kasil) Dissuaded,
Little Johnny Mamma, won't you
get me a double-rij per sled?
Mamma I knew a little boy who
bad a sled of that kind, and the first
time he used it he crushed three of his
fingers so that they had to Je taken
off. How would you like that?
Little Johnny (anxious for the sled)
Well, I think it would be sort o' con
venient not to have so many finger
nails to keep clean. Good News.
Muggins "See that poor devil in
the rain without any umbretla? Every
rainy day I see him in the same pre
dicament, and on clear days he always
carries an umbrella. Who is he? do
you know?" Buggins "That's our lo
cal weather forecaster." Philadelphia
Record.
Jeremisquan, Duck Trap and Pe
quawket are some Maine names which
have been swept away by the besom of
reform. But the beautiful Che-suna-bungamaujflaronticook
remains. I w
iston Journal.
In the middle ages the value of a
count ad a fighting man was 3 per
month; of a baron, ' I; of a knight, IS
shillings; of a man-at-arou S siiillimr;
of an archer, 0 pence.