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About Plattsmouth weekly herald. (Plattsmouth, Nebraska) 1882-1892 | View Entire Issue (April 5, 1888)
lie 1-1bcuc the I tn th l)u Tuiight 1 ItlocHom fur the Vlolt for the Tomb. Brooklyn, April 1. platform and galleries of tho Tabornaclo wre this morning profusely decorated with flowi'iH. On the previous evenifjg I ho church hud heeu oioii to prepare the decorations, fur which (ho congregation had Ix-en invited to hrin llower.H. The iniiTiense audienco room is not lai'e enough to contain the people on ordinary occasion; it must he 1. ft to Ihe imagination to surest the throngs, 1kUi inside and outside the church, on thU great festal day. The Iiev. T. Do Witt Tulmagc, D. D., took for his text Luke xii, 23: "If then (Jod ko clothe the grass, which is today in the field, ami to-morrow i.s ca-st into the oven, how much more will he clothe " 1 f. w;i lit The lily is the queen of the Bihle flow ers. The rose may have disputed her throne in modern times, aid won it; but the rose originally had only live petals. It was under the long continued and in tense gaze of the world that the rose blushed into its present beauty. In the Bible train, cassia ami hyssop and frankincense and myrrh and spikenard and camphire and the rose follow the lily. Fourteen times in the Bible is the lily mentioned; only twice the rose. The rose may now have wider empire, but the lily reigned in the time of Esther, in the time of Solomon, in the time of Christ. CiX'sar had his throne on the hills. The lily had her throne in the valley. In the greatest sermon that was ever preached, there was only one flower, and that a lily. The Bedford dreamer, John Bun yan, entered the house of the interpreter, and was shown a cluster of flowers, and was told to "consider the lilies." Wo may study and reject other sciences at our option. It is so with astronomy, it is so with chemistry, it is so with juris prudence, it is so with physiology, it is so with geology; but the science of botany Christ commands us to study when he says: "Consider the lilies." Measure them from root to tip of petal.' Inhale their breath. Notice the gracefulness of their poise. Hear the whisper of the white lips of the eastern and of the red lips of the American lily. Belonging to this royal family of lilies is the lily of the Nile, the Japan lily, the Lady Washington lily of tho Sierras, the Lroiuvn liana niv, tne uianc my or ise- paul, the Turk's Cap lily, tho African lily from the Capo of Good Hope. All these lilies have the royal blood in their veins. Biiy I take the lilies of my text this morning as typical of all flowers, and this Easter day, garlanded with all this opulence of floral beauty, seems to address lis. saying: "Consider the lilies, consider the a.alias, consider the fuch 3ias, consider the geraniums, consider the ivies, consider the hyacinths, consider 5, hi heliotropes, consider the oleanders." With differential and grateful and intel ligent and worshipful souls, consider them. Not with insipid sentimcntalism or with sophomoric vaporing, but for grand and practical and everyday, and, if need le, homely uses, consider them, The flowers are the angels of the grass. They all have voices. When the cloud, speak, they thunder; when the whirl winds speak, they scream; when the cat aracts speak, they roar; but when the Cowers speak, they always whisper. I stand here to interpret their message. What have you to say. oh ye angels of the grass, to this worshipful multitude? This morning I mean to discuss what flowers are good for. That is my sub ject: What are flowers good for? 1. I remark, in the first place, they are good for lessons of God's providential care. That was Christ's first thought. All these flowers seem to address us to day, saying: "God will give you apparel and food. We have no wheel with which to spin, no loom with which to weave, no sickle with which to harvest, no well sweep with which to draw water; but God slakes our thirst with the dew, and God feeds us with the bread of the sun Ehine, and God has appareled us with more than Solomonic regality. We are prophetesses of adequate wardrobe. If God so clothed us, the grass of the field, will he not much ruoro clothe you, oh ye of little faith?" Men and women of worldly anxieties, take this message home with you. How long has God taken care of you? Quar ter of the journey of life? half the jour ney of life? Three-quarters the journey of life? Can you not trust him the rest of the way? God does not promise you anything like thaMfwhich the Roman emperor had on his table at vast expense 500 nightingales' tongues but he has promised to take care of j"OU. He has promised you the necessities, not tho luxuries bread, not cake. If God so luxuriantly clothes the grass of the field, will he not provide for you, his living and immortal children? He will. No we-nder Martin Luther always had a flower on his writing desk for inspira tion. Through tho cracks of tho prison floor a flower grew up to cheer Picciola. Jlungo Park, the great traveler and ex plorer, had his life saved by a "flower. Ho sank down in the desert to die, but, peeing a flower near ky suggested God's merciful care, and he got up with new courage and traveled on to safety. I paid the Cowers are the angels of the grass. I add now they are the evangels of the sky. 2. If you insist on asking me the ques tion: What are flowers good for? I re SjMDnd, they are good for the bridal day. The bride must have them on her brow, and she must have them in her hand. The marriage altar must be covered with them. - .A wedding without flowers would be as inappropriate as a wedding without music. At such a time they are for congratulation and prophecies of good. So much of the pathway of life is covered up with thorns, we ought to cover the beginning with, orange blos soms. Flowers are appropriate on sucn occa sions, for in 99 out of 100 cases it is tLe v-ry best tiling that could have hap lncf. The world may criticise and pro nounce it an inaptitude, and may lift its eyebrows in surprise and think it might t i to id in the bi A folded paper, and i . half blown rose, t! colored, carefully ; there forty or f II y anniversary day ; L . go to the bureau, t,.c she will unfold the pajier, and to In r fvca will 1k evnosed th half blown bud. ! j - i - - ' and the memories of the past will rush upon her, and a tear will drop .ujion tho flower; and suddenly it is transfigured, and there is a stir in the dust of tho anther, and it rounds out, and it is full of life, and it legins to tremble in the procession up tho church aisle, and the dead music of a half century ago comes throbbing through the air; and vanished faces reapjear, and right hands are joined, and a manly voice Tromises: "I will for better or for worse," and the wedding march thunders a salvo of joy at the departing crowd; but a sigh on that anniversary day scatters the scene. Under tho deep fetched breath, the altar, tho flowers, the congratulating groups are scattered, and there is nothing left but a trembling hand holding a faded rosebud, which is put into the paper, and then into the liox, and the box carefully placed in the bureau, and, with a sharp, sudden click of the lock, tho scene is over. Ah, my friends, let" not the prophecies of the flowers on your wedding day be false prophecies. Be blind to each other's faults. Make the most of each other's excellences. Alove all, do not loth get mad at once! Remember the vows, the ring on the third finger of the left hand, and th benediction of the calla lilies. 3. If j'ou insist on asking mo the ques tion, what are flowers good for? I an swer, they are good to honor and com fort the obsequies. The worst gash ever made into the side of our poor earth is the gash of the grave. It is so deep, it is so cruel, it is so incurable that it needs something to cover it up. Flowers for the casket, flowers for the hearse, flowers for the cemetery. What a contrast between a grave in a country churchyard, with the fence broken down and the tombstone aslant, and the neighboring cattle browsing amid the mullein 6talks and the Canada thistles, and a June morning in Green wood, the wave of roseate bloom rolling to the top of the mounds, and then breaking into foaming crests of white flowers all around the pillows of dust. It is the difference between sleeping un der rags and sleeping under an embroidered blanket. We want Old Mortality with his chisel to go through all the graveyards "of Christen dom, and while he carries a chisel in one hand, we want Old Mortality to have some flower seed in the palm of the other hand. "Oh," you say, "the dead don't know; it makes no difference to them. " I think you' are mistaken. There are not so many steamers and rail trains coining to any living city as there are convoys com ing from heaven to earth; and if there be instantaneous and constant communi cation between this world and the better world, do you not suppose your departed friends know what you do with their Imdies? Why has God planted "golden rod" and wild flowers in the forest and on the prairie where no human eye ever sees them? He planted them there for invisible intelligences to look at and ad mire, and when invisible intelligences come to look at the wild flowers of the woods and the table lands, will they not make excursions and see tho flowers which you have planted in affectionate remembrance of them? When I am dead, I would like to have a handful of violets any one could pluck them out of the grass, or some one could lift from the edge of the pond a water lily nothing rarely expensive or insane display, as sometimes at funeral rites where the display takes the bread from the children's mouths, and the clothes from their backs, but something from the great democracy of flowers. Rather ihan imperial catafalque of Russian czar, I ask some one whom I may have helped by gospel sermon or Christian deed to bring a sprig of arbutus or a handful of china asters. It was left for modern times to spell ro Fpect for the departed and comfort for the living in letters of floral gospel. Pil low of flowers, meaning rest for the pil grim who has got to the end of his jour-nej-. Anchor of flowers, suggesting the Christian hope which we have as an anchor to the soul, sure and steadfast. Cross of flowers, suggesting the tree on which our sins were slain. If I had my way, I would cover up all tho dreamless sleepers, whether in golden handled casket or pine box, whether a king's mausoleum or Potter's Field, with radiant and aromatic arboreseuce. Tho Bible 6ays, in the midst of the garden there was a scpulcher. I wish that every sepulcher might be in the midst of a garden. 1. If you insist on asking mc the question: What are flowers good for? I answer for religious symbolism. Have you ever studied Scriptural flora? Tho Bible is an arbetum, it is a divine con servatory, it is a herbarium of exquisite beauty. If you want to illustrate the brevity of the brightest human life, you will quote from Job: "A man cometh forth as a flower and is cut down." Or you will quote from the Psalmist: "As the flower of the field, so he perisheth; the wind passeth over it, and it is gone." Or you will quote from Isaiah: "All flesh is grass, and the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field." Or you will quote from James the apostle: "As the flower of thj grass, bo he passeth away." What graphic Bible symbolism 1 All the cut flowers this Easter day will soon be dead, whatever care you take of j them. Though morning and night you j baptize them in the name of the shower, j the baptism will not be to them a saving ordinance. They have been fatally wounded with the knife that cut them. Th?y are bleeding their life away; they are dyiug now. The fragrance in the air is their departing and ascending spirits. Oh, yes! flowers are almost human. ( . 'mo roe, when lie t-.. the rose of Sharon and the i. valleys." ISedolent like the.oneT t like the other. Like both, appr for the sad, who want sympathiwir""'- for the rejoicing, who want banqueters. Hovering over the marriage ceremony like a wedding bell, or folded like a chaplet on the pulseless heart of the dead. Oh, Christ! let tho ierfume of thy name Iks wafted all around the earth lily and rose, lily and rose until the wilderness crimson into a garden, and the round earth turn into one green bud of immortal beauty laid against the warm heart of God. Snatch down from the world's banners eagle and lion, and put on lily and rose, lily and rose. But, my friends, flowers have no grander use than when on Easter morn ing wo celebrate tho reanimation of Christ from the catacombs. All the flowers of today spell resurrection. There is not a nook or corner in all the building but is touched with the incense. The women carried spices to the tomb of Christ, and they dropjied spices all around about the tomb, and from those spices have grown all tho flowers of Easter morn. The two white rolx?d angels that hurled the stone away from the door of tho tomb, hurled it with such violence down the hill that it crashed in the door of the world's sepulcher, and millions of the stark and dead shall come forth. However labyrinth ian the mausoleum, however costly the sarcophagus, howevei architecturally grand the necropolis, however beautifully parterred the family grounds, we want them all broken up by the lord of the resurrection. The forms that we laid away with our broken hearts must rise again. Father and mother theyr must come out. Husband and wife they must come out. Brothers and sisters they must come out. Our darling children they must come out. The eyes that with trembling fingers we closed must open in the luster of resurrection morn. The arms that we folded in death must join ours in embrace of reunion. The beloved voice that was hushed must bo returned. The beloved form must come up without its infirmities, without its fatigues it must come up. Oh, how long it seems for some of you. Waiting waiting for the resurrection. How long! how long! I make for your broken hearts today a cool, soft bandage of Easter lilies. Last night we had come in the mails a beautiful Easter card on the top of it a representation of that exquis ite flower called the "trumpet creeper," and under it the inscription: "Tho trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised." I comfort you this day with the thought of resurrection. When Lord Nelson was buried in St. Paul's cathedral in London, the heart ci all England was stirred. The procession passed on amid the sobbing of a nation. There were thirty trumpeters stationed at the door of the cathedral, with instru ments of music in hand, waiting for the fcignal, and when the illustrious dead arrived at the gates of St. Paul's cathe dral these thirty trumpeters gave oik united blast, and then all was silent. Yet the trumpets did not wake the dead, lie slept right on. But I have to tell you what thirty trumpeters could not do for one man one trumpeter will do for all nations. Tho ages have rolled on. and the clock of the world's destiny strikes nine, ten, eleven, twelve, and time shall be no longer ! Behold the archangel hovering. lie takes the trumpet, points it this way, puts its lip3 to his lips, and then blows one long, loud, terrific, thunderous, reverberating and resurrectionary blast. Look! Look! They rise! The dead! The dead! Some coming forth from tho family vault. Some from the city cem etery. Some from the country grave yard. Here a spirit is joined to its body, and there another spirit is joined to an other body, and millions of departed spirits are assorting the bodies and then reclothing themselves in forms now radiant for ascension. The earth begins to burn the bonfire of a great victory. All ready now for the procession of reconstructed humanity! Upward and away! Christ leads and all the Christian dead follow, battalion after battalion, nation after nation. Up, up! On, on! Forward, ye ranks of God Al mighty ! Lift up jour heads, yo ever lasting gates, and let the conquerors come in! Resurrection! Resurrection! And so I twist all the festal flowers of this church with all the festal flowers of chapels and cathedrals of all Christen dom into one great chain, and with that chain I bind the Easter morning of 1833 with the closing Easter of the world's history Resurrection! May the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of sheep, through the blood of the everlast ing covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will. Hags Spreading Diseases. The state board of health of Massachu setts reports, through Dr. Withington, the spread of infectious diseases by means of rags. Small pox is proved to have been, in some cases, thus trans mitted; and more frequently by domes tic than by foreign rags. Cholera, es pecially, has been traced to the samo source. "There is evidence that cloth ing from cholera patients, and, possibly, clothing merely packed in an infected locality, has, when transported to a dis tance.and there unpacked, caused the disease, thus starting a fresh cholera focus." Danger is also averred to exist in the cases of phthisis, consumption and "Women desiring to enter the London So other diseases; as the dust rising from . ciety'of Lady Dressmakers have to .furnish rags may convey to the lungs the germs of euch diseases. Globe-Democrat. I or tj.i lentii oi i. a .-1 . i ... . times for the viu.i ary puvson to tiuie o-it, unless-he has a watch or is surrounded witly landmarks with which he ia perfectly fanulL iur. Tho average- person, if cast adrift in a Email boat on tbo ocean or on any of the lare lakes, would discover it to bo very nearly as difficult to tell which point of the horizon was north, or east, or south, or west, even though the suu was shilling, as ho would during the night. Tho sumo remark is true of the average jierson traveling on the prairio or the desert. SCXFLOWEK AND MARIGOLD. Several sjiecies of flowers may bo said to bo guides, in a general way, to the points of the compass. That is to say, they a (lord a hint as to tho direction which the sun u in when tliat orb may be hidden from view by any ob ject. Among these are the sunflower and the marigold. These flowers generally kep their faces toward the suu wheu it is visible, turn ing toward it when it rises, and following its movements as it sweeps across tho horizon until it disappears belo the western horizon. If the direction in which these flowers' faces JK)int ue followed by the oye the sun will often Ihj seen if the time be during the day light hours. To be sure, that lummury, when it is in tho immediate vicinity, usually makes its presence manifest without the aid of the sunflower, the marigold, or any other member of the vegetable or animal kingdom. There are occasions, however, when a knowl edge of these qualities of tho plants named may possibly bo useful in giving a hint tut to the direction tho sun is in from the observer. Tho possession of these attributes cei tainly gives these pluiits an interest and importance which they would not otherwise command. Of course, when the sun is found tho direc tion may be traced as before indicated. To this extent, therefore, the sunflower and the marigold may bo fairly included among the guides to the points of the compass. The sunflower, tho marigold, and plants of their class, it may bo said, are, in a negative sense only, guide to direction. They simply lead the eye to the point whoro tho sun is when that luminary may be temporarily hidden from view by an intervening build ing, tree, hill or other object, and the sun's position being known, it becomes possible to "liguro out" the pointy There is a certain llower, however, which is a iositive guide to the cardinal points. This is tho compass plant. Most persons who have traveled for any considerable distance in Illinois. Mis souri, Iowa or Kansas, have noticed a plant producing several stems from a single root, the two or three central stems ranging from four to six feet in height, bearing upon their upper extremity bright yellow flowers. The u pi Kir leaves of this plant are erect, and usu ally stand with their edges pointing north and south. This peculiarity gives it the name of polar plant, pilot weed, or compass plant. Locally, however, it is given the less poetical designation of "rosin weed," on account of tho juico which exudes from it. Its botani cal name is silphium laciniatum. Although most numerous in the states mentioned, the compass plant is seen as far east as Ohio and Michigan, and as far west as the stales lor doring on the Pacific ocean. Wherever fcind it may be relied on as a trustworthy guide in locating the points of the compass. TREES AND ROCKS AS GUIDES. Trees and rocks are also useful in indica ting the cardinal points. Lichens anil mosses, when found on trees or rocks, are densest on the north side. When tree or rock stand s that the sun strikes them during a larger pa s of the day, neither lichen nor moss, generally speaking, will be found on the south side. The tendency of these growths to cling to the south side increases in the proportion with which the sun is obstructed from shining on iheai. Trees or rocks in a dense forest may have moss on all sides of them, but even there the thickest growth is on the north side. Of course the principal cause of this peculiarity is thut the sun rarely strikes the north side of any large object, and then only for a short time in the morning and evening. Mosses and lichens thrive best in the shade When a tree stands in a position in which the sunlight can reach it through most of the day the limbs on one side of it will usually be much heavier than those on the other. Tho side upon which the heavy growth is on is the south side. A rock in a similar position will be darker on one side than the other. The dark side is on the south. In connection with the rock it should be understood that it is the rock itself and not any of the growths upon it, which is considered here. The mosses which, as teforo stated, are thickest on the north side, may be, when viewed at a distance, as dark or darker than the bare face of the south side will le. But the stone ca the north side will be comparatively light colored. Tho branches on the south side of a tree are heaviest and tho south side of a rock ij darkest for the same reason that moss is absent on the same side of both. The sun shines on that side longer than any other. This is true of the region north of tho equa tor all over the globe, but especially in the north temperate zone. South of the equator tho opposite conditions prevail. St. Louis Globe-Democrat. Cremation Making Headway. Cremation is making more headway on the continent and in this country than in Eng land. Italy for ten years Has had on aver age of seventy-five incinerations, Germany an average of fifty annually for the same time; but England has only had ten per an num. The expense is not so much in the way, the cost being but ten guineas; but English sentiment is bluishly conservative. People don't like the idea of being put in the fire, even when dead. Very many have an idea that it will some way hinder the resur rection of the body, which to the masses is a literal affair. But as a matter of health tho advantages of cremation are certainly very great. It also does away with the vulgar parade of an ordinary funeral, and that, unfortunate-, is precisely what is not desired by the classes most to be benefited by economy. Globe-Democrat. testimonials of their "social position" as well j as of character. ' . i Cass th., I.it..t ...!.. vii. Liini mi ir ui mucninery, such hp: j. ew ue-t n ;t(oie, l.uckcye and Minnonjiolis Hinders and Moweri, vv and thu cclfl.rated Lister mil 'Drill; Shuttier and u ii4Uii5jrIIe al.su has cultivators irom $10.00 up to $20.00; Harrows and -j'1ovs in 8ani.; proportion. IIo Inn a branch Louee at Weeping Water. lie Mire and call on Fred before jou buj, either at Plattfcinouth or Weeping Water. 3lattiiiontIi and VV pin- Water, Ncbruufcn. h. D. 13 E JST JST E T T. JUST RECEIVED. I have just received Neufchated Cheeae, Edam Cheese. Boauia Prunes, Macedonia Prunea, Callfor nia and Turkish Prunes. Celery Relish; Clam Chowder; Beef Tea--very fine. Fresh Dates and Figs; Oranges, Bananas, cheap. 3. D. BEKNET T. SOER STABLES ive anything yon wane Jr. in a passenger wagon. CARRIAGE FOR PLEASURE AND SHORT DRI'i". always kept ready. Ciihs or tilit c-inages, pall-bearer -wagon and everything for funeral sliirnihed ..r :diort notice. Terra f cas Plt3 la 13 II n Han.l8oo Bwk OtUi pp., wtth buW U iIVm- EMU Uafe W'sttyni Bulbs, PlRBt. and viu2A v... Je To,!-, WiZ scrib8 ft nr valae. on a postal for W, ATLEE BURPEE & CO., PHILADELPHIA. PAi IMPORTERS s SPENGER, Brt i lj a nr.A a rrr nMnu 4mm&?& Iff 22, 24, 26, 23, 30 & 32 Lake Street, Earthquake Sh cks In Arizona. Hoi.erook. Ariz., April 1. At 10:30 last night a fcliglit shock of earthquake was felt lasting ten seconds. Th yHih tions were from ea?t to ;v.'t. nml quite perceptible. Houses trenihU'd. A strt n-,r wind from the south was Ijlowin.i: .it t!u time. WMolsa? Robbery Ey Young' Iris. CARTIIGE, III. April l.-A ncci.krl sensation has been unearthed at K irpe, iu this connty, ti.e d;s overy ti;:-.t the daughters o severil re titt'.!- c'l'z u hare been cna-d in a system of whole County. . . . C 1 I l two wlicc-Ud go cart to a twenty fevr 1 FARM ANNUAL FOR 1888 Will bo iHWit FU W to ill Kn w. it tel.. NoTdtin in TEO RTA ud FlToWSMM. wluch cannot ba oltau4 aWotutra - 1 ' the moM complete Ca.tnlflnn pnbtlaksal, to JOBBERS vv -vii l- Ct C7TLX2T, nssnra TACXLI SPC27D73 QXZZ. i -. CHICAGO. ILLS. sale robbfiy of millinery and dry goot'i stores in that citr for ov?r two weeks past. Goods amounting in value to a lar:- sum of money were found screted in barns, outhouses, under the- sidewalks nnd clsuwhere. Four of the girls aro from ti-ii to thirteen yean old. The parents are overwhelmed with ifTicf nnd off t te m-ikt? all amends. It is intimated that there is something behind this sys t. in of r-.ibt-ry, ,-oid that possibly other and ol-.b-r culprit may Ijk found. City nroj.rrty of all kinds in exchange fori itid-improved or nniniprov d. Apply to Windham :u.a Duvics. w-Ot. r
