Nebraska Newspapers

    .THE TRUSTFUL EDITOR
! A Painful Episode at the Outset oi
a Most Promising Career.
BY J. D. CALHOUS.
. At the request of a rich aunt for my
biography, I have written a sample
which I will iaflict upon the public. II
it does not prove fatal I will try it
upon my aunt. I make my experi
ments in this serial order, not because
I like the public less than I like my
aunt, but bebause I think it is , safer.
If the public doesn't approve, nobody
will make it her or his particular busi
ness to acquaint me suddenly and vio
lently with the fact, but I betray no
family secret when I say that when
my aunt is displeased but it is un
necessary to proceed. The reader
knows how it always is with fellows
and their aunts.
I may preface my remarks with the
statement that the incident I am
about to relate was the first shock I
ever received to my
- FAITH IN HUMAN NATURE.
I was an ambitious youth and had
early advantages. One of them was
that I learned to set type. The re-
:: il.i t i ,1 -1
most everything taught in the schools
of the town where I was raised. If
there is a creature on earth more to
be pitied than the callow fledgling
with these accomplishments, I cannot
conceive it.
I can look back down a long vista
of years periods full of worse downs
than I look a vista adorned with the
liveliest sort of widely varied recollec
tions. I can not only look down it,
but I can do it with the mellow con
sciousness that neither in nor about it
does there lie the record of having
fooled with the business end of a mule
in active motion. But grey-haired
and pallid as is this end of the vista,
between it and the other end is noth
ing to compare with the sort of young
man I have vaguely indicated. A piti
less destiny has foredoomed him to be
an editor. Not a reporter, but an
editor who shall teach the world the
great truths that seethe and bubble
m his somewhat manly and divinely
impassioned bosom. He is not fit to
be an editor, Cut congealed fate care
fully conceals the knowledge from him
at first and allows it to be broken gent
ly to him. As it is a large and stubborn
fact, it breaks into very small and
very hard pieces and he generally dies
before he sees the core of it in its naked
simplicity. This disquisition is tire
some, but necessary. AH necessary
things are tiresome, and a great pity
it is, too. And, of course, everybody
will agree that all unnecessary things
are tiresome. All things are either
necessary or unnecessary hence all
things are tiresome. When this great
truth shall be fully learned, all man
kind will be much wiser and much
lazier.
. BUT TO RETURN. ,
At a tender age I skipped away
from the parental roof with a hand
kerchief full of clothes, a bosom full of
burning ambitions, a will to conquer
the world and a firm determination to
be good to it after I had conquered it.
I have compared note3 with many
men and they all were as like me as
other peas in a pod except, per
chance, in the slipping away.
After a large number of appalling
disappointments I dismounted from
a freight car that was dropping to
majestic repose at Hagensport, Ind.
I had more experience and fewer
clothes than when I had gone out to
conquer. People engaged in collecting
statistics may now put me down in
the column of those who do not weep
for more worlds to conquer. I was
hungry and cold and I stepped into a
saloon as the only place where I could
get warm without being an intruder.
Bather a curious thinr isn't it. twt.
the saloon was in those days, every-'
-wuere, ana as now in many places, the
sole resort of a cold, hungry and half
clad youth in searA of warmth in a
strange city.
The hour was early and as I mod
estly sidled up to the stove I saw a
man at the bar taking what was evi
dently a habitual eye-opener. He
was conversing with the bartender in
a loud tone of voice and on terms of
friendly confidence. I caught a re
mark to the effect that he needed a
printer, and I caught also at the idea
involved. I suggested that I was a
printer. From my subdued manner
the man or the bartender or the stove
could either have appropriated the
information. But the man did not
give the other two a chance to put in
any, claim. He instantly turned,
came up to me and grasped me by
both hands, exclaiming:
"My dear young friend, you are a
visitation of Providence. I am the
editor and proprietor of the World
Keformer. A sordid printer has just
left me. I am, or, I should s&y was,
helpless. You shall come with me and
share my glorious mission and the
great fortune that will be mine. You
shall be my friend, my disciple, my
support, my alter ego. Come with
me.
He turned to the bar, took another
very solid drink of whisky, and I had
a chance to inspect him. He was tall
ana seedy and had a dark and
swarthv face. His nn was Tmrnia
bis hair long and his hat a plug of the
A . T 1 T r
.vuvuew tiavusua regime, rxia voice
was loud and changed like the circular
saw ata cnarivari. But his manner
was kind. I followed him from the
bar room, harnrv in th nrnsnivt. nt
work, for that meant food and clothes
--articles tnat nad, by then: compara
tive absence, raised themselves in my
esteem tne previous few months
Ihese staples are but a few of the
things that are rendered more valua
ble by not having them.
iuj employer, wnose name was
Hugh Jackson Stabbs, promised to
give me six dollars a week and my
ooara. i ate with the family and had
mackerel for hrefl,lrfn.st-. vprv mnrnina
usually supplemented by boiled pota
toes ana oacon gravy. My reduced
condition led me to become candidly
zonaoi tnese dietary atrocities. Air,
Stabbs soon discovered my
EMTORTAT. ISPrRiTIflWSI
and it affords me pleasure to do him
the tribute of saying that he encour
nsred them. Thn Wnrlri-Retfrtrmur wna
an organ of the labor party, of which
tne lion, uugn Jackson stabbs was a
prominent apostle. Its circulation
was less than 300, but it had at the
bead f the editorial page a double
leaded assurance that it went into
more homes of the people than any
other paper in that section of the
State. The editor defied his contem
poraries to dispute it, and challenged
them to show their books, but as they
were all ashamed of their circulations
and claimed to have four or five times
as many as they really had, they kept
quiet. Mr. Stabbs' greatest delight
was in the production of long winded,
high-sounuing editorials about the dig
nity of labor, the tyrany of wealth
and the like, and when he got more
than usually mellow he would ear
nestly abjure the Money Power to
beware. The people, be said, would
ere long arise in their might. I
thought so too, and I thirsted to t
one of them when they arose. I tried
my hand at writing similar frantic
stuff and when I submitted it to Mr.
Stabbs he appraved it. Not only was
it printed, but he practically abdi
cated the tripod in my favor and
talked about taking me into partner
ship. Weeks went by and I did every
blessed bit of work on the World
Reformer except collecting the bills.
This Mr. Stabbs withheld from me, as
he delicately explained, because of my
inexperience in financial matters. To
keep the books straight was a matter
of the greatest importance and to do
it easily was a faculty possessed by a
few favored people. As nature had
endowed me with a phenomenal edi
torial genius, she had of course been
unable to compress into my make-up,
otherwise so wonderfully gifted, this
one quality. He flattered himself
that he was a profound Judge of hu
man nature. It was an instinct with
him and he never missed sizing up his
man at sight.' He had never been so
grateful for his insight as now, because
it bad enabled him to recognize the
genius and promise of manhood in me
when l crept, Hungry a a coia, into
the grog emporium.
I LOVED STABBS,
and revered him with all the ardor of
young, impulsive, hopeful and
trustful nature. It is true that I saw
little or none of the money that was
coming to me. But then I wanted lit
tle. I had an order to a store that
advertised, when I needed shoes or
clothing, my board and washing wera
a family matter and the exchange list,
a carefully cultivated one, gave me all
the reading I wanted. I soon became
a zealous disciple of reform and more
than once did the W.-R. make its ap
pearance with a two-column editorial
essay of my own production. My em
ployer would lay down the paper on
such occasions with tears in his eyes
and gaze at me adoringly. He would
pile flattery on me until I was nearly
delirious and had the mail made up.
Then I would take it to the postoffice
while he would go out and bowl up.
L regretted this innrmity, but over
looked it. The future opened out to
me as a golden path, and I could read
ily forgive the few weaknesses of the
man who had put my feet on it.
Often he said to me, "My boy, the day
you are twenty-one and no longer an
infant in the eyes of the law, I shall
hand you a bill of sale of a half inter
est in the World-Reformer. That day
sees you enter upon the second era of
a glorious career." I had been with
Mr. Stabbs nearly a year and
THE FALIi ELECTION
approached. I remember, inciden
tally, that Mr. Stabbs owed me
249.4.0. Both the old parties cor
rupt, plutocratic machines, as Mr.
Stabbs called them had held their
county conventions. The labor party
also held a convention and Mr.
Stabbs said to me we had better hold
back the paper for a day and an
nounce to the world the grand result.
It was a great occasion. I sat for the
first time at the reporter's table and
noted down the proceedings. The
convention nominated a full ticket
and when ' it adjourned I rushed
around to the office and went to
work. I expected every moment to
see Mr. Stabbs come in, but he didn't,
and when I went to supper his excel
lent wife said she had seen . nothing of
him. But I was equal to the occasion.
I went back to the office, lighted
lamp3 and went on with the work. I
run the ticket up to the masthead,
inserted the full : proceedings of the
convention, Hung In a few red hot edi
torials and thrilling battle cries and
went to press. .All night long I labor
ed, stimulated by the consciousness
that I was doing yeoman service for
the right. At the first peep of day
light I was returning from the post-
oihee, where I had just deposited the
entire mail and city lists.
I MET MR. STABBS.
He looked at me with evident curios
ity and asked: '
"Where have you been? '
"To the postoffice with the mail."
He paled as he said: "You haven't
got out the paper 1 "
"Yea cii "
"Let me see it, for God's sake! " he
fairly shrieked. We went hastily to
the omce. He snatched a copy,
glanced at it a few moments and then
sank into a chair as if paralyzed. My
heart almost stopped beating as I
gazed at him and a horrible fear of
some unknown horror cramped my
soul. He revived sufficiently to stand
up and clinch his fist and shake it at
me. Finally he recovered his voice
and roared at me, "You infernal
idiot! You unholy greenhorn! You
concentrated simpleton! You've ru
ined me! Didn't you know, you pica
yune s worth of turnip greens, that a
labor paper is not incenaea nor ex
pected to support the party ticket.
You everlasting fool, look at that I "
And he piled down a fist full of
greenbacks. "That was the collection
I had made from the men on the
other tickets to not hoist the labor
ticket, but to support them on ac
count of their especial fitness and
personal - character. More money
than the whole labor party pays me
in five years. And now you've gone,
you petrified essence of idiocy, and
nlaved smash with the whole business.
The entire caboodle- of 'em will be
down on me in less than an hour, call-
ins for money or blood. And Jim
Ryker. the sheriff, has been holding
brck an execution against me for three
months on my promise to support
him for re-election. And now he will
have a bailiff in possession here before
9 o clock.
Mr. Stabbs' voice sank into a low,
hoarse whisper, his eyes rolled con
vulsively in their sockets and just as
he was about to succumb to pressure
of blood on the brain I abstracted
about half of the greenbacks from the
table, passed the door and melted
forever into the wide, wide world.
' It Ml slit Save Doctors Bills.
In a small town in Baden a minister
closed his sermon the other day with
these words: "We would be pleased,
moreover, to have the young man who
is now standing outside the door come
in and make certain whether she is
here or not. That would be a great
deal better than oneninc the 1
half an inch and exposing the people
in the last row of seats to a draught."
Frankfurter Zeitung.
f Watermelon seed's were found in an Btd
tlioi tomb that was 3,000 years old.
A YOUNG HE0.
Bravery and Patriotism "Was His Expiring
Inspiration.
How a Young Soldier, Almost With His Last
Breath, Fulfilled His Vow Tiiere is a Wev-er-rorgotten
Inspiration in Sach a Death.
Col. Henry Jordan retains clearly
many recollections of his army expe
rience, and no one is more entertain
ing in telling them, says the Indian
apolis Journal. It is the out-of-the-way
incident that gives his stories a
zest; the incident that would be forgot
ten and crowded out of the record by
those of greater historical importance.
"Soon af ier Wilder's Brigade," said the
Colonel to-a reporter recently, had
been armed with that implement of de
struction the Spencer repeating rifle,
the confederate women whom we
chanced to meet along the line of tur;
expeditions told us that John Morgan
had determined to arm his forces with
repeating rifles captured from Wilder's
brigade. This taunt had its desired ef
fect. It enraged our men, and conse
quently delighted our fair torraenter3.
But it had another effect, unforseen by
Gen. Morgan and his female allies. It
made our men solemnly resolve never,
under any circumstances, to surrender
a gun to the confederate forces. " .? - " :.
'But there was a danger against
which provision had to be made.
Often our line, moving toward our
point of destination, would be ten miles
long, sometimes even longer. Such a
line could not be maintained unless
the men were widely separated, and
wide separation made easy communi-
cation and rapid concentrations impos
sible. Capture of sinffle men or small
detachments was not only possible, but
probable, and it was against this dan
ger that provision had to be made. How
to save our guns in the event of cap
ture, and thus defeat Morgan's design,
was the problem that confronted offi
cers and men alike. The latter, group
ed . around their camp-fires at night,
discussed the matter with great earn
estness, but their deliberations were
without result Finally it was sugges
ted by one man that, as their guns
would have to be given up iu the event
of capture, all that could be done
would be to destroy their effectiveness,
in some way or other, before surrend
ering them. Investigation disclosed
the fact that by removing a single
screw the whole loading aparatus could
be removed in a single piece, and, this
piece thrown away, there would re
main nothing but the stock and barrel
of the gun to be surrendered. This
discovery made, the men gave, each
to the others, a solemn vow that, in
the event of capture, the effectiveness
of their rifles should be thus destroyed.
'Wilder led the advance of the
army of the Cumberland, and sweep
ing through Hoover's Gap with his
horsemen, carrying everything before
him, stood at bay at the furtner end.
He held it against overwhelming num
bers until the infantry, which he had
left far in the rear, came to his sup
port. Standing in the ranks of the 17th
Indiana that day was a young soldier,
beloved by all his comrades for his in
telligence, manliness and splendid
courage. A mere child, with a wo
manly expression upon his face, one
could only regret that the war should
havo dragged him away from his home
to be sacrificed on the field of battle.
Unmindful of everything but duty, he
stood there, that day, bravely fighting
against the overwhelming forces that
were hurled against us. Suddenly he
was seen to fall, and lie motionless up
on the field. After awhile, in a lull in
the battle, he raised himself upon his
elbow, took out his little screw-driver,
removed the screw and threw the piece
away. Not content with that, which
his fast-failing strength he emptied
his cartridge-box and. scattered his
metallic cartridges among the leaves.
Then, looking up at the comrades who
had gathered around him, ho said:.
Boys, they have killed me, but you
can whip them yet. Don't give up the
fight.' And then, as he sank back to
the earth, we saw that the spirit of
that brave boy had ascended to the
God of battles.
'Thus died Christopher C. MeRey
nolds. There is inspiration in such a
life; there is inspiration in such a death;
and, in the dark days that followed this
event, when one disaster to our arms
was quickly followed by another; when
discontent and avowed op. : ition to
the war was to be seen in many of the
states of the north, and when foreign
Intervention, .which meant'the success
of the rebel cause, seemed almost in
evitable, and when, discouraged by
these things, I was almost prepared to
sit down and give up all as lost, it
seemed to me that I heard that little
blue-eyed boy still whispering, Col.
Jordan, don't give up the fight.' The
highest reward I ask for the poor ser
vice I rendered my country is that it
shall be remembered that I did not give
up the fight until the flag for which
that young hero died waved in triumph
above his lonely grave on the mount
ainside in Tennessee."
AN EAVESDROPPER'S FATE.
Young1 Mr. Silt had been three
months away from his sweetheart, and
he thought what a joke it would be to
hide behind the parlor door and jump
out and kiss her by way of surprise.
He succeeded in getting into Emily
Ryder's house unobserved, and posted
himself behind the door just as he had
planned.
As he stood there in gleeful expectan
cy he heard his sweetheart's voice ex
claiming: "O Robin, I've almost cried my eyes
out for you!"
Then the listener heard- a horrible
sound like a kiss, and an endless dia
logue followed, in which a man's gruff
voice was intermingled. ,
Tom Silt was in a perspiration of
agony, and he felt strongly in favor of
rushing upon his sweetheart and the
villain she was making love to. On
second thought he stole outdoors and
posted himself where he could see his
rival in exit.
In a few minutes the door opened and
a young- man came out.
A curiosity impelled Timothy to follow
the young man and see where he lived.
The stranger looked back once or
twice suspiciously, and then Timothy
would get interested in something
across the street till the former faced
front again. And so they kept on till
the forward man entered a door over
which the words "sample-room" shone
In gilt letters. .
Timothy followed tha file leader,
whom he found seated at a small .
table in the act of calling for a "gin
fiz."
Timothy sat down at another table
and compromised with his conscience
he was a Good Templar by order
ing lemonade "straight." ' s
At length Timothy's and the
stranger's eyes met. Neither would
look aside and tle result was a pro
longed mutual stare.
The man got up and swaggered
across to Timothy.
"What d'yer want along o1 me?" he
demanded fiercely.
Maybe that's it," he added, giving
no time to answer and dashing the re
mainder of his "fiz" in Timothy's face.
"Anyhow you'll find it an improve
ment on the slop you're swilling
there." ' '
v Here was the opening Timothy had
longed for! He took no small pride in
his muscle and his "science;" ' In an
instant I he was up and on guard, and
before his adversary knew what was
coming a stinging left-hander had clos
ed his right eye.
The combatants, it soon appeared,
were very equally matched. Blows
fell thick and fast Right and left
they struck out, neither taking time
to parry. Damage to -the enemy, not
self reservation, became for the time
the primal law. Nobody interfered,
and when the conflict ended it was
from sheer exhaustionvictory perch
ing on neither banner. ,
Timothy had himself put into a cab
and driven to his lodgings, whither a
doctor was summoned, for repairs.
Next morning as he lay, feeling as
battered and bruised in spirit as in
body, a gentle tap came to the door.
Come in!" growled Timothy, think
ing it was the landlady.
'Why, Timothy !" cried a sweet
voice, full of sympathy, "whatever' s
the matter? I heard this morning you
were ill and had had the doctor, but
didnt know you'd been in a railroad
smashup or been blown up on a steam
boat, as I see you have. They didn't
want to let me see you, but I said I
would it was my place to nurse you.
How did it happen, Tim, dear?"
Emily Ryder," said Tim, sternly,
raising a corner of the beefsteak and
and giving her a very black loo k in
deed, "don't be a hypocrite! I know
all!" -
, And when he had told her all he
knew the story of his fight included
Emily burst into a hearty laugh.
"I'm quite prepared for such heart
lessness," said Timothy, bitterly.
"O Tim, Tim! cried Emily, recover
ing her breath. "I'm not heartless
I'm truly and sincerely sorry; but how
could you be such a dunce? Wait till
I introduce Robin. I left him out in
the carriage."
And, running out, she was back in a
minute carrying in her arms a mite of
a Scotch terrier, that looked like
nothing but a pair of glittering eyes
peering from a wisp of Scotch heather.
"Here's Robin," she said, depositing
him on Timothy's pillow, whence he
made a vigorous dive at the beefsteak,
but his mistress caught his collar.
"He's a present I got while you were
away," said Emily, "and the nicest
little creature in the world. He was
stolen the other day, and I offered a
reward for his return no questions to
be asked. Yesterday a queer-looking
man brought him home the same, no
doubt that stole him. Of course I was
very glad to see Robin, and called him
darling,' and kissed him, and made a
great to do over him. But you getting
into a jealous quarrel and fighting
with a dog thief it's too fuuny for
anything!"
For Timothy's sake we drop" the
curtain. Milwaukee Journal.
THE ITALIAN BANCO.
Some Effects of a Badly Mixed
Language.
In late years nothing has baen of half
so much service as philology, and prop
erly, pursued, 'there is no study half
so amusing as the study of words. It
throws a wonderful light upon hun
dreds of dark spots in the past, and
sheds a certain halo of antiquity upon
soaae of the commonest acts of our
lives. " . '.
i Many of the most fr-mili'ir terms of
speech are of course of Saxon origin,
but the .Latin, through the Italian, can
claim a fair share of the most ordinary
phrases, especially in matters relating
to banking and finance. This is large
ly owing to the fact that the Lombards
who were the first bankers in Europe
who conducted their business upon
principles resembling those prevailing
in our day. The? term "bank" is a
good illustration of the humble begin
ning of the business now carried on by
the great monarchs in the realm of
Mammon. In early times the primi
tive bankers transacted their business
upon a simple movable bench (banco),
and when any of them failed to keep
his engagements his bench was said to
be broken (banco rotto'), hence the word
bankrupt
Mountebank is another instance of
the descent of Italian commercial
phraseology to the English tongue.
The first Italian quack doctors carried
a portable bench with them, which they
mounted to address the people, in the
squares and market places, upon the vir
tues of their nostrums. It was from
this , old practice that the term
mountebank," the mounter upon the
bench, came to be applied to every
species of public charletanry.
Likes Home Customs Best.
At the Isles of Shoals they tell the
tale. that a lecturer went thither to
lecture to the assembled guests upon
the character and characteristics of
the Japanese, and in the course of his
remarks he dwelt upon the two facts
that tho self-contained people do not
use expletives, profanity being un
known in their land, and that equally
are they ignorant of the goodly fashion
of kissing.. These statements had
their due effect upon the audience, it
being observed that the masculine por
tion of the hearers were the more im
pressed by the former statement and
1 ,the feminine portion by the latter.
As the audience was dispersing, with
all the clatter of comment, gossip and
banter which belongs to such a gath
ering, one young woman was over
heard confiding,, to another her senti
ments in a phrase which was at once
most human, expressive and pict
uresque. "As for me," she said, "give me a
country where they kiss and cuss!"
It was felt that on the whole she
might be regarded as having pretty
well sized up the situation.
Siamese Ton sorial Customs.
The children of Siam have their
heads shaved with the exception of a
lock on the crown. This is not allowed
to be touched until they reach man
hood, and the ceremony of cutting it
off is one of the greatest events of the
child's life. The hair-cutting of a
prince belonging to the royal family
costs thousands of dollars. A great
feast is given, and the barber who does
the work receives a valuable present.
He clips the locks with golden shears
and shaves the , spot with a gilded
razor. When the heir apparent to the
throne is shaved in this way the wholo
nation rejoices. There is a grand
festival at Bangkok, in which the royal
white elephants take part, and feasting
goes on for days.
DR. TAIMACE IN JOPPA,
The Eminent Brooklyn Preacher Talks on
the Charities of the Needle.
He Arrives at the Birthplace of Sowing
Societies, in the Course of His Pilgrimage
and Entertains a Company of Christian
People. .. ' t
Rev. T. De Witt Talmage reached ancient
Jfoppa in time to preach to an appreciative
company of Christians last Sunday. His
subject wast "The Birthplace . of Sewing
Societies." He took for his text Acts ix,
3a: "And all the widows stood by him
weeping-, and showing the coats and gar
ments which Dorcas made while she was
with them." The preacher said:
Christians of Joppa i Impressed as I am
with your mosque, the first I ever saw, and
stirred as I am with the fact that your har
bor once floated the great rafts of Lebanon
cedar from which the temples at Jerusalem
were buiided, Solomon's oxen drawing the
logs through this very town on the way to
Jerusalem, nothing can make me forget
that this Joppa was the birthplace of the
sewing society that has blessed the
?ir- h cceeding ages in
all lands. The disasters to
your town when Judas Maccabaeus set it
on fire, and Napoleon had live hundred
prisoners massacred in your neighborhood,
cannot make me forget that one of the
most magnificent charities of the centuries
was started in this seaport by Dorcas, a
woman with her needle embroidering her
name meflaceably into the beneficence of the
world. I see her sitting in yonder home
thefijdoorway, and about
the building, and in the room where
she sits, are the pale faces of the
poor. She listens to their plaint, she
Pities their woe, she makes garments for
them, she adjusts the manufactured arti
cles to suit the bent form of this invalid
woman, and to the criople that comes
crawling on his hands and knees. She
gives a coat to this one, she gives sandals
to that one. With the gifts she mingles
prayers and tears and Christian encourage
ment. Then she goes out to be greeted on
the street corners by those whom she has
blessed, and aU through the street the cry
is heard: "Dnrca
look ud eratflfnllv ;n v,-
she puts her hand on the burning
hrow, and the lost anri tha
start up with hope as they hear her
fuue voice, as tuough an angel had ad
dressed them: and as slm
lane, eyes half put out with sin think they
a uaiu ux ugnt aoout Her brow, and a
trail of glory in her pathway. That night
a half paid shipwright climbs tho hill and
reaches home, and sees his little boy well
clad, and says: "Where did these clothes
come from?" And they tell him, "Dorcas
has been here." In another place a woman
is trimminfir a lamn: Dnrrat wnit va
on. in another place, a family that had
ueu Hb iauj ior many a week are
bread now for Dorcas has brought
DEATH AND KESUIiRECTIOM OT DORCAS.
But there is a sudden pause in that wo
man's ministry. Tney say: "Where is
Dorcas? Why, we haven't seen her for
many a day. Where is Dorcas?" And one
of these poor people goes up and knocks at
the door and finds the mystery solved. All
through the haunts of wretchedness, the
news comes, "Dorcas is sick!" No bulletin
flashing from the palace gate tellin
the stages of a king's disease, is more
anxiously awaited for than tho news
from this sick benefactress. Alas ! for
Joppa 1 there is wailing, wailing. That
voice which uttered so many cheerful
words is hushed; that hand which had
so many garments for the poor is cold and
still; the star which had poured light into
the midnight of wretchedness is dimmed
by tne blinding mists that go up from the
river of death. In every Gcd forsaken
p.ace in this town; wherever there is a sick
child and no balm"? who
is nuntrer an1 nr hmo . .i,
there is guilt and no commiseration;
wherever there is a broken heart
and no comfort, there are despairing looks
streaming eyes, and frantic gesticulations
as they cry : "Doccas is dead !' They send
for the apostle Peter, who happens to be in
the suburbs of this place, stopping with a
tanner by the name of Simon. Peter urges
his way, through the crowd around the
?randstand9 iu tne Presence of the dead.
What expostulation and grief all about him I
Here stand some of the poor, people, who
show the garments which this poor woman
had made for them. Their grief cannot be
appeased. The apostle Peter wants to per
form a miracle. He will not do it amidst
the excited crowd, and he kindly orders
that the whole room be cleared. The door
is shut against the populace. TJe apostle
stands now with the dead. Oh, it is a seri
ous moment, you know, when vou
are. alone with a lifeless bodyl The
apostle gets down on his knees and
prays, and then he comes to the lifeless
form of this one all ready for the sepulcher.
and in the strength of him who is the
resurrection he exclaims: "Tabitha, arise!"
There is a stir in the fountains of life; the
heart flutters the nerves thrill ; the cheek
flushes ; the eye opens ; she sits up !
W'eseeinthis subject Dorcas the disci
ple; Dorcas the benefactress; Dorcas the
lamented; Dorcas the resurrected.
If I had not seen that word disciple in mv
text, I would have known this woman was
a Christian. Such music as that never
came from a heart which is not chorded
and strung by divine grace. Before I sho w
you the needlework of this woman, I want
to show you her regenerated heart, the
source of a pure life and all Christian
charities. I wish that the wives and
mothers and daughters and sisters of all the
earth would imitate Dorcas in her disciple
ship, Before you cross the threshold of
the hospital, before you enter upon the
temptations and trials of to-morrow, I
charge you, in the name of God, and by the
turmoil and tumult of the judgment day,
oh women! that you attend to the first
last and greatest duty of your life
the seeking for God and being at peace
with him. When the trumpet shall sound,
there will be an uproar, and a wreck of
mountain and continent, and no human arm
can help you. Amidst the rising of . the
dead, and amidst the boilinr of yonder sea,
and amidst the live, leaping thunders of
the flying heavens, calm and placid
will be every woman's heart who hath
put her trust in Christ; calm notwith
standing all the tumult, as though the
fire in the heavens were only the gildings
of an autumnal sunset, as though the peal
of the tnyppet were only " the harmony of
an orchestra, as the awful voices of the
sky were but a group of friends bursting
through a gateway at eventime with laugh
ter, and shouting "Dorcas, the disciple!"
Would God that every Mary and every
Martha would this day sit down at the feet
of Jesus!
Further, we see Dorcas the benefactress.
History has told the story of the crown ;
the epic poet has sung of the sword; the
pastoral poet, with his verses full of the
redolence of clover tops, and a-rustle with
the silk of the corn, has sung the praises of
the plow. I tell you the praises of the
needle. From the fig leaf robe prepared in
the garden of Eden to the last stitch taken
on the garment for the poor, the needle has
wrought wonders of kindness, cener
o?ity and benefaction. It adorned
the girdle of the high priest; it fashioned
the curtains in the ancient tabernacle ; it
cushioned the chariots of King Solomon: it
provided the robes of Queen Elizabeth;
and in hi 2 h places and in low places, by the
fire of the pioneer's back log and under the
flash of the chandelier, everywhere, it has
clothed nakedness, preached the Gospel, it
has overcome hosts of penury and want
with the war cry of "Stitch, stitch stitch !"
The operatives have found a livelihood by
it, and through it the mansions of
the employer have been constructed.
Amidst .the greatest triumph in all
ages and lands, I sat ddwn the conquests
of the needle. I admit it3 crimes ; I admit
its cruelties. It has had more martyrs
than the fire; it has punctured the eye; it
.has pierced the side; it has struck weak
ness Into the lungs; it has sont madness
Into the brain; it has filled tha potter's
field ; it has pitched whole armies of the
suffering into crime and wretchedness and
woe. But now that I nm talking of Dorcas
and her ministries to the poor, i shall
speak only of the charities of the need le.
This woman was a representative of all
those women who make garments for the
destitute, who knit socks for the barefooted,
who prepare bandages for tho lacerated,
who fix up boxes of clothing for
missionaries, who go into the asylums
of the suffering and destitute bearing
that Gospel which is sight for the
blind, and hearing for the deaf and
which makes tho same mam leap like a
hart, and brings the dead to life, immortal
health bounding in their pulses. What a
contrast between the practical benevolence
of this woman and a great deal of the charity
of this dayl This woman did hot spend
her time idly planning how the poor of your
city of Joppa were to be relieved: she took
her needle and relieved them. She was nob
like those persons who symyathise with im
aginary sorrows, and go out in the street
and laugh at the boy who has upset his
basket of cold vituals, or liko that charity
which makes a rousing speech on the be
nevolent platform, and goes out to kick the
begger from the step, crying: "Hush your
miserable howling!" The suffenu-s of the
world want not so much theory an practice;
not so much tears as dollars; not so much
kind wishes as loaves of brea ; not so
much smiles as shoes; not m much
"God bless yousl" as jackets and frocks.
I will put one earnest Christian man, hard
working, against five thousand mere
theorists on the subject of charity. There
are a great many who have fine ideas about
church architecture who never in their life
helped to build a church. There are men
who can give you the history of Buddism
and Mohammedanism, who never sent a
farthing for their evangelization. There
are women who talir beautifully about the
suffering of the world, who never had the
courage like Dorcas to take the needle and
assault it.
I am glad that there is not a page of the
world's history which is not a record of
female benevolence. God says to all lands
and people, Come now and hear the widow's "
mite rattle down into the poor box. The
princess of Contl sold all her jewels that
she might help the famine stricken. Queen
Blanche, the wife of Louis VIII, of France,
hearing that there were some persons un
justly incarcerated in the prisons, went out
amidst the rabble and took a stick and
struck the door as a signal that they might ,
all strike it, and down went the prison door
and out came the prisoners. Queen Maud,
the wife oZ Henry I, went down amidst
the' poor and washed their sores and
administered to them cordials. Mrs.
Ketson, at Matagorda, appeared on the
battlefield while the missiles of death were
flying around, and cared for the wounded.
Is there a man or woman who has ever
heard of the civil war in America who has
not heard of the women of the Sanitary
and Christian commissions, or the fact that,
before the smoke had gone up from Gettys
burg and Sooth Mountain, the women of
the north met the women of the south on
the battlefield, forgetting all their animos
ities while they bound up the wounded,
and closed the eyes of the slain) Dorcas
the benefactress.
I come now to speak of Dorcas the lament
ed.' When death struck down that good
woman, oh, how much sorrow- there was in
this town of Joppa ! I suppose there were
women here with larger fortunes; women,
perhaps, with handsomer faces; but there
was no grief at their departure like this at
the death of Dorcas. Thero was not more
turmoil and upturning in the Mediterranean
sea, dashing acainst tho wharves of this
seaport, than there were surgings to and fro
of grief because Dorcas was dead. There
are a great many who go out of life and are
unmissed. There may be a very large
funeral; there may be a great many car
riages and a plumed hearse ; there may be
high sounding eulogiums; the bell may toll
at the cemetery gate; there may bo a very
fine marble shaft reared over the resting
place; but the whole thing may be a false
hood and a sham. The church of God has
lost nothing, the world has lost nothing.
It is only a nuisance abated ; it is only a
grumbler ceasing to find fault; it is
only an idler stopped yawning; if is
only a dissipated fashionable parted
from his wine cellar; while, on the
other hand, no useful Christian leaves
this world without being missed. The
"church of God cries out like the prophet :
"Howl, fir tree, for the cedar has fallen."
Widowhood comes and shows the garments
which the departed had made. Orphans
are lifted up to look into the calm face of
the sleeping benefactress. Reclaimed va
grancy comes and kisses the cold brow of
her who charmed it away from sin, and all
through the streets of Joppa there is mourn
ing mourning because Dorcas is dead.
When Josephine of France was carried
out to her grave, thero were a great many
men and women of pomp and pride and
position that went out after her; but I am
most affected by the story of history that
on that day there were ten thousand of the
poor of France who followed her coffin,
weeping and wailine until the air rang
again, because, when they lost Josephine,
they lost their last earthly friend.
Oh, who would not . rather have such
obsequies than all' tho tears that were
ever poured in the lachrymals that
have been exhumed from ancient cities.
There may be no mass for the dead; there
may bo no costly sarcophagus; there may
be no elaborate mausoleum; but in the
damp cellars of the city, and through the
lonely huts of the mountain glen, there will
be mourning, mourning, mourning, because
Dorcas is dead. "Blessed are the dead who
die in the Lord; they rest from their labors,
and their works do follow them."
I speak to you of Dorcas the resurrected.
The apostle came to where she was and
said : "Arise ; and she sat up !" In what a
short compass the great writer pnt that
"She sat up !" Ob, what a time there must
have been around this town, when the
apostle brought her out among her old
friends 1 How the tears of Joy must have
started 1 What clapping of hands there
must have beenl What singing! What
laughter! Sound it all through that lane!
Shout it down that dark alley 1 Let all
Joppa hear it! Dorcas Is resurrected !
You and I have seen the same thing many
a time ; not a dead body resuscitated, but
the deceased coming up again after death
in the good accomplished. If a man labors
up to fifty years of age, serving God, and
then dies, we are apt to think that his earth
ly work is done. No. His influence on
earth will continue till the world ceases.
Services rendered for Christ never stop.
A Christian woman toils for the upbuilding
of a church through many anxieties,
through many self denials, with prayers
and tears, and then she dies. It is fifteen
years since she went away. Now tho spirit
of God descends upon that church: hun
dreds of souls stand up and confess the
faith of Christ. Has that christian woman,
who went away fifteen years ago, nothing
to do with these things? I see the flower
ing out of her noble heart. I hear the echo
of her footsteps in all the songs over sins
forgiven, in all the prosperity of the church.
The good that seemed to be buried has come
up again. Dorcas is resurrected.
After a while all these womanly friends
of Christ will put down their needle for
ever. After making garments for others,
some one will make a garment for them;
the last robe we ever wear the robe for the
grave. You will have heard the last cry of
pain. You will have witnessed the last
orphanage. You will have come in worn
out from your last round of mercy. I do
not know where you will sleep, nor what
your epitaph will be; but there will be a
lamp burning at the tomb and an angel of
God guarding it, and through all the long
night no rude foot will disturb the dust.
Sleep on, sleep on! Soft bed, pleasant
shadows, undisturbed repose! Sleep on!
Asleep in Jesus! Blessed sleep!
From which none ever wake to weep.
Then one day there will bo a sky rending,
and a whirl of wheels, and the flash of a
pageant; armies marching, chains clanking,
banners waving, thunders booming, and
that Christian womaa will arise from tha
flust,' and she will bo suddenly surrounJe l
surrounded by the wanderers of the street
whom she reclaimed, surrounded by ins
woundod souls to whom sho had adminis
tered I . Daughter of God, so strangely sur
rounded, what means this! It mean that
reward has come, that tho victory is won,
that tho crown is ready, that tho banquet
is spread. Shout it through aU the crumt.
ling earth. Sing it through all the flying
heavens. . Dorcas is resurrected-!
In 1855, when some of tho soldiers camo
back from the Crimean war to London, thj
Queen of England distributed eraong them
beautiful medals, called Crimean medal.
Galleries wero erected for tho two houses of
paraliament and the royal family to sit in.
There was a groat audience to witness itw
distribution of the medals. A colonel
who had lost both foet in the battle of
Inkerman was palled in on a wheel
chair; others came in limping on their
crutches. Then the queen of England .
arose before them in the name of her
government, and uttered words of com
mendation to the officers and men, and dis
tributed these medals, inscribed with the
four great battlefields. Alma, Balaklava,
Inkerman and SebastonoL As the queen
gave these to the wounded men and tho
wounded officers, the bands of music struck
up the national air, and the people with,
streaming eyes joined In the song:
God save our gracious gueen I
Long live our noble queen !
God save the queen 1 f
And then thoy shouted "Huzza! huzza l'
Oh, it was a proud day for those returned
warriors 1 But a brighter, better and glad-
der day will come when Christ shall gather .
those who have toiled In his service, good
soldiers of Jesus Christ. Ho shall rise be
fore them, and in the presence of all the glo
rified of heaven ho will say: "Well done,
good and faithful servant!" and then he
will distribute the medals of eternal vic
tory, not inscribed with works of righteous
ness which we have done, but with ttiov
four great battlefields, dear to earth and
dear to heaven, Bethlehem I Nazerethl
Gcthsemanel Calvary I
Musical Llzknls.
As is well known, lizards of all col
ors and sizes abound in Italy. They
lie basking: on all tho stones, they run
along all the walls, they peep out
of every chink and crevice; but as
soou as they hear tho faintest nole
they disappear with lightning; speed,
and it is hard t& see' them near aud
to observe them closely. Walkitij
carelessly, and noticing tho dear iittlu
animals darting now here, now there,
I remembered the Greek statue of
Apollo Sauroktonos, who is always
represented as busied with a lizard
Apollo, god of the sun and of niustc
"Suppose I try," I thought, and softly,
quite softly, I began to whistlo a
dreamy old German nlr, and behold! a
lizard lies still, as though rooted to
the spot, raising his little hed iu n
listening attitude, and looking at rao
with his sharp little eyes. Without stir
ring I continued my melody. The lizard
came oearer and nearer, and approach
ed quite close, always listening and
forgetting all its fears. As soon,
however, as tho whistler mado tbo
smallest movement it vanished into
some crevice, but to peep forth again a
moment after and to listen once more,
as though entirely entranced. A
delightful discovery, truly, and one o
which I extended tho field of observa
tion daily. At least as many as eight
or nine of these little music lover
would sit around me in tho most comic
attitudes, xsay.two of them, a mother
and its young one, would sit awaiting
me as I arrived whistling at the satno
hour of day. Bitting on a large stone,
under which was probably their home.
With these, too, I made some further
experiments. After having made
musio to them a while I cautiously
went a few steps further, whistling on
in soft, drawling tone, such as 1 had
found they best loved to hear, and see.
verily, they followed mo! Watching
them with interest, I continued to
whistle as I walked on slowly, halting
every few paces and bolng silent wheu
I halted, and truly the little creatures
followed, slowly it is true,, but in a
straight line, at a distance of about
fifteen steps, until at last, unhappily,
the heavy tread of a peasant put them
to flight. But my experiment had
lasted long enough to make me under
stand tho Apollo Sauroktonos, and I
once more reverenced tho keen natlvo
observation of those old Hellenes.
Besides this the legend of the "llat
Catcher of Hamelin" suddenly becamo
much more credible Leisuro Hour.
Danced Forty Biles,
A young civil engineer who. camo
homo last week after a four months
expedition through tho Black Hills
with n government surveying party,
told the following story:- -
"One evening last summer we pitch
ed camp, arid after suppor the com
manding officer in tho party ordered me
to make a detour to a certain point fur
ther north. The distance by the road
I was told to take was believed to lo
about four miles, but to get it ex
actly I was given a pedometer to carry
in my pocket. On the way 1 came to
a small mining settlement, andadanco
was going on in tho biggest saloon. As
I had plenty of tlmo on my hands I
went in and joined in the dance, and
never rested a leg until midnight I
then proceeded to finish my detour,
got back to camp and turned in. In
the morning I was asked to report,
and without a thought I handed over
tho pedometer. Tho officer looked at
it in amazement and then exclaimed:
Forty-four miles! Whero on earth did
you go last nightP' I was perplexed
at first myself and could not explain
my wonderful record, and it was not
until later that I recalled the dance,
but I can't believe that I danced forty
miles in a single evening." Buffalo
Courier. '
Musk rata.
Two Hallowell (Me.) sportsmen saw
an interesting family in a Main
stream. They suddenly found their
boat surrounded by young muskrats,
which were as playful as kittens, div
ing and coming to the surface aga'n,
swimming around the boat and look
ing up to it with eyes that did not bo
tray the least suspicion of danger.
For some minutes tho two men watch
ed the manajuvercs. until the two old
muskrats mado their appearance. The
latter came out from tho shore and
dove with a splash that 3eomcd to be
tho signal for the younger ones to fol
low, which they quickly did.
The Society dirt's Shoes.
The shoes of the fashionable girl
grow narrower and longer every day
of the season. It is English to do so,
and so they do, .and tho shoe is sa
narrow as they can wear, while a point
an inch longer than their foot extends
beyond it to increase tho appearance
of slenderness. They uro of patent
leather, with heels not moro than half
an inch high and with quite thin
soles. These are their carriage shoe,
but for walkiue kangaroo skin, with, a
sharp diamond of paten i leather at the
toe, is to bo preferred.