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TALM AGE'S SERMON.
preaches an eloquent dis
course on " opportunity."
he Chance that Never Come the
Mecoad Time Element of Commer
cial, Literary end Political Boca
Oreateet of All Opportunities.
In the Nick of Time.
Hev. Dr. Talmage again found himself
racing a vat audience at the New lork
Academy of Music Sunday afternoon.
while thousand! furred around the en
trance unable to gain admission. The
Academy ai crowded shortly after 3
r'dock, and the preliminary service of
snog waa participated in by the throngs
that Slled the corridur aud by many of
those at the doom on both Irving place
had Fourteenth itreet a well. The dia
tinguiahed divine took for hia subject
)pportunity," the text selected being
Gaiatians vi, 10. "As we have therefore
opportunity, let us do good."
What is an opportunity? The lexicog
rapher would coolly tell you it is a con
junction of favorable circumstances for
cewnplifching a purpose, but words can
not tell what it is. Take a thousand
year to manufacture a definition, and
on could not successfully describe it.
Opportunity! The measuring rod with
which the angel of the Apocalypse meas
ured heaven could not measure thia
trtvotal word of my text. Stand on the
edge of the precipice of all time and let
down the fathoming line hand under
band and lower down and lower down
od for a quintillion of years let it sink
and the lead will not strike bottom. Op
portunity! But while I do not attempt
to measure or define the word 1 will, God
helping me, take the retsponsibility of tell
ing you something about opportunity.
First, it is very swift in its motions.
Sometimes within one minute it starts
from the throne of God, sweeps around
the earth and reaseend the throne from
hich it started. Within less than sixty
seconds its fulfills its mission.
Ja the second place opportunity never
-comes back. I'erhaps an opiwrtunity very
much like it may arrive, but that one
never. Naturalists tell us of insects
.which are born, fulfill their mission and
expire In an hour, but many opportuni
ties die so soon after they are born that
their brevity of life is incalculable. What
moat amazes me is that opportunities do
orh overshadowing, farreaching and
tremendous work In such short earthly
-allowance. You are a business man of
large experience. The past eighteen
months have been hard on business men.
A young merchant at his wits' eud came
Into your office or your house, and you
aid: "Times are hard now, but better
days will come. I have seen things as
bad or worse, but we got out, and we will
at out of this. The brightest days that
this eocatry ever saw are yet to come."
The yonng man to whom you said that
' was pt-tdy for suicide or something worse
, nanily a fraudulent turn to get out of
hi de jiairful position. Your hopefulness
' tnapiivd him for all time, and thirty yeara
after you are dead he will be reaping the
advantage of your optimism, Tour oppor-
tnnitj- to do that one thing for that young
nian waa not half as long aa the time I
fca"e taken to rehearse it
; TTjo Lesson in the Farm Wag-on.
The day I left our country home to look
after myself we rode across the country,
nod say father was driving. Of course I
said nothing that implied how I felt But
thxreare hundreds of men here who from
1 their own experience know how I felt At
W a time a young man may be hopeful
;a'j mm impatient to get into the battle
'of life for himself, but to leave the home
stead where everythii hrjs been done, for
.y."., your ?atlier or older brothers taking
y.iir part wheu you were imposed on by
Inrger boys, and your mother always
anrand. when you got the cold, with mus
tard applications for the chest or herb tea
t make yoo aweiit off the fever, and sweet
aarxtures in the cup by the bed to stop the
cough, taking soinetimes too much of it
because it was pleasant to take, and then
t go out, with no one to stand between
yon and the world, gives one a choking
sensation at the throat nnd a honiesick
mbs before yon have trot three miles away
from the old folks. Then- was on the day
I spoke of a silence for a long while, and
then my father began to tell how good
the Lord had been to him in sickness and
iu health, and when times of hardship
nme how Providence had always provid
ed the means of livelihood for the large
household, and he wound up by saying,
De Witt, I have always found it save to
trust the Lord." My father has been dead
thirty years, but in all the crises of my
life and there have been many of them
(have felt the mighty boost of that lesson
. in the farm wagon, "De Witt, I have al
. ways found it safe to trust the Lord."
The fact waa my father saw that was his
oiliortunity, and he improved it
Thia is one reason why I am an enthu-
, siastic friend of all Young Men's Chris
tian Associations. They get bold of so
tuany young men just arriving in the city
and while they are very impressionable,
and it ia the best opportunity. Why, how
big the houses looked to us as we first en
tered the great city, and so many people!
It seemed some meeting must have just
closed to fill the streets in that way, and
then the big placards announcing all styles
of amusements and so many of them on
the same night nnd every night after our
boyhood had been spent in regions where
only once or twice in a whole year there
had been an entertainment in schoolhouses
or church. That is the opportunity. Start
that innocent youug man in the right di
rection. Six weeks after will be too late.
Tell me what such a young man does
with his first six weeks in the great city,
and I will tell you what hi.' will be through,
out hia life on earth and where be will
emend the ages of eternity. Opportunity!
Opportunities That Were Seized.
"We all recognize that commercial and
.. literary and political successes depend
sipon taking advantage of opportunity.
The great surgeons of England feared to
touch the tumor of King George IV. Sir
-AatJey Cooper looked at it and said to
the king, "I will cat your majesty aa
, Ybsvgh yon were a plowman." That waa
Sir Aatley's opportunity. Lord Cllve was
ilia father' dismay climbing church
. steeple and doing reckless things. Hia
father sent him to Madras, India, as a
erk la the service of an English officer.
Clive watched his time, and when war
broke out came to be the chief of the host
that saved India for England. That was
Ijut4 CUve's opportunity. Pauline Lucca,
Vhe almost matchless singer, was but llt
J recognised until la. the absencs of the
: la tat) Osrsaan choir she took bar
i had hags a the enchantment of the
Thai waa Loeea opportunity.
Jeha Swtt, wbe afterward hsoaa Lord
I hia way aim la ths ,
tf ess aff Arfervyd
versus Smithaon was 'o be tried, aud his
speech that day opened all avenues of
success. That Was Lord Eldon'i oppor
tunity. William H. Seward was given by his
father a thousand dollars to get a col
legiate education. That money soon gone,
his father said, "Now you must fight your
own way." And he did, until guberna
torial chair and United States senatorial
chair were his. with a right to tb presi
dential chair, if the meanness of Ameri
can politics had not swindled him out of
it The day when bia father told him to
fight hia own way was William II. Sew
ard's opportunity. John Henry Newman,
becalmed a whole week in an orange boat
in the strait of Bonifacio, wrote his iin
mortal hymn, "Lead, Kindly Light."
That was John Henry Newman's oppor
tunity. You know Kirk White's immor
tal hymn, "When Marshaled on the
Nightly IMain." He wrote it in a boat
by a lantern on a stormy night as he waa
sailing along a rocky coast That was
Kirk White's opportunity.
The importance of making the most of
opportunities as they present themselves
is acknowledged in all other directions.
Why not in the matter of usefulness?
The difference of usefulness of good men
and women is not so much the difference
in brain or social position or wealth, but
in equipment of Christian common sense.
to know just the time when to say the
right word or do the right thing. There
are good people who can always be de
pended on to say the right thing at the
wrong time. A merchant selling goods
over the counter to a wily customer who
would like to get them at less than cost a
railroad conductor while taking up the
tickets from passengers who want to
work off a last year's pass or get through
at half rate a child fully grown, a house
keeper trying to get the table ready In
time for guests, although the oven has
failed to do its work, and the grocer had
neglected to fulfill the order given him
those are not opportunities for religious
address. Do not rush up to a man in the
busiest part of the day. and when a half
dozen people are waiting for him, and ask.
How is your soul?" But there are
plenty of fit occasions. I will toint out
some of the opportunities. When a soul
is in bereavement is the best time to talk
of gospel consolation and heavenly re
union. hen a man haa lost bis property
is the best time to talk to him of heavenly
uinentances that can never be levied on.
When one is sick is the best time to talk
to him about the supernatural latitude In
which unhealth is an impossibility. When
the Holy Spirit is moving on a communi
ty is the best time to tell a man he ouitht
to be saved. By a word, by a smile, by
a look, by a prayer, the work may be so
thoroughly done that all eternity cannot
undo it As the harp was invented from
hearing the twang of the bowstring, aa
the law of gravitation was suggested by
the fall of an apple, aa the order ia India
tor the use of a greased cartridge started
the mutiny of 1857 which appalled the
nations, so something insignificant mar
oien the door for great results. Be on the
watch. It may be a gladness; it may be a
horror, but it will be an opportunity.
A city missionary in the lower Darta of
tho city found a young woman in wretch
edness and sin. He said, "Why do yon
not go homer' 8he aid, "They would
not receive me at home." He ssid, "What
la your father's name, and where doss he
lire?" Having obtained the address and
written to the father, the city missionary
got a reply, on the outside of the letter
the word "immediste" underscored. It
waa the heartiest possible invitation for
the wanderer to come home. That waa
the city missionary' opportunity. And
there are opportunities all about you, and
on them written by the hand of the God
w ho will bless you and bless those whom
you help, in capitals of light, the word
immediate.
The Glorious Now.
But there is one opportunity so much
brighter than any other, so much more
inviting and so superior to all others that
there are innumerable fingers Dointin to
it, and it is haloed with a glory all its
own. It is yours! It is mine! It is the
present hour. It is the now. We shall 1
never have it again. While I speak and
you listen the opportunity is restless as
if to be gone. You cannot chain It down.
Y'ou cannot imprinon it. You cannot
make it stay. All its pulses are throbbing
witn a baste tnat cannot be hindered or
controlled. It is the opportunity of invi
tation on my part and acceptance on
your part The door of the palace of
God s mercy is wide open. Go in. Sit
down and be kings and queens unto God
forever. "W ell, you say, "I am not
ready." You are ready. "Are yon a sin
ner?" "Yes." "Do you want to be saved
now and forever?" "Yes." "Do you
believe that Christ is able and willing
to do the work?" "Yea," Then you are
saved. You are inside tb Jalaoe door of
God's mercy already. You look changed.
You are changed. "Hallelujah, tis done!"
Did yon ever see anything done so quick
ly? Invitation offered and accepted in
less than a minute by my watch or that
clock. Sir Edward Cressy wrote a book
called "The Fifteen Decisive Battles of
the World, from Marathon to Waterloo."
But the most decisive battle that you will
ever fight, and the greatest victory you
will ever gain, is this moment when you
conquer first yourself and then all the
hindering myrmidons of perdition by say
ing. "Lord Jesus, here I am, undone and
helpless, to be saved by thee and thee
alone." That makes a panic in bell. That
make celebration in heaven. Opportu
nity!
On the 11th of January, 18Sfi, a collier
brig ran into the rocks near Walmer
beach, England. Simon Pritchard, stand
ing on the beach, threw oft his coat and
said, "Who will help me save that crew?"
Twenty men shouted, "I will!" though
only seven were needed. Through the
awful aurf the boat dashed, and in fif
teen minutes from the time Pritchard
threw off hi coat all the shipwrecked
crew were safe on the land. Quicker work
to-day. Half that time more than neces
sary to get all this assemblage into the
lifeboat of the gospel and ashore, standing
both feet on the rock of ages. By the
two strong oar of faith and prayer first
pull for the wreck and then pull for the
bore. Opportunity!
"Over the city went the cry,
Jesui of Nasareth passeth by!"
Let the world go. It has abused son
enough, and cheated you enough, and
slandered you enough, and damaged you
enough. Even those from whom you ex
pected better things turned ont your as
sailants, as when Napoleon In hi last will
nd testament left 5,000 franc to the man
who shot at Wellington in the street of
Paris. Oh, If 1 a mean world! Take the
glorious Loral lor your companionship. I
Ilk whst tb good man said to one whs
bad everything but religion. Th affluent
man boasted of what he owned and of his
sptoador of sunwonssngs, putting Into
tseifBls !), as he tfconght, the Chrls
ttaaT tiiiiianii. "Ah," said ths Cbrta-
tlsa, "mas, I havs something you hsvs
not." ' What is thatr said ths world
ling. Ths answer waa, "Pases!" And
you may all havs h psacs wtth God
peace with the past, pesos with ths future,
a peace that all th assaults of th world
and all ths bombardments satanic caauot
interfere with.
Ths Goal.
Opportunity! Under ths arch of that
plendid word 1st this multitude of my
hearers pass into the pardon and hop and
triumph of th gospel. Go by companies
of a hundred each. Go by regiments of a
thousand each, th aged leaning oa the
staff, the middle aged throwing off their
burden a they pass and the young to
have their present joy augmented by
more glorious satisfactions. Forward
into the kingdom! A soon a you pass
tns dividing line there will be shotting
all up and down the beavena. Ths
crowned immortals will look down and
cheer. Jesus of ths many scars will re
joice at the result of his earthly sacri
fices. Departed saints will be gladdened
that thair prayer are answered. An
order will be given for the spreading of a
bnquet at which you will be the hon
ored guest. From the imperial gardens
the wreath will be twisted for your
brow, and from the halls of eternal music
the harper will bring their harps and the
trumpeter their trumpets, sad all up
and down the amethystine stairways of
the castles and in all the rooms of the
house of many mansion it will be talked
over with holy glee that this day, while
one plain man stood on the platform of
this vast building giviug the gospel call,
an assemblage msde op from sll parts of
the earth and piled np in these galleries
chose Christ as their portion and started
for heaven as their everlasting home.
Ring all the bell of heaven at the tid
ing! Strike all the cymbal at the joy!
Wave all the palm branches at the tri
umph! Victory! Victory!
MRS. SAGE'S PARROT.
As Interesting Bird of Varied Con
versational Abilities,
In the front window of Mrs. Russell
Rage's private sitting-room there hangs
In a gilded cage a big green parrot with
stout lungs. Id the morning, when Mrs.
Sage's halr-dreaiwr visits her, and when
she Keg her butcher and baker and w ax
candle maker, the parrot's Bpeech ac
cording to a woman reporter who vlalt
Mrs. Sage at this time Is curt and
businesslike. His morning stanza, lit
erally rendered, Is like this:
"Wha, wha, whoppsey dura dum;
Shutnp! Rbut np! Shut up!
Wha, wha, wboppaey turn turn;
Comeop! Come op! Come up!"
In the afternoon when Mrs. Sage la
meeting the directors of the Woman's
Hospital, or Is conferring with the
Daughters of the Revolution, or mak
ing arrangements for furnishing the
new Sage dormitory of the Emma W1I1-
ard Seminary of Troy the Terse
changes to the following philanthropic
and benevolent strain:
Owa, owa, owa go alow!
Qlre away! Giveaway! Give away!
Come and go! Come and go! Come and
go!
To-dayl To-day! To-day r
In the evening when Miss Hslen
Gould and her young friends ar en
joying on of their delightful reunion
at the hospitable Sage mansion and
when the Wall street magnate drop
In formally to pay their respects to the
eldest member of the exchange, the
parrot raises his voice so as to be beard
below stair In the drawing-room and
renders In Its most pleasing strain:
"How de doo? How de doo?
Come In! Come In! Come In!
Glad to see you! Glad to see you!
Where you been? Where you been?"
This Is delivered In the strains of
Annie Rooney," and la repeated over
and over until the guests below notice
the song and make laughing Inquiries
about the bird.
Mrs, Sage, who Is the most charming
of all the old-time matron now re
maining in New York society, asserts
with the most serious air Imaginable
that the verses are Hawaiian and were
learned from Queen Lllluokalanl, who
owned the parrot before one of the
Hawaiian commissioners brought It
north as a present to Mr. Sage. She
furrier asserts that the stanzes are
n-ally requests for breakfast, luncheon
and tea.
Dack-Incnbating In Canton.
I don't remember having seen half a
dozen chickens anywhere In and
around Canton, but I suppose I must
have seen a million ducks, alive and
dead. Large buildings are erected en
tirely for their Incubation. Perhaps H
1 no exaggeration to say that not one
out of every ten thousand Cantonese
ducks ever saw Its mother, or knew any
other preceptor of Its duckling web
steps than the duck-boy.
The intubating buildings were beated
by wood fires, and divided Into room
wuere the egg were differently arrang
ed. Formerly the temperature wai
Judged by those In charge, but of lute
years thia method has been abandoned,
and In the bouse that I saw thermome
ters were hanging In every room. In
gome rooms the eggs were placed In
flat padded baskets, In others Id deep
barrels padded and lined, or again, In
other room they were covered wltb
matting upon enormous shelves with a
high beading running all round. Tbli
was when the time approached for the
young ducks to break the shell and to
come out When fairly out, they were
kept for some little time upon these
shelves and fed upon soft rice, but rare
ly more than a few days elapsed before
a duck-boat came along and bought up
a whole houseful of them. If by any
chance the young birds were not sold,
boys attached to the establishment took
charge of them, and herded them out
Florence O'Drlscoll, M. P., In the Cen
tury. Immense Iynam!t Blast,
A blast of 1,100 pounds of dynamlti
In twenty seven bole was mad re
cently at a quarry near Providence,
R. I. The fact of a cliff waa blown off
and fully 10,000 tons of stone dislodged,
f)Ae Analysis.
All knwwn chaaleal titaaents ars rsp
Tainted In m wwlar. ' They art not
always tmpabia of bataff detected bf
dMtaleal analysia
MISTAKES OF HISTORY.
Ca.lveraa.llr Accepted cords
Ar
Not Always BalUbl.
"What Is history but universally ac
cepted fabler said a learned Smith
sonian professor to a writer for the
Washington Star. "I quote the great
Napoleon. For example, consider Ply
mouth Bock. In the town of Plymouth
Is a rock with a fence around It It 1
a sort of local fetich. On Forefathers'
Day every year exercises are held
there commemorating the alleged fact
that on this rock the pilgrim landed.
As a matter of fact, there Is no evi
dence that such was the fact Prof.
Channlng, the historical expert of Har
vard, haa tracx-d the story back, and
believes It to have been started by an
old man named Faunce, who many
years ago pointed out the rock to some
children, saying: 'Here they landed,'
"History states that the pilgrims ar
rived on Sunday, but refrained from
landing until Monday lest they should
break the Sabbath. That U pure non
sense. As a matter of fact, the women
and children stayed on the ship all
winter because it was more comfort
able.
"The gorgeousness and high civilisa
tion of the ancient Mexicans at the
time of the Spanish conquest have
been permanently embalmed In his
tory. The whole story Is a misrepre
sentation. CortMi naturally wished to
give an Impression at home that he
had conquered a great and rich nation.
In reality it was only a half civilized
and untutored people. The mode of
living was patriarchal, whole families
of 100 or more persona living In one
house. The communal dwelling was of
one story and necessarily of large size,
These structures were descriled by the
Spaniards as 'palaces.' The poople
ato only one cooked meal eoch'day, for
the rest of their food depending on a
'grub diet' picked up anyhow. The
dinners, partaken of by so many Indl
viduala, are reported In history as 'ban
queta.'
"The schoolboy learn that Columbus
waa the man who first conceived the
Idea that the world waa round. Noth
ing could be more nonsensical. The
truth Is he merely accepted a notion on
this subject which had boen bunded
down from classic times by scholarly
men. Strabo, the Latin author, was
one of these. The conception was for
many centuries as a faint light glim
mering In darkness,
"Let me call your attention to an In-
ftano of the making of fictitious his
tory. There are good reasons for be
lieving that the Norsemen reached the
shores of North America before Co
lumbna The records of their sagas,
however, give no notion of the locality
where they landed. Only a few such
n on -descriptive facta are its ted as that
they found grapes growing. Yet an
enthusiast named Horsfbrd, a trustee
of Harvard, a few yeara ago built on
the Charles Hirer a tower between
Waltham and Newton to commemorate
th landing of the Norse voyagers at
that point The aagaa tall of going op
a river, and Horsford chose to assume
that the Charles Elver was the river
referred to. Very likely the notion
thus recorded by a monument will
gain general credit some day, though
there is no more reason to suppose that
the river waa the Charles than that It
was the Delaware or the Hudson, or
any one of dosens of other rlvere.
"I quoted Napoleon a moment ago.
Yon probably know that no battle was
ever fonght at Waterloo. Waterloo
was a post dispatch station some miles
distant Dispatches were sent thence
to England, and hence the name given
to the battle.
"Sherman's ride to Winchester was
not twenty miles not over ten miles,
I think. There never was any founda
tion in fact for the atory of Barbara
Freitchl. The same Is true of the
yarn about Pocahontas and John
Smith." ,
Mistaken.
What a nuisance are those people
who Insist upon managing others, and
see flaws in every system save their
own! They are never nanny exc-rt
hen displaying their executive ability.
They ar not content with managing
their own builness and their own
households, they have an Irrestlstable
longing to manage those of others.
They are quick to detect mistakes In
their plans, flaws In their methods.
errors In their decisions, and promptly
set to work to rectify them. They try
hard to convince or to persuade, and,
falling in that, they resort to other
means of gaining their point. Such
people are seldom malevolent Indoc-d.
they are frequently generous and kind
hearted. They have full faltb In their
wisdom, and suppose they are rtfilly
doing one a service by putting one in
the right way, peaceably If they can,
forcibly If they must But they are not
necessarily conceited, for they are per
fectly certain that they are right and
that their acquaintance Is wrong; and
tbey are surely lacking in tact and pen
etration, or tbey would see that they
are really earning the dislike of thoae
with whom tbey thns meddle by Invad
ing one of the most sacred rights that
of individual liberty of action.
Oood Discipline.
Give a youth twelve months' disci
pline on a flrst-'class American ship,
aaya an old sailor, and I will guarantee
that he Is capable of learning almost
any Una of business, and If there Is any
nap In blm be will make his mark In
the world, never forgetting what lie
learned on his sea voyage. The forecas
tle is the greatest all-round school on
the kindergarten plan extant A boy
who ahlpa before the mast la set to
work la much ths same line aa a nelrr
to a bmc baa Ic, banding thia, that or
th other to the sailors la their work
about deefca, taking the grab for them
from: tbe galley tottafoiwwatla, keep
ing the ttaoart wtach they eat dean,
stekfeu an the shin's toola awasmin
'taw aekav jt a Big
and ben coops, and wnen he- begins to.
take oa hia eaa legs he I seat alorr to
loose and furl th light sans, tar duwu
the back and bead Kays ha fact d i
mM uw vik w aw u7 win Kl ssi
u rally be quicker and handler tliau a.
man work that quickens bis motions
for life, teaching him the capabilities
of hands and limbs. This early traliii
ing Is accompanied by such atrict dis
clpllne that It I never forgotten. No
conversation between aallormen when
oa duty la allowed, excepting that
which pertains to the work In baud,
and no loud talking whatever I tx-r
mltted. Politeness prevails through
out a well-disclpllned ship, and a com
mand from an officer Is obeyed with the
agility of a monkey by a thorough go
ing seaman, accompanied by a cheery
"Ay, ay, sir." An answer to a command
Is always demanded, and that In a iv
spectf ul tone of voice. If I had a dozen
sons, after giving them a good common
school education, I would send each
ono on a deep water voyage, keeping
him from home at least a year. Were
this plan generally adopted there would
be few runaways on board ships; most
boys with a fancy fo( the sea are cured
of It during a rough voyage, and are
glad to find themselves safe on shore
again. Only those wtth a genuine love
of the sea care tt follow It for a liveli
hood. TAURUS IN AN UNWONTED ROLE
Untoward Heaolta of Sabatltatlna
Boll for a Horns In "Maaappa."
Jim Larkln vu a noted character
of Cheyenne In the 70, say the Ana
conda Standard. Larkin waa one of
those harmless officious fellows and
had hi nose Into everything. There
was never a dug fight but In some vay
he got bitten; uever a fire but he got
burned, and never an accident but he
waa there In time to get hurt. Larkln
was something of a nbowman. Dur
ing his residence In Cheyenne a colored
tragedian filled an engagement tliut
city, playing "Hamlet" uinl "Othello."
Larkln suw In the colored mun a great
opportunity to make money and In
duced blm to play "Mazeppa," using a
wild bull Instead of a wild horse. The
tragedian fell Into the Idea and re
hearsals for the great event were had.'
The performance wag glvon In a lurge
hall, which was crowded to the doors.
The piny went off lovely until It was
time for the wild bull of Tartary to
te brought on and then there was a
light hitch. The bull had suddenly
become reluctant about going on the
stage. Manager Larkin got behind
him and gave the animal's tall a twlat
It had the desired effect The bull
rushed upon the stage and tore out
every foot of scenery and then Jumped
off into the orchestra, binding on top
of the slide trombone player. The
audience stampeded and Jumped
through the window and doors, and
In a very few minutes the brill had
everything to himself. The "Maasp
pa" engagement closed that night
Origin of Game,
On of the most ancient of children's
games Is that of "Jackstones." The
Greek soldiers played It before the time
of Xenophon, and It Is depicted on
Greek vases. Savages the world over
play the game. "Jackstones," or "Huck-
lebones," or "Five Stones" all names
of the same things have been found
In the debris of the Lake Dwelling.
In Japan It Is called "Taduna." The
Russians, old and young, have played
It from time Immemorial. Sometimes
pebbles are used, sometimes the Jolut
bones of aheep. When the writer wu
a boy, a favorite jackstones were the
small, flat bones found in the heal of
the catfish, Just above the eye. "Blind
Man's Buff" Is traceable to prehistoric
worship. The Illuminations of tin an
cient missal represent this game. The
hoodwinked player was known as "Billy
Blynde." In Scotland the blind man
of the game is called "Blind Hario,"
pThnps In (illusion to n shaggy attire.
This would identify him with the devil
The gods of one cult become the de-'
roons of another. The rationale of the
game would seem to Imply that h
hoodwinked one represented the devil.
There 1 a large family of games sim
ilar to "Follow the Leader," which ap-.
pear to come down to us from tho an
cient choral dances. Some of thero
forcibly suggest the origin of the Danc
ing Mania of the Middle Ages. "Hop
scotch" 1 a survival from the ancient
labyrinth. Tllny and others mention
It The Christian adopted It as th.
symbol of the difficult Journey of the
soul to heaven. At the same time they
changed the form o' the diagram to the
shape of the buHllica. From the laby
rinth were evolved the Stations of the
Cross. Football lins !een evolved from
the ancient game of "Camp," and this
can be carried back to the sports of the
Roman soldiers. It Is Interesting to
note thut "Cats-cradle" Is a favorite
game of many savage tribes, as It lis
been of some royal personages In Bed
lam and out of It
With a Difference.
Two men were standing on a street
corner recently, talking of the respon
sibility of contractors for damages to
life and limb by reason of building
material and excavations. A police
man came along and listened while1
one of the party appealed to him for.
corroboration.
"I was saying," said the excited de-'
bater, "that if a man should com
along and fall down a coal-hole and
breas his leg, or be otherwise Injured,
he has a good case of daniagea against
the property -owner or the city."
"Sometimes," put In the policeman,
mildly.
"I know a case of that kind where a
man has got $10,000 damages," aald
the cltlaaa. "Ha waa palled ont of a
coal-bole.''
"And I know of a case what a man
waa aallad ont of a coal-bo la," retorted
th policeman, "and ba got . tlx
montha."-Nw York Herald.
Than art plenty ef" derUa la tat,
world, bat mi
REU1ION A NO SCIENCE.
WU1 th Tiaaa Cows Whew Faith WII
Eallat the Bervlc of dect
' Arthur Lovell In charge of the Gov
ernment Chemical Laboratory, Eaawx,
England, In the London Echo:
Hitherto there has been between re
ligion and science a pronounced antag"
enlsm which. In spite of weil-meaaa
efforts, ba uot been reconciled. The
attitude of the opposing parties has
never bee'n more tersely expiessed than
in the saying of Mohammed, "1 abhor
the learned in hi Infldelltles, and the
fool In bis devotions" Emerson d
dared that the faltb which I to satisfy
the coming ages must be Intellectual.
To blindly believe is as unreasonable
as to blindly deny. The question haa
often been asked whether the time
would ever come when the faith, which
Is the very foundation of religion,
should be demonstrated In such a way
as to enlist the service of silence, not
to deny, or to scoff, but to Investigate
in a reverential spirit? He who reads
aright the signs of the times can com
to no other conclusion than that thia
time has come now. The problem now
looming before the scientific mind ia
"Cosmic ether; what It la, and what are
Its properties." The generalizations of
science have gradually and Insensibly
led up to one force of which the various
natural forces are different manifesta
tions. In different countries the hu
man mind Is engaged In Investigating
this one force. A little while since Dr.
Joseph Leldy, one of the leading scien
tific men of America, made the follow
ing declaration: "Having had the op
portunity of seeing Mr. John Keely'a
experiments. It ha appeared to m
that he has command of some unknown
force of most wonderful mechanical
power." Other scientific men have rec
ognized Keoly's claim to have discov
ered a new force.
On asking what explanation Mr.
Keely la inclined to give of this "un
known force," we are aurprlsed to And
that It Is a very old and familiar friend
cerebelllc force, or will power which
the religious feeling has from time Im
memorial asserted to be the highest
force In the universe. The basis of the
religious consciousness Is the convic
tion that the universe Is sustained by
the will of God, of which the will of
man Is a direct emanation. Who has
ever sounded the depths even of the
human will? Science has, up till very
recently, not recognised It as an object
of research, therefore cannot be enti
tled to pass Judgment Let the earnest
man, whatever be calls himself, Chris
tian or Infidel, meditate on will force,
and be will perceive that herein will
vanish forever all opposition between
religion and science.
Mixed Oreeae for Pnatsnr.
Compare the pastures of England
with those at home, and we find that
the English pasture, which la formed
by the use of many varieties of giaaaaa
and clovers. In mixture yields almost
endless Quantities of food, rich In fleah.
.utiM.ua L"kia,tiucuui, imimama anil
relished by all kinds of live stock, while
those of Canada and the United States,
which are usually composed of clover
and timothy, soon become almost bar
ren of food.
The reason la that when only clover
and timothy are sown, there is nothing
to follow their season of growth, and
when once cut down they remain ap
parently exhausted; but not so with
grass mixtures. These, when com
posed of suitable varieties, come Into
growth at various stages of the season,
and when eaten off soon regain their
vigor of growth and continue fresh and
sweet throughout the season.
We are not favorably situated In all
sections of this country, nor have we
the same favorable climate as England.
It must not, therefore, be expected that
we can obtain the same perfection of
growth, generally, which we have In
England; but lauds can be found In
every State and county that are excep
tionally well adapted for pasturage,
ond these should be laid down wltb
mixtures of natural grasses. Cole
man' Rural World.
Roads In New Mexico.
"Traveling along the wagon tracks
of those who've gone before," I the
primitive but usual method of making
new roads In the far West It is there
fore very natural that a new "road"
oftentimes leaves a great deal to be
desired In the way of imoothnesa, and
an occasional "Jump-off" has to be
reckoned upon among the probabllltlee
of travel and to be provided for accord
ingly. The ordinary "Jump-off" when
going down hill Is a protruding ledge
of rock, with a perpendicular face of a
foot or two in height, over which the
driver, after applying the brake, usu
ally allows hi wagon to "take Its
chances," but when he reaches what la
known as a "big Jump-off," that is to
say, when he arrives ot the edge of a
high bluff over which the wagon tracka
continue to lend and Incidentally ob
serves that most of the trees In his Im
mediate vicinity are only represented
by their stumps he quickly realir.es that
the chances of bis wagon going down
the hill In safety without external aid
are extremely doubtful. He therefor
lock the wheels by tying together th
fore and hind ones on each aide, then
chop down a tree and attaches It by a
rope to the end of the wagon as a sort
of trailing anchor, and then, with a feel
ing of comparative security, starts hia
team on the descent
The Farmer's Table.
Why should not th farmer raise lox
ories nnder glass for hia home aupplyj
It la true that bnt few of them do ao
but they possess tb opportonltt, and
advantages for ao doing and allow than
to paaa by. Tber la bat llttlo that tb
farmer cannot bar If h will. H am
not aecnr much profit, la Mm abap of
cash, bat b can bar mora sjoymeta
If b will dsTota mora labor to aaDDbr.
lag bia wa table.
- A raaa'a
Kpoatbakladef a