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About The Sioux County journal. (Harrison, Nebraska) 1888-1899 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 22, 1895)
The Sioux County Journal, VOLUME VII. HAJtKISOX, NEBRASKA, TJIUKSDAV, AUG. 22, 1895. NUMBER '50.' TALM AGE'S SERMON. JONAH OF OLD SOON TIRED OF THE DEVIL'S BUSINESS. Bat It Took Heroic Treatment to Brian Him to Hi 8ent. -Ur. Tl muge Iraws Instructive .Moral Lta una from JoaaU'a M Uad venture. In hatua'a Service. At tbia eawtn of tbo year, when a large portiou of the community ia journeying either by laud or sea. Rev. Ur. Tuluiuge, who in alili aUeut un his inidNUiuiner preaching and lecturing tour, ebone aa the subject of hi crinon for last Sun day. "Man Overboard," the text being Jonah i., 0: "So the shipmaster came to him, and aaid uuto hini: What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call uKin thy God If o he that God will think iim)H us, that we perish not." God told Jonah to (to to Nineveh on an unpleasant errand. He would not go. He thought to get away from his duty hy put ting to sea. With pack under hi arm. I , find him on hi way to .loppa, a seaport. He goc down among the shipping, and say to the men lying around on the rock, "Which of these vessel sails to-day?" The sailor answer, "Yonder is a vessel going to Turshii-h. I think, if you hurry, you may get ou lonrd her." Jonnh steps on hoard the rough craft, asks how much the faro in, and pay it. Anchor In weighed, sails are hoisted and Hie rigging begin to rattle in the Ktrong breeze of the Mediterranean, Joppa ia an excised har bor, and it docs not take long for the ves el to get out on the broad sea. The min ora like what they rail tt "spanking breeze," and the plunge of the vessel from the crest of a tall ware ia exhilarating to thoae at home on the deep. 15ut the strong breexe heroines a gale, 'he gale u hurri cane. The affrighted passengers ask the captain if he ever aaw anything like thin before. "Oh, yea," he any; "thl ia nothing." Mariner are alow to admit danger to landsmen. Hut after awhile crush goea the mast, and the vessel pitches ao fur "abeam'a end" there ia a fear ahe will not be righted. The captain anawera few questions and order the throwiug out of boxes and bundles anil of ao much of the cargo an they can get at. The captain ut laat confesses there ia but little hope and tella the passengers that they hud better go to praying. It ia aeldom that a ea captuin is an atheist. He knows that there is a (iod, for he has seen him lit every pobit of latitude between Sandy Hook and Quecnstnwn. Captain Moody, commanding the Cuba of the Cunnrd Inn at Sunday service led the music and aang like a Methodist. The captain of this Mediterranean craft, having act the pas sengers to praying, goes around examin ing the vessel at evety stint. He de acends Into the cabin to see whether in the strong wrestling of the waves the ves Kcl had sprung a leak, ami he finds Jonah asleep. Jonah had had a wearisome tramp and had spent many sleepless night about question of duty, and he is ao sound asleep that all the thunder of the storm and the screaming of the pusscti gers does not disturb him. The captain lay hold of him und begins to shake him out of his unconsciousness with the cry "Don't you see that we are nil going to the bottom? Wake up and go to praying, if you have any God to go to. What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call uion thy God, if so be that God will think upon us. that we perish not." The rest of thr atory I will not rehearse, for you know it well. To appease the sea they threw Jonah overboard. The Devil' Dupe. Learn that the devil takes a man's money and then sets hhn down in a poor landing place. The Hible say he paid his fure to Tarshish. Hut gee him get out. The sailors bring him to the side of the ship, lift him over "the guards," and let him drop with a loud splash Into the waves. He paid hi fare all the way to Tarshish, hut did not get the worth of his money. Neither does any one who turns his back on duty mid does that which is aot right. There is a young man who, during the . past year, has spent a large part of his salary In carousal. What has he gained by it? A soiled reputation, a half-starved purse, a dissipated look, a petulant tem per, a disturbed conscience. The man acle of one or two bad habit that are pressing tighter and tighter will keep on until they wear to the bone. You paid your fare to Tarshish, but you have been set down in the midst of B sea of dis quietude and perplexity. One hundred dollars for Sunday horse hire! One hundred dollars for wine Nipper! One hundred dollar for cigars! One hundred dollar for frolic that shall be ntmeless! Making $iM) for hi damnation! Instead of being in Tarshish now, he is in the middle of the Mediterranean. Here is a literary man, tired of the faith of his fathers, who resolves to launch out into what I called free think ing. He buys Theodore I'arker's works for Y1, Itenan' "Life of Christ" for $1.50, Andrew Jackson Davis' word for $2). Goes to hear infidels talk at the club and to see spiritualism at the table rapping. Talk glibly of David, the psalmist, as an old libertine, of Paul a a wild enthusiast and of Christ: as a decent kind of a man a little weak In some re KH'ts, hut almost a good ai himself. Talks tnilingly.of Sunday a a good day to put a little extra blacking on one' boot, and of Christian aa, for the most part, hypocrite, and of eternity a "the great to be," "the everlasting now," or "the Infinite what la it." Some day he get hi feet very wet and find himself that night chilly. The next morning ha a hot month and la headachy. Mend word over to the tore that he will not be there to-day. Bathe hia feet, haa mus , tard plaster, call the doctor. The med ical man ay ald. "fHi la going to be a bad cane of rohgeetton of rha lungs." ' Voir fall. ChndnMl a bat be kept down 1 Stairs or seat to theaetgbbers to keep the 1 boss lt -T say, "od lor tb ' 'mliHaW." Bat aw;bdp)Mt belie rath ' ' tafclatara.' fob mf "Rm4 ftw Bible to bim." No; he doe not believe in the Bible. A lawyer comes lu, and sitting by his bedside writes a docuincut that be gins: "In the name of God. Amen I, being of sound mind, do make this my last will and testament." It is certain where the sh-k nian's body will Ut in less than a week. It is quite certain who will get his pMperty. Hut what will become of his soul? It will go into "the great to be," or "the everlusting now," or "the in finite what Is it." His auul is in deep water, and the wind i "blowing great guns. Ocatu cries. ' uverooam wiiu uie uubdiever!" A splash! He goes 10 tiie bottom. He paid ?5 for his ticket to Tarshish when he bought the infidel books. He lauded in m-rdition! Every farthing you spend in sin satun will swindle you out of. He promises you shall have.'IO per cent, or a great dividend. He lies. He will sink all the capital, lull may pay full fare to some sinful success. but you will never get to Tarshish. Icarn how soundly men will sli-ep in the midst of danger. The worst sinner on shipboard, considering the light he had. was Joiiah. He was a nicnilter of the church, while they were heathen. The sailors were engaged in their lawful call ing, following the sea. The merchants on board, I supjioKe, were going down to Tar shish to barter, but Jonah, notwithstand ing his Cbristiuu profession, was Hying from duly. He was sound asleep in the cabin. He has been motionless for hours his arms and feet In the s.mie posture as when he lay down his breast heaving with deep respiration. Oh, how could he sleep! What if the ship struck a rock! What if it sprung a leak! What if the clumsy Oriental craft should capsize! What would become of Jonah? t.'nfsit lioniiiltle Depth of Danger. So men sleep soundly now ami amid per ils infinite. In almost every place, I sup pose, the Mediterranean might be sound ed, but no line is long enough to fathom the profound beneath every impenitent nuii). I'liinging a thousand fathoms down, you cannot touch bottom. Ktcmity beneath him, before him, around ti i lit ! Korku clow- by and whirlpools and hot breallieil Levanters; yet sound asleep! We try to wake him up, but full. The great surges of warning break over the hurricane deck the gong of warning sounds through the cabin the bell rings. "Awake!" cry a hundred voices; yea sound uslecp in the cabin. In the year 177."i the captain of a Green land whaling vessel found himself nt night surrounded by icebergs and "lay to" until morning, expecting every moment to be ground to piece. In the morning he looked about and saw a ship nearby, lie hailed it. No answer. Getting into a boat with some of the crew, he pushed out for the mysterious craft. Getting near by, In- saw through the porthole a man at a stand, as though keeping a logbook. He hailed him. No answer. He went on board the vessel ami found the man sit ting at the loglxjok froxen to death. The logbook was dated 17H2, showing that the vessel hail been wandering for thirteen years among the Ice. The sailors were found frozen among the hammock and others in the cabin. Tor thirteen years this ship had been carrying its burden of corpses. So from this gospel craft to-day I descry voyager for eternity. I cry; "Ship ahoy! Ship ahoy!" No answer. They Hunt about, tossed and ground by the icebergs of sin; hoisting no sail for heaven. I go onboard. I find nil asleep. It is a frozen sleep. Oli, that my Lord Jesus would come aboard and lay hold of the wheel, mid steer the craft down into the warm gulf stream of his mercy! Awake, thou that slocpcst! Arise from llic dead, und Christ shall give thee life. Again, notice that men are aroused by the most unexpected means. If Jonah had been told one year before that a heathen sea captain would ever awaken him to a sense of danger, he would huve gcoffed at the idea, but here it is done. So now men in strangest ways are aroused from spirit ual stupor. A profane uiun is brought to conviction by the allocking hluHphcuiy of a comrade. A man attending church and hearing a sermon from the text, "The ox knoweth his owner," etc., goes home un impressed; but, crossing his barnyard, an ox conn' up and licks his hand, and he soys, "There it is now 'the ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib,' but I do not know God." Tim careless re mark of n teamster bus led a man to thought fulness and heaven. The child's remark, "Father, they have prayers at uncle's house why don't we huve them?" has brought salvation to the dwelling. Hy strangest way and in the most un expected manner men ore awakened. The gardener of the Countess of Huntington was convicted of sin by hearing the count ess on the opposite side of the wall talk about Jesus. John Hardoak was aroused by a dream In which he saw the last day, and the Judge sitting, and heard hia own name called with terrible emphasis, "John Hardoak, come to judgment!" The Lord has a thousand way of waking up Jonah. Would that the messengers of mercy might now find their way down Into the sides of the ship, and that many who are uucousciously rocking In the awful temp est of their sin might hear the warning: "What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise and call upon thy God!" Again, learn that a man may wake up too late. If, instead of sleeping, Jonah had been ou his knee confessing his sins from the time he went on hoard the craft, I think that (Sod would have saved him from being thrown overboard. Hut he woke up too lute. The tempest is in full blast, and the sea, in convulsion, 1 lash ing Itself, and nothing will stop It now but the overthrow of Jonah. Too Late. 80 men sometimes wake up too late. The lust hour ha come. The man hit no more Idea of dying than I have of drop ping down thl moment. The rigging i all white with the foam of death. How chill the night is! "1 must die," he ay, "yet not ready. I must puah out upon thia awful aea, but have nothing with which to pay my fare. The white cap! The darktieaa!" The hnrrlcane! How long have I been sleeping? Whole day and month and years. ' I am quit awake now. 1 see everything, but H ia too late." lavlalbl ha ad taka Mat np.' He atrug (1m to I at loo. " In vain. They bring his Mat ta) tb verge, Thr let It down over Tb sM. iTb wind howl. Tbo act oi ns Its frothing jaws to swallow. He lias gone forever. And while the canvab cracked, and the yards rattled, and the r'ljM-s thumped the sea took up the funeral dirge, playing with open diapason of mid night storm: "liccause 1 have called, r.rd ye refused. I hare stretched out my hand and uo man regarded, but ye have set at naught all my counsel and would none of my reproof. I also will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your fear Cometh." Now, lest any of you should make this mistake, I address you in the words of the Mediterranean sea captain: "What mean est thou, O sleejier? Arise, rail upon thy God, if so be that God will think uikju us, that we perish not." If you have a God, you had better call upon him. Do you say, "I have uo God?" Then you had bet ter cull upon your father' God. When your ful her was in trouble, whom did he fly to? You heard him, in his old day, tell about some terrible exposure in a snow storm, or at seu or in buttle, or among midnight garroters, and how he escaped. -IVrhups twenty years before you were born your father made sweet ac quaintance with God. There is something in the worn pages of the Hible he used to read which makes you think your father had a God. In the old religious books lying around the house there are pussages marked with a lead pencil pussages that uiuke you think your father was nut a godless uiuu, but that, ou that durk day when he lay in the back room dying, he was ready all ready. Hut perhaps your father was a bad uiun prayerless and a blasphemer, and you never think of him now without a shudder, lie worshiped the world or his own appetites. Do not then, I ls g of you call upon your father's God, but call on your mother's God. I think she was good. Yon remember when your father came home drunk bite on a cold night, how patient your mother was. You often heard her pray. She used to sit by the hour meditating, as though she were thinking of some good, warn) place, where It never gets cold and where the bread does not fail and staggering steps never come. You remember her now, us she sat, in cap and spectacle, reading her Hible Sunday afternoons. What good ad vice she used to give you! How black anil terrible the hole in the ground looked to you when, with two ropes, they let her down to rest In the graveyard! Ah, 1 think from your looks that I am on the right track! Awake, 0 sleeper, and call ujmih thy mother's God. Hut perhaps both your father and mother were depraved. I'erhaps your crinlle was rocked hy sin ami snaine, ano it is a wonder that from such a starting you have come to respectability. Then don't euil upon the God of either of your parents, 1 beg of you. Hut you have children You know God kindled those bright eyes and rounded those healthy limbs and set beating with in their breast an Immortality. I'erhaps in the belief that somehow it wuuld be. u, the best yon have taught them to say an evening prayer, and when they kneel be side you, and fold their little hands, and look up. their fare all innocence and love, you know that there is a God somewhere about in the room. 1 think I am on the right track at lust. Awake, O sleeper, and cull upon the God of thy children! May he set these little ones to pulling at thy heart until they charm thee to the same God to whom to night they will say their little prayers! Hut alas! alas! some of these men and women are unmoved by the fact (but their father had a God, that their mother had n God, and their children have a God. but they have no God. All pious example to thein for nothing. All the divine good ness for nothing. All warning for noth ing. They are sound asleep in the side of the ship, though the sea und sky ure in mad wrestle. Home at I.nnt. Many years ago a man. leaving his family in Massachusetts, sailed from Hus ton to China to trade there. On the coast of China, in the midst of n night of storm, he made shipwreck. The adven turer was washed up un the beach sense less ull his money gone. He had to beg in the streets of Canton to keep from starving. For two years there wus no communication between himself and fam ily. They supposed him dead. He knew not but that his family were dead. He had gone out as tt captain. He was too proud to come back us a private sailor. Hut after awhile he choked down his pride and sailed for Hostoii. Arriving there he took an evening train for the center of the State, where he had left his family. Taking the stage from the depot and riding score of miles, lie got home. He says that, going up in front of the cottage in the bright moonlight, the place looked to Ism bke heaven. lie rapped on the window, and the affrighted servant let him im lie went to the room where his wife and child were sleeping. He did not dure to wake them for fear of the shock. Heading over to kiss his child' cheek, a tear fell upon the wife's face and she. wakened, and he said: "Mary!" ami she knew hi voice, nnd there was an Indescribable scene of wel come and joy and thanksgiving to God. To-day I know that many of you are sen-tossed and driven by sin In a worse storm than that which came down on the coast of China, and yet I pray God that you may, like the sailor, live to get home. In the. house of niuny mansions your friend ore Waiting to meet you. They are wondering why you do not come. Es caped from the shipwrecks of earth may you at last go In! It will be a bright night a very bright night a you put your thumb on the latch of that door. Once in, you will find the old family faces sweeter "than when you Inst saw them, and there It will be found that ho who was your father' God and your mother' God and your children' T?od 1 your own most blessed Redeemer, to whom be glory and dominion throughout all age, world with out end. Amen. I'scful Cement. A useful cement for mending broken crockery and for repairing various do mestic article la made of the curds of milk mixed with lime. A similar com pound la formed of cheese and lima mixed with water or skim-milk, and H used In Europe aa a putty for Jotnertf work, and aa a material for monldtaf. , ' OUR TWO LANGUAGES. One Tbat We 1 se in Con vtraation. the Other in Written English. A writer In the current number of the Laucational Keview preiaces un extremely Interesting article on Eng lish literature lu the college by the dec laration, "It Is now, I think, generally admitted tbat the tirst principle of rhetoric is, write as you speak. The pedantic, declamatory. Latinized dic tion that prevailed in literary circles a hundred years ago Is no longer the standard King's Knglixh. In order to write well It Is necessary first to speak well that Is, to speak naturally, cor rectly and strongly." This Is a clever and cunning, as well as complete begging of the whole ques tion. The assumption that we, English and Americans, speak as we write, and that the ordinary rules of grumniiir and rhetoric run through and underlie oral, as well as written language, is an assumption which cannot Is? verified by evidence. He who says "don't" and "can't" and "isn't," and who talks about "lilin und me" when he menus "bo and 1," or who says "done" for "did" or "seen" for "saw," can take his pen or pencil lu hand anil write English which Is unexceptional from the stand point of person, mood or tense, the fact Ixdng that written language Is a refine ment, and, possibly, an Improvement on spoken language, but at the same time as different from It as the dinliM't of Yorkshire from that of Cornwall, or the talk of Yaukeelainl from the patois of the- uplands of North Caro lina or the lowlands of Louisiana. The writer of the article In question has fallen Into the rhetorical error of, as the vernacular has it, putting the cart before the horse. Every written language, protected and fenced in as It may be by rhetorical fences and hedges, each of which Is bristling with rules und safe-guarded by exceptions to those rules. Is only a development from a spoken language, and whether it le an Improvement or not Is an open ques tion. At all events It must be appar ent to every student of language or philology Hint we have, at least In English, two, separate and distinct languages, and that if we should at tempt to follow the dictum of the writer in the Educational Review, and write as we speak, our contributions to current literature would be speedily side-tracked Into the editor's waste pa per basket. It might bo belter for the genius of the English language, and for the preservation of Its integrity. tlint we should speak as we write, but to adopt the converse proposition titnl write as we speak seems the very cli max of absurdity to those who know and Appreciate the distinction between English "as she is wrote" and "us she Is spoke." Sun Francisco Chronicle. The Pu ni. Mike Welsh had been recommended to Simpson as a lit man to assist in tak ing care of horses and cows; so Mike was hired, and placed In charge of this (lepurtment. One morning, after Mike had been a month at the place, Simp son, who bad made ready to start oft with his milk-cart, said to him; "Mike, you may give the cows some oatmeal this morning; and be sure you give my best milker an extra quantity." "The best milker, is It, sir?" "Yes; you know the old cow that gives the most milk?" "Hedad, I think I do, sir." "Well, you give her four quarts of the mash." "All right, sir. I'll do that same." On the evening of that day Simpson had occa sion to go to the old wooden pump in the yard. He tried the handle, but It wouldn't work. The pump seemed to be entirely choked up. Finally he dis covered that all the upper part was loaded with something very nearly re sembling oatmeal mash. He called his man. "Mike," said he, "what Is the matter Willi this pump?" "The pump. Is it, sir?" "Yes. How came this oat meal mush In here?" "Sure, sir, I put It In meself." "You stupid blockhead, why did you do that?" "It was yerself that told me, sir." "I I told you to put It In here?" "Indade ye did, sir." "Why, you thlck-hended rascal, what do you menu?" "Don't bo In a passion, master. Did ye not tell tne to give yer best milker an extra quantity of the mash? And where In all the world, I'd like to know, Is the crathur that gives ho much milk to yer cans as does this old pump?" Kleclrlc Lighting for Carriage. Although It Is claimed that the first private carriage having outside and In side electric lamps wa that of the lord mayor of London, twelve years ago, It Is only within a year or two that the precedent has been much followed. The German emperor, the Prince of Wates nnd other foreign dignitaries have carriages thus lighted; and theit example, as well as the exhibition of such vehicles nt the Antwerp world's fair last year, has gone far toward es tablishing the fashion abroad. As yet very few coaches In this country are electrically lighted. It Is a simple matter to provide a stor age battery under the coachman's sent which will supply the Current It Is necessary, however, to monnt the lamps on elastic supports of rubber or steeM to prevent the Jolting of the vehicle from breaking the lamps. Incandes cent burners of leas elate than thoae or dinarily employed In hones and offices Are selected 'for this service. An elfbt-ceU battery, eight Inches lon, eaten dee? and fouf wide la said to be sufficient to maintain the light for eighteen hours without recharging. The Inside lamp is placed In the center of the roof, and has two filaments. A reflector and a fiat glass plate cover are other features of such lights. Ad ditional lamps of various colors are sometimes attached to the harness at different points, producing a highly decorative effect. New Y'ork Tribune. Kerlin's Private I'ohU Berlin has had for some years past a private postal company for the de livery of letters and packages, and stidents of the postal question are somewhat astonished to learn that this concern rivals the government post office in cheapness and pays animal dividends of 2 per cent The private post carries a letter of ordinary weight within the bounds of the city at 2 pfenninge, or about 5 7-10 mills. Last year the private post carried 2,- 50oVKj) packages. The company em ployes 1,K0 men and many horses. The private post charges less than the pub lic post for packages, circulars and the like, and does a great deal of work for business houses that in New Y'ork is accomplished by special delivery wagons and messengers in the em ployment of the house. Some business houses save large sums annually by making use of the private post. The capital of the concern is not large, for Its 2o per cent, dividend was made last year from net profits of about $l0(uxxi. It lias been suggested that the great European capitals should have like private posts and establish an International exchange for letters and packages In competition with the 1'oHtal Union. Hut the by-laws of most European countries, like those of the United States, secure to the govern ments a monopoly of business strictly postal. New York Sun. New York's Name T ) Long. We don't object to the amputa tion of the word "New" from the name of New York, says the Sun, of that city. Time would be saved by chopping It off. It is useless, and it is out of place In the name of a city that Is as old as New York. Let our citizens who want to get rid of it speak of our place as "York" henceforward, and let the old adjective "New" sleep in the grave in which It has lieeu burled by lots of other American cities. After a while the word would be remembered only by antiquarians. Plenty of the people who live in the outer regions have al ways called us York, and everybody knows what place is thus spoken of without looking in the geography for the wen I her- worn English city on the Itiver Ouse. "York State" is us much heard of in other States. We do not need any law to authorize the amputation until after everybody has performed if, and then the Legisla ture can enact a law approving of it. Lots of laws are made that way. The best of them ure thus made. We shall not urge people to cut off the "New and call it York; but every body who does so will save a breath. If all the time wasted in the utterance of the word "New" by the millions of people who are constantly talking of New York were devoted to the study of the classics, ancient literature would be better know n than It Is. Woman's Fidelity. The obligation of lldelity will be as natural to woman In the time to come as it was In the old days, because hu man nature is stronger than any laws we may make to change it, and the Instinctive feeling of a woman, like a dog, is fidelity lidellty to the man she loves, the mini to whom she has given herself. Education and modern in fluences may modify for a time the bent of her life, and may cause some women to break away and embark on other lilies and ways of living, but the prodigals will return home, finding out the hollowuess and the impossibility of the career they prepared for them selves. From physical causes, women can not lead the same lives as men, do what they may; and as nature, In her wis dom, lias placed such restrictions ou them, they will recognize, after a time, their limitations, and be content to ad mit that they have been worsted lu tie unequal struggle. Lady Jeune, lu the Saturday Review. Wooden Hats. Connecticut has always been prolific in Inventors with a genius for utilizing wood in unexpected directions from the time when one of her sons manu factured nutmegs out of plue knots down to the present day. The latest outcome of this ingenuity Is a wooden hat. A Connecticut man has made a machine that cuts a block of wood into fine strips. These are moistened and then woven like straw Into headgear, which Is said to be very durable. The Inventor says that the substance Is lighter than straw, and that because of Its easier manipulation and IoV?r cost It will supersede the other material. Boston Herald. Corn Sprinkler. A Hannibal (Mo.) man has Invented a machine for sprinkling corn In dry or arid regions. The machine la on the same principle aa a corn planter. It la ao arranged that from a quart to a half gallon of water will drop at the hills. , j ' wj . .1 1 It requires considerable genius for a man to relate his .woes- and keep bis friends Interested. WHITTIER'S COURAGE. He Hazarded Life and Popularity ia) the Cause of Abolition. Before be was 30 he had made up hl mind that it was his duty to do what he could for the relief of Uie unfortu nate negroes who were held in bondage in the South. Iu he wrote a pam phlet called "Justice and Expediency," I11 which he considered the whole ques tion of slavery, and declared that It should cease forever. Three years later he became secretary of the Anti-Slav ery Society. Iu 1S38 he went to Phlla. delphiu to edit the Pennsylvania Free man; and so boldly did be advocate the right of the negro to own himself that tne printing-oltice was sacked by a mob and burned. Then, as more than once afterward for the same cause, Whlttier was in danger of his life. Whittier showed physical courage in facing the ruffians who wished to pre vent free six-wh; but he had revealed the higher moral courage in casting In his lot with the little band of abolition ists. Up to rhis time he had looked for ward to holding public office, as well he might, when many another journal ist has stepped from the newspaper desk into public life. When he became one of the small band who denounced slavery, be gave up all chance of office. He also bad literary ambition, but so strong was the power of the slave-owners then, and so intolerant were they, that most editors and publishers were sorely intimidated, and declined to print not only any attack on slavery, but even the other writings of an author who was known as an abolitionist Thus Whlttier, in Identifying himself with the autl-slavery movement,' thought that he was giving up his lit erary future also. He made his decis ion promptly, and he never regretted It. Indeed, In later life he said to a boy of 15, to whom he was giving counsel, "My lad, If thou wouldst win success, join thyself to some unpopular but noble cause." St. Nicholas. A New Field for Klectricitj. It seems as though the United .States House of Representatives will soon miss the page boys who have hitherto been so much in evidence. Not that the boys will be abolished, but that they will be relegated to ante-cbain-bers and benches, where they will await summons, like the ordinary mor tals who answer to "Front!" In hotels. Electricity will be responsible for this change. There will be less noise, and the wonted handclapplng of members in a hurry will be a thing of the past; but the house will be a decided gainer In decency, quiet and decorum. Two annunciators will be used, one in each cloak room at either end of the hall, dividing the floor into two sections, and providing for a total of 3(J0 calls. On each desk will be a calling push button, and the wires will run under the floor in cables to the rooms where the annunciator boards are. When a member calls, his number on the board will drop and the page next on turn will hie to his bidding. If this plan should prove successful, as it promises .o be, it is likely that members will register their votes in like fashion, with a great saving in time. The Iord Mayor's Secretary. 1 -If the Lord Mayor's private secre tary ever wore all his decorations his breast would blaze as brilliantly as that of the chief magistrate himself. Mr. Soulsby, who has just received from the Mikado the Order of the Ris ing Sun, already possesses the blue rib bon of the Legion of Honor, to say nothing of the orders of Francis Joseph of Austria, the Humane Redemption of Liberia, and a Servian and Greek dec oration to boot. The genial perma nent secretary of the Mansion House, who has assisted twenty-one lord may ors to preserve some continuity of civic government, was appropriately born iu a cockney family, and educated at the City of London School. While still in his teens he began to read for the bar, was called after the shortest Interval of study permitted by the Inns, and Immediately received the appointment which he has filled with such distinction ever since. He is 43 years of age. Another Use for Aluminum. The value of aluminum for use In the army Is about to be demonstrated lu another way for use as a signal lan tern. The.Signal Corps has been exper imenting with lanterns for some time, and one has been found that gives ex cellent results. It Is made of aluminum and Its type Is similar In many respects to the headlight of a locomotive. It has worked satisfactorily at a distance of twenty-eight miles. New York Tribune. A Versatile Actor. A theatrical manager had considera ble trouble with his star actor, who was constantly meeting with accidents or falling sick. ' One day, as the story goes, the star was hurt In a boiler ex plosion. When the manager heard of it he remarked to his agent: "I am sick of this sort of thing. Advertise Mm as usual and add tbat we Intend bringing out a new piece, In which the great star, Mr. D , will appear In several parts." Than should be a law providing that the first grandchild belongs to Um graodpsireota, ' II-