TALMAGEV* SERMON. ONLY A LITTLE HONEY LAST SUNDAY’S SUBJECT. “I Did hat Ta.tc a I.lttle Honey with the End of (lie Koholl*m I* p’ loin Im your last* and atlmuhsilttg to your ftgfte*. and f >r n ilm* delight ful to all >iHir ph> sb at anil mental nut , >i it|i>s la the peril awful N*at#m> n KMiiee of hasard to th# netting id acutes i* pue*lblllt|*e It m*ma a* a *4 -i*l -it Clem o be* aa la *a< In •b ed the hungei Jot food la uften user power* ! ki the hubge, fur water* It it 11 surd fur i ho** ml m who have M*#f felt th* faaelMtbm el the wag*r la *p«*h slightly ef the temgMimu It has slain a multitude of intellertual and moral giants, men and women stronger than you or I. IJawn under its power went glorious Oliver Gold smith, and Ulhbon, the famous histo rian, and Charles Fox, the renowned statesman,and In olden times, senators of the United States, who used to he as regularly at the gambling house all night as they were in the halls of leg islation by day. Oh, the tragedies of the faro table! I know persons who began with a slight stake in a ladles' parlor, and ended with the suicide's pis tol at Monte Carlo. They played with the square pieces of hone with black marks on them, not knowing that Sa tan was playing for their hones at tli" same time, and was sure to sweep all the stakes off on his side of the table. State legislatures have again and again sanctioned the mighty evil oy passing laws In defense of race tracks, and many young men have lost all their wages at such so-called "meet ings.” Every man who voted for such infamous hills has on his hands and forehead the blood of these souls. IJut In this connection some young converts say to me: "Is It right to play cards? Is there any harm In a game of whist or euchre? Well, I know gooil men who play whist und euchre, and other styles of games with out any wagers. 1 had a friend who played cards with his wife and children and then at the close, said, "Come, now, let us have prayers.” 1 will not Judge other men's consciences, hut I tell you that cards are to my mind so associated with the temporal and spir itual ruin of splendid young men, that I would as soon say to tuy family, “Come, let us have u game of cards,” ao I would go Into a menagerie and _ . . __ _ r>ny, vuiih, lei us nave a - tlesnake,” or Into a cemetery, and Hit ting down by a marble slab, say to the gravediggers, "Come, let ns have a game at skulls,” Conscientious young ladles are silently saying, “Vo you think card playing will do us any harm?” Perhaps not, but how will you feel If In the great day of eternity, when we are asked to give an account of our influence, some man should say, "1 was Introduced to games of chance In the year 1898 at your house, and I went on from that sport to something more exciting, and went on down until I lost my business, and lost my morals, and lost my soul, and these chains I hat you see on my wristB and feet are the chains of a gamester’s doom, and I am on the way to a gambler's hell.” Honey at the start, eternal catastrophe at the last. Stock gambling comes Into the same catalogue. It must he very exhilarat ing to go Into the stock market, and, depositing a small sum of money, run the chance of taking out a fortune. Many men are doing an honest and safe business In the stock market, aud you are an Ignoramus If you do nut know that It Is Just as legitimate to deal in stocks as It is to deal in cofTec, or su gar, or flour. Hut nearly all the out siders who go there on a financial ex cursion lose all. The old spiders eat up the unsuspecting flies. I had a friend who put Ills hand on bis hip pocket and Raid in substance, "I have there the value of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.” Ills heme Is today penniless. What was the mat ter? Stock gambling. Of the vast majority who are victimized you hear not one word. One greut stock firm goes down, and while columns of newspapers discuss their fraud or their disaster, and we are presented whh their features and their biography. Hut where one such famous Arm sinks, five hundred unknown men sink with them. The great steamer goes down, and all the little boats are swallowed In the same engulfment. Gambling is gambling, whether in stocks or bread stuffs, or dice, or race horse bettlpg. l!a Allliui auuu ««. we.w WSM.., a.*.... r, brain, and a shattered nervous system, and a sacrificed property, and a de stroyed soul at the last. Young men. buy no lottery tickets, purchase no prize packages, bet on no base ball game or yacht racing, have no faith in luck, answer no mysterious circulars proposing great Income for small In vestment, drive away the buzzards that hover around our hotels trying to en trap strangers. Go out and make an hottest living. Have God on your side, and be a candidate for heaven. Re member all the paths of sin are banked with llowers at the start, and there are plenty of helpful hunds to fetch the guy charger to your door and hold the stirrup while you mount. Hut further on the horse plunges to the bit in a slough inextricable. The best honey Is not like that which Jonathan took oil the end of the rod Mnd brought to his lips, but that which God puts on the banqueting ta ble of mercy, at which we are all In vited to sit. I was reading of a boy among the mountains of SwIUerland ascending a dangerous place with his father and the guides The hoy stopped on the edge of the cltf! and said. "There la a flower I mean to get." "Come away from there." said the father, "you will fall off" "No," said he, "| must gel that beautiful flower.” and the guides rushed toward him to pull him bach w hen, Just aa they beard him say. "I almost have It," he fell (wo i thousand fret tllrd* of prt-y were seen a few days after rinding through ; the air and lowering gradually to the I place where the corpse u» Why ae«h flowers nf the edge of a precipice when you ran walk hnce deep amid ike full blooms of the sett Paradise of t Hod* When a ntsn may alt at the I King a banquet, why wtll he go down I the atep* and contend for the reflate i and bones of a hound's hennelf Awes’' | et than honey and the honeycomb.' 1 mis Uaebl, to the truth of tlod W ith j honey out «f the tuck woukd I have estishad the* tayt Uod Is the > rrenal Here to honey gathered from the bkiwearns of the trees of life and • lib n tod made out of the wood of the Cress I dip It up for all your souls. The poet Hesiod tells of an ambrosia and a nectar, the drinking of which would make men live forever, nnd one sip of honey from the Kternal Hock will give you eternal life with God. Come off the malarial levels of n sin ful life. Come and live on the uplands of grace, where the vineyards sun themselves. "Oh, taste and sec that the lord Is gracious!” Be happy now and happy forever, Kor those who take a different course the honey will turn to gall. Kor many things I have admired Percy Shelley, the; great Eng lish poet, but I deplore the fact that It seemed u greut sweetnss to him to dis honor God. The poem "Queen Mai) has in It the maligning of the Deity. Shelley was Impious enough to ask for Howland Hill’s Survey Chapel that he might renounce the Christian religion. He was In great glee against God and Ihe truth. But he visited Italy, and one day on the Mediterranean with two friends in a boat which was twen ty-four feet long he was coming toward shore when an hour’s squall struck the wuter. A gentleman standing on shore through a glass saw many boats tossed In this squall, but all outrode the storm except one, in which Shelley and his two friends were sailing. That never came ashore, but the bodies of two of the occupants were washed up on the beach, one of them the poet. A funeral pyre was built on the sea shore by some classic friends, nnd the two bodies were consumed. Poor Shelley! He would have no God while he lived, and I fear had no God when he died. “The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” Beware of the forbidden honey! FRENCH A CURIOUS PEOPLE. They Have Vanity, hut Not I’rlile; Reli gion. hul Not Morality. "The French must be the most cu rious people on earth,” writes Lilian Bell In a letter from Paris to the La dles’ Home Journal. "How could even Heavenly Ingenuity create a more uncommon or bewildering contradic tion and combination? Make up your mind that they ure as simple as chil dren when you see their Innocent pic nicking along the boulevards and In the parks with their whole families, yet you dare not trust yourself to hear what they are saying. Believe that they are cynical, and fln de slecle, and skeptical of all women when you hear two men talk, and the next day you hear that one of them has shot him self on the grave of his sweetheart. Believe that politeness is the ruling characteristic of the country because a man kisses your hand when he takes leave of you. Hut marry him, and no Insult Is too low for him to heap upon you. Believe that the French men are sympathetic because they laugh and cry openly at the theatre. But appeal to their chivalry, and they will rescue you from one discomfort only to of fer you a worse. The French have sentimentality, but not sentiment. They have gallantry, hut not chivalry. They have vanity, but not pride. They have religion, but not morality. They are a combination of the wildest ex travagance and the strictest parsi mony. They cultivate the ground so close to the railroad tracks that the trains almost run over their roses, and yet they leave a Place de la Con corde in the heart of the city." The Tfimlljr amt the Home. This is the time to provide the means for Instruction and amusement for the long and quiet evenings to come. FarmerB, mechanics, tradesmen, mer chants, men of all classes and ages— now Is the time to ask yourselves, how shall we spend the winter evenings most pleasantly anil profitably? Ladies —it is your pleasure to make home the happiest spot on earth—prepare now to make the fireside attractive and happy. Parents, have you thought of me ijf hi iiieuitn ui imuiuuuhr wc* fare and happiness of your children during the winter? Every one knows something of the charms of a winter evening at home, and of those charms, reading is the chief, the most lasting, and tlie host. A thoroughly good and entertaining paper is specially adapted to meet the desire for winter evening amusement. Every one who has en joyed the society of the Ledger by the fireside must have felt happier and better for its perusal. To instruct, to amuse. to advocute a higli standard of morality, and to cherish all the better feeling of the heart, is Its mis sion. Nothing is admitted to Its pages that ran wound the feelings of the most sensitive, or call a blush to the cheek of the most modest. Children may read It with pleasure and protit. and we wish to make the oldest, wisest and best In the community confers their obligations to us for many pleasaut, well-spent hours. WKr li riMua no... Parson Halntly (eacitedly)—*'Mal tha great philanthropist tilveaway la dead and has left his untie fortune to local charities and furetgu missions.'' Hi ranger "Ah' tiod bless him! ti id bless him! I Ilk* In see money left j Ilk# that." Parson Halntly "Pardon 1 me, air; hut are you on* of the cloth*'' | Htranger-"oh. no! ini a lawyer. * Puck. -- lies kisws. ■ Van you tell me why old widower* nearly always wanl child wlvaa*" **l ran account for it only upon the them* that old widower* are generally child j !sh ihemselie#" totvlMMk "All th* world* a stag*1* 'And i everybody want* ha h* Ik* atat ’ "I don't, i d ha willing to h* on* of the property men" Ontlannli liaguii*,* FOR TORPEDO BOATS. STORE HOUSE AT THE BROOK LYN NAVY YARD. A l.nrce Flotllli* to Ilf Kept I poo a War FootliiK.' So That at Any Mo nirnt the Governmerit Can Dispatch • Fleet. Looking along the side of one of t'nele Sam’s swift torpedo boat catch ers In an opposite direction to the sun light one can see the Indications of the ribs as plainly as those of a well bred Orloff. That is not, however, a sign of weakness, for It Is generally admitted that the American "new model" boats are possibly the strong est In construction and very likely the most powerful of anything of equal weight that at present floats; neverthi • less their thin plates fast become a prey to the solvent action of the sea. With plates one-eighth of an Inch thick there Is little or no margin for rust, and to prevent oxidizing con stant painting Is resorted to, whl:')i operation would more than likely keep all the eastern navy yard docks occu pied when our new torpedo flotilla u complete, to the exclusion of the ships of the line. Strangely enough. It costs more to dock a torpedo boat than ft does our largest battleship. For ex aipple: The Iowa whin entering the dry dock displaces 11,410 tons of water or thereabouts. Now, when the Ginn ing enters the same dock she only dis places 105 tons of water, and In order to drain the dock for the Gushing tluy are obliged to pump 11,305 more tons of water than Is required to clear the dock for the Iowa, which consumes time and coal. For mechanical reaaotia the Brooklyn yard Is a center for re pairs. At present three small boats will fill file docks, anti In case of a sudden arrival of a dozen boats to I e put on an Immediate war footing Ihe flotilla would he obliged to go to sea in miserable "driblets" of threes, at long Intervals, as It were. It seems now that all tills Is to be remedied. A torpedo boat storehouse has been planned, under which a fleet of seventeen large boats can be housed. At (list It was proposed to build two structures, with separate rooms for each boat; but as the different official Ideas were condensed the composite re sult was In favor of a single struc ture—a marine lift, turn-table and a machine shop for torpedo work mak ing it possible to keep a large flotilla, upon a war footing, so that at any moment the government can dispatch practically a brand new mosquito tleet to the seat of annoyance, most likely to meet an enemy who is some hun dreds of miles from his base of sup plies, with Jaded crews and battered boats. The enemy, seeing ills disad vantage, becomes at once the victim of moral effect. Small things have turned the tide of bnttle. little as the differ ence is In the spelling of "victor" and "victim.” Our Illustration is Intended to give an Idea of what Is proposed to lie hullt. showing the boat* ns they would appear overhauled after an engag* ment. Three hundred and fifty thou sand dollars will be expended on the building, lift and table, to be erected between tile new timber dry dock and the wall separating the navy yard from Itrooklyn's new market. The nav.il of ficials to a man desire the Improve ment, and IcMih upon It as the inu.it important work on hand at pre»t-u' A prominent officer said • \W will draw on the experience of Kurope, and go them one better." which feeling is r. hoed by moat of u* without ques tion New York Herald IIsh lb* tl»il r*»ib l« Kuvep* The ditches* of Cumber land poaaeba I n the Inwi pcarle in Kirope They j were part of the crown Jewels of Han over, and In llj| they were Valued I si i. tSO moo Thee* peart* were rUtntcd | tn fall both by the queen and he, uncle. King Krweel of Hanover, but It vu no* until l%&7 that land Wen •ieydnle. I*»rd llitherley and Nlr l.a* ware l'**l unant money desisted that i they belonged to Hanover, ttu they | were then given up along with a *plen ( did eaafcet ul Jewel*, part of which had b**W brought iw Kwgland from Han tiler by ti*«>eg* H and the net bed tastowged to IJuNt Char hilt e, who tell them by will Iw bar von. Krweet, I SNAKE ATE PIQS. He Wa« » Mounter Very ( lonely Kc-a«tii* tiling » Python. F-om Buffalo Times: Farmers !n the vicinity of Lock Springs. Mo., were greatly harassed for several weeks through depredations on their chickens and pigs, and the mystery was not solved until Newton McCrary started on the trail of what appeared to be a monster snake. He traveled a distance of two miles, when he came to the hanks of the Grand river, where It appeared the reptile entered the water. A search of the vicinity later on rewarded McCrary for his persist ence. Apparently asleep, after having dispatched several full-grown chick ens, lay a reptile of such monstrous proportions that the man was trans fixed with fear. His courage return Ing, McCrary sent a charge of buck shot Into the heud of the reptile and precipitately fled. The contortions of the make as It lashed its tail and body against the ground and trees added to the fears of the now thoroughly terrified man. Summoning the assistance of neigh bors, McCrary cautiously led back an armed party, wnen, to hlB satisfaction, the life of the reptile was found to be extinct. It measured 18 fept, and the body was as large as an ordinary stovepipe. The species of the reptile Is not known, although it looks very much like a python. Marly In '.he spring It was seen several miles fur ther up the Grand river, lint reports of the terrified spectators were not gen erally credited. Wild Horn*. In Arizona. From tlie New York Times: In the Arizona papers of late there have been frequent complaints of serious Injury, both to i rops and to pastures, caused by the raids of wild horses. .Some thing like 20,000 of these creatures, it Is estimated, are now roaming the plains of that territory, and they have become serious nuisances. There is some cause for surprise In the fact that at this late day, even In Arizona, un animal alien to the country can resume the habits of his almost unmeasureahly remote ancestors and can multiply rapidly without care or protection of any kind. The horse in domestication Is a rather delicate creature, subject to many Ills, and often bard to keep In health though watched with close attention and allowed to want for nothing whatever. When forced to rely on his own resources, however, ho shows a marked capacity for resuming tlie wild state and for guarding him self against enemies of all sorts. Kver since the days of the Spanish explorers the horse at every opportunity has demonstrated his lilting for freedom and his adaptability for meeting with out aid the conditions of life in the west and south. I,arge herds were of ten seen years ago, hut that they should still Hud room In the United States Is really notable, as proving that the country is not nearly so well set tled as the opponents of immigration would have us Itelleve. Th* Scops of liiivvrHiuvult The discussion Is more or less con stant us to the advisability of enlarg ing the functions of government, not only by the municipal ownership of street railways, gas works, printing plants, and the like, but also by the extension of the scope of state and na tional government. In the meantime It h doubtful If any hut special students ! of the subjeet know to what extent the ! enlargement of the scop* of govern meat is constantly taking place. 1‘rof Kugene VVsiubaugli. of the Harvard la* g* boot, contributes to the Atlan tic Monthly an article on the prreeu* -cap* of government lie takes a citt- j ten of any one of our large cities, and | follows him Ikrougk the course of a j •lay. pvrtoMng out huw he and all his | p>sues*Ions and his actions are regn- ' fated by government, municipal slate nr national At almost every step m tbs daily Me **f a resident of any large I -tty the govvbsment meets him and prov idea fur him. sad the scope of go* [ *rament ta thus t« many ways being j so *o.i«lattUy enlarged that if lbs prosese continue it la only a tuMdst ut ttm* when nr* ahatl be under gov ernment tusiiul almost in a nwiiilttk About ?m» mar people nr* engaged It ^ ibs t'rugeb Is«e trad*. POWER PROPELLED LIGHTERS. Klvrr Scow* Sent Along Lika Trolley Cara. A new Idea, somewhat on the order of the trolley canal boats used in France and Oerrnany, has been sug gested to relieve tho traffic In large cities where a narrow guage river car rying a large amount of boat traffic enters the heart of the city. This, of course, necessitates numerous draw bridges and interruption and annoy ance both to the land traffic and the boat traffic. The scheme proposed contemplates the use of trolley light ers, which could run up alongside the vessels for unloading at the docks on the outskirts of the town, and when . loaded could convey the goods to tho warehouses and dorks desired, without necessitating the opening of swing bridges. In loading tho vessels the system would be Just as applicable, and the coal and supplies in cars could be loaded directly on the lighters, car ried to the boats and unloaded with a minimum of handling. Broad, shallow lighters, with screw propellers driven by electric motors, could be used, and the power supplied by trolley wires running along the banks and under the bridges, connection between the boats and the wire being made by means of flexible cables. If this method were adopted the swing bridges could bo made permanent ones, and all the smoke, dirt and noise of the puffing steam tugs would be obviated, and the teaming, dock and lighterage charges reduced to a minimum. Moreover, tho motors used for driving the lighters could be utilized at their destination to raise the goods from the hold Into the warehouses or local docks, as re quired. Output of Out ri«*«•*». The mint of Philadelphia Is almost constantly engaged In turning out cents made of copper, with a slight alloy of zinc and tin. The state of Pennsylvania alone absorbed 11,000,000 last year, and New York 0.000,000. There Is as much curiosity about tho final fate of these cents as there la about that of pins. Nobody Is able to tell where the pins go to, and It Is Im possible to even surmise what has b« come of the hundreds of millions of IIOW THE TORPEDO FLEET W1IL RE HOUSED. ot-ntu Issued by the mint since it be gan operations. It Is rather a profit able business for the government, as It means the conversion of copper costing 10 edits a pound into a form In which it is worth $2 or more a pound. PERSONALS. M. Paty de Clam prosecuted Dreyfus at tlie court-inartlnl. Edward Kose, the man who wrote the stage versions of "The Prisoner of Zenda," and “Under the Red Kobe." began his career by reading law. He soon abandoned it for the stage, how ever. and is now dramatic critic of the London Sunday Times. When Dr. Hans Richter, tho famous Wagnerian conductor, made up bis mind to devote himself to that branch of music, he burned all the music lie had composed up to that time, aud de clared that it cooked the most delicious cup of coffee he had ever tasted. Sctfedden Hey, the charge d'affaires of the Turkish legation at Washington, has left that post to assume his new duties as first secretary of the Turkish embassy at 8t. Petersburg. He ta only 2k years of age, and is the young est diplomat w ho has ever been charge d'affaires at the national capital Francois Coppew. the great French poet, novelist aud dramatist, is an oil l»i ftebur, and ta ns devoted to his pel eats a* the prowibta) spinster. An American fu*ud. who visited him a tew year* ago, avers that he lout I one cat In the sale-chamber of the poet's residence, two rats la the din ing room. four ta the parlor, sad eight ta hia study. doles hissseaet, the Preach coat poser, vrhuae "8aph«“ has b»en a great saves* ta Parts, ana Patve la the into role, haa aamataced that he wlit writ* W« none opera* Masses! ta like Urn Uraat la hts love far a *pts •octal tart.* u«»* saver atteada pe.foresaarae of hts owa aorhs e»*ept a* rehearsals, •ad ta ul at •« eedtagty aarvaae habit.