Nebraska Newspapers

    TAL31 AGE’S SERMON.
“SPLENDORS TO BE UNROLLED"
LAST SUNDAY'S SUBJECT.
From the "Pest; 1. Corinthians, Chapter
Mil.. Vrr.e IS. u< I olluwa; “For
.Now We '.*■*. Through a (Hash, Darkly;
Hut Then Fuce to Fare.
The Bible is the most forceful and
pungent of books. While It lias the
sweetness of a mother s hush for hu
man trouble, it has all the keenness of
a scimitar, and the crushing power of
a lightning-holt. It portrays with more
than a painter’s power, at, one stroke
picturing a heavenly throne and a
Judgment conflagration. The strings
of this great harp are fingered by all
the splendors of the future, now sound
ing with the crackle of consuming
worlds, now thrilling with the Joy of
the everlasting emancipated. It tells
how one forbidden tree In the garden
blasted the earth with slekness and
death; and how another tree, though
Icafhs* and bare, yet, planted on Cal
vary. shall yield a fruit which shall
more than antidote the poison of the
other It. tells how the red-ripe clust
ers of God’s wrath were brought to th"
wfne-press, and Jesus trod them out;
, and how. at last, all the golden chal
ices of heaven shall glow with the
wine of that awful vintage. It dazzles
the eye with an Ezekiel’s vision of
wheel, and wing, and fire, and whirl
wind; and stoops down so low that It
can put Its lips to the ear of a dying
child and say, "come up higher.”
An'i yet raui, in my
responsibility of saying that ii is only
an indistinct mirror, and that Its mis
sion shall he suspended. I think then1
may be one Blldc in heaven, fastened
to tl.e throne. Just as now, in a mu
seum. v/e have a lamp exhumed from
Herculaneum or Nineveh, and we look
at it with great interest and say, "How
poor a light it must have given com
pared with our modern lamps!” So
I think that this Bible, which was a
lamp to our feet In this world, may lie
near the throne of God. exciting our
Interest to all eternity by the contrast
between Its comparatively feeble light
and the illumination of heaven. The
Bible, now, is the scaffolding to the
rising temple, but when the building
Is done, there will be no use for the
scaffolding.
The idea I shall develop today Is.
that In this world our knowledge Is
comparatively dim and unsatisfactory,
but nevertheless is introductory to
grander and more complete vision. This
Is eminently true in regard to our
view of God. We hear so much about
God that we conclude that we under
stand him. He Is represented as hav
ing the tenderness of a father, the
firmness of a judge, the majesty ot
a king and the love of a mother. Wc
hear about him, talk about him. write
about him. We lisp his name In in
fancy. and it trembles on the tongue
of ’he dying octogenarian. We think
that we know very much about him.
Take the attribute of mercy. Do we
understand it? The Bible blossoms
all over with that word—mercy. It
speaks again and again of the tender
mercies of God; of the sure mercies;
of the great mercies; of the mercy that
er.dureth forever; of the multitude of
his mercies. And yet I know that the
• views we have of tills great Being are
most, indefinite, one-sided and incom
plete. When, at death, '.he gates shall
fly open, anti we shall look directly
upon him. how new and surprising!
Wc see upon canvas a picturp of the
morning. We study the cloud In the
sky the dew upon the grass, and the
husbandman on the way to the field.
Beautiful picture of the morning! But
we rise at daybreak, and go up on a
hill to see for ourselves that which
... ..a U'lilin «•« Is^sO
'he mountains are transfigured. The
burnished gates of heaven swing open
and hut, to let past a host, of fiery
splendors. The clouds are all abloom,
and hang pendent from arbors of ala
baster and amethyst. The waters make
pathway of Inlaid pearl for the light
to walk upon; and there Is morning on
the sea. The crags uncover their
s irred visage; ami there is morning
am ng the mountains. Now you go
home, and how tame your picture of
tin- mcrnlng seems In contrast! (irp.a:
cr than that shall be the contrast be
tween 'his Scriptural view cf Cod and
that which wo shall have when stand
ing face to face. This is a picture of
the morning, that will he the morning
itself
Again; m.v text Is true of the Sa
vp ir’s excellency. By image, and
sweet rlivthm of expression, and Mart
ling antithesis. Christ is set forth his
love, his compassion, his work, his life,
his death, hi* resurrection. We ure
challenged to measure It. to compute it,
to weigh It- In 'he hour of our broken
enthrallment, we mount up Into high
experience of his love, and shout until
the countenance glows, and the blood
tmonda. and the whole nature I* exhll
araied. ' I have found him"' And yet It
I* through a glass darkly. We see not
half of that rompa»»iouate face. We
feel got half the warmth of that loving
heart We watt for dentil to let us
rush into HU outspread arm# Then
we 'bail lx* face to face Not ahad<>«
then ho! substance Not hope then
hut the fulfilling of alt prefigur-iuen'
That will he a m-iginfbem unfolding
Th» rushing out in view of nil hidden
n «Henry, the coming again of a long
absent Jesus, to meet us not In rags,
and In penury, and death, bn: .mild*’
a light, and pomp and out burnt ing
toy si». h none hot a gttw t Aed Intel!
a- It .< onM etperten<e **h' to gate
full op >tt the brow that we* lacerated
upon the side that as# pierced upon
the hat that were mailed to stand
t * se op tn the ptaeeheo of him who
| 'ii* I for ne oh the nxoontetn end
thought d ha hr tha <« and agonised
hi# on in *hn gar lea md died for os
lh hi 10 Nfl ■»#
to embrace him. to take his hand, to
kiss his feet, to run our Angers along
the scars of ancient suffering; to say.
"This is my Jesus: He gave himself for
me. I shall never leave his presence.
I shall forever behold his glory. I
shall eternally hear his voice. Lori
Jesus, now I see thee: I behold where
the blood started, where the lean
coursed, where the fare was distorted
I have waited for this hour. 1 shall
never turn my back on thee. No more
looking through Imperfect glasses. No
more studying thee In the darkness
But, as long as this throne stands, and
this everlasting river flows, and those
garlands bloom, and these arches of
victory remain to greet home heaven's
conquerors, so long l shall see then
Jesus of my choice; Jesus of my song;
Jesus of my triumph-forever and for
ever fare to fare!”
The Idea of the text Is Just as irue
when applied to God's providence. Who
has not come to some pass in life thor
oughly Inexplicable? You say. "What
does this mean? What Is God going
to do with me- now? He tells me that
all things work together for good. This
does not look like' It.” You continue
to study the dispensation, and after
awhile guess about what God means,
"lie means to tearh me this. 1 think
he means to teach me that. Perhaps
it Is to humble my pride. Perhaps it
Is to make me feel more dependent.
Perhaps to tench me the uncertainty of
life*." Hut after all. It is only a guess
a looking through the glass, darkly.
The Hlble assures us there shall lie a
satisfactory unfolding. "What I
do thou knowest not now; but thou
sliait know hereafter." You will know
why God took to himself that onlv
child. Next door there was a house
hold of seven children. Why not take
one from that irrotin instead of your
only one? YVhy single out. the dwell
ing in which there was only one heart
heating responsive to yours? Why did
God give you a child at all. If he meant
to take it away? Why fill the cup of
your gladness brimming, if he meant
to dash it down? Why allow all th"
tpndrlls of your heart to wind around
that object, and then, when every flbr°
of your own life seemed to he Inter
locked with the child's life, with strong
hand to tear you apart, until you fall
bleeding and crushed, your dwelling
desolate, your hopes blasted, your heart
broken? Do you suppose that God will
explain that? Yea He will make it
plainer than any matlrematleal problem
—as plain as that two and two
make four. In the light of the
throne yon will see that it was
right—all right.
Here is a man who can not get on in
the world. He always seems to buy at
the wrong time and to sell at the worst
disadvantage. He trl<B this enterprise,
and fails; that business, and Is disap
pointed. The man next door to him
lias a lucrative trade, but he lacks cus
tomers. A new prospect opens; his
income is increased. But that year his
family are sick, and the profits are ex
pended in trying to cure the ailments.
He gels a discouraged look. Becomes
faithless as to success. Begins to ex
pect disasters. Others wait for some
thing to turn up; lie waits for it to turn
down. Others, with only half as much
education and character, get on twice
as well. He sometimes guesses as to
what it all means. He says, "Perhaps
riches would spoil me. Perhaps pover
ty Is necessary to Urep me humble.
Perhaps I might, if things were other
wise, be tempted into dissipations,"
But there Is no complete solution of the
mystery. He sees through a glass
darkly, and must wait for a higher un
folding. Will there be an explana
tion? Yes; Clod will take that man in
the light of the throne and say. "Child
immortal, hear the explanation! You
remember the failing of that great en
terprise—your misfortune In 1857; your
disaster in 1867. This Is the explana
tion.” Anil you will answer, "It is all
right.”
I see, every day. profound mysteries
x>f providence. There is no question
IVO iiKlt nftener than VVhv? There a:e
hundreds of graves In Oak Hill and
Greenwood and Laurel Hill that need
to be explained. Hospitals for the
blind and lame, asylums for the Idiotic
and insane, almshouses for the desti
tute, and a world of pain and misfor
tune that demand mare than human so
lution. Ah! God will clear it all up.
in the light that pouts front the thione
no dark mystery can live. Things now
utterly Inscrutable will he Illumined as
plainly us though the answer were
written on the jasper wall, or sounded
in the temple anthem. Hartlmeiis wilt
thank tiod that he was blind; and Laz
arus that he was covered with sores;
and' Joseph that he was cast Into I he
pit; and Daniel that he was denned
with lions; and I'aul that he waa hump
hacked; and David that lie waa driven
from Jerusalem; and that sewing
woman that she could get only u few
liense for making a garment; and that
! invalid that for twenty yeara lie could
not lift hi* head Irom the pillow, and
that widow that she had null hard
| work to earn bread for her ehlldteii
J Von know that tu song different voices
I carry different parts. The sweet anil
! overwhelming part of the hallelujah of
b«*4%#tt wilt not l«’ twirl#*! by tho*’
j whu mm!* In bub jilmw, nit-l *4%#
kuni^utiuj vi»l»itiRitimvtit« bin iMtu#r
cMMm h mil *itt« It mil 4IMK
II, »»#«• toM*| twri’lfr* 4Ml afi»« ||
4 b» 4» r# U»t*«* lh«* till
ill Milk will »m« It thf h#M#lub«l
will Iw ill lb# hi# #41 tb • 4«#(>
||)| 1*411. is4 ii klR| k*|ib 44*1 t |
IU|f|iU4 klR4*. 44 I 4 'Mi|*4 U4 ft a 444
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«ft«i| 4|*4ll#«l Iw lb* Rft|u|Wt4U uf lb*
ilftblwuM# 14 klilvft I Ibl4b 4# bit*
bus Hill# bi«4 Rf lb# RUWifl ttl lb#
ffl|bl«4MM 14 b#««t4 l4§tl*t* »|»
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M fur 4M#4ift| iii Itfillii
I lb* »4MM| af 4ft*4 WIN b# 4#«tr*»t«R|
I deny the charge. 1 suppose that the
multitude of the finally lost, as com
pared with the multitude of fhe finally
saved, will be a handful. I suppose
that the few siek people iu the hospital
today, as compared with the hundreds
of thousands of well people In the city,
would not he smaller than the number
of those who shall be cast out In suf
fering, compared with those who shall
have upon them the health ..f heavpn
For we are to remember that we are
living In comparatively the beginning
of the Christian dispensation, and that
this world Is to be populated and re
deemed, and that ages of light and love
are to flow on. If this he so. the mul
titudes of the saved will be In vast
majority.
Take all the congregations that have
today assembled for worship. Put them
together and they would make hut a
small audience compared with the
thousands and tens of thousands, and
ten thousand times ten thousand, and
the hundred and forty and four thou
sand that shall stand around the
throne. Those flashed up to heaven In
martyr fires; those tossed for many
years upon the Invalid couch; those
fought in the armies of liberty, and
rose as they fell; those tumbled from
high scaffoldings, or slipped from the
mast, or were washed off Into the sea
They came up from Corinth, from Lao
dlcea from the Red Sea hunk and
Oennesaret'a wave, from Egyptian
brick yards, and Gideon's thrashing
floor. Those, thousands of years ago
slept the last sleep, and these are this
moment having their eye* closed, and
their limbs stretched out for the sepul
ch re.
A general expecting an attack from
the enemy stands on a hill and look«
through a field glass, and sees, In the
great distance, multitudes approaching
hut liaH no Idea of their numbers. H«
says. “I can not tell anything about
them. I merely know that there are a
out attempting to count, says; A
great multitude that no man ran num
ber,”
We are told that heaven Is a plate
of happiness; hut what do we know
about happiness? Happiness in this
world is only a half-fledged thing; a
tlowery path, with a serpent hissing
across It; a broken pitcher, from which
the water lias dropped before we could
drink it; a thrill of exhilaration, fol
lowed by disastrous reactions. To hel|
us understand tlie Joy of heaven, the
Bible takes us to a river. We stand or
the grassy hank. We see the water*
flow on with ceaseless wave. But the
filth of the cities are emptied into it
and the banks are torn; and unhealtii)
exhalations spring up from it; and we
fail to get an Idea of the River of Life
In heaven.
We get very Imperfect Ideas of the
reunions of heaven. We think of sonu
festal day on earth, when father anil
mother were yet living, and the cbl!
elren came home. A good time that
But It had this drawback—all were nol
there. That brother went off to sea
and never was heard from. That sis
ter—did we not lay away In the fresh
ness of her young life, never more in
this world to look upon her? Ah
there was a skeleton at the feast, anti
tears mingled with our laughter or
that Christmas day. Not so with
heaven's reunions. It will be an unin
terrupted gladness. Many a cliristlar
parent will look around and find all
his childien there. "All!” he says, "car
It be possible that we are all here—
life's perils over? The Jordan passed
and not one wanting? Why, even the
prodigal is here. 1 almost gave him
up. How long he despised my coun
sels! but grace hath triumphed. A1
here! all here! Tell the rnlgbly joj
through the city. Let the bells ring
and the angels mention it In theii
song. Wave it from the top of the
walls. All here!”
No more breaking of heart strings
but face to face. The orphans thal
were left poor, and in a merclles*
world, kicked and cuffed of many hard
ships, shall Join their parents, ovet
whose graves they so long wept, ant;
gaze Into their glorified countenance
forever, face to face. VVe may corn*
up from different parls of the world
one from the land and another from
the depths of the sea; from lives af
fluent and prosperous, or from seenei
of ragged distress; but we shall al
meet In rapture and jubilee, faee tc
faee.
Many of our friends have entered
upon (hat Joy. A few days ago they
sat with us studying these Ooape
themes; but they only saw through it
glass, darkly now revelation halt
come. Your time will also come, tjoc
will not leuve you floundering In tb«
darknes*. You stand wonder atrucs
and amused. You feel as ir all ihi
loveliness of life were dashed out. Yot
stand gating luto the open chasm 01
the grave. Walt a lillle. In the pres
enee of your departed, and of hltn wbi
entries them In Ills bosom, you shall
soon stand fate to face. Oh, that out
last hour may kindle up with ihti
promised joy I May w«. lie able to say
like the Christian not long ago, de
parting Though a pilgrim, walking
through the talley, the mountain topi
at* gleaming from p*nk tu peak r* or
like my dear friend and brother, Al
I te.l Cook man whtt took hi* (light tc
in* thfott* of tlod *avtns in bin Inal
moment that whhb has nlready goat
Into Christian class a* 1 am sweep,n«
'hiotigh the peilly gale, washed la ItM
blood uf tb* Unit*"
tot «m a 4ms
IllStiu I nude ret *n>l »ou had a ttM
in iwot library last night Mu<h of -
***
I'lson ‘fib no only n few unMual
tttUinse* nf »*ooSr
Is titles |><»
|u|gs "It m *ald that l|eu|i Wash
wa* set * bwoh agent
C-sa* Then he did lie* d»*a ihwi
i «bc>>| list srandnl, sffer nlk
4
A NIGHT’S ADVENTURE
BY Y. Z.
1ST! hlrt! are you
still here?"
"We are, both of ua.
Have you seen
him?”
"Yes, the wretch! I
have tried for the
last time to obtain
from h I m—y o u
know what; he re
ceived me no better
than usual, fi» now, !
extremities have become Indispensable,
j let us proceed us agreed upon. Kir
tnann, courage, my boy! 'TIs close
upon the stroke of twelve; he will then
go out; follow, till you see him enter
ing a dark und deserted street, then
pounce upon him, hand to wrist, and
make him deliver up the oblects In
question. No pity, my friends! swear I
that you will have none."
“We swear!”
“’TIs well; I shall be near at hand
and watch the result!"
Three Individuals thus conversing,
did not present the ordinary resew- j
blanre to malefactors. One of them, he |
who would appear to direct the enter
prise, seemed to bo a good sort of citi
zen, well clothed, healthy, of honest
dimensions, and such a one as you may
see every day In any frequented street,
with a full handkerchief under Ills arm,
or an empty one In his hand. Some
thing observable In the gait, starched
look, and apparently disjointed
haunches, would lead you to believe
that this man employed himself at some
very common trade, which, that we may
make no mistake, we shall not yet
name.
The smaller of the remaining two
had one of the most grotesque faces
/ ' Ull Ilia WJ - •- ■•■rj ■'
boscis trussed up between the eyes,
might prove that nature had not for
gotten to make some noses for the con
venience of spectacles; his mouth was
I encircled with scanty and large teeth,
| and add to all this—he was hump
backed. By the unsteady glimmer of a
I lamp swinging in the night wind, It
was not Impossible to perceive that
| the keen sight of the dwarf glanced
with delight upon a pistol which he
held in his right hand.
The third personage, owing to his
physical conformation, partook In some
manner of a relationship between his
two associates. Gaunt, withered, and
cadaverous-looking, his left arm raised,
as if to point his weapon at the breast
of a giant, it gave him no distant re
semblance to a gibbet. Ever and anon
ho was quaking. Was it from cold or
fear? It was midnight.
From a house well known in the quar
ter of St. Martin, slowly poured out
nearly a dozen men; the two suborned
"MONEY OR LIFE"
individuals, ever on the alert, were is
suing at intervals, for the purpose of
reconnoitering, from the dark alley,
which they had chosen for conceal
ment; they were obliged at least twen
ty times to go hack and wait anew.
At length they espied the being of
their search. It was a kind of fashion
able animal, frizzed, scented and adopt
ing a peculiar tie of the cravat. Me
crossed over to the other side of the
street, shivering and humming an air.
and was coon lost in ope of the nar
row cross-streets. Ilo walked on rapid
ly, as if to avoid coming In contact with
another wayfarer, whose heavy foot
steps sounded not far off; but changing
nil at once from the disposition of dread
to that of holduess, lx suddenly stopped
short, and allowed sufficient time for
those to come up who were effectually
1 pursulug him.
••Halt!" cries ono of them; "money
or life!"
• Eh? what? eh?"
"Money or life!"
Aud the mouths of two pistols were
| presented, the one at his hat, (he other
| at the lilght of his stomach.
"Speak a word aud you are a dead
niau." chimed In the two voices.
"For heaven's sake, genllemen, I
have nothing to give. I possess but
! (Ill* watch, and 'Us a pinchbeck one."
"In that case, then, off with your
clothes!"
•Thy, kind gentlemen, he content with
my bet. I have of late made the dear
est sacrifices to t lot hr myself My
poor, aged mother dented herself her
little earnings la pay for my outilt '*
"Liar, off with your net, and n<>
delay, or visa , Ah, to ueiumeace
throw iwiv that swttej '*
"There, then genttemeu, them is mr
beautiful super Abe block runt ami vel
vet roltar. > « can get a hundred and
twenty franca for it anywhere, if the
tailor has not deceived me **
' Now y<>nr vent,'*
"Would its eend me gwny *a • be
mtsef*
1 Now oft with the real"
"i*fc, merciful hasten* the sola pair
I I pas**** for pit I s mhe, genllemen. for
pity!" A peal of laughter answers his j
supplication. Anil the same voice con
tinued:
"Away with you, and beware how
you look behind you."
The bird bo etrangely plucked of his
plumage waited not for a second in
junction. He sped on his course, pro
pelled forward by the fresh morning
breeze, anil a slight crack of a whip
which descended on his shoulders, ns
he was turning the first corner. He
received the following morning by the
earliest post a billet, thus penned:
“Considering you as much a coward
as a swindler, I contrived last night to
set my two Journeymen, Paul and Klr
mann, across your path, each furnished
with a chocolate pistol. You might
have supped of them. I had them pre
viously attested by my worthy friend,
the commissary of pollen. You pre
ferred restoring the clothes with which
I hud furnished you, and for which you
had refused paying me; you have done
right, for we arc now quits, Get angry,
If you rhoose, and receive the felicita
tions of your very humble servant."
RECEIVE QUEER REQUESTS.
Funny Kipnrlencrs Kntateil uy the Oltt'
cl»l> ot the llrltlnh Museum.
(From the lamdon Mall.)
An American collector has made a
singular application to the authorities
of the British museum, lip asks: "Will
you please get and send me a piece of
the ruins out of the great London fire
which has lately occurred. 1 wish
to put It Into my curio cabinet.” This
Is not the first time that requests of
an equally humorous nature have been
received at the British museum. Sir
Bdward Mtunde Thompson, K. B.
the principal librarian, recently told a
story of a letter containing numerous
questions rent him by a German gentle
man, WHO, in apologizing ior Mil'll in
ordinate number, explained that “we
Hermans are a questionable people."
Another of the officials remembers the
advent of a man who wanted to see
"the original Sanscrit" and, on being
Interrogated, added, "the original San
scrit what, all the languages come
from.” On being shown a Sanscrit
manuscript he Inquired: “Is this what
all the languages come from?" "Well,
not quite all; but most of them,” was
the reply; whereupon he ejaculated,
"Oh!" and walked away, perfeetly sat
isfied. On one occasion a man asked
the manuscript department to see the
“roll of the law which Bsdras found
In the temple.” He was promptly re
ferred to the keeper of the Oriental an
tiquities, with what result is not stated.
There is also the anecdote of the In
quirer who asked an attendant whether
the roll of the Pentateuch exhibited un
der a glass case In one of the galleries
of the manuscript department was the
identical thing "that Moses chucked
about.” As he spoke with a Scottish
accent It Is still doubtful whether he
was intending a Joke or not. Hut the
most remarkable instance of the ig
norance under which the museum offi
cial suffers, and over which he makes
merry, Is perhaps that in which a rad
ical member of parliament asked at,
the center desk In the readlngroom, for
a copy of the Bnglish constitution.
Conceiving that this important abstrac
tion had been grievously Infringed by
a tory government, he came to examine
It with a view to an Impeachment of
the ministers of the crown.
NO WONDER BILLY’S RICH.
The Way Hr Hum lliolnm* !• Very
Lawyer-Like.
"You know that he’s rich now," said
the pioneer business man of an Inland
town while they were sitting about his
office stove discussing u former resident
who fills a very important public posi
tion, says the Detroit Free Press. “Yes,
Bill's rich. We used to call him Billy.
When he first came here and hung out
i his slen as a lawyer ho was so bright
: and busy and willing to work that 1
j threw everything his way that l could.
| I had a lot of tough old accounts that
| I didn't think worth very much, but
Hilly was a screamer In the collection
line and I concluded to give him a
chance at them. .So I made out a sched
ule of all these notes and hills and
made half their value over to him.
'Now, Hilly', I said, 'half of each one
I of there accounts belongs to you. I
| call that a liberal percentage. See what
i you can do with them.' It wasn't long
, until some old customers who hud quit
, me began to come hack and 1 made up
my mind Hilly must have been tiling
! things up with them. So I drops Into
his office one afternoon. Yes. he had
been doing very well with the aecmint*.
| lustier than lie expected. ‘Then I sup
pose you can turn over something to
j me. Illlly; I'm a little pressed for
! money Just now.' 'There's nothing to
I turn over.' answered Illlly. coolly. 'I've
■ only been collecting my half. There
1 was no use trying to get It all; you
know that.' Tint I dou't understand ’
of course, you don't. You're no lawyer.
! I am one. If you care lo pay for an
j opinion In the matter I'll give It to
| you ' A dreed of being laughed at kept
me quiet, and I guess Illlly knew that
tt would,”
l-rralsr li.« Ibu lb* Mtskep
'’Now. Thomas. ' said a certain bish
op after lahtng hi# servant to task
I i ue mor nine, a bo la it that see* all
«i do and hears nil w» say and knows
| all wa think and whw regards mss
me In my bishop# rube# as but a vile
worm of the dust*” And Fhamas re
I p'fed "The mu«u*. sir ”
t light tooth.
Mb hairs I like Ttmmtas' atones
j He has such e light touch dimmtae
Yea that e on* thing la 11mottos fa
i nor. He rarely strikes owe tor mere
| then |l a# 11 India tepoim Journal
OLD DAMASCUS BLADE,
GIVEN BY THE CZAR TO PRr t
DENT JOHNSON.
It Helped to llillld Kingdoms—The HUS
In Mode of Horn Ornamented w Ith
Twisted’ Wire The Meahhatd In Mad*
of Wood.
I P. Farmer, the county surveyor 01
Columbiana eounty, Ohio, who resides
at Lisbon, has In his possession one ot
the rarest historical specimens In ex
istence. It Is an old Damascus blade,
which, It Is claimed, Is over two thou
sand years old. It Is of crude design
and workmanship, and was made en
tirely by hand, the Irregularity of Its
lines proving more conclusively than
anything else Its antiquity. Shortly
after the assassination of President
Lincoln an unsuccessful attempt was
made upon the life of the Cr.ar of Rus
sia. A fleet of American war,bins wa*
sent on a cruise across the ocean, and
Incidentally carried a message of con
gratulation to Russia's ruler from
President Johnson. Assistant Secre
tary of the Navy Fox accompanied the
squadron, on board the Mlantonomah,
commanded by John J. Cornwell, of
Lisbon, Ohio. Secretary Fox was pre
sented with the sword by the C/.ar In
person, as a token of his high esteem,
accompanied by the following speech:
"I present to you, sir, as the repre
sentative of one of the foremost and
mightiest of modern nations, this
sabre, as a material appreciation of
your nation's high regard for my wel
fare and safety. Through ages It haa
been 'treasured In the archives of my
fathers us a semblance of the mighty
races that swayed the destinies of fu
ture generations on the shores of tho
Mediterranean; It. was carried through
upbuilding of the powerful sovereignty
of Western Asia and has outlived the
kingdoms It helped build." Tbe an
cient treasure was accepted by the sec
retary, with an appropriate response,
and as the fleet steamed out of the Rus
sian port he presented the sword to
Commander Cornwell. While the fleet
was off Toulon, France, Commander
Cornwell died suddenly of heart fail
ure, The vessels pulled In at the port
and a telegram was sent to Paris for
a burial casket. A squad of marines,
under command of a lieutenant, waa
sent on shore to receive the casket from
the train and convey It aboard the dead
commander's vessel. The casket missed
connections, but the sailors, who were
unaware of that fact, hustled a casket
which urrlved on the train off to the
Ironclad. The fact that thp bo* was
quite heavy did not excite the suspi
cion of the sailors, and after It had
been taken to the cabin tbe mate
opened the cover. Consternation
reigned on board when there was dis
closed the body of a beautiful young
lady, burled In a wealth of flowers.
The lid of thp casket was hurriedly re
stored to Its place and preparations
were promptly made to return the body
to the depot In Toulon. But the story
of the alleged seizure bad spread, cre
ating intense excitement In tbe French
port, and a city official was preparing
to board the American warship with a
search warrant. ICxplanatlons were
made, but tbe mistake came near caus
ing an International disruption. The
French newspapers characterized the
actions of the American sailors in the_
most scathing terms, assuming that
the taking of the body of the young
lady was a prearranged plan. Com
mander Cornwall was burled at Tou?
Ion and the old sword was given Into
his widow's keeping, and she in turn
presented it to her brother-in-law, Mr.
Farmer. The blade Is twenty-two and
one-half inches long and one inch
wide, tapering to a point. The hilt
is muuc or noin, ornamented with
twisted brass wire, and Is as bard as
adamant. The cross pieces are of
leather, tipped with sheet brass. The
scabbard is as interesting as the blade,
being fashioned from wood, with a
sheet brass covering. It was orna
men ted in crude style by indents of a
pointed tool. Near the hilt, on the
blade, are a number of odd characters,
resembling ancient Hebrew inscrip
tions.
HI mi A Hulr* fur ||,,. shoes.
An Inventor has hit upon a method
| of putting stone soles on boots and
shoes. He mixes a waterproof glue
with u suitable quantity of clean quarts
saint anil spreads tt over the leather
sole used as a foundation. These
quart* soles are said to be very flexi
ble and practically indestructible and
to give the foot a Arm hold even on
the most slippery surface.
Iwrwl Uw In W ImihmIu.
Kni«t Hrtiift« k*ti. lit* H^ rvtary of th*
, forestry commission of Wlsconaiu. 1*
j making lesloua efforts to secure the
! reforest tug of the cut over lands of the
slat* with pin* tree* He announces
| that th* pin* htnga' have promised to
j replant their cut-over tends with trees
• year old If th» slat* will see that tbs
! Are law pertaining to forests is strictly
enforced
ItMtitMf t tow |m4I| httHiiMfft.
t reeving will not injure a newly pa
> tented water pipe which has a yield
| mg cor* In tHe i enter, strong enough
j to wlihrtaud the force of ike ester uu
• der natural pressure hut whl> h t«>
lapses as She Ice *»panda, asd prevent*
J hutsting the core retarding again an
««u as *h* waist thaws and the prm
sure la iamused
~~ .... *H»»
Sun Us » iihsesitn.
\ Ctttefddu umiihotogtat rompe**#
(ha* fat specie* Of Mid* are to he found
*n that gtgte
i