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About The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917 | View Entire Issue (May 18, 1900)
•TALM AGE'S SEBMOJf.j — ! FROM FAR ABLE OF THE FR JD- j ICAL SON. ■« Bill** Pf urUtiM mt Mlf Right MMMM Ml lb* Uc> mt *T» pMSf far ib« rsttait Ml Bifwie ICoffRfM. SM. by Lowm ! Test. Lube gsr„ ». “And be wa* an gry and would not go in." Many i.an ha«e I been asked to preach » sermon about toe eider brother of the parable 1 received a artier from Canada saying “la the eld er atm of the parable so unsympathetic end so cold that he is not worthy of T**-ogn;ttonThe fad » that we naatm pursue the jounger son A on can hear the flapping of his rags in many a ma nnir t>r«e*e and the crane sing of the pods. tor which he i was an ansncwaMlRl contestant. 1 confess that tt has been dltteult bir me to t-a.a tbe camera obarura upon the eider son of the parable. 1 could not get a negative of the photograph. There was not enough light in the gal lery. or the ibrmical* were too poor ' tr.#- ► •••e r. icd in t&r picture But now 1 think 1 have him not a aide face or a three-quarters or the mere bust, but a full length portrait a# he appears to nut The father la the parable of the prodigk. had sotting to brag of •w 1 his two sons The one was a rake and the other a churl 1 find nothing admirable in tbe dissoluteness of the one and I ted nothing attractive in the acrid sobriety of the other Tbe ©nr gwu down over the larboard side, and the other goes down over the star‘-used side hut they both go down From sU the windows of the old homestead bursts th minstrelsy Tbe gt»or quakes with the feet erf the rue t. eg. no dance is always vigorous and resounding The neighbors have beard of the return of the younger non from hie wander.age. and they have gathered together. The house i* fall of (ungratulators I suppose the tables are loaded With luxuries not only -fa*- ane kind of meat men tioned. but its ccnmmitants “Clap*" r the rrmbala. thrum!" go the harps. ": lick*" go the rhalsres. up and C- *t fn the aside while outside 1* a moef sorry spectacle. 1U »MMr *»!•» The senior son stand* at the corner of -b I a frigid phlegmatic. He has Jvat come in from the field* in aery awhPEMBKidl apparel. Seeing sae Vfl| ♦ xiiiiamtion* around the ©id manse** be asks of a servant pas» it f . a iii a of a ne on hi* shoulder arhat aL the fuss 1* about One would have thought that, oa tearing that t:s younger brother had got bach, he would have gone Into fib*- house and rejoiced, and. if he were not conacientioaniy opposed to danc ing that be would have Joined the Ori ental arhottlah. No there be stands ti<* brow lowers; bis face darkens; his lip carl* with contempt He stamps the ground with indignation; be see* nothin# at. nil to attract. Tbe odors of the feast, coming out on the air do not sharpen his appetite. The lie# !y m sir doe* not put any spring set© Lis step He is in a terrible pout. He -Tit. 1ST* the expense, tbe injustice and tb* morals of the entertainment. The father rashes cut bareheaded and coaxes b.m to come m He will not go :n He scolds the father. He goe* in to n yasquinade against the younger brother, and he m*ke# the most t:n <~->peiy tom. He aav*. TstJ'cr. you ;* : ;-ftt .n. on ta#abond:*m 1 staid at home sad worked os tbe farts. , > . tever made a p-ny for me; you didn’t *o much as kill a kid. That wouldn't have cost half ns much &s a ■ atf |«t this scapegrace went off in fine i iotaet and be comes back not fit to ae teen, and what a nme you ) | mak* ©vet him! He breaks your heart and yoa pay him for it. That calf, to which we have been giving extra feed daring all these weeks, wouldn't be so fat and »M :f ! had known to what use yoa were going to put it. That , vagabond deserve* to be cowhided in stead of banpweted. Veal ia too good j for h:®." That evening, while the yoswger sop sat telling bis father about his ad*e*turva and asking about what had occurred on the place since ut* departure, the senior brother goes t© bed disgusted and slums the door after him That senior brother mill lives. Yoa can see him any Sunday, any day of the week.. At a meeting of *m.B.iters .a Germany some one ask*d , the paean©*. "’Who is that elder son**’ j and Krutsmaeber answered. **I know t.m. ■ I saw him yesterday." And when they ia* *ted upon knowing whom be ( meant be said ‘Myself: when 1 saw toe amount of the conversion of a most chactioai man I was irritated.** First, f-e aen or brother of the teat tot the se!*- ongrat ulatory .self satisfied. arlf-wt-sLipful man With the earn* breath in which he vitupe rate* aga.net ts younger brother he ■ utter* a panegyric for himself. The •ptf-rgttmiu man at the text, like ev «-"* a n* self righteous man was full of faults He was an ingrate, for be did not .*», •»,«. home blessings which be bad all those years. He was disobedient, for when the father told him to come n he staid out. He was a liar .for he said that the recreant non had detoured his father ■ living. - wb*r. the fa: h*r. so far from being redur*d to penury had a homestead left aad instruments of music had i -» bad a m. a- on. and instead of being a pauper was a prune This nmior brother with sa many faults of ha m w** amiku la his mtirism ut the oang»r brother. The oaly per fev - people that I have ever known m*r* utterly oMuaioua 1 was never so badly cheated in my life as by a perf*- e m He got so far op In his grvctlun» that he was dear up above j ^•U the rules of iwnuson honesty Prhmt asm that go ahum prowling among prayer meetings sad la places of taalMaA filing bow good they are —look sm tor them, beep your hand that ;-It .1. proportion *» a man g«*u rivulet, ty a store that had window than 1U Mr-Ktckt«oa> Mmn. This self-righteous man of the text ! stood at the corner of the house hug- J glng himself in admiration. We hear ; a great deal in our day about the high er life. Now. there are two kinds of higher life men. The one is admira ble. and the other is most repulsive. The one kind of higher life man Is ▼err lenient in his criticism of oth ers does not bore prayer meetings to death with long harangues, does tot talk a great deal about himself, but much about Christ and heaven. g<rts kindlier and more gentle and more useful until one day his soul spreads a-wing. and be flies away to eternal rest, and everybody mourns his departure. The other higher life man goes around with a Bible conspic- | uously under his arm. goes from , church to church, a sort of general evangelist, is a nuisance to his own rastor when he is at home and a nuis ance to other pastors when he is away from borne, runs up to some man who :• counting out a roll of bank bill3 or running up a difficult line of figures and asks him bow his soul is. makes . r»-hgion a dose of ipec acuanha. Stand- j icg in a religious meeting making an address, he has a patronizing way. as though ordinary Christians were i clear away down below him. so he had to talk at the top of his voice in order to make him hear, but at the same t .me et -ouraging them to hope on that by elimbmg many years they may after awhile come up within sight of the place where be now stands. I tell you plainly that a roaring, roistering, bouncing sinner is not so repulsive to me as that higher life malformation. The former may repent; the latter never gets over his Pharisaism. The younger brother of the parable came back, but the senior brother stands outside entirely oblivious of his own de nquennes and deflcits.pronouneing t « own euiogium. Oh. how much easi er it Is to blame others than to blame ourselves! Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent, the senior brother oiamed the younger brother, and none of them blamed themselves. Again, the senior brother of my text , stands for al! those who are faithless ' aoout the reformation of the dissipat ed ani the d*.-solute. In the very tones ' of his voice you can hear the fact that he has no farth that the reformation ; of the younger son is genuine. His entire manner seems to say: “That | boy has come back for more money. He got a third of the property; now he ha? come back for another third He will never be contented to stay on . the farm He will fall away. I would go in too and rejoice with the others , :f I thought this thing were genuine; i but ;t is a sham. That boy is a con firmed .nebrrate and debauchee.” Alas. : my friends, for the incredulity in the churi b of Christ in regard to {he re clamation of the recreant! You say a man has been a strong drinker. I sav, ' Yes, bu: he has reformed.” ”Oh.” you say. with a lugubrious face. “I aope you are not mistaken; I hope you are not mistaken.” You say: “Don’t re jo. -e too much over his conversion, for soon he will be unconverted.I fear. Iton't make too big a party for that return* d prodigal or strike the timbrel too loud: and, if you kill a calf, kill i:.e one that is on the commons and not the one that has been luxuriating in the paddock.” That is the reason wf j more prodigals do not come home to 'heir father's house. It is the rank infidelity of the church of God on this ■ uiject There is not a house on the j streets of heaven that has not in it a ! prod.gal that returned and staid home There could be unrolled before you a scroll of a hundred thousand 1 mrnes—the names of nrodigals who j -"atiif ba*k forever reformed. Who was John Bunyan? A returned prodi gal. Who was Richard Baxter? A re turned prodigal. Who was George Whitefteld. the tfaunderer? A returned prodigal. And 1 could go out in all the aisles of this church today and find on either side those who. once far as tray for many years, have been faith ful. and their eternal salvation is as sure as though they had been ten year* in heaven. And yet some of you have not enough faith in their re turm. Greeting the Prod I gel. You do not know how to shake hands with a prodigal. You do not know how to pray for him. You do not know bow to greet him He wants to sail into the warm gulf stream of ! Christian sympathy. You are the ice berg against which he strikes and shivers You say he has been a prod igal. 1 know it, but you are the Bour, unresponsive, censorious, saturnine, cracky elder brother, and if you are going to heaven one would think some people would be tempted to go to per- 1 dluon to get away from you. The hunters say that if a deer be shot the other deer shove him out of their com i pany, and the general rule is—away with a man that has been wounded with sin. Now. I say, the more bones a man has broken the more need he has of an hospital, and the more a man has .seen bruised and cut with sin the more need be has to be carried into human and divine sympathy. But tor such men there is not much room come back after wandering. Plenty of room for elegant sinners, for sinners in velvet and satin and lace, for sinners high salaried, for kid gloved and patent-leathered sinners, for sinners fixed up by hairdresser, pomatumed and lavendered and co iogned and frizzled and crimped and *'bang«-d" sinners—plenty of room! Such we meet elegantly at the door of our churc hes and we invite them into the best seats with Chesterfieldian gal lantries; w« usher them into the house of God and put soft ottomans under th* ir feet and pu‘ % rtlt edged prayer In their bar *-nd pass the con i’'uution box befoi them with an air • apology, wliiie they, the generous •*ouls, take out the exquisite porte monnaie and open it.and with diamond f ::g-r push down beyond the $10 gold pi--es and delicately pick out as an expression of gratitude their offering to the Lord—of one cent! For such sinners plenty of room.plenty of room. But for the man who has been drink ing until his coat is threadbare, and his face Is erysipelased. and his wife’s wedding dress is in the pawnbroker’s •bop, and his children, instead of be ing in school, are out begging broken bread at the basement doors of the city—the man. body, mind and soul on fire with the flames ttat have leaped from the scathing, scorching, blasting, blistering, consuming cup which the drunkard takes, trembling and agon ized and affrighted, and presses to his parched lips, and his cracked tongue and his shrieking yet immoral spirit— no room. Oh, if this younger son of the par able had not gone so far off, if he had not dropped so low in wassail, the pro test would not have been so severe! But, going clear over the precipice, as the younger son did, the elder son is angry and will not go in. Sjmputbr lor the Fallen. Be not so hard in your criticism of the fallen lest thou thyself also be tempted. Do you know who that man was who Sabbath before last stagger ed up and down the aisle in a church, disturbing the service until the service had to stop until he was taken from the room? He was a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ in a sister de nomination! That man had preached the gospel, that man had broken the bread of the holy communion for the people. From what a height to what a depth! Oh, I was glad there was no smiling in the room when that man was taken out, his poor wife following him. with his hat in her hand and his coat on her arm! It was as solemn to me as two funerals—the funeral of the body and the funeral of the soul. Be ware, lest thou also be tempted! An invalid went to South America for his health and one day sat sunning lumself on the beach when he saw something crawling up the beach, wriggling toward him, and he was af frighted. He thought it was a wild beast or a reptile, and he took his pis tol from his pocket. Then he saw it was not a wild beast It was a man, an immortal man. a man made in God's own image, and the poor wretch crawled up to the feet of the invalid and asked for strong drink, and the invalid took his wine flask from his pocket and gave the poor wretch something to drink, and then under the stimulus he rose up and gave his history. He had been a merchant in Glasgow. Scotland. He had gone down under the power of strong drink un til he was so reduced in poverty that he was living in a boat just off the beach. “Why,” said the invalid, “I knew a merchant in Glasgow once, a merchant of such and such a name.” And the poor wretch straightened himself and said, “I am that man.” “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” Again. I remark that the senior brother of my text stands for the spirit of envy and jealousy. The senior brother thought that all the honor they did to the returned brother was a wrong to him. He said, “I have staid at home, and I ought to have had the ring, and I ought to have had the ban quet, and I ought to have had the garlands.” Alas for this spirit of en vy and jealousy coming down through the ages! Cain and Abel, Esau and Jacob. Saul and David, Haman and Moruecai, Othello and lago, Orlando and Angelica, Caligula and Torqua tus, Caesar and Pompey.Columbus and the Spanish courtiers. Cambyses ar.d the brother he slew because he was a better marksman. Dionysius and Philoxenius, whom he slew because he was a better singer. Jealousy among painters. Closterman and Geoffrey Kneller. Hudson and Reynolds. Fran cia, anxious to see a picture of Ra phael, Raphael sends him a picture. Francia. seeing it, falls in a fit of jealousy, from which he dies. Jeal ousy among authors! How seldom contemporaries speak of each other! Xenophen and Plato living at the same time, but from their writings you never would suppose they heard of each other. Religious jealousies. The Mohammedans praying for rain dur ing a drought; no rain coming. Then the Christians begin to pray for rain, and the rain comes. Then the Mo hammedans met together to account for this, and they resolved that God was so well pleased with their prayers he kept the drought on so as to keep them praying, but that the Christians began to pray, and the Lord was so disgusted with their prayers that he sent rain right away so he would not hear any more of their supplications. Oh, this accursed spirit of envy and jealousy! Let us stamp it out from all our hearts. Getting Back at Him. “Know Jones, of course?” said the drummer, as he settled himself in a chair and lit a cigar. “Travels for a shoe house, and considers himself the greatest practical joker on the face of the earth. His friends call him cute, and I call him a confounded nuisance. He is always seeking to make some one the butt of his wretched jokes.and no one is safe when he is around. Well, we met the other day on a train during one of those heavy snow storms that we had some time ago. The train was delayed, and there was no telling when it would get through. Jones seized the opportunity to get ofT a number of silly jokes, and finally went to sleep, much to my relief, as well as the rest of the passengers. The train crept along, and finally took a siding to le. another train pass. As it was about to take the main track again an idea occurred to me. Jones’ destination was Albion, and, leaning over him, I yelled in his ear. It worked just as I thought it would. Only half-awake, he didn’t wait to see where he was, but grabbed his grip and jumped off just as the train start ed, landing in a snowdrift. Whep he got the snow out of his eyes he found himself at a blind siding, not a house in sight, and the nearest hotel five miles away. I am sorry that I wasn’t able to hear w’hat he said Detroit Free Press. Th® Proverb Did Not Applet The little girl stood on the street corner sobbing as if her heart would break. On the stone flagging were th* bits of a broken pitcher. “There, there, little girl,” said the benevolent man. “don’t cry, don’t cry, little girl; ‘never cry over spilt milk.’ ” "But it Isn’t milk,” sobbed the girl, “it’s beer.** The wild pigeon can fly 120 miles an hour, the teal 100 mile?, mallard 85 miles, and the wild goose 70 to 75 miles. “D--NS” THE TARIFF. CURSES THAT MAY COME HOME TO ROOST. Sentiments Not Likely to Be Shared by Sheep Kaisers Who Have Profited Knormeasly Through the Restoration of Protective Duties on Wool. **D—n the tariff and all its fools!” Such is the message of the Field and Farm, an agricultural journal pub lished in Denver, Col., in response to a request by the American Protective Tariff league for information concern ing the industry of sheep raising. The inquiry sent out by the tariff league was as follows: “Dear Sir: We are anxious to show by reliable reports the actual effect of the Dingley tariff upok the industry of sheep raising. Wool was upon the free list under the Wilson free-trade tariff and is now adequately protected by the provisions of the Dingley tariff. “Kindly fill out the blank spaces on the reverse side of this card and re turn the same to us at your earliest convenience. “The information asked for will be held strictly confidential, and in no case will the figures furnished be used otherwise than making up the totals upon which general percentages are to be computed. Yours very truly, “THE AMERICAN PROTECTIVE TARIFF LEAGUE. “Summarized returns of this investi gation will be printed in the American Economist, and a copy mailed free to persons furnishing reports.” Accompanying this inquiry was a leaflet showing the effects of protec tion and free trade on wool growing and sheep raising. For example, from 1878 to 1882, inclusive, under the Mor rill tariff the number of sheep throughout the country increased by over 11,000,000. Under the tariff of 1883, in which the duties on wool products were materially reduced, the number of sheep decreased by about 6.000,000. With restored protection to wool through the McKinley tariff of 1890 the number of sheep increased by nearly 4.000,000. The Wilson tariff, with free trade in wool, practically went into effect when Mr. Cleveland was elected, and immediately the flocks throughout the country began to decrease, and from ’93 to ’96 de creased by about 9.000,000. The Ding ley tariff reimposed the scientific schedules of the McKinley tariff, and with the promise of protection through the election of McKinley and a Repub lican congress the sheep industry im mediately began to advance. From 1896 to and including 1898 the number of sheep advanced by about thirteen hundred thousand. The effect of protection and free trade in regard to the number of sheep owned throughout the country is not more impressive than the effect as to values. Under the Morrill tariff the lowest price per head was $2.09, and the highest $2.55. Under the tariff of 1893 the lowest price per head was $1.91, ana the highest price was $2.27. Under the McKinley tariff the lowest price was $2 49 and the highest price $2.66. Under free trade the lowest price was $1.58 and the highest price $1.92. Under the Dingley tariff the highest price in the history of the na tion is recorded—namely, $2.75. These facts of vital interest to the Eheep raisers of Colorado and adjoin ing states seem to have an inflamma tory effect upon the editor of Field and Farm: Hence his objurgatory re sponse, “D—n the tariff and all its fools!” Why? We do not know. We could not possibly have supposed that the citation of acts like those gleaned from official statistics and quoted above would operate on the mind of the editor of Field and Farm as a red rag operates on the sensibilities of a bull, and cause him (the editor) to lose his temper and fall to cursing like a drab. We hardly think the sheep raisers of his section will join this Bryanite in “d—ning the tariff.” Over the bor der in Utah they will not be likely to echo his profane sentiment. A sheep raiser in Utah county, for example, will not "d—n the tariff,” for he re ports that whereas in 1896 (Wilson free wool tariff) he owned 8,000 sheep of an average value of $2 per head, he owned in March. 1900 (Dingley pro tective tariff), 11,000, of an average value of $4.25 per head. Sheep raisers in Chotaeu county, Montana, do not "d—n the tariff.” One of them reports that his flock has increased from 4,000 in 1896 to 6,500 in 1900, and that the value per head has increased from $2.25 in 1896 to $5 In 1900. From Bingham county in Idaho comes the statement from a farmer who owned 2.900 sheep in 1896 and now owms 6,000; market value in 1896, $2.50 per head; market value in 1900 $5 per head. Reports from Colorado are even | more impressive. A Trinidad man now has 8,000 sheep, against 6.000 four years ago, and their present value is $4.50 per head against a value of $2.00 per head in 1896. Another Trinidad man has increased his flock from 3.500 to 5,000, and quotes value at $4 per head instead of $1.25 per head in 1896. A Trinchera flock owner has 4,200 sheep, or 2,700 more than he had in 1896, and the value at $4 per head, or just double the value of 1896. These are fair samples of the large number of reports received from the localities from which (presumably) the major portion of the reading pat ronage of the Field and Farm of Den ver is forthcoming. Do these prosper ous farmers, who are, in the aggregate, many millions of dollars richer be cause of the change from free wool to protection, “d—n the tariff?” We should think not. It is much more reasonable to suppose that their pro fane expletives, if they use any such, w ill be applied to an editor who, while publishing a paper for farmers, has so little sense as to showrer curses upon an economic policy through whose operations, directly and indirecetly, the farmers of the United States have in the past three years been able to recoup in great measure the frightful losses—estimated at upward of five billion dollars—which they suffered during the four years of Cleveland free trade. ‘ D—n the editor” tl« farmers might, and with just caawe. but not the tariff. 1 Tbe Fact Remain*. It is no longer necessary to put a for eign label upon home-made goods in order to hasten their sale.—Philadel phia Record. Why is it no longer necessary? How has the silk industry of the United States, to which the above remark is applied by the Record, attained to the enviable position of being able to market its products as home-made goods and to supply 85 per cent of all the silk fabrics worn and used in this country? Because of the sound com mon sense of insuring to that industry a fair living chance to sell its products in the home market through the opera tion of protective duties. In the ab sence of such defense against the rivalry of silks made in countries where labor is cheaper the silk makers of the United States *;ould not possi bly have succeeded as they have done. They would have failed in spite of all their energy, skin, enterprise and busi ness ability, just as many other flour ishing industries would have failed, and for the same reason. The Phila delphia Record points with pride to the tremendous development of silk manufacture in the United States, not ably in Pennsylvania, which heads the list in the total number of silk mills within its boundaries; but the Record carefully refrains from pointing with pride to the true reason for this tre mendous development The fact re mains. however. How ‘.he New Broom Sweep*. One week’s record of new railroad equipment shows a total of 7,800 cars of different kinds distributed among eight different roads. In addition four other rnjds have put in orders for a total of twenty-three engines. It is this* M«rt of thing which has been re ported almost every week, in the news of the railroads, for many months I back. There seem to be no signs of a let-up, but, on the contrary, tbe de mand for more equipment by the rail roads, which demand is only a by- i product of the increasing demand for all kinds of American products, con tinues to be steady. The Dingley law. like the proverbial new broom, swept clean; and in a very brief space of time freed us from the want and idle ness and poverty which free trade had brought upon us, and, unlike the new broom, it grows more effective as it grows older. As it and the protection which it gives to American industries grow in length of days, our national prosperity grows in volume. The American people will see to it that the law continues in force for many a long 1 day yet Who Said Stop? “I shall not stop talking about the money question until 70,000.000 people secure the right to attend to their own business without asking the aid or consent of any one to attend it for them.”— Wm. J. Bryan. Well. now. who said stop? Nobody, so far as we know, has ever expected William Jonah Bryan to stop talking, unless his tongue becomes paralyzed or his jaws drops out of place from in cessant wagging. It seems that the people were attend ing strictly to their own business on the 6th of November, 1896, when they chose between the policies of Wm. Mc Kinley and W J. Bryan.—Elizabeth town (111.) Home News. Evidently Dnngeronsly III. “Alas, poor Bryan!” said the thoughtful man, as he laid aside his paper. “What’s the matter with him?” asked the Populist in alarm. “Sick.” replied the thoughtful man, regretfully; “dangerously ill, beyond question.” “Nonsense!” exclaimed the other, reaching for the paper. “How do you know? What proof have you?” “Only yesterday,” answered the thoughtful man, pointing to the para graph he had just been reading, “h< asked to be excused when called upon for a speech."—Chicago Post. i “ Severe Teats for Watches. At Kew, at the meteorological obser vatory, a watch is tested id every po sition and its rate measured and re corded by the hour. It is hung upside down, hung from each side, placed dial down, and back down and at any num ber of angles, and to finish it is baked in an oven and frozen in a pail of ice. When it is considered that 19.000 vi brations an hour occur in a w’ateh and it must not vary a second in a week it is easy to see why no watch has ever been perfect. •lout the Reverse. Under the Cleveland regime a deficit used to turn up at the end of each month. Matters are just the reverse now. Each month shows an increase in the surplus of the United States treasury, and, besides that, the public debt is being steadily reduced.—St. Louis Star. A POSSIBLE PRESIDENT? NO! W. JAYjBRYANr PlSCOVERER OP jj PERPETUAL noTtoJj On the It rink. And now it appears that New York cabled to London on one day an offer to take the whole of the $150,000,000 war loan which England is floating. Pretty good for a nation that is on the brink of moral, political and financial ruin.—Sioux Falls (S. D.) Argus Leader. THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.! LESSON VIII, MAY 20—MATT. 13: 1-8; 18: 23. Golden Text—"Tbe Seed la tbe Word of God”—Loke 8: 11—Tbe Parable of the Sowar—A Hoay Day In tbe Lite of Jean*. — 1. "The same day” in which the first three events noted above occurred. “Went Jesus . . . and sat by the sea side.” He seems to have loved the country and the sea. 2. "Great multitudes were gathered to gether unto him." From every city (Luke), including every variety of char acter represented in the parables spoken. Most of them had heard him and seen his miracles, or heard of him. Great ex pectations were aroused concerning the Messiah and his kingdom that was at hand, and these needed both encourage ment and correction. "So that he went into a ship.” A fishing boat. Here he "sat” as in a pulpit, while the multi tudes stood upon the circular shores of the bay. 3. “And he spake many things (taught many truths* in parables.” The group of eight parables spoken at this time (seven in Matthew and one other in Mark* were concerning the kingdom of heaven in va rious aspects, and should be read and studied as a group, in order to obtain a view of the drift and burden of Jesus' teaching at this time. These parables are followed by a group of miracles, as was the Sermon on the Mount in the record given by Matthew, as if on pur pose to confirm the teacher's authority for the great truths he spoke. 4. “Some seeds fell by the way side.” “The grain fields are rarely fenced, though the landmarks are definite and plain. There are little paths leading through, hither and thither, some being the highways along which the horsemen ride and asses carry their burdens. It was along such a way as this—a foot or so in width—that the seed fell which the birds of the air immediately devoured." —Prof. Hall. "It is of exactly the same soil as the rest, but many passengers have trodden it hard.” “And the fowls (birds) came and devoured them.” be- | cause they were in sight. “Birds In Syria, and especially about the Lake of Tiberias, are extraord:nartly numerous. As Syria is the winter feeding ground of many migratory birds from Northern Europe and Asia, this marsh (of the Huleh Lake) is then filled with a greater variety and multitude of waterfowl than I have ever seen elsewhere.” "Myriads of crows come from all quarters of the heavens." “At early dawn they begin their calls again, and then make long lines of flight for the nearest wheat fields." "Descending to the plain of Oen nesaret. we passed a hillside which was black with over one thousand of tht-m. who were waiting there for the unhappy plowmen to move far enough away for them to descend on their fields.”—W. H. Thomson. M. D. 19. "Heareth the word . . . and understandeth It not. For the heart is unprepared to receive it. 5. "Some fell upon stony (rocky) places, where they had not much earth.” It dul not fall among stones, for on accouilt of the nature of the rocks “the most vigorous growth of wheat may be seen cn land which at first sight seems covered with stones.” 6. “When the sun was up. they were scorched.” The sun soon dried up the hot surface soil, which could draw up no moisture from the deep earth, and the roots had no depth of soil into which to run and drink in the moisture. 20. "The same is he that heareth the word, and anon (straightway) with Joy recelveth it. Their emotions are touched, but the word does not reach their moral nature; and their will and character are unchanged. They are moved by the winds of popular excitement or enthusiasm, but there is no new life. "Their fault is not the mere fact of receiving the word with joy. For joy is a characteristic of deep as well as of shallow natures. Absence of joys in a religious life is a sign, not of depth, but of dullness. Joy without thought is a definition of the stony ground hearer.”—A. B. Bruce. (V. 21.) "Hath he not root in himself.” No deep principle, no real change of heart, no fire within, but only warmth from without. 21. “When tribulation.” This word “tribulation.” both the English and the Itatin equivalent of the Greek, is derived from the Latin tribulum, which was the threshing instrument or roller whereby the Roman husbandman separated the corn from the husks; and tribulation in its primary significance was the act of this separation—R. C. Trench. Often numberless small annoyances are greater tribulations than heavy sorrows. A whole army has been defeated by wasps. "Or persecution.” almost certain to arise. "Because of the word." This would test them whether they wore true Christians or had embraced religion for Its rewards and pleasures. 7. And sonic fell among the thorns. In good soil, but preoccupied with the roots of thorns. “And choked them.” Took up the virtue of the soil and shaded them from the sunshine, so that little of the wheat came to maturity and few of the grains filled out. 22. “The care (cares [Mark], anxieties! of this world.” The absorption in world ly interests of labor, business, and pleas ure. “And the deceitfulness of riches." Riches which deceive by giving us the impression that they are able to bestow what they cannot give; which make things seem honest which are not so; which are continually luring men on in search for blessings that elude them. Luke adds the “pleasures of this life.” Even pleasures which are right in them selves may become too absorbing, may occupy too much attention, and thus choke the word. 8. “Other fell into good ground.” The larger part of the field sown was of this kind. “And brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirty fold.” “At Geneva, in 1S55, I got from an adjoining field a single ear or spike of barley containing two hundred and seventy-six grains. Trench, in a note, remarks that 'Herodotus mentions that two hundredfold was a common return in the plain of Babylon, and sometimes three: and Niebuhr mentions a species of maize that returns four hundredfold.’ 23. "He that heareth the word, and understandeth it." "In a good and hon est heart,” “hold it fast” (Luke!. The word goes into the ears, is understood by the mind, "accepted” iMarki by the w-ill as the guide of life and as the truth of God; held fast in patient culture against all enemies and all hindrances to the end. Expected Too Much. Rastus—See hyah. I done thought you tole me dis 50-cent shirt wouldn’t fade! I done only had it washed once! Grabbenstein—Vashed! Vashed! Vat could you egspect? Vy didn’t you keep id glean?—Indianapolis Press. That Qaeered Him. Ferdy—So you told Mrs. Cotrocks she looked as young as her daughter! I suppose that caught the old lady? Percy—Yes; but it lost me the daugh ter.—Puck. LOVELY WOMAN. If a girl of 16 should give her age as 36 some woman would say, “I know she is older than that.” A woman is glad afterward when she refrained from saying something mean, but a man is sorry that he didn't say it A woman’s idea of a true friend is one who, when she has company, will entertain the guests and take them down town mornings to give her a chance to clean up the house. SHUNTING CARS. Liability of a Railroad rom Company to a • **ron. A railroad company is ]iabl t shipper for injuries infixed an Z by negligently backing *r‘ ' him against a car on a side tr „ I‘gI"e is loading it with hogsfromka"teie.* And the fact that the plaintiff ought have escaped injury if he had notlg* tempted to shut the ea* door ♦„ vent the escape or a," ^'a e^ discovered that the engiae wa‘", * proacbmr does no, ne ...tarilv Bho „ that be was guilty of „„ „ negl,gente as deprive c ot “ o recover. The Supreme Court of II linois so held in affirming a i„ i for $1,000. recovered bv j'u V 1Cmnn| ngnins, the Illinois ' Ctn.ra| company. Anderson ioa„iDg ,7a, to ™ “ * Th ,ra k fOT s”ipn!er.( to Chicago, when defendant s l„,.al ,ZTl Came al°”f under took to remove a car o' wood that stood on the same track w.th the stock car Just as Anderson had finished putting the hogs into the a, and was trying, with the help of hu brother to close the car door, the ens ne stri -k the line of cars with such Lee£ knock him out of the door He fell on the end of a cross tie and several of his ribs were oroken. and he was otherwise injured. He insisted that be went into the car. not only for the pur pose of keeping his hogs from escap ing. but in order to avoid being caught between the car and the chute, it ap peared that the persons in charge of the engine knew the situation or An derson and his brother when they ran it against the cars, and that when An derson stepped into the car he signaled to the fireman to stop the engine. The Supreme Court said that Anderson had a right to be in the car. and had no reason to apprehend that the engine would strike it while he was closing the door, after he had signaled it to stop. KEEPER FACED DEATH In a Huge Python's Coils, t.ut \Ta* Rescued. Either of the two big pythons just brought here on the steamer Afridi. for the Bronx Park zoo. would easily crush the ribs of a horse in its terrible embrace. One of the serpent is twen ty-seven feet six inches long, the other is at least twenty-six feet long, an i a* big around as a water pail. Keeper Horan on Wednesday afternoon had a fcaif minute of time which could easily have ended his career. Around his body wound a coil of the twenty-six foot python. He was not hurt. The other keeper rushed in and as quick as human hands could work released him. But for one instant Horan, al most paralyzed by the situation, could not know whether he would sleep that night on his bed or on his bier. There were two pythons which Horan was directed to measure. The female py thon was stretched out at full length and the tape was applied. Tnen Horan applied the tape to the male python, that also lay stretched out motionless. He had measured off nearly half the length when the huge reptile seemed suddenly to awake. There was a shout of warning from Keeper Snyder and the others who were watching the measurement, but before Horan could stand erect the whole huge body of the pythen had suddenly taken life. The great head was suddenly raised, the great mass of ringed muscle na l swept around in a living coil, and Horan, pale as death, stood transfixed with terror. Snyder and his assistants dashed into the cage. They knew that the reptile was still semitorp::! with cold. Fearlessly they caught hold of the great body and shouted to Horan to jump out of the living circle. He did so. The men left the cage and the python lazily stretched out its full length and sank again into the torpor Cf cold.—New York Journal. •»' * i5' '•» - t She Meant to ll* Practicil. The happy pair had survived the congratulations of friends and rela tives. and were being whirled rapidly toward the railway station, before the bridegroom began fairly to realize that the vision of loveliness at his side was indeed his own. A dawning sense of what he had done, and of the sacred charge that was now committed to his care, began to creep upon his be numbed faculties, driving the rc»e of health from his downy cheek, and sub stituting therefor the pallor of haunt ing responsibilities. "Darling. he whispered softly, “it will ever be my sacred care in life to—” She inter rupted him somewhat brusquely, “Now.” said she, “don't sit on vouf coattails that way and get them all wrinkled up. and for goodness' sake don’t lay your right elbow right in that dustl Heaven only knows how long it will be before you get another good suit, so that you had better take care of this one. Now. when we reach the station, you’d better get a couple of sandwiches in case we feel hungry in the train, and two hard-boiled eggs, and don't forget a small paper of pep' per and salt-”—Tit-Bits. ■•nret Drawers of To-day. “Most people seem to think,’’ said a maker of furniture, “that secret draw* ers and hidden receptacles only exist in novels and plays, but this is by no means so. I very frequently take or ders for such items and I employ a clever woman designer, who show» positive genius in planning places of concealment, which no amount of tap ping or measuring could reveal. In most cases even where the hollow re ceptacle discovered the woodwork around would have to be cut away, st complex are the fastenings. Most of the orders come from women—and rich people, of course—and I have no doubt that a desire to hide articles from too curious servants dictates the orders."—The American. Ills Order. “What else have you got?” asked Cholly, looking languidly over the bill of fare, for something to tempt his jaded appetite. “Well,” replied the waitress, “we have hot biscuits, too.” "That'll do,” said Cholly, resting his intellect by tossing the bill of fare aside. “Bring me a hot biscuit stew.” —Chicago Blade