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About The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1901)
THE NORTHWESTERN. HENSCllOTER A UII1SOM, Kili»nil Fob*. LOUP CITY, - • NF-a The plans of an electric railroad be tween Rome and Naples are nearly completed. The road will be 133 miles long and the service will include a number of fast trains. The largest and most cumbersome form of money is found in Central Af rica, where the natives use a cross shaped ingot of copper ore over ten inches long. It is heavy enough to be a formidable weapon. In the neighborhood of New Buffalo, Mich., gray wolves are raiding sheep pens. One big fellow was run down by dogs and killed the other morning. It is thought there are several In the wooded land lying south of New Buf falo. Officials of the navy department are considering a plan for recruiting for the navy from the farms and country towns in the interior of the country. While it is true that recruiting for the navy is now carried on outside of the large cities, it has not yet reached the interior sections remote from large centers. A. J. King, who was recently elected prosecuting attorney of Vernon coun ty, Mo., may have to conduct a lawsuit against himself. When County Re corder he was sued for $1,000, which it was claimed he owed the county on Tees collected and not turned in. The case has been in many circuit courts, and has been set for a rehearing on Jan. £8. "My regard for you,” wrote Samuel Johnson to Boswell, "is greater than I have words to express; but I do not choose to be always repealing it.” The Mexicans show themselves more de monstrative. On December 1st they reaffirmed their affection and trust in Porfirio Diaz by inaugurating him, for the sixth time, president of the Mexi can republic. It is understood to be the intention of Gen. Heywood, commandant of the marine corps, to recommend that all officers who have been on duty in the Philippines for two years or over and ■who so desire be brought to the United States within the next few months, their places to be filled by others whose service has been mostly ashore since receiving their commis sions. The Woman’s Christian Temperance union of Indiana has put itself on rec ord as favoring the creation of a new federal department to supervise the manufacture and sale of alcoholic bev erages, with a view to maintaining the purity thereof. The organization be lieves that if pure liquors only should be sold the profits of the trade would be 60 far reduced that the saloonkeep ers would be forced to quit business. The new president of a transconti nental railway who, it is said, draws a salary of fifty-five thousand dollars a year, began his education in railroad ing twenty-seven years ago, at a salary of forty dollars a month. Let yroung men just starting in life observe that he did not stop at forty dollars, and that they need not. For those who hope to repeat or exceed his success, let us suggest a consideration of that part of his history which mentions a period of Iw’enty-seven years. Five hundred men sleep, eat an 1 keep warm beneath roofs of nothing else but paper at Netley, say3 London Answers. There are forty-five of these long, narrow buildings, constructed en tirely of paper, which shines white in the sun. Each building holds ten in valided soldiers. “Hutments” is the technical name of these erections, and nothing warmer or dryer could pos sibly be built. The whole town wa3 built In less than a month. To keep the convalescents warm, each building is provided with a stove, and, in spite of the apparently Inflammable nature of the material the huts are built of, all danger of fire has been obviated by treating the roofs with a patent fire resisting chemical. General Sanger’s appointment of fifty-eight Cuban women as census enumerators caused some astonish ment and much doubt as to their abil ity to do the work efficiently. The re sult more than justified the general's action. Those of them who worked in the still disturbed rural districts were exposed to dangerous risks and much discomfort, but their patience, tact and determination overcame all ob stacles, and their returns, in the words of the general, wore marked by “great clearness, exactness and cleanliness.” It was splendid," he observed, ‘*to see the enthusiasm of thesa women, and note the fine way in which they went about their duties, businessliko as men, uncomplaining of the hard ships they endured, capable and re sourceful.’’ An outbreak of typhoid fever has oc curred in Lambeth, England, owing to infected mangles. Forty-one cases oc curred in twenty-four houses, all with in a restricted area. There was much intercommunication between places and families living in different houses. Alany of the inhabitants after washing their clothes in their own homes took them to some neighbor to be mangled. Owing to this custom, bedding and clothing of those ill with typhoid fever were mangled In the same machine, thus spreading the disease. Four dif ferent infected mangles were traced. TALMAGE'S SE11M0N THE DOOR OF CHRISTIAN RE LIGION OPEN TO ALL. Timely Dl*conr*e on the Oeeaelon of the Twentieth Anniversary of the Mowery W lesions In New Vorlt City— llrwdir Sympathy Required. (Copyright, 1901, by Louis Klopsch. N. T.) New York, Jan. 20.—On the occa sion of the twentieth anniversary of the Bowery mission, Jan. 13, Dr. Tal mage preached to a vast audience at the New York Academy of Music. M n isters of all denominations were pres ent The text was, John x, 16, “Other sheep I have which are not of this feld." There is no monopoly in religion. The grace of God is not a little prop erty that we may fence off and have all to ourselves. It is not a king's park, at which we look through a barred gateway, wishing that we might go in and see the statuary and the deer and the royal conservatory. No; it is a Father's orchard, and everywhere there are bars that we may let down and gates that we may swing open. Well, my friends, there are Christian men who have the church under severe guard. There is fruit in this orchard for the whole world, but they have a rough and unsympathetic way of ac costing outsiders, as though they had no business there, though the Lcrd wants all to come and take the choic est and ripest fruit on the premises. Have you an idea that because you were baptized at eight months of age and because you have all your life been under hallowed influences you there fore have a right to one whole side of the Lord’s table, spreading yourself out and taking up the entire room? I tell you no. You will have to haul in your elbows, for we will place on either side of you those whom you never expected would sit there, for, as Christ said to his people long ago, so he says to you and to me, “Other sheep I have which are not of this fold.” Rlipep of Many Fold*. McDonald, the Scotchman, has thou sands of head of sheep. Some of them are browsing on the heather, some of them are lying down under the trees, some are strolling over the mountains, some of them are in his yard. They are scattered all around in many places. Cameron, his neighbor, comrs over and says: “I see you have thirty six sheep. I have just counted them.” "No,” says McDonald, “I have a great many more sheep than you found in this yard. Some are here, and some are elsewhere. I have 4.000 or 5,000 In my flocks. ‘Other sheep I have which are not of this fold.’ ” So Christ says to us. Here is a knot of Christians and there is a knot of Christians, but they make up a small part of the flock. Here is the Episcopal fold, the Metho dist fold, the Lutheran fold, the Con gregational fold, the Presbyterian fold, the Baptist and the Pedo-BaptLst fold, the only difference between these last two being the way in which they wash the sheep, and so they are scattered all over. And we come with our sta tistics and say there are so many thousand of the Lord's sheep, but Christ responds: "No, no; you have not seen more than one out of a thou sand of my flock. They are scattered all over the earth. ‘Other sheep I have which are not of this fold.’ ” Rronder Sympathy Require* I. We meed as churches to get into sympathy with the great outside world and let them know that none are so broken hearted or hard beset that they will not be welcomed. "No,” says some fastidious Christian, "I do not like to be crowded in church. Do not put any one in my pew.” My brother, what will you do in heaven, when a great multitude that no man can num ber assembles? They will put fif.y in your pew. What are the people as sembled in Christian churches com pared with the mightier millions out side? Some churches are like a hos pital that should advertise that its pa tients must have nothing worse than toothache or runarounds,but no broken heads, no crushed ankles or fractured limbs. Bring there for treatment mod erate sinners, velvet coated sinners and sinners with a gloss on. It is as if a man had a farm of 3,000 acres and put all his work on one acre. He might raise never so large ears of corn, never so big heads of wheat, still he would remain poor. The church of God has bestowed its chief care on one acre and has raised splendid men and women in that small inclosure. But the field is the world. That means Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America and all the islands of the sea. ElclQilvcneM In Kfllfflon. Years ago I visited a New England factory village. 1 went up to the door of a factory, and I saw on the outside the words, “No admittance.” Of course I went in, and, corning to the second door, I saw the words, “No admit tance.” Getting clear on into the fac tory I saw they were making pins, useful pins, and nothing but pin.s. So I think there is sometimes an exclusive ness among some of the churches. The outside world conies up and looks at the door, and there Is something which seem3 to say, "No admittance,” and the world comes up to the pew d'or and sees written over it, “No admit tance,” and looks at the pulpit, and there is something there which saems to say, “No admittance,” while we stand inside of the same churches ham mering out our little niceties of relig ious belief, making pins. Oh, for the deeper appreciation of the sentiment of my text, "Other sheep I have, which are not ©f this fold,” There may be some here who say, *T stopped going to church ten or twenty years ago.” Is It not strange that you are among the first that I ad dress today? I know all your case. You have not been accustomed to going Into the bouse of God, but 1 have a sur prising announcement to make to you. You are going to become one of the Lord's sheep. *‘Oh,” you say, “It Is impossible. You don't know how far I am from anything of that kind.” I know all about it. I have wandered up and down the world, and I under stand your case. I have a still more startling announcement to make in re gard to you. You are not only going to become one of the Lord’s sheep, but you will become one now. Send Out tlie Lifeboat. When the steamer Atlantic struck Mars rock and the people clambered up on the beach, why did not Mr. An cient, that heroic minister of the gos pel, of whom we have all read, sit down and take care of those men on the beach, wrapping them In flannels, kindling fire for them, and seeing that they got plenty of food? Ah, he knew that there were others who would do that. He says: “Yonder are men and women freezing In the rigging of that wreck. Launch the lifeboat.” Now I see the oar blades bend under the strong pull, but before they reach the wreck a woman was frozen and dead. She was washed off, poor thing. "But,” he says, "there is a man to save.” And he cries out: “Five minutes longer, and I will save you. Steady, steady! Give me your hand. Leap into the life boat. Thank God, he is saved!” So there are those who are safe on the shore of God's mercy. They are as safe as though they had been a thou sand years in heaven, “kept by the power of God through faith unto sal vation." But there are some who are freezing in the rigging of sin and sur rounded by tempest. Pull away, my lads! Let us reach them. A'as, one is washed off and gone. There is one more to be saved. Let us push out there for that one. Clutch the rope, O dying man; clutch it as with a death grip. Steady, now, on the slippery places! Steady! They are saved, saved, just as I thought, for Christ has declared that there are some still in the breakers who shall come ashore. “Other sheep I have which are not of this fold." Finding Lost Sheep. The heavenly Shepherd is going to And a great many of his sheep among those who are now rejecters of Chris tianity. Some of the mightiest advo cates of the gospel were once skeptics. Thomas Chalmers once a skeptic. Rob ert Hall a skeptic. Christmas Evans a skeptic. Charles G. Kinney a skep tic. Paul, the apostle, once a skeptic. But when once with strong hand they laid hold of the gospel chariot they rolled it on with what momentum! I do not know how you came to reject Christianity. It may have been through the infidel talk of some young man in the store or shop or factory. It may have been through the trickery of 1 some professed Christian man who disgusted you with religion. It may be that thirty years ago you lost all faith by what happened in an oil com pany which was formed amid the pe troleum excitement. The company owned no land, or if they did there was no sign of oil produced. But the ‘ president of the company was a Pres byterian, elder and the treasurer of an ' Episcopal vestryman, and one director was a Methodist class leader and the other officers prominent members of Baptist and Congregational churches, i Circulars were got out telling what ! fabulous prospects opened before this | company. The circular had all the ! hues of earth and sea and sky. The letters flamed with all the beauty of gold and jasper and amethyst. Inno cent men and women who had a little money to Invest and that little their [ all said. “I do not know anything about this company, but so many good men are at the head of it that it must be excellent and taking stock in It must be almost as good as joining the i church.” So they bought their stock and perhaps received one dividend to keep them still. But after awhile they found that the company had reorganiz ed and had a different president, a dif ferent treasurer and different directors. Other engagements or an overcoming modesty had caused the former officers of the company, with many regrets, to resign, and all that the subscribers of that stock had to show for their in vestment was a beautifully ornamented certificate. Sometimes that man, look ing over his old papers, comes across that certificate, and it is so suggestive that he vows that he wants none of the religion that the president and di rectors of that oil company pro fessed. Why Reject Christianity? But I do not stop now to know how 1 you came iuto rejection of Chrlstian ! lty. You frankly tell me that you do reject It. You do not believe that ! Christ Is a divine being, although i you admit that he was a very good ! man. You do not believe that the Bible was inspired of God, although you think there are some very line i things In It. You believe that the Scriptural description of Eden was only an allegory. There are fifty things I that 1 believe that you do not believe, and yet you are an accommodating [ man. Everybody that knows you I says that of you. If I should 1 ask of you a kindness, you I do a kindness for me or if any one else would do it. If, when you are 111, I | should come to you with a vial of ! medicine and say, "This kind of medi cine has cured lifty people who were just as badly off ns you are: take It.” and you replied, "I do not want to take it; I have no confidence In it,” I would say, "Take it to oblige me,” and you would say, "Well, if It will accommo date you I will take it." Now, you have found that this world is insuffi cient and you are sick of sin. 1 come to you witn a gospel medicine. »'t has cured hundreds and thousands and millions. Will you take it? “No," you say, "I have no confidence in it” Take it, then, to oblige me. I tell you of a Physician who has cured more blind eyes, and bound up more broken hearts, and healed more ghastly wounds than all the doctors since the time of Aesculapius. Be obliging and just make the experiment. If you are not acquainted with the ordinary modes of prayer, say in substance: “O Lord Jesus, this is a strange thing for me to do. I know nothing about the formulas of religion. These Christian people have been talking so long about what thou canst do for me I am ready to do whatever thou eom mandest me. If there be any power in religion, as these people say, let me have the advantage of it." Will you not try that experiment? Gospel of Peace and Hope. Oh, men, skeptical and struck through with unrest! I beg you come off that great Sahara desert of doubt into the bright and luxuriant land of gospel hope and peace. You do not want your children to come up In that skepticism. If you do not believe in anything else, you believe in love—a father’s love, a mother's love, a wife’s love, a child's love. Then let me tell you that God loves you more than all these together. The great heart of Christ aches to have you come in, and he looks into your eyes this moment, saying, "Other sheep I have which are not of this fold." I want to tell you that God loves to take hold of a very bad case. When the church casts you off, and when the clubroom casts you off, and when society casts you off, and when busi ness associates cast you off, and when father casts you off, and when mother casts you off, and when everybody casts you off your first cry for help will bend the eternal God clear down to the ditch of your suffering and shame. The Good Templars cannot save you, al though they are grand institution. The Sons of Temperance cannot save you, although they are mighty for good. Signing the temperance pledge cannot save you, although I believe in it. Nothing but the grace of the eternal God can save you, and that w.ll if you will throw yourself on it. The Modern t'ataconiho. Yhey talk about the catacombs of Naples and the catacombs of Rome and the catacombs of Egypt, the great buri al places under the city where Is the dust of many generations passed on,but I tell you New York has its catacombs and Washington its catacombs, and all our cities their catacombs. They are underground liquor dives, full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. There is no need of going into the art gallery to see in skillful sculpture that | wonderful representation of a man and 1 bis sons wound round w’ith serpents. ; There are families represented here to | day that are wrapped in the martyr I dom of fang and scale and venom, a i living Laocoon of ghastliness and hor ^ ror. But I turn to outsiders with an ex pectation that thrills through me, body and soul. “Other sheep I have, which arc not of this fold.” You are not gospel hardened. You have not heard many sermons during the last few years. You feel the Holy Ghost this moment in your heart. You do not ! weep, but the tear is not far off. You sigh, and you have noticed that there | is always a sigh in the wind before | the rain falls. There are those here 1 who would give anything If they could find relief in tears. They say: “Oh, my wasted life! Oh, the bitter past! I Oh. the graves over wlych I have stum | bled! Whither shall I tly? Alas, ror j the future! Everything is so dark, so very dark! God help me! God pity me!” Thank the Lord for that last ut terance. You have begun to pray, and | w’hen a man begins to petition God steps in and beats back the hounds of temptation to their kennel and round i about the poor wounded soul puts the ! covert of his pardoning mercy. Hark! I hear something fall. What was that? | It is the bars of the fence around the ; sheep-fold. The Shepherd lets down : the bars, and the hunted sheep of the mountain bound in, some of them their tieece torn with brambles, some of ! them their feet lamed with the dogs, but bounding in. Thank God! | “Other sheep I have, which are not oT 1 this fold.” TRIO OP OLD FOLKS. Throe I'lillnUelphlau* Whole Apes Reach Total of 350 Years. Philadelphia has the most, celebrated i trio of old folks in any city in the j United States. Each one of the re ■ markable group has attained the cen | tury mark, and the oldest ha3 exceeded 1 it by thirty years. If the ages of theso three venerable Philadelphians could j be added together they would reach thn astonishing total of 350 years and make a span of life which would ex i tend clear back to 1550, contemporane 1 ous with the time of Elizabeth and Shakespeare! i The oldest of the trio is Mrs. Mary McDonald, according to the best ob tainable information the oldest woman : in the world. Mrs. McDonald is col ored, an inmate of the Home for Aged and Infirm Colored Persons, and Is now almost 130 years old; next comts Mrs. Celestina Nigro, aged 111, an Italian, and who, when she arrived in Philadelphia from Campagna, Italy, nine yers ago, was conceded to be the oldest immigrant who ever came to the United States; the youngest num ber of the group, and Philadelphia's oldest male citizen, is Michael Mooney, | a healthy young stripling of 109 years, who resides at the Home of the Little i Sisters of the Poor, at Eighteenth and Jefferson streets.—Boston Journal. Do nothing when angry and you will j have the less to undo. Fnnnjr. but With I.Imitation*. One of the Jokes at the Lotus club dinner to Mark Twain was perpetrat ed by Senator Depew, who told a story about a rural friend of his who once came to hear Mark Twain lecture in Boston. When he got back the sena tor asked: "Hear Mark?” "Yes" "Was he funny?” “Yes, funny; but not d-d funny.” The senator learned later that his friend had strolled Into Music hall and heard the Rev. Joseph Cook. Cat Far In Demand. Cats are having a bad time In Ger many Just now. Ten thousand fur lined great coats and as many each each of fur gloves and gaiters have been ordered for the troops in China, nnd pussy has to shed her skin for all of It. For every greatcoat fourteen ' cat skins are used, two for each pair of gaiters and one for each pair of gloves. Cats are going up In the German market. Coal Mined by Electricity. Electric coal cutting machinery Is rapidly displacing hand work and other varieties of mechanical mining appliances in the collieries of Great Britain and the United States. The coal thus mined is cleaner, the waste less and the effect of the machine on the ventilation and temperature of the mine is less than with any other mechanism. Valuable Almanac Free. We have received a copy of the new almanac for 1901 published by the Royal Baking Powder Co. It Is an ar tistic and useful book and will ha of Interest to housekeepers. A note worthy feature of the almanac Is a pre diction of the weather for every day of the year, by Prof. DeVoe, who cor rectly prophesied the great Galveston cyclone and other important meteoro logical events. We are authorized to say that any woman reader of this pa per can secure a copy without cost by sending a request to the company, at 100 William St., New York. Entitled to a Good Deal, Adjutant General Corbin, passing along Pennsylvania avenue on his way to the war department, saw an old woman sitting on the curb with pencils to sell. The genera' quietly dropped a coin in her outstretched hand. His companion remarked: “General, that woman may possess more money than you have.” General Corbin replied: “General Sherman once said in reply to that same remark, ‘Any one who is obliged to sit outdoors to earn a living is entitled to more money than I have. And I fully agree with him.” Tlie Uncomfortable Doctors. The use of oysters has sometimes been discouraged on the ground that they were under certain conditions dangerous mediums of conveying dis ease, especially germs of typhoid fe ver. Now physicians are said to have forbidden another relish nearly as popular at this time of the year. Cel ery has come under the ban of the doc tors, who say thai it is equally well adapted to transmitting the poisonous element of the soil and carrying the germs of typhoid fever. Sppflul Heroism Remembered. Twenty-flvo Victoria crosses have been awarded so far in the South Af rican war. Eight have been given to captains, three to lieutenants, includ ing the one given to I^ady Roberts by proxy for her dead son, four to ser geants, four to corporals, two to ma jors and one each to a gunner, a driver, a trooper and a private infan tryman. POLICE OEEICJER RESCUED. Officer A. C. Swansea of the Council Bluff’s Eor«e Tells au Interest* Ingr Story. Council Bluffs, Iowa, Jan. 19, 1901.— (Special.)—Kindhearted Officer Swan son of the local police force is very popular in this city. He has lived here for seventeen years, and has en joyed many high offices in social and society work. He is now Vice-Presi dent of the “Dannebrog" Brotherhood, the largest Danish secret society in America, which combines benevolent with the social features. Owing to the constant exposure and many hours on his feet, which his duty as a police officer makes unavoidable, Mr. Swan son became the victim of serious Kid ney -and Liver Trouble. He was very bad, but has entirely recovered. He gives the story in his own words as follows: “I have been a sufferer for many years with Kidney and Liver Trouble, and have tried many remedies, some of which gave me temporarily relief, and others which were absolutely worth less. I began to think that there waa no help for me, when my nephew gave me a part of a box of Dodd’s Kidney fills which he had left, saying that it would do no harm to try them, as they had certainly fixed him all right. What he gave me helped me so much that I i felt Justified in purchasing more, and I grew slowly better. It took almost two months to effect a complete cure, as mine was a very bad case, but I can cheerfully and truthfully say that I am a well man today, and I am very grateful that Dodd’s Kidney Pills were thus brought to my notice." The wonderful cures effected by Dodd’s Kidney Pills in Iowa have cre ated quite a sensation in some parts of the stale. There does not seem to be any case of Lame Back, Rheuma tism, Kidney or Bladder Trouble w'hieh these wonderful Pills cannot cure. They are certainly popular here, and the sale through the local drugglgta is ; very large. Saints who carve for themselves are sure to cut their fingers. Look out for the man who looks out for himself. You cannot do God’s work with the devil’s weapons. THE SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON V. FEB. 3: MATT. 25: 1-13. Golden Text: Watch Therefore: For Ye Know Neither the Hat Nor the Hoar Wherein the Son of Mao Cometh —Matt. 35:13. 1. “Then" at the coining of the Lord (21: 42, 44). "The kingdom of heaven" which Christ came to Inaugurate on earth. "Be likened unto ten virgins.” The condition of the church at the end of the world shall be like the condition of the ten virgins described in the para ble.—Cambridge Bible. 2. "Five of them were wise.” There is no significance in the number, nor in the fact that the wise numbered the same as the foolish. 3. "Took their lamps." The lamps con sisted of a round receptacle for pitch or oil for the wick. "They that were foolish their lamps.” Foolish .stupid, dull, silly. They had some light, they had religious feelings, they were moved by the Influ ences of the Holy Spirit. “Took no oil with them." Had no deep and lasting principle wrought into character. Their heart was not changed. 4. "Took oil in their vessels.” The point of this in the parable is that these virgins were watching in the only way they coukl watch, by making full prep arations for what was coming. Watch ing for death is not being continually anxious and on the lookout, but being all one's life prepared for the great change, by life and character, and serving one's Lord. Lyman Abbott well says, "Not what death finds us doing, but how death finds us furnished is the Important ques tion.” 5. "They ail slumbered.” Became drowsy, nodded, “and slept.” They rested in quiet peace. They had no anxiety: the wise, because they had faith and were prepared; the foolish, by false security and by Ignoring the future. It means, in its application to us, the attending to every-day duties In the spirit of Ipve to God and man, without anxiety or rest lessness. 6. • At midnight." The coming was late and unexpected. “There was a cry made.'’ Either the cry of heralds, as was sometimes the custom, or the noise of the approaching crowds, with shouts and snatches of song and the Hash of the torches. Dr. Trumbull, In his “Studies In Oriental Social Ufe," says the women sounded those peeullar shrill, quavering cries of joy, called Zugaret, which are heard throughout the East on occasions of special rejoicing. See Itev. It): 6-9 "The bridegroom cometh." This parable will obtain a wider application if we keep in memory that while it Is quite true that there Is one great coming of the Lord at the last, yet not the less does he come in all the great crises of Ills church, at tnch new manifestation of his Spirit; and at each of these, too, there Is a separation among those who are called by his name, into wise and foolish, us they are spiritually alive or dead. 7. "Trimmed their lamps." which had been kept burning. They needed trimming and replenishing. Every one needs some special preparation for every great crisis. No matter how well one Is prepared, he cannot even make a good address without some special preparation. X. “Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out." Rather, as In the H. V.. “are going out," for want of oil. 9. “Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you." The reply Is not seltish. even In the figure, for there was not enough for us and you. To have divided the oil would have entirely defeated the purpose of the procession.—Rev. Com. Ibis belonged to the form-of the parable "^■o . . .to them that sell, and buy." That Is. as applied to us, go to the means of grace, to the sources whence character and principle can tie gained, to the Holy Spirit, to the Scriptures. Id "And while they went to buy. the bridegroom came." I'sually we cannot prepare for the testing times of life at the moment. When the opportunity to rule the "ten cities" comes, we are not prepared to do it, unless we have faith fully used the "ten talents." "They that were ready went in." Such only can go in by the necessity of the case. “And the door was shut." As was the custom, in order to give security and peace to 'hose within, and to keep out intruders who had no right to enter. See Rev. 91 H. lj- (I) There are abundant op portunities and pressing Invitations to enter the kingdom. (2) There comes a. time when it Is too late to enter. (3) This is a fact of nature, as well as a truth of the Word. There Is a tendency to tlx the character, so that one will not change. In the misuse of the body there comes a time when It Is Impossible to v. ard off disease. 14> We shut the door against ourselves. No one but ourselves is to blame for our not entering. <5) We shut the door by neglecting to be pre pared to enter. 11 "Afterward came . . . the other vir gins. ’ As Esau came too late for the blessing, which no tears could give him. 12. I know you not." I do not recog nize you as belonging to the procession and to the guests. "The picture is of one in pursuit of sleep, and, therefore, wake ful, restless." The watcher Is ever on guard, like the lookout on a ship, or the jjutposts of an army. "For ye know neith er the day nor the hour." Temptations and dangers are on every hand, and we know not when nor how tlie attack will begin. Life Is full of temptations from without and from within. English. Yon Know. A correspondent writes in an Eng lish magazine: " 'A Widower’ in quiries through your valuable columns what his children should call their stepmother. Is he aware of the grow ing practice in smart society of call ing parents by their Christian names? I know a case where a very pretty girl was taken to be introduced to her fu ture parents-in-law. “This is Dob and this is Martha,’ said her betrothed and when the girl stared his mother smiled and explained. ’Our children have always been brought up to call ua by our Christian names, and you must do so, too. my dear.’ This true anec dote, relating to a peer of the realm, may assist the Inquiring widower to teply to his own question. The sacred name of mother seems to he growing obsolete. But In the above-mentioned case family ties were especially strong and tiie most tender affection subsisted between parents and children.” R'-le for Fish Rtiyers. A Fulton market man gives this sim ple rule for fish buyers to follow if they would secure fish that Is eatable and certainly free of the ptomaines 0f which no many fish lovers stand in dread: See that the fish is so firm that it will not be dented on pressure by the fingers, that the eyes are full, the scales bright, the fins stiff, and the ~ gills are of the brightest, neither pale nor a dark liver color. Then, if there is no odor to the fish, it may be c-aten with safety.—New York Times.