THE NORTHWESTERN.
BENSCllOTKR A QIIISOM, F.d» and Pob*
LOUP CITY, • • NEB.
Bats measuring nearly five feet from
tip to tip of their wings have been
round in a cave near Tanga, in East
Africa.
Mme. du Barry's hotel in the Ave
nue de Pari3, at Versailles, is about to
be sold. Ijouis XVIli turned the palace
Into stables for many years past it
has been disused.
India is rapidly becoming an impor
tant factor (n the coal market. The
output last year was nearly 40 per cent
In excess of that of the year before,
and a still further increase will be seen
this year. Exportation of coal from In
dia has already begun. The coal is
found over wide areas.
Over 50,000 acres of unoccupied lands
rn Nebraska, Wyoming and Kansas
were disposed of during one week re
cently, the largest amount in any one
week in the history of the land depart
ment. The majority of sales were to
Dunkards, who attended the conference
of that sect at Lincoln, Neb. Large
numbers were Induced to give up their
Eastern homes—most of them In Penn
sylvania—and settle in the West.
A national fencing competition has
just taken place at Bologna, and the
championship was won by Signor At
tilio Monferrlto. This "maitre
d’armes’’ Is only twelve years old. He
fought the most celebrated Italian
fencers and beat them all. He used
to be the fencing room assistant of
the celebrated fencer Sartori, and lis
has now' succeeded in vanquishing his
former employer and many other past
masters of the art.
The Zion Lutheran congregation at !
Lancaster recently made its annual ;
payment of one red rose to the descend
ants of Da* on Steigel, who over a con- !
tury ago donated the land on which
the church stands. The anniversary
proceedings, which are known as the
feast of vhe rose3 were taken part in
this yeai by thousands of people, each
of them bearing a red rose. Miss
Annie Boyer of Pittsburg represented
the heirs of Baron Steigel and accepted
the rose from the congregation.
More people over 100 years old are
found in mild climates than in the
higher latitudes. According to th'
last census of the German Empire, of ;
a population of 55,000,000 only sevanty
elght have passed the hundredth y ar, j
France, with a population of 40.000,000. !
has 213 centenarians. In England j
there are 146; in Ireland, 578; and in j
Scotland, 46. Sweden has 10, and Nor- j
way 23; Belgium 5; Danmark, 2; I
Switzerland, none. Spain, with a popu- ^
iation of 18,000,000, has 401 persons
over 100 years old. Of the 2,250,000 in
habitants of Servia, 575 have passed
the century mark.
The submarine Narva), convoyed by
the sea going torpedo boat Zouave, has
returned to Cherbourg from a series of
deep sea trials. These trials extended
over a period of fifty hours, anti were
eminently satisfactory. Rough weather
caused great inconvenience to the tor
podo boat, but the Narval sank out of
tb*' rough surface water and remained
below in perfect security. Five times
she torpedoed the Zouave, and on her
return to port it was found that she
still had a sufficient supply of oil on
board for twelve hours' consumption,
although she had steamed from Cher
bourg to St. I.o and back.
The statue of the late Empress Eliza
both recently unveiled at Godollo Cas
tie. a scat of Emperor Francis Joseph,
near Budapest, is a bronze figure of
more than life size on a high pedestal
in Gothic style. She is represented in
a walking costume, such as she most
frequently wore at Godollo; in one |
hand a sunshade, in the other a few
wild flowers, and she appears to be
resting after one of tier long excur ;
sions. Hei- head is crowned only with
rich pleats of hair. The figure is tin
work of the Hungarian sculptor Kona,
and stands in a part of the park most
frequented by the empress.
It is hard to realize that the hoot
black is an invention of the last half
century, yet he Is now celebrating in
London the fiftieth anniversary of his
appearance. He came upon the scene
In 1851, the year of the great exhibition
in London, the. first of the “world's
fairs.'' The city was full of visitors
from all parts of the world, and the
problem of (lie street Arab was a scri
ous one. Mr. Maegregor of the famous
Hob Hoy canoe suggested that the boys
be organize 1 into a great boot blacking
brigade, ami he himself made the first
box for holding the “kit.'' the model of
those still in use. Idlers Jeered the
boys at first, and sometimes stoned
them, but the public found their serv
ices so convenient that, the trade was
profitable. It has prospered ever since,
and Is now, if not one of the learned
professions, at least one with a his
tory.
A Baltimore man, convicted on a
charge of “having wilfully neglected
to supply a dumb animal—a horse—
with the necessities of life," and sen
tenced to pay the costc, told the Judge
that he might have the horse for the
fine, but the magistrate Insisted upon
getting the money. $1.15.
The most curious cemetery is situat
ed at Luxor, on the Nile. Here repose
tlie mummified bodies of millions of
sacred cats. Their remains are side
by side with the bodies of king and
emperors in mausoleums.
TALM AGE'S SEltMON.
CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR CAST
SUNDAY’S SUBJECT.
"Behold the I)»j» Come, Silth the
Lord, That the rinnm»n Klull Over
take the lien per’’—Au*os, I*-, 13—llw
Fore* of the liible.
(Copyright, 1001, Louis IClopseh, N. Y.)
Washington, Jmy 7.—Altuough Dr.
Talmage was hindered from attending
the great annual meeting of the Chris
tian Endeavor society at Cincinnati,
his sermons show him to be in sym
pathy with the great movement;
text, Amos lx., 13, “Behold the days
come, saith the Lord, that the plow
man shall overtake the reaper.’’
Unable because of other Important
duties to accept the invitation to take
part in the great convention of Chris
tian Endeavorers at Cincinnati, began
last week, I preach a sermon of con
gratulation for all the members of that
magnificent association, whether now
gathered in vast assemblage or busy
in their places of usefulness, trans
atlantic and cisatlantic, and as it is
now harvest time in the fields and
sickles are Hashing in the gatherings
of a great crop, 1 find mighty sugges
tiveness in my text.
it is a picture of a tropical clime,
with a s ason so prosperous that the
harvest reaches clear over to the
planting time, and the swarthy hus
bandman, busy cutting the grain, al
most feels the breath of the horse3
on his shoulders, the horses hitched to
the plow, preparing for a new crop,
' Behold the days come, saith the Lord,
•that the plowman shall overtake the
reaper.” When is that? That is now.
That Is this day, when hardly have
.you done reaping one harvest of re
ligious result than the plowman is
getting ready for another.
In phraseology charged with all
venom and abuse and caricature 1
know that Infidels and agnostics have
declared tiiat Christianity has col
lapsed; that the Bible is an obsolete
•book; that the Christian church is on
■the retreat. 1 shall answer that whole
sale charge today.
Orowtli of Clirl*t Innit jr.
Cut now let us see whether the hook
is a last year's almanae. Let us see
whether the *■ arch of God is a Bull
Bun retreat, muskets, canteens and
haversacks strewing all the way. The
great English historian Sharon Tur
ner, a man of vast learning and great
•accuracy, not a clergyman, but an at
torney as well as a historian, gives
• this overwhelming statistic in regard
to Christianity and in regard to the
number of Christians in the different
centuries: In the first century, 500,000
tians; in the se< ond century,
2,000,000 Christians; in the third cen
tury, 5,000,000 Christians; in the fourth
century 10,000.000 Christians; in the
•fifth century 15,000,000 Christians; in
the sixth century 20.000,000 Christians;
in the seventh century 21.0C0.000
Christians; in the eighth century, 30,
000,000 Christians: in the ninth cen
tury 10,000 000 Christians; in the tenth
’century 50.o c.OOo Christians; in the
eleventh century 70,000,000 Christians;
in the twelfth et ntury 50,000,000 Chris
tians; In tin thirteenth century 75,
000.000 Christians: in the fourteenth
century 80.000,000 Christians; in til:•
.fifteenth century 100,000,000 Chris
tians; in the sixteenth century, 125.
0.00,000 Christians; in the seventeenth
century 155,000,000 Christians; in the
eighteenth century 200,000.000 Chris
tians—a decadence, as >uu observe, in
only one century, and more than made
■up in the following centuries, while it
-is the usual computation that there
were at the close of the nineteenth
.century 470,000.0n<) Christians, making
.us to lirlieve that before this century
is closed the millentum will have
I started its boom and lifted its hosati
I na.
Poor Christianity! What a pity it
has no friends! How lone-one it must
he! Who will take it out of the poor
house? Poor Christianity! Pour hun
dred millions in one century. In a
.few weeks of tills year 11.500,01)0 copies
of Hie New Testament dbtrilmted.
i Why, the earth is like an old castle
with 20 gates and a p ak of artillery
-ready to thunder down every gate.
See how heathendom is being sur
rounded and honeycombed and at
tacked by this all e mquerir.g gospr 1.
At the beginning of the nineteenth
century 150 missionaries; at the close
[of that century 81,000 misionaries and
native helpers and evangelists. At
the beginning of the nineteenth cen
tury there were only 50.000 converts.
Now there arc over 1,0 )0,000 converts
from heathendom.
The Form «.f Hi • |;ibl«.
Suppose the congress of the United
States should pa s a law that there
should he no more ilibles printed In
America and no BibPs read, if them
arc 00,000,000 grown people in the
United States, there would be (10,000,
'000 people in an army ti put down
such a law and defend their right to
read the Bible. Hut suppose the con
gress of the United States should
make a law against the reading or the
publication of any other book, how
many people would go out in such a
crusade? Could you p.-t CO.003.000
pt»ople to go out and risk their lives in
defense of Shakespeare's trap dbs o.
Gladstone's tracts or Macaulay's ' ll s
tory of England?” You know that
there are a thousand m m who would
die In. the defense of this book wh r •
there is not more than one man who
would die in the defence of any other
book. You try to insult tny common
sense by telling me the Bible is fading
out from the world. It is the most
popular book of the centuries.
How do I know it? I know It just as
I know in regard to other books. How
many volumes of that history are
published? Well, you say 5,000. IIow
many copies of another book are pub
lished? A hundred thousand. Which
Is the more popular? Why the one that
I has the hundred thousand circulation.
And if this book has more copies
abroad In the world, if there arc five
times as many Bibles abroad as any
other book among eivi'ij'ed nations,
does not that show you that the most
popular book on earth today is the
word of God?
"Oh,” say people, “the church Is a
collection of hypocrites, and it Is los
ing its power, and it is fading out from
the world.” Is It? A bishop of the
Methodist church told me that that de
nomination averages two new church
es every day. In other words, they
build 730 churches in that denomina
tion in a year, and there are at least
1,500 new Christian churches built in
America every year. Does that look
as though the Christian church were
fading out. as though it were a defunct
institution? What stands nearest to
the hearts of the American people to
day? I do not care in what village or
what city or what neighborhood you
go. What is It? Is it tli" postofflee?
Is it the hotel? Is it the lecturing
hall? Ah, you know It is not! You
know that that which stands near.st
to the hearts of the American people
is the Christian church.
In Hip Hour of I>l*tr«?«".
You may talk about the church being
a collection of hypocrites, but when
the diphtheria sweeps your children
off whom do you send for? The post
master, the attorney-general, the ho
telkeeper. alderman? No. You send for
a minister of this Bible religion.. And
if you have not a room in your house
for the obsequies,what building do you
solicit? Do you say, "Give me the fin
est room In the hotel?” Do you Say,
‘Give me that theater?” Do you say,
‘‘Give me that public building where I
ran lay my dead for a little while we
say a prayer over It?" No. You say,
"Give us the house cf God.” And if
there is a song to In- sung at the obse
quies, what do you want? What does J
’anybody want? The "Marseillaise |
Hymn?" “God Save the Queen?" Our :
own grand national air? No. They
want the hymn with which they sang
their old Christian mother into her
•last sleep, or they want sung the Sab
bath school hymn which their litt’e
girl sang the last Sabbath afternoon ;
slie was out before sbc got that awful
sickness which broke your heart, I
appeal to your common sense. You
know the most endearing instiutiton
on earth, the most popular institution
on earth today is the churrh of the
lord Jesus Christ. A man is a fool
that does uot recognize it.
The infidels say: “There is great
liberty now for infidels; freedom of
platform. Infidelity shows its power
from the fact that it is everywhere tol
erated, and it can say what it will."
‘Why, my friends, infidelity is not half
so blatant in our day as it was in the
days of our fathers. Do you know that
in the days of our fathers there were
pronounced infidels in public author
ity, and they could get any political
position? Let a man today declare
himself antagonistic to the Christian
religion and what city wants him for
mayor; what state wants him for gov
ernor; what nation wants him for
president or for king? Let a man
openly proclaim himself th" enemy of
our glorious Christianity, and he can
not get a majority of votes in auy
tate, in any city, in any country, in
any ward of America.
What C'l;ri*<lanlfr Poet.
A distinguished Infidel years ago
lidir.g in a rail car in Illinois said,
“What has Christianity ever done?"
An old Christian woman said: “It
has done one good thing anyhow. It
lias kept an Infidel fiom being govern
or of Illinois." As l stood in the
side room of the opera house of Peoria,
His., a prominent gentleman of that
city said, “I can tell you the secret of
that tremendous bitterness against
’’Christianity." Said I. “What is it?"
“Why,” said he, “in this very house
there was a great convention to nomi
nate a governor, and there were three
or four candidates. At the same tirn%
there was In a church in this city a
Sabbath school convention, and It
.happened that one of the men who was
in the Sabbath school convention was
also a member of the political con
vention. In the political convention
the name highest on the roll at that
time and about to bo nominated was
the name of the great champion in
fidel. There was an adjournment be
tween ballots, and in the afternoon,
when the nominations were being
made, a plain farmer got up and aid:
'Mr. Chairman, that nomination must
not he made. The Sunday schools of
Illinois will defeat him.’ That end d
all prospect of his nomination.”
The Christian religion is mightier
today than it ever wa°. Do yea think
that such a scene could be enacted now
as was enacted in the day3 of Robes
pierre. when a shameless woman was
elevated to the dignity of a goddess
and carried lti a golden chair to a ca- j
thedral where incense was burned to
her and people bowed down before her
; as a divine being, she taking the place
of the Bibb and Cod. while in the cor
1 ridor of that cathedral wore enacted
. such scenes of drunkenness and de
; bauchery as had never before been wit
I ncssed? Do you think such □ thing
could possibly occur in Christendom
; today? No. The police of Washing
! ion, or of New York, or of Paris would
; swoop upon it. I know infidelity
makes n good deal of talk in our day,.
, One infidel can make great excitement,
but I can tell you on what principle it
| is. it is on the principle that if a mau
, jumps overboard from an ocean liner
lie makes more excitement than all tho
500 who stay on hoard. But the fact
that he jumps overboard does not atop
| the ship. Does that wreck the 500 pas
pcugers? It makes great excitement
when a mun jumps from the lecturing
platform or from the pulpit into imi
delity, but does that keep the Bible or
i the church from carrying millions of
passenger* to the shores of eternal
safety?
Ferfratlnn of Christianity
What do they agree on? Herschel
writes a whole chapter on the errors of
astronomy. La Place declares that the
moon was not put in the right place.
He says if it had bejx put four times
farther from the earth than it is now
there would be more harmony in tho
universe, but Llonville comes up Just
in time to prove that the moon was
put In the right place. How many col
ors woven into the light? Seven, says
Isaac Newton. Three, says David
Brew'ster. How high is the aurora bo
realis? Two and a half miles, says
Lias. Ninety miles, say other scien
tists. How far is the sun from the
earth? Seventy-six million miles, says
Lacalle. Eighty-two million miles,
says Humboldt. Ninety million miles,
says Henderson. One hundred and four
million miles, says Mayer. Only a lit
tle difference of 28,000,000 miles! All
spilt up nmojig themselves—not agree
ing on anything. *
Here these infidel scientists have im
paneled themselves as a jury to decide
this trial between Infidelity, the plain
tiff, and Christianity, the defendant,
and after being out for centuries they
come in to render their verdict. Gen
tlemen of the jury, have you agreed on
a verdict? No, no. Then go back fur
another 500 years and deliberate and
agree on something. There is not a
poor miserable wretch in the city pris
on tomorrow that could be condemned
by a jury that did not agree on tho
verdict, and yet you expect us to giva
up our glorious Christianity to please
these men who cannot agree on any
thing. Ah. my friends, the church of
Jcsns Christ instead of falling back is
on tho advance. I am certain it is on
the advance. I see the glittering of
the swords; I hear the tramping of tho
troops; I hear the thundering parks of
artillery. O God. I thank thee that I
have been permitted to see this day of
thy triumph, this day of the confusion
of thine enemies! O Lord God. take
thy sword from thy thigh and ride
forth to the \ ietory!
Secular and I’ren**.
And then 1 find another most cn
eouraging thought in the fact that the
secular printing press and the puipit
seem harnessed in the same team for
the proclamation of the gospel. Every
banker in this capital tomorrow, every
Wall street banker tomorrow in New
York, every State street banker to
morrow in Boston, every Third street
banker tomorrow in Philadelphia, ev
ery banker in the United States and
every merchant will have in his pock
et a treatise on Christianity, 10, 20 or
.20 passages of Seriptuje in the reports
of sermons preached throughout the
land today. It will be so in Chicago,
so in New Orleans, so in Charleston, so
in Boston, so in Philadelphia, so in
Cincinnati, so everywhere I know the
tract societies are doing a grand and
glorious work, but I tell you there is
no power on earth today equal to the
fact that the American printing press
is taking up the sermons which are
preached to a few hundred or a few
thousand people, and on Mondoy morn
ing and Monday everting scattering !
that truth to the millions. What an
encouragement to every Christian
man!
Then you have noticed a more sig
uificant fact if you have talked with
people on the subject, that they are
getting disgusted with worldly philos
opliy as a matter of comfort. They
say it does not amount to anything
when you have a dead child in the
house. They tell you when they were
sick and the door of the future seem
ed opening the only comfort they
could find was the gospel. People are
having demonstrated all over the land
that science and philosophy cannot so
lace the troubles and woes of the
world, and they want some other re
ligion. and they are taking Christian
ity, the only sympathetic religion that
ever came into the world.. You just
take a scientific consolation into that
room where a mother has lost her
child. Try in that case your splendid
doctrine of the “survival of the fit
test.” Tell her that child died because
it was not worth as much as the other
children'. That is your "survival of
the fittest.”
Not Ashamed or tlie HI hie.
Young man. do not be ashamed to
be a friend of the Bible. Do not put
your thumb in your vest, as young
men sometimes do, and swagger about
talking of the glorious light of nature
and of there being no need of the
Bible. They have the light of nature
in India and Cnina and in all the dark
places of the earth. Did you ever hear
that the light of nature gave them
comfort for their trouble? They have
lancets to cut and juggernauts to
crus-li, but uo comfort. Ah, my
friends, you had bettor stop your skep
ticism. Suppose you are put in a crisis
Mko that of Colonel Ethan Allen. 1
saw the account and at one time men
tioned it in an address. A descendant
of Ethan Allen, who is an infidel, said
it never occurred. Soon after i re
ceived a letter from a professor in one
of our colleges, who is also a descend
ant of Ethan Allen and is a Christian.
He wrote me that the Incident is ac
curate; that my statement was au
thentic and true. The wife of Colonel
Ethan Allen was a very consecrated
woman. The mother instructed the
daughter in the truths of Christianity.
The daughter sickened and was about
to die, and she sold to her father:
“Father, shall I take your instruc
tion or shall 1 take mother's instruc
tion? 1 am going to die now; I mint
have this matter deride 1." That man,
who had been loud in his infidelity,
said to his dying daughter, “My dear,
you had better take your mother's re
ligion.” My advice is the same to
you, O young man! You know how
religion comforted her. You know
what she said to you when she was
dying. You had better take your
mother's religion.
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL |
LESSON III.. JULY 21- GENESIS,
8:1-22.
Colleo Tax 11 "Noah I’ounrl Grace In the
Fyo* of the Ford"—Noah I* haeed Ip
the Ark—Some Ite*ult* of tlia Fall of
Man.
I. Some Results of the Fall, Exempli
fied iti the Early Ages of Man.—A period
of many centuries had followed the fall,
In which many men had grown wicked,
and deeds of violence and crime tilled the
earth, and "every imagination of tin*
thoughts of Ms heart was only evil con
tinually." "It was a world of men,
tierce and energetic, violent and lawless,
in perpetual war and turmoil." “The
eaith ulso was corrupt before God." Cain
was among the first of these evil-doers,
but the world was becoming a race of
Cains. There stems to have been two
kinds of people: The children of men,
who were degenerate, because without
Ocd In the world; and the sons of God,
the religious people who continued from
Adam Gie worship of the true God. Then
the godly race was led astray. "The
sons of God saw the daughters of men
that they were fair; and they took them
wives of all which they chose." This In
termarrying of religious people with the
Irreligious Is to many ";he most danger
ous form In which worldliness presents
Itself." Usually the result Is the same.
"Instead of the ungodly rising to tho
level of the godly he sinks to hers."
Compare the case of Ahab and Jezebel,
"It seems." continues Professor iJods,
"like a truism to say that a greater
amount of unhappiness has been produced
by mismanagement, folly, and wicked
ness In the relation subsisting between
men und women than by any other
cause." From this union sprang a racu
of giants," meaning, apparently, rather,
fierce and remorseless chiefs, who, in
their wild ambition, titled the world with
blood and tumult, and all the excesses of
unbridled depravity, tl.l it was clear that
wickedness would very soon make a con
quest of the whole race of man In per
petuity. They may have been of gigan
tic siae. like those to whom the same
name Is afterwards applied In Palestine,
but It is not necessarily Implied."—
Gilkle. This band of true worshipers
Stems to have grown smaller and smaller
till at last It was represented by only one
family, that of Noah.
II. The Great Problem: What to Do 1
With W!< ked Men.—There were four pos
sible ways of treating this condition of
things: 1. To let it continue with the
same Influences of good and evil as had
been working for many centuries.
2. Gcd couat destroy the whole race at
once, and leave the earth bare. This,
too. would mean failure.
3. God could take away their free choice |
but then they would no longer be men.
There would be neither good nor evil. A
world of good men who choose the good I
while they might have chosen evil, this
alone would be success hi tin creation ut
man.
4. He could destroy the wicked l>y sonic
net which would be a perpetual warning
and pics rvlrg the good could start th
nice afresh, without its overwhelming I
evil environment, with a past experience j
of good and evil behind il, and with
hope, through a long discipline and many
failures, of becoming the kingdom of God
to his praise and g ory through all agt-s
and all worlds.
III. Building the Ark—Noah, the great
gtandson of Munch, also walked wHh
God. He was a holy, virtuous, pious
man, in a world ruining Itself with wick- i
illness. Ills was not merely a passive]
goodness, lie was a preacher of right
eousness <2 Pet. 2:5*. it is not probable j
that he was popular with men, but. he]
was In fuv r vvi h Gcd. God warned tin 1
pi. pie 120 y» ars beforehand that a flood
would come and destroy them on account .
ot ttnir wickedness. And Noah was coin- j
inanded to build a great ark for the sal
vation of himself and family, and doubt- !
less for any others who would believe i
and repent. The ark was not a ship, j
meant to sail, but a long, oblong building !
nnant to float with the tides, "a covered 1
raft, or floating house."
IV. Bf aeon lights from the Ark.—1. I
When men are so had that all Influences!
to make them better are in vain, then I
God lets destruction come upon them. |
2. God punish's men not because he hates
them, hut became lie loves them. The
Hood that destroyed most of the people ;
was the real salvation of the human '
race. Oial warned and entreated tie
people to repent, by Ills Holy Spirit, by j
the preaching of a good man, and by his
living example. 3, They ran blame only j
them-elves for their punishment. lively 1
hi t soul Is a moral suicide. Itself turned ;
the k*>y that shut it out front paradise.
Illustration.—No philosophic historian
ignores the function of great crisis in fit
ting the world to u w pb nos of life and
thought. ' The lire in London was a
blessing.” says I.ord Macaulay. "It
burned down the city, but it burned out
the plague.” The irruption of the north
ern trltos In like manner saved the
Western Umpire from stagnation and de
cay, although "it cost Kurope a thousand
years of barbarism t" escape the fate of
China.”—Kev. Jesse Ii. Thomas, D. D.
Illustration—‘‘The modern theory Is
based upon the true Christian doctrine
that a convict is a man and a brother,
not a wild htast.”
"The great mass of men in our prisons
are young men—overgrown, stupid, vi
ci< us, unbroken colts. They must be
broken to harness: and usually this
means severe physical compulsion—not a
constant nagging, but scientifically ad
minister corporal punishment. The kcI
ci.tific sitrg' on se ms cruel." ‘‘Physical
Compulsion III prisons there must be. 1
ti lleve in making it short, sharp nnJ
effective. With this must ho training,
discipline, education and hope. Hope Is
gained by the rewards of good behavior
through shortening the sentence, and tho
possibility of earning a little money by
extra or meritorious work. This element !
in the new prison law of New York has
proved of inestimable value, as the prison
wardens themselves testify.”—Prof.
Charles A. Collin, before the M issaclri
setts Prison Association.
Dredging That Pays.
In the operation of dredging navig
able channels at the mouth of the j
Moruya and Shoalhaven rivers, in New !
South Wales, it was discovered that
the mud contained gold dust. An au
tomatic gold saver was then attached
to the dumping machinery, and it is
estimated that enough gold will thus
be obtained to defray the expenses of
keeping the channels open.
1 omlon** reputation.
London, whose population was not
more than 1,500,000 when Queen Vic
toria came to the throne, has now as
large an aggregation of human beings
within its boundaries as the whole of
Ireland.
I'nifornied School Girl. C.irr.v Kllios.
One of the features of the Memorial
day parade in Pittsburg was a com
pany of school girls who wore mili
tary uniforms and carried regulation
rifles.
STORY ON STOCKINGS. +
M,,ny nun«n Match Their Gown* With
Tliair Hosiery.
This Is the story of the woman and
her Storking*. It is a stoiy that must
be told in whispers, for the world In
general is never supposed to think that
the woman wears anything more per
sonal than hosiery. But the stockings
of the woman this year are something
to dream about. The desire for thin
footwear has come in with the demand
for light und airy fabrics in dress
goods, and the stockings are quite the
thinnest of them all. There are no
particular stockings for any particular
purpose. Tho finest and most beauti
ful of hosiery is worn for all purposes.
Naturally, the more elaborate designs
of lace and embroidery are reserved
for evening and dress wear, but stock
ings of the finest quality are worn for
all sorts of outing purposes. It is
! natural that, with short skirts and
low shoes there should be a desire fbr
pretty stockings, and they come with
fancy clocks, open work, and with em
broidered figures in little neat pat
terns, as well as in more elaborate do
signs.
The most elaborate silk stockings
have medallions of lace running up
over the Instep, handsome embroidery
appliqued upon net, and vertical lines
of lace set in with embroidered edges,
and there are alternate lines of laca
and open work. There are designs in
roses, butter!lic3, bow knots, ctipids,
baskets of flowers, and the eagle and
violets In the L’Aiglon stocking.
Many women like to match their
gowns ir. their stockings, and there are
tans and grays and blues. Blu s al
ways are in demand, for bluo is a
popular color; it comes nearly up to
the black stocking, which is the most
satisfactory in the long run. Bed
stockings are sold to go with red shoes
for house wear, and there are beauti
ful white stockings, which are cold to
the bride and to wear with white
shoes.
KEEPS KEYS OF THE JAIL.
4V<>uiau Km t'lmrjo of the County-#
Homo for Mulof.-tctm».
Probably the only woman Jailer It?
the United States is Mrs. Anna McDon
ald of Marysville, \V. Va. She occupies
the position of a deputy sheriff ano
lias charge of a jail in which some of
the most desperate characters are kept.
She is a widow and lives
alone with her two children
in the jail, in which there are
now confined two of the most desperate
moonshiners ever captured in the state
and one man charged with murder.
She was appointed by Sheriff
Isaac Lewis over several oth
er applicants because of her
great personal bravery and her
skill in handling a rifle and a revolver.
She does not know what fear Is; she is
a dead shot with either a ride or a re
volver, and has a killed a good deal of
big game especially deer which slit; is
Very found of hunting. She will be 43
years old this month, is descended
from one of the original settlers oi
Grant county and has never been out
of the country. Iler husband died last
year, leaving her dependent upon her
own resources. The jail is at Marys
ville, but the county seat is at Peters
burg, and when her prisoners arc want
ed In court she has to take them ten
miles under her own protection, but
none has ever yet escaped from her
Sam Self, one of the most notorious
moonshiners the state has ever known,
is now in her custody. Officers have
been trying for many years to arrest
him. but he always managed to eludo
them till a few weeks ago, when they
slipped up on him at night at his
home at the Smoke Holes. After his
arrest he said that he had ten gun.s
on his premises when he was arrested.
Scheme to Annihilate Dhtnncft.
A description of the proposed ex
press electric mono-rail line between
Manchester and Liverpool was given
to a committee of the House of Lords.
The railway is constructed on an A
shaped platform, on which is laid the
lino which bears the carriage Two
sets of rails at the side, against which
two sets of wheels operate, keep the
car steady when running round a curve
at a high speed. It is intended to run
these tiains at 110 miles an hour, so
that if a line were constructed be
tween London and Liverpool the, dis
tance would be covered under two
hours. There is no risk of collision,
as by a system of blocking and signal
ing the trains are kept fourteen
miles apart.—London Daily Mail.
Orange* for Maryland.
There Is a prospect, It seems, (hat
Maryland and Virginia may lie able
to add oranges to their annual crops.
The Department of Agriculture is mak
ing experiments that promise w^ell for
these states. Five years ago the first
experiments were begun with the Jap
anese orange, which Is extensively
used for hedges. Later the sweet or
augo was grafted upon this hardier
stock, and trees representing the cross
are growing vigorously in the depart
ment grounds in Washington and are
now covered with blossoms. Should
the yield this year be up to expecta
tions, steps will be taken toward
planting the new variety exten.-lvely
iu Virginia and Maryland.
T.lttl* Flimm Ul I aide.
The new director was positively
revolutionary in his devices. "Instead
of paying all this money to detectives
for catching defaulters." said he, "why
not U3e it to effect such an Increase
of salaries a3 would place our help be
yond the necessity to defalcate?" The
old directors sneered wltheringly.
"iou evidently don't understand bank
clerks," said they. "Why, if wo were
to raise wages that way, probably al
most every man in the house would
fall dead, and then where should wo
be?” This made the new director feel
very foolish, of course.
