THE NORTHWESTERN. BESSCIIOTKR a BIII80N. Kil» arid I'nb* LOUP CITY, - * neb ^». __ ■_ — —■ T! !• Mrs. Robert Lou's Stevenson has had a fire-proof vault built in her San Kranelseo house, where she keeps the numerous unfinished or unpublished manuscripts of her husband. A commercial weekly, in reviewing current prices, says that lemons are "stronger" and raspberries "firmer." Unfortunately this does not mean that a dozen lemons will make more lemonade or that It will oe harder to convert raspberries Into jam. The first gold pens made in this country were all manufactured by hand, the gold being cut from strips of the metal by scissors, and every sub sequent operation being performed by hand. These hand-made gold pens cost from $5 to $20, and were far in ferior to the machine made article of the present day. The sixth contract for American lo comotives to be delivered in Japan lias jnet been dosed with the American locomotive company and will be filled from Schenectady. It is for eighteen digines. An order for thirty locomo tives for the government railroads of New Zealand is being filled at the Baldwin works in Philadelphia. The tendency among the British middle classes is rather to live above their incomes than within them. There !s also a passion for luxury in London and a desire to display, which seems a peculiarly stupid and useless desire In a huge city, where one seldom knows one’s neighbors. And so, too. the cordial "pot luck” dinners of a generation ago have given place to ceremonial champagne functions, in which a man out of dress clothes is out of place. A detective of a big department store said the other day: “Winter is toy all means our busiest season. In eumtner time the stores are bothered hut little by shoplifters, but as soon cool weather sets in their annual reapparance begins. Why? Well. 1 figure it this way. First, there are fewer persons in the stores in hot weather and the nimble-fingered ones run a greater risk of discovery. Then, again, winter clothes—long overcoats and wraps- are the best possible means of concealing their booty. That is prob ably the main reason for the shop lifter's inactivity during the warm months.” Probably the most, elaborate meer schaum pipe in this country iR now in process of coloring by a New York merchant, who bought it from a local manufacturer recently for 11,800. Th“ pipe is known as a "character” pipe to tiie trude, and is a wonderfully carved reproduction of the painting 'St. John at His Bath.” It represents six maidens grouped around a fountain and either St. John 1s concealed be hind the fountain or in it: he is not in sight, at any rate. The figures are chiseled from a solid piece of meer schaum. which was imported from Turkey. The labor expended upon it extended over a period of two years, and the amber mouthpiece alone cost 1500. The money value of a title in other than a matrimonial market is illusirat ed hy the policy of an old established manufacturing business in New York city which sells its products all ove Europe. The present manager, like his father, is very democratic, but for business reasons he continues the pol icy established by his father. No agents are employed abroad except rnen with litles. This is easily ar ranged In Germany and France and Russia, but it sometimes causes in convenience in England. A titled agent on the continent, no matter how poor he may be, can usually get a hearing in a business house easier than a man without a title. No bogus titles are allowed, and the company's list of foreign agents reads like a court circular. Hooks tha* sell bv the hundred thou sand are not common, yet there are some instances that are not modern It is now just about two hundred and forty years since one John Banyan was shut up in Bedford jail. He stayed there twelve years: hut a book of his went free, and no man since that day could have suppressed or impris oned it, even had he wished. Millions •jf copies of it have been print d. Prob ably more copies are sold in any one month, now. than could have boon dis posed of in a year during the au thor’s lifetime, and the book is as vital a part of this twentieth century as it was of any preceding time. There are excellent books among the - popu lar novels.” hut spite of all the idulatory comment it w-ould.be hard to point out one that seems likely to w-pather two centuries and more as bravely as has “Pilgrim’s Progress.” During a recent French duel one of :he combatants acidentally touched the point of his sword to the ground. The leconds immediately stopped the com sat until the sword could he sterilized. ’Ine cannot hell) recalling the famous •artoon in Punch which represented Jie two Irishmen w-aiting behind a rock for their landlord, one with a ihotguu. the other with x club. "Sure :he master do be very late,” says one. tnxibusly. "He is,” says the other. 1 lope he have met wid no accident.” \fter this one cannot regard that car oon as merely a humorous fancy. I TAEM ARE'S SERMON. _ I ‘ CHURCH DECADENCE’ LAST SUN DAY S SUBJECT. — Sue* Thai t'hnrch Attendance I* mi the Inrri'iur “Not Fnnmklnjj the A*ftent* hling «f ttur.-.elve* Together" He brews x: tft. I Copyright. I»ni. by Louis Klopsrh. N. V.) Washington. Sept. 15. Mast encour aging to all Christian workers is this discourse of Dr. Talmage while deny ing the accuracy of statistics • which represent Sunday audiences as dimin ishing; text. Hebrews x: -5, "Not for saking the assembling of ourselves to gether." Startling statements have been made In many of the pulpits and in some of the religious newspapers. It is heard over and over again that church at tendance in America is in decadence. 1 deny the statements by presenting j some hard facts. No one will dispute , the fact that there are more churches i in America than ever before, one de- ! nomination averaging two new church- ; es every day of the year. The law of i demand and supply Is as inexorable In the kingdom of God as it is in the t world. More churches supplied argues more church privileges demanded, j More banks, more bankers; more fac- j lories, more manufacturers; more ! ships, more importers; more churches, more attendants. in all our cities witnin n few years churches have been built large enough to swallow up two or three of the old time churches. I cannot understand with what kind of arithmetic and slate pencil a man calculates when he comes to (he conclusion ihat church attend ance in America is in decadence. Take the aggregate of the number of people who enter the house of (Sod now and compare it with the aggregate of the people who entered the house of (Jod twenty-five years ago. and the piesent attendance is four to one. The facts are most exhilarating instead of being depressing That man who represents 1 the opposite statistics must have been most unfortunate in his church ac- I qualntance. 1 of tlmlern U^llioiU. Churches are often cleared of their audiences by the attempt to transplant the modes of the past into the present, j The modes and methods of fifty years ago are no mote appropriate for to-day than tin* modes and methods of to-day | will be appropriate for fifty years ! hence. Dr. Kirk. Dr. McElioy, Dr. j Mason. Dr. De Witt, Dr. Vetmllyea and hundreds of other men just as gooii as they were never lacked audiences, be cause they were abreast of ihe time in which they lived. People will not be interesting in what we say unless we understand the spirit of the day in which we live. All the woehegonish statistics are given by tliosp who are J trying in our time to work with the ^ wornout machinery of the past times. | Such men might just as well throw the ! furnaces out of our church basements j and substitute the foot stoves whim i our grandmothers used to carry with I them to meeting, and throw out our I organs and our cornets and take the old-fashioned tuning fork, striking it i oil the knee and then lifting it to the ear to catch the pitch of the hymn, and might as well throw out our modern platforms and modern pulpits and sub stitute the wineglass pulpit up which ; the minister used to climb to the dizzy height of Mont lilaiie solitariness anil then go in and out of sight, and shut the door after him. When you can get the great masses of the people to fane passage from Albany to Buffalo in I stage-coach or canallioat in preference to the lightning express train which j does it in four hours, then you can get the great masses of the people to go to n church half a century behind the time. V)IU|Mtllil'< <>r the tViiple. At a meeting of the general assembly ; uf the Presbyterian church ot the l States a clergyman accustomed on the Sabbath to preach to an audi ence of two or three hundred people, in tiu audience room that could hold fifteen hundred, was appointed to preach a sermon on how to teat h the masses. I am told the incongruity was too much for the risibilities of many of the clergy in the audience. Now. a young man coming out front such bodwarfing influences, how can lie enter into the wants and the woes and the sympathies of the people who want on the Lord's day a praittcal gospel that will help them all the week and help them forever? Young ministers are told they must preach Christ and him crucified. Yes. but not us an abstraction. Many a minister lias preached Christ and him crucified in such a way that he preach ed an audience of five hundred down to two hundred, ami from two hundred to one hundred, and from one hundred to fifty, and from fifty to twenty, and on down until there was hut little left save the sexton, who was paid to stay until the serve • was over and lot k up There is a great deal of cant about Christ and him crucified. It is not Christ and him crucified as an ubstrae tlon, but as an omnipotent sympathy applied to all the wants and woes o: ' our immortal nature a Christ who will help us In every dome tie. social, financial, polithal, national struggle a Christ for the parlor, a Christ lor the nursery, a Christ tor the kitchen, u for the hanking house, a Christ for the street, a Christ for the store, a Christ for the hanking house, a ( hri.-t for the factory, a Christ for the congressional assembly, a Christ for the courtroom, a Christ for every trial and every emergency and every perturbation . ■Meeting f’utdlc Xeeiln. Ah. my friends, churches will he largely attended just in proportion as we ministers can meet their wants, meet their sufferings, meet their be reavements and meet their sympathies, if there be a church with small help, small audience, medium help, medium audience; large help, large audience. If there be a famine in a city and three depots of bread and one depot lias 101) loaves and another 500 loaves and an other depot 10.000 lo ves, the depot that has 100 loaves will have appli cants, the depot that has .loo loaves will have far more applicants, the depot that has 10.000 loaves will have throngs, throngs, throngs. Oh. my brethren in the Christian ministry, we must somehow get our shoulder under the burden of the peo- j pie on the ixird's day und .five them a , good stout life, and we can do it. Wc j have it all our own way. It is a great pity If. with the floor clear and no in terruption. we cannot during the i course of an hour get our hymn or out . prayer or our sermon under such mo- . mentum we can. by the help or (iod. lift the people, body, mind and soul. | clear out of their sins, temptations and j troubles. ' think that ministerial laziness i often empties tiie ehtireh of auditor*. Hearers, who are intelligent through ' reading newspapers and by active as- j soeintion in business circles, will not ; on t make our < hiu< ties mug nets to draw tiie people tl.ereupto, so that a man will feel uneasy if he does not go to church, saying: "I wish 1 had goue this morning. I wonder if I can't dress yet and get there in time, it is 11 o’clock; now they are siuging. It is half-past II; now they are pleach ing. [ wonder when the folks will be home to lei! its what was said, what has been going on." When the impres sion is confirmed that our chun hes. by architecture, by music, by sociality and by sermon, shall he made the most at tractive places on earth, then we will want twice as many churches as we nave now, twice as large, and tlmn they will not half accommodate Un people, * * * \imriou* HiilTerinif. Wliy should wt' go away off to get ; an illustration of the vicarious suf- i feting of Jesus Christ v.fien at Hlooni fleld. N. J.. two little children wcr" | walking on (lie rail track and a train was coining; but they were on a bridge j of trestlework. and the little girl took i iter brother atm let him down through j the trestlework a> gently us sin could toward tin' water, veto carefully end lovingly ami eautloudy. so that he ; might not be hurt in tit- fall anti 1 picked up by those- w ho were standing i near by; while doing th; t tht train ( struck her. and hardly enough of her ! body was left to gather into a funeral , casket? What wots that? Vicarious! suffering. l.ike Christ. l’ang for others. Woe. for others. Death for j others. What is the u-e of our going away off to find an illustration In past ! ages when in Michigan a mall carrier on horseback, riding <>n. pursued by j those flames which had swept over a hundred miles, saw an old man by the roadside, dismounted, helped tin* old man on the horse, saying. "Now, whip 1 up and get away" The old man got j away, but the mail carrier perished. 1 Just like Christ dismounting from the ■ glories of heaven to put ns on the way ! of deliverance, then falling hack into i the flames of sacrifice for others. Pang | for otheis. Woe for other.-. Death for others. Vicarious suffering. What is the use of our going away off in ancient history to find an illustration of tin fa.-t that it is dangerous to defy ! Cod 'vlien in the Adirondacks I saw a flush of lightning and holt so vivid i -aid. "That strut k something very ; near?" \ few hours afterward we found tiiat two farmers that Monday ! morning had la- n seated under a tre>. the one boasting how the day It -fore , - on the Cords day—he had got his hay in atnl so cheated the l.ord out of that part of the time anyhow*, and both of them laughing over the achievement by which they had wronged the l.ord of his holy day. whin the lightning struck one dead instantly, and the other had been two weeks in lied when wc left the Adiron dacks and has became an Invalid. I suppose, for life. He did not make as much out (,i th£ Lord as he thought he did. Was it any less an illustra non for my soul localise T met the clergyman on his way home from the funeral, ami lie told me of the facts and said the body of the man who had been destroyed was black with elec tricity? Tli«* Itlfsietl Krit. What is the use of going away off to get an illustration when in a house on Third avenue. Brooklyn. 1 saw a woman dying, Hnd she said. ".Mr. TaImage, heaven used to lie to me a great way olT. but it now is just at the foot of the tied?" What, is the use of your going away off to get illustra tions of a victorious deathbfd when all Wales wras tilled with the story of the dying experience of Frances rtid ley Havergal? She got her feet wet standing on the ground preaching temperance and the gospel to a group of bo>8 and men, went home with a chill, and congestion set, in. and they told her she was very dangerously sick. "I thought so," she said, "but it is really too good to be true that I am going. Doctor, do you really think I am going?" "Yes." "Today?” "Prob ably." She said. "Beautiful, splendid, to be so near the gale of heaven." Then after a spasm of pain she nestled down in the pillows and said. "There now. it is all over—blessed rest." Then she tried to sing, and she struck one glad note, high note of praise to Christ, but could sing only one word, "He." and then ail was still. She fin ished it in heaven. No NrH for Aiioloyirii. It is high time that the church of God stopped writing apologies for the church. Let the men who are on the outside, who despise religion, write the apologies. If any people do not want tlie church, they need not have it. It is a free country. If any man does not want tlie gospel, he need not have it. It is a free country. Hut you go out. O people of God. and give the gospel to the millions of America who do want it! It is high time to stop skirmishing and bring on a general engagement I want to live to see the Arimisgodon. all the armies of heaven and heli ill battle array, for I know onr conqueror on the white horse will gain the day. Let tile church of God lie devoted to nothing else, but go right on to this conquest. When Moses with his army was try ing to conquer the Ethiopians, profane history says, it was expected that he would go in i. roundabout way and come b> tin banks of the river, as other armies had done, because the straight route was infested with snakes, and no army and no man had dared to go across this serpent infest ed region. Hut Moses surprised them. He sent his men out to gather up ibises. The ibis is a bird celebrated for serpent slaying, and those ibises were gathered into crates and into baskets, and they were carried at the head of the army of Moses, and, com ing up to the serpent infested region, the crates were opened, and the ibi ses flow forth, and the way was cleared, and the army of Moses march ed right on and came so unexpectedly on tlie Ethiopians that they flew in wild dismay. <) church of God, you are not to march in a roundabout way, but to go straight forward, depending upon winged influences to clear tlie way. Hosts of tlie living God, march on. march on! Church attendance, large now, is going to lie larger yet. The sky Is brightening in every direc tion. I urn glad for the boy and girl five years oi]fnmr,v. The absent-mindedness of I)i. Alfred Enter-on. the arc biologist, formerly of ih. Johns Hopkins t’niverslty, and who i- now abiond making a collection of antiquities for the museum of th * t’niversity of California, is well known among his Baltimore friends. Thu memorable oceasion when, booked for i public lecture at the Hopkins, lie ,et iiis audience wait in ghastly si spenso while h«, all unconscious of the en gagement, was found busily c'nplo.ve.d unpacking a box of casts, will long he ; eniember ed. His carefully adjusting a fresh collar over one already on, his going to the station and forgetting to take his train, me historic in univer sity lore; hut it remains for his friend and co-laborer. Joseph Thatcher Clark of the British Museum, to toil the fol lowing story. The pair wei< en route to make some Important excavations and had reached Southern Europe, when Dr. Emerson appeared with an indignant face and a letter from Amer ica In his hand. He explained that the letter was from one of his several brothers, accusing him of having ab sent-mindedly carried off several shirts belonging to the brother when starting abroad. “To prove horn basely false and unjust hi.* suspicions are." said the troubled doctor. "I will get all .my shirts and spread them out before you and see if you can find a single one bearing any initial other than my own." The shirts, eleven in number, were produced, and consternation fol lowed when they were found to be variously labeled Arthur Hale, (!. Em erson, H. Emerson. 1. '/... X. F. K. la fact, all except two—these hearing no label at all. and presumably Dr. Em erson's— bore Initials other than his own.—Baltimore Sun. "What is the name of that book that shows the social standing of the aris tocratic families?" inquired the seeker after knowledge. “ ‘BradstreetV " promptly replied the man who knew. THE SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON XIII. SEPT. 29 A REVIEW OF THE QUARTER. Guldru Text “The Memory of Uu 1.11 l‘d l» from Everlasting to Everlasting I'pon Them That Eear Him” 1’*a. 103: IT Beginning* of History. The history may be tulight In three method* according to the guiding prin ciple we choose. I. Tty the Historical Method. Noting th. gieat event* which mark the progress by epochs. It Is not worth while to learn by heart ttll the details; but the great event*, which are like milestones, denoting the stages of progress in the onward marcl of humun history, should be committed to memory. "God, Creation, Man. t’arndlse, Thi Kail, The Progress of Wickedness. The Deluge, The Call of Abraham, The Great Covenant." The exact dates no one knows. Hut It is will to keep In mind the date* In tin margins of our Hlblcs, so that we may realize the time element and the relation of the events to one another. Head the brst thirty-live chapters of Genesis. II. By the Biographical Method This Is the basis of the selections of the Inter national Committee for the present scheme of six years. "Universal history. >ay* Carlyle, "the history of what man lias accomplished in Ibis world. Is at Iwd 11mi the history of the great men who have worked here." "(me comfort Is that great men, taken up In any way, arc profitable company. We cannot look upon a great man without gaining something from him." "We all love great men. "Does not every true man feel that he I* himself made higher by doing reverence Hi what I* really above him?" "It I* well sold. In every w use. that a man s re ligion t> the chief fact with regard to him A man's or a nation of men's." Let us. therefore, make character sketches of the men we have been studying, giving first a brief biography, and tht traits which make them influential, the char acteristics that make them attractive, the fa tilts to be avoided! "Adam, Kvc, Cain, Abel. Enoch, Noah. Abraham. Sarah. Bot. Isaac. Rehckah, Jacob. Esau. Buhan." III. By the Travel .Method. The differ ent places, and the Journeys between them, are the connecting thread of the history. Bsc the map, or draw an out line. and have the scholars locate the places and trace the journeys: "I'r, Chaldea, Hiiraii. Canaan. Phecheni Bethel. Hebron, Heersheba, Oaks of Manire, Cave of Aluchpclah, Gcrar, Kgypt. J’adaii-aram. IVnlel. The Brook Jabbok." In The Outlook Itnd the followInR. which can lie used by many students with great advantage: "Another new course will be Introduced this year In Brooklyn, following the meth od of the study of literature In the schools. Kor instance, a boy in studying Whittier Is told to make for himself a book (hi the cover which he will design he will Introduce a picture of Whittier’s home. Then lie will write for thb book a brief life of the author, and a list of Ids principal waitings with quotations, gaining as a result i simple clear, and permanent knowledge of Whittier. What boy* would fail to be delighted with such study? Ap plying 'hb nn thod, a portion id the Bible, sach ;*s (the Book of (lenesis for this quartet or) the Pentateuch will In- taken, torn fi'iu i its binding, and each boy will design a cover for the same, either in black and white, or In water colors. He will, by tin inductive process, seek in tin book tin suggestions for ills designs, lb will also writ** an outline of tin* principal historical or religious facts, and other Items ot information, that will give a simple idea of that portion of scripture. The books 01 the Bible will be divided Into their nutnral groups, and : fter cm ors are d* signed for these, the whole w ill lie enclosed in a cover designed for the entire Bible. "It Is hoped that Utter this coursi a boy will liaie such all Intelligent grasp of the Scripture, with its wealth of his tory, poetry, prophecy and spiritual heln. that he will reverence a.iid love it, and have a foundation for rapid progress In the study of the Word, which will lead to rich results in succeeding years. "Theie is room tor much more work in this kind of Billie study, and i! is suggest ed that tlios" in charge of work utilize tin privileges suggested and make an effort to Introduce other courses.” Once Reporter, Non Oil King, D. K. Beatty, one of the new Texas oil kings, was a reporter when the news of it great oil •'strike' came in. He got together $10 and by putting that up its a security he "bluffed" the discoverers and goi valuable lands, which proved so fruitful that he was able to pay the balance due on them in a few weeks. JACKSTRAWS. Ready for the Tray a wornout gir meat. The land of plenty from the immi grant ship. Even a big fat man may feel a per sonal slight. It takes time to bring nuinj « jail bird to his senses. The more a man is envied the less real happiness he has. "There's no use talking." thought the conceited uarrot, "I'm a bird." 1 and all wise mothers make St. Jacobs Oil a household remedy for the aim pie reason that it always Conquers Pain Started m Fortune With Ten Dollar*. I). It. Beatty, one of the new Texas oil kings, was a reporter when the news of a great oil “strlko” came In. He got together $10 and by putting that up as a security bo ‘'bluffed.” tho discoverers and got valuable lands, which proved so fruitful that he won able to pay'the balance due on them in a few weeks. OH, MAMA, Something 1» Biting Me." It is not itching piles that ails you or your child. It Is the pin or seat norm that cause* you or your child to have rectal trouble. Soou after retiring for the night the worm appears It bites and stings and causes scratching aiel aching. Mothers know what it means when the child cries out: "Ma. Ma. something is biting me." And sure enough, upon examining her child,shednds the naughty, white.shurppoint ed at both ends, the troublesome pin worm lm bedded In the child's rectum. Th*s worm causes more tie rvousueas to young or old persona thun any other disease. And the itching Is not plies hut pin worm. The only sure and barm less remedy is STEKF.TEE'S PIN WORM DESTROYER. Ask your druggist for Stcke tee's p'u Worm Destroyer. In order that you get the right meutclue, send me 26c postage. Will send by return mail. Address GEO. G. STEKKTEK. Grand Kupids, Mich. Please mention this paper. Cranks are persons who do not sea things as you do. Row Clothes Art Blistered. Many of the starches now being used in washable fabrics contain ingredi ents that break anti blister the goods so that after a few washings they are of little service. Defiance btarch (made in Nebraska) is manufactured with a special view to obviating the difficulty. It contains a solution that can in no way injure the linen but instead give3 it a .smooth, glossy finish that makes goods look new after each iron ing. Sold by leading grocers. Made by Magnetic Starch Co., Omaha, Neb. Hope is the froth that hides the dregs in life's cup. lT3 PAINT When you paint you want it, 1 to last; 2 look well; 3 protect your house. Some paint does 1, not 2 or 3; some does 2 awhile, not 1 or 3; lead and oil does 2 well, 3 fairly, 1 badly. Better have it all; 12 3 paint: Devoe ready paint; the best isn’t too good. Get Devoe of your dealer; take noth ing less. Pamphlet on painting sent free if you mention this paper. GOOD-PAINT DEVOE, CHICAGO. CSIOJi MADE. For MoreTlinn .iCJuarlerof a Century The reputation of W. L. Douglas $3.00 and $3.50 shoes for style, comfort and wear has excelled all other makes sold at these prices. This excellent reputation has been won by merit alone. W. L. Douglas shoes have to give better satisfaction than other $3.00 and $3.50 shoes because his reputation for the best $3.00 and $3.50 shoes must be maintained. The standard has always been placed so high that the wearer receives more value for his money in the W. L. Douglas $3.00 and $3.50 shoes than he can get elsewhere. W.L. Douglas sells more $3.00 and $3.50 shoes than guy other two manufacturers. W. L. Douglas $4.00 OUt Edge Line _ cannet be equalled at any price. W. L. Dougina 03.00 and 03.80 •ftoea ormrnailo of tha mama high prado leathcrr uaod In 08 and 0O mhoaa and am fuat am pood. Sold by the best shoe dealers everywhere Insist upon having W. l„ Donglns shoes with name and price stamped on bottom. flow to Onler by W t rVtnnlaa V»lrth»twill ruusl %!, and U cut It * o Aw -lftK m**R*u wnents of f V*‘L ? • ■7>s*,1,l1*‘,e,J,rwl: slzrandwidlh m •V-hV^Aw. U8u,l^y worn; plain or / *°*{ **‘av7* mert t t W fif \1Uni g[ •W ■OlM. 'k# 1 ;V A flt guaranteed. fa«l I'alar Kftlata ***•*•• frta. W. la. Uuurlai, llrockloo, MnM,