AN EASTER SONG
A song of sunshine through the rain.
Of spring across the snow;
A bairn to heal the hurts of pain,
A peace surpassing w'oe.
Uft up your heads, ye sorrowing ones,
And be ye glad of heart.
For Calvary and Easter Day.
Earth’s saddest day and gladdest day.
Were just one da^' apart!
With shudder of despair and losa
The world's deep heart was wrung,
As, lifted high upon His cross,
The I.ord of Glory hung—
When rocks were rent, and ghostly
forms
Stole forth in street and mart;
But Calvary and Easter Day.
Earth's blackest day and whitest day.
Were just one day apart.
—Susan Coolidge.
Symbol of Glad Easter
All Nations and All Peoples Have Connected the Egg
with the Creation or Renewal of Life.
OR days the shop
windows have
spoken eloquently
though mutely of
the advent of the
great spring fes
tival which i n
some form or
other the classes
and masses of the
l>eople are observ
ing. Easter lilies
and tulips, violets
and hyacinths all
have spoken of
the birth of a
new year, of the
springing forth of
buds and blos
soms. of the thrill
mg m uira songs, or the breaking or i
ice-bound waters, of the passing of j
winter, and of the return of the sun. j
bringing with it seedtime, and the
birth of new hopes and desires, sym
bolized in the celebration of Easter.
And everywhere the egg. symbolic
of the universe and of life, of the
springing forth from the germ of new
forces and powers, has been in evi
dence.
The Egyptians, the Jews, the Per
sians and Hindus, the Syrians, the
Burmese, the Chinese, the Australians,
the Hawaiians—ail have connected the
egg with the creation or renewal of
life
Hawaii, the islanders declare, was a
great egg which some mammoth bird
dropped as it passed over the seas.
The Egyptians regarded the egg as
a sacred emblem of the renovation of
mankind after the flood, and the Jews
used it as a type of their departure
from the land of the Egyptians, and
with the Paschal lamb it was a part
of the Passover feast.
The early Christians were, of
course, Jewish, and when they began
to observe Easter as a Christian feast
gave to the egg as a part of the cere
monial of the season a new signifi
cance, that of the resurrection from the j
dead. Eggs were forbidden during
Lent, and so naturally accumulated,
as the hens did not stop laying. Eat- ,
ing them on Easter day signified that
fasting time was over and feasting
begun, so they were connected with
joy just as were the bells which, hush
ed during the period preceding Easter '
day, broke into joyous pealing at its
dawn.
The name for Easter in the romance !
languages—paques in French, pasqua
in Italian, and pascua in Spanish— ;
comes through the Latin pascha, from
the Chaldean form of the Hebrew
name for the Passover festival. Hence 1
the eggs are pace, pashe, paschal, or j
pasque eggs, as well as Easter eggs.
When the early Christians began to j
observe Easter as a Christian festival
a controversy as to the time of its
observance, known as the Paschal 1
controversy, and extending from the
second to the fourth centuries, arose.
The Eastern churches kept it at the i
same time as the Jewish Passover. 1
the 14th day of the Jewish lunar
month of Nisan, which most often
corresponds to our month of April,
though sometimes synchronous with
March. The Western churches thought
that it should be identified with Sun
day, and observed it on the Sunday
.following the 14th day of Nisan. At
the beginning of the fourth century,
the Emperor Constantine succeeded in
having a canon passed by the ecumen
ical council of Nice, fixing and mak
ing uniform the date of its observance,
though as the rules laid down by this
council for the date of its observance
made it necessary to reconcile three
periods, with no common measure,
namely, the week, the lunar month
and the solar year, the determination
of Easter was for a long time a mat
ter requiring great nicety of calcula
tion. and so, as the Egyptians were
skilled in astronomical matters, this
was left for a long time to the Alex
andrian see to decide.
The rules decreed that the 21st of
March should he regarded as the ver
nal equinox.
The full moon happening upon or
next after the 21st of March should
be regarded as the full moon of the
month of Xisan.
The first Lord's day after that full
moon should be observed as Easter
day.
If the full moon chanced to fall on
Sunday, the next Sunday should be
Easter day.
As all the movable feasts and fasts
depend on Easter, uniformity of time
in its observance was an important^
matter. The rules adopted by the
Xicene council makes it possible for
it to fall upon any Sunday of five
weeks, commencing writh March 22 and
ending with April 25.
The name Easter is derived lrom
the name of the Saxon goddess of
spring. Eostre, Eastre. or Ostera, and
may be traced back to the Phoenician
moon goddess, Astarte, so often asso
ciated with the hare in Eastern mytte.
Hence, perhaps, the use of the hare
in connection with the Easter eggs,
which it is said to lay.
Some think the name comes from
the word oster, which means rising,
and to Christians it, of course, is
commemorative of the rising of Christ
from the dead.
1 he month dedicated to the spring
goddess of the Saxons was the fourth
month, which answer/ to our April,
and her festival was held in honor of
the opening of the natural year, to
commemorate the setting free of the
natural forces of germination and
growth w’hich the winter had chilled
and crucified.
Each nation has had its own Easter
customs, but many of them can be
traced back to the ancient spring fes
tivals welcoming the return of the
sun. In the church it is one of the
three great Christian feasts, and has
been known as the Queen of Festivals
and the Lord of Hays. It is ushered
in by vigil and fasting, but is, itself,
a time of rejoicing. In the olden days
a relic of the fire worshiping time
could be found in the kindling of
new and pure fires, after the old one3
had been extinguished, from the Pas
chal candle, the great and sacred can
die which often weighed hundreds of
pounds. The washing of the feet of
others by high dignitaries of church
and state was, of course, done in
memory of Christ's washing the feet
of the aposties.
music, candies, bonfires, flowers,
miracle plays, the pealing of bells,
the exchange of gifts, the liberation
of prisoners, the setting free of slaves,
the giving of alms or maunds. the
playing of games, some of them rude
and rough enough indeed, during East
er week—these set apart the season
from others.
Certain articles of food, such as tan
sy cake, typifying the “bitter herbs."
and hot cross buns and custards were
eaten in England. In Ireland the
peasants rose early to see the sun
dance, which we may do by looking
in a stream of water, as they did
Most of the ruder sports have died
out, hut the note of gladness in its ob
servance still dominates, though
sounded in gentler fashion.
And the solemn observance of the
church, made beautiful by an impres
sive ritual invested with all that, light
and color and sound can add to a cere
mony, inspire the faithful with the
thought that once again light and life
have triumphed over death and dark
ness.
Unproductive Irish Land.
Since 1840 1,300,000 acres of Irish
land have gone out of cultivation.
MJUNNYm EGG a
I XHTECTICWS.
CUT TOT THE ECC. A>TD THE
SEVEN -P^RXS. WHEN WM>E*nr
TUT TOSE3HW.WIU. KMC*. BUNNY.
SEE WHAT YOU BUY
DO NOT TAKE THE CATALOGUE
STATEMENT FOR IT.
I _
CASE OF A MAIL-ORDER BUGGY
■’“he Purchaser Was Ashamed t» Use
It and Sold It to His Hired
Man—It Pays to Buy
at Home.
(Copyright, by Alfred C. Clark.)
The East End of London is an ex
ample of what the city does for hu
manity in creating poverty, misery,
disease, drunkenness and crime. Jef
ferson was right when he said: “Great
cities are great sores upon the body
politic.” Is it any wonder that lovers
of their kind are horror-stricken at
the grinding of these gigantic mills
whose grist is the bodies and souls of
men?
But there is another movement con
nected with this current setting city
ward which, like it, is full of grave
menace to the welfare of humanity.
This is the dry rot now invading thou
sands of villages and towns. It is not
lack of cajAt|tl or business energy in
the towns, or discrimination in
freights or exhaustion of the soil in
the surrounding country that is bring
ing about this change, but a new and
dangerous form of competition, and
the caprices of those who buy. Go
into these towns and you will find
them at a standstill or going back
ward. Inquire of their business men
or commercial travelers and you will
learn that business is not as good as
formerly and that the prospect is for
a continued shrinkage in trade. An
observant commercial traveler said
to the writer: “I believe the day of
the village and town is over. The big
fish 'are everywhere eating up the lit
tle fish. A few small lines of business
that cannot be done by mail, such as
timekeeper than that famous watch
of Capt. Cuttle's. Another friend
bought a buggy at $34 and was elated
over his purchase until it came and
he saw that the top was a very ordin
ary article of oil cloth, instead of
leather, and he was so ashamed of it
that he sold it at a loss to his hired
man and bought a better one in a
neighboring town. A lady and her
two daughters bought shoes from the
catalogue and when asked why they
had trouble with their feet said it was
because of ill-fltting shoes. But such
instances of the bad effects of buy
ing "sight unseen” are dally occurring
all over the country. It is only natur
al and inevitable that such things
should happen.
Let us see what will be the effect
of this formidable diversion of trade,
if carried to its logical conclusion.
Nearly all the business houses dV’ the
smaller towns will become bankrupt,
the value of town property will de
cline, churches aud schools will re
ceive a feeble support and the towns,
instead of being centers of business
and social activity, will almost cease
to exist. The country in general will
become like many portions of the
south where the large plantations, by
getting their supplies in the cities,
have kept the neighboring towns
down to the cross-roads type—dreary,
unpainted little places of a half dozen
ramshackle houses. The evil effects
of this loss of trade and destruction
of the value of town property will re
act upon the value of farm property
by cutting off the home market. They
will add to the taxes on lands by re
ducing taxable values in the towns.
Surely it is not to the interest of any
body, except the bloated corporations
carrying on the mail order business,
to see the towns and villages fall into
decay. A live town is not only of
value to the lands surrounding it, but
its well stocked business houses are
a convenience and a benefit to the
buyer. Even if money could, in the
long run, be saved by ordering every
thing from the city, the inconvenience
' ■'■ :// . '//
!<u:J ''
The mail-order habit will cut the limb of local prosperity from the tree
of national life and drop you and your community into the bottomless pit
of business stagnation. Are you wielding the saw that means certain dis
aster to you and your community?
barbering, blacksmithing or the se’-v- ]
ing of soft drinks and ice cream may :
survive, but such lines of trade can- ;
aot sustain a decent town." The j
causa of this widespread loss of busi
ness is the aggressive and destructive
competition of the catalogue houses
in the big cities. It has been possible
for 40 years or more to buy of some
houses in the cities, if one felt that
the merchants of his town were ex
acting too much profit, but this effort
of the mail order houses to cut the
retailer altogether is a new thing, the
growth of the past few years. Start
ing with a few lines of trade, this ,
form of competition has come to cover j
almost everything that can be sold in :
a country town and it is even asserted
that a savings bank department is to
he added by one of the catalogue
houses.
The claim that the mail order
houses of Chicago are doing an an
nual business of over $200,000,000 may
seem large, but one house alone has
sold goods to the amount of $29,000,
000 in the past six months and is now
incubating a new plan to increase its
enormous business by selling shares
of stock to thousands of people in the
hope of making them regular cus
tomers.
The skillfully worded advertisement
and the big catalogue, with its pic
tures of articles in a hundred lines of
trade, are very alluring to buyers,
most of whom are not familiar with
prices and qualities. Some of the
articles below the usual prices are of
an inferior quality, while the average
price is usually fully up to what would
he paid to the home dealer. As was
shown last winter in a speech in con
gress, articles for the mail order trade
are often misbranded at the request
of the mail order people with delib
erate intent to deceive. One of the
instances given by this congressman
was of some thousands of finger rings
stamped “fourteen carats” when they
were in reality only ten.
The buyer who orders from his
catalogue, or from an advertisement,
does not see the articles till they
come and is often disappointed in the
quality of the most of them, but there
is no redress as there would be If he
bought at home. He does not like to
own that he is disappointed, so he
makes the best of it and tries to per
suade himself that he has saved
money. In many instances he is not
well enough informed in values to
know that he could have bought as
cheaply and selected much more sat
isfactorily at home. On a rural route
with which I am familiar and over
which most of the Incoming letters
are from mail order houses and the
outgoing ones carry back money or
ders, lives a friend of mine who
bought a watch from the catalogue at
what he considered a rare bargain.
The watch came, to be sure, but it did
not go, that is at the right speed,
and, although money enough was
spent on it to bring the price np to
a good figure, it was no better as a
and uncertainty of it would always
make such shopping unsatisfactory
Ordering from a catalogue is a leap
in the dark, except in the case of a
few articles whose color, shape and
quality are always the same.
To the man who can soberly look
on both sides of the question and who
can put himself in the place of “tho
other fellow” the query will come:
Is it best from mere whim, or even
for a certainty of saving from one to
half a dozen dollars in a year to turn
my back on the old, convenient ways
of doing business, and to do my pari
toward ruining the business of my
old acquaintances and friends, and 01
destroying the value of property in
the town where my friends live?
F. B. MILLER.
RICHEST WOMAN IN BRITAIN.
Miss Emily Charlotte Talbot of Wales
Has Distinction.
It will probably surprise most peo
ple to learn that at the present mo
ment the wealthiest British woman
living is a Welshwoman; more, that
she is single. Miss Emily Charlotte
Talbot was one of the three children
of Mr. Christopher Talbot, a popula;
M. P. of the mid-Victorian era. The
only son died in early youth, and Miss
Talbot's sister, somewhat younget
than herself, became the wife, just 40
years ago, of Mr. Fletcher of Saltoun
Miss Talbot remained at home, keep
ing house for her father at beautiful
Margam Abbey, Glamorganshire, and
on his death, which took place some
16 years ago, his devoted elder daugh
ter found herself left his sole execu
trix, and owner of all the Talbot real
estate, valued at about a million and
a half sterling, as also of a reversion
ary interest in a huge trust fund in
consols.
Didn’t Suit Him.
People who patronize the cars run
ning out to Forest Hills are familial
with Conductor Crowley, the man who
wears six service stripes on his
sleeve, says a writer in the Boston
Herald.
Cw the afternoon of election day in
November one of his passengers was
an i>ld man who had been imbibing
encfagh to make him go to sleep in the
corner of the car.
Just before it reached Dudley street
the conductor announced with his
usual rich roll of the r, “Cir-r-cuit and
Guild."
“Yer a liar! It’s John B. Moran!”
shouted the sleepy one, waking up
suddenly.
New Metric Chart.
A new metric chart representing
geographically measures of the Inter
national metric system of weights and
measures has been prepared by the
bureau of standards of the department
of commerce and labor, and will be
furnished free to any school teaching
the system.
'
BUREAU SAVES
THE DOWNCAST
FROM SUICIDE
REMARKABLE WORK DONE BY
THE SALVATION ARMY IN
NEW YQRK.
AID FOR FAILURES
IN LIFE’S STRUGGLE
Hope, Cheer and Material Aid Given
All Who Apply to This Unique Or
ganization—Officer in Charge Tells
of the Work Done in One Day, Char
acteristic of the Twenty-Four Hours
—Gen. Booth Talks of Causes Which
Led to the Formation of Plan to
Check Self-Destruction.
New York.—Busy? There isn't a
busier place in all the city. Messen
gers hurry in and out with sheaves
of telegrams; postmen bring special
delivery letters; officers in uniform
escort grave looking persons hither
and thither. There are conferences
in small offices and then talks with
a man with epaulets who sits at a
large roll-top desk. Clerks, stenog
raphers and typewriters have their
rart in the multiple activities.
There is so much life that it seems
hard to realize that the business car
ried on concerns self-destruction, for
Using Persuasion.
this is the anti-suicide bureau of the
Salvation Army.
This institution carries on its work
by letter and by telegraph. It is a
correspondence school of adversity,
a i*'pository of all trouble. Its pat
rons who call in person are treated
with as much deference as though
they had opened an account in a bro
ker's office and the connection was
likely to be enduring and profitable.
General William Booth devised the
anti-suicide bureau in London, and
the New York establishment is a de
velopment of it, worked out in ac
cordance with conditions peculiar to
the metropolis of the western world.
Most persons who talk mournfully
to their friends about not being long
for this world are short on resolution
when the time comes for them to
make good the threats they have
made concerning shuffling ofT this
mortal coil with their own hands.
Don’t Talk of Suicide.
The men and women who silently
give way to despair are those who
are prone to take their own lives
without ever saying a word about it
in advance. The anti-suicide bureau
gives them a chance to tell their trou
bles in strictest confidence and- to
receive help and encouragement at a
time when they would not bare their
secrets either to acquaintances or
friends on account of pride.
First of all to present himself to
the consideration of the bureau was
a youth who said that at times he was
so overcome with the inclination to
seek “the open door" that he could
not resist it. Once he had jumped off
a ferryboat and on another occasion
a bridge had formed a convenient
point of vantage from which he had
sought a watery grave. Whenever
things were going against him the
impulse beset him. He was out of
employment and the feeling had- ob
sessed him. What should he do? The
answer to that was easy. The bureau
found employment for him and he is
now cheerful and happy.
There called a few minutes later a
man well known in the business
world, who said he could hardly blame
men who were unfortunate from
yielding to the inclination toward self
destruction, for he himself, although
he had wealth and everything, from
a worldly point of view, which heart
could wish, and was connected with
the church, found there were times
when he had felt almost irresistibly
impelled to take his own life. Such
DEATH VALLEY’S BLOOM
Springtime Turns Dreaded Spot Into
One of the Most Beautiful
on the Earth.
Think, If you will, of a long, low,
valley, lying between two lofty ranges
of barren mountains—a white glisten
ing sink for a miserable desert river
—the whole overlaid with a thick
black pall of wind and sand and ashes
from the dead craters that fringe its
borders; add all the heat and horrid
fumes of Gehenna, and you have
some idea of Death Valley in summer,
says the San Francisco Chronicle.
Wash these mountains clean with
three months of almost continual
cloudbursts and rain, rim in their feet
and the whole edge of the valley with
foot deep grasses, lush and green as
any that ever floored Sierran cienga,
sprinkle the white waste with green
bunchtes of mesquite all aglow* with
myriad blossoms, arch over all an
Adriatic sky, cooled with the balmiest
of breezes, and you have pictured
Death Valley at the beginning of
periods of depression had come to
him when he was suffering from
slight illness. He could not account
for the tendency in any way, but by
the application of the powers of his
will and by devotion to religion he
had at last mastered it.
Ail Strictly Confidential.
It is the rule of the bureau that
everything connected with its work
should be strictly confidential, and all
telegrams and letters are handled
with every precaution to insure se
crecy.
Coi. Holland, however, who has
charge of the work in New York, by
way of illustrating the matter in
which the bureau was conducted,
gave a reporter a synopsis of one
day's wrork.
No. 1 on that day was a baker out
of employment. He was brooding
over his misfortune and meditating
finding some sequestered nook in
which he could blow out his brains
with a revolver. The bureau induced
h;ni to surrender the weapon, which
was fully loaded. Temporary employ
ment as an elevator man was provided
for him, and he is interested in his
■ occupation. The bureau, meanwhile,
is trying to get him work more suited
to his training.
For No. 2 there seemed to be little
which could be done in New York. He
was an elevator pilot, who was threat
ened with consumption. The bureau
is arranging to have him sent west to
some dryer climate, where he may be
able to gain strength, for at present
he is hardly strong enougii to do any
work.
Feared Bankruptcy.
Prescribing for case No. 3 was
rather expensive, as it was that of a
business man 65 years old, who was
troubled for fear that his capital
would not be sufficient to tide him
over a dull season. He was also suf
fering from the stress and worry in
cident to a business venture, so that
he was on the point of suicide. The
colonel was not prepared to assist
him with the somewhat large sum he
required, hut dissuaded him from do
ing anything rash and counseled mod
eration and self-control.
It is a story which is often told in
industrial life which found its coun
terpart in the case of No. 4. a white
haired man of 60. who was a carpen
ter. He had been forced out of em
ployment in several places by young
er men who could work more rapidly,
and he had lost jobs until he saw
nothing for him but the almshouse or
the river. He was told of an oppor
tunity where he could make fair
wages and work more slowly, although
he could not expect to keep pace with
younger men. He was comforted and
reassured and ba3 abandoned his idea
of self-destruction.
Had Been Dishonest.
No. 5 had committed a breach of
trust, but although he had been dis
owned by the relative who was af
fected financially, it was not likely
that he would be prosecuted. He was
overcome with remorse and was
about to take his own life when his
notice was attracted to the anti-sui
cide bureau. His money was all gone
and he was out of a job. but as he is
young and a skilled workman, no
trouble was found in getting a good
position for him. He has gone to
^ iff3^ p
Colonel Holland Talking to a Prospective Suicide.
work in an endeavor to gradually pay
back the money which disappeared
through his peculations.
No. 6 was a paper-hanger, whose
trouble was due to lack of employ
ment. Although he was past middle
life he was found to be active and
proficient. The officers found that he
was so overwhelmed with despair that
it took an hour and a half's talk to
bring him around to face life again.
Victim of Robbers.
Robbers had deprived N'o. 7, a man
of 53, of all he had, and he was about
to take his own life when the thought
occurred to him that perhaps he
might gain strength and resolution if
he talked the matter over with the
anti-suicide bureau. Within an hour
or so after he had told of his predica
ment he found employment as an ele
vator pilot in a lofty building through
the efforts of the army.
Employment was also found that
day for No. 8, a young foreigner who
had come to ths country with a small
sum of money, which had disappeared.
spring. On the face of the green earth
lies no more terrible bit of world in
summer, no more beautiful one in
spring.
And over the graves of many—
Piute and desert tramp, teamster and
lonely prospector—who have lain
down to rise no more beneath its
heartless skies, glows the most beau
tiful carpets of wild flowers to be
found in this bloom-famed land of
California. Xot half the plants of
Death Valley are known to scientists;
most of those that are known are lit
tle more than names, and will never
be more until the prying arm of the
railroad shall have laid bare some of
the secrets of this vale of Hinnom.
Most beautiful and most plenty, of
course, of all these plants that bloom
on the desert are cacti, and the rapid
ity with which their dry and appar
ently withered stalks put out blos
soms under the touch of the rains is
wonderful. The life of any one of the
cacti is the personification of death
and resurrection—and as they come
into fullest blocm on or about Easter
the whole desert, as far as the eye
can reach, seems like one vast cathe
The bureau gave him help and ar
ranged for his return to Europe on a
cattle steamship, on which he was to
work his way.
There were four other cases that
day, but they were mostly those of
men who seemed to be more interest
ed in a night's lodging than anything
else, and they, too. had their reward.
Meet Individual Cases.
It is difficult to prescribe accurately
for all the cases which come up be
fore them, but the officers of the bu
reau have to vary the remedies to
meet individual cases.
Practically the same tactics are
pursued in the womens department
of the bureau, which is under the su
pervision of Brigadier Bovill. Women
of ail ages who are tired and despond
ent have been received and aided.
Among them are widows who have
been left with families dependent
upon them.
Attention was recently called to
that of a woman who was the sup
port of five small children. Her body
was found by her five-year-old daugh
ter hanging by a rope in a closet.
The child gave the alarm and a man
rushed in from the street and cut the
woman down. Before she died she
uttered the one word "Tired.”
"V\e could have helped that wo
man, ’ said Col. Holland, “if she had
told us of her troubles, for we could
have temporarily taken charge of two
or three or all of the children for that
matter, in our Cherry Tree Home, in
Spring Valley. We could have also
taken care of her and kept her with
them there in the country until she
gathered health and strength. Then
she could have returned to the city
with one or two of the children and
left the others to be cared for by the
Salvation Armv.”
Plans for Cripples.
Col. Holland said that many of the
men who were despondent through
lack of employment were American
mechanics who were deprived of a
chance to gain a livelihood through
the loss of a finger or a portion of
the hand.
“We have special arrangements,"
said he. “for caring for those who are
handicapped in that way, and often
they can find occupations suited to
them in which the defects would not
seriously interfere."
Back of the anti-6uicide bureau is
the whole organization of the Salva
tion Army, which has homes, asy
lums, farms and colonies, in which it
can help the unfortunate, as well as
schools and training bureaus. It also
conducts employment agencies and is
in touch with many large firms and
corporations. Its connections with
hospitals and with the medical pro
fession is also close, so that It can
arrange quickly for the treatment of
physical ills which so often drive men
and women to the verge of self-de
struction. .
General Booth’s Idea.
Gen. Booth, in his public address
upon the situation, says the causes
of suicide are almost without num
ber.
“But further back,” he adds, “in the
string of causes for this melancholy
transaction I should say there too
frequently lies a sense of failure in
the struggle of life; especially Is this
the case with those who have come
down in the world. With many. I be
lieve, the step is taken in the strug
gle to be good—in the vain effort to
master some hated evil—with the
sense of utter helplessness. No one
is at hand with sufficient sympathy or
sense to understand them, to whom
the bleeding heart can be laid bare.
So the fatal step is taken. Suicide, in
90 cases out of 100, must be the tri
umph of despair.
“But I will not argue about causes.
Can anything be done to prevent the
suicidal tide from rising? This is the
practical question. And it seems to
me that we must supply the friend
less with a friend, the broken in heart
with comfort, the dazed, bewildered
creatures with a guide, the momentar
ily maddened slaves of folly with
thought and hopes that will steady
them, and, above all, lead them to
the arms of Him who is still saying.
‘Come unto Me, all ye that labor and
are heavy* laden, and I will give you
rest.’ ”
The Scotch seldom kiss.
dral arched with turquoise, floored
with emerald and gayly garbed in
giant Easter lilies.
The largest and showiest blossom
of them all grows on a short, stocky
stem, which, during the summer, does
not seem to have life enough to pro
duce the magnificent waxy flowers
which are often as much as five inches
across. A cactus much larger than
this—the barrel cactus—has a very
small and insignificant bloom, while
the tiniest of all, a low, creeping,
round-stemmed, jointed growth, has
an immense pink flower, beautiful as
any orchid, and rivaling the fairest
rose of Persia in its odor.
Unfortunately the names of these
rare species are not well known, and
the commoner varieties, which are
also found on the coast slope, bear
no such gorgeous array of blossoms.
Work at Last.
First Party—Hullo! Out of a job?
Second Ditto—No, old chap. I’ve
got about the stiffest one I ever had
in my life.
First Party—Oh, what is it?
Second Ditto—Looking for work.
