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THE SAVIOUR'S BOYHOOD
By Dr. TnJmatw oa the
Boy Ji
Crasd Kitml giwwj Whin He
His Early Ufe-The Bey la the
CUfNtoT'i Shop end la tho Teea-ple-BtaSlsesdlcttr.
Ia a raceat sermoa at Brooklvu Dr. Tnl
snage's rabject was "Christ theVillsge
Lad." He took for his tart Lake ii. 40:
"And the child grow, aad waxed strong
la spirit, filled with wisdom; aad the
(race of God was upoa Him." The preach
er said:
About Christ as a Tillage lad 1 speak.
There is for the most partasileace more
thaa eighteen centuries long about Christ
between infancy and manhood. What
load of a boy was Hcf Was He a genuine
oy at all or did there settle upon Him
from the start all the intensities of mar
tyrdom? We have oa this subject only a
little guessing, a few surmises, and here
and there an unimportant "perhaps."
Concerning what bounded that boyhood
oa both sides we hare whole libraries of
hooks and wools galleries of canvas and
sculpture. Before the infant child in
Mary's arms, or taking His first sleep in
the rough outhouse, all the painters bow,
and we have Paul Veronese's ''Holy Fam
ily." and Perugino's "Nativity," and An
gelico da Fiesole's 'Infant Christ," and
-Batons' "Adoration of the Magi," and
Ttatoret's "Adoration of the Magi," and
Chirlandojo's "Adoration of the Magi."
-and Raphael's "Madonna," aad Orcagna's
''Madonna," and Murillo's "Madonna,"
aad Madonnas by all the schools of paint
d me in all lights and shades and with all
styles of attractive feature and impressive
surroundings, but pen and pencil and
chisel have with few exceptions passed
by Christ the villaga lad. Yet by three
conjoined evidences I think we can come
to as accurate an idea of what Christ was
as a boy as we can of what Christ was as
a man.
First, we have the brief Bible account
Then we have the prolonged account of
what Christ was at thirty years of age.
.Jiowyou have only to minify that account
somewhat and you find what He was
at ten years of age. Temperaments never
change. A sanguine temperament never
becomes a phlegmatic temperament. A
nervous temperament never becomes a
lymphatic temperament. Religion changes
one's affections and ambitions, but it is
the same old temperament acting in a dif
ferent direction. As Christ had no relig
ious change. He was at a lad what He was
as a man, only on not so large a scale.
When all tradition and all art and all his
tory represent Him as a blonde with gol
den hair I know He was in boyhood a
blonde.
We have, beside, an uninspired book
that was for the first three or four cen
turies after Christ's appearance received
by many as inspired and which gives pro
longed account of Christ's boyhood. Some
of it may be true, most of it may be true,
'none of it may b true. It may be partly
Auilt on facts, or by the passage of the
ages, some real facts may have been dis
torted. But because a book is uot divine
ly inspired we are not therefore to con
clude that there are not true things in it.
Frescott's "Conquest of Mexico" was
not inspired, but we believe it,
although it may contain mistakes.
Macaulay's "History of England" was
not inspired, but we belisve it, although it
may have been marred with many errors.
The so-called apocryphal gospel in which
the boyhood of Christ is dwelt upoa I do
uot believe to be divinely inspired, and
yet it may present facts worthy of consid
eration. Because it represents tin boy
'Christ as performing miracles some have
overthrown that whole apocryphal book.
But what right have you to say that Christ
lid not perform miracles at tea years of
as wall as at thirty? He was in boy
Jinod as certainly d viae-as in manhood
While I do not believe that any of the
t.-called apocryphal New Testament is
iupiied, I believe much of it is true; just
a I believe a thousand books, none of
which are divinely inspired. Much of it
was jurt like Christ. Just as certain as
the man Christ was the most of the time
getting the men out of trouble, I think
that the boy Christ was the most of the
-time getting boys out of trouble. I have
declared to you this day a boy '4 Christ.
Aad the world wants such a one. He did
not sit arou-id moping over what was to
be or what was. From the way ia which
-natural objects enwreathed themselves
into His sermons after He had become a
man, 1 conclude there was not a rock or a
hill or a cavern or a tree for miles around
that He was not familiar with in child
hood. He had cautiously felt his way
down into the caves and had with lithe
aad agile limb gained a poise on many a
high tree top. His boyhood was passed
among grand scenery, as most all the great
natures have pasted early life among the
mountains. They may live now oa the
flats, but they passed the receptive days
of ladhood among the hills, among the
mountains of New Hampshire or the
mountains of Virginia or thn
mountains of Kentucky or the
mountains of Switzerland or Italy or
Austria or Scotland. Oa mountains as high
aad rugged at they, many of the world's
thrilling biographies began. Our Lord's
boyhood was passed in a neighborhood
twelve hundred feet above the level of the
:sea aad surrounded by mountains five or
six hundred feet atill higher. Before it
could shine on the village where this boy
alepttbesun had to climb far enough up
to look over the hills that held their heads
far aloft. Authors have taken paias to
say that Christ was aot affected by these
surroundings, and that He from within
lived outward and independent of circum
stances. So far from that being true. He
-was the most sensitive being that over
walked the earth, aad if a pale invalid's
weak finger could not touch His robs
-without strength going oat from Him
these mountains aad seat could aot have
Coached His ays without lrradlatiag His
-entire nature with their magaiflcenoe I
warrant that Hs had mounted aad ex--Blared
sll the fifteen hills around Naza
reth, among them Heraxoa with its crystal
coronet of perpetual saow, and Carmel
aad Tabor aad Gilbos, aad they all had
their sublime echo ia after time from the
OHvetic pulpit
And then it wssaot uncultivated grand--sue.
These hills carried in tnsirarsasor
oa their backs gardeas, groves, orchards,
terraces, vineyards cactus, sycamores.
Those outbiaacaiag foliages did aot have
-vo wait for the foods before their sUeaee
1 broken, for through thorn sad over
sad ia circles rouad these aad under
-them were pelicsas, were thrushes, were
sparrows, were aigBsmgsies, were larks,
ware quail, were blackbirds, were part
singes, wars balbals, Yoader the white
Of sneep noma ever sue
i leads. Aad yonaer tae Brook re-
to the pebbles its aavsatares
the rocky satirise. Yoader
mmfmm 11 11 iB.'Jilt linings
the oriental homes, the housewife with
pitcher oa the shoulder entering the door,
and dowa the lawa ia front children
reveling among the flaming flora. Aad
all this spring aad song aad grass sad
saashiae aad shadow wovea lata tho most
exquisite aatsrs that ever breathed or
wept or sung or suffered. Through study
ing ths sky betweea tho hills Christ had
aoticed tho weather signs, aad that a
crimson sky at alght mesat dry weather
next day, aad that a crimson sky ia the
morning msaat wst weather before night
Aad how beautifully Hs mads use of it ia
after years at He drove dowa upoa the
pestiferous Pharisee aad Badaucee oy
crying out: "Whoa it is oveaing yo say
it will be fair weather, for the sky is rod.
and ia ths morning it will be foal weather
to-day, for the, sky is rod aad lowering.
O, ye hypocrites, ye an discern the sigas of
the times." By day, as every boy has
done, He watched the barnyard fowl at
sight of overswinging hawk, cluck her
chickens under wing, aad ia after years
He said: "O, Jerusalem, Jerusalem! How
often would I have sataered thee as a hen
gathereth her chickens under her wing!"
By night He bal noticed His .mother by
the plain candlelight which, as ever and
anoa it was snuffed aad tho removed wick
put down oa the candlestick, beamed
brightly through all the family sitting
room as His mother was mending His gar
ments that bad been torn during the day's
wanderings among the rocks or bushes,
and years afterward it all came out in the
simile of the greatest sermon ever
preached: "Neither do men light a candle
and put it under a bushel but in a candle
stick and it givetb light to all who are in
the house. Let your light so shine."
Yes, from the naturalness. the simplicity,
the f reshnes s of His parables and similes
and metaphors in manhood discourse, I
know that He had been a boy of the fields
and bad bathed in the streams and beard
the nightingale's call, broken through the
flowery hedge and looked out of the em
brasures of the fortress, and drank from
the wells and chased the butterflies, which
travelers say have always been one of the
flitting beauties of that landscape, and
talked with the strange people from Da
mascus and Egypt and Sapphoris and
Syria, who in caravans or on foot passed
through His neighborhood, the dogs bark
ing at their approach at sundown. As
afterward He was a perfect man, in the
time of which I sp;ak He was a perfect
boy, with the spring of a boy's foot, the
sparkle of a boy's eye, the rebound of a
boy's life and just the opposite of those
juveniles who sit around morbid snd an
elastic, old men at ten.- I warrant He was
able to take His own part and to take the
part of others.
Let the world look out bow it treads on
a boy. for that very moment it treads on
Christ You strike a boy. yon strike
Christ; you insult a boy, you insult Christ;
you chata boy, you cheat Christ It is
an awful aad infinite mistake to come as
far as manhood without a Christ when
here is a boy Christ That was one reason.
I suppose, that Jonathan Edwards, after
ward the greatest American logician and
preacher of his time, became a Christian
at seven years of age; and Robert Hall,
who afterward shook Christendom with
his sacred eloquence became a Christian
at twelve years of age; and Isaac Watts,
who divided with Charles Wesley the do
minion of holy song, became a Christian
at nine years of age; and if in any large
religious assemblage it were asked that all
the men and women who learned to love
Christ before they were fifteen years of
age would please lift their right band,
there would be enough hands lifted to
wave a coronation. What is true in re
ligious sense is trne in a secular sense.
Themistocles amazed his school fellows
with talents which ia after years made
the world stare Isaac Newton, the boy,
by driving pegs in the side of a house to
mark the decline of the sun, evidenced a
disposition toward tin experiments which
afterward showed the nations how the
the worlds swing. Robert Btephenson,
the boy, with his kite on the commons ex
perimented with electric currents and
prophesied work which should yet make
him immortal. "Get out of my way I"
said a rough man to a boy, "get out of my
way ! what are you good for, anyhow?"
They boy answered: "They make men out
of such things as we are."
But having shown you the divine lad in
the fields, I must show you Him ia the
mechanic's shop. Joseph, His father, died
very early, immediately after the fa
mous trip to the temple, and this lad had
not only to support Himself, but to sup
port His mother, and whst that is some of
you know. There is a royal race of boys
on earth now doing the same thing. They
wear no crown. They have no purple
robe adroop from their shoulders. The
plain chair on which they sit is as much
unlike a throne as any thingyou can imag
ine, but God knows what they are doing
and through what sacrifices they no, and
through all eternity Ood will keep paying
them for their filial behavior. They shall
get mil measure of reward, the measure
pressed down, shaken together and run
ning over. They have their example in
this toy Christ taking care of His mother.
But having seen Christ the boy of the
fiel Is r.nd the boy in the mechanic's shop.
1 shjw you a more marvelous scene,
Christ the smooth-browed lad, among the
long-bearded, white-haired, high-fore-headed
ecclesiastics of the temple. Hun
dreds of thousands of strangers bad come
to Jerusalem to keep a great religious fes
tival. After the hospitable homes were
crowded with visitors, the teats were
spread all around the city to shelter im
mense throngs of strangers. It was very
easy among the vast throngs coming and
going to lose a child. More than two
million people have been knowa to gather
at Jerusalem for that national feast You
must not think of those regions as sparse
ly settled. Ths ancient historian, Jo
sephus, says there were ia Galilee two
hundred cities, the smallest of them con
taining 15,000 people. No wonder that
amid the crowds at the time spokea of
Jesus, tho boy, was lost. His .parents,
knowing that Ho was mature enough aad
agile .enough to take cars of Himself, are
oa their way homo without say anxiety,
supposing that their boy is coming with
some of tho groups. Bat after awhile they
suspect Ho is lost and with flushed cheek
aad a terrorised look they rath this way
aad that flags "Have yoa seen aay
thiagofmyboy? He is twelve years of age,
of fair complexion, aad has bias syss sad
auburn hair. Have yoa seea Him siaes
wo left tho city?" Back they go la hot
haste, ia aad oat ths streets, ia aad oat
tho private houses aad among tho sur
rounding bills. For throe days they
search aad taqaire, wondering it He has
been trampled under foot of ssme of tho
throags or has vaatured oa the cliffs or
fallen off a precipioe Bond through all
the streets aad lanes of tho city aad
among the surrouadisg hills that most
dismal souad: "A lost child! A lost
child!" Aad le, after, throe days they
discover Him ia groat temple, seated
asaoag tho mightiest religionists of all the
world. Tho walls of ao other building
ever looked dowa oa each a soeae A
child twelve yean old surrounded by I
septasgeaariaia. He asking His owa ques
tions aad answering theirs.
I am aot so much interested ia tho ones
tioss they ssked Him as ia ths questions
He asked them. He asked the questions
not to get iaf crmatioa from tho doctors,
for He knew it already, but to humble
them by showing them the height aad
depth aad length aad breadth of their
owa ignorance. While the radiaat boy
thrusts these self -conceited philosophers
with tho interrogation point they put the
foreflnger of the right hand to the temple
as though to start their thoughts iato
more vigor, aad they would look upward
and then they would wrinkle their brows
" " !
words confess their incapacity to answer
the interrogators-. With any one of a
hundred questions about theology, about'
philosophy, about astronomy, about time.
about eternity. He may have balked tnem,
disconcerted them, flung them flat Be
hold tho boy Christ asking questions and
lUtsn when your child asks questions. He
has the right to ask them. The more he
asks the better. Alas for the stupidity of
the child without inquisittveness! It is
Christlike to ask questions. Answer
them if you can. Do not say: "I can't
bs bothered now." It is your place to
be botnered with questions. If you are
not able to answer, surrender and confess
your incapacity, as I have no d ubt did
Kabbin Simeon andHillel andShammai
and the sons of Betirah when that splendid
boy, sitting or standing there with a gar
ment reaching from neck to ankle, and
girdled at tto waist put them to their
very wit's end. It is no disgrace to Bay:
"I don't know." The learned doctors
who environed Christ that day in the
temple did not know or they would not
have atked Him any questions. The only
being in the universe who uever needs to
say, "I do not know," is the Lord
Almighty. The fact that they did not
know seutKeppIer and Cuvier and Colum
bus and Humboldt and Herschel and
Morse and Sir Wiliam Hamilton and all
the other of the world's mightiest natures
into their life-long explorations. Telescope
and microscope and stethoscope and
electric battery and all the scientific ap
paratus of ail the age are only questions
asked at the door of mystery. Behold tho
Nazarene lad asking questions giving
everlasting dignity to earnest interroga
tion. But while I see thi old theologians
standing around the boy Christ I am im
pressed as never before with the fact that
what theology most wants is more of
childish simplicity. The world and the
Church have built up immense systems of
theology. Half of them try to tell what
God thought what God planned, what
God did five hundred million years before
the small star on which we live was cre
ated. I have bad many a sound sleep un
der sermons about the decrees of God and
the eternal generation of the Son and dis
courses showing who Melchisedek wasn't
and I give a fair warning that if any min
ister ever begins a sermon on such a sub
ject in my presence I will put my bead
down on the pew in front and go into the
deepest slumber I can reach. Wicked
waste of time, this trying to scale the
unscalable and fathom the unfathomable
while the nations want the bread
of life and to be told how they can get rid
of their sins and their sorrows. Why
should you and I perplex ourselves about
the decrees of God? Mind your own busi
ness and God will take care of His. In
the conduct of the universe I think He
will somehow manage to get along with
out us. It you want to love and serve
God, and be good and useful and get to
Heaven, I warrant thit nothing which oc
curred eight hundred quintillioa of years
ago will hinder you a minute. It is not
the decrees of God that do us any harm,
it is our own decrees of sin and folly.
You need not go any further back in his
tory than about 1,856 years. You see this
is tbe year 1889. Christ died about thirty
three years of age. You subtract 33 from
1889 and that makes it only 1.836 years.
That is as far back as you need to go.
Something occurred on that day un
der an eclipsed sun that sets us all
forever free if with our whole heart and
life we accept tbe tremendous proffer.
Do not let the Presbyterian Church or the
Methodist Church or the Lutheran Church
or tbe Baptist Church or any of the Evan
gelical Churches spend any time in trying
to fix up old creeds, all of tbem imperfect
as 1 very thing man does is imperfect I
move a new creed for all the Evangelical
Churches of Christendom, only three ar
ticles in the creed and no need of any
more. If I had all the consecrated people
of all denominations of the earth on one
great plain, and I had voice loud enough
to put it to a vote that creed of three ar
ticles would be adopted with a unanimous
vote and a thundering aye that would
make the earth quake and the heavens
ring with bosanna. This is tbe creed I
propose for all Christendom:
Article 1. "God so loved the world that
he gave His only begotten Son that who
soever beli eveth in Him should not perish
but have everlastinc life."
Article 2. "This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ
came into the world to save sinners, even
tbe chief."
Article 3. "Worthy is tbe Lamb that wst
slain to receive blessing and riches and
honor and glory and power, world without
end. Amen."
But you go to tinkering up your old
creeds and patching and splicing and in
terlining and annexing and subtracting
and adding and explaining and yoa will
lose time and make yourself a target foi
earth aad hell to shoot at Let us bavs
creeds not fashioned out of human ingen
uities but out of Scriptural phraseology,
aad all the guns o( bombardment blazing
from all the port holes of infidelity and
perdition will not in a thousaad years
knock off the Church of Goi a splinter ss
big ss a cambric needle What is most
needed now is that we gather all our the
ologies around the boy ia the temple the
elaborations aroaad tho simplicities aad
tbe profundities aroaad the clarities, the
octogenarian of scholastic research aroaad
the ua wrinkled cheek of twelve years
juvenescence. "Except you become as s
little child you caa ia ao wise eater the
kingdom;" aad except yoa become
as a little child yoa caa aot aa
derstaad tho Christian religion. Tho
best thing that Rabbla Simeon aad Hillel
aad Baammai aad ths seas of Betirah
ever did was ia the temple to bead over
tho led who, first made ruddy of cheek by
tho breath of the Judoaa bills aad on His
way to tho mechanic's shop where He wss
soon to be tho support of His bereaved
mother, stopped long enough to grapple
with the venerable dialsctieiaaa of the
Orient "both hearing them aad asking
them questions." Some, referring tc
Christ have exclaimed Eeco Deas! Be
hold the God. Others have exclaimed
Eccs homo! Behold tho man. Bat to-day
ia conclusion of my subject I cry, Eceo
adolesceas! Behold tho bay !
m e m
It is estimated that 409 natives were
killed In the recent fight at Saadani, near
Zanzibar. Tho bulk of tho property de
stroyed hsloBgad to British Bass ladles. J
AMID Trie RUINS.
sadly soarchlan for Vctfais la the Jo
tews Death Heap Carina; For tho Uvtan
una Karris tho Dead.
Jobsstowb, Ps. Juae & For thirty-i
six hours the Are oagiaos played upoa tho
emoklag raws above tho bridge, but taw
flames break oat afresh at freqaeat inter
vals. Nearly 2.080 mea are employed ia
different aorta of tho valley clearing ap
tbe ruins aad searching for the dead. It
is estimated that apto Monday night 200
bodies had been recovered altogether.
It becomes hourly more aad mors appar
oat that aot a single vestige will ever bo
! -VET-". .". tb. bridge 8i.ee the
recognised of hundreds that were roasted
last sentence waa penned, searchers an-
A
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CAMBRIA7
CITl.--.---
! HIGH
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CTnuiiAS LWiu
V(H'oASy
MAP or THE FLOODED DISTRICT.
earthed a charred and unsichily mass
from the smoldering debris within
thirty yards of the Associated
Press headquarters. Unused to such
frightful discoveries the leader of the
gang pronounced tbe remains to be a
blackened log and it required the authori
tative verdict of a physician to demon
strate that the ghastly discovery was the
charred remains of a human being. Only
the trunk remained and it was roasted be
yond all semblanca to flesh. Five min
utes' search revealed fragments of a skull
that at once disintegrated of its own
weight when exposed to tbe air, no single
piece being larger than a half dollar and
the whole resembling the remains of shat
tered charcoal. Within tbe last hour a
half dozen discoveries no less horrifying
have been made It is thought that hun
dreds mnst be fairly burnt to ashes.
Moxbam, the iron manufacturer, Is
mayor pro tern, of Johnstown to-day.
Although for days without sleep, he stilt
sticks nobly to his task. Hundreds of
others are like him. Men fall to tbe earth
from sheer fatigue There are many whe
have not closed an eye in sleep since they
awoke on Friday morning. They are
hollow-eyed, pitiful-looking lot.
Some unfortunates endeavored to obtain
flour from the wrecked stores in Johns
town. One dealer was charging $5 a sack
for flour and was getting it. When the
crowd heard of the occurrence several
mea went to tbe store and doled the flour
gratuitously to ths homeless and stricken.
Another dealer was selliog floar at $1.50
a sack. Otherwise be would not allow
any one to go near it, guarding his store
with a shotgun.
Bodies were recovered in Johnstown
yesterday that had been robbed by the
ghouls. Tbe Hungarians attacked a sap
ply wagon between Morrellvilie and Cam
bria City. The drivers of the wagons
repulsed them, bat they again returned.
A second fight ensued, but after a lively
scramble tbe Hungarians were again
driven away. After that drivers aad
guards of supply wagons were permitted
to go armed.
Registers are being opened ia Jonns
towa and all survivors are requested to
register their names in order to give in
formation of their safety to inquiring
friends. Post-offlces were opened in
Kearaville and tbe Fourth ward of Johns
town. Tbe first mail got in at 9:3) yester
day morning and was enormous.
Tbe suggestion made by the physicians
several days ago that the bodies ia the de
bris above tbe bridge be allowed to be
cremated, in tho interest of public health,
and which aroused such a storm of Indig
nation among the surviving populace, is
viewed with more calmness to-day and
there is a growing sentiment that it is
after all the best solution of the problem.
Weeks, months will bo required to re
move tbe stupendous mass by artificial
mesas, snd meantime the rotting, putre
fying remains of poor humanity buried
therein would be dealing pollution aad
death to all the surrounding country.
Thomas Williams, who lost his wife aad
family, recovered his wife's remains and
took tbem up tbe mountain where he dug
a grave and buried tbem himself.
Mrs. Fredericks, an aged woman, was
rescued alive from the attic in her house
The house had floated from Vine street to
tbe foot of the mountains Mrs. Freder
icks' experience was terrible She saw
hundreds of men, women and cbildron
floating down the torrent, some praying.
Others had become raving maniacs.
Ia additioa to a large quantity of cooked
food, as well as flour and other provisions
the relief committee brought oat 100 com
plete outfits of clothing for women and a
similar number for girls, and a miscellane
ous lot for mea and boys.
What is needed here more than any
thing else is grave-diggers. Yesterday
hundreds of bodies were lying around aad
there waa no oae to dig graves.
Yesterday morning at leaat fifty
funeral processions passed tho Asso
ciated Press headquartere It was aot aa
unusual sight to see two or three eoflus
going along oae after another, followed
by a number of mourners all in the same
family. It was an impossibility to secure
wagons or conveyances of aay kind, con
sequently all funeral processieas wore oa
foot
Tweaty-flve registry otaces were opened
yesterday. Up to aooa . oat of H
were registered.
Conservative estimates pat ths aamber
of lost at 7.000, sad maay mea of calm
judgment place the aamber at 19,6061 '
Ml
Prtsbvbsbv Pa, Juno , At three
o'clock Friday afternoon." said Electri
cian Bender, of tho Western Union, "tho
cirl operator at Johastawa was cheerfully
tlcklBg away that she had to abandon the
obbco on the flrst flsjar hocaaso tho water
was three feet deep there She said she
was writing from ths second story aad
tho water was gaiamg steadily. 8ao wss
frightened, and said maay houses
aroaad were flooded. This was evidently
before tho dam broke for eui man here
id something encouraging to her.
aha wss talkhig hack as oily a cheerful I
girl operator can, whea tho receiver J
sauioa ear caagns a soma est toe wire 1
hv no human hsnde Ths
o aoaas aa .
hssaiwant twayjajho flood,"
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DISASTROUS CONFLAGRATION.
ttle. Wash. Terw netted By a Deetrwe-
tlvenre The Leasee Beacaug Into tho
SCATTLK. Wash Juao I Fire broke
out at 2:39 p. m. yesterday ia Poatias'
bairdiag on Fourth street aad by 4:90 p.
as. was ragtag over a district of Ave or six
blocks with tremendous fury. The wiad
was from the aerth aad tho direction of
tho Are was along the water on Frost
street sad from ths latter to the big brick
block between Floyd aad Saa Francisco
streets. Tho iadicatioae were that tho
whole basiaess portion of tho city would
be burned away. Involving a loa of sail
lioas, as tho magnificent Saa Francisco
store sad other stores la a row were oa
fire aad tho whole big block seemed
doomed. The local firemen were helpless
! ia tho face of tho calamity aad tele
graphed ia all directions for aid.
At 4:30 tho conflagratioa waa rashiag
through tho heart of the city. To add to
the peril a smart breeze was blowiag off
the bay. fanning the flames, and at about
tbe same time a thousand feet of hose was
caught in the sdvancing blase and de
stroyed. The opera house block, tbe block op
posite, all tho warehouses at the foot of
Columy street and also the great group of
baildings ia the rear of the Post-Intelligence
newspaper were' then burning, and
the people in the Vester block, occupied by
tbe Western Union Telegraph Company
and the Post-Intelligence, were hurriedly
moving out.
At that time the Western Union had but
one wire undisturbed, over which the dis
patch waa sent
At nine p. m. thirty -one blocks bad been
burned in the very heart of the city and
there was imminent danger oftbelossot
about twenty blocks more Tbe fire wa-
not at all under control aud had reached
tbe great coal bunkers. Should these be
destroyed tbe flames were certain to be
couimuni cated to a large number of
wooden buildings and the loss increased
many told.
At ten o'clock the loss was $5,030,000
and one-third of the business por
tion of the city was destroyed. The whole
lower part of the city was burning. There
was danger of a total loss of the business
portion. Flakes of flame were flying over
the city and small firs were breaking out
at many points. The flames were making
their way down Front street toward Five
Points where tbe buildings were of wood
and close together. Every bank, hotel
and p!ace of amusement all the lead
injg business houses, all the aewspaper
offices, tbe railroad depots aad miles of
steamboat wharves, coal bankers and
freight warehouses and the telegraph of
fices were burned. The city is literally
wiped out except tho residence portion oa
high ground.
A stiff breeze was blowing strong from
tho northwest when the fire began and
soon got the best of the firemen. Tbe
water supply gave out within two hours
and then the flames bad a clean sweep.
Word was telegraphed to Tacoma and a
train started with fire apparatus at 4:35
p. m., reaching Seattle ia sixty-three
minutes. The ocean steamers Mexico, for
San Francisco, aad Ancon. for Alaska,
escaped destruction by pulling out in mid
stream. IN A BAD FIX.
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Kagte
eem Exeretsed Over Chief Arthur-
Chicago, Juae 7. There ia trouble in
the ranks of the Brotherhood of Locomo
tive Engineers. Chief Arthur is a candi
date for re-election aad as such has been
making a quiet canvass of tbe various
lodges of the brotherhood. Last week a
secret meeting for this purpose waa held
intbiacity. There were upwards of two
hundred members present, representing
lodges in Illinois, Michigan, Indiana,
Iowa aad Wisconsin. A member
of the general grievance com
mittee got tho floor and address
ing Chief Arthur said: ''Your speech
this morning pictured our organization as
impregnable aad resistless. Now. sir, if
yoa believe that such a state of things ex
ist you have been incorrectly informed of
affaire The truth is, a reduction of wsges
is expected to be msde before long on a
number of Western roads. Such action
we do not propose to accept We desire
to know whether ia the event of a reduc
tion being ordered you would sanction a
strike" Chief Arthur replied: "Under
no condition of circumstances of which I
caa conceive shall I ever sanction another
stiike. Inth first place I am opposed to
strikes on general principles. Iu the
second place, to strike would be suicide
for owing to the large number of
unempiorea engineers in tee coun
try, it would take bat a short time to fill
their places." Chief Arthur stopped and
the meeting adjourned. Murmurs of dis
content have been heard ever since "We
are in a bad fix aad no mistake" an en
gineer said. "Last Thursday onr chair
man. Hurley, of the Alton, was informed
by a committee of firemen that should the
engineers strike the firemen would take
their places. That waa due to tbe un
friendly feeling of other labor orders to
ward our. Something must be done to
change thine. We mast co-operate But
Arthur frowns oa all suggestions of fed
eration. Tbe first thing to do is to knock
out Arthur, and that will be done in Octo-
Railroad Assessment.
JxrrERSOjr Crrr, Me, Juao I J.
Stephen Kaslowsky, land aad tax com
missioner of tho St. Louis, Arkansas &
Texas railroad; Colonel John B. Butler,
general attorney, and J. H. Best, general
traffic manager of the Quiacy, Omaha s
Kansas City railway, have submitted to
the Board of Equalization statements aad
arguaeats as to why tho aseessmeat and
valuatloa of their roads should not bo in
creased over last year. Reuben Fsyae,
clerk of Bullivaa County, argued for a
hither valuation of the Quiacy, Omaha A
Kansas City, tho Chicago, Milwaukee A
St Paul snd tho Chicago, Burlington A
Quiacy.
The following roads have submitted
statements et tho taxes paid by them in
18t: Tho Dos Meiaes A Kansas City, the
Chicago. Milwaukee A 8t Paul, tho St.
Louis A 8an Francisco aad tho Uaioa Fa
cific. Tho board will have several knotty
problems to deal with in tho valaation ot
railroad saroperty and tho hardest of them
all will ho tho assoasmoutof FaUmaa care
m e
Sanitary atsosarsa,
Jobbbtows, Pa,, June t Tho State
Board of Health aad tho Pennsylvania
Railroad Company are co-operatiag ht
the work of renwviag bodies from the
debris shove tho stone bridge Dr. Cress
of tho health heard says there will ho
1,099 men nt work there Tho sanitary
question is tho poramoaat oae ol
the hoar. Tho Stats Board et
Health is looked apoa as a more poteat
factor than the militia aad civic forces
combiaed. Yesterday afternoon tho work
wasaismhsteB, Dr. Lao tak-
iBgaToiay to nsmsarga with the Isten-
uea.ee estaottsams; aeswqaartors la tho
city haU. There a Soros of sanJtanr in.
city
saietsrs will ho sjtahHehed.
THE CRONIN INQUEST.
Sesao Startliasr Testimony Given Bofort.
tho Coroner. Jaw
Chicago, June . All tho evidence ha
the Cronin inquest y esterday was directed!
towards establishing the fact that the de
ceasei waa firmly impressed with tbe idea
that his life wss endangered through tho
machinations of Alexander Sullivan.
Maurice Morris, a member of the Clan-aa-Ga-il,
said that at tho last eonveatn
ho had heard several delegates say thatt
Croaia and Dr. McCahey, ot Philadelphia.
ought to be gotten rid of. Cronin had.
1.1 V.M k i m.i: 1 , k I..B1
iwu aim uiu at veiisiTVU jBeuwaaa, iu.
Philadelphiaa, had come to Chicago at the
instigation of Alexander Bullivaa to kill
him.
1. McGarry. a Lakeview boilermaker
aad aa intimate friend of the dead man.
gave bis evidence with so much dramatic
effect that once or twice he was ap
plauded. He testitiod that Cronin bad
several times told him that his life
was in danger; that Alexander Sulli
van, if be waa murdered, would be
found to be tho instigator, and that there
were papers in his safe which would con
nect Sallivau with tbe deed. Witness
told how he went to Toronto and me:
Lorg, the reporter, who was responsible
for the circumstantial stories regarding
Cronm having been seen ia that city. Mc
Garry offered bini $'2,000 to substantiate
what he had written, but h could not do
it. Instead be said: "I sHh to God I
bad never had. any thing to do with this
business."
Thocia J. Conway, of Ravenwoxl a
suburb of Chicago, a member of tbe Clan-na-Gael,
began by testifying a to tho
conduct of Peter McGeeban. tbe PuiladtI
pbiau. He said McUeehan told him Uiat
he came west under orders from tbe chair
man of the executive emamittee of the
Clan-na-Gael. Ho saw McGeehan In th
company of Captain Lawrence Buckley,
of tbe Chicago Clan-na-Gael guard and
heard the former say that Dr. Cronm
and Dr. Cahey deserved to dia. Witness
further stated that he was present ut a
meeting of camp SI, Clan-na-G.iel, when
the question of resolutions regretting tho
death of Dr. Cronin was being dicussetL
A man, John Moss whi? has a storw on
West Lake street rose and aid he was
against passing the resolutions, because,
perhaps, tbe executive committee had
sufficient proof to show that Dr. Cronin
wat a British spy and had a right to re
move him.
"In case Cronin was a British spy, had
the executive committee any right to re
move him?" asked Foreman Critchell.
"There U nothing in the constitution to
that effect" evasively answered tb -witness.
SADLY SEARCHING.
Clearing Away th Kmn With th Atil off
Dynamite Latest Kstimte or Che Lim
of Life.
Johxstowv. Pa June C. The enor
mity of the devastation wrought by th
Conemaugn flood is becoming more ami
more apparent with effort of the laborers
to resolve order out of chaos. Overona
hundred men have been all day engaged
in an effort to clear a narrow passage
from the death bridge upward through tht
3ea of debris that blocks the Conemaugn
for nearly half a mile Every ingenuity
known to man has been resorted to by
this crew. The power of dynamite wa
brought iato requisition aad at frequent
intervals the roar of explosions reverber
ated through the valley, and sticks, stones
and logs would fly high iato the air.
Gradually a few of the heaviest timber
were demolished and the fragments
mitted to float downward through .
center arch. At nightfall, however")
clear space above the bridge did m
ceed an area of 6) feet ia length by
in width. Whea one reflects that fully
twenty-five acres are to be cleared in this
way the task ahead seems an intermin
able oae
THB IftntBER EfCRBaSEta.
Johxstow.v. Pa, June The best esti
mate on the loss of life based on tbe reg
istry of the living and an uaoflleial poll,
puts it at from 1 000 to 15.000.
At 1:15 yesterday afternoon fifty bodies
were taken from th e debris in front of the
Catholic Church in Johnstown borough.
About forty ot the bodies were those of
women. They were imm-d lately removed
to the morgue for identification.
The work of clearing ap tbe wreck and
recovering the bodies is now being con
ducted systematically. Over 6,000 men
are at work.
Yesterday morning 1,100 mea arrived in
charge of Philip Flynn. Hoe William
Flynn arrived later aad took charge of
the work, and by elevea o'clock they bad
succeeded in doing more work at clearing
away the debris than has been done alto
gether before Mr. Flynn offered the men
special inducements, bat will make then
work. Seventy-five cars of provisions
came up with the laboring men.
THE JUNIATA FLOOD.
The Waters Recede aad Shew the Magni
tude of the Havoc.
HtnrriXGTO.v, Pa., June 6 The lets
news from suburban district in this
county just received shows that the des
truction to tbe property by the flood is in
finitely greater tban at flrst reported.
The waters are receding and the Juniata,
ia passable in several place.
From Bedford to Huntington on tbe
Roystown branch and on to Lewistowa oa
the Juniata river not a bcae is left thaA
stood within reach of tbe swollen
streams and the damage to prop
erty will reach $300,000. while tho
other tewas ht the coanty have
suffered correspondingly. At Mapletoa
tho immense tannery of L. A. Roberta was
damaged to the extent of $300,000 and the
loss to other property will reach W;O0OM
more The Powell furnace nt 8axtoa sus
taiaedalcss of $309,099 and at that place
both tho railroad aad bridges were swept
away, leaving railroad communleatioBi '
with BedforAcat oat
Front hero to the junction of th Juniate
and Seaqaehaaaa rivers tho swjop of tho J
ood extended Hhng this once beautifol
valley with deeolatioa aad ruia. Grow-!
las; crops ia tho low loads were, destroyed
aad ia shafta's valley, this scanty. 1
farming Iaade, comprising;
of twelve by two miles, have been
stripped of ovary vestige of soiL As far I
as known three haadred hoaiea haw
boea destroy ed ia this county.
8 Louse, June t Tbe sensational colt
Galon, which was parchnsed last fait by
th Chicago stable for SJ9.999 eneh, broke
down yesterday white at work. This
misfortune is ia lino with tho ill luck that
has boon following the Chicago stable
Galea is by Faastass, and fits bred by
Jim Gray. His beat porter Pence w
tho Coaey Islsad faturkr. whea be ran
third to Proctor aTaott and Salvator. Ha
raa a sails at WJeshiaztea park ia 1:40 1
apoa these performances ho was boaahf
by Haakiae He started three times ths
year and was a groat disappoiat
The ealy sfcsalitiee ho developed was
ofasmUler. From the condition which 1
la hs ho will never azaia fans the flnc.
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