Nebraska Newspapers

    SHOPLIFTERS.
Why Dry-Gooda Stores Employ
Private Detectire.
thMMadi of Delia Ie Kaeh Imt fcy
Larse KstaMtohsaeaU-hopUlfers.
as a- Kale, Are Vmi-H
They Operate.
HE professional
shoplifter s season
is approaching,"
aid the superin-
tendentof a store
on West Twenty
third street tome
the other day.
The holidays and
theepnng and fall
openings are the
limn srhen rnur
t;j $5r professional reaps
i'?JP tn0 richest har
vests. AS a store
which does a year
ly business of sov
eral Billion dollars
one of the members of the firm said they
-would gladly pay tea thousand dollars an
nually to be insured against the pilferings
of shoplifters, professional and otherwise.
The Sixth avenue shops are more troubled
with thieves than those in other parts of
-town. At one store tho superintendent as
sured me tout shoplifters were never al
lowed to enter, tho detectives employed by
them being very successful ia "spotting"
shoplifters at the first glance. At an
other store near by they do not employ a
regular detective, but pay some of their cx--periened
salesmen a liberal salary foi
watching the people that come and go, and
to keep constant watch on suspicious char
acters. One of the floor-walkers said: 'If we have
reason to suspect any person who comes in
here wer follow her up closely, and do not
lor one Instant lose sight of her. The most
-skillful shoplifters invariably travel in
pairs, or, in detective parlance, one 'stalls'
Xor the other. Thai is, one 01 me inieve;
will undertake to engage the attention o
the clerk, while the other deftly abstracts a
piece of silk, a package of gloves, ora card
of lace from the counter. It is frequently
the case that the confederates will notentcr
a store together or exchange any percept i
"blo signs of recognition while plying theii
vocation. A well-dressed woman, of re
spectable appearance, will step up to the
lace counter, for instance, and ask to be
bownsomo fine lace embroideries. The
clerk, mentally noting atr well-to-do ap
pearance, thinks he sees a chance of making
a good sale and is, consequently, very
obliging. He finds his customer hard to
suit and places box upon box of choice goods
before her. Soon a second woman comes
tip, and calmly ignoring tho first customer
women have a way of doing she de-
HE FINDS BIS CUSTOMER HARD TO SUIT.
mauds to see a peculiar kind cf goods
sxhich belongs to that particular depart
ment. The clerk pulls down something for her.
It :;irns out to be the wrong article, and
li-avhig the first customer to contemplate
she extensive assortment of embroideries
l.efore her, he endeavors to please the
twsnd customer. Immediately he finds
?::mself tho victim of two exacting and un
reasonable females, and, after showing
lliera a iarge share of the goods in his de
partment, he is mortified to see them walk
away, each one in a different direction,
-without having bougttra dime's worth, and
lie is subscqueptly mortified to find that
two or three cards of tho most costly lace
have been stolen.
''Substituting an empty pocket-book for a
woil-lilled one is another dodge. A lady
lays her pocket-book on the counter while
she looks at some goods that have been
taken down for her inspection. In the
twinkling of an eye an empty purse has
been substituted for tho plethoric one, and
the shoplifter betakes herself to another
store to repeat the operation."
"Arc the women who ply this trade well
dressed J"
4Xoootasarulc; if you would like to
get an 'idea of their general appearance you
ought to go to a police station and see the
'Koues' Gallery.' " .
Bather glad of a pretext for seeing -tHis
interesting collection of celebrities, I went
to one of the police stations and had tho
pleasure of seeing 1,675 rogues, all in a now
not such a bad lookiug lot, either, as I
'had expected to see. The shoplifters, who
were pointed out to me, were mostly wom
en; as a rulo they affect shawls or looso
sacks and jaunty hats. Some of the wom
en were not over twenty or thereabouts,
but the majority were middle-aged, and,
from their appearance, had grown hard
ened in crime. Some of the men had been
decidedly averse to having their photo
graphs taken, and in some cases drawn
their faces into all sorts of contortions.
Where a man had absolutely refused to
look the camera squarely ia the face a po
liceman had obligingly held up his head
lor him; but with the women it was differ
ent. Their pride in having their photo
graphs took as well as possible had over
ruled their desire for disguising their coun
tenances. Iaone or two eases, however,
-the less hardenedof the wretches held their
beads bent over as far as they could, and
-their eyes were closed. This was possibly
'-the first time they had been asked to con
tribute mementoes of themselves to the
ZRogncs Gallery."
"They have very little sense of shame,
however," remarked aa officer, "aad they
seldom reform. A shoplifter once, a shop
lifter always. Now, this woman here, No.
," he continued; "she has beea brought
-p here three or four times, and there is ao
-telling how many times she has appeared
da other police courts."
The record accompanying each picture is
concise and to the point:
Name, aliases, crime, nationality, age, color
of eyes, read, writs.
A young girl about twelve years old was
arrested in one of the stores yesterday and
brought here. When searched it wss found
-chat she aad innumerable pockets in her
skirts, which she had filled with a variety
of articles, gloves and handkerchiefs pre
dominating. There is a regular system of education in
jrojcu amscg shoplifters. There are an-
w -
7r
- f jnlWlffl!''''lr'''ll''"''''J'
hJ St fcfcfcvfca S..,J iiflv-.
ll sTS'l'Vl W I PMfVtw aiMV I I mm
merous instances where young girls and
boys have been caught in company with
well-known professional shoplifters, and
some of these juvoniles have confessed
that they have been taught bow to steal
To become successful ia the business, it
is necessary not only to acquire dexterity
in taking articles out of boxes or from
counters, but also to learn to pass the goods
quickly and secretly to a confederate. The
first lesson taught beginners is how to re
ceive stolen goods from the hands of the
more experienced thieves. Then, step by
step, the young shoplifters are advanced in;
tho art until they are permitted to do the
fine work of stealing laces, silks or jewelry
directly under the noses of the salesmen.
If a young and inexperienced thief is
caught she is usually terrified, while an old
hand at the business makes very little
outcry, and takes it all as a matter of
course.
A woman was arrested not long ago in
one of the dry-goods stores and taken up
stairs to the superintendent's desk; alt the
time she was talking some one at the op
posite sido of the store noticed that she was
taking goods out of her pockets and as fast
as she did so she dropped them on the floor,
and then tried to kick them nnder the desk.
Whenever a shoplifter is caught she tries
to drop the goods on the floor, so that when
searched nothing can be round, and con
sequently no arrest made.
If a thief is one of a gang, she has no diffi
culty m obtaining bail; in some cases the
person arrested and bailed out has paid the
DBOPPIXO GOODS OS THE TLOOK.
sum, perhaps five hundred dollars, rathci
than appear in court. Two thousand dol
lars was the bail fixed for a woman whe
recently stole several rolls of silk. Nothing
is too valuable, naturally, for these people
to steal, and at the same time nothing is
too small or trifling. ' Whenever their
homes have been searched, articles of
every conceivable description have been
found. All is fish that comes to their nets.
The organized gangs have their head
quarters at some place down town. They
go out by the dozens every day, and then
report at night. Some of them when they
start out on their day's expedition go down
to the ferries or to the Grand Central do
pot and station themselves there until they
spy a victim some lady possibly with a
well-filled pocket-book, who is bound on a
shopping expedition. This person is fol
lowed from store to store until the pro
fessional has either possessed herself of
the pocket-book or found out that sho has
met some one who is too clever for her
wiles.
As a rule these people are not well
dressed, for whatever money they may
mako in this way they spend in drink and
carousals. If they steal a .dollar article
and pawn it they .seldom get over ten or
fifteen cents for it. At the holidays all
stores double their force of detectives, or if
they are not accustomed to employ one at
any other season of the year they usually
engage one or two then.
Fully nineteen-twentieihs of the shop
lifters are women. It is seldom that a male
shoplifter attempts to "work" a retail storo
alone, and the instances where women arc
assisted by men are not frequent. Hale
shoplifters opcrato mostly in .wholesale
stores. They eo in couples aud generally
drop into a store soon after the porter has
opened the doors, and while one of them
c ngages the attention of the porter the othei
makes off with a package of goods.
Tho usual pretext given by this class of
thieves is that they have ''just come to town
and thought they would stop on their way
to their hotel." One of tho men carries a
hand-sachel, into which the stolen property,
of course, finds its way.
Professional shoplifters were formerly in
the habit of affecting the "kleptomania
dodge" when detected, but since the store
keepers have become so exacting in their
demands for proofs of good character in
such cases the thieves have abaudoned that
subterfuge and now depend apon their skill
snd luck to eseapo detection. . S .
The increasing experience el the store-r
keepers and the improved facilities fofj
thici-catcning nave driven the bunglers out
of this branch of the rogue's profession,
and it is now an even match- betweer
sharp and experienced "detectives and smart
and ingenious thieves. There aro plenty
of evidences that "the smart and ingenious"
thieves are numerous and that they operate
in all the large retail stores with a fai.
average of success.
Klep'-omania is an evil familiar to all, and
it is regarded variously by different shop
keepers. Those who profess to have con
fidence in medical science, or whe possess
charitable natures, frankly avow their be
lief in the theory that kleptomania is a dis
ease of the mind which its victims can not
resist or throw off. To such kindly disposed
merchants kleptomaniacs are objects of pity
and tender consideration; but to another
class of merchants they are simply provoca
tive of wrath. It is generally conceded that
kleptomania is a standing compl .int, which
is constantly manifesting itself in a moder
ate degree. It does not appear to increase
or decrease, but remains about the same
from year to year.
"There is a lady who often comes in
here," they said to me at one store, "whom
we know to be a kleptomaniac. She is well
known by all our clerks, and the bill of the
goods she takes is sent to her family, who
pay it without a question."
8ome of the people afflicted -with this dis
ease are women, but occasionally men who
are able to show that they move in respect
able society are caught stealing. Instances
are narrated where men of wealth and high
social prominence have been detected con
cealing about their persons articles for
which they coakThave ao possible use. Not
long ago a maa was caught ia a bungling
attempt to steal a couple of cheap cotton
handkerchiefs in a Broadway store. His
gentlemanly appearance and unfeigned agi
tation when accused of the theft prompted
the managers of the store to invite him
into a private room and ask foraaexplana
tion. He acknowledged with much chagrin
that he was periodically seized with aa tin
controllable impulse to steal something. He
insisted that while subject to the mania he
had no realization of where he was, or what
he was stealing. He easily established his
identity as a prosperous business man, and
displayed a well-filled pocket-book. Incon
sequence he was allowed to depart, and no
publicity was given to his case. N. Y. Mail
and Express.
THE HEAVENLY HOME.
Tho Joy of the Redeemed Pictured
By Dr. Talmage.
The Kteraal Maasloa I" Which There Is
ibm For All The Hpleadors of the
Great Homestead Where the Re
deemed Will Meet.
In a recent sermon Rev. T. DelVitt Tal
magH took for hs subject. "Our House on
the Hills " Hi text was from John xiv.
2: "In rav Father' house are many
room." H- said:
Here in a butt e of medicine that is a
cure-all. The disciples were sad and
Christ offere 1 Heaven as an alternative, a
stimulant and a tonic. He shows them
that their sorrows are only a dark hack
pround of a bright p c ure of coining feli
city. He lets them know that though now
tbey live on the lowland they shall yet
have a heme on the uplands. Nearly all
ol the Bible descriptions 01 Heaven may
be figurative. I am not positive tbatia
all Heaven there is a literal crown or harp
or pearly gate or throne or chariot. They
may bo only used to illustrate the glories
of the place, but how well tbey do it ! The
favorite symbol by which the Bible pre
sents celt stial happiness is ahouse. Paul,
who never owned a bouse, although he
hired one for two years ia Italy, speaks of
Heaven as "a bouse not made with
hands," and Christ ia oar text,- the trans-'1
lation of which is a little changed so as to
give the more accurate meaning, say:
"In my Father's h use are many rooms."
This divinely authorized comparison of
Heaven to a great homestead of large ac
commodations I propose to cjrry out. In
some hsalthy neighborhood a man builds
a very commodious habitation. He must
have room for all his children. The rooms
must corns to be called after different
members of the family. That is mother's
room. That is Ueorgb's room, a bat is
Henry's room That is Flora's room.
That is Mary's room. And the house is
all occupied. But time goes by and the
sons go out into the world and lu:Id their
own homes and the daughters are married
or have ta'ents enough to go out and do
good work in the world. Alter awhiU the
father and mother are almoit alcne in the
big house, and seated by the evening
stand they say: "Well, our family is a
larger now than when we started together
fortv years ago." Bit time ges siill
fur:h9r by and somof the rh idren are
unfortunate aad return to the old home
stead to live, and the grandcnildren, and
perhaps ib.3 great-g.and .hildren, and
again ths house is full.
Many millenia airo God built on the hills
of Heaven a great homestead for a family
innumerable yet to be. At first He lived
alone in that great hiue, but after a
while it was occupied by a very large
family, cherubic, seraphic, angelic. The
eternities passed oa and many of the in
habitants became wayward and left never
to return. And many of the apartments
were vacated. I refer to the fallen angels.
Now tbess apartments are filling up
again. There are arrivals at the old
homestead of God's children every dav,
and the day will come when there will be
no unoccupied room in all the house. As
you and I expect to enter it and make
there eternal residence, I thought you
would like to get some more particulars
about that many roomed homejtead. "In
my Father's housa are many rooms." Ton
see the place is to be apportioned off into
apartments. We shall love all who are in
Heaven, but there are some very good
people whom we would not want to live
with in the same room. They may
be better than we are, but tbey are
of a divergent temperament We would J
like to meet tbem on the golden streets
and worship with them in the temple and
walk with them on the river banks, but I
am glad tosay that we shall live in differ
ent apartments. "In my Father's house
are many rooms."
Tou see Heaven will be so largo
that it one wants an entire room
to himself or herself it can be af
forded. An ingenicui statistician, taking
the statement made in Revelat on. twenty
first chapter, that the heavenly Jerusalem
was measured and found to be 12,000 fur
longs and that the length and height and
breadth of it are equal, says that woul 1
make Heaven insize948extillion5SSquin
lillion cubic feet, and then, reserving a
certain portion for the Court of Heaven
and the streets, and estimating that the
world may last 100.0 X) years, be ciphers
out that there nreover five trillion rooms,
each room 17 feet long. 18 feet wide, 15
feet high. But I have no faith in the ac
curacy of that calculation. He makes the
rooms too small. From all I can real, the
rooms will be palatial, and those who have
not had enough room in this world will
have plenty or room at the last.
' The fact is tl at people in this world are
crowded, aad, though cut on a vast prai
rie or in a mountain distr ct, people may
have jnore room than they want, in most
cases it is bouse built close to house, aad
the streets are crowded and the cradle is
crowded by other cradles, and the graves
crowded in the cemetery by other graves,
and one of the richest luxuries of many
people in getting out of this world will be
the gaining of unhindered and uncramped
room. And I should not wonder if in
stead of the room that the statistician
ciphered out as only seventeen feet by
sixteen, it sbon'd be larger than any of
the imperial rooms at Berlin, St James or
Winter palace. "In my Fathei's house
are many rcoms."
Carrying oat still further the symbolism
of the text let us j in hsnds and go up to
this majestic homestead and see for our
selves. As we ascend the golden steps aa
invisible guardsman swings opeu the
front door and we are ushered to the right
into the reception room of the old home
stead. That is the place where we first
meet the welcome of Heaven. There mast
be a place where the departed spirit enters
and a place ia which it conlronts the in
habitants celestial. The reception room
rf the newly arrived from this world
what scenes it must have witnessed since
the first guest arrived, the victim of the
first. fratricide, pious AteL In that
room Christ loving'y greeted all new
comers. He redeemed them and He has
the right to the first embrace oa their ar
rival. What a minute when the ascended
spirit first sees the L rd. Better than, all
we ever read about Him or talked about
Him or sane about Him in all the churches
and through all our ea'rthly Jif 'time, will!
it be. just for one second to see Him. The
most raptun n idea we ever had of Him oa
sacramental days or at the height of some
great revival or under the uplifted batm
of aa oratorioa bankruptcy of thoughts
compared with the first flash of Hts ap
pearance in that reception room. At that
moment when you confroot each other.
Christ looking upon you and yculooking
upon Christ; there will bean ecstatic thrill
and surging of emotion that beggar all
description. Look! They need no intro
daclion. Long ago Christ chase that re
pealant sinner, and that repentant sinner
cboee Christ. Mightiest moment of an im
mortal history the first kiss of Heaveul
Jesas and the souL The soul and Je-a.
Bat now into that reception room pour
the glorious kinsfolk. Enough of earthly
retention to let you know them, but with
out their wounds or their sickness or their
troubles. See what Heaven has done for
them. So radiant so gbeful, so trans
portingiy lovely. Tbey call yoa by name.
They greet you with an ardor prog or
tioned to the anguish of your parting and
the lencth of your separation. Father!
Mother! There is your child. 8ister!
Brothers! Friends! 1 wish you joy. For
years apart together agnin in the recep
tion room of the old homestead. Tou see
they will know y u are oming. Th?r
are so many immortals HI ing all the
spaces te:ween here and Heaven that
news like that flies like l'g'Jtniiic. They
will be there in an instaui; though tbey
were in some other world on errand from
God a signal would be thrown that would
fetch them. Though you mieht at first
feel dazed and overawed at their super
natural spleudor, ell that feeling will be
gone at their first touch of heavenly
salutation and you will say: "O. rav lost
boy,?' 40, my lost companion." 0, my
lost friend, are we here together?"
What scenes have been witnessed in
that reception room of the old homestead !
There met Joseph and Jacob, finding it a
brighter room than any thing tbey saw in
Pharoatrs palace; Divid and the little
child for whom he once fasted and wept;
Mary and Lazarus after the heartbreak of
Bethany ; Timothy, and GrandmothtrLojs;
Isabe la Graha"m"and her sailor son, Al
fred and George Coukman.. the mystery of.
the sea at last made maairestLutaer and
Magdalena. the' daughter Jie bemoaned:
John Howard and the prisoners whom he
gospelized; and multitu les withoatnum
ber who, once so weary and' sad. parted
oa earth, 'but gloriou.-.y met in Heaven.
Among all the rooms of that bouse there
is no one that more enraptures my snal
than that reception room. "In my Fa
ther's houe there are many rooms."
Another room in cur Father's house is
the throne room. We lelong to tb royal
family. The blood of King Je us fi w ia
oar veins, so we have a right to enter the
turone room. It is no easy thing on earth
to get through even the utside door of a
king's residence. During the Franco-German
war one eventide in the summer of
1870, 1 stood studying the exqu site sculpt-"
uringof the gat of the Tuiieries. Pari.
Lost in admiration of the wonderful art of
that gate I knew aot that I was txcitins
suspicion. Lowering my eyes to the
crowds of people I found myself being
closely inspected by governmental offl-c.al-,
who from my complexion judged me
to be a German, and that from some bel
ligerent purpose I might be examining
the gates of the pat ace. My explanation
in very poor French did not sati f y tbem
and they followed me long distances and
were not satisfied until my landlord told
them that I was only an inoffensivo Amer
ican. The gates of earthly palaces are
closely guarded, and. if so, how much
more severely the throne room.
A dazz'ing place it is for mir
rors and all costly art No one who ever
saw the throne room of the first and the
only Napolean will ever forget the letter
N embroidered in purple and gold upon
the upholstery of chair and window, the
letter N gilded on the wall, the letter N
chased on the chtl.ee', the letter N flaming
from the ceiling. What a cor.fl igration of
brilliance the throne room of Charles Im
manual, of Sardinia; of Ferdinand, o;
Spain; of Elizabeth, of Erg and; of Boni
face, of Italy. But the throne room of our
Father's house hath a glory eclipsing ell
the throne rooms that ever saw scepter
wave or crown glitter, or foreign ambas
sador bjw, for our Father' throne is a
throne of grace, a throne of holiness, a
throne of justice, a throne of uuiversal
dominion. We need not stand shivering
and cowering bef-ire it for cur Father says
we may yet one day come up and ait on it
beside Him. 'To bim that overcometh
will I Rraut to sit with me in my throne."
1 on see we are princes and princesses.
Perhaps now we move about incognito, as
Peter the Great in the garb of a ship car
penter at Amsterdam, or as Queen 'lirzah
ta the dress of a peaant woman seeking
the prophet for her ch Id's cure; but it
will be found out after awhile who we are
when we got into the lk one room.
Aye! we need not wait until then. We
may by prayer and song and spiritual up
lift ng this moment entar the throne room.
O King, live forever! We touch the for
eiviag scepter and prostrate ourselves at
Toy feet! The crowns of the royal fami
lies of this world are tossed about from
generation to gea-ration and from family
to family. There are ch-Idren' four years
old in Berlin who bave sesn the. crown on
three Emperors. But whenever the coro
nets of this world rise or fall, tbey are
destined to meet in one place. And I loo'.;
and see them coming from north and south
and east and west, the Spanish crowa. the
Italian crown, the English crown, the
Turkish crown, the Russian crowa, the
Persian crown, aye, all the crowns from
nnder the great arcbivolt of Heaven; and
while I watch and wonder they are all
flung in rain of diamonds around the
pierced feet
Jesas shall reign where'er th sun
Docs his successive journey run.
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore
Till sun shall rise and set no more.
O that throne room of Christ! -'In my
Father's bouse are many room."
Another room in our Father's hoae is
the musio room. St John and other Bible
writers talk so much about the music of
Heaven that there must be music there,
perhaps not uch as was on earth
thrummed from trembling string or
evoked by touch of ivory key, but if not
that then something better. There are so
many Christian harpists and Christian
composers and Christ iaa oigaaists and
Christian cfaoiristers and Christian hymn
ologists that have gone op from earth
there must be for them some place of es
pecial delectation. Shall we have mnsic
in this world of discords aad no music in
the land of complete harmony? Icaanot
give you the notes of the first bs of the
new song that is sang in Heaven, I caa
not imagine either the solo or the dox
o'ogy. But Heaven means mnsic, aad caa
mean nothing else. Occasionally that
music has escaped the gate. Dr. Faller
dying at Beaufcrt S. C, said: "Do you
hear?" "Hear what !" exclaimed the by
tender. "The mnsic! Lift rae up!
Open the window !"
In that mnsic room of our Father's
house yoa will some day meet the old
Christian masters, Mczart and Handel
and 'Mendelssohn and Beethoven and
Doldridge. whose sacred poetry was as
remarkable as his sacred prose, and James
Montgomery aad William Cowper, at last
got rid of his spiritaal melancholy, and
Bishop Haber, who same of "Greealand's
ley Mountains and India's CoralStrand;"
nnd Dr. Kffl, who wrote of "High in
Tonder Realms of Light," and Isaac
Watts, who went to visit Sir Thomas Ab
ney and wife for a week but proved him
self so agreeable a guest that they made
him stay thirty-six years; and side by
side, Augustus Toplady. who has got eveff
his dislike for Methodists, and Charles
Wesley freed from his dislike for Calvia
ist; and George W. Be'huae, as sweet as
a stag m kir as he was great as a
preacher, aad taaaataorof "The Village
Hymas;" aad many who wrote ia verse
or song, in church or by eveatide candle,
and many who were passionately foad et
music but coald make none themselves.
The poorest singer there more than any
earthlr nriraa. donna, and the poorest
players there more than any earthly Gott- j
scbalk. O that music room, the head- -quarters
of cadence and rbythm.sympbony 1
ami chant psalm and aatiphon! May w '
be there seme hour when Haydn aits at
one of his own oratorios and David, the (
psalmist fingers the haip, and Myriuatel
the Red sea banks claps the cymbals, and .
Gabriel puts his lips to the trumpet and I
the four-aml-twenty elders chant and
Li nd and Parepa reader matchless duet in j
1 be music room of the old heavenly borne-
stead. "In my Faih.-r's house are maay
rooms."
Another room in car Father's house will
be the family room. It may correspond
somewhat with the family room oa earth.
At morning and evening, yoa know, that
is the place we now meet Though every
member of the household have a serarate
room, in the family room they all gather,
and joys aad sorrows aad experiences of
all stj les are there reh ared. Sacred
room in all our dwellags! Whether it be
luxurious with ottomans aad d vans and
looks in iussia lids steading inmabrg
any cue, or 'there be only a few plain
tchairsaadacradaA80v,the fsmijy rooa
oa nign win tie tne place wnere tne kins
folk assemble and tsik over tho-faasily
experiences of .eartbtha. wed-sfeg the
bir hs, the lari41s7: the .festal eViys of
Cb'istmas aad Tbanjksf ivtograanioau
Will the cfrfdtndramdremain chil
dren there? O, ao; erery tbi-ig is perfect
there. The cuild will go ahead to glorified
maturity and the aged will go back to
glorified maturity. Ihe risi- g sun of one
will rise to meridian and the descending
sun ef-lhe oiherwilt.'rehtrra tom-ridia-j
However ranra'we leva oar children here
on earth we woald -consider it a domestic
disaster if they stayed childrea, aad sews
rejoice nt tbeifgrowth here. And when
we meet in the family room of our Father's
house, we will be gad tLat they bave
grandly and gloriously matured; wide
our parents who were agel and infirm
here, we shall be glad to And restored to
the most ag le and vigorous immortality
there. If lorty or forty-five or fifty be
the apex of physical and mental life on
earth, then the heavenly childhood will
advance to that and the heavenly old age
will retieat to that
When we join them in that family
room we sball want to know of them right
away such things as these: Did yoa see
as ia this or that or the other struggle.
Did you know when we lost our property
and sympathized wi'h us? Did you know
we aad that awful sickness? Were you
hovering anywhere around when we
p a-iged into that memorable accident?
Did yon know of our back lidinc.? Did
you know of that moral victory? Were
you pleased when we started for Heaven?
Did you cslebrate the hour of our conver
sion? And then, whe. her tbey know it or
aot we will tell them all. But they will
have more to tell ns than we to tell tbem.
Ten years on earth may be eventful,
but what must be a biography of
ten years in Heaven? They will
have to tell us the story of coronations,
story of news from a:l immensity, story
of conquerors and hierarchs, story of
wrecked or ransomed planets, story of
an2elic victory over diabolic revolts, of
extinguished suns of obliterated constef-'
lations. of new pa axies kindled and
swung, of stranded comets, of worlds oa
lire, and story of Jebovab's majestic
reign. If in that family room of our
Father's house we have so much to tell
them of w hat we have passed through
since we parted how much more thrilling
and arousing that which they bave to tell
us of what they have passed through
since we parted. Surety that family rora
will be one of tb.9 most fnvoied rooms ia
all our Father's house. What long linger
ing there, for we sball never again be in a
hurry.
"Let me open a window," said an hnna
ble Christian servant to Lady Raffles,
who because of the death of ber child, bad
shut herself up in a dark room an I re
fused to es any one: "you have been
many days in this daik room. Are you
not ashamed to grieve in this manner
when you ousht to b thanking God for
having given you the most beautfuj:hild
that eVer was sesn, aad instead of leaving
him iu lb s world till be si o.ild be worn,
with tronbie. has not God taken him to
Haaven in all his- beauty?.- Leave . Off
weeping-anbV'et aw open window." -So
to-day I am trying to open upon the dark
ness .of earthly separation the windows
and doors and rooms of the heavenly home
stead. "In my Father's house are many
room." ,.
How woald it do fcf my- ser
mon to leave you in that family room to
day. I am sure there, is no room, ia waich
you would rather stay than ia the enrapt
ured circle of your ascended and glorified
kinsfolk. We might visit other room ia
our Father's house. There may be picture
galleries penciled not with earthly art;
but by some proce-s unknown ia this
world, preserving for the next world the
brightest and most stupendous tcsnes of
human history. And there may be lines
and forms of earthly beauty preserved for
heavenly inspection in something whiter
and chaster aad richer than Venetisa
sculpture ever wrought Rooms beside
rooms. Rooms over rooms. Large rooms
majestic rooms, opalescent room, ame
thystine reome. In my Father's house
are many rooms."
I ho- e none of as will be disappointed
about getting there. There is a room for
as if we will go aad take it bat ia order
to reach it it is absolutely necessary that
we take the r'ght way, and we must eater
at the right door, and Carist is the right
door; and we mast start in lima, aad the
only hour you are sure of, is the hoar the
clock now strikes aad the only secoad the
one your atch is bow ticking. I hold ia
my hand a ro.l of letters iBvitiag you all
to make that your home forever. The
New Testament is only a roll of letters ia
viting you, as the spirit of them practically
say: "My dying yet immortal child ia
earthly neighborhood. I have bail t for yoa a
great residence. Itis full of rooms. Ihave
famished them as ao palace was ever fur
aished. Pearls are nothing, emeralds are
nothing, chrysophrasas is nothing,
illuminated panels of sunrise aad sanset
nothing, the aarora of the northern heav
ens nothing compared with the splendor
with which I bave garnitured them. But
you must be clean before yoa can eater
there, aud so I have opened a foantaia
where you may wash all your sins away.
Come bow ! Put yoar weaiy but cleaased
feet oa the upward pathway. Do yoa aot
ten amid the thick foliage oa the heavenly
hill tops the old family homestead?" "In
ay Father's hoase are many rooms."
A recent fire ia the Commercial doeks,
t.onaoB. causeu a loss 01 Wfvw. j
ADVICE TO YOUNG MEN.
It la Excellent. Hat ThoM Who Need IS
Will Probably Net Take Ir.
Don't mistake notoriety for fame.
Do not let others spend the money
you earn.
Don't do work unworthy of you if
you can avoid it
Don't say "I am a gentleman;" it is
never neceassary.
Be loyal to death to thoso who have
befriended you.
n hon you iwaist tho
noctty aoa t ao
it ostentatious-.
Silence is thu he.st weapon to uso
against a vulvar and .Htiiteful tongue.
In ninety-nine case in :. hundred tho
man vou wish dead outlives you.
Don't introduca a lady's naino when
you would nt introduce the lady.
Don't count much 011 friendships
formed in cafes. They never turn out
welL
Remember impertinence isn't wit.
any more than insolence is brilliancy.
If younjj men will not believe in
themselves, no man or woman can be
lieve in them.
Don't indulge in tho luxury of stronjr
opinions in tho presence of your elders
and betters.
If you haven't the moral courage to
lnugh at sneerers. then vou are another
'of nature's mistakes. ""' " "
Don't talk about what you aro jroiag"
.to. do; thouif you fail to accomplise it.
Jioeocly wtll'kaJw. k
f It-you learn that people say spiteful,
wicked things about you. and untruth
ful things at that, be silent
It isn't a very nice thing for a young
man. or any one for that matter, to
sm'le in a superior way at ignorance.
Do, not be afraid to go near your
enemy. The nearer you get to a kick-
ing horse the less damage will result
to your person.
Never let a day pass without think
ing seriously, if only for a moment, of
death. It will rob it of more than half
its terrors.
Treat nil men and women consider
ately and you will be surprised at the
dividends that will come to you daily
and yearly.
The man who does a generous aet
and lets the world into the secret shows
the world a peach after rubbing the
bloom from it.
Cultivate a cheerful frame of mind
and the mind will mold the face and
the tongue and the voice Into some
thing irresistible.
You never want to listen compla
cently to injudicious or extravagant
praise, nor to "funny" stories at the
expense of women.
If you do a good piece of work iu
finance, journalism, politics, art, musie
or literature, do not spoil it by volun
tarily speaking of it complacently; and.
on the other hand, do not speak of it
disparagingly. Once a Week.
USES OF MIRRORS.
xieehlBa; Ucht Into urk Nooks by Meaae
of, Leoklaa; lilaaaesw
The use of a mirror for reflecting tho
sun seems to run from the extremes of
boyish roguishness in flashing the sun's
rays upon the eyes of some companion
or even older persons, if the distance
be sufficient and then reaches to tho
other extreme of using it to flash tho '
sun's rays for heliotrope signals ih tho
coast survey or army service, or to
measure the deflection of a galvanom
eter needle. But thero is a vast middle
space of practical usage of mirrors,
apart from that of individual vanity,
which is rarely thought of.
A gentleman in Boston, calling at an
office in tho upper part of a building,
stated his intention of calling upon a
man in a distant part of the city, and
was told that his party had recently
opened aa office on the other side of the
same street, and in the upper part of a
building of the same height.
On lookingacross to the opposite win
dow, that geatleman was seen hard at
work and too busy to look up. How
ever, a large mirror was unhung fn the
toilette room, and the sun's rays flashed
upon his face in a manner that startled r
him and dazzled his eyes, first causing
him to jump and blinding him.
At first he was indigaant at tho lm- H
proper liberty taken with s visual
organs, and looked out of the window
as fierce as a forty-pounder, threaten
ing and breathing out slaughter upon
the youngster should ho be in sight.
A few gesticulations, however, soon
made the party across the street under
stand that ha was to be called upon.
In the boyhood days of the writer he
remembers looking into a new pump
which bad been thoroughly spiked the
night before it was to be placed in the
well, by means of some rocks which
were pushed in about midway and
vedged against each other.
Various plans for their removal had
been suggested, the most practicable of
which was to saw the pump in two and
join it together again somehow. The
writer suggested that a mirror be
brought, and the sunlight flashed in to
reveal the position of the stones. A
bar of wrought-iron was bent to a
hook, suitable to the condition of af
fairs, and extricated the stones one by
one, the mirrow showing the openings
of light so that the person could work
efficiently and intelligently.
Objects lost in wells have been dis
closed by means of the sun's rays
thrown down upon them by mirrors
Davit basements in cities are lighted by
means of mirror surface of total re
flecting prisms, made out of decidedly
cheap glass, and held in proper posi
tion in racks placed in alleyways, under1
gratings forming a part ef the walk.-
Electrical Review.
feideon I rease. of East Wilton.
Me., who was a sergoAnt in the Black
Hawk war, is thought to be the onl
living- United Stales soldier of thai
4 wx.
1
Y