Conservative. 3
FROM THE GUESTS AT THE INN.
The Princess came to Bothlehcm'fj Inn ;
Tlio Keeper he bowed low ;
Ho sent his servants hero and yon ,
His maids ran to and fro.
They spread soft carpets for her feet ,
Her bed with linen fine ;
They heaped her board with savory meats ,
They brought rich fruits and wine.
The Merchant came to Bethlehem's Inn ,
Across the desert far ,
From Ispahan and Suninrcantl ,
And hoary Kandahar.
Rich orient freight his camels bore ;
The gates flew open wide ,
As in ho swept with stately mien ,
His long , slow train beside.
The Pilgrim came to Bethlehem's Inn :
Wayworn and old was he ,
With beard unshorn and garments torn ,
A piteous sight to seel
He found a corner dim and lone ;
He ate his scanty fare ;
Then laid his scrip and sandals by ,
And said his evening prayer.
The Beggar came to Bethlehem's Inn ;
They turned him not away ;
Though men and maidens scoffed at him ,
They bade the varlet stay.
"The dogs have room ; then why not he ? "
One to another said ;
"Even dogs have earth to lie upon ,
And plenteous broken bread ! "
Maid Mary fared to Bethlehem's Inn :
Dark was the night and cold ,
And eerily the icy blast
Swept down across the wold.
She drew her dark brown mantle close ,
Her wimple round her head.
"Oh , hasten on , my lord , " she cried ,
"For I am sore besteadl"
Maid Mary came to Bethlehem's Inn :
There was no room for her ;
They brought her neither meat nor wine ,
Nor fragrant oil , nor myrrh.
But where the horn6d oxen fed
Amid the sheaves of corn
One splendid star flamed out afar
When our Lord Christ was born.
Julia 0. R. Dorr , in the December Atlantic
THE AMERICAN NAVY.
When we contrast the tedious , va
cillating and uncertain action of the
English army in the Boer war , its
manifest blunders , its failures on many
occasions , not from lack of bravery ,
but from lack of brains , what Ameri
can can fail to have a feeling of pride
in the celerity and completeness with
which the Spanish-American war was
brought to a close ? England is weeping
and wailing yet , not only over its deac
and wounded which number up into
the thousands , but in the fact that
with all their blood and training , the
war is still going on , and the English
man is constantly touched in his most
vital spot ; his pocket. We are no
decrying the Englishman's love of
his country. He will "pay , pay
pay , " and he will stand up and be
'shot with an obstinacy and a determi
' Uation that in ninety-nine cases in a
hundred will' ' win out. ' '
In contrasting the two wars we can
not help thinking that the main ele
ment that broueht our Spanish-Ameri
can war to so quick and successful a
conclusion , was our glorious Ameri
can navy. The thorough annihilatibu
of the Spanish vessels and gunboats at
Manila by Dewey , was an act which
was greater from its effect than in the
act itself ; because as a matter of fact
the vessels that wore conquered were
1 small fry" affairs. But no one can
question but that the Santiago action
was well done , which stands promin
ently in the minds of the American
people as the most brilliant act of the
Spanish war , and one which brought
it to so successful a conclusion.
It is a little unfortunate that a con
troversy should have arisen , which re
flects seriously upon the Navy De
partment , as to who is entitled to the
most credit for the glorious results
obtained by our ' ' water dogs' ' on that
occasion. But take the whole history
of the action of that fleet. The tre
mendous passage of the noble ' ' Ore
gon" under the gallant and fearless
Olark , all around Cape Horn , ready
at all times , as he says , to tackle the
whole Spanish fleet single-handed a
trip of 14,000 miles , with not a break
in the machinery , not a faltering on
the part of her commander ; who was
responsible for everything ; the get
ting into the Santiago fight , ( the
Oregon being with the Brooklyn the
two swiftest ships ) and heading ofl
the escaping Spanish fleet ; it is a
noble record and one we can all fee ]
proud of.
It is a mystery to us , however , how
Captain Clark who seems to be mak
ing no complaints , has apparently re
ceived no reward whatever for his
gallant services. We have informa
tion from one of his intimate friends ,
that the strain on his nerves , of bring
ing the vessel on that enormous jour
ney , successfully to Santiago , was
such that for nearly a year after
Santiago he was disabled from ner
vous prostration ; but he did not stop
to think of thisnor did he lose a day's
time ; until the enemy were safely out of
the way.
Capt. Olark for four years was
stationed at Chicago as Light House
Inspector on the Lakes ( some ten or
twelve years ago ) and while there
made many friends among the western
people. Some action should certainly
be taken by the Navy Department or
congress , or by the president ( or al
three ) to give him at least a vote of
thanks. He should certainly be promoted
meted to Rear Admiral. A friend o :
his , who has taken pains to correspond
with the members of congress on this
subject , has found that out of the en
tire number who answered letters 01
the subject , there was but one dis
senting voice on the opinion that he
should be made a Hear Admiral a
once.
CHRISTMAS TREE TRADE.
fi LiJ
A writer in Country Life in Amori'v
ca retells the story of one Mark Carr ,
a jolly , sturdy woodman living among
the foothills of the Catskills , who ,
about fifty years ago originally con
ceived the idea of sending Christmas
trees to the Now York market. Thqn
the Christmas tree was a custom most
ly celebrated by foreigners. He had
heard or read of celebrations in the
metropolis , when churches and houses
wore adorned with pine , hemlock and
holly. It occurred to him that the
stately young fir trees , covering the
mountain side about his modest home ,
might bo made profitable. The chop
ping and transportation would com
prise the whole cost of the enterprise
and it could be done at a season when
he had little else to do. So , early in
December , 1851 , Mark and his sons
drove two ox sleds loaded with young
trees , through the deep snow to the
river at Catskill , whence the father
started with them for the city.
One old-fashioned silver dollar se
cured a strip of sidewalk on the cor
ner of Greenwich and Vesey streets ,
and there the long-sighted mountain
eer set forth his forest novelties.
Customers speedily appeared , soon
buying all his wares at prices that
seemed to him positively exorbitant.
Highly elated , Mark enjoyed a few
days of town life and returned home ,
but the next year he came again with
a much larger stock , and from that
time to this the business has continued
to increase until now hundreds of
thousands of trees are yearly sold from
Mark Carr's old corner.
FABLE OF THE BABBLING BROOK.
Once upon a time a fish , hi search of
adventure , came to the broad mouth of
a brook which emptied itself into a
great river. He turned into the smaller
stream.ascended its current and listened
to its constant babbling as he went
leisurely along.
As he proceeded he noticed that the
brook became very much narrower and
shallower. Yet it kept up its babbling
just the same. Finally he reached its
head and found it to be very insignifi
cant.
"Brook , " said the fish , "never in my
life before have I seen such a large
mouth and heard so much babbling
with so little head behind it. "
Moral The head cannot be judged by
the mouth.
Conundrum What peerless publicist
reminds yon of the babbling brook with
an inferior head and superior month ?
J. Sterling Morton , always enthusi
astic for tree planting , is just now urg
ing that the custom be established
throughout the country ot planting a
tree on the birth of every child. It is a
very beautiful and appropriate idea and
should be adopted. It is said that it is
one cf the excellent customs of Switzer
land and certainly this country is in
need of all the sentiment that will pro
mote tree planting. Norfolk News.
