Beware itd
Bellefonte Pe., Februrary 5, 1904.
ee]
SUMMER WOOF FOR WINTER
WEAVING,
Sometimes when the north wind is blowing
And we look through the pane at the snowing
At a marble-white world out of doors—
The heart crieth out for the coming
Of blossoms and birds, for the humming,
Of honey-winged bees in white-clover
stores.
When violet vapors have hidden
The cold, naked hilltops, and bidden
The pale evening star as their guest,
A picture of moon-laden fountains,
Or flashing of fern-laddered mountains,
Lieth still as a garden of rest.
As we sit in the firelight's gleaming,
The sprite in the backlog brings dreaming,
Of the summer’s low-voiced monowone;
And we ciose our eyes to the dancing
Of fire-flecked figures, entrancing
Our soul with the thoughts of days that
are flown.
So ever the Past doth enamor;
The sheen of its exquisite glamour
May illumine the bitterest day;
For under the frost there is breathing,
Aud in the dead branches is wreathing
Of hawthorn and lilacs for crowning of
May.
— Ella Beardsley, in the Boston Tr.nseript.
THE SHACKLES OF A FRIEND.
Bayard spoke abruptly : ‘Do my chosen
work for me; I bad to give it up at my
father’s death. You know our studies in
social science prepared us equally for wris-
ing upon the problems of industry.”
Harrison sat looking at the worn spot in
the carpet. Apparently he had not heard
his friend’s quick appeal. After a mo-
ment, he said :
“‘If I were to take that position at Har-
vard, I wonder if I should be bored.” He
spoke meditatively; then he romsed him-
self. “I wish I knew more about the fu-
ture. Bayard, do vou know, sometimes I
think it would be easier for me to make a
decision if I had to-earn my own living.’
There was a suggestion of bitterness in
Bayard’s lip when he replied : “You are
hardly wise in saying that. It is that par-
ticular condition which has made any
choice impossible for me, and—"" He
did not go on; he felt Harrison’s inatten-
tion.
It was not an unusual occurrence, this
half hour of heated egotism on the part of
the man who had not yet made a free
choice, and the sympathetic interest on the
part of the man who could no longer look
forward to making one. As they sat in
the twilight, there was a subtle distinction
of different worlds abouts them, although
they both had the appearance of college-
bred men who had learned life as well as
theory in their twenty-five years. A still
greater difference, however, was notice-
able in the light of the fading day—the
difference in the color of the two men.
Harrison was browned with the light of
outdoors. Withal, his worrying over his
future work and the danger of blundering
upon some career which would bore him,
he was able to take his doubts a-horseback
and boating. He had never to think of
any decision affecting his bread and butter,
nor worry that his inactivity—while he
waited for the decision—might cause priva-
tion in his immediate family.
Bayard, for all his strong features and
fine physique, was decidedly pale with the
pallor of close office work and late nights
of planning for more work in order to in-
crease his income. Sometimes the pallor,
such as he showed, marks the death of
ambition; sometimes it marks the begin-
ning of a final struggle—the lass game be-
fore the breaking day when excitement is
tense beyond words. Yet, with the force
of will such as au actor exerts ina trying
scene, he appeared at ease in every line of
his figure. Just now the light in his eyes
betrayed him; it swept across the room al-
most with fury; he longed to throttle the
struggling egotism of the man who did not
known enough to appreciate his freedom.
The twilight slipped ‘out of the room,
and made it almost impossible for the two
men to distinguish the simple furnishings
—a couch, a table and hook cases. Harri-
son’s voice rose to petulancy as he dis-
cussed this and that advantage and disad-
vantage of some one or another of his open-
ings in law, in business and in the literary
world, He was looking for a panacea for
his subjective ills, and Bayard pati sly
went over the ground with him. When
they agreed, Harrison looked interested;
when they disagreed, he became abstracs-
ed, but no less eager to take up the argu-
ment when a pause came. t
“It you will do as I say,’’ said Harrison,
earnestly, ‘‘vou will work on the modern
battlefield of industrial warfare, and you
will do wha$ only a man who is free from
dependence upon some employer can do—
‘strike straight from the shoulder. Youn
are sincere in your advoeacy of the work-
ing class, think how you will set people to
thinking—because yon as a capitalist come
out for the truth.”” He spoke intensely,
and the intensity had its effect; a look of
real affection sprang into the eyes of his
friend.
‘I think you are the only person in the
‘world who understands how important this
all is for me.”’
Bayard made no reply: he rose and lit
the single gas-jet by the window, tied the
torn lace curtain out of danger from its
flaring, and then went back to his seat by
the table. He picked up a folded paper
that Jay on it, and then in a. voice quite
unlike the ringing one of certainty in
which he had just spoken, he said :
‘‘Harrison, I hate to obtrude my own
affairs upon you when you come to me for
advice, but I have been wondering if yon
have bad the time to consider the proposi-
tion I made the other day in regard to in-
vestment in the Gold Leaf mine.”
Harrison looked a little blank, it took
some effort to tear himself from his own
problem; then he hesitated—*‘I—am not
quite sure I understood what it was. We
had been talking about this Harvard posi-
‘tion, you know, ‘and my thoughts were on
that.” With the words, his mind went
back to its favorite realm. ‘‘By the way,’’
be said. “I'm convinced that I ought to go
on there and talk the matter over with
some one before I refuse—?’ . i!
« Bayard rose and walked the length of
* the small room; he walked slowly, but his
hands were olenched; the right one in
which he held the folded paper, was white
ahout the knuckles.
“The shares that I'hold in the property
‘have goue up, and I have inside informa-
tion that they will keep on.’ He spoke as
‘thongh his companion-had asked for exact
information, instead of showing complete
indifference. ‘‘I should like very much to
hold on to them myself, but I have been
advised to take a few weeks’ rest. I'can’t
unless I get the money from this. I have
nothing else to realize on, aud you know
that my salary must go to the others at
home, who think—I can’t be thankful
enough for that—that I am drawing much
more.”’
His manner was aggressive; he seemed to
make this confession as a last throw of the
dice, hoping to win the thing he bhated—
pity. Then be gave the money value of
the shares, and in corroboration of what he
said, offered the paper to Harrison.
His friend waved it aside. ‘‘It is just
this way,’’ be said, ‘‘and I know yon will
understand.” He smiled as though it
were hardly necessary to make even the
slight explanation he intended. ‘‘I make
ita point not to invest in properties of
which I am ignorant; stocks and bonds I
know something of; mines are really an
unknown quantity.’”’ He smiled again as
though expecting some appreciation of his
business-like methods, and then added:
‘‘Of coarse, you know I should like to do
itas a friend, but it involves a matter of
principle, and you are one of the people
who agree with me that reason ought to
rule in these things.”
A dull red crept over Bayard’s face and
left it almost dead white. For a moment
he looked like a man who had received a
deadly insult; then pity took the place of
anger, and he laid the paper, which he bad
been holding ont, upon the table, and
looked at his watch. Harrison followed
his example, and expressed surprise that it
was almost eight, and he had yet to dress
for an evening affair at the Beach.
“I’m sorry not to oblige you,’’ he said.
He spoke with as little feelingas though
he were refusing an invitation for dinner;
then his voice gained enthusiasm. ‘‘You
will never know,”’ he said, ‘how much
good it does me to talk over my affairs with
you.”’
Bayard looked deep into.his eyes and
held ont his hand.
‘You know what ‘Nietsche’ says: that
a man may loose his friend’s shackles,
though he cannot free himself. I’ve look-
ed to youn to do my work. Perhaps, after
all, I’m the egotiss."’
Harrison did not perceive the uninten-
tional implication,nor realize that the man
before him had won ont in a battle between
terribly hurt pride and a real understand-
ing of a friend. He left with hurried ab-
straction, and a comfortable sense of hav-
ing paid an obligation by acknowledging
it.
* * * *® *
An hour or two later, in evening dress,
he bounded up the boarding house stairs to
Bayard’s room. He noted with a smile
that a light was still glowing through the
transom. His eyes were aglow, decision
spoke in every line of his face; a different
man looked out from* every line. He
knocked and opened the door at the same
time, and spoke rapidly to Bayard; who
sat at the table, with his back to the door.
*I had to come back to tell yon that I
am going to give up this everlasting strog-
gle and take your advice. I--’
Surprised that Bayard did not turn, he
went over to the table. A half-finished
letter lay before his friend, his hand held a
pen stiffly, his head was bent over, as
though he had fallen asleep while writing. |
While wondering if he shonld wake the
sleeper, Harrison noticed the pallor of the
hand and then of the face. The truth
came $0 him on the instant; the man who
understood him was dead. The beginning
of the letter then forced itself on his con-
sciousness while he was recovering himself
to do those things which must be done.
‘‘My dear Clement,’’ it read, “I know
you have many demands upon your gen-
erosity, but. I am going to ask you to con-
sider the inclosed for investment. Frankly,
Isheuld like to keep this stock, but I need
the money, and if you —’
Harrison left the room and knocked at
the first door on the corridor, where a light
showed through the transom. A young
woman opened it. The light behind her
made a halo about her head; her hair was
banging in great masses on her shoulders;
she held a book in her hand; afterward
Harrison saw the title and recognized it as
Bayard’s copy of ‘‘Nietsche.” Evidently
the imperious knock on her door had car-
ried with it some premonition of evil, for
the girl’s eyes were wide with expectation.
“Mr. Bayard—’’ said Harrison, irreso-
lately, ‘‘where can I get some one to go to
him—he is—”’
Before the words were out of his tremb-
ling lips, the girl had darted down, the
ball and into the room where Harrison’s
friend sas at the table. Without a sound
she dropped the hook on the couch and
knelt down by the chair, so that she could
look into the face of the man who sat there
so sill. She did not touch his band; -all
her power was concentrated in her gaze,
| which would have pierced sleep had it been
that. Then, trembling, she turned to the
man at the door without rising from her
knees. .
‘It was worse than the doctors said. He
should have rested before. He had so much
to carry—=so many cares. Today he said
he had a friend who would buy his stock,
and then he could go.”
She apoke directly, as though she were
called upon to explain the stillness of the
man by whom she knelt. Her voice was
very low, but clear to sharpness. Then
she put ler arms ont appealingly to the
other one: '‘You are the one he was ex-
pecting, aren’s you? Why didn’t you
come before—just a little while before ?”’
she said it piteously with the first break in
ber calm. You could have saved his life.”
—By Charlotte Teller, in the Pilgrim.
The ‘Sleeping Sickness” in Africa,
According to a statement issued by the
American Board of Commissioners of For-
eign Missions, no less than 68,000 persons
have died of the curious sleeping sickness
which has ravaged Africa, 10,000 having
rished within the last five months.
otwithstanding all efforts on the part of
the British authorities, there has been no
abatement in the spread of the disease in
Uganda. The sleeping sickness. made. its
appearance in that section two or three
years ago. A commission sent from Eng-
land, headed by Col. Bruce, has decided
that the disease is scattered liy a fly called:
kive bus no.antidote bas yet been discov-
ered. Another commission is said to be in
‘progpect to see what can be done to pre-
vent the spread of the plague. Segregation
‘seems impossible, and no relief is in sight.
The first symptom of the presence of the
diseage is headache, with swelling of the
glands of the neck, followed by protracted
sleeping on the part of the patient. The
disease runs 1s conrse in from six weeks
to two years.—Scentiflc Americn
v
—==Mr. E. B. Green, of the Altoona
Edison Electric light company, and who is'
a son of F. Peebles Green, of this place, has
discovered a scheme for thawing out frozen
water pipes by means of an electrio current.
It was used in a residence in Altoona a
few days ago with a very successful result,
250 feet of.service pipe being thawed ont
in eighteen minutes.-
To Be a Chestnut King.
Pennsylvanian is Turning Waste Land to Wealth.
Grafting Prize Chestnut Bearing Trees on Stumps
of the Old Native Growth. Scientific Propagation
Which May Solve a State Problem.
. What promises to be a highly profitable
experiment in reclaiming the waste lands
of Pennsylvania is being tried by C. K.
Sober, a wealthy lumberman of Lewisburg.
He is covering the mountain slopes with a
hardy growth of Paragon chestnut trees
grafted on the stnmps of the native chest-
nats.
The notion of grafting cultivated chest
nuts on the native stock came to the lum-
herman when a boy on the farm from see-
ing his father graft apples trees. His fath-
er laughed at the idea. Six vears ago the
boy, then a man of fifty, was able to carry
out the plan. :
He purchased 600 acres of land in the
Irish valley, eight miles from Shamokin,
at a cost of $50,000. Half of this land has
been turned into a model stock farm. The
other 300 acres are given up to the chest-
not groves.
The Irish valley is a beautifal and fertile
depression walled in to the east and west
by parallel spurs of the Alleghenies. The
hillsides were originally covered with oak,
pine and chestnut. More than two genera-
tions ago the pine and oak and some of the
chestnut were out down. A second growth
of chestnut sprung up which ‘was standing
when Mr. Sober purchased the ground.
This was his plan: In the fall of the
year some of the trees were cut down. The
following spring yonug shoots or suckers
spruvg up from the stamps. These suckers
were grafted with scions of the Paragon
chestnut, a nus originally grown hy W. L.
Shaffer, of Philadelphia, from a foreign
nut carelessly tossed in his yard by a passer
by. It is about five times the size of the
average American chestnut and ite equal
in flavor and texture.
The nut is about the same size as the
large Italian chestnut, which however, is
coarse and tasteless. It was selected by
Mr. Sober because it is more prolific and
bears sooner than the European or Japa-
nese nut, and is less troubled by the chest-
nut weevil. Thirty-two selected chest-
nuts weighed a pound, and nuts are fre-
quently found large enough to cover a
silver dollar. Forty-five average nute fill
a gnari measure.
On the stumps, which are cut as smooth,
as possible, the suckers are allowed to grow
for a year, attaining an average height of
five fees. In the second spring they are
cub back to three or four feet to keep the
heads low and trimmed clean. On these
suckers the Paragon scions are grafted.
Crown grafting is too slow and laborious,
and the cleft graft, which was originally
used, has been entirely superseded by the
tongue or whip graft.
According to this method both sucker
and soion are cut diagonally and the two
diagonals fitted together. . The joint is
then wrapped with muslin and covered
with wax prepared after Mr. Sober’s own
formula. A drop of wax is also put on the
crown of the scion for protection from the
rain and dew.
When there are several -suckers on a
stomp, those springing from a point near-
est the ground are grafted because they
root better and are less liable to damage
from wind; the others are cut down. On
a single stump not more than two suckers
are grafted. The grafts are put in thickly,
not more than ten or twelve feet apart if
possible. This produces a bushy crown
sooner and averts danger of complete loss.
As the trees grow and begin to vrowd one
another the poorer specimens are cut down
to give the stronger more room.
Assisted by a farm hand or two, Mr.
Sober did the first grafting himself. Since
then he has employed eight or ten nursery-
men for five weeks each spring to do the
grafting. Each nurseryman averages about
250 grafts a day, and in the chestnut grove
there are now between 75,000 and 100,000
trees, ranging from one to six years. Each
grafter uses wax of a different color so that
his work can be traced. So careful are the
men in their work that 90 per cent. of the
- grafts are successful.
In the early years of the work much loss
was occasioned by broken grafts. This
danger was minimized by making the
diagonal cuts en both sncker and scion
longer, and by adding more wax and
muslin. The cloth holds the joint firmly,
hastens the union of the wood, prevents air
from getting into the crasks, and is in it-
‘self a mechanical support. The growth is
remarkable, a month ‘old graft often at-
| taining a height of two or three feet.
The first year’s growth is likely to he
fan-shaped, in which case it is cut back to
make a bushytop. The next year the tree
begins bearing. This two-year-old tree is
about shoulder high and bears two or three
pints of nuts. By the time the tree is five
-or six years old it attains a height of from
eight to twelve feet and bears several
quarts.
Each year the yield increases until the
tree is about 25 years old, when it is fully
matured and bears about five bushels an-
nually. The original tree is long-lived,
‘and there are many specimens in existence
which bear prolifically at an age of over a
century.
The Sober chestnut groves are subject to
‘several dangers which call for strict vigi-
-lance on the part of the farm hands. These
| dangers are fire, the curculio or weevil, and
thieves. ia
As a protection against the first, fire
lanes have been made around the groves.
There are wide avenues denuded of timber
and burned over. A watch is kept con-
stantly, and the farmbands are fully in-
structed as to their duties in case of five.
The only time that fire has actually
menaced the grove was in the winter of
11901, when fire started on an adjoining
property. All the hands on the place were
summoned, and, armed with pitohforks
and rakes, cleared a space two rods wide of
every bit of brush and scored the soil deep-
ly. They were prepared to back fire, if
necessary, but a timely rain rendered this
unnecessary.
The next greatest danger 'is the chestnut
weevil, which produces the fat, white grub
sooften found in chestnuts. If is a beetle
about half an inch long, the sharp mandi-
bles of which enables it to penetrate the
‘nut, where it deposits its’ eggs. After the
-nut falls the grub finds ite way into the
ground, where it burrows and remains
until spring, when it comes forth as a
beetle. §
To guard against this enemy a flock of
.game. chickens has been put in the grove,
and nnmbers of sheep and goats will be
place there after the completion of the
ence, for which miles of wire are already
ob the ground. The game chickens are
especially fond of these grubs and soratoh
‘hundreds of them ous of the ground. The
sheep and goats assist by keeping the grass
and undergrowth closely cropped.
As a further precaution all native chest-
nut trees in the locality which produce the
chestnut weevil are cut dawn. Insect
traps invented by Mr. Sober are hung in
the grove at night. This trapis a lamp
set in a pan of oil with reflectors so placed
‘tary
that insects flying apparently toward the
light fall into tbe oil. Thousands of in-
geots so caught are scooped out in the
morning and burned. When the chestnuts
are gathered in the fall the burrs are
heaped together and burned to destroy any
grubs remaining in them.
Nut thieves have been guarded against
by the building of several towers in the
grove, where men with loaded guns watch
constantly during the harvesting season.
A tower will soon be built on top of the
barn and provided with an acetylene
searchlight, the rays of which will sweep
the grove at night. As afurther precau-
tion the men who harvest the nuts, first
gather those on the extreme edge, working
gradually toward the centre. The effect of
this vigilance has been to minimize a loss
which at first was heavy.
The gathering of the nuts is an operation
both interesting and expensive. Unlike
the common American nut the Paragon
nut does not ripen on the tree. About
October 1st. the nuts are matare and the
burrs turn yellow. The harvesters are
then sent out with baskets and bags armed
with thick gloves for handling the burrs.
The trees are shaken until all the buris
have fallen. The bags and baskets are
then filled and the burrs dumped ina
great heap to ripen. In the course of a
few days, when the burrs have opened,
the nuts are harvested. The burrs are
then destroyed.
The price of the nuts varies during the
season; the earlier the crop the greater the
profit. Very early nuts bring as high as
$12 a bushel and none has heen sold for less
than $5. Seven dollars a bushel is an aver
age price. The orop this fall aggregated
300 bushels.
In addition to the cost of establishing the
grove, which involved an expenditure of
several thousand dollars, the annual out-
lay for maintenance is also heavy. A force
of eighteen Italians is kept on the premises
throughout the year. As none of these men
earn less than $1 a day, the bill for labor
alone is at least $6,000. Other expenses
add to this amount.
While the primary outlay is large and
the cost of maintenance heavy, the great
income finally assured proves beyond doubt
that the so-called waste lands of Pennsyl-
vania may be made among the most valu-
able in the State. The income from the
Sober grove this year amounted to $1,500
for the 300 bushels of nuts harvested, if
figured at only $5 a bushel, and this will
increase rapidly from now on. In two or
three years the land will be self-supporting
In five years Mr. Sober will reap a hand-
some profit from his investment.
At first sight the income assured when
the grove has reached maturity seems al-
most incredible. There are in it 75,000
healthy trees, each capable of bearing five
bushels at matarity. With the nuts worth
at least $5 a bushel, the income would be
enormous.
Suppose only 20,000 of these trees be-
come good hearers and that they average
not more then two bushels apiece; suppose
also that the price drops from $5 to $2 a
bushel. Even then there will be an almost
incredible annual income, and C. K. Sober
will be the pioneer chestnut king of the
‘country.
Will Clean Up Panama.
Sanitary Corps to Precede the Diggers Down
on the Isthmus.
When the Senate of the United States
ratifies the Panama treaty the army of the
United States will take immediate posses-
sion of the canal strip, ten miles wide
through Panama, and exercise its anthor-
ity over that strip, including the power of
establishing and compelling the use of a
complete sanitary system. 1f emergencies
do not compel this country to take posses-
sion of the territory sooner almost the first
troops to be dispatched to the Isthmus will
be one of the largest medical corps fully
equipped which ever left any country in
time of peace to administer to the wants of
living men. In other words, profiting by
the experience of France on the Isthmus
and by its own experience in tropical
climes, the United States proposes to estab-
lished sanitary regulation in Panama, such
as has already been put into operation in
Cuba and the Philippines, for the safety
of its soldiers, of the Jahorers to be employ-
ed in building the canal, and of the peo-
ple of Panama.
The equipment of this expedition will
include all supplies known to be of value
to the medical profession in tropical regions
The supply ships will carry hospital tents,
immense quantities of medical stores and
last, but not least, large supplies of miner-,
al waters, which the soldiery will be com-
pelled to use preparatory to establishing
condensing and distilling plants on the
Isthmus for furnishing a home supply of
pure water.
Not only does the government medical
department feel assured that it can ooun-
teract much of the prevalent disease upon
the Isthmus by the introduction of sanitary
methods among the people but it is intend-
ed also to make merry war upon the
deadly mosquito, which scientists have
come to believe transport more diseases,
or as much, at least, as any other source.
Nets will be provided for protection’ and
{in addition kerosene oil in large quantities
will be poured on the stagnant lakes and
ponds, especially uear the inhabited places
to effectually put an end to their existence.
In commenting upon the improved meth-
ods in the army for practical medicinal
purposes the other day, an army officer
said: “Ten years ago you could no more
make a soldier believe that boiled or dis-
tilled water was necessary for his good health
than you could make him believe that an
army mule could fly. Nowadays when an
order is given to drink nothing but pure
water a soldier will hustle around and
inconvenience himself a bit to get it. Only
in case of extreme thirst will he take a
drink from a running stream.
‘It will be easy comparatively speaking
to enforce the proposed discipline in sani-
regulations on the Isthmus. The
United States does not propose to build the
isthmian canal apon the bone of her soldiers
nor upon those of laborers employed in its
construction, nor upon those of the people
of Panama, if it can help it. If science
can do anything to prevent it fewer lives
will be sacrificed in this great work than
upon any similar piece of work under
tak en by any pation in the history of the
world. —Chicago Daily News.
Nearly Suffocated by Coal Gas.
Mr. and Mrs. Nelson E. Feister, of
Jersey Shore, had a narrow escape from
fatal suffocation by coal gas on Thursday
mghs. They slept in an upstairs room and
in the next room a coal stove was burning.
"In the morning when they awoke they
were both very ill asa result of escaping
coal gas which came into their room
through a orack under the closed door.
Mrs. Feister fainted three times after rising
and both husband and wife were ill all
day. A pet dog which was sleeping along-
side of the stove was almost dead.
ER
PLEASANT FIELDS OF HOLY WRIT.
Save for my daily Tange
Among the pleasant fields of Holy Writ,
I might despair —Tennyson.
THE INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY-SCHOOL LESSON.
First Quarter. Lesson V. Luke v, 1—11
8unday February 7, 1904.
JESUS FORGIVES SINS.
Capernanm was by adoption Jesns’ own
city. He made it the centre of his mission
ary tours. He wrought more miracles,
preached more sermons there than in any
other place. He recognized it as his resi-
dence by paying his tax there—*‘using,’’as
a quaint writer says, ‘‘a fish’s mouth as the
purse from which he took the coin for the
tax-gatherer.’”’ It was the matter of caprice
that Jesus went there. It was the centre
of population. There were nine large cities
in proximity. And the combined popula-
tion of the district approximated three mil-
lion souls. Comparatively remote from the
ecclesiastical centre of Palestine, the preju.
dice to the new Teacher and his doctrine
was correspondingly less. There Jesus
‘reached the masses.” There was an irre-
sistible attractiveness in Jesus. People flew
to him like iron-filinge to a magnet. He
drew men to himself. He could not be hid.
He is still the most attractive and conspic-
uous personage of all history, and, having
beer lifted up, is drawing an ever-increas-
ing multitude to himself. But each must
determine for himself whether this attrac-
tion shall result in a permanent attachment
‘to the Master. Alas for Capernaum! it was
for the most part curiosity, or mere bodily
healing, or loayes and fishes, that brought
the populace to Jesus; and so a city exalt-
ed to heaven is bronght down to hell. It
is an utter desolation, as indeed is the
whole region. - One little, leaky boat floats
on Galilee, where once a goodly fleet rode
at anchor, Jesus’ words, ‘‘Woe unto thee,
Capernaum!’’ seem to wake the echoes of a
complete desolation. Once when Jesus, in
the very house where he was seeking re-
pose, was besieged by an audience which
completely choked up the courtyard, and
the very approach to it, a stirring incident
occurred. Four men,one or more of whom
may have had a personal and happy expe-
rience of Jesus’ power to heal,picked up an
afilicted friend as he lay upon his mat, and
brought him joyously and confidently to
the great Healer. They were not dashed
when they found the ordinary approach
hopelessly blocked. They did not lay the
sufferer down in the street, or even return
with him to his dwelling. They were the
kind who take the kingdom of heaven by
storm. They carried the paralytic up the
outside staircase to the flat roof. They dug
up the hard, suu-dried earthen roof,enough
to admit of their lowering their friend into
the room below. There were helping hands
reached.up from the astonished auditors,
below, and the sufferer was gently and safe
ly landed at Jesus’ feet. A mute,but pow
erful appeal, that! Jesus’ first words were
indescribably comforting: ‘‘Son, be of good
cheer.” But there is a surprising change
in the formula. It is not a rebuke to dis-
ease. It is a categorical authoritative re-
mission of sin. The startling words could
not escape the inquisitorial coterie of
scribes and Pharisees. It was nos intend-
ed they should. It was Jesus’ gauntlet at
their feet. They picked it np, but not in
audible words of dissent. Omniscience un-
veiled their unspoken words as Jesus said :
‘‘Omnipotence knows nothing of degrees.
One thing is not easier or harder to it than
another. It is equally as easy to forgive as
to heal, and vice versa. But that you may
know that I have authority and power to
do hoth, I will also say to this utterly pow
erless person, ‘‘Arise.”’ He spake, and it
was done. No wonder the people said, as
the audience dispersed: “We have seen
strange things to-day.’”” ‘‘Our eyes never
beheld anything to match this scene. ‘We
never saw it on this fashion.”
THE TEACHER'S LANTERN.
An admirable example this, of strong and
practical human sympathy.
‘Art though stricken in life’s battle ?
Many wounded round thee lie.”
This gathering up of those who bave
been felled to earth by adversity, disease,
and sin; this carrying them in the arms of
a strong faith to Him whois mighty to save
—’tis angelic work!
* * * * *
Power of combination—see that, too, in
this stirring word-picture. No one of these
four believers could alone have carried his
friend to Jesus. The four together did it
with ease. The children of this world are
wiser in this respect. It is the age of com-
bination in every sphere: Much spiritual
force is frittered away in sporadic effort.
Let Christians ‘‘get together”’ for the ac-
complishment of definite ends.
* ¢ * * * *
Persistence is fully illustrated here. No
one of the four got weary in well-doing, or
let go his corner of the mattress. Fain
hearts would have failed at sight of such
obstacles. But these believers were no
made of such stuff. They did not once
look back. They ran their furrow to the
end of the field. This is the quality that
wins in every sphere; in religion no less
than in ars, literature, commerce, expl ora-
tion and all.
* * * * *
Conventional rules were broken and set
at naught that day. The sermon was in:
terrapted. Plaster came rattling down on
the heads of the auditors. Property was
injured. But what of that, so a sinner was
saved? Welcome any mode that really
brings the sinner to the golden mercy-seat.
Public worship is a means toan end,not an
end in itself. It is a ladder to convey ue
to the treasury of grace. Bare ritualism
grows very dextrous in gliding up and
down the ladder; but it never takes one
anywhere.
* * * * *
What God does is well done. The heal-
ing was complete. There was no tedious
convalescence. The man hitherto so pow-
erless sprang to his feet. The hands that
the moment before were shaking like aspen
leaves now rolled the mattress into the
smallest possible compass. The man who
himself was a burden now carries a burden
And this was in the sight of all.
* * * * *
The transforming power of grace ie just
as conspicuous to-day. Judged by its ef-
feots upon individuals, communities, and
Nations, it must be confessed Divine. As
the walls of that Capernaum home echoed
to shouts of glory to God.so shall the whole
earth be finally filled with praise.
* * * * *
Jesus saw faith in the four carriers and
the sufferer carried.. So also he saw the
malicious thoughts of his enemies.
CHILD-STUDY AND SUNDAY-SCHOOL METH-
’ ODS. !
Plato somewhere says that wonder is’ an
essential condition to knowing. Attention
is arrested and interest stimulated by the
description of the unusual. Philip Brooks
once came to the defense of the average
Sunday-school book. He said you muss in-
dulge children in their ideals and even
their dreams and fancies. It is by thas
very means you lead themonto the real. The
childmind fairly feeds and thrives upon the
wonderful. And there is no richer reposi-
tory of this than the Bible. For variety,
picturesqueness, quickness and intensity of
movement the Scripture stories are unsur-
passed. They are old, hut perennial. Many
of them are golden hooks on which ethical
lessons of first importance can be bung.
—
Peppermint and Celery
Two Products by Which the City of Kalamazoo,
Mich., Has Been Made Famous and Comparative-
lg Wealthy. .
The first thing that strikes a stranger en-
tering Kalamazoo, Mich., isa strong odor
of peppermint. And this is not to he won-
dered as, because fully 95 per cent of the
peppermins used in the United States and
three-fourths of all used in the world is
prepared for the markes right there.
“Peppermint King’’ Todd has his big
laboratory a little way from the Union pas-
senger station, and that is why the visis-
or’s nostrils are greeted by such a pungent
odor as he leaves the train. Kalamazoo has
long been noted for its celery, and the fact
that such great quantities of this fine vege-
table have been raised there has overshad-
owed everything else, bunt A. M. Todd,
who discovered a new method in distilling
peppermint thinks there is something else
in Kalamazoo besides celery.
It has been several yearssince Albert M.
‘Todd made his valuable discovery and
since that time be has been gradually grow
ing richer and richer from his peppermint
truss. Today be is rated as one of the rich-
est men in the city and is called a million.
aire. Southern Michigan is a rich field for
the well-known herb, and large quantities
are shipped in from all directions to be re-
duced to oils and essences by the secret pro.
eess in the Todd laboratory and sent out to
cure the stomach aches of the whole world.
Here is made the foundation for creme de
menthe, the great after-dinner drink; the
flavoring for candies and innumerable oth-
things which peppermint forms an integral
part. From the aromatic plant that grows
in rich profusion in the fertile soil of the
State he has coined money and made his
name famous wherever the volatile oil is
known and where medicine and confection
ery abound.
Mr. Todd guards the secret of his process
well, for it stands him in hand to do so.
Before he made his valuable discovery there
were numerous little establishments for the
preparation of this valuable oil and essence
but his process so far outbid every other
that it was only a little time until he had
a monopoly and he has long heen known as
‘‘Peppermint’’ Todd by the people of that
section of the country. The laboratory is
a large brick structure and it is not hard to
find from the fact that the smell of the pun
gent plant is a suie guide.
Mr. Todd is one of the public-spirited
citizens of the town, and has been in poli-
tics more or less. Ie was elected to the
State Legislature on the Union Silver sick-
et in 1896. He owns considerable proper-
ty, and is interested in the upbuilding of
the city, and Kalamazoo is one of the best
cities in Southern Michigan. It is pre-em-
inently a city of homes, and many of them
are palatial. It was settled by New Eng
landers, and this sturdy stock has been in
evidence from the very beginning. Some of
the best-known families and some of the
wealthiest people are of Eastern origin—
the sone and daughters of early pioneers.
Bus the city has a large foreign element as
well—a later importation. This element
is largely Dutch, and these people are in-
terested to a great extent in the cultivation
of celery, an occupation for which they are
remarkably well fitted. The Hollanders,
trained from infancy in their own land to
truck gardening, have the patience requir-
ed in raising celery, and they care for the
vegetable, foster it, pet it, and make it
grow better than the less patient and more
nervous Americans.
Little fortunes are made in celery raising
00, but they come through hard work, care
and attention. It is said that many poor
Dutch families arrive in Kalamazoo with
scarcely enough to keep them alive and in
one year they have little bank accounts. Of
| course, they are frugal and all that, and
take good care of the pennies, but they live
well and soon buy little homes, aud grad-
ually from year to year accumulate until
today there are many Dutch families in
Kalamazoo which might be accounted rich.
Prominent business and professional men,
financiers, educators and others here can
trace their beginnings from the celery beds
that surround and even encroach on the
very city. The sons and daughters of the
early Hollanders who came in wooden
shoes and other quaint costumes are taking
important places in social, business and
professional life, and this element forms
one of the most stable, the most conserva-
tive and worthy in the municipality.
It took ages to make the rich celery beds
of Kalamazoo. The city and surrounding
country is low in the valley made by the
Kalamazoo river, and the decaying vegeta-
ble matter of centuries has made a bed of
the greatest fertility. The soil is a rich,
black loam, of the peaty consistency, but
far richer and more productive. With care
and attention to business three crops may
be raised a year on the best ground.
Men. women and children work at the
business, and it is estimated that the annu-
al output of celery brings in the sum of
$1,000,000. A strange fact about the busi-
ness is that it is a very difficult matter to
get good celery in Kalamazoo. People
naturally think that when they arrive in
the city they will find crisp, succulent and
tender celery in every home, iu all the ho-
tels and in the grocery stores, but this is
not a fact. The reason is not far to seek.
The celery raisers sell the best part of the
crop and keep the less choice for home con-
sumption. It is estimated that nearly one-
fourth of the population of Kalamazoo is
' supported by celery-raising. The city has
‘a population based on the recent city direc-
tory of about 32,000, and is steadily grow-
ing each year.
Eight Girls Are Dead.
And Three Dying from Poison in Cooking School.
While Partaking of Canned Beans and. Meat.
Girls Attacked by What is Believed to Have
Been Sausage Poison.
Eight girls belonging to a cooking school
at Darmstadt, Berlin, are dead and three
others are dying from poisoning which re-
sulted from partaking of a dish made of
canned beans and meat, and a medical in-
quiry into the occurrence is being made.
~ Up to the present the investigation has
failed to define the exact nature of the poi-
son which brought about such fatal results
although it is now thought that an anti-
toxioum or sausage poison was the cause.
An Explanation.
We sappose that some of the hats the
women wear are oalled picture hats be-
cause the women look like chromos in
them.—Atchison Globe.’ Bify