MORAL ANI) RELIGIOUS.
Health nnri II it i> pin (>•.
The two things whicli conduce most
to health ami happiness are labor and
abstinence. Spartan severities are not
recommended; nor could they bo con
ducive either to health or happiness;
but that degree of labor which may he
had without Wing oppressive, and that
quantity of food which suffices to Kup
port nature without loading thestomach-
But labor and abstinence are two t hingx
which mankind take most pains to avoid.
Yet what can exercise a inoro healthy
influence both upon the mind and body
than these. And not only should a
man be temperate in food l ut moderate
in all things. Moderation of disposition
teaches us to restrain all the evil work
ings of the mind—to repress jealousies,
envy, anger, malice, hatred, revenge j
and all those baneful passions'which
have rained the health and peace of I
thousands. It directs us. too, to eulti- I
vat© all the benevolent feelings of our '
nature, to moderate our desires, and
above all, to do nnto others as wo would
they should do unto us. By this means wo
shall insnro peace and tranquility of
mind, which are absolutely requisite to |
the full enjoyment of health - that is j
that free, eiwy and peaceful enjoyment
of all tho faculties of the mind, and tlint
thorough performance of all tho animal ;
functions of the body without any itn- j
l>edimeni, pain or molestation. The >
mind thus disengaged from tumultuous
passions, and tho body free from dis
orders, render existence a happiness to
us, and life an object of desire. While
the loss of these blessings implies the
loss of everything pleasant and delect
able. "To enjoy good health," said ;
St. Kvreraond, a celebrated French
philosopher, "is better than to com
mand tho whole world. Health is the
fountain of every blessing; for, without
this, wo could not re'-ish the most ex
quisite pleasures or enjoy tho most de
sirable objects." Without health, we
can neither he happy in ourselves, nor
useful—at least not in a considerable (
degree—to our friends, or to society.
Much, undoubtedly, depends on original
vigor of constitution. But, by a ju- i
ilicions attention to sundry particulars,
health in many cases may Is* preserved,
where it would otherwise la- lost.
Itrli(l> !(rw nod Noir.
< lem ral Sherman's only son, Thomas,
has Wen admitted to the Catholic priest
hood by Archbishop (Jibbons, of Balti
more.
Tho Boston Journal lately re|>orted
the following : Protestants and < Catholics
of Hepkinston united in giving a silver
tea service to a Methodist preacher who
is aWnt to leave for Boston. Th> pres
entation was made in the town hall, by
the Catholic priest.
The Preebyterian Church of Kngland
consists of 27.T congregations, and the
membership for 1880 was .Vi.l'.f.i, as coni-
I jared with 64,260 in 18711. The Sunday
school teachers number fi,UV.t and the
scholars 61,782.
A Welsh Baptist church of twnty
six memlters has lieen organized in Pat
agonia. They have sent to Wales for a
pastor. Baptists now have four churches
in South America.
The Oerman Evangelical .Synod of
North America, which represents tho
State church of Prussia, lias 268 con
gregations, 402 pastors and .11,000 schol
ars in Sunday-schools.
Ancient Nazareth is now the site of an
orphanage under the supervision of the
Kducational society of Kngland. It has
Wen opened four years, and there are in
it now thirty-six girls of ages varying
from four to fifteen.
The mental health of Dr. Cnmniings,
once a well known Protestant conver
sialist and writer of prophecy, is sneh
that while physically well, he is practi
cally dead to the win id.
The Rev. Orinilall Reynolds, of <!on
rord, Mass., has Wen elected as secre
tary of tho American Unitarian associ
ation, in place of the Rev. Bush Hliip
pen, who has been called to Washing
ton, D. C.
The Iter. James W. Isle, I>.!>., a
well known Presbyterian minister, died
recently at Media, Pa., aged sixty-flvo.
He graduated from the University of
Pennsylvania in 1831, and studied the
ology in Princeton and Andover sem
inaries.
The Rev. William Taylor has sent
Mime forty missionsries to ttonth Amer
ica since 1878. The missionaries both
preach and teach, and draw their sup
port from the people among whra tbey
labor. The only expense involved is
their outfit and {wage-money, which
is defrayed by voluntary contributions.
The whole nnmber of Second Ad
ventiste in this country is estimated at
86,000, who eSlet principally in four
divisions—the Second Advent Chris
tians, the Evangelical Adventists, the
Seventh Day Adventista and the Life
and Advent Union. The latter holds to
tho non-resurrection of tho tricked
dead, the first to the annihilation of
those who die impenitent, and tho sec
ond named to the conscious state of the
dead and the eternal conscious suffering
of the wicked.
LADIES' DEPARTMENT.
Wmnin'a Trmprr.
No trait of character is more valuable
in a female than the possession of a
sweet temper. Homo can never bo
made happy without it. It is like the
flowers that spring up in our pathway,
reviving and cheering u. Let a man
go home at night, wearied and worn out
ly the toils of the day, and how sooth
ing is a word dictated by a good dis
position! It is sunshino falling upon
his heart. Ho is happy, and the. cares ;
of lito are forgotten. A sweet temper I
has a soothing influence over tho minds
of a whole family. Where it is found
in a wife and mother you observe kind
ness and love predominate over the bad
findings of a natural heart. BiniloH,
kind words and looks characterize the
children, and peaeo and love have their |
dwelling there. Study, then, to acquire i
and retain a sweet temper. It is more
valuable than gold; it captivates more
than beauty, and to tho close of life it
retains all iU freshness and power.
Ilow (bo WuMirnlhtn Hnnnra >lnr ry.
Mr. Howitt's account of tho Knriisi j
people, just north of Bass' straits, intro j
duces us to a new set of marriage ens- |
turns. Hero the rule is elopement. The
lad anil girl make lovo to one another
without the knowledge of her parents,
and run away together. The bride's
family, furious, go in quest of her; and j
if caught and brought back she will be
severely punished. Iler mother and
brother will heat her, and her father
even spear her through the legs. As
for the husband, whenever he returns
he has to tight his wife's male relatives.
The pair may have to elope two or three
times, with new pursuit and fighting,
till at last her family grow tired of ob
jecting, and the mother will say: '• Oh !
it's all right; better let him have her."
The wonderful thing is that this is not
exceptional, hut tho regular marriage
rite of tho tribe. The anger is not real,
and when the jwople are charged with
being cruel tlmy answer that it i not
intended as cruelty, but simply to fol
low an ancestral custom. The conse
qneneeof this Knrnai custom is a change
toward civilized ideas of marriage; ft
is no longer a shifting union between
one group or tribe and another, but a
real pairing by mutual choice of man
and wife, and to some extent male
descent comes in with it.
The Kurtial elopement marrrage
shows another interesting feature-
Though it is condoned at last by the
wife's family, the man is never allowed
to look at, socak to, or live in the same
camp with hi* wife's mother. This is
the lwst fact yet produced in favor of
the explanation of the custom of avoid
ing parents-in-law, as meaning that the
act of taking their daughter, though
practically allowed, cannot be openly
agreed to by their acknowledging him.
So deeply rooted is this custom in Aus
tralia that it retain* it* hold on natives
under missionary influence.
A Brabrolung, who is a member of
the Church of Kngland, was one day
talking to me. His wife's mother was
passing at some little distance and I
called to her. Suffering at tho time
from cohl, I eoul 1 not make her hear,
and said to the Brubolnng "Call Mary,
I want to s|>eak to her." He timk no no
tice whatever, but looked vacantly on
the ground. I spoke to him again,
sharply, but still without his responding.
I then said; " What do you mean by
taking no notice of me?" Ho therenjam
called out to his wife's brother, who
was at a little distance: " Tell Mary Mr.
Ilowitt wants her," and turning to me,
continued, reproachfully. •' Yon know
very well I could not do that yoti know
I cannot speak to that old woman."—
bunion Acnlxmy.
fashion fanrlso.
Daik greens are evidentlv verv jiopn
lor.
Dresses and suit* continue to Is- tight
fitting.
.The hems of flounces arc tnrnod up
on the right side.
White organdie dresses are trimmed
with Spanish lore.
The new ginghams are colored and
plaided with rare taste.
Short skirts have the hack breadths
rather fuller than formerly.
Tho newest nun's veiling has it* edge
wrought in open-work design.
A jiocket for the handkerchief is sewn
to the outside of the newest tans.
The new purple is not heliotrope hut
iris, and is taken from the flenr-de-lys.
Dress skirts for street wear will prob
ably tie exceedingly simple this sum
mer.
There is more satin manufactured at
present than any other goods made of
silk.
Small checked trimmings will be
much used with plain stuffs this sum
mer.
Carmelite, or old silver, is a favorite
color with English girls for spring
drosses.
Shirring is the capital feature of all
dresses at present Dressmakers seem
to have shining on the brain.
The handles of soma of the new sun
shades nro very elegant and entitled to
be classed among works of art.
The skirts of ull short dresses,
though very narrow, are much more
elaborately trimmed than last season.
Double-breasted basques aro often
ornamented with cords of steel or gilt,
couneetiug the alternate pairs of buttons
on the waist.
Chenille is substituted for bead work
in the open shoulder-pieces that one
sees on some mantles, but the bead
work is still used.
Basques of mull gowns aro lined
throughout with white or colored mull
so as to preserve uniformity of color
throughout the cost nine.
Home of the narrow pokes projecting
very far above the face, worn by little
girls, give demure children an old-fash
ioned look which is both comical and
winning.
The button of lhHl is in no way ex
travagant either in size or shape. It is
of modest proportions nnd a simple
circle, the ovals, squares and hexagons
having been quite discarded.
The new black grenadines are of the
most modest nrmuro patterns, or else
with square meshes, or perhaps the
smooth faced sewing-silk grenadines,
but are made up over rod, olive or green
satin, or perhaps black, and are trimmed
with .Spanish lace, and with the gayest
striped satin surah.
" If I Was President."
" Now, if I was President," began Mr.
Buttcrhy, of Prospect at re, t, the other
morning,, as lie passed his cup over for a
Hccond cup of coffee "if I was Presi
dent of the I'liited states "
" Which you aren't, yon know," broke
in Mr-. J., in an urgumeubil and confi
dential tone.
"And not lik.lv to be," added Mrs.
Ik's mother, with a contemptuous t.ss
of her head.
" No," assented Mr. If, plcasantlv,
"but I was just supposing the ease "
" Then suppose something in reason,"
retorted Mrs. Ik, snappishly; "von
might as well suppose you was the man
in the moon, or the man in the iron
mask, or—"
"So I might, my dear, so I might,"
assented Mr If , still plea antly smiling,
"but that has nothing to d<> with it. I
was merely going to say that if 4 was
President of the United States I'd "
" My!" burst in Miss Gertrude, ag< d
eighteen, "wouldn't it l>c splendid if
you was, js! .fust to think how those
Wlioedlctop girls would change their
tune when i met them, instead of throw
ing out their insinuations alsmt (ample
who consider it Christian-lik* to turn
their last season's ailk so that they rnay
have more to give to charity ! But they
might turn green with envy before I'd
ever—"
"Yes, and wouldn't I warm it to
Sammy Ditgan, just," chirped in Master
Thomas aged twelve; "I'd go up to
him an' smock him on the nose with a
brick 'fore ho knowed where he was
an' he dassent hit nic Imck then 'cos it
'tnl le treason, an' they'd hang him; an'
I'd slide on the sidewalk, an' shy snow
balls at the p'leecemen, nil' aass Miss
Ferule, an' (day hookev every day when
it didn't rain, an' an' I'd—"
" Yes," cliimet 1 in Mrs. Ik, catching
the infection from her enthusiastic
progeny, " and then I'd be the lirst Indy
in the land, let the next lie who she
would; and tho senators' and governors'
wives would lcg to be introduced to me,
and I'd have India twice a week and ban
quota every day, an—"
"And I'd have the management of
the White House, and run things," re
marked Mrs. B.'a mother, her eyes
sparkling with the prosjieot.
"Not much yon wouldn't"—from
Miss Gertrude—" not if I kept my
health and knew myself, you wouldn't;
not ue long as I was the President's
daughter and—"
"Yah!" ejaculated Master Tom, " I
guess the President's son would lie the
biggest plum in that dish! Wouldn't I
lie the Prince of Whales then say?
What 'ud yon know 'bout—"
"Hhnt up all of you!" eommanded
Mrs. B. " I reckon the President's wife
is highest authority in the land!
Anyhow, there'll lie a dnsty old time if
anybody questioned it, and I liet when
the exereiaes were finished the survivors
wouldn't ask for any ele-toral commis
sion to decide it over again. My! I'd
like to see anyliody—bnt, by the way,
Mr. Jtntterliy, what was it von was
going to say yon would do if you was
President of the United HUtos ?"
" lteeign as soon as the Lord would
let me," said Mr. Butterhy. calmly hut
determinedly.
And then a meditative silence fell
upon the family and remained there
until the meeting arose.— Krr/vimf*.
A New Haven firm sends thousands
of the red American fox skins to Ilusaia
every year. These skins, which are
usisl in the Muscovite country to lino
costly gsrments, are contributed to a
considerable extent by Maine, Ver
mont and New Hampshire. That Amer
ica should send furs to Hnsaia is as odd
as that wo should send wince to France;
and yet both of these things are done.
TIIK i:\itrii(H tki: is s< to.
Mrcni- of lit soluiluii mot llerrur—A litis
llem t-lpilan ol tliv ('alnially Mem tram ike
It ulmil Island.
A few days after the recent earthquake
on the island of Seio, by which about
(i,O(K) persons lost their liven, a cor
respondent of the London Nnm sent
that paper the following vivid account
of the awful visitation:
The temperature on the .'ld was
heavy and oppressive, and the horizon
wart broken by broad (lashes of light
that seemed to denote a coming storm.
In all this atmospheric disturbance,
however, the inhabitants saw nothing
extraordinary, and were fur from being
ukrmed by abut they fancied would re
sult iu a thunder storm. At ten minutes
to 2 o'clock in the afternoon a terrific
shock was felt, bringing three-fourths
of the houses in town to the ground
like so many packs of cards, and bury
big 1,000 persons under the falling
ruins. Then commenced a fearful scene
of horror. The ground rocked and
danced, kneading therein already form
ed into an nnrecognizable mass of atone.
Ths survivors ran hither and thither,
not knowing where to flee to escape the
horrible fate that menaced them, and
were tossed and thing about by the
heaving earth like feathers in a breeze.
On every side the sinister rumblings of
the earth, the noise of falling buildings,
the touring asunder of the walls of
houses anil the shrieks of the wounded
lent a fearful horror to the scene. All
sought to leave tlio town and get into
the plains in order to avoid being tmri<l
under the falling buildings, but even
those who gained the open country were
by no means safe. The eartlii|Uake at
tacked not only the towns nnd villages,
but Worktsl its ravages in the hills and
mountains of the island. F.normons
masse , of rock and earth c.irne rushing
down the hill sides, carrying all Iwfore
them, bounding far into the plains, and
tearing roads in the solid rocks of the
mountain such as might have been
formed by a torrent I.OtK) years old.
Home time elapse,! he for - any of the
survivors recovered from the terror
caused bv the shock auflieiently to be
able to comprehend the c\tcnt of the
catastrophe, or to think of looking for
friends or relatives still | rlntps alive
lieucatk the ruins. The town presented
a pitiable sjiectacle. tireat fissures
and crevices yawned in the streets,
walls were falling with a crashing rc
l>rt, and entire buildings crumbled in
fragments to tle ground. In many
cas, s whole sheets disappeared, and it
was hard to say where the different
well-known buildings had stood. No
one knew where to look for family or
friends. The ground still ln aved and
tossed, bring rig fresh buildings to the
ground at •vr ry moment, and hurrying
innumerable victims to destruction.
The people seeking to escape were
caught in the staircases of their house.
by falling walls, or were crushed by the
entire house falling in on tlicm as they
crossed the threshold. It is irn)>ossih]c
to say what the numl>er of victims
would have l>eeu if a second shock had
not displaced the ruins formed by the
lirst, nnd thus }>ermittcd thousands of
sufferers to • scajs- or to be rescued by
others from the horrible imprisonment
to which they had been condemned. In
the town the victims have lteen very
numerous. The quarter* roost damaged
are the citadel, the Atrikioa quarter,
and the industrial quartet. Beneath the
ruins of the citadel alone 500 victims at
least must he buried. Among others
there are forty Turkish women who were
engaged in pmrer in an oratory situated
in the conrt of the castle. The govern
ment palace And buildings, the tele
graph office and the mosques, are little
better than tottering ruins. Hardly a
minaret in the town remains upright.
The Frank '|tiarter may be said to have
suffered the least of any, but e\en here
there is not a house the walls of which
do not exhibit one or more ominous
looking crovicea. All the fissures and
crevices run from east to west. In the
industrial quarter hardly a house re
mains standing, and hliole families of
from ten to fifteen persons have per
ished, or must jerish, lion rath the
ruins.
In the country tlie effect# of the hor
rible upheaval hare licn more terrible
than in the town. Here the victim* may
be counted by thousand* instead of by
hundred*. The monastery of Neomoui
ia completely ra/.ed to the ground, and
sixty monk* lie buried beneath ita wall*.
Tlie site of the village of Nenita proeent*
the appearance of adianaed atone quarry.
Not a trace of a building remain*. The
inhabitant* have di*api*carod. It ia
thought that the number of victim* in
three village* (Galimasnia, Thimian* and
Neoobori) i* over 3,000. The total pop
ulation of the three district# ia tietween
0,000 and 7,000. I have jnat visited
Cardamala, Pythioe and Qhycnona,which
are entirely doatroyed. The number of
victim* i* unknown, but in very consid
erable. At Tohc*m* 1,000 house*, half
of the town, have been destroyed. Five
dead and fifty wounded have lieen dis
covered at Kato Panaya. Every house,
and then* are tKMhi# in ruins. Twenty -
throe dead and Ifft Wounded hare been
found hitherto. The aspect of the plain
of Vounaki ia heartrending. Between
40,000 am] 60,000 j> <rsons of all ago* and
l>oth sexes are camped there, on tho
open ground, and there nro an yet but
few tents to shelter them, ami the old
and young, nick and well, and dead
even in *OlllO pla.cs, are scattered iudia
criminatcly about the plain. Parents
wander from group to group in the
crowd *.< king tlioir children, and
endeavoring to persuade themselves
that their darlings will Ik- found among
the living. Not a single baking-house
in the whole island is left standing, and
the entire population was without food
until aid could arrive from the exterior.
At one moment an entire village, built
in the form of an amphitheater on the
side of a hill, broke bodily away from
the parent rock, and rushed crashing
down into the plain. The shocks are
now diminishing. In allwe have counted
260 since the first three awful upheavals
which have destroyed the greater part of
the island. Of these 250 shock at least
forty were capable of overthrowing a
solidly built house. The work of exca
vation has lieen commenced, but bow
few of the buried victims Hhall we li
able to extricate from theirliving tombs?
The scene is sickening. Here a hand
makes feeble signs through a crevice,
while the unfortunate wretch to whom
it IM longs is buried beneath thousands
of tons of masonry. Here, again, a.voice
calls for uid from underground. A
daughter, sobbing, endeavors to encour
age her father, who is imprisoned deep
Is-low the surface ; and at every turn of
the s]ode or pick some horrible muti
lated corpse is brought to light. Num
bers of dead are unburns], IUI 1 in isola
ted places the dogs are disputing the
I K>ss< ssion of their inunirlcd corpses.
An Pi let lon Scene in Ireland.
A Now York llembl cable disjtatch dc
srrilies a scene at I Minroariway, county
< ork, a few dayt ago, '"when Ibimis
Ijeary, hit wife, six children and aged
mother win evicted tinder circumstan
ce* of unurual brutality. L<-ary held a
farm on the c*tato lwionging to Mr.
riionta* (iilh iian, of Clonakilty. The
rent wa* >ji.Vl, ai.d the valuation exactly
half that Mini. It teeniH tliat it deter
raine.l remittance wax offered by the two
women to the action of the bailiffs, who
liad to he at fitted by the Jtolice. The
head constable aimed bit rifle at I>-ary'n
wife to intimidate her, but she resisted
deft)*rately, and when the whole affair
wot over the was lying on the roadside
in such an exhausted condition that the
police dcem<d it advisable to send a
priest and a doctor to attend her after
the eviction was effected. le an - , who
was evicted for thp eon payment of one
sear's rent, entered on his farm some
years ago with a capital of 8'2,.V10,
which he amassed in America. He now
leaves the rack-rented holding a penni
less man. Whatever opinion is enter
tained of the main provisions of the land
bill, there can lw* no doubt alwuit tbe
universal condemnation which bos l>een
hurled against those minor clauses
which proposo to foster emigration. The
tide of emigration has already fetched
alarming figures. The dispatches from
New York stating the enormous num
bers arriving constantly at Castle Gar
den ap|>cnr to stimulate mthor than to
depress the d< sire to leave the country.
The Irish peasant seems to argue that
where cveryltody is going there must be
prosperity ami plenty, and he favors the
United Htates as the main refuge from
the evils of rackrentand eviction. The
enormous receipts of the land league
executive committee from America are
attracting increased attention. At the
last meeting it was announces! that the
unprecedented sum of $.100,000 was re
ceived the week previous, principally
from America. Concurrently with the
increased contribntions, however, the
snms from leical branches in Ireland
have fallen almost to nothing."
Lost Ills Temper tint Found a Fortune.
A few years a o a voting man named
John Peck secured a situation as con
ductor on the Metropolitan railway,
Boston, and it chanced that during the
first days of his service his car was sev
eral times thrown from the track by rails
becoming misplaced. One day the end
of the rail flew np and beams fast in
the ear truck. He lifted ami pushes],
and lost hia temper in the effort to get
the car on the track and the rail in place
again, and at night was so disgusted
with his work that he threw np his situ
ation. Ilut his experience set him to
thinking, and in a few days he called on
an officer of the road and said that he
could make a "chair" that wonld hold
the rails firmly together at the joints.*
The officer laughed at his confident as
sertions, and told him that he had heard
similar stories do/ens of times. Bnt the
ei-oondnctor exhibited his model and
drawings, which appeared so promising
that he was told to go ahead and make
the trial. The result was a complete
success. To-day John rock's patent
railway chair, for which lie secured his
fliwt patent in 1872, his second in 1878,
am) his third in 1881, is used by all the
street railways in Boston and by many
of the great steam railways of the Uni
ted States.—/tatfo* Pa*.
Why doc# yonr wife's new lionnet
resemble a snipe f Yon are silent. We
will ftht you. Tia nearly all bill.
CoM Water.
i'nthl water it* Dm drink (iv uif,
Odd water, frtira and bright anil frw !
It H|rk|i-H mi llji' gri-cn hillside,
In ymxl'T iii'-iuliiw a< it glide.
HI tak. my little rtip ami dip,
Am! lit tin g„, K J, water h||<;
Ami WIM-II I an, A wotnsil iff own
111 ilnnk cold wati r that alone.
"I will W'v r hurt my ln*rt or brain.
Nor make mo gite toother |<aui;
Ho, •■very stronger .Irlnk Ml alma,
And "Irink the pur.-st, sweetest one.
ITNJKVT PAK4(;KAPIIN.
Clone quarters- Th'iso luid by
miner.
In France they say, " (larcon, will y<m
please catch rne a piece of cheese'{"
Why continually speak of the printer s
craft ? As a rule typos are as honest as
any tradesmen in the work!.
The m w czar leads a very simple life.
He rises early and breakfasts with his
family, and then puts on his boiler-iron
overcoat ami takes a walk in the bar k
yard.
An exchange publishes tsn article
headed '• How to Tell a Mmt Dog."
We have nothing to tell a mad dog that
we cannot nommnnicate by telephone or
jsistal card.
Borne men liave a faculty of looking'
on the bright side of things. A Boston
man who was refused by a girl duln't
wqep over missing a bride, bat con
gratulated himself on escaping a
mother-in-law.
This is the sound, practical advice
that is given by a misanthrope: If ever
you should be so unfortunate as to be
attacked by night, never shont " mar
dor!" for no one will bother about you;
▼ell " fire !" and everybody will ls out
of doors in a jiffy.
A gentleman recently provoked a
one-armed organ grinder by asking him
if he was a survivor of the late war.
" Why, you fool !" exclaimed the irate
musician, " don't yon see ttiat I sur
vived ? I>o I act a though I was
killed in the war ?"
A youngster was sent by his parent
to take a letter to the poatothee and pav
tlic jswtage on it. The loy returned
highly elated, and said: "Father, I
seed a Jot of men putting letter* in a
little place; and when no one was look
ing, I slipjwd yours in for nothing."
" How to train tomatoes " is the sub
ject of an agricultural disquisition. It
is easy enough. All yon have to do if
a tomato misbehaves itself in company
is to " mash the stuflln' out of it." It
may look a little aeedv for a while after,
hut this course of training will bring it
to its pulp in a hurry.
The Karth's (treat Arc.
In a recent lectnre at San Francisco
Profmsor \\ illiam Denton gave several
striking illustrations of the earth's age.
First, he said, we had evidence of the
i arth'sgreat age in the tiny particle* of
soil In-neath our feet. The great trees
of California, with from 1,350 to '2,350
annual rings of vegetable growth, reveal
the fact that these monarchs of the
vegetable world were saplings when
Nebuchadnezzar was lorn. The great /'
fallen monarch of the forest been
estimated to liave been 4,000 years old,
and grew from seed propagated by older
parent trees, ami these in turn from
grand |*rents, whose crumbled dust
forms a rich vegetable mold to nourish '
their younger progeny. How many
such generations occurred no one can \
tell.
Bnt older than all thane are the gla
| rial IXHIS. When those plowed their
way over the surface of North America
ami Scandinavia they planed out mighty
ledn and ground and polished down the
uneven surface of a former age. In thin
remote age the coast of New England
was like Greenland at the pre*
ent day. Few geologists will place the
glacial period at lean then 100,11*! yearn
ago. But we could go hack still fur
ther. In the tertiary strata of
California has been found what are
railed the earliest human remains ever
discovered. These existed many, many
thousand years ago, when one-half of
New Jersey, one-third of Virginia, all
of Florida, pari of Texas and Great
Britain were under water. The Medi
terranean sea wan then double its pres
ent siee. and the Gulf of Mexico • xtend
ed to Ohio. A Urge |>art of tVxliloraia
was under the bed of the Pacific ocean,
and water then extended hack to the
foothills of th Rierra Nevada moun*
tains.
But older than this period and forma
tion was the underlying stratification of
chalk; still older was the Triaesie. and
older yet the now ml sandstone. Older
yet was the carboniferous formation •
Then farther hack waa the old red sand
atone. such as cornea to the nnrfaee in
parts of Root land. Again, still lower,
the older Silurian, then the older Lan
rvnthian, seeu at the surface in W eatern
Canada, and older yet than all these
the granite or great underlying rook,
the parent that thrnata itself up as tbo
backbone of continents, cutting through
all others to show us on the surface what I
is below. What an infinity of time must
hare passed away in the encoeaaire forma
tion of these rocky layers!