mmFymmmp : .rr -itb r. a- tz..t. s . .-.. "" " . r.y st.- vf&& 14 ENGLISH PKEACHERS. Dr. H. McClelland Describes the Appearance and Mannerisms of OME FAMOUS PDLPIT ORATORS. Dr. Joseph Parker's Glowing Eulogy of EeT. John MceilL SPUEGEOS'S TALK AT THE TABERNACLE iwmiim roK ins dispatcii.3 WHILE in Europe this summer I beard a number o f famous pulpit orators. The best sermons for edifi cation I heard in Scot land were preached by Prof. Laidlaw.of Free j Church College, and by Dr. Whyte.ot Free Church.Glasgotr- Ihe most original preacher is the "blind preach er," Dr. George Jr. Maclaren. Mathewson, of whose peculiarities we often hear. But at the first sentence of his pray ers, you would sav there is one who knows what it is to need to pray. If Dr. Mathew sdn head has pone wrong in theology on some points, his heart seems still to be fixed upon the livint; God. "We heard Dr. Maclaren, of Manchester, preach a "Wednesday eTening sermon on Revelations iL, 19 "I know thy works and charity, and service and faith, and thy pa tience and tby works; and'the last to be more than the first." Dr. Maclaren is very pre cise in his use of terms, and impresses one as a food man, of good mind, in a rather poor body. There was a large audience, more especially so for a week eTening, but those who attended got something for eoing. Dr. Maclaren, with a limited amount of physical power, well used and husbanded, manages to feed his people from the "Word of God. DE. JOSEPH PABEXK. One Thursdav at noon we heard Dr. Joseph Parker at his church, the City Tem ple, ne urew me heads of hiB sermon from the first ten verses of the first chap ter of Ephesians. But the stress of the thought rested upon the tenth Terse: "That in tne dispensation of the fullness of times. He might gather to--j jretner in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaT en, and are on earth; even in Him." Here Dr. Parker took the Jtev. John McMetlL opportunity of soaring, and whether he soared to any particular point of the com pass, or whether to all points simultan eously I know not I do know he took a grand flight. He lit don occasionally, once upon the present generation for refus ing to hear good preachine. And again, like Elijah upon Carmel, upon those who think that all things in heaven and earth can be written in books in materialistic, scientific phrase The floor of the large church was well filled hv the audience with some OTerflow into the gallery. The doctor seems vigorous and able lor many more flights and hard knocks, oi which he receives quite a number. He has been in the world since 1830. I was not impressed with any particular arrogance or conceit in his manner, although some say he thinks too much ot himself. Dr. Parker's mannerisms are indescribable. He im pressed" me as like what men of "Western Pennsylvania 3y of an extraordinary man whom they are at a loss adequately to de scribe, "He is a queer genius." And yet doubtless a man ot tremendons energy and of highest intellectual power. But that sermon was a performance; it was not a life or death grapple with or for souls. EET. JOHN M'XEILL, A. M., of the Begent Square Presbyterian Church, Loudon, is a Scotch phenomenon. He looks like a strong man. and is a strong man. His accent marks him Irom the north of the border, and he does not try to minimize it. Often while he is preaching he seeks to make a point more effective by putting it Scottice. He appears to love long passages, and chooses them as biographical or pictur esque. "We heard him on Thomas, 2faaman the Syrian, and Isaiah's vision He excels in treading on one's spiritual corns and in making one thoroughly miserable and un comfortable. As a fault finder, I have never heird him surpassed. Yet he can comfort ir he will. He quotes Scripture and poetry with fine effect. He impresses you with the fact that he is laboring, but it is the labor of one who is in a hand-to-hand conflict with the powers of darkness. He is wrestling lor souls, and we can excuse the creaking of the windlass if men are being saved from the depths. Bev. Joseph Parker, D.D., said of Mr. McNeill: "I have no hesitation in saying that I could not name a nou-conformist preacher in London who is Mr. McNeill's equal in the pulpit" Dr. Parker sent through the .British IFeeWy this message to Mr. McNeill: "Tell him to go on just as he has begun, and not for a moment to listen to any cne who would have him alter his style. Tell him to pay no attention to spite ful criticisms. Tell him that prosperity al ways excites jealousy. Above all, tell him that God is the strength of His serv ants, and that God is never so near and so accessible as in the day of trouble." It may be said that Mr. McNeill pos sesses a voice of great compass, and capable of great, variety of modulation. That be ' usually preaches in an animated conver- fere Hyacinth. sometimes rises into a cry loud and harsh, but effective withal. He has no notes with him, and would and does tear off his gown, aud tramp the high pulpit into a platform. The fact is I have read that the pulpit has come down, and most likely the gown will follow. A CATHEDBAL SERVICE. At St Paul's Cathedral, on the Sabbath before Easter, we heard Canon Liddon. Our seat was under the northeast rim of the great dome of St Paul's, while the preacher stood in the high pulpit under the south west rim. The voices of the readers, who had been much nearer to us, were so at tenuated in the great space, that to us they were only quivering sounds without sense. "We were afraid that the same would trans pire in the case of the Canon. But from text to close, for nearly an hour, that mag nificent tenor voice rang out through the treat cathedral, and we did not lose a word. He argued that justice is an essential attribute of God; that it is as easy to imairine no God as to imntnne God without junice. xne justice must be preached. "To put it bluntly," said the Canon, "the oretical justice which is not practical justice is practical injustice. Christ could be our substitute by assum ing human nature. His is an important likeness to Adam, vet there is a most import ant difference. All ttre united to Artam who derive their nhv- Lanun jurrar. irl life fmm him nnf all on. united tn I Christ who derive their spiritual life from I Him. Christ could atone for sin, for all the I Mf !3? fS3 . V OT ay ygmm ' AWT W 3 ' i2 r ltf ssjsy if J ,rfvsO?5S5s- wvss?y rnrnf. wpr sin, because of His divine nature. Con sider how great sin is, but consider how much greater is God than sin. The Canon appeared to be a large, vigor ous man, with smooth face and radiant, iron gray hair. He preached from manuscript, but I forgot all about that as the enchanting power of the learned, earnest eloquent man carried me along the lines of his high dis course. SB. dale's discotjkse. I shall CTer consider it one of the privi leges of my life to have beard the sermon preached by the Bev.B,"W. Dale, L.L.D.,at Great Queen Street Chapel, London, on Friday, April 20, in connection with the Wesleyan Foreign Missionary Society. He took for his text the words, "Wherefore we henceforth know no man after the flesh; even though we nave known Christ after the flesh, yet now we know Him so no more." The lollowing sentences will give some clew to the trend ot the discourse: "The historic Christ is the object of memory; the present, the living Christ is the object of faith, the source of power, the inspiration of love and the author of salvation. Are we, then-to forget His earthly history? Ah, no! We know Him even during His earthly life, not as His cotemporaries knew Him, bnt with a larger, deeper knowledge. That poverty, that loneliness, thot physical exhaustion, that agony behind them all we see the di vine glory." Then insisting upon the necessity of per sonal assurance of the love and saving power of Christ Dr- Dale said, having reviewed the early days of Methodism, "You must "recover your looses, that full assurance and that great devotion and knowledge of Christ, that your fathers had, if in this country or in foreign lands you preach the gospel as they preached it." We must see men not merely in their place in the visible and,- temporal order, out environed with all that is glorious and all that is terrible in the invisible and eternal order." This sermon is considered Jtcv. Charles U. one ot rue mosi aoie Spurgeon. ever preached on the missionary theme. Dr. Dale is a shrewd, substantial-looking man, of square figure, medium height, square features, black eyes. His voice is clear, his tone quiet, but with great power. He read his sermon, bnt more intense in terest and substantial attention I have never seen than that which these Wesleyans gave to this Independent brother, as he told them with glowing eloquence how Israel ought to do. SPtTBGEOiT AT THE TABEENACLE. The Sabbath morning was one of the wettest l have ever seen, yet a grand audi ence, filling almost to its utmost capacity, the Metropolitan Tabernacle (it will seat about G.O0O), gathered to hear Bev. C. H. Spurgeon. He oegan wearily, he had been watching, we were told, by the bedside of bis sick wife, and sat during tne intro ductory services. But there waB that silvery voice, and that blood earnestness which tame attributes to this great Baptist divine. His text was Proverbs xiv, 10, "The heart knoweth his own bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy." As the subject opened the weariness vanished like the morning mist The sermon fell, of course, into two main parts. The preacher took us into his confidence. He won our at tention and sympathy at once. During the first part of the sermon my spirits fell lower and lower as the discussion ot man's utter desolation went on. Among other depress ing matters was an allusion in terms of bitter grief to some in the ministry who had been the preacher's own loved and longed for, but who had departed from the laith. Then came the second part,and my spirits began to rise till at the end I was up in the regions of the hallelujahs. There was no creaking of the machinery on the part of the preacher. He was talking good, crisp English, the very best with a pleasant voice, earnestly appealing to experience,but he did not strive nor cry. It was life, free, unsophisticated, abundant, flowing on at full tide, not as a wild freshet, but as the steady fullness of perennial springs. There was only one bit of drollery in the discourse. That was when the stream of thought,emerged from the lower depths of gloom and still rising had turned out of the dumps and dolorous ness. "Why should the children of a King live in a cellar when there are are plenty of good rooms at the top of the house" Then stepping to the edge j ot tne piattorm, ne looked over and called M . ... n vnnet m n tta. of lact way, "Come A up out of that cellar, w .Mr. bpurgeon witn allhisafflictions.looksJDr. Oeorge McDonald. as if he might be a power for good, for a score of years yet It is very surprising, bnt equally gratitying to hear all parlies and denominations speak of him in terms of the highest personal regard. The saddest sermon 1 heard was by Dr. George McDonald, in one of the principal Baptist churches in the west end of London. He supplied the pulpit in the absence of the pastor. His theme was Christ coming to seek and to save the lost, and yet he wound up a most delightful and earnest talk by exhorting those present to save themselves by following the example of Christ, saying "I am an old man, I an trying to get home." Somehow or other, if he was on the "Bock of Ages" his feet seemed to have lost the due sense of touch. H. T. McCLELLAKD, L.L. D., D. D, The Conrse of Empire Toward the West is pursued bv hosts of emi grants from the East totally unfit to encounter the vicissitudes of a new climate, without a medicinal safeguard. Newly cleared forest land breeds malaria. Against this Hostetter's Stomach Bitters is the grand acclimating safe guard. Nothing like it, too, for bowel, liver, stomach and Lidtiey disorders. The Erereit Clab Piano This Week Will be delivered to certificate No. G8, held by J. C. Sharrer, 4010 North street, Pittsburg. Mr. Sharrer will receive a mag nificent upright grand Everett piano, and only pay 51.00 per week. This is the lourth piano we have delivered on these payments. Now why don't you join our club? We are offering you the opportunity of your lifetime to get a piano which has no superior on pay ments and at a price impossible to obtain on any other than our co-operative or common sense plan. Call and see us or send for circular. Alex. Boss, "Man- ager," 137 Federal st, Allegheny. Fine $600 Upright Piano S200. An excellent "Cabinet Grand" upright piano, with all improvements, splendid tone and richly carved case. This instrnment is good as new, and will be sold, fully war ranted, for $200. Also a tquare grand piano at $150, and a parlor organ for $50, cost S150. Three great bargains at the music store of J. M. Hoffmann & Co., 537 Smith field street S44 For Brand New Orpin. Echols, McMueeat & Co., 123 Sandusky St, Allegheny. Time is the true test F. & T.'s Pilsner beer grows dally in popularity. TUTJSIA'S DANCING ACADEMY, 61 Fonrth Avenue. Classes every evening "next week. Four classes entirely for beginners, and opening of advanced class to-morrow evening. Seasonable goods below cost at the closing ont sale of F. Schoentbal, 612 Penn ave. TJmbeellas at nearly half price at the closing out sale of F. Schoenthal, 612 Penn avenue. Kew Peasant Cloaks Made of fine broadcloth, $9 75 upy just opened at Bosenbaum & Co.'s. i,WH!W WWM am. " . sr WWVt "1- .Ufc f- J . mk ta, wwm mm.m WM'Mr !- POOR MARRIED MEN. Bessie Bramble Takes Up Their Side of the Marriage Problem and GIYES THEM BUT COLD COMFORT. Aspiring Benedicts Should Study World's History and the ES0W FAIR WOMAN AS SHE HEALLIIS rwamiK fob thb dispj.tch.1 A correspondent, evidently in good, sober earnest, has sent us a letter of praise for what he is pleased to call our "scathing criticism of men before and after marriage," but he ardently urges us "to give the other view of that important subject as well, be cause the side presented against the 'dear brethren may mislead many young minds who are candidates for matrimonial sweet meats." He then goes on and requests us to write another article on the same subject, 3nd "go for" the women, and show how the average young lady assumes the character of an angel before marriage, and "strains every nerve and faculty to appear kind, loving, bright, intelligent, thoughtful and appreciative a modei lover and sweetheart and a candidate as a model wife." He ardently asks us to discourse upon the millions of poor men who have been cheated, deceived, de frauded out of all they had counted upon, hoped for, dreamed about, and labored for, when they sought to obtain intelligent, thinking, appreciative helpmeets and com panions, and find instead, after marriage, that they have been beguiled by artlnl creatures, who relapse into their natural stupidity, and who are wholly unfitted to be the companions of the men they have won by power of fascination and artifice. Well, really the picture presented is pathetic , Millions of poor men being cheated and defrauded with their eyes wide open in the light ot the nineteenth century, with the whole experience of the world's history be fore them since the celebrated scene in the garden of Eden, where Eve ate of the tree ot knowledge, and then beguiled Adam to eat the apple likewise. Despite of their claim to superior sense, wisdom, judgment logic, and brain";, millions ot men are de ceived into marrying by a lot of silly, stupid women, away off from THE PATTERN IDEAL "WIFE. Think of it With that plain story of the first marriage with the obvious moral at tached having been preached in every Christian pulpit in the world for over 1,600 years; with the history of Samson and Delilah; of Bathsheba, who held power over David, and who gave to Solomon bis crown; of Athaliah, who pushed her way to the throne of the kingdom of Jndab; of Jezebel, who converted Ahab to the worship of Baal with all of these and more of Bibical "awful examples" drummed into men's ears for centuries," they have not grown wiser as to the ways oT women. With the history of ' Helen, who through her wiles laid proud old Troy in ashes; of Cleopatra, who, as the poet says, lost Marc Antony the world; with Aspasia, who held the great Pericles tied to her apron strings; with Messalina, who ruled Claudius to his shame by her charm of person and power of mind may with even the more modern instances of the beguiling powers of Madame de Main tenon, Madame de Montespau, Madame de Pom padour, who ruled kings and made and marred men's fortunes, with the picture of the miseries of Milton, caused by his wife's tantrums, the woes of John Wesley over his wife's temper, and many other good men who have wedced vixens aqd scolds with all these examples and many more in his tory, with the writings of the ancients, and the press of the present teeming with diatribes against women and their wiles, with all the knowledge to be obtained everywhere around them among friends, neighbors, in society, and in the divorce courts fully before their eyes and within their knowledge, yet, notwithstanding millions of men who claim for themselves reason, intelligence and common sense go on marrying Xantippes, and Jezebels, and Messalinas, and Mrs. Wesleys, and then they moan and groan and claim to have been cheated, and deceived, and defrauded out of their ideal wives. BUL WHO IS TO BLAME? As a matter of course they will say, as did Adam of old, "The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me she gave me of the tree of knowledge and I did eat." .But the fact is they fell blindly into love with the "stupid, thoughtless, irrational beings." who, by beguiling smiles, winning ways and artful deceptions, capture their hearts aud fill their fancy and marry them in hot haste. Then, ub the old saw goes, they repent at leisure. There is just one little piece of consolation for them if it can be called such and that is: If they believe marriages are made in heaven, they can accept their unbappiness in matrimony as a means of discipline to teach them such a degree of patience and long suffering as will win them shining crowns hereafter. Socrates, with calm endurance, accepted, it is said, the sharpness of Santippe's tongue as an incentive to fortitude and philosophy. Mrs. Wesley's vixenish temper seems not to have had a bad effect upon the good John, who became more saintly, more earnest, more bent upon the spread of piety than ever as tne years passed on. Perhaps he needed just such manipulations of wrath to keep him on the straight path to the estab lishment of Methodism. It may be said here, however, that when history is consulted, it 'will be found that none of these renowned begnilers, infamous characters and notorious scolds were as black as they have been painted. Brother Talmage calls her who gave the mighty Samson into the power of the Philistines the "infamous Delilah." But she herself was a citizen of Philistia and doubtless a red-hot hater of its enemies. Employed by the Philistines to aid them, and conscious of her power, she bv stratagem and wiles despoiled Samson of his strength and de livered him into the hands of her country men. Her woman's wit was more than a match for the tremendons power of the man, who with simply the jawbone of an ass had killed a thonsand men. Charlotte Corday delivered France from the tyrant Marat by stratagem and murder. Brutus killed Caar in behalf of his country. In them these crimes are called patriotism the highest Boman virtue so as Delilah deliv ered her country from an enemy so formida ble that he could, single-handed and alone, slay a thousand Philistines nt one time, it seems plain that she can, at least, be cred ited with patriotism and superior mental powers. CLEOPATBA WAS PATRIOTIC. Even Cleopatra with all her sins was true to the interests of her country and people, while Marc Antonr was a sorrv and igno minious traitor. Milton, as can be learned by his life, was an ugly man to live with, and it is little wonder his wife was cross and unhappy, and had ample provocation for her misdeeds. It is a well-known fact that many men rush into matrimony with a blind foolish ness that is absolutely amazing, considering their keenness of judgment, quick insight and cool calculation as displayed in other matters. Onr correspondent tells of how women who want husbands deceive men and captnre them. But why do not these poor men hare their wits about them, as they have when a real estate agent wants to sell them a house or a farm or when a book peddler trys to in veigle them into buying a compendium of slush? When a man buys a farm or a house or takes a big contract he cits down and counts the cost He surveys the pur chase all around abont, and puts his mind to weighing its advantages and disadvan tages. He ponders over it by day, and sleeps on it at night He takes little stock in the palaver or fine words of the seller. He makes up his mind for himself, and if he gets "stuck" he has only himself to blame. In all business matters most men show a THE HTTSBUEQ - DISPATCH," marked capacity for taking care of number one and for keeping a keen look out for their own interests. But when it comes to marriage the most important con tract of their lives very many of them show themselves to be "blooming idiots" of the first order. A man of this class seeks no sweet, sensible, intelligent woman for a wife who, asa con genial companion, will give joy to his sonl and make his home "the resort of love, of joy, of peace and plenty; where supporting and supported, polished friends and dear relations mingle into bliss." CATCHING A TARTAR. Oh, no. He is charmed by the giddy, rattling girl, the belle of the ball, the be guiling coquette, who slyly angles for him, or the "mercenary, artful being who only wants his money and a home. He sees not through their wiles, nor marks the insincer ity of their smiles. No advice of friend or warning from relatives makes an atom of impression upon his mind. Instead of going slowly, and taking time to consider and inquire, instead of waiting until time shall have tested the strength oi love, he marries and speedily rues his bad bargain, when he finds that marriage has marred his life that instead of a wife to his mind he has caught a Tartar that instead of domes tic peace he finds disappointment, neglect, nnhappiness, and realizes to the full that as Shakespeare puts it: "War is no strife to the dark house and detested wife." Everybody wonders over the wives that manv men marrv. A pretty face, perhaps, or some inexplicable fascination, covers over with them every defect of character and eJucation, and then when the awaken ing comes it is usually "the woman thou gavest me"who is heidtoblame,and is given as an excuse bv the husband for going to the bad. But such men should learn phil osophy and patience under a nagging wife as did Socrates, and grow in grace and goodness as did Wesley under the fire of a scolding woman's tongue. It never pays to go the bad. To make the best of it is the beginning of wisdom. It is fitting that men should do penance for their own mad folly. Marriage is a lottery, as everybody says, bnt the prizes and ideal wives are plenty, if men would only seek for them where they are to be found. There are any number of "maidens withering upon the stalk," as Wordsworth puts it, who would make an gelic wives, if men in search of them had only gumption enough to perceive their vir tues, but alas the poor tomnoddies go out into the world and pick up the crooked sticks. "WOMEN HAVE EIGHTS. It is constantly being said that intelligent women are growing averse to marriage are becoming chary oi bartering their freedom and independence for a so-called mess of pottage. Supposing this to be trne, what of it? Has a woman not the same right to decide -whether she will marry or live single as a man? Young women every day take vows of celibacy in the church and become nuns, yet no reproach is flung at them, so why should intelligent women be particularly assailed if thev choose a life of single bless edness? A Boston editor has said that the marriage rate among men of the better class has declined owing to the higher education of women. But if men of such sort so sadly want ignorant wives they can very easily find them among the illiterates, and if the supply should run short in this country thev could draw upon Italy or Hungary or Kamschatka. Then again we are told that rich men are grow ing more unwilling to marry and prefer the luxuries ot club life without the incum brances of wife and children. If all this be true it only shows that history repeats itself and that w'e are getting back to the manners and fashions of the primitive Christians, when celibacy was esteemed as the highest virtue. But perhaps the chief cause of the unbap piness of many marriages may be found in the remarks of a Cincinnati judge, who said recently that, "When a man gets the idea that he is a lord of creation and his wife is the ground he walks on, he can't make a good husband. It is my experience, he continued, in hearing proceedings for di vorce, that THE ATEBAGE HUSBAND considers the average wife only a little above his domestic, and that his will must be obeyed or she is made to suffer for it." From these remarks, coming lrom a learned judge, it seems pretty clear that if the average man will mend his manners in the domestic sphere he will have a much better chance of happiness, and will have much less reason to complain of his wife. All women, or at least most of them, desire above all things a happv, peaceful home, and if they were gifted witn good sense they would use their best -endeavors to promote it But alas! there are some women who use their wits as do gamblers, sharpers and swindlers, who prey upon their fellows. When a good man marries one of these his fate is in deed pitiable, but he receives as little sympathy as does the victim of a "bunko steerer." He shonld have known better. He has married of his own free will and must bear the penalty. "Experience is a dear school, but fools will learn in no other." MISTAKES OP "WIVES. It cannot be denied that some wives make a great deal of their own nnhappiness. Some set up standards of righteousness, and if their husbands do not live ur to them, the poor women are disquieted in their souls, and feel as if destruction were impending. They besiege heaven with prayers, and go around looking as melancholy as a dilapi dated tombstone. These should take note of the text: "Be not righteous overmuch." Others will give a man a cold, cheerless, miserable dinner, with perhaps sour bread and strong butter, on the only day in the week when he has time to enjoy a good hot one. Others will gad abont the neighbor hood gossipping, with every thing at sixes and sevens in their homes in a maze of dirt. They will dress as slovens in dingy, ragged wrappers, and look like the "old scratch" as to hair. They become careless in con duct, vnlgar in speech and disgusting in manners.. Do such as they hope to retain any husband's love and respect and fond at tentions assuredly a vain, dead hope. Such women foster the saloons, fill the clubs and crowd the street corners. They are ruining their own best interests; they "are bartering happiness for misery; they are laying up for themselves much tribulation, xneir husbands have a hard row to hoe, bat, as Brother Talmage observes, it is "their duty to bear and forbear, remembering that the longest life is short and for those unhappily mated, death will grant quick and complete bills of divorcement in letters of green grass written upon quiet graves." But after all men are to be held responsi ble for most of the ills and woes of matri mony. They have made the laws of mar riage and divorce. Women have had no voice therein. Men have usurped the province of public education, both as to girls and boys. They have constituted them selves as rulers, and women as subjects. For all the evils ot marriage and divorce, as regards legislation, they are directly re sponsible. When women themselves can take a hand in matters, which so nearly concern their interests as marriage and di vorce, a better state of affairs than at pres ent exists may be confidently expected. Bessie Bramble. M. G. ConEN, diamond expert and jew eler, formerly cor. Fifth ave. and Market st, now at 533 Smithfield st M. G. Cohen, diamond expert and jew eler, formerly cor. Fifth ave. and Market st, now at 533 Smithfield st Bancrleln Brewing Co., Bennetts, Pa. Telephone 1,018. Established 1815. Opposite Forty-third st, Pittsburg, Pa. Extra standard Wiener and Knlmbaeher lager beer. Families and the trade supplied in bottles, quarts or pints, or in the wood. MWFSU ! Furniture upholstered and repaired. Household goods packed for shipment Hauoh & Keenan,33 and 34 Water st, Phone 1626. ,For family use Wainwright's beer is the best Insist upon having this make, zusn 5a SUNDAY, OCTOBERS 13 TALENTED OLD MAIDS Mrs. Ashton Dilke Writes About Dis tinguished English Spinsters. TRIIKG TO ELEVATE THEIR SEX. Investigating the Hardships of Poor Work ing Girls. THE F1EST LADI ALDEEMAN OX EEC0ED ICOBBISPONDKNCI OT THX DISFJLTCB.l London, October 2. Should any one in America still be old-fashioned enough as to regard spinsters as a necessarily narrow minded and comparatively useless portion of the commnnity, I think they ought to be converted by a single glance at all the work English spinsters have done during the last 30 years. To be sure, we have here in England three-quarters of a million more women than men; in other words, 750,000 women for whom marriage is an absolute impossibility; but even with this immense surplus they have reason to be proud of all they have accomplished. Putting aside for the moment the vast army of lady novelists and lady artists, many of them unmarried, and turning to practical social work, either political, educational or philanthropic, we find -the erst while despised spinster distinguishing herself all along the line. Best of all, our spinsters have ever been true to their own sex, and their work tends invariably toward the development and ultimate en franchisement of women. If one fact more than another points to the truth that "the old order changetb, giving place to new," it would be found in the fact that even that time-honored and most con servative of institutions, the office of Alder man, has been invaded by the female sex in the person of a spinster. When last winter the nomination of Aldermen for the new London County Council took place, it was felt that not even the difficulty of finding a suitable feminine equivalent for the title was sufficient reason for excluding the whole sex from the office, and Miss Emma Cons enjoys the distinction of being the first Lady Alderman on record. MISS CONS' SPECIALTY. Miss Cons' metier is practical benevolence on a large scale, and her sphere of work has been that vast area constituting South Lou don, so little known to the ordinary dweller in the West End. Ever since she was 17 years of age, when she began to teach in Bagged Sunday schools, Miss Cons has been busy working for somebody, and such ques tions as the better housing of the poor, the drink traffic, the erection of people's palaces and polytechnics, are only a few of the many subjects with which Miss Cons has qualified herself to deal by the experience and study of a life time. For 20 years she has had the management of various blocks of working men's dwellings, and some years ago she formed a company for the erection of a block of model dwellings, which in 1884 at the "Healtheries" Exhibition was awarded the only silver medal accorded to any block in London for sanitary construc tion. On this one subject alone, her pres ence on the new county council, whose duties embrace the whole sanitary system of the metropolis, ought to be invaluable. Perhaps the.work with which our Lady Alderman has endeared herself most to the poor dwellers in Sonth London, has been as manager and trustee of the Boyal Victoria Hall, better known as the J'Old Vic." Theater, the only place in the district which supplies really healthy and enjoyable re creation at an extremely cheap rate. Miss Cons has never taken part in any political agitation, and is by natnre a quiet motherly woman who would never court publicity; thus the outside wcrld even in London has remained very much in igno rance of all she has accomplished, although among her own people there is no one more warmly loved and respected. A NEW SCHOOL. The founder among women, of what may be called the new school of enlightened phi lanthropy, as distinguished from the old fashioned virtue of indiscriminate almsgiv ing, is of course Miss Octavia Hill. She it was who originated the "lady rent collec tor," who has since become a well-known feature in London poor districts. The lady rent collector, as a rule, takes charge of a "block" of workingmen's dwellings; she not only collects the weekly rent, and keeps a watchful eye on sanitary'arrangements, but she generally "mothers" the whole con cern, finds work for the boys, and places for the girls, cheers up the over-driven wife, and does her utmost to keep the husband from the public house. The whole system depends, of course, for its success on indi vidual character, and power of sympathy and discrimination, and it was in this that Miss Hill excelled. She is quite an old lady now, and I have only once had the pleasure of meeting herandhearing her make a short speech on some benevolent scheme; but I remember being much struck by a sense of her quiet strength and evident power of dis cernment Among Miss Hill's numerous disciples is a lady who his now entered the bonds of matrimony as Mrs. Leonard Courtney, wife of the Chairman of the committees of the House of Commons, but who, as Miss Kate Potter, was extremely successful as rent collector to a large block of dwellings in the poorest part of Whitechapel. A younger sister of Mrs. Courtney, Miss Beatrice Potter, ought hardly as "yet, in point of age, to be reckoned among English spinsters, except for the determined manner in which she has given up fashionable so ciety, and devotes her whole time and inter est to the social and economical problems of the day. At the time when the horrors of the sweating system were exciting particular attention in London, Miss Potter worked or a whole month, disguised as a common "hand," in one of the East End tailoring workshops in order to master for herself the real conditions of female labor, and the re sults were published in a most ably written article in the Nineteenth Century. Since then Miss Potter has written a large share of "Life and Labor of the Feople," edited by Mr. Charles Booth, quite the most valua ble book of reference which has yet been published, on the conditions of life in the East End. She is now absorbed in a study of co-operation which will probably keep her engaged for two nr three years, i A TITLED LABORER. A very energetic worker, of a less intel lectual sort, although a member of a very intellectual family, is the Hon. Maude Stanley, daughter of Lady Stanley, of Al derley, and sister to Lynlph Stanley, a great educationalist and member of the London School Board. Maude Stanley is the founder of a large and particularly successful girls' club in Oreek street, Soho, which has been the model for many similar institutions. It requires great tact and much judicious supervision in order to make a club of that Bort both attractive and useful to girls; but, when I went over the building a few months ago, I was quite charmed with all that I saw. A large and lofty clubroom was made bright with red curtains and lots of pic tures and flowers; there is a lending library and a refreshment bar, while classes for dressmaking and singing are held on the premises. Upstairs are neat little bedrooms for girls living away from home; everything is charged at a wonderfully low rate, the club subscription being, I think, only two pence a week. As a result, the place is im mensely popular among shop and work girjs, and Miss Stanley has conferred a very practical boon on one of the poorest districts in London. If I say that in the political field the spinisters have led the way for their married sisters, I shall only be admitting as a fact what for many years was thrown at us as a taunt. Nevertheless, "honor to whom honor is due," and we have to go no further afield than Miss Lydia Becker in order to find combined in her person the first lady school board member, and the original Secretary of the Manchester Women's Suffrage Society. It was the study of John Stuart Mill, which first aroused Miss Becker's interest iu the question of the suffrage, and in 1867, stirred to actionby a paper read by "Madame Bodi- K . 1889. chon before the Social Science Association . at Manchester, she started the Suffrage Society. Twenty-two years' hard and persistent work have not yet been crowned with success, as far as the primary object of the society is con cerned, but from every other point of view more has been gained for women than prob ably Miss Becker herself originally con templated. And for many years, in the eves of the general public, she was the cen tral figure in the fight for women's political ricrhts. Nevertheless she is now the mouth piece of that les.-advanced section of the Suffrage party, who do not wish to grant the vote to married women, apparently on the grounds that married women are not in need of the benefit, and that, in her own words, "a good husband is worth all the votes in the world." A LONG PUBLIC LIFE. Miss Becker's energy and power of woTk are simply phenomenal. She works as hard to-day as she did five-and-twenty years ago. For many years she was secretary to both the London and the Manchester Suf frage Committees, which necessitated al most weekly journeys to and fro. Since the recent split in the original society, she has been elected secretary of the National So ciety, whose headquarters are at 10 Great College street, Westminster. When it is further recollected that since 1870 she has sat uninterruptedly on 'the Manchester School Board, it will be readily admitted that the old taunt of women's physical in capacity forpublie life does not in any way apply to Lydia Becker. An early co-worker with Miss Becker, bnt one who has recently almost entirely re tired from active political life, is Miss Helen Taylor. As the adopted daughter of John Stuart Mill, she imbibed a belief in her own sex at a very early age, and enjoyed special educational advantages. A clever speaker and a thorough Liberal, she exercised atone time considerable influence with the wotk ingmen. She also sat for several years on the London School Board. As regards the status of actual popularly elected women, our doyenne on the School Board, Miss Davenport Hill, a most valu able member, is theonly one among us who has never married; on the Connty Council, both Miss Cons and my friend Miss Cobden, of whom I have spoken in a previous letter, are, of course, spinsters, while on the Board of Guardians, out of about 70 lady members indifferent parts of England, at least two thirds are unmarried women. RECOGNIZED BT ROTALTT. I have left myself no room to do justice to a whole row of spinster ladies, heads oi schools and colleges, to whose energy we owe the higher education of women. One of the first and oldest among them is Miss Frances Mary Bnss. She is now a kind, placid-faced old lady, with smooth gray hair, and her life's work is to be seen in the fine large buildings of the North London Colle giate School in Camden Boad, which spe cially prepares students for the London Ma triculation examinations. Forty years ago when Frances' Buss was barely out of her teens, girls' education was in a hopelessly deplorable condition; there were no colleges, no high schools, no university examina tions, and worst of all, no women teachers fit to instruct the girls when attempts were first made to fill the blank. Now all is changed, and no one rejoices more heartily than Miss Buss. Only this summer H. B.H. Princess Christian made a publio recogni tion of her great services by coming in per son to distribute the prizes at the North London school. Among other claims to distinction, the college has the honor of being one of the first girls' schools to build a proper gymnasium for the use of the pupils. Finally I must not forget to say a few words abont one whose clever kindly face is almost as well known on the lecturing platform in America as in England I mean Miss Emily Faithfull. She has turned her attention principally to opening np remun erative employments for women, and' as early as 1860 she collected the first band of female compositors and set up a typo graphical establishment, in which only women were employed. Since those days Miss Faithfull has seen many of her schemes oi improvement carried into prac tice; quite recently she has given great help and encouragement to our most promis ing lady decorator. Miss Charlotte Bobinson. Miss Faithfull's unselfish goodness has won her friends in every rank of life, and her Majesty Queen Victoria, who is always quick to appreciate talent in her own sex, has on more than one occasion displayed a gracious interest in her" labors. . M. M. DlLES. THESHOE BRUSH GONE 8L I won't miss it, for I have '. since adopted an easier cleanlier' way. A bottle of ong and E Wolff's and a sponge to keep my shoes washed clean, save a deal of labor and shoe leather. Sold by Shoe Stores, Grocers, DrceilEtfl, 40. The besfc Harness Dressing in the world. WOLFF & RANDOLPH, fhiudelphul itwtsu 7U ,& IM GUN WA is a Chinese Physician. Oning to existing laws he cannot practice medicine in America. So he has prepared a line of Chinese herb and vegetable specifics, which, instead of simply relieving symptoms, strike at the VERY ROOT OF DISEASE, and perform cures that are nothing less than mar velous. A triendly talk and CONSTJLTATIttt. with Gun Wa COSTS NOTHING. He charges but a small sum for his remedies, which, though gentle and harmless to take, are certain and unerring in their effects. They SPEEDILY CORE all blood, nervous and chronic diseases. Young, middle-aged or old men, suffering, quickly restored to PERFECT PHYSICAL HEALTH. GUN WA is a FRIEND TO THE AFFLICTED. If you cannot call, write him, in perfect confidence. Send for history of his life, and his circular on Cancer. Tumors, Tape Worm, Rhenmatim, Catarrh, Female Weak ness, or Piles. Inclose 4c stamps for reply. Office hours, 9 a, m. to 13 jr.; 1 to 5 and 7 to 9 040 Penn AveaiXUttstourab Fat OW-WB ,,o t-- , . i u.?!m v l -- ' HvCK- W! ACM $kWl mJes r 'mi, i jfis xvi- 'WtmrnmS 9-r A''3CTt.' -- . - v -, .AJ?, . ....IjfUV.,!. . AfrW si . 1& SKW ADYEXTISBaaSlTS READ, HOUSEKEEPERS, READ KEIOH'S . ANNOUNCEMENT TO-DAYL PARLOR FURNITURE. stock are variety, handsome manship ancL low prices. We beauty, upholstered first-class catelle, rrench Flush, batin, Damask, etc., with artistically-hand-carved frames and various choice woods, mahogaayirei' dominating. ' f 111 l 1A III it II till I 11 J I I "vaTiD JJIL X U Ll ft lll K U -r LI I I Wf selves on the excellence of this seasons display. Never have4' we been able to show such a large assortment, and never hav the styles been so commendable DIMG ROOM Feeling that the importance of Dining Room Furniture is daily growing stronger, we have made a feature of this de partment, in which solidity reigns supreme, while effect and harmony are well provided for in fantastic shapes and neW shades of finish. SITTING ROOM FURNITURE This room should be the and cheerfulness. You can pense, by patronizing Keech. From the large assortmenfco&J Sitting Room Furniture, displayed by this house you can select anything comfort and economy can suggest No otfier J house in this city can offer you LIBRARY FURNITURE. many styles, from the simple pensive Kinas. x aDies ana cnairs to matcn. In our UAKrt 1 . Furnishers specially important one. It is important not only in. the magnitude of assortment, but also in the special care which we bestow on the styles under each different heading. We feel that even an attempt to do space inan we care 10 aevoie xo it, outwui say mat we mvuq everybody who visits our store to inspect our offerings, and we feel that they will agree with us that it is by far the most" varied and complete. flT) I "PUPTITC! We UXx. .L-lxlJ I 't tnis department wnicn is in cnarge of a gentleman familiar with every detail of the business; and f -whose extensive acquaintance with leading manufacturers en- 5 ables him to select such goods as are sure to givesatisfactidfl-ia. f. wear, and be up with the markets in the matter of styles. We keep everything necessary to. a complete department, and never allow the price to lose a sale, as we flatter ourselves yG purchase a little closer than most houses. TIIIT IZTTPTJPTT 1 111-. .111 1 UllJUlX corner of the house we keeo of the larder. Stoves and Ranges innumerable andifrom thtei four-hole, one-thing-at-a-time ana luxurious Kina, wnere a wnoie ten course spreaa can ue produced simultaneously. . . SILYERWARE Years ago, when we first commenced selling-these goods, we made it a rule not to keep anything trashy, and to this rule we have strictly adhered ever since. The results seen in our large and ever-increasing trade. It seems strange, but it is a fact nevertheless, wMe- our main business is Furni ture, we nevertheless sell more Silverware and' Cutlery than.? most Jewelry Stores in this city. the notoriously exorbitant prices are noted. Uur usual moderate CLOCKS AND It has truly been said that nothing will- add. more tothe coziness of a house than a few pieces of bric-a-brac. A quaint vase, a handsome statue, a unique figure of somekindanH, above all, a pretty clock, are ornaments so cheap and usefuL that everybody can afford to have them. Good housekeepers are ever on the alert to adorn and decorate their'homes, and here is a cHance for them to cash. CUOAKS AND WRAPS, atttention is invited to our stock of Newmarkets. We showt all the new styles, and fashionable patterns manufactured, and4 guarantee' our prices to be the lowest in the city. rJig induce-, ments in Wraps and Modjeskas. Excellent bargains in Pluslr Garments of every style A lull k AfKlff fM f-T Y MX D UUU I Overcoat can select no better KEECH'S. You will find here not only a complete variety of Fall and Winter styles, but uniformly low prices as welL If you contemplate purchasing take our advice and do so right now, while our stock is at high water mark. GOODS SOLD FOR CASH OR ON CREDIT. -- -- KZEEOHZ'S 923 and 925 ITeax ZDTiXL o : WtOvva. iatarfer.KiffMl I A .A&ffirs -r' -L jl The leading features of our styles, thoroughly good work- T1 show Parlor Suites of regal, in best French Tapestry,Drf$f j M l(ll 1 Tl Til Hat-p aln- ti.i JL X U liHi, weprideour 11 I I IS U ww - and artistic. FURNITURE. very acme of comfort, C02 make it so. without great jex equal inducements. We zhcntA "&fnl?raML ifv -"'' -. :-to set of shelves to the more ex.- !XJ position of complete Housa we make this-departmemva - v 1 it justice would occupy-more 1 devote considerable space;to . ust not be forgottei1 " oar J category, ana tor tnis important everything' exceot the stocking- specimen to the more elaborate AND CUTLEEY: Of course, we. don't charge lor wnicn exclusive aeaiers pront is quite surnciantiar us. BRIC-A-BRAGi do it at a very small outlayjof. (. line ol Misses .Newmarkets; ffMft The man who rWi needs a Suit or place to supply this want thari -- -- T Penn avenue; M&- - bii Stz?eet. v3t ! ,, ' fi. , -s2 H , tttsm A. S&-. SUE? J2k hSe. BKSt i. "V i t
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers