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Bp 20 .jvtf. '-prfn".'
I FIGHTERS OF TO-DAY.
R
Gen. 0. 0. Howard Answers the Criti
cism That the National Guard
Are Fancy Soldiers.
AS GOOD TIMBER KOW AS EVEB.
Patriotism Actuates Regimental Young
Hen as linen as Social and
Spectacular Pleasures.
QUALITIES OF THE MILITARY MAN.
(torsi Ettcfidd World be th Best Leider in Cut of
Wtr Kext to Ehumta.
;WBITTEN FOE TUB DISPATCH.
Is it true, as foreieners freely assert con
cerning us, that the regiments of our cities
that make up our National Guard are com
posed, to a great extent, of those young men
who would be incompetent to act in case of
reril?jlt is further asserted that they chiefly
join regiments for social purposes and for
the recreation given them during their sum
mer vacation in camp life and in city
parades. Can this be io?
In answer to the first question, the writer,
having had a wide experience, asserts with
out hesitation that the declaration is not
fair. There are doubtless some young men
who would not prove hardy enough in case
of action or continued exposure such as a
lively campaign would bring upon them,
but some of the weakest in constitution are
ardent and ambitious. Two regiments with
which I am well acquainted, in the city of
ITew York, are filled with vigorous and
hearty youth, most of whom represent good
American families of good social position,
and they are as competent physically, men
tally and morally as any of the volunteers,
which, at the time of the War of the Rebel
lion, belonged to the same organization.
FAXCY TOTIFORMS I2T '6L
I remember distinctly a beautiful Xew
5"br regiment (having at that time a fancy
uniform) that encamped not far from my
own. The first few days of June, 1861, the
Colonel sat with me on the first court-martial
that he and I attended at Washington. He
was afterward ordered with his regiment to
General Patterson, in AVcst Virginia, while
mine went with other regiments to the first
battle of Bull Run. Unt of that reginlent
came majors, generals, brigadiers, colonels
and officers of every grade, as they came
from the regular army to officer new regi
ments and to have a large leavening influ
ence in making up a vigorous army to meet
and withstand the solid forces embraced in
the Confederate army of Northern Virginia,
True, I have taken but two regiments as
samples, but from observations of others
there is no reason to believe the young men
to be incompetent. Surely they are not so
pbysically.in any regiment from 2ew Yort,
Pittsburg, Philadelphia, Boston or other
city whose ranks were carefully observed as
thev passed in review lat Centennial Day,
on Broadway, ivew York, and if any are
incompetent physically, surely they are
drinking men, and why should we suspect
them to De morally m:erior to their gallant
fathers, who never hesitated to carry the
rifle and the cartridge box at the time of the
nation's greatest peril?
THE MILITIA AKD ETOTS.
There is one allegation that has some
show of truth in it it is that city regiments
are unfit to cope with city riots. This is
often true, but not because young men com
posing these regiments are incompetent,
either physically, morally or intellectually.
This arises from personal relationship with
those who make the trouble- Sometimes in
these riots, the men in the ranks are con
stantly called upon to fire upon fathers,
brothers, and members of their own house
holds. Of course, such a state of things can
always be remedied more or less in an
emergency by calling for distant regiments,
or better still by asking the President for
resular troops, which, in our country, re
cruited as they are, have never faltered in
their duty upon any field of action.
Indeed, it would be better, as our cities
are growing in population, for the purpose
of keeping in check the criminal class and
the terrible Anarchists, who would break
all law and destroy all human social
organizations, to increase the regular forces
of the United States and have a reasonable
body of men in or near every large con
centrated population. The very presence of
two or three companies or batteries in
perfect condition is a menace to corrupt
combinations and a strong preventive of
difficulties, which all good men deplore.
XOT JLLTj ENJOYMENT.
Iu regard to the second point, to wit: the
assertion that young men chiefly join regi
ments for social enjoyments, the fascination
for camp life and for city parades, we
answer there is no harm whatever in such a
motive, even if that motive be the chief one.
From inquiry and personal knowledge,
however, the enjovment is not the bottom
motive. There is a patriotic feeling in the
heart of most young men; they read the his
tory of their lathers with pride, and they
wish as far as they can to fit themselves to
take their places. Many wish to be pro
moted to non-commissioned officers or officers
of different trades. They see in this present
advancement of present esteem and a fitness
for useful work in case of difficulty within
or without our ports.
Many believe the exercise of drill and dis
cipline healthful and invigorating, not too
violent, like that of football, nor too ex
citing, like that of baseball, nor too absorb
ing of time, like that of boating. It appears
to them the least expensive, and at the same
time most useful oi any social combinations
found within their reach. Again, as to the
fascination attached to camp life. To learn
guard duty, to be willing to be drilled hours
every day and to accomplish all that an
army camp demands, will produce weari
ness, sometimes depression, but in the end
develops strength and fortitude and fits
those subjected to it for the actual camp life
of a hard campaign.
HABDSmrS OP PAEADES.
"With reference to city parades, I believe
they are never coveted by soldiers. The
arms and the shoulders often ache, and the
limbs become weary; it is no idling opera
tion, and there appears even to the young
men hardly a quid pro quo for the long ex
posure and ihe extreme fatigue. The fas
cination is for the looEers-on, the crowds
who cheer them and the ladies who compli
ment them, but it is veritable work, this call
to make an extended city parade. These
parades are endured, because it is part of
the obligation into which the city regiments
enter; it is duty often a thankless but a pa
triotic duty.
Surely it is a beautiful object lesson to
younger men who behold them, to see these
fine regiments swinging the glorious old
flag and tramping on to the sound of
national airs; and many a veteran sheds
tears as he beholds the new boys doing the
work and making the show that he did and
made but a few years before. Let not for
eigners or pessimists discourage us in our
work of developing a good, strong, pa
triotic, devoted Rational Guard. The
cities, having more facilities to come to
gether without detriment to business, will
always lead in the race of national defense.
THE GBEATEST FIGHTER.
I am asked a further question by my
riend, who proposed that I sbonld write in
nswer to the foregoing objections. It is
lis: In case of war, who would be the
leader should General Sherman be no longer
eligible? General Sherman is past 71 (71),
and already upon the retired list f the
army. There was upon him during the war
a strain both mental and physical that was
extraordinary, and to which, few men have
been subjected, jet, with the vigor of intel
lect as yet apparently undiminished, and
his strength quite equal to an active cam
paign, he might be called again to the head
of the armies of the United States in case of
war with a first-class foreign power.
Uext to him would naturally, among the
living generals, come General J. M. Scho
field, who is the present Commander in
Chief ol the Army. General Grant loved
him, first, because he so cheerfully co
operated with Grant's own field operations,
even to the stripping himself of needed
forces. General Sherman trusted him, be
cause he not only had the heart to help, bnt
as Sherman always said, "an ability never
disputed to mate large combinations."
QUALITIES OP THE SOLDIER.
One more question What are the real
qualifications tor a military life? They do
not differ from the qualifications essential
to anv sort of outdoor work. We have over
600,000 men on our railroads; they are under
the best possible discipline; never did an
army obey with more promptitude than does
the railway subordinate. I can conceive of
no better fitting for all the hard work of an
active campaign, than tbatof the great mass
of railroad workingmen from conductors to
switchmen, from the mechanics to the con
structors and repairers of the track.
Notice again the vast armies of men
working in the mines coal, copper, iron,
gold, silver, and so on. Their muscles have
developed, they are capable of enduranee,
and they are well fitted for a hardy life, for
such is their own. We found many regi
ments during the war made up of men who
were accustomed to too great regularities iu
their eating and sleeping, always navine
had three meals a day and always sleeping
in a bed at night. These men were not, if 1
may so speak, acclimated to their new life
when they came into camp or devoted them
selves to the activities of a military
campaign. Many of them became ill and
were particularly open to prevailing
diseases; if anybody had the measles, they
were the first to catch them; pneumonia and
typhoid fever often tripped them up.
ACCUSTOMED TO IEEEGTJLAEITT.
But city men, who were accustomed to
all sorts of irregularities as to sleeping and
dieting, did much better. Western men,
who in planting new farms had been called
to endure all things in the way of privation,
exposure and hardship, made up regiments
of magnificent health and strength and
fitness.
Even the bravery of our young men is
called in question by some writers. There
is no reason whatever for such an assevera
tion. Young men of different races, as a
general rule, are about the same iu this re
spect; cowards are an exception. I never
have any fear of a regiment made up of
young men, white or black, who are born
and bred in this country; if their officers
have reasonable courage and good sense,
their men will go where they will lead.
With regard to drunkenness and immorality
charged against soldiers, I have seen no
signs of it to any extent in our National
Guard. There is some wine drinking at the
festivals of the officer, but I do not think
that there is any more of wine drinking
among military men than among the other
social organizations which 1 have chanced
to observe.
DEUNK IS THE BANES.
Drinkingis a bad thing; it is always a
hindrance in any company, regiment or
brigade. A head clear of all confusion,
able to take in the situation, give the proper
commands and exact the proper obedience
to orders, is mnch the best head for any
thing touching military life. Drunken
leaders, drunken engineers, drunken artil
lerymen or drunken cavalrymen bring only
confusion and loss. It is as necessary to be
free from all the excitement and depression
of strong drink in the army as elswherc
In the regular army a few. a very few
officers and soldiers, who occasionally be
come intoxicated, being seen by multitudes
of our fellow-citizens, bring disgrace upon
the uniform, but the majority are as well
behaved and as sober men as those are with
whom they have to do iu civil life. It is a
great mistake to impute drunkenness or im
morality to a man because he is an Ameri
can soldier. We have tried hard to be rid
of all such blots upon our escutcheon.
Olivee Otis Hotvaed.
A TBAUr DISPATCHER'S ST0EY.
His Chief Made a Dangerous Lapse, bnt no
Consequences Follow.
C. E. Wilson, who is now stationed at
Chicago, has been a dispatcher for 24 years
and is full of thrilling stories of train
wrecks and hair-breadth escapes which
have come under his personal observation.
A few years ago he was assistant dispatcher
on the Oregon Short Line at Halley, Idado,
says a reporter of the St, Louis Globe-Democrat,
who interviewed him. It was in the
winter time, and there were three of the bier
rotary snow plows on the division for which
provision had to be made, and which caused
some complication. The head dispatcher
one day made a "lapse;" that is, he gave a
passenger train and one of the big rotaries
right of way over the same piece of track,
going in opposite directions.
"Of course when the telegraph operators at
the two stations reported the rotary and pas
senger as having passed, we both knew that
& mistake which would probably result iu
terrible loss of life had been made," said
Mr. Wilson. "Tbo old man never turned a
hair. He sat at the instrnment and waited,
and never opened his mouth. We both knew
the piece of road well. It was 30 miles
long, and crooked as a ram's horn; the very
worst piece on the division. There was but
one little stretch of straight track, and that
was only three miles long. It was the only
place where it was possible for them to meet
and not collide,and the chances were a thou
sand to one that they would come together
head on at some other part of the track. The
only evidence he gave of realizing the situ
ation was his retusal to answer any operator
except from the two towns at either end of
the 'lapse.
"We were both trying to figure out where
the trains would meet, and for my part I
did not dare to think of the result. Pres
ently the instrument began to work 'Train
No. 2 passed west.' The suspense was over.
The old man got up from his chair, struck a
match, lit a cigar, and turning to me said:
You can take the chair now. I am going
to bed.' It was the most perfect exhibition
of nerve I ever saw. The two trains had
met on the straight track."
BLUFFED BY A DUMMY.
Clever Scheme of an Old-Timer to Ward Off
the law Minions.
The Trinidad Chronicle relates an inci
dent of Joe Simpson, an old-timer, who
recently died in that city. Joe owned a
piece of land near town, on which he one
day found a corps of surveyors running a
line. He promptly drove them off with a
44-caliber revolver." A warrant was sworn
out for his arrest, but the Deputy Sheriff
who attempted to serve it was held up by
the furious frontiersman, his gun and belt
emptied and himself sent back to town
quicker than he came.
Anticipating a visit from a posse of men,
Simpson took an old suit of clothes, stuffed
it with grass, placed the dummy in a chair
at the door of his cabin, surmounted the
figure with a wide-brimmed sombrero and
arranged a broom to give the innocent effigy
the appearance of preparing to send a bullet
through anyone who might approach.
Simpson then hid in an adjacent cornfield
and awaited developments. The posse
finally arrived, and, catching sight of the
figure in the doorway, held a hnrned con
sultation and finally beat a retreat. Simp
son was a highly amused spectator of the
performance and the next day he came to
town and gave himself up.
England's Richest Church living.
Spare Moments. 2
The richest living in the Church of En
gland, excluding bishops, is, according to
the clergy list, Bloxbam Vicarage, Oxford,
with an income of 7,470; population, 16;
patron, .Eton College. The vicar, however,
states that the net income is only 205, and
that the population numbers 1,538. The
"Clergy Directory" gives the two richest as
Nether Broughton, 4,250, and Hawarden,
3,404. 7( we include bishops, the Arch
bishop of Canterbury heads the list with an
income of 15, 000.
CHRISTMAS CHARITY,
Howard Fielding Tells How He Ban
the Gauntlet at New York.
NOVEL METHODS OP BLACKMAIL.
How a Large Fund fyr Home Consumption
Was Kapidly Depleted.
ASSAULTS FK01I THE WORTHY P00E
IWBIT3EK FOE THE DISPATCH. J
At Christmas time the gentle angel of
charity walks abroad in New York City as
elsewhere, but her actions have not that
beautiful spontaneity which characterizes
them when she fills the stockings of the poor
in little towns and cities that lag behind us
in the march of progress. We know Setter
here than to wait until our worthiness is dis
covered. When we want Christmas presents
we go right out and drum them up, just as
we drum up trade when it is dull.
I shall illustrate this peculiarity of the
New York Christmas by a little story of
myself. In it I appear as the gentle angel
of charity aforesaid, a part for which my
virtues admirably fit me, but my income
.does not. Maude and I had made up our
minds what we should give those whom we
wished to remember at this season, and we
had carfully counted the cost. I had de
cided to buy these things early, partly be
cause I could thus avoid the crowd of shop
pers, but more because, by a strange combi
nation of circumstances, I happened to have
the money. We were carefully concealing
from each other the nature of the gifts we
should exchange. "Sufficient onto the day
is the evil ther of."
TEIED USEFUL GIFTS.
In the last Christmas season we had re
solved to give each other none but usefnl
presents. The memory haunts me still. We
both felt compelled, by considerations of
economy and mutual affection, to use the
presents, ana to do it conspicuously, in each
other's sight. Oh, the discomforts of the
chair which Mande bought for me to rest in
after my day's work, while I smoked one of
the cigars from the box which was also a
present from her. Perhaps the reader may
.object that cigars are articles of luxury, and
not strictly useful. He would reconsider
his objection if he could smoke one of the
cigars. They were useful as a means of
mental and moral discipline, but they did
not savor of luxury. Maude said they were
"10-centers." She does not know that in
New York that means a cigar possessing ten
different scents, none of which is the odor
of tobacco. I shall not describe my gifts to
her because I am ashamed of my ignorance.
We shall not be too usefnl to each other this
time.
But to return to my subject. On Thursday
morning I put into my inside pocket exactly
the sum of money necessary to buy the pres
ents I bad decided upon. I took this precau-
Reminded That it is Xmas.
tion to prevent my liberality from running
awy with me. I am of a nature so gener
ous, and at the same time so timid, that I
would rather give a beggar 510 than ask him
to change a bill.
IT WAS A COSTLY SHAVE.
On my way down town I stopped into a
barber's shop for a shave and a "shine." I
noticed that Mr. Torquemada, the proprietor,
hurried through the ordinary subjects of
conversation whilche eroded my countenance
with his case-hardened thumb. He did not
give to his discussion ot the President's
message that length and breadth of states
manship which usually distinguishes his
political utterances when I am in a hurry.
I almost dared to hone that topics of dis
course would run out before he had shaTed
me.
As he drew my private razor out of its
case and proceeded to take the edge off it by
a few clever strokes upon his strap, he re
marked: "The Boss Barbers' Association is going
to give a Christmas bazaar. Subscriptions
from our customers will be received up to
noon to-day."
I ventured to hope that they had proved
satisfactory so far.
"No, they haven't," he replied, in a voice
which held me responsible for the shortcom
ings of all men; "and we're humping our
selves this morning to bring them upto the
mark. I suppose you'll give us a couple of
dollars to help us along?"
"Sorry," said I, "but I'm flat broke."
He coughed and glanced up at a sign on
the wall, which read: "Gents without
money not wanted." I hastened to assure
him that I had sufficient funds to pay for
my shave, and I reminded him that I had
been his patron for some months.
"Yes," said he, "it's our old customers
Horsecar Jtides Come High on Xmas.
we're looking to at this time. Come now;
what's a couple of dollars to a gentleman
like you?"
I hesitated.-
A DOUBLE TOETUBE.
"This razor seems to be dull," he con
tinued; "guess I'll try another."
He selected one which I think had once
been a handsaw, and had been worn down to
its present size by hard and persistent use.
With the easy grace of his profession he
wreathed the fingers of his left hand in my
hair, and passed his terrible weapon once
across my cheek. I hastily glanced into the
glass, and was gratified and surprised to
find that I still had two sides to my face.
He jerked my head back luto position, and
sawed off another section of my beard and
iu vicinity. I groaned.
"Would a dollar be of any use to your as
sociation?" I asked.
"Well, hardly," he replied, and de
scended upon my throat where my beard
grows in wonderful and fantastic forms, ne
cessitating the utmost care in its removal. I
felt that if something didn't stop him, he
would soon be scraping the anterior surface
of my cervicle vertebra;.
"I might go a dollar and a half," said i.
"Better make it an even two," he re
4
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PITTSBURd- DISPATCH.
marked, and he went on sawing with calm
and awful precision.
"Well, suppose we say two," I gasped,
"and for the love of mercy put up that
razor."
"It's a go," said Torquemada', and he fin
ished shaving me with only the usual tor
tures. BOBBED BY THE SHIKEE.
I went over into the corner and climbed
into the chair of the bootblack, who also offi
ciated as "brush." There was a box nailed
to the wall and decorated with evergreen.
It also bore a card on which were the words:
"Please remember the boy." I remembered'
him. fie always dropped my hat on the
floor, and trailed ray overcoat in the dust,
and brushed me very hard along the back or
my neck with' his straw broom as stiff as
wire. Nevertheless, he so worked upon my
feelings while he was blacking my shoes,
andappeared so determined to keep on black
ing them for ever unless I yielded, that I
put a half dollar into the box, and hoped in
my heart that it would turn out to be lead.
This evergreen bo:t in the years gone by
used to appear only upon the actual holiday,
bat the custom is now running back on the
trail of the magazines, which will before
long issue their Christmas editions on the
Fourth of July.
The conductor of the street car which I
boarded was also interested in a Christmas
bazaar. He secured subscriptions from two
men on the platform, and when he tackled
me I was ashamed not to give something. I
have since suspected that the twobenevolent
passengers were stool pigeons.
BOTH ENDS WEEE LOADED.
After I had satisfied the conductor's
avarice, I was so angry with myself for do
ing so that I went forward to the front plat
form and lit a cigar for consolation. There
was a blockade. The driver twisted his
reins around the handle of the brake, ex
changed a few profane defiances with the
driver of a wagon ahead of him, in a per
functory sort of way, and then, havinc dis
charged his duty to the company and the
public, he turned upon me, and before I
fully realized what he was about he had ex
torted $1 for the Car Drivers' Grand Christ
mas Soiree.
When I got down to City Hall Square, it
occurred to me that I wanted to see a man
who used to be a friend of mine, bnt is now
a collection a?ent. He has an office about
the size of a fish-hawk's nest, and twice as
high, up in the air. It happened that I was
the only passenger in the elevator, which
was in charge of a precocious youth, whose,
conversation dealt principally with sporting
events. He said: "De Yo'uthful Sports,
which I am de President of de organization1,
is goln'ter give a combined Christmas tree
an' sportin' exhibition, over in Jersey. De
tickets cost one bone. Howmanvjerwant?"
"Thank you," said I; "not any."
He leaned toward me mysteriously and
saia: JNotn lgiveyer a tip on the dog
fight? Sure t'ing; on the dead inside? It's
jest likefindin' money."
A YOUTHFUL BLACKMAILER.
"My young friend, "I remarked,"that isn't
exactly my idea of the proper way to cele
brate Christmas."
He stopped the elevator between two
floors and began to argue this point. Some
body oa the tenth floor, who was evidently
in a hurry to get down, rang the bell. The
boy went on with his argument. Then the
seventh and third floors rang simultane
ously. "It'll be the best show you ever see," be
gan the boy, despite impatient calls from
two more floors." "Dem dorgs" at this
point all the landings were heard from, and
the elevator bell jangled in a way that set
my nerves jumping. I ordered the boy to
proceed; threatened to report him, and
wound up by buying two tickets as my only
refuge from lunacy.
I reflected with joy, as I escaped from the
elevator, that my friend the lawyer would
have no bazaars or other charitable enter
prises on his hands. I found him engaged
in a conversation with a tall, elderly man
who had succeeded in getting my friend into
a corner, and was slowly but surely talsing
him to death. It is an unusual thing for a
lawyer to get caught , this way. But in the
process of greeting me, my friend escaped
from his corner, and when I came to seat
myself there was no other chair for me than
the one he had been occupying. Then my
friend excused himself, and left me to my
fate. This is sot an unusual thing for a
lawyer.
ONCE MORE A VICTIM.
I listened for half an hour to the merits of
a plan for distributing something (I forget
what, but it was of no use to anybody)
among some people whom I had never heard
of. I contributed.
After this series of painful experiences I
dropped into a little down-town club of
which I am a member, in order to get a
stimulant. The steward called my attention
to a long doenment which looked like a peti
tion to the Board of Aldermen. It was in
reality a list of subscribers to a Christmas
tribute to the steward. I recorded my name
with a trembling hand.
By this time fnlly half my fund for
Christmas presents was exhausted. I did
my best with the other half, and I started
home about 4 o'clock. On my way I met a
gentleman wno is mucn interested in a
children's hospital. I am under some obli
gations to him, and when he mentioned that
he was arranging for a Christmas tree for the
children, I yielded without protest, and
gave him a rocking horse which 1 had
bought for my sister-in-law's little boy.
YIELDED UP EASILY.
I met several other charitable gentlemen.
They were all interested in Christmas trees.
Mv force of will was gone. It is the first
step which is dangerous. If I had refused the
barber I might have had courage to say no
to the others though I might not have had
any jaw to say it with but as it was I was
helpless. I reached home without a cent,
and bearing in my hands nothing but one
tin soldier, which 1 had intended for my
washerwoman's little boy. I told my story
to Mande in that snbdued and tearful voice
which I employ in family confessions.
"Never mind, Howdy," said she, cheer
fully, "here's an early Christmas present
for your. It came by mail,"
The shape of this article suggested a jewel
box, and I had visions of scarf pins and dia
mond studs as I opened it. I found only a
little pasteboard box, of which the cover
was securely glued down. There was a hole
in the top large enough to admit a coin.
The address of a well-known church society
was printed on the box, with this direction
for its use:
"Drop a nickel in the slot and see a
heathen saved." Howard Fielding.
Impromptu Justice in Iowa.
Chicago Times.
Des Moines Justices of the Peace are very
accommodating. The other night Justice
Johnson and three constables "made a de
scent on a gambling-room and captured 38
gamblers engaged in the exciting games of
faro, craps and draw-poker. As the catch
was a little too numerous for successful
transportation to the office of the magistrate,
he determined to administer justice on the
spot He took up his position in the deal
er's chair behind the green table and opened
court. Nearly all .pleaded guilty, and for
over. an hour the judge dealt out justice at
$8 per deal. When he rose from the table
the game had to be postponed onaccount of
lack of lands to continue,
i-. - "T
A Xmas Shave is Usually Expensive.
SUNDAY DECEMBER
THE GHKISTMAS DAT.
1
Wbal St. Paul Meant by deferring to
the Fulness of tne Time.
NO CENTURY BEFORE OR SINCE
Was So Snited to the Spread of the New
Religion as the First.
THE W0ELD EIPE FOE THE ADVENT
(WRITTEN TOB THE P1SPATCII.1
To-day is the third Sunday in Advent
To-morrow will be the 15th day of Decem
ber. Christmas is near at hand. The win
dows of the stores are decked out with
temptations for Christmas purchasers. The
common attitude of these weeks is the atti
tude of expectation. In the almanac, in the
street and in the church we are pointed for
ward. There is a general stir of prepara
tion. We are anticipating an anniversary.
I want to take you back this doming, be
hind all the anniversaries, past the long
procession of the centuries, into the year be
fore Christmas. The world forages had been
keeping Advent. Winter alter winter the
snow fell upon the branches oi the fir trees,
but they never brushed it off to make
Christmas trees out of them, for Christmas
never came. But at last it was the year be
fore Christmas. People began to look for
ward. There was a stir of preparation.
And- then, when everything was
ready, "when the fulness of the time
was come, God sent forth His son."
That is what I ask you to think about I
want yon to see how amazingly true that is,
that Christ came just at the precise time
when everything was most ready for His coin
ing. There has never been such another'era
of opportunity in all the world's history.
St. Paul did well to entitle it "The fulness
of the time."
THE 'WORLD AS IT WAS.
There were three great nations in the civ
ilized part of the world into which Christ
came. They were the nations in whose
languace was written that inscription which
was set up over Christ's head in the honr of
the crisis of thft great pnrpose for the sake
of which He came. They were the Hebrews,
the Bomans, and the Greeks. In the his
tory of each of these great nations it was the
fulness of the time. Century by century,
in a way wonderful to think about, Hebrew
religion and Boman law, and Greek letters,
had been making ready for Christ's cpming.
And now it was the fulness of the time.
Christ came, let us notice in the first place,
in the midst of the expectations oi Hebrew
religion.
Nothing is plainer in history than that
when Christ came the whole nation of the
Jews was in an attitude of anticipation.
They were expecting somebody. And the
expected one was the Messiah, the Christ.
The first question which came into the peo
ple's minds when John the Baptist stood
preaching at the fords of Jordan was, "Is
this the Christ?" "Art thou He that should
come?" they asked the Proobet of Naza
reth. Somebody was evidently coming. All
Judea was awake with expectation. It is
trne, that when the Christ did come they did
not recognize Him. They had formed a
false idea of what manner of person He
should be. They were almost as much mis
taken about Him as those wild Indians are,
who at this moment arekeeping their strange
and portentous Advent alone the border
lands of our Western settlements: keeping it
with ghost dances and the sharpening of
tomahawks and the cleaning of guns and ex
pecting a Messiah who shall lead them in a
great unconquerable army and sweep the
whites into the Eastern sea.
LIKE THE INDIAN MESSIAH.
That was very like what the Jews were
looking for. Caiaphas shared the hopes of
Sitting Bull. The Jews were awaiting
another Moses, or Joshua, or Solomon, a
ruler or a fighter, with a sword in his hand
or with a crown upon his head. They let
the Christ pass unreverenced, dishonored,
bearing His grievous burden of persecution
to His death upon the cross. That Is all
trne. Nevertheless the fact remains that
they were looking in their blind way for
the Christ, and with their faces turned iu
quite the opposite direction, were expecting
Him to come. By and by, when a man did
come, patterned after their low idea, prob
ably the creature of it, the leader of a com
pany of brigands, the "Son of a Star" by
title and the Christ by claim, you know how
such multitudes of credulous people fol
lowed him that the Boman power was
shaken from end to end of the Jewish
provinces by the shock of a dangerous in
surrection. That shows what sort of spirit
was in the air when Christ came. It was
the fulness of the time. Everybody was
aware of that
Nothing is plainer in literature, than that
in the pages of old authors, dead and gone
centuries before, certain mysterious predic
tions stood written down, which inspired
and justified this expectation. When Herod
the King, called the scribes together and
asked where Christ should be born, they
knew very well what the question meant,
and they knew exactly where to find the
answer. They turned to a well-known page
in the ancient prophecy and read what had,
ages back, been written there, that Christ
should be born in Bethlehem. Everybody
knew the reason for that universal expecta
tion of Christ's advent. It grew out of the
panes ot these old books. That Christ
should come, that He should be born of a
virgin, of the family of David, in the town
of Bethlehem, before the scepter should de
pait from Judah, and while the Temple
shonld be standine, and at a time in some
sort corresponding to the actual date of the
birth of Jesus of Nazareth we can read
to-day the words which they read. There
they stand. Written at different times, and
by different men, and wondersully meeting
here beside this cradle in Bethlehem, eigh
teen nunarea ana ninety years ago.
FULFILLED THE PROPHECIES.
The time came; the predictions were ful
filled; the time passed. Here are the mys
terious prophecies; no other man in all his
tory, save Jesus of Nazareth, has ever even
Eretended with any show Of probability to
ave fulfilled them. And now the day has
gone by, centuries since, when a fulfillment
might have been possible. Even the Hebrews
have long ago given up hope. Jesus of
Nazareth did fulfill those prophecies. At
the very moment when all was ready, at the
fulness of the time, Christ came.
Christ came and here is the second point
at a time when the whole civilized world
was united by the two-fold bond of a common
government and a common language. The
government was the sovereignty of Home;
the language was the tongue of Greece.
From the golden milestone in the forum
roads reached out, like modern railways,
into all parts of the known world. There
had never before that century been a time
when trivet was anything like as expedi
tious, as safe, as easy. There has never since
thatcentury until these days in which we live
been a condition of things like it Before
that all had been war. You could not go
100 miles without running into ..some kind
of ambuscade.
After that the plague of war fell again upon
the empire. Presently the barbarians came
down and cast all civilization into chaos. In
the Middle Ages every man carried his bow
or his spear, and every stranger was an
enemy. But somehow there was a pause in
the fighting when Christ came. There was a
power in the world so strong that eyery other
power was held in check. There was a new
spirit abroad.
A COSMOPOLITAN SPIRIT.
The old provincial lines had been battered
down. Men looked out over a wider reach of
country, and bad wider thoughts than in any
day till our own. It was the fulness of the
time. It was the moment for the preaching
of a religion which was meant not for a
tribe, not for a province, not even for an
empire, but for a world. There
was some chance just then that
.such a religion would find disciples j
2?T J
who could understand it There was, at
least, an opportunity such as had not been
before, and was not for hundreds of years to
be again, for such a religion to be preached.
Over the broad Boman roads, under the
strong protection of Koman law, apostles
and missionaries could pass in safety with
this message.
And there was a language in which they
could speak that message and be under
stood. In every town throughout the Em
pire everybody who had any education was
acquainted with Greek. This again was a
unique condition of things. Here was a lan
guage particularly fitted for the expression
of the most subtle thought, a lanenacre
which the profoundest philosophers of the
world had already made the vehicle of the
profoundest thought, and a language
which when a man knew he could
go anywhere and find a congregation who
could tell what he was talking about There
had been no such universal speech before,
and there was not to be again for ages.
Even to-day there is no language which
takes the place which Greek held in the
century when Christ was born. It was the
fulness of the time.
THE MOST SEASONABLE OF ALL.
We begin to understand what that phrase
means.. We are in a position to know more
about it even than St. Paul did who used it,
because we can see both the past and the
future which lay about the century when
Christ came. If a man were to loot: all the
world's history over searching lor the
ideally perfect time lor the bringing in of
such a religion as Christ came to teach, I
cannot think of any other age which he
could reasonably choose than Just that in
which Christ came.
For we have not yet said all that can be
said to show how true it is that precisely at
the moment "when the fulness of the time
was come, God sent forth his Son." Christ
came into a world which needed Him more
than any agei before had needed help from
God. This is the third point which I ask
yon to consider. The Hebrews have an ex
cellent proverb: "When the tale bricks is
doubled, Moses comes." When all seems
at the worst, and lost, God helps. And the
world was beyond question in a bad way
when Christ came. It had, as I said, the
two-fold possession of a common govern
ment and a common language; but it had
alsoa two-fold lack. The world into which
Christ came nineteen centuries ago, had no
religion snd no morals. The religions of
the world had fallen dead. Partly through
evil living which dulled the spiritual sight
of men, partly through the wide-spread
conquest which broke the images at th
gods of defeated provinces, and debased and
discredited them in the estimation of their
worshipers. The world had almost univer
sally lost faith. Whatever survivals there
was of the old religion of mankind
stayed in its place by the aid. among the
ignorant, oi superstition, among the edu
cated, of politics. Beligion was useful,
some thought, to ward off plagues and earth
quakes. Beligion was nseful.others thought,
to keep their fellow citizens in order. Bnt
RELIGION WAS REALLY DEAD.
There has never, in any age, heen any
thing approaching the universal belief
which held the minds of men when Christ
came. "Even in Judea, where more faith
lingered than could be found anywhere else
under heaven, we know very well to what a
pass religion had come. The religions peo
ple of Judea were led by scribes and Phari
sees. Beligion had become degraded into
ritual. Hebrew religion crucified Christ.
It was time that God should speak. It was
.time that Christ should come when Christ
came.
And with religion, men had put ijway
morality. The condition of things in Greece,
in Borne, was too dreadful to tell of. Bead
the last part of the first chapter of St Paul's
epistle to the Bomans. The world was dead
in trespasses and sins. Things had come to
such a pass, such a sadness and despair had
settledupon men, that life itself ceased to
be desirable. It was the age of suicide.
Into such a world, where upon all hands
faith and morals were dead or dying, into
an age without strength, without hope, re
mote from heaven, drawing near into perdi
tion into such a condition of things Christ
came. It was the fulness of the time, and
God sent forth His Son,
ST. PAUL was right;
You see what a true word St. Paul wrote
when he said that It was the hour toward
which the prophecies pointed. It was the
hour when all was ready which a common
law and a common language could do for
the spreading of the gospel. It was the hour
when the world lay, as it seemed, in its last
extremity religion dead, morality dead,
waiting for the coming. Then Christ came.
I can believe, when I understand this,
that He who came was really, as the text
says, uoa s son. ne lor whom all this
preparation was made, for whom the world
was looking and whom the world was
so sorely needing, was no such man as we
are. He was man, indeed, but far more.
His simple advent into such a world
was in itself a marvel. In such an
age, how came He to be such a
man as He was, so different from all other
men, of a temper so remote from everything
about him, a man standing absolutely alone?
How can there be such a man, among the
peasants of Galilee, a man who was able to
minister to the sick world, and make the
kind of world out of it which we live in, and
better still alter us? The angels answer,
singing thoir Christian message over the
fields of Bethlehem. ''Unto us is born a
Savior, which is Christ the Lord." St. Paul
answers, looking about him with clear sight
in that strange age into which he came,
"When the fulness of the time was come,
God sent forth His Son."
George Hodges.
East and West
Winter is on deck in the East, says the
Corvallis, Ore., Gazette. The wires bring
sorrowful tales of boys breaking through
the ice and drowning. But is this not de
lightful summer weather we are having in
the Willamette "Valley? And to think
only one more month and the winter season
will be half past We have every reason to
be thankful that we are living in God's
country.
MAKING A WINE GLASS.
An Insight Into One of the First Industries
or Pittsburg.
Here, from Champlin's "Common
Thing's," is a plain account ot how a wine
glass is made: The glassmaker takes ont of
the melting pot on the end of his blowing
tube glass enough for one wine glass, as
shown at a in the picture. He then blows
through his tube and makes a bubble of
glass at b, and, after rolling it ' on
the marver, flattens its end with a wooden
tool called a baltledoor, as at c. A
Ch
lump of melted glass is next stuck on the
flat end, as at d, and the workman gives it
the form shown at e by rolling his blowing
tube over the arm of his bench and shaping
the hot glass with a kind of shears called
"pucellas."
A little globe ot glass is now fastened to
the end of this and opened with the points
of a tool, as at f, which makes it flat, as at
g. A little hot glass is then taken up on the
punty, by which it is stuck to the bottom of
the wine glass, as at b, and the other end, io
which the blowpipe is still fastened, is cut
off across the dotted line.. The top is -then
trimmed with the shears, as at I, and the
glass is finally finished as at j. It is
then knocked off from the punty and car
ried by a boy on a forked rod to an oven,
where it Is heated with many others and
then allowed to cool slowly. "This process
tempers the glass,
u?'.-is9o:
i y I
KZW
Zh
YALUES OF PLANTS,
Shirley Dare Surprises Her Headers
Iff Changing Ber Pen.
ECONOMIES OP MODERN B0TASY
And Sense and Romance About a New
England Pharmacologist.
AN ODD LETTER FE0H IN OLD FE1END
iwarrrxs ron ths pisfjltcs.1
Ministers are allowed to change pulpits,
why should not correspondents cbauge pens?
As the subject of this letter is not likely to
see it I make so scruple in giving it to my
readers.
"I wanted to tell you about my visit to
your pharmacist among the hills, but there
was no time when I got back to Boston, and
since, I came the tariff on Belfast linens,
with questions rising from it, has engrossed
my mind. What a fine thing it is to be an
importer of fine goods these times? It gave
me two hours' hunt to find the place, but
what a glorious nooning it was among the
splendors nt your New England" au
tumn! ' All the air was sun and spice, and
the woods were painted in variations in am
ber and warm yellows that held the sun. The
house itself charmed me, set in its nice grass
plot and snug in its garden, cozy enough for
Old England. The front entry has no smell
of mildew or potatoes in the cellar, as small
houses, and large ones too, sometimes, have
in this part of the country; but scent of
something dry and rich hung faintly and
pleasantly about it I like a house that
smells warm and good when youenter it I
suppose the odor must have come from Miss
Annie's mats and bunches of French
lavender and bergamot, sent over by a
friend, and woven and tied with ribbons in
every pretty sort of way.
HOME OF A PHARMACOLOOIST.
"I pushed on for the pharmacien, and
found him in bis working room the long,
bare chamber in the ell, rented for its novel
use. It attracted at a glance the exceed
ing neatness of everything, the white walls,
the rodf cut by windows which gave a wide
prospect of hilly chain and evergreens near
by, the long work tables and shelves of new
pine, whose scent, mingled with that of
drugs and essences, ranged with laboratory
implements and bottles of queer shapes;
an old fashioned airtight stove, a Shaker
chair and tip-table keeping company with
a revolving bookshelf in the corner, and the
sunshine from the broad casements draw
ing the eye to the slopes outside.
' It looked the haunt of a man who knew
and enjoyedhis work made it his pleasure
instead ot his task. Boors opened across a
tiny back entry to an equally sunny cham
ber where better furnishing betrayed a
feminine presence; everything quaint, bright
and exceedingly tasteful, with great bunches
of pine, berried cedar and autumn leaves
setting off the shining old mahogany tables
and shelves.. Everything was the soul of
comfort and strict taste and inviting at a
glance. Before I got tbrongn with the
afternoon I wished I were doomed to $1,200
a year, no business and a home like this in
a slightly remodelled farmhouse.
THET WERE TWIN ENTHUSIASTS.
"The pharmacist came forward from his
work with that slight gestureof tossing back
his hair and an impatient blaze of the eyes
which recall the Bubinstein of years ago.
He anticipated some idly curious interrup
tion, bnt your note made that all right, and
before I knew it we both were at the trench,
Blanqne lecturing on his favorite studies
with enthusiasm, which found a delighted
hearer.
"It is good to find a man who lives for
something beyond mere money making and
supporting his family, and who finds his
labor yield results worth having for himself
and others. There are so many pussy men,
who dose and yawn through an art or
science, and fancy they are devoting their
lives to it, with nothing to show at the end.
This one lives and thinks to the point In
the first place, he. knows his subject has a
practical handling of it and makes it
interesting to others.
"Chemistry is really a grand science,
even to a common man like me. I forgive
you that smile at the sentence. But why
are we not allowed to learn something worth
knowing about this world we live in at
school, something beyond a few dozen
break-jaw names, which is all I carry away
with me from the laboratory at old Brown?
If they had not battered my ears with
dimethyl ethers of tbymohydrequiquinone
or cynnamatej oi cynnamyjs and seventeen
syllabled derivatives I, too, might have had
glimpses ot the enrious, beautiful things
which Blanque finds in his world.
SOME DELICATE PROCESSES.
"Blanque does not seem to exist to pull
it to pieces like too many other chemists.
but to study new combinations and the
means of heightening the value of what ex
ists. I saved scraps of his talk to tell you,
but cannot write it all. There absolutely is
such a thing as pelargonic acid. I thought
you were guying me about it Blanqne
has been trying at odd times to separate it
from the ski'ns of wild grapes, bnt it beats
watchmaking for long drawn, delicate proc
esses. To catch the fragrant spirit of rose
geranium or vine blossom or to isolate
that is the right word, I believe, the fra
grant principle of rue, for instance, from its
bitterness needs an Ariel for laboratory
assistant. You never wonld believe what
powerful perfumes he separates from his
bitter herbs or what aromatic camphor he
distills from chrysanthemums only a few
drops in a tiny vial, but priceless onaccount
ot the dithculty of extracting it
"By the way, your pharmacien tells me
not to call him pharmacist, bnt pharmacolo
gist that is, one who studies the history
and qualities of plants and drugs, not
merely compounds tbem by rote. His only
.ambition lor money wonld be to have an es
tate where he could grow quantities of
plants for distillation to show what could be
done with them. I had a very good lesson
in economic botany the hour or so when we
went walking out to Blue Hill. I fell we
were discovering a new Indies along the
roadside thickets.
PROSAIC AND DESPISED TREASURES.
"Do you know that the cotton gras3
which covered the country in the time of the
Indians, now nearly disappeared, has a
fiber invaluable for paper making if there
only were enough of it? The dead leaves
lying in heaps would tan a finer and more
fragrant skin than Bussia leather. The
berries of the squaw root in a marshy spot
have the taste and properties of coffee. The
old field balsam, or life everlasting, of
which the fields were full, yields a pleasant
aromatic water which has virtues for lung
diseases and the complexion. The common
magnolia of the swamps has aromatic bark
which cures fevers when quinine fails, and
can be continued longer withont ill conse
quences. Bightly prepared it is a sub
stitute for tobacco, and is used to break up
the tobacco habit.
"Of course you know that therootiofiack-in-tbe
pulpit are rich in starch, delicase as
arrowroot and invaluable for face powder.
Properly treated it makes one of the finest
cosmetic powders in the world. The seduej
of our swamps would give us paper as fine
as Japanese, bast paper, and of fragrant cos
metic plants he named, I should think, a
dozen among the common things of the
wood. It must be delightful to lay one's hand
upon a plant or vine and command its prop
erties, the bouquet from its fruit, the gela
tine Ironr its pomace, the dye from its rind,
the tannin from its teaves, or the gum from
its stem- Blanqne says we do not begin to
do justice to the natural wealth ol our native
productions. He believes there are few
prodncts of the- tropics which cannot be re
placed by some North American plant. The
dyes, the lacquers, the aromatics of our
woods and fields are very little understood.
In this, I fancy, he does not speak withont
knowledge.
NURTURED IN SCIENCE.
"You know his grandfather and father
were friends of noted botanists and conti
nental philosophers, his mother was a de
vout botanist and florist, and when the
property was lost It could not take Insin
uate hereditary tastes and insight from him.
Except for hia sister's take it is fortunate
the wealth was lost, since it gives the world
more good of him. To do justice, the older
generations of his house had very little non
sense abont tbem. Think of Blanque's
grandfather getting up before dawn and
making his own fire and coffee, not to dis
turb the servants it, his eagerness to pursae
his experiments, or mounting his horse and
going off through the Carolina mountains
alone with his gun and saddle bags, hunt
ing and botanizing by way oi a spree!
Blanque is possessed of his pharma
cology as musicians and painters are of
their arts, and he spoke with something like
impatience of the necessity of setting bis re
searches aside part of the time to make
muuey, correcting nimselt the next minute
as it is for his invalid sister he must make it!
He has enough for himself and his studies
in an
muiui wjr. auu amut live in
new lore and eo into society with h;.
simple bachelor needs, bnt the loss of her
little fortune and her health together impel
him to work to give her the comiorts her
case requires. Few men not born to trade
grasp its requirements better when once
presented or have such keen insights into
practical needs. He has half a dozen com
binations to perfect, any one of which is a
modest fortune, properly carried nnt and
such a man will not want for backing.
THE PIRATES OF THE CITIES.
"He is very glad to be out of the way of
town interruptions, men who want him to
stndy out some trade process for $25, from
which they will make $25,000, or to tell
preparations which cost 3 cents and sell for
S3, or people who want to nose abont his
laboratory, take up his time and pick up
ideas for nothing. One has to rnn the
gauntlet of all this in any trade from politics
to preaching.
"He dreads nothing, however, like writ
ing since his hand was hnrt in the railway
accident which nearly cost his sister's life.
He can weigh, stir and drop liquid in his
work, but signing his name is a task with
cramped and quivering fingers. His sister
desires nothing so much as to get well
enough to be his secretary. She is so bright
she shows little of the invalid except the
wasting cheek and her stirlessness, half ly
ing in her India chair. The brother cares
for her, with the help of the woman of the
honse, moves her, wheels her abont for air,
and keeps her amused, and she looks the
sweetest, merriest bit of a woman alive bnt
for the paleness of her cheek. It is no
wonder she was unwilling to lose her com
plexion and become withered before her
time, for it must have been exquisite in
health.
COSMETIC WITH ROMANCE.
"Was ever such a romance tacked to 3
cosmetic! The two had lots of fun telling
me how the cosmetic was hatched, the two
women sitting in judgment, dictating what
was needed, what they wanted and how it
was to be perfumed, comparing notes after a
night's and a fortnight's trial, the friend
who chased them out ot New York into the
country for the invalid's health decreeing
the new. preparation was too good to be kept,
drawing out the idea, bringing it to a focu,
coming over from her workshop to give the
first batch a stir for luck and demoralizing
the whole bench of bottles in her researched
It seems to happified, you two neighoors
shut up in your own pursuits, living such
simple, wholesome, bnsy lives, so lull of the
best interests. I wish I was well enough off
to have 800 ayear and a studio workshop
iu spicy unpafnted pine, ten miles off, three
good libraries, and such neighbors to com
pare results with. Ah, I have nothing but
to go back to New York, asa jobber of linens
and China silks, and mase S28.000 per
k annum witbont a quarter the happiness you
people nave, it leaves me intensely envious
and disgusted with making money, and I
grudge you this good letter I have been
writing you. Do you ever realize that you
are rather fortunate in your selection of
friends?
"Blanque says it was an exceedingly
fortunate more which took them out of the
city. Not only the sister's health improves,
but he is delighted with the freshness, the
leisure and solitude of their byroad. Tba
days seem so much longer, he savs, than in
town; ix greatly cheaper and comfort more
real with such treats as wood fires, evergreen
and fragrant forest things, absolnte seclnsion
and freedom, and perfectly fresh eggs, with
which elegant and eloquent peroration I
withdraw." ShIrlet Dare.
HARRIET "
HUBBARD
AYER
305 Fifth Avenue, New York.
RECAM1ER CBFAM F" TS-s","rB "
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RECAMIER SOAP DMum, and
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Recamier Tooth Paste.
Recamier Tooth Wash.
NAIL POWDER and ROSE PASTE for the
Care and Beauty of tho F.lnger Nails.
PERFECTED COLD CREAM.
STRAWBERRY CREAM.
Benzoin Bath Liquid and Aromatic
Vinegar for the Bath.
Salts of Lavender. Aromatic and Vio'et Salts.
Rum and Quinine Tonic for Ihe Hair.
For sale by
EGGER'S PHARMACIES,
172 Ohio. cor. Middle St., I 11 Smitbfleld St.
299 Ohio, cor. Chestnut I (Monoocanela. House)
sr.,Allezbeny.Pa. Pittsburg, Pa.
,JOS. KIM MEL & CO., Penn av cor. Ninth
St., Pittsburg. Pa. de7-113-su
TEN POUNDS
TX
TWO WEEKS;
ThWOFIT!
Asa Flesh ProdneTtfiKia -in .
no question bnt that
SCOTT'S
EMULSION
Of Pore Cod Lifer Oil and Hpftespbltes
ot Lime and soda
is .without a rival. Maay have
gained a pound a day by tke ass
of it. It cures
CONSUMPTION,
SCnOFUU, BRONCHITIS, COUGHS AttO
l COLDS. AHD ALL FORMS OF WASTING DIS-
EASES. AS PALATABZE AS 3IILK.
Betur6you net the genuine- a there an
poor imitation.
iam
$5Hf