Republican News Item. ,THURSDAY, OCT. 31, 1901. , Says the St. Louis Republic: As one lof the principal attractions of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, In 1903, Mr. Ilennlng W. Prentls, princi pal of the Ilodgeu School, suggests a gigantic Coliseum—the largest that has ever been built. Rome's famous am- j 112 ■< ENORMOUS METAL DOME FOR TIIE WORLD'S FAIR AT ST. LOUIS. phltheatre was elliptical in form, about 020 feet by 015 feet, with an arena 285 by 170 feet. Its actual seat ing capacity could not have exceeded CO,OOO people. The "Jefferson Coli seum," as Mr. Prentls calls it, Is de signed to actually seat 00,000 adults, with standing room for 15,000 more. Its proposed dimensions are 000 feet by 700 feet, with an arena 400 by 000 feet The outer wall is about eighty CROSS SECTION. feet in height, consisting of three stories of twenty-five feet each, In the three orders of classic architecture- Doric, lonic and Corinthian. The main entrances are reproductions of two great ancient structures, tho Arches of Constantine and of Septi mus Severus. lielow the seats are 1500 feet of exhibit space, besides a great natatorlum, or Roman bath. Tiie Society of Metal Construction, with headquarters at the City of Mexl so, says the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, has suggested a World's Fair gigantic hall, which it proposes to make a cen tral figure of the St. Louis Exposition, If encouraged lu the Idea. The hall, which will be erected for the accom modation of congresses, conventions and inaugurations, will be surmounted by a statue of the Republic, bearing a flambeau. Electric cars will run to tho base of the statue, where a mam moth restaurant will be conducted, 1100 feet above tho ground. The Structure will be 1340 feet in height, about 300 feet higher than the Eiffel tower. The projectors claim that it will be the largest structure in the world. It will bo of metal, except the entrances, and can be constructed, so It is claimed, In twenty-two months. Nf/SfJ JEFFERSON • COLOSSEVM I 'ff/ —jfL' I j •A'D-MCMHI | \ j '" M IN THE WORLD. Artificial Ice Not Modern. 'Although tho manufacture of Ice by ertiticlal means has vastly Improved In recent years from a scientific point of view, it cannot be strictly regarded as a modern Innovation. As far back as tho sixteenth century the natives of Inilla produced Ice by exposing water In shallow pans to the night air. The Jesuit —if luck attended the operation —was a number of thin layers of ice, [Which were afterward pressed together Into a thick cake. In tho seventeenth century Italy was tho centre of a small Ice trade. The peasants would collect snow and Ice from the Appennines and make stores In the mountainside caves. By this means Naples was sup plied during summer time. It must be the spur of the moment that uiakci time go so fast. —The Sullivan Gazette of £ _ week, in a cursory majte. One marks that false report" lie found circulated "T, T -j»' -...utivm unless It be the giraffe, nnd belongs to a group of ruminants only represented at the present time by the giraffe and the prong-horned antelope, so-called, of North America. So far as can be ascertained the okapi Is a living representative of the Hel latotherlum genus, which Is represent ed by extinct forms found fossilizes' In Greece and Asia Minor. The Hel latotherluru may be described as a poor relation of the giraffe, which has lost all but minute traces of its form er horn cores, for the giraffe, it will be remembered, has on its skull threo bony prominences from which horns or antlers sprang. The animal is about the size of a large ox. The coloration is, perhaps, unique among mammals. The body is of a reddish color, the hair is short, and the Appearance of the hide is extremely glossy. Tlio legs are cream color, but the skin be tween the stripes is often white; the legs and hind quarters only of the ani mal appear to be striped. Another animal which Sir Harry Johnston has found in Uganda is a live-horned giraffe, and our Illustra tion Is made from the drawing by Sir Harry Johnston and reproduced from the London Graphic, to which we are Indebted for our particulars. The (Discovered in Uganda by Sir Hariy Johnston.) specimens of tho flve-horned giraffe were shot in the country lying to the east of Mt. Elson in the north-eastern part of the Uganda Protectorate. The females had only three horns, while both the male specimens exhibit five horned cores.—Scientific American. The Amateur Gardener's Fad. A new departure In gardening Is coming into vogue, or rather a very old fashion la being revived. It con sists in the grafting of two or three different sorts of fruit, also roses of various descriptions on one stock. Tho Romans greatly affected this form of horticulture, and Pliny describes a tree growing In the garden of liis friend Lucullus which produced oranges, lemons, pears and roses all off the same stem. The Chinese show great skill In grafting such trees, which, however, require extreme care, and ure seldom long lived. A Giant IVa*p. A female giant wasp has Just been captured at Chapelgill, in I'eebleshlre, and Is a rather formidable looking In sect. It measures from tip to tip ot wing two inches, and from end of ovi positor to end of antennae two and a half laches. The wings are glossy brown, and the body black, with two sets of orange bands round it.—rail Mall Gazette. There are eight submarine cables oi over 2,000 miles in length. I ,oOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOg \ Relics of King Alfred. § 3 An Interesting Display Shawn in O £ tlie British Museum. Q !>oooooooooooooooooocoocooß THE British Museum, In Intel ligent anticipation of the Winchester commemoration of King Alfred the Great, ar ranged a special exhibition of all the ;ellcs contained in the national collec tion relating to Alfred and his times. It is not a large collection, says the London Graphic, but It illustrates the many sidedness of Alfred's character 31 a remarkably effective way. The zianuscripts naturally appeal more especially to the scholar, but the au thorities have taken pains to make them as attractive as possible to the general public. The manuscript copy jf the life of St Neot, in Latin, for in stance, is opened at the page in which :he story of Alfred and the cakes first stakes Its appearance, and one of the .'li;-ee fine copies of the "Anglo-Saxon ylironicle" is opened to show the ac jount of the great battle of Ashdown, .viien Alfred and his brother, Ethelred, lefeated the whole army of the Danes >n the site which is supposed to be narked by the well-known figure of ■ lie white horse cut into the side of :he chalk downs of Berkshire, near Oldcot. Several of the most precious MSS. Dear unmistakable signs of having passed through the ordeal of fire, hav ing suffered severely in the outbreak •ii the Cottoniau Library in 1731. Then ihere are the laws and charters of RELICS OF KING ALFRED EXHIBITED AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM 1. The Alfred jewel (replica), original at 855-880). found ia West Riding of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Yorkshire. 2. Ethelwulf's ring. C. Trial piece for silver penny of Alfred, 3. Anglo-Saxon ring. found in St. Paul's churchvard. 4. Silver spoon and fork, SOO-S9O, found at 7. Ornament with inscription, "Aelf gifu Sevington, \\ iltshire. owns me," found in Kent, 1822. 5. Ring of Ethelswith (sister of Alfred), 8. Bronze seal of Ethelwald, found at Eye, Suffolk. Alfred, and an early copy of his will In Anglo-Saxon. One of the most In teresting volumes Is n manuscript copy of the well-known Life of Alfitd by Asser—the monk of St. David's, who first came to Alfred's court about 887 —opened at the page describing the King's occupations and character. Of the personal objects by far the most popular is the facsimile of the famous Alfred Jewel, the authenticity of which has just been vouched for by l'rofessor Earlc In the elaborate book on the subject published by the Oxford University Press. The professor's opinion is that the jewel must have been made by Alfred's order after his own design, and that It was probably a production of his youth, before he assumed a share In puTJllc affairs by the side of his brother, Ethelred. Tho collection of Anglo-Saxon rings In the exhibition Is remarkable. The massive gold ring of Etlielwulf, King of Wessex, and father of Alfred the Great—discovered at Laverstock and presented to the museum by the Earl of Radnor—and of Alfred's sister, Eth elwith, Cjueen of Mercia—found In Yorkshire and presented by the late Sir A. W. Franks—brings us very near to the actual personality of the King, and are in themselves wonderful pieces of workmanship for the period to which they belong. So skilfully made are they, indeed, that It has been suggested that they are more probably the work of Roman smiths than Eng lish. But there are other evidences of the skill of these ninth-century craftsmen. A curious silver spoon niul fork will be found umong the domestic examples, and the collection of coins is very fine. Another relic worth noticing Is a lead en trial-piece, with a cast on the re verse side for a silver penny of King Alfred, from a die by the moneyer Ealdulf. This was found burled in St. Paul's Churchyard in 1841. The design was apparently rejected and THE STRENGTH OF A COBWEB. r r - - * s> ° T yi t: k j * * c F 5 ; ri 2 R : 2 £ r* > I I t i 111111111111 Mil Mil lIIIHI Hill -i —\ , ■ j A cobweb is a mtteh stronger thing than most people think It. The same weight may be held up by one steel wire the diameter of a cobweb, live cobwebs, seven Iron wires, four platinum wires, four gold wires, four sllrcr wires, four copper wires, four brass wires. canceled, but a very similar die of the same moneyer was on another occa sion authorized by the King, as speci mens of the mintage are extant. Bound the edge of a circular silver brooch of Saxon workninnshlp—with an open work centre evidently representing a bird of prey—is the Inscription, "Aelf glvv me an" (Aelfgifu owns me), which corresponds with that on the gold ring of Aethred, also exhibited. The brooch was found near Chatham in 1822. The bronze seal of Ethelwald (Bish op of Durham about 850), another of the relics represented in our illustra tions, was found at Eye, Suffolk, near the site of the monastery, and was subsequently damaged by tire. The central device occurs on a silver pen ny of Edward the Elder, son of Alfred the Great. Movements of Stones. Nearly everyone has observed tho Jauntily-tilted appearance that head \ V, "\ 4, vV DEMONSTRATING TnE MOVEMENTS OF 4, STONE AFFECTED BY MOISTCBE. stones and monuments acquire In old grave yards, and those who have stone walls with insufficient founda tion surrounding their premises are greatly troubled at the regularity with which they tumble down. At the last meeting of the Royal Society, of Lon don, the "Small Vertical Movements of a Stone Laid on the Surface of the Ground" was discussed by Dr. Horace Darwin. By means of a stone with a hole bored In the centre, through which passed a rod deeply imbedded in the ground and a finely graduated micrometer, readings were taken over a considerable period of time. It was found that the movements of the stone were directly connected with the mois ture of the ground. To graphically illustrate this point the accompanying curves were plotted. Pullman Cars as Heading Booms. There are now 110 fewer than live book and paper stalls in Haddington Station. Growth in the number of travelers, In the number of readers among travelers, and in the number of newspapers published, accounts for this Increase in the facilities for the distribution of reading matter. But tho development is one which was not anticipated by the original promoters of railways, who, among the advan tages they hoped to confer on tho public, did not enumerate any in tha department of literature. The old Idea that people stahl at home to read gives place to the newer notion that tho railway carriage is the modern substitute for the library. "I have no time to read except when I travel," was the confession made by a politi cian of name only the other day.— London Chronicle. The largest needle manufactory In the world is said to be at Redditch, Worcestershire, England. Over seven ty million needles are made there weekly. In 19CO five cities had more than 102,• 000 population and less than 103,000- St. Joseph, Omaha, Los Angeles, Mem phis and Scranton. DR. TALMAGEVS SERMON SUNDAY'S DISCOURSE 3Y THE NOTED DIVINE. Subject: The Charm of the Christian Bellfflon lt Illuminates anil Bright en* the Lives of Men and Women —The Beauty of God's Love, [ Copyright Idol.] WASHINGTON, D. C.—The charm of an exalted religion is by Dr. Talmage in thia discourse illustrated and commended; text, .Tob xxviii, 17, "The crystal cannot equal it." Many of the precious stones of the Bible liave come to prompt recognition, but for the present I take up the less valuable crystal. Job, in my text, com pares saving wisdom with a specimen of topaz. An infidel chemist or mineralogist would pronounce the latter worth more than the former, but Job makes an intel ligent comparison, looks at religion and then looks at the crystal and pronounces the former as of far superior value to the latter, exclaiming in the words of my Sext, The crystal cannot equal it." Now, it is not a part of my sermonic de sign to depreciate the crystal, whether it be found in Cornish mine or Ilarz Mount ain or Mammoth Cave or tinkling among the pendants of the chandeliers of a pal ace. The crystal is the star of the mount ain; it is the queen of the cave; it is the eardrop of the hills; it finds its heaven in the diamond. Among all the pages of nat ural history there is no page more inter esting to me than the page crystallogra phic. But I want to show you that Job was right when, taking religion in one hand and the crystal in the other, he de clared that the former is of far more value and beauty than the latter, recommending it to all the people and to all the ages, declaring, "The crystal cannot equal it." In the first place I remark that religion is superior to the crystal in exactness. That shapeless mass of crystal against which you accidentally dashed your foot is laid out with more exactness than any earthly city. There are six styles of crys tallization and all of them divinely or dained. Every crystal has mathematical precision. God's geometry reaches through it, and it is a rhomboid or in some way it lias a mathematical figure. Now, religion beats that in the simple fact that spiritual accuracy is more beautiful than material accuracy. God's attributes are exact, jod'a law exact, God's decrees exact, God's management of the world exact. Never counting wrong, though He counts the grass blades and the stars and the sands and the cycles. His providence never dealing with us perpendicularly when those providences ought to be oblique, nor laterally when they ought to be vertical. Everything in our life arranged without any possibility of mistake. Each life a six-headed prism. Horn at the right time, dying at the right time. There are no "happen so's" in our theology. If I thought this was a slipshod universe I would be in despair. God is not an An archist. Law, order, symmetry, precision, a perfect square, a perfect rectangle, a perfect rhomboid, a perfect circle. The edge of God's rone of government never frays out. There are no loose screws in the world's machinery. It did not just happen that Napoleon was attacked with indigestion at Borodino so that he became incompetent for one day. It did not just happen that John Thomas, the mission ary, on a heathen island, waiting for an outfit and orders for another missionary tour, received that outfit and those oi'- ders in a box that floated ashore, while the ship and the crew that carried the box were never heard of. I believe in a partic ular providence. I believe God's geometry may be seen in all our life more beauti fully than in crystallography. Job was right, "The crystal cannot equal it." Again, I remark that religion is supe rior to the crystal in transparency. We know not when or by whom glass was first discovered. Beads of it have been found in the tomb of Alexander Severus. Vases of it are brought up from the ruins of Herculancum. There were female adorn ments made out of it 3000 years ago— those adornments found now attached to the mummies of Egypt. A great many commentators believe that my text means glass. What would we do without the crystal—the crystal in the window to keep out the storm and let in the day, the crys tal over the watch, defending, its delicate machinery, yet allowing us to see the hour; the crystal of the telescope, by which the astronomer brings distant worlds so near he can inspect them? Oh, the triumphs of the crystals in the celebrated windows of Rouen and Salis bury! But there is nothing so transpar ent in a crystal as in our holy religion. It is a transparent religion. \ou put it to your eye, and you see man —Ins sin, his soul, his destiny. You look at God. and you see something of the grandeur of His churacter. It is a transparent reli gion. Infidels tell us, it is opaque. Do you know why they tell us it is opaque? It is because they are blind. "The nat ural man receivetn not the things of God because they are spiritually discerned." There is no trouble with the crystal; the trouble is with the eyes which try to look | through it. We pray for vision, Lord, I that our eyes might be opened! When the eye salve cures our blindness then we find that religion is transparent. . ! It is a transparent Bible. All fhc mount ains of the Bible come out —Sinai, the , mountain of the law; Piscah, the niount ' nin of prospect; Olivet, the mountain of instruction; Calvary, the mountain of sac rifice. All the rivers of the Bible come out—Hidekel, or the river of paradisaical beauty; Jordan, or the river of holy chrism; Clierith, or the river of prophetic supply; Nile, or the river of palaces, and the pure river of life from under the throne, clear as crystal. While reading this Bible, after our eyes have been touched by grace, we find it all transpar- J ent, and the earth rocks, now with cru cifixion agony and now with judgment ter ror, and Christ appears in some of His 250 titles, as far as I can count them—the Bread, the Rock, the Captain, the Com mander, the Conqueror, tne Star, and on and beyond any capacity of mine to re hearse. Transparent religion! The providence that seemed dark before becomes pellucid. Now you find God is not trying to put you down. Now you understand why you lost that child and why you lost your property. It was to prepare you for eternal treasures. And why sickness came, it being the precursor of immortal juveneseenee. And now you understand why they lied about you and tried to drive you hither and thither. It was to put you in the glorious company of such men as Ignatius, who when he went out to be destroyed by the lions said, "I am the wheat, and the teeth of the wild beasts must first grind me before I can become pure bread for Jesus Christ," or the company of such men as "that an cient Christian martyr" who, standing in the midst of the amphitheatre wait ing for the lions to come out of their cave and destroy him, and the people in the galleries jeering and shouting, "The lions!" replied "Let them come on!" and then, stooping down toward the cave where the wild beasts were roaring to get 0 t, again cried, "Let them come on!" Ah, yes, it is persecution to put you in glorious company, and, while there arc many things that you will have to post pone to the future world for explanation, 1 tell you that it is#the whole tendency of your religion to unravel and explain and interpret and illumine anil irradiate. Job was right. It is a glorious transpar ency. "The crystal cannot equal it." 1 remark again that religion surpasses the crystal in its beauty. The lump of crystal is put under the magnifying plass of the crystallographer, and he sees in it indescribable exquisiteness—snowdrift and splinters of hoarfrost and corals and wreaths and stars and crowns and constel lations of conspicuous beauty. The fact ig that crystal is so beautiful that I can think of but one thing in all the universe that is as beautiful, and that is the reli gion of the Jiible. No wonder this Dible represents that religion as the daybreak, as the apple blossoms, as the glitter of a king's banquet. It is the joy of the whole earth. People talk too much about their cross and not enough about their crown. Do you know that the Bible mentions a crrosa but twenty-seven times, while it mentions a crown eighty times? A«k that old man what he thinks of religion. He has been a close observer. He ha* been cultivating an aesthetic taste. He has seen the sun rises of half a century. He has been an early riser. He has been an admirer of cameos and corals and all kinds of beauti ful things. Ask him what he thinks of re ligion. and he will tell you: "It is the most beautiful thing I ever Baw. The crystal cannot equal it." Beautiful in its symmetry. When it presents God's character, it does not pre sent Him as having love like a great j>ro tuberance on one side of His nature, but makes that love in harmony with His jus tice—a love that will accept all those who come to Him and a justice that will by no means clear the guilty. Beautiful reli gion in the sentiment it implants! Beau tiful religion in the hope it kindles! Beau tiful religion in the fact that it proposes to garland and enthrone and empararlise an immortal spirit! Solomon savs it is a lily. Paul says it is a crown. The Apo calypse says it is a fountain kissed of the sun. Ezekiel says it is a foliaged cedar. Christ says it is a bridegroom come to fetch home a bride. While Job in the text takes up a whole vase of precious stones—the topaz and the sapphire and the chrvsoprasus—he takes out of this beautiful vase just one crystal and holds it up until it gleams in the warm light of the eastern sky, and he exclaims, "The crystal cannot equal it!" Oh, it is not a stale religion, it is not a stupid religion, it is not a toothless hag, as some srem to have represented it: it is not a Meg Merrilies with shriveled arm come to scare the world. It is the fairest daughter of God, heiress of all His wealth, her cheeks the morning sky, her voice the music of the south wind, her step the dance of the sea. Come and woo her. The Spirit find the Bride say come, and whosoever will let him come. Do you agree with Solomon and say it is a lily? Then pluck it and wear it over your heart. Do you aorree with Paul nnd say it is a crown? Then let this hour be your coro nation. Do you agree with the Apoca lypse and say it is a springing fountain? Then come and slake the thirst of your soul. Do you believe with Ezekiel and say it is a foliaged cedar? Then come un der its shadow. Do you believe with Christ and say it is a bridegroom come to fetch home a bride? Then strike hands with your Lord and King while I pro nounce you everlastingly one. Or if you think with Job that it is a jewel, then put it on your hand like a ring, on your neck like a bead, on your forehead like a star, while, looking into the mirror of God's word, you acknowledge "The crystal can not equal it." "What," say you, "will God wear jew elry?" If He wanted it Ho could make the stars of heaven His belt, and have the evening cloud for the sandals cf His feet But He docs not want that adornment. He will not have that jewelry. When God wants jewelry He comes down and digs it out of the depths and darkness of sin. These souls are all crystallizations of mercy. He puts them on, and He wears them in the presence of the whole uni verse. He wears them on the hand that was nailed, over the heart that was pierced, on the temples that were stung. 'They shall be Mine," saith the Lord, "in the day when I make up Mv jewels." Wonderful transformation! Where sin abounded grace shall much more abound. The carbon becomes the solitaire. "The crystal cannot equal it." Three crystals! John says crystal at mosphere. That means health. Balm of eternal June. What weather after the world's east wind! No rack of storm clouds. One breath of that air will cure the worst tubercle. Crystal light on all the leaves; crystal light shimmering on the topaz of the temples: crystal light tossing in the plumes of the eouestrians of heaven on white horses. But "the crystal cannot equal it." John says crys tal river. That means jof". Deep and ever rolling. Not one drop of the Potomac or the Hudson or the Rhine to soil it; not one tear of human sorrow to imbitter it. Crystal, the rain out of which it was made: crystal, the bed over which it shall roll and ripple; crystal, its infinite surface. But "the crystal cannot equal it." John says crystal sea. That means multitudi nously vast, vast in rapture, rapture vast as the sea. deep as the sea, strong as the sen, ever changing as the sea; billows oj light, billows of beauty, blue with skies that were never clouded and preen with depths that were never fathomed; Arctics and Antarctics nnd Mediterraneans and Atlantics and Pacifies in crystalline mag nificence. Three crystals crystal light falling on a crystal river, crystal river rolling into a crystal sea. But "the crys tal cannot equal it." .«• : "Oh," says some one, putting his hand over his eyes, "can it be that I who have been iu so much sin and trouble will ever come to those crystals?" Yes, it may he— it will be. Heaven we must have, what ever we have or have not, and we come here to get it. "How much must I pay for it?" you say. You will pay for it just na much as the coal pays to become the diamond. In other words, nothing. The same Almighty power that makes the crys tal in the mountain will change your henrt, which is harder than stone, for the prom ise is, "I will take away your stony heart, and I will give you a heart of flesh." "Oh," says so mo one, "it is just the doctrine I want. God is to do everything, nnd I am to do nothing." My brother, it is not the doctrine you want. The coal makes no resistance. It hears the resur rection voice in the mountain, and it comes to crystallization, but your heart re sists. The trouble with you, my brother, is the coal wants to stay cojl. I do not ask you to throw open the door and let Christ in. I only ask that you stop bolting it and barring it. My friends, we will have to get rid of our sins. I will have to get rid of my sins, and you will have to get rid of your sins. Wnat will we do with our sins among the three crystals? The crystal ntmosphere would display our pollution. The crystal river would be befouled with our touch. Trans formation must take place now or no transformation at all. Give sin full chance in your heart, and the transformation will be downward instead of upward. Instead of a crystal it will be a cinder. In the days of Carthage a Christian girl was condemned to die for her faith, ana a boat was bedaubed with tar and pitch ana filled with combustibles and set on fire, and the Christian girl was placed in the boat, and the wind was offshore, and the boat floated away with its precious treas ure. No one can doubt that boat landed at the shore of heaven. Sin wants to put you in a fiery boat and shove y.ou off in an opposite direction —off from peace, off from God, off from heaven, everlastingly off. and the port toward which you would sail would be a port of darkness, and the guns that would greet you would be the guns of despair, and the flags that would wave at your arrival would be the black flags of death. Oh, my mother, you must cither kill sin or sin will kill you. It is no exaggeration when I say that any man ox woman that wants to be saved may be saved. Tremendoos choice! A thousand people are choosing this moment between salvation and destruction, between light and darkness, between charred ruin and glorious crystallization.
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