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DV THE: REV
IRA W- MfcNDEiR.SoN,
I THE: PAHO05 DIVINE..
Thome: A Christian. Why?
Brooklyn, N. T. Prenrhlng at the
Irving Square Presbyterian Church
on the theme. "A Christian. Why?"
the pastor, the Rev. Ira Wcmraell
Henderson, took as his text Acts 26:
28. "A Christian." He said:
This Is the question that men who
are outside of Christ ask. This Is
the Inquiry that many of the best
souls in the service of the Master
find difficulty to answer In such fash
ion as to satisfy the intellects of
those who do not enjoy tho same
spiritual blessings that thev them
selves possess In .lesus. This Is the
Interrogation that we must be pre
pared to grant a sane and convincing
reply If we are to bo tho workers In
the vineyard of our Lord, that Ho
desires us to be. We should, be pre
pared at all times to undergo
examination on this point. Al
ways must wo be ready to declare the
reasons for and the reasonableness
of the faith that is within us. And
yet how many of us can, on the mo
ment, give clear, concise, argumenta
tlvely uphoblable grounds for our
spiritual faith. The most of us fall
back upon the assertion that we are
Christians because we find in It the
satisfaction of our minds, our hearts,
our souls. For us this Is sufficient.
But the man who goes behind our
satisfaction Is oftentimes the man
we meet and a man who always must
be replied to with reasonable evi
dence and convicted out of the full
ness of sensible. Intellectually com
pelling truth. He asks what ar the
grounds of our satisfaction; what Is
the brand of the satisfaction that we
find glory In: why. In short, are we
at the root Christians?
A Christian. Why? And to an
swer that we must look within and
without us: we must take counsel
with our ijnls and with the count
less souls of the universe of Qod; we
must consider contemporaneous life
and we must examine history; we
must understand the spiritual and
the mora! elements in man: w3 must
take cognizance, with care, of the
human race, everywhere and In all
time. It Is not necessary thnt we
shall be experts upon the minute de
tails of the historic life of humanity.
It Is essential that we shall be cor
rect in our Judgments and thnt our
premises shall be valid.
A Christian Why? Now some
men are Christians by heredity. Thoy
are so by birth. They have grown
np in the arms of the church unqueB
tloningly and have talfen the religion,
as they have taken the names, of
their fathers and their mothers. Far
be i irom me to disparage that sort
of religious life, if so be it be full
and free and glorious to the soul of
the man who is Its dh inely endowed
possessor. Such a man Is usually
quite able to declare the grounds of
his belief. But there are many her
editary Christians who ran give no
enduring reasons for their religious
acceptances I can hardly call them
convictions any mere than some
men can reveal in intelligent fashion
the reasons for their hereditary po
litical affiliations. Some men are ;
Christians because it Is politic so to
be, others because it is commercially
cr politically or otherwise profitable;
and still a larger host I fear are the
nominal disciples of the Nazarene I
because It is socially commendable
and wise. Some men are Christians
because the Bible commands such a
religious course upon those who read
its precious words. Better that sort
of reason and that kind of Christian-
lty than none at all. Many other ;
men are Intellectual Christians. They
yield homage tc the historic Christ; :
of the vital and Invigorating Savior I
who fills the souls of men to-day
with blessedness and Joy and beauty,
power, peace they have no concep-
tlon They know much concerning '
Christ, but of Hiin they are as ig
norant as the Hottentot is of the laws
of the Medes and Persians. And all
the: men cannot lead men of Intel
lectual and discerning force into the I
very presence of the Most High as
He stands revealed to us to-day in
Jesus Christ until they are Indwelt by
Jesus and are certified In their own
lives by radical evidence, rather than
by superficial, of the deepest and the
holiest influences that make the
Christian life joyous and that com
mend It to the world at large
A Christian. Why? Tc speak I
broadly we may say that all men aro I
instinctively religious. Whatever 1
we may have been before the dawn
of history, the truth outstandingly is
this, that normal men everywhere are
essentially religious. Men are not
equally advanced in religious infor-
matlon or In the several departments
of religious thought. But Irreslstab- 1
ly and Indubitably we are Impressed
with the fact that universally men
are endowed with a common element
al religious capacity and susceptibil
ity. Throughout all the world we
find humanity exhibiting A religious
instinct which revealB itself in the
consciousness of a spiritual relation
ship with a higher power and in
Obedience to certain moral regula
tions that are conceived to be benefi
cial to society and to the individual in
his human relationships, and satis
factory to the higher agency that
coutiols the world. Everywhere men,
In the outreachlng of their spiritual
faculties, desire the intimate knowl
edge of ari understandable power,
which we call Ood. They deBlre to
know the truth concerning that God.
They desire tha' the universal ruler
Of the destinies of men shall unfold
to them the wisdom residing in Him
self. They yearn with eagerness and
with hope unspeakable for a release
from the bondage and the dominion
of sin that Is to say, from the con
trol and influence of a detrimental
(proe which, whether it be understood
and expressed In the terms of ob
jective or of subjective experience,
is, none the less, real. Hand
In haud with the spiritual con
sciousness there goes an ele
mental, a growing, perception of the
actuality, the necessity and the vulue
of moral law as the applied truth of a
self-unfolding Uod; moral law
which in its fullest networkings shal'
mark as tangible and real the resulti
of the spiritual energies unon tin
life of man; a moral law which, lr
short, shall prove a panacea for In
dividual and social Ills.
We are Christians. Why? Simply
because In the face of human neces
sity and human experience. In the
fare of the universal religious farts,
in the face of our own religious In
formation, we believe, and are sure
we can demonstrate beyond perad
vouture, that In Christianity there Is
to be found both the deepest and the
fullest and the rfcrnr spiritual life
nnd the highest and most efficient
moral law
We are Christians, bemuse ,n the
ktr.ertom of Ood as unfolded to us
In .Tesus Christ we are assured of.
and have entered Into, tho certalntv
of a sensible communion with a
higher power which, ns an Imminent.
Infinite. humanly understandably
loving personality, Is revealed ob
jectively to us In tho person of the
Master. And this personality, whom
wo onll God. strengthens, sustnlns,
comforts, consoles, Inspires us, and
Is constantly, both ohieetlvlv and
spiritually, revealing Himself to us.
We are Christians because in Christ
and His Gosnel we find the fullness
of divine truth unfolded In language
and revealed In convincing nower In
a human life. Human wisdom can
not comprehend larger principles of
righteousness nnd loftier spiritual
conceptions than nre delivered to us
In tho messages of Jesus, nor a
grander application of the sufficiency
of thoso truths for the molding of
character and the Influencing of hu
man life than Is to be perceived in
Christ.
We aro Christians becnusn within
that faith is to be found an escape
from the dominion of sin which Is far
more efficient and far more sure than
nnv to be found elsewhere. Jesus
Is Indeed the answer of the universal
hope and of the world-wide need. In
Him tho soul of tho Individual, and
of society, finds fir.al release from
the power of the adversary. His sal
vation Is free: It. Is universal In Its
appeal; It Is simple as to Its condi
tions: It requires no education of the
schools In order to be understood: It
Is potent In this life and It reaches
out Into eternity, granting to the
sl'i-slrk, weary, burdened hearts of
men the precious promise of not only
final but nlso lasting deliverance
from the prince of tho powers of
darkness.
We are Christians because the
faith that finds its name and its In
spiration In Jesus Christ is the re
ceptacle of the highest moral law.
Within the treasury of Christian
truth Is to be found the last thing In
tho application of the principles of
the eternal dominion of Jehovah to
the affairs of humanity In their mul
tifarious relationships. In nil the
world there Is no gospel which Is so
far-reaching and so mandatory, so
Inclusive and so searching, as It con
cerns Itself with human conduct, as
Is the Gospel of the Snvlor, when It la
rightly accepted and properly under
stood. Emanating as It does from
God and theocentrlc as It Is In spirit,
it satisfies our hearts and keeps us
firm in tho Christian faith. In it wo
recognize the handiwork of God. We
find In It tho final solution, the pa
nacea for the dissolution of all hu
man Ills. Uncompromising with evil
and declaring constantly for the pure,
the righteous and the good, It In
spires our devotion.
Greatest and best of all, we are
Christians because all that we have
received, all that we accept, all that
makes us strong and steadfast. Is,
when we test it in our Individual
experience, found to be faultless.
The Gospel whereby we are saved,
the Christ who Is our Redeemer, the
promises which dally are mediated
to us by our Lord: all these may be
taken not without investigation, or
Upon hearsay evidence. We may try
the revelations of God for ourselves.
We have tried them. We are, there
fore, Christians.
The Father of All.
Someone has caught this beautiful
message from the trees and flowers.
As the natural sun does not shine
for a few trees and flowers, but for
the whole world, so the Sun of Right
eousness shines not for a favored few
but for the world of humau hearts.
As the lonely pine on the mountain
side looks up to the sun and cries,
"Thou art my sun," and the little
meadow violet looks up and whispers,
'Thou art my sun," and each field
of grass and grain upon a thousand
hills looks up and softly breathes,
'Thou art my sun," so the high and
low, the rich and poor, the Caucasian
and African can look up to the Sun
uf Righteousness and say, "Thou art
my Father."
EPWDRTH LEAGUE LESSONS
SUNDAY. MARCH 17.
Immorality. John 11. 25, 26.
Passages for refennco: John 14. 2,
3; Horn. 8. 10, 17; 2 Cor. 6. L
The continued existence of the
soul Is plainly taught In tho Bible, es
pecially In tho New Testament. When
Jesus stood beside tho grave of his
Mend Lazarus ho uttered a truth that
has taken the keen edge from many
a sorrow, as ho doclased himself ''tho
resurrection and tho Ufa," Paul says
In the letter to the Romans, ''If we
Buffer with him, wo Bhull nlso rolgn
with him In glory." Again with posi
tive assurance he declares to the
Corinthians. ''If our earthly house of
this tabernacle were dissolved. we
havp a building of Ood. an house not
made with hands, eternal in tho heav
ens." Unmistakable is the hope of the
Christian from Jesus's words, "I go
to prepare a place for yon. And If I
go and prepare a place for you. I will
come again, and receive you unto my
self, that whore I am, there ye may
be also."
A little searching Into the philoso
phies nnd religions of other and older
nations, together with observation of
their customs and monuments, will re
veal the fact that immortality is an
accepted fact In most nations. The
Hindus hold to It, us Is evidenced in
their prayers. The Chinese accept it,
as Is clear from their ancestor Wor
ship. Tho colossal pyramids nre a
standing testimony to Egypt's belief
In not only the Immorality of tho
soul, but of the body as well. Greek
and Roman mythology is full of it,
whllo Socrates nnd Pinto among tho
Greeks nnd ("loom among tho Romans
expound tho doctrine In their philo
sophies. Tho teaching of God's Word Is that
tho life beyond is a continuance of
tho life here. The identity of the In
dividual remains, and death has no
effect on the character, but Introduces
the soul previously In a probationary
state lnto'a fixed condition which can
only grow In tho same direction to all
eternity. ''He that Is unjust, lot him
be unjust still; nnd ho which Is
filthy, let him bo filthy still; and ho
that Is righteous, let him bo righteous
still; and he that Is holy, let htm DO
holy still.' The Invisible line that can
bo crossed here at choice, there In
comes u ''groat gulf fixed." Tho char
acter wo determine for our temporal
life we also fix for our Immortal ex
istence. This thought makes this life
tremend usl Important I am de
termining for myself what my future
will be.
Conversation.
Appreciation.
Recently a wealthy man of society
ga3 a dinner for fifteen friends, and
the cost was sixty dollars a plate.
With a few extras It cost him about
$1000. On his way home he re
marked to a neighbor, "Not one of the
fellows appreciated it, and I urn com
ing home mad at myself for my fool
lshness." A man gathered leu ragged ;
boys together und treated them to Ice I
cream. As they left the confection
er's, they raised their raps aud gave
him a "hurrah" that was heard
blocks away. He wont home happy.
Ills one dollar had done more than
the other's thousand.
MARCH SEVENTEENTH.
What Is Success? Prov. 3:1-18.
Success Is God's favor Ps. 12:1-8.
Success is character. Ps. ir:i-5.
Measured at tho end. Job. 42:10'
17.
The fear of God. Prov. 1:1-9.
Common Bouse and religion. Proy.
20:1-10.
Keeping commandments. Eccl. 8:
1-9.
There Is no surer measure of true
success than peace In the heart (v. 2).
There can be no permanent favor
with men till there Is favor with
God; nor can there long be favor with
Ood without the answering favor of
men (v. 4) .
The wise man never asks whither
his paths shall conduct him, but only
that God will direct his paths (v. 6) .
Generous giving to God is the best
insurance. The worldling cannot un
derstand this, or we should have a
world full of hyocrltes (v. 10). .
Suggestions.
It Is not necessary that you think
you have succeeded, but that Ood
should know that you have succeeded.
The greatest surprise of heaven, I
think, will be the failures of earth that
are there seen to be successes, and
tho successes that are seen to be fail
ures. It Is a matter of no account that a
man Is famous. Tho question la. For
what Is he famed?
No two successes are alike. Seek not
another man's success, but your own.
Illustrations.
To be content with worldly success
is as If the architect of a great build
ing wore content with the scaffold
ing. Do not estimate a man's wealth by
the size of his fields, but by the size
of his harvests.
Most of the treatises on success are
as if a guidebook to Europe should
describe merely the voyage across the
Atlantic.
You are a workman on a vast ca
thedral. Your success Ilea In your
fiithful following of the plan of the
BuLder.
Under His Wings.
Little thought Is ever given to the
prevision and devotlou of the mother
hlrd as necessary to the very life of
her youug, and little thought Is taken
of the tremulous affection with which
the Holy Spirit broods or hovers over
souls as uecessary to their regen
eration. "How excellent Is Thy lov
ing kindness, O God!" for under the
shadow of Thy wings ouly could we
ever have come by the principle of
life spiritual and eternal.
I'lunt Trees to Protect Ships.
Btate Forester G. B. Lull has been
experimenting with the phi tit In,; ol
eucalyptus trees around the hills
back of the harbor of Fort Bragg, lt
Mendocino County, so as to afford a
windbreak for the' ships that eutoi
the bar OOr, Tho trues grow very
rapidly aud in the two months hav
growu several Inches. Hundreds ot
trees will now be planted
The big lumber companies have
decided to plant thousands ol treet
on the vast areas from which th
lumber has been cut. The planting
of trees to protect ships is decidedly
novel and is un experiment that will
be watched with considerable intercsl
everywhere. Santa Rosa Corre
spondence Sacramento Bee.
IN 80CIETY.
Mrs. Walley "What evenings out
does your girl have?"
Mrs. Wllley "It would be easier
to name her evenlugs in." Bonier
villi Journal.
Conl Ashes Useful.
Coal Is used for fuel on many farms
and ashes are commonly wasted, as
they are of no particular value as a
fertilizer; but It will be worth while
to save them. to make farm walks and
roads. They should bo spread about
six Inches In depth and each layer
sprinkled with Just enough water to
make them pack solid. In making
roads or walks on low places there
should be a filling of about a foot o(
smnll stones below the surface of coal
ashes. Walks with a foundation of
stones remain dry and firm at all sea
sons of the year. BoBton Cultivator.
Crisp Farm Comment.
Money is not the only thing In the
world. There Is more enjoyment In
tho country than In the city and wo
get more out of life. Mrs. H. J.
Stevens, Kennebec County, Mo.
Prune and spray your fruit trees
while sluggards sleep; you raise ap
ples to sell and apples to keop. A. A.
Eastman, Penobscot County, Me.
Farming Ib now a profession and Is
not held by men who nre holding on
by their gills waiting for the time
when the farm can be cut up Into
building lots.- F. E. Dawley, Onon
daga County, N. Y.
It is the city man who goes fishing
Sunday; the farmer who goes during
the week. Boyden Bearce, Kennebec
County, Me.
A Few Xevers.
Never milk with wet hands.
Never mix warm with cool milk.
Never take chanceB with the bull.
Never close a can containing warm
milk.
Never try to break a kicker with
a club. Try kindness.
Never form the habit of feeding
and milking at Irregular hours.
Never allow the cans to stay In the
dairy stable while being filled with
milk.
Never add an animal to tho dairy
herd before being sure it is free from
disease.
Never buy a cow on her pedigree
alone. It Is her performance at the
pall that counts most.
Never allow cows to become excited
by hard driving, unkind words, or un
necessary disturbance.
Fixing Up a Horse For Sale.
One of the most interesting and
novel schemes that are resorted to
when It comes to "doctoring" up a
horse for sale Is "peroxldlng." Horses
just suitable for carriage work, save
that they do not quite match in color,
are now chemically colored to the
tint desired in tho twinkling of an
eye. A "peroxlded" horse shows
what has been done to him soon after
hi3 new owner takes him away and
frequently he haB to be "touched
up." This blenching does not injure
tho horse any more than it does the
average girl; but the chemically
tinted coat seldom looks well when
closely examined, the dark roots of
tho hair showing on careful Inspec
tion. Yet It deceives the averago
buyer nud so answers the purpose
of the unscrupulous horse trader.
he Epltomist. .....
SOME QUEER TREES.
Among tho curiosities of tree life
Is the sofar, or whistling-tree, of Nu
bia. When the winds blow over this
tree. It gives out flute-like sound-,
playing away to tho wilderness for
hours at a time strange, weird melo
dies. It is the spirits of the dead
singing among the branches, the na
tives suy; but the scientific whllo
man says that the sounds are due to
a myriad of small holes which an
Insect bores in the splucs of the
branches.
The weeplng-treo of the Canary
Islands is another arboreal freak.
This tree In the driest weather will
rain down showers from Its leaves,
nnd the natives gather up the water
from the pool formed at the foot of
the trunk and find It puie and fresh.
Tho tree exudes tho water from in
numerable pores, situated at the base
of the leaves.
Servant Maids' Monte Carlo.
Two servant maids attended a
meeting of the Guildford Charily
Trustees to throw dice for the charity
known as "Maids' Money." This was
left by John How In 1C74, and each
year there Is a competition for a
check for 11 vs. The dice-throwcis
must have been employed for two
years In one servlse In Guildford, but
not at un Inn or alohouie. Laura
('adman, who had sixteen years' ser
vice, secured the check with a double
six. Emma Trimmer (eight years'
servleo) throwing six and three.
Trimmer will be allowed to try again
next year. Loudory Telegraph.
Sheep Worms.
An effectual treatment for worms
In sheep, which is recommended by
the Ohio Experiment Station, is to
put a gallon of flaxseed In a cheeso
cloth sack and place It In a kettle
with two gallons of water and
let it steep for two hours. Remove
the bag aud let it drain thoroughly
into the kettle. When the flaxseed
tea Is about as warm as freshly drawn
milk, put four ounces Into a bottle
and add a common tablespoonful of
gasoline for each sheep of sixty to
eighty pounds weight. Shake well
for a minute or two, then turn Into
the drenching bottle nnd give to the
sheep. Have the sheep set up on its
rump and held between the. knees,
taking care not to throw tho head
farthe" back than tho line of the
back. The Bheep should be soused
every evening and not fed before
10 oclock, when the dose may be
given. Allow them to remain three
hours longer without food or drink;
then let them feed until evening. Re
peat this treatment for three days
und In u week's time give three days'
i more treatment and again repeat at
! the end of ten days more, always glv
I Ing the medicine after about sixteen
I hours' fasting and fasting about three
: three hours after giviug it. The
flaxseed tea need not be made fresh
each time, but should bo warmed
every time, as the gasoline mixes
better with it and passes down from
the mouth and throat to stomach.
Tho Epltomist.
Make the Poultry Pay.
Most of the -profit is in the early
hatched chickens, and It Is time now
to get the breeding pens ready and
begin to save eggs as soon as things
ure In shupe for the spring season.
Some hesitate about using eggs more
than a week old, but It is the experi
ence of others that those set even
four or five weeks after laying will
natch all right; but It is best not to
mix old eggs with fresh ones in
setting because the older eggs hatch
first.
To Insure fertile eggs In winter
the birds should have a good variety
of food, including some green stuff,
apples or boiled potatoes, aud consid
erable meat.
Meal is the main thing for making
eggs in winter. The reason some
farmers think it does not pay to feed
meat is because they do not give
enough of it, or because they have
some substitute like milk, which
makes meat unnecessary. If there
is no milk, the meat should coustltute
from one-sixth to one-eighth ot the
soft food. In fact, It will do no barm
to leavo dry meat scraps where the
birds oau help themselves at any
time. Meat scraps cost more than
grain, but they make more eggs. The
breeding flocks need air and exercise
in cold weather, and there should be
a scratching shed open to the south,
the floor raised euough to be dry, and
covered with llttur In M.-l. ti,., ......i.
... tut, Siiu
should be fed.
Now Is the time to buy Incubators
and brooders. Sometimes good second-hand
ones can be picked up
whero somebody Is going out of busi
ness. The early sitters should havo
good nests, with solid foundation,
chaff, plenty of fine hay, and the nest
should have box cover. In collecting
eggs for setting, It will be necessnry
to make frequent rounds to prevent
eggs being frosted before gathered.
American Cultivator.
"V '
Tho Cow Pays Cash.
The following, from the Live StoSk
Inspector, certainly speake well of
the cow; but no better than this
faithful animal deserves:
"Dairying is a cash business.
"Tho cow pays for her board every
day It she Is the right kind, and In
this connection the wise dairyman is
particular to note whether the cows
do pay for their board or not, as he
Is not anxious to run a charitable in
stitution. "Milk, butter and cheese are al
ways cash products, and tho dairy
man is not obliged to wait six months
or longer for returns from his efforts.
Consequently, ho runs no bills of any
kind.
"He sells for cash nnd buys for
cash and gets the benefits of all dis
counts. "He always has money, and many
dairymen pny their hired men every
Saturday night, the same as manu
facturers do.
"Dairying is not a good business,
however, for the man who likes to be
away from homo part of tho time and
who entrusts the management of his
business In part to others.
"Dairying by proxy seldom proves
satisfactory or remunerative, and
men with many irons In the Are had
better cut out dairying; they will do
far better in some other line of live
stock farming that does not require
the constant watchfulness and per
sonal supervision demanded by the
cow and her produce.
"Then, too, the by-product from
the dairy has more value than that
from other Industries of the farm,
and especially when butter is the
only commodity sold and the sklm
mllk and buttermilk are fed on the
farm.
"There Is no feeding value or fer
tility In butter worth considering;
It is all In the sklmmilk, and this
when rightly used brings good re
turns in many ways.
"There is no business of the farm
that pays us well as dairying when
right methods are in vogue in every
detail of the business, and when the
proprietor is wide-awake and anxious
to Improve and take advantage of
every condition that promises im
provement in cows, feed and feeding,
care of animals, and marketing the
products.
"If a dairyman is to know what
each cow is producing, he must either
churn the cream separately or test
it, and the test Is far the easier and
much more accurate, and what farm
er can afford to keep cows and not
know what each one is producing?
"If he does not know their valuo
for the dairy, from what Bhall he
raise calves? Shall he gueBS at It?
"Then the poorest cow will per
haps have an equal chance to live and
eat up the profit made by a good cow
aud also perpetuate her kind."
Poultry Notes.
A poultry house without a grit box
and a dust bath is incomplete.
A bone cutter costs money, but It j
helps to make more money from the
flock.
Too much cannot be said for the
dust bath in winter. All too often
this is overlooked, to the detriment
of the flock.
It Is not a good plan to force the
breeders for laying; it is apt to cause
infertility in eggs. Let them como
along to laying naturally.
Improvement in tho flock is made
only by applying good business judg
ment in selecting and mating the
breeders and feeding so as to Insure
health and vigor.
Air slacked lime sifted or scattered
over the dropping boards will assist
tho cleaning process materially, and
also take up much of the dampness
from the droppings.
Breeding stock can be bought now
at a much lower price than will be
asked for In the spring. It 1b a good
plan to buy a few fowU to start with
rather than to buy eggs.
Save the small potatoes and other
vegetables that would otherwise go to
waste and feed them to the fowls.
This will help In keeping up the egg
yield lu cold weather.
Tho winter is a good time to put
in studying up better methods cjf
mating, feeding and caring for tho
flock. No one has succeeded in reach
ing perfection; there is always room
to improve.
The best way to protect poultry
at night In very cold weather Is to
havo curtains arranged to drop
uround them during very cold weath
er. Tills prevents the escape of hoat
to a great extent and still leaves free
access to pure air.
A frequent cause of male birds get
ting their wattles frozen comes from
first getting them wet In the drink
lug water. The drinking fountains
that give only room to get the beak
into tho water are to be preferred tor
this reason. Commercial Poultry.
By CHESTERTON TODD,
The art of conversaton has beori
much wrtten about, but It cannot be
said that any advance has been made.
People still go on talking, without re
gard to set rules. These necessary
concomitants to conversation tact
and variety are not regarded In the
light of any set method, but are made
use of Incidentally.
What we need to-day Is a certain
fearlessness of attitude, a frnnknesa
and candor that, If properly used, will
go far toward making the art of con
versation what It should be. Our so
clal life Is in danger of becoming
anemic for want of the real spirit of
truth. Let us Institute a reform, and
conduct our conversations with due
regard to the strenuous life.
With a leader of the Smart Set:
"How do you do, Mrs. Ooldbonds?"
"How do you do?"
"You nre looking finely to-day; but
aren't you overweight? And you have
rings unde- your eyes."
"Indeed; I was not aware of it."
"Yes, they are quite plain; yon
have been giving some of those dead
ly dull dinners, I know."
"8lr!"
"Now don't dissemble. I know
you. By tho way, how much money
are you really worth?"
"What Is that to you?"
"Nothing, nothing. Some one
asked me, that's all. I had an Idle
curiosity to know If your bank ac
count really did counterbalance your
innate vulgarity."
"You aro rude, sir."
"No, Mrs. Goldbonds, I am un
pleasant and truthful. Good-by. I
must seek some one more interest
ing." With a young girl:
"How pretty you are! I wish you
knew more."
"That isn't nice of you, sir."
"I know it. But I am not here to
be nice. It Is too bad about you."
"What Ib too bad?"
"Why, when you get to be forty
and have had some experience when
I would really enjoy sitting In a quiet
corner with you and chatting, then
you will bo faded out and not worth
looking at."
"You are dreadful!"
"Am I? Sorry, but I must tell tho
truth. My dear little girl. If you only
knew something now It would be
worth while, but, really, you bore
mo."
"I hate you, sir!"
"That means nothing. I wouldn't
mind being hated by a woman ten
years older. It ahe had half your good
looks. By-by!"
With a clergyman:
"Good afternoon, doctor. After
your sermon, you look remarkably
fit."
"Why shouldn't I?"
"True? You had but to deliver It.
Others had to llBten."
"Wasn't it a good sermon?"
"No. Several told you It was, but
they lied. I will be more truthful.
It was very dull."
"Thank you!"
"Don't mention It. It ought to do
you good occasionally to hear the
truth. Your opportunities In that re
spect are so slight."
"You Insult me, sir."
"That would be Impossible. I
really admire you in many respects.
Your opportunities for beirfg genuine
are so few, and you do the beat you
can, I know. Good-day, sir!"
With a Senator:
"Ah, my disrespected Senator, you
look underweight. Have you been
neglecting yourself? Remember, sir,
the country looks to you to upset
some of its cherished notions and
"
, "In what way?"
"Why, at any moment, you may be
engaged in some disgraceful financial
transaction; you should keep yourself
in good trim."
"You are sarcastic."
"Good! I am. I acknowledge it.
The fact is, Senator, I don't particu
larly like you. I don't care tor your
line of graft "
"You Insult me, sir."
"Splendid! I mean to. Hope it
will do you good!" Life.
f ft, SCIENCE m
Cold in Maine.
A Bangor man in his effort to de
scribe tho coldest place In the world
spoke of a shed that was "too cold
to keep wood In," and this was the
limit until this correspondence came
lu from Mount Desert concerning the
weather down there last week; "A
fisherman of otter Creek says a big
codfish was so attracted by the
warmth of u gasolene heater In his
dory that It Jumped from the boat
and tried to wrap itself around the
heater. It rroza In a bait circle. Jed
Jerkins, of Trenton, went to the barn
to water his stock. He fell and upset
the pall. Before ho could step out ol
the water bis boots froze to the floor. 1
Ho had to take his boots off to get
away." Kennebec Journal.
Remarkable Imlustiiul Data.
The cottonseed oil Industry Ib scat
tered all over the South, but its gen
eral centre is Memphis. For a cen
tury after cotton became the king of
textile staples, the cottonseed was
despised as a worthless vexation.
Then Its utilization was begun. In
1880 nearly 4, 000, 000 worth of cot
tonseed oil and by-products was pro
duced. Last year the best eBtlmatcB
placed the amount at $80,000,000, or
twenty times more than the product
of 1880.
Pittsburg makea enough steel rails
each day to build over eleven miles of
railroad track. One ot the unique
features of tho smoky city is Its won
derful marine commerce. It Is at tho
hend of navigation on the Ohio River,
and ships 10,000,000 tons of freight
by water each year, although boats
can only be handled during the high
water Btage. If It had a ulne-foot
stage all the year round, there Is no
tolling to what dimensions its marine
commerce would reach.
Cities which send tho products ot
the United States to foreign lands
must needs gather them from within.
New York ships more wheat and re
ceives more wheat' than any other
city In the world. A large portion of
this grain has previously been col
lected at Buffalo, Next to New York,
Portland, Ore., at the other end of
the American empire, ships more
wheat than any other city here or
abroad. Portland leads all the world
In the shipment of lumber, und on ac
count of being situated near the
great uncut forests, it v ill probably
lead in lumber production for many
yeurs to come. Indianapolis News.
Decline of English Study.
In all directions tragical results ot
the long neglect of serious Eugllsh
study are visible. The worst English
is practiced and appreciated outside
of a very small circle of English so
cieties. The municipal libraries,
which minister to the literary needs
of the multitude, overflow with liter
ary vacuity and vapidity. The stan
dard of average ,'aste lu literature
steadily declines. Academy.
British celluloid producers are In
terested In the Italian device for mak
ing celluloid non-inflammable by mix
ing glue, gum arable and colza oil
with the ordinary composition. When
purified from sediment, It Is claimed,
thenew material can be used as an
Inexpensive substitute for any kind
of tortoise shell, and under the most
unfavorable conditions It merely car
bonizes, without Igniting or sproadtng
Are.
The saving of tho vast amount or
plant food now carried away by the
rivers is a great problem for the fu
ture agricultural chemist. In one es
timate the silt borne off by the Mis
sissippi In one year is placed at 443,
750,000 tons, and analysis has shown
Mr. C. H. Stone that In this quantity
there must be 8,120,025 tons of lime,
5,592,250 tons of potash, 1,109,375
tons of phosphoric acid, and 665,625
tons of nitrogen, besides soda and
other materials of uncertain useful
ness. The valuo of the fertilizing
material removed in one year by this
ono river alone Is estimated at about
ono thousand million dollars.
An effort to follow the wanderings
of fishes, about which we know so
I little, Is being made by the British
I Marine Biological Association. A
numbered tag has been fastened to
many plaice, which have been re
turned to tho water, and about
twenty per cent, of these marked
fishes seem to have been caught again
and returned to the association. As
a rule, only tho larger fishes migrate
to any considerable distance, the
smaller ones remaining at home. The
migrants go south In winter and re
turn northward In summer, and ons
plaice was found to have traveled 175
miles In six weeks, while nnother was
caught 2 42 miles from the spot where
It was placed In the water eight
months before.
Investigating the dispersal of seeds
by the winds. Dr. Ridley, of the Sin
gapore Botanic Gardens, forms three
groups (1) winged fruits and seeds,
which are dispersed most slowly and
cannot cross a wide sea; (2) plumed
fruit and seeds, which may travel
rapidly over open country, but are
checked by forest, and (3) powder or
dust seeds such as orchid seed, fern
spores, etc. which are dispersed
readily and to great distance. It was
calculated that a certain forest tree,
with winged fruit, would travel three
hundred yards in a century, and
would taek one and a half million
years to spread from the Malay Pen
insula to the Philippines if there were
land connection.
Many have wondered how milk can
be reduced to powder without chang
ing Its properties. In the process
patented in Germany, the milk is
evaporated in a vacuum with con
tinual agitation, until It contains
from twenty-five to thirty-five per
cent, of water, and then with access
of air, at a temperature below the
melting point of the milk fat, until
the water is reduced to sixteen to
twenty per cent. The product is then,
powdered, further drying at the tem
perature stated leaving not more than
fourteen per cent, of water. This
method, it is explained, yields a milk
powder In which the fat is present as
small globules, surrounded by dried
"blue milk" which prevents the fat
from decomposing.
APPLES PROPAGATE MOTHS.
Germans Give Warning Against Keep
Ing the Fruit in DweBlngs.
Germany has found a peril in ap
ples. They are tho principal medium
for the propagation and spread of
the destructive house moth (Glycy
phagus domesticua) according to ob
servations recently made.
The discovery was the result of a
plague of moths at Grles and the vil
lages surrounding it. The larvae
were traced to the stores of apples
kept In the houses and thence to tho
trees themselves.
The larvae are found first of all
J.n the apple blossoms. As the fruit
grows they cluster In tho conical de
pression about the stem of the ap
ple. When the fruit Is taken Into the
house' It Is laden with the eggs. The
propagation of the eggs Is Bald to be
prodigious.
When the fruit is taken into the
house tho eggs find their way Into
clothing, hangings, carpets and up
holstered furniture and the Insect is
hatched out, with the well known
ruinous results. The eggs are also
said to be the cause ot the white
mottling that is so often noticed on
dried fruits.
As a result ot the discoveries It is
urged that apples never be taken In
to dwellings without careful cleans
ing, and even then they should never
be kept in living rooms, and the peel
ings should be promptly removed.
New York Sun.
Reclaiming Marsh Lands.
It Is stated that if the United
States should reclaim marsh lands
as it Is the arid lands in the West by
Irrigation, there would be Immense
acreage added to the lands for culti
vation. Louisiana alone Is said to
have a reclalinable area sufficient to
support a population of 10,000,000.
All along the coast from Virginia to
Texas is an extremely fertile and
productive strip ot vast aggregate ox
ter under shallow water. The small
portions here and there which have
been brought under cultivation pro
duce In abundance. The drainage ol
the Southern swamps and marshes
means Improvement of the health of
the people as well as the creation o(
new wealth. Canals and drains, dug
through the submerged area would
give rise to various useful results.
The earth taken up would be material
for roads. Two hundred and fifty;
dredge boats and 500 road graders
at work continually In coastal Louis-'
lana would increase the population ol
the State 1,000,000 a year uutll it
would be as thickly settled as Hoi-land.