THE MIDDLEBDBGH POST.
GEO. W, WAGEXSELLER,
Editor and Proprietor
Middlebubob, Fa., Sept. 16, 1697.
Italy had tinder operation last year
8800 miles of standard-gnage railways,
790 of narrow gnage and 1770 of street
railroads.
Much interest is taken in French
naval circles in the discovery of a com
position which is alleged to have the
marvellous property of rendering ves
sels invisible beneath the rays of eleo
trio searchlights. It is stated that at
the naval manoeuvres oft" Brest torpedo-boat
No. 61, representing the
enemy, succeeded in traversing un
seen the luminous zone produced by
the electric projectors, having been
coated with the new composition.
Many inquiries are being made 81
to the possibility of getting into the
Klondike country during the coming
fall and winter, Mates tho New York
Tribune. The answer may be unhesi
tatingly given. It would be folly to
attempt to get in at such times. Those
who are now on their way may get in,
though it is believed that not more
than half of them will. To attempt
the trip after this month would be al
most as hazardous as a journey to the
North role.
The new Dutch Cabinet is com
posed of statesmen whose names can
only be described as singularly appro
priate to their respective offices. Thus,
the Ministor of War rejoices in the
patronymic of Van Dam; the Minister
of Justice is a Trofossor Drucker
("drucker" being the Dutch for some
one who presses down heavily); the
Minister of Finance is a Baron Gold
stein, while the Minister of Foreign
Affairs goes by the peculiar name of
Van Oldnailer; the Minister of Canals
and Waterways is a Mr. Lily; the
Minister of the Interior is a stout
nobleman of the name of Jonkheer
van Roll; the Minister of Marine in a
Scotchman, an Admiral Macleod, while
the Fremier rejoices in the exceeding
ly English name of Pearson.
The Committee of Ten fronfthe
great colleges, which is appointed to
consider standards of requirements in
entrance English, and to secure, if
practicable, uniform entrance examina
tions in that subject recently appoint
ed, to further its work, a sub-committee
of fifteen, headed by Dr. Nicholas
Murray Butler. This committee, in
order to ascertain the opinions of well
known English masters on the best
books for additional reading in Eng
lish, sent out a list of forty-three
books, to which was appended this re
quest: 'Tleose mark with a cross the
books in the following list that you
have found desirable, with a double
cross those that you have found espe
cially desirable, with a circle those
that you hove found unsatisfactory,
with a double circle those thot you
have found especially unsatisfactory."
Those who received this list replied
readily, and as a result this committee
has indubitable expert testimony on
the best books for preparatory read
ing. The balloting resulted in tho
ranking of the books as follows; 1,
Merchant of Venice; 2, Julius Csar;
8, Vision of Sir Launfal; 4, Sketch
Book; 5, Silas Marner; 6, Ivanhoe; 7,
Evangeliuo; 8, As You Like It; 9, Sir
Roger de Coverly Papers; 10, Macbeth;
11, Lady of the Lake; 12, Bunker Hill
Oration; 13, Ancient Mariner; 14,
Courtship of Miles Stanilish ; 15, Mar
tnion; 1G, L'AIlcgro; 17, II Penseroso;
18, House of the Seven Gables; 19,
Conciliation With America; 20, Twice
Told Tales; 21, Essay on Milton and
Addison; 22, Vicar of WakeQold; 23,
Frincess; 24, Midsummer Night's
Dream; 25, Conius; 20, Life of Sam
uel Johnson; 27, David Copperfleld;
28, Tarailise Lost, Books I. and II.;
29, Sohrab and Rustum; 30, Lycidas;
31, Tales of a Traveler; 32, Twelfth
Night; 33, Escoy ou Burns; 84,
American Scholar; 85, Last of the Mo
hicans; 30, Tope's Iliad; 37, Wood
stock; 38, Second Essay on Chutham;
39, The Abbot; 40, Lifo of Nelson; 41,
Flight of a Tartar Tribe; 42, Pnlamon
and Arcite; 43, History of the Plague.
Of these books Merchant of Venice
alone received no unfavorable ballot.
The History of the Plague ranked low
est in favorable ballots, aud at the
same time received 123 double crosses,
the largest number of negative ballots
cast for a book. The low ranking of
the Second Essay on Chatham, which
always seemed to be a favorite with
the masters, will bo doubt surprise
manj, ' . ' . ' "
If you pny your debts promptly, you
are entitled to more credit than a man
who is charitable, or a woman who is
literary.
THE DREAM
There is an Island la Slumber sea
Whore the drollest things are done.
And we will sail there, It the winds are (air,
Just after the set of the tun.
Tls the loveliest place., In the whole wide
world.
Or anyway so it seems,
And the folk there play at the end ot each
dar
In a curious show called "Dreams."
We sail rltcht into the evening skies,
And the very tirst thing we know
We are there at the port and ready for
sport
Whore the dream folks glvethelr show.
An. I what do you think they did last night
When I crossed their harbor ban?
They hoisted a plank on a groat cloud bank
And teetered among tne stars,
Jb 4": i i: ?
1
Ily MARGARET JOIJANN
; " s rl $?
HE teacher stood
by the blackboard
reviewing with
Ralph Burrows a
problem in alge
bra. Most of her
pupils were from
the lower walks of
life, rude in dress
and manner, and
backward in in
telligence. The
schoolroom was a relio of an ancient
educational regime, with broken, be
grimed walls, curtaiuless wiudows
and backless, splinter-fringed benches,
whose present incumbents could,
upon the clumsy "forms" before
them, carve their initials side by side
with those of their fathers', or im
prison flies in dungeons gougod out
by the jack-knives of their grand
fathers. This pupil in algebra was the sole
representative there of the township
aristocracy. The teacher was very
proud of him. He had already passed
the entrance examination for the high
school in a distant city. He showed
what he could do when she had
material to work with, she thought,
and she was fond of showing him oil"
when the trustees made their pro
scribed "two visits a year." The boy
hud au earnest though merry face, and
he bore with good-humored indif
ference the distinctioli of being the
best-dressed and most scholarly pupil
there.
It was a raw January day. The wind
made the old schoolhoiise quake, but
for pity of the children, it piled pro
tecting ridges of snow about tho case
ments. For the comfort of the smaller
children benohes were drawn close to
.the stove; but at the forms the older
ones wrung their hands to dispel the
jiumbness of their lingers, and sat
upon their feet to keep them warm.
A. little girl with stringy, yellow
eurls, a lace-bordered apron, torn and
dingy, and a soiled ribbon around her
neck, tugged at the teacher's gown.
"Tin me and WeaserTon do home?"
"Weasor Tan" (Louisa Rutan) by
her side, hung her head bashfully and
pulled her mouth awry with her
lingers. There was no attempt at finery
in Weasor Tan's costume. She was au
ugly child, with part of her unkempt
hair gathered into a short, tapering
braid aud tied with a bit of thread, and
the rest of it hanging in strings ubout
her eyes and ears.
The teacher hesitnted.
"'Me and Weaser Tan' will freeze
on the way, Miss L ," said Ralph,
good-naturedly turning from his prob
lem, "they have ucarly as far to go as
I hove."
Miss L stepped anxiously to the
window aud surveyed the road.
"If Me and Weaser Tan' will wait
till school's out I'll take them homo ou
my sled," continued Ralph.
The teacher looked relieved.
"If you'll do that, Ralph," she said,
"you may go right away; for the
storm's getting worse every minute."
The boy was dolighted to get out of
school so early. "Proof that a good
action is never thrown away,?' he said,
with roguish familiarity. Then he
slammed his books into place, put on
his wurm overcoat and tied a
bright homo-knit scarf around
his neck, and the little girls
pinned on their threadbare shawls.
They went out into the storm to-
gethcr, and he seated them a-tundem
upon his sled.
"Put ou your mittens, Weaser Tan,"
he said, for the child's liuiuls holding
to the sides of the sled were chapped
aud red.
"She ain't got none," said Grace,
pulling at the wrists of her own and
giggling self-consciously.
"Put these on, theu," said
throwing his own into her lap.
he,
She drew them on shamefacedly.
The little girls lived in adjoiuing
cabins; and when he left them in front
of their door he said:
"You may keep the mittens, Weasor
Tan; mother'll knit me another pair.
They're not so gay us Grace's, but
they're warm."
Rulph Burrows, home ou a college
vacation, came out of tho woods be
hiud the Rutan cabin with his gnu
upon his Rhouldcr. His dog had rim
ou ahead and Ralph came upon him
eagerly lapping water from a trough in
front of the house. Grace and Weaser
Tan were there, tho latter with her
hand upon tho handle of the pump,
from whose nozzle a stream of fresh
water was falling gently for the ani
mal's enjoyment.
"Don knows whore the best water
in the neighborhood is to be found,"
said Ralph, throwing a bunch of game
upon the grass and pumping a dipper
ful of water for himself an the girl
stepped bashfully aside. The dog, a
magnificent English setter, went to
TOWN SHOW.
And they sat on the moon and swung their
feet,
.Like pendulums, to and fro. : : j
Down Hlumber sea U the sail for me, , ,
And I wish you were ready to go.
For the dream folks there on this curious
isle
Begin their performance at eleht.
There are no encores, and they close their
doors
On every one who Is late.
The sun Is sinking behind tha hills,
The seven o'clock bell chime.
I know by the chart that we ought to start
ir we would be tnere in time.
Oh, fair is the trip down Hlumber seal
Hot sail, and awav we go)
The anchor is
drawn, we are on ana
kouo
To the wonderful dnam town show.
-Ella Wheeler Wilcox,
Hi V? ""-I5 i? Tv i -J? '!
v.
- v
4! i v? i ss
her and laid his tawny head against
her. hue spoke gently to him, fond
ling his silky ears.
"He seems to be au acquaintance of
yours," suid Ralph, by way 'of being
sociaole.
"Sh'd think heought to be," giggled
Grace. "She's always saving bones
anil things for him."
"That's very kind, I'm sure," said
tlie young fellow, turning toward the
game which Grace was inspecting.
"That blue-jay was au accident I
(lulu t mt'un to shoot him.
"You might give me his wings for
my lint, said Grace, saucily.
"His wings? with pleasure," and,
tukiug cut his knife, he cut them oil.
"One for Grace and one for 'Wea
sor Tan,' " he said, giving one to each
and laughing at the recollection of the
old childish name.
He went whistling out of the crate;
and Grace, with each hand grasping
a picket of tho rickety fence, watched
him out of hearing. He drew a long
breath as she turned away.
"Gracious, ain't ho handsome!" she
said, "and, Wease, you like him awful
good."
For answer Wease splashed her well
with water. Then Grace went crying
into the house, and Weuse, in the
covert of the high pump, softly stroked
the jay's whig oud watched the giver
out of sight.
"Room in our town for another
physician, " wrote distant relatives.
and there Ralph Burrows went fresh
from an extended course of study and
travel abroad. He opened his office in
the heart of tho town; his home was
with his relatives ou hills that over
looked it. Business came to him In a
gingly, but love came ou smooth, swift
wings.
Marguerite, heir of beauty, wealth
and goodness, sat on tho yerauda.
fieldglass in hand. A dozen times a
day she focused it upon Ralph's office
in the towu below. A few moments
since she haw him lock his door and
set out upon the homeward rood. Now
he was hidden from view, but she
knew just what landmark ho had
reached (she had timed him so often).
To speed the minutes she took up a
magazine aud scauned au article thut
essayed to settle for all times and for
all people the question: "Is life worth
living?" When he came she met him
at the foot of the torrnces, and with
his arm around her he led her buck to
the veranda.
"What's in it?" he asked, tossing
the magazine aside to make room tor
them both upon the willow settle.
"Oh, Ralph," she cried, archly, "is
life worth living? '
He took her face between his hands
and looked unutterable love into eyes
that paid him back his own.
"Is lifo worth living? And with
Marguerite? A thousand, thousand
times, sweetheart, and forever and
ever! He kissed her rapturously.
"For shame," sho whispered, look
ing rosily foolish and happy, "there's
.Louise; she must have heard and seen
the whole performance. And, by the
way, Ralph, when you write your
mother, thank her again for solving
for us tho servant problem in so far as
a waitress is concerned. This Louise
Rutau has been with us two months
now, and we find her all we could de
sire; only (witha little deprecative
shrug) her face is so stolidly sorrow'
ful. I'm so happy myself, Ralph, that
when anyone else is sad I feel a sort
of remorse almost as if I were re
sponsible.
"Well, poor girl," he said, "I've
kuown her ever since sho was three
feet high, I suppose, and she's had
pretty hard lines. She 11 brighten,
never fear, in the atmosphere of this
home.
"Louise," said Marguerite next day.
"I believe I'll let you drive me into
town; you re accustomed to a horse,
aren't you?"
"Not very; but I'm not afraid," was
the reply; so they went.
Marguerite had made her purchases.
had achieved a merry consultation with
Ralph in front of his office, and they
were upon a homeward, uphill road
that lay along the bed of a little stream,
The queer, reticent girl by her side
was a study for Murguorite. Through
out the drive she had tried to make
her talk; but, baflled, she had by now
lapsed into a silence akin to pique. A
new thought came to her.
"Louise," she asked, "is life worth
living?"
"For you it must be, Miss Mar
guerite."
It was a lengthy sentence for the
girl to utter, but her eyes looked
staight ahead and her hands holding
the slack rein lay limp in her lap. .
. . "And why not for you, Louise?"
The girl hesitated, and Marguerite,
always prone to moralizing, improved
me opportunity. .
My good girL" she said, "you
wage-earners make m great mistake in
thinking that wealth brings happiness.
All of us, noh and poor alike, meet
with disappointments, and we can
either make the best of them ana be
happy or make the worst of them and
be miserable. ' Now, here are these
gloves that I've just bought. I
couldn't get the oolor I wanted; these
are fully three shades too dark, but
I'm not going to fret about them; I'm
going to be happy in spite of circum
stances." "Yes, ma'am," said the girl, apatheti
cally. "You have health, home and
plenty to eat and to wear, Louise, and
I have no more than that."
' "Yes, ma'am" but there was repu
diation in the tone.
Marguerite recognized it, and went
on, s softness stealing over her glad,
flower-like beauty.
"Of course, I have Ralph; but
some day, Louise, some honest
hearted young fellow will come to you,
aud will love you as his life, and then,
Louise, if your heart responds" (her
voice weighed with the sweet mystery
of love dropped into rhythmic cadence)
"you will be blest indeed."
"Yes, ma'am," said the girl again,
but feigned an interest in the land
scape and leaued forward to hide her
homely face from the gaze of the beau
tiful and blest.
Suddenly the feigned interest be
came real, for she half rose to her feet,
grasping the dashboard.
"Whoa!"
She threw the reins into Marguerite's
lap; and, springing to the ground,
pressed into the thicket of blackberry
aud catbrier that upon one side bor
dered the road. Partiug the tangle
with her bare hands, she took one look
through the opening she had made.
The next instant she had loosened the
traces and was leading the horse out
of the shafts.
"Why, Louise" began Marguerite;
then she got down and went to her
with a face full of astonished inquiry.
Tho girl's ringers were flying from
buckle to buckle along the harness.
"Go home as fast as you can go,
Miss Marguerite," she said. Her voice
was steady, but her hands shook.
"What do you mean, Louise?"
The girl dragged the harness off:
"For you," she said, "life is worth
living; for me" she backed the horse
to tho carringe-side "death is worth
dying."
From a hub she vaulted to the
horso'ii back.
"3o home!" she shouted, fiercely;
for by now she had lost control of her
voice. '
"I believe you are insane," said
Marguerite, half iu auger, half iu
fright.
To the quivering girl the suggestion
was an inspiration. She waved her
hands wildly:
"Go!" she shouted, jerking the
horse upon his (-haunches, "start, or
I'll ride you down!"
Marguerite fled in terror. Once she
looked back. No one was in sight,
but she heard the horse's hoofs clatter
ing downward into the town.
A catalpa, little and old and scarred
and only of late protected from vandal
ism by a box, stood in front of the doc
tor's office. A horse wheeled under it,
and Ralph reached the sidewalk as the
rider slipped to the ground.
"What's wrong, my girl?" he asked,
with forced professional calmness.
Her breath camo pantingly.
"Go home," she gasped, with tense,
white lips, "they want you."
He sprang toward his office, but she
clutched his sleeve. She was not
fierce now, but her tone was an agony
of pleading.
"Oh, go!" for the first time in her
life she looked full into his face
"don't stop for anything she's dying,
I tell you Murguorite she's bleed
ing to death by the roadside above
the dam."
She pressed the bridle into his hand,
but he tore away into his office. He
was out again liko a flash, hatless but
his emergency kit iu hand. He
snatched the bridle and the next min
ute the woody, up-hill road plucked
horse aud rider out of her sight.
Almost fainting, she held to the tree
box. The street was nearly deserted,
bat two women, talking earnestly,
came round a corner. She clutched
the gown of the nearer, b)
"The dam," she whispered, "there's
a leak"
The woman started and gathered
her skirt closely about her. "Poor
creature!" she said to her companion,
"rum is the curse of this land," and
they turned nervously into the nearest
Btreet.
Then Weaser Tan's strength came
again. Two boys tore past her in a
wild game of chase. She seized the
foremost by his shoulder, his compan
ion grabbed him at the same instant,
and both wheeled stumblingly in
front of her.
"Run for the hills!" Bhe shook
the boy as if to awaken him from
Bleep "the big dam is giving wayl
Don't stand aud store! Alarm the
people!"
, She flung them from her, and they
plunged ahead one shrieking like a
maniac, the other dumb with terror.
The girl herself dashed after the two
women. Ahead of her and on the op
posite side, upon a bank of the
"branch," was a factory. In its seo
ond story young girls were working;
she could see them through the open
windows.
She was flying up the stairs when
a suspicious foreman stopped her. .
"Whereaway so fast, young wo
man?" "The flood is coming!"
"Nonsense!" he smiled pleasantly.
"It's the dam, the great dam above
the South Fork! Look out at the
branch!" and she tore past him.
The girls were already staring wild
ly iuto one another's faces, for a new
din. the roar of n raiting river, min
gled with the whir and clatter el the
machinery.'
"Run for your livosP
They rushed to the street and fled
their various ways. One, half para
lysed, elung to easer Tan.
"The railroad bridge is high and
very strong." From both sides peo
ple were crowding upon it.
Only a moment but in it, to thai
struggling cityful, terror enough to
freight eternity and Louise, her arm
around her -fainting charge stood
upon the bridge. Then the dam sur
rendered its last defense and pande
monium plunged into the valley.
The work of rescue was going on.
The young doctor had not lain down,
they said, for two days and two nights.
He was everywhere, directing, com
manding, executing. Some sixty rods
below where the bridge had been was
a wooded knoll, for whioh the branch
in its peaceful days had turned tran
quilly aside. A mass of drift was
piled there now, sand and soil;
trees, cattle aud the wrecks
of homes; stone buttress; brace
and girder and ntanchion of steel
and human flesh and blood wisps of
straw flipped aside by the torrent, the
discarded playthings of a moment.
Gangs of men were sorting it over.
A bit of blue cambric caught Ralph's
eye. He knew it, for his mother had
worn it once.
"Careful there, careful," he warned,
pressing in among the laborers, "take
away that piece of roofing. Not your
axe, man! For heaven's sake don't
use that! There's a young girl lying
just beneath! Help me lift it, half a
dozen of yon so that will do."
He scooped away some debris with
his hands and wiped the soil from the
dead face.
"Thank God, there's no mutilation.
That iron beam there twisted like a
thread it confines the arm. Set your
lever just here,. Steady steady; that
will do.
"Now, some one help me carry her.
Not you, Van Courtlandt; some one
with an awful sorrow tugging at his
heart. You'll do, McCall.
"Gently, my man, tenderly as you'll
lift that little girl xtt yours when you
find her. Lay her hero, McCall.
"One moment more, my friend.
Here's a pillow, soft and white and
frilled, a dainty thing Marguerite
sent it. Put it into place while I lift
the head. Now the spread thank you,
McCall."
Weaser Tan lay in her coffin; her
face as plain in death as iu life, but
more serene. Ralph stood and looked
at her wonderingly and sadly. His
old dog came aud, whining, laid his
muzzle in his hand.
"Yes, Don, you've lost a friend.
She loved you." .
Marguerite came softly in.
"Here's something else she loved,"
she said. "They say she would not
sleep without it under her pillow."
Ho opened the little box she gave
Kim, gazed into it for a moment,
touched its contents tenderly, then
tucked them under some roses that lay
upon her breast.
They were a pair of gray yarn mit
tens and a blue-jay's wing. Short
Stories.
Novel Way to Tell the Time.
"The Navy Department clerks have
a good one on me," said Senator Jones
recently to a Star reporter. "I have
had frequent occasion to visit the State,
War and Navy Department building
during the session of Congress, and
somehow always managed to get there
about noon each day, though I had no
particular object in getting there the
same hour each day. But it happened
that way. I noticed on several occa
sions as I passed through the halls of
the building that some of the clerks or
messengers sang out 'down' as I passed
them, and, though I could not under
stand the reason, I did not connect it
with myself. When the thing hap
pened three or four times in succes
sion, it began to make me think. About
three weeks ago I had business there,
and just as I entered a room looking
for a friend, an official, a clerk broke
out with the usual 'down,' looking at
me straight in the eyes. I got a little
hot under the collar at it, and said,
'Young man. There is nothing par
ticularly down about mejthat I know of,
and will you please explain why all of
you speak of me as down as I pass
through?' .The clerk reddened up
somewhat and explained that his
'down' had no reference to me what
ever; that what he meant by it, as also
the others, was that the time ball which
is dropped from the flag staff at the
top of the building at noon each day
had dropped for 12 o'clock; that it was
a custom of the olerks and messengers
of that building whenever they hap
pened to be watching the ball to sing
out 'down,' so as to inform their fel
low clerks who were not watching tho
ball that it was down. Of course, the
explanation was satisfactory and that
is all there is of it. I admit, however,
that the clerks in that building have
one on me, and I'll try to even it up
some time with them." Washington
Star.
. Steel ItalU In China.
A Pittsburg artificer, Walter Ken
nedy by name, has taken charge of
the steel rail plant at Han-Yang,
China, and is turning out rails ol
standard quality, as good as those of
Pittsburg, Bethlehem, Joliet or any
of the American or European rolling
mills, to be laid down on the new
Wo-Sung railroad. The introduction
of, this new industry, says the New
York Tribune, is likely to be of more
importance to China than anything
which has happened in her history
since the days of Confucius. As her
guide in this new and momentous
industrial departure, the country did
well to take an American, and it seems
apparent that she has picked out a
capable one, who understands his
business and is qualified to make the
pigtails understand it also.
mi6i;cu::! sub
a
pregnant thoughts from the
world's' Greatest prophets.
i 1 1 ...
At Twlllht-The Ai-tlit uprem-.
Ing rrayer-Whea the Great Tran,iu0
Comee-The Handwriting of Character
-" t fc" ' "J ma Alloy,
Vm In rwwtl Aft vtniM a! j .
The lonely bittern shifts hi. rwdv J 7. "
In garden trees sate hid from ourtou.
auest -.
The tree-frog pipes tha hour of dusk awa .
Above the Una In tangled mae of play '
The fire-fly swings his ellln torch ot Heh,
While sweet wood-thrushes thrill ,,k
And whlppoorwlll takes up her evening .T
In matted crass the ebon cricket
And dusty moths flit through the win'.ll,w
Thn lmn hllthpafa thu Hnslr with AA.t
And rest returns to smooth the brow oi
care ;
The lisping pines Breathe low a sweet re-
mm,
And hotniug cow-bells tinkle down the
IUUO.
Professor B. F. LegKett.
Christ the ArtUt Supreme,
Bishop Thoburn tells a bimtifui Btor,
about a picture of bis dead child. It sw-niHl
a very Imperfect photograph, to blurred
that scarcely a trace of the loved feuturii
oould be seen In it. But one day he t,,
the picture to a photographer, nnd asked
him If he could do anything to improve it.
In three Weoks the bishop returned, am) M
be saw the picture in its frame mi it,.
wall, be was startled. It seemed as if hi
ouuu worn living again ueinre nun. The
image had boon in the old picture, but km
concealed beneath the blurs and mints tlmt
were there also. The artist, however, hnd
brought it out In strong, living beautv,' un
til It was like life in Its tender charm.
every true disciple of ChrUt there in the Im
age of tho Master. It may be very dim. lu
leaiuren are ovonaiu oy uiurs ami blemishm
and am almost unrecognizable by huiniin
eyes. It is the work of Christ In our live
to bring out this likeness, more ami ninn
clearly, until at last It shines in umllmmni
Deuuty. inis is wnat Llirlst U doing in
many oi uis ways witn us.
"Who from unsightly bulb or slender root
Could guess aright
The story of the flower, the fern, the fruit
Iu summer s height ' '
Through tremulous shadows voices call to I
mo,
'It doth not yet appear what we shall Is.' "
An Kvenlug Trayer.
Lord, abldo with us, for It is evening mil
tli night Is upon us. Give us l.'iv proteo-
lion in unu lurougn me uurKness. l no .ltirk
ness and the light are both alike to the.
slid we shall sloop without fear, tor thou an
our keeper. We ask for thy upu.-r. Kanh'i
ttnnm lu unullv hrnlren Itv nlnritia nn.l i.
, ... j u ..j . uim uy m i
troubles that snriuir ud coutinuullv : I, -it th. I 1
peace is eternal not as the world giveib
dost thou give, and we long to stay our
weary hearts on thee. We lay at thy
feet the work of this day. Tcui'h u
the lesion thou wouldt nave in lenrn (rum
Its experiences. What is stained with tin
wilt thou graciously cleanse. Correct our
mistakes and let them not mar our work nor
hurt 6ther lives. We axk special ldiii
upon our Irlonds. Lena tnem in paths ul
thiue own choosing. Knnctifv our hom
life. Help us to Hnd the best iu each other,
and preserve us from criticism, inipntienv
and displeasure. May love so abound in oat
hearts tfiat nil our human relations shall lie-
come mure thoughtful and tender. Aivent
our gratitude for tho common mercies ul
every day. t old us all now in thine ever
lasting arms, and may the grace of our lord
jesus Christ be upon us. Amen.
When the Great Trannllion Comei,
Some day It may happen that, having mi'!'
his visit to our neighbors. Death will hate
a miud to call on us, and we sliull go softly
about our changed bouse in sad amaze
ment. 9r a fleecy cloud, which only lent
pleasing softness to the arch of blue will
suddenly gather into a thundercloud, inJ
lay desolate our golden coruilelds. Or t
flue passage from tho prophets, whos III
erarv cruce and felloitous ImacKry we
have often tasted, will fllug aside its em
broidered cloak and spring upon w. grlp-l
ping our conscience and heart with irenl
hand. We shall be taken fiom the miilstoll
the multitude, among which we were WJ-I
den. and the cross we had seen on other
shoulders shall rest on our own. Ilofor. w
had marchod along on the outskirts ol lllej
now, we are brought into its secret jilaeeJ
where Jesus traveletn Witn his compamraj
along the sorrowful way tl fulllU the will tfl
Uod. tan juaciuren.
Time Purge Away the Alloy,
T atiur In Itnmn." unvs n modern writer
"un old coin, a sllvor deunrius, nil coatel
and crusted with areon and Miriilo rust '
called it rust, but I was told that It wai
copper: tho alloy thrown out from tlwM j
until tnero wus none leit wiunu, m '
was all pure. It takes ages to du It, 11
does get done, souls are nto uim.
tliinf illnYPR ill them Blowlv. till the ilel'l"
munllu nil ihpnwn nut Home) dnV tierllfll1
lkat.AFwtm.niuh shli 1 1 hft ink ltl off. " l'1'
there la this nllov. this ttirnish, iu alio! k
nml llin mluentlon of life is to liUW It '
nway by sorrows, by disappointments, W
failures, bv judgments, J
"lly llres fiir tlurcor than are blown to wl
And purge the Bilvur ore auiiunu.
Canon Karrtr.
Oheilleinro thn Price of PrngreM
Tho Uiblo rings with one long demiml fo
Deuteronomy is, "Observe nod il''" 1
burden of our Lord s farewell diseour -j
"If ye love Mo, koep My oomniuntimeuiM
We must not inioetion or reply or
ourselves. We must not pick nui ni'"""":
wnv. Wn mint tint think tllttt ol'li',U' 11
one direction will compensate for oln"ti
iu somo other particular. Cod eiv'"
nnmtnini.l nt B tl.wi. It rthV M i. lie '1
Hood our soul with blessing, and l1"'"!
wnrd Into new paths and pastures. i
Ota rttfuan wa nlinll remniii s!Iinnlit '
wator-logged, muke no progress lu i'hrWl
experience, ana iuuk ooiu power nuu.
Itev. i V. Meyer.
Par Hom-la Mnlta rlanr Vi'lna.
Fverv norm It tori alii Incrnsts tho wiO'k!
of the soul and blinds our vision, and "1
victory over evil clears the vieion oi ij
soul so that we can see God a lif.m P','07J
The unholy man could not OoJ 1
wure set down iu the midst of hoaven:
men aud women whose hearts are pur H
Him in the very oommonoat walk of '6
J. Wilbur Chupman, D. D.
Blowlv, through all the unlversn, theW
pie of God Is being built. Wneo, in J1'
hnrd fight, In your tiresome drudirerv.
your terrible temptation, you cawu w r-
pose of your being, and give T0Urs"j
God, and so give Him the chance to n
Himself to you, your life, a living
taken up aud set Into that growing
l'hllllps Brooks.
Do not fancy yourself safo "nil fouTfn
because you foel no burden. There J
a thing as a laden slave gloepluir on h
den. Xhe rst stage of nsortliicatlos '
aro painful ; after that the benumb-
cease to warn. ,Tho frost-blttoa "J
warned by strangers. ' Bo is it In Pi
of oonselonoe. Frederick, W. BolwrU
' If we; look, down, then our 1,bM5
stoop. If . our tbougbte look dov
character benls. It Is only when
our heads np that the body become
It Is only when our thoughts go up "
life becomes erect Alexander 1U"
n. d.
Nil
Si
Htr
Hi
III
Ml