"DR TALMAGL’S SERMON.
RECRUITS TO THE GREAT ARMY.
#he Sunday Sermon as Delivered by the
: Brooklyn Divine.
{ Text: “Put on the waole armor of
{ God.”—Ephesians vi., 1L
i There is in this text a great rattle of
shields and helmets and swords. Soldiers
‘are getting ready for battle. We have had
weeently in this church new ehhistments, and
I shail address myself to those in this ani
other churches who are putting onthe armor
of God, and who may feel themselves to be
as yet only raw recruits, ‘'Masterly re-
itreal” is a term often usalin military cir-
+ cles, but in religion there is no such thinzr.
At is either glorious advance or disgraceful
and ignominious falling back. It would be
a stranze thing if all our anxiety about men
ceased the moment they wera converted.
You would almost doubt the sanity of that
farmer who, baving planted the corn and
seen it just sprout above ground, should say:
My work is all done, I hava no more
anxiety tor the field.” No. Thera is work
for the plow and the hoz anil thers must
+ bea careful kesping up of tha fences, and
- there must be a frightening away of the
birds that would pillage the field. And
say the entrance upon Christian life is only
the implantation of gracein the heart.
There is earnest, hard work yet to be done
and perhaps many years of anxiety before
there shall be heard the glorious shout of
“Harvest home.”
¥ The beginning to b> a Christian is only
putting down the foundation; but after that
there are years of hammering, polishing,
carving, litting, before the structure is com-
pleted. 1t takes five years to make a Chris-
tian character; it takes twenty years, it
takes forty years, it takes seventy years, if
a man shall live so long. In other words, a
man dying after half a century of Christian
experience feels that he has only learaed the
MA B Os” of the glorious alphabet. The
next year will decide a great deal in your
history, young Christian man. It will de
gide wuether you are to be a burning and
shining light of the church, or a spark of
race covered u in a barrel of
ashes. It will decide whether you are to be
a strong man in Christ Jesus, with gigantic
blows striking the iron mail of darkness, or
a bedwarfed, whinning, grumbling soldier,
that ought to Be drummed out of the Lord's
camp with the *‘Rogues’ March.” You have
only just been launched; the voyags is to be
made. Earth and heaven anil hell are
watching to sea how fast you will sail, how
well you will weather tne temptest, and
whether at last, amid the shoutinz of angels,
you shall come into the right harbor. May
God help me this morning to give you thres
or four words of Christian counsel, as I ad-
dress myself more espzcially to those who
have just now entered the Cnristian life.
¥ first word of counsel is, hold before
your soula very high model. Do not say,
“I wish I éould pray like that man, or speak
like this man, or have the consscration of
this one.” Say: ‘‘iere is the Lord Jesus
Christ, a perfect pattern. By that I mean,
with God's grace, to shape all my life.” In
other words, you will never be any more a
Christian than you strive to be. 1f you
build a foundation twenty by thirty feet you
will only have a small house. If you build
a foundation one hundred by one hundred
feet you will have a large house. If you re-
solve to be only a middling Christian you
will only be a middling Christian, If you
have no high aspiration ina worldly direc-
tion you will never succeed in business. If
you have no high aspiration in religious
things you will never succeed in religion.
- Xoun have a right to aspire te the very
highest style of Christian character.
From your feet there reaches out a path
of Christian attainment which you may
take: and I deliberately say that you may
be a better man than was Paul or David
or Summerfield or Doddridge—a better
{ woman-than Hannah More or Charlotte
Hlizabeth. Why not? Did théy have a
monopoly of Christian grace? Did they
have a private key to the storehouse of
yod’s mercy? Does God shut you out
from the gladness and goodness to which
they were introduced? Oh, no. You
have just the same promises, just the
same Christ, just the same Holy Ghost,
just ths same offers of present and ever-
lasting love, and if you fall short of what
they were—aye, if you do not come up to
the point which they reached and go beyond
it—it is not because Christ has shut you out
srom any point of moral and spirituai eleva-
tion, but because you deliberately refused to
take it. I admit that man cannot becoms
a Christian like that without a struggle; but
what do you get without fighting for it?
The fortresses of darkness areto be taken by
storm. You may by acute steatagy flank
the hosts of temptation, but tnere are temp-
tations, there are eviis in the way that you
will have to meet face to face, and it will be
shot for shot. gun for gun, grip for grip,
slauzhter for slaughter. The apostle
Paul over and over again represents the
Christian life as a combat,
+ When the war yessel of Christ's church
comes ino glory bringing its crew and its
passengers it will not come in like a North
iver yacht, beautifully painted and adorned,
swinging into the boathouse after a pleasure
excursion. Oh, no; it will be like a vessel
eoming with a heavy cargo from China or
‘India, the marks of the wave and the hurri-
eang upon it—sails rent, rigIng spliced,
pumps all working to keep her afloat, bul-
iwarks knocked away. 1 see such a vessel
‘coming and get out my small boat and push
toward her, and I shout: ‘‘Ahoy, captain!
[What are yon going to do with those shiv.
‘ered timbers? That was a beautiful ship
When you went out, but you hava ruined
dt.” *‘Oh.” says the captain, *‘[bhave a fine
eargo on board, and by this round trip [
0 have made ten fortunes.”
1 So I believe it will be waen th Christian
soul at last comes into the harbor o. heaven.
It will come bearinz upon it the marks of a
great stress of weather. You can see by the
very loos of that soul asit comes intoglorv
that it was driven by a storm and dashed
in the hurricane, but by so much as the voy-
age is rouzh, will the harbor be blessed, ‘It
tye sufferad with Him onearih, ye shall ba
@lorifiel with Him in hasaven.” Aim higa.
Do not be satisfie1 to be like the Christians
&ll around you. Be moro than tazy haveever
{been for Christ. :
» My s:cond word of cduansel to those who
Mave recently entered uoon Christian life is,
.Abstain from ail pernicious associations, and
~ gake only those toat "araus:ful ani benefi-
jeent. Stay out ot. all associations that
would damage your Christian character.
_- Take only those associations tnat will heip
you. A learned man said. *'I¢ L stay wita
that man Fenelon any longer I shall get t»
be a Christian in spite of myst.” In otaer
words therais a mighty power in Christian
associations. ow wnat kialof assoczia-
tions shall we, as youn; Christians, seex
after? Ithink wa ouxht to get into cown-
pany Better than ourselve: neve: going
ntc company worse than ourszlves.
If we get into company a little
1 than oursaives anl thero
are ten people in that company, te caances
{ Bo one we will be bettered. if wo getiont)
eompany a little worse thai onrsslves, anil
there be ten people in tnat co npauy, ten
ehancas to ons we will bs mada wors» than
we wera bafore, esd
§ do not preten1 to point 01s any evil in-
fluencss, but are thers nob s»na surronud-
-influencas that ar: peraicious to your
_ growthin grac>? Stand back from that fur-
pace in which so many younz Ubvistians
have been destroyed. In this caurca there
8 a large company of youig mien an l young
y ? I know of
women consecrated to Christ.
mo better than they are.
Young convert, I invita you into their
‘friendship. Contact with them will elevate
you. All hail, young followers of Jesus
Christ, my joy and my pride! My heart
) ghrills at very step of your advancement.
talked with you in taat hour wasn you
0 break fron sin, ani now Ire-
on putting on ths arn): of a
& il &ive you. present
and everlasting victory. Stand off from all
evil associations. A man is no better than
ths company ie keeps. Go among those
{ who are better than you are and you will -be
made better. Go among those who ars worse
than you are and you will bs made worse.
My next word of counsel is that you be
actively employed. I sce a great many
Christians with doubts and parplexities, and
they s2em to be proul of them. Their entire
| Christian life is made up of gloom, and thoy
| seem to cultivate that spiritual despondency,
whan I will uniertake to say that in nine
i casas out of ten spiritual despoadency is a
judgment of God upon idleness. ho are’
| the happy people in the church to-day? The
; busy people. 310w me the man who professes
the religion of Jesus Christ and is idle, and
i I will show you an unhappy man. The very
| first prescription that I give to a man when
i I find him full of doubts and fears abou} his
eternal interest is to go to work for God. °
Ten thousani voices are lifted up asking for
your help. Goand help. :
1 have another word of counsel to give
those who have just entered Christian life
and that is, be faithful in prayer. You
might as well, business men, start out in the
morning without food and exp2ct to bestrong
all that day—you might as well abstain
from food all the week afid expect to be
strong physically, as to be strong without
prayer. he only way to get any strength
into the soul is; by prayer, and : the only
difference between that Christian that is
worth anything and that who is worth
nothing is the fact thatthe last does no§
pray and the other does. :
And the only differenca between this
Christian, who is getting along very fast in
the holy life, and this, who is only getting
along tolerably, is that the first prays more
than the last. Yon can graduate a man’s
progress in relizion by the amount of
rayer; not by t.e number of hours, per-
aps, but by the earuest supplication that
he puts up to Go. There is no exception to
the rule. Show me a Christian man who
neglects this kind of duty, and I will show
you one who is inconsistent. Show me a
nan who prays, and his strength and his
power cannot be exaggerated. Why, just
give to a man this power of prayer and you
give him almost omnipotencs.’
This afternoon you will see two Sabbath
school teachers. That one does not gain the
attention of her class. This one does. What
is the difference between them, their intel
lects being about equal. The first thought
only of her own apparel. The other came
from great prostration before God in earnest
supplication. asking that God’s mercy might
come upon the school and that in the after.
noon she might gain the attention of those
five or six immortals that would be around
her. The one teacher has no control over
her class. The other sits as with the strength
of the Lord God Almighty.
Another word of counsel I' have to give
Be careful in Bibleresearch. A great many
good books are now coming out. We can.
not read hzalf of them, At every revolution
of the printing press they are coming. They
cover our parlor tables, and are in our sit-
ting rooms and libraries. Glorious books
they are. We thank God every day for vhe
work of the Christian printing press. But IL
have thouzht that perhaps the followers of
Christ sometimes allow this religious litera-
ture to take their attention from God's
Word, and that there may not be as much
Bible reading as there ought to be.
How is that with your own experience?
Just calculate in your minds how much re-
ligious literature you have read during the
year and then how large a portion of the
Word of God you have read, and then con-
trast the two and answer within your own
soul whether you are giving mors attention
to the books that were written by the hand
of man or that written by the hand of God.
Now, you go to the drug store and you get
the mineral waters, but you have noticed
that the waters ars not so fresh or spark-
ling or healthful as when you get thes> very
waters at Saratoza and Sharon—:retting
Shem right where they bubble from the
rock.
And I have noticed the sama thing in ra
gard to the truth of the Gospal; waile-thero
is a good deal of refreshment and health of
the Gospel of God as it comes through good
books, 1 find it is better when I come to the
eternal rock of God's Word ani drink forth
that fountain that bubbles up fresh and
pure to the lite and the refreshment ani tne
health of the soul.
Read the Bible and it brings you into ths
association of the best people that ever livel.
You stand beside Moses and learn his mack-
ness, beside Job and learn his patienc?, be-
side Paul and catch something of his enchus-
iasm, beside Christ and you real His loves.
Ani yet how stranze it is that a great many
men have given tineir whole lives to the as-
saulting of that bosk. I cannot understand
it. Tom Paine worked against that book as
thouzh he received large wages and was in-
| spired by the very power of darkness, con-
fessing that all the time he was writing he
did not have the Bible anywhere near him.
How many powerful intellects have endeav-
ored to destroy it. Hume, Bolingoroke,
Voltaire have been after it. Ten thousand
men now are warring against the truth of
God’s Word. What do you think of them?
I thiuk it is mean and will vrove-it. I will
prove it is the meanést thing that has ever
been done in all the centuries.
Thera is a ship at sea and in trouble. The
captain and the crew are at their wits' end.
You are on board. You are an old seaman.
You come up and give some good counsel,
which is kindly taken. That is all right.
But suppose, instead of doing that, in the
midst of all the trouble, you pick up the only
compass that is on board and pitch it over
the taffrail? Oh, you say, that is dastardly.
But is it as mean as this? Hero is the vessel
of the world going on with sixteen hundred
i millions of passengers, tossed and driven in
the tempest, and at the tims we want help
the infidel comes and he takes hold of the
only compassand he tries to pitch it over-
board. Iv is contemptible beyond everything
that is contemptible.’ Have you any better
light? Bring it on if you have. Have you
any better comfort to giveus? Bring it on
if you have. Have you any better hope?
Bring it on if youhave, and then you may
have this Bible and I shall never want it
again.
But I can thinkof a me2aner thing than
thar, and that is an old man going along on
the mountains with a staff in one hand and
a lantern in the other. Darkness has come
on suddenly, He is very old, just able to
pick his way out amid the rocss and preci-
pices, leaning on his staff with one hand and
guiding himself with the lizht in the other.
You come up and say: ‘‘Father, you seem to
be lost. You are a long way trom home.”
“Yes,” he replies. And then you take him
by the hand and lead him home. That is
very kind of you, But suppose instead of
that you should snatch the staff from hi»
hands and burl it over the rocks, and snatco
the lantern and blow it out? That would be
dastardly, contemptible until there is’ no
depth of contempt beneath it. It you have
a better staff, give it to him. If you have a
better light, give it to him.
When God has out the staff of the Gospel
in our hands and the lamp ot God’s Word to
light our feet, are you going to take from us
our only support and our only illumination?
1 love the sting of the wasp and the rattle
snake better than I do the man who wants
to clutch the Word of God from. my grasp.
Cling to your Bible! If this Bible should
be destroyed, it all the Bibles that have ever
been printed shotnid be destroyed, we could
make up a Bible right out of this audience.
From that Christian man’s experience I take
one cluster of promises, and from that old
Christian man’s experience another, I put
them all together, and I think I would have
a Bible. a
You see, my friencs.<I bave not tried
hida the fact that I have large expectation
of you who haveentered the Christian life.
Po not be discouraged. Press on toward
the priz>; God beside you and heaven beforo
ou. Keep your courage un. Look in thirty
years from now upon this church, Another
man in the pulpit. Other faces in ths pews.
Another man leading the sonz. Others
carrying around the alms boxes of the
church. All changed. Thirty years have
gone and I look into tha faces of the people,
ani I say: “Why, it seems to me I have
L seen these people somewhere, but I cannot
tly say where, Oa. ves. now I bezin to
they that put their trustin Him”
12). Inverses1 to 3 wesee a picture of all
‘think. : Thes3 were the converts in 1892 and
_1890. Why, how you hava changed. . .
“Oh, yes,” they say, “of course we have -
changed. Thirty years makes a great
change. I'say “How many wrinkles there
are in your faces!” ‘Oh, yes” they say.
“thirty years makea great many wrinkles.”
**Have you kept the faith?’ ‘Yes, we have
kept thé faith.” ‘'Where are thosa people
who used to sit in the pew with you?’ *'All
gons!" “Then I say, “Well, I feel lonely;
come, let us sing one of the old hymns we
used to sing thirty years ago, in 1892 on
communion day.
tune? Som> one hum it. Yes, that's it,
that'sit. Now, altogather, let us sing, just
as we did in 1892:
_%:Thera is a fountain filled with blagd,
* Drawn from Immanuel’s veins:
And sinners rage! beneath thas flood
Loaze ali their guilty stains.
¥
% Tne dying thie! rejoiced to see
Tha! fountain in his 3
And taere may f, though vil2 as he,
Wash all my sins away.”
~~ SUNDAY SCHOOL
LESSON FOR SUNDAY JUNE 19.
Review. Golden Tex: Psalm xxv, 14,
Commentary.
Lesson I.—Topic, “The Way of the
Righteous” (Ps. i., 1-6). Golden Text,
* ‘Blessed is the man that walketh not in the
counsels of the ungodly, nor standeth in the
way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the
scornful” (Ps, 1, 1). :
his peaiigpna the next give a summary
of all the psalms; they describe the course
of the godly and the ungodly until the
judgment, when theungodly shall all perish,
and the kingdoms ot this world shall have
become the kingdom of our Lord and of His
Christ (Rev. xi., 15). s. ii., 12, is sugges-
tive of the story of the prodigal son in Luke
xv., and shows the way of reconciliation,
Ps. i., 2, 3 shows the way of constant fruit-
1ulness and true prosperity, while Ps. 1, 35,
points to the separate resurrections and
Judgments of righteous and ungodly.
Lesson 1l.—Topic, “The king in Zion”
(Ps. ii., 1-12). Golden Text, *‘Blessedare all
(Ps. ii,
the rage of all nations and individuals
against God and His Son. Consider the:
Babel builders, Pharaoh, Sennacherib, the
Jews and Pilate, and the coming Anti
Christ. In verses 4 to 6 we see Gods de-
rison of man’s folly and vain purposes
end the consummation of God’s purpose to
set His king upon His holy hill of Zion.
Zion means the city of Jerusalem and the
throneof David. Verses 7 to 9 point to the
resurrection of Christ from the dead (see
Acts xiii., 33), which incindes in due time the
resurrection of the members of His body—
the church—and His return with them when
He shall come in His glory to judge the na-
tions and to reign over the whole earth
(Zech xiv., 5, 9; Rev. ii., 27; iii,, 21; I Thess,
iii,, 13). Verses 10 to 12 are an exhortation
to repentance while mercy may be found,
Lesson 1I I—Topla, “God’s works and
word” (Ps. xix., 1, 14). Golden Text. ‘The
law of the Lord is fortes converting the
soul” (Ps. xix., 7). ln verses 1to 6 we have
God glorified in création and in all His
works. In verses 7 to 11'God is glorified in
His word. Verses 12 to 14 give David's
prayer to be kept from sin and to please
God in word and in thought. The three
booksof this psalm are Creation, Scripture
and Conscience, which, as some one has said,
probably constituted David’s whole library.
Although Creation gives but a silent testi-
mony it is a njost powerful one; so also is
that of a quiet but holy life. The Book of
Scripture gives conversion, wisdom, joy,
light and everlasting righteousness.
Lesson IV.—Topic, “The Lord my shep-
herd” (Ps. xxiii, 1-6). Golden Text, ‘The
lord is my shepherd; I shall not want”
(Ps. xxiii., 1). In Ps. xx1i. we have the suf-
ferings of Christ and the glory that shall
follow, and in Ps. xxiv. the fullness of the
whole earth is His. May not this shepherd
psalm be suggestive of . Israel’s restoration
and blessedness as foretold in Isa. xI., 10, 11;
Ezek. xxxiv., 22-26? Every true believer
may even now, however, anticipate the
blessednessof the coming kingdom, and by
appropriating every I, me and my of this
psalm to his or her own heart enjoy day by
day the comfor:c of the Good Shepherd’s
presence.
Lesson V.—Topic, “The, Prayer of the
Penitent” (Ps. li., 1-13). Golden text, ‘‘Cre-
ate in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a
right spirit within me” (Ps. li., 10). Some
ol the prominent thoughts of this lesson are
that all sin is against God, that sin is in our
nature by birth, that we must have a clean
heart given to us, that it can only come by
virtue of the blood shed for us, and by the
benefits of that blood applied to us. We
may lose the joy of salvation, but not
salvation if once it isours, When converted
or restored we are to tell others of the glory
of God.
Lesson VI.—Topic, “Delight in God's
House” (Ps. Ixxxiv., 1-12). olden Text,
“‘Plessed are they that dwell in Thy house”
(Ps. Ixxxiv, 4). This psalm is divided into
three sections of four verses each. The first
speaks of the tabernacle as God’s dwelling
place in the midst of Israel, but it was
precious to the writer only because of the
presence of the living God. The second
speaks of the people journeying to Jerusa-
lem from all parts of the land, and. making
the desert places glad with their songs as
they journeyed Zionward. The third refers
to the fullness of blessing found in God and’
in His service because of the grace of His
anointed,
Lesson VII.—Topie, “A Song of Praise”
(Ps. ciii,, 1-22. Goiden Text, ‘Bless the
Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His ben-
efits” (Ps. ciil,, 2). This psalm has been
called a Bible in itself, also a complete
hymn book containing all thesmelodies of
heaven and earth, awakened in honor of the
only living and true God. Notice in the first
tive verses the sevenfold cause of praises to
oc.
Lesson VIII.—Topic, ‘‘Daniel and His
Companions” (Dan. i., 8-21). Golden Text,
‘‘Daniel proposed in his heart that he would
not defile himself with the portion ot the
King’s meat, nor with the wine which he
drank” (Dan. i., 8). This text gives the key
to Daniel's prosperity. Wita purpose of
heart (Acts xi., 23) he and his companions
stood Tor God against every appearance of
evil. Believing fully the holiness of their
. God, they would be holy too (Lav. xi., 44-15),
Observe in verses 9 and 17 how the hana of
their God was upon them for good, and He
gave them the favor of man and wisdom
from heaven.
Lesson IX. —Topie, *‘Nebuchadnezzar’s
Dream” (Dan. ii., 36-49). Golden Tex, “All
things are naked and opened uato the eyes
of Him with whom we have to do” (Heb,
iv,, 13). In thislesson we have an outline
of the history of the world from the days of
Daniel until the establishinz of the kingdom
of God on earth. e see in the confession
of the wise men (verses 10, 11) tha utter in--
ability of the natural man to see or under-
stand the things of God; but in the case of
the Hebrews who knew God we see how man
can take hold of God, and how God is pleased
to tell us His secrets (verses 17-23; Ps, xxv.,
14; Amos iii. 7).
Lesson X.—Topie, “The Fiery Furnaca”
(Dan, iii, 13-25). Golden Text, ‘‘When thou
walkest througn the fire thou shalt not be
burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon
thee” (sa. xliii., 2). Three apparently hélp-
less young men stand betore the ruler of the
whole earth with all human power at his
command, and because they know the King
of kings and Lord of lords and Ruler of all
rulers, they fear not to defy the earthly
ruler even though the furnace awaits them.
Lesson XI.—Topic, “The Den of Lions”
(Dan. vi., 16-28). olden Text, ‘‘No manner
of hurt was found upon him, because he be-
lieved in his God” (Dan. vi.,, 23). This man
has the same spirit as ths other three, and
be prefers to go to the den of lions rather
than to seem in the least to turn away from
his tGrod.—Lizsson Helper. ! .
Any of you know the old
‘ many bodies are supposed to be
ORIGIN OF PENNSYLVANIA'S
FLOOD AND HOLOCAUST:
Another Fish Dam Held to b> Reaponsi~
ble for the Awful Calamity:
TrrusviLLe, June 8—As in the case of
Johnstown, it was another fish dam that
caused the awful calamity at Titusville, Oil
City and the entire valley of Oil Creek.
Over the divide, other dams have spread
devastation even worse, but with no loss of
life. To-day I visited Spartansburg dam,
the primary cause of this tremendous loss
of life. Like the South Fork body of water,
which scattered death in Johnstown, the
Spartansburg dam was a famous fishing
ground. It was well stocked with bass and
was a resort for sportsmen from Corry, Erie,
Titusville and Westetn New: York. eavy
wire netting with small meshes had been
pu up over the water weirs to prevent the
ass from escaping, and this, more than
anything else, caused the increased bodv of
water to give way. With the rising flood
the drift caught on the wire, clogging it so
thatthe water was backed up sufficient to
tear away a new course at the side of the
real dam which still stands. Thus, it is the
second great calamity inside of three years
that has been caused simply because a few
people wanted a place to idle away their
summer hours.
furnish power for their grist mill. t is
greater in extent than the South Fork dam.
t is shaped like the bottom of a flatiron. At
the breast the real dam is scarcely over 100
feet wide and is still standing. This part
was built on a wet dam, but at the sides it
was after the style of the South Fork pond.
It was not intended to overflow. It was
above the wet dam and over the water weirs
that the neiting was stretched. This caught
the drift and forced the water back until” it
overflowed the dry ends aud they melted
like so much snow. The residents there de-
clare that when it broke the water was six
feet above the real dam. = Si
There was no cloudburst there. D.N.Cole-
grove, editor of the Spartansburg paper,thus
describes the growth of the flood.
“It had been raining heavily for several
days. At 2:30 Saturday the heaviest rain
storm ever known here visited us. It almosf
fell in sheets. The dam was already swollen.
From then until 10 o’clock.it rained steadily.
At 11 o'clock we could see it was eating away
the walls at the side of the flume. The water
was then over 20 feet deep all over the area
while below the creek was full to the banks.
Then the crash came. The booms let go
and the hundreds of thousands of logs
Yashed down against the trestle of the
dV estern New York and Pennsylvania road.
By 11:30 all the water had gone and below
we could hear it tearing away the bounds in
its course to Titusville.”
The flood swept everything below. The
dams on the west branch of Oil Creek, as
well as on Shirley creek, gave way, and the
united forces of all these streams poured
down on Titusville. On the way it carried
off eight bridges in Oil creek valued at over
$20.000, while on the smaller creeks dozens
of small wooden bridges were caught up and
simply torn to pieces. When the flood left
Spartansburg dam it tore away the main
street of the town, and a pile of boards
crashed through M. Beilmer’s tannery. The
hide house was swept away and 4,000 skins
were trken clear from there to Titusville.
The ground was literally eaten away from
under the W., N. Y. & P. tracks and the ties
apd rails were left hanging high in the air.
Mid rocks were torn from the hillside and
carried down the stream. Every vestige
growth was cut off. Below was a beautiful
meadow but from it everything had disap-
peared and now it is but a honeycombed
waste. The damage at Spartansburg will
possibly reach $10,000. The flood next
caught Lamb's dam and woolen mill about
a milebelow. It is gone. Added to this
flood, was that from Shirley creek and Five
Mile Run, where a dozen dams were washed
away. J. M. Kerns’ mill is damaged and
the bridge wrecked. Bridges and dams were
also swept away at Hydetown. At Patch’s
Hollow, where Shirley creek and Five Mile
run and the Triplet, as the third stream 1s
known, all join, the water was spread out
over a path 500 feet wide. To-day it wasa
stream that scarcely measured 10 feet. Here
Goodrich’s dam broke and 200,000 feet of
timber broke loose: D. L. Thomas, who
has charge of Shelmadine Mineral Spring
there, had his house and barn floated off, but
escaped with his life. .
The loss in Oil Creek valley can hardly be
estimated. At least ¥40,000 worth of
bridges have been swept away, some, 1n
many instances, being completely ruined by
the flood. In Spartansburg it was reported
that at Riceville, on the west branch of Oil
creek, a dam had burst and that two men
had been drowned while trying to save logs.
They were Canadians and’ brothers. Their
names are given as John C. and Frank
Faquar. This is the first loss of life reported
above Titusville.
THE LAST SAD RITES.
Pathetic Scenes at the Cemeteries,
Many Occhipy Places in a
Common Tomb.
On Wednesday rain extinguished the fires
at Oil City. They had burned for 72 hours,
Business houses resumed operations. Mer-
chants contributed liberally to the relief of
the destitute. Two hundred men started to
clear away the debris. Tramps arrived in
large numbers and terrorized the citizens.
The total relief fund amounts so far to $47,-
000. At Titusville 29 victims were buried.
Eight hundred destitute are being cared for
by the Relief Committee. Three more
bodies were recovered. The total list of
missing to date is 61. Sixty-five per ceut. of
the relief fund is to be spent here and the
balance at Oil City. Labor is scarce and
in the
debris. »
President Harrison has telegraphed to
Gov. Pattison expressing his sympathy with
the flood sufferers and transmitting the sum
of $200 as his personal contribution to the
relief committee.
O1L City, June 8, 1892.—There were three
varying episodes connected with the horri-
ble calamity which has befallen this unior-
tunate city. The first of these episodes was
the frightful death, the second was the
heartrending identification, and the third
was the intensely solemn interments. The
last awful act of this terribly realistic trag-
edy was enacted at the graves to-day, with a
pathos that seared the mind of man at the
recital.
The people of the city are bowed down
with the terrible grief, to the lowliest posi-
tion of humble contrition. = There isan ex-
pression of the greatest grief upon the face
of every passerhy. Everyone exhibits the
same emotions. The faces of the very
school children, as well as those of their
elders, bear the same unmistakable imprint
of sorrow.
The buildings are draped in the heavy
black fo'ds of mourning. The houses bear
the same pitiful aspect and the movin
breezes from the valley set the gracefu!
draperies in a rythmic motion that is con-
‘ducive to tears in its very self. Oil City is
as a city of the dead. The calamity and its
dread results are upon everybody's tongue.
Naught else is thought or spoken'of. Poli-
tics, business and serial matters are relegat-
ed to other times and the only words heard
are those of sympathy with the dead. The
two cemeteries lay picturesquely upon the
side of a lowering hill and separated by a
rude wood fence. Thirty interments took
rlace to-day between the hours of 9 and 6
o'clock. Every hour and half hour marked
the approach of some weeping funeral pro-
cession. Some walked over the rough, stony
ground and others rode in carriages. Some
camein with their faces drenched with
tears, and their hands spamodically clasped.
Others came in with their eyes bent stoical-
ly before them and their dry, parched lips
motionless. The scene was indescribably
pathetic. Words will never tell the tale.
The grave diggers looked worn and weak.
A special staff of 15 men were started to
work Monday morning in the Grove Hill
Cemetery and a special staff of eight work
ed in the Catholic burial grounds. The men
worked steadily from Monday morning at 8
o'clock until to-day at noon, when the last
Spartansburg dam was built originally to
tained neither rest or repose and their
“condition was ‘most sorry to say ‘the least:
The entire Mills family, including the
father, mother and five daughters were in-
terred with’ the corpses “of little: Johnnie
Brunsell and Simon McPherson. = Tyere
was but one earthly garb for the entire num-
ber. The grave was dug into the'side of the
hill, and at the upper end was six feet in
three. Space was left for other members of
the Mills family who are expected to be
found. and the immense tomb was filled.
Individual scenes at the twin cemeteries
were. of such numerous occurrence that it
would require volumes to tell of them. A
number of ladies and young girls fainted,
and one poor woman with the terrible im-
print of woe almost indellibly = impressed
upon her drawn features, threw herself
upon the coffin wherein some loved one re-
Dred, ‘and was only taken away with diffi-
culty. -
TiTusvILLE, June 9.—Bingenheimer, whose
wife and eight children were-laid away in
Calvary Cemetery where eight other mem-
bers of the Catholic Church were also inter-
red, is now alone in the world. Never was
a more impressive sight witnessed, and the
memory of this singular cortege will never
be effaced from the memory of those who
witnessed it. The Catholic Cemetery is
situated on the south side of the creek and
the only means of crossing the stream was
by the railroad bridge. :
The hearses conveyed the caskets from
the church to the north end of the bridge,
where they were placed on a rude handcar
and, followed byfithe mourners, were push-
ed across the bridge. ' The first four caskets
that made this strange journey contained
the remains of the nine, members of the
Bingenheimer family, followed in turn by
the remains of Mamie Quinn, the girl found
yesterday; Mrs. Canty,the last body recoyer-
ed: Mary Hoehn and her four children, and
lastly John and Mary McFadden.
On the south side of the bridge the bank
| is precipitous, and much difficulty was ex-
perienced in getting the caskets placed in
rude farm wagons awaiting the entire num-
ber. Then, through the heat of the sun, the
procession followed the rough road to the
cemetery, three miles away, where, amid
screams of agonized anguish, the remains
were consigned to mother earth in a beauti-
ful spot overlooking from a great height the
scene, where, but a few “hours before, the
victims were living, entirely unconscious of .
the awful fate awaiting them.
In all 29 funerals were held to-day. Money
has poured in rapidly to-day, the treasurer
having received $7,500, making a grand total
of about $40,000 thus far contributed.
As the wagons moved up the hillside,
followed by the hundreds of mourning
friends, the awfulness of the calamity that
had fallen upon the community sank deep
in the hearts of the people.
PATTISON’S CALL FOR HELP.
A Proclamation From the Governor
Asking Aid For ths Srticken Cities.
HARRISRURG, Pa., June 7—The following
proclamation was issued by Govenor Patti-
son. i a Z
Warreas, The people of Titusville and
Oil City and adjacent portions of the oil
region have been visited by , a terrible
calamity from water and fire, carrying des-
truction to life and property and leaving
homeless and destitute hundreds of our
fellow citizens:
Now, therefore, I, Robert E. Pattison,
Governor of the said Commonwealth, do
hereby issue this my proclamation, reco-:
mending to the citizens of Pennsylvania.
prompt action for the relief of their feliow
citizens, and [ do hereby request and direct
all citizens, societies, committees and
agencies desiring to aid in this work to put
themselves in communication with the
authorities of Titusville and Oil City.
“Given under my hand and the great seal
of the State this 6th day or June, in the year
ot our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
ninety-two and of the Commonwealth the
one hundred and sixteenth.
SIX HUNDRED HOMELESS.
Ninety:One Buildings Destroyed and 564
People Driven Out,
Orn City, Pa. Junell—A careful can-
vass by the Relief committee showed that
91 buildings were destroyed ‘in ‘the recent
calamity and that 564 persons were rendered
homeless. The committee having the finan-
cial part of the relief business on its hands
is also doing a large amount of detail work.
The moneys received have to be carefully
accounted for and the different subscription
lists gone over and properly tabulated. The-
total subscrpition received is $46,900 16. ;
The death list at Oil City is now 49 The
missing are Samuel Richardson, W. D. R
Terwilliger, William Hassenfritz. Samuel
Richardson, Ambrose F. Moran, Frank
Goodrich, George Christy and David Cop-
and. :
The total loss of property in this vicinity’
is estimated at $1,500,000.
O1L City, Pa., June 11.—Six more bodies.
were recovered yesterday, one at Titusville
and five 20 miles below. They were all in
an advanced stage of decomposition. The
fact that so many dead have been found at
a distance of 20 miles from the scene of the
disaster shows the sweeping force of the
flood as an indication of the loss oflifeis a
1act of startling significance, and one cannot
help but form the opinion that many more
are still in the Allegheny river and Oil
Creek. Searchers are still actively at work.
Losses at Centerville and Riceville aggregate
$10,000 in each place. None of the dams that.
burst were rip-rapped. The Coroner's in-
quest has been postponed. nly one ver-
dict on all the victims will be made. Twen-
ty-tive wagon bridges were washed away.
ontributions still come forward in good-
sized sums. Business has been resumed
and the excitement has died down.
THE TITUSVILLE DEAD.
Authentic List of the Unfortunates Who
Lost Their Lives. Names of Thoss
‘Who Are Missing and Un-
accounted For.
TrrusviLLe, Pa., June 11.—This is the
only authentic, official and perfect list of the
dead and missing #s furnished by C. a
Payne, who had personal supervisicn of
the work. Itis as follows:
Mrs. Mary Haehn. |F. Reide.
Miss Clara Haehn. (Mrs. F. Reide and
Gertie Haehn. two children.
Mamie Haehn. George Pease,
Peter Haehn. Mrs. C. P. Casperson.
John McFadden. Mrs: Jacob Bingen-
Mary McFadden. heimer and infant
‘William Koppy. 3 days old and
Mrs Furman (colored), Johnnie, Willie,
Miss Amelia Furman| Henry, Gertie, Kat-
(colored). ie and one other,
Miss Lillie Foster. name not known,
Frank Foster. eight in all.
Mrs. Margaret Quinn. [Joseph Speigel, Frank
Miss Mamie Quinn. Speigel,” both of
Fred Luers. Warren, Pa.
Miss Della Rice. Mrs. Lena Osmar and
Mrs. Neill McKinzie.| two children.
Oliver Egwart. Engelesky and
James Jameson. child.
Frank Whalen. Goldie Cohen. :
Harry Butler. Mrs.Jacobs and child.
Mrs. F. Campbell and Henry Reihl, of Buf-
baby. | falo.
Frank C. Campbell. Mrs. Johanna Canty.
In the above list is included the Englesky
child found Thursday afternoon, making
54 in all. =
Nellie Quinn.
James Whalen,
Mrs. Engelsky.
MISSING.
Mr. and Mrs. Whalen
and child.
One Ozmer boy.
Ceded to Uncle Sam.
K1vasToN, JaMaIcA, June 9.—Great excites
ment has been caused in San Domingo by
the announcement that the report has been
confirmed that Samana bay has been ceded
to the United States.
Tau sheriff would hate to be known
ominous receptable was finished, They ob- |
by the company he keeps.
ais ; {
depth, while at the other scarcely more than
‘sinner.
Sisk pln RR
a? THE WAITING ONES. SH
There are some among the blessed .
Waiting, watching every day,
Teering through the misty shadows
To the elear and lighted way:
Listening in the dusky twilight,
Waiting even in the night, i
Mid tlfe toil and heat of noondsy
Bending forward to the light. = =
And they speak in eager whispers— =
“Uan we see His chariot yet?”
$Will the Master come this evening?”
“Will the heavenly Friend forget?”
s So they stand, these earnest servants,
Waiting, watching evermore
For the clouds to part asunder;
And reveal the open door.
There are dark-browed ones among thems
Looking through their eyes of night;
There are fair-haired little children
Peering up with faces bright;
There are aged pilgrims, longing
For the Master’s spoken word;
There are some in every country
Waiting, watching for the Lord
But they take their daily duties,
And perform them as for Him;
And they read His loving message ~~
When their eyes are tired and dim =
They are living lives of blessing—
Lives of love for His dear sake,
‘While they wait with eager longing.
For the morn of joy to break. :
Xe will come, and will not tarry;
He will fold them to His breast;
He will make His watchers happv-
In a calm and holy rest.
He will give them satisfaction
© For their days of waiting here;
He will fill them with jo unceasing
‘When the Master shall appear.
LIKE A BENEDICTION,
lady from . . . ‘which was like a benes
‘dictions there are, flying through the mai
from one end of the earth to the other! Ho
many hearts there are, longing for the good
news from a far country, which comes on
the arrival of the mail. For while there are
letters which taunt and sting and pierce and
trouble the hearts of others, a great major:
ity of the letters written breathe love and.
kindness and good cheer to those who read
them. a
And how many such benedictions
might send if we were only wise to use our
opportunities! It%is not a hard task to write
a letter, and the more we write the easier it:
is. Itis only when people get out of ti
babit of writing, that it becomes a task to
write to friends. And yet there are people
who neglect their friends, who do not write
to them for months and years. There are
persons wandering over the worli today
who are not -heard from, ‘who rarely if eve
write home, and yet there.are hearts yearn
ing and almost breaking to hear from them.
It takes but a little while to write a letter,
but how many hearts would glow with s
thoughts which are rising toward them in
the minds of dear ones far away. We ma:
not be able to meet. Some of us have looked
upon the faces of dear friends for the lasg
time in this earthly pilgrimage, and yet we
recall them with tenderness and affecti
and a few written words expressive of
love and sympathy and {riendship might
brighten a whole day, and cheer the Lieart of
some discouraged one. i ; i
Do not write disagreeable things, bury the
kind thoughts and kind words and hallow:
memories and glad hopes flow out. Leg
some of the Lord’s words mingle with yo
words; let your letter contain somethi
and such letters sent forth will bring baek
others which will echo their sweet wor
and holy thoughts. =
ow. before vou forget it, zo and write &
pencil, ink and paper convenient, so that
thoughts come to you. Jot down upon
write about and the persons you wish to
afforded you will be able to use it. Ani do
get an answer, write again and you will be
ikely to get it. \
or are lost, and a correspondence has often
been broken up simply because some letter
was miscarried and failed to reach the per
son who should have had it. ;
THINGS.
It has been a mighty mischief,that religion
has so often been divorced from the other
ways and modes of men. ' Men have looked
ing its own sphere and its own powers, and
not -as the fountain and father of all
ness and truth. The man of God has been
separated from the man of science, the man
of literature, the man of politics, the man of
business. The world has helped the separa~
tign, and so has the church. An ignorant.
pitty, a strong and shrewd impiety, have
done the same work. The general exercises
of the intellect, the common charities
of the heart, the familiar proceedings of the
life, have been to frequently regarded as
provinces into which religion has no right to
penetrate, or should only come when invited,
and be thankful to be treated as a guest, an
not expect to
Hence literature, art, roc
gagements, have been treated.
from godliness, and not as things
linesgis . to possess. and threugh whichitis
not to act and be seen. TaBprrow an express-
ive illustration, the pari dgghip has been dis-
solved between T n and other
business, and thus it has come
to a disastrous bankruptcy. That it is so, is
apparent from the fact that there is a gea-.
eral disposition to regard immoralities con-
light from other immoralities. The same
standard is not applied, the same measure is
not meted out. Thereis more gentle treat~
ment of the pecuniary sinner than any other
“Jt is only the way of business,”
covers a multitude of sins. A man, in man
circles, had better defraud his creditors than
deny a single article of the popular creed, or
violate a single conventionalism of respect-
able society.—[A. J. Morris’ Religion and
Rusiness.
§ LABOR AND TRUST. “= ’
Men and movements that have no Christ
pn board go to the pottom. The rocks are
strewed with the wrecks of human schemes
and ambitious enterbrises; pulpit genius has
often ended in splendid failure. Every
man, every enteiprise, every effort that
Jesus takes into his own hands is insured.
Do your best, brother, and trust! We min-
isters and you Suaday-school teachers, and
sther servants of Christ. worry too much
sver the coming or the withholding of re-
vival seasons. We can plow, and we can
ow, but we cannot force a single kernel of
gospel seed to come up. Our only duty is
0 live right on, and toil right
on, and pray right on, ' and
eave the early and later rains to come when
Sod chooses to send them. I never worried
1bout a “‘revival’ yet, and thus hastened its
*oming by an hour. But, often, when I was
aot even expecting it, the gracious shower
»ame. A true, earnest Christian life has its
lisappointments and chastisments; but it
pas its blessed surprises also, Heaven will
have some glorious surprises for thousands
of hard-working, ill-paid Christians who
gever made anv prominent figure in the
world. Some of them may sit up along of
iba Weslevs, the Spurgeons and the Moodys.
—fDr. T. C. Cuvier.
I
TH=2 point of honor seems to be rath.
point nowadays.—Puck.
Sere
“I received a letter last winter,” writes s
diction—so good.” How many such bepe.
new warmth if they could know the loving
sorrows, and forget the troubles; but let the
from the letters which the apostles wrote;
good letter to some lonely one, and keep pen,
you can write a few words whenever the
little memorandum the things you wish to
write to, and then when the opportunity is :
not suffer vour correspondence to. be inter- = 2
rupted. When vou think it is about timeteo
Sometimes letters miscarry,
RELIGION AND BUSINESS ARE NOT DISTINCT
at it as something distinct and peculiar, hav-
nected with money matters in a differenti
er the pen’s point than the sword’s
fatallyir
injured.
damaged
A fath
ed Shale
in a pon
bridge in
bers of tt
Aninay
George
strittk a
train
a gravel
Florence
‘Three
killed bj
fully in:
Loss, $7
‘At De
owned |
insuran
At Bi;
ness ho
sare fac
Alabam
partly I
Thee
mills, E
tn_Ind
£88,000;
The )
nomina
oor, an
Chics
tions re
Dlevela
The |
vention
that the
Conven
was cles
dorses (
The )
tion me
io the 1
Chicag
C
Joser
makers
sentent
tion of
yesterd
from $
Fast
closing
trade.
+ throwr
Five
Tonan
union
and ba