OR. TALMAGE'S [SUNDAY SERMON
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE.
nie is
1 of
aht-
L. ject: “The Wrestlers” —The '
Coming When the Last Might»
ithe World Will Be Granpled by ©
eousness and Thrown.
Text: “We wrestle notagainst flesh ana
blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness
of t is world, against spiritual wickedness
in high places.”’—Ephesians vi., 12.
Squeamishpess and fastidiousness were
never charged against Paul's rhetorle. In
the war against evil he took the first
weapon he could lay his band on. For il-
lustration, he employed the theatre, the
arena, the foot-race, and there was noth-
ing in the Isthmian game, witht its wreath
of pine Jeaves; or Pythian game, with its
wreath of laurel and palm; or Nemean
game, with its wreath of parsley; or any
Romap circus, but he felt he had a right to
put it in sermon or epistle, and are you not
surprised that in my text he calls upon a
wrestling bout for suggestiveness? Plu-
{ech says that wrestling is the most artis-
tic and cunning of athletic games. We
must mako a wide difference between
pugilism, the lowest of spectacles, and
wrestling, which is an effort in sport to put
down another on floor or ground, and we.
all of us, indulged in it in our boyhood
days, if we were healthful and plucky. The
ancient wrestlers were first bathed in oil,
and then sprinkled with sand. The third
throw decided’the victory, and many a man
svho went down in the first throw or seec-
ond throw, in the third throw was on top,
and his opponent under, The Romans did
not like this game very much, for it was
not savage enough, no blows or kicks be-
ing allowed in the game. They preferred
the foot of hungry panther onthe breast of
Callen martvr.
In wrestling, the opponents would bow
in apparent suavity, advance face to face,
put down both feet solidly, take each other
by the arms, and push each other backward
and forward until the work began in real
earnest, and there were contortions and
strangulations and violent strokes of. the
foot of one contestant against the foot of
the other, tripping him up, or with strug-
gle that threatened apoplexy or death, the
defeated fell, and the shouts of the specta-
tors greeted the victer. I guess Paul had
ceen scme such contest, and it reminded
him of the struggle of the soul with temp-
tation.and the struggle of truth with error,
and the struggle of heavenly forces against
apollyonic powers, and he dictates my-text
to an amanuensis, for all his letters, save
the one to Philemon, seem to haye been
dictated, and as the amanuensis goes on
with bis work I hear the groan and laugh
und shout of earthly and celestial belliger-
ents: ‘We wrestle not against flbsh and
bloed. but against principalities. against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness
of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high places.”
I notice that as these wrestlers advanced
to throw each other they bowed one to the
other. It was a civility, not only in Gre-
cian and Roman games, but in later days,
in alithe wrestling bouts at Clerkenwell,
England,and in the famous wrestiing match
during the reign of Henry IIIL., in St. Giles’
Field. between men of Westminister and
people of London. Howeverrough a twist
and hard a pull each wrestler contemplated
giving his opponent, they approached each
other with politeness and suavity. The
genuflexions, the nffability, the courtesy in
no wise hindered the decisiveness of the
contest, Well, Paul, I see what you mean.
In this awful struggle between right and
wrong, we must not forget tobe gentlemen
and ladies. Affability never hinders, but
alwavs helps. You are powerless as soon
as you get mad. Do not call rum-sellers
murderers. Do not callinfidels fools, Do
not call higher cerities reprobates. Do not
call all card-playersand theatre-goers chil-
dren of thedevil. Donoteay that the dance
breaks through into hell. Do not deal in
vituperation and billingsgates and con-
tempt and adjectives dynamitic. The other
gide can beat us at that, Their dictionaries
have more objurgation and brimstone.
We are in the strength of God to throw
flat on its back every abomination that
curses the earth, but let us approach our
mighty antagonist with suavity. Her-
cules, a son-of Jupiter and Alecmene; will
by a precursor of smiles be helped rather
than damaged for the performance of his
“twelve labors.” Let us be as wisely
strategic in religious circles as attorneys
in court-rooms, who are complimentary
to each other in the opening remarks, be-
fore they come into legal struggle such as
that which left Rufus Choate or David
’aul Brown triumphant or defeated.
People who get into a rage in reformatory
work accomplish nothing but the deple-
tion of their own nerveus system. There
is such a thing as having a gun so hot at
the touch-nole that it explodes, killing
the one. that sets it off. There are
some reformatory meetings to which I
always decline to go and take part, be-
cause they are apt to become demonstra-
tions of bad temper. I never like to hear
a man swear, even though he swear on
the right side. The very Paul who in my
text employed in illustration the wrestling
match, behaved on a memorable oceasion
as we ought to behave, The translators
of the Bible made an unitentional mis-
take when they represented Paul as in-
sulting the people of Athens by speaking
of ‘‘the unknown god whom ye ignorantly
worship.” Instead of charging them with
ignorance, the original indicates he com-
plimented tem by suggesting that they
were very religious; but as they confessed
that there were some things they did not
understand about God, he proposed to say
some things concerning Him, beginning
where they had left off. The same Paul
who «aid in one plage, “Be courteous,” and
who had noticed the bow preceding the
wrestling match, here exercises suavities
before he proceeds practically to throw
down ths rocky side of the Acropolis the
whole Parthenon of idolatries, Minerva and
Jupiter smashed up with the rest of them.
In this holy war polished rifles will do
more execution than blunderbusses. Let
our wrestlers bow as they go into the
struggle which will leave all perdition un-
der and all heaven on top.
Remember also that these wrestlers went
through severe and continuous course of
preparation for their work. They were
put upon such diet as would best develop
their muscle. As Paul says, “Every man
that striveth for the mastery is temperate
in all things.” The wrestlers were put
under complete discipline—bathing, gym-
nastics, struggle insport with each other
to develop strength and give quickness to
dodge of head and trip of foot; stooping
to lift each other off the ground; suddenly
rushing forward; suddenly pulling buck-
ward; putting the left foot behind the
-other’s right foot, and getting his oppo-
nent off his balance; hard training fordays
and weeks and months, so that when they
met it was giant clutching giant. And,
my friends, if we do not want ourselves to
betbrown in this wrestle with the sin and
error of the world, we had better get ready
by Christian discipline, by holy self-de-
nial, by constant practice, by submitting
to divine supervisal and direction. Do not
begrudge the time and the money for that
young man who is in preparation for the
ministry, spending two years in grammar
school, and four years in college, and
three years in theological seminary. I
know that nine years are a big slice to
take off of a man’s active life, but if you
realized the height and strength of the
archangels of evil in bur time with which
that young man is going to wrestle, you
would not think nine years of preparation
were too much. An uneducated ministry
was excusable in other days, but not in this
time, loaded with schools and colleges. A
man who wrote me the other day a letter
asking advice, as he felt called to preach
the Gospel, began the word “God” with a
€mall “g.” That kind of a man is not
called to nraanh tha (Gnsnal Tllitarata man
preaching the Gospel, quote for tholr OWA
encouragement the scriptural passage,
‘Open thy mouth wide MH will fll fe.”
Yes! He will fill it with wind. Preparation
for this wrestling is absolutely necessary.
Many year: ago Doctor Newman and Doctor
Sunderland, on the platform of Bricham
Young's tabernacle at Salt Lake City, Utab,
gained the victory becausethey had so long
been skilful wrestlers for God. Otherwise
Brigham Young, who was himself a giant
in some things, would have thrown them
out of the window. Get ready in Bible
ciasses. Get ready in Christinn Endeavor
meetings. Getready by giving testimony
in obscure places, before giving testimony
in conspicuous places.
Your going around with a Bagster’s
Bible with flaps at the edges, under your
arm, does not qualify you for the work of
an evangelist. In this day of profuse gab,
remember that it is not merely capacity
to talk, but the fact that you have some-
thing to say, that is going to fit yon for
thestruggle into which vou are to do with
a smile on your face and illumination on
your brow, but out of which you wkll not
come until all your physical and mental
and. moral and religious energies have
been taxed to the utmost and vou have
not a nerve left, or a thought unexpended,
or a prayer unsaid, or a sympathy un-
wept. In this struggle between Right and
Wrong accept no challengeon platform or
in newspaper unless vou are prepared. Do
not misapply the story cf Golicih the
Great, and David the Little. David had
been practising with a sling on dogs and
wolves and bandits, and a thousand times
had he swirled a stone around his head
before he aimed at the forehead of the
giant and tumbled him backward, other-
wise the big foot of Goliath would almost
have covered up the crushed form of the
son of Jesse.
Notice also that the success of a wrestler
depended on his having his feet well
planted before he grappled his opponent.
Much depends upon the way the wrestler
stands. Standing on an uncertain piece of
ground, or bearing all his weight on right
foot or all his weight on left foot, he is not
ready. A slight cuff of his antagonist
will capsize him. A stroke of the heel of
the other wrestler will trip him. And in
this struggle for God and righteousness,
as well as for our own souls, we want our
feet firmly planted in the Gospel—both
feet on the Rock of Ages. It will not do
to believe the Bible in spots, or think
some. of it true and some of it untrue.
You just make up your mind that the story
of the Garden of Eden is an allegory,
and the Epistle of James an interpolation,
and that the miracles of Christ ean be
accounted for on natural grounds, without
any belief in the supernatural, and the
first time you are interlocked in a wrestle
with sin and Satan you will go under and
your feet will be higher than your head. It
will not do to have one foot on a rock and
the other on the sand. The old Book would
long ago have gone to pieces if it had
been vulnerable. But of the millions of
Bibles that have been printed within the
las: twenty-five vears, not one chapter has
been omitted, and the omission of one
chapter would have been the cause of the
rejection of the whole edition. Alas! for
those who while trying to prove that Jonah
was never swallowed of a whale, themselves
get swallowed of the whale of unbelief,
which digests but never ejects its victims.
The inspiration of the Bible is not more
certain than the preservation of the Bible
in its present condition. After so many cen-
turies of assault on the Book, would it not
be a matter of cconomy, to say the least—
economy of brain and economy of station- | \miatio: will a soul {:1rn to the Lord, even
ery, and economy of printers’ ink—if the
batteries now assailing the Dook would
change their aim and be trained against
some other books, and the world shown that
Walter Scott did not write “The Lady of
the Lake,” nor Homer ‘‘The Iliad.” nor
Virgil = ‘“The Georgies,” ' nor Thomas
Moore ‘Lalla Rookh,” or that Washing-
ton’s “Farewell Address” was written by
Thomas Paine, and that the War of tha
American Revolution never occurred. That
attempt would be quite as successful as
this long-timed attack anti-Biblical, and
then it would be new. Oh, keep out of this
wrestling bout with the ignorance and the
wretchedness of the world unless you feel
that both feet are planted in the eternal
veracities of the Book of Almighty God!
Notice also that in this science of wrest-
ling, to which Paul refers in my text, it
was the third throw which decided the
contest. A wrestler might be thrown once
and thrown twice, but the third time he
might recover himself, and, by an unex-
pected twist of arm or curve cf foot, gain
the day. Well, that is broad, smiling, un-
mistakable Gospel. Some whom I address
through ear or eye, by voice or printed
page, have been thrown in their wrestle
with evil habit.
Aye! you, have been thrown twice; but
that does not mean, oh! worsted soul, that
you are thrown forever. I have no author-
ity for saying how many times a man may
sin and be forgiven, or how many times he
may fall and yet rise again; but I have
authority for saying that he may fall four
hundred and ninety times, and four hun-
dred and ninety times get up. The Bible
declares that God will forgive seventy
times seven, and if you will employ the
rule of multiplication you will find that
seventy times seven is four hundred and
ninety. Blessed be God for such a Gospel
of high hope and thrilling encouragement
and magnificent rescue! A Gospel of lost
sheep brought home on fhepherd’s shoul-
der, and the prodigals who gotinto thelow
work of putting husks into swines’ troughs
brought home to jewelry and banqueting
and hilarity that made the rafters ring!
Jut notice that mytext suggests that the
wrestlers on the other side in the great
struggle for the world’s redemption have
all the forces of demonology to help them:
“We wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, agains: powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places.”
Then I ean well believe that righteous-
ness will aceept the challenge, and the two
mighty wr.stlers will grapple, while all
the galleries of earth and heaven look
dosvn from one side, and all the f{lery
chasms of perdition look up from the
other side. . The prize is worth a strug-
gle, for it is not a chaplet of laurel or
palm, but the rescue of a world, and a
wreath put on the brow by Him who prom-
ised, “Be thou faithful unto death and I
will give thee a crown.” Three worlds—
earth, heaven and hell—hold their breath
while waiting for the result of this strug-
gie, when, with one mighty swing of an
arm muscled with Omnipotence, righteous-
ness hurls the last evil, first on its knees
and then on its face, and then rolling off
and down, with a crash wilder than that
with which Sampson hurled the temple of
Dagon when he got hold of its two chief
piliars.
Aye! That suggests a cheering thought,
that if all the reulms of Demonology are
on the other side, all tha realms of angel-
ology are on our side, among them the
Angel of the New Covenant, and they are
now talking over the present awful struggle
and final glorious triumph; talking amid
the alabaster pillars and in the ivory pal-
aces, and along the broadways and grand
avenues of the great Capital of the Uni-
varse, and amid the spray of fountains
with rainbows like the “rainbow round
the throne.” Yes, ali heavenis on our side,
and the ‘‘high places of wickedness”
spoken of in my text are not ‘so high as
the high places of heaven, where there
are enough reserve forces, if our earthly
forces should he overpoawsered, or in cow-
ardice fall back, to sweep down some morn-
ing at daybreak and take all this earth for
God before the city clocks strike ‘twelve’
for noon. And the Cabinet of Heaven, the
most august Cabinet in the universe, made
up of three—God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Ghost—are now In ses-
sion in the King’s Palace, and they are with
us, and they are going to see us through,
and they invite us, as soon as we have done
our share of the work, to go up and see
them, a lebrate the final victory, that
is more 4% come than to-morrow’ssun-
rian.
THE SHBBATH-SCHOOL- LESSOR
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS
FOR NOVEMBER 20.
ioe —"
Lesson Text: “Manasseh’s Sin and Re-
pentance,’”” II Chronicles xxxiii., 9-16
—Golden Text: I John i., 9—~Commen-
tary by the Rev. ID, M. Stearns.
9. ““‘So Manasseh made Judah and the in-
habitants of Jerusalem to err and to do
worse than the heathen whom the Lord had |
|
destroyed before the children of Israel.” |
This is a su:xmary of the previous part of |
this chapter concerning the sins of Manas-
seh, who began to reign when he was
twelve years old and
years in Jerusalem. He shed innocent
blood very much till He had filled Jerusalem
from one end to another (II Kings xxi., 46).
reigned fifty-five |
He wrought much evil in the sight of the !
Lord to provoke Him to anger.
think of the people of God acting worse
than the heathen who knew not God, and
even worshiping an idol, a carved image,
in the house of God"where He had put His |
What a contrast to |
name and His Glory!
the conduct of His father Hezekieh, who
for the most part wrought good and right |
and truth before the Lord His God (chapter
xxxi., 20).
have such a bad son?
common story.
and of Samuel and of David,
But it is not an un-
How could
sinful King Ahaz, because of whose sins the |
Lord brought Judah low (chapter xxviii., | «
19), have such a good son as Hezekiah? His
mother’s name was Abi, ths daughter of |
Zachariah (II Kings xviii.. 2), and to her
possiply much 3 due. But Manasseh’s
mother was Hephzibah (my delight is in
her), and if there isanything in a name he,
too, may have had a good mother (II Kings
xxi., 1). Our Heavenly.-Father knows what
it is to have rebeliious children (Isa. i., 2),
and when He permits us to have rebellious
children it is a ground of fellowship with
m.
10. “And the Lord spake to Manasseh,
and to His people, but they would not
hearken.” Oh, how often the Lord has te
say concerning those whom He would love
to bless that they would notlet Him, they
would not listen to Him, they wouid not
come to Him (Isa.xxx,, 15; Math. xxiii., 37;
John v., 40). If we only would reeeive His
word with meekness, yield fully to Him
and be willing and obedient, how much o!
heaven we might have upon the earth! How
earnestly God cries to His people by His
servants the prophets, as, for example, in
Jer, {ii., 13, 14, ‘‘Only acknowledge thine
iniquity; turn, O backsliding children,
saith the Lord, for I am married unto you.”
See also Ezek. xviii., 30-82; xxxiii., 11, ete.
11. “Wherefore the Lord brought upon
them the captains of the host of the king
of Assyria, which took Manasseh among
the thorns and bound him with fetters and
carried him to Babylon.” Thus he found
some reaping, for whatsoever a man sow-
eth that shall he also reap, and they who
sow the wind may reap the whirlwind
(Gal. vi., 7; Hos. viii., 7). Afilliction is often
the best thing that ean come to one who is
wandering from God. God is not willing
that any should perish, and if sinners will
not listen to gracious words of love Ile will
seek to win them by chastening, as He hus
said in Job xxxiii., 29, 30. 8
12. “And when be was in affletion he be-
sought the Lord his God and humbled
himself greatly before the God of his
fathers.” It is often the case that only in
as it is written in Hos. .v., 15, ‘In their
affletion wilt they seek Me early.” It will
be seen ono larger scale some day, for it is
written in Isa. xxvi., 9, “When Thy judg-
ments are in the earth, the inhabitants of
the world will learn righteousness,’ Even
the fearful judgments of Rev. ix. and xvi.
are intended, if possible, to bring men to
repentance.’ Jen Rev, ix.; 20, 21; xvi., 9,11.
Pride and self will are boru in us as the re-
sults of Adam's sin, the work of the devil,
and all people are either Cains or Abels,
the former proudly resisting God and His
salvation, and the latter humbly confessing
their sins and accepting His way of re-
demption. The Pharisees when our Lord
was on earth were of the line of Cain, re-
ligious, but proud and hating God and His
way.
13. ““And prayed unto Him, and He was
entreated of him and heard his supplica-
tion and brought him again to Jerusalem
into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew
that the Lord He was God.” Manasseh
was evidently a true penitent, and God’s
ear is ever open to such. Itis always true
for such on God’s part, “Him that cometh
unto Me I will in no wise cast out’ (John
vi., 37). It is written in I. Chron. v., 20,
concerning some of Israel that they eried
to God in the battle and He was entreated
of them, because they put their trust in
Him. Ezra saysin chapter viii., 23, “So we
fasted and besought our God for this, and
He was entreated of us.” As to the mercy
which is with God for the greatest sinner
who with true repentance turns to Him
we need only consider the case of the pen-
itent thief or of Saul of Tarsus. But who
could be greater in sin than this son of
Hezekiah?
14. “’Now after this he built a wall with-
out tho city of David.”” The building of
this wall and the placing of captains of
war in the fenced cities does not imply any
lack of trust in God, but is rather sugges-
tive of keeping the Lord’s property for the
Lord. In Canticlesiv., 12, the bride iscom-
pared to a garden inclosed, a spring shut
up, a fountain sealed; something kept solely
for the owner. In Isa. Ix., 18, the walls of
Zion are called salvation and her gates
praise. 5
unless they are of God.
15. “And he took away the strange gods
and the idol out of the house of the Lord.”
As the children of God we are expected. to |
put away frown us all tho works of the flesh |
and to cleanse ourselves from all flithiness |
of the flesh and spirit (Eph. iv., 22, 31; II
Cor. vii., 1). Having received the Lord
Jesus, we are looked upon as having died
with Him and risen from the dead to walk
in newness of life; dead unto sin, but alive |
unto God, yieldud unto Him as His prop-
erty for His uss exclusively (Rom. vi., 4,
11, 13).
16. **And ho repaired the altar of the
Judah to
Peace and
Lord * * * and commanded
serve the Lord God of Isracl.
thank offerings are associated in the law |
(Lev. vii,, 11, 12) and are in connection
with the burnt offering, sin offering and
other offerings (Lev. vii., 37). All offerings
pointed back to Gen, iii., 21, and on to Cal-
vary, for nothing can take away sin or
make peace with God ,but the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus, the antitype of all
types, the substance of every shadow. He
served God as no one else did, and we serve
truly only as He lives and works in us. In
Mannasseh’s case. asin the case of Saul of
Tarsus, the grace of God was exceeding
abundant (II Tim. i., 14). He is ever the
same, full of grace and truth.—Lesson
Helper.
Juvenal; in one of his satires, cele-
brated the British oyster 1,900 years
ago, and ever since that day we have
believed the luscious bivalve to be an
invertebrate. It remained for a Vir-
ginian to discover recently that it
possesses a well-developed backbone
He cuts out the vertebrae with an or-
dinary pocket knife and exhibits them
10 any resolute, cock-sure oyster fiend
who wants to bet on the belief of nine-
teen centuries against the acidental fin
de siecle discovery of a beadle.
There is not a house in any civilized
community that can be cdompared to
the one built in Washington by Mr.
Justice Gray. the giant of the Supreme
Court. He designed it himself, and it
was built according to his plans and
specifications. When he came to move
in it was learned that the structure
did not contain a single closet.
Jonsider the sons of Eli |
In Zech. ii., 5, the Lord says He
will be unto her & wall of fire round about. |
Walls and protection of any kind are naught |
Then +
How could such a good father
| discussion make
¢| CHILDREN'S COLUMN.
DD VV VV VVVVTV
The Tiny, Little Girl,
Mother says she's awful bad,
(iets 80 cross it makes her mad,
Wants to know if I can't do
Somethin’, little girl, to you:
Thinks Ibett r whip you well,
Saas you're good and bad a spell.
I ain't home all day to see,
<0 don’t know how bad you be,
Eut 1 couldn’t bear to whip her,
When I saw her sweet lips cur!
For she’s such a very little,
Such a tiny, little girl!
“Wouldn't mind a word today!" —
’Spect that’s what her ma will say:
“Just as bad as bad could be,
“Cept in little spells, you see,”
Mother teils me that there child
Sets her sometimes almost wild.
Won't I punish her a bit?
Thinks she’s better after it.
But I couldn't bear to whip her,
When I see her sweet lips curl,
For she’s such a very little, ;
Such a tiny, little girl.
Thinkin’ of her all day long,
Witk her laughter and her song;
Put your mother says it’s true
Bad man’s got a-hold of you.
Hew about it, little Miss,
With the rosy lips to kiss?
Couldn't punish her a bit,
And that just clean settles it.
No, I couldn't bearto whip her,
When I see her sweet lips curl,
For she’s such a very little,
Such a tiny, little girl!
—The Bentztown Bard, in Dath News.
Hints for Shy Boys aad Girls,
Bashfulness is only another name
for sclf consciousness, and girls and
boys are apt to suffer from it. When
entering a room move slowly. The
distance will seem twice as long to
You if. you hurry. Aid try to get
over the idea that every one is looking
at you ov talking about you. This is
not likely to be the case unless you
i rubber is attached.
When the card is returned he
manages to substitute the inked card
for the other. Immersing it in the
water as deeply as the ink has been
put on, he lifts the card from the glass
with the inked side turned towards
the lookers on. He shows it to them,
taking care that it does not leave his
hand, as the circumstance of its being
inky on but one side will arouse sus-
picion. With a spoon, on the bowl of
which has been fixed a few particles of
black anline dye, he slips out a few
spoonfuls of the water into a saucer.
The water in the spoon is instantly
colored black.
The next step is to borrow a ring
from some one, pretending ‘that he
means to drop it in the goblet. In-
stead and apparently by accident he
drops it into the saucer. Lifting the
ring from the saucer and apologizing
profusely, he says:
“I will not attempt to drop the ring
into the ink after all, as T do not care
to stain my hand with theink. I will
change the ink to water.’
He takes a handkerchief from his
pocket-—it should be a large one—and
spreads it over the goblet. Then he
lifts the handkerchief from the glass,
taking care to have grasped it in such
a way that from the position of the
cork under his fingers he knows he
has hold of the string to which the
This removes the
[rubber from the goblet, and the water
| times hie was very violent,
ave particularly awkward or ungrace- |
ful. Always speak in a low voice, but
distinetly, and do not laugh or giggle
with every remark you make.
ultivate pleasant manners and al-
ways treat your elders with respect,
and most decidedly do not make fun
of any one’s peculiarities. Take an
interest in the conversation round
you, and if you cannot make an in-
telligent remark on the subject under
none whatever. If
the conversation is addressed directly
i to you and you do not understand the
subject, say so. You will be thought
much more of than if you make ¢
stupid reply. You can always win the
person’s approval by asking him to
explain the subject to you.
Jats and Owls.
is shown to the audience.
Something to Love,
A French conviet,under sentence for
life, was a troublesome prisoner. At
and in the
intervals of his violence he became so
sullen that the wardens were al. ays
on the lookout for trouble.
One day they saw .a change in the
man’s face. Its sullenness hal dis-
appeared. The prisoner looked al-
most happy. The ghost of a smile
hovered about his lips. His eyes now
and again turned downward, and it
became evident that something was
hidden in his breast.
The wardens were uneasy.
some weapon
Had he
concealed beneath his
clothing with which he would seek to
surprise them and regain his liberty?
They must tind out.
They watched their opportunity, and
two of them suddenly fell upon him
from behind, each seizing an arn.
Then they began ty search him. They
{ found that for which they songht, but
| it was not a knife nor other danzerous
| weapon.
It was nothing more harm-
ful than a fine large rat.
When it was discovered the distress
of the prisoner was intense. He broke
down utterly, fell upon his knees, and
| in agony of fear and desperation cried,
The bat is about two and one-half |
inches long, and the body is rather
like that of a mouse. Its wings are
really a continuation of the skin round
the body, ull except the head. Its
ears are like those of a mouse, and the
body is covered with short fur, the
same color, tinged with red. With
the lesser toes of its four feet it keeps
the wings expanded,
This little animal comes out about
all gone from his face.
dusk, and sometimesit is seen to skim |
over the surface of a small piece of |
| water. It feeds on gnatsand nocturnal
The bat sleeps all the win- |
insects.
ter.
There is one thing that renders the
owls different from all other birds—
namely, their eves are constructed to
see better in the dark than in the
light. Tt is not on the darkest nig’ ts
that they see best, but in the
ing and evening dusk. The white, or
in the night when the barn door is
“Don’t kill that! Beat me if yon like,
chain me; but if IT may not keen him
let my poor rat go free.”
The stern guards moved to
pity. They had never seen this man
subdued before. Every trace of fierce-
ness was gone. Instead of hurting
the rat, they let it drop to the floor
and disappear. Then the man rose
and went to his work. The lignt had
His jet was
ayere
lost to him.
A few days passed, and then, while
the convicts were at work in the yard,
moving wood, the prisoner Jose felt
something tickle his cheek. He turned
morn- | ]
i breast as before,
barn, owl has such piercing sight that | head jailer, said, ‘‘Sir,if you will only
shut and all light excluded it can see |
the smallest mouse.
The owl seldom issues from its retreat |
in the day time, nor does it make any
I man, with a glad smile,
sound, but when it comes out in the
dusk it is by no means silent. The
screech owl makes a hideous noise,
and some people when they hear it
conclude that some great culamity is
soon to descend upon them.
Sometimes an owl will stay out un-
til the morning light, not having had
success in finding its prey.
is too strong to enable it to
to its retreat, and it takes refuge in a
tree. Soon its enemies come
tease it in every possible way,aud not
knowing where to make an attack it
keeps still, making ridiculous gestures
with its head. The great horned owl
is often taken for an eagle. It 1s
brown, the horns being nothing but a
few feathers
ears. It has transparent eyes, en-
circled by a yellow iris. —Trenton
(N. J.) American.
return
Turning Ink Into Water.
With a little practice any boy may
learn to perform a few -simple tricks
in magic. It is very easy to learn to
turn a goblet of ink into a goblet of
The light | .
2 | which he sold in order to buy dainties,
quickly and uttered a cry of joy.
There, on his shoulder, was the only
friend be had in the world, his vat,
which had found him out and come
creeping up to his face.
With eager hands he put it in his
and turning to the
let me keep this rat I solemnly prom-
ise to submit to you in every way,and
never to disobey you again.”
The permission was given, and the
returned to
his work. Irom that day the dreaded
convict was a new being. He became
, the best-conducted man in the prison,
| it shared his
and |
sticking up behind the |
water, having artificial fish swimming |
The fish can be cut ont
of a piece of cork and colored. Ordi-
nary house painter’s colors when al-
lowed to dry will not come off in the
water. Of course the goblet is not
really filled with ink. Instead a piece
of black rubber cloth has been placed
about the inner surface of the goblet
and the water then poured into it. To
the rubber cloth a fine, white silk
thread is attached. Tied to the end
of the thread is a small piece of cork.
The thread and the pieces of cork
must be turned away from the aundi-
ence. Naturally any one understands
that these arrangements are made be-
fore the goblet is brought before the
audience.
“I have here,” says the youthful
conjurer, ‘‘a glass of ink.”” The boy
of course keeps the glass at a distance
in the liquid.
from the spectators. or some keen eye |
might notice the rubber. The boy
takes several white cards from his
pocket and holds up-one for the audi-
ence tq look at, or he may pass it
around for them to examine. One of
the cards in his hand has previously
been smeared on one side with ink,
‘at $1500.
and his great strength and energy
were used to help the governor.
The rat was seldom away from him,
meals and slept in his
man’s spare time was
little toys of bone
bed, and the
spent in making
such as sugar and gincerbread for his
pet.—Youth’s Companion.
The United States Cavalry Officer,
The pay of the officersis good, and in
the case of the line officers better than
that of any European amy. A second
lieutenant of cavalry paid 81500
per year, a first lieutenant
captain $2000, a ma or
tenant-colonel $3000. a colonel
500. For every five years’ service up
to twenty years an ofticer gets ten per
cent.additi nal tothe pay of the grade
in which he 1s serving, but no increase
after twenty years’ service, so that he
cannot get over. forty per cent. in-
crease in any event, and he has to
drop some of his longevity pay when
Lhe Dhocomes a lientenant-colonel or
colone!, as the maximum pay of a
lieuntenant-colonel is fixed by law at
$4000 per year and that of a colonel
An officer has no perquis-
ites whatever. He is given his quar-
ters when in garrison, and is author-
ized - to purchase his rations or
supplies for his own use and that of
his family from the post commissary
at cost price to the government. He
has to buy his horses, saddle and
equipment, uniform, arms, furnish his
own quarters, pay his servants, aud
heat, light and care for his quarters
at his own expense. He is allowed
forage for his horses, and if they are
killed in action the government will
pay him their cost price if it does not
exceed $160. If they die in ordinary
service the loss is his own. The
popular idea that an officer’s pay is his
own and that the government supplies
him with horses, arms, clothing and
equipment, as well as furnishes his
house and provides him with food is,
alas! a pleasing fiction which the
generous public hugs to its souf, but
it has not the slightest foundation in
fact.
is
$2500, a lieu-
1
" ,
at
R1600, a |
{EINE STATE NEWS COMEMSED
LEAVE FOR THE SOUTH.
Pennsylvania
Meade Girls Disguised as Soldiers Ar-
rested and Piaced In Ja:
Volunteers Break Up at Camp
The Fifteenth Pennsylvania
ment struck its tents last week
moved southward. Each man had
three days’ travel rations and five
days’ field rations. The long train was
made up of three sections, the last one
having a hospital car attached. While
at the station some of the privates at-
tacked an officer and one of them was
stabbed. His name is Blueridge, and
he is said to be a noted distiiler of
moonshine in the Tennessee mnmoun-
tains. The Fourteenth Pennsy.vania
and the Ninth Ohio battalion left
Camp Meade Sunday for Summervi.le.
S. C. When the: Second Tennessee
passed through Camp Meade two girls
from Middletown were discovéred at-
tired in soldier uniform on the train.
They were going to follow ther soldier
lovers to camp, but they were arrestad
and placed in jail.
The following pensions were
last week: Jackson Daniels, 1
ville, Somerset, $8 to $12; Stenhen Ran-
dall, dead, Platea, Erie, $6 to $12: Fen-
ry Edwards Ginter, Emienton, $8 to
$19; Patrick McNulty, Sharpsburg, $8
to $10: Peter Struble, St. Marys,
Elk, $6 to $8: pith, Titus-
ville, $8; Jri New
Brighton, $10: Gregg. Philips-
burg, $8; on, Weilsboro, $8;
Stephen Reaver, §8 to $10;
James Miller, Altoona, $6 to $8: Philip
Trouman, Leota, Butler, $6 to $5: Au-
gustus Hawn, Huntingdon, $8 $10;
William = Snyder, McWilliams. Arm-
strong, : $8 to $10; Jacob Koch, Belle-
fonte, $10 to $12; George S. Adams, Al-
toona, $6 to $12; Hugh McFadden, Rat-
tigan, Butler, $12 to $17; John Dewalt,
Scottdale, $6 to $8; ‘A. Starr, West
Brownsville, $8; Noah Fink, South
Bend, Armstrong, $6 to $8: William H.
Freeman, Scottdale, $6; Thomas G.
Kelly, Wexford, Aliegheny, $8; Char es
Ii. Kerr, West Leisenring, Favette, $6;
James McMurtrie, North Ciarendon,
Warren, $8 to $10; Henry Hamma, Car-
negie, $10 to $14; John M. English,
Driftwood, $4 to $8; Thomas Thoiap-
son, Hollidaysburg, $8 to $10: William
H. Shaner, Sharpsville, $5 to $1C;
Porter, Emlenton, $17 to $24:
ick Wright, Myersdale
minors of James L. King, Bt
Sarah E. Guy, Jeannette, $8.
"The recent discovery that
found on Rough run, Winfield town-
ship, near Butler, is suspectible of
taksng a good polish and making an ex-
‘cellent quality of marble may lead to a
new source of wealth in this county.
In at least half of the townships of
this county similar stone found, of-
ten near the surface. Pittsburg parties
are making an experiment with the
stone, which promises to prove suc-
cessful. .
Jarney Gilmer, aged 65, was burned
te death in his home at Columbia the
other night. (‘oal oil had been
sprinkled at different places in the
liouse and the cork of a coal oil bottle
was found near his body. Mrs. Law-
rence, who lived in the house, ran past
the first neighbor that entered. Gil-
mer’'s head was burned from his body.
The coroner's jury found a verdict of
accidental death.
lichard C., 13-year-old son of Rich-~
ard McMurray, was instantly killed at
Altoona the other day by falling from
a freight train, on which he was ste«i-
ing a ride. He was on the lookout for
a “policeman, and was walking from
one side of the car to the other on the
bumper, when he slipped and fell be-
tween the cars. His head was com-
pletely cut off and his left arm torn
from the socket.
Louis LoefHer, alias “Dutch Louis,’
wanted for shooting Officer Bowers, of
the Pennsylvania railrecad, committed
suicide by shooting Wednesday morn-
ing in a barn at Beaver -station. "The
barn was surrounded by officers, and
rather than be taken Louis placed a
revelver in his mouth and blew off the
top of his head.
Dennis Donnavan, a prosperous
farmer, of Spring Garden Mills, near
Newtown, was instantly killed a few
days ago by being thrown from his
wagon. His horses took fright at ex-
cavations along the new trolley road.
Workmen who witnessed the accident
hurried to him, but he was found lying
dead on the ground.
Two prominent farmers of Jackson
township, Butler county. died within a
few hours of each other from the ef-
fects of accidental injuries received a
few days ago. They were James (Gal-
laher, aged 39 years, for many years a
teacher the npublic of
county, and Daniel aged
years. :
Wilson Ringle, a Pennsylvania
read engineer of Derry, and his son
were hunting chestnuts when the boy
ran into a den of snakes. His father
investigated and discovered four huge
rattlers and a blacksnake. He Killed
one of the rattlesnakes. It had 10 rat-
tlers.
When about to start on a rabbit hunt
Mauch Chunk the other morning,
Harry Weaver, aged 20, stopped to talk
regi-
and
Simon
Miner,
0
A
A.
limestone
is
»
schools
Rape,
in
rail-
| to his mother through a window of his
home. His gun was accidentally dis-
charged, and the young man fell dead,
the left side of his head being blown
away.
Mrs. John Brady, of Madison, near
Greensburg, wife of the first soldier in
the Tenth Regiment who fell in the
battle of Malate on July 31, has made
application to the Government for a
pension. Mrs. Brady has six children
to provide for.
Mrs. J. F. Cope, of Ellwood, has re-
ceived word of the death of her aunts,
Mrs. Leiard. of Wilmington, 11... who
left a fortune amounting to about $40,-
000 to he aistributed among four heirs
—Mrs. Cope, her father, uncle and
aunt.
The coroner's jury investigating the
Exeter mine accident at Wilk=sharre,
returned a verdict, placing the blame
on Engineer Price and Brakeman An-
thony. They had charge of the coal
cars which fell down the shaft and
killed eight men on the carriage.
The home of Harper Johnson, near
Greenville, was burned to the ground
a few nights ago with all its contents.
Mrs. Johnson and her two little chil-
dren narrowly escaped with their
lives. Tramps are suspected of setting
it on fire.
Mrs. John L. Beer, aged 73 years, of
ireensburg, fell into an open grate last
week and was burned to death.
James Daley, aged 20, was shot
through the right leg by his brother
Nicholas, aged 12, a few days ago at
New Castle. Nicholas was examining
the gun and did not know it was
loaded. Amputation may be necessary.
Alfred L. Hench, a resident of
Greenwood, near Altoona, was held up
Ly a negro and two white men and re-
lieved of $47.13 at the point cf a revol-
Ver,
A hand car on which eleven men
were riding was struck by a train near
Galetown, Potter county, and George
Egard, one of them, was killed.
From injuries received in heroically
stopping a runaway, Wesley Kober
died at Shawnee, Monroe county.