‘noted elebrat- ays he is just ases per- at Nerve tise free. hila., Pa. lemand- + loaves ys. cure any otruding ed. 50c. Marseil- be com- cost of RS.I™D to Cure ticura r fifteen remedies 1 stated and he iedies. I that they ne others. weeks I irritation nally de- five cakes 3 of Cuti- ntirely. I I would les to all es. David , N.Y. wich Is- r weight. have de- A girl ind wear uth Sea inces re- eir teeth L SAW, . that he is CEEXNEY' & of Toledo, that said. DRED DOL~- [ CATARRH of Harvr’s CHENEY. ved in my of Decem- *LEASON, ry Public. rnally,and 1cous sur- timonials, ledo, O. rdock, of lling this ; in Kan- Herald.” Irishman. igned the g into the refractory the corn- en a shot- yull if the ntily he e farmer watch de- > bull saw nfield, he idly. The the shot- in “the the bull, Irishman bull after screamed shman. ve, sir!” between ons. showed a » night be- o a black t the sight pletely un- of defeat. ned when- me of the 1d tremble tabby got Among the bel of lib- the animal name of man body er killed a s put. to e form of of « the yr TTD. oducts. ee that all al, Grape- hereafter ailer, com= f the Na= 1d are not ed or mis- ng of said | June 30, ct for pre- e, sale or ted or mis- deleterious quors, and herein for TD. irman, ok, Mich. 0 before me pr, 1908. RE, v Public. ly 1, 1907. hey always ill be, they /e have al- of our busi- atement on dients con- and back of * an enemy? THE PULPIT. A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY REV VW. T. BEST. ; Subject: The Iligher Criticism. Remsen, N. Y.—The following ser- mon by the learned divine, the Rev. W. T. Best, was reczntlv preached here with tellirz effect. The subject of the discours: was “The Higher Criticism, Its Advantazes and Disad- vantages.” Dr. Dest said: Higher criticism is defined as fol- “The discovery and verifica- tion of the facts regarding the ori- gin, form and value of literary pro- ductions upon the basis of their in- ternal characteristics and contents.” Dr. Harman defines higher criticism thus: “Higher criticism is a phrase used to express all investigation re- ‘specting the genunineness. authen- ticity and intesritv of ancient liter- ary work, esnecially the various books of the Bible. There are three classes of erities. First, the radical. who reject the su- pernatural in Scripture: second: the conservative, who admit it; third, the conservative-radical, who hold a half-way position. There are four principles upon which the higher critics seek the origin of the books of the Bible. First, literarv treatment: second. his- torical settings: third, religious thought: ‘and fourth, cumulative force of combination of principles. On almost the same basis the critics are divided as to their aims; some have purely literary aims, others sim- ply historical aims, while by far the larger class have religious aims. The advantages and disadvantages of higher eriticism may be viewed from two different standpoints: as they affect the critics and as they af- fect the church. 1. As thev affect the critics: If the higher criticism is an enemy of the Bible, then every other enemy of the Bible is its friend and it has the advantage of whatever aid they may fend it. But is the higher criticism For one, I believe it is, though I do not wish to imply by this that every form of criticism is wrong, or that every higher critic is an en- emy of the Bible. for many are its warmest friends; but taking the mat- ter as a whole and judging by its fruits, I believe higher criticism to be an enemy of the Word of God. 1. Advantages. As an enemy of the Bible, it is easy to be seen that the higher criti- cism has the following advantages: (1) The devil. “ The devil was the first person to question the anthority of God's Word. He was the first person to dispute Moses. If there is no preach- ing in hell, it will not be because the devil does not known anything about the Bible, but like the hisher crities he never quotes it correctly. but al- ways leaves out those narts which appear to him unreasonable. He will come to vou as an angel of light and tell you that Moses did not write the Pentateuch, Isaizh only wrote a part of the book that bears his name, the book of Daniel is a fals~hood, Jonah is a myth, the song of Solomon is a drama, the book of Joh is onlv a parable. ete., ete., and by the time vou have taken everything out of the Bible that he may tell vou is a false- hood, vou will be qualified to stand before the world npholding its empty lids and say: ‘Of course I helieve in the Bible: the only !thing 1 am onp- posed to iu it is the supernatural.” (2) The flesh, The fact that so many Christian people do mot enjoy the blessing of holiness is one of the strongest proofs that the flesh is a higher critic and does not believe in those portions of the Scripture that refer to the higher life. (3) The world, The world is one of the most ear- nest and enthusiastic friends of high- er criticism. The very suvnnosition that it is superior to the Bible, com- ing from men who are looked upon as the greatest scholars and religious feaders in the world, is’ one of the most comforting thoughts to the mind of the hypocrite. The poli- tician, who, when he is at home has one wife, is a deacon in the church and Sunday-school superintendent, but when he in Albany has three wives and does not know where the churches are, will find great consola- tion in knowing that the Bible is not all true. The accomplished young lady, who is a member of the church, but does not see any harm in danc- ing, will be pleased to learn that men who know so much more than her pastor does, have decided once and for all that the Bible is not always to be relied upon. A voung man, who is a graduate of one of our lead- ing schools, said to me some months ago: “Science has not fnlly settled the question as vet, whether Enoch was translated or not.” Mormonism, anarchism, atheism, spiritualism and all the other isms are friends of the higher criticism. 2. The disadvantages. There are many disadvantages; we can only name a few of them. (1) The Bible will not stay “put.” As soon as they get the Book of Genesis fixed up the way they think it ought to be, somebody over in Chronicles says or does something that upsets the whole plan, so they have either got to destroy Chronicles or change their former position. BY the time they dispose of all the wit- nesses throughout the Bible that tes- tify against their position, the Book of Genesis has gotten back to where it was in the first place, and the work has all got to bs done over again. The Bible is like 2 cube of granite; you may urset it as many times as you please, and it is always right ide up. , 3 (2) : The principles of higher crit- jcs are not to be relied upon. Dr. Harman says if they were ap- plied to American history they would make havoc of it. If you apply them to the Declaration of Indeperdence they would place that document about the vear 1865, as all men were not looked upon as equal, nor did they enjoy life, liberty and the pur- suit of happiness until after that time. Applied to the tombstone of Jefferson, it could ‘be proven that it was another Jefferson that was Presi- dent of the United States, for while » . nto ou hi if were all the great acts of his life v i recorded it was not said he was Pres- ident. Bishop Warren, in his book, “The Bible in the World’s Educa- tion,” says: “It is the higher criti- cism applied to Shakespeare that has prodnced the idiotic assertion that his works were written by Lord Bacon. The laws of historical criti- cism applied to Napoleon have proved that no such man ever lived.” The same principle applied to a let- ter written from a husband to a wife, ,might prove that the first part of the letter was written by a husband, while the latter part was written by a lover. The chief difficulty with the critics is, they forget that a man may possess a variety of gifts. Julius Caesar was at one and at the same time a general, a statesman, a law- giver, a jurist, an orator, a poet, an historian, a philosopher. a mathema- tician, an architect, and was equally fitted to excel in any or all of these departments. (3) The theories and methods of the higher criticism exclude and de- stroy each other. Dr. Milton 8. Terry, author of “Biblical Hermaneutics,’”’ has devoted the greater part of one chapter to exposing the fallacies of higher ecrit- icism. Here it is clearly seen that if one critic is right the others are all wrong. But who can tell which on#& is right? Dr. A. C. Zenos, author of “The Elements of Higher Criticism.” shows that there are two leading dif- ficulties in the way of the ecrities: First, the field of operations is vast and bewildering in its complications, and second, the science of higher ecrit- icism is born of strife. “Bauer laughs at Paulus, Strauss laughs at Bauer. Renan laughs at Strauss, and the hour-glass laughs at them all.” “(4) Recent discoveries of arch- aeologists. From the outset the literary crit- ics instinctively felt that the testi- mony of archaeology would be against them, and they endeavored to evade it by deprecation or denying it in advance. Archaeologists, by proving that the art of writing ex- isted in Egypt a century before the exodus. have taken the very founda- tion stone from under the higher criticism. Every little while the pick and shovel are bringing to light as facts the very things that the critics laughed at as myths, such as the ex- istence of Kruder-Laghamer, Menes, ete. Dr. A. H. Sayce, of Oxford Uni- versity, says that the archaeological method is the scientific method of in- vestigating history and is, therefore, the only critical method to establish hevond doubt the genuineness of the Bible. (5) The last disadvantage we will name is the testimony of experience. Thousands of men. women and children in all parts of the world, at all ages, and ‘in different ecircum- stances, are proving by practical ex- perience that the Bible is to be re- lied upon. It matters not whether they place their faith on a passage in the Epistle of Peter, the Book of Daniel, or even the much disputed Pentateuch; God is faithful and true to His promises. This method of testing the truthfulness of the Bible is also open to the higher critics, but as Bishop Warren says, very few of them wish to use it. II. As they affect the church. 1. Disadvantages. It will be seen at a glance that whatever is an advantage to the higher critics is a disadvantage to the church. But as these are the general disadvantages we will name in this division the particular ones. (1) The difficulty of mastering the science. The higher criticism, as yet, is fessors, and it requires constant study in order to keep up with the cver increasing opinions of different crit- ics. It is said that very few pastors have either (he time or means to thoroughly investigate the subject, so, at best, can only accept the opin- ions of men who make a study oi the matter. (2) The uselessness of the sci- ence to the average pastor. The preacher of the Gospel is called to the work of saving :acn. Ministers who are carried away with the higher critiesm generally fail to do this work. They become a burden not only to their congregations, but to themselves, and sooner or later drop out of the ministry altogether. The pastor of to-day might better preach the Gospel and let the higher criticism alone. (3) It destroys reverence for the Word of God. The man who believes in it goes to the Bible, not in a reverent spirit, but in a critical spirit. (4) It has a tendency to destroy the authority of the Bible. When a critic reads, **Thus saith the Lord,” he has to stop and decide whether God says anything or not. He becomes an interrogation mark and is compelled to live a life of doubt. (5) It questions tke inspiration of the Bible. The fruits of this principle are: Prophecy is set aside altogether, mir- acles are explained on natural grounds, the unity of the Bible is de- stroyed, and several Biblical narra- tives, like that of Jonah, are said to be the products of imagination. 2. The advantages. While the higher criticism may be looked upon as an evil, God has over- ruled it for good. Criticism is as old as the Bible.. Before John had writ- ten his Gospel, the agnostic had ap- peared on the scene. The Bible has ed, etc., etc., and now it has to be dona over again. The fact of the matter is, the oftener it is supposed to be overthrown, the harder it seems to overthrow it. Many a man has run his head up against the Bible, but history proves it has been all the worse for his head. Let us now look at a few of the advantages of the higher criticism, as they aifect the Christian Church. (1) The inability of the critics to get at the truth. The Holy Ghost wrote the Bible, therefore, the Holy Ghost must ex- plain it. The majority of the critics, though they may be scholarly men, are unconverted. How can such men understand the Bible? (2) Higher criticism has very lit- tle to boast of. An idiot with a knife in hand, let loose in an art gallery, can destroy more in an hcur than Raphael coull create in a lifetime. It is an casy matter to criticise and tear down, but a hard matter to build up. largely in the hands of college pro-. been overthrown, demolished, explod- Many | of the supposed new discoveries of higher criticism, such as the ‘‘docu- ment hypothesis,” the age of the earth, ete., are centuries out of date. (3) The higher criticism will be productive of the true Biblical criti- cism. It may be truly said that, in most cases, higher criticism has driven Christian men to the Bible, rather than away from it. A Biblical criti- cism is now in process of formulation, before which mere theory and specu- lation will disappear as did the Span- iards before the guns of the Ameri- cans. Such a criticism will embrace, as Dr. Mendenhall said, the follow- ing characteristics: [a] It shall be scientific in method and results; [b] it shall be Biblical in spirit, scope and influence; [ec] it shall be historic in tests and material; [d] it shall be evangelical in tone, character and form; [e] it shall be rational in its use of facts, non-theoretic in its in- quiries and authoritative in its ulti- mate decision. The Bible is not op- posed to reverent criticism, for its standing invitation is, “Come, now, and let us reason together.” The Lord Himself has said, “My people are consumed for lack of knowledge.” (4) A call for the retreat of the higher critics has sounded. A reaction has taken place in Ger- many against the higher criticism. Many of the pastors of the country are denouncing it from their pulpits. Book after book is being written against it. One of the most im- portant victories on the side of or- thodoxy is the fact that Professor Harnack, the star of Berlin Univer- sity and one of the foremost leaders of higher criticism, has so changed his opinions regarding the dates of a number of the New Testament books, as to favor the traditional view. A revolution among the critics will un- doubtedly be the result. (5) The Almighty God has de- clared that not one jot or tittle of the law shall fail until all be fulfilled. A curse has been pronounced upon the man who would add to or take away from the sacred words of Scrip- ture. T am aware that the devil does not like the Bible. He has always been urging his foliowers to stamp it out. Porphyrius tried it by his philosophy, Celsus by his brilliancy, Lucien by his ridicule, Dioclitian by the power of the Roman Empvire, and thousands of others have tried it by this means and that, yet, “It shall stand in its beauty and its glory.” It has withstood the storms that bave covered the ocean of time ‘with shipwreck, it has outlived the myth- ology of Greece and seen the downfall of the Roman Empire. It has with- stood the attacks of ridicule and huf- foonery, the criticism of scientists, the intrigue of diplomacy, and the agonies of the Inquisition. It has stood the test of fifty-eight centuries; her trophies are the conquests of the nations, and her crown of glory the benediction of a thousand genera- tions; and as the ages come and go, she will abide, while the lamp of her glory, as the Pharos of the world, will burn and shine, “until Heaven’s last thunder shakes the world.” Cheering Influences. In the mountains of the Tyrol it is the custom of the women and the children to come out at the close cf day and sing. Their husbands, fath- ers and brothers answer them from the hills on the way homeward. On the shores of the Adriatic a similar custom prevails, the wives of the fishermen coming down to the beach about sunset and singing a melody. After singing the first stanza they listen for awhile for an answering melody from over the water, telling that the loved ones are almost home. Thus the weary fishermen are cheered by song when the task of the day, through its long continuance, is be- coming most burdensome. And so ever a cheery Christian praisefulness, a hearty cptimism, a burst of melody that floats over the waters of life, heartens up a toiler and makes all work or warfare light.—Ram’s Horn. Difficulties. I have known a brother wanting to go abroad to preach the gospel to the heathen, but a great many diffi- culties have been thrown in his way, and therefore he said: “I can see that I am not called to go.” Why not? Is no man called unless his way is easy? 1 should think myself all the more called to a service if I found obsta- cles in my way. The course in true service never did run smooth. 1I should say, ‘‘The devil is trying to hinder me, but I will do it in spite of all the devils in hell.” Will you al- ways be wanting to have your bread buttered on both sides? Must your road be graveled and smoothed with a garden roller? Are you a carpet knight, for whom there is to he no figntinz? You are not worthy to be a soldier of Jesus Christ at all if you look for ease.—C. H. Spurgeon. Opportunities. A fall is an opportunity to get up again. A disappointment opens the way to achievement. Many a man, overwhelmed with the sense of his own failures, and his own weakness, drops hopelessly down wherever he is, and wonders how his neignoor ever manages to keep up in the face of a startling variety of hard trials. He cannot see how it is that, when things look so dark in the affairs of that most singular neighbor, he goes about with a cheerful face and head erect. But the neighbor has:charac- ter that costs in the making, ard counts always for more than it costs. He has his hours of weariness and his momentary sinking of heart, but never overwhelmingly, for he trusts in God and does his very best.— Ram’s Horn. With God's Help. Wendell Phillips said that at the bazinning of his Christian life he asxed God that whenever a thing was wrong it might have no power of t«nptation over him, ani whenever a thing was right it might take no cour- as3to doit. "From that day to this,” he said later in life, "God has an- swered that prayer.” This, then, is eg chief reason why the name cf Wendell Phillips lives to-Zay. Iie was a man of strong will and that vill was for justice and righteous- ness, : ¢ The “Blues.” Can one help having the “blues?” Can one help having a bad temper? Certainly. Moods are subject to the will as any mental faculty, asserts a woman writer. The difference be- tween the successful, popular woman and the woman who, by her dis- agreeableness, drives everyone from her is simply the power of the for- mer to control her moods and her temper. : ro Fluffy Hair. To arrange the hair fluffily and yet securely is an art which few women possess. An infallible way of keeping the hair in position is this: Take a small strand at the middle® of the crown, a trifle higher or lower, according to the style re- quired, twist this closely and make it secure with hairpins, then brush and arrange the hair over this little knot. A strand of perhaps two iin- gers thickness should be used. It furnishes the solid something upon which to fasten the loose, wavy siu- perstructure and make it secure. School Girl Luncheon. It is important. It should be simple. It must be nutritious. It depends on the breakfast. After a big breakfast it may be light. After a hasty breakfast it should be carefully chosen. It takes a few years as a rule to turn a blooming girl into a sallow woman. The luncheon should consist of dainty sandwiches, half of brown or entire wheat bread, with—~meat or nuts and cheese, and fruit, or other nourishing, digestible food, and not of the crullers, cream puffs and other excuses for food which a girl is likely to buy.—Philadelphia Rec- ord. Her Home Like a Camp. On even the coldest days in the coming winter Mrs. William S. Cowles, sister of President Roose- velt, need exercise her imagination only a little to believe herself back in her camp in the Adirondacks on a July day. She is decorating her sit- ting room so that it will be as near- ly as possible a representation of a forest nook. It will have a dado of birch bark, and pipes, guns, huniing knives, alpenstocks and wooden drinking cups on the walls will heighten the effect. Bearskirs will be the rugs and the furnishings will be of rustic wood, innocent of paint. With balsam pillows giving an aro- matic odor and a few growing plants in the windows, one could imagine the room to be in the heart of the mountains, instead of in a steam- heated, electrically lighted house.— New York Press. Marriagedble Age. A woman's prospect of marriage is distinctly affected by age. The sta- tistics of all centuries show that the great majority of women marry be- tween the ages of twenty and thirty. Before reaching twenty a woman has of course a chance of matrimony, but the objections raised by the parents or friends to marriage at a tender age frequently outweighs the desire of the young woman to acquire a husband, and lead her to defer a wedding day. All statistics that have been gath- ered bear out the statement that a woman’s best chance to marry is at the age of twenty-five, that over six- tenths of the marriages take place between twenty and thirty, and con- tequently that a woman's chance in- creases up to twenty-five, and stead- ily decreases after that age until it reaches the vanishing point some- where about sixty. Out of 1000 mar- ried women 149 marry before the age of twenty, 680 between the age of twenty and thirty, 111 between thirty and forty, the women in the thirties not having so good a chance as the girl in ner teens; between the ages of forty and fifty the falling off is enormous, only forty-one in 1000 contracting an "alliance in that de- cade; while for the woman who has celebrated the scmi-centennial of her birth has only nineteen chances in 1600. Yankee Wives For Canada. “A Colonial” writes to the Lon- don (England) Spectator cailing at- tention to the fact that more men than women emigrate to Canada, and asking that the imperial and colonial governments do something to en- courage the colonization of PBritish woinen along with these men in the Dominion. The gist of his trouble is well expressed in the following paragraph: “The chances are that the major- ity of young bachelors from Britain will settle in those districts where whole families irom the United States are taking up wheat lands in the Northwest, and naturally it fol- lows that the young RBritisher will find his heipmate in a woman born under tne Stars and Stripes, and lit- tle likely to engraft into the being of her family the traditions of a united empire. Canadian women of British ancesiry are probably even more loyal to the British flag than are the women of the old land; their loyalty to the best traditions of Dngiish home life is proverbial, but Canadian women are a mere handful in that great West. It is a heterogeneous mass of womanhood from which the English emigrant to-day has to choose.” As for the fear that the intermar- riage of these British bachelors with American girls will lead to a national annexation, that is hardly worth the ink it takes to record it. These in- ternational alliances are quite as apt to work the other way. The British influence in the home has on its side existing political conditions and all the commercial and industrial forces which make of our people such well established imperialists, but if it were not for the intrusion of this British: element the home made up wholly of American settlers might be impervious to these influences. In any case if in the long run it does not appear to our people that they will be better off as British than as American, no amount of hereditary prejudice can keep them so, ,and this conviction for or against British con- nection will rest upon facts quite as apparent to the German, to the American or to any other foreigner as to the son of old Canada or of ald England.—Montreal Star. The Scientific Housckeeper. Housekeeping, which is the most natural occupation of women, and by far the most important, has been practiced by them without any scien- tific training, and, indeed, without suspecting that any was necessary, since the days when Eve catered to Adam’s comfort in the Garden of Eden. But now a change has come. Per- sons who are rich enough to hire a managing housekeeper desire to have one who is as carefully trained for the position as a lawyer or a minister is trained for his work. . This training must be obtained in special schools, of which there are several in the United States. Some of them, indeed, are not schools merely, but well equipped colleges, with a thorough course in domestic science of four years in length. If means permit it is well to take the full four years’ course. Tuition varies in the different schools and colleges, but $150 a year may be considered a fair estimate. Books will cost from $10 to $25. These items are, of course, exclusive of the cost of living. When this expense makes a four years’ course impossible, young women may prepare themselves ade- quately in special courses of two or three years; and it is even possible now to acquire in the classes of some of the Young Women’s Christian As- sociations, and such institutions as the Cooper Union or the Pratt Insti- tute, a knowledge of the science of housekeeping which is sufficient to secure a position. The “science of housskeeping’’ em- braces many things. The studies in- clude domestic architecture, with special reference to the arrangement of rooms and their equipment; sani- tary science; cooking, including the chemistry, cost and proper prepara- tion. of food; dietetics; household management; sewing; home nursing; sloid. And all these general subjects are subdivided into a multitude of subordinate branches. The schools which afford these courses make it a business to find cpenings for their graduates. The demands are of two kinds. One is from rich people with many servants who desire a competent per- son who can take all the responsibil- ity of conducting the house. The other Tesults from the necessity of having such persons at the head of poarding schools and many public in- stitutions. The duties vary with the kind of position which the house- keeper is called upon to fill. In a private house the houselzeeper hires, rays and discharges the ser. vants, usually decides upon the menu and orders the food, and the linen and kitchen utensils when they need replenishing. She must also assign the servants to their various duties, and see that those duties are properly performed. She inspects the plumb- ing at suitable intervals and super- vises the cleaning of the traps. If her training in sloid has been sufi- cient, she may even put up a shelf or mend a broken chair. In some families the hou eper is made ‘‘one of the family,” eating with the other members and having a rocm in the main portion of the house. In fami- lies where the social lines are more closely drawn, she will have her meals served in her room. The wages of a trained hous er’ range all the way from month—this, of course, in very sn families—to $3000 a year vate carriage—although of course, exceptional. 350 a month is an aver Whatever her earni are net, except f« T this, too, is, becomes 2 part i opportunity for cultivation and ward Williston Frent Companion, will receive 3 Academy of THE MARINER'S COMPASS, Where the Honor For Its Discovery Should Be Bestowed. We are indebted to a magazine published about seventy years ago for the following paragraph: “Much interest must forever attach to the discovery of the mariner’s compass and yet there are few subjects con- cerning which less is known. For a period the honor of the invention was ascribed to Gioia, a pilot or ship cap- tain, born at Pasitano, a small vil- lage situated near Malphi, or Amalfi, about the end of the thirteenth cen- tury. His claims, however, have been disputed. According to some, he did not invent, but improved it, and ac- cording to others he did neither. Much learning and labor have been bestowed upon the subject of the dis- covery. It has been maintained by one class that even the Phoenicians were the inventors; by another that the Greeks and Romans had a knowl- edge of it. Such notions, however, , have been completely refuted. One passage, nevertheless, of a very re- markable character occurs in the work of Cardinal de Vitty, bishop of Ptolemais, in Syria. He went to Palestine during the fourth crusade, about the year 1204; he returned af- terward to Europe and subsequently, went back to the Holy Land, where he wrote his work entitled ‘Historia Orientalis,” as nearly as can be de- termined, between the years 1215 and 1220. In chapter xci. of that work he has this singular passage: ‘The iron needle, after contact with the loadstone, constantly turns to the north star, which, as the axis of the firmament, remains immovable, while the others revolve; and hence it is essentially necessary to those navi- gating on the ocean.’ It is now settled beyond a doubt that the Chinese were acquainted with the compass long before the Eu- ropeans. It is certain that there are allusions to themagnetic needle in the traditionary period of Chinese his- tory, about 2600 years before Christ; and a still more credible account of it is found in the reign of Chingwang, of the Chow dynasty, before Christ 1114. All this, however, may be granted, without in the least impair- ing the just claims of Gioia to the gratitude of mankind. The truth appears to be this: the position of Gioia in relation to the compass was precisely that of Watt in relation to the steam engine—the element ex- isted, he augmented its utility. The compass used by the mariners in the Mediterranean during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries was a very uncertain and unsatisfactory appa- ratus. It consisted only of a mag- netic needle floating in a vase or basin by means of two straws on a bit of cork supporting it on the sur- face of the water. “The compass used by the Arab- fans in the thirteenth century was an instrument of exactly the same de- scription. But Gioia placed the mag- netized needle on a pivot, which per- mits it to turn to all sides with fa- cility. Afterward it was attached to a card, divided into thirty-two points, called Rose de Vents, and then the box containing it was suspended in such a manner that, however the ves- sel might be tossed, it would, always remain horizontal. The result of an investigation participated in by men of various nations, and possessing the highest degree of competency, may thus be stated: The discovery of the directive virtue of the magnet was made anterior to the time of Gioia. Before that period navigators, both in the Mediterranean and Indian seas, employed the magnetic needle, but Gioia, by his valuable improve- ment in the principle of suspension, is fully entitled to the honor of being considered the real inventor, in Eu- rope, of the compass as it now ex- ists.”’—London Electrical Engineer. Making Railroads Smoother. The fact that within the past twen- ty years two-thirds of the uneven- ness in railroad tracks has been done away with on certain lines was dis- cussed at a recent meeting of the American Academy of Sciences. The improvement has been brought about principally through new de- signs and methods of manufacture of rails. A “track indicator” car, traveling twenty or thirty miles an hour, sums up the inequalities, the ‘““‘ups and downs” in the rails for each mile traversed. Formerly the ‘‘total inequality” per mile amounted to six or seven fect, even for the best roads; now it has been reduced to only eighteen or twenty inches, and this remnant is said to be due to dents in the rails. It has been pointed out that the improvement, which may be carried farther, brings with it heavier loco- motives and cars, longer trains and higher speed. How Long Ostriches Live. Nothing is postively known as ta how long an ostrich will live. Some writers claim that it will live 100 years. Ostriches which are known ta have been in captivity for forty years are still breeding and producing feathers. It is the experience of Arizona farmers that among birds having good nutritious green feed deaths seldom occur, except as the result of accident. A dog or other small ani- mal will sometimes frighten ostriches and cause ti t which may When this h well be killed uch an i in a broken leg. zg, the bi socialistic -ournalism
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers