Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 November 1895 — Page 3

TALMAGE'S SERMON.

NEW LESSON FROM THE FEAST OF BELSHAZZAR. Welshed in the Balance and Found Wantins—The Suddenness of God’a Judgments-A Thought aa to the forma of Prayer—Look and Live. The Banquet of Sin. Since his going to Washington Dr. Talmage’s pulpit experience has been a remarkable one. Not only has the church in which he preaches been filled, but the audiences have overflowed into the adjoining streets to an extent that has rendered them impassable. Similar scenes were enacted at last Sunday’s services, when the preacher took for his subject, “Handwriting on the Wall,” the text chosen being Daniel v., 30, “In that night was Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans, slain.” Night was about to come down on Babylon. The shadows of her 250 towers began to lengthen. The Euphrates rolled on, touched by the fiery splendors of the setting sun, and gates of brass, burnished and glittering, opened and shut like doors of flame. The hanging gardens of Babylon, wet with the heavy dew, began to pour from starlit flowers and dripping leaf a fragrance for many miles around. The streets and squares were lighted for dance and frolic and promenade. The theaters and galleries of art invited the wealth and pomp and grandeur of the city to rare entertainments. Scenes of riot and wassail were mingled in every street, and godless mirth, and outrageous excess and splendid wickedness came to the king’s palace to do their mightiest deeds of darkness. A royal feast to-night at the king’s palace! Rushing up to th|> gates are chariots, upholstered with precious cloths from Dedan and drawn by fire-eyed horses from Togarina'h, that rear and neigh in the grasp of the charioteers, while a thousand lords dismount and women dressed in all the splendors of Syrinn emerald, and the color blending of agate, and the chasteness of coral, and the nomber glory of Tyrian purple, and princely embroideries brought from afar by camels across the desert and by ships of Tarshish across the sea. A Great Banquet. Open wide the gates and let the guests come in. The chamberlains and cupbearers are all ready. Hark to the rustle of the silks, and to the carol of the music! See the blaze of the jewels! Lift the banners. Fill the cups. Olap the cymbals. Blow the trumpets. Let the night go by with song and dance and ovation, and let that Babylonish tongue be palsied that will not say, “O King Belshazzar, live forever!” Ah, my friends, it was not any common banquet to which these great people came. All parts of the earth had sent their richest viands to that table. Brackets and chandeliers flashed their light upon tankards of burnished gold. Fruits, ripe and luscious, in baskets of silver, intwined with leaves, plucked from royal conservatories. Vases, inlaid with emerald and ridged with exquisite traceries, filled with nuts that were thrashed from forests of distant lauds. Wine brought from the royal vats, foaming in the decanters and bubbling in the chalices. Tufts of cassia and frankincense wafting their sweetness from wall and table. Gorgeous banners unfolding in the breeze that came the open window, bewitched . with the perfumes of hanging gardens. Fountains rising up from inclosures of Ivory, in jets of crystal, to fall in clattering1 Idin1 din of diamonds and pearls. Statues of mighty men loking down from niches in the wall upon crowns and shields brought from subdued empires. Idols of wonderful work standing on pedestals of precious stones. Embroideries stooping about the windows and wrapping pillars of cedar, and drifting on floor inlaid with ivory and agate. Music, mingling the thrum of harps, and the clash of cymbals, and the blast of trumpets in one wave of transport that went rippling along the wall and breathing among the garlands and pouring down the corridors and thrilling the souls of a thousand banqueters. The signal is given, and the lords and ladies, the mighty men and women of’the land, come around the table. Pour out the wine. Let foam and bubble kiss the rim! Hoist every one his cup and drink to the sentiment: “O King Belshazzar, live forever!” Bestarred head band and carcanet of royal beauty gleam to the uplifted chalices, as again and again and again they are emptied. Away with care from the palace! Tear royal dignity to tatters! Pour out more wine! Give us more light, wilder music, sweeter perfume! Lord shouts to lord, captain ogles to captain. Goblets clash; decanters rattle. There come in the obscene song, and the drunken hiccough, and the slavering lip and the guffaw of idiotic laughter, bursting from the lips of princes, flushed, reeling bloodshot; while mingling with it all I hear, “Huzza, huzza! for great Belshazzar!”

W hat is that on the plastering of the a Bpirit? Is it: a Phantom? Is it God? The music stops. The goblets fail from the nerveless grasp. There is a thrill. There is a start. There is a thousand voiced shriek of horror. Let Daniel be brought in to read that writing He comes in. He reads it—“ Weighed in the balance and found wanting.” A Warning. Meanwhile the Medes, who for two years had been laying siege to that city, took advantage of that carousal and came in. I hear the feet of the conquerors on the palace stairs. Massacre rushes iu with a thousand gleaming knives. Death bursts upon the scene, and I shut the door of that banqueting hall, for I do not want to look. There is nothing there but torn banners, and broken wreaths, and the slush of upset taukards, and the blood of murdered women and the kicked and tumbled carcass of a dead king. For “in that night was Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans, slain.” I go on to learn some lessons from all this. I learn that when God writes anything on the wall a man had better read it as it is. Daniel did not misinterpret or modify the handwriting on the wall. It is all foolishness to expect a minister of the gospel to preach always things that the people like or the people choose. Young men of Washington, what shall I preach to you to-night? Shall I tell you of the dignity of human nature? Shall I tell you of the wonders that our race has accomplished ? “Oh, no," you say. “Tell me She message that came from God.” I will. If there is any handwriting on the wall, it is this lesson: “Repent! Accept of Christ and be saved!” I might talk of a great many other things, but that is tho message, and I so declare it. Jesus never flattered those to whom he preached. He said to those who did wrong, and who were offensive in his sight, “Ye generation of vipers, ye white sepulchers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell!” Paul the apostle preached before a man who was not ready to hear him preach. What subject did he take? Did he say, “Oh, you are a good man. a very fine man, a very noble man?” No; he preached of righteousness to a man .who was unrighteous, of temperance to a man who was a victim of bad appetites, of judgment to come toA man who was unfit for it. So we must always declare the message that happens to come to us. Daniel must read it as it is. A minister preached before James I. of England, who was James VI. of Scotland. What subject did he take? The king was noted all over the world for being un-

settled and wavering in }iis ideas. What did the minister preach about to this man who was James I. of England and James VL of Scotland? He took for his text James L, G: “He that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.” Hugh Latimer offended the king by a sermon preached, and the king said, “Hugh Latimer, come and apologize.” “I will,” said Hugh Latimer. So the day was appointed, and the king's chapel was full of lords and dukes and the mighty men and women of the country, for Hugh Latimer was to apologize. He began his sermon by saying, “Hugh Latimer, bethink thee! Thou art in the presence of thine earthly king, who can destroy thy body. But bethink thee, Hugh Latimer, that thou art in the presence of the king of heaven and earth, who can destroy both body and soul in hell fire.” Then he preached with appalling directness at the king's crimes. The End of Sin. Another lesson that comes to us tonight: There is a great difference between the opening of the banquet of sin and its close. Young man, if you had looked in upon the banquet in the first few hours you would have wished you had been invited there, and could sit at the feast. “Oh, the grandeur of Belshazzar’s feast!” you would have said, but you look in at the close of the banquet and your blood curdles with horror. The king of terrors has there a ghastlier banquet; human blood is the wine and dying groans are the music. Sin has made itself a king in the earth. It has crowned itself. It has spread a banquet. It invites all the world to come to it. It has hung in its banqueting hall the spoils of all kingdoms, and the banners of all nations. It has gathered from all music. It has strewn, from its wealth, the tables and floors and arches. And yet how often is that banquet broken up, and how horrible is its end! Ever and anon there is a handwriting on the wall. A king falls. A great culprit is arrested. The knees of _ wickedness knock together. God’s judgment, like an armed host, breaks in upon the banquet, and that night is Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans, slain. Here is a young man who says: “I cannot see why they make such a fuss about the intoxicating cup. Why, it is exhilarating! It makes me feel well. I can talk better, think better, feel better. I cannot see why people have such a prejudice ogainst it.” A few years pass on, and be wakes up and finds himself in the clutches of an evil habit which he tries to break, but cannot, and he cries out, “O Lord God, help me!” It seems as though God would not hear his prayer, and in an agony of body and soul he cries out, “It biteth like a serpent and it stingeth like an adder.” How bright it was at the start! How black it was at the last! Here is a man who begins to read loose novels. “They are so charming,” he says. “I will go out and see for myself whether all these things are so.” He opens the gate of a sinful life. He goes in. A sinful sprite meets him with her wand. She waves her wand, and it is all enchantment. Why, it seems as if the angels of God had poured out vials of perfume in the atmosphere. As he walks on he finds the hills becoming more radiant with foliage and the ravines more resonant with the falling water. Oh, what a charming landscape he sees! But that sinful sprite, with her wand, meets him again. But now she reverses the wand, and all the enchantment is gone. The cup is full of poison. The fruit turns to ashes. All the leaves of the bower are forked tongues of hissing serpents. The flowing fountains fall back in a dead pool stenchful with corruption. The luring songs become curses and screams of demoniac laughter. Lost spirits gather about him and feel for his heart and beckon him on with “Hail, brother! Hail, blasted hail!” He comes to the front door where he entered and tries to push it back, but the door turns against him, and in the jar of that shutting door he hears these words, “This night is Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans, slam.” Sin may open bright as the morning. It ends dark as the night! Death at the Banquet. I learn further from this subject that death sometimes breaks in upon a banquet. Why did he not go down to the prisons in Babylon? There were people there that would like to have died. I suppose there were men and women in torture in that city who would have welcomed death, but he comes to the palace, and just at the time when the mirth is dashing to the tip-top pitch, death breaks in at the banquet. We have often seen the same thing illustrated. Here is a young man just come from college. He is kind. He is loving. He fs enthusiastic. He is eloquent. By one spring he may bound to heights toward which many men have been struggling for years. A profession opens before him. He is established in the law. His friends cheer him. Eminent men encourage him. After awhile you may see him standing in the American Senate, or moving a popular assemblage by his eloquence, as trees are moved in a whirlwind. Some night he retires early. A fever is on him. Delirium, like a reckless charioteer, seizes the reins of his intellect. Father and mother stand by and see the tides of his life going out to the great ocean. The banquet is coming to an end. The lights of thought and mirth and eloquence are being extinguished. The garlands are snatched from the brow. The vision is gone. Death at the banquet! We salv the same thing, on a larger scale, illustrated in our civil war. Our whole nation had been sitting at a national banquet—North, South, East and West. What grain was there but we grew it on our hills? What invention was there but our rivers must turn the new wheel and rattle the strange shuttle? What warm furs but our traders must bring them from the arctics? What fish but our nets must sweep them for the market? What music but it must sing in our halls? What eloquence but it must speak in our senates? Ho, to the national banquet, reaching from mountain to mountain and from sea to sea! To prepare that banquet the sheepfolds and the aviaries of the country sent their best treasures. The orchards piled up on the table their sweet fruits. The presses burst out with new wines. To sit at that table came the yeomanry of New Hampshire, and the lumbermen of Maine, and the Carolinian from the rice plantation, and the Western emigrant from the pines of Oregon, and we were all brothers—brothers at a banquet. Suddenly the feast ended. What meant those mounds thrown up at Chiokamauga, Shiloh, Atlanta, Gettysburg, South Mountain? What meant those golden grainfields, turned into a pasturing ground for cavalry horses? What meant the cornfields gullied with the wheels of the heavy supply train? Why those rivers of tears —those lakes of blood? God was angry! Justice must come. A handwriting on the wall! The nation had been weigtfed and found wanting. Darkness! Woe to the North! Woe to the South! Woe to the East! Woe to the West! Death at the banquet. Sudden Judgment. I have also to learn from the subject that the destruction of the vicious, and of those who despise God, will be very sudden. The wave of mirth had dashed to the highest point when the invading army broke through. It was unexpected. Suddenly, almost always, comes the doom of those who despise God and defy the laws of men. How was it at the deluge? Do you suppose it came through a long northeast storm, so that people for days before were sure it was coming? No. I suppose the morning was , bright; that calmness brooded on the waters; that beauty sat enthroned on the hills, whe*

suddenly the heavens burst, and the mountains sank like anchors into the see. that daShtel Hear over the Andes-and the Himalayas. The Red Sea was divided. The Egyptians tried to cross it There could be no danger. The Israelites , had just gone through. Where they had gone, why not the Egyptians? Oh, it was such a beautiful walking place! A pavement of tinged shells and pearls, and on either side two great walls of water —solid. There can be no danger. Forward, great host of tho Egyptians! Clap the cymbals and blow the trumpets of victory! After them! We will catch them yet, and they shall be destroyed. But the walls begin to tremble! They rock! They fall! The rushing waters! The shriek of drowning men! The swimming of the warhorses in vain for the shore! The strewing of the great host on the bottom of the sea or pitched by the angry waves on the beach—a battered, bruised and loathsome wreck! Suddeiily destruction came. One-half hour before they could not have believed it. Destroyed, and without remedy. I am just setting forth a fact which you have noticed as well as I. Ananias comes to the apostle. The apostle says, “Did you sell the land for bo much?” Ha' says, “Yes.” It was a lie. Dead, as quick as that! Sapphira, his wife, comes in. “Did you sell the land for so much?” “Yes.” It was a lie, and quick as that she was dead! God’s judgments are upon those who despise him and defy him. They come suddenly. A Simple Prayer. The destroying angel went through Egypt. Do you suppose that any of the people knew that he was coming? Did they bear the flap of his great wing? No! No! Suddenly, he came. Skilled sportsmen do not like to shoot n bird standing on a sprig near by. If they are skilled, they pride themselves on taking it on the wing, and they wait till it starts. Death is an old sportsman, and he loves to take men flying under the very sun. He loves to take them on the wing. Oh, flee to God this night! If there be one in this presence who has wandered far away from Christ, though he may not have heard the call of tho gospel for many a year, I invite him now ta come and be saved. Flee from thy sin! Flee to the stronghold of the gospel! Now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. Good nighty my young friends! May you have rosy-sleep, guarded by him who never slumbers! May you awake !n the morning strong and well! But, oh, art thou a despiser of God? Is this thy Inst night on earth? Shouldst thou be awakered in the night by something, thou kr.owest not what, and there be shadows floating in the room, and a handwriting on the wall, and you feel that your last hour is come, and there be a fainting at the heart, and a tremor iu the limb, and a catching of the breath— doom wc-uld be but an echo of the word of the telt, “In that night was Belshazzar, the f king of the Chaldeans, slain.” Oh, that my Lord Jesus would now make himself so attractive to your souls that you cannot resist him, and if you have never prayed before or have not prayed since those days when you knelt down at your mother’s kuee, then -that to-night you might pray, saying:

Just as I am, without one plea But that thy blood was shed for me And that thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come! Btit if you cannot think of so long a prayer as that I will give you a shorter prayer that you can say, “God be merciful to me, a sinner!” Or, if you cannot think of so long a prayer as that, I will give you a still shorter one that you may utter, “Lord save me, or I perish!” Or, if thaLjje too long a prayer, you need not make it. Use the word “Help!” Or, if that tie too long a word, you need not use any word at all. Just look and live!

chief’s Advice to a Reporter.

Chief Swenie, though sometimes brusque In manner, especially when wrestling with a “4-11” alarm, is in fact kind at heart and has often shown great consideration and forbearance for newspaper reporters under circumstances that would try the most affable temper. An instance illustrating this trait of the great fire chief happened many years ago when a reporter, new entitled to rank as an “old-timer,” and who had recently come to Chicago, found himself assigned to his first big fire. The blaze was in a large downtown business block and when the reporter got there the building was a glowing furnace from basement to roof. Chief Swenie was at the front, moving rapidly up and down the street directing the work, when the guileless reporter stepped up to him and said: “Mr. Swenie, what do you think the loss will ”

“What the ” The chief was about to say something vigorous, but he stopped abruptly and In a quiet voice asked: “New reporter, eh?” “Yes, sir.” “Been in town long?” “Two weeks.” “First fire?” “Yes.” “I thought so. Well, I’ll give you a pointer—never ask me any questions when I am so busy as I am now. When I get this thing checked come to me and I’ll give you all the information I can. Play away, seventeen!” The reporter has met Chief Swenie at many fires since then. He has never forgotten the “pointer” nor failed to observe it, and he has never tackled the chief after the blaze was under control that he did not get all the hearing he desired. On conspicuous characteristic of Chief Swenie, and one which reporters are well aware of. Is his ability to accurately judge a fire loss. Whenever he is asked the question, “What Is the loss, chief?" he strokes his beard and answers, “Well, I guess it’s about so and so,” and a comparison with the subsequent insurance adjustment will show that “so and so” is about right— Chicago Chronicle.

Transpiration Through Clothing.

It is absolutely essential to health that the emanations from the skin pass easily through the clothing. This—which Is called “transpiration”—may be interfered with by an excess of clothing or by clothing of a very close texture. All who wear India rubber coats know how uncomfortable they are after they have been on a short time. Ordinarily proper clothing will not prevent transpiration, but an excess will interfere with it, and where too much clothing is worn it soon becomes foul, because the outside air cannot freely mingle with the gases from the body aud dilute them. Some wear the thickest and heaviest undervests which they can buy, and such people are generally the victims of frequent colds. Following the rule of light clothing they would be much safer from tha danger of exposure were they to wear two light undervests instead of one vary thick and heavy.

TIMELY FARM TOPICS.

MANAGEMENT OF THE FARM, GARDEN AND STABLE. A Combined Granary and Corn Crib— Boarding Farm Help Annoya the Wife—To Prepare Next Year’a Garden—A Fence for Bnow Drifts. An Important Farm Building. Among the buildings needful to the farmer and yet of which there are comparatively few in existence are those for storing grain. The chief reason why more of these are not built seems to be that frequently the amount of grain raised is not sufficient to justify much of an outlay for this purpose, as the corn crop can be stored in cheaper cribs. A building which can be used both as a corn crib and for the storage of small grain should do away with this objection. In our illustration we present a substantial structure which, if properly erected, will answer a number of purposes. The unusual size of the 1895 corn crop means that something must be done for its shelter and the above plan Is submitted to the careful consideration of corn growers. It may be enlarged or elongated as needed. The building consists of two long cribs or bins with a wide driveway be-

A GRANARY AND CORN CRIB.

tween them. The width Is 26 feet, which is very convenient, as It allows n width of 8 feet for each bin and 10 feet for the driveway. The length, of course, may vary according to the means and needs of the builder, the one shown In the Illustration being 32 feet long. Tho height of tho corner posts should be from 10 to 12 feet, depending somewhat upon whether It Is desired to use the space above the bins and driveway for storing implements, etc. In order that the building may bo used for storing wheat and oats as well as corn, it is tided as tightly ns may bo with ordinary 12-inch siding. However, the sides of the bins next to the driveway Instead of being made tifht are simply fixed for holding ear corn, being sided with 4-inch strips nailed on the outside of the studding. The strips are placed several inches apart Several narrow doorways lead from each bin to the driveway. The driveway Is closed with large double sl'ldlng-doors. Good strong bridges lead up to the doors so that a loaded wagon can be drawn In without difficulty. Tho building Is roofed with shingles.—Farm and Home.

Boarders on the Farm. I was reading an article not long since upon “Farmers, should provide separate cottages for their hired men," Which, I think, deserves more than a passing thought The writer said: “Do merchants generally board their clerks? Do manufacturers usually impose upon their wives and daughters the necessity of furnishing meals and beds for their begrimed and sweaty laborers from forge and loom, of serving them at table with their food and sharing their company at the fireside? Why should the wives and daughters of farmers be expected to do this? And' so long as such a burden Is laid upon them, Is It strange that farmers’ sons rebel against their lot and seek tho city, and farmers’ daughters set their caps for clerks, mechanics, tailors, speculators—anybody but their school-’ mates? The Introduction of hired men Into the household destroys the family relation. The farmhouse becomes a boarding house, in which the husband Is steward, the wife cook and the workmen boarders. The employed become the served, and the employers servants. No well-bred woman can tolerate such a condition of things unless her ambition is crushed."

Water for the Stock. If possible, there should be a plentiful supply of water for winter. Tho nearer to the barn this can be located the better It will be. Whether It shall be In the stables will best be determined by the owner. Since the tuberculosis, it is thought by many to be safer and better to have It outside the stables. But, If out of doors, It should be well protected from the weather. The stock should have as comfortable a place In which to drink In Inclement weather as It Is possible to furnish. Whether water shall be warmed artificially will depend on circumstances. If there Is a good stream of water that does not freeze, there will be little necessity for warming, but If the supply is so small that It cannot otherwise be kept from freezing In ordinarily cold weather, then It will be found profitable to warm it Filling in Ditches and Holes. Deep ditches and holes caused by grading and excavating for other purposes are common on both sides of many country roads. Years ago deep ditches were necessary to carry off surplus water. With the common use of tile these are now superfluous, and should be leveled as much as possible/ so that the roadside can be, mowed readily with a machine. In a few instances it may be best to leave a shallow ditch, but have Its sides slope gradually. Seed all the roadsides to grass. They will then have to be cut but once each season, and will yield considerable hay, Instead of being a hotbed for weed seed production. Sour Apples and Corn. Hogs that are fattened should not have sour apples, unless they have first been cooked. This is especially true of hogs that are fed corn in the ear. The acid in the fruit makes the hogs’ mouths tender, and biting-off the corn makes them sore, so that they eat with dlfflcultj. We have seen hogs fed tiius that actually grew poorer with food before them all the time. Sour apples are not easily digestible, and they with help to produce acid stomachs, which increases the trouble with the hogs’ mouths. Buckwheat to Clean Land. ~—~ There are several reasons why the buckwheat crop is a good one to destroy weeds. It requires plowing and fitting the land at midsummer, when weeds *re most easily killed by plowing. It

grows so rapidly that It very quickly covers the surface soil, shading it so that few weeds can start under ha broad leaves. It-1$ equally good to rid land of Insect enemies. Wire and cnt worms find its roots distasteful to them, and for land that is filled with the wire worm two crops of buckwheat will rid It of most of them. Yet for all this buckwheat is not »a popular crop with neat farmers. Its habit of seeding the ground with buckwheat, which will appear in the next grain crop, makes It a troublesome weed, though as it is only an annual one year suffices to get rid of it Dangers of Inbreeding. There are some poultry keeper? w’ho inbreed their docks from year to year, and say it is not injurious. Why should it not be dangerous in fowls when it is in the human race and in stock of all kinds? Why is it that a new breed generally claims that it is unusually hardy ? Is It not from the fact that new blood has been infused to make it? Are not new breeds the results of experiments in crossing? And is not crossing the uniting of two distinct bloods? All these matter need serious consideration, says Farm Poultry. Aud when we are told by men who have made the matter a study that inbreeding is a constitutional danger, is it not time to bo on the lookout? If wo breed from strictly hardy parents, and if we change blood in the males every year or two, we can get up a strain of fowls that wIH replace the stock we so often get from the yards of the noted fanciers. We are becoming better acquainted with this fact each season. Next Year’s Garden. It does not pay to# wait until spring to begin the garden./The manuring and much of the fitting of the soil can ho best done in the fall. If coarse manure is used plow the garden and apply the manure after plowing on the surface. If warm weather follows heavy rains plow the garden a second time and turn the manure under. This will insure a more thorough pulverization of the soil by frost, the coarse manure at the bottom of tho furrow holding the soil up so that the frost can get into it more effectively. Towards spring an application of commercial fertilizers mixed with the surface soil will fit it for producing any garden crop. Ground Wheat for Cows. Ground wheat for cows is not a Judicious ration. The experience ofthe best feeders in the central West, confirmed by tests at the Illinois experiment station, shows that better results aro obtained from feeding bran and middlings than from the pure wheat Even with the most careful of feeders, the animal is very apt to be overfed and turned against the pure wheat feed. Appetite for a pure wheat ration varies to such an extent that it Is almost Impossible to fix a stated amount of feed that an animal will eat and relish every day. If It must be fed, give tlie cow only what she will eat up clean. Fences that Cause Snowdrifts. Many of the snowdrifts that give trouble in winter are caused by fences whoso presence Is necessary at other seasons of tho year. l/aylng a short section of such fences down in winter Is possible by using some such construction as is shown in tins accompanying Illustration. A prop on either side of such a fence, tacked to the upright, will hold the piece of fence in position dur-

CAN BE LAID FLAT.

lng the summer. When the snow comes these props can be taken away nnd the fence laid Hal: on the ground. Hundreds of dollars are spent every winter cutting roads through drifts that aro caused solely by a few rods of fence that catches and holds the drifting snow, while many paths about the farm house and yard require much extra labor in winter because of some piece of fence that might be thus laid flat. Save the Small Potatoea. Although potatoes are now and aro likely to be very cheep, It will pay to save the small ones to cook and feed to pigs in the winter mixed with other roots and some grain meal, ybls will make a more rapid and healthful growth than will a diet of grain alone. Cooked potatoes are also a good food for poultry in winter, though it will need wheat or cut bono to make a ration for egg production. The potato has Its nutritive value chiefly in making beat and fat, as it is mainly composed of carbon.

Phosphate Slag. A valuable source of phosphoric acid is a by-product of steel manufacture known as Thomas slag or odorless phosphate. It contains about twenty per cent of insoluble phosphoric acid, but the finely ground particles are quickly acted upon by the acids of soil, and the plant food soon becomes soluble. At four and one-half cents per pound, the phosphoric acid in slag Is worth about sl9 to the ton. Batter Fat. The statement that the per cent of butter fat cannot b« changed by feeding does not imply that tbe general quality of tbe milk Is also fixed by the make-up of the cow independent of the food. Many things will Impart a bad flavor to milk, as all farmers know by experience, and, on the other hand, the general flavbr can be Improved by feeding plenty of English hay and cornmeal. Feeding Steers. Tbe Cfhlo station says that the same amount of dry matter fed to steers has produced about three times as much live weight as it produced butter fat when fed to cows in the same quantity afid kind. Thus, when a pound of butter fat is worth three times as much as a pound of live meat, the profits are about equal, not counting the cost of butter. Pymtem in Dairying. The man who Imagines dairying Is an easy Job will be disappointed when he tries it It requires system, thought, industry aud determination to succeed at dairying.

ARE MAKING THREATS

REPUBLICANS WOULD REPLACE M'KINLEY DUTIES. This Causes Wooten Manufacturers to Hesitate to Make Improvements— High Tariff Advocates Form a Conspiracy of Misrepresentation. G. O. P. Plana Outlined. It la the purpose of the Republican leaders to pass in the House at the coming session of Congress a bill restoring tlie duties ou wool. They hope to procure the passage of such a bill in the Senate also, and thus to invite a veto from the President lu this way the question as to a tax on wool, the manufacturers' raw material, is to be kept open for two years to come, with the understanding that the Republicans, if tbey shall obtain control of legislation in 181)7, will restore the high McKinley tax, or even impose a tux greater than that which was repealed a year ago. What may be the effect of this agitation and this policy upon the domestic woolfen industry? After tlie tax on raw material was removed, it became expedient for the manufacturer, who could for the first time freely select from aud blend the varying wools of the world, to adapt his machinery and methods to the new conditions, in order that he might compete advantageously with the products of foreign manufacturers who had for many years enjoyed the freedom which had been withheld from him. Some domestic manufacturers have made tlie required Improvements; others are beginning to make them; others have been Intending to make similar changes. The work of Improvement was delayed by the condition of business during tlie first six mouths of the new law. With respect to these changes, the American Wool and Cotton Reporter said last week, in an article relating to the growing popularity of worsted fabrics and the displacement of carded woolens by low-priced worsted goods: .1 “Old-fnsliloned wooled manufacturers are being dully superseded by.manufacturers whose thills aro equipped with the best and latest Improved machinery. Several changes among the mills which have been reported during the past few weeks have served to accentuate this point, and others are pending which will illustrate more conclusively than ever the evolution of the worsted manufacturer." But if the manufacturers shall become convinced that there Is to hang over 'them throughout the next two years the danger of the restoration of the old tax on their raw material—a tax which, 1n the fiscal years 1808 and 1801 was, on clothing wool, equivalent to 59% per cent.—and that tlie policy of tlie Republican party is to restore that tax, or to Impose even a larger one, If it shall obtain control of the law-making power in 1897, will not this tendency to lake advantage of the freedom now enjoyed by improving antiquated plants be discouraged or effectively repressed? There will lie no sense of security, no feeling ou the part of the manufacturer that he can invest his money safely on a busts of free raw material. He limy become the innocent victim of vindictive partisan politics. Who will he clearly responsible for his discouragement, If he shall be discouraged, for the repression of growing activity In the woolen Industry, and the obstruction of progress, If there shall he repression and obstruction? Undoubtedly tho Republican leaders, If they shall persist In the policy now foreshadowed, for tlie support of which there lias been formed a conspiracy of misrepresentation. The industry Is not In n condition of “deplorable depression" at the present time, although these conspirators suy it is, but their purpose is to bring about such a condition if this end can be accomplished by tlie policy which they lmve undertaken to support, and, if possible, to carry into effect.—New York Times .

Alger Cglln McKinley Down. Gen. Russell A’. Alger, of Michigan, one of tlie leading Republicans of tlie West, was recently interviewed on the issues of next year’s presidential campaign. He said: “It is generally understood that the Republican party once in power will revise the tariff. I don’t mean by revising tho tariff that we shall go back to the extreme measures of the past.” This declaration by au eminent Republican is evidence that the sentiment of his party in the West is opposed to a restoration of McKinleylsm. When Gen. Alger denies that If the Republicans are successful next year they will go back to the extreme measures of the past, he Is, of course, referring to the late unlamented McKinley tariff, which Is very ranch of the past. Bdt why this refusal to revive the high protection corpse? If extreme measures were good five years ago, surely they are good to-day. Have not the monopolies which paid for class legislation in their behalf in 1890, Just as strong claims as ever on the men and party which they bought? Does not Gen. Alger know that the protectionists want not merely extreme measures like the McKinley tariff, but laws which shall be prohibitive of all imports, as that tariff prohibited many articles? The difficulty in which Gen. Alger finds himself is that of many Western Republicans. They advocate tariff revision, but are afraid to say that they want another McKinley law. They know that the people of the West want no more high protection. They are ashamed to admit that tlie Wilson tariff is working well, aud so take refuge In vague declarations against extreme measures. But their trimming and evasion will not help them. The contest next year will be between the forces of tariff reform and of trade prohibition.' There will be no room in the Republican party for moderate protectioliists, nnd they will be compelled to either become Democrats or to join the worshipers of tlie McKinley idol. The Benefits of Foreign Trade. The Reading Stove Works have just sent a large consignment of wood burning stoves to Australia, and are busily engaged in filling another larger order of the same sort for Cape Town, Africa. During the debate on the McKinley bill It was contemptuously asked by a high protectionist, venting his fine scorn of foreign markets: “What’s abroad to

us?” Such trade Items as the Above show that “abroad” can be a good ileal to m; It can be breed and bntfer to the moulders of our State; and It can. be vastly more under the (rear conditions which our foreign commerce now enjoys.—Philadelphia Record. We Uxport Manufactures Now. The new tariff act has already, it seems, fulfilled to some extent the expectations of tariff reformers, as is indicated by the official returns of exports of manufactures in August last and in the eight months ended with August. The figures show that with free raw materials we are fast adding a foreign market to the home market protectionists value so highly and wish so resolutely to prey upon. The exports of manufactures in August were worth $19,050,1)24, u gain of $2,800,000 over August, 1594. In the eight months ended with August the total of exported manufactures was $129,440,884, a gain of $11,890,723 over the like period of 1594. If the rate of gain indicated is kept up during the calendar year there will have beou an increase of $17,000,000 lu exports of manufactures, or largely In excess of the record of any preceding year in our history. It would be $117,000,000 greater than the like exports in 1892 and 1893, when the McKinley act was in force. Our workmen get employment In manufacturing for foreign countries, and the demand for their labor and their wages are increased by this inroad into foreign markets. The protectionist policy Is one of abstention from foreign markets. Tlie wish is to control tlie home market, where wages can he dictated to workmen and prices to consumers. But tho Democratic policy is to add to the employment gotten lu manufacturing for the home market, tlie employment to be had in manufacturing for the foreign market. Free raw materials enable us to tnnke tilts addition, nnd the increased exports of manufactures lu August and preceding months show that we are doing it.—Baltimore Sun. Our “Ruined” Tin Plate Industry. According to the hired organs of monopoly the business interests of the country are in a terrible condition, all ou account of losing their dear McKinley tariff. Except inadvertently in their news columns the Republican papers never admit that industry is nourishing, or that 1) until ess is any better than . during tlie years of the McKinley panic. Even the official statlstiU's of trade and manufacturing are Hiqipressed by these newaiMLpera, which fear lest their readers may discover that tlie reduction of the tariff lias been followed by a general business revival. As nn Instance, the report of Special Treasury Agent Ayer on the tin plate Industry In tho United States for the year ending June 30, 1895, has beeu practically ignored by the protectionist press. Tlie report states that the production of commercial tin and ternc plates was 193,801,073 pounds, against 139,223,4*17 pounds for the preceding year, nn increase of about 89 per cent. Of this 100,570,934 pounds, or about 83 per cent., were made from sheets rolled in the United States, against about 02 per cent, made from such sheets during tlie preceding year. Forty-eight firms were producing during tho lust quurter of the fisenl year, against forty for tlie same period of 1894. Tlie number of rolling mills for rolling black plates completed on' June 30, 1895, was 144, ugulnst 71 on the corresponding date of 1894. This is a splendid year’s record for an industry on which the McKinley duties were reduced nearly 50 per cent, by the Wilson tariff. No wonder that tlie Republican papers are trying to conceal tho facts about tin plate. The Taxation of fleer. Tlie proposition to provide for any deficiency In public revenues which may arise through the failure of the Income tax to become operative, by tlie imposition of an additional tax of one dollar on each barrel of beer, is vigorously opposed by the protectionist organs. Tin* same spirit which prompted the McKinleyltes of 1890 to Increase tlie duties on articles of necessity for the people, rather than to raise the tax on whisky, now leads them to declare against a tax on a luxury which would easily be borne by its consumers. They tear that with higher taxes on beer they would have no excuse for agitating for a restoration of McKinleylsm, and are therefore urging the Republican members of Congress to oppose nil measures for increased internal revenue taxation. The attitude of the Republican press on the question of providing additional revenues shows clearly the hypocrisy of the professional protectionists. There can be no question that between tariff taxes on articles of general consumption and internal revenue taxes on whisky, beer, etc., the latter would bear less heavily on tlie great majority of the American people. Yet bemuse of their blind faith In ! the benefits of high tariff walls, the Republicans reject the better tax and will do all In their power to restore the McKinley tariff on food, clothing, and other necessities. Testimony to Democratic Prosperity. Under the heading, “Boom In the Mill Centers,” the New York Tribune, a leading protectionist organ, says: “Two features of the cotton market that attract attention are the great activity, positively amounting to a boom, in the American mill centers, and the strength of spot markets in the Squth. This telegram came from Fall River yesterday: ‘Sales of goods tremendous, being 401,000 pieces for the week. Market firm. Stock reduced.’ ” Now let us all weep over the ruined cotton Industry, wrecked by the wicked Wilson tariff. Carnegie’s Contracts. Andrew Carnegie appears to have known what he was talking about when he said that our iron mills needed high protection no longer. His company has just accepted an order for 1,100 tons of ship armor for the Russian government. In thus demonstrating the ability of American, manufacturers to compete successfully with the “pauper labor” of Europe in its own market Mr. Carnegie has invited a fresh dose of abuse from the McKinley newspapers.—New York World. i . Smoke that Offends Republicans. The iron furnaces of the United States are now turning out 50,000 tons a week more than their weekly output last October. John Sherman should make a note of this.—Boston Herald.