Ligonier Banner., Volume 30, Number 41, Ligonier, Noble County, 16 January 1896 — Page 3

e e 8 L WonArlast N RSP ET T&) R §£iNg\ o \_, Q A P ! AP TP lID ; o LN e Y « ’/,f‘s-’ \.< ' ‘)’ ; ( . : 4 =2 COPYRIGHT 95 w=¥ & CHAPTER XIL : FAINTING BY THE WAYSIDE. ; The weeks {1 lew rapidly by. ~ The merchants of the city presented Nellie Harland with. a purse of five hundred dollars. George was on a fair ‘way to recovery. Alice had secured a position in a store, where her lithe step and laughing eyes bore testimony to a ~ontented spirit that rejoices in a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work, and even Joe Ilenderson was hoping to re‘deem the . future, and all’ but Frank Grey were happy. Times were not prosperous with him. Spring succeeded winter, yet hefxad secured no permanent employment, while the fees he had received for desultory contributions to the journals and magazines had been so small that he was obliged to draw on his little capital till the end of his resources was unpleasantly close at hand. . “Literature,” sneered the eccentric Bailey in his forcible style, when one day Frank met him in his rambles, ‘‘is a tolerable cane, but an infernally unreliable crutch.” Now necessity has no laws. The world did not want his services, save in one way, and that the most -ob-. noxious tohim. He must once more turn schoolmaster, the only profession in the states which scems always to offer a chance of employment to the impecunious, who stay in‘it, in nine cases out of ten, just as short a time as necessity compels them to do so. , C His new field of labor—for he soon found a position—was a village a hundred miles from the city amid the rich, rolling prairles of Illinois. He had been down to the place to interview successfully the school anthor{ties, and was returning to Chicago to spend the last few days of freedom before taking possession of his new incumbency. The railroad car was crowded. He found himself seated beside an oldish man, dressed in a shabby suit of black —a man who looked as though he had seen better days: His features, strongly marked, were ashy pale, and his lips occasionally twitched convulsively. “Are you sick, sir?” Grey asked. He was startled by the short, nervous reply: ‘‘Get me out of the train, or I shall diel” * Grey at once alarmed the conductor, who vainly sought a physician among the passengers, while the growing pallor in the sufferer’s face threatened a serious end to the adventure. ‘“We stop at. Princeton next. If some one would only see him to the hotel he may have a chance,” the conductor suggested. » Grey at once volunteered his services. - “*lf you choose to stop and take care of your sick friend,” the proprietress of ; the hotel declared, ‘he may remain; but our hotel’s no hospital, no\}- I ain’t no nurse.” ko Common humanity demanded- that Grey should see the sufferer at any rate through the night, though he thought ruefully of the additional expense he was encountering, for he felt assured that the old fellow would have to be his debtor for all outlay. Colic the doctor called it—that common pestilence of the western states—but sharp remedies prevailed, “and towards morning the patient dozed into a slight, grateful slumbe>. | “I am better,” he gasped on waking. “Of course you are,” Grey responded cheerfully. ‘“Youll be on your legs | again in no time.” : ‘ ‘ “But, you will not leave me yet?” * “Why, yes, I must be going soon.” “Don’t go. Stay a little.” | ‘“Well, we’ll see. Now don’t worry | yourself about trifles. I'm not very flush myself, but I can find enough to see you through this little trouble. I’ll ‘ settle the bill here before I go.” | - This seemed to pacify the sick man, for he grew rapidly better, and before noon was talking as gliblyas though he had never been sick, astounding Grey with his terse remarks. Nay, the young fellow, to his own amazement, found himself chattering ower his own adventures in Chicago, partly with a view of diverting his listener and partly because he was_glad to get a congenial spirit to talk to. . : In fact, the old gentleman picked up so immensely that it was decided that

\@S:} : = l¢ >0 gﬁ 'j, *\\\\%g?f.y‘/ I //ﬂ \ ""P ib A mw‘.“'/ 4 A N = “‘ e ¢ - il Al 18 1, o AN -%ra b \\‘!" A ;‘&"\ ‘ 1| —:—-—"" = St ! 1 [z el s, S\ 0 AR ~ 1 /’&%' ’;7 bR ! pou 11111 AN AN ‘ 7','7?',};"!:@24; T R Ly oy =- SN 77/ A YOUNG WOMAN SPRANG TO HIS SIDE. Frank should-continue his journey on the midnight mail, leaving the man he had played the Samaritan to to follow at his leisure. “I have some little influence in Buffalo, where I live. Give me your address; who knows what may turn up?” Grey, with an amused smile, Wrote,‘ the number of his street in his friend’s pocketbook as desired, little dreaming that he would ever hear anything of the dear old fellow again. And, having thus done his duty, he paid the botel bill and left the place. _ Four days afterwards he received a letter from the Western New York Rolling Mill company, offering him the position of assistant secretary, at a salary of éightéen hundred dollars a year, and by the same mail a sweet, womanly letter, dated from Prospect street, Buffalo, in which the writer thanked him warmly for his kindness to her husband, and added: “He has been fortunate enough to secure for you the. offer of an appointment; which, though uot very great, is likely 6be a step-ping-stone to something better. It is Beedil thet you hanld be. here forthe Mt‘ ivw o ,""l‘» } ;{u ey 2y :'a‘fa;‘ww ‘J» g

next, when, tn my husband's absence from home, I will meet you at the station. Mr. Woodgrove hopes that, for the present, you will make our house your home. We are plain, simple people, but will do our best to make you comfortable. Reply at once, and oblige your cordial friend, ' ; “Dorory WOODGROVE.” .'These wonderful letters Frank Grey ‘read as in a dream. o ““How the dickens,” he mused, ‘‘could that seedy old fellow have wrought the miracle? It only corroborates my suspicions that he bas seen better days,’ and though broken in fortune has pow--erful friends whom he has importuned in my behalf. As for going to their house, that is all right, they doubtless i want a lodger, and I will try and be a | liberal one.” v : ~ The union depot at Buffalo is a big ' rambling building, which when thronged with hundreds of bustling people pouring forth from trains from every point of the compass, presents a broad field for the search of an unknown person, : ~ Grey took in the absurdity of his position for the first time. How could he recognize Mrs. Woodgrove? Well, he would hunt for a genteel old lady in faded black, who, like her husband, bore the sad insignia of decayed prosperity, but he searched in vain. | - *Suddenly he came face to face with an elderly gentlewoman, richly dressed i sealskins and silks. A sweet, gentle face, crowned with braided gray hair, looked pleasantly up into his and a well gloved hand was stretched forth toward him. “Mr. Grey, of Chicago?” a pleasant voice asked. : : “Yes, madam,” Frank stammered. “And you?” i : ! “Mrs. Woodgrove,” she replled, shaking his hand heartily. *“I am indeed S } : @/ cg?;’ X = i o ‘]\‘] V'l'ugﬁ.‘lh‘ﬁ" sAT // ;% {h ' = n | =125 e CEr = W TR eI 2] y) e Ko RN i R RSN V 0 (AT ':, ‘ Alinnnee §LN e ;:-\s:fr, q"”“ (rq‘! l*l \\“}}’\ GNENY ’Q}.{rlf'ff \ ‘\\\\\ il N QU R o= e, ) lit \ & !/’\\\ "‘/5 GRNN TR Them Ik~ | N'ﬁg\.\ ! 1 l 11, |m\= ‘-\/ RAIGt il | Ry ‘“MR. GREY, OF CIICAGO?” glad to see you; come straight to my carriage; give your checks to the coachman, and he will attend to your baggage.” , Cinderella riding in her pumpkin carriage behind her rat horses was not in such a whirl of astonishment as Grey when he found himself bowling along behind a pair of high-stepping bays up the ﬁnest avenue of Buffalo. And what a home! A fine stone-front mansion standing in spacious grounds with all the luxurious surroundings that wealth could accomplish, “Now,” said this gracious lady, when they were indoors, ‘“I want you really to feel that you have come home.” 7 ‘““You are too kind.” The poor, friendless fellow cculd not keep back the tear from his eye. ““We are an old childless couple,” she continued, *‘and you were so good to my Marcus, the best husband woman ever had. Ile says again and again that if it had not been for you he would have died. Oh!” she added, earnestly, ‘‘you do not know how precious a life you saved.” : ‘“Really, my dear lady, you exaggerate my services,” Grey remonstrated, feeling really uncomfortable at the warmth of her gratitude. “I would have done for anyone else what—" *“Oh, yes; I know you would. That is just it. Now, tell me, are your parents living?” “No; they are dead.” ‘““Your relations?” ~“I bave none—at least none who have ever acknowledged me, and, as they are rich and I am poor, I suppose I may say that I am quite alone in the world.” : *“The old story,” she sighed. I graduated at an eastern college, then drifted west.” . ‘“‘And none to love you?” : “No relation.” | *Ah, I understand—nay, do not 4 blush, though the color is very becoming to your cheeks. Now, Mr. Grey, I { wanted to ask a favor of you.” | ~ ““Be assured it will be granted.” | “I want you to try hard to love me just one little bit.” | “No need to try, dear Mrs. Woodgrove; no one could be in the same house with you and not love you.” | ““That is very prettily spoken, Mr. Grey, so I will reward your gallantry by dismissing you to your own chamber till we meet at lunch.” 0 The first thing Grey did when he found himself in the solitude of his room was to write a long/letter to Jack fVVilder.s, a pleasure he had denied himself during his long disappointments in Chicago—for now with a clear conscience he could beg the honest pros‘pector to tell him all the news of Oretown. : Little did he think that while he was basking in the sun of prosperity, the cold clouds of trouble were hanging over the head of the girl he loved dearer than life itgelf. " = = i CHAPTER XIIL , .! ELSIE SURPRISES EVERYBODY. ~ You may be sure tHere was a pretty ‘commotion outside the pit-mouth, when Jack and Elsie were brought to the surface. Millie was there, pale as -ashes, but tearless and full of resolution. Mrs. Whitford and a score of _other women were ready at hand with _theirservices; for, alas, frequent aceci~dent had familiarized the women folk -to sights of suffering, as the clang of -the ambulance bell was.often heard in - Elsie was carricd home, where she ‘lay on a sofa propped wlthﬁi’lééws,un‘dergoing a cross-examination by her foster parents, while Archibald Dodd stood glowering in the background, gmewﬂﬂnfwtmwgﬁwﬁém»w 1y but with ﬁg; ﬁ;‘ of ogéﬁwﬁﬂ‘ﬁ not m‘fya,' twwhe '} SRSR S AN eee B e N ohs o 00l sIR N R sel PR e L TDS U e

into Dodd’s eyes, she sald with a Icau ing that he could understand: : *I cannot say that I recognized him.” ~ “This man was joined by another--a tall, slouching person, who talked with him for several minutes.” Dodd asked gently: ~“You heard what they said, dear child?” : “Every word.” SGAh!” > “Yes. Their conversation divulged a plot to murder Wilders by sending him on a fool’s errand down into the bottom of the mine, where one of them, hired to do it by the other, had half cut into the rungs of the lowest ladder.”. “The dastardly villains!” cried the corporal, now keenly interested. ¢ Well, what then, lass?” ; ~ ‘‘Oh, yuu've heard the rest. I went down to him and I suppose I saved his life.” ‘ ‘“‘And a brave lass thou art,” the corporal cried, exultingly. ‘The whole country will be talking o’ thy pluck.” Then Dodd said very significantly: ‘“‘Brave—and what is better than brave —wise. The maiden has shown a discretion beyond her years.” Though she resolved as a matter of policy to hide Dodd’s share of the crime, Elsie made up her mind that it would be impossible to remain under the same roof with him; so in: the -course of a couple of days she announced to her mother an intention of visiting the Wilders’ to take care of their little boy, whilst Millie was nursing her sick husband. ; To her surprise but little objection was made to the proposition, and even what little there was was overrnled by Dodd, who evinced the greatest desire to curry favor with her. _ Before she left home, however, she determined to come to an understanding with him, and the opportunity offered itself that very day. “Mr. Dodd, one word with yqu,” she said, abruptly, for trouble had made Elsie more self-reliant. : “With pleasure, my dear child.” This very unctuously. “I wanted to tell you that I did recognize the man who came first to the spot near the rocks on Thursday.” * “Oh no, my dear child, yon did not. You denied that you had done so in the presence of two witnesses.” S“ARI? ;

“Now for my part, Elsie, I am convinced that the whole scene of the rocks was an hallucination of a slightly disordered mind. You see you suffered afterwards a great mental strain and—" . : ) “Villain!” ;

“Tush, tush! Do not profane your pretty- lips by fashioning ugly words. You probably did hear two passers-by mention the fact that they had seen Mr. Wilders go down the mine, and knowing its deplorable condition, you very heroically —as for those sawn rungs—" ' | “Welll” “There is ample proof that they were cut more than a month ago.” i “You have prepared your defense well, sir.” “My defense! What are you thinking of, child?” - “But,” she added, impressively, heedless of his mocking interruption, ¢‘if that man I speak of ever molests or annoys me by word or deed, I shall without another word of warning denounce him.” “And I should think that he would appreciate your discretion and give you no cause to regret-such an exceedingly wise resolution.” ‘ ‘“That will do, sir; we understand each other.”

Elsie met with a warm welcome at the Wilders’. Millie was hysterical in her gladness to clasp her in her arms, calling her the preserver of her Jck, who sadly spoiled the poetry of the interview by calling from his sick room to the young women to let him share the joy of Elsie's advent. =~ . “Oh, you brave darlin’,” he said, with a tear running down his bronzed cheelk. “I ain’t no great shakes on speechifyin’, but when I think that but for you I should have been now in kingdome come, never have seen Millie nor the little kid again, never—confound it, wife, what are yer blubberin’ at—why, what I mean ter say is you’ve got a friend fer life in Jack Wilders, who won’t fail you in the hour of need.” Then Elsie, all blushes, with a desire to turn the torrent of the man’s gratitude, modestly remarked: ‘“You are looking better than I expected.” ; ‘“Oh, I'm tough as hickory, Elsie. The doctors did kind o’ rasp me around, but I’'ve pulled through in spite o' them.” . .

““And with good nursing you’ll soon be well.” .

“Good nursin'l” he cried, beaming affection on his wife, to whom his words were sweeter than honey, ‘‘that’s what I want. Millie ain’t up to much in that line; she don’t worry an’ fret an’ cry her eyes, an’ sit by a feller’s bedside for sixty hours at a stretch wi'out takin’ a wink of sleep—not much she don’t. Oh, no!” ; “Millie knows that what’s good for nothing never comes to harm,” the gratified wife saucily replied. ~ “Millie is overworked,” Elsie said, seriously, ‘‘and I am come to share her labors. That is to say, if you will have me.” ;

Have her! They were wild with joy at the prospect. Millie kissed her fondly, and Jack said he would wait till he got well and that tiresome wife of his was out of the way before he followed suit, whereupon Mrs. Wilders declared her solemn intention of sending to Chicago for a divorce and resigning her position in the prospector’s cottage forthwith, '

“But where’s the little boy?” Elsie asked, presently, when the excitement of the meeting had sobered down & little.

‘*Ask her,” Jack said, pointing to his l wife. ‘“That unnat’ral female sent him ‘off to his grandmother at Marquette.” *‘Only fora day or two, to be out of the way,” Millie explained. “But I scotched her heartless schemo; the little chap’s on his way back home.” ‘ : : “The great silly couldn’t be without his boy for even a couple of days,” the ‘wife {said, laughing, “Now, Elsie, we must not let the invalid talk any more. You, sir, go to sleep and show some desire to plcase the best wife in ‘this wicked world.” : B . '"God bless her—yes, the best wife in the world,” the prospector muttered, as the door closed upon the two women, o 08 o dear” Millio sald, whe they were alonme, “he is so big and "“0;;3 , that iyeu _this "imﬂg has Jiard vly taught him. the, necessity of

PROTECTION IN GERMANY, The Landlords of That Country Want American ¥Farm Products Excluded-— How High Tsxjﬂ!s Injure Our Foreign Trade. In a report issued by the department of state Mr. Charles De Kay, consulgeneral at Berlin; describes the growth and aims of the agrarian movement in Germany. The condition of many of the landed proprietors in that country is described as a constant struggle against bankruptey, and population is steadily®*immigrating from the rural districts to the cities. The nobles and landlords themselves are said to be in part to blame, for they have been rooting out the small proprietors, seizing ‘communal lands (the property of the people) and turning large sections into private ownership for plantations or hunting purzoses. Another cause is the competition of the great wheat farms of the United States and South America, which have made wheat growing in Germany unprofitable. - As a remedy for the depression in the farming industry the great landowners have combined and formed the agrarian party for the purpose of securing legislation in their interests. In Prussia, especially, they have shown considerable strength, and have a large representation in the landtag, .or Prussian legislature. In the reichtag, or congress for the whole of Germany, they have alsoa number of deputies, and last winter introduced an extreme protectionist measure, which practically prohibited the importation of foreign meats and grain. Although the bill did not pass it will be acain brought forward this winter, and a determined effort made to secure its adoption. ‘ The agrarians, Consul-General De Kay states, are all staunch protectionists, and demand not only higher duties and bounties on sugar, but the abrogation of commercial treaties with other nations. In reply to the question, ‘‘Suppose the king of Prussia refuses his consent to this scheme?’ a leading member of the agrarian party recently said: ‘‘Then the Prussian house of representatives will refuse to vote the king of Prussia his supplies.” This is given as evidence of the bitter spirit of the landowning classes, anfl of their determination to make a strong effort to keep American products out of Germany. American farmers who find their market for corn, wheat, pork, beef and other products seriously diminished by the tariff laws of foreign countries, will look .with alarm on this threatened exclusion of their products. The prohibition of the importation of fresh meats into Germany, and the duties on grain have already injured our farmers, and helped force down prices. Should the agrarians be successful in securing a majority in the reichtag, and proceed to carry out their doctrines, the result would not only be a falling off in our exports to Germany, but a general decline in the price ofarm products. Thus millionsof Amer icans would suffer a serious loss through lessened returns for their labor. : | The possibility of such a condition of affairs should open the eyes of republican farmers to the real nature of protectionism and how it affects them. The McKinleyite orators of the United States, who eclaim that a high-tariff policy is the best for all countries, will find it difficult to explain to the American grain growers or stock raisers how the adoption of McKinley’s tradehating theories by Germany is a good thing for this country. - Yet if protection is really a great national principle it ought te be good for every nation. De the republican farmers really want to see their products excluded fron? all other countries? :‘ et

More protection in Germany will not only injure American trade but the great mass of the German people as well. The latter will have to pay higher prices for their bread and meat in order that a comparatively few nobles and landlords may live in luxury pn:their great estatés. In that phase of the questioa Americans have only an indirect interest. Their direct concern lies in the danger that through the spread of protectioniist superstition our great a,gricultur:al industry will be injured. But the loss will be more than repaid if the result is to teach by a striking objec{lesson the folly and wickedness of all tariffs. - s ! ; INCONSISTENQY. Free Trade and English Farmers—Choice Specimen of Cheek. The true protectionist cordially hates everything British and finds his chief arguments in abuse of ‘British free trade.” That England favors a low tariff is for him sufficient reason to condem that policy, and he strikes his wildest when pointed to the great commercial prosperity achieved byj Great Britain since that country abandoned protection. Just now the high tariff press is engaged in republishing under glaring headlines @ speech in which Lord Salisbury, the British premier, declared that free trade had almost killed farming in some parts of | England. This statement by an Eng- ‘ lish lord is being used to scare the American , farmer into voting for a restoration of McKinleyism. ‘ Apart from the inconsistency of protectionists appealing to Briitish author- ‘ ity in support of what they call “‘the American system,” this attempt to make capital for protection out of the depressed condition of the English farmers is a choice specimen of protectionist cheek. Everyone who has: the | slightest knowledge of I‘he question knows that it is her bad system of land ownership, not free trade, which is mainly responsible for the decline of farming in England. The land is' owned by a small number of aristo-‘ crats, who, until recent yvears, were enabled to charge enormous rent to the men who cultivated the soil. Ini many counties the annual rents were $2O per acre, and in some }nstances far more. This did not represent a return on capital invested in draining, fertilizing or otherwise. improving the land, but was a monopoly rent, pure and simple. ‘ et e With millions of acres of fertile prairie lands in the United States, which cost from §1.25 to $5.50 per acre, and with millions of acres of wheat grow‘ing lands in the Argentine and Russia'! which were even cheaper, it is clear that Bnglish farmers could not continue to pay annually ten times as ‘much for land as f.heir" comﬁti«tmjsff paid but once, When they bough¥ their farms, New inventions in machinery ‘and vastly cheapened mothods of trans_portation brought foreign wheat to British markets at a price far below ‘what it cost the English farmer. The resul 4; s been that the n {4 Fi: WM*‘% B e S e R

- The remedy for this state of affairs would naturally seem to be a reduction in the exorbitant rents paid to English landlords. As the soil of England did not originally cost more than that of the Dakotas or the Argentine, there is no reason why falling wheat prices should not have been followed by a fall in rents. But the British titled aristocracy, of whom the tory, Lord Salisbury, is a leader and representative, would not listen to a proposition which decreased their incomes wrung from the overburdened farmers. They have steadily opposed the only just method of equalizing as far as possible the conditions of the English wheat grower and his foreign competitor, and in order to delude their tenants in regard to the real cause of their troubles, they have talked of restoring the tariff on wheat and flour: : Under natural conditions wheat could be grown as cheaply in England as in this country, for the average yield per acre is far larger than here. But the former cannot bear the burden of monopoly rents and compete with cheap lands. Low rents, and not protection is the remedy. B. W. H. MORE FACTS. The Steel Rail Combine Renewed—Operations of the Great Trust. - The combination between the manufacturers of steel rails, by which prices are maintained at the highest figures which will not permit foreign competition, has been renewed for a period of years. The result will be that the members of the trust will continue to make about $15,000,000 more annually than if the steel rail business was subjected to free competition. These $15,000,000 will in the first instance be paid by. the various railway companies, but will finally come out of the pockets of farmers and other consumers who use the goods carried by the railroads. The farmer who is wondering why freight rates are so high, will find food for profitable reflection in the operations of the steel rail trust.

A recent importation of 10,000 tons of rails from England by a California railroad, proves the truth of the charges made on the floor of congress by Tom L. Johnson, of Ohio, himself one of the largest rail manufacturers in America. Two years ago Mr. Johnson asserted that the only benefit of the McKinley duty of $13.44 per ton was to allow the trust to charge more for rails than they were worth, and that prices' were fixed by the combine at or near the point where foreign rails' could be imported. For these reasons he urged congress to put steel rails on the free list, and thus abolish an enormous annual taxon transportation. .

The duty on rails was reduced by the Wilson tariff to $7.84 per ton. With the business revival which followed the adoption of that law came an increased demand for rails and prices were advanced. Had the McKinley duty still been in force the price would have been put up to at least $3O, the price in 1892, and probably to $31.75, the price in the first year of McKinleyism. But as English rails could be imported at about $29 a ton, owing to the reduced duty, the trust made its price a little less and thus was enabled to control the market. Had there been no duty the domestic railmakers would have been forced to sell rails at about $22 per ton. As it is, the sale of the 10,000 ‘tons mentioned above, was only possible through the low freight rates from England to California. If the McKinley law . was in operation they could ngt have been imported at all. ‘The methods of the steel rail combine are an illustration of how tariffs enable trusts to rob consumers. How do the people like it? And what are they going to do about it? _ Those Dreadful Japs. The following protectionist forecast is not intended for a joke. It is a serious foreboding hatched in the mind of the editor of the Portsmouth (O.) Blade. That journal says: ‘lt will not be long before European nations will discover in the Japanese competitors in the manufacture of silks, cottons, woolens, carpets, paper and other leading staples in commerce, against whom their present cheap labor will be an unavailing barrier. The United States will be compelled to build a wall around her own markets, too, far beyond anything that has been yet conceived, to find employment for her own people against this mew factor among the nationsof the earth.” What a demand there is likely to be for cut stone when we inclose ourselves so that no ingenious and insinuating outsider shall be able to sell.us cheap wares. ’Ware the Japs! Trade or no trade! America for Americans! Proclaim it in Oshkosh! Let it be heralded in Kalamazoo!”—Philadelphia Record. v :

Grangers Asking Questions. The Pennsylvania State grange has asked’the Protective Tariff league, of New York, and the Home Market club, of Boston, whether a tariff on imports can protect the home market price of agricultural staples while the surplus of these is sold for export at the home market prices; also, whether a bounty on agricultural exports would not be just and equitable so long as ‘‘protection’’ by tariff on imports should be in operation. The guileless grangers have given the tariffites two hard conundrums. As the venerable uncle who was caught in close proximity to a hennery late at night remarked when questioned as to the morality of chicken lifting: *‘One more question like that would upset the whole system of theology.”—Philadelphia Recard. : No Help from Tariffs. 4 Among the resolutions of the American Federation of Labor which closed its session in New York recently, there was,not the slichtest hint in favor of agitation of the tariff. The members of that a.s‘zitcia.tion have small faith in tariff legislation as a means of advancing their wages and promoting their comfort. They hold, on the contrary, that the condition of labor can be best improved by organization among the workingmen themselves. —Philadelphia Record,

Free Wool and Prospsrity. ‘ The odds are even that the repub‘-l lican majority in, congress will not even pass a bill to levy tariff on wool after all their windy talk. We ,s’in-‘ cerely hope they will. The workingman - for the first time in his life can afford to wear woolen clothes, as good clothes as the rich ean buy, and not a mill has shut down on account of ‘it either, On the contrary, the woolgn mills were never so prosperous as nhg are now. ILet them pass a wool tariff at least.—Kansas City Timess, =

~ THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. luternational Lesson for Jannary 19, 1806 —Ministry of Johxs the Baptist—Luke 8:15-22. , et Specially Arranged from Peleubet's Notes. . @GorpEN TExXxT.—Behold the Lamb of God wkhkich taketh away the sin of the world.— John 1:29. ‘ THE SmctioN includes a picture of the whole life: of John as the forerunner of Christ. ! : : PARALLEL ACCOUNTS.—Matt, 3:1-17; Mark 1: 1-11; John 1:10-40. .~ ProrPHECIES.—Isa. 40: 3-5; Mal. 3:1; 4: 5, 6. G'lig'gsm AccoUNTs.—Matt. 14: 5-12; Mark TiME.—John began to preach in the summer of A. D. 26; preached nearly two years.. of which a year and three months were coincident with the ministry of Jesus. PLACE.—John preached in the wild, thinlyinhabited region lying’West of the Dead sea and the lower Jordan. The baptism of Jesus was at Rethabara, the fords of the Jordan, five miles northeast of Jericho: : EXPLANATORY. FR A JonN ToiNTs OUT THE MEsstan.—He does this in three ways. (1) To the people by a description, as here. (2) By a declaration, to the deputation of the priests from Jerusalem (John 1: 19-27). (3) To his diseiples, after the baptism of Jesus (John 1: 85,36). "~ . 15. “Were in expectation:” waiting to see what was coming, who and where “‘the Messiah was. “Mused:” reasoned, questioned, argued. ‘‘Whether he were the Christ:” John was such a great prophet, the greatest of all prophets, ‘with such noble and kingly qualities, that- they questioned whether He were not actually the expected Messiah, 16. “I indeed baptize with water:” 1 administer the outward ordinance and sign. “The latchet:” The lace of thong by which the sandals were fastened. “Of whose shoes (sandals) I ara not worthy to unloose.” As stockings were not worn, the feet would become soiled; and when persons entered a house the sandals were taken off and laid aside, so that the feet might be washed. This work belonged to the very lowest servants, and thus John expressed how much worthier the Coming One was than he. “He shall baptize you with the ‘Holy Ghost:” (“Ghost” is old English for spirit.) The mightiest power in the universe for renewing the heart and bringing in the Kingdom of God. “And with fire:” The symbol ¢f the loly Spirit. The sun is fire, tle 'source of all light and heat, purifying, healthgiving, the source of beauty, comfort, ‘life, fruitfulness, and all ckeer; and all power, o 17. “Whose fan is in ITis hand:” The fan is not a fan in our sense; it is a broad, light, wooden shovel, with which the grain is thrown up to the breeze, so that the wind may carry off the lighter chaff while the heavier grain sinks down clean. . “And He will thoroughly purge:” Cleanse, separate the good from the bad. “Hisfloor:” Threshing floor, which is usually a-circular‘area of beaten earth surrounded by a low bank. Here the grain is separated from the straw by a sledge drawn by animals. ~18. “Many other things:” He used | every possible form of expression, illus{ration and point of view, in order to ) impress the truth upon the. people. | “Preached he:” The word means “preached good things,” “preached the Gospel.” ; 19 “Herod . . . being reproved by Him.” Thisstoryis placed here by Luke to complete the account of John before entering upon the ministry of Jesus. A fuller account is given in Mark 6:14-20. “Reproved .. . for Herodias . ..and for all the evil/ things.” Herod was then living in open udultery. - He had gained Herodias by the basest perfidy. , 20. “He shut up John in prison,” according to Josephus in the castle: of Macherus, seven miles northeast of the Nead sea. o N

We wurn back again in the. history to tne sixth or seventh month of John's ministry, probably January A. D. 26, at Bethabara, a ford of the Jordan.

21. “Now when all the people.were baycized.” Either after the baptism of the great crowds during the early portivn of John’s ministry, or at the close of some day when John had baptized all the multitudes who desired it. “Jesus also being bapfized.” ‘He came from Nazareth at this time {Mark). Matthew says that Jesus was baptized inorder “‘to fulfillallrighteousness:” By His baptism Jesus took a public stand on the right side. It was a public renunciation of sin and profession of religion. ‘“And praying.” Note how two great blessings came to Jesus during prayer. The descent of the Holy Spirit, and the transfiguration. “The heaven was opened:” Probably there was some supernatural appearance ‘in the sky; not during, but after the baptismyy - 5 .

22, “The Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove:” It was not 8. dove, but ‘im the ' form 'of a dove. ‘lt was *a '~ most ecaptivating symbolism. All along the ages it is the power of His gentleness, and tenderness, and meekness—His love, in short—that has been victorious.”— Morrison. “A voice . .. from Heaven.” Three times during our Lord’s earthly ministry wasavoiceheard from Heaven: (1) At His baptism; (2) at His transfiguration (Mark 9:7); (3)in the courts of the temple during Passion week {John 12:28). “Thou art My beloved Son.” Thus God proclaimed Him as the Messiah, and the way was prepared for Jesus to enter upon His mission. : We need a baptism of the Holy Spirit and of fire, God's power and love, that will consume our sins, make our hearts warm and burning with love, aud our souls quickened with new lifa. = =~ .~

FACTS FOR FARMERS.

Tt you don’t ?aﬂk the best stock rays look around through your neighborhood and see if the best farmers don’t keep the best stock. £ : It is estimated that grain fed to suckling lambs designed for thebutcher at an early day pays at the rate of tivo dollars a bushel for corn anywhere in the eastern and middle states. e

English . sheep owners. litter the pens in which sheep are housed with burnt clay as a preventative of foot.rot. The clay acts as an absorbent and makes a good fertilizer. ; ; Don’t try to hatch chicken with hens in midwinter unless you are willing to devole time in caring for the broods. Hens cannot raise chicks in winter unless kept in a warm place. : : ~When sulphur is given to animals in winter it is liable to cause them to take cold, as it opens the pores of the skin. 1t is said to also cause rheumatism if given during damp weather. = . One reason why cattle will go out.in. ‘thebarnyard dur‘?;\f_ inclement weather and endure cold and.damp: mm?ﬁw Yrcnce ta remaining inside i tht the wialla pre too durk aud cheerless v -

‘AN OUTRAGEOUS TAX. ’ Dingleyism Designs to Defraud the Ameri~ e -. can People. : ~The Dingley robber tariff bill (this title almost rhymes with the “Me-~ Kinley robber tariff bill’’) which the republican house passed by an almost unanimous party vote:restores wool to the dutiable list. The proposition is to again tax the people’s clothing and blankets—one of the most outrageous taxes that can be inflicted upon the consumers of the land—and all for the benefit of a few raisers of fancy sheep in Ohio. - : ' . The people have been fighting for iree wool for many years, and, now that they have secured it, they will not willingly surrender the boon. The people declared for untaxed wool after a long and careful investigation, and there is no reason to suppose that they have changed. their views. The ate tempt of the republican congress to reimpose an outrageous tax on wool will resuit in the repudiation of that party at the polls next fall, Why did the republicans provide for a heavy tdx on wool and woolen clothing in this Dingley bill? The real shzep raisers of the country did not ask for it. It will not benefit them. It will probably benefit a few men who are engaged in fancy stoek raising, and who will thereby be enabled io rob the public of vast sums of money. But the general run of farmers who raise wool for the market will not only - not be benefited—-they will be injured by this outrageous tax. ~ The American Wool and Cotton Reporter gave an interesting review of the ‘woolen trade of the United States. It showed that during the past year the sales’of raw wool in this country aggregated 86,000,000 pounds more than the sales of the previous year; it showed that American wool had increased .in price during the same.pe-\ riod, precisely as the advocates of un--taxed wool had predicted it would; it showed, too, that a remarkable development of the woolen industry had taken place since raw wool was placed on the free list. : §Good all-wool clothes are cheap now, ° cheaper- than ever before, notwithstanding the increase in the price of native wool. This is accounted for by theé fact that the foreign wool which anters into the goods is obtained without any tax. It has been demonstrated that a cheap coal does not mean a cheap man under it. No good reason can be assigned why the American people should wish to go back to the days of taxed wool. The wool tax isan outr 1S one. - Dingleyism appears §o be only MecKinleyism behind a n§v mask.—lllinois Stlate Register. ) . TWO SHAM MEASURES.

The Scaly Schemes of Republicans for i Relieving the Treasury. :

Some of our republican friends are still trying to delude themsclves into the belief that the action of congress was a proper response te the president’s request-to do something to relieve the treasury. “The house,” we. are ‘old, “prepared and passed a bill to increase the revenues of the government, taking at once the sure way of affording the gold reserve protection.” : Did it? On the repubiican theory the only trouble with the treasury was-a lack of revenue. The Dingley bill was offered as the remedy. "It will add $40,000,000 to the revennes at once, said Mr. Dingley. Well, that is more *han enough revenue required if the republican theory were correct. Ilithe only trouble was lack of revenue. and this bill supplied that lack, what more legislation is necessary ? “ The republicans, however, give the lie to their own professions by immediately proposing and passing through the-house a bond bill for tha very purpose. that the first bill was said to be for. DBut neither the increased tariff bill nor the bond bill will accomplish the relief of the treasary. The one isa sham weasure, designed to restore a portion of McKinleyism under false pretenses. The other js an alleged im-, provemcent on the present iaw authorizing the issue of bonds to protect the gold reserve. . But the prospect of the benefit that might result from a proper: law authorizing a bond issue is swept away in advance by the provisions of the bill. In defercnce to the populist elemert in the republican party, the provision was inserted for the payment of the bondz in “coin,” instead of in gold. Another clause forhids the retirement of the greenbacks. The former provision will prevent the sale of the bonds for a high price. 'The second keeps up the “endless chain.” The president has investigated and finds that there is no prospcet of any helpful legislation whatever. The house is:simply trifling with a growing sitvation; the senate, organized as it is, cannot be relied upon foranything. Therefore, the president will proceed to use the means that the law authorizes, to maintain the credit and integrity of this country, 2s he has done since March 4, 1894, when the republican administration handed over to him a bankrupt treasury. There will be an issue of bonds soon, we are told, under the law of 1875; to protect the gold reserve. The republican congress simply passes two sham measures to relieve the administration.—Utica Observer.

COMMENTS OF THE PRESS.

——A more cogent, candid and impartial piece of statement and reasoning has not jssued from the treasury department.—N. Y. Times. ——Tom Reed can now cancel that order for 26 bedrooms al the Auditorium hotel, Chicago. A Mr. Reed made a mistake in the town.—-Toledo Blade., ——Since it has been placed astride the old tariff issue Mr. McKinley’s boom has enjoyed something if its former exs cellent health and chipper disposition, ~-Chieago Record (Ind.). - ———Bt. Louis won that convention on her merits. This talk about a little $75,000 check cutting ice with a party which distributes $lOO,OOO funds in blocks of five is tiresome.—Albany - Argus. - e s e —-1 t is one of the most discouraging symptoms in the present disturbed situation that the republican majority in congress is ‘disposed to take advantage of a critical ﬁmmmv such turift legislation upon the country as the people have emphatically ot adoiten B WiNE & MG i Skt ol o R e dencl ﬁu»g’ hoth at home and dbroad.—De- - it Frdw Prems, 0 T éﬁ’*’*ﬁé’f«aﬂ‘f@m;ﬁ%ﬁ L