Nappanee Advance-News, Volume 23, Number 44, Nappanee, Elkhart County, 8 January 1902 — Page 3

the 0L1) year gone. to p r . Talmage Speaks of the Arrival of the New. kVord* of Encouragement to All the Timid and Doubtlns—January in Hlatory—A Time of Sadnesa. - fConyriglit, 1901, by Louis Klopsch, N. Y.] ■ Washington, Jan. B. ■' i n this, Dr. Talmage’s first discourse for the new year, he speaks words of encouragement to all the .timid and doubting. The text is Exodus 12:2: “This month shall be unto 3’ou the beginning of months; it shall lie the first month of the year to you.” The last month of the old year has passed out of sight, and the first month of the new year has arrived. The midnight gate last Wednesday opened, and January entered. She deserves a better name, for she is called after Janus, the heathen deity, who, they supposed, presided over doors, and so might be expected to preside at the opening of the year. This month was of old called the wolf month because, through the severity of its weather, the hungry wolves came down seeking food and devouring human life. In the missals of the middle ages January was represented as attired in white, suggestive of the snow, and blowing the fingers, as though suffering from the cold, and having a bundle of wood under the arm, suggestive of the warmth that must be kindled. Yes, January is the open door of the year, and through that door will come what long processions, some of them bearing palm leaves and some myrtle, others with garlands of wheat and others with cypress and mistletoe. They are coming, and nothing can keep them back—the events of a twelvemonth. It will, I think, be one of the greatest years of all time. It will abound with blessing and disaster. National and international controversies of momentous import will be settled. Year of coronation and dethronement, year that will settle Cuban and Porto Rican and Philippine and South African and Chinese destinies. The tamest year for many a decade past has dug its millions of graves and reared its millions pf marriage altars. ' We can expect greater events in this year than ever before, for the world’s population has so vastly increased there are so many more than 5n any other year to laugh and weep and triumph and perish. The mightier wheels of mechanism have such wider sweep. The fires are kindled in furnaces not seven times but 70 times heated. The velocities whirling through the air and sailing the seas and tunneling the mountains will make unprecedented demonstration. Would to God that before the now opening year has closed the earth might cease to tremble with the last cannonade and the heavens cease to be lighted up with any more conflagration of homesteads and the foundries that make swords be turned into blacksmith shops for making plowshares. The front door of a stupendous year has opened. Before many of you there will be 12 months of opportunity for making the world better, or worse, happier or more miserable. Let us pray that it may be a year that will indicate the speedy redemption of the hemisphere. Would to God that this might be the year in which the three great instruments now chiefly used for secular purposes might be put to their mightiest use in the world’s evangelization—the telegraph, the telephone, the phonograph! Electricity has such potent tongue, such strong arm, such swift wing, such lightning foot, that it occurs to me that it may be the angel that St. John saw and heard in apocalyptic vision when he started back and cried out: “I saw another angel flying in the midst of Heaven having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth and to every nation and kindred and tongue and people.” They were tongues of fire that sat on the heads of the disciples at the Pentecost, and why not the world called to God by tongue of electric fire? Prepare your batteries and make ready to put upon the wires the world wide message of “whosoever will.” Furthermore, this month of January has the greatest height and depth of cold. The rivers are bounded in crystal chains. The fountains that made highest leap in the summer parks now toss not one jet, for every drop would be a frozen tear. The sleds craunch through the hard snow. Warmest attire the wardrobe can afford is put on that we may defend ourselves against the fury of the elements. Hardest of all the months for the poor, let it be the season of greatest generosity' on the part of —ike-prosperous. How much a scuttle of coal or a pair of shoes or a coat or a shawl may do in assuagement of suffering between the first of January- and the first of February God only knows. Seated by our warm registers or wrapped in furs which make us independent of the cutting January blast, let us not forget the fireless January blast, let us not forget the fireless hearth and the thin garments and the hacking cough and the rheumatic twinge of those who through destitution find life in winter an agony. Oh, the might of Uie cold! The arctie and antarctic invading the temperate zone! The Victories of the*frost — as whqn the Thames in 1205 became firm as any bridge and the inhabitants crossed and recrossed on the icp and booths and places of temporary amusement were built on the hardened sur-

face; as when many years ago New York harbor was paved with ice so that *lie people passed on foot to the adjoining islands. But the full story of the cold will never be known. The lips which would have told it were frozen and the fingers that would have written it were benumbed. Only here and there a fact appears. In 1691 the cold was so terrific that the wolves entered Vienna. In 1468 it was so cold that wine was cut with hatchets and distributed among the soldiers. In 1234 a whole forest was killed by the cold at Ravenna. In 763 the Black sea was frozen over. As we go further ► back the frosts are mightier, but as we come further down the frosts lessen. The worst severities have been halted, and the snows have lost their depths, and the thermometers announce less terrific falls of temperature, and the tiftie will come when the year will be one long summer of foliage and bloom. While the world’s moral condition will be reformed, the worst climates will be corrected. Y'ou could not have a millenium with a January blast possible. Behold, also, as it is possible in no other month of the year, the wondrous anatomy of the trees in January', the leaves of the last year all gone and not so much as $ bud of anew botanical wardrobe appearing, the trees standing with arms stretched toward heaven, one of the greatest evidences of the wisdom and the power of the Creator. The leaves appear only once and then die, but these great arms are stretched up toward heaven in silent, pray er for scores of years, now mailed with ice, now robed in snow or bowing to the God of the tempests as He. passes in the midnight hurricane. In July the trees stand glorifying the earth; in January they stand defying the winter. Under the same-tree the child plays with his toy and, growing up to manhood, sits under it in sentimental or philosophical mood and, having passed on to old age, rests himself under its shade. In these January days the trees seem to say: “The leaves that rustled their music in the last summer are dead and gone, but the leaves that will adorn this uncovered brow and these bare arms shall have as much beauty and gloryas their predecessors. Only wait. There are beautiful and lovely things to come in my tree life, as there are beautiful and lovely things to come in your life, 0 human spectator.” Oh, the tree! Only the Almighty and the Infinite could have made one. Gothic architecture was suggested by it. But for the arch of its bough and the pointing of its branches the St. Chapelle of Paris and other specimens of Gothic arch would never have been lifted. No wonder the world has taken from it many styles of suggestiveness —the laurel for the victor, the willow for the sorrowing, the aspen for the trembling, the cypress for the burial! But, unlike ourselves, they cannot change their place and so stand watching all that passes. Some of them are solemn monuments of the centuries. Thank God for trees, their beauty, their shelter, their interlacingbranches —not only' for the trees in June time coronation, but in January privation of everything but graceful structure! Let the iconoclastic ax not be lifted against them. “Woodman, spare that tree.” Behold also in this January month the increasing daylight. Last month the sun went down at 4:30, but in this month the days are getting longer. The sunrise and the sunset are farther apart. Sunlight instead of artificial ,-light, and there is for Qiir dearold battered earth growing light. “The dayspring from on high hath visited us.” We shall have more light for the home, more light for the church, more light for the nation, more light for the world —light of intelligence, light of comfort, light of rescue, light of evangelization, light from the face of God, light from • the throne. .But,you say, the light increases so slowly, each day of this January only one minute longer than its predecessor, the sun selling the first day of January at four o’clock and 43 minutes, the sun setting the second day of January at four o’clock and 44 minutes, the third day of this month the sun setting at four o’clock and 45 minutes, the fourth day; of January the sun setting at four o’clock and 46 minutes. This evening it will set at four o’clock and 47 minutes. The day enlarges very little, and the reign of sunlight is not much increased, but do not despise the minute of increasing light each day of this January, and do not despise the fact that more light is coming for the church and the world, though it come slowly. As we are now in this season gradually going toward the longest day of next summer, so our world is moving forward toward the long day of emancipation and Christly dominion. It may now in the state and the church and the world be January cold, but we are on the way to July harvests and September orchards. Do not read your almanac backward. Do not go out aud ask the trees hung with icicles by January storm whether they will ever .again blossom in May and leaf in June. We are moving toward jhe world’s redemption. The frozen tears will melt, the river of gladness will resume its flow, the crocus will oome up at the edge of the snowbank, the morning star will open the door for the day, and the armies of the world will “ground arms” all around the world The January of frost will be abolished, and the balm and radiance of a divine atmosphere will fill the nations. - If you do not see it and hear it for yourself, I think at the utmost your grandchildren will see and hear it* The heavens will take part in the couflict between righteous- 1 ness and sin, and that will settle it, and settle it aright, and settle it foiever. But January, like all the othei months of the year, has had its sadnesses and its disaster?; During the month*died Linnaeus, the botanist of Sweden and the world, who called the roll of the flowefs and shrubs and trees,

putting them’into companies and calling them by their names, his beautiful statue standingin a park at Stockholm, a rose in bronze held in his right hand. During this, month expired Francis Bacon, aud Garrick, and Galilei, and Louis VI., and William Pitt, and Francis Jeffrey of the immortal pen, and Disraeli the first, and Edward Everett, and Bruce, and Catiline. In this month died Peter the Great, the man of whom it was written: “He gave a polish to his people and was himself a savage. He taught them the art of warfare, of which he himself was ignorant. From the sight of a small boat on the river Moskwa he erected a powerful fleet, making himself an expert and active shipwright, sailor, pilot and commander. He changed the manners, customs and laws of the Russians and lives in their memory as the father of his country.” But I cannot read the epitaphs of one out of a hundred illustrious graves in this first month of the year. Many of those well known gained half their renown and did half their work through the help of those of whom we know little or nothing. Lord Ilerschel is known all the world over and will be known through all time, but little is said of her Who was born this first month of the year and without whose help he never could have been what he was—his sister, Caroline Lueretia Augusta. She helped him hunt the worlds. She repaired and udjusted his telescopes. She ciphered out his astronomical problems. She was his amanuensis. She planned for him his work. She discovered seven comets and made “A Catalogue of Nebulae and Star Clusters.” The month of January introduced her to the observatories, but she has never been properly introduced to the world. According to my text, “This month sliull be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.” Through it make preparation for the other 11 months. What you are in January you will probably be in all the other months of the year. Prepare for them neither by the apprehension nor too sanguine anticipation. Apprehension of misfortune will only deplete your body and gloom your soul and unfit yon for any trouble that may come. On the other hand, if you expect tbo much, disappointment will be yours. Cultivate faith in God and the feeling that lie will do for you that which is best, and you will be ready for either sunshine or shadow. The other 11 months of the year 1902 will not all be made up of gladness or of grief. The cup that is all made up of sweetness is insipid. Between these just opened gates of the year and the closing of those gates there will be maDy times when you will want God. Y’ou will have questions to decide which will need supernatural impulse. There may be illnesses of the body or perplexities of mind or spiritual exhaustion# to be healed and comforted and strengthened. During the remaining 26 days of this month lay in a supply of faith and hope and courage for all the days of the 11 months. Start righUand you will be apt to keep right. Before the ship captain gets out of the New York Narrows he will make up his mind what sea route he will take. While you are in the Narrows of this month make up your mind which way you will sail and unroll your chart and set your compass and have the lifeboats well placed on the davits and be ready for smooth voyage all the way across or the swoop of a Caribbean whirlwind. Rev. Solomon Spaulding was for some time in poor health, and lo while away the time he wrote a preposterous religious romance. One Joseph Smith somehow got hold of that book before it w as printed and published it as a revelation of Heaven, calling it the “Book of Mormon,” and from that publication came Mormonism, the monster abomination of the earth. Rev. Solomon Spaulding might have been better engaged than writing that book of falsehoods. However much time we have, we have never time to do wrong. Harness January for usefulness, andit Will take the following months in its train. Oh, how much you may do for God between now and the 31st of next December! The beautiful “weeping willow” tree was introduced by Alexander Pope into England from a twig v,hb'b the poet found in a Turkish basket of figs. He planted that twig, and from it came all the weeping willows of England-a nd Amerief; and your smallest planting of good may under God become an influence continental and international. Now that the train of months has started, let it pass, January followed by February, with longer day's, and March, with its fierce winds; and April, with its sudden showers; and May, with its blossoming orchards; and June, with its carnival of flowers; and July, with its harvests; and August, with its sweltering heats; and September, with iis drifting leaves; and October, with its frosts; ahd November, with its Thanksgiving scenes; and December, with its Christian hilarities. March on, O battalion of the months, in the regiments of the years and the brigades of the centuries! March on and the months and years and centuries already passed until ail the rivers of time have emptied into the ocean of eternity, but none of all the host ought to render higher thanks to God or take, larger comfort or make more magnificent resolve, than this, the first month of the new yearBut what fleet foot hath the months and years! People lightly talk about how they kill time, Alas, it dies soon enough without killing. And the longer we live the swifter it goes. William C. Bryant said an old friend of his declared that the going of time is like the drumming of the partridge or muffled grouse in the woods, falling slow and distinct at first and then following each other more and more rapidly till they end at last in a whirring sound. But Dr. Young, speaking of the value of time, startlingly exclaimed: “Ask deathbeds!” t

AT A BARGAIN PRICE. Panama Canal Company Offers Its Property to Catted States for #4,000,000. Washington, Jan. 6.—A formal proposition to sell the Panama caual properties to the United States government for $40,000,000 Saturday was submitted to the authorities here. It was made by M. Boeufve, representing the company, to Admiral Walker, ns chairman of the isthmian canalcoiumission. M. Boeufve acted under cable instructions received Saturday from the Panama canal officials at Paris. Admiral Walker brought the proposition to the knowledge of the secretary of state and the president, going directly to the state department for that purpose. The submission of this offer carries out a plan which has been under consideration for the last two weeks. The first step was taken when M. Ilutin retired from the presidency of the Panama Canal company. This brought about an entire change in the management, the main feature of the change being that those in authority desired to make a definite offer of the Panama properties to this government for $40,000,000. There have been numerous meetings at Paris with this end In view, but the one which brought about the final proposition was held Friday. It had been the intention to make the offer through Mr. Edward Lampre, secretary general of the company, w ho is due to arrive at New Y’ork on the steamer Aquitaine Sunday; but the meeting appears to have taken a view that the offer should be made without waiting for the arrival of Mr. Lampre. Accordingly the cable instructions were forwarded to M. Boeufve. lie went at once to the office of the isthmian canal commission and advised Admiral Walker of what had been tire determination of the company. In substance the notification delivered to Admiral Walker was as follows: “The Tanama Canal company declares Itself ready to transfer to the aovernment of the United States on payment of $40,000,000 Its properties and concessions, estimated at that amount by thelsthmian canal commission, in conformity vffth the terms and conditions Os the estimates of said commission." - —• —■ Admiral Walker called at the state department at noon and communicated to Secretary Hay the offer which M. Boeufve had submitted in behalf of the canal company'. The matter was, soon after, brought to the attention of the president. It can be stated that the president will communicate the communication to congress. This course will be pursued because the administration holds that the canal question is now purely one for legislative determination, and that as congress is about to consider the subject it should have possession of all facts that have come to the knowledge of the executive branch. The offer as made to Admiral Walker, and later communicated to the president and secretary of state, refers to the estimates of the isthmian commission’s report. This feature of the commission’s report appears under the caption: “Total value of the Panama canal,” and is as follows: "Summing up the foregoing Hems, the total value of the property la found to be: Excavations already done $27,474,003 Panama railroad stock at par 6,850,000 Maps, drawings and records 2,000,000 “To which udd ten per cent, to covtromisslons, making the total valuation of the Panama cannl $40,000,000.” OUTPUT OF METALS. Uold mid Silver Production of 100 l Only Shows Slight (Inin Over JOOO. Washington, Jan. 0. —The preliminary est.iinate of Mr. Roberts, director of the mint, on the production of gold and -silver in the United-Stales during the calendar year 1901, indicates only a slight gain over the production of the preceding year. The yield of Alaska fell off by about $1,000,000, Colorado made a slight gain in gold, and the other producers were nearly stationary'. The yield of silver exceeded that of the previous year by about 2,000,000 fine ounces. The total number of ounces of fine gold produced is shown to have been 3,880,578, of the value of $80,218,800. The number of fine ounces of silver produced was 59,653,788, having a commercial value of $35,792,200. The coinage value of the silver is approximately $77,000,000. PLACED ON TRIAL. Rnihhont* and Neely Charged with I’ostnl Fraud* In Cuha at I.nat Appear In Court. Havana, Jan. 6. —After delays of many months, including a long fight by the defendant* against extradition from the United States, Estes G. Rathbone, formerly director general of Gillian posts, and Charles F. W. Neely, formerly of the Cuban post office department, were brought to trial Saturday. The charges against Rathbone are neglect of duty and misappropriation of funds, while Neely Is charged with embezzlement of thousands of dollar* with Rathbone’s connivance. The discovery of the defalcations was deeply felt by President McKinley and did moch to injure American prestige In Cuba. . Lost a Fortune at Baccarat. Vienna, Jan. 6.—Official circles are excited over a game of baccarat at the Jockey club rooms, where Count l'otocki lost SBOO,OOO fn four hours, all but $50,000 of the money being won by the Hungarian deputy, Herr von Szmere, and Prince Francis Braanza. Ambushed by Boers. Pretoria, Jan. 6.—The Boers ambushed a party of the Scots Grays last Saturday, near Bronkhorstbpruit (about 40" miles east of Pretoria on the railroad). The British casualties were thx men killed and ten wounded.

SLENDER SALT BUSH. In Australia and California It Has Been Tried Successfully as Pasturage for Sheep, Botanicnlly this js called Atriplex leptocarpa. It is a perennial, with low stems from iy a to 2 feet or more in length. It resembles Australian saltbush in many particulars, but is smaller and produces less forage. Itsdrought resisting qualities are remarkable. In Australia it is reported ns making

SLENDER SALT RUSH, good pasturage for sheep, which browse it down so closely Hint lurge tracts of it are often entirely destroyed-. This salt-bush has been tried in California with good results. It is quite hardy as regards cold, and withstands n considerable degree of heat. The analysis shows a very rich foliage. The protein is high. The ash is also high, pointing to its use iu reclaiming alkali soils. The nnulysis of the airdried substnnee follows: Water, 7.48; ash, 15.35; ether extract, 2.35; crude fiber, 26.64; crude protein, 1.08; nitrogen—free extract, 32.30. Total nitrogen, 3.12; albuminoid nitrogen, 1,59. — Farmers’ Review. A FINE FERTILIZER. Alfalfa Not Only Has Orvat Feeding Vat us, But itlvnla Clover as a Soli Hestorer. The great value of alfalfa as a feeding stuff, especially in the western and aouthern states, is well understood. This has been established by long practical experience and by the scientific investigation of n number of the experiment stations. These Investigations have not only demonstrated its value as a feed for nil kinds of stock, including pigs and poultry, but have shown the stage of growth at which the plant contains the greatest amount of nutritive material and the best ways of curing and ensiling the erop. The value of. alfalfa as n fertilizer has perhaps not received so much attention, although a number of stations have investigated this phase of the subject. Prof. JlufTum, of the Wyoming station, has shown that the crop is especially valuable for increasing the nitrogen of soils of the nrid or semi-arid region, for improving the tilth and for destroying weeds by crowding them out. In experiments at, this station it was found that land 'which' had previously been in alfalfa produced $8 to sl2 more value in wheat, sl6 worth more in oats and $lO worth moiy^oT''pofato( , H per acre than land h a (Ingrown potatoes and grain before, and these “increases of yield and value were produced with absolutely no cost for fertilizing the land.” The results were obtained on land which had been in alfalfa five yearn, leaving nothing but the stubble and roots in the soil. According: ter analyse a reported by the Colorado station, a.ton of alfalfa hay contains 44 pounds of nitrogen, 8.27 pofhids of phosphoric acid, 50.95 pounds of potash and 40 pounds of lime. Alfalfa is a leguminous plant and i therefore able to draw the larger part of its nitrogen from the air, thus causing an actual In arcane qf nitrogen in the soil. It can readily he seen tjr om lhoabove figures that if the alfalfa is turned under a considerable Increase in the available fertility will result, but even if the erop is removed the soil is improved in tilth and fertility by the shading of the ground and the decay of the large, deep growing roots of the plant, as was demonstrated In the experlmentn almve referred to. Car* of Sheep In Winter, The best quality of wool cannot be grown on sheep that are alternately highly fed and half starved and frozen. One of the principalessentials in growing the finest wool is regularity of condition. This will give an even,healthy growth of wool, without break or flaw, and which give the best result* in manufacture with the least waste. Whenever a sheep is allowed to get out of condition and then is fed up again, there will be a weak place in the fiber at the point where the poor condition ends and improvement begins. In manufacturing, the wool often breaks at this point, causing more or less waste? This weak place is very easily detected by trying the strength of a lock < f Wool from several fleeces. Care should tie taken to keep the sheep, especially during the winter, in a uniformly thrifty condition. —St. Louis Republic.

CANADIAN PORK LORE. Sclenttlle Observations aud Com* ments of Experts on the Rat tlonal Feeding of Pigs. The Canadian department of agriculture has just concluded an exhaustive scientific inquiry into the feeding and raising of Canadian pigs with a view to discovering why much of the pork exported by the dominion is rated as inferior on account of its lack of firmness. The trade in pork has become an important branch of Canadian commerce, the business with England alone amounting to more than $12,000,000 in the last y'ear; so the agricultural department has conducted the inquiry into the soft pork matter regardless of expense and labor. Its results are summarized in a long pamphlet issued for the enlightenment of the Canadian pig breeders. They are, briefly: First, that the great controlling factor in eecuring pork for good quality is in the feeding of the pigs; second, that of all pig foods rations consisting of equal parts of outs, peas and barley gave the bfst and finest pork, and it doesn’t matter whether the rations are served wet or dry; third, that of all pig foods beans and corn meal give the softest and most Inferior pork. There are many tables and figures in decimals to point these conclusions. The scientific men of the Cbuadiun agricultural department have also discovered that to feed young pigs up to the killing stage of futneas before they reach maturity docs not oonduce to providing linn and healthy pork, as injsny unscientific pig breeders and packers discovered for themselves long ago. It is also laid down that sliim milk fed to the pigs with grain produces a firmer and better fat than the Buinn grain ration without milk; that n clover diet, save in conjunction with grain, isn’t u first-rate pork producer; that “it is quite evident that the root crops—turnips, mangels and augur beets—can be used with benefit and impunity;” and finally, that The scientists “do not notice any softening effect due to the results of feeding rape; artichokes or pumpkins, cooked or raw*-” Boston may be interested to learn that, beans produce the worst pork of all the foods, and the Canadian investigators cannot advise that beuns besnsed as diet in any degree whatever. There is no hope for good pork from benn food. But corn is rated higher. Corn meal in moderation is recommended, especially when helped down by skim milk and varied with the other gruins. But the more the corn ration is increased the softer the pork. And pur* ticulurly it is set forth that overfeeding is bad, even for pigs. HOG WATERING DEVICE. Tbs Best and Cheapest Thing Yet Discovered Is Composed of Two Ordinary Barrels. The best hog watering devicp we know of for winter use, pays lowa Homestead, is composed of two barrels. Barrel A should be ect in the line of pipe coming from the supply of water. The flout should be adjusted to a point on a water level line, as seen in the illustration. Barrel II Is let down in the ground so that the water line will conic near the top, but not

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JIOCI-WATKHING UKVXCK. flow-over. A l (' Ih tteen a lid composed of two-inch plunk or heavy lumber built in such a way an to make four drinking place*, the hog a ticking its snout through a hole to get the water. This barrel should he in a corner of tho lot or near a fence, where It will be protected to some extent from the coldest weather; At 1) will be seen a valve which regulates the supply of water and keeps barrel it so full of water all the time, E is the line of pipe leading from the float barrel to many watering places as may be placed on the line. Barrel A should be covered with litter to prevent freezing. SOME TIMELY HINTS. The seedsman loves the man who orders early. The farmer who does so is wise. Paint applied now to farm implements will have staying quality and saving virtu’e. Open furrows in the grain field now so the water will not stand in. low places; and he uire and stop the washes in the orchard and the hilly field. Straw-, corn fodder, sods or evergreen boughs or brush, cun be used for the latter purposes. If you have no room in the barn for the wagons during winter time, a few dollars will build a shed under which to shelter them from the storms. The saving in paint and strength of wood would astonish yon if there were any way to estimate It. Butter keeps welljn cold storage at 14 degrees, fresh meats at 20'degrees; for short storage, game, poultry, fish at 28 degrees, eggs abd canned meata at 30 degrees, apples at 31 degrees, cabbage, celery, onions, parsnips at 32 degrees; pears, carrots, asparagus, cranberries at 33 degrees; grapes, oranges, potatoes at 84 degrees; cheese at 35 degrees, peaches at 38 degrees, and, many perishable fruita at about 40 degrees.— Farm Journal)