Pike County Democrat, Volume 30, Number 44, Petersburg, Pike County, 9 March 1900 — Page 7

^ ^ ^ ^ JK. JM, tu. ^ 4U, 4M, ^ -ilfr 4& The Old Man and Jim BY GERTRUDE NORTON. Reprinted fro . .die*’ Home Journal by special permission.

The old farm was most wore oat, Land so pore it wouldn’t sprout Peas, an’ Jim he comes ter me. “Guess I'll go ter town,” sez he, “Git a job thar in n store— Farm won’t pay ter work no more.” An’ he Went an’ left his dad— Only son the old man had. ’Twas the best, I reckon. Well, He writ often fer a spell. After while I didn’t hear From him more ’an once a year. Then he married—rich, it sed, In the papers that 1 read— Jim was pardner in the store; •Then he didn’t write no more. So, one fhv, 1 writ to Jim, Sed Igjuersed I’d visit him. An’ 1 took my best clothes down, Breshed ’em up ter go ter towrn; But Jim writ ter me next day,

’Pottered some around his store— Didn’t haf ter work, ye see, Jim war teckin’ care uv me— Made my old heart beat so glad— Gave him every cent I had. Alter that fer a good spell Jim he prospered pretty well, But the panic came on then, Bustin’ up the richest men North an’ south, an’ east an’ west— Jim was"busted with the rest— Clean broke up. an’ broke his dad— Every cent the old man had. But I laid no blame on him. Had no fault ter find with Jim— "Didn't fret; I knowed that he Would alius teck good care uv me. Didn’t mind much bein' pore; Jim was clerkin’ in a store, But 1 soon began ter see He was not the same ter me; —s

“HE CAME DOWN FROM TOWN NEXT DAT, PACKED MY DUDS, TUCK ME AWAY.”

Sed he guessed 1d better stay— Guessed I wouldn't tike town life, An*—it might not please his wife. Well, I put tiiy clothes away, 'Lowin’ I would haf ter stay. Couldn't help it ef I died— .list set down right, tlmr an’ cried. So I didn’t go ter town, But jist sorter settled down - OfTthe old farm, glad that it -ladn’t gone back on me yit. ■ ^ - • r v Well, one day some chaps came down— Brought a steam drill out frorp town— Popped a hole down fur Judge Eace, Not a quartei from my place; Struck the richest vein uv lead In the state, the people sed; So I guessed ’twould do no harm Ter pop one down on my old farm. Well, they struck it riclj as gold— Gave me twenty thousand cold " Fer a five-years' lease; an’ then— Jim he writ ter meagen;

An his wife, she ’lowed one day, I was sorter in the way. So I went back home once more— Ter the old farm, sad an’ por.e. Dig-gin’s had all played out now, Farm most ruined, but somehow I jist loved the old place vit, An’ I guessed I’d stick ter it— Liked it better than the town, So I kinder settled down On the wore-out farm once more (Lease run out the day before), When the news was brought ter me * That the minin’ company Had struck another run uv lead, lticher than th*» first, they sed. Dave me thirty thousand more (Lease jist like the one before)— Couldn’t.help it ef I died— , Jist set down right thar an’ cried. Whhn they planked my money down, Thought uv Jim thar in the town— Jim a-toilin’ in the store,

'Ziov 61

I ' “WHEN THEY PLANKED MY MONEY DOWN, THOUGHT UV JIM THAR IN THE TOWN—”

Sed I; must be lonesome, an’ That he couldn’t understan’ Why} 1 didn’t visit him (That began ter sound like Jim) , An’ that he was cornin' down Jist ter take me back ter-town; I was gittin’ old, an’ he Wanted ter teck care uv me, (That was jist like Jim uv old.) I fergot about my gold— Danced a jig, jist like a boy, Jist a b’ilin’ o’er with joy— Thinkin’ all the time uv Jim— Me a-goin’ ter live with him. He came down from town next day, Packed my duds, tuck me away, Back ter town ter live with him. Made my eyes grow kinder dim. An’ my old heart bent so glad— •Tim would teck care uv his dad. Stayed with hint five years er more

Awful hard an’ awful pore, An’ it made my eyes grow dim Jist ter set an’ think uv him. Well, 1 writ him yesterday, An’ he’s cornin’ right away— Cornin’ with his wife.^sez h,e, Ter live on the old farm with me. Well, I aih’t much ter philosophize, I reckon it ain’t my way, But, teckin’ the matter as it lies, I’m sorter constrained ter say: That I reckon it’s better fer me, An’ a good deal better fer Jim, Fer him ter quit teckin’ care uv me, An’ let me teck care uv him. Bloving: an Amendment. “Dickey, people should live to help one another.” “Yes, ma; but I’d get morn pie *1 you’d let me help myself.”—Chicago Record.

A KINDLY WARNING. _■_ Dr. Talmage Speaks Concerning Evil Associations. Aptly lllastrateB HU Text T%at “• Companion of Foola Shall Be Destroyed”—Advlee for Yonnv and Old. [Copyright. 1900, by Louis Klopsch.] Washington, March 4. In thig discourse > Dr. Talmage speaks on a theme which all men, young and old, will be glad to see discussed, and the kindly warning will no doubt in many cases be taken; text, Proverbs 13:20: “A companion of fools shall'be destroyed.” “May it please the court.” said a convicted criminal when asked by the judge what he had to say why sentence of death should not be pronounced upon him, ‘‘may it please the court, bad company has been my destruction. I received the blessing of good parents and in return therefor promised to avoid all evil associates. Had I kept my promise I should have avoided this shame and the burden of guilt which, like a vulture, threatens to drag me to justice for my many crimes. Although I once moved in high circles and was entertained by distinguished men, I am lost. Bad company did the work for me.” Only one out of a .thousand illustrations was that of the fact that “a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” It is an invariable rule. Here is a hospital with a hundred men down with the ship fever. Here is a healthy man who goes into it. He does not so certainly catch the disease as a good man will catch moral distemper if he consents to be shut up with the vicious and the abandoned. In the prisons of the olden time it was the custom to put the prisoners in a cell together, and I am sorry to say it is the ciistom still in some of our prisons; so that when the day of liberation comes, the men, instead of being reformed, are turned out brutes, not men, each one having learned the vices of all the rest.

We may in. our worldly occupation be obliged to talk to and commingle with bad people, but he who voluntarily chooses that kind of association is carrying on a courtship with a Delilah which will shear the locks of his strength, and he will be tripped into perdition. Look over all the millions of the race, and you cannot show me a single instance where a man voluntarily associated with the bad for one year and maintained his integrity. Sin is catching; it is infectious; it is epidemic. , A young man wakes up in one of our great cities knowing only the gentlemen of the firm into whose service he has entered. In the morning he enters the store, and all the clerks mark him, measure him, discuss him. The bad clerks of that establishment, the good clerks of that establishment, stand in some relation to hin\. The good clerks will wish him well, but they will wait for a formal introduction, and even after they have had the introduction they are very cautious as to whether they shall call him into their association before they know him very well. But the bad young men in that establishment. all gather around him'. They patronize him. they offer to show him everything that there is in the city on j on£ condition—that he will pay the expenses, for it always happens so when a good young man and a bad young man go together to a place -of evil entertainment—the good.young inan alyyays has to pay t,her charges. Just at the time the ticket is to be paid for or the champagne bill is to be settled the bad young man will affect embarrassment and feel around in his poekets and say; “Well, well, really I have forgotten my poeke^book.” In 4S hours after this innocent young man has entered the store the bad young men will gather around him, slap him on the shoulder with familiarity, and. if he is stupid in not being able to take certain allusions, will say; “Ah. my young friend, you will have to be broken in.” And forthwith they go to work to “break him in.”

Oh, young- man, let no fallen young man slap you on the shoulder familiarly! Turn around and give a withering glance that will make the wretch cower in- your presence. There is no monstrosity of wickedness that can stand before the glance of parity and honor. God keeps the lightnings v>f heaven in his own scabbard, and no human may reach them, but God gives to every young man a lightning which he may ,use, and that is the lightning of an honest eye. Anybody that understands *#he temptations of our great cities knows the use of one sermon like this, in which I try to enforce the thought, that “a companion of fools shall be destroj*ed.” And. first, I charge you, avoid the s’keptic—that is, the young man who puts his thumb in his vest and- swaggers about, scoffing at your old-fash-ioned religion, and taking out the Bible and turning over to some mysterious passage and saying: “Explain that, my friend, explain that. I used to think just as you do. My father and mother used to think just as you do. But yoti can’t scare me about the future. I used to believe in those things, but I’ve got over it.” Yes, he has got over it, and you will get over it if you stay in his companionship much longer. For awhile he may not bring one argument against our holy Christianity. He will by scoffs and jeers and caricatures destroy your faith in that religion which was the comfort of your father in his declining years and the pillow on which your old mother lay a-dying. That brilliant young skeptic will after awhile have to die, and his diamond

will Hash no splendor Into the eye of death. His hair will lie uncombed on the pillow. Death will come up,, and this skeptic will say to him; “I cannot die. I cMinot die.” Death will say: “You must die. You have but ten seconds more ito live. Your soul—give it to me right away. Your soul!” “Oh, no!” says the skeptic. “Do not breathe that cold air into my face. You crowd me too hard. It is getting dark in the room. Here—take my rings and take all the pictures in the room, but let me off.” “No,” says Death. “Your soul! Your soul!” Then the dying skeptic begins to say, “O God!” Death says: “You declared there was no God.” Then the dying skeptic says: “Pray for me,” and Death says: “It is too late to pray: you have only three seconds more to live, and J[ will count them, of!—one, two, three. Gone!” Where? Where? Carry him out and lay him down beside his old father and mother, who died under the delusions of the Christian religion singing the songs of victory. Again, avoid the idlers—that is, those people who gather arbund the store or the shop or the factory and try to seduce you away from your regular calling and iii your business hours try to seduce you away. There :is nothing that would please them so well as to have you give up your employment and consort with them. Idleness is the next door to villainy. When the police go to find criminals, where do they go to find them? - They find them among the idle—those who have nothing to do, or, having something to! do, refuse to engage in their daily work. Some one came to good old Ashbel Green and asked him why he worked at 80 years of age when it was time for him to rest. “Oh,” hereplied,! “I work to keep* out of mischief.” And no man can afford to be idle. I care not how strong his moral character, he cannot afford to be idle. But you say: “A greats many people are suffering from enforced idleness. During the hard times there were a great many people out of employment.” 1 know it, but the times of dullness in business are the time's when men ought to be thoroughly engaged jin improving their minds and enlarging their hearts. The fortunes to be made 20 years, from now’ will be

iuuut' i#v me ^uuug men wuu iu tue times when business was dull cultivated 1heir minds and improved their hearts. They will get the fortunes after awhile, while those men who hang around their stores, never engaging- in any ifseful occupation, win be as poor then as they are now. It is absurd for a Christian man to say he has; nothing to do. People go to Florence and to Venice and to Rome to see one of the works of the great masters. I think I can show you the picture of one of the great masters. “I went by the field of this slothful and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding, and, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw and considered it well. I looked upon it and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep. So shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth and thy want as an armed man.” There is no more explosive passage in all the Bible than that, It first begins to hiss like the fuse of a cannon and then bursts like a 54-pounder. The old proverb was true: “The devil tempts most me|i. but idlers tempt the devil!” Therefore seek something'to do. If no worldly business offers, then, in the name of .the Lord Jesus Christ, go out on Christian toil, and the Lord will bless you, and the Lord will help you. 9 Again I counsel you. avoid the pleasure seeker, the man whose entire business it is to seek for recreation and armisement. I believe in the amusements of the woi-ld so far as they are innocent. I could not live without them. Any man of sanguine temperament must have recreation or die. And yet the r "’usements and recreations of life must administer to hard work. They are only preparative for the occupation to which' God has called us.

God would not have given us the capacity to laugh if he did not sometimes intend us to indulge it. God hath hur g in sky and set in wave and printed on grass many a roundelay. But all the music and the brightness of the natural world were merely intended to lit us for the earnest work of life. The thundercloud has edges exquisitely purpled, but it jars the mountain gs it says: “I come down to water the fields.” The flowers standing under the fence look gay and beautiful, but they say: “We stand here to refresh the husbandmen at the nooning.” The brook frolics and sparkles and foams, but it says: ‘f go to baptizedthe moss; I go to slake the thirst of the bird; 1 turn the wheel of the mill; in my crystal cradle I rock muckshaw and water lily; I play, but I work.” look out for the man who plays and never works. Look out for that man whose entire business is to play ball or sail a yacht or engage in any kind of merriment. These things are all beautiful and grand in their places, but when they become the chief work of life they become a man’s destruction. George Brummel was admired of all England. He danced with peeresses and went a round of mirth hnd folly, until after awhile, exhausted of purse, ruined of .reputation, blasted orf soul, he begged a drust from a grocer, declaring as his deliberate opinion that he thought a dog’s life was better than a man’s. These mere pleasurists will come around you while you are engaged in your work, and they will try,to take yc-u away. They have lost their places. Why not you lose your place? Then you will be one of them. Oh, my friends, before you go with these pleasur#seekers, these men whose entire life is fun and amusement and recreation, remember while after a man has lived a life of

integrity and Christian consecration, kind to the poor and elevating to the world’s condition, when he cornea to die, he has a glorious r eminiscence lying on his death pillow,;the mere pleasurist has nothing by way of review but a torn playbill, a ticket for the race, a® empty tankard or the cast out rinds of a carousal. And as in delirium of his awful death he clutches the goblet and presses it to his lips, the dregs falling on his l ongue will begin to uncoil and hiss with the adders of an eternal poison. Again, beware of the Sabbath breakers. Tell me how a young man spends his Sabbath, and I will tell you what are his prospects in business, and I will tell you what- are his prospects for the eternal world. God lias thrust into our busy life a sacred duty when we ure to look after our souls. It is exorbitant after giving six days to the feeding and the clothing of these perishable bodies that God should demand one day for the feeding and the clothing of the immortal soul? Our bodies are seven-day clocks, and they need to be wound up, and if they are not wound up they run down into the grave. No man can continuously break the Sabbath and keep his physical and mental health. Ask those aged men, and they will tell you thej- never knew men who continuously broke the Sabbath who did not fail either in mind, body or moral principle. A manufacturer gave this as his experience. He said: “I owned a factory on the Lehigh. Everything prospered. 1 kept the Sabbath, and everything went on well. Hut one Sabbath morning 1 I bethought myself of a new shuttle, and I thought I would invent that new shuttle before sunset, and I refused all food and drink until I had completed that shuttle. By sundown I bad completed it. The next day, Monday, I showed to my workmen and friends this new shuttle. They all congratulated me on my great success. I put that shuttle intp play. I enlarged-my business; but, sir. that Sunday’s work cost me $30,000. From that day everything went wrong. I failed in business, and I lost my mill.” Oh, my friends, keep the Lord’s day. You may think it old fogy advice, but I give it to you now: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou • labor and do all thy work, but the

ac»cmu taie oiiuuuui ui me liOru thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work.” A man said that he would prove that all this was a fallacy, and so he did. “I shall raise'-rr' Sunday crop.” And he plowed the field on the Sabbath, and then ha put in the 'Wd on tne Sabbath and cultivated' the ground on the Sabbath. When the harvest was ripe, he reaped it. on the Sabbath, and he carried0 it into the mow on the Sabbath, and then he stood out defiant to his Christian neighbors and sjaid: “There, that is my Sunday crop, ana it is all garnered.” After awhile a storm came up and a great darkness, and the lightnings of Heaven struck the barn, and away went his Sunday crop. Agkin, I charge you, beware of association with the dissipated. Go with them and you will in time adopt their habits. Why is that man fallen against the curbstone, covered-with bruises andbeastliness? Hewasasbright-fSced a lad as ever looked up from the nursery. His mother rocked1 him, prayed for him, fondled him, and would not let the night air touch his cheek j}nd held him and looked down into his loving eyes and wondered for what high position he was being fitted. He entered life with bright hopes. The world beckoned him, friends cheered him, but the archers shot at him; vile men set traps for him, bad habits hooked fast to him with their iron grapples; his feet slipped on the way, aid there he lies. Who would think that that uncombed. hair was once toyed with by a father’s fingers? Who would think that those bloated cheeks were ever kissed bv a mother’s lips? Would you guess that that thick tongue once made a household glad with its innocent prattle? Utter no harsh words in his ear. Help him up. Put the hat over that once manly brow. Brush the dust from that coat that once coveree a generous heart. Show him the way to the home that once rejoiced at tht sound of his footstep, and with gentle words tell his children to stand bad. as you help him through the hall.

mat was a Kma Husband once and an indulgent father. He will kneel with them no more as once he did at famil.y prayers—the little ones with clasped hands looking up into theheavens with thanksgiving for their happy hoim> Shake off the Sabbath breaker. Oh, turn your back upon these men. Shake off the skeptic. Shake off the idler. Shake off the pleasurist. You may this work of ejection in politeness, bur you may do it firmly. You are not under any circumstances to lose all the re - membrance of the fact that you are .1 gentleman and must always act the gentleman. A young man said to a Christian Quaker: “Old chap, how did you get your money?”, “Well,” said the Quaker, **I got it fcy| dealing in an article in which thru mayest deal if thou wilt—civility.” ; | Be courteous, be polite, but be fir: n£ Say “No” as if you meant it. If you say “No” in a feeble way, they will keep on with their imploration and their terr ptation, and after awhile you will sta a-il in silence, and then you will say, afi ei* they have gone on a little longer, “Ye ' and then you are lost. Oh, turn your back upon the hi air quet of sin! I call you to a better fe to-day. The promises of God are ' he fpuits. The harps of Heaven are 1 e music. The clusters of Esehol ire pressed into the tankards. The s; mk and daughters of the Lord Almighty are the guests, while standing at t):.c banquet to pour the wine and di' ic'lie the clusters and command the m m ic and welcome the guests is a daugl tier of God, on her brow the blossoms <if paradise and in her cheek the fluf-h 6f celestial summer. And her namei; Religion. “Her ways are ways of p ie.ijsantness, and all her paths are peat v"

PUBLIC 1 E3T STATEMENT. Condition at the Fiscal Affairs the I'utntry for the Month *1 February. Washin r e n, March 3.—The monthly statement e f the public debt, issued Thursday s lows that at the close of business |?e >ruary 28, 1900, the debt*, less cast: in the treasury, amounted to $1,118, ,059, a decrease, since February 1, /: !6,750,168. This decrease is largely iijjjo »unted for by the inert®se n the ariiov nt of cash on hand. The del.t is recapitulated as follows: Intere ji:-i earing debt, $1,026*862,120. Debt 4a which interest has ceased since m; t u ity, $1,208,000. Debt firing no interest, $369,178,761. Total debt, $1,417,248,882. This mount, however, does not inlude 20,204,283 in certificates, and these rot;* are olTset by an equal ©! cash in the treasury. The He treasury is classified as i-^old $.413,491,675. silver $501,j aper $60,739,528. bonds, depositee jin nationai bank' depositories* $112,45lku'2;‘ total, $1,097,457,038. Against bilitieh ! unbunt it which h trt asu amount, cash ir:, follows! 172,166 wl>ich there are demand liaimounting to $799,094,217, |ves a net cash balance in the [of $298,362,825. Tli : <;iilRUHC\ CIRCULATION. SloatJ )s Statement of tbe Comptroller of tbe Currency. Washington. March 3.—The monthly state u- it of the comptroller of the currciie; shows that the total cijrcuit -* tion ilia i utional bank notes at the close oi h ,-i less, February, 28. 19<)0, was $249, 3-4 87$, an increase for the year of $6.53S,p 1, and for the month of,$2,447,685. _, 4 Tl>y circulation based on T'nited Stat s bonds amounted to $213,610,029, an i iCtbase for the year of $2,455,612, andincrease for the month of $3,443,:^() The circulation secured by law iiSijmoney amounted to $35,824,849, an icjc -ease fer the year of $4,077,499, but u It crease for the month of $995,555, The amount of United States registt ’4t: bonds on deposit to secure eircul «tl;.g notes was $246.172,270,[and tf sec .ft public deposits $89,524,780.

OMPABATJVi: STATEMENT Sh Ihjs SourcVi of Receiptu jsnd Items of Expenses. Washington, March 3.—The monthly ccmpiirative statement of the receipts art! expenditures of the United States she v. .5 that the total receipts for the n c pin of Febinary were $45,531,265, R>ui|lhe expenditures $37,738,472, lejavi ijHb surplus for the month of $7,39V lj£l . :■ ' ; The receipts from customs were $19,f S2 £52, a gain, as compared with Febua ry. 1S99, of nearly $3,000,000; inal revenue, $20,767,457, increase ut $1,500,000. V he expenditures charged to the war artment amounted, during Febru- ‘ r\f, to $9,436,083, a decrease of- nearly ':0,i>00,000. Navy department, $4,045,--•*S ^decrease, $350,000. luring the last eight months the tojul receipts have exceeded the expefulitures by $37,763,000.^ v err .lx I ’J Vi '..TIE CLARK INVESTIGATION. iirty Tliunsaud Dullars Wititont a Claimant—Cony; res* man Campbell CroMs-Exe.uiiucd. * iWashington, March 3.- The $30,000 ;ed by Mr. Whiteside in his exposure the Clark case before the Mosctana L legislature and which was brought to ■Washington when the hearing in that citse was begun by the senate committee on elections and has been held by it ever since, was returned, Thursday, !o State- Treasurer Collins of Montana, ’lie money was brought to this city or the purpose of identification and for any other use to which it might i*e put by the committee. Concluding that the fund could be no longer used, jt was turned over to Mr. Collins. The money will be held by the treasurer - for five years, and if in the meanwhile it is not claimed by any one it will be covered into the state school fund. Congressman Campbell was on the stand before the committee during the ntire day, and was subjected to a cross-examination by Mr. Faulkner.

TRUSTS FORMING IN AUSTRIA. ! + | * • -rr The Ancient Monarchy Waking Up to the Spirit ut the Present Age. Washington, March ^3.—Consul Maain, at Reichenberg, reports to the state department wholesale naovements toward the formation of industrial trusts in Austria, though, he says, Austria has no protective tariff except on a very few articles, cigars and tobacco, for instances, the traffic in which is a government monopoly. Some of the combinations noted in the report ire /»mong the hat makers, paper factories. sugarmakers, shoe factories, knit goods and gas plants. While all are not trusts as the word is under- . stood iu the United States, yet, says the consul, the object is the same— to increase profits by advancing prices or reducing expenses of production. To Force Payment of Interest. New York, March 3.—It was stated Thursday that nearly 80 per cent, of the bondholders of the Heiker-Jonts-Jewell Milling Co. have agreed to unite to form a protective committee fcQ force the payment of the interest on the bonds of the company, which was due Thursday. The object of the committee, in case the interest is not paid, is t6 foreclose the mortgage. If this is done the property will pass out, of the hands of the United States Flour Milling Co., of which combination it is S subsidiary company. ■ ’...av*.>...j§L$