Rensselaer Republican, Volume 23, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 March 1891 — Page 3

BALEFUL AMUSEMENTS.

|THE fourth sermon on the V PLAGUES OF GREAT CITIES. Corrupt AmnMu.nti th« Wont Plagues of this World;„A Bose, and the Universe, a Garland. Rev. Dr. Ta Image preached at Brooklyn last Sunday. To help stay the plague now raging I Droject certain principles hy whi b you may judge in regard to any amusement or recreation, finding out for yourself whether it is right or whether it is wrong. | I remark in the first place, that you can judge of the moral character of 'any amusement by.its healthful result or by its baleful reaction. There are people who seem made up of hard facts. They are a combination of multiplication tables and statistics. If 'you show them an exquisite picture they will begin to discuss the pigments Involved in the coloring. If you show them a beautiful rose they will s ibmit to a botanical analysis, which is Only the post mortem examination of a flower. They never do anything more than smile. There are no great tides "of feeling surging up from the depths of their so il in billow after billow of reverberating laughter. They seem As if nature had built them by contract and made a bungling job of it. . But blessed be God, there are peo.ple iflLtho wor d who have bright faces, and wnose life is a song, an anthem a puan of victory. Even their troubles are like the vines that crawl up the side of a great tower, on the top of which the sunlight sits, and the soft air of summer hold perpetua carnival. They are the people you like to have come to your house; they are people I like to have come to my house. If you but touch the hem of their garments you are healed, Now it is the-o exhilerating and sympathetic and warm hearted people that are most tempted to perni ious amusements. In proportion as a ship Is swift.it wants a strong helmsman; in proportion-as a horse is gay it wants a, stout driver, and these people of exuberant nature will do welL to look at the reaction of all their amusements. If an amusement sends you home at night nervous so that you cannot sleep, and you rise up in the morning, not because you are slept out, But because your duly drags you from yor si embers you have been where you ougot not to have been. There are amusements that send a man next day to his work bloodshot, yawning, stunid, nauseated; and they are wrong kinds of amusement. Ibby are entertainments that give a man disgus; with the drudgery of life, with tools because they are not swords, with working aprons because they are not robes, with cattle because they are not Infuriated buds of Ihe arena. If an,; amusement send-; you home longing lo a life of romance and thrilling adventure. love that bikes prison and shoots it-clf/ nKfyi) light adTentures and hairbreadth escapes, you may depend upon it that yciu arejdie sacrificed victim of nneanctified p ensure. ' Uur recieations are intended to build us up, and if they pull us down as to o.ir moral or physical strength, you may come to the conclusion that fcoey are obnoxious. There is nothing more depraving .than attendance upon amusements that are full of innuendo and .ow suggestion. The young man enters. At first he sits far'bac i, with his hat on ami his coat col ar up, so irful that some body there nay know him. Several nights pass on. He takes off his hat earlier and puts his coat collar down. The blush that first came into, iiis cbeek when anyt ling indecent was en acted comes no more to his cheek. Farewell, young man! You have probably started oa the long road which ends in consummate destruction, uhe stars of hope .will go out one by one, until you will bo ieft, in utter darkne s Hear you not the rush of the maelstrom, in whoso outer circle your bo it now dan.es, making merry wiihthe whirling waters? But yon are being drawn in, and the gmtie motion will become terrific ag.tation. You cry for help in vain. You pull at the oar to put back, but the struggle will not avail. You will be tossed, and dashed, and shipwrecked, and swallowed in the whirlpool that has already engulfed in its wrath ton thousand hulks. Young men who have but ju t come from country residence to city residence will do well to bo on guard and let no one entice you to places of improper amusement.. It Sr mighty alluring when a young man, long a citieen, offers to show a new comer all around,

Slid further: Those amusements are wrong which lead you into expenditure beyond your means. Money spent in reoreition is not thrown awav. It is all folly for us to come from a place of amusement feeling that we nave wasted our money and time. You may by it have made an investment , worth more than the iransao.ion tnat yMded you hundreds of thousands of dollars. Hut uow many properties havo been riddled by coally amusements! ' first time I ever saw the city—tit the city of Phil idelphia—l was a more lad. I stopped at a holel, and I remember in the evening one of these men plied me wi h his infernal art. He saw I was green. He wanted to show me the sights of the town. He painted the path of sin until it looked like emerald, but I was afraid of him. I shoved back from the basilisk—l made up my mind he was a basilisk. I remember how he wheeled his chair round in fron of me. and with a concentered and diabolical o fort attempted to dnstioy my soul; but there were U«ou angels in the air that night. It was no good resolet 01 on tny part, but it was the all eneompa9ing grace of a good (iod that delivered me. Hewaro’. .beware! O young man. “There is a wry tuat -oerae h right unto a man. 'but the end theiuof is deal h." Tue table bus boon robbed to pay

the elub. The champagne has cheated the children's wardrobe. The carousing parly has burned, up the boy’s primer. The table cloth of the corner saloon is in debt to tie wife’s faded dress. Excursions that in a day make a tour around a whole month’s wages; ladies whose lifetime business to to "g o shopping.” large bets on horses, have their counterparts in uneducated children, bankruptcies that shock he. money market and appall the church, and that send drunkenness staggering across the richly-figured carpet of the mansion, and dashing into the mirror, and drowning out the of musio with the whooping of bloated sons come home to break their old mother’s heart. I saw a beautiful home, where the bell rang violently late at night. The son had been off in sinful indulgences. His comrades were bringing him home, 'they carried him to the door. They rang the bell at l o’clock in the morning. Father and mother came down. They were waiting for the .wandering son, and then lhe comrades, as soon as the door was opened, threw this prodigal headlong in the door-way crying, ‘-The e he is, drunk as a fool. 1 Ha, ha!” When men eo into amusements that they cannot afford, they first borrow what they cannot earn, j and then they steal what the cannot | borrow. First they go into embarassment, and then into lying, and then into theft; nnd when a man go s as far on as that, he does not stop short of the penitentiary. There is not a p ison in the land where there are not v.ctims of unsanctified amusements. Merohantsof Brooklyn or New York, is there a di-arrangement in y rtir accounts? Is there a leakage in your money-drawer? Did not the cash ao counvs come out right last n ght? I wilt tell you. There is a young man in your store wandering off into bad amusements. The salary you give him ; mav meet lawful expenditures, but not. the sinful indulgences in which he has en’ered. an Ihe takes by theft that which you do not give him in lawful salary. How bright the path of unrestrained amusement, oaens. The young man -ays: “Now I am off for a good time. ’ Never mind ecoimy, I’ll get money somehow. What a fine road! -What a beautiful day for a ride! Crack tho whip. a r d over the turnpike! Come, -boys, fill hhh yew —glasses. Drink! Long. life, health, p’enty of rides ust like this!” Hard-working men hear the clatter of tho hoofs, and look up and* say; "Why, I won ler where those fellows got. their money from! Wo have to toil and drudge. Th ydo no’hing.” To those gay men life is a thrill and an excitement They stare ■it other people, and in turn are stared’ at. The watch-ch iin j ingles. The cup foams. The cheeks Hush. The eyes Hash. The midnight hears their gu" : aw. They swagger. Ttioy jostle decent men off the sidewalk. They take the name of God in vain. They parody the hymn they learned at their mother’s knee: and to all pictures of coming disaster they cry out "Who cares!” and to the counsel of some Christian friend. "Who are you:” Passing | along the street some night you hear 1 1 shriek in a grogshop, the rattle of tho ! watchman’s club, the rush of the po!'ce. What is the matter now? Oh, j this reckless young man has been j killed in a grogshop fight. Carry him 1 home to his father’s house. Barents will come down and wash his wounds and close his eyes in death. They forgive him.all he ever did, although he can not in his silence ask it. The orodigal has got homo at 1 st. Mother will go to her little garden and get the sweetest flowers and twist them into a cha iletfor tlio silent heart of the way- ! ward buy. and push back from the bloated brow the long locks that were once her pride. And the air will be ■ ent with the agony. Tho great dramatist says, "How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child.” i I go further, and say tlvse are unchristian amusements which become tho chief business of a man’s life. Life is an earnest thing. Whether wo were bora in a palace or hovel, whether we are affluent or pinched, we have to work. If you do not sweat with toil you will sweat with disease. You have a soul that is to bg transfigured amid the pomp of a judgment day. and aft r the sea has sung its 1 ist chant, and the mounti ns shall have comedown in an avalanche of rock, you will live and think and act, high on a throxe where seraphs sing or deep in a dungeon where demons howl. In a world where there is so much to do for yourselves, and so much to do for others, God pity that man who has no hing to do.

I had a friend at the West.—a rare friend. He was one bf the first to welcome me to my now lone. To fine personal appearance,*he added a fen erosity, frankness an i ardor of nat .re t mt made me love him like a brother. But I saw evil people gathering around him. They came up ibom tle saloons, from the gambling ho Is. They plied him wi h a thousand arts. They sei/.ed upon his social nature, and he could not stand tho charm. They drove him on the rocks, liko a ship full-wiuged shivering on the breakers. 1 used to admonish him. I would say. “Now, I wish you would quit ihese bad habits, and become a Christ an.” “Oh.” he would reply, ••I would like to; I would like to; but I have gone so far that 1 do not think there is any way back.” In his moments of repentance he would go home and tike his little girl of eight year?, and embrace her convulsively, and cover her with adornments, and strew a ound her pictures and toys, and everyth ng that could make her happy; and then, as though hounded by an Jtvii spirit, he would go out to the enflaining cup and the house of shame, like a fool to the correction of the stocks. Your sports are merely means to aq end. They are alleviations and helps.

The arm of toll is the only arm strong enough to bring up the bucket oat ol the deep well of pleas ire. Amusement is the only bower where business and philanthropy rest while on their way to-stirring achievements. Amusements a: e merely the vines that grow about the anvil of toil and the h o-soming of the hammers. Alas for the man who spends a 8 life in laboriously doing nothing, his days in hunt- ' ing up lo inging places and leu gers. bis nights in seek ng oit some gas lighted foolery! The man who always has on his sporting j icket, ready to hun, forgime in the mountain, or fish in thehroik, with no time to pray, or work, or re id, is not so well off as the greyhound that runs by his side or the fly bait with which he whips the stream. A man who does not work does not know how to play. If God had intended us to do nothing but laugh, he would not have given us -boulders with which to lift, and hands with which to work, and brains with which to think. Th e am u setn ents -of i iie are meraiy ffiiek orchestra playing whi I e the great tragedy of life plunges through ids five j acts—infancy, childho d manhood, ' old age and death. Then exit, the last earthly opport mity. Enter the overj whelming realit es of an eternal world. Igo further, and say that a’l thes amusements are wrong wu chlead into badv company. If you go any place where you have to associate with ihe intern erats, with the unclean, with the abandoned, however well they may be dre-seff, in the name of God quit it. j They willdes o l your nature. They will under nine your moral character. They will drop you when you are de stroyed. They will give not one cent to support your chi dren when yourire dead. They wilt drop not one tear at your burial. They will chuckle over your damnation. j I was summoned to his dettli bed. I -hastened. I entered the room. I found hun, to my surpr se. lying in full every hay dives on the lop of toe couch. 1 , put out my hand- He grasped it ex it- : edly, and said; "Sit do.vn, Mr. T.R—mage, right there.” 1 eat down. He s. id: *‘Last night I saw -my- moth r, ! who has 1 ecu dead twen'y years, and ehe sat just where you sit now. It was no dearm. I was wide awake. There Was no delusion in the matter. I saw her just as plainly as I see you. Wife I wish you would take these st. ings olf of fae. There are str ngs spun all around my bo ’y. I wish you would take them o T of mo.” Ijsaw it was delirium. "Oh.” replied his wife,“my deir. there is no hing there, there is nothing there.” He went on. and said. "Just where you si;, Mr Talmage, my mother sat.- Haiti she to me, ‘Henry, I do wish you would do better.’’ I got out of bed, p .t my arms a:ound her, and said, ‘Mother. I want to do better. I have bean trying to do better. Wont you help me to do be ter? You used to help me.’ No mistake about it, no delusion, l saw her—the cap and tho apron and the spectacles, j st as she used to took twenty years ago, but I do wish you would tike the e strings away. They annoy me so. 1 can hardly talk. Won’t you take them away.” I knelt down andlprayed, conscious of ! the fact that he did not realize what I was saying. I got up. i said, "Goodi by; I hope you will be better soon.” I He said, -“Good-by, gooff-oy.” That night his soul went to the God who gave it. Arrangements were made for 1 16 obsequies. Some said: "Don't bring him in the church; he was too dissolute.” "Oh,” 1 said, “bring him. He was a good friend of mine while he was alive, and 1 shall stand by him now that he is deaff. Bring him to the church.” ! As I sat in the pulpit and saw his body coming up througn the aisle, I felt as If I could weep 'ears of blood. I told the people that day. "This man had his virtues and a good many of them. He had his faults and a good many of them, ’ But if there is any j man in this auHence who is without sin, let him cast the fir§t stone at this co fin-lid.” On one side of the pulpit sat that little child, rosy, sweet-faced, ai beautiful as any little child that sat at your table this morning. I war ant you. She looked up wistfully, not knowing the full sorrows of an orphaD ch Id. Oh. her countenance haunts me to-day, like some sweet face looking upon us through a horrid dream. On the other side of the pulpit were the men who had destroyed him. Taere they Bat, some of them pale from exhausting dl-ease, some of them flushed until it seemed ns if the fires of iniquity flushed through the cheek and crackled the lips. They were the men who had done the work. They wer e the men who had bound him hand and foot. They 1 * had kindled the fire. They bad poured the wormwood and gall into that orphan’s cup. Did they weep? No. D.d tn-y sigh repentingly? No. Did tbev say. "YYhata pity that such a brave man should be siain?” No, sir: not one bloated hand was lifted to wipe a tear from a bloated cheek. They sat anJ looked at the coffin like Vultures gazing at the carcass of a lamb v h iso heart they had rippe 1 out! I cried in their ears as plainly-*as I could "There is a God and a judg nent day!” Did they tremble? Oh no. no. Ti.ey went back from their house of God.and that night, though their victim lay in Oak wood Cemetery, l was * old they ' blasphemed, a d they drank, and the , gam iled, and there was not one less customer in all t.ie houses of iniquity, i This destroyed man was a Sa npsou in : physical strength, but Delilah sheared i him, and the Phi.Utlnes of evil companionship dug his eyes out and th' ev; him into the prison of evil hbts But in the hour of hts death he rose qp and t ok hold of ihe two pillarei curses of God against drunkenness and i uncieanness, and threw himself lorwan. until down upon him and hit i companions there came the thunders of an eternal catastrophe.

INDIANA STATE NEWS.

Ihe Crawfordsville postoffice is now doing a business 0- sl3. 00 per year. £ia Peary received 1ff, 500 for damage, suata ned by failing down a well at Shelby viile Rev. Mr. Kinsey, an eccentric citizen of Moore’s Hill, has perfected a perpetua Calendar. A revival at Sevmour in the M. E. Church, has resulted in ffffo professed conversions. A re rival which began six months ago n Clay county has concluded with-tUO converri ns. The women of Mt. JF. tna attacked a saloon, smashed the door in and destroyed the furniture and conteuts. Seventy horses were sold at Cambridge City at an average of $3lO i per head ‘George Day” brought $1,7.75. Mrs. Daniel Heaton, aged thirtysfive, has brought suit at Laporte for a separation from her husband," aged eighty. The glanders have appeared at Anderson, and a horse affected was ordered to be killed by the State veterina-y surgeon. C. VV. McAllister estaoHstaed-a collect tion agency at Evansville and wooed a preity widow, all in a few weeks. Now he is in jail for defrauding his patrons and his wife issuing for divorce. A public ditch has been located in Northern Indiana that will, when finished, re* claim many thousands of acres of valuable land in Starke, Pulaski, Jasper and White counties. Holmes Garrett, of Columbus, while in a saloon, became involved in a quarrel with two strangers, and attempting to escape be fell aud broke his thigh near the hip joint. He was then assaulted by the strangers, who kicked him severely and otherwise maltreated him. The chances are against Garrett’s recovery. Tue Governor announces that ho will no issue commissionsjo the hew Trustees o the Richmond Hospital, and the latter will therefore bring mandamus proceed* ings to compel him to do so. He bases his refusal on the grounds that the LegisTaure has no constitutional right to make_ the appointments. The new board went -to Richmond on the 10th and took possession of the institution. E. W. Parmer, teacher of Mount Hope school, in Anderson township, Madison county, undertook to punish one of his pupils for dbobodince, but he had to whip a half dozen of his scholars, who combined to prevent the original punishment, before he could earry out his plan of discipline. The scholars thereupon caused him to be prosecuted, but a Madison county jury ha indorsed his methods and he will continue master f Several months ago Mrs. Thomas Woods, of Warsaw, cut away the screens and otherwise maltreated a saloon where her hus band spent-too much of his time and money. This prompted the ladies of that place to exercise a surveillance over the saloons and visit them frequently, bearing temperance literature and talking with he frequenters. The effect has been t materially decrease the sale of intoxicants. Tho Governor Thursday reappointed Simeon T.-Yancey Stale Su.pervisur_.of. Oil.. Inspection, to comply with-the change of title in the new law. This action was taken to protect Mr. Yancey’s interests in case the Supreme Court should declare good that portion of the law which chango a the title of the office. The deputy Secretary of State refused to sign the newcomm saion which was issued to Mr. Yancey. The Terre Haute Metropolitan Pol ce Commissioners, chosen Friday by the Democratic board, consisting of the Auditor and Secretary of State, are: Jacob C. Kolsom, Democrat, three years; Jacob D. Early, Republican, two years, and James M. Sankey, Democrat, one year. The Gov* ernor refused to participate in the proceeding. Mr. Kolsom and Mr. Sankey are ex« Mayors of Terre Haute, the former being at present munugcr of the Pixley Clothing Company’s store there, Mr. Early Is a Well-known lawyer, and was formerly a member of the Republican State committee from tho Eighth district [ Mrs. Branson and Mrs. Dr. Potter occupy the same house at Richmond, aud some days ago they noticed that everything me* tallic about the house seemed charged with electricity. The brass*headed tacks In the carpet, the stove and the poker were heavily charged, and iff one shuffled his feet across the carpet and then touched the stove, it was at the risk of beirg knocked down. It even became possible to light the gas by pointing the finger at it. The ladies cal ed in experts, but the oause remained unexplained. There is a possil ility that the supply of electricity comes from the street-car line, but other residences are not affected, although located much nearer than the house occupied by the ladies named. JUDGES OF TUE APPELLATE COURT. Governor Hovey Wednesday appointed the following gentlemen Judges of the new Appellate Court, provided for by the law recently enacted: | First Distr c .—Judge Georg© L. Reinhard. Demi era’, Rcckport, Spencertouniy Second District—Judge Jeptha D. New, I Democrat, North Vej'non, Jennings I county. i . Third District—Jamea B. Black, Re* 1 publican, Indianapolis. Fourth District—Milton F, Robinson, Republican, Anderson, Madison County. Fifth Distr ot—Edgar D. Giru in packer Republican, Valparaiso, Porter county. These gentlemen are to serve from the date of their appointment until January 1,1883. when their successors will have been elected and qualified. Under the previsions of the law authorizing their appointments, they ate to constitute the Appellate Court, which it to meet in Indianapolis, its operations being on the same general plan as that of the Supreme Court irith the exception that their powers and jurisdiction are specifically limited. WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN. Prediction That the U. 8. Will Again Cron* Swords With John Ball. A Montreal special says: An officer of the British navy, who is in the city on business, states that there is more significance to be attached to the approaching visit of Lord Wolaeley to Canada than i generally believed. Lord Wolseley, he

’said, will aail shortly lox Canada and trill at once pr ceed to the Pacific coast, where, i i company with General Herbert, he will inspect the defenses of British Columbia, aud more paiticularly the navy yard at Esquimault. He will remain at Victor.a kntil the United States has been given their ultimatum with regard to the Behring s a question. When asked what he thought of the outlook and the possibility of aa early settlement of' the matte, s of dispute between Canada and the United States, he said; "1 wou d not be surprised to find Great Britain and the jllnited States at war before t|ie year is out, The British govern men l has been remaing quiet in view of the possibiliiy of the Liberal partyinCauadage.ting into power, through whom Loid Salisbury believed a more satisfactory settlement of the matters in dispute could have been reached than through tne administration of Sir John McDonald,-whose has been more in the direction of intensifying hostilities than effecting a reconoili* atiou ” In conclusion be said that the activity •about the British dock yard* clear y showed that England was preparing to be TreadJ' for any emergency. "Just mark miwords,” he aided, “it Great Britain and the united States do not measure 6W rdu before the year closes they will c me so near it that, only the greatest amount ci strategy will prevent it.”

BERING SEA AFFAIR.

A Settlement Now > robab • on the Basis Ot Arbitration. The Bering sea negotiation have taken a most favorably turn, and the governmen of the United States and Great Britain appear to have reached a basis upon which to settle their difficulties. Lord Salisbury in a letter to Sir Julian Pauncefote, states that her majesty’s government is ready to submit the six questions propounded by Secretary Blaine, with afew reservation to arbitration. He suggests that one more matter be submitted to the arbitrator, tha* is the question of what damages are due to persons who have been injured in cast it should be determined that the action of the United States in seizing British vess sels was without warrant of internationas law. In reply to Mr. Blaine’s claim that Bering s ais not a part of the Pacific pcean, Lord Salisbury cites authorities to prove that it is and claims that, the Anglc*Russ sian treaty of 1825 gives Great Britain the right of free passage and free fishing in any part of the Pacific ocean, he majesty’s government never having cot % ceded the claim of Russia to jurisdiction for 100 miles from the coast.

Tarantulas.

The tarantula is found in the Old World as well as in the new. It belongs to the hot, dry, sandy plains of Arizona, and to all similar lands in every part oi the world A writer in Knowledge who has evidently made a specialty of spiders, gossips p.easautly of this most repulsive species: "The taraut.ila is one of the largest but by no means the most venomous, spider found in Europe. It belongs to the mining section of the family termed wolf spiders. Arts body is covered a.l over with down, chiefly of an olive dusky brown color. The upper border Ot the thorax and the outline of the eyes are yellow and the back of the abdomen is marked with a row of triangular dark spots with whitish edges. lis eight eyes are arranged in three tranve se rows, the front row containing four small eves; while behind there a.e tvyo pairs of larger eyes., The tarantula is common in Spain, Southern Fiance*and Italy, occurring lin great numbers round the town of ! Taranto. It has been found in Asia, I and also in .-Northern Africa. This spider is to be found in dry places, partly overgrown with grass and fully exposed to the heat of the sun; living in an underground passage which it digs for itself, lining it with its web. These passages are round in section, and sometime * quite an inch in diameter, often extending toHlSg:~fleptfr3of £ a foot or even* more below the surface. The creature is very quick in its movements, and eager in the pursuit of its prey It waits oniy to kill one victim before it darts upon another, and it has been known to affo'w itsetf to be carried into the air by a large fl v that it has attacked rather than relinquish its hold. I would not write silly letters to young men, or permit them to be familiar with me.

THE MARKETS.

Indianapolis, March 18, 1891, OK AIN. » i Wheat. Corn, j Oats. Rye - Indianapolis,. * r|d 101 Iw 91*2 wsl .......... Chicago....—, 2 r’d 102 6J 68 . I 1 00 Cincinnati.—. 2 r’d \O2 62 63 St. Lou Is 2fdl 01 63 60 W New York 2 r’d 1 llj 70 5S • 4 I gQ Baltimore • 1 07 68 59 til--- h —~66_Clover 1 Sevd Toledo 1 02 62 53 4 65 Detroit. . 1 wh 1 02 61 62 Minneapolis : j 99 -ouiaviHo • —... _ Li VS STOCK OaTTL* —£xpoi 6 gratae* PPP @®.2> Uoou UtCuoice eu.ppeit, 4. , ouUiiuoU to meuiuui smppers.... 3. Oi^-t..0 SlotAvl'S, 000 U> 000 U). -.i.Uviy ,3 , Uoou to cuoioe uoilers '. - 4,«i3.r5 Luuuuion to lueaiuiu hellers 2. ~(<s ~y UooU to cuoicc cows 2. t to rneaium cows (kw2.t}j Hows —Heavy*** 8.6 («3* u Ligui : **■* o*k-7i) fcuxetl 3.5(kcj(.j.7Q Heavy rougns •••• tm*. p Submp —Good to choice (Kg Pnirtomedium. <K9. 5 MISCKLLANEOUS. itggs l c.Butter, Creamery (is 22 Dairy lo» OUOU Country t.c. feathers, 3 c. Does wax, lo,t|AJ; vVooi l-nwasaed 4i Poultry, Han* c. TurKeys 2a toau 8 Clover sesi I fi

BUFFALOES AND LIONS.

Tho King of Beasts Not the Greatest Terror. It may be added that of all African £ame— sitva in certain kin jsof ground, Jhe elephant—the buffalo is tne most dangerous to hunt. The lion? By no means. A noble beast, and alt that, of course; Out as regards danger to the hunter, not a circumstance to a fierce oldbufTalo bull. The lion is easily killed or disabled by a well-placed bullet of forty-five calibre; but a buffalo is as tenacious of life as a grizzly bear, and to wound him with a rifle of small calibre is a dangerous performance. You m y riddle him through and through aud even pierce his vitals, nnd the peppering only serves to make him more savage and revengeful, and if you wound but fail to kill him, and escape his charges, as you value your life hunt no longer in that particular neck o’ woods.” Many a gallant sportsman has paid the penalty of h»9 rashness with his life by hunting over ground on which he had, the previous d y, left a wounded buffalo. But h 6 is noble game. He almost always charges you when you wound him, and he is full of fight so long as he is able to draw a breath. Luckily for his future he has no v luable robe on his back, that fatal covering which sealed the fate of the American bison. liis body is virtually hairless, and it is only for the grand trophy of his m >ssive horns that the sportsm in covets him. He is nocturnal in his habits, another point in his favor agaitist- annihilation. During the day the herd usally lies hidden m the dense rushes or papyrus of a swamp or in soma thick patch of jungle by a stream. At nightfall they come out on the plains to graze, and usually get under cover again by 8 or 9 next morning. To hunt him successfully you must remain for some time in the vicinity of his habitat long enough to learn his daily habit 9 and movements. You must be out and about before daylight in the mornings or your chances of bagging will be very slender.’ But you are likely to stumble on solitary specimens at any hour of the day and in all sorts of unexecuted places, as ray friend. Dr. Abbott, onoe had good cause to remember, to say nothing of myself. —Stevens in Africa.

THE EXPERT ACCOUNTANT.

Soma of the Doings of the Man Who Work at Figures. The expert accountant is one of the necessities of modern civilization, tie knows ail the intricacies of figures and account books. He is indispensable to the great corporations. He can take great masses of books and evolve a balance sheet He compiles reports, be adjusts averages for the insurance companies, and gets order out of chaotic masses of figures. He knows how to make annual reports look attractive, and not unfrequentiy makes ugly accounts look straight Une of the most important functions of the expert accountant is to show up def iutters. It often happens that busIness meu find their affairs getting tingled. They know they have been making money; but somehow, they are running behind. They have relied upon some trusted bookkeeper. So far as they can see the books are all right but tne results are unsatisfactory. They do not like to suspect the trusted Bervant, but they want to be satisfied. The expert accountant i# called in with grekl secrecy, and ordered to go over the books at night Theft the exposure comes; the cooked accounts are exposed; the forced balance is shown up; the amount of the defalcation is set down in plain figures. It is surprising how many concerns there are doing large business who are absolutely dependent upon their bookkeepers, and are utterly helpless to 'find out exactly where the trouble is, although they may be convinced that something is wrong. The expert..accountant may strike it at the first glance. He may delve for weeks before ho reaches the solution. He learns lots of secrets, but he is dumb as ae oyster, and keeps his discoveries only for the ear of the employer. If he is kind-hearted he advises the defaulter to pay up before the exposure comes. There are a number of expert accountants in New York who make a business of unraveling tough accounts. Their charges are high, out they are in great demand. It is said to be almost an invariable rule that when an expert accountant is called in to go over cooked account books the culprit will own up and help in getting a correct statement. —New York Sun.

How to Sharpen a Pencil.

"If really makes me tired to see the average man sharpen a pencil,” said an old newspaper man in a stationary store to a Washington Star reporter. “He will cut his fingers, cover them with dirt and blacken them with lead dust, and still will not ’sharpen the pencil. “There is but one way to sharpen a lead pencil and that is to grasp it firmly with the j>oint from and not toward you. Take your knife in the other hand and whittle away as though you had lots of pencils to waste. By following these directions and turning the pencU " ovef you“win soon have it neathrand sharpened, and your fingers will be unsoiled and you Will not need any court plaster to put on the wounds because you cannot cut your hugers when whittling from them. “This method is the best, whether the knife is dull or sharp. If the pencil is a soft one there is no sense ia sharpening the lead. Simply cal away the wood, and in writing turn the pencil over, thus writing with the sides of the lead. “Another disgusting and senseless habit is in placing the pencil in the mouth when writing. This is a relio of the days when peucils were.as hard as flint and before the munuhicturera were able to produce the smooth, soft pencils that are used to-day. The eonj tinual dampening of the lead will I harden even a good graphite pencil aud make it hard acu gritty. It ia simpif a habit, any way, and most I habits are bad ones.”