Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 April 1896 — Page 7

TALMAGE’S SERMON.

SEASONABLE DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED PREACHER. Re Compares the Church to a Garden, Because It Is the Place of’ Cholpe Flowers, Select Fruits and of Thorough Irrigation. The Garden of God. As the parks in Washington are abldom yvith hyaeinths, and the gardens are being made, the simile dominant in this subject is very suggestive and practical. Dr. Talmage’s text was Isaiah lviii., 11, “Thou shall be like a watered garden.” The Bible isna-great tioem. We have in it faultless rhythm, and bold 'imagery, and startling antithesis, and rapturous lyric, and sweet pastoral, and instructive narrative, and devotional psalm—thought •expressed In style more solemn than that of Montgomery, ’more bold than that of Milton, more terrible that,that of Dante, more natural than that of Wordsworth, more impassioned, than that of Pollock, more tender 'hah‘that of Cowpcr, mure Weird than that of Spenser. This great poem brings all the gems of the earth into its coronet, and it weaves, the-flames of .judgment into its garlands and pours eternal harmonies in its rhythm. Everything this book totrehes-it makes beautiful, front the plain stones of the Summer thrashing floor to the daughters of Nnhor filling the trough fur the camels, from the fish pools of Heshbon up to the psalmist praising God with the diapason of storm and whirlwind and JobV.inmgery of Orion,-sAreturiis and the Pleiades. A Beautiful Garden. My sex t leads us into a scene of suminer rexloteTiee. The world has-hitd-t great many beautiful gardens. Charlemagne added to the glory of his reign by decreeing that they he established all through the realm, deciding even the names of the flowers to be planted there. Henry IV., at Montpelier, esta.uislied gardens of bewitching beauty ail luxuriance, gatheriug into them Alpine, Pyrenean and French plants. One of the sweetest spots on earth was tne garden of Sheiistone. the poet, flis writings have made but little" impression on the world, but his garden, “The Leasowea.” will be! immortal. To the natural advantage of that place was brought the perfection of art. Arbor and terrace and slope and rustic temple and reservoir and urn and fountain here had their crowning. Oak and yew and hazel put forth their richest foliage. There was no life more diligent, no soul more ingenious, than that of Sheustone, and all that diligence and genius he brought to the adornment of that one treasured sppt. He gave £3OO for it; he sold it for £17,000. And' yet I am to tell you to-day of a richer garden than airy 1 have mentioned. —It is the garden spoken of in my text, the garden of the church, which belongs to Christ. He bought it, he planted it, he owns it. and he shall have it. Walter Scott, in his outlay at Abbotsford,, ruined his fortune, and now, in the crimson flowers of those gardens, you can almost think or imagine that you see the blood of that old man’s broken heart, The payment Of the last £IOO,OOO, sacrificed him. But 1 have to tell you that Christ’s life and Christ’s death were the outlay of this beautiful garden of the church of which my text speaks. Oh, how many sighs and tears and pangs and agonies! Tell me, ye women who saw him hang! Tell mo, ye •executioners who lifted him and let him down! Toll me, thou sun that didst hide, ye rocks that fell! (Jlirist loved the church and ga,ve, himself for it. If the of the church belongs to Christ, certainly he has a right to walk in it. Conte, then, O blessed Jesus, to-day; walk up and down these aisles and pluck what thou wilt of sweetness for thyself. The church, in my text, is appropriately compared to a garden because it is the place of choice flowers, of select fruits , and of thorough irrigation. That would ~Rr a straiigtr prarden -tn which there were no flowers. If nowhere else, they would be along the borders or at the gateway. The homeliest taste will dictate something, if it be only the old-fashioned holly hock or dahlia or daffodil, but if there be larger menus then you will find the Mexican cactus and biasing azalea and clustering oleander. Well, now, Christ comes to his garden, and he plants there some of tile brightest spirits that ever flowered upon the world. Some of them are violets, inconspicuous, but sweet as heaven. You have to search and find them. You do •not see them very often-. -perhaps, but you find where they have been by the hrighteued face of the invalid and the sprig of geranium on the stand and the new window curtains keeping out the glare of the sunlight. They are perhaps more like the _ ranunculus, creeping sweetly along amid the thorns and briers of life, giving kiss for siting, and many a man who has had in his way some great black rock of trouble has found that they have covered it all over with flowery jasmise, running in and out amid the crevices. These flowers in Christ’s garden are not, like the sunflower, gaudy in the light, but wherever darkness soul tharnhbds to be Comforted there they stand, night blooming esreuses. But in Christ’s garden there are plants that may be better compared to the Mexican cactus —thorns without, loveliness within, men with sharp points of character. They wound almost every one that touches them. They are hard to handle. iMen pronounce them nothing but thorns, but Christ loves them notwithstanding all their sharpness. Many a man has had a [very hard ground to cultivate, and it has only been through severe trial he has raised even the smallest crop of grace. A very harsh minister was talking to a very placid elder, and the placid elder said to the harsh minister, “Doctor, I do wish you would control your temper.” “Ah,” •aid the minister to the elder, “I control more temper in five minutes than you do in five years.” Thorne in the Garden. It is harder for some men to do right than for other men to do right. The grace that would elevate you to the seventh heaven might not keep ypur brother from knocking a man down. I had a friend who came to me and said, “I dare not join the church.” I said, “Why?” “Oh,” he said, "I have such a violent temper! Yesterday morning I was crossing very early at the Jersey City ferry, and I saw a milkman pour a large quantity of water into the milk can, and I said to him, ‘I think that will do,’ and he Insulted me, and I knocked him down. Do you think •I ought to join the church?” Nevertheless that very same man, who was so harsh in his behavior, loved Christ and could not speak of sacred things without tears of, emotion and affection. Thorns without, sweetness within —thei best specimen of the Mexican cactus I ever saw. There are others planted in Christ’s garden who.are always radiant, always impressive, more like the roses of deep line that we occasionally find, called “Giants of Battle;’’ the Martin Luthers, St. Hauls, Chrysostoms,’ Wyellfs, Lntimers and Samuel Rutherfords. What in other men is a spark in them is a conflagration. IWhen they sweat, they sweat great drops of blood. When they pray, their prayer takes fire. When they preach, It Is a Pentecost. When tßey fight, it is a Thermopylae. When they die, it is a martyrdom. You And a great many roses in the •ardens, but only a few “Giants of Bat-, tie.” Men say, “Why don’t you have

more of them in the church?” I say, “Why don’t jfou have in the world more Humboldts and Wellingtons?” God gives to some ten talents; to another, one. In thin garden of the church .which Christ has planted I also find the snowdrops, beautiful but cold looking,! seemingly another phase ol winter. I mean those Christians whoarepreeise in their tastes, unimpassioned, jiure as snowdrops and as cold. They never shed any tears, they never get excited, they never say anything rashly, they never do anything precipitately. Their pulses never “flutter, • their nerves never twitch, their indignation never boils over. They live longer than most people, but their life is in a minor key. They never run up to C* above the staff. In their music of life they have no staccato passages. Christ planted them in the church, and they must be of some service, or they would not be there. Snowdrops, always snowdrops. But' I have not told you of the most beautiful flower of all this garden spoken of in the text. If you see a century plant, your i emotions are started. You say, “Why, this flower has been 100 years gathering up for one bloom, and it will be 100 years more before other petals will come out.” But I have to tell you of a plant that was gathering up from all eteiMiiiy.„anu : that 1,000 years, ago put forth its bloom never to wither. It is the passion plant of the cross! Prophets foretold it, Bethlehem shepherds looked upon it in the bud, the rocks shook at its bursting, and the dead,got up in their winding sheets to see its full bloom. It is a crimson flower - blood at the roots, blood op the branches, blood on all the |eaves., Its perfume is to All all the nations. Its breath is heaven. Come, O winds, from tl > north, and winds from the south, and winds front the east, and winds from the west, and hear to all the earth the sweet smelling savor of Christ, my Lord! His worth if all the nations knew, Sure the whole earth would love him too. Fruit in the Garden. Again tin# church may be appropriately compared to a garden because it is a place of fruits. That would lie a strange garden which had in it no berries, no plums or peaches or apricots. The coarser fruits are planted in the orchard or they are set out on the sunny hillside, but the choicest fruits are kept in the garden. So, in the world outside the church, Christ has planted a great many beautiful things—patience, charity, generosity, integrityhut he intends the choicest fruits to be in the garden, and, if they are not there, then shame on the cliurch._ Religion is not a mere sentimentality. It is a practical, life-giving, healthful fruit—not posies, but apples. “Oh,” says somebody, “I don’t see what your garden of the Church has yielded.” In reply I ask, Where did yom asylums come from, and your hospitals, and your institutions of mercy? Christ planted every one ol them; he planted them in his garden. When Christ gave sight to Bartimeus, he • laid the primer stone to every blind asylum that has ever been built. When Christ soothed the demoniac of Galilee, be laid the corher stone of every lunatic asylum that has ever been established. When Christ said to the sick man, “Take Up'TEyljod and walk,” he laid the corner stone of every hospital the world has ever seen. When Christ said, “I whs in prison and ye visited me,” he laid the corner stone of every prison reform association that has ever been organized. The church of Christ is a glorious garden,-and it is full of fruit. I know there is some poor fruit in it. I know; there are some weeds that ought to be thrown over the fence., I know there are some crab apple trees that Ought to be cut down. I know there are some wild grapes that ought to be uprooted. But are you going to destroy the whole garden because of a little gnarled fruit? You will find worm eaten leaves in Fontainebleau, and insects that' sting in the fairy groves of the Champs Elysees. You do not tear down and destroy the whole garden because there are a few specimens of gnarled fruit. I admit there are men and women in the church who ought not to be there, but let us be just as frank and ad mit the fact that There are hundreds and thousands and tens of thousands of glorious Christian men and women —holy, blessed, useful, consecrated and triumphant. There is no grander, nobler collection in all the earth than the collection of Christinns.

There are Christian men in this house whose religion is not n matter of psalm singing and church going. To-morrow morning that religion will keep them just as consistent and consecrated in their worldly occupation as itever kept them at the communion table. There are women here to-day of a higher type of character than - Mary-es Bethany. They not only sit at the feet of Christ, but they go out into the kitchen to help Martha in her work that she may sit there too. There is a woman, who has a drunkard husband, who has exhibited more faith and patienccand courage than Ridley in the fire. He was consumed in twenty minutes. Hers has been a twenty years’ martyrdom. Yonder is a mau who has been fifteen years oh his back, unable to feed himself, yet calm and peaceful as though he lay on one of the green banks of heaven watching the oarsmen dip their paddle in the crystal riw*r.-k- seems t® me this moment as if St. Paul threw to us a pomologist’s catalogue of the fruits growing in thiFgreat garden of Christ—love, joy, peace,"patience, charity, brotherly kipdness, gentleness, mercy—glorious fruit, enough all the baskets of earth and heaven. The Watered Garden, Again) the church in my text is appropriately called a garden because it is thoroughly irrigated. No garden could prosper long without plenty of water. I have seen a garden in the midst of a desert, yet blooming and luxuriant. All around us were death and barrenness, but there were pipes, aqueducts, reaching from this garden up to the mountains, and through those aqueducts the water came streaming down and tossing up into beautiful fountains, until every root and leaf and flower was saturated. That is like the church. The church is a garden in the midst of a great desert of sin and suffering, but it is well irrigated, for “our eyes are unto the hills from whence Cometh our help.” From the mountains of God’s strength there flow down rivers of gladness. “There Is a river the stream whereof shall make glad the city of our God.” Preaching the gospel is one of the aqueducts. The Bible is another. Baptism and the Lord’s supper are * aqueducts. Water to slake the thirst, water to wash the unclean, water tossed high up in the light of the Sun 6t Righteousness, showing us the rainbow around the throne. Oh, was there ever a garden so thoroughly irrigated!, You know that the beauty of Versailles and Chats Worth depends very much upon the great supply .of J water. I came to the hitter place, (ffiataworth, one day when strangers are not t<f be admitted, but by an inducement which always seemed as potent with an Englishman as an American I got in, and then the gardener wont far up above the stairs of stone and turned on the water. I saw it gleaming on the dry pavement, coming down from step to step until It came so near I could hear the musical rush, and nil over the high, broad stairs it came, foaming, flashing, roaring down, until sunlight and wave in glecsome wrestle tumbled at my feet. 80 It is with the church of God. Everything comes from above —pardon from above, joy from above, ‘ adoption from above, sanctification from above. Hark! I hear the latch of the garden

» % *li f gate, and I look to see who is coming. T hear the voice of Christ, “I am my garden.” I say: “Gome In, O Jesusf We have been waiting for thee. Walk all -through the paths. Look at the, flowers :J look at the fruit; pluck thalt which tFou. wilt for thyself.” Jesus comes into the garden and up to that • old man and -touches hiirrand says: “Alfnost home, father; not many more aches for thee. I will never leave thee; take courage a little longer, and I will'steady thy tottering steps, and I will soothe thy troubles and give thee rest. Courage, old man.” Then Christ goes up another garden path, and ho comes to a soul in trouble and says: “Peace! All is well. I have seen thy tears. I have heard thy prayer. The sun shall not smite thee by dayAor the moon by, night. The Lord shalf preserve thee from all evil; he will preserve thy soul. Courage, Ojtroubled spirit!” Then I see Jesus going up another garden path, and I see great excitement among the leaves, and I hasten up that garden path to see what Jesus is doing* there, and, lo! he is breaking ou flowers, sharp and clean, from the stem, and I say, “Stop, Jesus; don’t kill those beautiful flowers.” He turns.to me and says, “I have come into my garden to gather lilies, and I mean to taae these up to a higher terrace. for the garden around my palace, and there ,l will plant them, and in better soil and in better air they shall put forth "brighter loaves and sweeter redolenee. and no frost shall touch them forever.” And I looked up into his face and said: “Well, it is his garden, and he has a right to do what he will with it. Thy will be done” —the hardest prayer ever man made. It has seemed as if Jesus Christ took She lw>st. From many of your households the best one is gone. You know tnat she was foo good for this world; she was the gentlest in her ways, the deepest in her afreetions, and when at last the sickness came you had no faith in medicines. You knew that the hour of parting had come, "7i]HT"Vvh’ch, thrbugh 'the rtelr grace of-'the Lord Jesus Christ, you surrendered that treasure you said: “Lord Jesus, take it. It is the best we have; take it. Thou art worthy!” The others in the household may have been of grosser mold. She was . of the finest. . , v ’■

The heaven of your little ones will not lie fairly begun until you get there. All the kindnesses shown them by immortals will not make them forget yqu. There they are, the radiant throngs that wenT out from your homes. I throw a kiss to the, sweet darlings. They are all well now in the palace. The crippled child a SouAd foot notv. A little lame ch;ld says, “Ma, will I be lame in hedven?” “NOr my darling; you won’t be lame in •heaven.” A little sick child says, “Ma. will Ihe sick in heaven?” “No, my dear; you won’t be sick in heaven.” A little blind child says, “Ma, will I be blind in heaven?” “No, my deal; you won’t be blind in heaven. They are all well there.” I notice that the fine gardens sometimes have high fences around them and you cannot get in. It is sb with a king’s garden. The only glimpse yon ever get of such a garden is when the king rides out in his splendid carriage. It is not so with •ihis garden, this King’s garden. I throw wide open the gate and tell you all to come in. No monopoly in religion. Whosoever will, may. Choose now between, a desert and a garden. Many of ydu have tried the garden of this world’s delight. You have found it has been a chagrin. So it was with Theodore Hook. He made all the world laugh. He makes us laugh now when we read his poems, but he could' not make his own heart-laugh. While in the midst of his festivities he confronted a looking glass, and he saw himself and said: “There, that is true! I look just as I aih—done up in body, mind and purse.” So it was of Shenstone, of”whose garden I -told you at the beginning of my sermon. He sat down amid those bowers and said: “I have lost my road to happiness. lam angry and envious,and frantic and despise everything around me, just as it becomes a riiadman to do.”

Heartsease. O ye weary souls, come into Christ’s garden to-day and pluck a little heartsease. Christ is the only rest ami the only pardon for a perturbed spirit. Do you not think your chance has almost come? You men and women who have been waiting year after year for some good opportunity in which to accept Christ, but have postponed it five, ten, twenty, thirty years, do you not feel as if now your hour of deliverance and pardon and salvation had come? O man, wnat grudge hast thou against thy poor soul that thou wilt not let it be saved?- I feel as if salvation must come to-day in some of your hearts. Some years ago a vessel struck on the rocks. They had only one lifeboat. In that lifeboat the passengers and crew were getting ashore. The vessel hdtl foundered and was sinking deeper and deeper, and that one boat could not take the passengers very swiftly. A little girl stood on the deck waiting for her turn to get into the boat, The ooat came and went, came and went, but her turn did not seem to come. After a while she could wait no longer, and she leaped on the taffrall and then sprang into the sea, crying to Jhe boatman: “Save me next! Save me next!” Oh, how many have gone ashore into God’s mercy, and yet you are clinging to" the wreck of svtt f . £ Ottwrv. have accepted the pardon of Christ, you are in peril. Why not this moment make a rush for your immortal rescue, crying until Jesus shall hear you and heaven and earth ring with the cry: “Save mo next! Save me, next!” Now is the day of salvation! Now! Now! This Sabbath is the last for some of you. It is about to sail away forever. Her bell tolls. The planks thunder back in the gangway. She shoves off. She floats out toward the great ocean of eter-j nity. Wave farewell to yourdast chancel for heaven. “Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thee ps a hen gatheretb her brood under her wings, and ye would not! Behold your house is left unto you desolate!” Invited to revel in a garden, you die in a desert! May God Almighty, before it is too late, break that infatuation.

Bat One Emperor of That Class.

German policemen appreciate this lese-majesty business about as thoroughly as anybody. One of them arrested an Englishman the other day for publicly declaring the Emperor was several kinds of a blank blanked fool. “That’s all right,” protested John Bull; “It wasn’t your emperor, but the Emperor of China, I ftas talking about!” “That won’t go,” replied the policeman; “there’s only one emperor who Is—what you said!” And he had the Britisher fined $1.15 for describing the emperor In a way that a fool, though a wayfaring man, might understand.—Pittsburg Dispatch.

The Oldest.

Among articles of Western costume, the two oldest are perhaps the Highland kilt and the smock-frock of tho West country English laborer. It is not probable that either of them haß altered much for a thousand years. The smock-frock was the peasant dress In early Saxon times, and the kilt would seem to he a development of the klrtle or fringed girdle, which was pfobably the earliest garment worn by man. Socrates was said to remember the faces and names of all who attended his discourses. *

OVER A CENTURY OLD.

VENERABLE MEN AND WOMEN OF INDIANA. James Sullivan Born in 1791, and Martin 1 Rafferty, Who la 101 Xearspf Age—Hoosier Ladies Who Are Close to Five Score. V- . Indiana a Great Health Resort. Southern Indiana is noted for the longevity of Its people., Within a five-njile radius of the thinly settled district; of Leopold there are not less than fifty people who have already passed the allotted three score and ten. Octogenarians are eommon. There seems to be something in the air that-promotes long life. It is not unusual to see men of 70 and 80 swinging -the ax or following the plow. There, is James Sullivan, who but the •other day celebrated his 105th birthday anniversary. Mr. Sullivan was born in County Kerry, Ireland, married at the, age of 45, and with bis wife set sail for the land of the free live years later—in 1841. Mr. Sullivan'always was and still

JAMES SULLIVAN AT 100.

is of very abstemious- habits. Soon after landing in Philadelphia Sullivan became foreman for a railway contractor engaged in the Lehigh Valley or other parts of Pennsylvania. It was there he acquired a sufficiency to place him “above distress, beiow envy,” but the rough element with which his work brought him in contact was never relished, and he removed tp Perry County, Indiana, where he invested money in lands, and settled upon the farm which he still owns. In the prime of life the old gentleman was a practiced athlete, standing 5 feet 10 inches, Pleasuring 43 inches around the chest and weighing 200 pounds. He is not so tall or heavy now, but the deep chest and powerful frame bespeak the robust constitution. The old gentleman furnished two sons for the late rebellion, and would have enlisted himself, but was turned away on account of his age. Mr. Sullivan is a devout Catholic and attends church in Leopold, to which he occasionally walks at seasons when the road is good, a distance of three miles, and is as light of foot as the ordinary octogenarian. He has been a Democrat ever since his first vote. Another old Indianan is Martin Rafferty, also a native of the old sod, from the County Galway. Mr. Rafferty celebrated his IMst birthday on April 1. He jokingly remarked that he was sent as an April fool present to his mother in the year

MARTIN RAFFERTY AT 60.

1795; that he was so small he could have been rocked in a slipper and so weak big life was despaired of and his coffin prepared, Mr. Rafferty came to America in the year 1839. He spent upward of twenty years in New York, plying his trade—that of a shoemaker. Two years were spent in Pittsburg. Thence he went to Parkersburg, W. Vii., then to Louisville, Ky., whence he moved to Perry County, Indiana, twenty-eight years ago. Mr. Raffefty furnished one son to the “lost cause.” and two of them helped rout the queen’s own in the memorable fiasco of 18(59. His own sentiments flowed in the same channel, but he remembered the* advice given by the bishop to the shoemaker, “Shoemaker, stick to your last,” and stuck. Mr. Rafferty spent nearly all the past winter abed with the grip, and his death was dally expected, but he is now apparently recovered, and with care, as he says, “May April fool them a few times more.” Like Mr. Sullivan, with whose family Mr. Rafferty's is connected by marriage, Mr. Rafferty was a practiced athlete of

MRS. DUPAOUIER AT 91.

t c same deep-chested; expsnsive tnrild, out is only 5 feet 7 Inches high. Unlike Mr. Sullivan, he is an incessant snuff user, though he uses tobacco-in no other form. He enjoys a social glass, and credits good brandy with helping him to rise from his late illness, but never drank excessively. His hair is almost ns black as at 21, and ha 3 close-clipped whiskers, which he always wore as in the picture (the only one he ever had taken), which represents him in his doth year. His deep blue eyes require no glasses, and his teeth are firm and white.

-J r * -■* Mrs. Catherine Dupnqoier is now in her « 97th year: -'Mrs. Dnpnqnieris a native of Faria, Franco, but came to New Orlpans at the age sos li with.'Her pa rents. She was bereft of life’s pnrtner thirty -years ago, but bad acquired a competency by mercantile bfisineSs and has lived at ease since her widbwnood among her children. Mrs: Dupaquier can Spea-k barely enough English to be understdbd by -her American neighbors. Mrs. Louise Perrot will celebrate, her centennial anniversary next October. This old lady is also a native of France and arrived on these shores with a large family in 1802, her husband preceding her a year. She set out from New* Orleans to meet her husband at Vicksburg, Miss., bnt reached there only in time to see his corpse prepared hastily for burial,. he. having fallen a victim to the yellow fever. Mrs. Perrot, like her neighbor, Mrs. Dupaquier; never, learned to speak English, Her home is upon the fiirtn purchased in 1852, where she has lived ever since. Death of “Billy” Williams. William Williams died at the home of his son in Warsaw Wednesday. • “Billy” Williams, as he was familiarly called, lilted a prominent part in th.* political history of the State of Indiana. He came do Warsaw in 1836, was admitted to the practiced law in 1841. In 1854 he was nominated by the Whig party as a candidate for Governor of the State. During the canvass he held joint discussions with his opponent, Ashbel P. Willard, in sixtyfive counties the State. He was defeated, but ran far ahead of his ticket. Mr. Williams took an active part in securing the location of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad through Warsaw' and was for some years one of the directors of the road. In 1859 he was elected one of the directors of the northern Indiana prison at Michigan City. In 1863 he was appointed commander of Camp Allen at Fort Wayne, with authority to raise troops. Within six weeks he bad - four'Tul 1 regiments in the fielcl. He was then appointed paymaster for volunteer troops, with headquarters at Louisville, Ky., where he remained to the close of the war. In 1866 he was elected by the Republican party to the Fortieth Congress, re-elected as member of the Fortyfirst and Forty-second Congresses, and in 1872 was elected as member from the State at tyrge of the Forty-third Congress. He was*appointed by President Garfield as minister to Paraguay and Uruguay, South America, his commission being da teTLfhe day President Garfield was shot by Guiteau, which position he held for several years.

. Will Give Up Their Pastor. The spring meeting of the Indianapolis Presbytery was held at Indianapolis and during the session Elder Vinson Carter of the Tabernacle Church presented the question of the dissolution of the pastoral relations existing between Dr. Rondthaler and the church. He said that the membership was loath to give up the pastor, but believed that it was best, hik'd joined with him in asking that the relations which have existed for more than eleven years be dissolved. The petition was granted and a number of ministers took occasion to say a few words in parting with him. The most extended talk was made by Dr. Milburn of the Second Church, who said: “I first feel a personal regret that he is going away and then a feeling of felicity, a great joy that he is going to a sphere where he will be of high use. He wkl be missed fully as much by the city of Indianapolis as by his own church. But it may be a good thing for him that he goes. In this age, that is so versatile and mercurial, we want changes in pastors occasionally. He is going to k great city, where light and help are needed. It is a place where they need his bustling spirit.” ' . i • Watches and Cash in a Bag Bair. Fletcher High ley, a fanner living near Liberty, received several hundred dollars the other day from the sale of some stock and placed the money in his wife’s rag hag for safe keeping fearing that thieves might find it if it were known to be abouF the house. The repository seemed such a safe' oh' that he' added vhls gold watch and one belonging to his wife., Saturday he was away from home, and, a peddler calling, Mrs. Highley sold the rags for half a cent a pound, and received a tin saucepan valued at 20 cents. When Mr. Highley returned in the evening and was about to deposit a few more dollars in the rag bag he found it empty and his wife reported the sale of the rags, and showed the saucepan wit-- the expectation of haring her shrewdness complimented. Mrs. Highley was horrified to learn that the bag contained S6OO, and her and her husband’s watches. Mr. Highley started after the peddler and found him near Richmond. He professed to know nothing of the money and the watch and said thnt the rags had been shipped to an Eastern rag firm. Mr. Highley wired the firm. ' Wanted to Keep the Children, Henry Osborne, manager of the Nicklood’ian Theater at lndinnapulis, was held under bonds for conspiracy to kidnap Arizona and Ilosa Wilson, aged 7 and 9 years, of Danville, 111. The children came to Indianapolis some days ago, and, ‘it is said, nnVe been spirited away by Mamie'Quintette, an attache of the theater. Witnesses testified to conversations between Osborne and the Quintette woman, and Osborne’s partner testified that he had said that he proposed to get possession of the girls and bring them up for his show. The parents of the children were in court during the preliminary trial.

The Climate Affects the Tongue.

Gutturals predominate in Norway and Russia, whereas, far to the southward, iu sunny Italy, there is a 'profusion of such eupronious names as Palermo, yerona, Uampobello, and so forth. Even in the British Isles, cover,, lag so few degrees of latitude, there is a iuarked difference between the “burr” of the Highlander and the soft .speech of the native of Southen Enghynd. A theory which may partly account for those climatic effects is based upon the contrast of the stillness which usually pervhdes southern lands with the stormy Inquietude of northern countries. Cloudless skies for mouths at a time characterize the climate of Italy, while a firmament entirely free from clouds Is rare In Norway, it requires, of course, greater efforts to be heard in regions which are swept by winds and storms than in still southern latitudes, and to be heard distinctly amid the noise and confusion of the elements words must be used which contain many consonants. Among the inhabitants of more tropical climes the tendency Is toward soft and musical cadence, and travellers relate that In regions in South America, such as Peru and Venezuela, - where -atmospheric disturbances are rajre, the natives almost chant the phrases of salutation.” ~ ; '

London's Meat Bill.

Tllfe annual meat bill of London Is something wonderful. During the year 1895 the butchers of that city killed and sold the flesh of 400,000 ‘cattle, 1,600.000. sheep, 500.000 calves, and 700,000 hogaj to say nothing of tbs horses and fowls. »■

CROP RROSPECTS EXCELLENT.

Timely Rains and Warm'Weather Encourage the Farmers. The Government reports as to the condition of the erops throughout the country, and the general effect of the weather upon the cultivation, growth and harvest of the same, show that the unusually warm weather throughout the central, eastern and southern portions of the country has rapidly advanced the season, which has bee’n unusually backward, and has been very favorable for farming operations and of vegetation, which has been remarkably rapid. Winter wheat has shown marked improvement generally and is reported as doing well in Indiana, Illinois, lowa, Kansas and In portions of Missouri, and, while an improvement has been noted in Kentucky and West Virginia, the Condition of the crop in these States is poor, some haring Keen plowed up. In sections of Missouri and Texas, winter wheat seeding is well advanced in Southern Minnesota and is about finished in portions of Eastern South Dakota, where same of the early sown is up. In North Dakota no seeding has yet been done. Preparations for corn plantingTfavC beeiT pushed rapidly during the week, and in the more southerly sections planting has con-. tinned with much activity. Some corn has been planted in Illinois and Nebraska, and planting will be begun in lowa this week. Cotton planting has continued under favorable conditions, and in the central and southern portions of the cotton region is coming up generally to a good stand. Germination, however, has been slow, owing to the drought in,, some sections of the western portion of the cotton region. General rainfall would prove of much benefit from the Ohio Valley southward, and also in Texas, where rain is needed to insure a stand of cotton. The report by States follows: Illinois—A hot week, with showers at the beginning and ending, has caused a remarkable advance In aTI vegetation. Winter wheat, rye and grasses are greatly Improved and are doing finely; grasses afford pasturage. Oats are coming up; gardens and potatoes are planted; also some corn, but preparation of corn land Is general. Fruits are laden with blossoms. Wisconsin—Warm weather and abundant rainfall has been very favorable for the rapid advancement of all crops. Wheat Is greatly Improved, especially In localities where ft was thought to have been entirely winterkilled. Oats are all sown, and work well advanced In southern section. Little plowing has been done In the central and northern sections. South Dakota—Seeding Is about finished In southeastern counties, with Borne wheat above ground; elsewhere seeding has been retarded by heavy precipitation and cool weather. No winter wheat sown. In the central and northern portions the soil la too wet, and warmer and bright weather is needed. Nebraska—A good growing week, but rain and wet ground have retarded farm work. The seeding of small grain Is about? completed, except In the northwest section. Plowing for corn Is progressing; very little planted, and this only In southern counties. Fruit trees are blooming profusely, and generally uninjured by frost of Saturday. Kansas—A warm, rainy week, which great-ly-dmproyed all crop conditions, wheat much improved and growing rapidly. Corn coming up In central and southern counties, and Is a good stand. Fruit promised a full crop, but was Injured some by frost 6f Saturday. Grass Is supporting stock In south counties. Missouri—The unusually warm weather forced vegetation forward very rapidly. Wheat Is suffering for rain In some central and southwestern counties, but elsewhere Is generally doing well. Com planting Is progressing favorably and cotton has begun. Pasturage good. Fruit prospects are excellent. lowa—High temperature and abundant moisture have pushed vegetation rapidly, and the season Is now as early as usual. Grass and small grains are making a fine stand; winter wheat generally promising. Plowing for corn well advanced and planting will soon begin. Indiana—Warm weather has rapidly lm- ? roved all .growing crops. But few showers ell and rain Is mßeh needed. Wheat, barley, rye, clover and grays have advanced rapidly. Oats nearly all sown. Tobacco plants coming on well In Switzerland County. Fruit Is In bloom. Plowing for corn continues. Ohio—Excessively warm, sunshiny, windy and dry week, except in northern portion, where rainfall was about normal. Conditions were very favorable for plowing and planting. AH ' vegetation Is Improved. Apples, apricots, cherries, pears, peaches and plums are blooming. i Michigan—Abnormally high temperature and plentiful showers have rapidly advanced all vegetation and farm work. Winter wheat, rye and grass are doing finely. Plowing and oat and grass seeding In progress. Early potato planting has just begun.

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS MARTIN.

Prominent St. Louis Lawyer Who Will Follce the Chicago Convention. Col. John I. Martin, who- will fijl the important function of sergeant-at-arms of the Democratic national convention, Is a St. Louis, lawyer who is widely known to Missouri. He was born in St Louis in 1848, and early in life was of material assistance to his parents, who were in straitened circumstances. He was a driver of a levee dray when he went into politics,

COL. JOHN I. MARTIN.

and was elected to the Missouri Legislature. At that time he was the youngest man ever elected to the Missanri Assembly. Col. Martin then read law in the office of Cql. Robert S. McDonald, one of the leading lawyers In St Louis, and for many years has been well known for his ability In criminal cases. Col. Martin has been prominent in fraternal and benevolent orders. He Is a whole-souled, generous, genial man, very popular In 8t Louis and throughout his State.

Spring Has Come.

Sparks from the Wires.

Mrs, May brick’s mother says in a New Orleans letter that she will work for her daughter’s release till she dies. Mr. Kurino,'the Japanese minister In Washington, expects to spend the summer at one of the resorts on the eastern coast. Esre at Oriskaay Falls, N. Y., destroyed an entire business block. The open house, union school and Sargent House Were badly damaged. Loss, $40,000.

RECORD OF THE WEEK

INDIANA TERSELY TOLD. - • » Miss Moberly’at Lost Get* Action on Her Traducer-Indianopolls B*ll- - Employe In a Feck of Demeatic Trouble— Sunday Observance. Verdict for Mfsa Mark MoberJy. The case of Miss Mary Moberly vs. James R. Henry, cashier of the Indiana State Blink at Indianapolis, for SIO,OOO damages for slander, was decided in favor of the plaintiff ftt Brazil; After remaining out twenty-eight hoars, the jury brought in a verdict allowing Mias Moberly SI,OOO. Henry was charged with slandering the plaintiff by publishing a protest before the School Board of Gosport, beseeching them not to employ her as a teacher, claiming that in his opinion her action and language in the school room was unbecoming a lady. The case was jeuued to Brazil from’ Owen County, where it lias been in litigation for over seven years. . • ' Olllver Lead, a Dual Life. „ Charles Olliver, of Terre Haute, an employe of the Vandalia Railway Company, who was thought to have been a victim of a blackmailing adventuress, seems to have been leading a dual life. Some time ago he made the acquaintance of a widow, ’ rtnd, it is said, represented to her that he was a single man. An engagement to marry was entered into, and Olllver, it is alleged, took Mrs. Grimes* child from the Orphans’ asylum, saying he would find a home for it until t they were married. He postponed the wedding day several times. A few days ago a neighbor of Mrs. Grimes saw the child playing in front of.aJjansfiJa another,part of the city. It was not the locality where Olliver said he had placed It, And Mrs. Grimes went to the house. Then she learned that Olliver was married, and that he had taken the child to his own wife to be cared for. Olliver came home while the two wdmen were talking and denied all that Mrs. Grimes .said. He also denied It in the newspapers, and many persons believed him. He s&id he had adopted the child, and that he did not know Mrs. Grimes at the time. Then the woman swore out a warrant for his arrest and he pleaded guilty. j - 1 - ” —' No Sunday Ball at Indianapolis. For several weeks there has been considerable agitation of Sunday baseball by the ministers of Indianapolis, and communications have passed between them and Mayor Taggart and Sheriff Womack. The former did not think it his duty to interfere outside of the city and th£ latter declared that the pollde had jurisdiction within four miles of the city and should prevent ball playing if it was attempted. The Civic Federation then took the matter in hand, and Sheriff Womack notified the officers that there should be no ball phiying on Sunday. All Over the State. Wright L. Kidder, a wealthy flour miller of Terre Haute, was robbed of S3O and a gold watch by burglars, who threatened him and his wife with death. A United States mail bag, stolen recently from a crane that was up at Bourbon for west-bound train No. 7, was found by Nekton Garrison near the railroad with the contents missing. The Connersville Council was enjoined! from buying a local electric light plant. A majority of the members of the Council pledged themselves to purchase it The city already is in debt far in excess of the legal limit. Harry Latham, while hunting on Kankakee marsh, accidentally shot himself in the knee. He rowed a boat seven miles to a doctor and died soon after from loss of blood. He was a prominent liquor merchant in Fort Wayne. At Butler, while men were repairing an old frame house formerly occupied by Peter Goodrich, an old bachelor miser who died a short tiuie ago, they found S6O in gold and S7O in bHls. It is thought more will be fonnd, as Goodrich ' was known to have considerable money and would not trust the banks. The American Wire Nail Company of Anderson supposed to be representing the wire nail trust, closed a deal whereby they come into possession of the wire nail plant at Greenfield. It is a comparatively small plant and the consideration was but $17,000. It is understood that the plant will be moved to Anderson and become a part of the American wire nail works, now employing 800 hands. The trust controls the market, and! at present is limiting the supply and advancing the price steadily. About 9 o’clock Tuesday night, at Yorktown, Mrs. Jacob Skinner found the dead body of her 14-year-old son Charles dangling from a tree not ten feet from the door. He had tlcd a rcgnlsHnn h«n g . man’s noose in a rope used for a swing and, after adjusting it about bis neck, kicked a step ladder from under him. The b«y was addicted to cigarettes and was a reader of dime novels. In addition he was deeply in love with OJara Coppersmith, 14 years old, and had threatened to kill her because she would not consent to marry him at once. He had a razor in a.s pocket when found. The meanest man has just left traces of his work at Arlington, and as a consequence Elder Sellers is going about in his old clothes. Tuesday the good man went to Arlington to baptize a half dozen converts in the Little river. He went into Farmer Houston’s barn and exchanged his l»est Sunday clothes for a lew pretentious outfit. While he was in the water wrestling with the converts some unmitigated scamp topk the minister’s clothes from a fence post where they were hanging and escaped. In the clothes were a fine gold watch, a sum of money and other valuables. Elder Seilers believes there is a greats field for evangelists in that section of the State, hut suggests that they carry a portable wardJrobe, secured by a time, and burglar proof lock. W. A. Glide well, sheriff Of Franklin County, is dead at Gxeensburg, from gangrene, caused by wearing tight shoes Arthur, son of Druggist George H. Andrews, of M uncle, was married ten days ago to Miss Myrtle Thomas at the bride’s home in Findlay. The groom is but 18 years old and waa too bashful to tell his parents until a Findlay newspaper arrived giving the information. In the meantime the bride, Who waa at thp home i of her parents, had been urging her huaband to tell the parents and tend for her. When the news came out she was soop on hand. , Fred Weaver, who Jived near Hamilton. while fishing feß into the lake and was drowned. His body haa not been re- . covered. J***■*? ■ ■’’A ■-”! r ; . j Dr. Henrotin, of Chicago, is going to ■ Anderson with his X ray apparatus to tterform a delicate surgical operation. Six weeks ago Otto LeVer was shot' in the head. The bqllet entered above the eyes : and passed through the brain, lodging in the bnse. Doctors gave him up, but he did not die, and after lying unconscious for three weeks began to recover. 'He la in full possession of his senses and muscles now and the -surgeons have decided to remove the bullet, expecting • complete and unprecedented recovery, •