St. Joseph County Independent, Volume 17, Number 6, Walkerton, St. Joseph County, 22 August 1891 — Page 2

COMMENCEMENT ESSAYS. < T heard the essays. That one on 'The Magna Charta and King John,” ! The head girl wrote. She with the wreath Described Lear’s wandering on the heath ( Quite prettily. Another one Explained “The Spots Upon the Sun.” “The Influence of Browning” and “The Early Writings of George Sand,” “The Transcendent al Movement: How It Touches German Letters Now,” — All those I sadly listened to. “What earthly good can these things do. I asked myself, “Does old King John Teach you to sew a patch upon A coat ? Or can the spotted sun Say when a roast is rarely done? Do Browning’s tangled poems tell^ The way to mend a stocking well?” While I was pondering sadly there, A sweet girl rose, and. I declare, She talked about the homely things, From washtubs down to muffin-rings ! She had ten pages all on pie: She knew the choicest way to fry An oyster, and how best to bake A good old-fashioned johnny-cake. Next day the girl was asked to share The fortunes of a millionaire ; She now Reads Browning’s wondrous books, And loaves the cooking to her cooks. The girl who wrote on Browning’s work Is married to a gentle clerk Whose income’s small. No girl have they; She scrubs and cooks the livelong day. And sighs, while bending o’er the range, When she reflects upon the change— The fall from school sublimities To tattered books of recipes. —Nu tmegs, in Springfield Graphic, A TRAGEDY OF THE SEA. September 8, 18G8, at 7 o’clock in -ibe morning, with the Cape of Good Hope,

bearing almost due east and 700 miles NVKY GyfveyaWa^TO^v'ere” from Australia to Liverpool with wool. It was my watch—which you must know is the port or captain’s watch—and we were within two miles of the stranger when the morning mist cleared and we sighted her. She was a small, square-rigged vessel, driving slowly off before the westerly wind, and she did not show a square foot of canvas on anv of her masts. I took the glass and went aloft, and my wonderment increased. There was one man aboard of her, but only one as far as I could see. He was pacing the quarter deck, and had his face turned towards us. There was no signal of distress flying, and yet it was plain enough that something was wrong there. I descended after a long look, and just then the Captain came on deck. We had about a five-knot breeze, and we were not long in overhauling the stranger. Her wheel was lashed, and as we came upon her starboard quarter we still failed to make out more than the one man. We were near enough to see that he was a Portuguese, and evidently one of the crew. The name of the ship was the Three Brothers, and she hailed from the Cape. We all immediately remembered seeing her at Sidney, and of her having left two weeks before vie did. She was loaded 5 with wool to be taken on at the Cape by I the liners coming down from India, i Our Captain hailed as we swept past her, but the sailor waved his hand to signify that nothing was wanted. “There is something very queer there,” said our Captain as we got clear of her, “and I propose to investigate.” We luffed up a couple of point? to be clear of her and threw the brig into the ! wind. I was ordered to take two men j and pull off to the stranger, which was drifting along at the rate of about two j miles an hour. We had a boat down : and were off in a minute, and in an- ! other ten we should have been up with her had not something happened. The Portuguese stood looking at us for halfl a minute as we approached. Then he j disappeared and I suddenly caught ! sight of a musket-barrel over the rail. Ii was wondering if my eyes deceived me, ■ when the villain tired and one of my men pitched forward on his face, shot i through the back, and breathing his j last within five minutes. The sailor i then stood up and warned us by gesture ' to keep away or he’d serve out another, j and you may guess that we lost no time ! in returning to the brig. What had occurred only deepened j the mystery. There was a ship, evi- , dently in the best condition, but with- : out a sail set and in charge of only one - man. Instead of persuing her voyage ■ she was drifting like a log. If in dis- I tress she showed no signal and one of our men had just been murdered while we were on the way to offer our serv- , ices. It was a pretty tough nut to : crack, but our captain was determined i to find the kernel. We hauled back on ; our course and again overtook the ship 1 and this time we ran down so close to ’ her that one could have pitched his cap I aboard. Every man of us was looking, j but we saw only that Portuguese sailor. He had five or six muskets piled up on the cabin skylight and he turned his back on us as we swept past. The decks , were clear and in perfect order and the sails had been neatly stowed and furled. ! “What’s the matter! What has hap- j pened! What do you want!” So our captain shouted at the man, ; but he paid not the slightest heed. We ran ahead of her about a mile and then luffed up again, and as the ship came drifting down the captain said: “There's been some awful doings aboard yonder craft. It hasn’t been J mutiny, because there’d be more men ; about, but I’m thinking that man hae some how made way with every other soul! It’s our duty to solve the mystery if we can, but we don’t want any more murders. Mr. Piper, you will pull off to him .again and try to get aboard. Take a musket with you. and j if he fires at you try and kill him!” I went off, with two more men, hold- i ing the boat across the course of the ' drifting ship. When she was within j musket-shot, the Portugese began blaz- I ing away. I could only see the top of his head above the rail, as the ship had high bulwarks, and I don’t suppose my bullet even whistled in his ears. He had a terrible advantage of us, but I had determined to make a dash and board him, when his third shot struck ; one of my men in the arm and crippled him for life, and within fifteen seconds he fired again and knocked my hat off" my head. There was intense excitement aboard the brig when we pulled back. Every man of us now felt that the Portuguese was the sole survivor of some awful tragedy, and that he meant to fight to the death to keep us from boarding the ship. We were more than full-ha«ded

on the brig, there being four men who had paid the captain a few dollars ea, and were working the balance of ther passage. If we found the ship without crew enough to work her we could take her in and claim a pretty lump of salvage This fact had its influence on our captain, no doubt, though I beheve he would have stood by her unti! the mvsterv was solved to satisfy his own

curiosity. It was now decided to send out two boot., and alter around we armed ourselves with three old muskets and a revolver-all the fire-arms the brig could boast of. first mate took one boat with three men in it. and I took the other with an equal number We planned to menace him, so that he would faU into confusion and we lav on our oars and let the ship drift down to us. I was to hook on to her bows, while the first mate kept the sailors busy aft, but we did nt know how much devil there was in him ne divided his stock of guns forward and aft, and his first bullet killed a man i the mate’s boat. My boat had hooked on to the forechains, and I was thinking we had a clear way to the deck when he upset a pail of boiling water oyer us from the rail, and all of us were forced to leap into the sea to ease our torments. The trio of us were terribly burned and one of the men entirely lost the sight of his left eye. We had not only made another failure, but here was another dead man and more wounded. Our crew was

* now for bearing away, and making no further attempt to board the &trangeT| stand by until he had lost every man and his own life, too, before he would be defeated by a single man. We had to furl everything to keep in company with the ship, and for three hours the two crafts drifted along almost within musket-shot. Then we were ready for another attack. We had constructed three bullet-proof shelters along the port rail, and the idea was to run down alongside the ship and shoot the Portuguese as we passed. We made sail and ran down, but only to find that the wily villain had himself constructed a shelter and our bullets could not reach him. He gave us three shots while within range, and though he hit no one, his shooting was uncomfortably close, and proved that he was a good marksman. < There was but one other way to attack him, and we put that off until late in the afternoon. We wanted wind and sea to go down, and we had our wi h. Along about 4 o’clock the breeze drooped almost out of sight, I while the sea was without a white-cap. We had made a heavy grappling iron, and the idea was to lay the ship aboard. When sll was ready we bore down on her, and this was a move the Portugese could not checkmate. He had to remain behind his shelter or expose I himself to our bullets. We ran along- ! side, cast our graphel, and the two j crafts drifted side by side. Our Captain then gave the signal, and five of us made a rush over the ship’s rail. In doing so we were exposed to the sailor’s fire, and he shot the carpenter through the heart. He had time to fire only once, however, but when the ; four of us piled onto him we found ; ; him almost our match. Had not help । come I verily believe he would have ; gained the victory. He seemed endowed with the strength of a giant, ! and his fierceness was that of a i wounded tiger. While he was being | bound be got a sailor’s finger between I his sharp teeth and bit it clean off, and I not one of us escaped without bruises. I When we had finally secured our man | we began the work of clearing up the j mystery. Not a soul could we find i aboard the ship, nor could we at first : J account for the absence of the crew. : Then one thing and another was i brought to light to tell ns the horrible story. She had left Sydney with fouri teen men. The fiend of a Portuguese i j had murdered each and every man by i means of poison in the rum. He was the l cook. A week out of port she had met . i with heavy weather and been obliged to ■ lie to and ride it out. This was how 1 she came to have everything snug aloft, i It was while she was riding out the gale j that the captain had some trouble with i the cook. Just what it was no one but the Portuguese knew. He claimed to have been brutally assaulted without i cause, and to revenge himself he pois- : oned a demijohn of rum kept for the i captain’s use. Some of this rum, he ; claimed, was afterwards served out to 1 all hands without his knowledge and : the entire crew were thus killed off. I What the real facts were could never Ibe brought out. As we found no blood ■ or other evidences of murder in the or- ' dinary way, we had to accept the sail- ; or’s statement about the poison. He ; had dragged every dead man on deck and thrown over, and when the gale j ceased the ship had taken her own way |to come about and go driving off. The j villain had no idea as to where she ; would bring up, and he didn’t care so long as he was not overhauled. After a great deal of Ward work we got both crafts safely to Cape Town, and there the wholesale murderer -was । turned over for trial. He told the story ' of the poisoning as coolly as you please, ! and I shall never forget his statement | of what followed after the liquor was served out. “Captain he fall down and cry out and die!” explained the fiend. “Then the mate he roll over and scream and ।go dead. Then the sailors call to God j to save ’em, but all go dead iu one-half I hour!” “Then what?” was asked. ' , “Then I laugh ha! ha! ha! and throw I ’em all overboard! Some sink and some I float away!” I was present when he was executed. During all his trial and imprisonment he never expressed the slightest regret for his awful crime. There was a demand that he be hung alive in chains, but of course nothing of the sort could be legally done. He walked to the gallows wi!<h smiling face, bowed to the crowd gathered to see him die and ' shouted so that all could hear: “I killed seventeen men, and you kill only one—ha! ha! ha I”-JI. Quad, in New York World. “How old is the Hessian fly?” asks a correspondent. Old as the American Revolution. Washington made the Hessian fly at Trenton.

"~OUR RURAL READERS - 1 WILL BE PLEASED WITH T^ lg DEPARTMENT. Manure Values—How to Make a G|te— Dairy Notes—Hee Culture—Orchard, antlX } Garden— Raising Ducks lor Moue._ A | Few Household Bints.

THE FARM. Vkduo of Manures.

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“ “ “ “ ... - - This was done from April 18 to 25.h vt wheat straw was used plentifully a^. ding, the relative amount of stra ai! manure being 3,319 pounds excm t and 681 nounds straw.

anu uoi puiiiiuo j Chemical analysis showed that OH>Un ... . .. manure contained nearly p ton pounds of nitrogen, seven and bnehalf pounds of phosphoric acid and eighteen pounds of potash, making its value ' about $2.80, if these constituents be valued at the same rate as in commercial fertilizers. The pile of manure thus mads was put in a place thus exposed to the weather and where the drainage was so good that al! the water not absorbed by the manure ran through and off at once. It remained exposed from April 25 to September 22, at which time it was carefully scraped up, weighed and a sample taken for analysis. It was found that the 4,000 had shrunk to 1,730 pounds during the six months, and analysis showed that this 1,730 was less valuable, pound for pound, than the original lot of manure. It had not only lost. b,y leaching, but by heating or "tire fanging” during periods of dry weather, and the value of the pile of 4,oO() pounds had shrunk from $5.60 to §2.l2—a loss of 62 per cent. In summing up the results of this experiment, Director Roberts says: "It ' seems safe to say tha under the ordinary conditions of piling and exposure, the loss of fertilizing materials during the i J course of the summer is not likely to be much below 50 per cent, of the original | I value o’ the manure.” Further experiments showed that the i : liquid manure from a cow is worth as j much per day as the solid nurture, and that the combined value at the same I rate as commercial fertilizers; that from a horse at 7 cents, that from a sh<sq> at l’j cent, and that from a hog at S cent for liberally fed, thrifty shoatsof medium size. Director Roberts is careful to explain that these values will have to bemodl- ; lied to suit individual circumstances. ; \\ hat lie means Is that if farmers can i afford to buy commercial fertilizers at; current prices, then the manures o! th? farm are worth the price given, will pay to house them.

A Handy Farm Gate. AY. G. I’arkc sends directions to ?! ' Practical Fanner for making a ch.p ’ gate as follows: Fora gate that swi s ' both ways, set posts firmly in grou, ’ bore I’j inch hole in top of post ’i want gate to swing on. Take a pole! feet-long, bore hole about 4 feet from ; end; place on lop of post, put an iron a 1 through vole into post; bore four hos ' j ■" ...... S "'ilk — in big end of pole, two on a side; put n ! boards so as to form a trough; nail g:e ! to pole; put stones in trough to balaie. I Saw top of other post two-thirds of wy , through, split out, and nail a short pee j of board on side, forming a notch or gate pole to drop into. Bore holes'in post on each side of gate for pins. Hom,' Made Com Shelter. To make a corn sheller, says DG. Thomas, in the Practical Farmer, tae a '

piece of 6 by 2ueh plank or scant ng, 3 feet long. Bginning 6 inches rom the upper end, -aw grooves across the’ace of plank 1 ine a>art and !i 4 inch deep,the last of these grotes to be about 1 foot tom the bottom. Get oilbarrel hoops, cut nem up into 6-inch piices,.

insert in sawed gr<mqM and the shollcr is made. Place in aWM re), ru. corn down with small end of ear first. Watch closely or yon will be minus a thumb-nail before you know it. Tlw JLossvs in Corn Fodder. From experiments made at the tyj 3 . consin station to ascertain the comparative loss in corn fodder when preserved in the silo or by the ordinary method of curing in the field, the results of ten । trials during a period of three years appear to be narrowed down to this. The loss of food materials in either system is I very considerable and shows that sod" I dors cannot be preserved by any method now known without their deteriorate' * in value. 8 In the fodder-corn as it is cut in the fall there is a certain quantity of f o .,j elements that may be preserved in a succulent state in the silo or cured and fed to cattle as dry fodder. In either an equal quantity of the food materials is destroyed, on an average about onefifth. This loss being equal in either case, the question of which method of preserving fodder-corn to adopt becomes one of convenience and economy o f feed. The value of these feeding stuffs was about the same for milk and butter production, hence it is concluded the adoption or non-adoption of the silo must be decided on the score of convenience In some localities the conditions may be more favorable to the field curin'* svs tern, while in others the uncertainty of weather, the cheapness of lumber or the

seventy of winter may speak strongly in favor of the system of ensiling the fod-der-corn. THE PIGGERY. The Bent will Degenerate. The quality of blood coursing through a pig’9 veins has much to do with his [ value as a feeder, but the finest blooded fellow without proper feeding degenerates in a short time to the veriest scrub. It is boasted that the scrub must go, but he will be here till all practice better systems of feeding. The man without experience can hardly comprehend how, quickly choice stock will run out under continued neglect.— Stockman. Keep the Good >ow. The Germantown Telegraph says: While “you can t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear,” still if you use the whole sow in a sensible manner she will fill a silk purse annually. Nine little pigs in March grown to 250 pounds each in December, at five cents per pound, equals §112.50 cash. A sow tiiat will do that should have her life insured for ten years. Never kill a good motherly soxv as long as she will bear. Individual Excellence. Last year 20,250 Poland-China hogs ' were recorded in the records for that breed. How many of these were of any value for breeding purposes, or should be found in breeding herds’? This is a question that should receive serious consideration. Too many are recorded that have only pedigree to recommend them, ami solely on this ground does the owner

HE Exporii»j nt Station of Cor e |[ University I%S1 %S made a serie&jf investigations , n the loss in sta| e manures by x . posuro in oj, n barnyards, tlu 0 . I suits of whiehjg ' summarizetj n bbletin twe, y . seven of that tion. In the exj ri . ments of !ggo horse manur^ g saved f rom <|r | 0 i day until a Jh o f two tons hai„ Jen acc uin ul” i( i

■^■vt anything of them. A little exj^ienee will convince a man that a pig NtSt have other qualities to make it ' a, able, viz., a good form and consti- ' bfiha. Without these pedigree is “auilt. THE APIARY. ■ Superseding Queens. It wi pay you in dollars and cents to remov(j a n poor and inferior queens as early apossible in the spring. Unless You pifctice this weeding out process, you wil^nd that in 100 colonies there will been or fifteen that will be far below the thers in profit, and sometimes they wi not yield anything, whereas if you hadifilled -the poor and inferior queens uly in the season and introduced god ones in their places you could have obtined considerable more honey. Some &iarists prefer to let the bees do their own superseding, but in my opinion ijs a practice that will not pay. The wajfo prove it would be to supersede lift colonies in your apiary, and leave abut the same number to take care of jhemselves; at the end of the season 1 jink you will find tiie fifty colonies bat yon looked oxer and superseded qufns where needed will have ! given oii-tenth more honey.— Pacific i Kitral I'm. Aonin and Unlor of Honey. By thejolor ot the honey and the ■aroma Lerefrom, an experienced bee- । k,vper ea determine the source from whence t came. Thus, it is very easy ’ U)tell bukwheat honey by its very dark look, anl by its strong and pungent odor. LLnev-dew has the same dark look, butlaeks the odor or aroma. In fact thexs is little or no aroma about honoy-de*’. For this reason no Iwekoepor used be deceived as to the source of such odorless honey. Aroma is a term ! employed to designate those substances, ■ the extreme minute particles of which j are supposed to affect the organs of : -Bell so as to produce peculiar odors.—

ItMlian Beet. It seems petty well settled that Italian brsts are best. The proof is that nearly if not quite all extensive honey produces use them. 1 have done with hybreds. They are too cross, and make me cross. Cyprian and Holy-Land bees promisi d great things, but very little is said about them now-a-days. The general reputation is very fA- behind that i of the Italians. — Stockman. ORCHARD ANO GARDEN. Old Tree* .Made New. Fruit trees that have been neglected for a number of years and have become scrubby, moss-grown, and half dead, may often be renovated and made to bear several good crops. First, all the dead wood should ba removed with the saw. Then they may be pruned out somewhat to admit of itgiit and air. Next, the bark should be scraped and all the moss removed, and it might be well to wash the bark with some alkaline preparation and if the bark has the appearance of be- j ing hide-bound, a few longitudinal slits : on the outer bark will be of service. Last, but by no means least, the ground ■ should be thoroughly stirred. The best ' way to do this is with a pair of good । horses and a plow. Do not be afraid if | you break off some large roots, because j this will only have a tendency to start ' the tree to growing. Tear up the sod i and remove it from around the tree, and keep the land in cultivation. Put on some barn-yard manure, wood ashes or commercial fertilizer. The trees will at once start to grow aud in a year or two i will have thrown out enough new wood i to bear a good crop.— Green's Fruit ■ j Gixmmt. Advic* to Market Gardeners. Prof. Bailey, in a lecture on market gardening, very-tersely says: “Marketidng is one-half of success: therefore study SMn? market thoroughly; learn the conditions and demands. Failure is often brought about by ignoring such small differences as the color, size or flavor of certain varieties that please, the public taste, or from some other reason, except because it is fashionable, it becomes popular. Boston wants a branched celerv, while New York requires tall, straight stalk; some markets desire red onions, while others prefer white ones. Find your market before the crop is readv. Send the produce to market in the neatest and most attractive condition. Be honest. Secure the same customers each year, so as to establish a reputation. In each city have one reliable dealer to whom you can send your stoc k. ” Simple Weed Cutter. To cut or pull docks and other toughrootod weeds, I fixed up a device as follows, saysF. J. Tuttle in the Practical Farmer. Took one section of an old wagon spring, heated it in my portable forgo, then bent it with a half twist at A, and again at U, giving a flat place for the foot to press upon (between A and B.) At bottom I cut it off at the hole, sharpened it, leaving a concave edge to present from slipping off the roots.

Next it was again heated and hardened. I At top I attached a small stick for a handle, with one bolt and a nail. To cut a root svith it, insert, so that concave edge presses against the root, put foot on flat rest, and raise the weed by pulling handle toward you. THE DAIRY. Salting Butter. Do not salt butter with common barrel salt. It is not pure enough, and often contains an excess of lime that is not long in making the butter of soapy texture. Salt that stands exposed to the influence of odors will absorb enough of them to convey a taste not wanted to the butter. This matter of salt is important, and for this reason. The salt does not give lasting properties to the fats in butter, but imparts a clearer cut flavor, and holds the traces of cheesy matter from rapid decomposition, but cannot hold it from forming rancidity. Cold storage is the only thing that will make butter a “long keeper.” Common barrel salt is in too large crystals, and does not as readily dissolve as especially prepared dairy salt; and do not use of any salt more than will all dissolve in the butter. Stop at that point.— Practical Parmer. Dairy Not oh. Don’t buy a cow with udder unevenly developed. We should desire neither a very hard nor a very easy milker; a medium is desirable in this respect. Withhold your judgment on the heifer s ability to give milk till after she has dropped her second calf. One dairyman says that by having comfortable stables in winter, and by using a feed cutter he is able to save one-third of his feed. A cow to be a good milker and to produce good milkers in turn, should have the teats far apart and at regular distances from each other. Milking tubes do not seem to meet with much favor with dairymen, and it is probable that hand-milking will continue for a few centuries yet. The dairyman should not be satisfied with a knowledge ot results. The knowledge of causes is more certain and can be more certainly depended on. More and more farmers that own a goodly number of cows are turning their attention to the winter dairy. With the help that the silo brings we may yet have June butter in January. Some men seem to be afraid of the term “scientific.” They object to scientific dairying because they imagine that it is following some plan that leads contrary to nature. “Scientifically” means d«ing a thing according to instinct. This is the way the dairy must be conducted in the future, or failure is nearly certain. The dairy buildings should be made not only pleasant for the cattle but for tiie dairyman, who has to spend much of his time there. Happy the dairyman and his children if the time ever comes when he will lay out the grounds around his dairy buildings as carefully as around his house; when all will be cleanly, and even flowers will bloom to I adorn the place of his labor.— Farmcr'n Hevicw. THE POULTRY-YARD. Pure Blooded Chickens. Pure blood in chickens should be as much sought for, as in any farm animals. It is a too common tiling for a farmer t<> tliiulc that any kind of hens

will till the bill. And so they will, if you I are looking at the number, instead of results. There can be no excuse for a farmer having a poor lot of chickens. Any one, by a little careful managment, can in a very short time, and with but a few dollars' expense, got a good start in pure blooded stock. Don’t try to cross with common poultry, as results will not be satisfactory; or if vou do attempt this, kill off the old stock as fast as possible. Don’t try to get pure blooded fowls by sponging off your neighbor, trading eggs and chickens. Huy them and pay your way; you will be better satisfied, won't tell so many lies about your premium chickens, and will have better luck generally. — H ester n Ft t rmcr. l^gwnrracy of Poultry. The introduction of new breeds of fowls is only a temporary benefit, unless care is taken to breed them with purity or to cross only with design for a specified purpose, and then killing SH these crosses as soon as their purpose is ac- ! complished. A great majority of comj plaints that hens do not pay come from I those who years ago used crosses, and j have continued to breed from them. ■ Their progeny are poor layers, subject 1 to disease and are generally worthless ! Returning to pure blooded fowls is tMie j only resource of those whose flocks have got in this condition. Ducks that Pay. One of the largest duck farms located in the New England States has been conducted in such a manner that to-day it i earns in net cash for its owner over , 84,500. The sales the past season have I run to nearly 87,000. The incubator is the power, with its next friend, the brooder, while the duck does her part as the egg producer, and does it well The average number of eggs to each duck -during the year has been 157. This is an average among 2,000. THE HOUSEHOLD. Taking Care of the Stoves. As soon as the season for fires has i passed, if stoves are removed they should be stored in a dry place, the .pipes and elbows should be well cleaned out ami cared for, otherwise holes may be austed through them in a single season. All the sheet iron work about the stoves of any and every description should be cleaned up, and either be kept blackened and polished, or be oiled to prevent rust. For the cheap circular heating stoves one rubbing with kerosene oil will be ' sufficient if stored in a dry place, but if put in a cellar, as they sometimes are several oilings may be necessary through this season. The brick linings that have become cracked or broken can often be ' repaired with fire clay cement with but I a little trouble, and so as to make them i serviceable for a very considerable time. Much subsequent annoyance may be saved by keeping all the separative parts together when storing them away, so that none shall be mislaid or lost at the time they are wanted. Household Hints. 1 1/ a tablespoonful of kerosene is put Into tour quarts of tepid water, and this is used in washing windows and mirrors. instead of pure water, there will . remain upon the cleaned surface a polish no amount of mere friction can give.

THE SUNDAY SCHOOL AN INTERESTING AND INSTRUCTIVE LESSON. Reflections of an Elevating Character— Wholesome Food for Thought — Studying the Scriptural Lesson Intelligently and Profitably. The lesson for Sunday, Aug. 23, may be found in John 6: 26-40. IXTHODUCTORY. This Is a lesson linking two worlds together. Christ’s presence, as bread of life, makes the heaven ot our hopes, the heaven of the hereafter, to be assured, and gives us much of heaven now. Into many a home, during these days of summer, has come the angel of death. Has this scripture been sc real and meaningful as to make life to be swallowed up of death? Across the stormy sea. in the verses that just precede, we descry the Lord Jesus approaching his wave-tossed disciples. They cry out at first in apprehension and dread. Then speaks the sweet, reassuring voice, “It is I, be lot afraid.” O to hear It in sickness, loss, bereavement I -AH things work together for good to them that love God.’ There comes no visitation to us, as the children of God, out of whose depths there speaks not the voice of Jesus. Christ, whe could turn water into wine and stone to bread, can take any experience of the son] and make it to mean the pastures green and waters still by which he feeds his own. WHAT THE LESSON SAYS. Ye seek me. To search for. They had just come to the other side of the sea. looking for him. Ye saw the miracles. With a true apprehension. They saw the miracles and yet they did not see them. i. e.. understand their sign language. Were filled A strong word, gorged, satisfied. So much of the flesh is there in our best seeking. Labor not. It is better to render this as in the verses which follow, work. The word means to be occupied with. Meat. Food. Or anything to be eaten. Perishes. Oi is brought to naught. Endurttb, 1. e., does not come to naught. Into t .verlasting life. Or into life eternal. Tiie same food on earth and in heaven. Give tc you. Christ as self-giving. Hlpi hath God the Father sealed. Literally, “This one hath the Father sealed, God,” as ii with the name of God. Christ bears ths । mark and stamp of God. The same w^rd is used of God's people in Rev. viL 3 (“sealed the servants of our God”). Work the works. Same word as labor 1b v. 27. Os God. And so have God’s reward for doing God’s wdrk. The work of God. The source and center of all service in faith. Believe on. A large idea, embracing acceptance, appro, priation and trust Haith sent. Or simply sent. Aorist tense. From this verb comes the word apostle, one sent. What sign showest thou then? Literally, What, therefore, aoest thou, as a sign. Sec Revision. Thou, emphatic. Believe thee. Not, as our Lord directs in the verse before, “believe on.” What dost thou> work? Or, How dost thou xvork? As if tc say, “How do you conduct yourself to prove this divine seal of which you speak?” WHAT THE LESSON TBICHES. That meat which endureth. Such meat my soul craves. There i. something tenderly pathetic about the cry of that woman at tiie well when told of the ever springing fountain. “Sir, give me this water that I thirst ndt, neither come hither tc draw.” She was so tired, so worn with the re, urrent thirst, to which she must daily minister with her weary marches across the hot sands. Our Lord would give to her living water, the water of everlasting life. And now he promises living bread, the food of life eternal. “Master, eat,” his disciple* cry. Jesus: “I have meat to eat that ye know not of.” Master, evermore give ua this meat. And such he gives. “Hath any man brought him aught to eat?” Is the query. No, this is meat purchased at no market-place on earth. “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.” And here he says: “The Son of man shalt give unto you.” Christ teaches us that God has a will and a work in us.

When we yield to tiiat will our souls are * daily fed. when xve bend to that work there is ceaseless strength within. And why does that meaX endure? Because the will continues and the work is an everlasting xvork. Indeed it takes both earth and heaven to “finish” it. Lord, evermore give us this bread. It is the highest cry of the soul as well as the humblest. Here speaks the spirit witbin, the. spirit that teaches us to say. in child accents, “Abba. Father.” It asks and keeps on asking. “Evermore give” is its cry. “For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven.” He comes and keeps on coming. In this sense, too, we call, “Gi.e us this day our daily bread.” The bread of yesterday, the Christ of past experience. we say it reverently, is not enough for to-day. We need to call upon heaven for fresh supplies of grace. New manna, new manifestations of Christ's presence and power. There is bread for adversity and bread for prosperity, bread I for the sunlight and bread for th© night | seasons, bread for Jerusalem's happy hilltops and for Babylon’s gloomy banks. Christ comes anew tp us in all our experiences. He is living bread. Thus it is that he “gix’eth life unto the world.” Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out. Who are the cast-aways of oarth? Assemble, if you can, in thought, the souls cast out into outer darkness. Who put them there? What was tiie fo»ce that thrust them away? Is Judas one? He went to his oxvn place, self-chosen, selffurnished. Was Dives one? He had Moses and the prophets whom he would not hear, v?hose counsel he himself cast away. Was the young man whom Jesus loved one? He was entreated to come nigh, but he turned his back on such riches, for he had “great possessions.” O the cry that rings through the pit of the lost is one and the same, “We are, by ourselves, cast out, we put God from us. our own sins thrust us from heaven and heaven's delights.” It is a truth of all scripture, corroborated by all experlen,ce. Christ casts forth no man. He still speaks a kind of pathetic word, of which there is no gainsaying, “Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life.” XI will raise him up at the last day. Here is faith's remotest confidence. Not yet has this word been fulfilled, for not yet Is the last dav. But already it is put to the test, already it is. we may say. In process of fulfillment. -Every one which seetb the ^on and believeth on him”—these are the conditions. And wherever there is an eye lifted in faith then A name is entered in the Lamb's book of life, and underneath aro the words, “I will raise him up at the last day.” Oh. the millions that have gone forth from the earth-life in tiie confident assurance of this text! An assurance it is. well founded. Fur it is “the Father's will. ” and what is the Father’s will is the Son's work. Two Immutable things. Has that wllL has that work ever tailed? Never! Nor shall It fail in that blessed consummation toward which all else looks forward. •<hat of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.” Lord, I believe! and the work is commenced. In that faith I die. and yet lam not dead. Lord, finish thy work! Next J Lesson—“ Christ at the Feast.” John 7; 31-44. Within the last century there have been 150,000,000 copies of the Bible printed in the United States. And yet a great many men sit cross-legged in th ' horse cars and a great many women try te “do” the company by taking advantage of it on the liberal transfer system.—• JHnneapolte Journal. A Boston clergyman preached a sermon assailing chattel mortgage sharks on a recent Sunday. It is said a large fund was raised by the congregation the next day to send him away on a long v»r cation.— Kansas OUy Tit nett.