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THE CHATHAM RECORD H A. LONDON; EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR : Terms of Subscription $1.50 Per Year Strictly in Advance THE CHATHAM RECORD Rates of Advertising On Square, on inMrtio' $1.00 One Square, two insertioae v , $L3 On Square, one montis - $2 SO For Larger Advertisements Liberal Contracts will bo made. VOL. XXXVI PITTSBORO, CHATHAM COUNTY, N .C. OCTOBtR 15. 1913. NO 10. (M I IfflU . , tit SEtt BRIEF NEWS NOTES FOR THE BUSY IN MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK TOLD IN CONDENSED FORM. WORLD'S NEWS EPITOMIZED Complete Review of Happenings of Greatest Interest From All Parts of World. Southern. A vicious fight in which brass knucks, knives and pistols figured, oc curred during services at Center Hill, in Murray county, Georgia. The fight is said to have followed a quar rel between the two men while the services were under way. One struck the other with knucks, a , gun was drawn and the firing began. With bul lets flying through the church, the minister and congregation made haste to leave, jumping out of windows and through the doors, the building being soon emptied. With a total of 30,558 bales, Sa vannah, Ga.; m one day established a new record for daily cotton receipts. The totals in the greatest cotton years in the history of the port are consid erably under receipts. The movement of the staple is now in heavy volume. The port since September 1 has re ceived 418,231 bales, whereas for the same period last year only 211,704 bales had found their way to this center of distribution. News received at Valdosta, Ga., of the death of a young wife in one part of this county and of a young hus band in another section, indicate that death by their own hands was chosen in each' case as the easiest way out of the unhappiness of marital infe licity. George T. Hannah, a prominent mer chant of Gibson, and about 50 years old. dropped dead in the courthouse at Warrenton, Ga., about noon. The superior court was in session, and Mr. Hannah was on the witness stand "in a civic case, he being the plaintiff, and had answered two or three questions when he fell over and died before a physician could reach him. General. The Gamboa dike, the last artificial barrier to actual communication be t veen the Atlantic and Pacific oceans 1 y ay of the Panama canal, was l ent in twain by the hand of President Woo irow Wilson. Between 'three thousand and four thousand people 1;ohj Panama and Colon cities and various sections of the Canal Zone journeyed to the scene to witness the event of destroying the dike, which was spectacular to a degree and suc cessful in its every detail, some dis appointment, however, being evinced because the entire dike was not de stroyed. The failure of Gen. Trucy Aubert to get to the city of Torreon in time to relieve it a mission upon which he set out frop Sultillo nearly a month ago with a large force of Federal troops is explained by the fact that the greater part of his two thousand men deserted him before he had com pleted half the journey. He reached Madero, 25 miles east of Torreon, but news reached him of the evacuation of the city. As soon as the vanguard of the retreating Federal troops came into view General Aubert's men fled with all their arms and ammunition and supplies.- Chen, chief of the Pekin, China,- mounted police, was arrested while the ceremony of inaugurating Yuan "Shi Kai as president of the Chinese republic was in progress at Pekin. He confessed that southern rebels had bribed him to try to assassinate Yuan Shi Kai as the president was taking the oath of office. Health authorities of Bellingham, Wash., made strenuous efforts to check a threatened dreaded Oriental plague following the death there of twelve children, victims of a mysterious mal ady. State Health Commissioner Dr. Eugene K. Kelly believes that rats ar riving on Asiatic vessels were respon sible, and a strict quarantine against the rodents was ordered established. Destruction of flocks and herds in the mountains of Styria, Austria, by a pack of wolves, lions and hyenas which escaped from a menagerie last month, has been so enormous that the Austrian government has organized an expedition to kill the beasts. Ter rified Styrian mountaineers appealed personally to Emperor Francis Joseph for assistance. His majesty directed the ministry of the interior to report to him personally on the best way of exterminating the animals. Mrs. Mildred Allison Rexroat, a tango dancing mistress, who was shot to death at Wheaton, 111., a week ago, was the victim of a modern blue beard, who, according to his own con fession, had killed thirteen others Nome, Alaska, has been almost de stroyed by a storm.' Two miles of ter ritory next to the sea was devastated. No lives were lost. The storm that be began beating in from' Bering sea was the worst ever known here. Men and women worked all night in the icy wa ter to save their household effects. The electric light plan was wrecked and telephone service cut off. The loss is estimated at a million and a half dollars. There will be much suffering, and outside help will be required. Winter is at hand and it will be im possible to get in supplies needed at this time of the year. The British steamship Kilnsea, Captain Husband, from Galveston, Texas, to Hamburg, via Norfolk, land ed at Norfolk, Va., the master and ten members of the crew of the four masted schooner John Twohy of Bos ton, from Jacksonville, Fla., to New York, lumber laden. The Kilnsea dis covered the Twohy i iTdistress sixty miles south of Frying Pan Shoals Oc tober 7. A first effort to take the Twohy's crew from the schooner fail ed, and one man from the Kilnsea was' bareles rescued after being thrown in to the sea. The bankers of the United States again declared their opposition to the proposed Federal reserve plan of re form in the currency and banking sys tem. With one dissenting voice on the final vote, more than two thou sand bankers gathered at the first day's session of the annual convention of the American Bankers' Association at Boston ratified the action of the conference of bankers in demanding amendments to the Federal reserve act now pending in congress. A claim of 70,000,000 rubles will be soon instituted against the United States government by Laska Burdzin sky of Tdtrokov, Russian Poland. Burd5:insky claims to be a direct de scendant of Pulaski, the Polish sol dier,, who so materially assisted Gen eral Washington in freeing the Amer ican colonies from British rule. He bases his claims on the accumulated receipts accruing from the sale of real estate .in Chicago, 'which, land was granted to General Pulaski for his services. Fifty negroes and as many white persons almost caused a riot in the village of Rexco, near Joliet, 111., when the negroes attacked the wooden jail and liberated Lula Gibson, a negress, who had been arrested for drunken ness. In the fight one negro was killed and,, the jail demolished. Miss Ruth Hildreth, daughter of W. E. Hildreth, of New York City, was killed and her sister, Dorothy . Hil dreth, was perhaps fatally injured in Hammendsport near Rochester, N. Y., when Lincoln Beach ey lost control of a 100 horsepower aeroplane and it swept a number of spectators off a roof from which they were watching the exhibition. To gain a good view the Misses Hildreth and the navy of ficers climbed to the top of a small building used as headquarters for na val aviators. Beachey recognized the party and dipped his machine in sa lute. The aeroplane plunged tb earth. Washington. - Active efforts to establish state branches of the National Conserva tion Congress and to make the next meeting, to be held in November in Washington, the biggest in the history of the congress, are being undertaken. There is already a state conservation socitey in Georgia, but the national of ficers want state branches of the na tional conservation organization to give fresh impetus to its work. .Will H. Shippen of Eliljay has been nam ed vice president for Georgia. E. Lee Worsham, state entomologist of Georgia, is one of the national officers of the congress. For the first time in the history of the United States a newspaper editor was officially rebuked by the chief erecutive of the nation. President Wil son sent the editor of the Washington Post a demand for a retraction of an article which charged that the presi dent had said that those who did not support him were rebels. The presi dent vigorously denied the attack and asked that his denial be given promi nent space in the publication. The president's demand showed that he has gone on the warpath over vari ous newspaper reports concerning cer tain statements. A big horned owl swooping down for a goldfish in the fountain at the east entrance to the white house became entangled in the water lilies in its ba sin and was drowned. It was found floating on the water supported by its outstretched wings, which measured four feet. Owls have been heard fre quently in the trees on the white house grounds, but attendants said they never had seen one before. . If the consent of Representative Un derwood and other house leaders can be secured, a joint resolution will be passed through congress, repealing that portion of. the new tariff law au thorizing a five- per cent, tariff rebate on goods brought to this cpuntry in American-owned ships. The decision to ask for the repeal of the clause was reached by administration officials af ter experts of the state and treasury departments had decided that to car ry out its exact terms would mean a reduction of five per cent, in tariff on goods from practically all of the chief exporting countries. The interstate commerce commission announces that division headquarters for the work of physical valuation of railways will be located at Washing ton, Chicago, Kansas City, Chattanoo ga and San Francisco. In a statement the commission said: "These cities were selected as" the most logical and economical points for the headquar ters, but as the work progresses there is every probability that additional of fices will be located in other cities, Senator Cummins outlined in part the reform" plans of the so-called con ciliation committee of Republicans and Progressives which hopes to bring about the-holdingk of a national con vention early in 1914. The change in the representation of the Southern states in the national convention is a secondary matter on the program of the committee. With the added sup port of many Republican leaders who did not participate in the "get to gether conference" in Chicago they will insist that the control of the na tional committee over seating of dele gates be abolished. N THE UPPER HOUSE OF THE STATE LEGISLATURE PASSES : THE JUSTICE MEMORIAL. MUCH WORK IS BEING DONE Senate Passes Amendment Doing Away With Local Legislation. House Votes Down Bible - Reading Proposal, Initiative and Referendum Senate Monday. Raleigh. The senate today passed the house resolution by Justice me morializing congress to investigate the operation of the long and short haul clause and to take from the in terstate commerce commission the power, to - grant exceptions to this law. An amendment by Lilly of Wake to strike out a feature of the preamble that was construed as a re flection on the interstate commerce commission in declaring that the ship pers of the sta;te have "appealed in vain to the commission for relief," was voted down 11 to 27 and the reso lution as it came from house passed by a big majority. House Mondav. The house discussed -at considera ble length and finally passed without opposition the joint resolution by Representative Seawell of Lee coun ty, calling for a joint committee of five two senators and three repre senatives to investigate the conduct of fire insurance companies in this state and report to the next session of the legislature. The investigation is to bear especially en insurance rates and the commissions paid to agents, with special attention to the work of the Southeasetrn Tariff Asso ciation. Senate Tuesday. The senate in. committee of the whole debated and passed upon va rious paragraphs of constitutional amendment proposal five today, get ting this proposal behind them. It relieves "the legislature of local, pri vate and special acts and resolutions. Paragraph five reflating to game and hunting elicited long discussion and was finally defeated 25 to 5. All oth er paragraphs of the section were adopted with some slight amendment. House Tuesday. After discussing the Justice intra state freight rate (bill for several hours the house voted 71 to 23 for the bill, which is believed to reduce the earn ings of the carriers 26 per cent in North Carolina. The Bible proposal was taken up a,nd the vote taken without discus sion. The vote was 42 to 55 against adoption. Senate Wednesday. The senate debated from 8 to 11 o'clock on the proposal of the railroad companies for the settlement of the interstate rate differences in North Carolina and in the end voted 35 to 14, to accept the proposal. The reso lution was ordered enrolled for ratifi cation, having passed the house Tues day night. ' The senate spnt much time in com mittee of the whole on constitutional amendment proposals and adopted the proposal for making the dates for terms Of state officers to take office and for inauguration of the governor correspond. The proposal as to pro viding for five or more circuits of superior court judges in3tead of the present state-wide rotation, came up for discussion and was vo'e.J down. House Wednesday. By a vote of 78 to 37 the house to night adopted the substitute of Mr. Alfred Johnston to give tlV-3 Cor poration commission a rate expert and clerical help and to authorize the empolyment of special counsel as needed, this . substitute l e placing the bill of .Mr. Woodard to create a sepa rate public service commission. Devoting their energies to a dis cussion of the Woodard bill to create a public service commission to take over the larger duties of the corpor ation commission. Caldwell County Poultry Show. The second annual poultry show un der the auspices of the Caldwell Coun ty Poultry Association, will be held in Lenoir on December 16 and 17. Al ready much interest is being manifest ed in this infant enterprise. The first show,, given last year, was a startling success, financially and otherwise and a tremendous impetus was given . to the breeding of the birds in Caldwell county. It is an assured,. fact that the show in December will have many fine exhibits from Caldwell and other counties. Davidson County Aids Highway. The county commissioners in ses sion voted an appropriation of $600 for the construction of that part of the Davidson-Randolph highway that lies' 'between Denton and the county line. With the large amount already raised this assures the building of the highway. The appropriation is con ditioned on the completion of the Randolph part of the highway to the county line, but Randolph ihas already acted on the proposition and the road is a certainly. This is th iirst defi nite step taken by the commissioners. SOME PROGRESS GENERAL ASSEW1B 14 AIL. J FOR SEVEN JOBS What's the Answer? ) Weil, They AU Stand Half a Chance. -Anxious , Fortnight. ' 'Raleigh. A special; from Washing ton states' that sevei new .federal jobs paying $2,400 annually will go to North Carolina under the Underwood-Simmons tariff bill. They afe positions of deputy collector of in ternal revenue who will gather in the income taxes. i i'vC Colonel Oslborn, commissioner of internal revenue, said fie had not yet decided how these places would, be awarded. Under the law . he is au thorized to. '.make.. the- appointments with the approval ' of ' the secretary of the treasury. This .means they will be named w,ith the approval of Senators Simmons and Overman, the members of the state delegation in congress and Col. A. D. Watts, col lector for the district. How the seven places are . to be apportioned among 13 or 14 ' men Col. Osborn .has not yet figured out. Senator Simmons has finally ' de cide not to recommend William Dortch for marshal in the eastern district and Francis Winston for dis trict attorney until his return from the state. He will leave Washington for Newbern and will go from there to his Jones 'county farm. v Senator Simmons stated he would delay making bis recommendations to Attorney General McReynolds for the big federal jobs n the .east un til Senator Overman is prepared to make his appointments in the west. Senator Overman will yisit the state and confer with friends before act ing. This will delay final action on state patronage for another two weeks. - P. C. Worley and A. J. Wood, of Selma, were in Washington in the interest of the Selma postoffice. North Carolina New Enterprises. ' Three charters were granted and amendments to two others filed with the secretary of state. The Citizens' Bank of Franklin, MacOn county, cap ital $50,000 authorized and $10,000 subscribed by W. W. Gernett, T. S. Munday and others for a general banking business. The Minella Mills Company of Randleman, capi tal $25,000 authorized and $1,500 subscribed by N. C. Johnson and others for general grain and milling business. The Ellen Mercantile Com pany", Ellen, Davidsdh county, capital $5,000 authorized and $1,800 sub scribed by J. R. Thomas and- others. The Theo. Buerbaum Company, Sal isbury, reduces its capital from $25, 000 to $10,000. The Myers Manufac turing Company increases its prefer red stock from $200,000 to $250,000 and its common -stock from $150,000 to $250,000. Craig Issues Pardon to Two. Governor Craig issued the follow ing pardons: John W. MoFarland, of Guilford county, convicted at the September term, 1913, for the crime of larceny, was sentenced to four months on the roads. Pardon grant ed on condition that for the future the defendant remain law abiding and an industrious citizen. -It is recom mended by Judge Thos. J. Shaw and Solicitor J. C. Bowel" In order that the defendant may attend court in West Virginia as a material witness in a murder trial. Walter Hall, of Cabarrus county, was convicted of manslaughter at the May term, 1911. His "'sentence was three years. The .pardon is granted October 6, 1913, on the condititon that the defendant re? main law abiding and of good be havior. . ' ' Western Carolina Colt Show. The Vestern Carolina Colt Show will be held at Moores ville on Thurs day, October 23. Arrangements have been made to take care oat least 100 colts, and substantial cash prizes have been offered for the best colts in the three classifications, which are mules, light harness or saddle and heavy harness. There will be no entrance fee and no charges what soever. Commissioner W. A. Graham of the department of agriculture has appointed State Veterinarian Flowe to judge the colts. Prizes of $15, $1.0 and $5, guaranteed to winners in the first three places in each class of colts. State Rexall Club Adjourns. With the election of officers and the tacit understanding n. that Raleigh would be chosen for the next place of meeting, the North Carolina Rexall Club, which has been in session at Charlotte concluded its third annual convention with, two interesting con ferences. Mr. D. , A. McLaughlin of this city, head of the local drug es tablishment of R. H. Jordan & Co., was chosen president of the organi sation for the coming year, the honor being quite a notable and worthy one. . " N. C. Library Association to Meet. Signed by -J. P.. Breedlove, of Dur ham, president, and Mrs. Jwiry B. Palmer, of Charlotte, the following notice has been issued:; "The North Carolina Library Association - will hold its eighth annual meeting, No vember 5 and 6, at Washington. The members will be enttsTtained, in pri vate homes. Mr.; Geo. B. Utley, sec retary of the American Library Asso ciation, will be' present, and will speak at the opening session. You are urged to attend. The program will be sent you later." WILL ACCEPT OFFER OF RAILROADS. DEMOCRATIC 'CAUCUS, HOUSE AND SENATE VOTE APPROVED. THIS ACTION NOT BINDING But it is More Than Lie!y That it - Represents the Sentimsnt of the Majority of the Stats iegisla ";' tur'e. ' 'Raleigh. 'House and senate Demo crats in caucus voted unanimously to accept the proposition submitted by the carriers for a settlement of the western rates, voted 40 to 37 against creating two new members to the corporation commission of the crea tion of a public service commission and voted unanimoually to (provide the , commission with a rate expert and additional clerical help. The action was taken after the governor, specially invited to ad dress the caucus, advocated the addi tion of two new members as a great need, but not as a reflection on the commission, to which he gave credit for its work in the achievement of the rate proposal. The action of the caucus is not binding, but it probably represents the sentiment of the legislature. Gov. Craig, who did not hear Chair man Travis, corroborated him many times in the course of his address, particularly in regard to why an at tack had mot been made on intra state rates. Discudt.ng this matter, the governor told the members of the assembly to vote for a bill to reduce the rates if they felt they could do justice to the people of the state and the carriers; but to leave the matter to the cpmmission, if they did not think they could understand the in tricacies of the situation within the time at their disposal. . " The governor argued for an in crease in the number of commission ers on the ground of necessity. Several members gave their views, among them Judge Council, who said he was in favor of a new commission not as a reflection on the old but, failing in that, wa3 in favor of giving the commission additional help. Aldermen Refuse Petition. Fayetteville. By a vote of 6 to 2 the board of aldermen refused' the petition of the merchants of Fayette vilile that their privilege tax be re moved. A great part of the member ship of the Merchants' Association appeared before the ooard and made the protest. The tax' against which the merchants objected was passed as, a part of a general tax measure by the board May 23. Governor Commutes Sentence. Raleigh. Governor Craig Tecently' commuted the ? ence of Harris Johnson, of Wayne, who is now serv ing a term of eight years for man slaughter. Gov. Craig does not free Johnson until the prisoner shall have served two full years. There is nothing off for good behavior. The governors reasons credit Judge "J. L. Webb, who tried the case, with recommending the rardon and it is not oppossed. , Supervisor of Farm Life School. Durham. Mr. J. M. Gray, formerly connected with the state department of agriculture, has been' elected su pervisor of the Farm Life school in Durham county, and 'will begin his duties the first of November. Mr. Gray is a native of Macon county, and is a graduate of A. & 'M. College. He took the special courses in farm ing and devoted much of his time to the subject of farm-life develop ment. Durham Sold Much Tobacco. Durham. During ' September the Durham market sold" 1,805,132 pounds of tobacco, making this the largest month in the history of the market for a number of years past. Not only in the number of pounds sold but also ii the prices that were paid was the month a good oden, both for the farmers and the warehousemen. Sentenced To Two Years. Hendersonyille. . ' Jules Collins, charged with the murder of Joseph Israel a year ago, was sentenced to two years on the Henderson county chaingang. The jury deliberated 36 hours before returning a verdict. Israel was a well-known business man here. In a dispute with Collins over a w.oman he struck Collins with a whip-stock. After the t. blow Col lins drew and fired, t ice. Israel died the next morning in an Asheville' hospital. He left a widow and several children. Collins is unmarried. Presbyterian Synod Centennial. Greensboro. 'Recently on the same spot -where 100 years ago the Pres byterian Synod of North Carolina was organized the denomination celebrat ed the centennial of the governing body in this state. More than 1,000 people gathered on the -historic churchyard of Alamance Presbyterian church, six miles southeast of Greens boro, and heard the masterful ad dresses that bad been prepared on the church's history of the century by the leading, men of the denomina tion in the South. HELP FOR STOCK RAISERS Live Stock' Exchange Begun By the Southern Railway to Develop In dustry in the South. Atlanta, Ga., October 5. As a part of its -work for the upbuilding of the live stock industry In the Southeast, the live Stock Department of th Southern Railway periodically issues a bulletin telling of stock for sale or exchange and of stock desired to be purtihasedr The bulletin -Is com piled from information furnished by stock owners and copies are mailed te over 15,000 farmers and dealers. Through this bulletin a large num ber of sales have 'been made and many farmers 'have been enabled to get stock of just the type they desir ed. Instead of sending good sires to the slaughter bouse after serving their alloted time with one herd, many owners ' have through this bulletin been enabled to effect an exchange whereby each, added years of useful ness to the life of a good animal. The entire expense of issuing the bulletin is borne 1y the Southern Railway Co. F.r L. Word, Live Stock Agent, Atlanta, Ga, will be glad to eend conies to any farmer or to in olude in the .bulletin information in regard to stock for sale or exchange.' Declares For World Peace. Louisville, Ky. Speaker Champ Clark of the national house -of repre sentatives, declared for international disarmament as the surest means of euaranteeing world peace in an ad dress delivered here recently at the Perry centennial celebration. He praised the valor of American sol diers in the war of 1812 and declared the crowning glory of their heroism was the 100 years of peace that have followed between Great Britain and the United States. The speaker said that boch (President Wilson and form er President Taft deserved praise for the spirit of forbearance displayed in dealing with the delicate questions presented by the revolutionary trou bles in Mexico. ' Ask. For Friendship. Tokio. Buddhists in a mass meet ing in a temple here adopted a reso lution in the form of a message to President Wilson of the United States bearing on the Japanese-American re lations. The message reads: "For the sake of universal peace and the progress of humanity which are the ideals of Buddhism, we in paying homage to the president, earnestly wish for the development of a friend ship 'between Japan and the United States based on liberty and justice with the exclusion of religious and racial prejudice. - Three thousand Buddhists were present. M. Oishi, leader of .the Progressive party, de clared only 'by war could Japan ob tain a solution of the California land question. To Investigate Dynamite Charges. Indianapolis, Ind. The United States grand jury venire for the No vember term of court -was drawn on the order of Federal Judge A. B. An derson. The grand jury which will meet here November 11 will investi gate the latest phases of the dyna mite conspiracy as brought out .by tne confession of George E. Davis, alias George O'Donnell, who was arrested recently in New York. The names of the grand jurors were not made pub-, lie. "We expect to make a thorough examination of everything brought out by Davis' confession which re sulted in the arrest here of Harry Jones, secretary-treasurer of the In ternational Association of Bridge and Structural Iron Workers," said Uni ted States District Attorney Charles W. Miller, "and we hope to have our report ready when the grand jury meets." Was Not a Millionaire. BeTlin. An authoritative denial was issued recently of published statements that the late August Be bel, Socialist leader, was a million aire. His estate is valued at about $100,000, of which he bequeathed $5, 000 to the Social Democratic party and $2,500 to the labor press. It had been reported that he left half of his estate to the party. An accusation that Bebel was a tax dodger and had invested his property abroad in order to escape German assessments is also denied. Will Have Four Camps. Washington. Encouraged by the success of the two student military camps held last summer at Gettys burg, Pa., and Monterey, Cal., the war department has decided to have four camps next summer. They will be located in centers easily accessi ble to college and university students. One camp will be in New York, prob ably on Lake Champlain; another in one of the Northern Central states; the third in the Virginia mountains or perhaps farther South and the fourth on the Central Pacific coast. Expect Rate. Decisions October 20. Washington. Important rate deci cions are expected from the supreme court in its first decision day, Octo ber 20, although the court has given no indictations of jits intentions. Jus tice Hughes ds expected to clear up the so-called state rate cases by an nouncing a decision in the Kentucky rate case, involving rates on distillery supplies from Ohio River cities to distillery centers in Kentucky. It also involves the validity of the McChord Act, enabling. the state railroad com mission to fix reasonable rates. Mmtional SllNWSOIOOL Lesson 03y E. O. SELLERS, Director of Evening . Department, ' The Moody Bible Institute, Chicago.) LESSON FOR OCTOBER 19. REPORT OF THE SPIES. LESSON TEXT Numbers 13:1-3, 25-33. GOLDEN TEXX "If God is for . us, ' who .is against us." Rom. 8:31. . Kadesh Barnea marks the place of the Israelites' first great defeat. Long and bitterly did they regret that day of unbelief and not till a new genera tion was reared did the nation as such enter into the land of promise. The act of that day was the culmina tion of a whole train of unbelief, and truly they chose death rather than life. (Josh. 24.15.) . I. The Spies, vv. 1-3. God had com manded - Israel to possess the land, now. as a precautionary measure they went about to "investigate." This act, which was not a part of God's program, but by divine permission, was a reflection upon God's word about the character of the land. (See v. 19.) The eternal questions of man are to know the why and the how. God told Moses to send these men as a concession to their lack of faith, but it cost Israel forty added years of exile. The inheritance prepared for the faithful are always conditioned upon obedience. (Heb. 11:3, etc.) T-omi oof nf thct nfc&rknla V9I fk monno an opportunity, whereby they, discov ered themselves. A True Type. 1 ; " II. The Majority Report, w. 25-29. Though these spies, spent forty days in conducting their investigation (a modern fornl of political graft), yet every step was a- corroboration of God's word and the. years of desola tion which followed correspond to the number of days they were absent from the camp. The first or the af firmative part of their report was fine, but the negative was so exagger ated as to turn the twelve ' tribes to an act which amounted to a catas trophe. This land and this report .is such a true type of our Christian ex perience. They brought back the evi dence of the truth of God's descrip tion of the land (Ex. 13:5 and Deut. 8:7-10) which was to be for them, a resting place after their wilderness journey (Heb. .3:8-11, 14 and 4:8," 9). But - these spies had seen other things, things to discourage, viz., men, strong men, entrenched men (v. 28). They saw those tribes God had said they would find (Ex. 13:5). They not only saw all of this but, like all un believers, they magnified their ene mies. Today we see evil entrenched behind special privilege, we see the forces of evil that appear to us as giants and unbelief cries out, "Who Is sufficient?" ' III. The Minority Report, vv. 30-33. .iviajui ltieo laeij iuio uui uiiuui mca are more frequently right, witness history. A great cry, of despair (Ch. 14:1) greeted this report. Caleb stilled the people (v. 30) that they might get the other side of the story. His report agreed wfth the majority as to the desirability of possessing the land; Indeed, we surmise it was Caleb and Joshua who brought their evidence with them (v. 23). Their report differed, however, in its con clusion. To the picture of the strength of those scattered through out the land Caleb bluntly replied, "Let us go up at once and possess it; for we are "well able to overcome it." (Cf. Rom. 8:37; Phil. 4:19.) Ten men looked upon man, the two saw be hind man, God, a God who was able. The ten lost their lives even as they feared, whereas Caleb and Joshua lived to enjoy the fruits of their vis ion of faith. (Ch. 14:6-9, Josh. 15:14.) Unbelief cries, "We be not able," of course not, for "vain is the help of man," but belief, seeing God, in the words of Caleb cries out for imme diate action. "Unbelief shuts itself out of promised blessings (Heb. 3: 19), it always has and Is still so do ing. 'Unbelief ' exaggerates and con tradicts. Must Consider Entire Story. IV. The Sequel, Ch. 14. No teacher can properly present this lesson with out considering the entire story. The amazed people (14:1-4); the solemn protest of Joshua and Caleb (vv. 6 11) was met wtyh- threatened death and God interviewed to protect his faithful ones (Ps. 34:7).. The enkin dled anger of Jehovah (v. 11, 12) is met by that magnificent revelation of the beauty and strength of the char acter of Moses (vv. 13-19). He based his appeal upon the necessity of main taining thelhonor of God's .word and pleads for mercy and compassion. This appeal was answered by a gra cious pardon for the people, but with it came a declaration that discipline was necessary. We must remember that these Israelites had the benefit of the full revelation of the law, yet we see its insufficiency in producing a perfect character. Laws will not cure the ills of the body politic. Sinning men. must enter into that fellowship with. God that is the result of a life of obedience. ere they can enter that de lectable land of peace, plenty and power which lies before them. Fail ing in a knowledge of him and his resources, difficulties are magnified and our strength - is minimized. To view people as giants and ourselves cb grasshoppers is to court defeat. ;
The Chatham Record (Pittsboro, N.C.)
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Oct. 15, 1913, edition 1
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