i . I i t I I - - I
FOLLOWING THE FAIR.
FAKIRS WHO LIVE ON THE CREDU
LITY OF THE PEOPLE.
Cane and Lemonade Men Who Make Small
Fortunes from the Kirn tics Who Come to
See the Race Their Varied Attraction.
Mystery of Their Habits of Living.
ICopyrigiUd, 1SS7.J
A day or two before the
opening of
the agricultural exhibition, the nomads,
who "follow the fairs, begin to arrive.
From every train descend men with
almost every possible variety of bag
gage, but all Intent upon the one object
of making financial hay while the sun
shines. Their hayfields are the amuse
ment seekers who come to wonder at
the big pumpkins and bet on the pie
bald pacers, and their harvesting ma
chinery is the various devices concealed
in their diversified baggage.
Not alone do they come by cars, but
also in. buggies, "prairie schooners" and
on sulkies.
The Drofessional fair followers are a
good deal like the scriptural description
of the wind : "Thou hearest the sound
thereof, but canst not tell whente it
cometh." "Where the most of them re
side and how they busy themselves dur
ing the major portion of the year when
there are' no fairs are still unsolved
mysteries. When the fairs of the "West
bepin they appear, and at the end of the
fair season they disappear, only to bob
a
up serenely next year. .
' They are divided into two great classes,
the 'straights" and "crooks." These are
. subdivided Into - almost innumerable
smaller classes.- From the "straights,
the investor receives something for his
money, while the "crooked fakes" give
him no return unless it be in experience.
The methods of the "straights" and
"crooks" may not always be in strict ac
cord with the golden rule, but the noise,
excitement, hustle and bustle and a great
deal of amusement of the Western fairs
are due to them, and fairs, without the
"fair followers" would be spiritless and
tame. But for them the races would be
limited, except on the tracks of the
wealthy associations. The premiums
given by the poorer, and that means the
majority of the border fair organizations,
are not liberal. So, but for the opportu
nities for rich harvests of bets that the
followers industriously gather.they would
never bring their racers. The result
would be ruin for the, fair, for a fair in
Kansas without races would be but slimly
attended. r
The ' "cane rack" Is ' dying out as a
means of wooing the hard-earned dimes
from the pockets of the youthful yeonien.
But the time was when the "rack" was
the first thing the lads visited and the
last thing they left. Ten cents pur
chased the chance to throw eight rings
at a small forest of canes stuck through
holes in a canvas .W- net. A man could
throw a ring over a cane , about as easy
as he could fly, and it is needless to add
that the owner gathered in many a dime
and parted with but few canes. The
dispensing of alleged lemonade was
always very remunerative; but when some
genius invented the "all-yer-can-drink-for-five-cents"
scheme, he boomed the
industry wonderfully. No elaborate
paraphernalia is necessary. All the
vender needs is a tub to hold the lemonade,
a box or barrel upon which to set the tub,
and a number of dippers, hung on nails
driven around the edges of the tub. Add
to this a loud voice and a quantity of so
called lemonade, and, if fortune smiles,
the vender will realize an almost fabulous
per cent, of profit on his original outlay.
To make a tub of this nectar of the
fair grounds he stirs in the water half-a-dollar's
worth of sugar and twenty
cents' worth of tartaric or citric acid,
using whichever comes Has handiest
Fifteen cents purchases a large chunk
ice. Then, if he desires the rich color
of strawberry lemonade, he adds a few
spoonfuls, say ten cents' worth, of co
chineal. Then, twenty cents' worth of
lemons, sliced, make enough "floaters"
to make the liquid look very inviting.
Then, during the day, the vender will
sell five or six tubs of this mixture, on
an average four tubs, or forty-eight gal
lons. "All you kin drink fer five cents," is
the cry, and thirsty Amos and his apple
cheeked sweetheart drink from the off
tried dippers with long, grateful gulps
and many smacks of satisfaction.
Hardly any one absorbs a pint, but
put the rate at that. In Vorty-eight
gallons there ' are three hundred and
eighty-four pints, which, at, five cents
each, amount to $19 20 ; not a bad return
for an investment of $1 15. He will
really almost double this, for but few
will drink more than half a pint of his
lemonade. His tub cost a dollar, and
will be used during the fair and sold at
its end for fifty cents. The barrel is
borrowed. His license cost a dollar a
day, and by judicious betting in a small
way he expects to make enough that his
lemonade receipts are clear gain.
If economical, at the end of the fair,
he will carefully pick out his pieces of
lemon peel or "floaters," dry them on a
board, and carry them to the next fair,
and so on till they finally give out from
sheer exhaustion. An experienced lem
onade man says "floaters" can be used a
dozen times or more, if carefully han
dled. The dippers are carried from town
to town.
The taffy man does a rushing business,
and, by selling very long and broad but
wondrous thin bars of his candy for five
cents, is able to make the modest profit
of nine dollars for one. The hard-earned
dimes in the pockets of the rural sight
seers seem ready to jump frantically
forth and into the hand of the loud-voiced
man, who, with praiseworthy energy and
shocking grammar.extols the wonders to
be seen within the tent in front of which he
stands.' Sometimes there are two or more
of these self-styled museums, and then
the crowds vibrate from one to the other
and compare the merits of the big ox,
Circassian girl, wild man, mermaid, and
so on, depicted on the paintings before
one show, with the snake-charmer, big
footed boy, three-horned cow and edu
cated pig on the banners of its rival.
What if the wild man speaks with an
Irish brogue and is light colored back of
his ears where the dye is carelessly ap
plied, the mermaid looks like a ghastly
combination of stuffed monkey and
catfish, and the three-horned cow
is a transparent fake ? . Everything is
looked at with lenient eyes and is won
dered at by all and sundry. The outside
attractions form a show in themselves
and are heartily enjoyed." In front of
one tent, two Africans with loud voices
and a proneness to perspire copiously,
sing "Carve Dat 'Possum," and "ilc'i
You Wen de Sun Goes Down" to t..e
plink-a-plunk" of dilapidated banjoes.
At the rival tent several colored youths
eive cvclone solos on bass and snare
drama, alternating with ear-8Dlittin?imi
tations of the shriek of a steam calliope.
Making the rounds of the fairs this
season is a genius with a , full-fledged
multum in'varvo on wheels. It is a
wagon and tent combined. In the sides
of the wagon are peep-holes, through
which one sees what at first seem large
naintine-s of scenes of the late war. In
reality they are views cunningly ar
ranged in stereoscopes.' Within the
wagon, back of the -views, is a cosy
bunk. Like the spider in the fable he
sits at the door of his tent, with a banjo
in his hand, a harmonica held in front of
his lips by means of a cunningly bent
wire, and a little spring bell at his feet
From these instruments he contrives to
produce lively music. Often he removes
the harmonica and sings as he twangs the
banjo. Then he calls out the wonders to
be seen within the tent for a dime, and as
Kansas has hundreds of ex-soldiers, he
does a paving business. .
So I might go on for half-a-dozen col
umns, telling of the nomads who "fol
low the fairs" from year to year the
men with knife-boards . wooden ba
bies, target guns, manes and strikers
lung-testers, "lifts," whirling swings
and everything to sell that any one
would be apt to buy.
Then, there are the "crooks," who ex
tract the dimes and dollars from the
pockets of the crowds by means of "chuck-a-luck."
the "spindle r "thimble-rig." or
the "shells," roulette, fortune wheels, eta
They are all a happy-go-lucky set,these
followers of fairs, and thoroughly enjoy
their nomadic life. At night, after the
crowds have departed and there are no
others on the ground but themselves and
the watchmen, they play after the toil of
the day. The stable boys, jockeys and
rubbers, by the feeble glimmer of a lan
tern, are "shooting craps," a species of
petty gambling." Each "chuck-a-luck
or "black and red game has a group
about it. and the lemonade man is seen
cheerfully losing hi3 gains of the
day at a game that he is fully aware has
nine chances against hisone. The banjo
pickers make melody on the night air.
The "professionals" are at liberty to par
take of each other s stocks without price,
and they drink of the lemonade and
munch the taffy with profound satisfac
tion. 1 he tent doors are open and they
gaze at will at the big ox and mermaid.
Some one produces a fiddle, and, in the
amphitheatre or wherever there is sum
cient floor room, a vigorous dance goes
on till everybody is exhausted.
If there are not enough women, the
men who cannot obtain female partners
dance with each other. Here the Cir
cassian girl circles with the cane-rack
man to the tune of "Sally Goodin." and
the snake-charmer glides in the embrace
of the owner of the piebaM pacer. Per
haps, if the watchmen are not disposed
to be critical, there is a faro "lay-out"
quietly running in some dimly-lighted
tent or stall, and . here a small group of
men are staking their money on the com
ing of the cards from the little metal
box.
As soon as the fair closes the lemon
ade man and all the resi will pack up
and disappear, and the stay-at-home
people will see them no more. But, at
the fair in the next county the following
week, they will appear again. This
goes on from early August till late
December, and they journey from Ne
braska to Texas. Then they scatter and
are unheard of till they bob up again
next year with the coming oft he fairs.
Tom P. Morgan.
HOME-MAKING.
Why and How it Should he a Co-opera
tive Business.
Not every woman is born to be a
housekeeper. While the world stands
there' will be women to paint, to sing, to
teach, to write, and women to make crazy
quilts idle women and women of busi
ness, wise women and foolish women,
beauties and drudges, old maids and
mothers, and women good for nothing
under the sun. There will be art galler
ries and printing shops, schools and fac
tories, homes and hotels, ball-rooms and
churches, theatres and libraries, bus'ness
houses and club-rooms, houses to suit all
occupations and women to suit all occu
pations. The house, the woman and the
work should all fit.
Home-making must be a co-operative
business. The responsibility of it does
.-not devolve entirely on the woman. It
is something no woman can do alone. It
is the husband that gives tone to the
dwelling. A good fatherly man that likes
petting and loves to pet others fills the
house with love. The morose man who
scowls and growls, or who wraps him
self up in his selfishness and scares his
family away from him, invites into his
dwelling the train of evil humors that
follow his own ill-nature. The mother
may try to do her part faithfully ; but if
she has to be a hypocrite to her children,
in order to shield her husband's faults,
the home is a mockery and the memory
of it a pain.
In matters of propriety and manners
it is hopeless unless the twain be like
minded. The woman may urge upon
her children the observance of good
manners, but if their father persists
in doing ill-mannered things every good
lesson to the children is a reproach to
him. In material matters as well, no
woman can keep house unless her hus
band lets her. If she has to beg like a
pauper for every dollar, she will have
only a contracted view of the domestic
horizon, and the need of the moment
will absorb the dollar. If the husband
holds the pocketbook snap under his
thumb it will be impossible for the
wife to be a good wife. The woman
must be made responsible ; she must
have an outlook ; she must have a
chance. Solomon gives us a picture of
his ideal woman, and she has her hus
band's financial confidence. She is a
woman with plans and resources and
means to work with. Her husband trusts
her ; she plants a vineyard ; she buys a
field when she has considered it; she
works willingly with her hands, but she
does not abuse herself ; she makes her
self strong and strengthens her arms.
An honest trader, she looks to see that
what she sells is good; economical, she
can afford to be charitable, and she
stretches out her hand to the poor. She
does not wait for tramps, to come beg
ging. She does not forget her own ap
pearance, but sees to it that she has the
finest of clothing. Her husband co-operates
with her in the maintenance of her
state, and he is known in the gates and
is himself one of the dignitaries. Her
speech shows wisdom and the law of her
tongue is to speak kindness ; she looks
to the ways of her house; she is not so
busy with her hoarding and sewing, or
reading or dressing, or buying or selling;
that she has not time to look after the
ways of her husband and children. Her
children bless her in their hearts and her
husband praises her ; he tells her for her
sake all women are good in his eyes, but
she excels them all.
And Solomon sums it all up in the
wise counsel : "Give her of the fruits of ,
her hands and let her own works praise
her."
Amateur Photographers.
Any pood photographer can easily become
an expert sketcher in pen and ink. Let him
make a silver-print from his negative, go
over the ontlines of the objects on it with
ink, shade them, pour a solution over the
print, and lo ! the photograph is eaten away,
and the pen-and-ink sketch left in its stead.
Thus very ar.istic results may be produced
by a simple chemical process.
i . 1- Mf I
UNOCCUPIED FIELDS.
WHERE THE HARVEST IS RIPE FOR
THE REAPER.
The Brooklyn Tabernacle Not . Built on
Other People' Foundation Pa ul's Great
Missionary Tour Through the Cities of
the Gentiles- A Grand Life of Usefulness.
Brooklyn, October 9. The audiences
at the Brooklyn Tabernacle this autumn
are larger than at any time during the
history of this church, and greater num
bers go away not able to .get in. Led by
cornet and organ the congregation sang
with great power the hymn :
The morning light is breaking,
The darkness disapieurs.
The sons of men are waking
To penitential tears.' -
The Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage, D. IX,
read and explained passages of Scripture
concerning the dawn of universal right
eousness. The subject of his sermon
was "Unoccupied Fields," and the text
from Romans, chapter xv, verse 20 :
'Lest I should build upon another man's
foundation," Dr. Talmage said ;
Stirring reports come from all parts of
America showing what a great work, the
churches of God are doing, and I con
gratulate them and their pastors. Mis
apprehensions have been going the
rounds, saying that the outside benevo
lences of this particular church are ne
glected, when the fact is that large sums
of money are being . raised in various
ways by this church for all styles of good
objects, not always through the boards
of our own denomination. This church
was built by all denominations of Chris
tians and by many sections of this land
and other lands, and that obligation Las
led us to raise money for many objects
not connected with our denomina
tion, and this accounts for the
fact that we . have not regu
larly . contributed to all the boards
commended. But I rejoice in that you ,
have done as a church a magnificent
work, and am grateful that we have re
ceived during the year by the confession
of faith in Christ seven hundred and
twenty-five souls, which fact I mention
not m boasting but in defense of this
church, showing it has been neither idle
nor inefficient. The most of our acces
sions have been from the outside world,
so that, taking the idea of my text, we
have not been building on other people's
, foundations
In laying out the plan of his mission
ary tour Paul sought out towns and
cities which had not yet been preached
to. He goes to Corinth, a " city men
tioned for splendor and vice, and Jerusa
lem, where the priesthood and the San
hedrim were ready to leap with both
feet upon the Christian religion. He
feels he has especial work to do, and he
w means to do it. v hat was the result r
ine grandest lite oi useiumess that a
man ever lived. We modern Christian
workers are not apt to imitate Paul.
We build on other people's foundations.
If we erect a church we prefer to have it
filled with families all of whom have been
pious. Do we gather a Sabbath-school
class we want good boys and girls; hair
combed, faces washed, manners attract
ive. So a church in this day is apt to
be built out of other churches. Some
ministers spend all their time, in fishing
in other people's ponds, and they throw
the line into that church pond and
jerk out a Methodist, and throw the
line into another church pond and bring
out a Presbyterian, or there is a re
ligious row in some neighboring church,
and a whole school of fish swim off
from that pond, and we take them all in
with one sweep of the net. What is
gained ? Absolutely nothing for the
general cause of Christ. It is only as in
an army, when a regiment is transferred
from one division to another, from the
Tennessee to the Potomac.
jWhat strengthens the army is new re
cruits. What 1 have always desired is
that while we are courteous to those
coming from other nocks, we build our
church not out of other churches, but
out of the world, lest we build on an
other man's foundation. The fact is.
this is a big world. When, in our school
boy days, we learned the diameter and
circumference of this planet, we did not
learn half. It is the latitude and longi
tude, and diameter and circumference of
want and woe and sin that no figures
can calculate. 1 his one spiritual conti
nent of wretchedness reaches across
all zones, and if I were called
to give its geographical bound
ary, I would say it is bounded "on
the north and south and east and west
by the great heart of God's sympathv
and love. Oh, it is a great world. Since
six o'clock this morning sixty thousand
ei?ht hundred persons have been born.
and all these multiplied populations are
to be reached of the Gospel. In Eng
land, or in our Eastern American cities.
we are being much crowded, and an acre i
of ground is of great value, but out
West five hundred acres is a small farm.
and twenty thousand acres is no unusual '
jKiocaoJuu. jucic ia a viusb iiem nere
and everywhere unoccupied, olentv of
room more:' not building on another
manVfoundation.
We need as churches to stop bombard-
ing-the old ironclad sinners that have been
proof against thirty years of Christian
assault. Alas for that church which
lacks the spirit of evangelism, spending
on one chandelier enough to li?ht five :
hundred souls to glory, and in one carved
pillar enough to have made a. thousand
men "pillars in the house of our God for
ever," and doing less good than many a
log cabin meeting-house with tallow can
dles stuck in wooden sockets, and a min
ister who has never seen a college, or
know u the difference between Greek and
Choctaw. We need as churches to get
into sympathy with the great outside
i j j . . . i .
worm, ana lei them know that none
are so broken-hearted or hardly bestead
Inar will Tint ha wolonmoH AT I" i
mat win not ue welcomed, "jso I says
some fastidious Christian, "I don't like
to be crowded in church. Don't put any
one in my pew." My brother, what will
you do in Heaven? When a great multi
tude that no man can number assembles
they will put fifty in your pew. What
are the select few to-day assembled in the
Christian churches compared with the
mightier millions outside of them, eiaht
hundred thousand in Brooklyn, butjess
than one hundred thousand in the
churches ? Many of the churches are like
a hospital that should advertise that its
patients must have nothing worse than
toothache or "run-rounds," but no broken
heads, no crushed ankles, no fractured
i highs. Give us for treatment moderate
tinners, velvet-coated sinners and sinners
with a gloss on. It is as though a man
ha.l a farm of 3,000 acres and put all his
work on one acre. He may raise never
so large ears of corn, never so big heads
of wheat, he would remain poor. The
church of God has bestowed its chief
care on one acrp, and has raised splendid
men and womeh in that small inclosure,
but the-field is the world. That means
North and South America, Europe, Asia
And Africa, and all the islands of the sea.
It is as though after a great battle there
were left 50,000 wounded and dying on
the field, and three surgeons gave all
their time to three patients under their
charge. The major general comes in
and says to the doctors, "Come out here
and look at the nearly 50,000 dying for
lack of surgical attendance.?' "No, say
the three doctors, standing there fan
ning their patients, "we have three im
portant cases here, and we are attending
to them, and when we are not positively
busy with their wounds, it takes all our
time to keep the flies off." In this awful
battle of sin and sorrow, where millions
have fallen on millions, do not let us
spend all our time in taking care of a few
people, and. w hen the command comes s
"Go into the world," say practially ; "No,
I cannot go; I have here a few ; choice
cases, and I am busy keeping off the
flies." There are multitudes to-day who
have never had any Christian worker
look them in the eye, and with earnest
ness in the accentuation, ay, "Come !"
or they Would long ago have been in the
kingdom. My friends, religion is either
a sham or a tremendous reality. If it be
a sham, let us disband our churches and
Christian associations. If it be a reality,
then great populations are On the way to
the bar of God unfitted for the ordeal,
and what are we doing ? j
In order to reach the multitude of out
siders we must drop all technicalities out
of our religion. When we talk to people
about the hvDostatid union! and French
Encyclopaedianism, and Erastinianism,
and Complutensianism, we are as impol
itic and little understood as if a physi
cian should talk to an ordinary patient
about the pericurdium, and intercostal
muscle, and scorbutic symptoms. Many
of us come out of the theological semi
naries so loaded up that j we take the
first ten years to show our people how
much we know, and the next ten
years get our people to know as much
as we know, and at 'the end find that
neither of us know anything as we ought
to know. Here are hundreds and thou-
people who need to realize just one
thing that Jesus Christ came to save
them, and will save them now. Bijt we
go into a profound and elaborate defini
tion of what justification! is, and after
all ti e work there are not, outside of the
learned professions," five thousand peo
ple in the United States i who can tell
what justification is. I will read you the
definition:
, "Justification is purely a forensic act,
the act of a judge sitting jin the forum,
in which the Supreme Ruler and Judge,
who is accountable to none, and who
alone knows the manner in which the
ends of His universal government can
lest be obtained, reckons that which was
done by the substitute in the same man
ner as if it had been done by those who
believe in the substitute, and not on ac
count of anything done by them, but
purely upon account of this gracious
method of reckoning, grants them the
full remission of their sins;"
Now, what is justification? I will
tell you what justification is when a
sinner belieyes God lets him off. One
summer in Connecticut I went to a large
factory and I saw over the door written
the words, "No Admittance." I entered
and saw over the next door, "No Admit
tance." Of course I entered. I got in
side and found it a pin factory, and they
were making pins, very serviceable, fine
and useful pins. So the spirit of exclu
siveness has practically written over the
outside door of many a church, "No Ad
mittance." And if the stranger enters
he finds practically written over the sec
ond door : "No Admittance," and if he'
goes inK over all the pew doors seems
written : "No Admittance," while the
minister stands in the pulpit, hammering
out his little niceties of belief, pounding
out the technicalities of religion, making
pins. In the most practical, common
sense way, and laying aside the non
essentials and the hard definitions of re
ligion, go out on tne G.d-given mission,
telling the . people what they need and
when and how they can get it.
Comparatively little effort as yet has
been made to save that large class of
persons in our midst called skeptics,
and he who goes to work here will not
be building upon another man's founda
tion. There is a great .' multitude of
them. They are afraid of us and our
churches, for the reason we don't know
how r to treat them. One of this
class met Christ, and hear with
what tenderness, and j pathos, and
beauty, and . success j Christ dealt
with him: "-Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and.with all thy mind, and with all
thy strength. This is the first command
ment, and the second is like to this;
namely, thou shalt love thy neighbor as
thyself. There is no other' command
ment greater than this." And the scribe
said to him: "Well, master, thou hast
said the truth, for there is one God,
and to love Him with air the heart,
and . all the understanding, and
all the soul, and all
the strength,
is more than whole
burnt offer-
ings and sacrifices." Apd when Jesus
saw that he answered discreetly, he said
unto him: "Thou art not far from the
Kingdom of God." So a skeptic was
saved in one interview. But few Chris
tian people treat the skeptic in that way.
Instead of taking hold of him with the
gentle hand of love, we are apt to take
him with the iron pincers of eccle
siasticism. i ' j
You would not be so rough on that
man if you knew by what process he had
lost his faith in Christianity. I have
known men skeptical from the fact that
thev grew
up in houses where religion
was overdone. Sunday was the most
awful day of the week, j They had relig
ion driven into them with a trip-hammer.
They f were surfeited with
prayer-meetings. They were stuffed
and choked - with catechisms. They
were often told they were the worst
boys the parents ever knew, because they
liked to ride down hill better than to
read Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. When
ever father and mother talked of religion
they drew down' the Corners of their
mouth and rolled up their eyes. If any
one thing will send a boy or girl to per
dition sooner than another that is it. If
I had had such a father and mother I fear
I should. have been an infidel.
Others were tripped j up of skepticism
from being grievously wronged by some
man who professed to be a Christian.
Thev haA a nn rtnor in Im Qirt oca t-rr ! s
turned out to be a first-class scoundrel,
. l , . ..;...
though a Drofessed Christian.
1 wenty
years ago they lost all faith by what hap
penea in an oil company which was
formed amid the petroleum excitement.
The company owned no land, or if they
did, there was no sign of oil produced;
but the president of the company was a
Presbyterian elder, and the treasurer
was an Episcopal vestryman, and one
director - was a Methodist class
leader, and the other directors
prominept members of j Baptist and Con
gregational churches, j Circulars were
gotten out telling what fabulous pros
pects opened before this com; any. In
nocent men and women who had a little
money to invest, and that little their all,
said : "I don't know anything about this
company, but so many good men are at
the head of it that it must be excellent,
and taking stock in it must be a' most as
good as joining the church." So they
bought the stock, and perhaps received
one. dividend so as to keeD them still.
but after a wM
that the company
ized, and had a
they found
had reorgan
different presi-
dent, and different
treasurer, and
different directors. Other
engagements
or ill-health had caused the former ofil
cers of the company, with many regrets,
to resign. And all that the aufrecribers
of that stock had -to show for .heir in-
vestment was a beautifully ornament
finnatimp that man looking
swot- -hta nunprs comes across that
certificate, and it is so suggestive that he
vows he wants none oi tne rengiuu mo
the presidents and trustees and directors
nf iko n;if.nmniinTnrnfessed. Of course
their rejection of religion on such grounds
was unphilosophical and unwise. I am
tnirt that A-third of the United States
armv Acsprt fivprv vear. and there are
d court-martial trials
every year. Is that anything against the
United .States government that swore
them in? And if soldiers of Jesus
Christ desert, is that anything against the
Christianity which they swore to support
and defend ? How do you juuge ui mo
currencv of a country ? By a counter
feit bill? Oh, you must have patience
with those who have been swindled by
religious pretenders. Live in the pres
ence of others a frank, honest, earnest,
Christian life, that they may be attracted
to the same Saviour upon whom your
hopes depend.
Remember skepticism always has some
reason, good or bad, ior existing, i-oemc o
irrelisrion started when the news came
to German v of the earthauake at Lisbon,
November 1, 1775. That sixty-thousand
people should have perished in that
earthquake and in the after rising of the
Tagus river so stirred nis sympaimes
that he threw up his belief In the good
ness of God.
Others have gone into skepticism from
a natural persistence in asking tne reason
why. They have been fearfully stabbed,
of the interrogation point. There are
so many things they cannot get ex
plained. Thev cannot understand the
Trinity, or how God can be sovereign
and yet man a free agent. Neither can
I. They say : "I don t understand why
a good God should have let Bin come
into the world." Neither do I. You
say: "Why was that child started
in lire with such oisaavantages. wnne
others have all physical and mental
equipment?" I cannot tell. They
go out of church on Easter morning and
say: "That doctrine of the resurrection
confounded me." So it is to me a mys
tery beyond unravelment. I understand
all the processes by which men get into
the dark. I know them all. I have
traveled with burning feet that blistered
way. The first word that children learn
to utter is generally papa or mamma. I
think the first word I ever uttered
was "Whv ?" I know what it is to have
a hundred midnights pour their darkness
into one hour. Such men are not to be
scoffed at but helped. Turn your back
upon a drowning man when you have'
the rope with which to pull him ashore,
and let that woman in the third-story
of a house perish in the flames when you
have a ladder with which to help her
out and help her down, rather than turn
your back scoflingly on a skeptic whose
soul is in more peril than the bodies of
those other endangered, ones possibly
can be. Oh, skepticism is a dark land !
There are men in this house'who would
give a thousand worlds, if they possessed
them, to get back to the placid faith of
their fathers and mothers, and it is our
place to help them, and we may help
them, never through their heads, but al
ways through their hearts. These
skeptics, when brought to Jesus,
will be mightily affected, far more
so than those who never examined
the evidences of Christianity. Thomas
Chalmers was once a skeptic, Robert
Hall a skeptic, Robert Newton a
skeptic, Christmas Evans a skeptic. But
when once with strong hand they took
hold of the chariot of the GosDeL thev
rolled it on with what momentum! If
I address such men and women to-day, I
throw out no scoff. I implead them by
the memory of the good old days when
at their mother's knee they said : "Now
I lay me down to sleep," and by those
days and nights of scarlet fever in
which tlic watched you, giving you
the medicine at just the right time, and
turning your pillow when it was hot, and
with hands that many years ago turned
to dust, soothed away your pain, and
with voice that you will never hear again,
unless you join her in the better country,
told you to never mind for you would
feel better by and bv, and by that dying
couch where she looked so pale and
talked so slowly, catching her breath
between the words, and you felt an
awful loneliness Coming over your soul ;
by all that, I beg you to come back
and take the same religion. It was good
enough for her. It is good enough for
you. Nay, I have a better plea than
that. I plead by all the. wounds, and
tears, and blood, and groans, and ago
nies, and death-throes of the Son of
God, who approaches you this moment
with torn brow, and lacerated hand, and
whipped back, and saying : "Come unto
me, all ye who are weary and heavy
laden, and I will give you rest."
Furthermore, the destitute children of
the street offer a field of work compara
tively unoccupied. The uncared-for
children are in the majority in Brooklyn
and most of our cities. When they grow
up, if unreformed, they will outvote
your children, and they will govern votr
children. . The whiskey ring will hatch ont
other whiskey rings and grogshops will
kill with their horrid stench publ !c
sobriety, unless the church of God ris-js
up with outstretched arms and enfolds
this dying- population in her bosom.
Public schools cannot do it. Art gd
leries cannot do it. Blackwell's Island
cannot do it. Almshouses cannot do it.
New York Tombs and Raymond-street
jail cannot do it. Sing Sing cannot do
it. Church of God, wake up to your
magnificent mission ! You can do it.
Get somewhere, somehow to work.
The Prussian cavalry mount by putti ag
their right foot into the stirrup, wl ile
the American cavalry mount by putting
their left foot into the stirrup. I don't
care how you mount rour war charger,
if you only get into this battle for God
and get there soon, right stirrup, or left
stirrup, or no stirrup ;at all. The un
occupied fields are all around us, and
why should we build on another man's
foundation? That God has called this
church to especial work no one can
doubt. Its history has been miracu
lous. God has helped us at every
step, and though - the wheels of its
.history have made many revolutions,
they have all been forward, and never
backward, and now with our borders en
larged and with important reinforce
ments, we start on a new campaign.
Now that the autumn has come, and
the Gospel - Ship has been re- -paired
and enlarged, it is time
to launch her for another voyage. Heave
away now, lads 1 Shake out the reefs In
tha foretopsail! Come, O heavenly
wind, and fill the canvas I Jesus aboard
will assure our safety. Jesus on the sea
will beckon us forward. Jesus on the
shining shore will welcome us into har
bor. "And so it came to pass that they
all escaped safe to land."
Boiled Milk.
In France, as a rule, milk is never con
sumed unboiled. In Germany the contrary
is the case. Professor Reichnian has deter
mined the relative digestibility of milk in
both these states. Unboiled new milk coagu
lates in the stomach rive minutes after it is
svraUowed; in the space of four hours it is
completely digested. The digestion is pro
duced not by a ferment, but by an augmen
tation of hictic juice and also of muriatic
acid. The action of these acids is at its
maximum seventy-five minutes after the
nulk descends into the stomach. Boiled
wu. leisures nvo hows and a half to
be
ujgcoicu. Jbzcnange.
The first toll
for the renalr of F.nvliah
highways was
imnoseri in tfA
Edward III and was for repairing the road
between St. Giles and TempleBar. ;
FUN-L0YING FOLK.
THE PEOPI-E OF BURMA AND SOME
OI" THEIR SPORTS.
A Description of a Boat Baoe-The Petty
Magistrate and His Reception Makln
inarations for the 8tart-SIhWeers
and Dresses
of the Women Rejoicings.
Thft neonle of Burma are a lively,
fun-loving folk. In boat races especially
they take as ardent an Interest as Yale
and Harvard undergraduates. In a
Tolume of official reports Issued by the
India survey office a contest between tne
boats of the '.two villages Wagun and
Kyauktan Is described in great detail
Tha European spectator found It advisa
ble to climb the low hills on the opposite
Korv nf ,t.h Tivr. from which, while
sitting In the shade of a mutilated torso
of a colossal figure of Gautama Buddha,
he got a bird's-eye view of the whole
proceedings. Having recovered breath
after the climb, the spectator looks
around and observes that the first arrival
have reached the wharf. A plump squat
figure, balanced on a very fat little bay,
pony, is the "Myoo K or petty magistrate
and revenue collector! He wears the
gayest of waistcloths of the richest and
thickest silk, woven with very bright
colors into an intricate maze' of squares,
triangles and zigzags, interlaced In a
dog-tooth pattern. His iron-gray hair,
glossy with exuberant oil, is tied Into a
compact knot and brought to the very
top of his head, like the knob of a teapot
cover, and is encircled with a wisp of
the whitest of white cambric handker
chiefs. There is no mistaking him for
other than the great man of the country.
As he slides off his nag he is surrounded
by a crowd of sleek citizens, whose self
importance will at first only allow them
to mumble greetings and hint sugges
tions; but, as arguments wax warmer,
dignity is laid aside and they shout and
gesticulate like very schoolboys. After
numerous counter-proposals and voluble
discussion, the old Myook arranges that
a bamboo about a foot long is lastenea
in the centre of a small bamboo raft
moored, with large stones for anchors,
in the centre of the stream. The bam
boo is stuck upright, and in it rests the
staff of the flag; the winning crew to oe
that which removes the flag from the
socket. A large rice-boat is anchored
out in the stream in a line with the
wharf and raft. This is for the judges
and umpire, while "dug-outs" are sta
tioned at intervals along both sides of
what is to be the course, to see that each
racing-boat keeps to its own side and
that there is no foul play. "
It is now three o'clock and high tide,
and something is seen like a procession
of canoes coming up stream ; but on ap
proaching nearer it is seen to be but one,
and from its flag an English blue ensign
with the design of a white pagoda
worked on the blue ground the racine-
boat of Kvauktaw is recognized. Its j
length is enormous, being fully 120 feet,
but in breadth it is barely three feet : it
is in fact, nothing more than a very long
dug-out made of one tree, and so shallow
and light that it looks like a mere straw
on the water. In the Centre is a plat
form flush with the top of its sides;
on this is slung a large gong, around
which are gathered some half-dozen mu
sical performers, whose notes are in
tended to instill and keep alive the
spirit of emulation in the eighty rowers
or paddlemen. These are seated two
abreastrtwenty pairs Deing jon eacn siae
of the orchestra. Each rower is armed
with a paddle made of a nicely polished
dark wood, and each wears a pink head
dress. The boat Is steered with a very
long, flatrbladed oar,: fixed over the stern
and projecting some distance beyond it ;
with this powerful lever the boat can be
guided to a nicety and turned completely
round in its own length.
Here comes a second similar boat bear
ing the Wagun flag an English red en
sign with a biacK oetoo. or demon, em
broidered on the red ground ; lilac-colored
kerchiefs being the distinguishing head
dress of its rowers. These two are the
great rivals. There are eight other racing
boats now present; but they are smaller
editions of the above, differing from them
in. the number of paddles, the devices on
the flags, and in the color of the uniforms.
The crowds lining the river banks begin
to evince signs of impatience. The friends
and sympathizers of one boat constantly
call out to their crew to know when the
start is to be made, and remind them that
they have to pull for the honor of their
village and the smiles of the girls ; whilst
those of the others chaff and criticise
their appearance and prospects with the
ladies.
At last the race is to come off ; the
boats are brought. up parallel to each
other near midstream, and they are to
start by mutual consent. The coxswain
in each boat now chants what sounds
like an invocation, which is repeated by
tne crew, wno are noioing their paddles
upright, poised in the water. The eong
is now BtrucK, witn a pause oi slow time
at first after each stroke ; this serves to
mark the time and get the rowers into
the correct swing, as it is accompanied
by each of the crew making a sweep of
his paaate. passing it in a circle above his
head and down into the water, shouting
his war-cry of "Hayla heela! Hayla
heela P with each dip of the blade.
The strokes on the gong become more
rapid, the paddles keeping time with
them. Suddenly the helmsman of one
boat throws up his arm and elves a lrmH
shout, and both, boats literally dart for
ward like birds. The beats of the gone-
and the "Hayla heela" of the rowers are
repeated as fast as hand can strike and
tongue can articulate ; the whole eighty
paddles of each boat
and dipping with the nrecinion nf .
machine. Soon after the start the hand
strikes up and some of the musicians
begin to dance on the centre platform.
As the winning flag is neared the rallying
cry becomes a succession of shrieks. The
Wagun canoe leads bv a foot nr l wn
but the Kvauktaw
shout of encouragement to hi mn
makes two rapid sweeps with the oar
wmcn serves ag a rudder; this acting
like the screw of a steamer. hrin. k.k
boats level. Thev are now wit Mr. .
inchesof the flag-raft, and it seems as If
they will run down both it and, each
other. The dancer on thA nm
Kyauktaw boat has made a rrh .t
succeeds in grasping the coveted flag ; this
he waves In triumph over his head, and
a perfect roar of annlan
the spectators on the banks. All disci
pline on board is now at an end, for the
whole crew are capering about at the
risk of upsettinc thwr ?rf ri
shouting, Binging, kicking up their legs
behind and before, and slapping them
selves and each, other in exwssof joy;
paddles, long, hair, and handkerchiefs
fyfnf fut in all directions testify to
the dekglit of their nw Jl Z "f
after a verv a
raw fin won me
race, bo eaual a rnntoot i. .i. .. .
thft man at iu "" woo n uiai II aQ
hadri he0W o the W?u boat
wi? and ,finere bt two inches
SEVEN MILLION MlXurg
whatever f0h.
may work
:,hat :he pre
ple' tIle ml
8kUcome
t8,that)wrouI,
for thft Aht
t... j, . bW"" w nut
l0 the Hi
and weii.i...
of socicty.it musuj
at the greatest
l the largest nu2
or fall short of
fection.
forts of life Is its happiness, and in
respects the terms are synonymous "i"
mere is uu uappiness or conta.
chance of pursuing a pleasurable coir
without freedom of action, mental
physical. . .1 . m
Thirty years! Give Uebp ....
mi, nn
hours each day
and we Jind t
years, 7,284,000 minutes
tea. 1, A minm.
quite sufficient for an acute tw .
pain to do , its work, and these thro!,
magnified into hours of suffering, tweiT
each day and often all the twentr
four, days lengthen into weeks a d
months and years, for forty, thirty and
twenty years of torture, and the wonW
is that human endurance lias the strength
to bear so much. Almost' on the instL
an iuis tan iro wiuuen, ttW
strengthened, cured, without rtW
reaching the perfection of every chir4
ble hope and the ultimatum in pursuit oi
happiness and content. It has utej
great care and trouble to search out mj
follow such cases, but there has beenii
no case a reluctance to speak freely; 0
the contrary, a very free expression b
given as a cheerful duty. We come to
the proof in the language of the writea
themselves, which, in the nature of n
newals of former statements, afterilips,
of years, confirm'the fact thatinoreUp
has taken place, and that pair, once cot
quered through the agency referred to,
is driven from the system.
The original statement of Mr Frul
Durgen, concerning the suffering of b
father, Is dated Bangor, Me., FcJyl?
1882, and is as follows: "My father,
who lives at 46 York St., has suffered
with rheumatism and erysipelas in lia
feet for the past 80 years, lie has
ployed the best physicians, and trieM
the known remedies for such disera
but has never received ,ilny benefit nniil
last winter, at which time his feet ti
the lower part of his leg's were swolla
to four times their natural size and ven
so highly inflamed he could not betri
pound of weight on them. He applied
bt. Jacobs Oil to the afflicted parts ud
before he had used half the contents of
one bottle, he was completely cured li
has not had any rheumatism or erysipe'.K
trouble" since." After a lapse of four yew
Mr. J. "W. Durgen, the father, writes
follows : " Bangor, Me., Nov. 1, 1886: I
used St. Jacobs Oil as stated, and it
cured me right away of rheumatism h
my. wrist and feet. I had not slept anj
for a week. Not more than five minute'
after using it I fell asleep and had eoA .
nap. I have been the means of helping
a great " many by telling them about tbe
OIL J. VV. Dnrgen. ' TMo oax present
cKronlc suffering for thirty years ; it was
cured by St. Jacobs Oil, and in tbe lapse1
of four years there has been no recurmice
of pain.
Again we take up another instance,
citing only such as are of long standing.
Mr. D. M. Rearick, Three Rivers, Mich,
Dec. 18th, 1882, writes: "Allow me to
make a statement to you w hat St. JacoU
Oil has done for me in rheumatism of 3(1
years' standing. I strained my back 30
years ago ; It turned to rheumatism and
it kept getting worse all the time. 1
would be laid up two or three wecb
with such pain I could not move nor
turn. I tried everything, every kind of
plaster, but found very little relief; hi
to call in the family doctor;- took hi
medicine for a while, but found no reM
He advised change of climate; wenttt
Southern Kansas ; stayed eight tnoniM;
came back nearly as bad off. St Jam1"
Oil was recommended to me ; tried of
bottle. Now my back is as strong ait
ever was. I have lost no time in t
years, and am doing manual labor
day." Four years elapse and Mr. Iear
writes from Constantine, Mich., Dec1'
1886, ad follows: "It gives me
pleasure to substantiate what I
years ago in regard to St. Jacobs Ott'
jiau uecu iruuuicu nuu
back for 80 years; confined tony
mnflt !Trv r1affr- fnund DO
,t foor1
annlieatlonn In all ; pave it a thoroop
rubbing according to directions.
AS
hunnv t.r Inform rnti T have bCCD
and hearty , man ever since." T18
m&r&aDie case neeas noiu1"1"
than te aav It ta n elmPle
many others of a like nature, oi
A .- i m i A
uurauue, ana oi ii&e cuic . w.
i iv . . . i .. Vio rase 01
anomer liiusiraiion i "" .
v. ii. xieeson, jno. i? xi.--
n.i.i.. . . ..,lnr Ante 01 V
liammore, aia., wno, uu' j,
tM,.t T hi-t tO SUCh K
rheumatism in my left shouwe'"
sometimes impossible for mew' (
limb, and I could not at an
A Mnrh i mrr head. EviH
remedy was tried, as also bomop
WW ,
Uopathic treatment, oui
ail. At last I ix-pan usi"?
no avail.
Jacobs
I Oil, and before I had finne
I experienced great relief, w
bottle
time l haa used two p0t
as well and strong as ever, j
. a mm . ... 1s3 TT1 X
use It when I am wornmg
every demand on
It as stroHRv
of
effectively as if it was a
portion
well-reirulated steam engine-
It will take seven million mi
, . those citw
convince Bucnpawcu in j
there is anvthinir on earth to eq
Freshing Is One Thing, FreM
t- ni.L.' TTr dfl dOI
at Deacon Goode's lecture las t nig
House Acenfr-Yes; ft'r"o
wasn't it? The way he wem ution.
"Yes, he said every one of tw w,y oj
be locked m as criminals. 1JY
of Deacon Goode's bouses .VJ d b
have the renting of it ana i
lease it for a year?' fi n Oood'iJ
"Can't let you have it. P.0"
onlv let his houses to families wh
dren. Omaha World. v
mum : zi
Ef de doctah kin cu yo
las
wh
An
pie
eat
witl
in 1
ove
'ha
oi
r
I
i
al
in
m
B
!l(
V
tl
:
C
C;
ro
In
e
ei
1
Al
He
let
Dot
felt
r,
UK
till
la i
?JK
n
lid
fit
can't he cu' 'is own rummy" 1
mi?.-1 -t