i "
s
The Chronicle,
WILKESBORO, N. C.
KISSING THE DIBlrB.
Charlotte Observer. . ;.
One of the bid-time customs th
needs to be abolished but watch see:
to be the most deep-rooted is that
ki8siner the Bible in court. In the f;
of the admitted impulsiveness of
a book that bears the imprint of hu
dreds of lips of all kinds and of vario
degrees Of foulness and perhaps disease
the old-time ceremony is. adhered to
nearly all the courts, borne years aj
a movement was started by a few news
; napers to have Bible-kissing dispensed
with and through public sentiment
favored the crusade, little was accom
plished. It is encouraging to see that
Uuited States authorities Lave taken
cognizance of the objectionable custo
and have begun the work of aboiisning
it in the Federal Courts of Maryland
It is stated in the Baltimore Sun that
the Bible will be dispensed with "here
after in administering oaths generally
in the United States District and Circuit
Courts, as has been the practice for
some time in the State courts, an order
to this effect having been signed by
United States Judge Morns."
Judge Morris' order states that when
not specifically prescribed by the con
stitution of the United States or an act
of Congress, the form of oath in the
United States Courts shall be the same
as is prescribed by the laws of the State
of Maryland, (acts of 1898, chapter 7S).
Under the new practice the person
making the oath will hold up his right
hand and Tin the presence of Almighty
God solemnly promise or declare" to tell
the truth, except in these cases wherein
this form is not practicable or when it
shall appear that some other mode
more binding upon the conscience
the person to be sworn.
In the courts of this State the Friends
and the Associate Reformed Presbyte
rians are permitted to hold up their
right hands and affirm, instead of tak
ing an oath on the Bible and there does
not seem to be any good reason wny
this form of. oath should not apply p
.- all witnesses. It is certainly as binding
upon a witness who has any conscience,
and to the witness without a conscience
the form of the oath is a matter of no
consequence. Kissing the Bible is) a
legal formality which belongs to the
past, to which it should be relegated.
Judge Morris has taken a step in tne
right direction and he should be follow
ed by the judges all over the country.
Can't Reform an Indian.
Charlotte Observer.
The newspapers are having fun wi
the Commissioner of Indian Affairs on
account of his recent order to Indian
. . -a .!
agents tomaxe tne red men nave tneir
hair cut, to stop wearing blankets and
painting their faces. Short hair, coats
and breeches tend to civilization, he
argues, while the paint runs down tie
Indians' foreheads when they perspire
-and gives them sore eyes. These re
forms are to be instituted in certain
cases, when necessary, by pains and
penalties as for instance by cutting ciff
the rations of the refractory or locking
them up. But it is hard to reform an
Indian, buck or squaw. A former
United States marshal for the western
district of North Carolina, whose busi
ness carried him a good deal ainoijig
the Cherokees of our western counties,
tells of the case of a bright young Indian
girl who had been educated in the reser
vation schools up to their , limit and
was then sent out of the State to collegje.
she remained away four
years, came
back highly educated in literature, art
and music, and -dressed in the height
of fashion. And in three months her
fine togs had been discarded and she
was again going barefootexl and wear
ing a blanket, xnat s an Indian tor
you.
: Ate Dogs In Samar.
The condition of the survivors taf
Capt. David D. Porter's marines, wio
took part in "the recent expedition into
the interior of Samar, is mucn worse
- than previously described. ? ;
They suffered fearful hardships aiyl
.were without food several days. Tie
natives who accompanied the marines
said they were, unable to distinguish
the edible roots, which the marines did
not believe. The anger of the marines
- against the native is intense. None of
the latter returned with the party.
The marines suffered so acutely from
starvation that they ate raw the flesh (of
two dogs. When" Cap Porter and
the first three of his men staggered into
camp they were delirious and difficulty
was experienced m learning the where
abouts of their companions.
To End War; Taxes.
The Republican members of tne
House Ways and Means Committee, Jat
a meeting held on the 29th ult., decid-
1?
anS
4?
ace
kissing
4-
' en in favor of -abolishing practically i ill
the remaining war revenue taxes wi ;h
the exception of that on beer, whi ;h
is reduced from $1.60 -tor$1.30 a barriil.'
The total amount of reductions, it is
estimated, will aggregate $50, OO0,OO( a
year. There will be a full meeting of
- the committee to-morrow, when tie
. . chairman will be instructed to draw lp
r the bill to carry into effect the decisi n
-7 reached to-day.
Little Arthur had been at church, t
- - - 'Mow did you like . the sermon?' '
. asked his sister. J h
"Pretty well," Tesponded the you th
' ' ful critic. 'The beginning was " very
.; " good; and so was the end, but it had
- T - to much middle." ' - -I
- - New. Hanover county superintendent
of schools wsitesthe State Board of Ed
ucation that they will need none of the
second $100,000 State appropriation I to
provide their rural school four months
terms. The money they have in hand
gives albof them .seven months. - -
BILI ABPS LETTER. .
Atlanta Constitution. V -
"Duty is the sublimest word in our
language.' ' That is what General Lee
wrote to his son . soon after General
Scott offered him the supreme com
mand of the northern army. Virginia
had just seceded and Lee i saw on- one
side that there were no honors to which
he might not aspire. On the other
side, if he cast his destiny .with that of
his state, he saw, or be thought he
saw, that miseries and trials awaited
him without number. But to seek his
duty and having found it, it was ever
the principle of his actions. These
strong and beautiful words about duty
were not original with General Lee, and
in his letter he has them in quotation
marks. The expression came from
Rev. John Davenport a-famous Puri
tan preacherbf New England the man
who gave shelter to the three regicides
who condemned Charles the First to
death and after the restoration fled for
their lives to New England and were
hidden by John Davenport in his barn.
When this act of treason became known
among his people he neither quailed
nor relented, but preached a sermon
the next Sabbath from the passage in
Isaiah which says: "Hide the outcasts.
Betray not him that wandereth. Let
my outcasts dwell with thee and be
thou covert unto them from the spoil
er.' It was in that sermon that he
made use of this notable expression:
"It is my duty to shield them, and duty
is the sublimest word in our language."
During the war it was my privilege
to see General Lee quite often, but
never did I meet him face to face and
have a brief conversation with him but
twice. Even then we did not know
how great a man he was. Gen. John
ston had been wounded at Seven Pines
and Gen. Lee came from West Vir
ginia to take his place. He was al
most a stranger to the Army of North
ern Virginia. He had been in com
mand but a week or two when General
Black, of Rome, came to see his boys
of the Eighth Georgia and asked me to
ride with h5m to General Lee's head
quarters and introduce him, for he was
very desirous of meeting him before he
returned to Georgia. Of course I com
plied, tor General Black was a man of
no small consequence at home. He
was old and gray and of commanding
presence and military bearing. Intro
ducing myself first, I presented General
Black, and after we were seated I said
nothing, but paid modest and respect
ful attention. I was soon impressed
with the grandeur of the man before
me, and, of course, as he expanded, I
very naturally shrank up a little to keep
the equihbrum. Not long after this
the Seven Days' battle began and end
ed in McClellan's defeat and our army
began to realize how great a maa Lee
was. It was-on the sixth day that I
was sent to his headquarters near
Meadow Bridge to receive orders, and
there I met him again. He was stand
ing uncovered and unarmed in front of
his tent, and "Stonewall" Jackson was
asleep inside upon the straw, and the
servant had set the dinner tables over
him so as not to disturb his rest, for,
as General Lee said, "He needs it, and
nothing but artillery will awake him.
now."
1 said that the army did not know
at first how great a man Lee was.
Neither did they know fully at the last,
for he was one of the few great charac
ters that develops and grows brighter
and grander as the years roll on. For-
some years after the war he received
but little praise at the north and a
a great national cyclopedia gave more
space and praise to Old Jonn Brown
than to General Lee, who arrested and
executed him. But now, in the Inter
national, of fifteen volumes a stand
ard work, edited and compiled by 200
of the most distinguished scholars and
professors of the northern colleges
the sketches of General Lee and Stone
wall Jackson are all that we could ask
for.
That of Lee closes with this para
graph: "In person he was one of the
noblest types of manly beauty. Tall,
broad-shouldered, erect, with a dignity
as impressive as that of Washington,
yet not so cold. Of habits as pure as
Washington, but more warmly reli
gious and always maintaining a calm,
confident and kindly manner that no
disaster could disturb or change." The
world knows him now and venerates
his memory and the people he fought
against have given him a place in their
hall of fame
Verily, old Father Time is a good
doctor and Anno Domini the softening
solvent of all malignant passions. But
this is enough from me concerning the
great commander. It was the sublime
Christian faith of Lee and Jackson that
made their characters complete and
added lustre to their military fame.
They were inen of prayer.
For a little while I would ask your
kind attention to those whom since 1892
have called themselves the Daughters
of the Confederacy. Their mission has
been and still is and-we trust long will
be as declared in article 2 of their con
stitution: "Educational, memorial, so
cial and benevolent to collect and pre
serve the material for -a truthful history
of the war between the states to honor
the memory of those who served and
those who fell in pur service and to re
cord the part taken by Southern wo
men during the war and its aftermath,
their patient endurance - of hardship,
their patriotic devotion during the
struggle and to fulfill the duties of sa
cred charity to the survivors." HA11 of
these are noble objects but the greatest
of all is the establishing of the truth
and preserving it. The poet saith that
"Truth crushed to earth 1 will rise
again," and it has risen and will con'
tinue to rise. Even, that popular mag
azine, Frank Munsey's Monthly, in its
last number, has forever blotted out the
malignant and fanatical I story of . Bar
bara Freitchie, and only the last week
the ladies of Lexington, ' Ky. put tin
der the ban the drama of "Uncle Tom's
Cabin." It was the Daughters of the
Confederacy who did it, and to their
widespread and influential organization
the south- must look for the mainten
ance of the ; truth. : ' Just think - of it.
Within the past nine years twenty-two
states have been chartered as grand di
visions, including Calif ornia,New York,
the District of Columbia Oklahoma
and the Indiana Territory. In -all these
have been chartered an aggregate of
over; three hundred .chapters with a
membership of 26,000 good, loyal
southern women. The largest federa
tion of women in the world. Of this
membership Texas has the largest num
ber, 2,435. Georgia comes next with
1,750 members. But, jhy friends, this
great army of daughters had mothers
who, whether alive or now dead, in
stilled this love of truth and unstained
Confederate honor in the hearts of their
children. They are the ones who sac
rificed and suffered and still were
strong. For more than fifteen years I
have observed a trait in woman's nature
that is lacking in most men. She never
gives up. The sad results of the war
that wrecked the fortunes of southern
men . hastened thousands of them to
untimely graves, but their widows still
dot the land from Virginia to Texas.
The mothers of these daughters endured
more hardships and - privations than
their husbands and sons who were in
in the army, but they never complained.
Goldsmith wrote:
"Man wants but little here below,
Nor wants that little long."
But some cynical old bachelor para
phrased it:
Man wants but little here below,
For so the poets say,
But woman wants It all, you know,
And wants it light away."
Well, she does jeant all she can get,
and wants it as soon as she can get it,
if not sooner, but if she can't have it
she surrenders cheerfully and accom
modates herself to the situation. They
boiled down the dirt from the smoke
house that had long been saturated
with the drippings of the hanging meat
and made pretty good salt out of and
divided with their neighbors. They
parched rye and goobers for coffee and
sweetened it with sorghum and bragged
how good it was. They cut up their
old garments and made clothes for
their children. Indeed it is always an
amusing entertainment to listen to
these gooiold mothers as they recite
their makeshifts and their trials after
Sherman had passed through on his
march to the sea. Not long ago four
or five of these matrons by chance met
at our house and it was nip and tuck
between them as they told of the most
amusing experiences. One told how
her two boys and a little girl had worn
out their shoes until they would not
hold shucks much less feet and she
found an. old calf skin that had long
been hanging in the barn and she soak
ed it in lime and red oak bark and got
about half the hair off and took it to
an old shoe cobbler, and he made three
pair of shoes that would hold shucks,
and they fit the children pretty well,
but the red hair stuck out in little
patches all over them, and she laughed
and laughed until the children did not
want to wear themjbecause she laughed
so much. That was the origin of tan
shoes, though these were made of un
tanned leather. Another told how two
of her children never saw a raisin until
they were 5 ancl 7 years old, and were
afraid to eat them, and said they were
bugs. Another told how she and lier
boys built a fence around the garden
by boring holes in the plank and the
posts withyin old brace and bit that her
husband left when he went off. And
they made pegs and drove them in for
there wasn't a nail in the county. But
good old Mother Akin, whom every
body loves and likes to listen to, told
how three of her neighbors got out of
meal and had somehow got hold of
three bushels of corn, and they rigged
up a little rickety wagon and a blind
army mule and all three started to the
nearest mill, which was 7 miles away.
They started early and got to the creek
and the creek was up, but they drove
in, and sure enough the wagon came
uncoupled right in the middle of it
and let them all down where it was
knee deep, and let the corn down, too,
and the mule went on with the fore
wheels and stopped when he got over.
But they never gave up the ship nor
the corn. It took them about an hour
to get the corn and the wagon together
again, and with dripping garments they
hurried on to the mill. A photograph
of the scene would sell as the cham
pion picture of the women of the war.
The good miller gave them dry meal
for the wet corn and by sundown they
were all at home again and laughed
over it and everybody laughed who
heard of it. Almost every family with
in Sherman's belt, have fireside stories
to tell that would fill a book. They are
a curious medley of the sad, the pa
thetic and the amusing, and excite
more fun than sorrow. How blessed
are they who still live, and how sweet
are the memories of these who are dead,
for it is the mothers of the Conf edracy
who have perpetuated the love of truth
and the love of southern patriotism in
the hearts of the children and inspired
those principles that have in recent
years developed that grand organization
known as the Daughters of the Confed
eracy. Our northern brethren may
boast of the Grand Army of the Repub
lic, but our mothers smile And say:
"I don't see where the grand comes' in,
for all who came, this way were low
Dutch and hungry Irish, who feared
hot God nor regarded women." Wellt
it is all over now, and" we are at peace,
that blessed peace that hath her victo
ries more renowned than war. And
thriceTblessed is the t woman whom the
dark ages kept subdued for . centuries,
but has i come, to the front and now
stands side by side Vith man and isal
ways in every good ; word and work.
For two thousand years she was called
by name but twice - n the Bible.
Mother Eve,' and next' came Sarah
the wife of Abraham and for: another
two thousand years was mentioned by
name only a few times, but at last she
was honored as the mother of our Sav
four, and was ."last at the cross and
earliest at the grave."
Within the last half century she has
made more progress in establishing her
natural and God-given rights than in.
all preceding time. She is the ac
knowledged head of all religious, mis
sionary and charitable institutions.
She is the school teacher of the world
and in these United States constitutes
nine-tenths of all the public school
teachers in the land. In several states
she has the right of suffrage and is eli
gible to office on the school boards.
Time was when she was almost a dead
letter in literature and hardly ever no
ticed in the press of the country, but
how a great metropolitan paper or mag
azine could not exist without a large
space being devoted to her service and
her fairy pictures made to adorn the
columns of every issue. Woman in
this southland is a power and woe be to
the men who scorn it, for they are al
ways on the side of religion and good
morals and; purity in private life.
Without them, the church, the prayer
meetings, the Sabbath schools and even
the home would speedily decline into
that state that Grover Cleveland called
an innoucous desuetude. In truth, she'
is the hope of the world and her pro
gress the best sign of the coming mil
lennium. As to her influence for all
that is good in education and refining
mankind, no other ever wrote a more
beautiful sentence than that of Sir
Richard Steele, when he penned that:
"To look upon and love a fair and vir
tuous womanand be loved by her is a
liberal education." And so let me say
to the young men, these sons of the
Confederacy, don't despair; don't
grieve for a college education; don't
lament your poverty, but get married
and your education will begin. Some
times the course is long but it is happy.
My own has been running for nearly
fifty-three years and is not completed,
for I have not received a diploma nor
taken the first honor, I am still a
school boy. Bill Arp.
A Tli lrtee n-Year-Old Salesman Drawk
a Thousand Dollar Salary.
Success.
Carl Gustafson, thirteen years old, a
son of a fiieman in a steel mill in New
Castle, Pennsylvania, earns a salary of
one thousand dollars a year,- as a type
writer salesman. He is very small for
his age, being only four feet, four
inches in height, and weighing but
sixty-five pounds. He travels aloae
over a wide area of the United States.
He has helped to support his family
ever since he was -nine years of age.
Among his various occupations were
lamp-lighting, running elevators, driv
ing horses, selling papers, working in a
paper-box factory, and cleaning boilers.
He is never happier than when mak
ing money to help his mother. He
has a bank account and makes regular
deposits.
He secured his present work by
showing how well he understood type
writers, one of which he took to pieces
and put together again in ten minutes.
He started out to canvass, and sold two
typewriters in an hour. This brought
him an immediate offer of a position
as a traveling salesman, and he started
out on a trip through Baltimore, New
York, Philadelphia, Boston, and other
places.
Value or 200 Lost Sermons.
The amount of damages a preacher
can recover from a railroad for the loss
of 200 sermons is a question which is
disturbing a well-known preacher and
the Norfolk & Western Railway Co.
The Rev. W, P. Hines, of Norfolk,
Va., while traveling over this road,
lost his satchel, which was checked.
It contained, besides some wearing ap
parel, about two hundred sermons in
manuscript and notes.
The loss is not disputed but the rail
way company is unwilling to pay the
valuation which Mr. Hines places upon
the product of his time and intellect.
With a view to settling the difficulty a
board of arbitrators has beeu appointed.
Mr. Hines has chosen the Rev. A. E.
Owens, D. D., a brother Baptist, and
the railway company named the Rev.
Herbert M. Hope, editor of the Rich
mond Christian Advocate, the Metho
dist organ. These are to select a third
and the question will be decided.
Troubles Ahead For Her.
When the daughter of the house re
turns from college she is sometimes in
clined to forget that there are serious
duties awaiting her. It is then, says
the Chicago Journal, that the wise
mother brings her to a different point
of view
The girl had been very clever in her
studies, and had been at home only a
few jdays when she said to her mother:
"Yes, I've graduated, but I don't want
to lose my. interest in my work, and I
shall try to keep up my psychology,
philology, bibli "
"Just wait a minute," said her moth
er. "I have arranged a course for you
in roastology boilology, stitchology,
darnology, patchology and general
domesticology. You might as well be
gin right now. Get your apron on and
pluck that chicken."
A Baby's Pillow.
A pretty pillow for the baby is made
by embroidering in white linen or silk
floss a crescent moon near the top and
under it, in graceful letters, the follow
ing verse:
"When the little young moon shines out In
the sky,
Bye, dearest baby, bye, on, bye."
Below this are embroidered some pop
pies just nodding, as if going to sleep,
The Senate committee V on forest
reservation has authorized a favorable
report on the Appalachian park bilL
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
. ' - s.- r- " ' . 2 - - . ' .
,dssoN vif fihst quarter, inter:
- NATIONAL SERIES, FEB- 9.
tIx! of tie I,ess, Aet 32 to
11 Memory , Verses. 3-5 Golden
Text Eph. IV, SKoiame!.tary Pre
parediir RcT. D. M. Stearns..
rCtopyilfiOl. W Amcrtcio Pre Aaaddatloii.
32.- 83. "With great ' power gave the
apostles witness of the resurrection of
the Lord Jesus, and great grace was up
on them all." In these days we can
scarcely imagine several I thousands of
believers of one heart and one soul to
serve the Lord, no one clinging to his
own things, but each loying the other as
himself and all baring all things in.com
mon. If it was the power of His resur
rection that did -. this, they must have
known something that few know today.
34-37. Possessors of lands and houses
sold their property and put the proceeds
in the common fund that the need of
each might be supplied and that no one
might have any lack. There was no self
ishness and no self seeking. This seems
all the more remarkable when we con
sider the strife for pre-eminence that
was seen more than once among the
twelve before Jesus died; yes, even at the
passover on the night before His resur
rection, but now they were all filled with
the SDlrit. and hence this great differ
ence. A Spirit filled people will manifest
the life of Christ and not the life of self.
Joses, 8urnamed Barnabas, son of con
solation, a Lcvite, and evidently a true
one, is mentioned as one of those who
having land sold it and laid the money at
the apostles feet. Levi signifies "join
ed," and he illustrated the truth, "He
that is joined to the Lord Is one Spirit"
(I Cor. vi, 17). Our Lord Jesus not only
gave up all His riches and became poor
to make us rich, but He actually gave
Himself for us, taking the place of the
guilty that we might be joined to Him
(II Cor. viU, 9; Gal. ii, 20).
v, 1, 2. "But Ananias and Sapphira."
The tares and the whoat will grow to
gether until the harvest. Until Jesus
comes again many a bird will lodge in
the branches, but no bird ever becomes a
branch. The commands, "Walk before
Me and be thou sincere" and "Thou shalt
be sincere -with the Lord thy God" (Gen.
xvii, 1, margin; Dout. xviii, 13), are al
ways binding, and "Cursed be he that
doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully"
(Jer. xlviii, 10), seems to be always a
necessary warning. When "Abram and
Sara agreed to act a lie and Isaac and
Rebekah did the same (Gen. zii, 11-13;
xx, 2; xxvl, 7), which of us can say that
the eyes as a flame of fire may . not see
some deceit In our inmost hearts? We
are not our own, but bought with His
precious blood.
8, 4. "Why hath Satan filled thine
heart to lie to the Holy Ghost? Thou
hast lied uato God." See the oneness of
the Father and the Spirit, for in lying to
the Spirit they lied unto God. See also
the oneness of the Spirit , and the believ
er, for in lying to Peter and the others
they lied, unto the Spirit. Notice also
that it was the work of the- devil, the fa
ther of lies, in Ananias, the same adver
sary, who in the garden of Eden lied to
Eve and has ever since been practicing
his ungodly wiles. Contrast Peter filled
with the Spirit and Ananias filled with
Satan and the high priest and others fill
ed with indignation or envy (chapters' iv,
8, 31; v. 3, 17). If filled with the Spirit,
evil can find no place in us. The Spirit
of Truth and the father of lies each de
sires us, but neither can fill us unless we
welcome them.
5, 0. Dead and buried" in a few hours;
gone from the earth and from his pos
sessions, but gone vwhere? To the true
child of God death is gain and far better
than sojourning here. But what of Ananias?-
His name means, "Jehovah Is
gracious." But did he know the saving
grace of Jehovah? We know that there
is such a thing as being saved as by tire,
that Satan may destroy the flesh and yet
the spirit be saved, that some of the
members of the church were sickly and
some dying because of sin and that we
are told to judge nothing before the
time until the Lord come l Cor. iii, 15;
v, 5; xi. 30; iv, 5). yet Rev. xxi, 8, gives
us little hope for Ananias.
7, 8. "It was about the space of three
hours after when his wife, not knowing
what was done, came In." Three hours
a widow, but not aware of. it. How long
they had journeyed together in these
mortal bodies we do not know, but his
journey has ended, and hers is about to,
though she is all unconscious of it. Per
haps she had come seeking him, wonder
ing why he delayed to return, home. It
is a sad story and should teach us to be
sincere with God, who desires truth in
the inward parts Ps. li, 6). If we did
not know that Peter was filled with the
Spirit, we might feel like questioning his
way with her and might wish that he
had sought to lead her to repentance, but
perhaps her heart was fully set in her to
do evil (EccL viii, 11). -
9, 10. "How is it that ye have agreed
together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord?"
So one with God are His people that
when we touch them we touch Him, and
as we deal with them we deal with Him
(Zech. li, 8; Acts ix, 4). There Is un
speakable comfort and yet a solemn
warning in this great truth. How awful
Is this scene before us! She is for the
first time told of her husband's death and
at the same time told that she must die,
and In a moment she is gone. In the
morning they are in health, but united in
a lie to God that they may appear before
men. to be very religious, but before night
they are found out (Num. xxxii, 23), and
are dead and buried. Two liars in one
grave. But their souls If not saved
as by fire, then Luke xvi, 23, first clause,
tells their fate. It was the hand of God,
and the Judge of all the earth doeth
right (Gen. xvilL 25; Rev. xv, 3). See
also Acts xit. 23; Jer. xxviii, 16, 17, and
yet believe firmly that "God Is Love" and
"not willing that any should prish" (I
John lv, 8; II Pet. UL 9). ;
1L "And great fear came upon all the
church and upon. as many as heard these'
things." It was a needed lesson 'for. the .
times, and, although He does not always
thus swiftly punish sinners. He always
hates sin and tells us that he that telleth
lies shall not tarry In His sight (Ps. d, 7).
We cannot but think of the" swift judg
ment upon Aaron's sons at the beginning
of God's dealings with Israel (Lev, x, 1;
2 If all liars in the church today and
all ministers who use strange vfire were
thus summarily dealt ' .with, there ' would
be no end of funerals and a truly great
fear ' upon many. Although God ; seems
to keep silence concerning the corruptions
and abominations In His prof essed people,
He assures, ns that He will not always
keep silence and that judgment must be
gin at the house of God (Pa. IL 8; I
Pet.lr,17V
BlS Fire In Norfolk.
Norfolk, Jan. 31. A heap of smok
ing ruins is all that this morning re
mains of the once magnificent Atlantic
Hotel of - this city and of the great
Columbia Office building adjoining and
of the Albemarle flats and a block of
stores. Nothine is to be
pile of debris.
The loss will beat least half a million
dollars, but it is believed that it is fully
covered by insurance.
The Columbia office building, six
stories high, built by Mr. David Lowen
berg in 1892 and now owned by him,
burst into flames at 1:55 o'clock.
Over a thousand gallons of whiskey
exploded with terrific force, tearing out
the front of the great building.
The firemen were driven back by the
explosion and before the steamers could
get a stream ort the fire the entire
building was in flames.
Hardly fifteen minutes later the
seventy-five foot high northern wall fell
smashing like a house of cards the
home of the Virginia Club adjoining it
on the north. " .
Proprietor of the Atlantic, J. Hull
Davidson, personally went from room
to room, and, aided by his staff aroused
every guest in the building;
To this heroic diligence is due the
fact that far as is now known no life
was lost, although perhaps 300 people
were asleep in the hotel when the alarm
was sounded.
y, A Ground-flog Case.
An old" mammy, who had known
Governor Taylor of Tennessee from his
childhood, came into his office, and be
gan at once to plead for the pardon of
her husband, who was then in prison.
"Laws bress yo' life, Marse Bob," she
began, "I wisht you'd pnhdon dat po'
ole niggah Jim. He ain'tno good for
nuffin' nOwhar. He jrst dat useless an'
triflm', even at home, dat he can do
no mo' den sorter scrape aroun' an' git
fa little 6ompen for we-all to eat, an' he
sholy ain t no good down dar in dat
pen."
"I can'do it, aunty," the Governor
said. "I am being abused every day.
What's Jim in there for?" he asked,
seeing the light that was left dying out
of the old woman's eyes.
"W'y, Marse Bob, dey jes' put him
in dar for nuffin' 'pon earht cept takin'
one po' little ham outen" Mr. Smith's
smokehouse. We was outen meat, an'
de ole niggah didn't do .nuffin' 'cep tek
de ham fur ter keep we-all fum
starvin'."
"Well, now suppose I should pardon
Jim, what good would that do you? He
is so onery and trifling,'.' the Governor
was saying, when the old woman broke
in with the reply, "W'y, bress you,
Marse Bob, we is outen meat agin' an'
we jes' got to have anothah ham!"
Did Xlrey fLimm In Cburch ?
Rev. Clarance Blakely, of the Dutch
Hollow Reformed church, of Goshen;
N. Y., has brought down "upon his
head' a torrent of indignant denials
from the young membere of his congre
gation, whom he accuses of kissing in
the sanctuary.
The clergyman announced last week
that there must be no more love-making
in the church. He said that for
the last six months he has known that
it was the habit of young men and
women to attend the church which is
lighted by kerosene lamps, simply that
Ihey might sit together in the semi
darkness and make love. During the
week of prayer, he declared, he was an
noyed nightly by loud smacks.
Mr. Blakely, who is a widower, criti
cised the young men more severely
than he did the women. Tlje young
men and women of the church assert
there is no foundation for the clergy
man's charges.
Hairy Human IT! onier Terrific Utah
Feode.
According to the Pocatello, Idaho,
correspondent of the Desert News, the
residents of the little town of Chester- ,
field, located in an isolated portion of
Bannock county, Idaho, are greatly
excited over the appearance in that
vicinity of an eight-foot, hair-covered
human monster. -
He was first seen on January 14,
when he appeared among a party of
young people, who were skating on the
river near John uooch s ranch.
The creature showed fight, " and,
flourishing a large club and uttering a
series of yells, started to attack the
skaters, who managed to reach , their
wagons and get away in safety.
Measurements of the tracks showed
the creature's feet to be 22 inches long
and 7 inches broad, with the imprint
of only four toes.
Stockmen report, having seen his.
tracks along the range west of the river.
The people of the neighborhood, feel
ing unsafe while the creature is at large,
have sent 20 men on its track to effect
its capture.
An Interesting Humor.
Cnarlotte News, 31st.
Mr. Jake F. Newell was shown a
publication today tb at names him as
one of the Republican aspirants in this
district for Congaessional honors. Mr. :
Newell declined to discuss the matter,
saying that he was too busy with his
law practice to talk or think of politics.
He, however, would not-deny or con
firm the published report. .
The item referred to, which bears a
Shelby date,states that the other names
mentioned' are Mr. J. Y. Hamrick, of
Cleveland county and Mr. Thomas Rol
lins, of Marshall.
The " retirement . of Rear-Admiral
William T. Sampson by operation of
the age clause will be ar nounced in a
few days by the Navy Department'
Admiral Sampson reaches the age of of
62 vears on Februarv 9 next, and fol
lowing the customary procedure the de
partment 'will promulgate an order a
week or more in advance announcing
his retirement from active service