North Carolina Newspapers

So?! VOLUME XV 11. FRANKLIN FRANKLIN. N. C.. WEDNESDAY, APRIL IE 1902. * A STRANGE EXPERIENCE ^ 0 IN THE MAINE WOODS. ^ (9 * $ ^ ^L^ AL^ T ^ ^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^-^a^^K^ ^^%^^^^ I place this on record as the most remarkable story that has ever come out of the Maine hunting woods—and I know considerable about the stories of the Maine woods. If it were not vouched tor so eminently I would not tell it. It would be too much for cred ulity and wouldn’t he worth the tell ing. I believe it, for I know the men cd. It flung the drying snow and shrieked with it through the trees and clearings. fine particles cut .is face like the dust of a sand storm. Few men have made gle for life than he. I fiercer strug- It is probable that partial delirium overtook him, for he insists that he could not only hear his spirit guides, but could see who tell it t cannot exula even though they They believe it ; do not try to explain it, for they them as they beckoned him At dusk he ly unknown. flocked about him and on. was in a country whol- There were mountains thing seems too much to believe, then don’t believe it. But th; the same. On the north side facts are just of Boarstone mountain, in the town of Elliotsville, in Piccatauquis county, Maine, lives Trustrum H. Brown, who calls himself “The Mediator. ' He entertains the harmless vagary that he is the media tor between man and God. For some 15 years since his retirement to the wilderness of northern Maine he has been writing what he calls a new Bi ble, and he has a mass of manuscript piled a foot high. By the way, I have examined the “Mediator’s” manu script considerably, and it is far from being balderdash. Much of his writ ing indicates real thought and consid erable ability. The “Mediator” is in no sense of the word a crazy man, de spite his hallucination on the subject of religion. off to the right, but he did not recog nize the peaks nor the surroundings. About an hour after the dark came down with the wind still driving the snow into his eyes, he came out into a section that Jie recognized at last. It was “The Gulf.” This is a canyon about three miles long, through which Die west branch of Pleasant river rages. The wall are precipices. But along the north side skirts a wood road leading to camps miles above, and into this road the “Mediator” In two days he was all right >Tid lively once more, and it may be stated here while I am on the subject of re coveries, . that Mr. Meigs saved his cars. Now the “Mediator” swears that the sound he emitted when he sank down on the log was only a whisper. Even a shout ss loud as a foghorn would have scarcely been heard a mile away by men inside a log camp heavily banked with snow. That the sound should have been heard by a man with his ears frozen and wrapped in bandages is more curi ous still. But for that I have author ity that cannot be disputed. Both sides have told me their stories. They do not try to explain ft—nei ther will I. But, as I remarked in the first place, I set this down not. only as one of the most remarkable stories of endurance that the Maine woods have ever re ported, but as a mystery that is al most uncanny.—Forest and Stream. LOONS TAKEN ALIV. Brown has a bit of and raises potatoes and vegetables enough to last him through the winter. He traps a little and hunts a bit and never goes hungry. Early in December, just after the first snow of the season, he discovered one' morning the fresh tracks of a moose near his house. By the man ner in which the creature’s great feet had splayed into the snow, Brown saw that the moose was a big one. In his capacity of "Mediator'’ he as serts that there are 10,000 spirits about him all the time. He alleges that he a’sked one of these spirits to tell him Row big the moose was and that the spirit skipped along ahead and then camo back and rendered him the information that the moose was none other than the Ambajejus Giant that, bad defied the rifles of hunters for years. The spirit, further de ¬ clared, so Brown that the moose didn’t have much of a start. So the “Mediator” tied on his snow- shoes, gr a sna^k, bbed his rifle and a hit of and started away ..on the lope into the' forest. This was early in the morning. Well, the “Mediator” scuffed along till neon without com ing up with the moose. But the tracks still continued fresh and his spirit, guide, so he says, kept breath- almost in reach. He ate his lunch or cold venison as he walked, for in a stern chase of a moose no time is to be wasted. His keen woodsman’s eye noted that the clouds hung low and wore massing darker and darker. Had he not been so confident that the moose was just ahead of him and would “yard” at the coming of night fall, he would have abandoned the At 4 o’clock it. was du’sk. and still the splay tracks were stretching on ahead of him. Then he could see them no longer, and regretfully he brought in a ravine and abandoned the chase for the night. He had not reckoned on the long pursuit and therefore he had not pro vided himself in the usual cautious manner. Above all, he had not brought his woods axe. Only a man accustomed to the woods realizes how serious an omis sion this is. The “Mediator” was able to collect some dry kye or limbs that had dropped from the trees and lie hewed off some low branches with his hunting knife. He kindled a bit of a fire at the foot of a tree. He did not dare to go to asleep, for the cold was raw and piercing. So he stood and turned himself before the fire like an animated spit, moving constantly to keep awake. In the morning there was nothing left of his provender except one flat- chested biscuit. Had he not been un duly fired with zeal to catch that moose he -would have retraced his steps. But he felt that probably the animal had yarded a little way ahead, and so on .e went. He did come across the trampled place where the moose had spent the night, and with its great teeth had ripped off the twigs and bark. By the mighty reach the “Mediator' broad shoes. Now. he, was desperately weak. But he knew that if he could round the foot of the canyon and scramble for three miles up the side of the first Chairback Ue would come to Long Pond, where there w ore camps. It was now a race for life. He 'stood his dear old rifle against a tree and bung his cartridge box on a limb. Then he clinched the belt around his thin waist and started. He was in a half stupor when he came down to the frozen ford at the foot of the canyon. He crossed, and striking the corduroy road that leads up to the first Chair- back he plowed on. He fell a dozen times, but he had sense enough left to struggle up and dig to his task again. When he made Long Pond his strength was nearly gone. But he knew that across the pond lay Hall & Davis’s sporting camp, three miles away. The wind was still driving the snow, and he miscalculated his route across. When he came to shore he peered in all directions and lis tened. There was no glimmer of light anywhere, and no sound indicating that any camp was near. His knees were doubling under him by this time. His strength his eyes would not stay open, and he gave up. He stumbled and crawled up on the shore and fell across a log. His tongue was swollen in his mouth and his throat was dry. He says that he tried to shout but he could utter no sound but a gurgling whisper, he became unconscious. Now comes the strange part story. There was at the Hall & Then of the Davis them were N. E. Meigs, the leading clothier of the place, and Walter Ab bott, one of the proprietors of the large Abbott woolen mill. Mr. Meigs had been out that day with the party, and in trying to cross the pond had frozen both his ears, so bitter was the cold. He would have perished bad not. his guide beaten him to make him walk. He had desired to lie down go to sleep on the snow, and begged the others to go away leave him. and had and On this evening he was lying in his bunk wondering whether or not he was going to be able to save his ears. They were wrapped up and were ach ing fearfully, and Mr. Meigs wasn’t taking the most intense interest in any outside matters. The others were playing pitch-pede before the fire. Suddenly Mr. Meigs raised himself on his elbow and cried, “I hear some one shouting for help.” The others stopped their play an:1 listened. Beyond the moaning of the wind in the chimney and the sough of the big trees outside there was no sound. “Folks with frozen cars can hear 'most anything,” remarked comrades. “But I certainly heard shout,” persisted Meigs. “Do you believe for a one of his some one moment,” saw that the animal and on he drove eag- •y of snow from his Still those monster splotches in the snow kept trailing away ahead of him. Then some unkind weather sprite joggled the clouds overhead. The snow commenced to come in the fine, driving flakes that indicate a protract ed storm. Then, and not till then, did the reckless hunter turn about. But before an hour had passed the snow, driving faster and faster, cov ered his tracks. Night came on again. Once more he lighted his fire, and, dizzy for want of sleep, staggered about it, struggling to keep awake. .The “Mediator” is nearly 70 years old, but his lithe little form is inured to hardship by many years of woods life. A less experienced man or one with less vitality roust have succumbed. The snow came down damp and heavy, and the sagging boughs above kept dropping clumps onto his shoul ders and into his neck. At the first lightening that showed that morning was approaching, he ate the last crumbs of his biscuit anti started away, hard in his face hunger and sick But the snow drove . He was weak with' for sb His limbs sink with hl's whole body ready fatigue. Accustomed though he was to the woods, it is not surprising that in a few hours he knew that he had lost his way. But still he kept on, hoping that he might come across some or .water c ourse, his chief Lope of rescue, some snow ceased in the afternoon, harp and driving wind succeed- PRESS HOW AN ONYX FIELD WAS FOUND. I DR.TALHAGE’S SERHON I But religion Las turned the wildes j tures. It has turned fretfulness into risoner for Deser! One of Uncle Sam’s soldiers, who is a prisoner on Governor’s Island, is looking forward to the day when he is to be set at liberty with a good deal of. eagerness and pleasant anticipation. The Eminent Divine’s Sunday Discourse. Rude those despondency into good cheer, and ■.•ho were hard and ungovernable BILL ARP’S LETTER N EMBER 16. In the year 1882, being engaged in railway construction in Newfoundland by an American syndicate. I was camped at a little place called Lance Cove, on the snore of Conception bay. One beautiful summer evening, as I re turned to camp to dinner, I noticed two loons on a small lake close by, and, af ter satisfying a rather extensive appe tite, I took a 12-bore shotgun and a few wired S. S. G. cartridges and pro ceeded to the lakeside. A glance showed me that there was not sufficient cover to warrant hope of a successful shot. After trying two, without result, and on rising to go back to camp I was met by five or six men from a grading gang, also camped there, who asked me if I desired to get the loons. I replied that if the cover was good I could get, probably one, but, as it was, I had no hope of doing so. One of them—and I subsequently learned that they be longed to Smith’s Sound, Trinity Bay— replied that if I wished they would get the loons for me. Having heard of the remarkable skill of these Nev,’found- land fishermen in shooting sea birds, seals, etc., with their enormous muzzle- loading guns, my curiosity was aroused as to the method they proposed to em ploy, thinking, of course, they meant to shoot the birds. I at once assented to the proposal, and the men immedi ately proceeded to push into the water two small boats that were at the side of the lake. I was astonished at the noisy manner in which this was done, and more so at the subsequent proceedings. After the boats were afloat each man picked up an armful or two of small stones and placed them in the bow of the boat. They then got in and shoved off. One boat pulled direct for the birds and the other in another direction. Of course, on the approach of the boat, the birds dived, and after a little time came up stone, sending the birds down instant ly. Both boats again pulled away in different directions, and in a little time the loons again came up not far from one of the boats and were again in stantly driven down by the use of the stones, again. This was repeated again and After a little time the birds began to take very short dives, and finally, strange as it may appear, those men drowned—as they termed it—the birds, by not. giving them breathing time. The birds were unable to dive, and one after the other lay over on its side on the surface and Dotn were lift ed into the boat alive. It was the most singular and sur prising proceeding I ever witnessed.— J. F. In D. in the New York Sun. QUAINT AND CURIOUS. Woolwich, Me., a pine tree and a birch tree have grown so close to gether that their trunks have united. Pine branches grow on one side and birch on the other. The Saxons whose original settle ment is determined by the little king dom of Saxony, derived their name from the seax, or short, crooked knife with which they armed themselves. the northern part of this state, and his detention on Governor’s Island is" the only thing that stands between him and a handsome reward for locating the field for a company that has been formed by a number of capitalists to quarry the stone. The soldier has a standing oner of $1000 in cash, $2000 in stock of the company and a place with the company at a salary of $25 a week as long as the quarry pays. A stranger visited Governor's Island last week and obtained permission to talk with the prisoner. It was then that the offer was made, and the story leaked out. A Tribune reporter met the visitor on the boat coming over from the island to the Battery. “We have made a substantial offer to the soldier, he said, “if he will di rect us to the onxy field, but he stead fastly refuses to divulge a syllable un til he is released. The Sooner he ob- be able to reap our harvest. We real ize that thoroughly, and will make every effort to have his term shortened. Powerful influences will b? brought to bear on the authorities at Washing ton, and we hope to free him soon. He is wide awake to .ms fact, and makes his release one of the conditions. “He discovered the onyx field acci dentally. Before he enlisted in the army he lived in the upper part of the state, and was an ardent hunter after big game. One day while out with his gun he spied a deer and gave chase. The deer led him over a rocky hill. The sides of this bill were very steep, and to ascend it the hunter had to cut niches in the stone to get a foothold. He was attracted by the brilliancy and beauty of the pieces of stone and placed several of them in his pocket. When he returned to Syracuse, where he Subject: The Rood Religion Docs Un in This World—Christianity and the tu- teller—Influence of the Gospel in Busi ness—Can You Get Along Without It? Washington, D. C.--In this discourse Dr. Talmage advocates the idea that the Christian religion is as good for this world as the next; and will help us to do any thing that ought to be done at all;.I Tim othy iv, 8, “Godliness is profitable unto c7l things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” There is a gloomy and passive way of waiting for events to come upon us, and there is a heroic way of going out to meet them, strong in God and fearing nothing. When the body of Catiline was found on the battlefield, it was found far in advance of all uis troops and among the enemy, and the best way is not for us to lie down and Jet the events of life trample over us, but to go forth in a Christian spirit deter mined to conquer. You are expecting pros perity, and I am deter ruined, so far as 1 nave anything to do with L. ihar vou shall u..L be disappointed, and, therefore, 1 pro pose. as God may help me, to project upon vour attention a new element of success. You have in the business firm frugality, patience, industry, perseverance, economy —a very strong business firm—but there needs to be cue member added, mightier than them all, and not a silent partner either, the one introduced by my text, “Godliness, which is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that I suppose you are all willing to admit that godliness is important in its eternal relations, but perhaps some of you say, “All I want is an opportunity to say a prayer before I die, and all will he well.”. There are a great many people who sup pose that if they can finally get safely out of this world into a better world they will have exhausted the entire advantage of our holy religion. They talk as though re ligion were a mere nod of recognition lived, some piece came nized he gave these pieces of stone D of his friends as souvenirs. A of the stone, with its history, into my possession, and I recog- at once that it was valuable 1 bad it tested, and found that it was of the very best quality, and that the small piece which I possessed, measuring perhaps a square inch, was worth 50 cents, uncut and unpolished. T exhibited the stone to a number of experts, and before long a tentative company was formed to exploit the mine, if it. could be located. Exploring parties were sent through the region, and, after a long search without suc cess, the attempt was abandoned, and we set about to find the his name and address, tion showed that he had army and gone to the fight for his country. hunter. I had but investiga- enlisted in the Philippines to We attempted to communicate with him there, but los’ .iAd that be had deserted. A short our way to a heavenly mansion; as though it were an admission ticket, of no use ex cept to give in at the door of heaven. And there are thousands of people who have great admiration for a religion o( the shroud and a religion of the coffin and a religion of the cemetery who have no ap preciation of a religion for the bank, for the farm, for the factory, for the ware house, for the jeweler’s shop, for the office. Now, while I would not throw any slur on a post-mortem religion, I want to-day to eulogize an ante-mortem religion. A relig ion that is of no use to you while you live will be of no use to .you when you die. “Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is as well as of that which is to come. ' And I have always noticed that when grace is very low in a man’s heart lie talks a great deal in prayer meetings about deaths and about coffins and about graves and about churchyards. I have noticed that, the healthy Christian, the man who is living near to God and is on the straight road to heaven, is full of jubilant satisfaction and talks about the duties of this life, under standing well that if God helps him io live right He will help him, to die right. Now, in the first place, I remark that godliness is good for a man's physical health. I do not mean to say that it will restore a broken down constitution or drive rheumai ism from the limbs or neural gia from the temples or pleurisy from the side, but I do mean to say that it gives one such habits and puts one in such con dition as are most favorable for physical health. That I believe, and that I avow. Everybody knows that buoyancy of i spirit is good physical advantage. Gloom, arrest, dejection, are at war with every capture, which said that he had been taken to Governor’s Island to serve out a long term. That is what brings me here today. He declares that he could take us blindfolded to the spot where he found the onyx. He tramped ever the region so much that he is fa miliar with every inch of it. What is the soldier’s name? If I told you that you might get there ahead of me. No. no: we will not mention names for the present. Your uncle is going to keep this thing io himself.”—New York Tribune. tality and slacken the circulation, while exhilaration of spirit pours the very balm of heaven through all the currents of life. The sense of insecurity which sometimes hovers an smregenerate man or Complaints are common of the of manners in the yoi man of to and uncompromising have been made pli able and conciliatory. Good resolution, reformatory effort, will not effect the change. It fa res a mightier arm and a mightier hand to bend evil hab its than the hand that bent the bow of Ulysses, and it takes a stronger lasso than ever held the buffalo on the prairie. A manufacturer cares bat very little for a stream that slowly runs through the meadow; but values a torrent that leaps from rock to rock and rushes with mad energy through the valley and out t oward the sea. Along that river you will find fluttering shuttles and grinding nr 1 and flashing water wheel. And a nature the swifted, the most rugged and the most tremondons—that is the nature that God turns into greatest usefulnes yea* '.cut- ore courtesy whici about freouent loss; from sq; boys, excus story about ly v fla you, asking ab mt the health of your family, when there is no anxiety to know whether your child is well or sick, but the anxiety is to know how many dozen cambric pocket handkerchiefs you will take P:D pare vou tor the practical duties or ev day life. there was a me with his’ fellow counting house room, “No compromise Then when some merchant got in a cris and went down—no fault of his, but a con junction of evil circumstances—and all the other merchants w§re willing to conrpro- on the dollar or fifty cents or twenty cents —coming to this man last of all, he said: “No compromise. I’ll take 100 cents on the dollar, and I can afford io wait.” Well, the wheel turned, and after awhile that man was in a crisis of business, and he sent out his agent to compromise, and the agent said to the merchants. "Will you take fifty cents on the dollar?” "No.” “Will you take anything?” “We’ll take 100 cents on the dollar. No compromise.” And the man who wrote that inscription over his counting house door diefl in destitution. Oh, we want more of the kindness of the gospel and the spirit of love in our business enterprises! How many young men have found in the religion of Jesus Christ a practical help? How many there are to-day who could tes tify out of their own experience that god liness is profitable for the life that now is! There were times in their business career when they went here for help and there for help and yonder for help and got no help until they knelt before the Lord cry ing for His deliverance, and the Lord res cued them. In a bank not far from New York—a village bank—an officer could not balance his accounts. He had worked at them day after day, night after night, and he was sick nigh unto death as a result. He knew that be had not taken one farthing from that bank, hut somehow, for some reason, inscrutable then, the accounts would not balance. The time rolled on and the morn ing of the day when the books should pass under the inspection of the other officers arrived, and he felt himself in awful peril, conscious of his own integrity, but unable to prove that integrity. That morning he went to the bank early, and he knelt down before God and told the whole story of mental anguish, and he said: "O Lord, I have done right, I have preserved my in tegrity. but here I am about to be over throw.'! unless Thou shouldst come to my rescue. Lord, deliver me.” And for one hour lie continued the prayer before God, Bartow Man Tells of His Experi ence as a Mail Carrier. GREAT CHANGES HAVE BEEN WROUGHT Postage in the Old Days Was Much Higher Than Now—Receivers of Letters Were the Ones Who Paid, Now, you young people, girls and me for telling you a the old times. Sixty- four years ago, when. I was twelve my father was the postman ter in our town and had to make eon- tracts for carrying neighboring townit the mail to other He gave these contracts to needy men and the pay was generally one dollar a day. One of. these, men got sick and my father made me take his- place anti ride the mail to Roswell ail winter. It was twenty-five miles away, and I had to ride there anti back in a day, and he paid me the dollar for every trip. It wais a bitter’ winter and sometimes when I ^ot home I had to be helped off cf the horse, for I was frozen up and helpless. But 1 was a tough and hardy boy and always ready for the next trip. On my first ride the good old women on the route did not know me. They used to knit socks and send them to town by the old man to. sell aiyd carry or indigo, thing, but remember back some coffee or sugar or copperas, or some little they didn’t know me, and I that one old woman came out to the gate and s: “Are you the mail boy?” And I laughed and said: “Yes, mam, I am not the female boy.” She smiled and said: “You are mighty little to carry bundles, but I would like for you to take a couple of pairs of socks and bring me back the pay in coffee, if you wi?J. I’ll give you a ' little bag -to put it in, arid you can I hang it on the from of your saddle.” I Of course I did. for I always liked to oblige the -women, and besides my father kept a store and got the trade. Sometimes- 1 had as much outside of the mailbag as there was Inside. 1 made fourteen silver dollars that win ter and felt rich. But I want to tell you about the mail ■ business as it was then. There were ' no stamps or stamped envelopes—nor i any other bind of envelopes. We i wrote on a long paper called foolscap. ■ It got that name from the watermark. I which was a fool’s cap and bells : stamped on the paper. After writing ’ we could fold the sheet up to the size j of a letter and slip one fold in the I other—thumb-paper Fashion — then j seal it with a wafer and address it. i The wafers were round and thin, and Announces the Opening of the Winto' TOURIST SEASON And the Placing —on Sale of— Excursion Tickets To All Prominent Points in the SOUTH, SOUTHWEST, WEST IN DIES, MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA. Including St. Augustine, Palm Beach, Miar.i Jacksonville, Tampa, Port Tampa, Brunswick", Thomasville, Charles ton, Aiken, Augusta, Pine hurst, Asheville, Atlanta, New Orleans, Memphis and THE LAND OF THE SKY. Perfect Dining and Sleeping-Car Ser vice on Ail Trains. See that Your Ticket Reads VIA SOUTHERN RAILWAY, Ask Any Ticket Agent for Full lit" formation, or address F. R. DARBY, City Pass, and Ticket Agent, Asheville, N. C. S. H. HARDWICK, Genera! Passenger Agent. J. M. CULP, Traffic Mgr, . As W. A. TURK, Pass, Traffic Mgr, Washington, D. C are ten tiroes as many to write them. The great northern mail used to come to our town once a week and a single sack in the boot of a stage contained it. Now five times that quantity comes twice a day. I used to write about two letters a week and now I write twenty-five or thirty and receive more ran I write, ig many For I have quit answer- letters stamp. The numb’ that' inclose • of. letters no in- crcases faster than the postage de creases. When the postage bad to be paid at the end of the line it was pret ty bard to receive a disagreeable let- ter and have to pay for it. and sold goods on a year’s seme-times we, had to wrY My father fifty years 'time. and. said his friend, “that a man with his ears done up like a pound of pickled tripe could bear a sound that we didn’t?” The clothings man admitted that it ; didn’t seem very probable, but still he . persisted in his opinion strenuously. I At last one of the guides went to the | door and shouted into the night. I There was no response. “It couldn't have been,” he said, re- , turning. “I don’t want to be stubborn in this matter,” said Mr, Meigs, “but I do i think we ought to make some inves- 1 ligation, I can’t go to asleep with I the notion that some poor cuss is out ' their in the cold. Somehow or other I can’t reason myself out of the no tion that there is something the mat ter outside, and I wish you would look it up. I’d go myself if it were not for my ears.” After poking some fun at the persis tent man arguing from his nest in the bunk, two of the guides put on their outer clothing and went out. “Of course, it may be that some one has dropped into the water hole down here a piece,” said one of them, “but as that’s more than a mile away it don’t stand to reason that you could have heard any shouting with your ears done up in that manner.” In the course of fifteen minutes one of the men came running back, and those in the camp heard him pulling the moose sled out of the lean-to. “There is something the matter af ter all down at the water hole!” he cried to those within. “Ed was ahead and he hollered back to me to bring the moose sled.” And in a little while they came tug ging into the camp a stiff figure that the guides as soon as the man was in the lamplight, recognized as Mediator Trustrum H. Brown, of Eliotsville. At first they thought he was dead, but they undressed him and set him bodily into a tub of ice-cold water. They rubbed him with snow and after some work he began to revive. Then they poured whiskey and brandy down his throat, and at midnight he was sitting up and telling his story. It is an extraordinary fact that men buried in an avalanche of snow hear distinctly every word uttered by those who are seeking for them, while their most strenuous shouts fail to pene trate even a few feet of the snow. Tiie first great drought on record happened in 678 and the two succeed- ing years, when, to the re- cords, there was practically no rain fall in England. In 879 the springs in England were dried up and it was im possible for men to work in the open air. and 994 the nuts on the ‘roasted as if in an oven.” Among the strict regulations of the German military code is one which for bids anybody to present himself be fore a recruiting officer with a cane in his hand. Some weeks ago a reservist so far forgot himself office of a recruiting henious offense the servist was promptly as to enter the sergeant major stick. For this unfortunate re- court-martialed. and sentenced to ten weeks imprison ment for insubordination. A Strasburg aeronaut says he has seen an eagle at the height of 3000 meters and again a pair of storks and a buzzard 900 meters above the sea level. On March 10, 1890, some aeron auts observer a lark flying at the height of lOCO meters; on July 18, 1899, another balloon met a couple of crows at an altitude of 1400 meters. These, however, are exceptions. Birds are hardly ever seen above a height of 1000 meters; even above 400 meters they are not frequent. There is only one sword factory in the United States, a Massachusetts concern, and that one has simple capa city for supplying the domestic de mand for swords. The saber lost its efficiency as a cavalry ^weapon as far back as the war of (he rebellion, and the increased range o; ‘ about as flange ’ master’s bai^n, I game purpose. rifles has made isolete. It is ow as a band- ?rves much the day. In most instances this may be traced to want of training in early youth. Boys who are rude to servants, and hector and domineer in the nurs ery, are not likely to develop a cour teous way to women when they are older. They are very easily influ enced; their hearts are soft, and a little “mothers talk' at night will produce great results. You cannot be gin too soon if you wish to make your son a gentleman in the best sense of the word. From babyhood teach him to give in to his sisters, because they are girls and need consideration. If he pulls their hair or kicks them-for, alas! small boys are often bullies—nev- r pounces upon him with the blast of ten thousand trumpets of terror is most deplet ing and most exhausting, while the feeling that at! things are working together for our good now and for our everlasting wel fare is conducive to physical health. You will observe that godliness induces industry, which is the foundation of good health. There is no law of hygiene that will keep a lazy man well. Pleurisy will stab him, erysipelas will burn him, jaun dice will discolor him, gout will cripple him, and the intelligent physician will not prescribe antiseptic or febrifuge or anodyne, but saws and hammers and yardsticks and crowbars and pick- axes. There is no such thing as good physical condition without positive work of some kind, although you should sleep on down of swan or ride in carriage of softest upholstery or have on your table all the luxuries that were poured from the wine vats of Ispahan and Shiraz. Our re ligion says: “Away to the bank, away to the field, away to the shop, away to the factory! Do something that will enlist all the energies of your body, mind and soul!” “Diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord,” while upon the bare back of the idler and the drone comes down the sharp lash of the apostle as he opened it, and there lay a sheet of figures which he only needed to add to another line of figures-some line of figures he had forgotten and knew not where he had laid them—and the accounts were balanced, and the Lord delivered him. You are an infi del if you do not believe it. The Lord de livered him. God answered his prayer, as He will answer your prayer, oh, man or business, in every crisis when you come to Him. Now, if this he so, then I am persuaded, as you are, of the fact that the vast major ity of Christians do not fully test the value of their religion. They are like a farmer ia California with 15,000 acres or good wheat land and culturing only a quarter of Why do you not go forth and make the religion of Jesus Christ a practical affair every day of your business life and all this year, beginning now, and to-morrow morn ing putting into practical effect this, holy religion and demonstrating that godliness is profitable here as well as hereafter? How can you get along without this re ligion? Is your physical health so good you do not want this divine tonic? Is your mind so clear, so vast, so comprehensive, that you do not want this divine inspira tion?' Is your worldly business so thor oughly established that you have no use for that religion which has been th.e help and deliverance of tens of thousands of j held on tne tongue a moment got soil. I and sticky. In my young days the I postage was. paid at the end of the line by the one who received the tet ter. It was 12 1-2 cents if it did not com© or go outside the State—18 3-4 if fixrm or to an adjoining State, and 25 cents cf still farther o-ff. But if it was to go to California, it had to be prepaid and sent by Well's and Fargo’s express and coat a dollar. a.n.d was a month on the way. Just thunk ■ of it. Now it cost's only two cents and takes only four days. That overland express almost made us boys crazy. They published a book called “Ten Years Among the Mail Bags,” and it very slow man add got no an man wrote U would have mad’ had pictures it—pictures of the and correspondence. He wrote another letter to a belated customer at Warsaw and another and another and then got a reply which said: “I have received your letters, but they were a long time on the way. If you had sent them around by Atlanta and Marietta and Roswell I would have gotten them sooner, for we have two mails a week by that route, but only one b you sent them. pass over such an often Do n c allow any rudeness or disrespect. De mand courteous treatment; make him bring you a chair, open the door when you leave the room, walk on the outer edge of the pavement, and, in fact, be- ■ have to you as he ought to other women in the future. It means a little trouble, and reminding him at first, but in time the little ways will be come habits instinctively performed.— London Daily Express. In the last 25 years a considerate change has ben effected in the treat ment and furnishing of floors. This seems a short period in which to reck on. when the history of floor coverings dates from far back before the Chris tian era, even to the ancient days of Egptian splendor. Prior to this time primitive ages had adopted the fur skins of wild beasts to make a com fortable foothold in their habitations. The Babylonians were renowned for their weaving of rugs and the orna mentation they introduced. From them the art was passed on to the Persians and the people of India, and so through Asia and eastern Europe, and, aG;r the Renaissance, into France and England. In this country, rugs are becoming more and more in demand in place of carpets. From a hygenic viewpoint, they are much to be pre ferred.—The Delineator. tary fur udrick, the British secre.- recently threw an inter- esting side light on military character. He said (hat when the cable com panies with which he is associated of- fercs idueed for telegraphic communication between wounded offi- cers in Africa and their friends at home, many officers took advantage of the generous offer. But in the first 20 cables from officers nothing whatever was said of their condition, and the renders contended themselves with asking the odds on the Derby.—New York Advertiser, pays, ‘ J shell he neither Oh, how important is this day, when so much is said about anatomy and physio logy and therapeutics and some .new style cf medicine is ever and anon springing upon the world, that you should under stand that the highest school of medicine is the school ofChrist. which deflates that “godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is as well as of that which is to come.” So if you start out two men in the world with equal physical health, and then one of them shall get the religion of Christ in his heart and the other shall not get it. the one who becomes a son of the Lord Al mighty will live the longer. "With long life wul I satisfy him and show iron My salvation.” . Again I remark that godnness is good for the intellect. I know some have sup- nosed that just as soon as a man enters into the Christian life his intellect goes into a bedwarfing process. So far from that, religion will give new brilliancy to the intellect, new strength to the imagina tion. new force to the will and wider swing to all the intellectual faculties. Christianity is the great central fire at which philosophy has lighted its brightest torch. The religion of Christ is the fountain cut or which learning has dipped its clear est draft. The Helicon poured forth no such inspiring waters as those which flow front under the throne of God clear as crystal. Religion has given new energy to poesy, weeping in Dr. Young s “Night Thoughts,’ teaching in Cowoer’s “Task.” flaming in Charles Wesley’s ‘hymns and rushing with archangelic splendor t hrough Milton 3 •“Paradise Lost.” The religion ot Christ has hung in studio and in gallery of art and in Vatican the best pictures— Lilian s ’ As sumption,” Raphael's “Transfiguration, Rubens's “Descent From tuc Cross, Claude's “Burning Bash' ana .wigem s “Last Judgment.” Religion has mane toe best music of the world—1.1 a yon s Urea- tion.” Handel’s ■"Messiah,” Mozart s ’ He- a fatal blunder it is when a man adjourns to life’s expiration the uses of religion. A man who postpones religion to sixty years of age gets religion fifty years too late. He may get into the kingdom of God by final repentance, but what can compensate him for a whole lifetime unalleviated and un comforted? You want religion to-day in the training of that child. You will want religion to-morrow in dealing with that customer. You wanted religion yesterc. ■• to curb your temper. Is your arm strong enough to beat your way through tne floods? Can you, without being incased in the mail of God’s eternal help, go forth amid the assault of all hell’s sharpshoot ers? Can you walk alone across these crumbling graves find amid these gaprig earthquakes? Can you. waterlogged and mast shivered, outlive the gale? Oh, how manv there have been who, postponing the religion of Jesus Christ, have plunged into mistakes they could never correct, although they lived sixty years after, and like ser pents crushed under cart wheels dragging their mauled bodies under, the rocks to die. So these men have fallen under the wheel of awful calamity, while a vast multitude of others have taken the religion of Jesus Christ into everyday life, and, first, in practical business affairs, and, second, on the throne of heavenly triumph, have illus trated while angels looked on and a uni verse approved, the glorious truth that “Godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life which now is as well as of that which is to come.” [Copyright, 1962. L. Klop, ch 1 Now that great improvements have been effected in locomotive headlights the wonder is that they have been so long delayed. very simple ar- rangemeht by which the light is made to turn so as always to be on the rails when ls reached. To quiem.” Is it possible that a religion which builds such indestructible meats, and which lifts its ensign on the monu- power highest promontoreis can have anv effect upon a man s intellect but elevation? Now. i corcuend godlinfss a^ the best mental discipline, better than belles lettres to purify the taste, better than mathemat ics to harness the mind to all intricacy and elaboration, better than logic to marshal the intellectual forces for onset and vic tory. Again I remark that godliness is profit able for one’s disposition. Lord Ashley, before he went into a gi eat battle, wag heard to offer this prayer: ‘ O Lord, I shall be very busy to-day! If I forget Thee, for get me not.” With such a Christian dispo sition as that a man is independent of all circumstances. ■ Our piety will have a tinge of our natural strengthen the headlight so that the rails may be seen at a much greater distance a Western railroad manage ment had only to substitute electricity for oil. The new lantern can be made to throw against the clouds a vertical shaft of light which can be seen ten miles away. The electricity is gen erated from a dynamo on top of the boiler, and the light is of 600-candle power. is obvious T^at it means greater safety Some Canadians ar© claiming that their interests are being sacrificed by England in an effort to be referential to the United States. This shows how utterly impossible it is to please temperament. If , be cross ana soar fter he becomes a against the rebellion of those evil inclina tions. It has been discovered that the Capitol of ‘Washington is full of germs. Hot air, it seems, then, is not a good boys riding the mail on Indian ponies —riding on a run. of ten mites in an hour, and then he was lifted off of his pony and put on a fresh one for another ten miles. The boys had to weigh not less than sixty nor over ninety pounds and had to make forty males a day—20 east and 20 west. It took about two hundred boys and four hundred porties to do the work, and I wanted to be one of the boys mighty bad. Part of the route was beset by hostile Indians, and the express com pany had to keep soldiers at these sta tions to guard the ponies, ar.d the boys had to keep a sharp lookout between Hereafter you had better send them that way. mail system Is imperfect. Ji takes six weeks tor me to get a letter from Jack, who is in the Arkansaw, You remember Jack. But I am always glad to hear tram you. Your friend, WILLIAM WATERS. “P. S.—As for time—as the boy just let her run. the stations. One picture. showed some Indians shooting at a boy as he bent over the pony’s nieck, anti was flying like the wind. He bad left the track and taken roundance on them and I thought that was heroic. The letters were limited to a single sheet of paper and a thousand in a bag, aril that made about twenty pounds cf mail. Besides- the mail there were some two-pony hacks with two drivers and guns and these car ried gold dust from the mines to the eastern states and were limited to two hundred pounds, which was worth nearly $50,000 and was a tempting prize to both white and Indian rob bers. But the gold express ran at irregular intervals and nobody wfren it was coming. But now about postage. Not foolish tetters were written in knew those days. It. cost too match anti madejhe man mad when he had to pay 25 cents or IS 3-4 or 12 1-2 cents for it. The next one the writer would send would not. be taken out and would go to Washington as a dead letter. I recon you wonder why tire postage was in such curious amounts. Well, we didn't have any decimal currency then—no divided into sixteen parts instead of twenty: one part was called a thrip, which WB 6 1-4 Dants. Thrip is an abbreviation for threepence. parts was called a sevenpence and its value was 12 1-2 cents. I don’t believe I have seen a thrip or a sevenpeuce in fifty years. The government called them all in and issued oLmos and half dimes instead. In ruminating about the wonderful change in our postal laws since I was a boy I. am prepared to say that noth ing that has been discovered or in vented has wrought such beneficial results and so much comfort to the people. What pleasure at home is ore valued than the reception of let- ty limes Postage is only one tenth d to be. but there are twen- .s many letters written by dh who can write and there that account of last said to the molasses, 1 wonder if our young people know' who was. our*first postmaster general? He was the postmaster general before the revolution and was turned out by King George because he was sus pected of being a rebel and his name was Benjamin Franklin. When the Declaration cf Independence was pass ed, he established an independent line and boycotted the English system and afterwards organized a system of our own. Sir Rowland Hill was the post mastergeneral of England, and in 1734 established what was called the penny past. Before that the English mer chants hired men to carry their letters. When the battle of the Waterloo was fought the Rothschilds hired private to bring them 10 news of the great, batt e. Engnsa credit. «na bonds .and consols were then away down to 25 cents on the doddar. for Napoleon was just running rough shot over kingdoms and governments. The Rothschilds got the news of his defeat twenty-four hours soonler than (the bankers of London and they secretly bought up all the bonds and stocks and consols they could find, and when the good news came of ithe great vic tory these bonds and stocks jumped up to par in a day and the Rothschilds made many millions and this was the beginning of their great fortune. It was a mean, dirty trick, but they didn’t care. For nearly a century they have controlled the finances of the civilized world and nations could not go to war without consulting the Rothschilds. But. now they have to take a back seat, for Pierpont Morgan and Rocke feller and a few others can control more money than they can. But our postage has not yet got to the lowest notch. The people say it must be re duced to one cent, and a bill has been introduced in congress to that effect and letters will soon be delivered at almost every man' comprehension. house, if he lives . Verily, it pass- I received a let ter and a paper this morning from Australia. They had come 12,000 miles for six cents and found me, al though there are about a half dozen in the United Suites. pre As no system to perfec dal system and no man c m it without being cans ,eal