FRANKLIN . PRESS.
VOLUME XIX.
FRANKLIN. N. C. WEDNESDAY. AUGUST 10, 1904.
aNUMBISK 32
nn
ttt HI tttiHtt
Louis XIV. and the Gypsies
'.'...'; , i -,
if Strange Story if th Aaattit tar Hit Swrntping Edict Against them.
H 1 1 1 1 HHMHttn
I Gypsies, or Bohemians, as they werei
tailed In early dayB, made their first
appearance In France In 1427. During
the reign of Louis XIV. the criminal
acts of these Itinerants assumed such
intolerable proportions that the King
issued an edlif commanding that all
male members of their bands be arrest
V ed and sent to the galleys and the wo
men and children consigned to the
poorhouses. The execution of the or
der was committed to the famous La
: Reynle, the first lieutenant-general of
police.
It was the custom In France at that
period, when men and women of noble
birth were Involved In criminal acts
outside of affairs of state, to indicate
them In police reports only by the first
initial of their surnames. Those in
terested In learning the Identity of
the Count de B , one of the princi
pal actors of the incident about to be
related, may discover it by referring to
"La Correspondance de Mme. la Duch-
esse d'Orloans (Charlotte of Bavaria)."
His name frequently occurs In her let
ters in connection with that of her
husband.
This Count de B was a high fav
orite at court, but was violent,
unscrupulous and quarrelsome, and of
a reputation so bad that he was sus
pected of having had a hand In the
poisoning of a dearly loved Princess,
Henrietta of England, sister of Charles
II. and Srst wife of the Duke of Or
leans. A rich relative, M. do Salntalne, who
lived in a country house buried In the
woods of Berri, had promised to make
the Count his heir should he die un
married. As the Income from his es
tate was 100,000 francs and his per
sonal property amounted to 1,200,000
francs, tho cupidity nf the Count. wbb
aroused and he proceeded to put ma
chinery In motion for the early assimi
. lation of his relative's assets.
M. de Saintaine was a bachelor at his
fiftieth year and the chances of his
marrying Beemed small. He was pious
to excess, was greatly esteemed in his
neighborhood. He maintained his es
tablishment lavishly; had dogs anil
horses and hunted closely his vast es
tate, but he persisted in managing his
own financial affairs, and according
ly attended neighboring fairs, where
he disposed In person of the products
of his various farm3. One of these
fairs was held annually at Chatre, a
nearby town. There M. de Salntalne
appeared as usual in charge of a large
herd of cattle and a great store of
wheat, from the sale of which he real
ized 20,000 francs. This money he put
in a portmanteau strapped to his sad
. die bags and late In the day started
r for-irirtoma; a journey of live leagues,
which could only be accomplished be
fore night by rapid travel.
When he had gone to the fair at
Chatre he was followed by a priest of
his neighborhood, a man reputed to be
associated with a band of robbers, and
by two companion rogues. On his
Way home M. tie Saintaine was joined
by the priest, who urged him to sup
and pass the night at his parsonage,
but the other politely refused and on
, ly urged his horses to a more rapid
trot. When, however, two of the
horses fell dead and both thighs of a
servant riding one of them were brok
en, nothing remained for him but to
accept the hospitality of tho priest.
The parsonage was a very ancient
building, part of a seigniorial castle,
constructed at the time of the Crusad
ers. One wing only had been rebuilt,
but It communicated with the remains
of the original structure by subterran
ean passages. TBc chapel of the castle
had become the parish church and was
connected with some of the rooms of
the parsonage. An abutting cemetery
occupied the space of the former gar
den of the castle. What was formerly
a ditch protecting its approach had
. been filled with water. A wooden
bridge crossing this led to the entrance
to the parsonage. On the other side
was a great forest which in former
times constituted the baronial park.
Opposite the church and cemetery was
the priest's garden.
The house was in charge of a ulece
of the priest, a girl of modest demean
or and very beautiful. Julienne by
name. At 'tho sight of a stranger she
became confused, her face changed
from white to red, and her eyes filled
with tears at the brutal command of
her uncle to entertain bis guest.
A servant entered and made a sig
nal to the priest, which De Saintaine
saw reflected in a mirror. The priest
arose and excused himself, saying that
- he was called to the bedside of a sick
man. "But, uncle, who is ill?" asked
the niece. "Big Peter." "I have Just
seed him pass by." "You are mistaken,"
replied the uncle sharply." "John has
fust told me, and he Is better Inform
ed than you." Tho tone of the priest's
vofcewas so harsh and It was so clear
bs was lying that De Salntalne ro
, gretted he had accepted the hospital
ity of such a man.
1 The moon was rising. De Saintaine
i walked to a window to look at the
landscape. To his astonishment be
saw the priest walking to and fro In
front of the house engagod In animated
s talk with two other men. Suddenly
, onto of them took from his pocket three
. knives, giving one to the priest, the
other to his companion, and putting
' the third in the breast of his coat.
After the departure of the uncle, Ju
lienne had not removed her eyes from
, the embroidery on which she"! was
' working, although she appeared -an-.
noyed at the surveillance she was sub
jected to by the servant. When the
mild at last fell Into a dozeDe Salnt
alne took advantage of this to converse
with the niece. At his approach ahe
lifted her bead and indicated rapidly
that he was In perlC and that she was
' determined to save him, but to acom
..." pllsh it he must obey ,ber implicitly.
When the priest returned he remark
, ed casually that one Jacome, a bour
geois of Bcwrges, who was at the fair
at la Chatre, would be, with the per
' mission of De Salntalne, a guest at
Hipper.
This second visitor proved to be
1 1 1 1 1 1 i4i M t lilt ! f t
Combons, the man whd distributed the
Knives. His appearance in trie house
confirmed De. Salntalne In the opinion
that he had been caught in a trap.
When De Saintaine was shown to his
room in anticipation of the supper
hour, Julienne managed to whisper to
him to bolt the door and expect fur
ther news from her. About twenty
minutes after he heard a slight noise
above his head, a little trap opened in
the celling, a white band appeared and
a paper was dropped therefrom, con
taining these word:
They are determined to kill and rob
you. At supper they will offer you
drugged wine. This will throw you
into a deep sleep, when you will be
killed. John, the groom, and I will
save you and myself at the same time.
Show no fear to your companions;
they will not kill you. until you are
asleep. When you rettjj to your room
wait patiently our aival and above
all do not be alarmed if we enter the
room In an unusual way. Burn this
note and pull back the bolt on the
door. . -
The supper was uncommonly good
and general gayety prevailed. A sign
from John and Julienne Indicated to
De Salntalne the drugged bottle. He
made a pretence of drinking the wine.
During a pause In the conversation De
Saintaine pretended to bo sleepy and
asked permission of his host to retire
at about 11 o'clock.
To assure himself against surprise,
he tried to push the bolts of the door;
but they were not In place, having
evidently been removed while he was
at supper. All he could do was to
close the door and barricado It with
a heavy bureau. This was barely done
when a light noise attracted hlB at
tention In a part of the room near the
bed. He walked there, taking the pre
caution to arm himself with his
sword and pistols. They were useless,
for while at supper the charge in each
had been drawn. Near the bed In a
panel in the wall, masked by a por
trait, was pushed back. In the open
ing stood John and Julienne, each
holding a dark lantern.
They signalled him to approach. As
he joined them the sound of a key be
ing turned In the lock of the barri
caded door attracted his attention. An
attempt to open it was prevented, by
the furniture placed against It.
There was no time to lose; the en
emy was at hand. John took De Saln
talne by the hand, with the valuable
portmanteau in the grip of the other,
and led him Into the mysterious pas
sage by which they had reached the
panel, which consisted of a large sheet
of Iron. They hurried their flight
through a number of subterranean
lanes, from which they emerged into
the open country at least a mile from
the parsonage and on the opposite
side of the canal. There two horses
were tethered; John mounted the one
and De Saintaine the other; with Ju
lienne on a pillion behind him. As
they rode on through the forest, the
moon, lighting the side of a hill visi
ble through a clearing disclosed a body
of men, members, no doubt of the band
of brigands of which the priest was the
chief. At daybreak they reached De
Salntalne's house. Later in the morn
ing they set out for Bourges, where
Julienne was placed In temporary
charge of the sisters of a religious re
treat The priest, furious at the escape of
his guest and the loss of his expected
booty, hastened to anticipate an ac
cusation against him by lodging a com
plaint against De Sa'ntalne for the ab
duction of a minor and the ruin of
her reputation so that marriage for her
had become Impossible.
The priest, however, counted without
his host De Saintaine had fallen In
love with the girl, and although tremb
ling at tbe wrath of the, terrible Count
de B , he married her.
When six months after the news of
this event reached the Count there
came with It a suggestion of the pos
sibility of an heir to inherit the great
fortune of De Saintaine. The Count's
rage exceeded, all bounds, and because
of his threats and persecutions De
Saintaine died shortly after the birth
of a son,' leaving the widow and boy
In possession of all of his property.
Three years had passed. The young
Louis brought up by his mother as be
fitted tbe inheritor of such great
wealth, was living with her in a house
near one of the gates of the city of
Bourges, when a band of Gypsies who
had been encamped between St. Ger
main and Versailles established them
selves In the Immediate neighborhood.
The nine men and women who made
up this band one day engaged In what
appeared to be a violent quarrel in
the presence of a considerable group
of spectators, and a man and woman
of the tribe, active participants in the
dispute, after the ceremonies custom
ary with tbeso people under similar
circumstances, were driven out of the
camp, together with their little daugh
ter. The same evening young Louis de
Saintaine disappeared from his home
and all trace of him was lost His In
consolable mother expended great sums
of money and employed an army of
agents in search of him, but with no
sueeess, though it was the general op
inion that the Gypsies were concerned
In the kidnapping. Those of the band
remaining in the neighborhood of
Bourges denied participation in the
crime, and asserted that the man and
woman whom they had expelled were
the culprits. . After a month the re
mainder left the neighborhood. : ';
Four years later a priest of Bcurge
returning from Rome, reported that he
had met with this same community of
Gypsies encamped in the neighborhood
of SIcnne,' that he had learned that
the couple driven from the tribe when
at Bourges were ia reality what were
called, the king and queen that their
apparent expulsion, was a ruse to di-:
vert suspicion from the other members
of the band, and that the couple ex
pelled were, In reality, the abductors
of young De Salntalne.
'At thla juncture Mme. de Salntalne
died; ten days later the Count de
B demanded letters of administra
tion upon the estate 6f the inisband
and wife, the Count agreeing to card
for thei property, while enjoying the
Income, until the fate of young De
Saintaine should be definitely festal
llshed. Other relatives opposed this
application, but the influence bi the?
Count do B at court was sd for
midable that he was placed in possetU
slon of the great wealtH.
The affair slumbered for several
years, when one day in 1081 Mme. de
Malntenon, who was caring in secret
for the children of Mme. de Montes
pon, was surprised to see tbe Duke du
Maine, the latter's eldest son, enter
her room leading by the band a band
some lad of about his own age, clothed
in rags. Following them was a young
Gypsy woman 18 or 20 years old, who
explained that the Count de B had
bribed her father and mother to kidnap
the lad. Both of her parents had died
at Venire, but before dying they had
made deposition before the Venetian
authorities, to that effect. Moreover,
she had with her two letters written
by. the Count de B to her father,
arranging with him that their tribe
should make way with young De Sain
taine. Nothing could give Mme. de Maln
tenon more pleasure than these reve
lations. It enabled her to annoy the
Duchess of Orleans, a bitter enemy,
and the special protectress of the
Count de B . She made this affair
her own; she spoke to the king in re
lation to It and Inquiries were Imme
diately Instituted to disentangle the
plot. The Identity of young De Saln
talne was established without trouble,
and tho Count de B was forced to
relinquish the riches he had come to
regard as bis beyond possibility of
alienation. All that, saved him from
the gallows was the powerful protec
tion of the Duke of Orleans.
On account of the part this band of
Gypsies had taken in the abduction of
young De Salntalne, In July, 1682,
Louis XIV. Issued the severe edict
which he made applicable to evory one
of the race as If all were concerned
In tho particular crime. New York
Sun.
QUAINT AND CURIOUS.
Korean widows are not allowed to
remarry.
There are only alout ninety dally
papers In Russia.
The Sandwich islander's alphabet has
only twelve letters.
Alaska is more than five hundred and
fifty times the area of Rhode Island.
The City cf Glasgow makes J7600 a
year profit out of waste paper collected
In the streets.
The cost of the English navy
amounts to $22 a year for every fam
ily In Great Britain.
Iowa is about to enact a law making
It Is a misdemeanor for an able-bodied
man who is able to work to refuse a
job.
The children of Spanish resldonts- in
Mexico are less energetic than their
parents, and the change becomes more
noticeable with every generation.
Manchester, England, sacrifices from
12,000 to 16,000 every year by de
clining to have advertisements on its
cars, which are operated by the city.
Of this year's graduating class at
Yale, numbering 313, 112 will go Into
business, 85 into law, 24 into medicine,
25 Into teaching, 9 Into the ministry,
and 26 will do Bpecial work.
Spruce gum is. becoming scarce and
harder to get In the Maine woods, and
school girls who chew that sort will
have to pay mere for It hereafter. The
gum now costs tl .35 a pound.
Abyssinia produces the finest ostrich
feathers, the price there being $1.44 to
$2.31 per doien for the best white, 96
cents to $1.93 a dozen for black, and
half as much for gray feathers.
An Arabian woman who is in mourn
ing for a near relative abstains from
drinking milk 'for eight dayB, on the
theory that tbe color of the liquid does
not harmonize with her mental form.
In Dresden, Germany, there has been
established a school for locomotive ap
prentices who will be given an appor
tnnlty for special study on three even
ings In the week and on Sunday morn
ings. Canoeing Vacations.
To Mie uninitiated- the canoe Is a
dangerous craft, to be spoken of with
bated breath; and yet for ordinary wa
ter but little experience la needed, cou
pled, of course, with care and an or
dinary amount of common sense. When
rapids are to be encountered It is a dif
ferent, story, and only after consid
erable experience should a loaded ca
noe be taken throush heavy water,
A 16-foot boat will carry three per
sons and a fairly large outfit. Most
people carry so many unnecessary
things that their trip Is ruined by the
slowness of their progress and tbe
loads that must be carried, to say
nothing of the everlasting packing and
unpacking which, unless propei ly man
aged, Is, even with light loads, the
bugaboo of camping. Country Life lx
America. . i .
Rare Fruit of 8ulu.
In the island of Sulu grews the du
rian, which la about the 'Site of a
muskmelon. Its - exterior presents
somewhat the appearance of a chest
nut burr, being- prickly and tough;
within the fruit is white and cheese
like, and owing to this peculiarity th
American soldiers dubbed it "vegef
table lln.burger," The mangosteen ia
another Of the rare fruits of the Island.
It la. the size of an average orange,
chocolate colored, and has a very brit
tle skin. Inside four white sections
contain a colorless liquid. This Is the
rarest fruit known, and the only one.
go it Is claimed, that Queen Victoria
ever tasted, there being no way of pre
serving the fruit for a sufficient period
after plucking to permit of shipping
It to any distance.
A SERMON FOR SUNDA1
Strong discourse eNtitlfo,
4 cod's Love for Man.
tho Revi hr; fcobtrt llogeH Deliver a
' fchonzlitrnl stad fconvinMtat; AddrttM
Win Vi to' Ahjdre' SelSshtl.it Muf
Anlinallsrti-Ciirlsi tile idutii ,
, Brooklts, N, ir-e-Sunda morning thi
Rev. Dr. Robert Roger, rector bf the
Church of the Good Shepherd; preached t
thoughtful and convincing termori oil
"God's Love For Mm." The texts wertj
front John iii:10: "God so loved the world
that He gars Hit only begotten Son, that
whoso be.ievrth on Him, might not perish,
but have iverlaeting life," and Mark ix:24:
"Lord, I believe, help Thou mine unbe
lief." Dr. Rogers uid among other things:
I begin our thought this morning with
the great declaration of the beloved A pot
tle John who, better than any other of
Christ's disciples, understood .the vital
meaning underlying the Mutters life. Jeaut
was to John a distinct personality with
whom he was acquainted, a man among
men, but He was more than thit, He was
also at the tame time the lore of God in
carnate in thit Man's nature, to that He
represented the nature of tiod, and Hit
feeling and desires tnd purposes toward
mankind. God loved the world. Now, af
ter beginning with thit thought, I have
taken another terse from Scripture, to in
dicate man'a attitude of mind toward
Johns declaration, "Lord, I believe, help
Thou mine unbelief."
John's statement is a condensed but
very complete outline of what the" Cbrie
tian religion aims to teach men. It it tin
message of the Christian Church that Jeaut
Christ is the personal demonstration of
Uod't love for man, The life and worde
of Jrsua art the illustrations of how God
loves and liovv He nets toward man, and
nls3 what (iod dr.. i res that man shall
think tnd do toward God and toward hit
fellow man.
Now this kind of thinking tends ut into
the acknowledgment of the supernatural.
n orings ut to tne admission that our Di
vine Father loves man, and teaches him,
and guides him by laws and standards
which He revealt to man according to hit
needs. lu other words, the Christian re
ligion stands for the presence of God in
this life w are now living, and that He
has help to give to man, and demands to
make nf man.
There are countless men and women
who believe implicitly in this statement of
God's presence ruling over life, and who
live in their belief, offering up themselvet
to divine guidance, regretting their sina
and imploring pardon in perfect faith that
it will be granted. There are, on the other
hand, some perhaps, who any they have
no belief in the divine and spiritual, and
who would place themselvet outside of the
declarations of the Christian religion, but
I believe this number to be few and grow
ing smaller every day, as the fuller vision
of th$ world and its rich spiritual meaning
dawns upon their intelligence. But there
it another large class with whom I am
apecially concerned, who believe and yet
do not believe. They would not deny the
Christian faith, neither are they readv to
give their full allegiance to it. There'it a
multitude of such people among our men
and women, and may we not ask seriously
why is this the rase? Is it because Christ a
teaching and His life ore to hard to be un
derstood thot spiritual things can make no
derstood, Are some kinds so constituted
naturally that spiritual things can make
no effective appeol to them?
If we rere for a moment to admit this
it would destroy the greatest power which
we believe inherent in Christ'c religion,
namely, that to every man, bond or free,
black or yellow, barbarian or Scythian,
Jew or Gentile, learned or unlearned, rich
or poor, it has the power of entering into
his heart and transforming his life. There
is no respect of persons with God. I grant
you that Christ found that there were cer
tain place where even He could not pre
sent His message with conviction, but tin
cause of His failure was the hardness of
men't heartt and not the difficulty of
comprehending His gospel, and this tame
reason will be found to hold good in these
days.
Atheism is no longer supposed to be a
necessary adjunct of the scientist; but on
the contrary, the men who are opening the
widest visions of new truth to the world in
these dayt and teaching the profoundest
lessons to mankind are men who are sin
cere believers in the message of God't
pretence at revealed by Jesut Christ, or at
least are able to say with earnestness,
'Lord, I believe, help Thou mine unbelief."
hen we come to consider our own lives
and those of the ordinary men and women
around about whom we can understand,
what is it that prevents the message of
Jesus Christ from having the effect upon
us all that it ought to have?
,' There hat been for the past few yeara a
warning sounded that men are not attend
ing our Christian churches, and the rea
sons are being given in various wayt. Cler-gyre-
are uninteresting; churches are cold,
uninspiring placet; doctrines are anti
qutted and illiberal and meaningless to
man in the itniggle for life. Perhaps
..litre is iriuu m ah inese statements; it
It not difficult for even a ttupid man to
find a plautible excuse for -anything he
cares to do, or to leave undone. Parents
who are bringing up children, teachers
who are educating them, understand the
readiness of plautible excuses.
. twi Time excuses, -rrnmcver given, are
met the real reasons why tome men dn not
attend church. Let me tav, fiitt, that 1
believe it it open to demonstration that a
larger number of men are interested in
the work of the church and attending ita
services and obeying ita inspirations than
at any other time in history. And what
u more important, they are attending
churchet willingly without the compulsion
Of ancient timet when heaven and hell
were regarded at in the tola power of the
church, and men were afraid to absent
themselves. Our Y. M. 0. A.'s were never
to prosperous The religions nature of our
Jpllege ttudents waa never more genuine
than in our own dayt,
Bat to apeak of 'those who are not at
tending our churches, ia it not because
they have never had a true vision pf the
Vital reality and practicability of Christ's
mettaget? The great majority of men in
this country, at leaat, are nominal Chris
tian!. They send their children to Sunday
school, they like to have their wives and
sitter in anion- with th church, sad if
asked whether they themselvet believe in
the teachings of Christ and His Church,
would either evade the question or else tay
they could follow Christian precepts with
out attending chnrcb, ' It not the fault of
lack of attendance on Christian worship
due rather to the manner of life we are
living than to a definite unbelief -in the
virtu of tbe Christian religion? They are
so much absorbed in the struggle for
Sioney that they have neither time nor
etir to set anything els. Every one ia
banting for it, the business man,th pol
wtMt sim fuiettionw man. tn oroorer,
th coachman, the waiter, tn conductor,
th porter, th barber, the messenger, th
clergyman who it paid for burialt and bap
tism, the corporation. This one eras
setma to lesv no part of American so
ciety intact, rich, and poor, high and low,
f?ikt, an infected with thit disease, which
is sapping all th spiritual and moral en
ergy of th generation. . v
?'he church is1 not th only place from
ich such men and women absent them
selves. Our lecture on history and travel,
and science and art are giving up their
business became th try hat gon forth
that men will not attend lecture. Th
literature that appeals to people it not that
which lift th mind and heart to high
thoughts, but th type et flimsy novel that
simply entertain. - ' '
Tn Church of Christ it no longer a com
fortable place in which the unrepentant
tinner can tit. Religion has become much
mere of s reality to every man. It fills a
mora sacred plac. It it not regarded in
these day simply a combination of rites
and ceremonies, performed in a special
building, but religion ia known by all men
to be oo-orslinat and eo-extentiv with lift
and the man who willingly lives tintullv
and in disregard of Christ's atandsrd will
not add to hia degradation by playing th
hypocrite and impostor. Thit meant that
in the minds of irreligious men there it a
growing respect for religkia? 4d a sound
regard for th church 'even" among those
who do not attend. I say that it it the life
which th age it calling on men to live
(iiat It freakening the: religious life and
faith of men, ilea CamiOt serve (lad and
, inammori it true forever. Cart thit (vil btf
Overcome and how? I believe that it can,
and the way td overcoats It it to satisfy
I men ttiit w are living in Moral and tpir'
itual orld irt Which God is present and
I in which He makes His demands, Profes-
1 tor James, of Harvard, speaks of the uni
versality of religious experience opening t
up a new wuriu vi nica science lias uuneno
scoffed at,- but which must be recognised i
if we know by bur own experience that I
there it t realm of (houghtj flf love, of I
conscience; 6f t-ightediisnessi toward Which
thing our heartt yearn. . We know MoiS
than ever the laws of tliis department tit
life, how; under Godj beneficctice . and
growth and power are tdded td life by '
their obedience, and how injury and weak-
nest and suffering are the resultants ol
disobedience to tlie individual and to the
nation and the race. Men believe in these
things, because they tee them. If they do
not believe in their power at you and I,
dear Christian frienue do, it it because
they have been hindered by other things
fromjooking at them seriously enough. If
they can be turned from the erase uf the
a-c, which is selfishness, they will be able
to see and appreciate the workings of this
real kincdom of love and Christ in our
midst, if the church it to help men it
must open its doors and heart to such men.
It must not refuse their admission or re
tard them by insulting them when they
come. If a man it looking for righteous
ness and anxious to eovern his life accord
ing to that inspiration, the church ought
to be ready to give to such no honest man
all e is ready and wiIudi to receive. Let
us. not be aftnid ol Mir sacraments being
desecrated. Aim . nit come to them
unlvss they really wk-iI Ih-iu and believe
in ihctn. We ai.; too much of men about
what tiny lieiieve or do not believe. The
working and living Church of Christ is
not that which shall only have it place and
a welcome for those who are fully equipped
witti faith in all its sacred dootrinei, but
a church which, like Christ, shall draw all
men unto it and gradually, by its spiritual
low and care, nourish men into its highest
privilege and possessions.
Ir men can believe Hoim.liliig of Christ's
revelation of Cod, if they can say, "Lord,
1 believe," it becomes then the part of
every Christian as an individual and of all
Christians as an organisation to help their
Unbelief until men can enter into the ful
ness of Hit message and take for their in
spiration in life, "God so loved tile world
tatt He gave Hit only begotten Son, that
whijso bcTieveth on Him might not perish,
but have everlasting life. Thit it the
Christian'i message of Gad's presence
among us, God loving men, inspiring and
guiding them toward His own ideal of per
lectness. This it the opening of the gates
of salvation to men, from selfishness and
aninialisin, into the happiness and encour
agement of knowing that we are the sons
of God, for God hath not called us to un
cle&nness, but to holiness. When the
churches of Christ take this attitude to
ward men and men shall learn that the
ministration of the church is toward help
ing them out of their sins and mistakes,
rather than in s constant condemnation of
their faults, I believe they will be found
within its walls, ready to be helped and
led toward a larger knowledge of God aud
Hi love.
Doing Ose'i Besl.
We should not only seek to do our hey
but also to do the but that can lie done.
No man can tell when he has done his
best. The best should always be the high
est reach possible. The striving f ir exrel
lence ut not alone for the nulic of the life
it makes possible. No work should ever
be regarded as "good enough" if it could
be made better. It was said of Lord
llroughsin that such was his love of excel
lence that, "if bis station in life had been
only that of a bootblai-k, he would never
have rested satisfied until he had become
the best bootblack in Kngland." It is no
wonder, remarks the Baptist Union, that
lie was one of the best men in the empire.
In seeking to do his best, ever aiming at
excellence, he was gradually making him
self one of the best men. And after all,
tho great purpose of life is only achieved
when one not only does his best, but is bit
bett. .
Kellglout Thought.
You cannot begin anything you nevei
did. Organization, genesis, is God. Camp
bell Morgan.
When a man thinks he it the whole
church he is apt to ignore the Head of the
Church. Kam t Horn.
Contentment is sunlight, discontentment
it starlight, malconteiitment it night.
United l'retbyterian.
A man does not have to go to heaven by
freight simply because he cannot express
himself in meeting. Kam's Horn.
When the Christian nt.es above such
tmall details as telling the truth and deal
ing honestly God is going to let him drop
hard. Kami Horn.
No one need go down to eternal death
who it able to turn around and go tlie
other way, for the other way leads to eter
nal life. United Presbyterian.
Christian Submission.
A Missionary in India-, Rev. W. P.
Byers, tells thit story, which illustrntes
that the gospel carries its comfort in dis
tress to the convert in India as it doc in
thit country.
"One of our older Bengali boys, whom
we were counting on to help us in the fu
ture, was carried off in a few hours by a
violent fever. Hit poor father had strug
gled to give hit boy every chance to learn,
hoping he would become a Christian work
er. But the Master taw fit to take him
for higher service in the kingdom above.
When this father was told that hia ton
had passed away he bowed hit head in sub
mission worthy of any Christian in any
country, at he eaid: 'The Lord gave and
the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the
name of the Lord." Ram't Horn.
Slamhood.
Manhood hat two or three qualities.
First, telf-aisertion, and a good many men
never get beyond that they bccopie bul
lies or egotists. They always get their
way, ride rough ehod over every man. I
do not tay -self-assertion it to be de
ttroyed, it is to be directed, and that is
the second quality, self direction. That 1
power belongs to every man. God Him
self does not invade or destroy it. lit
powers of self-assertion and self-direction
reach their climax in self surrender to the
higheet.-B.ev. W. T. McDowell, New York
City. . , .
;.,, A With
lo be free from narrowness;
To respond to the nearest need.
To help all:
To magnify the good in the meaneat,
Xo minimii with love apparent faults It
oinert;
To oive God His oDnortunitv in me-
(To further Hit plan for the world He lovt;
Let this be my with.
-W. P. Lenders.
Out of Pockjt But (lot Even. I
' A 'Squire not a great t tstance from taws, canteens and what are appar
here wat visited by a client, 1 who pro-' ently bound books, but used to contain
tested that a liveryman had "shaved" whiskey, betray the masculine,
aim dreadfully, and he wanted to 1 The prayers of tome fair penitent
come up to him. :$.;':; : ; ; v I were possibly hindered for want of the
'I asked him," explained the client,
"tlw charge for a team to Bo to Ded-
ham. He replied 11. I ordered the
team, and on my return offered In
payment II; he Insisted on another
dollar for coming back, tad made me . the deftness with which it It possible
pay it."'; a V--..V.,. -;. 'i-1- for "Uncle Sam" to handle the fra
- The 'Squire gave htm legal advice, gtle. A fine parasol pictures "my
which follow ; Going to tte livery. lady" ' setting out for m promen
man, he asked: "How much will you de, while a tangle of umbrellas may
charge for a team to Salem T" ', 1 stand for quickened consciences strlv-
"Five dollars,? replied tho stable Ing , to rtturn those they have bor
owner. , - ' . --,:. ( I rowed or taken. - . ;
"Harness Mm up!" The client went There are musical Instruments of
to Salem and returned by railroad, I ; iort Ma varieties, and one
went to tbe stabler, laying: "Hero't ' cuerles whose angers may have drawn
your $5." I the wheeiy "botes from th accordion,
"Where's my team?" asked the liv- w perchance with the guitar sighed
eryman, in surprise, , his soul out beneath the window of
"At Salem," answered the-client. nls ,ov- " , . ,
"I only hired tbe team to go to Sa
lem." Philadelphia, I'ubllii Let!ir. ,
DEAD LETTER OFFICE;
THIBTY THOUSAND MISSIVES A
YEAR FAIL TO ARRIVE.
A Department of thjs Postoffice at
Washington WheriTher Is a
Blending ,of Joy and borrow Some
Curious Articles Found in tlie Mails.
How rarely a letter miscarries when
its writer has ordinary Intelligence
and U familiar with the conventions
which pertain to postal transmission
In the United tates! If tbe person to
Whom the letter is sent has moved,
with little delay his letter pursues
him. If carelessness by the sender
confounds numbers, .streets, counties,
towns, even States, with what Infinite
paing are themlstali8 corrected by the
postal clerks! Yet, with nil this care
more than 30,000 unclaimed letters and
parcels daily find their way to the
Dead Letter office at Washington.
Visiting the fine new postoffire
structure in Washington, one leaves
the ground floor by nn elevator for the
Dead Letter office. Left below are
hopes that are fat being carried to
fruition; approaching are those which
have fa,e(1 of unot yet hopciessiy
failed, for passing down the corridor
of the Dead Letter office, watching the
more than a hundred clerks as they
rai'.dly tear the wrapper from letter,
from paper, from parcel, one feels
that, though sacred privacy bo invad
ed, an ultimate Joy may possibly suc
ceed It. And not alvayB la this pri
vacy Invaded, for, while more than 8,
300,000 letters and parcels were opened
during the year Just passed, 1,000,000
were delivered unopened to the own
ers, 800,000 of them to foreign coun
tries. No longer, as formerly. Is thero a
distinctive dead letter rmi3eum. lint
some of the curious articles of Intcre.u
found In the mallH are Included In th?
general postal museum, on tho ground
floor of the building.
The first thing which tho visitor en
counters Is the pathetic case of sol
diers' photographs. As ho turns leaf
by loaf of It he fancies the weary wait
ing at the home fireside for the face of
the soldier boy who never rame; alas,
many times the lad himself found sep
ulchre on the battlefield or died in
the hospital, and this priceless me
mento would so have comforted the
mourning hearts who perchance wait
ed long and hopelessly his coming. The
faces are faded, the paper yellow with
age, of a style and fashion long passed
away, strange In feature to those who
look on them now. yet there was a
time when the lovenght frmij,each pic
tured eye was mirrored In some other.
From the corridor, Illustrative of
mall transportation from the earliest
days when it was undertaken, and its
methods in the most remote and Inac
cessible parts do duty for the "express
mall," one enters a room consecrated
mostly to the unique and curious col
lection selected from the Dead Letter
office.
In the glass cases which contain the
ehiblt the pathetic and tho ridiculous
touch other, and one may at the same
moment be moved to smiles or tears,
while a shiver of horror creeps over
him at the sight of an "Infernal ma
chine" fortunately unclaimed or a dy
namite bomb not less infernal.
Balls, bullets and various mementos
of war are numerous, and Borne of the
stilettos and other side arms of beau
tiful workmanship. Near by there is
a pair of handcuffs, which perchance
might tell a story.
The reptile world, among other yarl
eties, Is represented by a rattlesnake,
a horned toad, a tarantula and numer
ous crocodiles, mostly alive when sent.
There are a Jawbone, possibly of an
ass, with all its teeth firm set, and sev
eral sets of false teeth, for which the
corresponding' gums have perchance
worn themselves out with waiting; a
skull, white and grinning, while its
fellow members are dust; an Indian's
head, Indian moccaslons, and many
pairs of baby shoes, shaped by the lit
tle feet which have worn them, and
which, alas, failed to tell their little
tender-story to an absent father.
. A complete layette suggests the lov
ing thought which sent a welcome to
some expected baby guest, with dolls
of all races and varieties, from Chi
nese to walnut, together with toys of
many descriptions.
Here are the wedding cake which
some bride had to -do without, a large
box of raisins which might have en
abled some other bride to make her
own cake, and boxes of candy
"sweets" which never reached "the
sweet."
There are' fine Ivory carvings anil
wooden ones, running the gamut from
a circle comb to the "Lion of Lu
cerne." There are South African gems of
various settings; watches, lockets,
teals, chains, rings, charms and hair
Jewelry.
Faces have here for years looked
from quaint old Ivory miniatures, with
hope of a recognition which has never
come one of a Chinese girl, so far
from home that she could scarcely ex
pect It Daguerreotypes, fadeless on
their silver plates, have teen them
selves superseded by newer and more
popular methods of the sun's printing
perhaps the face itself yas long ago
superseded by a fairer. ,
Toilet . sets, hairpins, thimbles,
needles, shears and a wire bustle are
feminine In quality, while razors,
rotary which never reached Ita des
tlnation.
A tea kettle, a aet of teaspoons and
.china cups suggest afternoon tea," an
unbroken lamp chimney testifies to
in tne lower pari oi one oi me cases
It a promiscuous Jumble of everything
from a wooden sabot to a finely cured
ham, soldier equipments predominat
ing. Of curious letters there are many,
brith In contents and superscriptions,
but strangest of all is a love missive
written on a board one by three feet
In dimensions. "Dick," the writer,
waa Inspired to this eccentricity while
attending a "board" meeting, and
wrote to "Hattlo," reproaching her for
her silence. In duo course of time
"Hattie" was discovered and notified
by the Dead Letter official that such
a billet dou awaited her, with 95 cents,
due In extra postage. This she de
clined to pay, saying that she bad no
use for "lumber" nor for "Dick." So
some of the romances and the trage
dies of life leave in this little room
their record, Interesting In the "touch
of nature which makes the whole
world kin:" for who at some hour of
his life has not been swayed by tho
different emotions which through these
relics of a bygone day have striven for
expression?
What mysteries in the unopened let
ter, how potential for joy, for sorrow;
how freighted with happiness or mis
ery, and how far reaching lu Its re
sults! The spoken word may be for
gotten by him who titters It. and fade
from the memory of him who hears:
written, It is freighted with a power
before which cvon judge and Jury bow.
"What might have been" but for
these mischances of the Dead Letter
office no one can say; if by them joy
has been frustrated, tragedy has been
averted, and so the sum of human hap
piness may not have been diminished
as much as would appear. New York
Tribune.
HASHEESH IN EGYPT.
Many Ways in Which the Potent Drug
Is Smuggled.
Tho Ksyptian is satisfying his pas
sion for the dream giving hasheesh
seeks to baffle the Knglish customs of
ficers In manv odd wars. At Alexan
dria there is a veritablo museum,
whore are stored pianos, plcturo
frames, biscuit boxes, table legs,
books, demijohns and refrigerators. In
all these articles smugglers had stored
hasheesh. Despite the vigilance of the
English officials, it is estimated that
not more than one-tenth of the baneful
drug imporied into Egypt is discov
ered. An Egyptian smoker of hasheesh is
even a more helpless slavo than the
Chinese opium fiend. He knows that
In the end he will become a madman,
yet he rushes toward the awful goal
with unrelaxed speed. With the
strange exaltation which first comes
to tho smoker, he feels himself float
ing from cloud to cloud, or alighting
ifr-te gardens of palaces, all his own;
or swtmmlng with mermaids through
the opalescBot depths of the sea. And
when the braTit-firows sluggish he be
lieves that be can woo back his fond-
est dreams with a lTttte-TlWW-flerent"
dose.
Most of the hasheesh which Egypt
consumes conies from Greece. From
the husks of hemp seeds and the ten
der tops of the hemp plant the Greeks
manufacture a greenish powder, whose
fumes bring the ecstasy Its victims
desire. The profits of those who suc
cessfully smuggle the drug Into the an
cient land of the Pharaohs are tre
mendous. Outside of Egypt hasheesh
sells for 50 cents a pound. In the
country adjoining the Nile it costs as
much as $5.
Not long ago a great number i'
table legs were unloaded on a wharf
at Alexandria, consigned to an Interior
point. In unloading the legs into a
Nile skiff, a stevedore chanced to
break one In two. Before long be was
dancing about, stretching his arms
over his head, lifting his feet as high
as his waist wlla every step, and mut
tering: '"Let me have hell, too. I am ruler
of heaven; why should not my domain
Include hell also?"
On examination it was found that
about half of the table legs were hol
low, and were filled with the green
dust of hasheesh, and the stevedore
had helped himself liberally from the
storehouse he had discovered.
There is hardly an article of com
merce on which the hasheesh smug
gler does not levy In trying to "run"
the customs office. The backs of pi
anos have been stripped oft to reveal
packages of. hasheesh tucked away in
various parts of the case so carefully
that one might play a Beethoven sym
phony without the slightest hint (bat
the Instrument was drugged.
Jugs formerly proved a favorite"
purveyor of the' smuggler's hasheesh.
They were made with double tides so
that they were In reality narrow bot
tles inclosed within wide flanged earth
en) sides. The neck of the bottle was
the neck of the jug, so that on pulling
out the cork one might pour out true
liquor yet, on cracking the Jug, one
could And the packages of the hash
eesh stowed away between the outer
and inner walls.
Japanese Foods.
Rice and dried fish are the uniform
food of the Japanese army in cam
paigning times. This It the way in'
which the rice Is cooked: It It boiled
until quite black and glutinous Next
It it placed on a ceramic slab, rolled
out, and cut Into squares. The squares
are then placed In the tun to dry
and often turned When hard aa sea
biscuit and greatly reduced In weight,
they can be stored. A certain number
are allowed each day to the soldier.
All he has to do ia to break up a
square in boiling water and to add
the dried Ash. In a few minutes he
hat what seema to him a -delicious
thick toup. If he cannot procure boil
ing water he simply eats hit rice cake
dry. In the fruit season he substitutes
fruit, when he can obtain It, for the
fish. The Japanese soldier, according
to M. Plclion, hat muscles like whip
cord. It a sure thot, hat an eye. for
landmarks and a memory for locality.
He can do with three hours' sleep out
of the twfnty-four, It cleanly, attends
to sanitary Instructions and Is ardent
ly patriotic. He costs the state about
t cents a day,, and thinks himself well
Off.",..: f 'V'.-' ,-;' r-'--- ".
Until the last years of the last cen
tury Lyons was Europe's chief ailk
market. Milan gradually ousted It'
from the position, and lu 1902 Us re
ceipts werje 87 1-J percent larger than
those of Lyons.
ICE MADE WITH ICE.
Process Which Has Been Under E
perlment in Chicago.
An experimental plant to attempt
to prove the feasibility of what is ,
termed the "Cook process" of produc
ing Ice in easily separable layers la
an Ice house was erected at Forty
fifth street and tho Lake Shore Rail
road tracks, Chicago, last winter, says
Ice and Refrigeration. A frame struc
ture, 25x56 feet in size and some 32
feet high, was erected, with a floor
of boards laid upon a bed of cinders,
Riid walls made of pine boards nallud.
not very closely, to the Inside sur
faces of the 6x8 uprights. The build
ing was not completed till the lat
ter part of January, and hence It
was February before the freezing be
gan, and only some four or five layers,
tho size of the house, or, say, 150 tons
r-f Ice were secured before the thaw
ing weather set In the latter part of ,
that month.
In the Cook process small blocks of
wood or Ice, say four Inches cube, are
set at convenient distances, 22x44 inch
centres, for instance, to serve at "sup
ports" for the layer of Ice to be made
above. Water is then turned on un
til these blocks are just covered, and
as soon as thfs water has frozen suffi
ciently to form a substantial crust of
Ice all around, the remaining water Is
drawn off. The uppercrust Is thorr
flooded with, Hay, ten inches of water
and left to freeze. Of course, as soon
as a substantial crust of lee has form
ed over the top of this body of water
in the house another series of blocks
is placed on top, flooded with water,
allowed to freeze in and the interior
water drawn off. thus forming uuc
cessive layers of ice, one above the
other. The process it a very interest- .
ing one. but its success was not en
tirely demonstrated.
Reading as a Cure for Sickness.
One could wish that the Doctor of
Medicine occasionally called in tho
Doctor of Let I era to cases of mental
distress. There Is a tonic quality In ,
books, properly chosen, which is as
beneficent to the mind as change of
scene or doses of fiat water. People
do not realize that the shortest way '
from the quagmire of the modern
unrest is a total forget fulness of self,
and few know that the healthiest i
nepenthe is to be found in reading.
The word disease signifies the nega
tion of ease, and most forms of neu
rotic sickness are a deliberate effort .
on the part of the invalid to make
himself uneasy. If doctors were to
prescribe a course of Cervantes, or
Moliere, or Balzac, or Sterne, or
Dickens, or even Shakespeare, and as
strictly enjoin thoroughness in thla
course, as they would if the treat- ;
ment were a matter of diet or medl- ;
cine, many of their patients would
begin to mend from the first moment
hojthese magMnmd given them
a forffelTiilu!S8 of seliTTr" TSJjtss"""
that Poe declares In the "Raven,"
"vainly I had sought to borrow from
my books surcease of sorrow," but
the opinion of the world is ' over-
whelmingly against him. Good read- ,
Ing Is a forgetfulness of cares, and,
by the samo token, it is an education -in
all those qualities which make life
sweet and greatly to be desired. It
is tho valetudinarian who most con
stantly tolls one, petulantly enough,
that he never reads books. London
Globe.
Fortune Found in a Statuette, -
Many old-fashioned French people '
are given to stowing away their pe
cuniary possessions in odd nooks and
corners, often to the bewilderment of
their heirs. A characteristic atory
comes from the environs of Paris, ,
the heroine of the adventure being an
old lady wbo expired a few months
ago. She had put by a certain
amount of money, which she be-
queathed to two nephews. One of
them waived his rights In favor of
his brother, merely asking to be al-
lowed to keep a little statuette as a
souvenir of their departed relative.'
One day the servant of this self-denying
Individual happened to break -the
statuette, and to the amazement
of its owner a lock of hair, a medal
lion, and last, not least, a number of
one thousand franc bank - notes v
dropped out from among the frag
ments. He retained these articles
as some compensation for the smash
ed statuette without mentlonlnigMlm ,
affair to his brother, but having baT-.
occasion shortly afterward to dismiss
his servant, she betook herself In hot . '
haste to that gentleman, and related
the whole Incident. The owner of
the statuette has -been requested to
hand over half the sum to his brother, -and
has been threatened with a law
suit in the event of refusal. London
Telegraph. -.-:v
To Exploit Victoria Falls.
A company has been formed to ex
ploit Vivtoria Falls, In the Zambesi,
and will build a hydro-electric generat
ing station, with the expectation of
supplying power to the Waukie coal
fields, Buluwayo, the Kwelo, Sebakive
and Hartley gold fields, all of which
are within 300 miles. The falls are
over 400 feet high, and; while the total,
amount of energy running to waste
at Niagara It 7,000,000 horsepower,
tbe corresponding figure for the Vic
toria Falls in the wet season Is 35,
000,000. The railway bas now been
completed to within 70 miles of tho
falls, and wilt reach them before the -nd
of March.
It "H" Obsolete..
A -well known English essayist re
cently declared that the letter "r" la
bsolete In England, but Rev. Mark
3tay Parse,"the EngllBh Methodic,
who hat been traveling' in the United
States, is of a different opinion. Soon
fter his arrival In Denver a depuiy
sheriff arrested him. He asked t
tee the warrant, which proved to 1
for Mark Pease. The landlord ti s
tilled to the "r." and Incidentally to
hit gnosf's standing, and the iun.
difficulty was cleared up.
' .:! Only Partly True.
A Parisian modiste says that T'o
makes the gowns, but the women
America furnish the- flctire. In ('
country it Is generally believed t
the American papa or husband !
ttlRhea the figure for those f-ot -l'lilladelrMa
North Amerinin.