Earlier text: What Do You Call It?Camp-Meeting at Walla Walla.
By E. R. Jones
THIS meeting was held according to appointment, from May 26 to June 1. The camp was in a cottonwood grove, within the city limits. There were thirty-six tents arranged in a double semicircle with large audience and book-tents occupying the center and front. Appropriate mottos were placed over the entrance to the grounds, and also over the speaker's desk in the large tent. The location of the camp was pleasant and the arrangement quite convenient. The weather throughout was good, no storm of any kind occurring to disturb the services, although during the last days of the meeting the dust became a little unpleasant. About one hundred and fifty people camped on the ground, and good order prevailed, with this exception, there was not that prompt response to the ringing of the bell for public service that could have been desired. Indeed there was a manifest indifference that plainly showed the lack of an earnest desire to fervently seek the blessing of God. At first there was not all that freedom in preaching that could be wished, and many tearful prayers were offered that the Lord would move upon all our hearts and cause us to feel our needs, and arouse all to make that effort that would bring his blessing. The preaching was done by Elders Butler, Fero, Decker, and the writer. There was quite a good attendance from the city and country, evenings and on Sunday, and the preaching at these times was largely on the reasons of our faith. Many seemed interested, and lasting impressions, we believe, were made. Sabbath afternoon Elder Butler gave a discourse from Rom. 12:1, and then made a strong appeal to the unconverted and backslidden who wished to seek the Lord, to come forward. Some fifteen or more responded, while others remained careless and unmoved. The most touching and heartfelt expressions seemed to have little effect. "Why is this so?" and "What can be done?" were anxiously asked by those who had the burden of the meeting. Still there was a gradual improvement as the meeting progressed, and when the last day came nearly all began to feel the need of seeking God and of getting into the light. Sunday night the temperance people in the city used the large tent for a lecture in the interest of prohibition. At this time Elder Butler took the train for Colorado and Iowa. It was feared that his going would seriously effect the rising interest of the meeting; but the blessing of God was with us on Monday. A brief discourse was given in the morning on baptism, and one at 10:30 A. M. on conversion; after which thirteen were baptized in a clear stream a few feet in rear of the camp. This was a very interesting feature of the meeting; all were quiet and a solemn influence was over the people, and many were deeply moved. The Upper Columbia Conference transacted its annual business during the camp-meeting, and all were encouraged by the marked evidences of prosperity that appeared. Under the management of Elder Decker the affairs of the Conference have been brought into a good and healthy condition. About fifty members have been added, and over seven hundred dollars more tithes paid the past year than the year previous. The Conference is out of debt and has over six hundred dollars in its treasury. Two tents will go into the field this season; one will be used by Elder Decker, and the other by Elder Fero in Idaho. There are two other ordained ministers and three licentiates, who will assist in the tent work or labor in other localities. The outlook in this field is good, and if the people will consecrate themselves wholly to God, greater results than have yet been seen will attend the labors of the coming year. E. R. JONES. NOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON.
"REMEMBERING that the entrance to the temple or courts was then the chosen spot for those who, as objects of pity, solicited charity; remembering, also, how rapidly the healing of the blind man became known, and how soon both his parents and the healed man himself appeared before the Pharisees—presumably in the temple; we can scarcely doubt that the miracle took place at the entering to the temple, or on the temple mount." "IT was the Sabbath—the day after the Octave [the eighth or last day] of the feast [Levit. 23:34, 39], and Christ, with his disciples, was passing—presumably going into the temple where this blind beggar was wont to sit. . . . But on the Sabbath he could of course neither ask nor receive alms, though his presence in the wonted place would secure wider notice, and perhaps lead to many private gifts. Indeed the blind were regarded as specially entitled to charity. As the Master and his disciples passed the blind beggar, Jesus 'saw' him, with that look which they who followed him knew to be full of meaning. Yet so thoroughly Judaized were they by their late contact with the Pharisees, that no thought of possible mercy came to them, only a truly and characteristically Jewish question, addressed to him expressly, and as 'Rabbi': through whose guilt this blindness had befallen him—through his own or that of his parents." "THOROUGHLY Jewish, the question was. Many instances could be adduced, in which one or379other sin is said to have been punished by some immediate stroke, disease, or even by death, and we constantly find rabbis, when meeting such unfortunate persons, asking them how, or by what sin, this had come to them. But as this man was 'blind from birth,' the possibility of some actual sin before birth would suggest itself, at least as a speculative question, since the 'evil impulse' might even then be called into activity. At the same time, both the Talmud and the later charge of the Pharisees, 'In sins wast thou born altogether,' imply that in such cases the alternative explanation would be considered, that the blindness might be caused by the sin of the parents. It was a common Jewish view, that the merits or demerits of the parents would appear in the children. In fact, up to thirteen years of age a child was considered, as it were, part of his father, and as suffering his guilt. More than that, the thoughts of a mother might affect the moral state of her unborn offspring, and the terrible apostasy of one of the greatest rabbis had, in popular belief, been caused by the sinful delight his mother had taken when passing through an idol grove. Lastly, certain special sins in the parents would result in specific diseases in their offspring, and one is mentioned as causing blindness in the children. But the impression left on our minds is, that the disciples felt not sure as to either of these solutions of the difficulty. It seemed a mystery, inexplicable on the supposition of God's infinite goodness, and to which they sought to apply the common, Jewish solution." "MANY similar mysteries meet us in the administration of God's providence—questions which seem unanswerable, but to which we try to give answers. But why seek to answer them at all, since we possess not all, perhaps very few, of the data requisite for it. All such evil consequences, from the operation of God's laws, are in the last instance to be traced back to the curse which sin has brought upon man and on earth. With these his laws, and with their evil consequences to us through the curse of sin, God does not interfere in the ordinary course of his providence. But there is another and a higher aspect of it, since Christ has come, and is really the healer of all disease and evil, by being the remover of its ultimate moral cause. This is indicated in his words, when, putting aside the clumsy alternative suggested by the disciples, he told them that it was so in order 'that the works of God might be made manifest in him.' They wanted to know the 'why;' he told them the 'in order to' of the man's calamity. They wished to understand its reason as regarded its origin; he told them its reasonableness in regard to the purpose which it, and all similar suffering, should serve, since Christ has come the healer of evil—because the Saviour from sin." "SALIVA was commonly regarded as a remedy for diseases of the eye, although, of course, not for the removal of blindness. With this he made clay, which he now used, adding to it the direction to go wash in the pool of Siloam, a term which literally meant 'sent.' . . . Sight was restored by clay, made out of the ground with the spittle of him whose breath had at the first breathed life into clay; and this was then washed away in the pool of Siloam, from whose waters had been drawn on the feast of tabernacles that which symbolized the forth-pouring of the new life by the Spirit. And so what the Pharisees had sought in vain, was freely vouchsafed when there was need of it. With inimitable simplicity, itself evidence that no legend is told, the man's obedience and healing are recorded." "THE formal question now put to Him by the Jews was as much, if not more, a preparatory inquisition than the outcome of a wish to learn the circumstances of his healing. He tells the facts truthfully, plainly; he accentuates by what means he had received sight. . . . Presently they bring him to the Pharisees, not to take notice of his healing, but to found on it a charge against Christ. Such must have been their motive, since it was universally known that the leaders of the people had, of course informally, agreed to take the strictest measures, not only against the Christ, but against any one who professed to be his disciple. The ground on which the present charge against Jesus would rest, was plain: the healing involved a manifold breach of the Sabbath law. The first of these was that he had made clay. Next, it would be a question whether any remedy might be applied on the holy day. It was indeed declared lawful to apply, for example, wine to the outside of the eyelid, on the ground that this might be treated as washing; but it was sinful to apply it to the inside of the eye. And as regards saliva, its application to the eye is expressly forbidden, on the ground that it was evidently intended as a remedy. There was, therefore, abundant legal ground for a criminal charge." "ALTHOUGH on the Sabbath the Sanhedrin would not hold any formal meeting, and, even had there been such, the testimony of one man would not have sufficed, yet 'the Pharisees' set the inquiry regularly on foot. First, as if not satisfied with the report of those who had brought the man, they made him repeat it. The simplicity of the man's language left no room for evasion or subterfuge. Rabbinism was on its great trial. The wondrous fact could neither be denied nor explained, and the only ground for resisting the legitimate inference as to the character of him who had done it, was its inconsistency with their traditional law. The alternative was: whether their traditional law of Sabbath observance, or else he who had done such miracles, was divine. Was Christ not of God, because he did not keep the Sabbath in their way? But, then, could an open transgressor of God's law do such miracles? In this dilemma they turned to the simple man before them. 'Seeing that he opened his eyes, what did he say of him? what was the impression left on his mind, who had the best opportunity of judging? There is something very peculiar, and, in one sense most instructive, as to the general opinion entertained even by the best disposed who had not yet been taught the higher truth, in his reply, so simple and solemn, so comprehensive in its sequences: 'He is a prophet.''—Edersheim's Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah." God’s Way of Saving Souls
By Flavel
When God intends to fill a soul, he first makes it empty; when he intends to enrich a soul, he first makes it poor; when he intends to exalt a soul, he first makes it humble; when he intends to save a soul, he first makes it sensible to its own miseries, wants and nothingness.—Flavel. Christians Are God’s Children
By Sunday School Times
Worrying Christians need to go to Christ and learn that his service is perfect freedom; and that though there is never an instant in which we do not belong to God, and must live for God, we are always his children, not his slaves.—Sunday School Times. It is nothing to a man to be greater or less than another—to be esteemed, or otherwise, by the public or private world in which he moves. Does he, or does he not, behold and love and live the unchangeable, the essential, the divine?—Sel. Redeemed From Under the Law.
(Lesson 12.—Sabbath, July 10.) 1. WHAT does Paul say of those who are led by the Spirit? "But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." Gal. 5: 18. 2. Then what must be the condition of those who are not led by the Spirit? If those who are led by the Spirit are not under the law, then those who are not led by the Spirit must be "under the law." 3. What is directly contrary to the Spirit? "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." Gal. 5: 17. 4. Since those who are in opposition to the Spirit are under the law, and the flesh is also opposed to the Spirit, to what is being in the flesh equivalent? 5. What are the works of the flesh? "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like; of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Gal. 5: 19–21. 6. What are the fruits of the Spirit? "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against such there is no law." Gal. 5: 22, 23. 7. With what are the fruits of the Spirit in harmony? "Meekness, temperance; against such there is no law." Gal. 5: 23. 8. Then since the flesh and the Spirit are contrary to each other, of what must the works of the flesh be a transgression? 9. And since following the flesh is being "under the law," what is it to be under the law? To be a transgressor of the law. 10. In another place what does Paul say of us when we were children? "Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world." Gal. 4: 3. 11. To what were we in bondage? Id. 12. To what does he say the Galatians were desirous of returning? "But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage." Gal. 4: 9. 13. While in that state of bondage what had they done? "Howbeit then, when he knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods." Gal. 4: 8. 14. Then what is meant by the elements of the world? "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience." Eph. 2: 1, 2. 15. What did God do in the fullness of time? "But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law." Gal. 4: 4. 16. For what purpose was he sent? "To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Gal. 4: 5. 17. In order to redeem those under the law, how was Christ made? 18. What does Paul elsewhere say Christ was made for us? "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 2 Cor. 5: 21. 19. Why was he made to be sin for us? Id., last part. 20. Being redeemed from under the law, what do we receive? 21. Who alone are the sons of God? "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Rom. 8: 14. 22. And with what are their works in harmony? 23. What is said of such? "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Rom. 8: 1. The Inner Makes the Outer
The inner makes the outer. The without always lies under the shadow or the sunshine created by the within. To a mind vacant of God, nature is a godless vacancy; to a heart void of Deity the universe is an undivine void. It is in the family life that a man's piety gets tested. Let the husband be cross and surly, giving a snap here and a cuff there, and see how out of sorts everything gets! The wife grows cold and unamiable, too. Both are tuned on one key. They vibrate in unison, giving tone for tone, rising in harmony or discord together. The children grow up saucy and savage as young bears. The father becomes callous, peevish, hard, a kind of two-legged brute with clothes on. The wife bristles in self-defense. They develop an unnatural growth and sharpness of teeth; and the house is haunted by ugliness and domestic brawls. Is that what God meant the family to be—he who made it a place for love to build her nest in, and where kindness and sweet courtesy might come to their finest manifestations? The divine idea can be realized. There is sunshine381enough in the world to warm all. Why will not men come out of their caves to enjoy it? Sometimes a man makes it a point to treat every man's wife well but his own—to have smiles for all but his kindred. Strange, pitiable picture of human weakness, when those we love best are treated worst; when courtesy is shown to all but our friends! If one must be rude to any, let it be to some one he does not love—not to wife, sister, brother, or parent. Let one of our loved ones be taken away, and memory recalls a thousand sayings to regret. Death quickens recollection painfully. The grave cannot hide the white faces of those who sleep. The coffin and the green mound are cruel magnets. They draw us farther than we would go. They force us to remember. A man never sees so far into human life as when he looks over a wife's or a mother's grave. His eyes get wondrous clear then, and he sees as never before what it is to love and be loved; what it is to injure the feelings of the loved.—Christian Journal. You Cannot Begin Too Soon.
By Mrs. M. M. Bonsall
I SUPPOSE little Willie Fero must have been selfish, for he exhibited the trait long before he walked or talked, and he was not an only child, either. "Now is the time, sister; you cannot begin too early; he will probably never be as open and generous as Jennie or Charley, but you can certainly curb the tendency." "Oh pshaw! Mary, how can you tell whether a child will be this or that while a mere infant. It is perfectly natural for a baby to want what he sees. I am sure Jennie and Charley were just like him." "There you are wrong. I don't know so much of Charley; but there never was a sweeter, more generous little child than Jennie. I was with you all through her babyhood, and when Charley came she couldn't do enough for him; or even before that, when but a year old, she never saw a child, either at home or abroad, that she didn't want to give something to. She would even climb off her little sled and ask her nurse to put some other child on it; and Charley, though perhaps not so self-sacrificing, is an unselfish child; but Willie goes ahead of any I ever saw." "But, Mary, I have no fear about his growing up selfish. Where would he get it from? You, and the whole family have always said that there was not a selfish hair in my head, and his papa is just as free from it." "That is neither here nor there, sister. Traits will crop out. There are some selfish ones in our family, and so long as you are not blind to your child's inclination, you had better try to stem the current at once." "How, pray? I can't reason with him. I don't see how you are to make a baby understand why he cannot do this or have that." "Why, Elizabeth, you astonish me. Never wait until a child is old enough to reason with; if you do, habits will be formed, the child will be master of you; and it must be a remarkable one who, after having had its own way until it is old enough to be reasoned with, will listen to it from one whom he has controlled, even though it be a parent. That child, sister, has, to speak within bounds, pulled that under spool from your machine twenty times to-day, and you can't stop him from doing it." "Yes I could, if I had the mind to whip him." "Why do you not do it, then?" "Because I hate to. He is so little and cunning; his heart would be broken." "Nonsense! Heart-broken! Yours will be broken if you do not do something with him. There it goes again! Now why do you not slap his fingers until they sting a little; he wouldn't pull that spool off many more times, if you will only let him know what you mean by 'mamma'll whip fingers.' He hears that dozens of times a day, and has never yet had it illustrated." Here Mrs. Fero rose, and with a quick little way she had, picked up the spool and said, as she had so many times said before, "Now, Willie, mamma whip fingers," only this time she carried the threat into effect. If you could have seen and heard this little tyrant, you would have pitied the mother, at the same time thinking it was time he was taken in hand. "Don't notice him, sister; he'll soon get over it; all he wants is you to look at him." "But he'll knock his head off. I never knew him to do such a thing before." "Because he has never been thwarted. I have seen children do this same thing before, fall down and bump their heads against the floor, just as he is doing. It can't be that it hurts, or they wouldn't do it. It is his temper. Pretend you don't see him, and you'll see how soon he'll be over it." All the while mamma and aunty were talking sotto voce this young eighteen-month-older was giving little short jerks of screams, with an occasional bump with his head on the floor; but as aunty had said, the least said the sooner mended, the little toad's troubles were soon forgotten, and nature's sweet restorer was indeed a relief to all hands. "Now, Elizabeth, you have made a beginning, and so has he. After all, though he started out with such violence, it was not of long duration. And he was not killed either; and is sleeping as sweetly as ever. And the victory, what there is of it, is on your side. And let me tell you that if you do not always have it, it will be your own fault. Always be firm, never give in to him, don't let pity get the best of you, and, above all, make him understand how much you love him. To-morrow, or even when he wakes, should he go to the machine, as he doubtless will do, and pull the spool off, repeat the taps on his fingers. It will be very hard to go through it all again; but all will have gone for nothing if you are not uniform in what you undertake. You have a noble work before you, and you are patient and amiable. Oh! do, for the sake of your own and your children's happiness, be less yielding to their wishes. You are too busy; it is your greatest fault. And now as to Willie's selfishness, much of this will have to be educated out of him; only make him understand that one handful at a time is enough for him, he generally wants both hands filled; and because he is 'baby' don't make the others give up to him as you do; though it may not hurt them, it will certainly hurt him. Teach him to exercise self-denial at the start." "Do you remember, Elizabeth, my old friend, Mrs. Prime?" "Yes, indeed, whatever became of her? I thought her so bright and intelligent." "She died over a year ago, and you would never have thought, had you seen her when her two children were small, that she would have died of a broken heart on their account. Her eldest boy was a terror from the first; so long as he was young everything was cunning that he did, for he was very bright and intelligent, but somehow everything tended to bad. Complaints used to come after a while to his parents, and Mrs. Prime has often talked to me about him, and would say, 'I'm not at all afraid but that Eddie will make his mark. I hardly see the use of noticing every little thing a child does, just as soon as he is old enough to reason with, I'll take him in hand.' Alas! he made his mark, but it was a bad one. When he became old enough to reason with, habits and traits had gotten a firm grip, and could not be brought to yield to reason. So Eddie went from bad to worse, and was the skeleton of that once lovely home. The daughter, you know, was wayward, and married unhappily. So I really think, though both parents were bright and intelligent, that they were greatly to blame in allowing their children to have their own way too long. I said to Mrs. Prime's physician during her last illness, 'What appears to be the matter, doctor, with Mrs. Prime, she doesn't seem to have any pain?'" "Simply, madam, a broken heart," was his answer. "And so, dear sister, it lies with you greatly whether you die of a broken heart. Only begin in time, or rather begin at once. You have lost some time, still you are yet the master, I see." The Home Circle.
By Ella Wheeler Wilcox
I HOLD it true that thoughts are things
Endowed with being, breath, and wings;
And that we send them forth to fill
The world with good results or ill. That which we call our secret thought
Speeds to the earth's remotest spot,
And leaves its blessings or its woes
Like tracks behind it, as it goes. It is God's law; remember it
In your still chamber as you sit
With thoughts you would not dare have known,
And yet make comrades when alone. These thoughts have life, and they will fly
And leave their impress by and by,
Like some marsh breeze, whose poisoned breath
Breathes into homes its fevered death. And, after you have quite forgot
Or all outgrown some vanished thought,
Back to your mind, to make its home,
A dove or raven, it will come. Then let your secret thoughts be fair—
They have a vital part and share
In shaping worlds and moulding fate—
God's system is so intricate!
—Ella Wheeler Wilcox, in Christian at Work. Commencement Season.
By Christian Union
At this commencement season of the year probably a score of orators have remarked to their audiences, in connection with addresses bearing upon woman's education, that the noblest office a woman can fill is that of wife and mother. This remark continues to be profound, though it has ceased to be original; it is perhaps desirable to repeat it once a year, for liturgical forms have their benefits, and as every year witnesses the graduation of a new class of girls, it may be well enough to reiterate a lesson which is old to pupils who are new. But we respectfully suggest, for the benefit of next year's orators, that it would be quite as profound and considerably more original to remark that the noblest office which a man can fill is that of husband and father. The boys need education for home life no less truly than the girls; if a woman ought to know how to cook a beefsteak without burning it to a cinder, a man ought to know how to drive a nail without pounding his fingers or splitting the board. Woman ought not, either, to have a monopoly of the domestic virtues, and love and self-denial are manly as well as womanly attributes. The principle is capable of a widely extended application. The father who lets his sons grow up to scoff at their mother and to tease and hector their sisters is fitting them to make a wretched travesty of a home when they are old enough to have one of their own; while he who trains his boys to respect their mother, and to defend chivalrously their sisters from the vexations and annoyances of life, is training them to be founders of homes; and the founders of homes are the true founders of the nation. A good brother or son will make a good husband and father, and that is quite as high an office as that of wife and mother, though one far less honored in public estimation, because far less honored, ordinarily, in the filling of it.—Christian Union. A Strange Kind of Economy.
By W. A. Blakely
"Don't throw that away," said a saving mother one day to the kitchen girl, "we can make 'camp-toast' of it for breakfast; the children think it so good." And the bread, sour, heavy, and full of soda, already unfit for the human stomach, was fried in grease and highly seasoned with pepper, salt, sage, etc., to be eaten by the children! Is it any wonder that they were frequently unwell and subject to headaches? and that early in life they were troubled with dyspepsia? Children who eat such food lose control of their appetites and often overload their stomachs. They have no relish for plain, wholesome food, and must have pickles, catsup, rich preserves, chow-chow, spices, pepper, salt, etc., to satisfy their perverted tastes, and to stimulate their poor, weak, and overworked stomachs; while frequent cups of tea, coffee, and chocolate are made to take the place of the saliva provided by nature to moisten the food and assist in its digestion. Poor cooking is very common, and an effort is made to conceal it by "seasoning." The "economical" mother never throws away her sour pastry and bread, but makes them into fancy dishes for breakfast! As might be expected, appetites thus perverted demand something stronger, and the boys soon follow the example of their father in the use of tobacco; and only a few years later they go further and become slaves to the cup. How sorry the mother now is that her boys are going to ruin! How she now labors for them! But all the time she had been a temperance (?) woman, giving both time and money to the temperance work. Little did she realize that she was sowing the seeds of death in her children by perverting their appetites. Many a mother has been thus directly responsible for the ruined health, and dishonored life of her own offspring. Yet, notwithstanding the deplorable results, this state of affairs is common. Poor cooking, and eating poor food to save it, is quite general. Such economy is the greatest extravagance. Sacrifice health, happiness, and even morality itself, to save a few cents! Contract doctor's bills, make life short and unhappy, and have your days filled with trouble, that you may save the few additional pennies that it would cost to have good food, good cooking, and a bright and happy home! Better buy several sacks of flour and practice until you can make good bread than to have an unhappy husband and dyspeptic children. But if the bread or pastry is not well-baked or has soured, never use it for food, for the sake of "economy." Neither should sauce when sour, preserves when "turned," fruit when partially decayed, nor meat when it is "high," ever be used for food. Care exercised in these respects will preserve health and prevent doctors' bills. "Bad cookery," says Professor Jewell, "has destroyed more men than famine, pestilence, or war." If such be the case, or if the statement be but half true, it should warn all to look well to this branch of domestic economy. Intemperance too often begins at home; then guard against it by seeing that good, healthful, well-cooked food is always provided for the table; and better health, fewer quick tempers, happier children, and a reduction in the total expenses, will be the sure result. W. A. BLAKELY. Maximilian's Island Home.
The Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria, in addition to many other pomps and vanities, has an island of his own—Lacroma, in the Adriatic, opposite Ragusa; and there in the midst of lovely scenery, surrounded by a transparent sea, he is convalescing after a recent indisposition. The isle, three days' steam from Trieste, is as beautiful as Monaco, and quite out of the world; for while the owner is in residence no one is allowed to land without a special permit. Lacroma formerly belonged to that most unfortunate of monarchs, Maximilian of Mexico, who was much attached to it, and wrote several little poems in praise of its charms. After his terrible end the island was possessed by a succession of ordinary people, by one of whom it was sold to the Archduke Rudolph in 1878. The future Emperor of Austria lives at Lacroma in the greatest simplicity. When Maximilian bought the isle, the only available residence on it was an old monastery which had been going to ruin for half a century; and in this building the Crown Prince and Princess live their simple lives. There are but three good rooms in the house—the drawing-room, the ancient refectory, used as salon de musique, and the dining-room. The imperial bed-chambers are of very meager dimensions, while the long-titled dukes and duchesses of the suite have to be content with the cells of the vanished monks. The plain whitewashed walls match the rough, serviceable furniture. The monastery is said to have been built by the citizens of Ragusa as a thank-offering for the stoppage of a great fire. At the beginning of the present century it was partially destroyed by an earthquake, and has never been thoroughly restored. The scenery of the island is entirely romantic. Beneath a sky which is rarely clouded grows a luxuriant tropical vegetation—groves of orange and myrtle, of aloes and figs; a true "land where the citron blooms."—London Life. Egyptian Business Methods.
THE business methods of the followers of Mahomet are strange to Europeans, or at least to Americans. A particularly honest tradesman asked me whether I wanted to bargain for a few things that I was buying, or whether I wanted the last price. For curiosity I said I would bargain; and behold, the price immediately rose fully five times. It appears that they feel no scruples in making all they possibly can. Five, or even ten, times the value of small articles is quite satisfactory to the merchant. Americans are regarded as individuals who have more gold than brains, and many are fleeced to a ridiculous extent.—Boston Transcript. Health and Temperance.
By Editor
EVERY little while the papers contain an account of one or more deaths from trichina—the result of eating raw pork—but instead of warning their readers against the use of swine's flesh as food, the remedy almost universally recommended is "cooking"! The following, from a paper published in Santa Clara County, Cal., is a sample:— "Early in April a young man named John Martins died from trichina at Livermore. He ate a dish of raw beef and pork chopped fine together, and about a week afterward was taken sick, with symptoms somewhat resembling typhoid fever. Toward the close of his illness he spoke of having eaten the raw meat, and his physician at once suspected the real difficulty and prepared to prove it, but before the instrument arrived the man was dead. The examination was made, however, and the microscope revealed the dreaded trichina in his flesh. The practice of eating raw meat should be discouraged. Very slight cooking will remove all danger. The only flesh commonly eaten in which trichina has been found is pork. Raw beef may contain the young of the tapeworm, which is disagreeable and annoying, if not absolutely dangerous to human life." Very true, "the practice of eating raw meat should be discouraged;" but how about cooking and eating meat which before cooking is alive with worms, and which after cooking is full of dead worms? Though we suppose that all hogs are not infested with this parasite, yet the chances are that the pork eater will have a "diet of worms." If he cooks his meat he kills the worms; if he eats it raw, the worms kill him. But there is little hope that the public will ever be brought to recognize the fact that swine's flesh is totally unfit for food; and so the papers will continue to record occasional cases of death from trichina, and numerous fatal but not clearly-defined cases "somewhat resembling typhoid fever." However, let all who will subsist upon a "diet of worms" see to it that they are killed by thorough cooking before being eaten. How Oleomargarine Is Made.
OLEOMARGARINE is made in the following way: Animal fat, over the surface of which salt has been sprinkled, is heated to about 120° Fahrenheit. The fat melts to oil, the straight fat rising to the top, the poorer part settling to the bottom. The poorer portion is exported to Europe for candle-making. The clear fat is placed in large boxes holding 500 to 600 pounds, and is allowed to cool and granulate. It is next placed in heavy duck bags, and submitted to a hydraulic pressure of from fifty to seventy tons to the square inch. Under this pressure the oleo oil flows out, leaving the hard stearine, which is largely used to mix with lard. The oil is then mixed with milk and real butter, the latter being added in greater or less amount, depending on the kind of product desired. The mixture is churned like regular butter, and the product is oleomargarine. Instead of the straight animal fat, suet is often used. Butterine is a compound of lard and butter.—Sel. THE great naturalist, Cuvier, was walking one day with a young lady, who was a victim of tight lacing, in a public garden in Paris. A lovely blossom upon an elegant plant drew from her an expression of admiration. Looking at her pale, thin face, Cuvier said: "You were like this flower once; to-morrow it will be as you are now." Next day he led her to the same spot and the beautiful flower was dying. She asked the cause. "This plant," replied Cuvier, "is an image of yourself. I will show you what is the matter with it." He pointed to a cord bound tightly around the stem and said: "You are fading away exactly in the same manner under the compression of your corset, and you are losing by degrees all your youthful charms, just because you have not the courage to resist the dangerous fashion."—Washington Republic.