Earlier text: THE BREATH OF LIFESIN is the transgression, or perversion, of the law of God (1 John 3:4); and all sickness is the result of sin. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is desperately sick." Jer. 17:9, R. V. All humanity at the best is diseased, and therefore mortal. The well person is only comparatively healthy, for he is subject to death. Heb. 9:27; Rom. 5:12. Because of man's need, Jesus Christ not only bore "our sins in His own body on the tree," but He also "Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." 1 Peter 2:24; Matt. 8:17. And as He bore our sins that He might cleanse us from them, so He bore our sicknesses that He might heal us. 1 John 1:9; 1 Peter 2:24. "He . . . healed all that were sick." Matt. 8:16. He sent forth His disciples with the instruction, "Heal the sick." Luke 10:9. He said of them, "They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." Mark 16:18. And this was manifest among them for years. Mark 16:20; Acts 5:15, 16; 14:8-10. The Word assures us that God is unchangeable. Jesus Christ is "the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever." God reveals Himself to His people: "I am Jehovah that healeth thee." Ex. 15:26. Faith responds, "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases." Ps. 103:3. But it must be by faith in God, not fanaticism. When He shall gather His people to their own land, it shall be said, "The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick; the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity." VARIANCE ONLY IN EXPRESSION.
The Common Version of Rev. 22:14 reads, "Blessed are they that do His commandments," etc. The Revised Version reads: "Blessed are they that wash their robes," etc. Some professed Christians, who still seem to have an innate aversion to anything suggestive of keeping the commandments of God, imagine that the Revised Version of this text relieves them from the obligation implied in the Common Version. But the difference is simply one of expression; the principle is the same. The robes of God's people are spoken of as "fine linen, clean and white" (Rev. 19:8); and this "fine linen is the righteousness of the saints." The robes of the righteous are washed and made "white in the blood of the Lamb." Ch. 7:14. Those who wash their robes (characters) in the blood of the Lamb are made righteous. They become like Christ (1 John 3:2), for He is righteous (Rev. 16:5); He kept the commandments of God (Ps. 40:7, 8; John 15:10). The Lord's people are reckoned as priests (1 Peter 2:5, 9; Rev. 1:6; 5:10; 20:6), and David says, "Let Thy priests be clothed with righteousness" (Ps. 132:9). Again he says, "All Thy commandments are righteousness." Ps. 119:172. To wash one's robes is to put away sin (Ps. 51:2, 7; Isa. 1:16-18; Jer. 4:14); and "sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4; Rom. 7:7). Therefore to wash one's robes is to stop transgressing the law; in other words, to "do His commandments." Nor is there any relief from this fact by appealing to the original tongue, for doctrines may be and are variously stated in any language. There is no dodging the commandments of God, which comprise "the whole duty of man" (Eccl. 12:13), and may not be destroyed (Matt. 5:17, 18; Luke 16:17). The two Scripture versions are in perfect harmony on this subject, altho variant in expression. WHEN the spirit of imperialism becomes rampant it will not be satisfied in ruling far-distant colonies without their consent; it will manifest itself throughout the whole body politic, from Federal and state government down to police circles. That is the spirit of the age, and we shall see more of it instead of less as the days go by. As an instance of this, note the tyranny of police in our cities, as shown by Justice W. J. Gaynor, of the Supreme Court of New York, in a recent decision of a Brooklyn case, Peter Hale, a restaurant and saloon-keeper, against Police Captain Joseph Burns. Mr. Hale asked for an order enjoining the police from entering his place without a warrant and interfering with business. Among other things the judge said:— The facts disclosed in this case by the complaint and affidavits are undisputed in all essentials, and it is only necessary to state them to show the outrageous, criminal lawlessness being practised against the plaintiff by this captain of police. . . . We read of such official conduct in Russia and profess to be astonished over it, but we have had more of it in the city of New York for the last twenty-five years, and especially during the last eight or nine years, than there has been in any other place in the civilized world. . . . The defendant [police captain] evidently supposes that an arrest by a policeman in the City of New York is proof that the person arrested is a criminal, but this is not true anywhere, much less in the city of New York, where thousands of grossly illegal and oppressive arrests and trespasses have been made yearly at the instigation of police officials, especially in recent years. But New York is not alone. She has many sister sufferers, in which corruption among police and officials is notorious. TO PICKET THE INDIVIDUAL, NOT THE SHOP, IN FUTURE.
Labor Ward Club Organization Adopts French Revolution Methods—Non-unionists to Be Driven from Pillar to Post.
TO PICKET the individual, not the shop, is the new article in the creed of the labor movement in Chicago. It grows out of the labor ward club organization which is being pushed by R. G. Wall. It is that development which makes the new policy practicable. "Our system," said Mr. Wall yesterday at the headquarters of the Federation of Labor, "is the same that was perfected by the Jacobins and Cordeliers in the French Revolution. It is organization of the whole labor strength by wards. It concentrates in centers all the force and vote of the unions in Chicago. Now that the new vagrancy ordinance has gone into effect, picketing of the plants, buildings, or shops, will be doubly difficult. With the ward clubs flourishing, such picketing will be no longer necessary. We will picket the individual instead of the factory." "Suppose a foundry strike is on. The strikers send to each ward club the names of the non-unionists who are at work. The club investigates its own neighborhood, spots the 'scabs,' and reasons with them face to face and heart to heart. Each 'scab' will either be compelled to join the union or else quit the neighborhood." "Persuasion will not be a hard matter. Fifty cents for candy for the boys of the neighborhood will do the business. Point out to them the house of the 'scab.' That 'scab' will have a morning escort of yelling boys, and also an evening one. Then at school the 'scab's' children will have a time. The women will take up the cause as only women can. I guess the 'scab' will think he had better leave the neighborhood; but if he does move into another ward, he will but change to the bailiwick of another club." "The system of individual picketing will be much more effective than the crude methods now in vogue."—Chicago Inter-Ocean. THEY WILL NOT ENDURE SOUND DOCTRINE.
By A. R. Sandborn
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables." 2 Tim. 4:3, 4. The following statements clipped from the Bay City (Mich.) Times reveal to what extent this scripture is true:— "If a preacher does not exaggerate he will have no audience. I make the plea for pulpit exaggeration." So said the Rev. W. M. Lawrence, of the Second Baptist Church, in the course of a lecture to University of Chicago divinity students. "Exaggeration in the pulpit is entirely allowable," declared the Rev. Mr. Lawrence. "If the modern minister stated things as they actually are, people would not listen to him. I do not give this as an apology for lying, but it is a fact that the audiences of to-day demand sensationalism. They want to be impressed by big and extraordinary things; and the preacher must supply this demand. This necessitates exaggerated statements. The audience is attracted to them, discounts them, and accepts them at their real worth, while without the exaggeration, they would never have noticed them." "The minister who understands the psychology of the crowd can easily see how exaggeration governs a multitude. The swaying of a crowd in different ways illustrates the power of unionism and clubs. The congregation succumbs to this government, and really loves to be mastered." We are truly living in perilous times when such a thing as this is advocated by the ministry of the land. God says, "They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace." Jer. 6:14. They would proclaim that which would please the people instead of bringing them to a knowledge of sin. A minister in Cleveland was asked if he believed what he preached; he answered, "No." When asked why he did as he was doing, his answer was, that he preached as he did, and received three thousand dollars a year, when if he preached what he believed, he would not get over five hundred. In this time of exaggeration, deception, and strong delusion we would do well to heed the admonition of God as recorded in Jer. 7:16. He says to us: "Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest to your souls." It is the good old way of the Bible that will give rest to the soul, the foundation of prophets and apostles, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone. Then we will not be ashamed of the truth even tho it brings us to the fiery furnace, or the lions' den. Sound doctrine will not be endured by the majority, because it is not pleasing to the human ear. Sad indeed it is when the pulpit, dedicated to the proclamation of the Gospel, is willing to defile its holy position, and occupy a plane on a level with the world. On account of this condition we are facing the events brought out in Isa. 24:5, 6. "The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left." May we walk in the good old paths, and enjoy sound doctrine—walking in all the ways of God's commandments that we may be among the few that are left by the great conflagration that is about to burst upon the earth. Sun-Heat Casualties in Fresno
August 18 a woman was killed and a man stricken blind from the intense sun-heat in Fresno, Cal. SOCIALISM AND ROMAN CATHOLICISM.
THE Milwaukee Free Press, of June 7, gives a portion of an address by Victor L. Berger, a prominent and representative Social Democrat, of Wisconsin. Mr. Berger said:— The Roman Catholic Church has always searched for power. It has a political party in Germany, France, Belgium, and Austria. The Irish party represents it in England. There is no Roman Catholic party in China or America, but there will be. It merely has been a question of time. Whether this political action of the American Federation of Catholic societies, which has claimed to be a non-political organization, will make a division in the Roman Catholic Church or the membership of the federation, we do not care. It is none of our business. Every priest in the church who has proclaimed the principles of Socialism, or has raised his voice in remonstrance against autocracy in the church, has been kicked out by the back door. The simple question that is presented to the Roman Catholic Church to-day is whether it is to be pro-capitalistic or anti-capitalistic, just as the question one hundred years ago was whether it was to be pro-feudalistic or anti-feudalistic. One hundred years ago that church decided to stand for feudalism, and paid the penalty for this. It afterward made its peace with the bourgeois world, and seemed to fare well, and got rich again. To-day the Roman Catholic Church has decided to stand by Capitalism. It will have to take the consequences, and they may be much more serious than what happened in the French Revolution. Only there is one thing of which I have no doubt whatsoever. That is, as soon as Socialism wins out—which no doubt it will, since economic development makes it a necessity—the Catholic Church will then turn around and reverse its position, as it has done many a time, and claim that Christianity, and especially the Roman Catholic Church, always has been socialistic, and it will make its peace with the socialist commonwealth. But then, according to the prophet of God, the socialistic state will have yielded to the church, the church will control, and both will hasten to their doom. And the time draweth near, and the days will not be prolonged. Read Rev. 17:8-17. Foreign and Domestic News
In the early part of July the British bark, Dumfriesshire, bound from Dunedin, New Zealand, to Nehone, New Caledonia, with a cargo of nickel ore, struck on a reef. The captain and crew, feeling sure that the vessel was a hopeless wreck, abandoned her, and were picked up by another ship. The next morning the Dumfriesshire was nowhere to be seen, and it was supposed she had sunk. But she had not. She backed off the reef with the rising tide, sailed fifty miles around the island into a little harbor called Pourer, where a white settler, to whose very door the boat had come, boarded her, threw out her anchors, and claimed her as his own. She is worth about $75,000. He is now waiting for his salvage money. The French Minister of the Interior has issued a circular letter to all communes in Brittany, urging upon them the necessity of bringing about a halt in immigration to Canada and the United States. The minister calls attention to the fact that in some parts of Brittany this foreign drain has all but stripped the country of peasants, so that there are not enough left to harvest the crops, and in consequence the farmers are losing heavily. Colorado seems to be an experimental ground for practice in the art of military rule. Only a short time ago it was deemed necessary to call out the militia to put down the union miners; now the union men are trying to turn the tables, and get the national troops to make the other parties keep order. Russian nihilists and revolutionists are persistently circulating the report that the child recently born to the Czar of Russia was in reality a girl, and that the child of a Russian peasant woman has been substituted for it to be heir to the Russian throne. Anent the big "Ship Building Trust," and its tremendous swindle, it is now declared that its documents, on the evidence of which it could be successfully prosecuted, have been stolen or lost, so that criminal prosecution is impossible. The fierce tornado which visited St. Paul and Minneapolis caused the death of sixteen persons, and caused damage to property to the extent of $3,000,000. Russia has now called out considerably over half the first-class reserves of European Russia, and practically all the reserves in Siberia. [A. M. Barnes, in Christian Advocate.] Davy must go to college," his mother said, with sudden decision. "Go to college, Mrs. Few," echoed a blithe voice, "that he must! Do you know, I was going to mention that very thing to you?" and Ernest Page drew nearer, his blue eyes radiant. "I have said so for some time, that a way must be found to let Davy go to college," continued Ernest, "and now to think you, too, are of the opinion?" "But how am I to go to college?" gasped Davy. "It takes money, and it takes time, too, such precious time. O, mother, you surely forget! There are the crops to be put in. How could I be spared from that, even if the money were at hand, which it isn't?" His mother's lips trembled, but the glow was still in her eyes. "There's a little money saved, as you know, David, and perhaps the president will wait for the balance till the crops are gathered." "But who's to put in the crops if I go?" asked Davy. He was surprised to see such wide forgetfulness on his mother's part. She usually kept so carefully in mind every detail. "Why, your substitute, of course, old fellow," replied Ernest, gaily, as he threw his arm about Davy's neck. "My substitute! What do you mean, Ernest?" "I mean he who puts in the crops for you while you go away to drink at the fountain of knowledge, for which delightful draughts you, poor fellow, have thirsted so long." "But who would it be, Ernest? My mother is not able to hire a man, for his wages and his board would eat up more than half the income from the crops." Ernest wheeled suddenly till he looked Davy full in the eyes. "This thing is going to be done, so say no more about it; only get ready to go." Get ready for college! Davy's heart leaped. But no, it could not be. It was folly even to think of it. "Dear ones," he said, and now he put his arm about Ernest and reached for his mother's hand, "I know that you long so for me to go that your longing makes it seem as tho it could be accomplished. Yet think how impossible it is! Even with the kind assurance of President Spence that tuition will be free, there is the board to be paid, ten dollars a month, at the lowest." "We have the forty-odd dollars from the cotton sold at Christmas," his mother said, wistfully. "That will pay your passage and give you four months' board. Near that time we'll have the wheat crop in." "But who is to plant and harvest the wheat?" cried Davy. "I told you your substitute would do that," Ernest replied. "But who is to be my substitute?" persisted Davy. "My mother can not hire a man, that is certain." "Who said it was to be a man? Are you a man yourself, Davy? And haven't you put in the crops for the past two years?" A sudden uncertain note in Ernest's voice caused Davy to grasp his friend's chin quickly, and to force his head upward until he had a full view of the telltale blue eyes that could never keep back aught that was in the heart. "It can not be, Ernest, that—" Ernest sprang to his feet and drew himself up to the full height of his seventeen years. It was not a robust form, but there was an energy, a certain staying quality, about it good to see. "Yes, it is I, Davy," he began, his voice quivering with feeling, but growing stronger as he proceeded. "It is I who will be your substitute while you are away. I will help your mother with the crops, while you, poor, thirsty Davy, go to drink from the springs of knowledge. O, I can see you now! What draughts you will take! Dear, old fellow, it does me good even to think of it!" Davy, too, had arisen now. His eyes were moist, his chin gave a quivering movement. "I could never accept the sacrifice," he said, after a moment, steadily. "Think what you have already done for me, Ernest." "Coached you a little that you might be able to enter the freshman class when just such an opportunity as is now offered came to you." "A little?" echoed Davy, his eyes saying more than his words. "As if it has not been almost an every-night task for you all through the fall and a part of the winter! Say no more, Ernest, I can not accept this last great sacrifice from you, and neither can my mother." "Nay, lad," she said, with trembling voice, "'tis too much after the other," but the glow in her eyes showed how much she longed for it. "Then, there is your father to consider," added Davy. "My father has an older son and a hired workman besides. Have you forgotten, Davy, that I was brought home from college that I might do, for a year, just such work as I propose, in order to get more brawn for the next year's brain work?" "But you did not come home to do the whole work of a farm, and that for other people. Nay, I could never submit to it, Ernest." "Davy," said his mother, suddenly, "Davy, lad, listen to your old mammy." The pleading voice made Davy start, and gave to Ernest's heart a quicker bound. "Listen to your old mammy," she repeated. "If you refuse you will break her heart. Let Ernest do this for you that he proposes. Some days we'll have a hired man to help with the hardest of the labor, and I, too, will do my share. Let Ernest take your place here, and do you go to college, Davy. Afterward you can repay him. O, lad, have I not seen how you have fairly hungered for the learning? Go now, and get it. Go to please your old mammy, if no more. Refuse, and 'twill break her heart." The words ended in a sob, and her head went down. Davy sprang to her side and threw his arms about her. "Look up, mother," he begged. "I will go if you and Ernest say I must, but, O, it makes me feel so mean to think I am to gain my education at such a price!" In three days more Davy was off to college, and a week later, Ernest came to begin the spring plowing. But, alas! he barely had the ground ready for the first sowing of wheat when, as he was riding home from the field, his horse shied at a white calf and threw him, breaking his leg. His grief at the turn of affairs was greater than his moaning over his pain. "What will Davy's mother do now, without Davy's substitute?" he groaned. "But Davy must not know! yes, above all, Davy mustn't know! Perhaps father can find a way." His father's will was good, but added misfortunes rendered him helpless. His hired man ran away, and a note for a large amount that Mr. Page had signed for a friend was left to him to pay. Even at this hopeless stage, Davy's mother echoed Ernest's declaration, "Davy must not come home!" She had worked side by side with Davy heretofore. She had hoed, but never plowed. Yet she knew how it ought to be done. The story of Davy's substitute was not long in reaching the college; but, strange to say, the news of the change went much more slowly. Stranger still, not a whisper of it came to Davy's ears, even after others knew it. Meanwhile, Davy was applying himself to study with such avidity, that every member of the faculty, from the president down, was first astonished, then touched, by the lad's hunger for knowledge. He wrote bright letters home. After he had made up his mind to accept the sacrifice, Davy's resolve had never wavered, to keep every note of despondency out of his letters. Cheering words went to him in return. The most of these were from Ernest, who wrote as tho everything were going on as arranged. So it was, so far as the making of the crops was concerned, but never thought had Davy on the subject other than that Ernest was still his substitute. Great was the rejoicing on both sides when the wheat was harvested, and the money was sent to pay Davy's board for the last two months of the term. Davy wrote, not only in grateful, but, in glowing, terms of his substitute. His praise was unstinted. "I declare, old fellow," he said, "you are far ahead of what I could have done. It is wonderful." Then, indeed, did poor Ernest hang his head for shame, and, for the first time, felt that he would be willing to shorten Davy's term at college for the privilege of telling him the truth. The term was drawing to a close. Davy applied himself with such vigor that the president had expressed himself of the opinion that did the boy study at home during the summer, he would be ready to skip the remainder of the freshman course, and enter the junior class. Davy's heart fairly sang for joy over the good news. It was in the very midst of preparations for commencement that the bomb fell at poor Davy's feet, scattering his joy to the four winds. "I say, Davy," Edward Willis said, accosting him as he was passing across the grounds, "have you heard the latest news from poor Ernest Page?" Then, ere waiting for Davy to reply, he continued: "The doctors say that the reason his broken leg hasn't mended faster is because it was not set right at first. His only chance now, it seems, to walk fair and straight again is to have it broken over and reset." "Ernest's leg to be reset!" gasped Davy. "Why, I did not even know it was broken." "You didn't? Well, that is astonishing! What have your correspondents at home been thinking of not to tell you?" "How long since it happened?" stammered Davy, and unheeding the question of the other. "I mean when did Ernest break his leg?" "Why, more than four months ago. And you didn't know it? Why, that's surprising!" Davy, in a dazed state, saw him walk away. All his thoughts were in a whirl. Ernest's leg broken! Ernest confined to his room for four months! How, then, had he managed to serve as substitute on the farm for the boy who was away at college?11 Could it be, now—? Davy felt his heart almost suffocating him at the thought. Nay, it couldn't be! Why, it was well-nigh impossible. But he would go home. He must satisfy himself as to just how things were. The president denied his request; it was too near the close of the term. Then Davy broke down completely, and, sobbing like a child, told him all his fears. "I must go home, sir," declared Davy. "My mother needs me. I feel sure she does. How long she has been working like a slave to keep me here, it makes my heart ache to think." But, with all his fear, Davy had naught like a full conception of the real state of the case. Everything along the way from the station had a familiar look that warmed Davy's heart; but the nearer he drew to his home, the greater grew his forebodings. How had his mother managed without Ernest's help? Of course, she had been obliged to hire a man for the plowing; but how did it come about that the money received for the wheat had been such a surprising sum, with the man's hire and keep to be considered? Between an opening in the hickory trees, Davy caught his first view of the familiar fields. An exclamation of delight escaped him. Never had the corn at this season appeared so promising. The cotton, too, showed widespread, velvety leaves, full six inches above ground. What a master crop they would have, to be sure! Davy hurried on. Some one was plowing. There were fresh furrows down more than half of the rows of corn. Soon Davy had a view of the moving figure; then he saw it more distinctly. There came a little choking gasp, and he sprang away as tho the motive power of the winds was under his feet. She heard him coming, and turned suddenly. Then the plow lines slipped from her grasp; she pushed the old sunbonnet further back, and reached for him with toil-hardened hands, a look of joy radiating her face. "O, mother, mother!" reproached Davy, and every word was like a sob, "how could you have done it? How could you let me go on, not knowing you were working like a slave here?" " 'Twas all for the education, lad. Mammy's boy was getting the learning for which he hungered, and that was enough. But I haven't done it all alone," she added, quickly; "don't think so, Davy, my boy. I had a man to help me at odd times." "Had I known for one instant who was my substitute," cried Davy, "I never would have stayed." "So I knew, honey, and I would not let them tell you." He drew her gently to one side, pulled off his coat, placed it on her arm, and then, running his hands through the loops in the lines, grasped the plow handles. "My place is here," he said, as he clucked to the horse. "I'll never go back." But he did, for a noble man, a trustee of the college, hearing of the mother's sacrifice and the lad's devotion, provided a way, so that there was no longer any need for Davy to have a substitute. KEEP STEP WITH JESUS.
By Lucy A. Bennett
KEEP step with Jesus; He who leads
Should surely set the pace;
Keep step with Jesus, wouldst thou be
A victor in the race. Not overrunning His sweet will
Nor lagging far behind;
Who walk with Jesus—only these
The road to blessing find. O happy they who fear to take
One single step alone;
But, led by Him, will dare to tread
The pathless depths unknown. This sacred path man knoweth not,
Save only such as bow
To take His yoke, and breathe to Him,
Thou art my portion now. They tread it, and with quiet heart
Have learned—are learning still—
That not a single good outlies
The circle of His will.
—Lucy A. Bennett. DO NOT JUDGE BY CLOTHING.
Boys, do not judge a man by his clothing. A little incident occurred on one of the lines of street-cars of this city a few days since which is worthy of notice. A poorly clad woman entered the car carrying an infant in her arms. As she sat opposite I observed she seemed troubled about something. When the conductor passed through the car for the fares, she said in a very low voice, "Please, sir, I have no money; let me ride this time, and some other time I will pay you." "I can hear that story every day," said the conductor, in a loud, rough voice, "You can pay or get off." "Two fares, please," said a pleasant voice, as a toil-worn and sun-browned hand passed the conductor ten cents. "Heaven bless you, sir," said the woman, and long and silently she wept; the language of the heart so eloquent to express our hidden thoughts. This man in worn and soiled garments was one of God's noblemen. He possessed a heart to feel for the woes of others, and altho the act was but a trifle, it almost proves that we can not, with safety, judge a man by his clothing—"For many a true heart beats beneath a ragged jacket."—Our Dumb Animals. Our “Index” describes all lamps and their proper chimneys. With it you can always order the right size and shape of chimney for any lamp. FREE. Macbeth, Pittsburg, Pa. and hints, and suggestions for the days coming to you. Use your tongues little, but your eyes constantly. If young people would only use well their keen, quick eyes and be governed by what they see, they would be spared many a slip and tumble into pitfalls that the ones in advance of them are just drawing themselves away from.—Selected. HOW ANIMALS ARE BLESSED IN MEXICAN TOWNS.
By S. F. Examiner
ONE of the most remarkable and curious sights in the world is the blessing of animals in many of the most ancient towns in Mexico, annually on August 30th. For weeks beforehand the visitor hears of the approaching ceremony, as among the oldest, oddest, and most peculiar spectacles of that land of siestas and quaint customs. As the day approaches, the entire community, in each town where the ceremony is to take place, decorate the houses and streets with strings of varicolored tissue paper, and stalks of carrizo, the Mexican bamboo. The animals to be blessed are assembled outside the church in flocks and herds. They are driven in from farms miles around, beginning their journey early in the day, and gradually choking the roads and alleys, and putting a stop to traffic for that day. There are horses with paper sashes about their bodies, their tails braided with ribbons, and manes intertrimmed with flaming paper roses. Then there are cats and kittens, in long dolly dresses, and very frilly caps tied under their reluctant chins, their solemn, round eyes staring unblinkingly out from under the frills; and birds galore—love birds, mocking-birds, canaries, all in cages beribboned and beflowered. But funniest of all are the chickens in peaked caps of paper, tied also under their feathery chins—their sharp beaks and beady eyes inside the paper ruffles being a very ludicrous sight. They are further dressed in paper cloaks of varied hue, and pink and green paper garters are tied about their long legs in large bows. Presently appears a white-robed priest inside; he spreads his hands in blessing for a moment, while an attendant holds aloft a silver crucifix; a burst of music from the state band stationed near—a pause, while the priest looks down solemnly on the multitude waiting below. Then, taking a large brush, the priest fills it full of holy water, and sprinkles it far and wide, while the anxious owners below push, pull, hold up, and thump their charges so that each may catch but a drop. The King's Herald tells of a man who lives in Albany, and whose business was that of a clerk, that he had lately built a house that cost him three thousand dollars. His friends expressed their wonder that he could afford so fine a dwelling. "Why," said he "that is my smoke house." "Your smoke house! What do you mean?" "Why, I mean that twenty years ago I left off smoking, and put the money saved from smoke, with interest, in my house. Hence I call it my smoke house." Could not millions of dollars be spared for missions, if the money now spent, or rather misspent for tobacco, was poured into that channel? Will not some one of our subscribers let us hear from them in the near future? Every night just before going to bed, wash the face with hot water and Glenn's Sulphur Soap and you will get rid of pimples. Glenn's is the only sulphur soap that contains enough pure sulphur to make it a specific for skin diseases. Insist on having the genuine 25c. a cake at all drug stores, or mailed on receipt of 30c. by The Charles N. Crittenden Company, 115 Fulton Street, New York. THE NORTH-WESTERN LINE RUSSIA-JAPAN ATLAS.
Send ten cents in stamps to R. R. Ritchie, No. 617 Market Street, San Francisco, for Russo-Japanese War Atlas, issued by the Chicago & North-Western Railway, three fine colored maps each 14x20, bound in convenient form for reference. The Eastern Situation shown in detail with tables showing relative military and naval strength and financial resources of Russia and Japan.