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Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, May 12, 1909, Image 6

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Persistent link: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026897/1909-05-12/ed-1/seq-6/

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il wonder %i in>e\v/in.pre
This hillside rond.
That wander* on by many.
And mossed abodti
Though like to none my
Though like to no:
My'mind bas ever picturet
It leads me on.
1 reach its crofts, its orchi
That from it rise,
Its sudden turns, its long
With no surprise.
* t- I
But with a sepse as of is.t
There seems to be
A greeting that is sweet \
For all T see.
1 feel at home! the very 1
That on me fall,. .
Th? gentle aire that Iris* n
Seem blessings all
1 can but think that long
A body found.
? I tarried here, and here: wi
' By all around.
A year or two before the opening;
of the Revolution, the Mertons came
down into fae Mohawk Valley from
the heart of New England, and set-,
tiing there, cleared a little place in
the great forest and began life-in the
new home.
Rebecca Merton soon became the
real head of the family; for the hus
band and father sustained r disabling
' injury in the clearing and in time be
came nearly helpless.
The wife, ' a young woman with \
three small children to look afte?,
cama of Puritan stock and could look
. along, the line of her ancestors to the
..landing of the Pilgrims. Indeed, she
\ had in her possession the identical
rifle which her great-grandfather had
brought over from the Old World in
\ the Mayflower, and with which, cn
: more than one occasion, ..o had hunt
ed and fought with Miles Standish.
At the particular period of which
we write the Indians were not very
troublesome, but now and then they
came sneaking about the white settle- j
ment,, hut did little more than pilfer.
" However, the war cloud which had
v hung over the colonies grew darker,
? and with every new report came
\ thoughts of war.
Perry Merton's injury increased in
several waysy.until at last he was ui%
able to leave his bed. He could not
assist at all in the management of
the little farm, and his wife and chil
dren .were compelled to take his place.
Toward the close of an autumn day
one of the Merton children, ,wko had
been to mill oa the only horse owned
by the little family, returned with the
report that a bear had been seen at j
the o?d Pennypot bridge, about a mile I
.and a half from the house.
"We shall:he visited to-night,': said
Perry Merton, looking at his wife.
"The animal-'will raid our pens, and
unless they are guarded we will be
th,e losers'.'*
Mrs. .Merton went direct to the |
family heirloom, which rested on a;
.set of polished antlers^ above the
door, and. begun to inspect it. She
had handled the rifle before and could
centre-hit a very small target at a
hundred yards.
*" Contrary to' expectation the bear
did not make Ids appearance, and at
last the family, tired of "watching for
his bearskin, retired. The rifle, how
ever, was not returned to the antlers,
but was, placed within easy reach pf
the bed, and Mrs. Merton's > hand
rested close to the polished stock.
Midnight had passed when the hus
band, lying awake on account of the
pain, heard a peculiar sound outside
the cabin, and in another moment had
awakened his wife,
v Accustomed to prompt action, Mrs.
Merton arose, and, rifle in hand, went
to the window and looked out. It
was dark beyond the door; so dark,
indeed, ?.nat one could not see one's
hand when placed close to the face,
and in vaia, did the pioneer woman
look for the meaning of the noise.
Suddenly a great uoise was heard
toward the pens, and in an instant
the door was opened.
"The bear has come at last," cried
the woman, glancing at her husband,
and.then she dressed herself;
; "Tod cannot shoot in the dark,"
' was the reply. "Benny will light you
to the pens."
The fire on the .-old-fashioned
hearth still burned with a little bril
liancy, and In ? few moments the
eldest child, a boy of ten, and as cour
ageous as his mother, held above his
head a fagot which he had taker
from the heap.
"Be careful," admonished th?
crippled father. "Don't fire till yoi
see. the eyes. Becky, and then sene
the bullet right between them."
Carrying the rifle, and followed b]
her son, who held the torch above hil
head, allowing its light to preced?
them, the ; courageous woman ad
vanced toward the pens.
The anxious husband leaned towan
the little window near the bed am
held hu? breath. It was not the firs
time his wife had encountered 01<
Ephraim; but a hungry bear is not J
nice enemy, and ls apt. if wounded, ti
make a desperate battle.
" In the neighborhood of the pen
everything had become suddenly stil
.but the very silence was ominous
and this caused Mrs. Merton to pro
coed with caution.
"We have lost the hear, mother,
said the boy, when they reached th
pens and found no game.
"But he has been here. Look a
the blood on the ground, and ther
lies one ot the pigs dead."
Mother and son bent over the rai!
int ol the sty, and Benny held th
torch close to the ground.
In one corner of the pen lay a fin
pig, still bleeding, and for an anime
of that kind to lie in the pen after
Visit by a bear was most pecullai
Mrs. Merton took the torch from hf
. son's hand and held it close to tb
porker.
; ; Her face lost a little color as sh
< rose and looked toward the wood.
"It must have been a- little bea
. mother, not to have been stron
enough lo run off with the plg,";sal
. Benny. "Seems to me he found \hi
1
US AW Cia.
.v Wr\ -? *V ii '
'?existence ... ;., .
an old and. iviei
feet have ever.traversed"
ne 'S ' . . 7- . : ' v;
1, with no strangeness
irds, and its pastures
and leafy vistas, -.
niliar objects,
nth recognition
ighis and'shadows " i
rj grateful forehead,
before my spirit
IS ott delighted
Loella Wilson Smith, in The Bohemian.
fae pig was not fat enough, and BO
left lt where lt lies."
"Perhaps, Benny; but we will look
after the bear a little. Take the path
to;the wood, liait the coops. We will
see if we can lind the prowler. " .
Clutching the rifle with more firm
ness, Rebecca Merton started toward
the forest, and in a little while she
and her son .had passed the fringe
and stood underneath the trees.
Benny Leid the torch abov his head
while his mother looked on every side
in hopes of seeing a living target for
the family rifle.
"Mother," said the boy, "what If
the bear was an Indian?"
3?rs. Merton glanced down at the
little speaker, and for a moment
seemed to smile.
"An Indian, boy?"
,*Why not? Haven't you noticed
the strange marks on the ground be
tween here and the pens?" '
"I have not been looking down very
closely. *
"Then lfet us-go back a little and I
will show you the track? where the
ground is soft."
Mother and son retraced their steps
aind?ll at once the latter pointed to.
the ground, lt .was at a spot where
the ground was still soft from recent
rains, and very few leaves were lhere.
. "Here is one of the tracks, moth
er," said Eenny. "Don't yon seo lt. is
shaped like a human foot, and that
the toes turn Inward? I saw a good
many Indian tracks on the old sand
bar last summer and we knew that
they were Indian ones. " : v
The settler's wife had taken the
torch from her son's hands and was
looking at the ground at her feet.
The light fell full upon the spot and
she could make out the outlines of a
human footmark in the yielding soil.
"Our bear may be a redskin,* saf 1
the boy, watching his ? mother.
There was no reply, as Mrs. Merton
rose quickly and looked toward the
cabin where she had left her husband
and the other little ones asleep.
Come," she said hastily. "If an
Indian has been here we must reach
the cabin as soon as possible."
In another moment mother and son ?
were hastening toward the little
home; but suddenly a cry from
Benny's lips startled the mother, and
she stopped and looked at, him. -
The bear, mother; the bear!" said
the boy, pointing toward the house,
but a few rods distant.
Mrs. Merton leaned forward, her
eager eyes searching out the dark
places, whica the light of the torch
did not fully penetrate.
Benny had fallen behind his moth
et and waE holding, the flambeau
above his head7, his face pale and his
little hands wound about the fagot
with resolution.
"I see no bear. Benny," said Mrs.
Merton.
"Neither do I now, but he was right
over yonder among the bushes, for I
got a glimpse of his eyes and-*
"Hush, Benny. I see him now!" ?
The light had sought out the -lum*
of. bushes designated by the pioneer
boy, and Mrs. Merton had stepped
back a pace and thrown the rifle to
her shoulder.
"Remember, what father said,"
whispered Benny. "Don't shoot till
you can take him between the eyes."
"Never mind, Benny. He shall get
i: there or not at all."
The gli?tenlng targets which both
mother and son now saw were near
the ground, as if the bear had
crouched, and the firelight enabled
them to. see them plainly.
Benny Merton watched his mother
while he held his breath, and won
dered if the bear when killed would
turn out to be a large one, or a weak
ling, as he fully believed-not large
enough, to carry off a pig after at
tacking the pen.
Seconds seemed minutes to the boj
who held the torch for the deter
?OOOOOO??* o?????Ci
Th? Appeal (
?-?<
OOD-BYE, then, to c
of the Voice which
the worn-out costum
bye to tiresome rou
Let us tenderly lay
wherein we have scrawled ai
faith and salvation. All hon
stones which mark the maj?
But our faces are to the futu
ehly Leader; we more at His
victories. '
Poor, rich humaa heart,
sin; to irre ver ant self-will ai
animalism, and torpid indiffe
ill-will; to profane uses of
truth as it is in Jesus-"thi
his deeds, which are corrupt
and that ye put on th3 net?
pattern, in righteousness an
ttip life of faith, which ls th<
service of man, which is the
\0 Spirit Eternal, for Thy
-B,y the Rev. Charles Gordc
>000* ?'
588838888* :..
mur?a woman, but suddenly the rifa
ran? ont on' the night air,' and there
followed'a wild scream, while the two
fiery eyes near the ground Vanished
Instantly.
"You hit.him, mother! " cried the
excited. boy.
Mrs.-Merton, standing like a statue
in the firelight, made no r?ply, but
the boy noticed that, she was deathly
pale, and that the rifle trembled in
her hands.
"He is over there . among the
bushes," continued Benny. "I did
not hear him run. Mother, that was
I one of the best shots of your life."
I Without a word Mrs. Merton ad
vanced, followed by her son, to the
clump of bushes, but she instinctively
drew back, and for a moment passed
her hand across her face.
The game lay dead at their feet.v
There, in the light of the torch,
with death in his staring ey is, lay an
indian dressed for the varpath and
armed with tomahawk and scalplng
knife. the former clutched in his
grim, dead hand.
Benny Merton -looked a moment
amazed, and then almost dropped the
torch. ;
"His eyes glittered Uko a bear's in
the light," said he. "But, mother, if
you had not killed him what would
have become of us?"
The presence of the armed Indian
about the little home, at that hour,
told how narrow'had been the escape
of the family, and but for Mrs. Mer-1
ton's fortunate fire-hunt there might
have bean an attack on the cabin.
The death of the prowling redskin
was a secret wbich had to be kept,
and long before daylight there was a
grave In a secluded spot in the forest,
and in time wild bushes grew over
the'spot, which was in no other man
ner marked."
The Indian had undoubtedly killed
the pig, but in doing so had sealed his
own doom, for he could not have
heard of the courage of Rebecca Mer
ton nor oi her marksmanship with
the Mayflower rifle.
'.The secret of the fire-hunt was
zealously kept by the Mertons; but
Benny, when he grew to manhood,
long after the Revolution, told to a
few the story of the bear which
turned out to be a Mohawk brave.-?
Youth's World.
SCIENCE
AND
INDUSTRY
An English ornithologist has suc
cessfully bred the black swan, one of
the rarest ol birds except in Australia.
A permanent national exposition at
Madrid, for the promotion of which
an organization has been formed in
Spain, will have for one of its chief
objects the stimulation ct scientific
methods in agriculture and manufac- j
turing.
! v A new stop watch has been brought
out for ase of physicians and nurses
i in counting pulse beats. The press
ure of a button starts it -and another
pressure stops it and marks the time
when a given number of beats have
been counted.
Whether warts spread by contact
has been much discussed. A Glas
gow physician mentions that a maid
with many warts on hands and arms
was employed in a certain family, and
warts soon appeared on the hands of
the three children. The youngest, a
boy of five, with a habit of biting the
fingers, developed two warts on tho
lip and one in the mouth.
Before the Royal Photographic So
ciety of England a lecturer said re
cently: "One of the reasons why
Americans excel in certain branches
of athletics is that athletic clubs in
the United States use the focal-plane
photograph and the cinematograph to
record every incident of their prac
tices. Afterward faults are corrected
by careful study of what the camera
shows." '
The water produced by the melting
of glacier ice in summer flows down
through crevasses to the bottom of
the glacier, and, forming a channel
by erosion, emerges often as a large
stream. In the Arctic regions these
phenomena take place on a very large
scale. The Danish expedition to the
portheast coast of Greenland, con
ducted by Myllus and Erichsen, dis
covered and explored vast caverns
thus formed by glacial streams. Some
of these caves are sixty to seventy
feet in height and more than a mlle
long. In winter the streams cease
flowing, but the caverns or tunnels
remain roady to receive the streams
of the next summer. *
)f Modernism.
onfusing and misleading echoes
forever speaks! Good-bye to
?es of dead generations! Good
tine and cumbrous ceremonial!
aside the dear old copy-books
id misspelled the holy words of
or to the monuments and mile
?stic march of God in history!
re. We do not desert the heav
orders toward new and grander
say good-bye also to folly and
ad silly conceit; to worldliness,
renee; to unbrotherly greed and
the day and night. Learn the
it ye put off the old man with
according to the deceitful lusts,
' man, fashioned on the divine
d true holiness." Go forth to
i life of faithfulness, and to the.
true service of God.
gift of life we forsake all else!
m Ames
oocooccoc*
Road of Sand .and Sawdust.
A road made from sand and saw
dust is the latest style of roadmaking
.designed by George W. Cooley, State
highway engineer. Last spring he
made a section of1 road with clover
and rye on a sand foundation. This
has been very successful. The road
made from sand ?nd sawdust is at
Cambridge, in Isantl County.
Four inches of sawdust was raked
on the sand road after being graded.
This was worked into the sand by
passing teams, and as fast as, ruts
were formed ?he sawdust was raked
Into the ruts,, to be further mixed
with sand. This is a new road mak
ing material, and If successful will
make an exceedingly profitable means
of using the immense quantities of
sawdust from the mills of the State.
In those counties where there is
nothing but sand in the roads good
roads are impossible without the ad
dition of other material. Mr. Cooley
is now experimenting with various
means of turning the sand into vege
table loam which can be worked to
advantage. The idea is that the saw
dust will rot and mixing with the
sand will form a loam suitable for
roads. : *
Such a small amount of money is
appropriated by the State for the con
struction of roads that the experi
ments have been on a limited scale
and the construction of roads pro
ceeds slowly. This State spends only
one-tenth as much on State roads as
does New #York in relation to the
value of the property.-St. Paul Plo?
ueer Press.
Economy of Good Roads.
Austin P. Byrnes has written "A
Treatise on Highways," which fur
nishes food for thought. He shows
that there are about 2,155,000 miles
of country highways in the United
States over which the average cost of
hauling is twenty-five cents per ton
mile.
Compared with the roads of
France, Germany and England, this
ls out of all reasonable proportion. :
The cost of hauling a ton mile in
those countries ranges from seven
cents over the excellent national high
ways of France to thirteen cents over
the worst roads of England. ,
A fair average, therefprerwould be '
twelve cents, or less than half what it
costs to haul a ton mile in this coun
try. ? " ' :\\.
What does this mean to the farm
ers of the United States?
The corn crop, of this country for
1905-06 weighed more than 19,000,
000 tons, and the haul was nine and
four-tenths miles. At the average
rate of twenty-five cents over our bad
roads this would amout to $44,845,
000.
At the European Tate of twelve
cents' per mlle it would have been
slightly more than twenty-one mill
ions and a half; In either words there
was a dead loss to our own corn
growers of more than $2?,SI?,000. j
Farm products during the same
fruitful year amounted to nearly :
8o";5OCl,0OO,OOO pounds. This does
not Includes the products hauled to
mUTs and back, truck products and
fruit, nor the products of forests and |
mines'. The saving on the other ton
nage, however, would amount io
$52.250,000.
New Jersey's Progress.
According to a report from the
office of tho- State Supervisor of Roads
of New Jersey, the Mosquito State
had constructed during the year
1908, 511.?175 feet of macadam road,
252,180 feet of gravel road and 8340
feet of oyster 'shell road. The
amount spent in construction was
8711,609.09; for road repairing,
8700,000, and for culverts and
bridges, $560,000. There has been
appropriated and will be available
during, the year 1909 for construction
and maintenance of roads $531,
973.75, including the fund derived
from the tax on automobiles.
Start Systematic Road Building.
A petition of citizens and business
men to lay aside two-thirds of all the
money raised by taxation for the
building of a new section of gravel
road each year was granted by the
Township Committee of New Egypt,
N. J., which began work on the road
leading from Main street toward Al
lentown. This, with the new road
running through the village toward
Lakewood, will add materially to the
comfort of travelers.
Should Be in Every Home.
^The local newspaper should be
found in every home. No child, says
the Centerville Observer, will grow
up ignorant who can be taught to ap
preciate the home paper. It is the
stepping stone to intelligence in all
those matters not to be learned in
books. Let your children have the
home paper and read of persons
whom they meet, and places with
which they are familiar, and soon an
interest ls awakened which increases
with every periodical arrival of the
local paper. Thus a habit of reading
is formed, and those children will
read the papers all their lives and be
come intelligent men and women, a
credit to their ancestors, strong In
their knowledge ol the world as it
is to-day.
Old Railroad Carriages.
Before 18S0 most English railway
carriages had only four wheels and
welshed ten tons. From 13S0 to 1890
they had six wheels and weighed fif
teen to sixteen to:as; from 1890 to
1900 they had eight wheels and
weighed twenty-four tons; and since
1900 the fashion is twelve wheels for
dining and sleeping cars and the
weight thirty-five to forty-two tons.
Pulpit Imagery in Nova Scotia.
Irt a sermon recently preached by
a Nova Scotia clergyman occurred the
following irreverent buteffective met
aphor: "You can't fool God. He al
way? has a card up His sleeve to play
against you."-New York Sun.
There is at Kaiser Wilhelm's Ber
lin palace anOberhofmeisteriu, a lady
who has been described as a court
chamberlain in petticoats, who has to
make personal acquaintance with
every lady before she attends a court.
A PERFECTLY C
-Cartoon by Ma
PRAISES ROOSEVELT, L?ON ?
I DING AFRICA
New- York City.-Ernest Thc
er, arrived* here on the Kronprin;
news of Mr. Roosevelt's bag of lie
by wireless and had been enthusia
volt's expedition," said the writer
is splendidly equipped for the wc
best naturalists in America. I he
they are vermin in that part of A
did shot, and should do well."
I-:-!-:-_
Staggering Statistics as to tbe
by Reason of Fraud
It Amounts to 320,000,000 a 1
-One Consignment of
Found Shor
Albany, N. Y.-Poor people In this
State, who have to buy their food
supplies in small quantities, were
robbed of about $20,000,000 last
year by reason of short weights- and
small measure, according to an esti
mate made by Fritz Reichmann, State
Superintendent of Weights and
Measures^ Of that loss about SIO,
000,000 came from the people in New
York City, In spite of the municipal
bureau of weights and measures, of
whose head Superintendent Reich
mann has not a very complimentary
opinion.
"The peopl? who lose most through
faulty weights and measures,"' he de
clared, "are the very poor, who have
to buy ht small quantities. This State
ls so far behind its neighbors that ft
naturally becomes - tb? dumping
ground of short weight and short
measure goods. Russia, which we
consider a barbarous country, is so
much better governed than-New York
State in respect to its weights ?nd
measures, as to make us blush.""
j Primarily the reason for this great
! defrauding of customers by dealers ls
not dishonesty, In Superintendent
Relchmann's opinion, but the Imper
fect laws, which leave each munici
pality to work out its own destiny,
with merely a general supervision on
the part of a sadly handicapped State
? .department. Thus dealers in one city
supplying retailers in some other city
with different regulations as to
weights and measures, or perhaps
negligent Inspection or no inspection,
may unintentionally pernetrate a
I fraud, which the retail dealers would
pass along or intensify.,
i "To be sure," Mr. Reichmann .con
tinued, "there ls much dishonesty,
! deliberate and Intentional, in every
large city and many small ones, and
ft Is to guard against this that the
sealers of weights and measures have
to watch constantly.
Berry Boxes Short Measure.
Ml stopped a consignment of (JOOR
OO 0 berry boxes to New York City the
other day from one of our up-State
cities," the Superintendent added.
"They were short measure. The con
signor said they were to be used for
the 'wagon trade.' "
The staggering statistics which he
produced as to the total annual loss
from fraudulent weights and. meas
ures were compiled by taking twenty
foodstuffs, the average proportion of
loss found by the department's tests
and the average consumption yearly
of the twenty articles chosen.
"They were twenty average com
modities-flour, bread, meats, eggs,
butter, coffee, tea, sugar, beans and
the like," said he. "Those figures,
too, are conservative. If anything,
the amount would be larger rather
than smaller."
To take one example. He esti
mated that on dried beans the con
sumer paid for some $50,000 worth
of beans more than he received in
the course of a year. What purport
ed to be a quart of dried beans was
purchased by one of the inspectors in
a grocery store for twelve cents. The
beans and the bag containing them
were weighed and found to weigh
23 3-32 ounces. The bag weighed
9-32 of an ounce, leaving for the
beans 22 13-16 ounces. A correct
quart of beans is supposed to weigh
exactly thirty ounces. Thus on that
loira College Puts Girl
on Baseball Team.
Des Moines, Iowa.-Miss Josephine
Armstrong has just been placed on
the Still College baseball team to play
centre field. She is pretty, seven
teen, an expert tennis and golf play
er and can throw tho ball farther
than any man on the team; She will
play in all scheduled games against
the crack teams. She also has a. bat
ting average of .289.
Miss Armstrong wears a natty
bloomer suit and looks not unlike any
"of the other college players. _
K?wsy Gleanings. ~K :*"
China has protested to Japan In
an Imperial statement issued at Seoul
I upon the interference of the Korean
Government In the Calen Tao bound
ary dispute.
I Stanleigh Megangee, of Troop I, U.
S. A., charged that graft and gamb
ling were open and rampant on trans
ports plying between San Francisco
and Manila.
The Shah of Persia prolonged the
armistice at Tabriz to permit the en
trance of supplies into the city. His
action is ascribed to fear of Russian
* Intervention.
"LAYER, BECAUSE HE IS RED -
OP "VERMIN."
)mpson-Seton, the nature writ
s Wilhelm, and said that the
ms had been brought to i.he ship
stically received. "Mr. Ro?se
, "should be of great value. He
irk, and has with him two of the
>pe he will kill many lions, for
l?rica. Mr. Roosevelt ht ii splen
Annual Loss of tte Poor
talent Weights and Measures
rear in New York State Alone
600,000 Berry Boxes
t Measure, -
purchase the customer received nine
and one-eighth cents' worth, instead
of the twelve cents' worth for which
he paid. Superintendent Reichmann
continues as follows:
"AH kinds of tricks are used by
dishonest merchants. Those mer
chants who are not dishonest Inten
tionally may have faulty scales or im
perfect measures of which they know
nothing because they are not tested.
The longer a set of scales is used the
worse ft becomes5-for the customer
-unless It Is tested and repaired. But
the average merchant never will ask
for a test ff he Iras to pay,fees-for
that test, unless his customers com
plain of him. Now, In some towns
there is the fee system; In others the
municipal sealer of weights and meas
ures has 8 salary, and collects fees
which go into the- etty treasury; fa
others^ again, there ls a straight sal
ary basis, and m>' charge Is made for
tests. In some eitles there ls a rigid
Inspection; in others absolutely none.
Bad Conditions in Syracuse.
.**We went to Syracuse a time ago
and found horrible conditions pre
vailing. There- was a municipal de
partment of weights and measures,
with a salaried head, who said he
never had done anything mueh, be
cause his predecessors nev ?r had done
anything but draw their salaries,
j Things were stirred up ; this superin
? tendent was made to see the error of
his ways, a couple of deputies were
added to his staff. Now that same
man is one of the most active and
best men in the State. He tells me
that his working day Is limited to
eight hours, but that he wants to
work overtime in getting after viola
tors of the law and doe3 it. I went
to Yonkers some time ago., and there
was hardly a straight weight or pro
per measure in the town. Now they
have a good inspection there, and the
merchants are running pretty much
on the level.
"But it's so easy to beat the game.
How mapy customers know the differ
ence between dry and Mould meas
ure? Yet if a grocer sells a quart of
Ilma beans, say, in a liquid quart
measure, he's stealing about fifteen
per cent. It's very easy for him to
undersell competitors a cent or two a
'quart' on that. basis, and thus he
drives th?m out of business or Into
his own habits. A butcher, say,
keeps several sheets of paper on his
scales. The paper weighs, perhaps,
an ounce or an ounce, and a half. It
doesn't make much difference on a
ten-pound roast, but on a half pound
or pound of meat for the poor woman
it tells heavily. And spring scales
there are as many way? to manipu
late them as there ai-t. makes of
scales."
"All our neighboring States have
good laws. Canada, on ou:: northern
border, has probably the most rigid
law in the world. If an inspector
stops a wagonload of bread and in
the load finds one loaf short- weight
he confiscates the whole load, gives it
to some charitable institution and
prosecutes the baker. Massachusetts
has probably the best weights and
measures system in the United States:
Rhode Island has an "excellent sys
tem; Connecticut now has a bill un
der consideration which seems likely
to pass; New Jersey has a good sys
! tem; Pennsylvania and Ohio, too."
Racing Doomed in Japan
and Horsemen Lose Heavily.
Tokio.-A tremendous effort has
been made by the race track element
in Japan to induce the Government to
retract and permit betting upon the
trapks, but Marquis Katsura, the Pre
mier, has stood firm, and for another
year at least the race tracks of the
empire will be without their favorite
pari mutuel or any other form of bet
ting. This 'means practically an end
to horse racing in Japan, and, neces
sarily, a heavy loss to the various
race tracks, :\;&$r, ::??,-:
Prominent People.
Ex-president Castro spoke bitterly
at Paris of the American Govern
ment's attitude toward him.
At Paris, Captain William S. Gu ig
nara, the American Military Attache,
will be succeeded by Major T. Bent
ley Mott
Richard Croker said he was more
Interested in his entries for the Derby
than in New York City Mayoralty
candidates.
Heinrich Conried, former tanager
of the' Metropllltan Opera House in
New York City, died at Meran, Aus
trian Tyrol.
INTER NATION A L LESSON COM.
MENTS FDR MAY 10.
Subject: rani's First Missionary
Journey - Ic on j uni and Lys tra,
Acts 14:l-2S-Golden Text:
- Psalm 06:5-Commentary.
TIME.-46 A. D. PLACE.-Lys
tra.
EXPOSITION.-I. A Cripple from
His Birth Made Whole, 8-10. It was
a case of real lameness. The man had
never walked. The case was beyond
man's skill, hopeless. But there are
no hopeless cas?s with Christ. There
was no magnetic touch, no treatment,
Just a look, a word, and then a per
fect and not an imaginary cure. Paul
did not' attempt to heal ev?ry lame
man he met God directed his atten
tion to this man, and gave him to-see
that he had faith to be healed. - How
did he get it? By hearing Paulapealc
(Bo. 10:17). Something of this kind
was needed to gain P?ul a hearing in
Antioch. Paul thoroughly studied
and understood the case before he
spoke the word.. He commanded the
man'to do the naturally impossible,
but "all things are possible to him
that believeth" (Mk. 9:23). The
man proved his faith by obedience.
IT. Pani and Barnabas Worshiped
as Gods, 11-18. The people were now
ready not only to listen to Pani, but
to worship him. The human heart
always wants a man to worship. Men,
are always ready to render unto the
instruments God uses the adorationX
and gratitude that belong only to God
Himself. Underneath the heathen
idea that the gods visited the earth
"in the likeness of men" there was a
great and glorious truth (Jno. 1:14;
Phil. 2:6, 7). The actions of these
Lystrans seem very ignorant and
foolish to us, but do not many Chris- .
tians bow down and lay their offer
ings and garlands at the feet of men
.God greatly uses, as If the man was
'himself something? Paul and Bar
nabas quickly showed the stuff they
were made of. As soon as they saw
what the people were np to, they re
fused their proffered homage with
mingled horror and sorrow. Paul
and Barnabas would permit no mis
taken notions about themselves. They
would have it clearly understood that
they were of the same stuff as other
men. "Why do ye these things?"
These Lycaonians had probably never
stopped to ask that question. They
Just did them without asking. It Is a
great thing to get people to asking
themselves why they do the things
they do. It Is a great thing to get
people to thinking; lt leads to re
pentance (Ps. 119:59; Luke 15:17,
ia>. It is, indeed, "good tidings" (v.
15-, R. V.) to proclaim unto a. man
that he can ttirn from idols unto a
God who lives, who baa a mighty
power, and who Is ready to hear-and
help those who trust and serve Him.
The Idols of the Lycaonians were
..vain things." because they could not
hear, nor act, nor answer, nor help,
norsave (Is. 45:20; 46^7: Jen. 10:5,
14; 14:22). The Idols of the world
to-cTay are different In form, but es
sentially the same In character. But
tire God of the Bible fs "tito living .
God."" Not the god of thc rationalist
and deist, a god who once lived and
worked; but the God/ who lives'and
works to-day,"the God who hears,and '
answers prayer, , and saves. He
"made the heaven and the earth and
the sea, and all that In them Is," and
therefore, "there is nothing too hard
for" Him (Jer. 32:17). Conversion
?? simply turning "to God from idols
to serve the living and true God" (1
The3s. 1:9). Conversion, therefore,
is a very rational thing. God has
never in the darkest heathenism left
Himself "without witness" (Ps. 19:
1-$; Rom. 1:20). His care for men
in doing them good, and giving rain
from heaven, fruitful seasons, filling K
their hearts "with food and glad
ness," has borne witness to His fath
erlv love and forgiveness' (comp.
Matt. 5:44, 45; Luke G:35. 36). Even
with these wonderful words Paul
found lt very difficult to keep them
back from their purposed Idolatry,
and it is hard to keep men and wom
en from idolatry to-day.
Efl. Paul Stoned by Man, Raised
by the Lord, 10-22. How little de?
pendence is to be placed upon popu
lar favor. It worshiped to-day,
stoned to-morrow. It was fortunate
for Paul that he was not depending
upon man's favor, but God's (1 Cor. .
4:3, 4). This was not the only ex
perience of this kind that Paul had
(2 Cor. 11:25, 27). This is the sort
of treatment all who are loyal to
Christ and His truth may expect in
this God-hating world (2 Tim. 3:12;
Jno* 15:18-20). But there are abun
dant compensations (2 Tim. 2:12;
Rom. 8:18; Matt. 5:10-12). There
are some who think that it was while
in this condition of apparent death af
Lystra that Paul was "caught np ta
the third heaven and heard unspeak
able words" (2 Cor. 12:2-4). This
treatment did not stop Paul from
preaching. He got up and went back
Into the city, and then on to Derbe,
where he preached the gospel, and
then back again to Lystra. Oh, fox
men of such courage, persistence and
unquenchable "love for Christ and
man! Abundant success attended his
preaching in D?rbe. It Is not enough
to bring men .,to Christ; we mus?
strengthen and' build up the young
converts (v. 22).. This is the point
of failure in much modern evan
gelistic work. It is not enough thal
men start in the -iaJth; they must
"continue in the faith" (Jno. 8:31,
32; 15:4-6, 9, 10; Col. 1:?2, *S;
Rev. 2:10).
POTATO SCAB.
Are you bothered with scabby po
tatoes? Many are, year after year,
and there 4s no need of it. Treat
ing the seed by soaking two hours
In a solution made by adding one
pound or pint of formalin to thirty
gallons af water will give the desir
ed results. Tho use of manure, while
it naturally encourages the growth
and development of potato scab,
does not, as sometimes stated, cause v
a crop to be scabby. Rotation of
crops, not planting potatoes on same
iTound on which scabby potatoes :
h.\ve been raised the -previous year, ..
w: ll aid materially in keeping the ;,
cop free from -disease, especially if
the seed planted is thoroughly treat- ;
ed by the (formalin method. Careful '
potato growers employ this treatr
ment yearly.-Farmers' Guide.
-:
Talk is cheap quotes the American
Cultivator. Don't take much of it ;
.from your hired help in exchange for .-;
your good money. The ?nan who can
talk and work too is a rare creature. -

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