LINCOLN COUNTY LEADER
CltAS. P. ADA B. SOULfe. Pufc..
TOLEDO OREGON
The Marshall College freshman who
hot a hazer was none too fresh.
The newspapers have to use the ex
pression so often that they have abbre
viated It to "rick quick."
For a few years more, anyhow, the
Niagara River will take Its fall out of
the tourists in the same old way.
Hereafter wife desertion In New
Tork Is to be considered a felony. In
the past It was mainly a pastime.
"Mr. Rockefeller Is Just as nice a
man as I am," says Henry H. Rogers.
There, Tom Laweon, deny that If you
can.
An eastern papers says "Oslerism Is
now engaging the English wits." Eng
lish wltsl What or who are English
wits?
It Is only fair to state that Miss
Susan B. Anthony's unusual views on
divorce are based on observation and
hearsay.
"Many Innocent men are hanged,"
saya Judge Freeman, of Chicago. Pos
sibly. But the number Is not nearly
so large as that of the guilty men
who escape.
The army general staff has decided
to retain the bayonet as part of the
armament of an American soldier. May
the time be long before he is called
upon to use it.
By the terms of an imperial edict
coining from Peking no more convict
Chinamen are to be sliced to death. By
Inference the powers are asked to re
gard China as a Chinaman.
A New Jersey minister says that few
men attend church because the femi
nine element Is too predominant in fix
ing the character of the services. The
feminine element is Just what attracts
some men.
Every get-rich-quick concern that
comes and goes, leaving a trail of
financial desolation in Its wake,, only
confirms the wisdom of Barnum's ob
servation that n large number of peo
ple are never satisfied unless they are
being humbugged.
The papers cannot be too grateful to
the valued Milwaukee Sentinel for
warning them in advance that it would
be unfair to liken young Mr. Hyde to
Harry Lehr. Some of them might
have been careless enough to let the
Idea occur to them.
Professor John Franklin Jameson of
the University of Chicago has discov
ered that the Fourth of July comes on
Aig. 18, that being the day when the
declaration of independence was adopt
ed. This is rather confusing, but our
celebrations for the last 129 years have
probably been at least as near to an
anniversary as Christmas or Easter
and were Just as much enjoyed as If
they had been held on Aug. 18.
The science of meteorology has not
yet taught man what a day may bring
forth in the way of weather. Farming
operations are clouded with uncertain
ty from seed time to harvest, and from
the nature of the case the, most en
lightened and conservative tiller of the
soil Is compelled to gamble In "fu
tures" much as does the speculator In
the wheat pit. Unfortunately, too, his
stake Is often his nil. Ielayed or pre
mature frost, too much or too little
rain, to say nothing of the visitations
of creeping or flying destroyers, al
ways threaten hint with loss or ruin
and keep him forever guessing. He
must bet his crops on the presence or
absence of favorable conditions, an In
exorable fact that In the course of ages
may have had something to do with
the Ingrained gambling habit which be
sets mankind everywhere.
There is no sound reason why the
preachers should be better men than
lawyers or financiers. The real obli
gations of all men are equal. But the
preachers are In trying positions, be
cause they assume to represent a high
standard of morality. They profess
religion. Lawyers and financiers can
say they do not pretend to be better
than other men. To a certain extent
they plead guilty. They claim the
merit of not being hypocritical. The
world Is quite in agreement that the
hypocrite is detestable. The charge of
Insincerity and hypocrisy goes to the
weak nerve of the preacher and his
misfortune is that the world is still
o skeptical as to the rule of goodness
that under the charge he is placed at
once under suspicion. Relatively he is
somewhat in the situation of the rich
man who is charged with questionable
methods in his business of accumula
tion. Defoe, the author of "Robinson
Crusoe," holds a high place among the
alnta of the nursery calendar, but In
a review In the Forum cf Defoe's
voluminous works Prof. W. P. Trent
is pained to confess that Defoe was a
great liar, a spy, an intriguer, to tortu
ous secret service man, a government
informer, and a bad lot generally. Yet
Prof. Trent, besides vindicating He
fee's genius as the first great realist,
has some charitable and extenuating
things to say of "the greatest liar that
ever lived." Now, to be the greatest
liar that ever lived is a distinction' not
to be sneezed at Lying Is a field well
filled. The competition Is intense. It
requires rare abilities to be a really
great liar; only one thing requires
greater, and that is to tell the exact
truth. An illustrious list might be
made up of great liars, and at its
head, perhaps, should be placed the
world's historians. Defoe may have
been a very bad man. but "Robinson
Crusoe" is very good. When we have
the pearl shall we complain that it
comes from a diseased oyster? His
tale has opened many a youthful mind
to the sunlight of life. It has taught
many a mature mind the great truth
that the real essentials of comfortable
living are few, and not the least of
these Is human companionship. There
is no way of estimating the good that
is done in the world by a good book.
It may be a lie so Is "Pilgrim's
Progress" but it is nevertheless truer
to the real principles of right living
and right longing than our own lives
are. Defoe was a creature of his own
times, but his work is immortal. His
vices were those of his environment;
his genius was bis own.
It snmotlmo strike one that our
conization is a sort of Dr. Jekyll aud
Mr. Hyde affair. There are so many
contradictions in it. It is at once ma
terialistic and altruistic. It, is sordid
and saintly. It makes paupers and
cnes over them. It Is an age of loot
and law. It is an ace of boodle ami
beatific virtues. It steals from the wid
ow and orphan aud gives the proceeds
to libraries and universities. It i an
age of frenzied finance and of hospitals
ana homes for the aged and children
And all the while the search for moral
rottenness goes on. It is an age of
publicity and of ehallence a nil of nrn
test It is an age of aspiration for
.. 1. 1 1 . . .
iiuuuc auu private virtue and of the
ceaseless discussion of;ethics. Never
before have public crimes been so elb
beted. Never before have the ills of
society been so hung np to the public
gaze. Lawson is telling about fren
zied finance and Russell of the beef
trust and Lincoln Steffens nf tho
shamelessness of cities and Ray Stan
nam Baker of the rule of corporations
Every magazine has its corps of seav
engers digging at the filth. And the
newspapers seek most of all for the
headline that tells of graft The vic
tims of our civilization are ever be
fore our eyes. And we go on making
more victims. How can these things
be? Is th.s money-grabbing Bociety
of ours the society that builds blind
asylums and homes of refuce? How
can the two dispositions go together?
Easily enough. Everyone has in him
divergent Impulses, and society is but
an aggregation of individuals. The
question is, will the better or the evil
desire prove the stronger? Can we
doubt which? If the desire for self-
purification is not greater than the
propensity to have and to hold, our
condition is sorry Indeed. It is the
old. old struggle with this difference
The day" of flourishing evil and wrong
Is also the day of publicity and pro
test the day of desire for better
things.
GENERAL FUZHIGH LEE,
fAMOUS CONFEDERATE VETERAN.
.General Fitzhugh Lee, who died oi
npoplexy recently, was one of the not
ed soldiers of the country. He wns a
nephew of Robert E. Lee, the Confed
erate chieftain, and fotieht with rlio.
tlnctlon on the Confederate side. He
was in command of the whole cavalry
corps of the army of northern Vir
ginia when, in 1805, he surrendered
to General Meade. From 1880 to 1890
he was governor of Virginia, and wn
consul general at Havana prior to the
declaration of war with Spain. Then
he was placed In command of the Sev
enth Army Corps, and at the close of
hostilities was made governor of
Havana. Later he was in command
of, the department of the Missouri.
If his children listen eaarerlv for hla
footsteps he can't be such a bad fal
low, i
Olff
THE PROBLEM OK PRAYER.
By Rev. H. A. Harrington,
"Pray without ceatlng." I. Thess
6-17.
To many it Is an ' open Question
whether it is worth while or even nos
Bible to pray at all, and therefore out
or tile question entirely to pray con
Tlnuallr. Fan s iinunction nnnenrs
even to those who believe In prayer
applicable only to the monk and the
recluse. Even if it were possible to
obey the command In the ordinary
sense It Is doubtful whether the world
would be any better If life were one
perpetual prayer meeting.
It Is not strange that many have
swung away from the practice of for
mal prayer when the older conception
of its meaning is contrasted with the
modern conception of life. Once pray
er meant the sealing of the eyes and
the ears to the scenes and the sounds
of this life that one might gaze upon
and hold communion with those or an
other tvurld. II meant, too, almost cx
cluslvely the act of ardently petition
ing heaven for the things that one
could not and often would not get for
himself. But life to-day dare not shut
its eyes: it counts it a sin to Ignore
this world of need and sin even for the
sake of the bliss of n world where
these things are not.
Then, men ask. if prayer Is no more
than a getting of goods from God
without labor or compensation, in
what way does it differ from begging?
In what way Is the man who says
"Heaven owes me a living" any better
than the one who says "The world
owes me a living"? The product of
such prayer is pauperization. The
logical end of that theory is savagery:
all the inducements to toll as well
as the restraints of life would be gone;
one might ask for calamities on others
as well as for blessings on oneself.
But practically all the difficulties of
prayer arise from the Ilmltntinn nf it-
meaning to a petition. Thev come
from the point of view that thinks
only of answAs, of goods sent in re
sponse to prayer orders. The man who
says I will work for my bread in
stead of begging heaven for it may be
still a man of prayer. His work may
be the noblest prayer, while his heart
may go out to God In gratitude for
strength and opiortifhlty to labor.
Work is prayer, love is prayer, grati
tude is prayer, education Is prayer.
The world needs more men and wo
men who pray with their hands of
helpfulness, their feet that speed on
errands of kindness, their eyes that
look out in good cheer, their ears thirt
listen In sympathy.
Prayer Is an attitude rather than
an act. It must be without
It Is like love, not an act nor a series
of acts, but a relationship. It is as
much more than words as love is
greater than Its deeds. Formal prayers
are to prayer itself as the letters of
a rriend are to the love of that friend
The love goes on without ceasing; the
prayer, the asn ration, the lnno-lni?
after the presence of, the knowledge
or, tne love of God goes on without
ceasing. N
Frayer is nn atmosphere, a habit a
second and higher nature. It Is a life
that In itself is one long unbroken
petition for his likeness and his life.
It will find expression In words, but
it win not be limited to them. It is
the child living with his father; such
a life will involve the making of re
quests and the granting of them, but
such things will be only Incidental, not
essential, to Its communion. Living
with such a father we shall tell him
all our needs, desires, fears, but shall
we hide from him our Joys, hopes,
and aspirations? We shall want him
to see our work, to reiolce with ns
in It. Prayer will not be reciprocal.
The prayer that Is no more than
petition for provision must be as pain
ful to God as It would be to us who
are parents If our children never ad
dressed us save to beg for their meals
and their clothes. On the other hand,
the life of nraver that found no ex
pression In words, that made no re
quests and looked for no tangible gifts,
would be as strange as if our children
were dumb and we were powerless to
love them in deed is well as In feel
ing. The life of prayer Is the realiza
tion of the perfect relations of the All
ratuer with all bis cunaren.
UNITY vs. UNIFORMITY.
By Rev. William C. Barton.
. God hates uniformity, but loves
unity. He makes no two apple blos
soms alike, yet the underlying struc
tural ideal is so true, that should a
freak of nature or device of man make
the blossoms blue Instead of pink they
would be recognizable In certain per-
.nanent details as belonging to the
great family whose finest representa
tives are the apple ana the rose both
of one family. The attempt to make
Christian life uniform either by means
of creed or ritual is doomed to fail;
but the unity of the spirit is char
acteristic of all true life that belongs
to God.
THE CHILDHOOD OF CHRIST.
By Rer. T. Vincent Tymms, D. D.
Text "And the child grew, and
waxed strong in spirit, filled with
wisdom; and the grace of God was
upon hlnj." Luke 11:40.
By humbling Himself to wear the
likeness of men the Son of God be
came a Brother to the whole race of
mankind, but at the same time, He
entered Into special family relations.
By His birth of Mary, He became not
only a son of man, but a member of
the family of Abraham, a scion of the
royal house of David, and a near kins
man of all Mary's kindred. The gos
pels say little of the feelings with
which He was regarded by these rela
tives, but some facts are recorded
which are highly significant and
worthy of far more attention than has
usually been bestowed upon them by
the Christian church.
The verse before ns contain in
outline the story of twelve years:
And the Child grew, and waxed
strong in spirit filled with wisdom: and
tne grace of God was upon Him."
Apocryphal histories of the lnfancv
are full of marvelous tales; but none
or tnese is trustworthy. Our informa
tion concerning the earlier vears mnv
be summed up in the statement that,
after the wise men returned to their
unknown country in the East Jesus
was carried Into Egypt and presently
was Drougnt back and nlaced in on
of the most beautiful and retired vil
lages of Palestine. In Nazareth He
grew up in quietude as a healthv.
happy Child: dwelling In the home
which His heavenly Father had chosen
for Him, as the most suitable of all
the homes then existent on the enrth
Artists have painted a srolden llo-ht
round the head of the Holy Child, as
ir a radiance were emitted from His
body. The device we mav accent ns
a symbol of the truth that "the grace
or ooa was upon Him," or, in other
words, that the beauty of God was
seen snming through His dally deeds
Tk , , ...
iue irue aureoia is one wnicn no
painter's brush can show on canvas:
and In childhood this light shines most
lustrously in the beauty of a loving
and obedient spirit He who in the
zenith of His manhood said, "I am
meek and lowly in heart." was adorn
ed with this same grace in His earliest
years. He would gladly listen while
Joseph and Mary kept the law of
Moses by talking to Him, in the house
and by the wayside of all the works
of God in the olden time. Like every
ouier cnna in Nazareth, He would at
tend the common school: and lust as
men and women are comforted and
strengthened to bear the heavy bur
dens of maturity, so boys and girls
may have their tasks lightened and
their recreations hallowed by remem
bering Him, who Is now the Lord nf
Glory, but was once subject to the
discipline which they are tempted to
resent, and Is able, as a sympathizing
friend, to have compassion upon them
and to help them in every time of
trouble or sorrow.
It may be said, and said with per
fect truth, that we can never be like
Jesus In all things. We have already
sinned much and grievously, and yet,
thank God, we are taught that this
fact will not prevent our rising to a
heavenly throne at last. Sin may, and
evidently must, disqualify for 'such
functions and honors as are Joyfully
ascribed to Christ, but it cannot hin
der the reception of His grace. God
will not remember the sins of child
hood against those whom He pardons
In the name of His Son. Yet surely
the holiness of Christ should teach ns
what a deadly and bitter thing sin is,
even in the youngest child. The
stains of evil may bo washed away;
the recording angel may blot out the
record from the book of remembrance;
but every wrong action will be a
source of weakness In after life.
Would to God that the Holv pmm
Jesus might be taken as a pattern by
an tne little ones who hear of Him
to-day! May the grace of God be nnnn
all who hear me nowl May all who
nummy strive to copy Him become
more like Him day by dav! Mav
while striving faithfully, ever put their
trust in Him and In the transforming
nower nf Hla Hnlrlt' &s .k.n i
- - Dunn lUCJT
attain at last to His perfect! likeness,
and He will write upon them His new
name.
SHORT METER SERMONS.
Sloth makes slaves.
The prodigal are never liberal.
Hungry men ask few questions.
Wait for your worries; but not foi
your work.
PsgagsBBraanpgPTy""Ti
Ranawara" is believed bv nl.i
experimenters of Colombo to have a
promising ruture as a substitute- for
tea.
By breeding and feeding his fowls .
la a special way, a chemist in Wies
baden, Germany, has been nhl
increase the natural quantity of iron
in eggs that they are medicinal and
useful for the cure of various di.s-
ea ses.
Analyses of 350 samples of cnnl
from forty-four French, Belgian, Ger
man and British mines have shon M.
Sallard that a good coal should con
tain about twenty per cent of volatile
matter and not more than six to eiirht
per cent of ash.
The flavor of hens' eggs Is declared
by an English medical man to be very
materially affected by food. When.
the hens act as scavengers their c-rirs
are made unfit to eat. but a diet of
sunflower seeds produces remarkably
tine and sweet eggs.
The coating on the scales nf fish hua
been studied by a recent investigator.
He attributes the fish's agility of
movement aud sustained life in water
to this substance, airfl has at last pro
duced a composition identical with it
inis artificial coating is claimed to.
be moisture proof and a preservative,
and when applied to ships' bottoms it
keeps them free from barnacles thus.
tending to give increased speed.
Prof. Flinders Peine, the Ejsjpk.1
oglst, has made some important dis
coveries in the Sinai peninsula. The
ancient temple of Seablt el Khadem,
five days' camel Journey south of Suez,
he found to be of a Semitic type, dif
ferent from any other known Egyptian
temple, possessing two courts for ab
lution and a-long series of subter
ranean chambers. These had been
added by successive kings from the
eighteenth to the twentieth dynasties.
Will Japan's new island that ap
peared recently from the depths of
the sea endure? Scientists have been
asking this question. Graham IhIiiiwI
popped up in much the same way in
the Mediterranean sea in 1831 and wn
at once decorated with an English flag.
nut tne action of the waves demol
ished the island in a short time. On
the other hand, the island of Bogos
loff, in the Bering sea, appeared with
equal suddenness in 1795, and, to
gether with a second Island formed
in 1883, has stood the test of time to
the present day.
F. A. Lucas of the Brooklyn Insti
tute Museum, who has made a special
study of whales in Newfoundland,
says that the average length of a full
grown sulphur-bottom whale is Just
under 80 feet. This estimate disre
gards the exaggerated reports some
times spread by sailors, and is bnsed
on actual measurements of many indi
vidual specimens. There seem to be
credible accounts of whales reaching
a length of from 85 to 95 feet, but Mr.
Lucas did not see any of that size.
Whales appear to grow with great
rapidity, the length of "yearlings" be
ing estimated at from 30 to 35 feet.
Studies made at the Western Mary
land College by Miss E. M. Urn Pa In.
dlcate that the chief function of ti..
slender forked tongue which darts in
so startling a manner from the mouth,
of a disturbed serpent may be con
nected with a sense of feelinir th,.t
does not require the stimulus of actual
contact, but which may be a finer
velopment of the sense that enables
some persons to avoid obstacles tn ti.o.
dark without touching them. This pe
culiar sensitiveness is sometimes high
ly developed' in the blind. The fork
ing of the tip of the snake's tnmm
mid the numerous folds that n i,u.
hind the forking evidently serve great
ly to increase the surface exuosurp nf
the organ.
Doth on Their Uuard.
A plumber was sent to the house nf
a wealthy broker to make repairs, says
the Philadelphia Public Ledger. He
was taken by the butler into the pan
try, and was beginning his work w-hnii
the woman of the house entered.
'James," she said to the butler, win.
a suspicious look at the nluml.er
move the silver from the sideboard at
once and lock It up."
The plumber turned calmlv t m
assistant and handed him his valu
ables. "Tom," ha said, "take mv wntrh ,n,i
chain and these few coppers home to
my wire at once, and tell her tn k,v
them safe for me."
Cruel Deeeptioa.
Mrs. Justwed The butcher deceived'
me about this tough old chicken.
Mr. J. Didn't you examine it?
Mrs. J. Yea, and I should have fol
lowed my own instincts. I looked In
its mouth and told hlra it was old
it had lost all Its teeth. But that hor
rid butcher said I was mistaken It
was a spring chicken and hadn't cut
its firat ones yet. And I b b-belleved
him I Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Do not go too much into details in
your conversation. If you touch only
the high places, you can eet over
grounO.