190159
UTH AFRICA Miserly Mother
Kills Son’s Wife
S h oots Y o u n g W om an for
H a v in g H eir to F ortune
S h e H oard ed .
1
Son’s Conduct Shows Motive.
Improved Uniform International
SimdaySchool
* Lesson’
»B y
M V .
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B
P1TZW A TB R .
D D .,
D «aa
o t P ay and E v en in g School«. M oody B I t i e
In stitu te o f C h ica g o )
H IT. W estern N ew np ap er U n io n .)
L esson for January 9
the
STANDARD
OF
C H R IS T IA N
L IV IN G
Arrived at the hospital, the young
L E SSO N T E X T — L u k e < 27-3«
woman was at once hurried to the
GOLDEN T E X T — Be ye
th e r e f o r e
operating room, hut It wus too late.
p e r fe c t. e v e n a s y o u r F a t h e r w h ic h
is In h e a v e n 1« p e r fe c t.
She was dead. Mine, l.efelivre, mak
P R IM A R Y T O P IC — H o w J e s u s W a n t s
ing no effort to shield herself, was
L e to L ive.
arrested and her son Andre, his wife
J U N IO R T O PIC — M a r c h in g O r d e r s fo r
dead and Ills mother u prisoner,
C h r is tia n s .
IN T E R M E D IA T E A N D S E N IO R T O P
stopped long enough nt the hospital
IC— \ \ liHt C h r ist R e q u ir e s o f Ue.
to claim his wife’s purse, examine Its
Y O l’NU P E O P L E A N D A D U L T T O P
contents to see that they were Intact
IC— C h r is t's L ife an d E x a m p le fo r Ue.
and inquire whether the ring she wore
The context (v. 26) clearly Implies
when she hud left home wus still on
what Is elsewhere positively declared
her finger.
(John 15:18-21; Luke 21:17) that tha
Questioned again later In the day.
followers of Christ will be buted and
Mme. Lefebvre declared she had killed
opposed. In this lesson Christ seta
her daughter-in-law because she was
forth the principles governing the Ufa
“driving her son to ruin." In report
of tils followers.
ing the tragedy tlie following morn
ing, the French newspapers described
I. "Love Your Enemies” (v. 27).
It us a crime of mother love, another
Ixive here Is not a natural affection.
Grave of Cecil Rhodes in South Africa.
“crime passionel."
To love friends Is ensy, but to love
enemies is only possible to those who
As usual, the case was tried in the
(P rep ared by th a N a tio n a l G eograp h ic
Inrs and exceeded in value the com
French press long before it came to
liu\e been made partakers of the di
S o ciety . W a sh in g to n , EX C .)
bined value of the many shiploads of
vine nature— been born again.
the courts and presently, though still
F T H E three largest oversens
wool, ostrich feathers, hides and coal
recognizing a crime of passion, the
II. "Do Good to Them Which Hate
units that make up the British
that sailed away from South Africa
newepepers became aware that they
You” (v. 27).
commonwealth of nations, the
the same year.
were dealing with something more
Ixive Is positive In Its nature. The
Union ot South Africa Is the
Some 200 miles to the northeast of
than a mother’s love for her son, a
true t'hrlstliin will not merely refrain
only one presenting serious racial
the diamond country are the gold
passion Just as old, but In Mme. Le
from doing Injury to one who hates
problems. The white population of
fields.
In their midst Is the gohl-
febvre overshadowing any feeling she
him, hut will he concerned with and
about a million and a half is divided
bullt, wonder city of Johannesburg,
had for her offspring.
eugaged In doing good to him. True
between people of British and Dutch
metropolis of South Africa. After the
The star reporters assigned to the
love ads according to Its own essen
origin, while the population of blacks
discovery of gold In the eighties the
tial nature.
case got their first cue to the real mo
Is more than three times that of the
city sprang up almost over night
tive for the crime in Andre l.efehvre's
whites. This racial situation has af
III. “ Bless Them T h a t Cures You”
Because of its racial situation the
conduct at the hospital, when he
fected the molding of the govern
<v. 28).
South
African
Union
Is
not
marked
by
showed such concern about his dead
mental machinery.
To bless means to speak well of—to
as greut u degree of democracy as
wife’s purse and her Jewels. Their
Invoke a blessing upon. Injury by
The Union of South Africa, although
Australia. The executive has rather
Inquiry took a definite direction when
words Is hurd lo let go unchallenged.
half around the world from America
broad powers, having a veto over or
it was estimated that the entire out
The one who Is a Child of God and al
and little knowu to Americans, has In
dinances passed by the provincial
fit of clothing worn by the millionaire
lows the Spirit of his Maker and Re
Its history chapters which we know by
councils.
He also appoints admin
at the time of her arrest could not
deemer to express Itself through him
heart. It has vast ureas taken over
istrators for the provinces. The mem
have exceeded in cost more than $15.
will return blessings for cursings.
from aborigines; thousands of its
bers of the senate and house of as
And when It was learned thnt the
white settlers were massacred by sav
IV. “Pray for Them Which Desplts-
sembly of the Union must be of Eu
young couple had been quite happy
fully Use You” (v. 28).
ages, but others, undaunted, pressed
ropean descent, and senators must own
An Amazing Character.
and altogether devoted to each other
on in their prairie schooners ever
We should pray for those who
property valued at $2,560. "States
But here the parullel between the and that, if anything, they had been
abuse us. The best commentary on
farther Into the Interior of an un
rights” are recognized to the extent Hall-Lefebvre enses ends. For when, living beneath their means. Mine. Le
this precept Is Christ's own example
known continent; a gold rush won a
that the qualifications for voting are finally the aged Frenchwoman's mo febvre's bitter charge thnt Antoinette
(Luke 23:34), "Father forgive them
new empire; and the land is pos
different In the several provinces, be tive was unraveled there was revealed Mulle was “driving her sou to ruin"
for they know not what they do."
sessed today of a stubborn race prob
ing
those
recognized
by
the
provinces
to the world an amazing psychopathic specifically revealed the nature of the
lem.
When Christ was reviled He reviled
at the time of the Union.
character such as only a Balzac could passion which had driven her to coin
uot again.
When He suffered. He
In one respect, however, the carving
Even In the matter of language and have created. The Lefebvre murder mlt murder.
threatened not, hut committed Him
out of what is now the Union of South
Institutions South Africa Is far from could have been committed only in u
Bit by bit. In the press and legal In
self to Him that Judgetb righteously.
Africa Is without Its parallel In the
being solely British. The Dutch lan Latin country.
vestigations and during the trial, there
( I Pet. 2:23).
development of the United States.
guage is equally as official as Eng
And the Hall trial, muffled In the emerged the portrait of an amazing
V. Patiently Endure Wrong and In
There the strife of two white peoples
lish; und Ituinnn-Dutch law Instead of silence of the defendants, wus a dull creature, a female Harpagon, such a
jury" (v. 29).
for control hus been an all Important
the English common law Is the basis show Indeed compared with the Le monster of greed as neither Moliere
The Christian Is not to bristle in
factor. For about a century and a
of tile legal system.
febvre trial, enllvered continually by nor Balzac would have dared to por
defense of his rights hut rather to suf
half the Dutch had possession of Cape
tray
lest
they
tax
too
heavily
the
cre
Latin
emotionalism,
Latin
outbursts
About the Provinces.
fer Insult, Injury und even loss. This
Town and the small area surrounding
of passion in both the principals and dence of their publics.
expresses the law which should gov
H e r H atred Grows.
it which harbored all the whites In
Cape of Good Hope province (or
the audience and repented and frantic
A Love Match.
South Africa. The Napoleonic wars
In the heart of Mme. Lefebvre there ern the individual's actions, but
'Cape Colouy” as It la still usually
The marriage of Andre Ixtfebvre gathered a consuming hatred for her should not he pressed so fur that evil
transferred possession to England, and termed) is the premier unit of the efforts by the Judges to control the
In 1806 the English assumed a final Union both In age und size. With its uncontrollable exhibitions of French and Antoinette Mulle was, to all ap duughter-ln-law and for the whole doers can go unchecked. Rightly con
pearances. a love match, but Mme. Mulle family which was soon to come stituted government has been ordained
control, which ashy of the Dutch In area of approximately 277.000 square temperament throughout the trial.
Exactly one year ago. In the full of Lefebvre made It plain to her son that to a head. It was hatred which grew of God for Hie protection of the Inno
habitants resented. In 1836 many of miles It is more than one-tenth as large
the Dutch farmers or "Boers” began as the entire United States, and it is 1925, Mine. Guillaume Lefebvre learned she considered It a mesalliance, be ns she realized she was alone In her cent und Hie punishment of evildoers
trekking Into the interior with the In more extensive than Its three sister from her son a secret that he had cause the Mulle fortune, though con desperate struggle to save the Le (Rom. 13:1-8).
kept for five months; that his wife, siderable, was not quite equal to their febvre fortune.
VI. Give to Every One That Ask-
tention of settling beyond English In provinces combined.
Her aged husban 1,
From the sea
eth of Thee (v. 80)
fluence. When Englishmen followed much of Cape Colony seems barren, Antoinette Mulle Lefebvre, was soon own.
seventy-six und long retired from busl
Shortly before the wedding, Andre ness, was a mere pule, carbon copy of
God Is the supreme example. He
them they trekked farther. Finally, but the soil Is rich and after the rainy to give birth to an heir to the com
bined Lefebvrc-Mulle fortunes.
On announced to I lls mother that he was herself, echoing her proteats and re gives freely und generously hut Intel
beyond the Grunge river they founded season, productive.
that very day Mme. Lefebvre bought
the Orange Free State, and beyond the
Natal lies Just around Africa's cor a revolver und, soon after, writing to to leave on a short honeymoon after sentments but helpless und relying ligently. This text does not author
the ceremony. Mine. l.efelivre threw entirely on his wife to fight tlie men ize Indiscriminate giving. There Is
Vaul river, the Transvaal itepublic.
ner, only a little way beyond the Cup,
First diamonds and then gold were of Good Hope, It fronts, therefore, her son, asked him to call on her, up her arms In horror. Honeymoons ace to their wealth. He had been a giving which Injures the one to
bring
Ids
wife
with
him
and
take
were a waste and ii needless expense, cowed too long by this domlnunt wom whom the gift Is made. To give ii man
discovered in the new states. They on the southern part of the Indian
them both for a drive In his cur.
she told him. Who bad put such non an to show any fight now. He was money to buy whisky would he wrong.
brought great prosperity to the Boer ocean.
It extends roughly between
The son, obedient to his mother's sense into his bead? I ’robubl.v that Just m whining old man.
V II. Do a t You Wish to Be Done
republics, but they brought many out south latitudes 27 and 32, and lias a
siders us w e ll; und the presence of position corresponding In the northern wishes, appeared several days later awful girl, who already was filling his
Her son. Andre, a war hero many By (v. 31).
This Is called the Golden Rule. It Is
these finally led to the Boer war as hemisphere to that ot northern Florida nt the paternal home with Ids young head with extravagant notions.
times decorated, was a spineless crea
However, Andre insisted that It was ture In her presence, I lls will broken tlie sum total of Christian duty as It
a result of which the republics came and the southern and central portions wife, and the three set out for a
into the possession of Great Britain. of the other Gulf states. In the matter drive. Andre Lefebvre occupied the only dei-ent for people In their posi from Infancy to respond to her im pertains to human Interrelations. Hu
front seat alone.
His wife and his tion to have a honeymoon and. on the perious will.
man beings carry with them the con
of location, then, It can be seen that mother sat together in the rear. When
Creation of the Union.
following day, he went to a travel bu
sciousness which Is the touchstone
Then
one
day
Andre
Lefebvre
an
Natal should have an excellent chance they passed through the city gates and
e from the wur-born republics
reau and arranged for the trip. It was nounced to bis mother Hint an heir which leaches them their duty to oth
to become South Africa's “Dixie." The emerged into the suburbs, Mme.
marchies of the last eight years,
perhaps the first time In his life that wus expected. It was the spark that ers. I f men were to live up to this
coastal belt is relatively low and warm Lefebvre requested that her son drive
ti •
lion of South Africa Is one of
the young man, thoroughly under his kindled Mme. Lefebvre's hatred to a I rule the problem of capital and labor
with a sub-tropical climate. In this along the path known as "Solitude
the
ungest of the Important coun-
mother’s thumb, liad ever asserted consuming flume. This nllen woman,
would be solved and end would he put
zone it Is believed that Natal can de road.” Andre, without Inquiring Into
f the world. It, too. was largely
himself, and Mme, Lefebvre sensed who was bringing her son to ruin, to war. International relations would
velop
an
Important
cotton
production.
the reasons for this strange wish, still
war-born. Shortly after the conclu
There, too, is a considerable sugar In In his manhood as pliant before the that this alien woman not only was who was wasting instead of building be peaceably adjusted and all profi
sion of the Boer war plans were set on
dustry and large tea plantations. Back commanding will of his mother as he leading her son to extravagance but a fortune, was about to bring Into the | teering In business would end. Prac
foot to fuse the two old republics with
was threatening her own authority. world another Mulle— another waster.
ticing this precept proves that we are
about 30 miles from the const the was when a child, complied.
Cape Colony, the oldest South African
children of God. Loving those who
The resentment she nurtured In
She bought a revolver and killed
midland belt begins.
This zone Is
But when he had reached "Solitude creased.
goverimieut. and Natal, next In point
the young woman whose condition of love us, doing good to those who do
higher and cooler as Is the back coun- i rood” and the car was humming along
of age, to form the new union. It was
She yielded to her son's wishes, but fered a new menace to her greed.
good to ns. lending to those who lend
try of the American Gulf states and
the deserted lane, he suddenly heard when she learned that he had pro
finally created by an act signed In
to iis . Is the common practice even
The Lefebvre trial lasted only four
constitutes
a
"corn
belt."
Still
farther
1910.
an outcry from his mother. Andre cured first class tickets for Ills travels, days, but Into that short time there
among sinners. No new birth, no Holy
from the coast are the uplands of turned, and what he saw made him
Tlie territory of the Union occupies
Natal, where higher altitude and low bring the car to a quick halt. His she immediately repaired to the tour was packed more drums than In a | Spirit needed to live this kind of life,
ist bureau and had them changed to whole month of the lln ll .Mills trial. !
the whole southern and southeastern
V III. Be M erciful (v. 36).
er temperature combine to create con- wife, immobile, lay back in her seat,
tip of Africa In a wide strip extending
second class. Il did not appear at all
The Jury was out only ten minutes, 1 This means to be filled with pity
ditlons like those of the plains of a thin stream of crimson trickling
about 250 miles inland from the Indian
grotesque to her that a young couple returning with a verdict of guilty. , and compassion. To enter Into sym
Texas and Oklahoma. And, as In the down her cheek from a wound In her
ocean. Its area lacks only 25,006
pathy with ever» need of others. The
uplands of those states, stock ralsiug temple. His mother, spent, her hands representing two of the most substan The audience broke Into cheers as the
square miles of reaching the half mil
tial families In northern
Franco Judge pronounced the sentence, "to
supreme example us to 'th is Is tha
and cereal productloh are the doin- 1 paralyzed in her Inp, one of them
lion mark. O f its four provinces, Cape Inant Industries. Natal has a popula- 1
should travel second class on their have her head cut off In a public I Heavenly Fattier.
holding a revolver, regarded him si honeymoon !
Colony Is slightly larger than Texas,
square of the city"—the first woman [
IX. Censorious
Judgments
Con
tlon of about 140,000 whites and ap lently. The young man could only nsk
the Transvaal about the size of Ne
The newlyweds had been gone only to die at Ihe guillotine In France in
demned (v. 27).
proximately ten times as many negroes his agonized question with his eyes.
four or five days when Mme. i^e- many ypars.
vada, and Orange Free State slightly and East Indians.
Tills means that we shnnld not seek
smaller than Alabama, while Natal ex
out the evil or faults In others for
Orange
Free
Stnte
province
Is
en-
ceeds South Carolina by a few thou
our satisfaction.
We should not sit
tlrely Inland, separated from the In
sand square miles.
H istory R eveals Florida
In censorious Judgment upon the ac
dian ocean by the high Drakensberg
of others. However It does not
From the south and southeast
H ad Its O w n P ocah on tas tions
range, and from the Atlantic by half
South Africa Is a series of mighty ter the width of the continent. It lies '
prohibit the Just estimation of tha
Bradentown. Fla.—Pocahontas, the
races. each with a rim of high moun
character of others by their deeds.
on the great South African tableland
IndlHii princess, who enacted a bit of
tains from below and low ones from
X. The Compensations of Right Liv
at an elevation of more than 4,000 C o m tant Precaution Urged by Bureau In the Panhandle district 31 men were drama years ago In the role of the
ing (v 38).
above. Most of the slopes near the
feet. The country Is made up for the
of Minea and Uae of Gaa Maaka
rescuer,
was
about
a
hundred
yeura
be
overcome
while
putting
on
the
brand-
The one who gives freely of money,
sea are fertile, well wooded and well
most part of rolling plafns with here ;
hind a sister of her race who played
Recommended.
enbead.
watered. The ascending steps vary In and there "rands” or ridges. The pop- '
loves sincerely, makes the Golden Rule
a
like
part.
Around many wells Investigators of
the standard of his life, shows mercy
moisture and fertility.
Within this ulatlon is largely of Dutch origin.
Washington.— Worker« In Texas oil Hie bureau found dead rabbits urid
This developed here when Dr. HI I- and kindness to others, and refrains
terraced bulwark lie the great plains
Still farther Inland lies the fourth fields face untold danger« which ne- birds. Dead animals are usually found ram Byrd, president of the Florida Au
from Impugning the motives of others
or veldts where wild game once
province, Transvaal, with an area cessltate the exercise of constant pie
after a still, oppressive night, when dubon society, dug up a musty copy
swarmed and where great herds of
will he fully rewarded In kind
Got)
twice that of Orange Free State and a caution«, according to the bureau of there Is little or no air movement. of "Fairbanks' History of Florida."
will see to It that there tie no losa.
sheep and cattle have taken their
population more than three times us minea. which ha« Just completed an One man collected a pile of more than
Fairbanks recorded that In 1528 Juan
places. These plains contribute yearly
great. The white population, as in all Investigation of condition« In the Lone one hundred dead animals.
Oritz of Narvaez' expeditionary forces
millions of dollars worth of wool,
K e e p in g th e M outh C losed
the other provinces. Is greatly in the Star state's oil Industry.
In one place visited by bureau In fell Into the hands of Indians. Chief
ostrich feathers, hides, and mohair to
I f a man can keep his mouth closed
minority.
Physically, Transvaal 1»
Investigation«
by
the
bureau
took
Uceta,
head
o
f
a
tribe
whose
camp
vestigators
It
was
found
that
the
pres
the outside world.
It Is a sure sign that he could say
much like Orange Free State, a land In the Panhandle dlstricL the Blglnke ence of hydrogen sulphide In excessive was near the present site o f Tampa,
something If ha opened IL— Klafa
G reat Diamond Mines.
of rnther dry upland plains.
field of Reagan county, and the Mc quantities caused pronounced darken enraged over Narvaez' III treatment of
Business.
Toward the inner edge of the terri
The Union of South Africa has a Camey field of Upton county
ing of white lead paint on houses, of his mother, ordered that «Oritz. an
tory of the Union are the world's system of divided capitals. From Pre
Hydrogen sulphide In petroleum va brass valves and fittings and of silver eighteen-year-old youth, be rousted to
F e w e r W o rd a
greatest diamond mines, where earth toria, capital of the old Transvaal lie- por«. the bureau found. Is the most money.
death.
sufficient to fill thousands of cars Is public, the administrative activities of poisonous gas associated with the
The more yon ssy. Hie less peopla
The bureau stressed the necessity
Ulelah, Uceta's daughter, begged on
screened yearly for the sake of a peck the Union are carried on. The parlia crude oil Industry and frequently of workmen using gas masks while en her kneee that Grits' life be spared,
will remember. The fewer the worda,
or two of diamonds. But the few ment meets la Cape T o w n ; while the (Ives workers serious cases of con gaged lo derrick cellars and whenever
the greater the profit.— Fenelon.
und her wish was granted. Grits,
handfuls of diamonds exported In 1913, Supreme Court of Appeals sits In junctivitis, known as "gss eyes."
It Is believed gases are In tha air.
badly burned, was nursed back to
K eep an Eye on the One
the last year before the World war. Bloemfontein, capital of Orange Free
Conjunctivitis Is usually contracted
health by tlie gfrl. Twice agala be
worth more than fifty million dol- State.
Keep your eye on the One (one up.
In derrick cellars, where the gas col
White elephants were known more was condemned to die, but each time
— Echoes.
lects. In the derrick cellar of one well than 2,000 years ago.
Ulelah saved him.
O
•e
New York.— Almost on the very day
that Mrs. Frances Stevens Hull, gray-
j haired, wealthy and socially prominent,
appeared before a Jury in Somerville,
N. J., charged with the killing of her
husband, Mme. Guillaume l,efebvre.
gray-haired, a millionaire and a mem
ber of one of the most prominent
families In northern France, appeared
before the Assize court In the City of
Doual. charged with the murder of
her young and beautiful daughter-in-
law, says the New York World.
The trials were conducted simul
taneously for some days, und while
in this country a puzzled public was
following the grim detuils of the Hull-
Mills murder mystery, all France was
stirred by the most sensational “af
faire celebre" since the trial of Lan-
dru, the French “Bluebeard," five
years ago.
The parallel between the two cases
Is impressive. In both Instances the
principals were women of sixty, who.
because of the dignity of their age
and the prestige of the large fortunes
they
commanded,
seemed
secure
against any misadventure with the
law. Both were charged with a cap
ital crime against one of their kin
by marriage. And In both trials
there was the spectacle of two men
brothers In the case of Mrs, Hall,
husband and son in the case of Mme.
Lefebvre, defending their women kin
against the accusation of a heinous
and indefensible crime.
Both cases presented a baffling
mystery: the Hall case a mystery of
fact. In which the Issue was the-Iden
tity of the murderer; the Lefebvre
case a psychological mystery, In
which the motive for the French
woman's confessed crime baffled the
best legal brains of France.
“I have kill'«J her," the mother said
quietly.
Without a further word. Andre Le
febvre swung the car uround and
dashed madly toward the city and a
hospital.
febvre wrote to her sou that It was
time he was home.
“You seem to think you are rolling
In gold. I f your wife won't come with
you, come home alone." . . . And
this In the second week of the honey
moon.
Madame Grows Panicky.
By now Mme. Lefebvre was grow
ing decidedly panicky. Not only was
she Incensed that her son had mar
ried a “wasteful and Improvident"
woman, but she began to entertain
fears for the security of their own
possessions, the Lefebvre fortune, a
monument to her greed wdilch she
had built, stone by stone, frunc by
franc,-over a period of half a century.
When her son had married, “though
It was beneath him," she saw the be
ginnings of a new fortune which, by
saving and self-denial, would swell
the Lefebvre heritage to even more
Impressive magnitude. And here lie
wus traveling, spending freely, “roll
ing In gold," and perhaps destined
soon to make demands upon her to
maintain tlie swift and destructive
puce his spendthrift wife was setting
If the shadow of Mine. Lefebvre
clouded the young couple's honey
moon, It completely overcast their
home life after they had returned.
Andre's mother was u frequent visitor,
casting up the household budget and
finding It yxcesslve, urging retrench
ment and saving, warning her son
thnt he would land In the poorhouse.
She was shocked beyond words when
she found that Antoinette laid a fresh
white tablecloth for each meal.
"But It Is scandalous." she whined
to her son. “Think of the laundry
bill. White linen soils so quickly. We
have always used red tablecloths and
napkins at home. They lust a long
time without washing.”
She was stunned when she discov
ered that her "luvlsh" gift of "an
tique" furniture had been consigned
by Antoinette to the attic and that
the home was tastefully furnished
with new and expensive equipment.
The discovery led lo a hitler quarrel
between the women, one of the first
of many to follow.
Mine. Lefebvre was not appeased
when Antoinette explained that she
could not have used the worthless
Junk her mother-in-law had given her
without making herself and her bus-
band the laughing stock of their set.
She was not appeused when the young
woman explained that she was spend
ing largely out of her own pocket,
that her people were well-to-do, and
that she had been brought up to live
according to her ample menus.
Mme. Lefebvre emerged from each
of these quarrels with the conviction
thnt her son had married Into n fam
ily of spendthrifts and wasters and
that Ills wife would lead him Inevita
bly to Ills ruin. Yet It was brought
out ut tlie trial that the wealthy
young couple's total expenditures did
uot exceed $4,000 a year.
WARN WORKERS IN TEXAS OIL
FIELDS AGAINST DANGER OF GAS