The trustees of the Garfield monument to be erected in Cleveland, Ohio,
have more than one hundred and thirty thousand dollars on hand, and
they expect to secure a sufficient increase to this sum, at an early
day, to complete the work. This, with the fund of more than three
hundred thousand dollars which the American people contributed and
presented to the widow of the lamented Garfield, is positive proof that
our republic is not ungrateful.
* * * * *
The old statement that a low grade of moral character may exist in
the same community with a high grade of mental culture may be true of
any type of the best modern civilizations, but it is not necessarily
true. Education, like the gospel, may be the savor of death unto death,
but moral death need not be its effect. A good illustration of the
elevating tendencies of education in the community is found in the fact
that since the compulsory school law went into operation in New York,
juvenile crime in that city has been reduced by more than thirty-six
per cent. And yet it is said the law has been only partially enforced.
* * * * *
Scientific temperance education has been by legislative action
introduced into the public schools of Vermont and Michigan, and at the
last session of the legislature in New Hampshire it was by a unanimous
vote introduced into the schools of that State. The W. C. T. U. is
laying its hand on legislatures in a very effective way, and we may
look for an abundant harvest in the next generation. “Long voyages make
rich returns.”
* * * * *
Prince Bismarck is a timber merchant, and why should not a dealer
in timber be called a merchant? But this is not all. He is a large
distiller of spirituous liquors. The Germans do not object to his
occupation as a distiller, for their drinking customs are on a low
grade. Public opinion, in this country, would not long tolerate a
statesman, even of great abilities, who manufactured distilled liquors
for sale as a beverage. And herein we see one point of difference
between these two nations on a great moral reform.
* * * * *
The _Scientific American_ of a recent date says: “Too much reliance
is placed on the sense of taste, sight and smell in determining the
character of drinking water. It is a fact which has been repeatedly
illustrated that water may be odorless, tasteless and colorless, and
yet be full of danger to those who use it. The recent outbreak of
typhoid fever in Newburg, N. Y., is an example, having been caused by
water which was clear, and without taste or smell. It is also a fact
that even a chemical analysis sometimes will fail to show a dangerous
contamination of the water, and will always fail to detect the specific
poison if the water is infected with discharges of an infectious
nature. It is therefore urged that the source of the water supply
should be kept free from all possible means of contamination by sewage.
It is only in the knowledge of perfect cleanliness that safety is
guaranteed.”
* * * * *
Mr. Henry Hart, of Brockport, N. Y., manufactures a C. L. S. C. gold
pin of beautiful design for gentlemen, and another one attached to
an arrow, which is equally handsome, for ladies. Either one makes an
appropriate badge for members of the Circle to wear in everyday life,
and at times it will serve to introduce strangers when traveling or in
strange places, who have a common sympathy in a great work, and thus
aid the possessor in extending his circle of acquaintances.
* * * * *
One of the most embarrassing questions in the management of colleges
and universities is, how shall trustees superannuate a certain class of
professors, whose days of usefulness in the recitation room are past.
When that problem is solved the unity and peace of the management will,
as a rule, be secured.
* * * * *
The New York _Herald_ is led to pronounce against capital punishment
because in many cases the law against murder is a dead letter, and
produces the following historical reference to confirm the statement:
“It appears that from 1860 to 1882 a hundred and seventy persons were
tried in Massachusetts for murder in the first degree. Of this number
only twenty-nine were convicted, and only sixteen paid the extreme
penalty of the law. Of those convicted one committed suicide, and
twelve got their sentences commuted. Here, then, during a period of
little more than twenty years were a hundred and seventy murders in one
State, and only sixteen executions.”
* * * * *
They have one hundred and fifty miles of electric railway in operation
in Europe. Active preparations are making by rival inventors and
corporations in New York City to introduce electricity on a large scale
as a safe, rapid, and cheap motor. As in lighting houses, towns, and
cities we have passed from the tallow candle to kerosene, and then to
gas, and on to the electric light, so by many steps and advances we
are almost ready to accept electricity as the moving power of railway
trains.
* * * * *
The pardoning power of the general government is liable to work
pernicious results in the regular army. Cases of embezzlement and
fraud among army officers have been growing in number since our civil
war, and laxity in the enforcement of the laws against these offenders
is a growing evil. General J. B. Fry, an officer of repute, and a
graduate of West Point, thus points out the evil: “The interposition
of higher authority in favor of offenders has been so frequent since
the war, especially from 1876 to 1880, as to be a great injury to
the service. Many of the evils which have been exposed recently are
fairly chargeable to executive and legislative reversal of army action.
* * * When the strong current of military justice is dammed by the
authorities set over the army, stagnant pools are formed which breed
scandal, fraud, disobedience, dissipation, and disgrace, sometimes even
among those educated for the service.”
* * * * *
Cable intelligence, received September 3, shows that the Baron
Nordenskjöld, as a Greenland explorer, has accomplished a large part of
his original purpose. The expedition entered West Greenland in latitude
68°, and proceeded 220 miles inland, attained an altitude of seven
thousand feet above the sea level. In 1878 Lieutenant Jansen, of the
Danish navy, penetrated fifty miles from the coast, and reached an “icy
mountain, in lat. 62° 40′, five thousand feet high.” But no explorer
has since done anything worth mention toward solving the mystery of
Greenland’s interior physical geography. The expedition with Professor
Nordenskjöld has gone farther and seen more of the “immense desert of
ice;” and the latest telegrams claim that some important scientific
data have been obtained.
* * * * *
The prohibition amendment, submitted to the voters of Ohio, is
defeated, and our cherished hopes of its success, for the present,
sadly disappointed. The non-partisan temperance people, everywhere,
felt deeply interested in the issue, and will hear the result with
profound sorrow. Multitudes of Ohio’s best men and women, who had
prayed, worked, and hoped that deliverance might come in that way,
and that from the 9th of October we would see the unspeakable curse
of the liquor traffic placed where it ought to be, under the ban of
the constitution, from which corrupt tinkering politicians would be
unable to protect it, will confess their disappointment, but neither
suppress their prayers nor cease their efforts. They are clearly in the
majority, and when united will succeed.
* * * * *
Telegraphic report says the Vicar of Stratford has authorized the
exhumation of the remains of Shakspere that they may compare the skull
with the bust that stands over the grave. Dr. Ingleby, of London, who
is a trustee of the Shakspere Museum at Stratford, wishes, it seems,
to photograph the face and take a cast of the skull. The absurdity of
the proposal makes it almost incredible, and should itself prevent the
desecration. We are not surprised that the bishop and local authorities
have protested, and the intended outrage will hardly be perpetrated.
By the terms of the deed of interment the consent of the Mayor of
Stratford-on-Avon must first be given before the body can be moved. To
this proposal, that official has given a decided refusal, and the dust
of the poet will not be disturbed. Shakspere has been dead two hundred
and sixty-seven years. The type of face and head, universally accepted
as his, is sufficiently accurate. If it were not the correction of any
fault in that likeness is now impossible.
* * * * *
The Pittsburgh Exposition building, with most of its contents, was
entirely consumed by fire during the exposition week. The principal
loss was the goods on exhibition, including many articles of exquisite
workmanship, and valuable relics that can not be replaced. The building
itself, though a wooden structure, was large, and seemed suitable for
the purpose. It was valued at $150,000 and not heavily insured. Perhaps
sufficient care was not taken to secure the property against the
calamity that, in so short a time, destroyed the whole. The company,
who had before suffered some reverses and losses, and were struggling
into what seemed a safe condition, with hopes of future prosperity,
have the sympathy of the public.
* * * * *
During the last decade, and especially since the great Centennial,
expositions have been numerous, and, in many cases, attended with most
gratifying results. When the associations providing them are controlled
by men of culture, they are generously sustained. The articles they
have to exhibit are not only numerous, but in kind and quality,
worthy of our advanced civilization. These American expositions are
becoming notably rich in manufactured articles, and in the extent and
variety of useful machinery. For inventive genius the Yankee nation is
unrivaled, while in the mechanical execution of the designs our skilled
artisans have few, if any, superiors. In the principal western cities
the holding of at least annual expositions is no longer a tentative
measure. The institutions are established, and their continuance, in
most cases, pretty well assured. An example of these is the “Detroit
Art and Loan Exposition” of recent origin. Already it has fair
proportions, being from the commencement, in most respects, equal
to the best. Evidently the project for having there a creditable,
first-class exposition was clearly conceived, generously sustained, and
most successfully executed.
* * * * *
Before Congress opens General W. T. Sherman will close up the affairs
of his office, and General Sheridan will succeed him as commander
of the United States Army. General Sherman has made a good officer,
but his reputation in history will rest chiefly on his bravery and
skill as a general in his famous march to the sea. The Sherman family
have served their country well. John Sherman, in the Senate, and as
Secretary of the Treasury, in times when great abilities were in
demand, has made a name as great in his line as the general in the army.
* * * * *
The receipts of the great Brooklyn bridge for nineteen weeks from the
opening, were: For passengers, $34,464; for vehicles, $31,563; for
cars, $3,936. Total receipts, $69,163. The average per day was $526.04.
The total expenses during the nineteen weeks were $51,418.08.
* * * * *
The C. L. S. C. continues to grow with great rapidity in all parts of
the country. There is no sign of the interest waning in any community
from which we have heard. From Plainfield, N. J., the central office,
we receive news that the new class will be the largest of our history.
New England is rolling up a large membership. All over the West
and Northwest there is an interest among the people amounting to
enthusiasm. Mr. Lewis Peake, of Toronto, reports a C. L. S. C. revival
in Canada. This is the time to circulate C. L. S. C. circulars, and to
use your town, city, and county papers to call the attention of the
people to the aims and methods of work. By these means a C. L. S. C.
fire may be kindled on every street in every town and city in the land.
* * * * *
The recent pastoral letter of the Cardinal and other high officials
in the Romish Church, caused a reporter to ask one of these officers
some questions about marriage and divorce, to which he replied as
follows. It is wholesome truth: “Marriage is a divine institution,
and the Catholic Church under no circumstances whatever permits the
sacred contract to be broken.” To the question, “Is there no such thing
as separation between husband and wife recognized in the Catholic
Church?” he answered: “Separation, yes, for the gravest reasons and
under restrictions that do not admit of the remarriage of either of the
parties to the original contract while both are living. But divorce in
the sense generally accepted, never. Rather than permit divorce, the
Church let England separate from the Holy See. The same question was
raised by the first Napoleon, and it was ruled against him by the Pope.
You will find that if anything bearing the appearance of divorce has
been allowed in the Catholic Church, it has always been a case where
the most careful investigation showed that the marriage was originally
invalid.”
* * * * *
The Germans on October 8 in many towns and cities celebrated the
bi-centennial of the arrival of the first German immigrants in this
country, on the ship “Concord.” Their singing, secret, and literary
societies paraded in regalia, with banners and music. It was a notable
day among the Germans of America.
* * * * *
Bishop Paddock, of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in charge of the
diocese of Washington Territory, when speaking of his field of labor
before the Episcopal Council in Philadelphia last month, said: “I am
decidedly opposed to separating the colored people in their worship
from the whites.”
* * * * *
We learn from an exchange that the authorities of the Erie Railway
have decided to discharge every employe who uses liquor as a beverage,
whether he gets drunk or not. It is plain that for the safety of
passengers a drinking man should not be entrusted with an engine,
the care of a switch, with messages as a telegraph operator, or as a
superintendent in charge of a division.
* * * * *
The Methodists of Canada have eliminated the words “serve” and “obey”
from the woman’s part of the marriage ceremony. Even the argument that
the New Testament enjoins this kind of obedience on wives, did not
preserve the words in the ritual. We congratulate the wives on the
change.
* * * * *
Professor W. F. Sherwin has been appointed by Dr. E. Tourjee chorus
director in that prosperous institution, the New England Conservatory
of Music, in Boston, Massachusetts. The Professor will make Boston
his home, and continue to lecture and conduct musical conventions, as
heretofore.
* * * * *
The Cooper Union was crowded one evening last month to welcome Francis
Murphy home from England and his own native Ireland. Judge Noah Davis
presided and delivered the address of welcome. “In speaking of Mr.
Murphy’s work in England and Scotland he quoted the statistics of the
United Kingdom to prove that Mr. Murphy’s efforts had been effectual in
reducing the excise revenues many thousands of pounds sterling. He said
that during his two years’ stay in England and Scotland he had obtained
half a million signers to the pledge. Mr. Murphy responded in a few
brief words, declaring that the occasion was the happiest of his whole
life. A number of short addresses were made by clergymen, and with the
singing of songs and choruses, in which the whole assembly engaged, the
ceremonies were prolonged until about half-past ten o’clock.”
* * * * *
The C. L. S. C. is rapidly becoming an established institution among
New England people. This is to be accounted for in part by the fact
that the religious press of Boston and other New England cities has
favored the work with earnest, strong words. The Rev. Dr. B. K. Pierce,
editor of _Zion’s Herald_, closes a leading editorial on the C. L. S.
C., in his paper of a recent date, with these words: “There is another
reason why we look with great satisfaction upon this widely-extended
home-university. We have fallen upon an era of doubt. The literature
of the hour is full of sneers at revealed religion and of arrogant
and destructive criticism upon the Holy Scriptures. The daily, weekly
and monthly press is strongly flavored with this. Our young people
breathe it in the atmosphere of the school and of the streets. Here
is one of the best, silent, powerful, positive correctives. This
carefully-arranged plan of study and reading for successive years is
entirely in the interest of the ‘truth as it is in Jesus.’ It is not
narrow, nor dogmatic, nor polemical, nor confined to purely religious
subjects, but the whole system is arranged and followed out upon
the presumption of the inspiration of the Bible, the divine origin
of Christianity, and its ultimate triumph upon the earth. It will
powerfully strengthen the faith of young Christians, preserve them from
the insidious attacks of infidelity, and enable them to have, and to
give to any serious inquirer, an answer for the hope that is in them.”
* * * * *
The jury system has some glaring defects which should be laid bare
and made the subject of agitation till they are corrected. Recently
in a famous bribery case (so called) at Albany, N. Y., when jurors
were being called and questioned, one of them said, “I don’t know who
were the United States Senators two years ago from New York.” Yet
this ignorant man was accepted as a juror. This is a common custom in
the selection of jurors. It is exalting ignorance at the expense of
intelligence and justice. Some remedy should be found for this growing
and terrible evil.
* * * * *
A new field of artistic ability is being developed in the East. It is
the decoration of the interior of private residences. Already in New
York a number of young artists, who find it difficult to sell all the
pictures they paint, are giving their attention to this work, which
promises to be very remunerative and very extensive.
* * * * *
The Chicago agency of Alice H. Birch has been abandoned, and her old
patrons may order any game previously advertised by her, at her home,
Portland, Traill Co., Dakota.
* * * * *
The Commissioner of Education has prepared a table showing the
illiteracy among voters in the South, which presents a painfully
interesting study for educators and statesmen. In the formerly
slaveholding States there are 4,154,125 men legally entitled to vote.
Of these, 409,563 whites, and 982,894 colored, are unable to write
even their names, and their ability to read is very limited. Many, who
profess to be able to read, can only with difficulty spell out a few
simple sentences in their primers, and really get no knowledge, such as
the citizen needs, from either books or papers. Thousands of them have
neither books nor papers, and could not read them if they had. Surely a
great work must be done for these freed men and poor whites before they
are quite equal to all the duties of citizens in a country like ours.