RUBIES SURPASSED. AN ELOQUENT SERMON BY REV. T. DE WITT TALMAGE. A Comparison of Wisdom With the Most Precious Stone--The Value or Religion. Words of Solomon--Contrasts Brought Out by the Text.

BROOKLYN, Feb. 11.--In the Tabernacle this forenoon Rev. Dr. Talmage preached to a crowded audience that filled the great building to overflowing, the sub-

ject of his sermon being "Rubies Sur-

passed" and the text Proverbs viii, 11. "Wisdom is better than rubies."

You have all seen the precious stone commonly called the ruby. It is of deep red color. The Bible makes much of it. It glowed in the first row of the high priest's breastplate. Under another name it stood in the wall of heaven. Jeremiah compares the ruddy cheek of the Nazarites to the ruby. Ezekiel points it out in the robes of the king of Tyre.

Four times does Solomon use it as a symbol by which to extol wisdom or religion, always setting its value as better than rubies.

QUALITIES OF THE RUBY. The world does not agree as to how the precious stones were formed. The ancients thought that amber was made of drops of perspiration of the goddess Ge. The thunderstone was supposed to have dropped from a stormcloud. The emerald was said to have been made of the firefly. The lapis lazuli was thought to have been born of the cry of an Indian giant. And modern mineralogists say that the precious stones were made of gases and liquids. To me the ruby seems like a spark from the anvil of the setting sun.

The home of the genuine ruby is Bur-

mah, and 60 miles from its capital, where lives and reigns the ruler, called "Lord of the Rubies." Under a careful governmental guard are these valuable mines of ruby kept. Rarely has any foreigner visited them. When a ruby of large value was discovered, it was brought forth with elaborate ceremony, a procession was formed, and, with all bannered pomp, military guard and princely attendants, the gem was brought to the king's palace.

Of great value is the ruby, much more so than diamond, as lapidaries and jewelers will tell you. An expert on this subject writes, "A ruby of perfect color weighing five carats is worth at the present day ten times as much as a diamond of equal weight." It was a disaster when Charles the Bold lost the ruby he was wearing at the battle of Grandson. It was a great affluence when Rudolph II of Austria inherited a ruby from his sister, the queen dowager. It was thought to have had much to do with the victory of Henry V, as he wore it into the battle of Agincourt.

It is the pride of the Russian court to own the largest ruby of all the world, presented by Gustavus III to the Rus-

sian empress. Wondrous ruby! It has electric characteristics, and there are lightnings compressed in its double six sided prisms. What shall I call it? It is frozen fire! It is petrified blood! In

all the world there is only one thing more valuable, and my text makes the comparison, "Wisdom is better than rubies."

But it is impossible to compare two things together unless there are some points of similarity as well as of differ-

ence. I am glad there is nothing lacking here. The ruby is more beautiful in the night and under the lamplight than by day. It is preferred for evening adorn-

ment. How the rubies glow and burn and flash as the lights lift the darkness! Catherine of Aragon had on her finger a ruby that fairly lantered the night.

Sir John Mandeville, the celebrated traveler of 400 years ago, said that the emperor of China had a ruby that made the night as bright as day. The probability is that Solomon, under some of the lamps that illumined his cedar palace by night, noticed the peculiar glow of the ruby as it looked in the hilt of a sword, or hung in some fold of the upholstery, or beautified the lip of some chalice, while he was thinking at the same time of the excellency of our holy religion as chiefly seen in the night of trouble, and he cries out, "Wisdom is better than rubies."

WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS.

Oh, yes, it is a good thing to have re-

ligion while the sun of prosperity rides high and everything is brilliant in for-

tune, in health, in worldly favor. Yet you can at such time hardly tell how much of it is the natural exuberance and how much of it is the grace of God. But let the sun set, and the shadows avalanche the plain, and the thick darkness of sickness or poverty or persecution or

mental exhaustion fill the soul and fill the house and fill the world; then you sit down by the lamp of God's word, and under its light the consolations of the gospel come out; the peace of God which passeth all understanding appears. You never fully appreciated their power until in the deep night of trouble the Divine Lamp revealed their exquisiteness. Pearls and amethysts for the day, but rubies for the night.

All the books of the Bible attempt in some way the assuagement of misfortune. Of the 150 psalms of David at least 90 allude to trouble. There are sighings in every wind, and tears in every brook, and pangs in every heart. It was originally proposed to call the president's residence at Washington "The Palace" or "the Executive Mansion," but after it was destroyed in the war of 1814 and rebuilt it was painted white to cover up the marks of smoke and fire that had blackened the stone walls. Hence it was called "The White House." Most of the things now white with attractiveness were once black with disaster. What the world most needs is the consolatory, and here it comes, our holy religion, with both hands full of anodynes and sedatives and basalms, as in Daniel's time to stop mouths leonine; as in Shadrach's time to cool blast furnaces; as in Ezekiel's time to console captivity; as in St. John's time to unroll an apocalypse over rocky desolations. Hear its soothing voice as it declares: "Weeping may

endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." "The mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my loving kindness shall not depart from you." "Whom the Lord loveth he chas-

teneth." "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat, for the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall lead them to living fountains of water, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." The most wholesome thing on earth is trouble, if met in Christian spirit. To make Paul what he was it took shipwreck, and whipping on the bare back, and penitentiary, and pursuit of wild mobs, and the sword of decapitation. To make David what he was it took all that Ahithophel and Saul and Absalom and Goliath and all the Philistine hosts could do against him. It took Robert Chambers' malformation of feet to make him the literary conqueror. It was bereavement that brought William Haworth of Wesley's time from wickedness to an evangelism that won many thousands for heaven. The world would never have known what heroic

stuff Ridley was made of had not the fires been kindled around his feet, and not liking their slow work he cried: "I cannot burn. Let the fire come to me. I cannot burn." Thank God that there are gems that unfold their best glories under the lamplight! Thank God for the ruby!

SOLOMON WAS RIGHT. Moreover, I am sure that Solomon was right in saying that religion or wisdom is better than rubies, from the fact that a thing is worth what it will fetch. Re-

ligion will fetch solid happiness, and the ruby will not. In all your observation did you ever find a person thoroughly fe-

liciatated by an incrustment of jewels? As you know more of yourself than any one else, are you happier now with worldly adornments and successes than before you won them? Does the picture that cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars on your wall bring you as much satisfaction as the engraving that at the expense of $5 was hung upon the wall when you first began to keep house?

Do all the cutlery and rare plate that glitter on your extension dining table, surrounded by flattering guests, contain more of real bliss than the plain ware of your first table, at which sat only two? Does a wardrobe crowded with costly attire give you more satisfaction than your first clothes closet with its four or five pegs? Did not the plain ring set on the third finger of your left hand on the day of your betrothal give more gladness than the ruby that is now enthroned on the third finger of your right hand? If in this journey of life we have learned anything, we have learned that this world neither with its emoluments nor gains can satisfy the soul. Why; here come as many witnesses as I wish to call to the stand to testify that before high heaven and the world, in companionship with Jesus Christ and good hope of heaven, they feel a joy that all the resources of their vocabulary fail to express. Sometimes it evidences itself in ejaculations of hosanna; sometimes in

doxology; sometimes in tears. A converted native of India in a letter said, "How I long for my bed, not that I may sleep--I lie awake often and long--but to hold sweet communion with my God."

If so mighty is worldly joy that Julius II, hearing his armies were triumphant, expired, and if Talva, hearing that the Roman senate had decreed him an honor, expired, and if Dionysius and Sophocles, overcome of joy, expired, and if a shipwrecked prisoner, waiting on the coast of Guinea in want and starvation at the sight of a vessel bringing relief, fell dead from shock of delight, is it any surprise to you that the joys of pardon and heaven rolling over the soul should sometimes be almost too much for the Christian to endure and live? An aged aunt said to me: "De Witt, three times I have fainted dead away under too great Christian joy. It was in all three cases at the holy communion." An eminent Christian man while in prayer said: "Stop, Lord; I cannot bear any more of this gladness. It is too much

for mortal. Withhold! withhold!" We have heard of poor workmen or workwo-

men getting a letter suddenly telling them that a fortune had been left them, and how they were almost beside themselves with glee, taking the first ship to claim the estate. But, oh, what it is to wake up out of the stupor of a sinful life, and through pardoning grace find that all our earthly existence will be divinely managed for our best welfare, and that then all heaven will roll in upon the soul! Compared with that a spring morning is stupid, and an August sunset is inane, and an aurora has no pillared splendor, and a diamond has no flash, and a pearl no light, and a beryl no aquamarine, and a ruby no ruddiness. My gracious Lord!

My glorious God! My precious Christ! Roll over on us a few billows of that rapture, And now I ask you, as fair minded men and women, accustomed to make comparisons, is not such a joy as that worth more than anything one can have in a jeweled casket? Was not Solo-

mon right when he said, "Wisdom is better than rubies?" MARTYRS TO DUTY. There is also something in the deep carmine of the ruby that suggests the sacrifice on which our whole system of religion depends. While the emerald suggests the meadows, and the sapphire the skies, and the opal the sea, the ruby suggests the blood of sacrifice. The most emphatic and startling of all colors hath the ruby. Solomon, the author of my text, knew all about the sacrifice of lamb and dove on the altars of the temple, and he knew the meaning of sacrificial blood, and what other precious stone could he so well use to symbolize it as the ruby? Red, intensely red, red as the blood of the greatest martyr of all time--Jesus--of the centuries! Drive the story of the crucifixion out of the Bible and the doctrine of the atonement out of our religion, and there would be nothing of Christianity left for our worship or our admiration. Why should it be hard to adopt the Bible theory that our redemption was purchased by blood? What great bridge ever sprung its arches, what temple ever reared its towers, what nation ever achieved its independence, what mighty good was ever done without sacrifice of life? The great wonder of the world, the bridge that unites these two cities, cost the life of the first architect. Ask the shipyards of Glasgow and New York how many carpenters went down under accidents before the steamer was launched; ask the three great transcontinental railroads how many in their construction were buried under crumbling embankments or crushed under timbers or destroyed by the powder blast.

Tabulate the statistics of how many mothers have been martyrs to the cradle of sick children. Tell us how many men sacrificed nerve and muscle and brain and life in the effort to support their households. Tell me how many men in England, in France, in Germany, in Italy, in the United States, have died for their country. Vicarious suffering is as old as the world, but the most thrilling,

the most startling, the most stupendous sacrifice of all time and eternity was on a bluff back of Jerusalem when one Being took upon himself the sins, the ago-

nies, the perdition of a great multitude that no man can number between 12 o'clock of a darkened noon and 3 o'clock in the afternoon, purchasing the ransom of a ruined world.

Dive in all the seas, explore all the mines, crowbar all the mountains, view all the crowned jewels of all the emperors, and find me any gem that can so overwhelmingly symbolize the martyrdom as the ruby. Mark you, there are many gems that are somewhat like the ruby. So is the carnelian, so is the garnet, so is the spinel, so is the balas, so the gems brought from among the gravels of Ceylon and New South Wales, but there is only one genuine ruby, and that comes from the mine of Burmah. And there is only one Christ, and he comes

from heaven. One Redeemer, one Ran-

som, one Son of God, only "one name given under heaven among men by which we can be saved." Ten thousand times 10,000 beautiful imitations of that ruby, but only one ruby. Christ had no descendent. Christ

had no counterpart. In the lifted up grandeur and glory and love and sympa-

thy of his character he is the Imcomparable, the Infinite One! "The only wise God, our Saviour." Let all hearts, all homes, all times, all eternities, bow low before him! Let his banner be lifted in all our souls! PRICE OF THE GOSPEL. In olden times Scotland was disturbed by freebooters and pirates. To rid the seas and ports of these desperadoes the hero William Wallace fitted out a merchant vessel, but filled it with armed men and put out to sea. The pirates, with their flag inscribed of a death's head, thinking they would get an easy prize, bore down upon the Scottish merchantman, when the armed men of Wallace boarded the craft of the pirates and put them in chains and then sailed for port under the Scotch flag flying. And so our souls, assailed of sin and death and hell, through Christ are rescued, and the black flag of sin is torn down, and the striped flag of the cross is hoisted. Blessed be God for any sign, for any signal, for any precious stone, that brings to mind the price paid for such a rescue! I like coral, for it seems the solidified foam of breakers, and I like the jasper, for it gathers 17 colors into its bosom, and I like the jet, for it compresses the shadows of many midnights, and I like the chrysoprase because its purple is illumined with a small heaven of stars, and I like the chrysolite for its waves of color which seem on fire. But this morning nothing so impresses me as the ruby, for it depicts, it typifies, it suggests "The blood of Jesus Christ that cleanseth from all sin." Without the shedding of blood there is no remission." Yea, Solomon was right when in my text he said, "Wisdom is better than rubies." To bring out a contrast that will illustrate my text, I put before you two last earthly scenes. The one is in a room with rubies, but no religion, and the other in a room with religion, but no rubies. You enter the first room, where an affluent and worldly man is about to quit this life. There is a ruby on the mantel, possibly among the vases. There is a ruby in the headdress of the queenly wife. On the finger of the dying man there is a ruby. The presence of these rubies implies opulence of all kinds. The pictures on the walls are heirlooms or the

trophies of European travel. The cur-

tains are from foreign looms. The rugs are from Damascus or Cairo. The sofas are stuffed with case and quietude. The rocking chairs roll backward and forward on lullabies. The pillows are exquisitely embroidered. All the appointments of the room are a peroration to a successful commercial or professional life. But the man has no religion, never has had and never professed to have. There is not a Bible or one religious book in the room. The departing man feels that his earthly career is ended, and nothing opens be-

yond. Where he will land stepping off from this life is a mystery, or whether he will land at all, for it may be annihilation. He has no prayer to offer, and he does not know how to pray. No hope of meeting again in another state of existence. He is through with this life and is sure of no other. The ruby on the mantel and the ruby on the wasted finger of the departing one say nothing of the ransoming blood which they so mightily typify. So far as giving solace or illumination to a departing spirit,

they are a dead failure. Midnight of utter hopelessness drops on all the scene.

BETTER THAN RUBIES.

Another room of mortal exit. Religion and no rubies. She never had money enough to buy one of these exquisites. Sometimes she stopped at a jeweler's show window and saw a row of them incaradining the velvet. She had keen taste enough to appreciate those gems, but she never owned one of them. She was not jealous or unhappy because oth-

ers had rubies while she had none. But she had a richer treasure, and that was the grace of God that had comforted her along the way amid bereavements and temptations and persecutions and sicknesses and privations and trials of all sorts. Now she is going out of life.

The room is bright, not with pictures or statues, not with upholstery, not with any of the gems of mountain or of sea, but there is a strange and vivid glow in the room. Not the light of chandelier or star or noonday sun, but something that outshines all of them. It must be the presence of supernaturals. From

her illumined face I think she must hear sweet voices. Yea, she does hear sweet voices--voices of departed kindred, voices apostolic and prophetic and evan-

gelic, but all of them overpowered by the voice of Christ, saying, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom."

From her illumined face, I think she must hear rapturous music, now soft as solos, now thunderous as orchestras, now a saintly voice alone, now the hun-

dred and forty and four thousand in concert. From her illumined face, I think she must breathe redolence. Yea, she does inhale aroma from off the gardens whose flowers never wither and from the blossoms or orchards, every tree of which bears 12 manner of fruit. From her

illumined face, I think she must see a glorious sight. Yea, she sees the wall that has jasper at the base and amethyst at the top and blood red rubies between.

Goodby, sweet soul! Why should you longer stay? Your work all done, your burdens all carried, your tears all wept!

Forward into the light! Up into the joy! Out into the grandeurs! And after you have saluted Christ and your kindred, search out idea of the palaces of Lebanon cedar and tell him that you have found to be gloriously true what thousands of years ago he asserted in this morning's text, "Wisdom is better than rubies."

In those burnished palaces of our God may we all meet. FOr I confess to you that my chief desire for heaven is not the radiance, or, to take the suggestion of the text, not the rubescence of the scene.

My one idea of heaven is the place to meet old friends, God, our best friend, and our earthly friends already trans-

ported. Aye, to meet the millions whom I have never seen, but to whom I have administered in the gospel week by week through journalism on both sides of the sea, and throughout Christendom, and through many lands yet semibarbaric.

A MIGHTY AUDIENCE. For the last twenty-three years every blast of injustice against me has multiplied my readers all the world over, and the present malignancy printed and uttered because our church is in financial struggle after having two great structures destroyed by fire and we compelled to build three large churches--I say the present outrageous injustice in some quarters will multiply my audience in all lands if I can keep in good humor and not fight back.

A gentleman tapped me on the shoulder summer before last on a street of Edinburgh, Scotland, and said, "I live in the Shetland islands, North Scotland, and I read your sermons every Sabbath to an audience of neighbors, and my brother lives in Cape Town, South Africa, and he reads them every Sabbath to an audi-

ence of his neighbors." And I hear and now say to the forty millions of the earth, to whose eyes these words will come, that one of my dearest anticipations is to meet them in heaven. Ah, that will be better than rubies.

Coming up from different continents, from different hemispheres, from opposite sides of the earth, to greet each oth-

er in holy love in the presence of the glorious Christ who made it possible for us to get there. Our sins all pardoned, our sorrows all banished, never to weep,

never to part, never to die! I tell you that will be better than rubies. Others may have the crowns, and the thrones, and the scepters; give us our old friends back again, Christ, "the friend who sticketh closer than a brother," and all the kindred who have gone up from our bereft households, and all our friends

whom we have never yet seen, and you may have all the rubies, for that will be "better than rubies."

Instead of the dying kiss when they looked so pale and wan and sick, it would be the kiss of welcome on lips ju-

bilant with song, while standing on floors paved with what exquisiteness, under ceilings hung with what glory, bounded by walls facing us with what splendor, amid gladness rolling over us

with what doxology--far better, infinitely better, everlastingly better than rubies!

Ancient Girdles.

Ancient girdles were in some respects like the chatelaines not long ago so much the rage among the ladies, but they differed therefrom in being more useful, more comprehensive in regard both to

sex and to articles worn, and when completely furnished more costly. It is partly for this last reason that we find girdles bequeathed as precious heirlooms

and as valuable presents to keep the giver's memory green after death. They were not infrequently of great intrinsic

value. One of King John's girdles was wrought with gold and adorned with gems, and that of the widow of Sir Thomas Hungerford, bequeathed in 1504 to the mother church of Worcester, was of green color harnessed with silver and richly jeweled. Not a few wealthy commoners were able to afford the luxury of gold embellished belts and were not superior to that pardonable vanity so long as no regulation prohibited them. Those who have studied our social history will not be surprised to learn that enactments were passed restraining them. Edward III forbade and person under the degree of a knight from wearing girdles, gilt or silver, unless he should happen to be an esquire of substance valued at more than £200, when a reasonable embellishment was tolerated. Henry IV confirmed this regulation, but it does not seem to have been stringently enforced, for Edward IV was constrained to impose a penalty of 40 pence upon the wives of servants and laborers who should have the pertinence to aspire to be as good as their masters' spouses.--Chambers' Journal.

Making the Most of Household Pets.

Whatever beast is kept it should have its own quarters in which it is at home and free from intrusion and to which it

can retire when it chooses. This home should be kept clean and sweet by frequent changes of bedding and the use of

soap and water. No one has a right to keep an animal in confinement who finds it too much trouble to attend to its health and comfort. It should be regularly fed on food that is most healthful for it, and what is quite as essential to its happiness

and consequently to its health, it should be talked to and noticed as much as anybody. I am certain many animals and birds suffer and die in our homes from pure loneliness and from being regarded by

their human neighbors as creatures of an altogether different nature. Whereas the truth is, if one will but cultivate their acquaintance, he will be astonished

to see how the dullest and most stupid will wake out of its apparent torpor and show understanding and character. I know a family very fond of pets, in which the creatures show most extraordinary individuality. Their cats do things no cat was ever before known to do; their parrots and other birds show what we call human nature in a wonderful degree, and their dogs almost talk. The reason is plain; the animal or bird is made one of the family. It is talked to and petted as well as cared for. Its intelligence develops, and the beast becomes very like the human being.--Olive Thorne Miller in Harper's Bazar.

Liquids During Meals. If we bear in mind the whole mechanism of digestion, it will readily be seen that in cases of weakness or want of tone one the part of the muscles of the stomach, when every part of the food cannot be properly presented to the notion of the digestive juices, the introduction into the stomach of a moderate amount of water may be of no slight benefit. The mass of food will become more pliable and so more easily operated upon by the weakened muscles.--Youth's Companion.

The experiment of growing willow and the manufacture of willow ware has been attempted by a western capitalist, who expects great results. Four hundred acres of land near St. Louis have been reserved for the undertaking.

ODDS AND ENDS.

There is some mistake if in old age all our youthful interests are gone. The harbor of Glasgow will soon have seven tunnels running under its bed. Cooperative country life settlements is one of the current "talks" in England. People who dislike giving exhibitions of their strength--shoplifters.--Newport News. The precise relative date at which water power came into use cannot be asserted. "A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches," said Solomon, and he was a millionaire.

I mean to make myself a man, and if I succeed in that I shall succeed in everything else.--Garfield. All ancient Egyptian paintings were executed according to a code of rules laid down by the priesthood. Wages are higher in Poland than any other part of the Russian empire, and the hours of labor are shorter. One hundred miles north of Key West is the farthest part south in Florida that snow has ever been known to fall.

Insurance companies claim that cycling is a more dangerous mode of travel than either railways or steamships. A little girl, hearing it remarked that all people had once been children, artlessly inquired, "Who took care of the babies?"

When saluted with a salutation, salute the person with a better salutation, or at least return the same, for God taketh account of all things.--Koran.

At a depth of 3,000 feet in the famous Comstock mine at Virginia City, Nev., the waters which trickle from sides, roof and bottom have a uniform temperature of 170 degrees F.

An ingenious device in the way of a wood pulley for a shaft has only one arm to support the hub from the rim. This is to give all the room wanted to remove a split wheel, in contrast from the one that must have been built at a bicycle factory, the spokes as well as the rim being composed of wire. The susceptibility of iron to become brittle by picking and rusting is proved to be least in cast iron and silicon steel and highest in wrought iron and carbon steel. Combined carbon appears to increase the action and silicon to diminish it. The influence of manganese either way is a point not yet settled.

A Parallel to Tyndall's Death. In The Annual Register for 1823 there is to be found a case curiously parallel in many of its details to the sad death of Professor Tyndall. The entry runs as follows:

"In May of this year there died at his house in Hill street, Berkeley square, in his sixty-eighth year, the Hon. and Most Rev. William Stuart, fifth and youngest son of John Earl of Bute, archbishop of Armagh and lord primate of all Ireland. His death was occasioned by a mistake in administering a quantity of laudanum instead of a draft which had been previously prescribed. His grace having expressed some impatience that the draft had not yet arrived, Mrs. Stuart inquired of the servant if it had come, and being answered in the affirmative she desired it might be brought to her immediately. The under butler went to the porter and demanded the draft for his master. The man had just received it, together with a two ounce vial of laudanum for his own use, which he was in the habit of taking occasionally in small quantities for a disease with which he was afflicted. Most unluckily in the hurry of the moment, instead of giving the draft intended for the archbishop, he accidentally substituted the bottle which contained the laudanum. In a few minutes the mistake was discovered, but before medical assistance could be procured he was beyond relief." --Westminster Gazette.

Dangers of the Grape Cure. The Swiss "grape cure" has, I believe, comparatively few votaries in England, but any of my readers who meditate try-

ing it would do well to take warning by the extraordinary accident which has be-

fallen M. Emile Wauters, the eminent French portrait painter. In order to strengthen himself for what promised to be an unusually busy season in Paris, M. Wauters spent a portion of the autumn at Territet, where he was induce to try a

fortnight's "grape cure." He was not, however, informed that the fruit had been carefully and profusely sprinkled with sulphate of copper.

At the end of 15 days he was suffering from all the most painful and aggravat-

ed symptoms of metallic poisoning. The leading doctors of Geneva, who first treated the case, informed him that he was only one of several victims. He was at last removed with difficulty to Paris,

but the inflammation and weakness of digestion thus occasioned continued, and it will be a long time before he regains his usual health. M. Wauters is justly indignant with the Swiss sanitary au-

thorities, but hopes that other travelers will profit by his misfortune.--London World.

"Touters" For Champagne Merchants.

A curious thing is to be noted in connection with the business warfare carried on by the representatives of different brands of champagne. These dealers have adopted the policy of supplying

money to well dressed young men about town who move in good society and frequent fashionable cafes. This money is to be spent in the purchase of wine, the condition precedent being that the brand praise, called for and insisted on shall be that supplied to dispensers of wet goods by the wholesaler who puts up the cash. So widespread has this custom become that any one who demands a certain label is regarded with suspicion by his comrades who are "splitting a bottle" with him. Therefore those who desire to avoid the reputation of "touters" leave the ques-

tion of brand to their guests or tell the waiter to "bring anything you have cold."--New York Herald.

The properties and use of the mariner's compass were known to the Chinese centuries ago. It was brought to Europe in the thirteenth century and first used on the Mediterranean.

A colony of bank swallows some years ago taught a young but observing engineer how to build a tunnel which his more learned superiors had refused to undertake. Scientific cooking is no longer a name. It is a recognized necessity, and its dyspeptic substitute is not to be much longer put up with.

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E. B. LAKE, Association Office, No. 601 Asbury Ave., Ocean City, N. J.

ISRAEL G. ADAMS & CO., Real Estate and Insurance AGENTS, 2031 ATLANTIC AVE. Atlantic City, N. J.

Commissioner of Deeds for Pennsylvania. Money to loan on first mortgage.

Lots for sale at South Atlantic City.

Flagging & Curbing.

GET THE BEST STONE FLAGGING and CURBING

Never wears out. No second expense. For terms and contracts consult Robert Fisher, my agent for Ocean City.

DENNIS MAHONEY.