A TOMB AND A TEMPLE. THE FAMOUS TAJ MAHAL AND THE ELEPHANTA CAVES.

Rev. Dr. Talmage Describes at Length the Exquisite Architecture of the Hindoos and Compares Their Materialism With the Spirituality of the Christian Faith.

BROOKLYN, Jan. 6.--In continuing

his series of round the world sermons

through the press Rev. Dr. Talmage to-

day chose for his subject "Tomb and Temple," having reference to that most famous and beautiful of mausoleums, the Taj Mahal. The text selected was, "From India even unto Ethiopia" (Es-

ther i, 1).

In all the Bible this is the only book in which the word India occurs, but it stands for a realm of vast interest in the time of Esther, as in our time. It yielded them, as now, spices and silks and cotton and rice and indigo and ores of all richness and precious stones of all sparkle and had a civilization of its own as marked as Egyptian or Grecian or Roman civilization. It holds the costliest tomb ever built and the most unique and wonderful idolatrous temple ever opened. For practical lessons in this my sixth discourse in round the world series I show you that tomb and

temple of India.

In a journey around the world it may not be easy to tell the exact point which divides the pilgrimage into halves. But there was one structure toward which we were all the time traveling, and having seen that we felt that if we saw nothing more our expedition would be a success. That one object was the Taj Mahal of India. It is the crown of the whole earth. The spirits of architecture met to inthrone a king, and the spirit of the Parthenon of Athens was there, and the spirit of St. Sophia of Constantinople was there, and the spirit of St. Izaak of St. Petersburg was there, and the spirit of the Baptistery of Pisa was there, and the spirits of the great pyramid and of Luxor obelisk, and of the Porcelain tower of Nankin, and of St. Mark's of Venice, and the spirits of all the great towers, great cathedrals, great mausoleums, great sarcophagi, great capitols for the living and of great necropolises for the dead were there. And the presiding genius of the throng with gavel of Parian marble smote the table of Russian malachite, and called the throng of spirits to order, and called for a vote as to which spirit should wear the chief crown, and mount the chief throne, and wave the chief scepter, and by unanimous acclaim the cry was: "Long live the spirit of the Taj, king of all the spirits of architecture! Thine is the Taj

Mahal of India!"

Fulfills All Expectations. The building is about six miles from Agra, and as we rode out in the early dawn we heard nothing but the hoofs and wheels that pulled and turned us along the road, at every yard of which our expectations rose until we had some thought that we might be disappointed at the first glimpse, as some say they were disappointed. But how can any one be disappointed with the Taj is almost as great a wonder to me as the Taj itself. There are some people always disappointed, and who knows but that having entered heaven they may criticise the architecture of the temple and the cut of the white robes, and say that the river of Life is not quite up to their expectations, and that the white horses on which the conquerors ride seem a little spring halt or spavined? My son said, "There it is!" I said, "Where?" For that which he saw to be the building seemed to me to be more like the morning cloud blushing under the stare of the rising son. It seemed not so much built up from the earth as let down from heaven. Fortunately you stop at an elaborated gateway of red sandstone one-eighth of a mile from the Taj, an entrance so high, so arched, so graceful, so four domed, so painted and chiseled and scrolled that you come very gradually upon the Taj, which structure is enough to intoxicate the eye and stun the imagination and entrance the soul. We go up the winding stairs of this majestic entrance of the gateway, and buy a few pictures, and examine a few curios, and from it look off upon the Taj, and descend to the pavement of the garden that raptures everything between the gateway and the ecstasy of marble and precious stones. You pass along a deep stream of water in which all manner of brilliant fins swirl and float. There are 84 fountains that spout and bend and arch themselves to fall in showers of pearl in basins of snowy whiteness. Beds of all imaginable flora greet the nostril before they do the eye and seem to roll in waves of color as you advance toward the vision you are

soon to have of what human genius did when it did its best; moon flowers, lilacs, marigolds, tulips and almost everywhere the lotus; thickets of bewildering bloom; on either side trees from many lands bend their arborescence over your head or seem with convoluted branches to reach out their arms toward you in welcome. On and on you go amid tamarind and cypress and poplar and oleander and yew and sycamore and banyan and leaf and girth you cease to ask their name or nativity.

An Ideal Memorial.

As you approach the door of the Taj one experiences a strange sensation of awe and tenderness and humility and worship. The building is only a grave, but what a grave! Built for a queen, who, according to some, was very good, and according to others was very bad. I choose to think she was very good. At any rate, it makes me feel better to think that this commemorative pile was set up for the immortalization of virtue rather than vice. The Taj is a mountain of white marble, but never such walls faced each other with exquisiteness; never such a tomb was cut from block of precious stones brightened and gloomed and blazed and chastened and glorified a building since sculptor's chisel cut its first curve, or painter's pencil traced its first figure, or mason's plumb line measured its first wall, or architect's compass swept its first circle. The Taj has 16 great arched windows, four at each corner; also at each of the four corners of the Taj stands a minaret 137 feet high; also at each side of this building is a splendid mosque of red sandstone. Two hundred and fifty years has the Taj stood, and yet not a wall is cracked, nor a mosaic loosened, nor an arch ragged, nor a panel dulled. The [?] of 250 winters have not [?] and the heats of 250 summers a marble. There is no story of age written by mosses on its white surface. Montaz, the queen, was beautiful, and Shah Jehan, the king, here proposed to let all the centuries of time know it. She was married at 20 years of age and died at 29. Her life ended as another life began. As the rose bloomed the rosebush perished.

Glittering With Jewels. To adorn this dormitory of the dead, at the command of the king, Bagdad sent to this building its cornelian, and Ceylon its lapis lazuli, and Punjab its jasper, and Persia its amethyst, and Tibet its turquoise, and Lanka its sapphire, and Yemen its agate, and Punan its diamonds and blood stones and sardonyx and chalcedony and moss agates are as common as though they were pebbles. You find one spray of vine beset with 80 and another with 100 stones. Twenty thousand men were 20 years in building it, and although the labor was slave labor, and not paid for, the building cost what would be about $60,000,000 of our American money. Some of the jewels have been picked out of the wall by iconoclasts or conquerors, and substitutes of less value have taken their places, but the vines, the traceries, the

arabesques, the spandrels, the entablatures are so wondrous that you feel like dating the rest of your life from the day you first saw them. In letters of black marble the whole of the Koran is spelled out in and on this august pile. The king

sleeps in the tomb beside the queen, although he intended to build a palace as black as this was white on the opposite side of the river for himself to sleep in. Indeed the foundation of such a necropolis of black marble is still there, and from the white to the black temple of

the dead a bridge was to cross, but the son dethroned him and imprisoned him, and it is wonderful that the king had any place at all in which to be buried.

Instead of windows to let in the light upon the two tombs, there is a trellis work of marble, marble cut so delicately thin that the sun shines through it as easily as through glass. Look the world over and find so much translucency, canopies, traceries, lace work, embroideries of stone.

We had heard of the wonderful resonance of this Taj, and so I tried it. I suppose there are more sleeping echoes in that building waiting to be wakened by the human voice than in any building ever constructed. I uttered one word, and there seemed descending invisible choirs in full chant, and there was a reverberation that kept on long after one would have expected it to cease. When a line of a hymn was sung, there were replying, rolling, rising, falling, inter-

weaving sounds that seemed modulated by beings seraphic. There were aerial sopranos and bassos, soft, high, deep, tremulous, emotional, commingling. It was like an antiphonal heaven. But there are four or five Taj Mahals. It has one appearance at sunrise, another at noon, another at sunset and another by moonlight. Indeed the silver trowel of the moon, and the golden trowel of the sunlight, and the leaden trowel of the storm build and rebuild the glory, so that it never seems twice alike. It has all moods, all complexions, all grandeurs. From the top of the Taj, which is 250 feet high, springs a spire 30 feet higher, and that is enameled gold. What an anthem in eternal rhythm! Lyrics and elegies in marble. Sculptured hosanna. Masonry as of supernatural hands. Mighty doxology in stone. I shall see nothing to equal it till I see the great white throne, and on it him from whose face the earth and heavens flee away.

The Pride of India. The Taj is the pride of India, and especially of Mohammedanism. An English officer at the fortress told us that when during the general mutiny in 1857 the Mohammedans proposed insurrection at Agra the English government aimed the guns of the fort at the Taj and said, "You make insurrection, and that same day we will blow your Taj to atoms," and that threat ended the disposition for mutiny at Agra.

But I thought while looking at that palace for the dead all this constructed to cover a handful of dust, but even that handful has probably gone from the mausoleum. How much better it would have been to expend $60,000,000, which the Taj Mahal cost, for the living. What asylums it might have built for the sick, what homes for the homeless! What improvement our century has made upon other centuries in lifting in honor of the departed memorial churches, memorial hospitals, memorial reading rooms, memorial observatories. By all possible means let us keep the memory of departed loved ones fresh in mind, and let there be an appropriate headstone or monument in the cemetery, but there is a dividing line between reasonable commemoration and wicked extravagance.

The Taj Mahal has its uses as an architectural achievement, eclipsing all other architecture, but as a memorial of a departed wife and mother it expresses no more than the plainest slab in many a country graveyard. The best monument we can any of us have built for us when we are gone is in the memory of those whose sorrows we have alleviated, in the wounds we have healed, in the kindnesses we have done, in the ignorance we have enlightened, in the recreant we have reclaimed, in the souls we have saved. Such a monument is built out of material more lasting than marble or bronze and will stand amid the eternal splendors long after the Taj Mahal of India shall have gone down in the ruins of a world of which it was the costliest monument. But I promised to show you not only a tomb of India, but a unique heathen temple, and it is a temple underground.

With miner's candle we had seen something of the underside of Australia, as at Gimple, as with guide's torch we had seen at different times something of the underside of America, as in Mammoth cave, but we are now to enter one of the sacred cellars of India, commonly called the Elephanta caves. We had it all to ourselves, the steam yacht that was to take us about 15 miles over the harbor of Bombay and between enchanted islands, and along shores whose curves and gulches were pictured rocks gradually prepared the mind for appreciation of the most unique spectacle in India.

The morning had been full of thunder and lightning and deluge, but the atmospheric agitations h ad ceased, and the cloudy ruins of the storm were piled up in the heavens, huge enough and darkly purple enough to make the skies as grandly picturesque as the earthly scenery amid which we moved.

The Idols of Elephanta.

After an hour's cutting through the water we come to the long pier reaching from the island called Elephanta. It is an island small of girth, but 600 feet high. It declines into the marshes of mangrove. But the whole island is one tangle of foliage and verdure; convolvulus creeping the ground; mosses climbing the rocks; vines sleeving the long arms of the trees; red flowers here and there in the woods, like incendiary's torch trying to set the groves on fire--cactus and acacia vying as to which can most charm the beholder; tropical bird meeting particolored butterfly in jungles planted the same summer the world was born. We stepped out of the boat amid enough natives to afford all the help we needed for landing and gunlance. You

can be carried by coolies in an easy chair, or you can walk, if you are bless-

ed with two stout limbs, which the psalmist evidently lacked, or he would not have so depreciated them when he said, "The Lord taketh no pleasure in the legs of a man." We passed up some stone steps, and between the walls we saw awaiting us a cobra, one of those

snakes which greet the traveler ofttimes

in India. Two of the guides left the co-

bra dead by the wayside. They must have been Mohammedans, for Hindoos never kill that sacred reptile.

And now we come near the famous temple hewn from one rock of porphyry

at least 800 years ago. On either side of

the chief temple is a chapel, these cut out of the same stone. So vast was the undertaking and to the Hindoo was so great the human impossibility that they say the gods scooped out this structure from the rock and carved the pillars

and hewed its shape into gigantic idols and dedicated it to all the grandeurs. We climb many stone steps before we

get to the gateways. The entrance to the temple has sculptured doorkeepers

leaning on sculptured devils. How strange! But I have seen doorkeepers of churches and auditoriums who seemed to be leaning on the demons of bad ven-

tilation and asphyxia. Doorkeepers ought to be leaning on the angels of health and comfort and life. All the sextons and janitors of the earth who have spoiled sermons and lectures and poisoned the lungs of audiences by inef-

ficiency ought to visit this cave of Ele-

phanta and beware of what these doorkeepers are doing, when instead of lean-

ing on the angelic they lean on the demoniac. In these Elephanta caves everything is on a Samsonian and Titanian scale. With chisels that were dropped from nerveless hands at least eight centuries ago, the forms of the gods Brahma and Vishnu and Siva were cut into the ever-

lasting rock. Siva is here represented by a figure 16 feet 9 inches high, one-half man and one-half woman. Run a line from the center of the forehead straight to the floor of the rock, and you divide this idol into masculine and feminine. Admired as this idol is by many, it was to me about the worst thing that was ever cut into porphyry, perhaps because there is hardly anything on earth so objectionable as a being half man and half woman. Do be one or other, my hearer. Man is admirable, and woman is admirable, but either in flesh or traprock a compromise of the two is hideous. Save us from effeminate men and masculine

women!

Sculptured Gods. Yonder is the King Ravana worshipping. Yonder is the sculptured representation of the marriage of Siva and Parhati. Yonder is Daksha, the son of Brahma, born from the thumb of his right hand. He had 60 daughters. Seventeen of those daughters were married to Kasyapa and became the mothers of the human race. Yonder is

a god with three heads. The center god has a crown wound with necklaces of skulls. The right hand god is in a paroxysm of rage, with forehead of snakes,

and in its hand is a cobra. The left

hand god has pleasure in all its features, and the hand has a flower. But there are gods and goddesses in all directions. The chief temple of this rock is 130 feet square and has 26 pillars rising to the roof. After the conquerors of other lands and the tourists from all lands have chipped and defaced and blasted and carried away curios and mementos for museums and homes there are enough entrancements left to detain

one unless he is cautious until he is down with some of the malarias which encompass this island or get bitten with some of its snakes. Yes, I felt the chilly dampness of the place and left this congress of gods, this pandemonium of demons, this pantheon of indifferent deities, and came to the steps and look-

ed off upon the waters which rolled and flashed around the steam yacht that was waiting to return with us to Bom-

bay. As we stepped aboard, our minds filled with the idols of the Elephanta caves, I was impressed as never before with the thought that man must have a religion of some kind even if he has to contrive one himself, and he must have a god even though he make it with his own hand. I rejoice to know the day will come when the one God of the universe will be acknowledged throughout India.

That evening of our return to Bombay I visited the Young Men's Christian association with the same appointments that you find in the Young Men's Christian association of Europe and America, and the night after that I addressed a throng of native children who are in the schools of the Christian missions. Christian universities gather under their wing of benediction a host of the young men of this country. Bombay and Calcutta, the two great commercial cities of India, feel the elevating power of an aggressive Christianity.

Episcopalian liturgy, and Presbyterian Westminster catechism, and Methodist anxious seat, and Baptist waters of consecration now stand where once basest idolatries had undisputed sway. The work which Shoemaker Carey inaugurated at Scrampore, India, translating the Bible into 40 different dialects, and leaving his wornout body amid the natives whom he had come to save, and going up into the heavens from which he can better watch all the field--that work will be completed in the salvation of the millions of India, and beside him gazing from the same high places stand Bishop Heber and Alexander Duff and John Sca[?]r and Mackay, who fell at Delhi, and Moncrieff, who fell at Cawnpur, and Polchampton, who fell at Lucknow, and Freeman, who fell at Futtigarb, and all heroes and heroines who for Christ's sake lived and died for the Christianization of India, and their heaven will not be complete until the Ganges that washes the ghats of heathen temples shall roll between churches of the living God, and the trampled womanhood of Hindooism shall have all the rights purchased by him who amid the

cuts and stabs of his own assassination cried out, "Behold thy mother!" and from Bengal bay to Arabian ocean, and from the Himalayas to the coast of Cor[?]iel there be lifted hosannas to him who died to redeem all nations. In that day Elephanta cave will be one of the places where idols are "cast to the moles and bats."

If any clergyman asks me, as an unbelieving minister of religion once asked the Duke of Wellington, "Do you not think that the work of converting the Hindoos is all a practical farce?" I answer him as Wellington answered the unbelieved minister, "Look to your marching orders, sir!" Or if any one having joined in the gospel attack feels like retreating I say to him, as General Havelock said to a retreating regiment, "The enemy are in front, not in the rear," and leading them again into the fight, though two horses had been shot under him.

Fighting for Christ.

Indeed the taking of this world for Christ will be no holiday celebration, but as tremendous as when in India during the mutiny of 1857 a fortress manned by sepoys was to be captured by Sir Cohn Campbell and the army of Britain. The sepoys hurled upon the attacking columns burning missiles and grenades, and fired on them shot and shell, and poured on them from the ramparts burning oil until a writer who witnessed it says, "It was a picture of pandemonium." Then Sir Cohn addressed his troops, saying, "Remember the women and children must be res-

cued!" and his men replied: "Aye, aye, Sir Cohn! We stood by you at Balaklava, and we stand by you here." And then came the triumphant assault of the battlements. So in this gospel campaign, which proposes capturing the vest last citadel of idolatry and sin and hoisting over it the banner of the cross we may have hurled upon us mighty opposition and scorn and obloquy, and many may fall before the work is done, yet at every call for new onset let the cry of the church be: "Aye, aye, great captain of our salvation! We stood by thee in oth-

er conflicts, and we will stand by thee to the last." And then, if not in this world, then from the battlements of the next, as the last Appolyonic fortification shall crash into ruin, we will join in the shout, "Thanks be unto God, who giveth us the victory!" "Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth!"

BANDAGED THE WRONG ARM. One of Many Excuses For Absence That Were Promptly Rejected.

Railroaders admire the "block system." Telegraphers do not. Day after day and week after week, lounging around the Western Union building, at the corner of Day street and Broadway, are to be found a number of seedy looking men--telegraph operators "on the block." Probably every man on the "block" has been repeatedly "letcut" (dismissed) for the selfsame offense and as often reinstated after making the atmosphere blue with lamentations and armor plated resolutions. It takes a telegrapher to spring a "tale of woe" upon an unsuspecting and guileless manager. For instance: Jack -----, who disappeared from the public gaze one fine morning, toed the mark a fortnight later, looking considerably worse for

wear. Around his arm he wore a piece of thick black crape, indicative of deep mourning.

"Oh, how d'ye do, Mr. C----?" quoth the manager. "No family trouble, I hope?"

"Poor little Tommy's gone, sir," replied Jack, with a pardonable tremor in his manly voice. "Dear, dear, no wonder you didn't feel like working! Poor Tommy! Let me see--a little fellow about 6 years old, with a pug nose and red hair?"

"Nose slightly retrousse, sir, and hair of auburn hue," corrected the fond parent.

"Just so, the only child, eh?" "The only one, sir."

"Very sad! And how does Mrs. C---- bear up?"

"In bed for over a week past, sir." "How many wives do you happen to possess, Mr. C----?" "One wife, sir." "I see. Well, your one wife and little Tommy, French nose and banana

ringlets all complete, were both here not more than an hour ago inquiring very anxiously after your health; said they hadn't clapped eyes on you for the last ten days! Did they strew many flowers on poor little Tommy's grave, Mr. C----?"

This last crusher was too much, and as the bereaved father carefully and deliberately chalked a bee line in the direction of the elevator the look which stole into his blue eyes was of such a faraway nature that not even the fringe of it could have been detected through a Lick telescope.

Walter Q---- took a three week' "vacation," and as he braced himself up to face the orchestra on his return the "boys" noticed that he carried his left arm in a sling.

"Fine morning, Mr. Q----," said the manager, opening the attack; "nothing serious, I trust?" "Oh, nothing to speak of, sir!" replied Walter, carefully adjusting his most conciliatory smile. "Runaway horse, that's all, sir." "And you stopped the horse and doubtless saved some valuable life?" "I did, sir, and have been unable to hold a pen for the last two weeks!" "Heroic, but rash--decidedly rash. By the way, which hand do you happen to use in writing, Mr. Q----?" "The right hand, sir." "Ah, I thought so! I am of the opinion that two weeks' additional rest will about fix up your left arm, Mr. Q----. Good morning!" The poor fellow had tied up the wrong arm.--New York World.

Forest Fire Phenomena.

The phenomena of sheets of flame and balls of fire which accompany forest fires are explained by a writer as due to gases in the air, which arise from turpentine, resinous gums and volatile oils which exude from evergreen trees. These are easily ignited and explode in the air in dry weather. Josephine's Watch. A New York collector owns a Louis XIV watch that is said to have once belonged to the Empress Josephine. While she lived at Malmaison she presented it to A[?] Blanchard, and he in turn gave it to his uncle, M[?] Feelig[?] of S[?]burg. This watch, which was purchased at the Feetig[?] sale in Strausburg in 1879, occupies the center of a [?].

LEAPING FROM HIGH CLIFFS, California Sea Lions Are Small, but Are Champion Climbers and Jumpers.

Closely resembling Steller's sea lion is the California sea lion, the slim fellow in the animal show who climbs up out of the water, all black and shiny, points his long thin neck straight upward, gazes at the top of his cage and bawls out, "Hoke, Hoke, Hoke!" until all the little boys outside the tent are fairly wild to get in.

In form and habits this animal so closely resembles the smaller specimen of Steller's sea lion that on the Farallone islands, where the two species come together, the difference between them was for years quite overlooked. Nevertheless the points of difference between them are very marked. The California sea lion is only about half the size of the preceding species. The male has less development of neck, less abundant hair, and, being much lighter in build, is more active in movement. Indeed, if reports are true, we may truthfully call this creature the champion climber and jumper of all

the pinnipeds in the world.

Captain Scammon states that on Santa Barbara island the old male sea lions are in the habit of climbing to the tops of the bold rocky cliffs that abound on its coast and lying there for days at a

time--to enjoy the scenery perhaps.

What is stranger still, these wonderful creatures, when attacked or thoroughly alarmed, will take flying leaps from the tops of these same cliffs into the sea. Captain Scammon relates how he and his crew once cornered a herd of about 20 old male sea lions who "were collected on the brink of a precipitous cliff, at a height of at least 60 feet above the rocks which shelved from the beach below. Our men were sure, in their own minds, that by surprising the animals we could drive them over the cliff. "This was easily accomplished, but to our chagrin, when we arrived at the point below where we expected to find the huge beasts disabled or killed, the last animal of the whole rookery was seen plunging into the sea." The California sea lion is found only on the coast of California and the peninsula of Lower California, and its two centers of greatest abundance are the Farallone islands, near San Francisco, and Santa Barbara island. In former years immense numbers were killed for their oil, but that has ceased to be a paying industry. Owing to the fact that they are protected by law, they have become so numerous around the Cliff house, the Heads and in San Francisco bay that their wholesale destruction of valuable food fish is bitterly complained of by the fishermen of San Francisco. Of all pinnipeds this species is the most noisy. "In approaching an island or point occupied by a numerous herd," says Captain Scrammon, "one first hears their long, plaintive howlings, as if in distress, but when near them the sounds become more varied and deafening. "The old males roar so loudly as to drown the noise of the heaviest surf among the rocks and caverns, and the younger of both sexes croak hoarsely or send forth sounds like the bleating of sheep or the barking of dogs. In fact, their tumultuous utterances are beyond description."

In the water the body of this creature appears to be a shiny black brown, but when the skin is mounted and dried in a museum collection the hair is found to be thin, coarse, very stiff and of a dirty brownish yellow color.--St. Nicholas.

JAPAN'S FUTURE. A Vision of What Might Follow Upon Her Victory Over China. When Commodore Perry knocked the mud forts of the Japanese about their ears, he supposed that he was merely opening a new market for western products. In the light of recent events it begins to look as if Perry's cannons really decided the fate of the entire eastern hemisphere.

The result of the adoption of European civilization by Japan is now seen in the fact that the mighty empire of China is helpless in the presence of the Japanese army and navy. No one any longer doubts that Japan can with ease conquer China and establish a new and greater Japanese empire, with its capital at Peking. The Chinese many years ago were conquered by a handful of

wild Tartars and have ever since submitted to Tartar rule. They would submit much more easily to the rule of civilized and intelligent Japanese.

Let us suppose that Japan takes possession of China and establishes a strong and enlightened government. The new Japanese empire would then have a population of 400,000,000. The introduction of universal military service would give Japan an army of 40,000,000 men.

Gordon has proved that the Chinamen can be made an excellent soldier. An army of 40,000,000 Chinamen, well dis-

ciplined, well armed and officered by Japanese, would be irresistible even by the combined world in arms. Under Japanese rule China would be

covered with railways, and her material

prosperity would be enormously increased. An intelligent system of taxation would yield the government an almost fabulous revenue. With this the Japa-

nese could build such a fleet as the world

has never seen, a fleet so numerous and

powerful that not a foreign vessel could sail the Pacific or the Indian ocean except by the permission of the Japanese.

With its army and navy Japan would find it a mere holiday task to overrun and take possession of India. On the north it would have no fees, for Russia would cease to be aggressive and would not merely be compelled to stand on the defensive, but rely for its defense not on its armies, but upon its snows and deserts. Masters of India and China, the time would come when the Japanese would seek to extend their possessions. Following the path of the Turkish hordes that long ago invaded Europe, the Japanese would conquer Turkestan, Persia and Syria, and the Mediterranean would become a Japanese lake. The invaders would then pass into Europe, which would be powerless in the face of the innumerable soldiers and immense fleets of the Japanese. The invasion of the Turks, which in the middle ages filled Europe with consternation, was child's play compared with an invasion of millions of disciplined Chinese and Japenese. The European fleets would be quickly destroyed and the combined European armies dispersed. The Japanese flag would float over Vienna, Berlin, Rome, Paris, Madrid and London, and in course of time even Russia would no

longer find protection in her wintry climate and vast distance, and the whole of Asia and Europe would be Japanese.

Only about a year ago, when there was no reason to suppose that war would break out between Japan and China, and when it was supposed that China would always be more than a match for her little island neighbor, Lord Wolseley predicted that the day would come when China would adopt western methods of military organization and would then be in a position to overrun all Europe. Should Japan completely conquer China what Lord Wolseley predicted might speedily come to pass. It is idle to say that so small an empire as Japan can never hold so large and densely populated an empire as China. If 40,000,000 Englishmen can hold and govern 200,000,000 Indians from a distance of thousands of miles, 40,000,000 Japanese can certainly hold and govern China, which lies almost within sight of Japan.

The prospect that the empire of the world may become divided between Japan and the United States may not at first seem a welcome one, but it does not follow that it would be wholly a misfortune were Europe to pass under the dominion of Japan. In such case there would be an end to European wars.

The peace of Japan would be as great a blessing to Europe as the peace of Rome was to the Mediterranean nations. Germans and Frenchmen and Italians and Russians would no longer be armed to the teeth and waiting for the opportunity to spring at each other's throat. They would all have a common master, and that master would keep the peace for the reason that there would no longer be any enemy to fight. The Japanese troops would keep order, and the people of Europe, relieved of military service and safe from all aggression, would be able to earn their living in peace under a government that would be at least as intelligent as the government of the French parliament, the English house of lords or the Russian czar. The pope of Rome would probably object to be superseded by a Buddhist priest, and the archbishop of Canterbury would dislike to give place to a Confucian sage, but the common people, on whom now falls the burden of European misgovernment and of the hatred and distrust between European nations, would, after a little while, look upon the Japanese as deliverers and become the most loyal of all the subjects of the mikado.--New York Times.

GILBERT & LAKE, House and Sign Painters. RESIDENCE: 450 West Avenue, OCEAN CITY, N. J. Jobbing promptly attended to. Estimates cheerfully given. Guarantee to do first-class work and use the best material. Orders left at Wm. Lake's office, corner Sixth and Asbury avenue, will receive prompt

attention.

C. THOMAS, NO. 108 MARKET STREET, PHILADELPHIA. HEADQUARTERS OF SOUTH JERSEY FOR FINE FAMILY GROCERIES. ALWAYS THE FRESHEST AND BEST TO BE FOUND IN THE MARKET. Full Flavored Teas, Choice Brands of Coffee, Sugars of all Grades, Canned Fruits, Pickles, Spices, Raisins, Dried Beef, Butter and Lard. Hams of Best Quality, Weighed when Purchased by Customers. No Loss in Weight Charged to Purchasers. Stop in and make selections from the best, largest and freshest stock in Philadelphia. Orders by mail promptly attended to and goods delivered free of charge at any railroad or steamboat in the city. LOW PRICES. Satisfaction Gauranteed. [sic]

The English [?] believe that Robin Hood died on May day.

Carpet Weaving.

It was in France that the first serious effort was made to establish the manufacture of carpets in the fashion of the orient. This was in the reign of Louis XIV and under the direction of his

Minister Colbert. The royal manufactories were designed to furnish all manner of furniture, and in the Gobelins and Beauvais factories 250 master weavers wove rich tapestries. During the revo-

lution of 1783 these factories were almost suppressed, but Napoleon I revived

the manufactories and furnished his pal-

aces with their loom work. The national workshops of France still continue, and the woven stuffs of Gobelins, Beauvais and Savonnerie are accounted

among the finest in Europe.

The knowledge of carpet weaving was presumably introduced into England from France. During the persecution of the Huguenots the carpet weavers, with other artistic craftsmen, fled for refuge to England and established themselves in various towns. Axminster, in Devonshire, was one of these, and also the town of Wilton. These places retained their supremacy for a long time, but with the introduction of the Jacquard

loom and various improved processes of

manufacture the industry was success-

fully developed in Kidderminster, Dur-

ham, Kilmarnock and Glasgow.--Good Words.

A Ridiculous Order. The chief of police in Manchester, N. H., has recently issued an order forbidding any police officer to furnish information to reporters on pain of suspension. According to the Manchester Union, the situation is not without its humors. A book agent had just arrived in Manchester. As he walked up from the station he inquired of an Elm street officer, "Can you tell me the way to Hanover street?"

The officer regarded him suspiciously. "Are you a newspaper man?" he asked.

The stranger hesitated. "I have been," he stammered. "Then I can tell you nothing," replied the bluecoat, edging away. "The chief has given us orders not to furnish information to newspaper men."

One of the Manchester reporters early one morning discovered a blaze in a pile of rubbish in a back street. "Where's the nearest fire box?" he asked, rushing up to an officer. "Let's see, you're a

newspaper man, aren't you?" queried the patrolman. "Yes. Where's the box?" "Can't tell," was the reply. "Chief's orders."--Worcester Gazette.

JOHN BROWER, Painter and Glazier.

DEALER IN Lewis Bros. Pure White Lead, Linseed Oil and Colors.

First Quality Hard Oil and Varnishes. Roberts' Fire and Water Proof Paints.

Pure Metallic Paints for Tin and Shingle Roofs (and no other should be used where rain water is caught for family use).

All brands of Ready Mixed Paints.

Window Glass of all kinds and patterns. Reference given. STORE ON ASBURY AVE OCEAN CITY N. J.

The Best Way. Stuffer--You know that girl who refused me? She has just insulted me by inviting me to dinner. Dashaway--What are you going to do?

The theatrical manager is known by the company he keeps.

W. L. DOUGLAS $3 SHOE IS THE BEST. NO SQUEAKING. $5 CORDOVAN, FRENCH & ENAMELLED CALF. $4. $3.50 FINE CALF & KANGAROO. $3.50 POLICE, 3 SOLES. $2.50 $2. WORKINGMENS EXTRA FINE. $2. $1.75 BOYS' SCHOOL SHOES. LADIES $3. $2.50 $2. $1.75 BEST DONGOLA. SEND FOR CATALOGUE. W. L. DOUGLAS, BROCKTON, MASS. You can save money by purchasing W. L. Douglas Shoes,

Because, we are the largest manufacturers of advertised shoes in the world, and guarantee the value by stamping the name and price on the bottom, which protects you against high prices and the middleman's profits. Our shoes equal custom work in style, easy fitting and wearing qualities. We have them sold every- where at lower prices for the value given than any other make. Take no substitute. If your dealer cannot supply you, we can. Sold by C. A. CAMPBELL.

OCEAN CITY. A Moral Seaside Resort. Not Excelled as a Health Restorer. Finest facilities for FISHING, Sailing, gunning, etc. The Liquor Traffic and its kindred evils are forever prohibited by deed.

Every lover of Temperance and Morals should combine to help us.

Water Supply,

Railroad, Steamboats

And all other Modern Conveniences. Thousands of lots for sale at various prices, located in all parts of the city. For information apply to E. B. LAKE, Secretary, Ocean City Asso'n, SIXTH ST. & ASBURY AVE.