The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York • Page 16

16 THE BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE. KEW YORK, SUNDAY, MARCH 12, 1899. THE FRENCH PRESIDENT. IN LOCAL STUDIOS. ART IN ICE AND SUGAR Sunday morning Sermon.

CHARIOTS AND HORSEMEN. think who It is that hisses. It was the same crowd which, years ago, prevented the public from hearing Wagner's "Lohengrin," when Lamoureux set the opera up in the Eden. To day the French world not only applauds that will and energy working for us whether there are any real angels about us or not. Scripture declares that there are and that they serve us.

We can be sure that if only we honestly try to' purge our eyes from the illusions and temotations of things seen and temporal, the mountain or the sick bed will be to us plainly full of the angel forms of our defenders and companions. Do we see them for ourselves not only, but, like Elisha, do we help else blind men to see them, and make everybody that comes beside us even if he be as little impressionable and as little devout as this King Joash was recognize them? And, finally, another cognate application of these great words is that one which is more directly suggested by their quotation by Joash. It does not matter in what way the end of life comes. The reality Is the same to all devout men, though one be swept to heaven in a whirlwind and another fades slowly away in old age, or, in midlife, "falls sick of the sickness wherewith ho should die." The means are of little moment, the fact remains the same, however diverse may be the methods of its accomplishment. The road is the same, the companions the same, deft bands.

Apart from stumps of trees with birds perching thereon (these birds are not carved from the one solid block, but fixed on at the finish by a mysterious paste of which the composition is a profound secret), you may find a realistic glassy elephant facing you at table, wdth panniers slung crosswise containing tangerines cut in tho shape of baskets holding sweetmeats or some delicacy. The stately swan may grow gradually but beautifully less before your very eyes, yet nevertheless you might almost imagine that he is gliding On Etlll St. Mary's lake, Floating double, swan and shadow. But Mr. 'Tallet's skill is sorely tested sometimes.

For instance, it may be for some railway directors' banquet that he Is required to produce a suitable effigy in ice. But he is never found wanting ho is equal to any occasion; on short with nothing to guide his fingers, a "light" railway engine will appear at the appointed time on the table ready to fulfill its radiant mission by way of bearing a freight of seasonable comestibles. And so there Is no limit to Mr. Tallet's resources for models in ice so long as the ice is reliable. The technical term for this work is "Socle en glace," and, while the most elaborate of the sugar models may be worth from 10 shillings to about 3, these in ice work out at rather more.

The larger of them will last for about four hours, and weigh as much at their creation as from sixteen to twenty pounds. Following the exhibition of the PrcllwitS pictures at the Pratt Gallery, one of drawings by old masters will be given. This loan exhibition will be open for two weeks, closing March 21. The gallery will be open to visitors from 9 to dally and from 7 to 0:30 evenings. E.

F. Camp has been chosen president of the Brooklyn Society of Mineral Painters. She has been a member of it for some time and paints and exhibits cpnstantly. She is extremely popular and a relative of Wedworth Wadsworth. Miss Ida Johnson, ex presideni of the club, will serve as vice president thta year.

Mr. Henshaw, late of the Central Sketch Club, has been painting blizzard scenes and fiDds abundant material for sketches, in ordinary and blizzard weather, at the locality near where Benjamin Eggleston has built a house and studio, which is the neighborhood of the Flatbueh water works. George H. McCord is starting work upon his academy picture for the spring exhibition. A sketch which he has at present in his studfp and will work up later on has a seaport town! in England for a background and a group olf old crafts near the shore, showing misty and warm lights on their sails.

Mr. McCord's principal picture at the water color exhibition is sold. Mr. Hurley of Jefferson avenue has lately added to his collection a canvas by Hart, belonging to the early period of his painting; a canvas of the genuine Hudson River school it Is, and interesting as an example of that period. The colors are all clear and simple; the time represented is autumn, aad group of trees in fall coloring stand out against a clear blue sky.

Edmlnston Warren has lately finished the head of a young woman of the auburn haired type and the rich coloring which usually accompanies it. The girl is posed nearly in profile. Her hair is rolled over in pompadour style and her cheeks are tinged with red. A harmonious background brings the figure out in relief. Alice M.

Chew has been painting the head of a young girl in water color, in cabinet size. The neck is uncovered and the blonde flesh tints have been caTC fully reproduced in face and figure. Miss Chew is illustrating, in addition to her color work. An outdoor sketching club will be started by Frederick J. Boston in connection with his art school on Nostrand avenue.

Mr. Boston has painted several of his best landscapes ia the outskirts of Brooklyn and is familiar with the most picturesque suburban localities to be reached by quick journeys by trolley. Miss Bannister is represented at the Mon tauk Club exhibition by a portrait study done in a different scheme of color from her later ones, as shown in her recent exhibitions. The head is in profile, and there is color of an extremely delicate kind in the general composition of the work. This artist has recently painted a young girl in a yellow costume.

At the Hooper Gallery here, an exhibition of water colors is in progress. Gay Derrick, David Clark, Mulholland, Carl ber, Percy Moran and other artists are represented, beside S. M. Barstow, J. M.

Culbert son, James Northcote and other local painters. Benjamin Eggleston was represented at the Black and White Club's exhibition by a large water view presenting a canoe poised on the expanse of sea. The figure of an Indian sat in it, and the title, "Dusk," suggests the reaches of water over which darkness ia creeping and the vailed sky. The boat and figure are strongly handled. Bruce Horsfall, who is said to be paying more attention to monotypes than aay other artist is doing at present, had an exhibit of his pictures at Hooper's Gallery, some time since.

Mr. Horsfall and his brother Emil have a studio at 37 and 45 West Twenty second street, Manhattan. Ivlr. Emil Horsfall has painted a monotype recently which presents a group of swans afloat on a stream. Delarne Williams has been painting several scenes of Mendham localities.

An interior which is of interest, being literally that of an ancient house in the place, shows at the end of a kitchen, the old fireplace and before the andirons an old rocking chair. A rag carpet is upon the floor and generally quaint details are otherwise noted. Elizabeth Franks has been painting the figure of a girl in a quaint old chair. The light falls on her head, giving it a silvery look. Miss Franks is a member of the new Black and White Club and contributed to its recent exhibition a picture which she called "Twilight." Wedworth Wadsworth has arrived in Brook lyn from his summer home at Durham, Conn.

Mr. Wadsworth, beside his water color work, does occasionally something in India ink. "A Touch From the Swallow's Wing," shows a stream with trees on its banks and. swallows skimming closely over the surface of the water. At the Pratt Is an exhibit oE illustrations for an imaginary magazine, a number of problems in illustration being thus worked out.

Each young artist has taken an imaginary article and made the drawings for it. A cover is also exhibited. Beside this exhibit there is one by students taking the costume design course. Paul Bartlett, who has obtained the commission for the design for the Lafayette monument which America will present to Franco, is a Brooklynite. The young sculptor wa3 the creator of the Michael Angelo In the Congressional Library.

The next meeting of the Ceramic Club of Brooklyn win be held Saturday, April 1 and "Glass" will be the topic of discussion and the writing of papers. This rapidly rising fancy in decoration has been given much attention by members of the local Society of Mineral Painters. Mesdames Prince, Tuttlft, Burrall, Gore and Ralph and Misses Richardson, Rutherford and Laroque will have the meeting in charge. Miss Bannister has painted the lifo size portrait of a young woman of the Park Slope. She wears a black lace gown, with the neck bare and the arms lying gracefully in her lap, in which is a bunch of daffodils.

The type represented is blonde and the light hair of the sitter, worn high, catches the light as it falls downward. A dark background brings out the head well. The March meeting of the American Society of Mineral Painters was held on Saturday. The subject Tor papers was "Ceramic Art in Italy." The chairman of the meeting wa Mrs. Frank Baiseley, at whose house the club met.

Mrs. Andressen, Mrs. Creveling, Mrs. Lansing Lyon. Misses Shields, Drake and Lyon were of the committee.

Miss Sittig has completed her portrait of a child with brown eyes, blonde hair and coloring; the infant sitter wears a simple dress of lawn and lace and the artist has given special attention to the texture painting, as well as the modeling of the face and its expression, making this one of the best portraits she has yet painted. At the March reception given by the artists of the Ovington Building Mrs. S. T. Bailey had among other studies one of the sea, its aspect being that of a gray day character.

Another example shows a girl seated and presenting her profile to the observer. The medium was pastel. A group of old time pink roses was a study which was much admired. Miss Louise Hall's pictures were shown on the' occasion of the Ovington Building artists' Lenten reception, but their owner was still at Jamaica. Among her water colors was on9 presenting a wood interior and her figure sketches of girls were realistic, especially one of a young woman in blue evening Alice Halleck Goldsmith, whose studio ia at 2GS Monroe street, had several pictures in the black and white exhibit, "The Old Mill Near Guilford" being one of them.

"In the Beech Woods" was another example by the same artist. Miss Mary Purdy of the Park Slope Contingent of Artists, has been elected recording secretary of the Brooklyn Society of Mineral Painters. She has studied with Chase and done illustrating work; she took up mineral painting after studying oil and other mediums. The first exhibition of the new Black and White Club closed with a record of a number of sales, pictures by G. H.

McCord, Margaret Fernie Eaton, Albert B. Wenzel, Bruce Horsfall, Frank Squiers, Allen St. John, Jessie A. Walker. Leigh Hunt.

Bertha D. Sanders, J. C. Nicoll E. Irving Conse, Halleck Goldsmith, H.

B. Froehlich and others having been disposed of. Margaret Ferine Eaton designed the cover for the catalogue of the recent exhibition at the Fine Arts Building, Manhattan. Tho lettering was by H. M.

Eaton. The figure of the woman with flowing hair, standing with a symbol of the Black and White Club in her hand, appears in a panel, against a low toned background. Miss Edith Sawyer has just painted a bunch of white tulips, against a greenish background. The flowers are of the double variety, and are placed in a greenish glass Jar, Among tho studies in this artist's studio at present are several views of New England hills aad woods. EMILE LOUBET'S CHARACTER AWE EITNE3S FOR OFFICE.

Comparison With His Predecessors. He Is Thoroughly Democratic in Spirit and Practice His Family and His Relatives. Eagle Paris Bureau, 2G Rue Cambon. Paris, February 24. 1S99 The constitution of the third republic did not provide for a vice president.

It is curious to note that the constitution of the second republic provided a vice president; but while the president was elected by universal suffrage, the vice president was elected by the general assembly, and it was obliged to make a choice of three men proposed by the newly elected president. Why does the election take place in Versailles and not in Paris? That was a law passed in the beginning of this republic for fear the elections would produce disturbances in the capital. Naturally, there is no law which prevents mobs from going to Versailles as they did in the beginning of the great revolution to ask the king for his head, but the mobs must walk, and an election is quickly over, and beside mobs could be more rapidly dispersed by the troops in the great squares of Versailles than in those of Paris. According to the constitution during the interim of twenty four or forty eight hours it Is the president of the cabinet who has power to act as presiuent of the republic. A queer coincidence is (hat Charles Dupuy was president of the cabinet during the three last presidential crises.

He occupied the position when Carnot was murdered, when Casimir Perier EMILE LOVnE resigned and now, at the death of Felix Faure. This would hardly be a coincidence in countries where cabinets are stationary, but in one in which there have been more changes of ministries than the number of years the republic has been in existence, the case is "worthy notice. Among the six presidents of this third republic Jules Grevy is the only one who occupied the chair one whole term, but he was obliged to resign about two years after his re election. Thiers resigned about two years after his election. MacMahon after nearly six, Sadi Carnot died during the last year of his administration; Casimir Perier resigned six months after his election and Felix Faure was in the presidential chair four years.

There is always room for surprises in the election of a president of the French republic. As the two houses do not care to have a master, that is one who will be sure to use all of his prerogatives and be determined to rule above their heads, they generally elect one of their members who will listen to reason; and several times outsiders were elected to keep out men whom the houses deemed too independent. For instance, Sadi Carnot was elected to keep Jules Ferry out, and Felix Faure to keep, I think, Brisson out. It was a great mistake ou their part to elect Casimir Perier and you see he did not stand being president very long. During the beginning of the republic men who had the most prestige naturally were chosen.

Thiers, who was called the liberator of the territory, the statesman who brought about peace with Prussia, who quelled the Commune, was naturally elected the first president of the republic; for the moment he was the Washington of his country. However, his ingrained habit of ruling came in conflict with the will of both houses and he soon resigned the position. MacMahon had the prestige of being the bravest of soldiers. The houses wanted a man In the chair who would surround himself with martial array while the houses attended to government; MacMahon stood it five years but never was so happy a.s when he stepped down from the chair, which to him seemed to be full of inquisitional tortures inilicted upon him whenever the houses thought lit. You may imagine how a man who had been used to rule over men.

that is the army, with absolute power, felt under the sway of both houses. After MacMahon, the parliament made up their minds to have representative tools. Grevy was a good man, whose sole thought was to keep quiet and save as much money as he could for a rainy day. Sadi Carnot did his duty as a pacifying president, and Felix Faure was a worthy successor of Carnot. Indeed, in some regards he was superior to Carnot, for he was handsome, presented and presided well and was more of a gentleman, according to the rules of etiquette and the protocol.

In a few Hues upon the death of Felix Faure; Maurice Barres wrote: "Felix Faure belonged to the political cycle of Grevy and Carnot, which was for a moment interrupted by Casimir Perier. It is now supposabie that a new phase will be introduced into politics. In appearance the situation may look less tragic than on the morrow of the death of Carnot, but when well considered it is a more difficult one to pass, and the new president must step into the chair with a firm desire to use all the power the constitution has given him, to swear fidelity to the army, to have been free from all concessions with parliamentary corruption, and to have enough personal character to hold his own." Alas. Einil Loubet. who is the chosen one of parliament, is said to be just the contrary from what Maurice Barren and the other members of the League Patrie Francaiso wanted him to be.

Loubet is accused of being a Dreyfusiie, that is, a believer iu the innocence of Dreyfus, and iu consequence not a strict believer iu the infallibility of the army. He is also accused of having favored the acquittal of some of the members of parliament who were supposed guilty of corruption iu the Pana.ua troubles. Iu all probability there in not a word of truth in the last accusation. Emil is of the must honorable me.i, who wants the truth, on whatever side it standi. There is now a set of demagogues who permit themselves to vilify anyone and everyone, and the French language is not rich enough in foul words for those demagogues to say what they think of three who dare to have any other opinions but their own.

The truth will remain the truth, whether there is a Dreyf usite or an anti Droyfuh iie in the chair, and will have the moral courage to stand for what he thinks is right to the end of time. His entrance into Paris, after his election, It must be confessed, was not flattering. Hisses were heard all nvr the place when he loft the Care St. Lazarc and drove through iie streets. But wo must always stop to T.

NOVEL BANQUET DECORATIONS MADE IN LONDON. Two Ingenious Designers Who Work in Extremely Perishable Materials. How Ice Carvings Are Made to Last Through a Dinner. THE following account of some curious sugar modeling and Ice carving, with the illustrations. Is from the London Sketch.

A distinguished or atoT and writer once gave utterance to the following definition of an artist: "The real artiBt is one who puts a gen erous deceit on the spectators and effects tho noblest designs by the easiest methods," and it this is truo ia application to "brothers ol the brush," it may etaken as equally truo of any one who wields some instrument for the gratification of others that is to say, so far as rational and moral enjoyment is concerned. That which pleases the eye under the conditions already remarked may be taken as the work of an artist, however simple his designs or motives, so long as they are of the right order. The two artists with whom this article is concerned stand alone by way of the unique branch of the profession which they rightly claim their own. M. H.

Ammann has left London to start work in Berlin. As an artist in sugar he need fear no rival. We mightalmost expect to find more of this class of work on the continent in Paris, for instance, seeing that "II n'y a que Paris," where all that pleases may be said to be found in inimitable variety. However, as it happens, there is i FIRST PRIZE AT THK PARIS COOKERY EXHIBITION. practically nothing of this art to be seen practiced anywhere abroad at least, not to the extent which it is gradually gaining in our own country.

M. Ammann has carried away firsts and medals wherever he chose to exhibit his exquisite work. The illustration depicts the showcase just as it was when it scored its first prize for M. Ammann at the Paris cookery exhibition. Since then, 1894, these hermetically sealed sugar models have followed the steps of their gifted designer.

Everything that we observe in the case is made entirely from edible sugar, whether it be the rich down of the swan in the background or the delightful satin bows and ribbons. Those of us who have attended large banquets may remember to have sesn those models serving some useful purpose beside constituting unique decorations for table. Some of the baskets would be piled up with bonbons, while the more substantial designs formed receptacles for dessert. The lovely tinfs and shades noticeable in each model are entirely produced by ordinary coloring matter, such as is found in any culinary establishment, and yet so soon as exposed to daylight these tints are quite lost, the electric light being responsible for a good deal of the effective deception rendered in this particular. Water aud glucose form the principal constituents, while the instruments to build up the whole are simply M.

Ammannls dexterous fingers and a pair of common scissors. Exposure to air quickly causes the sugar to decompose, and consequently, unless preserved in air tight chambers, the models deteriorate, and will only last out or do duty for one evening's banquet. The greatest number that M. Ammann has turned ou.t in a day that is, of sugar baskets has been forty five, but the ordinary output would be about five baskets per hour, or one very elaborate design, such as the swan in the picture, in the same period. For eight years has this artist followed (or rather, led) this calling, spending three years in Paris, two in Switzerland and three in London.

He has now gone to show his skill elsewhere, as already stated; but one thing is sure, and that is his tasty talent will be missed by many distinguished diuers out. Mr. Charles Albert Tallet is as obliging as he is talented, and that is saying a very great deal. Mr. Tallet is always at work in the ice department of the Hotel Cecil, of which he SOME ICE OHXA.JIBNT3.

holds the distinguished position of chef. The ice safes, which are to be found in the neighborhood of Mr. Tallet's department, are well worth seeing. White, sparkling frost several inches thick, completely covers the safes, while the spacious cellar is thickly padded from floor to ceiling. These ice carvings resemble the work of a sculptor, except that curving in ice is a far more difficult task than in stone, and for these reasons ice chips so easily, and a flaw in the material may spoil the whole effect.

Again, by tho time tho bottom part of a model is completed, the top may have melted and diminished out of all proportion or recognition. Thus, the work has to be done quickly, and all, as it were, at the same time, top and bottom. Every design is carved out of the solid block ice, and finished off by hot irons, to give that excellent polish and to render the whole smooth and perfect. These, as in the case of the sugar ornaments, are used for table, and, while they too serve the purpose of useful re ceptacles for ices, fruit and other dainties, they have the most excellent effect of lowering the temperature of the room. The models themselves are placed in plush stands and lit up within the center by a small glow electric lamp.

The effect is, it may bij at once said, very charming and refreshing. Daylight, of course, docs not show these to advantage either. One or two confectioners attempt this class of artistic embellishment on a much smaller scale, but nowhere Ka we find the variety and scale of subjects a.4 turned out by Mr. Tallet's "Lohengrin," but constantly wants the grand opera, a national house, to give more Wagner. The crowd which makes the disturbances are young fellows, who think It is fun to see a man, just elected president, look disconcerted at their hisses.

It is certain that not one who hissed knows anything about Loubet and I am certain that more than two thirds of the French nation, after hearing that Loubet was elected, put Ihe question: "Who is Loubet?" You must not imagine that the French take the governing of their country to heart as you do yours, and take a direct interest in the career of her officiating men. They simply do not care who governs them, provided they can earn their daily bread and pay for their daily bottle of wine. It was not the dark horse who was elected this time. Loubet was the first candidate chosen by both houses, and was Immediately unanimously elected. The election of Loubet gives a clear idea of what government wants in the decisions of that interminable Dreyfus affair.

It wants the truth, whatever it is. The opposition papers declare that Loubet side3 with the courts and against the army. But if he thinks that (he courts are the only organization which will get at the truth, he must be complimented to have enough strength of character to be on the side from which he thinks the country will get at the truth. The French, who love show, deplore the fact that Loubet has no personal prestige. Faure was a line looking man, tall, well built, a fine carriage, and although a self made man, born a common laborer, he had succeeded in becoming a veritable Beau Brummel in dress and manners.

It is said that during his visit to Russia he was not guilty of making one mistake in the etiquette of a country in which the protocol is the most strict. Emile Loubet is short, thick set, has a good jovial face, thinks nothing about clothes and polite amenities of life, and it is said that his greatest objection to being elected president is the necessity living in a palace. Some papers have stated that in Loubet France will have a regular American president, that life in the Elysee will be that which Is carried on iu the White House. In fact his family life has no history for it has been a happy one. He married a Mile.

Picard, one of his compatriots of Montelimar. They have three children, a daughter and two sons. Mme. Loubet is not at all a society woman; she is extremely modest and retiring, loves her home, is a loving wife and a devoted mother. Still she knows how to appear well when she presides.

While her husband was president of the Senate, she presided with great affability over the numerous receptions given at the Petit Luxembourg. President Loubet's daughter is married. The older son is 25, studied law, is a graduate of the school, and will continue doubtless to officiate as his father's private secretary. For the first time since the Elysee has become the home of the presidents, one of the inmates will be a young child belonging to the President himself. In fact, the second son is but 6 years old.

This son came to the President late in life for he is over 60. They tell the amusing story that the day arter the election, when young Loubet made his appearance at school, all the boys got around him and exclaimed: "Well, now. we hope your father will not be mean, and give us a holiday when you all move into the grand house." Emile Loubet was born in the small village of Marsanne. near Montelimar, in the department of the Drame, situated ia the southern part of France. Loubet has often laughingly complained that he has never been able to get rid of the country's accent.

He has a cousin germane who is vetinary in Montelimar and a brother in law who keeps a hardware store. They both take a very philosophical view of the election of their relative. M. Picard said to a reporter: "We don't expect any benefits from the election; on the contrary, in my mail, to day, I got three letters from strangers who asked me if I would not use my influence to get them offices. That will be the only profit that will come out of the great honor conferred; people will think I have influence and will bother me all day long when my wish is to bo left alone." Mme.

Loubet. the President's mother, has all her life lived on a farm in Marsanne. She is SG years old, a regular peasant woman, who has always worn a cap and a blue apron. The reporter found her in a room on the second floor, which communicates directly with the kitchen by means of a broad wooden stairway. There she sat up straight on a cane bottom chair, for she is still strong and alert.

Upon being asked if she was happy that her son was elected President, she answered, "Happy? no, I am not happy. Why should I be happy? When I received the dispatch from my grandson I was only sorry that my son was in a place in which he will be worried. Oh, the worries he will have!" It happens seldom in life that honors and positions come to those who do not want them. When Loubet was elected President of the Senate he was asked if he was happy, and he answered, "Of course, I am always ready to serve my country in whatever capacity tho people desire, but my dream has always been to lead a quiet life, to be in the country, in the midst of all that makes up a good farm, and to wander about in the woods after game, with a gun on my shoulder and a pipe in my mouth. That is real happiness in life, and I aspire to the time in which I can live retired." Poor Loubet, to serve his country he has allowed himself to be pushed from the frying pan into the Are.

Emile Loubet was a stanch Republican from boyhood. In 1S4S, when he was hardly 10 years old, he took part in the street manifestations, just as the boys in America do, and on several occasions, when the news of the fighting in Paris was made known in Montelimar. he made speeches to his companions, in which he cursed the murderers of the Republicans. During the empire he refused to take an active part in the government and practiced law in Montelimar. Immediately after the proclamation of the republic he was elected deputy from his native department.

From that time on he never was without occupying a high office in the government. During Carnot's administration he was nominated member, then President of the Cabinet, then Senator, and a few years after he was elected President of that House as the opponent of Constans, who is now ambassador to Turkey. He never was considered a great statesman; but was always remarkable for his good common sense, which is not as common as it. is supposed niji'ing politicians. He always found the way of getting out of a bad affair to his country "3 and to his own glory.

His friends sav that he has the nature of a Cinclnnatus. and I hat of a jovial Frenchman who has! a cicar conscience. Circumstances on all occa shins have served him well to climb the ladder of political celebrity. He claims to have no ambition, but is ready to do what his country demands of him. The question now is, what stand will he take in the Dreyfus affair? His friends affirm thru he will what is right and lawful.

H's detractors already accuse him of being on tho side of Dreyfus, guilty or not guilty, and pci pie who are neither his fripnds nor his detractors say that ho will do as well as any other man in this benighted republic. EMMA nn.LICT. CHRISTIAN PEACE. When talk of Christian unity Christians by the ears. 'Twould eem that Christians can't agree Even, for.sooth.

in disagree! Our n.Mon. this, for tears! Detroit Journal. By Rev. Alexander Haclaren, D. Pastor Oxford Street Baptist Temple, Manchester, England.

"And Kllsha saw it. and he cried. My father, my fnther, tho chariot of Israel ami horsemen II KinKs. "And Joash. the' klne or Israel, came down unto him.

and wept over his face, and said. my father, my father: the chariot or Israel and the horsemen thereof." II Klnns. The scenes and the speakers are strangely different in these two incidents. The one scene is that mysterious translation on the further bank of the Jordan, when a mortal was swept up to heaven in a fiery whirlwind; and the other is an ordinary sick chamber, where an old man was lying, his life slowly ebbing away. The one speaker is the successor of the great prophet Elijah, and on whom tho latter's spirit in a large measure fell; the other, a young and headstrong king, who had despised Elisha's teaching while he lived, but was now for the moment awed into something like seriousness and reverence, and moved to tears by the prophet's approaching death.

Now, the remarkable thing is that this unworthy monarch should have strengthened and cheered the dying prophet by quoting his own words, spoken so long ago as if he would say to him, "All that thou didst mean when thou didst stand there in rapturous adoration, watching the ascending Elijah, is as true about thee, dying here of a common and lingering sickness. My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof!" Seen or unseen, these were present. The reality was the same, though the appearances were so different. 1. We have in the first case the chariot and horsemen seen.

To feel the force of the words as used by Joash, we must try to make clear to ourselves what the original meaning was. Elisha's exclamation was one of surprised adoration ais he gazed with wide open eyes on the burning angel hosts, and saw his master ringed round by these flaming squadrons, standing unscathed on tae floor of tho chariot, and swept with it and all the celestial pomp by tho whirlwind into heaven. But why should he say "the chariot of Israel?" You will remember that "Israel" was not originally the name of tho nation, but of its progenitor and founder, Jacob, and we get a nobler signification for the words before us if, instead of applying the name to the nation, we apply it here to the individual. When Elijah and Elisha crossed Jordan, they were not far from the spot where that name was given to Jacob, whom discipline and communion with God had elevated into Israel. And they were near another of the sites consecrated by his history, the place where, just before the change of his name, the angels of God met him and "he called the name of the place Mahanaim." That means the two camps the one Jacob's defenseless company of women and children; the other, their celestial guards.

It seems reasonable to suppose that a reminiscence of that old story of the manifestation of the armed angels of God as the defenders and servants of his children breaks from Elisha's lips here. As he looks upon that strange appearance of the chariot and horses of fire that parted him and his friend, he sees once more "the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof," the reappearance of the shining armies, whose presence had of old declared that "the angel of the Lord en campeth round about them that fear him and dellvereth them." And now the same hosts ia their immortal youth unweakened by the ages which have brought earthly warriors to dust and their swords to rust, are flaming and flashing there 'n the midday sun. What was their errand, and why did they appear? They came as God's messengers to bear his servant to his presence. They attested the commission and devotion of the prophet. Their agency was needful to lift a mortal to skies not native to him guards of honor, not only for tokens of his prophetic work, but for witnesses of the unseen world, and in some sort suited to that stago of revelation, pledges of life and immortality.

How striking is the contrast between the translation of Elijah and tho ascension of Christ. He who ascended up where He was before needed no whirlwind, no chariot of fire nor extraneous power to elevate Him to His home. The Him, but clad no longer 'in fiery armor, but "in white apparel," the emblem of purity and peace they stood by the disciples aud comforted them with hope. Elijah was carried to heaven. Christ went.

The angels disappeared with the prophet and left Elisha to grieve alone. They lingered here after Christ had gone and turned tears into rainbows flashing with the hues of hope. 2. We have in our second text the chariot and horsemen present, though unseen. When the king, young and impressible, though on the whole not reliable or good, came down to the prophet's homo and, standing by the pallet of the dying man, repeated the words, so strangely reminiscent of such a different event what do they now mean? Two things plainly.

One is this, that the angels of the divine presence are with us as truly in life, when unseen, as it seen. So far as we know, it was only to Elisha that the vision of that chariot of fire had been granted. We read that at Elijah's translation there stood, at no great distance off, a company of the sons of the prophets from Jericho, to see what would happen; but they evidently did not see. On the contrary, they were inclined to believe that Elijah had been caught up and flung away somewhere on the mountains, and that it was worth while organizing search parties to go after him. It was only Elisha that saw, and even Elijah did not know whether ho would see or not, for he said to him, "If thou shalt see me when I am taken from thee," then thy desire shall be granted.

The angels of God are visible to the eyes that are fit to see them; and those eyes can always see them. It does not matter whether in a miracle or in a common event, whether by Jordan's side or in a sick chamber, they are thero for those who by pure hearts and holy desires have had their vision purged from the intrusive vulgarities and dazzling brightnesses of this poor petty present, and can therefore see beneath all the apparent tho real that blazes behind it. is interesting to note that these two scenes are not the only times in Elisha's life when we read about chariots and horses of fire. There was another incident in his career in which the same phrase occurs. Once his servant was terrified at the sight of a host encompassing tho 1 in lo city where they were stopping, he came, with alarm and despair, crying, "Alas, my master, how shall we do?" The prophet answered with superb calmness, "I'Var not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.

Lord, I pray thee open his eyes that he may sec." And tho Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw ihe mountain full of horses and chariots fire round about Elisha. They were no more there when the young man saw them than they had been before. They did not cease to lip then when the film came over liis eyes airain, the common round took him hack to the trivialities of daily life. ii a man can but look into the realities of things will he sc only work of men and the forces of nature? Will there not bo far more as they arc far morr real than any of tlie. ihe forces of the eternal presence and ever operative ill of our Father in heaven? We need not discuss the personality r.f nmjels.

An angel is the embodiment of the will and energy of God, aud we have the impelling I was going to say the locomotive power is the samo, and the goal is the same. Of Enoch we read, "He was not, for God took him." Of Elijah we read, "He went up in a whirlwind to heaven." Of Elisha we read, "lie died, and they buried him." And of all three the two who were translated that they should not see death, and the one who died like the rest of us it is equally true that "God took" them, and that they were taken to him. So, for ourselves and for our dear ones, we may look forward or backward to deathbeds of weariness of lingering sickness and suffering, or of swift dissolution or to some sudden call of accident, and looking beneath the surface may learn the blessed central reality, and thankfully feel that Death, too, is God's angel, who does His commandments, harkeuing to the voice of God's word when ha carries us hence. 'FLYING SQTJADROONS." Curious Ignorance Found in the Mountains of Georgia. Such peoplo are so far out of touch with modern life that they surprise and disappoint seme who, without intimate acquaintance, try to give them assistance, says William Goodell Frost in the March Atlantic.

I recall a breezy mountain top, and a young huter, whose woodcraft had won upon my admiration. Delicately I touched upon the question of education. "Can you write numbers?" The answer came slow and guarded. "Reckon I can write some numbers." Then on a piece of bark I drew the nine digits. He read them all.

came the combination of figures, and I included the date 1S97. "I don't guess 1 can tell that thar." I explained it. And then a new test occurred to me. "Do you know what 189" means?" "Hit's the year, hain't it?" "But why is this year called It is 1S97 years since what?" "I never heard tell." Another instance came to light through the distribution of reading matter. When I was young in the mountains I distributed a barrel of copies of the New York Independent, and had great satisfaction in observing the eagerness with which thew were taken.

A little later I discovered that these simple folk could not comprehend the high themes discussed in that excellent periodical, and that their eagerness was only to secure paper for the walls of their cabins! Yet in many places a mere scrap of printed paper will be cherished. More than once one of our extension lecturers has been intercepted in attempting to throw into the fire the paper which had been wrapped around some toilet article. "Don't burn thet thar, stranger, hit mought have some news on hit." So, too, it is pitiful to see how helpless these people are in estimating the things of the outside world. The story is quite credible of the mountaineer in Georgia who inquired why the folks of the county town were not more "ttrre up" over the Spanish war. "It have been glv out in our settlement," said he, thet them Spanish has flyin' squadroons, and we 'low that if one of them things should light in our parts they would be as hard on us as the rebs." PYRAMID NONSENSE.

John Fiske Reviews It and Gives to It a Fitting Characterization. According to them, the builders of the Great Pyramid were supernaturally instructed, probably by Melchlzedek, King of Salem, says Dr. John Fiske, in the March Atlantic. Thus they were enabled to place it in latitude 30 degrees N. to make its four sides face the cardinal points; to adopt the sacred cubit, or one twenty millionth part of the earth's polar axis, as their unit of length; "and to make the side of the square base equal to just so many of these sacred cubits as there are days and parts of a day in a year.

They were further by supernatural help enabled to square the circle, and symbolized their victory over this problem by making the pyramid's height bear to the perimeter of the base the ratio which the radius of a circle bears to the circumference." In like manner, by immediate divine revelation the builders of the pyramid were instructed as to the exact shape and density of the earth, the sun's distance, the precession of the equinoxes, so that their figures on all these subjects were more accurate than any that modern science has obtained, and these figures they built into tho pyramid. They also built into it the divinely revealed and everlasting standards of "length, area, capacity, weight, density, heat, time and money," and finally they wrought into its structure the precise date at which the millenium is to begin. All this valuable information, handed down directly from heaven, was thus securely bottled up in the Great Pyramid for six thousand years or so, awaiting the auspicious day when Mr. Plazzi Smyth should come and draw the cork. Why so much knowledge should have been bestowed upon the architects of King Cheops, only to be concealed from posterity, is a pertinent question; and one may also ask why, when it had so long lain hidden and useless, was it worth while to bring a Piazzi Smyth into the world to reveal it, since plodding human reason had after all discovered every bit of it.

except the date of the millenium? Why, moreover, did Ihe revelation thus elaborately buried in or about B. C. 4000, come just abreast of the scientific knowledge of A. D. 1S64.

and then stop short? Is it, credible that old Melchizedek knew nothing about, the telephone, or the Roentgen ray, or the cholera bacillus? Our pyramidalists should be more enterprising, and elicit from their venerable fi uish some useful hints as to wireless telegraphy, or the ventilation of Pullman cars, or the purification of Pennsylvania politics. Perhaps the last named problem might vie in difficulty with sciuaring the circle. THEORY AND PRACTICE. I must confess that the longer I live and observe, the more I come to feel that the iiighest statesmanship I3 marked not by vain endeavors to adjust the operations of government to bald theories, which, however in an ideal state, are subject to many modifications in the actual and varying conditions that confront the legislator and administrator; but. by the nkill with which the executive and the law maker from time to time adapt legislation and administration to meet and, as rapidly a.s may be.

improve existing conditions, holding constantly in mind that "an ounce of experience is worth more than a ton jf theory," and that what practically works well in any country is more likely to be safe and wise than any theories, however fine spun, that, have not succeeded in like conditions. The kite. Nelson Dinglcy, in North American Review, AN ORIGINAL REFORMER. How E. F.

Backus Saves Boys Who Have Started Toward Lives of Crime. Brooklyn is distinguished In many ways from all other American cities. The latest and probably its most important peculiarity is the novel methods adopted in dealing with youthful wrongdoers. All the judges of the County Court and Special Sessions, as well as the police Justices of the borough, heartily concur in a system which has now been in active operation for two years. Its originator and exponent, Mr.

E. P. Backus, a detective in the District Attorney's office, Is now entering upon the third year of his effort in this sell chosen field. His appointment to the post, by" his brother, Foster L. Backus, then District Attorney, was the signal for inaugurating in the city, on larger scale, a distinctive missionary work which he had commenced when he became sheriff of St.

Lawrence County, N. ten years ago. At that time and after his retirement from office Mr. Backus made him self familiar with the history of every prisoner sent to the Jail. All first offenders who gave any promise of reformation and subsequent good conduct received his sympathy and aid.

A suspension of sentence was secured, employment obtained for the prisoner and the return path to respectability and good citizenship made easy. The first case taken in Brooklyn was a success. A lad of 17, charged with stealing from a house, was given a suspension of sentence, employment was found for him and he has kept on the right path ever since. Up to date Mr. Backus' list includes 170 names.

OI this number about 100 belong to the first year and the remaining .70 to the second. It will be noted that 1898 falls some thirty short of its predecessor. This considerable total of cases yiat receive attention constitutes what are considered upon investigation as hopeful cases. Those which are found, upon inquiry, to offer no reasonable promise of reformation are not recommended to the judges for mercy and so incur the pen alt; of their various offenses. It would be difficult to say, even approximately, the percentage of cases that belong to the hopeful list, but the proportion is large.

Daily visits to Raymond Street Jail enable Mr. Backus to keep an eye upon the new arrivals and thus add to his list from time to time such names E. P. BACKUS. as bid lair to justify an effort to reclaim them.

The large percentage of promising cases is as remarkable as the very small number of relapses on the part of those for whom another chance has been obtained. Of the 170 boys above mentioned only eighteen have proved backsliders, and several of those who have Ijeen sentenced and sent away will ultimately be saved. Tho recent case of the English boy who, driven to desperation by hunger, snatched a pocketbook, will serve as an illustration of Mr. Backus' methods. Persistent efforts have been made by certain people to find the place where the boy Is now at work, but without success.

His identity is so completely concealed from all but his own employer that he is secure. Recognition of the practical results achieved is not confined to the judges and official circles. Prominent citizens in every walk of life give this effective form of philanthropy their approval and co operation. There has thus been created unorganized society for the saving of boys and young men who have taken one step the wrong way and through the efforts of these citizens acting together without knowing it constantly increasing results for good are obtained. Without the aid thus extended him it would be Impossible for Mr.

Backus to secure employment for the boys whose cases he takes in hand. It has taken but two years to place the reform work upon the Eolld footing of permanence. Not a day passes without Mr. Backus being called to the telephone to answer a request from one of the police justices to investigate a particular case which has just come up. The police magistrates share with the County and Special Sessions judges a profound desire to cancel as many through tickets to the Penitentiary and State's Prison as possible.

This work involves a large and regular correspondence. Mr. Backus discounts ex Mayor Hewitt as a letter writer, and tho recipients of his missives value them highly and look for them expectantly. What he has to say is never difficult to understand, and is expressed in plain and simple terms that appeal convincingly to the person addressed. An amount several times the sum at his command could be used with great advantage in that most valuable kind of aid which helps the recipients to help themselves.

"MUSTERED OUT." Reproduced From the Xctehead of the Two Hundred and Flr3t New York Regiment In Camp at Greenville, S. C..