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Blue-grass blade (Lexington, Ky.): n. Sunday, November 18, 1906.

Blue-grass blade (Lexington, Ky.): n. Sunday, November 18, 1906. Blue-grass blade (Lexington, Ky.). 400dpi TIFF G4 page images Blade Publishing Co., Lexington, KY 1906 blu1906111801 These pages may be freely searched and displayed. Permission must be received for subsequent distribution in print or electronically. Blue-grass blade (Lexington, Ky.): n. Sunday, November 18, 1906. Blue-grass blade (Lexington, Ky.). Blade Publishing Co., Lexington, KY 1906 $IMLS This electronic text file was created by Optical Character Recognitio n (OCR). No corrections have been made to the OCR-ed text and no editing has be en done to the content of the original document. Encoding has been done through an automated process using the recommendations for Level 1 of the TEI in Librar ies Guidelines. Digital page images are linked to the text file. St Jv BLUE GRAS BLADEF Ellt hPalrer slllaht East S fgWE AIM TO OUT DOWN ERR AND ESTABLISH TRUTH VOLUME XV NUMBER 33 LEXINGTON KY SUNDAY NOVEMBER 18 1906 PUBLISHED WEEKLY 150 A YEAR IN ADVANCE L PERFECT MEN AND WOMEN Important Scientific Experiments To Be Undertaken By United States Government To Improve the f Human Family fa SCIENCE OF GENERATION Jit AND PROCREATION k2 Among the most Important contrlbu tions to modern scientific research Is the announced declaration that the government of tho United States Is t about to embark upon a series of ex perlments the results of which will be watched with eager Interest by the scientific world c In a recent issue of the Blade ap peared an article written by Amory Stevens of New York In whlcii he made reference to the subject of Im proving tho breed of the human fam fly and spoke of sending us clippings on the subject The following which is preceded by a statement from Gar t rett P Serviss covers the ground en tlrely and will be of Interest to Blade readers r The Statement r Modern science has taught us that t the ways of nature can be improved In the animal kingdom and in the vegetable world science points to Us Ittriumphs in controlling and improLi Intelligent study and 1upon experiments have produced not only bigger better more splendid specimens than nature has been ubh to produce but in many instances quite new species of animals have t been bred which nature left to her self never would have dreamed of In tho vegetable world the successes of Professor Burbank are already fa moushe has quadrupled the size of is fruits be has produced large luscious specimens from ugly bitter little little fruits which were unfit to cat and he has brought Jnto existence a tGrta letiofmthings nature n cue i plated or at least never carried out It is therefore only asn logical jjpresult of all this that the scientific should turn now to the human i race There can be no doubt that the principles which science has found r apply so satisfactorily to animals and r yegetableswlll also apply to our own t kind for physically we are the only rf animals But all the successes of science up to now will be of insignificant portance as compared with the tre mendous trlumpn when science shall have taught us how to breed physlcaj ly stronger and more perfect children and perhaps future men and women of nobler mental and moral qualities approaching as near to perfection as moral creatures can j Along with this improvement of quality and capacity will certainly y a great increase in the length of life the average may be extended to a i hundred years Professor Metchnlkoff has shown that already such a i lengthening of life Is quito within our reach Old age will be made more enjoyable and will be stripped of most disabilities Man will still tjC be young at threescore and ten Then i too It is clearly evident that new ca i pacitles for enjoying life will be def veloped under the fostering hand of science The new men and women raised up by the new science of eugenics will nave by tho mere effect of their improved physique a n richer fuller more agreeable life than their predecessors have enjoyed The Article The United States Government has taken up the work of aiding In tbn development of Improved men and women by scientific methods This is a task which scientists have long urged should be the first duty of the r Government and one which without great outlay or difficulty is certain tr result in a vast increase of uimnn happiness and mental and physical power f Dr Willett M Hays Assistant United States Secretary of Agrlcul turn has appointed a Committee of 1 Eugenics The members of the corn mltteo are Dr Alexander Graham Bolt r the famous electrical Inventor Dr David Starr Jordan president of Le it land Stanford University Major Charles Woodruff M D U S A a great authority on sanitation Dr t Charles B Henderson of New York and tho Rev J E Gilbert of Wash ington Eugenics Is the science of genera 6 tlvo or procreative development t- heL1 f5 Lo t Jw doctrine of progress or evolution especially In the human race through improved conditions in the relations of the sexes Among tho duties of the committee as defined by Dr Hays will be to investigate and report on heredity in the human race to determine meth ods of recording the values of the blood of Individuals families peoples and races toiemphaslze the value of superior blood and the menace to society of inferior blood and to suggest methods of improving the heredity of the family the people of the race The committee will submit a prelimi nary report at tho meeting of the American Breeders Association which meets from January 15 to Janu ary 18 at Columbus Ohio Methods of Operation The committee will collate and ren der available for the use of the people all knowledge to derived from studies of tho principles of heredity from works on tin laws of evolution from many bran hcs of medical and surgical sclerc from the experiments of cattle breeders poultry raisers and naturalists cf various classes from the oxpoiiiEcats and discoveries of biological students like Professor Jac ques Lccb red from authorities on plant brctiif rrjong whom Luther Coiitliiiifil on page Four TO MPHOVE HUMAN SPECIES Valuable Suggestions On the Importance of Public Education On the Breeding of the Human Family BY ARMORY C STEVENS Recollecting that the late Mr Moore was a strong advocate of Homo Culture rationally and humanely urging indo Blade that the United States establish an experimental sta lS ni ilIng of the hu ifspecies the same as It already had for agriculture I am prompted to mall you marked articles of interest on that subject as pub lished in the New York American and tho New Yont World of the 11th inst It is encouraging to note that the public is finally awakening to the portance of intelligent breeding and improvement of the human species So much having already been accomplished on the lower planes of the same mother natures species it is strange and even said to reflect how lightly man has long treated his own species allowing chance ignorance and unworthy consideration to select and stamp his progency Had not the law of natural selection protected the human species it could not have advanced itself as It has Mr Luther Burbanks achievements with the fruits the flora and the trees coupled with his own practical hu mane and aspiring intelligence have come opportunelyto help our species further onward and upward He wisely and encouragingly says towit I care but little for these weeds theso flowers and tnese trees only as tlfey afford me opportunities to show what can bo done by directing natural hope b that what I am doing to show bcw tho natural forces may be guided in the finest specimens of each species cf plants will be adpted by those in charge of the young life of the children- A plnnt U responsive to only a few Inuenc s such as are found in tho sea sursblno and rain but a child Is Infinitely responsive Weeds are weeds because they are cropped trampled upon burned by fierce heat tormented by innumerbale pests or perhaps permitted to suffer from ccld wet feet There Is not a weed In the whole realm cf nature that if given proper nrurlshment and sunshine will not grow vp into a beautiful and useful plantTho undoveloped dwarfed diminu tive and broken specimens of the hu man kins aro such simply because they have grown up without having the elements which environed them and the possibilities to which their nature are related brought into touch and contact with them The dlmltfu tlvo specimen of the daisy that we pass unnoticed has possibilities wrap ped up in It of the magnificent schas tor daisy Into tho beautiful schaster is simply to touch the potentialities within it with the elements of its en vironments to which it Is related r I ff IibAnllJ t DAMN SAID THE PREACHER As He Drew His Fist at His Wife From Who He Is Seeking Di vorce Wife Also a Preacher and Keeps Him In Hot Water COMMENT MADE BY A BLADE CONTRIBUTOR BY E D NAUMANN Strather Quick who was divorced from his first wife some time ago scams to bo in hot water again and is seeking to get away from his second helpmeet A Kanas paper has the following to say of the case It is to save my soul that I want to be divorced from this woman could not go to heaven If I were pelled to live with her declared the Rov Strather Quick on the witness stand in the circuit court today The Rev Mr Quick Is the plaintiff He had been married to the defendant Mary A Quick about one year When the proceeding was filed She had been divorced from Edward Young The reverend gentleman testified that his wife who is also a preacher called him names almost every day after the first week of their marriage He was in charge of the White Tem pie Christian Union mission in this city the time of their wedding She helped to conduct the services They t traveled together and preached Not long after we were married the plaintiff testified her former a husband began to pay attention tv her Ill get you yet if I swing on the gallows the next day and go to hell for it she said to me once After making this threat she shov ed me through the door and called me you do one of her torneys asked I drew my fist and said Damn you She drove me to this I toad ney 1 rhiPbl 0 v The Rev Mr Quick Is 55 yearsold- lie was a widower and the fatherfof two children when he married his present wife Mrs Quick von the case She sprung a surprise on the plalntUrbyt Introducing her first husband Edward Young as her star witness Young said she was of an affectionate disposition I ougnt to know he declared Im husband No 1 add lived with her 23 years Judge Smith refused the preachers application for divorce The above is a clipping from thet Sigourney News of this town in which occurs a reprint from a Kansas paper This clipping is Interesting because it illustrates again the prin ciple we freethinkers contend torcon- tinually that is that Christian preachers and those who spend all their lives poring over Bibles and Christian documents and preaching them to the world are not thereby made better and useful citizens as Christians gener ally contend out on the contrary simply affords justification for their cussedness and a chance to do mis pious old fraud under consideration In clipping used to live twoI blocks from my souse His first IfeI who appears to be an industrious woman got a divorce from the Rev fake on the ground of neglect and the statutory offense and now he seems to have met his equal in another preacher who wears petticoats and and exceedingly sharp tongue and he is kept in hot water by a court of his own making or a court at least who looks upon the marriage compact through glasses steeped in Christian fog It appears to be a case of dog cat dog at which We can for onco afford to laugh Has Seen Long Service Red House N YPleaso send me a statement of how much I am indebted to the Blade including next copy On receipt of statement I will send the pay Many seem to think the Blade to be a very cheap paper Compare it with the Progressive Thinker which Is an eight pago paper pages over inches longer and wider the price oneI dollar a year I am taking too manyt papers for my small Income but five dollars a week I have to keep a horse as I cannot walk much I have started on my 84th year I was bom on the 18th day of August 1823A H PRANK I 11 wr SHOOT FOlLY WITH REASON JIs the Remedy Given By a Western TheofAfflict and Curse kind WHAT THAT ENDLESS P PRAYER CHAIN MEANS t BY C SEVERANCE Shoot folly as it flies So said Alexander Pope and somewhere it is always flying In the realms of religion there is probably more of it than in any other department of human doings for religion being disconnected from reason is never rational sane or sound in ItsI assumptions or conclusions Its first assumption Is a phantom termed God wbofruns the universe and requires worship from human beings who swers prayers and can be induced to do certain things if men get on their knees close their eyes and tell him what they desire As far back as tory records the doings of our race wo find this belief has prevailed and th6 prayers that have been uttered for every conceivable thing under the sun are as countless as the sands on thi seashore But was one of them over answered by this giant concep ion of the human mind No and no help ever came to troubled or suffer ing mortals that did not come through visible and tangible source right hero on terra firma The sidereal rev gions whsre Godmakers have orated imaginationswith the affairs of this earth and orkIthat came from above And yet Keeps praying keeps believing and hoping he will and all because he rev jects tidTfuse of reason and permits mind to lswayed by the freaks outincraft has located the Jesus of the New Testament and given him like attributes in fact has declared to be God with infinite powers capabilities Some day these gentlemen in long black coats who sume to know so much assert he will return to the earth In the form he ap peared as a carpenter for being God he can of course expand or contract at will appear disappear and reap pear Meanwhile they are busy pray in to him and the latest scheme to attract his attention is the endless chain of prayer invented devised and put into action by one Bishop Lawrence It is brilliant in conception unequaled in possibilities and so timely In making Its appearance that we can reasonably conclude the bishop was inspired when ho did It The prayer reads Oh Lord Jesus Christ we Implore thee oh eternal Godto have pity on mankind Keep us sin by thy precious blood eternallytIheto send it in writing to nine different people whom he rcQuted to rewrite it and each one to send to nine more members of the human family and so ad Infinitum Provided this is doneI it is not very clear how the prayer will reach Jesus for our mall facilities have not yet been extended to his realms but the chain of letters has started and it means quite an in crease in postal receipts if nothing more For that let us be thankful as the Postofflco Department has a d ficit every year and the money will come in handy But as to the prayer we find Jesus atlas God being asked to have pity on mankind The request indicates that his pity Is being withheld for it Is absurd to ask for what way we are left to guess andi personally I do not know what w Vfe losing or what wo might get if the request was granted Keep us from sin by thy precious blood comes next But this demand is unreasonable for there is no sense in It and It implies lack of power to accomplish an Indefl nlte object in any other way It Is connecting a sentiment and an abI surdity by the power of words noth- Ing more and folly tiles again ShontI t with reason and see it fall AndI ake us to be with thee eternally IsI the grand windup While no time IsI mentioned for the consummation of this request we know it is not deslrI edllmmediately for no one prays so Jpngj and so loud for the postpone of death as the average Chris It flan and if his prayers are answered he would never willingly depart this life though bo goes into raptures over tho joys of the next This old earth with all tho troubles has a peculiar attrac ion for Christians and though they talk glibly of eternal glory and sing wltu pious fervor of the keno over there they dislike to go there as bad as the preacher who was on a vessel at sea that was in great dan ger of going down because of a tempest Said he to the captain Do you think die ship will go down Said the captain As long as the sailors keep swearing there is no danger So the preacher kept going where the sailors were for comfort and encouragement and every time he returned he would say Thank God theyre swearing yet The biggest fake and the rankest folly that ever afflicted the human race is found in religion and systems of faith and prayer for not a fact as far as known has any connection with itt Th whole business rightly belongs under the headI of superstition and folly is a fitting word to characterize the teachings of priestcraft Hence and therefore let us shoot them as they fly and do what we can to rid the world of idiotic nonsense BEAT AT THEIR OWN GAME Pair Of Fake Revivalists Cause the Arrest Of a Freethinker In Mis souri For a Disturbance Which They Created WAS TRIED AND ACQUITTED ON CHARGE BY J J HEIMAN Blue Springs MoOn August 20 last two preachers by the name of Tyler and Covert one renreieiiUns himself as a Methodist the other Tyler asa Baptist rjand ed a tent In a pasture near m and began to hold revival meeting They soon became the talk ot tho neighborhood and got large crowds Sunday August 20 In the afternoon I dropped in also They passed the hat and one of the church members said Helman did not put in anything Whereupon the collector came back accompanied by another member and Insisted that I contribute- to the cause I said to them tlemen it is not tho value of the money but I will not give a cent tal any religious organization So sarl ing I threw a piece of money out of the back end of the tent in full sight and presences of every one That night I again dropped in at meeting During tho sermon Mr Tyler said There was a man went out in hisI fields and defied the Lord to him dead and sure enough he measi ured his length on the grounddead Ho continued saying Now I defy any man to go in front of this tentI and do the same thing I said loud whisper that I would do it for 500 that being the amount he had collected that night After church was dismissed I said publicly that I would do it for 500 and asked him Tyler to give name time and place where that man defied God and was Immediately killed A week after September I went again and had no sooner sat down when he offered prayer Among other things he told the Lord to do was to send the of the Holy Ghost to take the unb didenot answer his prayer for after ho was through I was still there so he ordered me out of the tent I said It was a public place and I had a right to stay as long as I behaved Ho gave mo two minutes to leave but I did not go so he dismissed the congregation saying that he would not preach In Mr Hermans presence but that he would have me arrested for breaking up the meeting which he accordingly did I hired an attorney and went to trial at Sugar Creek Mo October 23 and was discharged I proved at the trial that Tyler who represented himself as a Baptist was In reality a Methodist that they themselves gad disturbed the meeting If a disturbance it could be called in order to get a chance to arrest mo b cause I was an Infidel I havo stated the facts In the above case as briefly as possible You may pUblish and comment on It If you choose or you may frnnsfefltlo waist basket j 1 Jtt r7 t HAECKEL t IN HIS LAST WORK Discusses the Evolution of Man and Alms Another Serious Blow at the Teachings of Christian Theology SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTION OF THE UNIVERSE Being favored with a copy of the latest work of Ernest Haeckel the 1ofwrite a review of the work that our readers might be acquainted with its natureand tendencies as regards the evolution theory in contrast with theological conception of the The work is of such a character tbelIts conclusions so convincing that is practically unanswerable and 1havoIn this beautifullyprinted volume of nearly 200 pages the serious Evo utionist will find the means of arriv ing at a fair conception of the results of Haeckels many years of study In tracing the descent of man mainly by J means of comparative embryology The publishers have done all that was possible to make a difficult subject F easy of comprehension by giving a Isplendid series of illustrations and a glossary of terms used which in many cases have been necessarily coined by Haeckel to describe newly discovered processes organs or tis sues The present volume traces mans development from the ovum totthe point where as Mr McCabe iman at last parts company with the anthropled apes The second volume 9 soon to bo issued will be also abund It auiv win endeavor f trace the line of mans descent oD1j the primeval microbe up to the ape man of lava In our view to a Rationalist Evolu tion needs no defence Between the man who believes in a personal god who created and supervises the work purI tsl Evolution there are many varying shades of opinion but these are all r vitiated by their demand for some conscious being or powersome god no more rational than Yahweh or Foh unif that will not stand the test of rational consideration It regards tho unl andjknowssave that of man and his animal neighbors which Is as much a factor in the Evolutionary process as any other force The idea that life came to this earth from some other world or in hany other way than by the evolution i ary process is indeed an Idiotic one Let us remember that life Is destroy degreesI I that a body coming to the earth earth wtiuld bo subjected first to interstellar cold and then to the beVing heat produced by some divine ing we are again driven back to Evo lution by tho unanswerable queries How did the divine being itself acv quire its lIfel and How and when toehuman beings But apart from tho philosophical- tentthis the oven more persistent de imand for knowledge upon a subject iwhich lies at the root of all knowledge of mans origin velopment While there is any progreSSIrfor cavlll the theologian metaphysician will find uneducated to follow them ftheological guesswork In the present work Prof Haeckel has practically tclosed up every gap in the chain of Jevidence that proves man to be butione branch of the great tree of life on It this earth Wants the Moore Book i t1 namee iias to tho Moore Book I will take ono copy Also I hope our tt good friend Dr Wilson will get out itInEUGENE HOSKINS 1 Ii J a I THE BLUECRASS BLADE Published at Lexington Kentucky Every Sunday Founded 1884 and edited by Charles Chilton Moore up to his death February 7 1000 JAMES E HUGHES Editor and Publish SUBSCRIPTION RATES mail 150 year in advance month1iur per year Five new subscribers sent with one remittance at 100 per year each ADVERTISING RATES ALL ADVERTISEMENTS of whatsoever character accepted will be published at the rate of 100 per inch per month unless by special contract when other and tery rates will be quoted upon application The phi Ushers have the right to reject any advertise menu offered u GENERAL BUSINESS RULES ALL SUBSCRIPTIOINS to the Blade will be discontinued at the expiration of the term for which the subscription w Ahas beenYaid up in advance The address slip on ti subscribers the date of expiration subscription Back numbers or numbers omitted ill be sent for upon renewal in case of discontinuance MAKE ALL money orders drafts checks etc payable to JAMES E HUGHES Lexington Ky as this will facilitate collection SHOULD ANY SUBSCRIBER change his or her address vise this office giving both old and new and the Blade t Iwillbe sent to the new address as desired THE OFFICE of publication of the Blade is at 55 West Short Street Lexington Kentucky to which all Free- thinkersI will be given a hearty welcome XflE BLADE is entered at the Postofflce at Lexington tucky as second class mailing matter ADDRESS ALL COMMUNICATIONS to THE BLUE GRASS BLADE P 0 Box 303 Lexington Ky r fYBlaze away I Keep your signals flying a Remember that your mind is your own a Count Boni rushes in with his old true love wi story again t1 There is a hero in every man if we but examine his heart closely YyHumanity has as much need of religion as a hairless Mexican pup Marlborough and Castellane might come in useful if used for fish bait a After a long argument Thru has been reversed by the United States Supreme Court j a a a a e si e uuse c didates would only mix close instead bf fighting at long range ti a Until the last vestige of orthodoxy is gone from 4ourland Columbia can no longer pose as the cham pion of the liberty of conscience The sects are too narrow and the world demands a religion that will be broad enough and liberal enough to embrace every human being within its folds There is no actual need of a deity in the economy J of the universe There is no infallibility in all the realm of intellect and liberty of brain is as Acces sary as liberty of hand Sr Wife beating as a feature of international mar riage is new as yet but there is no knowing what fashion may provide for the coming generation of the title hunting daughters of billionaires a a a The Bible winks at incest and robbery at murder and slavery while it places the robes of righteous ness about a courtesan for the simple reason that I codeaothers had sinned even as she yet this is the book a a j Molasses and feathers That doesnt sound good does it It is the female variant of the oldstyle tar and feathers and has been applied by some women moralists ofa Pennsylvania town to an erring sister It is reported that the effect was all that could be desired a a The shallowness and hypocrisy of the professing r Christians is shown in the fact that they never miss a meal because of their belief in hell They all realize that they have sinned that sin is the pass Iport to Shcol and such a realization would make them miserable indeed only for the fact that they dont really believe it a a a a Frcethought cares not whether the miracles of Christianity be true or false It cares not whether Christ was the Son of God or an ignorant adven tuner It cares not whether Jonah was a delegate of the Deity or the founder of the trusts It cares not whether Jesus was born of earth or heaven It simply asks for and insists upon having facts a a The orthodox heaven is but a celestial nowhere A guess The shadow of a shade A hole in the atmosphere It is an indefinable indescribable nonentity The hope entertained to attain it cannot prove it for it still hangs a mere suspicion Arc we not told i Eye hath not seen it my bo r Ear lath not heard its sweet songs offjoy 1 I L r DIrMll r ARE MEN BORN FREE AND EQUAL Was Paine right when he said that all men were born free and equal Is it possible that this famous expression in our declaration of independence is all a mistake mrThe Blade feels impelled to answer in the affirmative and to declare that the doctrine is erroneous that the idea is all wrong and that men arc not nor can they be by the very nature of things born free and equal Few would be found now with courage enough to assert that we arc born free The proposition is too absurd to hardly demand a denial The doc trine however was made the foundation upon which our liberties such as we have were built a political shibboleth it has run the political gauntlet through all the intervening years but as a mat tor of fact it is not and cannot be true Men are not born free This assertion is a rem sonable natural moral and philosophical certainty It is as true even in America as it is in the mon archial countries of Europe Humanity is thrust into the world by a force over which as individuals they have no control Ready made conditions greet them at birth which include the moral social polit ical and religious status Time moment a babe hits the globe it is beset with custom and precedent bound by rules and restrictions controlled and curtailed by environment What he shall become upon reaching maturity is altogether dependent upon the force of the circumstances and the power of the environment by which he is surrounded As differ eat causes produce different results so changing circumstances and conditions of existence beget different traits in human character These things shape our very destiny and control our every act We are led by them at every step We had nothing to do with forming them They were not of our making but were made for us Then technically speaking man cannot be born free no matter how much we would prefer to believe that he is Neither is true that man is born politically free Because they have the right of choice between this or that candidate and may cast their ballot as they wish they imagine themselves free but they are not In politics as in morals men are bound by the influence of heredity and environment Even in voting this restriction exists No two men ever went to the polls and cast a ballot even for time same man or the same party under the same motives At the best they can but vote for the candidates se lected for them not selected by theme When we come to time equality portion of the proposition we arc beset with even greater difficul ties It is a safe assumption and a reasonably accu rate statement that no two babes have ever been or can ever be born upon an exact equality This ap plies to the moral and social as well as to the po litical world Sonic children are born of lust and their coming into world is undesirable and un desired Others are born of love and are welcomed their first wailing cry being greeted with happiness and love Children born under such extremes can lm2 atIT7tCi ifZj aa Unra serious handicap placed upon it How many children are malformed at birth by reason of attempts to check an unwelcome maternity For such life is but a cold and barren desert with a level waste streching back to the pathetic tomb where love is left to starve and sweet content lies festering in its shroud For time other time beaded dew upon the morning glories of life give bright nistre to its being and it lives to love and be loved Can there be any equality in this Will it be said that men are born equal Have all like opportuni ties placed before them Have all time same power to utilize the opportunities they are given When one can hear a melody in time shrill trumpet of fame and revel in the beauty of Minervas laureled brow while another finds that his sylvan path is but a blinding mountain trail and is confronted with days of toil and nights of agony there is no equality for them The doctrine of equality as that of freedom is enchanting to hear and to talk about Being analyzed they aro as shadowy as the orthodox heaven and with about as much substanCe in them When ninetenths of the world do not know how the other tenth lives and carried through every subdivision there can be neither freedom or equality There is no equality between flowery vales and Hinnom valleys There can be no freedom where labor is given as a privilege instead of a right There can be no equality between the child ofa millionaire and that of a mendicant There can be no freedom where men must either steal or starve Even in America we are carrying the foolish oriflammo tOQ far and some day time fearful truth will flash across the public mind a a a a THE COST OF AN OKLAHOMA PRAYER The following significant and interesting clipping has reached the Blade office through a friend It is takers from the Enid Events published at Enid Oklahoma and reads as follows Broke Her eck Waukomis OlclaMrs Philip Sprouz is dead from a broken neck and her baby daughter is so badly injured that it may not recover as time result of her stumbling over liner husband as he was kneeling in prayer at their home here last night Mr and Mrs Sprouz had spent the even ing with friends Returning home they prepared to retire the husband going first to their sleeping room While passing through the dark room with the babe in her arms Mrs Sprouz r stumbled over her husbands feet and in trying to save the baby from injury struck her head against a washstand as she fell breaking her neck mind dying instantly Time child fell from her arms to the floorjHow frequently are we told that the prayers of he righteous availeth much andyet we have in the above an instance where God was utterly negligent l t- and unmindful of what was being said to him It may be though that another text would fit this case Are we not also told that the Lord chastcneth whom he loveth Who knows but what the Lord was lead in love with Phillip Sprouz and admiring him for his earnestness in prayer sought to chasten him by causing Mr Sprouz to fall over him and break her neck Was it not the Lord who in fluencing the husband to prayer by subjective methods led him into that dark room caused him to get upon his knees and directed Mrs Sprouz to where he knelt influenced her to fall over him and killed liner If this inference be held untrue the n where is the futility of prayer- Many would contend that Mr Sprouz ought to have known better Some will insist that even while he was probably praying for health and strength to himself and his family his prayer led to the death of his wife In any event had he gon to bed like a mail and not got down on his knees Mrs Sprouz would be alive and well today Per haps the prayer was a mockery and Lord following out his divine plan of vicarious atonement killed Mrs Sprouz to be revenged upon her husband But why pray in the dark Did not Mr Sprouz hear his wife approaching him If he did could he not have checked up on his prayer for a minute and told her where he was or was his prayer so important that it could not be interrupted Of course it may appear to a devout believer in prayer that being in communication with the Lord the conversation could not be interfered with even at the risk and cost of a human life and that life being of his own wife the woman he had sworn to love and cherish It is an unfortunate circumstance for Mr Sprouz and still more unfortunate for the motherless babe Even if God had it in for either husband or wife he might have entertained some regard for the orphan cd child That it was a costly and fatal prayer all must admit but sacrifice may have been on the order of that said to have been offered by Cain displeasing to the Lord mId this was another whirlwind of havoc and destruction he sent down upon it If any benefits are to be gained by prayer the Blade fails to appreciate that fact The least God could have done while the husband was kneeling before him in prayer was to have directed the footsteps of the wife in another direction and thereby prevented time fearful tragedy To sum up the entire matter we are convinced that God doesnt care a continental damnation what becomes of men and women so long as his skypilot- can rake in plenty of the long green a a a WOMEN TO BECOME PREACHERS AND MUST WORK TO SAVE A DYING FAITH From every Christian denomination from every sect and coterie of sects the cry is going out that there are not enough men offering themselves to be educated for the ministry and now comes the sug gestion that women be ordained to take the place of men and perform the functions of time priest IIS1Sstep intlie right direction Women have so long been the Cinderellas of the church have so long been led by the man priest who en couraged her to believe that ho was one of Gods chosen interpreters that once she gets behind time scenes is admitted to the inner circles she will see hollowness and hypocrisy of it all and with her true nature will revolt against time doctrine this means the practical undoing of churchianity While we never did believe the serpent story it looks like some sort of a retributive justice after all According to that fable woman got us fired out of our first Eden and men would now impose upon her time task of finding us another and giving us possession With time true instinct of the man they are endeavoring to recruit a failing ministry with women and push upon her time work of the worlds salvation The principal question is shall the churches failing to get amen ordain women as authorized ex pounders of time socalled word of God Are the sects about to fly off in rebellion against St Paul who forbids a woman even to teach much less preach Will they shatter time tradition of time gos pels and then deny the truths of inspiration Should the women be given a place in time orthodox pulpits will they permit them to disport their millinery or would time rule be changed to compel a woman to remove her hat and wraps before entering upon her discourse Would time womens aid societies work as faithfully under her direction arrange for oyster suppers fairs raffles to sell kisses at auction and all the other schemes to raise time cash as they did and do now under the guidance and direction of time male preacher Is the innovation worth try ing Would there be tiny jealousies created Would the women flock to hear another woman preach as they flock around the male ganders at this day Would time Bible pictures be changed to allow of women angels being used instead of keeping them all men These questions may not be of much importance to the church dignitaries as at present constituted but they will have to bo considered if time women are ever drawn on to occupy the orthodox pulpits of the day On time other hand we might ask why should not women be allowed time blessed privilege of inter preting the scriptures as well as men Her more tender heart would induce her to place a more humanitarian construction upon some of time Bible doctrines and teachings She might not be able through her natural modesty to read some of time Bible passages aloud but these could be omitted and in the court of time altogether abandoned If the Bible be true God gave woman to man as a help mate not as a mere plaything but taking all the advantage possible woman has been made more than a helpmeet in time churches for upon her has fallen all the drudgery and labor It is time then lint she should be accorded some rightful recogni ion and greater authority conferred upon her in the ritualistic work of the church That our readers may understand how general this complaint has become concerning the shortage A of the crop of preachers we reproduce a number of excerpts from the religious writings of the dayiwhich when properly analyzed will show which way the educational wind is blowing The follow ing is taken first from a statement made by Rev Daniel Stcclc of the Methodist Episcopal Church published in the Christina Advocate of New York He said Our bishops may be authorized by the General Conference to do at home as they do in our Asiatic missions appoint women as well as men to their various fields of Christian labor Multiply the number of deaconesses and enlarge their sphere to include preaching and pastoral care and the administration of the sacrament in time absence of an elder and you instantly more than double time min isterialsupply II In this is to be found the only ray of light pence trating gloom of a forlorn Christian hope Time suggestion comes not without force or meaning Orthodox precedent is to be set aside Shibboleths arc to be destroyed mind new ones take their place Customs are to undergo a radical change and all this becomes an absolute necessity because time men no longer seek the ministry save and except those who arc really too lazy to perform useful and pro ductive labor and prefer a life of idleness and fawn ing hypocrisy But this is not all Dr Steele in a statement as to the cause of time present difficulty and a citation of facts to bear him out discusses at length the figures given by Dr W N Rice of the Wesleyat University published in the Alumni Record where in he says Between 1872 and 1905 the gain in time number of physicians was 87 per cent in time number of lawyers 44 per cent in the number of business men 154 per cent while time gain in time number of min isters was only 4 per cent Oh Israel How hath the mighty fallen Only a gain of 4 per cent in number of preachers dur ing a period of 33 years while every other calling has advanced with rapid strides Is it any wonder that the General Conferences and Ecumenical Councils are becoming alarmed at the wintry pros pects before them Time truth is that men and vomeu both are fast slipping from evangelism to a plain matter of fact philanthropy and the world has discovered that the latter can be better practiced and with more beneficial results outside of the church than on time inside No better example of this can be found than in time numerous scholarships- s that arc being donated every year and time estab lishment of libraries In this connection mention might be made of the Cecil Rhodes scholarships at Oxford open to young men the world over and the hundreds of Carnegie libraries that now dot the surface of the globe on every continent These philanthropies wdre given without church consid eration and add to them the thousands that are enacted every day we have an array of facts that point to no future for church In addition to time foregoingcomes the declara toy 19Jwg m of the Andover Theological Serlnnary that it has practically outlived its usefulness and must either succumb or move from its present location to other and more fertile fields Time suggestion is hero offered that even in that Puritanical staid old New England country time young men have no desire for church work and prefer other fields of more useful labor Acting up 1on the hints thrown out of probable dissolution or a relocation of that once famous institution Dr Ed mund J James president of the University of Illinois has addressed a letter to time trustees of Seminary inviting them to move time institution to some point in the Mississippi Valley And why is this Simply because time institution can find no further use or reason for its existence This may be a broad statement in view of time declaration that we are a Christian peoplebut in order to more successfully prove our position we again quote from time statement issued by time Seminary trustees which gives the following figures Time attendance at Andover has sunk gradually from more than one hundred in its day of greatest prosperity to eleven at time opening of time present year with an entering class of only three If we add to time foregoing another statement made in a Lexington pulpit by Dr Alex Guerry of time Southern University at Sewance we arc furnished additional data which shows that time complaint is general and widespread anti not con fined to one denomination alone Dr Guerry was malting a plea for money with which to carryon the work of educating young mcn for time Episco pal ministry He complained of time woeful lack of patronage bestowed uppn this institution in particular which he represented and declared Even the teachers at time University are but only one third paid and their labor is a labor of selfsacrifice and suffering From this we are forced to infer that the institution cannot be made self sustaining and must needs depend upon public charity to be able to exist longer Another inference also suggests itself namely if a sufficient number of young men sought to enter time institution to be educated for ministry the institution could be placed on paying basis Then another thought comes why educate men for the ministry at u1l1 Do they know more about God hell heaven Holy Ghosts and time like after they are eUucateu Ulan they knew before Arc not the savage tribes and the civilized races of men on an equality in this respect Nay but we might ask Hath man any preeminence over a beast All this points inevitably to one conclusion that Christian church has entered upon its final dc coy Time active support of time women is not enough to keep the churches alive and prosperous For fifty years or more every sect could boast two Marthas and two Magdalena for every Lazarus Some consolation may be afforded by time expressed thought that this demand for women to enter the pulpits is a preparation of a divine provi dence to bring these auxiliary forces into time battlefield in the nick of time to win the victory Thinking men will not accept the explana 1I1fW r 1 J tion Other professions offer a more inviting field Men have discovered thnt there is something in being free honest nnd independent which are not to be hnd through the ministry Men now realize that with a family to support nnd having spent years in the ministry it is a difficult matter to abandon it and get bread and butter for those dependent upon them Honest thoughts and convictions are stifled for domestic considerations nnd few have had the courage to fight it out This is why men refuse to enter the ministry and this is why in the absence of men women must step in and try to save a failing religious cult Not only has the pulpit outlived its usefulness not only has the church failed to attract the brightest minds to her support but the entire Christian re ligion is passing into a decadence from which there can be no regenerations s LITERARY VALUE OF THE BIBLE In an attempt to mark the Bible as holding a position of vast and incomparable superiority in the art of literature especially as compared with themes of a Biblical origin Prof J G Gardiner of Harvard University has taken upon himself an dertnking which he will never live to finish There is in the Bible nn art that is not art which grows more apparent in the absorption with the solid facts of reality and in the neglect that must attach to mans comment and interpretation What ever may be claimed by the Bibliologists for its origin and authontication it must not be forgotten that its compilation was the work of human beings that is of men also that men first inscribed the text worked out its several translations undertook the work of revision from time to time so that with all the changes additions nnd subtractions there is considerable of a difference between the present King James version nnd the original Greek text in manuscript It is certainly worth something for the learned professor to make an admission which strikes at the very root of infallibility when he says It is only in the most shadowy way that the great forces which dominate Job nnd the Psnlms and St Pauls epistles nnd the Revelations cane into its pages When the Professor intimates that the books de scribed contain great forces it is only the expression of an individual opinion colored with preference and choice but when he suggests that these books crept into the pages of time Bible in only a most shadowy way he attacks the plenary In spiration doctrine and impairs the theological utility of the entire Bible Once an admission is made by a professor of theology that the Bible the source and foundation of the church is subject to suspicion he assails its very authenticity and genuine ness in a manner that cannot fail of impressiveness It is indication that the human mind is rising above his religious conceptions and in applying the acid test of criticism to its alleged inspired writings they fail in the analysis and cannot be brought to the required standardtFollowing the higher criticism and pursuing critical investigation we are forced to the belief that Job was simply an Oriental drama that the facts alleged therein are not true were never en acted and got into the Bible as adding a romance or a farcetragedy to its general conception of things No sane person could be brought to a point of implicit belief that the deity ever entered into a compact with the devil to allow the latter to torture injure and grievously afflict a faithful servant as a means of testing his fidelity At the best such a story can only be regarded as allegory and of exceeding little value It brings two opposing forces into harmonious relation It places the power of evil and the power of good upon an equality It makes one the equal of the other and yet permits the deity to confer and delegate the power and authority upon the evil one to inflict suffering an act which he would disdain to com mit himself Here we might ask what right had the deity to engage another personality to do that which he would not do or would be ashamed to do himself lhe Blade cannot see that he would have any right and the Book of Job must take its place among the oriental literature of the day n being of no human value except that we may judge of it by comparison Coming to the Psalms it is admitted by scholars both in and out of the theological world that David was the compiler rather than the author and in this admission another pretty sentimental theory goes glimmering into nothingness The alleged epistles of Paul are of later produc tion They have been a bone of contention between church councils from the earliest ages down to the present These disputes have never been settled and even today the three main bodies of the Chris tian church established by the Councils of Trent Constantinople and Westminster each cling to a different Bible each Bible containing books differ ent from the other In to the Revelations sensible persons very readily dismiss these as a hideous nightmare containing little or no humnn feeling amid evidently written by one who wns out with the world a sort of Ishmael with every mans hand against him If Prof Gardiner really desires to make a literary comparison we refer him to Shakespeare and are willing to stand or fall by any comparison between his works and those of the Bible if honestly and sincerely made WHEN THE GOLDEN CALF LIES DEAD There is no truer gospel than that which declares that he who lives a true anti noble life here will be prepared for nny other when his time comes to enter it- There is no truer aphorism than that which de clares unto all men and women that the nearer one gets to the modern church the less real human feel ing is shown Contrasting the effects of these two statements which now serves us as a text the churches are sending her emissaries over the land wasting preci ous time preaching about the H everlasting bliss of some barbarous heaven while the hell of injus tice of social inequality of a trampled outraged and despoiled Inbor opens right under their very feet into which the dend pulpit and the false priest are both rapidly sliding Let them slide The sooner the better and those who delight in prayer can thank their god for that much Time sects all try to pluck the brands from the burning for the sake of a few pnltry dollars but never a one tries to put out the fire Our method of obtaining social and industrial re demption is much like nn old sailor He hnd a wood en leg and one night after spending several hours in a saloon started home lie planted his wooden leg in a hole in the sidewalk and walked round himself all night American sovereigns will tramp the same old weary round on the treadmill of partisanship and vainly imagine they arc climbing the golden hill of prosperity Democracy that is a pure demo cracy is like a cannon it brooks no divided con trol Unless the people own both ends of it they are in danger of losing it altogether Our present system lies produced two classes distinct widely separate and apart These nre the shearers and the shorn We have made our progress sometimes called commercial cannibalism the survival of the slickest instead of the fittest We have reached that point par excellence in which we admit of the maximum of profit to the employer and the mini mum of wages to the employed If the workers re ceived all that they earned they could buy all that is made Where great public interests are concern ed it is better to begin with justice than to end with it Our plutocrats should take warning from history It was the French aristocrat who told the peasantry to eat grass They did eat thereof but the last dish on their tnble wns the head of a king The Blade does not countenance violence in effecting a remedy The French way proved emi nently satisfactory but it is too clumsy In Amer ica we can accomplish the same end quiter quicker and better With the ballot rightly used the victory is won This is the orderly determined and irresistible assertion of American independence at the polls Labor holds in its own hands 70 per cent of the voting strength of the nation Its hosts are always in the majority and they can demand any thing nnd enforce that demand by their votes when ever they are ready If the laborer has any right at all he has the right to live and the right to live plies the right to earn n living This is the real meaning of the gospel of work With this we come back to our text and declare that he who lives a true and noble life here he who cheerfully accords to his fellows the same rights and privileges that he enjoys who with loving hand deals out justice to his less fortunate brother who with honest heart strives to fill the world with a supernal sunshine will be prepared for any other life when his time comes to enter into it On the other hand he who feigns a friendship that lie docs tramplesithe dont get it hereafter he will get it before he shuffles off this mortal coil As for the second part of our text we need but refer to the fact of the churches claim that it tends to human happiness Content alone can produce it Content cannot come through suffering and priva tion However much the church may claim that happiness lies in a belief in God they do not produce happiness which demonstrates that either God is incapable or the church has drifted away from him Humanity is fronting the dawn of a grander day That day will be here when the hand is untied and the brain unfettered Then will broader opportui ties appear for human usefulness and men can boast a nobler beauty the past lying behind them like some hideous dream Justice will sit enthroned in the new method and greed will disappear Then shall the golden calf lie dead and none appear to mourn its demise k tt WHAT THE WORLD WANTS 9In the first place it wants men That is it wants real men It does not need make believes It does not want shins or frauds It wants men with a practical knowledge inside their heads and room enough to hold it after it once gets there It needs men with skill in their hands and common sense enough to apply it It needs men with a sound health in their bodies and strength of character enough to keep it Gould such a man be found you might mix him up with sixty millions of others and it would be impossible to lose him You will easily find him again for such a man must have the habit of always being on the top You may throw him naked upon some dreary desert island and he will soon be at the head of something He does not go whining insistinglchance but he gets right out and does something Success compels him to do it even better the second time The kind of men thnt are wanted everywhere are those who can do things with either head or hands or both These are always in strong demand and they are wanted badly The demand for them is as great now ns it has been at any time in the worlds history 0 It is far better to yield gracefully to an irresist H destroyedAfterand the cataclysm caught them without boats or umbrellas Give labor the full meed of its earnings or the day will conic when it will take all and Dives will be without a single defender t Just think that Gorrenhity was five days making this majestic world out of a lot of left over Ameri can political boon material tf II if JI CLERGY AMONG THE FIRST To Be Convicted Of Crime Against Women Under the Georgia Law One Of Them Committed Self Destruction a CHRISTIANS TRANSGRESS THEIR OWN MORAL LAW King Saul had ordered all witches and wizards out of his country He stllr claimed however that God could commune with him by dreams and by Urlm and Thummlm two stones kept for this purpose yet ho feared the witches and ordered them out He made this law and expected everyone to conform to It According to the Bible lie himself was the first to di gress Ho went at night disguised In different robes so that ho could vio late his own decree Not only did he go himself but two men went with him How often do we see this now Laws ahe passed every year and the first ones to break them are the ones through whose Instrumentality they are passed- I introduce this item to illustrate Its truth It Is well known to the people of the State of Georgia that quite a number of righteous religion ists and the clergy clamored for a law to be enacted as it was claimed to I protect the fair daughters of our land from the ruthless touch of the libertine and blasting influence of the unbelieverthe evil onesthat our I daughters might grow up as orna ments to society and gems of virtue The law which was thought most effectual in bringing about such a con summation was one making seduction a penal offense Well the law was passed and duly enrolled In the pages of the penal code Time the great revealer has shown the futility of that law for the protec tlon of virtue the jewel of the soul It Is a curious principle In the human mind ana believe It Is evinced In the conduct of the lower animals that It readily and eagerly condemns per secutes and prosecutes in others the very thing Itself is plotting to accom Is well known In the history of the courts and through the public prints of the State of Georgia that the very first four cases arraigned for the crlmo of seduction by persons of note sufficient to attract attention od count of the high standing of the parties Involved m the violation of the new law enforcing morality were themselves four noted clergymen Two In the list belonged to the Baptist one to the Methodist and the other to the Presbyterian denomination Three of the cases were adjudicated In the courts and In the other one the de fendant esteemed as a venerable minister rather than face the Igno miny of violating his own law com mitted suicide Now In the light of those cases sea riously In the name of honesty what can the advocates of moral purity say In vindication of these men and of the Puritan laws for the enforcement of morality And what becomes of the specious arguments that were It not for the Influence of the clergy In upholding religion the youths of our country would have no heavenly mes sengers preparing for them the way of life leading them like a shepherd Jn the paths of virtue and to a haven of rest And what becomes of the em phasized proposition so freely brought forward by laymen and clergymen L that all crime can be traced to the sin of unbelief that blank Atheism has no Influence In arresting the com mission of offenses that Jeopardize the wellbeing of society- It is Illustrated In the history of mankind and In the workings of the governments of world that Atheists have always been the ameli- orators and promoters of the good In all things that look to the elevation of the social fabric This Is well attested In the lives of all the celebrated Atheists whose acts and doings not only shed a lustre but adorned time and age In which they lived The verdict of history is that they are sel don guilty of any great crimes while as Henry Ward Beecher said in a dis course Every century of Christianity is written In blood In truth how0 could It be promised that any very favorable conclusion could be deduced from the system of Christianity professedly based on belief and faith since Its most philosophical writers have until of late pro claimed that religion was not founded on morality but was essentially an emotional system It leas often been announced from the sacred desk that morality Is a foe to religionthat It was no more than filthy rags Char acter Is a thing of minor Importance compared with faith null belief It is gravely announced that the Master himself as his parting legacy gave out that belief Marl xvl was es sentlal to salvation How much that dogma has done to retard tho progress k gAtmri 1ftI of the mind and foster persecution I shall leave to tho calm consideration of the reader A A BELL Praise For the Rome Book Shelton WashI am rather late In acknowledging the receipt of the Rome Book you sent me but wanted to read ono of them first and after reading I must say It was splendid My sincerest regards to Dr Wilson for his magnificent success In gathering so much valuable Information In such short time and under so many dim cultles owing to the different languages spoken and as to the appear ance of tho boot you certainly deserve credit It looks very neat and I prize It very highly I should like very much to see Dr Wilson Got his book on Phallic wor ship or description of the astronomi cal characters used In the Bible I have forgotten now whether It cluded Phallic worship or not but at any rate I snow It will be good have never read any of his writings that was any thing but good yet This letter will be rather long but then I am not writing It for publication I want to tell you about the books I read After receiving your card toll Ing me of your sending me a Rome Book I waited a long time but re ceiving none I again wrote you and received two at once Some timEI after there camp one more and as I had told a friend of mine In the post office about It he took that and sent a dollar Now I owe you for that so herewith send you 125 Freethought Is spreading here and take some credit to myself as I have been distributing my Blades and other papers and talks quite freely Of course I have made some enemies but notice my word Is as good as some pious peoples oath ANTHONY O NELSON Cheap at Three Dollars Renfrew la Enclosed please find express order for 150 for which re newal Is requested to tho Blade I am well pleased with It and would not do without It If It cost three dollars With good wishes remain as ever yours THOS BOWSER L E TIME TABLE Departure a m pm No4 No2 Lexington Ky 735 225 Montrose Ky 745 240 Avon Ky 753 250 Wyandotte Ky 800 257 Winchester Ky812 3-10LEJctKyC8U 325 Indian Fields Ky 842 340 Shawanee Ky853 353 Clay City Ky 000 400 Stanton Ky 008 410 Rosslyn Ky P13 420 Lombard Ky 025 430 Filson Ky 920 420 Dundee Ky 031 437 Campton Jet Ky 035 440 Natural Bridge Ky 040 440 Glencairn Ky 043 448 Torrent Ky 063 457 Fincastle Ky 1005 510 Beattyville Jct Ky1014 518 St Helens Ky1022 527 Tallega Ky 1032 537 Athol Ky1040 645 Oakdale Ky 1048 650 0021OAnivalILexington Kentucky 965 005i Montrose Kentucky 043 Avon Kentucky 034 540 Wyandotte Kentucky 025 533 Winchester Kentucky 010 520 E June Kentucky 853 530 Indian Fields Kentucky 842 450 Shawanee Kentucky 830 437 Clay City Kentucky 825 434 Stanton Kentucky 816 925 Rosslyn Kentucky 810 420 Filson Kentucky 804 414 Lombard Kentucky 750 409 Dundee Kentucky 754 403 Campton June Kentucky 750 357 Natural Bridge Kentucky 745 355 Glencairn Kentucky 740 350 Torrent Kentucky 730 342 Fincastle Kentucky 7 15 3 23 Beattyville Jet Kentucky 707 320 St Helens Kentucky 050 312ITallega Kentucky 040 301 Athol Kentucky 040 263 Oakdale Kentucky 033 245 Elkatawa Kentucky 020 234 0 K Jct Kentucky 015 23Q Jackson Kentucky 010 226 a Trains run daily CONNECTIONS L E JUNCTION Trains Nos 2 3 will make connection with tho C k 0 Railway for Mt SterlinguCAMPTON JUNCTION Trains Nos 2 and 3 connect with the Mountain Central Railway for Pine Ridgo and Trains Nos 2 and 4 connect with the L A Railway for Beattyville 0 K JUNCTION Trains Nos 3 and 4 connect with the- K Railway for local stations on the 0 dt K Railway NOTE REDUCTIONS 3 Hampden 18 size Special R Way 23 Jls J2600 New 23 Jls Dauber Watch Co 21 itstHi same 17 Jls Elgin Verltas 23 its 29 Father Time 21 Jls 2250 B W r Raymond 19 its 20 B W Raymond 17 Jls 1850 Waltham Vanguard 23 Jls 29 Crescent Street 21 Jls 2260 Appleton Tracey Co Premier 17 Jls 1850 same not Premier The above guaranteed to peas R Way Inspectors Sundries Waltham P S Bartlett or Elgin Wheeler 17 Jls justed nickel same gilt same Hampden nickel 800 same not justed r Elgin Waltham or Hamp den nickel 15 Jls Elgin or Wal tham nickel non catchable hair spring Jls Hampden Jls gilt 450 Standard or Century 7 Jls Al tho above in or 4ounco all vcrlne case prepaid In silver or gold filled screw case accompanied by manufacturers and my guarantee for 20 years or in hunting case more In 25 year screw case or in huutlng case 850 more than In all verlno case In solid gold case 10 to 50 more LADIES GOLD WATCHES Large size Elgin Waltham or Hampden 20year gold filled latest style artistic handchased jls t 15 Jls 11 Jls adj 15 small size Jls 1150 15 Jls 15 16 jls adj 18 Riverside extra fine In 25year case 1 more In 14k solid gold case 10 to 50 more Latter with diamonds all In plush box prepaid with guarantee Send for prices of Watches not list ed Jewelry Rings Silver and Plated Ware Optical Goods and My Tract Theism In the Crucible free OTTO WETTSTEIN r La Grange Cook Co fUPTODATE PAMPHLET ON MARRIAGE AND DIVORCEF BY l JOSEPHINE K HENRY or VERSAILLES KENTUCKY All orders promptly filled Price copy 25c 6 copies for 100 I50 YEARS EXPERIENCE 1DESIGNSAnrono sending ascertain our free whether nronnblr fommunlea latents- leaccnrlncyatentPatent iro tftelal without charce the a Scientific American hnndsomolr Illustrated week Inrscst of nnr Terms a four months MUNN Co36Bd New York arsine 1 Washington U GREATEST DISCOVERIES IOF SCIENCE EVER MADE GOD SATAN AND HOLY GHOST ARE NOTHING BUT CREATIONS OF FICTION HEAVEN AND HELL ARE ONLY MYTHS CON SCIOUS LIFE IS EXTINGUISHED AT DEATH The Church of Humanity teaches these great discoveries through its organ The Truth About God which It publishes monthly and Its school The Central Kansas Business College which teaches Stenography Type writing Bookkeeping Commercial Arithmetic Penmanship and Spelling and The Truth About God In a general course of study giver by the ten porary International Instructor for the chirch The Church has 100 LIFE MEMBERS It wants 900 more to formally organize and Incorporate The first thousand members will be the founders and organizers of the CHURCH OF HUMANITY If you have loved ones you wish rescued from the Idolatry of worshiping a dead man named Jesus and a myth named God you should Join this Church and It will aid you In freeing them and In saving your posterity from becoming Idolaters by teaching them The Truth About God Write to W H KERR 2210 Broadway Great Bend Kan for blank ap plication for membership Information about the college and send 25 ceatavfor a years subscriptloc to the TRUTH ABOUT GOK Do It new j 1IJ y L J 1c0 J i VOLTAIRE MEMORVSTILLFRESH jInthe Minds of the People at HisI Old Home In Geneva Rush forISouvenirs From His Cha i teau Interesting Account OF HIS MANY ak PUBLIC BENEFACTION BY WILLIAM E Voltaire answered CURTISIreceived with great which came from r er people asking foolish questions After he was years of ago said to have written 14000 letters onI an infinite variety of subjects Eery one of them Is worthy of publican f He was a man of tender synipathic Fand affection toward loved tbut was his vindictive opponents and unscrupulousII ltolerate contradiction His ruling pas a a love of liberty and he fhatd religion because it was intendedI t to restrain men just as he hated laws and courts ft He entertained thousands of people at Ferney His table was always full iThe chateau was a regular stoPPing l place for tourists Everybody was welcome and was ahowed to remain as long as he liked providing lie I0himself agrecliC and did madeI terfere with the habits or Jtemper or the prejudices of his host r In days people were just begin ning to travel The grand tour had recently become the fashion and eery s person who had the money to pay his n f expenses was going about Europe post chaises Geneva was an educ tional center famous for its intcllei ri tual society and was also a convei I lent stopping place between Paris and i r Marseilles Florence and Rome Thomas Jefferson made this tour whll was our minister at Paris Olive Ishe being too poor to lure chaise did to journey on foot l1ke many others and visited Voltaire There is a yarn that he sat by the roadside under a tree in front of we chateau and played his flute until taire being enchanted by the music left his writings and went out to quire When he found who his guest was he invited him In and kept him a Ferney for several weeks thelgrand dressed in a flowered silk nightgown a dark periwig without powder slip pers and a cap in his hand He ten dered compliments to me in English He mentioned my father and the late Duke of Argyle with great encomiums He desired to show me his garden which In the dress he was in at years of ago and complaining of the weight ot his years I thought dangerj ous desired that he i think of going but I could not proven him i The great infidel built this church at his own expense for tie use and fiiA benefit of his servants and to empha ssize his rule of never interfering with 4religion as he insisted that religion not interfere with him During jfshouldt a priest was employed at Ws 4expense mass was sung regularly and- y services were held there just the same y as in ordinary churches The chapel furnished an opportunity lfi for Alexander Dumas the elder tt r utter a bon mot which was repeater ri In every court and literary circle Ir f Europe and was considered one of the brightest witticisms of the period He Iref t said The world will be relieved to know that Voltaire and God have become reconciled And it Is gratifying tc eknow that Voltaire wth great conde t t made the first advances Voltaires vanity could not have been more neatly satirized Voltaire sold the place before hit t death to Count Outtct a rich aristo f 7J crat who In turn sold it to David the famous sculptor from whom it was int therlted by Mme Lambert his daugh r lives here still Mr Lambert her husband is a famous sculptor t and some of his best pieces may be seen in the garden He has a studio c on the grounds All of the house f1 occupied by the family except the j two rooms used by Voltaire in which u Mme Lambert has placed all of the 99relics that came to her with the house candcourteously admits visitors to see x et 1iIthe mone day in the week during the tourist season The drawing room Is filled with Vol taires furniture and a sort of mausoleum containing his heart One of the panels is Inscrbed My remains are consoled as my heart is in the midst of you Another inscription reads His spirit is everywhere his heart Is here Tho walls of the room are covered with portraits of Voltaire sketched or painted at different periods of his life portraits of his friends and his favr f 5iI J onto pictures His bedroom is adjoinI ing The bed in which he in which ho died Is an uncomfortable looking affair covered with pretty urcd silk The suit of clothes worn in his last days is preserved in a glass- case with his cane and other personal relics Over the mantel Is a large ny looking picture entitled The Ape theosls of Voltaire The man In charge gave us the explanation but It requires a very strong imagination to comprehend It He said that it represented Voltaire being conducted to the temple of fame by an angel escorted by a company of trumpeters sounding his praises The men he defeated the evils he overthrew lie in a strug Fling mass beneath the platform Ilk the lost souls in Michael Angels Last Judgment Tho devil is prom pent in the group and is surrounded by figures representing Ignorance sup erstltion bigotry etc Standing on the heights calmly overlooking the scene are the seven virtues with other ures representing art science Hera turo music the drama and other voca tions in which Voltaire excelled Another conspicuous picture is a lifesized portrait of the Russian Em press Catherine the Great presented by her to Voltaire who she greatly admired Another presentation portrait from Frederick the Great is equally famous and hanging below It are engravings of Washington Jefferson and Franklinsons of liberty whom the great infidel revered Voltaire was years old when he came a fugitive from France to live at Geneva which has been the refuge of so many exiles He was warmly welcomed As a writer of the time put is the curiosity of the town It is quite the fashion to go and call upon the Calvanistlc clergy visited him and invited him to dinner and cussed theological questions with him Their views were broad and were probably broader after dinner than any other part of the day But this happy condition did not last long Vol talre was too keen a crtic too bitter n satirist too fond of mischief and hli own humor to live In peace with Pres bytcrian doctors of divinity and after a few months acquaintance had estab lIshed a familiarity he began to buzz around like a wasp making hlmselJ tho most unpopular man in town It was not long before the theologians were trying to get rid of him Soon after his arrival Voltairo wanted to produce one of his plays but there were no theatres In Geneva dramatic performances were absolute ly forbidden and wicked sinners who wanted to seen pity were compelled to cross the borders of tho canton Into the territory of Savoy in France where a modest little playhouse had been established some years before greatly to the dismay of the puritan element of the city The consistory passed a resolution admonishing the people not- to attend and to keep their sons and daughters away and the regulations of the university forbaae the students to go there Hence when Voltaire boldly demanded the privilege of at tempting a salle do spectacle there was great excitement the city was in a turmoil For the purpose of giving them something tangible to fight about Voltaire moved to Ferney where he obtained a large tract of land laid out a town site Invited colonists and pro vided work for them by establishing various END THE OLu CLOCK IN THE CORNER Somewhat back from the village street- itands the oldfr ihloned Countryseat Across its antique portico Tall poplar trees their shadows throw And from its station in the hall An ancient timepiece says to all Halfway up the stairs it stands And points and beckons with its hands From its case of massive oak Like a monk who under his cloak Crosses himself and sighs alas With sorrowful voice to all who pass There groups of merry children played There youths and maidens dreaming strayed O precious hours 0 golden prime And affluence of love and time Even as a miser counts his gold Those hours the ancient timepiece told Ml are scattered now and fled Some are married some are dead painiThe ancient timepiece makes reply LONGFELLOW 1 11 f1J QUITS CHURCH RATHER THAN OBEY RICH Pastor For Thirty Years Gives Up a Baptist Pulpit Because He Would Not Submit To the Money Power BY REV FIDDLE D D Rev Dr W W Boyd for 30 years pastor of the Second Baptist Church ono of the wealthiest congregations In St Louis Mp announced Monda that ho has quit the ministry declar- Ing that all clergymen must be sub servlent to the money power or leave their churches The modern fashionable church said Dr Boyd a run by from one to six men who are the largest contributors to the funds and therefore insist upon certain policies of administrationIn are tae poorer classes of course who are in a measure dependent upon th rich They need a recommendation for it They stifle their consciences because of necessity The other class stifles its conscience because of convenience CommentEver since tine dove brought the green back to the ark money has been the ruling power Priest id preacher have bowed sub servlent to its almighty power I have always thought that Inscription over the eagle on the dollar was an empty phrase when yo see ninety nine out of ever one hundred figuring up their change to see if they would have enough to see them through tIl Saturday night They say money wont buy heaven It dont take a fortune to bring any one of the clergy to your dying bedside to give yoi comfort for humanitys sake Die you ever notice that when a preacher was offered a better salary in another charge how soon the lord called hln there Once in a while you find an honest preacher and you usually find them working for a living Like Dr Boyd will be doing from now on PERFECT Continued from page One Burbank has achieved the most re markable results The principal methods by which the evolution of a higher type of man ii to be promoted are 1 The careful scientific selection of persons who are nltouttoibejujltet Inc marriage The provision of hygenlc sur roundlngs and scientifically selected diet for overbodvThe mental and physical train- Ing of the young ana of tho commun ity in general When We committee have discover ed by observation and consignment how the perfect man can be produced they will put their reforms into general practice first by instructing the public and then If possible by laws enforcing the reforms The scientists are confident that they will eventually ue able to secure laws enforcing their recommendations and they are greatly encouraged oy the fact that President Roosevelt is deeply interested in their work Large Frame and Strong The committee will devise new methods of recording the physical and mental values of various types and races of humanity wtth a view to combining their most valuable charac teristics in the improved type They will aim at producing a type man who will combine the large frame and strength of the ideal Anglo Saxon or Scandinavian the practical Intelligence of the American the tellect of the high German the art loving qualities and sunny temperament of the Latin and so forth They will suggest methods by which the laws of heredity can beapplled to men so that disease vice and crime may be eradicated They will deavor to ascertain whether the mar riage of two blind persons or two deaf persons or of any two persons having a certain defect in common will result In the reproduction of that defect in their offspring and If so they will suggest means of preventing marriages They will apply this line of investigation to all the more dangerous constitutional diseases that humanity many of which are regarded as hereditary among them being consumption cancer insanity epilepsy nervous diseases and many others Tho greatest practical aid to the committee will be gained from the re suIts which have already been obtained in breeding Improved animals and nowhere have such wonders been ac complished in this direction as in the United States Man Is of course animal and the laws of life and development are the same with him as with the beasts It is true that the object of cattle breeding Is usually to produce animals of greater meatbulk and greater endurance and having finer coats Of these qualities only one would be desired In man that of ndurance but the fact taut these Im f 1af provements In animals can be produced by artificial modifications Indicates how much could be done with man To Bo Continued +++ dF TIb3 F3 oH+ i +OUR LETTER IiR SlngWe cannot print your article because of the offensive character of some of the language used Wo have referred to it and discussed the subject in our editorial columns Armory C StevensThanks for the clippings We shall use them as soon as wo can get to them In the meantime we would be glad to pUblish something from your pen on tho sub Josephine K HenrySorry to hear of your misfortune and we sin ceroly hope that the near future will bring brighter and better days to yo and yours George W WiseYour request shall be complied with Thanks for interest in the Moore meorlal I N FowlerIt Is pleasing to note your opinions concerning the modern Pharisee N M Dudley We appreciate your good wishes and approbation M RoweWe only wish that you wish could come true It seems too good for such an event to happen our way Thomas Duell Those who have read the Rome Book agree with you and those who have not read it have missed an intellectual treat Edwin Bailey Your appreciation of Dr Wilsons effort is fully shown by your acts Thanks Dr SchuckThere might be an In clinatlon upon our part to laugh with you did we receive and read tho book It hasnt come yet J C BrownIt would be a pleasure to us to have to get out another tion of the Rome Book We do not mean this from a financial point of view but that a secohd edition would Imply that It was being read as it de servesL Munson Glad to note your interest in the Moore memorial Henry Evans We presume it Is mistake and it shall be looked Into Thanks for appreciations expressed C E AlexanderGlad to note you great interest in the proposed 1Ie mortal Book to C C Moore The names are recorded S D Bealmear Tho attitude you take is by far the most liberal It Is impossible for us all to agree upon everything but we should labor together upon those things in which we do agree J H SchwartzYour explanation Is given space Thanks for your candid expression concerning the Blade N C Bawcom While we aro sorry to lose you the action you take is what we had looked for in a few In stances We are bound to meet with some disappointments and this is one of them We suppose it will have tc bo so Anthony A NelsonGlad to know you were so pleased with the Rome Book Thomas DowserYour letter is the kind that cheers the heart and it is so different to others we comment upon in this issue M R Coffman Many thanks for your good opinion of the Blade and so forcibly expressed W A Peterson Your order for the Moore Book is entered Thanks IC B Martin You have got the cor rect notion concerning the late editor of this paper and your suggestions are extremely to the point M H Keith Thanks for subscrlp tlon and comment on Moore Book Andrew CookWe appreciate your attitude towards the Blade and assure you that in justice to all the present policy will be maintained A B BarrettAlthough you marked 1your letter private we trust you will not regard It as violation of confidence by publishing It Our aim Is to let the world know what your opinions nre- As for stopping the made because of your being too poor and too old to labor we simply say that just so long as we can get out a paper and the Blade is published you shoJi have your cf fJl Tr copy Just the same pay or no pay You are one whom we will carry without price until the end I W Decker If you think that less than three cents a copy for the Blade is too much to pay for it we feel that you have a poor estimate of its worth as a Freethought paper compared with others at the price asked Ol course it is your privilege to quit when you feel like It Morgan Wamsley Your encourag- Ing letter is in harmony with many others wo are now receiving give both cheer and encouragement Were It not for landlords bills grocer bills and the like we could live on such letters as you have written Thanks Robert R JonesYour experience was certainly delightful As a rule agnostics are of the character you scribe Wo know of Mr Alcorn antI can well understana your great admiration for such a man Wo hope you liked reading the Blade and trust we may have you on our lists A H FrankWhile you do not state inplain words that you are unable to take the Blade because of your small Income your letter would suggest that From what you say we are per fectly willing to keep you on our mall Ing list and If we never get paid why we reap our cward in the knowledge that we Stave done you some good +++HOZO Ho rWHAT OUR FRIENDS SAY I +++++ + +o++ +ISorry But We Cant Help It Sweetwater exYou will find en closed 125 one dollar and twenty live cents to pay up my subscription to date I do not feel like I am able at the present to continue my sub scription to the Blade at the advanced price As the slip on my paper shows that I am due since August 5 1905 malting one year and a quarter the 5th of November Wishing you many years of a prosperous life I bid the Blade and Ks associates adieu N C BAWCOM We Hope So Too James E Hughes I notice you have not moved up Jopsons nor my tags Is there anything wrong or have you just forgot It We feel that the Blade is getting better oil the time It worries me to think that we cannot increase the clrctatlon Hoping that there Is a better coming HENRY EVANS Three Down For the Book Please put me down for the pro posted Moore Book and I am also au thorized for you to put tho names of Charles Bloomhzrt and Ed Thurston for the booleC E ALEXANDER Still For the Moore Book Pinehurst IdnhoI am sorry that I havent any money for you this time but put me down for two copies of the now book to Mr Moores memory The Blade 150 will be coming as soon as I can collect I want that bate between Editor Moore and Wllk erson and a good share of the best part of Rational Views also and charge 150 a copy Instead of one dollar as proposedW A PETER SON Is Now Satisfied Tampa FlaI enclose P money order for 150 to pay for Blade ono year from last August I could have paid 100 in September but prefered to pay 160 in case the delinquents wore dropped I know now my money will go to pay legitimate expenses and not to pay for papers for others who will not pay Many thanks for pub lishing by inquiry about Mary Me Lanes book A lady has wrote me a offering to loan me the book I wittl take one of the Moore books AN DREW COOK A Splendid Idea MIssoula Mont Enclosed find check for 200 Please change the slip or my paper from 1905 to 907 Mr Hughes that is a grand idea to print Charley Moores book by air moans Wo cannot raise no greater monument to his memory than to dis tribute throughout the world his life work It will be as a bright light in dark places If you can put one down for me M H KEITH You Shall Have the Blade Bube ArkAfter reading the good old Blado for over sixteen years we have reached the parting of the ways Not of choice oh no It brings tears to my eyes to give it up I am over 75 years poor and have been sick for months Cant work any more Never will This means no money to pay with that is allseems hard Indeed but I am grappling with the sorrows of a poor old man Nature is push ing me into the unknown I do not complain I have not the slightest fear of gods or devils hence am far better off than most Christians My life has been a success in most re spects with that I am content Many times in latter years I have worried the small fry clergyman especially the last one In February 1906 Were I strong enough to write it out for print every reader of the Blado would laugh until lils sides hurt It was just too funny Nothing more unexpected could have possibly occurred My dog played a conspicu ous part and came out tread and tall up Often I laugh yet The preacher didnt laughA B BARRETT Blade and Moore Book East Greenwich R I Enclosed find P O order for one dollar and fifty f cents for title renewal of my subscrip tion to the Blue Grass Blade which ex pined September 190C Also place my name on your subscription IIsnotithe Moore Memorial Book ALICE O BERRY 4 Send Them InfClrclevlllo OMy time for the Blade 4Is out today I am quite busy but shall hunt up some Freethinkers soon r and try to induce four or more to en close a dollar apiece along with mil for tlie Blade for a year Until I get1 f that done please strike my name off unless you will accept two of three isubscription cards which I still pos sass for a years subscription Many of the Freethinkers that I know Boj 1 not take any Freethought periodical and they seem so very hard to interest in that matter I know one such that will clear about 1000 this years Ho 1 about 75 acres Yours for Ra tionalism In religion and in politics r CHAS R KIMBERLY Can Anybody Answer This Mullhall OklaI shall want one copy of the charlcs C Moore memor ial book and will send the bug dust in a short time I think the Blade is a 4presentmanagement rlso for the old man struck out right and left and whoever he hit had to tumble even if it was a preacher I should like some one to tell me how much baled lay Noah had to put up on his boat to do until after that t shower was over and how much beefit for tho lions and all the rest of yhemmust have all been killed with the moisture Don t all speak at once 1 but I should like to find out if possi ble THOS BROWN 41 IfCHICAGi for AV THE iLLERSn 320 Pages Cloth POST PAID SIOO I I I A Story of the Underworld tand the Overworld Parker H Sercombe Editor To Morrow lIfagaztiteClzicago Only a limited edition ofIthis remarkable book will be printed Each copy will be by Sercombo Him selfand automatically aura bered rom 1 up First Sercombe orders exceptNo in will get tho low 1 TOMORROW Address MAQAZINE I 9uprrrana but Clrahaioa 2238 Cnlumot Ave Chicago VENTS THE COPY i A YEAR r

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