The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1881-02-25


Booth Was residing in Baltimore, pious
ur5hnc ole! gentleman of that city. hcarin,
"' hls great power "i rl"cutinn one day in
vltcd him To dinner. althnu.h a,wayS dcurc
eating the stage and all theatrical perform
ancrS. y large cor pany sat down at tn,
'a"i'. and on returning Ia the drawing room
one "f them asked 30 dh, Us Il special favor
I" 'hcu' all, I" repeat the Lords PRAYER
lie S'SnIli"d his willingness to grAtiiy them,
anu all eyes were fixed upon him. He
slowly aud rrvcrcn,y arose from his chair,
trembling with the burden OF two great
conceptions. lie had to rcaliz, the char
actcr, attributes and presence of the Al.
mighty bei"S Inc WAS adarr,,. lie mas W
transform himself into poor SHINING. STUN
bling, beuiSh;cd, needy supplicaut, Offering
homage, asking bread, pardon, light and
guidance. Says one of the company who
was present: 1T was wonderful. to watch
thcplay of cm"tionswhirh cnnvulScd his coun
trnancc. He became deadly pale, and his
turned trembling upward, were wet with eyes
tears AS yet he had not spoken. The
silence could be fell; it had become ab.o
lutcIy painful until ut last the spell WAS
broken aS IT by an rlcutrrc shock, rs his
rich toned voice sylablcd forth "Our
Father, which are in Heaven" etc with
Pathos and icrvld solcmnity which thrilled
all hearts. lie finished the silence con.
unuc".. not a voice was heard not a mus
Gle moved in his rart audience, until, from
4 remote ""-~s. 80 ~. .vv", supuuva nvU
was heard, and the old gentleman, Uhc
hoSt) stepped forward with streaming eyes
and totcring fame and seized Booth bv
the hand. Sir" said he in broken nc.
cents, 'you have afforded me pleasure for
which my whole future life will feel CRATE
ful. am al old man, and every day from
boyhood to the present time, have repeated
the Lords prayer; but never heard it be.
fore, never ~ "Iou are right replied
Booth to read that prayer as it should be
read, caused me the scvcrcSt study and la.
Dor for thirty years, and | am far from sat
isficd with my rendering Of that wonderful
production Hardly one person in ten
thousand ccmprchcEds how much beauty,
-p".u Si'npic. / na, prayer "i ns'li
sufficiently illustrates the truth of the Bible,
and stamps upon it the seal OF divinity
.iUiomcc.
Except the place and the 'pious, urbanc old
gentleman the above is true. II occurred in
Philadelphia, at n dinner party given by the
lamcntcd Adam Waldic, Publisher Of "Waldic's
Select Circulating Library" Our dear departed
Father was present and when n boy, we nave ofte
heard him give n very similar description of
that remarkable scene EDlroH CSioN TiNEs.
THE UpAs TREE.---lt is one of the curl
Gus facts in the history Of dcuSions that
even scientific men once had an unqucs-
tiuning faith in the deadly influence of the
Upas Tree on living things within its range.
DR.. French, an eminent surgeon III the Ser
vice of the East India Company first de-
scribcd the tree and its destructive power in
,pcnnock's Outlines of the Glubc," pub
lished ut the close of the last century. AS
he cave the accoant from his observation it
seemed entitled to a greater weight. lie
said | saw it myself, the sole individutl OF
species, standing alone in y scene of solitary
| horror in the middle of naked, blasted
plain. surrounded by circle of mountains
| the whole area Of which is covered with
the skeletons of birds, beasts, and men,
| Not q vcstigc of vegetable life is to be seen
within the contaminated atmosphere and cv.
| en- the fishes die in the water.
Mr.. Darwin, the distinguished botanist
accepted the theory as scientific fact and
| in his Botanic Garden exercised little
poetic license making the milsma penetrate
over ten leagues square. and destroy
the eagle in the air or the lion on the
plain.
\ more careful investigation Of facts has
found the tree to be perfectly harmless and
that the destructive power Is due alone tt
fumes of sulphatc ard carbonic acid ga:
coming from volcanic openings in the region
There is famous ''Nallcy poison at the
foot of the volcano Papanda3ing, in Java
where scientific travellers have found grca
number of dead animals Of various Kinds
rs dogs, cats, tigers, rhinoccrosscs, squirrels
birds. and snakes The soft parts Of th
animals. as the skins and muscles ani hai
and feathers are preserved. while the bone
crumbIc and disappear. No living thing /
found in the vicinity save the Cpas Tree
anl it is not surprising thar SupcrstitIous no
tions of its malariOus power should have
been widespread. But the true cause
death in this case is very obvious, as thcr
arc many crcviccs and openings in the sid
of the mountains from which carbonic aci
gas and sulphurous fumes are emitted II
"rcat quantities 1t was these emissions b
which the elder Pliny and his companion
were sufocatcd, at the time OF the dcstru'
| | iinn of ILcrcnlnncnm. thOu..h they wei