Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1894-01-04

morning star, until he could say: ~
am now ready to be offered and the
time of my departure is a hand ] have
fought the good fight. | have finished
my course. | have kept the faith. "
I Edward Payson kept his eye on that
star until he could say, The breezes of
/ Heaven fan me-" DIR. Goodwin kept
his eye on that evangelistic star until
he could say, Il am swallowed up IN
God" John Tenant kept his eye on
/ that evangelistic star until he could
say, Welcome, sweet Lord Jesus
welcome, eternity" No other star
ever pointed mariner into SO safe
harbor No other star ever sunk it's
silvered anchor into the waters No
other star ever pierced such accumu-
/ lated cloud. or beckoned with such
! holy luster.
With lanterns and torches and
| guide, we went down in the Nam
moth cave of Kentucky You NAV
walk fourteen miles and see no sun
light. 1t is stupendous place. Some
/ places the roof of the cave a hundred
/ feet high. The grottoes filled with
wierd echoes. cascades falling from in
visible height to invisible depth. Stall
| agmites rising up from the floor of the
cave-stalactites descending from the
roof of the cave, joining each other
and making pillars of the Almighty's
! sculpturing. There are rosettes OF
amethyst in halls of gypsum, AS
| the guide carries his lantern ahead of
oh
! supernatural and spectral. The dark
ness is fearful. Two people, getting
! lost from their guide only for few
| hours, years ago. We're demented, and
| for years sat in their insanity. You
| feel like holding your breath as you
/ walk across the bridges that seem to
! span the bottomless abyss. The guide
| throws his calcium light down into the
! caverns, and the light rolls and losses
from rock to rock and from depth to
| depth, making at every plunge new
revelation of the awful power that
could have made such place as that.
A sense of suffocation comes upon
you as you think that you are two hun
dred and fifty feet in a straight line
from the sunlit surface of the earth.
/ The guide after awhile takes YOU into
what is called the Star Chamber" and
| then he says to you, ''Sit here" and
then he takes the lantern and goes
down under the rocks, and it gets
darker and darker. until the night is SO
thick that the hand an inch from the
eye is undesirable And then, by
kindling one of the lanterns and
placing it in cleft of the rock
! there is a reflection cast on the
! dome of the cave, and there are stars
coming out in consultations bril-
| liant nj ght heavens-and you invOlun-
| tarily eXclaim: 'Beautiful! beautifully
Then he takes the lantern down in
other depths of the cavern, and wan
ders on, and Wanders off, until
he comes up from behind the
rocks gradually, and it seems
like the dawn of the morning, and it
gets brighter and brighter. The guide
is skilled ventriloquist, and he iani-
tates the voices of the morning. and
soon the gloom is all gone, and you
stand congratulating yourself over the
wonderful spectacle. Well, there are .
great many people who look down into
the grave as a great cavern. They
think it is thousand miles su bterrane-
Gus, and all the echoes seem TO be the
voices of despair. and the cascades
seem to be the falling tears that always
fall, and the gloom of earth seems, com
ing up in stalagmite, and the gloom OF
the eternal world seems descending in
stalactite, making pillars Of indescrib-
able horror. The grave is no such
place as that to me- thank God.
Our divine Guide takes MS down into
the great caverns, and we have the
lamp to our feet and the light TO our
path, and all the echoes in the riffs OF
the rock are anthems. and all the fall
ing waters are fountains of salvation,
and after awhile we look up and, be-
hold! the cavern of the tomb has be-
come a kings star cham Der. And while
we are looking at the pomp of it al
everlasting morning begins to rise,
and all the tears OF earth crystal
lie into stalagmite, rising up in
a pillar on the one side, and all
the glories of Heaven seem to be de-
scending in stalactite, making a piI.
lar on the other side, and you push
against the gate that swings between
the two pillars and as the gate flashes
open you find it is one of the II gates
which are II pearls. Blessed be God
that through this gospel the mammoth
cave of the sepulcher has become tho
illumined Star Chamber of the King.
l would God that if my sermon to-day
does not lead you to Christ, that before
morning, looking ont Of the window,
the astronomy Of the night heavens
might lead you to the feet of Jesus.
Hark! Hark! To God the chorus breaks
From every host, from every gem;
But one alone, the Saviour speaks
Is the Star of Bethlehem.
The cereals, hay and root crops Of
California are valued at $40, 900, 600
yearly. There are over 90, 00O, 900 fruit
trees, and 1900, o0o gallons of wine and
l, 900, 600 gallons Of brandy are made
every year. The sheep yield 1000, o0o
pounds of wool
COLUMBIAN POSTAGE STAMPS.