The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-10

this Labor day SeIlhon lllS pfedSheh 1% appropriately takes for his theme the great army of humble everyday work CTS upon whose faithful use of their sin gle talent in their particular sphere de- pend the welfare and happiness of na-
 tion. The text is Matthew KY, 15. ITO another one."
 "The Driving of the Last Spike Is to me one of the most suggestive pictures
 ever painted not because it Is the Wofk
 of Thomas Hill one of America's famous
 artists, who in his lifetime has been
 awarded thirty-two first medals in eom-
 petition with other painters; not because
 copies of that picture have been distrib- uted broadcast over the United States in thousands of wood cuts; not because I personally have seen the old artist
 in his last days. helpless as little cnlio, and, therefore, on account or the per sonalty of the man, have been unduiy in- fiuenced by the power of the picture, but that picture has thrilled me through and through because it is an epoch marking picture It is a picture which shows a marriage altar, where the far east ana +he far west-where the Union railroad and the Central Pacific raiiroad-were united by the wedding ring of steel rail It illustrates the dramatic moment when the great work Of Leland stan ford and C. P. Huntington and Charles Crocker and Mark Hopkins was consum- mated. In the presence of some of the most prominent men, north, south, east and west the golden spike was driven which forever made the east and the west the metropolis of New York and the metropolis of California, next door neighbors. Vast was the amount of brain and phy- sical energy expended which made the scene of that picture possible. over the mountains down into the valleys, the leaping rivers and the ravlnes, has gone the shriek of that locobotive we see puff f1ng and panting behind Leland Stanford as the first president of the Central Pa cifc drives in the last spike. Far, far away from any human residence went the workmen. Cannot you see the deer and the buffalo and the prairie dogs look up in wonderment as that strange look ing creature called a railroad train dashes by? How could a man have hum dreds and thousands and tens of thou l sands of men at work for him. as did l Leland Stanford and not have thousands of financial leakages which would sweep away his entire fortune?' I asked a great railroad contractor when talking about the lessons of this picture. Simply by perfect organization" he answered. Each man has his allotted work to do Each is responsible for gang Of men or for certain sections of the work until you get down to the lowest boss and the lowest workman digging in the ditch. The success of Leland Stanford's railroad enterprises, well as of all great enterprises, depends as much upon the men of one talent doing their work honestly as it does upon the men Of five or ten talents doing their work honestly nd xrra11t fc a temporal life great in spiritual God has no insignificant workmen in the pur- pose for which the human race was cre- ated. The people who are considered or dnary folks are just as essential in Gods great economy as the men styled mental giants.
 No Workmen Are Useless.
 No workmen useless or unimportant in Gods sight. Oh, yes, we can prove that by the value of the old Hebrew talent as well as by the conversation of the
 great railroad contractor in reference to
 Thomas Hills Driving of the Last Spike" Was the Hebrew talent small
 capital with which to start life's battles?
 No. That talent represented about 5000 shekels of silver or about $1,916 in Amer ican money Then when you further more estimate that the laborer in Christ's day received only penny day. which in our time would be an equivalent of about IS cents, you can readily under l stand that the good man of the parable | of my text gave to even the humblest Of l his servants an equivalent of about $2,00o in our money. That is no small amount | of money to put out at interest. And so this Labor Sunday to the clerk, the ser- want, the laborers in the ditch. the con- mon soldier and the common church l member God gives "a powerful one tal- l ent." My object is to talk about some of the one talented people. I would show their vast influence upon the great wide l world. would also show why all of us ordinary folks should employ well the talent God has given us to use.
 In the first place, study the influence l of the one talented folks in the mercan- tile world Your wife some day says to you: Come, my dear, let us go shop ping. You have day off There is no reason for you not spending the day with me-. In a moment of mental weakness you go shopping. Why do I say in a moment of mental weakness? l do not be- lieve any man earth can look more out of place and feel more uncomfortable and miserable than in average dry goods store There the women push you from side to side. When you are not
 stepping your own feet you al- most sure to be stepping on some lady's dress Then before you have any time
 to say, Excuse me, madam" some other
 woman knocks you in the back, and your head flies back until your neck feels as though it had spinal meningitis. And then if you are unfortunate enough to get near to city bargain counter you feel that every one is there training for college football field ana you. are in the "center rush." while every woman has a right to push you, and you are called mo gentleman" If you dare to push back. Women have certain rights where no man has any rights. One of their rights is to be left in undisputed pos- session of woman's dry goods store.
 One Talented People.
 But, though you may have many un- fortunate experiences while shopping with your wife in great city, there is one powerful lesson you will learn there l This is the lesson: When you enter a great dry goods emporium, where mill lions of dollars worth of goods are sold every year, the foor-walker who greets you at the door, the clerk who sells you the goods over the counter, the delivery boy who hands the parcels in at the door,
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