The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-04-02
DR.. TALMAGE'S SERMON.


az THE REV. FRANK
Los Angeles, Cal, March 26-In this
sermon the preacher points out the many
dangers in business and morals of reek-
less endorsement and the evils of in
discriminate recommendation. The text
is Proverbs, vi. @ Thou art shared with
the words of thou mouth
There are many ways of killing game
The one is to go after it with gun, ar
row or spear; to slay 1t, as "Scotty'
MeDougall sley krag, the Kootenay ram
OF Mountain Sheep range; or to lie in wait
for it, as did Roualeyn George Gordon
Cumming, the mighty Zion hunter in
African Jungle; or to relentlessly follow
it through American forests, as did Path
finder in the old Leather Stocking
Tales" or to course for it as the old
English sportsman with hounds used to
chase the foxes over the Lancashire flats
or to pursue it with hawks as did the
knights of old in faleonry would hunt
the birds of the air. As the eyes of the
jungle monarchs or the kings of the
air look into the fearless and unfiineh-
ing eyes of the man. the hunter knows
that an unsteady hand or bullet mis-
carrying its mark one inch may mean
bis own death. Then the Lives of the
hunted might become the Elves of the
hunters
Mighty must be the exhiliration of a
brave mane when killing big game. AL
NEST intoxicated with excitement must
ho hot nj VIII In
the solitude of an African forest hundreds
of miles inland, hears the wild roar OF
a man-eatlng monster coming nearer and
near to the deer 1icks. Lying there he
knows If he can only STAY yonder noun
tain of muscle he will save scores and
perhaps hundreds of human lives, for a
man eating lion or tiger has been known
to live for years upon human flesh. So
fearful do the natives become of such
human destroyers that they have de-
populated whole villages and towns, flee
ing from their ravages.
Hunters Life Dramatic.
Next to the actual experience of per-
sonally hunting the wild beasts of tho
forest is the fascination of reading about
the marvellous deeds of the sportsmer
who destroy them. Hunting such animals
single handed and alone always has had
and always will have an attraction for
brave men. The hunters life is dra-
matte and an exciting one. But there is
more effectual means of depopulatins
| the forests of their game than the gun
| the arrow or the spear. The trapper'
| work has always been more fatal tC
GENE than the aimed re of a Kit Car
| son. Where a mooern American Nimrod
| has been able to shoot one mountain
| lion in a night the trapper of the Hud-
| son Bay Fur company was able to come
| into camp staggering under the pelts
of ten, twenty fifty wild beasts killed In
the same night. Yes, the trapper's work
is the most widespread and the most
dangerous and deadly to the wild beasts
of forest. AS the Rocky mountain bear
might put his great shaggy paw into a
merciless trap. whose iron jaws snap shut
and whose teeth probe their way through
his flesh to the bone. this Bible scene
OF my text describes the predicament of
the indorser who foolishly becomes the
guarantor of a friends or an acquaint-
ance's honor. As old bruin tugs and
pulls to get his leg loose and keeps on
Juggling and pulling until at last he pulls
of his leg or in desperation eats 1t off
to get free and then goes hobbling away
to his den, so King Solomon describes
the somewhat similar predicament of the
unfortunate man VINO has become a sure
ty for his friend. MY son, said he If
thou be a security for thy friend,
thou art shared with the words of thy
mouth, thou art taken with the words
of thy mouth" 1t is manning or destruc-
ton by an unseen trap. The indorser' g
dangers are great. preach this sermon
to warn my hearers and readers against
these ensnarements which are set for
many of us. And when I warn you
against the indorser's perils also warn
you against the sins of an unjust recon
nlendation of incompetent friends or mere
acquaintance for positions which you
dc not positively know they are able to
fill These two evils come in the same
category.
The Indorser's Predicament
Why is the indorsers p1edicament like
that of a wild beast caught in a trap?
First, because he is enticed into its dan
gers unawares. He does not seek them out
of silly curiosity or from more idle de-
sire, like the antelopes that come nearer
and nearer TO the white flag waved by the
hunters lying hidden in the grass. He does
not charge them, as wounded stag
might turn upon the hounds or an angry
boar, caring not what happens, might
rush against the fatal spear held out
for his destruction. But the indOrser goes
into his trap as unsuspectingly and inno-
Gently as the wild turkeys are caught. The
trappers build a cage with a small OPEN
ing, Then they scatter corn along the
path leading to the cage. and the wild tur-
keys with their headsdown picking up
the corn, walk into the trap, and when
they life their heads they cannot see the
exit and are easily slain. He goes into it
and is captured at the mighty Bengal
tiger is captured in in a cage. The agile
beast makes one spring upon the bleat-
ing sheep tied to the stake In the mid
die of the cage, and Immediately the trap
door slams shut. So the indorsers are
caught and are like the victims that Jere-