Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-03-30
CalnnaSe
Sermon
BY Rev..
Frank De Witt Talmaee. D, b.

Los Angeles. Cal. March 26--rn this
sermon the preacher points out the
many dangers In business and morals
Of reckless Endorsement and the evils
nf indiscriminate recOnlmenda ton.
The text Is Proverbs vi. 2. Thou art
shared with the words Of thy mouth"
There are many ways Of killing game.
The one is to go after 1t with gun. ar
row or spear; to slav It. ms "Scotty"
McDougall slew Kng. the Kootenay
ram Of Mountain sheep range; or to
lie In wait for II. as did Roualeyn
George Gordon Cumming. the mighty
''lion hunter" in African jungle; or to
rclcntlcssly follow It through American
forests. as did Pathfinder in the old
Leather Stocking Tales" or to course
for 1t. as the old English sportsman
with hounds used to chase tho foxes
over the Lancashire fats; or to pursue
1t with hawks, as the knights Of old in
falconpy would hunt the birds Of the
ai.. AS the eyes Of the Jungle mon
archs or the kings Of the air look into
the fearless and unflinching eyes Of
man. the hunter knows that an TN
steady hand or bullet miscarrying
its mart one inch may mean his own
death. Then the olives of the hunted"
might become the elves OF the hunt.
ers.''
Mighty must be the exhilaration Of a
brave man when killing big game. Al
northumberland with excitement must
be that modern Esau. Chanler, who, in
the solitude Of an African forest hun.
dreds Of miles inland, hears the wild
roar. Of man eating monster coming
nearer and nearer to the deer ticks.
Lying there. he knows that II he can
only slay yonder mountain Of muscle
he will save scores and perhaps hun.
dreds. Of human lives. for a man eating
lion or tiger has been known to live
fonyearsNupon huznsn flesh. So fear
fut&do the natives become Of such hui
man destroyers that they have depopu-
lated whole villages and towns, fleeing
from their ravages.
Next to the actual experience Of per-
eonally hunting tho wild beasts Of the
forest Is the fascination of reading
about the marvellous deeds Of the
stortsmen Xho 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 dramatic and an eX-
citing one. But there is a more Of
fectual means Of depopulating the for
ests Of their game than the gun, the
arrow or the spear. The trapper's work
has always been more fatal to gam:
than the aimed rife Of Kit Carson.
Where a modern American Nimrod has
been able to shoot one mountain lion
in night the trapper of the Hudson
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 dan
gerous 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
predicaInent of the indOrser who fool
ishly becomes the guarantor of Il friends
or an HcQuaintance's honor. AS old
bruin tugs and pulls to get his leg loose
and keeps on Juggling and pulling until
at last he pulls on his leg or in des-
peration eats it of to get free and then
goes hobbling away to his den. Sd
King Solomon describes the somewha:
Al, E. g..
man who has become surety for his
friend. "My son." said he. III thou
he 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 de
struction by an unseen trap. The In
dorscr's dangers are great. ! preach
this sermon to warn my hearers and
readers against these ensnarements
which are set for many Of us. And
when warn you against the indOrser's
rerils also warn you against the sins
Of an unjust recommendation Of in
competent friends or mere acQuaiCt
ances for positions which you do mo-
positively know they are able to fill
These two evils come in the same cate
gOry.
The IndOrser's Pred lea ment.
Why ia the indorser's preslica men
like that of a wild beast caught in ,
trap? First, because he Ia enticetl int,
its dangers unswares He does no
seek them out Of a silly curiosity o
from mere idle desire. like the ante
lopes that come nearer and nearer t.
the white flag waved by the hunter
lying hidden in the grass. He does no
charge them. as a wounded stag Nigh
turn upon the hounds or an angr,
boar, caring not what happens. Nigh
rush against the fatal spear held on
for his destruction. But the indorse
goes into his trap as unsuspectngl
and innocently as the wild turkeys ar
caught. The trappers build Gag
with n small opening. Then they scat
ter corn along the path leading to tn
cage. and the wild turkeys. With thoi
heads down picking up the corn. wal
into the trap. and when they lift thei
heads they cannot sec the exit and ar
easily slain. He goes into 1t and
captured a. the mighty Bengal tiger
caught in a cage. The agile beaa
makes one spring upon the bleatin
sheep tied to the stake In the middl
of the cage, and Immediately the traI
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