The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-09-04

Sunday SCHOOL, you VIII fcihchaoSA the teacher was prone to dwell on the fact that the consequences of evil deeds were not confined to the crim inal or even his immeditte circle, but spread indefnite1y-like a stone you'd thrown into pond. Under the innu- ence of this stimulating image your small mind would become enthralled to such a degree that You would stop wriggling and mussing your best clothes long enough to reflect with horror that perhaps no portion of far thest India was uncontaminated py the jam you seized last week at Ia. vorable moment, and that when you pulled your sisters hair and made her cry you sinned not only against her (which did not greatly matter, as she got even later), but against some be- feathered savage in the islands of the sea, who, but for you, might have con tinued to live a happy life in his sim- pie cannibalistic way.
 The reflection used to be overpow- ering to a puzzled little brain, and, un- happily, with passing years the thought becomes no less poignant and distress ing. For the image of the stone and the pond, hackneyed as it is, is one , of the truest and saddest this world knows. One meets it at every turn in the most prosaic walks of life. It Is long pull from the Sunday School
 
 Washington (how long the distance be- tween them may be is a matter that has called forth differing opinions), but here is the Bureau of Statistics tell ing the same old story of how no man liveth to himself, and you feel your self back in the days of your youth, face to face with the strange tie that can unite in common misfortune men from every race and nation. half of whom do not suspect the other half's existence.
 Far-Reaching in Effect.
 Eight or nine months ago hard times came on these United States. Why they came is rather disputed ques- tion, but they fastened themselves tightly on the national bacS. and the country has been staggering more or less ever since. This certainly seems natural enough--if factories shut down the employees of that factory are, of course. going to suffer.
 But the thing has not stopped there. The stone has spread long way far ther than this country. In the south of France a girl has been wiping her eyes at odd moments these three or four months, because her marriage is put off for she doesn't know how long. The delightful things she was to have for her wedding outft aren't forthcoming, and her lover Is out of work besides The silk mills have been shut down. There is no demand from America. In Belgium an old woman Is fore. going her cherished daily soup. and her poor old bones cry out in remon- strance. But the lace trade is dull.
 Exports to America have ceased. In Holland a man walks wearfly be- side the canal, revolving how ends may be drawn together for the family with. out interfering with his plans for that | wonderful son of his. He is anxious, because, you see he is a diamond work CT. and there Is nothing for him to do l just now.
 The American trade has been so bad.
 Even out in Ceylon little brown ba- | bies are making most unsatisfactory meals, because pearl fishing is not what | it was year or two ago. Maybe their father knows it Is because the Amer tcan demand has practically ceased, and maybe he doesn't, but anyway 1t Is certain that he hates seeing his brown little ones less well off than | they were. America is very big, and the stone she threw into the commer- cial waters was gigantic.
 | The Fighting Strength of Hard Times. | These are the pictures with which | one might illustrate a long report of | the imports for the half of the fiscal year which recently ended. The re- port has not a word of comment for the situation, but 1t would be a dull soul that was not interested in the long columns of figures marshaled, page by page. to show the fighting strength of hard times. Foreign dispatches in the newspapers tell little more. A Ly- | ons silk manufacturer says there Is no | demand at all for French silks. and
 that he loses s2 every time he sells a pound of it. Mir. Reynolds. third as-
 sistant Treasurer of the United States, Is in Paris now. seeing what may be done about the silk situation when the 1 fateful day of tariff revision shall re- ally come. There is distress through
 out the silk district. and that partic-
 ular one spreads to the smart shops in
 Paris which have sold silk to Ameri. can customers as well as to the dress makers who have hitherto made the | silk into creations for the dazzling of the Atlantic eyes. But 1t Is not only with silk. Take
 automobiles. for instance. The total value of automobiles imported for the | twelve months Is almost half what 1t
 was for the previous corresponding pe-
 riod, or $2,5OO,O0O, against $4,000,00o. | Tn recent months 1t is seen that the number of machines imported has &C.,
 tuaIly been slightly greater than 1t | was last year, but their total value is much smaller. While the automobile
 Is gainng ground people evidently do | not feel that they can afford as expen- | S1Ve cars as they OrdereO a year dSo'
 Horses have shared the same fate as l automobiles Tn this case the value of the imported animals has kept up, but their number has very decidedly Inc | creased.
 ! Diamond Trade Has DVyindIed. The diamond trade that grew so rap- | idly during recent years has met its Waterloo. The greatest decrease is in | this branch of trade. Tn June. 1907, the imports of diamonds were nearly S1..