IS'.CJ 



(;moanin(;s in bekculturk. 



C.T.'J 



shake mil tlic folds of tissue paper of a toy 

 balloon. Strenpth was roming- nay, it /i(((/ 

 come. I renicinhenii tlie words in tlie hooU of 

 .lob. w liere tlie lioisc is dcscrihcd — '" He pau(>th 

 in the valley, and rejoieeth in his strenKlli." 

 Well, in one sense / w as "• jiawing in the valley;" 

 and as I went up the hillsides out of the valley, 

 I rejoiced in my new-found strength as I rarefy 

 five rejoiced in an\ thing hefoic Vou may he 

 sure thai I was ihanUing ( kkI for the answers 

 lo my prayer. 



At just 11 o'clock I arrived at a ncdghhoring 

 town, eight miles from where I stalled. Al- 

 tliough 1 felt more like going on than taking 

 any rest. I knew that Ernest and Mrs. Root, 

 were they present, would insist on my stojiping, 

 and taking my accustomed nap. What a |)retty 

 hotel met my gaze as I came into the town I 

 Yes. every tiling was beautiful, for Cod's love 

 and a new faith in him wi'i-c in my heart. The 

 men -folks were away somewheie, but the good 

 landlady ush(>red tue into a pleasant rooru. gave 

 rae a lounge almost exactly like mine at home, 

 and a nice clean pillow. The first tiling I did 

 when the door was closi'd was to fall on luy 

 knees and pour out my lH>artin thanksgiving 

 and praise for the wonderful stiength. and 

 through it new life, that seemed opening up 

 before me: and while I prayed, there came a 

 bright, clear, distinct protuise of new blessings 

 and evidences of God's love, to be met before 

 the day should close. 1 do not know whether I 

 have spoken of this to you or not; but it has 

 been one of the bright things through all my 

 Christian experience, to feel, while I was pray- 

 ing, that the answer had come and w<ts coinirig. 

 I think it was President Finney who says in 

 his biography, that he has had this feeling 

 until, if one were to sum it up in words, it 

 would be as if God should say, "There, there. 

 dear child; do not pray ;iny more about it just 

 now. You shall have all you ask — yea, and 

 more too."' I am well aw are that, to a class of 

 my readers— perhaps a large class— this will 

 sound very strange, and may be you think I am 

 as superstitious as some I have coudemned so 

 severely. Not so, my good friend. God is our 

 Father. W^e are the work of his hands: and it 

 were strange indeed if he who planned the uni- 

 verse, and placed us at its head, should lose 

 interest in or oversight over us. This thing I 

 have told you about is right in line with Bible 

 leaching: "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my 

 name, it shall be given you:" " Refore they call, 

 I will answer; and while they are yet speak- 

 ing, I will hear." I placed tuy head on the pil- 

 low, at peace w ith God and at peace with all 

 the world: and before 1 knew it, came happy, 

 peaceful oblivioti. I slept almost an hour: and, 

 what a dinner I did eat when 1 awoke! Of 

 course, the w heel and my unusual exercise had 

 much to do with it: but it seems to me. that in 

 none of the great cities and in none of the high- 

 priced restaurants did I ever enjoy a betu^r 

 dinner than that one. Just the day before, 

 when dinnertime came, all I could possibly eat 

 was a pai t of a small potato and a little milk; 

 but on this day I told my good fiiend, w hen I 

 came to pay my bill, that she ought to charge 

 me something extra on account of the appetite 

 my ride had given me. When she said it was 

 only 2.") cents, and nothing for the use of the 

 lounge, it seemed to me lik(^ trespassing on good 

 nature. I can not take space to tell you all the 

 events of that afternoon. But I w'ish. how- 

 ever, to tell you that I found a spring of pure 

 cold water coming forth from a V)eautiful cave 

 in the rock.s, and that the water filled the bill 

 to the fullest extent of my imagination when I 

 lay awake nights thinking of the soft-water 

 springs of my childhood. I drank the water by 

 cupsrul; then while further up in the woods I 



put my mouth down to the mossy trough and 

 drank again until it would seem a miracle that 

 one could drink' so much anti not he harmed. 

 The man who owned the sprintr. however, said 

 that evei'vbody always drank as much as they 

 liked at that spring. 



I made the run home easily; in fact, as I came 

 through the streets of Medina I fellas if I would 

 rather make another run of twc'iity miles (the 

 distance 1 had covered) than to do any thing 

 else. Mrs. Root and others felt sure that a re- 

 action would follow; but none has come yet. I 

 feel stout and strong and well; but when the 

 roads are muddy, as they are to-day, I feel a 

 craving for that exercise on the wheel. I long 

 to coast past the fields and through the green 

 woods. Now, don't you see that it is not pure 

 water aZoiie, nor |)ure air; it is not being out- 

 doors, and it is not outdoor exercise, nor even 

 sleep: but it seems as if the answiu' to prayer 

 had come by taking all these together. My 

 past ill health has very likely come from having 

 too many cares — possibly from being too much 

 on my feet. A certain set of bones and mus- 

 cles, and may be a certain amount of nerve pow- 

 er, has been worn out and used up. But this 

 new method of travel, which (lod in his infiiute 

 mercy and goodness has seen tit to give to the 

 world— that is. he has given it as a reward for 

 close study and application — this new gift of 

 his, lifts us from our feet and spares us the ne- 

 cessity of bearing these weary bodies of ours; 

 yes, a set of muscles that have heretofore been 

 almost entirely unused, are brought into play, 

 and are developed; and at the same time the 

 weaiy bi-ain worker is carried away fi'om the 

 scene of his labors, and his mind is kept so busy 

 in a new direction that he has th -very best pos- 

 sible chance of taking the i)ure outdoor air. and 

 of expanding his lungs while he develops his 

 muscles. And then when he has ridden until 

 every thread of hi- clothing is wet with perspi- 

 ration, he is in just the best possible trim to use 

 great quantities of spring water in just the way 

 God intended it to be used; namely, to cleanse 

 and purify and wash out the whole system. 



Now, dear friends, I am not laying down laws 

 or rules for anybody. Some may be benefited 

 bv the use of a wheel, and some may not. I am 

 simply trying to tell you this: God irill give you 

 wisdom, as in the promise in our text. Yes, he 

 will give us wisdom to care for these bodies of 

 ours that are so often racked with pain. And I 

 feel perfectly safe in saying that our emancipa- 

 tion from sickness and disease is going to come, 

 not through drugs, nor even expensive articles 

 of diet; nor, as a general rule, in traveling to 

 distant climes. It is coming in the line I have 

 indicated: Pure air, pure water, outdoor sun- 

 shine, refreshing sleep, and a sort of exercise of 

 both brain and muscle a little out of the line we 

 have heretofore enjoyed. 



If any of you lack wisdom, let liim ask of God. 



CAPITAL ANT) I.ABOIJ. 



We copy the following from a periodical call- 

 ed Bus me-ss. It seems to voice our sentiments 

 a little better than any thing we c<juld put into 

 w'ords ourselves: 



I am not like other writers on this subject. They 

 all know what is tlie matter, and try to settle it. I 

 don't know exactly wliat is wroiiK', and there are 

 several questions "raised by the issue wliicli I can 

 not settle. It is intimated lluit labor is not jrett insr 

 its rig-lits, its fair share of the nroftts; lait when I 

 ask that the labor in question lie s|)c'rifled— pointed 

 out so tliat I may examine it—I find it is the labor 

 tliat uses hand.s and muscle, and works eig'ht, nine, 

 or ten hours a day with no care or resjjunsiljility 

 between times as to jiroperty oi- management of 

 affairs. NotliiiiK is said al) ut the lalior that uses 

 the brain, that nhms and maiiag-es and directs, nor 

 yet about the labor that invents and urg'anizes. 



