DIED WHILE IN PRAYER.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXX, Issue 80, 6 April 1894, Page 4

DIED WHILE IN PRAYER.

" Another man was found m a kneeling posture his face buried m his hands, as if he had died m prayer." I clip this pathetio sentence from an account of the St. Etienn ; coal mine disaster whioh occurred m France, m December, 1891. The fiie had been smouldering for years m a remote part cf the mine, but its further advance had been stopped by barriers. Yet they proved insufficient at last, and the terrible fire-damp exploded, scattering death throughout the mine. Such incidents are too well-known m Englaud to need further explanation or comment,

Hbb it ever struck yen that the interior of the human body is like the interior of n coal mine ? Well it is. All its operations go on m eolitude and darkness. Gases are engendered m it that are jußt a3 dangerous as fire-damp. Generally they — yet hold on let's have the little stcry flret.

It's about a woman, In fact, its from her, too, and is sure to interest Bomebody ; may be you. She says that a long run pf time, from childhood to jears after hor marriage, she never knew what illness was ; that is, so as to remember it, or to have it made a mark on her, as we may say. But mighty few folks manage to escape tho old slave driver altogether. Nor did she. "It w«b m the summer of 1890," she Fayß, " when I began to feel bad. My appetite was poor, and what I did eat ga»e me great pain and distress. My food seemed to lie like lta<i and after every rreal, no matter how simple the food was, I bad the mojt excruciating pain you can imagine. I had a n g^ing, thudding pain at my cheat, and through to my shoulders, that was very hard to bear. So bad was it that I thought something (perhaps a tumoui) was growing within me. As soon as ever food entered my stomach I ussd to say, • It iB beginning, 1 meaning the gnawing pain. " I took all kinds of things for relief and applied muetard plasters to the chest, but nothing did me any good. After a time I dand not takea proper mea' ; I was afraid ;o eat, and got very thin and weak, Itwab as much as I could do to go about my house

ork. In October of this year (1891) Mrs James Mercer, of 176, Hiph Street, Longton, recommended me to try Mother Beigel'B Curative Syrop, and I got a bottle and oommenced to take it. After a few doses I feh reluf My food agreed with me, and by the time I had taken one large bottle all the pain had left me, and I now feel as well as ever I did "—Yours truly (signed) Mrs Elizabeth Wbight, 12, KiDg Strtet, Hanley, Staffordshire, November 19th, 1891. You ask me what the sad fate of the miners have to do with the case of Mrs Wiight I'll tell jon m half a minute. This lady s*vs she was taken ill m the snmtter of 1890. Now, do you suppose the illness and the cause of the illnoßS came np at the came time ? By no means. Cause first, effect afterwards— that's the order, always. And, Bee here! A cause may be at work for weeks or years before you notice any results ; and until you do notice results, you don't know there's aught gone wrong. Isn't that so ? The miners, to be sure, knew that there was a fire m the mine. But it was fenced off from them and they thought they weie safe. The barriers leaked, and death griped them m a twinklirjg of bd eye. Ihe body iB like a mine, as I have said Disease and death are caused by the action of poisonous eases and aoids inside f f it. They all start from the stomach and then oreep into every part ; Eometimes fast, sometimes slow. In some acute diseases very fast. The dooiors often call gout an " explosion" of nrio aoid. The source of all these deadly things is indigestion and dyspepsia. Slight symptoms first, then the more terrible and alarming. Watoh the way it oomes on. This waH Mis Wright's ailment. She suffered fifteen months before she found out what the matter waa and what to do. Gracious, mercy if we only knew the rort of things that go en m onr bodies we'd understand that it's about aB dangerous to work m a coal mine.