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rpi. Oldest Savin gs PLANTERS ^Eastera LOAN and e8t 8avln^ SAVINGS capita! i" city. TUNK ' ? * Pay? Interoit AUGUSTA, GA, an.l Compounds Organized 1870. CTtryflmonth' THOS. J. ADAMS, PROPRIETOR EDGEFIELD, S. C./fcEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1897. VOL. LXII. NO. 46. THE LAST Z would not die in springtime, When nature first awakes When men get out their -wheelbarrows. And spades, and hoe?, and rakes, And twist their backs, and plant their seeds, And wait to hear thain sprout. While yet they stone their neighbors' hens That come to scratch them out. I would not die in summer, When everything is ripe, . . And fallen man is writhing , ? In raw cucumber's gripe; When baseball cranks are talking, And all tho landscape o'er . ls sprinkled thick with flower? And "garden sass'' galore. A Romance < HE habitues of a small French re staurant on the West Side were recently the guests at a humble wed ding recep tion, which was the upshot of one of the most pathetic' chance meetings that ever were brought about by the surging ocean of cosmopolitan life in this greatest of cosmopolitan cities. The customers of the restaurant con stitute one of the thousands of little worlds of which the American metro polis is made up, and for two or three months a Russian artist and a Polish piano teacher formed a separate micro cosm in that world. The other irequenters of the place aro French men, French Canadians, Swiss and Belgians, but Aleksey Alekseevitch Smirnoff and Panna (Polish for Mrs.) Roushetzka are natives of Russia. It was not until they had taken their supper at the same table every even ing for several weeks that each of them became aware of the other's knowledge of Russian, and the fact thrilled them both like the sudden discovery of a* close blood relationship. But there was a far more interesting and, as it has since proved, a far more important revelation in store for them. Pauna Roushetzka was a woman of thirty-five, a well- preserved brunette, slender and stately, and with features somewhat irregular, but full of typical Polish grace. She had been educated partly in Russia and partly in Paris. She had come to New York, after losing her hn<ibaud, with a small so prano ^oice and with great musical as pirations. The voice had deserted her bef?se her ambitions were on the road to realization, and, heartbroken an?? peenriess, she: was driven tb take j np p-ano lessons as a means of liveli hood. Smirnoff was a bachelor, some twen ty-three years her senior, though he looked fully ten years younger than his age. Tall and wide awake, with a brisk military carriage, a military steel-gray mustache and blond hair, unstreaked with > silver save at the temples, he appeared in the prime of health and activity, while his never failing good humor and hearty, sonor ous, ; genuinely Muscovite laughter made one feel in the presence of a young man of twenty-five. That had been his actual age wheu he left his native country, and after some three decades of peregrination in Western Europe he had at last settled down in New York. He is a jack of all trades and master of quite a few, and al though free-hand drawing is one of his strongest points he is clever enough with his pencil to meet thc require ments of a small electro-engraving es tablishment, where he has steady em ployment at a modest salary. The language of the restaurant is French, spoken with a dozen different accents. One day, however, when the Houp was exceptionally satisfactory, and Smirnoff, who is something of an epicure, was going off in ecstasies over it, a word of his native tongue es caped his lips. , "Slavny (capital) soup!" he murmured to himself, as he was bringing the second spoonful un der his mustache-. The piano teacher started. "What is that you said just now 'slavny soup?' she inquired, with a flush of agreeable surprise. This was the way they came to speak Russian to each other, aud from that eveniug on it was thelauguage of their conversations at the restaurant table. Although there are many thousands of Russian-speaking immigrants in New York, the artist and tho music teacher felt in the French restaurant like the only two Russians thrown together in a foreign country, and the little place which had hitherto drawn them to the quality of its suppers aud its genial company now acquired a new charm for them. They delighted to converse in Rus sian, and the privacy which it lent to their chats, in the midst of people who could not understand a word of what they were saying to each other, be came the bond of a more intimate ac quaintance between the two. They were reticent on the subject of their antecedents, but both were well read and traveled, and theru was no lack of topics in things bearing upon Russia, Paris, current American life, the stage, art, literature and the like. The gal lant old Russian was fnll of the most interesting information and anecdotes, and, their friendship growing apace, lie gradually came to introduce into his talks bits of autobiography, though they were all of the most modest nature, and he seemed to steer clear vf a certain event which formed a memorable epoch in the story of his life. Panna Roushetzka neither asked him questions nor saw fit to initiate him into some of the more intimate de tails of her own life, though by this time it was becoming clearer to her every day that her Russian friend was in love with her and abont to approach her with a proposal which she was by no means inclined to accept. And yet, like many another woman under similar circumstances, she was flat tered by his passion, and, being drawn to him by the magnetism of sincere friendship, she had not the heart to cut their agreeable acquaint ance short. Heprooured some lessonc for her, escorting her homo after supper and took her to theatres and public leo? tures. All of which attention she i SUMMONS. I would not die in autumn. When football bas the call, And long-hnirod youths are training Somo other youths to maul; When politics is booming Thanksgiving close at hand, And cider mills are running Throughout the happy land, I would not die in winter, E'en though it be so drear, For then, you see, there's Christmas, With all its goodly cheer. Ko, I'd not die in winter, Nor summer, spring, nor fall And come to think it over, ' I would not die at all. * ? -Boston Post. rf New. York. 1 I mg wonld accept with secret self-condem nation, each, time vowing in ber heart that on the following evening sho wonld change her restaurant. Never theless, and perhaps unbeknown to herself, she even grew exacting, and on ono occasion, when she had ex pressed a desire to see Duse in Mag da, and he remarked thereupon, with a profusion of impulsive apologies,that he was kept from the pleasure of tak ing her to the performance by a previ ous engagement, her face fell, and for five minutes she did not answer his questions and witticisms except in rigid monosyllables. This augured well for him, he thought. He did not yield, but at the next walk they took together he "popped the question" in a rather, original way. They stood in front of the Louse in which she had her room. He had bid her good-night and was about to doff his hat with that dashing sweep of his which makes him ten years younger, when he checked himself, and said, as though in jest: "Is it not foolish, Panna Eoush etzka?" "What is foolish?" she queried, without a'shadow of presentiment as to what was coming. "Why, the way we go on living separately, each without what could justly be called a home. I am madly in love with you, Panna Eoushetzka, and I feel like devoting my life to your happiness." She stood eyeing the door of a house across the street and made no response. "Panna Eoushetzka!"' he implored her tremulously. "I'll give you my answer to-mor row," she whispered. "Mme. Eoushetzka has not come yet, has she? Any letters for me?" Smirnoff asked the next evening, as he entered the little restaurant with his usual blitheness. L??O -some-otter/ of the customers he received his mail at the restaurateur's address. The Frenchman handed him a letter. When he opened it he read, in Eus Bian, the following: "Much respected Aleksey Alekse evitch-I am the -unhappiest woman in the world to-day. I confess I was not blind to the nature of j'our feel ings toward me, but was too much of a woman and an egoist to forego the pleasure of your very flattering kind ness to me. Forgive me, I pray you, dear Aleksey Alekseevitch; but my answer must be of a negative charac ter. I have been crying like a baby since last night for having led you into a false position. Do forgive me. Your sincere friend, : "MARIA EOUSHETZKA." - "Do you forgive me? I beg you again and again." Smirnoff had had too many suc cesses and failures in life to let this defeat hurt his pride deeply. But he was overcome with a poignant sense of loneliness, coupled with a cruel consciousness of his old age. At the same time he sincerely regretted the pain he had caused tho widow, and out of sympathy for her as well as for the opportunity of seeing her, he secured another interview with her, which took place in one of the remote nooks of Tompkins Square. "I wish-'..to reassure you, Panna Eoushetzka," ho said, gravely, "and to restore peace to your mind. I love you, and your letter leaves me more wretched and desolate than I ever felt before, but believe me your happiness is dearer to mo than my own, and since you find that it would be disturbed by your marrying me I am resigned to my fate." The panna -was overjoyed and thanked him heartily for this friend ship, and yet his ready surrender, the case with which he was getting recon ciled to her refusal nettled her. However, he did not seem as light hearted as he was affecting to be, and the perception of it was a source of mixed exultation and commiseration to her. He was uncommonly effusive and sentimental, and as if by way of bidding her melancholy farewell he launched out, describing his past, she listening to his disconsolate accents with heart-wringing interest. "I know it is foolish for me to ob trude my personal reminiscences upon you. Why should you be bored with the humdrum details of the lifo of a man who is a perfect stranger to you. Yet I cannot help speaking of it at this minute. I feel sheepish, like a schoolboy, but it somehow relieves my overburdened heart. You will excuse me." She was burning to offer some word of encouragement, to assure him of her profound respect and friendship, and of her interest in everything he had to say, but her tonguo seemed grown fast to her palate and she could not utter a syllable. "It was many years ago that I was torn from my -dear natiye; soil and from a splendid career," he proceeded, egged on by the very taciturnity of his interlocutor. "I was a young fel low and an officer in the army then, with a most piomising future before me. It was during "tho Polish insur rection of the early sixties. . My r?gi ment was stationed at the Government city of N." The panna gave a start, and a volley of questions trembled on the tip of her tonguo, but she somehow could not bring herself to interrupt him. "I had been recently graduated from the military school, and that wan my first commission,"he went on.^ "I had many friends in the regiment, and among them a young Polish' ?ftl c?r named Staukevitch,'' Parma Roushetzka remained petri fied. After a -while she made"* out to inquire: "Slaukevitch, did you say?" "Why, have you heard of him or some of his family?'.' Smirnoff asked, eagerly. "No, I am simply interested in what you are relating. Proceed please.'- g "Well, he was the most delightful fellow in the whole lot of us, but he did not know how to take care of him self, and paid his life for it, poor boy. His heart was with the insurgents, and I knew it and begged him to be guarded, but he was too much of a patriot to allow the instinct of self preservation to get the better of his revolutionaay sympathies. One day when the Cossacks had looted the house of a Polish nobleman and taken the owner and his family prisoners, my friend gave loud utterances to his overbrimming feelings in the Officer's Club, cursing the Government and vowing vengeance. "You must have heard how strict things were in those days. The city of N-was in a state of siege, mar tial law prevailed, and the most peace ful citizens were afraid of their own shadows. Well, poor dear Staukevitch was court-martialled and sentenced to be shot within twenty-four hours by a i line of soldiers from the very company, of which he had been in command. And who was to take charge of the shooting and utter the fatal word to the soldiers but I, his best friend, who was ready to die for him." Smirnoff said it with a grim sort of composure, and then broke off abruptly and fell into a muse. "Well?" the widow demanded, in n strange voice, which he mistook for. a mere mark of interest in a thrilling story. "Well," he resumed, "I did not, of course, utter the terrible word, but at the very moment I was to do so I fell on the ground in a feigned swoon,. My place was instantly taken by another officer and I was since then, branded as a coward, and had no choico but to resign my commission and to become the rolling stone that I have been ever since." He went on narrating some of his subsequent experiences in foreign countries, but tho widow did not hear him. All at once she .interrupted him. "Don't tell me about that, pray. Better tell me more about that friend of yours-Staukevitch," and, succumb ing to an overflow of emotions, she burst out, sobbingly: "I know you. I have your photograph, Staukevitch was my father!" - v "Ma-ma-mavusia! Is that you?'.' the old man shrieked, jumping to his feet and seizing her by both hancjs. "Dear little Marusia! Why, when . you were a morsel of a thing I used to play .with you.". - -rT lrcow,v she rejoined* ,fArid now that you say it I can recognize your face by. the faded old portrait; I^have in my album. You were photographed together with my unhappy papa. Mamma left me the picture. I did not remember your name, but I heard the story from mother when I was a child, and since then I have held- the portrait dear for your sake as well as papa's.. Of course it never ocqurred to me that it was you, but now the identity of it is as clear. , day tome." She invited him to her lodgings, where she introduced him to her land lady as the best friend of- hier dead father. They had a long and hearty talk over the portrait and about the persons and things it brought to the old man's mind. And-on the follow ing evening, when he came to the French restaurant for his supper, he found there a letter which read as fol lows: "Dear Aleksey Alexseevitch-It was not yourself, but an utter stranger,' that I refused the other day. I have, loved you my whole life without know ing you. The haudsomo officer who ruined himself for my poor father has always been my ideal of a husbaud, and, will you believe it, I never gave ap a vague sort of hope that he would be mine. Your loving "MABUSIA." -New York-Post. SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL A drawing of the-bison has been discovered in tho rocks of the La Mouthe cave in Dordogne, France. At the grape-cure establishments in Switzerland, France, and Austria, patients ave usually turned loose in the vineyards and allowed to gorge them selves at pleasure. The relation of dust and typhoid fever has been investigated by Drs. Kelsch and Simonin, of Paris. They have reported to tho Paris Academy ol Medicine that in the summer of 1890 there were eighteen cases of typhoid fever in a small barracks. The tint of birds' eggs, especially the light colors, are apt to fade, OD exposure in museums to too greal sunlight. This is the case with- th? greenish blue eggs, as those of the murre. By experiment the darker colored eggs of olive brown or choco late hue have been found to undergo little change. An inventor has hit upon a method of putting stone soles on boots and shoes. He mixes a waterproof glue with .a suitable quantity of clean quarti sand, and spreads it over the leather sole used as foundation. These quartz soles are said to be very flexible and practically indestructible, and to give the foot a warm hold even on the most slippery surface. There are fully 12,000 hides tanned weekly in- Newark, N. J. ,About half pf these become shoe tipping nnd vamp leather, the remainder carriage, dash, furniture and fancy leather. ' Move horse hides are tanned than in Tany .o.therr'.pLaoe in this country. dor-' dovan'vamps are the product. Chrome tanned sole for bicycle shoes is made and the manufacture of kangaroo and kangaroo kid is an important interest. All kinds of bag and book leather are produced. The great vitality of dragon-flies is shown by McLachland, who having; struck at .a large .??sckna at rest on aj twig, the head was seen to .tumble; down, while the rest of the insect ?ew! away in an "undecided manner" for ? considerable distance. Upon picking, up the Lead he noticed that the insect^ had been eating a fly at the .-time.' "The mandibles continued working as if nothing had happened, and the | masticated portions of the tly passed j out at the back of the head, " REAL CIRC Vicissitudes ( Circus day in any Western town at the present time, according to the New York Herald, is very much like the circus day of old, except that there is vastly more of it. It is as much a holiday as Christmas and the Fourth of July thrown into one. The poor, benighted little ' New York boy who goes to Madison Square Garden and thinks he has sean it all would have some of the conceit taken out of him could he be transported to some one day stand on the Western prairies on the day when the circus is billed to appear. The first gray streaks of dawn find the town already astir, with the rail-' road station as the centre of interest. In the old days it used to be turnpike,, but the time when the circus traveled from town to town in caravans is no more. Nowadays it is a very one horse show indeed that doesn't own its own rolling stock. The small boy of course, pre dominates. He has secured the loft iest perch within the range of his in ventive genius. Suddenly, from the dizzy height of the tallest telegraph pole he shouts,. "Here she comes!" The cry is taken up below. Haifa mile away, around a curve, a column of smoke is seen, trailing away toward the horizon and a few minutes later the powerful locomotive, snorting and puffing like a spirited horse, comes into view. Behind it is a long line of yellow cars, and far oil', at the rear end, glimmer the lights of the caboose, which have not yet been extinguished. Then comes the unloading of the :vo e prosaic paraphernalia-the huge teni poles, the acres of canvas, and-?all the other "homely objects which aro quite essential in the rapid transforma tion so soon to follow. Gang3 of men scurry hither and thither, apparently all getting into each other's way, but really working like the one great machine of which each man is really a part, v Wagon after wagon comes off the train with military precision. Two, four, and oven ten horse teams are coming from the direction of the stock cars, all ready to start for the sttow THE MEN'S DRESSING: ROOM. grounds. The townspeople are agape. When Obadiah Jones's new threshing machine had arrive a few days before it had taken almost an entire day to unload it from tho train, if they had undertaken to unload that pole wagon it would have taken them a week. Meantime, away out on the prairie, toward thc east, a faint cloud of dust has arisen. Toward the south a simi lar cloud is seen, and toward the west are others. The thrifty farmers, com ing from far distant points, many of them having been eu route all night, begin to come in and look for suitable camping places for their families and their teams. The dust cloud grows heavier and heavier as each moment passes, until by the time the warning whistle .of the locomotive drawing the second train is heard gray streaks lino out toward -the horizon in every direc tion. Two trains have been unloaded and the eyes of the "multitudinous small boy aro fairly bulging from their sock ets. Where will it ali end? A third train comes puffing in, and on this is the menagerie. Tho small boy is now in a state bordering on nervous frenzy. It is doubtful if he knows his own name. Off toward the show ground goes the morning crowd. Surely they will be in time to see all the tents put up, for has not the last train just come in? IN THE LADIES' To their surprise, however, the men agerie tent, with its six great centre poles, is up and finished. The horse tent is in position, thc mangers are filled and the horses. are munching away at that breakfast which the townsj>eople forgot to get. The cook tents, one large tent-for the working men and another of similar size for the -performers, have been erected and the choicest of steaks are broiling on the ranges, whilst the fumes of steaming coffee and hot bisouits, wafted upon the morning breeze, smells sweet and KRVory to the hungry throng now fill? WS-SEEN BEHIND )f. Life on the Rpad Pictured Fr ing the vacant spaces around the tents. The camp cooks have already lighted their fires and the great caldrons are sizzling upon the cranes. This means preparation for the midday meal, ' which even now has all been arranged and is bound to be ready for everyone shortly after return from parade. That free glimpse of the enchanted land behind the swelling canvas is given at about 10 o'clock. Who that has ever seen it on a clear, Western morning can forger the gorgeous bands of music, the^cavalcade of equestrians, CLOWNS m the open cages of wild beasts, the *unny baud of clown musicians, tho general atmosphere of a voluntary holiday, when every boy has money in his pocket, when his whole object in life is to spend it. Pr?*- -"/hot. nf tho fatj-pftfa in trtwn dur !:..r.- : . it ; &|B ' .'jp - U. . ? , -. ?" Thc* ,.'!!.?*.-:.'"" have come io iroin tu? ~;:.r country. Their teams, unhitched, line the sidj streets upon every side. Vacant lots are filled with them and the alleys and lanes of the town are impassable. The sidewalks and store doors are sought as places of vantage, and an hour before the baud strikes up at the show grounds there is a solid line of humauity from one end of the town to the other. By noon every face is turned toward the show grounds. The side show properly seen and its myriad of curios and freaks explained, the tide turns toward the ticket wagon. Another DOSING K SICK EXiXFHAXT. pandemonium, iu which each individ ual in the " ^st throng imagines he must get his ticket first or be . forever debarred. A struggling, surging mass of humanity, with hands and arms, high in air, clutching tightly to the money which is to be invested in the magical pasteboards that will admit them to the wonders of the big show. The crowd carries itself along until each of its component parts has reached the goal. The money is snatched from j the uplifted fingers and tickets placed DRESSING ROOM. in its stead, so quickly, yet so accur ately, that tho bewildered, perspiring purchaser scarcely knows how it was done. Yet, he has his tickets, and then begins a battle for exit from the crowd. There is no relief however, until the doorway to the menagerie is passed, and then the crowd spreads ont within its spacious arena aud be gins the real enjoyment of tho day. A circus is a cirous the world over, and to describe the performance in this particular Western town would be i but to repeat an old story. And yet there are some old stories that are j THE CANVAS, om Real Life. always new. One is love, another is the circus. The lithe limbed man. who twists himself almost inside out; the airily clothed women, who fly through midair while you hold your * breath; the clowns, who make you laugh in the same old way that they made you laugh years ago-who can resist the glamour of it all? And the strange sights behind the scenes! Lucky the man or boy in that town who rejoices in the acquaintance of somebody connected with the show. He is the hero of the year. Countless JUNG UP. times does he retell the stories of whal he saw in the dressing rooms. The evening performance is but a repetition of that of the afternoon. Within all i.s a scene of gayety, with myriad lights blazing. Outside a dif ferent scene T>T??I*? itself. .'. *"r has disappeared in the gloom around an adjacent corner. The herd of ele phants has stalked off into the night, majestically and silently, following a man who carries a lantern half a square ahead. The cook house, stable, tents, black smith shop, barber shop, band tent, side shew, together with the number less other smaller tents, have been ex peditiously, yet silently packed and taken to the cars. In three-quarters of au hour the "big top" stands alone, its gaunt poles reaching far up into the darkness of the sky. At the rail road yards everything is bustle and activity. The night show is out; the concert is finished, and the last of the per formers skurries toward his trunk, which has been left upon the open 6paco where tho dressing tent once stood: a quick chango of costume, a banging trunk lid, and the last mem ber of the company takes his way to the train. By midnight the show is on its way to the next town. AMBULANCE DOGS. A Regular Canine Battalion For Service in Military Movements. One may see any day circulating in the streets of the village ofLechensch, near Cologne, a regular battalion of A DOG OF WAR (NEW STYLE). dogs. Their, master is training them for ambulance service in military movements. Each animal carries upon its back a little saddle furnished with pockets, containing all that is necessary for the first dressing of wounds, as well as a bottle of stimulant. The dogs are taught to recognize the wounded and to stoop down to them, in order to permit them, while awaiting the stretchers, to quench their thirst and to alleviate their suf ferings a little. A large red cross is marked on the saddle, and leather straps serve to fasten around the neck of the animal a little lantern that is illuminated for night service. The ambulance dogs figured at the Germau manoeuvres last year, where their usefulness was appreciated; so this year their instructor has been en gaged to traiu a whole pack. He has chosen Scotch dogs, of medium height, whose docility and . intelligence in learning are said to be remarkable. Town Witera JSvcrj'body is Irish. Of Benedicta, Me., Professor Bate man writes: "If there is another town in this country like it I am unable to locate it. The peculiarity of the place is the fact that the population is com posed exclusively of Irishmen. There is not a family-in the entire township through whose veins courses any other blood than that of the Emerald Isle," --Lewiston (Me,) Journal, Mixed Feed For HORS. Tho Dairy Commissioner of the Do minion of Canada says: "1 have found the best results to be obtained from using such grains (a mixture of peas, oats, barley and corn, or a mixture of peas, corn and bran) ground fine and soaked for not less than thirty hours before they are fed. I think hogs should be kept so as to permit, andJTeven to cause, them to take a'good deal of exercise until after they weigh more than 100 pounds each. In tho growing of young pigs it is important that they should re ceive a daily allowance of skim milk for six weeks or two months after they are weaned. Skim milk is the great flesh-forming or muscle and bone forming food; and if the young pigs are stunted in these regards a1- that time they cannot be developed into the best class of hogs, no matter what breed they may be cf. In my judg ment, it is highly important that the Canadiau hogs, in regard to propor tion of lean flesh and firmness, should be maintained and improved, if the best customers for hog products are to be secured and retained. Cat Feed For Horses. Almost all farmers practise feeding their horses while at work with cut "hay, moistened and mixed with ground corn and oats. The hay is much more easily digested when cut and wet, and 1he meal on it causes the horses to more thoroughly masticate it, as they like the taste. There is also much less waste in feeding grain after it has been ground, especially after the mas tication which is made necessary when out hay is fed with it, and which thor oughly mixes saliva with the food be fore it goes into the stomach. There is economy in steaming cut hay for feeding all through the winter, when less meal is required. When the hay is steamed, and coru and oat meal sprinkled over it, the flavor of the meal permeates the cut hay, as it can not when only cold water is used. But care should be taken not to give at itiiy Hine ??' : ?V??* 'han ?..-..J i*?i?? ...... ''?..tb pj icu-i, . ... . ' ititi iii ?1- J_'.._'i lill .. A better price than it has for some years past. Last spring it was espe cially low, as apples were very abun dant. Perhaps, also, the abundance last year of canned small fruits helped to lessen the demand for rhubarb. By the way, how many know that rhubarb can be put np in glans jars for winter use, at no expense and with but little trouble. Cut it up as if for pies, fill the jars, place them in tub of cold water deep enough to cover the jar, which will fill with water, and put on the rubber bands and covers while Tinder water, so that no air may enter. Then make covers tight. Bhubarb so kept is even bet ter than .vhen first picked, becoming very teuder, losing some of its acid, but none of its rich flavor. Lr.dt win ter wo kept it until rhubarb c;?.me again, and how good those pies did tasto when we knew that rich people were paying twenty cents a pound for rhubarb not as good, forced under glass. But this is a digression. The rhubarb is a gross feeding plant. It requires a large amount of manure, and cares but little what it is if it is strong aud abundant. Those who have roots of it will do well to cover them with manure now, whether the ground is frozen a little or not, and when the ground thaws, even if next month, fork that rnauure in around the crown of the roots. The moro manure the bigger the stalks will be. No matter if a few roots are broken if the plants ave old ones, as sometimes, with too many roots, it throws up too many stalks and they will be small. Ju tho spring a square box with an old half window over it, or even a covering of cotton cloth nailed on top, eau bemused to give it au early start, that it may be brought to market, when worth five or six cents a pound. Last spring some gardeners plowed up fields of rhubarb because the price was so low they thought it unprofit able. Others allowed it to stand, but pulled but little from it for the same reason. We think bo.h were unwise. For the reasons given above, scarcity of apples, cranberries and canned berries, we think good rhubarb will sell well next spring. The stalks should be pulled often and not too much at one time. Long growing without pulling tends to make the crowns grow above ground, and the stalks will not be as long. Going to seed has the same result. Boots should be broken up and divided, and a new bed set when it gets so as to throw up a large number of stalkts of small size.-American Cultivator. Farra and Garden Noten. The Wyandotte class in the recant Dairy Show, England, was the largest of any, numbering 230 entries, whil? the leghorns numbered 207, and the j famous English table favorite only 104 entries. Plymouth Bocks numbered 168 at the same show which clearly shows that they have taken weil also. WTe have much to thauk England for in the poultry line and England has much to thank us for in the same Hue. One advantage of breeding thorough bred fowls is that AV ii know just what the chicks will be b^ore they are hatched. We will know just what to expect from them, and, if we have bred them any length of time, just what they will be ?o">d for when ma tured, All others a : 'chance" birds. The Wyandotte i i about the best table fowl we haw. It is a good broiler, good roaster and a good dressed fowl. It is not quite so rapid a grower as some other varieties, bat plenty rapid enough, and is flt to kill at almost any age. It has an excellent breast and comparatively little offal, and, withal, is a good layer ; At intervals during the Bummer when the bees can not gather honey the queens cease laying and the strength of the colony is cur tailed. A little feed at suoh t?res keeps the queens laying and the col ony is thus made much stronger than it would have been otherwise: This is very important in early summer. Ii bees are wintered in ordinary thin unprotected hives the moisture arising from them will condense and freeze to the hive, thereby [encircling the bees with ice. On a warm day this will melt and inn down over the corni. s and bees and produce disease. Protect with chaff hives, thoroughly made with double wails, and pack with good dry chaff. Bees that lack stores for winter - should be fed in autumn, and the month of September is the proper time to do it. They should be fed while it is warm, so that they can seal over their stores. " The best winter food for them is thoroughly sealed honey of the best class, and for feeding the best of granulated sugar should be used; It is a mistake to undertake to feed bees during the winter. The broiler season is with us once more. In fact, those who work on a large scale already have their houses partly full or at least many eggs under incubation: Those who intend to start for th? frst time ought to get every thing in apple-pie order this month at latest and start np the machine or ma chines the first of the year, so as tb get, (1) experience in hatching,and (2) be able to get three or more batches off before April. A FAMOUS DUELIST. New German Ambassador at Washington Bears Many Scars of Conflict. English with as mucn Uu?uvj a " . American or Englishman, and during his stay five years ago won many friends in Washington sooiety, where he was known as one of the few bach elors of the diplomatic corps. He is about fifty-five years old and has an inclination toward the pleasures of literature. Dr. von Holleben is probably most widely known as ' 'the dueling diplo mat." His face is covered with the scars of saber wounds received on the field of honor, some while he was a student at Heidelberg and some since then. Moro than that, he comes fresh from serving as second in one of the most deadly duels which have taken place in Europe during recent years. One of the combatants was killed on the spot, and the other has sh.ce died of his wounds. The duel took place at Stuttgart, where Dr. von Holleben was stationed. Both principals were titled young men, and the other second was a Genere 1 in tho Prussian army. Dr. von Holleben was severely criti cised by the press and publio, but his imperial master evidently sanctioned his course, for he soon after gave him a decoration and now has made him au Ambassador.-San Francisco Chron icle.. Sea Lions as Rat-Catcher*. The wonderful alertness and activity of sea lions in the water, which en ables them to get fish for their food in Arctic seas, are qualities that are mani fested in a still moie striking way by the captive specimens at the Zoo, says the Philadelphia Recor These three sprightly individuals in the big out door tank have developed into rat catchers that never miss their prey. Rats are pests that naturally thrive about the animal houses, and at nights, when the Zoo is deserted by visitors, the rodents run in all directions. They are fond of water, and they And their way in considerable numbers to the sea lion tank to dabble at the water's edge. They may go to the lake and seal pond with impunity, but when they venture to the home of the sea lions that visit is their last. Swiftly and noise lessly the sea lion dives and reappears at the surface precisely at the spot where the rat is peering into the tank. One snap and it is all over. The rat goes down the hungry throat at a sin gle gulp. So many rats do the sea lions catch in this fashion that they are sometimes indisposed to take their early morning meal of fish thrown to them by the keepers. Good-Natnred Princess. It is a favorite device of novelists to have some one put a letter in the wrong envelope, and an embarrassing instance in English high life is re called by the death of Prinoess Mary of Teok. A candid young lady once wrote to a friend that she could not play tennis because "Fat Mary" had invited her to a party. The good natured Princess somehow got the letter, and when the young lady ap peared gave her this wholesome ad vice: "My dear girl, I know I am stout, but I cannot help it. You should be more careful in posting your letters, and never forget that you never know who will read what you write. Don't apologize. I have forgiven you." Tobacco-chewing members of th: Methodist Church in Albertsville, Ala., have been levied upon by the steward* for a special tax ol $10 a year,