The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, March 15, 1882, Image 1
ABBEVILLE PRESS AND BANNER. !
_ - ***'
BY HUGH WILSON AND H. T. WAKDLAW. ABBEVILLE, S. C.. WEDNESDAY, MAECH 15, 1882. NO. 41. VOLUME XXVI.
What Is Life?
Eyes opening to the light, a feeble cry ;
A few short year*, some joys, more tears !
Eyes closing into night: a quivering sigh;
And this is life.
Hands toiling, ne'er at rest, Out more and
more
Eager for gain; oft tired in vain:
Hands folded on the breast, the battle o'er;
And this is life.
Heart beating warm with love, a spirit brave;
A dauntles* breast, where weak may rest;
Heart-eileat, ne'er to move; a quiet grave;
And this is life.
A promise of rich harvests, sowing done;
Bright herns an I trust*: b it " D ist t > d ut
la murmurod sadly o'er the setting sun !
And this is life.
A dawnin? fair and bright, a toil-filled day,
8)339 pass s'loweri that brin^ forth flowers
Vt oven-tide li;ht?a heavenly ray;
And this is life.
FOR LIFE.
Z5^ ~
Eleven days on the road. By no
met^ns tfce Fnion Pacific, or any other
l'ne of continuous travel, where the
minimum of bounce and jerk is combined
-with the maximum of comfort
possible ur.der steady motion. A road
still unknown to surveyor or engineer,
beyond reach or thought of railroadman
or speculator, and but just opening
up its two hundred miles or more
of primevr.l forest. A road trodden
only by Indians or crossed by stealthy
foxor lynx, its length winding through
troachcrous marsh and bog, and swiftstreim
and deep, unbroken forest, only
a " blaze" here and there, indicating at
some points the course to be followed, !
and where too obtrusive trees wero cut j
away, the ttumps left standing at just!
the right height for impaling wagon- j
bodies aDd st>'r ing up a degree or two |
of profanity in the drivers.
From Pembina to Crow Wing, and in
those two hundred miles of a loneliness
only the traveler of that region can j
know, what had not the patient oxen !
undergone ? Twelve miles the average )
day's accomplishment, until Leech Lake j
and some suggestion of a civilized road |
had been reached. Heavy rains, swol- j
len streams, fathomless mud-holes.
Often a morning was spent in hauling i
wagons across a turbid and turbulent j
1 A r>^/l trkilA iVio ATnn cfnA/1 1
Jlbiic iivcx, auuf wiaixu mc uacu oivuu :
drenched and dripping after their re- j
luctant swim to the other side, bringing I
over the loads, package by package, on j
a fallen tree, if suck bridge could be j
discovered, or vaiting while the two j
half-breeds swam across with them on ,
their heads. Neddo, silent and calmly j
acquiescent in whatever fate might
bring, served as fore and background !
for Boulanger, who swore in all dialects
from French and English through to
Creek and Chippewa, his black beads
of eyes shooting fire, his small and
gayly-bedecked legs dancing wildly
among the packages, and his lean arms
emphasizing the whirlwind of invective.
Even this had ceased to amuse.
Drenched through by constant rains,
tormented day and night by mosquitoes,
in size, numbers and ferocity beyond
the wildest imagination of the Eastern
mind, endurance was all that remaintd.
Even water lilies palled, and for weary j
bndy aud more weary mind but ono j
desire had torce?to see the low stockade
cf the Crow Wing agency, and an
. actual inn, whe-ro a real bed, even if
one of fonr in a row, would be hailed
as deliverance, and where one would
find a poatollicd and u daily stage, con- |
nectinK this last outpost of civilization j
with St. Cloud, eighty miles below, and |
the fiist- point where railroads could be
reached.
Ag&in s broken bridge prave another
morning of unloading and swearing
and reloading, and when at last the
rushing river was passed and the wagon
once more under way, a treacherous and
shelving mud-hole suddenly swallowed
up oxen and fore-wheels, dumped load
and owners into its very depths, and
for five minutes seemed likely to hold
them there. Then all struggled out
together, and while Boulanger shrieked
with rage and Neddo examined pole
and wheels and fished out the provisionbasket,
putting the contents on a damp
log to dry, patience at last took flight,
aod like the ancient prophet in one of
his very many trials and predicaments,
" I spako with my tongue ; I opened j
rri/lo YTiTr m/Mifli "
TTIViU Ui t UlVUVUi
" I will net i-tay in this nest cf mosqaitoes
and flies and wait lionrs for
this fiEalcatastrophe to unsnarl. I shall
march on to Golf Lake, where there is
a beach, unless this last flood has
turned it to water, and there I can sit |
intheFacd and get dry. Of course,!
now there i6 no reaching Crow WiDg I
to-night, and we must make our camp i
at the lake."
For this journey was by no means a :
first or second one, and the ox-team was |
simply one more experience of frontier j
traveling. Canoe and flat-train and
Indian pony had all been tried, and j
either was better than this frightful |
crawl, inch by inch, as it were. At;
Gulf Lake, the first camping-point the
previous year, ten miles above Crow
.Wing, had been a solitary wigwam, tenanted
by a toothless but amiable squaw,
who gare me fresh pickerel roasted in j
the scales over her fire, and affording a ;
new 6ense of what flavor and savor |
natural methods may hold, and pota- j
fV?or? tttqInnfc Knf i
KUtO UU1 VliJ iuuu nwiuvi'U| vi?w |
dug in my honor from the field the had :
planted. Perhaps she would be there
to-day. In any ca?e, alono or with snch j
society as she could give, there waited ]
for me the clear, still, bine water in its j
setting of silvery sand, the blasted pino '
with it3 eagle's nest, the hnsh and se-1
renity of the silent forest. Five miles j
under tjie pines, where one was less '
tormented by mosquitoes, and then J
came a final one?a wade rather than a
walk. 1 had forgotten the bog and the >
corduroy had sunk quite out of sight, i
though I could feel it now and then I
below the black mud which held tena I
ciously to each foot by turn and yielded |
with a long, slow suck, like a smack of j
evil satisfaction over my tribulations, j
Ten thousand hands could not have j
availed against that gray column of:
mosquitoes, whose sound seemed at last
a trumpet call to other columns, and,
which, in spite of headgear and leather j
gloves, penetrated the unknown and!
unguarded chink or crevice.
Through the swamp at last and out j
once more under the friendly pines, :
and I ran, knowing the goal was near,
and seeing soon the flashing sunlight
on the blue water. There was a bending
figure near the lake. Along the j
brook emptying into it corn and peas
and beans were growing, and, actually, j
balsams and even sweet-peas at the
end!
44 Mr ennftw VinQ he#vn hrnncht over to
white mail's fashions," I say half aloud,
and then stopped short, as the figure
sprang up and turned with a subdued
"my gracious 1" when she saw the
mud-coated and caked, torn, and most
disreputable-looking apparition "before
her. So wan a face, such watery and
faded, yet somehow intense blue eyes,
so infinitesimal a nub of hair, so
shadowy yet resolute a wraith, 1 had
never yet encountered? even in remotest
and most unfrierded cabin, where a
woman's life meani the speedy loss of
every trace of comeliness and grace.
"Well, I call it a providence ! " she
said, coming forward with a sort of
silent rush as if carried by the wind.
" The first day I've ever been lonecome
a mite or thought to care, but
he's gone below three days now, an'
Sbahweah off or berries, an' I did sav
jest now, be the pond there, it was a
leetle lonesome. An' then to think of
a white woman bain' what I should Bee!
It does beat all! W'h^re be you from ?
I reckon it's a dry conntry you've left
behind you," Bhe ad^ed with a twinkle,
" for you have brought all the mud with
you. Now you come straight np along
ma oil' T'll c/ivarta ttah r.ff enmn
" nu uiC) ?u a. At cvmjju j vu vu ovfcuv*
Where's your folks ?'*
" S.x miles back in a mud-hole," I
answered, with the ghostly impression
still strong upon me. The voice was
on'y a husky whisper, anil a nearer
view on It intensified the bloodlessness
of the skin hardl.y hiding the poor bones
below. The woman laughed.
j "Youthink I'm a poor show," sh<
' said. " Folks ^in'ly do; but I'm healtl
! itself to what I was."
"You were not here when I went uj
a jear ago ?"
! "No; I come in November. "Wher
you're in some of my clothes an* liav(
, had a cup of tea I'll tell you all aboui
it. There's the house. Aint that preth
for Gulf L ike ? Kinder comfortable ?'
j Comfortable! A palace could noi
j have held a tenth of all the word meant
i A "but, and a ben" only, but how
j spotlessly neat! Morning-glories and
| hops climbing over door and window,
where white curtains hung; a snow
white bed, shut in by morquito-bar ; 8
square of rag carpet on the floor ; stove
! and tins polished to their utmost capacj
ity ? one of shining blackness, the
I other of shining brightness?a dresser
I holding civilized dashes ; a shelf, where
! two or three books lay?the Bible,
j Whittier's poems and " David Copper|
field," and a pile of well-worn papers;
: an old-fashioned rocking-chair with
j patch-work cushions, aud "light stand
i near it; and, to complete the curious
; mixture of old New England farmhouse
! and frontier-cabin, a warming-pan liangj
ing between the windows, its copper
j face shining like everything ilse.
"You think that's a queer thing to
I tote out West?" said my hostess, who
had already spread a cloth and put on
fresh water to boil for tho promised
cup of tea. " I 'letted on it before I
was big enough to reach it, hangin'
there in grandmother's kitchen up in
Veunont, an' when I went West, leastways
what was West forty years ago?
to Pennsylvany? I took it along for old
times, and then to Illinois an' Minnesota
an' here we both are up here
You'd say it wasn't much more use than
Timothy Dexter's ship-load for the
West Injies; but he made a fortune out
o' that, an' I sort of expect good luck
from this one. Now, before that
kettle biles, you might freshen up a
mite. The heft of it we won't do
nothin' to till you've had your tea."
Words can neve tell the delight of
that freshening?first in cold water in
a real wash-basin, then the tea, drank
to an accompaniment of narrative
poured out as if mere speech were a
gift straight from heaven. An indomitable
cheerfulness, a resolute
grasp of these shadowy threads uf life,
seemed tho strongest characteristic of
this creature in whose faded eyes quick
gleams of expression came and went,
and whose alertness and even vivacity
were miraculous testimonies to the imperious
will that governed the frail
body, no matter what human weakness
interposed.
In iho beginning, the story proved
one I had often heard?the exodas of
forty years before, when New England,
moio especially its northern portion,
seemed emptying itself into the West,
the white-covered, heavily-laden wagons
passing day by day through the old
towns, gazed upon by the more conservative
with apprehension and dismay.
"I hankered after home; I do it even
now, once in a great while," the shadowy
woman vent on; "but I ain't
goin' to dwell on tfcat. LiiKely's not,
you've heerd forty folks say the same
thing. But what yon hain't heerd I'm
goin' to tell yon now. He cane from
Maine, as maybe, I don't say?born a
lumberman, an' his father one before
him. An' so, when Minnesota opened
up, it come easy to put out o' Illinois,
where farmin' never suited him, an'
where there wasn't a stick o' timber,
except aloDg the river-bottoms, an' litalways
half pinin' for it. He knows his
business an' soon fed into work, an'we
settled down in Minneapolis; that's
about as folksy a place as you'll find.
But you see I wasn't never over strong,
an' I'd shook in them bottoms till it's
my belief there wasn't an inch inside
of me that kept jest the place the Lord
had laid out to have it keep. Folks
said the trouble wa9 your gall ran out
into your liver; but I said your liver
ran where it was a min i to, an' your
stomach into whatever else there was, i
an' morn'n likely interfered with your
lungs an' kept you from having a long I
breath. Thai's the way it looked to
me, even after I got settled in Minneapolis,
for mino got shorter an' shorter,
an' at last, in spite of me, I was in bed,
an' the folks savin' I shouldn't never
see spring.
" Now, the children had died as fast
as they come almost. There wasn't
one left; an' Hiram is set by natur' on
what's his own, an' it seemed as if he
couldn't stand it to lose me, too. We'd
been unlucky, too?burned out once
an' the bank broke that had our money
in it, such as it wes?an' he was pretty
low ; an' when time come to go no to
camp he half broke down, an' he said:
Malviny, I can't. Suppcsin' you
hUouldn't be here when 1 came back.
I had better go as hand in a mill, an'
earn less.'
"' Hiram,' I said, 'you take me along
with you.' You never saw a man look
more scared, for he thought I was goin'
out o' my mind. But 1 hadn't noticed
folks an' ways for nothin," an' I said:
'Don't you know jest as well as the
next one that the doctors keep sendin'
consumptive folks up into the pineries?
an' if your camp ain't as good as another,
I'd like to know. I can't more'n
die, anyway ; au' I'm sick of bein' tucked
up in brd an' an air-tight chokin' me
day an' night, an' I'm gcin' with yon.'
'Malviny, you can't,' he said, 'it'Ball
men. There ain't no place.' Then
make a place,' says I. ''Taia't fit,'
savs he. ' Women don't know anything
* 1 - c t 4.1 ? i rpi
aooui a passeiu; men cuyeiuei. iucu
the more reason for hndin' out, an'
seein' if they can't be made decent,'
says I, ' if that's what yen mean. I
feel to know I shan't die if I can git up
there; but go I will," if I have to walk
an' can't do more'n ten steps a day.'
" Well, be knew I was set, an', though
I didn't put mv foot down very often, I
had it down then, square, an' he# set
in a brown 6tudy awhile, an' he ?*aye:
' Well, Malvinj, 'tain't no time to cross
you, an' i never wanted to yet. If you
think you'll hold out, I'll start up the
country to-morrow an' see about bavin'
a separate cabin next to camp. They're
fixin' for winter now, an' I kin go an'
come in a week. But I don't see how
you'll stand it, an' I don't believe you
will.' ' Then I can be buried in the
woods,' says I; ' I always did have a
hankerin' to lay down for good under
nino frooa.
" Well, he weut 03"; an' I will say I
didn't see myself how I could live till
he got back, for I had another time of
raitin' blood that very night, It came
pourin' straight out; but I said: ' 1
won't give in. It can't all run out, an'
I calculate there'll be enough left to
keep me goin.'
"Folks wouldn't believe it, but by
| the time Hiram got back I could crawl
! to the window. I sot there wheu he
! came in sight, an' he was astonished as
! you'd want to see. But he had to lay
1 in an' git picked for goin' up, an' the
j very morning all was ready I must neede
j come down again. Well, he waited a
; day, an' then he says: 4 I'll go with the
I load, Malviny, an' hx up a bit, an' then
j I'll come back an' take you up on a
i empty sled, eo's to make room for a bed
an' things for you to go easier.' ']
! wan't to go now,' I says; 'I shall be
! dead if I don't.' Well we argued some
: back an' forth, an' at last he say6: ' It
ain't no use, Malviny. All's ready now,
i an' I'm goin' now, an' I'll come back
| for you as I said;' an' off he started foi
j the barn. I was up tLat minute an
! into my waim things in spite of Mrs,
! Smith tryin' to stop me, an' when hf
| drove round an' come in I jest walked
{ to the door. ' No, yon don't,' he says,
; an' jest took me up an' laid me on th(
i bed an' run.
I ' What got into me then I couldn'l
tell; Lord carried me aloug, I reckon
Anyway, I rnu tco, Mrs. Smith aftei
me, an' Hiram jest drivin' off, an' then
I 6tuck to the rnnner and wouldn't le:
go. Hiram was pale as a ghost, an
most crjiu', an'he says, 'For the Lord'i
sake, go back, MhIvidv,' an' j
J says, ' For the Lord's sake ]
. won't.' aa' jest crawled np int<
the bufialoes alongside o' him. 'There'
one chance in a million of jonr gettin
there i-Jive,' he says, 1 an', if you'r
bound iu go on that one, we'll try it
that's all;' an' off we went.
I
j: " Well, whether 'twns the notion or
I ' the air away from the air-tight, or carI
ryin' the pint, I couldn't tell, but I grew
> more an' more chirp with every mil3. I
| eat quite a dinner, an' elep' all night,
t nn'Hiram he jest kept still an' waited.
; I knew he was waitin'. Bat we got
t throngh at last, an' into these very pine
r woods beginnin' at Crow Wing. I
' snifiVd 'em, an' knew life Wiis in 'em if
t j it was anywheres. When Hiram drove
! np before the oamp, an' Smith, the
r j overseer, come out, he looked a minute,
[ j an' then swore light out: ' Be
, ' you tnrnin' into a blamed fool at vour
- j time o' life, to be bringiu' a dead
i J woman into camp?' he says. But I
s j knew I wasn't anywheres near dyin',
. an' Smith knows it too, now. I'd j
s j give a sight if he wasn't below. He's
| so contented to have me round again,
II he says lie dou't care if we never stir
from here the rest of onr lives: an' I'm
.! sure I don't an' wouldn't. I walk under
: j them pines, an' small 'em deep in' an' I
j says, ' Here's yonr life-elixir, an' no |
mistafie; aa it ioiks Kne?? 11 iney |
i, wouldn't die in little close rooms, but j
i! come out under 'em. I was always a j
master-hand for out-doors, an' lie helps j
| along the house-work, so't we can gar:
den together, an' Shaliweah does what
j he an' me ain't a mind to. Mostly as
i long as daylight lasts I putter round
| outside; an' I ain't sure but what I
shall be an old woman yet, even if I
hain't but a piece of a lung left.'
"As for them men, you never see
twenty fellows more set on bein' agreea
ble than they was. For all havin' to
j whisper, I always managed to make 'em
j hear, an' I did odds an' ends for 'em,
! an' they went in an' out, an' told stories,
! an' sung, an' one night I even danced ;
' an' I never had a more sociable winter.
11 thought he'd be a leetle lonesome
! when they went below; but he takes a
| sight of comfort in the paper?we've
i had it from the beginnin'?an' he don't
seem to mind one mite. I always read
' considerable, an' I go over an' over the
; few books we've got, an' find somethiu'
new every time. And I expect you'll
laugh when I tell you the only thing
that ever makes me lonesome or skeerv.
'Tain't Injins; I don't see but what
they're folksy enough, when you git
over their blankets. It's loons. I say
j they're the lonesomest thing in natur',
j an' when they holler I jest crawl all
I over. But then I can git along even .
j with them. An' now I'd like to know
I how you come here, an' all about it, :
I every word ; but I'm dreadful sorry he j
ain't to home."? Helen Campbell, in i
1 j^ippincou. I
_____?
An Ambush of Artillery.
We were driven back at Seven Pines ;
the first day, but on the second we gave j
! them a little " Hail Columbia," and j
! drove them back in return about half a '
mile from whero our outside line was i
! established on the first day. It was a
i most terrible fight. I had never seen j
; anything like it, and as 1 have never
| seen an account of a Confederate
! charge made that day, I will undertake
j to briefly describe it. On a wooden emin- j
j ence a short distance below where our j
j firbt line had bsen established two or j
j three batteries of artillery were I
l stationed by Heintzelman, One section i
i of two pieoes was drawn out from tho |
1 w?od and placed in the clear corn field j
i beyond. Jt was rather a dangerous poj
sition for a battery to be in without
I support The section had scarcely un|
limbered when from the woods in their
j front there debouched four lines of
I Confederates (Chetham's brigade), who,
' in regimental front and four
| lines deep, came pouring down upon i
the devoted section. "Fire with canis- ;
, tort" nnm mondnil fVia TTpnV ll'fflfl VrttVp
of the young lieutenant who com-!
manded the seotion, and the Confederates
seemed to laugh at the two little
six-pounders opposing them. "Doubleshot
wi.h canisterl' said the commander
of the masked guns in the
woods, and still the enemy came on
and on, as if on parade. Not a musket
was fired, and the seciion kept booming j
away with terrible rapidity. I had
j thought that the lieutenant and hisEec!
tion would turn tail to the foe. He did
not, but stood there and worked his
J guns with the coolness of a brave man.
! All at once, with a yell, the enemy
j started on a d "UDle-qnick, and in a mo1
ment more the section was captured
; and the lieutenant was a mangled j
| corpse. Now came the most terrible
j carnage I had ever seen. The capture
I of the section had evidently greatly enj
couraged the foe, and his lines
i swept rip and up the hill until i
( within about a hundred yards of j
'the Union canon. It was a},
i magnificent sight. The lines had not | (
j broken yet, but kept onward, as if
! marching for review. "Fire I" rang
! out from the woods, and at least a ,
| dozen cannon belched forth tLeir ,
j storm of death. I can see it even now.
Men in all the agonies of death piled i
I like fence-rails one upon another, with j
| their more fortunate comrades climbing i
: over their mangled bodies to reach the I
; guns. The magnifient line3 of a mo- j
j ment before wavered, then stood still, |
j and then faded away like enow beneath I
! a summer's sun The charge was I
| ended, aud but few, if any, lived to re- j
I turn. The field where the onemy had j
j advanced was a perfect slaughter-pen, ,
j indeed. The dead and wounded lay in j
j all directions, and not one of all the |
men who had advanced got back again, j
' It was a noble and gallant charge, and j
to the noble and brave lieutenant who ;
j commanded the section alone in the i
| field, and who gave up his life to duty,
! was the credit of winning tho battle
' due. The enemy lost about 1,500 men
I in killed, wounded and prisoners. Our
; loss was eight men killed and sixteen
i wounded.?Philadelphia Wtekly Times, j
The Congressional Lobby Worker.
Mr. J. R. Randall writes from Wash- j
1 ington to his paper, the Augusta (Ga.) !
] Chronicle : I think the great corpora;
tions are often deceived by the lobby
; men. One of the most prominent of
; the gentry was brought before a sub|
committee and required to testify under j
| oath. He was asked if he had not re;
ceived $25,000 from a railroad company,
i and responded in the affirmative. " Why
! did they pay you that sum V said the
j chairman. * "Becauso tbey thought I
| was woith it," responded the agent,
i "Did they think you could influence
i votes?" The agent answered that they
| did, 41 What dil you do ?" said the
! nhftirmnn. "I reported that Senator
Blank war all right, and they were sat- |
isfied," replied the agent. "Did you i
approach the senator ?" said the chairman.
"I did," the agent retorted, 4,and
. asked if he felt all right this morning.
F.e answered that he was all right. 1
! so stated to the company, and they paid
over the money like little men." I
leave it to the reader to guess which
' was the more fooled, the railroad comi
pany or the eub-committee. At any
rate, the hero of this exploit is still on
' j hand and still plying his avocation
around the capitol. One of the most
> expert of politicians, who has held
' many high offices and always with
i honor and distinction, tells me that the
* lobby men do not after all have much
I power over congressmen, as a rule.
. Sam Ward used to spread epicurean
i feasts, and his liquor-mixer Valeni
tine dispensed seductive fluids, but
; the majority of congressmen who
i partook of this refreshment never
: sold out in consequence. I rather
' think that the corporations employing
' old '*Rex Yestibnii," grew weary of
furnishing him with the sinews of war
> and the raw material of gastronomic
I luxury. He has gone; but his place is
, filled by men who have none of his
5 scholarship, bat more knowledge of
still-hunting. Whether they use cash
t or condiments, I cannot say ; but their
. existence is surrounded by sumptuous
r appointments, and to hear some of them
3 talk one would be persuaded that they
t owned congressmen in fee simple and
' +v>cm HQ p.nmfir lots to their em
3 plovers. My own opinion is that this is
1 mere brag and ' bonnce," and that they
I would interview a royal Bengal tiger
; sooner than confront the majority of
c< either house with a venal proposition,
i' Still, they live and thrive and want for
b none of those things that poorer people
; long for and sometimes imperil their
reputations and souls to procure.
! THE FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.
Ffed for Laying Hen*.
A correspondent asks: " Can hens be
I mado too fat to lay V Yes, indeed. Fat
j hens rarely lay. If Lens are fed so
; mnch or so often that tbey begin to
! fatten rapidly they will soon stop lay!
ing. He asks again: "Is there nny|
thing bptter than corn to make hens
I lay ?" No food is better than Indian
j corn or ground corn (Indian meal), to
J fatten hens, and of conrse it should be
] fed sparingly to laying hens. If hens
i mt l.if? o?<1 om fnf. fpml liipm 1 >nt;
V.W ?
once a day?at evening just before they
go to roost? giving what fcreenings,
buckwheat and oats in such propor!
tions as you judge beat. Throw the
feed upon clean ground only so fast as
they pick it np. Stop just as soon as
vou see any of the flock begin to wander
away. Let them forage all day for
weed seeds, grass, insects, etc. They
must have warm quarters, well ventilated
at night, and a sunny rnn by day
in winter. After a while begin to feed
them sparingly a little meat scrap
chopped fine, broken bones, oyster
shells, etc., and they will probably
soon begin to lay.?America?! Agriculturist.
Sitting Hem.
All things change in these days, and
there seems every prospect of a real and
great change ere long in the methods
of incubation. There is much likelihood
that artificial incubation will at
last be pretty generally adopted in thin
country ; we do not mean by the enthusiastic
fancier alone, or the scientific
experimentalist, or the wholesale poultry
rearer; but that to the ordinary
poultry yard in its ordinary routine an i
incubator will become as necessary an
adjunct as a greenhouse is to a garden.
We are nat, however, prepared just yet,
until we have had the opportunity of
personally testing several artificial incubatois,
to recommend the young fancier
to trust all his eggs to them, and
prefer, therefore, for the present to say
something about the old-fashioned
feathered one provided by nature.
Chapters on sitting hens are wont to
begin with disquisitions on the exact
age which it is desirable for them to
have attained before being trusted with
egg?. We do not take the trouble to
inquire into the years or months of
broody hens, indeed at this season of
the year we are seldom fortunate enough
to have such a supply of them as to
make us critical on such points. We
have often known pullets of six months
to make admirable mothers. It is a
good plan as hens show si>ms of be- j
coming broody co give them nests if i
they have not already got them, which I
can be removed bodily with them to
the sitting-house. Of course there are j
small establishment, where in a very
only two or three in a run, it can generally
be arranged to leave them where
they have been laying, or about a large
farmptead. Those which have chosen
for themselves out-of the-way retreats
may be left in them; but even in
these cases there is always much
risk of their being disturbed by
intruders. As a rule it is far better
to give up some house having
a run attached to it
for sitting hens. In this there should
be Bome closo boxes with wire ironts
for the confinement of 6trange or wild
birds; but for the home hens, which
can be quietly brought in at night, wo
recommend that each bo set in the
portable box or basket in which she has
been laying. As soon as a laying bird
shows signs of becoming broody her
nest should be prepared. We prefer
round wicker baskets to all other nests;
fresh turf or ashes should bo put at the
bottom and short straw over. There is
much point in doing this beforehand,
for no nest is ever at once so well
fashioned as the hen fashions it for herself
by laying in it a few times; it is
then ready for eggs directly she is
ready to sit. Hen and nest can be carried
quietly together at night into the
BittiDg-house, and in nineteen cases out
of twenty she will sit on as if in the
same place. In the case of a shy bird a
rough wicker coop with some sacking
on it put over her will givo extra
privacy.
At the time of removal another exactly
similar basket should he placed
in the laying-house, and any hens
which have been laying in the one will
not know the difference. This is our
general plan with our home hens. It
is, however, often necessary to get in
extraneous help, in the shape of hired
or bought broody hens. At times they
are a necessary evil. We have known
dozens wtiich" could be set anywhere,
especially when they come from cottages
where they are kindly treated and conofnnt.ir
Viand led. Such are far prefer
able to birds from large farmyards,
where little attention is paid to them ;
the latter are wild and unsteady at first,
but with patience and management they
will generally quiet down. For such
we have rows of closed wooden nests
with eliding wire doors in front. Oars
are raised from the ground with ledges
in front of them. We have seen eome
similar without bottoms standing on
the ground, wbich is perhaps better
where there is no fear of rats or other
vermin. A refractory hen should be
put in at night with some china eggs
and left quite undi6tnrbed till the dusk
of the next evening, when she may be
lifted off to feed and put back again.
We have nearly always fonnd this treatment
makes such a bird safe for eggs at
the end of two or three days. Common
aonaa und nhsorvfttion alone will tell I
when a hen may be trusted. Eggs
should crrtainly not be given her till
she 6its down closely and till all the
china e?gs under her have been found
hot. A doubtful hen will often warm a
few of necessity without properly incubating
the whole nest. Now and then
hens obstinately persist in standing
upon the eggs, cickling and even
scratching the nest to pieces.?(?., in
Journal of Horticulture.
Farm una Garden Note*.
If worms are very numerous in a
meadow, the best thing that can be
done i3 to turn them under with the
plow as deeply as possible, and plan
the ground iu some crop that can be
matured in the season, and that is ap-1
plicable. If -the meadow is new, and
it is very desirable to preserve it for the
next year, the farmer must then turn in
hogs, etc., use the roller or adopt such
device as may be most convenient so as
to make the injury as light as possible,
but with no idea of saving the present
crop.
The farmer should sign nothing, un
der any pretext whatever, for a stranger;
do not even give your address?"ju t as
a memorandum." When least expected
this address will turn up as a signature
to seme kind of a promise to pay.
Avoid every easy way of making money.
No matter by what name it is called, the
scheme is likelv to be fraudulent. Let
every farmer and others, who live in
the country, be sure that trees and
shrubs with frait of heretofore unheard
of excellence, or flowers of unsurpassed
beauty, are not introduced by hawkers
and peddlers.
The making of manure is one of the
most important labors of the winter season,
or perhaps it 6honld have been
said the saving of it. The value of a
manure depends on several things, the
leading of which Hre: the food given
the animal; tho hind, ago and condition
of tho animal fed, and last but not
least the care which the mnnuro receives
after it has bren dropped. Rich
manure con only be made from rich
food; if straw alone is fed the manure
must be noor, as the animal adds nothing
to, but instead extracts from, tlio store
of plant food in the fodder.
While on some soils salt produces no
apparent resnlte, on otherB it is of
marked benefit to wheat. Its utility
can only be learned by experiment. It
often has an indirect action, in enabling
the pjant to take up silica and
strengthen tho 6traw. Its effect in preventing
the growth of those minute
fungi which causn rust and smut is
sometimes beneficial. After cold
weather has put a stop to tho growth of
the plants, salt sown at the rate of five
or six bushels to the acre often in
creases the health of the plant and im
proves the appearance of the grain.
Rccticn.
Doughxtts.?Ono egg w*ll beaten,
one tableepoonful butter, a cnpfu.' sugar,
a cupful sweet milk, two teaspoonfuls
cream tartar, a teaspoonful eoda, a little
nutmeg; stir as 6tiff as you can with d
spoon; dust fb.ur over your board, laj
on the dough, and instead of molding
pat it out with your hand. Cut ofl
strips, twist them and fry in very hot
lard.
Pudding.?A delicate pudding is
made of three teaspoonfult? of corn
starch dissolved in a little cold water.
Have ono pint of water boiling on the
stove; in this stir the corn starch and
the well-beaten whites of three eggs;
! lot it boil up once; pour it into an
I earthen pudding dish which will hold
I three pints; steam the pudding for tea
! minutes.
Lemon Jelly Cake.?Take two cups
t of su,ar, one-half cDp of butter, one
1 cup of milk, three eggs, two teaspoon:
fuls of cream tartar, one teaspoonful of
; soda, three cups flour; mil and
I bake in fine, thin layers. For the jellv,
grind the rind of three small or two
large lemons, and add the juice of the
same with ono cup of sugar, ono egg,
one-half cup of water, one teaspoonful
of butter, ono ^tablespoonful of flour;
mix with a little water, and boil till it
thickens; then place between the layers
of the cake.
Giuvy Soup.?Take six pounds of shin
beef, cut off half a ponnd of lean and
put what is left into a saucepan; add
four or fivo quarts of cold water and a
large pinch of salt; when boiling skim
it well and put in two carrots, one tur
| m[j, mreu mrgu uuiulid, uvc ui oia
cloves, a few peppercorns and any trimmings
of leeks and celery; leave it to
boil five or six hours, skim off the fat,
strain it through a c! Dth into a basin,
it to ccol; cut the lean meat very
small, pound it, and work it into two
whole eggs, a little salt and any cooked
trimmings of cooked veal or fowl, a
few trimmings of uncooked carrot,
onion and celery, pour in the stock,
stir it over a quick fire until it boils,
leave it to boil from ten to fifteea minutes,
strain through a napkin into a
clean stewpan, let it come to the boil
and serve.
Sad Career of a Baron's Daughter.
The recent death' of Mme. Laura
Sweitzer, at Port Jervis, N. Y., recalls
one of the saddest and most remarkable
careers ever recorded. The story
of ber life, as told by Mme. Sweitzer,
reads like a romanco and seems almost
too strange to be tru<<. Laura Von
Puffnitz Steinburp, daughter of Baron
Frederick Otto Von Fnffnitz Steinburg,
was born at Wismar, in Mecklenburg,
Germany, on the 10th of Octo
ber, 1819. Her father was of an ancient
and highly-honored family, and Lanra
wa-3 a younger danghter. She was
given all the advantages of an expensive
edncation in mnsio and the German
language.
At sixteen years of age she met a
very poor young nobleman witb a very
long and honorable name, the Connt
Frederick Kolstedt Schleswick Sweitzer.
The youjg man was handsome i
and pretty well edncated, but hispov- |
erty was a bar to their nnion. Lanra
felt that she loved him so deeply that
she conld marry no one but him. Her
old father would not listen to her entreaties,
and finally be sent her to
Altona, a town near Hamburg, on the
Elbe river, where he placod her in a
convent until she became cured of her
passfon. She contrived to let her lover
know where she was, and thither he
followed her. Having no money he
applied for and obtained a pesitien a
under-gardener in the convent at s
modest compensation. He and
Laura were thus enabled to
meet daily, and affairs were
going on swimmingly when the old
Baron Steinburg, having found that
Sweitzer had left Wismar, suspected
tho trne state of aflairs, and came
postljaste to Altona. He arrived in
time to catch his daughter in an arbor
in the convent garden conversing with
the forbidden lover. The old baton
and the young man exchanged hard
worjs, and a duel, in which the baron
was severely wonnded, resulted.
Young Sweitzer and his sweetheart fled
from Altona, were married, and camo
to America, where they landed at Castle
OardeD, Hew York, almcst penniless.
Sweitzer obtained employment and
they lived comfortably several years.
Finally his health failed, and the couple
came to Port Jervis, N. Y., and took
up their abode in a little shanty in
a suburb. Madam Sweitzer made
enough money to keep them alive by
peddling matches and notions among
the farmers, and by begging during the
winter. She frequently walked fifty
miles a day, and on a recent occesion
took part in a pedestrian contest in
Port Jervis, where she made a record
of ninety-eight miles in twenty-three
hours, and earned considerable money.
During her begging excursions she
told the above story of her life. She
was known in Pike county as "Mee?^y
Maumie" or "the Countess." Her
J~ ?? V.a GKa nr.a fwinff fn
UCttlLl WHO IlUlllUlUi VJUO TT uo IIJIUQ ?w
steal a ride on the night freight train
to Middletown, thirty-four miles south
of Port Jervis, when she fell under the
engine and was so crushed that her
body was scarcely recognisable. Her
husband died a few years ago.
The Floating Homes of Bangkok.
| Boats are the universal means of conveyance
and communication, and a boat
thus becomes a necessary adjunct of
every person's household ; to its dextrous
use every child is trained ; men,
women and children are equally accustomed.
Perhaps the most common
form is a stout skiff about twenty-five
feet long, turning up very shapely and
high behind, like a Venetian gondola.
It is broad in the beam, and two-thirds
of its length is housed over, leading a
J little flat deck in front, and a stilll
smaller one behind. Behind stands the
husband and sculls; in front stands the
wife, rowing and using a boat-hook to
help their way through the crowds.
The front of the boat is used for business,
passengers or cargo. The rear
third is given up to family and domestic
i'urniture.
For, incredible as it may seem, we soon
see that each boat is "the home of a
family, father, mother, girls and boys;
who are born there, live there and die
there. In the daytime the children
and the furniture are crowded into a
space not over four feet square; at
night they can spread out over greater
surface. I looked into these homes with
attention, and never could enough wonder
or admire how cloeely all was
packed, without seeming to jostle or
painfully crowd. Also that tho children
lived so happily and contentedly
in a spaco no greater than a large-sized
Saratoga trunk 1 It is probably a
fact that thero are many tenyear-old
children in Bangkok
river who have never waiked
over twenty feet in a straight line, in
short, who have never been on land.
But then, when they come in proximity
to boats whose little inmates they
know, they would?beys and girls from
five to twelve?jump out of their boathouse,
and dive and swim away to visit
and gambol around together; now free
in the water, now hanging to the boat's
side or sitting astride of the scull oar.
And a friend tells mo that ho has seen
them in their visits take with them
baby, to whose shoulders mother has
prudently attached a hollow gourd or
other light float to insure its safety.
la u. minor excurBiun up a biuo vnuui
I found myself at the city residence of
the prime minister?whose name I have
not now time lo write ont in lull.
J a ran my bo.at ail around through his
pleasure grounds, and wondtred
! whether the worthy old gentleman con|
sidered that ho was living on land or
in the river. In one part of bis aquatic
elyBium I Baw magnificent f-pt cimens of
the victoria regia, whose leaves, round
like a platter, were over two yards in
diameter. Their rim was sharply
turned up in a ledge an inch high, and
on the raft thus formed were settled,
quite at home like, a family of frogs.
They, too, seemed to fall in with the
humors of the country,?Chronicle.
SUNDAY READING.
A Pccnllnr Prayer.
Rev. George 0. Miln, pastor of Unilj
' church, Chicago, baa abandoned peti'
tional prayer, ami in place of paving
1 "Let n.? pray,'' now says. "Let us hold
! communion together." He prefaced n
1 recent sermon by the fo'lowiug ruonologne:
Again we close onr eyrs upon the
world of caro and toil, that we ma?
open them upon a world of peace and
pure reflection. We would leavo bei
hind all sadness, all anxiety and all
gloomy thought, and lake counsel at
this time of our holiest impulses and
our fiercest philosophy. We would
give freo rein to all that is best within
us?to "run and be glorified," and
banish all that is unworthy and gross.
We come here to think, in order that
presently we may feel. May we think
clearly and honestly. May we stimulate
each other with such enthusiasm
for truth as will lift us above servile
regard for popular opinion. Ob, that
wo may bo at least true, and uncon
volitional, and brave with out bo.istfulness.
And may the truth beget in
us its most blessed fruits. May sympathy
be our daily garb, and honor
the habit of our life. May charity
shine in all onr aots, and modulate
with its sweet emphasis all our
conversation. May we despise all littleness
as unworthy of men. May we
be true of heart, gentle of speech,
honest in thought, modest in utterance,
and above all may our communion
with each other bo beget within ns tht
spirit of love as that we shall be above
unkind and stupid speech about each
other. May we build up in ourselves
and so also in others, true nobility of
character, being kind to the poor, gentle
to the siofe, merciful to the fallen
and charitable to the rich, and thus
help dispel the clouds which conceal
the dawning of humanity's ideal day.
Amen.
Uollslons Intelligence.
There are in Kansas 299 Presbyterian
churches, with 12,044 members.
The Baptist churches of Massachusetts
raised for all purposes last
: year $624,594.
Mr. F. Wise, of Ireland, has given
8100,000 toward the restoration cf the
cathedral in Cork.
Michigan has 174 Presbyterian
churches, with 16,156 communicants;
Iowa 355 churches, with 20,812 communicants.
Tho jubilee fund of th<* English Congregationalists
now amounts to 8500,000,
all of which hag been raised since
October, 1881.
The Mississippi Northern Mothodist
conference reports 21,982 members,
2,853 probationers, 304 churches, valved
at 820,165, and 364 Sunday-schools.
Tlie Methodist says it has repoited
12,971 conversions in 1882. It thinks
that as an evangelistic force Methodism
shows no signs of weakening, but
many of its converts go to other
churches.
It is reported in Japan that the gov
x _ i l i :.i. cn.:~
ernmeut is uuoul iu re-eeunuiitsu qluii*
toism as the religion of the state, jind
to combat by all possible means Bnddhism
and the progress made by Christianity.
The total indebtedness reported by
the Methodist churches in Philadelphia
at the conference of 1881 was 8542,967.
It has since been reduced to perhaps
$500,000. There are but ten churches
free from debt.
Archdeacon Macdonald, an Episcopal
missionary in British America, has a
field of work on the confines of the
Arctic circle extending over about
twenty degrees of longitude. About
1,500 natives have been baptized, and
more than 100 are communicants.
The Mru Who Was Warned.
During the uncertain days following
the close of the war there were certain
localities where a man who had a grudge
against a neighbor got rid of him by
writing him an anonymous letter warn- J
ing him to leave the State inside of ten
days or prepare to fill a grave over
which no one would feel particularly
interested in keeping the gr**s green.
One day Colonel Blank, who had removed
to Arkansas from Southern Michigan
an'd was attending strictly to business,
received such a missive. It was
therule to turn pale as death, rush homo
and pack up, sell out for nothing and
skedaddle on the wings of chain lightning,
bot the coloLel didn't follow it.
It struck him that he knew the handwriting
and he went home, buckled on
a knife and a revolver, and took a ride
of three miles into the country. He
dismounted at the cabin of a longhaired,
lone-legged old swamp owl,
named Patterson, who was in the backyard
mending a harness. The colonel
approached him to within three feet,
and after they had seated and discussed
the weather, the Michigander reraaiked
:
"Patterson, I am going to leave
Arkansas."
"Shoo! Anthing wrong?"
" I've been warned away."
" You don't say !"
"Yes, I've been given five days to
leave the State."
" And you calkerlate you will go ?"
" Yes I'll have to be waylaid or
hung up."
" Yes, I reckon that's so," chuckled
the old man.
" But I want to take something with
mo to remember Arkansas by," continued
the colonel, " and I came out
after your scalp."
"l\lv what?"
"bit still, old man, or I'll bore you
through 1 That's it ? tip with your
hands ! If I go back to Michigan and
tell 'em I was warned out of Arkansas,
and that I got up and dusted without
firing a shot, they'll call me a coward.
If I carry your ecalp back I've got
something to show for the two years
I've put in here and the 86,000 I've
laid out. Old man, if you know the
Lord's prayer you'd beter repeat it
quick, for I'm in a dreadful hurry to
get back."
"Say, kurnel, don't you like the
kentry down here?" asked Patterson.
"Yes."
" Is the cjimato all right ?"
"First rate."
" Chance to make money?"
"Gocd chance."
"Then, knrnel, don't go back! I
don't keer two cents about my scalp;
somehow I've got attached to you and
it will rip up all my tender feelings to
see you go I Let my old tcalp-lock
stay riphfc whar' she is, and you stay
right whar' you be, and if any of the
boys look cross-eyed at you fur tho
next ten years I'm a kyotte if 1 don't
drive 'em into Mexico or make 'em
lose themselves in the ground."
The colonel ;.s down there yet, and
old Patterson never meets him without
anxiously inquiring if he's got over
being homesick yet. ? Detroit Free
Press.
A Touching Incident.
A touching incident occurred at the
Midlothian mines, Virginia. Superintendent.
Dodda mounted a coal car and
addressing the wailing throng of women
and children, eai;l: "My poor friends,
it grieves me to have to state to you
that for the present our search for the
bodies of those you hnew and loved
? 11 l x . -1 J ,1
will uave iu ue uunuuuuuu. iuu nuuw
what fire in a coal mine mems, and it
may take months of watchiDg to subdue
it. We will close the pit now."
Tbo speaker's voice qnivered with
emotion. When he fininbed, a beautiful
little girl of fourteen years, Annie
Crowder, the only daughter of one of
the victims, uttered a piercing pcream
and rushed to the mouth of the pit,
crjing: "Oh, do not leavo my dear
papa to burn down there. Let me get
into the cage to go down after him.
Let me s&ve him." The strong arms of
the miners held her back as the fragile
thing tried to make her way to the cage,
oTirl mnw fVion nno hlnrtkmiArt face was
made blacker as the hand went tip to
wipe away the tears. Men sobbed aloud
and turned away to conceal their emotion.
The little girl, finding her progress
barred, swooned at the mouth of
the pit.
FACTS AND COMMENTS.
It is estimated that as the result of
r ihe persecution of Jews in Russia, 100,-1
. 000 Jewish families have been reduced
; lo poverty; and property has been del
btroyed to.the extent of ?80,000,000.
" President" Taylor, of the Mormori
churoh, recently married his twentyeighth
wife-a Massachusetts widow.
In fonr days sho had raised snch disturbances
with the other wives, and
proved herself to be so unsusceptible to
discipline, that the " President" had to
pension her and eond her to Sjn Francisco.
Wilson WaddiDgham is a ?:=-w York
millionaire whose fame has not winged
itself very far away from home. He is
said to have made a million in one operation
in mining stock last year. He
owns a million and half acres of land in
New Mexico, there being upon the
range 30,000 cattle. He has just built
a 3100,000 residence in New Haven.
A locomotive fireman on the Northern
Pacific road became insane, overpowered
the engineer, and ran the train at the
rate of a mile a minnte. The engineer
managed to get the upper hand of his
maniac assistant, and to stop the train
just in time to prevent a collision. The
crazy fireman leaped from the cab, and
'disappeared on tho prairie. It was a
freight train, but the same thing might
have happened if there had been passenger
cars attached to the locomotive.
Tho practice of beeping hives of bees
in Paris has spread so extensively that
the prefect of ponce has issued an order
forbidden it for the future, except,
in the case of persons who shall have
received a epecial authorization. The
preamble of the decree represents the
great dunger to the population of the
existence of so large a number of beea
in the nei?hborhood of the marketa,
schools and refineries, as well as the
opinion of the council of public health
for the department of the Seine condemning
the practice.
Fishermen at Astrakhan were over
taken with a shooking calamity during
a recent storm that passed over several
parts of RnsBia They are wont to go
out in larqe parties to fish on the ice at
the mouth of tho Volga, and 600 of
them were thus engaged when a fearful
gale swept over the place, breaking up
the ice and apparently taking the life of
every one of them. Much damage was
done by tho 6torm at Moscow, trees
being uprooted, and the roof o! the new
exhibition building blown oft.
The German carp, the valuable foodfish
recently introduced in the United
States, is making its way to all parts of
ib with great rapidity. Mr. Abel
Wright, who began with two or three
dozens of the carp three years ago,
thinks that he now has at least a million
in his pond at Griffen, Ga He
has sold more than 5,000 at twenty
dollars a hundred, and cannot keep up
with his orders. He bears out Mr.
Seth Green's statement that one can
almost see the carp grow, so rapidly
does it increase in size. Mr. Green
asserts that an acre of water can bo
made as profitable as an acre of land,
and it does not cost much to make the
experiment.
A village in one of the Middle States
has recently undergone a most tingular
experience. Two of the villagers keep
some one hundred and thirty beehives,
and as bad weather made other food
scarce, the interesting insects invaded
the stores and houses in quest of sweets.
Half a bushel of them swarmed in one
man's kitchen, of which they remained
sole tenants for a week. In that house,
on their account, all fruit canning and
preserving had to be done at night, and
lor many days an tee ?tamuy nai to
climb out and in the windows, the bees '
laying siege to the doors. In addition
to this whole orchards of fruits and arbors
of grapes wero devoured by the i
bees. Dozens of persons wero badly
stung while passing along the streets, '
and such a reign of terror was established
that recourse has been had to \
the courta for prevention of its recurrence.
1
The Botanical garden at Washington
bas a curious history. It has grown up
with little help from the law. When
tho Wilkes exploring expedition returned
to the United States about forty
years ago it brought back from tho
South Pacific certain rare specimens of
flora of those regions, and Congress appropriated
SI,200 to have them properly
cared for, and as a report oi the
expedition was to be published under
the direction of the oommittee on library
the care of the botanical speci
mens was placed under its supervision.
Of course the thing grew, till now the
Botanic garden is an " institution"
which costs about 815,000 a year and
upon which, first and lust, nearly $600,000
of the publio money have been expended.
The garden appears to be useful
only as " a thing of beauty," and in
that respect mainly for the purpose
of fnrnishing free flowers to official
society.
Persons holding polioies of life insurance
would do well to examine tbem
for the purpose of ascertaining if any of
the fine print prohibit them from bathing.
" In Cincinnati," says the Detroit
Free Press, " a company recently contested
a death claim on the ground that
the deceased came to his end while
bathing, and that death was not therefore
caused by bodily infirmities or
disease, but resulted lrom voluntary
exposure to unnecessary danger. The
court held, fortunately for the beneficiary
in the policy, that she
' 1 At. - ?
| could recover, Decause tue pruui
showed that deceased died from cramp;
but there is 110 certainty thaf. other
courts will follow the ruling, especially
in cases whero death results from
bathing in a tub and not in the sea.
To persons unaccustomed to the batb
the former, like the latter, would bo 'a
voluntary exposure to obvious and unnecessary
dangers,' and might result in
death. Wherefore, it is best to examine
the policies."
Sc;ii>kin Sacqncs.
A sealskin sacque costs tifty percent,
more than it did live years ago. Sealskins
have not been worn more than fifteen
or eighteen yeais. Fashion and the
| discovery of new methods of preparing
and dyeing, or first the latter and second
the former, brought thera into use.
Tho seal fur, as seen here, is the
inner coat. When on the- back of the
: seal this tine fur in hid by coarse hairs,
which are removed by a process of paring
down tho other side of the skin. The
color of the fur as known to wearers is
artificial. If the government had not
taken measures to protect the seal new
wearers of seal sacques would be few in
I a short time. The Shetland seals were
I once numerous, but have been citerminated.
Tho Newfoundland seal is in
tho market, but is inferior to the seel
of Alaska. Tho islands of the Behring
sea are the only ones in the world
where seal catching has great commercial
importance.
From 1751 to 1870 the scientific
world knew nothing in regard to the
history of the seal. Tbe Smithsonian
Institution did not possess a perfect
1 _ -1 - L ' i f 11- 1 .l.lwvnnl,
8K1D ami B&t-lfLUU U1 ILIO ncai, nuuuu^u j
thousands of men and millions of dollars
have been employed in capturing,
dressing and selling fur sealskins for
the last hundred years. The vast
breeding grounds bordering on the
Antartctie have been entirely depopulated.
Between the years 1797 and
1821 1,232 374 sealskins were taken on
the Pribvloy inlands; between 1S21 and
1842 458,502 skins, aud from 1842 to
18til 372 000 flltine. In the yeur 18G8
the nnmber of skins taken was 242,000.
In 1870 only 0,965 were captured.
During the lust ten years the 2atch has
i been a little less tkan 100 000 per your
The whole number twkeu between 1796
and 1880 was 3 561,051 skins. The
seal catching is done in Jane and July.
After that timo the fur begins to "shed,"
and is worthless. The natives are paid
forty cents a skin for their labwr.
SCIENTIFIC NOTES.
The use of the telephone is making
fapid progress in Germany. Berlin
alone has now nearly 1,010 miles of
telephone wires,
Dr. Hartlg sta'es that a strong man
working a hand fire engine with his
utmost htrcnejt'i for two minutes can do
work amounting to 0 4' 3 in the highest
nl 0.227 of one burse-power in the
owest maxiaium attainable.
Dr. Siemens, speaking at a recent
meeting of the Society of ArtP, referred
to the open fireplace as possessing high
sanitary qualities. It did not, like
radiating hot*water stoves, warm the air
of a room, bnt it heated the walls and
fnrniture. I f the air of a room is hotter
than the walls moistnre condenses on
them, and mildew and fermentation are
set up, to the detriment of the occupants.
G. H. Darwin has taken pains to estimate
the stresses caused in the interior
nf Mia oarfli Vw fVtn woiorhfc nf ftnnfcinpntfs
?v VJ ?v ?-?and
mountains, and be concludes that
either the materials of the earth have
about the strength of granite at 1,000
miles from the surface, or that they
have a much greater strength nearer to
tho surface. He confirms Sir William
Thompson's theory that the earth must
bo solid nearly throughout its whole
mass, and he attributes the lava of volcanoes
to the melting of solid rock
which exists at high temperatures at
points wheie tho pressure is dimin- .
isbed, or to the existence of comparatively
small vesicles of molten rock.
The Curious Lacquer "Ware of Japan,
The lacquer ware of Japan and China
is already well \nown to collectors of
bric-a brao. The lacquer ware of Bur
mah is not so well known, and is distinguished
by an extreme thinness and
flexibility. The snpreme test of excellence
in such ware is that the sides can
be bent in until they touch without
breaking tho ware or cracking tho
varnish. These peculiar Eastern wares
/1a ?/\f o/lmif. r\t Vw WaqI .
em mechanics, owing to the peculiar
character of the materials nsed. It wan
once thought that the Chinese and
Japanese lacquered goods were a species
of papier mache,but it is now known
that they are made of native woodB
treated with the juice of the urushi
tree.
A Barman has furnished to an English
paper an interesting explanation
of the mysteries of the flexible Burmese
lacquered ware. It seems that the
smooth, polished articles of that sort
are really bamboo baskets. In Burmese
forests grows a huge tree whose
leaves can hardly be seen for masses
of creamy white blossoms, with a fragrant
applo odor. These blossoms
when oooled in a certain way make an i
acceptable dish. From the truDk of i
the tree is obtained a dark, thick juice i
that becomes jet black upon exposure i
ii.- - . mL _ a i 1..*i. J l l
do me air. xue iiueiy pumeu utuiiuuu
articles are coated witli joica Afterward
pastes, composed of the thit-see
jnico and certain wood dusts are laid
on. Then follow pastes of the thit-see
jaice and bore ashes. The surface is
smoothed and polished by rubbiDg,
and a fine gloss is given by the
nse of a powdered, petrified wood.
Red is almost invariably the ground
color, but a curious checker work is i
produced by rubbing down the red i
paint until the edges of the bamboo I
wicker work are brought up enough to ]
show tho black wood oil through the i
vermilion layer. The colors used in i
trie decoration of the ware are red,
green and yellow, applied in vegetable j
oi's. In this way the Burmese make J
ware of wonderful lightness, flexibility
iind strength, from small drinking cups
Ua-ah tin ^ a an nl.iKnrnfrt
UUU UCLC1 UUAro U u l KJ OU V/iawiMbv
structure six feet high, with seven
sacrc-d spires, which the king sends
laden with food under the royal umbrellas
to a celebrated pagoda in Manialay.
Tiie thitsee juice has many uses. Applied
to marble or clay images it enables
them to take on gilding. Umbrellas
are always varnished with it to
make them impervious to rain, and all
the racing and war boats in the country
are made by it more water-tight than
the beat calking in the world could
effect.
How They Used to Travel.
In the sixteenth year of the reign of
Charles II., ol England, was established
the tirst turnpike road where toll was
taken, which intersected the counties of
Hertford, Cambridge and Huntingdon.
Until the middle of the eighteenth century,
however, most of the merchandise
conveyed irom place to place was transpi
rted on pack-horses through short
distances. Between distant places a
cart was used, a pack-horse not being
able to transport a sufficient quantity
of goods to pay the cost of the journey.
The common carrier between Selkirk
and Edinburgh, a distance of thirtyeight
miles, required a fortnight for
hia journey, going and returning. Ia
1678 a coach for passengers between
Edinburgh and Glasgow, a distance of
forty-four miles, was drawn by six
horses, and the journey to and fro was
completed in six days. In 1750 the
coach took thirtv-six hours to the journey.
;In 1849 the same journey was
made, by a route three miles longer, in
one hour and a half.
In the year 1763 there was but one
stagecoach between Edinburgh ond
? - ? > % it
London. Tbey started once a monm
from each of these cities. It took a
fortnight to perform the journey.
In 1835 seven coaches started daily
between London and Edinburgh, which
performed the journey in less than forty *
eight lionrs.
In 1763 the nnmber of passengers by
the coaches between London and Edinburgh
could not have exceeded about
twenty-five monthly. In 1835 the
coaches conveyed about 140 passengers
daily.
Until the close of the last century
tho internal transport of goods in England
was performed by wagon, ?nd was
so expensive as to exclude every object
except manufactured articles and such
a?, being of light weight and 6mallbulk
in proportion to their value, would allow
a high rata of transport. Thus the
oimviva fi-nm T.onrion to Lseds was at
the rate of ?13 a ton, being 13 1-2 J. per
ton per mile. Between Liverpool and
Manchester it was 40d. a ton, or 15d per
ton per mile. Heavy articles, such as
coal and other materials, could only he
available for commerce where their
position favored transport by sea, and
consequently many of the ricdost districts
of the kingdom remained unproductive.
Disappointments.
Everybody can recall curious disappointments
in meeting distinguished
people, or looking on famous scencs or
tasting pleasures long coveted. Char
lotte Bronte wa3 disgusted with Thackeray,
because he eat heartily at dinner.
An enthusiastic young lady hovered
near .Mrs. Martineauand Mrs. Somerville
to catch snatches of high literary converse,
and heard them talking of bonnets
and gowns.
A large company of clergymen met
Archdeacon Paley at dinner, hoping
for instruction from his rare learning.
The only remark he made during dinner
was on the best method of cook
ing piums in a puuaing.
Lord Maoaulay gives a comical account
of his experience with certain
dainties of food. "When I was a child
I bad a notion of its baing the most exquisite
of treats to eat plaintains and
jams, anil to ilrink palm-wine. I have
now ei j ned all, and I have found, like
much greater men, on more important
occasions, that all is vanity. " A plaintain
is very like a rotten pear, eo like
that I would lay twenty to one that a
person blindfolded would not discover
the difference. A yam is better. It is
like an indifferent potato. I tried
palm-wine at a pretty villago near
Madras, where I spent one night. 1
found it very like ginger beer in which
the ginger had been sparingly used."
Fenians were men of IriBb birth, cr
immediate descent, who organized a
secret society in the United States and
in Ireland in 1877, with the professed
object of establishing a republic in Ireland.
Broken String.
There is no minstrel ripe in years,
But, as hia song ho sings,
Fools musingly across his harp
To find sonio broken strings.
The earty songs that from his l.vro
His youthful fingers flung,
Havo lo-t their first Promethean fire
Since lovo and life wore young.
Tne world may lis'on to the strains
Which from each harp-string float J
But still unto his ear remains
A discord in the note.
And still his heart, unwtisfied,
Seeks, yearningly, in vain,
To find the music which h&a died
And mend the broken strain.
Oh, world! that listens, when too late,
Unto the voice which Binge,
And loves the music, when tho years
Have shattered many string*,
But littlo owes the bard to you
For praises from your tongue,
Who heard not whon tho harp was new,
And lovo and life were young.
HUMOR OF THE DAY.
" I am not so bad as I am painted,'*
said tin fashionable woman.
Taking a bird's-eye view seems to be
a gTeat oversight.?New York Newt.
The bash'ul lover who can't express
his feelings cften sends them bj
mail. ?
Though manufactured abroad, a
home-spun article?A top.?Richmond
Baton.
Columbus made the egg stand, but
Italians of less renown have made the
peanut stand.
Force of habit: "Stop the press!'
the editor frantinally shouted to the
joung fellow who was hugging his
sweetheart.?Elmjra Free Press.
A rich Frenchman who had a desire
? * * * 1 1J
io Know now a camei roast wouiu umw,
paid 84,000 for an animal to get hi?
roast from. It tasted like beef.
" If I thought I ./as going to become
gray, I know [ should die 1" exclaimed
Miss Sprinkle. When she turned gray, ^
she did dye. sure enough.?Boston
Transcript.
A certain doctor of divinity said
every blade of grass was a sermon. The
next day he was amusing himself by
clipping his lawn when a parishioner
Slid: " That's right, doctor?out voui
sermons short."
A le3son iu laigua^a: "S)* your
daughter has married a rich husband?"
"Well," slowly replied the father, "I
believe she has married a rich man,
but I understand he is a very poor husband."?
Hartford.
Student (not very dear as to his lasson)
?" That's what the author says,
fcinv way." Fr fessor?"I don't want
the author ; I want you 1" * Student
(despairingly)?"Well, you've got me."
?Harvard Crimson.
" I ne'er was more Infatuated
Than now, beneath your glances,"
Said Jones unto the bonny maid
Whose love his heart entrances; .
"Except," said she, ' when in that tub
Of butter you prostrated,
That was the time, jou'll own yourself
Still more in-lat-you-waited."
r>/v
"Man and wife are one, are they?'*
said she. "Yes, what of it> eaid he,
raapicionrt^. " Why in that case," said
his wife, "I came home awfully tipsy
last night, and feel terribly ashamed of
myself this morning." Ho never said
a word.?Texas Si/tings.
V Johnnie, here yon are at the break*
fast table and your face is unwashed."
said his mother, with a sharp l*>ok. ' I
know it,ma. I saw the animalcules in pa'a
microscope last nTght, and I ain't going
to have those things crawling all over
my face with their funny little leg?."
Professor James Geikie holds that
"the construction of the Panama canal
will have as much effect upon the Gulf
stream and the climate of Northwestern
Europe as the emptying of a teapotful
of boiling water into the Arctic ocean
would have in raising the annual temperature
of Greenland." The Isthmus *
"f vrrstnlr) UOTA fAKfl anhmflrffA^
Ul I auauiii nv?uu uw %j w w ?
not less than 80n to 1,000 feet before the
waters of the Golf stream could find
their way into the Pacific ooean.
This is a Fashionable Restaurant.
Do you not see the pint Chewing Candy
and the Angel Cake in the Window ?
Angel Cake is Nice, bat yon can get
more Molasses Ginger-broad for yoar
money. Beetha.Yonng Man and his
Girl outside of the Restaurant. Will
they go in? He is telling her Sumo
one was Poisoned last week bv eating
Oysters at the Rehtauratit. S'le exclaims
" How Dreadful 1" and says sho
is glad they have other Thinps to eat in
the Restaurant Besides Oysters. Yes,
they will go in, but he Wishes he had
thought of a better Lie to tell her.?
Elevated Railway Journal.
The Cat.
The cat ic frankly and undisguisedly
seltish; there i? no denying that. It
lives for self and compasses its fnds
without scruple, patient to wait, skillful
to feign and tcheme and utterly
pitiless and unrelenting. But should
sportsmen be very severe on the crea*
1 ?1 AniAKfl n?ifa cmetrt
lura luai tviuouuj rujujo i?iU ? Q ??
keen as their own Ihe pursuit of thehelpless
prey which it hunt's and toys
with, often as much for diversion as
huDger ? One hopes, for the sake of
the sportive birds and heedless mice,
which it fascinates with basilisk eyes
and captures with cruel paw, that there
may be some occult provision of nature
to disarm their fate of its terrors.
Perliaps the theory propounded by
Dr. Livincstone whnn he records his
feelings while in the liou's oli\tch?
that the sensations of the prey are
rather plensiLg than otherwise?may
be true. Wo hope so, but it must be
confessed that appearances are not in
its favor.
Jn early yonth cat nature appears at
its best. Once having emerged from
the puling, sightless stage of its first
nine days, the kitten becomes a winsome
and attractive creature. " Cat
like" is a leproachful epithet aptly
applied to women of tho Becky
Sharp type; but it is not considered
derogatory to the most fascinating girl
to be credited with kitten like ways?
for the kitten is the embodiment of
playfulness and graue. The cruel instincts
of its tribe are not, however,
slow to assert themselves, and it is
comical to hear the mimic growl of
Hinmlor uritti whifth thfl tinv crea
ture gloats over its first moose.
In the pages of fable. Pass Lob ever
figured largely, but rarely after a flattering
manner. His guile and subtlety
form the salient points in the repre
sentations, and his character is painted
akin to that of Master Reynard, the
master of craft. He is depicted as a
demure hypocrite, a false hermit, a
deceitful counselor, the ensnarer of the
nuwiiry, the ally of wizards and
witches Rats in council debate vainly
hew to baffle him. It is hopeless, they
find, to dream of ' bellinj the cat."
Noiseless himtelf on his gloved feet,
his keen ear is not to be caught nap?
ping.?Trnplc Bar.
How an Alligator Eats.
An alligator's throat is an animated
sewer. Everything which lodges in hia
open mouth goes down. He is a lazy
dog, and instead of hunting for someA-l-i
A- --1- 1. 1 -L_ l_
tiling to cut ue leu* iiits viuiuaio uuu?
for him. That is, be lies with his
mouth opeu, apparently dead, lika the
possum. Soon a bug crawls into it,
then a fly, then several gnats and a
colony of mosquitoes. The alligator
don't close his mouth yet. He is waiting
for a whole drove of things. He
docs his eating by wholesale. A little
later a lizard will cool himself under
the shade of the upper jaw. Then a
few frogs will hop up to catch the mosquitoes.
Then more mosquitoes and
pnats light on the fiogs. Finally a
whole village of insects and reptiles
settle down for an alternoon, picujo.
Then all at once there is an arthqoaka.
The big jaw falls, the alligator slyly
blinks one eye, gulps down the entire
menagerie and opens his great front
door again lor more visitors.?Florida
Litter,