The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, January 17, 1883, Image 1
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ABBEVILLE PRESS AND BANNER"!
BY HUGH WILSON AND H. T. WARDLAW. ABBEVILLE, S. C.. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 1883. NO. 32. VOLUME XXVII. |
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Childhood's Yalloy.
It was a quiet valley,
Set far from human ills,
A sunny, sloping valley,
Begirt with green, greeu hills.
The wliite clouds softly knitted
Gray shadows in the grass;
The sea-birds poised and flitted
As they were loath to i>uss.
A clear stream thrid the bridges,
Blue, lazy smoke upcnrled;
Beyond its purple ridges
Lay the unquiet world.
Under tho ivied rafters
Low crooned the sun-drowsed dove;
While vontliful. hreezv laughters
Moved on the slopes above.
Where 'mid the flower-pied spaces
We children made bright quest;
Sure as we ran quick races
The far seen flower was best.
Tims while the sua uplifted
And flashed adown the stream,
The white clouds drifted, drifted,
In deep, untroubled dream.
Fair shines that sunny valley,
Set far from human ills;
Our childhood's simple valley
Begirt with green, green hills.
Nor all the world's mad riot
Winch we have known since then,
Hath touched this valley's quiet
Deep in or.r heart's own ken.
?Good Words.
BELLA'S GHOST.
"Aunt Abigail, who lives in that
great stone house on the hill, which
looks for all the world like the old
castle one reads about in stories?"
Grace and Bella Brenton were spending
tlu> ciiimnor with thfir anflt. Miss
Abigail JJrenton, whom they had not
seen since they were little girls. They
hail just returned from a tour of inspection
through the quaint oldfashioned
but beautiful village where
she lived.
"Xo one now," replied Aunt Abigail,
"it is shut up and has been for
the last eight years. There is a strange
history connected with it. It is darkened
by the shadow of an awful
tragedy."
" What is it, tell us about it, please,"
cried Grace and Bella in the same
breath, with eyes full of expectant
wonder, girl-like, always on the qui !
vivc for anything romantic.
Miss Urenton miiled at the impatient
curiosity of her nieces, but obediently
commenced her story.
"You know," she said, "the house
belonged for years to the Carmichaels,
and when old Mr. Carmichael died his
heirs sold the place to a Mr. Livingstone,
who brought his young bride
tlier to spend the summer.
" .She was a lovely person, a small,
delicately-formed girl, with the daintiest
hands and feet, violet eyes and
hair of the sunniest gold.
"It was easily seen that he adored
her and they were so taken up with
each other that they went very little
into society, but where they did go she
X ,.\.l I
was a great "iaronie, mic uau a huh
simple, unaffected ways, no pride about
her, although it is said she was an
# arl's daughter.
" One evening the village was thrown
into the wildest excitement.
" Mrs. Livingstone had been murdered
while sitting with her husband
on the balcony of their house. They
were sitting there in the twilight, his
arm placed affectionately on her
shoulder, her fond happy eyes smiling
up into his.
"Suddenly, without a moment's
warning, a bullet whizzed through the
air, pierced the young wife's heart,
and she fell back in her husband's !
arms dead.
" The affair was shrouded in the i
greatest mystery. "Who could have!
had the heart to murder her, so young, i
so innocent, so good.
" Large rewards were offered for the j
cimtnrp of the assassin, and skilled de- i
r ? '
tectives employed in the search, without
avail.
"At last a party of men hunting in
the woods near by the house found the
lifeless body of a man whom Mr. Livingstone
recognized as a discarded
suitor of his dead wife.
"From the appearance of the body
when found it was evident that he had
committed suicide, and it was at once
surmised that in all probability he was
the murderer of Mrs. Livingstone.
"As soon jus the mystery was solved,
Mr. Livingstone went abroad, and the
house has been deserted ever since.
People say it is haunted, but of course
that is all talk, but if such things were
nossibl"" Miss lirenton said in con
elusion, "I should think that the spirit
of that unhappy man would be compelled
to forever linger around the
scene of his crime, as an awful punishment."
The girls had listened with breathless
attention.
"Poor Mr. Livingstone," said Grace,
pityingly. "I wonder if he will ever
marry again?" queried Bella.
After that the house became an object
of great interest to them. They
never omitted to pass by it in their
walks and to ponder over the sad ending
of the owner's brief married life.
To Bella particularly it seemed to
have a peculiar fascination.
There was a spice of daring in her
disposition, and one day she conceived
an} idea of going over the grounds.
" It will be easy to get in, Grace,"
she said t<> her sister.
" We can climb this tree, get on to
the fence and jump down."
"Oh! I don't want to," answered
Grace, "besides," trying to think of
some plausible excuse, "besides it is
nearly tea-time and Aunt Abigail
will be waiting for us."
; "Nearly tea-time!" echoed Bella,
'why it is not 4 o'clock yet, oh, come
do, it will be a lovely adventure."
While she was speaking she caught
hold of a drooping branch of a tree
and swung herself on to the stone wall.
After a great deal of persuasion
Grace was induced to follow, and together
they sprang lightly down on to
the ground below.
They found themselves ir. a perfect
tangle of shrubbery, which they tried
to penetrate to the serious injury of
the delicate lace-edged ruffles of their
white mull dresses, and to the great
disgust of Grace, who had no penchant
for " lovely adventures" at
tended with so much trouble.
At last Grace gave a loud shriek .of
terror which was echoed by Bella.
At the foot of one of the hushes in
front of them they had caught sight of
a striped snake, and when was a woman
ever so brave as not to be afraid
of a snake?
They rushed wildly through the
bushes, unheeding how the thorns tore
th^ir hands, and never stopped* until
they reached the broad graveled walk
that led up to the house, to which they
were glad to confine their footsteps.
"When they reached the wide stone
steps of the mansion they paused for a
" liil'H tlinn !it. thfir tenipr
itv, they ascended thein and stood on
the balcony where Alice. Livingstone
met her sad fate.
JJelow them lay the long-neglected
grounds, beautiful in their desolation;
bits of woodland which it had been the
whim of the Carmichaels to leave in
their natural state gave them a picturesque
aspect; among the grand old
trees gleamed rare statues and ivytwined
fountains; luxuriant bushes of
crimson, yellow and snow-white roses
brightened the lawn and flung their
fragrance out upon the summer air.
Over all brooded a strange, deep silt
nee that cast a gloom over the sensitive
spirit of Grace, and she began to
feel nervous and anxious to return
l.ome
Not so with Bella: she discovered a
broken pane in one of the long windows
that ouened out on to the bal
cony, and carried away by the spirit of
adventure slipped her hand through
it, pushed hack the bolt, and with a
little cry of triumph, raised the s;ish.
" Now .let's explore the house," she
proposed.
"Not for the wealth of worlds would
I enter that house," said Grace, decidedly;
then in a hushed voice she whispered.
"remember what Aunt Abigail
said about it being haunted."
"Nonsense," replied Bella; "there
are no ghosts in this world, and if I
there were. I am not afraid of them.
If you wili not come I am going
alone."
"Please don't," pleaded Grace, but
Bella had disappeared, and in a few
moments she heard her voice raised in
a piercing scream of terror.
All l'ears forgotten, she too climbed
through the open window and found
herself in a largt; room in the center
of which on the velvet carpet lay
brave Bella, white and senseless, and a
tall, stately man bending over her
with an expression of the utmost
perplexity and surprise upon his handsome
face.
The ghost of the murderer was the
thought that flashed through Grace's
mind, but it would never do to desert
Bella now, so with ashen cheeks and
trembling in everynerve she advanced
near, and with clasped hands began
iniploringlv :
"Oh ! Mr. Ghost?"
" But I am not a ghost," interrupted
the gentleman, half smiling at her
ludicrous expression of mingled terror
and courage, "and that young lady,"
pointing to Bella, " was she too laboring
under the same impression?"
He knelt down by her side and began
chaling her cold hands in a vigorous
way that soon had the desired effect.
She opened her dark eyes and fixed
them on her sister's anxious face.
Half raising herself from the lloor, she
said, shudderingly:
"Oh ! Grace, J saw the ghost," tlipn
catching sight of the tall form on the
other side, she drew back with a violent
start and seemed threatened with
another fainting.
" Young ladies," said the supposed
ghost. " I do not know to what I aim
indebted for the pleasure of this visit,
but I ;issure you that I am no inhabtant
of the spirit world. Allow me to
introduce myself. I am Mr. Livingstone.
I returned unexpectedly and
quietly yesterday with one servant,
and I suppose few in the village are
aware ot my arrival I suppose you
have heard the story of my wife's
V" hp continued, and an ex
pression of deepest sadness coming
into his eyes. " It was a great task
for me to come here where eveiything
reminds me so forcibly of her, but
imperative business rendered my visit
unavoidable "
Completely reassured, the girls told
him of their desire to see the place
and Bella's undignilied method of
gaining admittance.
" They said the house was haunted,
but I was not afraid," exclaimed Bella, i
proudly. .
"Xo, evidently not," replied Mr. 1
Livingstone, smiling, as he thought of I
the sudden apparition of a fair young <
girl, with lloating, dusky tresses, and j
robed in white, gazing at him for a ;
moment with lovely startled eyes, then j
with a cry of terror falling at his feet,
lie politely offered to conduct them '
rvv/?r tlnlKC lint tllPV flpf'1 in f'l 1 !t<?
it was getting lute; so he escorted j
tlie 111 as far as the massive iron gate, !
which he summoned the servant to <
unbar for them. On their way home :
Grace and Bella agreed that Mr. Liv- ]
ingstone was the grandest and most !
handsome man they had ever met. i
The next day that gentleman, by some ;
means or other, found his way to the ]
little white cottage, ostensibly to return
a parasol and handkerchief for- :
gotten the day before, but from the '
admiring way in which his eyes rested i
on Bella's piquant face, and the readi- <
ness with which he accepted the in- i
vitation "to call again," one might |
very reasonably have supposed that ]
there was another motive. The ac- '
quaintance, so unceremoniously com- '
menced, soon ripened into friendship, :
and at last Mr. Livingstone's visits at i
the cottage were looked forward to <
with certainty at least twice a week. ]
His partiality for Bella was very (
evident. (
At first Grace was always included '
in the invitations for carriage rides and ]
moonlight walks, but she soon saw ]
that a third party was decidedly in the ^
way, and so discreetly remained at :
home. One bright afternoon Mr. Liv- '
ingstone came in and inviteu the young J
ladies and Miss Brenton over to see his
home, in which he had been making !
great alterations. >
" You will not have to scale the '
fence or climb througli windows today,"
he said, laughingly, to Bella. 1
When he had shown them every- !
thing of interest, the grand parlors {
with their rich velvet carpet, gold em- 1
broidered hangings, antique furniture, 1
rare old paintings and costly bric-a- '
brae, the library with massive oak
panelings and a cabinet of curiosities 1
picked up in his travels, the conserva- 1
tory with its gorgeous tropical plants,
lie led them into a lovely little tea :
room, furnished in blue and gold,
which opened from the drawing-room, '
and directed the housekeeper to tring
them refreshments, while he went out
to give orders to the coachman.
Servants are proverbial for gossiping
and Mrs. Smith was no exception to
| the general rule.
Encouraged by Bella's sweet smile
and gracious manner, she began a conversation
while engaged in laying the
cloth on the small table.
"I think Mr. Livingstone intends
getting married again," she began.
"Is that so?" said Bella, quietly,
with a faint blush.
"Yes," she continued, "to a beautiful
young lady whom lie met in
Europe. lie corresponds with her.
That is her picture in the library.'
Bella had noticed the picture because
it was the only portrait there;
a picture oT a woman wit h a bewitching
face shaded by waves of dark brown
hair, and lighted by tender, smiling
eyes. And that was his intended?
A swift, sharp pang of jealousy
thrilled through Bella's heart, draining i
all the warm color from her face, ami
she turned abruptly away to end the
conversation.
(Jrace and Miss Brenton were looking
at a statuette and did not hear
Mrs. Smith's words, but when they
turned and-saw Hella's white face they
both ran to hi'r side, alarmed.
" Why, Bella!" <!race cried, " what
is the matter with you? Are you
sick?"
u X',. '? o..;.l frvlrwr ct.lilo.
J?.IW, "J1"* |
"the room is a little close?that is all."
That night, in the seclusun of her
own room, the door safely locked
against intruders, JJella threw herself
upon the bed in a perfect agony of
wounded pride and affection.
"So he never cared for ine at all,'
she thought, hitter, blinding tears tilling
her eyes; "all his tender, flattering
attentions meant nothing, he lias
only?and oh ! how the thoughts sent
the hot blushes Hying to her face?
he has only been trying to amuse
himself at mv expense, but he shall j
never know I care," she said, with all i
a woman's pride. " I Avill be cold and I
indifferent to him, will never see him,!
i if 1 can help it, and lie shall never;
even guess the reason."
She kept her word and for a weeksucceeded
in avoiding him entirely.
"When he called she was always out,
had a " headache," or was very husily
engaged, to the great wonderment of
Grace and Miss lirenton, to whose inquiries
concerning her strange behavior
she vouchsafed no answer.
At last, one day Mr. Livingstone
saw the .front door of the cottage (
&& : ...
open, and with the right of* a privileged
visiter, entered without ringing.
He found Delia sitting i>n the sola in
the parlor trying to read. She blushed
deeply as she saw him, but managed
to say "(iood-al'ternoon, Mr. Livingstone,"
in a very formal manner.
He returned her cold greeting with
a reproachful look, and as she was
about to leave the room murmuring
something about "calling Cirace," he
caught her hand and gently but lirmly
detained her.
"I did not come to see (iraee," he
said, gravely, " I came to set; you. I
want to know why you have so persistently
avoided me lately? IIow
have I been so unfortunate as to offend
you V "
"I?1 heard you were going to bo
married and?"
She paused in confusion. This was
what she had not meant to tell him?
+ cnorni rvf l?i?r (1knlpf)GlirO
"So 1 am," lie said, his face brightening,
" if the one I love will have me!
Will you, Bella, for you an; she? I
have loved you ever since the day 1
first saw you. "Will you come to gladden
my heart and home, so long
lonely V "
From her heart the shadows of doubt
and distrust were fast being swept
away before the glad, bright flood of
joy his fond words brought her, but
she would be certain.
" But whose picture is that in your
library," she said, drawing away from
him, and her face darkening even then
at the remembrance of it, " the picture
of that lovely woman in white?"
" That is the picture of mv sister
Edith, who is now in Europe," he replied,
wondering at the question. Then
a sudden thought struck him, "why
Bella you never thought that?"
" Xo, I did not," she interrupted,
while on her face there dawned " the
light that never was on sea or land,"
the light of love.
""Will you forgive my past unkindness,"
she murmured, lifting her tender,
radiant eyes to his, that told him
the story of her heart's love.
With a thrilling cry of " my own, my
darling," lie clasped her in his strong ,
arms, sealing her forgiveness with
warm, fond kisses on her ruby lip.
So Mr. Livingstone did " marry
again," the old stone house was no |
longer desolate, and " Jlella's Ghost"
became her own special property forever.
Curiosities of the Ocean.
Very many of our young friends ,
have not seen an ocean, or have much ,
idea iiow large it is, though their ,
school maps show that the two largest, :
the Pacific and tlie Atlantic, cover al- (
most half of the globe. Think of a ^
steamer going from Xew York to Liv- ,
erpool, where the Atlantic is com para- .
tively narrow. Some steamships sail j
faster than many railroad trains ordi- .
narilv run. One going all the while J
sixteen miles an hour or a mile in .
three and three-quarter minutes, re- {
quires more than nine days and nights ,
going across. Most think of the hot- j
torn of the sea as* a broad, llat, sandy j
lied, but it is about as uneven as a ]
country covered with mountains, and x
at least some portions of it abound in (
animal life. The sun's light does not |
rr/\ V'iirir I'ur ilnwn lint nlJ till" (lecill-r I :
5" ,v'.' *"* - l - J
parts art* always sis dark as midnight. (
The fish which lives three-quarters of ,
it mile below the surface have no eyes, ,
us they would he useless. The United '
States fish commission has, during j
eleven years past, made some 2,000 (
soundings and dredgings on the At- r
lantie coast, between Labrador and
New Jersey, of which Professor Verrill,
of Yale college, has conducted
ibout 500. His accounts of these experiments
are full of interest. i
Sometimes the dredges bring up l
stones weighing 500 to 1,000 pounds, ;
which have been dropped by melting
icebergs floating down from the north.
Off the coast, from Cape Cod and l
southward, the sea lays like a plain, i
gently inclining downward, out to c
from seventy to 120 miles, where the t
water is 500 to GOO feet in depth. ;
flien the bottom drops down like the ^
side of a steep mountain, and the water ]
is 5,000 to 0,000 feet deep. The top ;
Df this ocean mountain, or higher (
plain, is covered all over with fishes, i
I'rabs, shrimps, etc., so thickly that a
i j ?. l 1 1.1 4Ka 1
livers mum cuum iiiinu? muni tuu ^
bottom without grasping some of l
them. Sharks and dolphins are there
in countless thousands. The trawls
let down to drag the bottom bring up ]
<o many of these living creatuns as t??
show that the ocean bed there is car- J
[>eted with them.
If a ship sinks, these animals con- 11
mine every part of it except the met- ^
;ils, and these soon rust away. Every
lx>ne of man and lisli is eaten, and the
wood is destroyed l v the borers. The A
only thing made by man which Professor
Verrill found was a child's rubber
iloll. The fish either respected this, or
could not crush or digest it?probably ^
the Latter. The deep water is very cold,so ^
that lisli found at the surface far north
live in these lower layers or strata of
cold water. The cod lisli takes a whole j
oyster in his mouth, crushes the shell
with his strong teeth, swallows the
inside and spits out the shell. Some- ]
times the dredge shows great mounds
of these shells. The lish commission
has dredged up about 800 different species
of iish and erustacie (shcll-lish, i
crabs, etc.), of which not half had ever
before been seen by naturalists.? ,
American Ayrivullnrist.
A Joke on a Candidate. ,
"When Colonel Singleton was candidate
l'or Congress from one of the hill J
districts of Arkansaw, lit* had a rich
experience, lie soon became the butt
of his opponents' jokes, am! as there were
ten aspirants for the position,
his life was an exaggerated
burden. Once when the candidates, 1
on horseback, were going to meet an !
appointment of oratorical contest, Sin- j
gleton fell behind, determining no
longer to submit to their raillery. The j
party passed out of sight, leaving tin; ;
disconsolate candidate to his own re- '
(lections. A slight rain had fallen, and
when the party crossed a broad, shallow
creek, one young fellow conceived
the idea of ;i joke. "Suppose," said j
he, " that we take off our coats and
wait until Singleton comes in sight,
when we will put them on, giving to
him the impression that the creek is
deep. We'll not say anything to him,
and he will think that we want him to
plunge into the water."
The idea was acted on. rrctty soon
Singleton came along.
"That's all right," he yelled when lie
saw the mvn hurriedly putting on their
coats. "1 understand you. Want me
to get wet, eh V"
lie dismounted, and although the
day was fearfully cold he took off his
clothes, mounted and carefully guiding
the horse, he entered the stream. The
water was not more than six inches'deep.
and when he perceived the cruel joke
he stood up in the stirrups and began
to fume, when his clothes fell into the
water and began to lloat away. In at
M*UlplIIl?r 1(9 H'ilUI (Mil mill n^uui
them, lit- fell mid his lior.sc staggering,
stc]?i?<*(l on liiin. JI is rage was terrific,
and when he arrayed himself in his
garments, he borrowed a gun at a
neighboring house and chased his political
opponents liftc<'n miles, totally
forgetting his appointment to speak.?
A ikausato Traveler.
The editor of the Journal of Science
records that a young man of his acquaintance
has been in some danger
from the sting of a bee. Altogether
the symptoms were such as to excite
no little alarm. The roof of the mouth
j swelled, the oesophagus was for a
! time completely closed, and breathing
| became exceedingly difficult.
... r. ' : : t
A- 1 rsviri-.,JL .1 i * 1 ;
FOK THE; FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.
T-'iiciuicM to Yomiu Trren In Winter.
Field mice may ruin a whole orchard
in a single winter by gnawing the
tender bark from the trunks of the
fruit and other trees. The greatest
destruction is done while the earth is
covered with a heavy fall of snow. At
this time the mice burrow from tree
to tree, and forage at their free will,
under cover of the snow. So soon as
the storm is over the snow should be
tramped down around each tree, to
shut oil' tin* mice. Rabbits may be
l ii.vf H.n frm.u 1 iv ?ni/'!irin<r the
IUT" V n
liark with blood or rubbing the trunks
with refuse meat.
lloino-lWndc Suncr-Phoupbmc.
The Maine Fanner says: Mr. A.
C. Emery purchased 100 pounds of
ground bone, placed it in a half hogshead
tub and applied forty pounds of
sulphuric acid, adding water as desired.
In live days' time the whole mass was
reduced to a consistency of thick jelly.
Water was then added and 300 pounds
of plaster used as a dryer, the. whole
being worked and shoveled over until
it could be readily handled. The phosphate
so made was applied to one acre
of corn and one of potatoes, both being
manured sufficiently, and a small quantity
was left, which was applied to his
wheat field and a plat of grass ground,
just to see what it would do. The result
of this manure in the two latter
instances was most marked, while the
corn was heavy?the growth being
dark-colored and stout and the potatoes
good. The entire cost of the phosphate
was $7.50, and Mr. Emery thinks it the
best expenditure in the way of pur
chased manures no ever inane.
Storing I'otatoon.
There are three methods of storing
in general use, each of which has its
merits and its champions. These are
storing in barrels, bins, heaps or pits.
The same general principles underlie
these several methods, viz.: Protection
against frosts and temperature, freedom
from moisture and avoidance of
heating caused by storing too deep.
The advantages claimed for storing in
barrels are that the roots are easily
handled, do not suffer from abrasion,
can be easily examined, and if disease
appears it can be readily checked and
removed. The chief objection to this
method is the time and expense involved
when the crop is a large one.
Bins are coming largely into use,
especially in localities near large
cities, for the potatoes can at any
time be readily readied and prepared
for market. .V cool, dry, well
ventilated cellar, with the light excluded,
is an admirable place in which
to store potatoes. The argument in
favor of storing potatoes under
ground is that there is little, if any,
loss by evaporation. Objections to tlie
i)lan are the-labor involved in opening
:he banks when the roots are required
md the risk involved from the exseines
of t<?o elose or insufficient covering.
When pits are employed it is
mportant that arrangements be made
'or ventilation. "When stored in cellars,
>arns or roothouses it is a safe plan
lot to fill the bins with roots to a
lepth exceeding three or four feet. It
ias .been claimed that lime sprinkled
n barrels or bins at that rate, say of
>ne pound to each barrel, tends to present
decay by acting as an absorbent
tnd neutralizing the earthy odors.
The importance of excluding light
"rom potatoes and keeping them as
:ool as possible without freezing canlot
be over estimated.?Farmer and
Manufacturer.
The Cost of Href.
Mr. John 1). (Jillet, of Illinois, the
veil-known cattle breeder and feeder,
ias prepared a statement of the averige
cost of bringing a steer up to the
iges ol' twelve months, two years
ind three years and the profit to the
eeder at these several ages. Of course
tmust be remembered that the system
>f feeding practiced by Mr. Gillett is
he one generally pursued in Illinois,
md varies from the usual practice
imong Xew York, Ohio or Xew Eng
itnu nrutiH'is ; uut mrs iuug i-ajjcucukc
ind great success make his statements
>f value to all interested in cattle feedng.
Ilis figures are as follows :
cost ok steer twelve months old.
,'aluo of calf lit birth ? 3 00
Expenses of dam of calf chargeable to
calf for one year as follows: Eight
per cent, interest on $"?0, value of
cow 4 00
veep of yearling and feed of cow 12
months 12 2.1
nsurance on cow 100
<isk on failure of cow to breed 1 7f?
..oss of calves by death, etc 1 00
\o corn fed lip to 12 months.
I'alue of pasture and keep up to 12
months (5 00
Total *20 00
Yeight of calf at 12 months, 700 pounds,
worth, at 5 cents 35 00
Profit at 12 months of age G 00
osr raoii twelve to twentt-foub months
of age.
'alue of steer at 12 months of age....S3f? 00
,'alue of stock corn from 12 to 24
months of age, 110 bushels of corn
at 34 cents 38 fiO
Pasture 12 to 24 months 3 00
interest and risk 2 80
Total $87 30
L<ess fiOO pounds pork made on droppings
of steer from 12 to 24 mouths
age, at 5 cents 2.-JOO
Net cost 12 to 24 months $53
iVeight of steer at 21 months, 1,000
pounds; value of steer at 24 montMft
at t>}-2 cents 104 00
L rolit at lit mouths ot aj?o j.u /u
;OST I'UOM TWKLVK TO TWKNTVTOUB MONTHS
OF AC1K.
^';<luo of steer at 24 months aye $104 00
i'alue of stock coin consumed in entire
year, 12f> bushels, nt U"i cents.... 43 7.r>
Pasture, May 1 to Nov 1 4 00
[ntc rost and risk L'l to :5t> months of ago 8 .'52
Total *1C007
Less .'00 pounds pork at 5 cents, made
on droppings of steer L'500
Cost at !5G months ape $i:V? 07
kVeijjht at :U5 months age, L',209 pounds,
at 7 cents 1"4 00
Profit at !!'i months aye 18 Jt5
From this statement it appears that
the net profit of the lirst year's feeding
is only sf,, while the second year it is
The third year, however, only
?18.9.', is gained hy feeding. These
ligures exhibit how much is gained hy
early maturity :1 the value of improved
sto? u i i tir.j farmer. It is a
well-known fact that a good grade
Shorthorn or Hereford steer will he
4'tillt* .?. <iri/l riun fli/?
1 11 j i \ u.> Jiimj ?ii?vi n'l iiii> I'liaiivi
at two years of ago as an ordinary
native steer at three years, and that
tiie food consumed by each annually
will vary hut little. Kverv farmer,
therefore, who is feeding native stock
for the butcher is wasting a year's
time and feed.?American ('it/ticafur.
A Vein on ."Hon! Fnrin*.
Very many communities know the
excitement produced by the rumor,
even, that somebody in the vicinity
lias found indications of the presence
of gold in the soil. I'ntold millions
have been expended in searching for
the precious metal in localities where
a bit of useless iron pyrites (sulphide of !
iron) lias been mistaken for gold, j
which it resembles in color. Our oh- J
scrvation indicates that there is, on at
least foiir-lifths of the farms of this
country, an overlooked golden vein, of
metal likely to lie found outside of
few special geological formations.
The following experiment, tried on
any farm or garden, will explain what
we are aiming at. Take a quart of
fair quality yard manure and pour upon
it a pint of water. After standing a
week or two drain oft" hiilf a pint of
the liquid. Now prepare two corn
hills a few feet apart on any ground,
even rich prairie soil. For one hill
make a hole three or four inches deep
and pour into it the half-pint of liquid,
adding a trifle of line earth and plant
the corn. Plant the second hill without
this preparation. The result will
bo, almost always, that in the first hill
the rootlets and subsequent roots will
grow down whore the liquid has
soaked, much more quickly, grow
stronger, spread wider, and send out
far more numerous feeding fibers than
will be found in the second hill. The
young corn plants (and the same with
| other plants) will, like well fed young
animals, develop much earlier and take
far bettor advantage of the growing
season. In short, whatever the soil,
this hill will on the average ripen
earlier, produce more stalks and
twenty to fifty per cent?often a hundred
per cent.?more sound kernels
than the other hill. And, by the way,
there is in the quart of fertilizer
enough material left for a similar
effect upon three or four other corn
hills.
Now, visit the farm yards of the
country generally, and in nine-tenths
of them there will be found, on one
side or another, quarts, gallons, barrelfuls,
of this golden liquid leaching
away and wasting?often scores and
hundreds of barrels of it during a
year. Yet, at trifling cost, perhaps
only an earth bank on the lower side
of the yard, all this wastage may be
saved and turned to account. The
streams, rich in stimulating plant food,
now lost from the yards of the four and
one-third million farms of our country,
may, with very little care and trouble,
be retained in the rotting organic matter
and transferred to corn hills and to
the roots of other crops. Ileal gold
will be found in the increased crops
and obtained at far less cost and labor
than is expended by the great mass ofgold
miners. Proper attention to so
simple a matter in the farms of the
country, taken together, would add
more dollars to the wealth of the country
every year than is now dug out of
all the gold mines between the Atlantic
and Pacific. During this leisure
month let every one look over his own
premises, and see what he is wasting
in this direction and where he can
save and profit.
ItrclDOM.
Cracker Pudding.?Pour one quart
boiling water over six soft crackers;
let stand until very soft; add three or
four eggs, one cup raisins, one-fourth
spoon salt, sweeten, flavor or spice,
bake. Very nice.
Celery Soup?Boil a small cup of
rice in three pints of milk until it will
pass through a sieve. Grate the white
part of three heads of celery on a bread
grater; add this to the milk after it
lias been strained ; put to it a quart of
strong veal stock ; let it boil till the
celery is very tender. Season with
salt and cayenne pepper and serve.
Lemon Ciieese Cakes.?Put half
pound butter into a basin and beat it
up until it is a cream, add the yolks of
two eggs, the rind of two lemons
grated, the juice of one and a tablespoonful
of castor sugar. Mix these
thoroughly. Line a dish or patty pans
with puff paste and pour in the mixture
and bake in a moderately quick
oven.
Italian Fried Liver.?Ilave the
liver cut in slices a quarter of an inch
thick; put on a frypan with a little
butter and fry the liver one minute on
each side, or just long enough to glaze
it so as to retain the juices; then take a
can of tomatoes, and when it has come
to a boil put on the meat with the
tomatoes and boil twenty minutes.
Serve hot either alone or with ma- aroni.
Substitute for Butter.?A lady
who is a famous housekeeper recommends
an economical plan for making
cakes without butter, which may be ol'
use to our readers who have a dread
of " margarine." Take a piece of fat
pork, melt it down and strain it
through a piece of coarse thin muslin.
Set it aside until it is cold. It is then
white and lirm and may be used like
butter in any kind of cake. In pound
cake she assures us it is delicious.
Household Hint*.
Warm soapsuds will keep the bugs
off of house-plants and make them
grow very fast.
To remove finger-marks,putty stains
etc., from glass, put a little soda in the
water with which you wash it.
To keep linen from turning yellow,
iMif if nii'nv nillirli ilrt? nftjir Wncllincf
jl.lU ?l??V ?1?V. ?
and bleaching well and rinsing in blue
water.
Some kinds of stains may be removed
from silk by the application of essence
of lemon, one part; spirits of turpentine,
five parts. Mix and apply to spot
by means of a linen rag.
Lemons can lie kept in good condition
for a long time by putting them
in a tight cask and covering with
water. They must be kept in a cool
place, and the water should be changed
every other day.
To remove clinkers from stoves,
place a few oyster shells in the grate
while the lire is burning and the (.-linkers
will at once become loose and may
lie readily removed without injuring
the lining.
Tcherniclicvski.
For fifteen years Tcherniclicvski, the
author of the celebrated novel, " What
to Do," and one of the most remarkable
of Russian socialistic writers, has
been interred in a little town of Siberia.
A Russian review published in
Geneva contains an interesting communication
relative to the illustrious
victim of proscription, for whose liberation
liberal Russia lias so long
pleaded in vain.
Thi.iurl. tlw> I!im(<i:in nsitririt. TpIut
niclievski is not dead, as lias been more
than unci; reported, lie is dead to society.
lie still lives in the remotest
portion ol' Siberia, that icy country
which has witnessed the death of so
many illustrious condemned.
Tcherniehevski is interred at Kolinisk;
lie is alone, separated by the gigantic
barriers of snow and ice of Yakoutsk
from everybody that can understand
him.
The little town to which he is consigned
counts but a few hundred inhabitants;
the literary society of the vicinity
is composed of two or three olliciids.
as more are no avauawe loiigmgsm
the place, the exile lives in a single room
in the guard-house, where he can lie
most conveniently subjected to a very
rigorous surveillance. During the day
he is allowed to walk the streets, but
must present himself every evening before
his guardians.
The labors of science which might
distract and occupy his mind are al-.
most impossible, lor he has no books ;
lift is forbidden to read newspapers or
literary publications.
One day he tried to send an article to
a Russian journal, but the governor
confiscated the package.
Tcliernichovskl, nevertheless, writes
occasionally, but tears up and burns
all his productions. Then! is something
mysterious about this method of
procedure. The poor exile has a little
garden which he cultivates himself;
he gives it much attention and carefully
watches the growth of His plants;
he has drained the soil of his garden,
which is marshy. He lives by the
products which lie raises and eats only
vegetables ; he lives so plainly that in
i the entire year he does not expend the
sum of one hundred and twenty rubles
allowed by the Russian government;
his savings are deposited with the police
commissioner.
The health of the exile is bad ; he
I lias grown old and bent. In the little
town where lie is interred the people
revere him and consider him as a saint
I ?not, of course, because of his literary
genius or scientific knowledge, of
which these poor people have probably
I never heard ; but the wisdom, good'
ness and charity of this man, whose
life is absolutely pure and who bears
his burden with such touching resignation,
inspire in all a sentiment of the
' profoundest pity.?Libertyy
LADIES' DEPARTMENT.
Ncwm and Notes for Women.
Twenty thousand messages are transmitted
daily by telephone in Cincinnati,
affording occupation to several hundred
young ladies.
Queen Victoria is fond of "Welsh
woolens in plain and neutral tints,
and in tiny checks of rich dark red
and brown. Her favorite is black and
dark green.
Queen Olga, of Greece, carries with j
her on her travels a lap dog of that
rare breed so often represented by Sir
Peter Lely in his pictures of the ladies
I of the court of Charles II.
Mrs. I)c Long, wife of the unfortunate
commander of the Jeannette, has
made satin tobacco pouches and given
them to Ninderman and Noros, who
last saw her husband alive.
There are more than thirty women
in the ranks of female correspondents
at Washington, and gome of them
write most interesting letters and have
influence which Mrs. Ann Royal, the
mother of them all, never dreamed of.
Kentucky is indulging in quilting
bees and cat shaking. After the quilting
a cat is put upon the quilt. The
young folks take hold of the corners
and toss the animal till it jumps off
upon one of the young ladies, who is
then crowned queen of the bee.
A novel bridal trip lias been made
by ;i Texan and his wife. W. J. McLane,
the owner of a $100,000 farm in
Couclio county-, made the trip from his
home to San Antonia, a distance of
150 miles, with his bride, in a wagon.
After a short stay in the city they proceeded
on their way to the coast. Mr.
McLane is over fifty years old and his
wife is about thirty-five.
There was a time when buttons
were used by the gross as trimmings.
They were sewed on anything and
I evervwhere. down the middle and up
the sides, on cither "front" of a jacket
and thickly bestrewing the sleeves.
Clever, indeed, was that girl eonsidered
who arranged her buttons in vandykes
round her dress, and her skill
was well advertised by the terrific
noise made in church by her very
original trimming. It never occurred
to any one that buttons should have
some plausible excuse for being in any
given place. In peppering them all
over a costume the pepperer should
have been equally liberal with small
tabs and buttonholes. Then the buttons
could at least have pretended to
be useful.?London Daily News.
Fnnliion Notes.
Very wide linen collars are in vogue
again.
Pearls and imitation pearl beads are
fashionable.
Kid bonnets are the odd and rather
pretty fancy of the passing moment.
Shoes and stockings, when not black,
should match the general color of the
toilet.
The loose gathered or plaited English
frock remains the favorite for girls
under ten years of age.
Deep capes of fur, resembling too
closely those of coachmen, are much in
favor with young ladies.
Scarlet and green and green and
pink in subdued tones are fashionable
combinations in velvet and satin in the
fornyition of rich dinner toilets.
Slender bracelets set with gems are
more and more fashionable, the gold in
some instances being merely a
wire which serves to hold the jewel.
I Kilted Scotch and ftther plaid skirts
with plain jersey of one solid color,
:md scarf drapery covering the joining
of bodice and skirt, are still the most
fashionable, serviceable..and becoming
school dresses for girls in their tee^.
J'lush and French felt hats are
| shown with melon brims and melon
crowns. The latest oddity is a hut
with a low crown and a very narrow
brim, these shapes resembling the
metal headpieces worn by Cromwell's
men.
Novelties in hats are of leather m
the natural color. Some are in combinations
of felt and leather, the brim
being of the felt bound with leather
stitched on under gold braid, which
;dso covers the stitching in the leather
c rown. Leather lace is something new
in trimmings. Figures of leather cut
out and applkjued on to any desirable
fabric are also popular, Kussia colored
leather, very line ;md cut in open patterns,
is much in demand for dress
trimmings.
Sabrinawork is a variety of applique
work and is very fashionable. It consists
in cutting out either from colored
velvets, velveteen, satin, silk,
cloth, serge or washing materials,
whole or single petals of dowers,
leaves, or conventionalized flower patterns,
and aflixing those pieces on to
colored cloth or white linen backgrounds,
with wide-apart buttonhole
stitches; while such parts of the design
as are to small to he cut out are
worked with chain or crewel stitch
upon the material used as a background.
Sebastian Cabot.
T. W. Iligginson, writing in Ifurper's
Magazine, says : Sebastian Cabot
ww r.ortiiinlv iii one sense the dis- I
eoverer of A ni or lea ; it was ho who
lirst made sure that it was a wholly
new and unknown continent. In Ids
early voyages he had no doubt that he
had visited India, but after his voyage
of 141)8 he expressed openly Ids disappointment
that a " New Found
I Land" of most inhospitable aspect lay
as a barrier between Europe anil the
desired Asia. As the (Jerman writer,
J)r. A slier, has well said, "Cabot's displeasure
involves the scientific discovery
of a new world." In his charts
North America stands as a separate
and continuous continent, though
doubtless long after his time the separate
islands were delineated, as of
old, bv others, and all were still
supposed ' to be outlying parts
of Asia. In this, as in other respects,
Cabot was better appreciated
lifty years later than in his own day.
I lis truthful accounts for the time discouraged
further enterprise in that tit*
-- rni 4-X...4. 1- *>
rCCUOJl. " .1. IH'V Lililt M l'l\ nuiirn, nam
Peter Martyr, " must not go to tlie
frozen North." And alter one or two
ineffectual undertakings lie found no
encouragement to repent liis voyages
totlie North American coast, but was
sought for both bv Spain and Kngland
to conduct other enterprises, lie was
employed in organizing expeditions to
the lirazils, or to the north polo by
way of Russia, but the continent he
had discovered was left unexplored,
lie was esteemed as a skillful mariner
and one who had held high ollieial station;
he died dreaming of a new and
infallible mode of discovering the
longtitude which he thought had been
revealed to him from heaven, and
which he must not disclose. The date
of his death, like that of his birth, is
unknown, and his burial-place is forgotten.
But fifty years later, when
Englishmen turned again for a differI
ont object toward the American con
tinent, they remembered his early
achievements, and based on tlivm a
(Jaim of ownership by rij^lit of discover}'.
Even then they were so little
appreciated that Lord Bacon, writing
his "Reign of Henry VII.," gives but
three or four sentences to the explorations
which perhaps exceed in real importance
all else that happened under
that reign.
A recent return shows that the rates
of mortality .at different ages in the
British army are lower than among
civilians until the soldier attains thirtylive
years, after which the military
death-rate rises rapidly. Under twenty
the average death rate of troops on
home service is half that of civilians.
ENGINEERING A CANVASS.
Simon Ciuiicron'n Account of How LIncoln'i
Sccoml Nomination YVitx HrotiKht About.
President Lincoln's fear that Ben
'Wade, Chase, Seward and the other
Republican leaders were organizing a
movement to defeat his renomination
is familiar history. Mr. Cameron was
just home from Europe in the midst of
the intrigue which so disturbed the
President. lie called General Cameron
to his side and recounted his fears that
the Republican leaders who were
plotting against him would defeat him
for a second term. "It can't be done,"
was the emphatic reply of Mr. Cameron
when Mr. Lincoln had told his story.
"The sentiment of this country i.s
overwhelmingly for you and it must
find expression before the convention
meets."
" How can it be done ?" was the swift
question of Mr. Lincoln.
" Easy enough," said General Cameron.
" I remember during General
Jackson's first term, while I was building
the Lake Pontchartrain canal into
New Orleans, I was called home by
Mr. Eaton, secretary of war, to assist
in the campaign for the re-election of
Jackson. You will remember that
Jackson had pledged himself not to
run a second time, rsd the first point
t'*> gained was to decide what means
shonld be taken to remove this obstacle.
We had a consultation, and it was
suggested that some State legislature
should start with a petition asking
Jackson to become a candidate for reelection.
This could be followed by
Others until all the Democratic States,
through their representatives, had
spoken in his behalf. His great popularity
made this an easy task. The
legislature of Pennsylvania readily
signed the request asked and the other
States followed in quick succession.
He could not, of course, decline such
a call, and he was re-elected. The
people naturally supposed it was a
spontaneous uprising in his behalf,
whereas it was a carefully prepared
plan to arouse and direct public sentiment.
This can be done in your case,
and we will begin in Pennsylvania as
we did for General Jackson."
" Do you think it can be done, general?"
said Mr. Lincoln.
" Of course," was the reply. " I
will show you how easily." And the
two then parted, with Mr. Lincoln
verv much pleased with the abiding
aith of his new ally.
Mr. Cameron returned to Pittsburg,
and in a clay or two sent Mr. Lincoln
the petition of the Pennsylvania legislature,
asking him to lie a candidate
for re-election and pledging him the
vote of the State. Very soon after
State after State followed this lead in
rapid succession, and each additional
recruit gave Lincoln great pleasure.
It was not long afterward before General
Cameron called at the "White
House on a reception day. Taking his
place in the line, he was pushing his
way slowly to the place where the executive
was receiving his guests. The 1
latter saw Mr. Cameron some distance 1
away in thc.columru Holding up his
great hand encased in a cheap cotton 1
glove, he indicated witli three long fingers
the success of their scheme and !
shouted: "Simon! "We've got 'em! 1
Three more States in to-day."
The crowd looked at the President
ir\ <cf/vTi!oVii>ionf lmf. thpv lift.lo fcnpAV I
*11 UOVUl1|i.,...,V.?, """
liow the receipt of the news from these 1
three States had relieved the niind of ,
Mr. Lincoln. Another phase of this
presidential contest of 1804, which is
just now interesting and exceedingly
apropos, follows the story of how he
was to be chosen for a second term.
After he was satisfied that his nomination
was a certainty, he was very anxious
concerning the man who was to
have the second place on the ticket.
After looking the country over he decided
that ho would like to have Ben
Butler on the ticket with him as the
President. lie sent for General Cam- !
eron and asked him to be his 1
envoy in carrying his desire '
to General Butler, who was "
then in command near Fort Monroe.
Mr. Cameron accepted the mission,
and he, with Henry Wilson, of Massa- |
chusetts, went down in a government ^
vessel to inform (leneral Butler of Mr. ,
Lincoln's wishes. The meeting with *
General Butler, Mr. Cameron said, was j
exceedingly pleasant, but when Mr. ,
Lincoln's desire was made known to j
him his reply was: "I would not ac- }
cept a place on a presidential ticket j
with any man, although I appreciate .
the crmpliment the President has done '
me in making the request." But for '
this positive declination of General c
Bufc'.er there is no doubt lie would have '
been Vice-President and succeeded to j
the presidency instead of Andrew ,
Johnson.?Detroit Post. j
SCIENTIFIC NOTES. J
MM. Piette and Krizik, at an agri- !
cultural gathering at Lundenburg, in '
Germany, drove an ordinary threshing t
machine by electricity, attaining a j
speed of 1,700 turns a minute, and illuminating
at the same time the yard j
in which the machines were exhibited. i
Trees with cut tops, say Magerstein (
and Bilek, produce a larger quantity 5
of reserve matter than if they were ]
left alone, and clipping of the roots (
has a like result. Healthy fruit trees (
should have their roots cut, but not ?
their tops ; but in the case of stone- j
" " ' i I
i nut irees me iups majr uu ju uum (
with the advantageous effect of eon- .
ducing to their general development. J
Among the latest novelties in clocks <
is one kept in motion by the force of ]
a current of air. This curious clock ,
is at a railway station in Brussels, j
The weight is kept wound up by the |
action of a fan placed in a chimney. ,
As soon as it approaches the extreme j
height of its course it actuates a bieak ,
which stops the fan. A simple pawl |
protects it from the effect of an acci ]
dental downward draft. It is not \
necessary that the air in the chimney j
should be heated.
Says the Popular Science Monthly: \
Dr. J'heno called attention in ine ;
American association to some hitherto
unnoticed affinities between ancient i
customs in America anil other conti- ;
nents. He mentioned customs which j
have been shown to have existed in ]
the great river valleys of our countries 1
or have been revealed in the mounds, j
that had parallels in various European
ahd Asiatic countries. Among them ;
were those indicated by the occurrence 1
of figures of serpents, alligators or ;
mythical dragons, and the human form, '
tin: characteristic features of which >
were curiously persistent in each case. <
Some of the shapes of the semi-bar- 1
baric age of Mexico corresponded with j
forms in Devonshire and South Wales.
In the vicinity of some such ligures of (
this charater in the west and east of
the south of England were enormous \
intaglio representations of the human |
form corresponding to the i?t;ujlio
forms at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Drawing
attention to several other apparent
correspondences, the speaker said tira/t
they were the result or a practice arm ;
culture transmitted with concurrent
customs by way of the Pacific from
one continent to another. ,
Velvet work upon embossed velvet
is easy and effective. It consists in
outlining with gold thread the em- ;
bossed (lowers and arabesques and lilling
in the center of such parts with
satin stitch worked in colored liloselles.
| To work?select a deep and rich-toned
piece of embossed velvet and couch
along every outline of the embossing
two threads of Japanese gold thread,
then take two shades of green liloselle
and vein the leaves of the design with
crewel-stitch and a pale shade of lil- I
oselle of the same color as the velvet,
and till in the centers of any (lowers or |
geometrical figures with long satin i
I stitches. I
Mexico and the Mexicans.
The dress of a Mexican cabalero is
peculiar. lie wears a broad-brimmed
felt bat, stiff brim and low crown.
The brim is wide enough to turn the
rain from his shoulders. It also shields
the owner from the sun's rays. I believe
I have never seen a Mexican,
outside the large cities, carry an umbrella.
The hat is very costly, and contains
a band of silver, and the edge of the
brim is ornamented with silver fringe,
sometimes beads of the same metaL
me rose oi ins uress win Keeping
with his hat. lie wears a close
fitting doublet?never a coat?and
pantaloons which end in his boots ;
for no one ever sees the length. He
wears a pair of fine leather boots,
which hide a great portion of his
pants. Immense spurs grace the heels
of his boots. A saber hangs at his
side, and when mounted he is armed
with other ordinance. Frequently his
pants are adorned with a row of buttons
or beads, which run downward,
and which produce a jingling noise
when in motion. The cavalier wears
his hat on the back of his head; hence
when you meet him he presents the entire
circumference of his sombrero.
He eschews collars and cuffs, and seldom
displays a laundried shirt. He is'
polite, spends most ?f his time on horseback,
and is silent always in respect to
his mode of obtaining subsistence. He
gambles, smokes and drinks sparingly.
His horse is a mustang, his saddle and
bridle and equipments are his fortune;
and they are stylish, mounted with silver
and ornamented with much taste
and at considerable cost.
rPKo fwlvnnt i\f -friroirmorQ int.n
ico lias effected a gradual change in
some respects, especially in dress, and
this is especially noticeable only among
the better class. Ladies have taken
to wearing hats instead of the reboso.
They have begun to some extent to
wear hose and to paint a little and use
cosmetics.
The men are far in advance of the
females in respect to innovation in
dress. They wear the American suit
out and out, and have drifted into the
liabit of carrying watches and smoking
cigars. But they never carry an
umbrella, chew tobacco or marry without
the means to maintain a wife.
It may be proper here to state that
Mexicans are very careful of their
health. They fear fevers and protracted
sickness. To avoid additional
cold they frequently dispense with
tiie usual ablutions for several months
at a time. Traveling from the capital
to Vera Cruz in the diligence they
never think of washing hands or face
on the trip for fear, as they say, of
taking colcf Nothing could induce a
Mexican to eat fruit in the evening ;
and he refuses, unless compelled by
fear of death, to take medicine of any
kind. Fevers are usually fatal among
these people. They seem to dread the
appearance of this disease as the precursor
of death, and it is not an unnnnnniin
nppurrpnfA t.f) SPfi JV TObllst
Mexican, when fairly attacked with it,
to abandon all hope. Irf that case he
wraps his blanket around him, flings
himself upon the floor of his hut, and
in the course of a few days dies.
Consumptives goto Tanacan, west of
Vera Cruz, to prove the efficacy of the
?rape grown there, and said to possess
marvelous curative qualities.
There are times when the natives
indulge in drink to some extent, but
lrunkenness in that country ^ rare.
Often on market days many of them
ivill invest a tlaco (cent) in the rum
3f the country?made of sugar-cane?
ind go home somewhat intoxicated,
out it is seldom one sees a man devoted
,o rum by reason of his appetite for
strong drink. And liquor is very cheap
;here too?the aguardiente selling for
ifty cents per gallon. And yet they
lrink largely of wine, especially claret
it meals, but never to excess, except
J- i. 1
rare instances,uouijueks nucic
ire drank by the score and hundred.
?St. Louis Illustrated Magazine.
The Fly Inspector.
An i ncident in the school-if of a
:eacher, as related by herself, illus;rates
our point. She had charge of a
school in a country town early in her
;areer, and among her scholars was a
)oy abo'it fourteen years old, who cared
/cry little about study and showed no
ntere.st apparently in anything conlected
with the school. Day after day
le failed in his lessons, and detentions
ifter school hours and notes to his
widowed mother had no effect. One
lay the teacher had sent liim to his
>eat, after a vain effort to get from him
i correct answer to questions in gramliar,
and feeling somewha': settled, she
matched his conduct. Having taken
lis seat lie pushed the book impatiently
iside, and espying a fly, caught it with
i dextrous sweep of the hand and then
jetook himself to a close inspection of
:he insect. For fifteen minutes or more
.ho boy was thus occupied, heedless of
surroundings, and the expression of
lis face told the teacher that it was
nore than idle curiosity that possessed
lis mind. A thought struck her,
,vZ<ich she put into practice at the first
)p portunity that day. "Buys," said
she, "what can you teJl me about
' I'll- - 1- ?! ?1. i.
lies?" ami calling several 01 me origin?st
by name she .asked them if they
,'ould tell Iier something of a fly's conititution
and habits. They had very
ittle to say about the insect. They
)ften caught one, but only for sport,
md did not think it worth while to
study so common an insect. Finally
>lie asked the dunce, who had silently,
>ut with kindling eyes, listened to
what his schoolmates hesitatingly said,
lie burst out with a description of the
lead, eyes, wings and feet of the little
creature, so full and enthusiastic that
;he teacher was astonished and the
whole school struck with wonder, lie
;old how it walked and how it ate, and
many things which were entirely new
to his teaclier. So that when he had
Inished she said: "Thank you! You
Itave give us a real lecture in natural
listory, and you have learned it all
yourself."
After the school closed that afternoon
she had a long talk with the boy
ind found that he was fond of going
into the woods and meadows and collecting
insects and watching birds, but
that his mother thought ho was wasting
his time. The teacher, however,
wisely encouraged him in this pursuit,
ind asked him to bring beetles ami
butterflies and caterpillars to school,
and tell what he knew about tnem.
Tlie hoy was delighted by this unexpected
turn of affairs, and in a few
Jays the listless dunce was the marked
boy of that school. Books on natural
liistory were procured for him, and a
world of wonders opened to his appreciative
eyes. He read and studied
und examined ; he soon understood
the necessity of knowing something of
mathematics, geography and grammar
for the successful carrying out of his
favorite study, and he made rapid
progress in his classes. In short,
twenty years later he was eminent as
ii naturalist, and owed his success, as
he never hesitated to acknowledge, to
the discerning teacher.?Phrcnolotjirvl
Journal.
Great Sens.
The largest inland sea is the Caspian
lying between Europe and Asia. Its
greatest length is 7(50 miles, its greatest
breadth 270 miles, and its 'area
180,000 square miles. Great Salt Lake,
in Utah, which may properly be
termed an inland sea, is about ninety
miles long, anil has a varying breadth
of from twenty to thirty-live miles. Its
surface is 4,200 feet above the level of
the sea, whereas the Caspian sea is
eightv-feet below the ocean level.
" Money makes the mare go." Yes
but late suppers make the uightinar,
come.
dfi - ' w,,. .. ...
A PLACE CURIOUS TO BEHOLD.
Odd Sight* and Sclcncc In an Oregon Town
?Salmon Fixhiag and FUfaermen.
A writer in the Atlantic Monthly
describing what lie saw in some
'Chance Days in Oregon," says:
Three days and two nights?from
Thursday morning till Saturday after|
noon?between San Francisco and the
mouth of the Columbia, and then we
had to lie at Astoria the greater part of
Sunday night before the tide would let
us go on up the river. It was not
waste time, however. Astoria is a
place curious to behold. Seen from the
water, it seems a tidy little white town
nestled on the shore, .and well topped
off by wooded hills. Landing, one
finds that it must be ranked as amphibious,
being literally half on land
and half on water. From Astoria
proper, the old Astoria, which Mr.
Astor founded, and Washington Irving
described, up to the new town, or
unner Astoria, is a mile and a half.
two-thirds bridges and piers. Long
wooden wharves, more streets than
wharves, resting on hundreds of piles,
are built out to deep water. They
fairly fringe the shore; and the street
nearest the water is little more than a
succession of bridges from wharf to
wharf. Frequently bays and inlets
make up, leaving unsightly muddy
wastes when the tide goes out. To
see family washing hung out on lines
over these tidal Hats, and the family
infants drawing their go-carts in the
mud below, was a droll sight. At least
every other building on these strange
wharf streets is a salmon cannery, and *
acres of the wharf surfaces were covered
with salmon nets spread out to
dry. The streets were crowded with
wild-looking men, sailor-like, and yet
not sailor-like, all wearing india rubber
boots reaching far above the knee,
with queer wing-like flaps projecting
all around at top. These were the
fiahers of salmon, two thousand of
them, Russhins, Finns, Germans, Italians?"every
kind on the earth," jan '%
old' restaurant keeper said in speaking;
of them; "every kind on the earth,
they pour in here, f)r four months, . "V
from May to September. * They're a . ^
wild set; clear out with the salmon, .
'n* don't mind any more'n the fish do ; ^
what they leave behind 'em."
All day long they kill time in the ^3
saloons. The nights they spend on the
water, flinging and trolling and drawing
in their nets, which often burst *
with the weight of the captured sal- \
mon. It is a strange life, and one surp
to foster a man's worst traits rather
than his best ones. The fishermen who ; 1
have homes and families, and are loyal , J
to them, industrious and thrifty, are f.
the exception.
The site of Mr. Astor's original fort
is now the terraced yard of a spruce
new house on the corner of one of the - ^
pleasantest streets in the old town.
These streets are little more than narrow
terraces, rising one above the
other on jutting and jagged levels of ,
the river bank. They command supei&_^^
off-looks across and up and down the
majestic river, which is here far more
a bay than a river. The Astoria peo- .3
pie must be strangely indifferent to Ji
these views, for the majority or the yj ?|
finest houses face away from the water, V'-'ijjjj
looking straight into the rough wooded
hillside.
Uncouth and quaint yehicles are perpetually
plying between the old and <>.
the new towns; they jolt along-fast v. ^
over the narrow wooden roads, and ^3$
the foot passengers, who have no other
place to walk, are perpetually scrambling
from under the horses' heels. It "S
is a unique highway; pebbly beaches,
marshes and salt ponds, alder-grown
cliffs, hemlock and spruce copses on jits .
inland side; on the water side, bust- v
ling wharves, canneries, fishermen's boarding
houses, great spaces filled in
with bare piles waiting to be floored: r
at every turn shore and sea seem to ' -g
change sides, and clumps of brakes,
fresh-hewn stumps, maple and madrone
trees, shift places with canneries
and wharves; the sea swashes under
the planks of the road at one minute,
and the next is an eighth of a mile ' , :
away, at the end of a close-built lane.
Even in the thickest settled business ^
part of the town, blocks of water alternate
with blocks of brick and stone.
The statistics of the salmon-canning
business almost pass belief. In 1881
six hundred thousand cans of
canned salmon were shipped from *
Astoria. We ourselves saw seventyfive
hundred cases put on board one
steamer. There were forty-eight
pound cans in each case; it took five 1
hours' steady work, of forty 'long
shoremen, to load them. These 'longshoremen
are another shifting and turbulent
element in the population of ,t
the river towns. They work day and ;;
night, get big wages, go from place to
place, and spend money recklessly; a
sort of commercial Bohemian, difficult
to handle and often dangerous. At
the time we S&w them they .were on
beer wages. The foaming beer casks
stood at fhort intervals along the 7
wharf?a pitcher, pail and mug at i
each cask. The scene was a lively one:
four cases loaded at a time on each truck,
run swiftly to the wharf edge,
and slid down the hold; trucks rattling,
turning sharp corners; men
laughing, wheeling to right and left of
each other, tossing off mugs of beer,
wiping their mouths with their hands,
and flinging the drops in the air with
jests?one half forgave them for N>?"
tnVinrr nnrt wacres in the l)eer. it made - -*
V,I"4"D I ~ C7 - w
it so much merrier. - '*-*)
The Mate of the " Mark Twain."
In a humorous paper on Mississippi
River travel, in the Century, entitled
' The Trip of the Mark Twain," a
typical character of river life is allowed
to speak for himself'as follows :
The first mate of the vessel, he of the
fur cap, was a character. It was appropriate
to find him in the Mark
Twain. He was bald and looked very
old, but declared he was thirty.
" Ef you had been through what I
hev, my travelin' stranger, quoth he,
" you too would look like an example
of the longest kind of long-gevity. My
name figures prominently in history.
I've been published in four hundred and
thirty-nine newspapers and one
almanac. I've_.be<5n blown up
by steamboats in twenty-two States
and several territories. \On most
occasions everybody onNxJboard
perished except myself.
of my skull is layin' round loose all up
and down this river, and numerous of
Its tributarrys. Awful? Yes. Once
I was aboard the Obiona. I knew we
were goin' to bust that arternoon, for
it w.is about bustin' time with me, and
bust we did. "When I come down I
! couldn't find nothin'. Everything had
bio wed to dust, or gone so fur that
nothin' was within visible distance,
But, bless you !?that's nothin'. Minor
catasterfies? Oh, yes. Once we
smashed a wheel against a snag. Of '
course when we progressed we went
round and round, ;ind so went round
and round all the way down to Xew
Orleans, describin' circles the whole
time. We all ?ot urful headaches
owin' to the centripetal tendency of
the nerinherv."
A Reno, (New) Chinaman, while
fishing in the Truckee river recently,
caught something that astonishes all
who sees it. The something has wings,
fins and legs, and flies, swims or walks
with equal facility. The wings are
like those of a tlying-Gsh, otherwise it
resembles a lizard, except that the
head is more pointed.
T'ncle Sam has 4,008,741 farms under
his jurisdiction, with 130,972,673
farm animals, of which 10,357,981 are j
horses, 12,443,952 are milch cows and
23,337,756 cattle.
?