Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

: THE HINO'i> MOTTO. A lover gave the wedding-ring Into a goldsmith's hand "Grave me,'' he said, "a tender thought Within the goldan band." The goldsmith graved, With careful art, "Till death us part." The weiding bells raig gladly out, The husband said: 4'0 wife, Together we shall share tha grief, The happiuess of life. I give to th:e My hand, my heart, Till death us part." Twas she that lifted now his hand (Olove, that this should be), Then on it placed the golden band, And whispered tenderly: ''Till death us join Lo, thou art mine And I am thine! pt "And when death joius we nevermore Shall know anachiug heart, The brilal of that better love Death has no power to part, The troth will bo For thee aud me Eternity." So up the hill and down th9 hill, Through fifty changing years, They shared each other's happiness, They dried eath other's tears, Alas! Alas! That death's cold dart Such love eau part. S.": Bnt one sad day she stood alone Beside his narrow bed: She drew the ring from off her hand, And to the goldsmith said: "Oh, man who graved With careful art, 'Till death us part,' "Now grave four other words for me? 'Till death us join.'" He took The precious golden band on.-e more, With solemn, wistful look, ft, And wrought with caro, i For love, not coin, "Till death us join." ME WHITE PEDLER. BY REBECCA IIARDE70 DAVIS. The story of the White Pccller, which is a family tradition, has at least two merits: It is true, and it illustrates a j phase of life now forgotten, and almost j incredible in those more oiderly times. ; Thomas Hardy, about one hundred! years ago, was a younger son in a family 1 of promi:.ence in the south of Ireland, j Being a younger son, however, he knew' that the estate of the family would go to his eldast brother, while the income > would be heavily taxed to give dowers to ! his sisters. He was destined to seek his fortune in some post udder government, j or in India. But Tom was in no haste to se .-k a j fortune. He was a handsome voun? ; fellow, and it was very agreeable to; lounge away life at home on the huntingfield or in ball-rooms. Popular opiuion had begun to set him down as a'good ftr.nntlllntf follow whf>n ftldur i brother married the daughter of a neigh- j bor. The bridegroom was the heir; thu j bride had beauty and a fortune. Hence j the county joined in the festivities, which i were splendid and long protracted. Tom j continued to enjoy himself to the top of his bent, until he suddenly discovered that he had fallen in love with Isabel, the younger -ister of the bride, who was i just out of the school-room. He went first to her fa*her with his j story, and then to his own, but was met; by bofh with indignant contempt. Is i- j bel was but a schoolgirl, and seemed destined some day to marry rank and j title. He was penniless, and a feather-: headed tritler wh >, as it seemed, would ! never be abb: to support a wife or family. He was bidden to prepare to go to India in a week, never to return. Tom's course under the circumstances was not tnat wmcn we woiua set oeiore ; our readers as wise or right. But the facts must be f.o!d. H-.i married Isabel i the next day. Then he went to an oM I friend of the family, and told him what j he had done. . "lam going to work for my wife," lie : faid. *'1 know no profession or business j but fa mir.g, and not very much of that, j I want you to lend me enough money to I rent u small dairy farm and to stock it. j In four years I will pay you principal and interest.' "What security have you, Tom? Your father?" "Tom shook his head. "Belle's father?" "No, sir." "If thev will not trust you, how should i fe- I?" Tom laughed. He would have laughed, probably, if death had faceJ j him. "I think you will, Mr. Yarens. I have ; no security to olT-r but my own will and j strength. But I'll pay you in four years J to the last penny." The old gentleman pushed up his spec-1 tacles, and scanned the flushed, resolute j face before him. "I'll iisk it, Tom," he said, at last, j "But, remember, this is a strict business j transaction. Not friendship." Tom proceeded .if er this with a caution and good sense which ama/.cd everybody. He sought the advice of skilled farmers in choosing his land and in stocking it. Th' re was a comfortable little farmhouse on it, in which he settled his young wife. At once tl.ey gave up society and took j their position as dairy farmers who meant to earn tlicir living by hard work. Tom stu.lied hard to master every detail of his business: his wife, like other matrons of that day, was busy with her maids, spinning, weaving, ''laying down"' jellies, wines and herbs. Unlike the stores </f other proud young housewives, however, Belle's stores were not for herself. Old Derry, the foreman of the farm, carried them, together with the butter and cheese, into the city to be sold. Every penny th;it could b3 save;! was laid bv to help Tom to meet the yearly payments to Mr. Varens. They were met, and at the end of the four;H year, the full remaining payment (about two thousand dollars in our money) was reaay. sauting oy snuting it had been save!. by dint of hard work and ? mall economies that had left Tom a graver man. and had taken tn ich of the bloom and freshness from his wife's childish fat c. On the l^st day of the year, Tom wrote to his creditor: Dear Mr. VarenS: I will bring over the remainder of the rincipal, with interest up to date, to-morro afternoon. I am glad you trusted me. I shall never forgot it. Your ob't servant, Th. Hardy. P. S.?Belle helped me to keep my word. Belle looked over his shoulder, and laughted aloud at this. But the tears at * - ? j tne same time ran uowu uei uicwm. "Nevermind, little woman," he said, kissing her. "It has been a steep hill to climb, but we are on the top now. After this we will stand on our own feet and owe not a farthing to anybody. We shall live in comfort and plenty." They sat late that evening over the fire,planning improvements in the house, and little comfort* which they had never before been ablo to afford. The next morning there was a flutter of excitement all t'irou >h the farm. Even Mysie, the tun-wife, knew that "the master" was going on a journev of importance. Tf a XI/ MTttO a UUC Ul till! IV IIIIl^Cj tm desolate tract, part of the road running along the ridge of an uninhabited range of mountains, whiih were infested by highwaymen. Chief araonjj these was one known as the White Pedler, from the fact that he rode a gray mare, wore a white gi catcoat, and carried a knapsack in shape like a pedler's pack. Scarcely a week passed which did not bring tidings of some traveler who had fallen a victim to tbis robber, who was as expert and polite in his calling as Dick Turpin himself. Tom, preparing to stut, hid the bag of coin under the capes of his great-coat, and put his pistol into the hol-ters. Belle clung to him, bsgging him to la!ve one of the men with him. ''He may kill you, Tom, if you meet j him!" "Nonsense? Kill a poor dairy farmer!" "He may take the money, and we shall have to begin all over agiin." "For shar.i\ lielle! I thought you more of a woman. No White Pedler shall have the raoncv,?if there be any such person, which I very much doubt." It was a gray, cold day in December. A light snow lay oa the ground. Tom's road ledhimat first through villages and farms where he was well-known. Friends ( and neighbors ran out to meet him, and stopping to char, with each, the morning slipped by. It wn; :t:i hour past midday before he struck in o the lonely road i which led un to the mountains. Near the foot of the first rniuc of hills was a I bothy, or cabin. Tom dismounted, tied ; his horse to the fence, and went in to I warm himself. When he cnme out, he noticed that a gray mire was standing at the back of the bothy. "S.:>me cottter oa his way to market," thought Tom, as he mounted and rode on. It was an hour be .'ore he reached the top of the hill-range. The snow on the road was unbroken except by his own horse's fe.t. He had not passed a single house. "This is the Pedler's huntingground," thought Tom, mechanically taking out his pi-tols to examine them a^ain. The load was drawn, and they were wet with a liquid which smelled like sour b; er "This was done at the bothy!" I am to have a fight for it!" flashed through his mind, just as he hca:d the soft footfalls of a horse in the snow, coming up a by-path. He had scarcely time to thrust the unloaded pistols back, when a man mounted on a gray mare quietly joined him. He was a short, powerfully built fellow, dressed in a white great coat and low gray hat, beneath which looked out a pleasant, ruddy face and humorous blue eyes. > " i i -*r_ tt 1? II "ijop'l morning, iur, jriaruy. "Good morning.''said Tom, heartily. He took in the situation at the glance. The man was armed; he, unarmed. The pedler was a stronger man than he. "My only chance is to try my wits against his." He looked. The road for a mile or two was wide enough for two to keep abreast, then it narrowel. going down the hill, so that they must ride singly. "He will attack in; there," thought Tom, while he exchanged the news of the hist market-day with his c >m pan ion. Tlie Pedler appeared to be as much in need of society as money. He sion made a joke, after the usual Irish fashion of those days. Tom ri-p'ied with one of his best stories, and nobody, tradition states, could t?ll a better story. The Pedler enjoyed it, and retorted with annth' r, until their shouts of laughter rang through the hills. Never at any state dinner had Tom Hardy so exerted himeo'f now: sinnedote followed anecdote. and retort followed repartee. Never, I too. had he found a more appreciative " companion. The Ped cr's face flushed, and his eyes twinkled with enjoyment. They had nearly readied the turn where the road suddenly narrowed. In a field, some twenty rod* from the road, stood another bothy. The highwayman drew rein. "I'm chilled to the marrow. The fellow has excellent whisky, Mr. Hardy. What do you say?" "I'm ready to dismount,'1 said Tom. dismounting quickly, without a trace of hesitation. The Pedlcr threw himself from his marc, and started briskly to the bothy. Tom fumbled, as if tying his horse, until the highwayman's back was turned; then, leaping into his saddle, he seize 1 the mare's bridle :md galloped downthehill, whipping the reiler's horse until, when he threw her loose, she fled wild with terror before him. He heard a volley of cu.ses from several voices near h'm. A bullet whizzed past his car, another tore thecbth from h's side. The Pcdler was a good marksman. Then camc the clattcr of hoofs behind. The keeper of the bothy, who was an accomplice of the robbers, had a horse ready sa Idled. Tom put spurs to his horse, shouted, called to him, patted his neck, lie knew, aud the horse seemed to know, that the race was for life or death. The Pedlcr would never forgive the trick that had been played on him. Turning a sharp corner, Tom was for a moment or two out of his pursuer's si<fht. iprL-fvl thf> p.:inv#< h-ur out from his I breast, and hurled it into the bog, near, : as he notic e 1, to a dead tree. Then the mad race continued, the j highwayman still behind, yelling breathj less oaths, Half an hour later, Tom ' dashed into the town of Doneraile. Tiie ! Ped er drew :ein outside, not daring to ' enter, as it was still daylight. i Tiie next morning. Tom, with a couple \ 1 of his men. found the canvas bag, half 'burie l in the bog, ] aid his debt and i went home to his wife, liuhter in pocket, | but the richer by a go >d story, which he | delighted t > tell to tiie day of his death, j ?Truth's Companion. Po?tical Aid to Prounciation. "IIow They arc Pronounced by Sensible People," is the heading given to the following rhymes, which we find credited to the Boston Courier: Lone; time he'd been away from home, Th * Rover on! Mr. Harris. When ho rota rued ho told his wife That ho hid been to Ir'aris. And when h; nskerl his wife abaut His little jrirls and boys. Sho said that they weie visiting An aunt iu Illinois. She said she was in failing health And if ho had the means, She'd like t<> take a trip herself As far as Now Orleans. He said: "My dear, you'll have the trip" The proper thins to do is To pro together, and we'll tako The steamer at St. Louis. A new method of treating s-nail-pox with ether an:l opium, the ether being administered hypodermically and the opium by tha mou'.h, has been tried in Paris with remarkable success, even in very severe cases. SINGULAR SOUNDS. QUEER EXPLOSIONS HEARD IN MOUNTAIN REGIONS. Where the Peculiar Sounds Are Heard?"What Produces Loud Reports in Mountains?Tho Explosion of Geodes. The mountains have voices in the literal as well as the figurative sense. They not only speak to tlie eye, but also at fimno f a tKn nor T r\ f V*n onlihirln fln/1 tiiiibd IU buu v-c*i. iu kuu auuiuuv uuu silence of wild and uninhabited mountain regions the prospector or hunter is sometimes startled by explosion? thut resemble cannon shots. In the settled regions near mining camps these sounds would be attributed to the firing of blasts, and would attract little attention; but when heard in places remote from settlements, in toe stillness of the mountains, they are phenomena calculated to excite the wonder nnd awe of the superstitious Indian and to greatly puzzle the wandering solitary white man. From time to time mention is made of these mysterious explosions by prospectors returning to the Comstoc-k from the wild of the mountains. In some instances prospectors have spent nours m trying 10 nnu some suppuseu secret camp or mine, being at the time quite confident that the noise heaid was the explosion of a blast. Others hearing these booming founds in mountain solitudes have attributed them to the fall and explosion of meteoric stones. Two prospectors who recently returned from a trip to the Pahranagat Mountains, in Southern Nevada, asserted that on two occasions they heard the report of bursting meteors that fell in the daytime. They saw no falling meteors, but were unab'e to thiuk of anything else that could produce the sounds they heard. Now, the fact is that these mysterions explosions are heard in the mountains of many countries, but most frequently, it would seem, in mineral regions. They are a phenomenon in regard to which the scientists are almost wholly silent. The first mention made of the hearing of these singular explosions in this part of the i in in nAtiitnnl /\f T ouna UUIIl-IUUUb JO IUUUU iU tUU JUUliiUi Vi mo and Clarke, who in 1803 pushed their way through the wilderness to the Pacific Ocean. They say that the strange reports were attributed by the Indians to the bun-ting of the rich deposits of silver resting in the bosoms of the mountains. The explorers were in the Rocky Mountains when they heard the sounds. These singular explosions are s ud to occur very frequently in Central and South America, in the mountain regions; also in Brazil. Vasconcelles, a Jesuit father, describes one which he heard in the Sierra, or mountain region of Piratiniga, and which he compares to a park of artillery. The Indians told him that it was an explosion of stones. The worthy father soon had a satisfactory proof of the truth of their information, for "the very place was found where a rock had burst open and exploded from its entrails a stony mass, like a bombshell, and of the size of a bull's heart." This mass was broken in its ejection, "and," says the chronicle, "wonderful was the internal oiganization revealed. It had a shell harder even than iron, iviftiin worn AmMicrnrf lilffi thf> .....v? 0 , seeds of a ponu'grana'e, jewels of various colors, some transparent as crystal, others of a tine red and others of mixed hues." The same phenomenon is reported to occur occasionally in the province of La Guam, Venezuela, where "stones the size of a man's fist are exploded, with a loud noise, from the bosom of tho earth, and scatter about glittering and beautiful fragments that look like precious gems, but are of no value." The Indians of the Amazon also tell of startling explosions being occasionally heard in the Paraguaxo, which they believe to be ma:le by the mountains in their efforts to cast forth the precious stones hidden in their bowels. This notion is much the same as that entertained by the Rocky Mountain Indians seen by Lewis and Clarke. In the Black Hills the Indians hang offerings on the trees or place them on rocks in places where the mysterious thundering are heard, to propitiate, as they say, the "lords of the mountains." It appears probable that the real cause of these singular explosions in mountain regions is the bursting of those rounded, hollow concretions o: indurated nodnles called geodes. What was obseived by Father Vasconcelles in Brazil is good evi dence of this. The Indians or the sierra Piratiniga had, doubtless, satisfied themselves in regard to the matter ages before. As the Indians of the Rocky Mountains believe the sounds to be produced by the mountains when in labor to bring forth the precious metals, it is not unlikely that they may have occasionally seen the glittering crystals strewn about by the bursting of a geode. It is probable that the air within the gcode is so expanded by heat as to cause an explosion ; and, where the gcode contains both air and the water of cry.-talization, the growth of the shooting crystals may so compress the confined air as to induce, or at least contribute toward the sudden bursting. About Aurora, and the various placcs in the montitains of the southeastern part of Nevada, geode? arc abundant. Some of those found about Aurota eontaiu beautiful crystals of vario is colors. In Nye county, in placc3 in the range of mountains which lies across tlie south end of Smokv Yalley, the ground is covered with geodes of all sizes, many of which arc lined with crystals of various hues. On some of the mountains th" ground is filled with the nodular masses, and they arc dugout by specimen hunters like so many potatoes; indeed, in some countries they are called "potato stones." Nodules of iron are often found in sandstones that arc a loot or more in diameter. These are sometimes hollow, while others are found to to be filled with an ocherous earth. The shells are of iron ore. In that part of the Black Hills where Hunt and McKinzie heaid the mysterious explosions, there are tremendous clitls composed chiefly of sandstone, and this stone is probably of a ferruginous nature, liable to be prolific of geodes. Those who do not believe that geodes are capable of producing the strange discharges of "mountain artillery" hive only to place one in the fire of a blacksmith's forge and blow the bellows for a short time. The man who shall make this experiment will be convinced geodes will explode. siiPDOsinir him to survive it. Whether it is the heat of the sun or the pressure of internal growth that causes these natural bombshells to explode, it is hard to say. In some instances it is, perhaps, owing to the one. and in others to the other cause. Both in the Rocky Mountains and in the Black Ilills at the time the sounds were heard it was in August, when hot weather doubtless prevailed. In South America and Brazil the days are, of course, very hot, exccpt during the rainy season. But the explorers in the Black Ilills assert that they heard the booming of the mysterious guns of the mountains by night as well as by I day, therefore we must conclude that these curious formations frequently explode themselves through intcrrivl straining, as did the frog that was trying to swell himself to the si ze of the ox.-dJan Francisco Chronicle. Sugar Statistics. The world's production of sugar is probably well toward eight million tons a year. Of this, British India and China produce and themselves consume over a million tons eich of cane sugar, their exports being l small, and these of very low gride sugars. The estimated product of all I Afm'loKIn nvnnrf troa i'n I 1884-5, ?. year of large production, 2, lt>2,j 000 tons of cane and ao less than 2,557,I 800 of beet sugar. II; ti estimated that ; the cane-sugar crop marketed this year | will increase to 2,218,000 tons, and that the beet-sugar crop will fall off 520,750 I tons? pa tly the result of a lower acreage resulting from the low prices of last ! year. Cuba produces more than a quarter | of the whole export 6upplv of cane i sugar, lf^t year's p.o:luct being 627,000 I tons, while this year's will probably j equal her largest crop (1875), which was | 690,000 tons. Of this, more than half I (in 1885, .339,536 gross tons) comes to this country, which gets nearly half its I total supply for refining from that island ; of revolutions. Louisiana nroduced last ! year but 04,000 tons, but its normal i product is nearer 125.000 tons, to which Texas, our other chief sugar-growing State, adds 10,000 tous more. Five other States contribute some cane sugar. ! The Sandwich Islands crop, under j the stimulus of the treat/ which i permits its sugar to enter duty free, | reaches 05,000 tons, but it is snid j that the use cf all the available I land, and the poor quality of native labor, I the prohibition of Chinese, and the high | price of white labor, fix the limit at the j present ligure. Of the beet-sug,ir supply, l Germany produced last year 1,155,000 tons, Austria 557,000, ltussir. 380,C03, J France 325,000, Belgium 90,000, and Holland 50.000 tons. Our chief contribution to this crop is from a factory at Alvarado, Cal., prcducing about 1,000 J tons, but it is believed that this will bej come an important Pacific coast industry. I Beet sugar is largely imported into this I country for refining purposes, and we get also some date-palm sugar, called commercially "date jaggory." Our yield of r> *%1 /-? LMlmnti m Voimr?nf cflll leads, was about 25.900 tons last year. J Sorghum, although large quantities of i syrup are made from the larga acreage at I the West, has not yet come into the mari ket as an important commercial source of I crystallizable sugar, the largest crop j having been but 5,000'tons; our scientific , agriculturists, who give good reasons for j looking to this as one of the great Am erican crops of the future, have jet to justifv their faith by their works. The ' manufacture of c m.mcrcial glucose, or artificial starch sugar, has of late years reached enormous proportions in this country, amounting in value to a third of our cane-sujar crop.?Harper's Magazine. A Snake in His Stomach. Speaking of the venomous snake which caused the horrible d ath of the little boy who lived r ear Grand Falls, a short time sincc, ft Lewistown man vouches for the truth of a similar occurrence in the eastern part of this State, which came under his observation not J Inner nrro A vounc fellow who Was "O "O" J o a noted sportsman, always running about the woods gunning and fishing, one day about a m mth since took his fishing rod and started for a well known trout brook, where he was wont to make his headquarters during the fishing season. He tells the story himself, that about noon, the day b.'ing warm, lie became thirsty, and stretched | him<e!f out on the bank of the trout j brook, and began drinking a cool draught from the clear pool just below a ! small waterfall. IIow the misfortune | happened he can hurdly explain, but when in the very act of drinking he ! sucked into his stomach a large water snake. It was with difficulty that he crawled home and obtained assistance of physicians. His symptoms grew al irmingly serious 300n after medical aid was sutn! moncd. The doctors did everything in j their power to rid him of this living I death, but all their oilorts only resulted j in making the young man's condition more critical. The snake nearly choked the mar. to death several times by crawling bac < and forth in his throat. The young man was nearly dead when his friends advised him as a last rjsortto go back to the trout orook, lie down near the water, and perhaps the gurgling of the brook might entice the water snnWn out of bis stomach back to his native haunts. Tiie victim of this awful calamity thought the experiment only a foolish chance for life, but he consented to try it. He was carried to the brook and placed directly beneath a waterfall, where the stre m rushe.l down a steep, rocky descent, making noise enough to awaken j a dozen snakes. He hadn't remained by the waver long before he felt u motion of something crawling in his stomach. Gradually the sensation became higher and f higher, and the viper b: g in slowly crawl' ing up the poor man's ttiroat. The water I hail won the victory, for the slimy rep| tile stuck its head out of the man's mouth, ! saw the water rushing past and leapt into I the brcok. An attempt was made to capj ture the water snake, but it was unsuc: cessful. Th? man lives to-day to tell | the story.?Leicinton (Me.) Journal. The Instinct of Animal?. j Professor Fowler mentioned that hf i had seen within the last few days a dog : which knew the rcrurn of Sunday. Nothing could induce the dog to go out with him. though on other days, when lie took his stick and hat, he s!:o\ved "Treat ' rrr\ uriMl him Prf> "pASDT : uu*.?ij .v S" . ; Fowler attached great importance to ; kindness in the teaching of animals. I Miss Katherine "VVray gave an in| teresting account of how, in three ' weeks, by means of a bone attached tc the door-bell she had t night the dog to ring the bell. C. C. Walker mentioned that he knew a family which had taught a dog to howl at the opposition and show great interest at the mention of the late government. .Mrs. Stokes thought that t ome minds seemed t > have greater power of communication with animals tliar others, and she mentioned an Englist professor who seemed to have the powei of calling birds from the sky.?Picayune. How to Manage a Woman. A Persian poet gives the following instructions upon this important subject: i iTrri ???i, * VY HULL UlUi ifcl u Illvi.l I 1UU tu please thy wife, but listen not to all she say. From man's right side a rib was taken to form the woman, at d never was thc.'t: seen a rib quite straight, and wo ihl'st thoix straighten it? It breaks, but bends n >t. Since then'tis plain that crooked i woman's temper. Forgive her fault? ind blame her not, nor let her anger th'.-c nor coercion use,fl.s all is vaia i to "straighten what is curbed." AGRICULTURAL ? TOPICS OF INTEREST RELATIV1 TO FARM AND GARDEN. The Potato Rot. The following are extracts from : ; paper ou the "Cause and Remedy of th< Potato Rot," by J. II. Panton, Professo at Ontario Agricultural College: The use of the microscopahas revealec 1 many forms of disease about whose ori 1 gin little was known, both among ani mals and plants. The potato rot is nov conceded to be the result of a minuti I fungus which attacks all parts of thi 1 plant, leaf, stem and tubers. By thosi j ignorant of the life history of this tin] parasitic plant, little attcnt on is paid t( its appearance on the tops, and no alarn is^experienced until the potatoes are af ' fected. It is usually indicated by the tops pre senting a b'ightcd brownish, spotted. I rlofirl fmnpftrnnnp A nlnsip PY'iminntfnr -rr ? ? , of the potatoes showing this will clis , cover innumerable slender stems growing up out of the surface of the leaves anc | stems of the aifected plants. Thes branch and swell out at the ends int( ; pear-shaped, minute bodies or pores I which are produced by millions. Wher | ripe they separate from the stem, ant ; being exceedingly light, pass into th< atmosphere, where they are waftec i about. Under favorable conditions of moistun j'and heat, the contents of a microscopic spore may push out a long, minute tube which can penetrate into any part of th< potato plant and give rise to the fungus. The mature plant consists of many color less, branching, thread-like structures. These peuetratethe tissues of the potatc and feed upon the juices, so that it soor j weakens and begins to waste away. This minute, microscopic plant is a low forir of vegetable life, fastening upon othei plants and feeding upon their juices. A wet season supplies conditions wel adapted for its development. The rot usually appears about the firsi I two weeks in Aucrust. and if the weathei | is favorable its spread is very rapid, foi . as soon as the thread like structure which J arises from the spore is developed, it ira j mediately becomes 6pore-bearing. Hence | the importanceof examiningthe plants foi | the appearance of the brownish spots thai | indicate the presence of the fundus. 1. As soon as discovered, dig th< I potatoes. Delay will allow it to spread to the stems, and thence to the tubers. If it reaches these and damp weather comes, "rot" will certainly appear. 2. After digging, the potatoes shoulc j be put in a cool, dry place, thus s:irj rounding them with conditions uufavor j able for the growth of the fungus, if anj happens to be upon them. '4. Growing early varieties is worthy o) consideration, so that they may tna'.un : -before the se.ison arrives when this para I site is likely to affect the crop. | 4. All potato stalks in atfectcd lands : should be gathered and burueJ, so as tc destroy the millions of spores which maj be upon them. 5. Use none but good seed. If at all affected, reject them, and plant in welldrained land. If the potatoes to be used for seed have been taken from cellais i where affected ones were kept, tnev an likely to have the micro conic spores or I them and escape notice. It would Lc ! best to get the seed from unaffected dis| tricts. 0. It is scarcely necessary to remark that it would be injudicious to plant potatoes in the same field the following j year, after a visitation of the "rot," inasi much as the ground may retain the germs ! of the disease. 7. Avoid planting upon heavy clay ! soil, but prefer a light and dry soil. This presents the fewest conditions suitable : for the growth of the fungus. Farm and Garden Notes. It is a good plan to have two sets ol i roosting poles lor the hens and changc : them each week, setting them outside ; when not in use. I Remember, it is the appcarance ol ! goods that sells them. ' Nice, large, fat I plump, white turkeys, ducks, chicks oi j geese always bring outside prices. | Small chickens should never be kept 01 i fed with old ones; they are apt to be in; jured. Have two or three yards anc i separate them according to size anc ! strength. | The free use of clover seed and keep ing of fnrm stock enables farmers tc , maintain land iu good condition for or dinary cropping without purchasing ; commercial manures. Small fruit culture will always be mosi successful on the intensive plan. Planl only a small area at a time and give thai i the best cultuie possible. Better raise 300 bushels on one acre than that amounl ! on five or six. Professor Barre is of the opinion thai farmers should use plenty of ice in conj nectiou with milk setting in deep cans, [ and says: '-Darin;* the summer months ' the methods of setting milk in well 01 spring water (without ice) leaves ncarlj two-thirds of the butter fat in the skim milk." Good tillage is the strongest weapon J with which ihe farmer can tight hard times and gain success. Imperfect culture, ou the other hand, will scarcely en ! able him to gain a living from the rich: est soil, and the soil will deteriorate rapidly in quality from such treatment besides. Many persons think that corn is the best food for poultry. It is if you dc . not wish eggs. For eggs, feed soft food, bran or meal, with a little salt, in the morning, and a little caycnnc peppei added every other morning; corn, wheal or oats in the evening. A sjle diet of corn produces too much fat. I Whenever rhubarb throws out a great many leaves and the stalks are small and i worthless the root* should bednirup and I transplanted, dividing them, so thatonlj one thriftv bud is left to each piece ol J root. This should be done early in the spring, as soon as the newly formed buds are ready to push through the soil. Large hogs are neither fashionable noi profitable. But few hogs are now bred that, when fully developed, weigh ovei 700 pounds. Tlie small-boned ca-ly-de' veloped hog that weighs from 275 to :'0C pounds at twelve months mee ts the popular demand as the most profitable, while those lari:e hogs most always develoj : later, and have to be kept too long. Corn fodder lacks the same constituI ents that the grain does, though not to so great an extent, llence it is wasteful I feeding to feed it alone, and it does not j improve the composition of the ration to add the grain. But such a ration gives better results thau either the fodder or ; the grain fed alone, as "rough feed" helps the digestion of grain in the i tomaohs of cattle unci norses. A little five-cent blank book with still J paper covers, and a short bit of lea'I pen l til, both of which may bo carried in the j ve t pocket, may he made of more real hilp to a neat, tidy farmer, than manj | another thin# costing ten tirnej us much. Half the little jobs that are neglected, are neglected I ecause they are forgotten when the time comes at which they might 7 be done. Note them down when thought of. For the highest success small fruits need a very rich soil, full of "humus" or vegetable matter, with abundant moisa turc and no weeds. The moisture comes e from a rich soil that holds it somewhat r easily, and then is aided by frequent culture, mulching or irrigation. The I hpcrinnfr shmilH sfiirf wifVi n small nlnf.. "O ?? " v?7 - and particularly so when short of capital. Blackberries and raspberries need f never be staked if properly pruned. As ? soon as the spring caues reach a height 2 of thirty or thirty-six inches "snip"' their 2 tops off when they will throw out l iter7 als, become more stocky and hold up 3 their load of fruit without stakes. Stak1 ing is a useless expense and labor. Sometimes wires can be drawn by the sides of tall plants to go~d advantage. If an old caw is quickly fattened its meat will be niorj tender than where the feeling lias been protractel. The great difficulty in feeding old cows is in getting them to digest large amounts of fcod. This is best done in summer, when fresh grass, which is the most easily digested ' of foods, may be supplemented with 1 gradually increasing rations of meal, ! taking especial care never to give more | than will be readily e iten. I Some farmers who think they have conquered quack grass rush into print to , boast of the ease with which they have ' accomplished this result. Ia nine cases | out of ten getting rid of quack only j means repressing it so that it is not immediately troublesome. A very few roots [ are left in the soil, and after five or six years the pest is as bad as ever. Those ' who have had mo t experience with t quack grass neverspeak of it except with , due solemnity and awe. t As soon as apple trees are in blossom, r or even before those can be distinguished which promise to bear fruit, it will pay I to manure such tree? heavily, giving a good top dressing ten to twenty feet on I each side, and add two or three quarts of r potash salts to ea-h tree. There will be r rains enough after this to dissolve much t of the manure and carry it down to the . roots. This heavy manuring will not , supersede the need of thinning the fruit, . though it will enable the trees to perfect ; a larger crop. 4-1-*r\ K af a ^Atwl loi*rro on/^ TT AICU tlic uuun/ \J%. ok xuni *o uuu ; bright colored, showing it to be full of I blood, and shaking with every activity of the bird, sh'? is in a healthy laying condition. With this condition of comb you will discover the utmost activity in I your fowls, starting at every sound or motion. The movements are not like a nervous jump, but with an elastic spring, r showing a CJndition of vigorous health. On the contrary, if the ed-^es of comb f and wattles are a purplish red and the ; movements sluggish there is disease and - danger. If your hens are infested with insects, ? blow buhach, pvrethrum powder or Per? sian insect powder (they are about the ' same thing) among the feathers. Do this two or three times every week. We I believe it to be the easiest, simplest and safest method of riddinsr the heas of this i pest. Go into the henhouse after night1 fall, and, taking them one by one in a ' seutle manner, blow the powder among i their feathers through a bellows, or the > little suffiaters said by most seedsmen; or. rub the powder under their feathers about the head and body. Everyone knows how difficult it is to remove weeds from the garden walk when they have once become rooted and grounded. Salt is one of the remedies most frequently employed, nnd the following is said to be the best way of ap plying it: tsoil tnc sail iu water, one > pound to the gallon, and pour the mix! turc boiling hot out of a watering pot with a spreading rose. This will keep weeds and worms away for three years. In subsequent applications the solution t . mav be somewhat weaker. It will be ; well to take care that none of the liquid : falls on the garden mold. For killing the peach tree borer it maj not be advisable to place fresh ashes ' about the roots of the trees, but ashes > partially leached by exposure for some r time to rains proves decidedly beneficial. A planter of large experience claims that a r distribution of ashes among his peach trees by placing a little mound about the I stem of each tree is very efficacious in I exterminating the borer. Another peach orchardist, residing in Indiana, applied . hot water the latter part of the winter, > before the ground was warm, so as not . to scald the roots. Having heated a r large kettleful of water, he passed through his orchard of some thousand trees, pour^ ing a quart around the stem of each. His t trees have since been perfectly healthy t and free from the borer. t Central American itauroaas. i Writing from Guatemala, a corre: spondent of the Kansas City (Mo.) Journal says: "There is much in the region and approach to Isalco to remind one of i Vesuvius. It is the most active volcano : on the continent, and its whole appearr ance, its tremendous power in throwing l stones, scoria, and lava to heights estimated at 1,200 and even 1,500 feet, render it the most interesting mountain of Central America, if not the western world. The railroad mounts up steep grades . at a distance from the volcano of only . five miles, and bends about it until it ; reaches the village of Armenia. This ' town is a place of Spanish days, and is in ] a broken region where coffee chines to < ( great perfection. A few miles further will carry the road to the capital of San , Salvador, and another projected branch [ bends around the volcano to Sautana, a ] . city in the coffee region. < ' All Central American railroads are i narrow gunge, and generally have Amer- i icans back of them, though some Eng- I ' lish capital has been invented in them. I ^ They are generally well built, excellent j [ masonry and iron bridges being the rule, i j Many of the ties are ma le of lignum vita; | and another kind of wood equally hard, j ^ 4-Vin roi'la fry HlPm Are U1IU. tU iaowu Ilutid w vmvim . ' bored for the spikes. i It is ea>v to see that when completed , I from the Pacific ocean t > the Carribbean i sea as the projected lines contemplate, j they will prove very remunerative as well I as opening to commerce new and unde velope 1 fields: moreover there will come an awakening of the native population I i out of ii lethargy inheri ed from the cruel i > oppression of the Spanish rule. I A Year's Clianse?. All the flirting and deceiving i Captivating, make-believing, With its temporary sweetness, tones th? ' Dleasure of a day: I * And a thrillimr memory lingers i Of the touch of slender fingers. i , Stolen sweetness, smiles, and blushes, thai have vanished all away. But perhaps you know the pleasure I Of possession, in your measure, ; And a year of adaptation has remodeled you: desire; . When you modify the nature [ Of your hymeneal capture, i As you shiver in attempting to construct kitchen fire. ?Pittsburg Commercial Gazdti. FACTS FOB THE CUBIOUS. > The Savannah News says that the real reason why Southern men wear theii ' j hair long is to keep the sun from tan* ning their necks. /:|-J The accumulated photographs of babi?i that have been named after the President number some TOO and fill three drawer! in a White House closet. It is said that a Japanese house of three rooms can be built for from twentyfive to a hundred dollars, and the furniture, which consists principally of mats and sliding partitions, costs fifty dollars more. , The palanquin was introduced into Greece and Rome from the East, in ths first Instance as an article of luxury) foi females, but aftcrw.ird it came to b< pretty generally used for men as well at women. H In her wars with Turkey between 1787 . and 1778, Russia did not employ privateers. In tne eighteenth century privateering had become an organized piracy, and almost every treaty itisspted, but in vain, to restrain it. It is said that in 1820 there was notoi nnroflnr fnr +Vin criln fruit. in all New England, and the neglected gardens yielded only a small quantity of small fruit, chiefly currants. The first horticultural socicty in the country wai founded in 1829. It appears from a reccnt book on sea legends that there are many ways to raise the wind. You may suspend a hegoat skin at the mast head, you may flog a boy at the mast, you may burn a broom and let the handle turn toward the de? sired quarter, you may blow out to sea thtf dust from the chapel floor, you may stick a knife in the mizzenmast or scratch the foremast with a nail, and so on. The lasso commonly used by cowboya is made of sixty feet of rope, a third of which forms the loop. When thrown, it is swung over the head and left shoulder, * with a peculiar turn of the wrist calcu- v lated to keep the loop open until it encircles the object at which it is flung. Expert throwers do not pride themselves on catching a stear by the horns^ but try to so hurl the noose in front of the beast that he will step into it, thus entangling his legs a~d throwing him. In a Wyoming exhibition a cowboy repeatedly caught a bull by any leg the spectators named. Irory. Mammoth tusks of ivory occasionallj fiome to this coui.trv from Siberia. bu< as these have been lying exposed for centuries, and probably for many thousandi of years, and often buried in ice, thi "nature" has gone out of them and they are not fit for thy cutler's use. Th? teeth of the walrus and hippopotamui are used in consideiable quantity, and being of suitable size are used whole foi making expensive carved handles. Ivory of the be.-t quality comes from the west coast of Africa, under the names of Cameroon, Angola, and Gaboon ivory. This is brought down from the interior, and retains a larger proportion of the "fat" or gelatine, lrom the fact, probably, that it is more recently from the animal. In this st jte it is called "green" ivory. II is more translucent and not so white ai the Egyptian and other kinds, called "white" ivory, that have been lying i longer time and in a more sandy region, and exposed to the heat of the sun until the animal matter lias disappeared. Thi excellence of the "green" ivorv consisti in its greater toughness and in its grow .... _ * it ing waiter Dy age, insieaa 01 yeiiow, tu is the case with the whiter varieties. Tel buyers of cutlery, through ignorance ol these qualities, usually prefer the whitei kinds, which, on that account, are mor< in demand for the Sheffield trade, and have more than doubled in price sinci 1879. The sales of ivory occur ever} three months at London and Liverpool, and sales are also held to a limited extenl and at irregular intervals at Rotterdam. At Liverpool only ivory of the best quality and from the west coast of Africa il offered. Buyers from Germany and France and agents of American consumers attend these sales, and it is estimated that about one-quarter of the whol< amount goes to Sheffield, another quartei to London, and the other half to Ger many, France and the United States.? Chamber J Journal. The Flow of Metals. In one of his recent interesting lecturei in London, Prof. Roberts-Austen spoki of eight prominent points of resemblanc* between metals and fluids which havi long been known. They are the rejection of impurities on solidification, suffusion, flow under pressure, changes due to compression, absorption of gases, ab sorption of liquids, vaporization, and surface tension. Of these propertie? perhaps the most astonishing are thos? exhibited by metals whin compressed. Placing cold powdered metals in a powerful press, Prof. W. Spring, of Lie?e, caused le id to weld into a solid mass by a pressure of 18 tons per square inch; zinc, by 19 tons; tin, 32 tons; antimony, 38 tons; aluminum, 38 tons; bismuth, 38 tons; copper. 38 tons. At 33 tons per square inch lead actually began to flow, and at 47 tons tin showed the same phenomenon. When a pressure of more than 50 tons to the square inch was given, the metals under experiment flowed through the flne cracks of'the compressing chamber like so much treacle. Prof. Spring also proved that the crystalline Btructure of metab may be changed by pressure as by fusion; and that it is possible even to build up alloys by pressure. Gladstone Preparing His Speeches. We are told, on good authority, this is Mr. Gladstone's method of preparing his speeches: He keeps a box into which he is in the habit of tnrowing cuttings from newspapers and other memoranda of facts bearing upon tne suojccc m mum. vu the morning of the day preceding any ijreat oration he goes through his box ind picks out his notes of the particular facts which he wishes to use. These he gums in their proper order upon a large sheet of paper aud u>es them as the posts upon which the speech itself is to be hung. Then he imagines himself actually speaking?composes his oration, in fact, in his head. After he is satisfied with it, ae dismisses the subject from his mind, md occupies himself until the hour for tpeaking conies in?reading a novel, flis memory is so great that his pre riously composed sentences come back to aim without effort.? Whitehall Iiecieie. What He Meant. A young Wall street wag was recently invited to dine with an old gentleman of rather sudden temper. The dining room was on the second floor and the principal dish was a fine boiled ham. When the aid gentleman undertook to (farve it he found the knife rather dull, and in a sudden passion tiling it down stairs after the servant who brought it. Whereupon the young gentleman seized the ham and with admirable dexterity hurled it after the knife. "What on earth do you mean?" exclaimed the gentleman as fo m as he could speak. "'I beg your pardon," was the cool reply, "I thought you were going to dine down stairs."