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- ^ ' r~ CUBAN CHILDREN. THE LIFE THEY LEAD ON THE WAR-RENT ISLAND. Love of Country Instilled Into Them ?Their School Education?Confined Closelv to Their Homes ?Their Amusements. "^T "T" (TTHEN Colnmfcus first landed \ /\ / in a Cuban harbor OctoV Y ber 28, li92, he named the island he had discovered Jnana, in honor of John, a Bon of Ferdinand and Isabella. As years have rolled on years and centuries have passed away it is interedting to observe that while Spain has gradually lost her hold on the western hemisphere, she has always kept an outstretched hand upon Cuba, h?r I ilil II Jul CUBAN FAMILY AT HOME. I "dark-eyed child of the we6t," and i claimed her as part of the household. i The island was taken by an English fleet under Lord Albemarle, in 1762, but was restored to the Spaniards by the terms of the treaty of Paris in 1763. Since the early days of the present century Cuba h?- been under the officialdom of captains general appointed by Spain, but in more recent years many troubles arose be tween the native Cubans and the Spanish, and the island has become a very nnrnly child, as the revolution of 1868 and the rebellion now raging on the unhappy land attest. rF / ii it // S - iSMls CHILDREN AT B Siuce the outbreak of tbe insurgents for freedom from Spanish rule began, something more than a year ago, Cuba and tbe Cubans have filled with glittering display the columns of Ameri-, can newspaper?, and as the opposing armies proceed with the war, surmise as to the future of the island becomes a perplexity. Whatever may be tbe result of the insurrection, surely we must look afier all to the children of Cuba for the best study of her future, just as we must look to the youth of any laud to get the surest idea of its possibilities aud its destiny. Countries are what meu make them, aud the power aud force of nationalities are measured by the worth of the individual citizens. If Cuba should win her freedom and hoist her lone star flag into the constellation of National ensigns, would it not rest with the rising generations of the island whether that flag should wave over a land of peace, contentment and prosperity, or whether it should fall drooping from hands too weak to uphold it? And if the war should result in a triumph for Spain, would not the question of Cuba's future still rest largely with the youth of the land to be wrought out for weal or for woe ? In such a light there is a world of interest in the 6tudy of the lives that uaoan crmtiren leaa?tneir simple customs and faith ; their habits, theii pursuits, the daily doings and tendencies of child life. It is but fair in the outset to say that the young people on-the island have had poor chances and few opportunities, for the bojs and girls of the island were born and have lived thus far amid seasons ||3l f^jll |L Ml BOTS PLAYlNft MARBliES. of disturbance. The old feud between the native Cubans ncd the Spanish has never died since the war of 1808. It may have been smothered like live coals beneath the ashbank, but there has been a round of internal discord all the while. So loDg as such a state of affairs is endured by the people of any country, be it far more advanced in every -way than was Cuba, it is difficult to give that care to the training of children they should have, and they grow up with slim chance of being well educated and with conflicting impulses of patriotism and disobedience * to the Nation under whose rule they mast meet the duties of citizenship. Love of country is the first lesson ' ' ' J' J t mokirin nf UI COliUilUUa WJ II*l ao v* Nations goes, end this certainly is a well learned lesson with the youth of Caba. When a filibustering boat landed on the Cuban shoro not long ago with numbers of youthful insurgents cbcnrd, though they had lived several years in the States, they hurried from the vessel and fell upon tko ground and kissed the very soil of their native land. The second lesson of citizenship in childhood is loyalty to National Government. This the children of Cuba have never had, for they have nearly all caught from infancy an inspiration of disobedience to Spanish rule. This, of course, with reference to the native Cubans as distinct from the Spanish citizens who claim the island as their adopted home, having moved there from Spain. With such environment it is easy to see that the lives of the young people of Cuba of the present day have been MiVV/UWU xu ooacuu. XlCrClVUOlWJO) it must not be deducted from this that the young folks are growing up in illiteracy to any extraordinary degree. In Cuba there is a system of public schools supported bythe Spanish Government, and while it is not as complete and thorough as it might be, offers liberal advantages, particularly to the children of the larger cities and towns. Many of these schools are not patronized very largely by the native Cubans, because of the antagonism to Spanish officialdom. Thus, it is often the case that native Cuban families of a neighborhood will mutually hire a private teacher for their children rath .r than Bend their boys and girls to an institution established by the Government. The Universitad at Havana is well patronized by the Cubans, and this institution has given many a voung man a good practical education and skill for professional life. There are in Havana several other institutions for higher education and also many schools and asylums established by churches and benevolent institutions. But, in times of feudal strife and dissension, schools and colleges do not?cannot prosper, nor can they be expected to fulfil their desired scope of usefulness and jurisdiction. As a consequence, among the wealthier class of Cubans it is quite frequently the case that they send their boys to the States to be educated at the leading universities and colleges of this country. HUlBl-ff . <?Jlx |H^'il [ [03IE IN CUBA. loung ohildren are made to stay pretty close at-home on the island. It is well known that in Cnba, as in most of the Spanish-American countries, girls and young women are never seen on the streets unless they are under strict chaperonage of their mothers, or some friendly matron. This same restriction is placed over the children to a greater or less extent, though of course it is not so by any well understood decree or National custom, as in the case of young women. The dwellings are for the most part low on the ground and the spaciouis doorways as a rule have iron railings or gates; Through these iron bars little children are often seen peeping out at the Jjl - LI .i.1 1! XV peuuiers or oiuer axiraciious in me streets. The religion of the island is Roman Catholic and, of coarse, the youne people of Cuba are reared in the faith of this church. In the world of amusements, games and out-of-door sports the children find recreation in pretty much the same way that they do in this country. They easily learn to fly a kite and spin a top, and baseball is a favorite sport with them when they grow larger. In such things as out-ofdoor sports the Cubans follow the Americans vc-ry closely. The boys play marbles everywhere in Cuba and they have a peculiar way of shooting the marbles from their hands. In America a boy will take the marble on his forefinger as a rest and shoot it out with his thumb. In Cnba he will take it on the bfvll of his thumb and shoot it out with the forefinger. In gensral appearance the Cuban lad is a frail, slender youth, and, as we would aav in America, quite small for his age, but as rule tbej have very bright faces, tinged with yellowish brown complexions, and all of them have very bright, piercing black eves. The girlp, or senoritas, aro all winsome ; some quite pretty and some beautiful to a marked degree. They all have tho tiniest and dantiest of feet and hauds and are as graceful as veritable fairies. The senoritas are taught to dance when quite small and the fancy dress balls of the children, where hundreds of boys and girls are paraded in pretty dances, are geat social events in Havana. The little girls can do all the clever turns of the Terpsiohorean art. involving castanets and tambourines, and many of them can sing with marvelous sweetness of tone and great skilL Cuban girls are very fond of fine, soft laces and wear dainty mantillas over their blaok tresses at all times. They are taught fancy embroidery work at the schools just as American girls are taught lessons in text-books, and they become skilled to a degree of wondrous proficiency in a very short time in making delicate bits of lace with their fingers and needles, PZ7A-?:vT<^*rY^*wTv' , ' : Ths war in Cuba has driven hundreds, if not thuusande, of ohildern from the island to this country. They are to be seen at the arrival of every ship clinging to their mothers, who come with them, leaving their fathers, who have joined the ranks to fight for j the freedom of the island, while the THE CHICKEN" DEALEK. i a family seeks refuge in the States. 1 When the war is over, the Cnbans who c come as refagees will probably all return to Cuba, for they are a clannish people and love their island home so well they will rarely ever get weaned away from their native land, ?Atlanta Constitution. QUEER FISH WITH FOUR LEGS. Commonly Called a " Water Dog" and Found in Lake Michigan Now ard then, says the Chicago Times-Herald, the newspapers tell about some unlucky sportsman who has captured "a fish with legs." It is sometimes asserted that the zoologists have been consulted and have been unable to identify the monster. Such game as thi3 is not at all uncommon in the region about Chicago. A WATER D03. The animal is, however, no fish, but is a cousin of the salamander's, and one of the lowest of the group of aaimals called batrachians. It goes by the name of water dog. It may become a foot long and has a broad, fiat tail, four short legs, a wide mouth, and three pairs of bushy gills. These gills are not concealed as they are in fishes, but stand out from the head, The a color of the water dog is ashy brown, n and on the back are a number of dark a spots. Jt is a rather uncanny looking a creature, and the man who captures & it, if not acquainted with it, may not ^ unreasonably look with suspicion on v his prize. The fishermen usually fear it, and believe it to be venomous. Oh B the contrary, is is wholly harmless, ^ and it is doubtful if it can be provoked into biting. It certainly is not pois- ? onous. B, This animal lives perhaps wholly in _ the water of rivers, ponds and lakes. ^ There it conceals itself, at least during _ the day, under stones and other ob- n ipffa Onf. nf snnh lnrkinc nlaces it l. protrudes its head and watches for itE prey. The gills, which are of a jj beautiful scarlet color,are kept waving j, to and fro in the water. At night it je prowls about seeking for food. It will probably eat any living thing whioh c it can swallow, fishes, frogs and snails. It sometimes devours large quantities c' of the spawn of fishes. Some years jj ago, at Jicorse, JMicn., aooui zuuu 01 gj these water dogs were taken in seine p at one haul. They had doubtless been ^ attracted to the tipot by the spawning Q of the white fish, for some of them 61 were so gorged with fish eggs that, Q when thrown on shore, the spawn flew out of their mouths. a These animals do not depend wholly r( on their gills for the air they need. f( They frequently come to the surface ft] and gulp in air. They are found to c] have quite well developed lungs. As a rule the batrachians possess gills while they are in the tadpole stage of life, but when this i9 past the gills are lost. In some respects the w water dog remains a tadpole during h its whole existence. si ii Three Pictures Brom One. 6( T A pictorial white elephant, says the Boston Transcript, which had hung fire for an unconscionable time in the galleri?3 of a Boston dealer, was undoubtedly too large to be hung in any ordinary room. It was an Oriental j* encampment scene, with Arabs, horses, camels, tents, fires, etc., in the twi- ' light, with a rosy afterglow warming the western sky. There was enough material in the composition for a trio of pictures, and the shape, which was uncommonly wide in relation to its height, facilitated the surgery which was at last determined upon as a desperate resort. The work was done with skill. Elegant frames were built for the three new pictures, and before long three customers were made happy at a comparative trifling expense. Each of tbcir works is by an eminent French Orientalist, but whether his name is signed to all three or not we cannot say. First American Kector. Services were held the other day in Christ Episcopal Churcb, Stratford, Conn., in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Dr. Samuel Johnson, the first rector of the church, and the first American to hold the position of rector of an Episcopal Church in the country. Dr. Johnson was the first.instructor appointed to Yale after that institution had been transferred to New Haven. Frightful Mortality iu India. Official returns from India for last year show that 2893 persons lost their lives through tigers, panthers, bears, elephants und other wild beasts during the yeur; while 21,538 died from snake bites, three-fourths of which were caused by cobras. About 97,000 do1 * ? i - i-Ml. J 1 mesne animais were aiso Kuieu uj wild animals during the eame period. The heaviest car of wool ever shipped out of Idaho was loaded at Mountain Homo the other day. It was , I a fifty foot car, containing 42,474 8 pounds of wool. Tho freight ohargea on the car to Booton, its destination# 5? were I860. ? \ ' : ; ??? WINTER WEAR, INNOVATIONS AND NOVELTIES IN WOMEN'S GARMENTS. \ Fashionable Coat of Havana Brown Melton, With Hat of Golden Brown Felt?The Latest Styles In Sleeves. 7C" DECIDEDLY swell coat is of / \ Havana brown Melton, deoorated with Persian lamb, in ? the first large picture. The itylish top garment, says May Manon, is of fashionable length, the linng of emerald green and blue changeible silk giving a "chic" finish to the nside. The imported walking hat of golden brown felt with black satin )and and paradise aigrette is a pleasng accompaniment to this very deirablecoat; the loose fitting fronts ap widely, the right front extending ?n the left in double breasted style I A DOUBLE-BREASTED COAT A nd closing invisibly with a fly. The pper right front is reversed to form broad pointed lapel from the dosing t the neck. The olo3e fitting back is djasted by the usnal center, side, ack and under-arm seams that extend Fell Delow ttie waist line, xnusrenaerag the trim long 'waisted effect now so tylish. Below this point, deep unerlying box-plaits are laid after the revailing fashion, providing a deided stylish and new effect. The tylish gigot sleeves shaped with sinle seams are close-fitting to the elbow, be fullness at the top being laid in laits. The wrists are completed with arrow bands of Persian lamb, similar rimming outlining the.free edges of lie collar, lapel and fronts. The andsome and protective collar closlg at the neck stands out with a etylih flare. All plain, mixed or fancy cloakings an be employed in making this coat, [elton, cheviot, tweed, satin-faced loth, plush, velvet, or Astrakhan that nitates baby lamb being particularly tyli3h. The jacket may be severely lain or a tailor finish may be used, hile Astrakhan, Persian lamb or any f the fashionable furs will provide aitable decoration for more dressy ccasions. To make this coat for a lady having thirty-six-inch bust measure, it will jquire three and one-half yards of )rty-four-mch wide material, or two ad three-quarters yards of regulation loth, fifty-four inches wide. STYLES IN SLEEVES. The styles for sleeves are legion, rites May Manton. Two models are ere illustrated which are used extenvely at present. No. 1 is represented i a rich peau-de-soie with a raffle of )ft, creamy lace falling over the hand, he mousquetaire effect is the result f the material being disposed in athers extending from the wrist to ithin a short distance of the shoulder ad arranged over fitted lining of coat lape. The short puff is quite the itest feature of the new sleeves and is athered at the upper and lower edges ith most of the fulness near the LATEST STYLE! loulder, while tbe under portion, de3id of fulness, has a droop differing aterially from the puff of last season. hia moaseqnetaire, or, as onr English J cousins oall it, "a ruok sleeve," is decidedly becoming and admirably adapted to soft and pliable material. No. 2 is of canvas cloth and is comfortably fitted to the arm from the wrists to a goodly height above the elbow, the game stylish puffs used in No. 1 completing the model. The wrists may be plainly completed or with lace as shown. To make these sleeves in the medium size requires two and one-quarter yards for No. 1 design and one and three-quarter yards for No. 2 design of forty-four-inch wide material. SERVICEABLE HOUSE GOWN. Figured wool challis is chosen for this neat and serviceable gown, so admirably adapted for home wear. The standing collar and sleeve tabs are of ruby velvet, outlired with narrow lace edging, while the fanciful girdle of ribbon velvet in the same warm tint confines the fulness at the waist. The pretty gown, gathered at the neck, is mounted over fitted body AS* ND IMFORTED WALKING HAT. liDiDgs shaped with single darts, the nse of which lining is optional. The doling is accomplished with buttons and button holes. The seamless back is gathered at the neck and waist line by alternate rows of shirring drawn well to the center back. Ribbon velvet is neatly joined on each side of the shirring, which serves to hold the fulness gracefully to the figure, finishing in the center front with stylish bows and ends. The one-seamed gigot sleeves are of FOR HOME WiiAB. moderate fulness and ore arranged over fitted linings that may be omitted if not desired. A standing collar of velvet completes the neok. All serviceable materials may be employed in making this dainty gown, such as challis, delaine, cotton or wool crepon, etc., or the garment can be made of washable fabrics and worn with lineu turnover collar and cuffs, thus completing an ideal gown for the practical housekeeper. To mak9 this gown in the medium size requires five yards of forty-fourinch wiJe material. 9 * 3 IN 8LEEVE3.. The laboratories, museums, institutes, etc., connected with the Uni versity of Berlin cost the State $530,000 a je&r. 9 1 ' *v '' TO START 'WITH ANGORA GOATS. hi If you only want to experiment, take h' grades; but as a permanent invest- ?( mant, and on a small place, if you can " afford it, always buy the thoroughbreds; only where large numbers are ?' required, or where capital is limited, i0 shonld grade goats be selected. But 8? no matter what you buy, be careful ei that you get your money's worth. The name "pure blood" or "thorough- ti bred" is often only used to poke off c' deficient animals on an unsuspecting buyer, and remember particularly, *c that no animal with bare throat or chest or pouch will breed true to the standard type; all that long, coarse hair or man6 on the back, between the tr horns and tail, and along the rear part of the thighs, depreciates the value of your mohair. The soarse hair is very ^ easily introduced in a flock, bat ex- te ceedingly difficult to get rid of. It is a good deal quicker job to breed up a emooth-coated common goat to the ^ standard Ancrora tme. than to breed out the coarse hair of full-fleeced goats, bi It will stick to their get like their own S( Bhadow. If you are compelled to make your start with common goats, by all 01 means take the smooth-coated, short- efl haire'd kind,?New England Home- b< stead. bi FOB STORING FRUIT. gl The apple harvest brings up the sub- ^ ject of the proper disposal of the fruit * when gathered from the trees. The apple crop will be large in many sec- K] tions of the country thie year, and prices will be likely to rule low?for the tirst part of the winter, at least. P Much fruit will undoubtedly be stored in the hope of a better price later on. It is important, therefore, to adopt : such a plan of storage as will keep tbe 18 apples sound and plump, and in pos- 118 session of the be6t possible flavor. A cellar just moist enough to keep the 1D ni'ff'* b< " ?-t-t yf ; ? Wl IDEAL APPLE TRAY8, Y?< ba frmfc from evaporating any of its own ki juices, and capable of being held at a di low temperature?just above the chill- efl ing point?is an almost ideal pla?e for ve the storing of apples. Bat the loca- in tion is not all. Large quantities should th not be heaped together, nor should th apples be kept in barrels, bins or boxes mi where the air cannof circulate freely pe through them. Any tendency toward wl decay is sure to ba augmented under ye such circumstances The accompanying tai illustration is presented aa affording th Rn economical and exceedingly practi- kn cal method of storing fruit. Trays ya with slat bottoms, each three feet til square, are supported, one above an- be other, upon brackets that are nailed to pieces of upright studding. A sue- ab cession of this 6tudding with brackets gr can extend along the whole side of the an cellar, or upon two sides, if desired. The trays can bo made as deep as de- nn sired, and the fruit cau be heaped up be a little. In this way but a small quan- pi; tity of fruit is kept in a mass, and the pi] air can circulate about each and every da apple. Each tray can be removed to thi a table if it is desired to look the fruit su over for the detection of incipient de- ro cay.^or when getting ready to pack for po market. Such trays will last for a th score of years, and can easily be made soi in the home workshop on rainy days, pi; ?New York Tribune. in' trc SWEET POTATOES. wt In this 1 include, says J. M. Rice, wt of Oklahoma, the sugary, juicy varie- an ties grown in the South, which are on perhaps more properly designated nil yams, and I shall more especially refer be? to the methods of raising in the drier be: Southwest. ric (Til 1 r V?tV. 1 ?? ? ? ?U ' -LUC pCU|JiC U1 buo ilUI lii uuvc au. KJW jection, or, perhaps, as with myself, be it was only a prejudice, against the po sugary, juicy varieties. For myself sal ancl family, after becomingaccustamed sul to them, we very much prefer them, wh but this is, of coarse, a matter of as taste, for both are good. Oar plan for a dry country is to plo have the ground deeply plowed in the ch< winter, and then, alter a rain and be* I--lo fore planting time, to throw four fur- sul rows together, but aiming to overturn be all the soil, to it is in width but three dei furrows of our fourteen or sixteen inch is 1 plows. These are gone over with hoe the and rake, leveling the top a little and act smoothing the sides. A light rain is me preierred planting time, but we do Dot always wait for it. The roots of the the plants being well dampened, they wit are firmly set in the firm, loose soil, tot and a littie basin, holding a half-pinj,, ing left around each plant. Water is bac poureci an, tilling tne oasm, ana wneu j cii soaked away dry noil is drawn around I In < tbe plant?. A little buvfacc hand cul- i eve tivation is given, then such cultiva- sho tion with the horse cultivator between gee the ridges as is needed, and plowing the once with a stirring plow, throwing the sides of the ridges to the centre, then back again. For part of our ? ground we thus last year filled the caE trenches with damp, chafly straw, n!ai tramping it in well, and, while all ?u, were good, those from the mulched 0[; ground were a little more even in size, ern fibowing that the dry spells had not froc affected the growth of a part. ide Plants with heavy foliage and large Qre roots do best in a dry climate, so tne ore largi* sweet potatoes or yams succeed eXj Vinwo 11A the THE CROCTJS AS A TjAVTN" FLOWEE. Pretty in any place, the crocus is of i particularly attractive grown in the , can lawn, when they do not appear as; He; _J aving been planted there bat as just appening to come ap by chanced 01 )urse it would be useless to plant orocul 1 a lawn that is cut very early with a ,wn mower; but farmers' yards are ot generally kept in this way, ours v? n't, and it is a splendid plaoe on the inth side of the house for these very s> T irly and cheery blossoms. The grass sing left undisturbed until the asaal me to make hay, the crocuses have lance to grow their leaves and ripen le bulbs, so they go on and do well >r many years. ThflRft hnlbs can be nlantfld an* fiiwa l the fall before the ground ia frozen ard, bat the earlier this work is dona le better, as then the bulbs have lance to grow eome roots before be- :.' ig frozen in for the winter. Patting lem direcrly ander the sod, as is of* in advised, I have never found verj iccessful. I prefer to cat small holer ito the tarf with a sharp trowel, a ttle larger than the croons bulb and j:<)out three inches deep, put in the lib and 611 up the hole with some )od garden soil. Sometimes a big- v-v )r place is made and several bulbs set it, leaving a little space between ich bulb, but the single planting is ;st usually, I think. A well-grown lib will have eight or ten blossom* ' iM id make a fins bit of color in the . . Hh :ass just beginning to grow green* ' ijSaB rhen the dead grasa is very long in ( 'U le spring, the crocuses will show to stter advantage, if much of the brownWL^jgHJH rass is pulleduoff, taking pains not to ead on the points of the crocuses /KjJB >ming up. The next spring after "'qgjl [anting, the little holes made in the H|| rass will show somewhat but very >on fill ap, they look bigger than iey are, in the winter. If the lawn jf| kept nicely mown, crocnses set ont :'M i described will bloom well the first iring after planting, but very spar- , gly after that. Cutting off the ^ :een leaves injures them; they are, jwever, well worth putting out eafih jar.? American Agriculturist mmm FEBTIL1ZEBS. The greatest saving on the farm ia s . the ability to buy fertilizers that < ' . e best adapted to the soil. No two rms are alike, and for that rtosoa ) formula can be placed before rmers that will prove satisfactory all. As the majority of farmers low but little of chemistry, it is dif:ult to explain the aotion of chemiIs in the soils, and their relations to ? e growth of plants. It has been ' it a short period since the discovery is made that the changes in the soil jre due to the work of billions of ' ^ tcteria, and that they are of various nds, operating under certain con- ^^3 tione which best conduoted to their " '*< icienoy as natural agents for con- f/s rting the inert substanoe contained the soils into plant foods, and that ( eir work is best performed under e influences of sunlight, air and oisture, according to the work to be riormea ana ine Kin a 01. piani iooa lich they naturally provide. Every ar the farmers are brought in const with new theories which upset e old, and which they most consider, lowledge proving of incalculable adntage in enabling them to use ferizers judiciously, and to secure the st results at the lowest cost. Experiments show that fertilizere oa nding in nitrogen promote the owth of plants which have abundant d large foliage, giving that intense een tinge so noticeable in thrifty d healthy plants, but nitrogen must reinforced by a proportionate supj of potash in the soil. Fruits and mts which produce seeds in abunnce require more phosphorio acid an that of potash, while root crops, ? ch aB turnips, potatoes, beets, car- ' v ts and parsnips are benefited by tash. It is important, however, for > e farmer to know something of his il, as it may contain an ample supj of potash or phosphorio aoid, and bUCii caaca no win icijuuo utv/io u*>gen than mineral matter, AH soils tich are fertile oontain substances iich the farmer need not procure, d he can effect a saving by using ly such as his soil may require. No irogen is needed if the land has en in clover, but the soil will be nefited by applications of phosphoacid and potash. , The fall is the season when lime can " most profitably used, and in prortion to its cost it gives better reta on most farms than any other sstance. It should always be used ere a crop or sod is turned under, it not only contains within itself an . portant substance utilized by mts, but assists in ejecting certain ?mical changes in the soil by which ,nt food is liberated from the hard sstances which otherwise conld not .' rendered soluble. Lime has a ten- ^i?S9 icy to go downwards, and hence it # , only necessary to broadcast it on s surface of the soil. It has been ;nowledged by scientists and experinters that where lime has been used 1 assisted by manure and fertilizers soil has given satisfactory res<s h all kinds of crops, duo probably in alkaline condition of the soil bemore favoraple to the work of the iteria in changing the substances sting in the soil into plant food. applying fertilizers in the fall, how- ^ ? s r, the phosphates and potash salts uld be used, reserving the nitroous compounds for application in spring,?Farmers' Friend. Precious Ballast. 1 ? ? t J iL-liL. iiveryoue nas neara mas me iuens use railroad sleepers made of liogany," said Arthur Dawson, on ?lish gentleman residing in the City Mexico, while {at the Great North, "but the Mexican railroad builder is even further in his luxurious J as. On one of the lines the ties 1 of ebony, and a low grade of silvar ' s is used ior ballast. Ol course the Sanation is that the ore did not 7 to work, but this doe6 not remove impression of lavish extravagance ich this roadbed creates. In some a their bridge construction the Mexi- i is use marble. "?Chicago Times- 9 raid. I