p
*
voL.%xmx. camden, s. c., Thursday, November 20, isoo. no. 21.
TIS ALIA MYTH. j
Tis all a myth that autumn grieves.
For watch the rain amid the leaves,
With silver fiugers dimly seen
It makes each leaf a tambourine,
And swings and leaps with clfm mirth
To kiss the brow ot mother earth;
Or laughing 'mid Ihc trembling grass
It nods a greeting as you pass.
Oh! bear the rain amid the leaves?
:Tis all a myth that autumn grieves.
'Tis all a ny th that autumn grieves.
For list t??e winds among the sheaves;
Far sweeter than the breath o' -lay
Or storied scents of old Cathay,
It blends the perfume rare and good
Of spicy pine and hickory wood;
And with a voire as gay as rhymo
It prates of sifted mint and thyme.
Oh! scent the wind among the sheaves?
'lis all a myth that aututnn grieves!
"Tis all a myth thai autumn grieves?
Behold the wondrous web she weaves!
By viewless hands her thread is spuu
Of evening vapors shyly won.
Across the grass from side to side
A myriad unseen shuttles glide
Ti roughout the night, till on the height
Aurora leads the haggard light.
Behold the wondrous weo sno weave?,
:Tis all a m} tii that autumn grieves!
?Samuel Minium Peel:, in Aye-Herald.
A TALE OF ADVENTURE.
The railroad line from Lucknow to Lahore,
India, runs through a country
where the tiger and panther yet crouch
w ithiu sound of the car wheels, and
where almost every tn.in passing up and
down cuts serpents in two as they crawl
over the tracks from cover to cover. I
heard it stated over and again that three
surveyors lost their lives for every
ruilc of the road, and if this had not
been true the company wouid not have
employed me in the capacity it did.
When the grading began at Lucknow,
or, rather, after it had progressed a few
miles to the west, I took the advance
with a party of fourteen natives. 3Iv
title should have been, '*The Honorable
Tiger Slayer and Serpent Killer to the
Honorable Lucknow and Western Rail
road Company.'' I was employed to
protect the railroad hands, and the position
was far from being a sinecure.
It is as well to state how we were outfitted.
We had two horses and carts
and an elephant. The latter had been
used very often for hunting, aud was a
wary and intelligent beast. He was my
personal property, and when I rode atall
it was ou his back. I had a rifle carrying
an explosive ball, aud my men were
aruied with double-barrelled shotguns.
We had a supply of Chinese bombs and
several hundred sheet-iron cylinders,
which could be charged for shells. % In j
addition to the nbove I bad a cars of j
Congreve rockets, the chambers of which
were filled with swan shot, and when we
took our station ou the line no party
could have been better prepared.
Fiist on ti.t. i.ne came the pioneers,
who cleared tb<- tr ek of trees aud brush, j
Within niue miles of Lucknow two of i
these were bitten by cobras, and died be- I
fore help cculd reach them. We were j
to beat tiie route ahead of the pioneers ;
for at least five miles, and ou the very j
first day we killed two cobras aud rau off i
a panther. Fiom that day for almost |
two yeais there was scarcely a day with- j
out its advcuturc.
One morning, after we ind made our i
camp about two miles ahead of the pioneers,
I started to ride back on my cle?
1 * *1, flirt fnrnmui nf !
JMUliJl IU tUUMUl una VlCv Wivmuu W. |
the gang. About the same time lie;
started to walk to the caiup. Ten miu- I
utes before I saw him my beast, whom I j
bad christened "Zeb," announced in his j
own peculiar way that he scented tiger, j
He liung his trunk from side to side and
breathed in an excited way. I had passed
out of a thicket to an open spot when I
saw Mr. Williams about half a mile
away. He was iu the clear ground
on the edge of a dense thicket.
I held up and he soon saw me. He was
waving his hat in silent salutation, when
a magnificent spcciman of tigerhood
bounded from the thicket, struck the
ground once, afid then made a leap of
about twenty feet and bore Williams to
the earth. Two or three seconds later
he Hung the unfortunate man over his
shoulder and started off. He did not
make for the thicket, but for a ravine to
the west. I urged Zeb after him as fast
as he could go, and hearing the crash of
his footsteps the tiger halted and wheeled
around and stood looking us in the face.
I was so near before my beast halted that
I could see that Williams was gripped
by the right shoulder. He lay almost
on his back diagonally across the tiger's
body.
At a distance of not over fifty feet the
elephant halted. He saw that the
ground was broken and that he stood no
show of pursuit. I had my rifle ready,
and though I lelt almost certain that I
would kill William if I fired, I raised the
weapon to my face and fired at the white
spot on the tiger's breast. I believe he
leaped three feet high with his burden,
and he had touched the earth again
when the ball exploded. It made an
awlul wreck of him, and as 1 rode forward
I had no hope whatever for the
man. I found hiin covered with blood
and hair and flesh and his coat sleeve
tern off, but I had scarcely taken hi;n by
the heels to draw liiru aside when he
roused up and was soon able to converse.
The tiger had given him a severe bite in
the shoulder, aud he had been considerably
shaken up by the explosion, but in
tw o weeks he was at the head of his gang
agam. The tiger must not oulv have
hern a man-eater, but in the full vigor
of life and strength. An old tiger would
have continued to ruu for cover. This
fellow bad lost no teeth and had lots of
piuck.
We were heating a thicket, in which
was a large mass of out-cropping rock.
The route run rjgnt mrougn me uucki-i,
and within forty feet of the eastern edge
of this outcrop. We knew it to be a good
place for serpents, and we were not long
in finding them. With a shotgun we
killed three large specimens of the cobramsnilla
and one of the men hit oil two
jftndtnakes, which are fouud in tlit
thickets as often as in the sands. Others
rail to cover, and tiieu we brought up our
ammunition train, and made ready for
business. We had sheet-iron cylinders
from the diameter of a candle to that of a
tea canister. We selected a size to fit any
hoie we found, and they were loaded with
powder and buckshot and a fuse inserted.
The cylinders dropped down
after the snakes, aud the explosion settled
the fate of anything in that hole. I
thiuk we killed sixty or seventy serpents
cu an acre of ground.
The first Chinese bomb I used on the
railway line was at a point eighty miles
west of Lucknow. One morning a native
came to me from a small village on our
right flank and said that a panther had
carried off his two-year-old child the
evcuing before. Just after sunset, while
the family were sitting about the door of
the hut, the child, which was just beginning
to walk, toddled off around the
corner of the hut, and was seized by a
panther lying in wait. Its screams roused
the whole village, and everybody saw the
beast golloping away with the child in
i - - a! i.^
US mom I!. 1IJ1S JKUIUICI \>;IN MIIUMI IU
have two cubs, and her retreat was iu a
rocky ravine, a mile from the village. I
took five men and the elephant,
and, accompanied by about thirty
of the villagers, went to the ravine.
It wasu't exactly a raviue, but
a basin of thicket and rock, with a
J # 7
i spring at the bottom of it. My men soon
! beat up the ground, aud found a wellj
worn path leading to the den. It was
j about twenty feet below the crest of the
. sink, aud the opening was nearly as large
j as a barrel. There was no question but
1 that the panthers would be at home at
! that hour of the day, and after arranging
my men with their shot guns I dropped
j the bomb iuto the den myself. It wasu't
I a bomb for a mortar, but a heavy glass
j bulb tilled with chemical6 and exploded
j by a fuse. When the chemicals were reI
leased they created such a smell as no
. human nose could endure.
I heard a growl as I retreated, and all i
i O '
i of us caught the sound of the explosion, j
Indeed, we felt the jar of it. A few sec- I
< ouds later there was a rush aud a roar, |
| au.l one panther was hardly out when a !
: second followed. They were cut and
i bleeding and seemed to be on fire. We
fired as they canie into sight, and both
rolled to the bottom of the sink, dead.
It was a full hour before a native could
enter the den, and then he found two
dead cubs and some of the bones of the
villager's child. We gave them the
scalps of the panthers, That they might
/"1~.? 1. .?. ?A fhn
Clilim UJU uuvvniuiiuu mnaiu, auu tut
father of the child at once forgot his
loss.
I had had ray elephant seven months
before I learned his real value. He had
been warranted a nervy beast, butitofteu
happens that if an elephant is transferred
to new scenes he undergoes a change of
heart. One afternoou I rode down the
route about five miles to a village to procure
medicine for a sick man in ray party.
The route was through forest and thicket
and over stretches of open covered with
tall grass. Before goiug I exchanged
my rifle for one of the shotguns, knowing
that it would he a more effective weapon
from the back of an elephant. There
had been a murder committed in the village
that forenoon, and this aud other
matters detained me until about an hour
before sunset. As I made ready to start
back a native hunter said to mc:
''The sahib will need sharp eyes and a
steady hand. A wolf has just appeared
in the village."
I thanked him for his interest and rode
away. The wolves of India do not pack
in such numbers as elsewhere, seldom
more than five or six being found together.
We had killed a few along the
line, aud they had showed no fight at all.
As Zeb shambled along I thought far less
i of wolves than of bigger game.
I wasn't a mile out of the village when
j Zeb began to swing his trunk as a sign
j that he scented danger. A-- we letf tiie
cover of the woods to cross one of the
open spaces, lie trumpeted in excitement,
and increased his pace. I could see
: nothing at first to alarm him, but two or
j three minutes later I caught sight of
five wolves on our trail and this number
1 increased to twenty aimos; in a twinkj
ling. We were uot yet half way across
i the open when the pack spread out in a
half circle and closed in on us. As soon
a> they were near enough I opened fire,
and a wolf dropped at every report. The
living didn't stop, however, but closed
in more eagerly than before, and Zeb was
j now under such motion that I could no
j longer use the gun. I had scarcely laid
; it down and picked up a hatchet which
I was in the howdah by chauce, when a
j wolf sprang fairly fiom the ground and
j caught the edge of the box-like arrauge|
ment with his forepaws. I used the
I hatchet to sever his paws, and both
j dropped iuside as he rolled off to the.
j ground.
j Zeb was now speeding .along like a
: runawav horse, and I had all I could do
j to retain my seat. He used his trunk- j
! right and left, and more than once I .
j heard a wolf howl out as he was knocked [
1 over. I had no mahout, always acting !
i as my own, and Zeb had always been
| wonderfully obedient to my voice. 1
! had no orders to give him now,however,
I and only knew in a vague way that he
j was heading for our camp. lie finally
| reached the far edge of the open, and
1 now I expected to be swept off his back
j as he ran under the trees. Instead of
: going into the woods he skirted them to
! the westward, and after a run of five
miuutes he reached a small lake,of whose
presence I had not the slightest knowlj
edge, as it was walled in by thickets.
lie ran straight into the water, which was
i about four feet deep and alive with
| alligators. It was about an acre in ex!
tent, and Zeb waded out about 200 feet
j from shore before he stopped. The pack
followed us. each wolf obliged to swim,
and I counted eleven of them. They
j probably reasoned tiiat we were going
ij straight across.
i When the elephant halted I had my
' shotgun ready to open tire, hut there
! [ was no need of it. Zeb iet the wolves
come ou, only to their destruction. The
i first one he got hold of was tiuug thirty
tj feet high, ur.d the blows of his trunk
broke a back whenever it could get a
fair blow. I believe lie would have
cleaned out the whole pack without
help, but I killed two, and then aid
came from au unexpected quarter. The
alligators, disturbed by the row, were
quick to catch on to the fact that food
was at hand, and they came up by the
dozeu. Three or four wolves made for
the shore after a bit, but not one reached
it. When the last one had becu pulled
down Zeb waded ashore and headed for
cauip, which he reached without further
incident. When I came to look him over
I found that he had received several bites
on the trunk, and a sharp stone had
severely cut his right hind foot.
After that night the sight of a wolf
instantly aroused his ire. I had him in
the town of Sundella one day a year
later, when a native wearing a wolf-skin
shoulder ca[:c happened to pass near.
Zeb at once charged him, and seizing the
poor fellow in his trunk flung him clear
over tiio telegraph wires ana on to tnc
roof of a bungalow. The man had a leg
broken, and, of course, I had to settle
the damages. After two days of palaver
he named his figures, lie wanted a sum
equivalent to $25 in American money,
aud his friends thought it a fortunate
speculation on his part.?Neic York Sun.
The Oat in Antiquity.
Was the cat, as a fireside pet, known
to the aucients? If it was, was it as the
domestic animal familiar to ourselves, or
was it simply as a domesticated savage,
like the monkey or the gazelle? Professor
Virchow iuclincs to the latter opiniou.
Having examined the mummies of
Egyptian cats, he fouud they had nothing
in common with our feline friend.
The cats of antiquity, according to other
archaeologists, were slenderer than ours,
aud approached the weasel in appearance.
But Sig. Saglio, the distinguished
Italiau scholar who is engaged on the
magnificent "Dictionary of Greek and
lloman Antiquities" now in course
of publicatkn at Paris, under the editorship
of Darcmberg, read the other day
before the Academy of Inscriptions a
memoir on the subject, in which he holds
a contrary opinion t) that of Virchow.
The cat iu ancient times was, lie maintains,
the identical domestic animal
known to modern Europe. On Etruscan
tombs he has found paintings which represent
the cat ns a regular inmate of the
house of the deceased, one of these pictures
showing us a company at dinner,
and the cat toying under the tabic with
bones of chicken or partridge. Sig. Saglio
further refers Professor Virchow to
the British museum, where on two jars
belonging to the fifth century B. C., domestic
cats are depicted in a "Scula Musical'
Of these cats one is held by a
string and another stands upright on a
footstool while n boy offers it a dainty.
There are other pictorial representations,
according to the accomplished Italian
archaeologist, which prove that the cat
was cherished in antiquity as ouc of the
most useful, as well as graceful, domestic
animals, inspiring the affection bestowed
on it by eminent persons of all
times?from Mohammed to Petrarch,
from Montaigne to Hoffman and Dumas.
?London Lancet.
A House Fly Parasite.
State Entomologist Linttier, recently
received from a Gouvevneur lady an interesting
parasite on the common house
fly. "it is not uncommou to find half a
dozen on a sinsrle fiv," the sender writes.
Th'-y are exceedingly small, being no
larger thau the puncture in a piece of paper
by a small-sized pin poiut, yet they arc
seen readily because of their light vermilion
color. Their favorite spot is on the
body of the fly underneath the bases of
the wings. The parasite is a mite of the
group known as "harvest mites," bearing
the scientific name of Trombidium
inuscarum,and is similar to another species
that attacks flies in Europe. The mite
does not multiply, unfortunately, with
sufficient rapidity to do much toward the
reduction of the number of house flies.
While infesting the fly it is in the larval
stage, and only after leaving it docs
it become mature and begtn to propagate.
For this rrasou it rarely comes uuder observation
accl has seldom been recorded
by eutomologists. Another species of
mite sometimes met with produces its
young upou the house fly with such
rapidity that in a few days the body,
head, and limbs become completely covered
with the parasite.
The fact has been spoke i of often that
the usual number of flies were not seen
this season. The reason for this would
be interesting, whether an undiscovered
parasite or some new form of disease has
destroyed them.?New York Times.
Played a Waltz at Her Grave.
Tney tell a story of Strauss, the coinposer,
which he claimed was true. It is
to the effect that an old lady admirer of
the Strauss music, a Viennese, ordered
in her last will and testament that a
Strauss waltz should be played at her
funeral, for which each member of the
orchestra was to receive a dueat. The
heirs objected at first on religiou
grounds to carry out this plan, but the
provisions of the will were distinct and
could not be violated without endangering
their own claims; so Strauss and his
musicians were engaged and placed in a
circle around the grave, and while the
coffin was being lowered they played
thn favorite waltz of their late lamented
admirer.
i Russia's Rich Coal Deposits.
Tf the calculations of Professor Meudelejetl
are to be trusted Russia possesses
, the riches coal deposits in the world.
| The superiicial area of the coal fields in
the Denetz. basin alone amounts to about
30,000 square kilometres. If the capnc:
ityof these deposits is put at 50,000,000
pounds per square kilometre (one pound
bcius about thirty-six averdupois), the
total supply of coal is stated to be equal
to the world's present cousmuptiou for
fifty years. Moreover, this only referto
the superficial beds and not to tin
deeper deposits, which have uot yet beer:
' exploited, but which promises still great
! er riches.?Times-Democrat.
SUNFLOWER FARM.
AN ACRE OP FLAMING GOLD IN
NEW YORK.
Raising t7ie Flowers to Feed the
Seeds to Hens?The Biggest
Hennery in the World?
Keeping Hens Warm.
Tt is a grand estate that Cyrus W.
Field owns among the glorious "Westchester
hills. You cau travel for miles
after leaving Broadway and never get
off his property. The homes of Mr. Field'
and of his son and married daughter lie
on the top of a commanding hill about a
mile and a half above the Hudson and
hurk- of the nrettv little villanre of Hobbs ,
- I J o I
Ferry.
When yon have climbed the long bills j
on which stands the noble mansion of the j
great promoter and the villas of Dr. j
Lindsay, his son-in-law, and the younger j
Field, bis son, you conn: to an abrupt
ravine, Behind this is the spring house,
containing a liquid crystal of great .
worth, and the conservatories, wheru
hothouse grapes and rare flowers grow j
the year around. Dogs, big and little, :
savage and affectionate, bound along beside
your carriage and make you ache
for the lonely pedestrian who should
pass this way after dark. Then '
comes a magnificent hill of woodland,
cut by a road which winds and
twists, no v up hill and now down, until
it crosses the divide and reaches the valley
of the Sawmill River.
it is in this valley, beside a pretty but j
dangerous pond, that Mr. Field raises
chickens, sunflowers and malaria, and of
which of the crops were most successful I
this summer it would he hard to say. I
But ail did well, and there was never a i
wishbone light in the valiaut'housc of !
Field. The hennery is snid to be tbo 1
largest in the world maintained for a j
gentlemau's table?fifteen huudred chicks
to be divided among three families.
All summer long passers on the Savrmill
River road have drawn rein just !
above the great hen houses, and, with j
exclamations of wonder and delight, I
wondered what all that was for. "That" !
was a great field of sunflowers?mam- ;
.t? .L- l-- 4 i.: a ?n 1
mollis, iiie uiggesi iviuu niai. giuwo?an .
planted in soriied columns. It was a
wonderful sight, this acre of green anil
gold. When the morning sun shone
upon thcrn on the same side as the road
a thousand great circles of yellowest gold
would all point that way. It was almost
dazzling, and the man who could pass it
without reining up was either devoid of .
NO USE FOll THESE.
sight or of imagination. So many asked
the meaning of that field that young E.
Ellison, who planted it, grew very weary
and thought to paint a sign to this effect: :
"These sunllowcrs are to feed chickens. '
All other questions answered at one dol- 1
lar each."
The worst of it was that people were
rot satisfied with the information contained
above. They wanted to know
what part of the sunflower he fed to
chickens, and why he did it, aud whose ;
chickens they were, and if Mr. Field .
could not. afford to buy chickcu feed, j
and what effect the sunflower seed had
on chickens, and if they would cure the
pip?-and all manner of questions, pertinent,
impertinent and otherwise. At
times E. Ellison's head whirled round j
and he was tempted to resign his place j
or plow up the sunflowers. But he stuck !
it out to the end, and now he has a va- !
cant house full of suuflowcr blooms, and i
is the happiest chicken man this side of i
! Elvsiuui.
I always thought a big poultry house '
j must be a bad smelling place until I enI
tercd Mr. Field's and found how much
T was mistaken. Of course the keeper
has to do much iu the way of cleaning,
v^3j! i Sip I i' j
^u^UL^m |
?.?V* /x?rrnc nHT k \V k V TO HTIV.
* v * ? " " * """ '
for eighteen hundred fowl of chicken
size and five hundred ducks and several
dozen gecsc and turkeys, to say nothing
oi a couple hundred pigeons nnd squabs,
can make considerable trouble if left
alone. But there was very little suggestion
of evil in the three great tenements
were l he Field inn stock is at home.
Three houses five hundred feet in length
are the tenements for the chickens. Two
have expensive arrangements for steamheating
in winter, arrangements at
which E. Ellison sticks tip the nose i
in scorn. It is not natural, he says, i
Tiio chickens, unless very young, want j
nothing but the shelter and such heat as j
the winter sun pours in at the glazed ;
windows. All else is a nuisance. It is
f
apt to give them bronchitis, and tho
whooping cough, and I do not know but
a touch of the grip. There is also an ex- '
pensive brooding arrangement, built by
a famous architect named Clark, who
evidently had built for human beings
more than chickens. Mr. Clark had the
idea that it was the little tootsy wootsies
of the chickens that should be kept warm, '
and so he put the heat underneath. E. 1
Ellison, who studies nature's methods, I
noticed that it was the backs of the little I
chicks that, the mother hens keep warm, |
and so he docs not use the patent foot- j
warmers, and saves many a chickeu's life ,
by not doing so.
There are many different kinds of socalled
perfect breeders which have been .
tried and tossed one side as useless, and |
if you uish to buy a chicken hatcher j
cheap I have no doubt that E. Ellison i
can give you a bargain. The incubator (
which lie uses is a self-acting, lazy man*! ,
...!.L - r.i\ I
annir, wim h cajmfii^ 01 ojj j
Three settings of this giant hen are all
that is needed to keep the vow of Cyrus, |
nnd as maternity ou the part of hens is
strictly tabooed in the Field establish- i
mcnt, this one machine does all the work
of turning eggs into little peeps on legs. :
It is worth a peck of minted money to
go through these long lieu houses and
see the gtorienn variety that the Field
family have to diet on. The aristocracy ,
of the barnyard is here sure enough, as j
well as those more common liens wiio are .
not above the drudgery of laying an egg ;
a day; aud when it comes to cake and j
A PEEP INTO A HEN HOUSE.
puacnng me nen 01 me ycuow uog variety,
the hen who lays and lays and
never goes on strike, is found to be just
as serviceable as the more aristocratic j
eggs of the high caste Brahmins and I
Cochins, which have come all the way
from India and China to show the American
chicken what is what in the poultry i
line. E. Ellison encourages tfoth and )
you can tnke your choice of the cultured i
blue blood caged in cxclusivencss, each '
kind by itself, or in vhe happier but more !
plebiau fowl who have the run of the
chicken yard and even do some of their
scratching for worms -ad chasing of
grasshoppers on the public highway.
Some of the big boarding houses for
chickens were supposed to be rat proof. .
Such was the intention of the builder, :
but like all men in this world of fallibility
he forgoi to put his wire screens in
the one 'place needed, and the rats got in
and made trouble in the chicken family.
There were wishbones?very tender and
little ones?which did not get to the
house of Field. For a time tho chicken
guardian was at his wits' end what to do,
1>nf of Incf Vie hnilfrVif-. n. few livftlv little
fox terriers, and their bright eyes had
not been long about the place when the
plague of rats was no more. Rats do not
rccm to flea vis b on the saoic soil as fox
terriers. "
CUTTING SCNFLOWEH9.
The suuflower farm was a scheme of
the chicken man. He knew that the
seeds of that delicate flower were excellent
dessert for chickens. Too rich
for a steady diet, there was something in
their oily richness which put an extra
gloss on feathers and was very fattening
to the bird itself. Why not, he argued,
in a farm of (570 acres, backed up by auother
farm still farther to the eastward
and by the big estate on the Hudson,
why not devote an acre to the cultivation
of the big sunflower nnd give his
chickeus au occasional taste of luxury
such as few other chickens enjoy. So
the sunflowers were planted and flourished
amazingly.
But the glory of the sunflowers has departed.
Three days of a recent week
were devoted to harvesting them. The
chicken man and a small hoy assistaut
went into the field nnd the giants bowed
their heads before his sharp-edged corn
hook. Some of the plants were twice as
tail as he. Many had been rifled of their
blooms by passersby who were anxious
to start sunflower farms of their own and
who thought the mammoth variety good
enough for them. But there were
hundreds left and he went at them like a
very prince of decapitators. The big
suulike discs were lopped oil at the neck,
so to speak, and the yellow blossoms
rubbed olf. Then they were tossed into
a dump cart and when the latter was tun
they were trundled to an empy cottage
and stacked up on the floors to dry.
Every room was needed to furnish floor
space for the big circles?some of thein
a foot in diameter.
When all the harvesting was doue, the
common chick were turned loose in the
denuded field, aud among the lesser
blossoms which it was not thought worth
while to house found many a store of
fowl delight. Next year when the famo
of this sunflower farm has gone abroad
we may expect to hear of sunflower
farms throughout the country, and the
chickens of Thanksgiving, 1891, will
wear a gloss and bear a flavor such as
chickens never wore before.
"Does Mr. Field raise any chickens
for market?" I asked.
"No," said E. Ellison. "This is not a
commercial enterprise in any kind. Of
course if I have more eggs or chickens
than arc wanted at home I nm privileged
to sell them, but I am not trying to run
opposition to tho men of Hammonton or
any other market raisers."
The first setting of eggs usually takes
place about the first of January, and
there are young chickens on the Fieldiun
tables at a time when the average man
takc3 his from the icebox or goes without.
A little box, which looks much
like the market gardener's hotbed, but
which has lamp and furnace within to
temper the chills of winter to the new
born chick, is the place where he spends
his infancy at a time when chicks are
supposed to be sold by the dozen in the
original packnges. There is a slide in
front, so that on warm, suushiny days
the infant may stroll a little ways abroad
and taste the fresh air of Westchester,
but for the most part he prefers the society
of the brooder which follows Dame
Nature's methods and warms his infant
back instead of his infant toes.?New
York Ilerald.
Hie Deadly Boomerang.
The boomerang, used by the black
natives of Australia, is ouo of the most
extraordinary weapons ever invented.
It is a curved, flat piece of very hard
wood, and has sharp edges. The curve
is uot the segment of a circle, but it is
in the form of a parabola; and the
weapon has the property, when skilfully
thrown, of returning to the feet of the
thrower. It is, however, very difficult
NATIVE THROWING THE BOtolEIUNG.
for those Dot accustomed to it to throw
it with any effect, whilst a "black fellow"
can hurl it with tremendous force round
a tree or a house and hit the mark he intended.
A friend of mine who traveled in
Australia and spent some time among
the natives, says a writer, told me that
one day "a black fellow," flourishing his
boomerang,pointed laughingly to a pretty
little green and red parrot that was sitting
on a branch some distance away. The
weapon was hurled apparently very wide
of the mark; but it went whirling round
and round through the air, and catching
poor little Polly in its flight, knocked
her off her perch, and leaving her dead
on the ground came circling back again
almost to the very feet of the thrower.
It is remarkable that so singular a
weapon should have been discovered or
invented by people so savage as the natives
of Australia. It is used solely by
them, for though the ancient Egyptians
had a throw-stick, aud something similar
is iu use nmoug some of the tribes of
India, the curve of those weapons differs
from that of the boomerang, nor do we
know that they had the property of returnicg
to the thrower. In illustration
of the difficulty of using the boomerang,
I may mention that none of my friends
could do any execution with a very fine
specimen of the weapon in my possession,
though they were good enough marksmen
with other missiles.?New York Journal.
One Way to Break a String.
| IVe often see our mothers running
obout the house hunting for a knife or
pair of scissors with which to cut tho
i string just lied arouud a bundle. Even
1 nur baker's wife keeps a pair of shears to
cut the cotton cord used in tying up
bread, and sometimes the grocer's wifo
will press the string over the counter
corner and saw it until it wcar3 off by
friction. Now a little practice with a
grocer's loop will enable the most tenderlingered
young lady to break even heavy
I
twine without pain or inconvenience.
1 (Vfter tying the bundle hook the first
| linger of the left hand over the string,
1 giving the finger a twist, or rather bringing
the palm upwards, as shown in the
illustration. Then roll the finger over
backward until it is tight against the
bundle, drawing tight the cord, which
; is held in the right hand all the time.
| Press the thumb hard against the loop;
j then jcrd the cord suddenly with the
' right hand and the string cuts itself.
! With a little practice this can be done
: quicker than one could slash the string
! with a knife. Many grocers even do not
' know this.?American Agriculturist.
A box of Italian rabbits has been received
in Palatka, Fla. The animals
are noted for the length of their cars,
some of them measuring cighteeu inches
from tip to tip.
I.OVE'S OPPORTUNITY.
Two lovers by the old front gate,
So young and all alone!
The village clock tolls: Late! Late! Late!
Twelve times in solemn tone.
-No! No!"
A deep voice says aloud,
-Sweetheart, don't go
Till the moon goes under a cloud." / "'
The Queen of Night rides high in space
Serenely bright and fair.
Her kisses zild the young swain's faca,
The mr' en's glossy hair.
'. is late,
And all ir vows are vowed:
hy wait, and wait.
Till the mo:>:< goes under a cloud?
The fair girl's dewy lips repeat:
"Good night is not good-bye."
But love in youth is very sweet,
And village maids are shy.
Dear one,
"With head so sweetly bowed.
Don't run, don't ruu,
j Till the moon goes under a cloud.
?George Horton, in Chicago Herald.
PITH AND_ POINT.
A close call?The whisper.
Down in the mouth?The palate.
A smoke house?The opium joint.
Large checks are always fashionable
for lawyers' suits.
A.?"Accidents will happen." B.?
"Not when you have a policy."
It must have been a wagon wheel that
first complained of "that tired feeling."
?Texas Si/tings.
Teacher (in the Indian school at Hampj
ton)?"What is the masculine of Hawk?"
Small Indian?"Tomahawk, mum."
"That man has a good position."
"What is it?" "Head up, chest will
out and legs straight."?West Shore.
Druggist?"If you take this preparation
of mine, you will never use any
other." Customer?"Is it aa fatal as
that?"
A caterpillar dropped upon
Her neck?yet she kept mum;
Let none with doubt this statement con,
For she was deaf and dumb.
?Washington Post.
It would seem proper to seek for a
thing where you lost it, yet men continually
lose their health in thignountay
and go to Europe -to find it.?DanniUe
Breeze. ' * .h '
Dyspepsia and disappointment in love
seem to produce the same outward effect.
The difference between them is that ^ ;? dyspepsia
is jrcry "hard "to cure,?Somer- ,v ville
Journal.' .
' M-v 1 1/nnw
StUggltlS ^HDgTliyy XJU jvu nuvo
that your chickens dome over ia my
yard?- $iv>oks?"J supposed ?h*t they
did, for they never come back again?'?
Ne>M York Herald.
"How do you like keeping home in
the West?" "It's very difficult." "Servants
and provisions hard to get?" "No.
So hard to keep the house itself when
the wind gets lively."?Harper's Bazar.
It cheers the old maids to ba taken for
girls,
They like it to last all their lives,
But there's something that pleases them
batter,
Is just to be taken for wives.
?Philadelphia Times.
Country Resident (to pcdler)?"Get
J away from here, now, or if you don't I'll
whistle for my dog." Pedler?"All
right, sir; but first won't you allow me
to sell you a good whistle?"?Fliejends
Biaetter.
Guest?"You call this hotel 'The
American Eagle,' but 'The American
: Toucan' would be a more appropriate
name." Landlady?"Why so, sir?"
Guest?"Because the toucan has the
largest bill of known birds."?Light.
Sergeant (in the instruction hour)?
"You see, toe barrel is the most irapor1
*"*C tlin innor rv> rf".
Iiaiit p3Tb U1 LL1C i4|uuj ii/i vuv iuuvi
of it gives the direction to the ball, wb lo
, the outer part of it gives the weapon tue
requisite length."?Fliegende BlaetUr.
There's nothing lost; the little grains of sand
Oft make up mountain's girt with dread
and awe,
And the weo babe there sleeping on its cot
I May soino day be, perhaps, a mother-inlaw.
?Philadelphia Times.
I Fauntleroy on the Birth of the Diaj
mond.?L. L. Fauntleroy?"Dearest,
I don't jewelers set big diamonds?" Mrs.
j Fauntleroy ? "Yes, Cedric." L. L.
! Fauntleroy?"Well, dearest, do the big
; diamonds hatch out little ones?"?Jewel!
en' Weekly.
Minnie?' 'Even though it was my last
, chance, I never would mirry a man who
; was devoted to a fad." Mamie?"No?
j Yet that is just what I expect to do
! shortly." Minnie?"And what is his
I particular hobby, please?" Mamie?
"Me."?Indianapolis Journal.
Physiciau?"You have caught this
cold, youug man, by carelessness. If
j you will soak your head and be careful
I to wear your overcoat when you go out
you will be all right." Young Spendthrift?"No
use trying that prescription,
i doctor. I've soaked the overcoat."?
Chicago Tribune.
Summerman?"Why, this is unusual!
Why, you are putting all the big apples
in the bottoms of the barrels and the little
ones on top." Uncle Hiram?"Yes.
i Those fellers in the city are gettin' so
I all-fired cute; they open the barrels from
! the bottom to see whether we farmers be
| tryin' to cheat them."?Racket.
i There is a precocious six-year-old boy
j who is wonderful in spelling and defini|
tion. The other day his teacher asked
j him to spell "matrimony." "M-a-t-r-i1
m-o-n-y," said the youngster, promptly.
: "Now define it," said the teacher.
, "Well," replied the boy, "I don't know
exactly what it means, but I know
j mother's got enough of it."?Picayune.
"Wo had more fun at the party the
other night than [ ever saw in my life,"
said a little St. Anthony Hill girl to her
! mother. "What was the cause of your
hilarity?" inquired the interested pareut.
~ * .L- r_n Q
"Une 01 me gins icu u^uv m.uu,u ..
chair, aud everybody laughed but me."
"Why didu't you laugh?" "I?I?I was
the little girl who fell through the chair."
?tit. Paul Pioneer Prea,