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FARM AND HOME.
Farm Making*'
[From the American Agriculturist]
Quality vs. Quantity.— lt begins to
look as it we had reached that point
when quality in the products ot the
farm, orohard and garden is to take the
front rank, and quantity become a sec
ond consideration. It is not so much
the large strawberry or squash, or the
number of quarts of milk, os the flavor,
tho richness, etc., that is being sought.
This is encouraging.
Timor, plowing of stiff clays is often
of great benefit. It is done by turning
the furrows two and two together, so as
to leave the land uniformly ridged. Tho
ridges must run up and down the slopes;
otherwise, in heavy rains, water will be
held by the ridges until it breaks through
somewhere, when thero will bo danger
of a “ wash-out,” This system of winter
fidlowing involves plowing again in the
spring, but shows its good effects in the
crops.
Atples. —The practice of picking the
fruit and putting it in heaps for a few
days until the skin toughens, before
barreling, is a good one. Put the fruit
into tho barrel with care, shaking it
down when half full, and again when
full, so that the apples will fit closely,
when the head is pressed in by means
of tho barreling press. The opposite
head should be marked as the one to be
opened. This season of abundant ap
ples it will not pay to market any except
the best fruit, and that in fine shape.
Water. —If pure water does not flow
at the barn, look into means for secur
ing it. Barn-yard wells are convenient,
but often dangerous to the health, if not
of animals, certainly of men, who may
drink at them. If the water from some
spring can be led to the house and bam,
by all means bring it down—use plain
iron pipes or enameled ones—not “gal
vanized” pipes. Zinc ais slow poison,
but not quite so bad as lead. A well on
higher ground will often furnish flowing
water, conducted by a siphon, at the
level of the buildings. No w r ell should
bo dug at a less distance than 300 feet
from a barn-yard, cesspool, or privy
vault.
Spring and Fall Pigs.— Pigs littered
in the fall or early winter, owing to the
cold weather, lack of green food, etc.,
seldom make a good start, and in many
cases are eaten as soon as dropped by
their voracious dams. Pigs for the
greatest profit should come about the
opening of spring, with its fresh grass
and warm sunshine ; they can be ready
for the market by fall, and very few
risks will be run. For this end sows
should be bred in December or January.
At one time large hogs were highly
prized in the market, but now smaller
ones are in demand, and such pork can
be produced at loss expense per pound
than that of large hogs. Young hogs
are the most profitable, born in spring
and marketed in the fall.
Lice on Stock. —A number of letters
ask for remedies for lousy stock. Ver
min of some kind very frequently infest
domestic animals ; they are mostly of
the lousq type ; small, parasitic animals
tliat must be removed by the applica
tion of some insecticide. A number of
substances have been used to a greater
or less extent, of which a few are men
tioned below : One pound of tobacco
and six ounces of borax boiled in two
quarts of water, to which soft soap
enough is added to make a thick paste,
has proved a good vermin salve. A
mixture of carbolic acid and soft soap in
the proportion of one to four makes a
compound easy to apply, and very effect
ual. Shortly after, the parts to which
the soap mixture has been applied should
be washed with pure water and a nen
drying oil rubbed on. Oil of turpentine
and lard oil, equal parts, with a little
carbolic acid, is perhaps the most con
venient mixture to make, and effectual
in its application. Animals that are
affected with vermin need better care
and higher feeding in order to overcoma
the drain that those parasites make up
on the system.
Coen Ceib. —The only perfect protec
tion of a small building against rats is
the setting it upon posts protected by
tin, by broad caps, or in some such way.
A com floor is sometimes made in the
peak of the barn roof, above the tie
beams, and resting upon them fully half
the length of the rafters above the eaves.
This is not, however, perfect protection,
though it often remains for years before
the rats find any way of getting to it; it
is an excellent place to keep com and
seeds of all kinds. The grain must be
hoisted by a horse with a block and
tackle. Free ventilation is absolutely
essential to the proper curing of the
com crop, hence com cribs and bins
have open, slatted sides, and, if exposed
to storms, such a slant that the rain will
not drive in. Tho old rail pen, narrow
er at the base than at the top, and well
thatched with straw or stalks, cures and
keeps the corn as well as the most ex
pensive corn-house, and protects it
quite securely from everything except
vermin.
Domestic Economy.
White Cake.— One cup butter, two
cups sugar, three cups flour, white of
live eggs, one teaspoonful soda, two
teaspoonfuls cream of tartar, one cup
milK.
Buns. —One cup of milk, one cup of
sugar, one cup of yeast, flour to make a
batter. Let it rise over night; then add
one-half cup melted butter, a cup of su
gar, flour to knead it, and let it rise
again; then roll and cut into cakes, and
let it rise again.
If, when bread is taken from the
oven, the loaves are turned topside down
in the hot tins, and are allowed to stand
a few minutes, the crust will be tender,
and will cut easily.
Pudding Sauce.— One cupful cream,
two cups sugar, one egg well beaten,
one table-spoonful butter, one teaspoon
ful cornstarch; boil all together till a
thick sirup. Take off tho fire, and add
grated nutmeg and a glass of wine.
Cider.—The bost cider is made from
late ripening, sound fruit, and in cool
weather, when the fermentation is grad
ual. Many early apples may be worked
up into sweet cider and sold as such, or
made into vinegar. This is one of the
best methods of turning to account fruit
that would otherwise be lost.
Muffins.— One quart of milk, two
eggs, one table-spoonful of butter warmed
with milk, flour enough to make a batter
that will drop rather thick from tho
spoon, a teaspoonful of salt, a penny
worth of baker’s or a teacupful of home
made yeast. When very light, bake in
rings on a griddle.
Cheeping Charlie. —To arrange
“ creeping cliarlie” to grow luxuriantly
in a vase, place somo broken pioces of
charcoal at tho bottom of it, with some
beach sand on it to the depth of two
inches; place the stems of the plant in
this sand, and fill the vase with water.
Place in the coolest corner of tho room.
Pound Heed-oake. — One pound but
ter beaten to a cream, one pound sifted
lump sugar, one pound flour, well dried,
eight eggs, yelks and whites beaten sep
arately, and caraway seeds to taste.
Mix the ingredients, and bent all
well together for one hour. Put tho
batter into a tin shape lined with pa
per, and buttered. Bake in a moderate
oven.
Southern Mode of Cooking It ice.—
Pick over the rice, and wash it in cold
water; to one pint rice put three quarts
boiling water and half teaspoonful salt;
boil it just seventeen minutes from the
time it begins to boil; turn off' all the
water; set it over a moderate lire with
the cover off, to steam fifteen minutes.
Take care and be accurate. Tho rice
water first poured off is good to stiffen
muslins.
Little Bed Ants.— C. E. writes : “I
have foun 3 by experience that little red
ants cannot travel over wool or rag car
pet. I covered my floor with coarse
baize, set my safe on that, and have not
been troubled since. Cover a shelf in
your closet or pantry with flannel, set
whatever you with to keep from the ants
on it, and they will at once disappear.
[ have triedit.”— New York Tribune.
The Massachusetts Board of Health
reports that adultei ations of staple gro
ceries are not as common as the public
have been led to suppose. For the pur
pose of test, the expert of the board
took samples of flour, sugar, bread soda,
cream of tartar, and bailing powders,
obtained in forty cities and towns. The
flour was found in all instances to be
wholly free from foreign substances,
and, with the exception of one or two
coarse varieties of brown sugar, no
adulteration was perceptible in that
article ; and in these isolated cases there
was reason for thinking that the defects
were due to imperfections in the process
of manufacture. The soda examined,
although sold under a variety of names,
such as saleratus, bicarbonate, super
carbonate, and cooking soda, was all
found to be much the same article, and
nearly all of it good. The poor soda
was that which had not been properly
purified of the crude soda ash, but tin
sulphate is not injurious to health.
Baking pow’ders were found to be pure in
twenty-four instances out of thirty
three. The adulteration consisted in an
excess of flour or starch over that needed
for mixing the soda and cream of tartar.
There was also some alum found. In
cream of tartar a considerable amount
of adulteration was detected.
An appalling act of cruelty is reported
from Pontremoli, Italy. A female lay
servant in the employ of the Carmelite
nuns was found stealing some bread be
longing to the sisterhood, and was sen
tenced by a tribunal composed of the
Abbess and two nuns “to undergo the
torments of purgatory.” Having con
veyed her to a cell in which was an iron
stove heated red hot, they tied her hands
tightly together behind her back, held
her face down for several minutes close
to the surface of the glowing metal until
her scorched eyes had lost their sight
forever and her whole face was convert
ed into one huge blister. So profound
was the horror generated throughout the
sisterhood that its perpetrators, despite
conventual discipline, were denounced
by several members of the community
to the local authorities, who, after insti
uting a searching inquiry into the cir
cumstances of the case, have consigned
the Abbess and her confederate tor
mentors to prison, where they are now
awaiting their trial.
The elephants of a circus company
being driven on the road from Nevada
City to Auburn, n Nevada, made a
break for liberty, and for several days
roamed at their sweet will in the coun
try to the east of Grass valley. They
tore down the flume of the Idaho mines,
and scared the miners out of their boots.
They tore down the gates and fences,
and for miles around hardly a rancher
escaped their visitation, for, in their
pursuit of water and provisions, they
respected neither law nor any other ob
stacle. .finally they were gathered in,
and the community breathed freer.
A cobbespondent, writing about the
college students who are waiters in the
hotel dining-rooms of the White mount
ains, says most of them are from Tufts
and Dartmouth Colleges, and from the
normal schools and academies of New
England. Their life is no recreation,
but is, indeed, a succession of the days
filled to the utmost with hard work, en
dured simply because it puts a few dol
lars into a pocket-book which, like that
of all struggling students, is always
threatening to become empty.
Dubins the year 1879 the earmngs of
the railroads in the United States were
over $529,000,000, or nearly double the
entire revenue of the national Govern
ment .
A FAIiLK.
One day a Bird of rare plumage and
gong sat on the limb of a tree overlook
ing a pond, when a Catfish arose to tho
surfaco and said:
“ You may bo able to fly through
tho air, but you can’t swim. You are
not half so big a gunboat as you pro
tend to be.”
This salutation nettled the Bird, and
ho spunked up and replied :
“lama better man than you aro any
day in the week, and if you wore up hero
on this limb I’d prove it or break my
wings trying to!”
“ Pooh ! If you wore down here in
the pond I’d take the brag out of you
in about a York minute !” sneered the
Catfish.
After some further “ sass ” it was
agreed that they should go to the Oat
and have a test to see which excelled.
It so happened that the Cat was out to
see if there was any chance to pick up a
bone at some ono elso’s expense, and
the Bird quickly brought her to the
banks of the Pond.
“ You see,” began the Cat, ns
stroked her whiskers and looked w ,
“ this Bird cannot swim and tho Cattish
cannot fly. Therefore, you must meet
on neutral ground. Each thinks Ins
cause is right, and you come to me to
decide. Tha Catfish will swim to the
bank, and the Bird will alight on his
back. Ono will try to pull the other
down, and the other will try to pull the
one up, and may the best man win. ”
The programme was carried out, each
being certain of victory; but, while they
were struggling, the Cat raked in both,
for the benefit of her stomach.
“ When men can't agree,” mused tho
satisfied Cat, as she walked homeward;
“ they can always go to law, and the law
unll settle the dispute, if it has to eat the
cause of it.
“P. S.—Titles examined, and the ti
tlers devoured with neatness and dis
patch. ”
Moral—ln the first place, peg away at
what you can do best. In the second
place, let other people have the same
privilege. Brag is a good dog, but the
umpire rakes in all the profits.
The New York Graphic declares that
the city of New York is in jeopardy from
the vast accumulation of oil at Hunter’s
point. It says : “Ifa fi shall occur
among the immense stock of oil at the
Standard oil monopoly’s works, this
burning oil will flow down the bank into
the river, where it will continue to bum.
These tanks contain 53,000,000 gallons.
Other tanks in the vicinity, and having
water communication, hold 50,000,000
gallons more. If the fire become gen
eral—and it is likely to become so—a
sheet of flame will cover the East river
along the front of the two cities. One
oil lamp among the straws of a Chicago
stable destroyed that city. Fifty, or
possibly 100,000,000 gallons of burning
oil floating under the piers and around
and among tho shipping of New York
Mill cause a destruction unparalleled in
the history of the M orld. In case of a
fire a slight easterly breeze would soou
become a strong easterly gale, blowing
■ a breath that Mill leave no stone stand
ing upon another from river to river.
A new process for the preservation of
forage crops in their green state is be
ing tested at Suffield, Ct. Into a cutter,
which goes by steam, are run half a
dozen corn-stalks at a tune, which are
cut into very small pieces. Afterward
they fall into a slide which takes them
to a vault fourteen by twenty-six feet
and ten deep, M’liich has thick concrete
walls, and is capable of holding eight,y
five tons of this feed. When the vault
is filled and closely packed down, thirty
tons of stone is placed on top. It is
claimed that the fodder will keep green
and retain its sweetness as long as it is
kept covered, thus making it one of the
best as well as the cheapest kinds of feed
obtainable for cattle the year round. It
is not intended, however, that this feed
shall be sold, and indeed it could not be,
as after twenty-four hours’ exposure fer
mentation would set in, which, of course,
would ruin it. It can be taken out only
a little at a time as it is needed for use,
A MUSHROOM METROPOLIS.
A strong force of Uncompahgre Utes
camped last summer on the site of Gun
nison, their tepees now being replaced
by 300 houses, with a population of 1,000
or more. A number of these structures
are occupied with stocks of goods worth
$40,000 to $75,000 each, from which sales
are made to the extent of SIO,OOO to $30,-
000 per month each. The Bank of Gun
nison is a striking example of the rapid
creation of solid commercial institutions
in a wilderness, its directory represent
ing $10,000,000 of capital, and compris
ing such men as Gov. Tabor, Colorado’s
bonanza king. A $15,000 court house,
$20,000 hotel, and $7,000 public school
house, beside several churches and ex
cellent business blocks in course of erec
tion, are a few of the surprises in this
three-months-old town. But the strang
est of all are real-estate values. The lot
occupied by the Bank of Gunnison,
which cost S4O last fall, is now worth
$1,500. Across the street from the bank
is a log cabin that cost about SIOO, and
its occupants pay their S4O monthly
rental cheerfully. Jack Haverly, our
eccentric theatrical manager, bought
something like a thousand lots and a
neighboring ranch in May for $30,000,
and could probably double his money
by their sale now. Late last fall the
Gunnison postoffice was the unimport
ant occupant of a dry-goods box. It now
handles some 3,000 letters daily, and
daily receives regularly 200 different
publications.— Gunnison (Col.) Letter
to New York World.
The New York Herald has an article
on the clothing trade, which shows that
New York stands first and Chicago
second in the business of making and
selling men’s furnishings and garments.
KILLING A SHARK.
Wo were on our way from Vera Cruz
to Europe, and all interest was centered
in a man whom wo had seen a day or
two before iu the Mexican port. It was
Manuel, tho shark-killer. For a doub
loon this tall, muscular enemy of the
fierce fish offered to display Ids skill.
Wo soon made up tho amount, and the
next day ho came out to our steamer in
a light rig.
“ At your service, sir,” was his salute.
He pointed at several largo sharks
that were hovering near the vessel to
snap at anything that fell from it. He
went down into tne bark in which he had
come oil', and, throwing off his sarape,
graspod nil enormous cutlass, and took
a keen knife between his tooth. Then,
going to the bow, he plunged boldly in,
describing a long, graceful curve as ho
cut through the clear waters of the gulf.
When ho came to the surface he struck
out for the vessel, followed by tho
sharks, which, however, did not ap
proach him very closely. After a time
he turned on his back, and Mas as mo
tionless as a log. Then we saw six
sharks rush toward him; but when the
lender got within a few yards it halted,
as if uncertain. It did not seem to like
the looks of tho floating log, till, evi
dently smelling its prey, it turned over,
and rushing at Manuel, tried to seize
him by the waist. The Mexican m-rs
ready. Ho dived, passed under tho
brute, and, turning back, struck at him
with his knife. Whether the aim was
bad, or the blade slipped, the shark, un
hurt, turned over again and swam rapid
ly off.
The second shark was only a few feet
off Without losing a minute, Manuel
plunged down again, and, coming up
under tho shark, laid it open with a vig
orous blow. The shark rose to the sur
face, pouring out a red tide of blood,
and was soon floating lifeless past the
side of the vessel.
Cheers and hurrahs greeted Manuel
as he climbed back into his craft, having
won his prize. We soon had him os
board amid a lively party.
Ono of the sailors took the whole af
fair in dudgeon, and said he could do as
much. The Captain gave him leave to
make the trial. As soon as sharks were
again seen ho descended the ladder.
The cook threw over a spoiled cod
fish, and a huge shark darted at it.
Then the sailor plunged in. As he rose
to the surface, knife in hand, ready to
strike, he was seized with cramps, to
which he was subject. His knife
dropped from his hand, and in an instant
three sharks Mere upon him and all was
over.
“So much for trying a trade before
you learn it,” said Manuel.
It was the sailor’s funeral oration.
OUR BOUNDLESS RESOURCES.
Our continent is the largest producer
of surplus crops, both vegetable and an
imal, on the globe. It is the only pro
ducer on an extensive scale of an excess
of cotton for clothing man. It is by
long odds the greatest producer of the
precious metals. Yet in each of these
departments of production this conti
nent, and particularly our own country,
is still so far short of its full capacity
that one may almost say that there has
been as vet no systematic development
of our resources. Vast tracts of arable
and grazing lands of the best quality
are even now in their primeval condition
—uninhabited and untouched by the
plow. The M’hole cotton crop of the
world might be grown in Texas alone.
The mineral resources of the country
have not even been exposed, much less
developed. The tide of emigration from
Europe to the United States is now
larger than at any period of our history.
The condition of affairs in the Old World
is such that we may hope for enormous
additions to our population during the
next decade, as the competition of tho
American farmer has added anew cause
of depression in the agricultural dis
tricts of Europe, while the resources ot
the United States are every year becom
ing better understood and appreciated
abroad. Therefore, we confidently look
for a period of prosperity in this country
greater than any that has ever been
vouchsafed us. Indeed, the wildest
dream of to-day may easily fall short of
the future reality of the agricultural,
mineral and manufacturing wealth of
this favored land of ours.
The Opposition party in Canada as
serf- that the proposition to give the con
struction of the Canada Pacific railway
to a London syndicate is a stupendous
job. The cost of the work, as estimated
by the Government, is as follows :
Thunder Bay to Selkirk $ 12,000,000
Pembina to Selkirk 1,000,000
Selkirk, 200 miles west 2,400,000
Yale to Kamloops 0,000,000
Thin would give the syndicate works val
ued at $ 27,400,000
Add to this SIO,OOO per mile subsidy ou
2,000 miles 20,000,000
60,000,000 acres of land at $2 an acre, the
latest set price 100,000,000
Total receipts of syndicate $147,400,000
Sir Hugh Allan estimated in 1872 that
the road would cost $80,000,000; Sir
Charles Tupper puts it at $85,000,000.
This would leave the syndicate a margin
of $62,400,000, besides a road costing
$85,000,000. If it is true that New York
is claiming the privilege that the Lon
don syndicate has obtained, it is no
wonder, as most capitalists would bo
glad to get their fingers into such a pie.
A Chicago girl overdid the decorative
art business. She ornamented the kitch
en range with grass and ferns, so that
when it was red hot the mimic vegeta
tion looked cool and inviting. Her lover
found her one day, like Werther’s
“ Charlotte,” cutting bread and butter.
The decorative stove seduced him to sit
squarely upon it while he plied the fair
creature with the honey of his compli
ments. Ho now bears the letters “Eu
reka Range, No. 8,” and, in revenge,
has gone to St. Louis to swell the cen
sus.
WORK AND FICKD.
An instance of au inventive genius in
an illiterate farmer’s boy is too good to
bo forgotten. A small farmer hired a
youth to assist him in the work of his
farm as an in-door servant. The first
piece of work ho was set to do was to
thrash out some corn. As the farmer
was passing the barn in which the youth
was at. work, ho heard tho flail lazily
keeping time to a tune tho lad was sing
ing. Stopping to listen, ho ascertained
tin t the words were, "Broad and cheese,
talc’ thy ease." Going in the house, the
farmer said to his wifo : “ This is a
queer sort of a lad we have gotten; he
seems to think that the speed at which
lie ought to work should bo measured
by the kind of food he gets.” And then,
relating what ho had heard, he suggest
ed : “ Suppose we give him something
difterent to dinner to-morrow, and sco
how that acts?" This being agreed to,
ho had apple-pie added to his bread and
cheese. This brought donm his flail
somewhat more rapidly, for it was going
to tho speed wherewith the lad sang
“Apple-pie nceording-ly.” “Bob’s do
ing a bit better to-day, lass,” said the
farmer to his wifo; “let us mend his
dinner again to-morrow, and see what
that will bring forth.” So, when the
next dinner-time came around, he had a
good plate of beef and pudding set be
fore him, which went right grandly, and
brought the flail into splendid action to
the words, “Beef and puddin’, I’ll gi’e
thee a drubbin’,” and to a jolly good
tune. “ I see plainly," said the farmer,
“if we wish to get good work out of
Bob, we must feed him well;” so Bob
had his bill of fare improved without
having recourse to a strike.—Cham
bers' Journal.
TO TS FOR CHILDREN.
Suitable toys no* only amuse children,
but instruct them also. Very early the
little one shows by its selection and use
of toys the bent of its mind and in what
direction its activities find most pleas
ure. Whatever direction they may
take, the parent should at once remove
obstacles, furnish apparatus, and give
the child a chance to develop the talent
struggling for utterance. A box of
paints, a set of carving tools, dolls and
doll patterns, a tool chest, a scroll saw,
pet animals, a garden plot, a printing
press, juvenile books in abundance and
variety, a playhouse—all these and more
can be had at a trifling cost, and if rightly
used will prove more powerful educators
than the schoolmaster. Many a boy has
become an amateur carpenter of no
mean order; many a girl learned the art
of dressmaking ndiile fitting her doll.
Embroidery patterns and crewels being
added to her stores of ribbons and
“ pieces,” she has learned almost with
out instruction to embroider quite hand
somely. This is her recreation and her
reward for w T ork well done. A child
must be busy about sometliing ; and if
the occupation is pleasant as well as
useful, so much the better.
RAILWAY ACCIDENTS IN GREAT
BRITAIN
The general report of the Board of
Trade upon the accidents on the railways
of the United Kingdom in 1879 returns
as having been killed 1,032, and injured
3,513. Of these 100 persons killed and
1,307 persons injured were passengers ;
of the remainder, 452 killed and 1,951
injured were servants of the companies
or of contractors, and 420 killed and 255
injured were trespassers and suicides and
persons who met with accidents at level
crossings or from miscellaneous causes.
The total number of passenger journeys,
exclusive of journeys by season-ticket
holders, was 502,732,890. The propor
tions of passengers killed and injured in
1879 from all causes were, in round
numbers, one in 3,517,000 killed and
one in 430,000 injured. The proportion
of passengers killed and injured from
causes beyond their own control was in
1879 one in 7,503,000 killed and one in
934,700 injured; but if the Tay bridge
disaster is excluded from the computa
tion the proportion killed M’ould only be
ono in 281,366,500, or less than in any
year on record. The report considers
the year satisfactory on the whole, but
concludes with a hope that the complete
adoption of the blocks and interlocking
systems, of continuous footboards with
proper platforms, and especially of im
proved brake-power will no longer be
delayed.
English farmers who have been in
veigled into emigrating to Manitoba aro
sending up complaints apt to astonish
Beaconsfield, who gave that country a
ludicrously-exaggerated puffing upon a
recent semi-official occasion. It was
pictured a perfect paradise. It proves
to be a vast plain of marsh, mosquito
infested in summer, ice-bound in winter,
when, as there is no natural barrier be
tween it and the Arctic regions, tho
mercury often sinks to 40 below. There
is no natural drainage, and the snow
waters stand until late in the season,
preventing timely agricultural prepara
tions. The crops are slender. The
roads are impassable. The market is
distalit. The whole region is unattrao
tive, and, until the better lands of the
States are crowded full, will never be in
demand. At least, such is the repre
sentation of English emigrants.
There is a legend to the effect that
“ Forty-rod whisky ” received its name
because the drinker could stagger that
distance from the place where he drank
before his drink overcame him. This
was some time ago, however, and great
modern improvements have been made
in whisky since then. A man in New
York,took a drink at a bar and instantly
dropped dead. This, as far as execution
is concerned, is far ahead of the old style
of liquor.
Kilpatrick’s cavalry are said to have
buried $30,000 near Hanover, York
county, during Lee’s invasion, and Ihe
people there are now diligently search
ing for it.
INTRICACIES OR ENGLISH.
Tho formidable intricacies of the En
glish language are not realized by thoso
who have boon taught to speak it from
babyhood. But wlrnt a foreigner on
counters may be soon from tho follow
ing :
Ono of them, looking at a picture of a
number of vessels, said, “See, what a
flock of ships 1” Ho was told that a
flock of ships was called a licet, and
that a fleet of sheep was called n Hook.
And it was added, for his guidance in
mastering the intricacies of our lan
guage, that a flock of girls is called a
bevy, and a bevy of M'olves is called a
pack, and a pack of tliioves is called a
gang, and a gang of angels is called a
host.
A host of porpoises is called a shoal,
and a shoal of buffaloes is called a herd,
and a herd of children is called a troop,
and a troop of partridges is called a
covey, and a covey of beauties is called
a galaxy.
A galaxy of ruffians is called a horde,
nud a horde of rubbish is called a heap,
and a heap of oxen is called a drove,
and a drove of blackguards is callod a
mob, and a mob of whales is called a
school, and a school of worshipers is
called a congregation, and a congrega
tion of engineers is called a corps, and
a corps of robbers is called a baud, and
a band of locusts is called a swarm, and
a swarm of people is called a crowd.
THE DEFENDANT’S OBJECTIONS.
They were trying an assault-and-bat
tery case in Detroit, when tho defendant
objected to the jury which the constable
had gathered together. Beginning at
number one, the court asked :
“State your objections to the jury-
man.”
“I beat him out of SSO on a horse
trade, and I know how he feels,” was
the reply.
“ And this one ?”
“He and I couldn’t agree on a game
of cards one day, about two weeks ago,
and I punched his aged head. He hasn’t
forgotten it, you bet!”
“ Well, here’s the third man.”
“He has a grudge against me for
licking his brother-in-law.”
“ And the fourth ?”
“We have never been good friends
since I shot six of his hens. ”
“And the fifth ?”
“ I know him of old. He says I stole
his shot-gun.”
“And do you object to the sixth and
last?”
“ I decidedly do. It isn’t four days
since I got ready to throw him off' a
wood-dock.”
“ Wouldn’t it be safe for you to dis
pense with a jury and let the court try
the case ?” suggested his Honor.
“No sir !” was the decided reply. “I
don’t say that I’ve got anything in par
ticular against this court, but this court
may have formed an opinion that I am
the man who bagged his twenty-six
game fowls one night last month. I’ve
heard that he had his suspicions.”
The case was adjourned to secure six
jurymen from out of the city.
LAUGHING OFE A DUEL.
“Speaking of the Cass-Shannon duel,”
said an exchange-fiend, putting his feet
in the waste-baaket, “we need a few
more men like Judge Dooly. He laughed
out of duels with an audacious wit that
compelled even the admiration of his
enemies. You renfember he said, M’hen
they threatened that if he didn’t fight his
name would fill the columns of a news
paper, that he had rather fill ten news
papers than one coffin. Once he went
on the field with a man who • had St.
Yitus’ dance. His opponent was stand
ing at his post, his whole frame jerking
nervously from his malady. Dooly, in
the soberest manner, left his post, and,
cutting a forked stick, stuck it in the
ground iu front of his opponent.
“ ‘What does this mean?’ csked
adversary.
“ ‘Why,’ says Dooly, ‘I want you to
rest your pistol iu that fork, so that you
can steady your aim. If you shoot at
me with that hand shaking so, you’ll
pepper me full of holes at the first fire!’
“Then there was a laugh allround,
and the duel was put off without day.”
Atlanta Constitution
The Bussian Government has intro
duced another naval novelty in the
shape of a very formidable torpedo-boat
This vessel is 100 feet long, 12j feel
beam, and a mean draught of 3 feet 6
inches of water. The engines are very
powerful, and the speed is twenty-two
knots an hour. The forward part of the
deck is hood-shaped, and extends back
to tho conning tower. Through two
doors at the end of the deck torpedoes
are introduced into two launching tubes,
which are parallel to the center line of
the boat and project a little beyond the
bows. This double-barreled arrange
ment for torpedoes is of great import
ance in attacking a vessel protected in
the usual way. It is intended that the
first torpedo, when launched, will tear
the netting, and the second one, imme
diately following, will strike tho hull.
Ten tons of coal can be carried in her
bunkers. As to the sea-going qualities
of the boat, they may be said to bo ex
cellent. The voyage from England
(where she was built) to the Black sea
has been safely accomplished, notwith
standing the small size of the craft.
The importation this year of heavy
draught breeding-horses from Europe to
the United States is noticeably largo,
and bids fair to exceed that of 1876,
when about 300 animals were brought
over. These horses are chiefly of the
Norman and Clydesdale breeds, and
when crossed with large native mares
produce the handsome and powerful
teams so highly valued for heavy draught
purposes in large cities.
Cruel chance placed two tails on on
kitten in a Chicago litter, and none on
another
WISE WORDS.
One day is worth three to him wh<
does everything in order.
llu is not only idle who does nothing,
but he is idle who might bo better em
ployed.
The youth who thinks tho world his
oyster, and opens it forthwith, finds no
pearl therein. —Mac Vona Id.
As to being prepared for defeat, I cer
tainly am not. Any man who is pre
pared for defeat would bo half defeated
beforo he commenced. I hope for suc
cess, shall do all in my power to secure
it, and 1 trust to God for tho rest.—Far
raput.
The gt'Mitness shows itself in ignoring,
or quickly forgetting personal injuries,
when meaner natures would be kept in
unrest by them. Tho less of a man ono
is, the more ho makes of an injury or an
insult. Tho more of a man ho is, tho
less he is disturbed by what others say
or do against him without eauso.
It is not good to bo angry with those
M’lio may seem with malicious intent to
assail our cherished beliefs. A feu'
burning weeds may produce smoko
enough to hide tho stars, but tho stars
are shining all the same. It is not wise
to vex and weary ourselves by angry de
nunciations of the smoke which will
soon pass off without our labor.
The human mind is so constituted
that whenever it sees an event it is
obliged to infer a cause ; also, whenever
it sees adaptation it infers design. It is
not necessary to know the end proposed,
or who were the agents. We do not
know who built Stonehenge, or some of
tho pyramids, or what they were built
for; but uo one doubts that they wero
the r. suit of design.
More than 6,000 patents will expire
this year, many of them being very im
portant. Their owners will ask an ex
tension, but the policy of Congress of
late bus been unfavorable to renewals.
Two young ladies in Montreal were
gazing into the windows of a millinery
store, when suddenly a gas explosion
blow out the window and nearly killed
the young ladies. This should boa
terrible warning to young ladies to avoid
millinery stores.
A natural result of hard times in Iro
land is a decrease in the number of mar
riages. In 1879 the number was 23,313,
or 3,596 below' the average of the twelve
preceding years, and 149 less than the
total for Scotland, where tlie population
is below that >f Ireland by 1, '02,298.
After all, the most natural beauty in
the world is honesty and moral truth,
for all truth is .beauty. True features
make the beauty of the face, and true
proportions the beauty of the archi
tecture, as true measures that of har
mony and music.— Shaftesbury.
At a recent anniversary celebration of
tho battle of North Point, near Balti
more, ten of the sixteen survivors marched
in the procession. Their ages ranged
from 83 to 95, and the eldest carried the
flag which they defended—the identical
one which, on that occasion, incited Key
to write “The Star Spangled Banner.”
Harry Josephs, who died lately in
Boston, w 7 as a comical comedian on tho
stage, but when about to die from a
sudden attack of heart disease he tragi
cally cried : “Pray for me. Oh, God,
receive my spirit!” Mr. Josephs was a
half brother of the Bev. Dr. Lorimer,
of Chicago, and a brother of Fanny Jo
sephs, the famous London actress.
It is rather strange that ono of tho
youngest church edifices in America
should have the oldest steeple, but such
is the case. An Episcopal church w T as
erected in Tacoma, Washington Terri
tory, reeently. The building is of logs,
and for a tow'er they have utilized a tall
fir tree which has been cut off forty
feet from the ground. On top has been
fixed a cross and bell. The rings of the
tree show that it is nearly 300 yealo old.
A literal-minded little fellow visiting
on Cape Cod, who found the inscription
.n the village graveyard, “Not dead,
hut sleepeth," ran in alarm to his moth
er and said, “We must go home right
off. I won’t stay here all night, any
how. They bury people here, when they
go to sleep. I saw one of them out in
the graveyard, and do you suppose I’ll
6leep here to-night and have them bury
mo?”
Bishop Warren tells, in Zion's Her
ald, of a professional tour in Colorado,
where the hillsides are so steep that ev
ery man is said to sit on his doorstep and
use his neighbor’s chimney for a spit
toon. While ho was dashing down one
of these hills in a stage, the driver be
came interested in a dog fight, turned
the wagon completely over, and spilled
six men and their baggage.
The aggregate stock of proper names
is so limited that they are duplicated in
almost every town, much to the annoy
ance of traveling men who frequently
find their letters opened by resident
parties of similar names and with initials
the same or so nearly the same that
Postmasters are unable to prevent such
occurrences. If they would have their
mail indorsed transient by the writer it
would obviate the difficulty and remove
much cause of complaint of official
negligence.
A long and hard struggle was mads
by J. W. Dunn to save his family from
drowning in Pensacola bay. He was
out sailing with his wife and children,
when a squall capsized the boat. Being
a good swimmer, he was able to place
the hands of the entire party on tlia
edge of the craft, or in the case of the
younger children to put them on the
bottom. But the water was rough, the
wind continued to blow furiously, and
one after another they M'ere dislodged,
ns brought them back repeatedly, and
for eighteen hours did his utmost to
keep them in place; but when the boat
finally drifted to shore only the parents
and ono child remained. Dunn was
made insane by the excitement and ex
ertion.