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THE COUNTRYMAN.
47
A
do, and what lie should not do. And to make
him a Being to be moved about and chan
ged by every breath of wind—by this good
act, or that bad act of man—is to make
him a very imperfect Deity, and not the
Grand Essence of Perfection which his rev
elation through the volume cf inspired writ,
and the volume of nature, tells us he is. I
object to one of the lessons inculcated in
the two foregoing anecdotes about soldiers’
bibles, because it gives men a wrong idea
of God : and every wrong idea of Deity
demoralizes and degrades. Every proper
idea of God, elevates and exalts.
II. T. K., Rome, Ga.
Your sliinplaster (50c) uncurrent here,
has been deposited, in a sealed envelope, to
your address, in the P. O. in Eatonton. On
sending the P. M. 10c to pay postage, he
will forward it to you. ^
Mr. Traylor and Salt.
Mr. Traylor, in a letter to the'Oolumbus
Enquirer, seems to think that I ‘‘doubt”
the efficacy of Judge Huey’s, plan for sav
ing pork. I cannot say that I do not doubt
it, but I can say that I think his plan will
answer the purpose. My “ funny article ”
is to this effect, and, as I said before, the
funny part was merely intended to give
interest to the useful part. It seems, at
any rate, that The Countryman is creating
a spirit of inquiry into economical plans
for curing meat. Mr. Traylor cqlls upon a
gentleman in Eufaula to give his experi
ence in saving pork by the, recipe sugges
ted by Mr. Traylor. I hope the Eufaula
gentleman will comply : and if lie does, it
will be owing to the ‘‘funny article” ot
the Countryman.
Cold Weather Coming.
“ The Mobile Register learns that there
are unmistakable natural signs of an early
winter’s impending, if ,not a severe one.
The Mobile sportsman finds that robins are
aheady migrating from the North, as well
as blue-jays, which are not generally seen
in that latitude till the 1st of November. Be
sides them, the snipe and other birds are
already donning their winter plumage,
which does not generally appear until that
date. These indications are with justice
regarded as unerring, for nature never makes
mistakes in such matters.”
The above is going the rounds of the pa
pers.—In the first place do Mobile sports
men shoot blue-jays 1 It is the first time I
ever heard of these being game birds.
In the next place, I did not know that
blue-jays were migratory. We have them
all the time, here. It may be different in u
lower latitude.
Does the Register mean to say that the
snipe and other birds don their winter plu
mage precisely on the 1st of November ?
My impression is that birds moult at a,bout
regular times in the spring and fall, without
much regard to the ^weather. Certainly it
takes them some weeks to go through with
the moulting process, and they do not put
off one dress, and another on, all in one
morning, or in one day, as the writer in the
above paragraph seems to intimate.
It is about as hard to tell anything about
the weather by the movements of the birds
as it is to regulate everything by the moon.
For the last 20 years I have been endeav
oring to deduce some weather regulations
from the movements of the robins : but
they have been so capricious in their move
ments, that it has beeu impossible to do so.
For a long time, I tried to make the appear
ance of the robins prognosticate cold weath
er : but warm spells would follow their ap
pearance in spile of me. Then again 1 was
almost ready to conclude that robins were
the precursors of warm weather; but a cold
snap would come and knock this theory in
the.head. So Iliad to let the robins come
and go at their pleasure, without jumping to
any hasty conclusion. I have seen them
in abundance here during cold spells, ana
then again only during warm spells.—By
the way, I saw the 1st old-field lark on his
return South-, on thurs. 16th Oct.
Hotv to Make Matches.
“ Dr. L.-T. Roberts sends the La Grange
Reporter the following recipe for making
matches :
Take strips of wood and dip them into
melted sulphur, and let them dry, which
will be done in a minute after dipping them.
Then the points of these sulphured match
es must he dipped in a composition, made
in the following manner, viz ; Dissolve, in
^liot water, gum arabic, 4 parts ; chlorate of
potassa, 1 part ; and phosphorus, 1 part.
These are all to be added to the pot sepa
rately, and in the order herein prescribed,
and as soon as the 1st ingredient is dissolv
ed, then add the 2d, &c., until all are dis
solved. This must all be done, in a water
bath (like glue is prepared) and the mix
ture must be kept in the water bath while
the process of dipping is going on. The
matches must be thoroughly dried before
they are used. Dry in the shade for 24
hours. Cover the mixture closely.”
I publish the above for the benefit of
those who ask, what are we to do 1 At the
rates at which matches are now selling, a
man can take a pocket knife, and make a
living by selling matches.
The Fox Chase.
A correspondent, “J. T.” (not Joe Turner
but) a man of Banks Co., has been sending
a poetical account of a fox chase to the
Athens Watchman. “It may not be amiss,”
says the Watchman, “to state that Fanny
Cox is the name our correspondent gave
the female depredator upon pigs and poul
try, not becausa, as he took occasion to in
form us, that that is the proper name for
such animals, but solely because it rhymes
with fox.” Here are the verses :
“Old Fanny Cox was a cunning old fox,
Old Fanny run a ring, just to hear the dogs sing.
When the dogs gallopped old Fanny round,
Old Fanny hardly touched’ the ground.
When she run where the woods were thick,
They made old Fanny step very quick.
When she run where the woods were thin,
They made old Fanny step as quick again.
When they all run in abreast,
They made her run her very best.
When she heard the dogs cry,
It made Old Fanny marly fly.
We took old Fanny by the tail,
And rode old Fanny on a rail.
We made old Fanny cry,
And then laid old Fanny by.”
Shade of Somerville, how canst thou hear
such a rival ?
Tallow Candles.
“ It may he of some interest to your nu
merous readers to know that, with uot a
cent of additional expense, tallow candles
can be made fully equal in point of merit
to the common star candle.
To 2 pounds- of tallow add 1 teacup
ful of good strong ley, from wood ashes,
and simmer over a slow fire, when a greasy
scum will float on top ; skim this off for ma
king soap (it is very near soap already) as
long as it continues to rise. Then mould
your candles as usual, making the wicks a
little smaller, and you have a pure, hard
tallow candle, worth knowing how to mak6,
and one that burns as long, and gives a
light equal to sperm. The chemistry de
monstrates itself. An ounce or 2 of
beeswax will make the candle some hard
er, and steeping the wicks in spirits turpen
tine will make it burn some brighter. I
write with obefore, me.”
ADVERTISEMENTS.
WIXTY PAYS after date, application will be made
to the Court of Ordinary of Putnam County for
leave to sell the negroes belonging to the estate of
L. P. Harwell, dec’d. SUSAN W. LIVELY, Adm’x.
Nov. 3, 1862. (6 9t) JOHN W. HUDSON, Adm’r.
jlllLirARY BUTTONS.—Several 6ets for sale at
this office. tf Nov. 3, 2862.