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I
AGRICULTURE.
Composting Manure.—Few farmers
have an idea how much manure can be
saved when the proper mean3 are taken.
In the fall, stable manure may be cart
ed directly to the field and spread as
made, with less expense in handling
and waste than in any other way. But
there are accumulations with which
this cannot be done. These are best
put into a compost heap, which should
be started with a thick layer of sods,
or road-dust—better if the ground
stratum is of clay. Have ready to hand
road-dust to form layers with the ma
nure, which is derived from different
sources and of varying composition—
from the privy or earth closet, the pig
pen and the fowl roost; there are also
ashes, leached and unleached, kitchen
slops, garden weeds; the night urine,
and broken bones. Some peel sods
along fences and other useless places,
and all go into the compost heap, not
heaped high, or into a conical form,
which sheds the water and induces
fire-fang. Make it fiat, a few feet in
thickness, and as wide as is convenient
to work, then add to the length as the
material accumulates, occasionally fork
ing it over and mixing as it rots, keep
ing it covered with a coat of road-dust.
It will be surprising at the end of the
season how much has been gathered,
and how rich the material. All the ele
ments of fertility are present, the more
valuable well represented, so that it is
entirely reliable, fit to be applied to
anything: just the thing for a garden,
and especially suited to meadows, giv
ing an even covering, which will start
a growth black and thick, the stimulus
helping to sustain the plant during the
winter and starting it early in the
spring. Such a dressing (with soil in
it)is more lasting, and will invite the
roots up into it the land thus being
added to instead of being lessened as
with the usual culture. There is noth
ing filthy about it any more than about
so much soil; it is comparatively light
and dry, and pleasant to handle. The
difficulty is, there is so little of it,
when there might be so much by saving
the materials that now go to waste.
Raising Ducks.—Many a farmer has
realized far more from breeding ducks
than he could obtain from his chickens,
for they are very hardy, and lay re
markably well during some parts of the
season. As soon as they commence to
lay the eggs should be carefully gather
ed and put away. As soon as a hen (not
a duck) warts to set, put her upon
duck’s egg8, and let her hatch and care
for the brood until they are able to take
care of themselves. A hen will care
for a brood of ducklings far better than
will an old duck. If the ducks think
they have laid eggs, and show unmis
takable signs of wanting to set, put
them into a convenient coop, put one
of your most vigoraus young drakes
with them, and they will soon be wil
ling to shell out eggs again, which
should be set under hens as fast as con
venient, so as to bring as many out at
a time as possible, thereby lessening the
cost of attending to them. A shallow
tub, kept well-tilled with water, will
afford plenty of bathing room for the
ducklings until they are two or three
months old, and perhaps longer.
SCIENTIFIC.
The value of manure should be a ser
ious consideration in feeding. By
using concentrated foods we are actu
ally laying in a supply of the most val
liable artificial fertilizers at the lowest
possible cost. It is, in fact, making
two profits from the same outlay; one
In the shape of a useful food, and one
in the extra quality of the manure;
and the latter is frequently one of the
most important points to consider in
feeding.
If the hens are kept warm, and are
fed well with warm feed once a day,
and provided with clean nests, eggs will
soon be plentiful. Hens that have been
laying may become broody, and may be
set if a glazed coop is provided and
placed In a sunny spot before a window
in a warm poultry house. One early
* chichen thus raised .will be worth in
market during summer as much as two
or three later ones.
Winter Mulching.—Invei ed sods
make a good winter mulch for trees
for trees and shrubs. Let the sods re
main in the spring until they rot, then
fork up and they make a good dressing
for the summer and also serve as pretty
good mulch then.
Avoid exposure of the animals to cold
when they are warm. If a horse is
brought in warm and wet with sweat,
rub him dry bofore putting on a blan
ket. He will then keep warm; other
wise he will become chilled by the wet
blanket and surely take cold.
A New Order.
The other day, after a strapping
young man had sold a load of corn and
and potatoes on the market and had
taken his team to a hotel barn to “feed
it became known to the men around the
barn that he was very desirous of join
ing some secret society in town. When
questioned he admitted that such was
the case, and the boys at once offered to
initiate him in a new order, called the
“Cavaliers of Coveo.” He was told
that it was twice as secret as Free Ma
sonry, much nicer than Odd Fellow
ship, and the cost was only two dollars.
In case he had the toothache he could
draw five dollars per week from the re
lief fund, and he was entitled to receive
ten dollars for every headache, and
twenty-five dollars for a sore throat.
The young man thought that ne had
struck a big thing, and after eating a
hearty dinner he was taken in a store
room above the barn to be initiated.
The boys poured cold water down his
back, put flour on his hair, swore him
to kill his mother, if commanded, and
rushed him round for an hour without
a single complaint from his lips. When
they had finished he inquired:
••Now I’m one of the Cavaliers of
Coveo, am I?”
“You are,” they answered.
“Nothing more to learn is there ?'*
“Nothing.”
“Well, then, I’m going to lick the
whole crowd .’’’continued the candidate
and he went at it, and before he got
through he had his two dollars initia
tion fee back, and three more to boot,
and had knocked everybody down two
or three times apiece. He didn’t seem
greatly disturbed in mind as he drove
out of the barn. On the contrary his
hat was slanted over, he had a fresh
five-cent cigar in his teeth, and he mild
ly said to one of the barn boys:
•‘Say, boy, if you hear of any cava
liers asking for a Coveo about my size,
tell ’em I’ll be in on the full moon to
take the Royal Sky fugle degrees.”
Nolhing disposes us better to confi
dence, to the pleasures of intimacy,
than a common subject of suffering.
Thus our companions in misfortune be
come almost always our friends.
Heat and animosity, contest and*con
flict, may sharpen the wits, although
they rarely do; they never strengthen
the understanding, clear the perspica
city guide the judgment or improve the
heart.
Leisure is time for doing something
useful, this leisure the diligent man
will obtain, but the lazy man never, so
that, as Poor Kichard says, a life of lei
sure and a life of laziness are two diff
erent things.
The Lord of Life should not be wor
shiped with faded flowers. Those that
grow in thine own garden are far better
than any others. With the flowers that
are gathered there must be reverence—
itself a flower.
The Telectroscope.—M. Senlecq, of Ar-
dres, France, has recentiv submitted to
the examination of MM. Du Moncei and
Hallez n’Arros a plan of an apparatus
intended to reproduce telepraphically
at a distance the images obtained in the
camera obscura. This apparatus will
be based on the property possessed by
selenium of offering a variable and very
sensitive electrical resistance according
to the different gradations of light. The
apparatus will consist of an ordinary
camera obscura containing at the focus
an unpolished glass, and any system of
autographic telegraphic transmission;
the tracing point of the transmitter in
tended to traverse the surface of the un
polished glass will be formed of a small
piece of selenium held by two springs
acting as pincers, insulated and con
nected one, with a pile, the other with
the line. The point of selenium will
form the circuit. In gliding over the
surface, more or less lightened up, of
the unpolished glass, this point will
communicate, in different degrees and
with great sensitiveness, the vibrations
of the light. The receiver will also be
a tracing-point of black lead or pencil
for drawing very finely, connecting
with a very thin plate of soft iron, held
almost as in the Bell telephone, and vi
brating before an electro-magnet, gov
erned by the irregular current emitted
in the line. This pencil, supporting a
sheet of paper arranged so as to receive
the impression of the image produced
in the camera obscura, will translate
the vibrations of the metalic plate by a
more or less pronounced pressure on
that sheet of paper. Should the seleni
um tracing-point run over a light sur
face the current will increase in intens
ity, the electro-magnet of the receiver
will attract to it with greater force the
vibrating plate, and the pencil will ex
ert the les3 pressure on the paper. The
line thus formed will be scarcely, if at
all, visible; Che contrary will be the
case if the surface be obscure, for, the
resistance of the current increasing, the
attraction of the magnet will diminish,
and the pencil, pressing more on the
paper, will leave upon it a darker line.
M. Senlecq thinks he will succeed in
simplifying this apparatus by suppress
ing the electro-magnet, and collectiug
directly on the paper by means of a
particular composition the different
graditions of tints proportional to the
intensity of the electric current.
The London Mining Journal points out
that, aside from its other advantages,
the success of the electric light would
solve a most important problem affect
ing the lives of many persons now
working in mines. “There appears to
be no reason,” says the Journal, “why
electricity should not be made applica
ble for mining instead of lamps, and
this would effect what our mining en
gineers and foremost chemists have so
long been looking for. It would give
the men a light such a3 they have never
dreamt of, enabling them to get a much
larger quantity of coal in a given time
than it is possible for them to bring
down by the light of the lamp, which
barely suffices to make the blackness of
the working places visible. It would
also benefit both masters and men, and
greater safety would be insured, forex-
plosions would be all but impossible,
whilst the miners would be better able
to guard against falis of roof and coal.”
DOMESTIC.
Some Economical Dishes.— Rice pud
ding for five persons can be furnished
at a cost of nine or ten cents, as fol
lows : Take a small teacupful of rice
and sugar each.half a teacup of raisins,
two quarts of sweet skim milk and a
little salt. Bake slowly from two to
three hours and you will have some
thing nutritious, healthful, cheap and
satisfactory.—A family supper, consist
ing of good home-made bread and but
ter, canned huckleberries, cream tartar
cake, and milk or sage tea well
trimmed, is prettv good living for
common people, is very simple and
cheap, and the persons who- practice it
are not conscious of having done any
thing extrordinary in the scrimpings
line.—Not long since I bought a hog’s
head, costing four cents a pound,cut off
the jowls and salted them, and they
furnished pork for two messes of baked
beans, enough for two meals for a
family of six, and it was much more
delicious and tender than the ordinary
side-pork. After divesting the remain
der of eyes, ears and snout, it was
soaked in water for 54 hours, scraped
thoroughly, then boiled until the meat
was ready to drop from the bones,
chopped fine, season with salt, pepper
and sage, and pressed. When cold, cut
into slices and fry slowly in a batter
ma le of milk eggs, flour. I prefer sour
milk, one egg to a cup of milt, and use
a little soda. This makes an excellent
breakfast dish. Enough fat presses out
and rises on the surface of thje water to
pay for the work.
Professor Dolbcar of Tufts College
has invented a galvanometer which
measures the strength of the electric
current directly, instead of indirectly,
as is done by the needle galvanometer.
He has utilized the attractive force ex
erted by a common helix to draw the
core within itself when a current of
electricity is passed through it; the
stronger the current the greater the at
tractive force, and by a simple mechan-
anism, consisting of a spiral spring, a
pointer and graduated scale, the
strength of the current can be readily
seen. Professor Dolbear has also in
vented an electric lamp which has an
illuminating power equal to 2000 can
dles and gives a steady light.
An instrument called the stathmo-
graph, for recording the speed of rail
way trains, has been invented by a Ger
man mechanician at Cassel, and works
so well that the Prussian government
is about to test it on some of the State
Swiss Pudding.—Sift together half a
pound of flour, one heaping teaspoonful
of baking powder, and one of salt; rub
together four ounces of granulated
sugar and two ounces of butter, and
when they are well mixed, so as to be
granular, but not creamy, add the flour
gradually until all is used; make a hol
low in the middle of the flour, put Into
it one egg, half a teaspoonful of lemon
flavoring, and-half a pint of milk; mix
to a smooth paste,put into well-buttered
and floured mold; steam the pudding
three-quarters of an hour, or until a
broom splint can be run into it without
finding the pudding sticking to the
splint. Turn the pudding out of the
mould and send it to the table with the
flavoring sauce, btir together over the
fire one ounce each of flour and butter;
as soon as they are smooth pour into
them half a pint of boiling milk, add
two ounces of sugar and half a tea
spoonful of lemon flavoring, and use
with the pudding as soon as it boils up.
French Bread. — As a rule the
French bread is always sweet and good,
and two things contribute in a great
degree to this—that is the manner or
form of baking. They never make a
thick loaf; no matter what the size or
shape, it is always thin, and more than
two-thirds crust. They bake their
bread until it is perfectly cooked. The
loaves being so thin, the heat strikes
through very soon after they are placed
in the oven; hence all fermentation is
stopped, while in the case of large
loaves fermentation goes on after the
bread has been in the oven for some
time, and of course much ot the sweet
ness is lest. Then in baking so long
and having so much crust, there is a
peculiar sweetness given which can be
obtained in no other way.
To Prepare Pumpkin for Pies.—Stew
it in as little water as you can without
burning; when thoroughly done, drain
off the water if there is any left, and
pass through a cullander. While hot,
add a quarter pound of butter to about
a gallon of the pumpkin, and ten well-
beaten eggs, one quart of rich milk, one
tablespoonful of salt, thesame of cinna
mon, ginger, nutmeg, one teaspoon of
cloves, a half tumbler of whiskey or
other spirits, and sugar to suit the
taste. Bake rather quickly but weli
done.
HUMOROUS.
The sanguinary battle of Franklin
was at its height, and now and then
there was a soldier who would not face
the music, and holding to the idea that
“ distance lends enchantment” on all
such occasions, would exhibit his faith
in the idea by taking “ leg-bail ” for
the rear. These cases were getting too
numerous toward the close of the bat
tle, und Col. B , A. A. G., of our
brigade, was sent back to the rear to
intercept those seeking for safety and
return them to their respective posts of
duty.
Col. B said he hailed one fellow
who was making tracks for some place
of safety with all the energy of despair.
“Halt! I say, and return to your
command!”
The flying son of Mars took no notice
of the command.
“ Halt! I say, and go back to your
post!”
The soldier paid no attention to him.
The colonel now became exasperated,
and yelled out:
“If you don’t turn and go back to
your command I will shoot you, sir!”
Without pausing in his flight the
soldier yelled back at him :
“ Shoot and be hanged! WhatWone
bullet to a basketful?”
Col. B let him go, and after the
battle told the incident as a good joke.
At the Masquerade. — They were
gliding the happy hours away, she, a
Roman princess, he an English noble
man.
“ I think I know you,” whispered
the princess. _
“ Who, whispered the noblemanTufs-
guising his voice.
“ Fred! ”
“So?” •
“ Yes.”
“ And you are Miss Ella, are you
not?”
“How did you know me?” she re
plied, in great surprise. “ Is not my
disguise complete?”
‘Ah; yes,” said Fred, “but you
could not disguise those dainty feet,
these soft hands which I hold in mine,
nor your graceful, lovely dance. Give
me one little peep, Ella?”
“ I will if you will,” replied Ella.
“All right,” said Fred, and both
raised their masks.
He didn’t know her and she didn’t
know him.
“John,” said Mrs. Smith, “what
smell is that?”
“ Cloves.”
“ But that other smell?”
“ Allspice.”
“ But isn’t there another?”
“ Yes—apples.”
“Just one more?”
“Cider, my dear.”
“Well, John,” she said, “if you’d
only drink a little brandy now, you
would make a good mince pie.”
YOUTH’S COLUMN.
mi*
“How much do you ask for that
goose?” inquired a customer of a mar
ket woman. “Seven shillings for the
two,” replied the woman. “But I
wantonly one,”said the customer,
can’t help it,” answered the woman.
“ I ain’t a-goin’ to sell one without
the other. To my certain knowledge
them ’ere geese have been together for
more’n thirteen years, and I ain”; a-
goin’ to be so onfeelin’ as to separate
’em now.”
Two Hibernians were passing a stable
which had a rooster on it for a weather
vane, when one addressed the other
thus: “Pat, what’s the reason they
didn’t put a hen up there, instid of a
rooster?” “A’ thin.” replied Pat,
“that’s aisy enough. Don’t you see it
would be inconvanient to go for the
eggs.”
To Sugar or Crystallize Pop Coun.
—Put into an iron kettle one. table
spoonful of butter, three tablespoonsful
of water, and one teacupful of white
sugar; boil until ready to candy, then
throw In three quarts of corn, nicely
popped ; stir briskly until the candy Is
evenly distributed over the corn; set
the kettle from the fire and stir until it
is cooled a little, and you have each
grain separate and crystallized with
lines. A dial in view of the engineer < tlle sugar; care should be taken not to
enables him to ascertain the velocity of
his locomotive at any moment, and the
changes or speed are graphically repre
sented upon a roll of paper, which can
be studied at the end of the jouaney.
The theory that periods of great com
mercial depression throughout the
world coincide with periods of solar in
activity characterized by the absence of
spots in the sun, is advocated in Eng
land by such distinguished men of
science as Professor Stanley Jevons,
and Professor Roscoe, of Owen’s Col
lege, Manchester.
Fine shreds of India rubber dissolved
in warm copal varnish makes a water
proof cement for wool and leather.
have too hot a fire, lest you sco.ch the
corn when crystallizing. Nuts thus
prepared are delicious.
Ancient Medicine.
In the time of plague some carry toad
powder, a toad, a live spider (enclosed
in some convenient receptacle), arsenic
or some «uch poisonous substance, upon
their persons, which they say attracts
the Infection of the air to themselves,
which otherwise might attack the per
son who carries it. It is also claimed
that this same toad powder attracts all
the poison of a pestilential tumor. Re
ceipt for toad powder. Take three or
four large toads, seven or eight spiders
and as many scorpions, put them to
gether in an open crucible and allow
them to remain for some time; then add
virgin wax and seal the vfcssel well;
cook quietly till all is dissolved, work
it well with a spatula into an ointment
to be put into a silver box well sealed
and habitually carried on the person.
Remedy—Choose large black spiders,
marked with yellow spots, inclose three
or four in a linen bag—they must be
alive—and tie around your neck. Thev
would keep better if put in a box either
of gold, silver or tin, with air holes on
all sides. Equal quantities of crude
mercury, corrosive sublimate and ar
senic, pouud well in mortar, and put
into quills, sealed at either end with
Treatment of Boils.—Boils should
be brought to a head by warm poul
tices of camomile flowers, or boiled
white lily root, or onion root by fer
mentation with hot water, or by stimu
lating plasters. When ripe they should
be destroyed by a needle or a lancet.
But this should not be attempted until
they are fully proved.
Stings and Bites. — Carbonate of
soda wet and applied externally to the
bite of a spider, or any venomous crea
ture, will neutralize the poisonous ef
fects almost instantly. It acts like a
charm in the case of a snake-bite.
The Little Hand.
Votive offering were common among
the Norweigian fishermen. A legend
states that a mariner wished on Christ
mas day to give the spirit of the waters
a cake; but when he came to the shore,
lo! the waters were frozen over. Un
willing to leave his offerings on the ice
and so to give the spirit the trouble of
breaking the ice to obtain it, the fisher-
took a pickaxe and set to work to make
a hole. In spite of all his labor he was
only able to make a very small hole,
not nearly large enough to put the cake
through. Having laid the cake on the
ice while he thought what was best to
be done, suddenly a very tiny littl«
hand, as white as snow, was stretched
through the hole, seized the cake, and
crumpling it up together, withdrew
with it. Ever since that time the cakes
have been so very small that the water-
sprites have had no trouble with them.
In this legend originated the compli
ment so often paid to aNorweign lady :
“Your hand is like a water-sprites.”
The man who dodges behind his
newspaper when a lady enters a
crowded car is the man who piou|ly
hates a hireling ministry and refuse* to
pay his pew rent on principle. 1
“ I have a great ear, a womleiw
ear,” said a conceited musician, in fl
course of a conversation. “ So haj
jackass,” replied a bystander.
A little boy, when reproved for
breaking a new rocking-horse, said :
“ What’s the good of a horse till it’s
broke.”
Now is the season when the sturdy
wood-chopper will be judged by his
ax.
Boots are made on the Pacific coast
with pockets for pistols in their tops.
The Chinese say there is a well of
wisdom at the foot of every gray hair.
The man who is always as “ cool as a
cucumber ” is generally as green.
A True Bear Story.—“Now I’m ready
for that true bear story,” said Liza, as
she climbed into papa’s lap; and papa
began it at once,—
“Your grandpa was born and lived
among the Cumberland Mountains.
One day; when he was about eight years
old, he was sent, with a brother a little
older than himself, to carry dinner to
their father, who, with two or three of
his neighbors, was at work on a mount
ain road about a mile from their cabin
home.
“The boys climbed along the rough
way, first one and then the other carry
ing the dinner-basket. As they neared
a large cak-tree, close to which their
road passed, they heard two dogs bark
ing very fiercely. When they came to
the tree, and looked up to see what the
dogs were barking at, they saw a large
black bear.
“They ran on towards the place
where their father was, as fast as bare
footed boys can run. Their hats flew
off, and the dinner was dropped long
before they reached him. As soon as
they saw him, they cried wildly,
‘ There’s a bear down there—a great
black bear.
“The men took their axes, for they
had no guns with them, and started
down to find the bear. They soon came
to the tree where the dogs were still
furiously barking, and saw the bear up
the tree, growling fiercely, and six lit
tle bears with her.
“ When she saw the men she waited
a moment, and seemed to talk to her
babies Then she began slowly to back
down the tree, and the men ran off sev
eral rods, for they saw that she was
dangerous. As soon as she reached the
ground, she gave one of the dogs a
stroke with her paw that sent him ten
feet into the bushes, and then she
caught the other and hugged him till
he couldn’t breathe.
“ Keeping her eye on the men all the
time, she gave a low growl and her
baby bears came down from the tree
one after another, and scampered, first
under the Jow bushes near, and then
off up the mountain side. The mother
bear stood on guard until the last cub
was at a safe distance, and then, growl
ing defiantly at the men, she started af
ter her younglings. She went about a
rod, then turned and growled again;
and this she did a dozen times in as
many rods, watching closely to see if
the men followed her. She kept this up
till all were out of sight.”
“Any more, papa,” said Liza.
“I might make up a little,” replied
papa.
“ Well, make up a little.” So papa
went on.—
“When the mamma-bear got her
babies far up the mountain she met the
papa-bear, and he said, ‘ Why, what’s
the matter with you all?’ and she told
him how she had got away from the
men and the dogs, and he said, ‘Go in
to the den and take a sleep, and I will
watch at the door, and afterwards get
you a good supper.’ ”—
If you catch a man stealing your
umbrella arraign him on the spot.
Proposed to Ills Grand-Mother.
Come unto Him, and in his greatness
we shall finch the enlargement of our
littleness, in His tenderness we shall
wax, wrap the quills in silk or fine lin- 1 ^ ie softening of our harshness, in
en, and wear Ween the coat and shirt j Ten.^ fl “ d the
on either side of the breast. Take four
dried toads and apply on the groin and
the arm pits. During the last
plague at Marseilles, all those whose
clothing did not touch those of the in
fected escaped all harm, though fre
quently exposed to the breath of those
walking skeletons. When in the sphere
of the emanations of the body of the
sick, do not swallow your saliva, but
spit continually. Saliva imbibes poison
more easily than anything else, and if
swallowed, seems to introduce the poi
son in the system. Burnt sulpherpur
ifies the atmosphere very well. Inter
nal Remedies.—Take one or more toads
—the largest you can find—put in an
unglazed vessel, cement it well, and
put in an oven until reduced to ashes.
Dose, one drachm in a glass of wine.
Good bath before and after the plague.
Eat a little rue with butter on your
bread, with shaFp-tasted (Limburger)
and loud-scented (Schweitzer) cheese :
after that a large glass of claret wine.
Dr. Winceslas Dobizinski, convinced
that the saliva is easy impregnated with
poison, ad vises the keeping and chew
ing of bitter substances in the mouth,
to excite the salivary glands.
Every blade of grass in the field is
measured; the green cups and the col
ored crowns of every flower are count
ed ; the stars in the firmament wheel in
cunningly calculated orbits; even the
storms have their laws.
The child’s grief throbs against the
round of its little heart as heavily as the I dying bed persuaded his young ward to
Colonel Thornton of the East India
service, tells this romance of his youth:
“One clear star light evening in
June, Helen and I were walking on the
terrace among flower-beds that were
cut in the soft green turf. Inspired by
he stillness and odorous influence of
the air, I told her my hearts secret,
with all its hopes and fears.
“She looked up at me wonderingly,
aud tears glistened in her beautiful
eyes as she said:
“Ah, Captain Thornton, are you sure,
do you—do you love me ? It cannot be.
No, never!”
“ ‘Why,’ I cried, impetuously press-
my suit with her, ‘you love another?’
“ ‘Sir,’ she said almost sharply, ‘do
you know who 1 am ?”
“ ‘The loveliest girl in England!’
“ ‘No, sir; I am not; Great heavens,
Captain Thorton, I am your grand
mother.’
“My grandmother! Talk of sudden
shocks alter that, won’t you? 1 tried
to speak, but my voice failed me.
reached out my hand and touched her.
Yes, she wa3 there, real enough, and I
was not dreaming.
“ ‘Tell me all,’ I gasped.
“ ‘And standing there, by the broad
stone coping, she told me all. How
her parents had died when she was lit
tle more than an infant, and Sir John,
her guardian and my grandfather, had
watched over her with jealous care al
ways keeping her at school, however,
until he brought her home—a young
lady.
“Then, while I was in India, the poor
old man fell suddenly ill, and on his
man’s sorrow and the one finds as much
delight in his kite or drum as the other
in striking the strings of enterprise or
soaring on the wings of fame.
The great moments of life are but
moments like the others. Your doom
is spoken in a word or two. A single
look from the eyes, a mere pressure of
the hand, may decide it; or of the lips,
though they cannot speak.
The Intellect has only one failing,
which, to be sure, is a very considerable
one; it has no conscience. Napoleon is
the readiest instance of this. If his
heart had borne any proportion to his
brain, he had been one of the greatest
men in all history.
The family is the miniature common
wealth upon whose integrity the safety
of the larger commonwealth depends.
It is the seed plot of all morality. We
express the noblest longings of the hu
man heart w hen we speak of a time to
come in which all mankind will be uni
ted as one family.
marry him, just in order to share his
vast estate, which she had refused to
take as a legacy.
“And believe me,’ said Miss Helen, ‘I
did it only to keep it for you, the right
ful heir, whose wildness had tempora
rily provoked the old gentleman.”
When the tongue is silent and dares
not speak, there may be a look, a gest
ure, an innuendo that stabs like the
stilletto, and is more fatal than the poi
son of the asp.
Have enough regard for yourself to
treat your greatest enemy with quiet
politeness. All petty spites are mere
meannesses and hurt yourself more
than anyone else.
Let us carefully observe these good
qualities wherein our enemies excel us
and endeavor to excel them by avoiding
what is faulty, and imitating what is
excellent in them.
The Orphan Cub.—In a forest in Italy
lived a bear-cub, whose mother had
just died. He was very lonesome, and
found it hard to supply himself with
food. Four little children had to pass
through this forest daily on their way
to school—three boys and one girl.
One pleasant morning they came
along with their slates and books, sing
ing merrily, when suddenly the young
bear came out from the bushes.
With the cry of “A bear, a bear!”
the children turued to run. One went
one way, another went another way,
and they kept stumbling over rocks and
stump?. At last they reached home,
more frightened than hurt.
They told the people of their adven
ture, and their father, with two or three
other men, went out to hunt the bear.
They found him, and brought him home
captive. From that day forth he was
the children’s constant playmate.
Tony, as they called him, was very
playful, and they had lots of fun with
him, though he was sometimes rather
mischievous, and played tricks upon
them.
He used to sleep under the children’s
bed. One day the father killed a kid,
and brought it home, and put it in a
covered dish on the table. In the night,
while every one was asleep, Tony crept
from under the bed, climbed up on the
table, knocked the cover off' the plate
and began to devour this dainty dish at
his leisure.
When he had finished it, he crept
back again tohi3 bed, and went to sleep,
just as if he had nothing to trouble his
conscience. In the morning.great was
the hue and cry when the folks awoke,
and found their dinner gone. After
that, Tony was made to sleep in the
stable.
ne did not like this, and at meal
times, when he heard the children
coming with his food, he would run and
hide; and sometimes they would have
to look for him a long time before they
could find him. At last the children
got used to tliis trick, and would lay
his food down and go away.
Tony would then come forth from his
hiding place. But one day the children
watched and watched, and still no Tony
came out, and they ran for their father
to help them find him; but, when he
entered the barn with them, there was
Tony eating his dinner, and looking as
though he had played them a nice trick.
The Cat.—What food do cats prefer?
A $20 mocking bird is their first
choice. If the family are not able to
keep a mocking bird, the cat must put
up with an oriole or German canary.
It is only when suffering for food that
a cat will accept a sirloin steak.
Cats can’t sing, can they?
No; but, bles3 ’em! they can keep
trying to learn how. They have got so
they can sound the first four notes on
the scale, and they are determined to
get the rest.
What time do they sing the sweetest?
At night between the hours of 11 P.
M. and 4 A. 31. You have probably
read Items about bold, bad men flinging
boot-jacks, sticks of wood and other
missiles at singing cats. Don’t ever as
sociate with such people. Cats have as
much right in America as any one else,
and it is only the meanest kind of folks
who will try to keep ’em from rising
up in the world.
How long do cats live?
NobDdy knows, as no cat ever had a
fair show to see how many years he
could put in. After he has hung around
one neighborhood for fifteen or twenty
years some one murders him in cold
blood.
f’harmacop<t!la of the Period.
With a view to advancing the scien
tific accomplishments and popularizing
the “practice” of our lady doctors of
the period we beg to herewith present
young feminine practitioners with a
few' highly useful prescriptions for
their pretty patients:
Lady Doctor—“Well, my dear, and
how’ are we feeling to day?”
Interesting Invalid—“Not much bet
ter, doctor. Do you know I feel so aw
fully depressed.”
Lady Doctor—“Depressed? Put out
you tongue, please—Ah, yes, just what
I thought. Now, to remove that feel
ing of depression, I’ll order you a new
bonnet.”
Interesting Invalid—“And then I
feel so cold. I can’t get warm any
how.”
Liidy Doctor—“That’s ve-ry bad.
Well in addition to the bonnet I will
give you a velvet coat, lined and trimm
ed with real fur to be applied to the
back. I think that will relieve you.”
Interesting Invalid—“Then, too, I
can’t sleep at night.”
, Lady Doctor—“Dear! dear! We real
ly must take more exercise. We must
positively go to the opera often than
we do.”
Interesting Invalid—“But it seems
quite an exertion to stir from the
house.”
Lady Doctor—“Of course; I under
stand. Now, if I prescribe you a coup
le of silk dresses, do you think you
could take them.”
Interesting Invalid—“I a sure I will
try anything if I could only get well.
I have such dreadful, dismal thoughts;
I fancy all sorts of shocking things.”
Lady Doctor—“We must be patient.
We can’t expect to be cured in a mo
ment, I will tell you what we must do.
To-night you shall put your feet in
new boots, and whenever you go out
be careful to wrap round your throat
in a thick and new gold chain. We
must cheer up, I will tell your husband
to give you a stimulating draught
which they will make up for you at
the banker’s and then I think we shall
do very nicely. Good morning.”
Three Hundred Thorough-Bred*.
Curiosities of the Bible.
The Bible contains (3,566,480 letters)
three million, five hundred and sixty-six
thousand, four hundred and eighty letters.
Seven hundred and seventy-three thousand
and ninety-two words. Thirty-one thousand
one hundred and seventy-three verses
(31,173 verses): One thousand, one hun
dred and eighty-nine chapters (1,189 chap
ters), and sixty-six books (60 liooks). The
word “and" occurs forty-six thousand two
hundred and twenty-seven times (46,227
times). The word “Lord” one thousand
eight hundred and fifty-five (1,855 times).
The word “reverend” occurs only once in
the Bible, which is in the 9th verse of the
11th Psalm. The middle and least chapter
is the 117th Psalm. The middle verse is
the 8th verse of the 118th Psalm. The 21st
verse of the 7tli chapter of Ezra contains
the alphabet. The finest chapter to read is
the 26th chapter of the Acts. The 19tli
chapter of the 2d Kings, and the 37th chap
ter of Isaiah are alike. The longest verse
is the 9th chapter of Esther. The shortest
verse is the 45th of the 11th chapter of St.
John. The 8th, loth, 21st and 31st verses
of the 107th Psalm end alike. There are
no words or names in the Bible of more
than six syllables.
The stock ranch and sununer_esidence
of Leland Stanford is in some respects
the most noticeable country estate in
the United States. The ranch includes
2,000 acres of the most fertile land in
the valley, made up of the Gordon and
Hoag ranches, purchased by 31 r. Stan
ford about three years ago. It begins
at 3Ienio, at San Franeisquite Creek,
and extends toward the southw est along
the creek, the southern end lapping
over a low spur of the coast range west
of Mayfield, California. The whole
ranch is under the superintendence of
Alfred Poett. Senator Keyes has charge
of the agricultural department. The
stock stables, the chief point of interest,
are near the south end, not far from the
foothills, and in charge of II. R. Covey,
who is assisted by his son, F. W. Covey.
They are most remarkable for number
and variety of blood stock. There is
no collection of horses in New York, a
State given to horse-flesh, which ap
proaches it. The Alexander stock farm
in Kentucky is the only one that nearly
equals it in extent and value. Gov
Stanford’s love of horses dates from his
early childhood ; in fact, it is hereditary
He conies from a part of New York
where the admiration of fine horses
imbibed- in infancy. He had a ghod
stud of horses when lie bought the
present property, and since then, till
3Ir. Covey made the last purchase of 19
blood brood-mares in Kentucky, he hai
purchased whatever he laid his eyes on
that pleased his fancy. His ranch, and
especially his horses, have for the la:
year been his chief pleasure. It lias
been his custom when living at the
ranch during the summer to spend sev
eral hours among them alter leaving the
railroad offices at the corner of Fourth
and Townsend streets of an afternoon
and during the winter to make them
weekly visits, taking with him a friend
or two to whom he could point out their
beauties and rehearse their parentage
It is said that he knows every colt by
name, and can tell his pedigree to the
tenth generation. A stable with three
hundred blood horses of all ages must
be a curiosity to the most indifferent
observer of rare animals. It takes
mile of sheds and stables to accommo
date them, and a host of serving-men to
supply their daily wants. The trotting
stable Is a building 150 by SO leet, as
warm, comfortable, and as well ar
ranged as a gentleman’s dwelling. Be
sides this, there are stables for stallions,
for brood-mares and for colts in train
ing, with quarter sections in paddocks-
and a fine, hard race track, splendid in
the Summer and dry and hard during
the fiir weather of the Winter. Here
the younger animals are taught the»r
paces, and Occident, that handsome bit
of horse-flesh, and Elaine, the fastest
of four-year olds, can be seen speeding
in harness on any fine day at any time
of year. Occident is curiously looked
rt by every one who visits the trotting
stable. He welcomes all comers kindly,
and receives the caresses of ladies wiih
gracious aud amiable courtesy. It
warms one to hear a zealous horseman
talk about his favorites, he is so much
in earnest. No one can be more in love
with his occupation than the elder Co
vey, Stripped of some of its technical
ities, that which he has to say is much
as follows : Of brood-mares there are
120 in the stables, many of them with
very bright records—records, say, of
from 2.27 or less to 2.30 or a little over.
The list of celebrated mares includes
Aurora, who has trotted a mile in 2.17;
3Iaid of Clay, with a record of 2.38;
Barnes’ Idol, who trotted in 2.34%
W’hen four years old; Daisy C., who
made 2.3S when three years old; Lucy,
with a record of 2.39; and these, with
the records annexed : 3Iaggie Mitchell,
2.40; May Fly, 2.30%; 3Iayflower, 2.30;
Prussian 3Iaid, 2.19; Rio Vista 3Iaid?
2.35. The stallion stable is an expen
sive luxury. The stallions are sleek
animals of great size, strength and
beauty, and with the fiery look which
they have inherited from their ances
tors of the desert. It were useless to
inquire too closely into their pedigree,
however delightful to devotees of the
turf. Suffice it to say that it includes
such names as Resdick, Hambletonia,
Prospera, Dame Trot, Toronto, Gray
Messenger, Blucher, Abdul Kader, Ab
dallah, Old 3Iembrino, Belmont and
Eclipse, with other names. There is
Electioneer, the father of a line of
Princes; Mohawk Chief, an animal of
superb figure and spirit; General Ben
ton, tenderly cared for by Charlie Cor
coran, who had charge of Goldsmith
Maid for five years. General Benton’s
record Is believed to extend backward
untarnished to the conquest of Spainlby
the Saracens. His keeper claims, with
a glow of pardonable pride, that lie has
fourteen crosses of Messenger blood,
the true source, it is said, of the trotting
quality. A fourth stallion, Don Victor,
though possessed of less personal grace,
is conspicuous as being the only thor
oughbred stallion on the premises.
This quartette is of great value, three
of them, as we glean from statements
made from time to time in the public
prints, having cost over $50,000. From
similar sources we learn that a scarcely
larger number of brood-mares cost not
far from $30,000. A shrewd mathema
tician might estimate the entire worth
ot horses and colts on the place to con
siderably exceed $200,000. From the
list of so many swift steeds, each of
which has some claim to distinction,
some must of necessity be omitted here.
The groom will take you through the
trotting stable, and as he open* each
stall reel off a little story of fascinating
interest, now giving some entertaining
matter of detail regarding Occident,
now specifying the good points of
Elaine, or narrating incidents in the
life of Abe Edgington, the “gallant
gray.” Elsewhere may be seen Mater
Occidents, the mother of Occident, an
animal rarely seen, and the only hon
ored with a purely Latin title. It may
be said in passing that her beauty does
not correspond with her celebrity.
Stalled near this distinguished matron
is the beautiful white trick horse 31a-
homet, a pure Arab, brought from Ben
gal by Chiarini for 31ilton S. Latham.
It is a well-known fact to horse-breed
ers that physical beauty does not al
ways correspond in animals with their
speed or other useful qualities. Gov.
Stanford is endeavoring, by inter breed-
thoroughbred mares with trotting
stallions, to remedy these defects, and
his late purchases, especially the last
importation from Kentucky, have
been made to that end. From these
royal marriages may be expected an
aristocratic lineage. White labor is
principally used on this ranch, there
not being more than a dozen Chinamen
among sixty >vorkmen. Each depart
ment, as has been shown, has its own
superintendent, in this manner thor
oughly systematizing the business.
About 1,400 acres were last year put in
oats, hay, wheat and barley, all of
which was consumed at home. This
same acreage will be sown the coming
season. Gov. Stanford has all the stock
he needs, and will hardly purchase
more unless he should be sorely tempt
ed. The produce of the stock will
hereafter be about 100 annually, which
will be disposed of at auction every
spring. The estate, with its present
improvements, may, perhaps, be val
ued at $600,000, and will easily be worth
a million when the new house which is
in contemplation shall be completed.
OHgin anti History at Cnees'.
Fifty EggH m his Pockets.
“Fifty eggs you stowed away in your
pockets, the groceryman tells me.
What have you got to say, William
Goetz.
“I don’t got no eggs,” said a collar-
less, unshaven Polander, as lie stood
with a large msrket basket over his
aim before Justice 31urray, at Essex
3Iarket Court, New York City, yester
day morning.
“Henry C. Witchen says that you
called at his store. No. 15 Hester Street?
this morning while the clerk was serv
ing customers, and that while standing
beside the stove you filled your pock
ets with eggs. After awhile you put
down your basket, s:cid you were going
out for a drink, you returned with
your pockets empty.”
“Shudge, It’s everywhere a mis
take.”
“Where is your wife?”
“Yas, mine vife in the hospital, and
I got tri diner kinder.”
“Give the officer the key of your
rooms; he will search your place.”
“Shudge, te key is in te lager-beer
saloon.”
“All right,” said the Justice to the
officer, “you go to the house, break
in the door, and see if you find any
eggs-”
‘No, nine, nixy, Shudge, 1 py me 75
eggs in Washington 3Iarket yester
day.”
The officer proceeded to No. 55 Essex
Street, found the door open the priso
ner’s wife and three children, but no
eggs in the house.
A smile of triumph came over the
prisoner’s countenance as the officer
reported.
The Justice then said; “Goetz, you
told me your wife was in the hospital,
and you had 75 eggs in the house.
“Ha, ha, Shudge, you see, I dell you
dat mit fun,” and he gave a long grin
of satisfaction.
; see. Shudge,” Goets resumed
“l go to dis shtore, I says “gif me mine
dings,” Dis poy he dells me, you vait.
1 vait me sometimes a little while. He
He say, ‘here’s den cends, go take some
drinks.’ I leaf mine basket down ven
I come again he say, ‘go and get me
anoder some drinks awhile,’ und I go;
i’en I come pack he say. ‘veil ver are
mine eggs,’ und a bolioeman he say.
cooommitme.’ See, Shudge, I don’t
got no eggs.”
The Law-Boned Nag.
Horse dealers were surprised in Des
Moines, a couple days ago because a
horse which they refused to buy at
twenty-five dollars trotted under 2.50
and made a couple hundred dollars for
impecunious-looking owner.
Graves and a few others were standing
out at the corner of Third Street when
a rustic looking fellow drove up in a
rickety gig patched-up harness and
banged wagon. Two horses were
hitched in and one of them seemed
about ready to lay down under a load
of years and short grass. This horse
the fellow tried to sell. He was very
hard up and wanted to dispose of him
the worst way. In recommending he
did not forget that the old horse had
go” in him. But the lookers on
didn’t think that plug could go, and
some of them were rash enough to bet
he couldn’t go a mile in four minutes.
They put up money on it, and kept bet
ting on time clear down to 2.50. The
then wanted to bet five hundred
dollars his horse could make a mile on
our track in 2.25. The exceedingly
wily horseman in the crowd got scared
about this time and refused to inve.-t
any more monej , preierii>.g t<> >•-<* L< w
the old nag could go. Tuey all ad.
journed to the fair grounds where rus-
ticus, hitched to an old sulky drove
around a few times to limber up, and
then got the word “go I” Away he
went, like the wind, in a cloud of dust
by the stand and down the first quarter
past the half mile in 1.22, and never
skipped as he came down the home
stretch and passed under the wire in
50. The boys haven’t got as much
money as they had, but they found out
something.
The origin and history of the game of
chess form a most curious and interesting
study, upon which an immense number of
volumes have been written, in prose and
verse, in Latin, in Hebrew', and in nearly
every living European tongue, and by au
thors of various degrees, including at least
one King (Alphonse X., of Castile), and
tradition says one Pope, (Innocent III).
The different questions, to the solution ot
which so much labor has been given, arise
with respect to not only the game itself,
but also to the name and origin of the
queen, the bishop and thecastle or rook, the
other pieces—the knight, the king and the
pawn—having remained substantially un
changed, except .with respect to their
moves, since the earliest time to which the
records of the game extend, to wit: about
4,000 years before the commencement of
the Christian era. The game, as imported
into Europe from Arabia, represented a
battle, the piece now called the queen being
the king’s vizier, or commander-in-chief,
the rook being a war dromedary and the
bishop a war elephant. Accordingly, the
Eastern name of the latter was “phil,” sig
nifying an elephant, or, with the Arabic
article added, “al phil." This name was
Latinized into “alphiius,” often corrupted
into “alphinus," which, perhaps, because
its origin was forgotten, gradually came to
be regarded as a proper name. Dr. Hyde
says (I translate somewhat freely from his
Latin;: “The Europeans change the game
from the representatives of a battle to that
of the court, and thus have introduced the
bishop and the queen, who have no busi
ness in a battle, and they have given them
the second and third places, in accordance
with the etiquette of the court.” I cannot
ascertain precisely when this change took
place, hut it was probably aliout the twelfth
century, for one of the Hebrew treatises
contained in Dr. Hyde's work, in which
the old names of the pieces are gi^en, was
about that date, for the author was liorn
and died in that century; while in the Latin
poem already referred to, which Dr. Forbes
thinks is of the same century, the second
piece is called “regina,” and the third
“calvus.”
But in nearly all the works of that period,
and for two or three centuries later, the .
third piece, notwithstanding the change in
its symbolism, still retained the name “ai-
philus" fc or “alphinus,” which became, in the
vernacular of many European countries,
converted to “allin,” “auphin,” “fil," ami
other similar names, and thence underwent
several variation of sound and meaning,
some of which are yet preserved. Thus the
Spaniards calls the piece “alferez," and the
Italians “alficro," which are evidently de
rived from “al phil.” On the other hand,
the Russians and the Sw edes have preserved
the original name, as the}' still call it the
elephant. I confess myself unable satisfac
torily to account for the German name of
the place—“laufer,” the hound or runner:
but the origin of the French name “fol,"
modernized into “fou,” the fool or jester,
is ven r clearly traceable. Here I will let old
Dr. Hyde—quaint and insular as he is with
all liis learning — speak again: “The
French,” he says, “finding in this place a
‘fil,’ and not knowing what it was, substi
tuted something better known to them, *fol, ’
which signifies a fool, who cannot have a
place either in war, or the political econ
omy of a kingdom, unless, perhaps, they
foolishly thought that the jester or mime of
the king was to l>e introduced here. The
Germansjjplaced here a foot-runner (pedisse-
quum) or, worse yet, a dog, which shows
how little they understood The game. The
Italians placed here an ‘alfiero,’ who is the
‘alferez’ of the Spaniards, that is the stan
dard-bearer, which is more to be approved. "
As regards the name “bishop,” as we call
the piece In English, in which the Danes
and Portuguese agree with us, it was doubt
less given to the piece as a consequence of
the change in the theory of the game, which
Dr. Hyde mentions, in recognition of the
ecclesiastical element, which is also recog
nized by the word “calvus,” applied, as al
ready stated, to the piece in the Latin poem
copied by Dr. Hyde. But I have ven
conclusive evidence in my own possession
that the piece was thus named long before
the modernization of the game in the six
teenth century, and in the country where it
is now regarded as symbolizing a standard
bearer. In an illuminated manuscript ',4
the thirteenth century, belonging to me^
which came from Italy, and was exhibited
during the past year in the Loan Depart-
m ‘lit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
is a treatise in Latin hexameters upon the
game of chess, in which, after describing
the pieces and the moves, (the bishops being
designated as “alphynus”), the author
states that the chess-board represents the
sky; the squares the constellations, and the
pieces the planets, among, which, of course,
the sun and moon were then supposed to lx*
included. He say9:
“The king is the Sun; the pawn is
Saturn; the knight is Mars; the queen
is Venus ; Alphynus, the Bishop, is Jupi
ter, and the castle (rook) the wandering
Moon. ”
Table Etiquette.
Bread should be 'broken, not cut; hut if
you don’t like bread, “cut” it. In “break
ing'’ bread use a curb bit.
Do not fill your mouth too full; rather
allow some of the food to get into your
moustache.
Split a biscuit with your fingers, in
stead of opening it with vour knife, like an
oyster. If the biscuit be hard, a beetle
and wedge are admissible in the best so
ciety.
Do not pick your teeth at the table. Pick
them at the dentist's, if he has a good as
sortment to pick from.
Salt should never be put on the table
cloth, but on the side of your plate. If,
however, you want to pickle the table
cloth in brine, you must put salt on it, of
course.
Do not rattle your knife and fork. A
knife and spoon will lx? found more musi
cal.
Eat soup from the side of your spoon,
either inside or outside.
Do not take game in your fingers.
This, however, does not apply to a garni- of
cards.
Do not rest your arms on the table-cloth.
Stack your aniiR in a corner of the room be
fore beginning dinner.
When asked what part of the fowl you
prefer, answer promptly. If you want the
whole of it, don't hesitate to say so.
Do not drink with the spoon in your cup:
put it in your pocket. Forgetting it, you
will lx? so much ahead.
bad taste for the host and hostess to
finish eating before the'r gueits. It is 1 e -
ter to move their chairs so as to finish lx*-
hind them.
Never leave the table until all are
through, without sufficient excuse. The
sudden entrance of ji policeman with a war-
rant for your arrest is generally considered
sufficient excuse in polite circled
Pay no attention to accidents or blunders
on the part of servants. If Bridget blows
herself up while encouraging the fire with
kerosene, keep right on eating just as if
you had never (kero; sene it.
Never help yourself to article's of food
with your knife or fork. Use a harpoon or
a lasso.
W hen you have finished your meal, lay
your knife and fork on your plate, side bv
side, with the handles toward the right,
•a little south by sou-west, bearing north
erly, when the wind is off the side-board
quarter.
Invest your fund9 carefully and intel
ligently. Beware of the brilliant bub
bles that are blown up to tempt ingen
uous speculators.
On the beaten road there is tolerable
traveling; but it is sore work, and many
have to perish,fashioning apath through
the impassable.
We should cheerfully make the best
of our situations, remem Dering that
true endeavor achieves success and
noble purpose wins substantial good.
Men will cheerfully give up their
property to save the life of the body,
and yet, for the sake of property, they
will sacrifice the life of their souls.