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A Remarkable AViilow.
Paris harbors a widow, Mine. Jules
Lebaudy, who inherited from her hus
band $25,000,000. As she disproves
of the way in which he made his for
tune, she refuses to use it, contenting
herself with an income of SI2OO.
Lovely Shades of brown.
There are many and lovely shades
of brown in the cheviots this spring.
By brown is not meant the hot look
ing cinnamons or tan or gravel colors
tinting to red or yellow, but soft tones
of wool color, with a little suggestion
of dull pink or mauve in them. These
are cool tints. Some „of the brown
cheviots show a thread of pale color
running through them here or there.
Will Swap a Mother for a Bike.
There is a poor but energetic young
woman in England who is bound to
have a bicycle if she has to swap a
widowed mother for it. She—the en
ergetic woman— lives in London, and
although she does not say in so many
words that she will exchange one good
widowed mother for anew ’97 drop
frame roadster, she intimates it clearly
enough in the following advertisement
which appeared in a Loudon daily
paper:
“I am a young girl with a widowed
mother in unfortunate circumstances,
and cannot afford a bicycle. My
mother and myself will work out
either by the day or permanently in
exchange for a good second-hand
wheel or anew one of approved pat
tern.” —New York Press.
Mrs. Elizabeth Tilton’s Will*
The will of Mrs. Elizabeth B. Tilton
will be filed for probate in a few days,
and will, it is said by those aware of
its contents, prove a great surprise.
It has been generally supposed that
when Theodore Tilton and his wife
separa'.l and the latter was provided with
an incolie that would comfortably keep
her for lae rest of her days. It was
not known though that in addition to
this income she received a bulk sum,
which, combined with what subse
quently came to her from her own
family and what she saved, made up a
modest little fortune. This was in
vested in Brooklyn and New York real
estate, which has increased materially
in value. The bulk of her estate will
go to her daughter and a goodly share
to the religious sect presided over by
Rev. Malachi Taylor.
From the day of her trouble, when
her name became a household word all
over the civilized world, Mrs. Tilton
had not looked at a newspaper.—Tren
ton (N. J.) American.
Wonderful Collection of Dolls.
Mrs. Washington Hesing, of Chicago,
has u valuable and interesting collec
tion of dolls, gathered together in her
travels around the world. She has
over one hundred, and they represent
nearly every country. Every doll can
be dressed and undressed, and one of
the curiosities is over two hundred
years old and is mnde of terracotta.
It is from the Convent of San Martino,
near Naples, and is ten inches long.
It represents an Italian peasant woman
dressed in the costume of the fifteenth
century. The dolls are carefully kept
in a large ebonv-framed glass case,
with plate-glass shelves. There are
dollies of biscpie, wax, wood, china,
terracotta, bark, silk, worsted, kid
and almost every variety of material.
Mrs. Hesing is extremely proud of her
collection, and it is really educational
in point of costuming and doll evolu
tion.
Miss Annie Alden, of Metuchen, N.
J., has quite as valuable a collection
as that of Mrs. Hesing, but it is not so
large.—New York Tribune.
Cotton CanvaK.
The cotton canvas gowns look so
much like the wool ones it is quite
difficult to tell them apart; they are,
of course, much cooler and less ex
pensive, although they require to be
lined throughout. There are many
different colors to choose from, but the
smartest are the greens. A gown of
the new shade of green is lined with
black, the skirt trimmed with rows of
narrow black velvet ribbon; the waist
has just a little fulness in the back,
jbut the fulness is sjrawn in at the belt;
the fronts are gathered on the shoul
der jind hang in ful] blouse effect;
straps’ of harrow black velvet ribbon
finished with tiny steel buckles trim
the fronts, and there is an inside front
of embroidered linen. Turned-over
collar of linen with cuffs to match, a bow
of black satin ribbon at the throat and
a belt of bias black satin fastened with
a steel buckle make the gown very
smart. The sleeves are plain—small
leg-of-mutton shape—with a puff at
the top, and there are bands of the
black velvet ribbon put on above the
cuff. The material for this gown was
thirty cents a yard, and the entire ex
pense was very little. Black cotton
canvas is not desirable, as it will sure
ly rub, and there is considerable
doubt as to whether all the colors w ill
not fade; but gowns made of this ma
terial look smart enough for general
wear, and are as cool as if not cooler
than ginghams.
When duck is used for gowns, linen
duck is generally preferred, as being
cooler and not shrinking so much; the
cotton duck, on the other hand, is
very much cheaper and wears quite as
well; both are used and make most
useful and smart costumes. Severe
tailor styles should always be followed
for these gowns, for the material is too
thick to be much trimmed or elabor
ately made up.—Harper’s Bazar.
A Woman’s Factory.
There is a thriving shirt and overall
factory in Fond-du-Lac, Wis., run en
tirely" by women. The president,
vice-president, secretary, treasurer,
are all young and unmarried, and
nearly all the stockholders are workers
in the factory. The concern now turns
out twenty-five dozen negligee shirts
daily. The directors leased a bnild
ing which was put up especially for
them, and business men think that
there is every reason to predict suecese
for the novel enterprise.
Just ten months ago the
started with fourteen regular and five
special machines. Not being able to
till their orders with that number,
they have enlarged the plant to twen
ty-four regular and six special ma
chines. The incorporation guarantees
its shareholders seven per cent, on
their investment. The wages earned
are from $1 to sl2 a week, according
to the skill of the operative, the work
being done by the piece. Thus far
there has been a balance each month
above the expense and wages, and or
ders on hand are sufficient to provide
for the entire output for over two
months ahead.
“I cannot say who is justly entitled
to be called the founder of our enter
prise,” said Miss Estella Brown, Secre
tary of the company. ‘‘l think it was
from the beginning a joint stock idea.
It seemed a proper way of gaining a
livelihood, and, as we all had worked
in factories, and thoroughly under
stood the business, we thought we
might as well work for ourselves as for
other people. There were two hun
dred girls thrown out of employment
by the abandonment of a factory in
this town, and that set us to thinking.
Among that two hundred were our
twenty shareholders. That factory did
not pay expenses, but we are able to
profit by their experience and guard
against mistakes. Our directors nil
have energy and push; moreover we
are strong and healthy, and willing
each to work for the other’s interest.
“Did we have masculine aid in <> *
ganizing our company? Yes, we
agreed to ask a certain kind and gen
erous-hearted man to help us to get
started, and he took great interest in
planning everything so that there
should be no hitch to give us trouble
afterwards. At present we employ
two men to help us out, one doing the
cutting and the other tending the en
gine, doing the pressing and other
jobs that come his way. In the course
of time we may see fit to do without
any male help. The engine is a gaso
line engine, and any girl in the factory
understands it quitiS properly now.
We have in our employ five girls who
are not shareholders, and as our busi
ness increases we shall be compelled
to enlarge our force, but shall still
keep our capital stock in the hands of
the original shareholders. Our capi
tal was originally SI2OO, divided into
twelve shares of SIOO, but afterwards
we increased it to S2OOO. ”•—New York
Post.
Fashion Notes.
Modistes are lavishing lace on thin
cotton gowns as bands of insertion and
edged ruffles on the skirt.
Dressy sailor hats have bell crowns,
apparently put on topside down, quills,
flowers, gauze draperies and ribbon
rosettes.
Light-weight taffetas, wash silks and
colored lawns are also much the vogue,
and to be absolutely comfortable one
needs a varied assormeut.
The latest novelty in summer petti
coats promises to bring comfort in its
wake, for the material is the all-popu
lar grass linen and the style is simple.
The most fashionable colors are
beige, gray, green, brown and cherry
red. Straw is now being tinted in
the most refined tones, and manu
factured to correspond with every kind
of costume.
The most popular style shows a
gored top, with a Spanish flounce
twelve inches deep, which in turn is
edged with a narrow frill, and these
are no difficulties in the way of perfect
laundering.
A few gowns show an attempt at
draping one side so as to show a
trimmed drop skirt below. Another
design shows a narrow skirt front of
mixed cheviot apparently fastened over
with braid buttons on panels of black
moire.
Tiny tucks are used on capes in clus
ters of six to twelve. Tiny confections
or shoulder capes of shot taffeta,
trimmed with overlapping ruffles of
mousseline aud an immense neck ruche
to mqtch, are among the foreordained
favorites’.
Violets literally overwhelm the new
est hats and bonnets, and are intensi
fied by violet velvet trimming and
feathers. Bunches of spring flowers,
as round as a cowslip ball, are sup
planting pompons, the pinky-lilac
primula being a special favorite.
Favorite shapes in hats are the
beefeater, the sailor with a very wide,
flat brim, and so loaded down with
trimming as to be almost unrecogniz
able, the wide-trimmed hat with a
stovepipe crown, the toque, and the
hat with a tapering flow’erpot crown.
Millinery is not only very bright,
but very ponderous—many bats and
bonnets being literally covered with
flowery garlands, lace, feathers and
ribbons. They are of line, smooth,
glossy straw, rough straw which has
the appearance of pleated chips, or
thick, knobby straw.
Linen sheds the dust and is easily
kept clean, besides which it can be
laundered at need and comes forth not
only as good, but better than new. In
addition it is deliciously cool and light
of weight, so that it would seem in
truth an ideal material for underskirts
designed for warm weather wear.
Hats are most in use for the street,
and bonnets for the theatre and dress
occasions. The newest shape is the
Beguin, made of gold or silver stuff
embroidered in old designs with tur
quoises, pearls and other stones, or of
Venice lace, or turquoise-blue or old
pink velvet richly worked with gold.
The Beguin is trimmed with two black
or white ostrich feathers standing high
in the middle, and high lace pleats,
with colored rosettes or flowers, espec
ially camellias.
RAISES SHARKS TO SELL.
THE QUEER OCCUPATION OF A NEW
JERSEY FISHERMAN.
of StPiikn iii the New York Mar
ket aiul There Are People Who Pro
nounce Them Good Eating;—-How He
Discovered This Fact—A Shark Pond.
Wilson Fastnet, who lives on the
beach at Seaside Park, over in New
Jersey, summer and winter, and makes
his living in fishing, knows more about
sharks than any other dweller along
our coast, and during his off-days,
when fish are not plentiful or the
Weather is too inclement for sailing,
he spends his time in “sharking.”
This does not mean, in his vernacular,
what the ordinary reader might sus
pect; it has nothing to do with Wall
street “sharking,” or killing sharks
upon the high seas by means of vari
ous lines, hooks and harpoons. It im
plies a peaceful vocation that is unique
in this country of strange employments
and trades. To understand the
“sharking” of Mr. Fastnet it is neces
sary to go back a little in history.
About five years ago, while fishing
off the coast, Mr. Fastnet caught a
huge shark on his line. Thinking he
had a gamey fish of unusual size on
his hook, he began to play with him,
giving the creature more line as it
swam from him and hauling it gently
in as it approached nearer. In this
way he induced the shark gradually
to swim toward the shore, where there
was a possible chance to hook it with
a gaff. The shark, blinded probably
by the pain of the hook in his stom
ach, permitted the fisherman to get
him across the sandy bar, where at
low water a small inland pond formed.
Once inside the pond the shark was at
the mercy of its captor. As the tide
went down the shark was soon strand
ed in the shallow water.
Mr. Fastnet then, with the help of
others, succeeded in getting a rope
around the monster’s body. They
dragged him up on the beach, and by
means of several other ropes they
made a regular harness for the shark.
Then he was turned loose and allowed
to swim about in the deep water off
the shore. For several days the shark
was kept a prisoner, and at. regular in
tervals he was hauled up for exhibi
tion. Many people went down to see
the huge monster, and Mr. Fastnet
charged ten cents a head from the
spectators.
Finally it occurred to the fisherman
that it would pay to make the shark a
prisoner in some inland pond of water
where he could be unharnessed. On
the Barnegat Bay side of the beach
there was a small cove, which was pro
tected by the beach on three sides, A
strong dam was built across the neck
of this cove amMke shark was trans
ported across the beach by a team of
horses and dumped into the water. In
this prison the old shark thrived
mightily and seemed gradually to lose
his ferocious temper. It took all the
small and useless fish from Mr. Fast
net’s net to keep the creature from
starving.
It was while watching the growth of
this captive shark that the fisherman
conceived the idea of raising other
sharks in his artificial pond. Now
sharks’ eggs are easily found along the
Jersey coast. They are contained in
capsules or horny matter resembling
seaweed. They are popularly known
as “mermaids’ purses,” and the shells
are gathered by visitors to the seashore
for ornamental purposes. Generally
they are empty of all eggs, but in the
breeding season one can easily pick up
these shells full of eggs.
Mr. Fastnet collected a number of
these eggs cases and threw them into
the pond which he had formed, and in
a few months he was agreeably sur
prised to find young sharks swimming
around. The old shark in his greedi
ness devoured these little creatures
about as fast as they were hatched.
Then a portion of the pond was shut
off from the rest and new eggs were
placed in the water. Here the young
sharks could live and develop without
danger from the old one. When they
became half grown they were turned
loose in the main pond. Immediately
there was a combat of extraordinary
ferocity. The old shark pounced upon
the youngsters and commenced to de
vour them as fast as he could.
For a time the young ones fought
back and tried to defend themselves,
but they would have been destroyed
had not Mr. Fastnet come to their res
cue. He managed to land a harpoon
in the fleshy body of the old shark and
settled his fate in a few minutes. He
thought it better to destroy the big
monster than to lose all of Lis young
sharks. When he was hauled up on
the beach aud bled, his body was cut
up aud wdiile the fat was boiled down
for its oil, the meat was cut up into
steaks for eating. These proved so
juicy aud sweet that the fisherman sent
some to his friends. A New Yorker
who tasted of them thought they were
too good to escape more general notice,
and he sent some to his friends in the
city. Everyone declared that they
were more than palatable; that they
were unusually delicious.
This was the beginning of the de
mand for shark steaks. Mr. Fastnet
received steady orders for shark’s
steaks until he nearly out up all his
young sharks to supply the demand.
Then he decided to raise sharks to sell.
He increased the size of his pond, gath
ered more eggs and began to breed the
savage creature for commercial pur
poses. He now kills about twenty
sharks every summer for the market.
Shark’s steaks are quite the thing for
a big dinner. Mr. Fastnet raises a
good proportion of the sharks that are
sent to market. He kills them when
they are about three feet long. At this
age their meat is very tender and juicy.
In order to keep up the supply he is
kept busy breeding new flocks “every
summer, and oven then he cannot meet
the demand. —Philadelphia Times.
The Travels of a I.etter.
Four years ago Mrs. William Nunn,
of Bay City, Mich., sent a letter to her
son William, who was then in Australia
with a circus. William missed the
letter on its arrival in Australia, leav
ing that country before it found him.
A few days ago the letter was returned
to the Nunn family at Bay City. It
bore twenty-six postmarks and was
yellow with age but still intact. It
had been returned from Australia to
London via San Francisco and had in
all traveled many thousand miles.
Mrs. Nunn, the sender, died two years
ago.
ZINC IN COLD COINS.
Its Presence Causes the Reineltlnff of a
Large Amount of Money.
The tests of gold bullion and eoint
which are made at the Government
Assay Offices occasionally disclose
deviations from the standard of fine-
ness which necessitate the remelting
and r6ooiniug of considerable amounts
of money. In one instance a lot ol
$125,000 in half eagles was remeltefl
because there was a variation in fine
ness from .899 to .903. This variation
was first discovered in two half eagles
which came from the New Orleans
Hint. The issue of these New Orleans
coins was stopped and an investigation
was made under the direction of Cabell
Whitehead, the assayer to the Mint
Bureau.
Upon tracing the history of the
bullion used to make these half eagles
back to its first appearance at the Gov
ernment mints, it was ascertained that
the bars sent to New Orleans and to
the Philadelphia Mint wore mads
several years ago in the New York
Assay Office from foreign coin, chiefly
Spanish. The facts seemed to indi
cate the presence of some unusual ele
ment in this bullion, which only a
complete analysis would reveal. Such
an analysis was made in two different
mints, and cobalt was disclosed. The
trouble experienced in the New
Orleans coinage was attributed almost
entirely to the zinc.
No less than ten different metals
ordinarily enter into the composition
of gold bullion. These metals are
gold, silver, copper, iron, platinum,
lead, bismuth, arsenic, antimony and
tin. Of the five last-named metals
there is barely a trace.
The presence of zinc, nickel and
cobalt is unusual in gold bullion.
When they were found in the New
Orleans half eagles, the fact was re
called that the Spanish gold from which
those eagles were coined had not been
refined in this country, the natural
supposition being that it was suitable
for coinage. The mint at Philadelphia,
which had been working on this same
Spanish bullion, had an unusual num
ber of melts condemned as “no!
mixed.” It took several months tc
remeely the difficulty.—New York
Times.
Fireplaces of Snow.
About the end of January, or when
the sun again appears above the hori
zon, many families at the two Eskinic
villages near Point Barrow, in Alaska,
leave their winter houses and travel
inland seventy-five or one hundred
miles to hunt reindeer along the upper
waters of the large rivers that flow in
to the Arctic Ocean east of the point.
Here they encamp in large, ’ comfort
able snow houses, usually dug out in
a solid snowdrift. Like all Eskimo
winter houses, these are entered by
means of a long, low tunnel; and
opening out of one side of this tunnel
there is a fireplace built of snow slabs.
A young man and his wife moved
down from Point Barrow after winter
had set in, and, as there was no ac
commodation for them in any of the
permanent wooden houses, they built
themselves a small hut from blocks of
snow and roofsd it over with sailcloth.
I made them a visit one afternoon, and
found the house pretty cold and un
comfortable in spite of the large stone
lamp that was burning all the time.
The entrance tunnel was about ten
feet long; at the left hand as you en
tered, and close to the door, was the
fireplace. This was about two and a
half feet square, and neatly built of
slabs of snow, with a smoke hole at
the top and a stick stuck across at the
proper height to hang a pot on. When
the first fire is built in such a fire
place, there is considerable melting of
the surface of the snow, hut as soon
as the fire is allowed to go out this
freezes to a hard glaze of ice, which
afterward melts only a very little.
These fireplaces are used only for cook
ing, as the Eskimos rely wholly on the
oil lamps for warming the dwelling.—
Lippinoott’s Magazine.
Fascination of the Other Side.
There always seems to be a peeul
iar fascination about the other side ol
the road. Let the cyclist he getting
along never so gayly, the chances are
that unless he be one of long experi
ence he will every now and then be
observed to change sides, in the hope
of securing better surface. There must
be a reason for this state of affairs, and
while it would seem to be anything
but clear, yet it appears to us that the
reason is so simple as to escape notice.
The inequalities of the road just un
der one’s wheels are not only felt, but
clearly seen, they being so close at
hand; while the inequalities on the
other side of the road are farther dis
tant, so that they are not so distinct,
while they are not felt at all. This is cer
tainly one of those cases where distance
lends enchantment to the view, as will
usually be acknowledged by the rider
who makes a practice of crossing the
road whenever occasion seems to offer.
—London Cycle and Motor World.
Snoring Ciiufletl a Death.
The snoring habit has broken up
families aud friendships, but the first
case on record of its causing death has
just been recorded in New York city.
The victim is Anna Churchill, a three
year-old child, and the snorer in the
case is Edward Mason, a boarder in
the Church?i household. Mason’s
snore is said to be such that the people
within a block of where he is asleep
can hear it. The other night he
came home drunk, lay elowu in the
kitchen and fell asleep. His thunder
ous snoring awakened the child and
threw her into convulsions. The fam
ily turned Martiu out of doors and
called in a doctor to attend the child,
but she passed from one convulsion in
to another for several hours, and Anal
ly death ensued. The case will be in
vestigated by tbe Coroner, who will
endeavor to ascertain whether Mason
can be held criminally responsible for
tbe child’s death. —Detroit Free Press.
Pitched Headlong by a Thunderbolt."
Ernest Gadboise, a young man em
ployed on his father’s farm on the
Salem turnpike, in Connecticut, was
struck by lightning at Leffingwell,
while driving home. The bolt threw
him from the wagon into the gutter,
and rendered him unconscious. The
horse was knocked down and the
wagon overturned. How long he was
unconscious he is unable to determine,
but he was helped into a neighboring
dwelling. Neither he nor his horse
was permanently injured.
.i,' Aj
Thin tlio Fruit Early.
Where thinning of fruit is known to
he necessary, the earlier the work is
done the better. It is very important
to have the sap all turned to the fruit
that is intended to be left to make a
crop. Fruits that are likely to fall
early, and thus thin themselves, may
be left till this self thinning has been
partly accomplished. But when three,
and sometimes four buds for clusters
of grapes are seen on a young shoot,
it is always safe to thin them to two.
The fruit will be finer and better. —
Boston Cultivator.
Mliking Coritrowß Straight.
Much labor in cultivation may be
saved by making corn rows straight.
It is very hard to hold the cultivator
so as to miss hills that nre alternately
a few inches out of plumb line one side
or the other. The result is that in try
ing to save the hills it is impossible to
cultivate the soil as it should be or to
take all the weeds. With the corn in
a straight line earth may be drawn
from the stalk and thrown back again
so as to destroy all the weeds while
they are small. It requires not only a
true eye in the driver, but an active,
strong horse to draw the marker
straight across the field. It is not
every man or horse that can ever be
taught to do it. Those who can should
be paid extra for the job, for their work
is really skilled labor.
Planting Corn.
In the experiments at the Ohio sta
tion the highest per cent, of sound corn
has been reached from an average stand
of one stalk every eighteen inches, but
the total yield has not been so large as
from closer planting. The most profit
able yield has come from giving a foot
in linear length of row to each plant,
the rows being three and a half feet
apart. On the bottom lands at Colum
bus it did not seem to make any differ
ence whether the plants stood twelve
inches apart, two every twenty-four
inches, three every thirty-six inches or
four every forty-eight inches; but on
the thin clay upland at Wooster the
best yields thus far have been from a
stand of one stalk every twelve inches
or two every twenty-four inches; further
grouping has reduced the yield, as has
also closer planting.—Farm, Stock and
Home.
“Strawlng-in” I’otatoes*
W T hen the season is late, and es
pecially when it is wet, the following
method of planting potatoes often
produces an astonishing crop. It is
regularly followed by a potato grower
in Illinois who grows a large acreage
every year, and always with success.
Where weeds abound it is sometimes
necessary to go through the patch and
pull cut the weeds once during the
season, but this is not a very large
task. Sometimes the potatoes are not
covered with soil at all, but it is better
to do this, as it gives the roots abetter
chance to take hold.
Put the potatoes in good ground,
cover about two inches with dirt, then
cover with straw about a foot and a
half deep, and your potatoes are “laid
by” till time to dig them in the fall.
The vines will grow up through the
straw, foxtail and weeds will never see
daylight. When your potatoes are
ripe pitch the straw away and the
potatoes are nearly all on top of the
ground. This method has been tried
in this vicinity for twenty years with
the best of results in every case. Try
it and be convinced.—The Silver
Knight.
Charcoal.
The value of charcoal for poultry
cannot be too widely known. Both
fowls and chicks are fond of it. Judge
G. 0. Brown says there is not suf
ficient attention given to the impor
tance of having the charcoal fresh
when it is used for poultry. Charcoal
has wonderful absorbent powers,
especially for gases. Only a small
quantity should be put into the feed
hoppers at a time, on account of the
absorptive nature. Before placing it
where the poultry can get it it is best
to heat it well, which will have a ten
dency both to drive off impurities
which have become absorbed aud to
refreshen and make it of that crispy
or crackling nature characteristic of
fresh-burned charcoal. Keep the
charcoal in some vessel that is thor
oughly dry and have a tight-fitting
cover to exclude the air.
Asa corrective of injudicious over
feeding, as a remedy in bowel trou
bles, and as a preventive of indiges
tion, charcoal has no equals. Feed
every other day, making it about the
size of corn for fowls, and the size of
wheat for chicks.
Charred corn on cob is an excellent
way for giving charcoal. Place a few
ears of corn in the oven, and keep
them there until they are burned
black to the cob. Corn charcoal can
thus be made as wanted. The older
and dryer the corn the easier it will be
to make charcoal and the better it will
be.
The best way to feed is to give just
what the fowls will eat up clean. In
that way it is little exposed to the air.
Onions for the Market,
One whose experience gives his
words authority writes as follows in
the New England Homestead: Onion
growing may be divided into culture
in the kitchen garden, the market
garden and on the farm. In the mar
ket garden the first thing under con
sideration is the soil. The best suited
for the onion is a dry, sandy loam, not
wet or soggy, for if it is, you will have
nothing but scullions at the end of
the season. Take a piece of laud that
has had early potatoes, and as soon as
these are du'g haul on plenty of well
jgttedbarnyard manure; spread even
ly. Plow, not too deep, but just dsep
enough to cover the manure. Than
sow rye on it at the rate of six bush
els per acre.
Don’t be afraid of sowing your rye
too early in the fall. Don’t plow too
early in the spring, but give the *ye
a chance to start. By plowing it again
in the spring you get all your manure
on top, just where you want it for
onions. The roots of onions are all
near the surface. After going over it
with a good smoothing harrow the
ground is ready for the seed.
Make the rows eighteen inches
apart. They might bcjnearer, but I
think this near enough, because it
gives a better chance to work them
with a double wheel hoe. When the
onions are about four inches high, sow
on wood ashes at the rate of 100 bush
els per acre broadcast. I never thin
my onions, but leave them as the drill
sows tliem. Harvest them ns soon as
the tops die and sow rye as in the fall
previous, ready for another year’s
crop. If these directions are fol
lowed, I promise you a fine crop of
onions.
Fertility In tlie Soil.
The first question which presents
itself is what do we mean by the “fer
tility of soil;” to which I answer, Pos
session of and power to furnish plant
food, because it is not sufficient of it-
self that the soil shall simply be in
possession of the different elements,
chemicals and substances upon which
plants feed, but it is essentially neces
sary that these shall all be in such con
dition as to be readily taken up and
made available by the growing plant.
“ To illustrate: Experience has demon
strated that bone meal is a very valu
able fertilizer and a great stimulator ol
plant growth, especially beneficial to
the wheat plant, and yet we might scat
ter tons of dry bones over the surface
of an acre of ground and still the
growing crop would receive not one
particle of benefit therefrom.
Now, it is a principle well under
stood in the business of farming that
exhaustion of the soil, or reduced fer
tility, simply means that these differ
ent elements upon which plants de
pend for their growth have been re
moved from the soil by the continued
cropping of the same.
I have an old German friend who
says some very sensible things in
rather an awkward way, and upon one
occasion, in speaking of a field of corn
that had not come up to his expecta
tions, explained it all by saying he
guessed the corn juice was all out of
the ground.
Now, it makes no difference by what
name we call it; we may speak of it
as the richness of the soil, or we may
apply the names which science and
chemistry have given to these differ
ent elements and speak of them as ni
trogen, the ammonia and the phos
phoric acids, the potash and alkalies,
or adopt the more homely expression
of my old friend, aud refer to it as the
“juice;” yet the fact remains that if
these have been removed from the soil
tlie fertility has been reduced to that
extent, and in order to maintain the
former condition a system of restitu
tion must be adopted; and if we suc
ceed in restoring as much as has been
removed we maintain the fertility, and
more than that tends to increase the
fertility.—N. Gear, at the Illinois
Institute.
Farm ami Garden Notes.
Bounce the lazy hired man.
Economize labor on the farm.
Kill the hens that lay no eggs.
Push every acre for all it is fvorth.
Keep an account with each field on
the farm.
A hog knows the difference between
a kick and an ear of corn.
No soil was ever so rich that it could
not profitably utilize the manure made
on the farm.
If you can do twice the work with a
new machine that you cau with your
old one, buy anew one.
A little linseed meal fed a cow be
fore calving will not hurt her any; or
after calving, for that matter.
Cultivate a bitter enmity to every
weed that grows. Try to feel toward
it as a dog does toward a cat.
Try peas for stock. Sow broadcast
or drill. They are at the top as green
forage for hogs, cows or any other
stock.
The horse should be put to hard
work in the spring gradually. The
animal is not in' the best condition in
early spring.
There is no objection to making
barns warm; but they should be web
ventilated even if the temperature
must go below freezing point.
It requires but a small amount of
capital to get a start with sheep, and
in opening up anew farm they will
help materially in the early income.
The good dairy cow. makes a profit
on each dollar’s worth of feed, and the
more suitable food we can get her to
eat the more profit we are certain to
get.
To avoid scratches or grease heel,
keep the legs and feet clean. A
good plan is to wash off the limbs
clean at night with cloth and warm
water, wiping them thoroughly dry.
The demand of the times is for what
is commonly termed “baby beef,” that
is, beef from eighteen to twenty-four
month-old animals. Herefords, Short
horns and Angus cattle make this
beef.
Some men never speak kindly to a
horse, and, therefore, never have a
kind horse. Get the affection of your
horse, and you have taken the most
important step toward getting his best
services.
Take the horse to the harness shop
and see that a collar fits him before
you buy it. His working capacity de
pends much upon his h arness. With
galled shoulders he will not pull stead
ily and squarely, aud the pain will
affect hi s whole nervous organization
and lead to general derangement and
incapacity.
Bye is extensively used in North
England for pig feeding. In Denmark,
where it is fed extensively, it has the
reputation of producing about the
same amount of pork from a given
j weight of grain as barley. The quality
of the pork produced is nearly as good
*s that made from barley, which stands
at the head of the list of pork of the
finest quality.
SCALINC WITHOUT A LADDER.
A Pyramid of Snliller. Enable* Mon te
Surmount a SI - Foot Wall.
Corporal Leary, the limberest man,
at Fort Sheridan, took the chance of
breaking his neck and tumbling the
storming pyramids of forty-one soldiers
in a bruised heap Saturday as he
sprang upward from the shoulders of
Private Miller, caught with three
fingers of his left hand the top of the
high wooden wall behind which lurked
the enemy, hung for one perilous in
stant, and then gallantly pulled him
self to the top, seized his rifle, and
sprang into the midst of the foe on the
other side of the improvised parapet iii
the Coliseum gallery.
The human pyramid swayed, but
held its sturdy place while gallant
infantrymen swept up the stalwart
shoulders and over the thirty-one-foot
wall to Corporal Leary’s support,while
a platoon of twenty-five men kept the
enemy away in front of the wall.
It was at this point that the regular
army officers, who were watching the
fray from the Coliseum gallery, led
the applause, for Corpora! Leary and
his comrades had broken the world’s
escalading record by three feet. As
a partial reward for his daring feat.
Corporal Leary will lie recommended
by Lieutenant Percival G. Lowe, in
commaud of the camp, for promotion.
When Corporal Leary climbed to
the apex of the pyramid and stood on
the shoulders of the men in the top
row, the tips of his fingers lacked five
inches of reaching the top of the wall.
The highest wall that was ever escalaileil
before was twenty-eight feet, and the
men who climbed over that in the
military carnival at New York broke
the world’s record then. The wall at
the Coliseum was thirty-one feet high,
and it took just four minutes to scale
it.
Eighteen of the heaviest and strong
est men in the regiment formed the
base of the pyramid, ten mounted on
their shoulders and leaned against the
wall, six stood on the shoulders of the
ten, four on the shoulders of the six,
and three on the shoulders of the four.
Corporal Leary scrambled up this
escalading pyramid of blue, and stood
on the shoulders of tbe top three,
braced against the wall.
When he stretched out his arms,and
found his fingers would not reach the
edge of the wall, he crouched, ami
then, as the human mountain swayed
dizzily beneath his feet, with the
mighty and yet delicate effort of the
trained athlete he sprang boldly five
inches upward at the edge of the
barrier. He tried to grasp the top of
the parapet with both hands, but only
three fingers of his left hand went
high enough. The pyramid under,
him was still swaying. He held to
the hazardous edge by the three
lingers for an instant, and then, with a
heave and a twist, pulling his whole
body up, caught the wall with the
other hand. An instant after he was
on the enemy’s side of the barricade.
—Chicago Tribune.
I?icycles In the German Army.
The German military papers have
just published the report of the Minis
ter of War regarding the results of the
introduction of bicycles into the army
and the training pf a bicycle corps dur
ing the year 1896, says the Philadel
phia Record. A large number of ex
perimental runs were made and the
bicycles were also employed in maneu
vers to advantage. The average of
the runs was about thirty-five miles,
with an average speed of nine and one
half miles per hour, including stops.
The greatest speed obtained was twelve
miles per hour in a run of thirty miles.
The greatest distance covered in any
one run was one hundred and thirty
miles an hour, including stops. The
soldiers attached to the bicycle service
were given practical training on the
wheel, hut also received instruction in
reconnoitering, reailiug of the map,
etc. Not long ago Lieutenant von
Puttkammer tried to dispatch u mess
age by relay bicyclists going and com
ing a distance of twenty-eight miles.
He had placed four relays of three bi
cyclists each.at points six miles apart
ami three dispatches were taken each
way,the cyclists’ speed exceeding thir
teen miles per hour. It is estimated
by the Minister of War that after for
ty days’ training a company mounted
on bicycles should he able to cover one
hundred and twenty miles a day with
full arms and equipment. The present'
weight of the military bicycle, which
is of the folding type, is thirty-two
pounds, but the new type, of which a
large number has been ordered, will
weigh six pounds less. The principal
economy will be found in the abandon
ment of chain gearing and the substi
tution of a cog-wheel driving gear.
A New Balt for M ice.
One observant housekeeper has
found out that mice and croton bugs
do not invade the same premises at
the same time. The mice scare away
the bugs. In a consideration of the
two evils it is rather difficult, from a
housekeeper’s point of view, which to
choose. This same housekeeper, says
the New York Evening Post, finds
that the ordinary round, many-holed
spring traps, baited with something
soft, like a piece of suetor pork, which
will cling to the hook and resist efforts
of the wily little creatures to dislodge,
is the best means of getting rid of
them. With this method should be
practiced also the starvation plan,
which is to have every crumb of food,
every dust of sugar, oatmeal or othei
farinaceous substance, anything, in
fact, that could afford them oppor
tunity for satisfying appetite, kept
carefully away from them. The holes
by which they find access to closet
shelves should be filled with pieces of
gum camphor. With patience and the
perseverance, that is the cost of all
success, this pest, even in seriously
infested houses, can be exterminated.
Goldfish in Niagara Kiver,
Niagara Kiver is said to be teeming
with goldfish, but as they are hard to
catch and bad to eat they are not re
garded as a very desirable acquisition.
They have been seen there only within
the past year. The fish are said to
have come from a creek in Forest Lawi
Cemetery, Buffalo, N. Y., where a few
were placed several years ago.
A Town of Cnve.
The city of Banian, in Grea*
Bucharia, is cut in the side of a moun
tain. There are 12,000 artificial caves,
some very large, and tw-o Btatues, one
ninety and the other twenty feet high
each hewn from a single stone.