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ddd 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.