The Middle Georgia argus. (Indian Springs, Ga.) 18??-1893, February 24, 1881, Image 1
W. F SMITH, Publisher,
VOLUME VIII.
SOUTHERN NEWS,
It rained 130 days in West rn Texas
last year.
Italian laborers for orange groves hare
arrived at Jacksonville, Fla.
The colored Methodists of Waco, Tex.,
are to erect a $7,000 college.
Judge A. J. Ross, ofSalado, has been
elected Grand Master of the Texas State
Orange.
Philadelphia workmen arc laying street
mains for the new water-works in Ma
con, Ga.
Meridian has shipped more eotton for
this season than any other town in Mis
sissippi except Vicksburg.
Alabama has a provision in her con
stitution forbidding the consolidation of
competing lines of telegraph.
No smoking will hereafter be allowed
in any of the buildings of Vanderbilt
University, Nashville.
Mrs. Matilda Fields, of Gibson county,
Tenn., sixty years of age, is the daughter
of the celebrated Davy Crockett.
Atlanta, Ga., is a large horse and mule
market. The receipts since September
have been 14,548 horses and mules, 5,550
cattle, and 25,390 hogs.
The Tampa (Fla.) Tribune mentions a
report that the people in the eastern end
of Hillsborough county and in Polk are
becoming discouraged about the orange
business because of the lack of transpor
tation.
Out of 172,005 voters registered in
Louisiana, 85,451 are white, and of these
16,913 make their marks instead of wri
ting their names. The colored registra
tration is 88,024, and of these 11,408
write their names.
The Dismal Swamp canal, which con
nects Norfolk, (Va.) harbor with Albe
marle, (N. C.) sound, is of great impor
tance to Norfolk. The number of ves
sels that passed through it last year
included 341 steamers, 263 schooners, 94
sloops, 517 lighters, 24 boats and 50 rafts
Total, 1,291.
A mysterious pillar of smoke rises from
the midst of a morass in the southeastern
corner of Jefferson county, Fla. Before
the war it was attributed to runaway
negroes, during the war to deserters, and
sinco the war to illicit distillers. It is
said that a visible glow has often been
observed.
Atlanta Constitution: Capital may
not be accumulated very rapidly in the
South, but it will be rolled together
fully as fast as the Northern mill-owners
will care to have it. The North can and
will manufacture a vast variety of
things, but it cannot monopolize or long
control the manufacture of the great
staple of the South
In Tennessee there are about 1,250
convicts, about half of the number being
in the penitentiary and the remainder in
branch prisons. The branch prisons at
Battle Creek coal mines and at Sewanee
are wooden structures inclosed by wood
en palisade*, and it is said that they have
proved superior in comfort, security and
healthfulness to the penitentiary itself
The size of the cotton factory at Pied
mont, S. C., has been more than doubled,
and it is now the largest factory in one
building in the South. A cor res pon dent
of the Charleston News and Courier says
that five years ago there was no" a single
house at that place, and now there are
14/, besides the factory building, which
is to support I,*oo people and house 12,-
000 bales of cotton a year.
Atlanta Constitution: The discovery
of the lost portfolio came very near
working a change in the list of States.
Georgia now has 1,542,071 people, and
Tennessee 1,542,468. If the enumerators
of Georgia had found 398 more people,
Georgia would have outranked Tennes
see, and retained her plaeeas the twelfth
State. As the case stands, she is the
thirteenth State. Is there not another
lost portfolio ?
The celebrated Dummitt orange grove,
the oldest and largest grove in East Flor
ida, situated between the Indian river
and the Atlantic, comprising 450 acres,
having 3,500 trees now in bearing, pro
ducing last year 4,000 boxes, has been
sold to the Dues Telia Castellucia, an
officer in the Italian military service.
Ike Duite and Duchess will make Jack
sonville their winter home. The Duke
proposes to have skilled laborers brought
from his groves in Sicily.
F. B I erguson writes from the United
States Fish Commission to Gen. Chal
mers, of Mississippi, that the charges by
t boats on the Mississippi are practi
a bar to the continuance of the dis
teibution iq Chalmers’ Coigressional
district. He says: “In all other sec*
t’ons of the country railroads and boats
make no charge for the cans of fish, but
on the Mississippi river they not only
charged very high rates for the cans, but
in some cases, especially at Fort Adams,
wharfage for loading and reshipping the
empty cans was charged.”
The New Orleans Chamber of Com
merce has appointed a committee of five
persons to correspond or confer with the
Postmaster General upon the following
proposition : That he shall invite the
several railroad corporations connecting
New Orleans with the cities of St. Louis,
Milwaukee, Chicago, Cincinnati, Louis
ville, Richmond, Baltimore, Washing
ton, Philadelphia and New York, to con
sider the expediency of placing on their
joint account a semi-monthly line of ocean
steamers connecting the port of Aspin
wall, Central America, with the port of
New Orleans, receiving as a contribution
by the United States, the sea postage to
accrue upon such route, with such other
appropriations as Congress may be in
duced to make for that purpose.
Something About Babies.
According to a Yorkshire notion, anew
bom infant should be laid first in the
arms of a maiden before any one touches
it; and in some places the infant’s right
hand is left unwashed in order that he
may gather riches. It is, too, considered
very important by many that an infant
should go up in the world before it goes
down. Thus, in Cleveland, says Mr.
Henderson, if a child should be bora in
the top story of a house, for want of a
flight of stairs one of the gossips will
take it in her arms and mount a table,
chair, or chest of drawers before she
carries it down-stairs.
In the north of England, when an in
fant for the first time goes out of the
house, it is presented with an egg, some
salt and a little loaf of bread, and occa
sionally a small piece of money—these
gifts being supposed to insure that the
child shall never stand in need of the
common necessaries of life. In the
East Riding of Yorkshire a few matches
are added to light the child to heaven.
It was, too, in former times, customary,
and the practice is not yet obsolete, to
provide a largo cheese and cake, and cut
them at the birth of the child. These
were called “the groaning cake and
cheese,” and were distributed among all
the neighbors.
In Yorkshire this cake is termed the
“pepper cake,” and in some localities
the “sickening cake.” It is the source
of a species of divination, for being cut
into small pieces by the medical man, it
is divided among the unmarried of the
female sex, under the name of “dream
ing bread.” Each one takes a piece,
places it in the foot of the left stocking,
and throws it over the left shoulder.
This being done, they must retire to bed
backward, without uttering a word, and
those who are lucky enough to fall
asleep before midnight are favored with
a sight of their future husband in their
dreams.
Tbe Smaller Boy Took the Cue.
A jolly clergyman in Rondout, N. Y.,
has two sons, both bright, obedient, and
well-trained lads, but mischievous and
fun-loving as boys can be. It is the cus
tom of the father to have his sons learn
a verse of Scripture every day, and re
cite it each morning. In accordance
with this custom one day the lads were
called upon by their father to repeat
their verses for the day. It happened
to be a time when the skating was good,
a sport of which all active boys are devo
tees, and the boys naturally burned with
eager desire to be off to the frozen field.
But discipline must be maintained, as
they well knew, and there was no escape
from the daily Scripture recitation. The
elder of the boys had learned bis text
and was ready for the ordeal, and when
asked to repeat it promptly replied: “I
had rather be a door-keeper in the house
of God than to dwell in the tents of
wickedness;” and he “slid out,” happy,
at his release. The younger lad had
quite forgotten to learn his text, but his
wit came to his rescue. “So would I,
father,” he shouted, and off he went to
join his brother.
Unbidden Tears.
“I acted Werner languidly,” says
Macready in his Diaries. “A circum
stance in the play amused me a good
deal, and at my own expense. I was in
convenienced and rather annoyed by
Ulric looking on the ground, or any
where but in my face, as he should have
done. My displeasure, however, vanished
on seeing the tears fast trickling down
his cheek, and forgiving his inaccuracy
on the score of his sensibility, I continued
the scene with augmented energy and
feeling, and left it with a very favorable
impression of the young man’s judgment
and warm-heartedness. In the course of
the play he accosted me, begging my
pardon for his apparent inattention to
me, anti explaining the cause, viz., that
he had painted his face so high on the
check that the color had got into his
eyes, and kept them running during the
whole act. What an unfortunate dis
closure!” _____
Lrrnds six-year old was taking his first
lesson in addition, and when the teacher
asked him: “If I were to give you two
cats, and another nice young lady gave
you two more, how many cats would you
have?” He quickly replied: “Why,
pretty soon I wouldn’t have any, for my
mamma would break their heads with
the broom. She don’t like cats.”
>eVl>tt< to Industrial Inter, st, the Diffusion of Truth, the Establishment of Justice, and the Preserration of a People's Government.
INDIAN SPRINGS, GEORGIA.
•TRIKE WOW.
Then’s nothing mere thou c&nst command,
The past has gone beyond thy hand,
With many a broken vvw,
The coming moment la not thine;
Life stands between, a narrow Line,
Strike while the Iron’s hot—strike now.
Kow is the time to do the deed,
Now the time to uproot the wred,
Act, nor pause to ask the how;
Each passing moment chilis the glow,
Good forging twins the thought and blow,
Strike while the iron’s hot—strike now.
Plan as we will, strike as we may,
All power, hope, growth from day to day,
To the crushing now must bow.
Results of reason, feeling, tact,
All are surmise, the now but fact,
Strike while the iron’s hot-strike now.
Greatness the now has always won,
Well sowed, that this Is all the sum
Of life, who tan disavow ?
Work in the now from first to last,
’Tis always with you, never past,
Strike while the iron’s hot—strike now. .
Jt'MiUßgggltißJ-.
WHISKY BOB’S CLAIM.
WJiisky Bob was dead b.oke, very
tired, and wanted to sit down and study
his situation and what was best to be
done.
‘ ‘Here Ibe again, the same denied
fool as ever, ruined by whisky after rank
in’ piles of money; I just deserve it.
What a doggoned jackass a human can
make his self with whisky. ”
Taking up his pack, Bob toiled slowly
up the ridge under the trees until
he came to the top, where it flattened
out in the level places and slight depres
sions. Birds were singing and flowers
blooming around him; and, as he sat
down to rest, he heard, to his astonish
ment, not very far off, the clear sweet
voice of a female, singing.
Peeping cautiously under the young
pine tree, there, in a little open flat, sit
ting on a rock, was the singer. It was a
pleasant picture to look at for a lonely
man—a tall, shapely, buxom young girl,
with light, golden hair, blue eyes, and
very regular, pretty features. She was
dressed in a short calico dress, with moc
assins on her feet, and a sun-bonnet
thrown back on her head. Her hand
rested on a long Kentucky rifle. She
was a representative of the better class
of Western girls, who were continually
in those earlier days arriving in the
mountains of California from the long
trip overland, emigrating in families
from Kentucky and other States.
Whisky Bob listened to the song with
delight, and gazed at the singer in ad
miration; and then, with his pack on
liis-slioulder, coolly walked out into her
presence, and, putting his pack down
not far from her, sat down himself. Then
she spoke to him:
“Well, Mister, who might you be,
that walks into a young lady’s drawing
room without knocking, even on the
bark of a tree?”
“Please, Miss, I’m called Whisky Bob
—out prospecting.”
“No ‘miss’ about it, Mr. Bobb, please.
My name, for short, is Nell Green to all
friends, and to others—well, I’ve a shoot
ing-iron,” said the girl, and continued:
“Your name of Whisky is a bad one,
young man, and I reckon shows you are
being ruined by corn juice. Is that so?”
“Well, Nell, that’s a fact—but rather
rough,” said Bob, who saw the girl had
a half smile on her face.
“Now, Mr. Bob—without the Whisky
—it seems me,” said Nell, “ye’re
throwing yerself away, and thera might
be something better for yer, if ye’d seek
it,” and she looked at him with an ex
pression of some interest.
“I know it, Nell, if I could only do
it.”
“Got no folks, no family, to keer for
yon?” said Nell.
“Narry one,” replied Bob; “never had.
I toted myself and pack up this ridge to
jest seek my luck once more, and quit
the corn juice and reform. I said to my
self, *Bob, if ye could only meet a wo
man anywhere in these diggins, and
stake out a claim where she stood, it
would bring ye fresh luck and ye might
turn over anew leaf, and be somebody
once more.’ And here, sure enough, I’ve
met you. ”
“Ye mean right, I’m sure,” said Nell,
softly. “But down the trail away yonder
I see my folks are coming along, with
their fixings and plunder, pau, man and
the rest ov’em. I must put out, stranger,
but Mr. Bob, let me say a kind word to
ye on parting from a short acquaintance.
You say a woman brings ye luck every
time. Now I just hope I’ll bring good
fortune to yer, and you may take your
pile out of this ’ere spot, though I can’t
see where it is. Mr. Bob,” said the girl,
hesitating, “ef ye do not find it, and act
up to yer good intentions about the corn
juice—well, then, Mr. Bob, my folks are
raising log houses and shed fixings down
on the opening at the foot of the creek,
away there you can see a break in the
trees. We mean to locate.” And walk
ing np to Bob, she put her hand on his
shoulder, “and Mr. Bob, if ye raise yer
pile yer can bring jesfc a little piece of
cold down for Nell to remember she
brought a better life to ye.”
He took his rocker and put it in run
ning order down the ridge by a little
pool of water, fed by a small stream,
where he could bring his dirt and wash
out for half an hour, and then pack down
more, while the pool was filling with
water again.
Next he went and rolled away the
rock where Nell had been sitting and
singing by the dry pebbles of the rivulet,
and, taking his pick, began digging ont
a ditch in the grass, about two feet deep
and two feet wide, down stream, and
took the dirt to his rocker. He worked
until sunset, only finding about six bits
of coarse gold, but in his last bucket,
when washed out, he found" a good solid
piece of gold weighing three ounces.
In the morning he arose by daylight,
and after his breakfast of fried pork and
coffee, ending with the usual smoke of
his pipe, he went to work again, deter-
mined to work the gold out for Nell’s
sake, if he did not make a fortune.
He worked hard and steady through
the day, only stopping at noon for some
coffee and % smoke beneath the pine tree
camp. The sun was very* hot, but he
didn’t mind it. At night, when he washed
out the result of the day’s hard toil, he
only had a dollars’ worth of coarse gold,
but he found a little piece of blue ribbon
Nell had lost from her hair. This con
soled him amply, as he kissed it and said
to himself, “Bob, better luck to-mor
row.” His claim was what miners call
“very spotted,” for the gold was scat
tered in spots here and there. The next
day and the next, his labors brought him
the same result—about enough to pay
expenses, or as the miners cedi it, “grub
money.”
The fourth day, just before he washed
out, in his last rocker of dirt, at sunset,
he found two pieces of gold, one worth
SI 50, the other full S2OO. Bob was
happy that night, and tied the blue rib
bon with a leather string round his neck,
so that it could rest on his heart. The
next two days brought no big piece, but
the seventh he took pieces of gold from
the clay-like cement weighing about
S7OO. It was dark colored gold, pretty
solid, and twisted into strange shapes.
with holes in it, but not appearing much
worn, or, in mining parlance, “washed.”
When the miners passed him daily on
their way to the divide, they stopped to
ask wliat- his luck was, and when they
saw a very little coarse gold in his pan,
they laughed at him. But Bob kept his
lumps of gold in his pocket, or buried
them beside the rock in his camp. In
this way he worked on, taking sometimes
large pieces of gold out, half as large as
Nell’s little fist, and then for days very
little.
He now examined and weighed his
gold, and found that he had about SB,OOO,
mostly in heavy pieces. This was a pretty
good fortune for seven weeks’ digging,
and Bob felt an unconquerable longing to
go and tell Nell all about it. The next
morning by daylight he cleared up,
packed up his things and started down
the ridge to the nearest trading tents.
But in his blankets, carefully strapped
out of sight, was a heavy bag of gold in
place of a whisky bottle.
It was early in the day yet, and Bob
set out to find the ranch of Nelly’s peo
ple, leaving his pack, except the blanket
containing the gold, which was slung
over his shoulders on his pick handle.
In a little over a mile’s walking he
found a pretty valley at the mouth of
the creek, where some new log houses,
fences and clearings indicated Nell’s
home.
In a back room, with her white, strong,
beautiful arms bare to the shoulder,
stood pretty Nell at the washtub, very
busy in a stream of soapsuds and Ken
tucky jeans, singing free as a bird.
Bob put down his'pack and walked in,
but Nell’s quick ear heard, and she
turned and saw him, and her cheeks
flushed and her eyes sparkled.
“What! Bob, is that you come at
last? in store clothes, too?” said she,
glancing with bright eyes at the young
man, and with poorly disguised pleasure.
“Certain, sure, Nell; you said I might
oome.”
“Yes, Bob! but how about the
whisky?”
“ Nell, I haven’t touched a drop since
you saw me; if I have they may shoot
me. And what’s more, I don’t mean to
—if you say so,” replied he.
“An’ Bob, did I bring lnok to yer?
Was there gold up thar?”
“Nell, thar’s six thousand dollars and
more, rolled in them blankets thar, I
owe to your, pretty self, or I’m a nigger.
And, Nell, just look here,” and Bob took
from the breast of his shirt a package
carefully wrapped in paper, which had
rested on the bow of Nell’s blue ribbon
he had found, and which she plainly
saw. Unwrapping it, there was a piece
of gold, in the shape of a spread
almost exact in every part, weighmg
over six ounces.
“Nell, you said I might bring yer a
specimen from my pile, and here ’tis. ”
“Yes, Bob, but what gal’s bit of rib
bon is that yer so keerful about?” said
Nell, with a loving look, but turning her
face from him mischievously, and stirring
the soap-suds.
“That ere,” replied he, “broke loose
from the har of an angel that met me on
the mountains, yonder, and said some
kind words to a dead-broke man, that
gave him new life, and what’s more,
brought good luck, the thing as a charm
to lighten his thoughts when he felt
downbeartened.”
“Yes, Bob,” said she, “but ain’t that
talk kind of airy? Angels* don’t flit
round these diggins, as I ever heerd ov. ”
“Yes, Nell, that’s so; but any woman’s
an angel to man that’s going wrong,
who, in the loving kindness of her heart,
encourages him to do right, and that's
what ye’ve done for me. That ere gold
came to me by luck from you, and if ye’d
only take it with something else”
“With what, Bob?” but Nell still
kept her face turned away, while he was
edging still closer to her.
“Well, Nell, if I must make the riffle,
just take Bob with the dust and make
him a happy man for the rest of his life.
He loves yer, Mid would die for yer any
time,” and Bob stole his arm around her
slender waiat.
Nell at last turned her blushing face,
and looking roguishly at Rob, said:
“Don’t you think, Bob, it would be bet
ter sense to say you’d live for Nell than
to die for her ?”
Bob did not speak, but drew Nell to
him, and kissed her. Nell, somehow had
her hands so entangled in the soapsuds
andxlothes that she couldn’t resist, but
she pouted her lips, and Bob took his
kins back from them
Three years after the above events
happened, in that same valley, was a
very pretty cottage, with a garden and
flowers around it, that indicated taste
and refinement, and the whole clearing
had beoome extensive, with its buildings
and improvements. Here resided Mr.
Robert Stinton and his happy wife, the
handsomest and happiest couple in the
northern counties.
Mr. Stinton was a prosperous cat
tle dealer, well-to-do, and few remem
bered that there ever was suoh a man as
Whisky Rob.
A Chinese Execution.
The criminal is conveyed to the execu
tion ground in a basket slung on a bam
boo between two coolies. Half stupe
fied by fear and rendered almost insensi
ble to the fate about to be suffered from
the effects of samshoo, which is given to
the victim in abundanoe, the procession
wends its way between throngs of Celes
tials. The road is lined with sedan
chairs conveying the officials, both high
and low, to witness the sight.
Upon arrival at the place of punish
ment, a crowd of ohattering Chinese may
be seen, some engaged smoking their
pipes, others discussing their early bowl
of congee at the stall of the perambulat
ing venders of edibles. Not the least
trace of any feeling of awe or compassion
is exhibited at the tragedy about to be
enacted. A stolid indifference marks
the countenance of the assemblage, and
it is only when the cortege files into po
sition before the dais, whereon the
Vioeroy and the provincial Judge have
taken their seats, that any observable
emotion animates the crowd. The crim
inal is made to kneel, while a subordi
nate officer reads the ©diet of the Vice-
roy. This sets forth the crime and the
penalty, and exhorts the culprit to con
fess fully. All the victim can do is to
cry for mercy, of which quality there is
apparently a lack. At a given signal
from the Judge the two executioners
step forward and seize the unfortunate
wretch. Divested of every particle of
clothing he or she is bound hand and
foot to two upright pieces of wood in the
form of a Saint Andrew’s cross. The
minions of the law draw from their belts
two short, sharp knives. They are now
ready for their bloody work. With a
devilish skill they commence to slit the
skin and flesh at the wrists. Proceed
ing up the arms until the neck is reached,
their attention is then directed to the
lower limbs. The ankles upward, the
fleshy part of the legs and thighs right
up to the chest are under operation.
The whole body is now one quivering
mass of strips of skin and flesh, from
which the blood is pouring in streams,
dying the ground and the executioners’
clothes a vivid red color. By this time
the vast crowd are on the tiptoe of ex
pectation, straining their bodies to get a
glimpse of the gory figure, and eager to
watch the least sound of a sigh or groan.
After the shriek of pain which attends
the first use of the knife, frequently
nothing but low, agonizing moans es
cape the lips. While this horrible scene
is being enacted, the peanut hawkers,
the beancurd and candy hucksters ply
their trade, oblivious of the fact that a
human being is undergoing torture.
With head drooping on the breast,
closed eyes, and face bearing an unut
terable look of pain and agony, the vic
tim now stands. The Judge, seemingly
tired at the disgusting sight, claps liis
hands. The chief executioner, at the
signal, plunges his knife into the breast,
and with one hand tears open the flesh,
while with the other he pulls the quiv
ering heart out by the roots, holds it up
to view, and then dashes in to the
ground. Thus justice is vindicated.
Putting Up Sardines.
The little town of Eastport, Me., situ
ated as it is at the most eastern extremi
ty of the United States, and frequently
called the “jumping off place,” has,
within the last few years, become the
center of quite an industry—the putting
up of sardines. Extensive factories
have been built on most of the many
wharves out into Passamaquoddy bay,
and from small beginnings the putting
up of these little fish has attained large
proportions.
The fish used are very small herrings,
which a few years ago were considered
almost worthless, being used only for
pomace. They are very abundant at
certain seasons of the year, and are
caught in large weirs, constructed for
the purpose, along the shore of the
neighboring islands. The weirs some
what resemble a rustic fence extending
out into the water. The fish swimming
in with the tide are left as the tide falls
below the weir, and are taken by means
of dip-nets, by men who go into the
weirs in boats for that purpose. Some
times a hundred hogsheads of fish are
taken at one time.
On reaching the factory the fish go
through a process of drying, and then,
when partially fried in olive oil, are put
up in small tm boxes bearing a French
brand, and cannot be distinguished in
appearance from the imported article.
Thousands of these boxes are put up in
a day, almost a thousand persons being
employed in the business. These fac
tories are controlled by New York firms.
There are, too, other ways of prepar
ing these fish. One variety resembling
very much the potted herring, and pre
pared with mustard, are called marines,
and find a ready sale in the Western
markets. During the winter great quan
tities of herring, which are too large to
put up in this manner, are frozen, and
are shipped in barrels to all parts of tha
country.
They talk about “a girl horse thief”
in Illinois. The thief finds that style of
horse very rate.
S&BBCftn>TfON"sl.6o.
NUMBER 27.
USEFUL SUGGESTIONS.
Grease Spots on Paper.— Grease
spots may be removed from paper by
applying a little powdered pipe clay, on
wliioli place a sheet of paper, then use a
hot iron. Remove the adhering powder
with a piece of India-rubber.
Scorched Linen. —Peel and slice two
onions, extract the juioo by pounding
and squeezing; cut up half an ounce of
fine white soap and add to the juioe;
two ounces of fuller’s earth and a half
pint of vinegar ; boil all together ; when
cool spread over the scorched linen and
let it dry on it; then wash and boil out
the linen and the spots will disappear,
unless burned eo badly as to break the
threads.
When to Cut Timber. —July and
August are the best months for cutting
timber, that it may be the most durable.
The growth of the year is then well-nigh
over, and if the trees are allowed to lie
until the green foliage dries upon them,
the greater portion of the sap is thereby
withdrawn from the wood, and the seas
oning is rapid and perfect. Cut in mid
summer, insects are much less liable to
attack the wood, which is an important
point with some kinds of timber, like
hickory.
Damp Walls.— An exchange says :
“ Moisture may be kept from a brick
wall by dissolving three-quarters of a
pound of mottled soap in one gallon of
boiling water and spreading the hot so
lution steadily with a large flat brush
over the surface of the brick work, tail
ing care that it does not lather. This is
to be allowed to dry for twenty-four
hours, when a solution formed of a
quarter of a pound of alum dissolved in
two gallons of water is to be applied in
a similar manner over the coating of
soap. The soap and alum mutually de
compose each other and form an insolu
ble varnish which rain is unable to pen
etrate. The operation should be per
formed in dry, settled weather.”
Restoring Faded Flowers. —The
majority of flowers begin to wither after
being kept in water for twenty-four
hours. A few may be revived by giving
them fresh water with a pinch of salt
peter in it; and even quite withered
flowers can be restored by placing them
in a cup of boiling water deep enough to
cover at least one-third of the stems.
When the water has cooled the flowers
should be bright and erect again. They
may now be inserted in fresh cold water,
after having shortened their stems by
about an inch. Tliin-petaled, white*
and light-hued flowers, however, do not
revive so completely under this treat
ment as deep-hued, thiek-petaled blos
soms.
Uninflammable Wood.— Prof. Ked
zie, of the Agricultural College of Mich
igan, an expert chemist, says that a
paint or wash made of skim milk, thor
oughly skimmed, and water brine, will
render wood uninflammable, and he
proved it by experiment. He says this
paint or whitewash is durable, very
cheap, impervious to water, of agree
able color, and, as it will prevent wood
from taking fire, he urges its use, par
ticularly on roofs, out-buildings, barns,
etc. This can easily be tried, and, if
found to answer, the knowledge will be
very useful. There is many a building,
as well as wooden fixtures near boilers
and fire-places, where the mixtnre could
be well applied.
The Foolish Hen —A Fable.
Mrs. Brown Hen was known through
out her neighborhood as a modest, hard
scratching, patient biddy. She never
complained of the cold or found fault
with the heat, and no one ever heard
her express an envious wish. Great was
the surprise, therefore, when she ap
peared among the barnyard fowls ono
day and began:
“I’m tired of being a hen. It is
nothing but scratch for worms and lay
eggs for the family. Let a peacock pass
by and all praise it, but what member
of the family ever had a word of praise
for me ? I’m going to be a peacock. ”
“ That you cannot be,” replied a vet
eran old rooster, as he shook the dust
off his back. “You lack in size and
shape. Nature intended you for a hen,
and as a hen you are a success.”
“ But I can dress like a peacock,” per
sisted the hen. “I’m sick and tired of
these brown colors. I see no reason
why I shouldn’t dress as well as any
other fowl.”
Arguments and reasons were of no
avail, and Mrs. Brown Hen walked away
to carry out her programme. In an
hour she appeared among the peacocks
with a red ribbon around her neck, a gay
feather over her ear and a red woolen rag
tied around her leg. She strutted
about and tried to make herself at
home, but one of the peacocks stepped
forward and said:
“ You are simply deceivingyourself.
We all know you for a hen. While you
were acting the part of a hen we all re
spected you. Now that you are crowd
ing in where you don’t belong, and
where neither nature nor education have
fitted you, you deserve only contempt.”
The hen persisted in trying to be a
peacock, and as she strutted around in
her borrowed finery the cook observ ed
her and said:
“No hen with her means could have
come by those things honestly. She
was the best hen in the coop as long as
she remained in her place, but now mat
she is out of it she will be gossiped
about and made miserable, and I will
therefore wring her neck and eat her.”
A few years ago a Japanese publisher
brought out a life of Washington in
forty-five volumes, with illustrations in
whieh the Father of his Country is rep
resented in modem dress, wearing a
heavy mustache, carrying a cane, and
accompanied by a Skye terrier.