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WOODEN SHOES.
LOOK INTO AN ODD LITTLE
SHOEMAKER'S SHOP.
Sabots are Made, and the People
ow Them.
Who Wear
You W U1 find in a shabby, little
iree-store brick house down in the
heart of the French quarter a
old maker of sabots. He
id his French is rasped out in slow
ittur&ls from a throat toughened
ith hogsheads of cheap red wine and
[known quantities of tobacco srnoke.
Two apprentices, sturdy French
L san t lads, with the misshapen fea-
and dull, good-natured expres-
worn by every peasant in the
)n a stove in the rear of the shop
i old man cooks at least part of h.s
pis. When he and his boys are not
making wooden shoes they till up
time by mending umbrellas. The
Ip is crowded with nondescript
les—umbrella handles, squirrel
old bottles, odd-looking tools
wooden shoes of all kinds and in
shape of manufacture. On the
is nailed the blackest kind of a
with outstretched wings and
bored feet. The shop and its occu¬
lts are as foreign as anything iu the
quarter of Paris.
old man and his lads work, eat
sleep in this dingy corner of the
quarter, where half the inbab-
never speak a dozen sentences of
and most of them feel strange
foreign three blocks away from
heart of their colony.
rude heel, a hollow where the
of the foot goes and another at
shank. He can fashion a pair of
se rough soles in less than 10 min-
and Ee doesn’t seem to hurry,
They must be trimmed and
before the uppers are put on.
uppers that go on the wooden
s are of two sorts.
:.re cut high, like laced shoes,
indeed, are laeed. They are, of
rudely tanned leather, and are
ed on to the soles with strong
is. On the bottom of the soles are
led strips of leather studded with
1 nails. The soles are also bob-
ed. These shoes are ugly and un¬
ity, but light and, to the accus¬
und.
are to appear in the stamping,
are of simple design, being
raore than half a dozen ridges
below the instep. These are the
sabots. They bring only
25 a pair, and at times perhaps
eagau t life is that all of wood. It
Eke a little cande. Y'ou may’ see
a Ey the score in Millett’s pictures.
■ are made from great blocks of
°w poplar.
are
a «d crooked, after a crescent-
cushion of stamped leather is
across the instep. These shoes
sometimes worn with a whisp of
warm,
somewhat trying on long journeys.
y make
rs.
are
S uch are trimmed down so
very light and comfortable.
higher prices than the
everyday sabots for men. Quite as
carefully made are the wooden shoos
used on the stage by clog dancers.
There are only a few sabot makers
in New York; and nearly all of them
are Frenchmen almost unacquainted
with English. There may be a few
German sabot makers on the East
side. The wearers of sabots are
mostly French people and Germans
and those of the sort who refuse to
assimilate with the native population.
A few ice cream makers and other
stand in damp places wear sabots, be¬
cause the water does not soak through
the thick wooden soles. They are
much lighter, too, than equally stoid
shoes or boots of leather. Sabots are
seldom exposed for sale outside the
French quarter or the German tenet
ment-houso region, and even there
they are little worn on the street.—
[New’ York Star.
IIow a Senator Lost a Fortune.
Senator Teller told me last nigh
how he lost §000,000, says a Wash¬
ington correspondent of the Kansas
City Journal. The story made my
eyes bulge out, but the senator related
it in the same cool metallic tones in
which he talks about the weather.
Said he: “It was some years ago in
Leadville that I met one day upon the
street a friend of mine, who asked me
to go in with him and his partner and
buy the Robert E. Lee mine. The
mine had been in the courts, but the
question of its title had been settled
and it was only necessary to have $90,-
000 to pay off’ its indebtedness. I
asked how much it would take for me
to come in. lie replied that it W’ould
take §45,000 and this would give me
one-third interest. ‘But,’ said I, rais¬
ing my hands in horror, ‘I haven’t got
the money, and would hate to risk it
if I had.’
i 4 < Oh,’ said he, ‘you run no risk.
We have ninety days in which to pay
this §90,000 and we will work it out
of the mine in that time. You need
not put up a cent and we will pay your
$45,000 out of the mine, and in case
the mine doesn’t pan out at once Ben,
my partner, and I will put up the
money for you.’
“I said 1 would consider the matter,
but I did not think I wanted it. For
the next two days that man hung
around me and begged me to take the
third interest in the mine. He told
me he could sell it for $45,000 cash to
another man, but he would rather take
me in for nothing. I held out, and at
the end of two days he sold the interest
to the other party. Shortly after this
I heard that the mine was paying, and
about two years later I met Ben, my
friend’s partner, ia the Windsor Hotel
at Denver, and we got to talking abou:
mining property.
a i You made a great mistake, Mr.
Teller,’ said he, ‘in not going into the
Robert E. Lee with us.’
<< ( Yes, I know it/ said I, ‘and 1
wonder just how much of a mistake 1
did make? Suppose you tell me.’
U i Well/ said he again, ‘wegotyoui
§45,000 out of the mine in less than
three months and you would not have
had to pay a cent on it. The man who
tcok your place stuck to us and he
cleared withiu two years just $900,-
C00.’
“I must have looked a little sur-
prised, for tlie man said: ‘Well, Mr.
Teller, do you wish you had gone in?’
“ ‘I don’t know/ replied J, ‘Provi¬
dence runs tiiese things His own way.
I have two boys and they had better
make their own way through the world
than be hampered with the inheritance
of a millionaire. Perhaps ou the
whole it is as well as it is. i»
Louisiana Sous Marques.
A sou marque is a small copper coin
made in France for use in Louisiana
when a French possession. It was
well known in Illinois, Missouri and
the Northwest Territory until within
the last forty years. Its value was
about one cent, corresponding with
the “un sou” of Bas Canada. We had
sous marques, flips, bits and many
otter coins not known to the people of
the East. Alas, alas, they have all
gone with the good old days when
they were current. Sous marques are
counterfeits of foreign copper coins
that were made for circulation in the
British West Indies. Or possibly the
ro yri sous of Louisiana stamped with
K- F- by the French Republic. [New
Orleans Times-Dcmocrat.
FOR FARM AND GARDEN,
outwit such hens. -
The egg eating habit in hens may be
cured by ontwiting them. Build the
nests iu such a way that the hens can¬
not get at the eggs, such as nail kegs
stood on end, haif filled with hay or
staaw, then the hen cannot reach it
when standing on the edge. Another
way is to make nests in dark places
where the hen can see to go into the
nests, but not after she gets there.
Feed plenty of crushed oyster shells so
as to make the eggshells hard. When
hens are at liberty to havo plenty of
exercise they are less liable to contract
this habit than when kept in confine¬
ment.— [Farm and Home.
TRANSPLANTING LARGE TREES.
An English forester who claims to
have had largo experience says:
“Some time ago I was surprised to
find that those trees w’hicli had been
dug round and lifted the same season,
and generally the same day as dug
round, were growing hotter than most
of those that had been previously
prepared. The only principle upon
which this can be accounted for is
that the one check, 6udden though it
be, is less injurious to the trees than
the two checks, with an interval be¬
tween. If a tree growing upon a dry
open soil and in full vigor be dug care 1
fully round, and removed forthwith to
other suitable soil and set, the roots, cut,
bruised and mutilated though they be,
will heal up and recover better than if
the operation had been performed at
two separate periods, as commonly
practiced and generally recornmend-
sd.”
HOAV TO GROW ROOT CROP.
The greatest trouble in growing a
crop of roots, viz., the singling of the
plants, is avoided by tills method: The
seed is sown in rows twenty-seven to
thirty inches apart with a hand garden
drill, which drops and covex*s the seed
and rolls the ground, leaving a plain
mark. For beets and mangels four
to six pounds of seed are sown per
acre. As soon as the young plants are
up, the drill is changed to a hand cul¬
tivator and set to cut teu inches wide.
This is run across the rows so as to
cut out the plants and weeds, leaving
bunches three or four inches wide
across the rows. If there are any va¬
cancies plants are picked up by a boy
following and transplanted to fill the
vacancies.
The horse hoe Is then run along the
wide rows as close as possible to the
plants, and when necessary, the hand
cultivator is used again on the cross
rows. In this way the plants and
weeds may grow together until the
former are well rooted, when the
weeds may be cut out with a very
sharp hoe. If two plants are growing
very close together, they should not be
disturbed, as they will make good
roots, and to pull up one will check
the other. All others are cut out with
the weeds. The ground should be in
good condition and tilth, and made
fine and mellow before planting.—
[New York Times.
OSAGE ORANGE HEDGES.
The hedges one sees in passing over
the country are, many of them, con¬
structed—or grown—on a wrong
principle. They are close and thick
at a height of three or four feet,
where closeness is not required, and
at the surface they’ are open enough
to allow free passage to the pigs.
They havebeen allowed to grow un¬
til it became apparunt that they would
soon be out of reach and become a
nuisance without some attention, and
then they were cut down, not to the
ground, as they ought to have been,
but to what was considered a proper
height for a hedge.
Now is the time to right this, before
growth begins. If cut down now to
within one or two inches of the sur¬
face a great many sprouts will spring
up at once and make such a hedge as
no animal larger than a very small
rabbit cau get through.
There need be no fear of hurting
the hedge. The vitality of the osage
orange is so strong that it often endures
what is ten times more trying, viz.,
pruning in July’ or August—a very
injudicious proceeding.
After cutting down as above the
growth should be allowed to go on at
will all summer; then if thick enough
below the cutting may be made next
spring at the proper height.
After this it will require a little
pruning twice a year—in June, when
the young growth is as soft as cheese,
cutting this soft new growth (the top
only) with a quick, horizontal cut, a
sharj» corn-cutter being a good imple¬
ment for the purpose—then again ha
spring at the usual time, pruning more
or less as may be required, and thus
on, keeping the hedge in good condi¬
tion and under complete control.
This double pruning, it will be un
derstood, is crippling, so to speak, bm
it is judicious crippling, and without
this the hedge becomes unmanageable
and a nuisance__[National Stockman.
FUTURE OF HOUSE BREEDING.
Most farmers, however small thoii
farms may be, have one or more brood
mares from which in addition to tloing
their part of the farm work, occa¬
sionally raise a colt “just to keep up
the supply of horses on tlie firm.'
The time has come when farmers a?
well as those engaged in most othei
kinds of business, have a strong com¬
petition in every branch of their busi¬
ness.
It is a deplorable fact that a great
many farmers do not take the trouble
to inform themselves as to w’lmt is
going on in this busy world of ours.
There are many farm homes into
which a paper never comes, the own¬
ers being satisfied to plod wearily
along with no other aim than to ac¬
complish as much work as possible
each day.
If any farmer, instead of complain¬
ing about the “hard times” and every¬
thing overdone, will take the trouble
to count the horses that are necessary
to carry on the farms within a radius
of say two miles, we venture to say
he will be surprised at the number.
When wo realize the extent of our
country, the demand for all classes of
good horses in our great and constant¬
ly growing cities, the supply of which
is continually being renewed, can we
have any misgivings as to the future
of horse breeding providing our aim
is improvement.
The French Coach breed, although
but recently introduced by importation
from France, is destined to become a
prime factor in the improvement of
our native breeds.
They are the result of two hundred
years of judicious breeding under the
direct supervision of the French gov¬
ernment, the starting point of which
was the Arab and Barb horse, which
history tells us were man’s compan¬
ions as well as servants. They are the
same intelligent, active, courageous
animals they were two hundred years
ago and differ with them only as re¬
gards size. They have been bred
larger, the object of which was to in¬
crease their usefulness. They now
range in size from 1200 to 1400
pounds. They are the trotting breed
in France where they have very good
records considering the distance,
which is generally 2 3-4 miles. As
they are larger than our trotters, they
can not hope to gain as low a record
as some of them, but in their native
country are tested more for endurance
which is considered of more impor¬
tance.
In the comparatively few sections
of tlie country iu which they haye
been introduced, they are giving ex¬
cellent satisfaction among the farmers
and breeders, especially in the Eastern
and Middle states, where they are ad¬
mirably adapted to supply all demands
tor a horse that .will weigh upon an
average 1150 to 1300 lbs. There is a
demand for carriage horses that far
exceeds the supply, and if we can get
a breed of general purpose, farmers’
horses that will supply this demand,
what need have we to look farther.
— [American Rural Home.
FARM AND GARDEN NOTES.
Nature is freakish in Japan. The
chickens there have tails 13 feet long.
If you do not wish to be set down
bo strangers as a scrub fanner, do not
breed scrub hoises.
Beauty in horses is something that
is desirable, but it is not always the
handsomest horse that is the best one.
In these days of strong competition,
only those who select the best sires can
expect to reap the richest rewards in
horse breeding.
Tlie difficulty of keeping up fertility
of light sandy soils under a system of
cropping with grain has led and will
continue to lead farmers owning such
lands to devote them more to fruit¬
growing.
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS.
Cancer is curable by an early opera¬
tion.
Black coffee is now suggested as a
cure for consumption.
The most valuable metal is vana¬
dium; it is worth §10,000 a pound.
When mines are lighted by incan¬
descent light it is claimed that dangers
from lire damp and explosive gasca
will be minimized.
Flash signals, by means of the lieli-
graph, are used for communicating
between stations in New Mexico and
Arizona, seventy-five miles apart.
In the course of some excavations
lately made at Ludwig's Ilafen, on the
Ilhine, the tibia and two teeth of a
mammoth and the jaw of a stag were
found.
Mica is now being used as an elec¬
trical insulator and lubricant for ma¬
chinery, 60 that its use—hitherto
chiefly in stove doors—is rapidly ex¬
tending.
A new albuminous poison, of one
hundred times the power of strych¬
nine, has been described by Professor
Robert to the Society of Naturalists of
Dorpat.
It has been ascertained by the expe¬
dition of ti e Philadelphia Academy of
Natural Sciences that Y'ucatan, geo¬
logically, is the youngest portion of
the American continent.
A number of interesting observations
have lately been made on the destruc¬
tive power of coffee upon various
microbes, and they prove that the
organisms die in a longer or shorter
period.
Dr. Starr of London, says that it is
impossible to draw any conclusion
from the size or shape of the head as
to the extent or surface of the brain,
and so as to tlie mental capacity.
Japanese horticulturists give a great
deal of labor to the production of
dwarf trees. Pines, thujas and cedars
exhibited at Paris are only eighteen
inches high, and are said to be 100 to
150 years old.
The telephone has brought its disease,
long-continued use of the instrument
being sometimes followed by painful
weakness and ringing in the ears and
vertigo. Complete rest is the only
remedy necessary.
In fishes which swim free and far
from shore, such as herrings and lake
whitefish, the scales arc attached mere¬
ly by a small area of their rims, and,
being only slightly covered with epi¬
dermis, are easily nibbed ofl‘. Scales
thus removed are in many fishes easily
renewed.
Some experiments made with mixed
fuel of coal and petroleum, on the
Italian man-of-war Mcssaggicro,
at Spezzia, arc well worth attention.
The Messaggiero which never be¬
fore surpassed fifteeu knots
an hour, reached almost seven¬
teen with the rew combustion. The
engineers complain that the immense
heat generated injured the boiler, but
that, of course, can be met.
A Peculiar Plant.
Tlie Falklands produce no trees, but
they do produce wood—wood in a
very remarkable shape. Y'ou will see,
scattered here and there, singular
blocks of what look like the weather¬
beaten, mossy, gray r stones, of various
6izes. But if yofl atteYnpt to roll over
one of these rounded boulders you
will find yourself unable to accom¬
plish it. In fact, the stone is tied
down to the ground—tied down by
roots; or, in other words, it is not a
stone, but a block of living wood. If
j’ou examine it at the right time yew
may be able to find upon it, half hid¬
den among the lichens and mosses, a
few of its obscure leaves and flowers.
It you try to cut it with an ax you
will find it extremely hard to do so.
It is entirely unwedgeabie, R:ing
made up of countless branches, which
grow so closely together that they be¬
come consolidated into one mass. On
a sunny day (if you are lucky enough
to see a 6unny day in Falkland) you
may’, perhaps, find on the warm side
of the “balsam bog” (for so the liv¬
ing stone is called) a few drops of a
fragrant gum, highly prized by the
shepherds for its supposed medicinal
qualities. This wonderful plant is
the bolax glebaria of botanists, and
belongs to the 6ame family as do the
parsnip and the carrot.-^Notes and
Queries. — ------ -