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deadly PLAYTHING. How a Pair of Bears Fooled With a Can of Nitro-Glycerme. They Celebrated Fourth of July By Exploding Jt. «‘There was an explosion of nitro glycerine in the oil regions once that has always been looked upon as one of the many mysterious happenings of that country, >’ said J. C. Henry, one of the early operators in Venango county, “be cause pcop le would never believe what I told them about it and the way it came to occur, My explanation of it was the truth, though, and I am the only person who actually knows that the explosion was not of any mysterious origin- It was the result of one of the most curious incidents that ever came to pass in that curious country. “I think it was in ’ 64 that Roberts, the torpedo man, first demonstrated the utility of his nitro-glycerine torpedoes for shooting oil wells after they had been drilled. Soon after they came in to use I had put down a well in one of the wildest parts of the region, and any one who was ever in that section of the Btate at that time has some idea of what it means. Nitro-glycerine, being a new thing, people hadn't got used to hand ling it yet, and but few safeguards had been thrown around the carrying and storing of the deadly stuff, We all knew that it was apt to go off on very slight provocation sometimes, and it was going off every day, here and there about the region and wiping folks off the face of the earth as completely as if they had never been on it. “Wc struck the sand in my well along toward the evening of July 3. There was a good showing for oil, and all it wanted was a good shot of nitro glycerine. I had ordered a supply of the stuff, and it was to have been at the well that day, but hadn t come, The next day being the Fourth, aud my men having made arrangements for celebrat ing somewhere down along the creek, we concluded to suspend operations un til the 5th. I had no idea the nitro glycerine would be delivered on the Fourth. I remained at the well that day, and to my surprise the teamster came in with a big can of the explosive. I didn’t care to have it around, and wanted him to take it back and come with it the next day, but he wouldn’t do it, and placed it on tho derrick floor. I made up my mind to get away from there as soon as I could. The woods were full of wild animals still, and scarcely a day passed that bear and wild cats were not seen prowling around. I stepped into the derrick to get my coat, and while I was there I heard a noise in the brush, and looking out saw two big bears slouching along right to ward the derrick. 1 wasn’t posted on hear, and without waiting to think much about it, being pretty well fright ep cd, I sprang for the ladder and climbed up into the derrick, and got on s beam twenty feet or so above tho floor to wait for the unwelcome visitors to go on about their business. It seemed, though, that they had made up their minds that their business required them to make an investigation of the prem ises, and they came right on and •hambled in on the derrick floor. They nosed around among the machinery, dangled the ropes, and clattered about generally. They didn’t appear to be in my hurry at all, and I began to get un easy. But if I was uneasy over their fool ing around among ihe machinery, what do you suppose my feelings when the were bright tin can containing the nitro glycerine caught the eyes of tho bears, »nd they began to push and roll it about on ihe floor? The perspiration rolled off me in great beads, and I actually be lieved I could feel my hair turning *hite. I didn’t know what minute the bears would thump the can against something Yhat hard euough to explode it. the result of such a catastrophe Would have been ^ nec03sar to hint at ^ But all the while the bears Were having great fun with the % can. and by one of the bears lifted it in h>s paws and rose upon his hind feet, mlding the can at arm’s length, fully ® IX feet ft «m the floor. All. ho had to 10 was to drop it, and all Would have my men found when they came back next day would have been a Big hole in the ground. As the bear etood there holding that can of death Pfimpawon rose up on his hind feet SCHLEY COTJHTY NEWS. two ox three yards away, and gazed at him in an expectant sort of vray. I had often heard that bears amused them selves in melon patches in playing catch with one another by chucking a melon to and fro between them. I made up my mind that these two bears were about to have a little diversion of that kind with that can of nitro- glvcerine. I shut my eyes aud wailed for ihe climax that would surely follow. It didn’t come, and I looked down again and found that the bears had changed their minds about that game of catch, and were rolling the can a! tout the floor again. “By and by a new idea seemed to strike the jolly pair. A hundred yards or so from the derrick there was a rocky ravine. One of the bears rolled the can out of the derrick, and both of them began to scramble with it on the ground, competing with one another in giving it impetus over the rough surface in the direction of the ravine. At every shove the can was liable to be sent flying against some one of the many big stones that lay thick on the ground, but by some good fortune it missed them every time, and at last the bears had jostled it along almost to the ravine. I was so weak and trembling from the fearful suspense I had bceu subjected to that 1 could hardly keep my hold on my perch. I regarded the danger as practi cally over now, aud was putting myself together to get down from there and take to the woods, when I saw one of the bears rear up on his haunches with the nitro glycerine can in his paws. He stood close to a big rock. lie raised the can above his head, and I saw at once that he had made up his mind to find out what there was in that can any how. I threw my arms and legs around the beam and hung on for dear life. The bear huiled the can against the rock. There was a sound as of twenty claps of thunder rolled into one. The earth shook, aud my derrick swayed and rattled. There was a shower of rock and trees and dirt for acres around. When that ceased everything was as still as the tomb. Down where the bears stood there was a yawning gulf. I got down somehow from my perch on the derrick, and made my way to the scene of the explosion. Among all the debris it had scattered about there wasn’t any more trace of bear than if they had been soap bubbles that had burst. The explos ion was heard for miles, but people laughed when I attemp ed to explain it, and to this day they persist in calling it a pro found mystery.”— New York Sun. Tho “American Shoulder” Abroad The latest thing in fashion? for men in England is known as the American shoulder. It consists of a coat padied at the shoulders in a manner quite unique. Pieces of lead of quite an im posing size are employed in the process, aud when the dude is properly “fixed up” he appears with a sort of epaulet arrangement, calculated to transfix the gaze of the less enlightened observer. The “American shoulder” i3 only just coming into vogue, but it was decided ly conspicuous in Piccadi.ly, London, last Sunday afternoon, A London tailor says that he is putting 12 ounce# of lead into some of his “padding.”— Chicago Herald. A Musical Prodigy. Lou Allen Sprint is tho name of Baltimore’s musical prodigy. She is only three and a half years old, but her piano playing is wonderful. She plays entirely from ear, and the discovery of her accomplishment was made by a toy piano. Her little hands are so small that she cannot execute in detail the music that arises in her mind, but her mp rovlsing is very remarkable, never theless. She has never had any instruc tion in music and her genius has had to work out its own salvation. Balti moreans claim that Josef Hoffmann is nothing compared with Lou Allen Sprint. A Sententious Epitaph. The following quaint epitaph on hus band and wife—the husband having died first—is to be seen in one of the Parisian cemeteries: “I nm anxiously awaiting you.—A. D., 1827.” “Here Iam.—A. D., 1867.” The good lady had taken her time about it.— Argonaut. Wanted a Change. Waiter (at club restaurant)—“Ready with your order, sah)” City Sportsman (back from a week’s fishing)—“Give me some fish; I’m tired tp death of other things.” FARM AND GARDEN. DtJCKS WITHOUT WATER. T The idea that ducks and geese abso lutely need free access to water at all times is a mistake. For yoi»g ducks, especially early in the season while the water is cold too much water is fatal. The wild birds h .ve become hardened to it; but even of them a large number probably succumb, thus keeping their increase in check. If you give ducks water enough to drink and take precau tions to prevent them from getting their feet into it, you have done better for their welfare than they know how to do themselves.— Boston Cultivator. COI.D SETTING OF MILK. A New England dairyman describes a simple device for cold setting of milk in summer that is well worth the notice of all intere- ted. No patent creamer, no ice, no expensive room, is called for. The milk is set in a can twelve inches in diameter and deep enough to bold the milk of six or eight cows. By a simple windlass this is lowered into a well where the temperature is uniform at forty-eight or fifty degrees, aud al lowed to set twenty-four hours, when the can is raised and the cream dipped of!. No one need have any fears but they would get all the cream under such conditions. The cream will be thin, the same as in deep setting, butthe but ter will be all in it. — New York Obser v er. PLANTING BEANS. Beans may be planted the first week in June. Tho land should be in good condition; the common belief that any kind of poor land is good enough for beans is a delusion. Twenty-five to forty bushels of beans per acre can only be grown upon good land, and at present prices this yield is profitable. The marrowfat variety is generally the most salable, although tho red kidney, the white pea bean, and the black soup beans sometimes bring the highest prices. Beans are usually planted in drills eighteen inches apart, and three beans are dropped at intervals of twelve inches. The bean gr nvn in America is different from the English bean, belong ing to a distinct family of plants, and its manner of growth differs from that of the English horse bean. This latter kiud does not succeed in our climate, being fatally infested with lice, an evi dence perhaps that weak growth under unfavorable conditions tends to induce attacks from parasites. The two kinds of beans, however, differ very little in chemical composition and feediug value. —New York Times. GIRDLED TREES. The rabbits, mice and other rodents usually injure trees in the winter so that by spring it is necessary to repair them in some way before summer. Unless the pests have eaten the inner bark all around the trees, they will recover with proper treatment. The best remedy to apply is to make a stiff plaster out of clay and cow manure, adding a little water to make it more plastic. If such a plaster is placed over the barked por tion of the tree and secured into position by a covering of old bagging or cloth, the wound is likely to heal up in a short time. If the weather is very dry it will be necessary to wet the bandage occasionally. The great object of the application is to keep the wound moist while nature heals up the injury. If the wound is a large and serious one, it may be necessary to cut off many of the top limbs of ti e tree. This is to equal ize the flow of the sap, which is neces #arily diminished by the wound. Other remedies for girdled trees are recom mended, but for a simple and effective device, which any orchardist can apply, this one cannot be surpassed. It is an old-fashioned remedy, but it is as good today as it was in the days of our fore fathers. PLANTING AND CULTIVATION OF CORN. The general introduction of improved implements has completely revolution ized the methods of corfi culture. In the early years of our older readers the hoe was almost constantly in hand from the beginning of planting until the crop was “laid by.” The corn farmer of those days was quite ready to echo Dud ley Warner’s wish for a “cast-iron back with a hinge in it.” Now the farmer may “lay down the shovel and the hoe,” and raiso a much larger and better corn crop without them. After the land is plowed—which on large prairie farms may be $£ne with a double wheel plow —the pulverizing, disk, or cutaway bar row reduces the soil to flue tilth, leaving it ready for the seed. Theoretically drills are far more productive than check-rows. Drills three-and-a-half feet apart, with the stalks six inches apart in the drill, have a ratio as seven to four with hills the sumo distance apart each way. That i , an acre in drills contains three-fourths more plants than an acre in check-rows, witli equal space between. Furthermore, with plants standing six inches apart, each one has a better chance for full develop ment than when crowded into hills. The only practical difficulty in drilling corn arises from the waut of an implement which will drop two drills at once, with uniform distance between the kernels in the drills. With a good smoothing harrow it is quite as easy to give clean cultiva tion in drills as in rows. This should begin before the young corn shows it self above ground. In case of sudden showers followed by sunshine soon after seeding, a hard crust results, which the smoothing harrow breaks up. This im plement may be run lengthwise of the drills or rows at intervals of a week or less, without injury to the corn, until the stalk begins to shoot up through the centre. As to manure, it is too late to consider it in a general way after the corn is planted. Stable manure should have been applied to tlio surface and plowed under, and commercial fertili zers are best harrowed into the soil be fore planting. But a top-dressing of ashes applied to the hills or drills either befoie or immediately after the corn is up will benefit the crop under all con ditions. The subsequent cultivation of the crop, from the timo when it is too largo for the smoothing harrow, is best per formed by means of a two-horse culti vator. There are many excellent pat terns in the market, aud it is a waste of time and labor to scratch back and forth between the rows wi’h a little one-horse cultivator, when a good two-horse im plement will do the work bettor in one fourth the time. Tho ground should never be stirred so deeply as to cut the roots. Careful experiments have proved tho theory of “root-pruning” corn to be a gross fallacy, Tho plant is a rank feeder, and needs all its root growth unimpaired. But the surfaco must bo kept stirred and free from weeds unt.l the crop is ready to be “laid by.” In hot, droughty days a layer of loose porous soil on the surface acts as a mulch. On the other hand, a neglected growth of weeds will draw the water out of tlie soil, besides robbing the corn of its plant food.— American AgricuU turist. FARM AND GARDEN NOTES. Be sure tho mower is ready for the field before hitching to it. A farmer with a family should never despise the “truck patch.” Laziness and farming never did go hand in hand and make a good crop. The best management on the farm is in raising good crops and increasing the fertility. Don’t work all the time and never take “a spell” to read. You cannot live by bread alone. Be well prepared to harvest every crop in good season; delay at this season of ten proves a serious loss. You can’t expect a full hay crop if you pasture the meadow so late that the mower has to drive tho cows out. Whatever you plant don t sow any of the seeds of frotfulness. It is about as worthless “stuff” as you can raise. Good roads improve the country in so many ways, that it will be found a good plan to take good care to improve them. Try and find what your farm is best adapted for. Plow well, use good seed, plant only what can be cared for, culti vate often. Don’t try to raiso ten acres of corn at a loss when five can be grown with gain. The farmer of today who succeeds must take advantage of the improve ments of the times, keeping up the fer tility of his soil so that crop# can be raised on it as cheaply as on the fields of those with whom be competes. Some farme s claim they do not have time enough. This is their excuse for being eternally behind. Now we do not believe in that excuse. They have all the timo thore is; n > ono ha< ra re, and if they cannot keep up with th# proper arrangement of plans the man agement i4 aft fault. k __ The Silent Lanu. The Sil#nt Land! What undefined de sire Wakes at these words like to the lambent fire Seen over marshland wastes, at' dead of night. Flickering afar in weird, uncanny flight! The Silent land, which poets love to name! Mysterious region, wlv're the present frame Of all that is, beyond our fancy’s range, Doth yield itself to supersensual change. The Silent Land, where, dread as olden fates. Vague, sombre shadows guard the entrance gates, And where glide through the vapor sudden gleams, As ’twere a spectral day’s sunsetting beams. The Silent Land, whereoa that wan sun glow Spreads, as a red moon-ray o’er the plains of snow; Upon which birch trees lean across thq tracks, Where wolves are wont to race in famished packs. The Silent Land, a broad domain so still That its deep quiet gives the heart a thrill, As when night fowl sail by on noiseless wing A thrill such as no sound hath power to bring. The Silent Land, which stretches on and on, Dim outlined as the mist-veiled hills of dawn; Vistas where human vision feebly gropes, ’Midst the long cypress boughs that gloom th# slopes. The Silent Land! No breeze; and yet what wafts Are these which play about the portal shaft# Chilling the white-lipped wanderers who wait To pass the boundary of the unknown state? — William Struthers. HUMOROUS. A branch hou c—A log cabin. Good only when used up—the balloon. The hired girl lives out all her days. “How cool this oonservatory is.” “Yes; papa says there’s nothing like a hot-house to cool off in.” A young lawyer has taken to bragging in a theatrical way. He says: “My busi ness last season was something fee nom inal.” Miss Antique (school teacher)—“What does w-h-i-t-e spell?” Class—No an swer. Miss Antique — “What is the color of my Bkinl” C ass (in chorus)— “Yellow.” Mrs. Popinjoy—What does your hus band think of year new hat? Mrs. Blobson—He hasn’t looked at it yet. The bill has attracted his entire atten tion for the past two days. The difference between missions and home church work is this: At home ministers live off their congregations, but in mission fields the congregation* live off the missionaries. Omaha Bride—* ‘I’m so glad you 1 brought the evening paper. What does it say about our wedding?” Omaha bridegroom—“I can’t say, my dear; I only had time to read the base bal news.” Nickelby—“That’s a strange pair of scales you have there. I suppose they are of the Ambuscade kind.” Grocer— “Ambuscade? What is that?” Nickelby —“Why, they lie in weight, as it were. ” Blobson—“We’ve been grossly treat cd in this one-horso town. I shall shake the dust of the place from my feet.” Mrs. Blobson—“For pity’s sake, don’t you do it, John. Wc shouldn’t be able to find our way to tho station.” The editor who advises his reader* “never to climb a tree after a panther” may mean well, but his advice i3 super fluous. He should reverse his admoni tion, and advise a panther never to climb a tree after his readers. Two well-known clergymen missed their train, upon which one of them took out his watch, and, finding it to blame for the mishap, said he would no longer have aiy faith in it. “But,” said the other, “isn’t it a question not of faith, but of works?” Little Bobby—“Ma, will I go to heaven when I die?” Mother—“If you are a good boy you will.” “Will you go, too/” “I hope so, Bobby.” “And will pat” “Yes, we will all be ther# sometime.” (Bobby didn’t seem alto gether satisfied, but altar some thought he said:) “I don’t see how I’m going to have much fun. ” Customer—How much are those trou sers? High-Priced Tailor—Twenty dol lars. By the way, how will you bar# the pockets arranged? Cmtomor (gloomily)—You needn’t put in any. Mai.'*—So you are going to mirry your father’s cashier? Isabella—Yes. Pa says that if he runs away with th* bank’s funds the money will still be ii Hie family* *