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Fitzgerald Leader. FITZGERALD, GEORGIA. —PUBLISHED BY— 3KlSrA3?P db SOKT. EDITORIAL NOTES. One of the most triumphant luxurlei of recent device is the rubber tare on carriage wheels. j I In trie Germau army practically every soldier is able to read and write. In the Russian army only thirty per cent, can do the same. In Italy the percentage is sixty, in Greece seventy. r Women lawyers are becoming plenti¬ ful enough, but the New York Tribune professes to think that their highest ambition will never be realized until they become judges. Then they can have the last word. The New Hampshire courts have just sustained a law by which the State is entitled to any excess of profits over ten per cent, earned by any railroad in that State. Under the decision the State recovers $750,000 from the Lawrenceville and Manchester Rail¬ road. fP Grover Cleveland has upset the post- office business in Princeton, N. «T. The postmaster and the clerks are sweating under the increased weight of mail, and the postmaster has applied to headquarters in Washington for an extra carrier anil a special Cleveland mail sorter. The following are the commonest names in New York, according to the New York city directory of 1897, from which they are selected: Smith, 3183; Brown, 1562; Miller, 1495; Murphy, 1210; Meyer, 1103; Johnson, 1080; Kelly, 1074; Cohen, 1006; Levy, ’ 961; William, 893; Jones, 892; Murray, 884; W T ilson, 873; Clark, 848; Sullivan, 820; Martin, 816; 'White, 782; Davis, 762; O’Brien, 760; Ryan 752; Moore, 752. .. A circus floated noisily into Bridge- ton, N. J., one day recently and the city’s chief industry:—glassmaking— had to halt for a whole day. The ten¬ ding boys failed to appear at the East Lake and the Bridgeton Works, and the fires had to be blocked. At the Cohansey Works the boys were tempted with offers of extra pay for the day, but they declined it with scorn. The circus was too much for them. In addition to the Earldom which, it is asserted, the Queen is to confer upon Mr. Gladstone’s youthful grand¬ son, the real owner of Hawarden Cas¬ tle—-of which his grandparents are only life tenants—it is asserted that Queen Victoria will further signalize the sixtieth anniversary of her succession to the crown by appointing the Grand Old Man a Knight of the Garter. This distinction, which has not been con¬ ferred upon anyone save princes and peers since the days of Sir Robert Walpole, would still enable Mr. Glad¬ stone to go down to posterity under his own name and as one of the greatest commoners. The American Agriculturist says : Less is heard of Australia as a com¬ petitor in the dressed beef trade with Europe. This will always be import¬ ant, yet there is no occasion to fear the United States will soon lose its foreign meat trade. Beef from the colonies sells in England at a lower price, hut there is also a wide difference in qual¬ ity. Australia has not yet brought ocean refrigeration to the perfection attained by our own exporters, while the saving in distance and time must always rest with this country. Eng¬ land demands a choice quality of beef, however, and right here is where many of our own farmers can make the most orofitable use of abundant feed crops. Not only has England the greatest navy in the world, but she has sup¬ plied almost every other nation with most of their warships. The Argentine Republic has six armored vessels, of which four were built at Birkenhead, one at Poplar, and one in Italy. Of ' her numerous cruisers and gunboats, all hut two were built in England. Chile has four armored ships, of which three were built here, says Answers, a London paper. Greece has got twelve of her thirteen cruisers from us; Italy has come here for four of her largest battleships; and eight of Japan’s armored warships were made in Britishlyards, as well as six of her cruisers. Holland has five warships built in England; Spain has six; Tur¬ key has twelve, and Portugal has twelve. The Great Powers prefer home-made vessels, but Germany has two large armored ships which she bought from English builders about twenty years ago. r 6) rt ) i lc o • • t £ M h ^ |>\ C • % r 7 mi v'Li ■ !*; 1 The Pilot’s Daughter. | * Soto - S3 • 1 a I kgs ’ By ELMORE ELLIOTT. ' “Many a yarn wiU ne’er be unrolled; told, And many a line ne’er be Many a lunch will go for naught, Or to the fish that go uncaught.” HE Mermaid I > trilled most roguish gayly, Vi and cast a glance at her com¬ panion. The time ^1 was nine or there¬ la in™ / i ]V~ abouts of a bright ■ forenoon; the scene i §» was the quarter¬ deck of the tug Nes¬ SG-- tor, with T y b e e Lighthouse gleam¬ ing in the sunlight some miles be- [ yond. “The Mermaid,” or the Pilot’s daughter, as she was. called by most people, or Kitty Watson, by formal name, swung on her heel and smiled | vivaciously upon the young man bal- ancing on'a camp-stool. You don t be Derick Tinders smiled calmly at her predictions. Since the tug had left the wharf the two had spent most of their time to- £ etlier ’ Most, but not all. Thepilot- house of a vessel has a fatal fascination for young women. And though young Trowbridge, the pilot, had been attend¬ ing strictly to business all the morn¬ ing, and had kept a more persevering lookout ahead than the fair weather seemed to render necessary, Kitty hail made several visits to the pilot-house. However, for the last twenty minutes Kitty had devoted her entire attention to Landers. “I suppose you have sailed these waters many times, Kitty,” he re¬ marked. “Hundreds of times. After mama died, papa always took me with him when I was not in school, and he did not expect to be out all night; and, in spite of all his precautions,! have slept many a night under a tarpaulin, and slept soundly, too.” “While ‘papa’ watched!” “Yes; but in the morning I’d steer while he slept, if the wind was light.” “These small hands couldn’t do much in a storm, I fancy, even now,” ventured Fred, gallantly. Kitty flushed at the compliment, but protested, archly, “Never judge the strength of a woman’s hand, sir, until you have felt the weight of it. And I have steered in a storm. When the boom broke papa’s arm, I steered thir¬ ty miles in a driving wind.” “I can hardly believe it. But doubt less some day you will just as skillfully steer some happy man’s household.” “I am not so sure I could do as well as that, ” she replied, with heightened color, for Fred’s conversations of late had shown a decided “drift.” “Ahouse¬ hold in a storm is harder to manage than a ship—I’m told,” she suggested, doubtfully. “It all depends on your crew,” he answered, watching her keenly. “I suppose so,” she said, glancing at him with a timidity that was un¬ usual. Landers returned a glance in which there was certainly more than a pass¬ ing tenderness. “We are near the Banks,” said Kitty, in an altered tone, rising. A moment later the gong sounded. “We are evidently there,” replied Landers, “but how you knew it is more than I can tell." “How I knew it is more than I can tell, too,” she retorted, briskly. “I just knew it.” “There used to be a buoy here,” she ran on, baiting hooks with cut fish in a business-like manner, “but these fishermen, who think that God made blackfish for them exclusively, out it loose.” She deftly dropped a line overboard, and after running it out ten or twelve fathoms, she cried, confidently, as the line slackened, “We’re there!” and fastened it to the railing. Then she quickly baited and ran out two other lines, fastening them likewise. “Now fish to your heart’s content,” she commanded. “I don’t care much about it, but I’ll take a run around to see if there isn’t some other poor help¬ less creature that needs me,” Fred watched his lines in silence, until old Captain Hutchins hove alongside.! jThe captain had been rolling around the deck all the morn¬ ing, with the most curious winks and chuckles and facial contortions. The sunny-haired Kitty had appeared to be perfectly oblivious of the captain’s inexplicable behavior, perhaps because he was an old friend of her father’s, and she understood his little peculiari¬ ties. Not so with Landers. He had watched the captain, and he more than half suspected that the little real- life drama which he and Trow¬ bridge and Kitty were playing, and had been playing for the last three months, was an open secret wjth the captain. “You fellows have had good luck on this trip,” nodded the captain, reflec¬ tively, “finilin’ the Banks so easy. Yes,” pursued the captain, “young Trowbridge is a neat ’im on findin’ the Bank—or anything else he’s after, for that matter.” The old sailor’s throat swelled out in an alarming manner, and though his face was as immovable as that of the sphinx, and not a sound escaped him, Landers would have sworn he was laughing. The captain found fish on two of the three hooks. He looked critically at the bait on the third hook. “Kitty Watson strung that bait, I’ll bet my hat! Now, didn’t she? I could tell one of her baits in Cliiny.” “Yes, she strung it,” admitted Lan¬ ders, smiling in spite of himself. “She must have a reputation for catching fish.” “Well, she have,” declared the cap¬ tain, “and they ain’t alius black fish, either. Ha! ha! ho! ho!” The cap¬ tain roared and guffawed most inconti¬ nently at his joke, and* gave Landers’s shoulder a blow that would have laid out a porpoise. The old tar’s sup¬ pressed humor of the evening had plainly reached the danger point, and this joke was the safety -valve that saved him. “But a joke’s a joke, young man,” added the captain fa¬ miliarly, after he had recovered, “and that ain’t saying that Kitty’s a cro¬ quette.” “I should hope not,” observed Lan¬ ders, leaning busily over his line to hide a smile. “She certainly doesn’t look like one.” “That she ain’t, young man,” con¬ tinued the captain, assuringly. “Never think it. But where’s the gal gone, anyway?” asked he, affecting to peer with concern toward the fore¬ castle. “I’ll give this old fool all the line he wants, ” smiled Fred to himself. “He Sr having more fun out of it than any of the rest of us. I don’t know,” he an¬ swered aloud, with a twinkle in his eye, “but I think she’s gone after more bait.” “The on’ykind o’ bait sha’ll find in the. wheel-bus is live bait!” and ex¬ ploded again. “What luck, Fred?” said Kitty, who had stolen up behind him. “Pretty fair. Fifteen so far. If you’ll just bait those hooks in that ir¬ resistible manner of yours, we shall have more. ” “I’ll bait them, but I don’t believe you’ll catch any more. Don’t you see how low those black clouds hang, and fast they move? We ought to be mak¬ ing for shore.” “I wouldn’t mind a blow a bit,” Landers observed. “ ‘Fools rush in where angels fear to tread,’ ” replied Kitty replied. “Even if the angel is a sailor^girl, eh!” ^smiled Fred, turning the quota¬ tion to Kitty’s confusion, ( . Well, if you’re afraid, you’d better run and re¬ port your weather observations to Captain Hutchins—or Trowbridge.” She had already turned away, hut swung quickly at the intonation of his last word, looking at him with mild re¬ proach. Her warning was unnecessary, for almost immediately the captain’s sten¬ torian voice rang out from the hurri¬ cane deck, “Haul in your lines, and haul ’em quick!” Before the lines were fairly in, the tug was headed for Port Royal. Before a mile had been run, Kitty’s predictions were verified, The storm burst with all the fury of a Gulf Stream squall. The prudent captain had gathered the excursionists into the cabin before the storm broke. It was gloomy out¬ side, but positively dark in the poorly- lighted cabin. From a dark corner Landers looked for Kitty, but in vain. ‘ ‘She’s probably hurt at what I said, ” he muttered discontentedly At the end of an hour, peering through a little side-light, Fred saw that they were skirting the shore, and were evidently returning to Savannah by the “inland course.” This was a course lying between the mainland and the long chain of low islands known as the Sea Islands. Still Kitty did not appear. Landers began to grow un¬ easy. Then he thought of the little light in the front of the cabin com¬ manding the pilot-house. She could hardly have been there all this time, but lie would look, anyway. To his surprise he saw her hat and light cape lying on the seat, and as nearly as he could make out through the lights streaming with water Kitty herself was standing at the wheel. “Her dare-devil love for adventure!” thought he. He paused for a moment to watch her graceful figure bending to the hard work; and, despite his frame of mind, a gentle light beamed from his eyes. He was about to slip unob¬ served back to the cabin, when Kitty caught sight of him. ________ “Oh, Fred! come in,” she cried, al- most eagerly. “I’ve been waiting for you along time." “No, thank you,” he answered, with ncold smile; “it’s n little too wet in there for me." Kitty looked at him in a startled manner, as though unable to believe her ears, and in an instant her bright smile had vanished. “It is nice and dry for me,” she re¬ plied, with bitter sarcasm. “Why do you expose yourself to such a storm?” he asked, harshly. “Just for the pure love of it,” she returned, with a hard laugh. “Or from the pure love of Mr. Trow¬ bridge!” he added, scornfully. He turned away before she could an¬ swer, and ran square into the arms of the captain. “What does it mean, captain, for that girl to be playing with the wheel in a storm like this?” he demanded, angrily. For a second the captain looked at him in dumb amazement. “Playin’!” thundered the captain, and he poured out words with Gatling- gun rapidity. “It means that she’s the only man aboard that knows the inland course! It means that she’s saved this old hulk, or mighty near it! It means that she’s a genuyine hero- wine, and a blamed sight too good for any man on this tug!” The captain looked daggers. “Where’s—where’s Trowbridge?” faltered Landers, bewildered. “Below. Dead,” came the laconi- cal reply. “Dead!” “Yes; or mighty nigh it,” said the captain, in softer tones. “Lightnin’. The first clap.” j For a moment Landers stood mo- tionless, regardless of the the beating pilot-house rain. | Then he crept back to and dropped on to the seat behind the brave little skipper, in the depths of contrition. i “Kitty!” he spoke at last. j “Whatisit?” Her voice was clear and low. “Don’t you wanUsomething " warmer j over you?” j Her face twitched nervously, and he saw that she could not speak. 1 “Kitty, my girl, I cannot be happy until I have your forgiveness for my cruel words a moment ago. I did not understand the circumstances.” j “O, Fred! you were not jealous of little Trowbridge!” she cried softly, smiling through tears of happiness. “Yes, Kitty, I was mad jealous; but I am not now,” and then he took her face between his hands and kissed it. claim She reprovingly, blushed, but “Fred, could dear, only you’re ex- j j violating the Buies and Regulations for Pilots.” “I can’t help it,” he answered gayly. “Ahem!” The irrepressible cap- tain’s head was thrust in the door just as Fred sprang to the other side of the wheel. “Just thought I’d look in to see if everything was running smooth- ly. I see that it is. Trowbridge’s better.” * ’ With a gurgling in his throat and "a most alarming shaking of his head, the captain rolled down the slippery ’mid- ships. Kitty looked at Fred; he looked at her, and both laughed aloud. The last vestige of the storm was gone, but the night was dark and chilly. The excursionists for the most part kept the cabin. A few of the braver spirits sat outside. Among these were Kitty and Fred, for rea- sons of their own. Their camp-stools were very close together, and they were talking very low. Kitty’s trim little figure was entirely smothered un- der Captain Hutchins’s stormcoat. In spite of its weight she shivered. Then Fred’s ai’m stole around the trembling form; he drew her close and tight to his side; her head fell unresistingly upon his shoulder, and a slight sob might have been heard in the stillness, He took her ten cold little fingers in his one big, warm hand. “Will she who so fearlessly did her duty to-day accept a place in the wheel-house of my domestic ship?” “As a green hand—yes,” came the answer, softly., “Until you learn the Rules and Reg¬ ulations—” “Which shall be?” “Love one another,” said the deeper The tolling of the bell-buoy marking the inner bar floated tremulously, mournfully across the darkened waters; but two hearts, at least, aboard the Nestor would not be depressed.— Outing. The Santl-Ladened Missouri. Mr. Frank H. Spearman writes in St. Nicholas of the freaks of the Mis¬ souri River, his article being entitled “A Shifting Boundary.” Mr. Spear¬ man says: You must know that the real busi¬ ness of the Missouri is to carry the mountain waters east and south into the Gulf of Mexico. But in bounding from side to side of its valley through the tedious centuries, it has twisted aud turned so many times that no doubt its head is confused. Carrying the quantity of mud it does, you would hardly expect it to be clear-headed. There is actually so much sand in the water that the fish all have sore eyes; some are totally blind—the saddest- looking creatures you ever caught. A really fastidious trout or bass dropped into the Missouri would hang himself in despair—on n fish-hook. Hail a Ilemarkable Career, '--h John Parshall, an army veteran, died at his home in Indianapolis on St. Patrick’s Day at the age of sixty-five years. He was a driver of an ammuni¬ tion wagon in the Alexander expedi¬ tion sent to Salt Lake City to force Brigham Young to vacate his office in favor of the successor appointed by President Buchanan, and helped to burst in a gate that kept the besieging party out of the capital. He was also one of the six men who buried Wilkes Booth.—New York Sun. , ----- F 3 \ !<< _v . \'0ar ' VK'/Ufcf *y2A ! . - | : 5E sgr /iKt '• -T. j j « 1 --- A Wisujy i An >r * I-toVik IjI - 1T -.Yr tr Regular Salting of Cows. It is important that cows be regu¬ larly salted at least twice a week. If they have salt before them all the timo they will not eat more than is good for them. This regular salting not only increases milk yield, but also makes it of better quality. Where cows.are salted regularly their milk will keep sweet twenty-four hours longer than will milk from cows that have suffered for lack of salt. The Rest Horses to Raise. Roadsters All the bill for general | use better than any other breed. The i larger ones are strong enough for any ! use of the farmer. They walk fast, are quick in all their movements, and will get to town or to the field speedily in fact, in most points they are suited to the needs of almost any man who needs ahorse. French breeders pay attention to the breeding of long distance trotters which can keep their gait for many miles at a stretch. Even in our road horse we are not breeding very fast to a distinctive purpose. Next to draft horses there is no class for which there j g a better demand at paying prices than for a good roadster. Horses which easily tire do not fill the bill. __ Spraying: Solutions That Are Dangerous, Don’t spray the blossoms with pois- onous solutions. It is possible, if not probable, that to. do so may injure bees, and may also interfere with fer- tilization of the flowers and setting of fruit. Vermont’s law imposing a pen- altyof $10 to $40 for spraying blos- soms. Bees don’t injure flowers or fruit, but aid in fertilizing blossoms, The unanimous verdict of experiment stations and experts, says L. B. Jones, Botanist at the Vermont station, is that it is not necessary to spray fruit trees when in blossom in order to give them practical protection against in¬ sects and fungus attacks. Fruit trees should be sprayed either before the blossoms open or after they fall and not during the blossoming period. The leading orchardists in the country at the present time are following this ad- vice with satisfactory results, Top Dressing;. -•* My experience is that, as a general I’ule. it is the safest and best plan to get the manure applied upon the land as tast as possible after it is made, It does not gain any additional value as a fertilizer by being allowed to lie around, while _as ordinarily managed it more or less. r While so far as other conditions will admit, I prefer to apply the greater P art °f the manure on plowed land be- tore a crop is seeded or planted, usually 011 land intended for corn during the winter, and on land intended for wheat during the summer. But in the fall or early winter, fall wheat may be often benefited by top dressing with manure, and I have hauled out and applied manure on corn after the first cultiva- tion has been given with a decided I benefit. But when applied as a top I dressing on wheat, corn, or even mea- I dow land, good care must be taken to distribute as evenly as possible ox- , otherwise the plants be injured, j may Generally after the season opens in the ; spring there is very little opportunity ! f ° r hauling out and applying manure, I but if the other work will permit, and j there is manure to haul, we should not hesitate to haul out and apply after the 1 corn crop has been planted. The work 1 of giving the necessary cultivations will j usually work sufficiently into the soil, ! —N. J. S., in Nebraska Farmer. Rye for Hogs. The following questions about feed¬ ing rye to -swine are asked John Cownie, who answers them through the Homestead: (I) Is unground rye good for fatten- in S hogs? Corn is far superior to rye for fattening hogs, and if rye is fed it should be ground, mixed with bran aud shorts or ground oats and made into a s "dl before being fed. ( 2 ) I 8 r Y e good for young pigs after they feed, are old enough to eat, not as full but, say once a day? Is it a healthful food? Rye makes good, healthful food for pigs when ground and made into swill, but it is altogether too strong when fed alone, and should be mixed with shorts and ground oats. (3) Would soaked rye, once a day, makegood feed for sows suckling pigs? No, it is altogether too strong a food, anil, as already stated, should not be fed alone. (4) Would corn, oats and rye, ground, make a good swill for suckling pigs; also would it be good for the pigs, and in what proportion should the grain be mixed? Would some bran mixed with the foregoing make it any better? Neither corn nor rye meal is fit for a brood sow and should not be fed for the reasons already given. Ground oats, shorts and bran, made into a swill, are far better adapted for brood sows, either before or after farrowing than such strong, heavy grain as rye and corn. If corn or rye meal are fed, it must be sparingly, or fever in the sows will result, causing, perhaps, the loss of the pigs. Selecting Good Layers. The poultry breeder who is around about his flock very much of the time soon learns to know which are the best layers among his hens, for no matter how large the flock, he knows each one of them. There is as much difference in the appearance of hens as in men, and the man who takes proper care^of his flock soon gets personally acquaint¬ ed with each individual. As a rule it is the hen which is cap¬ able of doing the most damage that is the best layer, because a sluggish hen. never makes a flrst-class egg-producer. The hen that comes out of the house first and goes in last is the one to se¬ lect as being among the best in the flock. In a flock of the same variety the ones with the largest combs almost in¬ variably will be the best layers, and if to this is added a wide back and a deep breast there is not much danger of making a mistake by selecting her as a layer. It must be remembered that the gen¬ eral shape of the breed must be taken into consideration when selecting the best type of a layer. A very lank Cochin hen would look very chunky if dressed in the plumage of a game fowl, and unless you have fixed in your mind the ideal shape of the breed it will be slow work trying to pick a layer. This is a matter of greater impor¬ tance than is usually accorded to it, for the main profit from a large major¬ ity of the flocks of the country must come from the production of eggs. If care is taken in selecting the breeding pens to only take such as have the typical marks of a good layer it will be but a year or two until the production of the flock is considerably increased. Mulched Fruits. Strawberries need to be carefully mulched with clean straw or some ma¬ terial of this kind during the fruiting season as a protection to the fruit, otherwise the rain may beat the fruit down on the ground and dirty it, if it does nothing worse. In nearly all cases in growing strawberries it will pay to keep well mulched during the fruiting season. With, some varieties of strawberries it is an additional advantage if applied in good season, and that is with varie¬ ties that blossom early; mulching tends to retard the starting of the bud, and in this way helps to lessen the risks of being injured by tkA late freezes. If there are any weeds that may start up and force their way through the mulch they can rarely be pulled up, but necessarily they will be hut very few that will come through a good mulch. There are some varieties of nearly all kinds of, fruits that will be benefited in the same way, varieties that have a tendency to push their ends out and blossom early. Such varieties are often injured, if the fruit is not killed entirely by late freezing. Mulching helps to retard the starting of the buds, Raspberries and currants especially are benefited by mulching during the winter and early spring. With the greater part of young fruit trees the better plan is to mulch during the winter as a protection against the injury so often resulting from thawing and freezing. But as soon as the soil is in a good condition for working the mulch should be removed and and a thorough work¬ ing of the soil be given. Giving thorough cultivation during the early part of the growing season, and keeping well mulched during the hot, dry weather of summer, is one of the best plans of managing a young orchard, at- least until it becomes sea¬ sonably well established.—The Silver Knight. Dairy Hints. For the man who makes summer dairying his specialty,spring should be his new year for making and keeping good resolutions. First of all, remember the intrinsic value of milk in these hard times. Compare what good milk or its pro¬ ducts will bring with the prices of other farm produce, and then see that if dairying does not right now deserve twice the interest at your liand3 that you are giving I mean merely from a financial point, dollars and cents alone considered. Half of the dairymen in this country are practically letting their cows run the milk business themselves, without much interference or guidance. That is, the cows, in following nature’s in¬ stinct to eat and drink what the man¬ ger or the pasture affords, naturally yield some milk in consequence. Dairying on such lines does not pay, never did, and never will. Milk production must be forced to be made profitable. Enforced care, all the food the animals can digest, and plenty of water, These are factors that it is for the dairyman to anticipate and provide, not the cow. Just think of a poor cow struggling along all alone to make money for her master, and without any encouragement from him! Ther.e will be a wave of prosperity on every dairy farm this coming summer, whose manager really attempts to co¬ operate with the efforts of his cows. Do everything you can to sustain the milch animals, and as little as possible * to deplete them. For instance, my experience has taught me that where calves were allowed to suckle cows for even a short period, a subsequent de¬ rogatory effect was noticed in their milk yield. of Better go to the extra trouble weaning the calves at once, and teach¬ ing them to drink from a pail, than to forfeit a depleted amount of milk from the cows for perhaps weekB to come.