Newspaper Page Text
rr&P-e.
P0CT.M
NOTES
C.M.BARN1TZ
RIVXKS1DE
PA.
CORRESPONDENCE
SOLICITED
[Thase articles and Illustrations must not
be reprinted without special permis¬
sion.]
A GENTLE REMINDER.
Do you remember that day at grandpap's
You stole a whole peck of rich ginger
snaps
And picked the lock on the old spring
house door
And drank all the cream from the crocks
on the floor?
But. oh. didn’t you get an awful big pain
And yell like an Injun again and again?
But, say. didn’t you yell an awful lot
faster
When grandma clapped on that big mus¬
tard plaster?
And do you remember that rank rotten
egg
You dropped down the neck of good Wil¬
lie Pegg?
And when It went off like a thirteen Inch
gun
You thought you were having an ocean
of fun.
But, oh, didn’t the teacher yank you by
tho neck
And lick you until your good pants were
a wreck?
And when you got home your pap put you
through,
And Billy Pegg’s pap paddled you too.
Say, do you remember the Sunday you
went
Unto the old church on deviltry bent?
For under your coat to the house of the
blest
You carried a corked redhot hornets'nest.
And when from that nest you pulled out
tho bung,
Great Scott, how those baldheaded dea¬
cons got stung!
1 laughed till I thought I would cough up
a lung.
While you skipped the town for fear
you’d get hung.
But these are but a few tricks that you
did
When playing the dickens while you were
a kid.
And 1 now remind you amid family Joys
Of that saying of old, "Boys will be boys.’’
C. M. BARNITZ.
KURIOS FROM KORRESPONDENTS
Q. My Plymouth Rock cock had his
comb and wattles frozen, and a west¬
ern editor tells me he Is now no good
for breeding. He is good and spry,
and I do not see any difference in him
only in appearance. Please give me
your opinion at once.
A. Write your editor and ask him
why gamecocks that have both comb
and wattles cut off are the best of
breeders. If your cock bird was not
weakened by suffering from his frost¬
bite you will find those eggs batch all
right You might test the first eggs
set. It’s a good plan to follow with
every breeding pen, for a male some¬
times wears out.
Q. How many hens do you put with
a male bird?
A. It depends on the male’s vigor,
age and breed. We have seen a cock
bird fertilize the eggs of thirty-five
hens. We give a cock bird more hens
than a cockerel. A real old cock bird
should not have so many as when
younger.
Leghorn style birds ..................15 to 25
American breeds .....................10 to 15
Asiatics ................................ 8 to 10
Eight hens with a cockerel are
enough.
Q. Do you feed cracklings to your
flock ?
A. Occasionally. Some claim they
ave too rich, others that they are too
salty, all fiber, or no good. The hens
like them, and we give them a few
handfuls for variety.
DON’TS.
Don’t neglect to feed pigeons extra
when they are feeding squabs.
Don't buy eggs for hatching from
the store. They may be mongrel, an¬
tediluvian relics or cold storage.
Don’t have the same old litter in the
scratch shed that was scratched over
and over all last winter.
Don’t go to the cheapest man for
the best breeders. What he sells may
be bargains, but, remember, junk is
also often sold below cost.
Don't let the fact that another is
succeeding start your poor, discour¬
aged heart to bleeding. Plod to the
prize.
Don’t expect to make a success of
poultry if you failed everywhere else
because you were too lazy to work
and use your think box.
Don't ship dressed poultry to market
and expect good prices if it is not
good size and in good condition.
Don't say there are no lice on your
pigeons unless you have done every¬
thing possible to destroy them, and
even then don’t risk any money on a
bet Where you left off killing them
tUe sparrows may have started to dis¬
tribute a few million.
Don’t forget that rats are the tramps
of the animal tribe. They will always
stay around where a fool man lets
stuff lay around for them to feed on.
Don't fail to lock up when you go
away. Strangers or friends may in¬
spect your plant.
Don’t subscribe for poultry Journals
haphazard. A few sample copies will
soon tell whether the editor is a cush¬
ion pressor. The practical paper Is
what you want to help you do the
proper stunt.
A SMALL BIRD.
But tfc Had a Mighty Swat When It
Came Down Dead.
W. M. Nevvson tells of an amusing
incident in which a dead duck dis¬
played more activity than would a live
one. The incident is as follows:
“We saw a small flock of broadbills
approaching. They came directly for us.
but unfortunately did not stop for our
decoys. As they arrived almost over
us we stood up and fired. I pulled on
a nice plump looking drake. He start¬
ed to fall, so I turned my second load
loose rather promiscuously and then
started to load up. Behind me Johnny
was still shooting. Then Johnny yelled,
and something hit me a mighty swat
on the back of my neck, whereupon I
tried to clean a big hunk of stone of
its barnacles by means of my nose and
front teeth. This may be pleasant to
look upon, but it is not an enjoyable
pastime.
“I had always liked Johnny, but the
thought that he had hit me on the
back of the neck and was now laugh¬
ing was too much. 1 started for him
with murder in my eye and a large
driftwood stick in my hand. Johnny,
still in fits of laughter, pointed behind
me and mumbled some words about
'duck.’ I looked around, and there be¬
hind rne on the rocks was the same
plump looking drake that Ilj.ail shot
at the first time. It was hard to real¬
ize that such a small bird had such a
mighty swat.
“When Johnny had come out of his
convulsions and I had picked tho
feathers out of my back hair we look¬
ed around a bit and found there were
four dead broadbills, so I cheered up
a bit. Johnny didn’t need any cheer¬
ing up.”—Recreation.
HE WAS THANKFUL
A Reporter Who Appreciated the At¬
tentions of His Superior.
A reporter for a Philadelphia news¬
paper was sent up the state to act as
staff correspondent in an Important
court trial. It was the reporter 'a first
big out of town assignment, and his
managing editor kept tho telegraph
wires busy with instructions and in¬
quiries. For two days and two nights
the reporter had received a dispatch
from his office half hourly, and it be¬
gan to get on his nerves.
At the end of the second day he
worked until 2 o’clock in the morning,
filed his last page .of copy, received
word that his story had been re¬
ceived, and he went to bed. Just as he
was putting out the light the hotel
porter appeared with the inevitable
tray and the inevitable telegram. The
reporter opened it and read:
“What time does court open In the
morning?”
It was too much. He bated the sight
of a telegram. He had been fieeiug the
curse of the dispatches only to have
them pursue him to bed. lie sat down
and wrote to bis office the most cour¬
teous answer lie could compose:
“Court opens at 9 o’clock in the
morning. It is now 3. Thank you for
waking me in time.” — Philadelphia
Times.
Balzac’s Way.
Jules Sandeau relates that one time
while living in Paris Balzac locked
himself up in his room for twenty-two
days and twenty-two nights, refusing
to see any one and keeping the cur¬
tains closed and the lights continually
burning even in broad daylight. The
only human being he saw during this
time was bis servant, whom he rang
for when he felt the need of food and
which he washed down with numerous
cups of coffee. He would throw him¬
self ou his bed only when entirely ex¬
hausted from lack of sleep, and he re¬
mained in complete ignorance of what
was transpiring outside, the state of
the weather aud even of the time and
day of the week. He only freed him¬
self from this voluntary captivity
when he had written the word “End"
on the last page of the manuscript he
began when he entered his prison.
Coral That Shocks.
On the coast of the West Indian
islands a curious kind of coral is
found, called “millepoca.” This has a
most extraordinary property which
makes the people who know it very
shy of handling it. The moment you
pick up a piece a sort of electric thrill
runs through you and an agonizing
pain shoots through your jaws. You
feel as If every tooth and every nerve
and muscle connected with them was
burning. The acute pain lasts gener¬
ally for about half an hour and slowly
passes off. but the effects do not dis¬
appear entirely for hours. The reason
of this curious shock or poisoning is a
mystery.
THE PELHAM JOURNAL
$40« Banded (« You
and a good position with the accept¬
ance* Big corporations make advance
call for office help* Bookkeepers and
stenographers wanted* Must have a
large number by early fall*
Draughon’s Practical Business College
MACON, GEORGIA.
The Largest Business College Company in the world. 36 Colleges in 16 States.
Established 22 years. $300,000.00 Capital Stock. 9,000 Students enrolled annually.
Over 100,000 graduates in good positions. Home Study Course. Write for big
Catalogue.
^UUUlUiUUilWUUUliUUUUUljUUUtUUUUUItUUUUUUi;
GOT THE EGGS FRESH
They Were Turtle Eggs and
Agassiz Wanted Them.
A WILD RACE AGAINST TIME.
The Professor Had to Have the Eggs
Before They Were Three Hours Old,
and This Is the Story of How the
Hunter Made Good Hie Promise.
When Professor Louis Agassiz was
writing a book on the turtles of tho
United States it became necessary for
him to have some fresh turtle eggs,
lie engaged Mr. Jenks of Mkldleboro,
about forty miles from Cambridge, to
get them for him. Mr. Jenks promised
that the eggs should be iu Agassiz’s
hands before they were three hours
Mr - -,ks. who told the tale to
a writer to tfife Atlantic Monthly, had
to wait by a certain pond for the tur¬
tles to come out and lay their eggs in
the Band. Finally, after weeks of
waiting, one morning about 4 o'clock
a turtle crawled up the beach, partly
buried herself in the soft sand and
laid her eggs. Mr. Jenks went ou to
say:
As she did so the distant clock struck
4. There was no train till after 9, and
the eggs must be in Cambridge in
three hours.
I laid the eggs ou a bed of sand in
the bottom of my pail, filled in be¬
tween them with more sand, so with
another layer to the rim, and. covering
all over smoothly with more sand, I
ran back for my horse. He knew as
well as I that the turtle had laid aud
that be was to get those eggs to Agas¬
siz.
I let him out. I shouted to him,
holding to the dasher with one hand,
the pall of eggs with the other, not
daring to get off my knees, although
the bang on them as we pouuded down
the wood road was terrific. We had
nearly covered the distance to tho pike
when ahead of me I heard the sharp
whistle of a locomotive.
With a pull that lifted the horse
from his feet I swung him into a field
and sent him straight as an arrow
for the track.
By some stroke of luck I got ou the
track and backed off before the train
hit my carriage. But the maneuver
was successful, for the engineer stop¬
ped. and 1 swung aboard the cab—hat-,
less, dew soaked, smeared with yellow
mud and holding as if it were a baby
or a bomb a little tin pall of sand.
“Throw her wide open.” I command¬
ed—“wide open! These are fresh tur¬
tle eggs for Professor Agassiz of Cam¬
bridge. He must have them before
breakfast.”
The engineer and the fireman no
doubt thought that I was crazy, but
they let me alone, and the fast freight
rolled in swiftly to Boston.
But misfortune was ahead. We
slowed down iu the yards aud came
to a stop. We were put on a siding
to wait no one knew how long.
I suddenly jumped from the engine,
slid over a high fence and bolted for
the street. Iu the empty square stood
a cab.
The cabman saw me coming. I
waved a dollar at him and then an¬
other, dodged into the cab. slammed
the door aud called out: “Cambridge!
Harvard college! Professor Agassiz’s
house: I’ve got eggs for Agassiz:” and
I pushed another dollar up at him
through the hole.
“Let him go!” I ordered. “Here's an¬
other doliur for you if you make Aeas-
siz’s bouse in twenty minutes:"
We flew to Cambridge. There was
a sudden lurch, aud I dived forward,
rammed my head into the front of the
cab aud came up with a rebound that
landed me across the small of my
back ou the seat and sent half of my
pail of eggs helter skelter over the
floor. But we were at Agassiz's house.
I tumbled out and pounded the door.
“Agassiz:” I gasped when the maid
came. “I want Professor Agassiz,
quick:”
She protested that he was In bed
and threatened the police. But just
then a door overhead was flung open, a
great, white robed figure uppeared on
the dim landing above, and a quick,
loud voice culled excitedly:
“Let him in! Let him in! I know
him! lie has my turtle eggs.”
And the apparition, slipperless and
clad In anything but an academic
gown, came sailing downstairs. The
great man, his arms extended, laid
hold u olu of me with ” 1LU both hands and, drag
gI , * ,1]e ?“ d P roci « us P ail l “ t0 h ‘!
study, with a swift, dean stroke , laid
open one of the eggs us the watch in
my trembling hands ticked its way to
7 as if nothing unusual were hap¬
pening in the history of the world.
A Fearful Poison.
From the microbe which gives rise
in human beings to the disease known
as tetanus, or lockjaw, a poison called
tetanine Is obtained which is over 100
times more powerful than strychnine.
A fragment of tetanine so small as to
be invisible to the naked eye would
kill almost instantaneously the strong¬
est man. One fifteen-thousandth part
of a grain of it has caused the death
of a horse 1,600,000,000 times its own
weight.—Pearson’s.
Fully Informed.
"With all your wealth are you not
afraid of the proletariat?" asked the
delver in sociological problems.
“No, I ain’t,” snapped Mrs. Newrich.
“We boll all our drinkin' water.’’—Phil¬
adelphia Record.
Make yourself an honest man, and
then you may be sure there is one
less rascal in the world.—Carlyle.
ANCIENT BRIDGES.
Some Built Before the Christian Era
Still Standing In China.
Suspension bridges which were built
in the time of the Han dynasty (202
B. C. to 220 A. D.) are still standing,
striking examples of oriental engineer¬
I ing skill. According to historical and
i geographical writers of China, it was
Shang Lieng, Kaen Tsu's chief of com
mand, who undertook to construct the
first public roads in the Flowery em¬
pire.
At that time it was almost impos¬
sible for the province of Shense to
communicate with the capital. Lieng
took an army of 10,000 workmen and
cut great gorges through the moun¬
tains, filling up the canyons and val¬
leys with the debris from his excava¬
tions. At places where deep gorges
were traversed by large and rapidly
flowing streams he actually carried
out bis plan of throwing suspension
bridges, stretching from one slope to
the other.
These crossings, appropriately styled
“flying bridges” by early Chinese writ¬
ers, are high and dangerous looking in
the extreme. At the present day a
bridge may still be seen la the Shense
which is 400 feet long and is stretched
over a chasm more than 1,000 feet
deep. How those early engineers
erected such a structure with the tools
and appliances at their command is a
mystery which will probably never be
explained. ±
A FAMOUS TIMEPIECE.
TH* Astronomical Clock at Hampton
Court Palace.
The famous astronomical clock at
Hampton Court palace, near London,
is the first timepiece of that character
erected in England and was made for
Henry VIII. In 1540. According to Er¬
nest Law, the historian of Hampton
Court palace. It was the creation of
Nicholas Cratzer. a German astrono¬
mer, who visited England at the invi¬
tation of Cardinal Wolsey. who intro¬
duced him to the kiug.
It is possible to learn from it the
hour, the month, the day of the month,
the position of the sun aud the number
of days since tho beginning of the
year, phases of the moon aud its age.
the hour at which it crosses the meri¬
dian aud the time of high water at
London bridge. The winding of the
clock occupies half an hour every
week. The weights descend to a depth
of more than sixty feet.
Like many other things about the
palace, it has Its legends. It is related
that when Anne of Denmark, queen of
Janies I., died iu the palace the clock,
which was striking 4 at the mo¬
ment, immediately stopped. This It Is
said to do whenever any old resident
in the palace dies within Its precincts,
aud alleged modern instances of tho
fact are quoted solemnly by the credu¬
lous.—Argonaut.
How Ho Won Her.
A man who married his stenogra¬
pher won her through sheer persisten¬
cy. Although It was evident to the
wooer that the young woman did not
regard him entirely without favor, he
found It extremely difficult to get her
to listeu to his plea. The stenographer
refused to luuch. sup or go to the the¬
ater with her admirer. Finding every
avenue of approach blocked, the de¬
termined courter, who possessed some
literary facility, wrote a short love
story, in which the girl and he were
the leading figures. This story he sent
to the stenographer every morning for
a month and ordered her to typewrite
it for him. She dared not refuse to
do as her employer commanded, and.
realizing through the story that he
would never give up until she married
him, she finally acquiesced.—Chicago
Record-Herald.
They Paid the Price.
The corporation of the city of Glas¬
gow wanted to purchase the Whistler
portrait of Carlyle aud iu due course
waited on the master of the gentle art
of making enemies about the price
(1,000 guineas). They admitted it was
a magnificent picture, but “Do you not
think, Mr. Whistler, the sum a xvee,
wee bit excessive?"
“Didn’t you know the price before
you came to me?” asked the master,
with suspicious blandness.
“Oh. aye, we knew that!” replied the
corporation.
“Very well, then," said Mr. Whistler
in his suavest tones, “let’s talk of
something else.” And as there was
nothing else of Interest to detain the
“corporation" they paid the price and
made an excellent bargain.
Airy.
“I'm looking for a breezy march,”
said the bandmaster in a Chestnut
street music store the other day.
“How about this one dedicated to
the Aero club?” the facetious clerk
asked.
“I suppose It Is written for wind in¬
struments,” the bandmaster countered.
“Well, the air is easy,” the clerk shot
back, and the Interchange stopped.—
Philadelphia Inquirer.