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:-<ftke,$Btgwirii flaindfaltr. :T j. VAN SI.TOE, Pubuwhch. IICHENBY, ILLINOIS. AGRICULTURAL AND DOMESTIC. --_ yejf • The Mortgage. $&.• t sitting by the west window, ad thinking the livelong day, Of the mortgage foreclosed to-morMMr When my home's to be taken away. Twill be just three years to-morrow. How well I remembter that day When my husliand went out to bortov And mortgaged our homestead a*t&. How little he then thought the future f Would leave us no friends or a Or that we'd be driven abroad And left in the wide world to Bat life is made up of change*, And soon the great change will coma. When I shall find rest with my Saviour. Nevermore in the wide world to roam. Ah! then there will be no mortgage, No house to be taken away, But I shall dwell in a mansion, A house that's ne'er made up of day. -Western Rural. Around the Farm, STJHFXIOWEE leaves are good for forage, green- or dry ; the seed for oil, horses, hogs and chickens. BLEBS the seedsmen, but don'T buy novelties" for market; it takes too long to learn people the new names.*-- •Conn. Courant. MB. T. C. HENRY, the Kansas wheat king, figures it out and says a man can take raw prairie land, hire it broken and sown to wheat, and with an average yield realize a profit of 156 per cent, on his investment. BEFORE the butter is gathered, and while in lumps about the size of wheat or buckwheat kernels, draw off or strain out the buttermilk, and thoroughly wash the butter with clear, cold water at about 55 degrees, but do not pack the butter together. Then sprinkle on and care­ fully stir in, stil avoiding packing, about one ounce of salt to each pound of but­ ter. Set the butter away in a sweet, -cool place, not above 60 degrees, nor be­ low 55 degrees, until the next day, when it is ready to work and pack for market. Two NEW and distinct breeds of sheep have lately been introduced into Eng­ land from the west coast of South America. The first are two fine, white- "wooled sheep, each having four long massive horns, two of which have a for­ ward curve over the head, while the other two curve downward under the eyes, giving the head a singular appear­ ance. Of the second, which are said to be a species between the llama and al­ paca, there are three, one male and two females, which are thickly covered with long dark brown, but exceptionally fine hair, or wool, which is highly prized by the native Indians for the manufacture of their more delicate fabrics. The male stands.about three feet high at the •shoulder. GEORGE R. DREW, a Vermont farmer, had the following to say at a farmers' festival: " Farming can be made more pleasant by making a business of it, and not attending to too many other things at the same time. And then by not overworking. I think there has been improvement in this respect, but there is need of more stills I have said I would not take the gift of a farm and be obliged to work as I did when a boy. I now see the policy of giving children and young folks a great deal of recrea­ tion. I am sure that more work can be done in a long run by working ten hours a day than by being actively engaged for fourte en hours. Also, we should not be too much confined at home; we should gq away occasionally, and many times we might gain enough fco make up for our lost time." AT a recent meeting of the alumnus club of the Agricultural college, Prof. Gulley spoke of the management of hired help. He said there are two req­ uisites : first, you need the right kind of men as managers, and secondly you need the right kind of employes. Some men always have trouble with their help, while others get along well with eyery- body. In general, the nearer help ap­ proaches to a mere machine, it is prac­ tically the most valuable. Educated help would be better, provided they •would be content to do their work well for the wages paid. Me gave a detailed description of the management of the help on his farm at Dearborn, and also of the way in which Ferry's seed farm is managed. Prof. Gulley boarded his hands and worked them irom daylight to dark, giving them one hour for nooning. "He allowed them no responsibility, but gave them directions for doing every­ thing.--Michigan paper. BAMS at a certain season of the year develop combative propensities, and their fights frequently terminate fatally. A oorref pondent of the Ohio Farmer has hit on a novel method of preventing a display of their rude butting warfare, He says : "It is well known that they always 'back up' to get a start to butt. Stop their backing up and you discon­ cert them entirely. To do this, take a light stick (a piece of broom-handle will do), about two or two and a half feet long. Sharpen one end, and lash the other end securely to his tail; the sharpened end will then draw harmlessly on the ground behind as long as his majesty goes straight ahead about his business ; but on the attempt to " back up " he is'astonished to find an effectual brake in the rear. Don't laugh and call this * all gammon,' but' if you have a butting ram, try it, and the time to laugh will be when you see him jump out sideways, and whirl round and round, trying to upset the machine, Which will keep behind him." 6 About the House. A LADY correspondent of the German- town Telegraph says that few people know that pieces of horse-radish, with a small bag of allspice, added to the vine­ gar of pickles improves their flavor and prevents mold. TOMATO OMELET.--Tomatoes, ripe, peeled, sliced and thickened with bread crumbs, and seasoned with salt, pepper, chopped parsley, sugar and butter. To every pint of this mixture add one beaten egg. Sprinkle bread crumbs over the top; bake forty minutes in a vegetable dish. This is a nice dish for dinner. ONE of the most frequent causes of leaky roofs is the forming of an ice-dam, beginning at the gutter and gradually backing up till the water flows through under slates or shingles. A simple way of preventing this is to detach the gut­ ters an an inch' or two from the eaves and hang them on iron stirrups, or other­ wise, so that the water can flow freely over the backs as well as the fronts. * R PICKLED EGOS---A 4&EUSH.--Boil the eggs twelve minutes, throw at once into cold water, which will cause the shell to corns off easily. Boil some red beets till very soft, peel and masli them finely and put into cold vinegar, enough to cover ttie eggs. Add salt, pepper, doves and nutmeg. Put the eggs into a jar and pour the mixture over them. In two days they will be a beautiful color, and a very palatable as well as ornamental Hi»h for the dinner table. IT is necessary for us to bathe often and thoroughly during warm weather in order to be clean; but this id not the <mly good that comes from the bath, even to healthy persons. After seven days labor, either mental or physical, after a person is so tired and nervous as to be in no conditition even to rest, and long hours of the night pass slowly away with no tendency to sleep, nothing is better for this condition than a bath in tepid water. There is something restful about it, and the weary frame is refreshed, the nerves quieted, and sleep soon comes "sure and sweet. A simple bathing of the spine, with gentle rub­ bing, will quiet the over-tired so that the normal renting oondition--sleep-- soon comes on. FISH-BALLS.--Two cupfuls of cold- boiled cod, fresh or salted ; one cupful of mashed potatoes; half a cup of melted butter, with an egg beaten in, Season to taste. Chop the fish when you have freed it from bones and skin; work in the potato and moisten with the melted butter until it is soft enough to mould, and will keep in shape ; roll the balls in flour and fry quickly to a golden brown, in lard or clean dripping. Take from the fat so soon as they are done ; lay on a colander or seive and shake gently to free from every drop of grease; turn out for a few moments on. clean paper to absorb any lingering drops, and serve on a hot dish. CHICAGO TRAGEDY,, Useful Recipes. ONE of our patrons sends its a recipe for a liniment which is easily prepared and should be kept in every farmer's house or barn, to be used in case of bruises or sprains: Diluted alcohol, seven ounces; oil wormwood, one-half ounce; oil hemlock, one-half ounce. GUTTA-PERCHA CEMENT FOR FASTEN­ ING LEATHER.--Dissolve a quantity of, gutta-percha in chloroform, in quantity to make a fluid of honey-like consist­ ence. When spread, it will dry in a few moments. Heat the surface, at a fire or gas flame until softened, and apply them together. Small patches of leather can be thus cemented on boots, etc., so as to almost defy detection, and some shoemakers employ it with great success for this purpose. It is waterproof, and will answer almost anywhere, nnlftga ex­ posed to heat, which softens it. How TO CURE A BONE FELON.--Of all painful things, can there be any so ex­ cruciatingly painful as a bone felon ? We know of none that flesh is heir to, and, as this malady is quite frequent and the subject of much earnest consideration, we give the latest recipe for its cure, which is given by that high authority, the London Lancet: "As soon as the pul­ sation which indicates the disease is felt, put directly over the spot a fly blister, about the size of your thumb nail, and let it remain for six hours, at the expira­ tion of which time, directly under the surface of the blister, may be seen the felon, which can be instantly taken out with the point of a needle or lancet." SICK HEADACHE.--This distressing cotiaplaint can generally be relieved by soaking the feet in very warm water, in which a spoonfnl of powdered mustard has been stirred. Soak as long as pos­ sible, or till the water gets cool; it draws the blood from the head. An­ other quieting remedy is to scald sour milk till it wheys off; make a bag of thin muslin, and strain it off, not very dry, and put the curd, in the bag, upon the head, as warm as it can be borne; it will relieve the pain in a few moments. Some such simple remedies are preferable to drugs or doctors' prescriptions; they relieve as quickly, and are cheaper, as well as more readily applied. The Length of Days. At London, England, and at Breman, Prussia, the longest day has 16} hours. At Stockholm, in Sweden, the longest day has 18} hours. At Hamburg, Germany, and at Dant- zig, Prussia, the longest day Jias 17 hours, and the shortest 7 hours. At St. Petersburg, in Russia, and at Tobolsk, Siberia, the longest day has 19 hours, and the shorest 5 hours. « At Tornea, in Finland, the longest day has 21} hours, and the shortest 2} hours. At Wardneys, in Norway, the day lasts from May 21 to July 2, without inter­ ruption. At New York the longest day, June 20, has 14 hours and 56 minutes; at Montreal, 15} hours. Wheat Harvest of the Northwest. There are conflicting and contradic-' tory accounts about the probabilities of the wheat harvest in the Northwestern States. Some declare that the rust and the chinch bug have committed such fearful havoc that the five States of Illi­ nois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska,which usually raise about 120,- 000,000 bushels of wheat, will not raise more tjhan 100,000,000 bushels in 1876. And neither is the quality very good, as the berry is much shrunken. But we think it will be found that the harvest is very variable; in some localities it is very bad, and in others very good.-- Milwaukee Wisconsin. - • Effects of Lightning. A singular occurrence lately trans­ pired in the northern part of Putnam and the southern portion of Dutchess counties, New York. After a violent thunder-storm, accompanied by an unu­ sual amount of ohain lightning and tor­ rents of rain, dead wild-geese were picked up by the hundred. Numbers of them had previously been observed alive in the shallow ponds in the vicin­ ity, and they were seen to act strangely during the storm, as though they had been fired upon. The heads of the dead fowl were badly torn and in some cases their feathers were burned to a crisp and their bodies burst open. Killing of Han lord by Sullivan, and the . Causes that Led to the Homicide. Of the shooting and killing of Mr. Francis Hanford, Principal of the North Division School, of Chicago, by Mr. Alexander Sullivan, Secretary of the Board of Public Works of that city, the Chicago .Evening Journal says : " The trouble grew out of movements in connection with the public schools of this city, Mr. Hanford having, in a com­ munication to a member of the Common Council, accused the wife of Mr. Sulli­ van (formerly Miss Maggie Buchanan, who some years ago WST a teacher in Detroit, and of Jate years a writer for the Chicago press in Chicago) of having inspired with Mayor Colvin and Catho­ lic members of the Board of Education for the control of the actions and ap­ pointments of the latter board. Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan, denying this accusa­ tion, proceeded to the residenoe of Mr. Hanford to call him to account. The parley, which took place in the street in front of Mr. Hanford's residence, result­ ed in the tragedy, Sullivan shooting Hanford, who died in half an hour after­ ward, and the murderer being locked up by the polico, ( " What ground Mr. Hanford had for his accusations, we do not know, and it may never be known. It matters little, as regards the merits of the shooting, whether he was right or wrong, f6r, con­ ceding that he was entirely in enor, his slayer was nevertheless without justifica toon. According to Mr. Hanford. Mrs. Sullivan has been very officious in secur­ ing changes and appointments by the Board of Education in the interest of the Roman Catholic Church. This was the charge made by Mr. Hanford. He mfede it in a communication to Alderman V4n OsdeL It was not signed, nor yet was it ans anonymous letter, in the or­ dinary sense of the term, for the receiver taew who wrote it. It was intended simply for the personal information of the Alderman, and should not have been made public. But he laid it before the Council. The accusation did not reflect at all upon the private character of Mrs. Sullivan, which is above question. Had it done so, the case would be very differ­ ent. She is a lady of high culture, fine literary powers and irreproachable repu­ tation. It is generally allowed that a husband may vindicate a wife's virtue at any cost; but no one can claim that the statement in question was at all deroga­ tory to her moral standing. " Mr. Sullivan, like his wife, is quite well known and universally respected. None who know his uniform gentleness of deportment in official or private life can realize that he could be guilty of deliberate murder. Yet itr looks as if he went to Hanford's house with blood in his heart and death in his purpose. Certain it is that the shot was fired un­ der circumstances necessitating the in­ ference that it was with malice afore­ thought." Death of the Tongueless Woman. Mrs. Mary C. Burnham, whose mis­ fortune of losing her tongue attracted so much attention two vears ago, died in Rootstown, Friday, July 28, 1876. Mrs. Burnham had been afflicted for about twenty years with a bronchial or throat difficulty. Her tongue became paral­ yzed, and she gradually lost the use of this member. During this time he* health was generally good. On Tues­ day, January 25, 1874, she had a spell of bleeding of the tongue and throat in the forenoon. While at dinner, being, to all appearances, choked with a piece of meat, with an effort to expel it her tongue fell out of her mouth. A council of physicians was held, at which it was disclosed that under her tongue there was a cancer, which, enlarging, had. de­ stroyed that member, as above stated. Soon after this decision a new theory was developed, some of these medical men denying that there was a canoroid condition of the tongue and throat. They asserted that the tongue had been destroyed by catarrh, which had sev­ ered the nervous connection of the tongue and throat, paralyzing the tongue, which was followed by the natural decay of the connections of the tongue. The basis of this theory was the sound con­ dition of the tongue and the apparent healing of the throat and mouth. Mrs. Burnham felt no unusual pain at the time. Strange as it n>ay seem, Mrs. Burnham, while her tongue was paral­ yzed, so cultivated a control of the other organs of speech, that after her tongue was lost she was able to make herself understood by those accustomed to hear her. The singular loss of the tongue produced considerable astonishment at the time, and occasioned not a little comment. The death of Mrs. Burnham was occasioned by the same disease that destroyed her tongue. After the loss of her tongue the same disease attacked other organs, consiming vital parts; producing eventually a stroke of paraly­ sis, after which she was unable to swal­ low, and literally starved to death. Mrs. Burnham was able, after the loss of her tongue, to perform her household duties as usual up to this spring, when she commenced to fail. She was confined to her bed for almost twelve weeks prior tocher death.--Ravenna (O.) Democrat. Poisoned Arrows. The arrows by which Commodore Goodenough, of the British navy, was killed were poisoned by plunging into a human corpse for several jjays. This form of blood poisoning is made famil­ iar in civilized countries by the occasion­ al death of a medical student from in­ oculation by morbid virus. The least scratch is sufficient to insure death, though the poison does not develop for several days. The Papuans, who use this method for poisoning, are very war­ like, and it is said that they do not leave their dwellings even to work in the fields, without taking a bamboo bow and ar­ rows. Those arrows which are poisoned are distinguished from then* more inno­ cent fellow^ by being highly ornament­ ed, carved and painted. They are barbed with human bone, sharpened as fine almost as a needle.--Chicago Field. Real Estate in ]<ondon. The ratable value of property in the metropolitan district of London has more than doubled in twenty years. In 1856 it was £11,283,663 ; in 1876 it is £23,111,313. The district is divided in­ to forty-seven parishes. In all but two of these divisions there lias been an in­ crease. The real estate in this portion of London is rated at about half its real value. A house which rents for £80 per year can be purchased for £1,600, and the like rate holds good in all other transactions in real estate. EDICATIN(j THE IfrfflOBASta H«w Society is Polished up la New Y«r* City. The London News says: " One of the most trying of all the teachers' occupa­ tions must surely be the instruction of persons of 'mature age'--perhaps espe- cially of ladies of mature age--'whose early education had been neglected.' Without entering in any way into the merits of a case lately tried before Lord Coleridge, we may say tliat the plaintiff in that case who, being a widow, was obliged to earn a living by the teaching of annh ppraons, was entitled to be re­ garded with respect and spmpathy. The complete system, if we may call it so-- that which educates, polishes, and then puts out to advantage in society--is not carried to much success in London. It is more largely practised, we are in­ formed, in Paris; more largely still in York. In the latter city, people say it is a thriving and a systematic pro­ fession, There a lady of mature years, w^ose education has been neglected, and who has yet had time to enter the wor'd of fashion, can have everything done for her to order, under the same guidance and direction, from her earliest lesson in writing or in French up to the providing of guests for her first dinner party or ball. A man may have'sudden- ly made a fortune in Oil City, Penn., or Poker Flat, Cal., and he comes to New lork to live and enjoy himself. He can­ not send his wife to one of the ward schools, and wait in patient obscurity until she has first been educated, and then by force of merit and graces, made friends. He easily finds a kindly dahie who will take her in hand, teach her enough to make her seem as if she had once learned something and forgotten it, hire a house for her and furnish it, dress her, take her out, and provide her at a proper time with a splendidly-ap­ pointed ball-room, guests included. In this case the mature lady is probably quite happy. The house, the furniture, the clothes, and the jewels are the real things; the education and the guests suit her just as well as if they were the real thills. Such instances of mutual satisfaction, however, could hardly be frequent in our slower and less shifting society here in London, and we doubt whether this system of complete social education, including the launch into society, is much of a business among us. In the more restricted sort of undertak­ ing, that of simply teaching persons of middle life and neglected education it would be interesting if one could know the proportion of successful cases. There must be so much to unlearn that the wisdom of the new education must have to linger a long time before it will make its way in. Whoever really un­ learned even a provincial accent, or an old-fashioned way of looking at things, say at 40 years ? Certainly the teacher who is successful in this popular branch of education well deserves praise and pay ; the teacher who is unsuccessful a lenient pity." Paper Car-Wheels. The American Paper Car Wheel-Com­ pany, of Hudson, N. Y., has specimens of 30, 88 and 42-inch wheels of fts manufacture. These wheels have steel tires made with an inside flange and a cast-iron hub. On each side of the hub and tire, wrought iron or steel plates 3-16-inch thick are bolted, and the space between the plates is filled with com­ pressed, or rather condensed, paper. This paper is made of straw boards }- inch thick, pasted together with paste made of rye flour, and first made into sections about }-inch thick. These are •Subject to a pressure of about 400 tons for about five hours, and are then dried with hot air. These sections are then pasted together in the same way, so as to get the requisite thickness, about 3} inches, and are again pressed and dried. They thus form a disk, which is turned off and the tire forced on with a pres­ sure of about 150 tons. The plates are then bolted to the inside and outside of the wheel with f-incli bolts. An old wheel is exhibited, " one of the first paper car wheels ever made. It has run under a Pullman car 312,900 miles with­ out the tire being turned." One of th e wheels is shown with a portion of the plates and paper disk cut away, so as to show the inside structure.--Scientific American. "Drowned" Persons. A French physician makes the re­ markable statement that one-half, at least, of the so-called drowned persons are buried alive, and that they may be brought to life by proper treatment after having been "several hours under water." His remedy is to get out the water, pour in and inject alcoholic stim- ulents, and use a whip energetically, or hot irons in bad cases. Hi* statement has been partially confirmed by the re­ suscitation of a man after he had been under water in one of the Seine baths for more than twenty minutes. A Plucky Woman. An old lady in California refused to allow a railroad corporation to lay rails through her property. The track-layers took advantage of Sunday--a day on which she could not appeal to the courts--and put down the rails. She was outwitted but not defeated. When the locomotive came along over the branch line she took up a position on the track and would not stir. The loco­ motive backed out and left her at her post. THE silver glut is redoing the burglars. Solid silver is scarcely worth stealing at current London rates, and as for plated- ware, thieves are above taking it. The Brooklyn burglar who tested the silver on the "sideboards in Monroe place and threw aside the plated ware betrayed the business instinct of the profession. In Nevada burglars consider it low-toned to steal silver in any form, and the San Francisco Bulletin is forced to admit that unless there is a speedy advance in the silver bullion the California thieves will have to abandon the trade and earn an honest living like other folks. MURAD V. is a Turkish Sultan of rather a different type from those who founded the Ottoman dominion. His proclamation to his armyin Bosnia winds up with the words : "Far from you, I snail vet pray for the glory of your arms. HEAYLNLY FIREWORKS. The August Kpoch of Meteors and Fire- vmm Balls --Former Great Star Showers. [from the New York Herald.] The earth having now fairly entered that portion of its orbit round the san uring which it comes in contact the first time this year with meteoric showers, we may look during the next few even­ ings for displays in the heavens of fire­ works on a magnificent scale. It is true that meteors appear in their grandest aspect and in greatest number every thirty-three years, but this law, as de­ termined by observation of astronomers, is not unchangeable. The phenomena occur to a greater or less extent twioe every year, August and November. The origin of meteors was long with­ out receiving a satisfactory explanation, that most generally accepted being that they were caused by the existence of inflammatory gases in the atmosphere. The ignis fatuus, no doubt, is produced in this way, for it has been found to change its motion by the slight current of air preceding a person walking to­ ward it. But the immense velocity of the meteors that uppfiftr in August and November, which is about equal to twice that of the earth in its orbit, or thirty- six miles in a second, and the great ele­ vation at which they become visible, the average being sixty miles, indicate clearly that they are not of terrestrial but cosmical origin--that is, they orig­ inate from the interplanetery regions, innumerable fragments of heavenly bodies that have been shattered to pieces traversing space, and, being brought within the sphere of the earth's attraction, precipitate themselves upon its surface. Moving with the great ve­ locity mentioned through the higher regions of the air they become so in­ tensely heated by friction that they ig­ nite, or are at least rendered visible, and are either converted into vapor, or, when very large, explode and descend to the earth's surface as meteoric stones or aerolites. Prof. Thomson, of the British Association, says that they are " small bodies which come into the earth's atmosphere, and the instant they touch it their surfaces are heated be­ yond the point of fusion or even of vola­ tilization, and the consequence is that they are speedily and completely burned down and reduoed to impalpable ox­ ides." The brilliancy and color of me­ teors are variable; some are as bright as Venus or Jupiter. About two-thirds are white, the remainder yellow, orange or green. The problem of their origin must be regarded as the same with that of the asteroids, revolving around the sun between the orbs of Mars and Jupi­ ter, and of the planets themselves. Some astronomers consider their origin precisely the same as that of the comets, which may be regarded as only meteors of vast size. The shower of 1799 was awful and sublime beyond description. It was, witnessed by Humboldt at Cumana, in South Ameriea, and is thus described^ "Toward the morning of the 13th of November, 1799, we witnessed a most extraordinary scene of shooting meteors. Thousands of bolides and falling stars succeeded each other during the four hours. Their direction was very regu­ larly from north to south, and from the beginning of the, phenomenon there was not a space in the firmament equal in extent to three diameters of the moon which was not filled every instant with bolides or falling stars. All the meteors left luminous traces or phosphorescent bands behind them, which lasted seven or eight seconds." The same phenoinena was seen throughout nearly the whole of North America and South America and in some parts of Europe. The most splendid display of shooting stars on record was that of Nov. 13, 1833, and is especially interesting as having served to point out the periodicity in these phe­ nomena. Over the northern portion of the American continent the spectacle was of the most imposing grandeur, and in many parts of the country the popu­ lation were terror-stricken at the awful- ness of the scene. The slaves of the Southern States supposed the world was on fire, and filled the air with shrieks of horror and cries for mercy. The shower of 1866 was anticipated with great inter­ est, and in New York and other places arrangements were made to announce the occurrence during the night of Nov. 14 by ringing the bells from the fire towers. The display, however, was not witnessed in this country, but in England was quite brilliant, as many as 8,000 meteors being counted at the Greenwich Observatory. Another show­ er of#less extent occurred in 1867, and a record has been kept at the Naval Ob­ servatory, Washington, of the number of shooting luminous bodies that ap­ peared in the months of August and November in each year since. Joy and Grief Hand in Hand. About two weeks since a gentleman of this county was united in marriage with an accomplished young lady from one of the cities of the bay. The union took place on Sunday, and very early on Thursday morning the bridegroom was awakened by hearing his young bride at prayers. Suddenly her praying was changed to singing, and this was followed by loud laughter. The bride had be­ came a raving maniac, wild and violent, requiring the strength of several persons to hold her. Her husband's grief was terrible beyond expression.-- Marin {Cal.) Journal. guessed the duke. "Your Highne^- has won," cried the American, lookinttf " at the rouble, and stepping in the mudS ihe next day the Yankee was invited try* * f j the Grand Duke to dinner, All Sorts. * Rke county, Bid,, raised 700 bushels of wheat on twenty acres of ground. THE belle of Canton, Mass., became so enraged during a game of croquet that Bhe knocked a fellow down with a mallet. r w * " i i ^ J E p p i n g , N . H . , k e e p s a pet 10-year-old rattlesnake around her premises. She is unpopular with the neighbors. ^ AMKKJUANS in Europe are accused by ' hotels and shopkeepers of jewing down. They nave been played upon by these jew s harpists long enough. THE churches in the towns along the line of the Connecticut Valley railroad are protesting against the running of Sunday excursion trains over the road. IN the twenty-six reoorded divisions of toe National Grange of ths Patrons of Husbandry, the married women voted with their husbands eleven timed out of twelve. HARTFORD fishermen have discovered that the potato bug is good bait for trout. It has always been known that the trout is more greedy than discrim­ inating in hib diet, A SAN FRANCISCO paper is pleasant reading while one is enjoying a post­ prandial cigar. Here is a paragraph: "A Chinaman died of small-pox wliilo lying on a heap of tobacco which was af­ terward used in making cigars." MB. HANDLIN, of Brooklyn, is greatly praised for having been the means of putting out of the way a cut-throat who had entered his premises with intent to rob. The scoundrel got fuddled on Madeira and then broke *his neck. THE boxwood used by engravers is brought from the region of the Black and Caspian seas, and is said to grow in perfection nowhere else. A cubic foot of it weighs seventy-five pounds, and the prioes range from $75 to $250 a ton. A BAGGED boy was, years ago, cared for by a benevolent young man in Balti­ more, who has just married. The boy grew up intelligent, educated and enter­ prising. Mark the power of gratitude. A few duys ago ho eloped with his bene­ factor's wife. * IT is given as a piece of fashionabl gossip that one person in twenty-nine a Newport gets drunk once in every twenty-four hours. This of course doesn't include those who stay drunk all the time, and so the figures are valueless as a gauge of sea-side sobriety. FERNANDO WOOD is reported as hav­ ing said that the popular idea of the cost of living at Washington is largely > erroneous. He entertains more than any other person in the city, except Sec- ' retary Fish, and his own expenses are, he says, not more than $10,000 per an­ num. BOSTON is gradually growing accus­ tomed to the ways of Anna Dickinson. When she thrusts her hand under her bustle, where her pistol-pocket hangs, and says with horrible calmness, " Keep ' away from me, sir," everybody knows that there's a dramatic critic somewhere around. IN Jefferson'oounty, Fla., is foond a ' black mineral which resembles graphite, but which, under the blowpipe, gives off a strong smell of petroleum. The inhabitants black their boots with this substance and claim that in suscepti­ bility to polish jk is not inferior to Day Martin's best. » THE JEfcna Life Insuranoe Company, of Hartford, has introduced into its policies a clause which vitiates the contract should the policy-holder die by his own hands, " sane or insane." Any man, says the Baltimore Wnderwritert who would understandingly accept such terms is a fool." A YOUNG and very promising clergy­ man, in preaching one of his earliest dis­ courses, made this remark, says the Salem Register : " The minister is some­ times called upon to preach upon unwel­ come subjects, such, for instance, as de­ pravity, the necessity of regeneration, hell, foreign missions, etc." THE Birmingham Post says the Igno­ rance of some people as to the faith of Islam was illustrated in a most ludicrous manner at the Liverpool police court A man was being sworn on the Koran, and the cryer of the court, in concluding the administration of the oath, said, in a most solemn manner, "So help you, Koran." The cryer afterward explained that he thought Koran was the Moham­ medan name for God. ACCORDING to a Poughkeepsie news­ paper published in 1806, they used to t < have nice times there seventy years ago. ,,v Upon the 14th of October in that year a big African lion was put in Cap! Hen- drickson's large field, and six /Hears and ' twelve bull-dogs were set Upon him. W hat a Blind Girl Did. A blind Swiss girl, who is an adept at fine needlework, recently sent to the Emperor of Germany a table-cover ex­ quisitely worked with her own hands, and to avoid the appearance of having sent the present in expectation of get­ ting something in return, she omitted her address and simply signed herself, <« A Blind Girl in Switzerland." The old monarch was so pleased with the gift and the manner of sending it that lie caused the German Minister in Swit­ zerland to ascertain the girl's name and address, whereupon he sent her a valu­ able brooch and an autograph letter of frl tallica. The Yankee and the Me. Bayard 'laylor tells of a Yankee, who, walking the streets in St. Petersburg one muddy day, met the Grand Duke Constantine. The sidewalk was not wide enough for two to pass, and the street was very deep in filth. The American took a silver rouble from his pocket, shook it in his closed hand, and cried out, "Crown or tail I" "Crown," The admission to the scene was one dol­ lar for grown persons and twenty-five oents for children. The lion destroyed the beara and the bull-dogs, A YOUTH in Tennessee contributes the following beautiful lines to a local paper; Wonder why it should be, !' <• In this gay worlil one BO lovely should, K Lonely hours, and earnestly wish, Down in the " lonesome grave " to be laid fcwbttHi From all such unpleasantness, Loved oue, I sincerely truBt the goodness Of the Supreme One will ever cause thy stay; Waft far from theo, each day I pray, He May, Every thought and feeling, that might Render the so unhappy as to desire to be laid oat of sight. A FARMER residing in Beverly, Canada, has discovered a new method of getting rid of his grasshoppers. He keeps fif­ teen pigs, and during the summer months they live on notliing but grass­ hoppers. He keeps two of the summer litter over till the next spring to teach the young brood. Last summer, for seven weeks, his pigs lived on the grass­ hoppers, and came out fat and ready for fall-feeding on grain. AT a meeting of the London Aero­ nautical Society, several schemes were propunded for the construction of fly­ ing machines, and one gentleman, wn« expressed an opinion that balloon sail­ ing was a game not worth the candle, announced that he had in preparation a machine to be worked by a thirty-horse power steam engine, which would travel through the air at a rate of 200 miles UK bottxaa safely as a railway train.