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pored conference in another rootia. She came in again presently and said: '"The landlady says, sir, that, there is AGRICULTURAL NEWS . HOW AN AX IS MADE. " Heated Five Times and Handled by Forty Workmen. On entering the main workshop the first step in the operation which is seen THINGS PERTAINING TO TME FARM AND HOME. - Waste Haa Been-the Ruin of Ameri­ can Agriculture--How Ice May Be ^Cheaply Stored--Rye as a Pasture- General Agricultural Notcis. THREE CROWS INN.| _ • There is always a class of fools in this world who know a person's own busi­ ness'better than the person does him­ self. One of these told me quite re­ cently that instead of writing about picturesque places in the Tyrol, Spain, and Jhe North of Siberia, I. should "took lupsome of the lovely spots in England "itself. Instead of answering the Cool according to his folly, as I should have done, I said: - "If your remarks mean anything, they indicate that you know some such spot that is worth visiting. Tell me where it is and I will go there." So this idiot, much pleased at being treated kindly, ins.tead of being assas­ sinated, as he should have been, said that of all places on earth the Three Crows Inn at StutteriujrTSodley was the quaintest and most charming. It was two or three hundred years old, and things in the village of Stuttering-Bod- ley were now just about where they were in Queen Elizabeth's time. The place was about two and a half hours from London by a fast train north to a particular place, then you change trains and get on a doddering little railway that finally lands you in Stutteringi Bodiey. Suffice it to say that I reached the lit­ tle station of StutteringrBodley at about 6 o'clock in the evening, and it was then reasonably dark and getting darker every minute. Nobody else got off the train, and as I saw the last car­ riage depart, glaring at me with its baleful red light, there crept over me a feeling that I had made a mistake. There was a hopelessly barren look about the railway station that chilled the bones. The night was cold and the rain was falling gently. I had noticed before the daylight entirely ceased that the whole country through which the train was running was flooded and the place round about was deplorably flat, whereas my idea of a picturesque spot includes hills. I said to the surprised station-master when I gave up my ticket: j "Where is the village?" "Which village, sir?" he answered. I "Which? I did not know there were two." ' "Yes," M said. "There arcptwo. There Is Stuttering-Bodley to the south and Gameleg-Warrington to the north.4' "Then the station, I take it, is in neither of them?" "Oh, bless you. no, sir." said the sta­ tion-master. "Sftrrterlng-Bodley is three miles to the south and Oameleg- Warrington is four miles to the north." "Well," said I in dismay, "if I had been engineering this railway I couid have hit either place a little closer than that I understand that the villages are not chickens, and have been here Bince Elizabeth's time?" He^dmitted that this was true, and that The railway, taken as a whole, was newer than either of the places. "Does the Three Crows Tavern," I asked, "ever send a 'bus here to meat the trains?" "Oh, bless you, no, sir," said the sta­ tion-master. "Is there any place near by where I could hire a conveyance?" "You could get a cart," he answered, "at Gameleg-Warrington." I suspected the station-master was poking fun at me, though he said this quite seriously. It was not to be sup­ posed that a man would walk four miles there and then drive four miles back in order to be carried three miles. "Are there any turns iif nie road," said I, "between here and Stuttering- Bodley?" , "Oh, no, sjr," answered the station- master. "You keep straight on. You can't miss you way, sir." When a; Tnan in England says that, you may know that it is a particularly difficult road to And. I slopped along the muddy highway, carrying a handbag. The night got darker and darker, still I could see on each side of the road that the fields were flooded, and now the rain began to pour down with savage steadiness, as If it had got me and knew it After tramping^in tins hopeless fash­ ion for what I took, to be about two miles, the road turned to the left Di­ rectly befor</me rose a large castellated porter's lodge, with an archway under­ neath. I found a little girl standing underneath the archway, apparently hoping that the rain would cease. I w said to her: "I shppose the road to the left leads to S tu tteri n g -Bo d 1 ey£- -- "Oh, no. sir," she replie^T "The road through the park leads/to the village and to the castle." \__ "Oh,.there's a castle there*?," said I. She seemed surprised that I did not know this. " ^ "Is is a ruin?" I asked; "or doeg any- body live in it?" "The Marquis of Bodiey lives there," .she answered. "This is his park lodge." "Are you sure?" I persisted, "that this road does not lead to the castle only, and not to the village?" "Oh, the eastle is in the village," said the little girl. Then it turned out that she herself ing"'me the number of standards she had passed in the public school and giy- ing me in general the gossip of the neighborhood. She tokLme at first that t'ie io"d W5is perfect,'v straight and plain, and that no one could mistake it, but before we had gone a quarter of a mile it branched off in three directions, and then a little farther it branched again. She didvhot appear to think that there was anything here to confuse person, as she told me quite simply that if a person were going to Stutter­ ing-Bodley lie would naturally take the road to Stuttering-Bodley and not any of the others, which each led to differ­ ent villages, whose names I have for­ gotten. Anyhow. I thanked my stars, which at that moment were obscured by the rain, that I had the little girl as comrade, for I knew that, left to my ow^' devices, I would be ut that mo­ ment a homeless and hopeless wanderer in the middle of England. Lhad been walking a little way in ad­ vance, and came to a sudden stop by running into an iron gate across the roadway. The little girl was sorry she had not mentioned the gate, but she thought everybody knew it was there, because it had been there since she could remember. ,' The gate led us out of the park into the main highway, and gave us the choice of something like Ave roads, but the little girl trotted along with her pa­ pers under her cloak, and we crossed a bridge to the right of which was a roar­ ing waterfall. In the forest through which the road now wandered it was as if we were walking in some dark cavern. About the middle of the woods the road again branched in three or four directions, which was a habit it had, and finally emerging from the forest I saw on an elevation a blaze of light, as if it were a windowof some cathedral. "That" said she, in answer to my question, "is tl,ie castle. The village is over here.to the right." We accordingly turned from the road, that led to the castle, and climbing a steepdiill where the highway was again overarched by giant oaks, I saw with delight some long, low, diamond-shaped windows gleaming red and hospitably in the inkv blackness around. It seem­ ed to me I had walked, as much as ten miles. My overcoat was soaked through with rain, and when I moved my head the water spluttered down in rivulets from the brim of my -felt hat. After running into a hedge and falling over a sleeping pig. the little lass led me to the front door of the Three Crows Inn, whose ancient sign creaked above the porch. I tried the door but it was locked. I smote upon the oaken panels with my stick and finally heard bolts withdrawn and the door was opened a few inches. "What do you want?" said a voice from within. no room in the house, that you -can't stay here, and that you pan't hfive any­ thing-to .eat.,"'- v.^.i?' • a "You tell the landlady to come Into, the hall and speak to me. Otherwise I sjKillJhave to go in and see her." The landlady, who had evidently been listening, came out with a frown on her face. "Aire you aware, madam," Isaid, "that the law compels you to keep a room for a traveler and compels you also to furnish him with food if he is able and willing to pay for if." ^ "The law doesn't compel , us, sir," said the landlady, with severity. "You have been told that our rooms are full and that should have been enough." "Oh, but it isn't enough. If you fill -your rooms with lodgers you ought to keep a spare room for a traveler; and as I am the only traveler who has come here to-night, I demand a room and I demand my dinner. Otherwise I shall complain to the authorities and you will lose your license." The landlady was quite undisturbed by, this threat She"answered me with chilling composure. _ • ' • ; "This is a temperance housfe. We have no license, and we need none." This Was a knockdown blow." There was nothing more to be said. ."And do yo'U mean." I continued, "that I have to walk back to that ac­ cursed station in this rain and through the mud?4" - •' "You can do as you please, sir." said the landlady, who was evidently offend­ ed at my manner of storming the inn. ""Yes," I replied: "I had not thought of'that.' . After all, this is a free country, is it not? But surely get me something to eat?" ' % - ' "Perhaps We can," said the landlady, "if you ask for it civilly." "Madam," I replied, with deference, "were it not that the floor were made of stone, and that my trousers are so soaked that I fear they would come apart at the knees, I would kneel down and implore you for something to eat" The landlady tossed her head and left the room. I got some broad and butter and cold water, as if I had not had enough of the latter before I came, and was going to have further supply of it after I had left Then I put on my water-logged hat and overcoat, and shook the mud of the place off my feet The rain still poured, and the night was blacker than the Three Crows themselves. I tramped that weary way back to the station, and considered myself lucky in getting the last train that took me to a less picturesque but more com­ fortable town.--Free Press. •roiflgjTninp1 to SllLtiomigJLk'dUtY to deli v- I er evening papers there, that had come on the same train by which 1 had arriv­ ed, and seeing from "my conversation that I was to be trusted, she kindly vol­ unteered to shdw me to the Three Crows »Inn, where she had to hand.in a paper. I gladly accepted her company and we set out across the park in the pouring rain, and she chatted all the way, tell- "Many things," I answered, pushing the door wide open, and stepping into a stone paved hall with timbered roof above it forming a low ceiling. There was an old clock facing me, and an an­ cient table of black oak standing in the middle of -the square apartment. A .very large and handsome servant girl stood looking at me in wonder, appar­ ently because I had so rudely forced my way in. "It is not a night," I said by way of apology, "to keep a man standing out of doors." --I threw off my overcoat, doffed my hat and laid them with my stick and the handbag on the oaken table. "Now, Jane," I said, "I want a nice large room, in which you are to put a large fire, and that as speedily as pos­ sibly. Take my overcoat and have it dried, and tell the landlady that I want something to eat as quick as possible, and that I don't object to a bottle of wine if it is of the right sort" The girl looked at me in amazement. "We have no room, sir," she said. "No room?" I cried aghast "No, sir. We have only two rooms i and they are both taken by lpdgers. They have been here sevea"inonths, .sir.".-. ' i' The appalling natufe of this disclos­ ure left me for the moment speechless, which is most unusual with me. "Then, where is the nearest hotel?" I asked. "Seven miles nwn.y, sir. At Game­ leg-Warrington." In the silence that ensued I heard the rain roaring down and falling like a cataract from the eaves of the house. "Then what am I to do?" I asked, in tones of despair. "I don't know, sir," said the girl. "Isn't there any place in the village where I could get rooms until to-mor- row?" "No, sir." "You need not stand there holding the door," I cried at" last, a sudden surge of anger coining over me. "Close it! Tell the landlord or the landlady to come here and talk to me. I'm not Tho Decayed Music Teacher. The ordinary parent or guardian of a girl with a "turn for music" will very probably make his choice of a teacher from those to whom he listens with the the greatest pleasure, forgetting that executive skill and the gift of impart­ ing knowledge are more often found separate than together. The partially successful artist7 then, is wont to fall back upon such teaching as he can get if he wants to make a livelihood out of liis profession; and so enormous is the number of those who wish to take music lessons, if not to "go in foB' mu­ sic thoroughly, that the moderately effi­ cient teachers have hitherto had small | reason to despair of getting profitable pupils. These worthy people, however, will before long be singing a very different song; in fact, something very like a repetition of the dirge performed by the respectable "gentlewomen" of the last generation, who after taking to teach­ ing music for a living on the strength of a dozen lessons taken when they were young and comfortably off found their circla of pupils diminishing as the taste for music widened and deep­ ened. For such as these the increase in the number and the rise in efficiency of the regular schools of music has been their doom, for not merely in London, where the "decayed lady teacher" nev­ er flourished, but in every country town the standard of taste has left them far behind, and nearly all such centers of their employment are now "worked" either by actual representatives of the great educational institutions of Lon­ don, or their places are filled by young­ er artists, educated at such places as the Royal Academy of Music or the Royal College of Music, the principal of whose joint organization, in the mat­ ter of local examinations and the like, has been doing a most important work all over England during the short time of its existence. That inefficient teachers of art should have the bread taken out of their mouths is not a legitimate subject for regret, though hard cases could no j doubt be cited, just as they can against such a work as that done by the organ­ ization of charity.--The National Re­ view. >Improvident Farming. When nature tis prodigal' man is wasteful. Waste-has been the rule in American' agriculture, says; an agri­ cultural writer. Accumulated mold of ages of vegetation was offered at/ $L-3 per acre. Afterward it was given away, subject-jo' official fees for per­ fecting a title, both to natives and im­ migrants. With land free to all there was prodigality of fertility and econo­ my of labor. Thus in priihiTiv^ agri-. culture, rotation, cultivation, diversifi­ cation were all sacrificed, and fertility -was transmitted into net cash. Be­ cause wheat could not be grown with­ out cultivation on the broken sod. and because it was always a cash crop, little else was grown; and because there was so much of it, and so few farm ani­ mals, the strav, which is worth as much in England as the whole crop is h'ere, was burned to get rid of it; and because of this repeating of a crop Without cultivation, weeds much jnore than loss of fertility reduced the rate of yield; until at last, because of exten­ sion of wheat area beyond the needs of consumption, price was reduced and profits destroyed. - It was the same with , cotton. The seed;'was wasted, or only used for manure. Sometimes stock was killed by being gorged over a pile of seed, but systematic feeding was unknown. Now $40,000,000, more or less, repre­ sent the oil of the seed, which was wasted if applied to the soil, and al­ most as much more should be got from feeding the cake, with incidental foods to constitute a suitable ration, and costing almost nothing. In this way all the valuable elements of the seed are returned to the soil, with additional manurial value of other feeding ma­ terial. Pork, if not beef, can be pro­ cured in the mild climate of the South with cotton-seed cake, cow peas and other fall and winter growing forage plants even cheaper than the central west. In wooded sections the first and largest opportunity for waste was found in the wanton destruction of wood and timber, and it was improved until large areas have become deserts. In every rural industry there has been depletion and destruction. When flax became an auxiliary or successor to wheat a million of acres went into cul­ tivation for seed and the straw was thrown away, though coarse fiber worth $100 per ton had been made of tho straw as it lies from the mower, while by a slight change of method of culture and treatment, as is done in Europe, far more valuable fiber can be produced. • Flax growers will say It cannot be done, because they do not know liow and will not learn, but it has been done and is done successfully and uniformly in other flax-growing countries. + nal side tb be considered. Milk is se- figlit "between a Senegam bian lion and h, bull from one of the most famous granaderias of Castile, c For several days" before the sensa­ tional representation great posters were placed on all the corners-of the streets, picturing j the favorite animal of the Spaniards at the mercy of the king of the desert. But this wa& more than the citizens of Madrid could stand, and in their fury over the outrage they tore down the posters and trampled upon them iri%ully fashion. Scenting a good business speculation the ticket buyers, who form a solid as­ sociation in Madrid? bought up all the places in the immense Plaza de Toros and resold them at an enormous profit. In the presence of 15,000 persons the magnificent lion Regarde made his de­ but in a vast, cage especially construct­ ed to meet the exigencies,of the terri­ ble duel that was to take place. Then the tori! on wheels containing the bull Caminero was dyawfi in. The bull was evidently out of temper, for he roared ereted first and prlmarily for the calf, and dairying and .good milking is a plan, to get the milk, and have that mother office extended. To do this there must-be-a- confidence awakened and maintained, to the end that milk­ ing ftiis cow ^liall be a pleasure quite akin to supplying her calf; and some authorities claim, keep in continuance the "emotions," that can be called with­ out violence. but an occasion of--to her --actual Enjoyment. The man who pets a cow, and will feed her and does not give her pain when he milks, may be said to be more than a mechanical milker, but one who has gone further, and is--although in an artificial way-- keeping alive the cow's maternal af­ fection, and this can but be a simulative influence to induce milk secretion. The reader has witnessed on untold occa­ sions the cow's greatest desire to suckle her calf,",or be milked, and if.milk giv­ ing and milking caii be closely,^asso­ ciated by pleasurable contact, there is at once answer that there is a "secret" in milking, and it is fashioned on the everlasting law of good care and kind­ ness.--Practical Farmer. ? . The Garden. The raising of canary-seed is a profit­ able industry. The seed commands about $5 a sack. At a reception recently given by a capitalist in New York the rooms were profusely decorated with roses, which cost, according .to the New York Adver­ tiser, $20 per dozen. Roses bloom in California all winter in the open air, and the shipping of buds to -New York ought to be a profitable business. It is estimated that the cost of an acre of raspberries, the first year, omit­ ting the fertilizers, is about $35, while about twenty-five bushels, at $2 per bushel, is estimated as the results, the expenses of crates, etc.. balancing the outlay and receipts. The second year, however, the expenses will be greatly reduced, while the yield should be doubled. The condition of the market, however, renders any estimate unre­ liable. Honey from Alsik« Clover. All farmers ought to be keepers of bees. It is the only kind1 of stock that maintains itself, and whose product, except for the slight labor in caring for the bees and housing new swarms, is clear profit. With a number of colo­ nies of bees the sowing of alsike clover will become important, as Its blossoms are not so deep that the bee cannot pro­ cure honey from them. A good field of alsike in full bloom will furnish a large amount of honey, without injury to the clover for feeding, and with pos­ sible benefit to its seed product. Alsike makes a honey slightly darker than that from white clover, and of as good a flavor. furiously at the spectators. But he was soon placed in the presence of his ad­ versary- At , this moment the entire plaza became silent as a, tomb--some­ thing r.are indeed in Spain. The spec­ tators, holding their breath, watched for the first onslaught. As if measur7 ing their distance, the two animals eyed each other, and .then sprang for­ ward. The lion endeavored to fasten his teeth in the bull's throat, but he re­ ceived a terrific butt which sent him rolling back.several paces. He gathered ; himself together, bounded upon his ene­ my, and fastened his claws in his side. But Camlnero managed**to shake him off, and at last tossed him in the air a second time. Three times more the lion sprang at the bull, and was tossed each time. The advantage now appeared to be on the side of Caminero, an^l the crowd, silent up to this moment, gave him a wild ovation. The lion retired to Ids corner and endeavored to climb to the top of the cage, but before he could suc­ ceed he was again successfully at­ tacked by his redoubtable adversary. At last, when utterly vanquished, with his side torn open, his shoulder crushed, and his teeth - broken, he was taken from the cage, while the crowd hooted and laughed. The victor was tliom brought around the arena in triumph, and he went into the toril under'a per- fect shower of fans, hats, and objects of all sorts. The enthusiasm was beyond description. As for poor Regarde, he died the next day in his cage. So now go tell tho Spaniards, that the bull, and not the lion, is the king of .beasts!. THE LITTLE TYRANT. iriiinrr.--IA -IH"1 This country gives certain privileges to public houses, and in r&urn the pub­ lic houses have certain duties to per­ form towards the traveler. Send in the landlord.' "There is no landlord, sir," said the girl. ° , " ... ••• "Then send the landlady." The girl dejiarted and I heard a whls- " ' jk-S ' • ' What People Write For. Mr. Froude, in one of our earliest talks, said: "And why do you want to meddle with biography? Why can't you be content to write three-volume novels?", "I have no invention," said I. "Then I suppose you can't write that sort of 'rot' out of which Ilider Hag­ gard and such men make their thou­ sands?" ^ "I am not clover enough for that," I replied. . "That answer is disingenuous," lie said. "Well," said I, "I don't want to write those books." "That's better," said Froude, and turned away. But afterward lie re­ newed the subject, and said: "I am glad you don't come to me saying that you think you have a mission of any kind, or want to remove a veil from the eyes of mistaken humanity on any subject--or to do anything grand or philanthropical--or that, sort of idiocy. P thing." "Oh, dear, no!" I said. "I want to put a little money in my pocket. I have no other motive, and as'a publish­ er asked for the book, I took the neoes- sary steps. Nothing more." " T"~ 1 ^ ^Qv-~\Ij*e^ X.r£_ laud, in the Contemporary Review. Cheap Ice Storage. I have built a house and stored twen­ ty tons of ice for less than.$20, There being no pond or river within two miles, I was obliged to make my own pond. A very small brook running near the barn was dammed, making a pond from one to four feet deep. This was done in the fall. An old build­ ing was then bought and an ice house 11x12x8 feet built, boarding horizontal­ ly inside and out, filling with sawdust asjjoarded. The house was filled, with the help of two boys, putting in 120 cakes sixteen inches thick in twelve hours, each being 1^x3 feet. The tools used consisted of a set of double block tackle, chain, tongs and ax. An ice saw was hired for 25 cents. I would not use an ice plow if I had one. One man can easily saw twenty-live tons of ice daily; if a smaller quantity were required it would uotpay to house and bother with an ice plow. The house was built by the side of the pond and the ice hoisted by hand into the house. Six one-horse loads of sawdust were used in packing. The expense of build­ ing house and filling was less than $17, and hereafter the cost of storing ice will not be over $5.--Correspondence Orange Judd Farmer. Not Altogether Practical. To the practical man, the methods and system of judging fowls at poultry shows commands but little respect, and when scores and awards are viewed with suspicion they only excite con­ tempt and derision. The American standard does not recognize the econ-„ oniic value in dead weights for table purposes. All stress is laid upon color of plumage, general shape and eoiidi-, tiou of face, ear, lobes, wattles, comb, etc. From the fanciers' standpoint--a point of view that is more or less con­ spicuous as tastes and ideas change-- this may. be all right enough, but what does it siguify to the farmer who wants eggs, or the poulterer who wants heavy carcasses for the market? What dif­ ference does it make if his birds are white in the ear lobes, their combs out of shape, the tails awry, so loug as they shell out an abundance of lien fruit? What does the family man or epicure care about tlie precise shape of tail; wings, color of liaekle, or other dis­ qualifications, so he gets good chicken meat?--Field'and Farm. Rye as a Pasture. ' "V We never could see any advantage from sowing any kind of grain to fur­ nish pasture. The soil must be plowed, to make a seed bed for the grain, and it must not become compact so that stock can trample * over it Without poaching, the surface when wet Even if fed off while dry the grain furnishes-" When a man lias believed a long time that a woman's pxt is nature, the a wak­ ening is something terrible. When a woman looks serious and stops asking "What Is love?" it' is aq indication that she has found out. comparatively little feed, and -that not of very good quality. Rye as'a pasture will be eaten by stock only for its suc­ culence. It is not as nutritious as June grass or as clover when the latter is in blossom. The trampling of all pasture, even on a sod, destroys quite as much a^' wiiar"tnc stotnr eats, where any kind of grain is fed off the damage greatly exceeds the value of what is eaten, especially if stock are allowed to trample e-ver the ground while the herbage is wgt.--American Cultivator. Thoroughbreds. All animals having a full-blooded sire or dam are full of bloods or thorough­ breds, yet all thoroughbreds are not equally valuable. It would be well if thoroughbred stock were divided inlo classes, and then it could be valued ac­ cording to its rank or standing. A thor- aughbred horse that has sired several winners must rank higher than the one that has sired none, and the same with the thoroughbred mare, bull or cow. Care and keeping has much to do with the showing. Farm Notes. Any attempt to change the form of a tree after it commences to bear is al­ most certain to damage the tree serb on sly. The cantaloupe is a,native of Ameri­ ca, and is so called from the name of a place near Rome, where it was first cultivated in Europe. We buy over $4,000,000 worth of or­ anges and lemons from Italy every year, although Florida and California are producing both fruits largely. This is the way one dairyman puts it: A good cow will make a greater num­ ber of pounds of human food in a year than a steer will in a lifetime, and the cow be left over for next year. If smut is suspected, soak all seeds of grain twenty-four hours in a solution of one pound of sulphate of copper in six gallons of warm water, and then mix the seed with land plaster to.dry •it. Beets, carrots and parsnips should be seeded early after the frost is out of the ground. Plow the land as soon as it cam lie done, and harrow it down until very fine. Seeds of carrots and parsnips will not germinate if the land is full of clods or lumps. A fine soil is important The little island of Jersey is but elev­ en miles long by five wide, yet it prob­ ably contains more cows than any oth­ er part of the earth of equal size. All importation is forbidden by law, and all these years the dairymen have been breeding with but the oue object in view. Keep a cow as contented as possible, if you would have her milk easy. If worried there is sure to be some tension of the muscles which retain the milk, and this holds it up. If the cow is fed that which she likes, these muscles are usually relaxed. Even the maternal affection is forgotten while eating a savory mess; English dairymen are wrestling with the question whether or not odors are really absorbed by the milk while it is warm, just from the cow. Some of them argue that if such were the case there would bo no milk fit to drink, as all is exposed to odors of some kind ^when first drawn. They claim that cdld ilk will absorb odors more readily tlifl.ii warm. Americans have believed that warm milk was a rapid absbrber, (1 itw The New Baby Is Generally the Rule* of the Family. The girl and boy of 4 or 5 is generally put in the background when the baby comes upon the scene, into the hearts and daily life of the family. Margaret and James may have been very well in their way before the midnight alarm arrived; but when the baby conies, al­ though he is ugly and pink and a great expense and a great deal of work, he is considered the most important member of the fiimily. That is a mistake. Mar­ garet and James at from 3 to 7 are as much in need Of careful care as they will be at any time during their careers- Their minds and bodies are developing so rapidly that the greatest systeij/of living and the best influences of minds and morals should be brought to bear upon them. Irregular hours, improper food, too much of their own way, and taffy and cakes will make very good dyspeptics out of two naturally healthy children, if it does not spoil their dis-. positions. The girl or boy of from 5 to 7 should sleep in a bed by himself. A narrow bed, if possible, with a hair mattress and low pillow. A'high pil­ low and feather tick means chills and round shoulders later on, and no child will thank you for the solicitous care which provided him with such un­ healthy things. The child's room should not be the room in which lie plays all day, if possible, and should be a room where fresh air and sunshine should be the vfirst ornaments. A grate fire, which is a perfect ventilator, is always advisable--of course safely guarded by a high brass guard or wire netting. The growing child should sleep in a part of\the house which is quiet as pos- sibljf| and the child of 5 or 0 can be de­ pended on to wake up himself in the morning, so should be left undisturbed. A warm sponge bath, followed by a rub with alcohol, or even cold water, is a stimulant Avith which every luxurious small boy or girl commences the day. Then after dressing--and growing chil­ dren's clothes should be light and warm, and made so as to interfere with their movements as little as possible-- breakfast should consist of baked ap­ ples, cereals, bread and butter, and mlllc. At lunch meat and potatoes, soup, and a pudding make a very good 5 to 7 year old'xlinuer, and bread and milk, with crackers, and jam for des­ sert, is quite enough for dinner. Play in the open air as much as possible and G o'clock for bedtime will make yoiir 5-to-7's very healthy, wealthy, and wise children. is the formation of the ax-head without the blade. The glowing flat iron -barsfe are withdrawn from'the furnace and are taken to a powerful and somewhat complicated machine, which performs upOn them four distinct operations, shaping the metal to.form the upper and lower parts of the ax, then the eye, and finally'doubling the piece) over so that the whole can be welded together. Next the iron is put in a powerful nat­ ural gas furnace and heated to a white heat. T^ken out it goes under a tilt- hammer and is welded in a second. This .done, ofie blow from the "drop" and the poll of the ax is-eompleted and firmly welded. Two crews of men are doing this class of work, and each cre^v .can make 1,500 axe's per dav. hen the ax leaves the drop there is some superfluous, metal still adhering to the edges and forming what is tech­ nically known as a "fin." To get rid of the fin the ax is again heated in a fur- nace'ahd then taken in hand by a saw­ yer,- who trims the emls and edges. The operator has a glass in front of him to protect his eyes from .the sparks which fly off by hundreds as the. hot metal is pressed against the rapidly revolving saw, The iron part of the ax is now complete. The steel for the blade, after being heated, is cut by machinery and shaped. It is then ready for the weld- - nig -department. A groove is cut Into the edge of the iron, the steel of the blade inserted, and the whole firmly Welded by machine hammers. Next comes the operation of temperinjg. The steel portion of the ax Is hearted by being inserted in pots of molten lead, the blade only being immersed. It Is then cooled by dipping in water and goes to the hands of the inspector. An ax is subject to rigid tests beforo It Is pronounced perfect. The steel must be of the required temper, the weight of all axes of the same size must be uniform, all must be ground alike and in various otlierNva^s conform to an established standard. The Inspec­ tor who tests the quality of steel does so by hammering the blade and strik­ ing the edge to ascertain whether it be too brittle or not. An ax that breaks during the tests is thrown aside to be made over. Before the material of the ax is in tho proper shape it has been heated five times,•including the tempering process, and the ax when completed has passed through the hands of about forty work­ men, each of whom has done something toward perfecting it. After passing in­ spection the axes go to the grinding de­ partment, and from that to the polish­ ers, who finish them upon emery wheels. --Philadelphia Record. Meissonier's "1807." Meissonier's favorites among his own pictures were the "Siege of Paris," the "Death Scene," which is at Amsterdam; the "Barricad " which he had present­ ed to Eugene Delacroix; the "Prayer," the "Virgin of St. Mark," the "Tuiler- ies," "Samson," "1807," and -"1814"" The "1807" is in the New York Metro­ politan Museum, having been bought by the late A. T. Stewart, and presented to the museum by his business succes­ sor, Judge Hilton. It is one of the artist's largest and most labored works, and he appears to have been at infinite pains to secure historical accuracy in the detail. For instance, he learned from an officer who had served under Ney that that, general bad been in the habit of-wear­ ing his capote with tlie sleeves hanging loose, after the fashion of a hussar's jacket; and Ney is so painted in the picturie. Having adverted to liis^idea of giving merely a hint of war's destruc­ tion by the trampling down of a field of unripe grain, he adds: "How many diffi­ culties might I not have avoided by re­ placing this green wheat with dust!" Doubtless, the troubles that the picture had cost him made it seem to him more perfect than it really is., Yet he always regretted not having begun it earlier, when there were more veterans of the Napoleonic wars alive to supply him with further details. An unacknowledged feeling of dissat­ isfaction with the picture partly on this, partly on purely artistic grounds, was perhaps at the bottom of his paint­ ing the subject all over again in water colors, quite as much" as the desire to have It engraved. This water color was bought fQL. 20,000 francs by a M. Simond. The original picture cost Judge Hilton 250,000 francs. We need hardly add that it is now considered one of the chief treasures of the Metropolitan Mu­ seum.--The Art Amateur. Milk ing . In reply to a query, "iS'tliere any 'se­ cret' about milking a cow so as to get uch truth there isMn the idea. The heaviest feed there is for poultry or other animals.should be at night. Sleep fav6rs digestion, and keeping the stomach full is the best protection against cold. If any corn is given it ter if warmed and some of it is charred. A cold grain of corn, sometimes ice- cold, has to be warmed before it can be digested. At night, when exercise is impossible, 'no . unnecessary btfrdeu should be placed on the system. In the morning It if better to feed poultry with grain ecaitdred among straw and let them Scratch for it , Monster Pumping Engines. The three new sewage pumping en­ gines for Providence, It. I., will each have a daily capacity of 30,000,000 gal­ lons. They are said to be the biggest piston pumping engines in the world, with the exception of the enormous 60,- 000,000 one at the Calumet and Hecja mines. There is a 30,000,000 engine at Rotterdam, Holland, and Chicago has beep getting bids on a 30,000,000-gallon triple expansion one. The Providence two are not, however, tlid most power­ ful of their size, as. they work only against a head of 27 feet. The move­ ment toward the use of pumping en­ gines of larger capacity is an important one; the advantages gained are in­ creased duty, reduction in space oc­ cupied and in first cost, and j-eduction in the cost of attendance, since it. re­ quires about as large a stajf to operate a '5,0o"O^)0O-ga 11 oil"engine as one of 30,- 000,000 gallons capacity. As a matter of interest it is worthy of record that, whereas, three or four years ago, there was hardly a triple expansion pump­ ing engine in the country, at present nearly every engine of every large^ize is being built with a triple-expansion steam end. She Had Permission. Miss Jones is really quite a little angel, for she is hardly 4 years old, and therefore has no. man's blighted affec­ tions on her hands and no jealous sis­ ter's tears upon her conscience. Miss .Tones Is not found of saying her pray­ ers at night, and the other night dur­ ing the cold spell she compromised the matter by saying them to bed to the horror of her nurse, who remonstrated with her and finally compelled her to get out of her cot and say them on the cold floor. You remember the cold spell lasted for two days and over. On the second night Miss Jones was discovered by the nurse saying her prayers in bed again. The nurse ordered hei4 out upon the floor. Miss Jones refused to budge an inch from her,.,warm bed. The nurse tried all of her arguments in vain, then played her trump card. "See her, missy," said she, "if you don't say yo' pray'rs on de flore de Lord won't like it" "V "Humph," grunted Miss Jones, curl­ ing up prepared for slumber, "I done asked him last night after you had left me. I told him it was too cold, aud that I was 'fraid of the cold, and he said: 'That's all right, Miss Jones, don't mention it,.don't mention it.' F1 orid a Citizen. -- ->- An Invitation to Dinner. In his private capacity, the Hindu is frequently very hospitably inclined. The fact that his-caste prejudices pre­ clude him from eating with Europeans dpes not.always prevgnt_ h inv o(Tori ng an invitation to diuner^his'ldea" of English hospitality. This consists iu his driving his guests to a hotel and pay­ ing for dinner, while he awaits its con­ sumption In another part of the house. It takes one some little time to get used to this mode of procedure, but after a while one sees the propriety of accept­ ing the kindness in the spirit which Dromuts it--Chambers' Journal. ""