Illinois News Index

McHenry Plaindealer (McHenry, IL), 12 Aug 1896, p. 6

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• ^ HOW JOHNNIE KEEPS COOL. Folk* 'r talkin' now days 'bout tbc weath- I er's boin' hot, ' ;*N a-huntiu* round 'n tryiu' for to fiud the coolost spot; : «Bt tUoy wear their shoes an' stockxu s an' a lot o' swelterin' clothes,J |Tr«lt the won dor is they're, liviu' au not melted, goodness knows ! "Jnst a-loolc at me a minit, I ain't a-sweat- in' none, lAn' l think the weather's bully; summer's just choc^f full o' fun. •3 just wear a shirt an' trousers,' thot are thin as thin'can be, . _ t, •An* you don't git shoes an' stockin's, in the summer, time 011 mo. Only wear just one suspender, an' I wouldn't wear n coat If you'd give me all the silver, gold an' greenbacks that's afldat; This straw hat. it ain't a beauty with this big hole in the crown, ijBsit it lots the breeze blow on me, an' ^-that helps cool me down. Then if things git most too boitin" I just skin down to the crick • An'; in just, about two mmits.X am cooled . off 11 ice,an' slick; ObJ l-teJl you if .vou hanker after comfort you'll do well "• • Jf yoii tuko me "for a pattern an' do just like mo a spell. --Saturday Globe. • THE MISER. All Ardley was aware that- Fred Bar- •ibii would'be a well-off man only for Sis brother Max. Max was an invalid 'fcacholor. reputed one of the wealthiest «ien in that Midland town of 4,000 peo- »le. • ^ Eighteen years back the father had died, leaving Fred the fine saddlery business in High street, and Max had all his savings, a couple of thousand jyouTfds, for Max had never been robust. Max was then 32 and Fred 27 and un­ married. Now Max was an unenviable invalid of 50; Fred was 45, and one of the'finest men in Ardley, with a bloom- ftig, handsome wife, the finest woman of her years in the town, and nine comely children. The business had not been equal to so large a family, and a wife with a lovely woman's liking for lovely things. The younger man had borrowed money of the elder, and Max had been exacting and exorbitant from motives of revenge--revenge nor indeed on Fred himself so much as 011'his wife and her young children--Nellie's children, who were Fred's children also, who filled his kind-hearted brother's sleep with dreams of ruin and bankruptcy. All Ardley knew that a few months •fter old Barton's death sickly Max had proposed to beautiful Nellie Collet; within twelve , months . she had mar­ ried his handsome brother. The beau­ tiful Nellie was not held quite blame­ less in-this affair. She had first flirted 41 little with Fred, and then a good deal tivlty was only the hush before the storm. Acceptances or somet hing were not due yet: MJVX was waiting until everything for their destruction was in legal form. So great was the pressure on her that she told herself a thousand times she herself was going mad. One day in September the doctors de­ clared they could do nothing further for their patient. If he were taken to. London and placed in the hands of specialists an operation might bring light and strength back to his poor mind again. • It was the first word of hope, and Nellie nearly went crazy for joy. She wept, ami53 laughed, and hugged her children to her heart, and wept and laughed again. Then she fainted, and lay insensible for an hour. She recov­ ered consciousness and felt calmer than for years. She would take her Fred to London, the operation would be suc­ cessful, and she would return to Ardley THE BRt'TE PLrXGRO ANT) KNOCKED DOWS THE SADDLER. er. She had .taken presents, a gold .bracelet sfeSir ¥ ̂ diamond cross, from Max. Some went the length of saying he had given' her an engagement ring. But is was never seen in public. Any­ way, though gloomy, taciturn Max diu not open his mouth to a soul about his disappointment, the townspeople knew Se almost died of it. For eight years ibe brothers never spoke. Then some sort of reconciliation took place. But Max" never met Nellie from the day of her marriage, and never exchanged a iWord with one of his nephews or nieces. 1 As became a usurer. Max was a miser, and lived in a style poor enough <io keep, Fred covered with perpetual shame. He rented one room in a mean side street. Out of the house he had not gone for years. His landlady. Mrs. Fraser, a carpenter's widow, said he did not spend five shillings a week on food, and always resented a suggestion that he should allow himself any little indulgence in food or drink, or that he should buy the most homely and neces­ sary articles of clothing. How he had amassed his wealth was well known. Since his disappointment En love he had lived on less than £50 a year. He had speculated and every­ thing he touched turned to gold. It was hard enough to think that a mis­ anthropic curmudgeon like him should make thousands and thousands a year by writing a few letters and 'sending a check from his wretched room, while fine hearty men in the town were hard set to .make a living out of incessant toil from dawn to dark. But that Max should squeeze money out of his heav­ ily handicapped, simple, genial brother TVas shameful, monstrous, inhuman and merited a visible curse on him on earth, to say nothing of what it de­ served hereafter! When misfortune did strike one of the brothers it was not on the bachelor, usurer and miser it fell, but on Fred, Whose affairs were in a desperate con­ dition, and on whom depended a wife and nine little ones. One morning in June Fred was talk­ ing to a customer in a dogcart at his «»pen door. The horse became restive and Fred caught hold of the animal's head. The brute plunged, reared, Woke away from Fred and bolted, knocking down the unfortunate sad­ dler with the shaft and fracturing his skull with the wheel. Wi At first the doctors said ho must die, tout he lived on in spite of what they 3aid, in spite of what they did, and in spite of what they made him swallow. Xet, if lie defeated them by living, the sesult was almost worse than if the.it' prophecy had been fulfilled. Fred Barton's intellect was desperately in jured. He could do nothing at all. He was perfectly quiet, but beyond eating •if and drinking he was like one dead. When spoken to lie made no answer, took no notice. It was only in his sleep lie uttered a sound, and then never more than one word, a name, and ^ not the name of wife or child. Two or three times in the night Mrs. Barton would ilear her husband groan "Max! Max! Max!" as though imploring mercy : V or indulgence from his hard, extortion­ ate, rich brother. For months no change took place in the stricken man. Day to day his af­ fairs drifted from bad to worse, until creditors were pressing on all sides, and the unhappy wife saw nothing for a but bankruptcy, a lunatic asylum for her liusbaud and the poorliouse for lerself and her children. Night after night as she lay awake trying to think - what shape ruin would take she heard with her Fred as well as ever; and in some Way or other business would come right--everything in the world would come right if Fred would only be well again. She lay awake all that night. It was not until she got to bed that she re­ alized the need of a little ready money for tliis journey to town. It would be expensive ami she had not .*1 sovereign in the world, and their credit was all gone now. Twice in that wakeful night she heard her sleeping husband call for mercy to "Max! Max! Max!"' The first time the cry tilled her with chilling fears. Perhaps Max would take action before she could leave with the patient or before Fred's recovery after the operation, and they slfbuld all be homeless after all. The second time she heard her husband's voice a new thought took possession of her. She had not met her old lover since her marriage. Suppose she went to him and began by representing - {bat lie would make more money out of Fred sound in mind than by FlS&pbitfifc of reason. If that did not work Siipon Max she would throw herself at his feet and beg of him for the sake of the love he once bore her to succor her in her worst need: beg of hjm to have mercy upon her blameless children, if he would not show--it to herself.--Ask him to lend her money which would restore afflict­ ed Fred to reason aud his family. When Max s}aw her humble, in tears at his feet, perhaps pity would strike his heart. Next morning, after breakfast. Nellie dressed herself with more care than for months. She fold no oue where she was going, and went by a roundabout, unlikely route. When the door of the mean, two-story house was opened, Mrs. Fraser took up a message that Mrs. Barton wished to see the invalid, and brought word that Mr. Barton was not yet up (he had been very poorly, indeed), but would be glad if Mrs. Bar­ ton would step up-stairs. In the full splendor of her matronly beauty, shedding light aud warmth round her. she entered the mean, starved room. She saw a poor, wasted, waxen-faced wreck of a man on the bed, and all feeling but of pity for hi 111 fled from her, and with a woman's in­ extinguishable impulse toward outfer- iug,. she held out both her hands, cry­ ing; "Oh. Max! I did not think to find you like this." He held out two transparent, white, trembling hands to her. and smiled--a smile that broke her heart to see--a smile of sweet resignation.* Thank you for coming, Nellie. Sit down, dear." This was altogether too much for her. She covered her face with her hands, and sank sobbing on a chair. He waited until her sobbing ceased, and then said: •Whatever happened long ago, dear, may have been, and for a great while, I have no doubt, was for the best. I have had no angry thought for many years. I, of course, heard all that has happened--heard it with the greatest. rief, as I was in every way powerless. The landlady told me what the doctor said yesterday.' My only sorrow is chit I am still powerless. If I could do anything to help poor Fred or you I would, but since the dreadful accident I could not be of any use to him of you, dear." It was inexpressibly painful to hear him call her "dear," and yet that one word from his lips now had some je\- quisite-beauty and pathos, which she would not miss for all the world. "I knew from JFred he never, told you how business matters were between him and me. It was my wish he should not. I have heard of the foolish notion pbned, but there is yet a long time to wait--a longer time, lhost likely, than my time here. But I liaye made my will,, and, dear Nellie, Fred shall have that flvCbundred, of course!" She took down her hands and. looked ,at him out of round, scared eyes. Her face was pale and wan. "And it is this makes liini cqjr out, 'Max! Ma!x! Max!' so pitiful in his sleep!" she said, in a choking voice. "He is not in his right mind, dear, and you should not heed what he says. Poor fellow, he often told me it killed him to take the money. But why should he not? What good is money to me. so long as I have enough to go on with to.the end?" • "And I." she said, in a voice hoarse with remorse, "thinking you had cheat­ ed him with usury, had come to re­ proach you." He smiled the .sweet, pallid smile again. "If there was any money here I would have sent it to you. But there was none. You are going to London with him. Tilingsmust have been very tight with you since the poor fellow was laid up. I can't put my hand on any money, but if you will open that drawer I can give you something for Which you will get ffioney. Hand me the little metal box.", . She 'took the, key, or the dfa wer from his thin hand, and gave him the metal box. He opened it- and shook out the contents on the/counterpatie. . "Take them, dear," lie, said. • "They are really y;ourK" She saw Shining in the morning light oil tlie bed a gold bracelet, a diamond cross and a ruby ring, which had been hers years ago. "I have nothing else worth five sil- lings. They are yours really, you know, and you ought. 10 get 50 pounds' for them. Take them and cure Fred ( with the money, and in three months he will have the 500 whether I live or die." Ten weeks later, when Fred was back from London cured, but not quite his old self yet. Max had passed away. The whole story had been told, and all the shops along the route closed their doors as the funeral passed, and half the townsfolk followed Max to the grave.--Utica (Jlobe. THE FARM AND HOME MATTERS OF INTEREST TO FARM­ ER AND HOUSEWIFE. -- ^ . Creameries Do Not Make So Large a Proportion, of the Butter Used as Many Su r»l>oae--One Reason Why Wheat Is Cheap--Farm Notes. "By Association." 0 A Boston paper tells a story of two ladies who move much in society, but who are troubled by nil inability to re­ member names. One day they received a call from a Mrs. Wheeler, whom they like very much. On her departure the mother said: "Now do let us try to remember her name, because we shall meet her at Mrs. Blank's tea, and we shall want to speak to her." "Oh, I have an idea!" said the daugh­ ter. "Her name is Wheeler, and there are the Wheeler and Wilson sewing- machines, you know. All we have to do is to remember sewing-machines, and the name will come by associa­ tion^ J-- "So it will," said the mother. "What a head you have, my dear!" The two ladies went to Mrs. Blank's tea. Mrs. Wheeler was there, too. The mother was the first to meet her. She stepped up to her with a bland smile, and said, cordially: "Why, how do you do, Mrs. Wilcox?" Soon after the daughter met her, and with equal affability saluted her: "Oh, nij' dear Mrs. Gibbs! So pleased to meet you again!" As a companion story to this, the in­ cident may lie related of another Bos­ ton lady who was introduced one day to a gentleman whose name was Had­ dock. Meeting him a few days after­ ward, she saluted him thus: "How do you do, Mr. Fish?" Farm and "Factory Butter. The idea is generally prevalent that the amount of butter which has of late years been, made by individual dairy­ men was insignificant as compared with the output of creameries and but­ ter factories, but figures given in "Sta­ tistics of the Dairy." by Henry E. Al- vord, chief of the dairy division, shows this belief to have had no foundation in fact, up to 1S90. o j. While the increase in population from 1850 to 1890 was about 170 per cbnt., the production of butter for the' census year 0}' 1800 exceeded that of 1850 by 2SOer cent. This increase was not uniform with either population or butter production, but quite the contrary, as may be seen by the fol­ lowing figures: BITTER. InercVse from 1850 to 18(50.. . Increase 'from 3St50 to 1870.. . Increase from 1870 to 1880..-• Increase £roni 1880 to 385)0.', . POPULATION. Per cent. .. . ; 40.70 . 11.8." ... .50.88 . 4 0 . 4 0 Per cent. .. . .155.58 ... -.22.02 ... .30.08 24.85 Increase from 1-S50 to 1NJJ0.'. . Increase from 1800 to.1870..'. Increase from 1S70 to 1880.. . Increase from 1SSO to 1800.. . Emanating from some other sources the figures given by Mr. Alvord might reasonably be subject to doubt, but Mr. Alvord is not one who would know­ ingly send forth false information nor base an official statement on mere guesswork, and being in a position to know whereof he speaks, his figures may be relied upon as correctly repre­ senting the situation. But it will be a genuine surprise to nearly all who have given the matter a thought to learn that 85 per cent., of all butter produced in this country was, -as late as'.1890. made 011 the farm. Here is what he has to say on tlie subject: 'The most noteworthy fact in con­ nection with the production of butter 011 farms is that. 110thwithstanding the great extension of the creamery sys­ tem and the decline in the amount of lujtter annually exported, such pro­ duction has increased even more rap­ idly than population. To go back to the census of 1850. it is found that the total production of buttci*on farms in 1849 was pounds, or 18.51 pounds per capita of population. In 1800 the amount reported was 459,- 081.872 pounds, or 14.02 pounds per capita. In 1870 the amount reported was 514.092.0S8 pounds, which gave an average of only 18.88 pounds for each inhabitant. ID to this time there fact It is more likely due to the drying up of the tassel, so that irt>t enough pollen is --ned to fertilize all the silk. If there is either a very <*y or very wet time when the tassel Should be dis­ tributing "pollen, these defective ears will be plenty. Heavy rains in one case wash the pollen off, and the dry weather causes the tassel to shrivel' ahd become worthless. The blossom­ ing Is exhaustive. If the season is just right one-quarter of-, the tassels . pro­ duced would make a full crop of well- developed ears. But as in every crop there are more or less defective ears, It is unsafe to cut them out. The suck­ ers usually tassel later, and for this reason they often increase the corn crop 011 the main stalk after the earlier tassels have dried up. ; , \r: Kegs and Younij Chickens, In the twenty-one days that it takes to turn a perfectly fresh fertile egg into a chick, there is more profit in pro­ portion to the capital investeflsthan in any other, farm operation. So the old lady was not so far out of the way when she said she would not sell eggs under a shilling, a dozen, or a cent each, because it didn't pay for the hen's tiine. If an egg is worth one cent, a lively young chick, newly hatched, is worth at. least six cents, if not ten. Six hundred to 1,000 per cent, profit in twenty-one days' time . is not to be sneezed at. There is another side to this, of course, when sickness, or some­ thing else thins 6K the young chicks,, and their dead little bodies are not worth even the cent that the egg costs from wliich they were hatched. It is by looking on- all sides that'conserva­ tive farmers usually called rather slow- are saved from enthusiasm In the egg and poultry business that have de­ ceived and disappointed many who have gone in without experience and have come out with more experience, than they wanted. Rye Straw for Bindinc Corn Stalks. It is a good plan for farmers who grow rye to save a few bundles to be threshed by hand, and use the straw for binding corn stalks. We cut corn much earlier than we used to do. and it is wise'to do so. In using green corn stalks for binding the tops of stooks, perhaps, two or three will break, wast­ ing stalks, spoiling patience and taking time, all of which would be saved by having a wisp of long rye straw to use in binding the tops. There is stfll an­ other advantage of the rye bands. They will hold, while if a dry, hot spell cornea a good many of the stalk bands will break, letting the stook fall apart, and when rains come most of the stalks will be found in the mud. Those who use rye bands for binding corn stalks will never after be vitliout them, even if they have to grow a small piece of rye every year for this purpose alone.-- Ex. American Kingdom for Louis XVIII . Fouche's pet scheme of an American kingdom for Louis XVIII. was further amplified by the suggestion of an An glo-French expedition to establish it. Labouchere having returned to Hob land, much of the negotiation had been carried 011 by letter, and Napoleon, get­ ting wind during his Belgian visit of Ouvrard's presence, suspected trickery and called for the correspondence. Its very existence enraged him; that such matters should have been put in writing was compromising to his entire policy. Ouvrard afterward declared that he personally informed the Emperor of v- hat was going 011. but he could never prove it; the only basis which can be found for his statement consists in the seizure of some hundred and thirty American vessels lying in continental harbors; but base as that deed was, it proves nothing.--Century. Bicycles and Tobacco. We do not exaggerate in the least. The bike craze has infatuated, en­ slaved. at the least calculation 500.000 males who were formerly addicted to the smoking habit. If these 500,000 male slaves to the bike craze have weaned themselves to smoking only two cigars less a day--this must be considered a most moderate calcula­ tion, as th/bikist hardly ever worships less thfm from four to six hours ef the shrine of his wheel--then the con sumption of cigars is decreasing at "the rate of 1.000,000 per day, and the decrease in our cigar production since the bike craze has set in has actually been 700,000,000 per year.--United States Tobacco Journal. ' OH, SI AX'. I"*UID NOT THINK TO FIND YOU I.IKE THIS." Modest Request. A stroiig case of "building better than he knew" is thus narrated by Tit- Bits: It had been the custom in a certain establishment to pay the workers fort­ nightly. This the workmen found in­ convenient, and it was decided to send a delegate to the head of the firm tx5 state their grievance. An Irishman, named Han I)., famed for his sagacity and persuasive powers, was selected for the task. Ho duly waited on the master, who addressed him thus: "Well, Daniel, what can we do for you this morning I10 " been no creamery butter reported, but in 1880 the production of farm but­ ter averaged 15.50 pounds for each in­ habitant. and that of creamery butter 0.58 pounds for each inhabitant, the total average being thus 10.08 pounds. At the eleventh census, however, the production of butter on farms alone averaged 10.88 pounds per capita of the population, and such had been the increase that the total production of butter averaged 110 less than 19.24 pounds per unit of the population." As 110 creamery butter was reported until 1880, when only a little more than one-third of 1 per cent. (.080, to be ex­ act) was thus produced, it, follows that of the 15 per cent, shown by the elev­ enth census, nearly all was gained dur­ ing ten years. There is 110 doubt that the ratio of gain has been much great­ er of late.--New York Times. Dryine Wheat for Seed. There is often an injury to winter wheat seed from heating after the grain Is gathered, which is always done 111 hot weather. If the straw and grain are slightly damp when put in the mow or stack, it will almost surely heat. This heating may not. be injurious in itself, but it leaves the grain damper than before, and it only dries out when cold weather comes. So it. often hap­ pens that when winter wheat of the present year's crop is used as seed, it often is sown when very nearly as damp as it was when garnered. Such wheat germinates slowly. It is already expanded with moisture, and so does not swell in the soil as it should. For this reason many old farmers who grow winter wheat prefer wheat a year old for seed. It is, however, no better than if as good as this year's wheat, which has been thoroughly dried and if possible without any heating in its moist state. Put the seed wheat in bundle 011 scaffolds where it will dry, spreading so that it will not hear. Then thresh it out with the flail and put it in a fruit evaporator for twenty-four hours. By that time the grain will seem much loss plump than new wheat ought to be, but it is all the better seed for that. •Why Horses Slobber. A correspondent of the American Cul­ tivator expresses the belief that the reason why. the second growth of clover makes horses slobber is because of its seeds. Clover seed at present and pros­ pective prices is altogether too dear feed to bo given horses, even the most valuable. But, says the Cultivator, we think our correspondent mistakes in ascribing the slobbering to the clover seed. Neither do we think it Is,the sec­ ond growth of the clover itself. Many years ago we made an investigation, and found that the slobbering only oc­ curred where the lobelia plant, often called Indian tobaeCo; was found mixed with the clover. This lobelia is, as Growine Melons. It is natural at planting time to put some composted stable manure in melon hills. Tho Hoil is then rather damp and too cool for the melons. The manure'• dries and warms it, which gives the seed an earlier start than it could get without the manure. But about this time the man who has mel­ ons with mrnure in the hill wishes he had not put. any there. No matter how well composted the manure, it will not hold its moisture iiito midsummer heats. The best way to water these melon hills is to make deep holes down below the manure in the hills, and then slowly fill and refill them with water until the ground is well saturated. Then if tlie holes are filled with loose soil, and the surface is kept mellow to prevent evaporation, the melons will not suffer for lack of moisture in even the dryest times. CURIOS FOUND IN OLD VESSELS Break insr Up Boats Ice veals t/l any Secrets of Bygone Days. The utilization of apparent waste is well exemplified in the breaking up of hhips of various kinds, for every nail and every chip are put aside for sale; but in the case of vessels of considera­ ble tonnage, and especially of very old craft, finds both curious and'valuable are by no means tare. To give a recent instance, an old wooden vessel that was broken up near Greenwich only a few mouths back revealed a very cti- .lious sight when some old planking in the forecastle had been torn down. Here, nail&l up, were the tAvo mummi­ fied hands of a negro, and in tlie palm of each hand, and transfixed by the same nails that held the hands, were two counterfeit silver dollars. The linuds had been hacked off roughly. A year or two ago the breaking up of an old schooner near Slieerness brought to light beneath tlie inner "skin" of the hull quite an elaborate armament of a very old-fashioned kind, and a friend cf the writer's secured, from among tlie many weapons included, a splendidly made bell-moutlied fiint-lock musket, the stock being marked with a represen­ tation of arm and leg fetters, and the i>ame "Philip Steyne, Boston, Lincoln­ shire." The most curious part of this find was a set of books--a privateer's books, evidently--showing the capture of various French vessels. Tied up in i\ canvas bag, 190 giiineas in gold were found a year or two back during the breaking up of an old vessel lying be­ tween Birkenhead and New Brighton. With the money were found, too, a most curiousand unique set. of foreign playing cards, some loaded dice, and three mag­ nificent pieces of amber. All these were found in the false bottom of a woOtlbu bunk. But even during "the breaking up of quite moddhi vessels n'hicli have be­ come wrecks remarkable finds, particu­ larly relating to smuggling contriv­ ances, are by 110 means rare. In a por­ tion of a considerable wreck on the southeast coast only the winter before last the shipbreakers found, hidden in a part of the engine-room, a quantity of valuable jewelry and a number of newspaper clippings and published por­ traits relating to a murder and robbery at St. Louis, in the United States. The jewelry found was that described in tlia reports as missing. Two of the men employed in the engine-room were drowned in the wreck, but, so far as all inquiries made by the police could show, there was 110 clew to attach eith­ er the drowned men or tiie engine-room bands with the published descriptions and portraits of tlie murderer. The mystery was never cleared up. The manager of a shipbreakor. a man who has been for forty years in the business and who was especially sought out by the writer, told the latter that he ^>uld cite some hundreds of cases where hid­ ing plrices for small articles smuggled bv c*icers and men had been found, Substitutes for Wheat. Possibly one of the reasons for the low prices of wheat the past few years is that so many substitutes have been found for it as human food. We still use a great deal of wheat, but in cities especially wheaten, bread is less tlie staff of life that it used to be. The use of oat meal has increased, and it daily forms part of the nutritive ration, and very good nutrition it is, too. We use far more fruit than formerly, and also more potatoes. The latter are not so good in nutrition as wheat, and for this reason their increased use is not for our advantage in health and strength. lake all other starcy foods, potatoes are difficult to digest, and1 should only lie eaten in moderation, ex­ cept by those whose digestion is strong. these being in connection" with nearly every part of the hulls broke up. and lie produced several articles that had been found by himself or his men. Many of these were false or duplicate bills of lading, and there were counter­ feit foreign coins, a pair of heavy gold earrings with a turquoise in each-- probably stolen from one foreign sea­ man by another--a hand grenade with a cap to it, an old wig with three small gold nuggets wrapped in it. and many other small trifles. "At Rotherhithe some years ago," said he, "in the fore- peak of a very old wooden merchant­ man, we found the skeleton of a lad jammed behind the skin of the vessel. The lad luid been a stowaway in all probability. A gentleman at Rother­ hithe keeps the skull now, or did till lately." every farther kudwV'a most powerful emetic. Even 011 land1 where it is abun­ dant, it. does uot.get large enough to go into the first crop of hay. But after the first, and heavy clover crop is removed If ye please, sir. I've been sint as a ] the lobelia makes a very rapid growth, people have that I am verjyich, and that I lent money at usury to poor Fred. As to being rich, I never had more than 80 pounds a year from the money my father left me. I never spent, more than half that. Wh ui Fred came to me first I iiad saved a lew hundred pounds. I gave him them. Since then I gave him all I had saved. an<f fifteen hundred' of the capital, iter husband'cftfe upon his brother in I dear. I wish it-was thousands. .There* Sthttee tones of .entreaty for mercy. ary only five hundred left, but I could Max had not yet taken steps to turn noc get that under six months' notice. 4l»em ajl into the street; but this inac- I I gave notice when the accident Uap- diligate by the workers to ask a favor of ye regardin' the paymint of our wages." "Yes, and what do they desire?" queried the master. •> "Well, sir, it is the desire of mesilf, and it is also the desire of ivory man in the establishment, that we receive our fortnight's pay^every week." A girl should never ask a man if he loves ..her. If -a man likes pie, he wast<^ nofltime saying so: be ears it. Most people do not want to know the trtith, If it is disagreeable. and its blue flowers are often very plen­ tiful where clover is grown 011 low, moist groundl The Tassel of Corn. The flower of the corn plant is di­ vided ipto two portions, the tassel, or male section, which furnishes the poll­ en, and the silk. which is the female portion of the flower, which receives it. Each thread of silk carries some of the pollen to the ear, and there a grain of corn is formed. The profusion o{J silk is, so great that the grains of ivorn are compacted on the ear as close- \lf SM possible. When this is not the Facts for the Farmer. Mice love pumpkin seeds, and will be attracted to a trap baited with them when they will pass by a piece of meat. A11 excellent axle-grease: Tallow, eight pounds; palm oil, toil pounds; plumbago, one pound; heat and mix well. To help the early lambs, the ewes should have a liberal meal of oatmeal gruel, a little warm, every morning, as soon as tlie lamb is born. The feet of foals very seldom re­ ceive the' care and the frequent in­ spection so necessary to their future protection of form and soundness. Horses' feet from this cause alone fre­ quently become defective and 1111- 'hoaltliy. Ignorance and carelessness are, perhaps, equally to blame. It is tlie business of the farmer to ascertain if lie has any stock that it do&s not pay to keep. It is suicidal business policy to be feeding and shel­ tering stock that do not pay for their keep. A correspondent of an exchange sug­ gests to prevent apple trees from splitting where they grow in forks, tak­ ing a sprout that is growing in one branch und grafting it 011 the other. The branch will grow with the tree and become a strong brace. A difference of a very few days makes a great difference in all kinds of crops some seasons. Clover sown just before a beating rain would be­ come imbeded 111 the soil, and would grow better and stand more dry weather than if -1 sown immediately "after .the rain. * „ Owing to the location of some sta­ bles, it is impossible to get much sun­ light in them; but in the greater num­ ber of barns, where the -cows'stand In a row next to the side, it would be an easy matter to put in a few windows. One window for every two cows should be the rule, and they may be swung open to throw .the manure out of them, W necessary. If the sKm can shine di­ rectly on the cows, so much the bettec. Negi*> Stories. A correspondent of a Chicago nsws- paper in the South has been making a study of the stories which the negro people tell, and insists that the current stories attributed to them are changed and embellished by white men, to suit the white man's idea of what a story should be. The real negro story, this writer says, generally has 110 "come- out" at all, aivl the negro mind is just as well suited with it in that shape as iii any ot^ier. As an example, he re­ peats a story told,him by a colored- man about a haunted house. An old cabin had long been uninhab­ ited because it was said to have a "lia'nt." Finally a white man offered fifty dollars to any negro who would go and live in It and prove that it was not haunted. A certain "Old Eph." who did not care for "ha'nts," accepted the chal­ lenge, and taking his pipe and a jug, went to the place, built a big fire in the fireplace, sat before it, lit his pipe and drank from his jug, and about mid­ night fell asleep. Soon afterward he Rwoke. The fire was low. As Eph stirred to replenish it a ghostly baud was laid 011 his shoul­ der. "See lieali." tlie mysterious presence said--and it is now Uncle Eph himself who is telling the sto(y i--"<ley ain't but two on us heah!" " 'No. an' dey ain't gwine to be but one 011 us heah in about a minute," I says, an' I done lit out. I run au' run. an' jes' as I drapped down on a log to res', he says, tappin' me again: " 'Dat wuz a mighty fine race, young fellah!' _ " 'Yes,' I says, 'an' doy's gwine to.be anudder race right now!' " And here Uncle Eph lets go the story. However, another story told by the same correspondent shows that the negro mind is capable of the form of logical Story-telling which is known to 'his white brethren as the-"yarn." ? During a well-digging, the man in the well and an assistant at the top were engaged in a war of wit, greatly ap­ preciated by the lounging by-stauders. Peter Railway, at the top. had been worsted, apparently, by Harrison Crump, down in the well, and had re­ lapsed into silence. But some oue said something about the number of Har­ rison's children, which was great. "Ha'son," Peter hereupon spoke up, with deliberation. "I were gv.-ine past yo* house 'bout five o'clock yisterday L mnwnin', an' I frowed a brick on de SARGENT, THE ARTIST. One of the R-oat Prominem; Figures in the Modern Art Wbrld.' v" ' ' " The high reputation of John Singer. Sargent, the painter of: this remarka- J ble work, makes him one of the. most prominent figures in the modern world of art. No American artist lias occu­ pied such an exalted position as he has attained before reaching his 40th year; none is more celebrated in Paris, Lon­ don, and the other art centers of Eu­ rope. He has painted some of his best portraits in the United States, and "La Carmenc;ita," the picture which repre­ sents him in the famous Luxembourg Gallery in Paris, was painted in New \ork, and first publicly shown at the exhibition of the Society of American Artists. His career has been a cos­ mopolitan one ,and his youth was pass­ ed among surroundings very different from those that effect the intellectual bent of most American boys who be­ come painters and sculptors. ™ ., " He was born in Florence, Italy, in 1850, whither his parents had gone to live some years before. Ills father was.' Dr. Fits-Hugh Sargent, a Boston phy­ sician, and his mother, Whose -maiden name was Newbold, arid who belonged to a well-known family in Philadelphia, possessed the accomplishment of paint­ ing very cleverly in water colors. Edu­ cated partly in Italy, and partly in Ger­ many, young Sargent entered the Acad­ emy of Fine Arts at Florence at a com­ paratively early age, and before he. was .. 18 had spent several years in art .study. He learned to paint in water colors, as well as to draw with the pencil or char­ coal, and One summer, when he was in the Tyrol with his mother, Frederick Lelghton, not yet a peer and president of the Royal Academy, but a famous ^English artist notwithstanding, meet­ ing them, commended the boy's work, and counseled him to continue. (The serious and earnest side of Sar- geht-'^cliaraoter always impressed his l'ellow-students in t\iose ,Latirir,Quarter days. He had 110 ta3te for dissipation, though he was by no means puritanical. The lighter side of his temperament found satisfaction in music, the theater, and literature, and in the keen appre- ciatiomof everythiagin the tastes and ainucseirients of-fchj^fy that had a new or original flavor.^Though au eager reader, he was bookman, but an observer. "Aleit" is the adjective which perhapsbostexpresses the quality of liis predominating characteristic. He was quick to see, and ready to absorb, everything that struck him as novel.-- Century. Washington's Kinliarrassment. "But Washington *»>ok pains to suc­ ceed,* says a writer in Harper's Maga­ zine. in telling of George Washington's life at home in Virginia. He had a great zest for business. No details es­ caped him when once he was in the swing of the work. He was not many •years in learning how to make the best tobacco in Virginia, and to get it recog- nized-as- such-in JCiiglantL Six months before Washington's marriage he had been chosen a member of the House of Burgesses for Fred­ erick County, the county which had been his scene of adventure in the old days of surveying in the wilderness, and in which ever since Braddock's fatal rout he had maintained his headquarters, striving to keep the bor­ der against the savages. The young soldier was unused to as­ semblies, and suffered a keen embar­ rassment to find himself for a space too conspicuous in the novel parlia­ mentary scene. He had hardly taken his seat when the gracious and stately Robinson, Speaker of the House and Treasurer of the Colony these twenty years, rose, at the bidding of the Bur­ gesses, to thank him for the services of which all were speaking. This sudden praise, spoken with gen­ erous warmth there in a public place, was more than Washington knew how to meet.. He got to his feet when Mr. Speaker was done, but ho could utter not a syllable. He stood there, instead, hot with blushes, stammering, all a- tremble from head to foot "Sit down, Mr. Washington!" cried the Speaker. "Your modesty is equal to your valor, and that surpasses the power of any language that I possess." To Assist Wales. Queen Victoria has come to the as­ sistance of the Prince of Wales in con­ nection with the approaching marriage of his daughter, Maud, to Prince Carl, of Denmark. She has not only defray­ ed the entire cost of the trousseau, but also settled upon the Princess the sum ef $500,000, which will give her an in­ dependent income of $20,000 a year. The Queen has done the same for" each of her own daughters. She would have done likewise for the Duchess of Fife had not the Duke indicated his prefer­ ence of taking his royal wife without any dowry or settlements from her own relatives, asking only in return that be should not. be compelled to follow the example of Lord Lome and keep up a royal household of equerries and ladies in'waiting for his wife. Of course, the Prince of Wales was supposed to pro­ vide for his daughters when, a few years ago, a sum of $200,000 yas added to the allowance whiclf he ^cfeived from the nation. But his financial em­ barrassments are so great that he finds it difficult even to pay the allowance of the Duke of York out o£ this Simi,J3iuch less provide for his daughters. And so the Queen has to step. 111 and furnish the settlements which have been de­ manded by the„ PJ»ht8„of the .bride­ groom.--'Chicago R^Cordfev a roof o' yo'. house an' hollered 'Fiah!' 'Fo' de La wd. I never seed so many chillen as come runnin' out! I goes on to town, an' I come along back 'bout sundown las' night, an* law's -sakes, black cliillen was stiy runnin' out o* yo' house!" ' Valuable Greek CoiiM. Sir Edward Bunbury's magnificent collection of Greek coins was sold for ever $42,000 in an eight days' sale lately in London. Among the highest prices were $905 for a Syracuse demarateion of 450 B. C.. with a head of Nike, crowned with olive, commemorating the great victory at the Himera, the rarest of Greek coins: $000 for a deka- dinCh 111 orKiuion,«with a head of Perse­ phone; $(*>05 for a stater Of Elis, having on it. an eagle with a hare In its claws. A tetradraehm with a head of Arethusa brought $402; a gold stater of Taren- tum, with the head of Demeter, $350; a tetradraehm of Tliurii, with head of Atliena, having her helmet adorned with .the figure-of Sky 11a, $525;̂ me pfi Agrigentum, with two eagles standing over a supine hare, $450. . •' : What a howl there would be if the girls had to work half as hard for poor wages, as they work to secure worth-' less meal f

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