The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

l l i i l .‘o. You observed the hat of the lady ~--...- a white tangled mass at: the foot of the tree. An egret raises herself above the rim of merge-7t on which 5 e Sits. of: and the tiny pierces her. She l whirls down. lying white and motion- less. The little ones (rape and cry. but no food come. The father was killed on the tree near by. One by one. out of the nests. off from the limbs of the trees, here. there. any- who waiked in front of you down the whereâ€":for the birds are all about. and fashionable part of the main street the l ‘50 Blwld “1111 the breedlng‘ fever that other day. . . . noticed. perhaps. that on my lady's hat am mme tall, pliant plumes. long as tires of the ostrich. but far more beautiful. with delicate filaments as light as finest work on a. winter win- dow . Them hug. filmy plumes on my lady's Hat are the plumes of the white egret. Naturally. they are pure white. . . . but pure white not being barbaric m1) for the use of civilization-â€" though it used to serve Southern Inâ€" dians who wore these plumes-they are dyed any color of the rainbow. los- ing thereby none of their gracefuilness and only some of their beauty. My lady's hat; if worm Loo lOng, will liaise its purpose and cease to attract. She must therefore change it. The plumes in the new ha't must be of dif- ferent odor. For these new plumes she books to her milliner. The milliner lboka tn the great wholesale supply house of the metrOpolris. The whole- sale stumply blouse looksâ€"and with much anxiety, these daysâ€"to Thomas Jones. market motor, or technicality speak- ing, plumage hunter. Thomas Jones knows where there is an egrct most. or as he will call it. a “white crane roost." Really, he does not mean a roost so much as a nesting-ground, where thousands of birds nest in a smallll tract: of the iso- llated wet forest or "deadâ€"tree swamp." Such rookeries were once common in Bforida, but are so no longer. Thomas Jones may know of one in Mississippi. Iouisiana or Texas, and holds himself tortima‘te if he does. for they are scarce enough lac-day. . Mini? you. the plumage hu’nuter docs not go into the roost untilI spring has well advanced. W hen he reaches the roost Law lbw trees, bushes and grassy brush clumps are full of nests. and the 119815 are or soon will be full of young birds. 'llhc busy life of the colony goes on. The parents come and go, traveling no one knows how. far to get food for the gaping young birds in the neat. Thomas Jones notes the high. projecting snag of the tallest tree near the edge of the colony. There is a white crane on that limb. It seems to him there always is one there. In short, it is a habit of the bird to abight on the highest branch offering itseif. Out of the thousands of nests in the vast colony. how can the parent egrct pick it's own nest. since will look so much alike? Thomas Jones often wonâ€" ders about that. and sometimes laughs little to himself. The parent cgrci. has been out after food. and returns the co'cny. Without. a second's esitation he picks out his own nest,- and “tunes for an instant; directly above it. high up in‘ the air.‘ Then he lets his long legs drop straight down nd throwing his wings up. just falls down through the air. feet first-ill the most comical and awkward-looking! way in the would. though he never mis- ses his nest by an web. but lands Just where he wanted to. As he thus downstairs out of the air, his .onr pl'umes. attached in a little clump a his shoulders and spreading out over is back as far dnvn as the ibngest ail feathers. flare up in the air. versed and standing up over his ‘ead as he drops. as a white garment: Would in the resistance of the air.‘ (in these plumes Thomas Jones fixes his eye. He shoots an ugret and sat- isfies himself that. the 'pliunes_ are "ripe," i.o.. in their prime condition. Then he builds his camp on the best ground he can find near by. and the next. day is ready to go to work. Suiciy ’l‘homns Jones is not gorng to kill these. birds ri ht in the nesting season “hen the eilplcss young are in the nest and must die nine if their parents die! That cannot be _pos« sibTul you say. Yet that is precisely what. he is going to do. It is not his fault. he will tell you. that the plumes are not good in the fall. winter. or eariy spring, and are not prime until the height. of the breeding season. are are the phones. found at much bop relished at much danger. says Thomas Jones, blind and deafâ€"further than that. and there is the price of- fered me for them. so much an ounce. perhaps 840 an mums. or perhaps as .ow as $140 a pound. Is- this right. to kiill Illness birds at this time? I am not ulnar that we should ask this ques- tion my more of Thomas Jones than of the wholesale millincrs' supply human, or of the retail) milliner, or of every lady on the street. Only the fact remains. horrible. unspeakable. that NIB gathering of the pi'umes is a harvest of death. a harvest untimely. disastrous. because it is reaped at the sewing time of life. livery vgrci. kiilczi for its plumes is killed when it: is but does through its blind. natural lbw or its Offspring. and when its death means thedeath ofall its help- ltsx young. Does the wholcsaie man know this? Ibo; be rare? Does any- body know or rural is ‘it not the one thing to be unnumbered. that my lady most have her plum." . . . . \\'hiteâ€"-â€":hoy an) while. those plumes. It is mockery. 'l‘lr-y showid be the binckcst sable. and they should stain [fuck the white fingers that caress them. Bat Thomas Jones cannot stop to argue. ‘1‘!» next day he pushes quietly into nine edge of the nesting ground. Bi! tics his hm: firmLy within easy range of the tall snag he saw the day before. He takes out his rifleâ€"the .22 allot will make no wise. and it will serve his purpose perfectly. There is m .3ng on the tail mag. Taking o steeds tin. Thomas Jones fixes. and the shuts down. deed. One or two "dear birds start on their perches in the was true. but soft» but. One Manure .too. whirboutandlio in You have not~ ‘has yielded twenty victims. they will not leaveâ€"the slender white That tall snag Thomas Jones has not moved from his boat. H_‘e has over 20!) birds down. ' Eb can ted by his cartridge boxes. for he. rarely misses a shot. It is easy shooting. After noon Thomas Jones oes out: and gathers up his cut of the knife and the clame of plumes is off. The carcass of the egret is left. birds meet their doom. living- . Two hundred carcasses of egrets are left lyin . That many more to-morrow. " ny more than that the next day, for by that time the waiiing of the young of the first day's victims will have ceased. From then on. day by day, increasing In threeâ€" fold ratio. the harvest of death goes on. steadily, Pitilessly, on the sowing grounds of if . out in the silent wtldâ€" erness where the birds have tried to hide their homm. In less than a. month! it is over. The liong white lines no longer cross the country going to and from) the feeding grounds. The white forms no lenger appear on the naked trees. Doubly naked. the forest stands in silent desoâ€" lation. Sodden and discolored the once white forms below the trees are sink- ing into the slime. From beneath the trees and from the nests up in the trees a great stench goes up: Not a. bird young or old. is left alive. The old ones stayed tiff death? came, bound by the great instinct of nature to re- main With their young. ‘ .Jones'. a little yellower, 'but not suck, for he is a heallthyl man. packs up his feathers carefully and bias him to the raii'wa for a swift and secret jour~ ney out o the country. . Hie wonders where he can find another roost next year. Behind him is desolation. -â€"E. GOUGH'. ..._.___.c _*.- ._.. .. A MILLIONAIRE’S FREAK. â€"â€" How Ibc Founder of Monte Carlo Gambler! once and 011cc. Only. Mons. Bla‘nc, the founder of the Ca.- sino at Monte Carlo, which really means Monte Carlo itself, was very ec- centric. If he had ever been young there is no record of the fact, for he is always deseribed as a little old genâ€" tleman, clad in a long coat, and walk- ing with‘ the aid of a yellow cane, without which he was never seen dur- ing his waking hours. Though enormously wealthy, says the London Mull. he was excessively thrifty in trifling matters, and would baggie like an old clothes man to save a franc on articles for his personal use, though he thought nothing of ex- pending hundreds 'of francs in beau- tifying the Casino and the miniature city. He was never known to play at the tables. excepting on one occasion, and then it was a somewhat costly ex- perience. While on a visit to the Wiesbaden Casino, with Mme. Blane, he was in the habit of accompanying her on a morning stroll each day. During one of these walks madame complained of the heat of the sun, and requested her husband to buy her a parasol . Ac- cordingly the two entered the shop, where madame selected a very pretty article, worth eighty francs-«about £3 -is.â€"which M. Blane. with a scowl and a. muttered grumble, paid. When the casino opened at noon great was the astonishment of the croupiers and the visitors to see M. Blam: place two louis on the red at one of the trcnte et quarante tables. The attendants hastened to get him a chair. and this he declined, saying he was only going to remain a. few min- uets. When the cards were dealt. he won. and. taking up his winnings, left the original stake on the table. For a second time he won, and had now got back the price of the umbrella. But not content he ventured another two lollis which this time he lost. Some- what annoyed at this the founder of the place doubled the stake and won, thus getting back the cost of the um- brella aga‘n. Determined. however. to regain his two iouis, be staked them again. only to see them raked in‘ by the bank. paniments are seldom anything but strong. dry wind. The conditions as effecting stock are seen to be very different. but the PRACTICAL FARMING. » “NM‘MW‘W‘W‘\\~\\ ‘\ ~ lVINTER PROTECTION FOR STOCK. The writer has lived where 30 de- grees below zero might be expected with pre-existing rain, snow and mud. In his present home, 10 degrees be- low may be expected, but the accom- changes are relatively as great from one temperature to another and are as sudden, but the changes are not so sev- ere on stock here for there is seldom an excess of moisture. \Vith practical experience with stock in both sections and knowing the ef- fects on the human system, I know that close, tight buildings are needed in the one, and shelter against the wind in the other is absolutely essen- tial. , Acquired education is not. necessary to teach the farmer that a certain amount of feed under all conditions is necessary to keep up the heat of the body. It is natural for heat to pass outward and upward and if the sur- roundings are cold this is done too rapidly, cold takes its place and an‘ ex~ cessive amount of food is required to keep up the animal heat. and if the cold is severe, the animal becomes chill- ed and loam in flesh. and in extreme cases, parishes. . An animal hes stored up much sur- plus flesh during the warm months and this IS valuable. It will pay to save it. Food that produces heat, like the fuel we burn, is expensive. It Will pay to be economical with it. Buildings cam be made so warm, that even in the most severe weather, stock in them Will be comfortable and there need not be a particle of waste of the animal heat. Are not boards that will last a. lifetime cheaper than food that lasts but a day i .But single boards are not sufficient in severe climates. There must be such a surrounding wall that Will absolutely keep out. the cold air; then there is no reason why stock’ may not gain as well as during the summer season. Some may say that they not only can keep stock in good condition, but can put them in the best of flesh, in the open field. That may be. You can build a large enough fire in the open field to keep yourself from freezing, but; would it not be more comfortable and cheaper to have a smaller fire in your house? So it would be withi your stock to have them in close stables. In very mild climates with dry wea- ther as we usually have it here, that Which Will keep out the wind and shelter them from the occasional storms is all that is necessary. The need is not so great and. the expense not so much, but just as profitable to provxde the shelter. There are no sections of our country but what have some kind of material out of which these buildings or shelt- ers can be built and at a cost that can well be afforded. tâ€"â€".â€" STRINGlHALT. of his hind legs on being moved over in his stall or backed out of it; he is said to be "stringhaited..” but a horse may be affected. yet not show this ev- idence. It may be necessary to take him out of the stable and make him move from right to left and left to right several times before he will show the jerk of stringhait. At times only one leg may be jerked, and when this is so the hock needs careful manipua- lion over the seat of bone spavin beâ€" cause, when spavim is in process of de- velopment, the pain occasioned by moving the horse causes the hock to be jerked up.~ At times there is no evid- ence of spavin either by feeling or by sight yet the spavin is in process of development. Such cases are termed latent. spavin. These cases should be separated from true cases of stringhalt. which at times puzzle the veterinary surgeon not a little. Spavin willyieid- Lo treatment, but stringhalt will not yield; in other words ,is an incurable Thus he kept on winning and losing. disease. but. never able to recover the two louis. fill at last he found himself twenty-five louis cut. all the gold his pocket book contained. A thousand franc nolc 110 had was quickly changed and sunllowcd up. Then. becoming exaspcralcd. be cashed his check for a large sum and. sitting down, cum- mcnrcd the Millie in earnest. llour after hour passed, but M.,Blanc. h's eyes fixed on the trearherous paste- lroards. never budgcd from his post. lie kept. on planking down heavy stakes until the last deal was declar- cd. when. calmly rising. be seized his yellow cane and made his way through the gaping onlookers into the Open air. 0n reaching home he found Mme. Blanc playing "patience" with a pack of cards. the offending parasol being on tn.- table. "Madame." said the old gentleman. “do you know what that thing has cost me?" llais oui. mun eighty francs." "Madame." rejoined he. “you are mistaken I have just paid the till 41.000 francs." Madame's sunshade had cost no less than £8640. T‘NO POSSIBILITIES. That young men stays late! hemust be in love with vou. Julia. I don't. know. papa: perhaps he is only hoping that you will make him a present of a match. mm. "It cost you Although this is so, thousands-of dol- lars are annually spent by farmers, breeders and owners on quack remedies. Stringhalt is classed in the list of nervous disorders, it being an involunt- ary convulsive action in the muscles of the extremcties, which, when healthy, are governed by voluntary nerve in~ fluence. Considerable discussion has taken place from time to time among leading veterinarians and scientists in regard to the true nature of "slringhait." but nothing further than that the disease is of servo-muscular origin has been discovered. It has a‘so been entertd on the list of hereditary diseases. It is beyond doubt an unsoundness. for it is a progressive disease. increasing in severity with age. In a. legal sense it is held that “any disease or impedi- ment which does at this present or in its near future development interfere with an animal's usefulness" is an un- soundness. Thus if the seller of a horse affected even in the slightest de- gree with stringhalt tells the intend- ing purchaser that the jerks are no- thing. he warrants the horse sound and all right. Unsoundneas is legally de- fined thus: "If at the time of sale the horse has any disease, which either actively does diminish the natural usefulness of the animal so as to make him less capable of work of any description. or which in its ordinary progress will diminish the natural usefulness of the animal. “me h _ _ made at: the factory than in most farm n 8’ (use Jerks “9 one or and a large amount of hard this is unsoundness; or if the horse has. either from dmease.’ or accident-under- gone any alteration of structure that either actually does at the time or inI its ordinary effects will diminish the natural usefulness." It will beseen. therefore, that to warrant a. colt or adult horse only slightly affected is a serious business for the seller, for it renders him liable to have the horse returned on his hands at any time. Horses affected with stringhalt have performed certain work very well, going forward on a. level road. drawing a fair load, but in back- ing to unload difficulty comes about. and in drawing a load up hill there is a great waste of nervous energy and resultant prostration. CARE OF YOUNG HEIFERS. If you keep the young heifers off in one corner of the stable, and feed and care for them after all the other ani- mals have been attended to. and that in an indifferent manner, they are likely to prove poor property, when they becomeniilkers. It is a. popular fallacy, says Farmers' Home that young stock require” only second-class feed and care, but heifers ought to be treated on equal terms with milch cows. All the future usefulness of a milk animal may depend on how she fares before her first pregnancy. True, she does not need a. milk-forming diet, but she re quires a tissue and bone-fonming one for a uture freserve force when she be- comes a. cow. The amount of flesh on a young animal’s hack does not neces- sarily represent physical force, vital- ity or sound tissue. It may be merely fat; without a. relative development of sinew, bone and muscle. ’A heifer will stand more exercise than a COM bl“ she wants just as warm a stable, and should not be made to bow down and Worship the straw stack. Plenty of 3094 1133’ with a supplement of roots. 01‘ m the winter of hay scarcity, ensilagg and cut straw, with a. light grain addition. form excellent rations.‘ The obl‘wt should be to combine foods so as to Bet growth of a sound, permanent charact- er. The worst enemy of tuberculosns is sunshine, and the average cow stable Is an ideal place for the spread of this disease because it lacks the means of letting in the light. The Practical iDairyman says that “probably nine- tenths of the stables have been conâ€" structed with a view to the easy handâ€" ling 0f the manure. This has been the chief aim, and convenience in feeding and the comfort of the cows, has too often been lost sight of. It is well en- ough to get the manure out of the stable with as little work as possible. but it would be more profitable if bet- ter care was taken; of it than is usually the case." Owing to :the location- of some stables, it is impossible to ‘get much sunlight in them, but in the greater number 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 ev- ery two cows should be the rule and may be swung open to throw the man- ure out of them if necessary. ‘ If the sun can shine directly on-the cows so much the better. CREAMERY BUTTER. Better butter and cheese can be work will he lifted from the housewifc's shoulders. it is advisable to take the manufacture of butter and checs» out of the home and put it into the fact- my. There are some difficulties to ov- ercome in co-operative creameries. One careless patron will make a. great deal of trouble. He must be compelled to adopt better methods or to leave the organization. It is best to have the management vested in one person sub- ject to a board of directors represent- ing the creamery. It is not advisable to call a meeting of the stockholders except when officers are to be elected. Great care must be taken in the estab- lishment of a creamery. Be sure that there are enouin cows to support one and that the patrons have some know- ledge of dairy work. -Vâ€"._.__._oâ€"â€"â€"â€"_ FRASER RIVER FISH. Over 300.000 Cases of Salmon the Result 1‘. This Hanson's ('allch. During the past season over 800,000 cases of salmonâ€"it} pounds to the case â€"-have been packed on the Fraser River. lritisb Columbia. Prices are depressed, yz-t new canneries are be- ing erected at New \\’estminster and Stoves-ton, at the mouth of the river. The bulk of the pack goes to England in sailing vessels. the voyage round Cape Horn occupying about five months. and the rate is from 2.5 to 35 shillings per ton. The. Canadian Pacific carries: that destined for the eastern provinces. Averaging the price at 83.5" per case. this year's pack is worth 33.000.000. The salmon make their way along the shores of Boundary Bay. in United Slales territory. to the Fra- ser. and Americans at Blaine catch vast numters in traps. They ship thousands to Stevoslon and New Wi-stâ€" minslcr free of duty before the "run" begins. at (home places. as wc-ll as af- terward. The (‘anadian runners pro- fit by this traffic, whiz-h not only pro‘ vides them with early fish but renders them independent. of their employee's and prevean strikes. ()n the other hand the employees regard it as in- jurious to their interests. Americans are freely allowed to take out license-i for fishing on the Fraser River. 'l‘h: Canadian alien labor questinn seems to have dropped out of notice thwre entirely. cossmcuous Minis. Gibbsâ€"\th nobhy trousch young Mr. Burlinghcm wears. Gidvtsâ€"Yve. especially at the knees. ...._.___... m .._....._ unionâ€"Wm. nLL. KITCHRNER WILL TAKE 1'5 08 SPITE BRITISH ORDERS. ~11.â€" (Tlllnax or: (‘onalct Between the Slfllll' and (‘romcr and Ground! â€"- Egyptia- lntereata lo no Considered Above Que- [lens of English Policy. Aceordiug to a. dispatch to the London Daily Mail from Cairo. the advance of the Angloâ€"Egyptian expedition to- ward Omdurman, on the Nile, opposite the site of Khartoum. where the Kha- lifa has concentrated his troops for I final stand, will be resumed in Jan- uary. The Egyptian troops will be used. as it is not practicable to spare the necessary British force. The above announcement constitutes aclimax of aconflict which has arisen between Gen. Sir Horatio Kitchener. the Sirdar, or Commander-inâ€"chief. o! the Egyptain army. on the one side. and on the other Lord VCromer, the British plenipotentiary at Cairo, and Gen. Sir Francis Grenfell. the com- mander of the British army of occu- pation in Egypt. The British Govern- ment. finding that, owing to the insurâ€" rection in India. and the condition of affairs at the Cape. it would be im- possible to spare any English regl- ments for a Nile expedition, and anx- ious at the same time that English troops should be the principal factor in the reconquest of the Soudan. so as to give to Great Britain a right to its possession against any other Eu- ropean power, gave orders to Gen. Kitchener that NO FURTHER ADVANCE should be made by him beyond Abu- Hamed. In defiance of these orders the Sir- dar. taking the ground that he is at the present moment an Egyptian ofâ€" ficer. rather than an English one. and that Egyptain interests should be conâ€" sidered above more questions of Eng- Lish policy, pushed on. to Berber, which he captured without. the slightest difâ€" ficulty, to the huge delight of the ‘lnglish and Egyptain people at large. but; to the dismay of the British Gov- ernment. (Berber is so short a.(lls< tanl‘e from Khartoum. and there is so little impediment to the navigation of' the Nile between the two places, that last week a great outcry was raised where when the English Governman announced officially that orders had been given that there should be no further advance for some time to come beyond Berber. public indignation be- ing all the more intense by reason of the fact that the dervishes have shown thembeives so thoroughly cowed by the rapidity of Kilnchener's advance. that there is every reason to believe that Khartoum will fall as easily as Berber, providing the Mahdi is not alâ€" lowed sufficient time to recover his strength and prestige. During the Course of last week. and since this announcement, reports have been reaching London from Cairo to the effect of strained relations existing between. the Sirdar and Lord Cromer. owing to the Sirdar refusing to obey the orders of Lord Cromer against an advance. and likewise in consequence of the Sirdar's refusal to communicate ins plans, or to give even the slightest Information concerning his movements. either to Lord Cram-er or to Gen. Sir Francis Grenfell. The Sirdar is de- termined to conduct the present cam- paign entirely ON HIS 0\VN LINES. with nothing but Egyptian troops, and to brook no interference or interven- tion which would diminish the glory of his reconquest of the Soudan. Al- though an J'Inglish General. he is in the pay and servcic of the Kbedivc. to whom he has been loaned. His first duty is to the Kiwdivo, and it is prac- tically impossible for the British Gov-« ernment to stop from making a dash upon Khartoum. since. even were pres- sure to be brought. on the Khedive, the Sirdar could easily create a momcm Lary interruption of the telegraph line which alone connects him With Cairo. So that. in spite of the announcement of the English Government to the contrary. made aweek ago. in spite of its orders, and in spite of the ab- sence of British troops, Khartoum will be taken by the Sirdar some time be- tween this and January with his "(x‘yp~ sles," as the native soldiers are called, and the blood of Gordon will be areng~ ed; that: Gordon whose spectre. one so graphically portrayed by an English statesman some time ago as bow-ring over the. ruins of Khartoum and Lockâ€" oning his country men on to wipe nu! the national disgrace of his (Eczurlion and death by ridding the Soudan of the sanguinary and allâ€"devastating despo- llsm of the Mahdi. *- SOM l'l CURIle {S (fOMt’LiMEN‘l'h‘. The complimv-nla paid by the ting iish p0 ir are often put in an amusing way. One old lady who was very fond of the rector said to Mr. ’llernays; You know. sir. us likes the rector, '15 cars are so cicanf~surcly an odd rca~ son for parochial affection. Another admirer once declared with regard to the whole staff of clergy: You an: all so plain. a word of high recommen- dation. but as for the vicar. ’c’a beau- tiful! The greatest compliment ibough at the same time til-'2 roost cur- aous Mr. ilernayn cvcr lward. was paid by a working man to a certain bishop famous for his simple kindlincsa: What i likes 'Lout the bishop is 'e's not a gontlrman. Ol'l'ICAl. INCLUSION. Meeting the proprietor store. Judge I'ctv-rby said: I notice that. ever so many of your sliop’girls are on ss-oyed. \be dcn'! you get better lacking our»? One cross-eyed girl is wmth a dbl.- cn of the other sort. ’l‘ht- usually slioplincrs can ncver t--ll where these gmlx fn'e lmking. so they give '6': store a wide beth of a large i4