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ffihe'̂ ftcUfnrs |Jliiindcaler. ^ I J. Yij|gn^KE,.POTii8iwiuL^^ i „ f pffiljf" '•- •• • -- -- • ' •'"'» -- ...., McHENRY, ILLINOIS. I AGRICULTURAL AND DOMESTIC - "Thft Bee and the Wheat. * A llorifey-bee went booming Over the whitening wheat: Her way she knew, and straight she flew Home with her burden sweet. And the ears, as they rustled faintly, Appeared in accents saintly This burden to repeat: " More useful are we than the honey-bee Though phe labor long and merrily." " Yes," each said, his confident head Leaning toward his neighbor; " We alone are the givers of bread, The rewarders of all men's labor; 'To baron and boar. To cotter and king, To the rich and the poor Our blef-Bings we tiring, More useful by far aonoroua thing/ The bee swung high Thi» tall hedge over, And hummed her reply As she skimmed the clover; " My harvest may be small, Yielding more delight To high or lowly eater, You give food to man, But it lacketh savor; . 'Scant the gift I bring, But of delicious flavor." Thanks to thee for sniwer thine, Oh most sapient hummer! To eacb proay comer TwilS be answer mine." 8aid the singer: " When men dine, I would pour the win*--, . I would be the honey-brlnger." Around the Farm. AGRICUI/TURAII IMPLEMENTS. -- The California Commercial World states that the present outlook is cheering, with every prospect of a large--very large--requirement for harvesters, reap­ ers, mowers, and other horse-powers. Having will no doubt commence very early in the season, and be a very heavy crop. A wooii-DBAIIER says : "To test the quality of wool, take a lock from the sneep's back, and place it on a measured inch. If the spirals count from thirty to thirty-three in the space of an inch, it equals the finest Electoral or Saxony wool grown. The diminution of the number of fold to the inch shops the in­ feriority." OLD worthless apple trees are cumber- ers of tke ground; young and vigorous trees can be set between where the old ones stood, and large crops of grain or roots can be taken from the ground for a number of years, thus more than doub­ ling the products of the soil, while this tillage is absolutely necessary to the health and thrift of the young trees. > UNDERDRAINS relieve the land from stagnant water so disgusting to the sight and a prolific source of disease to the llluiiuiu JIWU lllj 9 no T¥ V'U UO VU puuiu 111 « i so much complained of among dairymen. These same waters that become stagnant by standing on the surface of the land by being filtered through the soil and conveyed in an underdrain to a conven­ ient point afford an excellent privilege for watering stock.-- Utiea Herald. THE durability of soles of boots and shoes may be greatly increased by coat­ ing them with gum copal varnish, which also has the effect of making them water­ proof.' Four or five coats should be given, allowing each coat of varnish to dry before the succeeding one is applied. Soles thus treated possess twice the durability, and generally outlast the best uppers. The leather uppers of boots and shoes may be rendered soft and waterproof by rubbing into them while warm, before the fire, a mixture composed of four ounces of hog's fat and one ounce of rosin. A NEVADA sheep man, who had tried and succeeded with sheep, said : "Sheep are better than a government bond ; you can tear off a coupon every six months half as big as the bond, and the bond is left as good as it was." It was well put. Sheep are a bonanza to any man who will give as thorough attention as he would give any other business. The proper selection of herds and crosses comes in for first attention, then proper feed and skillful handling, with contin­ ual attention, and the profits follow cer­ tainly and satisfactorily. ( THE NCIO England Farmer publishes the following opinion : 'f If one desires to obtain the very largest profit from Brahmas, and is willing to work for it, we should say, raise enough chickens every year to replace all the old fowls. We have kept Brahmas long enough to feel warranted in saying that they can be kept at work about all thetime after tney are six months old till they are eighteen months old. We allow six months for growing, then expect about eleven to twelve months work, after which they should be turned off as dressed poultry. Hatched in February •or March, they will begin to lay early in the fall and will lay nearly all the time till the moulting season the next fall." DRYING SWEET CORN.--The corn is gathered at the most suitable state for boiling, not too old nor too green ; a thin slice is taken off all around the out­ side of the ears with a sharp knife, tak­ ing off as little as possible, yet cutting the top off from every kernel, 'then with the back of the knife the ears are scraped, taking out all the inside of the kernels and leaving the skins and hulls on the cobs. The milky mass is then spread on plates, and dried in a quiok oven, but not so hot as to scorch it. Af ter it is nearly dried, it is put into thin muslin bags and hung up around the atove until thoroughly dry. In order to keep it over summer it is put into mus­ lin bags, and these are covered with paper, pasted, not tied, so that no insects •can get in. IN Chester County, Pa., roads are in •charge of township officers, who are held responsible for their condition. Every three years they are divided into short sections of not more than half a mile, and sold at public auction to the lowest bidder, who is bound by a written con­ tract ; the only reservation made is that the purchaser must be a citizen of the township, and must sign the contract. Legal decisions have fixed that the pub­ lic have no right beyond that of passing over the road in the ordinary course of travel, and that the right to all grass, fruit or minerals, remains with the owner of the farm from which the land was taken.^ The township supervisors have unlimited control as tq earth needed for repairs, and there is no appeal from their oommand.--Country Gtentleman. FENCING.--In all sections many thou­ sand panels of fepce are needlessly made use of, by having the fields of such a shape as to require too great a propor­ tion to enclose a given area. The most economical form is that of a square ; and as we leave this form for an oblong, we rapidly increase the amount of lence needed to enclose a given number of acres. A square of ten acres will re­ quire 264 panels of fence to enclose it, while a field of the same area, but twice as long as wide, will require 330 panels Some fence may be saved by working* the fields in pairs with the usual rota­ tion of corn, oats, wheat and peas. Two adjacent fields wilt do without any divi­ sion fence; the only time during the rotation when a fence could be wanted would be after the wheat was off in the fall, when the stubble should never be pastured any how.--Country Gentle­ man. AN IDKA FOB TKAHSTB&S.--A great deal of labor and- hard tugging may be saved if every wagon or track is pro­ vided with 100 feet of stout rope and a single pulley. A snatchblock is the best, arranged with a strong hook, and the usual construction for slipping the tight of the rope under the strap to the sheave, instead of waiting to reeve the line through one end. If a wagon gets stuck in heavy mud or in the snow, the driver has only to fasten his block to the tongue, reeve the rope through it and attach one end to a tree or post, and let his team pull on the other. Their work is of course just halved, or rather they bring twice as much power to bear in dragging the wagon clear. There are plenty of other applications of this simple device, which will readily suggest themselves. With a couple of skids for an inclined plaae, heavy logs could be easily drawn on a sleigh by the unhitched team. Another case where it is likely to be useful is when loaded sleighs at­ tempt to cross a wooden bridge. Although the horses draw the load very easily over the snow, they are often un­ able to start it over the generally de­ nuded flooring of the wooden bridge, and hence would be materially aided by the tackle hitched on as we have de­ scribed.--Scientific American. ^ About the House* i THE best method of removing old wall paper to prepare for new, is to moisten the paper with water for a short time, when it can be taken off without diffi­ culty. AVOID GREEN LAMP SHADES.--At Bonn, Germany, headache, dyspepsia, etc., affecting several patients, have been traced to evening studies pursued under the baneful influence of a green lamp­ shade, from which arsenic was set free by the heat of the flame. QUICK GRUEL.--To one and a half pints of boiling1 wstcr add ons gill of " A " oatmeal, braided with a little cold water. Stir assiduously until it boils up ; then cook slowly, stirring occasion­ ally, for half an hour. It can be eaten in less time, but it is not so good. BEEF LOAF,--One and one-half pounds of lean steak chopped very fine, two eggs, one tablespoon salt, one tea­ spoon pepper, one small cup of rolled cracker. Mix well, and form in loaf ; put bits of butter on top, and bake. A fine relish for lunch or tea. THE following explanation is given why the legs on the bottom of old-fashioned fireplace kettles burn in the middle: In order that iron may burn, it is not only necessary that it should be brought to a high temperature, but also that it should come in contact with the oxygen of the air at the same time, and these con ditions are only realized in the middle of the leg. A TEST FOR LINEN FABRICS.--To dis­ tinguish cotton when woven into pro­ fessedly linen fabrics, it is well to know that linen fiber, when dipped in an alco­ holic solution of rosolic acid, next in a concentrated aqueous solution of carbon­ ate of soda, and finally washed several times with strong soda, attains a beauti­ ful red color, while the cotton fibers are not dyed. Before testing, the dressing should be washed out of the goods, and a few threads raveled out on each of the three sides. TOBACCO AND CORSETS.--Tobacco using in y oung persons has the same effect in diminishing the breathing ca­ pacity that tight-lacing (which is alarm­ ingly on the increase again) has. Exam­ ples arc, indeed, sadly frequent on the thoroughfares of our great citieB of young ladies who have destroyed more than one-half of their breathing capacity by this disgraceful habit of tight-lacing. Their wan, expressionless faccs, harsh, contracted features, with bilious discol- orations of the skin, proclaim in lan­ guage that cannot be mistaken, deficient respiration? And the counterpart of these appearances and indications may be seen in numerous youog men who promenade the streets behind lighted cigars. ^ ENGIJSH LABOR COST IN FARMING.-- In a paper prepared by Mr. F. Clifford, relating to the strikes and lock-outs in England, interesting data relating to the cost of farm labor is given. It uhows a marked increase in labor in the last few years, of the time given, and a gradual increase for the last twelve years. Two examples are given, said to be fair representatives of a large class of farms. He gives the figures in dollars, gold, omitting fractions. Upon one farm of 210 acres--80 arable and 130 grass--the outlay for labor in 1862 was $1,115, in 1868 $1,245, and in 1874 $1,360. Upon the other, 230 acres--120 arable and 110 grass--the outlay in 1860 was SI,340, in 1872 $1,535, and in 1874 $1,720. Thus we see in the last case, the cost of labor in working in 1874 over that of 1872 was $185, or over 85 cents per acre. Pious Old Party--"And now, Mrs. Stubbins, I've one important question to ask. Does not Satan oftentimes tell you that you acre not a Christian ?" Mrs. Stubbins--"Yes, 'ee do so." P. O. P.--"And what say you te him on these occasions?" Mrs. S.--"Well, I say, whether I be or no, it can't possi­ bly be none of 'is business."--London Fun. A DAUGHTER of Lucius W. Pond, the Worcester (Mass.) fonjer, has been serv­ ing as a waiter in a restaurant in that city for several months, voluntarily working out a debt of $100 which her father owed the proprietor. EXCITING SPURT.r r A. «J|pK|r-Hant In India Graphieftiiy »•- ' < Mrtbed. • - i ̂ [Calcutta Cor. New York Time*,] After this the Prince will probably be­ gin to think that he has earned a little holiday, and will begin his pleasure with a visit to the race-stand in the early morning; escaping thence he will take train to the happy hunting grounds thirty miles away. There some of his stud will have preceded him. He will find a long line of elephants awaiting his sovereign will, and once mouuted the beat will begin. Fifty acres of thick scrub, ending in a huge plain, intersect­ ed here and there with dry water courses and patches of sugar-cane. Forty ele­ phants, hardly ten feet apart, come crashing through the underwood in ft compact line. A solitary jackal trips daintily out of the nearest bushes and surveys the scene; he Bits on his haunches like a dog and looks quietly about him. Nothing very alarming, he thinks, in half a dozen horsemen dotted about in front. A snort from one of the elephants, still 200 yards off, however, decides him, and he trots quickly along' the jungle till he can make a bolt of it between two horses; his trot becomes a shambling gallop and he disappears in a sugar-cane field a mile off. Half a dozen quail whirr up just, under the elephants' trunks and drop down with a thud on the stubble in front. The elephants are now not eighty yards off the end of the scent, and the w<frk begins to get excit­ ing. A black head suddenly pops out, with little black eyes squinting at you viciously over a long snout--a very mat­ ronly sow indeed, as she comes out with a grunt, with her following of little piggy-wiggies screaming in sympathetic? chorus. Some of the younger hands think the time is reallv come, and there is a commotion among the horsemen; but the cry of "Wear sow" restores or­ der, and the old lady and her litter trot by. She passes close to the outside horseman, who attempts to separate her from her young. Mamma, however, won't stand this. She is cross and out of sorts at being driven out of her mud­ dy bed thus early in the day, so down she comes with a most determined charge; but the old flearbitten Arab is quite used to this sort of thing ; he swerves cleverly when she seems almost upon him, while his master, reversing the spear, brings down the weighted end with a resounding whack on her flanks, which sends her off at the gallop, with a succession of squeals, alter her young, now little black dots on the receding plain. The line meanwhile has been coming slowly nearer. A sudden rush in the underwood, and out at the further end shoots the boar. A noble brute he is as he goes tearing along with crest erect and his white tusks gleaming in the sun. Two smaller boars break at the same time; each takes his own line, with his mounted escort in close attendance. The big fellow scorns the patch of sugar cane which lies tempt­ ingly on his right, but makes straight for some dense scrub a mile off. For the first half mile, thanks to his start, no horse comes near him, but the pace has been terrific, and the froth churns from his lips as he grinds steadily on. A rider, evidently a novice, on a strong- pulling waler, comes tearing along, gain­ ing at every stride. Thirty paces behind is the flea-bitten Arab, going quietly within himself, evidently bent on taking things easy. The waler's nose is now over the pig, and you can see the rider towering his spear for the thrust, when round goes the boar with a sudden turn to the left, right across the horse's stride; there is a violent thud as the fore legs strike his broad back, and the next moment horse and rider are on the ground, fortunately neither of them much hurt, while the pig, also bowled over with the blow, picks himself up and grinds along as before. But the flea- bitten Arab has not been idle meanwhile and is not ten yards behind the boar when he gets on his legs. They race in posi­ tion for a few paces; there is a slight touch of the spear; the old horse jumps forward with a bound. The rider bends a little to the right as he passes the pig; the boar's head swings round, and you hear the tushes snap ominously against the bamboo which is now buried two feet in his reeking side. One good pull to get the spear out, which is unsuccess­ ful, and the boar goes along with the shaft poised in the air. Soon hip pace slackens, and he knows it is impossible to reach the still distant shelter. A friendly tree, with broad gnarled trunk, decides him. With his back against its roots and his snout toward his foes, he stands at bay. His ferocious little eyes, now bloodshot with rage and pain, gleam through their bushy tangle of hair. His foes now surround him on all sides in a moment. He chooses his antagonist, and comes straight at him with a rush, but he never reaches his foe. A couple of spearheads have pricked him before he has gone ten paces of his intended charge, He fights madly to right and left, but when he reaches his shelter again he carries his death wound with him. Slowly the blood wells from him as he still stands erect and dauntless before his assailants ; his eyes close slowly; he drops on his knees, and then rolls quickly over--dead. Such is the kind of sport the Prince may enjoy if he choose to ride, and there are some enthusiastic folk who say that a gallant ride efter an old boar is alone a sufficient recompense for the wearisome routine of ceremonial duty which must be endured by His Royal Highness during his visit to this country. actually covered in man is at least three times that which fashion allows to women ; indeed, the points of contact between the hat or bonnet and the head in the latter are so irregular as prac­ tically to destroy any protection which might otherwise be afforded." t "1ie House that Jack Built. . As the occupations and pleasures of childhood produce a powerful impression on the memory, it is probable almost every reader who has passed his infantile days in an English nursery recollects the delight with which he repeated that puerile jingling legend, "The House that Jack Built." Very few, however, are at all aware of the original form of its composition, or the particular subject it was designed to illustrate. And fewer still wo Id suspect that it is only an ac­ commodated and altered translation of an ancient parabolical hymn, sung by the Jews at the Passover, and commem­ orative of the principal events in the history ot that people. Yet such is the fact. The original is in the Chaldee language. To it is added the interpre­ tation, as given by P. N. Leberecht, Leipsic, 1731, The hymn itself is found in Sepher Haggadah, vol. 23*. The final stanzas are these: 7. - Then came the angel of death, And killed the butcher Hint slew the ox Tliat drank the Water That quenched the Are That burned the staff That beat the do* That bit the cat That ate the kid That my father bongfit" For two pieces of money. A kid, a kid. 10. Then came the Holy One, blessed be He, And killed the angel of death That killed the butcher That slew the ox That drank the water That quenched the fire That burned the staff Tliat beat the dog That bit tlie cat That ate the kid That my father bought For two pieces of money. A kid, a kid. The following is the interpretation : 1. The kid, which is one of the pure animals, denotes the Hebrews. The father, by whom it was purchased, is Jehovah, who represents himself as sus­ taining tliis relation to the Hebrew na­ tion. The pieces of money signify MoSes and Aaron, through whose media­ tion the Hebrews were brought out of Egypt. 2. The cat denotes the Assyrians, by whom the Ten Tribes were carried into captivity. 3. The dog is symbolical of Babylo­ nians. 4. The staff signified the Persians. 5. The fire indicates the Grecian Em­ pire under Alexander the Great. 6. The water betokens the Roman or the fourth »of the great monarchies to whom the Jews were subjected. 7. The ox is a symbol of the Saracens, who subdued Palestine, and brought it under the caliphate. 8. The butcher that killed the ox de­ notes the-.Crusaders, by whom the Holy Land was wrested out of the hands of the Saracens. 9. The angel of death signifies the Turkish power, by which the land of Palestine was taken from the Franks, and to whom it is still subject. 10. The commencement of the tenth stanza Is designed to show that God will take signal vengeance on the Turks, im­ mediately after whose overthrow the Jews are to be restored to their own land, and live under the government of ttttrr long-expected Messiah. Neuralgia Among Women. A physician of a London hospital writes to the British Medical Journal : " There is no recognized reason why of late years neuralgia of the face and scalp should have increased so much in the female sex, as compared with our own. There is no doubt that it is one of the most common of female maladies--one of the most painful and difficult of treat­ ment. It is also a cause of much mental depression, and leads more often to habits of intemperance than any other.. This growing prevalence to neuralgia^ may to some extent be referred to the effects of cold upon the terminal branches of the nerves distributed to the skin ; and the reason why men are less subject to it than women may to a great extent be explained by the much greater pro­ tection afforded by the mode in which the former cover their heads when they are in the open air. It may be observed that the surface of the head which is Courage and Fear of Death. The Chinese of the Southern deltas, who have little active courage, though the Chinese of the North and West have plenty, will die for a bribe to save a richer criminal from the sentence he has earned. The Bengalee, who alone among mankind says calmly, "Arme Bheroo," " I am timid," as if cowardice were a matter of moral and social indif­ ference, or rather creditable than other­ wise, goes to execution, as Macaulay no­ ticed, like a hero, and will encounter an inevitable and agonizing death without a flutter of the pulse. Hia nerve is as great as Wain wright's, who died with­ out a perceptible change in the steadi­ ness of his heart-beats, but who--un­ like the Bengalee--with an object before him would probably have rushed upon the cannon. The Malay, who cannot be induccd^>r compelled to face rockets, dies as tranquilly as Casabianoa; and the Cingalese of the coast, who will fight nobody, meets death without a murmur or a pang. An English sailor of the old type, who would face anything earthly except a black cat, has probably twice as much fear of death as the cultivated woman who can endure death by a deadly opera­ tion resignedly, yet faint in the presence of any noisy danger. The wild romancer, Gustave Aimard, states as a fact within his knowledge, that a Spanish officer shot himself dead rather than cross a rope suspension bridge; and we can vouch for the following story, though we must not give name|: An English ensign, just joined before* the first Sikh campaign, went to his commanding offi­ cer, a relative, and told him that he could not face the shot, that he should disgrace himself, and must resign. His relative comforted him kindly, told him that he was only nervous, and thought that he had soothed his fear; but the lad, as he stepped out of the tent, shot himself through the brain, inviting death rather than meet a call upon hi* courage.--London Spectator. THE veteran shoemp,kers of Lynn held their annual reunion last week, when, according to the rules of the society, eaeh made a pair of shoe3. Tli9 oldest man present was Wm. N. Spinney, 73 years of age, who worked as actively and made as good a pair of shoes as any of them, the only pair he has made for up­ ward of forty years. Several old fel­ lows were present and worked who had not touched last nor awl for ten, twelve and fifteen years. ^DHB .population of Ireland is set down at 5,412,397, showing a falling off of nearly 3,000,000 in less than twenty-five years. The Roman Catholics have slight­ ly decreased in numbers, and the Epis­ copalians Jind Presbyterians slightly in­ creased since 1861. THE eight pin factories of the United States make about 47,000,000 pins daily, and yet we import 25,000,000 more daily. Home Doctor* > * . COM) FEB*. "\" Cold feet at night are thus deprecated by the /Science of Health: "Never go to bed with cold feet Never try to sleep without being perfectly certain that you can keep them warm. To lie one night with cold feet gives such a strain to the system on will be felt seri­ ously, perhaps ending in a fit of sick­ ness." PHOSPHORUS IK BXH DISEASE. A case is reported to us of total blindness from cataract, attended with almost con­ stant headaches, nearly cured in four months by dropping two or three drops of phosphorized oil into the eye daily, and using frictions of the same over the forehead. The opacity disappeared, and entire restoration appears probable.-- Dr. Hall. CURE FOB INTEMPERANCE. A morbid appetite for strong drink is undoubtedly a difficult enemy even for a strong will to contend against it. Total abstinence and the Almighty arm are the two sure helps to overcome and destroy it. We give, however, for what it may be worth2 the following prescribed by an eminent physician for John Vine Hall, Commander of the Great Eastern steamship, and said to have been very useful in his case : Sulphate of iron, five grains ; magnesia, ten grains ; pep­ permint water, eleven drams; spirit of nutmeg, one dram ; twice a day. ARTICHOKES FOR RHEUMATIBM. . ' i ' In the British Medical Journal, Dr. Copeland, of Norwich, published some cases of a former paper recom­ mending the treatment of rheumatism with the common artichoke in the fori^ either of tincture or extract. These are prepared from the leaves gathered just before the vegetable is fit for food, and while they are full of juice. If the leaves are left until the top is cut off for cooking purposes, and the plant begins to wither, the product is useless afid in­ ert. To this circumstance Dr. Cope- land attributes the negative results met with by some praotitioners. NEW R3MKDY FOR BURNS. There has been in hospital for many months a case of extensive burn, in which different ap­ plications have been tried. Every new dressing succeeded well for a time, but soon it ceased to prove of advantage. The last agent that has been used, and is used at present, is salicylic acid. The effect is more beneficial than that ob­ tained by any of the former remedies. The method of using it is to form an emulsion with olive oil, one part of the salicylio acid to sixteen parts of oil. This mixture is painted over the ulcera­ ted surface once or twice a day. It gives rise to a slight smarting sensation when first applied, but that soon passes off.-- New York Medical Journal. HOW SCARIIET FEVER SHOULD BE TREATED. Scarlet fever generally begins with nausea, followed by pain in the limbs and sore throat; the face is not swollen and the eyes are not very sensi­ tive to the light. On the second day the rash appears, first on the face in small points of vivid red, which become dif­ fused and spread over the entire body. The tongue is very white, with blood-red spots appearing above the furred surface. If a pencil or the finger is pressed firm­ ly on the skin the redness will give place for a time, leaving the skin white w^jero the pressure was exerted, and theu the scarlet returns. On the fifth day the rash turns brown and the skin ia very dry. This is the dangerous time, since the skin being unable to perform its func­ tion, the kidneys and lungs have double work to do. At this stage of the illness, the foundation is often laid for Blight's disease of the kidneys, and everything depends on keeping the skin soft and moist. This can be done by oiling it freely with salad oil, with pure lard, with unsalted butter, or, what is most agreea­ ble of all, with glyoerine and rose water, two parts of the former to one of the latter. In England the favorite treat­ ment is to immerse the patient in a warm bath, which is repeated frequently. HEARTY BREAKFASTS. In a large majority of cases, says the Journal of Health, it will be found that the best and heartiest meal of the day should be eaten in the morning. If the closing repast of the day has not been eaten too late, or has not been excessive in quantity, or indigestible in quality, the stomach will be rested and active in the morning, after the individual has enjoyed a cool bath. The stomach will then respond quickly with the necessary gastric juice for the solution of food, and, if a fair amount of exercise is taken during the day, a large mass of food will be assimilated ana converted into blood and tissue. With a good, substantial breakfast, no great amount of food will be required during the re­ mainder of the day. One further meal will be ample, and that might better bo taken at from two to three o'clock in the afternoon thau at any other period, if business engagements only permitted it. The breakfast may be made from any kind of wholesome food, nnd the fewer kinds the better. The dinner should be light and readily digested, if sound sleep is desired and strong appetite and perfect powers of digestion next day. If hunger comes, a bowl of sweet milk and well cooked mush of Indian meal, or other unbolted grain, will allay it, and will digest quickly. One "square meal" in every twenty-four hours is all that can be taken care of by many weak stomachs, and more than this is an ex­ cess and induces headache, nausea and distress. If dinners were abandoned, and especially late and heavy dinners, myriads of dyspeptics would be cured. But under uie exigencies of city life a dinner can not well be avoided. This need not be the tremendous meal it is customary to make it, if the breakfast be substantial and nutritious--not a thing of slops and biscuits, as it too often is. THE Chicago Inter-Ocean says that there is an old threadbare, snuff-colored thin-locked, spindle-shanked, pepper- and-salt, weazened, rum-drinking fossil, hidden away somewhere in Washington, who has written more Congressional speeches than all the members of the present House put together. . EVERY agriculturist should own a scrap-book, in which to paste agricult­ ural items, suggestions or points, wliich he will desire to test, and be governed by in future. DIVIDENDS paid in Hartford, last yeai, aggregate $10,343,409. % -;ili Sort*. -- A BOY tl years old i;t the champion speller of Virginia City, Nev. NEW YOBK horse cars qre frequently packed at the rate of seventy-sevin per car. THE carrying business of Red River during the year 1875 was 67,000,000 pounds. A MAN in New Orleans recently opened 310 oysters in .30 minutes. By valve ! that's quick work. SOME Californians who own 160,000 acres of land are enclosing it with a single fence 100 miles in length. FORTY persons in the Dedham House of Correction have struck because the supply of tobacco has been Cut off. A GRAND chess match, to last two years, is to be played between England and France for a stake of 10,000 francs. THE hard substance that a Massachu­ setts boy struck in a haymow with a pitchfork was the head of a sleeping tramp. TRAPPING on the frontier is said to be unusually poor this winter. All kinds of fur-bearing animals are unusually scarce. THE female shoe operatives in Lynn, Mass., have organized a protective asso­ ciation called " The Daughters of St. Crispin." THE Norfolk magistrates in England have closed the County Prison at Swapp- ham in consequence of the decrease of crime in the county. THE stringency with which the adul­ teration of food act is enforced in Lon­ don has caused a large number of fail­ ures in the milk trade. DR. HOUGHTON proves the strength of the lion to be less than that of the tiger. Five men can hold a lion, but it takes ten men to hold a tiger. A MASSACHUSETTS man who sued a lady for a breach of promise, lays his damages at the heavy sum of $300. No doubt the lady was right. ® _ THERE is genuineness in the conver­ sion of a young woman in Troy. She advertises for the owner of a watch that she found fourteen years ago. A MRS. BARBARA HOLMES has just been awarded $5,000 for damages by the detth of her husband, killed by a train on the Hannibal and St. Joseph Rail­ road. THERE was never a man more com­ pletely sold than the one who stole the traveling bag of a drummer for a boot and shoe firm. He got boots and shoes in plenty but not a pair. • CROQUET is rapidly giving away to roller skating in London, and the ladies newspapers are publishing ooncise rules to promote gracefulness of movement and proficiency in the sport. THIS is a variation of the stoxy about the soldier whose life was saved by a Bible in his pocket. A fellow in Omaha was shot at by a desperado, and the bul­ let lodged harmlessly in a bundle of let- . ters from his girl. . IT is proposed to abolish the State Fish Commission of Maine, which has cost the State $21,000 during the past seven years, on acoount of positive in­ jury done to the fish through the efforts of the members. " THERE are nearly 500 men emphwefr in the hemp-packing rooms of the Ken­ tucky Penitentiary, and the heavy dust has such a tendency to produce blind­ ness that the authorities are talking of abolishing the industry. A MAN and wife in Eatonton, Ga., were remarried after two years of matrimony. The first ceremony having been in some way informal, and the inheritance of a large amount of property depending upon the validity of their marital rela­ tions, they called their friends together, had a britiiant wedding, and went off on a honeymoon tour. POSTMASTER FOOT, of Vischer's Ferry, N. Y., possessed a womanly curiosity to know what was in the letters that he handled. He opened many, and one of these, addressed to a married woman, contained a proposal to elope. He hand­ ed her the opened missive, supposing that the possession of its secret would save him from punishment; but she is spunky, and had him arrested, regardless of the exposure of her own affairs. AN UNSPOKEN QUESTION. I thought I must bo dreaming The day you whispered low, And told me the sweet secret That I alone must know. i I listened quite in silence, Perhaps you thought me odd; My heart was overflowing With tenderness untold. Just for one fleeting moment, Onqonly, did you say! Were you and I both dreaming That happy summer day! --Blackwood's Magazine. Death from Lockjaw. A boy named Hamill, in Baltimore, died the other day from look jaw, caused by a wound which he received in the cheek three weeks previous, while play­ ing "catty." "Catty" seems to be a favorite game with the boys, and is played by striking the end of a small pointed stick with a larger stick or club, which makes the Small slick fiy up, and before it reaches the ground it is again knocked in a way similar to striking a ball with a bat. In the case of Harnill the sharp point of the smaller stick, struck by his playmate, entered his cheek, inflicting a slight wound, which was not regarded as serious at the time, until symptoms of lockjaw developed. THE President has approved the act to amend the revised statutes relating to naturalization. The act provides that an alien may declare his intention to be­ come a citizen of the United States be­ fore the Clerk of any Circuit, District, or Supreme Court of the Territories, or a court of record having common law jurisdiction, and legalizes all such dec­ larations heretofore made. ERNEST GILES, the South Australian explorer, found two deserts in his re­ cent journey to the interior. In one no water was obtained for 325 miles; the other, 180 miles wide, ter­ minated at a wall of granite, where an attack was made by the natives. CUNKO, an old friend of Garibaldi, re­ cently died in Florence without receiv­ ing extreme unction. The clergy hava consequently refused the remains Chris­ tian burial. Garibaldi writes to a friend advising cremation. • i.-u*