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tone. MAKIN' IT UP. Atnndy nnd me foil out to-day-- \ Both of us wuz to blame, I guess* ff got riled, an' I said my say^ . An' she put a word in, more or less. ISo, as I started for town, thinks I, ' "Cl.rt'll nninn f»Alini1 fin* fllJl lv»> ' 1 'She'll eome round ^ noon an' make up by jSo I tried to whistlejan' put it by: i But somehow the music wuz out of JBome of the bitter things she said By an' by to my memory come, (Till I couldn't get 'em out of my head An' hardened my heart as I started home. ri took my time, so 'twas pretty late V, When I cleared the pasture an' reached the sfile; *An' I missed her meetin' me at the gate, As she did to please me. once in a while. (Thinks I, "she's puttin' on airs," an' so I told myself that I didn't care; An' closed the gate with a bang, to show That I wu? the lord an' the master there! II stamped right into her tidy room-- An* stood ther^,a minute, too 'shamed to speak; ; She sat alone in the twilight gloom, An' the tears wuz wet on her careworn v cheek. • rAn* in her hands wuz some little things We had laid away, 'bout a year ago, (When our baby changed 'em for angel • wings,. > .' •' • I (An' our hearts nigh broke cause we 1 missed him so). - ' • 2 knelt beside her, an' in her lap I laid my head, as the child might do. Who had worn the tiny faded cap 0 She held, an' the little worn-out shoe. I thought of all that us two had borne, - I looked at the empty trundle bed; An' my kisses fell on the garments worn, That were stained with the tears we both had shed. I held her close, an' I tried to speak Of love an' comfort as best I could; I pressed my lips to her tear-wet cheek-- An' Mandy an' me made up for good! THE JEW'S ISECURITY. Of all the merchants of Venice, Fa- ibio Mutinelli was the most exact in •keeping his engagements. He showed 'himself, moreover, to be possessed of a liberal and generous spirit, especially in his dealings with women and church folk. The upright character of his methods iwas celebrated throughout all the re­ public, and there was a golden altar in 'San Zanipolo which he had offered to Saint Catherine for the love of the 'beautiful Catherine Manini, and which ,was admired by every one who saw it. i. As he was very rich he had a host of friends, whom he entertained lavishly. (During the war against the Genoese, •however, he lost heavily, and troublous times in Naples increased this loss. In­ deed, as many as thirty of his vessels were captured by the Uscoques or were lost at sea. A powerful prince to whom he had lent large sums of money re­ fused to pay any of it back, and by de­ grees the. magnificent Fabio was de­ spoiled of all his riches and money. When he sold his palace and his ves­ sels to pay up .what he owed he found himself almost penniless. Being a ca- N pable fellow, shrewd in business and in the period of life when a man's energy Is at its height, Fabio had no fears of building up his business once more. He had many calculations in his head and came to ^the conclusion that to tempt new successes and to undertake further enterprises with his vessels he needed 500 ducats. He accordingly asked Alesso Bontu- ra, the richest citizen of that republic, to oblige him with that sum. But this fine gentleman, reflecting that while en­ terprise acquires riches, only prudence can keep them, declined to expose so large a sum to the chances of busi­ ness and the perils of the sea. Fabio then addressed himself to Seigneus Au- drea Morosini, whom he had obliged in the days of his wealth in every possible manner. "Beloved Fabio," Andrea replied to him, "to anyone else but yourself I would willingly lend this sum. Gold has no attractions for me, and I con­ form in this respect to the maxims of Horace, the satirist. But your friend­ ship, Fatfio Mutinelli, is dear to me and I should rijn the risk of losing it if I lent you this money. For, in most cases, the commerce of the heart has a hard time of it between creditors and debtors, and I, have seen too many ex­ amples of it." With these words the Seigneur An­ drea made a pretense of embracing the ^merchant with great tenderness, and then shut the door in his face. Next day Fabio went to see the bank­ ers of Florence and Lombardy. But not one of them would consent to lend him even twenty ducats without se­ curity. He ran from one firm to an­ other, and everywhere he heard: T "Seigneur Fabio, we know you are thg^most honorable merchant of the town, and we regret that we must re­ fuse your request, but the good con­ duct of business makes it necessary." > That evening as he walked sadly homeward, the beautiful Zanetta, who was bathing in the canal, climbed up onto the rim of the floating gondola and, looking lovingly at Fabio, said: - "Dear Seigneur Fabio, I know your troubles, for they are the talk of all the town. Listen to me now. I am not rich, but at the bottom of an old box I have some jewels. If you will accept these, Fabio, from, your servant, I shall believe that God and the Holy Virgin love me." Zanetta, with her wondrous beauty, was indeed poor, and Fabio replied to her in this wise: "Gracious Zanetta, there's more real nobility in the slums where you live than in all the palaces in Venice!" Three days more Fabio went to see bankers and money-lenders without ;.. { finding anyone who would furnish him the money. And everywhere he receiv­ ed unfavorable answers, wbich practi­ cally amounted to tliis: "You were very foolish to sell all you had to pay your debts. We would lend the money to a man in debt, perhaps but never to a man who has neither "furniture nor goods." On the, fifth day he arrived in his de spair in the Corjte delle Galli, which is also called the (Jlietto, the quarter where the Hebrews live. "Who can tellV" lie said.to himself "what the Christians have refused me " I*may obtain frOm the Jews!" So he walked alotig the street San Geremia and San Girolamo, in a nar­ row, odoriferous canal, which * was closed every night by order of the Sen ate and chains stretched across its mouth; and,, hesitating to which'usur­ er he should first address himself, he remembered that he had heard people talk about an Israelite named Eliezer, son of Eliezer Maimouide, and say that he was very rich aqd very shrewd. So having found where Eliezer lived ae stopped his gondola opposite his door. Over the door he sa^v a picture of the seven candlesticks hung there as a sign of hope for the days wh&n the temple would rise again from its ashes. / The merchant entered a large room lit by a bronze lamp with twelve w'cks in full blaze.- The Jew El'eizer was sit­ ting in front of his scales. jThe win­ dows of the house were wajled up be­ cause he was an unbeliever. Fabio Mutinelli addressed him in this way: "Eliezer, I have often treated you as a dog and a heathen, and w'ith the fire of youth in my veins, I know that I used to throw mud and stones at the passersby in the street', and that I may even have" hit you or yours. I tell you this, not in bravado, but in all loyalty, and in the same breath I come to ask you to render me a very "great service.' The Jew rafsed his long, skinny arm- in the air; it \yas dry and knotted like the stem of a vine. •. "Fabio Mi^inelli, the . Father who lives in heaven will judge both you and me! What is the service you came to ask me?" ' „ ;y -• "Lend me r>00v&'ucats £or a year." * "Money is nojbflfent witntaitgood- se­ curity'. What &&urit$j$ijn you give?" "I must tell you, Blieisfer, that not a farthing remain^ to me. not a silver goblet, or a fnnket ;of gold! Not a friend has stpodL«by me; all have re­ fused to do me. this • service. I have nothing in the world but ply honor and my faith as {^'Christian. I offer you as security the holy" Virgin Mary and her divine J»0n in the church!" At thi^aagwer the Jew -bent his old head to one side, as one. jdoes who re­ flects and meditates, stroking his long, white beard the while. . Then he said: "Fabio-Mutinelli! Lead me to your security, for it is right gj the lender should spe the security on which he lends." v . • "It is .your right," replied the mer­ chant. ."Come with me and you shall see it." And he led Eliezer to the Church of Orto, near the- place called the field of Maures. There, standing upon the al­ tar. he showed to him a figure of the Madonna, the forehead wreathed with a crown of precious gems, the shoulders draped with a gold-embroidered gar­ ment, and in her arms the infant Christ, adorned like her with gold and precious stones. The merchant pointed this out to the Jew and said: "There is my security!" Eliezer, resting his keen eyes alter­ nately upon the merchant and the fig­ ures. considered a moment, and, then, bowing his head, said that he accepted the security. He took Fabio back to his house and measured out to him, full weight, 500 golden ducats. "They are yours for a year. If at the expiration of that time, day for day, you do uot repay me this sum with the interest fixed by law of Venice, think to yourself, Fabio Mutinelli, what opinion I shall have of the Chris­ tian merchant and his security!" Fabio, without losing time, bought vessels and loaded them with salt and other merchandise, which he sold in the towns along the Adriatic at great profit*! Then, with a fresh cargo he set sail for Constantinople, where lie pur­ chased rugs, perfumes, peacock feath­ ers, ivory and ebony, which he ex­ changed for timber bought in advance by some Venetians. In this way in six months he increased ten times the sum he had received. But one day, while sailing for amuse­ ment with some Greek women on the Bosphorus, he went out a long way from .ihe shore and was captured by pirates and taken away to Egypt. For­ tunately his gold and his merchandise were.;n safety, but him the pirates sold to a Saracen gentleman, who put chain4 oh his feet and made him work in the-field. Fabio offered to pay his master a large ransom for his release, but thV daughter ,of. the Saracen loved him and persuaded her father not to let him go. Looking, then, for escape only to his,owijlefforis, he filed through his chains with the implements he used in the fields, and succecded in making his way to the River Nile, where he threw himself ihto a bark. ^ In this'"Httle crafty he managed to reach the sea, which wds not far away, wandered about thevjco^st for several days, and, aIf last, >v;hen nearly dead with hunger and thitst,'was picked up by a Spanish vesseWgailing to Genoa. "Let us first get the money," said Fa- piO. • And when a servant lmd brought it to him the noble merchant placed the sacks containing the gold in a boat that was moored near the shore. Then lie went, to the private chapel of Mni6. Loretta, and, taking an image of the Virgin with the infant Jesus in her arms, made of polished cedar wood, he placed it in the boat beside the rudder. And he said: "Madame, you are my security. The Jew Eliezer must be paid to-morrow. My honor as well as your own is at stake. That which a mortal sailor such as I am cannot do you will easily ac­ complish. Beautiful star of the sea,u thou whose breast nourished Him who walked upon the waters, bear this money to Eliezer in the Ghetto of Ven­ ice, so that the Jews shall not Say that thou art worthless and false security." And, having set the boat loose, he lifted.his hat and said in a low voice: "Adieu, madame!" The boat sailed out into tlfe open sea. For a long time the merchant and the widow followed it with their eyes. Night fell; a pathway of silvery light lay across the peaceful sea.., * And the day following Eliezer open­ ed his door and saw in the' narrow canal of Ghetto" a boat laden with sacks, on the top of which stood a lit­ tle figure of polished cedar wood, re­ splendent with the light of the daHvn. The boat stopped in front of the house where the picture of the seven caudle- sticks was seen above the door, and the. Jew recognized the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus, the security of the Christian merchant.--From the French of Anatole France.4 .The Lighthouse Keeper's Return. The lonely life of a liglithonse-keeper calls for stern, unswerving devotion to duty, and sometimes for real heroism. A story is told of the Irish wife of a lighthouse-keeper of Chicago which shows that the heroism is not always confined to the keeper himself. The light which this keeper tended is at a place called the "Crib," two miles out in the lake, and surmounts the massive masonry at the entrance of the tunnel which receives the water supply of the city. One day in early winter the keeper went ashore for supplies. Night came, and he did not return. A wild storm had swept suddenly down, and it was impossible for a boat to cross$he lake; but though the keeper was not there, the light burned steadily and the wife kept her lonely watch, tending thp light and looking for her husband. It was two or three days before he came, and even then the wave^ ran high and the wind roared. She stood at the window of the tower waiting for him, with a rope ready to draw up the small cargo. It was soon safe­ ly housed, and the rope descended for the keeper. Just as he grasped it the waves sw«£*pt his boat from under him,, and carried it away beyond his reach. His safety depended on the strength of his wife's arm, and he trusted himself to it. Slow­ ly, very slowly, he was drawn up, till he reached the window's edge, but be­ fore he could grasp it a heavy gust of wiud struck him, and he was hurled back into the water. Once more the rope was thrown with­ in his reach, and inch by inch he felt himself ascending the rough wall of the stone tower, tossed to and fro by the force of the wind. Would the strength of the wife hold out till the final effort was made, or would the wind triumph a.nd send him back into the raging water? It seemed impossible that the woman could sustain such a weight so long, yet he slowly ascended till the critical spot was reached, and with a long, brave pull the ledge was passed, and he climbed in at the window. Then, and not till then, did the brave woman's endurance give way. As her husband touched the floor she fainted. It was no wonder. He found her clothes worn through where she had braced her knees against the stone wall, and her left arm was torn and bleeding. The sudden jerk when he fell had wounded her arm and disabled it, yet she had not given in. "I knew there was no time to faint," she said, when she opened her eyes and looked in his face. "You were at the other end, and so I drew that rope up with my right hand and my teeth." But after eight, dfiys fair weather the ship was attacked by a tempest, which threw her upon tlie'coast of Dalmatia and broke heix^) pieqes. Everybody was drovrwdteJSfcept"T^abio, who only reached the shore with great difficulty by clingingchicken coop. He sank unconscious u£on the ground and was founjl in that condition by a beautiful widow named Loretta, whose house, stood near by, and who nursed him and gave him all her attention. When he came to himself he smelt the perfume of myrtles and roses, and saw from his window that the garden stretched in terraces to the seashore. Mme. Loretta took the guitar and play­ ed and sang to him tenderly beside his couch. Fabio, in gratitude and en­ chantment, covered, her hands with a thousand kisses. lie thanked her many times, and told her that he was less touched at regaining safety than at ow­ ing his life to so lovely a woman. Then he asked his hostess the exact month and day of the month, and when she told him he began to groan and to lament, for there were only twenty- four hours more of the year1 to elapse before he must pay to Eliezer his 500. ducats. The idea of not keeping his word and exposing his security to the reproaches of the Jew was intolerable to him. When Mme. Loretta asked him mat the reason of his despair might be he told her. And she, being very devout and pious, was much troubled for his sake. " ' The difficulty was not to find the 500 ducats, for in the neighboring town there was a banker who for six months had had charge of that sum at Fabio's disposal. But to go in twenty-four hours from the shores of Dalmatia to Venice, with contrary winds and a dan­ gerous sea, was not within the range of possibility. AGRICULTURAL NEWS • --t-- ; THINGS PERTAINING TO THE FARM AND HOME. Fuel Value of Corn as Compared with Coal-rExperiments as to the Cost of Butter in Eastern Canada--How to .Feed for Strength. Fuel Value of Corn. The present abundance and low price of corn throughout the Northwest has caused it to be' used as fuel by hun­ dreds of farmers and by some dwell­ ers'in the towns.- To test the economy of this practice, the station burned 5,232 pounds of corn in a "furnace un­ der a boiler, an(l a careful account was kept of the quantity of water evapor­ ated by the heat. Hie next day a like quantity of coal was used, and a care­ ful account kept,jOf the qMntity of wa­ ter evaporated (converted into steam). The experiment proved that on,e pound of coal will evaporate nearly twice as much water as one pound of corn--the exact figures being one and nine-tenths times as much. The coal used cost $0.65 per ton in Lincoln, and according to that price the corn was, worth, for burning, $3.50 per ton, or 12%; cents per bushel. When coal is worth $4.87 per ton, corn is worth, for burning, 9 cents per bushel; when cofil is worth $5.41 per ton, corn is worth 10,cents; coal $5.85,-corn 11 cents; coal $G.49, corn 12 cents; coal $7.11, corn 13 cents; coal, $7.57, corn 14 cents; coal $8.11, corn 15 bents." But, by burning corn, the farmer saves hauling the eorn to town and hauling the coal home. An­ other consideration, however, is this: May it not pay better to hold the corn till next year than to burn it? Two years ago wheat was so cheap that farmers were feeding it. to hogs; now it is well up in price. It is not unlike­ ly ^hat corn may go the same road.-- Bulletin of Nebraska Experiment Sta­ tion! The Cost of Butter. A very close calculation was made by a writer, "F. J. S.," in the Farmers' Advocate last year on the cost of but­ ter in Eastern Canada. He divided the question into three parts: "Grass but­ ter," "fall butter," and "winter butter;" and worked it out on the basis that a cow gives 5,000 pounds of milk, yield­ ing 200 pounds of butter, and that she milks nine months. Labor is charged at 10 cents an hour, board included. The strictly grass but­ ter season he puts at two months, May 20 to July 20. The total cost for feed, labor, milking, caring for milk, churn­ ing and marketing he puts at $5.80 per cow for sixty days. He then charges up to this "grass butter" the proportion of cost of keeping the cow three months in idleness, which is $1.33, making a total of $7.13, which brings the cost of the ninety pounds of butter which was produced on grass by a two-hundred- pound cow to be eight cents a pound. The fall period he placed at ninety days. For this period the - cost per pound of butter was found to be fif­ teen cents. The cost of winter production for a period of 120 days, with ensilage used, is placed at 20y» cents, while the cost of milk per 100 pounds was found to ber 58 cents. President Lincoln's Birthplace. Abraham Lincoln, our great War President, was born in Larue Couutv, Kentucky, in a rude little log rabin. This cabin has recently bean restored, and, so far as possible, ma le exactly as it was eighty-eight years ago, when a little baby boy was born to Thomas and Nancy Lincoln, or "Linkkoin," as the name was then spelled --tumble "settlers," who had moved to the neighborhood from Washington Coun­ ty, four years before. The few living people who remember Thomas Lincoln, the father, say that he was a rather improvident man, not working long at any one thing. He was a hard worker, but was a poor manager; and the little family was often without the simplest necessaries of life. Thomas Lincoln cleared a fe^n; acres around his cabin, and raised a small crop of corn and grain. Then he became a carpenter and tinker, work ing at such odd jobs as he could find among the pioneer neighbors. He was away at work at the time Abraham was born. The neighbors heard that Mrs. Lin coin was in the cabin all alone with the little baby, and had little to eat except corn and potatoes. They at once visited the Lincoln cabin, taking stxcb delicacies as their houses afforded. The father returned in a few days; and the baby was . named Abraham Lincoln after his grandfather, who had been killed by the Indians when8 Thomas Lincoln was a little hoy.--St. Nicholas under ouir treatment, she can be milked; thev year round. Two years ago we bought a cow that I Jncked out fdr a persistent milker, but she had been Carelessly handled and poorly fed, and was dry three or four months. This fail we wanted to dry herein time.to give her sixty days' rest, but f^nd her still givifig four or five quirts daily. Much Is said nowadays about milking continuously, if cows will do so. I have had a number of cows that could be fmilked without difficulty, and oc­ casionally have done so, but have al­ ways found it resulted in a loss. The cow needs at least eight weeks' rest, and will do enough better when she comes in to pay for it.--Hoard's Dairy­ man. Phosphate for 1 imothy. The wheat plant belongs to the fam­ ily of grasses, and all these need phos­ phate to perfect their seeds, as well as for the general Welfare of the plant. Whenever timothy is sown with any grain, especially in the fall, no small part of the phosphate used for the grain crop goes into the subsequent crop of grass. The grain may retard the tim­ othy growth the first year, but the phosphate will show in the growth of grass for several reasons. Timothy roots do not run far. When the' phos­ phate is applied with the drill, as it al­ ways should be, the grass growth will show the drill mark as long as the land remains seeded.--American Cultivator. •Team Horses. I- think if we" could have a larger breed of horses started there would be money iii raising colts for team pur­ poses, as I think h native colt at four years of age weighing twelve htindi*ed pounds would bring from $125 to $150, and it seems as though it might be made to pay to raise colts for these prices, and I would much rather have a pair of such horses than those broughtifrom the West and Canadsj. It will pay you to breed your farm mares this year, if they are good ones. If they are not good, keep selling and trading until you gfet good ones. A good team tells a good farmer.--Farm News. -- ; ~-- WHITE HOUSE MINSTRELS. Cropping Bearinu Orchards. It requires some extra profitable crop, and one that will itself pay for a good deal of manure, to make the cropping of a bearing orchard pay. We have seen it done with both blackberries and raspberries, both of wliich do well when partially shaded, and which will not suffer from drought, as do most of the crops grown in orchards. On no ac­ count should grain crops be grown in the orchard, unless it be where young trees have grown to bearing size, but without producing a crop. Even then the result is better accomplished by sowing clover, to be grown for a year or two.--Exchange. Feeding: for Strength. It is not accidental that oats, the grain which, next to whole wheat, is best for furnishing growth to the mus­ cles, should have always been the fa­ vorite food for horses. They are better than wheat for all animals except man, and as good also for man, if properly prepared. It is the large proportion of hull which makes oats superior for horse feed, as the hull distends the nu­ triment and prevents it from compact­ ing and heating in the stomach. Oat grain not only contains a large amount of nitrogenous nutriment, but it has be­ sides a certain stimulative substance, which is peculiar to the oat. Covered Runs. A covered run is absolutely neces­ sary for the well-being and comfort of poultry. If it rains and snows, they must have shelter; if the fierce rays of the sun beat down upon them, they like to be able to get into the shadq. If your fowl-peu is small, it should be covered over with roofing felt, boards or zinc. There is an objection to two-story poultry-houses. The ground floor may make a neat-looking run, but it has its disadvantages, and the main one is that if it snows or rains during the d?^- the fowls crowd linder, and very probably remain there all night long rrtther than step out into the storm for the purpose of going to roost in the proper place. In summer, the fowls would not take much harm, but in winter one night of exposure like this would niean death or disease, and certainly It would not be likely to add to the supply of eggs.--Massachusetts Ploughman. Top Dressing Poor Knolls. It Is often hard work to get a clover seeding on the dry, elevated knolls in grain fields. Lack of moisture is usual ly the cause. But the evil may be reme­ died by drawing a few loads of stable manure and spreading over these knolls. The manure not only protects the young clover plants, but it also holds the moisture in the soil by check­ ing evaporation. A few times seeding the knolls thus will make them as rich as any part of the field. It is usually the lack of clover seeding on such places that has kept them poor. An Art Criticis ntv He--I wonder what the meaning ol that picture is? The youth and the maiden are in a tender attitude.' She--Oh, don't you see? He liaS just asked her to masrry him and she is ac­ cepting him. How sweet! What does the artist|call the picture? He (looking about)--Oh, I see. It'a written on a card at the. bottom: "Sold."--Household Words. It is one of the cruel necessities of business to replace old men who have worn out in the service. And no busi­ ness in this country will warrant a neeiion for worn-out employes. New Uses for Greenhouses. The decreased cost of constructing and managing greenhouses is leading to a great multiplication of their num­ ber, and as another result of the uses to which they are put. A Philadelphia owner of numerous greenhouses, for which lie could hot find profitable use devoted several to the growing of pota toes. Of course in rich soil and with abundant warmth and moisture, the crop was very large. He' had home­ grown potatoes as, early as they could be brought from the Soxith, and made a fair profit by selling at the same price per peck as new potatoes brought per bushel a few weeks later. Persistent Milkers. Each year in keeping coivs confirms me more and more in the belief that the matter of having persistent milkers is largely under our control. As illustra tlve of this, a certain cow in our herd owing to lack of grain feed at milking tim% was dry for six months, and yet, Percherons. The horse is a noble animal, but I think the time may come when elec­ tricity will crowd him out. Our mow­ ing machines, horse rakes and wagons of all kinds will be shooting around, and not a horse to be seen. But for the present for farm wear, would have Peucheron horses weighing from ten to twelve hundred, and the feed should be cracked corn and oats, equal parts every time.--Farm News. A Performance that Wab Given by Willie and Tad Lincoln. • In St Nicholas is a paper by Julia Taft Bayne on "Willie and Tad Lin­ coln," who were playmates of Mrs.41 Bayne's brother., • Mrs. Bayne gives the following picture of one of their pranks: I went 'to the White House. As I approached, I saw that It was standing indeed, but I noticed a strange grin on the face of an orderly hold­ ing some horses. Some soldiers loung­ ing near also wore the same grin, which was intensified on the counte­ nance of a negro coming down the walk; and this wild'grin rippled and spread like a wave as I went on--or­ derlies, soldiers, doorkeepers, all wore that peculiar smile. I asked where the boys were. "Upstairs, miss," the man said; and I*heard him chuckle as he turned away. As I came along the upper corridor Tad appeared. "Oh, Julia, come and see our cir­ cus!" he cried when he saw me. "We've got a circus in the attic. We're min­ strels. I've got to be blacked up, and Willie can't get his djess on; it's too big. Pin it up, will you? Hurry!" I took a horrified survey and said, "A circus! Does the President know it'/" . ^ M • "Oh, yes, he knows It,'\ said Tad. "He doesn't care; lie's got some gener­ al or other in there. Come on--hurry!" Willie was struggling with the full, long skirt and flounces of a lilac silk I had seen Mrs. Lincoln wear at an afternoon reception, while Budd wore ruffled morning-wrapper which he was pinning up in billowy, festoons. When the boys wove nearly ready to go before their "audience," Tad began singing at the top of his voice, "Old Abe Lincoln came out of the Wilder­ ness." Hush!" said Budd; "the President will hear you." I don't care if Pa does hear, and he don't care either," said Tad. "We've ot to sing that in the show." And I think he did! But. some time after,, as Tad was singing a campaign song at our house about "Old Abe splitting ails," Willie asked my mother, "Mrs. Taft, ought Tad to sing that song? Isn't it disrespectful to Pa?" Tad kicked the chair, as he always did when displeased, and said: "Every­ body in this world knows Pa used to split rails." Mamma explained why she thought it in bad taste, and Tad said: "Well, I'll sing about 'John Brown's Body,' then." He always obeyed my mother, though generally so head-strong. I was at their "circus" only a short time. A curtain of sheets ginned to­ gether was stretched across one side of the attic. Their extensive "reper­ toire," was somewhat mixed; and they did not keep very closely to the pro­ gram. Tad as the "Black Statue" was great success. Every one who paid one cent went in. I think, though it said "five cents" on the bill. Servants, orderlies, soldiers, strangers,, came and went all daj-. Odds and Ends. Powdered alum applied to a fever sore will prevent it from becoming un­ sightly or noticeable. When having occasion to hang out clothes in winter where a frost is likely to stiffen them and injure the fabric this can be obviated by putting a hand­ ful of coarse salt in the last rinsing water and letting it dissolve before put­ ting in the articles under treatment. A thermometer to be fastened upon the oven door is one of the most useful of articles to the cook. With this the heat of the oven can be determined without opening the door, and the bak­ ing of cakes, puddings and souffles can be accomplished much more success­ fully. * To make codfish balls, simmer to­ gether equal quantities of raw fish and potatoes--cut in small pieces--until the potatoes are thoroughly cooked. When done drain and mash; add a dash of white pepper, a little sweet milk and butter and the beatgn white of one egg for every cupful of the mixture. Fry in hot pan, drain and serve*at once. For the sewing room piece boxes in­ stead of piece bags are much to be pre­ ferred. These may be built along the wall, forming pigeonholes about eigh­ teen inches square, duly labeled for each member of the family, and for linings and patterns. A chintz curtain falls to the floor in front of such a cab­ inet, whose convenience has only to be tried to be amply demonstrated. To make linen beautifully white, use refined borax in the water instead of soda or washing powder. A large handful of powdered borax to ten gal­ lons of boiling w;ater is the proportion, and you will save one-half in soap by this method. Borax being a natural salt, does not injure in the slightest degree the texture of the linen, and will soften the hardest water. Both dishcloths and dusting cloths should be put through the wash regu larly and a fresh supply given out each week. This is done in order that they may pass inspection regularly. They should be washed out carefully every day they are us£d, and dried at least once in the twenty-four hours In the open air. This will prevent any dan­ ger of "death in the dishcloth" In the shape of mold and the germs',of disease so often bred in putrid and offensive cloths. The Origin of "Yankee Doodle." "Yankee Doodle" is claimed by many nations. It was known in England as "Nankee Doodle" in the time of Charles I. The Hollanders had an old song to this air called "Yanker Dudefe." It is said to be'also an old French vintage song, a native Hungarian air, and the ancient music of the sword dance of the ' Biscayans. In June, 1755, Dr. Richard Scliuckburg, regimental sur­ geon under General Braddock, thought to play a joke on the ragged, tattered Continentals by palming off the "Nan kee Dodle" of the time of Cromwell upon the colonial soldiers as the latest martial music. It at once became pop ular, but a quarter of a centur^ later the joke seemed turned when the Con­ tinental bands played this same "Yan­ kee Doodle" as Lord Cornwallis march­ ed out after surrendering his army, his sword and the English colonies • in America to the Yankees.--Ladles' Home JauxiuiL Punishing a Shirk. The following anecdote is taken from an old history of Montpelier, Vt., where it is given as a story related by Josiah Benjamin, Esq. In the winter of 1786, as it appears, Mr. Benj&min and one of his neighbors, Mr. Elijah Paine,"started for Boston, each with a load of grain. The snow was nearly five feet deep, and it was almost impossible for sleighs to "turn out." In going through Brookfield. in one of the worst places, says Mr. Benjamin, we met a sleigh loaded with salt. Find­ ing that there was no possibility of get­ ting by each other, except by unloading all our sleighs, and then turning tliem up sideways in the sjtiow-walled path, and so running. t)^erd by empty, we all fell to, unloadedTthe three sleighs, and ran the strang^r's^sleigh past ours. As it happened, we4ooded his sleigh first, and got him r&idy to start. Judge Paine and myself then turned back for the puipose o'f putting in our loads, expecting of course that the stranger would assist us. But the next instant we heard the loud crack of a whip, and saw the fellow mounted on his sleigh, prepared to leave us in the lurch. Judge Paine looked after the pitiful fugitive for an instant, with eyes that fairly flashed fire; then suddenly dash­ ing off his hat and greatcoat he gave chase on foot^running as I thought I had never seen any one run before, un­ til he overtook the team, when he leaped like a tiger upon the load of salt, seized the shrinking puppy by the col­ lar, and made a flying leap with him into the snow. He then drew his prisoner into the road, and led him back to our loads; when, giving him a mighty significant push toward our bags of wheat still lying untouched in the snow, he coolly, and with that sort of curt, dignified politeness, which even in moments of anger rarely forsook him, observed: There, friend, if you will take hold of these bags and load up .both our sleighs, we will be much obliged to you, very much obliged to you, sir." And the fellow sheepishly did so, to the last bag, the Judge not permitting me to lend the least assistance. We then drove on, leaving him to his own reflections. How Bullets Make Clouds. Photographs of flying bullets recent­ ly made in Italy show dark streaks and blurs just in front of the projectiles, and It is thought that these Are the im­ ages of little clouds formed'by the sud­ den- condensation of moisture, as the advancing bullet compresses the afr ahead of it. Liona Disappeairinir,. Just as the buffalo lias been exter­ minate^ from our great Western plains, so lions are disappearing from India before the rifle of the hunter and the ax and plow of the farmer. In Kathia- war, whose forests have furnished one Of the last retreats of the retiring king of beasts, an attempt is being made to save the animals from complete extinc­ tion by prohibiting lion-hunting during a period, of six years. It is said, how­ ever, that the gradual clearing "away Qf the forests will in itself result in the (extermination of the lions. The Moon and the Earth. The strangeness of the scenery of the moon, and the,enormous size of Its cra­ ter-shaped mountains, have led some astronomers to think that its past his"- tory must have been quite different from that of the earth. This, however, it not the opinion of Messieurs. Loewy and Puiseux, who, in a recent com­ munication to the Academy of Sciences in Paris, say that a study of the latest lunar photographs tends to show that the condition of the moon's surface has been' produced by the action of the same Natural forces now at work on the earth. A Shower.of Ants. A correspondent of Cosmos describes a remarkable phenomenon witnessed in Jerusalem at the beginning of July. A swarm of flying ants settled upon the city and filled the air from sunrise un­ til 9 o'clock. Visitors to the Holy Sep­ ulchre were obliged to use their hand­ kerchiefs constantly in order to keep the insects out of their eyes and nos­ trils. The natives asserted that this extraordinary flight of ants was the precursor of an earthquake. Whether there was an real connection between the two phenomena or not, as a matter of fact two slight shocks of earthquake were felt in Jerusalem on the evening of the same day. Jefferson's Story of Lincoln. At a dinner given on Saturday night by the Lotos Club in his honor Joseph Jefferson made a speech which was considered to be one of the best of the many he has ever made. Mr. Jefferson told how a company with which he was traveling--walking between stations and not for their health-became stranded at Springfield, 111. At that time a license had to be paid for the privilege of showing in the town, and .tiie company was unable to pay it. They were stuck; they could go no further. "In our extremity," said the actor, "a young lawyer came and offered his services free.' We accepted his help, and through his efforts the license re­ striction was removed, and we present­ ed our play. That good lawyer now lies buried at Springfield, and a grand monument has been reared over his grave. That man, our benefactor, was Abraham Lincoln." Three Genders. Teacher--How many genders are there? Child--Thfee. ^Masculine, feminine and bloomel".--Illustrated Bits. E^eijy man thinks he is very consci entiouk in his work, but wonders how other men hold their jobs. The Eye of the Storm. The nSodern science of meteorology teaches us that in great storms, both on sea and land, the wind circles in spirals, which may be hundreds, or even thousands, of miles in diameter. At the center, especially when the storm occurs on the level surface of the sea, there is a calm called the "eye of the storm." Here the sun or the stars can sometimes be seen shining through a vast opening in the clouds, while all around a furious tempest is raging. Recently Prof. Cornu, the French savant, gave an illustrated lec­ ture on storms in London, at which he reproduced the phenomena of a great cyclone on his lecture table, including the "eye of the storm." His apparatus was a flat, circular disk, some three feet in diameter, which was caused by rotate rapidly above a table which was covered wTitb pins carrying little flags. The flags indicated by their motions the direction of the winds set in circula­ tion by the whirling of the disk above. As the disk was moved across the table the eye of the storm moved with it, and wherever the eyewasthe little flags lay motionless, while those around them were flapping and snapping in the min­ iature tempest. A barometer placed beneath a hole in the table indicated a decrease of pressure as the center of the mimic storm passed over the hole. A similar fall of the barometer occurs in a real storm. Egg Candling Business. The business of egg candling, or egg testing, does not look difficult and ap­ parently requires no especial profi­ ciency. The South Water street ex­ pert in that line paused in his work long enough to tell a different story. "Egg candling," he said, "is no fool job and only the man who has been at it a long time Can make good money. It requires keen sight and a practical eye and just about one man out of ten is good at the business. You've got to have a steady hand, too, and the man who drinks much can't candle eggs very long. The breakage would soon take all the profit off every crate of eggs. In New York they hare an egg candlers, or egg testers, tmion and one of its rules is that no man who drinks steadily can be admitted. It is com­ posed mostly of east side Hebrews and is very ol&^Pne of the oldest labor or­ ganizations in New York. Men in our business who are really first-class get good wages. You can always tell a good man by the light, easy way he touches an egg. He can tell an egg that is addled at a glance, where even people quite familiar with the article will say it is in first-class condition." --Chicago Chronicle. Expenses of the White House. Congress appropriates between $40,- 000 and $50,000 annually for the cur­ rent expenses of the Executive Man­ sion to meet clerk hire, including that of the President's private secretary, which is $5,000 a year; stenographer,' typewriters, telegraph operators, mes­ sengers^ doorkeepers, a steward, and housekeeper, and light and heat. Fire "Without Matches. Although the ancients had no knowl­ edge Qf the friction matches of these times, still they had quite a number of ways of obtaining fire. The igniara were contrivances similar to those in use to-day by savage tribes, and the fire was produced by the friction of a pointed stick of wood in the hollow of another piece. Whenever two women get together, and there is a man in ah adjoining room, they soim,begin to whisper.