(
j:
HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher.
NIL DESPERANDUM.
Two Dollars per Annum.
VOL. VII.
RIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 1877.
NO. 2.
1
Cnnffi
4
2P
S
Better in the Morning.
Tou can't help the baby, parson
But still I want ye to go
Down an' look in upon her,
An" read an' pray, yon know.
Only last week she was sklppin' round
A pullin' my whi J.ei-ii V hnir,
A climbiu' up to the table
Into her little high chair.
" The first night that she took it
When her little, cheeks grc rod,
When she kisRcdood-night to papa.
And went away to bed
Bez she : ' 'Tis headache, papa,
Bo bettor in moruin' live
In' aoniuthin' in how Rhe said it
Jest made me want to cry.
" But the mornin' brought the fever,
And her little hands were hot,
An' the pretty red uv her little checks
Grew into a crimson spot.
But she laid there jest ez patient
Ez ever n woman could,
Takin' whatever we give her
Bettcr'n a grown woman would.
"Thodnys are terrible long an' slow,
An' she's growin' wus in each j
An' now she'B jest a tlippln'
Clear away out uv our reach.
Every night when I kiss her.
Tryiii' hard not to cry,
Wie says in a way that kills mc
' Be better in muniiu'--bye !'
" She can't gut thro' the night, parson,
Bo I want ye to come an' pray,
And talk with mother a little
You'll know jest what to say
Not that the buby needs it,
Nor that wo make any complaint
That Ood seems to think He's needin'
The smile uv (he little saint."
1 walked alwig with the corporal
To Iho door of his huniblo honiu,
To which the silent messenger
Before me had also come ;
Ami if he had l eeu a titled prince,
I would not have been honored more
Than I was with his heartfelt welcome
To his lowly cottage door.
Night falls again in the cottage ;
They move in silence and dread
Around tho room where the baby
Ei'.s panting upon her bed.
' Rocs baby know pupa, dnrlhigf"
And she moves her little faco
Willi answer that shows sho knows him ;
But scarcu a visible tr.iee
Of her wonderful infantile beauty
Remains as it wus before
Tho unseen, silent nu sstngcr
Hud waited i t the d ior.
" Papa, k ss baby I's so tired "
The man bows low his face,
i'ld two swollen hands are lifted
li baby's last embrace.
And into her father's grizzled beard
rhe little red fingers cling,
Wi'ile her husky whispered tenderness
"ears from a rock would wring,
' y -is so Kick pupa
l'ui.- don't Vi nt you to cry ;"
The Utile hands fail on the coverlet
" lie better in lnornia' bye !"
And night around baby is falling,
Settling down rttrk and dense ;
Doc God need their darling in heaven
That He must carry her hence ?
I prayod, with tears in my vr!e ,
As the corporal solemnly knelt
Wrlh such grief as never before
H;s great wurni heart had felt.
Oh ! frivolous mtn and women !
Do you know that around you, and nigh
Alike from tho humble and haughty
Goeth up evermore the cry :
"My child, my precious, my dm ling,
How can I let you die?"
Oh ! hear ye tho white lips whisper -
" Be better iu uioruin' bye !"
ljtawk-r S. Conn, in Concord Monitor,
THE FAIRY TOOTH.
" One afternoon I was hurrying along
the street as fast as tho snow and ice
would let roe toward the residence of
Miss Constance Howard, and had arrived
within a few dooi1 of the house, when I
saw a small, plainly dressed young
woman cautiously descending tho steps,
and then as cautiously, with eyes bent
on the ground, advancing iu my direc
tion. She wore no veil, and as she drew
near to me I studied her face with pleas
ure. It was such a bright, brown, hon
est, innocent faco.
"Well, sir, I was looking so earnestly
at this bright, brown, innocent face, and
not minding my steps at all, that I never
saw a largo lump of ice directly in my
pathway, and tumbling over it in the
most awkward manner,- was precipitated
into the very arms of ifte small woman,
my tall hat striking her full in the face
and then bouncing off into the street. I
regained my perpendicular in time to
hear a half-distressed, half-sharp little
voice exclaim : ' Oh, my tooth 1' and
see a pair of "peculiar gray eyes raised
reproachfully to my face, as a pair of
woolen gloved bauds went up to a pair
of charming crimson lips. Before I
could utter a word of apology and regret
she had glided, slided or skated awty,
and I stood looking like a fool, and won
dering whether I'd better glide, slide or
skate after her, when I saw something
glittering on the ice at my feet. I
stooped and picked it up a fairy tooth 1
You needn't look so horror stricken,
Karl : it wasn't a veal one, of course,
, Tisn't likely I could have struck the
young creature so violent a blow as to
knock a tooth that had grown there out
of her mouth without knocking her
down. It was a false one, but the tiniest
I had .ever seen iu my life, false or real.
I looked at it a niomeut and put it into
my pocketbook. The first question that
I asked Constance, when she came down
into tne parlor to receive me, was:
'Who is the small woman who left this
house a short time ago brown as a gyp
sy, dark arched eyebrows, nose retrousse,
mouth like a baby's, gray eyes, with a
queer look in them, and woolen gloves ?"
" ' Pray, how long did you look at
her ?' said Constance.
" Two minutes, ' answered I.
" ' You saw a great deal iu two min
utes, ' Bhe retorted, with, a disagreeable
laugh. What a pnpit,iil traveler and
, sight-seer you would make 1 You could
1 rush thiough a gallery of paintings, for
instance, nnd rarry away as many in your
i mind's eye as those, unfortunates who,
not possessing your extraordinary
j talent
' Don't chaff, that's a good child,' I
! interrupted. ' Who is she ?
" 'one,- answered Uonstance, with a
ettrl of her lip, ' is a young person, one
of my Aunt Fidelia's favorites by-the-bye,
I'm not included among them,'
with a shrug of the shoulders and a
grimace ' who comes hero every after
noon, Sundays excepted, to teach my lit
tle sisters their A B C's.'
"Well, sir, I did nothing but think
about the brown faced governess nnd the
mite of a tooth all next day, nnd the
next, an-1 nt last I determined' to find out
where she lived and send it back to hor
anonymously, of course. It was such
a ridiculous thing for a man to carry
around with him. If it had been a hand
kerchief, or a glove, or a ribbon, or a
flower but it wasn't.
" How to find out where (die lived be
came the question, solved for me by
sheer good luck that very evening, when
I went to call on Constance.
"Miss Howard was not at home, but
Mrs. Fnirinnn (Aunt Fidelia) wni, and
had a message for me.
" Tho very thing I' I inwardly exult
ed, as I entered the room, with outward
composure and dignity. You remember
Aunt Fidelia ? A slim, keen, blue eyed,
rather dramatic old lady, with ' no non
sense about her,' nnd a very decided way
of speaking.
" ' Constance has gone skating,' she
said. ' Her orders are that you follow
her. I suppose you'll obey them ?'
" 'Can't I stop and rest a few mo
ments ?' asked I.
" The old lady smiled. ' I haven t the
slightest objection,' she said; 'on the
contrary, I shall be glad to have you.
I like you tis well ns I like any of them
perhaps a little better, Have you any
news ('
" My news was exhausted in five min
utes, apparently not at all to the disap
probation of Aunt Fidelia, who, like
most old ladies, delights much more in
talking than iu listening, and who in five
minutes more (I never could tell how
she got there, but it was through no
questions of mine) began to hold forth
on the subject above all others I would
have chosen the nursery governess.
"Such a dear little thing !' she said,
' and so kind to her widowed mother !
a poor seamstress, unable on account of
her delicate health to sew half the time.
I can't imagine what Bhe would do if it
were not for Daisy.' A nd do you know,
old fellow," said Douglass, breaking off
in his narrative to take a long whiff' at
his cigar, and send a fleecy ring floating
upward, "that if I had been asked to
choose a name for her, that's the very
name I'd have chosen Daisy. A bright,
sturdy, constant, frank facedlittle flowers,
making pleasant tho fields and meadows
and road sides. Are yon smiling ?' Beg
pardon thought y u were ; and I didn't
wonder nt it. ' i'he girl is the life and
light of tho humble place sho calls her
home, and to the eyes ft her mother
there is no sunshine like Daisy's smile,'
said Aunt Fidelia ; ' and apropos of that,
let mo tell you something oddtthat hap
pened to Mi.s Russel a couple of days
ago -unless you are sufficiently rested
and wish to follow the skaters.'
i "I assure you, my dear madam, I am
j not sufficiently rested, nnd very much
i interested,' I Raid. ' Pray go on.'
i " The old lady went on. ' Daisy has
i the loveliest tiny teeth in the world, but
' unfortunately last week she broke one of
i the front ones. Away goes the child to
I the di ntist. and has what was left of it
pulled out, and then home to her moth- i
I er, and smiles. "Oh, dear! oh dear!" j
I cries the mother who is, as I told you i
before, a weak, nervous thing " where !
is your tooth ? and where, oh ! where, is !
your smile V" You see, the tooth, Mr. ;
Douglass, had taken Daisy's smilo with i
it, and the poor girl didn't look at all I
like Daisy. So the modest little thing,
who hadn't given a thought to her looks
herself, seeing her mother's distress, '
went directly buck to the dentist, nnd j
begged hiin to tell her what to do. i
" Have a false one iu its place," said he;
" out it will take somo time to get up u
permauenee, and vou say you must have
something immediately. The only thing
we can do is to find a tooth and fasten it
in with a bit of wax to serve as a tem
porally. "
" 'Easier said than done, Mr. Doug
lass. It took a long while a whole
afternoon, iu fact to match Daisy's
pretty teeth; but at lust it was done, and
the dear little daughter went homo iu
the twilight, and smiled again at her
contented mother. Well, a day or two
after, going from here, some stupid man
siips on tho ico, falls violently against
the child, his tall hat striking her
straight in the. month, and out flies the
"temporary." And now Mrs. Russel is
pining for sunshine again.'
" ' Who was the man V I asked.
'"Why, what a silly question!' said
Aunt Fidelia, sharply. ' How .should I
know ? And as for Daisy, her near
sighted eyes didn't rest on him an in
stant, and she couldn't tell him from
Adam. ' So, pour thing, after all her
trouble, she's lost the tooth. Can't get
another, becnuso sho isn't able to rec
ompense the man for the time it would
take to find one, and is obliged to go
about with her mouth shut. You needn't
say how dreadful for a woman; I'll say
it for you, '
" ' The mother is a seamstress,' snid I;
' perhaps my mother, who is kindness
itself, could help her to some work that
would pny her well. Can you give me
her address ?'
" ' You're a good boy,' said the unsus
pecting old soul; and scribbling it on
one of her own cards, she gave it to me.
'And now I think you'd better go.
Good-night.'
"The next day after my highly satis
factory interview with Mrs. Fairman was
St. Valentine's day, and what I consid
ered a happy thought flashed into my
mind, and I instantly proceeded to put
it into execution. I bought a pretty
little tortoise shell box, laid the tooth in
it on a bed of white cotton, in company
with two or three small gold pieces to
pay for the ' permanence ;' and wrapping
the box in a sheet of rose perfumed pa
per, on which I had written a verse or
two what a time I had trying to nnd
rhymes mouth ' ul ' tooth l s?ut
it by one of our errand boys, with strict
injunctions not to answer any questions,
to the residence of Miss Daisy Russel.
Judge of my astonishment when, in less
than an hour, the box, minus the tooth,
but still containing the coins, was re
turned to me, with a note written in a
hand which betrayed extreme agitation,
and winch read thus:
" ' MiBS Russet thanks Mr. Douglass
for his kindness, and, while retaining
her own property, begs to return the
verses and other things sent by mis
take.' "Imagine my feelings, my dear fel
low. No, you can't imagine them; it's
impossible. My cheeks, man as I am,
nctually burned with mortification. I
enme near flinging the money, or ' the
other things,' as she called it, out of the
window; but, on second thought, pock
eted it instead.
" How in the world had she found me
out ? No doubt she knew, through the
Hownrd children, there was such a per
son, but m what manner had she discov
ered that the sender of tho valentine and.
Hubert Douglass wee identical ? What
should I do to pacify the little gypsy ?
how prove to her that whit I had done
had been in thoughtless kindness? I
made up my mind to call upon her. The
affair could not be properly explained by
letter. Embarrassing as an interview
might prove, I must face the situation
like a gentleman. And in half an hour
after the box was returned, I was
ringing at the door of the house where
dwelt Miss Daisy Itussel. She opened
the door herself, nnd peered curiously at
me with her lovely near sighted eyes. It
was evident she didn't know me by sight.
" ' I would like to speak to you a mo
ment, Miss Russel,' I said. ' I am Rob
ert Douglass. '
" Her brown cheek flamed like an au
tumn leaf with the light of the setting sun
on it. She answered not a word, but led
the way into a pleasant, but rather cir
cumscribed sitting-room.
"'I have come to beg your pardon,'
I began, as soon as the door was closed
behind us. ' I had no intention of
wounding you God forbid I I know
you found it hard struggling in this cold
world, that you had a dear mother al
most dependent upon you' (her face
softened a shade when I spoke of her
mother), ' and I never dreamed '
"'But the verses,' she interrupted,
raising her eyes and darting a look of
reproach at me (by-the-bye,did I tell you
she had forgotten to send them with the
'other things?'), 'and Miss Howard?
Oh, Mr. Douglass, it was cruel and un
manly of you!'
"' Miss Hownrd and I n re not on as
friendly terms as formerly,' I answered ;
which was true, as the count had made
his appearance at the skating party.
" ' Still, sir, I am only a poor teacher,
and not in your circle at all, and they
were too too ' And, by George ! she
burst into tears."
"Were they ' too too ?' asked Earl,
with a smile.
" Oh, there wus something about the
happiness of the fairy tooth in being
imprisoned in so lovely a prison us her
fairy mouth, and some reierenee to a
kis that's all !'
"And quite enough," said Earlo,
" taking into consideration that you had
never beeu introduced to tho young
lady."
" Well, sir, when the little thing be
gan to cry, I thought I should go wild.
' Miss Russel,' I cried, 'do do forgive
nio ! Upon my word and honor, I re
spect and esteem you with all my heart,
and have admired you ever since the
day I first beheld you the day I
came near knocking you down.'
"A smile beamed through her teius as
she held out her hand and said : ' That's
about thirty-six hours ago. But I'll de
tain you no longer, Mr. Douglass. I bo- I
lieve you are sincere in what you say.'
i " ' And you lorgive me t asked.
"' I forgive you. Good-bye.'
: "'One moment more,' I begged.
I ' Pray tell me before we part how you
I discovered I wrote the valentine.'
" She looked at me in great surprise,
i ' I have heard of you often from my
i pupils,' she said, 'and one day when we'
j were out walking they pointed out to me
I the honse iu which you live.'
! " ' Yes, my dear Miss Russel, but they
! knew nothing about the tooth, the box.
or tho verses. '
"Still more surprised, she looked at
me as she went to her desk and took from
it the offending valentine, which iu her
anger nnd hasto she had neglectad to re
urn, and handed it to me.
"By George! old fellow, in my ab
sent minded way, I'd signed my name to
it. There it was, bold and free littlo
flourish at the end of the last 's,' and all
'Yours tu command, Robert Doug
lass.' "
Earle burst out laughing. "Just what
might have been expected of the boy
who came to school one morning with a
tin pie plate under his arm instead of his
slate."
"So I did, by George! I'd nearly
forgotten that," said Douglass, joining
in the laugh. Then throwing away the
end of his cigar as the strains of a waltz
reached them, he added: "There's your
dance."
" But the end of the story ?"
" You've heard the first chapter. The
second nnd last is a very short one.
Perhaps, not being entirely bereft of
brains, you may have discovered that I
was half'in love with Miss Russel when
I went to offer her an apology for- trying
to befriend her. Well, sir, I came
away wholly in love with her, and that
in tune she returned my passion may be
inferred from the fact that we were mar
ried three days ago, on the anniversary
of the day I found the fairy tooth fairy
in more senses than one, for it certainly
enchanted me, and led me by force of
that enchantment to where happiness
and But don't wait another moment,
my deor fellow. Off to your waltz, and
when it's over, I'll introduce you to Mrs.
Robert Douglass."
A student named Talford, on returniug
to his home in Missouri reoentiy from
college in Indiana, became inBiuie on
the cars, and leaving his Bachel of books
in his seut, leaped from a train on the
North Missouri railroad, as it was going
at full speed. He was captured near
Renick, Missouri, iu a dense thicket,
and was taken to be a wild man, He is
held, in jail for identification.
Sew Cloths for, Spring Wraps.
Dolmnns and scraf mantles will
be
worn in the spring, nnd the counters of J
retail stores are already heaped with the
new cloths to bo used for them. Gray,
drab, cream, brown, and fawn shades are
shown in variety for those wraps. There
are rough fleeced earners hair cloths a
third of an inch thick, yet of light weight,
for warmer weather. They cost $4.50
a yard in stylish shades, are of cloth
width (which is forty-eight inches), and
can scarcely be distinguished from the
heavier camel's hair cloths sold for $10
a yard. Basket woven cloths with checks
of various sized are from $3.50 to $4 a
yard. Fine Scotch cloths in gray mix
tures are $4. 50. The most stylish of'all are
the quadrille patterns of blocks, bars or
dice chocks, made of finer twill and more
glossy thou tho broadly twilled ground.
The American twilled cloths are soft and
pliable, cost only $2.50 a yard, and
though not very heavy, they rival the
Mcotcli and I- reucn goods m appearance.
These will be made up in long dolmans
of very simple shape, trimmed very
simply with galloon and fringe. It wiil
be the fashion merely to border Buch
garments instead of destroying their
shapely outlines by lines aud angles of
trimming sewed on up and down the back
or across the front and shoulders, ns has
lotely been the custom. The fringes
used for such wraps must be very thick
nnd rich, ns thin, poor fringe destroys
the effect of the garment. It is always
best to buy fringes of good quality, as
they wear, like lace, without changing
greatly in style. Tho domestic fringes
are fur stronger than those that are im
ported. Tho beauty of the French
fringes is in their design, not in wearing
qualities. When purchasing fringe, the
difference is easily told by breaking one
or two threads of the fringe, when it will
be discovered that the French fringe is
very fragile. Bias brocaded silk bauds
will also be used for trimming wraps as a
heading for fringes, for collars, and for
pockets. lazar.
Whales on tho California Coast.
Last week, says a recent number of
the Monterey California), our Portu
guese fishermen killed a large female
whale, of tho California gray species,
about sixty feet in length, being some
twenty-two feet larger than has ever
been lulled here before the average' of
females killed being about forty-two
feet. After cutting off the blubber,
they found inside a nearly full grown
male calf, which measured eighteen feet
from the end of its nose to the tip of its
tail, or fluke as the whalers call it; the
circumference of the body at its center,
nine feet; tho head about four feet in
length; pectoral 11ns, three feet; breadth
of tail, three and a half feet; and it had
two ridges on the' .lower jaw. When
brought on shore .it- atill had three feet
of tlie umbilical cord attached to it.
The whalebone on its upper jaw was Bof t
and white; the tongue, large and soft ;
the eyes, nearly full size, about as large
as a cow's; anit tho skin was of a dark
brown, mottled white. It had no dorsal
lin. The females, when with young,
generally keep oil shore when on their
way down south, to bring them forth in
the warm waters of the bays of Lower
California, where thoy remain all winter
and go north in the spring. The fe
males, when with calf, nre dangerous,
as they often attack the boats of the
whalers. The writer ones saw a boat
cut completely in two by tho flukes of
one of these whales, and it looked as if it
had been chopped in two by a dull ax;
and several of the men were wounded
Tho term of gestation is about one year.
Formerly these marine monsters were so !
numerous in Monterey bay that whalers j
wonld fill up lying at anchor. Often- :
times they wonld be seen playing in the
surf and rolling the barnacles oft' of their i
sides and bncks on the sand beach an J
odd way of scratching themselves. j
Infectious Disease Propagation. j
Iu view of the alarming prevalence of
scarlet fever in many parts of the coun
try, the following hints by tho J1ritih
Madicat Journal are wholesome warn
ings: There nre three common ways by
means of which infectious diseases may
be very widely spread. It is a very
usual practice for parents to take children
suffering with scarlet fever, measles, etc. ,
to a public dispensary, in order to obtaiu
advice nnd medicine. It is little less
than crime to expose, in the streets of a
town and in the crowded waiting room of
a dispensary, children afflicted with such
complaints.' Again, persons who are re
covering from infeetiors disorders bor
row books out of tho lending departments
of public libraries; these books, cm their
roissuo to fresh borrowers, are cv.urces
of very great danger. Iu all limaries,
notices should be posted up informing
borrowers that no books will bo lent out
to persons who are suffering from dis
eases of an infectious character; and that
any person so suffering will be prose
cuted if he borrow during tho time of his
illness. Lastly, disease is spread by
tract distributors. It is the habit for
such well meaning people to call at a
house where a person is ill and leave him
a tract. Iu a week or so the tract is.
called for again, another left in its place,
and the old one is left with another per
son. It needs not much imagination to
know with what result to health such a
practice will lead if the first person be in
scarlet fever or smallpox.
Dr. Hutton offers a warning on the
reckless manner in which parents allow
their healthy children to run into the
nouses ot acquaintances wno nave mem
bers of their families suffering from scar
latina, etc, and states that he has seen
the infection thus carried from the pa
tient, and several families attacked.
A French Story,
One day, on the Boulevard Pere're,
Paris, a mad dog started in pursuit of a
velocipede, mounted by u boyof fourteen,
named Dupraty, living in the Boulevard,
No. 16. The chase was a terrible one,
and ended in the fall of the boy. Hap
pily it was in the iron of the velocipede
wheel that the teeth of the mad bulldog
closed. There ended the first
.act of the drama. ,The second follows.
In an impulse of pssionate joy at seeing
her son saved fremi so great a danger,
Mine. Dupraty pressed her lips to the
wheel of the velocipede. Some hydro
phobic virus had remained on the iron,
and after an agony of a fortnight" the
poop mother died, raging mad.
Co-Operation in Farming.
An important advantage of large farms
that they enable the farmer to em.
ploy more help and do the work by
groups of laborers rather than by solitary
individuals. It is a well attested fact
that two men working together can and
generally will do more than twice as
much as one ; and three, four or more
can work together with proportionate
advantage. It is not only pleasanter but
easier to work with others than to work
alone. Every Northern farmer's boy
knows how "lonesome " it seems to hoe
or plant alone in a large cornfield ; how
the work drags, and how tired the work
er becomes. A dozen men and boys
making twenty-four rows in a " bout,"
changes everything, a much smaller
number can work with nearly the same
advantage. Work of thiB kind should
never be done by isolated laborers. They
cannot accomplish as much alone, and
the fatigue is far greater.
Working in the same field with others
is a stimulus and decidedly advantage
ous. In harvest field with a self-raking
reaper the binders see each other only
occasionally ; but how the countenance
brightens when tho turns come together
and the driver of the reaper cheers and
encourages nil. Raking nnd binding
after a cradle, ns I remember it, was
equally social work. There was a con
stant strife between cradler and binder
to see which should excel. Under this
stimulus some of the largest days' work
on record have been performed, and
sometimes by men who were not good
for much else. They needed the stimu
lus of competition and were good for
little without it. There are many more
such men thau we think.
Our Northern farmers, owning small
farms, and mostly working them with lit
tle help, live too isolated a life. The
remedy is not altogether in farmers'
clubs, granges and meetings nor social
enjoyment during the season of rest.
These are all good; but they do not reach
tho greater difficulty the isolation of
farmers in their fields and during the
working season. " It is not good for man
to be alone," not only ns to the neces
sity of marriage, but this is nearly as ap
plicable to the need for society and com
panionship in work. Thousands of farm
ers become insane some more and some
less, and in a great majority of instances
this aberration is the direct result of a
solitary life. Farmers' wives suffer from
this cause even more thau the men, espe
cially where children keep the housewife
closely nt home. Children are com
panions only iu a partial sense. They
stimulate the affections, but they are
more or less duplications of their parents
and do not demand the mental activity
required by association with intelligent
adults.
Farm help is not usually so nearly on
an equality in mental culture and intelli
gence as it was forty or fifty years ago.
It is quite rare that farmers nowadays
seek, or seeking find, intelligent com
panions in their hired men. I know
many exceptions to this; but what I have
written is the general rule. Farmers
mistake in this, for no matter how ignor
ant nnd thoughtless their help, they
ought to make the most of it. This is
not only a duty but their decided inter
est. Any hired man will do more work
and do it better for being treated as an
intelligent . being rather thau as n slave j
whose only use wus to dig and delve for j
his monthly wages. This consideration !
should be more thought ot in inrimr
more mougm oi m iiirniir
help. Any man whom you cannot aff rd
to associate with you cannot
lOt nftbl'd tO
; hire at nnvprk.e intelligence and mon l
worth are as important on the farm as
anywhere, and if they do not command
as high a price it only shows that they
are not fully appreciated by farmers.
After all, I suspect that tho true rem
edy for the isolation of farmers is to be
found in co-operation with each ther.
" Changing works " used tr bo common
in all new settlements, and it is a great
mistake that this custom has ever beeu
left to die out. The farm help should so
far as possible be domiciled in separate
houses built for their usp. This plan
generally secures a better class of work
men, besides the- further advantage of
two distinct families on tho same farm.
If possible, neighbors should build their
houses iu clusters, and in all cases should
live and act like neighbors. The German
custom is to have small villages of farm
ers, whose land often lies line, two or
more miles distant. ' Our practical Y'an-
kees scorn this way of doing things. I
"It is too unhandy for the work." So j
everything is hacrificed to convenience 1
for work. We labor harder and aceom- j
plish more than the people of any other i
c mutrv, but the effect is seen in broken :
d iwn constitutions and prematurely old
m m, and in our farming population tho
effects of an almost complete isolation
from social life. By-and-bye we shall
learn that more is gained by co-operation
than by isolation. Farmers will work
together, and their wives will also. Tho
baking for a dozen families may be done
in summer by a firo in ono large stove or
range, and a housewife will no moro
think of doing the week's washing by
hand with the present slow processes
than her husband would of reaping his
grain with a sickle, or thrashing his en
tire harvest with a flail. llr. J.
Country Gentleman.
A Jewel of a Jeweler.
A Russian princo invited a couple of
charming young actress to a littlo after-
noon luncheon, and between bright eyes
and champagne found himself over head
and ears in love with- oue of them,
They separate as the hour for the even-
ing performance draws nigh, and tho
prince, still under the influence of tho
bright eyes ana cnampagne nuves to
the florist's and purchases an exquisite
bouquet. This wasn't enough, and ho
went to the jeweler's and asked for some
diamonds ; they showed him some single
stones, but he crio3 : " Give me a lot
a handful !" A basket of brilliants is
produced, and he sprinkles the bouquet
wiin inem aDunuuuiiy, uuu uxives iu uio
theater. Next rooming he goes to the
bank, draws 200,000 francs and chives to
the jeweler. " What do I owe yon for
those diamonds?" "Two thousand
francs." "Two thousand francs!"
" Yes. I saw that your lordship waa
somewhat exhilarated yesterday, and so
took the libertv of civinc vou paste dia-
lnonds." The prince reneoted. trie nau
re covered from the effect of the bright
. . . i ,
eyes and the champagne, and ie said
" iou did quite right. '
Beaten by a Large Majority.
The Detroit Free Pre says : A boy,
aged twelve, whose uncle is a member of
the Legislature, was permitted to make
a trip to Lansing a few days ago in order
to visit the State House. He came home
chuck full of importance, and when his
little brother ran to meet him at the gate
William coldly waved him back and
said :
" I refer you to the committee on fish
eries, bub, and how's my dog ?"
His mother was glad to see him, and
when she asked if he had enjoyed him
self he replied :
" Oh, I suppose so, though I now move
to strike out all after the enacting
clause."
"What sort of talk is that, Willie,
denr ?" she asked in great surprise.
" Never mind the talk, mother, but
move the previons question and bring on
the pancakes."
The hired girl came in with the dinner
and wanted to know how he liked Lan
sing. He looked at her with great dig
nity and replied :
" I now move to lny your petition on
the table, Hannah, for future consideration."
She got mad about it. and William
slyly informed his mother that it was his
opinion that Hannah's title should be
made to conform to the body of tho bill
He went out to see the boys after dinner,
and a house painter asked him where No,
G57 was.
" We'll have a call of the House nud
see." replied the boy. as he looked
around.
" Whose house?" asked the painter.
" Or you can rise to a question of
privilege," continued the lad.
"I don't want no sass," said the paint
er, who thought the boy was making fun
of his red nose.
" Of course not. Let's pass the bill
to a third reading, or else go into com
mittee of the whole and debate it."
'I think you need dressing down!"
growled the painter, and he banged Wil
liam into a snowbank and pushed a heap
of snow down behind his collar.
" Have the minority no riehts ?" veiled
the boy, as he kicked the painter on the
slim.
He would have been wolloped had not
his mother appeared. The painter
moved away at sight of her, but called
out :
" I'll see you again, boy."
" I refer the whole subject to father,
with instructions to .report a bill to walk
you into the police court," replied the
representative, and he went in to tell his
mother the difference between suspend
ing the rules and rushing a bill, or re
ferring it to the committee on cornfields
till some one came around with the
cigars.
Little Things.
A serpent's fang is a little thing, but
death is its victory.
A baby is a wee littlo thing, but a con
stable, was once a baby.
A lap dog is a little thing, but ho is a
very silly thing besides.
A cross word is a little thing, but it is
what stirs up the elephant.
The tongue is a little thing, but it fillB
the universe with trouble.
A star is a littlo thing, but it can hold
this great world in its arms.
An egg is a little thing, but the huge
, .,i; i -,. :t i;(0 ,,(. ( n
; 1 . .. . . .
but it
a umut i 011115 u a uuu uiiuKl
sends the schoolboy home howling.
An oath is a little thing, but it is re
corded iu the greut ledger in heaven.
An orange peel on the sidewalk is a
little thing, but it has upset many a
giant.
A kind word is a littlo thing, but it is
just what soothed the sorrows of the set
ting hen.
A kiss is a very little thing, but it be
trayed the Sou of God into the hands of
his enemy.
A word is a little thing, but one word
has been many a man's destiny, for good
or for evil.
A spark is a little thing, but it can
light tho poor man's pipe, or set the
world to burning.
The acorn is a. little thing, but the
black bear and his family live in the oak
that springs from it.
A penny is a very littlo thing, but the
interest on it from the days of Cain and
Ablo would buy out the globe.
' A minute is a little tiling, but it is
long enough to pull a dozen aching
teeth, or to get married nnd have your
own mother-in-law.
Life is made up of littlo things. Life
itself is but a littlo thing; ouo breath
less, then comes the funeral. Josh JJil
lingi. Tho Poor Sheep.
The acuteness of the sheep's ear, it is
said, surpaRses all things in nature that
I know of. Tho ewe will distinguish
her own lamb's bleat among a thousand,
all bleating at the same time. Besides
the distinguishment of voice is perfectly
reciprocal between the ewe and lamb,
who, amid the deafening sound, run to
meet one another. There are few things
which have ever amused me more than a
sheep shearing, and then the sport con
tiuues the whole day. We put the flock
, into tho fold, set out all the lambs to the
i hill, and then send the ewes to thera as
j they are shorn. The moment that a
j lamb hears its dam's roioe it rushes from
the crowd to meet her, but instead of
. finding the rough, well olad, comfortable
; mamma, wmcu it left an nou or a few
hours ago, it meets a poor, linked, shiv
ering a most deplorable looking crea
ture. It wheels about, and uttering a
loud, tremendous bleat of perfect de
spair, flies from the frightful vision.
The mother's voice arrests its flight. It
: returns, flies, and returns again, gener-
any ior hti or a uozeu uues, ueiore any
reconciliation is perfected.
Roger M. Sherman was arguing a
! case, and made a point which the judge
did not at once see. Mr. sherinau,
said he, "I would thank you to state
i the point so that I can understand you."
i : . .1 : i i . oi. - i - i i
i jiouiK yujitoiy, nnerninu repued iu nis
i blandest manner : " Ycmr honor is not
probably aware of tho task you, ere inv
pnsuiij ou me.
Items of Interest.
The day laborer must strike for hire
WDgOS.
Peaceful sleep is the sheet alienor oi
health.
There are ten printers in the United
States Senate.
A bit of nonsense One thnt will not
check a horse.
Houses will not go up while rents nre
cottiug down.
An incalculable weight The weight of
indignation.
It is often easier to pick flaws than to
do better yourself.
Raikoad agents are always ready to
answer a fare question.
Please keep your eye on the fact that
medical men pronounce cigarettes a
great promoter of consumption.
Tho very shortest answer a lady can
give to a proposal is NO, for it consists
of only one letter, and nothing after it.
Inducements nre offered by the land
department of Florida for 50,000 weulthy
Mennonites to immigrate to the grange
groves.
Gamblers in Virgina Ciiy have pre
sented a petition to the Legislature to
prevent ft man's wages from being at
tached for n saloon bill of over five dol
lars. The English society for the prevention
of cruelty to nnimals obtained during the
year 1876 2,698 convictions. This does
not include convictions obtained by the
police.
A bullet fired by a hunter in Texas
struck the surface of a lake at consider
able distance, glanced upward, nud
wounded a girl who was walking on a
hill beyond.
The rage for alcohol in the treatment
of fever, introduced in England twenty
years ago by Dr. Todd, has abated, nnd
hospitals are rigorously cutting down
wine allowances.
The narrow gunge roads nre. gaining
favor rapidly. Several are being built
out of Cincinnati, and over ninety miles
are already surveyed and will be built
this year in Indiana.
Au exchange remarks that in China it
is customary to kill poets and cat them,
which moves the Norristown Jleruhl
man to add, " on account of their tender
lines, we suppose."
An old but still available Massachu
setts statute has been discovered, which
prohibits the extension of credit to stu
dents in colleges. The penalty is a fine
of twice the amount of the debt.
" Pa, I guess your man Ralph is a
good Christian." " How so, my boy ?"
" Why, pa, I read in the Bible that the
wicked shall not live out half his days;
aud Ralph says he has lived out ever
since he was a little boy."
Bashful youth (at his wit's end to say
something smart) : " Err I hope you
er like this er weather, Miss Ga
brielle," Miss G. : "Oh, no indeed;
whatever makes you think so ?" B. Y. :
" Er oh, only because er everybody
says its delightful weather for the little
ducks."
Children must have love inside the
house aud fresh air, and good play, and
some good companionship outside other
wise young life runs the greatest danger
iu the world of withering, or growing
stunted, or, at best, prematurely old and
turned inward on itself.
It is surprising how many of the world's
most wonderful facts owe their discovery
to trivial and unimportant circumstances.
But for a piece of ice at the corner of the
street on which a gentleman slipped up,
should, perhaps, never have known
that it was customary iu our best circles
to put liglit colored basements into dark
clored pautn.
The London customs officers, it is re
ported, seized twenty-seven gills of a
peculiar fluid the other day, and on ex
amination found it to be nicotine, tho
product of two thousand five hundred
pounds of tobacco sweepings, mixed
with alcohol, which virulent fluid was to
be used in transforming cabbage leaves
into the finest Havana cigars.
Fruit as a Medicine.
The irregular eating of unripe fruit is
well known to be unwholesome. Tho
regular and moderate use of well ripened
fruit is not so widely a' predated as con
tributing to health. Residents in regions
whore more or less malaria prevails have
discovered that nothisg is a more sure
preventive of its deleterious effects than
a regular supply of fruit.
But fruit will not only prevent disease,
but in some instances it has proved one
of the best medicines to cure it. Many
years ago a chronic cough, which had
excited a good of uneasiness, was cured
by eating ripe raspberries, recommended
by a medical writer of high authority as
an excellent expectorant. Severe colds
are more apt to occur on the first cool
and clamp days of autumn than at any
othe;1 seasons. We have often cured
these diseases on the first attack by eat
ing copiously of ripe watermelons. The
beneficial effects of drinking freely of
cold water on such occasions are well
known. Watermelons supply a largei
quantity than one could easily swallow
in any other way. Country Gentleman.
Vegetable Electricity.
A botanical traveler in Nicaragua, de
scribes through the columns of a Eelcian
horticultural publication, a species of
puytoiacoa wuwn is m the vegetable
world the counterpart cf the gjtunotua
or eleotrio eel. On attempting to Bather
a branch of this plant the huud feels a
shook -as If from au elecLrio machine i
.and a-tfJmpass. is sensibly effected by
proximity to the plant, the needle being
nyiuiucu m pruporuou wj us nearness to
the shrub, taking on a rapid gyratory
movement when the instrument is placed
in the middle of tho bush. There is, it
seems, no doubt that the phenomena are
due to an electrical state of the plant
itself ; for, first, the intensity of the
action varies according to the time of
day, being slight during the night, and
at its maximum au hour or two after
noon j and, secondly, during stormy
weuther it considerably increased, while
in dry seasons it reaches its minimum,
the plant remaining in a withered state
until the arrival of rain.
I
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