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m ' " '' " " " ' "' " " 111 1 SS i I I I I l. .W II II I I I II. I I I I I ... I I I I ., ! ! I. I I I ! ' ' I ,, , . I I I I I - II 111. I Ml II
, HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. Nllj DESPERANDTJM. Two Dollars per Annum.
YOL.VIII. BIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THUBSDAY, MAY 16, 1878. NO. 13.
'" " ' I '- a ... .,. , , '- i ' 11 .
V
The Unknown Iiand.
Barest thon now, 0 Soul, ' ' "
Walk oat with mo toward the Unknown Beglon,
Where neither gronnd It for th feet, nor any
i path to follow ?
v.No map there, mr guide,
Kor roloe sounding, nor tonch of human hand,
Nor face with blooming flesh, nor lips, nor eyes,
are In that land.
I know not, O Sonl,
Kor dost thon all la blank before ni;
All waits, undreamed of, in that region that
inaccessible land.
Till when the ties loosen, '..
All bnt the eternal, Time and Space,
Nor darkness, gravitation, sense.nor any bound
bound us.
Then we burst forth we float,
In Time and Space, O Sonl prepared for them;
Equal, eqtiipt at last (0 Joy I O fruit of all!)
them to fulfill, O Soul!
WU Whitman.
OVJBH THE FENCE.
fin,-- Oivt
It was a shabby old mansion in
. shabby old thoroughfare, which had
been a fashionable street in its day, bnt
was anything else now. Urocery shops
and junk shops bad invaded it. The
eqnnre, white-painted, green-blinded
dwel tin us. with railed roofs and mlaster-
. ed front doors, through which decorous
' worthies in ruffles and bob-wigs had
onco gone in and out, shorn of their
.' prestige now. and divested of shining
knobs nnd knockers, were turned into
tenement -houses of the poorer sort.
Only tlio magnificent doable row of
elms, which had been the glory of the
. street in its prime, remained intact to
deck its decadence. Thct owering splen
dor of their arreen masses rustled in the
. salt air now as then, but a mournfulness
mingled with the rustle Perhaps who
- knows ? the elms were sorry for the
deserted old street. It is not easy
' . Always to fathom what lies at the heart
01 things', trees or men.
The shabby old mansion had belonged
to General Wesson, a Revolutionary
hero, less conspicuous in History than
in the affections of his townsfolk, who
to do him honor Lad called the street by
his name v osson street. Jiis residence,
once the finest in the neighborhood, had
ptill this advantage over its dilapidated
compeers, that it retained its old-time
garden, a lorge square in closure laid out
in formal box-edged beds and walks.
: This garden had the odd appearance of
having sunk slightly during some
convulsion of nature, for its surface lay
. some five feet below the level of the
street, which had been "filled in." It
was walled on three sides. Peeping over
the low fence which topped the wall, a
passer-by could look down into the very
heart of gooseberry biifhes and peony
clumps. The wall itself was a tangle of
honeysuckle, ivy, and brier roses, and
altogether the garden had a sweetness
still, though its paths hod run to weeds,
and lines of wet linen flapped over the
. rose circle which had been the pride of
Madame Wesson's heart almost a hun
dred years ago.
So long past, so forgotten, were the
traditional dignities of the old house, so
poor and decayed was its present seem
ing, that people experienced a shock of
surprise almost indignation when told
that the Moravian Society had bought
the property for a chapel and parson
age. "What! that old thing?" they cried.
But the thrifty Moravians went their
way without minding much what peo
ple said. They had little money to ex
pend, and a righteous horror o'f debt.
The old place was cheap; they could
make it do, they thought. So a little
Army of work-people deployed upon the
- premises, and presently all was changed.
The grouad-floor, divested of partitions,
became a large plain meeting-room.
The second floor was reserved for tho
pastor's dwelling. There - was much
scrubbing and whitewashing, new paint
and plaster; blinds were rehung, a tot
tering chimney rebricked, the fences
mended. Lost of all arrived a oart-load
of benches, another of furniture, and
Pastor Lubke and his family. The
neighbors, watching, saw them go in:
first the grave old pastor leading a little
boy, then a long file of girls of graduated
heights, all clad in black, worn, it was
whispered, in memory of their mother,
who had died a few months before. The
beds, chairs and tables seemed scanty
plenishing for so many, and lookers-on
wondered bow they managed; bnt no
body found out, for the Lubkes were
quiet and reserved, saying little or noth
ing of their affairs, but simplv taking
things as they were, and settling into
the new home without discussion or
words. -
All these things to watch did serious
ly incline Mr. Erasmus Stockton a
young man who, for his misfortune, had
little to do then except look out of win
dow. His lodging next door command
ed a view of the long sonth side of the
"Wesson house," us tho neighbors still
called it, and of the whole garden, and
having, as I said, little to do except look
out of window, while waiting the report
of the Patent-office on his " improved
air biake," be naturally looked out a
great deal. Idleness is the root of curi
osity as well as of mischief. It is aston
ishing how persistently he watched the
Lubkes and their doingsf and how much
entertainment he found in doing so, all
the time persuading himself that he was
studying- "Chitty on Special Pleas,"
which lively work he held in his hand,
to be sure, but ever the top of which
his eyes were forever straying to note
the comings and going next door.
"Heavens I what a lot of girls !" was
his first reflection as he saw the sable
elad procession file up the walk. "And
how much alike they ere I" was his sec
ond. They were strangely alike. The
four elder all seemed of the same age.
They were of the same slender build,
with clouds of flaxen hair flying over
their shoulders, the same pale blue
eyes, the same colorless skins. For a
long time Erasmus could fix on no point
of difference by which to distinguish
them, but after a while he learned to
classify the four as "Sister," "The
Twins," d "Hilda." The twins were
always together, inseparable aa Castor
and Pollux. " Sister " was the central
tar of the little ones. They were for
ever clinging to her skirts and follow
ing to help ox binder in her many house
hold tasks, from washing windows and
hanging out clothes to sweeping the
door-steps in the early morning. Hour
after hour Erasmus heard the hum of
her wheel. He had seen it carried in
with the other things a genuine old'
fashioned spinning - wheel, which an
antiquarian might have coveted for its
?uaintnes8, but which " Sister " valued
or its nse. It was she Jio took the lead
in reforming the garden, where disorder
aud neglect were giving place to thrift
and neatness, groundsel and pnrsley to
peas ana Deets, ana wnere pot-herbs,
pinks, and multitudinous cabbages jos
tied each other in true German fashion.
"Sister" took the lead, bnt every one
neipea. .even tne little ones could weed
and dibble holes for the insertion of
infant roots, and in the cool of thn Aav
the sedate old pastor himself would
descend from his study, knife in hand,
to prune, not in the most skillful man
ner, the fruit trees whose best days had
gone by with the best days of the old
house round which they grew.
Hilda was the prettiest of the sister
hood. Her blue eyes had the advantage
of a fringe of long golden lashes; her
hair waived naturally through all its pale
length; there was a tinge of color in her
fairness which deepened at times into
lovely pink. People in general might
not nave called ner very pretty, but
Erasmus learned to think her so and in
fact a girl must be plain indeed not to
look pretty in the picturesque frame
work of an old garden, ivy-hung and
bosky, with glints of sunshine and dusks
of shadow. Erasmus watched her flit
in and out and to and fro, her veil of
flaxen hair blown by the wind, her pliant
figure in its plain black frock looking
slender as a fairy's, and presently, to his
surprise, he found himself in love with
Hilda. He had not meant it, but how
could it be helped ? A young man's fancy
is easily caught, and most easily of all
when, as in this case, he is lying on his
oars lor a while, and tins not much to do.
Had Hilda noticed him ? He could
not tell. She had never given a look, so
far as he could detect, nor had her sis-
tei s. iJut a good deal can be seen with
out looking, and it is so little in the
ronrse of human nature that seven girls
with fourteen eyes between them, should
not see a young man who sits at a win
dow and cozes out at them all day, with
only a fence between, that I am inclined
to think they did
Meanwhile, though he knew their
names end was familiar with their habits,
Erasmus had. never exchanged a word
with his new -neighbors. It was not
from want of inclination ; but he was a
modest fellow, and truly he did not
know how to begin. Pastor Lubke was
a " strict " father. " Be sober, be vig'
ilant," wns his motto. He had no synv
pathy with the , frivolities of youth.
among which frivolities, it was rumored,
young men were conspicuously included
Erasmus studied his stern, placid faee
from behind the blind, and saw nothing
to encourage him there. And so, while
thus his "hopes belied his fears, his
fears his hopes belied," the days went
on. He made no progress, and might
have made none for a much longer time.
hod not Fate taken pity and sent her
messenger to assist matters. That mes
senger was a monkey !
The monkey appertained to a hand-
organ, and the man who ground tne
organ and the monkey also, it is to be
feared sent bun in te levy the custom
ary black-man on tne Jjudko sisters,
who, Bitting on the door-step, in the
pear-tree shade, were knitting stockings
of the blue yarn spun by "Sister's"
wheel. The sudden apparition of the
diminutive messenger, in his red coat
and cocked hat, startled the simple
familv. whose lives heretofore had in
cluded few monkeys. They jumped up,
screamed ; Hilda dropped lier thimble ;
Bena and Naunul clung to each other ;
even "Sister" lost her presence of
mind for a moment. The monkey, em
boldened by their evident fear, danced,
chattered, and, suddenly pouncing upon
Hilda's thimble, ran across the garden
with it in his paws. Hilda pursued, but
tho monkey ran fastest, and. scaling the
wall with great agility, wonld have got
off with his prize, had not Erasmus, who
had realized the situation and hurried to
the rescue, caught him as he reached
the top and held him tight.
What shall 1 do with him ? he asked.
grasping the scratching, biting prisoner
firmly.
Don t hurt him I oh, don t hurt
him I" said Hilda. " It's only my thim
ble. If you could get that away from
him. He stole it, so I ran after him."
" Here it is," said Erasmus, handing
her the thimble, he dismissed the mon
key, with an unseen kick, to its owner.
"Oh, thank you I" replied Hilda,
shyly. She walked away as soon as she
said it, and did not look to see whether
Erasmus went or staid, but all the same
he felt a joyful sense that the ice was
broken.
And so it wa; for common gratitude
compelled Hilda into recognition after
that, and forced her to bow in return for
the low bend and the raised hat with
which Erasmus met her. " Even father
wonld say I must," was her secret reflec
tion. Common politeness made her
linger to exchange a few civil words
when this obliging neighbor leaned over
the fence to admire the garden or tbe
sunset. Gradually, as her shyness wore
away, these lingerings grew longer.
Now and again she ventured to raise
her eyes, and Erasmus met their full
blue gaze. These fragmentary inter
iews held food for thought for long
hours. Every moment, every syllable,
was dwelt upon and dreamed over. Lit
tle as had been said, it seemed that they
had said much ; and there was always
tbe delightful uncertainty at what mo
ment she might drift that side of the
garden again, might glance upward,
might speak. Time seemed made up of
Hilda; nothing else was worth consider
ing; and yet the sum of these import
ant conversations, had all his words and
all her words been written down, could
easily have been condensed on half a
sheet of note-paper. Of such stuff are
lovers made!
Sundays became noteworthy days just
then to Erasmus. He had fallen into
careless habits about church-going, bnt
now morning and afternoon and eveniag
found him in devout attendance at the
Moravian chapel, where, armed with a
ponderous hymn-book, he sat and studi
ed the back of Hilda's hat and shawl
Hilda who never turned her head. His
eat, bad h known, occupied, the pro
cise spot whi 'e, in days gone by, Madam
Wesson had been wont to sit for long
hours every evening, and play " Patt
enoe " with her general. Dear me !
what energies of patience it required for
Erasmus to keep still, while Pastor
Lubke slowly plodded through his
fourthlies and fifthlies, his predicates
and deductions, and Hilda never turned
her head I But a lover will endure much.
No trace of his inward impatience was
suffered to mar his outward quietude,
and he won golden opinions from the old
ladies of the congregation, who pro
nounced him a most sober and godly
young man. Erasmus hoped that the
echo 'of this flattering opinion might
reach Hilda's father and soften his heart;
but such did not seem the case. Even
when he sought out the pastor to con
sult him on a disputed point of theology,
it did no apparent good. Papa Lubke
listened, replied, confuted him on all
sides, and dismissed him grimly and tri
umphantly, his cause not advanced one
inch. All his little ingratiating ways
seemed thrown away. The pastor, wise
as the serpent, however harmless he
might be, refused to be ingratiated, and
Erasmus felt himself foiled.
Grown desperate at last, he ventured
on a bold step.
" I wish I could make your sisters'
acquaintance," he said to Hilda over the
fence. " Do you think I might call up
on them some evening?"
" Oh no ! please don't," responded
Hilda, frankly. Then coloring deeply,
she added: " Don t think me rude, you
are very kind to wish to come, but my
father would not like it. He does not
want us to make acquaintance with
strangers, we never visit any where,
and nobody ever visits us."
" But that is dreadful," broke in Eras
mus. " Why shouldn't you know peo
ple ? You ought to know people, and
they ought to know you. You're too
sweet all of yon, I mean, to be cooped
in so. It's outrageous ! It's cruel ! It's
doing the world an injustice I I never
heard of such a thing 1"
"Oh, don't talk like that, please
don't," cried Hilda. "And I must say
good-night indeed 1 must; and away
she ran. Erasmus watched her go with
rage in his heart.
" I declare," he groaned, " she's like
a girl in a fairy tale, held faBt by some
old witch so that no one can get at her.'
He went to bed that night quite down'
hearted. Bat next day, his courage re
stored, he again attacked Hilda, as she
accidentally strayed' in the twilight to
ward the spot where he stood leaning
over the fence.
"I say, Miss Hilda," audaciously,
" I've been thinking over what yon said
last night, and I'm certain you must be
mistaken. About your father, X mean
He's too wise a man I'm sure he is to
wont to shut you all up forever, and
keep you from making friends. Why.
how could you do anything if he did
get married, for instance!
"Oh!" cried Hilda, with a vivid
blush, "we don't think about that.
And father does feel just as I told you."
Hut please why not think about
that? It s exactly what 1 want you to
think about. It's what 1 am thinking
about all tne time, shall 1 tell you
wuy i may x leii you, ruiua t
Hut Hilda bad fled, in obedience to a
call from some upper window, and
Erasmus smote the fence wrathfuliy
with his fist.
" Confound it !" he muttered. " What
chance has a fellow who has to make
love five feet off ? I never can get near
enough to be heard, on account of this
old fence. I'll be hanged if I stand it
any longer !" And he strode into the
house.
Next day brought exciting news. His
patent had been granted, and a manu
facturing firm in New York, with whom
he had been in treaty pending this re'
suit, wrote to offer a handsome sum for
the control of it. But what were air
brakes, "royalties," and ten per cents
to liim just then, with Hilda evidently
avoiding him ? She had not once come
to that side of the garden during the
day. He felt melancholy in spite of the
realization of his hopes, and in melan
choly mood strolled out to his customary
walk alongside the boundary fence,
though with little hopes of seeing Hilda,
for twilight had fallen, and she was
rarely in the garden at so late an hour.
Perplexed and unhappy, he lingered
and leaned, and presently, to his sur
prise .a little sound, half sigh, half sob,
struck his ear. He bent over: a dim.
crouching figure met his eyes. It was
Hilda, crying quietlv, while pretending
to stake down a straggling verbena in
the flower bed below.
' ' Miss Hilda 1" exclaimed Erasmus,
in amaze. " This is too good fortune I
I have so much to tell you I"
"Oh, you mustn t L miiBtn t we
mnstn't talk any more," replied Hilda.
lifting a tear-stained face. "It isn't
right. It will never do."
" who says so r with surprise.
'Sister. She Bays people will call
me light-minded and improper, and
father will be angry and oh, indeed.
I mustn't"
Lisrht-minded I Improper ! JuBt
let me catch them !" thundered Erasmus
far as one can be said to thunder
with voice lowered almost to a whisper.
Now listen to me, dear dearest Hilda,
I have great news to tell. My patent is
granted, my fortune as good as made.
Day after to-morrow I must go away.
A sob from below.
"Are vou sorry to have me go?
Dearest Hilda, are you sorry ? If you
are. even the least tiny bit. let me have
the comfort of hearing yon say so. Don't
you know that I love you, my darling.
I loved you from the first moment, I
think from the very day that you all
came to this old house. Could you
care for me, dearest ? Will you be my
wife?"
" Perhaps I could care," faltered
Hilda. " But my father doesn't "
" Now why should we talk of your
father ?" broke in the impetuous lover
from overhead. " If I love you, and
you like me, all the fathers in the world
sha'n't stand between us. My way is
all clear now, dear Hilda. I can make
you oomfortable, and oh ! won't I try to
make you happy t Just aay Yes, and
the rest is easy. Only one word, dear
love!" .
" It might be easy to say yes,' per
haps" began Hilda. But an austere
yoioe interrupted her :
"My daughter, what are yon doing
here at this hour, and with whom are
yon conversing ?" asked Pastor Lnbke.
There he stood behind her, a dim and
appalling shape. Hilda shivered her
voice failed. Erasmus, his courage
rising with the occasion, answered in
her stead :
"She was speaking to me, sir or
rather it was 1 wno was speaking to her.
I was telling Miss Hilda what I should
have come this very evening to tell you,
sir. if this opportunity had not arisen
that I have news which makes it needful
for me to go away, and that I cannot go
without saying that I love her, and want
her to be my wife, n she will." His
voice faltered and broke.
"And pray, sir, who are you!" asked
tho pastor, grimly.
" My name is Erasmus Stockton. My
11 T 1 "1 1 1 j . -
lamer was uuuge oiocKion, 01 jjanbur
all my connections are respectable,'
repuea Erasmus, succinctly. " i can
refer yon to people whom you know for
my character and prospects. I have a
little money now, and Smith k Petrie, of
New York, have offered $10,000 for an
air brake of my invention, which is iust
111 -a- v
patented, j. can anora to keep a wife,
Mr. Lubke."
" And pray where have you learned to
take so great an interest in my daughter
iiiiuar -
"Over this fenoe." answered Eras
mus, stoutly. Pastor Lubke gave a grim
uiiue laugn,
" Such things are not to be settled in
a minute, my young friend." he said.
" Ybuth is always in a hurry. Hilda, you
had better go in. If you will follow me
to my study. JUr. ahem I Stockton,
we will tolk farther of this matter."
"Follow" by way of the gate, was
what the good pastor meant; and he
was by no means prepared for what
happened, namely, his young friend's
vaulting the fence like an acrobat, and
gaining the garden at a single bound.
"Hurrah, darling !" he whispered to
Hilda as the pastor led the way through
the garden. " The fence is climbed. I
always vowed that I would get over some
day or other, and I have."
And so it proved. There were some
hitches, some delays. Erasmus was not
allowed to marry Hilda next w ek, as
was his first wild proposition, or even
next month. " Sister's" wheel buzzed
like a great . bumble-bee all summer
long, and busy fingers toiled over the
wedding outfit through winter days and
spring days, oetore Hilda was pro
nounced by her family "ready" to be
gin her new life. A year's engagement
even seemed a disgracefully short one
to " Sister." Had not their own mother
been betrothed for seven years before she
married papa ? But at lost, spite of de
lays and scruple?, the long waiting
ended, and Erasmus bore away his
bride. He scandalized his sisters-in-law
greatly by proposing to carry her
over me fencu, as tne road by which he
himself had come in, but this was over
ruled, and they departed prosaically in
a nacK, like other Drides and grooms,
And so we leave our little pair, as like'
ly, for all I can see. to " live happy ever
after" as any prince and princess of
fairy tale. For fairy tales, however fan
ciful, must strike their roots always in
a solid basis of every-day contentment,
and, given the contentment, one can
easily dispense with the fairies. Har
pers Bazar.
A Man-Eating Stallion.
The Hambletonian stallion Risint?.
ham. owned by Dr. James A. Schultz.
of Middletown, N. Y., was shot and
killed one night recently, he being cou
sidered unsafe to keep. Dr. Shultz
says the horse was insane beyond a
aouDt. He was twenty-one years old,
and for nineteen years has been a con
firmed man-eater. More than twenty
i i . ... .
Keepers uave Deen crippiea Dy him, and
l.e has killed three persons outright.
No professional horse-trainer could Bub
due him, and all the systems of horse
training and breaking have been tried
in vain. He was a thorough-bred, old
Hambletonian being bis sire, and his
dam being a mare of fine blood. He
had been in harness but once in four
teen years, and that was recently, when
Dr. Schultz had him hitched up, it re
quiring several men to do it. The
doctor then attempted to drive Bisincr-
ham, but the horse became so furious
and unmanageable that he was allowed
to go at onoe to his stall, where he has
remained ever since. The sum of
$7,000 was once offered for him, and re
fused by his owner, in hope that he
might be enred. The last feat Rising
ham performed was to bite the rie-ht
cheek of a negro keeper entirely off, the
unfortunate groom's three immediate
predecessors having lost respectively an
ear, three fingers, and a thumb, and
the muscles of the right forearm.
Five shots were fired in the forehead
of Risingham ss he stood in his stall.
They seemed to have no effect upon
him, except to increase his attempts to
get at the bystanders, and to add to the
ferocity of his kicking and jumping.
By strategy Dr. Schultz managed to
sever his jugular vein, and he bled to
death, dying as he had lived, exhibit
ing all the fierceness of a most vioious
nature. His last effort was an attempt
to seize his owner's arm in his teeth.
Dr. Schultz intends to dissect the re
mains of the stallion, and have the
skeleton articulated and set no in his
office.
' Why He Never Wore a Collar.
It Was A filial: nViKPrvp.il Vtv manv Vi o f
GoVemnr Rriircra for SATAral vadm Iia-
-w - ' - J " "
fore his death never wore a collar.
when he was the honored chief magis
trate of Massachusetts, he appeared at
his levees and nn all nnhlin wuiainn
without a collar. There were compara
tively iew wno Knew the reaton or this.
But the secret is more interesting and
anccestivn. TTo iq,1 & naioliKn whnm
he very highly esteemed, who bad fallen
iuhj we naoit oi using intoxicating
liquor. He was already the slave of
aDDetite. Clnvamnr Tirieom mmnnatyot.
ed with him. The man replied, " I will
never drink again, if you will never
attain wear a nnllsr" " ktrraaA iA
the governor. Tne man gave up the
uuuxicaung oup, ana ine governor laid
aside his collar. He never wore it again,
but he savnl Vii'o nnichrmr- Who avaM.
criticisms, to which this seeming lack of
"wuuoa to nis areas ana personal ap
paaranoe ezpoeed him never moved him
from his ufQM.CMaffo Standard.
FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD.
Veterinary Adlvee.
" A cow vomits all hay and coarse
fodder almost as soon as eaten, while
meal, bran, and other finely divided
materials are retained. Has suffered for
six months, bloats and belches, and
steadily loses flesh. A neighbor lost a
cow, similarly affected, a year ago."
This may depend on any disease of
the gullet or first two stomachs, or it
may be the result of deposit of tuberole
in the lymphatic glands around the gul
let as it passes through the chest. We
have seen such symptoms from thicken
ing and unhealthy growths on the liv
ing membranes of the gullet near the
lower end, and one instance has been
reported to us in which interstices of
the diseased mass were occupied by
minute worms. If any such should be
found in this oase I will thank you fof
specimens of the same in aloohol, as we
have no description of a worm of this
kind in the ox. From whatever cause
originating, a disease of this kind and
of six months' standing, is not likely to
prove curable. The following may be
tried : Trisnitrate of bismuth one
ounce, red oxide of iron one ounce,
ground gentian two ounces carbolic
acid one ounce ; mix, divide into eight
powders ; give one daily in food.
" A horse has a swelling beneath the
throat What shall be done ?"
It is not likely to harm the horse for
work, unless it increases to the size of
the fist or over, and presses on the
nerves of the larynx and lungs. A free
use of tincture of iodine, painted over
the tumor every other day will often
lead to its steady decline. Above all
the horse should be kept in the most
vigorous health and condition, and
should be restricted to pure rain-water.
If the horse is allowed to run down in
condition in connection with nnsuitible
feeding or air, with overwork or dis
ease, the goiter will almost certainly un
dergo an increase forthwith.
"A horse suffers from neglected
grease which dried up under the use of
a stringent, but breaks out at intervals
in spite of the greatest care."
In washing the heels do not use cold
water or soap of any kind, and always
dry carefully. When standing in the
stable apply the following : Oxide of
zinc, one drachm, cape aloes, half
drachm, glycerine one ounce. When
taken out, dry this off and dust on a lit
tle finely powdered calomel.
"A five-year old horse has clouding
of the eyes and watery discharge after
very hard drawing."
This horse will probably continue to
suffer under such exciting causes until
he goes blind. Such attacks are usually
due to a constitutional predisposition
and will reappear under every condition
which temporarily impairs the health
and vigor. After another year, how
ever, when he shall have completed his
teething, he will be less liable to such
attacks than before, and if blindness can
be warded off until then, he may escape.
Meanwhile, keep at steady but moderate
work so as to maintain vigorous health
and condition, feed well, avoiding heat
ing agents like corn, secure pure, dry
air, indoors and out, and correct every
existing cause of ill-health. The horse
may take the following : Powdered
calumbia, one ounce, powdered colchi-
cum, four drachms, powdered coriander
seeds, two ounces ; mix and divide into
eight powders ; give one daily in the
lood. frojetsor James haw.
Farm Notes.
An agricultural exchange says: There
are a thousand little leaks about
the management of an ordinary farm.
that if not closely attended to will surely
bring the most hard-working farmer to
ruin and bankruptcy. Nine tenths of
sinking farmers can attribute their pres
ent distress to no other cause than lack
of close attention to small details of the
farm; a closer supervision of machinery
and tools, tbe stock and their feed, a
place for everything and everything in
its place.
To drain a depression in a field where
a clayey or hard-pan subsoil prevents
the sinking of rain-water, and the lay of
the land is unfavorable for ordinary
methods of drainage, first dig a hole as
for a well, through the impervious strat
um at the bottom hollow, fill it up to
the brim with refuse stones, remove the
excavated earth bo as to allow the sur
face water free access to the nit. and
standing water will never injure the
grass or grain crop in that part of the
field. Exchange.
A cheap wash for barns and fences is
thus given by Mr. C. Bvrne. of Friends.
ville, Pa., in a letter to the Elniira Far
mer s Club: " We have used cement and
skimmed milk and think it better than
lime. It is a light drab color, It costs
bnt little fifty cents' worth will paint a
large barn. We put two quarts of ce
ment into a six-quart pail : add two
quarts of skimmed milk; mix well and
it is ready for use. Stir occasionally
while applying it. We paint one or two
boards at a time, beginning at the top.
The cement is the kind used in building
cisterns."
In an old agricultural paper, of forty-
seven years ago, we learn that it is a
good plan to put a piece of chalk in the
pen with the young calves. They will
lick it and thus correct the acidity of
their stomachs and assist digestion and
prevent dyspepsia, which often leads to
scours. There is no doubt but that this
is a most excellent practice. Prepared
chalk is often prescribed by doctors as
a remedy for heart-burn, which is a
symptom of dyspepsia, and for diarrhea.
The crude chalk (carbonate of lime) is,
unquestionably , a good preventive and
remedy for similar disorders in stock.
The prepared chalk is the crude with al
the gritty particles worked out. Jtura
Neva Yorker.
" A good sdvertisement in a newspar
per pays no fare on railroads; costs noth
log for hotel bills; gives away no boxes
of cigars to customers, or merino dresses
to customers' wives; drinks no whisky
under the head of traveling expenses,
but goes at once and all the time about
its business free of expense." All of
which is true, albeit it it a little rough
on the commercial traveler. Practical
Printer.
The number of hogs packed ia the
West last winter was 6,608,000, a gain
of 1,404,000 ever the j?revious year.
Coral.
Coral-fishing yields an ample return
when properly carried on, coral being
always much sought after for the toilet,
and commanding a high price. It has
required twenty centuries of inoossant
groping in the dark to unveil its myste
rious nature. It is a branched polypus
trunk, of a beautiful rod color, which is
as hard as the most compact rocks, and,
like them, oapable of taking a fine
polish. When it is withdrawn
from the sea, of which it only
inhabits the great depths,, it is,
owing to the arrangement of its branch
es, precisely like a bnsh in miniature,
and a section of its stem presents con
centric layers analogous to those of cer
tain trees. Its branches are covered
with a soft rose-colored bark, and dis
play here and there small holes, in each
of which resides one of their builders.
These are bo many polypi, whioh, when
they expand, wear all the appearance of
pretty little flowers of a beautiful white
color, with eight divisions epread out
like rays, and the borders of which are
ornamented with a fringe of oiliie. It
was this deceitful appearance which
made naturalists waver so about the
nature of coral. Its extreme hardness,
and the beautiful polish it takes, led
some observers to look upon it as a
simple mineral. But the idea which
seemed to predominate over all others
was that of coral being only a sub-marine
shrub. This was the opinion of
Pliny and Dioscorides; and these two
great scholars, seeing it was so hard and
compact, added that the shrub only
made its appearance in this indurated
form, because it became suddenly petri
fied when brought into contact with the
air, as it issued from the waves. The
sagacious traveler Tournefort also took
it to be a plant, and even had it en
graved under this heading in one of the
plates of his magnificent work. In the
eighteenth century Count Marsigli an
nounced to the BOientifio world that he
had discovered the flowers of the coral,
and that consequently its vegetable na
ture could no longer be called in ques
tion. By placing branches of this poly
poid in sea water, immediately after
they had been fished up, the Italian
natuiolist saw the kind of buds which
cover their surface, open like so many
eight-petaled rowers, formed ot elegant
white and starred corollas, outlined upon
the reddish bark of the stems. Marsigli
doubted no longer; these were the
flowers of the paradoxical shrub; he
had solved the problem left unsettled
by Tournefort. In his joy, when an
nouncing his discovery to the assembled
Academy of Sciences, to whom he had
forwarded his spec mens, he wrote to
the president, " I send you some
branches of coral covered with white
flowers. This discovery has made me
pass for almost a sorcerer in the conn try ;
no person, not even fishermen, having
seen anything similar.
Johnny's Essay on the Ant Eater.
Ant eaters ketches em with their
tongs, wich is long like a werm, and
gum on it, same as hop todes tungs.
The eater it finds a place whero the ants
is to work, and lies down, and pays out
its tung, and shots up its eyes. Then
a ant comes there, and takes a look, and
says to the other ants: "This duffer
has over et hisself, and gone to sleep
without finishing his last werm, lets
take wot is left for our own self a."
Bnt when they have all got hold they
stick fast, and the eater it opens one ey,
like say in: " Ime reddy if you are," and
then it touches a spring, and the tung
is drawed in quick, and them ants is as
tonish. And now III tell you a story wich aint
true, jest for a change.
There was a ant eater wich had lain
out his tung that way, and a ant come
np and said: "Hello ! wot'sthis?"
The eater was so hungry he cudent
wait so he said: "Why don t you see?
That is a nice red werm."
But he had to pnl in his tung for to
say it, and then the ant said: "I was
jest a looking for a worm like that, and
if you hudent grabed it so quick I would
have took it my own self."
The eater see he had made a mistake,
so he said: "I know where there is a
other wortf, same kind. You follower
me and He sho you."
So the eater went of a little way with
his back to the ant, and laid out his
tnng agin, and wen the ant had cum the
eater winked its i, like saying: " Do be
carefle, or you wil friten the werm, an
he might git away, cos you Bee I only
got him by the tail."
Wen the ant had looked it said: " You
can't fool me smarty; that's the same
old werm wich you have had in yonr
mowth. Ime hungry, but I dont want
no boddys second hand vittles."
And the eater it dident dare to say
twasent so, cos it wud have to put in its
tung agin to say it; but after the ant had
went away mad then it said "Its mity
hard to be silent under a unjust suspi
cion, wen natur has give me so much
tongue for to deny it. TheArgonaut.
Hang Lung at Base Ball.
The base ball mania Vina at. lnuf ronoliorl
Chinatown, says the Virginia City (Nev.)
unromcie, miu me .mongolians have a
regularly eanirjned nin. TIipv nmn.
tice with three men at the bat nnd nine
fielders, each batsman remaining in as
loner as he can and tukiiiir liia nlai in
the field when put out While they ad
here as closely as possible tJ the rules
of the American game, their manner of
playing it slightly differs. They want
the ball pitched straight overhead in-
oieim oi to ine ngut Bide, and they
strike much as if they were chopping
Wood. After thT bit: ttiov mn tlu n.
verse way of the diamond!, making for
ma mira uuse nrei. in catching they
are very expert, and rarely missed a ball
that was knocked in thaair. Tn aavoral
instances it was knocked from one hand
to another and caught. In batting they
were very weak, but in throwing they
average better than thn
of the Oomstock . The reporter watched
ine game lor an hour, and did not note
a sinele overthrow. TIia irntna rlati Ita
decline from the year 1442, when at one
oi me- Dig matches a lady of tbe royal
household was hit in the neck with a
ball and killed. When Hnnv Tinnv ni
told that the game was considered an
American institution, he laughed loudly
and intimated that it was hard to find
anything th Americans didn't claim.
Items of Interest
The tired shoemaker waxes weary.
When Time is no mower he will lay
away his scythe.
If I were in the Bun and you were on
of it, what would the son become ? Sin
It is a great deal easeir in these days
to borrow trouble than to borrow
money.
Clock- work has been successfully ap
plied as a motor to sewing machines by
a mechanician of Vienna.
Certainly, the state of matrimony is
one of the United States. To obtain
divorce is to secede from the Union.
Who Is It with fnneral tread
Cornea slowly home and goes to bed,
And utters what ii best unsaid ?
Tia he who's fished since rose the sun,
Subsisting on a single bun,
And after all's canght ftary one.
Some signs of taverns in London are
curious, viz. : "Goat and Compasses,"
"Salmon and Compasses," "Anchor and
Bodices." "Bull and Month," "Green
Man and Still," "Pig and Whistle,"
"Who'd a Thought It?" "The Splendid
Shilling," etc
A silver wedding party was given here
recently by a prominent official at which
the gifts were exhibited. The gifts were
divided into two classes, and a card at
tached to one class conveyed this infor
mation: "These are all solid Bilver."
Washington Letter.
The salaries of some of our railway
presidents are stated to be as follows:
Col. T. A. Soott. Pennsylvania. 824.000;
Mr. Isaao Hinkly, Philadelphia, Wil-
mmcrton and Baltimore. 8Z4.UUU: Mr.
F. B. Oowen, Philadelphia and Beading,
$30,000, and Mr. Hugh J. Jewitt, Erie,
$40,000.
A female tramp was arrested reoently
at Manchester, Vt, and in one of her
pockets were found a three-quart bottle,
a pint dipper, three spoons, a knife, a
beer bottle, a razor, packages of tea.
coffee, salt and sugar.alot of bread, soap,
wire and articles of wardrobe nearly
half a bushel in all.
THE SANCTUM INVADED.
The parlor and tbe chamber floor were
cleaned a week aeo.
The carpets shook, and windows washed, as
all the neighbors know;
But still tbe sanctum bad escaped the table
pile 1 with books,
Pens, ink, and paper, all abont, peace in Its
very looks
Till fell the women on them all, as falls the
plagne on men,
And tnen they vanished all away books,
papers, ink and pen.
And now when comes the master home, aa
come he must of nichts.
To find a 1 things are "tet to wrongs" that they
have "set to rights,
When the sound of driving tacks is heard,
though the house is lar irom sun,
And the carpet woman on the stairs that harb
inger of ill
He looks for papers, books, or bills that all
were there before,
An.l sighs to find them on the desk or in the
drawer no more.
And then he grimly thinks of her who set this
fuss afloat,
And wishes she were out at sea in a very leaky
boat;
He meets her at the parlor door, with hair and
cap awry,
With sleeves tucked np and broom in hand,
defiance iu her eye;
He feels quite smalli and knows full well
there s nothing to be said,
So holds bis tongue, and drinks his tea, and
sneaks away to bed.
A Russian Girl's Revenge.
The recent dismissal by the Emperor
of Russia of his sanguinary Chief of
Police Trepoff recalls the wounds he
received last winter from the pistol of
the young girl, Vera Zasoulitch, who
was triumphantly acquitted after a trial
amid franlio applause in the court. Last
June Trepoff visited tho prison for
political prisoners in St. Petersburg,
and inspected the inmates, who, accord
ing to the rules, walked about the court
yard without speaking to each other.
Finally, he observed two men in con
versation, and shouted to the prison
director, who tremblingly followed him:
"Why do these men enjoy an immun
ity!'' "Seigneur," said one of them,
named' Bogoliouboff, "we," "Hold
your tongue," was the reply. "Director,
place this man in a dungeon," Bogo
liouboff remained immovable, with his
hat upon his head. Trepoff lifted his
stick to knock it off, but his victim
snatched it from his hand, and threw it
away. "I do not take off my hat to
tyrants," eaid he. At this moment two
jailers seized him, laid him npon a
bench, took off his garments, tied him,
and administered, by order of Trepoff
and under his eyes, fifty blows with the
knout, which left the unfortunate man
mutilated, inanimate, and streaming
with blood. Six months afterwajd a
young girl called at Trepoffs office with
a petition for Bogoliouboffs release.
"In twenty years," said Trepoff, with a
sardonic- smile, motioning his attendant
to admit another visitor. At this mo
ment the girl fired two balls into his
breast, and with flashing eyes, held the
revolver smoking in her hand, crying:
"lam Vera Zasoulitch. the betrothed
of Bogoliouboff, whom you would have
assassinated. I revenge him I"
Effect of Hard Water npon Animals.
Horses have an instinctive love for
soft water, and refuse haid water if they
can possibly get the former. Hard
water produces a rough and staring coat
on horses, and readers them liable to
gripes. Pigeons also refuse hard water
if they can obtain access to soft Cleg
horn states that hard water in Minorca
causes diseases in the system of certain
animals, esneciallv of sheet). So much
are race horses influenced by tbe quality
of the water, that it is not unfrequent to
carry a supply of soft water to the
locality in which the race is to take
place, lest there being only hard water,
the horses should lose condition. Mr.
Youatt, in his book called The Horse,"
remarking on the desirableness o' toft
water for the horses, says, " Instinct or
experience Las made the horse himself
conscious of this, for he will never drink
hard water if he has access to soft ; he
will leave the most transparent waUr of
me weu for a river, althoagh the water
maybe turbid, and even for the uuj
dicst pool." And again in ax other place
he Bays, " Hard water drawn fresh from
the well will assuredly make the coat of
a horse unaccustomed to it store, and
will not nnfrequently gripe or further
Injure him." .
X