IMPROVISED BIRD HOUSES,
'it?#
One of the most delightful and suggestive of the teachers' leaflets issued
by the College of Agriculture, Cornell University, for use in the public
schools, is one entitled "The Birda aud I," by L. H. Bailey. This is illus
trated by a number of suggestions for bird houses, which may be copied by
all the boys and girls who are always wanting to use hammer and nails and
"make something useful." Some of the many forms which can be used are
shown in the picture. Any ingenious boy can suggest a dozen other patterns.
The floor space in each compartment should not be less than 5x6 inches, and
GxG inches or 6xS inches may be better. By cutting the boards in multiples
of these numbers, one can easily make a house with several compartments;
for there are some birds, as martins, tree swallows and pigeons, that like to
live in families or colonies. The size of the doorway is important. It should
be just large enough to admit the bird. A larger opening not only looks
bad, but it exposes the inhabitants to dangers of cats and other enemies.
Birds which build in houses, aside from doves and pigeons, are bluebirds,
wrens, tree swallows, martins, and sometimes the chickadee. For the wren
and chickadee the opening should be an inch and a half augur hole, and for
the others it should be two inches.
I Ths Souths "All's Well." |
By R. H. EDMONDS. I
¥ ©
Ten years ago the South fought ita
first skirmish in the endless battle
that ever rages for the world's com
mercial supremacy. Its pig-iron eu
tereil the markets so long dominated
by Pennsylvania furnaces, and, to the
■dismay of those who had affected to
despise its rivalry, won a substantial
victory. Alabama iron became a fac
tor in every iron-consuming centre,
and from this position it could not be
dislodged. About the same time
Southern cotton mills were forcing
their product into successful competi
tion with the output of New England
mills. But as Pennsylvania iron and
steel people took refuge in the claim
that the South would never advance
beyond the iron-making stage, that it
could never become a factor in the
higher forms of finished goods and in
steel-making, so the New England
mills lulled themselves into a sense of
security on the claim that though
Southern mills might make coarse
goods, they could never acquire the
skill and the capital needed for the
finer goods. In the light of what has
been accomplished within ten years,
it seems very strange that such argu
ments as these should have done duty
iu so many newspapers and in BO
many gatherings.
A Prophecy.
Judge Kelley—"Pig-Iron Kelley,"
as ne was familiarly known—had been
wiser than his people. Nearly twenty
WAGES PAID TO TACTOBT HANDS.
1880. 1899.
$75,900,000. $350,000,000.
years ago he proclaimed the coming
power of the South in all industrial
pursuits, and heralded it not as a dis
aster to Pennsylvania and to New
England, but as an added strength to
the industrial power of the country.
"The development of the South," said
he, "means the enriohment of the na
tion." In this light the progress of
the South should be watched, for
while its industrial upbuilding may
mean the changing of some forms of
industry in other sections, there is
versatility enough in our people and
in our country to find a new avenue
for the employment of brains and
energy and capital for every one that
may be closed by changing business
conditions. New England may yield
the sceptre of cotton-manufacturing
to the South, to the vast enrichment
of the South, but New England will
find new openings for its tireless
energy and its accumulated capital.
GRAIN FBODUCED —BUSHELS.
1880. 1898-99.
431,000,000. 736,600,000.
The South will become enormously
wealthy through the change, but New
. England will not be made the poorer.
Th» Flrat SkimiUhei.
Just about the time when the South
was winning these first skirmishes,
and when its people were dazzled by
the new opportunities of employment
and wealth creation which were open
ft
HAILBOAD MILEAGE.
1880. 1899.
20,600. 50,000.
ing before them after the darkness of
thirty years of war and reconstruction
trials, there came the world-wide
financial panic following the Baring
failure. The South, suddenly brought
down from its dizzy speculative
height, had to face new conditions.
The business world recognized that
the supreme test of the South's in
herent advantages and possibilities
had come. It faced the situation—its
iron-masters steadily reduced the cost
of iron-making until furnaces which
had been turning out 8S and 89 iron
COTTON CONSUMPTION IN SOUTHERN
MILLS—BALES.
1880. 1838-99.
233,886. 1,399,000.
were able to produce $6 iron; its cot
ton-mill owners wisely abandoned old
machinery, and, equipping their mills
with every modern improvement, drove
them to their utmost capacity night
and day, in order to double the output
on their invested capital and propor
tionately reduce the cost of goods; its
cotton-planters, who had kept their
ooru-crib3 and smoke-houses in the
West, buying in the aggregate about
8100,000,000 worth a year of Western
corn and bacon, commenced to raise
their own food supplies, and in this
way, returning to the old ante-bellum
system, reduced the cost of raising
cotton. While these changes, all
revolutionary in their character, were
in progress, the small bankrupt rail
road lines were brought into compact
systems, new and heavier rails laid,
rolling-stock increased and necessary
extensions made.
Iron and Coal.
Thus the South passed through the
long period of depression, standing
the great test, which came so unex
pectedly, in a way that strengthened
the world's confidence. It not only
SPINDLES IN COTTON-MILLS.
1880. 1899.
667,000. 5,000,000.
held its own during this period, but
its iron-makers entered foreign mar
kets, and demonstrated that the South
could dictate the price of iron for the
world. Alabama iron set the price in
England and on the Continent, as well
as in Japan, and even from Jerusalem
came an order for it. This marked a
revolution in the world's iron and
steel interests. Henceforth the world
was the market for Southern iron.
When this point had been reached,
the next step was to build steel-works
commensurate with what has been ac
complished in iron-making; and to-day
two gigantic plants—one to make steel
billets, and the other to make finished
steel products—are nearing com
pletion at Birmingham. They have
cost about $2,500,000. They have
PHOSPHATE. MINED —TONS.
1880. 1890.
750,000. 2,000,000.
already booked heavy orders for steel
billets for shipment to Pittsburg. A
number of furnaces built during the
boom of 1889-90, and which have been
idle ever since, have lately been
bought by strong companies, and are
now being put into blast. With every
furnace crowded to its utmost capac-
CAPITAL INVESTED IK MANUFACTURING.
1880. 1890.
$257,000,900. $1,000,000,000.
ity, which will soon be the case, the
output of Southern iron in 1900 prom
ises to be nearly fifty per cent, larger
than ever before. The demand for
coal exceeds the production, though
that is now at the rate of 40,000,000
tons a year. There is almost feverish
activity in enlarging the output of
oid mines, in opening new ones, and
CAPITAL IN COTTON-SEED-OIL MANUFAC
TURE.
1880. 1899.
83,500,000. $40,000,000.
in building coke-ovens; for a ready
demand meets every ton produced,
with a profit that makes glad the
stockholders.
The Flioflphnte Industry.
Turning from iron and coal, with
the almost fabulous profits which
they are yielding, to other industries,
phosphate-mining looms into promi
nence. Up to ten years ago South
Carolina was the only American source
of phosphate rock, and our fertilizer
factories, as well as those of Europe,
had to depend upon the few hundred
thousand tons which that State an
nually produced. Theu it was dis
covered that Florida had vast phos
phate beds, and soon that State sur
passed South Carolina in this indus
try. Two or three years later similar
discoveries were made in Tennessee,
and the mining activity which has fol
lowed reminds one of the tales of de-
COAL MINED—TONS.
1880. 1899.
6,000,000. 40,000,000.
velopment in new gold regions. Ten
years ago the South's output of phos
phate rock was not more than 750,000
tons; this year it will be 2,000,000
tons. What this means in the diver
sification and improvement of agricul
tural conditions is too broad a subject
j for treatment here.
Tli* Forest*.
Possessing one-half of the standing
timber of the United States, the South
is building up immense lumber and
wood-working interests, aud through
out the entire lumber region business
is as prosperous as iu the iron dis
tricts.
Cotton It Still King.
Though the value of the grain now
raised in that section exceeds ou the
farm the value of the cotton crop, cot
ton is still the dominaut power in the
business life of the South. No other
country has such a monoply of any
agricultural staple of such world-wide
influence as the South has of cotton.
Cotton and cotton-seed bring to South
ern farmers an average of $300,000,-
000 a year. The comparatively new
industry of cotton-seed oil making
now employs over $40,000,000 of
capital, and yields au aunnal product
of upwards of $50,000,000. From
Galveston alone the foreign exports
of cotton oil and cotton-seed meal are
averaging nearly 1000 tons a day. Of
this industry the South has almost as
much of a monopoly as it has of cot
ton-growing, but in the manufacture
of cotton goods this section, though
making marvelous progress, is still
only getting well started. There are
about 100,000,000 in
the world. The Soutu furnishes the
cotton for about three-fourths of these,
or 75,000,000 spindles, but has only
5,000,000 spindles. To consume in
its owu mills its crop of 10,000,000 to
11,000,000 bales would require the
investment of over $1,500,000 in new
mills, aud long before that point oould
be reached, even at the present rapid
growth, the world will annually re
guire of this section from 25,000,000
COTTON CROP—BALES.
'0- 1898-99.
5,75- 000 11,274,840.
to 30,0bD,000 bales. In 1880 thd
South started on its cotton-mill de
velopment with a basis of 667,000
spindles, representing a capital of
$21,000,000. By 1890 it had $61,-
000,000 capital in this industry and
1,700,000 apiadles. To-day it has
5,000,000 spindles and about $125,.
000,000 of capital invested in cotton
mills, while mills under construction
represent about $25,000,000 more.
The most significant sign of the times
in this indu3tiy is that New England
mill-owners, recop izing that the
South is bound to win, are transfer
ring large capital to Southern mills. A
|flp (jllfP
V A riJE OF MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS.
1880. 1899.
$457,400,000. $1,500,000,000.
number of the leading mill companies
of the former section have, during the
last few years, built branch mills,
costing from $500,000 to $1,000,000
each, in the South; and now one of
New England's greatest corporations
is spending $2,500,000 in building
in Alabama what will be the largest
cotton-mill ever constructed as a sin
gle enterprise. The recent advauce
in the price of cotton is bringing pros
perity to the farmers, and if it holds
for the balance of the season, will
■JE. ' - H-y ;! 'J.;;. ..I
PIG-IRON PRODUCED —TONS.
1880. 1899.
397,000. 2,500,000.
mean $75,000,000 more to them than
they received for last year's crop.
In diversified interests the same
story of progress and prosperity runs.
The Newport News Ship Yard, with
over $10,000,000 of work uuder con
tract, including two steamers of about
12,000 tons each for the Pacific trade,
the largest ever built in America, is
said to be employing more hands than
even the Cramps; the Richmond Lo
comotive Works are competing with
the Baldwins in exporting locomo
tives; the Maryland Steel Company
has been furnishing steel rails for
Russia's Siberian Railroad, for Alls
tralia and other distaut regions; Ala
CAPITAL INVESTED IN COTTON MILLS.
1880. 1899.
$21,900,000. $125,000,000
bama coke has gone to Japan, and the
export of both coke and iron is only
limited by the fact that the home de
mand now exceeds the supply.
The South's Story In Statistics.
Statistics are often uninteresting,
but the story of the South's progress
cannot be told more clearly than in
the comparative illustrations scattered
through this article, in which reliable
estimates are given where exact fig
ures are not obtainable.
Surveying tliu whole Southern situ
ation, what has been done and what is
under way, it can be truly said that
"all's well."—Harper's Weekly.
Cansava, the New Crop.
The Spanish war seems to have
given promise of benefit iu a direction
entirely unexpected iu stimulating the
study of tropical products. A plant
has been "discovered" that promises
to become to the Gulf states what
wheat is to the North. For years this
plant, which resembles a gigantic
beet, has been a staple product of
SEVEN CASSAVA-ROOTS.
Brazil and other South American
countries, aud has recently been
grown in Jamaica with remarkable re
sults. In Eastern trcpical countries
it is known as "manioc," in Brazil it
is called "mandioca," in Colombia it
is known as "yucca," and in the West
Indies the name "cassava" or "eas
sada" prevails. The gigantic roots
produce a flour that rivals the best of
wheat. They give a juice that makes
an excellent table preserve. They
yield an abundance of starch of a su
perior quality. They also make a re
markable showing in fattening cattle.
If one-half of what is claimed by the
United States Department of Agricul
ture aud the Jamaica Agriculture So
ciety be realized, the problem of what
to do with the vast areas of almost
arid lands of the Gulf stutes is to be
solved by "cassava."
lla<l It In Varlout A»Mirtinenl>,
It wa-s in one oi the big department
stores.
"What do you wish to-day,
madam?" asked the courteous floor
walker. .
"Nothing. I "
"Sixteenth floor. Take the ele
vator. We have nothing there in
large and varied assortments. James,
riug the belt for the lady."—Harper's
Bazar.
Keinalns of an Old-Timer.
The skeleton of a prehistoric sea
monster resembling a shark was un
earthed recently at the quarry of J.
H. Davis, who live 3 ten miles south of
Bonham, Texas. Its jaws were about
four feet in length, and, though buried
several feet in solid limestone, were iu
a good state of preservation, the
enamol being plainly visible on the
teeth.
y
? FOR WOMAN'S BENEFIT. I
*-.»♦
Ronltjr Pr«cllc>'» Cnleatlienlrs.
Fencing and calisthenics have al
ways been a regular part of the daily
physical exercises of the Princess of
Wales' daughters. Even when on the
royal yacht they never omit the exer
cise that has contributed to their
gracoful carriage and excellent health.
The rapid, gliding walk, the erect
carriage without stiff.jess and the
well poised head of the Princess of
Wales are attributed to her thorough
practice of calisthenics.
Fur Hutu for Winter Wear.
Fur hats are to ba worn to a consid
erable extent. There are many mink
turbans, and the all-over grebe skin
hats, in small, round shapes, are just
coming out. A particularly striking
Spanish turban has the roll of white
grebe skin and the crown of white vel
vet, on which bunches of violets are
hand painted. A bunch of violets is
at the side of the turban, and a rhiue
stone buckle run through violet vel
vet ornaments the front of the brim.
With this is worn a collarette of white
silk bordered with swansdown. The
front of the collarette djpeuus in long
stole like ends.ou which are appliqued
purple orchids. The same flowers are
used in the high silk and swnasdown
ruff at the neck.
A Widow'* Mou-ni-is Veil.
A widow has a never to-be mistaken
badgj in the tiny white ruche which
she alone wears in her bonuet. This
impoit»nt adjunct Jits closely to the
head, is made of crape, with a fold or
two on the elge, while a Hat bow in
front makes it more generally becom
ing. The strings should be of black
gros-grain ribbon. A widow may also
have overstriugs of white lawn, which
are hemmed and tucked, when she
dons the linen collar and cuffs, but for
three months not a particle of white
shows on a thoroughly correct deep
mourning garb. A widow's crape veil
is at least two yards long, with a
three inch hem at the back aud from
five to seven in front, the latter hang
ing one-third longer from the top of
the head, aud confined byfolds across
the bonuet, held by small dull jet
pins on each side. At the end of six
months the veil is worn with the long
er end hanging in in the back and the
shorter one over it, with folds over
the top of the bonmt; a face veil of
net is theu worn with or without a
fold of crape trimming. —Ladies' Home
Journal.
Akunt Women's Feet.
.Tust at the age when women are
particularly foud of dainty fe t, Na
ture comes gallantly to the rescue and
shapes their feet smaller than they
were as growing girls. It is a fact
noted by observing shoemakers, who
do not at all regret a circumstance
that helps to make business brisk.
"Yes,"said one of Boston's swellest
bootmakers, to an inquiring news
paper man, "girls ab nit seventeen or
eighteen years old give us uo end of
trouble. Their feet are then large
anil shapeless. They often take sizes
as large as full grown women.
"When they get older, however,and
the foot becomes settled, new boots
on the old last will be found too large,
and it is only whe.i the young ladies
complain that their new shoe-t are too
big that we know the foot has under
gone the change ji 8 described. Then
explanations have to be given, but
the bootmaker doesn't mind this so
much, for a woman, as she < rows old
er, likes to be told that her foot is
getting smaller.
"After forty the feet of a woman go
back to the fat aud flabby state, aud
herein grows t 'ouble for the bootmak
er, who has to state, in explanation
why the last pair of shoes do not fit,
that the lies in the fajt that her
feet are getting bigger."
Tlie »Wfol Waists.
The white satiu and white taffeta
silk waists will be fashionable again.
There is a little fullness directly in
the front, but this is supposed to be
gathered in uuder the belt. Almost
all the waist* hnveayoke effect aud a
little lace edging around the front of
the waist below the yoke. 'J hey have
elaborate collars of the same material
as the waist, but l.ehiud the ears in
points so that they can be turned
over. These are e lged with lace, aud
a lace bow is additional, but on many
of the waists there is simply a bow of
the same material as the wnist, the
ends of which are trimmed with lace.
All waists are tucked and corded,
and there is au infinite \ariety iu the
wijdths of the tucks. Some are miu
ute, others wide. There are even
some waists that show the old-fash
ioned box plaits once a jain, but these
require to be made carefully or they
will look bulky aud clumsy. They
are at all times trying to stout fig
ures. A stout woman will do well, if
she has a silk waist made, to have al
ways a boued and fitted lining, and,
besides, it is best to huve three seams
in the back—one i;i the middle of the
back and one on either side. These
seams break the width, and, if suf
ficient curve is given to the wide
seams, it really makes the figure much
more tapering thau might be believed
possible.
Admonishing Children.
"The universal frailty of our hu
man nature, which dislikes to be told
of faults must be taken iuto consider
ation when we con. Erse with our
grown up children," writes Kate Up
son Clark in the Woman's Home Com
panion. "After they pass the age of
14 or 15 they usually betray a greater
seusitiveness than before to even rea
souable fault findiug. By the time
they reach 1» or 20 this tendency has
be^-o/le a marked trait They Have
then become substantially like tbe
rest of us. Even from tbe lips of lo -
iug fathers and mothers aud iu strict
privacy they want nothing but the
same sort of honey ou which our own
souls love to feed. They wish uo al
lusion miule to the fact that they are
acquiring nasil tones; tint their g„it
is awkward; that their taste iu dre-ts
is uuformed and even bad; that they
have not good judgment in choosiug
associates, and so ou. Private dis
courses upon the wiles of the world
aud the weakness of youth and its
proneness to wander they wish none
of. Whatever medicine of that sort i-i
to be given must be administered in
small doses, interjected with skill into
conversations upon ordinary matters,
aud sugar coated, if possible, with
artful compliment,thou j;h it should be
always deserved. Even the best and
dearest of our carefully brought uy
young peope aro likely to have their
year or more of obstinacy and ig
heaue Iness,' or their permanent
streaks of uureasouableness and con
tumacy. Therefore they would bet
ter receive most of the telling strokes
that mold into shape before they reach
the age of 14. From that time up t r
the age of what is called Miscretio >,'
which does not a'rive with most of us
before 25 (if then), the youth,in judg
ment aud sense, is really not much
superior to what he was at from seven
to fifteen, but he has no suspicion of
this fact."
Fn«liiona in Slipper*.
Pretty low slippers and low shoes
that have been worn the past sir- er
aud fall,and will be worn in
and in the south this winter, are
unique, being made of yellow Russia
leather, with n dull liu : sli, giving
them the appearance of calf. iJeiuy
made of a leather soft iu itself, but
having an appearance of heavy ma
terial, they are particularly attract
ive in fancy shoes. Some of these
slippers have a tongue going up on
the instep,with one oroad strap clasp
ing over it and fastening with a bow,
a little or a very large buckle. Large
and elaborate buckles are to be seeu
on many slippers. Many varieties of
pretty strapped slippers have one,
two, three and four straps. The big
buckles necessitate big bows under
them or they are across the straps of a
three or four strap slipper. Rhine
stone and out steel buckles are the
prettiest of all, though a tiny gol.l
buckle on the toe of a slipper with
several straps has a business like ap
pearauce that is attractive. Most of
the cut steel, as well as the rhinestone
buckles are imported aud consequent
ly expensive. A pretty buckle is ol
gun metal and rhinestones.
Popular slippers are of pateut
leather, which always look well. Mauj
slippers have different colored heels,
aud many people like them. The high
heel the woman with the pretty foot
affects, aud some prominent women of
the stage always wear extra high
heels. One well known actress never
wears a heel less than two aud thiee
fourths inches high. The ordinary
heel will measure two indies; half an
inch iu a heel is considerable. The
other week several pairs of slio.-s aud
slippers with heels four inches high
were made in New York for a Buffalo
woman. No one knows how she will
1 e able to walk ou them.
Slippers made to match gowns are
pretty, but they are not economical,
for the material, unless it happens to
be one of the standard satins, blue,
pink, red and yellow, or black or
white, cannot be relied upon to wear.
When you measure your own foot
for a shoe—a dangerous practice us
ually—the shoemaker says, staud on a
piece of paper aud draw a line arouud
the fobt, but while sitting, not while
stauiing.—New York Times.
Kaaltlon*!! Fancied.
Bolero effects of every kind aud
shape are a special feature of fash
ion.
Both large shoes aud large gloves
are wo n by the smartest maids and
matrons.
Some of the black velvet lows for
the hair have pipings of white satin
stitched on one edge with very good
e fleet.
Very shiny are the black gauze but
torflies, spotted with ctieuille and
spaugles, which can be purchased iti
the shops for reaovating last year's
evening bonne".
Marie Antoinette hats have not gone
out any more thau Oaiusboroughs,
Ru ens and Toreadors. The Wagner
is a hat with rather a wide spreading
crou n aud the side tilted brims are
seen.
The most beautiful ribbons are
those that are eaibroidered. The but
terfly is to be found here as every
where and is beautiful, whether it
appears in brilliant colors or in full
tones on a dull ribbon.
Muff chains are very elegant this
season and are made of alternate links
of gold and enamel iu varied flower
forms, with a jeweled charm hangiug
at one side. Another novelty is a rib
bon with jeweled bugs set at inter
vals.
A dainty necktie that can be made
at home is of a three-inch wide length
of colored or I.lack tafleta,hemmed by
machine ou both edges; cut in points
at both ends. The newest four-iu
naud is made of raw silk, the portion
u out the collar is tucked « r corded
into stirl'uess, the ends hemmed aud
stitched.
Theloug-coutiuued reports that ear
rings are coming into fashion agaiu
have become more convincing as they
have increased in number and vol
ume, probably becausejconstant repeti
tion gives the appearauce of unim
peachable fact, but now they have
bobbed up agaiu with many more
evidences of truth. Anyway,earrings
are sc<vi ofteuer than they were a
year ago, but most of them are of the
h.iuJ which »crew iuto the ear.