1'Iip Silent Battle.
Shall I loll you About the buttle
Thst was fmmht in the world today.
Whre thousands went down like herol
To death in the pitiless (niy?
Yon may know some of the wounded.
And some of the fallen when
I toll you this wonderful hnttle
Wiw fought in tho hoar's of men,
Not with the sound of trumpets.
N r lathing of sabers drawn,
Tl'it lent a twlllirhtln autumn
All day the Naht wtnt on.
And over nirnlnst temptation
A mother's prnyers were east
That Imd come by silent marches
From the lulluhylnnd of the past.
And over tho field of bnttln
Th force of ambition went,
I)rtvln before It, likh arrows.
The children of sweet eontent.
And memories odd and olden
(' ime up through the dust of years,
And hopes that were glad nnd iroldin
Vn met hy n host of fenrs.
And the heart grew worn and weary
An 1 said : "Oh. can It be
Th:it I n-n worth the struggle
Vo:i are making today for me?"
For the henrt Itself was the trophy
And prize of this wavering flgh' !
And tell m , Oh gentle reader,
Who c.imos on the field tonight?
Buffalo Cwnmarclal.
The Professor's Romance.
0:i? evening not many year ago
Gorgo Wilson made hia way through
one of tho side streets of New Haven,
His full name, aa it appeared in the
c.itiloone of tho university, was
George Ellis Wilson, of Smithville,
I'h. He had just eaten supper at the
'V. minions," and, leaving the other
fellows, harl hurried down the walk
liot ween "tho old briek row" aud tho
new dormitories, aeross the busy
t root nnd down this little lane till
lie came to a dimly lighted, second
hand book-store. Here he stopped
and looked in the windows. They
were filled with old books with sur
prisingly low prices pinned ou them
and stent engravings of Washington
and Jefferson that doubtless had been
the pride of some patriotic home, but
now looked fly-specked and bedrag
gled enough. After pausing at the
threshold Ion 3 enough to shake the
uow from his cont ho entered. Out
from In hind tho stacks of books that
filled the rear of the store came a little
num. with a long beard, round shoul
der and very old and dusty coat that
came down below- his knees,
"How do, air? A stormy'evening,"
lio wniil to Wilson, as ho climbed tip on
a chair to turn tho gas a little higher.
"Very" replied Wilson, and with
out more ado began to examine tho
books around him. They were stacked
op in tho greatest confusion. Book
cases were full, drawers were full
and great piles in the corners
reached almost to the ceiling. Tho
air of tho room had the rusty
odor peculiar to old books, and tho
little old mnu who kept the store
seemed to have absorbed some of the
musty learning of his shop, such a
scholarly stoop did ho have aud so
dusty were his clothes. An effort had
been made to aort somo of the books,
and over several shelves was hung the
label"RcligiouH," and over some others
"Greek and Latin," while in the ex
treme cornor were "Translations."
Wilson eyed those last suspiciously,
for he had "boned" hia way through
preparatory school, and he had made
up hia mind not to "horse" through
.college. Turning to the Latin books,
he looked thorn through till he came
to a copy of Horace, somewhat tho
worse for wear, but serviceable. Tho
littlo old man meanwhile was trying
to bring Home order out of a confused
heap of magazines piled up on the
floor. Wilson glanced over the pngea
of the Horace, and, deciding that
it would answer his purpose, paid the
.old man 35 cents, put the book in his
pocket and went out into the street.
Going back to his room in "North Mid
dle,' he took off his coat and threw it
. on chair with the Horace still in the
pocket. The next morning he got up
. late, and in hia hurry to get to break
fast put on the ooat just as he had left
it the night before. At chapel, how.
. ever, during the long prayers, while
. the president was imploring "blessings
for the heathen in all lands," under
which head Wilson would have little
- thought himself included, lie pulled
. out the Horace and looked at the fly
, leaf. There were two of the initials
of the former owner, W, B., and his
olass, '55. The last name . had been
carefully scratched out. Up in the
. corner there was a note, evidently
written during some recitation 30
years before: "Can you tutor me an
Lour in trig, tomorrow?" By the
time that Wilsou had observed this
much the prayer was ended and the
president was walking down the mid
dle aisle, while the seniors, in aooord-
. anoe wttb a custom handed down from
, long ago, were making , prodigious
bows aa he passed and falling in tin
ceremoniously behind him.
Pocketing the book Wilson returned
to his room, and, after a few prelimi
naries, began to get ready to study.
He put on his alippersand study-coat,
pulled out a Latin dictionary and
opened it, and then went to the chair
on which hia overcoat lay and got his
Horace. Then ho put bis feet on the
tabic ami was ready for work. The
lesson assigned was the first two odea.
No one can atudy a book, however,
until ho has thumbed it over and over
and made himself familiar with it.
The first thing Wilson did, therefore,
was to glance over tho pages of his
Horace and see what aort of a fellow
its former ownor was. On the fifth
page he saw something that attracted
his attention. Written in a man's
hand in rather small characters, as
though tho writer would not have it
too public, ami on the inner edge of
the leaf was the name "Mary." Smil
ing to himself, Wilson turned on.
Nothing elso noteworthy appeared till
he came to what was evidently a very
difficult passage on thefUty-flrat page,
for the leaf was badly worn and soiled,
and written in the same hand as before
werethe names "Mollie" and "Maine."
"Getting more familiar, evidently,"
soliloquized Wilson as he turned on.
He found no more writing, however,
except on occasional repetition of
these names, and now aud then the
meaning of a word written between
the lines.
Wilson turned to the first ode and
worked steadily over the dictionary
for two hours. Then he kicked his
slippers across the room, threw the
study cont on the bod and pulling on
on his shoes and coat started for the
recitation-room. The professor was
William B. Henderson, but the boys
always called him Billie behind hia
back and occasionally made a slip,
and called him Billy to his face. He
w as Very serious, seldom know n to
smile, and a regular "grinder."
Stories were abundant about some
love affair that he ha 1 had while a
student at Yale, and of a girl whom
ho. had been engaged to who left him
for a wealthier man nnd a trip to Eu
rope. But stories about college pro
fessors are common, and no one pays
much attention to them. No one sup
posed that Billy Henderson could
ever have thought much of anything
except Latin.
The men were seated in the recitation-room
alphahetically, and Wilson
had a back a?at. More than once he
found cause to bo thankful that his
name began with a letter at tho end of
the alphabet. Not being called on to
recite on this day, he acquitted him
self creditably.
Every time that Wilson took tip his
Horace to atudy his eye caught sight
of "Mary" or "Mollie" or "Mame."
"I should liko to know who this
duffer was, and whether he married
Mary," said Wilson one day to John
son, hia room-mate. Johnson was
husy with a pipo and some drawing
instruments aud a largo sheet of paper
and did not condescend to reply, and
Wilson went on with his study.
One day, in looking over the notes
in tho back of tho book Wilson made
a discovery. Down in the corner of a
page in tho same handwriting was
"My Mary."
"Gad!" exclaimed Wilson, and
Johnson turned round to see what
was tho matter. His questioning
look received no reply, and Wilson
put on his coat and went out for a
walk.
"I'd liko to know who that fellow
was and what become of Mary,"
thought Wilson. "What a nice little
plot for a true story, I could make
out a wbolo love affair from these
names in tho book. Let's see. Some
thing like this. Chapter I. Student
oomes to New Haven from Western
home, is hazed, meets a grotty girl,
named Mary something or other ; tries
to study Horaoe and finds himself
writing 'Mary' in his book. Chapter
It. Takes her to Glee Club concert,
borrows money for the tickets and gets
uncomfortably in debt, becomes ab
sent minded and begins to write to
Mollie' and 'Mame.' Chapter
IIL 1 Scene--A beautiful" parlor . in
one of New Haven's best
homes ; Mary, beautiful and collected,
seated on a sofa. Student, with one
hand in coat pocket, standing by grata
fire, with one elbow on mantel. He
oomprains of his hard luok in Horaoe ;
is sure to flunk on exam. Mary con
soles him tenderly. Student goes over
to sofa, looks into Mary's dark eyes,
tells her the trouble is that thia Hor
aoe sings of no one but Mary, and that
the rest of the fellows and the profes
sor don't translate that way, Mary
blushes beautifully. ' He takes her hand
and they are very happy. Chapter IV.
The fellow goea to hia room and. writes
'My Mary' in hia Horaoe and flunks
on the exam."
In following out this line of thought
Wilson had walked half-way to Lake
Whitney. Suddenly another Idea had
struck him. He turned around and
started for his room. On reaching it
he took a triennial catalogue and looked
through to ace whnt names in the class
of '55 had the initials W. B. To hia
perplexity he found several names with
these initials.
"Well, if there isn't Billie Hender
son's name t I never thought of it,
but I suppose his name is really Wil
liam," said Wilson to himself. "He
oould never have owned this book,
though, for he must have been a regu
lar griml"
The term was drawing to a close
when one day Trof. Hcuderson an
nounced to his class that they should
bring their own copies of Horace to
the class-room on the next day. They
would do some reading at sight, he
explained, nnd the class would be al
lowed to use what notes were to be
found in their books, and the edition
furnished by the university for class
room work had no notes whatever.
The next day, therefore, Wilson took
hia Horace to class. The passage
which was assigned to him was the
one which tho former owner had found
so difficult and had sought relief for
his feelings by writing "Mame" and
"Mollie" on the margin of the poge.
Wilson, however, buckled in manfully,
and when called on translated with
some fluency and sat down.
The professor looked over the top
of his glasses and said rather sternly ;
"I do not understand, Mr. Wilson,
how you obtain the meanings that you
give to somo of the words. "
Wilson hesitated a moment and then
a happy thought struck him. Some
thing that he had seen in the notes
came to his mind.
"I think, Professor," he said, "that
my text must differ from yours."
"Ah!" said the Professor. "Let
me see your text."
Wilsou walked np the aislo from tho
rear of tho room aud handed his book
to the Professor with the assurance
that a man has who is sure that he is
in the right.
The professor took the book nnd
glanced over the page. His expression
changed in a moment. Old memories
seemed to come up and he leaned his
head on his hand and looked steadily
at the book. Finally he raised bis
eyes, and handing the book to Wilson,
said: "You are quite right, Mr. Wil
son." After tho recitation was over Pro
fessor Houderson called Wilsou to his
desk. "I should like, Mr. Wilson,"
he said, "to obtain that copy of
Horace from you when you arc through
with it, if you have no objections to
parting with it. It's an odd edition,
you kuow," he added, in explanation,
"and I I should liko to havo it to
comparo with other texts." Wilson
assured him that he could get along
without it, nodded good day to the
professor as ho went out of tho door,
and tho professor auswercd soberly in
return.
"Well, I'll be blow ed!" exclaimed
Wilson, as soon as ho was well awny
from the recitation room. ."Who
would have thought it?" And he but
toned up his cont and hurried to his
room to tell tho story to Johnson.
Chicago News.
Wonderful Texas Mirages.
"You don't hnve to go the Desert of
Sahara in order to see mirages," said
Lee Buchanau to tho corridor man at
the Laclede. "In Texas these phe
nomena cau bo witnessed in as won
derful forms as are ever produced in
any part of the w orld. In that portion
of the State marked upon the maps of
the olden time as a desert where no
plant cau grow or breathing thing cau
live, but which is now cut up into
immense wheat or grazing fields, I
have experienced the most life-like and
optical delusions of w hich the mind
can conceive. For that matter, the
entire prairie appears to be a delusion.
The air is so rare that no odor is per
ceptible, even from carrion. Aa a
man rides along he sees before him
beautiful groves of niajestio trees,
which, when reached, prove to be
mesquite bushes three or four feet in
height Over the plain are what ap
pear to be atakes aix or eight feet high,
which in reality are Spanish daggers
about a foot in height, the entire plain
being called the 'Staked Plain,' from
theeffeot produced byfthis plant. The
best mirage or cloud pictures are to be
aeen about Amnrillo, where beautiful
lakes appear to be but a mile or two
away, and strangers almost invariably
ask if they contain fish. Views of the
gulf are occasionally had, and once
steamer in distress was aeen and it was
learned that steamer had been lost at
sea at that time." St. Louis Olobo
Democrat '
Aa explosion at the Abercorn col
liery in 1878 killed 200 persons,
FAU.H AXD GARDES.
Cf.ovr.n land onows richer.
In every newly-settled country,
when the forests are cleared off and
the land tins been cultivated a few
years, the soil where the worm rail
fences stood is alwaya found richer
than that where plowing and cropping
has been going on. Some farmers,
therefore, conclude that this increase
of fertility where the fence stood is an
invariable rule. But it is not. After
clover and occasional manuring comes
into tho rotation the cultivated part of
the field is often tho richest. We
know farmers who have taken np
old fences with the idea thnt under
them they will find land thnt enn bo
cultivated for a few years without tho
necessity of constant manuring. But
they tisully find if they have been
growers of clover thnt the long culti
vated parts of the field are the richest.
The soil under the fence has not been
cxpnnded and contracted by alternate
freezing and thawing, and it takes one
or two years of cultivation to show
what capacity it has for producing
hrgo crops. Boston Cultivator.
A VINEI.ESS SWEET POTATO.
In the cultivation of tho sweet po
tato, a point is to keep tho trniling
branches from rooting in tho ground
if these creeping branches get roots,
it is so much taken from the main
crop all tho roots are comparatively
small and valueless for commercial
purposes. For this reason the culti
vator of the sweet potato lias to be
continually moving among the vines
lifting them from the ground by vari
ous methods in order to prevent theso
branches from sending out other roots.
It is now given out thnt in Florida a
variety has been raised which takes on
tho bushy form without any tendency
to run or sprawl over the ground. If
this bo so, it ought to be one of tho
greatest advnuces mode for mnny
years. As a general rule, varieties of
the bushy class aro not as productive
as those which take on a regular climb
ing character. Tho bushy varieties
are not nearly as productive as tho
taller growing kinds, but the sweet po
tato may bo an exception, as the crop
is under ground. Medians' Monthly.
WOHKF.n beer.
They constitute the mass of tho col
ony, and ttpou them devolve all tho
labors of the hive. They gather tho
honey and the pollen, the food for tho
young. They nurse and feed the
young brood and defend their house
against tho invasion of enemies. The
care which the workers bestow upon
their nurselings is wonderful, and
theso manifest the most tender attach
ment for them. The slightest move
ment of their nurses toward tho young
brood in sufficient to attract tho latter
to their food, which they devour vora
ciously, and which is unsparingly ad
ministered. After tho cells have been
sealed up tho workers seem to cenfo
from anything like attoniion, although
if tho brood comb is meddled with
their utmost ire is kiudled. Bees
reared in the spring aud early summer
are shorter lived than those reared
later in tho season. Each worker is
armed with a formidable stiug aud
when disturbed does not hesitate to
use it. The extremity baiug barbed
tho bee can rarely withdraw it and in
losing its sting it loses its life aud so
dies indefcuding its homo und sacred
treasures.
BPBAINS IN HORSES.
No matter how slight a sprain may
appear, it should be, carefully treated,
and the horso givon a complcto rest.
Rest isjust tho thing that most owners
are unwilling to allow, unless tho an
imal is absolutely broken down aud
uuablo to move. A sprain of the ten
dons, especially if at all severe, calls
for a prolonged period of rest, even
after all symptoms of lameness have
pussod away.
The object treatment in the first
stage of a sprain is to keep down
or reduce inflammation and prevent
exudation or swelling. The shoe
should be removed at onoe before the
limb has got so swollen and tender as
as to make putting ou another a mat
ter of difficulty owing to the aoute ag
ony handling gives the animal
The next thing is a dose of physic,
which tends to prevent fever and keep
down inflammation acting magically
in this and other cases of lameness.
The animal should be scoured in a
position to discourage'movement, and
either hot fermentations or cold astrin
gent lotions should be applied contin
uously. There is, perhaps, some
difference of opinion as to whether
oold or beat is beat, but whichever is
adopted muBt be kept up continuously,
For a reoent injury, without much
swelling and congestion, cold is per
haps preferable; -drat if there is much
pain and swelling, relief is most
promptly afforded by hot water,
If alight lameness continues or
there is thickening or enlargement, it
will be better to blister; indeed, it it
seldom bad practice to blister after a
sprain, as it at least insures a prolonged
rest. A case of breakdown mentis
months of enforced idleness, generally
permanent deformity, unfitness for fssf
wort, and in some instances incurable
lameness. New York World.
PEEbtMXrt roR EtMIS.
For tho production of eggs the food
should contain an ample supply ul
those ingredients thnt make up the
egg. An average egg weighs about
1,0111) grains, divided ss follows: shell,
107 ; white, 004 ; yolk, 289. The shell
is composed of ninety-seven per cent,
carbonate of lime, one per cent. phos
pnntc of lime and magnesia and two
percent, nllmmeu ; the yolk of fifty
four per cent, water, 2H 0 per cent,
yellow oil and 17.4 H-r cent, albumen,
and the white eighty-five per cent,
water, 2.7 per cent, mucus, 0.3 pel
cent, salts and twelve per cent, albu
men. Therefore, a food containing
albuminoids and fn should bo cm
ployed. The natural food of the fowl
consists of insects, seeds, vegetable
matter, etc. Therefore there should
be a variety of grains, animal matter
in the form of scrape of meat, etc.,
or pressed scraps, chopped cnbbnge,
apples, etc., or, as has been practised,
finely cnt and steamed clover hay.
There should le a great variety at all
times, and Indian meal scalded and
well seasoned with peper, or chopped
horseradish will le effective. A re
cent writer prescribed scalded Indian
meal made into a mush, which was
cooked an hour or two and then fed
hot with horseradish. It was recom
mended to cook food of all kinds aud
feed hot. This might be well as a
stimulant, but comment must be com
bined with animal food to produce
eggs. A supply of powdered shells or
bone should be provided, not only to
aid digestion, but furnish egg shell
material. A correspondent of the
Plymouth Chroniclo mixed hog's lard
with the dough which he gave his hens,
and asserts that a piece as large as a
hickory nut will set a hen to laving
immediately after she is broken up
from setting, and thnt hy feeding a
little occasionally hens may le made
to lay all winter. Live Stock Journal.
FARM AND GARDES NOTES.
Use pure-bred cocks to breed up thb
fowls.
Hens are safer to set than early
pullets.
All birdsof the Cochin breed feather
very slowly.
A clean eggs sells much quicker thau
a soiled one.
Hen manure is valuable, and should
be carefully saved.
Buyers are apt to judge of the age
of an egg by its appearance.
Birds with small combs and plenty
of feathers etiduro cold best.
A home-made incubator is apt to
prove an expensive economy.
The Leghorns are the most prolific,
but they lay tho smallest eggs.
On tho farm the value of a horso de
pends upon the loud he will draw.
Compelling fowls to roost in a
draught is a direct invitation to roup.
Givo your breeding mares plenty of
food and exercise, but no heavy work.
Forty years ago there were practi
cally no conch horses in tho United
States.
Breed for energy and intelligence
in tho horse as well as for form und
action.
Do not keep horses in a field sepa
rated from other horses by a barbed
wire fence.
Tho quantity of horses has never
been so great nor the quality so poor
as at present.
By breeding the mares in the fall,
they can be made to perform the farm
work without injury.
To keep the horse in perfect condi
tion, regular feeding of the proper
quantity of feed is essential.
It does not pay to sell a horse in
poor condition, nor does it pay to
keep a horse in that condition.
Liberal feeding, good shelter and
occasional handling will mature the
well-bred horse into usefulness.
Don't blanket your mares in the
stable and strip them when running
the yard, exposed to high winds.
With the general farmer an opiuion
is prevalent that the purchase of new
blood for the improvement of his
poultry is money thrown away. He
oan hardly made a better investment.
The dairyman who permits his corn
fodder to get partly ripe or frost bit
ten before he outa it np is the same
men who never gets to do his haying
until the grass is mature.
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS.
An electric motor runs a gatling
gun.
A new storage-battery street-rail
way line has been inaugurated lu
Paris, running from the Bastille.
The only aource of the great lakes
is the rain that falls within their basin,
which averages 40 inches per year,
Tokio, Japan, has followed the ex
ample of Bangkok, the capital of
Siom, nnd constructed an electric rail
road. Locnl telegrams are now being
transmitted through pneumatic tubes
in most of the principal cities of
Great Britain.
(Menu coke is by many considered
better than chsreoul for heating flue
steel to forge or hardeu, because it
makes a more even fire.
To make 1,0110 feet of illuminating
gas, eight pounds of roal, costing two
cents, and four gallons of naptha,
costing twelve cents, are required.
A vegetarian paper is printed in
Berlin on paper described as "purely
vegetarian" of a light green color, the
dye med being derived from plauts.
There are eighty-six fish hatcheries
in North America, sixty-six of them
in the United States. Last year they
produced more than one billion young
fish.
Iu Berlin medical paper Dr. Laz
arus describes a case of cholera con
tracted iu a hospital by an assistant
physician who was making experiment
with the Imeilli. He recovered.
Professor Bell, the inventor of the)
telephone, haa been grappling with
irrinl locomotion in Nova Scotia, aud,
like all other experimenters in that
science, he is very hopeful of success.
John Chapman, M. D., of Paris,
claims to have been remarkably suc
cessful in the treatment of cholera by
applications of oold or heat along the
spinal regions cold being applied
during any of the different degrees of
collapse, and heat when necessary to
lessen the force of reaction.
It is maintained very stoutly by ex
pert electricians that the storage bat
tery is, after all a success for commer
cial work ; that the new processes for
manufacturing them have chcapeued
their cost, and that iu train lighting
they are especially efficient aud eco
nomical. It is estimated that $85 per
horse power is tho annual cost of the
accumulator.
At the congress of hygiene in Lon
don, and at the diocesan conference
in the same city it was urged that early
marriages are so great an evil that
some sort of reform iu the marriage
laws is necessary. Investigation
showed thnt tho healthy children are
those of mothers between 20 and 30,
and of fathers between 80 and 40.
Where either husband or wife is un
der 20 the offspring proved generally
weakly.
"While the principle of seeing by
electricity at a distance," says Prof
fessor A. Graham Bell, "is the same
as that applied iu the telephone, yet
it will be very much more difficult to
construct such an apparatus, owing to
the immensely greater rapidity with
which the vibrations of light take
pluce when compared with the vibra
tions of sound. It is merely a ques
tion, however, of finding a diaphragm
which will be sufficiently sensitive to
receive these vibrations and produce
the corresponding vibratious."
He Fooleil the Birds.
A person riding through the moun
tains nnd lower foothills of the Sierra
Nevada at this time of the year cannot
help but notice the trees and dead
fence posts that have been filled with
acorns, the work of woodpeckers and
bluejays. The former makes holes
and the latter filled them with acorns,
providing a w inter store.
A man living near Coulterville haa
the reputation of being very mean, and
the neighbors tell and vouch for the
following story on him : He took a
thin board and punotured it with
holes, this being nailed on the back
aide of his granary. The bluejay
was not long in looating the holes and
at once started to fill them with acorns.
When an acorn would be put in one of
the holes it would fall inside of the
building, The industrious birds, de
termined to fill the holes, kept carry
ing acorns until' the granary was full.
Then the man ao mean as to cheat the
birds had enough on whioh to fatten
all his hogs, while the birds had none.
-Merced (Cal.) Sun.
True to His Id als.
"You find it impossible to get work,
don't you?" said the sympathetic lady
of the bouse,
"I'm not huntin' fur work, ma'am,"
said the man on the back porch stiffly,
"I ain't no common tramp. I'm,
huntin' fur leisure."