LOVE.
Oh, tore l not ft summer mood,
Nor flying phantom of the brain,
Kor youthful fever o( the blooil,
Nordream, nor fate, nor circumstance.
Lore I not born of blinded chance,
Nor bred In iluiple Ignorance.
But tore hath winter In her blood,
And lore la fruit of holjr pain,
And pnrfect flower of maidenhood.
True lore I steadfast as the skies,
And, once alight, xhe never Must
And love la strong nnd atlll and wise.
Itluhnrd Watton OilJcr.
FACULTY, j
t
There was a great, commotion in
Foxville when old Parson Fox died.
It was not only because he was the
pioneer of the place, having come
there when the woods were one pri
meval mass of green, and himself hav
ing erected the old stone parsonage,
round which the thriving village had
grown with almost incredible rapidity.
It was not that he bad preached the
gospel to them for four-oud-forty years;
it was not that his footsteps had been
instant on every threshold where sick
ness came or sorrow brooded.
All this hnd been received as a mat
ter of course, nnd forgotten ns soon
as the necessities were past. But it
was because Foxville curiosity was on
the qui vive about Joanna, his grand
child, the solo remaining blossom on
the gnarled old family tree, who was
left quite unprovided for.
"I declare to goodness," snid Mrs.
Emmons, "I don't know what is to
become of that gill!"
"She hain't no faculty, "snid Snbinn
Sexton, the village dressmaker; "and
never had."
"Books possessed no chnrms for
her!" sighed Miss Dodge, who taught
the Foxville district school. ".She al
ways cried over her parsing and rhe
toric, and I never could make ber
nnderstand cube root."
"There's no denyiu' that the old
minister was ns ucnr a saint as we
often see in this world," said Mrs.
Luke Lockedge, piously. "But he
hadn't ought to let Joanna rnu loose
in the woods and fields the way she
did. Why, I don't s'pose she ever
made a shirt or fried a batch o' fritters
in her life I"
"la it trno," said Miss Dodge, peer
ing inquisitively up under her spec
tacle glasses, "that she is engaged to
your Simon, Mrs. Lockedge?"
Mrs. Lockedge closed her month,
shook her head and knitted away until
her needles shone like forked light
ning. "Himon's like all other young men.
Miss Dodge," said she "took by a
pretty face and a pair o' bright eyes.
And they sat on the same bench at
sohool. And as long as we s'posed
l'arson rox bad left property, why.
there wasn't no objection. But there
wasn't nothing not even a life insur
ance. 80 I've talked to Kimon, and
made, lllm hear TAflHnn- TIiopa nan't
no'ody live on air!"
"But that's ruther hard on Joanna.
ain't it?" said Mrs. Emmons, with a
little sympathetic, wheeze.
"Benson is reason!" Mrs. Lock
edge answered. "My Himon will have
property, and the girl he marries must
have sut Inn to match it."
Bo that Joanna Fox, sitting listlessly
in her black dress by the window,
where the scent of June honeysuckles
floated sweetly in, and trying to real
ize mat sne was alone in the world,
had divers and sundry visitors that day.
The first was Himon Lockedge. look
ing as if his errand were somewhat
connected with grand larceny.
Joanna started up, her wan face
brightening. Hbe was only sixteen
a brown-haired, brown-eyed girl.
"Oh, Simon," she cried, "I knew
yon wonld come when you heard!" -
Simon Lockedge wriggled uneasily
into a seat, instead of advancing to
clasp ber outstretched band.
"Yes," said he. "Of course it's
very sad, Joanna, and I'm awfully
orry ior , yon. um '
Joanna stood still, her face harden
ing into a cold, white mask, her hands
falling to her side.
"Yes," said she. "You were say
ing-"
"It's mother!" guiltily confessed
Simon. "A fellow can't go against his
awn mother, you know. She says it's
all nonsense, our engagement aud we
shouldn't have anything to live on!
Ana so," witu a final twist, "we'd bet
ter consider it all over. That's the
sense of the matter now ain't it,
Joanna?"
She did not answer.
Tin awfully sorry, "stuttered Simon.
"I always set a deal of store by you,
Joanna." ' '
"Did you?" she said bitterly. "One
wonld scarcely have thought it."
"And you know, Joanna," he added
awkwardly, mindful of his mother's
drill, "when poverty comes in at the
, floor, love Hies out at the window!"
Joanna smiled scornfully.
"It seems," said she, "that love
does not always wait for that."
And she turned and walked into the
adjoining apartment; while Simon.
linking out of the door, muttered to
himself:
"It's the hardest Job o' work that
ever I did in my life. Splitting; stamps
is nothing to it. But mother says it
must be done and mother rales the
roost in our honse!"
Next came Mrs. Emmons.
' "Joanna," said she, "I'm deeply
grieved at this 'ere affliction that's be
fell yon!"
"Xhauk yon, Mrs. Emmons!" said
the girl, mechanically.
"I've come to auk you about your
plans, ''added the plump widow. "Be
cause, H you have no other intentions.
I'll be glad to have you help we with
the housework. I'm poin' to have a
Vouse full o . summer hoarders, aud
'there'll be a deal wore work than me
oJ Hlviry oau manage. Of course
Ton won t expect no pay, but a good
home is what you need most."
"Stop a minute!" said Joanna. "Am
I to understaud that yon expect me to
assume the position and duties of a
servant, without servant's wages?"
"You'll be a member of the family,"
said Mra. Emmons; "aud you'll set at
the same table with me and Elviry."
"I am much obliged to you," said
Joanna, "but I must decline your kind
offer."
And Mrs. Emmons departed in
wrath, audibly declaring her couvlo
tion that pride was certain, sooner or
later, to have a fall.
"I have plenty of friends," said
Joanna, courageously, or rnther dear
grandpapa had. I am sure to be pro
vided for."
But Squire Bnrton looked harder
than any flint when the orphan came
to him.
"Something to do. Miss Fox?" said
lie. "Well, that's the very problem
of the age woman's work, you know;
aud I ain t smart enough to solve it.
Copying? No, our firm don't need
that sort of work. Do I know of any
one that does? N-110, I can't sny I do;
but if I should hear of an opening,
I'll be sure to let you know. Ahem!
I'm a littlo busy this morning, Miss
Fox; sorry I emi t devote more time
to yon. John, Ihe door, (lood morn
ing, my dear Miss Fox! I assure you,
you have mine and Mrs. Barton's
prayers In tills siul visitation 01 uu in
scrutable Providence."
Old Miss (liiiige, who hnd fifty
thousand dollnrs at interest, nnd who
had always declared that she loved
dear Joanna Fox like a daughter, sent
down word that she wasn't very well,
and couldn't see company.
Doctor Went worth, in visiting
whose invalid daughter poor old Tar
son Fox had contracted the illness
which carried him to bis grave, was
brusque nnd short. The doctor wns
sorry for Miss Jonnnu, of course, but
he didn't know of any way iu w hich
he could be useful. He UL'dorstood
there was a kid-glove factory to be
opened on Walling Biver soon.
"No doubt Miss Fox could get a
place there; or there could be no ob
jection to her going out to domestic
service. There wns a great deal of
false sentiment on this subject, and he
thought"
But Joanna, without waiting for the
result of his cogitations, excused her
seif. She would detain him no longer,
she snid; aud she went away, with
flaming cheeks and resolutely re
pressed tears.
When she got home, she found one
of the trustees of the church awaiting
her. He didn't wish to hurry her, he
said, but the clergyman didn't want to
live in such a ruinous old place; and
it was their calculation, as the parson
age was mortgaged much beyond its
real value, to sell it out, aud buy a
new frame house, near the railroad
station, with all the modern conveni
ences, for the use of the Bev. Silas
Speakwell.
"Am I to be turned out of my
home?" snid Joanna, indignantly.
Deacon Blydenburg hemmed and
hawed. He didn't want to hurt no
one's feelings; but as to her home, it
was well known that to all intents and
purposes the old place bad long ago
passed out of Parson Fox's owner
ship; and they were willing to accord
her any reasonable length of time to
pack up nnd take leave of her friends
say a week.
So Joauna, who could think of no
remaining friend but her old gover
ness, who had long ago gone to New
York to fight the great world for her
self, went down to the city, aud ap
pealed to Miss Woodin iu her extrem
ity; and Miss Woodin criod over her,
and kissed her and caressed ber, like
an old maiden aunt.
"What am I to do?" soid poor, pale
Joanna. "I cannot starve!"
"There's no necessity for any one
starving in this great, busy world,"
said Miss Woodin, cheerfully. "All
one wants is faculty!"
Joanna shrank a little fromthehard,
stereotyped word, which she had so
often heard from the lips of Mrs.
Emmons, Miss Sabiua Sexton, and
that sisterhood.
"But how do yon live?" said she.'
"Do you see that thing there iu the
corner?" said Miss Woodin.
"Yes," answered Joauna. "It is a
sewing machine?"
"It's a typewriter, "announced Miss
Woodin. "And I earn my living on
it."
"But what do you write?" said
Joanna.
"Anything I can get," said Miss
Woodin.
And thus, in the heart of the great
wilderness of New York, Joanna Fox
commenced her pilgrimage of toil.
First on the typewi iter, then pro
moted to a compiler's desk in the
"Fashion Deparlmenfof a prominent
weekly journal; then, by means of a
striking, original sketch, slipped into
the letter box of the Ladies'" Weekly
with fear and trembling, to a place on
the contributor's list; then gradually
rising to the rank of a spirited yonng
novelist; uutil she had her pretty
"flat," furnished like a miniature
palace, with Miss Woodin and her
typewriter snugly installed in one cor
ner. ...
"Beoause I owe everything to her,"
said the young authoress, gratefully.
And, one day, glancing over the ex
changes iu the sanctum of the Ladies
Weekly, to whese columns she still
contributed, she came across a copy of
the Foxville Gazette.
"Hester," she said, hurrying home
to Miss Woodin, "the old parsonage
is to be sold at auction tomorrow, aud
I mean to go up aud buy it. For I am
quite quite sure that I could write
there butter thau anywhere else iu the
world."
Miss Woodin agreed with Joanna,
Miss Woodin believed more firmly iu
whatever Joanna believed. Iu iter
loving eyes, the successful young
writer was always right.
So Joauna Fox aud Miss Woodin,
dressed iu black and closely veiled,
went np to Foxville to attend the auo
tion sale.
Everybody wns thore. They didn't
have an auction sale at Foxville every
day in the week.
Squire Barton was there, with
vague idea of purchasing the old plnoe
for a public garden.
"It would be attractive," said the
squire. "Those open-nir concert-gardens
are making no end of money in
the cities. I don't see why the Ger
mans need pocket all the money that
there is going."
Mrs. Emmons came because every
body else did. Miss Dodge, who hnd
saved a little money, thought that if
the place went chonp, she wonld pny
down a part nnd give a montgage for
the remainder.
"And my sistor could keep board
ers," she considered, "and I could
always have a home there."
But Simon Lockedge was most de
termined of all to have the old parson
age for his own.
"I could llx It np," snid he to him-'
self, "nnd live there renl comfortable.
It's a dreadful pretty location, and I'm
bound to have it especially since
mother's investments have turned out
hnd, and since we've got to sell the
farm. Nothing hasn't gone right with
ns since I broke off with the old par
son's grand-daughter. It wasn't quite
the square thing to do, but there
seemed no other way. But, let mother
say whnt she w ill, it brought bad luck
tons."
And the rustic crowd surged in nnd
out, nnd tho auctioneer mounted to his
platform on an old kitchen table, aud
the bidding began at five hundred dol
lnrs, and "hung fire" for some time.
"Six!" said cautious Simon Lock
edge, as Inst.
"Seven !"peeped Miss Dodge faintly.
"Eight!" snid Simon, resolutely.
"A thousand!" uttered the voice of
a quiet, veiled lady, in the corner.
Every one stared in that direction.
" 'Taint worth that, "said the squire,
in an undertone. "All run down
fences gone to nothing."
But Simon Lockndgo wanted it very
much.
"Er le ven hundred!" said he,
slowly and unwillingly.
"Fifteen hundred!" spoke the soft
voice, decidedly.
"Fifteen hundred!" bawled the auc
tioneer. "I'm ofl'ered fifteen hundred
dollars for this very desirable prop
erty. Fifteen hundred, once fifteen
hundred, twice fifteen huudred, three
times and gone! What name, uiu'aiu,
if yon please?"
And the lady, throwing aside her
veil, answered calmly:
"Joanna Fox!"
The old parsonnge was rebuilt, nnd
studded with bay windows aud medi
eval porches. Laurels aud rhodo
dendrons were set out in the grounds;
the little brook was bridged over with
rustic cedsrwood; and Joanna Fox
aud Miss Woodin came thore to live.iu
modest comfort.
But Mrs. Lockadge and her son
Simon moved out of Foxville when
the mortgage on their old place was
foreclosed, and the places that had
kuuwu them once kuew them no
more.
Aud Mrs. Emmons said:
"She's done real well, Joanna has.
I always kuew there was something
iu her I"
And Mrs. Wentworth and the Misses
Barton tried desperately to become in
timate with the yonng authoress, but
without avail.
For there is nothing in all the wide
world so successful as success, and it
is a fetich which has many worshipers.
Saturday N ight.
The Destructive KnglUh Sparrow,
I once saw a single pugnacious lit
tle house wreu engage a whole flock
of English sparrows. He was more
than a match for three or four of
them; but in the end, I regret to say,
he wns killed outright before my eyes.
This is the only instanoeof the kiud I
have ever seen. A lady friend tells
me that a Baltimore oriole started to
build his wonderful, pensile nest last
season in an apple tree near her home
aud that the English sjinrrows made
bitter war upon him nnd his honse.
She watched the struggle one evening,
and the next morning the oriole not
appearing she went into her gurden
and found him lying dead under the
apple tree with his head pocked open.
I have ofteu been witness to the vio
lent interferences by them in the
nest-bnildiug of robins and orioles,
aud, outnumbered as our native birds
are, they always relinquish their task.
Here is a problem: A report pre
sented to us by the department of ag
riculture shows that a single pair of
Euglisb sparrows may, in a single dec
ade, briug iuto existence 275,710,983,
098 descendants. What is to become
of our beautiful native song-birds
when the English sparrow swarms
over the land? As yet, except imme
diately around the farmhouses, this
offensive bird is not often seen iu the
country districts. Lynn T. Sprague,
in Outing.
Outwitting Creditor.
Saint Foix, the French poet, who
was always in debt, sat one day in a
barber's shop waiting to be shaved.
He was lathered when the door
opeued and a tradesman entered who
happened to be one of the poet's
creditors, aud angrily demanded his
money. The poet composedly begged
him not to make a scene. "Won't
you wait for the mouey until I ain
shaved?" "Certainly," said theother,
pleased at the prospect. Saint. Foix
then ma le the barber a witness of the
agreement aud immediately took a
towel, wiped the lather from his fuoe
end left the shop. He wore a beard
to the end of his days. --Sun Fraucie
ca Argonaut. .
SMOKELESS (JAllTiUDUES.
DESTRUCTIVE MISSILES FOR THE
NEW ARMY MACAZINE RIFLE.
The Interesting Work That la doing On
at the Frank ford Arsenal, Philadelphia
Testing the Mmllfled Krag-Jorgeneen
Oun llerore (living It to the Hegnlara.
The work going on at the Frnnkford
arsennl, Philadelphia, founded by the
United States government in 1810,
should be now of more than common
interest. Exact scientific experiments
have been in progress at the arsenal
for years, ami, while much of the
work is secret, enough is made public
to show the great importance of the
results sought. There Is an elaborate
laboratory filled with the most deli
cate instruments, nnd nil sorts of de
structive inventions are tested at the
factory. There is a proof-house,
where over three hundred kinds of
smokeless powder have been experi
mented with, nnd a hospital ready to
receive any nnfortnnntcs who may be
blown up accidentally. The workmen
in the factories take their lives in their
hands daily.
One of the most important works
performed at the nrscunl in recent
years 1ms been the testing nnd manu
facture of the now thirty-calibre
smokeless powder rni fridges for the
so-called Vuited States magazine rifle.
This is the rifle used in our army. It
is really a modified Krag-Jorgensan
rifle, but it is superior to that instru
ment. It is peculiarly an American
magazine rifle, and its design is not
generally known ontside of army cir
cles. The l ilto w eighs only eight and
a half pounds, but it carries five cart
ridges in its magazine, and it cau be
relonded so rapidly that n soldier can
shout forty times in n minute.
The cartridges for this ritlo are now
being manufactured as rapidly as pos
sible. Yaukee ingenuity has invented
the most complicated but effective
machinery to turn out these cart
ridges, aud it is worth a visit to the
arsenal to see them made. The shell
enters the machine iu the shape of a
small disc of metal, and after passing
automatically through fifteen different
perfect machines it drops out finished.
Then the shells, powder end bullets
are all fed into another machine, whi.h
is almost humnn in its actions. As
ench shell comes into tho machine a
certain quantity of smokeless powder
pours into it from a large flaring fun
nel, and then the bullet is inserted
mechanically nnd the neck of the shell
crimped. Each cartridge is tested be
fore it is turned over to the authori
ties for use.
Before these cartridges were select
ed, a long series of testa wns made
with them at the arsenal. It was
found that the small cartridges wonld
travel much further thau the old-fashioned
forty-five cnlibre bullet, and
that they would penetrato deeper, and
be less likely to kill. They weigh only
220 grains against the old COII-grain
ball, aud they require only thirty
seven grains of smokeless powder
against seventy grnius of the old.
Thns, a soldier can carry seventy-five
of the new cartridges as easily as he
could 100 of the old. The shooting
range of the new magazine rifle is 4000
yards.
As au illustration of the tcohnical
work performed at tlfe Frnnkford ar
senal, mention should be made of the
experiments iu "trajectory" made
with the new rifles. When a soldier
takes one of the new magazine rifles
and attempts to hit a mark at a certain
distauce off, he is pretty sure to miss
it unless he has been drilled. This is
due to his ignorance of the trajectory
of the bullet, which simply means the
curved path of flight the bullet must
take iu shooting at a distant mark.
The old Springfield rifle would send
its bullet over forty-three feet above
the line of sight in order to bit a mark
1000 yards off. Similarly the new
magazine rifle must be so sighted that
allowances can be made for this up
ward curve.
All of the' rifles have, to be tested at
the arsenal to see that they are porfect
iu this respect. To make the sight
exact, screens are set tip 100 feet apart
aud the bullet is sent crashing through
them. The first screen is struck near
the middle, but each succeeding one
is perforated highor np until the upper
side of the curve is reached, and when
the Hue of curvature is downward.
Then the height of all the holes from
the ground is measured, nnd by a
mathematical formula the trajectory
curve is ascertained. Soldiers first
drilled with these rifles find great
difficulty in hittiug the mark, but a
little familiarity with them creates a
remarkable change. When accus
tomed to handling one a soldier can
do more effective work than with an
old Springfield.
In an emergency about half a mil
lion cartridges per day can be pro
duced at the Frankford arsenal, aud
pretty near that limit has been reached
every day Biuce the destruction of the
Maine. At present the arsenal is mak
ing over many of the old forty-five
calibre cartridges into the new ones
for the magazine rifles. After the
civil war millions of the old-fashioned
cartridges were sent to the arsenal to
be broken up and smelted over iuto
new forms. Now this same process is
being repeated; but this time, iustead
of a change from a muzzle to a breach
loader, it is merely a shift from one
improved form of rifle to another
from a comparatively slow-firing
Spiiugfield to a rapid-firing magazine
rilU.
Longest lleaeh of Kallwajr,
The lnngost reach of railway with
out a curve is claimed by travelers to
be that of the Argentine Pacific rail
way, from Buenos Ayres to tho foot
of the Andes. For 211 miles it is
without 11 curve aud 1ms no cutting or
embankment deeper thau two orthieo
feet,
SOME DOCS OF WAR.
One Animal That Was Decorated for Rts
Jtravery.
A French paper has published a roll
of honor of dogs which hove dis
tinguished themselves in war. This
is not inappropriate, considering that
the dog has been pressed into military
service. For instance, there was Bob,
the mastiff of the Grenadier Guards,
which mnde the Crimean campaign
with that corps; nnd also Whitepaw, a
brave French alley of Bob, that made
the same cainpnigu with the 110th of
the line and was Wounded in defend
ing the flag.
Another, Moustache, was entered
on the strength of his regiment as en
titled to a grenadier's rations. The
barber had orders to clip and comb
him once a week. This gnllant ani
mal received a bayonet thrust at
Marengo and recovered a flag at Ans
terlitz. Marshal Lannes had Mous
tache decorated with a medal attached
to his neck by a red ribbon. Corps
de Garde followed a soldier to Maren
go, was wounded at Austerlitz, and
perished in the retrent from Moscow.
The 0th of the Guard had a military
mastiff named Misere, which wore
three white stripes sown on his black
hair. There was also Pompon of the
48th Bedouins, tho best sentry of the
baggage train; Loutpute, a Crinienn
heroine; Mitrnille, killed ut Inkertnau
by a shell; Mofllno, that saved his
master in Russia aud was lost or lost
himself, but found his way alone from
Moscow to Milnn, his first dwelling
place.
The most remarknblo, however, was
an English terrier named Mnstnpha,
which went into action with his Eng
lish comrndes at Fonteuoy, aud, ac
cording to the story, "remained alone
by a field-piece nfter the death of the
gunner, his mastor,ctapped the match
to the touch-hole of the cannon, and
thns killed seventy soldiers;" aud it
is further added that Mnstnpha was
presented to King George II aud
was rewarded with a pension.
The Spaniard of (llbraltnr.
Your Spaniard born in Gibraltar is
quick to call himself an Englishman,
though his actions may belie his pre'
tentions. Your true Briton, with a
long line of cockney ancestors, looks
down upon the whole Spanish nation
as an inferior race.
' The English soldier who conducted
us through the Moorish galleries in
the fortifications interspersed his
local description with information re
garding regimental regulations. He
told of the schools where a man might
learn everything, jfarticnlnrly the
languages. "Of course nobody ever
learns Spanish; it's no gdod after you
leave here, and while you are here the
Spaniards have to learn English if
they expect us to have anything to do
with them" this in a tone of careless
contempt, quite impossible to convey
in words.
As another bit of interesting in
formation, he told us 0110 man out
of every four wos allowed a wife,
"and very useful she is in making
money for her husband; for she takes
iu officers' washing and does any other
little thing that comes handy.
"I suppose you choose your wives
among the pretty Andalusiaus," com
mented some one.
The fellow stiffened himself to bis
full height, thus emphasizing at once
his scorn nnd the cnt of his trim
jncket: "Beg pardon, ma'am, but a
British soldier wouldn't lower himself
by marr.viug with a dirty, lazy
(Spaniard!" Mow York Independent.
Dreamers Are Sound Sleepers.
"The popular idea or impression is
that when persons dream much dur
ing a night to that extent their sleep
is interfered w.tb, remarked a well-
known physici in to a Star reporter,
"and it is a frequent thing to hear
persons say that tbey dreamed so much
during the night that they did not
sleep or rest well. Mow, the fact is,
dreaming is as much rest or mental
recreation as actual Bleep in some
respects, although it may not appear
so on first thought. It is hard to
prove this by actual experiment, be
cause the conditions are so difficult to
produce. There is a certain amount
of evidence which enn be used, how
ever, to prove the proposition. Time
and time again when persons have
been waked up by others they have
explained as a reason that they did
not respond quicker that they were so
engaged in dreaming thut tuey did not
hear the call. It is as clearly proven
as anything can be that persons in a
dreamy condition are much harder to
wake than those who are sleeping, as
they suppose, soundly. lake a pa'
rent, for instance a mother ; when she
is sleeping soundly, as she thinks, she
can hear her child when it turns over
or moves in its crih. Now, the same
Iiarent in a dreamy condition would
lardly hear a knock at the door or
other loud noise. The dream so con
trols the brain that during its peud
enoy the sense of hearing is blunted."
Washington bta-.
A Tree Which Stands on Ita Heart.
Probably the only tree in the world
which flourishes with its roots in the
air is au apple tree planted twenty
eight years ago by Mr. John Mclver,
a Milwaukee distiller.
It was originally one of twenty-fire
planted in this nudiguiued position,
at.d all its companions died iu mute
protest against the indignity. The
survivor, however, was of "sterner
Btuff." It threw out its roots, tweuty
... , , . ; t i, 1 ;
01 mem, in racuauou uiong tue Hori
zontal lattice-work,' which was mixed
high from the earth 011 props. The
trunk bus grown downward to a girth
of nearly four I ret, and the branches,
loaded with fruit, rover a space 100
feat iu circumference, aud seem as if
they could disassociate themselves
from the roots fur uhove them by
striding fiesu roots iu the urouua.
Turkeys With Vertigo.
Turkeys do not like confinement!.
Having plenty to eat and not mnoh
xeroise, they get the "staggers," or
wbat is more properly termed, vertigo.
The best remedy is to feed out clover
and oats and less corn, nntil they can
get out ol doors. American Agricul
turist. Chinese Pinks.
r Old-fnshloned garden favorites
periwinkle (with blue eyes), oowslips,
heather and Chinese pinks bloom
among the grenadine gauzes that veil
the spring straw hats. One must be
hard to. please who cannot find any
thing to one's taste, for the assort-
ment of artificial flowers is large, the
colors correct and the workmanship
excellent. ,
Salt to Hasten Decomposition.
We are so used to pickling meats and
vegetables in salt to preserve them,
that the fact is often forgotten that in
small quantities salt hastens decompo
sition. Only when nsed in excess it
hardens the meat, filling it with parti
cles of salt so that it is an effectual bar
to fermentation. A small amount of
salt sprinkled over a manure heap will
greatly increase its effectiveness by
making it more soluble. It will also
in small amounts be excellent for
compost heaps to hasten their decom
position and conversion into effeotivo
fertilizers. Boston Cultivator.
Early Potatoes In Warden.
It is the habit of most farmers to
plant a few potntoes for early use in
the garden. But this is bad practice,
because often the potatoes are planted
on the same ground year after year,
and as the germs of disease live in the
soil over winter, the potatoes thns
grown are more likely to bo diseased. '
Besides, where potatoes are grown in
succession, the soil is filled with hard
shell potato bngs, which come np just
about the time the potatoes do, and
will often be found gnawing the po
tato shoots before tbey are fairly oat of
the ground. It is much better to plow
A clover sod somewhere, nn rich land
for the early potatoes, and reserve the '
garden for vegetables not so easily a
grown by field culture.
The Falsing of the Ilig Steer.
The West Texas Stockman calls at
tention to the passing of the heavy '
beef steer. The great, heavy, full
grown bullock of five or six years ago,
weighing from 1800 to 2000 pounds, "
is no longer wanted. There may yet
remain some chance to sell him to the
beef canners, who want cheap, strong,
coarse meat for export, bnt onr home
people have learned better. They
now want a steer not exceeding 1C00
pounds in weight and all ready '
for market at thirty months old.
These results can't bo got out of
scrub stock. They may get the
weight, but it will be in the wrong
place, and the difference in price from
one to tliree cents per pound. The
demand now is for the . small, well
rounded animal whose white fat and
clear meat indicato breed rathor than
. Farm Telephones Practicable.
The farmer must be a business man
and should be oonnected with the
world. But few farmers can live near
a telegraph office nnd the telephone
offers direct commnnication. If the
farmer need the doctor or groceries,
or repair for machinery, he is in in
stant communication with these peo
ple, and in a rainy day or dnring the
winter wheu the roads are well-nigh
impassable, the farmer can do busi
ness with tbe cattle dealer, or any
business men in the city.
Telephones are cheap now and can
be bought for 810 to $15, and the lines
can be put in by subscription. Poles
can be bought very obeaply and ought
to be from twenty to twenty-five feet
long, eight inches in diameter at the '
base, and placed 200 feet sport. This
would mean twenty-five poles to the
mile. Good wiro costs $2.25 per 100
pounds, and nobs, seventy-five cents.
The total oost will be about $17.75 per
mile. Any farmer who once uses the
telephone will never be without it
again. It adds life to the community
and is an education and a step toward -a
better civilization. C. C. Mills, of
Illinois, in Anierioan Agriculturist.
'Wlde-TIre Carriages.
An improvement in the wide tires,
about which so mnoh has been said of
late, is in building the vehicle with
the front axle about an inch shorter
than those ordinarily used, and tho
rear axle au inch to an inch and one
half longer. This gives from two to
two and one-half inohes difference in
the space between tho fore wheels
and the hind wheels. In running,
the two wheels make a track or line,
nearly double the width of one. Al
lowing the tire to be fonr inohes wide,
the mark on the roadway will be from '
seven and a half to eight inohes wide.
The practical value of this style of
wheel oan scarcely be .appreciated.
Instead of deep outs and ruts, which
are a menace to all vehicles, we would
have an approximately smooth road
snrfooe, and the soil would be mnoh
likely to become out up and soft.
These wheels would act like rollers.
They would crush down ruts and'
irregularities, and have a constant
tendency to keep the road in order,
rather than . destroy it. It is sug
gested that a law be passed compel
ling wide tires 'on light as well
as heavy vehicles. A skeleton
wheel with a wide tire might be made
extremely handsome. The felloe
could be thin aud light, and the
spokes braced from the edges of the
wheels in such a fashion as to secure
the greatest strength and durability.
It is prediotsd that once the wide tire
fancy for light vehicles gets started, it
will speedily push all old-fashioned,
narrow-tired wheels put of the mar
Let. New York Ledger.
There are 1423 oharactere in tha
twenty-four nooks Dickons wrote;