Governor Grout of Verninist con.
•iilerable .of a farmer for a New Eng
ender, anil this season he has tapped
15.000 maple trees and made 12,000
pounds of sugar and syrup.
Between September 1, 1891, and Sep
tember 1, 1890, the South added 882,-
740 spindles to her cotton industry,
while the Eastern and New England
States added only 071,223, showing n
gain of thirty-nine per cent, for the
Southern States and of barely more
than five per cent, for the Eastern and
New England States.
American newspaper methods—the
art of being wide-awake, etc.—have
met with a whooping success in Lon
don. The Star made a fortune for Mc-
Carthy, and now the Daily Mail,which
is owned by young men, not one ot
them more than thirty-three years old,
(8 selling 320,000 copies daily, and il
owns the biggest newspaper building
in London.
Japan is distinctly a literary coun
try, with a history of writing and liter
ature since at least A. D. 712. Las*
year the number of books published
waß 20,905, of which 20,000 were
translations or compilations. Law led
with 1830, painting and sculpture had
8000, religion followed with 1183,
music 1022, Japanese poetry 982 and
works in belles lettres, novels, stories,
criticisms, etc., 1112 titles.
The migration of the French-speak
ing people of Canada to the New Eng
land States has assumed enormous
proportions in recent yeprs, and shows
110 signs of diminution. The French
population of the Province of Quebec
is 1,200,000, while, according to the
census of 1890, the number of French
Canadians and persons of Canadian ex
traction in the United States was 840,•
000. The late M. Mercier. predicted
that by 1910 there would be more
French Canadians by birth and descent
in the United States than in Canada.
More than two years ago the cele
brated Professor Berthelot of Paris
announced that the production of India
rubber by a chemical process was but
a matter of time—probably of a com
paratively short time. This possibil
ity means much to the wheelmen and
to the cycle manufacturer. The tires
of a bicycle are among its most, impor
tant and expensive parts, and when
chemically pure rubber 'can be pro
cured in quantities practically un
limited, and at a merely nominal cost,
we shall perhaps see a revolution, in
deed, in both the art and the industry
of bicycle construction.
Careful lists of large public gifts
made by citizens of the United States
show that the Americans are the most
generous and public-spirited people in
the world. The lists, restricted to
sums above SSOOO, and not including
either denominational gifts for educa
tional and benevolent purposes, or
State or munioipal appropriations to
public and sectarian institutions, show
that in 1893 the total of such gifts ex
ceeded $29,000,000; in 1894 exceeded
$32,000,000; in 1895 exceeded $32,-
800,000, and in 1890 exceeded $27,-
000,000, or more than $120,000,000 in
four years of financial depression.
/ Among the illustrious visitors who
will come to America this year King
Chulalonkorn of Siam has by far the
Inost unique personality. An indepen
dent Asiatic monarch, ruling over some
fifteen millions of prosperous subjects,
he is also endowed with a degree of
culture not shared by any Eastern po
tentate. If he were not a King, he
ivould fill a prominent position in the
ranks of the learned. He has shown
himself a munificent patron of scholars
and scholarship. Perhaps, however,
from an English standpoint, liis good
liest trait of all is his pronounced An
glophilism. English is now spoken at
Bangkok by all the elite of Siamese
society.
The Warden of the Indiana Peniten
tiary at Michigan City has adopted a
novel method of furnishing occupation
and exercise for the several hundred
convicts in the northern prison who
are relieved from work ly the opera
tion of the law abolishing contract la
bor. The idle prisoners will be or
ganized into militia companies and
drilled in tactics of modern warfare by
men iu stripes who have seen military
service. The men will be drilled iu
squads of forty and this number will
te increased until there is an entire
legiment of striped men. It is pro
posed to provide the convicts with
wooden guns. The plan has the cor
dial endorsement of the board of
prison managers. Warden Harley be
lieves such a plan as this is the only
one that cau be adopted, in lieu of
mauuul toil, that will prevent several
hundred convicts from being driven in
sane as the result of idleness and con*
tin erne nt. " *
"I DIDN'T THINK.
J. ml the troubles in the world
Were traced hack to their start
We'd find not one in ten begun
From want of willing heart.
But there's a sly woe-working elf
Who lurks about youth's brink.
And sure dismay lie brings away—
The elf "I didn't think. '
He seems so sorry when he's caught.
His mien is all contrite,
\Je so regrets the woe lie's wrought,
And wants to make tilings rigtit.
But wishes do not ileal a wound,
Or well a broken link.
The heart aches on, the link is gone
Ail through "1 didn't think."
When brain is com rale to the heart,
And heart from soul draws gra -e,
"I didn't think" will quick depart
For la-k of resting place.
If from that great uuselllsli stream,
The (iolden Jtule, we drink.
We'll keep God's laws and have no cause
To say, "I didn't think."
—Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
"'' ' ' ''' ' ' ' ; '' ' ' ' *
m HERENEMY. ||
H>- JENNV WHEN. •
#llO f V
daughter of mine,
much as touch a
Twnffl///'hated Prussian's
& M a U httn<l A woul( |
swear she had beeu changed in her
cradle. Wait a little while till we teach
their arrogant pretensiou how France
resents it; and then such women will
lament the treachery they dare call
love."
So spoke Pierre Duval in hot breath,
just before the siege of Paris had be
gun—breath kindled by the news
brought him by the fair girl shrinking
before his anger—the news that one of
her schoolmates, the daughter of an
old neighbor, had been married, the
day previous, to a young Prussian olti
cer, bearing active arms against the
country of his newly made wife; and
he had left her side twenty-four hours
after the completion of the ceiemony,
to rejoin his regiment.
All through the day, old Pierre kept
muttering to himself; ut nightfall, he
called his little Marie to him.
"Women are strange beings," he be
gan, as if to relieve his mind of a load
which was weighing upon it; "and per
haps I've 110 right to believe you of dif
ferent stuff from the rest. These are
uncertain times we're in, too. The
Prussians are proving stronger than we
thought, and it behooves every man
who can carry a musket to stand ready.
But, Marie, girl, if your old father
marches after the drum ami fife with
the rest—and no young legs of them
all will march more willingly—l want
you to make me a solemn promise; nay,
more, to kneel beside me and make me
a solemn oath. Kneel, my girl—kneel!"
x Pale and terrified, the girl knelt.
"You frighten me, papa," she said.
"It's naught to 4 frighten you," he
answered; "but it's one thing to march
out to the field and another to march
back. They may leave me cold and
stiff behind them oil their return—the
gallant sons of France; but I'll rest
easier in my grave, though thai grave
be A trench filled with the bones of my
comrades, if J know my child never
will dishonor her race. Now raise
your hand, Marie, and swear that you
will never marry a man who eauuot
boast French blood in bis veins!"
Solemnly the girl swore.
The old man smiled triumphantly as
he bent and kissed the long, flaxen
braid wound about the little bead.
"I'm ready now," be said.
Within a week the siege of Paris
had begun. Within a month Pierre
Duval's daughter was orphaned. A
Prussian bullet bad stilled forever the
heart so loyal to France.
For a time Marie was stunned. No
one found opportunity to sympathize
with her grief, for around and about
her every one was nursing some misery
of their own. Every house bore some
badge of mourning. Every heart
carried its own burden.
But sorrier days were in store for
Paris days when the Prussians
marched untroubled through its
streets, and spoke their hated language
in loud, triumphal accents.
On a party of these Marie stumbled
one evening as she hastened home.
Her pretty lace, from which she had
thrown hack her heavy veil of crepe,
attracted them.
Instantly two of them approached
her, addressing her in her own tongue.
Hhe hastily drew flown her veil, but
one bolder than the rest raised bis
hand to again uplift it. Scarcely bad
he done so than it was struck down by
a sharp, quick blow from behind.
Marie turned, to see the French
man who had befriended lier; hut, lo!
a young officer, in full Prussian uni
form. stood before her, respectfully
touching bis bat.
A few swift, words of command to
the men sent them, abashed, uway.
Then, with an accent almost as pure as
her own, he begged that she would
allow him to escort, her to her home.
"Such outrages in time of war are
difficult always to prevent," he said;
"but you risk much by appearing un
attended in the street. Always your
father -your brother—"
"Ah!" she interrupted, "do you
leave us our fathers and our brothers?
No! I have been to the hospital, caring
for the poor men who may be spared
to their daughters and their sisters.
As for me, you have already taken
from me my all."
And she moved quickly away, as if
the conversation were at n end; but
the young officer kept pace beside her,
"Pardon uie," she said, "but you
I half believe that ugly sprite. t
Hold, wicked "I don't care,"
In life's long run less harm has dona /
Because he is so rare.
And one can be so stern witli him,
Can make the monster shrink:
But luek-a-day. what can we say
To whining "Didn't think."
This most unpleasant imp of strife
Pursues us everywhere.
There's scarcely one whole day of life
He does not cause tis care;
Small woes anil great lie firings the world,
Strong ships are forced to sink.
And trains from iron tracks are hurled
By stupid "Didn't think."
are too young and too pretty to pass
through Paris unmolested. You hate
me us your foe, but you must let me
guard you to your home, even though
you hate me the more."
"There is no need," she replied. "I
go every day to the hospital, and every
day at this hour, or very little earlier,
I must return."
A shadow, and then a light, swept
over the young man's face.
"I am stationed so near here that,
if you will permit me, every night I
will be your escort," lie said.
"I would rather die than accept a
kindness from your bauds, or those of
any of your blood!" she answered hot
- I y—"you,who are my dear old father's
murderers!"
And as she spoke the last words she
paused before u gate, which the con-
I cierga hastily opened for her admis
sion, and which instantly swung to be
hind her.
But alone in her room, Marie paused.
Singularly enough, she could recall
every feature of the young officer's
face—a face which seemed to her to re
alize some dream of manly beauty; the
echo of his voice lingered in lier ear—
a voice low, and rich, and musical—
musical even when he hud sternly ad
dressed the soldier# in his own gutter
al tongue.
Her heart was beating high with fear
and excitement, and indignant auger,
but mingled with it was a strange
thrill of joy.
"It is because I proved my bate,"
she murmured to herself. "Yet be
was kind to me. But for him "
She would not continue her thought
to the end, Besolutely she put it. from
her.
All the next day she was busy again
among her wounded. Hiuce her fath
er's death she had gone into the hos
pitals.
Sitting, with folded hands, in the
midst of all the misery about lier, with
] her own wretchedness for mental food,
she had felt, herself upon the verge of
madness, and so had offered her ser
vices, which only too gladly were ac
cepted, though there had been some
little demur about her youth.
When evening fell she hastened
homeward, but with new dread, new
sinking, until, looking behind her, as
she turned the corner of a street, she
saw, following her, her jnotector of
the night before.
Until the gate again closed behind
her, he let but that little distance in
tervene between tliem.
Hot blood mounted to her face, and
yet an instinctive sense of care and
protection mingled with whr.t she
named his presumption.
Every night afterward it was the
same. Earlier or later, as she might
chance to he, he was near her, nor left
her till safe within her own home.
One night he approached her,
"There will be fighting to-morrow,"
be said. I cannot be hero to aid you,
You must not go out alone. Promise
me that you will not,"
For a moment she was almost tempted
into forgetfulneas that lie was a Prus
sian. For a moment she was almost
tempted to answer, "I promise!" then
she recovered herself, and turned hotly
and indignantly upon him,
"Pass my word to you!" she said—
"to you, my eueuiy—the enemy whom
I hate!"
"And you, my enemy, are the enemy
I love!" lie replied. "Why should I
love a woman to whom I have spoken
scarce twenty words in my life, and
who has answered ine with scorn and
contempt always? 1 know not, Home
strange freak of fate, perhaps; but so
it is. 1 may go out to-morrow to meet
my death. If f should, doubtless you
will never know that thus France has
avenged herself; but I should like to
feel you sometimes gave me one kindly
thought, even as my last thought, liv
ing or dying, will be of the one woman
who gave me a stone for the heart I
offered her. But, for God's sake,
promise me you will not go alone to
morrow on the street! Do not let me
have the added torture that you are in
peril,"
They had reached the gate ere this.
Her hand was on the hell. Hhe opened
her lips, meaning to scathingly litter
his deserved rebuke, but, lo! instead
the two simple wods, "I promise!"
alone issued from them in a low and
thrilling whisper.
Before she had divined his inten
tion, lie had caught in his the little,
gloved lingers and raised them to his
lips. The next moment the gate
swung to between them, and Marie,
Hying to her own room, had Hung her
self in a burst of bitter sobbing on the
byd.
was a Prussian, and she—hated
him.
Three days later she paused beside
two surgeons, in earnest conversation.
"There's but one way to save him,"
said one. "It's an ugly wound, but
lie's sinking from loss of blood. If
we could get some one to submit to
transfusion, I think he would recover.
"Impossible!" answered the other.
And Marie passed on to the room
where lay the sufferer. She paused
beside the cot. He was lying, white
and insensible, upon the pillow, his
head bound iu blood-stained bandages;
but, all changed as he was, she recog
nized him, and fell, with a low cry,
beside him.
To her he was nameless, but he was
the Prussian whom she—hated, and
the man whom she—loved!
Ah, iu that moment she knew the
truth, and then she remembered the
surgeons' words. They were about
separating when she returned to
them.
"You said transfusion would save
him," she said. "F am strong and I
am ready."
And rolling hack her sleeve, she dis
closed her bare, white arm, with its
dimly-outlined blue veins.
A little while the physicians de
murred, but in the end she had her
way.
She did not shudder as the sharp
lancet penetrated her vein, and the
faintness which crept over her—the
deadly faintness—as the blood poured
from her veins into his, was ecstasy;
for though to her it might mean death,
to him it was life—her life for his.
Hbe swooned before the operation
was completed, and days had passed
before she could rally even to know
that her sacrifice had not been in vain
—days when Paris had been racked
by o bitterer foe than the hated Prus
sian, even her own inhabitants.
But the terrible days were over,
when Marie was allowed to once more
assume her role as nurse. Ernest
Haupfman was still in need of all her
care; but when she stood once again
beside him, he looked at her with
wide-open, conscious eye , into which,
as ho recognized her, there came u
look of ineffable happiness.
"My love!" he murmured, and then
he fell asleep, with her hand clasped
tight iu his.
Through long weeks she nursed him
—weeks which taught her that all her
future must he Avretclieduess, since
her promise to her dead father forbade
that she should share it.
How dared she tell Ernest of it until
he spoke the words which unsealed her
silence?
But one evening, as they sat to
gether in the twilight, he almost
wholly convalescent now, be spoke
them, as, in low, endearing accents,
lie asked her to be his wife.
Amid bitter sobs, she told him all
then, and hid her fuce within her
hands. But he gently drew them
down, and drew her head upon his
heart.
"My own," he said, "your sacrifice
has borne its fruit. Your husband
must boast French blood in his veins,
forsooth! Have I, then, none in mine?
Did you not mingle yours with mine—
the very blood of Pierre Duval himself?
All, Marie, keep your vow to your dead
father, aud, keeping it, give yourself
to me!"
In silent rapture Marie listened to
the word 8; but, as her arms close
clasped themselves about his neck, he
knew that he had won his cause, and
that she had gone over forever to the
- - enemy!— Saturday Night.
A Coupon of 1776.
Cornelius Holton, of 435 Fifth ave
due, this city, called upon Mayor
Htroug in New York yesterday and pre
sented for payment a coupon clipped
from an old water bond issued by New
York City on March 5, 1776. The
coupon called for the payment to hearer
of four shillings and was signed by
Benjamin Blagge as clerk. Mr. Hol
ton said that it was through his wife,
who was formerly the widow of (Dr. A.
Barnes, of Greenwich, Conn., that he
got the coupon. Hhe had received it
from her grandfather many years ago.
Mayor Htrong said there was no fund
from which the coupon could be hon
ored, so he referred Mr. Holton to the
City Chamberlain. General McCook
knew of no fund from which payment
eould he made, so the holder was in
turn referred to Controller Fitch,
There the question of the city's lia
bility was raised. Deputy Controller
Lyons said that the issue of bonds in
question was authorized by the com
mon council four months before the
Declaration of Independence was
signed. He expressed the opinion that
the successors of King George were
the responsible parties from whom in
terest should be collected, Ho Mr,
Holton returned to his home without
his four shillings.—Brooklyn Eagle.
Protecting I run'A gainst Kuit,
A new process for the protection of
iron against the injurious action of rust
has been suggested by M. Deninger, a
Dresden chemist, It consists of treat
ing the iron with a solution of ferro
cyanide, which forms a coating of
cyanide of iron, uniform and imper
meable to water, aud of sncl} a nature
as to protect effectively the iron cov
ered, The operation, applied on a
large scale, has already given good re
sults. 'fhe following is the method
adopted in practice; The solution is
mixed with a flax-seed varnish, tp
whicl) has been added a little turpen
tine or benzol, so as to cause a very
homogeneous emulsion, which pan be
applied without difficulty. The evap
oration of the alcohol leaves the flax?
seed varnish, which forms a coat pro
tecting the cyanide of irqn which is de
posited upon the iron. There j s no
necessity, ssys the Industrial World,
of previously preparing the iron be
yond the removing of beds pf rnst top
thick to admit pf the action of the ferro
cyanide.
Do Iter* Fill Up the Cracks?
Tt depends entirely 011 circumstances
whether they do or not. If they are
up in the sections some days before
they begin to work they will chink
them up; but if the weather is hot, and
the honey-flow good, they are just as
apt to till and seal them before doing
any waxing at all, and they sometimes
used to fill and cap entirely the large
wooden boxes which I used to make
before sections came in vogue. I fre
quently made the top out of two
pieces, and they would shriuk so that
I could see down, and I saw them
tilled and capped, so that I could look
right down between every sheet of
honey after taking them off and get
ting the bees out, and not a particle
anywhere; but if left on long after they
were tilled they would put in propolis;
while if the weather was cool, and they
wanted them warmer, they would till
them with white wax, the same as they
used in making comb.
But it made me laugh just a little to
see you cite Doolittle to a case of bees
storing honey in cxtractiug-combs with
a crack 12x1 inch over their heads.
Now, haven't you been around bees
long enough to find that they never
stop up a crack that they can go through
freely? But muy be your bees can't
get through a half-inch hole—must be
some dorsata about them.
In answering a question as to the !
merits of a tall section over a square
one, one writer makes a point which I
thiuk is a good one, viz., that it is a
detriment to bee-keepers when they
adopted the panel sections, and says
the price of honey would not have been
lowered if we had stuck to the large
section, and he is right; and another
thing besides the extra work of setting
up, putting in foundation, scraping,
etc., is that the bees will put up more
honey in large section than in small
ones, just as they will beat themselves
if allowed to work all together in a
large hive, all in one body; but then,
we don't want to raise chunk honey,
so must have some kind of package to
get it stored in. But I can get about
ten pounds more honey in two than in
one pound sections, which would allow
for a couple of cents less; but then, I
can't sell them all at any price, except
a limited number urouud borne; they
won't sell at all in Chicago unless there
is a great scarcity.
So, much against my will, I am
obliged to use the 4jx4j, and I prefer
them la wide, and use without separ
ators, and have but very few bulged
or crooked combs; and if well tilled
they weigh nearer an even pound than
any other size I ever bad. Then I
doubt whether as much honey is sold
as there would be if the two-pound
sections were all there were in use, for
scores of people would buy just as
quickly as any way, and, once bought,
it would be eaten, and they would buy
again just as quickly as if they bought
one pound.—Woodcbopper, iu Glean
ings in Bee Culture.
About Transplanting.
There is often much loss sustained
in transplanting crops by the work not
being properly done. To obviate this
one must have some knowledge of the
business, together with careful per
formance of the work. Carefully ob
serve the state of the crop, or plant,
we will say, to he transplanted; its
kind and requirements, also the con
dition of the soil in which it stands
and that to which it is to be removed,
the manner iu which the plant requires
to be set and its subsequent treatment.
These points are requisite, aud must
be understood and observed.
Hard-wooded plants, such as shrubs
and trees, should never be removed
after new growth has made its appear
ance, for if so the newly-established
feeding roots are torn asunder and de
stroyed, and the plant is so enfeebled
that it will require a season or two to
recover its former vitality, if it lives
at all, which it is not likely to do if the
new growth ho advauced to any great
extent. In most cases perennials and
annuals, in a thrifty, growing condi
tions, are much injured by being re
moved when their buds begin to de
velop. Home shrubs of the more
hardy nature, however, may, with care,
he removed even after the new growth
is considerably advanced.
Plants that have long or spindle
shaped roots, such as carrots, beets
and parsnips, and also some of the
flowering plants having similar-shaped
roots do not bear transplanting as well
as do plants which have branching,
fibrous roots. Home advise cutting off
about a third of the roots and tops of
such plants when resetting. However,
with some, such as the garden plants
named, we find this unnecessary if the
plants i)e set when small.
In transplanting plants grown in
pots or boxes, they should be allowed
to become quite dry before they are
removed. Thus, deprived of mois
ture, which stimulates growth, the
feeding roots become, to a great ex
teat, matured, and when the plant is
removed it does not suffer such a
sliqck as would follow if it were in a
stimulated or thrifty, growiug condi
tion.
Tho soil to which plants are tq be
removed should be put in good condi
tion, and the plants carefully set a*
soon as possible after they are taken
up. The roots should he placed at
about the same depth a* before and
carefully spread out, then flue, rich
soil, unmixed with manure or trash of
any kind-, pressed firmly about them;
if the soil be *©ry dry supply tepid
water, then draw up more of he soil
over the roots aud about the plant. If
the transplauting he done in dry
weather, a covering of grass, leaves,
old rags or anything that will exclude
the sun and hot air and preserve the
moisture, will greatly accelerate the
growth an vigor of the plant. How
ever, for transplanting large field
crops, advantage must be taker of wet
weather in which to do the work.—
J. I. 8., in New York Tribune.
Farm and Garden Note*.
Dairy calves need the fools that
make milk, not fat.
Protect the lambs against being
drenched by sudden showers.
A well bred calf must be well fed to
make a good cow—remember that.
If you have apples on hand do not
let them rot—-feed to the milk tows.
Good money can be made in inning
sheep for mutton as well as for wool.
Quality counts.
A little linseed meal fed a cw be
fore calving will not hurt her any; or
after calving, for that matter.
Grease or oil on sitting hens is posi
tively injurious, either on the lien's
feathers or body, as the least trace
upon the eggs destroys the genus.
Study the dispositions of your
calves as they grow. Fet and foster
the good ones, curb the bad oner, and
if too bad better get rid of the . alf as
veal or "baby beef." A cow ith a
mean disposition is 110 comfort in a
dairy.
Sncoesefnl management of tin calf
lies at the foundation of Htocli-i .isilig,
and there must be no slack in attention
or watchfulness. Scouring, thr bane
of calf rearing, indicates indigestion,
and resnlts from overfeeding, irregular
feeding, giving food too cold, or per
mitting the young animal to get 1 hilled
or wet.
It matters not whether tire farmer
is breeding for beef or butter, he
cannot afford to ignore the principle
which runs through all breeding oper
ations—that like begets like. One
may soon build up a herd of great
merit merely through a selection of
good cows bred to the best bulls, or
may stay at the tail of the procession.
In growing ensilage corn do 11 .t use
more than twelve quarts of seed to the
acre, in drills three feet apart. Let it
stand until it begins to glaze Bom -. It
is no trouble to get fifteen tons of en
silage to the acre. "The idea tlmt rood
ensilage will in any way taint or in
jure milk is ridiculous. An e pert
cannot detect essilage-made milk 1: the
ensilage is all right.
Do you receive the bulletins of vonr
State experiment station? By apply
ing to it 011 a postal for them tliese
useful reports will be mailed you free.
And the station is usually glal to
answer your questions on any points
upon which you need help in your
agricultural work. That's one ui the
things the station is for. Its officers
are liberally paid to serve the farmers'
interests. It is your own fault if yon
don't make use of it.
The progressive dairyman tesis his
herds and weeds out the unprofitable
cows that do not come up t. bis
standard of milk and butter production;
and the farmer who cannot afford to
subscribe for a stock journal, or can
not afford lo have any improved
breeds, buys these rejected cows.
They look line, hut flue big-record
cows are seldom for sale. The busi
ness dairyman will not tolerate the
cow that fails to pay its way.
An African lli-ltc-ary.
The flesh of an elephant is eaten in
its entirety by several of the African
tribes. A detail of the process of
butchering the animals is not pleasant
reading. The tools used ure the a segai
and hatchets. The rough outer skin
is first removed in large sheets. Be
neath this is a Rubcuticle, a pliable
membrane, from which the natives make
water skins. TLe elephant yields large
quantities of fat, used in cooking their
snndried biltong, or dried strips of
elephant's flesh, aud also in the prep
aration of vegetables. African explorer
of the Caucasian race agree that one
part of the elephant's carcass, when
properly cooked, is a succulent dish
that will regale the most delicate taste.
This part, very strangely, is the first
joint of the leg below the knee, which
one would suppose to be the toughest
portion of the animal. To prepa o the
joint, a hale three feet deep is ting in
the earth, aud thesides of it are naked
hard by means of large live coals.
Most of the eoals are then taker out,
and the elephant's foot is placed 111 the
rude oven, The hole is then filled
with dirt, tightly packed, and a blaz
ing fire is built on top, which b kept
replenished for three hours. The foot
is thus evenly baked, and w hen done,
instead of strong, tough meat fil re, it
is a gelatinous consistency that may
he eaten with a spoon,—Public Opin
ion,
Sleep Walker Travels Three Miles,
While in a sommimbulistio state,
James Casey, sixteen years of age, es
caped unnoticed from his homo at
Newberry, Peun., attired only in his
shoes and stookings and a shirt. He
was found ■several hours later in South
Williamsport, fully three miles from
hi* home, having crossed the river in
his wanderings.—Philadelphia Press.
WOMEN FARMERS.
Three Cultured lllinoi* Girh Succeiitiful
in Agriculture.
Prom time to time, says the Wash
ington Pathfinder, we hear of the suc
cesses of energetic women in many
callings that until recent years were in
the exclusive possession of men. A
short time ago we published some ac
count of a young Minnesota woman
who had made money out of farming.
Before that we had heard of the Cali
fornia girl who located a $25,000 eilvei
mine.
But so far there have been compara
tively few instances of well-educated
young women deliberately starting out
jin life to make a business of farming.
We notice, therefore, with great inter
est in a recent issue of a Chicago daily
paper the account of three young wo
men of Illinois who have demonstrated
that agriculture may he both a profit
able and an enjoyable business for the
"gentler sex," and also that women
need not lose their taste for the finer
ehings of life in this humble employ
ment. Their farms, which aggregate
4220 acres, were inherited from their
father, John D. Gillett, a well-known
man in Illinois, who owned 11,00(1
acres in Logan County at the time of
his death, nine years ago. The young
women are practical agriculturists,
having picked up much of their knowl
edge going over the farms with theii
faitlier, and yet they are fiuely educat
ed, speak French, aud have a taste for
art, literature and music. They de
voted their entire time to the farms for
the first few years after they assumed
the management, and now the land
yields twice as much as it did at the
time of their father's death. Corn is
their principal product, and the aver-
a R e yield is sixty bushels ail acre.
They have drained a lake of 400 acres
>y digging a ditch a mile and a half
long.
The farms are divided into small
sections, which are tilled by tenants,
with whom they divide the crops.
These women ride thirty and forty
miles a day on their tours of inspec
tion, which are not at stated times, so
the tenants have no way of knowing
when they are coming. Miss Nina
Gillett says there is no work she
would prefer to farming, and thinks, a
woman who has a knowledge of tlu
subject and some experience is just as
good a farmer as a man. Miss Amy is
quite us much in love with the business,
and while they believe in ull the
science which can he applied to agri
culture, they rarely indulge in experi
ments, but trust to the "Agricultural
Experiment Stations" to enlighten
them as to what may or may not be done
with land. Experience lias taught
them that agents were not a success,
as they very soon began to trade on the
supposed incapacity of women as busi
ness managers and tried to deceive
them by charging for work which waa
never done.
A Convict-Built i'rtaon.
The last Congress appropriated
$150,000 for a penitentiary at Fort
Leavenworth, Kan. It will be a
splendid modern structure, near the
site of the old prison, and the plan o)
utilizing the five hundred convicts
there to build it is to be carried out.
It is expected that the new building
will represent an outlay of three times
the appropriation. The land, of course,
is free, being a Government reserva
tion, set apart in 1827. It has inex
haustible quarters of fine building
stone, an abundance of lime and the
linest clay for making bricks. The
convicts are to quarry and dress the
stone, make the bricks, burn the lime
aud prepare the structural material in
the prison shops. Wheu the building
is completed it will represent all the
newest and best ideus in thut class of
architecture. There will be a dozen
rooms devoted to night schools for the
men, a tirst-class gymnasium, baths
and the like, to be used by those who
merit good treatment. The warden of
the Fort Leavenworth State prison,
Cnptuin John W. French, speaking of
the convicts, said:
Z,"The majority of the men sent to us
come from Arkansas, Texas and the
Indian Territory. Criminals from this
section are usually of the frontier type,
and, as a rule, are easier to reclaim
than those who have been raised in the
older and more settled communities.
The lax standards of border settle
ments are often the cause of moral
obloquy, but, as a geueral thing, the
border man who becomes a convict is
readier to listen to appealsto his reason
and conscience, and makes more earnest
efforts to reform."
A Curious Occupation.
An occupation which does not figure
in labor statistics, nor in the social
economy, at least, of America, is dis
covered in the following advertisement,
which appeared in the Blackpool
Times, an English newspaper, in the
last days of 1896: "Young man, of
dark complexion, is prepared to 'Let
in the New Year' at any house in
Blackpool between 12 aud 9 a. m., at
two shillings each without refresh
luent." The explanation of this cryp
tic notice lies, it seems, in a local su
perstition that the first visitor to a
house in the new year, if he happens
to he of a dark complexion, brings it
good litck.
Sunken 'l'l-CHHUI-C Shlptt.
Some of the fainoiiN treasure ships
which lie at the bottom of the seas iu
clude L'Orient, sunk by Nelson at the
battle of the Nile, with $8,000,000
aboard; the Latune, sunk in the Zuy
tier Zee with $7,000,000 in her hold;
the I>e Brake, lost off Delaware Bay
with Spanish bullion, and the ship
Golden Gate, which went down ofl
Gape Hatteias while returning from
California in the fifties loaded with
gold. Official statistics show that 2000
vessels are sunk annually, the vessels
and cargoes being valued at SIOO,OOO, ••
000. The Atlantic and Pacific oQMts
are strewn with old and new wrecks,
many laden with valuable cargoes.