Cocoa production in Africa promises
to rival that of South America and the
West Indies.
The United States furnishes practi
cally all of the flour imported by Great
Britain, about 70 percent of the corn
and about 53 percent of the wheat.
Professional begging is a lucrative
business in New York, as was proved
the other day in an unusual way,
namely, through the robbery of the
diamonds of a professional street beg
gar's wife.
Miss Stone says that Mme Tsilka's
baby softened the hearts of the brig
ands. Ah, what a wonderful thing a
baby is! exclaims the Chicago Record-
Heralo And what a pity that it has
become unfashioable.
American shoes are now securely in
troduced in Berlin, and notwithstand
ing the great progress made in the
German shoe manufacture by Ameri
can methods, are displayed an sold, not
only by one large handsome American
shoe store, but by many prominent
retailers throughout the city.
A novelist, whose specialty is South
American revolutions ha 3 gone off to
try and get into one. Who wouldn't
be a genius? You write about things
first and Cr.d out what they are like
afterward. In this particular ease the
romancer isn't likely to change his
mind about the value of his own hooks
when he knows something about the
real thing. They have paid, which is
the main thing Perhaps, however, he
may make the virtuous resolution not
to write any more,
At a recent meeting of the British
Institution of Electrical Engineers the
question of applying electricity to
main line railways as a substitute for
steam was the subject of discussion. It
seems from what was said that the
problem of operating trains on large
railways by electricity is far from be
ing solved. It differs materially in
every respect from the problems met
in ordinary trolley road practice, both
in the matter of cost and manipula
tion, and the engineers are convinced
that the age of steam in railroading is
far from coming to an end.
To ascertain the value of the testi
mony of children in cases of identifi
cation, the school authorities in south
Germany have been making some tests,
the results of which are very interest
ing. Into a schoolroom was brought a
man, of ordinary appearance and
dressed in workingman's clothes.
Classes of girls and boys of different
ages were made to walk slowly
through the room, in at one door and
out at another, and afterward required
to write a description of the man as
they saw him. A summary of the pa
pers shows that nearly 80 percent of
the girls described with fair accuracy
the clothes the man wore, but said
nothing about his face or general ap
pearance. The other 20 percent de
scribed with less accuracy both faceand
clothes, hut not one confined herself to
a description of the man's face. With
the boys the results were nearly op
posite. Nearly 70 percent described
the man's face and paid no attention to
his clothes, while the rest attempted
with only moderate success to'dcscrihe
Doth face and clothes. Not a single
one limited himself to the clothes.
In the neighborhood of Abilene,
Kansas, is one of those settlements or
communities, half religious and half
economic in the motive of their organ
ization which are to be found in vari
ous parts of the West. The one near
Abilene consists of members of the
sect of River Brethren. The River
Brethren did not reach Kansas until
1879; then they immigrated from Penn
sylvania, near Harrishurg. A party of
about 800 people left that town, tak
ing with them half a million in cash
wherewith to buy lands in the new
country for which they had started out.
They were of German descent and for
the most part tillers of the soil. In
the last 23 years the members of the
community have prospered greatly, and
their numbers have increased to some
thing like 3000. They have steadily
invested their savings in the purchase
ot land, aud while extremely slow to
make any change in religion or social
customs, they are among the most pro
gressive in all that pertains to the ex
ploitation of the soil. To them was
due the flrst introduction of creamery
methods on a large scale in central
Kansas. That enterprise, which they
organized some IB years ago, now pays
out over a quarter of a million of dol
lars every year to the farmers of the
country, and in the middle 90s the agri-
cultural population of that section, ow
ing to the general failure of their
grain crops, found that the creamery,
in its purchase of milk, was practical
ly tbeir sole resource for funds.
TRUTH.
Fire, bo wild, where shall we find thee?
"In the valley seek a rock:
Strike with steel, and at the shock
In a moment out.spring I;
There the bed wherein I lie,
There seek and ye shall find me."
Air, light air, where shall we find thee?
"Where leaflets tremble on the tree,
Where the curling smoke you see,
Where the down floats north or south,
'Tis the breathing of my mouth,
There seek and ye shall find me."
Water bright; where shall we find thee?
"Mighty mountains cannot hide
Flow o£ spring and force of tide;
Where the roots of rushes grow
You will find me, dig below,
There seek and ye shall find me."
Holy truth, where shall we find thee?
"Through the weary world I roam,
No house have I, no place, no home,
I knock, I call, but no reply,
Therefore heavenward I must fly,
There 6eek and ye shall find me."
THE Whippletons were a fam
ily composed of husband, wife
aud three children, the latter
representing the united efforts
of the first two to found "a real home,"
as Mrs. Whippleton put It, and in
which the children may he likened to
a varied assortment of bric-a-brac
which serve to decorate (or demolish)
tlie house. Be it as it may, the Wliip
pletons possessed three of these ob
jects d'art, as also a neat little home on
Staten Island within easy reach of the
ferry, which the head of the family
utilized in order to get to his office in
New York. There in the great city he
earned his daily bread, or rather
helped other people to obtain what
they had earned by the aid of the law,
for he was an attorney; aud he had
prospered to such an extent that his
wife was no longer obliged to dispute
dressmakers' bills and ills bric-a-brac
shone and broadened under the nutri
tious Influence of pork and beans and
other delicacies of like nature.
At tlds point, in order to inculcate
in their progeny a taste for music, and
as their modest household had not yet
assumed the dignity of having a piano
located in one corner of the parlor,
the Whlppletons resolved to purchase
oue of those necessary instruments;
for, though neither could play even a
ragtime symphony without the aid of a
pianola, they thought that the children
could not fail to all become I'aderew
skis just by looking at the piano, and
Imagining what sweet strains it could
produce were it ever opened aud played
upon.
For the acquisition of the instru
ment it was agreed by the liusbnnd
and wife that the latter should seek
the assistance of a young lady friend,
who was a good musician, having ar
rived at the stage where she could pro
nounce Wagner with a true German
accent, and who could select a piano
with a good tone and the other neces
sary qualifications. Mrs. Whippleton
THOUGHT IT WAS FIVE.
visited her friend and made an ap
pointment to meet her at a down town
music store the following Wednesday,
and tlie little family was in the great
est excitement over the contemplated
purchase.
When the nil-important day arrived
Mrs. Whippleton arrayed herself in her
best, gave a cursory glance at her
purse, wherein she thought she re
marked a $5 bill and some small
change, took her little boy Harold by
the hand aud sallied forth to meet
her friend.
The latter was on hand with un
womanly promptness, and the two set
to work in company with one of tlie
salesmen to choose the piano. Instru
ment after instrument was tried by
Miss Schubert, as her musical friend
was named, and when at last they
found one that suited them it was
luneli time. The thought then occurred
to Mrs. Whippleton that since her com
panion had been so obliging about aid
lug her to select her upright, it would
only Lie just to invite her to lunch.
This she did, nnd Miss Schubert gra
ciously accepted the offer.
As they were preparing to leave the
store Mrs. Whippletou, byway of pre
caution, again looked into her purse
to see if she had sufficient money to
pay for the prospective repast. When
she unfolded the bank note, which she
had taken for a five before leaving
the house that morning, she gave a
gasp of dismay—it was only a one! A
further search brought to light the
imposing sum of thirty-five cents, and
Mrs. Whippleton, disconcerted, won
dered how hearty an eater Miss Schu
bert would prove herself to be. As
for herself, she felt hungry enough to
eat a full dollar's worth alone, but she
resolved to curb this untimely appetite
and content herself with as little as
possible.
"My dear Miss Schubert, where shall
we lunch?" she asked carelessly, in
wardly hoping that her friend might
say it did not matter, so she could con
duct her to some modest cafetier.
"Why, I don't know, I'm sure," re
plied the other; "supposing we go to
Purcell's."
Purcell's! One of the most expensive
places in the city, where you pay fifty
cents for a glass of water and the priv
ilege of sitting down! Mrs. Whipple
ton felt a cold chill creep over her
body, and her own appetite vanished as
if by enchantment.
"Yes, Purcell's is a good place," she
affirmed faintly. She was commencing
to be somewhat suspicious of Miss
Schubert, and she recalled to mind
several stories which represented mu
sicians as a half-starved class who
could devour untold quantities of food
as often us they happened to have the
opportunity. But hoping for the best,
she plucked up new courage—perhaps
Miss Schubert was an exception!
They were soon seated at a cozy
table, Mrs. Whippleton at the head,
with her friend and Harold on either
side. On the way to the restaurant the
latter had pressed his stomach convul
sively several times aud informed ills
mother how hungry he was. Harold
was not one of those spiritual boys
who live on the simple diet of thought;
on the contrary, a full plate of sub
stantial food usually disappeared with
amazing rapidity under the well di
rected attacks of his knife and fork,
and he often wanted more. This ap
petite, upon which his mother had pre
viously looked with pleasure, was now
liable to prove fatal, so she despairing
ly thought, hut she did not dare to say
anything to him for fear of attracting
her friend's attention.
"I think. I will take same lebster a la
Newburg," suddenly remarked Miss
Schubert, after consulting the bill ol'
fare.
"Mamma, what is that? I want
some, too, said Harold, impatient to
begin.
Mrs. Wliippleton's heart sank within
her, and she made a rapid mental cal
culation. The menu said: Lobster a
la Newburg, 75 cents. Three times 75
equals $2.25—n0, that was impossible.
"No, Harold, that is bad for your
stomach," she said, turning to her sou.
"I myself am not very hungry, so I
will just take a chop and there will
be enough for you, too, Harold."
"But, mamma, I can eat two chops
alone; I always do at home " The
boy's voice broke off suddenly as he
felt his mother's foot descend with
force upon his own under the table.
"Won't you have anything else?" in
quired Mrs. Whippleton, addressing
her friend and not heeding Harold's
wails.
-Why, yes; 1 think I would like some
French peas," returned the other.
Another mental calculation: Lobster, |
75 cents; chop, 50; peas, 25; total, $1.50 j
—the Rubicon was passed. Mrs. Whip
yleton was desperate and she resolved
to die eating bravely and trust to
Providence to pay the bill.
"I guess I will take some French
peas also; and you bad better have
some, too, Harold—tnree orders of.
peas," she said, turning to the waiter,
"and you might make it two portions
of chops instead of one."
Throughout the meal Mrs. Whipple
ton was apparently the gayest of the
gay, but while her lips smiled and her
eyes beamed benevolently on her friend
her heart was heavy, and she won
dered how it was all to end. If she
could only, by some mental process,
transfer a few of her husband's green
backs into her own little purse, hbw
she would rejoice. But, alas! that was
impossible, and the account was stead
ily mounting upward. Every few mo
ments Miss Schubert would order
something else; she appeared to have
been fasting for weeks just for this
occasion, and every time she sent for
a supplement, Harold would conclude
that he would like some of'the same.
His mother let him go on in his mad
course, for she felt that the crash
might as well be a big one as a small
one.
Finally, after finishing with peach
ice cream and charlotte russe, the time
for settlement arrived, and Mrs. Whip
pleton prepared herself for the shock.
But just as she was on the verge of
desperation, a well known voice
sounded in her ears, and a man's hand
was laid upon her shoulder. With a
cry she looked up and saw her hus
band. Heaven had pitied her and had
sent a messenger to release her from
her predicament.
As she arose and greeted him she
whispered softly in his ear:
"Dear, dear George; you have come
in the nick of time. Here, pay this
bill, for I only have a dollar and thir
ty-five cents."
Her husband looked at the account,
which had reached the Olympian
heights of $4.75, and with a side glance
at Miss Schubert, who was standing
a few feet away, engaged in putting
on her gloves, he asked in a low voice:
"But what woald yos have done If
I had not come?"
Mrs. Whippleton reflected for an in
stant before replying, and then said,
calmly:
"I guess I would have borrowed It
of Miss Schubert. But after Inviting
her to lunch it would not have been
very nice to ask her to pay the bill,
would It?"
"Hardly," responded her husband, as
he slowly walked up to the cashier's
desk.—W. Evans Barnes, in the Chi
cago Record-Herald.
CREATEST OIL SPCUTER.
It Pours Out Z. 000.000 Gallons of retro
leum Before It Quiets Down.
The Russians assert that they struck
the biggest oil spouter ill the Baku
petroleum fields last fall that was ever
tapped. They sank a new well in the
Bibi-Eibat district about three miles
southwest of Baku and reached a
depth of 1800 feet before they struck
oil. Then it went to spouting and is
said to have been the largest producer
for the first two or three days that was
ever struck. It is accredited with
180,000 barrels a day for nearly three
days and then the flow diminished a
little; but it continued flowing until
it had produced over 2,000,000 barrels.
This happened in November last.
Before the well stopped flowing an
other big one was struck in the Ro
man! district about ten miles northeast
of Baku. This spouter produced near
ly 1,000,000 barrels nnd was still flow
ing at the rate of about 25,000 barrels
a day on January 31st last. These
were the two great spouters of the
Russian oil fields last year.
Remarkable as it may appear. It is
said that the owners of the big well
which produced more than 2,000,000
barrels in a little over thirty days lost
money by this extraordinary outpour
ing. This would seem impossible with
out explanation, but the sad reason
for it is clearly set forth in Consul
Chambers's report that has just been
published in Washington.
In the first place, the well could not
be controlled. High winds were blow
ing nearly all the time, and every
house near the well, as well as nil the
buildings in the village, more than a
mile away, was deluged. It is said
that the owners of the well must pay
for repainting all the houses in the
village. The owners had to pay the
Government a royalty of two and a
half cents for every five gallons of
oil, and they could not sell the oil they
saved at a profit of more than about
a quarter of a cent per five gallons
above the royalty and their expenses.
It is said that tills meager profit did
not even pay the heavy damages that
had to be disbursed to the aggrieved
property owners.
This is not the first time that the
village mentioned has been damaged
by a flowing well. Some years ago a
well in the same district sent a spray
of oil to this village nnd the owner of
the well had to pay damages amount
ing to ¥50,000, as he was compelled
to repaint the entire village, includ
ing u fine Russian Church.
New Foeui by Dickens.
An unpublished poem from the pen
of Charles Dickens was read by Mrs.
Alice Meynell, of Loudon, to the mem
bers of the Contemporary Club and
their friends during her address on
"Charles Dickens as a Man of Letters."
This verse, the manuscript of which
is years old, Is here printed for the first
time:
"I put in a book once, by hook or by
crook,
The whole race, as I thought, of a
feller.
Who happily pleased the town's taste,
much diseased,
And the name of this person was
Welter.
But I found to my cost that one Weller
I'd lost,
Cruel destiny so to arrange it;
I love her dear name, which has won
me some fame,
But great heavens; how gladly I'd
change it!"
The poem was written shortly after
Dickens had been presented to the
young woman mentioned by him in
the lines, and was read by Mrs. Mey
nell with the permission of the woman
herself.—Philadelphia Press.
Mlsuiuted Namen.
The union of the given name with
Hie surname often makes an amusing
combination. Sometimes it is acci
dental, but more often designed. The
story that went the rounds of the
newspapers some time ago that Gov
ernor Hogg, of Texas, had named his
two daughters Ura Ilogg and Ima
Hogg, It is gratifying to know, has
been denied. A case in tile cast end
of Columbus has come to the notice
of the Observer. A gentleman who
bears the common name of Case has
named his little daughter "Urn" Case.
M. A. Bridge, the well-known chief
clerk in the office of the State Dairy
and Food Commissioner, has named a
son "Brooklyn." Brooklyn is not an
uncommon name in itself, but Brook
lyn Bridge is somewhat startling.—
Columbus Dispatch.
A Point on Carpentry.
Senator Piatt, of Connecticut, was
building a house. He had occasion
to hire a carpenter, who was a plain,
unvarnished sou of New England.
"You know all about carpenter
work?" asked Senator Piatt.
"Yes, sir," was the reply.
"Y'ou can make windows, doors an*
blinds?"
"Oh, yes, sir."
"How would you make a Venetian
blind?"
The man thought steadily for several
minutes. "I think," he remarked
finally, "that I would punch him in the
[ eye."—Washington Post.
f AGRICULTURAL. |
Gate For Pasture Fence.
It is always desirable to bare some
sort of a sate in tbe pasture field fence,
but it is uot always easy to build one
that is at once stock-proof and easy to
oierate when necessary. The arrange
ment as shown iu the illustration is
not in reality a gate, but a passageway,
so placed that the stock cannot get
through, but through which a person
may readily pass. No explanation of
i Si*
STOCK PEOOF risSAGF.WAY.
the plan is needed, for it is plainly
shown by the ilustration. This fence
may be arranged so as to provide a
double gate by hinging the open por
tiou in the foreground so that when
closed to the post will come in snugly
against the fence post, aud be held in
place by a wire loop dropped over both
posts, then the gate in the background
should also He placed on hinges, so
that when closed it will lap over against
the fence about two feet, aud be hold
in place by a staple and hook.
Uses ol' Coiiperuff.
The value of copperas is not fully un
derstood, Hut there are few things more
useful to the farmer aud gardener. It
is invaluable as a purifier around
drains, or in any place where a disin
fectant is needed. It is specially use
ful in the chicken coop, a small lump
placed in the drinking water being a
preventive of disease and a general pu
rifier. In the garden there are several
uses for it; two tablespoonfuls in a pail
of water will kill cabbage worms,
while a somewhat stronger solulion
will kill currant worms as quickly as
hellebore, and it is much safer to use.
Powdered copperas can be sprinkled
on the surface soil of hard wood pot
plants, so that the water that is applied
will soak through it into the soil, car
rying the strength of the copperas with
it. For more tender plants the cop
peras can be dissolved, allowing one
ounce to each gallon of water, using
It in the soil one? iu two weeks, not al
lowing any of it to touch the foliage.
It is also used for shrubs and trees
in the garden, especially those which
for some unknown reason fail to make
satisfactory growth. It can be made
in large quantities for that purpose,
using two pounds of copperas to a bar
rel of water. A few applications will
usually cause a marked improvement
in the growth and in the color of the
foliage. In sections whore corn is dug
up by birds nnd gophers it has been
found that if the seed is soaked for a
few hours In a strong solution of cop
peras the pests will not disturb It.—
Bernlce Baker, in Agricultural Epitom
ist.
To Make Charcoal For Stock.
In the corn-growing districts of the
Western States corncobs are made to
serve a good purpose when reduced to
charcoal nnd fed to hogs. Ordinary
charcoal is used by many. The method
of reducing the corncobs to charcoal is
thus given by Theodore Louis:
Dig a hole in the ground five feet
deep, one foot in diameter at the bot
tom and five feet at the top for the
charcoal pit. Take the dry corncobs
and start a lire in the bottom of this
pit, addiug cobs so that the flame is
drawn to the top of the pit, which will
be thus filled with the cobs. Then
take a sheet iron cover, similar to a
pot lid in form, nnd over five feet in
diameter, so as to amply cover the
whole, and close up the burning mass,
sealing the edges of this lid in turn
with earth. At tile end of twelve hours
you may uncover and take out a fine
sample of corncob charcoal. This char
coal can be fed at once if desired, but
Mr. Louis prefers to take six bushels
of It, or three bushels of common char
coal, eight pounds of salt, two quarts
of air-slacked lime end one bushel of
wood ashes, breaking the charcoal up
well with a shovel or other tool, thor
oughly mixing the various ingredients.
One and a quarter pounds of copperas
Is then dissolved In hot water, aud
with a watering-pot sprinkled over the
whole mass, which is again thoroughly
mixed. The mixture is then put into
boxes and placed where the pigs can
get at it at their pleasure. It is not
only excellent for the health of the
pigs, but is considered by some as a
preventive of hog cholera—New York
Weekly Witness,
A Good Garden.
A few simple rules are all that is
necessary to govern a good garden.
First, there should be a good spot,
convenient to the lie use, thoroughly
drained, with soil as rich as possible.
Second, the owner must know when,
how and how much to plant. Third,
the garden must be kept free from
weeds and under good cultivation the
entire season. If the gardener has tbe
right kind of tools, and has learned to
do his work to the best advantage, two
hours a week or a little less than n day
in a month, will give him a clean
profitable garden, unless the season is
one of frequent and heavy rains, which
will make the work harder. The gar
den cannot he too well drained, for
this will enable the gardener to plant
early and to work much sooner after
rains; It will also keep tlie soil from
packing, causing the plants to become
unthrifty. Planting In a well drained
garden, plowed in the fall, may begin
as soon as the ground dries enough
for a harrow to mellow the surface.
Peas, lettuce, radishes, onions, beets
and cabbage may be planted as soon
as the ground can be worked, and if
the ground freezes after they are up
it rarely hurts them.
There are certain kinds of vegeta
bles of which several plantings should
be made as they soon go by, and with
a single planting the family can use
them but a few days; with a succession
of plantings there will be n supply for
several weeks. It takes little work to
keep a garden in good order if a hand
cultivator is used. As soon after each
rain as the land can be worked, the
surface should be stirred to the depth
of about one Inch. No weeds will then
start until it rains again, the evapora
tion of moisture will be checked, and
you will have a clean thrifty garden,
which will be a pleasure to look at,
which will give a supply of vegetables
from the middle of April till frost, and „
which will furnish what would cost
SSO if bought in the market.—Otto Ir- *
win, In The Epitomlst. £
A Humane Stanchion*
Or.c of the greatest problems of the
dairy barn—outside of the problem of
the most judicious method of feeding—
Is the matter of confining the cattle in
the stalls. It is agreed 011 all sides
tnnt the greatest comfort must be as
sured the cow if the largest returns
are to be expected, but at the same
time It is admitted that the cow that is
given the greatest freedom in the mat
ter of confinement in her stall is the
one that is hardest, to keep clean. Now,
as cleanliness Is an absolute requisite
in producing the best of milk and but
ter, the question resolves Itself into
this, Hew rigid a stanchion can be con
structed and still give the cow such
freedom of movement as will make
her confinement In the stall not at all
irksome to her? If the cow is tied A
with a chain to n post she can step y
ahead into her manger and back into
the manure trench. In this way the
platform 011 which she stands lias ma
nure dropped upon It and carried upon
It to the manure trench by the ani
mal's feet. The old fashioned, rigid
stanchion, consisting of two uprights,
keeps an animal from moving back
ward or forward, but It also confines
the head so closely that very little
movement of this Is possible, while the
fact that the stanchion has no "give"
in any direction causes a good many
bumps upon the animal's horns, ears
iT 5
\\ i .
. |
H ''l . .
'lt I \ \\
and shoulders when it Is getting up or
lying down. It Is possible to make
use of a stanchion, however, and yet
have it admit of considerable move
ment of the animal's head, while still
confining its forward or backward
movements to very small limits. The
cut shows the construction. The up
right post turns freely at the loose end
and at the top. Two Iron L pieces hold
the swinging upright at the bottom, as
shown, while a swinging iron clamp
at the top holds It when shut. With
such a stanchion the cow can move
back and forth but little, but can move
the head about from side to side with
great freedom, while the swing of the
stanchion causes it to "give" a little
when tlie cow Is lying down or getting
up. With such an arrangement for
hitching animals the platform on
which she stands should be Just long
enough so that the bind feet will come
close to the rear edge, when the ma-
mire will fall Into the gutter, six M
inches at least below the surface of
the platform.
Such a stanchion as that described
herewith should be as light as possible
consistent with strength, since light
ness will have much to do with the
cow's comfort, as the head cannot be
moved from side to side nround a clum
sy stick of wood, even when this can
swing a little. New York Tribune
Farmer.
DORS Regardful H Sacred.
The dogs of Damascus are not as
numerous as those of Constantinople,
but are quite as lazy, maugy and
wretched. They are regarded as
sacred and are allowed to live and die
without interference. Nobody owns y
them, nobody cares for them in par- p
ticular, but collectively they are the 1
wards of the city and live on the
scraps that are thrown into the street.
They bark all night and sleep all day
stretched in the sunshine, occupying
the roadway or the sidewalk, or the
most comfortable spot they can find.
Hackmen and teamsters drive around
them and pedestrians step over them,
being careful not to wake thein up.—
Chicago ltecord-Heruld.