{ title: 'The Democratic eagle. (Cape Vincent, N.Y.) 18??-188?, February 09, 1882, Page 5, Image 5', download_links: [ { link: 'http://www.loc.gov/rss/ndnp/ndnp.xml', label: 'application/rss+xml', meta: 'News about NYS Historic Newspapers - RSS Feed', }, { link: '/lccn/sn94057708/1882-02-09/ed-1/seq-5/png/', label: 'image/png', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn94057708/1882-02-09/ed-1/seq-5.pdf', label: 'application/pdf', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn94057708/1882-02-09/ed-1/seq-5/ocr.xml', label: 'application/xml', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn94057708/1882-02-09/ed-1/seq-5/ocr.txt', label: 'text/plain', meta: '', }, ] }
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3 eltcr from Frost. Clgaretts. 'J?he importance of providing shelter for such half hardy plants as winter spinach, onions, strawberries, etc., has been mentioned before, and should have been applied before this time. In sea- sons when we have plenty of snow dur- ing the entire winter, covering for suoh plants is hardly needed at all, Tout such Reasons are not common in the south- eastern portion of New England; in this region it is muoh more common to have the land more, or less exposed, especial- ly late in the winter, when the sun runs high and the nights are cold. I t is against suoh frequent freezing aud thawing that the shelter is wanted, and if it is only sufficient to shade the ground from the sun and prevent frequent thawing, it is better than a heavy covering, which is apt to smother the plants during a thaw. There is another sort of covering to be used in spring on the hot beds—I mean of course, the mats and shutters used to shelter the glass in'frosty weather. These mats and shutters are usu lly made on the farm during the cold and stormy days of wiater. The mats are made of rye straw, the coarser and larger the better, and the grain should be well threshed out, so as not to attract rats or mice to make their nests in the mats when stowed away in summer. There are two sorts of frames used in malting mats, one is^a rectangular' frame of 2x4 inch spruce, 6 feet four inches square in the clear, placed on legs so as to be about 2| feet from the floor, and across this are tightly drawn as many strings of marline as are to be used in tying the mat; usually eight or nine strings are used. One side of this frame is made movable, and is secured in its place by stout hard wood pins at each end; this moveable side is where work begins in tying the mat; the straw is laid on in a small, clean handful, and tied down tightly by given the loose end of the mar- lin or spun yarn a half hitch aronnd the tight string which is made fast to the frame; when the mat 1ms been tied for about two feet from the edge, the mov- able side of the frame is moved forward and secured in its new position by pins while the portion of mat already made is allowed to drop over its edge, allowing the workman to reach over and tie about two feet more of the mat. The edges of the mat where the butts of the straw are irregular, are easly trimmed straight by placing the mat upon the floor jyith a straight edged piece of hoard over the edge to be trimmed, and then chop off the irregular ends with a hatchet. The other sort of frame used for tying the mats, is shaped somewhat like a common carpenter's saw-horse; it is built higher however, so as to bring the t<<p about lj feet from the floor. The top is made of two pieces of inch board placed an inch and a quarter apart, and between them the mat is pushed down- ward as each handful of straw is 'tied on top. In this frame a mat may be made of any length desired, usually eight feet is about the limit. Any one unaccus- tomed to the use of these mats would bo surprised to see how efficient they are in protecting hot beds from frost; when placed over the glass and covered with shutters, it requires a very hard frost with high wind to freeze through them. The shutters are made of $ inch pine matched boards, 6 feet 4 inches long by 2J to 3 feet wide, and secured by three cleats, one at each end, and one across the middle, securly nailed with clinch nails. If kept well painted they will last for many years. The shutters are often used without glass as spring advances, to shelter plants on frosty nights, throwing them off by day so as to expose the plants to the open air; this enables the gardener to use his glass and mats on other beds containing more tender plants. It is customary to put the glass upon cold frames contain- ing dandelion and rhubarb, about the middle or latter part of January, cover- ing at nights with mats and shutters. If the beds are well banked with eel grass. or horse manure, they will not freeze enough to injure these hardy plants, and the growth onoe started will progress rapidly as the sun gets higher. When the rhubarb leoveB touch the glass, the frame is built up with an additional plank or two placed on the lower one and held on its edge in place by means of pickets nailed on upon the outside. The rhubarb will grow three feet long if the glass is raised so as to give it room. It is a very acceptable sauce in early spring, before it can be pulled out of doors, and ihe forced article is much more tender that what grows out of doors. vm a Mmute TVorlcmanftlup. The Salem, Maas., museum has-in its possession a cherry stone containing one dozen silver spoons. The stone is of the ordinary size, the spoon being so small that their shape and finish can be dis- tinguis&id only by the microscope. This itffhe result of immense labor for nodeoidedly useful purvjose, and there are number of other objeots in existenoe the value of which may be said to be quite as indifferent. Thus, Dr. Oliver gives an account of a cherry stone on whioh were carved 124 heads so distinct- ly that the naked eye could distinguish those belonging to popes and kings by their mitres and crowns, A Nuremberg topmaker enclosed in a oherry stone whioh was exhibited at the French crys- tal, palace a plan of Sebastopol, a railway station,and the \Messiah\ of Klopstock. Pliny, too mentions the fact that Hom- er's \Iliad with its 15,000 verses, was written in so small a space as to be con- tained in a nutshell. The greatest curi- osity of all however, was a copy of the bible, written by one Peter Bales, a chancery clerk, in so small a book that it could be iaelosed within the shell of an English walnut. An improved egg-natching machine has just been patented. The gas or oil flame is so controlled by a magnetic 'regulator, that the heat can never rise or fall beyond certain points. The eggs are automically shifted in their places at regular intervals by means of clockwork. An Amatexu- Bassoonist. A correspondent writing from New York s^ys I ran across a cigarette fac- tory the other day. Whewl I wouldn't write—or, rather, you wouldn't dare print what I saw. Dirty butts of cigars, fresh from the filth of -the muddy streets, are the cleanest and nicest of the material used in compiling these precious roads to ruin. I came down town on a Madison avenue car this evening, and on the tail end there were little chaps, the eldest sbout fourteen. Each smoked a oigarette av.d spat his Utile life away. I ventured to ask if they enjoyed'the odor. They said they did. And the taste? Certainly. On inquiring I found they had a well-known brand of cigarettes, noted for its \opium soak\' and its terrible smell when burning. Poor little rogues. They oan't last long, They were pale and sickly, puny and offensive. Men? They're men already in their eyes. They and a majoiity of our little lads are full of the slang of the day, up in all the catches, and abundantly able to hold their end in conversation. I subse- quently saw these three boys in Niblo's Garden, It would have surprised you to hear them talk. A blind man might reasonably think \he was listening to three old men. Nothing was new. They had seen it before, and better done than that. Down went the boys, but before they felt the first breath of the fresh air from the street, each puny hand held a cigarette to the vile smell- ing mouth, and puff! puff! they sickened everybody in their vicinity. This is an old grievance of mine, and I don't care to bora you with it, but I feel it keenly. Day by day the vice grows stronger. There was a time when eigarette-smok - ing was confined almost entirely to Cubans, who knew what good tobacco was and made their own cigarettes. Gradually the, habit spread. Dealers followed suit. Makers became un- scrupulous. Little dirty boys were sent out to pick up cigar stumps, Other equally disgusting material was also utilized. Opinm waB.made to do duty. Cheap paper took the place of rice paper. I wish these boys could seethe stuff paper is made from. \Wouldn't it turn their little stomachs? I trow, I trow. The cheap paper, the old stumps, the opium, and the chemicals used to make them \strong\ deserve to bo shown up. Parents have no influence with their sons. Why not? Because they smoke cigars or pipes themselves. The boys charge all the good advice they get to their father's desire to keep them down. There is but one way to deal with American boys. Beoson with them through their eyes. If every nicotined stomach was made public; if every time a fellow died of too muoh oigarette tne fact was made known; if the proud boys could be shown a lag- factory and stump-grindery, it seems to me the oigarette business would be wound up very soon. Grlpf-Strlkeu. \I came to tell you this morning that you might as well stop them proceed- ings in chancery for a bill of divorce,\ said a soft-eyed thing about 27 yeartoid, as she came into a Laramie lawyer's of- fice yesterday. \Decided to live together as man and wife again, hey?\ \No not that. Not that. You see Obadiah strolied away to Leadyille two years ai»o, and kind of give me and the kids the grand shake. Since then I've been rustling in my gentle, unobtrusive manner to make a stake. I've wrote to him occasionally whenever I had leisure, and kind of rounded him up for not chipping in with his assessment, but he never represented. That kind of irri- tated me, and I asked you last week to get me a divorce. If I paid all the as- sessments myself I thought 'twould be no more than square to get all the divi- dends. But this morning I got news from Leadville that has changed my no- tion a little about the divorce.\ \Sent you some money, did he?\ \No not that. He didn't, even write to me, but I got a paper with a big blue mark-around a piece in it, which con- veys the intelligence that Obadiah was hung there on the 10th by request. It seems that he got to jumping lots and stealing horses between meals, and peo- ple got down on him. Then he salted a claim over on Buckskin, and sold it for $40,000 to a tenderfoot from away do.vu East. He made several flowery breaks like that, and the popular feeling seem- ed more or less turned against him, Several weeks ago Obadiah stole a pair of mules from a man who belonged in Kokomo, and next night went back to get a neckyoke and monkey wrench that belonged to the wagon, and happened to win right into a passle of vigilantes lookin' for a job. They took Obadiah over to a tall, limber tree, and let him stand on a bronco pony plug under the lowest limb while they tied a clothes line around his windpipe. Obadiah told them that he was not much of a bare- back rider, and he didn't know whether he could do the triok or not. They slid the clothes line over the UnSb and hit the bronco a lick witli a quirt. The bronco was a high-life plug, and had been raised in luxury, so he got mad when they hit him and he lit our some. That left Obadiah in a good deal of suspense. He wiggled around a little and got embarrassed, and didn't seem to know what to do with his nands for a while. Then he became more calm and composed in his manner, and the crowd made a present of him to the coroner. I wrote the authorities to send me his check book and a state- ment of Obadiah's bank account, and whatever you'ro out on this divorce hooraw will be all right, understand. I'd rather let the vigilantees fix up my law business than to die of old age wait- ing for chancery, anyhow. That's the kind of grief striken relic I am.\ TJpoii Tan Ness Avenue, San Fraaeisco, is Dr. Potts, Mr. Guff 's next door neigh- bor, and one morning, about two weeks after the latter had started in to become an amateur performer on' the bas- soon, he was informed that the doctor •wanted to Bee him, and on descending to the parlor found that gentleman sitting in the middle of the sofa, and flanked by three other residents on the same block. Mr. Guff was surprised to notice that the whole party wore a solemn and embarrass- ed look, and he inquired the nature of then- Visit. \We have come, Mr Guff,\ said Dr. Potts, wiping his face, '-upon a most doll- cate mission. A mission, I assure you, my dear sir, that nothing but the most urgent necsssitv would induce us to undertake.\ •'Indeed,\ said Guff. \Wedon'trneanto assert, or even hint, Mr. Guff, that the fault is all on your side. I know—we all know how difficult it is to get along always with some women. There are times, sir, when the best wife has 'tan- trums' it would require the patience of pn angel to contend with. Wo all know that \ \You bet we do,\ said the other neigh- bors in chorus, and one of them passed his hands through his well- weeded locks in a highly reflective manner. \But on the other hand, some allowance -must be made for the domestic trials and annoyances to which women are subject. They are the weaker vessels, Mr. Gruff, and we should always Dear that In mind before proceeding to extremities.\ \Did you come to tell me that?\ said Mr. Guff, somewhat sarcastically. \Exactly my dear sir; we have come to have a quiet htlle talk with you. In a friendly spirit, you understand, Mr. Guff. We come, my dear sir, in the spirit of peace and conciliation, to pour oil onthe troubled waters.\ \Oh you have eh?\ said Mr. Guff. \Yes. You are a young married man, Mr. Guff, and doubtless lack the experi- ence in some respects that we possess. Now there are other methods in the management of women more potent than violence. For instance, when Mrs. Potts gets a little too cantankerous, I just suggest that she had better put oiE buying that new dress until next spring, or something of that kind. Works like a charm,\ \My way is to hint that I shall have to stop the girls' credit at the dry goods store. That generally fetches my domestic auto- crat,\ said another. \I go most on the 'no-country-tnis sum- mer' dodge,\ put in a third. \Fried oysters in a box is probably as good a molliCer as any, •' mused the baldest of tho party, ' 'and I've tried most every- tning; besides they are cheaper.\ \Will you oblige me by explaining what all this d—n nonsense is about?\ said Guff, who was becoming exasperated. ' 'Why, you don't mean to deny, Mr Guff' said the\ spokesman, reproachfully, \that you beat your wife in the most cruel man- ner?\ \Beat who?\ screamed Guff. \Why that you drag Mrs. Guff up into the garret nearly every evening and ham mer her all up with a bed slat, or some- thing?\ said one. \And yank her round the room by her hair till she yells like an Indian chasing a mail-coach in ahead of time?\ said another, \It's perfectly blood-eurdiing, especially on Wednesday night,\ added another house holder. \Wednesday night? Why those are the evenings when I practice music with my brother-in-law,\ stammered Guft. \What up in the garret? \said Dr, Potts, turning very red in-the face. \Yes; we are learning the bassoon and cornet together, and \ \Mr. Guff,\ said the committeemen, gettin up very much embarrassed and hold- ing out his hand, \we apologise—we—er —that—is—good—evening, Mr.Guff,\and they hastily filed out. But, as they have since agreed to take fifty tickets apiece the first time Mr. G, appears in an amateur concert,\ that amiable young benedict has agreed not to let the story out. An Australian Hunter's Bag. Australia is not naturally \a sportsman's country,\ in the usual acceptation of the term, for it is not a country of big game, nor does it offer exceptional advantages in the way of ordinary shootiDg. A stalk after \turkeys however, is by no means a sport to be despised, and there are indi- catiens that before many years there will be a fair sprinkling of American quail, if not of grouse and partridge. In the mean- time there is an almost infinite variety of the smaller Bpccies of indigenous quadru- peds and of game and plumage birds, and the lovers of bush life and the naturalist alike appreciate a few weeks of sport in the \back country\ of JNew South Wales or Queensland. The one animal which is inseparably connected with an English- man's idea of spoit in Australia is the kangaroo, This thoroughly Australian quadruped affords no lack of sport, being either hunted or shot, as fancy may direot. Besides this there are the wallabies and wallaroos, the \dingoes\ or wild dog, and the \brutnbies\ or wild horses, not to men- tion the myriads o£ rabbits, and in some parts the troops of hares, that have found a congenial home on Australian soil. Tho destruction of any of the animals is not merely a matter ot sport, but of absolute necessity, EO great as to call for special acts of Parliament to facilitate their extermine. tion. A sentimental outcry has been occa- sionally raised m the Lnglish press against the Queensland Marsupiat acts, the object of which is not the. protection but the de> struct'on of the swarms of kangaroos and other pouched animals which in some parts of the colony have threatened to eat hun- dreds of hardworking colonists out of house and home. It has been proved by statis- tics in the Queensland Assembly that a run which used to carry 50,000 sheep has been so devas ated as to afford sustenance for barely a tithe of that number, So war to the knife was declared against these de- structive creatures, and they and other \vermin\ afford good opportunities of sport even when \game\ more properly so called is not to be obtained. As an instance of the great abundance and variety of game and vermin in the vast country of New South Wales, we may quote the shooting list of Mr. Hawthorne, one of the best shots in the colony, who has been striving his utmost to keep down the fauna of the country which are inimical to the interests of the squatters. Mr. Hawthorne's bag consisted of 6,372 kangaroos, 1,418 walla- bies, 267 wallaroos, 110 dingoes, 862 wild cats, bandicoots and rats, 204 eagle hawks and 1G7 snakes. The length of time over Which his campaign extended is, unfortu- nately, not stated. Many moneyed young Englishmen, tired of Btalking and cover- shooting; might do much worse than take a sporting tap to the Australian colonies and follow Mr. Hawthorne's example. They would be welcome guests at any station, and by thinning out the kangaroos and rab- bits, the wallabies and wild horses, would confer no Bmall beneflt'upon a distant com- munity. • m m. O/thefifty'one metals, thirty were dis- covered in this century. Great truths are often said in thefew- pst words. During the time Cardinal Rchelieu held such tyrannic sway in tie legislative con- cerns of France, an old officer who resided upon a smail estate in Normandy, had oc- casion to visit Paris on some important bnsmeBS. , He had been some days in the capital, when on returning to his hotel one evening, he found on his table a note ad- dress to himself in the hand-writing of the. Cardinal, which proved nothing less than an invitation to dine at the Chateau de Ruel the next day. So great an honor was surprising as it was gratifying He, however, attributed this high distinction to some friend at court, and set out in time to arrive afc-the hour appointed. The old soldier commenced his short journey on foot, and having asdended the hill of Neuil- ly, he perceived a cabriolet approaching. Having some doubt whether he had taken the right road, he inquired ot the occu- pant of the vehicle his way to Ruel. \To Ruel?\ answered the stranger; \if you will aceept a seat in my chase I shall be happy to drive you thither—that is my destination also.\ . ^ With many thanks for this politeness our officer entered the cabriolet and began to converse freely with his new compan- ion. • \I am going to dine with the Cardinal,\ said the latter. \MonDieul\ exclaimed the veteran, \how very singular. I amabout to do the same thing; yet I am at a loss to know how I deserve so high an honor, for never to my knowledge have I served his highness in any way'; neither have I been introduced to him,\ \Howl\ exclaimed the driver of the cab- riolet, with suprise. And then, changing his jnanjjer.i he Said slowly and sorrowful \You have never seen the Cardinal, and you and 1 are to dine with him to day! I pity you!\ \Good Heavensl. wnat has made you change countenance?\ \Call up every circumstance from the reeesses of your memory,\said the stronger with great earnestness. ' 'I conjure you to recollect yourself. Have YOU ever di- rectly or indireotly had communication personally or otherwise with the Prime Minister?\ \Indeed never to my knowledge '' \Try again, I emplore you,\ continued the gentleman with increased anxiety. \That circumstances is of great impor tance to you, although you may not be- lieve it.\ \Sir you alarm me,\ ejaculated the veteran. \Not unnecessarilly I can assure you. Have you evere alluded to the Cardinal in any public way?\ \Not that I can remember,\ \Never were guilty of a satire or ?\ \Oh yes, I had forgotten. When at Court some time since, I published a few. poems, among one was an epigram not very flattering to his highness.\ \I thought so. Listen to the fate which awaits you. The Cardinal has discovered in you an enemy, His vengeance is terri- ble. He never invited me except when some horrid crime is to be committed. You are the victim to-day,\ \Horrible!\ exclaimed the old officer, ' 'how am 1 to believe you?\ \I am the best authority for what you have just learned. In me you behold ii \Who?\ \The JSxeoutionerl I feel happy in warning you—an saving at least one vic- tim from premature death!\ \How how can I reward you?\ said the veteran. \Only by keeping the secret of my hav- ing saved your hfe, and not forgetting me! Fly! Leave Paris with all speed!\ The s oiBcjJr lost no time in descending from the vehicle, and making the best of his way to Paris. A Strange Sight at Sea, With reference to the phenomenen of what is known as the \white water os the Arabian sea, a correspondent writes as follows: \If the call of duty or pleasure should at any time induce any of our rea- ders to undertake the overland journey to India, they must not fail to give instruc- tions to be called fromhed, should the noc turnal phenomenon of *he 'white water' occur. It is more frequently seen in the months of July and August, and is princi- pally confined to a narrow belt to the east, ward of the island of Socotra, known in the charts ot that sea as the line of the strongest monsoon, and wherein the rain clouds, on quitting Central Africa on their passage eastward, are apparently confined. Should the moon be above the horizon, an undisturbed night's rest may be anticipated as the writer has never known the pheno- menon to occur in the presence of that orb. To give the reader some idea o£ this re- markable and striking appearance, we will suppose ourselves in a steamer about two hundred and fifty miles to the Westward of Socotra, in the position named, and in the latter end of July, time I A. M. The mon- soon is-bolwing strongly and steadijp; the night, starlight and clear; a light, fleecy scud occasionally passing rapidly eastmard and the vessel blowing along at the rate of fourteen or fifteen knots an hour. Sud- denly we discovered a light hue in the wa • ter.. which in a short while assumes a snow- white aspect, and in the course of a quar- ter of an hour extends to the horizon in all directions. The transformation of the wa- ter is perfect, the usually green color of the sea having been replaced by an appear- ance of whiteness like that ot milk. And yet, if you draw a bucket of the water for inspection and analysis, you will find that it is beautifully clear, not a vestiage of anything white being visible; nor can the microscope discover anything over and above the ordinary quanty of minute life always present in sea-water within the tropics. The deception seems to me to admit of easy explanation, it being the result siih ply of reflection of color. The vessel is passing through a light, misty atmosphere inappreciable„to the eye while within its influence, and the white watery vesciclea held in suspension are, m some favorable conditions of air and water, reflected on the surface of the latter.\ Sir John Jjubbock maintains in his last Linnaan Society paper, that bees prefer blue flowers to those of any other color. Bus the objection may fairlj be raised, How, if bees have so much to do with the origin of flowers, have we so few blue ones? He met this by suggesting that all flowers weic origina'ly green, and then passed through white or yellow, and gen- erally red before becoming blue. He says that an ant may live seven er eight years A club has been established in St. Pe tersbnrg, the members of which bind them- selves, under penalties of heavy fines, to wear only clothes made of Russiin cloth, to employ only Russian workmen, to dine at Russian rescaufants and to abstain from everything coming from fcrei^n sources. There is si tract ot coun'.ry in Cal ifornia, about fifteen miles long by half a mile in width, where lightning\ strikes trees nearly every time a-storm passes over. Outside of this atrip there is no such damage. This line can be plainly traced by dead timber. As many as three fires have been caused by lightning in this tract in one single storm. CLEANLINESS A PKEVEN'IIVE FOE HOG DISEASES.—During the past season there has been a great deal said and written up- on the subject of allowing hogs to run m pastujes. The discussion both in and out of the, newspapers has been watched with a great deal of. interest by hog-raiders, whose practical knowledge, acquired by experience, has enabled them long since to torch opinions upon the subject. Those men who have money invested in the busi- ness, are prone to arrive at conclusions based upon actual observation, from which they form common sense ideas of what is beneficial to their stock, and wise acres who read them long, self-consequential lectures upon subjects about which they have no personal knowledge receive but little consideration at the hands of breed- ers. It is a common remark that most anything is good enough for a hog, and to this senseless proposition is traced the dis- eases among swine owned by breeders who endorse it. Since time immemorial the hog-has oeen called the farm scavenger, but, nevertheless, the successful breeder is he who relies the least upon this over-esti- mated characteristic of the animal. Bad water, wcrse treatment m handling, and a superabundance of filth are the foundation of all diseases to which hogs are subject, and it is consequently easy to believe that the health ot the animal and the quality of the meat must increase in proportion to the cleanliness of his food and surround- ings. It is believed that there has been less disease among swine during the past year than during any time for the past de- cade, and those who ought to know attri- bute the fact to increased care on the part of breeders, who have realized the value of cleanliness. Grass-fed hogs who have the run of good and nutritious pastures, with plenty of put e water ore the ones that bring the highest prices in any market. The summer feed of grass results in bone, muscle, and all good qualities of first-class pork, and a fat! feed of corn just prior to marketing makeB the plump and round fin- ish considered so desirable. It is not too much to say that if swine raisers would adopt a universal plan of cleanliness in raising and feeding the stock, it Would be but a vary short time before complaints of American pork would cease to be heard in any European counlry. Breeders owe it to themselves and they owe it to their swine to adopt such reforms as will insure them as decent treatment as possible. HINTS ABOUT FKNOS POSTS —The sap of moisture goes up in the sap wood from the roots to the leaves of the trees. I found if the post is' butt end down the pores are open upward, and water can go up and thus keep the post moist between wind and water, which must cause a rapid de- cay. It appeared probable that the pores were only open upward, and not down- ward, in a tree. To test this, I cut a small maple sapling (two inches through) in May, leaving the limbs all on, and placed the butt end in a pail of brine. In thirty- six hours the leaves were saturated with this brine, the taste of the salt being strong. At the same time I had cut another maple sapling, and cut off the top branch, leav- ing the rest of the limbs on. Alter winding a cloth around the butt end, to prevent evaporation, I placed the top end in the pail of bnne, and allowed it to remain sev- eral days, but no brine had been absorbed at the top end. It had not penetrated the pores as far as the end was immersed in the brine, for if the bark war scraped there was not the slightest .taste of salt to be found. This being the case in the green tree, how much more must the pores of the dry tree be closed from the top end downward! I have tried many similar ex. perimonts, and think the question settled that if a post is placed top end down, no moisture can ascend frotn the bottom of the hole up the post to rot it; but when the butt end is aown the moisture can as- cend the pores very rapidly if green, and slowly if dry. Seasoned posts are known to last much longer, because the pores are more or less filled with the seasoned wood, I should also infer that placing the top end down would make more difference in a green than in a dry post. In pursuance of the fact, that the pores of green timber have been often saturated with different solutions to preserve it, by immersing the butt ends, freshly cut, m tho solution to be absorbed, it will also be noticed that burn ing or charring the posts only closes the pores and prevents the absorption of wa- ter. AN Iowa farmer put up twenty one-year old hogs for fattening, aud for the first twenty days fed them on shelled corn, of which they ate eighty-three bushelB. Dur- ing this period they gained 837 pounds, or upward of ten pounds to the bushel of corn. He then fed the same hogs for four- teen dayE on dry corn meal, during which time they consumed forty-seven bushels, and gained 533 pounds, or 21f pounds to the bushel. The same hogs, next fed 14 days on corn meal and water mixed, con- sumed 55 $ bushels of corn, and gained 731 pounds, or 18i pounds of pork to the bush- el. He then fed them fourteen days on corn meal cooked, and after consuming 45 bushels of the cooked meal the hogs gained 799 pounds, or very nearly fifteen pounds of pork to the bushel of meal. CONSIDERABLE attention has been recent- ly given to the differences between the rain of the city and the country. The country rain is neutral and is considered the best adapted for human consumption of any found a'love the earth, on the earth, or un- der the earth. The rain that falls in citieB, on the other hand, is acid, corroding met- als, stones and bricks and mortar crumble before it. Its evil effects are visible on every side—in paint, in all decorations, and, in fact, almost everything erected by man. The purest rain is that collected at the sea coast, more especially at consider- able heights; while organie matter in the air usually corresponds with the density of population. TEE most simple and best stain for ma- hoganizh-g cherry is ground burnt sienna, mixed in benzine or turpentine. Apply with a brush or sponge, let it stand for a short tune and clean off with a cloth. It will be better, to let it remain in this con- dition until the following day before com- mencing to finish. Sir Henry Layard has contributed to the exhibition of the Belle Arte, in Venice objects from Samos and Ninovth, stones with cuneiform inscriptions, armor, Moor- ish helmets, and a marble torso of a Greek Ycnus. Valentino Besarel, whose family date as sculptors from the seventeenth cen- tury, contributes exquisitely carved furni- ture. Dr. Antonio Salviati sends a Mosaic eopy of a sunset by Vernet, said to he a masterpiece. There are also samples of modern Venetian lace, and splendid speci- mens of the new polychrome lace there. A machine said to be the Invention of M. JTavierj and designed for stripping the bark from ramie, was some time ago ex- hibited in the presence of a large gathering of persons interested in the progress of agriculture. The apparatus instantly broke the rigid stalks, rejected the woody por- tion, and transformed the nark into straight fine, and silky filaments, thoroughly pre- pared for spinning and dyeing. DOMESTIC. SUNLIT ROOMS.—Wo article of furniture shouldbeput m a room that will not stand the sunlight, for every room in a dwelling shauld have the windows so arranged that I sometime during the day a flood of sun- light will force itself into, the apartment, The importance of admitting the light of the sun freely into all parts of our dwell- ings cannot be too highly estimated. In- deed perfect health is nearly as much dependent on pure suulight as it is on pure air. Sunlight should never be excluded except when so bright as to be uncomfort- able to the eyes. And walks should be in bright sunlignt, so that the eyeB are pro- tected by veil or parasol if inconveniently intense. A sunbath is of more importance in preserving a healty condiiiou of the body than is generallyjunderstood. A.sun bath costs nothing, and that is a misfor- tune, for people are deluded with the idea that those* things only can be good or use- ful which costs money. Remember that pure water, fresh air, and sunlit houses kept free from dampness will seeure you from many heavy bills of the doctors, and give you health and vigor no money can prooure. It is a well established fact that people who five much in the sun are usu- ally stronger than those whose occupations deprive them of sunlight. And certainly there is nothing strange in the result since the Bam lawe applies with equal force to nearly every animate thing in nature. It Is quite easy to arrange an isolated dwell- ing so that eyeryroom may be flooded wiih sunlight sometime in the day, and it is possible that many town houses could be BO built as to admit more light than they now receive. ^^ • BEEF and mutton are fast becoming the popular aliment. Our large foreign popu- lation, unused in their former homes and poorer circumstances to BO expensive a food, are gradually increasing their con- sumption of meat. It is a fortunate thing, for it is a matter of history that the beef eaters, the best fed people, have led the world m war and peace. And if the gen- eral consumption of beef and mutton will bring the United States into the position of the first nation of the world, or rather keep it there; or if, to take it the other way, the first nation of the world must eat the most beef and mutton, then tnere is a promising outlook for graziers and shep- herds. CHIOKEN JELLY.—Out half of an un cooked chicken into small piecos and break •the bones; pour over it a quart of cold water and boil slowly until it is reduced to less than half; season with salt and a little pepper, if the latter is allowed the invalid. Strain through a colander, then through a jelly-bag into a mould or bow). It the chicken is quite tender boil carefully the breast of the other half of it; cut it into dice and put it into the mold or bowl and oovor it with the liquid. When the jelly ha3 hardened scrape off the layer of fat at the top of the mold before turning the jelly on the platter. OLO KNGLIBH PLUM POBDING.—To make what is termed a pound pudding, take of raisins well-stoned and currantB thoroughly washed one- pound each; chop a pound of suet very finely and mix with them; add a quarter of a pound of flour, or bread very finely crumbled, three ounces of sugar, one ounce of grated lemon peel, a blade of mace, halt a small nutmeg, one teaspoonful of ginger, half a dozen eggs, welf-beaten; work it well together, put it into a cloth, tie it firmly, allowing room to swell and boil not less than seven hours. It should not be suffered to stop boiling. ToAn IN THE HOLE.—Take one half pound of sausage meat and roll it into six balls; place these in a baking dish which has been slightly greased; make a batter of two eggs, two heaped up tablespoonf uls of flour and one-half pint of milk; pour this over the sausage, place in a moderately hot oven; bake one hour; servo at once with pork gravy and plain boiled potatoes, and you have a nice little dinner for two persons. _ HIOKOKY-KUT COCMES.—Mix together two cups of sugar, two-thirds of a cup ot butter, two eggs, six tabiespoonfuls of sweet milk with half a teaspoonful soda dissolved in it and flour enough for a soft dough with a teaspoonful of cream of tarter sifted through it. Add a cupful of the chopped meats; drop, in spoonfulfuls on buttered tins, pat into shape and bake to a light brown. MUTTON CUTLETS.—Trim off all the superfluous fat from each cutlet, dip them in an egg beaten up with a little oil, sorne pepper and salt, then cover them with bread crumbs, and let them rest for a couple ol hours. Pry them in batter or lard to a brown color. Arrange them m circles on a dish, and pour some tomato sauce In the dish. To COOK EGGS —Do not boil Ibem. Put them in water nearly at the boiling point, and let them remain from six to eight minutes, when they will be cooked through, but not hard. To teBt them, lift one out of the water; if it dries off quickly, It is well done. How TO COCK TUENIPS.—Take eight medium sized turnipp; pare and slice them, then put them u to water, just enough to cook; a lump of butter the^size of a hen's egg, one spoonful of brown sugar, and pepper and salt sufficient to season. Add the Ingredients when you put them on to cook. SMALL rolls or sticks of bread are served with soup. Potatoes and bread are usual- ly served with fish, but many peopln pre- fer to serve only bread. Butter is not served at the more' elegant dinners. Two vegetables will be sufficient in any course. Cold dishes should be very cold and hot dishes hot. ______ CEON cakes that are nice for breakfast are made of one quart of flour, one pint of meal, three teaspBonfulsof baking powder, one teaspoonful of sugar, three tabiespoon- fuls of melted lard, sweet milk enough to make a thin batter; add salt enough to suit your taste. IN killing poultry, the French open the beskof the fowl, and with a sharp-pointed, narrow-bladed knife, make an incision at tho back of the roof of the mouth, which divides the vertebra: and causes instant death, after which the fowl is hung up by the legs to bleed. This is a neat and mer- ciful way of doing il. GEANBEERIEB.—Take two quarts of cranberries, stew them nearly done, and put about a pint and a half of stewed ap pies, free from lumps, into them; the apples will very much improve the cranberries; sweeten to taste. ^^ IT IS said that a few cloves scattered on buttery shelves, and occaiionally renewed, will drive away ants. TABNISHED gold embroidery may be cleaned with a brush dipped in burned and pulverised rock alum. *li is a good idea to have a dish of diced lemons for any kind of fish, and especially for those broiled or fried. HUMOEOTJS. \GOT a coundrum for you Johnny; invented it myself,\ said a boy to a play- mate. \What's the difference of a poodle you're dragging by a chain apd a rotten tree trunk?'' After due deliberation Johnny rassed, \One is a. led dog and the other is a dead log. Them kind is awful easy when you know how.\ So thought Johnny, and on his way home he built one on a similar plan, which he tried to explode on the maternal head. \1 say, mi, here's a riddle, made ,it myself. What's the difference between the wax figger of a lady and pa not letting me go to the circus lost week? Cause one's a sham dame and Pothers' a da—-Owl owl! owl!! that hurts, 1 tell you; can't you take a teller 'o your size!\ The conundrum factory has been closed for\ repairs. THE people of Yeidiz-Kiosk are in great trouble and distress, in consequence of a prediction that tha world is about to pass away, many signs having recently occurred that gave weight to the prophecy. We didn'.t suppose that the Yeidiz Kioskers were such a superstitious people. TEDST and you will be trusted, is a familiar maxim, but Blngs, who keeps a peanut stand, sayB that it does not always come true in real life. He is willing, lor mjtonce, to trust Goldsboro, who keeps a jewelers' store round the corner, but Goldsboro hasn't the least confidence in the world in him when he,wants to buy a diamond nieklace. IT is generally difficult for little child- ren to distinguish between toads and frogs —rthey look so much alike. And so yes- terday when a five-year-old girl on West H'll saw the dense fog that shrouded the streets she tried to explain it: \See mamma, what toady weatherl\ -Toady weather; what do you mean by that?\ que- ried the puzzled mamma. \Oh I know,\ said a seven year old listener; \she\ means froggy weather!\ IN the village of Pine's Ridge, N, Y., a large gathering assembled at the Croton Lake hotel to guess at the weight of a big hog. The number oil chances bought at fifty cents each was 123, and when the drawing took place the result was the most remarkable ever recorded in hog-guessing annals. Pour men guessed the exact weight—489 pounds—and dividing the ; price of the hog. w HE—\May I call you revenge?\ She- -'-Why?'' He -\Because 'Revenge is Sweet.' '• She—\Certainly you may; provided, though, you let me call you Vengeance.\ He'—\And why would you call me Ven- She—-'Because 'Vengeance is mine.'\ \1 gues9 you wish we'd all die and go to heaven,\ said a miser's son to his mater- nal parent. \Why so,\ she said, upon recovering trom her astonishment. \Oh 'cause heaven is such a cheap plaoe to live in.\ TEAOHEK—\John what are your boots made of? Boy—Of leather. Where does the leather come from?\ \Prom the hide of the ox.\ \What animal therefore sup- plies you with boots and gives you meat to eat?\ \My father.\ •' \I shall take the law into my own hands\ said the thief; and he walked out with Lawyer doom's new copy ot the.Sga«-'~ s * = ~ - eral Statutes* ONE would say, after the avalanche of Governors' addresses just now, thai the country has sold its birthright for a pot of. message. ' IN Parts, on the Buulevard: \frighten me.\ \What for?\ \Ive got the hic- coughs. Prighten me and they will go away.\ \All right. Lend me Ave francks?\ ' Thanks; thev're gone. Ta, ta.\ \ A EIGUBE of speech: It is a very pretty figure to speak about going from polo to pole, but nothing except the atmosphere has ever succeded in doing that—unless we except some repeaters at an election. THE Baltimore Gazette will support any individual in throwing clubs at any person who rises from his seat in the theatre be- fore the green curtain goes down.. THE idea has become prevalent that the young ladies who practice tight lacing are fast. This is an error, as they are really the most stayed. KEYHOLE caution: When a man is about to be told a secret he shuts the door. When it is a woman she opens it to be sure no one is listening outBide. No mat'er how rich a young man may be, he always prefers mending his suspen- ders with a cord to purchasing a new pair. CLIMB as high, young man, as a worthy ambition will let yet; but never despise the ladder which assisted you upward. IT is said every man thinks himself able to edit a newspaper, and the lass he knows about it the more he thinks he can do it. TIIE Oil City Derrick proposes a widow and orphan's fund for Ben Butler. « BOLOGNA is the link that unites the man with the brute. CBAOKEES, which have become soft, may be freshened by leaving them in a hot oven for a few minutes. Important restorations have been com- pleted in the Prsuenkhche of Nuremberg, one of the most remarkable structures iu that ancient town, and the church was re- cently reconsecrated by tne Archbishop of Bamberg. Built in the latter patt of the fourteenth century, the building still re- ta'ns the celebrated clock in which the seven jfilectors are made each hour to pass in solemn procession around the central figure of the Einperor. Artists from Vi- enna, Munich and lnnspruch have restored the portieres and the sculptures of the west front. A new pattorn of car wheel is being made which will be tested on the Boston and Albany road. It is 42 inches in dia- meter, with nine solid wrought-iron dou- ble spokes, The hub is nine inches in diameter and 7 inches thick, and the rim, which is 2 inches thick, is welded to the spokes. The tire is of solid cast steel, 5 inches broad, the slope ia 2 in 20, and the flange is 1 inch high in sections, formed with curves of 1 inch radi'is. The double spokes give the needed elasticity, and tue steel tire is expected to run 100,000 miles before turning is necessary. The electric exhibition of Paris, which closed OK the night of Sunday, November 20th, produced a net profit estimated at about $77,000. During the last day and evening, admissbn being free, there was a vast multitude in attendance, the mam hall and galleries being crowded with vis- itors of the artisan class. Shortly before 11 o'clock every steam whistle and electric bell were set going, and in the midst of the distracting din the building was clear- ed and the exhibition came to an end. Belting for machinery is successfully made of paper^
