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STHE LAFAYETTE GAZETTE. VOLUME I. - LAFAYETTE, LA., SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1893. NUMBER 26. [Copyright, 1893, by the Author.] E had oft'en tried to pro pose" to h e r, but she was f"such a flippant young person that he found itHlerculean to reduce her to a sufficiently serious frame of mind. Then, too, he was by no means certain as to her feel ings toward himself. Some definite as surance either way would, he felt, have been grateful, although it is safe to affirm that had such assurance been un favorable to his hopes he would none the less have been anxious for further information: however, he was denied the satisfac tion of even well-grounded suspicion. She had such a baffling sort of manner. Never had he been able to surprise her into an admission of anything, however trifling, which might be taken as an in dication that he aroused within her emotions of any kind whatever. It was certainly very difficult to know what to do. Mlany times had he almost taken ad vantage of a momentary silence on her part. Timescwithout number had he nearly clasped her in his arms as she pirounetted past him; but she was too quick for him. The boldest effort on his part had been made one evening after he had brought a friend to call upon her. Minna, Bob and the friend had all sat in the kitchen and pulled taffy. Next evening Bob said, sheep ishly: "Do you know, Minna, what Ikey was tellin' me last night?" "'llow could I know without you told me?" returned Minna, with spirit. She was washing dishes and she clattered them in the pan. "lie was asking me if I were going to marry you?" "And What did you tell him?" "Told him I didn't know." "That was right," said 'Minna, swirl ing the dish-cloth around. "And he-he said I was a durned fool if I didn't." Mlinna went off into peals of laugh ter. Then she sobered up "Didn't what?" "Didn't marry you." "So you would be-if you got the chance!" was the prompt reply. "That's what; I told himn-if I got the chance; but I can't get the chance," de jectedly. "'Vhat right ha:d you to tell him you couldn't get the chance?" "'Cause you ain't never give it to me." "No, and I never will!" returned Min na, with emphasis. ".Jes' what I thought," said Bob, dis mally. "Guess I'd better go." "Guess ye had," remarked his hostess, hospitably. As she spoke she wiped out the dishpan and hung it up on the nail behind. "If I was you, I'd learn a few things before I came courtin'." "lRut you're a big sight cleverer'n me," answered Bob, meekly. 'That's so," said Minna, laconically, as Tob passed dejectedly out of the kitchen door. On thinking over the interview on the way home, Bob thought that on the whole he had not made much progress. A few clays later hope returned, bright-eyed and smiling, and Bob deter mined to make another attempt to se cure the e'usive Minna. In the soft dusk of the early summer evening, he went thoughtfully across the field toward her father's cottage, now softened of its daytime angularities, and, to Bob's imagination, nertling confidingly in the trees. "House ain't much like Minna." he reflected, sadly. "Wisht I could think on some way to cotch her." As he walked, crushing down the moist grass, he revolved a dozen schemes in his mind, all of which had sooner or later to be dismissed as im practicable. in view of the uncertain nature of the damsel in question. If he could only be sure of how Minna would ta anything. But he never could be. She was as wayward as the summer breeze. Suddenly, in the midst of his ponder ing, an idea came to him-a Heaven sent inspiration, so beautiful, so clever, that the cunning little god himself must have been hiding in a blue-bell along his path. Bob gave an emphatic clap to his leg, and the listening Cupid might have heard a short chuckle fol lowed by a delighted exclamation. "Gosh! But that'll do it!" as the wooer sped along the path. Minna herself met Bob at the door, and gave him a chair outside, beneath a fragrant honeysuckle. She sat down near him on the doorstep, and leaned her head against the casement. She looked very pretty, her black eyes darkening the lids, and her face pale in tie dusky twilight; her hair curling in moist little ends around her small face. . Bob looked at her, and his heart failed him. But he remembered a certain T'homas Anderson, whom report said had lingered beneath the honeysuckle for the past few nights, and brought back his oozing courage. "They wuz talking about you last might down at the pump," he remarked, with assumed cheerfulness. "Talkin' about me," said Minna, an grily. "HlIow dared they?" "Oh Lord!" gasped Bob to himself: "if she gets mad before I begin." "They wuz sayin'-sayin'-" "WVell?" sharply: "what wuz they sayin'?" "They wuz sayin' how as you'd never marry anyone, you wuz that uncertain like and flighty-like." "Who said that?" alid Minna, tura ing wrathful eyes upon him. "I don't exactly remember," faltered '*Mons MksIeu1w nirnalit" dlmeidinull. Bob could not truthfully disown the remark, as he had made it frequently. in confidence, to his near companions in the village. So, after this unex pected home-thrust, he remained un comfortably silent. Minna pursued her advantage. "Nice doings, them, fur a man!"Ihe went on contemptuously: ,'Talkin' about girls when they can't talk back for themselves." If the reported conversation had not been wholly imaginary, Bob would have been stricken with remorse. As it was, however, although inwardly trembling, he saw an opening and took it. "But I spoke back for you, Minna; I did." "Oh you did, did you?" was the dis couraging comment. "Since it wuz you said the worst, seems to me it wuz all you could do." "They said a lot more'n 1 did," Bob continued, with fictitious courage. "They said as how I needn't be hang in' around here, fur ye'd allus scorn me till the. jedgment, and not marry me at all.'t 'There wuz some truth in their re marks," remarked Minna, snubbingly. .- ob gathered all his vanishing bold ness together for a final effort. "But there's wusser nor that," he said, with well-forced gloominess. "I said as how I knowed you would marry me-" "Who made you so wise?" interrupted Minna, sarcastically. "An' a man bet me you wouldn't; an' -an'-I bet him you would." "Beasts!" ejaculated the much-in censed Minna. "An' 1 bet a fearful lot, Minna. Gosh! -I'm scared to think of it. If I got to give him all that money the farm'ull have to go, sure." Minna looked up, frightened. "How much?" she asked, faintly. "Wonder how much she'll stand?'.' Bob asked himself, perplexedly. Then he glanced at her tentatively. "I'm most afeard to tell you. It's it's-gosh! Minn a-it's a hundred dol larm!" "Oh. my! "cjac ulated Minna; "you nei er did!" "A hundred dollars!" repeated Bob chokingly, and overeomne by the feel ings he had aroused he buried his hea: -j -w "TREY WUZ TALKING ABOUT YOU." in his hands. From this safe retreat he continued disjointed remarks, broken by emotion. "Don't care for myself--(sigh). I don't want to live, anyway; but the farn'll have to go, sure, and poor mother and father" (sob)- "Oh! no, no," said l inna, tearfully. "They're old, now, to start over again ta protracted sigh); but I kin work for 'em. I'll do it; but--" and Bob's shoulders shook with nobly sup pressed emotion-''it'll come hard to lose the old place now (sob), after all them years." "Oh! don't don't, don't, Bob! I can't. hear it!" gasped NIinna, choking down the tears. "I'll-1'11---" Bob waited a moment. Then he went on: "Poor sister can't go to school, or nothing," rocking himself to and fro in apparent deep grief; "an' thel'e's no wood got for the winter, an' "-here he wept aloud, and, seeing this, Mlinna too wept aloud. "Oh! Bob," she cried; "how could you be so-so-" and she burst again into tears. Bob restrained himself from embrac ing her, and shook his head dismally. "Dunno. Minna," he said, in a chok ing voice: "but there ain't no hope for it now. It's all got to go, farm an' all!" "Never!" Minna said, hysterically. "I will marry you-I will!" "'Tain't right to ask you," Bob said, sadly and hypocritically. "You don't care nothin' about me." "I didn't afore," said Minna, tearfnlly and shamefacedly; "but that was ad awful lot of money to bet on me. I like you fur it, Bob, I do!" "An' will you marry me?" She nodded. "Thank you, Minna," Bob said. mournfully. "It's awful good in you." A moment elapsed before he started on the real business of courtship-he had to proceed carefully-and in that moment Bob looked up at a very jester of a twinkling star and silently ex changed with it a knowing and pro digious wink. A Biblical Phrase. In many of the grandest of Scriptural phrases there is not a little suggestion of the simpl icity of childhood, and on the other hand it not infrequently hap pens that some childish speech reminds one of the utterances of the lrophets of old. An instance of this weaR given not long ago by a lad of fivAb or six sum mers. lie had probably never heard the Biblical sentence wherein it is said of Jehovah that "He bowed the hear ens and came down;" but it was in much the same spirit that he asked his father: "Papa, why doesn't the sky bend down when God stands up?" The chief difference was that between conscious and uiconscious imagery. Youth's Conmpanion. -A very small boy can get outside of a very aInrge watermelon in a very small space of time; but it takes a very large doctor to harmonime the two.-loches tar Demora't FARMER AND LANTER. SAVING OORN FODDER. ~he Southern Ilethod Works Best with Southerna-rown Corn. I have carefully noted recent corre spondence in regard to the manner of saving corn fodder in the south. The southern method, as is generally known, is to strip the blades off below the ear, and top the stalk, blades and all, above the ear-in other words, cut off the "upper story" of the stalk and let the "basement" and the ear stand in the field. Now there is nothing that teaches us quite as thoropghly as experience. Somewhere about thirteen years ago I violated the traditional utterance of Mr. Greeley and went south instead of west. Milk was ten cents per quart, and I bought a dairy' farm and outfit complete-forty good cows, plenty of good well water, besides con nection with the city wator-works and started in to make lots of milk. As a matter of course, cows that gave ten-cent milk had to have plenty of fill ing, and we set to work to supply it. We put stable manure in drills a little less than four feet apart, and drilled in corn, which was thinned to about one stalk in twelve inches, or about one foot apart. The corn grew more than twelve feet tall, every stalk of it. We fed all we could of it green, and cut the remainder up, and "stooked" it up in the field, where it remained a long time, until I was sure it was thoroughly dried out. Then we hauled it and ricked it up. The result was a large lot of spoiled corn fodder. There is too much water in the south ern cornstalk to cure it; and it is so large and woody, that it is rejected by anything with less digestion than an ensilage cutter. and I came to the con clusion, after that, to be content with taking off the top six or eight feet of the stalk. In other words, I fell in with the customs of the country as gracefully as possible. There is noth ing on the farm that has so much water in it as the lower end of a cornstalk, unless it is some of the milk we get in this city. The southern cornstalk can not be cured so as to stand storage. Therefore the farmer has dropped into the habit of "topping" above, and "blading" below the ear. It is true this gives him extra work, but it also gives him a most excellent quality of fodder. The size to which southern corn at tains, under favorable circumstances, is almost past belief. The growth of corn on the lands bordering on the great Dismal swamp is something real ly astonishing. I visited one farm a year or two since, upon which was one continuous field of corn, of about 600 acres. The soil was a rich, dark loam, and in July it had attained its full growth. The corn ears were higher than our heads, and in fact many of the ears were too high to hang a hat on, and the stalks were so tall that the tops could not be reached by am umbrella held by the out stretched arm. All these stalks from top to bottom were well bladed with broad, long blades of fod der. The lower portion of the stalk, however,was in perpetual twilight,the sun's raysnot being able to penetrate within four feet of the ground. In such fields at midday, when the sun was shining as it knows how to shine in the "Sunny South," the lamp of the "fire-fly" (lightning-bug) was plainly seen, in the perpetual twilight near the base of the stalk. Such a large stalk, however, is not profitable in pro portion to size. By judicious selection many farmers have been able to get as large an ear from a smaller stalk. The trucker for example, who puts in a crop of corn in June, after potatoes have been dug, uses a variety that reaches a height of about eight feet. and cuts it all up close to the ground, but the regu lar field corn of the south, which in this vicinity, reaches such a large growth of stalk, is not considered of any value below the ear. VWe have in dividual farmers here, who annually plant from 500 to 1.200 acres in corn, and who never save one per cent. of either "blade" or "stalk"-it all goes to waste, except such good as the same may do the soil by being plowed under, in preparing the ground for the next crop. I was shown one field of corn last season, upon which twenty-seven annual cropsof corn had been grown in twenty-eight years. There are many things about south ern farming that can and should be remedied; but cutting the corn-stalk off above the ear, where corn is twelve feet or more in length, is not the worst mistake a farmer can make. Iobome genius will get up a corn that will make a six-foot stalk and a two-foot ear, he can find customers for that same corn down this way. ly *the way, we have a find stand of corn this year. Ve were nearly four inches behind in our usual rain fall, until the last forty-eight hours, during which time we have been favored with a liberal supply, that puts the ground in first-class shape. Our corn field were never cleaner than now. As fast as the present truck crops are taken off, other crops are put in, among which will be large areas of "ninety-day corn"-corn that will ma ture in ninety days.-Farmers' Home Journal. FEEDING PIGS. The ITest Results Attained Throughb the Sow. Generous treatment of the brood sows always pays in the increased thriftiness of the pigs: while to stint the sow is to stint the pigs, and in doing this an in jury will be inflicted that no after treatment will entirely overcome. It is not necessary or best to have the seows fat, yet it is very essential tfhat she be in a vigorous, thrifty condition, :and whether she iscarrying or suckling a good litter of pigs, it is very im por-tant that she be supplied liberally with material that will supply plenty of nourishing food for her pigs. A good brood sow is either carrying or suckling a litter of pigs the greater portion of tilthe time, nd it euhieo grood maa~ue ment to feed and care fcr her so that she will be in trim all of the time. The quality, as well as the quantity, of the food is important, as she can not in anywise furnish the nourishment un less she is first properly supplied with the food. Young pigs must commence to grow as soon as they commence to nurse. They are, of course, too young to eat themselves, hence must be fed through the sow. A good start secured while they are young will make it IA much easier matter to keep them growing, and the easiest way of securing profit able hogs is by a quick growth, and if a quick growth and an early maturity is secured it is very important that the pigs be kept growing from the start. By feeding the sow liberally with nour ishing food she will be able to furnish sufficient feed to her pigs to keep them growing right along, so that when the change is made to something else they will l;e in a healthy, thrifty condition, and will not suffer in any way by the change. For a week after farrowing, as a rule, the feeding should be light, and then the ration should be rapidly increased until she is given all that she will eat up clean each meal, and this must be kept up until the pigs are weaned. It will be difficult, no matter how well fed she may be, to keep her from running down, and the liber al feeding must then be kept up to have her come in again. And then after she is bred, liberal feeding is necessary so that she can properly nourish her pigs and be in condition to stand the drain of suckling another litter. Feeding the sow liberally, both dur ing gestation and while suckling her pigs, will help materially in making her pigs vigorous. There is no danger of the pigs making too rapid growth. In fact the feeding and management should be such as will secure the most rapid growth. A good sow 'will suckle her pigs an average of ten weeks and this is fully one fourth of the time they should be allowed to properly grow for market, and as it is the most im portant stage, is very essential that g--od treatment be given and this can not well be done unless good treat ment is given the sows.-Cor. Farm and Ranch. Wherein an Education Pays. To be the most successful .farmer a man should be well posted and well educated. There are few branches of knowledge from which he can not draw in every-day life: In the natural sciences the graduate of the highest institutions of learning in the land will find in the ordinary work of the farm a post-graduate course which will be more practical and thorough than that prescribed in the curriculum of any of our schools. The introduction to a line of study in this direction given at our schools can be carried on indefinitely andl to decided advantage. A knowledge of entomology will assist the farmer in determining among the insects which surround him his friends and his enemies, and being able to protect the one and destroy the other may be of great value. The same is true in re gard to birds, beasts and reptiles. It is along this line that an ed nca tion may be put to a practical use. Intelligent effort is always rewarded.-National Stockmnan and Farmer. HERE AND THERE. -A vegetable-headed man is one with carrotty hair, reddish cheeks, turnup nose and a sage look. -Iletter let the hogs or sheep eat the fallen fruit than to allow it to rot un der the trees, as by this plan both the stock and the trees will be benefited. -The 'wa g trough is apt to be neglected and lifomne more or less foul during the hofveather. See that it is clean and the water pure. -"A hard row to hoe" evidently re fers to a cottsn row on sandy land in wet weather. and beautifully rooted wit.W crab-grass. --iecause you are through withwith your harvester for this season is no reason why it should be permitted to remain where you used it last until another crop has been planted and matured. --A great many farmers fall, like the speculator, by "'biting off maore than he can chew," or "wading beyond his depth," or planting more than he can properly cultivate. All these aphorisms mean the same thing. -Never neglect to repair your har ness or vehicles as soon as they need it, since by their giving way at some unexpected moment a good horse may be ruined or a human life lost. "'A stitch in time," etc. -Vegetable matter is nature's fertil izer, and all that can not be usc.l to purpose in feeding should be turned under. Tile time spent in turning under weeds and refuse will bring back much more than it cost. -Have two shares to each plow and you will then neither have to stip work in order to go to the blacksmith's nor have to continue using a dull tool. You will save the cost of the extra share every season. -Be sure to educate your horse or colt on both sides, since while he may be perfectly familiar with an object hen seen by one eye, it will most surely frighten him when seen for the first time with the opposite one. -Farm tools and implements proper ly cared for and intelligently handled usually give satisfaction, and last longer than a responsible manufactur er or reliable dealer said they would. -Fatten and market all matured stock. Young. growing stock pays a better profit for the feed supplied, with the exception of the milch cowvs, the work teams and the breeding animals. No matured stock should be kept any longer than is necessary to fit for mar ket. -It depends much upon the farmer's location whether hlie should keep this or that breed of sheep. If he is near a good city market the mutton breeds will be profitable. Others will find it best to keep sheep for both wool and mutton, but all farmers shoild keep lwhep THE FEAR OF SNAKES. Why Many Children and Some Grown Persons Dislike Them. There are authenticated instances of children becoming attached to snakes and making pets of them. The solu tion of a question of this kind is some times to be found in the child mind. My experience is that when yonng children see this creature its strange appearance and manner of progression, so unlike those of other animals known to them, affect them with amazement and a sense of mystery, and that they fear it just as they would any other strange thing. Monkeys are doubtless affected in much the same way, although in a state of nature, where they inhabit forests abounding with the larger con strictors and venomous tree-snakes, it is highly probable that they also possess a traditional fear of the serpent form. It would be strange if they did not. The experiment of presenting a caged monkey with a serpent carefully wrapped up in a newspaper, and watch ing his behavior when he gravely opens the parcel, expecting to find nothing more wonderful than the familiar sponge-cake or succulent banana-well, such an experiment has been recorded in half a hundred important scien tific "works, and out of respect to one's masters one ought to en deavor not to smile when reading it. A third view might be taken which would account for our feeling towards the serpent without either instinct or tradition. Extreme fear of all ophid ians might simply result from a vague knowledge of the fact that some kinds are venomous; that, in some rare cases, death follows swiftly on their bite; and that, not being sufficiently intelligent to distinguish the noxious from the in nocuous-at all events while under the domination of a sudden violent emotion -we destroy them all alike, thus adopt ing Herod's rough and ready method of ridding his city of one inconvenient babe by a general slaughter of inno cents. It might he objected that in Europe, where animosity to the serpent is great est, death from snake-bite is hardly to be feared; that Fontana's six thousand experiments with the viper, showing how small is the amount of venom possessed by this species, how rarely it has the power to destroy human life, have been before the world for a cen tury. And although it must be admit ted that Fontana's work is not in the hand of every peasant, the fact that death from snake-bite is a rare thing in Europe, probably not more than one person losing his life from this cause for every two hundred and fifty who perish by hydrophobia, of all forms of death the most terrible. Yet, while the sight of a snake excites in a major ity of persons the most violent emo tions, dogs are universal favorites, and we have them always with us, and make pets of them in spite of- the knowledge that they may at any time become rabid and in flict that unspeakably dreadful suffer ing and destruction on us. This leads to the following question: Is it not at least probable that our excessive fear of the serpent, so unworthy of us as rational beings, and the cause of so much unnecessary cruelty, is, partly, at all events, a result of our supersti tious fear of sudden death? For there exists, we know, an exceedingly wide spread delusion that the bite of a ven omous serpent must kill, and kill quickly. Compared with such ophidian monarchs as the bush-master, fer-lce lance, hamadryad. and tic-polonga, the viper of Europe-the poor viper of many experiments and much (not too readable) literature-may be regarded as almost harmless-at all events, not more harmful than the hornet. Never theless, in this cold, northern world, even as in other worlds where nature elaborates more potent juices, the delu sion prevails, and may be taken in ac count here, although its origin cannot now be discussed. For my own part I am inclined to be lieve that we regard serpents with a destructive hatred purely and simply because we are so tau-rlht from child hood. A tradition may be handed down without .writing. or even articu late speech. We have not altogether ceased to be "lower animals" ourselves. Show a child by your gestures and ac tions that a thing is fearful to you, and he will fear it; that you hate it, and he will catch your hatred.-Macmillan's Magazine. Creamed COulitlower. One head of cauliflower will be suf ficient for several meals. Break off sprigs about two inches long from the top, carefully wash them, put them in boiling, salted water and cook about twenty minutes or until tender, the time depending on the size of the spr,igs. Pour over them a white sauce of milk thickened with a little flour, well boiled, and seasoned with salt. Tomatoes can be cooked in so many different ways that if the invalid relishes them there is a wide field for exercise of ingenuity in preparing them. Fresh ones are delicious bakeld. Cut one in thin sliccg, place these in a dainty dish, sprinkle each slice with pepper and salt and place a small piece of butter in the middle of it, cover the top with breadcrumbs dotted with scraps of butter. Bake not more than half an hour. In stewing canned tomatoes it will be found an improve ment to add a few grains of baking soda to correct the acidity, and a very little sugar, not enough to make them taste sweet. They require a generous piece of butter and enough bread crumbs to thicken them. A little grated nutmeg improves the flavor. Too long cooking increases the acidity. -Ladies' Home Journal. Poor Little Thaing. "Why do you look so sad, my love?" said Younghusband. ''I was thinking of a poor little beg gar child that came here this morning," replied Mrs. Y. "Just think, Charles; the poor child was only eight years old, and her fa:ther was killed at hull Run and her mother died of sorrow within a year afterward."-Truth. -All work and no play is bad for .Tack, but u~ worse than all play and ao work. HOUSEHOLD BREVITIES. --Shirred Eggs.-Put a piece of but ter the size of a hazelnut in a teacup with a pinch of salt and a little pepper. Break in two eggs without stirring. Set in a pan of boiling water to cook. When the whites are set serve immedi ately in the cup they were cooked in. Detroit Free Fress. -Lemon Essence.-When one is using lemons rientifully, an excellent essence may be msade at the slightest cost. Put the grated rind of a dozen lemons into a pint of alcohol, add a teaspoonful of lemon oil, bottle and cork tightly and set in a warm place; shake every day for two weeks, when it will be ready for use. -Country Gentleman. -Date Custard Pie-Is good for a spring dinner. Cook half a pound of dates until soft enough to rub through a sieve: then to a pint and a half of sweet milk, add two well-beaten eggs, one pinch of salt, a little powdered cinnamon, and bake in one crust. Use the whites of the eggs for a meringue to cover the top of the pie after it is baked.--lome Queen. -Baked Eggs.--lreak six or seven eggs into a buttered dish, taking care that each is whole and does not en croach upon the others so much as to mix or disturb the yolks: sprinkle with pepper and salt and a bit of butter up on each; put into an oven and bake un til the whites are well set. Serve very hot, with rounds of buttered toast or sandwiches.-Orange .Judd Farmner. -Strawberry Ice Cream.-Take one quart strawberries, mash them, and then sweeten so that they will not curdle the cream. Take three pints of cream, and if rich, one-half pint of milk. 'ut strawberries and cream to gether and sweeten all sweeter than if to be eaten before freezing, as the freezing takes out the sweetness. Other flavors may be made with just the cream and flavoring, including peach, pineapple and vanilla.--Hoston Budget. -Asparagus on Toast.--To those who like it this is the most delicious vegetable that can be served: those who dislike the peculiar flavor deny that it can have any merit. Tie. the stalks into a small bunch. cut off the hard lower part antd plunge the heads into a saucepan of salted boiling water. Let them boil from ten to fifteen minutes, piercing them with a long pin to try if they are tender. Have ready a square of buttered toast and arrange the asparagus neatly upon it. Cover the dish with a hot bowl that it may reach the invalid in good condition. Ladies' Home Journal. -Parker Hlouse Rolls. - Rub one tablespoonful of butter into one quart of flour; boil one-half pint of new milk. and when cool. pour it into a vwtll, or bay, in the center of the flour, add half a tablespoonful of white sugar, a pinch of salt, and half a cup of yeast, or half a well soaked yeast cake. Do not stir this mixture, but allow it tc stand for eight or ten hours: mix it inte dough and let it stand until light, mold and roll out on the bread board until albout half or three-fourths of an inch in thickness, and cut with a circular cake cutter, rub the top of each with melted butter and fold nearly one-hall over on the other half. after the man ncr of a turnover, place a tiny bit of butter on the top of each, place them upon the tins upon which they are tc be baked. let them rise, and when light bake quickly.--Farm. Field and Fire side. THE WOMAN WHO BORROWS. An Unmitigated utlisanc-e to lie Found it, All Grades of Life. A man who steals is a thief and a criminal, but a woman who is a pro fessional borrower is usually a lady and a Christian. She borrows every thing, from your diamond ring to your wash tub, and never returns anything till you go after it. and yet escapes scot-free. I think jumtice as well as love is stone blind, but it is high time something was done to restore her sight. I lived next door to a profes sional borrower once. "l'hat's why I amn poor to-day. She lborrowed ill sorts of things in the grocery line, tea, cof fee, sugar, eggs, salt, vinegar. etc., al though the grocery store was just across the street. She di:l not take the daily papers, but came after ours as soon as they arrived. Our magazines and books were her legitimate prey and I have heard since that she had to buy another bookcase to hold the many volumes she ac(luired in this way. She had a daughter, a young lady, who dressed as stylishly as the neighbors could afford. 1 got used to lending her my opera glasses and fan, but when she asked for mny opera wrap as well I drew the line. I remember one day she came in in great haste to say she was going to the opera that evening and please would I let her take my wrap. I told her I expected to use it myself. "Oh. diar," she said. "now 1 suppose I shall have to go over to \Vindsor and-get my cousin's and I'm all tired out now. You see, it's going to be very swell this evening, so nma got te a new dress and I borrowed Mrs. Smith's evening bon net and Belle Jones' fan. You know they go beautifully together, and my sister has a pair of white gloves she got Christmas, and I thought with these and your velvet cape I would be all fixed." She had such an injured look that I positively felt guilty, but I compromised with my conscienoe by lending her my opera-glassess, and she departed for Windsor in quest of a wrap to complete her outfit."-Detroit Tribune. House Plants as Thermometers. A better thermometer could hardly be found than the average plant. If it thrives you may be pretty sure that the atmosphere of the room is all right, but if it wilts and dies you may lbe equally certain that the air of the apartment in which it is given a home is vitiated. WVhere plants wiill not live human beings cannot find a healthy existence. This of course holds good with those plants which do not call for excess of he:at or very great moisture. Keep your window greenery bright and flourishing and you will preserve your own bloom as well.--?hiladelphia Ia Iuirct: PERSONAL AND IMPERSONAL. -A man was seen loafing about a building that was being painted at Bel fast, Maine, recently. When asked if he wanted a job he said that he was only waiting for the men to be paid off, as he wanted to borrow a dollar.-Phil adelphia Ledger. -William D. McCoy, United States Minister to Liberia, whodied at Monro via May 14, was a native of Cambridge City, Ind.,- and about 40 years of age. He had been a teacher for many years, prior to his appointment, and was one of the most progressive colored men in the country. -Every spring the emperor o China goes to "the emperor's field," plows a portion of it, sows it with several kinds of seeds and superintends the ceremony while the princes and nine courtiers perform the same act in honor of the god of agriculture. The empress at the same time gives her ladies a lesson in silk culture. -Mrs. Martha Raymond, colored, who livgs near WVoodbury, N. J., claims to be 115 years old. She says she was born in Virginia in 1778, and some of the oldest residents of Woodbury admit that she seemed to be a pretty old wom an when they were young pegple. She has been livipg in that town for about sixty years. -'The duke of Newcastle's specialty in amateur photography is to secure portraits of rare wild animals in their native surroundings. lie travels in quest of these with (;ambier Fenton, a member of the Royal Geographical so ciety and well known as one of the most expert amateur photographers of animals in the world. --Judge McKinley. of Duluth, is in a singular position. He is judge of the circuit court, in which his own wife, recently admitted to the bar, will prac tice. And yet he is probably the only man in the world to-day who can pre vent his wife from having the last word or fine her for contempt if she does not stop talking when he tells her to. -It is related of Edwin Booth that he was at one time able to save the life of Robert Lincoln. Both men were in a railway station, and Mr. Lincoln had inadvertently stepped on a track in front of an approaching engine. Ab sorbed in thought, he had not noticed the vicinity of the train, and would have been struck down had not Mr. Booth sprung forward, caught him in his arms, and lifted him almost bodily to a place of safety. The engine was so near that it actually grazed Mr. Lincoln's heels. -Ex-Secretary of the -avy Tracy is quoted as saying, apropos of the dis aster to the Victoria, that a line-of battle ship like her is always exposed to the danger of capsizing, being top heavy. "The Victoria carried a mon strous gun, weighing 110 tons. The largest gun we have weighs only sixty five tons. This tremendous weight placed the ship at the mercy of the waves as soon as the water began to pour in. This accident only re-enforces what I have repeatedly said in my an nual reports, that, however, it may be for England, it is folly for us to keep a large battleship cruising in time of peace." -Self-interest is not an inevitable quantity in human nature. There is a bluff and hearty old Irishman who keeps a small book store in a New York suburban town, who expresses opin ions about the wares that he sells. WVhen a boy inquires for "Daredevil Dick., the Dead Shot," he says: "What! haven't you any better way to spend your time than in reading trash like that? ]Here it is. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Now, don't you read it until you've shown it to your parents." A man who had ordered, through him, a number of works on spiritualism and magic, was greeted, on the delivery of those volumes, with: "*Man. man! Time must be heavy on your hands to want to be studying rub bish like that." "'A LITTLE NONSENSE." -He (passionately)-"I love you above all others on earth." She-"lI never thought you would go back on yourself like that."-The Club. .-"Ethel's young man came to see her last night and she was considerably tickled." "WVas she? 1 didn't know he had a mustache."-N. Y. Press. -"Poor fellow! Did he lose his eyes in the war?" "Oh. no. lie tried to pass a .volmen on the street when she had her umbrella up."-l)etroit Tribune. -Anne-"fDo you know, Mabel. I had two offers of marriage last week?" Mlabel--"'My darling Anne! 1 am so de lighted! Then it is really true that your uncle left you all his money?" Judy. -"Did the Hightones give you a pleasant reception when you visited them?" " V'ell, I should say so. The thermometer stood ninety in the shade and the whole family was as frigid as an iceberg."-Inter Ocean. -Mrs. Caroline (to crossing-sweeper) -"I have no coppers. I'm sorry." MLr. lirch-"l)on't mention it, 'm. My fault, 'm, for not knowin' as you was a-conm in' this way and not gettin' change for a fl'-p'un' note ready."--Fun. -"Now, you wouldn't say-that that man across the street is worth ten thousand dollars, would you?" "0O, I don't know. It might be true." "That, is the reason I thought you wouldn't say it."-Indianapolis Journal. -Superstitious.-A cynic was asked the other day if he objected to being one of thirteen at dinner. "I do under certain circumstances," he replied, em- phatically." "And those are?" "When there is only dinner enough for twelve." -Youth's Companion. -Old Professor-"My young friends, let me give you a word of advice. Be kind to the dull boys." Young Teach er-"Certainly, but if they won't learn their lessons-" "Be kind to them, pet them, make them your warmest friends." "utn-" "e- ~buts about it. Win their love if you Oah. SeI day in after years, when yea are a old and helpless as I am, yon may need the - assistance of wealthy men." "Of course, but----" "Well, the dull boys are the ones that get rich."---listoU .. -ome Journal. Ii .