The Lafayette gazette. [volume], November 25, 1893, Image 1

About The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921

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AY Xi7ITUTE 4 GAZETU
LAFAYETTE, LA., SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1893.
m Preess vold.
bosa. ae; `
fred.when, it was dons
mebear4
f4luor' `tsclsswgrreaye:.
isled.n
TI~e hta ivs, .Girrs
:r Rwee tal mes o sad y
'1h s, 1 e , erwhen it wad dee
I'e widthe horses.i
e eOel d frral,
Ap-agidhed-and e-fbousirtakaldy
.AnY@g thepvery, veryw e ban .
e#te proebssion,dtam sgoo frend
h failydin, with-merr e dliwan ber
Mel ad drive.gmthje ow oaf creaturesyin
And~tbsn, wth load, exltant bark
He 'Ifayl·sprung abloard I ark.
heasm crowded was the aadoe -"
Icoaul notAtI , sn itspaemes;
Spatiently he sre a
stooed hatwdasrmer'd ate o taes day
.And a thse exrsmely ben r =
Vt teproessnrios ohs goos d fbsriend
He1cendedjutheo ronwde ofadreatours
Anda several hore, eu at their clse
Mosstfrocronwde wis honest anse,
And never could it lose agalae;
The dampness of that dreadful rain;
Absthis i -wiy-se I've been toldt
We had thpe edogs nose ha ays cold.
s-Margaret Etge, nine batro rede urs
ON TIME.
and eweralmererand at their oasbe
otrenwae on an E ngine.
Sad nevrVER tired oft m
Thos dampnes of that dreadfu rain;
*1. -this, is, whj-se I've been told- -
e findtheosnselling theid
-Margaret Zyrtinge, in DetroiLt Free Press
ONJ TIM~E.
a Boyr ~'feman' ?wying Ezpel
suce on a Engrine.
VER tired of
telling the
story, did yon
say? Ah, no,
boys; it is as
plainly stamped
upon my mem
ory as if it hap
pened only yes
terday instead
of a great many
years ago. Draw
up your chairs,
and you. Tom,
throw another
log upon the
embers, for the air seems chilly.
We Jaceksons are railroad men from
away back, and a better engineer than
fay father never .opened a throttle or
nmoved a wHeel. He was employed on
what was then known-ars the Pacific
Short Line and pulled No. 18 from
Packford to Denver, through a country
wildly romantic but thinly settled.
When No. 18 started on her regular
trip you could not imagine a prettier
train in those days. Cars all new,
lamps bright, windows polished and
the headlight glowing with a brilliancy
that, as I remember it, was far ahead
of your modern electricity.
The road was just built and men
were scarce, so the company practiced
economy by letting me run with my
father as fireman. It was a feather in
the cap of a boy of fourteen, and I ap
preciated it.
I What pride I experienced in leaning
out of the cab window and watching
the scenery as we flew over the coun
try! I shall never forget how magnifi
cent it all seemed. Here and there the
road curved to the left or right, to pass
some deep glen filled with pines and
overhanging rocks; often a fock of deer
could be seen on a platean one hundred
feet below, quietly grazing. but ready
to toss up their pretty, innocent heads
and flee at the slightest approach of
danger.
Sometimes we would dash into adeep
cut and run more slowly while dark
ness reigned for a moment. Emerging
from thls, we crossed a pretty moun
tain stream. The little rivulet came
bubbling and rushing down the steep
hillside like a silver ribbon, growing
suddenly wider and falling over a
precipice in glassy haste on jagged
rocks below, where it broke into a bril
liant mass of spray and dazzled the eye
with its form and color.
It was a dreary afternoon in Decem
ber. We had been running extra for
forty-eight hours, on account of the
heavy storms that had been raging for
a week previous. I was so tired that I
nE uTn mm H.xo To ms yoRIEEAD.
lept upon my cnishion, while father
added my work to his own and piloted
our precious freight of human life
through thd snow.
Old18 had seemed discouraged and
Rablored beavily under her burdens as
the limabing grew" Ateeper but father
*tinrd tip her strength whenever she
shivered bath the salet th~at mtrisck
ier flercla' in the face and at ten
-'o~bdk4~ s~~ie~- myself to learn that
-ea 'm~~at our terminus.
Ab amel sagRw elarily my poor father
atgCwag ed frmee the cab and how gladly
I aadw 1-t~e-gss~om take poesesion of
tha al44wou ; ese-b trub her down and
aWe 1e< the station for
'l&mldaern ws given my father to
on the night mail
inl place of
wab dat
'hA h~rea
headti feeble way, buti there was no
tit o4 getting rid of tse trip
.auhilnd'he dtidnot omplahn.'
iMother fetted about te eetsotf as.
much alziety -and lose of dlee upon
bins and-vainly tried to tempt sap
uiIte s suppsetI., but ie talked to
Aer 'hetell~y altd said he should be
a lright, that Ned would take care of
him, sad when this trip was over he
would have a rest.
We hurried to the depot, where our
train was waiting, and I thought when
we came to the engine that it panted
and chafed as it tired of the delay.
Father patted her sides as if she was a
living creature and said to me, with a
smile:
"he is a stranger to me, Ned, but
she is strong and willing. With plenty
of coal and water bshe will show steam
enough to take us safely through."
We had to wait a few minues for
the passengers to come boiling out of
the depot, with their arms full of par
eels and lunch-basket', but at last the
signal came and with. a firm, 'gentle
hand father guided us out into the
darkness of the night.
I was determined to keep awake and
do mypart of the work, and I soon
saw that father was not as well as
when we started. He leaned beavily
againstAhe window and as I opened
the door of the furnace to feed it with
coal I thought 1 had never seen his face
so pal..
He did not talk much, but whenever
I looked at him he smiled in a way that
seemed sad and ghastly.
It was nearly six o'clock in the morn
ing when we left Nicholby, and two
hours more would bring as to Denver.
In spite of my fears about father I was
growing drowsy, when I was startled
to hear him exclaim, in a elear, ringing
voice:
"Ned, do you see yon light? 'Tis a
signal, lad!"
I glanced out of my frosty window,
but could see nothing, and, getting
down from my place, crossed over to
his side of the cab, thinking the signal
would be visible from that seat.
His eyes had grown wonderfully
bright and were fixed upon something
in the darkness.
Springing lightly up beside him, I
gazed in the same direction, but the
light be saw was not for me.
"Where is it, father?" I asked,
eagerly.
His eyelids closed a moment and then
opened slowly.
''Dear Ned," said he, in beautiful ten
derness, "the signal is put out for me.
It means a report to headquarters-s
long lay-oft-and-rest."
He sighed gently and his head fell
back on my shoulder.
For the first time in my life I drew
near the presence of death and my
r I.
HE GAVE THE THROTTLE A TREMULOUS
PUSH.
thoughts flew to the mother who was
waiting our return. My tears fell thick
and fast and I stroked the damp hair
that clustered about his forehead and
kissed him again and again.
The hand that had been guiding us
safely through that night of storm over
those black miles of peril fell from the
lever and I cried aloud in agony.
He roused himself again, leaned for'
ward, gave the throttle a tremulous
push and looked at me with the glory
of eternity shining on his face.
"I shall be found at my post, lad, and
the Master will care for you and moth
er. Don't cry, dear, but tell her how I
got the summons."
His breath grew shorter and I gath
ered him closer to my heart, listening
intently for his last words. Softly
but clearly they came to my benumbed
understanding:
"Stand by the engine, Ned! Run her
through on time."
A smile settled on his white lips and
all was over. Faithful unto death!
The situation was beyond description.
It was some time before I could realize
that I must bear the great responsibility
ofmy father's position. I still clung to
that dead body. kissing and caressing
the quiet face, but at last his words:
"Run her through on time," came to
me, and, laying him reverently back on
the cushions, I clambered down,
opened the furnace and filled it with
coal. I soon had a full head of steam
again, and, taking my place close by
my father's side, I grasped the throt
tle firmly and asked Heaven to help
me to stand by the engine in obedience
to his dying command.
Daylight looked in upon us to put a
seal on the bitterest night's work a boy
ever knew. The storm ceased to beat
upon oar windows and the sun arose
to usher us promptly into Denver.
When I saw that we were not a mio
ment behind the regular hour I felt en
couraged to believe that out of my sor
row I might begin a life that would
always keep the name of Edward Jack
son as bright as my father had left it.
Like him, I was determined to be a
xsiroad man "on time."-Chicago
News.
-A French lady is showing a visitor
the family portraits In the picture gal
lery. "That oficer there in the pmi
form," she says, "was my great-great
grandfather. He was as brave as a
lok, but one of 'the most unfortunate
of soon-he never, fought in a battle in
which he did not have an arm or a leg
carried awbhy" Then she adds proudly:
"Xe toph paar In stwn)yfouar aoguge.1
- " ll·*
AGRICULTURAL HINTS.
CONVENIENT PIG PEN.
A Cheap Structure Made of Raough Boards
waut Pa wonel Tgeter.
An improving farmer, whose pigs
have heretofore run at large, Is desirons
of inclosing them in a convenient pen,
apd -asks for one of convenient form.
He wishes one of cheap structure, made
of rough boards, but put substantially
together.
In answer to his inquiry, we offer the
annexed cut (Fig. 1), which we trust
will answer his purpose. It is about
twelve feet wide, and of any desired
length, according to the number of
piga. A portion of it is represented by
Fig. 2, divided into compartments, and
FIG.. 1.
these into eating and sleeping apart
ments. A series of these pens extends
as far as may be desired; and the sides
may be a separate wall of the building,
or they may be a high stone wall or a
high board fence. Fig. 8 represents a
portion of this line of compartments,
needing no special explanation. The
division between the sleeping and eat-_
ing apartments will be sufficieent it only
six inches high, as they will keep the
contents carefully separate. Harris
Fle. .
says that "pigs will go to their own
pens as readily as cows to their stalls.
There is no more docile or tractable
animal on tSie farm than a well-bred
pig. It is true that he will not be driv
en-there is a good deal of human na
ture about him. A cross-bred man will
soon spoil a lot of well-bred pigs." For
this reason the pen should be so con
structed as to allow the pig to keep his
quarters in perfect order.
It is important that a pig pen be
be placed on rather rising ground, so
that .the water from rains may flow
off freely in all directions, and the
pIe. 8.
forming of mud prevented. The floor
should descend several inches, and the
manure be wheeled off at least once a
day. The doors for wheeling it out
should of course be large enough to ad
mit a free passage. The feeding apart
ments may be about 6 feet wide and 7
feet long, and sleeping apartments 4 by
7. Some persons would have them
larger. They may be varied indefi
nitely.
Some successful farmers, instead of a
plank floor, form a bed of dry peat,
procured from a peat swamp and thor
oughly dried. This absorbs all the
animal matter, care being taken to
draw it out and spread it as manure be
fore it becomes too moist. This mode
of management requires particular care
to keep it perfectly neat and clean.
Country Gentleman.
ABOUT THE HORN FLY.
Applications Whaich Have Bees Known
to Destroy the Pest.
The treatment for the horn fly is
mostly preventive in its nature, and
consists of the application to the cattle
of odorous substances which will keep
the flies from the animals. For this
purpose a great many substances have
been recommended, but most of them
have proved of but little value. The
following, however, have given the
most satisfactory results at our hands.
First "Gnat-oil," made as follows:
Crude carbolic acid, one ounce; penny
royal, one-half to one ounce; sulphur.
one fourth of a pound; crude cotton
seed oil, one gallon. Mix well, and
apply with a brush or cloth to the back
and shoulders of the cattle. The crude
cotton-seed oil is cheaper than the
other oils, although fish-oil and lard
oil are equally as good in making the
above.
Second. Fish-oil and tar mixed and
applied as above is equally effective.
The tar is mixed with the fish-oil so
that the odor may last longer and thus
keep the flies away from the animals a
greater length of time. Either of the
above will keep the flies away from the
animals for several days, after which
the application should be repeated.
Third. The flies breed in fresh man
ure. It is thus important that the
barn-yards be kept as clean and free
from manure as possible. Lime placed
upon the manure will kill the larvma.
Farm and Fireside.
Patent Foods for Cattle.
Beware of patent cattle foods which
are so seductively advertised. The New
Hampshure station has found out they
are big humbugs. One food which sells
for 68 per 100 pounds or 6120 per ton,
is nothing but wheat bran, salt and
enaugreek. Another sells for 68 per 100
pounds and is only wheat middlings
and screenings mixed, with caraway or
fennel seeds added and something
which appeared to be butternut or elm
bark and salt A certain condition
powder is a mixture of corn meal and
cottonseed meal with salt and fenu
greek and sells at 3 pounds for 50 cents.
-Farm and Home.
To Make Pork Raising Pay.
Intensive methods in stock-growing
are just as needful as in any other
branch of agriculture. The first step
toward this isto have thoroughly good
cattle; fewer, it need be, but better.
Have no more than can be fed bounti
fully all the year through. Work for
early maturity all the time. Breed up
constantly by selection and the Intro
uection of new blood. itever rest con
tent until von have not only good stock,
but the very best for your purpose,
whatbvrtlaktptwpossla-Rawal TWaml
PLANTING FOR HONEY.
esatl or spueamemes Coaesead as Kern
insp, Wiesh.
slag.7[febr . -4dlr
The following is from the 4eciai rg.
port of J. H. Larrabee to the departe
ment of agriculture, Washington. The
experiments were conductedat Lansing,
Mich.:
There were in bloom at this station
this season three acres, of sweet clover
(Melilotus alba), sown in June, 1891.
It was sown upon rather poor clay soil,
yet it made a fair growth last fall and
came through the winter in good con*
dition. It began to bloom July 8 and
continued in bloom till the 20th of
September. The period of greatest
bloom and, honey secretion was from
July 20 to September 1. It grew rapid.
ly and was very rank, reaching s
height of about six feet. The amonupt
of bloom was great and the bees were
continually busy upon it, yet during
the period from July 24 to August 10,
while it was in full bloom and while
all other natural sources were absent,
no honey of any appreciable extent
was gathered and the hive upon scale
lost in weight. Probably some honey
was obtained during the season from
this sweet clover, but in such limited
quantities as to make any estimate of
the value of the plant as a honey pro.
ducer impossible. At the present time
the ground is covered with brush, so
that labor will be necessary in clearing
the land before plowing.ean be done.
With the idea of obtaining an opin
ion of the value of sweet clover as a
silage plant, an alcohol barrel war
filled with cut stalks, solidly packed
and sealed sir-tight. This was done on
July 14, just as the clover was getting
fairly into bloom and while the stalks
were yet tender and nutritionus. On
September 23 the barrel was opened
and the ensilage was fed. A horse that
had pxbvieusly eaten corn silage ate it
very readily, but another horse and a
cow that had never eaten silage would
not touch it. Several experts upon the
subject pronounced it excellent. There
is no doubt but that it would be a very
desirable plant for the purpose if the
feeding value per acre could be made
equal to that of corn. An estimate
made from the amount 'cut for silage
gave between six and seven tons per
acre. Although its feeding value aMay
be much higher than that of corn, it is
still doubtful if it will pay to use it for
this purpose alone, from the above esti.
mate.
In concluding these experiments in
planting for honey carried on by Prof.
Cook and now concluded for the pres
ent, I desire to say that no results have
been obtained with any plant sown or
planted for honey alone that will war
rant the beekeeper in expending money
and labor in this direction. Beekeep
era have in the past spent much time
and money in the effort to cultivate
some plant for the honey the bees may
obtain from its flowers. In no case
coming under my observation have
these efforts been a success and the
practice has never been continued at a
profit. Therefore let me caution all
aplarists against spending money in the
attempt to cultivate at a profit any
flower for honey alone. Beekeepers
should cease these useless efforts and
turn their attention more persistently
to extending the area of all wild honey
producing plants and urging upon all
the superiority of alsike elover and
Japanese buckwheat as farm crops and
the linden as a shade tree.
ANTI-HEN SORATCHER.
A Simple Devlee Which Does Its Work
Every Time.
The garden hen is a nuisance. Her
scratch is worse than her bite. Hitherto
there have been only two waysof hand
ling her. One is to cut her head ofi
and the other to surround her with s
high fence. Both ot these are costly.
Here is anew one, sent by a friend who
says his neighbor has used it success
fully. The cut shows it. No descrip
tion here is needed. You can see that
when the hen puts her leg up for a
.®
AN ANTI-SCRATCHING DEVICE.
scrateh, the stilt sticks into the ground
and walks her right out of the garden!
-Rural New Yorker.
AROUND THE FARM.
EIGHTEEN syndicate a, mostly in Eng
land and other foreign countries, each
own tracts of lands consisting of sev
enty-two thousand acres in the United
States,
- Dumire this dry weather guards
plowed around stacks, buildings and
along fences may save much loss from
fire; two or three furrows are usually
sufficient.
IT is said that one fourth of the total
inmber of farmers in the United States
own their own farms and one-half of
this number are mortgaged to their
full value.
THE bot fly will deposit a large num
berof eggs on horses which are running
on pastures at this season. If the nits
are scraped oft the hair with a knife a
less number reach the qbomach of the
horse.
8Av the straw by placing it in good
stacks and covering with slough or
prairie hay to keep the rain from wet
ting it deeply. It it is not needed for
feed, it will come in good place as bed
ding, etc.
Wnanx open ditches are to be made,
dry weather greatly aids in the work,
and just now can best be out. Tiling
can also be carried on to good effect
unless the surfae groimnd is too hsrd
fSm digging.
TRAMPS IN GERMANY.
need sadm sbsitr Thu seesre.
The tramp habit acquired formidable
proportions in Germany soon after the
close of the war of 1870-71. Two years
later it was estimated that not less
than two hundred thonsand men and
boys were livring as vagabonds in the
German empire, begging from town to
town, demoralizing and in many in
stances terrorizing the rural communi
ties. The support of this army of
tramps is computed to have cost the
people in alms and food $15,000,000 per
annum. Moreover, the money spent
brought no permanent relief, the va
grant horde growing larger and more
menacing day by day. It was against
this grievous and rapidly-increasing
evil that society combined and man
aged in the course of years to develop
the thoroughly efficient system which
is now found in operation throughout
the whole of Germany except Bavaria
and Alsace-Lorraine.
The first step taken was to organize
in towns and villages anti-beggary so
cieties, the members of which paid a
certain yearly fee to the society treas
ury, and agreed to give nothing to beg
gars who should apply at their doors
A small metallic disk, hearing the
name of the society; is fastened at the
front door of each member's house.
This tells the beggar that his appeal for
alms will be denied, and that he will
be referred to the office of the society,
where his case will be carefully inves
tigated before relief is granted. The
society provides a relief station, which
is placed near the principal entrance
to the town-in the case of a large
city there may be several of these sta
tions its suburbs-where, by a few
hours' work, the destitute wayfarer
may earn a ticket which will en
title him to food and lodging at
the "Herberge," or lodging-house.
This house is established and sup
ported by the municipal or communal
government from the public funds. It
is a plain country boarding-house,
where wholesome food and clean beds
can be obtained, but no liquor. Its
maintenance is the price which the
community pays for exemption from
the tramp nuisance.
After passing a night and obtaining
meals at the herberge, the vagrant is
provided with a ticket inscribed with
his name, age, birthplace and the
ronte that he intends to take in search
of work. If he wanders far from that
route he is liable to arrest by the first
rural policeman whose precinct he en
ters, in which case his card :is taken
away, and he is locked up for a sea
son, to be dismissed with a reprimand
and another card, which will pass him
to the nearest herberge in the direc
tion that he desires to follow. If he
arrives there not later than two o'clock
in the afternoon he will receive his
I dinner, his afternoon work, supper,
bed and the next morning his break
fast, together with a new card
that will pass him on to
the next herberge, allowing
time to seek for work along the way
and yet arrive at 2 o'clock. Should he
reach the lodging-house later than that
hour, he will, unless he can prove that
he was detained by accident or some
other good reason, get nothing, and
must shift for himself during the
night. In this way a man can walk
over almost the whole of Germany
without ever being destitute of food or
shelter and without ever having money
to buy a dram of liquor. The statis
ties of 1890 show that there were in
that year 1,957 relief stations and 364
herberges in operation in Germany, at
which 1,662,606 breakfasts, 972,490 din
ners, 1,891.591 suppers and 2.223,000
lodgings were provided,
There is no doubt that this part of
the German machinery of organized
charity performs the work for which
it was devised. It relieves the towns
and villages from the drain and menace
of vagrant medicancy, keeps the vaga
bond class under police surveillance;
forces them to earn their food
and lodging, or go without both; and
by keeping them constantly moving
from station to station, prevents aggre
gation in gangs. The monotony and
enforced regularity of each forenoon's
walk soon render the life stale and
wearisome, and the tramp eagerly seeks
work as a means of regaining his inde
pendence and escaping the constant
supervision to which his ticket exposes
him. Speaking of the effect of this sys
tem of repressing vagrancy, as he has.
observed it in Frankfort and the vicin
ity, Mr. Mason, American consul-gen
eral there, says that there is practical
ly no indiscriminate distribution of
alms, and few or no beggars or ped
dlers, except, some maimed or deformed
persons who, under certain restrictions,
are permitted to sell matches on the
street. In that portion of Germany
there are apparently no tramps, either
in the urban or the rural districts, and
this notwithstanding a generally-de
pressed condition of most industries.
N. Y. Sun.
A Sordld View of It.
Benevolent-Looking Citizen-Young
man, do you realize the value of time.
Park Bench Lounger-I'm not realiz
in' anything on my time, bet your life!
-Chicago Tribune.
A Baing Soul.
"I wonder why Hawley the poet will
persist in wearing paper collars?"
"Economy. He wears the collar all
day and uses it to write poems on at
night."-Judge.
-What He Meant.-Gummey"Skid
more has good horse sense." Gargoyle
-"I suppose you mean he knows how
to pick the winners at the races?" Gum
mey-"No; I mean he never bets."
Detroit Free Press.
-Comforted.-"The poor fellow was
actually weeping when I found him,.
and I pressed a cardial to his lips."
"Did he appear to feel better?" "Yes.
He smiled through his tears."-Trutl.
-"That's a great scheme of Scaddle
berry's." "What is it?" "He has put
a big steam-heater under his garden,
and is going to try to raise baked
bwa."-Urprw'u i*aan.,
AN ANIMATED THORN.
The Little Hasrfe aa on a sweaeb of Bait
terweet.
In a. recent half-hour's relaxation,
while comfortably stretched in my
hammock upon the porch of my coun
try studio, I was surprised with a sin
gular entertainment. I soon found my
self most studionusly engaged. Entwin
ing the corner post of the piazza, and
extending for some distance along the
eaves, a luxuriant vine of bittersweet
had made itself at home. The currant1
like clusters of green fruits, hanging
in pendent -clusters here and there,
were now nearly mature, and were
taking on their golden hue, and the
long free shoots of tender growth were
reaching out for conquest on right
and left in all manner of grace
ful curves and spirals. Through
an opening in this shadowy foliage
came a glimpse of the hill-side slope
across the valley upon whose verge
my studio is perched, and. as my eye
penetrated this pretty vista it was in
tercepted by what appeared to be a
shadowed portion of a rose branch
crossing the opening and mingling
with the bitter-sweet stems. In my
idle mood I had for some moments so
accepted it without a thought, and
would doubtless have left the spot
with this impression had I not chanced
to notice that this stem, so beset with
conspicuous thorns, was not consistent
in its foliage. My suspicions aroused, I
suddenly realized that my thorny
stem was in truth merely a bitter
sweet branch in masquerade, and that
I had been "fooled" by a sly midget
who had been an old-time acquaint
ance of my boyhood, but whom I had
long neglected.
Everyone knows the climbing-bitter
sweet, or "waxwork" (Celastrus scan
dens), with its bright berries hanging
in clusters in the autumn copes, each
yellow berry having now burst open in
thin sections and exposed the scarlet
coated seeds. Almost any good-sized
vine, if examined early in the months
of July and August, will show us the
thorns, and more sparingly until Octo
ber, and queer thorns they are, indeed!
Here an isolated one, there two or three
together, or perhaps a dozen in a quaint
family circle around the stem, their
curved points all, no matter how far
separated, inclined in the same direc
tion, as thorns properly should be.
Let us gently invade the little colony
with our finger-tip. Touch one never
so gently and it instantly disappears.
Was ever thorn so deciduous? And
now observe its fellows. Here one
slowly glides up the stem; another in
the opposite dlirection; another side
ways. In a moment more the whole
family have entirely disappeared, as it
by hocus-pocus, until we discover, by
a change of our point of view, that
they have all congregated on the op
posite side of the stem, with an agility
which would have done credit to the
proverbial gray squirrel.
This animated thorn is about a quar
ter of an inch long, and dark brown in
color, with two yellowish spots on the
edge of its back.
Nor is this all the witchery of this
bitter-sweet thorn. It is well worth
our further careful study. Seen col
lectively, the thorny rose branch is in
stantly suggested, but occasionally,
when we observe a single isolated spec
imen, especially in the month of July,
he will certainly masquerade in an en
tirely new guise. Look! quick. Turn
your magnifier hither on this green
shoot. No thorn this. Is it not rather
a whole covey of quail, mother and
young creeping along the vine? Who
would ever have thought of a thorn!
Turning now to our original group,
how perfectly do they take the hint,
for are they not a family of tiny
birds with long necks and swelling
breasts and drooping tails, verily like
an autumn brood of "Bob Vhites?"
But the little harlequin is as wary a
bird as he was a horn! No sooner do
we touch his head with our finger than,
with an audible "click," he is off on a
most agile jump, which he extends
with buzzing wings, and is even now,
perhaps, aping a thorn among a little
group of his fellows somewhere among
the larger bittersweet branches.-Wil
liam Hamilton Gibson, in Harper's
Magazine.
American Ralls and Rolling Stock.
The statement is made that the
weight of the rail used on the Ameri
can roads has been increasing steadily
during the last twenty years. This
can be attributed to the increasing
weight of rolling-stock cars of every
description. Twenty years ago the
maximum capacity of a freight car was
from 20,000 to 24,000 pounds, while at
present it is from 60,000 to 80,000; some
cars, in fact, having been constructed
with a freight-carrying capacity of
100,000 pounds. In regard to engines,
one of thirty tons was some years ago
regarded as of fair size, but they are
now built of sixty, seventy and eighty
tons' weight. Until the last ten or
twelve years or so the average weight
of rails was fifty-six pounds to the yard.
-N. Y. Sun.
Calmang er Sasplilcao.
"I hope," said Mabel to her brother,
"that Algernon does not play cards for
money."
"No," replied the young man, "I can
safely say that he does not."
"I am so glad to hearit. But are
you sure?"'
"Yes. Sometimes Algernon thinks
he is playing for money, but it is really
the other man who is so occupied."
Washington Star.
Comparative Worth.
Scribbler-Now, dear, I can't come
and take the baby. Don't you see I
am very busy on this poem? Call the
servant.
Mrs. Scribbler-I'll do nothing of the
kind, Henry. You mnst come. Just
remember that the servant girl's time
is worth four dollars a wsek!-Puck.
A Caretul Mistress.
Mother-If you let that little dog eat
so much he'll get sick.
Little Dot-I didn't put any pudding
or cake on his plate-nothing butmeat
aud potatoea 'ead suc h tbiug-G
i- YH.
HE GOT sSUE.
Snew we Did It is aest Uul s4 iS
own Weeds.
Every one of us on the eary
them for a bridal couple as theygoA
at a small station; but there was
about the groom that claimed
one's attention; he had a pair of
bruised and blackened eyes ad
skinned nose. It was plain that he
had a fight, and we were all
and an hour later, when he went to
smoking-car, several of us followed
and asked him for an explanation..
"Yes, I had a fout," he said, as
lighted his briar-root. "I had to hew
fout to git Sue."
"There was a rival then?"
"Reekon not. Never seen any rivals
'round thar'. Nobody but me and a hfk
and her folks."
"But who did you fight with?"'
"Sue's pop, in course. He'aun gin m
these yere black eyes."
"Didn't he want you to marry the -j
girl?".
"Oh! he'un was willin' 'nuft, but he
said I'd got to lick him fust. Over a -
y'ar ago he'un took me into the bresh
and says:'
"'Tom, ar' you gwine fur to be spliced
to that gal o' mine?"'
"'If she'll hey me,' says L
"'Whoop' says he, as he cracks his
heels together, 'but nobody kin be
spliced to Sue till they ar' big 'nunE to
lick her ole dad!'
"'I'll grow fur ye,' says I, and-with
that he cracks his heels some mo' and
crows like a rooster and says 'he'll be
ready any time I am. I was dun ready:
yesterday. I goes over to the house
and says to the ole man:
"'Uncle Eben, I'm yere fur to be
spliced to Sue.'
"'Whoop! Whoopee!' he yells, 'but
yo' dun remember what I told yo!'
The reptile as splice Sue has got to
lick her ole dad!'
" 'That's what I'm yere fur. Come -
out into the co'nfield and I'll wollop
yo' till yo' can't holler!'
"Tha t tickles the ole critter half to
death. We goes down and peels off
and spits on our hands, and he'un
cracks his heels and crows and yells at
me:
" 'Tom, yo' ar' my mutton! I'll make
yo' cry like a baby befo' I hit-yo' twice!
Look out now, fur Bald mountain is
guine to hit you right a'tween the
ayes!'
"With that the fout begun. We tore. -_
up hills o' co'n. We pawed up the
airth. We raised a dust like a droveof
cattle. He'un was hard as hickory-.
nuts and as quick as cats, but I knowed
I had to lick him or lose Sue. I knowed,
too, that Sue was in the cabin a-pray
inm' fur me to lam - out of the ole cuss,
and I fit as I never fit befo'. It lasted
half an hour and then he'un hollered.
"Was he hurt any worse than you?"
"Wall, when the ole woman come
out to help nlug he'un in she'un didn't
know him by sight. He'un couldn't
stand up at the cermony, and he won't
see to cut his toe nails for about fo'
weeks to come."
"But wasn't he mad at you after
ward?"
"Reckon not. Reckon he'un hed no
cause to be. He'un just whooped and
crowed and cracked and said as how
['d her to lam him fust, and so I
lammed. Oh, no; he'uns wasn't mad.
When we'uns got ready to come away
he'un whooped a lettle whoopee and
calls out to me:
"'Tom, durn yer shackelty hide, but
it war' a fa'r fout and yo' downed the
rle man and got the gal, and if yo' git
lead broke up thar' at Asheville send-"
me word and I11 sell the old mewl funr
seven dollars and send yo' the money."'
-Detroit Free Press.
ADMINISTERING LAW IN TEXAS.
& Cadw Thief Too Bursy to Serve His See
tent-a.
In the county seat of a little Texas
frontier tou:n. an illiterate oldcattle
man was brought up 'efore the grand
jury for cow-stealing. The old man
had been stealing cows all his life, and
looked upon this arrest as a joke,
thinking that his money and his in
fluence would be able to pull him
through. Consequently he sat through
the trial with a look of sublime un
concern on his face, cutting off chew
after chew of tobacco and whittling a
bit of pine with his old Barlow knife.
The evidence, however, seems to have
been conclusive, for the jury retired
and speedily returned, bringing ia.a
verdict of guilty, and the judge as
sessed a term of five years in the peni
tentiary.
"Whut's that?" exclaimed the old
rascal, jumping up and spitting his
quid out, "whut's that, gentlemen?
Five years in the penitentiary? Me?
Five year in yer durned ole jail that
'uz built fer hoss-thieves an' niggers?
Why, jedge," turning to the bench,.
"you'll have to fix this thing up! I
can't go! I've got three herds of cattle
to round-up this week, bound to be
did, yer see. Durn yer ole law! Whuat
have I got to do with it? Whut's it got
to do with my mavericks? How dos'
It know anything about my brand or
my yearln's? Durn yer law! Pix it -~
up, jedge. You see how I'm situated."
The judge was an "old-timer," too.
Ee had dealt in mavericks before
took to the law.
"You're mighty awkward, Boser,1
said, "infernally awkward! Lethaee.
--how can I accommodate youi"
scratched his head and thoughtawlifl
"Here's what you kin do," he -wnt ta:
"Go an' tend to your round-upsea
me know as soon as yo' gi
then I'll inforee yo' fie."
"Thank yo', .jedae, Ithsnk ye
tsr an' squaw an' neighborly!
the condemned. "I reckon I a
things up in about three mod
I'll come roun' an let yu' hmoa*.,"
"Cote's adjouraedi" ebied
and he and Boser went
new and took a dinak
Blade,
-Probably the nearest
perpetual motioam ls
jaw~ of the ywaisig -
tom~pebi'alS~t -~~t~Bi
ha tsal lk~bt3 -
fr~ie'