Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 July 1875 — Page 8

Use the Sunshine.

“ The sunshine is,a glorious birth?’ giving warmth, giving light, giving life to all nature. It takes us long to find out our best friends, 'andwfc have scarcely begun to appreciate ohr sunshine, Wr hide away in dark, damp houses, and Jgrean. and ache, and cough our livre away, while a little more sunshine, used all day and even’ day when it can be had, would make our lives not simply endurable, but ioyful. I have learned to dread window-blinds, and even white ’’♦uxdow-curtains that cannot be entirely drawn aside during the day. I like a frill blare Of daylight in my, living and my sleeping rooms, except on very hot days, when every living thing must crawl into the shade. But there is, Bps, no day extremely hqt as to r a twilight reMit all day in rooms where people live. No rooms can be healthy that are kept dark. Children cannot thrive, any more than plants, unless they live habitually in the light- Invalids neglect one of their best means of recovery to health when they retire to darkened rooms and learn to dread the light. Ilya true that persons who have lived for years in dimly-lighted rooms feel paindir by the brightness lof better-lighted apartments, and dread to gfr out-doors without veils and parasols; but that is only because darkness has made them sickly creatures, out of all harmony with healthy conditions. Some housekeeper! dove darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil. They do not wish their dusty corners to come to the light and be reproved. Others place an in ordinate value upon the bright colors of their carpets, not knowing that bright faces and bright spirits are far more important than carpets, and that bright faces and bright spirits depend much upon the sunshine, I w ish every housekeeper would turn all j her bedding into the bright sunshine every pleasant day, and on rainy days some artificial heat might be used instead. We hope for the time when bathing facilities will abound, when clean bodies will lay them down to sleep in clean beds, and sleep will indeed be balmy. If any reader does not understand this let her sun only the sheets of her bed and her night-cloth-ing for two hours every forenoon, half a dozen times, and she’ will notice how perceptible is the fresh, clean smell they have at night. Merely to air a bed in a shady room is not half so well. The bright sunshine (perhaps I ought to say the hot sunshine, for I notice that the bright win ter sunbeams do not entirely produce the same effect) seems to take out all of the perspiration, all of the personal odor, which is apt to linger about bedding and clothing in the summer. When it is con.venient to air freshly-ironed garments in the sunshine this is much better than to hang them by the fire. You w ill find that they have a different smell, and one that is very fragrant. — Faith .Rochester, in American Agriculturist.

The Unsuccessful Family.

They were all unsuccessful, as the word S. Neither in their lives nor in their hs, in their marriages ar in their business, were they generally fortunate or happy. They had not inherited that Yankee elasticity which recovers instantly from every strain and misfortune. Whenever they entered upon a struggle they surrendered beforehand by expecting defeat, and thus they grew painfully familiar with the word “tail.” One son promised to lie an exception to this rule. A hardworking and honorable lawyer, he gathered together in early life a practice of which most veteran lawyers would have been proud, and made a new fortune as soon as he lost the old in unfortunate investments. But his brothers and sisters never enjoyed in their homes even a glimpse of his transient prosperity. The other son, a modest Methodist clergyman, had no clearer idea of prosperity than distant perspective could give him. Privation of luxuries had been so long his lot that he ceased to think of them as attainable. He even suffered privation of things necessary almost to life itself, and knew what hunger and thirst and heat and cold were as few men know them. His income never exceeded that of a pert and “ smart” boy in a New York banking house, though he was one of the best scholars his college—through which he worked his way—ever sent out, and his mind was stored richly with knowledge which he never displayed to dazzle the simple people about him. The sum total of the earnings of his lifetime a shrewd stock broker would make and lose five times a day. He never wrote any books or received any degrees; he did not live where there was a newspaper to report his sermons, and it is safe to say they were never advertised in advance. His life was a plodding and painful one, full of care and anxiety, unbroken by any pleasure save that which he drew from the love of his wife and children, and uncheered by the society of any but dull villagers. The eldest of the'sisters married young and foolishly. But of the story of the labors, the trials, the heart-breaks and sufferings of the woman who learns too late that the treasure of her heart has been poured out in vain, who shall write? The long years of hope that are without hope; the constant struggles which are foreordained to defeat-, the slow and reluctant transfer of love and watchfulness from a drunken husband to heedless and thoughtless children; the constant outpouring of affection where there is no return; the work of the worn fingers, stitching under the midnight lamp; the hunger for education and lor bread for 'her children that denies her either—these are to be read in more than one white and weary face you whirl carelessly past in the street The other sister was the happiest of all, for she had no history. The kind fates sent her quiet and obscurity. As a school-teacher she lived a sheltered life, save when one or two great storms broke over the barriers of her retreat. She never did anything remarkable, or achieved even in her limited sphere anything more than the half success that seemed to be the family characteristic.

They are all dead now, and the earth that so seldom seemed to have a restingplace for them lies green and peacefill above their dust. They were gone and their places were filled, as one wave follows another: they were gone and there * was no more trace of them than of the lines in the sand the wave washes away. They left no fortunes behind them, or fractions of fortunes; nor any fame —their very names were only known to a few score people. They had not even the happiness of a quiet decline. The lawyer lost his mind apd his fortune at one blow, and died uncomforted by a heartless wife and no less heartless children. The clergyman suffered in the body the equal of all his former distress of mind, and passed away as poor as he had come. The sisters lived oat their lives in the patient way of women to the very end. Failures? Wrecks? No! The minisawas carried to his little church on the tk hillside by loving parishioners whose hobnailed boots crunched. with a coarse, unfeeling sound the frozen, yellow

mud beneath their feet. The church Where he had labored was filled with mourners, for every child in the neighborhood waa in grief, and the very winter winds that moaned about the building seemed an echo of their mourning: No Spurgeon or Beecher could be more lamertted. If his memory dies it will not be. bacanre'it was unworthy to live. His brother was followed by all the laments tions of those whore helper he had been when he was able to others. His charity was original and even whimsical; it.sought out people who were not reached by the charitable machines, with their long titles and many officers— profane little newsboys, broken-down men and struggling The two sisters lived in the hearjH of all the children who knew 1 -them, and in the memories of all those wboifadloarted th recognize their silent Christianity. HeSaven is filled with failures like these. They were princes, but not of this earth. Their crowns glitter with the eternal-glory of thei stars.— N. Y. Tribune:.

Spontaneous Combustion.

Decay of inflammable substances, when exposed to the action of atmospheric oxygen, isin fact a very slow combustion, which by Liebig has been called Eremacausis. Thus, for example, a piece of wo<xl which, when burned, would produce a rise of temperature 1,000 deg. for say one minute, will, when slowly decaying during say 1,000 days, evolve the same 1,000 deg’ of heat; but being diffused over the length of time of 1,000 days will only evolve one deg. in twenty-four hours, or 1-440th of a degree per minute, a quantity of heat utterly inappreciable, as it is constantly lost in the surrounding atmosphere. Every housekeeper knows tliat •decayed wood is next to worthless for fuel, and the reason is simply that the heat obtained when sound wood combines rapidly th oxygen was lost during the slow .combustion_ or decay. / T , It is the same with coal when exposed to tlie access of the air. Under a shed it loses, according to the experiments of Varrenslrass, 25 per cent, of gas by oxidation and 10 per cent, of the heat-giving power, while when exposed without the protection of any shed, so much of the gaseous constituents are oxidized as to cause the coal to lose one-third of its original weight and more than one-half of its heating power. Of course during such oxidation heat is developed, but if the oxidation goes on slowly the heat is carried off as soon as it generates, and it is only when this carry - ing off of heat or cooling is prevented that the temperature may rise. The rise of temperature increases the tendency to oxidation; as nothing promotes more the activity of the oxygen in combining with combustible substances than heat, this increased oxidation again develops more heat, and thus, the action and reaction continuing, at last the flame bursts out; and this is what constitutes spontaneous combustion.

There are some substances very subject to such a combustion, for instance, vegetable and animal oils, especially drying oils. Thus linseed oil (the drying of which is a real oxidation) when poured upon a heap of sawdust or rags, placed so the air has access to the interior, will in a few hours break out in flames; if the air is excluded this will not take place—tree access of air or ventilation is necessary. When, however, the sawdust or rags are not placed in a single heap, but are diffused over the ground, so that the heat developed can diffuse itself by radiation, spontaneous combustion will be prevented; notwithstanding thefcontinued oxidation promoted by the free access of air, the mass will be kept, cool by the constant radiation of heat from the large surface exposed. This is an important hint in regard to the treatment of substances subject to spontaneous combustion; if it is impossible to spread them out so as to expose a large surface, and they have to be confined to a small space, as is the case in loading ships with such materials, ventilation must be prevented, as it is not practical to make it so active that the heat will be carried off more rapidly as it is developed by oxidation. In a blast-furnace the heat increases in proportion to the force of ventilation, and what takes place there at a high temperature takes place at a lower temperature in the incipient stage of spontaneous combustion.

The cases of spontaneous combustion of bituminous coal are so manifold and well authenticated that it is really a sign of utter ignorance of the facts taught by experience to deny it. We have had it in coal-yards as well as on board of ships; and where it took place a large mass of coal, say several thousand tons, was placed, not on the ground, but on a wooden floor, where air had access from below and a steady upward air-current took place through the interstices of the coal. Of course the coal lost its gaseous constituents by oxidation, as proved by the observation of Varrenstrass, referred to above. This oxidation, by necessity, developed heat, and,as the heat could notescape from the interior of the large mass, the temperature was constantly raised until, at last, combustion, at the usual high temperature, was established. Coal In mines, before shafts have been sunk, never ignites by spontaneous combustion; it is only when, by the sinking of shafts, ventilation has been established, that we hear of fires in coal mines; and if we can lock up the coal in a vessel as tightlv as it is in a mine before the shafts have been sunk the coal will be perfectly safe, and this none Of our antagonists dare deny.

It is a significant fact that no fires have occurred on board of coal-vessels transporting coal across the Atlantic, or on any voyage requiring no more time, but have often taken place on board of vessels going to the East Indies. California, and in general distances requiring more than forty days. Of course where the action of atmospheric oxygen on coal in large bulk can only raise the temperature of the interior ten degrees Fahr, per day it will in forty days, when starting at eighty degrees, be only 480 degrees; but evidently then the great danger commences, and it is clear how great an element time must be in this physical operation. — Manufacturer and Builder.

—William F. Frudner, night miller in St&mwitz & Shober's’flouring-mill, Minneapolis, while attending to his duties the other night, caught his clothing between the cogs to the spur wheel, ana he was slowly mangled. His body was not discovered until next morning, when it was found that he had been ground up by inches. His clothing was completelv stripped from his body, his arms crushed almost to a pulp, his right arm being torn from its socket, and his legs tangled and torn in the relentless wheels. In his desperate agony he had succeeded in taking off one shoe and hurling it into the wheels, which stopped their merciless grinding. He leaves a wife and three children. The orchards of this country are estimated to contain over 20,000,000 fruittrees. <

Shylock.

Shylock was a Jew who kept a secondhand’clothing store in Venice. By buying low and selling for al he could get, doing his own cooking by a gas stove, having no washing done and never spending accent, he had accumulated numerous ducats, which lie wasn’t averse to lending on collateral, provided the borrower had no conscientious scruples against paying 20 per cent, a month,,or such a matter, for the accommodation. Antonio was a merchant of Venice who hail speculated a good deal and owned canal boats. He had a bosom friend named Bassanio who was in love .With a rich widow, Portia, but having lived a fast life he hadn't the ready Cash whereby to compete with his more wealthy rivals. His father, tired of putting up for him, refused him any more money. “ Goto the ant, thou sluggard!” said the stem parent. He did ; he went to Ant-onio and besought him to ante for . him. Now Antonio, in anticipation of the grasshoppers, had invested all he had in wheat, and as soon as his boats that Were laden with it should arrive he expected to sell at a great advance and be fixed. But being anxious that his friend should , have a stake he agreed to borrow some ducats for him if his credit would permit. The next day he met Shylock on the Rialto (which differs from the alto heard at concert saloons, not having so much rye with it) and he asked a loan of 3,000 ducats. Shylock tore no love to Antonio, nor to any of his tribe, on account of the scorn they had heaped upon him and his race. He dissembled, however, upon this occasion, pretending he hadn’t the money by him—would have to see his brother-in-law. He at length agreed to provide the 3,000 ducats for three months, facetiously stipulating that Antonio should sign a tond (it was such a joke!) agreeing to forfeit a pound of flesh (the Jew could hardly tell it for laughing), to lie cut off wherever he (the Jew) decided, provided the money was not paid when due —“so helfup me gracious!” Antonio, fully believing in the success of his wheat speculation, and having heard that his boats were on the way, accepted the conditions and signed the bond.

Bassanio took the ducats and proceeded to lay siege to the heart (and purse) of the rich young widow. He was most assiduous in his attentions. He brought her chewing gum, peppermint drops, etc., whenever he came, took her out buggy riding, and escorted her to the gardens Sunday nights. In the swift delirium of love the days and ducats sped swiftly away. Bassanio became the accepted suitor of Portia, notwithstanding big rivals were opulent, one owning stock in a grasshopper exterminator and the other being a street-car conductor on a line that had not yet introduced the patent bell-stamp, and was improving his opportunities. In the midst of his felicitations he received a letter from Antonio, informing him that all his boats had been lost during a fearful gale on the Miami Canal, and he reduced to beggary, although he was not one that would beg-ary time. He had forfeited his bond to the Jew, and was only waiting to know what portion of his body Shylock would prefer to have his pound of steak from. He urged Bassanio to try and be present at the funeral, which would be held at the house. Bassanio took the first train for Venice, filled with remorse. The temper of Shylock had not been improved any by his daughter Jessica running away with a negro minstrel named Lorenzo, particularly as they carried away a stocking full of ducats, jewels and Southern Railroad bonds. He caused the arrest of Antonio, positively refusing to receive anything but the pound of flesh that had been forfeited. The case was brought before a Venetian Justice of the Peace for adjudication. Bassahio had made a lucky hit at bunko the night before, and offered to pay Shylock 6,000 ducats, instead of 3,000, if he would retire from the meat business and let Antonio go. The Jew was obdurate ; nothing but a pound of Antonio’s flesh, and an outside piece at that, would satisfy him. He produced a butcher-knife in court, and began to whet it on the stovehearth, and to show he meant business. The ’Souire had sent to Padua for a learned doctor of laws (and the laws needed doctoring pretty badly if they allowed a man to take it out of a debtor in that way) to determine the case, which was one of considerable interest, especially to Antonio. The learned doctor pleaded illness, and sent another doctor more learned than himself, and better doctored, whom he recommended. This latter, on his arrival, was admitted to tjte j'eeurt, and on account of his exceediifgty youthful appearance was derided by a lot of shysters from the Police Court, who filled the best seats.

The case was a plain one. The bond was produced in court and told its own story. Antonio confessed to it, and it was evident that he xyas liable to leave that court-room lighter by a pound. The learned doctor told Shylock that he must lie merciful, but Shylock said he didn’t have to. Then the doctor reminded him that the quality of mercy was not strained, no strainer having been invented at that time for anything but new milk. He said that Antonio must pay the forfeit if the Jew refused mercy—no power in Venice could alter the decree. Shylock cried out in the very ecstacy of joy: “A Daniel come to judgment!—yea, a very Daniel!” on account of the striking resemblance between the -learned doctor and Daniel Rice.

The doctor told Antonio be must bare his breast. Shylock brandished his knife fiendishly, eager to carve. He even had a pair of scales in the pocket of his linen duster to weigh the flesh with, so perfect were his arrangements for making the affair a success. He acknowledged that he had neglected to have a surgeon ready to stop the bleeding, because it wasn't “so nominated in the bond.” Antonio had lost all his money, and having seen enough to realize that life without ducats would be unendurable he calmly prepared for his obsequies'. Exposing his woolen undershirt he bade the Jew proceed with his carving. He was about to do so when the learned doctor reminded him that the bond did not give him one jot of blood. If, in securing his pound of steak, he shed one drop of Cher-r-r-r-istian gore his lands and goods were confiscated to the State. Then, too, if he cut less or more than sixteen ounces exact his life and second-hand clothes were forfeit Shylock, seeing that Antonio wasn’t his meat, offered to take the principal of the debt and say no more about it, but was reminded by the learned doctor that, as he had already refused it in open court, he must take the forfeit or nothing. Shylock’s goods were divided on the spot, one-half going to Antonio, whose life was conspired against, and the other half going toward the extinguishment of the national debt, which helped materially in making out the July estimate. Antonio did not keep his share; he turned it over

to the Jew's daughter, who married the negro minstrel, enabling Mm to retire from the profession with a handsome farewell toneflt, and set himself up Tn the saloon business. -The learned doctor turned out to be the charming widow Portia, for whom Bassanio had a mania— mania Portia— who had assumed a part to save her lover’s friend and benefactor. Her success greatly emtoldened the champions of Women’s Rights and intensified their demand that the learned professions be thrown open to the sex. She was wedded to Bassanio, and lived long and happy, often being overheard by the neighbors settling knotty points in domestic law out in the backyard. Of Bhylock only rare and faint glimpses have been.obtained until he met with such a masterly reproduction in Lawrence Barrett.—“ Fat Contributor," Cincinnati Saturday Night.

Dust-Whirlabouts.

In the’dry and elevated valleys and basins of the Rocky Mountains and of the Cordilleras of Mexico the phenomena of the whirlwind are actively exhibited, “In the deep basins of Mexico,” says Prof. J. W. Phelps, “ where there is no prevailing current of air, whirlwinds may be seen in the warmer hours of the day, spinning spirally on their axis, throwing up large columns of dust several hundred feet in height, and as stationary as the sleeping top for a long time. Further north, in the Rocky Mountains, where the southwest breezes prevail, these whirlwinds are generally borne along with the wind. The rapidity of the whirling motion in both cases is altogether too great to be attributed to any power short of electrical agency. The air outside of a stationary whirlwind is generally quite still, while with the moving whirlwind it Often loiters along, only as a five, ten or fifteen mile breeze. Thus, while the motion of translation of the whirlwind may be only ten miles or so an hour, its whirling velocity is often 100 miles or more an hour.” The general form of these whirlwinds observed by Prof. Pheips was of a tube of dust of from one to twenty feet in diameter and several hundred feet in height. They were generally perpendicular, although one was noticed to ascend in a zigzag direction, and another, after mounting vertically for a short distance, moved horizontally for a space and then assumed a vertical course again. The motion of the whirlwinds was sometimes with the hands of the watch, and at other times in an opposite direction. From_ the journal kept by Prof. Phelps, we, read that July 10, 1859, a whirlwind threw up the sand in a hollow tube two or three feet in diameter and moved with the hands of the watch. Twice rings or nodules of dust were noticed whirling up the tube, and once portions of dust were spun oft’ from the exterior of the cylinder as if by a downward breeze. Aug. 13 the whirlwinds were numerous, and seemed to leap suddenly into the air from a state of perfect- stillness. They formed small, crooked tubes, rising to the height of several hundred feet. April 28, 1859, a whirlwind twenty feet in diameter was observed turning against the hands of a watch. On one occasion a newspaper was caught up by a whirlwind to a height of about 200 feet, and there oscillated back and forth acrosS the track for some time, while accompanying the onward movement of the column. Another day two whirlwinds, within fifty yards of each other, were turning in opposite directions. June 5, a whirlwind about fifteen feet in diameter crossed a stream of water -without any apparent loss of force. Again, a whirlwind was observed to pass through a battery of artillery of brass guns, from one flank to the other, with no evidence of being affected by the adventure. June 10, a whirlwind was remarked that had several small whirls spinning around on its circumference. The whole together described a circuit about 100 yards across. These phenomena occurred at a height of between 4,000 and 5,000 feet above the sea, where the dry atmosphere contained little vapor tcMnterfere with the action of the electricity.

Then and Now at Boarding Schools.

The Baltimore American says: Twenty or thirty years ago the proprietors of seminaries for young ladies affected to believe that plain food was essential to the mental and bodily health of the pupils under their care, and that the less they ate the more rapidly would they improve in their studies. The table fare was simply wretched; meat and butter once a day, bread and molasses for breakfast, and the nearest approach to nothing at all for tea that the ceremony of sitting down to the table would permit of. In order that the evening meal might not be an absolute blank there were a few very hard biscuits handed around, which the young ladies nibbled while they thought of “home” and the luxurious abundance of “ mother’s table.” The robust girls from the country, the daughters of opulent farmers,, pever were convinced that this compulsory fasting was beneficial to the intellectual or physical constitution. In fact, they always believed that the whole starvation theory was invented for the pecuniary benefitof the owners of the seminaries, ana that the arguments by which it was sustained had no better foundation than the selfish greed of those who made money by defrauding their pupils of tneir daily bread. As boarding schools multiplied the starvation theory began to give way. The common sense of the country people rescued their hungry children from the dominion of the hygienic philosophers, and they refused to send their children to school where meanness was firacticed under the guise of science. A ew institutions found it profitable to give good boarding, and the sharp competition obliged all the rest to improve their fare. It is a rare circumstance now to hear a young lady complain of the hoarding at the seminary which she attends, whereas, thirty years ago, the dry bread, the perennial molasses, the hard biscuit and weak tea were proverbial.

The Cockroach.

One cannot contemplate this little domestic pet without a shiver of disgust, yet it is worth while to know something of its life-history. The more facts we can gather regarding the habits of the insects that infest our houses and fields the better we are able to resist their invasion and set limits to their increase. The common cockroach (Blatta oritntalii) is supposed to have originated in Asia, whence it was carried to Europe, and from there brought to America. It had so overrun England that it may be said to have taken possession of the island. It was at first confined to seaport towns, but is now found in every nook and corner of ..the Kingdom. As the female cockroach is wingless, and depends wholly upon its legs for locomotion, it is evident that its rapid spread is owing to its transportation from place to place in baggage, freight, and even in the wearing apparel. The insect is so

abundant and troublesome in Rondon that traps for catching it are' a common article of Sale in all the hardware stores. The iqaect lays its eggs in a silky cap- ' sole that is in the ’form of a bean, with two valves in the interior dividing it into two apartments, each containing a row of separate chambers, about thirty in number, and gach chamber inclosing a single egg. The capsule or egg-case is about three-eighths of an inch in length, and nearly three-sixteenths of an inch wide. Many days are required for oviposition, and during this period the female may be seen running about with the capsule partly protruding from her body. It is at this time that the embryos are formed, and shortly after the capsule is dropped the larvae are hatched. Hummel, the German naturalist, once placed a female cockroach and an egg-pouch that had just been abandoned by another female under a bell-glass. On discovering the pouch the cockroach examined it carefully, turning it about in all directions and then, taking it between her front legs, made a longitudinal opening in it. Through this opening she assisted the little white larvae to come forth, aiding them gently with her antennae. In a few seconds after their liberation the larvae were able to walk, after which the accoucheuse left them to take care of themselves. In ordinary circumstances the larvae, as soon as they are excluded from the egg held in the pouch, discharge a liquid which softens the cement closing the toothed edges of the longitudinal slit in the capsule, and thus are able to emerge from it into the outer world. As soon as they have escaped the opening of the capsule or egg-pouch closes again, and thus the empty case looks exactly as it did before it lost its contents. The larvae change their skin six times before reaching the perfect state. They are colorless on first emerging from the old skin, but assume their usual tint in the course of a few days. At the fifth molt the insect enters the pupa state, and at the sixth, which takes place at the end of six weeks, the pupa becomes a perfect insect. The female is distinguished from the male by the larger size of the abdomen and by the inferior size of the wings and elytra. The cockroach is omnivorous, and devours all sorts of dead substances, vegetable and animal. It is fond of the blacking on boots, and will consume the leather and all. But while it does so much damage by eating garments and destroying provisions it may in some cases render an efficient service. It feasts upon the bed-bug with extreme avidity, and will rid a ship or a house of the noxious creature. It would be a hard question, however, for housekeepers to decide which of these two pests they would prefer to cherish at the expense of the other. There is some comfort in knowing that the cockroach also has some natural enemies among the lower animals. The hedgehog considers it delectable food, and a tame one kept in a kitchen will clear the apartment of the terrible nuisance. Almost all insectivorous birds are also fond of the cockroach. Mr. Wood, the English naturalist, relates a story which shows that to some human palates the cockroach is an exceedingly agreeable titbit. Two young ladies from Jamaica, who were at school in London some thirty years ago, were found to have the habit of rising at night and descending into the kitchen in order to sup upon cockroaches. When remonstrated with upon the filthy practice they defended themselves by saying cockroaches were clean feeders, ana certainly as fit for eating as shrimps. The disagreeable odor which the cockroach emits, and which soon permeates all places that it inhabits, proceeds from a dark-colored fluid which it discharges from the mouth. The cockroach loves warmth and moisture, hence its populousness in kitchens where fire and water are almost ever present. It is a night-prowler, and swarms out from its secret lairs on the departure of daylight.

For the destruction of the coackroach Mr. Harris, the late eminent entomologist, recommends a mixture containing a tablespoonful of red lead, the same amount of Indian meal, with molasses enough to make a thick batter. Set this on a plate at night in places frequented by the insects and all that eat of it will be poisoned. Another preparation is composed of one teaspoonful of powdered arsenic with a tablespoonful of mashed potato. Crumble this every night at bed-time where the insects will find it, and it is said to be an effectual poison. Great care should be exercised in the use of such dangerous agents. An innocent method of destroying cockroaches is to place a bowl or basin containing a little molasses on the floor at night. A bit of wood, resting one end on the floor and the other on the edge of the vessel, serves as a bridge to conduct the insects to the sweet deposit. Once in the trap and its slippery sides prevent retreat, and thus cockroaches may be caught by the thousands. Various insect powders sold at the druggists may be used for their extermination. Some tropical species of cockroach are of enormous size and very troublesome from their habit of flying. The kakerla insignia, which inhabits Cayenne and Brazil, sometimes exceeds an' inch and three-quarters in length, and in the extent of its wings four inches and a half. They are the pest of the Antilles, where they so abound that walls, floors, furniture, everything are covered with them, and it is impossible to preserve food from their depredations. It is affirmed that they will in a single night eat holes into trunks, cases and bags, and destroy objects that were supposed to be inaccessible to them. The Kakerla Americana, which infests the warm legions of the United States, is from one to one and a half inches long. One species of cockroach, the Platamodes unicolor, is very abundant in the woods in Illinois. 'lt may be found under the loose bark of stumps and decayed trees at all seasons of the year. Its egg-cases are about half an inch in length, and of a shining, mahogany color. The Blatta Germanica and Blatta Lapponica, two European species, run wild in the woods about Paris. They are both domesticated in the northern counties of the Continent. It is claimed that the B. Germanica was introduced into Russia by the army returning from the seven-years’ war. It is now very. common in the houses of St. Petersburg. It eats almost everything, but prefers white bread to flour and meat. The Blatta Lapponica is very destructive to the smoked fish prepared for winter. The “ Croton bug” (Kctobia Germanica) that so tries the souls of housekeepers in New York, Boston, and Chicago even, is a pale, small species of cockroach. — Chicano TribuneNaw Yom city consumes during the berry season nearly 300,000 quarts of strawberries daily.

Our Shooting Stars.

The great rifle match has ended in a victory for the Americans which was more complete and brilliant than we had any right to hope that it would be. Our victory over the Irish team last year was due to the fact that one of the Irishmen threw away a shot by accidentally aiming at a wrong target. Such a victory left the question or the relative skill of the two teams virtually undecided, and until this test the belief was general here and abroad that there was no real difference between the crack rifle shots of America and Ireland. It is impossible, however, to suppose that a score of 968 to 929 was the result of accident. It was unhesitatingly accepted by the Irishmen themselves as an evidence that the Americans are the best marksmen in the world, and we shall have a clear right to accept that generous estimate of our skill if the American team win the matches which are soon to be shot at Wimbledon. The victory must also be interpreted as a proof of the superiority of breech-loading over muzzle-loading rifles. The former, most of which were of the Remington pattern—were used by the Americans, while the Irishmen used the Rigby muzzle-loader. American rifle manufacturers can thus claim an active share in the victory at Dollymount. Indeed it is in the evidence which it afforded of the superiority of American rifles that the practical value of the international match chiefly consists. Of course the immediate result of the late contest will be to give an immense impetus to rifle-shooting in this country. It is noticeable that the members of the American team were not drawn from the population of the West, where the rifle is a familiar weapon, but from a fegion where, prior to the Opening of Creedmoor, two years ago, rifles were as unfamiliar as they were among the English civilians before the volunteer movement began sixteen years ago. If in two years we have produced riflemen who are better shots than Ireland can show after sixteen years of rifle-shooting, we can safely expect to retain our supremacy in the future. However, we shall do well to wait until after the Wimbledon matches before we stimulate the eagle to his loudest shrieks of enthusiasm.— Hearth and Home. :

“About Ice-Cream.”

He slipped into an ice-cream saloon very softly, and when the girl asked him what he wanted he replied : —— “ Corn beef; fried potatoes, pickles and mince pie.” “ This is not a restaurant, this is an icecream parlor,” she said. “Then what did you ask me what 1 wanted for? Why didn’t you bring on your ice-cream?” She went after it, and as she returned he continued: “You see, my dear girl, you must infer —you must reason. It isn’t likely that I would come into an ice-cream parlor to buy a grindstone, is it ? You didn’t think I came in here to ask if you.had any baled hay, did you ?” She looked at him in great surprise, and he went on • “If I owned a hardware store and you came in, I would infer that you came for something in my line. I wouldn’t step out and ask you if you wanted to buy a mule, would I?” She went away highly indignant An old lady was devouring a dish of cream at the next table, and the stranger, after watching her for a moment, called out: “ My dear woman, have you found any hairs or buttons in your dish?” “Mercy! no!” she exclaimed, as she wheeled around and dropped her spoon. “ Well, I’m glad of it!” he continued. “ If you find any just let me know.” She looked at him for half a minute, picked up the spoon, laid it down again, and then rose up and left the room. She must have said something to the proprietor, for he came running in and exclaimed : “ Did you tell that woman that there were hairs and buttons in my ice-cream?” “No, sir.” “You didn’t?” “ No, sir, I did not; I merely requested her, in case she found any such ingredients, to inform me!” “ Well, sir, that was a mean trick.” “My dear sir,” said the stranger, smiling softty, “ did you expect me to ask the woman if she had found a crow-bar or a sledge-hammer in her cream? It is impossible, sir, for such articles to be hidden away in such small dishes!” The proprietor went away growling, and as the stranger quietly supped away at his cream two young ladies came in, sat down near him and ordered cream and cakes. He waited until they had eaten a little, and then he remarked: “ Beg pardon, ladies, but do you observe anything peculiar in the taste of this cream?” They tasted, smacked their lips, and were not certain. “ Does it taste to you as if a plug of tobacco had fallen into the freezer?” he asked. “ Ah! kali!” they exclaimed, dropping their spoons and trying to spit out what they had eaten. Both rushed out, and it wasn’t long before the proprietor rushed in. “ See here, what in blazes are you talking about?” he demanded. “What do you mean by plug tobacco in the freezer?” “My kind friend, I asked the ladies if this cream tasted of plug tobacco. I don’t taste any such taste, and I don’t believe you used a bit of tobacco in it!” “Well, you don’t want to talk that way around here!” continued the proprietor. “ My ice-cream is pure, and the man who says it isn’t tells a bold lie!” He went away again, and a woman with a long neck and a sad face sat down and said to the girl that she would take a small dish of lemon ice. It was brought, and she had taken about two mouthfuls when the stranger inquired: “ Excuse me, madam, but do you know how this cream was made —have you an idea that they grated turnip and chalk with the cream ?” She didn’t reply. She slowly rose up, wheeled around and made for the door. The stranger followed after and, by great good luck, his coat-tails cleared the door an instant too soon to be struck by a fivepound box of figs, hurled with great force by the indignant proprietor. As he reached the curb-stone he halted, looked at the door of the parlor and soliloquized: “ There are times when people should infer, and there are times when they shouldn’t. I suppose if I had asked that woman if she thought they hashed up a saw-mill in the cream she’d have felt a circular-saw going down her throat.”—. Detroit Free Press. • A letter addressed to “the prettiest young lady, Stockton, Cal.,” has placed the Postmaster of that place in a peculiarly unpleasant position. If he doesn’t give it to any one applicant her big brother is after him, ana if he should giv® it to any one applicant the big brothers of all the others would be after him.