Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 October 1875 — Page 6

RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATIONAL.

—Three years is the average term of Congregational pastors in Connecticut! —Rev. Dr. Speer, CorrespondingSecretaiy of the Presbyterian Board of Education, has resigned his office to return to missionary duties in China. •—The Southern Baptist missionaries have just held a camjvmeeting among the Seminolcs. There were seventeen tents on the ground, interesting services were held and ofle Seminole convert secured. —Tire Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut Conferences of the Christian -Connection have been consolidated into one, under the name of the Rhode Island and Massachusetts Christian Conference. —The CiMgrtjfutionalist states that the demand is growing for preaching rsther than for sermons, and there is * wide difference between the two. Seminaries in struct in sermonizing, but only Christian experience qualifies to preach. —ln Savannah, Ca.. the desire for « peaceful and qniet Sabbath is *o genera! that all business is suspended on that day and not a door is open to invite trade. Onethird of the white population is composed of Roman Catholics and .lews, who con form strictly to the public sentiment on this subject. —A pew branch of Methodism has been organized in Northern New Jersey under the title of “The United Methodist Church.' - The members hold their doctrine of immersion and discard a discipline and all creed save the New Testament. The new organization at present numbers about eighty nu mbers, who are scattered over a large field. —There are 520 vacant churches in the Southern Presbyterian Church. There are 203 preachers who are either superannuated or are professors, teachers, or otherwise without charge. The whole number of churches is 1,797, and the whole number of preachers, including licentiates, 1.084. Consequently 881 preachers do about all the pastoral work done for the entire church. —The statistics of Nevada M. E. Conference show: Probationers, GO;full members, 495; local preachers, 15; total, 570. Baptisms, adults, 41; infants, 4; total, 45. Churches, 11; value, $60,000; parsonages, 16-. value, $17,500. Sabbath-schools, 19; officers and teachers, 148; scholars, 953 ; claims for ministerial support, $14,035; mbsionary collections, $304-50; church extension * $104.75, and for Episcopal fund, $29.75. —The Presbyterian Ministerial Association of Pittsburgh has expressed itself very strongly upon the publication of Sunday newspapers. It denounces the -selling and buying of such papers as an unlawful traffic, and calls upon Christian people to discountenance their circulation. The resolutions adopted by the association were to be read by the Presbyterian ministers to their congregations “ with indorsing and corroborative remarks.”

VARIETY AND HUMOR.

—Political trademark —$.— AT. T. Herald. —The miss-takes in matrimony continue. —Oysters—The- one epicurean luxury that never palls. —The small-pox is alarmingly prevalent in Syracuse, It. Y. —Acknowledge your faults and people will agree with you. —The best time for a light shower is during a dark night. —California has a poet named “ Gassaway,” and he does it. —A Maryland man is named Henry To bacco. and he does not smoke. —“ The only way to look at a lady’s faults,” exclaimed a super-gallant, “is*to shut your eyes.” —The Chicago bar, at the beginning of the recent vacation of the courts, could boast of over 900 lawyers. —An engineer from the Black Hills reports gold .at twenty cents a cord and bread at one dollar a crumb. —The hog crop for the year is estimated at 18,000,000 head, and it will soon be time to begin salting it down. —A sweet-potato plantation of 700 acres near Atlanta, Ga., is expected to yield 40,000 bushels of the favorite edible. —“And the spears shall be turned into pruning-liooks.” At Salt Lake cavalry swords are sold for corn-cutters. —Gambling in New York city is said to be well-nigh extinct, owing to the liability of any person entering a gambling-house to be arrested. —The lovers of oysters will be delighted to learn that ancient oystermen are" predicting tlie best season for that sort of seatruit since 1800. . —lt is well to be rich, but the Rochester Democrat remarks that, in view of the State prison and things, it is better to be so on your own money. —Virginia is jubilant over the fact that the crops of corn and tobacco are the most bountiful that have been produced in the State for a number ol years. . —“Young Man-Afraid-of-His-Horses,” singularly enough, wasn’t averse to demanding several of those awe-inspiring quadrupeds from the Government. —A stuttering veteran of Albany, N. Y., got himself into trouble the other dav by inquiring where the “ Army of the' Cucumberland” was holding its reunion. —A young lady who reached Portland, Ore., direct from Germany, recently, became homesick, and started for her mother’s home in Fatherland again in thirty hours. J

—The leather-dealers are going to have an exhibition of their own - 'at Philadelphia, and have obtained a lot 200 by 300 feet, facing main exhibition, for that purpose. —A middle-aged German lady was very much disappointed at Norwich, Conn., a few days ago, when she found she could not send the key of a trunk to a station bv telegraph. —Politeness is to a. man what beauty is to a woman. It creates an instantaneous impression in his behalf, while the opposite quality exercises as quick a prejudice against him. —Out in Nevada, if we are to believe .-newspaper statistics, the atmosphere is so light that a cord of wood left out over night will shrink to three-quarters of a • cord before morning. —John Schneider, of Detroit, a bigamist, was lately killed by a railroad train _ just as his misdoings were getting him into trouble. So they didn’t get such a -big thing on Schneider” as theyantici—ln Oregon the grades of official im- , portance are carefully preserved. When a Justice of the Peace was insulted lately he considered it beneath his dignity to punish the offender, and therefore called a Constable to avenge die slight. But when, the Constable had been thoroughly

thrashed he told the Justice that the Court might fight for himself thereafter — dignity was a very good thing, but those that had it ought to have cuough muscle to support it —Jones is engaged to a pretty and practical girl. Her .birthday is Oct. 1. This morning Jones received a note from her which said: *' Dear Jack, I feared you might send me a bouquet for a birthday present as you did last year, and I thought I'd suggest'to you that a parlor stove or a German student's lamp would he a great deal better, and either of them would keep.” Jones has bought both, and intends sending up a a peck of sweet potatoes with them.— N'fWrfe* Advertiser. —The Vicksburg Herald says: “ As an innocent-looking old man was going up Washington street yesterday a drayman nodded at him, and asked: “Want a dray, misterV ‘No —o, I guess not,' replied the old man; ‘ I’m too fur from home and can’t pay freight on it. Much obleeged, though. Vicksburg is a powerful nice town. A fellow back here asked me if I didn’t want a coat, another inquired if I wanted a hack, and now you offer me a dray! I wish I lived here.’ ”

Anecdotes of the Dead-Letter Office.

But the service is really invaluableThe amount of money that is shown by the report to have been returned to its owners during one year demonstrates that. Individual instances demonstrate it. Some time ago, in a bank in New York, the person who had charge of the mails and express packages carelessly allowed a package which was intended to have been sent by express to get into the mailbag. It was sent to the Postoffice, and from there came to the Dead-Letter Office, because the postage was unpaid. When opened here it was found to contain fifteen SI,OOO bills. The Assistant Postmaster General at once telegraphed the cashier ot the bank from'which it came either to come to Washington immediately himself or to send a person in whom he had confidence. A gentleman ,came in response to the telegram, bearing the proper credentials, and was very much astonished when he was presented with $15,000. I mentioned among the list of curiosities in the cabinet a valuable diamond ring. This has its romance. The same old story of love and grief; The passion that was forsworn. The ring came to the Defid-Letter Office in an envelope marked “ Uncalled for.” It was postmarked St. Louis and addressed to San Francisco. The letter inclosed gave no clew to either of the parties interested in this very delicate matter, but this may come to the eyes of one of them, perhaps, and he may find out in this way why she never sent him back his,pledge of love, and she—why he never acknowledged this kind but cruel letter: I don’t know that it is necessary for me to write anything to accompany this iuelosure. I think the ring itself ha 6 a language that you can understand, and will carry my message as well as paper. But I cannot let it go _ without at least expressing_my esteem and regret for him who gave it to me two short years ago. Our past, Henry, has been, until this difference, nothing but happiness; but I think it best for both of us that from this time our paths in life lie apart. I have considered it again, as you asked me, but I cannot alter my decision. Spare me the pain that any more thought on this subject must not cause. ! I wish you much joy hereafter. I hope that you will hnd a heart that will be a thousand times more precious to you than ever mine would have been. Forget me; but remember that no love, however unworthily bestowed, was ever wasted. IJE. H. S. Another romance lias come to my knowledge in which a former official in the Dead-Letter Office is the hero and a prominent actress the heroine: Some years ago, when a now reigning stage favorite was merely a novice, a friend in a distant city sent her, inclosed in a letter, a check for SIQO, to assist in paying her expenses and purchasing her wardrobe. The letter was sent to the St. Cloud Hotel, New York, addressed to a fictitious name the young lady had assumed, as stage people are accustomed to do. We will call it “ Imogene” for the sake of the story. It happened, unfortunately, that “ Imogene” left the hotel before her letter came, and it was returned, with a bunch of other ownerless epistles, to the New York Postoffice, and in time reached the DeadLetter Office, where its contents became known. The official in charge sent it back to New York with the usual circular instructing the Postmaster to send a notification of a valuable letter to St. Cloud Hotel, and directing him to obtain upon the receipt her full, real name. The letter waited its time, and came back to the de-

partment again. Singularly, a few- days after it was sent back to Washington, “ Imogene” called at the New York Postoffice for it; was-told the regulation of the service, and arranged that it should be sent her in care of'the Postmaster in Phil'adelphia. But owing to the necessary red-tape routine it didn’t reach there till she had left; it followed her to Baltimore, to Cincinnati, to Louisville, and finally back to New York again, having been returned from each place to Washington, and reforwardod according to the rules; so the Dead-Letter Office official began to feel pretty well acquainted with “ Imogene.” At New York, finally, the letter and its fair owner made connections, and she called upon the Assistant Postmaster for it. He showed lier the voluminous correspondence that had taken place between the Dead-Letter man and the several Postoffices concerning her letter, and she asked his name and address that she might thank him for his kindness and patience. “James W. Jewell.” That isn’t the name the Postmaster gave, but it will do just as well as the right one. When “ Imogene” received the letter she was requested to sign her full name on the receipt. “ Simply ’lmogene’ won’t do,” siid the Postmaster. “ Why nos? fl was the.womanly question. - “ Because it-wouldn’t be business-like, and, besides, that is Mr. Jewell’s instructions to me.” “Very well,” she said, smilingly; “if it is his request of course I will comply with it,” and, taking the pen she signed, in dashing characters Imogene Jewell.” And ihat, or the name that represents, is the one by which a now famous actress is known on the stage to-day. She wrote the Dead-Letter man a very pleasant acknowledgment of his kindness, told him she had taken his name lor her own and inclosed a handsome photograph. If there had not been a wife and baby to obiect who knows but that nomadic letter might have made a match ? This story would be more interesting if I coujd .sail the characters by their right names, but this particular official —remarkable phenomenon!—is modest, and doesn’t like to appear in print as the hero of eveAa dead-letter romance.—Wathinctoa Car. Chicago Inter-Ocean.

MECHANICAL AND SCIENTIFIC.

—All that glitters is not gold ; nor is all the iron called Swedish made in Sweden.. —A very’ interesting exhibition has been made befege the British Association of Science, consisting of a series of fourteen . carefully-constructed thermometers'differing either in the size or shape of the bulbs or in the material with which they were filled, some being, mercurial and others containing alcohol, and all being made in the most perfect manner in respect both to the scientific principle and the mechanism involved. As the result of experiments made with these various instruments, under the same circumstances of temperature and position, it was ascertained that very large mercurial bulbs are but little better than those of the same size filled with alcohol, but that with small bulbs the mercury is much more sensitive.i —The peculiar phenomenon of the variability of the'spectra of glowing gases has been -investigated by a German chemist, who finds that this is affected by the following circumstances, namely: The density .of the gas; the strength of the galvanic current that heats it, as well as the method of electric discharge, and the changes of temperature that are produced thereby; the thickness of the glowing stratum of gas; and, finally, the chemical purity of the gas. With regard to the density of the gas, it is found that the diminution of density causes the spectrum to become fainter and fainter, and leads to a change in the relative position of certain of the bright lines, which sometimes will become broad bands. When the highest possible degree of rarefaction is realized, it is found that the bandsrespectively'become groups of well-defined lines that are occasionally merged into each other .—Chicago Tribune. —The atmosphere of Venus is now a subject that is receiving universal attention from astronomers. It is known that many of the observers of the transit stations, last December, described a beautiful phenomenon that occurred as the plan,et slowly made its way over the sun’s disc. A pale circle of white light was distinctly visible around a portion of the planet’s edge, differing entirely from the brilliant sunlight, but closely resembling the soft light of the moon. This ring of pale light is supposed to be the atmosphere surrounding the planet, and, in the opin* ion of many astronomers, it is much deeper than the atmosphere of the earth. Other observers, however, reject this theory', and regard the phenomenon as in some mysterious way connected with the sun’s eorona. The transit to occur seven years hence may possibly throw light upon this problem as well as upon some other related astronomical questions. —Brooklyn Eagle. —The combination signal and flashlight is coining into extensive use. its value consisting in its convenient adaptation as a danger or telegraphic signal, always ready and at hand in case of accidents, alarms, fogs, or threatened collisions, it being also a powerful illuminator in dark nights, rendering the smallest objects visible for many yards distant in all directions. It is an ordinary lantern, in which lard or sperm-oii is used, with a separate reservoir containing naphtha or volatile oil held in suspension by cotton batting, packed in a wire-gauze sack. By means of a cylinder, or air-tube, passing through the reservoir, common air is injected, forming, with the volatile oil, hydro-car-bon gas, that escapes through a tube adjoining the fixed light, thus creating a brilliant flame a foot or more in length. The apparatus is an improvement on sig-nal-lanterns for railroads, its effect as a signal flash-light being perfect.— N. Y. Sun.

Overwork and Underwork.

Bo much has been w-ritten on the subject of overwork, that we give place to a paper on the other side of the question, by Dr. Samuel Wilks, Physician to Guy’s Hospital, London: Tlie amount of work which each man or woman is capable of performing is dependent on their temperament and especial powers, and can be gauged by their individual capacities. There are some young men whose brains are so weak that they cannot bear the pressure'which is put upon them by a little sustained thought. Every year 1 see one or two medical students obliged to leave their chosen profession and devote themselves to an out-of-door active life. Apart, however, from these individual cases, which must be judged on their own merits, I am anxious to know- whether medical men generally accept what seems to be a very popular opinion of the day, that society at large is really suffering from an amount of work, physical and mental, which is injurious to the individual, and therefore to the human race. That an opinion of this kind largely prevails I gather from conversation, and from the public prints; but lately I saw quotations from the sermon of a well-known preacher, in which he declared that our asylums were filled with mad people owing to the overwrought state of the nervous system in the present hard-working age. Now, if the question be put thus broadly —Are Deople suffering from overwork? I for one should have no hesitation in saying No; but, on the contrary, if both sexes be taken, I should say the opposite is nearer the truth, and that more persons are suffering from idleness than from exces'sive work. Medically speaking, I see half a dozen persons suffering from want of occupation to one who is crippled by his labors. I have, therefore, very little sjunpathy with the prevalent notion that nervous and other diseases are due to overwork; and, as regards the statement of the preacher above-mentioned, I apprehend he never thought of testing the truth of it by a visit to the public asylum, for he might then have been impressed with the sight of the of the lower classes and the altogether unlettered persons confined therein. As regards the community generally, or at least those of its number who before the medical man on account of their ailments, my belief is that the explanation they offer arises from a delusion; and amongst girls, so far from any studies or otjbfer work being injurious, I could ingfa&fie numerous cases of restoration to,, health on the discovery of an occupation. Very often, when a' business man complains of being overdone, it may be found that his meals are very irregular and hurried, that he takes no exercise, is rather partial to brandy and soda, and thinks it not improper t<> halt poison himself with nicotine every night and morning. The lady in the same way eats no breakfast, takes a glass of sherry at eleven o’clock, and drinks tea all the afternoon; when night arrives she has become ready to engage in any performance to which she may have been invited. When the man of business presents himself with his nerves really overstrained, he is found to be a man of delicate or actual*insane temperament. The rule, however, is that tvhen a pa-

tieut comßs before fee with his nerves unstrung, hypochondriacal, and goes through the whole machinery of liis body to inform me of its working, previously committing all the facts to paper lest an important one should be forgotten,) tllat that man is getting rusty from having no occupation. It is generally admitted that amongst men a want of occupation is so detrimental that no demonstration of the fact is required. They are the bread-win-ners ; and the pursuit after the necessities of life for one’s sell and belongings is believed to be intimately associated with health. But if this be a physiological law, it is equally applicable to women; and it may be shown that a very large number of ailments in girls is due to want of occupation or idleness. We forget sometimes what a formidable machine is the animal body with its force-producing nervous system. The brain is an engine of many horse-power; its energy must be accounted for in some way; if not used for good purposes it will be for bad, and “mischief will be found for idle hands to do.” It is fortunate that with many girls the frivolities of life keep them idly busy, and so, having a safety valve, they are harmless to others and themselves; but let a girl occupy herself neither with what is useful nor with amusement—she falls into bad health, she becomes a prey to her own internal fires or forces and every function of the body is deranged as well as her moral nature perverted. Cases of this kind appear to me of the commonest order, and at the same time very difficult, of cure because the mother’s aid can rarely be gained to assist the doctor, but, on the other hand, her sympathies top3)tten only foster her daughter’s morbid proclivities by insisting on her delicacy and the necessity of various artificial methods for her restoration, as well as her resistance to the doctor’s advice for a more natural life, since she is sure it cannot be undertaken. Her daughter is too delicate for any of the occupations or modes of exercise proposed; what she requires is medical attendance, and to be alcoholized and physicked. It is remarkable, however, what a young lady can do under the power of a stimulus ; as, for example, a gentleman lately expressed his surprise to see how his daughter, who could not walk many yards for a long time owing to a pain in her back, was soon able to walk many miles a day when she procured the support of a lover’s arm. It is from consideration of this kind that, when the superfluity of w r omen, amounting to half a million, doomed to be unmated,,, ask for employment I cannot deny it to them. The human body is made for w'ork, physical and mental; the amount it can do is of course proportionate to the power of the machine; but, unlike all other machines, its strength is only maintained by use, as assuredly it rusts and decays by disuse. Judging from my own experience, the persons with unstrung nerves who apply to the doctor are, not the prime minister, the bishops, judges and liard-working professional men, but merchants and stock-brokers retired from business, Gov- ’ eminent clerks who work from ten to four, women whose domestic duties and bad servants are driving them to the grave, young ladies whose visits to the village schooi or Sunday performance on the organ is undermining their health, and so on. In short, and this is the object of the remarks with which I have troubled your readers, in my experience I see more ailments arise from want of occupation than from overwork, and, taking the various kinds of nervous and dyspeptic ailments which we are constantly treating, I find at least six due to idleness to one from overwork-

Finding Fault With the World.

There is a class of people in the world who make it ofe chief business of their lives to depreciate existence and its blessings, who speak of this world as a “ vale of tears,” an “abode of sin and sorrow,”a “ daily cross,” a “ realm of blasted hopes,” and so on through the entire category of such expressions. Life, they tell us, is not worth living; they wish they had never been born or had died in infancy, and we cannot help indulging tlie thought that if they had nobody would have been the loser by it. Everything looks to them sad and lugubrious. Their spectacles are smoked glass, and their jaundiced eyes see everything bright through this dusky medium. Every misfortune which comes, every streak of ill-luck which befalls them, is a direct “ judgment” from the Almighty; as though they believed that the God of love and power spent the whole time in studying out refinement of cruelty wherewith to afflict His children whom He professes to love. If a man eats too much at dinner, drinks too much and smokes too many cigars and dies of apoplexy at forty, when he ought by the laws of nature to have lived to eighty, God is arraigned; and tlie man’s friends and the clergyman who preaches his funeral sermon call his death a “mysterious dispensation of Providence.” If a mother dresses her tender little child so as to show in bare neck and arms, and its plump legs—beautiful, we admit — but none the less sensitive to cold on that account, if she fills the child’s stomach with bon bom , and its head with knowledge intended only for riper years, and the child dies, as of course it will, then everybody sympathizes with her, and urges her to be resigned to the will of Providence. And the afflicted mother w T eeps, and wonders what she has ever done to deserve such an afflicting stroke. Men who are brought up to know right from wrong cheat, and lie, and swindle, and speculate, and build up fortunes, and invest them in fancy stocks which rise into existence like soap-bubbles, and by and by the bubble bursts, the fine things are swept away, and these men will have the assurance to say that God has dealt harshly with them, and that the punishment is more than they can bear. “ The gods help those who help themselves.” As true a line as was ever penned, and in nine cases out of ten our world is just what we make it. If we resolve to see only the dark side, we shall of course see no sunshine. If we choose to live in a cellar, the sun will not be likely to come down out of the heavens and seek us out in our obscurity. If we meet trouble half way it will accept the tacit invitation, and be ever present with us. “ A merry heart doeth good,” and the greatest things which can be showered upon a lamily are good-nature and cheerfulness. —“ Kate Thorn," in 'N. T. Weekly.

Rhode Island has'a rifle association, of which Gen. Burnside is President. Unless they can obtain permission to put up a target in a neighboring State the shooting wifi have to be at a very short range. • m - The total expenses for running the New Haven public schools last year were $157,655. There are 211 teachers (twenty-five men) and 11,465 pupils in the schools, and the average attendance was 7,595.

AGRICULTURAL AND DOMESTIC.

—Lime slaked just before application and sown by hand is said to be an infallible protection against fly in turnips. —A good way to start slips of plants is to get an old glass fruit jar, sift nice mellow earth in it till it is two or three inches deep, of till it touches the end of the slip, then pour water over it till it is full. Set the jar where it will not be moved often. After the roots start sift more earth over, fill agaip with water if neededi, and so on till it is full and filled with roots, then carefully break the glass off and transplant to a pot, and you will have no trouble in starting it.— N. Y. Herald. —Picklelily. (Query: “ Pick-a-little?”) —One peck of green tomatoes, one head of cabbage, six onions, six green peppers; chop these together, salt them, put the mixture in a colander and let it drain over night. In the morning pour off- the green liquid and throw it away. Cover the chopped tomato with vinegar, add one cup of scraped horse-radish, one cup of white mustard seed, one cup of whole cloves* one cup of stick cinnamon, one cup or mace and one cup of sugar. Boil until soft but so that it will hold its - form. It will keep without sealing but is better when tightly covered. It should not be eaten till it is at least a month old. — Household. —The best remedy we have tried for rats is cats. I had rather keep a halfdozen cats Ilian that number of rats. Once we thought we could not endure a cat on the premises, but when the rats ran everywhere—through the buildings, into the garden, chicken and goslin coops, and would face a person with such an insulting look—we caved in. We keep three (one is eight years old) the year through; at tiipes there are more. What we cannot give away we allow a free ride when old enough to take care of themselves. A cat should not be fed any meat; give plenty of milk, some potatoes, crumbs of bread, etc. Rats for the past- ten years have been few and far between; the cats . stand as sentinels and take them soon after making their appearance on the farm.— Cor. A. Y. Tribune. —We have had a case of felon in our family lately, and treated it successfully by steaming the whole hand with bitter herbs. It was allowed to progress, through ignorance, until badly swollen, exquisitely painful, and of a livid, purple color. Being in the palm of the hand it involved the whole hand and wrist in the swelling. A handful each of tansy, hops, catnip and wormwood was thrown into an old basin, a small quantity of tobacco and half a teacupful of soft-soap added, and sufficient water to cover. When boilinghot the patient placed her hand over the steam, and a small blanket was thrown over the basin to retain the steam, which was applied until the mixture cooled. This was repeated day and night until the pain was entirely removed, which was in forty-eight hours. The relief from the paroxysms of pain is almost magical as soon as the steam is applied. The mixture was only once renewed, between The applications of steam a poultice of soft-soap thickened with slipperyelm flour was applied, but I think it was unnecessary. After using for a day the hand was submitted to a physician, who thought it should he lanced or no relief would be found in less than a Week, hut the next day the pain took its final leave. No anodyne was used to procure sleep, as the steaming instantly relieved the pain until the next attack.— Cor. Country Gentleman.

Training Steers.

A correspondent of the Maine Farmer has the following on training steers: A neighbor recently remarked to me: “ You have a faculty of charming steers.” I replied that it was a mistake. I simply study their nature and adapt myself to that nature. In approaching them (whether they are in yoke or not), though I may “ come with a rod,” yet I always come with love. If lamin a hurry and a steer is in my path, I never give him a kick, or a thrust, with a yell, “ Get out of my way,” but instead I allow him the path, while I pass quietly by, gently rubbing him with the hand as I pass. The pressure of the hand on the animal has a powerful influence in training him,'-and I had rather engage to bring two yoke of steers to a stage of good working discipline than tame one pair that had been taught to fear the presence of man. I think of several illustrations, one that others may “go and do likewise.” Yesterday I was cqrting with a pair of steers that were impatient about starting. Whenever they started too soon I would back them to the very spot from which they started, and rub their heads, or pick off loose hair from their bodies, and in one half hour the change in their general appearance was surprising. In handling them I always endeavor to persuade them that even the goad cannot harm them. When I yoke them, which I do at all ages after the first ten months (though I consider from one and one-half to two and one-lialf years the best age for their discipline), I usually place them before a yoke of welltrained oxen or steers, large enough to anchor you safely. At first attach a line to the horns of the off steer, making it fast to the bow of the near one, thereby preventing him from turning his head too far to the right. This is not usually necessary after once yoking. I also hold another line in my hand, attached to the horns of the near one, or, if he is too hard to'manage, I put a snap in his nose. Of course they are frightened at first, but after a few minutes they will walk off quietly. I travel beside my rear cattle, using appropriate language, speaking just what I mean and no more, at the same time showing, by means of goad and line, the meaning of my words. In ordinary cases I can remove my line from the near one after one hour, calling to them without it. After handling them on the lead one day, I can use them on a drag or a light log and next the cart. As I always approach them quietly, they have no inclination to retreat from my presence, though they may sometimes try to run, as it is natural for all growing animals to do so. The “ Golden Rule” does not come amiss, even in training steers, and I will treat them as I think I would desire to be treated were I in their condition. As soon as they can be termed handy I give the near one an occasional lesson in the yard without the yoke, teaching him the elementary tactics in “single file.” I then change their places under the yoke, putting the off one on the near side, and after he becomes handy there I teach him the tactics singly also; after which, as both are disciplined to work on either side, I can place them together without any yoke or other attachment and move them to and from the pasture and where else I please. I never whip them except in rare cases of stubborness (which are nearly as scarce as hens’ teeth), and then not severely, but calmly and kindly, without exciting feaf4n the animals; and the moment he yields, 'treat him with the greatest possible kindqgls. I always give

each-steer a distinct name, naming them after the Yankee custom, allowing the color-spots, lines, horns, etc., to guide me in this matter,, and I always call him by that name.

Breaking Colts.

This is the season of the year for weaning colts and consequently for handling them. The earlier colts are broken to the use of the halter and to be handled the better. But before anyone attempts to break a colt he should be certain that he was broken himself—certain that he has conqueredjiis passioris, liis haste and his disposition to drive tilings. Be certain that you can keep quiet, and in a good humor. By kindness engage the colt’s confidence, and he careful never to forfeit that confidence. Colts are sometimes ignorant and headstrong. Kindly teach what you want them to do. And in view of the fact that you cannot tell them how to act, repeatedly show them. And if they cannot understand yon as soon as you think they should,- recollect their position, and at the same time remember the faithful services of the horse when once carefully educated to work. The earlier a colt is handled the better. All animals learn lessons when young better than when older. A fractious man will make a fractious horse. Pounding and severe whipping are useless and cruel, and should not he allowed. When a horse has been rightly • broken, and knows his duty and obstinately refuses to obey, the moral suasion in the shape of an old Pennsylvanian wagoner’s whip may come in its place. But never use it on the colt. Nor should the colt once know that he is stronger than his master, or anyone that handles him. And it is one ot the follies to put a poor halter on a colt. Let him break a few poor halters and good ones will never hold him in after life. Impress upon the colt that you are his friend and not his enemy. Talking to and petting a colt makes him more intelligent, and as a consequence more useful. In breaking do it by degrees. Teach him to lead, then put on part of the harness and lead him about, then with all the harness on lead him alongside of horses which are hitched to a wagon, and soon he understands the whole operation. There is nothing in the Rarey system of breaking horses'?but kindness, firmness and a full comprehension of the nature and disposition of the horse. But, we repeat, never attempt to break a colt until you break yourself of rashness and the exhibition of passion. —lowa State Register.

Digging Ditches Economically.

A ditch is an open channel for conduct ing water, while a drain consists of* a subterraneous passage for water. When ditches are excavated with hand tools only the work is laborious and the cost more expensive than when teams and machinery can be employed to perform a part of the work. Many years ago when we were in the possession of a farm, much of which required draining, we performed a large portion of this irksome drudgery by the aid of the team and the common plow. Betting stakes for tlie line of the drain the plow was run along this line, turning a furrow, which was then thrown back out of the way by hand with shovels. The plow was then put through back again down the drain, the near horse walking in the lurrow; this loosened dirt was also thrown back. We found, however, that this opened the ditch rather too narrow, and in cutting one since, proceding in the same way, allowed the off-horse to walk back in die cleared furrow, which, if the plow is set for a narrow furrow in common plowing, will cut about the right width. The plowing and clearing was continued (the near horse in the furrow) through three times more, when we found we could go no deeper because the double whiffletree dragged on the ground. The clevis was then raised above the top of the beam, and one horse put on, which by walking in the ditch drew the plow up and down once more, thus loosening the hard soil about one foot in depth. The work was done in less than half a, day, and saved at least two-thirds the labor had it been dug by hand. Our ground is full of small stone, making the use of a pick requisite, and increasing the work of ditching to some extent above that of a simple clayey soil. After*tliis experiment a long double whiffletree was employed (say six feet in length) with a horse at each end. Then the subsoil plow was drawn by a chain three or four feet long extending from the whiffletree to the plow. With a subsoil plow the earth could be broken up to the depth of three feet. When laying small drain-tile in a ditch it is a nice job to get a level surface among the stone and over the occasional soft spots of sandv clay found along the bottom. When ’laying tile of any size we first place them within reach along the bank, and then, facing the head of the drain, stand upon each one, and with one foot stamp it down until it will not rock or tip either way. On ground free from stones the work is simple and easy, but here we often come to a spot where a stone of some size has to be removed to. get a level bottom. Here the tile will not lie firm without the hole is filled up with small stone and a flat one placed under the end of this tile and the next one, just low enough to keep the watercourse level. When the tile lies firm under our feet as we stand upon it we proceed to the next and not before. In the sandy bottom soft spots larger flat stones are filled in to keep the course of tile to its proper place so, that they may not sink into the mud and thus become obstructed. When soft, sandy places are over two feet in length we lay in a good sound board to keep the tiles in tlie proper plage. As a covering for tile before putting on the dirt we have used straw, small stone and pieces of sod; but it is only the larger Cracks which need anything, and sods are generally most easily got, and we think will answer every purpose. After shoveling in a few inches of dirt and treading it down the remainder may be filled in by a plow, with a long whiffletree to allow one horse to walk each side of the drain. Or some use one horse to a plow and require the animal to travel over tlie tile. But this is a practice not to be commended; as there are numerous liabilities to displacement of the tile and crushing tender ones. The first dirt should be shoveled in the ditch by a man who will be exceedingly careful to avoid breaking tile by allowing stones to fall on them. If hard tile are properly laid the drain will remain serviceable for ages to come. — W - . F. Herald.

Wuen at a trial matqh of sausage-mak-ing machines m Cincinnati one. of them amputated the hand of its exhibitor, a heartless bystander remarked that it took the palm. Sam Music has been arrested for murder in Illinois. He can plead self-defensfc—-so many people have murdered psalm 1 music— Boston, Globe. Y\