Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 November 1875 — Page 6

VARIETY AND HUMOR.

—Thieves are sometimes inclined to doubt that a thing of booty is a Joy forever. —Apples can be bought in some portions of Pennsylvania for fifteen cents a bushel. —A fishhawk's motto—“ I fights mit sea-gull."— New York Commercial Adver—The great defect of the English people is mental indolence, says Mr. Gladstone. —What are the boys waiting most patiently for now* Don’t you see* Ice. See? —A distinction with a difference—a suspension of sentence and a sentence of suspension. —lt’s no consolation to a defeated candidate to know that he came “pretty near" being elected. -—ls the hog-cholera makes pork worth fifty cents per pound, all high-toned people will eat pork. —Pure Havana cigars will be scarcer this year, owing to a failure in the Massachusetts tobacco crop. —The Rochester Democrat says the fewpersons who do not know that kerosene is explosive are rapidly dying off. —When a man to whom you lend money says he will be indebted to you forever you might as well believe him. —One of those unexplainable foibles of feminine nature consists in the fact that the finer carriage a woman has, the more she prefers to walk. —Pennsylvania has 128 towns that end in “ burg.” This shows what people can Accomplish when they brace thgir nerves and set about a thing. —A crusty old bachelor explains that the reason a woman puts her finger in her mouth when she thinks is because she cannot talk and think at the same time. —Wedding tours are becoming unfashionable. The proper and sensible thing is to settle down and live like folks, without indulging in any needless nonsense. —Mrs. Eunice Ilanney, of Shelburne Falls, Mass., aged eighty-four, felt a prrafe, ing in the back of her hand and pufted out a needle. She can’t remember«to have swallowed it —Once at least in every husband’s life comes a dark, rainy night, when his wife suddenly remembers, as he is getting his first nap, that she has “ forgotten to bring —in the clothes." —“ Who is this Herr Zegovina, anyway ?” said a young lady the other evening at a mixed party; “is he the newtenor that came out with Tietjens, or is he -in the Salvini line?” —The Kansas Supreme Court recently held that the stealing of a dog was larceny, and to charge a person with stealing a dog the party was liable for action of slander if it was not true. —Kansas has thousands of bushels of potatoes w hich will not be dug on account of their cheapness. In the East there are thousands of people who will suffer during the w inter for want of sufficient food. —A San Francisco paper mourns because that city, with one of the finest harbors in Ute world, on which the afternoon breezes are always strong and steady, does not boast of a single yacht club.

—The Atlanta (Ga.) Herald mentions the nearest approach to purgatory yet discovered on earth. It was a sleeping-car in which there were thirteen babies,, while in the ladies’ car were eleven more of the howling cherubs. —A New Haven lady recently went abroad in order to take charge of the remains of her husband Who had died there. She is expected back soon and, being a woman of thrift, brings both a live and a dead husband with her. —Two young men in Crawford County, Pa., are serving out ten months' terms in the Work-House forstealingchickens. They attended a political meeting, noticed what tanners were in attendance and made a tour of the hen-roosts of these parties. —A novel libel suit was tried recently •at Bowling Green, Ky., the complainant. Ollie Hayes, being but twelve years of age. The defendant had circulated a report charging the girl with stealing an artificial flower, and the jury awarded Ollie SSOO damages. —lt is always easy to hear bad news of St. Louis via Chicago, and this time it is about the big bridge over the Mississippi. The bridge and tunnel capital was $15,000.000 —$4,000,000 in stock, which has now disappeared, <3 and $11,000,000 in bonds. The receipts of the bridge are only $1,300 a day, which is not sufficient to pay the interest and expenses by about $1,700. ; .. -

—They had a snow-storm with their voting among the Northern Berkshire Hills, in Massachusetts, on the 2d of November, when the ground was covered ten or twelve inches on a level. At one place, a few miles from Adams, the county road was so blocked that teams had to turn out into the lots and 'lection night the messenger who promised to collect the returns from Clarksburg and Florida -could not cross the mountain to the latter -town on account of the wind and snow. —Some thirteen sandstone basins were recently discovered near Flemingsburg, Ky., under a ledge, where they are supposed to have remained since the stoneage. They were arranged in a mathematical circle, at a distance of about sevfeet from each other. On an average they were about six feet in diameter and eight to ten inches deep, mounted with conical, nicely-fitting covers, which bore evidence of having been sealed. It is thoaght that they were WTfoF some sacrificial rite.

—A. few days ago a man named Marcus H. Nelson came to Dr. Armsbv’s of fice in Albany, N. Y , and rented to have a finger which had ulcerated taken -off. It was pronounced a case of gangrene and he was sent to the hospital for •treatment. At the regular hospital clinic 'which occurred a few days after, he was brought before the class and insisted upon the amputation then and there. A small quantity of ether and chloroform was given him, and after three minutes, as the surgeon was about to perform the operation, it was discovered that he was dead. —At Junius, N. Y., recently, a farmer named Theodore Bodine met' a terrible death. He was feeding a threshing-ma-chine with loose oats. In some manner a coil of fencg-wire had become mixed with the oats andAcas thrown into the machine, unseen, by the farmer. One end of the the wire instantly fastened around the cylinder of the thresher, and the other end caught around Mr. Bodine’s neck and drew him up to the machine. The aperture being too small to permit of the entire body passing in, the head was literally torn from it and passed through. It was not until the bloody head came out at the other end that the fate of the farmer was discovered- The men who were attending

to that part of the machine stopped the horses and, going back, found the headlews trunk of Mr. Bodine lying upon the barn floor.

Mother-in-Law and Wife.

“The prisoner is your son’s wife, is she ?” inquired the Justice of the sorrowful old woman standing beside him. “ Yes, sir; Harriet, there.’’ *** “ And you had her arrested for striking you?” . ‘ “ Yes, sir.” There was a painful pause. The sadeyed, ago-stricken womah hastily wiped away a tear that had come unbidden to her poor, old eyes, and the daughter sat staring straight ahead into vacancy, with a hard, defiant look upon her face which was ladled by the nervous fingers that were winding and unwinding the fringeof a gaudy shawl drawn about her shoulders. “Well, my dear madam, what is it? Tell us all about it,” and gaining courage from the looks sympathizingly bent on her from every side, in a low voice she told the sad, oft-repeated tale of domestic troubles: “My son William, that’s him, sir, standing by the stove, we used to live together peaceable and old-fashioned. He brought his earnings home every Saturday night, and gave ’em to me to use inbuying things, and a happier or more contented mother and son I don’t believe you could rind in the whole country through. But bimeby I noticed a change. He was out evenings, took an awful amount of pains with his hair and necktie, and at last it came out as I expected. * Mother,’ he says, * I want to get married. She’s the ’ But there ain’t no use telling what he said or what he did- It was just the same as when you were young, your Honor,and one bright August morning he brought her home with him, and says, proud as ever, you see: * Mother, this is my wife; you must try to like her a little for your son’s sake.’ And I did try, sir, honestly try, but her ways wan’t my ways. First, she wanted to change the pictures on the wall, and hung ’em awful unbecoming; and then my tomato-plants in the window. She said they litt tered the room, and one morning afore I she had ’em all out in the yard. Next she said as seeing how- she was William’s wife she had better sit at the end of the table and pour the tea, and though he didn’t say anything I saw that my son agreed with her, so I left the seat where I had set for thirty-odd years and had to see it occupied by another. And so it w-ent on. I was snubbed as a domineering old woman, and at last she said she wished I wouldn’t come into the parlor when there was company; I looked so old-fashioned and said such queer things. That was too much, sir, right in my own and my son’s house, and I just rose right up and we had it, and both said a great many bitter things that we didn’t mean, and at last, white with rage, she raised her hand and struck me, sir, her husband’s mother, and before I knew what I was doing I had her arrested and brought here, but J never meant it, sir; and if you will let hes go now I will stay in my own room in the house, sir, and we will try to live together in peace until the end. Won’t you, sir?” As the old lady ceased, speaking the daughter’s lace, which had been gradually softening under the new and blessed light of love, was buried in her shawl, and her low, convulsive sobs were audible throughout the hushed court-room. “ This is all,” said the Justice, solemnly; “ this is the lesson you both needed, arid let it serve you for all time. Bear each other’s infirmities; be to each other in reality mother and daughter, and believe me you can make a home for William and yourself pleasanter than you have ever known. The prisoner is discharged.” Not a word was said, but the two women, with clasped hands, passed out of the room together, the son and husband joining them at the door with happy, beaming face at the unlooked-for reconciliation between his mother and his wife. —Buffalo Express.

A Centennial “Husking.”

The Boston Journal of a recent date says: The home of N. P. Banks, on Main street, in Waltham, was last evening the scene of a royal frolic improvised in aid of the National Centennial by a committee of ladies acting under the inspiring leadership of Mrs. S. D. Warren. Gen. Banks lent a helping hand, and kindly threw open his mansion and barn for the entertainment, which was nothing less than a genuine, old-fashioned husking. Gen. Banks, who makes “ success a duty,” raised this year about 200 bushels of corn, 100 bushels of which was placed in the middle of the barn floor in a rick, with seats on either side. In order the more successfully to realize to the full the fun attending the discovery of the red ears, 100 of these were scattered throughout the windrow. The barn was lighted up with lanterns, and in one corner a stand was erected for the musicians, Hall’s Metropolitan Band, of Boston. The barn is located a short distance from the house, with which it was connected for the occasion by a covered way, a large marquee in the center forming a conspicuous feature of the arrangements. The interior of this was brilliantly illuminated with Chinese lanterns. Gen. Banks has recently added an L to his house, for the purposes of a library’, and this apartment in the rough was decorated with flags and bunting, presenting altogether a truly patriotic and appropriate appearance. An admission fee of fifty cents was charged the visitors, and, no expenses whatever having been incurred, the receipts, which amounted to a considerable sum, all went to aid the woman’s denart-

mentof the Centennial Exhition. The guests began to arrive soon after seven o’clock, and soon the house and barn were crowded, the General and Mrs. Banks being assisted in receiving, their guests by their accomplished daughters, Miss Minnie Sargent and Maud. The husking commenced about eight o’clock; young and old entering alike into the sport, demanding, receiving and paying forfeits as one after another lucky one discovered a red ear. The husking continued about an hour, at the expiration of which time the company were invited to a substantial eolation, such as was served to the boys and girls of New England 100 years ago.’ This was a gratuity on the part of Mr. and Mrs. Banks and consisted of baked beans, brown bread, squash, apple and mince pies, doughnuts and cheese, with coiiee and sweet cider. The beans and brown bread came smokiift? hot from the ovens, while the cider for the Occasion was pressed out yesterday afternoon, and consequently unfermented and harmless. At uxe conclusion of the supper the company joined m dancing, and prolonged the festivities until a iafcg hour. (New York) stores offer silks at a song," and an innocent editor of that city can now see no excuse for lathes of good voices going without plenty of good" dresses. j

AGRICULTURAL AND DOMESTIC.

—A French loaf cake is thus made: One pound of flour, one pound of sugar, one pound of raisins, a half pound of butter, one cup of new milk, five eggs, and spice to taste. —Meat should be cooked by . a quick fire, as the rapid closing of the outer pores retains all the juices within, and these becoming heated create a natural process of steatning in its own gravy. —One teacupful of sugar, one egg (beat the egg and sugar till light), one teacupful of spur cream, one teaspoonful of soda, nutmeg and cinnamon to suit the taste. This makes a splendid cake, and is called Editors’ Cake. —To make a wedding pudding, take one cup of molasses, one cup of chopped raisins, one cup of milk, one-half cup of butter, one teaspoonful of soda, one dessertspoonful of mixed spices, one egg, four cups of flour. Steam three hours. —A method of curing skins without removing the hair is given by a correspond-i ent in the Fancier’s Journal: “ Take soft water, about ten gallons, one-half bushel wheat bran, seven pounds of salt, two and a half pounds of sulphuric acid. * Dissolve all together and put the skins in the solution, and allow them to remain twelve hours; take them out and clean them well, and again immerse twelve more hours, or longer, if necessary. The skins may then be taken out, well washed and dried. They can be beaten soft if desired.”

—A balky horse is insane on the subject of going. If we can manage to make him think on some other subject he will naturally forget about going and go before he knows it. The following devices have been successfully tried to accomplish the desired end: 1. Tying a string around the horse’s ear close to the head. 2. Hitching the horse to the swingletree by means of a cord irfetead of the tugs; the cord fastened to the horse’s tail. 3. Filling the mouth full of some disagreeable substance. 4. Tying a stout twine around the leg just below the knee and then removing it when he has traveled some distance. Never whip a balky horse, for the more he is whipped the crazier he will become. Let everything be done gently, for boisterous words only confuse him and make him worse. Treat him in the mild manner that you would a crazy man and you will succeed.— Rural Neu> Yorker. —Many housekeepers complain to the butcher at the disproportion between the size of the meat and the money they have paid for it, and, weighing it, find it much less than paid for, but their representations are met with the statement that it is the trimmings which make the difference. Suppose you sent to your grtxser for nine pounds of butter, which he should proceed to weigh, and afterward took a knife and carefully trimmed all the edges where the firkin or the brine had left unsightly lines and marks upon it, and that should amount to half or three-quarters or a whole pound, you would send it back much more quickly than it came. Now, is there any good reason why we should submit to a loss from the butcher sooner than from the grocer? But we have and do, and must .submit to it until housekeepers make a determined effort to right the wrong and insist always upon having as good weight for meat as for groceries. —American Grocer.

The French Way of Salting Pork.

Bacon is almost the only meat ever tasted by hundreds of thousands of Frenchmen, and they have become connoisseurs in the method of preparing it. As soon as the pig is killed it is always singed, not scalded; the qar-cass- being placed upon a bundle of straw and the fire set to it to windward. As one side is singed the pig is turned over; and if any bristles remain they are burnt' off with wisps of blazing straw. Next it is brushed and scraped with a knife, and Washed clean with cold water. After cutting it open the “ fry” is placed into water to be cleansed from blood, and afterward it is speedily cooked. Some persons will leave the open carcass to cool all night; while others kill by’ early dawn and cut up in the evening, by candlelight, to save time. The pig is cut up into convenient pieces, of from three to five pounds each, reserving the hams, feet, heads and tails for special treats; also a few roasting pieces and some sausage-meat. The feet are then boiled tender and broiled as tidbits. For a pig weighing 200 pounds take thirty pounds of common salt, a quarter of a pound of saltpeter, two ounces of ground pepper and four ounces of ground allspice and cloves mixed together. Stir these ingredients up well and rub eaclf piece of pork, whether it is to be salted or smoked; then sprinkle the mixture over the bottom of the tub %nd put in a layer of meat, sprinkling it with the salt and spices; and do so until it is all packed, covering the upper layer thickly with the salt. Cover up closely and it will keep perfectly and be more toothsome than pork pickled in the common way.— N. Y. Independent.

Plant a Few More Forest Trees.

There are few farms in the older and thickly-settled States which would not be improved in appearance by planting upon them groups or rows of forest trees. If this is true in the once heavily’-wooded regions of the country, how much more valuable must such additions be to a prairie farm. There is scarcely a farm of fifty or more acres anywhere upon which there is not some nook or corner that might be devoted to the culture of forest trees with profit, leaving the ornamental view of the subject out of the question. A grove or thickly-planted row of white ash or hickory will frequently furnish a choice stick of timber when wanted; saving the owner many an hour of time in searching through his own or neighbor’s woodlands inorder to find one of the required quality. A really tough stick of white ash or hickory is not so readily’ found in the original forests as one might suppose, even where these two kinds are plentiful, for the very best timber is usually what is termed “second growths,” or treeswhich have sprung up on the edges of the forests or in some neglected fence corner or waste place. Every’ farmer and mechanic who has had occasion to use very tough wood is aware of this fact, and, knowing this, it seems strange that farmers in particular should so seldom think of encouraging more growths of this kind. It would require no great amount of capital or time to plant a thousand or two of young hickory or ash trees, and when once started they' constantly increase in value through an ordinary lifetime. A man may in this way enhance the value of his farm by many hundred dollars, and at the same time find the timber which wilj necessarily havj to be cut out from time to (ime a very convenient article to have about,-even to dispose of to, some manufactory. * - ',.

The season is now at hand fdf either gathering .the seeds of forest trees or transplanting the young plants, such as may be pulled or dug up from almost every wood. White ash, maples and chestnut seedlings may usually be transplanted from the woods with fair success; there are others, such as hickory, black walnut and butternut, which are rather difficult to make live, owing to their few fibrous roots; consequently it is better to raise these trees from the seed, either planted directly where the trees are to grow, or sown in nursery rows, and root-pruned or transplanted when one or, at most, two years old. The nuts should be gathered as soon as they fall from the tree, then mixed with earth, and left in a pile out of doors until spring. The usual way of preserving the cqarse kinds of nuts named is to select a convenient dry spot, then spread upon it a layer of the nuts; upon this put two inches or more of fine soil, then another layer of nuts, and so on until the heap is finished, covering the last layer of nuts with'earth, and leaving the top of the heap nearly flat. It is also well to place some boards on their edges around the heap, forming a kind of pen to protect them frpm any accidental visits of hogs or other animals likely to disturb them. In the spring the nuts may be taken out and planted. This keeping in a heap during winter is a better plan than planting in the fall, as it is much easier to protect them against mice and other vermin which infest the woods and fields. Chestnuts are more delicate than those kinds which have a harder shell, but we never experienced any difficulty in preserving them through winter if they are mixed with pure, moist sand, and the boxes or other vessels containing them placed on the north side of some building or other cool position, where they will not become U>o dry or soaked with water. The seeds of tteh and sugar or other late-ripening maples may be preserved in the same manner; all that is required is to keep them moist, and so cool that germination will not commence until planting time in spring.

JJpon every farm there should be a small seedling nursery of the best kinds of ornamental and useful trees, from which the farmer can obtain whatever he may require of this kind, either for planting about his grounds for shade, or shelter, or for a future supply of timber. A half acre or an acre of such seedlings would not cost a very large sum of money, even if the seed had to be purchased. But there are many localities where all these could be obtained from forests near by, costing nothing but the time spent in gathering them. If any of our readers will but think of the difference in value between a thousand white-ash seed or hickory nuts, and trees ten to twenty years old, we believe they cannot fail to see the importance of making a beginning in the culture of such trees immediately. The trees grow in size and in value while we are sleeping ; in fact, they increase in value through hard times and good times, and the cultivator grows older no faster with such surroundings than without them. The great objection urged by many to raising forest trees is that they require so much time to reach a valuable size, which is quite true; but they neither lengthen nor shorten a man’s life but move along with him provided he gives them an opportunity of doing so. There are doubtless many men who can look back twenty years or more to a time when, if they had planted wisely, they would now have something like a fortune in place Of little or nothing. Another twenty years may pass, and doubtless will with many, bringing no better results; hence we say to every owner of a farm, look about and see if there is not something in the way of trees which you can plant with a fair prospect of a profitable return at some future time for the labor bestowed upon them. Good ash, oak and hickory timber, suitable for working into agricultural implements, has advanced in many localities 300 to 400 per cent, in value during the past years, and there are very good reasons for believing that these woods will continue to advance during the next twenty; consequently the prospects of a good market in the future could scarcely be better. If a man has no spare field in which to plant timber trees let him surround the farm with them and thus give protection to his crops in summer and at the same time add an ornament to his domain which in the end cannot fail to be a source of profit.— N. Y. Sun.

How to Stack the Straw.

The straw-stack has now come to occupy a prominent position upon every farm, entirely unlike the practice of early days, when the straw was dragged into an open space and burned, the farmer considering .it an unfortunate occurrence if a passing shower should intercept him before the torch was applied. The importance of the straw as valuable food, for bedding and for the protection it affords to stock during winter makes it necessary to know how to stack it in the best manner. Where the straw is not very abundant it is better tb build a pen a tew feet in height as a protection to the sides, and build the stack within it, spreading the sides out sufficiently to sustain a large or small stack, as is desired. To insure a thorough shedding of water it is necessary to keep the middle of the stack full, so that the straw shall all slope downward toward the outside. The settling of straw-stacks is so great, and they take in water sO rapidly, that it is seldom they are built high enough to prevent a large percentage of the straw being spoiled by heavy rains. Oat straw sheds water better than the straw of most other grains, and should be put on top of the stack, unless something better in the form of slough grass is used instead. With the straw-carriers now used upon threshing-machines the straw is elevated to the proper height, and is stacked with much less labor than formerly. The chaff, the most valuable part for food, is also carried with it ana saved. After it answers all the purposes for which it is required the refuse straw makes a large quantity of excellent manure which may be applied to the soil to advantage for all kinds of crops; so that the former practice of burning the straw is greatly improved upon by modern practices.—Western Hural. " . ' • A learned and practical savant, Mr. Dalbray, began in 1840 in the Garden of Plants, at Paris, a public course of lectures op arboriculture. These lectures were illustrated by experiments bn the ground, and were largely attended by land-owners and nurserymen from every part of France. In three years old routine systems of culture were done away with, and that of the vine especially became so much improved that its products soon formed by far the largest item in the resources of thaj country.— London Garden. An Eastern lecturer described steam in his lecture to be water in an extraordinary state of perspiration.

Our Young Folks.

LITTLE DICKY MISCHIEF.

BY A. D. WALKER.

Queer name for a little boy, isln’t it? Well, it is not his own name; but one day, when mamma found him in her clotbescloset, she exclaimed: “The mischief is inhere!” This frightened Dicky,, for he really thought it meant that there was some monster in the closet that might devour him bodily. From that aay we have called him “ Dicky Mischief,” and you will see he deserves the appellation. Mr. N , his father, keeps fowls, and Dicky seems to think he must help care for them. One day he heard his father say: “I can’t keep that brown hen on the nest, and I am really afraid her eggs will spoil.” “If you can’t keep her on the nest, some one else can,” said Dicky to himself, as he started for the barn. Here he watched his opportunity, and when the unsuspecting hen came and set upon her eggs he seized a stone which he had ready and placed it on her back, saying, as he did so: “ Now I guess you’ll sit;” and so she did sit till papa found her dead on the following morning. This was quite a surprise to our little boy, who had not thought of hurting the poor creature. Shortly after this his mamma found him driving all of the fowls through tlie alley into the street. “ Why, Dicky, what are you doing?” she asked in surprise. “I am going to sell all of the chickens. There’s a boy out here going to give me four cents apiece for them.” This answer was given with tone and manner which showed that the child thought it would be a splendid bargain to make, and he was much astonished when ’mamma forbade the sale. One bright winter’s day, when the snow lay thick upon the ground, Dicky was in the garden amusing himself with his sled, when his sister, two years younger, came running out and begged for a ride. The little girl had not stopped for a hat or bonnet, and her brother, seeing her bare head, and wishing to show, his wisdom, said: “You’ll get sun-struck, Bessie; you’d better go in the house; I’m sure you’ll get sun-struck.” As a procession of men in uniform once went by the house Dicky slipped slyly out of the gate and joined the crowd of boys who were following the train. This Dicky knew was wrong, and he djd not find the path of disobedience quite as pleasant as he expected. Mamma had forbidden him to go in the street without permission, for she knew that boys grow in wickedness fast when they roam the streets at will. They walked a long way, and Dicky grew very tired and warm, for it was a summer day. He was just thinking of retracing his steps when he discovered that he was in front of his aunt’s house. “I’ll go in and make a visit now,” said he. So he stepped up the stoop and rang the door-bell vigorously. Out came Bridget in surprise, as such a ring seemed to demand a speedy answer. When, however, she saw the little, dirty, red-faced boy she slammed the door, which shut with a loud bang, and threatened to exterminate the whole race -of boys if they did not stop making her answer the bell for nothing. Bridget knows I ran away, thought the little culprit, surprised in turn. He was quite a favorite with the usually-gobd-na-tured Irish girl, and he expected her to greet him with a kiss and warm words of welcome. But the truth was Bridget had only given a hurried glance, and never taking him for the neat, prettylooking boy who sometimes came with his mother to visit his aunt and eat their good ginger-bread. Guilt made Dicky a coward, and he went with hesitating steps around to the kitchen-door.

He turned away, feeling so guilty that he wanted to hide. But before he reached the gate he caught sight of his dear aunt* who was weeding in the garden. “ O auntie!” he cried, “I came to see you and Bridget wouldn’t let me in,” “Why, Dicky, did mamma let you come alone*” asked auntie in surprise, for her nephew was only five years old and his mamma was very careful of him. “ Yes, of course she did; and I can stay all night if you have room to'keep me." “ How did you ?et so dusty, child?” asked aunty. “Oh, followed the soldiers; that’s the reason, I guess.” Aunty took the boy into the house, where he was washed and fed and made to look like our little “ Dicky Mischief” once more. Bridget was loud in her lamentations when she found it was her little favorite whom she had so rudely treated. Dicky was quite ready to forgive her but was fearful that she knew he ran away. It soon came night, for it was five o’clock when he reached his aunt’s; and when the latter was preparing him for bed he said: “Mamma wanted you to be sure to put me in your room to sleep, tor I might want a drink ofsomeflng; and I guess she thought you had better leave the light burning so I could see to go to sleep.” It was guilt t&at made Dicky afraid; and conscience was so busy that he could not rest after he was in bed. He at first declared that the pillow was hard; and when auntie shook that up. he said he was hungry. Aunty, still ready to humor him,' brought bin a nice slice of cake. Of this he took a few mouthfuls, and then burst into tears. “ Oh, auntie,” he sobbed, “ I runned away. Take me home; I want to see mamma and Bessie, and sieep in my crib.” Very soon the naughty child’sclothes were put on again, and he and auntie started for his home. There was joy in his parents’ hearts, for they looked in vain for their little lost one, and were ready to give up in despair when he arrived. Penitent Dicky made all sorts of promises of amendment that night; but mamma whisperingly said • “ Little one, God alone canhelp you to be obedient and good, and He will help you if you ask Him.”— Good Words.

Careless Nora.

The long summer vacation was over, and the children were beginning to get their books and slates together again. Neat, orderly Fanny brought heis out bf the closet in good order, just where she had put them at the close of school. But Nora and George couldn’t find all their books, and when at last they were discovered some had covers torn off and leaves lost. They were sorrya Fanny’s things looked so neatly andr theirs so badly. * ' “ Mother, won’t you buy me a new asked* Nora; “the map of Asia is lost out of mine. I mean to take real good care of my things this year.” Mrs. Layton shook her head. “ I have heard that so often, Nora; you meant to take * real good care’ of your bonnet if I would get you a new Shaker last summer, and Rover brought it out of the garden this morning all stained and tom.” Nora looked ashamed. “ But I mean it this time, truly." Still her mother refused. “If you find I am always ready to replace the things you ruin you will not try to be careful/’ said she.,

Mrs. Layton was right, although Nora and George thought her harah and unjust. That fall when Nora’s geography class studied about Asia she had to borrow George’s book, and he had to take her arithmetic when his class reached Federal Money, because all that part was torn out of his own. It'was mortifying to be obliged to use a reader, dog-eared and without any cover, in the same class as Fanny with hers still as fresh as when just out of the book-store. Yet Nora and George with all these humiliations did not try to correct their fault. When school was over, home the three children rushed. Then while Fanny hung her hat and cloak upon its own peg, and laid her books neatly on a shelf, the other two pitched theirs down on the first chair or table. Nora’s hat went one way, her cloak the other, and her gloves—but no, she never had any, for as soon as Mrs. Layton bought her a pair they were lost. . One afternoon Nora’s speller was missing. Many were her inquiries. “ I laid it right here, mother, on the hat-stand,” said she, “ and now I want to learn my lesson and it’s gone. I declare it’s hateful.” “ Is the hat-stand the right place for your speller.” asked her mother, reprovingly.’ “ No, ma’am. Oh! dear, now I can’t learn my lesson, and I’m most head in tlie class.” Two great tears chased down Nora’s cheeks. George looked sympathizingly at her “I’m sorry, Nora. I’d lend you my book if it was the same. Won’t Fanny let you have hers?” J “ No—she—says—lose— spoil—likes to keep—things nice!” sobbed Nora, incoherently. “ Fanny’s a shabby, selfish girl. Neatness isn’t the only virtue,” shouted George, loud enough for Fanny to hear up-stairs. But although Nora hunted all over-for her book it could not be found. Late that evening it was returned by a collector, to whom the servant had given it jn mistake with his own. . “ Sure, Mrs. Layton, the two books laid side by side on the stand, and hadn’t you told me yourself the man’s books were there when he called?” said Ann, in excuse. A very good excuse it was, too. The hat-stand was not the place for Nora’s book. She had no time to learn the lesson in the morning, and was obliged to go to the foot of the class. For a few days after this she remembered to put her books away on their own shelf then fell back into the old habits. Because of her untidy marks in school she missed the good-conduct prize; the failure in spelling caused her to lose the head of her class; the loss of her gloves and the ill-usage her clothes receive from not being properly taken care of make her always look untidy and careless. There is every reason to fear that Nora will grow up to be a slatternly woman, with a comfortless, disorderly household. Children, do you know anyone at all like Nora? Are your books always put away, your clothes in their proper place ? Have you a “ place for everything and everything in its place?” These are a few questions to which you would do well to pay attention. Order is Heaven’s first law.— American Young Folks.

MECHANICAL AND SCIENTIFIC.

—Hoppe-Seyler believes that the statements made from time to time as to the existence of live fish in the water of hot springs are probably based upon errors of observation. He has observed that the fish invariably confine their gambols to certain cooler currents, abruptly conterminous with the hotter ones, instant death being the penalty for overstepping the boundary between them. —Two nests of “ bumble-bees” have recently been sent from England to Canterbury, New Zealand, to assist in the propagation of the common clover plant. Experiment has proved that the honey-bee, owing to lack of strength and shortness of proboscis, is unable ,to penetrate the clover-blossom far enough to deposit the pollen-grains of one flower upon the stigma of another. —The presence of phosphorus, or some one of its compounds, has been observed to be one necessary condition for the development of putrefaction—the more phosphorus the more rapid the process of putrefaction. The bad odor is supposed by those who have investigated the matter to be owing to the escape of phosphoretted hydrogen, and to the same compound is attributed the luminosity of putrescent matter under some circumstances. On passing the gases evolved from putrefying matter through argentic nitrate no phosphorus compound of silver is formed, notwithstanding the complete deodorization of the gases by passage through the silver solution. —Samuel Haughton, author of a work on “Animal Mechanics,” writes to Nature respecting the relative strength of the lion and the tiger r “I have proved that the strength of the lion in the fore limbs is only 69.9 per cent, of that of the tiger, and that the strength of hind limbs is only 65.9 per cent, of that of the tiger!;I may add that live men can easily hold down a lion, while it requires nine men to control a tiger. Martial also states that the tigers always killed the lions in the amphitheater. The lion is, in truth, a pretentious humbug, and owes his reputation to his imposing mane, and he will run away like a whipped cur under circumstances in which the tiger will boldly attack and kill."

[From the Philadelphia Presbyterian.! From the World’s Dispensary Printing-Of-uce and Bindery, Buffalo,. JL x., we have received “ The People’s Common Sense Medical Adviser, in Plain English; or,' Medicine Simplified,” by E. V. Pierce, M. D., Coun-•elor-in-Chief of the Board of Physicians and Surgeons at the World’s Dispensary. Whoever helps humanity in its struggle with its' inherent weaknesses and diseases, to bear or cure, is its benefactor. Ignorance is not only of itself a cause,, of disease and mortality, but it is the enemy of every effort to cure or mitigate. Nothing will so speedi•ly remove this cause as knowledge (an elementary one, at least) of the diseases to which we are heir, as well us those superinduced by our own imprudence. Dr. Pierce has rendered, in our judgment, a benefactor's service, both to the afflicted and to the profession, in his diagnosis of the diseases treated of, and in the presentation of the philosphic principles involved in their cause and removal. He is sparing of remedies, and usually prescribes such as are safe in unskilled hands. As a book merely of.- abstract knowledge, it is exceedingly readable and interesting, especially the following sub, jects: Cerebral Physiology, HumanTempcraments, Pseudo-Hygiene, the Nursing of the Sick, Sleep, Food, Ventilati.on, etc. In ope chapter on another subject, so delicate in its nature that it is shut up beyond the domain of warning to all but physicians, so accursed in its results in modern society, he is most explicit, and, alike true to God,’to virtue, to life and to society, shows the truth as presented in the teachings of Scripture that life begins with conception—with great force, to which is added faithful warnings. Price of the Medical Adviser $1.50, sent postpaid. Address the author at Buffalo. New York.