Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 January 1876 — Page 6

VARIETY AND HUMOR.

—Parties of miners are said to be leaving Cheyenne for the Black Hills almost daily. —Helmbold is becoming a sort of lunatic asylum jack-in-the-box. They have him strait-jacketed again in Pennsylvania. —Forty-five mutes from the Maryland Asylum spent Christmas at Baltimore among their friends. They passed their holiday very quietly. —A Tennessee court has just decided that a teacher has the same right to enforce obedience from a child that a parent has, and can therefore inflict corporal punishment when necessary. —A man in South Hadley, Mass., who has just got out of a lawsun, wants to obtain a large framed picture of a cow, with one client at the head and the other at the tail, pulling, and the lawyers meanwhile quietly milking. —The antipathy of the public to gas companies is the same all over the world. Individuals are so unreasonable. Here's a Springfield (Mass.) man now contesting a gas bill of eighteen dollars, for no better reason than that there are no burners in his house. —Oomplaint has been made against several milkmen in Virginia City, because an occasional crawfish has been found in the bottom of milk pitchers. Do tlie Oomstockcrs expect the dairymen to furnish them trout and salmon? — tian Brandecn Bulletin. —Prof. Doremus having demonstrated the fact that an average-sized squash can lift 200 pounds, there no longer remains ■any mystery attached to the wearing of tremendous stovepipe hats by slim young men in their teens and standing collars. Prof. Doremus is a public benefactor. —People who use hired pianos in the •city of New York are musing over the late decision of Judge Daly, inasmuch as it notifies those w-ho hire such musicboxes that thq instrument can be seized for their debts. The dealers who do a large business in hiring out pianos are greatly disturbed by the decision. —Ladies (says a fashion writer), you may friz your hair, do it up high, let it down low, have it hanging on your backs, “scrambled” over your foreheads, “ banged” into your eyes, puffed up at the sides, w orn waterfall style, tied up in a dolghnut, or any other way you may please, and it will be all right—for fdshion says so. —There will be four eclipses the coming year—two of the sun and two of the moan. Only two of them w ill be visible in this country, namely, a partial eclipse of the moon at midnight, March 9, and an annular eclipse of the sun March 25. Sept. 18 a total eclipse of the sun will be visible in Australia and the Southern Pacific region. —Kate Coffin, of Newburyport, Mass., was a belle in her youth and a pauper in her old age. She found herself in middle life in destitute circumstances, and utterly refused to do anything for her own support. She said she could never forget that she was born a lady. A few days ago she died, aged eighty-three, and was buried by the town. —The other day a Detroiter walked up to a crowd of boot-blacks always hanging around the Postoffice, and, pointing to the largest boy, he asked: “Bub, can you tell me the*meaning of the word absquatulate?’’ “No, sir,” promptly replied the boy; “ I blacks butes and brings up coal, and I don’t know anything about drug-store words.” —He sat in a railway car. His head was thickly covered with a mass of red hair. Behind him in a seat sat a man with hardly any hair on his head. He said to him: “I guess you wasn’t around when they dealt out hair.” “ Oh, yes, I was," replied bald-head, “ but they offered me a lot of red hair, and I told them to throw it into the ash-bin.”

—A Circassian girl in Reading, Pa., shows a pair of stockings that she says she made entirely out of her own hair. They are thick, heavy and soft and seem to be of pure hair. ’ The upper edges are secured with scarlet worsted work. She says her hair grows to a great length and that she is compelled to have it cut. The stockings were knit while she was on exhibition at Barnum's Museum. —Mr. Israel Fegely, of Longswatnp Township, Berks County, Pa., has three frogs in his house, which he has tamed and made household pets of. They have taken up their abode among a number of w indow plants, where they sleep at night and feed upon the aphides, plant-lice, and other insects injurious to plants. They have become greatly attached to their new ■home and hop from one room to the other. —Bernard Eith, of Cincinnati, shot himself through the heart because he was 'dunned for twenty-four dollars. After all, happiness and misery are relative terms, and debts, upon which happiness and misery so largely depend, are philosophical abstractions. Bernard Eith, who could not bear to owe twenty-four dollars, .shotld have lived in the age of chivalry, when nobody would have lent him the money. —Mr. Plimsoll has secured immortality already, whether he ever has a monument or not. A short yellow band," painted amidships, about six inches below that which has always been regarded as the ship's water-line, which is being put upon British vessels by order of the Board of Admiralty, is called by the sailors ■“ Plimsoll’s mark.” It has made a considerable difference ia the amount of cargo which it will be lawful for the ship to •carry. —There is a girt in Hoboken, N. J., sensible in other respects, who has a mon■omania that she is going to be married •She imposes upon ner parents or relatives with a sweet and romantic narrative, gets them to fix up her trousseau and wedding feast and discovers at the last moment that the bridegroom is not forthcoming. Now the young men of Hoboken are ungallant brutes to let the performance halt for lack of so trifling a piece of stage property as a bridegroom. —An eight-year-old boy in the North End sent the following" rather warm epistle to one of his little playmates: “ Dear Minnie i love the i ador you don’t show this to; your mother. If I don’t love Che may the lions tear my heart out may i bib thrown from a third story window if i -don’t love you may i be torn in 3 halls by wild beests but i do. Answer this. •Get good paper and leave a sheet for .me you are a pretty girl aud I’ll have you. Charley.”— hulianapolia Herald. —We notice that there is a determined on foot to banish the frying-pan from our female colleges. This is another of the innovations of the age the policy of which may be looked upon as extremely -doubtful. In our young days the old ' woman used to regard the flat side of a frying-pan as one of her moat potent arguments in keeping the rising youth in the straight and narrow path, and it didn’t

leave half so many marks as a broiler, neither.— Preu. —The Chester (Pa.) News of a recent date relates this story: “ Edward Kline, oi this city, saw an owl siding on a tree on Third street, near Franklin. The owl was about 150 yards from him, and he ’marked to others who saw the bird that he could throw a stone from w here he stood and hit It. The others doubted his ability to do so, but he soon convinced them of the error of their judgment. Selecting a stone Mr. Kline threw it at the owj and brought down his bird, killing it instantly. He hit it fair on the head.” —Mr. Donald G. Mitchell had an amusing encounter with a snobbish Yale stu-dent-recently. A correspondent of the Springfield Z’epuMfr/i/i gives it as follows: “ A Yale student, riding out to call lately on the charming bevy of daughters that cheer the heart and home of the’ farmer of Edgewood, found a man dressed in rough clothes at work near the entrance of the place. ‘ Here, old fellow,hold my horse,’ cried Yalenslan. ‘Are the ladies at home?’ said he, as the person addressed teok hold of the animal, as the rider dismounted. *'No, sir; you will not find them at home,’ said the supposed gardener. * Wei 1, then, here’s a dime for you,’ said Yalensian, remounting. The money was declined, and the student rode away utterly ignorant of the reason why he did not find the ladies in, which he afterward suspected when he learned that his conversation had been with the author-farmer himself.”

Boys’ Clothing.

The suits for very small boys are varied by making side-pleated blouses with belts and square sailor-collars, to be worn with kilt skirts or,with knee pantaloons; this is a simpler and more convenient garment for every-day wear than the jackets that require vests with them. Dark cloths are the materials used. There is an effort to revive Knickerbocker pantaloons for small boys from five to eight years of age. These are not made as ful' as formerly, and are sewed to a buckled band at the knee; the easy sloped edge of the Knickerbockers then falls over this band and conceals it. The effect is much better than when the leg of the trousers was full andclumsy-looking, with gathers. Parisian tailors make suits of blue diagonal-cloth, with these pantaloons, a regular vest and English coat. The rest is single-breasted, has no collar, forms two points below, is bound all around and is fastened by eight buttons. The little English cut-away coat is fastened by two buttons high up on the breast, and slopes sharply away to show the vest. It has a breast pocket,*and side pockets with flaps. The back has but one seam, is open below the waist, and the entire edge is bound with silk galloon. French cassimere suits, of mixed brown or gray, are similarly made, but have stitched edges, without bindings or pocket Haps. The seams of the pantaloons are lapped and stitched, instead of being trimmed with braid as formerly. Indeed, the absence of fanciful trimmings is as marked in boys’ clothing as in the dresses described for girls. The more sensible plan of putting all the expense into the best material and the most shapely fit is observed. Basket-woven cloths and broad diagonals of brown, dark blue or green are chosen for best suits, and of these colors green is considered most dressy. The cassimeres are used for school suits. Some of the basket-woven and other cloth suits are made with kneepantaloons that have no fullness, and are closed at the knees by two or three buttons and buttonholes. The coats with these have no collars, and are worn with the broad Puritan collar of white linen. Buttons of vegetable ivory are dyed to mgteh the cloth, and are strongly sewed on through eyes in the center. These are in better taste and more serviceable than’ the bullet-shaped metal button once in vogue. Boys’ sack-overcoats are long |ind straight-looking, thou gh cut a trifle sloping in with the figure. The dark blue, brown or green cloth of which they are made must lie pliable, and so heavy that it does not heed lining for warmth,’ or any tiTta r mings but the necessary bindings and buttons. Sedan beaver is selected for dressy Overcoats. Ulster overcoats , for boys are made of heavy .chinchilla cloth, fur beaver and plain Sedan beavers; the rough fur beavers are considered most desirable for these long, warm, serviceable overcoats. The Ulster shape is too well known to need description. It should reach to the boy’s ankles, and be amply furnished, with pockets and a hood.— Harper's Bazar.

Stall-Feeding Cattle.

Stall-feeding, when one is prepared for it, is about as profitable a branch as one can undertake in winter. The requisites are warm, well-ventilqted, welllighted stalls; plenty of room, fresh bedding often and food that is clean and sweet. Corn-meal and hay cut early’ would form the principal" food, varied with a few roots, bran and barley meal. Of course there must be preparation beforehand. It is well to start in a small way. There are doubtless thousands of farmers who could feed a few animals to a large profit who will sell off their farms hay, corn, roots, fete., which ought to be converted into manure and meat on the farm. It is a fact that those who undertake stall-feeding cattle and sheep very seldom give it up, because the profits are so large both in fertilizers and eash. There are farmers in Connecticut who have been in' the regular practice of stall-feeding cattle, sheep and horses for their whole lives since they began business for themselves. According to the Springfield Republican, Geo. W. Jones, of old Deerfield, has nowin his stables forty-seven head of oxen, all Durhams, and so large that they can hardly move their great weight. The heaviest yoke weighs 4,600 pounds, the whole lot averaging 4,000 pounds to the yoke. They are each fed eight quarts of meal and bran daily and all the hay they want. Water is supplied in the manners in pipes. About Christmas these will go to Boston, and then Mr. Jones will stock up for the winter, his usual number being about eighty to ninety cattle, 600 to 700 sheep ana about a dozen horses. Last year he cut 250 tons of hay, which, with seventy-five tons purchased, he fed out. It is plain to see that where so much is fed out to strong, fattening animals a farm may be very soon brought up to a maximum condition of fertility and productiveness. The cattle obcupy a basement well ventilated." If it was not, the great heat generated by so many animals would make the place oppressively warm. The sheep are fed on xne floor above, and Mr. Jones uses all the enormous quantity of manure produced at the stables. He is also a tobacco-raiser to the extent of twelve or fourteen acres annually, and the tobacco he grows brings a better price than that grown by using commercial fertilizers. Here is one farmer who has found that farming pays.— Detroit Tribune. .

AGRICULTURAL AND DOMESTIC.

—Milk for breakfast, when used in the form of bread and milk, should never be boiled but steamed; that is, the jug of milk should be stood in a saucepan of boiling water for two or three minutes until hot. — Springfield (.Vass.) Telegram. —For chilblains, cut up two white turnips, without paring, into thin slices; put the slices into a tin cup with three large spoonfulsof best lard; let it simmer slowly for two hours, then mash through a sieve; when cold spread it on a sort linen cloth and apply to the chilblain at night. —The true omelet is a pile of terrorstricken eggs and milk; it trembles with every jar, and crouches jn a delicious, quivering mass upon the plate; he who ’ puts a knife into it will find a porous, flaky material, almost impalpable to the touch, that will melt as quickly as a snow-flake in his mouth. Upon reflection he will be willing to admit that hens were not made in vain. „ 1 ' . —lt is the belief of the writer that many of the diseases incident to poultry are due to neglect in providing them with pure water; particularly do I believe such to be the case in the majority of instances where chicken cholera prevails. The omission to furnish fowls with suitable drinking water is one of the worst features of cruelty to animals. It is a neglect that is decidedly adverse to success, hence tends to diminish individual fancy for towls and works detriment to poultry interests. Those whom we occasionally hear say that “ there is no profit in poultry” are not qualified to have the management of the same, and in their attentions may be classed with the thriftless and neglected parties who keep fowls that get drink when it rains.— Panders' Journal. —To carve fowls, which should always be laid with the breast uppermost, place the fork in the breast, and taae off the wings and legs, without turning the fowl; then cut out the merry-thought; cut slices from the breast, cut out the collarbone, cht oft’ the side pieces, and then cut the carcass in two. Divide the joints in the leg of a turkey. In carving a sirloin, cut thin slices from the side next to you (it must be put on the dish, the tenderloin underneath), then turn it. Help the guests to both kinds. In carving a leg of mutton or ham, begin by cutting across the middle to the bone. Cut a tongue across and not lengthwise, and help from the middle. Carve a forequarter of lamb by separating the shoulder from the ribs and then divide the ribs. To carve a loin of veal, begin at the smaller end and separate the ribs. Help each one to a piece of J kidney and its fat. Carvcspopk-andjnuttoik in the same way. To carve a filletoKvj/al, begin at the top and help to the stuffing with eachUlice. In a breast of veal, separate the 'breast and brisket and then cut up, asking which part is preferred.— Hural New Yorker.

Land Drainage.

The day and tnorough cultivation ofjthe soil here in the West may be a good way off, and most of the older farmers of to-day will never engage in such a great improvement oven common culture. But the time must come when all . heavy soils and all which have a hard-pqn bottom will be broken up eighteen ana twenty inches in depth because that kind of farming will be found profitable. The farmers on clays lose a month or more of every season on account of a surplus oi water which prevents field operations. Plants grow’ slowly or not at all when the soil is filled with w'ater, which must be evaporated at the surface chiefly to get rid ot it. When flat, heavy land is underarained and worked deeply the rains do not remain upon the surface but sink at once into the loose soil and down into the drains. Mr. Mechi writes on Nov. 9: “ Drenching rains but no appearance of water on the sloping surfaces of the steamplowed fields.” And again on the 10th of the same month he says: “ Again torrents of rain, and at last the drains discharge, the first time this season from the steam-plowed land, but no water is visible even in the furrows or water-furrows.” Some persons think that water will never find its way through a stiff soil into drains two to four feet deep, and hence they treat this system of drainage as an absurdity. persons must see for themselves, and M they have the spirit of the true improver Un them they will visit some more enterprising farmer who has already put.down drains, or they may try the experiment at a\trifling cost themselves. In either case qhey will come to change their views on a very Important subject of farm economy and ofle ,in which, their prosperity as farniers is immbdiately concerned. The success ofthe Messrs. Ilgenfritz, at Monroe, demonstrates that fotrf feet under-drains will take off surface water with ordinary culture on heavy’ float, almost flat, lands.' A soil well drained and deeply worked is dry-within a few hours after the heaviest storm, and instead of a week’s hindrance of field work there is reajly no stoppage to amount to anything in the year’s count. Deep working serves the purpose of draining to a certain extent, but after continuous rains there is need of an outlet, and a surface furrow or ditch is not sufficient. The water must find a ready passage. Surface drains are too far apart usually. The water naturally seeks an outlet downward, and will only flow laterally when it cannot get down. Surface drains are the greatest obstacles to cultivation, and no really progressive farmer can endure them.— Detroit Tribune.

Make a Note of It.

One of the best practices is to keep a record of such facts concerning farm matters as may have come within the limit of one’s observations. One of the best ways to get at the truth is to meet with one’s neighbors and compare notes. This is the proper season of the year for doing this, and we hope it will not be allowed to pass by unimproved. A neighbor may have grown an unusually fine crop of grass or grain. If so, inasmuch as the soil on which they were grown is similar to that on your own farm, it will pay you to inquire into the causes that have produced so desirable a result. Was it owing to a previous judicious rotation of crops ? Was it the application of barn-yard manure ? or what was the cause ? Perhaps it may have been early fall, late fall or winter plowing the land. If so, what were the conditions of the soil at the time of plowing? % It is a great point gained when one sets himself about the task of observing closely and makes a careful record ot such observations. It is by observation that we learn and that progress is made. We should not only read and observe, but we should take advantage ot what we thus learn, and at once make such knowledge available—for it is in this way that success in farming or any other pursuit is assured.— Coman't Rural World.

Our Young Folks.

“A BOY'S QUERIES." n ■ I II Ml Pretty little Polliwog, tell me how you know When the water's getting warm in the meadows low? Do you hear the bull-frogs lau.h? Do you take the telegraph? Do yon see the naughty boys skulking to and fro? Do you hear them shout and itiggle As away from them yon wiggle ? Tell me, little Polliwig, 'cause I want to know. Little crawling Canker-worm, tell me how you •A know s • When the apple-leaves are growing ’bout an inch or so? Do you think 'tie nice to swing Hanging by a silken string? Do you want to gnaw the buds so they cannot blow? Would you cheat us little boys Ont of some of winter's Joys? Tell me, little Canker-worm, ’cause I want to know. Hungry little Hoppergrass, tell me how you know When the grain is fit to eat, out in “ Westward Ho?” Do you sit and smoke your pipe While the crops are getting ripe? Do you whet your teeth with bricks ere for them ■ ’ you go? Do those wicked farmers swear? Do they rave and tear their hair? Tell me, little Hoppergraas, 'cause I want to know Little purring Pussy Cat, tell me how you know That every little dog you meet is such a deadly foe? When calmly you sit and wink, Do you cogitate and think? Does your mother post you up, mewing soft and low? Do you ever get a whack With a bootjack on your back? Tell me, Ijf tie Pussy Cat, ’cause I want to know. Cheeky little Chanticleer, tell me how yon know Just the time at early morn to spread yourself and crow? Don't you .care the very dickens Out of all the hens and’chickens? Don’t vou make a horrid noise lor such a little beau? Do you think that by and by You’ll be made into a pie? Tell me, little Chanticleer, ’cause I want to know. Bonny little Bobolink, tell me how yoti know Where to hide yourself away when the north winds blow? Where do you all winter long Sing your funny little song? Do you seek some tropic isle where the palm trees grow? Where, O where, may you be found Wben old Santa Clans comes round? Tell me, little Bobolink, 'cause I want to know. —John. S. Adams, in Youth's Companion. ’

KIM’S LAST WHIPPING.

There was once a wretched little unpainted school-house, that stood in a sandbank all summer and in a snow-bank all winter, waiting for a strong north wind to blow it over. “ Say, what will you sell that schoolhouse for?” asked a traveler of a little boy who stood on one foot on the rickety doorstep. “For a bunch of matches,” answered the little boy, as quick as thought. The man laughed, and rode on. The boy' was Kimball Price, the rogue ot the town of Skoodac, District Number Three, and the try-patience of his teachers. He was a handsome lad, ten years old. I don’t mean that he was always ten; but that was his age when Miss Pentecost whipped him, and there is where our story begins. Now, Miss Pentecost taught the school that summer at District Number Three. She liked Kim—everybody liked him; but that was no reason why he should be allowed to tie the girls together by the hair —they wore long braids in those days—or fire paper-balls, or eat choke-berries, or stick pins in the benches to make the A B C scholars cry “ O!” when they were not saying their letters. Miss Pentecost never winked at naughtiness; and, as whippings were fashionable at that period, she whipped Kim three times a week. It was considered the most direct way of reaching the conscience. But Kim never could remember a whipping more than a day and a half, or at the longest three days, and Miss Pentecost began to grow discouraged. Must Kim always go on doing mischief, and neglecting his lessons—a boy who could learn so well if he chose She knew his mother—a poor widow, with a large family of children—and she was sure Mrs. Price could not afford to send Kim to school merely to play. “ What can I say or do to? make an impression on that child?” thought Miss Pentecost, one day, as she tied the strings of her gingham “log cabin” under her chin, and stepped out of the school-house. J ust then she caught these words, spoken by Kim with great energy, and a flourish of fists: “ Tell you it’s true, Bob Whiting; for if mother says it’s so, it’s so if it ain’t so!”

Miss Pentecost laughed all to herself, and- passed on through the sand-bank into the dusty road. When she had gone as. far as the big willow she laughed again. “ I like to hear a boy talk so about his mother, even if it is nonsense. Kim is an affectionate little fellow, and I shouldn’t wonder if he was a pretty good son. Any way, I’ve got an idea, and I mean to try it, and see how it will work.” Next day was the time for one of Kim’s regular whippings. He had been more trying than Usual, and Miss Pentecost sent Bob Whiting out for a remarkably strong birch stick, which could express her feelings better than the old one, which stood in'tlie corner. She spent some time in trimming the new twig, though she was careful to leave a few little knots ron it, which would give emphasis to the blows. “ I don’t think I ever saw a better birch stick,” said she, admiringly. “Now, Kimball, you may take off your jacket.” He was so used to taking it off that he always kept half the buttons unfastened to save time.

Miss Pentecost gave him an unusually hard whipping; and after it he cried till he could hardly see out of his eyes. He thought that w r as enough, and it was what the boys call a “square thing;” but at night, as he was running out of the schoolhouse, whistling, Miss Pentecost called him up to her desk. “ Well, Kimball, I’ve whipped youhard to-day —very hard.” Kim thought there w T as no doubt about that. “ Yes’m,” responded he, meekly. “ Look at this stick. Didn’t I take pains to get a good one?” "Yes’m,” said Kim; but he did not gaze at the stick as if he loved it. “Do you know, Kimball, it is very hard work to whip you? It lames my arm and it hurts mv feelings. Really, I can’t afford to do "it day after day for nothing.” Kim looked up in surprise. This was a new view of the matter. “ You understand me, Kimball ? I can’t afford to do it for nothing any more. There's not another boy in school I’ve whipped so often as you; and this time I must be paid for it. Don’t you think that’s fair?”- “ Yes’m,” said Kim, in intense amazement, his eyes as black and shining as watermelon seeds.

“ Well, Kimball, I think it’s worth at least twenty-five cents; and I don’k want you to come to school to-morrow without bringing me the money. Tell your mother al>out it, and tell her if you don’t bring it I shall have to send you home for it. Good night, Kimball, and remember what 1 say.” “ Yes'in.” i “ What did she do to you this time?” asked Joe Fuller, who had been waiting outside. “Oh, go Tong, now; she didn't do anything to me,’’ replied Kim, sheepishly. “Come, let’s run down to the pond and catch blood-suckers.” Next morning about school-time Kim stale along into the shed kitchen, and hung about the cheese-tub, where his mother was cutting curd. “Why don’t you start for school? You’ll be late, my son.” “The mistress whipped me yesterday,” muttered Kim, helping himself to a lump of curd. “Did she? Well, I’ve no doubt you deserved it. There, run along, and see if you can’t be a better boy to-day.” “ But, mother ” “Weli, what?” “ Why, you see the mistress ” “ Well, speak it out, sonny. I’m in a hurry.” “ Why, you see, mother, the mistress wants twenty-five cents for whipping me.” “ Twenty-five cents ?’’ “She says it lamed her arm,” said Kim, hanging his head. “ She says she can’t do it for nothing, and if I don’t bring it she’ll have to send me home.” Mrs. Price looked down at the curlyhaired culprit with a twinkle of fun inlier eves—she had black eyes, very much like Kim’s. ,“ Well, sonny, go get my purse out of tire end cupboard. If lam poor it shan’t be said I don’t do all I can for my children’s education.” Kim brought the purse—a red worsted one, with steel rings. “ Yes, here is a silver quarter, with the pillars on it. We are out of gingerbread and I was going to spend it for molasses; but never mind. I don’t blame Miss Pentecost. I know it was hard to whip you, and she deserves the money.” “ Thank you, Kimball,” said Miss Pentecost,' in a low voice, when she received thtybright, new quarter. “ Didn’t your mother think I deserved it ?” “ Yes’m,” replied the boy, sinking into the hollow place in his neck. “ I thought she would. Well, now, my dear, I shall carry this quarter home, arid keep it, and next time I whip you you must bring me another. Do you under J " stand?” Kim scowled down at his little bare toes, and tried to stick them into a crack in the floor. Whyy-this was getting serious! Would tirewoman keep on crying quarters forever? It was perfectly ruinous. His mother had had all she could do to support the family before; but what would become of them now ? “You may take your seat,” added Miss Pentecost, still in a low tone, so that no one could hear, but with a smile that exasperated poor Kim. “It is dreadful that you will be naughty; but then, you see, the more I whip you the more money I shall get; and perhaps before the summer is out I shall have enough to buy a new dress.” “No, you don’t,” thought Kim, shutting his teeth together. “Catch me letting my mother buy a dress for you! Why, we’ve got to go without gingerbread to-day. You don’t get another chance to whip me for one while, ma’am —now, you see!” To avoid a whipping it was necessary to study; for Kim was a boy that must be busy at something. He saw Bob Whiting go to .sleep and longed to drop a tame cherry into his mouth. He saw Joe Fuller sauntering down the aisle, looking straight before him, and it was the “cutest chance” to trip him up; but Kim resisted these allurements and fifty more and got his geography lesson so well that Miss Pentecost patted him on the head, and said, “ That’s my good boy”—which would have been delightful if he could have forgotten that gingerbread! Next day he tried studying again and rose to the head of his spelling-class. “ Why, I haven’t had a whipping since Tuesday,” thought he Saturday noon, as he ran home with the silver medal on his neck.

After that he seemed somehow to fall into the habit of studying. Studying is a habit, let me tell you, just as much as playing, though 1 suppose it is rather narder to acquire. The little fellow’s will was aroused, and that was precisely what he needed. In short, Kim had had his last whipping from Miss Pentecost, or anybody else, and instead of being her most troublesome boy he became the best scholar in school. “ I sha’n’t be able to buy that dress after all,” said she, the night before she left Skoodac; “but, Kim, dear, I know you are glad.” “ Yes’m,” replied Kim, meeting her eye with a smile. “And I’ll keep the quarter to remember you by. Your mother says she wishes me to.” “Yes’m.” ' “ Kimball Price is now one of the wealthiest and most respected men of his native State. “And that man,” said ’Squire Hathaway, in his Fourth of July oration, “ was educated over here at Skoodac, boys, in that little black school-house that is so poor and miserable that when it took fire a few years ago it wouldn’t burn down.” Mr. Kimball Price returned from Europe last May with his wife, and I heard, Mrs. Hathaway say—she was once Miss Pentecost-Qhat he thought her last whipping made a man of him. “He wanted that old quarter of a dollar,” said Mrs. Hathaway, laughing; “ but 1 couldn't bear to part with it; so he cut it in two, and we’ve each of us got half.” — Sophie May, in Wide Awake.

The Little Foxes that Spoil the Vine.

One little fox is “By-and-by.” If you track him you come to his hole— Never. Another little fox is “ I Can’t.” You had better set on him an active, plucky little thing, “I Can” byname, ft does wonders. A third little fox is “No Use in Trying.” He has spoiled more vines and hindered the growth of more fruit than many a worse-looking enemy. A fourth little fox is “ I forgot.” He is very provoking. He is a great cheat. He slips through your fingers like time. He is seldom caught up with. Fifth little fox is “ Don’t Care.” Oh, the mischief he has done! Sixth- little fox is “No Matter.” It does matte¥ whether your'i life is spoiled by small faults. There are many Other little foxes besides these. Some young folks, and older folks, too, are beset by foxes that gnaw

holes in and spoil every sentence they utter. No sooner do these unhappy mortals begin to speak than up flies the fox “ Good gracious,” mamjlqig ( what they mean to say. Before tlie listener recovers from his alarm a whole pack bf foxes are upon tlie speaker: “*You kriaw, I suy,” “ Did I ever,” “ Awful,” “ Jolly, “ My,” “My goodness,” “Patience,” “Mercy,” “ He says, says he,” “ She says, says she,” “ Sugar,” “ Ginger'” and' “ Pepper, Salt and Vinegar,” and all tlie other spices for aught I know. . It would seem a wonder that a shred is left of these luckless wights. Yet, strange to say, they actually pet their tormentors and encourage their coming. Do I hear any around our table? I never knew of a live Tux being sent through the Postoffice, although I have heard of live frogs, mice, beetles, snails, and owls and rats; whether thelbtter were alive or dead I cannot say. Still I suspect that in many innocent-ipqking letters lie hid tlie little which answer to the names we have given.— The Methodist.

MECHANICAL AND SCIENTIFIC.

—The success attending the use of nickel as a plating material has promoted experiments in the use of other hietals for a like purpose. The latest of these is that reported by Bertrand, who lifts succeeded in producing a galvanic deposit of bismuth on the surface of other mAals. The process may be described as follows: From twenty-five to thirty-five grains of the double chloride of bismuth and ammonia are dissolved in about one quart of water, and this solution is used cold, by the usual methods, a single Bunsen pile being employed. On coming out of the bath the coated surface is covered with a dark-looking slime, beneath which the metallic luster of the bismuth is visible. This latter adheres very closely,-and takes a fine polish, the color being intermediate between antimony and silver'— Scientific American.

—To prevent rot in timber nothing is better than a thorough seasoning, with proper ventilation. Charring' timber, or creoso(ing it, will do much to arrest decay ; but when once the dry-rot is found a cure becomes necessary if we cannot remove or replace with new. A pure solution of corrosive sublimate in water, in the proportion of an ounce to, a gallon, used hot, is an effective remedy. A solution of sulphate of copper, half a pound to a gallon of.water, laid on hot, is recommended as another cure. Paraffine oil, or the cheapest naphtha oil, will stay the decay. But the fundamental philosophy of the whole question of timber preservation lies in a nutshell. It is the evaporation of the juices and moisture —in one word, seasoning; after which it is only necessary to protect the wood from moisture from without.— American Builder —A substitute for leather, of English manufacture, was displayed at the recent Maritime Exhibition in Paris, and received with much favor. It was composed of a layer of cork between two layers of textile fabric, the whole beinir gummed with india-rubber and welded together. Thej process by which it is manufactured is as follows: Thin sheets of cork are painted upon one side with two successive coats of india-rubber. Japanned clothcanvas is treated in the same manner, and when dry its gummed surface is applied to that of the cork-sheets. The clean side of the Cork is now treated with two coats of the india-rubber; and a linen or cotton fabric, after subjection to the same process, is laid upon it, the coated surfaces coming together. The compound sheet is then submitted to heavy pressure between rollers, or under a stamper, or press, until it is in effect a simple substance, having strength, durability and flexibility. Some one has remarked that the times are so close just now that even the days are “short.” —Extensive revivals are reported in the Baptist churches of Richmond, Va.

American Genins. Moody and Sankey.

The great revivalists, Messrs. Moody and Sankey, who electrified staid old England with their eloquence and enthusiasm, are fair samples of American genius. Springing from among the common people, their sympathies are alive to the wants of the whole people, and herein lies tflje secret of their great success. Those who seek to be popular must study and l>c faiaililir with the wants of tile masses, and prove loyal thereto. To this fact we may trace the grand success in business, as well as in religious undertakings, which many Americans have achieved. Strikingly illustrative of these suggestions is that great establishment, located at Buffalo, N. Y., and known as the “World’s Dispensary”—a most appropriate name, indeed, for that vast institution, within whose walls are manufactured remedies w’hich are in demand in every quarter of the globe, and at which a corps of distinguished physicians and surgeons, under the personal direction of Dr. Pierce, are constantly administering to the needs of thousands of sufferers everywhere, and whose success in the treatment of all forms of chronic ailments has become so’well known that there is scarcely a hamlet in the laud in which his name is not familiar. Its proprietor, says ■ the Herald and Torchlight, of Detroit, “ is a . man of the people, writes for them, and to them tenders his eminent professional services.” His advertisements are earnest exhortations. Like the great revivalists, his enthusiasm is multiplied by the unparalleled success of his enterprise, as well as by the efficacy of his remedies in eurtng disease. The people believe in him and his itanedi/s, because, a’s the New York Tribune says, “he sympathizes with them in. all their afflictions, efforts and attainments.” Hence, Dr. Pierce’s Golden, Medical Discovery is ’to-day more largely employed as a blood anti liver mdflicine, and also as a cough remedy, than any other remedial agent'in the world. His Favorite Prescription he- does not recoih'mend as a Jt-cure-all,” as is so often done by cornfounders of worthless, humbug nostrums, but for all diseases and weaknesses peculiar to women it has proved itself bo much of a specific that it now enjoys greatjpopularity and universal confidence. Dr. Pierce’s Pleasant Purgative Pellets, “ scarcely larger than mustard seed,” have proved so agreeable and reliable as a cathartic that teey are rapidly taking the place of the large, nauseous pills heretofore so much iri use;, while his Compound Extract of Smart-Weed is a favorite remedy for Colic,. Cramps, Summercomplaint, Diarrhcea, Dysentery, Cholera and Cholera Morbus, and also as a liniment. Of Dr. Sage’s Catarrh Remedy and Dr. Pierce’s Nasal Douche little nted be said, as they are known everywhere aalthe greatest specifics for Catarrh and .‘*,<y>ld in the head” ever given to the pubficj And besides this large measure St -ferfccess, Dr. Pierce seems likely to achieve as great renown as an author as h« has a»> a physician,,; His Common Sknsb MzfiiCAi, adviser, a book of about 900 pages, which he sells at the unparalleled low price of $1.50, has already been sold to the extent of exhausting two editions amounting to forty thousand copies. The secret of “Dr. Pierue’s success, as well as that of the great revivalists, and scores of other Americans who by their genius have advanced step by-step from obscurity to affluence and distinction, consists in treating the people with consideration, sympathy, candor and honesty. No man, who hopes to attain either wealth or distinction, can afford to deal unfairly witli the world or be indifferent to the wants and best interests of humanity.