Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 64, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 April 1904 — Page 7

The Secret Dispatch

CHAPTER XIII. With evident suspicion and mistrust, Bernikoff viewed the growing intimacy between his'prisoner Ivan and the Scottish captain; and though lie neither recommended that it should cease dr interdicted it, he made many mental notes thereof. Though Balgonie sympathized with Ivan to the fullest extent, he knew too well the danger of doing more; and he [felt that he had his own share of secret

sorrow and anxiety, and might yet have igrcater to endure. The girl he loved was .already a political fugitive; her -father and cousin were prisoners, and perhaps In chains; her brother and his kinsman, 'Usakoff, already viewed as criminals; and with the terrors of despotism hanging over them all. Natalie a fugitive—and where? In the wild forests,—perhaps, where wolves |and outlaws lurked, what perils and privations might she not be suffering! NaItalie, so delicate, so pure, so gently nurtured, and so highly bred. Balgonie was aware, also, that intimacy with the family of Mierowitz, and |the deep interest-he had in their fate, was fraught with personal peril to himself in such a land of tyranny as Russia. •Full of such thoughts as these one fore(noon, lie was leaning on a cannon in one of those deep embrasures of the fortress which faced the drawbridge communicating with the land. The guard was in the act of lowering the bridge to permit a man to pass out. This person was just parting from Bernikoff, with whom he had been for some time in close and earnest conversation, and from whom he was evidently receiving money —an unusual circumstance, as that distinguished field officer generally lavished more kicks and cuffs than thanks or coins. On beholding this man, as he bowed humbly, cap in hand, cross the bridge and disappear among the houses of the town beyond. Balgonie experienced a species of nervous shock. He could not doubt that this fellow, so gigantic in stature and powerful in muscular developin ent, in.. th e couj’-e coat and 1e a them gjfdle, with the long lock of grizzled hair dangling behind his right Oar, was Nicholas Paulovitch, the murderer of Podatehkine, the gypsy woodman, and the swindling mendicant of the barrier at the Neva. . ‘This man here in Schlusselburg,” thought Balgonie, with indignation and alarm; “here in earnest conversation with Bernikoff. The spirit of mischief seems to pervade the air again!” A few minutes afterward a Cossack named Jagouski, who had been severely knonted by Bernikoff for pilfering a pipeful at tobacco, came forward with tottering steps, and looking painfully thin and feeble from recent suffering, and with the crouching bearing of the Muscovite toward a superior, said that his Excellency the Governor wished to speak with him in his quarters, whither Balgonie at once repaired. “Carl Ivanovitch,” said Bernikoff, who certainly had rather a perturbed air, “some suspicious characters are in our vicinity, and have actually been hovering in boats about the fortress. What think you of that?” “Suspicious characters, excellency—bow?” '

“In the town one dropped this coin—a silver rouble of the prisoner Ivan —Ivan the Unknown Person. To possess one, unless as I do this, for proof of treason, is to court death or Siberia.” “And from whom bad you this?” ”A spy.” replied the colonel jnirtly. “The man who has just left you?” “The same.” “Nicholas Paulovitrh,”.continued Balgonie, With, increasing astonishment at the other’s coolness; "the assassin of the corporal—the wretch of whom I told you when! first arrived here!” “All that may or may not be,” replied Berqikoff. with a stern air, almost amounting to rudeness; “when I require this fellow no more, you may impale him, if you please; but molest him not at present.” “I do not se<j. excellency, that all this in any way concerns me,” said Balgonie, haughtily. •> , “It does concern you thus far. I shall anticipate any attempt that may be made by those lurkers, whoever they may be. You must remember," he added, lowering his voice, "the tenor of the dispatch you brought me.” "Perfectly,” replied Charlie, in a somewhat faint voice, as he. knew not how terrible or repugnant might be the duty assigned him by this military despot. “Well, you shall pass forth into the town to-night, with a patrol of twenty men, armed with sabers and carbines. Surround and search the main street, and compel all therein who seem Muypieious, to produce their papers; and, if they are without such, bring them to me, and I shall question them in a fashion of my own.” “And I am to take twenty men with me?” said Balgonie, after an unpleasant pause. ' “Yes! the bridge will be lowered for you after sunset. Whoever these hirkers are, they have been seen and overheard; and this coin is proof sufficient to warrant the transportation of a whole province. Be they who they may, by every dome in sacred Mother Moscow’, they ahull find me ready for them!” Balgonie had no resource but to obey in silence; ami an angry sigh escaped him ns he stuck his loaded pistols in his girdle when the sun sank behind the ,greed painted “roofs of the wooden town ami the evening gun boomed from the ramparts.

I><*tiliriK in the twilight through the streets of Schlusselburg. he marched straight to where he knew that the principal tea house was situated; and while hia heart sank within him in fear of whom he might arrest—perhaps Natalie himself —he nt once surrounded the building to prevent nil egress, nnd to the evident alarm and perturbation of all who were within. When the crooked sabers of the dismounted Cossacks were seen flashing In the porch, and when Balgonie entered With hie sword drawn, passing along the

By JAMES GRANT

narrow way between the numerous tables, at which the groups were seated, amid an oppressive -odor of strong tea, coarse tobacco and Russian leather from boots, caps and girdles—-many a peasant in his canvas coat, and many a stout merchant in his flir cloak felt his heart quail with apprehension, he knew not Of what; and every saucer —the tea is not drunk from cups—was set down untasted, while one or two men nearly choked themselves with their lumps of sugar, for usually it is not put into the tea, but is retained- in the mouth of the drinker, so that, in a spirit of economy, the poor Muscovite may indulge in two, perhaps three, cups of his favorite beverage, and use thereto but one piece of sugar.

For his intrusion Balgonie apologized; this, though a very unusual proceeding in a country so despotic, failed to reas'sure the tea drinkers, -who were all hushed in silence and expectation; and a girl who had been singing for their amusement crouched down in a corner for concealment.

Balgonie counted the number of persons, and noted-the-exact hour by his watch; he then proceeded, with a heart full of anxiety and dread, to examine each person in succession, in reality looking for those he had no wish to find. All who possessed the requisite papers showed them; others proved, all in succession, to be soldiers and drivers, sailors and serfs; thus, after a time, a load seemed to be lifted from the mind of the young officer. As he turned to leave the apartment without a prisoner, the Cossack Jagouski rather roughly dragged the singing girl from the nook where she had sought concealment, and then Balgonie recognized the fine dark face, the black eyes and the large glittering earrings of Olga Taulowna. the gypsy girl whom he had befriended at Longa —she who saved him from a terrible fate in the forest.

“Let the girl go free, Jagouski,” said Balgonie; “I shall answer for her if required.” Olga drew a paper from her - bosom and showed that it was her passport from the commandant of Krejko, permitting her to travel to and from Schlusselburg. . Jagouski saluted and withdrew a few paces: and now, as if the cloud of doubt and dread - Balgonie’s arrival had cast over all was dispersed, again the noisy hum of voices pervaded the long room of the lea house, and laughter even broke forth at intervals.

"Olga.” said Balgonie, “you here —:so far from home?” ‘‘Yes, Ilospodeen, for my home is anywhere. or wherever night finds me; but I have news for you.” “News —and for me?”' “Yes,” said she, sinking her voice to a whisper; “I have news of Natalie Mierowna. She is here. In the neigh.borhood of Schlusselburg.” Charlie felt his heart die within him nt this intelligence, for such a vicinity was full of peril. "Be to-morrow at noon on the road that leads to Tosna, and you shall learn more. Till then, adieu; and God be with you.”

CHAPTER XIV. The noon of the following day saw Charlie Balgonie—after an anxious and almost sleepless night—proceeding .on foot along the road that leads southward to Tosna, a little town -which stands on a stream of the same name, a tributary of the Neva, but some ten miles distant from Schlusselburg. Before him rose the tall fir trues of the forest where he was to meet Olga—the “wood of the honey tree,” as it was named. There, as Balgonie approached, all was still save the voice of the woodcock, and the hum of insects; he lingered for a few minutes on the outskirts, just where the highway to Tosna dipped down into the deep and gloomy’ dingle of intertwisted branches, which formed a species of leafy tunnel overhead.

To the northward he could so; the place he had left, the gloomy 'Castle of Schlusselburg, moated round by the Neva and Lake Ladoga, jutting into the latter on its rock, its towers wearing a somber brown tint even in the noonday sunshine, as if no light could brighten them; and the white flag of Russia was fluttering on the summit of the keep, where Ivan was pining away the years of youth in silence and seclusion.

g Balgonie heard a voice waking the echoes of the dingle; three notes were struck on a tambourine, as a signal to him, and Olga approached singing "I have kept my appointment, Olga.” "And I mine.” she replied gayly, while tripping toward him in a playful manner; "now follow me, Hospodeen, and I shall take you to those who will be right glad to see you.” "First let us be sure that we are unwatched.” "Hight,” said she; and stooping in her earnestness, her keen, dark and glittering eyes swept the whole kindscape that lay between the wood ami Schlusselburg, nnd glanced keenly beyond the stems of the trees into the dingles nnd vista; but, save the birds on the branches and the gnats revolving in the sunshine, no living thing was visible. "Follow me. Hospodeen,” said the gypsy; "we have not far to go.” They descended into the dark dingle,' or hollow, and then quitted the highway; Olga gathering up tier skirts that she might tread with greater facility nrnong the thick gorsixnnd long rank grass. She explained to Balgonie that, as there was no path to guide them, her chief clews were a set of notches, cut to nil appearances carelessly, as if with a woodman’s ax, on the bark of the great pine trees. "These marks seem fresh, and recently cut —who made them?” asked Balgonie. "The Hospodeen, Basil Mierowitx.” she whispered. "Poor Basil!” responded Charlie, in a low tone.

After toiling through the dense forest for more then half an hour, they Arrived at the foot of a gray granite cliff, the face of which was screened, or nearly covered, by masses of depending Ivy,

creepers and green lichens, forming a background which, at a little distance, blended with the greenery of the woods. “We have arrived,” said she, turning, with a flush on her dark face which made it radiantly beautiful. She struck three strokes on her tambourine and shook its bells. Charlie thought of her kinsman, Nicholas Paulovitch, and instinctively grasped one of the pistols at his girdle, on seeing the dark and bearded face of a man appear among the ivy leaves some twentyfeet above him. A rope ladder was lowered, and whatever doubts or misgivings were in his mind, he felt himself constrained now to go through-the adventure' to its end. He clambered up. and on the great screen of ivy being lifted aside, found himself face to face with his old friend Basil Mierowitz, the subaltern of his company, who, grasping both his hands with kindly warmth of manner, led him into a cavern or grotto, oue of a series of many, into which the granite rocks had there been hollowed by some long past convulsion of nature. Another hand was instantly laid on his, a smaller and softer one —and two beautiful—dark eyes were bending tenderly on his face. “Natalie!” he exclaimed, in a tremulous voice, and would have pressed her to his breast, but for the presence of

Basil and several other men. Amid the twilight of the cavern, he eould perceive its rough natural walls and arch, with hazy but sunny rays that streamed faintly in the background, athwart the obscurity, as if the vault communicated with other galleries in the rock, through which the upper light of day stole in by the crannies and chasms. He was also enabled to see- that, with Natalie, her brother Basil, and her cousin Usakoff, . who had been a lieutenant in the Valikolutz Grenadiers, there were about twenty men in the place, all clad in sheepskin coats, the invariable dress of the Russian peasant, and nearly all had red serge breeches, rough boots and girdles of rope or untanned leather. Though attired like woodmen or laboring serfs, all these men had unmistakably the bearing of well-trained soldiers; all were strong, active, and resolute in aspect; and Balgonie had no doubt that they were those natives of the Ukarine, the deserters from the Livonian frontier, bf whom Bernikoff had spoken; for against the walls of the cavern were ranged a number of muskets and bayonets, with sets of aceoiiterments, sabers and pistols. There, too, stood a regimental drum, decorated with the imperial arms, and the forbidden name of the Emperor Ivan! Every moment seemed to increase the perils that surrounded the luckless Balgonie, for now he was in the very den of the conspirators, "Oh! Basil—Usakoff —my friends, if IndeedT may yet dare to call you so, and live,” said Balgonie, in a voice that was broken by emotion, "for what rash and dreadful purpose do I find you and these unfortunate fellows here?” “You and all Russia, too, shall learn ere long,” replied Mierowitz calmly and sternly; yet with a grave and noble air, with which his coarse canvas coat assorted oddly. -77 \'.L' — ~ “And poor Natalie!” exclaimed Balgonie, in a toiie of grief and reproach; “have you no love for her?”

“Until Natalie informed me, I knew not, my friend, Carl Ivanovitch, that you were the bearer of that secret dispatch, which might have cost you limb or life, when it was too late to arrest those I had set upon your track.” “Well, certainly, I was not much indebted to the good offices o£ your rogue, Podatchkine.”

“The corporal's orders were simply to abstract the document and bring it to me; not to slay its bearer, unless such a catastrophe became unavoidable.” “He fell into his own snare —a dark and deadly one.” "Happily you escaped it, and I have saved two hundred silver roubles for the service of the emperor.” “Who do you mean?” asked Balgonie, in a whisper. "Ivan —the prisoner of Schlusselburg!” exclaimed Usakoff, with enthusiasm. “Alas!” added Balgonie, “you court but your own destruction.” “Think not so; but join us. and share our perils and our glory,” replied the other.

“I am bound by allegiance to the empress.” “You nrc but a tool in her hands, Carl Balgonie.” „ .t, “Perhaps so; but one with a sharp edge, I hope.” replied Balgonie. who felt only genuine sorrow; and a silence of nearly a minute ensued. (To be continued.)

AROUND NEW YORK BY SMELL.

Blindfolded One Could Tell Localities by Their Odors. If you were so set me down in New York blindfolded 1 could give a pretty close guess as to my whereabouts by the smell of that particular locality,” said a salesman. “If my nose seemed stuffed with hides and tallow I should knew that I was in the immediate vicinity of Gold, Cliff or Frankfort street. A pronounced odor of spices would indicate Fulton street, in the neighborhood of the East river; but if tea and toffee predominated the chances would be strongly in fayor ot Front, Pearl or Water street,. A saccharine quality in the air would suggest tlio sugar and molasses neighborhood of William, Wall or Front streets. Perfumes would place me at once on Leonard dr Chambers, or possibly Grand street, while a strong odor of soap would let me know that Pearl or Murray street, or perhaps Greenwich or Hudson was not far off. If th« atmosphere were fairly reeking with the scent of drugs I would figure out that 1 had wound up somewhere near Fulton. William or Cliff street,” thd salesman continued, according to the New York Timos. "Tobacco would give mo a wide range, but I would probably be near Pearl, Pino or Broad street. The smell of hops would be a sure indication ot Whitehall ■tfoet, West nnd South streets have their distinctive odors of shipping nnd seamen's supplies.”

Born in China.

Mme. Enmcs. the prlma the first five years of her lite at Shanghai, where her father was In practice aa a lawyer.

INDIANA INCIDENTS.

RECORD OF EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK. Jilted Bridegroom Elopes with Sister of Missing; Bride-Nine Hurt by Explosion of Lamp—Farmers After Marauding; Negro—Youth Foils R’obber. Miss Stella Best, aged' 19. and Frank Lyles, a returned soldier from the Philippines, were to have been married on a recent night. The groom-elect and preacher arrived and the wedding supper had been prepared. T'lie bride was supposed to be arranging Iter toilet, but suddenly decided she would not marry, and slipped from the house. Theuninister returned home, and Lyles then turned his attention to the sister of Miss Best, Miss Lulu Best, aged 15, and they decided to elope. They disappeared, and later Miss Lulu Best returned home and told her mother she had been drugged. Aside from this she would say nothing.

Farmers to Shoot on Sight,__ Farmers six "miles south of Muncie have organized to capture or shoot a negro that has boon forcing an entrance to houses in that vicinity. The negro enters the houses when he knoXVs the men are not at home and makes the women give all their money to him. After the first attempt at burglary several days ago all the women in the neighborhood aimed themselves, and since that, when » negro lias, visited a house- and attempted robbery they have frightened him away. Indignant husbands and brothers of the women threaten to shoot the negro on sight. He is believed to be hiding in the neighborhood. Athlete Was Too Strong;. Charles Edward Haymond, a Muncie high scliool athlete, 18 years old, was on his way home the other night when he was attacked by two men who attempted to relieve him of a gold watch. One of the men struck him over the head, but the blow did not stun him, and the other shoved a revolver in his face. Haymond, who is unusually strong, wrested the revolver from the man’s hands after a struggle and escaped with it. The finish of the fight was" witnessed by bystanders, who hurried to the spot, but the highwaymen got away.

Lamp Explosion Hurts Niue. Nine persons were injured, one fatally, in a fire caused by the explosion of a lamp in the ’Morley novelty store in Princeton, which destroyed the building. Morley and his family, together ■with members of a vaudeville troupe, occupied the rear rooms, and were almost shut off from escape. The injured were: Mrs. Francis Rogers, fatally; Francis Rogers, Jacob Schaffer, infant child of Morley, and W. A. Dyer, seriously; Mrs. Schaffer and child, and James Morley and wife, slightly.’ Robbers Shoot Cashier. Cashier Atkinson of the Miami County Bank at Amboy, was shot in the head the other night by burglars and seriously wounded. The burglars had blown out the front wall of the building when Charles Warren and Cashier Atkinson attacked them, and caused them to fly, after shooting the cashier. They failed to obtain $40,000 in the bank’s vault.

Short State Items. Rev. John I*. Pell, 86, died at his home in Fairland. Charles Clendennen, 93, died at Paragon of the grip. The oil excitement at Winslow continues unabated. Wood cutting is the order of the day at Kelsy Bend. Anderson has a supposed ghost, which walks on roofs. /It looks favorable for the wheat crop around Hensley. Whitestown bachelors have formed an anti-leap -year society. Henry County farmers report that wheat is in bad condition. A pig with two well-formed heads has been born on a farm near Newcastle. Elmer Delap, 16, was killed by falling slate at the Willfred mine, near Sullivan. , County Council refused to appropriate inon<-y for a new court house at Kentland. Mrs. Nancy Tigue, Lafayette, celebrated the 105th anniversary of her birth. At Fifth and Main streets. Rockport, is a frame building which was erected about 1820. Joseph Keck, Shelbyville, was found dead in bed at his home. He died of heart trouble. Davis Gray, 85, died at his home in Greensboro. In pioneer days he was a famous gunmaker. At a meeting of the Marion trades council it was decided to erect a labor temple in that city. What is believed to be one of the strongest gas wells in the State has been struck in Pike County. Anderson dressmakers are so busy that women are having trouble to get their new holster toggery made. Fred ('liver accidentally touched an electric wire at the Sunflower mine, near Sullivan, and was instantly killed. There's going to be n great deal of building in Anderson this year. Five or six modern tint buildings will be among the new structures.

While holding n gun for his brother, 19-ycar okl Henry Haag, John Haag, rged 12 years, accidentally shot him at East Chicago. Henry may die. s Quincy A. Wright, a member of the town board of Fortville, lost $2,000 by the burning of his handsome home and contents. The tire was caused by a defective flue.

In Belleville Krank Woods plodded guilty to murder, after the jury had disagreed, He was sentenced to twenty-five .years’ imprisonment. • Many new oil companies are incorpo* rating at Muncie, mid nn oil exchange will be established in that city. In one of the companies three prominent women of Muucie are directors.

Vincennes is to have n hospital. The city will purchase the, site and donate It to the Clark -Gibault Memorial Association, which will, with the assistance of the county commissioners, build a fine bosoltal.

FARMS AND FARMERS

Cheap Poultry House. The illustration will show that even piano boxes may be utilized for a poultry house where only a limited number of fowls or chicks are to be accommodated; or with a number of houses thus built, it may be possible to furnish comfortable quarters for the usual number of birds kept on an average farm. U. R. Fishel of Indiana tells Poultry News of his twenty colony house constructed of piano boxes. He says: “We take two upright piano boxes and four pieces of timber 2x4 and 10 feet long; we take the piano boxes apart—keeping the fronts, backs, ends and bottoms all together. We place three of the 2x4s on the ground and lay on these 2x4s, nailing them solid, making the bottom of the house (some will have to be sawed off of the 2x4s). The four ends of the two boxes will make the entire back of the house, while the fronts will make each end of the house and the remaining him ber will be used in the front of the house. The three remaining pieces of 2x4 are used as rafters to nail roofing to. New ship lap lumber will have to be bought for the roof, after which the same is covered with Neponset Red Rope roofing paper. Two pairs of 5-lnch strap hinges, one hasp and a piece of 1-inch netting to cover opening 6f door above window and one pane of Bxlo light sash completes your building, making a .poultry house Bxlo

A CHEAP POULTRY HOUSE.

feet, all complete, for the low price of |7. If you can do the carpenter work yourself the house will not cost you over $6.”. This house will accommodate fifty growing chicks, or fifteen to twenty capons, and the claim is made that no bird kept in it and properlytaken care of, ever had its comb frozen in the coldest weather. One great advantage of such a small house is that it can be placed on runners or on a mud sleigh and moved wherever it nnv be wanted on the farm. It is list iul as. a general purpose fowl house, for hens with chicks, etc. Value of Dual Purpose Cow. If a man has no use for the calf, or has use for the calf and none for the milk he has no use for the dual purpose cow. In the former case he needs the Jersey or Ayeshire, in the latter Polled Angus or Hereford. Here we need the calves to condense feed and thus help get it to market by condensing the freight on it. A dual purpose cow is one that with a paying quantity of milk and a calf that will about top the market when fed out. It is not possible to get the best dairying qualities and best beef qualities in the same hide, but it is possible to get more jnoney out of a dual purpose cow than can be done with a special purpose cow. i. e., milk or beef. There is no breed of dual purpose cattle, but there is a type of dual purpose cows common to all breeds. The Hereford* and Polled Angus breeds have a few dual purpose cows, but the Short Horns have a larger number than any other breed. Whenever beefbred cows have been milked for some time they are on dual purpose qualities. The Short Horns, originally a soef breed, have been used as milkers lor years, and tins Is why there are note dual purpose •uws in this breed ‘.han other breeds. If starting a herd >f duah purpose dairy cows, I would ytiy yearling heifers and use a bull from dual purpose stock. When these heifers have their first calves they would feed strong, and would then get rid of those that fattened and keep those that increased in flow of milk, but must not forget that to produce milk, a cow should be fe<| a balanced ration.

Turkeys in Cold Storage 12 Years. Poultry and eggs as old as eight to ten years are being sold for consumption by the packers of Chicago. The statement is made by Alderman Wendling, who for years was a butcher in the stock yards. “I have known,” be says, "of turkeys being kept In cold storage for twelve years and chickens for eight or ton yars. Chickens and turkeys hatched the year of the World's Fair are yet in cold storage at the yards. Eggs of the vintage of IS'J'i nnd 189" are also there.” How Many Seed to a Pound? Number of farm seeds in a pound varies greatly with even Hie leading farm crops. Reif top <14)3,0(10, reed canary grass GOO.OOO, smooth stalked meadow grass 2.44)0.000, rough-stalked meadow grass, 3,000.000, sheep's fescue, 08»/.bu0, xarioiuoieafed fescus 400,000, creeping fescue 000, a witless brome grass 137,000, perennial rye grass 330,800, Italian rye grass 285,000, orchard grass 579.500, meadow feecue 818,200, meadow oat glass 15#.000, yellow oat grass 2.045.000, velvet grass 1,304,000, timothy, 1, 1T0,500.

meadow foxtail 907,000, vernal gras® 924,000, crested dog’s tail 1,127,000, alsike clover 707,000, sainfoin red clover 279,000, white c10ver.740,000, common kidney vetch 154,000, alfalfa! or bicorn 209,500, trefoil 328,000, bird’a foot trefoil 375,000, official goat s ru® G 2.000. Helps for Butchering Time. There Is more or less work in th® kUUxig- oX-snulll animals during th® winter on many farms, uni! always th® annual butchering; although it Is getting to be quite the fashion in the more thickly settled portions of the country to sell the hogs in the fall and byy. the ineat back from tho town butcher at double price during tho winter. Where there is more or less butchering to be done one should liava

FOR THE FARM BUTCHER.

for ready use a large boiler of some kind so that a quantity of water may be heated at one time; tools such as knives, saws and other things used should be kept in proper shape and everything be in readiness so that the hard and disagreeable work may be over with as soon as possible. The illustration shows a rack for hanging the carcass of an animal, which should be on dvery farm where butchering is done. It needs but little description. A post eight or ten inches through and five or six feet high is set firmly in the ground, and cross-pieces, two inches or more thick and eight feet long spiked to the pole, in the positions shown, so that they will project three feet on either side. They are notched near the ends as shown and braced underneath. These racks will save one much strength, for when the bogs are hung on them they are easily cut.

Homemade Tread Power. A light tread power for churning, turning grindstone, etc., is made by mounting a disk wheel nearly horizonbilly, the axle being inclined so one portion.will be higher than the other. The dog, sheep or calf used for motive power is tied at one side, headed toward the higher part. As the animal walks, the wheel turns because of the nniiaal's weight, and communicatee motien to the pulley or small friction wheel beneath. There are no belts, no cogs. The weight of the animal bears the part of the large inclined wheel upon the smaller wheel beneath and causes It to revolve. A discarded wagon wheel might be used as tire framework of the large wheel, nailing boards on the upper surface for the animal to walk on, or

TREAD POWER AND CHURN.

a frame is easily made, and if somewhat larger than a wagon wheel—say 6 feet or 7 feet in diameter—the circle will be larger and the animal will find the walking more direct. The under wheel may be 6 or 8 inches in diameter. The power is increased by giving the large wheel more pitch, and diminished by setting it more nearly level. —E. C. Bennett, In St. Louis Republic. Don’t Be a Kicker.

Some men would rather kick against some treatment they are having or find fault with the administration than to talk almut their business and hnw to make it more of a success. Most people talk over their business at any and all opportunities, but I have seen farmers in a crowd that would talk about everything else. Finding fault with the weather, the railroads. oS wreaking vengeance on the road supervisor or some such thing does not as. slst one particle in making a better fanner out of a man. The successful n an advertises his business and has Interest enough in it to talk al>out it to bls neighbors and others with whom be chines in contact.—Cor. lowa Homestead. Horse Notes to Remember. Teams that have been partially idle for some time should come into work again gradually, and their shoulders should bo washed and bathed in salt and water. Never buy a horse with a narrow or sallow chest, or whose forelegs are very close together. He has not sufficient room for a set of strong lungs, and will not be long winded. In the treatment of distemper an English veterinary advises the beneficial effect of biniodide of mercury as an antiseptic. Its good effects are due more to its absorption than tq its blistering action, as it is the most powerful of all antiseptics (microbe killers). It was used successfully in scores of < ases as a blister applied to the swelling under the Jaws. Distemper is an infective disease which usually confers subsequent immunity on the patient.