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About The Columbian. (St. Helens, Columbia County, Or.) 1880-1886 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 15, 1882)
4 --''" 11 - - I 5 i x .... V 1 i - - i . i ) VOL. III. ST. HELENS, COLUMBIA COUNTY, OREGON, SEPTEMBER 15, 182. NO. G. 5 J IF - 0 i'la fating Keans. A few days siuea as a reporter for the Free Press was listening to an anecdote that that inimitable story-teller, Bill Matson, was narratiug, a voice broke in with: "Why don't yon tell him about the beans, Bill?' Matron looked up, and so did the re porter. Within a few feet of them stood a tall, bronzed, bearded stranger, with the air and appearance of a man who had seen much of tbe world, and had battled with it successfully.' It needed no in troduction to inform the beholder that the stranger was from the fur West. Mat son looked at him intently for a moment. ana then, with a twinkle in his eye, ex- - claimed: "Stranger, there ain't but one feller in the country, that I knows on, who's any bizness to know anything about that bean story, and tnat's Joe Brown, and the last I heard of him he was in jail for stealin' a mule." "You appear to have retained that won derful veneration for the truth which dis tinguished vou from other bovs, Bill," said the stranger. laughing and extend ing his hand. "Bill, old playmate, how are vou? "Sassier than a tarrier pup, Joe. and able to take mv corn juice reg'lar. How's yerself?" Hand shaking ana mutual inquiries as to worldly success followed, and then Bill, addressing the reporter, said: "Yer see. Joe, here, and me was cubs iogether, his dad's farm and my old - man's stump lot j'inin', and many's the jacket warmin' he and I's taken 'bout the tame time o day. It s alwaj's been a question in my mina whether oie man Brown or my old dad could handle a beech withe in the most painful manner Either one on 'em could satisfy any boy I ever got acquainted with. Well, Joe here once helped me to deserve the darudest lickin' ever a boy got, an' von bet that everything in the lickin' line that we deserved we got. When the ole man died, I never heerd any of the boys complain that he haa gone on owin em anythin' in the way of thrashings. ler see, twas down rast we was brought up, and in them days there used to be a June trainin'. The old man used ter ero every vear. and come home tighter'n a brick on New England rum and merlasses. Me an' tlfeold man had been a-bluntin corn for a week and finished it the night afore rainin' day, and I went ter bed thinkm "what great times me and Joe would have down to ther village next day seein' the soldiers I was up mightv early in the mornin' you bet, and had all the chores done afore dad was up. After breakfast the old man went up into the corn chamber over the woodshed, and came down with a peck measure most full of white beans. " 'Bill,' sez he, ','3011 ve been a purty good boy lately, aid I m goin to let you go o their trainin bimeby. "Then he led the way out to the north end of the house where we had about an acre plowed and harrowed, and told me to go platin' beans, 'and, said the old man. 'be sureyou don't put over four or five beans in a hill, William, sartainly not more than Ave! "Then, the old man starts for town, and you ought to see me make the dirt fly. It was tarnal hot. and purty sosn the sweat was a-rnnnin onuu me in streams. It was right early when I be gun, ana 1 plantea a right smart piece when, bout nine o clock, Joe, here, come alone. "Ili! Bill!' sez he, a-hollerin from the road, 'ain't you a-goin to trainin'?' ' 'Yes, sez I, 'jest as soon'sl git these tarnal ocans planted, and away went Joe, and I pitched in ag'in and slammed the pesky beans inter the ground as fast as I could. "Bimebj-, 'bout 10 o'clock, sqneak-it-a-squeak.went the fifes down to the vil lage, and rub-a-dub went the base drum. Human natur couldn't stand that. Down went my hoe and I was half-way through the orchard in a jiffy. Then I thought about them beans and the beech withe, and I walked back and looked in the peek measure. Hanged if there warn't more .1 eaus in it than there was when I commer ced plantin'. "Just then the devil took a hand in. Bight there was a old, holler oak stump, and quicker'n you could say Samanthy Jones, them beans was inter that stump with a whole lot of dirt on top of 'em. Then I chucked the hoe and peck mea sure into the shd, and away I went to the village a-kitin'. Y'ou bet I didn't 'low the old man to get his eyes on me till arternoon. Then he seed me and sez he, 'Bill, did you plant all them beans?" " 'Yes, dad sez I. " 'Bill, didn't yon put more'n five in a hill?' sez he. " 'Jest five, dad!' sez T. "Then the old man gave me a quarter, one of them old-fashioned Spanish quarters with pillars onto them, and sez her Bill,jest you go and git some ginger bread and have a good time, but be sure and go home in time to milk afore dark.' "The next mornin' the old man and I went out to plant the rest of the bean 2atch, and I was a-tremblin'you bet! but he merely said somethin' about them , beans not a-plantin' asj far as he thought they would, and went to work. Of coarse I had to tell Joe, here, how I'd come it on the old man, and we laffed at it. "One rainy day, 'long in hayin' time, the old man came inter the house, and sez he, 'William, come out here; I want you!' Now when dad called me 'Wil liam, I knowed there was trouble a- foot so 's I follered him out I set to thinkin' what partic'iar kind of mischief I'd a been up to lately, and about how much of a tannin' I was likely to get, but I'd been so busy a-workin that I'd neglected my monkey-shines for some time, and couldn't think of nothin' that was worth much of a lickin', so I follered the old man kind of happy like. He went straight out through ther woodshed and started into . the beau patch, Tfa-taggin'- along behind. Purty soon lie stopped right aside of stump andnjeked tiii a bran' new beech gad about jrfour feet long that he'd been out and cut forj that partic'iar oc casion. "WTell, boys, what do yer suppose was up? Beana was up; j more'n a million of 'em. I hrflpo to never have a fun'ral if that thar old holler 'stump didu't look like a I-vrvgin "baket of runniu ivy Such a loc of bean vines as come out of the top on't. and hnnsr down most to the ground on all sides on't you never seed in yer life. I "'What's them, .William?' sez ho, a tightenin' up his grip on the butt end o the gad. i " 'Look like beans, father, sez T, be- ginnin to feel as if I'd got the ager. "'Bout that time the beech began to circulate 'round, and boys, I've hated the sight of beans ever since. For more'n a week I found it convenient to sleep on ray face, and eat my vittals a-standm up Boy 8, let us go over to Schneider's and set a erlass of somethin' to take the taste of beans out of i our mouths, and kinder change the subject."- J Detroit l ree Press. j Suddenly Turning Uray. btaii-fcurcreon 1'arrv. while serving in India during the mutiny, saw a strange sight. Among the prisoners taken in a skirmish at Chamda was a sepoy of the Bengal army. He was brought before the authorities, and put to the question. Fully alive to his position, the Bengalee stood almost stupefied with fear, trembling greatly, with horror and de spair plainly depicted on his counten ance. While the examination was pro ceeding, the by-standers were startled by the sergeant in charge of the prisoner exclaiming, "He is turning gray!" All eyes were turned on the unfortunate man, watching with wondering interest the change coming Upon his splendid, glossy, jet-black locks. In half an hour they were of a uniform grayish hue. Some years ago a young lady, who was anxiously awaiting the coming of her husband elect, received a letter con veying the sad tidings of his shipwreck and death. She instantly fell to the ground insensible, and so remained for five hours. On the following morning her sister saw that her hair, which had been previously of a rich brown color, had become as white as a cambric hand kerchief, her eyebrows and eyelashes re taining their natural color. After a while the whitened hair fell off, and was succeeded by a new j growth of gray. This case coming under the observation of Dr. Erasmus Wilson, shattered his unbelief in the possibility of the sud cen conversion of the j hair from a dark aoior 10 suow-wnite.i io man Knows moiV about the hair than Dr. Wilson; but he is at a loss to explain the pheno menon quite to his j own satisfaction. "If," savs he, "it be established that the hair is susceptible of permeation by flu ids derived from j the blood a transmission ot fluids from the blood-vessels of the skin into the subtance of the hair really occurs, the quantity and nature beiug modified by the peculiarity of constitu tion or state of health" of the individual it follows that such fluids, being altered in their chemical qualities, may possess the power of impressing new conditions on the structure into . which they enter Thus, if they contain ah excess of salts of lime, they mav deposit! salts of lime in the tissue of the hair, and so produce change in its appearance from dark to gray." Then he tells us: "The phenom enon may be the result; of electric action; it may be the consequence of chemical alteration wrought in the very blood itself, or it may be a conversion for which the tissue of the hair is chiefly responsible." So many "may-bes" from such an authority prove that the mystery ot the suaaen whitening oti the hair is yet unsolved. It is likely to remain unsolved, since the doctor more modest than many of his brethren owns that "the mvsteries of vital chemistry are unknown to man." fPopnlar Science Monthly for August. I Benefit of Langoter. Probably there i3 not the remotest cor ner or little inlet of the minute blood vessels (life vessels) of the body that does not feel some wavelet from that great convulsion (hearty laughter) shak ing the central man. The Olooct moves more lively probably its chemical, elec tric, or vital condition 13 distinctly modi fied it conveys a different impression to all the organs of the body as it visits them on that particular mystic journey, when the man is laughing, from what it does at other times. And so, we doubt not, a good laugh may lengthen a man's life, conveying a distinct stimulus to the vital forces. And the -time may come when physicians, attending more closely than at present, unfortunately, they are apt to do, to the innumerable subtile in fluences which the soul exerts upon its tenement of clay, shall proscribe to tor pid patients so many "peals of laugh ter, to be undergone at such and such a time," just as they do now that far more objectionable prescription, a pill or an electric or galvanic shock; and shall study the best and most effective method of producing the required effect in each patient. f Good Health. An attempt is to be made to run loco motives or rather trains through the St. Gothard tunnel by means of electricity. At present the product of combustion ieic in tue tunnel maKes travel very un comfortable. A Sharpsburg, Penn., man, who used the telephone during a recent storm, is now at his home recovering from the shock, which caught him on the ear. Mmtaphdj The Hunchback. The following story is a favorite one among the Egyptians: Mustapha, an or phau boy who had the misfortune to have an" ill-shapen back, was called Hunchback. His parents were poor, and after they died he was left without I any home or friends; bat a poor widow pitied him, and took him to be her son. When he grew up she sent him to Alex- andria to sell some chickens. - But the ignorant lad fell into the hands of bad men, who stole his poultry and 'even took awav a part of his clothes,. Poor Mus-1 tapha, finding himself robbed stood in the streets, crying. A witty wag saw him weeping, and having learned his story, took him home, fed him and clothed him again. He then gave him a case of something he called a cosmetic. A cosmetic is something to make the hair grow. "Take this," said the wag, 'and go home to your village and sell it. Tell the people it will make both their beards and their wits to increase. The money you get for it you may keep for yourself and for yonr poor mother." Mustapha thanked hie friend, and, de parting with the case, returned to his the case, returned to village, where he announced what he had for sale before the whole assembled pop- ulatiou. To his surprise, they all burst out laughing, and made fun of him. He returned desponding to his adopted mother's house, and the world was black before him: but presently the sheikh sent privately to buy a small packet; and then the barber; and then the tobacco seller; and then the coffee-house keeper all in private. In fact, before the evening, the whole of his merchandize was sold; and every man in the village went to bed with his chin steeped in the cosmetic, each believing that both his beard and his wisdom would have doubled in length next morniDg. I wish I could reproduce the panto mine by which the morning scene was described; the snorings, the grunts, the yawns, the impatience for the dawn; for it attpears all the patients had been ordered to keep their jaws carefully wrapped up antil daylight. At length the wished -for moment arrived. Then they all rose up, and hastily taking off the cloths, which had nearly stifled them, found that their beards came off likewise! They clapped their hands to their chins, and felt them to be as smooth as their knees; they, jogged their wives, and were greeted by screams of. laughter; they ran out into the streets, and learned the truth, that the whole population had been rendered beardless by ointment which the wag had given to Mustapha. As all were equally ilnfor- tunate, all laughed; but they resolved to punish; the unlucky hunchback. He was called before the sheikh, where the elders of the village had assembled; and when he saw the circle of smooth faces, he could not help giggling. "He laugheth, because he hath defiled our bearus, exclaimed the conclave. "It is necessary to put him to death, Wc are all friends here; let us thrust him into a bag, carry him to the i river, and throw him in, so that no more may be heard of him." This idea was unanimously accepted; and Mustapha was carried away in a sack, across an ass's back, toward the river. About noon, his guards stopped to rest. and, lying down, fell asleep, leaving the hunchback still iu his sack. Now it happened that an old man, bent nearly two-double, came driving by an immense flook of sheep; and seeiDg these people asleep, and a sack standing up in the middle, was moved by curiosity to draw near it. Mustapha had managed to open it a little, and to lookout w ith one eye; which observing, the old shepherd marveled, saying: "A bag with an eye did I never see before." He demanded, in a low voice, what was the meaning of this. The eye be came a mouth, and re2lied: "I am the unfortunate Mustapha, whom these peo ple are taking by force to marry the Sul tan's daughte r." "What!" said the old man, who had married thirty-three wives in the course of his life; ' and dust thou repine at such good fortune?" "So much, that I would give all I pos sess to find a substitute." "Would not " I do perfectly well?" quoth the shepherd. "I am not very old; I have two teeth left, and one of my eyes is good enough; but they would not tal e me in exchange." "Oh, yes, wallah, they would, if you called yourself Mustapha; it appeareth that the name is fortunate, and I have been chosen only on this account. Untie the bag and let me out." The shepherd, whoso hands trembled from age and excitement, liberated Mus tapha, made him a present of his flock. and bade him tie the bag very tightly. least the change should be discovered. The hunchback did as he was desired, and hastened to retire with his sheep. Meanwhile, the villagers, wakinct up. threw their prisoner again upon the ass, aud proceeding on their journey, plunged tue poor old man into the river, just as he was dreaming with delight of his first interview with the Sultan's daughter: how he would smile and look pleasant. and how she would bid him be of cood cheer. Some ministers are like pattnt medio how to cure fines they tell everybody the freckles on their faces their own faces are disfigured, medicine may be good i. e.. for while The others them- but they don't like to take it selves. We have come across an exnression which ought to be perpetuated. An old stage driver, when speaking of those bank defaulters and other rogues who were once members in good standing of some church, called them "ex-praying men." J k lover's Unsuccessful Kugr. A story about which there is a fascina tion which it is impossible to resist when you hear men tell it is that of the "Home of Oold. Somewhere in southwestern New Mexico, in the Sierra Madre, it is s&ia tnere is a wonaeriui valley. maii, enclosed in high rocky walls and accessi ble only by a secret passage, which is known to but few, is this extraordinary place.. It is about ten acres in extent, has running through it a stream, which waters it thoroughly and makes it a per fect paradise, with its exquisite flowers and beautiful trees. In it are thousands of birds of the most beautiful plumage. Running across it is a ledge of pure gold about thirty feet wide, which glistens in the sunlight like a great golden bolt. The stream crosses this ledge, and, as it runs, murmurs around blocks of yellow metal as other streams do around peb bles. The ledge of gold is supposed to be solid gold and to run down into the center of the earth. The legend is of Indian origin and around it cluster a number of Indian stories, in which the name of the ill-fated Montezuma occurs frequently. The descendants of the I Aztecs believe firmly that the day will come when Montezuma will return and free them from tha dominion of the descendants of the Conquestadores. They believe that the money necessary for this work will be taken from the Madre d'Oro. The secret of the ep trance into, the valley is carefully guarded by a tribe of Indians living near it, and among them it is only communicated to the oldest men, amid the solemn ceremonies of the medi cine lodge. " Having such a story to work upon there is little wonder that the vivid imagination of the Mexicans should have built upon it tales of men who have found this wonderful place. One is that a certain Jose Alvaraz, while wandering through the mountains in search of game, saw the valley from the top of the wall. Finding that h9 could not hope to enter by climbing down, he took his abode with the Indians who guard the canyon leading into it. The daughter of the chief fell iu love with him and betrayed the secret to him. Ex actly how she found it out they do not tell. Having been shown the entrance, Jose went in and would possibly have gotten away with some of the gold had he not weighed himself down to such an extent that he could not get up the de clivity at the end of the passage. He was discolored and the Indians sacri ficed bim on the golden ledge with all the terrible ceremonies of the old Aztec religion. She, in despair at losing him, threw herself from the high walls into the valley below. Hundreds of prospec tors have spent months of toil to find the Madre d'Oro, but, it is scarcely necessa ry to say, without, success. Las Cru- zes Republican. Only the Manager. At a station on one of the railroads leading out of Detroit, the train had ar rived and departed the other day, when the station agent, who had been in the place about three weeks, and was looking for a call every hour to come to JJetroit and take charge of the line, was ap proached by a quick, well-dres3od man smoking a cigar, who asked: "Keep you pretty busy here ?" "Yum," was the jerky reply. "Business on the increase?" "Yum." again. "Do you run this station ?" asked the auiet man. after takinc: a turn on the platform. "Nobody else runs it!" growled the acrent. "Have you eot a patent car- coupler?" "Oh, no." "Want special freight rates, I sup pose?" VNo.sir." "I don't give you passes." "I don't want any." "Waiting for the next train ?" "Not particularly." "Want to charter a car?" "No." The agent left him on the platform and entered his office and busied him self -for half an hour, when the quiet man looked in on him and asked: "What's the salary of a position like this?" " r "That's my business," was the prompt reply. "What's the income front this sta tion?" "Ask the baggageman." "Your name is -, isn't it?" "Suppose it is?" "Oh, nothing muchonly I'm the gen eral manager ot the line, and I'd like to exchange cards with you!" Detroit Free Press. A Fable. One day, while an old goose sat fanning herself on the side porch, along came a fox who was lame and dirty and badly knocked about. Trying to look aa humble as he could, and throwing all possible pathos intoi his voice, he be gan: "Madam, for heaven's sake take pity on me!" "La, sakes! but what a distressed ob ject you are!" she replied with swelling heart. "I am lame and hungry and desire re lief," continued the fox. "And you shall have it, my dear ani mal. Mr. Goose has worked hard all his days, and has managed to get a few dol lars ahead. It is my duty, therefore, to divide with you. I shall not ask for your past. You may have been a lazy loafer all your life, but that is nothing to me. Yon may have received that lame foot and black eye, while trying to enter some farmer's hen-roost, but that is none of my business. Charity says I must succor you." "Yes'm." .. "It is,! however, my duty to hope that you desire to be good.' "Oh, yes." "And that you will begin now to think seriously of the future?" "You 'bet I will." Then she took him in and gave him a square meal and bound up his hurts, and presented him with a shilling testament and sent j him on his way with: "Remember that charity is the great eat of all! virtues." 'Just so," said the Fox.as heArl out. The words made a deep impression on his mind, and as he passed the hen-roost he came to a halt and remarked: "By hard work and plenty ot cheek I have discovered a coop full of fat-hens. Over in the swamp are" dozens of poor Foxes who are obliged ,at Rabbit for want cf something b5?r. Charity com pels me to give thifr'thing away." That night the coop was raided and the poultry devoured, and as the last leg disappeared, the old Fox who had worked hp the job, was heard saying: "Chicken covereth a multitude of sins." j MORAL. He who strikes a beggar with a club in place of a: cold dinner will hit the place oftener than he misses it. f Detroit Press. Pigeon Shooting. It is no t generally known that pigeon and that for shooting is due to Spain. more than two centuries this miserable slaughter! of tame birds has been in vogue in that benighted country. Pigeon shooting is not a sport, for, as the word is understood, sport means something where endurance is called into play. The birds in a! great many matches are sub jected to a great deal of cruelty. It is a well-known fact that pigeons are doc tored on certain occasions to meet "the requirements of the so-called sportsmen. To make a bird turn to the right the left eye is put out, or to cause an nnsteady flight half, the tail feathers or portions of the pinions are plucked. The greatest rascality takes place in pigeon matches, which the knowing ones take advantage of. In Epgland some years ago ladies were sometimes present at pigeon matches, but of late public opinion has been so strong that they have been shamed out of witnessing such cruel ties. Ratj catching as au amusement is coarse and degrading enough, but if a comparison be possible between it and pigeon-shooting; the first is by far tho nobler sport, for though the man sets on the dog to'cAteb, the -vermin, in- pigeou shooting it is the man and not the dog that undertakes the business. A bill to put a stop j to pigeon-shooting in Great Britain is to be presented to Parliament by Mr. Anderson, and consists of two provisions; In the Cruelty to Animals Prevention act, Mr. Anderson wishes that the word animal should "mean and include any vertebrate animals, whether of domestic or wild nature, kept in con finement or captivity," and that in the definition of cruelty, "the shooting of birds liberated from any trap or other contrivance or from the hand" should be included. I When the skill of the marks man with his hammerles3guncan be con olusively shown by the shattering of glass balls jor clay pigeons, why should people who assume to understand the decencies of life wish to inflict death and torture on poor .birds? Can there be any pleasure in going to a coop full of pigeons and cutting the throats of the birds? Such a nasty business is dele gated to the poultry man, who is paid for his trouble. r. 1. Times. Hie Little Boy who Lacked Faith. "Pa," said a little boy, "what makes people pray? "Why, my son, they prav for they pray for that is, they ask tho Lord to save their souls." "And if I pray will the Lord save mv soul?" j "ies, when you pray with faith your prayers will be answered. ; "How with faith?" "Why, if you pray, believing at the time that your prayer will be an swered." "But how can I pray . that wav if I uon 1 Knowj 11 I knowed that I could get what I pray for, then I could be- lieve that I would get it and could pray with what uo you call it, pa?" "Faith." "Faith," repeated the child. "If I was to believe that by praying for a goat mat x couia get nim.ana he was to pray, 1 4 -V i ! . would 1 get ;himr "But I want a goat, and if I was to pray I'd have to pray for one. Pa, what makes men groan when they prsy at church?" "They groan as a kind of amen." "Do they ike to groan?" "I don't know." "Do you groan?"' "Sometimes." "Do you like to groan?" xr t "Then what makes you groau? Y'ou don't have to, do you?" "I'hat'Il do now, hush." hush. Go on away now.' I d rather be questioned by a prosecuting attorney." I Detroit t ree Press. On her wedding day an Indiana girl wrote something.sealed it in an envelope and gave it to an intimate friend. "If I am alive six months from now," she said, "give it back to me unopened. If I am dead, read it.i" On the day that the half year expired the bride committed sui cide, and the inclosure was found to be a statement that she expected no joy from the marriage,! but was willing to give it a iriai oeiore ueciamg to tage her own life. , 1 V J IT WT'U KA ' ueJ by capillary attraction. -Tfe A 0 1 1 . . m 1 ..4?,T J " JOU' co . ' it will be necessary to -X 11 oox your ears, sir, 11 you aon't fion a fn tl.o MORSKLS OF GASTRONOMY. Banana pie is now included among the alleged delicacies of the season. It is now the proper thing to see how many fish can be served at one fish dinner. So-called aesthetic youths at the seaside make a breakfast of iced tea, fruits and oatmeal. Sheepshead, pompano, sea bass, red snapper are now the fish in highest favor. Woodcock is now in seaaonr jukI tastes fine enough for any game-lover, whether on toast or not. There were eighteen courses and ten wines at the dinner in Paris to open the ' Hotel de Ville. Now tho epicure rises and says that salt pork ruins any article of food with which it is cooked. Young duck, with apple sauce, would seem to be a favorite course at Newport dinner parties just now. Some of our would-be epicures now have Madeira with tho fish or what they declare is Madeira. Among the good soups of the hour should not be forgotten puree of crab and bisque of crawfish. We used to call them chicken cro quettes, but now on the menu they are styled "croquettes de capon. . . - Artificial mushroom sauce one gets at some hotels and restaurants is a good thing to let severely alone. A niee and seasonable entree at this time is chicken cutlets with freshly picked "field mushrooms." Deviled clams in the shell are a great dish at Coney Island, where some of the cooks know how to prepare it prop erly. Wise people will let veal severely alone, especially iu hot weather. To eat of it in large or small quantities not only means veal but woe. Blackberries are vastly improved and benefited by being covered with craoked ice and powdered sugar for some little time before being served. Consomme stock is the foundation for more than half the soups of different names enumerated on the bill of fare at European plan hotels and restaurants. N. Y. Express. USEFUL RECIPES. To remove, ink stains from printed bjtols procure a pennyworth, of oxalic aCid,Vhich dissolve in a small quantity of warm water; then slightly wet the tain with it, when it will disappear. Ready-Made Glue. A good glue ready for use is made without the application of heat by dissolving the glue in com mon whisky instead of water. Both are put together in a bottle, which is then corked tight and allowed to stand for three or four days. If prepared in this way it will keep for years and always be ready for use, except in extremely cold weather when it will be necessary to set. it in warm water before using. A strong solution of ising'ass made in the same manner is an excellent cement for leather. An Excellent House Plant. Chinese primrose is one of the best blooming ing plants we can get in winter flower both single and double varieties. They require when growing, plenty of moisture at the roots and shaded from the direct rays of the sun. . When wa tering, however, do not allow the water to fall on the leaves, as it is liable to cause them to rot. A soil suitable for this plant is sandy loam and good mix ture of leaf-mold and thoroughly rotted manure. Do not put into too large pots as the soil is apt to sour before the roots pass through it sufficiently to use up the moisture. I A Strong and Handy Cement. One of the strongest cements, and very readily made, is obtained when equal quantities of gutta percha and shellac are melted together and well-stirred. This is best done in an iron capsule placed on a sand . bath, and heated either over a gas furnace or on the top of a stove. It is a combi nation possessing both hardness and toughness, qualities that make it partic- ularlv desirable in mendinc crookerv. When this cement is used the articles to be mended should bo warm d to about the melting point of the mixture, and then retained in proper position until cool, when they are ready for use. Kerosene Stains Upon A Floor. A cor respondent writes from Pilot Mound, Minn., that the breaking of a kerosene lamp has caused a "frightful "spot" upon the floor, and wishes to know how it c&n be removed. Good kerosene has a boil ing point of 880 degrees, considerably above the melting of lard hence iu order t drive it completely from any fabric, from paper or from wood, it must be heated high enough to form a vapor, when, if pure, it may be com pletely removed. Heat may be applied to the floor by using flatirons sufficiently. hof, first placing a piece of paper over the spot. It may be that, after the oil is driven from the surface by heat, the stain will appear; some of the oil remaining in the wood will be brought to the surface In such, a case repeat the opera- stain appears. . 1 Teachers in the public schools of France are very seldom paid more than So a week, and as the exrjense for sala ries is a little over $15,000,000, the Min ister of Publis Instruction refuses to add to this amount and thus increase taxation. . A communication from Mr. W. Thom as, of the Meteorological office, Sicily, ' narrates a curious disturbance of the sea on the morning of July 13. Within half an hour the water ebbed and flowed rap idly about three feet. The "tidoM the second and third time was not aa high as the first. - ; 'an 1 t :1 r 9 . -t r -'.II --- l1"" f'&X-Z