IS ALASKA.
Hoiv tlie Land Looks to an Old Scout
and miner.
San Frinclycr-nne In.
An old pioneer Carfornian writes to
a friend and former mining partner in
th's city, from Granville, Burrard In
let, B. C. It mav- be said, by way of
preface, that the writer has had a most
extraordinary and varied experience.
About the year 1S44, he resided in
one of the then border states of the
west, and was a student of medicine,
and in very poor health suffering
from "consumption,'" the doctors sa:d.
and it was agreed that nothing would
save him bat a trip arross the Rocky
Mountains. He joined a party of trap
pers and came through to Oregon in
that year. Afterwards he drifted down
into Mexico, and was hunting Ai aches
for the state of Chihuahua. He was
on Mexican so 1 when the war com
menced in 1846, and was brought
close to death's door with a severe at
tack of fever. During his sickness he
was 1 1 ken care of by an old Mexican
woman, who managed to keep him
hiuden from the civ.l and mil tary au
thorities till he became convalescent,
when he eluded the officials and maiic
his way to the American lines, convey
ing some mportant information to Gen.
Taylor. He then ent red the spy service
and was kept busy till the close of the
war. often running terrible risks.
In i4S he came through to Califor
nia wilh Co!. Graham's command, an 1
encountered the usual viciss tu.les of a
miner s life in the pioneer days, in the
counties of Calaveras, Tuolumne and
Mariposa. He went north in the lirst
Frnsor river excitement then to
Cariboo. R turning to Cal.fornia. he
jo'ned an expedition and went to Sou h
America, crossing two range of the
Ai.de-, for the purpose of prospect tig
the headwaters of the Amazon. The
enterprise panned out rich in ha r
i:rt; :lth escapes fiom huge serpents,
ev 1 d sposed wild beasts, venomous
insect and mountain torrents but add
ed nothing to the wealth of the party.
He afterwards tried Arizona, failed,
and then turned his attention to the
fro ten- north, oinng the Russian tele
graph expedition as head explorer, and
subsequently engaged in several pros
pecting excursions under difficult and
dangerous circumstances.
l or several years his whereabouts
has net been known to his California
fri nds till the reception of the letter
above ment oned. After a brief ac
count of a logging camp, where lie had
been putting m his time for eighteen
monUiB, he gives a chapter of his pros
pecting and mining experience in Brit
ish Columb'a and Alaska. He went tj
the St ekeen or Cassiar mines in 1874,
whenhemtt with an ace'dent get
ting his right aim dislocated, in conse
quence of wh ch he came to Californa
for repairs afterward returning to
Cassiar. After two or three seasons
-of unsuccessful mining, he took up a
farm near the head of navigation on
the l-tickeen. The land proved pro
ductive, and he had good crops of po
tatoes, cabbages, turnips, oats and
barley. Hay was his principal crop.
About the time he was fairly under
way in his agricultural venture, the
mines fa;led and the packers had to
take the trains out of the country ut
terly ruining the hay market, and as
turnips and potatoes would not sell
for ruonev his three years' labor as a
tiller of the so l went for nothing, ex
cept to add to the sum of what he
knew about farming.
He then went to the Alaska mines at
Harrlsburg, between Sitka and Chil
cot. There were some very fair placer
m nes in this nelgeborhood, along th"
side of a mountain on the mainland
and also on Doiiglass Island, but their
extent was very limited, and they were
all taken up before he reached the
place. He writes that the climate in
that region is "horrible everlasting
rain and snow." It is the worst
place in all Alaska. The mines arc up
Cras tenant Inlet. The great glacers
near the coast condense the clouds as
they come up the inlet, so there is rain
or snow nearly all the time.
On Douglass Island there are some
good paying quartz mines, and a big
mill is now being built there.
In the Basin mines, on the mainland,
there is a great deal of galena united
with the gold in quartz, and some
very beautiful spec. mens have been
found.
The Indians are employed in the
mines and they an good workers.
They are accustomed to the raius and
m nd no more about being wet than
beaver- and niuskrats.
"In their houses," -ays the writer,
"there is a very strong odor some
thing like that of wet dog rather un
pleasant till one gets used to it,"
The Indians al! along the Alaska
coast get plenty to eat; their bill of
fare including herring, salmon, hali
but, codfish, seals and whales. Fine
black tailed deer are very plentiful
along the coast some of them being
marvels cf fatness. In the woods
there is a great abundance and varie
ty of berr.es. The bears get so fat
they "can hardly get about." Moun
tain sheep, marmots, minks, martin,
ermine, weasels, otters, foxes, and all
other fur-bearing animals are plenti
ful. Of the feathered tribe there are
geese, ducks, loons and divers and
other water birds, several varieties of
grouse, eagles, hawks, and jay birds.
In sumnrng up his experience in
that territory, he concludes that Alas
ka is a rough looking country, but is
better than it looks. There is an
abundance of mineral wealth, but it is
a hard country to prospect. The gla
o'ers, the fallen trees, the moss, but,
worse than all, the cold rains, are
enough to discourage the stoutest
prospector. Nevertheless, there are
likely to be many important discover
ies made, now that the civil law is es
tablished in the territory. Sometime
in the near future we may expect from
the writer something of interest regard
ing the interior of Alaska.
cinnamon, and the faintly t;nted blush
rosa. The damask rose, with its leaves
like velvet and its yellow heart, in
variably grows beside them. By and
by, as the season advances, here and
there, in such a garden, blue, white
and pink larkspurs and manv-colored,
tall hollyhocks spr'ng into bloom, and
variegated "f -ur-o clucks" open the r
eyes each dav at the appointed hour.
Verbenas run helter-skelter in this gar
den, the old-time hardy, purple varie
ty never ceasing to bloom till frost
comes, and even after that putting out
dowers. There are great yellow marigold-,
and 1 t.'le brown and gold ones.
There is a bed of "johnny-iump-ups"
in some shady port on of this garden,
bunches of "in c forever, " of pungent
"old-man,"' and thorny sweetbrlar
bush.es. There are single petunias,
heavy with pcifume, growing sturdily
even amoai' the gra-s for the petun a
is a bohemian, and nourishes wher
ever it chances to find itself, rapidly
degenerating from a state of double
pelated. br lliant lined aristocrac," to a
single-leaved, plain, white flower,
without a home. It will lift its hetid
up among the rankest growing nettles
to look the sun in the face. The
earth is carpeted in some places in this
garden with deep-green myrtle.
"Bachelor-buttons" grow whereso
ever they will. On the edge of the
garden the caraway and dill send up
the r stalks. There is a place some
where in the beds for the scarlet flow
ering bran and the morning glory.
Even the wild cucumber-vine is not
scorned, and it twines itself along the
fence.
The fashionable garden of the period
is quite another atiair. It is orderly,
to begin with, above all things. No
stragglers are allowed there. It is
close clipped, arranged on a certain
pattern, looks as ,f it were rolled out
on occas on and taken indoors when it
rained to keep it from getting damp.
It has a ct form, made of perfectly"
gra led hues, and is called the "orien
tal carpet style of , gardening." This
style is sa d to have originated in Eng
land, but it has been universally
adopted througout France and Ger
many, as weil as in this country. The
plants u -ed m;:st largely to produce
the effects desired are geraniums and
those com vised under the head of
"foliage plant-," and small border
growers of various kinds. Lobelia is
utilized for outside borders to a gp-at
extent bec-au e of its brilliant blue
blossom and continual (lowering.
"There is far les- attention given to
the cultivation of flowers in America
than there is in Europe," sa d a Ger
man l'orist. "In Germany, France
and England gardeners are always ex
perimenting to produce different ef
fects in gardening. They give great
att rut on to producing new varieties
of plants. Wealthy people there are
willing to pay large si.ms for rare
flowers. In this country people who
have fine country places think more of
a broad sweep of green lawn than of
the linest flow r beds on earth."
THE SAME OLD STOfiY.
An Educated Chimpanzee.
I was once the owner of a highly
educated chimpanzee. He knew all
the friends of the house: all our ac
quaintances, and distinguished them
readily from strangers. Every one
treating h'm kindlv he was looked up
on as a personal friend. He never felt
more comfortable than when he was
admitted to the family circle and al
lowed to move freely around, and open
and shut doors, while his joy was
boundless when he was assigned a
place at the common table, and the
guests admired his natural wit and
practical ,'okes. He expressed his sat
isfaction and thanks to them by drum
ming furiously on the table. In his
numerous moments of leisure his fa
vorite occii! at'on consisted in investi
gating carefully every obJe-.-t in h s
reach; he lowered the door of the
sto. e for the purpose of watching the
fire, opened drawers, rummaged boxes
and trunks and played with their con
tents, provided the latter did not look
suspicious to him. How easily sus
pic'on was aroused in his mind might
be illustrated by the fact that, as long
as he lived, he shrank with terror from
every common rubber-ball. Obedience
to my orders and attachment to my
person, and to everybody caring for
h.m, were among his cardinal virtues,
and he bored me with h's presistent
wishes to acc-. mpany me. He knew
perfectly h s time for retiring, and was
happy when some of us carried him to
Irs bedroom like a baby. As soon as
the light was put out he would
;nmp into the bed and cover him elf,
because he was afraid of the darkness.
His favorite meal was supper with tea.
which he was very fond of. provided it
was largely sweet eced and mixed with
rum. He sipped it from the cup, and
at i the dipped bread slices with a
spoon, having been taught not to use
the fingers in eating; he poured his
wine from the bottle and drank it from
the glass. A man could hardlv be
have himself more geantlemanlike at
table than did that monkey.
Flower Gardens.
Chtcaro Xew.
The old-fashioned flower garden,
with its beds of Iragrant, straggling
posies, is seen no more except in some
quiet country spot. There can still be
found the tall, sweet-scented syringla,
with its bloss.m like orange flowers,
golden lemon lil.es, delicate lavender
and fawn tinted fieur-de-1 s, the spicy
Hints on Summer Diet.
The Cook.
Milk is a very important summer
diet, but should be used in moderation
or it is liable to pioduee ill elects.
Drink it in small mouthfuls and rest a
moment between them. Dyspeptic
persons are advised to beat the milk a
few moments before drinking. That
treatment breaks the butter globules
and renders digestion easier.
We strongly recommend skimmed
milk and fresh buttermilk as summer
drinks, instead of ice water. The ice
water dyspepsia, a common malady
during the summer months, may be
entirely relieved by using small quan
tit es of freshly-churned buttermilk, ac
companied by what is known as a mod
erated dry diet.
Breakfast should not bo a heavy
meal and hot food should be used in
moderation. Hot tea and coffee liber
ally partaken often prevents one from
feeling comfortable all day. Radishes
ice cold, oatmeal crackers and milk, a
dainty slice of cold lamb, fresh fruit
and cold asparagus, present a break
fast that makes hot weather a luxury.
Oil fever has broken out in Morris
vi le. N. Y., over the d scoVery of pe
troleum oozing from a s' ring a short
distance nor th of the village. Expert
are said to have announced the oil ta
be of fine qual.ty.
Hew Live Stock in Different Paita of the
Country Came Through the "Winter.
The. long, cold winter is at last over,
and farm animals are being turned
into the pastures. We are now re
ceiving reports from the various state
boards and from the national depart
ment of agriculture in regard to the
present condition of farm animals and
the losses sustained by the owners
during the winter. The reports read
like reprints of those of former years.
They show that farm animals are in
the best condition, and that the losses
by death have been the smallest in
those states where the climate is most
severe, and where food suitable for
them is obtained with the greatest
difficulty. The animals are in the
poorest condition, and the losses are
the heaviest in state and territories
where the winters are mild, and where
green forage can be depended on dur
ing most of the year. In all the New
England states the losses of cattle
amounted to less than 2 per cent., but
in Louisiana 8 per cent, of all the cat
tle died. In the southern seaboard
states the loss of cattle during the
winter was from 5 to 7 per cent.
Texas suffered a loss of 345,566 head
of cattle, which amounted to 7 per
cent, of the whole number. Massachu
setts has the best record, the losses
amounting to only 1 J per cent. The
losses were quitesruall in the north
western states.
From several counties in Georgia
very heavy losses are reported. The
followingare the worst cases: Charl
ton count-, 33 per cent. ; Wilcox, 25
to 65 per cent. ; Worth, 20 per cent. ;
Brown, 18 per cent.; Emanuel, 20
per cent. ; Dodge, 15 per cent. ; Col
quitt, 20 per cent., of range cattle. In
many counties the losses range from
10 to 15 per cent., but in a large num
ber they are under the lower of these
rates, while in many there have been
none. In Florida the losses rate is
high, rising in Baker county to 30 per
cent. In Alabama and Mississippi
they appear to be much lower than in
Georgia, but this may be due in part
to the greater care "on the part of
correspondents to discriminate be
tween deaths from exposure and deaths
from starvation, and to report only
the former. In Saint Tammany par
ish, Louisiana, a loss of 50 per cent, is
reported, and a loss of 20 per cent, in
Bienville parish, in the same state. A
correspondent in St. Mary's parish re
ports considerable loss among cattle
ranging in sea marshes. In Texas the
losses among range cattle have in
many cases been very severe, ranging
from" 20 to 40 per cent. In Virginia
the losses rise as high as 10 per cent,
in a number of counties, and in some
they are reported as very heavy, but
without attempting to express them
definitely in figures. In this state,
however, the losses from exposure are
complicated with those arising from in
sufficient food, and the same remark
applies to all the other southern states.
Several correspondents in Virginia ex
press an apprehension of further loss,
or a loss where none had occurred up
to the date of their report, as a result
of increasing scarcity of feed, due to
the backwardness of the spring. In
the Carolinas the loss reaches 10 per
cent, in a few counties. The secretary
of the Kansas board of agriculture in
his last quarterly report says: "There
have been during the fall and winter
heavy losses among cattle. There is
hardly a county in the state that does
not report serious loss from turning
cattle into stalk-fields, where an in
sufficient amount of water and salt
was provided. In the western coun
ties "range cattle" suffered a heavy
loss from exposure and lack of feed,
probably the largest for several years,
owing to the unusual severity of the
winter. Cattle were particularly free
from disease during the pst winter,
the only loss being from bad manage
ment, as above stated. They are in
fair condition, although unusually thin
in flesh, resulting from the severity of
the winter and the lack of sufficient
food and shelter."
In the states where cattle went
thrcugh the winter in good condition,
and where there were few losses, sheep
are reported as inline order. In Massa
chusetts there was a loss of but 4 per
cent., against 14 percent, in Mississip
pi. Texas is credited with a loss of
1,133,769 sheep out of 7,338,461. The
statistician of the department of agri
culture says: "Losses have been heavy
in those states where sheep are pro
vided with no shelter, but permitted
to run at large all winter, subject to
the varying climatic changes. The
winter just closed has been especially
severe, and the lack of good pasturaga
in the fall ill prepared the flocks for
Buch vicissitudes. As a consequence,
and exposure, united with short food,
have caused considerable loss in num
bers and more of condition, especially
noted in Virginia, Georgia, West Vir
ginia, and Kentucky. In New England,
the middle, and western states, where
sheep are housed, there has been but
little loss from cold. "The losses
among hogs have been heaviest in the
states where the largest number of
cattle and sheep have died, and the
same cause is assigned for their death.
The losses of noises and mules that
are attributed to exposure, want of
care, and lack of sufficient food are
comparatively small in any of the
states. As these animals are more
valuable than cattle, sheep and swine,
and as they are constantly required
for work or pleasure, they are furnish
ed with shelter, and supplied with suit
able food, while they receive good, or
at least fair, attention. Shelter is
generally provided for a horse that
draws a plow or wagon, though the
cow that supplies milk for the familv
is constantly exposed to the cold and
3torm. Tne money value of shelter
for animals has yet "to be learned in
many parts of the country. Much has
been written about the advantages of
the "sunny south" for keepingstock
of all kinds. Still it is evident that the
raising of any kind of animals there
will never be very profitable till the
farmers provide better shelter, furnish
a more liberal supply of food to be eat
en during he winter, and give the an
imals better care. Texas may be a
very excellent state in which to raise
sheep, but no flock-master realizes the
profit he should who has his flocks re
reduced to the extent of one-sixth of
the number during every winter.
Economic as well as humanitarian
considerations demand that domesti
cated animals be sheltered during the
winter and provided with an abund
ant of suitable food. Chicago Times.
0PPJSB CANADA.
Industrial Brevities.
Prof. J. W. Sanborn, of the Missou
ri Agricultural college, at Columbia,
appends to the report of one of his in
teresting experiments the following
comment: "This farm, during the hard
season just passed, paid its manager,
and paid every other bill, and gave a
balance of $1,280, although without
the equipment for successful manage
ment. But schools of instruction, to
serve their purpose, should not be ex
pected to be sources of profit in agri
culture more than elsewhere. The re
ceipts of the farm are necessary for
experimentation and illustration, with
out which the work is comparatively
useless."
There are at present in Mexico 87
cotton-mills, with 249,750 spinners and
9,758 looms; there are 10 wollen-mills,
with 9,364 spinners and 369 looms. In
the state of Puebla there are 21 mills,
with 72,000 spinners. Steam-power is
used in 8 mills, water-power in 35
mills, and water and steam in 54 mills.
There are employed 12,728 operators,
of whom over one-third are women
and children. The production of prints
of these mills amounts to about 23,000
pieces, but the entire industry is so
clumsily managed that American and
European makes are being successful
ly marketed.
Orchard grass is a robust grower
and very tenacious of life. It masses
its roots' so as to resist the encroach
ment of other grasses, covering much
of the ground with its large pendent
leaves, that spring out near the base
of the plant, to shade, nourish, and en
rich the soil not occupied by the plant
itself. This, perhaps, accounts large
ly for its ability to endure excessive
drought. It "will produce two large
crops of good hay on rich soil, and
submit to more abuse than any other
forage plant, except blue-grass, which
" r 1 , . 1 , i
is oi mcie vaiue in a very ury season.
An English officer who has seen
service in Egypt states that the food of
the Arabian horse consists of six
pounds of barley, which is given at
sunset. This custom seems to agree
with the animal, and it enables his
owner to carry in a bag food enough
sixty pounds for a ten days' journey
across the desert. The stomach of the
horse is small, and for this reason it is
the custom in agricultural countries to
give him three meals a day. But in
Arabia they make a virtue of necessity.
Fast is broken but once in twenty-four
hours.
The number of fowls kept in France
is said to be 43,858,780; the average
product of chickens reared is estimated
at three to each ben, and the average
product of eggs per hen one hundred
per annum. The estimation in which
a French woman holds her pullets may
be realized by the name she gives
them, which is poulette, and means
not only a pullet, but a darling. Thus
giving her heart to her work, she suc
ceeds in it and makes it profitable.
This is a lesson for our poultry-keepers.
Kerosene is becoming known as a
valuable insecticide. Prof. A. J. Cook
uses this mixture: One pint of kero
sene, one quart of soap, one gallon of
water. The soap and water are heated
to boiling, when the kerosene is added,
and all well stirred. This prevents at
tacks of borers in fruit trees, kills all
lice on plants, ami has been found ef
fective against many insect pests.
With whale-oil soap in the mixture, it
has destroyed the cabbage maggot.
The Cheshire Dairy Farmers' associ
ation (England) is considering a pro
posal to acquire a pasture farm of
two hundred acres, on which to im
part special instruction to the sons and
daughters of farmers. ' The secretary
of the association, who introduced the
scheme, believed it could be made ab
solutely self-supporting, and the pro
posal was very cordially received by
the members.
Mr. W. S. Loomis, of Holyoke,
Mass., recently made a seven days
test of his Jersey cow Louise of Lawn
field, 1451, A. J. C. C. She gave an
average of eighteen and one-halt
quarts of milk per clay, and made four
teen pounds eleven and one-half
ounces of butter from the milk of the
seven days. Mr. Loomis thinks the
cow can make at least sixteen pounds
under more favorable circumstances.
An eastern paper says: We hear of
great losses of bees this winter. The
assessors, at least, can find few that
are strong enough to tax. What busi
ness have assessors to tax bees, any
how? The only bee in the hive, it
there are ten thousand in it, that is
old enough to tax, is the queen, and
nobody knows whether she is alive or
not.
Over a hole from which an apple
tree was dug, and which was after
ward filled with rich earth from the
roadside, a parsnip was grown last
season that reached fully thirty inches
below the surface and was otherwise
large in proportion. For carrots and
parsnips the soil can scarcely be made
too deep, provided ic is fertile all the
way down.
The attempt to interest English
farmers in the production of caraway
seed was not successful, and almost
the entire amount used in the country
is brought from the continent of
Europe.
There is a salt lake in Hidalgo coun
ty, Texas, which is one mile in length,
five miles in circumference, and from
three to four feet deep. Its bed con
sists of crystals of pure salt.
It is the opinion of cattlemen on the
western slope that two-thousand stout
saddle-horses more than are now used
will be required for the cattle business
the present season.
Spring is the best time in which to
move bees, because the honey does
not burden the combs, and there is no
danger of the combs being melted
down by the heat.
A Poland sow recently killed by
Miller Brothers, in Illinois, weighed
alive 520 pounds, and dressed 480,
losing- but a trifle over 8 pounds to the
j hundred.
A Country Which Had Slavery Until 1793
The Days of No Stoves Ihe Old-Fasbion-ed
Fireplace-Baking in the Ashes-Leeks
as Food Popular Belief in
"Witchcraft.
In a former letter, writes a corre
spondent to The Toronto Globe, I brief
ly spoke of slavery as once existing in
Ontario. Many persons who have not
looked into the history of our country
closely have been almost disposed to
doubt my statement. The subject is
so interesting that I will speak more
fully on the point. Great Britain abol
ished slavery in the British West In
dies as late as 1833, and paid 20,000,-
000 for the slaves to their owners. It
is difficult ai this time to tell why our
forefathers in Ontario were so much
in advance of the mother country as
well as the United States, for we" find
that they abolished slavery from Upper
Canada in July, 1793. Of course there
were not many slaves in Upper Canada
at the time; still there were some, but
it seems no compensation was ever
paid to the owners for such slaves.
Just think what a fearful cost of treas
ure and precious lives the United
States were called upon in the late
war to stand, in order to rid their
country of slavery. Had they abolish
ed slavery at the time our forefathers
did, no doubt the great war of the re
bellion would have been averted, and
besides, in 1793, when we abolished
slavery, they could not have had very
many slaves at the most, and even if
they were paid for they would not have
cost anything like so great a sum as
Great Britain paid for her West India
slaves in 1833.
Then I maintain that our forefathers
in Upper Canada in 1793 were far in
advance in public spirit and true phi
lanthropy of our American cousins, for
we do not find that the Americans at
this time made anyT great agitation to
riu their country of the curse of slave
ry. If there were no other fact to be
proud of in our early history or proud
of our country, this act of our fore
fathers is one in which we can justly
take pride and makes us more fervent
ly prize our peerless Upper Canada.
Not wishing to be too elaborate on
this subject, yet I feel that I must in
sert the act abolishing slavery in full.
En July, 1793, the first Parliament of
Upper Canada, at its full session.called
together at INiagara by Lieut. Gov.
John Graves Simcoe, passed an act as
follows:
Chapter 7, Section L Hereafter
no person shall obtain a license for the
importation of any negro or other per
son who shall come or be brought into
this province after the passing of this
act, to be subject to the condition of a
slave; nor shall any voluntary contract
of service be ninding for a longer term
than nine years.
Sec. 2. This clause enables the pres
ent owners of slaves in their posses
sion to retain them or bind out their
children until they attain the age of
21 years.
Sf.c. 3. And in order to prevent the
continuance of slavery in this province
the children that shall be born of
female slaves after the passing
of this act to remain in the service of
the owner of their mother until the
age of 26 years, when they shall be
discharged.
Provided, that in case any issue shall
be born of such children during their
servitude or after, such issue shall be
entitled to ail the rights of free-born
subjects.
By this simple act of our first parlia
ment our country was effectually rid
of this pest without shedding a drop
f blood or the expenditure of a sin
gle dollar in money. All honor to our
forefathers and a thrice for our ban
ner free province. Our forefathers at
this time and long after had no stoves
in their log-houses. All cooking as
well as heating was done by the tire
place. A crane swung on hinges into
this great fireplace, which could be
3wung out from the fire at pleasure.
Attached to this crane was an iron
having notches therein, and fitting
over this pendant iron rod was an
other shorter iron, with a link as of a
chain on the end thereof. This link
fitted into the notches on the lirst men
tioned iron. By this means the lower
iron could be raised or lowered. Now,
bv hanging a pot on the lower end of
the shorter iron rod it could be raised
or lowered into or above the tire at
pleasure. Thus our forefathers did
their first choking in Upper Canada.
The corn cake, or wheaten cake, when
they had it. was baked in the ashes,
and wonderfully sweet old persons
thought it. The fact that it was cov
ered with some loose ashes did not de
tract from its sweetness; these were
soon brushed away, leaving the tooth
some cake within.
The first improvement in the culin
ary art of our forefathers came the
bake-oven. These were tin trays, as
it were, open on one side. They
would be set before the fireplace, with
the open side fronting the fire. Thus
the fays of heat would be collected,"
and in a measure confined within the
oven, and the bred or cake3 within
were soon nicely browned and baked.
It was considered an immense stride
by our forefathers when they got these
bake-ovens, and for years they did not
aspire to anything better.
Ovens out of doors were built by
some of stone. Such were conical in
1 shape and open in the center. An
: immense fire would be built in this
i outdoor oven and. when burnt to leal
: live coals, would be all drawn out. Its
! stones would thus be thoroughly heat
j cd. Into the cavity in which the fire
! had been the bread "would be inserted
; and the door stopped up. Enough la
i tent heat would remain in the stones
to thoroughly bake at least two batch
i es of bread. But this was done at a
! fearful waste of wood, which, of
course, was 03 no account at that time.
; The advent of stoves changed all that,
: and now a fireplace of wood in an On
' tario home is more a luxury than a
necessity, and but few are to be found.
Wild leeks were then used as an ar
ticle of food. As soon as the snows
disappeared in the spring they would
be found in abundance in the forests.
I and were gathered as the first spring
vegetable, ineir unsavory smell, or
: that imparted to the breath of the
! eater thereof, seemed to be no bar to
i their use. When all partook of the
I leek not one could detect the odor
from the other. Likewise the cowslip
a little later in the season, which grew
in shallow ponds, furnished a diet of
greens to our forefathers. To show
how difficult it was at this early day
for the poor settlers to obtain money,
I will relate an anecdote of about 1807.
Levi Annis, whom I spoke of in a for
mer letter, was living at this time with
his father in the county of Durham.
During the summer and fall of 1806
fhey had chopped and burned a fallow
of thirty-one acres, which they had
sowed to fall wheat. As a preparation
for sowing the land was not plowed
at all, but was loose and leafy and
ashy from the burning. The wheat
was sown broadcast by hand among the
stumps. It was covered by hitching a
yoke of oxen to the butt end of a small
tree, with the branches left hanging
thereto. The oxen drew this to and fro
over the fallow among the stumps and
thus covered the wheat. This was
called bushing in and was the first har
row used by our forefathers among the
stumps. However, the fallow upon
which the wheat was so bushed in pro
duced as fine a crop of fall wheat as
ever grew, falling not much below
thirty bushels per acre. Now this
wheat could be exchanged for store
goods at will, but not for money. Levi
Annis, however, took the first load of
it to Bowmanville, and was told by his
father that he must get $5 50 on ac
count of the whole crop to pay his
taxes, for he must have the money to
pay his taxes, but the rest he would
take store pay for. The merchant
with whom he dealt actually refused
to advance the So 50, saying he could
get all the wheat he wanted for goods.
The young man had to drive to an
other merchant and state his deplor
able case to him and his urgent need
of $5 50, and that if he would advance
him the money he should have the
whole crop of thirty-one acres.
Finally, the second merchant took pity
upon the young man in his dilemma
and advanced the money. Thus
it was with the utmost difficulty
that he could get $5 50 in cash
out of the thirty-one acres of wheat.
This shows us to-day how difficult it
was for our forefathers to get money.
Since the early American colonists
burnt witches at Salem, their descend
ants, who came to upper Canada as U.
E. loyalists, brought the belief of
witchcraft . with them, and many of
them who came here about 1800 and
before really did believe in witches.
I have heard my forefathers relate a
witch story in all seriousness which I
think worth repeating, as showing to
us that the New England people who
burned witches were really sincere in
the belief. About 1800 a settler in the
spring of the year did not enjoy very
good health. Nothing serious seemed
to be the matter with him, only a gen
eral want of inertia or a general seed
mess. There was no medical man to
consult, so he did the next best thing
by consulting his nearest neighbor.
The neighbor upon being tola his syin
toms, at once pronounced him be
witched. An old woman in the local
ity was at once picked out as the be
witcher. Now for the remedy to break
the spell of the witchery. A ball must
be made of silver, and they melted a
silver coin and made a rifle ball of it.
An image of dough must be made to
as closely resemble the supposed witch
as possible, and it was made. Just as
the sun rose the bewitched must fire at
it with his rifle and the silver ball, and
the dough image was set upon a top
rail of the fence, and as the sun rose
he fired and just grazed the shoulder
of the dough image. In about an
hour the old witch came to the house
in great haste, and wanted to borrow
some article. Were they to lend her
the article desired the spell would
come on again, but refusing, the spell
was broken; of course, like sensible
men, they did not lend the article.
Even they went on to say further that
the witch was hit and wounded slight
ly on the shoulder, where the dough
image was struck by the silver ball..
However, be that as it may, they
asserted that the sick man speedily
got well, and was never again be
witched by the witch in question, nor
any other." Of the efficacy of the uner
ring aim of the silver ball I do not
vouch, but 1 do vouch for the real bona
fide belief of the old narrators of the
whole tale.
Muscles and Brains.
One of the strongest arguments that
can be brought to bear against the
present ascendancy of the athletics in
our colleges is their damaging effect
upon the studies of the men making
up the teams. In the college offices
the other day the register kindly
showed the records of the university
base-ball nines of 1881 to 1884, in
clusive. The nine of '81 had an aver
age rank of 76 in a class of 100. The
nme of '82 averaged 53. The nine of
'83 averaged 52, while the nine of '84
averaged 54. With the exception of
'81, each nine contained two or three
men of high standing, whose record
showed that a man can study and play
ball as well. Each nine showed also
two or three men standing in the mid
dle of the class. Finally each nine
contained several professional ball
players with whom every examination
must have beenin the nature of a lotte
ry. Upon the whole,however,the figures
were higher than we expected, and
were encouraging to one who believes
that running bases does not uufit a
man for intellectual work. One of the
first duties of a captain is to look after
the college standing of the men under
his charge. A f ew teams in good stand
ing will silence the critics of college
athletics. Princetonian.
The Richest Cabinet Lady.
The richest lady in Washington
now probably is Mrs". Whitney, whose
husband is Secretary of the Navy, and
whose father is the millionaire Sena
tor Payne, of Ohio. It is said one of
her brothers cave her a cool million
within a vear or two, and as a trifling
Christmas gift gave her a $10,000
ornament of rubies. The diamonds
she wore at her first Wednesday re
ception in Washington were very
large and brilliant. Her earrings of
solitaire diamonds and the three soli
taires which were set in a bar breast
pin are unusually largo and pure.
Washington Letter.