THE COLUMBIAN.
Published Every Friday,
at
ST. HELENS, COLUMBIA CO., OR..
BY
Published Eveky Fhipat,
AT
ST. HELENS, COLUMBIA CO., Oil.,
BY
E. G. ADAMS, Editor and Proprietor.
E. 0. ADAMS, Editor and Proprietor
SlTHSCRIFTION BATES :
Advertising Rates :
One year, in advance $2 00
oix monlns,
Titwmontkfs. "
VOL. V.
ST. HELENS, COLUMBIA COUNTY, OREGON, JANUARY 16, 1885.
IN KJ, Z't, I Eadsubsequeot insertion 100
THE COLUMBIAN.
COLUMBIAN
RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATIONAL.
Texas has tin greatest school fund
ul any
State in the Lnion. .
The increasing number of Jewish
undergraduate; is much remarked at
Oxford.
The Swedish Church has recently
adopted the lie vised Version of the
Scriptures.
The School law is to be enforced in
such a manner in Gridley, Cal.. as to
make boys attend school or leae
the town.
The First Congregational Church
of Kansas City, located on the corner
of Eleventh ami McGee streets, was
indicated recently. The edifice is of
stone, and cost .k,000.
Dakota has eightv-four organized
counties already. A common school
system has be .'n "organized in sixty-five
of them, and two-thirds of the children
of the Territory are enrolled.
There are few better arguments for
industrial education that the fact that
there are only seven mechanics among
the 1,014 prisoners in the Eastern Pen
itentiary. J'tifmief-j'iin Times.
The growth of the organization
known as the Young Men's Christian
Association, during the last eighteen
years, has been remarkable not only as
to membership, but as to the results ac
complished. Pu rl i ng to n 11a wkcye.
Sixty Harvard freshmen have
dropped their Latin, eighty their Creek,
and one hundred their mathematics.
None of them have dropped their base
ball or their boating, however, and col
lege culture is still safe. A". Y. Sun.
There is this difference between
happiness and wisdom: that he that
thinks himself the happiest man really
is so; but he that thinks himself the
wi-est is generally the greatest fool.
Cotton
Work on the walls of the Mormon
Temple, in Salt Lake City, has su
lentled for the winter. lhe mam
structure is up to the square, but the
c entral spires have yet to be reured a
distance of ninety feet. Chicago Inter
Oct an.
llolv Trinitv Church, Stratforn-on
Avon, in the chancel of which the bones
of Shakespeare lie, is to be restored at a
cost of ;tjo,0'X). lhe restorations in
clude the opening of the north and
south transepts and the removal of the
gailer.es in the nave.
The first General Conference of the
Methodist Episcopal Church in the
United States met in Baltimore Decern
ber '21. 1817. When Francis Asburv
was ordained Bishop the church had
eighty ministers and 15,000 members.
The Centennial Conference, which met
m Ja!t:inore recentlv, represented a
church with 25,000 ministers anT 3, yo0,
iU0 communicants. Methodism has
done a great work in the century pat.
What will it do in the century to c
Chicago Inter O'-can'
omer
WIT AND WISDOM.
-Man is man's greatest stud v. and
how to get ahead of him his most per
sistent. Uoston hlobe.
.1 . .11 wv,. ... -
asks: -Why do the leaves fall slowly
to the ground?" Laws of gravity.
dear, that's all. Boston Post.
Mary's Little Jam.
Mary had'a little jam
Twelve tumblers In a row;
And evervbere that Mary went
Her kev wus sure to go.
She left it in the lock one duy.
Which made her brother laugh;
He culled his chum, they sctoped the Jam,
And shared it half and half.
Money doesn't always make the
mare go. Fat man (who is in some
thing of a hurry) "1 11 give you five
dollars to get me to the station in three
minutes." Cabman (with provoking
slowness): "Well, sorr, you might
corrupt me, but you can t bribe that
horse. Harvard Lampoon.
-Look here,' said Uppcrcea, the
chorister, as the grocer was weighing
out his sugar, "those things of yours
weigh light.' "Mr. Uppercea." repli
ed old llvson, severely, "I'm like your
self: I run the scales to suit m v. self,'
and the congregation has to stand it."
And the chorister pulled out all his
stops at once. Brooklyn Eagle.
Young wife "Why, Charley, what
have you gone and bought a dog for?"
Young husband "Ah um. my dear,
you know we can't eat everything that
comes on the table; no family can."
Young wife "O Charlie crying, I
knew you wouldn't like my cooking. O
dear. de:ir!" Young husband "There,
there! don't cry. 1 11 sell the dog."
Burlington Free Iress..
Smith purchased a "muley" cow
and drove her home yesterday evening.
The animal was a curiosity to his chil
dren. "Oh, what a tow!" exclaimed
little three-year old; "it dot no horns."
"Papa has 'em," said live-year-old.
"Why don't 'e put 'em on 'e tow?" "I
don't know. 1 heard him say he had
swallowed a couple of horns afore
breakfast, and I guess they are inside of
him now. Mamma told him he would
swaller the cow afore six weeks."
Newman Independent.
Not long since a New Hampshire
committeeman was examining an infant
school class. "Can any little girl or
boy give the definition of the word
average? ' he a-ked. For some time
no one replied, but linally a little girl
hesitating- eplied: "if is a thing a
hen lays an egg on, sir." -No, that's
not right." "Yes, sir, my book says
so;" and she trotted up fo her ques
tioner and pointed to this sentence in
her reading book: "A hen lays an egg
every day on an average."' Every
Other Saturday. t
" m
Why He Felt Easy.
"I'm afraid of these coachmen," re
marked one old gentleman to 'another
in a Broadway stage.
"How so?" ,
'They are always running off with
one's daughter, and all that sort of
thing. Ain't you afraid?'
"Not particularly."
"How do you manage it Do you
hire a married man?"
"No."
"Do you hire a companion to watch
your daughter'''
"No. I don't think there is any dan
ger in my case."
Oh! I nee; you have no coach
man." "No. No daughter. "Drake's Traxh
cUr's Magazine. -
AN OLC-TIME CHRISTMAS.
The I'Vast iiitj. ameit and Pastime
of
Three 1 fund red Years Ago. J
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centu
ries this whole season was given up to
revels and jollity, in which eating and
drinking had a promineut part. In
London in the Iifteenth century the first
duty of the Lord Mayor and corpora
tion was to dine, andtheugo, as soberly
as might be, to the Church of St. Thomas
Aeon, and sit through the whole service.
On other festival days and Sundays
they had a habit of skipping out after
the prayers were under way, but on
Christmas they were bound to set an
example of perseverance. Service over,
their worships rode on horseback, by
torch-light, through v the jnarket of
Chepe and back to the church, where,
being in a liberal frame of mind on ac
count of the day and the good dinner,
they made a money offering to the
church. Each man contributed the
magnificent sum of one penny to its
treasury! This duty done, they re
turned to their own houses, and made
more.or less a night of it. after the im
memorial manner of good city fathers,
in private, the custom not hav
ing yet arisen ot niamlesting
happiness by "painting the . town
red." We read a good deal about
the excess of the Christmas dinners.
Sir John Keresby in his memoirs makes
a penitential note of a dinner at Thjr
berg in 10X1: "The Earl of Huntington,
mv Lord Ellend, and some others dined
with me, when we ended the vear in
more than an ordinary debauch: which,
God forgive me! it being neither mv
custom nor inclination much to do so'
The next year there was at table a "Mr.
Bolton, an ingenious clergyman, but too
! much a good fellow." The good fellows
liked lhyrberg; during the holidays as
many as forescore gentlemen and yeo
men, with their wives, dined daily at
the hall.
Christmas was always a democratic
festival: all classes mingled in the games
and merriment, and hospitality was
universal. An English gentleman in
the country, on Christmas Dav in the
morning, had all his tenants and neigh
bors enter the hall by daybreak. The
strong beer was broached, and the
black-jacks went plentifully round,
with toast, sugar, nutmeg, ami good
Cheshire cheese. The great sausage
(the Hackin) must be boiled at day
break, and if it failed to be ready, two
young men must take the maiden (i. e..
the cook) by the anrrand run her round
the market-place till she was ashamed
of her laziness. The maids had.
however, some privileges of
retort. In some places in Oxfordshire
it was the custom for the maid-servant
to ask the man for ivy to dress the
house, and if the man refused or neg
lected to fetch t'ui iy, the .maid stole a
pair of his breeches and nailed them up
to the gate in the garden or highway.
During the festival days the tables were
perpetually spread; the sirloin of beef,
the minced-pie, the plum-porridge, tur
keys, geese and plum-puddings, were
all brought upou the board at once, and
every one ate heartily and was wel
come, so that the proverb originated of
"'Tis merry in hall when lieards wag
all." The geutlemen went to early serv
ice in the church, and returned to
breakfast on brawn and mustard and
malmsey. Brawn was a dish of great
antiquity. It was made from the flesh
of large boars which lived in a half-wild-state,
and when put to fatten were
strapped and belted tight round the
carcass, in order to make the flesh be
come dense and brawny. It came to
market in rolls two feet long by ten
inches in diameter, packed in wicker
baskets. At dinner the first course
served was the boar's head, on a silver
platter, adorned with bays and rose
mary, carried into the hall with much
state, preceded by the Master of Revels,
and followed by choristers and min
strels singing and playing compositions
in its honor. A stanza of a common
carol sung was this:
"Then sett downe the swincyurd,
The foe to the vineyard,
Lett liacchus crown hi fall:
Lett this boaro' head and mustard
Stand for pijrjf. jroose and custard.
And so j'ou are welcome all."
Another dish, common to Shakes
peare's day, which added at least to the
show of the feast, was the "stately pye."
that is, a peacock or pheasant pie. In
the days of chivalry the knights took
their vows at a solemn feast, on presen
tation of a roasted peacock in a golden
dish. This custom was kept up at
Christmas by the bringing in on the
most magnificent dish the house could
afford, of a peacock in a pie, preserving
as much as possible the form of the
bird, with the head elevated above the
crust, the beak richly gut, and the
beautiful tail spread out to its full ex
tent. It was from this superb dish that
the oath came, "By cock and pye, sir."
At the supper two servants attended,
bearing fair torches of wax next before
the musicians and the trumpeters, and
they stood above the lire (the lire of sea
coal being originally in the midde of
the room) with the musicians till the
first course was served, when they re
tired, with the music, to the buttery.
After supper, as well as before, there
were revels and dancing during the
twelve days of Christmas, and games in
which all classes joined. Uneot the fa
vorite games was known as snapdragon.
Brandy was set on fire and raisins
thrown into it. The diversion consisted
of adventures to pluck out the raisins.
The Master of the Revels sang a song or
carol, in which the gentlemen took part
at his command.
The requisites' for good Christmas
fare were plenty of good drink, a blaz
ing fire in fhe hall, brawn, pudding and
souse, and mustard with all (mustard
is your great provoker of a noble thirst),
beef, mutton and pork, shred or mince
pies of the best, pig, veal, goose, capon,
turkey, cheese, apples and nuts, with
jolly carols. When the company tired
of games and romping sports, it garn
ered about the ruddy fire, and had tales
of legendary lore, adventures of knights
and ladies and friars, of strange appari
tions and ghosts, of coaches on lonely
moors drawn by a team of headless
horses driven by a headless coachman,
with graveyard passengers, of wonder
ful portents in nature, stories of true
love wrapped in mystery and ending in
grief, and all sorts of ghostly reminis
cences, which seemed as real as the
dancing shadows which the light of the
x ule-loc cast upon the duskv timbers of
the blill. Such laics, wc read, forinet
principal par! of the rural conversation
at all such assemblies as this at Christ
mas-time. (liartis nift'en nar.ur.in
Harper's Magazine.
TWO STORIES AMD A MORAL.
Something f.r Fathers :usd Mjllieri to
Think Over Sad ll:;jenin Which
are of Too 'otiin n Occurrence.
A girl lies bedridden in Brooklyn and
a bov has recentlv broken down 'in New
York whose cases are sadly suggestive
The girl was the pi ide of her parents,
and their glory in her class .success in
the "Teat school for girls which she at
tended prompted her to overwork. H
application to study did not seem execs
sive. She worked onlv a little harden
than is common, so far as such work
can be measured bv the time devote
to it, and she took time enough for
sleep. Yet she was eager ami anxious
and somewhat fearful of being excelled
in her class; and so, without knowing
that she did so, she made heavier de
mands upon her strength than she was
able to meet with safety.
Examination dav came, and she con
quered. Then she threw herself down
upon a sofa to sleep, and fell into a state
of coma from which it was impossible
to rouse her for nearly a week. From
that day now about three years gone
to this, she has been unable to rise
from her couch. The girl is a wreck;
her intellect is shattered, and everv
hour of her life is a torture to her.
The boy was a bright fellow, not over
ambitious on his own account, but lov
ingly ambitious to gratify his father's
pride in him. In all his studies but one
he had plain sailing enough, but in that
one Latin he encountered unusual
difficulty because of some peculiar w ant
of adaptation to the study of languages.,
He failed in an examination, and his
father foolishly manifested a good deal
of mortification over the occurrence.
The poor boy was resolute in his deier
mination to spare his father a second
humiliation of the kind, and so he drove
himself unmercifully in his s'udy. Night
atter night he arose lrom ins bed a
soon as the house was still, and secretly
worked at his Latin until near the gray
of the morning; Nobony knew of thi
excess, and the father v. ould have for
bidden it had he known. But presently
the collapse came. The boy's nervous
system gave wav under the strain, and
it is now a serious quesfon whether his
restoration even to tolerable health will-
ever be effected by the rest and outdoor
life ordered for him as the last small
hope of saving him.
These are but sample cases. There
are hundreds of others like them, and
there are thousands of instances in!
which no such collapse comes, but Lnj
which grave injury is nevertheless done
to mind or body or both. Bright boys
and girls are eduf?'rd. into dull men
and women; healthy bo-s and girls are
converted by educational processes into
nervous, queurlous hypochondriacs, or
are trained into incipient consumption
or heart disease, or other insidious mal
ady that spoils as well as shortens their
lives.
Is it not worth while to ask ourselves
seriously whether, in our "high pres
sure system of education, the pressure
is not dangerously high? Do not the
emulations of the school-room, the in-'
fluence of teachers, and the senseless
rivalries created by the marking and ex-,
amination sstems, afford quite all the
stimulus that can be safely put upon
childhood? And, above all, do we not
mislead children to their hurt by
placing, or seeming to place, a higher
value upon school success than such
success actually has? Suppose a
bov stands rather low in his
class, what then? Does it followl
that he is lacking in capacity, or even
that he has any constitutional and per-
manent lack oi industry r Mirely no
body who has been at pains to observe
the facts of life can hold such an
opinion. At the end of our late war, a:
young man was graduated at the top of,
his class, at est J'oint, ami a friend
ft. 1 tt' II a
said to mm: -well, a.., your career is,
secure, of course." "I am not so sure
of that," was the reply; "I have gradu
ated at the top of my class, it is true,!
but there is ("rant, you know, who grad
uated at the bottom of his, and he isn't!
quite a failure in life."
Moreover, and apart from all this, thei
fact remains that, some minds mature
more slowly than others, and some ac
quire much more slowly, while aequir-1
ing wiin aumiraoie certainty, and assim
ilating knowledge most profitably.
These miss examinations frequently.
and are not the worse, but the better fori
missing them, because there is profit
for such minds in going twice over
given ground. In any case a failure in
examination is not disgraceful, and it is
fake and hurtful for parents and teach
ers to treat it as if it were in some wav
shameful. That way disaster lies. N.
Y. Commercial Advertiser.
HE WOULDN'T SPEAK.
A You Hi oa Whom the Young Ladle at a
Dime Supper Wasted Their Labor.
They had a dime supper in the neigh-
borliood of Pawtucket, conceived and
carried out by the ladies. The condi
tions of this novel supper were these
For every word spoken by the gentle
men at the supper-table a forfeit of ten
cents was imposed; but, on the other
hand (as duties are always compensated
wiin rights and restrictions with priv
ileges,) it was agreed that whoever'
could weather the whole supper, sub-
muting to all queries, surprises and
ingenious questions without replying,
should be entitled to it gratuitously.
Many and frequent were the artifices
and subterfuges resorted to by the ladies
in attendance to entrap the unguarded,
and one after another stout amf discreet
men went down before the constant
volley of artful interrogations. At last
all fell out and paid the dime penalty
save one individual, a queer chap whom
nobody seemed to know. He attended
strictly to business, and passed unheeded
the jokes, gibes and challenges. They
quizzed him, but all m vain. He
wrestled with turkey and grappled with
the goose. He bailed out the cranberry
sauce with an unswerving hand, and he
ate celery as the scriptural vegetarian
ate grasses; and, linally, when he had
finished his fifth piece of pie, he whipped
out a pocket-slate and wrote oa it in a
large and legible hand: "I am deaf
and dumb." Providence Journal.
SPHERICAL SOAP.
Mr. Thlmblejlg'a Unpleasant Experience
With a Cake of that Variety.
Old Mr. WagstaffThimblejigsays the
toilet soap that comes in balls instead
of in cakes is an abomination and an
evil that should be suppressed by law
One day last week Mr. Thimblejig was
standing in the bath-room by the open
window washing his hands with one of
these spherical specimens of transpar
ent soap.
He couldn't get any lather out of it to
save his life by rubbing it on his hands;
he was either obliged to get a lather by
first rubbing it on his hair, or by hold
ing it pretty tightly in one hand and
turning it swiftly around with the other,
as a pitcher manipulates a base-ball be
fore delivery to get the proper twist
on it.
As he was turning it around for about
the fiftieth time, it slipped swiftly from
his hand, llew up to the ceiling, and
came back, taking Mr. Thimblejig on
the nose, and then scudding out through
the window.
Before it could touch the ground it
came in contact with the dog that was
asleep in the pafth, and drew a 3Telp out
of him that could be heard after the dog
was out of sight. From the g's head
it flew against a clothes-pole, and thence
up in the air, taking the silk hat ott
painter. Then down it came crashing
toward young Thimblejig, who couldn't
understand what it meant. He had
base-ball bat in his hand, and with that
he let the soap-ball have it as hard as he
could. He sent the ball flying on a line
toward the kitchen door. Before it got
there, however, Mr. Wagstaff Thimble
jig came bounding through the aperture
to get the soap. He got it, too got it
right etween the eyes. lhe ii
was very affecting. As soon as Mr.
Thimblejig could regain his feet, he
started up-stairs to wash the blood and
dust off his face. That soap never
him in such a lather before.
got
By this time the dog wa3 a mile off,
increasing his speed. And the further
ho got from the house, the more dis
tinctly you could hear him. If he could
sign his name to all he was barking, it
would not be a very complimentary ad
vertisement for that soap.
Meantime that soap, after rebounding
from Mr. Thimblejig s nose, had taken
the liberty of lamming the milkman s
horse n the head, ami the poor animal
ran away, and upset the cans as he
went along, thus watering, or milking,
the hot, dusty road.
lhe soap was almost master of the
situation. The cook had fled to the
cellar. Young Thimblejig came out
attired in a base-ball catcher's mask,
a fencing-jacket and a tennis-racket.
But before he could get on his guard, or
rather before he could locate the soap,
it came suddenly around the corner of
the house, took him on the back of the
head, and grassed him like a shot.
As it sped on its course, a nice inno
cent dog next door saw it coming. He
was a sort of trick dog, and ho thought
he would catch it, being under the im
pression that it was hurled for him to
fetch. But, instead, it fetched fetched
him right in the mouth, and a few hours
later, when he was down at the village
being measured for a set of false
teeth, he concluded that the next time
he ran to get a ball he would run after
it, and pick it up after it stopped. But
right oft the dog s jaw it bounced straight
back toward the window, where JUr.
Thimblejig was washing the gore off his
face, and flying through the aperture.
landed square in his hands, and ho went
on washing his hands with it as though
nothing had happened.
After he was through, however, he se
cured every spherical cake of soap in the
house, and flattened them out with a
hammer to make them harmless. And
he vows that ii his wife brings any more
of them in the house, he will try to se
cure an absolute divorce from her. if.
K. Munkittrick, in Puck.
FOR HOUSEHOLD USE,
Some Chemicals Which Should Find a Com
mon Use In Every Family.
It is surprising, considering how
many women have been instructed in
chemistry in their school days, to find
how few housekeepers make any use of
chemicals in various household processes.
Especially is this the case in cleansing
processes. The washing of clothes is
usually wholly accomplished by rubbing
the clothes on the washboard, and with
no other detergent than soap. The
rubbing of the clothes wears them out
far more than use, and if housekeepers
only knew, or if knowing they would
take advantage of the fact, that many
washing compounds will almost entire
ly cleanse clothes which are soaked in
them over night, and thus almost en
tirely do away with the labor and wear
of the washboard, wash-day might
be robbed of half its terrors.
Ponoinf j frw wocliinof flu", Is. fhn nrin-
cipal ingredients of which are soda-ash,
ammonia and lime, can be found in
nearly every household receipt-book,
and are very cheap and harmless. All
such washing compounds aie useful and
convenient for cleaning woodwork,
paints and carpets in a house; also in
washing dishes and securing that desid
eratum of housekeepers, clean dish
cloths. Ammonia is a simple, cheap
and harmless chemical that should be
bought by the quart and kept in every
family. A few drops added to water
will cleanse children s hair ana mane it
soft and sweet: it is an admirable dis
infectant to remove the odor of perspir
ation; it will remove grease spots from
clothing and often restore colors to
stains. Its common and frequent use
can not be too frequently urged.
Borax is another chemical that should
find a common use in every family. For
cleansing the teeth and sweetening the
breath a few grains of the powder in
water are unexcelled. It also softens
and whitens flannels.
Salicylic acid is a perfectly odorless
and harmless yet powerful disinfectant,
and for many disinfecting uses in tho
lousehold is invaluable. It is very cheap
and convenient inform. In these days.
when to stay various forms of disease is
so important, mothers ana nouseKeepers
would do well to give study and thought
to these things, and to try to make their
Knowledge of science practical, ac is
very encouraging to note now many
women are at present turning their at
tention to studies in general and applied
science. Let us have its benents exem
plified in the household. Mrs. II. Mc-
Earle, in Weekly Magazine.
FIGURES ON FENCING.
A Vast Expense That Must Disappear In
the Near Future.
fences are neither of ancient nor
modern origin. They are the result of
a transition from nomadic life to a per
manent occupation of limited tracts, the
peaceable possession of which was se
cured by fencing out all outside stock.
and must disappear with the state of
civilization which brought them into
existence. As civilization advances and
the human race increases, and the lam;
becomes more thickly inhabited and
valuable, cultivation mast increase am
grazing decrease till the occasion for
fences will, by slow degrees, pass awav
Fences have already disappeared from
continental Europe, at least in all the
most densely populated parts. A trav
eler as seldom sees a iarm lenced'in
Europe as he sees one here unfenced,
The advancement of agriculture in the
eastern part of the United States is
rapidly leading to a condition which
calls for less and less fencing. The
tendency, even with dairymen, is
strongly toward grazing less and stall
feeding more. They find it more profit
able to contract their pastures and sup
port their herds more on cultivated
crops because so much more food can
be produced by cultivating than by
grazing a given surface. They not only
reduce fences by diminishing the size of
their pastures, but they are fast doing
awav with inside fences, and throwing
all their grazing fields into one lot. In
the best dairy districts of New York
State single pastures are quite general
and are believed to be best. Their
adoption is one step toward a reduction
of fencing.
Another step in the same direction
might well be made in abolishing fences
along highways, which are built for the
most part not for the convenience of the
land-owner, but to fence intruders out.
and in all snowy regions at least, had
better be out of the way than remain
Fencing the highways involves an ex
pense the magnitude of which few will
appreciate unless they take some pains
to hgure it out, and the same is true
with respect to farm fences. The high
price of fencing material and labor make
the cost of fence about one dollar per
rod, whether of boards and posts or
rails and stakes. At this rate a man
who has a mile of road -fence to huild
must invest $o'2Q in labor and material.
and be subjm-t to an annual tax of ten
per cent, of its cost for annual repair.
which together impose upon him a
a yearly tax of $ol.'20, reckoning inter
est at six per cent,, a pretly severe tax
to pay for a nu:sance, and one which.
if applied to the roads oi the whole
State, becomes surprisingly large. Re
tracing the lines on any i of the later
State maps which lav down the roads in
detail, it appears tlfere are about G5,000
miles of road in the State, requiring
loO.OUO miles of fence to fence them, in
volving an investment of SlLGOO.lXK)
for building, and an annual tax for in
terest and repairs of $4,6.0,OOO.
The farms of the State, tho census
shows, average about UK), acres each.
and are supposed to be fenced into ten
acre lots. This would require eight
roils of fence to the acre, and at the
above rate of cost would require annual
ly for interest of outlay and repairs, $1. 28
per acre or 128 for a 100-acre farm,
and for the lG.OOU.OOO acres of improved
land in the State, would make an an
nual expense for interest and repair of
fences of .20,4S0,000, to say nothing
about the 10,000,000 acres of woodlands
and other lands included in the farms.
If the fences along the highway are
counted with the'rest it would probably
, i
uc saie to say mat one-nan uie ienccs m
the State are continued from the force
of habit rather than from economy,
making a leak from the pockets of New
York farmers of some $10,000,000 a
year, besides the waste of ground the
fences occupy, which is no inconsiderable
item. The waste of land will vary with
the style of fence. The average is a
strip of land one-fourth of a rod wide,
making for a 100-acre farm having 800
rods of fence, a waste of 200 square
rods, or IV acres, and for the State,
200,001) acres, which, at $40 an acre,
make an investment in land occupied by
fences of $8.000, 000. Look at it as we
will, fencing is an expensive luxury, and
a little thought bestowed upon the sub
ject must make it apparent to every re
flecting farmer that the most important
question in regard to fencing is how to
get along with the least of it.
If fences must be built it pays to make
good ones, and withal as cheap as pos
sible. A poor fence, like a broken beam.
is a deception ami a snare, having the
appearance ot protection but without
any. 1 here is no single kind of fence
which would be best everywhere. Tho
6tyle to be preferred must depend on
ocality, and the materials that can be
made available. Where rails of lasting
timber are within reach j they are the
cheapest and best, but they are not to
be had everywhere. In other localities
posts and boards are the best that can
be used, and failing of these, posts and
wire must be resorted to. However, the
real question as already said is not so
much how fence can best be made as
how one can best get along without it.
'ences, as shown above, are expensive
convenience to be avoided wherever this
is possible. Some fence, farmers who
iuep stock think they must have, but it
s wise to reduce the necessity for it to
the smallest possible amount, especially
jcrmanent fences which become a nui
sance by being rigidly in the way, and
a fruitful resort for propagating all sorts
of trees and bushes, and foul weeds to
grow and ripen their seeds to scatter
over the adiacent fields.; uy having
fences movable so that their site may
be cultivated occasionally, such un
sightly and contaminating accumula
tions may be wiped away. Prof. L. If.
imold, in A. J. Iribune.
An interesting conversation oc
curred on Saturday between a drunken
countryman and one of Dave Silver's
dummies, m which countryman did all
the talking. The fellow tolil the dummy
good morning, and as it made no reply
the drunken fellow became insulted and
rolled up his sleeves for fight, shook
us fist in its face, and said: "1 ain t
nfraid of anything that hits the grit, and
if you want anything outen me you can
git it." As the dummy; didn t want
anything the fellow walked oft', saying:
You can t bluff me with your town
clothes on. I am a'sumpthin' myself.
Hancock (Oa.) Bulletin.
CHEWING GUM.
The Complicated Process Indulged In by
I lie People of Patagonia.
lo lit it for use the natives make it
into pellets, then hold it on the point of
a stick over a basin of cold water; a
coal of fire is "then ajproaehed to it,
causing it to melt and trickle down by
drops into the basin. The drops, hard
ened by the process, are then kneaded
with the fingers, cold water being ad
ded occasionally, till the gum becomes
thick and opaque like putty. Tochtw
it properly requires a great deal of
practice, and when this indigenous art
has been acquired a small ball of
maken may be kept in the mouth two
or three hours every day, and used for
a week or longer without losing its
agreeable resinous tiavoi- or diminish
ing in bulk, so firmly does it hold to
gether. The maken chewer, on taking
the ball or quid from his mouth, washes
it and puts it by for future use, just as
one does with a tooth-brush. Chewing
gum is not merely an idle habit, and
the least that can be said in its favor
is that it allays the desire for excessive
smoking no small advantage to the
idle dwellers, white or red, in this
desert land; it also preserves the
teeth by . keeping them free from
extraneous matter, and gives them such
a pearly luster as I have never seen out
side of th:s region. My own attempts at
chewing maken have, so far, proved
signal iauures. omehow rne gum in
variably spreads itself in a thin coat
over the interior of mv mouth, covering
the palate like a sticking-plaster and in
closing the teeth in a stubborn rubber
case. Nothing will serve to remove it
when it comes to this pass but raw suet,
vigorously chewed for half an hour,
with occasional sips of cold water to
harden the delightful mixture and in
duce it to come away. The culmina
tion of the mess is when the gum
spreads over the lips and becomes en
tangled m the hairs that overshadow
them; and when the closed mouth has
in In r;irfiill v nnpnftil with tho tlno-nra
until these also become sticky and liold
together firmly as if united by a mem
brane. All this comes about through
the neglect of a simple precaution, and
never happens to the accomplished
masticator who is to the manner born.
When the gum is still fresh occasionally
it loses the quality of stiffness artificially
imparted to it, and suddenly, without
rhyme or reason, transforms itself into
the raw material a it came from the
tree. The adept, knowing bv certain
indications when this is about to hap
pen, takes a mouthtui ot cold water at
the critical moment, "and so averts a re
sult so discouraging to the novice.
Maken-chewing is a habit common to
everybody throughout the entire terri
tory of Patagonia, and for this reason I
have described the delightful practice at
ome length. oenllcman s Magazine.
THE COST OF TRAVEL.
Texan Who Speculated Five Tears
Ahead on a Trip to New York.
A long, raw, specimen "grey," with
and covered boots, and little flakes of
cotton dabbled all over his clothes and
ornamenting his red, shaggy beard.
sidled up to the Union Depot ticket
window last Monday, and asked if the
ticket agent was in.
"Yes, sir, that's me," responded
Charlie Ltisk, trying to size up the in
quirer. "What can I do for you?"
" al, l ap n, 1 wanted ter una out
the price of a ticket to Noo Yok. Yer
see "
"Yes, sir,' interrupted Charlie, with
bland smile. "I sec. Forty-four
sixty-live is the fare; we can
"Wal, Cap'n 'lowed I'd take a trip
when I got things sorter settled Hp like
and '
Perfectly right; now. Colonel, let
me show vou some of our routes. Y e
have a spiendid line of routes just in,"
and CharhM brought a bundle of fold
ers down on "the window shelf. "Now,
here's Fort Worth." he continued, trac
ing the route with his index finger,
'vou take our road to St Louis, then
"As I was sayin', Cap'n," interrupt
ed the stranger, "I. thought me an the
ole woman and the boys might go to
Noo Yok "
"Oh, ves. How many are there in
the family?"
"Countin me and the ole woman and
all of the boys there's eight."
"Eight! and Lusk s smile grew
blander as the corners of his mouth dis
appeared behind his ears, while he
ooked up at tho ceiling and mentaiu
calculated what .his "commish" would
amount to. "Yes Colonel, we can fix
you up. When did j-ou want to start r
"Wal, Cap n, 1 don t zactly know,
replied the "grev," as he reflectively
wiped his nostril on the ball of his
thumb, while the agent nonchalantly
tried the stamp on a folder to see if it
was correctly dated. "The old wom
an's been dirgin at me to take 'em on
a trip when I got paid up. Yes see, I
bought everything on credit when
"les, yes, 1 know; that s all right.
Now what route would you prefer east
of St. Louis?" .
"Wal, I don't jest know. Yer see.
Cap'n, I bought on credit when- "
"Oh, yes, I see. Now we have sev
eral choice routes east of St. Louis.
What do 3 ou say to the O & M. ?"
"1 hats test it. Cap n. lm owin'
cm so dura much that I be dad gummed
fl think I'll get away for five Vears;
but vou might lav them ere tickets one
ide for me and I'll come and get 'em
when I'm paid out. Yer see, I bought
The ticket window closed with a bang.
and the farmer thoughtfully took a huge
bite of navy and turned sorrowfully
away. Texas Hail and Wire.
In view of the heavy- losses from
ires in the Southern States many of the
ead'mg insurance companies are seri
ously thinking of entirely withdrawing
from the Souih. The chief causes as
signed for the heavy hisses have been
incendiarism, and in a measure the con
struction of so many frame stores in
anges, causing whole towns to be
burned up at oae tire. A". Y. Post.
-The highest-priced clock in Ameri
ca is owned by a Wall-street broker in
New York. It cost .$34,000, and waa
made in that city. N. Y.Star.
MISCELLANEOUS.
"Evangelical Base-Ball Club," is
Ine name of an organization which is
ivorrying the life out of an Ohio town.
The school law is to be enforced in
such a manner in Gridley, Cal., as to
make boys-attend school or leave the
town. San Francisco Call.
Bean-bread is tho chief food of the
Indians in Indian Territory. It is com
posed of owdered beans, mixed with
water, and baked over an open lire.
Bishop William Taylor savs that in
frica the natives have only two suits
sach dirt and paint and that you can
sell a Christian Kallir, because he wears
i shirt.
Howard Barnes, poor, dissipated
ind sick, 6hot himself, in the woods
near Truckee, Nevada, recently. Five
rears ago Barnes was one of the wealthi-
sst gamblers, saloon-keepers and sport
ing men in Indianapolis. IndianajHjlis
lournal.
John Hunsberger, of Harvey Coun
ty, Kan., reports a great yield of wheat
trom a small quantity of seed, lrom
one and one-half bushels of seed sowed
on three acres he reaped 13. bushels,
a yield of ninety bushels to each bushel
of seed sown.
Climate appears to exert an im
portant influence on the bristles of swine.
In Kussia they are very long and still,
and are in consequence of great value
for making brushes, and for attaching
threads to for the use of shoemakers.
Hogs in Spain and Northern Africa,
however, are covered with curly hairin
Bte'ad of bristles.
A plant called the melon shrub has
been introduced into California from
Guatemala. It grows to the height of
three feet, bears a beautiful purple and
white flower, is an evergreen, and pro
duces a melon about four inches long
by two or three in diameter, of excellent
taste.
Dr. Spitzka says tho popular delu
sion that the human eye has an inlluenco
over insane people similar to that
claimed for the same organ over wild
animals is one that is often ridiculed by
the insane themselves. He adds that
whoever attempts to utilize the notion
will recognize its absurdity promptly.
Some people have no use for rail
roads. A middle-aged white man and
wife walked into Acworth, Ga.. tho
other afternoon to do a little trading.
They stated that they left Home a little
late the same morning and had walked
every step of tho way. They said that
a fellow was no account that couldn't
walk seventy-five miles a day. Tho
man carried a gun and the woman sev
eral articles. Atlanta Constitution.
Over fifty j-ears ago on the farm
now owned by James McChesney, at
Guilderland Station, N. Y., a lady by
the name ofJnpp put a jar of butter in
the well to harden up. The jar slipped
from its fastenings and fell into tho
water. It was grappled for, but with
out success. During the late drought,
as Mr. McChesney was cleaning the
well, he found the jar with about two
pounds of butter still remaining in it in
a pretty good state of preservation.
The jar is of queer pattern, but was
broken in getting it out of the well.
- m
NEW YORK FROM THE BAY.
How the City Looks from ail Iiicouilnir
Steamer's Deck.
If that eminent English observer who
visited America in the primitive forties
could then write so beautifully of the
grandeur of New York as it appeared to'
him when the packet on which he was
a passenger emerged into a noble bay.
whose waters tparklcd like nature's
eyes turned up to heaven," what could
he not say now of the glorious nictrojo
lis? Then there lay stretched out be
fore him confused heaps of buildings.
with hero and there only a spire or
steeple looking down upon tho frame
and brick work below, and here and
there, again, a cloud of hazy smoke, and
in tho foreground a lorest or ship s
masts, cheery with Happing sails
and waving Hags. Then there were
ferry-boats laden- with people, coaches,
wagons, baskets and boxes, crossing
from shore to shore, and never idle ami
stately among these restless "insects"
were two or three large ships moving
with slow, majestic pace, as creatures
of a prouder kind, disdainful of their
Ininy journeys, and making, for tho
road sea.
How magnified now is this picture
that even then was lovely! To the eve
of the passenger up the bay on a bright
October day first breaks through
the veil of distant obscurity a
broad channel, with sloping banks on
either side, dotted with pleasant villas
and made refreshing bv turf and trees.
Then looms into view that dismantled
relic of the late rebellion and its silent
old yellow fortification. And then ap
peared the Battery, with numberless
craft of sail and steam sweeping around
it from the North into the East river
and from the East into tho North river,
and with towers innumerable and smoke
impenetrable making its background.
Tinkling upon tho ear is the rattle of
cordage, the clank of capstans and tho
joyful singing of whistles, while above
all is the roar and buzz of the t rathe on
the city's streets that can be distinctly
heard. Old slant-roofed dwellings have
been displaced by the colossal Produce
Exchange, the gigantic Mills building,
the tall Field building and tho solid-
looking gray stone barge ofiice, with its
jaunty revenue flag affording a bit of
color; and as a relief to all this aspect of
commercial life are the spreading green
trees with which the Battery park
abounds. The great bridge stretches
away in the distance, ioining the "two
cities of New York' and Brooklyn, ami
in the opposite direction are the big
docks and elevators of the great railroad
lines that bring produce to the port for
distribution throughout the world."
At night'the scene is doubly enhanced
by the brilliancy of electric lights. From
the bay nearly every building is pcrcei
tible in a steelv light, and tho waters of '
the rivers dance with the myriad f re
flections. One evening, not long since,
the full moon was observed rising over
the bridge. It looked as big as the city
hall clock, and was the color of a pump
kin. As it rose higher and higher from
the horizon one of the bridge lights ap-
eared directly in its center, looking
ike a huge diamond in an immense
gold -setting. JV. Y. Herald.