- National Gambling.
Gamblhig has become a large part of
American commercial life. The "bread
land meat we eat, the com we feed oui
'. stock, the clothes with which we cover
ourselves as well as the investments we
make are all affected by the wholesale
gambling that permeates every part ol
this nation. One great reason why
England has developed the wheat pro
duction in India. Australsa and New
Zealand to the extent she has is to be
found in the American manipulation of
the price of grain and the corners which
take advantage of every untoward cir
cumstance to speculate upon the necessi
ties of the people. The grain corners
of 188t-2, which sent wheat up to $1.35
in Chicago, drove the shipping away
from New York and led English import
ers to seek cargoes elsewhere, and who
ever will watch the markets closely will
Bee that the operations of the. bulls and
bears of Chicago daily affect the export
of grain. -
Cotton speculation in the South is
what wheat speculation is in the "West.
Fortunately, however, foreign trade in
cotton is simply deferred by corners,
and is not permanently lost as in the case
with wheat. Yet so disastrous to our
manufacturing interests were the cotton
corners of 1882 that many mills had to
close or work on cart time, and although
machinery was as perfect and wages as
low in this country as in Manchester,
exports of cotton cloth for that year
showed an actual falling off.
Petroleum speculation is always rife
in Pennsylvania and its adjacent States,
the pipe line certificates acting as the
efficient medium of exchange. The
rapidity with which old districts cease
to yield and new districts are discover
ed, make oil one of the choicest of specu
lative commodities, and the sales often
amount. to many times the actual pro
. duction.
The stock market is a peculiar field for
speculation, but so completely are stocks
controlled by a few strong operators, that
when Gould and Vanderbilt are quiet
small speculators are perforce idle, and
prefer to seek other and more fluctuat
ing markets.
The love of speculation is confined to
no one class of persons ; the country vies
with the city; the farmer and the bank
cashier have their margins lumped in the
same deposit, and the doors of the bucket
shops are wide open to those who must
have their little deals on the way to and
from meals. The Italian exhausts his
mania for gambling on government lot
teries. In America we try to suppress
the lotteries which simply take money
from the fool and give it to the sharper,
but we are powerless to reach the gam
bling which is destructive alike of private
morals and national progress. Detroit
Times. :
Game for Gourmands.
Five thousand cats are said to have
been eaten in Paris during the last siege.
According to the same authority the cat
is downright good eating. A young one,
well cooked, is better than hare or rab
bit. It tastes something like the Ameri
can gray squirrel, but is even tenderer
and sweeter. One thousand two hun
dred dogs, it is stated, were eaten in
Paris during the late siege, and the flesh,
fetched from two to three francs per;
pound. According to Pliny, puppies
were regarded as a great delicacy by the
Roman gourmands. ' .
The bear supplies food to several na-;
tions of Europe, and its hams are con-
sidered excellent. The flesh of the brown
or black bear, which is eaten bythe
common people of Norway, Russia and
Poland, is difficult of digestion and is
generally salted and dried before it is
used. Two bears were eaten in Paris
during the siege, and the flesh was sup
posed to taste like pig. The Indian
tribes of the interior of Oregon eat
bears. The hedge-hog is considered a
princely dish in Barbary, and is eaten in
Spain and Germany. It is frequently
eaten by the sick among the African
Arabs from the belief that the flesh is
medicinal. Mice and rats are eaten in
Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zea
land and considered delicate morsels.
The taste of rats is considered to be
something like that of birds. The
Chinese eat them, and to the Esquimaux
epicures the mouse is a real bonne boucbe.
Rats and mice were eaten- in Paris dur
ing the siege.
The porcupine is reckened delicious
food in America and India, and resem
bles sucking pig." The Dutch and the
Ilottentots are fond of it, and it is fre
quently brought to table at the Cape of
Good Hope. The squirrel is eaten by the
natives of Australia, the North American
Indians, and is a f a orite dish in Sweden
and Norway. The flesh is tender and
said to resemble that of the barn-yard
fowl. It is sometimes eaten by the lower
' classes in England and the United States,
- and it is said to make excellent pies. The
flesh of the beaver is much prized by the
Indians and Canadian traders, especially
when it has been roasted in the skin
after the hair has been singed off.
London Society.
. The Blacksmith's Broken Weight
The following old but interesting prob
lem,, may be new to many of our readers:
A blacksmith had a stone weighing forty
pounds, which he used as a weight. A
teamster driving by one day broke it into
, four pieces. Said the blacksmith :. "Ybu
have spoiled my weight. " 'No, " replied
the other, 'where before you could only
weigh forty pounds you can now weigh
any number of pounds from one to forty
without using the same stone twice."
"What was the weight of each piece?
The answer isl, 3, 9 and 27 pounds.
The son of an American minister oi
consul, although born abroad, is eligible
to the Presidency of the United States
The Philadelphia CaU thinks hens are
like highway robbers, because they "lay'-
for men. ,
HUMOBOUS SKETCHES
Necessary Precaution.
"My dear," said the czar of Russia to
his wife, " will you give orders to have
the palace gates locked and the streets
for one mile in every direction cleared of
people?" " t
. " Certainly," replied - the czarina ;
" but what are you going to do I"
"I want to look out of the window to
see what kind of a day it is." 'Philadel
phia CaU. .'
Wanted It Renewed
An old gentleman went into one of
our prominent insurance agencies last
week, when the following transpired,
after tossing a paper on the counter:
"That's run out and I want to get it
renewed."
The clerk unfolded the document and
with a smile inquired : .
"Are you quite sure that this paper
which you have just laid down here has
run out?"
"Oh, yes," said the old gentleman;
" my wife told me it ran out yesterday
morning."
""Well, I am very sorry for you," said
the good-natured clerk, at the same time
casting a sly glance around the room and
handing the paper back, "we are not
taking these kind of risks now."
It was his marriage certificate. Buf
falo Times.
Not for Hennery
"IIow would you like to have some
un?" asked the grocery man of the bad
boy; "I have got a big pile of potatoes
in the cellar, and they are beginning to
sprout. Lets you and I go down cellar
and pull off our coats ana just have a
glorious old time picking those potatoes
over and pulling off the sprouts. Hurrah!
Come on," and the groceryman laughed
and run his thumb into the boy's ribs
and started for the cellar.
"No, not any fun for Hennery," said
the boy, as he looked out to see if his
pa was in sight. "I think too much fun
is not good lor boys. If you want your
potatoes looked over you will have to
hire somebody to do it. Sprouting pota
toes is work, and you can't make it pass
for fun, unless you strike some fool boy
that don't know you are playing it on
him. You old hypocrites think boys are
fools. Ever since I turned grindstone
for a man once all the afternoon for fun,
and got so tired I couldn't walk, I have
decided to pick out my own fun. When
a man unfolds a scheme to me to have
fun, and I see it is a put up job to get
me to work for nothing and call it fun,
I pass," and the boy went out to see if
his pa had got off the car. Peck's Sun.
Creating- a Run on the Bank
A private banker in a town in Wiscon
sin received a call a few days ago from a
stranger, who deposited ten dollars, and
then turned around and asked the banker
for a loan of fifty dollars.
"Why, sir, i can't lend you any
money," replied the banker.
"I think you can. Please take time
for reflection."
"I don't want to reflect upon the sub
ject, sir."
"Would a run on this bank damage
you fifty dollars' worth ?"
"There will be no run here."
"Suppose there was ?"
"It is too absurd to suppose. Good
day, sir!" . '
The stranger walked out-doors, and
the bank closed for the day. He entered
a grocery and stated that he was a de
positor, and asked if the bank was sound.
He entered a dry-goods store and in
quired if the hard times might not pinch
the bank. He entered a drug-store and
offered his certificate of deposit for ten
dollars. He met a lawyer and inquired
if a receiver had been appointed to lclok
out for the interests of depositors. Next
morning he was at the door of the bank,
gesticulating and lamenting, and behind
him were seventy-five or eighty citizens.
Before noon the bank was cleaned out
and its doors closed, and an ex-private
banker was skipping out to avoid being
lynched. Wall Street News.
Boomwhifter'a Boomerang.
Mr. Hankinson-Boomwhifter recently
made up his mind that he had lost a suf
ficient number of articles by throwing
them at cats in the back yard. So he de
termined to obviate that by using his
bootjack altogether, and fastening a rope
to it, in order to be able to pull it back
to throw it again. About two'nights ago
a tomcat set up an ana, and Mr. Hankinson-Boomwhifter
opened the window
of tly and looked for the cat, which min
strel he soon discovered perched serenely
on the fence at the back end of the yard.
Fearing that the rope might fly out into,
the yard, he wound the end of it around
his left hand and took the bootjack in his
right. Taking a step or two toward the
window, he let the bootjack go as hard
as he could. About twenty feet from the
window-sill the bootjack had traveled as
far as it possibly could, and it had been
so swiftly thrown that before Mr. Hankinson-Boomwhifter
could let go of the
rope to save himself, he was lifted off his
feet and sent shooting on after the boot
jack. And. when he landed in an empty
ash-baarel, and shot so far down it it that
his feet were just opposite his eyes, and
the cat came up as though to ask him
what was the matter, his looks seemed to
indicate the fact that if he ever again
made a similar attempt at bootjack
throwing, he would first tie the rope to
the bureau. Puck.
A Leap Year Episode
There was a party across the river the
other night. Toward the close she slipped
to his side and sweetly asked :
" Going home by yourself, Charlie?"
Guess so," he replied.'
4 Would you like some one to see you
home?"
" Depends on who it is." His answers
were very short and crusty. Many a one
would have been disheartened, but Lucy
was not of that kind. She still perse
vered : v
"Some vounglady, I mean."
"Depends on who the young lady. is."
said the brute.
" Some one about my size," persisted
the angel.
"There are several here about your
size."
"There's only one exactly my size.''
"See here, Lucy," said Charlie, "if
you want to take me home you may."
"UHI" she replied, "I've no particu
lar desire to take you home, but as I was
going your way I thought "
"ile interrupted her with an "All
right !" and together they left. ,
lie was leaning on her arm, and si-,
lently they meandered over the frozen
streets. They stopped at his door. He
invited her in.
"No, Charlie,! won't go in, but I want
to tell you something."
By the light of the street lamp on the
corner Charlie's face was seen to grow
pale as she continued :
"1 am abundantly able to support a
husband. I have a bank account of a
good size. I love you, Charlie, and can
give you a good home. Will you be
mine, dearest?"
"Lucy," gasped the brute, "you've
no idea what it takes to support a hus
band " i
She interrupted him.
"Darling, if it should be necessary, I
would work from morning until night,
and even take in washing and sewing;
you shall want for nothing. Only say
you will be mine."
"No, Lucy, it cannot be, I shall al
ways love you as a brother, watch over
your pathway through life, and should
you stand in need of advice or assist
ance, you can rely on my willingness to
assist you; but I can never marry
you.". .
'Then you refuse me?"
"Yes."
"Base wretch!" she exclaimed, "you
will live to repent your hasty decision,
for to-morrow my dead body will be
found in the cold waters of the river."
And, clasping him in her arms in one
convulsive 'embrace, she fled into the
outer darkness. Oil City Derrick.
Snow Backing.
The description of a turn of snow work
ing which the writer took an active part
in a few winters ago, applies, says Angus
St. Clair in the American Machinist, with
some modifications, to all operations of
this kind as usually pursued on North
western railroads. A division was badly
snowed up, and two engines started out
with a lurge plow to work toward others
similarily engaged. . We took along car
accommodation for a gang of shovelers
and a supply of coal for three engines.
The first serious obstacle we reached was
a cutting about a quarter of a mile long,
filled with snow to the top of the snow
fences, the average depth being about
ten or twelve feet. The shovelers were
put to work cutting a straight face on
the snow bank for the plow to strike
uponj and "deep trenches were cut on the
surface of the snow at right angles to the
track. We then backed with the two
engines about a mile, to take a good run.
In running at the bank the engines are
worked to reach their highest pos
sible speed. Just before striking the
snow the links are dropped to
full gear so that the engines will exert
their full tractive force in advancing
among the snow. Plunging into a solid
looking snow bank that reaches nearly to
the top of the smokestack, tries the nerve
of an engineer. But it is like jumping
into a ceid bath; hesitating on the brink
is the uncomfortable part. So soon as
the plow touches the snow bank a dense
cloud envelopes the engine, which makes
the cab as dark as the heart of a tunnel.
In doing his work the engineer must now
depend entirely upon his hearing, un
awed by the tumult of noises that accom
pany the engine's entrance among the
frozen masses. Lumps of ice and huge
cakes of snow thunder on top and sides
of the cab ; steam hisses and crackles
from the hot surfaces being hugged by
the densly packed snow; a whirl of slip
ping wheels makes every joint of the en
gine groan and clatter, but the engineer
must grasp the throttle undisturbed by
the dismal uproar. He must not be ap
palled by violent slipping, or attempt to
check it unless the engine is working
water in a way to endanger the cylinders.
This his trained ear can detect amidst
the other noises. By the exhaust he can
tell the moment the engine has ceased to
move ahead, and he immediately reverses
and tries to back out. Sometimes snow
is packed so firmly over the motion that
the engine can not be reversed till it is
shoveled out. -
Those on the ground' watching the ef
fect of the run see the immense masses
of snow thrown out into the fields, the
rapid speed is converted into a confusion
of noises and snow missies, then almost
instantly the flying cavalcade stops. But
the plow has cut a swath nearly 300 feet
long. The workmen at once swarm
round the plow and engines and shoved
out the snow imbedded round the
wheels and running . gear. When the
hind engine is got out the track is
cleaned out and the free engine helps to
pull out that which has the plow at
tached. -While the resurrecting of the
engine is going on snow is shoveled into
the tenders and melted, the injectors
being used as heaters. As soon as both
engines get out of the snow they are
ready for another run, and 'the same
cycle of work goes on till the obstruction
is overcome. Where the snow is lighter
the engines will generally get through
without stalling. They were also able
to back out without shoveling where the
body of snow is not overwhelmingly
heavy.
A pearl weighing nearly 200 grains has
lately been found on the line of the Pan
ama ' canal. It will be called the Les-seps.
fabmanV.
Success Wlti;
The greatest difficu'J
success with poultry 1 ;
of proper sanitary p
dant pure air, perfel
water, and moderate
feeding are indispensabk,
poultry can be kept as heaithf
other animal. But it is only the
by many failures how to avoid failures,
inai can Keep iowis profitably. Bad ad
vice and ignorant suggestions, however,
lead the inexperienced into loss and
trouble. For instance, among the nu
merous circulars' and pamphlets, and
which are just now coming down like
snow-flakes from every quarter, I get one
from a dealer in poultry-fixings of all
kinds. Among others there is a nice
little poultry-house, a pocket edition, as
it were, called an improved portable
poultry-house. It is excellent for its im
proved portability, but that is all; for
use it is worse than useless. The sizes
fiven are four by four for twelve fowls,
ve by five for twenty, aud six by six for
forty. This gives from one to one and a
Quarter square feet for each fowl on the
floor, including fancy nest-boxes for the
eggs, which, under these circumstances',
will be apt to be empty. Now, a flock to be
healthy and clean, and consequently free
from vermin, should have at least five or
six square feet of floor space for each
fowl. One square foot gives hardly space
enough for the vermin to gather in such
a small house, and it is very certain that
fowls kept in so confined a space will be
wholly crowded out by lice and flees and
mites, until they die miserably of cholera
or roup, or pure rot from unceanness.
New York Times.
Farm and Garden Notes.
Do not plow heavy soils ' while the
ground is filled with water.
Put small lots of beans in a sack to
thresh them. It is a little hard on the
bags, perhaps, but your beans are not
scattered all over the barn floor.
The Jersey red breed of swine are not
so liable to disease as the white varieties.
Despite their great slowness in matunng,
they are great favorites at the West. ,
A gill of strong green tree is said to be
a specific for sheep poisoned by eating
laurel. A farmer who has used this rem
edy many years says he has saved hun
dreds of sheep by it.
It is safer for the farmer, to prune his
trees a little every year than to prune ir
regularly when heavy cutting will have
to be done. Yearly pruning is the easier
and cheaper method.
Limejand salt will destroy slugs, and
the yard should have some quicklime
(finely powdered) spread over it. Two
or three applications would destroy all
existing, but without thorough drainage
they would return after a time.
Horses often suffer from neglect of
proper shoeing during the busy season.
Whatever may be said in favor of not
shoeing horses, it is certain that most
horses which have boen accustomed to
be shod will be lamed if driven long or
far without protection to their feet.
Eight drops of tincture of aconite,
dropped on a piece of bread and mixed
with the food at night, and the next
morning four drops given in the same
manner, is recommended by Doctor J.
R. Nichols, of the Massachusetts board
of agriculture, as a remedy for garget.
Stable manure is often spoken of as
the standard fertilizer and a complete
manure to itself. It is probably so for
corn, but for wheat and other small
grains phosphate of lime is usually
needed, and on sandy soil potash. This
is shown by the fact that manure alone
creates a heavy growth of straw without
proportionate increase of grain.
Keep a lump of rock salt in the feed
box of each horse. Serve the cows that
are stall fed in the same way. A board
on which some coarse salt has been
sprinkled may be placed in the yard or
field in which cows are turned for exer
cise. Do not forget pigs and sheep. Give
the former in addition a little powdered
charcoaL This is essential to their
health.
Farmers cannot be too particular in
examining grass seeds to see that no
weed seeds are mixed with them. The
wild carrot and plaintain are more likely
to be found in clover seed, but a sharp
eye and a good microscope will enable
the farmer to detect their presence
Seeds that contain these weeds should
not be sown, even if the land remains
unseeded.
An exchange suggests that if farmers
would go to the barn on a wet day and
spend their time in making an eaves
trough for the barn or stable, and thereby
carry away the drip which, would otner-
wise tail on tne manure pne, causing i
waste of the elements of plant food con
tained therein, they would make more
money that day than they could any fine
day in the field.
The American Dairyman says there is
one point that should be deeply im
pressed upon the dairyman's mind, and
that is, if he wants to make a first-class
article of butter he must churn oiten.
Never let the cream get over three days
old. no matter how cold it may be kept
If cold, it will get old, fat and frinky. If
sour, the whey will eat up the best butter
globules. Churn as oiten as you can
The Southern Planter asserts that
crowing, living tree robs the soil of water,
and, to some extent, of fertility, for a
wide distance. This is distinctly seen in
fields devoted to hoed crops. It is scarce
ly possible to manure highly enough to
bring corn' or potatoes under or near
trees to tne average in oiaer pans oi iue
field. Butternut or hickory are especial
ly injurious to hoed crops near them,
uossiblv because the wash from itheir
leaves positively injures the
willd.
. thr .
Myim
Y The
'top a
M at
or three
e, but if
these the
r K On rich
iAli lantsare
ivrf'tniifii Jalightel-s y should
be sown. ' v
Every farmer should possess a ' stencil-
plate with his name and residence cut in
it, so that he may plainly mark all bags,
blankets, robes and boxes with it ; also &
brand with which he can burn his name
into the handles of hoes, shovels and
other tools. Then if he is blessed with a
borrowing neighbor the sight of the
.name may remind the borrower to return
the tool before he has worn it out. At
least there will be less danger of his
thinking he owns it because he has had
it so long that he" has forgotten how he
came by it.
The Dairy says that sulphurous acid is
a most effective antiseptic and antifer
ment, and may be produced by burning
sulphur upon live coals upon a shovel or
a bed of coals carried iuto a stable with
perfect safety. It will also be found an
excellent method for freeing dairy rooms
and cellars from the spores of mildew,
which have a very injurious effect upon
the milk and upon butter or cheese made
from milk that has been exposed to them.
In fact, from constant prevalence of
these spores it might be useful to make o
practice of fumigating dairies occasion
ally, especially after a bad damp spell of
weather during the summer season.
Household Hints
A little soap or lard applied to the
hinges or doors will prevent the creak
ing. To prevent flat-irons from rusting
warm them, then rub with new and clean
white wax. Put again to the fire till they
have soaked in the wax. When done
rub over with a piece of serge.
For stains for floor, use one or two
coats of linseed oil, raw or boiled ; when
quite dry, a coat of good oak varnish.
This does not hide the grain of the wood
and produces a good dark brown.
To clean handles of knives, rub salts of
lemon into the handles with a piece of soft
flannel damped with warm water. After
ward well rinse the handle with cold
water and wipe dry. ' Salts of lemon are
poisonous, so care must be taken.
The best way of freshening up artifi
cial flowers is to pull them out when
they require it daintily with the finger,
breathe on them, and where there are
wax leaves that are bent of out of shape.
hold them for a second or two to the fire.
To solder tortoise-shell bring the edges
of the pieces of shell to fit each other,
giving the same inclination of grajn to
each, then secure them in a piece of paper
and place them between hot pincers;
pply pressure and let them cool. The
heat must not be so great as to burn the
shell.
Penguins on the Falkland Islan ds.
The breeding-grounds or "rookeries"
of the penguins are generally situated in
the shelter of some land-locked bay or
break in the line of steep and rugged
cliffs; and often occupy several acres,
which are , laid out, leveled, and divided
into squares with intervening streets, the
whole as if done at the dictation of a sur
veyor. Along these streets the penguins
gravely waddle on their way to and from
ttye water, presenting the appearance oi
quads of awkward recruits, or a still
more striking likeness,' as has been often
remarked, to troops of little children
toddling along in their white pinafores.
They build no nests ; but lay a single egg
in some selected spot, the incubation be
ing equally shared by male and female.
Although so closely allied to the leath
ered kind, they are unable to fly, nature
having only furnished them with
short stumpy apologies lor wings,
resembling the flippers of a turtle,
by means of which they are
enabled to atain prodigious speed, when
diving under water in pursuit of fish for
food. Penguins as well as seals, are
doubly provided against the cold of the
high latitudes which they frequent, by a
layer of fat immediately inside the skin,
which is also the depository of the oil
extracted by the fisherman. In landing
to attack and slaughter them in their
rookeries with clubs and boat-stretchers,
stealthy precautions are unnecessary, the
poor dumb creatures looking on in a
state of mdinerent stupidity, without
i.: - i- ,V1
""'"o ""J """"'i'" " i
their companions are being knocked on
the head all around them. Seal hunting,
or "fishing," as it is usually termed, on
the contrary, requires great skill and pa
tience. Seals are gregarious as .well as
polygamous, and when they forsake the
open seas f er their breeding places on
shore, they are shy of intrusion, and take
great care to insure' the safety - of their,
retirement, particularly in localities
which have been previously visited by
human beings. They invariably post
sentinels on every commanding point, so
that only by patient waiting and under
cover of night the hunters are enabled ta
elude their vigilance and surprise them.
Chambers'' Journal.
. Philosophy of Bread and Batter.
We spread butter upon bread because
that is the best way of eating both bread
and butter, and they are both good
when of first-class quality. Our palate!
revolt at butter straight, but when
united with the bread it renders the lafe
ter less absorbent of moisture, and,
therefore, less dry in the mouth, and la
bricates its passage to the stomach,
making the eating of It an easy antf
pleasant process, whereas dry bread it
hard to take, and is specially reserved ai
a primitive diet ior unruiy convicts an
naughty children. Philadelphia Press.