TACTS FOR THE CURIOUS.
. Dr. Pettigvand, of Paris, seeing the
eyes in the head of a decapitated pirate
fixed upon hiin, moved off in a quarter
circle, and the eyes turned and kept
looking at hin a3 he went back and
iorth.
Daniel Sclfcrd found a ruby in Clay
county. N. C. He sold it for $15. The
purchaser sold it for $3,000, and it was
next sold to a lapidary for $(3,000. He
cut it and poitshed it and sold it for
Some of the wealthy Romans had as
:inany as 10,000 slaves. The minimum
price fixed by law was $80, but after
.great victories they could sometimes be
bought for a few shillings apiece on the
field of battle.
According to the Medical Times, the
aishes of the late Professor S. D., Gross
weighed seven pounds. They were en
closed in a marble urn about three feet
high, without ornament or inscription,
and placed beside the coffin of his de--ceased
wife in Woodlawn.
Under the empire, male Romans wore
-black, and Roman women wore white
mouring. In Turkey, at the present day,
.it is violet ; in China, white ; in Egypt,
;yellow; in Ethiopia, brown; in Europe
and America, black ; and it was white in
Spain until the year 1498. The mourning
worn by sovereigns and their families is
purple.
The largest delivery of United States
notes in one day to the United States
treasurer from the bureau of engraving
and printing was $91,000,000, $G0,000t
000 of which were in five-thousand and
ten thousand dollar notes, and were car
ried in a small-sized hand-valisa from
the bureau to the treasurer's office. The
bureau was at that time in the treasury
building.
The whole number of captured
JJritish vessels during the war of 1812-15
in this country, on the lakes and on the
ocean, including those taken by priva
teers (of which there remained foity or
fifty at sea when peace was proclaimed),
and omitting those recaptured, was reck
oned at 1750. There were captured or
destroyed by Brit.sh ships forty-two
American national vessels (including
twenty-two gunboats), 133 privateers,
and 511 merchant vessels, in all 686, and
aanned by 18,000 ssamen.
Nicknames or Generals.
From an article by George F. Williams,
the well-known war correspondent, on
"Lights and Shadows of Army Life," in
the Century, we quote the following:
Every general of prominence had a
nickname bestowed upon him by his
troops. Some of these names were of a
sarcastic nature, but usually they indica
ted the confidence of the men in their
leaders or their admiration for them.
General Grant was commonly known over
the watch-fires in the Army of the Po
tomac as "Old United States." from the
initials of his name, but sometimes he
was called "Old Three Stars," that num
ber indicating his rank as lieutenant-general.
McClellan vas endeared to his
armv as "Little Mac." Meade, who
wore spectacles, was delighted to learn i
that the soldiers had named him "Four
eyed George." for he knew it was not
intended as a reproach. Burnside,
the colonel of the First Rhode Island
regiment, rose to the dignity of "Rhody"
when he became a general. Hooker
never liked the sobriquet of " Fighting
Joe," although he always lived up to it
during his career in the field. Pope was
.saddled with the title of "Saddle-bag
-John." in memory of his famous order
uibout head-quarters being on horseback.
His men used to say that their head
quarters moved pretty rapidly at time--.
Sigcl, the German general, was known
in the other corps as 44 Dutchy." Han
cock won the brevet of 44 Superb " from
a rcma.k made by General Meade at Get
tysburg, when the second corps re
pulsed Longstreet's men. Humphrey,
being a distinguished engineer, was in
variably styled 44 Old Mathematics."
The Pennsylvania Reserves used to
call Crawford 44 Physics," he being
a surgeon at the beginning of his mili
N tary career. Logan, with his long black
hair and dark complexion, was 4Black
-Jack' with his men. Sheridan, the
-cavalry leader, was 4Little Phil,' and
Sherman's troops spoke of him as 401d
Tccumseh.' The sterling nature and
steadfast purpose of Thomas earned for
.him the significant and familiar name of
01d Reliable.' Alexander McDowell
JlcCook, like Hooker, was called
."Fighting" McCook.' The New York
-city regiments in the Fifth Corps changed
Sykes to 'Syksey.' Halleck was derisively
nicknamed 401d Brains,' and Rosecrans
had his name shortened to Rosey.' Lew
Wallace was 4Louisa' to the soldiers
tinder his command; he was a great
favorite for his fighting qualities, and the
.soldiers adopted that inappropriate name
ifor want of a better. Kearney, who had
left an arm in Mexico, was invariably
lenown in the ranks as 4One-armed Phil.'
- 'Butler was styled 4Cockeye,' for obvious
ins. Kilpatrick was nicknamed I
,' while Custer was called 'Ringlets,'!
reasons
'"Kill.
-on account of his long flowing curls; and
so the catalogue might be prolonged m-
definitely.
"Among the Confederates familiar
nicknames were not so common as with
the Federals. The soldiers of the Army of
Northern Virginia usually spoke of Gen
eral Lee as 4Bob Lee.' Little Mahone
was best known as 4Skiu and Bone.'
Early was called 4Bad Old Man,' and
Jackson will live in history as 'Stone
wall.' "
The aggregate production of cord in
1883 in Great Britain, the United States,
Germany, France and Belgium was 331,
O00,000tons in round figures. In 1S82
the corresponding production was 356,
:000.000 tons; in 1881, 332,200,000 tons;
in 18S0, 315,100,000 tens, and in JS79,
2S5, GOO, 000 tons.
jjfjjj m HOUSEHOLD.
A Test ol Tomatoes.
Dr. E. Lewis Sturtevant, at the State
Experiment station, Geneva, N. Y., sub
jected to careful test nearly all the toma
j toes offered by seedsmen, and the result
' is published in a recent bulletin, doubt
less obtainable upon application by any
reader desirous of seeing full particulars.
A point of general interest appears in the
wonder expressed " why so many undesir
I able kinds are retained," since it surely
' costs as much to raise the poorest as the
best. The lists of sorts which, judging
; from the outcome of this trial, "might
as well be dropped from consideration"
includes twenty-seven; and of the nu
I merous red kinds worth cultivating the
I slight variations in color and flavor are
of only secondary importance so far as
family use is concerned. The desirable
j features are carliness, smoothness and
regular form. Acme Is referred to as
badly affected in sections where rot pre
vails. Several varieties under different
names are found to be almost identical.
Among sorts of interest to the amateur
or as curiosities are : "Currant, Cherry,
Plum, Pear and Apple tomatoes." A
practical lesson from the foregoing is that
when a gardener has a kind which does
fairly well for him he can hardly hope to
secure better results than by selecting for
seed year after year the best specimens of
his own production, with respect to
season of ripening, symmetry and uni
form size. This course will certainly give
more satisfaction in the long run than
frequent change.to something uew, which
is always experimental, and less often an
improvement than otherwise.
Farm and harden Potest.
It never pays to overstock. If one has
too manv, sell some and buy feed, and do
it promptly.
Break over the tops of onions when
full-grown, to cause them to fill and pre
vent scullions. ,
The apple worm may be diminished by
picking up and destroying fallen fruit or
allowing pigs to do it.
One of the most frequent causes of colic
in horses is the drinking of coid water
when the animal is heated.
Plant bush-beans for late crops. Pinch
off the end of vines of limas when they
reach the tops of the poles.
Crude petroleum' makes a good, al-
I though unsightlj, protecting coating for
iarin machinery exposed to weather.
Always keep cattle, sheep and hogs
ready to sell, and then if a drought comes
the butcher will buy them at a fair
price.
Don't work the horses a whole half
day without water. Some in a cask
could easily be taken along to the field
for them.
Trees should be trimmed high. Low
headed trees are a abomination, and
they present hardly any advantage over
high tops.
Pack vegetables for winter keeping in
sand. Shriveled turnips were restored
to natural firmness and color by burying
a ne garaen
The horse should drink before eating,
otherwise the water will carry the food
from the stomach to the water stomach
or caecum, undigested.
It does not pay to put a strong horse
beside a weak one. The tjams should
be well matched in strength, as neither,
then, is so liable to be injured.
It is said that the development of
flavor of cheese can be hastened by sub
jecting the cheese to a strong current
of air. If the cheese i3 kept in too close
air during the process of curing it will
be likely to be deficient in flavor.
A "Western bee-keeper thinks sugar
the best bee feed, as the honey from
! such has the advantage of not beiner
mixed with pollen, which he believes
causes dysentery among the bees in the
winter. Glucose, however, should be
avoided.
Salt is used freely by New York nur
serymen in pear nurseries to prevent
blight. Iron filings and copperas in so
lution have been used for same purpose.
If these remedies do not prevent the
disease they at least correct a disposition
to blight.
Corn is the staple food for fattening
hoes in this country, but it does not
ripen early enough to get the best use of
it while the weather is warm. Feeding
liberally with fallen apples, boiled pota
toes or pumpkins and other refuse will
make a little meal go far toward fitting
hogs for the butcher.
In many localities potatoes are a
favorite crop for young orchards; but
corn is generally better, since all the
stirring which the soil receives in grow
ing this crop comes at a time when it is
most desirable to encourage the growth
in the trees, and gives them plenty of
time to ripen their wood before winter.
An English writer says that nitrate of
soda in liquid form, containing about
one Pound of uitrate to elve SaJlons of
water' acts a3 a Pwwfu1 stimulant to
JJUL JMUUIS, lUipilJ liUJJ il lUAUMaUtiipfJCai-
ance to the foliage, and is particularly
beneficial to dahlias and chrysanthe
mums. The number of applications
must depend on the nature and condition
of the plants. It is not to be given to
plants at rest.
Eeans are not usually a good crop to
precede wheat. They take from the soil
the nitrogen and phosphoric acid that
the winter grain requires. It is beside
very difficult to get the land in the right
mechanical condition. Pulling beans
leaves the soil too pcrous, and unless
heavy rains follow soon the wheat will
come up poorly. The best use of bean
ground is to plow or harrow, sow rye to
be plowed under in spring, then follow
with oats or barley and that with wheat
in the fall.
On sandy soil potash is nearly always
in demand for crops, and in some farm
it is valuable on heavier land. Wood
ashes can no longer be had cheaply a
formerly, and in many places coal has so
largely "taken the place of wood that
there is no home production of potash.
If it has to be purchased, the muriate of
potash, though costing more per ton, is
cheaper than the common form of Ger
man potash salts, which only averages
twenty to twenty-five per cent, ol pure
potash.
In gardens farmers usually make the
mistake of planting tomato plants on the
richest soil and manuring heavily. They
naturally like to see the young plants
making a strong, vigorous growth.
With most crops the stronger growth the
better, but too much vine in the tomato
retards ripening, causes the plant to rot
on the ground, and the fruit will be much
less valuable. Market gardeners have
learned to grow tomatoes on their poor
est land, and, avoiding stable manure,
they ripen earlier and bring a much bet
ter price. Farmers can grow tomatoes
on any land that is rich enough for corn,
and they will bear more bushels per acre
than can be got from an average crop of
potatoes.
Ileclpe.
Canned Pears Over two pounds of j
pears pour just enough boiling water to
cook them nicely. When soft add one
pound of sugar. Boil five minutes and i
seal up tightly. I
Apile Pancakes. Two cups of sweet !
milk, one egg, four tablespoonsful of j
sugar, one half teaspoonful of salt, and
flour enough to make a little thicker
than griddles; two good -sized apples,
pleasantly sour, pare and slice into the
batter; drop into boiling lard.
Baked Tomato Hash. Chop any cold
lean meat very fine ; peel and chop
double the quantity, by measure, of
tomatoes; crumb double the quantity
of bread, soak it soft in cold water and
drain oil the water; if there is any fat
on the meat chop it very fine; butter an
earthen baking-dish, put all these in
gredients into it in layers, seasoning
each layer with salt and pepper, and
distributing the fat of the meat equally
throughout the hash ; bake it for an hour
in a very moderate oven and serve it hot
in the dish in which it was baked.
Stewed Celery. After well washing
and cleaning some celery heads, cut them
into three-inch pieces and boil them in
some good vegetable broth until they
are perfectly tender. While they are
simmering, prepare the following sauce :
Half a pint of cream, the yolks of two
eggs thoroughly beaten, half an ounce
of butter, a little lemon peel, salt, white
pepper and finely-grated nutmeg; heat
this in a lined sauce pan, stirring it all
the time and not allowing it to boil.
Lay the celery in a hot dish, on toast
dipped in the Droth it was boiled in, and
strain the white sauce over it.
Cost of Guns and Gunning.
4 4 What does a shooting outfit cost?"
4,I can sell you an excellent plain steel
double-barreled breech-loader for $15.
Here is one. It looks well, but it has no
gilding or ivory about it. It is a ten
bore, and will last you as long as a gun
costing $375, and there is great comfort
in the fact that if you injure it, lose it in
a swamp, or leave it out all night in a
leaky wood-shed, there will not be much
loss involved in the transaction."
4 'How about ammunition?"
4 'That comes a little expensive, but
still the sportsman who hasn't much
money can have a good time on a small
sum. Loaded cartridges that would be
suitable for this $15 gun cost from $3 50
to $4 a hundred, according to the grade
of powder. It would be a poor sports
man who couldn't get $4 worth of birds
out of 100 shots, so that the ammunition
part of it ought to be at least self-supporting.
For $2.50 a set of tools for re
loading the shells can be got, and by
using it they can be refilled at $2 75 to
$3 per hundred."
4 'Are breech-loaders the only kind of
guns sold?"
4 4 Not by any means. Lots of gran
gers and backwoodsmen won't have any
thing to do with so new-fangled a'nidea.
They stick to the muzzle-loader with its
dozen different kinds of perils."
" What is the safest kind of gun?"
44 The ' hammer less breech-loader. It
; is superseding everything. There are,
of course, many different kinds, but the
principle is the 6ame. -There is no ham
mer projecting from the gun and, conse
quently, no risk of its being caught in
your coat or in a bramble and causing a
premature discharge. The triggers are
protected too, for there is a sort of brake
which you apply when you're not going
to shoot. Guns like that, handsomely
mounted, cost from $125 up. They save
time and trouble, for they are self-cocking.
Winchester rifles are as low as
$18.75 and as high as you choose to pay.
Remingtons are from $20 up.Ballards the
same price and Frank Wessons from $25.
They are used in this part of the coun
try for small game.
44 They are making more ammunition
in this country than they did. That big
show case over there is a display of
Ely's, the London cartridge manufac
turer, which was shown at the centen
nial. At that time American cartridges
were not equal to what they are now.
Larger quantities are turned out by the
gun makers of New England. ThcEng
wads and caps still prevail, however."
Philadelphia Press.
The etiquette of funerals in Mexico
does not permit the female relations of
deceased to attend. Only men attend the
departed to the ehurch and the tomb.
Funerals are so expensive that they often
ruin business men. All fenale relatives,
even to cousins and children, must wear
deep mourning for two years. During
the mourning none of the ladies of the
household must be seen in public. Bodies
are buried in cases and decked with pre-
. cious stones.
A PRECIOUS SUBSTANCE
Ambergris? Found in Sick Whales A
Lump Worth SlM.OOC.
A substance called ambergris, which
has been known for about a century, is
found at rare intervals floating on the
Bea in the hottest latitudes aad also in
the intestine of the spermaceti whale.
Its history has never been properly ex
plained. Various theories have been
advanced, but all specialists have con
tented themselves with quoting some
predecessor's words concerning its origin
and composition, and to day it affords
an ample field for the scientific ' enthusi
ast, as it is an extremely valuable com
modity, and if the latest appliances were
brought to bear upon the subject all un
settled questions undoubtedly could be
answered. It was at first supposed to
be of vegetable production for the most
part, and analogous to amber; hence its
name, ambergris, or gray amber. It is
dark gray in color and is formed of con
centric layers. It feels- like hrd rubber.
The sailors found it in the whale's intes
tines near the stomach, and developed
the theory that it was a petrifaction,
and that as a natural course of events
the whole whale might turn into the
substance. In a short time sailors were
multiplying who had seen amber whales.
During the spring of last year the Sea
Ranger, a whaling ship owned by F. H.
Bartlett & Sons, of Massachusetts, which
had sailed from New Bedford in June,
1879, for a four-years' whaling voyage
in the South " Atlantic, took a sperm
whale while cruising to the south of St.
Helena. 'After the usual operation of
hooking, hoisting and cutting off the
blubber and baling out the 44 case," the
most interesting part of the work was be
gun. At this point all on board eagerly
watch while the long spade is pushed
into the intestines in order to ascertain
if there is any ambergris in the stripped
leviathan. In the present instance the
men were rewarded by finding the finest
specimen of ambergris that has been cap
tured during the last ten years. It was
about the size and shape of a water
melon, weighed seventy pounds, and was
worth $18,000.
The price of ambergris has been as
high as $290 per pound. The piece
found by the Sea Ranger was regular in
shape and of the best quality compact
and solid. It was a very pleasant task
for the captain to put the little $18,000
lump under his arm and take it ashore
and forward it by a freight ship to the
owners of his vessel, into whose hands it
came on the 31st of last May, and was
sold the same day to Messrs. Weeks &
Potter, of Boston, who had received
news by cable of the great 44 find."
Whenever a large piece of the substance is
found, the more prominent chemists and
druggists of the world are promptly noti
fied and there is spirited competition for
the control of the market. The supply
is extremely small. There are ebout 175
whaling ships in the world, all are con
stantly looking for the precious sub
stance, and the entire amount taken by
all these ships (including the 1-40 Amer
ican whalers, the twenty-five ships that
go to Baffin's bay from Dundee, and the
few stragglers from Norwav and
Sweden) is not more than fifty to seventy-
five pounds a year. This amount is ex
clusive of whatever some firms may be
lucky enough to secure secretly. It was
used for many years in medicine and is
now prescribed in some parts of I ranee,
but its great and important present use is
in the manufacture of perfumes. It con
sists chiefly of a peculiar fatty matter,
similar to cholesterin, and is readily dis
solved in alcohol, ether, or the volatile
or fixed oils. The most widely accepted
supposition is that it is a hardened piece
of biliary matter formed in the stomach
of a sick whale, and peihaps m some
other fishes also, for the sperm whale is
known to feed upon cuttle lish, whose
touch, indestructible beaks are to be
found in the ambergris, a fact arguing
that the ambergris was a cause or re
sult of indigestion, and might occur
in the stomachs of other ex
tremely voracious fishes that are known
to devour at certain periods anything
they meet. They are sick during the
presence of their Jonah-like visitors and
get well again after the visitors have
taken their departure. The Bartletts
have been in the whaling business for
forty years, and the specimen here de
scribed is the first piece of ambergris
ever found by them, which will illustrate
the scarcity of the article. Not only has
the origin of ambergris been enshrouded
in mystery, but there has been a wide
snrft.irt disnosition to count the discovers
' of a piece as a sign of good luck aside
1 from its commercial value. The lucky
I star of the crew of the ship was then in
j the ascendant. During the last ten years
there have only been a few large pieces
found. A little schooner from Martha's
Vineyard got a good-sized piece three
years ago, and a New Bedford whaler
found a piece weighing 150 pounds in
in 1882, but it was of poor quality. Many
adulterations are attempted. The spuri
ous stuff, however, can readily be dis
tinguished from the genuine by standard
tests.
Ambergris is now found floating in the
water near Sumatra, Molacca and Mada-
gascar, also along the American coast
'. and Brazil, China and Japan, and along
the west coast of Ireland. Lxpenments
arc now being carried on in France with
a view of definitely determining its com
position, and it is hinted that they may
result in the invention of a compound
that will to a certain extent take the
place of ambergris in the manufacture of
perfumeries.
In making perfumery there are two
general classes: the animal odors, such
as those from the musk and civet ; and
the vegetable odors, such as those from
the rose and the cassia. In the case of
the animal odors, they can be dissolved
in alcohol with the aid of heat, and the
odor is taken up by the alcohol. With
the vegetable, as for example the rose,
alternate layers of . lard and roses are
pressed and allowed to stand, when the
lard will take into itself the entire per
fume of the roses, and afterward the
perfuane can be transferred to alcohol
from the lard. When the alcohol is
thus saturated with the odor, more alco
hol is added until the mixture is of the
required strength. Then the amber
gris is used. If the perfumed alcohol
were used as scent for the handkerchief
the spirts would soon evaporate and the
odor would not remain. But the amber
gris is added and acts as a base to build
upon. Like bodies of this kind under
going a slow decomposition and possess
ing little volatility, when it is mixed
with fleeting scents it gives permanence
to them. It acts as an infinite number
of small reservoirs which prevent the
perfume from escaping fast. In conse
quence of this quality it is indispensable
to the perfumer. It contains a substance
which clings pertinaciously to woven
fabrics. No ambergris has been found,
as far as is generally known to perfumery
manufacturers, since the splendid speci
men, spoken of above. San Francisco
CalL '
Relation of Fairies to Religion.
The meaning given to the word 44fairy'
in the dictionaries is so vague, and the
use made of it both by poets and prose
writers so much, vaguer, that it is well
at the outset to explain what is really
meant by it here. The English fairy is
derived immediately from the French
fee or faerie, and remotely from the Latin
fatum, fate, destiny. At first, it some
times signified illusion, enchantment;
sometimes the land of fairies, or the
earthly paradise of the days of romance ;
but, as a rule, it was applied to the Mel
usinas andMorganas, mediaeval represen
tatives of the classical fates. Later, the
name was given to the little elves of North
ern my thology.and finally it became a class,
designation for the hobgoblins, dwarfs,
gnomes, kobolds, and all such other
bugs, as Reginald Scott, in his scornful
skepticism, calls them, who, though born
of paganism, long remained rivals of the
Christian saints. In its largest and most
extended sense; it includes the whole
race no matter in what part of the
world its different branches may be
found of minor supernatural beings,
who have been ranked as entirely differ
ent in nature, substance and attributes
from the supreme spiritual hierarchy.and
yet have been placed much higher in
the scale of life than man; being sup
posed to possess power vastly superior
to his, and able in fact, to exercise a
large influence in shaping his destiny.
They stand midway between humanity
and divinity.
Men must have defined his belief in
one supernatural world and in one
species of supernatural beings very
clearly before he could conceive of
two such worlds and two such species.
Fairy mythology is really the pro
duct .of a somewhat advanced
state of religious thought, when the
ideal of Deity is so high and scientific
knowledge so small that the lesser natu
ral phenomena and accidents of daily
life cannot be accounted for, without the
introduction to the unseen - sphere of
action of a second order of conscious
agents. While, then, there are fairy-like
creatures in all mythologies, there are
genuine fairies only in a few. It is true
that it is difficult at first to distinguish
Greek dryads srom mediaeval Elle maid
ens, or the sirens of Hellenic waters from
the Lorelei of German streams. But the
latter are as distinct from the former,
from whom, however, they are descended,
as civilized man is from cave-dwelling
progenitors. Atlantic Monthly.
Sunken Treasures.
The list of treasures lost in the sea would
indeed be a lonir and melancholy one ; in
stancing, for example, the Madagascar,
from Australia, which, in the early
days of the gold fever there, having on
board the precious yellow dust in enor
mous quantity, was never heard of and
left not even the faintest clew to specu
lation as to her fate. And in later years
the Thunder steamer, from Calcutta to
China, with some 300,000 worth of sil
ver, destined never to reach, the expec
tant consignees, was supposed to be ly
ing abandooed among the awful sand
banks at the mouth of the Hooghly, but,
in spite of many rumors, never to be seen
there. These are instances out of many,
of treasures never heard of. The wreck
of the Royal Charter steamer from Aus
tralia, lost in a frightful gale on the An
glesea coast in October, 1859, with some
'800,000 of gold on board, will doubt
less occur to the reader's mind coupled
as it was with such lamentable loss of
life. In this case, happily, a great part
of the treasure was recovered subse
quently, but there is still a fortune left
at Moelfra for the fortunate being who
can find it. In old days Vigo bay had
always an attractive sound to treasure
seekers, from the reported wealth on
board the Spanish fleet destroyed there
by Sir G. Rooke in 1702; but the infin
ite pains, money and patience expended
over its recovery . have been thrown
away, the silver (even if it is there,
which is somewhat doubtful,) obstinate
ly refusing to make a reappearance in.
the world. Bclgratia.
Groaning and Crying.
A French surgeon has published a
long dissertation on the beneficial influ
ence of groaning and crying on the ner
vous system.
He contends that groaning and crying
are the two grand operations by which
nature allays anguish, and that he has
uniformly observed that those patients
who give way to their natural feelings
more speedily recover than those who
suppose that it is unworthy a man to be
tray such symptoms of cowardice as
either to groan or cry. That some pa
tients often have a great satisfaction in
groaning and that hysterical patients
often experience great relief from ..cry-.
i ing, are facts which no person will
i aeny.