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About The Athena press. (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942 | View Entire Issue (March 26, 1909)
THE FAVORITE POET OmmM .CHILDREN Who is tbe favor- Xhf ite poet of Ameri can children? Why, any school boy can j! tell you. The an- sN swer is Longfellow, Cj., of course, and has ."ii been for a genera- ?! tion. A book for Mp children has been published containing -' more than eighty of Longfellow's best poems, beginning with the time-worn but precious "Psalm of I L and eildluS with the graphic sketch or L-narlemagne." it would be interesting if there were some way of estimating the fruits of Longfellow's ennobling and refining poems as they have reappeared in the lives of men and women. He has himself put the idea into one of his poems: I breRthed a ong Into the air, It fell to earth, I knew not where, For who has sight so keen and strong, That It can follow the flight of song? "A Psalm of Life" has been worn - trite by much use because its lines voice the inmost philosophy of American optim ism : Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for nnv fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait. Longfellow has sounded the whole gamut, of yotith in its nobler ambitions, feminine and masculine alike. What boy does not thrill to the idea of "Excel' sior," and What girl Standing with reluctant feet, Where the brook unit river meet, Womanhood and childhood fleet docs not feel the impulse to live a noble life when she reads the exquisite poem on "Maidenhood?" Then there are the nar rative poems, "A Skeleton in Armor," "The Wreck of the Hesperus" and "The Village P.lacksmith," Hint have the uni versal charm of a good story as well. As for "Hiawatha," that is the children's bInlg own imperisnauie possession. At the stern sat Hiawatha, With his fishing Una of cedar i In tils plumes the breeze of morning Played as In the hemlock branches ; On the bows, with tall erected, Hat the squirrel, AdJIdnumo; In his fur the breeze of morning riayea as in the prairie grasses. THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW The government of Austria makes special inducements to farmers ' who will reclaim waste lands and make use of them. .." . . Gin is still used as a medium of ex change is some parts of the Niger country in Africa, but the government discourages it. Owing to the extreme conservatism in these districts the task is difficult. ' -' The Department of Agriculture and Commerce in Japan is being prevailed upon to grant a sparrow destroying sub' sidy, as in some parts of this district the English sparrow is becoming a pest, having devoured the rice crop. A variety of verses of Improved qual lty reached the ..Municipal Suffrage League of Chicago, in the $100 prize contest offered for the best "battle hymn," to be used in the woman' cause. A feature of the offering is preponderance of women writers. : Fire In a Chicago barn has ruined collection of 15,000 negatives of news boys with whom the owner oi'd won several gold medals. The owner had spent many years gathering the news boy negatives, the types being those of newsboys of almost every country in the world. Prominent actors and . musicians In Berlin have been engaged for the "shad ow theater" which will soon be opened In that city. It will be conducted, ac cording to the prospectus that has been printed, as the Schattenspieltheater in Munich, and a similar place of amuse ment in Paris. At a meeting of the Mendelsham Sparrow Club it was stated that during this year 4,918 old birds, 2,807 young bird and 3,914 eggs had been destroyed, a total of 11,039. The local farmers pay a voluntary rate, based on acreage, from which payments are made for and eggs destroyed. London Standard. ing nerore women s newspapers were started, and fashion plates in their modern form were thought of, women derived their knowledge of the fashions from dolls dressed In modern The artist lias made of this scene one costumes, which were sent from one of his most graceful and delicately col- country to another, more especially ored pictures. from Paris, then, as now, the leading ji uui in-vere s ume stirs tne martial center of .the mode, ftnill nf trmifli nrwl nrnnuna on linnnKinlia. I ble Interest in Boston's historic old North In a PnPer read fore the Society of Church and the monumental spots at Navnl Architects and Marine Engineers Lexington and Concord. Henry Penton states that the oldest A hurry of hoofs In a village street, iron ship in the world is the United A shape n the moonlight, a bulk In the states warship Michigan, the material And beneath, from the pebbles, In passing, for Whose construction was "dragged at. t T . across the mountains from Pittsburg to fleet; "uu Lake Erie," where the ship was built, That was all! And yet, through the gloom as long as slxty-slx years ago nnA li Mirtit The fate of a nation was riding that night. Whether warts spread by contact has Ana tne spark struck out by that steed, In been much discussed. A Glasgow physl- Kindled the land into flame with Us hent. dan mentions that a maid with many Other old favorites include "The Build- warts on hands and arms was employed ing of the Ship," "The Bridge," "The In a certain family, and warts soon ar Old Clock on the Stairs," "CastlcB in peared on the hands of the three chil- Spaln," "My I-ost Youth," "Snndalphon," dren. The youngest, a boy of five, with "Tl',!' P ImT'TtVVT-Im a Hbit of biting the fingers, developed ers," "Tho Children's Hour," 'The Cns- . ,ta .... ' . ' tie Builder" and those three lovely poems two warts on the llj and one in the inculcating kindness to animals "The moutu- Bell of Atri," "Walter von der Vogel- The announcement that the Japanese weld" and "The Emperor s Bird's Nest." are about to open the railway which Whether it bo true or not, it is the fashion nowadays to say that nobody reads poetry. In so far as it is true it is not a fact to be proud of. It suggests tho gentle Amier's bitter remark that the modern world knows only "a pot-try skin ned and dissected by science.'" The popn- they have built In Formosa is the lat est evidence of the good work which they are doing In the Island, which was acquired in 1895, at the close of the war with China. At the time of, the transfer, sixty-two miles of the road lar erase for light fiction, In so far as line was completed. It now covers a it crowds out the literature of beauty and total of 334 miles, and Japan has built noble inspiration, is a national tnisfor- the additional 272 miles at nearly tune. But If the hurry and materialism r.joo.000 loss than the estimates. of tho ago have perverted our own tastes, ,, , . at least let us give the unpolled chil- D,,,1,e la hoId responsible for the ex- dren a chance to enjoy the finer joys of Pression, "painting the town red." In good poetry while their hearts are still nis umne comwiy ' Dante, led by lr- open to its benign influences. For this gll, comes to the cavernous depths of purpose there is nothing better than I be the place, swept by a mighty wind, Children's Longfellow." Edwin L, Shu- where those nre confined who have been Care of the Flock. . Sheep need little shelter except to keep off raiii and snow. I have al ways allowed thein to stay out in the coldest weather, if it was not stormy. However, I never, under any circum stances, allow them to take rains and Knows in winter, writes a correspondent of Farm and Home. At this season I give good clover hay, and in addition a little silage or corn fodder about three times a week. I feed twice a day in the yard on the ground if it is frozen, but when the ground is not frozen I feed in racks in the sheep barn. I feed a little en tire grain, mostly oats to the breeding ewes. : V.V My troughs are made of three boards, S feet long, the bottom one 10 inches wide and the sides 6 inches, as shown in sketch. I scatter the oats thin in these troughs and the sheep cannot get a large mouthful. Thus better masti cation of the grain Is secured than in narrow troughs. I have fed threshed oats to my sheep for a goodw.many year? and have not as yet experienced any bad results from their use. I feed oats until after lambing time, then rnTTX Tl I fVl m WALL SHEEP TROUGH. add about one ear of shelled corn to one pint of oats per day. I know from my own experience that It pays to keep sheep, provided they are kept well, and those who do not do this are very likely to condemn the breed of sheop which they may happen tu have or the breeding stock which they have purchased for the improve ment of their flock when the fault is really their own. man In the Chicago Record-Herald. the prey of their passions. Two faces arise from the mist the faces of Fran cesca and Paolo. "Who are ye" cries Dante In nlarm, and Francesca replies sadly, "We are those who have painted the world rod with our sins." Massaehuetts' State Board of Health has Issued a bulletin on cold-storage The Miser' Carpet. "Dr. Qualn, the eminent physician, full of Hibernian wit, would sometimes tell unauthorized anecdotes of his pro fesslonal experiences," says Sir Alger non West in "One City and Many Men." "Once he was attending a well known man of miserly habits In May- poultry In which this advice is given fair, who when very HI asked him to to housekeepers: "In order to avoid honestly tell him if he would" ever obtaining water logged and frozen again rise from his bed of sickness, fowls the consumer should demand the The doctor thought he never would, frozen bird and thaw it himself. If Please ring the loll,' said tho patient, thawed quickly by Immersion 'n a buck- and when he had secured the attend- e of hot water. It way be eaten with nnce of the housekeeper he said: 'Have impunity and with relish he same day the utv'p of carpet by my bedside, it is purchased; or, If hung overnight which is a good one, wrapped up and nt ' temperature, It may be ready put away. I shall not want It again, rr use the day following." ana ir it is icu nore tuose unuer- arrant s liquor, for the preserva- taker's men will be sure to spoil it tion of vegetable organisms, consists of with their dirty boots!'" Cleautug I p After Sewing, For those who must sew but who have no sewing room there is a plan by which the sewer can save 'he time and labor that she formerly spent In tidying up the room after she has fin ished each night. Buy five yards of denim and cut It into two pieces. Join these together so as to form a square and hem the raw edges. Lay this square on the floor and set the machine on It All threads, scraps an, ravellugs can be dropped on this, and when the sewer has finished for the day tlw machine thirty-five parts or distilled water, in which, while boiling, 0.1 part of white arsenic Is dissolved. The cooled fluid Is mixed with an equal part, by weight, of glycerine, ami hi this Is dissolved the same quantity, by weight of gum arable. In this fluid the most delicate plant organisms are preserved admir ably, and In addition, it is not liable to evaporation, which, In hot countries, is of great value. It is poisonous, of course. In the singular experience reported to a Paris medical society by Drs, Chauffard and Wldal, a man and his wife were taken with pneumonia within can be covered and rolled off the deutni and the denim can be gathered up and a few Lours of eaeh other, and the dh haken. ease rau an almost Identical course in each case. Their Illness began on a in. iu...ir iut.ii. day iu Jum following one on which BJoiu'8 How did Jackson acqulr they drank much cold water from a his reputation for unusual Insight and well. One could not have taken the aagaeity? disease from the other, ns la usual in Psinlth He tins 'a habit of saying family epidemics, and common unfa- "By George, that's so! I never thought vorable surroundings could hardly have of that before!" Cleveland Leader. had a simultaneous effect That tineu- inonla germs from the well water inoc ulated, the patients seemed to be tha only conclusion possible. A woman who has a uose for news usually bus a chin for telling It Quick Ponltry Fattening. The theory on which crate fattening Is encouraged is that a hen will digest more food than she will eat. Shredded wheat will put the fat on nt as low a cost as 4 cents per pound. The sec tions of our crates are two feet wide, two feet high, twenty-seven Inches long, three sections to a crate ; five llrds to a section, says a bulletin of The Connecticut Experiment Station. These have to be very carefully fed so that the appetite will not be hurt. Careful attention has to be given not only to what they are fed, but when and how often the feed Is offered to them. Equal quantities of cornmeal ground oats and shredded wheat mixed wth skim milk consistency of good por ridge In front of them for a few min utes, every twelve hours for two days. Next evening let them eat their fill Next day feed in the morning uot enough to satisfy them At night, all they will eat. At the end "of the sec- pond week give a noon feed of Just a little. The third week give all they want at noon. Next week add a little tallow, perhaps half a pint of tallow to fifteen birds. Give a little grit from time to time. If growing broilers give them a large percentage of bran six weeks, then make the bulk of the feed cornmeal for four weeks. Milk and buckwheat or milk and oats tend , to whiten skin. If anything is not contented, it won't put on flesh. Feeding Horaca. It Is generally believed that horses must not be fed clover hay for fear of the heaves. This is a mistake. If the horse is given the proper quantity of clover and not overfed there is no danger of the heaves. A horse should never be fed more than he will eat up clean, either grain or hay. Without a doubt oats is the best general food for a horse, and goes well with tim othy hay. A good change is to once or twice a week give a feed of corn and clover with bran mash. Wlmi a horse does uot clean up his feed it la best to try a change. Feeding and watering should be doue at regular in tervals, the watering always before the eating. Above all things, do not give a horse water immediately after eat ing. It should never be given before at least an hour after he has flulshed his meal. Keeping Soil in Good Shane. When there is plenty, of moisture in spring, followed by dry and hot weather during June and July, the con dition is just right for spoiling the soil, especially If untimely plowing has icrr rne flelds in a badly baken condi tion. If the result of such conditions lasted but one season the matter would not be so serious, but it has frequently oeen observed that land badly puddled and subsequently hard baked can not be retrieved in many years. It is harder to reduce such soil than the toughest hard-pan. In fact, it will require sev- eiai seasons of careful work to bring tnese soils into good condition again. It is a bad practice to stir ground when it is wet yet it Is done every spring. ' Crops are puddled' in every year, and it is a wonder that we get any crops at' all from these fields. o t. a i . . . - Du.cu ueias are tne nrst to dry up when summer droughts strike us, for capillarity has been so completely de stroyed that the crops , can not draw upon the water reserves, and the, ele ments needed for growth of the crops are so securely locked up In the clods that they are not available. It is the natural tendency of all soil to become firmer. It is tamped down by even the gentlest rains, and beating rains will render it almost impervious to water.' Good farming must undo this work by breaking up these crusts and keeping the soil in good condition. All practical farmers know that soils are best by being plowed and cultivated at Just the right time, but not many have the patience to stand by, when the season is getting late, or put off cultivation and allow weeds to get the upper hand. Brown says there is more to be gained by properly working our soils than in fertilizing them. YEAR Of 1909 RICH 113 im' .t f. Wind Coiie in Home. The treatment for wind colic differs very materially from that of cramn colic. Absorbents are of some service, and ' charcoal may -be given in any quantity, uelaxants are also beneflcfal in this form of colic. Chloral hydrate uot only possesses this quality, but It also is a pain reliever. It is particu larly well adapted to the treatment of wind colic, and should be given in 1- ounce doses in a pint of water. Di luted alcohol or whisky may be given, or aromatic spirits, of ammonia in 1- ounce doses at short intervals a physic should always be given in flatu lent colic as early as possible, the best being 1-ounce doses of Barados aloes. Injections, per rectum, of turpentine. 1 to 2 ounces ; linseed oil, 8 ounces, may be given freqquently to stimulate the peristaltic motion of the bowels and favor the escape of wind. Blankets wrung out of hot water do much to af- ford relief; they should be renewed every five or ten minutes and covered with a dry, woolen blanket. This form of colic is much more fatal than cramp one, ana requires prompt and persist ent treatment. It Is entirely unsafe to predict the result, some apparently mild attacks going on to speedy death, while others that appear at the o'uset to be very severe yielding rapidly to treatment Do not cease your efforts until you know the animal is past help. HE year 1009 is distinguished beyond any previous yeajr-tbln the memory of man for the number and importance of centen nlal anniversaries of the birthdays of famous persons, and also marks the tercentenary celebrations of some historic events. The year 1809 brought Into the world a remarkable array of men whose achievements will be glorified as long as civiliza tion lasts. In that year Abraham Lincoln first saw the light of day in Hardin County, Kentucky, mid on the same day, Feb. 12, .though under a far different environment, Charles Darwin was born at Shrewsbury, England.' Three days later, at Walnut Grove, Va., came into the world Cyrus Hall MeCormick,' who Is described "as having done more for the cause of agriculture than any. other Jiving man." - ' - The field of literature and poetry was vastly enriched that same re markable year by the birth of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Edgar Allan Poe, Mrs. Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Alfred Tennyson. -The. year 1809 also gave to the world of music one of Its finest exponents, Felix Mendelssohn. ; In 1809 Robert Fulton, whose efforts to establish steam navigation on the Hud son river had been .fully , demonstrated to be successful, took .-out his first patents. Two hundred years earlier Henry Hudson sailed up the same river in search of a passage to India, while Samuel de Chainplain was exploring from the north and. discovered the great lake which bears his name and which is intimately connected with the colonial and revolutionary wars. All of these historic birthdays and events will be magnificently celebrated during me luujujg ear ui liioy. , - . .- f t V Naturally the greatest and most far-reaching centennial celebration will 'J be that of the birthday of Abraham Lincoln. In every part of the United - V Mates, in England, France and other foreign lands, the birth of the great emancipator will be observed. , :". Cyrus Hall MeCormick died in Chicago In 1SS4., Mendelssohn's brilliant ' career was cut short at the very zenith of his fame."-. He was born in Ham- " " burg Feb. 5, 1809, and died Nov. 4, 1847. Darwin'died In 1SS2, having devoted the fifty years of his life after graduation from Christ College, Cambridge, to the study of and research into the secrets of nature. 4 - - ".- - Oliver .Wendell Holmes and Edgar Allan Pot? were both born ' hi Mas- T r Tvr ' in January ana the former, in August. In England Alfred Tennyson was born Aug. 0, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning March 0. The Hudson-Fulton memorial celebration will be held In New York next fall on a magnificent scale and will continue for a 'week. One of the features will be a pageant which, it is claimed, will eclipse -anything of the. kind in the world s history. ,: y . , One of the largest sawmills in the world has been erected on the island of Hawaii by a company which has a contract to furnish a million ties a year to an American railroad. A Belgian inventor has secured a patent on a flying machine modelled on the insects of the locust species. With a 100-horsepower motor the machine weighs a trifle less than 870 pounds. By burning resinous materials to the windward of their' vineyards at night, the French wine growers produce dense clouds of smoke which protect their vines from frosts in spring and fall. Many old workings in the Pennsvl- vauia anthracite held, abandoned years ago for lack of knowledge to work the deeper views, are being reopened and made productive by modern machinery. A vacuum cylinder, for the preserva tion of food, from which the air may be exhausted by apparatus so simple that any person can operate it, is a ROBIN HOOD NOT A MYTH. Hero of Sherwood Forest Had m " I Court Place Under King Ed- ward II. , . , , ' '. Many famous men have their names ' ' linked .with Sherwood, King John, tlw -three Edwards, Richard III, Cardinal " Wolsey and Charles I.k but the hero of the place, the "genius loci," is Robin . Hood, the London Globe says, v .. -. ' Some think that the famous outlaw " of. the ballads was a myth, a mera !: poetic conception and a creature of the ' popular mind," but Mr.' Hunter in his research Into the person and period -of Robin Hood holds that he was born between 12S5 and 1295, 'livlnir throng,.. the reign of the -second Edward and into the early years of the third. He was of a family of some station seated near Wakefield, and supported the Earl ' of Lancaster in his rebellion against the government. When the earl fell and bis followers ', were proscribed Robin Hood took to the woods and suDnorted himself by slaying the wild animals found in the forest and by levying a species of blackmail on nassene-em ; along the great road which i united London and ..Berwick. , This continued for about "twenty, months, from April, Watering System for Stable. ' In the accompanying plan two eal- vanizea iron tanks, 2 ft. x 5 ft are connected by a pipe (c) so that tank (b) is supplied with water from tank a), which in turn is supplied from the hydrant as shown Tank (b) is comiectedy.with a sewer by a waste pipe (d). The plug (e) consists of a piece of gas pipe threaded Into the end of the waste pipe and . therefore an swers the purposes of plug and over flow. . - Fertilising In Winter. It might be said that it is always seasonable to fertilize the orchard or gardeu. Manure placed on this soil this wluter will partially decay, and Its richness soak Into the soil for tbe use of the plants next year. It not only serves as a fertilizer In the orchard, but lu winter it acts as a soil protec tion and regulates sudden freezing and thawing. On hilly laud it checks soil erosion. Grana In Orchard. Sod culture Is rmmuuended by some successful peach growers. Tbe soil is worked during the time the trees are growing, aud a clover crop Is sowed for fall and wluter which Is plowed under early . in the spring. Clover crops ahould not be left until they suck up too must moisture rrom the soil at a time when it la needed by Hie trees. Salt for Sheep, .' Experiments recently made for the purpose of ascertaining the nutritive value of salt for sheep show that those hlch have been fed salt gained In eight four and one-half pounds more than those which received no salt Moreover, the sheep , which received salt produced one and cne-third pounds more wool and of a better quality thap those which received no salt. J i Harreatlng Beeta with Steam Plow. To plow out a crop of sugar beets by running a heavy traction engine over the field would be destructive, so the method described in Popular Me chanics bas proved very satisfactory. The powerful traction engines , are placed at each side of a field, aud the plow, which Is of a special design, t dragged back and forth by cables. recent invention of a German machln- 1322- to December,: 1323, when he fell 1st ' ' I into the klne'a nower vuhn fn vj 4 J hmv l.JA. MVAJIO unknown reason not only pardoned him but gave him a place at court Any how, a man of the name of Robyn Hode was a "vadlet'Vof the king in 1324. Dr. Spencer ,T. Hall says that Robyn was created Earl of Huntington Jby a London ballad writer hard up for a word to rhyme to Little John. Be this as it may,, Robin Hood wi I always be the hero of romance and those who love roman.ee. will refuse to believe that he never existed. ' i , . . Packing Egga, Farmers and others who knowing!,, pack bad eggs with good ones are go lug to be prosecuted by the Nebraska and Michigan Pure Food commissions. Dealers claim that their losses amount ed to several million dollars last year. A Domeatio Dileutna. A. Philadelphia woman, whose given name is Mary, aa is also the name of her daughter, had recently engaged a domestic, when, to her embarrassment, she discovered that the Bervant'a name, too, waa Mary. An alloy of nine parts of lead, "two or antimony and one of bismuth ex pands In cooling, therefore makes . a good combination for plugging holes in metal, as the plug fits tightly when cold, ' v v - ;v: . , The increased demand for tungsten ores and products in the United States in 1907 led' to the production of 1640 short tons of concentrates, valued at $S90,048, nearly three times the output of 1906. By i the Invention of machines' to bleach and spin it the wild silk of Manchuria, great quantities of" which are exported each year, threatens to seriously compete with that grown in more civilized lands. ':"' -."V Strangers are sometimes surprised by the fear of vipers which exists In some parts of France. These little venomous snakes are dangerous both to man and! beast. Recently a movement has been .! made to protect the vipers, on the ground that they render valuable serv ices In destroying rodents, mollijsks, and other small noxious animals, but a writer in the Journal of Practical Agriculture strenuously opposes this, declaring that the services performed by the vipers are of small account in comparison with the accidents, fre quently mortal, which they cause. . He instances a little neighborhood In the Department of Meurthe-et-Moselle, where the vipers became- a veritable plague, and where, Inspired by the offer of a reward, two hunters destroyed 12,000 of them. i ; ;! i ue uv.-isiug employment of re ducing agents of many kinds in the manufacture vOf steel Is primarily due to the necessity of getting rid of blow holes and gas babbles.- The reductors effect this by absorbing and removing tne gases dissolved la the molten metal. But they render another Important service also by adding,' by their pres ence hi small quantities, to the tensile strength of the steel. Ferrosilicium, for Instance when employed as a re dactor, Increases the' strength of the steel about 15 per cent Calcium also has an excellent effect and with van adium the strength of the steel is sometimes doubled. Vanadium also greatly increases the. resistance of steel to the effects of vibration, and conse quently vanadium-steel is largely em ployed for the manufacture of automo bile machinery. ' Man usually Indulges in a lot of self-praise when he has greatness thrust upon him. AMONG THOSE PRESENT " ' '. -.' WAS MR. "WILLIAM GOAT. I l"B J(5$- II A big goat -butted in on a dance given in the school house at Annapolis,1 California, the other night and for the time being: held the fort successfully. The dancers : scattered .' when Billy dashed In through tbe open door. The goat cut a wide swath. - The musicians forgot themselves and the music : ceased very suddenly. Then it waa a' case of grab without a waltz. The ladies and children took refuge on tha benches and tables, spread for the re freshments. ;-5 Even ; men's courage quailed before the intrusion of the but-' ter. ; The goat seemed to pay particular attention to the leader of the orchestra. The nlmal charged, horns down, at him. tThe music stand vanished; so did the musicians. And the burring th-. piano got put it all out of tune. Fin ally the goat was ejected and the danea irouuieu. ... . Still Safe. ; . Hkks You were dreadfnllr India. creet to mention that Important deal of ours to your wife. ; WlekOh, it's all right I didn't tell her It was a secret Boston TrW script. ' ' ., ..