when r -- non w All a - on n. rrn ||M|ul| Look up the street 10 o it down the street. Before you leave the gate; If horses' feet the cob- bles beat, a Stand very still and wait. If nothing there yet ’Illliuiuul mum I 'Wlulm sec. With footsteps fleet. my toddler sweet Cross over carefully How the Century Plant Was Named. About two cenTuries ago a Russian nobleman travelling in Mexico saw and admired the m-aguey plant, which is a native of Mexico. The plant was so much admired by the Russian for its beauty and utility that he was eager to have growing specimens in his own country. So, when leaving Mexico he procured some roots to take home to the czar as a present. On his first visit to court after he reached the c’apital city, he told of the wonderful plant and asked permission of the czar to presentyto him the spec- imens which he had. The czar gra- ciously granted his request and gave the roots to the court gardener, who promised to give the plants his best attention, but unfortunately before he could plant them properly, as he in- tended, he was taken suddenly ill and died without having accomplished any- thing. “ Another gardener was appointed. In the meantime the roots lay in the sack in which they were first placed. The new gardener not knowing their value threw the sack away, and it lay un. heeded in a corner of the garden day after day. Some time afterward his little daughter picked up one of the roots, and, in a playful mood, planted it, but paid it no further attention. The‘ czar had forgotten all about it. In “course of time the ruler died and also, the second gardener. The plant in after years put out a few spikes for leaves. but did not thrive in the cold air of Russia.~ It grew very slowly and its origin was not known to any one except the wife of/ the hammer gardener and the child that planted it. ‘ Years passed and still the strange plant; with it's thick, long, straight leaves, now nearly six feet tall, did not bloom, but as it grew taller it at tracted notice, and the new czar some- times looked at it and wondered if it would ever bloom. In time he, too, died. and still the maguey bloomed not. But just after the coronation of an- other czar a stalk shot up from the mot of the plant and rapidly grew to the height of twenty feet. Soon many clustersof small buds appeared, which slowly unfolded and became white blossoms. The wonderful plant had bloomed at last! The gardener said it was 100 years old. and had blossomed in honor of the new czar. Word was sent to him and he and his whole court visited and admired the flowers and the plant. The poor exile from the sunny skies of Mexico has earned its reward and a new name. for ever since that day it has been known as the "century plant.“——Godey’s Magazine. Language- of Flags. To “strike the flag” is to lower the national colors in token of submis- sion. Flags are used as the symbol of rank and command, the officers using them being called flag officers. Such flags are square. to distinguish them from other banners. ‘ A “flag of truce” is a white flag dis played to an enemy to indicate a de- sire for a parley or consultation. The white flag is the sign of peace. After a battle parties from both sides often go out to the field to rescue the wounded or bury the dead, under the protection of a white flag. The red flag is a sign of defiance, and is often used by revolutionists, In our service it is a mark of danger, and shows a vessel to be receiving or discharging her powder. The black flag is the sign of piracy. The yellow flag shows a vessel to be at quarantine, and is the sign of con- tagious diseases. A flag at half-mast means mourning. Fishing anu other vessels return with a flag at half- mast to announce the loss or death of some of the men. Dipping a flag is lOWering it slightly and then hoist- ing it again, to salute a vessel or I'ort. If the President of the United States goes afloat the American flag is car- ried in the bows of his barge or hoist- ed. at the main of the vessel on board sofwhich he is.—School Journal The Lucky Poodle. Probably no dog has ever rendered such signal military service or been ssohonorably recognized as the cele- brated poodle Moustache, who shared the victorious fortunes of the French army through most of the wars of the Consulate and of the French empire. He won special honors at Marengo, and was decorated on the battlefield of Austerlitz by Marshal Lannes as a reward for having rescued his regi- mental standard from an Austrian sol- dier when in the act of snatching it from the grasp of the standard bearer as he fell, mortally wounded. The plucky poodle drove ed the assailant and then, seizing the tattered colors in his teeth, dragged them triumphant- ly till he reached his own company.- l‘hiladelphia Ledger. ' »———-,.-—-l. "‘5" CUTRENTCOMMENT- M" Despite the predictions of enthusas fic bicycle writers a year or so ago, the horse is holding his own against the bicycle in warfare. Besides ah other advantages, on a pinch horses can furnish food for starving armies. One of the marked differences be- tween this war and the last is the in- ] of tactics. creased use of the bugle in infantry regiments. It is far less subject to damage than the drum, and can be heard at a greater distance. The bugle ,, is well adapted ' to the greatly en- larged form of skirmishing now a part -:A-.; Predictions about the h‘orseless age have been called in. The armies of the world alone absorb an immense number. The price of cavalry and ar- tilley horses in this country has doubled since the war broke out, and the standard has been slightly low-’ cred as to age and height. The gov- ernment, by the way, never buys a horse whose tail is docked or other- wise c‘hanged from its natural shape; To the military attaches of foreign Governments, who are accustomed to' the immense, well equipped and per-l fectly drilled armies of Europe, no doubt our hastily gathered and, as fit, i raw and ill supplied volunteers ap-~l pear utterly contemptible; but their‘ Governments know better than to un- derrate the fighting qualities of these undisciplined legions. They still re- member how the same kind of troops astonished the world by the way they fought a generation ago. The heroism of the engine room of our war ships is no less than that of the deck. But the men down below sometimes get opportunities for show~ ing what is in them which are not open to the rest of their shipmates. In his report on the Oregon’s great my age Capt. Clark after speaking of the excellent discipline which prevailed on the run, referred to the engineer offi- cers who voluntarily doubled their watches when high speed was to be made, and to the attempts of the men to return to the fireroom after being carried’out of insensible. That is the way it is done! The last of the 300 educated young Englishmen who founded the town of Rugby, in the mountains of East Ten- nessee, in 1881, has left that once Ar- cadian village, established upon a plan arranged by Thomas Hughes. the Eng- lish author. Rugby still has a popu- lation of 300, but the English element has vanished. The young collegians found the beautiful mountains lone- some and the opportunities for an ac- tive life few. Tennessee’s mountain- eers agree that Rugby “improved the breed of ehogs," by which they mean nothing more than that the razorback, through the efforts of the English set- tlers, has been replaced by a far bet- ter animal. Oregon women who last year en- tered the field, literally speaking, to work up the flax industry in the State have reason to be more than gratified thus far with the success that has at- tended their endeavor. made a name for Oregon flax that takes precedence over the product of any other section of the Union in which flax culture has been tried. With 140 acres of. the best flax land in the State under crop, orders in hand for every ounce of fiber that can be produced. a fair degree of knowledge in regard to the cultivation of the plant and the preparation of the fiber for market. and reasonably adequate means a: hand for preparing it, the as- sociation in charge of the movement certainly enters the season of 1898 well equipped for the work. It has fur- thermore been fully demonstrated that systematized, intelligent effort is all that is necessary to make fiber flax culture one of the growing and per- ' manent‘iy profitable industries of the State. The commerce of the United States with Japan 1has grown rapidly in the any other nation. Only three cpuntries, namely: Great Britain, China and British India, made as large sales to Japan as did the United States in 1897, and in ,no case was the increase in imports as large as /that from the United States. The gain which the United States has made over other parts of the world in sup- plying Japan with her imports is shown by the fact that the imports from the United States increased 65 per cent. in 1897 over 1896, while in total imports from all parts of the world the increases-of 1897 over 1896 was only 28 per cent. The gain of Great Britain, our chief competitor, was only'about 10 per cent. The rapid development of Japan‘s foreign commegce is shown by the fact that her exports in 1897 increased 28 per cent. The» articles which showed a marked increase in Japan‘s imports from the United States were raw cot. fowllng pieces, carriages, pig iron, plate and sheet iron, iron pipes, nails, steam boilers, railway carriages, elec- trical machinery, spinning machinery, mining machinery, printing paper and l telegraph wire. They have . last year, much faster than that with ‘ l ton, cotton duck, flour, hats and caps. . l‘” HE HAD NEVER THOUGHT. m And “’38 Therefore Fooled for Twenty Years. Two men were walking down Ninth street when they came in sight of a jeweler’s shop, from which was dis- played a wooden imitation of a. clock. Said the tall man: “Do you know why the 'hands of these dummy clocks invariably point to 8.20?” “As a matter of fact,” said the short man, “they don’t invariably. When they do, it is because it displays the hands to the best advantage.” “Not at all,” returned the tall man, with a tinge of coming triumph in his voice. “It is because it marks the ex- act moment when President Lincoln was assassinated in Ford’s theater.” “Does it, indeed?" exclaimed the short man, stopping his companion right under the clock. “Do you hap- pen to have heard what play was on the boards that fatal night?" “Our American Cousin,” replied the other promptly. “Right, my son. Now, pay attention. The shot was fired during the second scene of the third act. Theaters then, .as now, began the performance at 8 o’clock, and so you would have me be- lieve that it required only twenty min- utes to play two entire acts and one scene of the third? Do you believe that yourself?" The tall man reflected for ten sec- onds, and then said blankly: “Well, to think that I’ve believed that stupid lie for twenty years!”——Philadelphia Times. The President’s Possible Cow. “Just after President McKinley’s in- auguration he had his relatives who were in the city at a family dinner at the White House. It was a large com- pany, and a very good dinner. Dear old Mother McKinley was there, but she was not very talkative. She was too happy for words. But she kept a. sharp eye on the dinner, and no detail of it escaped her. She was impressed by the quantity of cream served with the fruit and coffee, for she looked up at her son in her sweet way and said: “ ‘William. you must keep a cow now.” _ . “Some of the younger members of the family party found'it dificult to sup- press a smile, but the President, with his usual tact and graciousness, re- plied: . 4 “ ‘Yes, mother, we can afford to have a cow now, and have all the cream we can possibly u-se.’ ”—Lady’s Home Journal. A Letter to Jane. The following letter from one of the new recruits was found near Fort M:- Pherson: “Dear Jane: Jane, I’m in trouble. I’ve done enlisted in the army, an' I'm sorry fer it. I wish I was home. Jane, will you do me this one favor? Write to the War Department an’ tell the President the children is down lwith the measles, and your old rheu- matism is broke out ag'in, an’ you needs me at home. Will you do this much fer me, Jane? Oh, Jane, I’m in deep trouble! Jane—my dear Jane—if the children ain’t got the measles, send ’em over in the Green neighbor hood. The Greene is always got ’em, an’ the children ’11 be shore to ketch ’em there. Will you do this fer me. Jane? 0h, Jane, don’t forsake me! Ain’t I your husband?"—Atlanta Con- stitution. A Girl Mayor. The town of Kendrick, Idaho. has a girl Mayor. She is Miss Jessie Park- er. and is not yet twenty-three years old. Miss Parker was elected as an independent after a hot campaign. She not only got most of the votes cast by women, but those cast by men. In- deed, the men were partlcularly en— thusiastic. and she was kept awake far into the night for days previous to her election by crowds assembling out- side of her window and yelling, “What"s the matter with Parker?” “Hurrah for Parker!” right!" and the like. says she intends to take Theodore Roosevelt as her model, and that she is determined to enforce all the laws, and if possible will drive out of town the element that has given it a bad 'reputation.-——New York Sun. A Tempting Prospect, “I think,” said the small boy, re- ‘ flectively, “that I’ll go and live in . Cuba.” “Wouldn’t you be sorry to leave your . home and friends?" ' “Yes. But think of having two Inde- pendence Days to celebrate every sum- mer."—-Washington Star. when it’s a Welsh rabbit dat' keeps ’em awake.”-—Washington Star. A Wis. Precaution, Senior Partner—Make each of our employee hand in a. list of all his rel- atives. Junior Partner—What on earth do you want that for? Senior Partner—The baseball season opens soon, and I want to make sure that each relative dies only once dur. ing the summer.——New York Journal. A Born Mathematician. “Dickey doesn’t know his letters ' well," explained his mother to the new teacher, “but he’s quick in learn- ing figures.” “What is this, dear?” asked the teacher, pointing to the letter B. “Dat’s a thirteen jammed togedder,” promptly responded Dickey—Chicago Tribune. “You must admit that your argu. ment was rather thin." “My dear sir.” remarked the man who was filibustering, “in a case like ‘ this it is not the thickness of an argu. ment that counts. It’s the length."- Washington Star. * ~ ~- - ‘,,., “Parker’s all - Miss Parker ‘ Good Temper for a Beautiful Face. According to the Pittsburg Dispatch bad temper is beauty’s greatest foe 'It curdles the blood and brings wrink les, and a bad complexion is the re- sult. The following advice is given tc women who wish to preserve their good looks or to improve their bad ones: “Take a wholesome delight in physi» cal exercises and outdoor sports. The pale. delicate girl is no longer ‘inter- esting.’ “Have freedom and comfort in dress at all times. “Decide upon a definite aim in life, and choose one that is worthy of an immortal soul. “Be superior to envy, jealousy and uncharitableness. “Control your temper for the sake of your good looks, as well as for your health. It is not enough, either, mere- ly to keep from giving anger its out- ward expression. A smouldering fire is far more dangerous to health than that which comes to the surface and is quickly extinuished. A disposition which continually ‘boils’ within often finds plhysical expression in boils and ulcers. Wrath has a natural tendency to curdle the blood, and the continued curdled condition is bound to show it- self on the surface sooner or later. It is an old story that anger interferes with the digestion, a fact which is nevertheless frequently disregarded, as more than one irascible dyspeptic can testify. “Live above worry, care, fear, and all other corroding and inharmonious thought. . “Finally, cultivate a sweetly serene frame of mind under all circum- stances. Do not allow yourself to be a creature of moods, in depths of gloom and depression one day and on the heights of hilarity and mirth the next." Ono Way to Save Nerve Force. In preparing for an engagement the. first duty of seamanship is to clear the decks for action, and every indi- vidual in daily conflict with work and worry they wisely follow the example. A large part of the nervous strain to which the present generation confesses itself subject is probably produced by the constant friction with intrusive bric-a-brac. Fringed and floating draperies beset doors and hallways, glass and pottery crowd tables and shelves, we hardly thread a devious way through our own homesteads amid a multitude of fragile trifles that require a skill rivalling that of the trained egg dancer. At the writing desk the thoughts that should freely flow to the point of the pen are dis- tracted by an observance due to a host of obstacles, styled appointments, which were better described as clutter. The busy girl who, rising heroically to the occasion, swept her dressing case free of encumbrances and de- cided to be henceforth plain—clean, burst at one blow the bonds that had shackled her body and mind and shat- tered her temper. Our daily lives should be surround- ed by graee and beauty, but common sense is needed in the discrimination of what constitutes this desirable loveliness. Harmony of color and of design abide perennially in simplicity, but often escape from that aggre- gation of trifles which, although petty in themselves, form an assemblage as dreary as the shelf of a museum. The world is crying for rest, and each in- dividual might begin to fight for its attainment in private life by decimat- ing that army of trifles that has been allowed to gather in battle array against our peace—New Century J our- nal. The Two Tone Wax Seal. The two tone seal in wax on an en- velope made to match the two tone monogram on the paper is a mystery. to any one not in the secret. For in- stance, a silver monogram and raised onramentation on I. blue background is easily duplicated in the seal. The background is of wax to match the background of the monogram. When ready to seal the envelope dip the seal in the oil, and wipe it quite dry, except the engraving, where the oil remains. Then dip the oily seal into the silver powder, and brush across the seal, leaving no silver ex- cept in those same indentations of the engraved monogram. Melt the wax and drop it on to the proper place. and seal as usual. The oil will have taken up the silver powder into the mono gram, and the warm wax taken it out of the monogram, so that all the raised ornamentation is coated over with the silver powder.—New York Herald. An Experience Worth Trying. London women have discovered a very agreeable way of ridding their houses of flies and mosquitoes. They burn sandal wood in the house. This is a oriental idea. In London it is pos-, sible to get the wood prepared for this purpose, but here it is not so easy. as American women have not yet tak- en to the practice. Sandal wood can be bought at almost any Turkish or Japanese importing house. It is pre- pared for burning by being first cut into small pieces half an inch in thickness and three inches in length. Then it is baked or dried out in a slow oven for twenty-four hours. A piece of the wood is put into a metal urn, liglhted and allowed to burn until well aflame, when the flame is extin- guished and the red hot ember left to smoulder until the wood is consumed and nothing is left but a heap of fine gray ashes. During the smouldering process the wood sends out a sweet and aromatic smoker—Philadelphia Ledger. - _M .. -. fi—‘a “- NEW YORK FASHIONS. Shirt waists of every variety con- tinue high in popular favor. Nearly every sort of material is suitable for these useful garments and they may be made as ornate as desired. The pat- tern with the pouched front is the host fashionable just at present, with the yoke extending well over the shoulder. A pretty model of sprigged organdie has the front tucked from top to bot- tom. The band down the center is bordered on either side with narrow ruflies of the material. The sleeves are the regulation shirt waist model, fln~ ished at the wrist with a. turned back out. Gray a Fashionable Color. Entire costumes of gray in veryr many different tones will be highly favored all summer, and skirts of gray vigogne, mohair, canvas, etamine, ladies cloth, and rapped silk or wool will very largely take the place of the useful and universal black skirt so long worn with fancy waists and jack- ets. Some of the smartest toilets worn at the recent fashionable gatherings in Paris—on varnishing day, at the horse show, and the like—were made of gray in some striking or elegant combination or wholly of one hand- some fabric, with whitc silk or satin gnimpe, and vest-front trimmed with gold or silver braid, or again combined with mauve, red, or Spanish yellow. In evening toilets are some exquisite gowns in gray crepe do chine, crepon, nun’s-veillng, silk. or silk gauze, or mousseline do sole, made up over rose- colored or brilliant coquelicot red. satin or taffeta. To Clean Flue Luce. Before fine laces are immersed in naptha or bonzine or even alcohol, for this, too, will clean them, although it takes longer, they should be bested with a fine needle and thread on a. piece of very thin muslin or old linen. Some of the most expert professional cleaners still use the powdered French chalk to cleanse these valuable p'os‘ sessions. The lace is thickly sprinkled on both sides with the chalk and spread on a thick sheet of writing-pa- per, covered with a second sheet and placed under a heavy press for sever- al days. In most households the un- abridged dictionary is considered the requisite weight. When the lace is taken out, it is lightly shaken to dust ; off the powder, and its soil will be found to have gone with it. ‘ Dainty Catch-Ans. A woman packing her trunk for the summer was noticed to lay in two or three stiifly starched square linen doil- ies. To an inquiring observer she ex- plained that these were for catch-ails when established in her farmhouse summer rooms. “I fold two ends to- gether, tying them at three places with ends of narrow ribbon to make a. cor- nucopia. Sometimes for an especial- ly elaborate one I work eyelet holes down one side with pink or blue silk, and lace my horn into shape with nar- row ribbon or cord of the same color. This largest one I shall hang the day I arrive at my summer quarters on the piazza, and it will save many a bit of paper and embroidery silk otherwise tossed over the railing on to the grass.” Flowers Six Thousand Years Old. Well preserved flowers discovered at . Dahsourh, in Egypt, in tombs of the times of the Pharaohs, have just been placed in the Cairo Museum. The commonest of these were the white or . blue lotus, the red poppy, the leaves and flowers of the pomegranate, of the saffron, and of the crocus. It seems that the flowers and plants of to-day are the same as flourished then, and that chrysanthemums were known 6,- 000 years ago. Some of these flowers found in the tombs, when soaked in water. seemed to revive. French Bathing Suits. French women are going to take their dips in the sea this summer in black satin and black taffeta bathing dresses. It. has been discovered that these fabrics stand the sea water ex- cellently. One would wish, however, to observe the experiment carefully be- fore deserting the known virtues of mohair and good quality flannel. Probably the smallest painting in the world'is that by a. Flemish artist on the smooth side of a. grain .of common white corn, and picturing a. mill and a mlllermounting a stair with a. sack of grain on his back. Feeding Pigs in Summer. Summer islthe time to make pork/‘3. Making it in winter requires too much food to keep up the animal heat. Ii . . hogs have plenty of grass in summer" and about half the corn they will eat.- they will fatten rapidly and my belief is that threepounds can be made on: less grain than one pound in cold” weather with a hog in a close penur The grass is cooling and loosening and, . counteracts the feverish properties of? _ the corn. Hogs will never melt in” summer, however fat, if they can have”; access to water and mud to lie in...'.'"'.._ Mud is very bad for hogs in cool} V weather. It absorbes too much ani-r; mal heat. Milk is cooling as a drink:-- _ and almost indispensable in raising pigs. . But very little corn and no corn meal should be fed to young pigs be- fore they are four months old. Food has ‘to be fermented before it will di- gest, and if fed to young pigs before~ -- ' it is fermented it will overtask their,‘ stomach and spoil them. Lettuce is . good for young pigs. The middlings should be put with milk at night after feeding has been done, and allowed to remain in the milk until morning. Nevgr allow the“ swill tub to get quite empty. Always H leave a little at the bottom to act as ‘ yeast. The swill should never be » allowed to get stale. Slop feed should -. be given often and never more at a A: -' time than will be eaten up. Slops» . will make larger hogs than dry feed. After the hogs get to be three or four x months old, their food can be made ' stronger, but a pig will not hear much _ 9 strong food until it begins to change from a pig to a hog. Many of our farmers do not know the value of f rass as a feed for hogs. At least one . «i would not think so. when their hogs of all ages may be seen during the whole~ summer in small yards or at best on very scanty pasture. Farmers who' ”‘7 know the real value of such feed'*“‘(‘ would as soon think of raising cattle”? and making milk and butter by feed-’7; "If? ing their stock grain alone during thef’“: whole summer as to raise hogs and-E)"; make the business profitable without_»»3;,=- a good supply of grass. Some men , make pork with little or no grass, but ; 5: it costs more and the hogs are not so "if healthy—American Agriculturist. ' ‘ Save All the Bones. . The bones of fish and fowls and the large and shall pieces of bones which 9.: are bought with beefsteak and mut- w" ton constitute the'very best food for “'7 fruit trees and grapevines if the frag- ments are only placed where the roots can lay hold of them. Instead of be- 5." ing cast into the backyard as food... for stray dogs and cats, care should 5} be taken to deposit everything of the sort in a-small tub with a cover. As soon as a few pounds have accumu- lated. take the tub to some grape vine or fruit tree, dig a hole three of more. "1" feet long, a foot or two. deep, dump in the bones and fill in the soil. The more fragments that can be spread around the better, but they should be buried so deep that a plow or spade will not reach them. The roots of " growing vines or fruit trees will soon find this mine of fertility, and will “—1 feed on the elements that will greatly ' promote the growth of healthy wood ‘ ; and the development of fair and Ins-V , cious fruit. Many floriculturists and farmers buy bone dust costing not less than $20 per ton, simply to enrich the soil around and beneath their vines I and trees. Fragments of bones are : just as valuable as ground bone, al- though their elements will not be as available in so short a time as if the large pieces were reduced to atoms... Nevertheless, if large bones are buried three or four feet from a grapevine,' the countless numbers of mouths at; the ends of roots will soon dissolve, ' take up and appropriate every parti- ' ' cle. When cast out of the kitchen ' door bones are a nuisance, but if prop- ‘ , erly used they become a source of val— uable fertility. .. How to Have Cauliflower in Winter. When sowing cauliflower for a sum- mer of autumn crop, do not overlook the fact that it is far more valuable as a winter than as a summer vege- table, and as a rule, in many sections of the country a more certain one. As a summer crop, away from the sea- coast, cauliflower is a very doubtful. ' one, which is due to-the fact that it: will not thrive in a hot, dry atmos-~ phere. But sow the seeds in June apd transplant them when the seeds are lof suitable size, and with favorable conditions of growth fine heads will be I formed and ready for the table by the last of October,_ and as the plants rarely all :head at the same time, the ' season will last until the plants are ruined by excessive cold. 2-- When the season is nearly over, 1‘ there will always be found many ‘-' plants that just begin to form heads. *- If these are lifted and put in a cool cellar and the roots covered with earth the heads will develop nearly as' , rapidly as in the field and frequently 1' . get to be from four to five inches in diameter and they are far more deli- .._ cate than when grown in the field or 5,; garden—C. L. Allen, in Agriculturist. Clover Bay, for Food. r. - An article of food is now being put on the market which is largely used by those who have tried it—ground -,~ clover. Clover hay is ground as fine as meal, the poultry-men add it to thé"‘f,:; rations of poultry with beneficial re- ,. suits. It is also excellent for young ”.37 calves and pigs. The ground clover. is first scalded with boiling water andm n thickened with cornmeal or any otherness ground food that my be preferred. ‘15:”?- r
Norwalk Chronicler