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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Advocate, 1897-6-17, Page 2Be WU:1RM flayelOND There was an unuseally long pause this tune, and the !ramie played on vali- antly, then it became soft, aad the cur- tain drew up suddealy. A low ory, laardly louder theta an exclamation, burst from Godfrey's lips, ante be bent forwaad, with Ms eyes fixed 0131 the tableau, and bis bands grasping the arms of his chair al - !nest convulsively. Went is it what is iti" he mutbered, with elenobed teeth Aetna° stood on a cunningly devised, white pedestal. She was dressed entirely in white; the long folds hung as white and still -looking as a marble itself; one of her hands held a long white veil over her head, and the shadow over her faoe concealed the warm hue of life, and made ber a very statue, wonderfully like the White Queen. The tableau was greeted with a perfect storm of applause; so enthusiastic were they all that they did not notice Idrs. Neville's appearance, looking very pale and nervous, nor did they see the form of Roger Girwood half concealed in a cor- ner and watching with intense Interest.' Godfrey never moved. The MUSIC played ore very softly, then Mrs. .Neville advanced th front of the stage aud said a few words; the buzz of applause ceased, and holding out her hand to Audine, the statue dasoendod from her pedestal, and joined her friends. The mother looked round the room anxiously. Godfrey had disappeared. The guests and the actors now mingled together, the lights were lit rapidly, and dancing began, Then Mrs. Neville stole away from the guests, and sought her son. She found Godfrey in bis own room, sitting by the table, with his face hidden in his hands, Gently she laid her hand upon his shoul- der: "Godfrey!" she said, "Godfrey!" He looked up, his eyes were haggard and wild. "Godfrey, tat me, wbat are you think- ing? Why do you not speak?" -Ah me!" be said. "Oh, mother, what leas came aver me? I cannot believe the sigbt of Illy OWL eyes—that statue!" "Yes." She is the real queen of my life. Is she not the White Queen? glare come dowxi upon earth, to whom I am wed with a golden ring!" "That statue was Audine," " Au dinel--A ud.ine !" and. his head fell on his hands again. • The mother's blood ran cold, Were not reason and delusion ;tattling for her son to -night? She to ust, she would save him. An hour passed by, then Godfrey raised his head suddenly; the whole expression of his face had changed, had beoome soft- • ened and intensely weary. "Mother," he said, laying his head on ber shoulder, "I seem to have had. a terri- ble- dream. My White Queen," he passed his hand over his brow, "is only a statue." A beautiful piece of marble, God- frey'," said his mother, eagerly, -And the real White Queen is Audine, a lovely woman who clan smile, and cry, and breathe." ".Ay, and laugh and rejoice, Godfrey," she was watching anxiously. Then he suddenly sprang to his feet. "What a fool I have been, mother!" he exclaimed "But the ring—can you ex- plain to rue that horrible inystery?" "Listen to me, Godfrey. Gimped has been examining the statue. Are you listening, i" "Yes, yes." "When you left off your Work, how many fingers were carved" "All; only the palm of the hand was untouched." "On which did you place your rine" "I do not know—I was mad." "Listen, Godfrey: could not those Ith- gers have been removed, and, the blook which was to be reduced to the palm of the hand, converted ino a new hand with closed fingersv could it have been done in a single night?" "But I was there; 1 must? have heard." "You were drugged, Godfrey; we have evidence to prove that." "But who could have treated me so? I have no enemy on earth." "Castaletti, I fear, "But why? Mother, I cannot believe ft." • "The drug was bought by hire, Gir- wood has discovered; and the motive . . was jealousy; be loved Audine." "Oh, mother, mother! what a strange story you are telling me!" "You are worn out and weary, God- frey; sleep now, and to -morrow, please God, you will be quite well." ears. Neville went down stairs, but found the last attest departed and the house shut up and dark; when she re- turned, Godfrey was asleep. In the moru- Jag he awoke, ealm, refreshed, and re- stored to his own mind. Mrs, Neville very carefully avoided any aliu ion to the past; anxiously afraid of al....ening his sl UM boring memory—she Ler him always with her, and lacessently occupied; she felt that her work was as yet only begun. CHAPTER X. Several weeks passed during which Mes. Neville continued to throw Audine and her son constantly into each other's society; as the winter came on and the weather prevented a life spent much out of doors, they were of necessity con- stantly together; and Mrs. Neville, who was a really clever woman, spared no en- deavor to thaw them out, to lead them into arguments and discussions, and to make them mom familiar companions. Nr'. Burns saw and was uneasy; after many debates within herself she made up her mind as to her duty, and wrote to Colonel •Fitzjain es. Mrs. :Neville thought that all was going as she wished, that ithe would be spared any further wiles to bring about what she so earrestly desired, so her disappoint - meat was keen, when one morning God- frey male iiato her room, and said ab- euptly, Mother. I am going to London; I inio,t go hack to my wor.k." is the matter, ray dear boy?*' tter?'" he bunpeci up almost eely atxd paced up and down the room, •• thee, an)1 not beenane Can I live Oer ehe same roof as Audine and not e her'?" oafrey l" faltered Mrs. Neville, as k8 sheet. `.171by not? why should ,ou not love herr "I love that beautiful, heavenly child? Oh o: I an, not fit for that. I must go," "Lou, Godfrey, what barrier should stand between Why ere you aft.:(1. Is it that you think you cannot win her !mart?" 'You torture me. Do you think uoth- log of title horrible hallucination ((f it was an halluethation) which bas stood between me and •my rest? 0 benvens! even now my brain reels. e cannot be certain that I am not still in the power of Hera come down frcnn above—that I have not seen her white hand close on my golden ring." "hush, husla!" "I know it is not so," he went ea; "I know it! I know it! But sometimes in agony it comes over me, do I know It can I be certain? I believe I am not all right here," he said with deep pathos, pressing his hand on his brow. `It must be something wrong—only in her pres- ence, when 1 see her symet face• and. hear the sound of her voice, all delusion vanishes away, and I know that the is a beautiful =Mal, and that Ilove her with a passing love.". "Sorely, then, all is well, Godfrey," said his mother, eagerly. "Audine is very young; no one yet has spoken to her of love; her heart is free, she will not be hard to win." "Mother, mother, do not tempt me." "What clo you mean, Godfrey? Your hesitation is incomprehensible to me. If you love the child, the most simple, straightforward thing is to win her heart, and -make her your bride. Niglit and day I pray God for that." There was a pause; when Godfrey spoke again his velem was depreoatiag and timid. "Do you think, mother, that 1 shall end as Mr father did?" "No, no." "Do you remember the misery of your life, my own dear mother? the bitter tears I have seen you shed when I was only a boy?" • "Godfrey!" her voice was choked. • "I love Audine so dearly that I dread stioh a future for her mom than I could express," You are not like your father." "I am becoming so," he answered, rather wildly, "I used to feel when he told me of the strange and terrible things he saw that they would one day be visi- ble to me also; but it le different with me. When the White Queen comes in and stands before me, she is not a vision of terror but a divine beauty; there is noth- ing fearful in her aspect: she brings all beautiful and holy thoughts to my mind. The old attributes I strove to represent in her—the peace, and joy, and purity, and love—they float through my mind like a strain of heavenly musio, and when it passes away, my White Queen is no longer Hera, but Audine. I have not disen- tangled truth from fancy yet, mother." Mrs. Neville sighed heavily. "Do not disappoint me, Godfrey," she said, with a trembling voice. -Do not disappoint me so grievously as to give up your hope of winning Audine. I leave hoped for it for so long," "Mother, can you be so cruel to her?" "I care nothing for her in comparison with you; stay, Godfrey—hear me"—for he had drawn away his hand abruptly at her words; "I did not mean that. I love her dearly; it is that I do love her so dearly that 1 long for her to be my own daughter." "And yet you would wed ber to me, one you love clearly, wben you know in your heart that you may be dooming her to an untold misery," "You must not, you shell not say that, Godfrey! These delusions are your own Imagination; use your will, be a man, determine to stinks them off." "Perhaps; sc t years hence." Mrs. Neville telt almost in despair. Godfrey began again "1 arn right, mother. I will go back to my studio and work bard, and when I feel that I bave rid myself of this horror that hangs over me. I will come beets." "You will be too late, Godfrey. Au - dine is young and lovely; when her brother comes back she will go into the great world, she will be admired and sought and won while you are still bat- tling with a dream." "Surely, !nether, I am right." Mrs. Neville's Moe suddenly grew very white, and she pressed her hands tigbtly together. Bending down her head she spoke very fast— "teodfrey. have you ever thought of one thing? You have seen a great deal of Audine, nave been constantly with her, have betrayed your feelings toward her AuDINE WAS B.A.LF ASLEEP BY THE EIRE. mom than you know of—suppose she has also learnt to lore yon?" "Good heavens!" • "I only say suppose; but if it was so, my boy! Godfrey, Godfrey, if it wee so." He covered his face with his hands; she tried to force them away. "Tell me, would you still go?" she Said. "Do you think it is true, mother" he asked, suddenly. "You cannot be deceiv- ing !net it would be too cruel." "I only said suppose," she said, trying to speak lightly. , "But do you think so? Sas she given you any reason to think so? Tell me, I en trea t. "I . I think so;" her dry lips could hardly articulate she lie. Godfrey's whole face lit up with an indescribable look of rapture. "Oh, mother!" he cried, with that joy radiant in his eyes. "Oh, if I have in- deed won her love, iny guardian angel! my sweet queen!. May God shower down all His choicest aifte on her heed, and bless me, me also, for her sake." Be threw himself on a steel at her feet, and taking bar hands began to question her eagerly. "Tell me, what makes you think so? can 11 be true? Tell me all you oan. Oh, Is such a joy really to oome to me?" "I oan toll you nothing, Godfrey," said his mother, forcing a smile, "When the time comes, you must ask all this of her- self; all 1 beg of you is, that you subrale to be guided by me." "May 1 not go to bee, add tell her bow I love ber?" "No, no ; not yet—leaVe all to me, She Is so young, Godfrey; give her tinte and be patient Now, for the first time, begin your suite.and tll.wtl be well," seageeetens "If she will only give me some tiny sign of encouragement!" will tell ber you are going; and if she asks you to stay, will that be encolgelle?;;ga !gore than enough for me. I would go to the far end of the world to please her." Mrs. Neville ma° suddenly; a feeling came over her that she could bear this no longer. She bad taken the first step— there was no retreat possible now. "I will go to her at onoe," she said, and left the room, Audine was half asleep • by the Bre, reading. She opened her eyes wben Mrs. Neville came in. "I an) so oonsfortable, Aunt Mary," she said, sleepily. "I have mine to •eel; you to do some- thing for nee 1" said Mrs. Neville, sitting down. "With all my heart." Audine was awake in a second, Mrs. Neville went to the wash -hand -stand, poured out a glass of water and drank it down, then she came back to Austin°, "The Mot is, my dear, that Godfrey is going aWay" "New—et once?" "Yes; and, Audine, I do not want him to go. He has been ill, and is not well yet, and 1 ana so anxious to keep hint with ma," -Dear Aunt Mary!" cried Audine, 'whp,b can I dot Can you not persuade him?' "I cannot persuade him, but perhaps you °mild; he would do anything for you." -"Oh, I will ask him, of oourse," said Audine; "but I am afraid that if he wie not listen to you, he will not to me." "It is quite a different thing," said Mrs. Neville, deoidedly. Yes; he might not refuse from cour they; but still 1 must not bore him if he really wants to go." "My dear, dear ehild—bore him! Ila would go to the end, of the world to serve you." Amalie looked startled, then blushed rosy red at the thought which had passed through her mind. "I think it will bore him ;" but Mrs, Neville would not let har draw back, "You have promised to ask him," she said, eagerly. "Indeed, dear, I want him so very much to stay; it Is so important to him and to me" "Very well, Aunt Mary," said Audine; "I will run down and ask him." Mrs, Neville's words, • or rather the manner in which they had been uttered, awoke Audine's self-consciousness. She felt uncomfortable and shy of the young sculptor; the shyness imparted a certain dignity to her slight figure, as she slowly went down to the drawing -room and up to the ohimney-pleoe against whioh he Was leaning. ."I hope you will not go away," she said, gently. "1 think it would be much better that you should stay." "You wish Inc to stay?" he said, very eagerly. "Your mothea n-ishes it; we both do," she answered. Ho was looking at her so earnestly that the color again mantled in her cheek, and she turned away her face and looked Into the tire. Godfrey made one step forward, "Audine," he said, softly—then stopping bimetal very sud- denly, he left the room. CHAPTER XI. "Burnie," said Audine to her nurse, as she was brushing her hair that night, "when a man falls in lore, how does he show it?" Mrs. Burns looked •considerably startled, but she preserved her presence of mind. "That depends, my dear, on the gentle- man; some show it a great deal more tban others." "Oh, 1 never saw any one in love, Burnie, so 1 want to know bow you know whether they are in love or not." "It is not always very easy to say, Miss Audine. Some talk very much, some get very stiff, and. some very iliglity; some never speak at all. I've known one who would go all the way round tbe room, touching every chair and table In it, rather than walk straight; and one I knew who .was always walking baokwards in- • stead of standing still." Audine laughed. "And are these the only signs? How are they to be distinguished from, ordi- nary shyness? Is them no other means of telling?'' "Very little else until the proposal comes off, Miss. Sometimes they use the young lady's Christian name by mistake, which betrays who is always in their thoughts." Audine started. "But you hold your bead a little more steady, my dear, for a good last brush. Wbatever's put gentlemen into your mind tonsight, dear?" "Oh, nothing!" "You will know all about it when your • tinae conies, Miss Audine; but don't you go thinking about nonsense things when the Colonel is away." "I WiSh he would come back, Burnie," she sighed. "Weil the best part of the year is over and I should not be a bit surprised if he was home sooner than you think." • "How delightful it would bel" cried Audine. • Godfrey Neville began his suit. He lingered about • the drawing -room; he sought Audine's opinion and advice on every subject; he listened to her with • deference; he • followed her movements with wistful eyes, and tried hard to per- suade himself that his mother was right, and that the new reserve and shyness which she showed toward him were only the results of an unknown deep feeling. Meanwhile he found his mind gradu- ally Wearing itself frdm the strange med- ley of fancies which had tormented him so long, and one only object engrossed his thoughts. Mrs. Neville watched it all with pain- ful intereet In every Way She endeavored to bring the two into conversation: and when sin and Audine were by themselves she would always be talking of Godfrey —of his beauty, his.genius, the kindness of his disposition. Audine felt soon noth- ing hut a great wish to get away from Lealstone, and gt longing for ber ',brother whieh often made her very unhappy. She was oppressed by Godftey's attentions, and louged to he freed from them; and it required all her loving sympathy with the feelings of, others not to show Mrs. Ne- ville that the constant conversation about her son wearied. her., She could not un- derstand what it was that made Mrs, Ne- ville wateh her so angioasly, with such sorutinizing eyes. , One day Godfrey was obliged to dine out He would have refused, but his mother would not permit it—she thought it better to have Audine quietly to berself for once, When She beard of it, Audino childishly skipped for joy—she could tot oonceal her Pleasure. (To be continued.) CHEAP THINGS. When the Craze for Them Encourages Op- ° pression and Wrong, it is Vale to Stop. Labor-saving mochincry has many and great advantages over hand -work. The machine suffers none of the pain of weariness, it is not subieot to exhaustien, bot oan work ou night and dayit is exact and makes no mistak,es, its poorest work is as perfect as the best that the hand can faShion, and its movements are manyfold swifter and. stronger than that of the human band, It does the heaviest and hardest work as easily as the moss delicate, slashes logs into luna- ber and digs the earth as readily as it waves the most fragile laces. Labor-saving machinery brought in the •era of cheap things—marvelously eheap, One does not see how articles oan be produced with such small expenditure of labor, wile% is the measure of values for all things produced by man. But machinery has not ouly cheapened pro- duction, it has also brought into exist- ence a passion, we naighb almost say, a craze, for cheap thbags. The stores aro crowded, on "bargain days." A bankrupt sale or a sale of goods damaged is a great attraction, and shrewd merchants have a way of supplying such goods without the intervention of a fire or a bankruptcy, The demand for cheapness is indiscriminate and unreasoning. It is not considered that whatever gain there may be to the purchaser is at the loss of the producer. So far as cheapness is the result of re- duced oost in labor, by means of machin- ery, in production, transporation and manufacture, it is a great blessing. It enables the poor to live as matte' and as comfortably as the rich. One sees little girls dressed as prettily for a dollar or so as the tech man's daughter eau be dressed for $100. The cheaply clad one need not shrink from comparison in any other point of view than the coarse and vulgar one of display of expensiveness, which does no credit to head, heart or taste. The people are entitled to the benefit of the inventions. But this "cheap" craze Is going further than that, says the In- terior. It is willing to let the conse- quences be suffering on the part of pro- ducers. And it does not pay. Cheating or op- pressing never does. The penalty is sure to come, and it inay be disproportionally severe when compared with the offense. But it does not pay anything immedi- ately, as it is supposed to. A. good honest article will be produced by nobody for •less than a good honest price—more than once. He will get even by paining off a worthless article for a worthless 'price. He will ehow, when it comes to a game of cheating, that he understands it better than the ordinary purchaser It is all right for the 'merchant to clear out his odds, ends, remnants, shelf -worn or out-of-date goods at bargains, and to have "bargain days" when such goods will be thrown upon his counters at prices which will rid him of them. But where he professes to offer good goods at "bargains" he is swindling somebody, that is certain—and he certainly is as willing to swindle you as he is to swindle the producer. Sound economy will purchase the best goods that can be afforded, and be will- ing to pay what they are worth. A good article will Wear from twice to 10 times as long, and always be satisfactory, as the from two to a dozen cheap articles, which aggregate a larger cost, and all of vehicle are always unsatisfactory. It is sound economy to pay good wages. The same rule applies. For good wages one can get good work, and for poor wages one gets poor wort. There is more profit and more satisfaction in good work than in poor. Here, as at the bargain counter, the bargain seeker grasps at the shadow and misses the substance, and the shadow, thougb it have nothing else in it, has gloom and misery, desappoint- ment and vexation, for all concerned. What a Cable Has to Stand. With the increase in the use of high tension, high potential currents, eabes are being made of greater strength and efficiency. The copper core, which carries the electricity, is thickly covered with rabber, impregnated jute or other in - titillating material, and for some pur- poses, not only armored with heavy twisted metal rods, but covered with lead. In this way. a cable for very heave' currents may be elaborately brought up to a diameter of 2 inches or more. The in- crease in the capacity of cables within the last few years has been extraordinary. When Mr. Ferranti, about six years ago, said he would supply current from the Deptford (London) central station at a voltage of 10,000, he was laughed at by many electricians, who maintained that no insulation could be made efficient enough to withstand the commercial use of such a current. Nowadays, such an installation would be taken as a matter of course, and cables have to stand a much mom intense strain. Alexander Siemens recently gave some interesting details of a very complete test to which a large electrical firm had put a cable of their mannfacture. They first put it under a pressure of 45,000 volts, 'but it did not mind," he said. They increased the voltage to 60,000, and left it on for half an hour. But still •the cable held out. The they tried the bending test, and put on 50,000 volts, and it stood it all right. After that they stripped off the lead covering and soaked it in water for twenty-four hours, and again tried it with 50,000 volts, with the same result. They then put it in a hot room, 160 de - grecs • loahrenheit, and •kept it there for three weeks; after which they increased the temperature to 212 degrees for twenty-four hours.'and they finally test- ed it with 50,000, but it still held good. After such an ordeal, Mr. Siemens main- tained, there need be no fear of the cable standing in India or anywhere else. Bather Clever. A little boy aged four, whose father lived net door to a cantankerous maiden ladv. WOS continually being reprimanded by the latter for innocently playing ha the garden, which was a neu- tral one between the two parties. loor the smallest childisj offence lie would be ejected by the old crochet, until he resolved to have revenge. . Seeing a oat in the garden one day, he ran and kicked at tho old lady's door, and shouted to the housekeeper:— "Jennyl jenny! there's a, cat in the garden l" Jenny at once set toand bad the In- truder put out. Giving Jenny Ijme to retire, the little man once more made his way 'to the door, and kleked and shouted for jenny louder than before. Again she made a hurried appearance, when the youngster cried. with .1,11 his oire ,''..Tenny! Jenny I there's a lnimble-bee •ne your berry hushes!" FANCY PIGEONS. The Rine Collection In Franklin Boston. Very few of the many who visi Franklin park in Boston are aware tie io it is kept one of the largest and inc., beautiful flocks of fancy pigeons to found in the east. The pigeous arca originally the property of the late J. 'itch Quincy, and they were kept 00 L. Island off the coast of Maine, Opt,. Mr. Quincy's death they fell into tie possession of his brother, who presem ed them to the park. Mr. W. B. Fische) has them under his care, and he has in creased the number from 111 to 850 The collection is nothing like the con; mon birds that are seen flying about it cities and towns picking up a preoariout liviug, but every one belongs to an aris tocratio variety, represi nting genera tions of careful breeding from the idea. type of birds. They baolude nuns, mag- pies, turbits, homers, archangels, satha ets, pouters, tumblers, fantails, trune peters, bloudinets and ninny others. Each of the varieties has an apartment by itself. The production of these breeds, with all their variations in col or and form, is doubtless due to breed. ing and inbreeding from what we call "sports"—that is, abnormal variations Park couple are very amustag, for in • this family tbe father seems to assume all the respoosibility of the household man, - agement. The mother is either very frivolous or she has some very advanced ideas about the eufrauchisement of her sex and escape from some of the slavish duties of maternity, for not only does it require infiuite coaxiog from the head of the family to persuade her to lay the eggs, but even after this is acconaplished she shifts on to his shoulders the greater part of the family care. From morning until night pater fa- milies follOws her about, scolding and threatening, even peckbag and striking her with his wings at tinaes, until, through the force of simple persisteuce, be compels Irr to seek the nest. While she is on the uest he watches over her with jealous oare, and after the eggs are laid he relieves her daily with faithful punctuality until they are hatohed. One raeets a great deal of trouble and disappointment in breeding pigeons. Tumblers often either won't tumble at all or tumble so much that they cannot rise two feet above the ground. Then sometimes an excellent tumbler will give up the practice without any appar- eiat reason. The best bred pouters,too, are fre- quently "slaok wintled"—that is, they Won'l pout, but let their 'crops baug limp and empty—and others, on the contrary, are so zealous that they fre- quently choke themselves. But, although there are so many vex - tions, there is probably no kind of reeding which affords SO much Seepe or skill with such rapid results, A GROUP OF AE1=0114.7'8. (1. Pouter. 2. Satinets. 8. Blondinet 4. Fan from the ordinary types. There is there- fore the strongest presumption in favor of the idea that pigeons are all descend- ed from a common ancestor. The party coloring of the nuns, for iustance, has probably been obtained by crossing albinos with colored pigeons. The nuns are dainty little birds with wings of gleaming white, bodies of red- dish brown, short beaks, small round heads topped with feathery peaks. Their pompous little breasts are magnificent with the display of ruffled shirt basally= of snowy whiteness, like that of au eighteenth century dandy. Short beaks are ooe of the marka of fine breeding iu tumblers, and the high prices that were at one time paid for the finest types tempted breeders to re- sort to cruel and unnatural methods to accent the variation. For a long time amateurs were sur- prised to find that although they pur- chased the very best birds, the descend- ants did not have the extraordinarily shrtrgbeeks and laigh heads of their pro- genitors. At last the searet'lbaked owt The breeders who produced these prize pigeons were in the habit of taking young pigeons in hand when they were a few days old, and, pressing at the roots of their beaks with either a small wooden instrument or the thumb nail, gradually force the bone beak into the head. Many pigeons died under the cruel process and the few that lived passed lives of suffering. The publication of this horrible secret gave a serious blow to the popularity of this variety of tum- blers. Among the most curious arid interest- ing to the novice are perhaps the jaco. bins, pouters, tumblers and trumpeters. Mr. Jacobin carries himself with all the stolidity and protuberance of' a Dutch- man, and has a great rale around hie neck which shuts off his vision and al- most conceals his head. If turned out to shift for himself in the race for the sur- vival of the fittest, the sluggish, half blinded jacobin would quickly become as extinct as the dodo, for he can nei- ther hear nor see an object unless it be coming directly at him, which would make him an easy mark for predatory cats, hawks and small boys. The Russian trurapeter, a rare variety, gets his name from the fancied resem- bla,nce of his cooing to the sound of a Russian trumpet. He is of solid or mot tled color, has large rosette of feathers on his forehead, which shuts off his vision in front, and long feathers grow- ing from his legs like those of a Cochia chicken. The archangel would be a very cora- nionplace bird • but for 'the beautiful sheen of his wings, which gleara in the sunlight with the iridescent luster of changeable silk. • • The funniest and the queerest fellow of them all is the pouter pigeon, an awkward, long legged, long bodied pigeon with none of the personal graces or accomplishments which would seem to warrant vanity, and yet he is the most arrant coxcomb of a,comrauoity coxcombs. All day long he struts up and down with comical arrogance and pom- posity, at intervals inflating with wind his capacious crop, which generations of gab boastful practice have developed to wonderful proportions. The veteran of the flock in question Is Silver Chief, a venerable old pigeon ho has already passed his twentieth Tear, which is nearly twice the age at- tained by the average pigeonlie was the nitt pigeon in this country to fly 500 miles in a, day, which would be re- garded as an exceptional perforraance even in fine weather for an Antwerp or Belgian voyager, reputed to be the best homers in the world. Although the pigeons will breed the year round, Mr. Fischer raises them only during the summer. They hued vorY rapidly, laying two eggs at a time, and even before one pale of young is able to leave the nest another pair of eggs is laid in a nest adjoining. ° • The domestic relations of the paxeut GEESE. 131ow a Rhode Island Firm Itasca an A,n. nual Crop of One Thousand* Mr. Samuel Cushman, the accom- plished poultry authority, contributes an exhaustive artiole on goose raising to a recent issue of Farm Poultry. Speaking of the establisbment of Wil - hour & Sou of Little Compton, R. he says they raise from 500 to 1,000 geese every season. They have kept from 50 to 60 geese for many years and have an/molly produced from 800 to 500 goslings, but last year they exceed- ed all former operatioos by raising 1,000 from 97 female geese. From one lot of 49 •geese 500 goslings were pro; duced, and this was not done by the aid of an expensive plant or with incuba- tors, neither were annoy bnildings or fixtures necessary. These goslings were disposed of alive when from 6 to 8 weeks old. For the first 200 sold in June; they received $1,25 each, while the remainder, sold later, brought $1 each. The lowest price they have re- ceived since 1R90 was in 1894, when they had a new flock and raised but 285 goslings from 55 geese and 19 gen-, dere. These brought 81,4 cents each. The next year, however, 450 goslings were secured from 68 females and av- eraged $1.25 eaoh. The average price received for them alive each season has •ranged from $1.09 to $1.17 at 5 or 6 weeks of age. If it costs less than 6 cents per pound to raise roan ducks, wilic1. are fed mestlyon grain and mar- keted at 10 weeks of age, what does it cost to raise a gosling principally on grass mid sell it at 6 weeks? They were sold to dealers who buy up young geese and fatten, dress and ship them accord- ing to the market demand for them. As the first that the dealers send to New York and Boston raarkets bring very high prices, the dealer anxious to send in the first lot -will not only give an ex- tra price for large early goslings, but will take them at a very much younger age. Dealers sometimes pay $2 for very early goslings when 4 weeks old. The later they are batched and the more in- ferior their size the longer they must be kept and fed by the grower. The Wilbours breed •Africans to sell and to supply their own breeding stock, having bred from 12 purely mated fe- males the past season. They find the Africans lay a larger number of eggs than their white or gray geese, and the young African ganders are larger in JUDO than the cross bred ganders, but the crosses dress the easiest and look the best, and are therefore most valu- able. They have goslings that weighed in September, when dressed, 18 pounds.. Mr. Wilbour tl3inks a swimming hole is' very desirable for breeding geese during the laying season, but that it is not ab- solutely necessary. Last season Mr. Wilbour and his son turned their attention to the production of wild cross geese, known in the mar- kets as mongrels. Mongrels are almost as celebrated for their table qualities as the canvasback duck. They bring twice the price of common geese at Thanks- giving and Christmas. • They are pro- duced by crossing the wild Canada and domestic geese, and although they yield greater profit it requires =We skill and special experience to successfully pro- duce them. These Mr. Vililbour succeed- ed in rearing hest season were the piog- eny of African males and wild Canada Veroales, and as the wild females lay few eggs not many were hatched, but those Were fine specimens and in aP- pearatthe about equal to the best We have seen that were produced from the wild male and African female. Secret of Getting Eggs. • The'great secret of securing eggs is really no secret, for every experienced person knows that everything depends upon the conditions. It is not always the breed or the feed that makes the hen lay,. The Main point is not to make a laying fat hen. If you have hens for market that are to be fatted, remove your laying hens. Keep the mark,gt kens confined closely, bUt keep your laying hens at work. The secret (if it is a secret) of making hens lay is to have them always busy at scratching. It is something they Should be com- pelled to do faun the time they come off the roost in the morning until they go co again at night. The laybag hen is a scratching hen. The idle, lazy hen never lays. Do not forget the fact --- Farnier'e Voice.