HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times, 1888-5-31, Page 5HEA.111113.
Sone Simple Remedies,
At thiS Season of the year boils frequent-
ly breek out upon the face and body. The
Ileum thus affected should eschew rich
pastry, gravies and every kind of meat QX,
cepting lean mutton. The boils may be
brought to a head by using a warm poultice
of camorn•le flowers or boiled white lily
eroot, by fermentation with hot water or by
nitimulating platers.
A severe cold and perhaps an attack4Q
pneumonia iney be prevented if premonitory
symptoms are heeded. A °hilly sensation
along the spinal °elution, a cold, clammy
feeling %cross the chest are sure indications
that a severe cold is trying to settle in the
system.
Pour boiling water upon equal parts of
eetnip, spearmint and sassafras, steep but
&mot boil rhe tea. Put the feet in a tub
Ailed with hot water to which a teaspoonful
of mustard hoe been added, and while soak-
ing the feet drink freely of the tea.
Another excellent remedy for a oold is the
"vapor bath." Take a pail about half full
of lot, but not quite boiling water, which
ahould be placed under a cane bottom chair.
Seat the patient in the chair and encirole
bath, chair and patient with a heavy blanket
reaching to the floor. When prouse per-
spiration starts from every pore, remove
. from the chair into a laid that has been
thoroughly aired and warmed. Additional
-.covering must of course be placed open the
•body to prevent a chill.
Simple remedies are within the reach of
,every one, and If resorted to in illne
Mine niany a dollar in doctor's bills. The
money thus saved will prove a blessing to
=an negenie Who, in order to rattle the
.1'a -footer's clain are obliged to dety them-
eelves that which is necessary to their cone,
• fort.
. Cold in the, head is not only annoying,
but likely to develop into catarrh. One
teaspoonful of mustard dissolved in a
eninblerful of cold water and used as a
gargle three times a day, will often effeot a
speedy cure. In more obstinate cases equal
parts of loaf sugar and pulverized alum used
as a snuff will give instant relief.
, Fever and restlessness in children is fre-
quently caused by indigestion. If you find
the skin of the little one hot and dry, re-
member, if you can, what she ate for sup-
per. Give the child a warm bath, then give
it a cup half full of warm water to drank.
In a few 'minutes the undigested food will
be thrown off the sterna& and the child will
soon be sleeping soundly. A dose of mag-
nesia, about half a teaspoonful, given in the
morning before breakfast will probably re -
tore to the child its usual health, but should
fever and nausea continue during the day
following the attack, send for a playsician,
who will undoubtedly approve of what you
have done and should the symptoms develop
into scarlet fever, measles, chicken pox or
,any of the diseases to which children axe
liable, the attaok will probably be of a mild
nature.
Nearly one-half the population are more
or less afflicted with neuralgic pains. In-
stead of sending for the doctor, who will
probably prescribe a plaster and a dose of
medicine, we advise the sufferer to heat a
ilat-iron, put a double fold of flannel on the
painful part, then move the iron to and fro
on the flannel. The pain will cease almost
immediately. We have seen the most pain -
Jell came of neuralgia • relieved in less than
• ten minutes. •
Sprains are among the most mire acci-
dents to which we are liable. Whim a joint
ire sprained swelling comes on gradually. In
dislocation the swelling and loss of motion
• of the toint happens immediately after the
Accident. A sprained limb should be kept
perfectly quiet. To prevent inflammation,
zee poultices of worm -wood, hope or tansy.
Every effort on the part of the patient to
repeat in detail the cause of the accident,
themmeatione, experience, etc., should be
discouraged. Cheerful conversation upon
other subjecta and perfect • rest, •will bring
about speedy recovery and strengthen all
manceirned in the belief, that it is not always
necessary to send for the doctor.
Remedy Tor Croup.
"Croup caused the death of siac of my
children, can you wonder that I feel alarm.
ed when my, only remaining child exhibits
• the •elightest symptoms of a cold 1" asked
a mother sorrowfully. Sometimes the
doctor could not come at once, I was afraid
• to apply remedies without being advised
• • While the mother was speaking, her only
' a pretty little girl eenen year's old
came manning towards urieuith hands up-
lifted gasping for breath. •
"What shall I do ? The doctor is out of
town—will not be back until this evening 1"
cried the mother frantically, .
Remembering a child of our own. who vras
attacked in a similar manner, we prooured
pail, filled it with hot water and quickly
removing the little one's shoes and stockings
placed her feet in the pail. We lost no time
in roasting three onions, then mashing them,
spread them upon a folded napkin, pouring
over the whole a tablespoonful of goose -
grease ; [lard or sweet oil will do as well.]
The poultice was applied as hot as it could
be borne to the throat and upper part of the
neck. In ten minutee the quick, short gasps:
ceased and at the end of half an hour the
,ehild, warmly wrapped in a soft blanket,
was sleeping soundly. The akin was moist
and the breathing natural, all symptoms of
the dreaded scourge had disappeared as if
by magic.
For thildren who are subject to croup,
make a little bib out of chamois skin, out
the neck and sew on tapes to tie it on then
melt together some tallow and pine tale rub
some of this: in the chamois and let the child
wear it all the time. Renew with the tar
occasionally.
• How to Act in Emergencies,
If an individual is endowed with common
sense mad oart exercise self-oontrol when
necessary, a slight knowledge of physiology
will enable him to act in emergency.
A boy is brought home with a severe cut
en his arm. The blood spurte out Of the
Wound showing plainly that an artery has
been severed. It is fortunate if a rnemner
of the family can come forwerd and bind
two pieces of cloth tightly areitud the limb
directly above and below the wound, the
blood will cease to flow and even if there
should be unavoidable delay in the arrival
of the doctor he will be able to save a life
that would cettaitly have been sacrificed if
the prompt treatment mentioned had not
been resorted to.
.A whole family were thrown into a state
+of excitement by the youngest child rusting
into tho Mamie, and declaring that a big
• blear Malte had "bited" him. The Mother
• eWoorted, the father paeed the floot frantic-
• ally, while the rest of the family elate:nal
the child and cried over him until, betWeen
the wetted and the excetemeht, the little
fellow Mune neer being thrown nate eonvul-
Wile. A amsible neighbor, bathing the ea-
' )lit0 the robitti and Okla
k
encouragemertt, then turnieg toward a mem-
ber of the Manny the stilted fen carbonate of
wide. Moistening a email portion of tbe
soda with water, she applied it to the
wound; when the soda became nu she
moistened it again and at the expiation of
au hour was overjoyed to see upon the white
surface of the application unmistakable
evinence of snake virus.
Rusty nails make ugly wounds, which if
net attended to at once may came great
suffering—perhaps death.' Smoke the wound
• vvith wool or weollen cloth, fifteen minutes
in the smoke will remove the worst elass of
inflammation.
The terrible pain caused by being severely
burned may be almost instantly relieved by
applyintt a mixture of strong, fresh, clean
lime water, mixed with as much linseed oil
as it will cut Before applying, wrap the
burn in cotton wadding saturated with the
lotion, Wet as often as it appears dry, with-
out removing ootton from burn for nine days,
when a new skin will probably have formed.
Bleeding at the nose frequently causes
extreme prostration. If the nose bleeds
from the right nostril, pass the finger along
the edge of the right Jaw until the beating
of the arterwis felt. Press hard upon it for
five minutes and the bleeding will stop.
A child who has a morbid propensity to
force buttons beans, etc., into his nostrils
keepe his whole family in a state bordering
on terror, for they never knew at what pre-
otse moment: they may be called upon to
perform an operation open Master Harry's
natuti appendage. Pressure agaiaat the
empty nostril and quick, strong breathing
into the open mouth will dislodge the for-
eign substance and send the suffering young -
liter upon his way rejoicing.
Sending for the Doctor.
"I have established a rule never to go to see
a patient at night unless I feel fully satisfied
that the case requires immediate attention,"
said a well-kno wn physician. Many. doctors
would gladly adopt the above deoisron, but
they hesitate for various reason. Some are
just starting out in life, others find the build-
ing up of a lucrative practice such slow work,
that an assumption of 'independence on their
part, is not to be thought of. It is only by
hard work and many sacrifices that a physi-
cian can ever hope to have his claim to inde-
pendence recognized.
Many people are constantly inviting dis-
ease—for instance a supper of fried oysters,
hot biscuit, rich Cake and strong tea or cof-
fee will, in nine oases out of ten, ruin the
strongest digestion, and the individual who
is in the habit ofgorging him
iself with high-
ly seasoned food, late n the day, will proba-
bly spend a great portion of his life regret-
ting that he did not heed the warning when
his over -taxed stomach cried "'Hold!
enough 1"
Fancy a tired, worn out physician plod-
ding through a blinding siaow storm, or
drizzling ram at midnight to attend an indi-
vidual who, doubled up with cramp and
parched with fever, imagines that he will
surely die 1 • ,
The doctor places his hand upon the
patient's wrist, examines his tongue, then,
with an expression of disgust upon his coun-
tenance,whioh he cannot conceal, prescribes
a dose ooil, orders a warm bath, and rest.
"1 would advise you to eat very little
rich, heavy food. If you keep on abusing
your stomach in this way,. I will not answer
for the consequences," says the doctor in a
tone of annoyance. •
The panient,with lamb -like docility, prom-
ises immediate reform, and while hie body is
racked with pain and his throat parched
with fever, he vows to live on oat meal, dry
Oast and " cambric " tea henceforth and for
ever. Recovery from the " spell " usually
renders the' individual entirely oblivious to
the good resolution and ere long he is again
called upon to pay the penalty of indiscre-
tion.
As the doctor tramps or drives homeward
through the storm we cannot blame him for
lapsing into a state. of mind similar to that
of the'druggist, who was aroused at twelve
o'clock on a cold winter morning by a man
who wanted to buy a—postage stamp
Rough on Gophers.
A writer in the North Dakota Fax9nEr
says "Three years ago this spring I wished
to plant a few acres of corn, but dreaded
the ravages of gophers and gray ground
equirrels. I procured fifteen cents' worth
of Rough on Rats, and according to di-
eetions dropped a half dozen geeing of corn
in each hole; on my way home I saw some
of them eating their last meal, and no
gophers were :men for two years. Last
year I planted ten acres of corn, over a half
mile from the field mentionen above, and
used the remade as before, and did not
discover the loss of a hill of corn by gophers.
I can clear a whole seotion of land of
rohers in one day with from thirty to
V cents worth of 'Rugh on Rate' and
from a peck to a half bushel of corn"
Here is the planfolloitedtby a farmer out
west on the C. 2 R : He inaceda large pack.
ing ben upside down, a hole being out out on
each side the size suitable for a gopher to
paw through, but not a cat or fowl. Inside
this he placed a small shallow box, which
was fastened to the large box on a level with
the ground, and in this he placed cornmeal
mixed with strychnine. The gophers came
from all sides and were settled in grand
shape. One of these boxes on cull side of a
field would be sufacent.
• The municipality of Medora has bought
aid of strychnine and proposes to use it in
this way: Dissolve one drachm of strychnine
in acid—common vinegar will do—then add
three gallontnof water, after standing a while
add itufficent • bran or aborts to absorb the
moisture, and place pieces of it in the gopher
holes.
Put Water' in the Pipe.
When Sir S. W. Hiker was travelling in
Central Africa some of the native chiefs paid
him a visit, and one of thorn eecived a les-
son in good manners, which knight some-
times be repeated to advantage in more
eiVilized countries.
• As they were sitting before me, Lokara
lighted e huge pipe and began smoking.
This was e great breach of etiquette; as
smoking te strictly forbidden in the presence
of Kabba Raga,
My old Cairo dragoman, Mohammed, who
was now throughly installed as one of the
expedition, was well up in the custom
of the country, • and quietly reriented the
insult of the pipe.
He gently approached with a bottle of
water, whioh. he poured politely into the
bowl, as though he were eonfeering a great
favor; at the seine time expleining that in
my presence every orie smoked water ihstead
of tobacco, The hint was immeniittely
teken, and the hag° pipe, thus surnitiarily
extingnished, Was handed to a Weird in
attendance.
The way of every man ie declaratire 61
the end of every men.--tedell.
t/fost people believe in "the greateet good
for the atest number ;" awl their greettet
EVENTS IN EUROPE
Newspapers Attitoking Ruesia—The Eng-
hsh Beare Not Yet Selbsided.
The North, German Gazette and other
government organe have received inepiration
for a vigorous renewal of the ttacks on
Russia, hence the accusation that the Czar's
agents are seeking to foment a revolt in
Macedonia. The Gezette, in an article heed-
ed "A Ruesian Fortrees on Tarnish Terri-
tory," denounces the celebrated conventa on
Mount Athos as the centre of a Pauslavist
conspiracy, and states that Russian
pilgriins, who are really veteran soldiers
disguised, crowd the convents to the
number of ten thousand. Supplies of arms
arms and munitions of war are hidden in the
vicinity. The Porte has been cautioned to
maintain a close watch, as at any moment
the signal may be given for insurrection,
preceding a Ruesian entrance into Bulgaria.
.Clee Russian activities centre in the mean-
time in Southern Russia,. Masked batter-
ies are being rapidly constructed along the
shores of the Black Sea between the mouth
of the Dniester and Odessa, and imnaense
stores of munition are being collected' at
°deem where even the premises of the
yacht club were brought into requisition as
etoe end coaling point,
Engliehmen continue to worry desperately
about their lack of preparation for war.
One cry is for a new fleet bigger than ever
was thought of, and another demands the
formation of an enormous army to prevent
the landing of an enemy on the British
coasts, for the anxious father of the family
already pieturee a ghostly fleet creeping
through the fog to the land, bringing 100,-
000 men to his door.
FOR AND ABOUT WOMEN.
Women are naturally truthful, especially
when they are talking about another wo-
man that thay don't like.
• A bright scholar in a Vermont school re-
cently stated in a composition that dough-
nuts were first made in Greece.
Of the two hundred gold -beaters in New
York, not one is a woman; while, of the
nine hundred gold -cutters not one is a man,
A Chicago woman has not spoken to her
husband for three years, and he wants a
divorce. If that is not ingratitude, what
is?
The friends of the late Dinah Mulcck
Craik, author of "John Halifax, Gentle-
man," are about to erect a marble medallion
to her memory in'Tewkesbury Abbey,Tewk-
mtbury, England.
Miss Linda Gilbert has devoted fifteen
years and most of her fortune to prison re-
form. She has establishd twenty-two li-
braries in the prisons of different States and
found employment for ex -convicts.
Laura M. Royce, one of the heroines of
last January's terrible blizzard in Nebraska,
is said to be destitute and dying. She lost
both feet and one hand in her effort to save
the lives of the wheel children in her charge.
The feathers andwings of birds are almost
wholly discarded now on ladies' hats and
bonnets. Ribtions and Rowers are need al-
most to the exclusion of everything else. Oh
some of the big hats buckles are being re-
vived as ornaments.
Miss Frances Willard advises all girls who
"feel a call," as she once did, to the minis-
try to enter a theological seminary and pre-
pare for the work, undisturbed by the al-
leged irreconcilability of the vocations of
• minister and mother.
The day of woman's complete indepen.
deuce of man is coming with slow but sure
stepia says The New York World. The
signs multiply. Now comes word that Miss
Ida C. Allen, of Dover, N. H., has been of-
fered the position of teacher -of literature in
Smith College, at Northampton, 'Vises., at a
salary of $2,710.
A Brooklyn woman is an undertaker and
embalmer. It was her husband's' business,
and she Moak it up after his death and is
making money at it. She says that many
families like better to have her around than
a man, espeoially if the person to be buried
is a woman or a child. The windows of her
establishment do not display the usual mor-
tuary emblems, but are full of flowering
plants instead.
A lady informs a New York paper that a
kin on the forehead denotes reverence for
the intellect; a kiss on the cheek, that the
donor is impreesed with the beauty of the
kissed one; but that a kiss on the lips is a
token of love. Kissing the hand of another
expresses willingness to serve her; but hie -
sing your hand to another is a love etoken,
signifying that you would kiss her with your
whole affection and grace if she were near
enough.
The recent convocation of McGill Univer-
sity.marked another step in the history of
the higher education of women in the Pro-
vinee of Quebec. The occadion was one of
sprial interest, in as much as it was distin-
guished by the graduation of a number of
ladies. One of the graduates, a Miss Ritchie,
delivered an address tracing the progress of
the educational movement among women,
and demanding the further right that the
medical classes be also opened to the fait
Pleasithee Of Public Life,
"Talk about the pleasures of public life 1"
exclaimed Spouter ; "why, man, you don't
know anything about it. It is no bed of
roses, I can tell you. Now lot me give you
a case in point. Old Joe Brawn wanted to
build a bridge ACrOSS Puddle pond, and I
made a big speech in favour of the improve-
ment, which I told the Legislature was in
the interest of the labouring classes ; that it
would inure to the welfare of the agricultural
population; and that, in short, it was de -
mended bwevery right,minded man who had
the welfare and prosperity of the country at
heart. Well, what then ? Why, Bill Jones:
—Bill is cue of my constituents, you know
—came and said that a bridge across that
pond would frighten hie ducks, and he
wanted me to stop it. Then I had to go to
work and prepare another speech, in which
I said 'Hutt fret additional information just
received, 1 found that the proposed bridge
was a move on the part of a capitalist to rob
the labouring °lames of their nights, that it
would be the death knell of the farmer, and
that no one who really loved his country
could vote for it. Ws awfully wearing on us
public men, to walk on both sides of the
fence, but We have to do it; our constituents
deramid it, yea see ; but as I said before, it's
terribly Wearitig."— [Boston Transcript.
A Disgraee to Hie faMily.
Magistriete (to priemer) — The other meni.
bars of your family are all respectable, are
they not?
Prisoner—Well, my brother Jim ie 801Tie,
thing of a disgrace.
Megietrate—What deee Jim do?
' Pritioner--Jim's a Prohibitionist end'. Ives
1 » SI, Leith
Eeeentrie Willa.
Eocentric will have beeu met with even
since wills were in fashion. Men soinetimest
are ready to say after they are dead what
they never hen the courage to amert as long
as they were alive, It is well when truth
ie at laat reached whether in a. will or on a
tombetone. For instaxace,whet do the mem-
bers of the Fourth Estate :my to the follow-
ing rather hard and pitying verde from e
New York lawyer? Perhaps there is mote
truth then poetry about them :--
" I am iaformed there is a rieciety cow -
puttied of young men connected with the
public press, and, as in early life 1 was coin
netted witn the papers, I have a keen recta-
leetion of the toile and troubles that bubbled
then and ever will bubble tor the toilers of
the world in their pottage cauldron, and as
I desire to thicken with a little savoury herb
their thin broth in the shape of a legaoy, I
do hereby bequeath to the New York Press
Club, of the city of New York, 1,000
dollars,"
What with itenehunting, interviewing, re-
porting the speeches of pretentious block-
headand praising the 'doings of pompous
rascals who deserve to be crucified or at any
rate forgotten, the life of many a reporting
Bohemian is not a particularly happy one or
dignified to any great degree. But still it
is all a matter of taste and no doubt the
brotherhood will receive the thousand dol.
lars with thanks even though accompanied
with words as pityingly contemptuous as
cm be well imagined. The French lawyer
who put the following in his will was as bit-
.
ing hiss way and perhaps upon the whole
-even mete truthful -
" I give 100,000 filmes to the local mad
house. I got this money out of those who
pass their lives in litigation; in bequeath-
ing it for the use ot lunatics I only make
restitution."
Those who go to law are generally mad as
March hares and it is well when appropriate
asylums are ready for them when the law-
yers get all their cash. At the same time
the desire "not to be beat" is often very
strong as it is very natural. Every man's
ease is right in his own eyes and naturally
he is anxious that iniquity Should not
triumph. The other man, of course, thinks
and feels in exactly the same way. Hence
the legal duels and the lawyer's gains.
Fancy a lawyer advising a client not to go
to law. Some few cases of the kind have
been put on record. But, one swalle w does
not make summer. When will men be
so rational and Christlike as to submit their
differences to arbitrae and to abide by
the award? .n•
Workingmen and Church -going.
Workingmen are often blamed for no
going to church and are often spoken of as
if they were the greatest heathens and the
most immoral men going. Such charges are
very offensive and untrue as well. Would
not ministers and home missionaries and
temperance advocates be a great deal the
better of taking a hint or two from the
following defence of his fellow workingmen
by a Christian mechanic :—
There are many other reasons why the
working classes do not attend places of wor-
ship, listen to open-air preaching, show any
interest in teetotal lecturing, and other work
of that kind, from the fact that we are made
the scapegoat for all the sins of the nation.
Take, for instance'the usual kind of preach:
ing in our placee ot worship a it is about the
trouble e and joys of the ohildreia of Israel,
and the wickedness of the working classes.
In the religious trade we find the working
man is made the sabject to represent every-
thing that is vile and loatheoine, and the
manef broadcloth and tall hat is represented
button -holing him about his soul and
eventually is the mewls of leading thatwick-
ed one to be a Christian. The teetotal lec-
turer is most offensive to us working men,
also, in his manner of conducting a campaign
against the English Devil—strong drink.
According to his narrow way of treating that
evil, he would lead a foreigner listening
to him to believe that the working classes
of England were a drunken, dissipated,
and hopeless lot; but as far as he could
infer from the teetotal lecturer, all
other classes in England are very good as
regards abstaining from partaking any alco-
holic drink. As to open-air preaching of
the gospel? What a burlesque on the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the carpenter of
Nemeth, who went about doing good, and
always had compassion on the people 1 Street
preachers preach an unsympathetic 'gospel
in the most unnatural tone of voice to a peo-
ple who are hungering and thirsting for
Christian sympathy. They preach hell and
damnation most furiously t� us who have to
toil, toil, toil from early morn till late in the
day under a system of competition between
our employers for orders. My advice to
preachers of the gospel, in order to induce
us to become church -goers and in Christian
fellowship with thein, is simply this: come
down to us, talk with us, live with us, be
as of us—in short, do as near as they can
for our spiritual and temporal, welfare, as
our blessed Jesus did for the working classes
of His days in the flesh.
Some London Hats.
Some of the new hats are the wildest
things yeti can imagine. They make the
wearers look all head. InTicoadilly, yes-
terday, I saw a girl in a very large, high -
crowned hat made of black velvet, bound
all round with a rim of grasshopper green.
Oat of the top of it floated a pink feather,
looking so utterly extraneouit to its sur-
roundings that I thought it must belong to
some other :hat hidden behind the black
velvet one. The desoription mamas like a
mill-hand'a headgear, does it not? But the
hat was worn by an otherwise very well-
dressed woman. Shortly afterwards, in the
Park, I saw a hat that almost made one
scream. Indeed, I am not mire that 1 din
not utter a email shriek of horrified sure
prise. Imagine a frying.pan without any
rim Cut a hole in the centre for the head,
cover the remainder with copper -colored
velvet, strap tip the back part with a loop
of oreirecoloarect fztin to a crown composed
of copper -colored silk striped with cream -
color, and serving as a tort of flower -pot,
out of which reed -like gramma and tinsel
rosebildra with realistic foliage, seem. to
grow. The front of the frying pan pited
straight out over the eyes for &bout a quer-
ter of a yard. Any number of brown
beetles climbed all over the grasses arid
rose.leaves,—fLotdon Truth.
AdVertising for 'a Dog.
Wile—" Be sure and. advertise for Fido in
the tewspapere.
Intithencl—" Never fear, tie a • knot
in my handkerchief.'
Next day the Wife reedit hi the morning
newspaper
"Ten Dollars Reward.—Lost—A measly
yellow otit, with One eye and no toil, Too
fat to walk, Answers to name of Viola..
Sinelle like a Cheap perfumery Shop after
ilnotTf returned tittiffed, $10 reward,"
8loo faints.
YOUNG FOLKS.
A ITIGair IN A BEATER TOWN.
BY areeraan Means.
Within a day's tramp trona the old French
towa of Placentia on the Newfoundland comb
is a region palliest entirely under the eveey
of the beaver.
On a late autumn morning I set out Widt
companion and a guide for a place knowu
as Upper Beaver TOW'S. We reached the
place as the sun was setting. I put up our
tent on the only dry piece of ground for
milers around, and this was a birth hill thet
afforded a good view of the region ttbrat.
From the top of a. riven tree I viewed the
place, and this is what I saw: about two
miles of low-lying land, rough of the same
being under water, the remainder threaded
by innumerable shining brooks' and dotted
with little ponds. At the footof the hill,
and covering an area of eight or ten acres,
was a lake of dark, shining water, and
around the rim of this lake were many score
of Mounds, which the guide informed me
were the beaver's houses.
By only one way, and that over the hill
which I mentioned, could this community
be reashed ; for the uneovered portions of
the marehes below were spongy and sodden,
and the rash intruder would speedily And
himself to his ears among squelching lichen
and liverwort, Down the main stream 1
saw two dark objects moving, but the re-
mainder of the inhabitants were evidently
lounging indoors to await the rising of the
moon.
Descending the tree, I cut a number of
slight stakes, and under the guide's direction;
drove them into the bank well down at the ,
water's edge,, and immediately in front of
the largest house near our tent. The other
men were busy constructing a raft upon
which we might take passage to the main
dam. "We will cut away the dam and
create consternation through the town," our
guide had said before starting.
Before the raft was ready I had got my can to -day travel throughNew England and
iinprisoning stakes in front of three beaver fail to note the changes which time has made
doors, and I was assured by Nicholas that in the habits and characters of the people,
the inhabitants were caged hard and fast.
• Before night came we had out away tho
main dam what was built about a hundred
pacers below the outlet of the pond, and the almost wholly forgotten, anclthe state of life
vast volumes of water went with a roar, over. in which the former inhabitants passed their
flowing the stream's channel and flooding existence is o lssolete. The equality which
the level marshes at either hand. We were once existed betweenrnan and man—between
able however to return to our tent by the etnployer and employee—has been changed;
bank of the lake, and having eaten supper there are fewer " helps" and more "ser -
awaited. the rising of the raoon. Presently vents ' ; tlae native stock have been replaced
a flood of yellow appeared on the southeast, hyi
French Canadians; Scandinavians and
and revealed clearly the waters of the sunk. Irish. These changes n New England are
en lake, Taking an axe and a "grub" we the more important inthat they are typical of
began operation upon the largest of the three the change which is being wrought in other
staked mansions, but on reaeting the under. Sections of the coruatry where new lines of
ground rooms found nothing but warm nests. sooial demarcation between classes are being
Evidently. the ;family had taken fright at defined and castes are being formed.
our coming, and gone out. When we look back on thosdgmenold dse s
But our luck was different at the next when to be a New Englander veg4 to be a
typical American, we can recall the pride
that all men took in honest manual labor ;
we oanxecall how xnen and women labored
without their labor lowering them in the
we found quantities of fish, some fresh and socialscale or preventing the development
some stale, and coveys of hazel nuts and of their mental powers, how the tquire left
gowan berries. From this inner room, which the scythe in the field while he leaned teethe
served as refectory as well as a sleeping fence and talked about orops,or iavesttents,
apartment we cut along a narrow passage- or the last political news to the far, er or
way; and at the end of this found the fam- farmer's hired man, who was hauling grist to
the nearest nulL
All this is changed. The squire has gone.
The miller takes in city boarders and grinds
younger ones. Before we could capture them no gram. The sturdy, independent farrner
herself in with a, spiteli and was inetentlY 'Seinen
out of sight.
Around the margin of tke lake we held
eur way nomeless y, and soon came in view
of the general operationa below, So far as
we could judge there were ma fewer than
three ricer° of animels at work in builcling
this huge dam. At the bottom we foaled
tlaat they hacl laid in the heavier timber which
consisted of the lower lengths of tree -boles ;
and upon these were laid a number of heavy
stollen I saw several brioging atones, and
eometimes the load 'would roll out of the
carrier's geese) and go with a sphieh into the
water. We had our gags, end, at any time
might get two large =hole at a Menthe
-
ramie shot; but we were loathe to disturh
them in their gigantic ant baMreeting work.
For the apace of two hours we lay concealed
watehing them and wondering at the har-
mony and the order that prevaileaa rough
lla
the enterprise. Every tree an atone
brought was used, every animal s efaed to
have its proper work, and eteryt ing done
told in the accompliehment of the work be-
fore them,
When the dana had reached a point on a
level with the banks there was a eessation
of work, and tb.e builders turned away and
made up -stream in little knots. A half-
dozen old residents remained on top putting
turf on the holes, or arranging the timbers
more to their liking; but after a while they
too desisted, and begun their descent to the
water,
We did not see, afterwards that night,
any other sign of beaver, at we did not
disturb the dam, and returned leaving this
well•orderecl and public-spirited community
in tamice, In the case of the two selfish ones
who remained to re -build their own home
while the rest turned out to re -build the
city, we had proof that in beaverdom as
well as amongst men, the proverb is recog.
nized that " Charity begins at home."
The Decline of New England.
No one, knowing what the New England
characteristics were two scores of years ago,.
It seems almost as if a strange race had
taken possession of the soil. The traits and
traditions of the early aettlers seem, to be
domicile. One cut the rude rafters, another
pulled out sticks, bushes and compact naud.
cakes with. the grub, till the inner apart-
ment lay bare in the lanthorn light. 'Here
ily(in the outer chamber) huddled together,
and grovelling in terror. , There were four
in all, the father and menher, and the 'two
one of the stakes was displaced in the hnrly-
burly and the head of the family escaped.
In the third house we found only the head
of the family, lying in great alarm in the an inferior, net an equal. Even in the
outer chamber, and alternately looking at factory history of New Eagland there has
ns with terrified eyes and trying to force his been a decadence, the native bornbeing sup -
muzzle through the stakes. planted by the foreign born, and social de -
Returning to camp we took a conveze gradation following the change. It is from
ient watching place; for the guide in. the great west and the new south that the
formed us that we shouldsee muck that was men now come who are typical Americans,
has moved westwarci. The French Cana-
dian or Swede has dispossessed the hired `
man, who is now a stranger, not a friend' ;
interesting before we went to bed.
And so it soon turned out. For after
everything had become still scores of beaver
appeared spread over the lake; and present-
ly we saw that they were acting in concert
If New England does not to day lead the
country as she did once, it is because the
characteristics and modes of life of her pre-
sent population no longer make great men.
• There is one change which, far more than
upon some momentous enterprise. A little all others has caused the decline in the
iter they all swain shoreward, and dragged sturdy independence of the New England
thenaselyes upon the bank. Then we heard character. I mean the increased number of
everywhere about us in the still wood a din rich and idle people who make New England._ ,
of sounds somewhat resembling that retitle- the camping ground of their summer days.
ed if an armi
y of men engaged in chewing When I mage New England as she was, I
rubber. in half an houneve heard splashing see a modern Sparta constantly at war with
sounds in the water and, making, saw that a a stubborn soil and a bleak climate and dis-
number of the inhabitants had entered the eiplined in strengthening labor of mind and
lake, and were:dragging sticks and trees of body; when I Image New England as she
every size. All moved in the same direction, is to day, I see a modern Caput, a vast
• andI am certain that there no feweethanfifty hostelry, orowded with servants whose lives
at once, eat% heading down the lake, with are spent in catering for the entertainment
his load in tow. of idle pleasure -seekers.— [Geoffry Cham -
"They are on for rebuilditig the dam," plain in North American Review.
Nicholas whispered; " but I did not believe
they would commence so quickly,"
While we lay looking in wonder at the
concerted industry of these queer inhabit-
ants a noise close by attracted our attention,
and we saw two beavers close at hand' mak-
ing for the water, andiatach dragging a large
birch. They did not go into the lake, but
left their loads °nate by the first house we
had demolished; and we surmised that they
were the heads of this establishment.
Our attention was drawn away from the
multitude on the lake to watch these two
more selfish ones close at hand. The small-
er one which we judged to be the female,
returned to the woods and out a largewitch-
hszel growing not ten paces from where we
lay, Sitting upon her flippers she began
gnawing the tree low down; and when
she had cut the bole midway through, she
began at the other side. Changing again
she gnawed the side opposite and presently
the tree fell, after having oecupied the ant,
nil in all about ten minutes. Seizing the
large end in her teeth she then made off
towards her demolished home with her
load.
As for the male beaver, he had connneneed
by digging up the clay and bog which had
fallen into the apartments of the house ; and
when this task was ended he selected such
of the old rafters as had not been spoiled by
our axe, and laid them across the opening.
Whoa these rafters were used he eet at
work upon the ft ershly out trees, gnawing
off a branch, or taking a length front the
bole as suited his purpose. Across these
rafters he Mid a number of boughs and
smaller limlnIengthe ; and when the roofing
was compact enough he began to cover it in
with mud and day. 1 have often read and
heard that the beaver uses his tail as the
meson domi hie trowel, to philter his house,
but this one gathered the weft bog under his
flippers and. simply had it upon the wood-
work. 'Sometimes he paused to look at the
progress of his work, or bent his head to
lieten for a hostile sound sad a Fitrauge
mad attraotive spectacle the (heaths pre,
minted,resembling a little old nian, eager,
industrious and cunning, under the elfin
light of the moon,
When the female had 'brought trees
enough she assisted her partner itt putting
on the, clay and when we left f r the Oboe
61 general operations, the mound was more
; than hall 001'11514NA, Wo no sooner Made
man than the builders took f i$ 4. the
male striking his tail sharply Opuntia :the
water and disappearing, !the feitiale thre*
The Potato in Civilization.
A mercantile journal writes that the ow — --
tato has been a great °ionizer. It commen-
ced its work three hundred years ago as A
native American, and. it has gone all over
the world, doing its work in all lands quiet-
ly yet steadily, and in two ways --first, by
being so oheap and abundant that everybody
came to like it ; next by failing until every-
body missed it and went to heating all over
the world for it. In ISM this country pro-
duced about 170,000,000 bushels of potatoes.
To -day we are importing potatoes from Ger-
many Belgium, Scotland, England, Ireland.
Our potato mop failed in a great degree last
year because of drouth in the West and long
continuous rains in the East. Hence, we
are now importing potatoes and paying a
duty of forty-five cents on them beside
freight. If there had been a total failure of
the potato crop we would have lansacked
the world for them, for now We MUSt have
them however high they °bine. This shows
how the potato has been a °vitalizer, We
are short 20,000,000 of bushel, and must
call on the world to make up that shortage.
Generally, Eogland is short on potatoes. --
Luckily this year ishe and all Europe have a
surplutt. Next year the situati inay be
reversed. Ireland ran out of f-potoes in
1947, and commenced starving 'ne 1 we sup-
ti
plied her, Six years ago we had a greet
failure and Ireland supplied, us. But the
year before that England and Ireland had to
import potatoes. SI the potato appeare
and disappears, to teach the world mutual
dependence. The original potato still
flourishes in an reland off Chili, a gnarled
and diminutive stook, the anceetere of a
/troll& and beheneent How—American Pa-
per.
Not for General Perna].
Uncle Ragtag (in telegraph ofiace)---IIas
yo' got a envelope, sal?
Operator—What do you want of an en-
veIoptiltirtneutletilaattes1
troxpatoh, oat, Amo of A
wery private 'nature, and I wants it sent
Ahnost aSure Thing.
1440ther—Lulu, didn't 1 hear that ycnwl.
man kiss yon ii`le hall last night/
Lehi (shyne)eetYea,
Mother—Thal lie has proposed?
Lulu—o, maw, not yec, but I a
sure he will.