CHURCH & CO'S SODA & SALERATUS& SALERATUS
TO FARMERS.—It is important that theSoda or Saleratusthey use should bewhiteandpure, in common with all similar substances used for food.
In making bread with yeast, it is well to use about half a teaspoonful of the"Arm and Hammer" Brand SodaorSaleratusat the same time, and thus make the bread rise better and prevent it becoming sour by correcting the natural acidity of the yeast.
DAIRYMENANDFARMERS
should use only the "Arm and Hammer" brand for cleaning and keeping milk-pans sweet and clean.
To insure obtaining only the"Arm and Hammer"brand Soda or Saleratus, buy it in"POUNDorHALF-POUND PACKAGES,"which bear our name and trade-mark, as inferior goods are sometimes substituted for the"Arm and Hammer"brand when bought in bulk.
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ENGINES, SAW MILLS, THRESHERS, HORSE POWERS,
(For all sections and purposes.) Write forFreePamphlet and Prices to The Aultman & Taylor Co., Mansfield, Ohio.
THE FAMOUS EASY-RUNNINGMonarch Lightning Sawing Machine
IT BEATS THE WORLD FOR SAWING LOGSOR FAMILY STOVE WOOD.
SENT ON 30 DAYS' TEST TRIAL.
The boy in the picture on the left is sawing up logs into 20-inch lengths, to be split into stovewood for family use. This is much theBESTandCHEAPESTway to get out your firewood, because the 20-inch blocks areVERY EASILYsplit up, a good deal easier and quicker than the old-fashioned way of cutting the logs into 4-feet lengths, splitting it into cordwood, and from that sawing it up with a buck saw into stovewood. We sell a large number of machines to farmers and others for just this purpose. A great many persons who had formerly burned coal have stopped that useless expense since getting our Machine. Most families have one or two boys, 16 years of age and up, who can employ their spare time in sawing up wood just as well as not. The
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will save your paying money and board toONEhired man and perhapsTWOmen.
The boy at the right in the picture is sawing up cordwood in a buck frame. You can very easily use our machine in this way if you have cordwood on hand that you wish to saw up into suitable lengths for firewood.
A boy sixteen years old can work the machine all day and not get any more tired than he would raking hay. The machine runsvery easily, so easily, in fact, that after giving the crank half a dozen turns, the operator may let go and the machine will run itself forthree or four revolutions. Farmers owning standing timber cannot fail to see the many advantages of this greatlabor-saving and money-saving machine. If you prefer, you can easily go directly into the woods and easily saw the logs into 20-inch lengths for your family use, or you can saw them into 4-foot lengths, to be split into cordwood, when it can be readily hauled off to the village market. Many farmers are making a good deal of money with this Machine in employing the dull months of the year in selling cordwood.
It makes a great difference inlabor and moneyboth in using our machine, because you get away with a second man. It takes two men to run the old-fashioned cross-cut saw, and it makes two backs ache every day they use it. Not so with our saw.
We offer$1,000for a sawing machine that isEASIER OPERATEDandFASTER RUNNINGthan ours. Every farmer should own our machine. It will pay for itself in one season. Easily operated by a sixteen-year-old boy.
Lumbermen and farmers shouldGET THE BEST—GET THE CHEAPEST—GET THE MONARCH LIGHTNING SAWING MACHINE.
E. DUTTER, Hicksville, O., writes:—It runs so easy that it is JUST FUN to saw wood.
C. A. COLE, Mexico, N. Y., writes:—With this machine I sawed off an elm log, twenty-one inches in diameter, in one minute, forty-three seconds.
Z. G. HEGE, Winston, N. C., writes:—I have shown your machine to several farmers, and all pronounce it a PERFECT SUCCESS.
WM. DILLENBACK, Dayton, Tex., writes:—I am WELL PLEASED with theMonarch Lightning Sawing Machine. My boys can saw WITH ALL EASE.
L. W. YOST, Seneca, Kan., writes:—I will bet $50 that I can saw as much with this machine as any two men can with the old-fashioned cross-cut saw.
T. K. BUCK, Mt. Vernon, Ill., writes:—I have given the Monarch a fair trial, and can truly say it is ALL YOU CLAIM FOR IT, a complete success, enabling a boy to do the work of two strong men, and indeed, more. I would not take $75 for theMonarchand be deprived of the privilege of having another like it. I sawed off a twenty-inch solid water oak log twelve times yesterday inForty-Five Minutes.
J. M. CRAWFORD. Columbia, S. C., writes:—I tried the Monarch on an oak log to-day before twenty farmers. All said it WORKED PERFECTLY.
N. B.—We are sellingSIX TIMESas many Machines as any other firm, simply because our Machine gives perfect satisfaction. Our factory is running day and night to fill orders. Send in your order at once. TheBESTis theCHEAPEST. Our agent sold four machines in one day. Another sold twenty-eight in his township. Another agent cleared$100in one week.BE SURE AND MENTION THIS PAPER.
WE WISH A LIVE, WIDE-AWAKE AGENT IN EVERY COUNTY IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA.☞ Write for Latest Illustrated Catalogue giving Special Terms and scores of Testimonials.
MONARCH MANUFACTURING CO.163 E. RANDOLPH STREET, CHICAGO, ILL.
Rememberthat$2.00pays forThe Prairie Farmerone year and, the subscriber gets a copy ofThe Prairie Farmer County Map of the United States, free!This is the most liberal offer ever made by any first-class weekly agricultural paper in this country.
Scientific
The last number of the American Naturalist presents the following from David S. Jorden, of Bloomington, Indiana. It is one of those gossipy bits about the great scientist that every body enjoys reading.
In a recent visit to England, the writer strolled into the village of Down in Kent, and talked with some of the villagers in regard to Mr. Darwin, whose beautiful home is just outside the little town.
Some of this talk, although in itself idle and valueless, may have an interest to readers, as showing how a great man looks to his smaller neighbors.
The landlord of the "George Inn" said that "all the people wished to have Mr. Darwin buried in Down, but the government would not let them. It would have helped the place so much. It would have brought hosts of people down to see his grave. Especially it would have helped the hotel business which is pretty dull in winter time.
"Mr. Darwin was a very fine-looking man. He had a high forehead and wore a long beard. Still, if you had met him on the street, perhaps, you would not have taken much notice of him unless you knew that he was a clever man."
"Sir John Lubbock (Darwin's friend and near neighbor) is a very clever man, too, but not so clever nor so remarkable-looking as Mr. Darwin. He is very fond of hants (ants), and plants, and things."
At Keston, three miles from Down, the landlady of the Grayhound had never heard of Mr. Darwin until after his death. There was then considerable talk about his being buried in Westminster, but nothing was said of him before.
Several persons had considerable to say of Mr. Darwin's extensive and judicious charity to the poor. To Mr. Parslow, for many years his personal servant, Mr. Darwin gave a life pension of £50, and the rent of the handsome "Home Cottage" in Down. During the time of a water famine in that region, he used to ride about on horseback to see who needed water, and had it brought to them at his own expense from the stream at St. Mary's Cray.
"He was," said Mr. Parslow, "a very social, nice sort of a gentleman, very joking and jolly indeed; a good husband and a good father and a most excellent master. Even his footmen used to stay with him as long as five years. They would rather stay with him than take a higher salary somewhere else. The cook came there while young and stayed there till his death, nearly thirty years later.
"Mrs Darwin is a pleasant lady, a year older than her husband. Their boys are all jolly, nice young fellows. All have turned out so well, not one of them rackety, you know. Seven children out of the ten are now living.
"George Darwin is now a professor in Oxford. He was a barrister at first; had his wig and gown and all, but had to give it up on account of bad health. He would have made a hornament to the profession.
"Francis Darwin is a doctor, and used to work with his father in the greenhouse. He is soon to marry a lady who lectures on Botany in Oxford.
"For the first twenty years after Mr. Darwin's return from South America, his health was very bad—much more than later. He had a stomach disease which resulted from sea-sickness while on the voyage around the world. Mr. Parslow learned the watercure treatment and treated Mr. Darwin in that system, for a long time, giving much relief.
"Mr. Darwin used to do his own writing but had copyists to get his work ready for the printer. He was always an early man. He used to get up at half past six. He used to bathe and then go out for a walk all around the place. Then Parslow used to get breakfast for him before the rest of the family came down. He used to eat rapidly, then went to his study and wrote till after the rest had breakfast. Then Mrs. Darwin came in and he used to lie half an hour on the sofa, while she or someone else read to him. Then he wrote till noon, then went out for an hour to walk. He used to walk all around the place. Later in life, he had a cab, and used to ride on horseback. Then after lunch at one, he used to write awhile. Afterwards he and Mrs. Darwin used to go to the bedroom, where he lay on a sofa and often smoked a cigarette while she read to him. After this he used to walk till dinner-time at five. Before the family grew up, they used to dine early, at half-past one, and had a meat-tea at half-past six.
"Sometimes there were eighteen or twenty young Darwins of different families in the house. Four-in-hand coaches of young Darwins used sometimes to come down from London. Mr. Darwin liked children. They didn't disturb him in the least. There were sometimes twenty or thirty pairs of little shoes to be cleaned of a morning, but there were always plenty of servants to do this.
"The gardener used to bring plants into his room often of a morning, and he used to tie bits of cotton on them, and try to make them do things. He used to try all sorts of seeds. He would sow them in pots in his study.
"There were a quantity of people in Westminster Abbey when he was buried. Mr. Parslow and the cook were among the chief mourners and sat in the Jerusalem chamber. The whole church was as full of people as they could stand. There was great disappointment in Down that he was not buried there. He loved the place, and we think that he would rather have rested there had he been consulted."
MISCELLANEOUS.
To Our Readers.
THE PRAIRIE FARMER is theOldest, Most Reliable, and theLeading Agricultural Journal of the Great Northwest, devoted exclusively to the interests of the Farmer, Gardener, Florist, Stock Breeder, Dairyman, Etc., and every species of industry connected with that great portion of the People of the World, theProducers. Now in the Forty-Second Year of its existence, and never, during more than two score years, having missed the regular visit to its patrons, it will continue to maintain supremacy asa Standard Authority on matters pertaining to Agriculture and kindred Productive Industries, and as aFresh and Readable Family and Fireside Journal. It will from time to time add new features of interest, securing for each department the ablest writers of practical experience.
THE PRAIRIE FARMER will discuss, without fear or favor, all topics of interest properly belonging to a Farm and Fireside Paper, treat of the most approved practices inAgriculture, Horticulture, Breeding, Etc.; the varied Machinery, Implements, and improvements in same, for use both in Field and House; and, in fact, everything of interest to the Agricultural community, whether inField, Market, or Home Circle.
It will give information upon the public domain, Western soils, climate, etc.; answer inquirieson all manner of subjects which come within its sphere;giveeach week, full andreliable Market, Crop, and Weather Reports; presentthe family with choice andinteresting literature; amuse andinstruct the young folks: and, in a word, aim tobe, in every respect,an indispensable and unexceptionablefarm and firesidecompanion.
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A DANGEROUS AMBUSCADE.
Discovered Barely in Time—The Most Deceptive and Luring of Modern Evils Graphically Described.
(Syracuse Journal.)
Something of a sensation was caused in this city yesterday by a rumor that one of our best-known citizens was about to publish a statement concerning some unusual experiences during his residence in Syracuse. How the rumor originated it is impossible to say, but a reporter immediately sought Dr. S. G. Martin, the gentleman in question, and secured the following interview:
"What about this rumor, Doctor, that you are going to make a public statement of some important matters?"
"Just about the same as you will find in all rumors—some truth; some fiction. I had contemplated making a publication of some remarkable episodes that have occurred in my life, but have not completed it as yet."
"What is the nature of it, may I inquire?"
"Why, the fact that I am a human being instead of a spirit. I have passed through one of the most wonderful ordeals that perhaps ever occurred to any man. The first intimation I had of it was several years ago, when I began to feel chilly at night and restless after retiring. Occasionally this would be varied by a soreness of the muscles and cramps in my arms and legs. I thought, as most people would think, that it was only a cold and so paid as little attention to it as possible. Shortly after this I noticed a peculiar catarrhal trouble and my throat also became inflamed. As if this were not variety enough I felt sharp pains in my chest, and a constant tendency to headache."
"Why didn't you take the matter in hand and check it right where it was?"
"Why doesn't everybody do so? Simply because they think it is only some trifling and passing disorder. These troubles did not come all at once and I thought it unmanly to heed them. I have found, though, that every physical neglect must be paid for and with large interest. Men can not draw drafts on their constitution without honoring them sometime. These minor symptoms I have described, grew until they were giants of agony. I became more nervous; had a strange fluttering of the heart, an inability to draw a long breath and an occasional numbness that was terribly suggestive of paralysis. How I could have been so blind as not to understand what this meant I can not imagine."
"And did you do nothing?"
"Yes, I traveled. In the spring of 1879 I went to Kansas and Colorado, and while in Denver, I was attacked with a mysterious hemorrage of the urinary organs and lost twenty pounds of flesh in three weeks. One day after my return I was taken with a terrible chill and at once advanced to a very severe attack of pneumonia. My left lung soon entirely filled with water and my legs and body became twice their natural size. I was obliged to sit upright in bed for several weeks in the midst of the severest agony, with my arms over my head, and constant fear of suffocation."
"And did you still make no attempt to save yourself?"
"Yes, I made frantic efforts. I tried everything that seemed to offer the least prospect of relief. I called a council of doctors and had them make an exhaustive chemical and microscopical examination of my condition. Five of the best physicians of Syracuse and several from another city said I must die!
"It seemed as though their assertion was true for my feet became cold, my mouth parched, my eyes wore a fixed glassy stare, my body was covered with a cold, clammy death sweat, and I read my fate in the anxious expressions of my family and friends."
"But thefinale?"
"Came at last. My wife, aroused to desperation, began to administer a remedy upon her own responsibility and while I grew better very slowly, I gained ground surely until, in brief, I have no trace of the terrible Bright's disease from which I was dying, and am a perfectly well man. This may sound like a romance, but it is true, and my life, health and what I am are due to Warner's Safe Cure, which I wish was known to and used by the thousands who I believe, are suffering this minute as I was originally. Does not such an experience as this justify me in making a public statement?"
"It certainly does. But then Bright's disease is not a common complaint, doctor."
"Not common! On the contrary it is one of the most common. The trouble is, few people know they have it. It has so few marked symptoms until its final stages that a person may have it for years, each year getting more and more in its power and not suspect it. It is quite natural I should feel enthusiastic over this remedy while my wife is even more so than I am. She knows of its being used with surprising results by many ladies for their own peculiar ailments, over which it has singular power."
The statement drawn out by the above interview is amply confirmed by very many of our most prominent citizens, among them being Judge Reigel, and Col. James S. Goodrich, of the Times, while Gen. Dwight H. Bruce and Rev. Prof. W. P. Coddington, D. D., give the remedy their heartiest indorsement. In this age of wonders, surprising things are quite common, but an experience so unusual as that of Dr. Martin's and occurring here in our midst, may well cause comment and teach a lesson. It shows the necessity of guarding the slightest approach of physical disorder and by the means which has been proven the most reliable and efficient. It shows the depth to which one can sink and yet be rescued and it proves that few people need suffer if these truths are observed.
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Household.
For nothing lovelier can be foundIn woman than to studyhouseholdgood.—Milton.
For nothing lovelier can be foundIn woman than to studyhouseholdgood.—Milton.
AN OLD SOLDIER'S STORY.
The low school-house stood in a green Wabash woodLookin' out on long levels of corn like a sea—A little log-house, hard benches, and we,Big barefooted boys and rough 'uns, we stoodIn line with the gals and tried to get 'headAt spellin' each day when the lessons was said.But one, Bally Dean, tall, bony, and greenAs green corn in the milk, stood fast at the foot—Stood day after day, as if he'd been putA soldier on guard there did poor Bally Dean.And stupid! God made him so stupid I doubt—But I guess God who made us knows what He's about.He'd a long way to walk. But he wouldn't once talkOf that, nor the chores for his mother who layA shakin' at home. Still, day after dayHe stood at the foot till the class 'gan to mock!Then to master he plead, "Oh I'd like to go head!"Now it wasn't so much, but the way it was said.Then the war struck the land! Why the barefooted bandIt just nailed up that door: and the very next day,With master for Cap'en, went marchin' away;And Bally the butt of the whole Wabash band.But he bore with it all, yet once firmly said,"When I get back home, I'm agoin' up head!"Oh, that school-house that stood in the wild Wabash wood!The rank weeds were growin' like ghosts through the floor.The squirrels hulled nuts on the sill of the door.And the gals stood in groups scrapin' lint where they stood.And we boys! How we sighed; how we sickened and diedFor the days that had been, for a place at their side.Then one fever-crazed and his better sense dazedAnd dulled with heart-sickness all duty forgot;Deserted, was taken, condemned to be shot!And Bally Dean guardin' his comrade half crazed,Slow paced up and down while he slept where he layIn the tent waitin' death at the first flush of day.And Bally Dean thought of the boy to be shot,Of the fair girl he loved in the woods far away;Of the true love that grew like a red rose of May;And he stopped where he stood, and he thought and he thoughtThen a sudden star fell, shootin' on overhead.And he knew that his mother beckon'd onto the dead.And he said what have I? Though I live though I die.Who shall care for me now? Then the dull, muffled drumStruck his ear, and he knew that the master had comeWith the squad. And he passed in the tent with a sigh,And the doomed lad crept forth, and the drowsy squad ledWith low trailin' guns to the march of the dead.Then with face turned away tow'rd a dim streak of day,And his voice full of tears the poor bowed master said,As he fell on his knees and uncovered his head:"Come boys it is school time, let us all pray."And we prayed. And the lad by the coffin aloneWas tearless, was silent, was still as a stone."In line," master said, and he stood at the head;But he couldn't speak now. So he drew out his swordAnd dropped the point low for the last fatal word.Then the rifles rang out, and a soldier fell dead!The master sprang forward. "Great Heaven," he said,"It is Bally, poor Bally, and he's gone up head!"
The low school-house stood in a green Wabash woodLookin' out on long levels of corn like a sea—A little log-house, hard benches, and we,Big barefooted boys and rough 'uns, we stoodIn line with the gals and tried to get 'headAt spellin' each day when the lessons was said.
But one, Bally Dean, tall, bony, and greenAs green corn in the milk, stood fast at the foot—Stood day after day, as if he'd been putA soldier on guard there did poor Bally Dean.And stupid! God made him so stupid I doubt—But I guess God who made us knows what He's about.
He'd a long way to walk. But he wouldn't once talkOf that, nor the chores for his mother who layA shakin' at home. Still, day after dayHe stood at the foot till the class 'gan to mock!Then to master he plead, "Oh I'd like to go head!"Now it wasn't so much, but the way it was said.
Then the war struck the land! Why the barefooted bandIt just nailed up that door: and the very next day,With master for Cap'en, went marchin' away;And Bally the butt of the whole Wabash band.But he bore with it all, yet once firmly said,"When I get back home, I'm agoin' up head!"
Oh, that school-house that stood in the wild Wabash wood!The rank weeds were growin' like ghosts through the floor.The squirrels hulled nuts on the sill of the door.And the gals stood in groups scrapin' lint where they stood.And we boys! How we sighed; how we sickened and diedFor the days that had been, for a place at their side.
Then one fever-crazed and his better sense dazedAnd dulled with heart-sickness all duty forgot;Deserted, was taken, condemned to be shot!And Bally Dean guardin' his comrade half crazed,Slow paced up and down while he slept where he layIn the tent waitin' death at the first flush of day.
And Bally Dean thought of the boy to be shot,Of the fair girl he loved in the woods far away;Of the true love that grew like a red rose of May;And he stopped where he stood, and he thought and he thoughtThen a sudden star fell, shootin' on overhead.And he knew that his mother beckon'd onto the dead.
And he said what have I? Though I live though I die.Who shall care for me now? Then the dull, muffled drumStruck his ear, and he knew that the master had comeWith the squad. And he passed in the tent with a sigh,And the doomed lad crept forth, and the drowsy squad ledWith low trailin' guns to the march of the dead.
Then with face turned away tow'rd a dim streak of day,And his voice full of tears the poor bowed master said,As he fell on his knees and uncovered his head:"Come boys it is school time, let us all pray."And we prayed. And the lad by the coffin aloneWas tearless, was silent, was still as a stone.
"In line," master said, and he stood at the head;But he couldn't speak now. So he drew out his swordAnd dropped the point low for the last fatal word.Then the rifles rang out, and a soldier fell dead!The master sprang forward. "Great Heaven," he said,"It is Bally, poor Bally, and he's gone up head!"
—Joaquin Miller.
A very fat young woman came to my office and asked to see me privately. When we were alone she said:
"Are you sure no one can overhear us?"
"Quite sure."
"You won't laugh at me, will you?"
"Madam, I should be unworthy of your confidence if I could be guilty of such a rudeness."
"Thank you, sir; but no one ever called upon you on such a ridiculous errand. You won't think me an idiot, will you?"
"I beg of you to go on."
"You don't care to know my name or residence?"
"Certainly not, if you care to conceal them."
"I have called to consult you about the strangest thing in the world. I will tell you all. I am twenty-three years old. When I was nineteen I weighed 122 pounds; now I weigh 209; I am all filling up with fat. I can hardly breathe. The best young man that ever lived loves me, and has been on the point of asking me to marry him, but of course he sees I am growing worse all the time and he don't dare venture. I can't blame him. He is the noblest man in the world, and could marry any one he chooses. I don't blame him for not wishing to unite himself to such a tub as I am. Why, Doctor, you don't know how fat I am. I am a sight to behold. And now I have come to see if any thing can be done. I know you have studied up all sorts of curious subjects, and I thought you might be able to tell me how to get rid of this dreadful curse."
She had been talking faster and faster, and with more and more feeling (after the manner of fat women, who are always emotional), until she broke down in hysterical sobs.
I inquired about her habits—table and otherwise. She replied:
"Oh, I starve myself; I don't eat enough to keep a canary bird alive, and yet I grow fatter and fatter all the time. I don't believe anything can be done for me. We all have our afflictions, and I suppose we ought to bear them with fortitude. I wouldn't mind for myself, but it's just breaking his heart; if it wasn't for him I could be reconciled."
I then explained to her our nervous system, and the bearing certain conditions of one class of nerves has upon the deposition of adipose tissue. I soon saw she was not listening, but was mourning her sorrow. Then I asked her if she would be willing to follow a prescription I might give her.
"Willing? willing?" she cried. "I would be willing to go through fire, or to have my flesh cut off with red-hot knives. There is nothing I would not be willing to endure if I could only get rid of this horrible condition."
I prepared a prescription for her, and arranged that she should call upon me once a week, that I might supervise her progress and have frequent opportunities to encourage her. The prescription which I read to her was this:
1. For breakfast eat a piece of beef or mutton as large as your hand, with a slice of white bread twice as large. For dinner the same amount of meat, or, if preferred, fish or poultry, with the same amount of farinaceous or vegetable food in the form of bread or potato. For supper, nothing.
2. Drink only when greatly annoyed with thirst; then a mouthful of lemonade without sugar.
3. Take three times a week some form of bath, in which there shall be immense perspiration. The Turkish bath is best. You must work, either in walking or some other way, several hours a day.
"But, doctor, I can't walk; my feet are sore."
"I thought that might be the case, but if the soles of your shoes are four inches broad, and are thick and strong, walking will not hurt your feet. You must walk or work until you perspire freely, every day of the week. Of course, you are in delicate health, with little endurance, but, as you have told me that you are willing to do anything, you are to work hard at something six or seven hours every day."
4. You must rise early in the morning, and retire late at night. Much sleep fattens people.
5. The terrible corset you have on, which compresses the center of the body, making you look a great deal fatter than you really are, must be taken off, and you must have a corset which any dress maker can fit to you—a corset for the lower part of the abdomen, which will raise this great mass and support it.
"This is all the advice I have to give you at present. At first you will lose half a pound a day. In the first three months you will lose from twenty to thirty pounds. In six months, forty pounds. You will constantly improve in health, get over this excessive emotion, and be much stronger. Every one knows that a very fat horse weighing 1,200 pounds, can be quickly reduced to 1,000 pounds with great improvement to activity and health. It is still easier with a human being. That you may know exactly what is being done, I wish you to be weighed; write the figures in your memorandum, and one week from now, when you come again, weigh yourself and tell me how much you have lost."
I happened to be out of the city and did not see her until her second visit, two weeks from our last meeting. It was plain when she entered that already her system was being toned up, and when we were again in my private office, she said:
"I have lost six and a half pounds; not quite as much as you told me, but I am delighted, though nearly starved. I have done exactly as you prescribed, and shall continue to if it kills me. You must be very careful not to make any mistakes, for I shall do just as you say. At first the thirst was dreadful. I thought I could not bear it. But now I have very little trouble with that."
About four months after our first meeting this young woman brought a handsome young man with her, and after a pleasant chat, she said to me:
"We are engaged; but I have told my friend that I shall not consent to become his wife until I have a decent shape. When I came to you I weighed 209 pounds; I now weigh 163 pounds. I am ten times as strong, active, and healthy as I was then, and I have made up my mind, for my friend has left it altogether to me, that when I have lost ten or fifteen pounds more, we shall send you the invitations."
As the wedding day approached she brought the figures 152 on a card, and exclaimed, with her blue eyes running over:
"I am the happiest girl in the world, and don't you think I have honestly earned it? I think I am a great deal happier than I should have been had I not worked for it."
The papers said the bride was beautiful. I thought she was, and I suppose no one but herself and husband felt as much interested in that beauty as I did. I took a sort of scientific interest in it.
We made the usual call upon them during the first month, and when, two months after the wedding, they were spending the evening with us, I asked him if his wife had told him about my relations with her avoirdupois? He laughed heartily, and replied:
"Oh, yes, she has told me everything, I suppose: but wasn't it funny?"
"Not very. I am sure you wouldn't have thought it funny if you could have heard our first interview. It was just the reverse of funny; don't you think so madam?"
"I am sure it was the most anxious visit I ever paid any one. Doctor, my good husband says he should have married me just the same, but I think he would have been a goose if he had."
"Yes," said the husband, "it was foreordained that we two should be one."
"To be sure it was," replied the happy wife, "because it was foreordained that I should get rid of those horrid fifty-seven pounds. I am going down till I reach one hundred and forty pounds, and there I will stop, unless my husband says one hundred and thirty. I am willing do anything to please him."—Dio Lewis' Monthly.
It is not the most expensively furnished houses that are the most homelike, besides comparatively few persons have the means to gratify their love of pretty little ornaments with which to beautify their homes. It is really painful to visit some houses; there naked walls and cheerless rooms meet you yet there are many such, and children in them too. How much might these homes be brightened by careful forethought in making some little ornaments that are really of no expense, save the time.
Comb cases, card receivers, letter holders, match safes, paper racks, cornucopias, and many other pretty and useful things can easily be made of nice clean paste board boxes (and the boxes are to be found in a variety of colors). For any of these cut out the parts and nicely sew them together, and the seams and raw edges can be covered with narrow strips of bright hued paper or tape. Ornament them with transfer or scrap pictures.
I have seen very pretty vases for holding dried flowers and grasses, made of plain dark brown pasteboard, and the seams neatly covered with narrow strips of paper. Pretty ottomans can be made by covering any suitable sized box with a bit of carpeting, and stuffing the top with straw or cotton. Or, if the carpeting is not convenient, piece a covering of worsteds. A log cabin would be a pretty pattern.
To amuse the children during the long winter months, make a scrap-book of pictures. Collect all the old illustrated books, papers, and magazines, and cut out the pictures and with mucilage nicely paste them in a book, first removing alternate leaves so it will not be too bulky. Perhaps this last remark is slightly wandering from my subject, but I can't help it, I love the little folks and want them happy. Cares and trouble will come to them soon enough. Autograph albums are quite the rage nowadays, and children get the idea and quite naturally think it pretty nice, and want an album too. For them make a pretty album in the form of a boot. For the outside use plain red cardboard; for the inside leaves use unruled paper; fasten at the top with two tiny bows of narrow blue ribbon. A lady sent my little girl an autograph album after this pattern for a birthday present and it is very neat indeed. Any of the little folks who want a pattern of it can have it and welcome by sending stamp to pay postage. For the wee little girl make a nice rag doll; it will please her quite as well as a boughten one, and certainly last much longer. I have a good pattern for a doll which you may also have if you wish it. A nice receptacle for pins, needles, thread, etc., can be made in form of an easy chair or sofa. Cut the part of pasteboard and cover the seat, arms, and back with cloth, and stuff with cotton. Brackets made of pasteboard will do service a long time.
Mrs. F. A. WarnerSouth Saginaw, Mich.
RAILROADS.