P
eScbnixhn Advertiser.
0. W. FAIRBnOTHER k CO., Proprietor.
AUBUBN, "1 5 NEBRASKA.
COINCIDENCE.
Exrr.iitRNCK or two or the gilded.
I really felt worried, I own,
About my nlfalr with KIIho.
Bo when Hred and I were nlono
I told him thi) facts, which wcro thcaot
I'd carted her round mom or less
To theaters and sensboro and such,
lint never had reason to guess
That sho over eared for mo much,
'Till onu dav It happened sho soko
Of my being sweet on Knte Drew,
Bald I, Just by way of a Joku:
" Von know I enro only for you."
I said It In Jest, rec. Meet.
ShotiK)k It In earnest; ntonco
Oonfcmcd what I didn't suspect.
Hho loved tnol Well T, llko ft duueo,
Had not the nulolc wit to protond
I thought sho wan Joking and turn
Tho talk. Did not wish to orrcnu
Uy seeming her true lovo to spurn,
tried to appear overjoyed
And klMed her. Now, fool that l am.
I'vo Im'cii very sadly annoyed
Ily having to keep up th" sham.
Bbo's pleas nt. but being her slave
And buying her diamonds and such,
And going to sco her to mvo
Of love well, It's rather ton much.
I'd llko to yet out of tho scrape,
Hut feel that tho blame's on my part;
I wish to effect my oscnpo.
Hut don't want to wound tho girl's heart.
Now Kn d," mild I, "toll me tho incuns
Ily which lean end tho nffalr
Without any tciir-sheddlng (oenes,
Or filling her soul with despair."
Bald ho: " 'TIs amazing, but truo;
A similar story I chant.
I'm Just In llio samo tlx as voip
And want to cscnpe, lint I can't
Tho girl Is ii frightful expense.
Hut loves with tho urdor of youth.
I really can't give the ortonso
Of telling her, rrankly, tho truth.
Thu raeket we'll have to maintain,
Till time shows n way to pot out.
It goes very much 'galuH thu grain,
Ilutstlll wodoiervo It, no doubt.
Together wo'll uhiitn. If you please.
Wholtyonr liuMimhnineeV" " llcr namo,"
I answered, "Is Konyon Ellse."
'By Jingo," nuldl'rcd, "mine's thosamol"
lloKlim 2W.
THU LITTLE FOXES.
A I. uy Sermon.
"Tako us tho foxes, tho llt'lo foxi-fl, that
spoil tho vl nun : for our vines bavo tundur
grapes." Solonwn'i Song, J.'H.
Dkakly 1$bi.ot.i: It Is tho liltlo
tilings in this life that nmko tip our hap
piness or misery. If wo hud to tie til
only with tho grout things wo could got
along. Jf thorowcro only lions in tho
way, lifo would bo pleasantor than it is.
Jf wo woro Only expected to bo heroes,
we could accomplish our wurfuro
and work out our mission with loss
trouble than now encompasses us. Hut
alas, it is not against lions and groat
dangers mat tho volco.ot inspiration
warns us. It is only tholittlo foxes"
we are to tako. And thermal) who
dospisoth tho day of small things is
oven as ho who liftoth up his head in
tho air and vaunteth himself, even while
he sltteth Ids foot upon the humble
banana peel. Fulleth lie over a man by
treading upon n dry goodsjbox, or ilotn
ho stumble, over a two story house?
"Take us tho foxes, tho liltleioxoa, that
spoil the vine." "
Brethren, it is easier to kill u lion
than to catch a fox. It is easier to build
a wanon than it is to make a watch.
Groat is tho warrior who taketh a city,
but ho is bettor than the mighty, that
is ulow to anger, and bettorvis ho that
ruloth his spirit" than ho that taketh a
city. ;
Why see, how much of human misery
is based upon the nioroBt trilles. The
man who makes himself supremely
wretched because he wants something
his neighbor hasi' and can't get it; tho
man who swears when ho loses his col
lar button; tho man who breaks tho
furniture because ho can't liml his hat
on tho rackAvhon ho loft It out in the
back yard; tho man who wants to die
when ho wakes at night to hear it rain
ing in perfect torrents and remembers
that he left all tho kindling wood out
doors on the cistern box; tho man who
is unhappy because his boots are tight;
tho voting man, or old man either, who
tries to make a forty-dollar salary sup-
1)ort a lifty-dollar coat, and is miserable
)eeauso thoro is a mislit somewhoro; tho
man who is cross and savage all through
house-cleaning weok; tho man who is
always sick and misorahlo after tho pic
nic; tho man who is cross because It is
hot, and grulV beeauso it's cold, and ir
ritable because it's wot what are those
mon uut tho tormented victims of "tho
littlo foxes that spoil tho vinos." Thoso
men have no heavy burdens, no gravo
trials, Thoy aro miserable because thoy
make themselves so, and they romaiu
miserable beeauso thoy aro too lazy to
set a fox trap. If the old world had n
heavier sorrows than thoso, wo would
bo so happy down horo somo of us
wouldn't caro to go to Ileavon. Lay
this paper downright horo, dearly be
loved, and count up all your own trials
and sorrows and tribulations; strike out
all tho littlo, potty overy-day annoy
ances you aro ashamed to call tribula
tions, and see how littlo you have to
make lifo unhappy. Honestly, now, what
trouble have you? You need not tell mo;
just givo yourself an honest answer.
If wo allowed tho great wrongs of lifo
to move us as deeply as do tho potty
trials; if wo endured our light atlliotious
moro patiently, and moro valiantly com
batted tho great evils, how soon would
we reform this old world. If ono-hulf
tho indignation that is poured out upon
tho iusensato collar buttons that roll
away under the shadowy concealment
ot impassive lounges and bureaus woro
as faithless politicians who betray their
trusts and barter their principles for
place una prollt, thoro would Do no
mourn'mx vor an
iy laclc ot honest men
If society broko the
in public places
furniture and foamed at tho mouth and
tore things when it can lind neither its
b'ank account or tho Cashior as It does
kwnon n simply cannot lind its iiat, no
man could steal trust funds and build a
new house therewith. If tho man who
tries to revorso the appearance of a
number nlno foot, to make it lit a num
ber six boot, would only try as hard to
make his sinful nature compass tho vir
tues of a saint, tho world would bo fra
grant with patience, and his home and
neighbors would rise up and call him
blessed. Wo fret and chafo under tho
littlo trials, and aro too complacent with
tho great evils. And tho man who can
ignore tho petty vexations and save nil
Ins strength of mind and body for tho
great tilings, ho is tho man who leads us
idl.
It is truo, dearly bo oved, these potty
annoyances make constant demands
upon your strength and patience and
grace. I know there aro a thousand
loxcs to one lion, and that it is hard
work to wntoh them all tho time, but
denial vigilance is the price of a good
character, and
" Hvil Is caused by want of thought
As well as by want of heart."
It would be cosier to bo a martyr, and
go down to the block or to tho stake,
and have one's head cut olYor bo burned
to a crisp at onco and bo dono with it,
than It Is to unduro eight or ten years
of rheumatism. So much tho more
honor to tho patient victims of rheuma
tism than to tho martyrs. I know it is
easier to President of tho United States,
and bo a good President, too, than it is
to go to sloop with the earache, or with
three small mosquitoes in tho room,
that have -made un their minds to a
horrible repast of human blood. I know
-out of tho breadth and depth of my
own experience l know whereof latlirm
I know it is an easier matter to edit a
newspaper, than it is to put tho baby to
sloop wlien tho baby isn't feeling par
ticularly sleepy just then. I know the
little trials are tho hardest; the
little temptations aro tho strongest.
Tho man who would scorn to steal a
horse will swear a little sometimes. Tho
man who could not bo hired to foro a
note will sometimes help to circulate a
campaign lie; the man who will not
commit murder will occasionally scold
his wife; and the man who would scorn
a lie under any other circumstances can' t
be trusted in a horse trade. It is ousv
for any honest man to refuse a bribe; it
is hard for the same man to tell the
truth about the size and number of tho
trout ho caught. It is comparatively
easy to obey the big commandments:
it's the finer meshes of tho little not
that will entinglo so many of us.
Dearly beloved, don't try to bo ho
roes, then. Don't aim to bo wingless
saints. Don't aspire to tho distinction
of martyrdom. Try to bo good, every
day, honest, Christian men and wom
en, and see if you have not your hands
lull, wont waste your time lion hunt
ing; tho lions never hurt jinybody, but
"Tako us tho foxes, the littlo foxes,
that spoil tho vines; for our vines have
tender grapes." Durlimjton Ilawkeye.
Something About (ho Rising Blossom
of the Period.
No lloworfor along timo has become
so popular and so personal tin Hie sun
llower. It has climbed into our favor
aii'l taken possession of our homes, our
garden and our dress, and is every
where tho sentinel of art and fashion
and of right, for it is not only a decora
tive and useful llower, but bears a good
religious character, being as a Christian
llower dedicated to St. Bartholomew,
St. Louis (King) and St. Antradis, and,
as a pagan emblem, tho sacred llower of
tho ancient Peruvians, who woro wor
shipors of tho sun.
Its resemblance to the god of day and
Its supposed homage to tho rising sun
made it their emblem of faith, and on
this account it was gieatly u.sod in thoir
religious ceremonies, and tho virgins
who olliciated in the temple of the sun
were crowned with sunllowers made of
pure gold, and carried them in their
hand, and fastened their robes with
them.
In Persia and other lauds of tho East
tho suutlower is the emblem of constan
cy In lovo, and there aro many pootical
allusions in Eastern literature to the
llower that always turns iLs face toward
tho sun.
Tho lirst mention wo have of it in En
gland is from Gerard, in l.VJO, when ho
tells us that in his garden he had one
that has grown to tho height of II feet,
which produces llowers measuring 1
inches over. In Spain and Mexico thoy
grow to tho height of '20 feet, some of
the llowers measuring four feet in diam
eter, ami a single llower producing 2,!J62
seeds.
Botanical authorities say that tharo
aro nearly lifty species. Among those
which aro best known aro tho tall sun
llowor of Peru and Mexico, tho peren
nial, a native of Virginia, and tho dwarf
sunllowor, brought as lato as 1878 from
Egypt.
Tho Reeds, when peeled, taste llko
sweet almond. They make an excellent
broad of them in Portugal, and during
tho lato war, in tho Southern States,
thoy woro substituted for cotl'eoin many
a frontier cabin. Thoy are good loo'd
for poultry, and tho oil pressed from
them is frequently used in placo of
olive oil for salads; it can also be burned
in tho lamp, and is splendid for soap
making.
Tho stems and llowers when burned
produce a good potash, and many a
housewife in Tonus has superintended
tho burning of sunllowers to obtain tho
potash for her week's baking with as
much caro as she did tho baking itself.
In Texas tho sunllowor pulled at sun
down with a wish is sure to bring the
wish truo before tho next suusot (so the
Indian says), and no truo Toxan will
have a garden without at least one of
thoso "iniinie suns" in it. To dream
of them signifies that you will have your
prido wounded; and a negro, If ho has
this dream, will never rest until ho has
pulled a sunllowor to counteract tho
omen. And In somo parts of tho South
a negro will not let you bring into tho
bouse a sunllowor that has boon milled
before It is perfect or ono that is m any
way broken. Harper's Weekly.
Tho-Suez Canal.
When Napoleon sent his engineers to
tako tho levels across the Isthmus of
Suez in order to determine tho practica
bility of digging a canal through tho
sand for commercial purposes, thoy
made out that tho surface of the Gulf of
Suez was thirty feet higher than tho
Mediterranean, and so the pro'ect was
for tho time given up. Tho blunder in
tho survey was not discovered until
1810, when new schemes began to bo
agitated for cutting a ship channel that
would shorten the voyage from Europe
to India and the East by almost tho en
tire distance around the continent of
Africa.
In 1854 M. dc Lessens formed a canal
company and obtained a grant from tho
Vicorov of Egypt for ninety-nine years.
Tho sejionio was looked upon with sus
picion by BritMi engineers and British
capitalists and tho inception and proso
culion of the enterprise were largely
due to the French. In 185'J tho work
was begun, and ten years later tho
Hod Sea and tho Mediterranean met in
tho Hitter Lakes. Tho total length of
tho canal Is not far from 100 miles,
about seventy-live miles of the eourso
being formed by excavation and twenty
five miles hing through tho shallow
lakes of tho isthmus, which, in many
places, required deepening. Tho ordi
nary width of tho canal is ;J2."5 feet at tho
surface and -eventy-two feet at the bot
tom, tho depth of the water being
twontj'-six feet. Thoro aro no locks
throughout its course, and lis termini
are Suez, at tho entrance to the Gulf of
Suez on the south, from which point
thoro aro railroads to Cairo and Alex
andria and a "fresh-water canal" to
tho Nile, and Port Said at the margin of
tho Mediterranean on tho north. Tho
building of an artificial harbor at each
terminus, with tho necessary protec
tions, was reckoned a greater under
taking than the excavation of tho canal
itself.
Tho work was formally opened on the
17th of November, 1809, and on tho
2.'th it was publicly announced that
Lord Hcnconsliold bad purchased from
Ismail Pasha, who had become viceroy
ot Egypt under the title of Khedive,
170,002 out of the 400,000 shares of 20
each. The sum naitl was 4.080.000.
and tho commissions to the Rothschilds
and other expen-.es of the transaction
amounted to about 100.01)0 more. By
the terms of transfer tho Government
receives interest at live per cent, on the
shares till the year 18J1, after which it
is to receive the full dividends. There
are three members of the Board of Di
rectors representing the inter Jst of tho
British Government, one of whom is a
resident director in Paris, where lie has
hitherto acted in porfoct accord with
tho French majority in the directory.
'Vu following table, compiled by the
New York 'url;l, shows the enormous
trallie that bus jUased through the canal
ami paid tolls since u was opened:
1V(K. lWrf. TiiHiumiW iarff)f.
if" i 4S1 4;n,'.tn $i,mi,Hn
U71 7T. 7H1. HIT l.Ttn.7111
is::. i.ik i.mitn ';i.si,.-,ih
IH7.1 1 ITU S.OS'i.OTS -i.KIUISI
ls7l l.!MI iMWlT-J :i.7l.s77
IST.'t I.llll LV.IM.7tlS r.,7T7,,-V10
17H 1,157 :i,l)T'.M(l7 O.'iWi.KiO
IS77 l.tW ;i.MH,!l!l l,Ctl,8U!i
im7h i,.vu :i,a)i,riTi iwiivwr.
ih;u i,K7 JV-iKi.'-u- n.tciTA'iL'
1 0 ..ic'l 4,:ill,.rl(i l.'.Mis.oo)
H-81 U.7U'7 .",7!l."0) lo.Wil.Pl)
In 1870 England furnished 01 per
cent, of tho tonnage which sought
that channel; in 1871, 0a; in 1872, 70;
in 187:1, O'J; in 1874 and in 187:). 71; i:
1870, 7.'J; in 1S77, 78; in 1878, 79: in
1879, 77; in 18si), 79; and last year 82
per cent, or more than four-liflhs of tho
whole amount.
It will readily bo seen that although
England does not own a controlling in
terest in the corporation, she is neor
tholcss under superior obi g.ition to keep
tho canal open to commerce. When the
Kitsso-Turkish war broke out in 1877
there woro fears lest Kussia, taking ad
vantage of tho fact that the canal was
in the territory of a Turkish dependen
cy, might seize or blockade it, but En
gland lost no timo in deelip-ing that tho
canal should be neutral, and in pointing
out tho fuel that its unobstructed navi
gation was essential to every State in
Europe. That necessity still exists, and
upon Great Britain, as" the power that
can least allord to have the highway to
India closed, falls the burden of re
straining Arabi Pasha and his army to
such an etout that thoy .shall not have
tho ability to interfere with tho canal.
IMroit 1'iu.t ami Tribune.
Tho JUiisjier."
" Is he a rare birdr1"
"He is that. Tho speelos used to b
so plenty that every city had them by
tho score; but of fate years the Fool
Killer has got in hu work so well that
only about a doen Mashers can now bo
found in tho whole United States."
" He 1ms n sweet look."
"Certanly; he has stood before tho
glass for hours to practice on that look.
When he parts his hair in tho center,
waxes his little mustache and takes his
dear little cane in hand for a walk on
tho street, he calculates that sweet look
will knock down overy second lady ho
meets."
" His plumago is very lino."
"Oh, ves. I'ho Mas'hor always gets
the best, beeauso ho boats his tailor and
loaves his washwoman to sing for her
money."
" Is ho a valuable bird?"
" His carcass is valued at from two to
livo cents per pound, according to tho
price ot soap
"Then tho
extinct?"
species will soon become
" Yes: in a few short years tho Mash
er will bo known on earth no more. Tho
Smithsonian Instituto and two or three
medical colleges will have specimens
preserved in alcohol and skeletons on
exhibition, and old gray-headed men
have a dim recollection of having onco
seen tho animal promenading the earth."
Detroit Free Press.
Youths' Department.
THE 8P1DER WEB.
Who but a fairy
Ever lived In a honso so nlry?
A bit of cloud tied fast, as It woro,
And framed of tho II nest ifoiiiimcr.
A wondorful, shlnlnt'. silky house,
8wayinir horo In tho sweet-brier boughs.
Hnrlte of somo kind, (juoen of tho air,
Must needs bo tho ono for a homo so fair.
Docs sho. I wonder,
fitand thoso pale-pink blossoms under,
IJrossed In ft skirt or vnpory bluo.
All spangled over with drops of dow?
Does sho woar a crown, and In her hand
Carry nl"ft n long gold wand?
And where aro tho folk sho rules as uucon?
jjos sno winjrs to uy witn, gauzy, frrccnr
. gauzy,
ho rule
I look and linger.
And touch tho wob with careful finger;
When In an eager, crafty way
Out b'nns a littlo gnome In gray!
Tho tlnfest ogro that over snto
And watched for proy at his cnstlo gato,
Hi eight long arms so strong atul lxld
With which to buIzc, and stranglo, and holdl
Should ho discover
Somo truant creature passing over
A beo or Ily on tired wing,
Careless and fond of loitering,
I wonder If a mimlo roar
Would reach Its ears from out his door:
' Pc, II, fo, fum I io, 11, fo. film I
1 will huvo somol I will havo somo I"
Vbulr Companion.
1)0 THE DUTY AT HOME FIRST.
" I despise this horrid lifo. If I only
had a chance of making something of
myself but It is work, work, work, no
timo for anything but work. Some
peoplo got on as ifby magic. I boliovo
lifo is a lottery, after all, and 1 am go
ing to try my luck in the casting of
stones. I havo all faith in tho number
nine. If I can hit that maple more
times out of nine than I miss it, I'll bo
somebody. If I fall, I'll go on liko tho
nobodies around mo."
The sleepy liguro in tho grass sat up
right, and commenced pelting the in
nocent tree with pebbles. " Hit, miss,
miss, miss, bit, hit, miss, miss no uso!
I'll try no more. Five unlucky throws
out ot seven."
44 For shame, boy, to call this noblo,
intense lifo u lottery, and try your des
tiny for time and eternity with bits of
stones thrown from a lazy, indolent
hand. Get up, and tako hold of life in
earnest. Turn something up, instead of
lying there waiting lor something to
turn up."
Tho big straw hat in the grass turned
s'owly toward tho gentleman in tho
sulky, who had stopped beneath tho
spreading boughs of tho groat oak to
allow his thirsty steed the bonelit of
tho cooling draught that trickled through
tho fissures of the rock into tho rough
trough.
44 lam tho now doctor, who has put
out a sign in tho neighboring town of
Elton," said tho voice which had aroused
the boy. "Now, tell me who you aro,
and what you aro doing here."
" My namo is Joe Harkness."
44 Joseph, you moan," said the doctor.
44 Yes, but 1 am too lazy to say it, and
I camo,o;Jt of that old farm-house you
sco on tiio'iuii mere, to
tho dinner."
. .a . .
dij; tutors for
44 First potatoes I ever saw grow at
tho roots of timothy," laughed the doc
tor. 44 Patch is across the run. I stopped
here to rest."
44 And carve out a grand fortune by
dreaming. How long have you been
here? Lone enough, I dare say, to
havo dug and cooked them, too."
Joe's only answer was a grin.
44 Lot me tell you, boy, tho very
foundation of Hruo greatness consists in
doing your overy-day work in the very
best manner possible. Let it be digging
potatoes, hoeing corn, blacking WjIs,
studying a lesson, or even playing a
game ot ball, go to work detcrmiiicilto
succeed. Got nil the pleasure and good
out of your overy-day work. 'What is
worth Uoing at all is worth doing well,'
ought to be printed in letters of gold
and nailed over every door in tho laud.
Make this your own motto, and you will
never need to spell i-a-i 1.
44 1 do not want to spend my whole
lifo digging and delving. 1 want to go
to college and know something. I am
tired of work."
"Then, my boy, you will havo to bo
transplanted to a more heavenly soil,
for I tell you there is no success any
where on earth without incessant toil.
You will have to dig. dig, dig for knowl
edge, if you aro over its possessor. Lot
mo see. How old aro you?"
44 Fourteen, sir."
44 And what do you know of books?"
"I'vo been twieo through arithmetic,
know something of geography, and de
spise grammar and spelliuV
" And they are at war with you, T ob
serve You will never bo a scholar
until you have a fair light with these
two chief corner-stones, and come oil'
victor. You must bo master at overy
stop of tho way. Nor must you cut
aeross-lots in order to shorten your
journey. Men often try this way, but
they lind so many tips and downs, so
many streams and swamps, that if they
do not lose themselves altogether, the
will find their road, though shortor, by
an air line, in reality much longer than
the lawful routo. There is a irrcat deal
of going aeross-lots to make a beggar of
a man m
tiimt i. ti.; . .....i,i i.. . x
tins worm, jjo von
to
school?"
"Only in winter
1 havo no timo in
summer. '
" What do you do with your odd mo
ments and rainy days?"
"Host."
"Hum! I seo you aro not worth sav
iiig. Never will amount to anything.
hy, boy, don't you know somo of tho
greatest men who aro alive to-day, or I
who have over lived, received no educa-1
tion, except what thoy gainod in their
odd moments? Wako un and catch
tlincn liitmiiiin n ilinir llv Dnnt- ..nr. ..1 '
HIMU 11II1UIIU3 in HIU HJ . HUSLIISMlll'Ull
thoy will not wait for you. Study all
spare timo and go to school wot days."
44 But our teacher is a woman," re
plied Joe.
"Well, ttm't your mother i woman?"
-,. .
"Nono of thofollow3 go to a vrfcm
nn." "Why?"
"Who wants to bo managed by a
woman? You must take mo lor a cow
ard." "A most despicable coward, to speak
of a woman in Buch a way. If you can
not help this teacher manage thoso
young savages, and ono in particular,
tho soonor you aro transferred to tho
caro of tho angels the bettor. Has your
teacher n certificate?"
"Of course, or sho would not have
been employed."
"Then sho is capable of tea hlng you
a few things?"
"Tho boys would laugh at mo."
"Bo a bravo boy! But there is your
mother calling for tho potatoes. Go
along. Begin by digging your potatoes,
in earnest.
Joe sprang up, and, as tho doctor
drove away, wont to work with a will.
Ho followed tho doctor's advice to the
letter, and a year later when the doc
tor, as ono of tho Examining Commit
tee, admitted him into tho academy,
Joe told him: " You wcro right; I am
glad you waked mo up and set mo to
work that day you found me asleep in
tho grass." The incident camo back to
tho doctor's memory, and ho patted tWte
boy's head, saying: Bravely dono."
Chicago Interior.
Somo Queer Uses of Birds.
Did you over see a candle made out of
a bird? I suppose not, unless you have
been in tho Faroe Islands, and very few
' peoplo visit their lo'ely shores. The
inhabitants of thoso islands livo in a
very simple and old-fashioned way, and
I nearly evervthinjr they uso is a home
made article. Thousands of sea-birds
build thoir nests on the rocks there, and
tho young birds are "as fat as butter."
The islanders take these young birds,
run wicks throtitrh their bodies until
they are soaked with grease, light ono
I end of tho wick, and there's your homo
I made candle.
Another kind of bird is used in Aus
, India as a substitute for confectionery.
It is a species of parrot, called loray,
which feeds on fruit and grain, and has
a place in its throat whero all the sweet
parts of the things it eats collect and
j lonn a kind of honey. As soon as an
, Australian savage shoots one of these
birds, he puts its )n into his mouth,
1 squeezes its throat, and sucks away just
I tis boys do with oranges. Then ho pulls
the feathers out and sticks them in his
hair, and after that he takes the bird
home to Mrs. Savage to bo cooked.
Perhaps, when Mr. S.' is in a particular
ly good humor, he brings a loray or two
home to his woolly-headed family witli
i out lirst extracting all the " nice part."
In a great many cities of tropical
America black vultures (or turkey buz
zards, as thoy aro commonly called uj
this country) do tho most "important
part of the street cleaning. They de
vour everything they find which wjjuld
be liable to decay, and so they keep oil"
pestilences, or at least prevent their
coming from that cause. It is against
tho buy to molest the buzzards in any
wa, and, as they Inarch around the
streets or sit at their ease in the sun
shine, they seem to be well aware that
they are city oilicials and of quite as
much importance as the Mayor himself.
In China, tame cormorants are used
to supply tho markets and the tables of
their owners with lish. Kings aro
placed on their necks, loose enough to
allow them to breathe, but too tight to
admit of their swallowing. Then they
are taken to a fish-pond or stream,
strings are fastened on their legs, and
thoy aro allowed to 44go a-fishing."
Thoy dive and brim: up tho lish, and,
while they are struggling violently to
swallow what the' huvo captured, they
are drawn to the shore by tho string,
their prey is taken away from them,
and thoy aro sent in to try again.
When tho baskets are full, the rings are
taken oil', and tho cormorants aro al
lowed to do a little extra work on their
own account. If human laborers were
treated in this way, there would cer
tainly be trouble, but, as far as known,
these feathered employes havo never
organized a strike.
It is no longer tho fashion to use
hawks and falcons as bird-killers, but
pigeons aro made to do duty as letter
carriers, and at the siege of Paris thoy
formed tho best moans of communica
tion with the outside world. Thirty
miles an hour is the usual rate of their
speed, and they sometimes travel even
faster. The bird's object in making the
journey is to got buck to its joung
squab, from which it is taken away bo
fore being employed in this way; and,
as it is kept in a dark place and without
food for eight or ten hours before being
let loose, it no doubt considers tho
point from which it is sent a good place
toget away as soon as possible.
The use of birds are "too numerous
to mention." Tho most important of
tho many good things that thoy do for
us is to keep the worms and insects, that
destroy vegetation, from becoming too
numerous.
If all tho birds should suddenly die,
, meal and tlour would soon boeomo orv
i 11 . .. "
scarco ami nigii, and thousands ot poo-
! plo would .starve. Boys would lind that
thoir fathers couldn't all'ord to givo
them much money to spend, and every
thing would bo dearer then it is now.
I Leaving out such robbers as the crows,
birds aro among our best friends; end
! children who kill them and rob their
nests, "just for fun," do a groat deal of
harm to thonisolvos and everybody else.
ooine nine ago, an association
ot
" turd Jefendora" was formed among
American lmv mi. I ,vi,oa .....i ti.ti
honorable sonhit.v la .mnf iLen ,..i,ti.
t . J "" ' " W"l3Vi' wt
certainly ought to livo long and prospor.
Cold en Duis.
Confederate SI, 000 bills havo latoly
)Ymp ln Atlanta, Ga., for $2, nnd
$100 bills for 25 cents.
