THE HUSKING BEE.
A country-club member went out to the farm
An old-fashioned husking to sec ,
And there he met Sue ,
Who , without much ado ,
consented his partner to be.
At touch of her fingers the ears all turned
A forfeit of course was to pay ; / f ?
He knew what to do / ' " - *
And so did she , too ,
in spite of her innocent way.
That clubman will tell you that huskings are great ,
With red ears sufficiently stocked.
It must have been true
The times he kissed Sue ;
For the corn was outrageously shocked.
-New York News.
* "
JOSIAH THE CLA1M = JUMPER
*
OSIAII GODBOL.T was new to
the Shasta hills. He was new to
any hills , and , of course , he was
new to the mines. He was new to ev
erything western , and new to almost
everything not relating directly or indi
rectly to the swamp lands of the Mis
sissippi , where boys grow so fast into
human saplings that by the time they
are stubbly of chin their legs are long
enough for them to stride away , or to
the locomotion of a St. Louis street
car. Godbolt had been a conductor
on a street car until that eventful day
when his car collided while he was en
gaged in helping a small girl with her
basket , and he was discharged. He
had had wages due him sulficient to
pay his fare to California , which seem
ed the place most distant from the
scene of his yielding to a weakness.
Hither he had come in a hurry. But
Josiah knew , or , to be precise , he "al
lowed" that he wanted a copper mine.
As he had no snug fortune with which
to buy one , his recourse was to dis
cover a new ledge and plaster his no
tice of location upon it These are
sidelights upon the trail along which
Fate led Josiah to Pete Barclay.
Barclay was a tenderfoot nearly
twenty years before Josiah was born.
Four decades he had spent in getting
into such close and fortune-hunting
communion with the "likely spots" of
the Sierra Nevadas and the Coast
Range , that he had really become a
part of the mountains. He was so
gray and weathered , and so perfectly
attuned to the surroundings , that he
could squat among the little bowlders
on a Shasta hillside and a jack-rabbit
might hop over and scratch its back
against a corner of him without noting
the difference. Fortune had not al
ways been mean to him , and if he was
forever at the ebb it was mainly be
cause , like all chronic prospectors , he
knew a good deal more about hunting
for mineral than about using it after
he found it Once , at Cherokee , he
took out nuggets as large as buzzards'
eggs : at Oak Bar he piped down a
bank which washed ten thousand dollars
lars in ten days , and a week later , in
a gambling house but that is not this
etory.
Josiah Godbolt , tired of mucking at
the Iron Mountain , and resolved to
make a find for himself , drew his sti
pend and went to Redding. Pete Bar
clay , driven away from the high alti
tudes of Coffee Creek by the flying
snow , was in town with the price of
four weeks' living used out of his shal
low dust-sack when he met Josiah in
the Blue Goose resort "You're fresh
enough from nowhere to have some
greenhorn luck with you , " commented
Barclay. "You're long enough on the
belt to teach me how to find a copper
mine. " was Josiah's theory. And so
the partnership was formed.
' Barclay did know of a copper pros
pect which seemed large enough to
meet the ideas of the young Missourian -
rian , to say nothing of his own hopes ,
now modified by es.perience. He knew
where a streak as of half worn off red
paint ran through a ravine and over a
hilltop , back from Copley , within rifle
shot of tbe great Balaklala. This red
gossan meant more than an iron crop
ping , of that he was certain. On the
Fourth of July , when every miner of
the section had gone to Redding for
the celebration , he had improved the
unwatcbed opportunity to pick into the
vein where the hill sloughed away , and
he had found copper sulphurets. The
obstacle which prevented Barclay from
taking up the two claims which the
red streak crossed was that they al
ready bore the location notices of Hen
ry Flatfoot , half-breed , drunkard and
fighter. The half-breed had been keen
enough to see that there was value
there , but too lazy to get down to it ,
or even to do his assessment work , re
quired by law. Pete Barclay had wait
ed his opportunity. In another night
the year would expire , and with it the
location notices of the half-breed. The
first man upon the spot after the hour
of midnight could re-locate those two
valuable claims. The surest -way was
for a man to be on each of tile claims
exactly at twelve o'clock to'tear down
Flatfoot's notices and post new ones of
their own. This was what Pete Bar
clay had in mind in taking a partner.
An old miner and a young one drop
ped from the caboose of the afternoon
freight train at Copley , and slung down
their packs while they went in to pat
ronize the bar , which constituted half
the town. The older miner was care
ful to explain to the dispenser of re
freshments and 'the ' loungers in the
place that he and his companion were
going to the Balaklala to work. "See
ing you've got jobs , it ain't worth
mentioning , " said the proprietor , "but
Injun Flatfoot , who's a-garnbling in
U/
the back room now , says he's willing
to pay big for somebody to go up tbe
hill with him to-night and keep some
old claim or other from being jumped. "
t The remark was not lost upon Josiah
Godbolt , and as he toiled after Barclay
along tbe trail , winding up hillsides
and around little peaks , sometimes un
der trees and usually through dense
chemise , he asked : "Will this Flatfoot
party try to interfere with us to-night ,
do you reckon ? * '
' 'You'd better save your wind to get
up these hills , instead of wasting it
asking questions , " answered old Pete ;
"and besides , a pine tree , such as you
be. with a six-shooter handy , ought to
be able to bluff off a half-breed , any
way. "
It was while they were cooking sup
. per in a secluded spot in the ravine ,
t just below the first of the claims they
had come to operate upon that night ,
. that Josiah learned more of Henry
Flatfoot. It would seem that he must
be the boss bad citizen of Shasta
County. Barclay told Josiah that the
half-breed had shot at many men in
various fights , had stabbed one or two ,
and bore the record of his encounters
in scars over his body and a long knife
mark across his left cheek. "He served
a term in San Quentin , " went on Bar
clay , ruminating. "It wa after he
tried to hold up the Bicber stage , up
you way , and was shot in the shoulder.
They chased him for live days. He
was so near petered out that he even
threw away his gun , or some of them
wouldn't have been so hot to overtake
him. At last they caught him in a deep
cave on the McGloud , and how do you
s'pose they knew he was back in the
dark hole ? It was by the shine of his
eyes ; they Avere just like an animal's. "
It was very dark in the hiiis at nine
o'clock. At that hour. Pete Barclay
stationed Josiah Godbolt beside the
scrub-oak upon which Henry Flatfoot's
location of the claim was posted , with
the instruction that when he could feel
both hands of his big silver watch ,
from which the crystal had been re [
moved , pointing straight upward , he
was to tear down the half-breed'n no
tice and tack up their own as noiseless
ly as possible. Then he was to stand
guard beside the sign of their posses
sion until morning. Pete would do the
same on the other claim.
"And what if somebody comes snort
ing around here and wants to clean me
out ? " asked Josiah.
"Well , the law gives a man the right
to defend his property in the certainest
way he knows how , and that's my best
gun you've got in your belt there. " re
plied Pete , as he felt his way into the
little trail which led to the other claim ,
half a mile away over the hill.
Josiah found his vigil growing tedi
ous rapidly. He feared to move about
in the darkness , lest he should lose the
tree , and he had been advised not to
disclose his presence to chance prowl
ers by striking a light. For the same
reason he checked a half-involuntary
impulse to whistle. He slid to the
ground , with his back against the tree ,
and occupied himself with thinking
over all he had heard about the half-
breed , who would own the very ground
upon which he was sitting for more
than two hours to come. Supposing
Henry Flatfoot should take a notion to
visit the claim while it still belonged
to him ? Who would be the intruder
then , and on whose side would the law
be ? Josiah moved his big foot , and the
crackling of a twig beneath it startled
him and set his heart to beating.
The darkness was so intense that Jo- l
siah could see as little with his eyes
open as with them shut. He could
not see the hand on his crooked-up
knee , and he could not see his right
hand , which , somehow , seemed com
fortable only when it rested upon the
butt of the revolver swung loosely in
his leather belt Many the night when
he had followed the dogs at a run in
the bottoms along the Mississippi until
the 'possum was treed and the axes
could be swung to fell the perch , but
he had not supposed that a night , when
neither snow nor rain was falling.
could be as dark as this. Clouds hid
eveiy star. In shifting his position he
was delighted to discover a glow
worm. He seized the insect , and draw
ing up his cowhide shoes , smeared
phosphorous on the toe of each. He
could now follow the motion of his
feet when he moved them , and he felt
more collected.
With limbs numb from sitting so J
long in this posture , Josiah pulled out
his watch in haste. Surely it was al
ready past midnight The long hand
was undoubtedly pointing straight up ,
but an angle separated the short hand
from it It was eleven o'clock. If
Henry Flatfoot were coming to' try to
save his claims he would arrive during
the next hour. Josian tried to keep
thoughts of the desperate Indian out of
his mind. The night had been very
still. Suddenly the brush crackled
slightly. Josiah found when all was
silent again that he had unconsciously
risen to his feet and was supporting
himself with one hand against the tree
while in the other he gripped his re
volver. It was only a rabbit moving
in the chemise , of course. He restored
the weapon to its place and sank down
again. After a time a sound in the
brush off to the other side set him aquiver -
quiver again , but he convinced himself
that only a toad could make such a
wee noise , though it had sounded loud
enough at first. When a strange night
bird cried out he did not move or ;
touch his gun , and he told himself that
he had banished his silly fears. The
night was cold , but somehow he did
not feel the chill.
During the last half-hour before mid
night. Josiah held his watch on his
palm , and with his fingers followed the
long hand as it mounted the dial. Any
body would know that if the half-
breed Henry Flatfoot were coming to
prevent his location notice from being
torn down , he would not have waited
until so late to come.
Josiah could feel his palm perspiring
beneath the cold case of the watch
when at last both hands were squarely
upon the figure twelve. In a moment
he was upon his feet ripping the half-
rotten cloth sign from its place upon
the tree. The new piece of cloth a
foot square he spread against the
trunk , whether right side or wrong
side to the bark he neither knew nor
thought , and began to drive tacks with
his heavy pocket-knife. The sound of
the hammering was like the thunder
ing of a stamp-mill to him , and yet his
ears caught that cautious sound in the
chemise. He dropped his knife and
drove the rest of the tacks with the
sheer strength of his callous fingers.
Then he dropped to the ground upon
his knees and waited.
The quiet vai nbsolute. Yet Josiah
knew that the sonr.d he bed heard was
not made by a rabbit or by a toad.
Something a good deal larger than
either had moved in the brush within
a hundred feet of him. He was on
his own ground mw. but somehow he
was more nervous tn.iii before. Tense
ly he waited. At last ii came again ,
just as he knew it would. Something
or somebody was moving slowly to
ward the little clearing , in the midst
of which was the tree beneath which
he crouched. Two steps , three steps ,
the thing would stop , wait in silence ,
and then come on. With his long pistol
tel across his knees and gripped tightly
'
ly , Josiah bent forward. The sound
was most like that which a man would
make in cra\vling. Only one man on
earth could have any reason to approach
preach that lonely spot by stealth at
that hour of the night , and that man
would be Henry Flatfoot , the half-
breed desperado , coming to see wheth
er the notice by virtue of which he
had held this mining claim had been
disturbed. The sounds were repeated ,
and again ceased. Another sound
broke the hush : "Henry Flatfoot , the
lawr is now on my side ; you'd better
go back so help you Gawd ! "
There was a light commotion in the
chemise. Perhaps the unseen had
heeded the warning , and was now re
treating. But in another ten seconds
the steps came on again.
Upon the strained gaze of Josiah
there burst two balls as of yellow fire.
Thej' dazzled him even as his senses
told him what they must be. Such
eyes as those burning out of the dark
ness there into his own , Josiah God-
bolt had never dreamed existed , and
he knew negro superstitions like a
book. The hellish eyes were growing
into the size of full moons , and they
seemed to be coming , coming.
Silence , awful , ominous ; then a pistol
tel shot rang out Two screams suc
ceeded almost on the instant One
shrill cry was from Josiah , who had
fired , the other from the spot where the
eyes had vanished , and the brush
crackled as with a heavy body plunged
back into it.
When , just as daylight was chasing
away the last shadow , Pete Barclay
stepped from the trail into the clearing
where he had left his partner , the spec
tacle which met him caused him to stop
and utter a characteristic exclamation.
In a heap upon the ground by the tree
was Josiah. His face was white and
drawn almost past recognition. His
eyes were bleared and teary. In both tl
hands his pistol was clutched , and it tlBl
was held ready for instant use. Bar
clay moved up to him and gently n ;
wrenched away the weapon. "What b
in the name of all the ghosts has hap
pened to you , Jo ? " he asked , with a
tenderness of which no one would have
suspected him.
Bl
"Over there , " whispered Josiah , BlBl
pointing.
"What's over there , the ghosts ? " r <
"The half-breed , " piped Josiah.
"Lord Gawd , I had to kill him. " He
sank his head upon his knees.
f <
Pete Barclay went over to where the
brush was beaten down , and peered Bl
into the thicket There , lifeless , lay a Blt
gaunt , ugly form. Josiah had shot the El
panther squarely between the now Elti
ha If-closed eyes. San Francisco Argo
naut.
Gratitude.
"Do you expect your subjects to hold
you in any sort of affection or esteem ? " >
said the pearl of the harem.
"I don't know why not" rejoined the
Sultan. "It seems to me that the people n
ple I have not massacred ought to be
right grateful for being overlooked. "
Washington Star.
A man who is a gentleman only by
the grace of his tailor doesn't count
for much.
A full dress suit enables a $600 clerk >
to pass himself off for a Sl.OOO waiter. fi
Smoke Yonr Own Meat.
Many of the farmers in the East
2ure ham for home use. The quality
Is much better than the product sent
> ut by the western packing houses. Set
a clean sugar barrel on a box 4 ft.
[ eng , 1 ft. high and wide enough for
Jhe barrel. Bore auger holes through
the box under the barrel to let the
smoke through. , Make a hole in the
ground under the front end of the box ,
fco that the fire made on a piece of tin
pan be shoved under the box. A half
head of a barrel can be crowded down
by the end of the box , closing the fire
HA.XDY MEAT SMOKER.
dole. All crevices must be banked
vith dirt to keep the smqke in. Drive
< trong wire nails near the top of the
'mrre-l to hang the hams on. Place a
trong paper or canvas over the top of
fhe barrel and add enough bags or
blankets to keep the smoke in. Cor.
L"arm and Home.
Home-made Was : on Jack.
While wagon jacks are comparative-
'y low in cost , some of the cheaper
mes are not desirable. If one has
'Oine leisure during the winter a jack
such as is shown in the illustration ,
an be constructed readily and at very
ittle cost. The lumber used should
> e of some tough growth and the join-
ngs should be well made. Material
2x3 will be strong enough if of good
umber. The upright piece should be
i bout two and one-half feet long and
> e mortised into the base , although it
nay be attached in any other desired
vay. The base is three feet long and
he upright piece should go into it one
'oot from the end.
A long mortice should be cut in the
ipright as shown , and holes made as
shown , so that a pin may be used to
:
T ,
J ;
:
Sj
;
A HOME-MADE WAGOX JACK.
a
ilace the lever higher or lower to fit
lie height of the various wagons. One b
nd of the chain is stapled to the base f
s shown , and in the end of the lever
placed a strong hook. After the o
rheel Is raised to the desired height p
link of the chain is slipped over the d
iook in the lever and holds it in pos
ition. Indianapolis News. a
aa
Pfcim Milk for Coxrs.
n
If one has a separator in the dairy ;
here is no objection to feeding the
0
kim milk to the cows , provided it is
iven them while sweet that is , when
ot stale or in any way soiled. It is
est fed back to the cows mixed with
Tan , and adds materially to the food
ation , generally increasing the milk :
low decidedly. The plan of feeding } |
1J
kim milk from the creamery to cows
hould not be carried on , for such milk a
3 unfit even for swine , unless one is
easonably sure that it is from the
)
ailk of the same day. It is probable
)
hat the feeding of skim milk will be
ound most profitable when given to
togs or to the poultry , but where this :
tock is not kept in sufficient quantity
o consume the skim milk it may be s ;
afely fed to cows under the condiu
ions named. c
a
New Milk Products.
Casein , dried milk , dried skim milk ,
nilk sugar , condensed milk , albumen >
ecrg powder1 * are on the market. Milk ,
utter and cheese are no longer a dairy
ried without rivals. A multitude of
)
ircducts and by-products are being
>
aade from milk , and the end is not
:
et The twentieth-century cow seems
air to be a producer of a hundred
ather than three products.
Calves Cheaply Fattened.
Prof. Roberts of the Cornell station
ilaims that to fatten calves success- :
ully on sldin milk and grain to sup-
Iy the butter fat the calves should v
irst be fed a moderate amount of new h
milk for a few days , and then skim
milk Bhould be gradually substituted
so that at the end of a few weeks the
calves would be fed entirely on skim
milk. If seven pounds of corn meal is
mixed with on pound of linseed meal ,
old process preferable , he finds it will
make a fairly good substitute for the
butter fats of the new milk.
Water for Farm Animals.
It is admitted that water is essen
tial to the well-being of humans , and
If this is so why should anj' one pre
sume to think that animals can get
along with little or no water ? Yet
this is the plan on which many farm
ers work. The cows and horses are ,
perhaps , properly watered , but the oth
er farm animals are given little water.
In a series of experiments carried on
by the writer a number of years ago if
was found that sheep , swine and poul
try gave us nearly 20 per cent , better
returns when regularly and carefully
watered than when the water was
given but occasionally.
That Is , the egg' supply was largei
from the hens , and the sheep and hogs
kept to the desired weight More than
this , we found there was less trouble
with diseases , particularly those that
had the stomach for their base of at
tack. It is now a regular practice to
give all the animals on the farm regu
lar supplies of clean water. In water
ing the sheep and swine troughs are
provided and bept for the purpose.
After the animals have drunk , the
troughs are removed so that there is
no chance of them being defiled. It
will pay every time to water all farm
animals regularly and with clean wat
er. Brookville American.
Crowding the Trees.
When trees become thickly branched
and crowded as to space they are not
improved by cutting the ends of the
shoots , which merely aggravates the
evil. They should be judiciously thin
ned by the complete removal of some
of the branches. A skillful operator
will remove one-third or more of the
branches of a thickly set tree so that
the ordinary observer will not perceive
that any pruning has been done , the
tree looking as natural in its ramifica
tions as if it had not been disturbed ,
and this should be the aim in all prun
ing operations as applied to streel
trees.
For Preachy Cattle.
S. E. Fletcher , of Henry County ,
III. , writes to Iowa Homestead , inclos
ing a sketch showing his plan to pre
vent cattle from
throwing dowi
fences or opening
\ gates. It is made
] j from a woodet
jj strip two and one
half inches wid <
and three-fourths oj
an inch thick , be
ing attached to the horns as shown in
the illustration. It is kept to its place
by screws. To this is fastened by a
small bolt a strip of hard wood three
inches wide and a half-inch thick , ol
sufficient length to reach down to with
in one inch of the nostrils. In the
lower end of the strip may be placed
some sharp nails which project about
i quarter of an inch. This arrange-
inent when properly attached will give
i cow all the trouble necessary when
? ngaged in mischief.
t
Remedy for Blaclclecr.
Farmers whose pasture lands are
-ich in vegetable matter are most fac
niliar with the disease among calves *
mown as blackleg. It is contracted bj
iatiug the grass on such pastures and a
he germs multiply rapidly. There is %
10 known cure for the trouble , but oui
veterinarian tells us that his profes
ion is familiar with a method of vacc
jination which renders the calf praeB
ically immune. When this method is
ised it should be in the hands of a °
skilled worker. The writer has hac
ome ! trouble with blackleg in the past J
ind has found the following formula
i splendid preventive of the trouble
> ut not a cure after the germs have a
"ound lodgment in the calf :
If there is danger of the troubU
btaln from a reliable druggist a sup
) Iy of hyposulphite of soda and give r
laily to the calf mixed with the food
starting with a teaspoonful for tin
inimal three months old or younger
ind increasing until the calf from sU
nontlis to a year old is given a table
poonful. After the animal is a yeai
ld there is likely to be no trouble
Che remedy , or rather preventive , i
ivorth trying.
Ii
Farm Notes.
There is an increasing interest beinj
aken in the plan for dipping hogs for
ice , says the Winchester Herald. Thh v
s something that was scarcely knowi
decade ago. Nearly all up-to-dati
rwine breeders now engage in thi
jusiuess , while the great army of 11
reeders know nothing about it , eithe
y experience or observation.
A farmer was telling how he sue
eeded in killing a lot of rats , says th (
Steuben Republican. It is an oH
cheme. He took a barrel and pu'
ibout six inches of water in it In thi
enter he put a stone large enough thai is
rat could stand on. On top he pui
leavy paper and cat it in quarters
Chen smear this over with cheese and P
ut a board leading up to it. Hi
matches just scads of rats.
The farmer reduces the value of hii
wn labor by keeping inferior stock.
r failing to secure larger yields oJ
reps , as the higher the price and-thi
greater the production the better th 1
emuneration for the labor bestowed
rhere are periods when the farme
cannot perform work in the fields , foj t <
svhich reason he should aim to get hii
n
reps under shelter as soon as possibl- nn
n order to do some kinds of wori
.vhich can be performed inside thi
jarn. fl
MONTANA'S SHEEP FLOCKS
field of Wool the Last Season
37,500,000 Ponnda.
The State of Montana In the wool
leason of 1903 produced , according to
he estimate prepared by State offi-
MalB , 37,500,000 pounds of wool firona
he backs of 12,500COO sheep. For this
vool Eastern buyers paid $0,000,000 , an
iverage of 16 cents a pound. Few people
ple have any conception of what to
leant when it Is said that there are
[ 2,500,000 sheep within the limits of the
Itate. There is not a stogie State east
If the Mississippi in which this gVgan-
Ic flock could graze , says the Boston
Dranscript
If the 12,500,000 sheep of Montana
jrere to march nose to tail , crowding
tech other , they would make a line
10,000 miles long , or nearly half way
jound the earth. This line , in single
lie , would be about 150 days In pas -
ng a given point These sheep are
jcorth $100,000,000 as they walk the
tange , and their flesh would bring
30,000.000 for food. Their mutton
fvould feed one man 2,500,000 years ,
> r If 1,250 people had started to con-
rume It at the time of the birth of
Dhrist they would have some left
The mutton would feed 2.500,000
> eople on meat for a year , or , allowing
3ie average percentage of mutton to
jach family. It would more than supply
this nation a year. The wool yielded
Dy this flock of sheep would make
lo.OOO.COO suits of men's clothes. Made
In cloth of ordinary texture it would
form a band a quarter of a mile wide
ind more than long enough to be
wound about the earth at the equator ,
[ t would make a carpet on which an
army might maneuver.
Baled , this wool would fill 3,750
frdght cars , or a train nearly forty
miles long. The United States navy
could not transport it and an army of
50,000 men might fight behind its bales
and be fafe from the ordinary small
arm. The sheep of Montana , If herded
shoulder to shoulder one deep , would
make a front 5.000 miles long. Herded
in loose formation , allowing room to
move rapidly , they would cover an area
of eight square miles.
Allowed to breed in a favorable cli
mate these sheep would become 50-
rO OCO in the course of a year , or
6.707,200,000,000 at the end of ten
rears. But man eats many of them
annually and disease and blizzards
carry off many more. It is estimated
that 3.000,000 Montana sheep perished
Inside of four days in a blizzard which
swept the Northwest last winter.
THE FARMER IN WINTER TIME.
Chief Occupations Are Feed ins : the
Stock and Keeping Warm.
The great steady winter jobs on an
American farm In the North nowadays
are feeding the stock and keeping
warm. And keeping warm nowadays
means hauling coal. When I lived in
the country it meant cutting wood. It
meant for our large family constant
teaming day after day , from the woods
to the woodyard and a wood-pile that
must have covered quarter of an acre.
It won lit , toward spring , the coming
of men with a horse-power and buzz
saw to cut firewood , and that was al
most as interesting an operation aa
thrashing.
There were other stirring days when
the lake had frozen hard and the ice
house was filled , involving ice cut
ting , and more teaming , and more pre
carious hitching on behind loads and
going back in empties. And early in
the winter there was the momentous
and gory killing of pigs. Oh , that
was indeed a stirring time ! They kill
a pig every second , no doubt , in Chicago
cage nowadays , but that is mere me
chanical routine , with no quality of
sport in It
There was nothing so very slow
about the country winter in days as
late as the Civil War. I suppose soap-
making as a domestic industry la as
dead as household spinning. In those
times of wood fires and wood ashes
all self-respecting families made soap.
Our family had an outstanding kitchen
expressly for that use , with a big cis
tern-like hogshead behind it , in which
ashes were leached , and convenient
tubs for holding the soft soap. A
very handsome substance is soft soap
of the proper consistency and complexIon -
Ion , and a pleasing exercise it used to
be for the young to stir it with a stick
and watch its undulations. All the
superfluous fat of meat from our
kitchen was turned into soft soap ia
those near-by old times. E. S. Martin ,
in Harper's Magazine.
A Keady Wit.
An American and an Englishman
were walking down a Dublin street ona
day , when they espied a native Irish
man approaching in the distance.
The Englishman , wishing to have a
little "fun" with the son of Erin , walked -
ed up to him and said :
"Pat , I hear the devil's dead. "
The Irishman said never a word , hut
put his hand in his pocket and brought
forth two pence and handed It to hia
informer.
"What's this for ? " cried the aston.
Isbed Englishman.
"Oh , nothing , " said Pat-"It's only a
custom In our country to help poor or *
phans along when their parents die. "
The Real Thins.
Virginia Rosamond Josephine , our
pretty colored maid from the South , is
the proud possessor of a rhine stone
belt buckle which her mistress brought
her home from Paris not long since ,
lefd asked her the other day :
"Are they read diamonds , 'Glnny ? "
"Xo , indedey , " she replied , with a
toss of her woolly pompadour. "Dey's
real grindstones. Missy fetched 'e * . to
me from Paradise ! "
A racing automobile isn't In It , witi
fleeting fame.