Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1873-10-09

! but. were it known, she would doubtless
| he overpoWered with offers OF situations
| in 'resDectable'' families.
A CHICAGO railway station has free
reading-room, recently established. A
newspaper reporter says OF it: The room
is large, and very neat and pleasant, and
is ornamented by choice plants contrib
uted by the city florists, and by pictures.
1t has plenty Of magazines and papers,
and is supported by voluntary contribu-
tons. In less than one month seven hun
dred and nine travellers found rest and
mental refreshment there.
ONE of the Ii. est curious features of the
Yellowstone region is to be found in the
hot springs On the borders of the Vel
lowstone Lake are often to be seen elevated
mounds, which ut out from the shore IN
to the water These contain pools filled
with heated water, so that 1t is possible
for person standing on the mound to
catch trout in the lake with the help OF a
fishing rod, and to cook them Ill the boil
ing spring without taking them OFT the
| hook
To PRESERVE PEARs-Take pears not
| quite ripe, and peel off the skins. Pre-
pare a syrup with three-quarters of a
| pound Oh sugar 10 Cdtn Douili VI II UT.
Melt it and boil for half an hour, remOv-
ing all the scum which rises Put in the
pears and let them boil for ten minutes,
or just long enough to soften little; then
take out and cover tightly with paper wet
in whisky or alcohol, and cover with
another paper placed over the mouth Of
the jar.
THERE is a singular natural curiosity
| in IaEp in N1rn,p rnnciCtInr nf
hundred and fifty acres Of land floating on
the surface Of the water. The tract is
covered with cranberries, and there are
trees fifteen feet high. when the water is
raised or lowered at the dam of the pond
the island rises and falls with it. It at
fords fine shelter for fish, large numbers
of which are caught by boring a hole and
fishing down through, as through the ice
in winter.
We love to commend successful indus
try in young people, especially when they
are faithful to their poor old parents.
There is a girl in Oakland, Cal, who, by
patient industry, quick eye and a nim-
bic hand, has not only supported her aged
mother, but accumulated a nice little
property Of 81 900 or So consisting most
ly of jewelry and other small valuables
that could be handily carried off from the
ulutIcnj DldCcS III WHICH she Idu DtCu
employed as a dOmestic.-Erchange.
GRAPEs-In gathering the now ripen-
| ing and luscious fruit of your vines use
sharp knife or scissors The tearing the
stems away from the vine is apt to injure
the bark both at the point and also where
the tendriis cling TO the trellises After
the leaves have fallen trim the vines, saw
ing such cuttings as you need by throw
| -, Il
Lay the vines on the ground and cover
them Earth is better than anything else,
as it affords the best protection against
mice which gnaw the bark.
A BOY only fifteen years old, in Black
hawk County, Iowa, whose father died
three years ago leaving his widow and
son an eighty-acre farm burdened with
$1,000 mortgage, has taken whole and
sole charge of the farm, hiring help only
in seed time, harvest and thrcshing paid
off the mortgage, purchased harvester, a
| sulky pillow, wagon and set of harness,
| besides a sewing machine fer his mother,
and is now out OF debt. He is a member
of the Cedar Valley Agricultural Society,
and attends school three months each
| winter.
THE champion for novelty in chicken
raising is n. NJ. Cheney, of Belvidere, Vt
His ''improved system" consists in keep
ing two professional sitters," all the other
hens being trained to lay their eggs in the
two nests, the "setting" going on all the
while, SO that the eggs are daily mixed.
During the past season eighty eggs were
aid in the nests, seventy-tive of which
were successfully Matched. After the
Matching was well along he took off one
hen and gave her fifty chicks to tend, the
other hen sitting two weeks longer and
coming off with the remaining twenty
five.
In a Naples museum there is relic
from Pompeii exhibited in the shape of
small vessel for heating alter, a foot high,
in which all the principles of our modern
| vertical boiler are combined; it has the
fire box, smoke tlue through the top, fire
door at the side, and a Water-grate made
of small iron tubes crossing the fire box
at the bottom. THIS last idea has been
patented a score or more of times within
the history of the modern steam engine.
| How many or rather how few of our
modern patents are really modern inven-
| ions.
To Color Blackstone ounce eXtrac-
| of logwOOd, one ounce of copperas, one
half ounce of verdigris; tie the verdigris
in cloth and boil. Dissolve the cop
peras in an iron kettle and soak the goods
at scalding heat three-quarters of an
hour, stirring occasionally. Dissolve the
logwood and add the water in which the
verdigris is boiled. Dip the goods three
quarters of an hour, stirring frequently
This makes a beautiful black Always
use water sufficient to cover the goods and
stir easily. Rinse thoroughly.
THE decrease IN the yield of water by
the artesian we'll in Central Park, Chicago
has led to an experiment, the result of
which possesses considerable interest At
the request of the Park Commissioners,
the flow of all the other wells in the city
was stopped for a period of sixteen hours,
and it was found that thereupon the vol
ume of water discharged by the well in
Central Park increased. The inference
from this is that all the artesian wells in
the city are supplied from the same sub
terranean stream, and that any further
multiplication of these wells will not in
crease the aggregate yield Of water, but
will only divide it SO as to impair the
value of all.
THE superintendent story, which has
heretofore been attributed to a travellers
lively imagination, is verified by the
James expedition explorers. In the Colo
orado desert full twenty miles from the
Gulf of California, they found the mast of
| aVpSSe1 don htlqcc oact tbprn bu Gonna torr