The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1877-03-24
April Magazines.
Scribner's.

Scribner's.
The fourth of the series of papers promis-
ed in November last, on American sports
sppearsfin the April Scribner, under the head
of Some American Sporting Dogs. Wood
cuts accompany 1t of several famous Ameri'
can dogs Along with valuable instructions
as to training, amusing anecdote, and de-
scripton, the writer discusses the question,
Which Is the bctter-pointcr or setter? and
inclines to the side of the latter. Eugene
Schuyler, the American charge" at st. Pc.
tersburg, we'll known in literature il connec.
ton with several valuable contributions IN
reference to Russia, has an interesting paper,
Out of my Window in Moscow, with some
remarkable pictures. Chincoteague, by How
ard Pyle, tells US about an interesting island
of ponies, Off the northeastern shore Of Vir.
glnis "Here roams," he tells US, "in an en-
, tirely untamed state, breed OF ponies as
wild as the mustangs Of Texas or the pam
pas.
| How these ponies first came upon the is.
land is not known except through vague ira.
ditlon, for when the first settlers came there,
early IN the eighteenth century, they found
the animals already roaming wild about the
piney meadows. The tradition received from
the Indians OF the mainland was that yes.
sci loaded with horses, sailing to one of the
EliZabethan settlements OF Virginia, was
wrecked upon the southern point of the is.
land, where the horses escaped, while the
whites were rescued by the then friendly In
dams and carried to the mainland, whence
they found their way TO some of the early
settlements The horses, left to themselves
upon their new territory, became entirely
wild, and, probably through hardships en-
dured, degenerated into a peculiar breed Of
ponies.
A Trip to the Black Hills, by L. p. Rich.
ardson, shows that all is not gold that gilt
tiers in that quarter. Clarence Cook contin.
ues his entertaining disquistion on Beds,
Tables, Stools and Candlesticks and Mrs.
Herrick continues to enlighlen in regard TO
Insec,iverous Plants
OF the unillustrated articles that by Col.
Waring on Farm Villages will attract mos,
attention. The idea promulgated with much
ingenuity and some force of argument, Is,
that it would aid immensely to Tighten the
gloom Of farm life if the farms were laid out
30 as to have all the farm houses of given set
tlement, or township, for instance, grouped
IN villages. A single paragraph, taken at
random, shows the line of argument:
The social benefits and the facilities for
frequent, neighborly, and informal inter
course are Obvious. To say nothing of the
companionships and Intimacies amoung the
young people, their fathers and mothers
would be kept from growing old and glum
by the constant friction of their kind and in
80 far as more satisfactory social relation
with ones fel!ow.men gives cheerfulness and
the richness OF wider human interest. in
that proportion would the village life have a
wholesome mellowlHg effect that is not 10 be
found IN the remote farm house, nor even in
the sort Of neighborhood we sometimes find
tn :he country, where severa. farm houses are
within quarter of a mile of each other
The habit of running in for moments
chat with neighbor is good one, ard il
gets but scant development among American
farmers
should hope, further, as an outgrowtn
from the community of living, for modest
village library aud reading room. Indeed,
II could have my own way, | should not
conf1ne the attraction and entertainment of
the village to strictly moral appliances. Ii
would probably be wiser to recognize the
TACT that young men find an attraction in
amusemenis which our sterncr ancestors re-
garded as dangerous, and | would not escbew
billiards, nor even, by rigorous enactment
the milder vice of social tobacco. Better
have little harmless wickedness near home
and under the eye Of parents than encounter
the risk that boys, after certain age. would
seek pretext for more uncontrolled indul.
gences in the neighboring town
One might go on through the long range
of incidental arguments-such as lighted
streets, wellkept sidewalks, winter snow
plows, and good dr,inage, and wholesome
pride In tidy, cozy village, until even the
most close listed of all cur class would con.
fess that the extra cost would bring full value
IN return, and until he would recognize the
fact that the attractions of such q home as
the ilage would make possible would be
likely To insure his being succeeded in his
wholesome trade by the brightest and best of
his sons,-a result that would surely be worth
more than all il would cost
Other unillustrated articles OF interest are
Old Eyes and Spectacles, by Dr. Burnett
Thughts of April, by John Burroughs; and
a long story of New England life, by Catha-
rinc b. Foot, entitled Marcia's Fortune.
| DR.. Hollands Nicholas Miniurn is con,,n-
ued, and That Lass oLowrie, which Is to end
with the May installment. Topics of the
Times, The Old Cabinet, and other depart.
men,s, mainta!n their usual interest.
| Harper.
Tie leading article of the April number OF
Harpcr's is an eloquent history of Renais.
sance decoration, as sprlid to furniture, by
Harriet Prescott Spof1ord. II is illustrated
I by ,wen,y-one superb ensravings, and gives
evidence Of laborious painsiaking and study
DIR Gihon concludes his beautifully illustrated
article on the Atlantic Islands, treating ,hi: