davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1880-10-08
Household Hints.

OLD potatoes may be freshened up
by plunging them into cold water before
cooking them.
GLASS should be washed in cold wa
ter, which gives it bright and cleaner
water.
NEVER wash raisins that are to be used
in sweet dishes. 1t will make the pud-
ding heavy. To clean them wipe in q
dry towel.
WHEN anything is accidentally made
too salt il can be counteracted by adding
a teaspoonful of vinegar and teaspoon
full of sugar.
In boiling dumplings of any kind put
them1nto the water one ut time. If
they are put i'll together they will mix
with each other.
In boiling eggs hard, put them in
boiling water ten minutes, and then put
them in cold water. 1t will prevent the
yolks from coloring black.
To beat the whites of eggs quickly,
put in pinch of salt. The cooler the
eggs the quicker they will froth. Salt
cools aud also freshens them.
To prevent the smoking of lamp
soak the wick i'll strong vinegar and dry
it well before you use it; it will then
burn both sweet and pleasant.
THERE is a greenness III onions and
potatoes that renders them hard to
digest. For health's sake put them in
warm water for an hour before cooking.
OUTLETS and steaks may be fried as
well as broiled, but they must be put in
hot butter or lard. The grease is hot
enough when it throws off blackish
smoke.
Miss CoRsoN says: Potatoes Mt any
time of the year can be made mealy if
boiled in salt water and drained and then
covered with thick towel and left in the
back of the range five minutes.
JELLY molds should be CREASED with
cold butter. When you wish to remove
the jelly or pudding plunge the mold into
hot water, remove quickly, and the con-
tents will come ont i'll perfect form and
without any trouble.
TO wash red table linen, Use tepid wa
ter, with little powdered borax, (borax
sets the color;) wash the linen separate
ly and quickly, using very little soap;
rinse in tepid water containing little
boiled starch; hang to dry in the shade;
iron when almost dry.
WHEN canaries pluck feathers and eat
them, place little fine gravel or small
pebbles in their cages; also, occasionally
place rusty nail or tack in their drink
ing water. Small pebbles are absolute
ly essential to life and health in Gagged
birds of all kinds, and during the melting
season the bit OF iron in their drinking
water is also equally essential.
The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1880-10-08

the hottest weather is fatiguing, and re-
quircs the expenditure of much muscular
power. During thesevere cold Of winter
II very large proportion of the food con-
sumed by animals is employed in the
production of vital heat. Especially is
this the case where animals have little or
no shelter. but are warmed from the in
side.
During severely cold weather animals
gain very little, even when they are pro-
yided with all the food they can devour.
They are not comfortable, and creatures
in this condition will not ordinarily gain
IN flesh. During hard storms animals
will huddle together or become fractions
and cross, and in many cases injure each
other. Ii kept up continually near the
commencement of cold weather they lose
their appetite, and their power of diges-
ton becomes impaired. Sheep fatten
very slowly during severely cold weather,
unless they are provided with better
quarters than western farmers ordinarily
furnish, and are quite likely to fall off
III condition during protracted storms.
They do not take kindly to close cOnfine-
ment, while they suffer greatly if their
wool becomes saturated with water and
freezing weather follows the wetting.
All things considered, the early part of
the fall il the best season for fattening
sheep.
1t IL injudiciOus to attempt to make
hogs very fat during the summer months.
Unless there is IN excellent provision for
shade and an abundant supply of water
fat hogs are likely to suffer from the
heat during July and August. On the
other hand, very cold weather
is unfavorable to fattcnnig hogs.
All hogs are equally sensitive To
both heat and cold. They enjoy lying
in the sun when it is not too hot and
thrive best when the weather is moder-
ately warm. They suffer greatly from
the cold, and are likely to lose flesh dur
ing storms of rain and snow unless they
have dry and warm quarters. So far NJ
the temperature il concerned September
and October are the best months in the
entire year for fattening hogs. They
need little or no protection, as severe
storms are not likely to occur.
IL is likely that corn will produce the
largest amount of fat when il il fully
ripe, but i'll the opinion of the most sue
cessful feeders there is no economy in
waiting for corn to become hard on the
ear before commencing to feed it to hogs.
Ii the entire stalks are fed and while the
foliage is green nearly every portion will
be eaten. The kernels of grain may
improve to some extent by standing
till they become ripe, but there will be
loss in the leaves and stalks. Ears of
corn sufficiently mature to be good for
the table make admirable food for hogs.
Pumpkins, apples and all kinds of roots
may be fed to stock with as much advan-
tage during the early part of the fall as
Mt any later period. There is then the
greatest variety of food, which is favor
able to health and productive of fine
flavor in meat.-i'Ost Dispatch.
The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1880-10-08
Torpedo Experiment.
From tue Utlcn HtruId.


A very successful torpedo experiment
took place recently in the harbor OF
Montreal. A vessel of seventy tons was
the object of attack. When the torpedo
exploded, the even surface of the river
rose in dense, white, clOud-like
mass to height of probably 200 feet.
For one instant it remained almost
stationary without a sound, only the
lower portions rolling over the river on
every side. A dull, heavy roar and
shock followed this extraordinary inter-
val, and q moment later the great white
mass broke into volumes, and black
spars, kegs, splinters and debris of all
sorts shot off from the cloud of smoke
and spray, and after rising in some
cases far up into the air, rained down
on every side like sky rockets, AS the
cloud first parted, the keel of the ship
was seen bodily in the air, short dis
lance above the surface. The whole
sight was magnificent. Every thing was
over in quarter of minute, and the
river almost instantaneOusly resumed its
ordinary appearance, save for mass OF
debris floating down the swift current
with q number Of boats darling in and
out, securing what plumber was available.
The experiment was great success, and
was witnessed by 10000 people.
The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1880-10-08
A Gentle Hint.

Young Mr.. Latehours was sitting on
the porch the other night watching q
seventeen-year-old girl trying to keep
awake long enough to see the morning
stars rise. They talked astronomy. 81
wish I was STAR" he said, smiling at
his own poetic fancy. ~ would rather
you were comet" she said dreamily.
His heart beat tumultuously. And
why" he asked tenderly, at the same
time taking her unresisting little hands
in his own, and why?" he repeated NJ
periously. "Oh," she said, with a
brooding earnestness that fell upon his
soul like bare foot on cold oil-cloth,
"because then you would only come
around once every 1900 years" He
didn't say anything till he was half way
to the front gate, When he turned around
shook his fist at the house and muttered
between his teeth that by the dads, 1t
would be laundering sight longer than
that before he came round again." But
by that time the poor girl was in bed
and sound asleep.
The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1880-10-08
A Curious Combat.


A traveller in South Africa witnessed
not long since, curious combat. He
was musing one morning with his eyes
on the ground, when he noticed cater
pillar crawling along at q rapid pace.
Pursuing him was host of small black
ants.
Being quicker in their movements, the
ants would catch up with the caterpillar,
and one would mount his back and bite
him. Pausing, the caterpillar would
turn his head and bite and kill his tor
mentor. After slaughtering dozen or
more Of his prosecutors, the caterpillar
showed signs Of fatigue.
The ants made combined attack.
Betaking himself of stalk of grass, the
caterpillar climbed up tail first, followed
by the ants. As one approached, he
seized it in his jaws threw It off the stalk.
The ants, seeing that the caterpillar
had too strong position for them to
overcome, resorted to strategy. They
began saving through the grass-stalk.
In few minutes the stalk fell, and hun
dreds Of ants pounced on the fallen cater
pillar. He was killed at once, and the
victors marched off in triumph, leaving
] the foes body on the field.
The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1880-10-08
FARM, GARDEN AND HOME.
Autumn Woods.

Autumn WOOsIss
Mountains bending,
Steep ascending,
Clad In colorH bright and blending,
Windy woodland-never ending,
Flaming foods on every slope;
Fiery bushes,
Tawny fushes;
God IL In the burning bushes
And the vision on iIs PUSHES
Lake tho rosy heights Of hope!
Crimson, yellow,
Misty, mellow;
How the forests bow and billOwl
Maple, ash and oak and willow
Shed the trophicn Of the year:
Thus we render
All our splrndor,
Leaf by leaf In rad surrender,
Pomp and pride and pleasure tender,
When our days are In the scar.
Down they SILVER!
Quake and quiyerl
On the swift and silent river,
Where the current gides forever
To the wide and windy sca
Sitting, sowing,
Drifting, blowing;
Now they're foating--gaily going,
Like the hves Of men a-nowing
To the life that In 10 De-.
Modern Argo.
The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1880-10-08
TtsE SOIDsEs.S LETTER.

Ia his wiud-shaken tent the soldier sits,
Beside him hares an oil-lamp smokyy,
Whose dim light glooms and hickers ON the sheet
of rlftng paper that, with eager oyes
AMI heart, intent lac reads. Now with smile
The haNcn-hearded sunburnt face lights up
suiilc that In the smiling breeds pain
Within his Ncarning heart; the gentle hand
That those sweet, loving words hath traced, will he
Eve again IN his protecting clasp
Eai"d Il: Who can tell lie can hut kiss,
WIZ Wild intensity, the page that hand
Hath touched. Each line each word read and IT.
read,
AZ last there il no more. With swimming eyes
lie locks, aud dIinLs her name into his soul
Vet see those hncs with pencil widely ruled,
whcr, largely sprawl big lctters helplessly;
What do they say these baby characters,
10 fcclly huge:
Loved Papa,
When will You come home again?
My own dear lapa!"
His strong hand trcublcs, and the hot tears burn
IN lns blue eyes, and blur the Struggling words.
What need 10 see: The words stamped upon
His heart aud his whole soul doth feel them there
The wind on gusty wings sweeps 10y, andIo
With IL Wild Voice, ms chds sweet treble miugles
In accents family clear:
d" Loved Papa,
When will you come home again:
My own dear papa!"
And nov his head is bowed into his hands.
His brave heart for a moment seems Ia climb
Int" his ihrhat aud choke him, Hark what sound
Thus sharply leaps among and slays the sad
NHd-NoCcs AT the autumn night, with shIin
And sudden blast: The huglc-caI - To aIlus'"
And siagtod socpcrs, at its Il, re appeal.
li"I dir aiming clutch their swords, and gaspug
wake,
How many soon 10 sleep again-in Il, attn
Ana "n that fathers h, art the pcaling cry
strike cold as icr, though soldier thcr,S none
traNvr,
i,r in above the huglc's thrilling breath
That leading chlld-Voicr sWectly GALE:
Loved Papa,
When VIII Yen come home again9
Ny avn dear Papa"
Ac.'-s a rough hillside IN" light vi dawn
Doth gr'ly rep With Ruthless touch revealing
Al that hN darkucss had been Ind, aud there
Anon. Z thr -tslwaI forms that stineuing lie
tnu the houdS, lkcd ground, where they lie thick
Ih,T, j. unc found, with faNcn hair and beard
paIA dyed With gore, bullet in his heart.
4 cruuIird Pal er Ia l. hand Nas Clutchcd,
'Dalnri the g. ID hls the rigid baud did press
some childish writing 10y his lii,-hlood stained.
What arc the word: one s,arcc read them
nov:
"LuN,d Pap,
When viii you come home again?
Ny own do4r Papa!" -Trwp'r BAR.
The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1880-10-08
Good WOmen's Wcakncsscs.

The New York Post contains the fol-
lowing from contributor:
An evil which without doubt is the
result of defective education, and which
most women have to contend against in
themselves and other, is lack of exact
ness. 1t is q somewhat familiar saying
that she has no conception of time, her
hours and half hours being go fur
from correct rs Fdistab's famous "long
hour by the Shrewsbury clock" One of
the greatest difficulties had when be-
ginning to keep house was the utter i'm
possibility of getting definite directions
How often IN earnest, almost despairing
question was met with this reply, "Oh,
about-this-you must use your judy
ment !" How seldom in the country, e.
least, can dressmaker be found whom
you may reasonably hope will make both
sides of your dress waist alike and both
sleeves of the same length! In every
department in life we meet with it, and
are annoyed by it. How many mortifi-
cations would q woman be spared did
she but cultivate the habit of seeing
what she looked Mt; l have known women
of more than ordinary intelligence in
certain directions who when lamp CHM
neys were held in place by screw, q
very simple arrangement, never even Mt
tempted to put chimney on the lamp.
If thinking without words were possible,
I should say thought--withou words
that il was something quite beyond them,
and they always took lamp and chimney
to some male member Of the household
to be adjusted. I have known young
ladies in school who were hoping to pass
final examination in grammar, and who
were writing out replies to printed ques-
tions, to spell indicative, "indigitive, :"
and infnitive, invinitive." 1t is said
that the excess Of imagination, upon
which some women seem to pride them
selves, accounts for the tendency to in
accuracy. For my part am ashamed
of it, if it is this which SO often causes O
wife or q mother to be looked upon by
those who love her as an amiable sort Of
incapable whom they are fond of, with
out being able to respect much. There
is terrible mistake somewhere in the
education of women, both at home and
ct school. We are not Taught that one
of the most important things in the
world to us is to observe with something
like accuracy. 1t strikes me that about
the poorest preparation girl can have
for the grave responsibilities which
sooner or later are certain to rest on her
shoulders, whatever her position and
surroundings may be, is o scattering of
ancient and modern languages, little
music, and the discipline to be derived
/ from these. l have often thought if
more attention were paid by her to any
of the natural sciences, there would be
some hope OF her acquiring habits Of
close and correct observation, and that a
tendency toward exactness and truthful
ness of mind would be produced. But
what can be done by those of US whose
education, so far as the schools are con-
cerned, is indeed finished" Only by
studying our failures can we hope to
find out why they were not successes,
] and 30 correct bad habits. We may
The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1880-10-08

HERE is n very touching incident:
Jessie Hill, aged 8, and Carrie Beers,
aged @, were fatally burned at Bradford,
Pa. Carrie was taken to her home two
blocks away. At $50 o'clock Jessie
died calling for Carrie to come, and half
an hour later Carrie died, and the last
words she uttered were, "Wait for me,
Jessie; am coming" This singular
coincidence in two dying children some
distance away from each other, is veri-
fed by the most indisputable evidence.
The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1880-10-08
How the Pyramids Were Built.

The pyramids are the tombs of the
early kings. Perfectly adjusted to the
cardinal points of the horizon, they diff.
fer in the breath and height, as is shown
by the measurement of the three Oldest,
as follows: First, the Pyramid of Khufa
height, $50. rs feet; breadth, TAG feet.
Second, pyramid Of Khafra-height,
447.5 feet; breadth, 690.75 feet.
Third, pyramid of Menkara-height,
203 feet; breadth, 352.7S feet. The
construction OF these enormous masses
has long been an insoluble mystery, but
later generations have succeeded in sOlv-
ing the problem.
As soon as the king mounted the
throne, he gave orders to nobleman,
the master of all the buildings of his
land, to plan the tomb and cut the stone.
The kernel of the future ediice was
raised on the limestone soil of the des-
ert, in the form of small pyramid built
in steps, of which the well-constructed
and finished interior formed the Kings
eternal dwelling, with his stone sar-
cophagus lying on the rocky floor. A
second covering was added, stone by
stone on the outside of the kernel; a
third to this second, and to this even a
fourth; and the mass of the giant build
ing grew greater the longer the King en-
joyed existence. And then, at last, when
it became almost impossible to extend
the area of the pyramid further, cas-
ing of hard stone, polished like glasc,
and fitted accurately in the angles Of t.. Q
steps, covered the vast mass of the Sc
pulchre, presenting gigantic triangle
on each of its four faces.
More than seventy such pyramids once
rose on the margin of the desert, each
telling king of whom it was at or 3
the tomb of and monument. Had noG
the greater number of these sepulchres
of the Pharaohs been destroyed almost to
the foundation, and had the name of the
builders of these which still stand been
accurately preserved, itwould have been
easy for the inquirer to prove and make
clear by calculation what was originally,
ard of necessity, the proportion be-
tween the masses of the pyramids and
the years of the reigns Of their respe
tive builders.
The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1880-10-08
Advice About Poultry.

l cultivate fruitan keep hens. ] like
ground floor for II hen house, and to
have soil or horse manure to mix with
the droppings. 1t is good exercise for
the hens to mix and work it up for your
manure heap, which is the best item in
the business, il understandingly used for
early fruit and vegetables. Some say it
will pay the keeping of the hens. | think
it may. Use Stacked lime freely; it is
the best thing for filth and lice. 1t takes
but little time to apply it. A poultry
keeper should be familiar with his chick
ems and feed often what they will eat
with avIdity. Feed boiled apples and
vegetables mixed with Indian meal, and
season with little suit and pepper rs
YOU would season food for yourself, and
few ground scrap or other chopped
meat mixed with their dough. Oats or
barley should be scalded or thoroughly
mixed in for change; onions and green
peppers sparingly.
Hens want amusement and novelty.
Pull up the weeds, root and branch, and
throw them into your hen yard; they
will strip the leaves, eat them and
scratch the stalks into the lower corner
for manure, and when they decay they
will scratch them over to find the worms,
and to make the mass fine. Potato-tops,
cornstalks, any kind of vegetables where
they are too thick, may be used, and so
kill too birds with one stone. II feeds
your hens, gets rid of your surplus
stuff, and makes employment for them.
Have fruit trees for shade around your
n-yards-beautiful in blossom and
beautiful in fruit. Your hens will eat
your surplus fruit, and pay well for it.
Set out your fruit, stalks and bud, or
graft them with the kind you want, and
80 be happy and useful.
Raise squashes as big as you may
want to handle; boil and mix them with
meal and shorts, as a change of food for
poultry.-C0rr. Am. Poultry Yard.
The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1880-10-08

help ourselves by cultivating taste for
conquering difficulties, not because any
body is to know anything about it, but
because it is good to overcome. Above
all other help is that which comes from
the intense conviction that whatever in
any way ministers to the health and
happiness of the home, whether it is
great or small, is worthy Of earnest
thought. have often gained grace and
strength by saying over to myself that
bit from holy George Herbert
"Who sweeps room o. for Gods law
Makes that and the action fne."
The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1880-10-08
Uses for Flax StraW.

1t is to be hoped that the time will
soon come when there will be n market
for flax fiber in this country. Atpresent
flax is grown, except in II few localities
where there are ilax mills, entirely for
the seed. The straw is generally
thrown away, and is sometimes burned.
This straw may be employed for num-
Der of very useful purposes. In the
south farmers have little apparatus
which they set up in n yard or field, by
means of which they make very good
ropes out of cotton, hemp, aud flax
Ropes made of fax straw are useful for
securing young trees to stakes, for Mt
taching vines to posts, or trelliscs, and
for tying about shocks of corn. Flax
straw may also be used to excellent al
vantage for putting about trunks of trees
in order to protect them from the heat
of the sun. Twisted somewhat loosely,
and wrapped about rose bushes and ten
der shrubbery, it affords excellent pro-
lection.
Flax straw makes excellent packing
for ice. But comparatively small
amount Of it is required. 1t is clean,
easy to handle, and not us liable to mold
or rot as the substances that are usually
employed. A piece of ice taken from
the house and wrapped in flax straw may
be carried a long distance with but very
little waste. Many farmers do not put
up ice because it is difficult for them to
obtain saw-dust or tan-bark for packing.
Flax straw makes good bedding for all
kinds of stock, and it is especially good
for hogs. 1t is excellent material foi
mulching, and there are few things SUI
perior to it for mulching strawberry
vines. 1t forms n close sort of mattin &
on which the berries can ripen without
being spattered with mud. Most kinds
of stock will eat flax straw after they
have become accustomed to it's use by
having small quantities fed at Il time.
The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1880-10-08

A LONDON magistrate has sentenced
Harry Perry, convicted of assaulting
and robbing bank messenger on the un.
derground railway, to thirty lashes and
twenty years imprisonment.
The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1880-10-08
Cows and the Weather.


Cows are very sensitive to the inau-
ence of the weather. In bright, clear
days their vital forces are more active and
vigorous, digestion is more rapid, and
assimilation and waste are more active,
and secretions which, like butter, depend
up the destruction of tissue, abundant.
Lassitude is favorable to transudation,
because it relaxes the delicate men,
branes and makes the passage of liquids
easier, and consequently more abundant.
Thus, while the fats in milk diminish,
the albuminoids increase in muggy
weather; and yet a given weight of milk
makes less cheese than III fair weather.
This loss in cheese is owing to the fact
that as the albumen of the blood passes
over into the milk vessels, the major
part of it is converted into caseine, which
is coag ulable by rennet, while albumen
is not. This change from albumen to
caseine is effected by the vital forces,
and is more or less complete rs they
vary in strength. The greater energy
of bright days increases the per cent. of
caseine, and makes that of albumen less.
In muggy weather this il reversed.
These changes often amount to enough
to make five per cent. difference III the
yield of cheese in favor of good weather,
while the total of albuminoids, rs shown
by analysis, is the greater in the muggy
days. From the decrease in fat and the
increase of albuninoids. which are heav-
Ter than fat, the milk of muggy days
shows the greater specific gravity and
yields less per cent. of butter. --PrO-
fcssOr l.. Is. ArnOkd.