Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-11-05
COrn.Stalk Cattle.


LAST winter my health gave out. and
the doctor said l must go South. What
a mourning there was among our little
boys at the thought Of losing Aunt Kate
and her "beautiful storiesrT
just before the train started, little
Jamie begged to be held up to the car
window to give me a gOOd-by kiss.
Poor little fellow. his eyes streamed
with tears, and not even the promise
Of q pound Of candy could console
him.
l was not going to Florida. where
fashionable invalids spend their win
ters, bat to the home of an old friend
OF mine on an Alabama plantation.
How glad l was to find that she, too,
had a little boy! He was not much like
the nephews I had left behind, but [
soon found him to be q gOOd-hearted,
brave little lad.
His mamma and we're sitting one
rainy morning with our work before a
great wood fire, when frankie and his
bosom companion, Abe, a colored boy,
came in with an armful of long, dry
corn stalks, a handful of chicken feath-
ers and two kitchen knives.
Now, Frankie, you are going to
make a mess, so get some papers and
put them down on the floor said
frankie mamma. Abe ran to get the
papers, and very soon the two boys
were down on their knees, peeling the
stalks.
noticed that the stalks were old and
brittle, and that the boys preserved the
hull. After watching them for some
minutes. began to make inquiries as
to what the stalks were for.
Desc is fur cattle" said Abe, grin
ming.
l then asked how they made cattle.
frankie did not seem communicative,
so Abe again answered my question.
"Wa'al, we jest cuts EN-. If yer
waits minute I'll show yer"
He cut off piece of the peeled stalk
about four inches lohg, then split the
hull into four pieces about a quarter of
an inch wide and two inches long. He
stuck two OF these pieces near one end
OF the stalk for hind-legs, and the two
others at a quarter of an inch from the
other end for front ones He then cut
piece of the stalk about an inch long
for the head, a niche for the mouth, two
pins for eyes, and narrow bits of hull
Tor horns; another little strip of hull
was stuck first into the head and then
into the body to form the neck. a chick
en- feather put in for the tail, and the
job was finished.
" Now, den," said Abe, triumphant
ly, holding it up, e don't yer see dat'sa
cow?''
l smiled, but Abe was too good
natured to notice it. This animal 1
found, with slight variations, was made
to represent horses, cows mules. sheep,
dogs and pigs. and even chickens,
which, of course, were much smaller,
and had only two legs. In the course
OF the morning Frankie and Abe manu-
factured a sow with seven little pigs,
two COWS, mule and a horse.
1t had stopped raining, so the boys
asked if l would not like to 90 out and
see their farms. Under q shed in the
yard were these two farms, arranged
as nearly as possible like Frankie's
fathers. Barns, stables, wagon houses
and pig-pens were made of bricks on a
very small scale, and inhabited by corn
stalk cattle.
A wagon made of chip tied to two
spools was hitched up with two corn
stalk oxen, their feather tails standing
up in the air.
l thought my little friends would like
this new breed of cattle. They struck
me as being much easier 70 manage
than those Of Noah's ark, for there is
hardly boy who has not had all man
ner of trouble in making Father Noah's
cows and horses stand up. Gather to-
gether some corn stalks this autumn,
let them dry, and stocka farm for your
self.-Florence E. Ting, IH HaTpe-S
Young People