The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1880-11-11
Our Young People
MADE UP FROM THE BEST CLIPPINGS
Corn Stalk Cattle.
RY FLORENCE E. TYNG.

BY FLOhENCls Es Inv
Last winter my health gave out
and the doctor said l must go
South. What mourning there was
among our little boys at the thought
of losing Aunt Kate and her "beau-
tiful stories"
just before the train started, lit
tie jamie begged to be held up to
the car window to give me good
by kiss. Poor little fellow his eyes
streamed with tears, and not even the
promise of a pound of candy could
console him.
1 was not going to Florida, where
fashionable invalids spend their
winters, but to the nome of an old
friend of mine on an Alabama plan
tation. How glad was to find
that she too had little boy! He
was not much like the nephews l
had left behind, but 1 soon found
him to be a good-hearted, brave lit
tie lad.
His mamma and | were sitting
one rainy morning with our work
before a great wood fire, when
frankie and his bosom companion,
a be, young darkey, came In with
An armful of long dry corn stalks, q
handful OF chicken feathers, 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's 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 pre-
served the hull. After watching
them for some minutes, l b, gan to
make inquiries as to what the
stalks were for.
"Dese is fur cattle" said Abe,
grinning.
1 then asked how they made cat
tie. frankie did not seem commu
NEGATIVE, so Abe again answered my
question.
"Wa'al, we jest cuts'em. If yer
wait a minute I'll show yer"
He cut off piece of the peeled
stalk about four inches long, then
split the hull into four pieces about
q quarter of an inch 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 for
horns; another little strip of hull
was stuck first into the head and
then INTO the body to form the
neck, a chicken feather put in for
the tail. and the job was finished.
"Now den," said Abe, trium-
phantly, hold it up, "don't yer see
OATS a cow"
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-
featured sow with seven little pigs,
two cows, a mule, and horse.
1t had stopped raining, so the
buys asked II 1 would not like to
go out and see their farms. Under
shed in the yard were these two
farms, arranged as nearly as posi-
bic 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 to
manage than those of Noah's ark,
for there is hardly boy who has
not had all manner of trouble in
making Father Adams cows ard
horses stand up. Gather together
some corn stalks this autumn, let
them dry, and stock a farm for
Yourself,