Evening star., 1896-12-19

who presides over Il market stand. have
been gathered during the past week and
are now being made up in the various
shapes tnat find many purchasers dur
ing Christmas times. There will be crosses
and cTowrs, wTeaths and shields and any
number of other forms. As fast as we get
them made up they carefully buried
In the groUnd. care being taken to proper
ly protect them, so that the air shall not
reach them. In this way they are kept
fresh As rule they are brought 10 the
market two or three days before Christ
mas. The Christmas trees, however. Will
not he cut until the last thing. for the
reason that there is no way to keep them
fresh. Much of the work of pulling OF
the crowsfoot. the cedar twigs and gather
ing the red berries and moss is done by
our children, though the old folks have to
make up the crosses. crowns and vreathS,
in which laurel and holly are extensively
used. The holly is getting scarcer and
scarcer every year. and some of us had
10 travel fifteen and twenty miles-way
back into the country-to get it at all
4
The practice of writing letters Sun
days is enormously on the increase in this
city. remarked letter gatherer I'VE
have the evidence of it in collecting from
the street boxes on our rounds on Sunday
nights-ordinarily the down town boxes.
those in the business cenIers. have three
times as many letters in them as do the
boxes in the other sections of the city.
on Sunday nights all this is changed as
there Is then but little mail matter in the
down town boxes, while the boxes in the
other parts are we'll filled. The approach
ing holiday season has, of course a great
deal 10 do with the thousands of letters
that Eow being written. but 1 nave
noticed for the past five or six years that
the Sunday letter writing business is con-
stantly the increase. You would be
surprised to know the number of Satur-
day Stars which after being read Sun
days are mailed. The subStations through
out the city now sell nearly double
many stamps on Sunday as they did even
three years ago"
= x = X
'Spectacles and eye glasses are as much
benefited by bath now and then as peo-
pie are remarked a well-known optician.
''It is strange how many people there are
v he think thai their glasses only need
an occasional wiping. Now. the fact is
glasses require actual baths as frequently
as does the ordinary person. The process
is as simple as you may want to make it.
nv plar. however, is to take the glasses
TO a wash bowl and give them a good
soaking in warm water. Then apply soap
freely and rub Ii off by the use of Il soft
tn or nail brush. After that give them
a polish with any of the usual tooth pow
ders, and then clean them with tissue pa
per II hich is much better for that purpose
than chanlois skin. or anything else that /
know of.
--Th- ordinary cleansing is all right as far
as ii gees. but IL is not sufficient. Many a
person. has done great injury to their eyes
by neglecting to properly clean their
glasses. 1 have had number of patients
ccme TO me with complaints about what
they called a gradual dimunition of their
that il was wonderful that they could see
at all. for their glasses were gummed over
anG had been fearfully neglected. a little
soap and water, to which few drops of
ammonia was added, did the business Some
time ago friend of mine surgeon who
makes q specially of the ear, told me that
there Were more ear troubles in conse-
quence of dirt in the ear than from all
other causes combined"
ut may sound like nonsense, but il is
true all the same" said a coal dealer, that
coal over which has been sprinkled a
strong solution OF salt. will last much long
er than ii otherwise will-what will be
saved in coal viii more than doubly pay
fer the salt and the trouble Some of my
customers tell me they use pound of salt
in each TWO quarts of water. Hot water
dissolves the salt more readily than cold.
thOrgh either will do. The salt in some
way adds a lasting ingredient to the coal.
Salt was the main constituent of the va
rtous coalines so extensively advertised a
few years ago. and by which so much
money was made. Any one can try the
experiment in small way. First see exact
Iy how long one scuttle full OF coal will
last Next try the same amount of coal
over which the solution of salt has been
sprirkied'
The freezing of the various articles of
food used does not do them the harm that
Is generally supposed" said a scientist who
has conducted a series of extensive expert
ments under the direction of the War De-
partment. Last winter. out in Minnesota.
We allowed TO freeze and stay frozen for
over two weeks large assortment of
canned soods- After they thawed out We
found they were but slightly II at all dam
aged. certainly not enough to be considered
as serious We found that corned beef and
mess pork were benefited BY the freezing
IN mat II made them more tender"
X
Nor" harm than benefit is done the
grass" said an experienced gardener ..bv
the so-called soil which some fake garden
ers are daily spreading on the lawns and
terraces throughout the city. Much of III,
compost which is being used is made I'm q
street s~eepings, some soil and the char
coal from the tons of leaves gathered On the
streets. which were burned on tho ri,.a,
flats during the early fall This Leaf rbar
Goa! Is put in the compost to dark.n ire
tolor ana give IL an appearance of richness
nave witnessed that there is considerabie
coal ashes mixed in il. a compost of this
character Is decided injury. and the grass
VIII do much better next spring IL IL Is Iaft
alone OF course there Is great deal of
thoroughly rottad compost used by reliable
Saraeners- To get this in proper shape il
takes two years"
Ada a very amusing experience In AT
my sumrler house in New York stale
said Mr.. F c. Stevens. presiden, of the
West End National Bank and owner or
the famous Maplewood hackney stud In
conversation with some friends recently
We have large number of chickens at
Maplewood. and they are so wild that
when they are needed for the table IL has
been my custom to shoot them with a
rifle One morning i was going away for
the day. end told my man of all work to
shoot four chickens and to be sure to shoot
en- through the head. When 1 returned
about dinner time / was told that Carl
mad not been seen since morning and no
chickens had been brought in. Upon in
vesugatins | discovered Carl down back
OF the barn yard carefully leveIing nv
rifle and then taking IL down again After
watching him awhile i asked him what he
was doing