davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1896-10-21

Turkeys military system makes
trained soldiers of nearly all its able
bodied men. Tho standing army
numbers 1SO, 900 mon, and the soldi era
who have served six years and passed
into tho reserves wound raise tho
forces that could be placed in the field
to 800, 900. The Turkish navy con-
sists OF nineteen iron-clads, frigates and
corvettes, with about $50 wooden ves-
sells stationed at different points on
the coast. Here are men and ships
enough to make determined resist
ance, but tho treasury is in no condi-
ton to maintain them during long
war. Discord among the powers is
still the sultan's best defense and the
Armenians' greatest calamity.
The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1896-10-21
An Ants Lifetime.

Sir John Lubbock, the naturalist,
has been experimenting to find out
how long the common ant would live
if kept out of harms way. On Aug
8, 1883, an ant which had bsen
kept and tenderly cared for died at
the age of Is years. which is the
greatest age any species OF insect has
yet been known to attain. Another
individual OF the same species of ant
lived to the advanced age OF 13 years,
aud the queen OF another kind laid
fertile eggs after she had passed the
age OF nine years
The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1896-10-21
AMERICAN CAGE BIRDS.

In state of nature small birds fit
about and sing only during daylight,
aud they always retire to rest at sun
down. You must look out for this if
you keep yonr birds in cages. They
do not understand that they had bet
ter keep silent after the lamps are
lighted. They instinctivsly keep on
singing, as if it were still daylight.
The immediate effect of this is that the
birds become over-fatigued; they are
apt to moult. grow thin, suffer from
exhaustion, and quickly perish. The
cage should be removed to darkened
room at nightfall; or, il this is not
convenient, cover up the cage with a
dark cloth before lighting the
lamps. In covering the cage care
should be taken so to arrange the
cloth that the bird can have plenty
of air. In removing birds from one
room to another it is important
to see that there is no change in
temperature. If removed to differ
ent temperature there is a strong
chance that they will begin to moult,
which generally leads to something
serious Remember that Nature sup
plies coat to suit heat or cold in
which her creatures are placed. aud
that sudden aud frequent changes in
The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1896-10-21
EGlyildr soluuoDl

temperature are severe tax upon q
birds vitality.
Tho object in the construction OF a
birds cage should be to furnish plenty
of light md mir, and the cage should
always be kept perfectly clean. II is
well to have night covering of dark
cloth, which should cover tho top OF
the cage and extend halfway down
tho sides, ms many birds are likely to
take cold 49, Hurper's Round Table.
The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1896-10-21

A curious example of the vicissi-
tudes of fortune is that OF the late
Mr. Pattison. who recently died Mt
Rockhampton, in Queensland. He
was butcher, who struck gold, be-
came very rich, went into politics, was
made Postmaster-Gene lost his
money, and returned to his butcher
shop again, dying poor man.
The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1896-10-21

II is noticeable fact TINT the girl
who plays the piano in tho worst pos
sible fashion is the one most ready to
yield to persuasion when 'some
music" is requested.
The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1896-10-21

The sale of oleomargarine, wien
colored to initiate butter, is now pro-
hibitcd by the laws of thirty-twc
statee
The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1896-10-21
Too literal.

Customer-I would like to have .
nice gown to wear around the house.
Salesmsn--Sizs ofthe house. plssssf
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-07-04
DAIRY.

IL is the foolish man who allows his
COWS to suffer at any time of the wear
"netner it be from heat or from cold.
wniie IL is the careful money maker
VINO sees that they are comfortable at
all times. When the sun gets hot. and
hies and mosquitoes abound in full force.
the COWS are sure to suffer more than in
very cold weather. and the milk supplv
will be cut short.
Some have an idea that when cows
stand in water during the day, as they
Will when insects annoy them, the
water absorbs the milk. The fact is
that, while thus seeking comfort. they
are spending their time doing nothing
while they should be at work eating in
the pasture.
one great trouble in making fine but
Ter is to know it when you see it. Every
woman is good Judge of butter and
oaoles, at least she thinks she is when
her own are under consideration, but if
babies, like butter, were sold in the
market, she would be surprised to see
now her taste differs from that of her
buyers.
NO under ground room was ever vet
MT for human being or brute to in.
haoit, nor any more fit to keep milk in.
Ii to be used before suitable room can
be built above ground, cellar should
be cleared of every vestige of vegetable
matter, oil sinfected with lime and plas.
Ter and the walls thoroughly wLite-
washed. Neither guessing nor measur.
ing the cream will truly show the fat.
Unless milk is tested, those who breed
and feed to make richer milk lose part
OF what rightly belongs to them if they
take their product to creamery which
does not use Babcock tester, and thus
accurately regulate values for butter
production.
Inc average of all yearlings of milking
stock in the country today will hardly
reach 2oO pounds, whereas they should
reach twice that. The cry of not having
milk to spare may hold good where milk
is sold, but not if it is made into butter
or cheese, Skim milk, with proper ad.
ditions, will make calves grow at their
best.
Talk as we please the Holstein- Erie
sian COW has not an equal for butter,
cheese or milk today. and the marvellous
results attained have surprised the
breeders themselves. For beef, it placed
upon the market at two years old. they
are equal to any of the beef breeds, and
they certainly do not need a wet nurse
to raise their young.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-07-04
BE A GOOD READER.

There is one accomplishment in par
ticular which would. earnestly recon-.
mend to you; Cultivate assiduously the
ability to read we'll. l stop to particu-
larize this, because it is so very much
neglected. and because it is 80 elegant.
charming and lady-like an accomplish
ment. Where one person is really inter-
ested in music, twenty are pleased by
good reading. Where one person is ca
pable of becoming good musician,
twenty may become good readers.
Where there is one occasion for the ex-
ercise of musical talent, there are twenty
for that of good reading. The culture
of the voice necessary for reading we'll
gives delightful charm to the same
voice in conversation. Good reading is
the natural exponent and vehicle of all
good things. 1t is the most effective of
commentaries upon the work of genius
1t seems to bring dead authors to life
again, and makes us sit down Familiarity
with the great and good Of all ages. Did
you ever notice what life and power the
holy Scripture has when we'll read? Have
you ever heard of the wonderful objects
produced by Elizabeth Fry on the pris-
oners of Newgate by simply reading to
them the parable of the Prodigal Son?
Princeses and peers of the realm, it is
said, counted it privilege to stand in
the dismal corridors and among felons
and murderers merely to share with
them the privilege of witnessing the
marvellous pathos which genius, taste
and culture could infuse into that sim
pie story. What fascination there is
in really good reading What power
it gives one! In the hospital, in the
chamber of the invalid, in the nursery,
in the domestic and social circle, among
chosen friends and companions, how it
enables you to minister to the amuse-
ment, the comfort, the pleasure of dear
ones, as no other art or accomplishment
can. No instrument of mans devising
can reach the heart as does that most
wonderful instrument, the human voice.
1t is Gods special gift and endowment
to his chosen creature. Fold it not away
in napkin. If you would double the
value of all your other acquisitions, if
you would UNNECESSARILY add to your
own enjoyment and to your power Of
promoting the enjoyment of others, cul-
tivate with ipcessapt care this divine
gift. No music below the skies is equal
to that of pure silvery speech from the
lips of a man or woman of high culture.
Prof. j. S. Hart.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-07-04
THE BOOTS OF BOYHOOD.
Those dear little red top boots!

Those dear little red top boots!
Do you remember them-the first pair
you wore? You can close your eyes and
see them again-stiff and black and
heavy soled. And what points of beauty
in your eyes we're those red top and cop
per toes
The memory of them brings you back
to that period of your life where infan-
cy passed into boyhood, and where
dreams came to you of being man.
They marked the beginning of your in-
dependence, of your strength, of your
recognition as one of earth's creatures.
Far better, they brought surcease of rid
icule; for they came with pants and
short hair in place of dresses and curls
How often you have gone sobbing to
your mother, your heart full of grief and
modification, because bigger boy had
pulled your hair and called you girl!
The changes came all at once. Mother
made the pants and one evening she
brought home the red-top boots. Then
5ub put buo SCteSOlS III w JOul CuIlS, Cut
them off, kissed them and laid them
away. She was sorry to see the baby
become a boy. But how your soul
swelled! How you longed for the morn
ing that you might wear them. How
joyfully you cried out to little Billy
Brown across the road that you had
"pants and boots!" And Billy proba-
ably answers, sullenly. II don't care"
while all the time he was filled with
envy.
How changed was your spirit after
this! You were no longer shy; you no
longer played with the girls. You
stuffed the pockets of your pants with
strings and nails, and were imbued with
desire to fight and throw stones. You
waded bravely in the puddles, and
proudly assured the other boys that "the
boots didn't leak bit"
Dear little boots! We revere your
memory. You are to the boy what the
sweetheart is to the youth; what the
bride is to the man. Who would not
turn back the wheel of time and EN-.
brace you?-Setected.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-07-04
A Loving Wife.

Once, in June, as we sailed along the
historic Hudson, friend pointed out
the old home of Audubon, our great
naturalist, His wife was good, sweet
woman" she said, "but when she began
to find him out, she found he would
wander off thousand miles in quest of
a bird. She said Amen and went
along with him. camping in the woods.
living in huts or shanties on the frontier,
anywhere to be with him. In her heart
she said as did Jane Eyre of her be-
loved Rochester, to be with him was as
quiet as solitude, as gay as company
She entered into his enthusiasm, shared
his labor, and counted all things but
loss for the excellency of the glory of
being Audubon's wife. When chill dren
began to come, they could not wander
off together, but he could not go into a
valley so deep nor distant that her light
would not shine on him from their
windows. He knew where he would
find her and how she would look, for
while, as Ruskin reminds US, the clouds
are never twice alike. sunshine is always
familiar, and it was sunshine he saw
when he looked homeward. If you read
his notes you will recall how his heart
breaks forth into singing in all sorts of
unexpected places, as he thinks of his
wife and children waiting his return.
In that way they lived their life until
they dropped into the lap of God. like
mellow apples. THE Housekeeper.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-07-04
AGRICULTURE.

An English scientist finds that when
potatoes are cooked without removing
their skins they lose only three per cent
of their nutritive quality through ex-
traction of their juices. When the skins
we're removed before boiling the loss
was four per cent, which makes the lat
ter way very wasteful one.
Persistent work pays in net profit and
satisfaction. Weeds eat up so much
plant food, and drink up so much water
in dry time; and yet they can be kept
down SO cheaply with mower and
smoothing harrow and weeder if we use
our brains in the way of good manage
ment.
Three methods are practiced to pre-
serve the fertility of the soil, to-wit:
Rotation of crops, application of COM
mericial fertilizers and the use of barn
yards manures. Though all three are
often blended, the first is of primary
Importance. as it costs nothing but labor
of mind in determining the relative value
of crops produced and the condition in
which the soil is left.
Luxuriant crops are always produced
upon new land where the woods have
been burned over. The power of potash
in ashes to liberate nitrogen from the
humus in the soil is sufficient to make
ashes of great value. Rank. rich soil.
full of vegetable matter, will produce
crops much better after an application
of wood ashes than if supplied with a
good dressing of manure.
Barn-yard manure increases the wood
growth of nearly all fruit trees, while
potash tends to increase the fruit
growth. The former cannot be allowed
to suffer at the expense of the vitality of
the tree. Without new yearly wood
growth the prospect of fruit would be
greatly reduced.
Too often is field of the smaller
grains grown without seeding of clover
or grass seed. Because field is to be
plowed the following fall or spring it is
a mistake to suppose that what growth
the grass could make would not pay for
the seed. One summers growth of
clover will often furnish ton to an acre
to be plowed under in the fall.
The gain from fall blowing is that the
naked surface is easily made into mel
low seed bed by cultivation, if the win
ter has proved just right; but this gain
is often Offset by too great loss of fer
tility to make it generally profitable. 1t
is far better if that field is covered by a
protecting sod.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-07-04
AMONG THE SWALLOWS.

Mr.. L. E. Chittenden, in his Personal
"reminiscences" gives an interesting
description of the social habits of swal-
lows. He was encamped one night on a
small island in Lake Champlain. As
the sun approached the horizon, few
swallows came and alighted in the
branches of the cedar trees with which
the island was covered; then more
came, and still more, until focks of
many hundreds, coming from every
point of the compass, we're converging
on the island. This continued while
daylight faded into darkness.
my supper" says Mr.. Chittendon,
"was prepared and served to the accom-
paniment of innumerable angry but
musical voices. After some time the
disputes appeared to be adjusted, and
there was profound quiet only broken
here and there by some individual ap-
parently talking in his sleep or distur-
bed by nightmare.
Making as little noise as possible. 1
forced myself under the branches. we'll
into the grove. disturbing many sleepers
in my progress. On raising my hand to
a branch, l discovered that the swallows
we're literally packed along it, side by
side. The light of match showed that
every branch in view was laden in the
same manner. The light awakened
them, but they fell asleep as soon as it
was extinguished. l could have cap
tured scores within reach of my hand.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-07-04
INIPROMPTUS.

The clever impromptus of wits and hu
morists have made many an incident
memorable which otherwise would long
ago have been forgotten. Thus, no mat.
ter what the occasion might be (says a
writer in the Standard), Theodore Hook
could always improvise verses. On one
occasion, when delighting party at his
cottage at Fulham by an extempore
comic song, his servant entered in the
middle of it with, please, sir, here's Mr..
Winter, the taxgatherer; he says he has
called for taxes" Hook would not be
interrupted, but went on at the piano.
forte as if nothing had happened with
the following stanza;
Here comes Mr.. Winter, collector of taxes.
I'd advise you to pay whatever he axes;
Excuses won't do, he stands no sort of fun
merry,
Though Winter his name is, his process is sum-
mary
Lord Chesterfield, being one day asked
by Sir Thomas Robinson, Familiarity
known as Long Sir Thomas" to write
some verses upon him, produced the
epigram:
"Unlike my subject now shall be my song;
1t shall be witty, and it sha'n't be long"
This individual was noted for being a
bore. and made himself very trouble.
some to the Duke of Newcastle, contin-
ually calling on the minister, and when
told that his grace was gone out, he
would ask to be admitted to look at the
clock, or to play with the monkey, in the
hope of seeing the duke. But one day
the porter, without waiting for what he
had to say, dismissed him with these
words: "Sir. his grace has gone out, the
clock stands, and the monkey is dead"
There is an amusing story told of
Thackeray and Albert Smith. The latter
once wrote in the album Of young lady
who was travelling in Switzerland the
following feeble impromptu
"Mont Blan, is the monarch of mountains.
They crowned him long ago;
But who they got to put it on
Nobody seems to know"
Thackeray, being asked by the same
lady to contribute to her collection, and
coming across the above lines. at once
wrote the subjoined;
Il know that Albert wrote in a hurry,
To criticize l scarce presume;
But yet methinks that Lindley Murray
l..
Great Thoughts.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-07-04
Whittier in Familiar Relations.

The Arena publishes some personal
recollections of American poets. and
among them two amusing incidents con-
nected with Whittier. A little girl,
who was in the house with him and of
whom he was very fond, asked him to
commemorate in verse the death of her
favorite kitten, Bathsheba by name.
Without moments hesitation the poet
recited solemnly:-
Bathsheba, to whom none ever said scat
No worthier cat
Ever sat on a mat
Or caught a rat.
Requiescat!
The same little girl had pony who
broke his leg, and again the poet was
called upon to comfort the child with
some poetic sentiment.
II have written some lines myself"
she said. "but can't think how to finish
the verse;"
what did you writer" asked Mr..
Whittier.
my pony kicked to the right, he kicked to the
left:
The stable-post he struck IT,
He broke his leg short off,
And then added Mr.. Whittier:
"And then he kicked the bucket"
During the war Quaker friend, who
was ship-builder, asked Mr.. Whittier's
advice as to building war-ships. At
first Mr.. Whittier did not commit him
self; but, as the ship was leav-
ing. he remarked, Thomas, if thee
build ships, advise thee to use the
best timber, and build them strong"
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-07-04

AS the gray dawn was creeping over
the eastern mountains, there was a
clear note from one of the tallest cedars
in the grove. 1t was the reveille. There
was an answering call, then another.
then many, and in minute the grove
was alive with voices. Soon swallow
shot out from the grove and made one
circuit, sounding its call. Others fol-
lowed until small flock was collected,
which moved westward over ten miles
OF water to the shore. Others followed,
collecting in separate fiocks and taking
flight in different directions. Within
five minutes the last swallow had de-
parted, and solitude reigned in the
grove"
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-07-04
POULTRY

Thousands upon thousands of ducks
are raised every year without more
water than is necessary for their drink.
Young ducks are less liable to disease
when raised in warm, dry quarters than
when allowed to run at large and spend
much of their time in the water A
good way is to set the eggs under hens.
1t may not be generally known that
all kinds of feathers are salable. The
demand is increasing, and most country
merchants will take them and sell them
upon commission. The fowls must be
picked dry, and the feathers kept clean
and in good condition. Keep separate
the coarser ones, as we'll as those of diff
ferent kinds of fowls.
If no estimate be made for labor, an
egg can be produced for about half a
cent. The profit would be always good
if all the food went towards egg produc-
tion. Moreover eggs carry from the
farm but little of the nutritious elements
of the soil in proportion to the value.
The smaller breeds. such as the Ham
burgs, Leghorns and Minorcas. mature
early, and will thrive better if not
Matched before April. The larger breeds
require longer time in which to grow
and feather, and should be out of the
shell as early as possible. All this bears
upon the egg basket next winter.
Pekin ducks are profitable, both as
market fowls and as egg producers.
They lay about II dozen eggs yearly
and by good feeding can be made to
weigh five pounds when 10 weeks old. A
good grass run is the one thing needful
in order to grow them with profit.
Give geese an enclosed run, which
they can have to themselves. They will
thrive upon good grass pasture. but
they should never be permitted in a
field where there is. any other stock.
They foul grass quickly 30 that horses
and other stock will not eat it.
In order to have young turkeys make
the quickest growth early in the season,
before there are plenty of insects for
them to feed upon, they should be kept
in an enclosure where they can be fed
often. There is no better food for them
than sour milk curd, made like cottage
cheese except the seasoning.
Always provide young turkeys with
pure water to drink, renewing it very
often, in shallow vessels, so that they
can get out all right il they get in-as
they most likely will. They will drink
before they are old enough to need any
food. They cannot stand a run in the
grass even as we'll as can young chick.
ems.