davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-03-27

though a little angular russell bud at
the end of each twig of the oak tree
gives promise of awakening. Nay. here
is something awake. Dangling from the
hazel twigs are the catkins, name for
mally accepted from the playful term
'pussy's tales though they are far more
like what in some countries they are
termed, lambs tails What wonder
full provision there is for the protection
of blossoms coming out so early without
leaf to shelter them. 3. Hazel is
from the Saxon basil, covering for the
head, an allusion to its helmeted state.
as is the generic name Corylla. from the
Greek Karos, helmet Avellana, the spe-
cific name, the Italian word in use. and
the origin of the surname Evelyn, we'll
fitted to our first writer on forest
trees"-Miss Yonge's AN Old Wo-
mans Outlook
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-03-27
AS Others See Us.
MARTHA WASHINGTON.

A few years ago two Japanese gentle
the United States, and among other
places. visited large and widely known
mandatory. They we're afterward in
vited by the senior member of the firm
to lunch with him. Colonel M. was al
SO of the party. 1t happened that the
first food placed on the table was dish
of fried potatoes, and as the manufactur-
er enthusiastically explained his bust
ness to his guests. he unthinkingly took
piece of potato from the dish with his
fingers and tit. A second and third
piece followed. The Japanese listened
politely, but Colonel M. observed that
they we're closely watching their hosts
method of eating. The colonel has
keen sense of humor, and he at once de.
cided that he would follow his friends
example and see what the others would
do. He did so and instantly both jap
anese made a dive for the dish, and thus
they sat eating potatoes with their fin.
gers, presenting, it is to be feared, the
appearance of four men who had had no.
thing to eat for a long while. and ex-
pected never to get anything again.
Will it be surprising if in future
Japanese book on America this breach
of good manners shall find place as an
American custom? Kitchen
MaQazine.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-03-27

The moisture accumulated during the
winter is In danger of being lost when
the ground is plowed in the spring, and
the subject of spring blowing is one
much discussed, developing varied opin.
ions. The weight of testimony is against
it, and, as rule, one deep blowing in
the autumn is counted sufficient.
Cheap lands are temptation to own
large farms-too large for the good of
the owner In most cases they would
yield double the net profit if the labor
and expense laid out upon the whole
were judiciously put upon the half.
This is hard lesson to learn.
There is nothing palmer than that
you cannot afford to cultivate wheat for
an average crop. The only wise thing
to do. evidently. is to fit your land to
produce an exceptional crop. This will
certainly pay, and it can be done.
The chances to make money by spec
ialty farming do not lie far away from
your own region. The same opportunity
exists right where you are. which you
imagine can be found only thousand
miles away.
If we will rotate and keep one.fourth
of our land in clover and grass all the
time, we will soon be able to raise more
on the three fourths than we have here
tofore done upon the whole OF it. Let
us not stick to our old ways when there
are better ones.
These hard times are under the guise
of blessing. in that it is possible for
poor people to get cheap food. More
over, in the long run, the cheap prices
OF cereals may be benefit to farming,
in that they compel cheaper ways of
production and stimulate better work
Slipshod farmers will be crowded out,
and only the fittest survive.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-03-27
Paper UnderclOthing.

The Japanese are now making under
clothing of their finely crisped or grained
paper. After the paper has been cut to
a pattern. the different parts are sewed
together and hemmed. and the places
where the buttonholes are to be formed
are strengthened with calico or linen
The stuff is very strong. and at the same
time very flexible. After garment has
been worn few hours. it will interfere
with the Transportation of the body no
more than do garments made of fabric
This paper weighs only ninety grains to
the square foot, and has been submitted
to tests which gave breakage length of
fifteen feet in the direction of the paper
lines and seven feet in that of the wire
marks. with an elongation of 8 7 per cent
in the first case. and of 10 per cent in
the second 4se. The stuff is not sized,
nor is it impermeable. After becoming
wet. the paper is difficult to tear. When
an endeavor is made to tear itby hand.
it presents almost as much resistance as
the thin skin used for making gloves.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-03-27
FEBRUARY IN ENGLAND.

English months do not by any means
feel bound to act up to their traditional
character. and at the outset February is
often quite as cold as January; indeed.
some of the most distinguished SHOWS /
have ever known began in February, or
else we're at their height on it's first
days. cutting off communication where
there were deep roads to be choked and
making everything tardy. And then the
inevitable thaw. announced by avalan-
ches from our roofs, drippings from our
trees, drippings, also, from all the weak
places in roof or ceiling, floods in the
cellar and the roads. which had become
a mixture of dust and snow, churned
into horrid yellow cream.
"At last
Like an army defeated,
The snow has retreated,'
not here, to the bare hill, but under the
shady banks, where it lies in lines till,
as the sage declares. it waits for more to
take it away. And, in fact, the final
clearing rain often does begin with
snow.
Come, wheel around,
The dirt we have found
Would be an estate at a faIthine a
pound.
is song OF Cowper's often to be re-
membered in these days! Mist and
and fog are prevalent in our valley,
hanging over the water meadows along
the river. /. For days together there
will prevail a gray mist. not rain. not
fog. near at hand, but veil over every
thing. Dull is itY Nay. come and walk
along the raised footpath of our lane,
and look toward the wooded hill, behind
which the sun will presently set without
being able to produce even rudd y
tint. No matter. it would only disturb
that strange, still 'silvery Grape that
makes all the scene like a delicate
transparency in shades of soft gray.
"Leahess trees are near. but Ruskin
has taught US fairly to enjoy the beauty
of the infinite ramifications of branch,
bough and twig, now that the foliage is
gone. -. 1t is deep and wondrous
study, and the trees are asleep now
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-03-27
WINTER ON EARTH, BUT JUNE IN
THE SKY.
BY EDITH NJ. THOMAS.

Slow through the night and silent air,
Up climbs the smoke on its spiral stair
The visible fight of some mortal's prayer;
The trees are in bloom with the flowers of
frost,
But never a feathery leaf is lost;
The spring, descending, is caught and
bound
Ere it's silver feet can touch the ground:
So stills the air that lies, this morn
Over the snow-cold fields forlorn,
IT'S as though Italy's heaven smiled
In the face of some bleak Norwegian
wild;
And the heart in me sings-[ know not
why
,Tis winter on earth, but June in the sky !
June in the sky! All, now I can see
The souls of roses about to be,
In gardens of heaven reckoning me,
Roses red-ipped, and roses pale,
Famed by the tremulous ether gale;
Some of them climbing a window-ledge,
Some of them peering from way-side
hedge
AS wonder. adrift on the aery stream,
Love drives his plumed and filleted team
The Angel of Summer aloft ! see,
And the souls of roses about to be-
And the heart in me sings-the heart
knows why
IT'S winter on earth, but June in the sky
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-03-27
SHEEP,

Regular feeding and a steady growth
make good wool and good lambs. Ex-
perts claim that they can tell at about
what period of growth the sheep bad
been kept upon poor range or short
rations by noting with microscope the
thin places in the wool staple.
The real cost of keeping sheep is COM
paratively much less than that of any
other farm stock, for. to make pork, a
great proportion of the food consumed
is cash grain. and to make beef. butter
or cheese nearly everything used is that
which would bring money in the mar
ket.
When. by the expenditure of a few
extra dollars, pure bred rams of the very
best breeds can be obtained, there is no
excuse for the farmer who will in the
present day place an inferior or mongrel
bred ram at the head of his flock. He
deserves no sympathy in his failures.
Separate the pregnant ewes from all
the others at least month before wean-
ing time, and give some bone making
food aud plenty of exercise. Corn and
confinement will make large lambs. per-
haps. but with little strength or vitality.
The larger the proportion of oats, wheat
bran and clover hay which can be got
into the rations the better.
Good wethers should give US every
year for four years wool enough to half
pay for themselves, and at five years old
they are just the right age to make the
best of mutton. There should be profit
in any sheep of good kind.
1t pays to feed lambs before they are
weaned all the grain they will eat when
on good blue grass or clover pasture
with their dams. and it pays especially
we'll il they are on dry feed. Amy GER
tain amount of grain will put more
weight upon sucking lambs than any
other animal.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-03-27
Selected Story.
AUNT MARY'S BONNET STOR-
les.
BY MARY ]. JACQUES.

A UNIT MARY has lived so long in
III this world. with sunny temper
and mind open to every humorous
suggestion, that the young folks think
she has story for everything.
So one summer evening, when we
were sitting around in the dusky fore
room of the "Brooding Hen" farm
house, and some one asked what a
calash was, and how to spell it, it was
natural that Aunt Mary should come
to the fore at once.
"Oh, yes, my mother used to wear
calash. 1t was something like
drawn silk chaise-top, with reeds run
in, ana ribbons attached to the front
to hold it in place over the turban.
Mother used to wear high turban
and pearl earrings when she was
dressed for dinner or party, and
the calash was the proper thing to
wear over that in the street. l re-
member how handsome she looked to
me when she set the beautiful pink
or blue gauze structure on the top of
her puffs, and how big her head was
when the great calash surmounted
both.
"Well, wanted calash. l leased
and leased for one; and 30 mother
found convenient piece of green
silk, and she actually made calash
for me when l was only ten years old.
1 did not have it very long; for one
day when l was coming across the
long bridge from Boston with mother,
there came up sudden, smart show
er. And l was soon sight to be
hold, with little green streams run
ming down over my pelisse. We took
refuge in the dollhouse on the
bridge, and my adored calash was
left hanging there, pitiable object;
and it's Inundated owner walked
home with diminished head, that
she could hardly hide under white
pocket-handkerchief."
"The bridge was fateful place for
you, Aunt Mary. Tell us about the
lamplighter."
II was twelve years old then. My
sister Martha and | walked over to
Boston enc Saturday afternoon to get
our spring bonnets from the milliner.
Bonnets were bonnets then; they COW
cred the head, and had roomt to spare.
You couldn't look out of the corner
of your eye at neighbor in side
pew: you had to turn your head
square round. And, oh, how pretty
the girls faces looked in their beav-
er bonnets, lined with bird-o'- paradise
colored satin Mother had a pink
satin bonnet that was made over
twice, once for me and once for Abby.
Even the ruin was tremendous
"Well, my spring bonnet was a
Dunstable straw, cottage; and the
trimming was wide green gauze
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-03-27

times day sometimes works wonders.
Despite the general opinion to the
contrary, corn is an excellent food for
the SOW after she has been bred. She
should carry considerable flesh when
she farrows and then it will be easy to
carry her along in good condition dur
ing her nursing period.
The fret three months of pigs life
settles its worth. The flow OF milk is
then at its best, and the capacity of the
youngsters to consume it is yet slight,
Somewhat depends upon the number of
pigs in the litter. The rub should not
come until they begin to look for susie
nance from some outside source
A stunted pig means many pounds
less pork at 10 months old Not only
must the right food be given in suffici-
ency. but with regularity and proper
frequency. These three elements always
enter into the making of pigs, whether
we know it or not No man can afford
to waete time and money by doing things
in wrong way.
A SOW which brings a good litter of
pigs-seven to nine in numbers a
good. kind and careful mother, and so
good sucker that she will supply her
offspring with plenty of milk if she is
properly fed, is one of the most valuable
and profitable animals on the farm.
Usually they lack in one or more of
these virtues.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-03-27

she and her stepmother. the second wife
of Lord Sheffield, "are working busily at
the Memoirs. and are excellent DEVILS"
There are passages, she says. (which it
would be very unfit to publish" IF the
letters had fallen into the hands of
Boswell what fun the world would have
had" l have examined the original
manuscripts in the British Museum: they
are marked for elsion, alteration. and
abbreviation in the handwriting of Lady
Maria. l have myself little doubt that
the skill with which Gibbons brilliant
marble fragments we're composed into
coherent picture, like the mosaics
which astonish and delight us at Rome,
was mainly the work of this bold and
remarkable woman.-F'rederic Hdrri-
son, in the Forum.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-03-27
A FRIEND.
BY LUCY LARCoM.

Life offers no joy like friend:
F'ulfllment and prophecy blend
In the throb of a heart with our own
A heart where we know and are known.
Yet more than thy friend unto thee
Is the friendship hereafter to be,
When the flower of thy life shall unfold
Out of hindering darkness and cold.
Love mocks thee, whose mounting desire
Does not to the Perfect aspire;
Nor lowest thou the soul thou wouldst
win
To shut with thine emptiness in.
A friend Deep is calling to deep;
A friend the heart wakes from its sleep,
To behold the worlds lit by one face,
With one heav onward step to keep pace.
o Heart wherein all hearts are known,
Whose infinite throb stirs our own!
o Friend beyond friends! What are We
Who ask so much less, yet have Thee?
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-03-27
THE BEST MOTHERS.

The best of mothers, like poets and
artists, are born. not made. The real
mother element exists in most women,
but not in high degree in all. Many
have it who have never honored any man
by taking his name. There are others
who stand as wife and mother who lack
the true mother nature. Its qualities
make her fruitful in devising means for
the relief and comfort of the dependent
ones. 1t enables her to watch and work
longer than others. Her love for the
helpless is her life, she goes on loving
and asking nothing in return. However
reckless and hayward the child, her
"heart is not hard" and she says, how
often would | have gathered you as
hen gathers her chickens under her
WINGS" | remember seeing a nervous.
irritable boy stand before his invalid
mothers chair. when in tender, peni
tent mood. and this colloquy ensued:
Mamma you love me when am good?"
YES" "You love me when / am
naughty?' "Yes.' "But you don't love
the naughty" NO." she replied. see
now the mothers pale face radiant with
affection.
This quality of unselfsh, forgiving
love makes women most prominently
successful as teachers, nurses and in all
manner of philanthropic work. know
many maidens who have made most ex-
cellent mothers. A friend of mine,
physician, has adopted half dozen chill
dren and brought them up to be useful
men aud women, Another lady of
wealth began with nieces and nephews,
who we're orphans, and when they were
matured she gathered in other depend
ent ones. A lady, who served as ply ST.
clan in an orphan asylum, in speaking
of her work there said 1.-THE children
need mothering more than medicine
when they are sick, and so l stay with
them day and night when | can be spared
from my other duties. cuddle them dur
ing the day and take them into my bed
with me at night"
Mothers do not always magnify their
office. the trend OF their nature being
specifically trying to make their chill
dren snowy rather than substantial. In
contrast to such stands the poor rheu-
matte mother who wanted to leave the
sanitarium before she was sufficiently
g. H..
when l urged that she was not able yet
to work she replied, "But mothers
breast is warm over her children when
she cannot do anything for them"
The element in question is not con-
fined to women though more common
among them than among men. We
sometimes see the tender, unselfish quail
ity more prominent in the father than
in the mother. l remember about good
old doctor and great lover OF babies, who
would take the tiny infant on his broad
hands and walk to and fro, watching its
motions. listening to it's cry, and then de-
eide whether it was over-fed or under
fed. collie or a tight band that caused the
wall. We say ''love is blind" l think it
often gives an added light and sees bet
ter than those with the best eyes. Those
who love babies best see their needs
soonest. We may get suggestions from
lecturers. from books, but love inter
prets symptoms and tells the time to APP
ply the wisdom of the schools.
of Hygiene.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-03-27
Letter Written by Martha Washing
ton.

A copy of the only letter and sigma
ture of Martha Washington is in posses
sion of the United States Government.
This letter lay for more than ninety
years hidden among some musty arch
ives at the Capitol, and was lately dis
covered by Walter III. French. clerk of
the department of files, House OF Rep
resentatives. The spelling. punctuation,
and breaks of lines are carefully repro
duced.
Mount Vernon, December 3lst, 1899.
Sir
While feel with keenest anguish
the late Disposition of Divine Providence,
cannot be in sensb g to the mournful tributes
of respect and We Ieratlon which are paid to
the memory of my dear deceased Husband-and
as his best services and most anxious wishes
were always devoted to the welfare and happi.
ness of his country-to know that they were truly
appreciated and gratefully remembered affords
no inconsderable consolation.
Taught by the great example which
have long had before me never to oppose my
private wishes to the public WILL must
consent to the request made by congress
which you have had the goodness to transmit
to me-and in doing this need not-I
cannot say what sacrifice of individual
feeling make to a sense of public duty.
With grateful Acknowledgement
and unfeinged thanks for the personal
respect and evidences of coincidence expires
sed by congress, and yourself.
l remain very respectfully,
sir.
Your most obedient e. humble
servant
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-03-27
POULTRY.

LII is not wise to handle pure bred
fowls only unless one has a distinct
taste and capacity for the business. Ii
the object is eggs and fowls for market,
select large grade hens, of good laying
stock. kill off the scrub males and pro-
cure those of some valuable. active
breed. The result will be hardy and
prolific flock.
There is no reason why a farmer
should pay 10 cents for beef and sell his
chickens for less, nor should he be con-
tent with pork and potatoes when he
can have poultry on his table. If the
markets are dull and prices low, the
best place to dispose of the surplus is at
home.
1t is fact that a moderate flock of
fowls can return larger profit upon
the capital invested and labor required
than can any other live stock. When
properly conducted, poultry keeping is
the most profitable of all the side
issues" or main issues of the farm.
A careful poultry keeper has found
that by using Lsghorns, and keeping
them in small fiocks, he can produce
eggs at an average cost of four cents a
dozen. Doubtless other breeds will
yield as well. What farm industry will
yield better profit?
Let the hens go away from the feed
trough in the morning unsatisfed, that
they may seek their food. and obtain it
grain by grain. engaging in healthy ex-
ercise in the pursuit. In such circum-
stances the food will be passed into the
giZzard slowly and ha hattar dioastad
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-03-27
MARCH.
BY ELLA WHEELER WILCOX.

Like some reformer, who with mien aus
tere,
Neglected dress and loud insistent tones,
More rasping than the wrongs which she
bemoans,
Walks through the land and wearies all
who hear,
While yet we know the need of such re
form
So comes unlovely March, with wind and
storm,
To break the spell of winter, and set free
The prisoned brooks and crocus beds OPP
pressed.
Severe of face, guant-armed, and wildly
dressed,
She is not fair nor beautiful to see.
But merry April and sweet smiling May
Come not till March has first prepared
the way
Ladies' Home Journal.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-03-27
HORTICULTURE

More hard work is to be done on an
acre of Strawberries than upon an acre
of any other small fruit. but it is equally
true that more money and more pleasure
can be derived from the same acre.
Manure the ground we'll, but not too
heavily. lest too eat plant growth be
induced and black rust invited.
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-03-27
VINE.

All runts are not born runts. but
many have their runtiness thrust upon
them. In his early life a pig will go
backward or forward very easily. Al
most every pig will make good porker
if started right. Give the runt little
lift extra; little boiled milk several
The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-03-27

Kinley's secretary, Mr.. John A. Porter,
whose summer home is only few miles
from the den, is one of the committee
interested in this project.
The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1897-10-23
The fabrication Test.

Very few of the millions of people
who carry watches realize TO what a
wonderful extent fabrication is devel-
oped and what an extraordinary num-
Der OF turns the balance wheel makes
with one oiling. A Chestnut street
matchmaker, whose knowledge of these
wonderful pieces of mechanism is not
exceeded by any man in this city, has
made mp al interesting table of com
parison to show the perfection of lubri-
cation in a watch.
A watch will run on one oiling from
a year to a year and a half. Every
minute the balance wheel turns ON its
axis 400 times and 81, 900 times in an
hour. Accepting a year as the time the
ordinary watch will run with one oil
ing, he finds that if the driver of a To-
connective was as we'll oiled as a balance
wheel of a watch it ought to run 60
miles an hour day and night for GAS
days, or well On to two years, with one
oiling. In that time it would traverse
a distance equal to nearly 40 times the
circumference of the earth.
In view Of the fact that in reality
few locomotives will run one day with
out reoiling, he maintains that the
matchmaker has developed his art to a
far greater degree than the locomotive
builder has yet been able to reach
Philadelphia Record.