Year: 1875

ing moisture and preventing rapid
evaporation, am not favorable to
having thick forest around a dwell
ling house. We must have shade trees
of course. but they should be placed
80 far apart that the sun can shine
in between them and dry up the moist
ure. And they should be placed SO
far from the house, that the sun, in
some part of the day. might shine in
and remove all the dampness left by
the shade The same kind of atmos-
phere does not appear to favor the
growth of vegetation. and to be the
most suitable to preserve the health of
human beings. The dryer we can
keep our dwellings the better it will
be for the health of our families,
Atwater, Apr. 10Th, 1875. W.





A MOURNFUL DREAM.


How Mr.. Keyser Anticipated Death.


Max Adeler has the following:
Last December my friend Keyser
dreamed one night that he would die
on the 18th of January. So strongly
was he assured of the fact that he be-
gan at once to make preparations for
his departure. He got measured for
burial suit, he drew up his will, he
picked out a nice lot in the cemetery
and had it fenced in, he Joined the
church. and selected six of the deacons
as his pall-bearers; he also requested
the choir to sing at the funeral, and he
got them to run over favorite hymn
of his, to see how it would sound.
Then he got Toembs, the undertaken,
to knock together a burial-casket,
with silver-plated handles, aud cush-
ions inside, and he instructed the un-
dertaker to rush out his best hearse,
and to buy sixty pairs Of black gloves
to be distributed among the mourners.
He had some trouble deciding upon a
tombstone. The man at the marble
yard wanted to shove off on him q
ing over kind of flower-pot; but
Keyser finally ordered a new one,
with design representing rosebud
with broken stem, and the legend,
'Not lost, but gone before"


Then he got the village newspaper
to put good obituary notice of him
in type. and he told his wife that he
would be gratified if she would come
out in the spring and plant violets up
his grave. He said it was hard to
leave her and the children, but she
must try to bear up under it. These
Affections are for good, and when he
was an angel he would come and
watch oyer her, and keep his eye on
her. He said she might marry again
if she wanted to, for, although the
mere thought of it nearly broke his
heart, he wished her above all to be
happy, and to have some one to love
her and protect her from the storms
OF the rude world. Then he, and Mrs.
Keyser, and the children cried, and
Keyser, as closing word of counsel,
advised her not to plew for corn earli-
er than the middle of March,.


On the night of the 18th of January
there was flood in the creek, and
Keyser got up at four O'Clock in the
morning of the 18th. and worked un-
til nj ight, trying to save his buildings
and his wood-pile. He was so busy
that he forgot all about its being the
day of his death, and as was very tired,
he went to bed early and slept sound
ly all night.


About six o'clock on the morning of
the 14th there was ring at the door
bell. Keyser jumped out of bed,
threw up the front window and ex-
claimed:


"Who's there 2"


"It's me-Teombs," said the UNDER
taker.


"What do you want at this time of
the morning." demanded Keyser.


"Want" said Toembs, not recogniz-
Keyser. "Why, I've brought around
the ice to pack Keyser in, SOS he'll
keep until the funeral. The corps'd
spoil this kinder weather if we didn't"


Then Keyser remembered, and it
made him feel mad when he thought
how the day had passed and left him
still alive, and how he had made a
fool of himself. So the corpse said:


"Well, you can just skeet around
home agin with that ice the corpse is
not yet dead. You're leetle to anx-
ious, it strikes me. You're not goin'
to chuck me into sepulcher yet if
you have got everything ready. So
you can haul off and unload"


About half-past ten that merning
the deacons came around with Grape
on their hats and gloom in their faces,
to carry the body to the grave, and
while they were on the front steps the
marble-yard man drove up with the
rosebud tombstone and shovel, and
stepped in to ask the widow how deep
she wanted the grave dug. Just then
the choir arrived with the minister,
and the company was assembled in
! the parlor, when Keyser came in from
the stable, where he had been dosing a
horse with patent medicine and warm
mash for the glanders. He was sur
prised; but he proceeded to explain
that there had been little mistake
somehow. He was also panied to find
that everybody seemed to be good
deal disappointed, particularly the
| tombstone man, who went away mad,
| declaring that such an old fraud ought
to be ramsned into the ground anyhow,
left in huff, the tailor's boy arrived
with the burial suit, and beforek ey ser
] ooIll I'll