Supplement to the Ashburton Guardian.

Saturday, June 17, 1803.

Apartments to Let.—We cull the following advertisement from a Ger" roan paper: " Furnished apartments fora gentleman 12 feet long and 10 feet wide."—" Leipziger Zeitung."

The Mysterious Parcel —Among the vartous articles forming part of the succession of the famous Dutch physician, Dr. Boerhave, there was a carefully wrapped and sealed packet bearing this inscription : —" The only and most profound mysteries of the medical art." When hi 3 library was sold by auction,- the packet was dis posed of for 10,000 florins. The purchaser took the parcel home and opened it in feverish haste. After un folding an immense number of wrap pings he lighted upon a sheet of paper containing these words: "Keep your bead cool, your feet warm, be regular in your habits, and you may defy the gooton/W" Gartenlaube,"

A school inspector, having a few minutes to spare after examining th school, .put a few questions to the lower form boys, on the common ob jects in the schoolroom. "What i the use of that map?" he asked, point ins to one stretched across the corner of the room; and half-a-dozen shril voices answered in measured articu lations, ''Please, sir, it's to hide masted bicycle!" m , Terrible Revenge.—The keeper o an eating-honse in Berlin gave one o his waiters a box on the ear. The fellow at once rushed in among th " beef eaters'' and exclaimed: "Gentle men, I wish you may enjoy your horse flesh!" "Horse-flesh?" inquired th guests, and laid down their knives and forks. " Yes, horse-flesh. Come with me into the cellar and I will prove it. In five minutes the dining room was empty, and has remained so up to th present, the caterer having no means of redrew,—" Is ational Zeitung/'

fi Whew ! Coming up these stairs takes the wind out of me," remarks a gentleman, who climbs to our editorial rooms to give advice gratis. •' So glad," says the editor, shaking him by the hand ; ?and the gentleman thinks thinks the editor is delighted to see him. At a recent duel near Paris, one of the principals was three-quarters of an hour late in arriving on the ground. " I am awfully eorry to have kept you waiting, Messieurs," he said to his op ponent's seconds, " but you really ought not to have waited for me. You should have commenced without me." The Only I etnedy.—Young wife j (after stopping with her husband to look at a dozen shop windows—before i a fresh one): "Ach, Hans, just come and look at this lovely costume!" Husband : " Lieschen, I really cannot stand it any longer! Either you will have to go out alone in future, or I shall have to get you a pair of blinkers!" —" Humorwtiwbe Blatter."

Hunting Chinese Pirates

By CHARLES B. LEWIS CM. QUAD).

[Copyright, 1892, Uy 0. B. Lewis.]

A great deal has been said and written about the pirates of Malay and Borneo, but for downright cold blooded deviltry the Chinese pirate lai 1 over everything ever in the business. The Malays used to spare life, but the Chinamen always made a clean sweep. I speak in the past tense, because Chinese waters are now clear of sea rovers, though it was lej3 than ten years ago that twenty-eight of them were beheaded in succession one fine morning at the execution grounds in Hong-Kong." Up to the year 1867 piracy was looked upon almost as a regular business along the China coast and up and down its principal rivers. Like the brigands of Sicily, they "stood in" with the authorities and were protected in stead of being hunted down. As in Rus sia, so It is in China—nothing can be done without bribing officials, and if the bribe is large enough anything can be accomplished.

When complaints were made to the Chinese government by American, Eng lish or French consuls they were referred back to the governors of provinces, and by them to the authorities at different ports. That ended it. Even if ordered to send out expeditions against the pi rates the rovers would be first notified, 10 that no harm ever came to them. Every nation filed its protest over and over again, but the English were the first to act. What precipitated the crisis was the sad fate of the teaship Onward. That craft cleared from Shanghai in 1866 with a cargo of tea. She had a crew of eighteen men and five passengers, and the captain's wife was with him. She Was almost down to the Island of For-

"J SHALL SINK TOUB SHIP!"

mosa when she Was dismasted in a squall. A few hours later she was attacked by two Chinese junks. The ship had a dozen muskets, and there were three rifles among the passengers. They made a good fight for it, but were outnumbered five to one. They made a fair surrender before the pirates got aboard, and up to that time had lost four men killed and three wounded. On taking possession the pirates killed every man as fast m they got to them. The captain's wife had been secreted below. While the fel lows were overhauling the ship, and be fore they had discovered the woman, an American man-of-war appeared and drove them off.

The English government not only de manded a large sum as indemnity, but' gave the Chinese government due notice that If it did not make a vigorous at tempt to punish the pirates an English war vessel would begin a cruise and blow every suspicious craft out of water. There could be no dodging this. The government hadn't just the sort of craft needed nor the men to man it, and so it made a singular bargain. There was lying in the port of Hoei-Ngan, in the Yellow sea, an English bark named thb Queen. Her charter to the Chinese gov ernment as a survey boat had just ex pired. She was a fast, stanch craft, and Bhe was rechartered to go on a hunt for pirates. She was fitted for five guns on a side and a Long Tom on a swivel, and the government agreed to pay all ex penses for a six months' cruise of eighty men and give the agents of the bark ten dollars per head extra for every pirate killed or captured. If a junk was sunk or brought in she was to be paid for at bo much per ton, and a Chinese official was placed aboard to represent the gov ernment.

The Queen had dropped down to Foo- Choo, when five of us, all American sail ors from the Hattie Milward, of Boston, deserted ship to go on her. We signed At thirty dollars a month and were to have extra for all captures. It was a crew made up of English, French, Ger mans, Americans, Spanish, Italians and Lascars. About thirty of the men were deserters from men-of-war. We ran Into the month of the Chang-Te river for ft couple of weeks' practice with the gu&l and to get things shipshape with tnd crew and then started out on a

cruise. On the east side of the great Island of Formosa are half a dozen smaller islands. On one of these a pirate named Wang fioa had hia headquarters. He had six junks and about 800 men. Had Wang- Hoa been seen by any American circus Agent or dime museum manager previous to turning pirate he would probably tare been brought to the United States for exhibition and lived out his days on the fat of the land and fifty dollars per Week. He was a veritable giant, stand fag about seven feet high and weighing §00 pounds. He had been a pirate for five Of six years when the Queen started out OX her cruise. Piracy had become so legitimate a business with him that he galled into the port of Foo-Choo regularly every three months and paid over to the authorities a "whack" of his plunder. Everybody knew why he was there, but he waa never molested. On one occasion be went aboard of a New York teaship, looked her all over and then said to the captain through an interpreter: "You have a fine craft here, but when I capture her only the cargo will be of any use to me. I shall take that out and •ink your ship!"

Our instructions from the government were very broad and liberal. Any Chi nese craft which did not "hands up" at command was to bo considered a pi rate and treated accordingly. It was de sired to capture as many pirates alive as possible, so as to produce <>. inn^er moral effect when they were beheaded before a crowd on land, but we we to not to go to any unnecessary trouble about it. Wang- Hoa's junks seldom cruised farther south than Cape Cambodia, or farther north than the Stvaits of Corea, and we knew pretty well where to look for them. Of course the news had gone abroad of our fitting out, and there was no doubt that friends had carried the pirate full par ticulars. Therefore on reachiug the north coast of Formosa we ran into a bay and changed the color of the paint on the bark, replaced her new sails with old and made such other changes as to com pletely disguise her. Here also a false stem of iron was bolted on, and the Queen was prepared to sail right into and over any junk in Wang-Hoa'B fleet. On leaving the bay we cruised to the north almost to the coast of Japan, and it was upon our return and about twenty miles to the east of the Island of Sanbok that we fell in with a couple of junks which were set down as suspicious char acters. They were coming up from the Bouth, and our first more was to make tilings aloft look as if we were a mer chantman, and short handed at that. Most of the men were sent below, the steering was purposely wild, and as the junks drew near enough to make us out it was evident that they meant to attack. They signaled each other to close in and wait for us. Our course took us right down between them, each being within rifle shot.

The fellows had determined not to give us the slightest show, but opened on the bark at once with their brass 5-poundera and jingals and shouted to us to haul down our flag. They were closing in when our crew jumped to quarters and opened fire. Our guns were loaded with solid shot, and we only fired a couple of broadsides. Neither junk was over pis tol shot away, coming up to lay us aboard, and the balls nearly tore them to pieces. In four minutes from the dis charge both were out of sight under water, and there must have been fifty men floating about on the wreckage. We lowered two boats to pick them up, but only got thirty. The others deliberately drowned themselves rather than be res cued and turned over to the executioner.

From some of those brought aboard it was learned that the junks were com manded by Tali-Yun and Tung-Chwon, two captains under Wang-Hoa's orders. Each crew numbered sixty-five men, and so the government official aboard credited the bark with $1,300 for pirates killed ard captured, and with twenty dollars per ton for the tonnage sent to the bottom of the sea. None of the prisoners would at first give any information about the rest of the fleet or in regard to Wang-Hoa's hiding place, but the government official knew how to deal with them. He se lected his victim and administered the

bastinado until the fellow was willing to tell all he knew. Two other junks were then cruising, he said, to the south of Tsee-Nan island, about 300 miles to the southwest of our position, and the re maining two of the fleet had gone south to the Gulf of Tonquin. We laid out course to overhaul the first two, and on the fourth day after our fight we sighted them.

Help never came at a more critical mo ment. A Scotch brig called the Aboyne, soming down through the Straits of Co rea, had met disaster and been forced to the east among the Loo-Choo islands. The junks had discovered her and were overhauling her after a chase lasting ten hours when we sighted the three &raft at once. We were heading to the West, and they were coming down from the north. We were still in disguise, and the pirates must have yelled for joy when they sight ed 118, Instead of one prize they would take two. One of the junks hauled oil the track of the other vessel and bore down upon us, and we were called to quarters to give her a fitting reception. The brig crossed our bows about a mile away and showed us a signal of distress. We were boxhauling our yards about as If half scared to death, and the Scotch man must have groaned in despair, as we paid no attention to his flag.

The junk which came down upon us was alive with men, and they began yel ling while yet a mile away. She had no suspicion of us until almost within rifle range. Then she suddenly sheared off, and the bark gave chase. In fifteen min utes we had her on our starboard side, right under that whole broadside of guns, and the order was given to fire. The junk went to pieces before the smoke fairly blew away, leaving forty or fifty men struggling in the water. They did not represent over half the crew. The government official credited us with a full hundred, and he was not far out of the way,

The other junk was within a cable'! length of the brig and preparing to sheet alongside and board when our broadside betrayed the trap. She hauled her wind and stood away to the west, but we were after her at once. The pirates floating among the wreckage were left to take care of themselves, and in forty minutea Long Tom began to pay his compliments to the fugitive craft. After she had been b.jt twice she hauled down her flag in token of surrender, but the government official would not have it that way. He

ordered the bark to run alongside and give her a broadside, saying that he did not want to bother with any more live pirates. The junk had come up into the wind to wait for ns. She must have also had a full hundred men aboard, and a. mere villainous lot of fellows were never gathered together.

Nearly all wore stripped to the waist, and they were lighting among them selves as we irvoyt down upon them. Our broadsiue ;juns were ready, and we were not over 200 feet away when sha got the fire. Before we hud touched a brace to come about the jnnk was out of sight and half an acre of surface covered with her wreckage. Some of us felt con science stricken until the boats were lowered to pick up the men floating about. Every one who was armed made a fight for it, and such as were not delib erately drowned themselves. We got about twenty aboard, and every one had to be tied hand and foot and closely guarded.

The two junks belonged to Wang-Hoa's fleet right enough, and from one of the survivors it was learned that the old boss pirate would probably have returned to his lair by the time we got there. We remained by the brig twenty-four hours to finish her repairs and then sailed Bouth in her company. We now knew exacily. where to find Wang-Hoa, and on the morning of the fifth day after the fight we ran into a bay on the west side of an island in the Formosa group called Ke fian. The inland was about two miles long by one mile wide, r.nd the bay al most split it in half. The junks had come in the day before, and besides be ing loaded down with plunder had brought in a small trading brig owned by an Englishman in the Philippine is lands. Every one of her crew of six men had been killed.

We had a fair wind into the bay, and the pirates at first supposed we had come in to refit. They were making all prep arations to attack as whoa the bark came to anchor, got a spring on her ca ble, and without any v^aste of time opened fire on the junk?, sampans, rafts and storehouses. The fellows must be with having made a good fight, •rney had several 6 and 0-pound pieces of artillery, besides their jingals and mus kets, and we had four men killed and seven wounded in the first half hour. There were about 25O't>f them, and after we had driven them to the cover of the dense woods we landed a party and set fire to their storehouses. While we were thus engaged the big gun aboard was throwing hot shot into the woods on both sides of the bay, and before noon the whole island was ablaze.

Everything was dry, and the confla gration raged for three days before it burned out. A few of the pirates no doubt escaped to the other islands, though we picked up about a dozen floating on rafts, but we got a tally for 250 captured and killed. The dead body of Wang-Hoa was found ou one of the junks, and his head was cut off and sent to Peking. We carried sixty-five prison ers into Foo-Choo, We got into port on a Tuesday morning, and on Friday after noon every man of them was beheaded. I don't know what 6ort of a trial they had, but none of us was called as a wit ness. The declaration of thegovernment official was probably considered all that was necessary. That was the beginning of the end. While piracy is practiced in Chinese waters even to this day, it i 3 no longer a business or profession, and JtU attacks are confined to trading junks of their own nationality.

EVERY ONE HAD TO BB TIED HANI> AND FOOT.

The Best Beverage.

An enthusiastic lover of chocolate af firms that for those who wish to keep i the imagination fresh and vigorous choc ' olate is the beverage of beverages. How ; ever copiously you have lunched, a cup ; of chocolate immediately afterward will produce digestion three hours after and prepare the way for a good dinner. It is recommended lw every one who de votes to brain work the hours he should pass in bed; to every wit who finds he has become suddenly dull; to all who ! find the air damp, the thno long and the | atmosphere insupportable; and, above all, to those who, tormented with a fixed j idea, have lost their freedom of thought. j —Omaha World-Herald.

Three Kinds of Passengers.

! There is a town inWie north of Yorlc : ehire to which a peculiar omnibus runs. ' The peculiarity is that first, second and i third class passengers are carried by it. ; A gentleman, getting in, saw this fact 1 announced at the opposite end of the ; bus. Wondering how this could be, he waited patiently to see. In a short time they arrived at the bottom of a hill. The bus stopped, and the guard shouted out: "First class passengers keep your seats. Second class passengers get out and walk. Third class passengers get j out and push." —Exchange.

How to Keep a Gun from Rusting.

The best way to preserve a gun from rusting is to have a ring of zinc soldere? around the barrel, or if it is not conven ient to do this, to have a long strip of zinc 6oldered out of sight underneath the barrel. The galvanic action which is excited between the zinc and the iron effectually prevents the oxidation of either metal, and as long as the zinc re mains in contact with the iron not a par ticle of rust will appear on either inside or outside of the barrel. — St. Louis Globe-Democrat.

Defective Flues.

"I wish when people ascribe the cause of fire to a defective flue they would be more explicit," said an anxious house keeper, "and tell why they had cause to believe that it originated in that manner and in what way the flue was defective. It is very uncomfortable to think that fire may break out at any time under one's floors or in the walls, despite the greatest vigilance."—New York Tribuno.

Rural Distanced.

House Agent—l've got a house thai will suit you now—perfect gem, beau t5 ful suburban place and only .ftvo mimics to the station.

Mr. Suburb (a man of e^pcrii rue- Does the bicycle go with it?—lS'ev YurSi Weekly.

LIVE STOCK.

SHEEP SHEARING TIME.

Do Not Take Off Too Early the Fleeces

of Ewes with Lambs.

In well managed flocks of the mutton breeds of sheep we are all familiar with reports of phenomenally large percent ages of lambs. Such a.large increase in a flock brings its responsibilites, that is if we want to keep the twins and trip lets going on a growing basis equal to single lambs. To make an approximate approach to this we dare not in the first place divest the dams of their winter coat protection too early. Such an act would be as suicidal as letting a fever or smallpox patient out of a hospital with out taking the necessary precautions after the epidemic had run its course.

Supposing, then, that we determine to postpone the shearing of the class of :iwes indicated, and that on some farms

where they are kept we find clover or blue grass making its appearance, come flockinasters may think this is enough additional feed. We will nay with all deference to them that it is not, and would rather they would uot consider it of much more account in its value than a much needed green bite having medic inal properties. Indeed, we would rath er that they would not let the sheep re main more than an hour or two on green pasture at a time until the grass becomes less watery and until the sheep get gradually accustomed to the change. We doubt not the flow of milk will be materially increased, yet there are oilier things to be considered.

The facts are that the experienced and successful fiockmasters have found that at this season it pays them well to feed liberally of feed stuffs of such a nature as they can get in their section of the country, never forgetting to be specially liberal with oilmeal. We, will even in sist on going a little further and say that to obtain the best results the lambs should have what is termed a "lamb creep," where they can run through into a feeding place by themselves.' This place should, if possible, be so con structed that the sun shines into every corner of it; the floor should ba dry and kept well bedded with brigh. L., dry, wheat straw; the feed should be oilniyeal, crushed or ground oats, and wheat biau. Under such treatment as this thero will be no stinted, pot bellied lambs, and whether they are afterward sold off to other breeders or kept for breeding pur poses where they are raised, lambs so handled are sure to have the right foun dation laid for future thrift and useful ness. .Let us come back once more to the eheaidng time of these ewes and say no matter if we do delay the shearing of them for three weeks or a month from April 1, We must even then see to it that they have protection from inclement days and cold nights. Where it has not already been done not a day should be lost in having the sheep barn or shed thoroughly cleaned out of whatever manure has accumulated during winter and early spring, as a combination of spring mud and heated manure in the sheep barn will develop foot rot faster than the most watchful shepherd caii attend to it, and then farewell thrift for a season. —Cor. Breeder's Gazette.

Picturesque Clydesdale.

If you want to see a picture of a Clydesdale stallion, weighing over a ton, here he is. The giant in the illustration weighs 2,040 pounds.

He is not meant for the race track, as is plain to be seen. His mighty joints

DRAFT CLYDESDALE. and muscles make him too slow even for a good farm horse. But for heavy haul ing over short distances in cities or any where else his type is the ideal. His white stockings add to his striking ap pearance.

June Chickens.

It is very easy to raise June chickens and when several hundred are raised they are very profitable. At this time of the year there will be plenty of corn, wheat and other grain for the hordes of hungry chickens, and June chickens are needed to pick up all of this waste ma terial. Some good raisers always de mand June hatched chickens for breed ing stock, because with plenty of grain and bugs to eat, and good sunshine, they get such a start in life as to pro duce fine healthy stock. If cleanliness and carefulness are observed around the roosting place very little loss will be experienced from June chickens, while early spring chickens die off' by the dozens.

As the summer goes along the breed ing stock should be selected and the others sold. Most of them should be sold before the markets get their over stocking, but a few of the strongest and quickest growing ones should be saved for late winter roasters. June chicken raising, because of its simpleness, can thus be made very profitable.—Annie 0. Webster in American Cultivator.

A Bad Collie a Nuisance.

The editor of the Nor'west Farmei says that he once found in Minnesota two farmers with a fine flock of 1,200

Shropshire sheep. They had bought a Scotch collie to herd the animals, but did not know how to work him. Con sequently they abandoned the attempt and hired two Swedish boys to take care of the sheep, while the high priced Scotch collie spent his time worrying the chick ens. A bad tollie is a great nuisance, and nobody should undertake to manage one unites he knows exactly how.

The Cow of Days Gone By.

Xli« Vow Dayi Clone H.r. The old cow always gives milk except when she is dry; and she is dry about three-fourths of the. time. She is, says an American writer, like the hens in Florida; they la> all the time they are not moulting, but they moult about ten months in the year. So with the scrub cow. She will eat the whole ears of corn at once, and is gro-sly insulted it yoa break them up for her. She will crawl through a barbed wire fence, and not Bwitch her tail; she will jump over a ten-rail fence and not touch a rail; range through a pumpkin ground unconcerned; and break all the slats out of a picket fence until she can walk through. At milking time she may be found in the farther corner of the field. When she is milked, she will ho d up her m Ik for half an hour, and when she does give it down it is the color of the sky. She will give just about enough milk to keep her calf from starving, until it is o'd enough to turn on pasture. She will eat her head off twice a year, but you will hang to her because it is " Ole Brin' an 1 her gran' pap fit in the Revolution." Weil, there is somewhat of a revolution going on now, and the first thing your old cow knows, she will find herself in the condition of the Tory of revolutionary notoriety—she will find herself the despised of all nations, besides that, the man who hangs on to her ib pretty apt to find himself " in the soup," but »be won't givo milk WWgH to ro»ke it,

The own< r wiT be ct<nipol!c(l to a v water to thicken it.

Will Twin Calves Breed.

Then is a popular superttition fiat Lu'l ami he; er cilves lorn twins are always Bleiile. O tea it is mi, and for this reason. The appaien'ly fenw'e Ci lye is an herma phrodite, having only ihe external organs of the feinalt. A few such cases are quite enough lo Bet people talking, and it is cay to imagine that the. story is soon told with variations aiul exaggerations. Provided

that the calvo are l»o:h pcrfecc, there is no reosm thai they iLoultl l.ot breed, and ih's is confirmed by reference to stud books.

FRENCH COACH AND TROTTER.

The Cross That Would Produce Perfect Carriage Horses. £ I have spent some years in collecting information about French coach horses and I am convinced they are going to be of great value to the country, particu larly as a cross upon trotting bred mares of fine form and good breeding that are not sufficiently'fast to warrant their being bred to our fastest trotting stal lions with the hope of producing ani mals of extreme speed. You know there has been a lack of effort to produce uni formity among our trotting families. The old saying "that they go fast in all forms" has led to the indiscriminate se lection for breeding purposes (provided they were fast) of males and females re gardless of their conformation, size and soundness. The result has been extreme speed for short distances at the expense of size, elegance and endurance, the very qualities that are indispensable in high class carriage horses. The French were wiser than we. When they began the energetic effort for the production of 6peed they excluded from competition in public races horses under a certain stand ard in height. This exclusion of small horses led to the production of larger ones, and in order to test the endurance of 3-year-olds they were trotted distances of 2% miles on the turf. t

As the government was a large buyer of the most perfect, large, fast stallions, it became a patron of the races as a means of testing the capabilities of the stallions it desired to buy. Added to this the fact that the government would not use, nor allow to be used for public service, any stallion that was unsound or that possessed a hereditary disease, ,we have an outline of the system that has given France a race of carriage horses that for size, symmetry, endur ance and speed, has no equal. It is true that their fastest horses are no match, in a trial of speed, for a single mile on a hard track to our fastest-trotters, but for two miles or more upon a turf track, carrying the same weight, our fastest horses are no match for theirs.

The high knee action and quick move ment of the French breed, that is neces sary for great spsed on the turf tracks, is just the action we desire in our car riage horses, while the low, long, me chanical movement of our trotters, by which they obtain that wonderful speed on a perfectly hard track, is objection able in a high class carriage horse. We thus find in the best types of French coachers (the very qualities lacking in our trotters) uniformity, size, elegance, high knee action, endurance and great speed for long distances. It is not sur prising, therefore, that these horses ata •seing so*a*jhr. after to breed on our Ameri •oan trotters- —Cost. Brae M***'* Gr^sAfct..

Peking Ducks.

Peking ducks are generally regarded as one of the most profitable breeds, being hardy, prolific and furnishing white feathers. These ducks are large and uniform in size. A fair yearly pro duct of eggs is about 120 for a duck iv in its second year, and GO to 80 for a yearling. The proportion of the sexe? in the early spring should be about oue drake to five or six ducks. Later in the season, when many of the ducks are ofl duty from a desire to incubate, the pro portion ought to be about one drake to ten ducks. This is an important point, as the eggs will be much more fertile if a part of the drakes are removed. The Peking has two defects—its extreme tim idity and its coarse voice, but to offset these defects the Peking not only pro duces the first eggs of the season, but by far the greatest number of any of the breeds; it requires less water than other ducks.

Helpful Hints.

Dig the poultry yards over frequently this will prevent much disease. Give young chicks hard boiled eggs and skimmilk to drink until they are ;i week old; after that oatmeal moistened with milk, cracked wheat, boiled pota toes mixed with meal, advises The Ainer ican Poultry Yard. For a month before cows are due to calve they should be fed on cornmeal Two pounds a day of linseed meal makes an excellent substitute, according to The Jersey Bulletin. Note the growing demand for good bacon. Rangy breeds, with tender, lean, juicy meat, will fill the bill. A horse has a small stomach an<s ac tive digestion. The food therefore should t»e of the highest nutritive quality, with is little waste matter as may be. The milk value of shade trees in pas rures is conceded by all progressive iairymen.

Live Stock Points.

I It has been wisely remarked that if continued dehorning would by and by produce a family of polled cattle, then BUTely docking the tails of lambs since i the memory of civilized man would by this time have given us a race of lambs with short tails. < Alva Ager says that potatoes are so good a food, used as part rations for horses, fattening cattle and milk cows, that he can afford to pay ten cents a bushel for small ones when corn is thirty cents a bushel. Sheep are fond of them. For hogs and chickens they should be cooked, he thinks. The Rural New i Yorker agrees to this, but remarks that

[too many raw potatoes give a horse colic. Cat off the lambs' tails early. A mix ture of sulphur, lard and turpentine will keep away the flies. When animals manifest an aversion to their keepers something is wrong with the keeper. Let the horses go barefooted awhile in the summer if your ground wjll admit of it at all. It lets the foot recover its shape and health. But if the feet are very brittle and tender great care must I be used. j Cattle usually very kind and gentle ! will be seized with a sudden fit of frenzy j if a dog comes about them, especially a strange dog. They will make a desper ate dash at the dog, and the person who is in the way will be apt to get hurt. The schoolmaster has certainly been abroad in Georgia, where it is said may be seen in full bloom the following warning sign to tb** owners of stray cat tle: "If any man\. fc woman's cow or i bull gits into this yere pasture his or I her tail will be cut off, as the case maybe." i

DRAFT HORSES AT FAIRS.

C«nt< !s V." -'• V."ill *7s»lca Tli'—i Ii»l«*» £ «;a £ lt> the Cluvvii. Suppose the stake offered equal to that( offered for the trotting race, with simi lar rules as to entry fees, forfeitures, etc., and a draft contest arranged in place of a speed contest and advertised upon the big posters with bold faced j type, would it not be competed for and \ would nor entry fees and increased gate receipts reimburse the society for its venture? The idea may be best present ed for consideration and criticism by giving in detail the classes to which it' would be applicable.

Take a state fair for consideration and for smaller fairs scale down the prices according to their resources. If it offer a prize of $200 for the different races, offer a like sum as a prize in the sweep stakss and aged stallion classes for draft horses, and specify that other things be ing equal the stallion drawing the heaviest load shall be awarded first premium, the second, third and fourth falling in like manner to those entitled to them. Offer a like prize for draft teams walking a mile with a load of two tons and for teams trotting a mile with a load of one-half ton, the test in each case to determine the award, other things being equal. These contests to be judged, timed and recorded on much the same plan as the trotting races.

This plan will doubtless be met with many objections. It will not be approved by owners of dude stallions that they consider too fine to ever wear a collar or strain a muscle in proof of the claim that they are draft horses. The man claiming to have a trotting stallion has to prove it by making him trot. Why not prove you have a superior draft stal lion by making him pull? The test will not harm either one and it is as impossi ble to tell by mere appearance whether a horse has great strength as it is to tell whether one has great speed. © Other? will ridicule the idea of trotting raceE for draft horses as something absurdly foreign to their line of usefulness, and scout the notion of cultivating speed where strength is the essential point.

Yes, power and. endurance to handle the heavy loads seem to be the desider atum. But in the question of economic draft time is always a factor, and the team that can move the greatest amount of freight between two points in a given time, as a week or a month, is the best. So the draft team, par excellence, must not only have strength and endurance, but speed—the fast walk for the heavy load, and the lively trot for the light loads and empty return trip.

Breeding for heavy draft alone will give us slow, heavy, sluggish animals, while if we try to counteract this ten dency by cultivating activity, sprightli ness and nerve, not only will the heavy ones be more economical draft horses, but the lighter ones, of which there will always be a good many, will better fill the bill for handy, agreeable business horses.

The greatest danger to the draft horse is not that he will not be big enough, but that he will not be good enough. So the assertion seems warranted that races, and tests involving activity as well as strength, are for the best inter ests of the heavy horses and their breed ers.—A. W. Haydon in Breeder's Gazette.

Spring Chickens.

Live Stock Points.

Now is the time when the poultry keepers need to be on the alert. April or the early part of May is none to early to get chickens out, whether intended for the Thanksgiving or Christmas mar ket, for exhibiting at fall fairs or winter poultry shows, or intended to be kept to furnish eggs next winter while the high prices prevail. But more important than early hatching is the keeping up a con stant growth through the summer and fall. They need food abundant and varied in kinds to make this growth, and they need it regularly. A hearty feed "now and then" is not enough. See that they have enough three times a day, one of those times being as early in the morning as they are stirring, and the other just before they house up for the night, with the third about midday between the two. While they are small, and before they begin to roam about in search of insects and green food, give five feeds a day, or food once in two hours. Do not give food of a fattening character, but vary it. Do not allow them to crowd one another in the pen nights, and see that there is pure water and clean gravel for them to have free access to. Take especial pains to keep all vermin away from them. Lice kill more chickens every week than do hawks, owls, skunks and weasels com bined.—American Cultivator.

June is the month in which to breed for fall pigs. Fall pigs do best when farrowed in September. If the lambs are not doing well wean them early and let them have good pas ture along with oats, oil cake and bran. If, however, they are thriving, they may run with the ewe as long as it is profita ble without weakening her down too much. Use only soft twine for tying wool. Binding twine cuts wool. The weaning time for lambs is from early in May till the middle of August, according to the age and condition of the lamb. Potatoes fed to a cow will increase her flow of milk. Why is not a draft horse race pre pared as one of the attractions for fairs this fall? There would be quite as much fun in it as in a race between thoroughbreds. . Hogs running on clover pasture should have besides a grain ration. Peas in the northwest make an ex cellent food for hogs. The best time to turn the hogs upon the green pasture is when the peas are in milk. Give Glauber salts to pigs which are constipated.* Mix it in milk. The dose is one-fourth to a half pound for a grown bog, and less according to sire.

It has been stated in error that the Board of Land Purchase Commissioners under the Land for Settlement Act has reported that none of the properties recently offered to the Government in Canterbury are suitable for the purposes of the Act. The Minister of Lands, in his recent speech to his constituents at Palmerston South, stated that the board had recommended three pieces of land under this Act—one of 298 acres, another of 107 acres, and a third of 622 acres, making 1027 acres in all. All these are situated in the Canterbury dis trict, and the Minister also mentioned that negotiations were going on for their ac quisition, and that as soon as these were completed steps would be taken to settle people upon them. He also added that since he had received the board's report he had advertised afresh, with the view of acquiring further properties, and that if he found he could not get land for settlement in districts where it was required, it would be his duty to get the Act amended, so as to enable the Crown to take the land, if necessary, for settlement, paying for it its fair value, such value to be fixed by tfbitrttiw,

SOME ODD STORIES.

INTERESTING TALES OF ADVENTURE ON SEA AND LAND.

Bow a Voting Doctor Acquired Wealth Through the Ajjonoy of the Ghost of Had don's Corners—A Weird Story of the Supernatural and Mysterious. (Copyright, 1803, by American Press Associa tion.] Nine miles south of the town of D- ,in Ohio, two highways cross each other at right angles, and the corners thus formed are known as "Haddon's Corners." Twen ty years ago there was but one house there l —a half finished old structure which John ,Hacldon had started to build for a tavern, but never finished. Everybody knew the man by sight and name, and yet no one knew where he came from or anything re garding his past life. He might have been 45 years old, or his age might have been 10 years more. He was one of those men who reach a certain age and then seem to halt there. He had bought 10 acres of ground on the southwest corner, put up the frame and inclosed a building large enough to ac commodate 100 guests, and then finished off two or three rooms at one end. He did no farming, had no accommodations for man cr beast and was never seen half a mile from his house.

i Haddon had been a resident of the Cor ners about three years' when I came to know him.' The woman who lived with him as hip wifa was also a character. She was tn.ll, £H*uit, ugly and mysterious. The two wore nev<T seen outside of the nous* 1 together, whet her walking or Bitting. Such ' fanners' wives as called at the house to be neighborly were refused admittance. Such farmers as dropped in on Haddon under one excuse and another found him distrustful and exceedingly gruff. It was generally agreed that he was an Englishman and an old Bailor. It wasn't long before it was gossiped about that he had been a pirate and was hiding from justice. I believe that a detective was employed to investi gate, but he failed to discover any reason why the strange pair should be meddled with. The fanner,s by and by gave up try ing to solve the mystery and let the Had dons alone, but their presence was always 'considered a menace to the peace of the neighborhood.

I had come out from Cincinnati to set up as a county physician, and had established myself at Blissvjlle, a hamlet two miles east of the corners. Of course I soon heard all about "the pirate," and of course I had a curiosity to see the people. How the pair lived, was another mystery, though it fell to ui<s to solve it after a few weeks. They were never known to purchase anything at the hamlet, nor was either one of them ever seen gping to or coming from the city. I discovered, however, that the woman visited the town of D occasionally, but always by night. Had I made this fact public some one would have followed her, but I said nothing about it, not caring to make an enemy even where I had no pros pect of securing a patient. ,

I had been practicing medicine for a year or more when I got a call one evening, to a farmhouse two miles west of the Gornera. This was in the spring, and it was both dark and rainy >vhen I started to return. As I reached Haddon's he called to me from the front door: "Is"that you, doctor?" "Yes.", "I want you to come in." ~ • *-'" I was glad of the opportunity to.see the Inside of the house and meet thefetrange couple face to face, though , I knew there wasn't a man in the neighborhood who'd have entered the building after dark fo^. all the money in the state. "Any one sickf" I queried as I followed him into the living room, which looked more like a barracks than a family room. "Not" he bluntly replied as he pointed to a chair and sat down in another. "Is it any of your business who I am, where I came from or how I live?" _ijE:sM3s> "Certainly not." "€W "Have you interested youself P* "' '*; "Not lA the slightest." ~~"""" "I've seen you pass many times, and I thought you had the look of a sensible man. No one is sick, but I want you ta examine this hurt in my side." "Why, man, you've been cut with a knife and lost much blood!" 1 exclaimed as soon as I got my fingers on the rude bandage he had applied. "Yes; it was done an hour ago, and I was waiting fer you to return. Is it a bad j hurt?" "A very bad one. You must strip off and get into bed and let me make a careful ex amination. How did you get it?" "None of your business!" "Is there any one here to assist me?" "No! There is hot tarter on the stove, and here arc plenty of cloths. What do, you think of it?"

"You have been severely wounded and must have careful nursing. There is cer tain to be inflammation and fever. I'd like to talk with your wife." "There's nobody here."

"But you must have some one." "Bosh! I've had a dozen cuts worse than this and kept on my feet. Leave your medicine and a pitcher of water on the chair, and I'll take care of myself. You can call in the morning, but don't bring anybody with you."

"Your life may depend on the care you get," 1 protested. "Didn't 1 say I would have no one around!" he shouted in an angry voice. "Do as I want you to or there's an end of itl I'm no woman, that a cut like this is going to be the end of me!" Some one with a strong hand had driven six inches of steel into his right side, and his chances would not have been even up with the best of nurses. An ordinary man could not have lost the quantity of blood he had and been able to move a foot, and yet I had found him on his feet and walk ing about. 'He had the build of a man of iron, and in looking him over I found three or four scars of serious wounds.€ I offered to find him a nurse for the night at least, but he bade me bcaone and call in the

Nearly every man has the collecting fever at least one time in his life. It may be coins, or it may be foreign stamps; but the very worst form of the disease is that which comes when j he is vainly trying to collect money enough to pay his bills. The Absent Professor.—Meander, professor of theology in Berlin, was one day overtaken by a thunderstorm. Ha jumped into a cab, but could not give either the number of his house or the name of the street. The driver thought the man was niarl, and was about to tell him to get out, \s hen the professor, espying a student, called out to him and said : "Just tell the man where I live." Neander's sister, who kept house for him, took fresh, apart ments, nearer the University, as she thought the distance too great for her brother. A few days after their re *■ moval he complained of the long and I tiring walk, and it then turned out \ that he had always gone first to the old I lodgings, and bo round to the V niver '6ity,-«Chrou;k derZeit."

monuoi'. I returned next day to tint him weak and delirious, and though all wat~ done for him that could have been for any body he died in three di..\ s. t A grave was dug, and he was buried c;i his own land, No one had the least idea what had become Of the woman, and the authorities took Charge until something should turn tip. I was present when the house was searched and the effects inventoried. There wasn't over $100 worth of stuff about, .and the only ecrap of writing was Haddon's deed to the laud.

It haff always been the talk that "the pirate" had a hoard of gold, and great was the disappointment that only $5 or $6 in, silver was discovered. Ho had not told mo' how he received his wound, but I believed the woman gave it to him. They had quar- ' reled, and after stabbing him she had fled. Officers spent several weeks looking for her, but they got no trace. It was the 22d of April when Haddon died. On the evening of the 17th of the following September I Was Sent for by the same family as before. The April visit had been to set a farmer's broken arm. This one was to set a broken leg for the same unfortunate. It was a starljght night as I started for home about 10 omwk. The Corners was considered Ip'poltish" spot since the tragedy, and I" confess to being a bit nervous as I chew near. I was abreast of the old house and my horse was on a walk, owing to v bad spot just there, when a figure which I would swear before a*ny court to have been that of Haddon's rose up from the front steps atid moved down the highway parallel with mo and not over 10 feet away. My horse shied and pricked up his ears and acted as if con siderably frightened, but my first idea was that the man was some belated traveler or wandering trump. Under this supposition I called out to him:

"Hello, friend! Which way?"

He mape no answer, and I called again. I could make him out plainly enough, !;;it I "could not see that he even tunu'tl hist head. Then 1 believed the man to be somo 4>ne who intended me evil, and I turned the loaded whip in.my hand as a weapon of de fense. He maintained his position for about 800 feet. Then we descended a small hilL A creek flowed across the highway here, running under a stone arch. At the bridge the figure vanished so suddenly that I could not tell which way ie went. My horse ut tered a snort and broke into a sharp trot, and it is needless to say that I did not seek to check his gait. I frankly admit that I was considerably upset. I regarded the fig ure as that ofa live man, and made ruysslf believe that I was mistaken in thinking it resembled Haddon. I flattered myself that he had abandoned his plan against me be causene bad seen that I was on my guard.

I made no mention of the circumstance to friends, but one evening a week later, when compelled to pjiss the Corners, I was armed with a revolver. The man rose up as before, walked beside me to the stona arch, and then disappeared like a shadow. On this occasion I did not speak to him. Other people had passed after dark, but no oue had seen the strange man, and I dared not say anything for fear of beiug laughed at. It was three weeks before I was caught out again after dark, and as I neared tha Comers I put. my horse at a sharp trot. The man rose np as before, however, and without eeeming to put forth any extra ef fort kept pace with me to the foot of tha hill. I reached home almost frightened cut of my boots, and but for a happy thought should have pulled up stakes and left the locality. Ff it was not a living man —and I \vas now certain it was not —then it was John Haddori's spook. As no one else had seen it I must infer that it had ap peared for my sole benefit. Next day 1 rode out to the stone arch and crept under it. After a bit I found a loose etone in the masonry, and behind it a good sized Cfivity holding enough gold aud.silvei to buy half the farms in the county. What did Ido with my find? Well, if John Had don's legal heir should show up today I would turn over to him considerably more than I found, I have waited for a score ol years, but no one has appeared. I suppose it was in a quarrel over the money that he was stabbed. Ido not believe the woman who passed as his wife was a woman at all, but a man. They might not have been ex pirates, but I shouldn't wonder if they had accumulated the big booty in some other county by crime and come to tha States a* fugitives from justice. .... ...

"HELLO, FRIENDI WHICH-WAT?"

The Chinese Way.

Among other odd things 1 bad heard of the Chinese people was that a person con demned to punishment or death was per mitted to furnish a substitute, but I passed it by as a yarn until I happened face to face with the actual fact. I was in the pity of Ping Shan, on the great Yang-tee-' 'Kiang river, and at the market house one morning I heard a loud discussion among a group of common people. A merchant named Hoa Hung had discovered that one of his salesmen was robbing him, and on the impulse of the moment bnd struck him dead. There was no fuss made over the affair. The murderer went to a judge and confessed and was sentenced to death. This only took about an hour's time. Then he proceeded to the market to find a substi tute. It was the same as buying a goose 01 a calf. The murderer mounted a box and loudly proclaimed: "Here is a grand opportunity for some onel I have killed a maul I want a sub stitute to die in my placet Who will come forward?" One man offered himself for about $4.50 in American money. A second made it an even $4. Then there was a wrangle over cutting prices in that fashion, but two oth ers came up and offered to die for $3.50 each. The man who had made the first of' fer got upon another box and shouted: "Beholdl Hoa Hungl I am a manl I am known! I have a wife and five children who ■will praise youl These others are but mud compared to mcl You will not be ashamed to see me die for you." The merchant closed with his offer, tak ing htm to a legal functionary of some sort to witness the payment of half down. The balance was to go to his family after his head had been cut off. The substitute at once began to paint the town. red. He was given perfect liberty to go where he pleased. He smoked opium, got drunk, had a fight or two and went home loaded down with luxuries. On the morning of the third day the merchant delivered him at the execu tion grounds. He was good natured and even jolly. I stood within 10 feet of him, and I could not detect the slightest sign of fear. He knelt down with a smile on his face, bent his head for the blow, and as the executioner's sword sliced it off Hoa Hung turned away with the remark; "Yes, he was a man, and I made a good bargain!" Corxelius Ainswortk.

How Trees Differ.

Nature hsis completed her artistic xvork In the great varieties of forest aad domestic trteest ami if we examine the charactui i^.lcs of each tree—analyze the compounds which enter into each tree—we chall find tb.it, while certain elements are the same, they differ materially in construction and the chemical action entering into the formation and development of their organisms.—Boa* ton Transcript. .

A difficult task, -r- Everyone is familiar with the picture representing a child standing before a mirror and kissing itself in the image reflected by * the looking glass. A lady wanted a copy of the pointing to gi» re to her daughter, but she had her scittples anent the practice of kissing on the lips; she then fore requested the painter to portray the child in the act of kissing itself on the forehead.—" 11 Mundo Pintoresco."

KEATING S COUGH LOZENGES cure Coughs, Asthma, Bronchitis. M«die»l teeti mony states that no other medicine is so effectual in the cure of these dangerous maladies. One Lozenge alone gives ease, one or two at bedtime rns-ures rest. For reliev rg difficulty of breathing they are invalu ihle. They contain no opium nor any solent drug. Sold by all Ckcminte, in Tins, 11 id and ?? 9.1 each.

Printed and published by the Asaburun Publishing Company, at their registered PrintingCMlice, Boruvi t street, A«hhur* 98 ■ SATTOMY, Jw« 17, m<







