176 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Dec. 1!), lSl!>^. 



MISCELLANIES, 



THE INDEPENDENT FARMER. 



BY T. G. FES5KNDKN. 



il may very truly be said 



Thai his is a noble \-ocation, 

 \Vliose induslry leads him to spread 



About iiim a little Creation. 



lie lives independeut cl'all 



Except tir Omnipotent Donor ; 

 Has always ennu^h at his call, 



Aud more is a plague to its owner. 



He works with bis hands, it is true, 

 But happiness dwells with employment, 



And he who has nothing to do 



Has nothing by way of eiijoyinent. 



His labors are mere exercise, 



Wliich sa\es him from pains and physicians; 

 Then, Farmers, yon truly may prize 



Vour own as the best of conditions. 



From competence, shar'd with content, 



Since all tnie felicity springs, 

 The life of a Farmer is blent 



With more real bliss than a king's. 



Dr. VValcoll, belter known as Peter Pindar, had for a lime, a 

 ma^t violent cough, when his Iriend. Dr. Geach, persisted in re- 

 commending asL.es' milk as a certain cure, 'i'he bard, (tired 

 of his importunities, at It'iig'.h quieted him by sending the fol- 

 lowing epigram — 



And Doctor do you really think 



That asses' milk I ought to drink ? 

 ■'T would quite remove iny cough, you say, 



And drive my old complaints away. 

 It cured yourself — I grant it true ; 



But then — 't was mothers milk to you. 



many instances possess considerable property. — 

 They have sub-agents or carriers, in number pro- 

 portioned to the extent of their business. It is 

 this clas.«, (the carriers) who make their appear- 

 ance at tlie various daily offices, at the hours of 

 publication, and, the moment the pajyers are re- 

 ceived from the press, purchase them at the coun- 

 ting house of the office, paying in ready money for 

 the number they take. The papers are sold to 

 j these agents or carriers at the original price of 

 1 seven pence sterling a pajier by the quire ; but to 

 ' enable them to make a living by their business, 

 the office counts out to them twenty-seven sheets 

 to the quire, thus giving them three papers above 

 the nominal number, as their profit for selling on 

 the quire. 



All these carriers have their routes for each 

 daily as well as semi-weekly and weekly papers 

 marked out, and beyond those limits they consid 



ing. In the ordinary public houses, but one, and 

 in otheis better supported, two of the daily, and 

 perhaps one weekly pajjcr are taken ; and it is not 

 uncommon for the proprietors to advertise it on a 

 sign in front of their houses — such for iiistanre 

 as "The Times taken in hero," or "The Morning 

 Post, and British Traveller taken in here." At 

 these houses, to prevent any difficulties, the nicest 

 etiquette is observed. Whoever first makes hi? 

 appearance asks for the paper, and to him it be- 

 longs for the first reading ; the person who asks 

 for it nc.\t, receives it in his turn ; the i)aper be- 

 ing handed to the waiter by the person who first 

 read it, the moraen the has finished ; and in this 

 way it passes from one to the other in regular 

 succession. 



Regarding the routes or districts which each 

 carrier has for selling papers, it may not be aniis.« 

 here to state, that such a district is considered as 



Thomas Fuller, the historian, so well known for 

 his quaint sayings and bright points, was one day 

 riding with a gentleman named Sparrowhawk. — 

 The name roused his fancy, and he asked him 



what was the dift'erence between 



■ a hpaiTow- 



hawk aud an owl ? " Why, sir," replied his com 

 panion, "the owl is fuller in t!ie head, /n?/er in the 

 body, and fuller all over. 



er themselves as having no right to pass, each | much his property, as though he possessed a fee 

 confining himself to his own district. simple right in it. Others will not dare to inter- 



The moment the carriers obtain their papers, fere with his rights. These districts, if known to 

 they "o off at full speed, for the various public be good ones, often sell for a large sura of money, 

 places in their respective districts, from whence This, however, is not so singular ; as it is a fact, 

 the hundreds of pubhc coaches, morning and even- which is said to be well authenticated, that beg- 

 inp depart for all parts of the kincdom. Here [ gars in London have frequently been known to 

 thev beset the passengers with "Buy the Times, j sell their right to beg in particular districts, 

 sir,"— "Buv the World, madam,"-" Buy Life in | Reporters. The persons employed as reporters, 

 London niiss " &c. in all keys, from the coarse, j are, generally speaking, men of fine talents, but 

 dissonant note of the old man, to the firm voice many of them are of dissipated habits. It is as- 

 of the middle a-^ed, and the treble tones of the j tonishing to learn the facdtty which they acquire, 

 youth. Others are besetting the strangers in oth- by habit and necessity, of taking down the debate., 

 er quarters, who are about to leave the iwetropo- {in Parliament, or dressing up a story of any kn^l 

 lis by packets and steamboats. These carriers, j for the press. During the sitting of Parliament is 

 byway of inducement for persons to purchase, ' their harvest. In the capacity of reporters a place 

 often give a brief summary of the most interest- i is assigned them in the gallery ; and standing or 

 ing contents of their respective papers, all claim- ( sitthig together, should a sentence escape one of 

 iu<T that their iournal contains the most authentic i them, he turns an eye to the reporter next liim, 

 accounts, the very latest news, the fullest particu- and takes it from his minutes. They contmue to 



sketch the debate till relieved by other reporters, 

 attached to the same office, when they hurry oft", 

 aud correct their minutes at the office, place the 

 copy into the hands of the compositor, and pre- 

 sent themselves again in the house, to relieve 



lars— no matter whether it be a battle in Turkey 



in which 50,000 men have been slain— a most 



diabolical conspiracy discovered in Cato-street, in 



West End, or a trial in a court of law. 



— ] ~ t Other carriers are trudging their round ainong : 



Projitable ingenmty.—Two sweep boys wishmg jj^gj^. c^^on^grg^ „.ho pay for the paper on deliv- j their substitutes. Other reporters attend to the 

 to go over Waterloo bridge, and having only a | ^^.^ . or, if thev be well known and well estabUsh- j various courts, police offices, &c. gathering the 

 penny between them, determined to cheat the col- j „ V" '_'•,„. _ i:„,:,„,i „rpilif occurrences of the day or night, 



lector, by one getting into the sack, and Ins com- Notwithstanding the daily selling of papers is In a dry time, when little foreign news is stir- 

 panion to carry him across on his back. T'ley 1 ^^^^.^ ^i. j^^^ precariou= yet 'these agents not un- ' ring, the most trivial circumstances are worked up, 

 tossed which should be bagged, and the loser in ! f.,.g,g|jj,^^„j.'p^y rich by their business, and, to j by their superior talents, aided by fancy and fic- 

 a few minutes was on his companion's back, and j ^j^^^^. ^^^'^ ^^^^ acquire "their wealth, we must be [ tioD, to aft'airs of dreadfiil note, and always will. 



calculated to arrest attention ; such as 



passed through the gate as a bag of soot. The I mpj ,„ tell the story. For instance, the pa- a heading , , „ t^ 



trick was discovered by a Bow-street parole, who J^^^ i^ ^^,^, ^,, Mondav. to J\ir. Goodftllow, the ! a "Most unparalleled murder ! — "Lxtraordmarv 



ed into a little subscription, and in a short time a 

 few shillings were raised and given to the sweeps, 

 who appeared not a little pleased at the issue of 

 their comical incident. 



pence — the carrier, (by ■ , j . ,■ , , ... 



to a second or third-rate house, at the price of a. police magistrate, which the magistrate never 



heard of before he read it in the papers. Acci- 



From the New York Advertiser. 



NEWSPAPERS IN ENGLAND. 



In London newspapers an advertisement making 

 ten lines, amounts to five dollars aud ninety-four 

 cents for three insertions. In a New York paper 

 the price is only eighty-seven cents. 



The price of a daily London newspaper is seven 

 pence sterling, which is about thirteen cents. The 

 papers are sold by agents, who are the only per- 

 sons known to the proprietors as their customers. 

 This class of persons are respectable men, and in 



sixpence — buys it again on Wednesday, for three 

 pence, and furnishes it to some small victualhng- 

 house the same day for four pence— buys it again 

 on Thursday for two jience, and sells it on Friday 

 for three pence, to some low place of entertain- 

 ment — on Saturday he gets it for a penny half- 

 penny, and then despatches it to the country at 

 half the original price of the i)aper, where it is 

 read by dozens. It is in this way that the agents 

 make their money, and in this way only that thou- 

 sands of persons in England get the reading of 

 newspapers, which they could not otherwise en- 

 joy, were they under the necessity of paying full 

 price. For, be it remembered, the habit is not 

 there as it is here, we mean the lia!)it of borrow- 



dents and hair-breadth escapes are coined by doz- 

 ens ; and instances of the shocking barbarity, acts 

 of great liberality, and astonishing feats are per- 

 formed with wonderful liberality, each story be- 

 ing written according to the peculiar mood in 

 which the reporter may be in at the moment. 



Gunpowder, &;c. 

 Du Pom's Gun Powder, at 23 to 50 cis. per pound .Shot Balls 

 Flints and Percussion Caps. 



Also, Alum Refined Salt Petre Clue \ itrwi. i^c. constant- 

 ly for sale at the Dupoiit I'mcder Store, No. (JS Broad street— 

 By E. COPELANU, Jr. 



Ip= The Du Pont sold as above, is warranted first quality— 

 and is marked '■£. Copeland, jr. Boston,'' on the iicad of the 

 ^.ask tf 'March 14 



