24 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[January 
IT'S 
Do yon smile at ttie plight of this poor urchin ? Is 
there any fun in having such cold fingers, and ears near- 
ly frozen ? The boy thinks not ; he is crying with cold. 
"The great lubber !" exclaim the sturdy boys who have 
just come in from skating or riding down hill, with cheeks 
glowing, and eyes flashing, and the blood dancing merri- 
ly through their veins, clear to their ringers' ends. " Cry 
for the cold ! when a fellow has such fat cushions on his 
cheeks, and a stout pair of legs to run with ; that is too 
ridiculous, he ought to be laughed at," say you. True 
enough. If he were doing his best in fighting the storm, 
pushing boldly ahead, and were then unable to keep from 
suffering, we should pity him. He would deserve pity. 
It is pretty easy to foresee what kind of a man such a 
boy will make. If he has not pluck enough to bear up 
bravely against a wintry day, he will make but poor head- 
way in. the fiercer battles of life, when he must meet 
cares, trials, and disappointments. Usually those are 
least deserving pity who seek it most. The boy or the 
man wiio struggles on with a stout heart, no matter what 
difficulties beset him, will always command sympathy 
and respect ; half of life's battles are won by going 
straight into the strife with a bold front. Command of 
one's own powers is in itself alone a great victory. 
A JSrave EBoy and a Narrow Escape. 
One day while the writer was in a steamboat crossing 
the ferry from New-York to Brooklyn, the pilot rang the 
bell for the engine to stop. On looking out to see the 
cause, there appeared a small sail-boat, just ahead, man- 
aged by a single boy, apparently not more than fourteen 
or fifteen years old. The tide was running strongly, and 
the headway of the boat could not be immediately stop- 
ped, nor could the little fellow quickly change his course, 
and it appeared almost impossible to prevent a collision 
and the sinking of the small boat. Did the boy lose his 
wits from flight, whimper and cry, and give up all for 
lost? Not a bit of it. Standing erect at the helm and 
doing his best to guide his boat, he sung out to the pilot 
of the steamboat " clear the track, or Vll run you down .'" 
Such was the dauntless spirit of the little fellow, that the 
passengers cheered him loudly, and more than a dozen 
stood ready to plunge in to his aid, had his craft been 
overset. Fortunately this did not happen, though he es- 
caped by only a few feet, and passed safely on, leaving 
all who had witnessed the occurrence in enthusiastic ad- 
miration of his presence of mind and intrepidity. 
CJirls Skating — Hints to Beginners. 
A few years since any girl venturing to appear on skates, 
would have been called a " tom-boy " and frowned upon 
by her sex generally. But, for once at least, fashion has 
introduced a sensible change, and girls may enjoy this 
healthful and exhilarating exercise. The writer has had 
the pleasure of accompanying and assisting many young 
ladies in their first attempts at the art, and has seen the 
good effects of proper indulgence 
in the sport. It lias brought roses 
to many pale cheeks, strengthened 
weak nerves, sharpened poor ap- 
petites, and given new vigor tor 
school and for household labors. 
Written instructions for learn- 
ing to skate are worth little. Go 
upon the ice and try, is the only 
rule by which to acquire the art. 
It is very well to lean on the arm 
of a friend, during the first few 
attempts, hut the sooner you trust 
your own powers, the quicker 
you will become a good skater. 
A few suggestions for choosing a 
pair of skates may be of service. 
For beginners', the runner of the 
skate should be about a quarter 
of an inch thick and slightly 
grooved, with the bottom nearly 
or quite straight from the heel to 
I he upward curve at the toe. 
"Rockers," or skates having the 
bottom curved from heel to toe, 
are excellent for skillful perform- 
ers on the ice, but a novice using 
them is likely to do most of his 
skating with his feet in the air. 
Never buy a skate with a long 
fanciful curve in front; though 
they are ornamental, many seri- 
ous accidents have been caused 
by the ends of such runners 
catching in some obstruction. 
The straps should be stout, and 
so arranged as to hold the skate 
very firmly to the foot. The 
wider the strap the better, as it 
will be less likely to hurt the foot. 
We have seen skates arranged to be fastened by screws 
to the sole of the shoe without the use of straps, but they 
did not appear to be held with sufficient firmness for good 
skating. Keep the ends of the straps well tucked away 
where they will not slip and get under the runner and 
thus give you a fall. See that the wood of the skate is 
strong, without cracks and checks, and that the runner is 
well fastened to it. Wear well-fitting but not tight 
shoes or boots of stout leather, and thick woolen stockings. 
When warm with the exercise, do not stand still to 
' cool off, 1 but move about more slowly, and after skating, 
always walk briskly home, to keep up active circulation 
of the blood, and prevent taking cold. Stiffness of mus- 
cles and lameness after skating may be prevented by 
thoroughly rubbing the limbs with a coarse towel or the 
hand, and putting on dry clothing if the garments are damp 
with perspiration. This should be done in a warm room, 
to avoid a chill. Do not make a business of this or any 
other recreation, sport, however innocent, to the neglect 
of home or school duties, but use it as a rest from them 
and a preparation for their more successful performance. 
How to Save Yonr Shoe Leather. 
Riding down hill on a sleigh is a fine winter sport. 
It makes the writer feel young again to think of the 
splendid times he used to have at it, when a boy. But 
lie well remembers also that the fun was terribly destruc- 
tive of shoe-leather. It was necessary to use the feet for 
rudders, and even stout cow-hide boots were soon whip 
ped out at the'toes. In the engraving below is shown an 
easily made apparatus for steering a sled, by which the 
feet are left at liberty, and the waste of leather prevented. 
It is simply two stout oaken sticks shod with iron at the 
lower end, bolted one on each side of the sled. The hole 
for the bolt should be large enough to allow the sticks to 
move freely. By pulling on the upper end of the stick 
the lower part is brought against the snow or ice, and 
acts as a rudder to turn the sled toward the side on whicn 
the stick is used. This will guide the sled more certain- 
ly than the heel or toe of the foot, and enable the rider to 
sit in an easier position, in addition to saving the shoes 
The Statesman and the Ilorse. 
Edmund Burke, one of England's greatest Statesmen, 
retired from London to spend his last days on his farm. 
While there, a report was started that he had gone crazy, 
that he went round his premises kissing the horses and 
cows. A friend immediately visited him to learn wheth 
er the report were true. He soon found that Mr. Burke 
had lost none of his mental faculties, and in a private in- 
terview with Mrs. Burke, he learned how the rumor 
of his insanity had been started. 
Mr. Burke's only child, a young man of rare promise, 
had died a little while before, leaving behind him a favor 
ite old horse. This animal, so endeared to him by asso- 
ciation with his son, was turned into the field by Mr.Burke, 
with directions to all the servants that he should be treat- 
ed as a privileged favorite. One day as he was taking his 
morning walk, the great man saw the animal at a distance, 
and noticed that he was recognized by him. The horse 
drew nearer and nearer to Mr. Burke, stopped, eyed him 
with a most pleading look of recognition which said as 
plainly as words could have done, " I have lost him too," 
and then the poor dumb beast deliberately laid his head 
upon Mr. Burke's bosom ! Struck by the singularity ot 
the occurrence, moved by the recollection of his son for 
whom he had never ceased to mourn, and overwhelmed 
with the tenderness of the animal, the illustrious States- 
man clasped his arms around the neck of his son's favor 
ite animal, lifted up that voice that had filled the House 
of Parliament with the noblest strains of eloquence, and 
wept aloud. It was not weakness of mind, but strength 
of affection, that bowed the man who had through iife 
stood unmoved amid the fiercest storms of political strife. 
Learned it too Late. — "Buy one of these superior 
razor strops Sir, and I will tell you a secret worth double 
the cost for only twenty-five cents." " I'll take one," 
said a bystander. Mr. Smith handed him a strop and a 
box of paste, and went on selling. " Look here," inter 
rupted the purchaser, "you promised to tell me some 
thing worth double the price." " Ah, so I did," said 
Smith, "and it is this. If you had bought a box of the 
paste for five cents and put it on to your old strop, it would 
have made it just exactly as good as a new one." 
Editor's Notes. —Being much occupied with business, 
I have left one of my associates to prepare this page, and 
must put in a word or two here, by way of query. First, — 
Is not that a poor boy in the picture, without clollies 
enough, or mittens, to keep him warm, and therefore to 
be pitied? Second.— Was that boy in the boat brave or 
reckless! Third.— Are there not other out-door sports 
quite as healthful, and appropriate for girls as skating? 
We do not say there are, for .by all means girls should 
skate rather than grow puny in a hot room. The skat- 
ing and sliding down hill we can not write about from 
experience. Like thousands of our young readers at the 
West, we lived in a new, nearlylevel country without 
hills or ice ponds, and there were too many " chores" for 
us boys, out of school hours, to admit of skating or coast- 
ing. The work did not hurl us, but we are glad to see 
the boys and girls play— if they do not shirk all the work 
off upon their already overtasked parents.— 0. J.] 
The person who received an Injury from an accidental 
discharge of his duty, is in a fair way to recover again. 
