1878.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
3-47 
door—why I didn't know but I should get locked in and 
found dead years after, like that woman they sung about 
down to the town hall last spring, called the “Mistletoe 
Bough.” There was so many knobs and handles on it 
that I thought I never’d get out. Why can’t people stick 
to the good old latches that everybody understands. In 
the mornin’ they showed me over the house, it must 
have cost a sight o’ money, hut things were mighty 
queer, I tell you. In Lucy’s room they had curtains 
instid o’ doors, and pieced they was at that! Why I 
they thought nothin’ o’ puttin’ two or three kinds o’ 
stuff together. When I saw the next room I was beat, 
for they had nothin’ but pine furniture in it, and the 
carpet warn’t big enough for the floor. Then there was 
a little settin’ room, 
and they didn’t 
have no carpet at 
all there, only a mat 
laid down; and the 
curtains they said 
was very rare, and I 
should hope they 
was, for I never see 
sech thin stuff in all 
my life, and of the 
strips of trimmin’ 
on ’em, there wasn't 
two alike. And, if 
you'll believe it, 
there was three kinds 
of paper on all the 
chamber walls; just 
as if they didn’t hev 
enough, and pieced 
it out with another 
kind. The little 
strips around the 
top they called a 
“freeze ,” and the 
one around the bot¬ 
tom a “dado; ” a 
Fig. 5. —silk winder. “dado! ' Did you 
ever hear anything so 
silly ! I was particular ’bout rememberin’ them names, 
for I know’d you’d be struck when you heard ’em. 
The keepin’ room was queer, you’d better believe, 
(drawin’ room, they called it, and I declare to goodness, 
I don’t see the sense of half their new fangled names). 
There was a three-legged pianer in it, and them “ dados,” 
and “ freeze,” and against the chimbley was a kind of 
little dresser that they had full o’ chiny, (vases and pitch¬ 
ers and sich). Some of the vases they said, too, was 
more valuable than silver, because they had hand paint¬ 
ing on them; but such daubs you never saw. Why our 
old rooster would a done as well if you’d given him the 
paint. The andirons I was took by, and if uncle Obadiali 
hadn’t promised to give us his’n when he dies, I’d ameb- 
bee_brought some home with me. 
I didn’t see a bit of white chiny while I was there, and 
what they did when they had company to tea, I’m sure I 
don’t know. I never seed Faith Rochester write about 
any such thing in the American Agriculturist. 
When I was in Almira’s room, I seen what I thought 
was a clock, and says I, “ where did you get such a pretty 
clock?” And says they, “laws! don’t touch that, or 
you’ll set it off; that’s the burglar alarm.” And I tell you 
what it was, I didn’t hev a minute’s peace the rest o’ the 
time I was in that house, thinkin’ what if the thing 
should go off, for I was forty times as ’fraid of that as I 
was of the burglars; and I suggested to Lucy that set- 
tin’ a tub o’ water to the head of the stairs was a very 
good way of frightenin’ burglars. 
When I seen the dinin’ room, I just give up; for if 
they didn’t hev fancy plates, they called ’em “ placques,” 
or some sech name, hangin’ to the wall, and the ceilin’ 1 
Well, they had some painted ceilin’s that was very han’- 
some, but this one—why I actually believe that after they 
got through paperin’, they just took all the pieces they 
had left of eveiy kind in the house, and pasted ’em onto 
that dinin’ room ceilin’ I 
By the way, bow’d the last churnin’ turn out; and did 
my receipt cure old Miss Pipkin’s rheumatiz ? 
Internationa.! Sunday School 
Lessons. 
A few weeks ago Rev. Dr. Vincent stated in London, 
that 7,500,000 Teachers and Pupils in the United 
States and Canada alone, were every Sabbath Day study¬ 
ing the same portions of Holy Scripture. Millions more 
in other lands use the same lessons. It will doubtless 
interest the friends of this Journal to know that the 
present popular plan of using International Lessons 
originated and received its largest impulse through the 
American Agricidlurist. Thirty years ago (1848) Mr. 
Orange Judd prepared a regular series of lessons for each 
quarter, and posted them conspicuously in the S. S. room. 
Following up the plan from year to year, with the assist¬ 
ance of Dr. James Strong, S. T. D., the series of lessons 
below were prepared in 1860-1, and used for two years, 
and they were published in this Journal, February, 1862, 
and another series was issued in December, 1862, for 1863. 
Two other similar series from the Old Testament were 
subsequently issued, viz., No. 3, Adam to Elijah, and 
No. 4, Elijah to Christ. Hundreds of thousands of cards 
or slips, with these lessons, were called for and sent all 
over the country. In response to a general demand, four 
Question or Lesson Books were issued, entitled “ Les¬ 
sons for Every Sunday in the Year ,” Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4, 
of which many hundreds of thousands were used in the 
Sunday Schools of all the leading Christian Denomina¬ 
tions. This paved the way for, and led to the present 
International Lessons. (The dates for the lessons as first 
and is to be 485 feet high, making it the loftiest artificial 
structure in the world. Some are in favor of adding 30 
feet more, so that should the Cologne Cathedral ever be 
finished, we should still have the highest structure. Five 
hundred feet is less than one-tenth of a mile (5,280 feet), 
and is but a small bight compared with the mountains of 
one to five miles elevation. 
1 1 
■ 
ill 
1 1 
Fig. 6.—SEWING SILK CASE. 
prepared for 1861, correspond with those of the present 
year, 1878). There was one advantage in this series not 
sufficiently provided for in the present series, we think, 
viz., that the children were expected to commit to mem¬ 
ory an average of seven consecutive verses every week 
and they thus stored in the mind some 350 or more verses 
of the sacred text every year. 
1861. Subject. Chapter. 
1. Jan’y6 Angels at Bethlehem.Luke ii, 
2. “ 13 Visit of the Magians.Matt, ii, 
3. “ 20 Christ at twelve years of age..Luke ii, 
4. “ 27 The Baptist’s Mission...Mark i, 
5. Feb. 3 Christ’s Temptation...Matt, iv, 
B. “ 10 Interview with Nicodemus.John iii, 
7. “ 17 Christ equal with the Father. .John v, 
8. “ 24 Doctrine of the Sabbath.Mark if, 
9. Mar. 3 Parable of the Sower.Matt, xtii, 
“ 10 Calling of the Twelve.Matt, x. 
Verses. 
8 to 14 
3 to 9 
42 to 49 
4 to 11 
3 to 10 
1 to 8 
18 to 24 
23 to 28 
3 to 9 
1 to 7 
21 to 29 
26 to 33 
1 to 8 
7 
7 
11. “ 17 John’s Imprisonment...Mark vl, 
12. “ 24 Christ the Bread of Life..Tohn vi, 
13. “ 31 The Transfiguration ....Matt, xvii, _ 
14. April7 Necessity of Childlike Temper.Matt. xviii, 1 to 
15. “ 14 Appointment of the Seventy. .Luke x, 1 to 
16. “ 21 Parable of the Good SamaritauLuke x, 80 to 37 
17. “ 28 The Lord’s Prayer.Luke xi, 1 to 8 
18. May 5 Christ the Good Shepherd.Johnx, 1 to 7 
19. “ 12 Parable of the Prodigal Son...Luke xv, 11 to 19 
20. “ 19 The Lord’s Supper...1 Cor. xi, 23 to 29 
21. “ 26 The Agony in Gethsemane ... .Luke xxti, 39 to 46 
22. June 2 Seizure of Christ.Luke xxii, 47 to 53 
23. “ 9 Peter’s Denial.Luke xxi, 54 to 62 
24. “ 16 Christ before the Sanhedrim. .Luke xxii, 63 to 71 
25. “ 23 Christ before Pilate.Luke xxlii, 1 to 7 
26. “ 30 Christ before Herod.Luke xxlii, 8 to 16 
27. July 7 Christ Sentenced by Pilate_Luke xxiil, 18 to 25 
28. “ 14 The Crucifixion.Luke xxiii, 32 to 88 
29. “ 21 Death of Christ.Luke xxiii, 41 to 53 
80. “ 28 The Sepulchre Guarded.Matt, xxvii, 61 to 66 
31. Aug. 4 Resurrection of Christ.Mark xvi, 1 to 8 
32. “ 11 Christ’s Appearances...Mark xvi, 9 to 16 
33. “ 18 The Ascension.Acts i, 6 to 12 
34. “ 25 Gift of the Holy Spirit.Acts ii, 1 to 7 
35. Sept. 1 Peter& John before SanhedrimActs iv, 5 to 12 
36. “ 8 Community of Goods...Acts iv, 31 to 37 
37. “ 15 Martyrdom of Stephen.Acts vii, 54 to 60 
38. “ 22 Conversion of Paul.Acts ix, 1 to 8 
39. “ 29 Conversion of Cornelius.Acts xi, 11 to 17 
40. Oct. 6 Founding the Church, AntiochActs xi, 19 to 27 
41. “ 13 Peter delivered from Prison..Acts xii, 1 to 6 
42. “ 20 Paul appointed Missionary_Acts xii,24 to xiii,5 
43. “ 27 Decree of Council at Jerusal mActs xv, 22 to 29 
44. Nov. 3 Philippi Jailor Converted.Acts xvi. 25 to 31 
45. “ 10 Paul’s Preaching at Athens_Acts xvii, 22 to 28 
46. “ 17 Tumult at Ephesus.Acts xix, 21 to 27 
47. “ 24 Arrest of Paul at Jerusalem..Acts xxi, 27 to 33 
48. Dec. 1 Paul begins Voyage to Rome..Acts xxvii, 1 to 8 
49. “ 8 Storm during Paul's Passage. .Acts xxvii, 13 to 20 
50. “ 15 Paul Encourages Mariners_Acts xxvii, 27 to 34 
51. “ 22 Escape from the Wreck.Acts xxvii. 38 to 44 
52. “ 29 Paul’s Arrival at Rome.Acts xxviii, 11 to 16 
The above Lessons embrace, in order of oecurrence,some 
leading events, parables, etc., from the birth of Christ 
to the end of the Acts of the Apostles—about 61 years— 
and give a connected view of the history of that period. 
The lessons are in order of time , and the first 32 are sever¬ 
ally selected from that one of the four Gospels which gives 
the best account within the compass of about 7 verses. 
Tall Structures—Washington’* monu¬ 
ment. —The highest human structures now extant are, 
we believe, as follows:—1. Pyramid of Cheops, in Egpyt 
(480 feet); 2. Strasburg Cathedral (474 feet); 3. St. 
Peter’s, Rome, (458 feet); 4. St. Stephen’s Cathedral, 
Vienna, (445 feet) ; 5. Salisbury Cathedral, England, 
(406 feet); 6. Antwerp Cathedral, Brussels, (405 feet); 
7. St. Paul’s Cathedra], London, (404 feet); 8. Milan 
Cathedral, Italy, (400 feet); 9. United States Capitol, 
Washington, (307 % feet). The Cologne Cathedral was 
planned to be 511 feet., but after over 400 year’s work 
upon it, it is far from completion. The Washington 
Monument Obelisk was at first started for a hight of 600 
feet. It is now taken in charge by the Government, 
Talking at a I>istaucc. 
There are many ways of expressing our thoughts to 
others. Talking is the most common, though it takes 
the child years to learn what modulations or changes of 
the human voice represent different thoughts. We note 
down these sounds by letters of the alphabet and com¬ 
binations of them. We 
learn what sounds a, b, c, 
d, etc., stand for, and in 
reading we utter the sound 
of each letter. The deaf 
and dumb, instead of 
sounds, use motions or 
positions of the fingers to 
represent different letters. 
Thus, three fingers held 
downward mean m ; tw» 
fingers held down stand 
form ; if held upward they 
stand for u; the little 
finger held up stands for 
i , and so on. The Tele¬ 
graph Operator uses 
dots and dashes in¬ 
stead of letters; thus one dot (.) stands love; two dots 
(..) for i; three dots (...) for s; a dash (—) stands for t; 
two dashes (-) for m ; a dot and a dasli (.—) for a; a 
dasli and a dot (—.) for n, and so on. A bit of iron 
(moved by electricity) making short and longer “ clicks ” 
npon the ends of a magnet, stand for these dots and 
dashes, and ttie ear translates them into letters and 
thoughts. Ships communicate at sea by colored flags, 
which in different positions stand for figures, etc. 
These are only some of the ways ...Here is one simple 
mode of talking at a distance, originated by one 
of the editors, for the young readers of the Ameri¬ 
can Agriculturist. It requires no apparatus, will 
often be useful, and be good amusement. Suppose 
two persons are so far apart as that they can just see 
each other’s hands and arms. They agree that if the 
A- 1 
B—21 
J—111 
Q—131 
E— 2 
O'—22 
K—112 
R -132 
I— 3 
D—23 
L—113 
S —133 
O—ll 
F—31 
M—121 
T —211 
U — 12 
G—32 
N—122 
V—212 
V—13 
H—33 
P—123 
W—213 
Fig. 3. 
right hand be held straight up (fig. 1) it stands for 1. 
If held straight outward, it stands for 2 (fig. 2). If the 
left hand be held out straight it stands for 3 (fig. 3). Now 
let itbe understood that each letter of the alphabet has its 
own number , thus 1 equals a; 2 equals e; 3 equals i, etc. 
Here is an alphabet with a number for each letter: 
X—311 
Z—312 
AND—321 
THE—322 
IN-323 
Note.—A ny other figure or number can be chosen 
for any letter. The numbers representing the several 
letters can be changed as often as desired. 
Now suppose James wishes to tell George in a distant 
field to “ come to dinner .” He holds right hand out twice 
for 22 or c. Dropping both hands, he next throws the 
right one up twice for 11, oro. Next right hand up for 
1, right hand out for 2, and right hand up for 1, or 121, 
equalling m. Next his right hand out for 2, or e. Next, 
right hand out, and right hand up twice, for 211, making t; 
then right hand up twice for 11 oro. Next, right hand 
out, left out, for 23 or d; then left hand out for 3 or i ; 
then right hand up and out twice for 122 or n ; then right 
hand out for 2 or e; then right hand up,left out, right out, 
for 132 or r—drop the hands between each letter, and 
pause a little between the words. All this can be done 
and understood quicker than yon can read this descrip¬ 
tion. Each can have the alphabet and numbers written 
down. The letters most used will soon be remembered. 
Two can talk silently in a room by simply using a 
finger ora pencil held up, right,and left.—Two parties 
may talk miles apart, if in sight of each other, by using a 
handkerchief or flag on a stick instead of the hand. Army 
officers talk to each other from hill-tops len miles or more 
apart, by using flags several feet square, and portable 
telescopes to see the movements of the flags clearly. 
