July, 1859 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
217 
other apparatus for making a noise. Well, the day should 
be a national holiday, although we would prefer a more 
rational way of celebrating it. It always makes us feel 
sad to read the accounts of accidents with which the pa¬ 
pers are filled after every Fourth. Wecan never forget the 
shocking sight we once witnessed of one of our play¬ 
mates, who was terribly mutilated and disfigured for life 
by the premature discharge of a cannon, near which he 
was standing. Poor little fellow ! no doubt every one of 
those engaged in “celebrating,” would willingly have 
given all the pleasure the day had afforded, to ease his 
sufferings. Yet we can hardly find it in our heart to say, 
buy no fireworks, as long as the custom is so prevalent. 
Boys can not be expected to take the lead in reforms; 
yet a noble-minded boy may do much, if he be fully in 
earnest, and we would like to find many such in the 
Agriculturist family. We will make a suggestion. Grand¬ 
mother. in another place, has given the girls some advice 
about their habits. Now we propose that each of our 
young readers—the older ones too if they choose—shall 
think of some one bad habit he may have, and on the 
Fourth of July declare his 
INDEPENDENCE 
by resolving to overcome it. Just try it, put it down in 
writing, and our word for it, when you have fairly con¬ 
quered, you will rejoice in the noblest kind of freedom. 
SAD NEWS—DEATH OF UNCLE FRANK. 
Our young friends will have no more chats with Uncle 
Frank. (Hisfull name was Francis C. Woodworth). Only 
last September we introduced him to our young readers, 
but ere his first year with us had expired, his voice and 
his pen are stopped by death ! His last letters, as you 
have all noticed, were dated in St. Augustine, Fla . 
whither he had gone to see if a warmer climate would 
not benefit his failing health, but, as we feared, when we 
shook hands wilh him at parting, near the close of the 
Winter, the insidious disease—consumption —had taken a 
relentless hold upon his lungs. His recent private letters 
read cheerfully, yet there was something in them indi¬ 
cating that he was failing. He started home, and arrived 
in our harbor in the steamship Savannah, on June 5th, 
but breathed his last before he was brought on shore- 
Uncle Frank, though he had no family of his own, was a 
great lover of children. He has written some thirty-five 
books for children, among which were “Uncle Frank’s 
Home Stories his “ Boys’ and Girls’ Library “ Theo¬ 
dore Thinker’s Tales.” “ Stories about Animals,” etc., 
etc.... Well, so it is—one after another goes. Soon, some 
one else of us will be taken away. Let us each do a-ll 
the good we can, so that when our turn comes, it may be 
said of us, that we have lived usefully. 
PROBLEMS. 
NO. 39 —ILLUSTRATED REBUS. 
We will, for once, give a very full explanation for the 
younger readers, many of whom do not exactly know how 
to get hold of such puzzles. In the above picture you see 
two I’s, which stand for two ; they are under a stand: 
then a picture of a grate ; a sign with D on it ; a lit¬ 
tle girl whom we often call 1 sis’ ; the letter A ; two 
marks ; a hoe ; a wing ; a man eating soup ; an ear of 
corn ; an eye ; the word ‘or’; a cap ; and a city. Now 
let us put these things together in their proper order. 
Two (under) stand grate D—sign s—is a mark—s hoe wing 
soup—ear—eye—or—cap—a—city. Now pronounce these 
rapidly, or read them by the sounds, and we have : “ To 
understand great designs is a mark showing superior ca¬ 
pacity ,’’ w hich is the answer. Rather tough this, we think, 
as but five have sent us solutions. They are “Aunt 
Sue;” Samuel S. Kerr; G. Werlich, James Freeman Al¬ 
len, and Henrie Ball 
No. 40.—The Labyrinth —The little folks, and some 
of the older ones we know, have been much entertained 
and puzzled trying to find their way into the bower. 
Quite a large number have written to us of their success; 
most of them have sent diagrams showing the path they 
took. We are sorry that any should cut their Agricultur¬ 
ist to get the picture to send. This can be avoided by lay¬ 
ing a piece of thin paper over the picture, and tracing 
it with a .pencil. Writing paper, oiled and dried, 
and laid over a picture, will allow the lines to show I 
through, so that they can easily be followed-—Correct 
answers sent in tjy : J. Emily Fitch ; II. E. Spalding; Ed¬ 
ward Lamphere ; John P. Moore ; G. W. Reanan (with 
averse about his journey); Sarah D. Lord; D.W. Hunts¬ 
man (worked it out backwards) ; Absalom G. Allison ; 
Mary Campbell; Henry B. Wigall (11 yrs., with a draw¬ 
ing done with much pains) ; J. B. Andrews ; F. W. Lutt- 
gen; Bell Banker; Granville M. Flenner ; Harry La 
Fetra (very neatly done); Roscoe Mowbray ; Milton Mow¬ 
bray: James G. Hendall; Augustus Wasserscheid ; 
Charles I. Simpson ; Willie B. ; James D. Farlow; Mary 
Halladay ; William 0. Ligon ; Wm. H. Thornton ; I. C. 
C. ; N. H. Mann and N. II. Allen (wilh a funny sketch 
showing how the dogs were set on them when they got 
into the bower, and how they jumped the fences to get 
out); Thomas B. Kelsay ; G. H. Witthaus, Jr. ; Joseph 
Leas; Louisa E. Newbaker ; Solomon G. Parsons; 
Mahlon Day; Robt. H. Givan ; Malissa H. Givan ; San¬ 
ford E. Givan; W. W. Morris ; John W. Givan ; Sarah 
Jerman ; J. 0. Strong. 
No. 41. A Genealogical Puzzle. The curious Family. 
In a family of 4 persons, related by marriage or descent, 
No. 1 was his own grandson. 
No. 2, the son of No. 1, was his own grandfather. 
No. also son of No. 1, was brother to his own grand¬ 
father. 
No. 4 son of No. 2, was nephew and also uncle to No. 3. 
How could this happen ? 
SHARP CORRESPONDENCE ABOUT REBUS 37. 
This Rebus, as will be seen by what follows, has con¬ 
tinued to attract attention even after the solution was 
published, it being so complicated that some are unable to 
“see it” even with Aunt Sue’s explanation before them. 
As she gave a good rendering of it, we leave her to de¬ 
fend it against criticism, adding, however, that the fly in 
the puzzle was a Bee. Perhaps the sting should have 
been shown, but as Aunt .Sue has put that in hec letter, it 
answers every purpose. 
Mister Editur 
Im a great patron of genus, and accorden, I send you a 
goold medil for “Aunt Sue”—Sich extensive flashes, 
and stretches too, of fancy to make sense out of nonsense,, 
ort to be rewarded. How she makes bench mean “form,*' 
she does not sho us. and what she does with — (mark or 
dash,) and “fly A,” we are left to wonder about. Bee 
shure and send her the medil—and oblege yourn 
JESSE T- 
-, Missippi 10 May 1859. 
Here is a full size picture of the “ medil,” which we 
immediately sent to Aunt 
Sue, accompanied by the let¬ 
ter awarding it to her, and 
here is what she says about it: 
Know all men, women and 
children by these presents, 
that Aunt Sue respectfully and decidedly declines accept¬ 
ing the “ goold medil ” referred to above. It is a suspic¬ 
ious looking “ medil” ; the metallic part of it, smacks of 
a material that goes to make up the physiognomy of men 
not over-burdened with modesty (brass). Most likely Mr. 
T- set his face against it before he sent it. 
Then—Mr. Editor—it has four holes right in the center 
not such as are found in Spanish quarters, punctured for 
the value of the metal, but evidently with the sinister de¬ 
sign of placing an attachment (a needle-and-thread one) 
upon it some day. It is bear-\y possible that Mr. Jesse T. 
might have hoped I should fasten it on my lip ; button 
deed(that means but indeed) I shall do no such thing. 
Touching the “bench,” let him apply to Webster for 
ir-/orm-ation ; and for the matter of the “— (mark or 
dash)” it is the ( minus —) character that stands against Ins 
amountof grace, I’m afraid. To return (to) the medil, 
allow me, through you, to give it Jesse again. 
With becoming indignation, 
Yours truly, Aunt Sue. 
“Let me kiss him for his Mother.”— The editor of 
the New-Orleans Advocate tells this incident about the 
ravages of the yellow fever in that city, related to him by 
one of the Methodist pastors : “ The preacher was called 
a few days since to attend the funeral of a young man. 
Before his sickness he was a stout, buoyant, manly youth. 
He was from the State of Maine, and had been here but a 
short time. He was attacked with yellow fever, and soon 
died, wilh no mother or relative to watch by his bed-side 
or to soothe him with that sympathy which none but 
those of our own * dear kindred blood ’ can feel or mani¬ 
fest. He died among strangers, and was buried by them 
When the funeral service was over, and the strange 
friends who had ministered to him were about to finally 
close the coffin, an old lady, who slood by, stopped them 
and said, ‘ Let me kiss him for his mother 1’” Was not 
that a touching scene ? 
Looking out of his window one Summer evening, Lu 
ther saw on a tree at hand a little bird making brief and 
easy dispositions for a night’s rest “ Look,” said he, 
“ how that litt'e fellow preaches faith to us all. He takes 
hold of his twig, tucks his head under his wing, and goes 
to sleep, leaving God to think for him." 
Grandmother will* Use ILittle Girls. 
REPORTED BV COUSIN MARV. 
Mr Dear Mr. Editor : Every now and then we gather 
around Grandmother and ask for a “ talk ” which she al¬ 
ways grants, when not too unwell. I send you a report 
of what she said this afternoon, as this is now fresh in my 
mind. Mary. 
Well, girls, I saw something to-day which suggested 
my talking a little about habits. There are many bad 
habits which even very good girls indulge in. and which 
they will find it very hard to break off as ihey grow older, 
for the habits grow as fast as they do themselves. Let me 
tell you a few of them, and if you look for these and try 
to break them now, you will get in the way of walching 
yourselves, and perhaps find out olher habits which Ido 
not mention, hut which should be overcome. Some girls 
I know are accustomed to stare at strangers. If a gentle¬ 
man whom they have not seen before comes to visit with 
their parents, lie wou'd think from their watching him, 
that they had never seen a man before, or that they kept 
their eyes upon him for fear he might steal something. 
When they go out to walk they are continually twisting 
their necks about to see all they can of persons who may 
he passing. I one day saw a little girl doing this, and as 
she was walking one way, and looking another, she ran 
plump into a filthy pudule. At another lime she came 
very near being run over by a horse while she was staring 
at smne one behind her. I have seen children sit in church 
and make themselves very disagreeable by gazing into 
the faces of those who sat near them, instead of attend¬ 
ing lo what the preacher was saying, and thus also keep¬ 
ing otheis from listening atterNively. Now any tiling ihat 
makes other people feel uncomfortable, when there is no 
necessity for it, is ill-mannered. Politeness is making 
those around us feel aS pleasant as possible, and there is 
no surer way of gaining the good-will of others than by 
being polite. 
It is a very troublesome and unpleasant habit which 
many little girls have of causing people to repeat what 
ihey have said by asking “ what'!” as soon as they have 
finished speaking. When a person, especially one older 
Ilian yourself speaks to you, it is proper to give good at¬ 
tention to what is said; but if a child immediately asks, 
“what did you say ?” it appears like uncivil inattention. 
But it is often done from mere habit. One of my little 
friends who came to spend a few days with me had such 
a habit. One day I said to her, “ Hattie, would you like 
to take a ride with me this afternoon ?” “ What did you 
say, Grandmother?” replied she. “Never mind,” said 1, 
“ it's not of much consequence.” “Oh! yes, I would 
like to go very much,” said she. After catching her a 
few times in this way, she became ashamed of it, and by 
watching herself she soon overcame the habit. 
Be careful not to get in the way of making odd motions 
wilh the lips,or twistingthe face into some curious shape. 
There is a disease with which some people are afflicted, 
Called 'he “megrims” which causes them to move and 
tvvis:. about very strangely Their limbs jerk and twitch, 
and they sometimes make very curious faces. This they 
cannot help, ami they are greatly to be pitied. But there 
is no such excuse for the strange motions children some- 
limes make from habit; such as biting their lips, wrink- 
