n«wrcwbr?.fjuM 
AUGUST 28. 
Written for Moore’s Rural New-Yorker. 
Sketches from the Alps to the Adriatic. 
NUMBER TWO. 
Mittewald — The Austrian Frontier — St. MarLinsvand — 
Maximilian's Escape — Innspruck—Franciscian Church 
— Hausoleum of Maximilian — An Humble Poet — 
The Golden Roof. 
A couple of hoars walk from Wallgau brought 
me to Mittewald, which is the last, town on the 
Bavarian frontier. What struck me the most in 
this town was the low appearance of the houses, 
they being commonly but one story high. The 
roofs, which have only a slight slope, are provided 
with stones, and frequently several are joined to¬ 
gether, so that a dozen houses are under one roof. 
In the main street the gutters project enough from 
the buildings, to throw the rain water into a stream 
that runs along a walled channel in the middle of 
the road. Nearly every house in this street has a 
fresco painting oa the outside, some of which are 
pretty well executed. They commonly represent 
Christ, the Tirgin, or some of the scenes described 
in the New Testament. Mittewald is noted for the 
manufacture of guitars and violins, in which em¬ 
ployment about one hundred families are engaged. 
The instruments are sent as far a3 England and 
Aineiioa. 
I walked through the village, wondering where 
the Austrian Custom House was, and thinking it 
might be easy to enter the Austrian dominions 
without showing my passport But in a few min¬ 
utes I came to a painted pole suspended over the 
road, by the side of which three men in uniform 
were lounging on a bench. As I approached, one 
of them told me to go into the building on the op¬ 
posite side. I obeyed, entered the police office, 
exhibited my passport which the officer signed, 
and continued my journey without further trouble. 
It is easy to command the entrance to Austria at 
this point, for the valley is impassible for any 
wheeled conveyance except along the road, and 
the mountains on each side, are accessible only to 
the chamois hunter. By a recent law, many of the 
annoyances of the passport system in Austria have 
been removed. The traveler is now only obliged 
to show his passport on crossing the frontiers; 
heretofore he was compelled to give it to the police 
in every town. A mile, perhaps, beyond Mitte¬ 
wald lies the little village of Scharnitz, where the 
mountains form a narrow pass which was fortified 
by the Romans. The remains of a strong fortress 
are new visible, which was demolished in 1803 by 
a division of the French army under Net. 
In the course of the afternoon I came to the val¬ 
ley of the Inn. The road descends steeply to it 
for half an hour, and at one place winds along 
the side of a precipice, where it was constructed 
at great cost. I took a foot-path which led me by 
a ruined castle, perched high on a rock, and after 
looking at its grim ruins and a coat of arms paint¬ 
ed on a tower, I went down to the village of Zirl, 
in the valley. Not far from the village is St. Mar- 
tinswand, a rough and almost perpendicular preci¬ 
pice of rock. Eight hundred and fifty feet above 
the Inn stands a cross, twenty-five feet high, which 
marks the spot where the Emperor Maximilian, in 
1493, was preserved from being dashed to piecea 
He was hunting, and in pursuing a chamois ven¬ 
tured too near the precipice, and slipped over the 
brink. lie was caught by some portion of his 
clothing and suspended in such a position that no 
aid could be rendered him, and he expected every 
moment to be dashed on the rocks hundreds of 
feet below. As soon as his situation was perceived, 
the priest of the village, attended by the monks 
and many people, repaired thither and prayed for 
divine aid, as no human assistance seemed avail¬ 
able. While they were praying, a hunter suddenly 
appeared on the rock3 above Maximilian, and told 
him that he would come down and bring him safely 
to the bottom. Accordingly he descended, and 
taking hold of the Emperor, succeeded in reach¬ 
ing the bottom unharmed. When the people look¬ 
ed for him, after congratulating the Emperor, he 
was nowhere to be found. He had gone as sud¬ 
denly and mysteriously as he came. 
I was now fairly in the romantic Tyrol, and had 
entered its largest valley. I reached Innspruck in 
the evening, walking the last three miles over a 
level and straight road that was lined on both sides 
with cherry trees. The roofs of the city were all 
the time in sight, and the three miles did not look 
more than one. 
The morning of May 27th, was cool, and occa¬ 
sional showers fell from the masses of dark clouds 
which overcast the heavens. The range of moun¬ 
tains, some of the peaks of which are about nine 
thousand feet high, bounding the north side of the 
valley of the Inn, are visible from my windows, 
and whenever the clouds part, the high summits 
Beem to hang right above the town. Far up a 
slope stands a single farm house, with a large tree 
beside it, and it looks as if situated in the danger¬ 
ous track of falling rocks and the avalanche.— 
When the mountains are not hidden by clouds, one 
can distinguish a sharp, rocky peak, called “ Frau- 
hutt,” which is thought to bear some resemblance 
to the form of a woman. 
Innspruck is chiefly situated on the right bank 
of the Inn which is crossed by two bridges and a 
ferry. One is a new suspension bridge, but the 
other is of wood, and in 1809 was the scene of 
some sharp conflicts between the French and Ba¬ 
varians on one side, and the Tyrolese and Austrians 
on the other. The French and Bavarians had oc¬ 
cupied Innspruck, and, indeed, most of the Tyrol, 
until the Tyrolese rose in a body, headed by the 
peasant Andrew Hofek, and expelled them. The 
city, which contains about thirteen thousand in¬ 
habitants, is the seat of the Government of the 
Tyrol, and being the residence of the Viceroy of 
the Emperor of Austria, is pretty gay. There is a 
fine theatre in which Italian operas are given, at 
present three times a week. There are some fine 
streets, where the buildings are mostly new, and 
the city is so much influenced by the court and the 
immense number of travelers that pass through it 
yearly, that one can not witness there many of the 
peculiarities of the inhabitants of the TyroL The 
river is rapid, and no boats ascend as high as Inn¬ 
spruck. Navigation first commences at Hall, six 
miles further down. The level valley is about 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND EMILY NEWSPAPER. 
281 
three miles wide, and the slopes of the mountains 
on either side afford fine pastures and forests.— 
They are now building a railroad from Salizburg 
up the valley to Innspruck. At the latter place 
there is a viaduct already constructed which I 
judged to be a mile and a half long. If it be 
possible to construct the road across the Brenner 
Pass or to tunnel the mountains, in a few years the 
Alps may be passed by steam. This would then be 
the quickest way of reaching Italy from Germany, 
and many passengers and much merchandise would 
pass over the road. 
The Museum is well worth visiting, on account 
of its geological and mineralogical collections, 
which contain specimens from all parts of the 
Tyrol, and are particularly interesting to the scien¬ 
tific visitor. In the collection of stuffed birds, are 
many fine eagles that were captured on the moun¬ 
tains. I was pleased to find in the library “Con¬ 
tributions to Knowledge,” of the Smithsonian In¬ 
stitute at Washington, and several copies of reports 
of the State Agricultural Societies of Michigan and 
Wisconsin. 
The attendant who showed me the Museum, ad¬ 
dressed me in English, and finding I purposed re¬ 
maining a couple of days in the city, offered to 
accompany me the greater share of the afternoon. 
We walked to the castle of “Ambras” together, 
which is a mile and a half distant. It commands 
a view of thirty miles up and down the valley.— 
My companion was a Swiss—a young man and a 
poet. Before we parted he presented me a small 
volume of poems which he had recently published 
at Innspruck. 
The most interesting structure in the city is the 
Franciscian Church, which contains the mausoleum 
of the Emperor Maximilian I,—the most magnifi¬ 
cent tomb in the world. The roof of the church 
is supported by ten columns of variegated marble, 
quarried in the Tyrol, which are placed in two 
rows. Between the rows, and nearly in the center 
of the church, stands the tomb, surrounded by a 
copper screen of fine workmanship, and partly 
gilt On tho top of the marble sarcophagus is the 
bronze Btatne of tho Emperor, in a kneeling posi¬ 
tion, with his hands joined before him. On the 
sides of the sarcophagus are twenty-four bas re¬ 
liefs, twenty of which were executed by Alexan¬ 
der Colin, and have been pronounced by Thor- 
waldsden the b8st of their kind in existence.— 
The other four reliefs were made by another artist 
and are far inferior. They all represent great 
events in the life of the Emperor. Between the 
columns that support the roof, stand twenty-four 
bronze figures, and at the south end four more, all 
facing the sarcophagus. The workmanship of these 
statues is of the highest order. 
Between the first two columns, on the right hand 
as you enter, Btand four figures. The second, clad 
in armor and wearing a crown, is Philip II, of 
Spain. The third, wearing a plain Crusader’s 
sword by his side, is Rudolph, the founder of the 
House of Halsburg. As these figures are supposed 
to be good likenesses, it is interesting to observe 
the peculiarities of form and feature. His long 
straight hair falls on his shoulders, and there, on 
each side, is rolled into a curl; his no3e is long and 
crooked; his face thiD, and his check bones promi¬ 
nent. The first of the four figures between the 
next two columns, is Theodoric, King of the Goths. 
He leans on a halberd, and a heavy sword hangs by 
his side. Of course his form and the mould of his 
features are imaginary, but the position and pro¬ 
portion make it the most artistic figure in the 
church. With this exception the statutes are in¬ 
tended to be true to life. By the side of Theodo- 
ric stands the giant form of Ernst of Austria, with 
an iron chain around his waist, which, as a symbol 
of his strength, he is represented to have broken. 
Next to him is the scarcely less gigantic form of 
Theodobert of Burgundy, who has a closed vizor, 
because, it is said, the artist had no portrait of his 
features. The fourth is Arthur of England, who 
stands in a fine position. In the group of figures 
between the next two columns, is the second con¬ 
sort of Maximilian. On the opposite side is the 
pious Cunigunde, sister of Maximilian, and Fred¬ 
erick IV, “with the empty purse,” count of Tyrol. 
He was an excellent financier, but always wore an 
empty purse by his side, which led the people to 
think him poor. In order to undeceive them, he 
built over a balcony in front of his residence, a roof 
of copper, overlaid with gold. The building now 
belongs to the city, and the roof remains just as 
when first built, more than four centuries ago. On 
this side is the figure of Maria of Burgundy, the 
Emperor’s first wife. Her richly figured robe is 
minutely imitated in the bronze, and falls in flow¬ 
ing folds to the ground. One foot peeps eut from 
the bottom, showing a curious fashion. The shoe 
is broad, thick soled, and altogether ungraceful.— 
There is Godfrey of Bouillion, the brave knight, 
who led the Crusaders to the Holy Land, and be¬ 
came king of Jerusalem. He wears a crown of 
thorns and is dressed in armor, but has no weapon. 
His head is square and massive; his features strik¬ 
ing and bold, and his beard reaches to his breast 
Maximilian rests in a pompous tomb. Art has 
encircled it with a wonderful record of his great 
deeds, and it is guarded by the iron heroes of an 
age when chivalry brought forth her most worthy 
sons; but grander and more wonderful are the 
mountains, which lift their shining tops above the 
graves of kings. G. f. w. 
Sources of Trouble and of Joy. — We have 
somewhere seen the statement that most of our 
troubles arise from having a will different from that 
of Providence. On the other hand, Joseph John 
Gurney begins one of his most beautiful essays, 
by saying:—“Much of happiness which is here per¬ 
mitted to man, arises from the exercise of kindly 
feelings.” Thus it is, that the surest way of happi- 
fying ourselves, is to practice those neighborly 
acts which invite out the better feelings of those 
around us. Exemption from trouble is a negative 
happiness; but to delight in removing the troubles 
of others, and placing smiles and gladness in their 
stead, is well worthy of Him who is declared to be 
but “a little lower than the angels.” To grow old 
in a confiding submission to the will of God, and 
in the habitual exhibition of a brotherly affection 
to all of woman born, this is the life divine, the 
matchless elixir, the panacea for human sorrow 
the balm of immortality.— Halt's Journal of Health\ 
The best actions we never recompense, and the 
worst are seldom chastised. 
THE PERSECUTION OF NEW IDEAS. 
Harvey, who first discovered the circulation of 
the blood, was styled “ vagabond or quack,” and 
persecuted through life. Ambrose Pare, in the 
time of Francis I., introduced the ligature as a 
substitute for the painful mode of staunching the 
blood after the amputation of a limb—namely, by 
applying boiling pitch to the surface of the stump. 
He was, in consequence, persecuted with the most 
remorseless rancor by the Faculty of Physic, who 
ridiculed the idea of putting the life of man upon 
a thread, when boiling pitch had stood the test for 
centuries. Paracelns introduced antimony as a 
valuable medicine; he was persecuted for the in¬ 
novation, and the French Parliament passed an 
act making it penal to prescribe it; whereas it is 
now one of the most important medicines in daily 
use. The Jesuits of Peru introduced to Protestant 
England the Peruvian bark, (invaluable as a medi¬ 
cine,) but being a remedy used by the Jesuits, the 
Protestant English at once rejected the drug as 
the invention of the devil. 
In 1639, Dr. Groenvelt discovered the curative 
power of cantharides in dropsy. As soon as his 
cures began to be noised abroad, he was commit¬ 
ted to Newgate by warrant of the President of the 
College of Physicians for prescribing cantharides 
internally. Lady Mary Montague first introduced 
into England small-pox inoculation, having seen 
its success in Turkey in greatly mitigating that 
terrible disease. The faculty all rose in arms 
against its introduction, fortelling the most disas¬ 
trous consequences; yet it was in a few years gen¬ 
erally adopted by tho most eminent members of 
the profession. Jenner, who introduced tho still 
greater discovery of vaccination, was treated with 
ridicule and contempt, persecuted and oppressed 
by the Royal College of Physicians; yet he subse¬ 
quently received largo pecuniary grants from the 
government for the benefit he had conferred on 
his country, by making known his valuable dis¬ 
covery; and at the present time its observance is 
very properly enjoined by the whole medical pro¬ 
fession and the legislature. 
CURE FOR CANCERS. 
Our attention has been recently called to a cure 
for cancers, which is of so much importance that 
we wish to make it known as widely as possible. 
Some eight months ago, Mr. T. B. Mason, who keeps 
a music store on Wisconsin street, and is a brother 
of tho well known Lowell Mason—ascertained that 
he had a cancer on his face the size of a pea. It 
was cut out by Dr. Wolcott, and the wound par¬ 
tially healed. Subsequently it grew again, and 
while he was in Cincinnati on business, it attained 
the size of a hickorynut. He has remained there 
since Christmas under treatment, and has come 
back perfectly cured. The process is this: 
A piece of sticking plaster was put over the 
cancer, with a circular piece cut out of the centre 
a little larger than the cancer, so that the cancer 
and a small circular rim of healthy skin next to it 
was exposed. Then a plaster made of cliloride of 
of zinc, bloodroot, and wheat flour, was spread on 
a piece of muslin, the size of this circular open¬ 
ing, and applied to the cancer for 24 hours. On 
removing it, the cancer will be found to be burnt 
into, and appear of the color and hardness of an 
old shoe sole, and the circular rim outside of it 
will appear white and parboiled, as if scalded by 
steam. The wound is now dressed, and the outside 
rim soon suppurates, and the cancer comes out a 
hard lump, and the place heals up. Tho plaster 
kills the cancer so that it sloughs out like dead 
flesh, and never grows again. This remedy was 
discovered by Dr. Fell, of London, and has been 
used by him for six or eight years, with unfailing 
success, and not a case has been known of the re¬ 
appearance of tho cancer, where this remedy has 
been applied. It has the sanction of the most em¬ 
inent physicians and surgeons of London, but has 
not, till recently, been used in this country, and 
many of the faculty, with their proverbial opposi¬ 
tion to innovations, look upon it with distrust. If 
it is what is claimed for it, this terrible disease will 
be shorn of most of its terrors. The application 
is painful, but the pain is of comparatively brief 
duration, which any one so afflicted would cheer¬ 
fully endure— Milwaukee Democrat. 
DIGESTION. 
Digestion is that process which extracts from 
food the elements of growth, repair, and suste¬ 
nance. If the digestion is imperfect, the health of 
the body becomes imperfect in a few hours; and if 
by any means digestion ceases altogether, soon af¬ 
ter a hearty meal, a man will as certainly die with¬ 
in a few hours, and sometimes almost as suddenly, 
as if a bullet were shot through his heart. Any 
great emotion of passion or pleasure, soon after 
eating, causes death; hence, no highly exciting or 
momentous news bhould be communicated, even 
to the healthiest, let alone the sick and the feeble, 
after a full repast. 
Sometimes the wisest of us will eat too much; 
for an occasional indiscretion of this kind, two or 
three teaspoonfuls of strong vinegar afford relief 
to some persons, but aggravate the evil in a few.— 
The better plan is to take a long leisure walk in 
the open air, with a pleasant associate. Keep on 
walking until entire relief is experienced, and eat 
no more of anything until next morning, so as to 
allow the over-taxed stomach to recover its tone, 
vigor, and elasticity. 
If we become conscious of a surfeit after night, 
and from that or any other cause, a walk is im¬ 
practicable, a good substitute is found, in standing 
erect with the clothing removed, except the stock¬ 
ings, mouth closed, and rubbing the region of the 
stomach, and for a foot around it, with the open 
hand. Very great relief is often afforded, even in 
serious cases, within an hour, by a vigorous mani¬ 
pulation of this sort, taking for breakfast, next 
morning, a cup of some kind of het drink and a 
single piece of dry bread; and for dinner a bowl of 
soup with bread crust, and nothing else for that 
day. The stomach should always be allowed extra 
rest after overwork.— Hall's Journal of Health. 
A man that astonishes at first soon makes people 
impatient if he does not continue in the same en¬ 
livening key. 
CHARACTER OF DANTON. 
His person and his eloquence were in keeping 
with his mind and character. We figure him 
always after the patteru of Bethlehem Gabor, as 
Godwin describes him; his stature gigantic, his 
hair a dead black, a face In which sagacity and 
fury struggle for the mastery—a voice of thunder. 
His mere figure might have saved the utterance of 
his watchword—“We must put our enemies in 
fear.” His face was itself a “ Reign of Terror.” 
His eloquence was not of the intellectual, nor of 
the rhetorical cast. It was not labored with care, 
nor moulded by art. It was the full, gushing 
utterance of a mind seeing the real merits of the 
case in a glare of vision, and announcing them in 
a tone of absolute assurance. He did not indulge 
in long arguments or elaborate declamations. His 
speeches were Cyclopean cries, at the sight of the 
truth breaking, like the sun, on his mind. Each 
speech was a peroration. His imagination was 
fertile, rugged and grand. Terrible truth was 
sheathed in terrible figure. Each thought leaped 
into light, like Minerva, armed with bristling 
imagery. Dauton was a true poet, and some of 
his sentences are the strongest and most charac¬ 
teristic utterances amid all the wild eloquence the 
revolution produced. His curses are of tho street, 
not of Paris, but of Pandemonium; his blasphemies 
were sublime as those heard in the trance of 
Sicilian seer, belched up from fallen giants through 
the smoko of Etna, or like thoso which made the 
“burning marl” and the “fiery gulf” qnako and 
recoil in fear. Such an extraordinary being was 
Danton. There was no beauty about him, but 
there were the power and the dreadful brilliance, 
the rapid rise and rapid subsidence of an Oriental 
tempest— Giljillan, 
“CANARD.” 
This word, now popularly used for a hoax, is 
French for duck, and the origin of its new appli¬ 
cation is said to be the following amusing “ sell ” 
on the public: 
“ To give a sly lift to the ridiculous piece of in¬ 
telligence which the journals are in the habit of 
publishing every morning, Cornelissen stated that 
an interesting experiment had just been made, cal¬ 
culated to prove the extraordinary voracity of 
ducks. Twenty of these animals had been placed 
together, and one of them having been killed and 
cut up into the smallest possible pieces, feathers 
and all, and thrown to the other nineteen, had been 
gluttonously gobbled up in an exceedingly brief 
time. Another was taken from the remaining 
nineteen, and being chopped small, like its prede¬ 
cessor, was served up to eighteen, and at onco de¬ 
voured like tho other; and so on to the last, who 
was thus placed in the remarkable position of hav¬ 
ing eaten nineteen companions in a wonderfully 
short time 1 All this, most pleasantly narrated, ob¬ 
tained a success which the writer was far from an¬ 
ticipating, for the story ran the rounds of all the 
journals in Europe. It then became almost forgot¬ 
ten for about a score of years, when it came hack 
from America, with an amplification, which it did 
not boast of at the commencement, and with a regu¬ 
lar certificate of the autopsy of the body of the sur¬ 
viving animal, whose oesophagus was declared to 
have been found seriously injured! Every one 
laughed heartily at the history of the canard thus 
brought up again, but the word retains its novel 
signification.” 
For Moore’s Knral New-Yorker. 
MISCELLANEOUS ENIGMA. 
I am composed of 19 letters. 
My 1, 11, 7, 8, 12 Is a female’s name. 
My 5, 7, 13, 17, G is the opposite of day. 
My 2, 10, 15 is a plant which grows in China. 
My 18, 17, 4, 14, 3, 19, 9, 2,12 is a female’s name. 
My 16, 4 is an abbreviation of father. 
My whole is a party who have lately completed 
the greatest work of the 19th century. 
Kendall Mills, N. Y., 1858. J. T. F. 
Answer in two weeks. 
For Moore’s Rural New-Yorker. 
CHARADE. 
I am a four-legged creature, aud can neither sing, whistle, 
nor talk, 
I move forward quite swiftly, but can neither swim, fly, 
nor walk. 
I boast not of my beauty, but have a soft, winnning look; 
Many my company prefer to a walk or a book. 
In cities, country, and towns, I always reside, 
The weak-minded and vain in me take great pride, 
I am often, quite often, most gorgeously dressed, 
Aud forced into the parlor for the amusements of guests; 
The sick and afflicted my company crave, 
But I am lightly esteemed by the active and brave. 
I never do aught in malice or strife, 
But have been the cause of contention between husband 
and wife. 
Modern young ladies my company seek, 
When dull, languid, and lazy, and nervously weak, 
They will stick by me all day and nod over a book, 
With eyes fixed on its pages and a dull, vacant look. 
I soothe the afflictions of both old and young, 
And poets and bards my praises have sung, 
I lead their thoughts back to childhood’s bright day, 
And remind them of loved ones long since passed away. 
Honeoye Falls, N. Y., 1868. J. C. J. 
Answer in two weeks. 
For Moore’s Rural New-Yorker. 
PROBLEM. 
I sold Bheep — a lamb sold for g as much as a 
sheep—if I had received 75 cents more I would 
have had just twice as many dollars as I sold ani¬ 
mals; a sheep and lamb cost $3,25. Required the 
number of each and price per head? 
Granger, N. Y., 1858 C. L. Cudbbeo. 
Answer in two weeks. 
ANSWERS TO ENIGMAS, Ac., IN NO. 449. 
Answer to Miscellaneous Enigma:—The Steam¬ 
ship Leviathan. 
Answer to Geographical Problem:—They will 
be together on the equator. 
Answer to Charade:—Tub. 
FIRE BALLOONS. 
Eds. Rural:—I would like to be informed how 
to make Ure balloons, and also how to ascertain 
when watermelons are ripe _A. S. Potter. 
Remarks.— Making and “setting off” fire bal¬ 
loons is a very pretty amusement, in which wo 
sometimes indulge, and so we will jnst tell our cor¬ 
respondent and all other youths who would like the 
information, just hou> we do it. Perhaps there is a 
better way, but ours is good enough, as we never 
fail to have a fine ascension, if the weather is fa¬ 
vorable. First procure good American tissue 
paper, which can be procured at most of the book¬ 
stores at 12 cents a quire of 24 sheets. If the bal¬ 
loon is designed for a day ascension, oolored paper 
is the best, one strip of each color, but if for the 
night, white paper is the best, A balloon should 
not he much less than six feet in height, as one 
less than this will not carry the necessary weight 
as well as one of this size, and they may be as much 
larger as you desire. Tissue paper is made in 
sheets about 20 inches by 28, and the balloon should 
be made of such size as to accommodate the paper 
and not waste it 
Having procured tho paper, cut, a pattern out of 
/\ old newspapers, and this pattern must be 
/ \ something like the diagram we here 
/ \ give. It will require three or more sheets 
\ to make one strip of this pattern, aud 
eight of these strips or sections to foim 
/ the balloon. After enough of these stiips 
i / have been formed, allow the paste to dry, 
\ / and then paste the sections together care- 
\ / fully, leaving no holes in the seams 
\ / through which the heated air can escape. 
\ j After all are pasted together, allow them 
to dry, and then cut a piece of the tissue 
paper circular and paste on the top, as the points 
will not be apt to meet very nioely. Then twiBt a 
piece of paper a few inches long into the form of 
a rope, and paste this on the top, where it must 
form a loop to which a string may ho attached for 
convenience in filling, as is shown in the large en¬ 
graving below. Next get a light hoop, a piece of a 
barrel hoop will answer, hut if you ask the girls 
they will give you something better, such as a 
piece of rattan or whalebone. Measure the open¬ 
ing at the bottom, which should be about eighteen 
inches across, make the hoop of the right size, and 
fasten it to the bottom with paste, rolling the paper 
around it so as to keep it in place. 
The next thing is to procure a light tin cup that 
will hold about half a pint, with four holes at equal 
distances near the top of the sides. Through these 
holes pass two wires, and fasten the four ends of 
the wire to the hoop at the bottom of the 
balloon, as shown in the figure. The bal¬ 
loon is now finished, and ready to be in¬ 
flated. Examine it carefully and see if 
there are any flaws in the paper, or if any 
seams are imperfect; if so, paste and paper will 
Boon make all right 
The inflation requires some care. A still time 
must be selected, as it is almost impossible to get 
up a fire balloon when the wind is blowing, and we 
have burned up many in the attempt Stretch a 
cord from two trees, or from two posts, about eight 
or nine feet high. Attach a twine to the loop on 
the top of the balloon and throw this twine over 
the cord. Draw up the balloon by the twine, as 
shown in the engraving, so that the bottom will be 
three feet or so from the ground, and get an assis¬ 
tant to hold it there by the string. 
1 
I 
I 
I 
i $ 
.mSwEs 
Fill the tin cup about two thirds full of alcohol, 
and then place some cotton batting in it. Take a 
piece of cotton, fasten a stiff wire to it for a handle, 
wet this batting with alcohol and introduce it care¬ 
fully into the bottom of the balloon, taking espe¬ 
cial care not to touch the alcohol in the cup, or the 
sides of the balloon, for if you do so all the labor is 
loBt, and the whole thing will go off in “ a blaze of 
glory.” Hold the wire in one hand, and with the 
other keep the sides open so that they will not be 
touched with the fire. As the air becomes warm 
the balloon begins to fill, and soon it will be seen 
in its fall proportions. When it assumes its proper 
form so that there is no danger of burning, touch 
the cetton in the cup with the fire you hold in your 
hand, drop the wire, and take hold of tho hoop 
with both hands, so as to steady the balloon. Tell 
the person holding the string to let go, pass one 
step clear of the string, let it rise as high as you 
can reach, holding it level, then let go, and she’s 
off to the clouds. 
Experienced gardeners can tell when a water¬ 
melon is ripe by rapping it with the knuckles. It 
has a peculiar hollow sound. When a ripe water¬ 
melon is pressed with the palm of the hand a 
crackling sound may be heard on the inside. 
Prudence. —The great end of prudence is to give 
cheerfulness to those hours which splendor cannot 
gild, and exhortation cannot exhilarate, to those 
soft intervals of unbended amusement in which a 
man shrinks to his natural dimensions, and throws 
aside the ornaments or disguises which he feels in 
privacy to be useless incumbrances, and to lose all 
effect when they become familiar. To be happy 
at home is the result of all ambition—the end to 
which every enterprise and labor tends, and of 
which every desire prompts the prosecution. It 
is indeed at home that every man must be knowD, 
by those who would make a just estimate either of 
his virtue or felicity; for smiles and embroidery 
are alike occasional, and the mind is often dressed 
up in painted honor aud fictitious benevolence. 
