because all our turkeys and chickens have got 
the “epizoo." I have got a doll; her name Is 
Jane. .1 can sow carpet mgs and make molasses 
cake. My mamma says If I am a good girl I can 
learn to play tho piano.—S. Leleka. It., New¬ 
burgh, Orange Co., N. Y. 
The only way for an old maid to command 
respect is to make herself independent; if tal¬ 
ented, she may go out into tho world, make a 
mark, see the world at large, improve her beauty 
and intelligence, consequently her appearance 
by intercourse with refined society. Lot her 
tear In sew, do anything honest for money, rath¬ 
er than act as lackey for any married woman; 
she will elevate herself not only in her own esti¬ 
mation, but iu that of others. 
Taking earn of one's self is the only way to 
avoid t he sneers and jeers 'of those who have 
fortunately (?) tied themselves for life to some 
poor sticks of men, just to escape being old 
maids. Clara Juiaen. 
DON’T FORGET THE BABY 
THE MOTHER’S WREATH, 
Inquiries about Florida. 
Miss Irene Turned I read your letter in tho 
Bukai. New-Yorker and would like to ask a 
few questions about Florida, but hoard that 
whito men could not live t here on account of 
the heat and sickness. 1 hoard that they had 
vory large mosquitoes there; arc they very trou¬ 
blesome? Did your father's health Improve 
after he went there? Pa wants to know if it is 
true that no white man can be found thcro that, 
has lived in Florida ten years; he hoard so. I 
should like to live there and eat tho figs and 
quinces,but I would not like to get flick. I havo 
asked enough questions this time. Will you 
please answer them through the Rural? That 
was a real moan oppossum that oat your chick¬ 
ens up. 
Please tell me what part of Florida you live 
In.— Irene, Meqaon, Ozaukee Co., Wts. 
Willie Wants a Remedy for Stammering. 
Dear Mr. Editor;—T he gentleman with 
whom T am living this winter takes tho Rural. 
I read it, and think it such a nloo papor; you 
take so much pains, and are so good and kind 
to the little folks. 1 am going to school tills 
winter. Wo havo a good school, but I stam¬ 
mer so bad that sometimes l cannot talk at all 
hardly. Sometimes 1 get, laughed at; I don’t 
mind that, although T wish 1 did not stammer 
so. If you nr any of your many readers can 
tell me anything that, will help me to break my¬ 
self of stammering you will havo my heartfelt 
thanks for the favor. Please inform me through 
your valuable paper. A Iso, i nsert In your paper 
the “ Wind in a Frolic.” It used to bo in Peter 
Parley's Almanac.— Wu.lae, Ml.Pleasant, Mich. 
Inside, a circle wide and warm. 
Around the cheerful lnglo. 
Without, the snow from last night’s storm 
And merry sloighbellB’ jingle. 
All wanning for a cheery drive 
Away—to grandma's maybe: 
Well, bo tho happiest folks allvo- 
But don’t forget the baby! 
Tuck in her fingers and her toes, 
(So wee—but how you’d miss her!) 
And snuggle up tho dainty nose, 
Jack Frost will want, to kiss her! 
And who shall hold her while you ride, 
Ma, Kate or brother ** DAVIE?” 
Well, let the little queen decide— 
But take good care of habit! 
Rose G, 
BT RUTH DANA 
Yf. need not ask me why I bring 
These flowers to wreath her head. 
Wiry gay, glad roses e’er should fling 
Their beauty o’er the dead. 
’Tis meet that she, my loved, should wear 
A coronal so bright, 
Though any blossom gathered there 
Shall wither In the night. 
Her hand hath reared this bud that rests 
So sweetly on her brow. 
And c-oso her own white rose ts prest 
Where gleams the death-dew now. 
It was to have graced tho bridal da y 
Of her who slumbering lies. 
But swift-winged Angels stolo away 
My treasure to the skies. 
No gloom the fair young form shall shroud 
That once my gem enshrined,— 
For Faith shall part the heavenly cloud, 
And 1 my lost shall find. 
Then let mo braid these glossy bands 
With flowers so swoot and wild. 
They are the last a mother’s hands 
May bind about her child. 
THE VISCOUNTESS BEACONSFIELD 
Mr. Seward’s fame began to wane upon the 
death of his wife, to whom he owed the vitaliz¬ 
ing currents which Imre him on. Disraeli mar¬ 
ried in 1839, and at once began to rise to the 
stature he has reached. Tho Viscountess Boa- 
consfleld is dead, and we shall see how much 
this extraordinary man also owed to the power 
behind the throne. How long must it be before 
great women can bring their powers to beur at 
first himd and shot! their rays direct instead of 
through a medium of the refractory? Had 
Lady Beoconsflbld, who was at tho time of her 
marriage to Mr. Disraeli a widow, and rcrl,aiiily 
as advanced in lire as himself, been the most 
lovely of debuhMW, her distinguished husband 
could not have lavished upon her more devoted 
affection than he has ever shown. Some years 
ago an ill-bred young man, staying In a country 
house with Lady Boaconsfleld and her husband, 
thought to make fun of the former, who, like 
moat of us, has her little peculiarities, for tho 
amusement of the company. But before tie Loft 
the house he bad occasion to bitterly rue hta 
misplaced jocosity. Tho ex-Premler presently 
resolved on “tit for tat,” and the young gent Io¬ 
nian left the house feeling very considerably 
LETTERS TO YOUNG RURALISTS.-No. 14, 
FROM COTJFtTW JOHNNIE 
premium is? Why, a nice Weed Family Favor¬ 
ite Sewing Machine 1 How many of you have 
gone ahead of that she wants to know? 
Well, I suppose the most of you have had a 
very Merry Christmas, and plenty of nice pres¬ 
ents. Cousin Johnnie received but one, but 
sho values it very highly as a token of friend¬ 
ship. It is a silver fruit knife, with one of the 
blades In tho form of a nut pick. I wonder, 
now, how many of you thought of Christmas, 
except as a holiday on which to find full stock¬ 
ings and eat turkey, and mince pics, and other 
good tilings. How many, when you got your 
presents, thought of the great Gift given to us 
by God, nearly nineteen hundred years ago— 
even His only and beloved Hon? Who thought 
how much Cuiust must have loved u», to leave 
his throne In Heaven and come into this world 
on tho first Christmas day, as a little, feeble, 
helpless babe? How many thought that though 
He has gone back to Heaven again, Ho still sees 
and knows every thought and feeling, and every 
llt.tlo trouble and trial of you, children, and that 
He understands and sympathises with you, 
for tie, Ilimself, has been a child like you? 
These arc the thoughts t hat ought, to mako ua 
nil, and particularly children, glad at Christinas, 
and if any of you have forgotten your infant 
Saviour while you were keeping His birthday, 
I hope you will dertermlno to try and remember 
Him hotter when It comes again. 
1 am glad Emm v D. takes ouch a sensible view 
she used to get; but It 
THE USEFUL WOMAN 
BY ROSE GERANIUM 
There is such a commodity in almost every 
neighborhood. She is tho benefactress of her 
small world—its social philosopher, lawyer and 
dlvino. Such persons usually arrive at their 
eminence only over roads thick with minor toils 
and difficulties. They generally ” have a story ” 
—and often natural endowments fitting thorn 
for broader and more worldly-honorable posi¬ 
tions in life. Ilut perverse Adversity wars 
against them and triumphs. 
Just now I lmve In ray mental eye a fine type 
of tho class in question. She is tho mother of 
ilvo small children, a widow cast by fate upon 
her own resources, and sho can neither go as 
governess nor give music lessons. She works for 
everybody who desires her services, and “ takes 
her pay ” In all kinds of uuoatalogucd currency, 
from genuine hard coin and good groceries 
down to old-fashioned undergarments, stulo 
dried fruits and profuse thanks. I know cases 
A Good Flook of 8heep. 
Mr. Rural:— I live in Harford County, Md., 
close to Mason and Dixon’s lino. Our post-offleo 
is in Pennsylvania. Wc havo horses and mules ; 
but I havo not worked with them as much as 
some of the litt le boys who write in l ho Rural. 
Papa says I can harrow and roll next summer. 
T want to toll the boys about our sheep. Wo had 
five owes that, had cloven lambs, and raised them 
all. Two hail three apiece, and two-had two 
apiece, and one had one. JoiR A. G. 
ILLUSTRATED REBUS.-No. 2 
of the " warmings 
seems to mo that two whippings for one offense 
was a llttlo more than her share. 1 may lie mis¬ 
taken, however; perhaps Just such a, course of 
double training was needed to make her the girl 
she now is; no two of us are just alike, you 
know. It fairly makes me tired to think of 
Myutie Burn's quill with Miff pieces in it! It 
reminds tno of tho string of a thousand buttons 
(each one different) the children were tryiug to 
collect a year or two ago! 
LETTERS FROM BOYS AND GIRLS, 
Items from a Young Naturalist. 
Dear Cousins all ; I believe I have written 
to you once before, so l can claim a place as one 
of your number. I must first beg our kind Mr. 
Rcral’s pardon for not fulfilling an agreement 
by sending him that box of insects I was col¬ 
lecting for him,—but I think he will pardon me 
when he hears my defense. A few days after 1 
had written I was taken sick, and did not re¬ 
cover till my school opened: and then my 
studies demanded my attention more than bot- 
terflies and moths, so l had no time to finish the 
collection till ’twas too lato, and my collection 
was so deficient I would have been ashamed to 
have sent it—therefore I placed them In my own 
llttlo cabinet of curiosities. 
By the way, I think the printer made a mis¬ 
take In placing “Young Ruralist” after my 
last letter; also “Cousin Johnnie” when she 
spoke of “ Young Ruralist ’’ as she. 
Why don’t Laura Southgate, Minnie of 
Kentucky, Frkdie Clanton, or Sam Carter, 
or some of tho30 pioneers of letter writing in 
the Rural, show their over-welcome faces in 
our Young Rurallat’a department? Have they 
forgotten us? I hope not. If they have, 1 hope 
they will rovivc their rnoinorlea a little. 
Now won’t some Young Ruralist correspond 
with me on Natural History? If you will, my 
address can bo procured of Unde Rural, I 
think I have taken up apace enough this t ime, 
so I will close, wishing nil sorts of good times to 
my cousins.— Young Naturalist, Spcncerport, 
N. Y. 
WOMEN PERSONALS, 
Edwin Forrest s divorced wife attended his 
funeral at Philadelphia. When she arrived at 
the house she moved nervously toward the rear 
parlor, where the remains were lying. There 
wore but five or six persons in the room. Throw¬ 
ing aside her veil, she stood for nearly ten min¬ 
utes, placed her hand upon his head, and fol¬ 
lowed the anti down to the hand, whieh she 
grasped for a few minutes. Then Bhe glided 
toward the foot of tho coffin and plucked one 
or two flowers from tbe cross which lay upon 
the dead man’s feet. She then moved rapidly 
to the front parlor, whore she was seated until 
the coffin left the house. 
When Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was de¬ 
livering her lecture on tho “ Coming Girl,” in 
Green Bay, Wisconsin, the other night, she tyld 
how her father, when they wore going over the 
highlands of Scotland together, had a pair of 
boots made for her, and how she walked just as 
many miles os he, and. Just as well. After the 
lecture a bronze-faced, furzy individual stepped 
around to the green-room, and putting forth a 
knotted itulm, said ” An’ wi’ ye ahek haan’s 
with the maan thaat made the booties for ye?" 
and there he was. She did. 
The late Horace Greeley left two daughters 
and two nieces, all of whom arc quite talented 
young ladles, and frequently contribute to the 
daily press of New York. Miss Ida Greeley has 
published numerous letters of travel in tho 
Tribune. Her cousin. Miss Celia P. Cleveland, 
who has traveled much iu Europe, writes for 
the daily and weekly papers of New York. She 
is a young lady of fine accomplishments and ex¬ 
tensive reading. 
Madame Goethe, the widow of Goethe’s only 
| son, died recently at an advanced age. During 
the lifetime of her father-in-law sho did the 
honors of the house. Goethe loved her as a 
daughter, and admired her writings, and used 
to speak of her as one of the ablest critics and 
writers of the age. She leaves two sons, tho 
' only living representatives of the great Ger¬ 
man’s family, and both at present unmarried. 
jg,?*- Answer in two weeks, with tho names of 
those who send correct answers up to going to 
press. 
MISCELLANEOUS ENIGMA.—No. 1 
I am composed of 32 letters: 
My 2d, 10,14 Is a girl’s name. 
My 10, S3,13,10. 20 i3 a quadruped. 
My 6,15, 12,7 Is a plant. 
My 30, 31,28, 3 is worthless. 
My 9,6, 21,33 is to impose upon. 
My 1, 20, 31, 4 is tho end. 
My 10,2,8,22, 17 Is a sprout. 
My 18, 34, 11, 17 is a shout of contempt. 
My 25,5, 31, 27 is a blunt sword. 
My 29,20,23 is to corrode. 
My whole is a true saying. A. 8. & J. B 
pKT .Answer in two weeks. 
OLD MAIDS, 
Observation has taught me that those writ¬ 
ers who study most thoroughly human nature, 
and, therefore, reach tho greatest number of 
hearts, are the most successful. Knowing this, 
and that the present generation Includes a large 
proportion of that much-despised class—old 
maids—is it any wonder that I have selected a 
subject which many of my follow mortals may 
take homo to their own hearts ? 
Domestic happiness is rapidly becoming 
the exception rather than the rule, and tho old 
maid of to-day sees comparatively few enviable 
married ladies. When I hear a married woman 
making sarcastic remarks concerning old maids 
In general, I always infer that she is not, perfectly 
contented with her condition in life. 
I have been somewhat amused, and at the same 
time vexed, at the sneering remarks of a mar¬ 
ried acquaintance. She married when very 
young (for money), a widower twice her own 
age, with two children, and now hits the felicity 
of being tied up to a cross old man and four 
troublesome children. When in ill temper, 
which is moat of the time, she vents her spite on 
ail tho old maids in her vicinity, whom, no 
doubt, she envies. 
Another acquaintance of mine who has six 
unmanageable children, and a husband who 
comes home ouly to eat and sleep, turns up her 
nose at tbo mention of an old maid. 
I, myself, as one deeply interested, have made 
the subject a study. I, too, feel contempt for 
one who Is content to act as drudge in he* sIb- 
ter’s house, who tends babies, mends stockings, 
and performs innumerable petty duties, and for 
remui ention receives bread and cast-off cloth¬ 
ing. 
DROP-LETTER PUZZLE.-No. 1 
Every otiier letter omitted: 
II. p.a.t.a.d .v.r. p.s. a.d .a.d 
.O .h.u.t, ■ o .t.l.e, .o .e.n., t. 
.11.1. I.k. e.p.r., t.o.g. s.r.n.e. 
.11. G.o. in.1.t.l.e. .n.q.u. w.r, 
g37“ Answer in two weeks. 
Enigma 
PUZZLE.-No. 1 
1 have six letters: a vowel Is three of them ; 
two of them tho Roman method of notation, in 
value 55; the remaining letter Is an abbreviation 
of one of tho points of the compass. My whole is 
employed in enumeration. Alphemi. 
J 3 £T’ Answer in two weeks. 
From an Industrious School-Girl. 
Mr. Moore :—As it is quite snowy to-day, and 
I cannot get to school, thought I would write a 
letter for tho boys and girls’ corner in your dear 
paper. I go to school, and have to walk two 
miles and take my dinner. I am only eleven 
years old. I study geography, arithmetic, spell¬ 
ing, and grammar. I cannot go to school Mon¬ 
day, for that. Is wash-day, and I havo to stay 
homo and help mamma. I always feed the pigs 
when papa goes to town. I havo got blue eyes 
and black hair. It is snowing very hard: if it 
keeps on it will bo good sleighing for Christmas. 
We did not have any turkey for Thanksgiving, 
ANAGRAM. No. 1 
Ewnh sitghn ’tond og ot tuis oyu, 
Dnahet lorwd moses duseip nowd. 
Nodt sweat rouy mite ni tlgertfn, 
Tub verdi wyaa htta wrnof. J 
X?'r Answer in two weeks. 
