being! I thought that soul and brain were 
dead ; hut sweet Nature says, “ She is not dead, 
but sleepethand she lifts the weary being, 
and breathes in the breath of life and gives it 
nourishment. 
—these have outlived the frosts, the'number¬ 
less onslaughts of the pigs and the trampling 
of horses ami rattle. Also she bows balsams 
sometimes, and these the hens generally scratch 
out and destroy. 1 remember the time when 
she was ambitious to lmve a fair show of an¬ 
nuals. but “it's no use," she says, despond¬ 
ently. Herself a thrifty, stirring woman al¬ 
most the opposite of her husband one would 
suppose there would bo a continual clashing 
between the two. Mho a wise woman, how¬ 
ever, she has accommodated herself to existing 
President Grant was poor bofore the war. 
a careful husbandry of his salary, and througfc 
I hc generous gifts of friends before he became 
I’resident, his fortune is a handsome compe¬ 
tence. 
— -- -- 
STUDIES AT AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES. 
AOCOHOINO t( 
annual meeting of th__ 
Illinois Agricultural College, it a.. - 
entire number or students during*!.! 
has been -118 ‘ . „_ 
'I'heao students represent eight 
following table, which 
ONE OF MY COUNTRY FRIENDS 
BY EMMA BUKT 
None of Mr. Ci.ay’m neighbors would think 
of calling him a “ forehanded man," for some¬ 
how lie hasn't the faculty of gottlng along. He 
did speculate in lumber last, winter, and for 
Thebe is a sort of pleasant freedom in feeling 
that nothing is expected of one. This world is 
so Argus-eyed ! And it is well, as otherwise, it 
could never scan as it does the movements of 
every person, and enter its protest if one able 
body step- out of the ranks of labor. Maybe It 
is well we havo so stern a monitor, or those who 
have no strong motive for exertion, and arc 
lazily or dreamily inclined, might finally sink 
into apathy «*r weak sentimentality. 
Yet, as you say, many do labor from principle 
or duty, fooling that. a. Higher Eye than that or 
the world is upon them; hut with the most of 
persons, we must confess, the pressure of sur¬ 
rounding humanity is more effectual. Public 
opinion isos powerful n motive to self-indul¬ 
gence. After nil, in many cases, the “voice of 
the people Is the voice of God," and It should 
be obeyed. We are such dependent creatures! 
The strongest cannot dispense with human aid ; 
and bo he rich or poor, he can never rid himself 
of debt. Sorno have tin- absurd notion t hat the 
affluent are Tree from labor and real care. How 
little such persons consider that the higher 
the position, the more complex tin- cares and 
the greater the supervision ir that position is 
well sustained. How little does the farmer’s 
wife realize, when she scornfully speaks of the 
daintiness and indolence of her city cousin, 
how infinitely more difficult than her own are 
the duties of that cousin. The farmer’s meals 
arc extremely simple ; her meals are In her own 
cellar and garden. She has few callers to re¬ 
ceive, and those do not drop in mornings, but 
in the long afternoons, when she is sitting at 
her sowing, and they can chat and work without 
ceremony. The children become restive, and 
she sends them to the field, berrying, to expend 
their redundant vitality. She docs exhaustive 
labor, you say. 81m employs no nurse for her 
children; she has no resting point from spring 
to winter—it la nurae, and sew, and cook, and 
care for butter. Poor soul I this la too true. 
Ilut docs bIio not love these children, and thus 
perform a labor of Jove? And docs she not 
bring them closer to her by having the personal 
care of them? No nurse to Instil the first les¬ 
sons into the tender souls. Him labors hard, no 
doubt, hut over with the Sunny hope that they 
will grow up in purity and Integrity, and that 
labor will also develop in them sinew and power 
of endurance and power of will through ever 
> reports made at Hie recent 
c Board »f Trustees of t ho 
t appears that the 
„ . lie past year 
; of which sixty-throe are females. 
- „ Jy counties. The 
wo find In I he Prairie 
r armor, shows the leading studios to which the 
farmers’ sons and daughters of I hat agricultural 
Slate have devoted their lime during the past 
year. Tim figures denote the number that at¬ 
tended to the respective studies : 
Kntonudng v V Physiology . *19 
l,t 0 rt 11 'n 111 ii-c'iiriiVi ,; ruUGr 0 iv’liig. . .m 
Zoology. " . i!,’ 
Geology.......W". 5',’ 
Anatomy and Physiology......."'.. 7 ] 
Gliennstry. .. , . 
Mineralogy. . 
Chemical PhvalrH. , ?? 
Agricultural Chemistry..,, " "]. !u 
Technical Chemistry. .a 
l.aboralory .. JJ 
Natural Plillnxuphy nml Physics’,',’'. 
Practical ami Theoretical Agriculture!;;”.’. : 
V uteri nary Science. a 
Miitheuuitics.. .. 
English Language uinl Literature ... .• ■ 
Gorman Language and t.ltcrature.!.mi 
•flench Lnngungeand l iterature..,, m 
AHchmt hanauagnami Literature. 
Mechanical Engineering. 'r,a 
Drawing.. .,5 
Book-keeping. ;. Lo 
Military Tactics..’".".'.’."I*.’””! 94 
.All able-bodied male students aro instructed 
in the University Battalion. The roll contains 
353 names. 
REMARKABLE TELEGRAPHIC FEAT 
UCJ i cut Mm 1 olographic wiroa, took tbolr ends 
into a car where they would he sufficiently 
warmed to admit of being readily handled, and 
by sticking the ends together was able to “call” 
1 ho operator at one of the principal stations on 
the road, lie then sent the following mes¬ 
sage " Trouble. Answer slowly. Iain work¬ 
ing without nn Instrument; I will receive your 
answer through my tongue.” 
Captain H. received the answer by putting 
one end of the wire abovo and I ho other under 
Ids tongue, and lott ing the elect rio current pass 
through it, when lie was able to road by the 
succession of sharp and somewhat painful elec¬ 
trical slmcks. ilis success was perfect, ami he 
not only sent and received messages for the 
conductor, but, for several of the passenger*. 
The only ill consequences of tho exploit was 
tim total loss of taste which Captain II. Buffered 
for several days afterwards. 
HINTS TO WRITERS, 
1. Be brief. r I ids is the age of tolographs and 
stenography. 
3. He pointed. Don’t write all round a sub¬ 
ject without hitting it. 
3. State facts, but don’t stop to moralize—its 
drowsy business. Lot the reader do his own 
dreaming. 
1. Eschew prefaces. Plunge at once Into your 
subject, like a swimmer into cold water. 
5. Condense. Make sure that you really have 
an idea, and then record it in the shortest possi¬ 
ble terms. We want thoughts In their quint¬ 
essence. 
0. Avoid all high flown language 
Anglo-Saxon words are the best, 
stills when legs will do just, its well. 
7. Write legibly. Don't let your _ 
look like the tracks of a spider half drowned In 
mk. We shan’t mistake any one for a genius 
though he write as crabbedly as Napoleon. 
THE FORTUNES OF OUR PRESIDENTS, 
the plain 
Never use 
Washington left an estate worth nearly 
1300,000. 
Tho oliler Adams loft a moderate fortune at 
his death. 
Jefferson died comparatively poor, if Con¬ 
gress )iad not purchased Ills library at a price 
far above its value (130,000), lie would with diffi¬ 
culty have kept out of bankruptcy at the close 
of his life. 
Madison saved his money and was compara¬ 
tively rich. The fortune or his widow in¬ 
creased by the purchase of his manuscript pa¬ 
per by Congress for $30,000. 
James Monroe, the sixth President, died so 
poor that, lie was buried at. tho expense of his 
relatives, in a cemetery between Second and 
Third streets, near the Bowery, in New York 
City. 
John Quincy Adams left about $50,000, the 
result of Industry, prudence, and a small Inher¬ 
itance. Ho was methodical and economical. 
Andrew Jackson left a valuable estate known 
as tho Hermitage, about twelvo miles from 
Nashville, Tennessee. 
Martin V an Buren died rich. His estate was 
estimated at nearly $300,000. 
James K. Polk loft about $150,000. 
John Tyler was a bankrupt when he became 
President. He husbanded his means while in 
office, married a rich wife, and died wealthy in 
worldly fortune. 
Zachary Taylor loft about $50,000. 
Millard Fillmore is a wealthy man. 
FrankUn Pierce saved $50,000 during his term 
of service as President . 
James Buchanan died a bachelor, and left an 
estate valued at $300,000 at tho least. 
Abraham Lincoln left about $75,000. 
Johnson is said to be worth about $50,000. 
A GOOD TOAST 
FIehe is a Quaker toast that lms a thought in 
i i» ■ 
“Tills is me and mine to theo and thine. I 
wish when thou and thine come to boo mo and 
mine, that me and mine will treat thee and 
thine 11 a kindly as theo and thino have treated 
me and mine.” 
This is a new version of the old complaint, 
which runs something after this wise: 
“ 1 wish ..and thy folk* loved me and my 
folks ns well as me and my folks love thee and 
thy folks. For sure, there never was folks, since 
folks was folks, that ever lover] folks half so 
well as me and my folks love thoe and thv 
folks.” 
RELATIVE LONGEVITY OF THE SEXES 
1 he Ulirenologicai Journal says:—There ore 
more males than females born by 1 per cent. 
At tlio ago of 3fi there are more females than 
males. At the age of -10 tho preponderance Is 
again on the other side, and there are more 
males than females. At 711 the sexes are again 
even. Between 70 and 100 years there are more 
women than men, or an excess of 5 per cent. 
1 ho mortality of woman is greatest between the 
ages of 30 ami 40. After 10 years of ago tho 
probabilities of longevity, as is shown, are fat- 
greater for females than for males. 
