SNOW-BALL BLOSSOMS. 
BY ALIQUA. 
Ball-like blossoms white ns snow 
In the warm ruin bending low, 
Touching faces to the Krnss, 
Trembling us the breezes pass. 
Slinking out a shower of drops, 
Catching others from the tops 
Of the maples green above,— 
(Jld-tlinc blossoms that 1 love. 
For they bring me tender thought 
Of the change the years have wrought, 
Much of light and touch of gloom, 
Since I noted first their bloom ; 
Aged heads have worn tho crown 
Of gray hair and laid it down 
At (tenth's call, and still each year 
Fresh and pure tho flowers appoar. 
Manly hands In maiden's hair 
Placed them with a lover’s cure, 
And the bending blossoms heard 
Knob low-spoken tender word; 
Little lingers plucked their hloom. 
And were folded for the toinh 
With the waxen flowers between,— 
Purest hands were over seen. 
In the homestead yard I know 
Still the blossoms toss their snow 
Near the roses’ pink and gold, 
As they did in springs of old ; 
A nd as those bend in the rain 
Sighing to the wind’s refrain, 
Cornea a longing aad and deep 
For the loved ones long asleep. 
THE VEXING QUESTION. 
BY ROSE GERANIUM. 
If I wore to give my opinion of why there are 
so few hcnltby-looklug farmers' wives, I would 
explain. In a general way, that It is because In 
their bodies, ns in all others, t he seeds of deat h 
are sown and germinating. T>. bo more partic¬ 
ular, I think much of their ill health is owing 
to ah imperfect knowledge of its primary law*, 
to neglects, risks, and, above all, to mimla un¬ 
easy and devoid of rest. 
Yet I am not assured that, as a class, their 
health is inferior to others. My observation 
teaches me rather to the contrary; and going 
from palace to hovel, both in country and in 
town, I think we shall be compelled to give 
a verdict in favor of the former. Nor have I 
any proof that their life Is more wearing than 
any other—certainly not upon the mind. If we 
may judge from t he reports of asylums for the 
insane. 
It is very sad to feel that some painful pic¬ 
tures of woman-life, drawn by several writers 
in the ItURAT, New - York eh, are not over¬ 
wrought. Some appeals there arc which touch 
the sympathy, as that alone can which Hows 
from a heart sickening and sinking under bur¬ 
dens too greivous to lie borne, and yet bound to 
life by ties which love will not sillier to bo bro¬ 
ken. Yet the dreariest of these lives is not 
utterly desolate, and there is in the soul's bleak¬ 
est winter some little nook left whore a ray of 
sunshine may steal in and rest. It is perfectly 
surprising that, lighted as we arc by GOD'S uni¬ 
verse of celestial glories, hemmed in by the 
evidences of Ills goodness and love for us, we 
still find so much time to be miserable, so little 
to enjoy, and know more of everything else than 
the ethics of true happiness, 'flic world is as 
full of wretchedness as it, might lm of bliss and 
restfulness, could wo but persistently train our 
minds and hearts to better views. 
I do not urge that woman’s trials are magni¬ 
fied, but that there are things to divert her from 
a contemplation of them, which gnaws like a 
canker at the foundation of her life and happi¬ 
ness. The work of a farm-house is unquestion¬ 
ably hard, but no more so than tho same amount 
of any other kind, it is folly to suppose that 
labor can be less than labor, and certainly t hat 
which tries the brain is, of all, the heaviest. 1 
freely admit the heavy mental taxation that 
frets the wife and mother upon a farm, yet dis¬ 
claim its being the most exhaustive kind. As a 
matter of interest, and prosperity, it is necessary 
—but it is not vital, in all the earth there Is 
nothing so benevolent as the broad fields of 
waving grain,the grassy hillsides Which hard¬ 
working, tired women almost believe they hate. 
The busy brain-toiler, the artisan, the unfortu¬ 
nate mechanic, may knock in despair and drop 
stone dead at the door of tile world’s hecdloss 
heart, but earth never refuses her meed or turns 
an honest toiler away hungry. Ah! mothers, 
do you forget that your very motherhood in¬ 
voice* sacrifice'/ and though you go late to your 
rest, you can go with the consciousness that 
all your dear ones are safely housed from tho 
temptations and pit falls of city life, and no late 
hours for them, or doubtful companionships, 
will leave their traces upon the fair-hrowed 
girls and beardless boys who will come clamor¬ 
ous for l.hcir early meal. And remembor that 
many hand am aching because they uro empty 
of tasks that will bring even food. 
I regret that there is so much urged against, 
and so little in favor of, life in the country, and 
especially among farmers. All my visions of a 
home, and rny Ideas of earthly happiness, cen¬ 
ters in a home lit the country. Surely it holds 
much to be desired and envied. I think there 
is a chance for purity here, for mental and soul- 
culture, for freedom from contaminating vices 
to be found nowhere else. 
And there are abundant opportunities for 
happiness. When necessity intervenes between 
ns and leisurely pursuits of pleasure, our very 
toils should become a bond of strong sympathy 
and affection: our mutual sacrifices should bo 
made in that spirit which knits loving hearts 
closer together. 0, why is it that these beauti¬ 
ful pictures should exist only at the touch of 
the pencil or in the imagination of the poet? 
Why is it that t he one unalloyed source of hap¬ 
piness vouchsafed to mortals should be so sel¬ 
dom realized ? 
Chafing under regrets and disappointments, 
and as blind to the source of their misery as 
the means of its cure, too many wives sink into 
sullen despair, or heap wholesale reproaches 
upon their husbands. Ah! my dear madam, 
he is truly your disposer, but If h"e Is the author 
of all your woes it is not altogether his fault. T 
think you may safely blame your nbtlher-in- 
law (for somebody mmt be blamed,) with one- 
fourth of your trials. If you could unveil the 
past you might behold many a pleasant picture 
of ayoung mother smilingly lil ting the faintest 
shadow of a burden from the hands of her baby- 
boy ; you would sec how she gathers up neg¬ 
lected garments and scattered playthings in the 
’evenings because her child, worn out with play, 
had sought his pillow and left them in disorder; 
how, at breakfast, rather than have t he sound 
of untaught feet, ring across tho floor and waken 
baby,she would rise from I In.* (able and go, her¬ 
self, to the kitchen for some missing knife or 
Cup ; how, when the little sun-burned boy had 
to go out willi father to the fields (and that was 
hard), mother’s hands gathered the chips, car¬ 
ried the wood and fed the poultry, because the 
poor little fellow would come in so tired; yes, 
and the bowl must bo filled with water for his 
hasty bath, and a trip must be made for the 
fresh towel. Then, as this same boy grew into a 
broad-browed, studious young man, the mother, 
who was so vain of his intellect, would give up 
her evening reading, and amusu the younger 
children in the dining-room, that hi' might 
have the pleasanter family room for study. He 
did not like all this at first, aiul repeatedly op¬ 
posed it, but mother “would Justus lief,” and 
so by degrees he came to regard it, and all his 
favorite ways, necessities. He was not very 
well taught in tho theory of making sacrifices 
for love's sake. And perhaps some one whoso 
eyes fall upon this page might find similar cases 
wonderfully near them. I f they would that the 
path of others be made smoother, there is much 
and in many ways they cun help to fashion it. 
A.nothcr and vital reason why domestic life Is 
unsatisfactory is because of dispositions wholly 
unsultod to each other. So many maidens do 
not think, nor have they hem taught to think , 
whether tho merry, good-humored and hand¬ 
some companion who wins their admiration is 
of a nature to command also tholrreaped, for 
upon this basis alone can permanent happiness 
rest. Nor does the girl, whose Ideal position 
baa always been that of a professional man’s 
wife, and a lender in gay society, stop to count, 
tho cost when she falls in love and marries the 
fine-looking young farmer. Possibly there may 
be left enough common ground for tolerable 
loving, but in nine chances out of ten she will 
awaken, among soiled dairy fixtures, neglected 
poultry, weedy flower-beds and general disor¬ 
der, to the painful consciousness that she has 
gotten nut of her sphere. Talk about “suffer¬ 
ing in silence !'* J i is the last thing she thinks 
about; and who remembers, while they catch 
the Chance expression of dissatisfaction, or read 
the wonderful volumes unfolded in bloiuulcHs 
face and lijslerless eye, that there is anyone 
else who carries an aching heart, and hides his 
nameless regrets under coldness or stoioal in¬ 
difference? Nobody presses hi* hand with warm 
touches, or looks that, pity, which is so grateful 
a boon to the sorrowful heart. And, too often, 
no one who is able steps in, while there is time, 
and teaches these two unsatisfied hearts the 
depth and measure of their distance from each 
other, or the yielding* and efforts which might, 
bridge over the chasm and reconcile them in 
their differences. And so, gradually weakening 
in sympathy for each other’s griefs and in char¬ 
ity for errors, the paths,which should have been 
one broad flowery one, diverge, and there seems 
nothing left but to settle down to “sober liv¬ 
ing," and a confirmed skepticism with regard 
to everything like connubial happiness. 
-*--*-♦- 
ABOUT BEAUTY. 
F. B, Perkins says in Old and New “ Beauty 
of feature is almost common in America; re¬ 
finement and intelligence of feature are abso¬ 
lutely so. Bui gracefulness is very rare. With 
men -why, the idea is superfluous; no matter 
about it either way. But among women, whose 
business Is beauty, a man who knows say a hun¬ 
dred ladies well enough to recollect distinctly 
the traits and manner of oaoli, can perhaps 
select one, possibly two, but very likely none, 
who possess that supreme and divine grace of 
beautiful motion. Even to lie able to recognize 
and admire it if not due to unusual keenness of 
perception, is in itself an elegant culture. 
What most people call beauty is of the form 
and color of the face only. The person of a 
woman is most often taken for granted, or ig¬ 
nored. Hut there may be real beauty—which, 
by the way, U of the whole person, from the 
crown of the head to the tips of the toes with¬ 
out gracefulness. What does give gracefulness 
—beauty of motion—is unknown. It is some¬ 
thing of the body, and also something of the 
soul.” 
Heading for the fgmtng. 
THE CHIPPIES AND THEIR NEST. 
Tite chippies had built n dried-grass house 
Under tho thickest, greenest boughs; 
Not a single window was In the watt, 
Nor any door, nor any roof at at^ 
The place for the skylight was the door, 
And n soft, soft carpet lined the floor. 
They were plain and homo-spun little folks 
None of those gaudy liats and cloaks 
Such as the dandy orioles wear, 
Whether tile weather he dull o,* fair, 
Nor even us much as a crlmswn vest, 
Snch us covers the robin’s breast. 
Mrs. Chippie wore mostly brown, 
From tiny cjaw-gloves to shawl and gown ; 
Anil Mr. Chippie was plain. Indeed, 
In a dingy, well-worn suit of tweed; 
But the oddest of all was their family, 
Nothing hut brown eggs, one, two, three ! 
Gold-looks thought It was very queer 
Why Mrs. Chippie should disappear 
Whenever she peeped through tho cedar boughs 
To look at the cunning dried-grass house, 
And count through Its open sky-light door 
Little brown eggs, one, two, three four! 
Site studies within her eurnful brain 
What they would do If it should rain; 
And at, night, whenever she thought of it, 
She looked to see if their lamp was lit; 
Always so wrapped in mystery 
Were the little folks m the willow tree 1 
But now is the funniest tiling of all. 
And Gold-locks laughs until tears fall : 
Four baby birds are in the nest— 
Big, homely, and not half dressed ; 
You would think —they open their mouths so 
wide— 
They could swallow each other If they tried. 
Wliat do you think bird babies eat ? 
Nothing so very nice or sweet. 
Their mother brings them for cakes and pies 
Little green worms, and hugs, and flies; 
And when they are grown up, I suppose, 
She will dress them all In plain, brown clothes. 
STARTING TO SCHOOL. 
Out of thesliimlu'r-lniid and the snowy pillow 
rufiles two little eyes are kissed opon an hour 
earlier than usual to get themselves ready for 
school. 
Oh! tlicro arc “ lmrrylngs to and fro ” and 
stumblings on the stairs and nervousness of lit¬ 
tle lingers and larger ones; excited Joy in live- 
year old's eyes and a shade of half-regret in 
mamma's; one more ration of pickle, jolly-cuke 
and bread-and-butter in the dinnor, and a 
primer with damaged picture alphabet In the 
satchel. 
A. tiny handkerchief lias to bo marked with 
the important owner’s name, a wee apron must, 
wait l'or its ruffles ami then- the school ma'am 
and the brunette maiden pass out at the front 
gate I 
Mamma swallows something that has sudden¬ 
ly grown in her throat and is astonished at the 
mist that, comes between her and the wealth of 
wavy brown hair, that, glitters like silk in the 
sunshine. Then something drops on tier cheek 
and hand and—Its no use! Mamma is crying 
some tears, presently she smiles a little, weeps 
Some more and then, remembering that this is 
only a repetition of what every mother has to 
endure, she tarns with a little show of bravery 
to her work, pausing to press the mold around 
the stem of the pot rose and notice It has anoth¬ 
er bud, and tiu'ii going back to catch another 
glimpse of the scarlet and white dot moving 
around the bond half a mile away. 
Grandma comes out of her room saying “how 
still it is;” for mamma has not sung a bit all 
morning and well, grandma sees how it is and 
sighs and smiles, remembering things that hap¬ 
pened at least twenty years ago. n. o. 
-♦♦♦- 
WOODCHUCK SKINS. 
I notice in a late nilmber of the Rural New- 
Yorker that Willie A. H. has a woodchuck’s 
hide and wants to know if it is good for any¬ 
thing. W ill! k probably has heard of making 
whip-lashes of the tanned skins. Tho tanning 
is done by putting the hide, stretched out, In 
fresli ashes, kept wet until the hair comes off 
and then placing it in soft-soap for a week or 
two. After this it must lie well washed and 
stretched on a board to dry. It Is (hushed by 
being rubbed In the hands until quite soft. If 
Willie wishes to experiment a little he can try 
fresh lime for inking off the hair, (anything that 
removes hair in this way is called a depilatory , 
and lime is tiie heat depilatory known) and when 
he Inis taken the skin from the soap, let him 
was 11 it clean and scrape off all the roughness 
and pieces of flesh and hang it up in the smoke¬ 
house while the hams are being smoked. I 
shouldn't wonder ir lie hud something very like 
buckskin, when it Is done, for, in old times, 
Indian buckskin, the best over made, used to 
be smoked in a wigwam provided for tho pur¬ 
pose. And while 1 am talking about this wood¬ 
chuck skin, let me tell a story that 1 read when 
l was no larger than Willie is now, and which 
shows how a little knowledge will sometimes 
go a good ways and share a great deal of trouble. 
Many years ago, when our soldiers were down 
in Florida fighting the Sqminoies in the Ever¬ 
glades, a little garrison ol' them got out of buck_ 
skin which they needed to make moccasins and 
leggins of. But the officer in command know 
that the Indians made it by removing the hair 
from l lie fur skin wit h wet ashes, then soaking 
It in the brains of the doer, which they always 
carefully kept for the purpose, ami finally 
smoking it. lie had plenty of deer pelts, but 
the season for killing tho animals was past uud 
tie could not, of course, get the material for 
tanning. Hut lie reasoned I hat soft -soap, would 
soften t he fibers just as well as the brains and 
so tried it. As a consequence tho soldiers had 
plenty of first-rate buckskin all through the 
rainy season when it eame. arid their shoes and 
leggins were as good as old Osceola, who was 
Chief of the Indians in that war, had for him¬ 
self. Uncle Oatstraw. 
-«-*-♦- 
HOW OTHER BABIES LIVE. 
The dark-skinned ladies of Guinea, plant, 
their babies like rose bushes; a Unln Is dug In 
the ground, and tho baby packed In with warm 
sand, lie stays there all day, thinking, no 
doubt, like many older babies, wluit lie will do 
when he gets to be a man, and at nightfall Is 
dug out like a potato. When he ts dressed for 
company lie is clad in stripes and ornamented 
with dozens of brass bracelets and Hugs on hi* 
arms and legs. The Lapland baby lies in a shoe 
and the shoe is mndo of reindeer skin, like a 
slipper turned up at the ends, and stuffed with 
moss. Tho little Lap is hung upon a tree, and 
may be mistaken for a squirrel. A nothin* baby, 
a sober, black-eyed baby, who lives lu tho frozen 
regions of the Esquimaux, is cuddled up in a 
fur bag at his mother's buck, and wea rs a furoap 
upon Ids head. W'e all know about the Indian 
babies, packed up In a rude box like a mummy. 
The Russian mother cradles her child upon a 
square board hung from each corner by airings. 
In India, babies are carried in baskets on the 
mother's head. They are dressed in jewels, 
armlets, bracelets, anklets, flnger-rlngs, toe- 
rings, ear-rings, and nose-rings. Who wouldn’t 
be a baby? China babies (not dolls) arc carried 
about on the buck liken, sack of Hour. Many 
poor Chinese live In boats, and the child Is t ied 
by a rope to tho must, with a sufficient amount 
of tether to proven! him from fulling overboard. 
American babies have much to lie thankful for, 
and yet the statistics show that, they cry more 
than those packed In sand and moss. Let some 
follow Invent a patent packing machine, a mix¬ 
ture of a baby-jumper and 1 lie syrup of Mrs. 
Winslow. His iiatr.e would be handed down 
with gratitude to babies yet unborn. 
if fhtxdcr. 
PROBLEM.-No. 2. 
The three perpendiculars of a triangle when 
produced intersect each other at a point with¬ 
out the triangle, situated 30, H) and 50 rods 
respectively from Its several angles. Required, 
tiie sides of t.tn> triangle. 
A P=50 rods ; B P*=80 rods; C P =40 rods. 
B. F. Burleson. 
XST' Answer in two weeks, 
MISCELLANEOUS ENIGMA.—No. 2. 
I am composed of 86 letters: 
My 11, fi, 33, 33 is an herb. 
My 9,14,19, fl, 30 means sour, bitter. 
My lfi, 17, 10, 30 means loving. 
My K, 30, 13,15, 3, li) was a British admiral. 
My 3, 34, 7, 20 was n» English poet of note. 
My 4, lu, 30,3, 23 means beneath. 
My 13, 3,1, 5, 35 Is a famous volcano. 
My IS, 9, 19, 1 is a vehicle. 
My l, 4, 23, 33, 17, 25 was the wtfn of Tarquin. 
My 33,13, 33, 30 is one of Byron’s productions. 
My 32, 31, I. 1 , 33, 3, 8 , 3, 33, 33 is Dickens' best 
character. 
My whole Is a celebrated railroad. 
Marian Harris. 
Answer In two weeks. 
- »«♦ 
WORD-PUZZLE.—No. 1. 
I AM a word that signifies disaster or loss and 
contain nine letters. 1 also contain an instru¬ 
ment of corre Ion, a measure, a company, four 
personal pronouns, part of the body, a word 
signifying bribe, a cheerful noise, a desire, a 
small bundle, sagacious, to cleanse, to exhibit, 
an article of food, to Join, to penetrate, to 
scorch, to hazard, to move nimbly, a cry of 
anguish, a bird, a fish, and a small piece. There 
are no two letters alike in the word, and no let¬ 
ter repeated in either word. Della. 
%3T Answer in two weeks. 
