foiitfolta. 
NO TIME LIKE THE OLD TIME. 
There Is no time like the old time, when you nnd I 
were young. 
When the buds of April blossomed, and the birds of 
Spring-time sang! 
The garden’s brightest glories by Summer suns are 
nursed : 
But oh, the sweet, sweet violets, the flowers that 
opened first. 
There is no place like the old place, where you and 1 
were born. 
Where we lifted first our eyelids on the splendor of 
the morn. 
From the milk-white breast that warmed us, from 
the clinging arms that bore. 
Where the dear eye glittered o’er us that will look 
on us no more! 
There is no love like the old love, that we courted in 
our pride. 
Though our leaves are falling, falling, and we’re 
falling side by side. 
There are blossoms all around us with the colors of 
our dawn. 
And we live In borrowed sunshine when the light of 
day Is gone. 
There are no times like the old.'times—they shall 
never be forgot ? 
There is no place like the old place-keep green the 
dear old spot 1 
There are no friends like the old friends —may 
Heaven prolong their lives ! 
There are no loves like the old loves—God bless our 
loving wives! 
[ 0 . W. Holmes. 
—--- 4~*-4 - 
A SOUTHERN PLANTATION HOME. 
Editors Rural:— A year or so ago you wrote 
n touching description of your visit, to your old 
Homestead, I have recently visited the home 
of my girlhood, and the sad changes which were 
to bo seen on every sWo grieved me exceeding¬ 
ly. It was once a home of comfort and hospi¬ 
tality: the large, airy rooms resounded with 
music, and the merry laugh of the young peo¬ 
ple who loved to assemble there. But now its 
empty avails echo back our call; no honored pa¬ 
rents there to greet us with a loving kiss, no 
dear brothers and sisters to bid ua welcome; 
all are gone to dwell In distant parts of the 
piate, and this beautiful home Is left unoc¬ 
cupied. 
In the prosperous days of old, tills was our 
winter home. Near neighbors lived on every 
side, and many were, the social gatherings and 
merrv-makings during the long winter nights. 
For live months in summer all of the families 
moved to a village, four miles distant, located 
In an extensive pine forest. This waa for the 
sake of health, the rich plantations being un¬ 
healthy during the warm months. The daily 
drives to and from the village were esteemed a 
pleasure, the roads being level and always kept 
In good order. Weil do f remember with how 
the lack of exercise and the life in-doors, which 
is compelled by a wiuter lasting seven or eight 
months. They suggest the Idea of odalisques, 
whom the genius or the North koeps conllned 
In the tropical atmosphere of a hot-house. 
They have complexions of cold cream and 
snow, with tints of the heart of a camellia—like 
those over-veilod women of the seraglio, whose 
skin the sunlight has not touched. By this ex¬ 
treme fairness their delicate features are ren¬ 
dered even more delicate, and the softened out¬ 
lines form faces of hyperborean sweet ness and 
polar grace. The Russian women, in society, 
seem to make less display than the men, as the 
uniforms and court costumes of the latter glit¬ 
ter with gold lace and embroidery, and with 
jeweled decorations. Yet the simple robes of 
the ladies are composed of the costliest fabrics, 
fastened with the rarest gems; and their daz¬ 
zling skins, and flashing diamonds, and gleam¬ 
ing pearls, nnd flowing draperies, match in effect 
the heavier splendor of the masculine attire. 
Their “ simplicity pays homage to the empress, 
who prefers olegane- to ostentation; but ton 
may be sure mammon loses nothing by it. Like 
their sex everywhere—they know how to make 
gauze more costly than gold.” 
---- 
USEFUL WEDDING PRESENTS. 
A YOUNG lady of Ballarat, F,ng., about con¬ 
templating matrimony,was asked by her friends 
wliat kind of wedding presents she would like, 
and replied that she would prefer useful to 
ornamental ones. Her wedding Journey con¬ 
sisted in going from the house of her parents 
to a cottage in the vicinity, and upon arriving 
there she found a barrel of Hour, a Jar of but¬ 
ter, a complete set of cooking utensils, a plecs 
of merino, a set of crockery ware, knives, forks, 
spoons and glassware, enough household groce¬ 
ries to last six months, and on her table a re¬ 
ceipt for the pro] ayment of n year’s rent for 
the cottage, with two JE10 notes pinned to a 
paper, on which was written, “To purchase 
something useful." Was not ' ois the right kind 
of utilitarianism for a young couple of limited 
means, about starting out npon their matrimo¬ 
nial career, and was it not more beautiful than 
duplicate plated flsh-knlveB, and other trash 
usually giveu upon like occasions? 
.- 4 - 4-4 - 
ELEVATING EFFECTS OF BEAUTY. 
All our moral feelings are so Interwoven 
with our Intellectual powers that we cannot 
affect the one without in some degree address¬ 
ing the other; and In all high Ideas or beauty 
it Is more than prohahlo that much of the pleas¬ 
ure depends on delicate and untraeeahle per¬ 
cept ions of fitness propriety and relat ion,which 
are purely intellectual, and through which wo 
arrive at our noblest Ideas of what Is commonly 
and rightly called Intellectual beauty. Ideas 
of beauty are among the noblest which can be 
presented to the mind. Invariably exalting and 
purifying it according to their degree. And if, 
would appear that we are intended by the Deity 
Reading for tltq igmtttg. 
POOR MAGGIE’S VALENTINE. 
Poor and hungry, pale and sad, 
With not much to make her glad, 
Oat at elbows, out lit towr. 
See poor Maggie, mere she goes! 
On her thin cheek mounts a flush, 
Really gulte a pretty blush. 
While with Joy her dark eyes shine - 
Maggie’s got a Valentine ! 
Tim. the newsboy, from Hie store. 
Bought, and left It at her door: 
From iiis pennies sparing ten. 
Busiest of little men ; 
All her poor, sad heart to cheer! 
Calling her my “ love ” and •* dear 
Asking her. In verse so fine. 
“ Will you be my Valentino?” 
Maggie, used to many woes. 
Cruel words, mid rruel blows. 
Scarcely, In her sad young life. 
Knowing anything but strife, 
Luck of warmth end luck of food, 
Wonders who could he so good. 
As to think, and print It too. 
” Pinks are pretty, and so arc you.” 
-♦♦♦- 
OUR LITTLE BENNIE. 
BY .10Y ALLISON. 
much delight we returned, the last of October, to bo constantly under their Influence, because 
to our plantation home. Tho barns were ai- I there la not one single object In nature which 
ways filled with corn ; tho large stacks of rice Is not capable of conveying them, and which to 
promised an abundant yield. The cotton house the rightly-perceiving mind does not present 
was full, and the busy hum of the gin was an Incalculably greater number of beautiful 
heard throughout the day. The sugar-cane than of deformed parts.— Ru«kt,n. 
was cut and ready for tho mill; potatoes were--- 
abundant, and banked for the winter’s use. j WOMEN PERSONALS. 
Milk and butter, hogs, poultry,—In fact every- - 
thing which made life conifortable'and happy Mary Clemmer Ames says Speaker Blaine Is 
abounded on tho plantation. brilliant; Mrs. Blaine Impressive. 
The elegant flower garden, filled with choice Queen Victoria won the first prize for pigs 
and rare plants, was to us also a source of un- a t a recent cattle show In London, 
ending pleasure. O ver sixty Camellia Japonioa MRS. Ai.mena II. Bass has been appointed 
bushes grew within its ample bounds, and postmistress at East Aowort.h, N. H. 
yielded ns elegant flowers through the entire Wood, the actress, 
winter months. The dri clousi W* Olive _per- to , man named Stephen Fisk, 
fumed the balmy air dally, and Rosos often a A . _ 
greeted u» at our Christmas festivals. The Miss Gertrude Pillow, daughter of Gen. 
handsome Tea hushes were Oiled with their Pillow, has shot a bear near Old Town Landing, 
pretty white flowers, lasting for two months or Ark. 
more, and choice bulbs bloomed on every side. Kate Kino is the Washington correspondent 
But, oh, the sad. sad change which greeted of the Cleveland Leader. Her letters are about 
my eyes! The unoccupied house, the empty “medium.” 
barns, the neglected fields, tho still beautiful Mrs. Lown 
garden almost a wilderness. The handsome Frankltn Sr. 
shrubhery has grown so large that the brandies congregation 
Intermingle and are about to fill up the walks. Mrs. Bry.i 
Roses were growing In wild luxuriance, and mlums, arno 
honeysuckles, woodbines, Ivies and so on In the Fairs Iasi 
profusion around. Although neglected and rj, J1F w) |j 0 
unseen, except by an occasional visitor, still make ' 8 lhQ r 
the flowers were blooming as beautifully as In ^ bRf , )n 
days gone by. Camellias from ten to twelve 1 
feet high were covered with their magnificent I ( ‘ lB5 ‘ t”. , 
blooms: Azaleas forming bushes five feet In " Aunt, Ltzzl 
diameter were loaded with buds ready to ex- Rensselaer Z 
pand heneath the April sun ; Chinese Toa plants Rev. Pheb 
In great profusion everywhere, large enough to ridgoand Re 
yield Itsdellclous beverage in the spring; large ly lecturing i 
Pecan trees, yteldlner several bushel* of their Every da 
i-1 :h nuts,scarcely enjoyed, save bv thesqutrrels knows how 
which merrily leaped from branch to branch. shows that 
I turned from this once cherished home with sound sense, 
weeping eyes. It may be the last time 1 will The annu; 
ever visit, the scenes of my childhood, for these League Clul 
beautiful homes are passing Into the hands of evening of . 
strangers. Alas, debt and poverty are dreadful casion. 
tyrants! Mrs. R. J. Screven. ry HE Rev ] 
McIntosh, Liberty Co., Ga., De«. 28,1874. aa chaplain i 
•-4-*-*- the first won 
RUSSIAN LADIES. lntheLeglsl 
- Miss Ltzz 
The characteristics of the Russian type of tho Medical 
feminine beauty are, an extreme fairness of the verslty, with 
complexion, grayish-blue eyes, blonde or chest- ! thus far has 
nut hair, and a certain embonpoint , arising from In practice. 
Mrs. Lowrte is preaching every night in the 
Franklin Sr. M. E. Church, New York, to large 
congregations. 
Mrs. Bryan of Ablngton, Ill., took 122 pre¬ 
miums, amounting to $1,150, on her cattle, at 
the Fairs last fall. 
The will of Mrs. Ann White Vose of Boston 
makes tho remarkable bequest of $865,000 to 
the public institutions of that city. 
MRS. E. Manchester, familiarly known as 
"Aunt, Lizzie Manchester," died at Plttstown, 
Rensselaer Co., N. Y., lately, aged 105. 
Rev. Pbebe A. Havaford, Miss Leila E. Pat- 
rid go and Rev. AdaC. Bowles have been recent¬ 
ly lecturing acceptably In Philadelphia. 
Every daughter of the Queen of England 
knows how to cook and keep house, which 
shows that queens are not always devoid of 
sound sense. 
The annual ladles’ reception of the Union 
League Club of New York took place on the 
evening of Jan. 28th, and was a pleasant oc¬ 
casion. 
The Rev. Mrs. Haines of Hallowoll officiated 
as Chaplain in the Malno Senate, recently, being 
the first woman that ever acted In that capacity 
In the Legislature. 
Miss Lizzie Hess, M. D. who graduated fn 
the Medical Department of the Iowa State Uni¬ 
versity, with the highest honors of her class, 
thus far has met with very gratifying success 
He Is a very little boy, with cheeks like two 
redapples, and eyes as black as sloes. Maybe 
you don't know what sloes are. Well, I shall 
have to confess I don’t either, but Bennie's 
grandma says bis eyes are black as sloes, so I 
take her word for it. 
1 am sorry to say that Benny is the most mis¬ 
chievous little rogue I ever saw. 1 hope he will 
Improve as ho grows older, but just now he 
keeps us watching him and running after him 
half the time, and yet we are not nhlo to keep 
him out of all the mischief his busy little brain 
devises. We are at our wits’ end, sometimes, 
to know what, to do with such a boy. 
We didn't, expect it when he came. No, in¬ 
deed! Such * demure little fellow! Hewould 
lie hours gazing at his small round fists, or at 
the ray of light that, streamed upon his pillow 
from the half-drawn blind. Ho was such agood 
bahy! The box of clothes plus was all the play¬ 
things ho wanted till he began to walk, lie 
would sit on tho floor and gravely take them 
out, one by one, and lay them beside him till 
the box was empty, and then as gravely put 
tliym all In again. Or ho would make his little 
hands fly among them and scatter them all over 
the room and then creep about, after them. But 
as soon ns he could walk lie seemed to be pos¬ 
sessed with a spirit of research and experi¬ 
ments. He purloined the Berlin wools from 
mamma’s work basket to see how they would 
curl and crisp on The stove. He unwound and 
tangled spools of thread with the greatest In¬ 
dustry and ruunlng. He Invented a new piece 
of mischief every day of his life. 
Do you think we wish he hadn't come? 
Never! When ho gets to tho pump and souses 
himself head over heels Into tho water trough, 
and is taken nut. dripping, wo nro frightoned 
half to death lest ho should get the croup, or 
some other dreadful thing. We love him dear¬ 
ly'. I don’t know how It Is, but Ills chocks nro 
so red and sweet and Ills lips so smiling and Ills 
eyes so black and shiny and he loves every one 
so heartily, that we are all ready to kiss him 
before we ars done scolding him. 
Last week Bennie kindled a fire in the wood¬ 
shed with the saw-horse for a fireplace and 
papa’s hat for a kettle. Tho consequences 
might have been sorlous if his kettle hud not 
leaked so as to pot, out tho Are. Ho pots Bid¬ 
dy’s dishcloth to tie on his kite for a tall, and 
when that Is not to be had, he takes hts own 
small stocking. Ho sails his shoe* in the water 
pail, for boats. He catches the flies on tho win¬ 
dow pane with his little fat Angers, pinches 
them to death and then tries to coax them hack 
to life with sugar from the bowl on the table. 
The other day he gave us the greatest fright 
we ever bad about him, and for once I think he 
got well scared himself. We have had an old 
white oow for many a year, so gentle and kind 
I that we could do anything with her. Bennie 
fed her with wisps of hay when he was a mere 
baby and baa run under her and rode on her 
baok and carded her with papa’s hut-brush or 
mamma’s tooth-brush, or whatever he could 
lay hands on, nearly every day since. But "Old 
Whltey" waa sold, and we have a new cow. 
Bennie was cautioned not to attempt too great 
familiarity with the new cow. But of course 
we didn’t expeot him to remember It. Wo In¬ 
tended to keep an eye on him. But while we 
were busy here and there.be slipped out into 
the lot where she waa feeding. We missed him 
In three minutes and started in pursuit. lie 
was just approaching the cow with a short- 
I handled broom to scratch hor aides. He meant 
only' kindness, but the cow knew nothing about 
that. 
"Bennie, Bennie! come away, quick! The 
cow'll hook you," we called out, running with 
all speed to the rescue. But we were too late. 
The cow turned suddenly upon Benntk, took 
him up on her smooth, gracefully-curved horns 
and tossed him In the air. Then she stood walt- 
Ingforhlm tn fall, to catch him again, while 
we stood with white faces and bated breath. 
God he thanked 1 the child fell out of herreach. 
! The fence was near, and he fell on the outside. 
As soon as Bennie got hla breath he relieved 
our anxiety, giving us ample proof of life and 
vigor by his screams and cries. Never heard 
we sweeter sound! When we had examined 
him, we found neither scratch nor bruise. But 
7 thluk he has gained a wholesome fear of that 
“THAT’S HOW!" 
After a great, snow storm, a little fellow 
began to shovel a path through a large snow¬ 
bank before his grandmother's door. He had 
nothing but a srnal 1 shovel to work with. 
" How do you expect to get through that 
drift?” asked a man passing along. 
“By keeping at. it,” said the boy, cheerfully; 
“ that's how!" 
That is the secret of mastering almost every 
difficulty under the sun. If a hard task Is be¬ 
fore yon, stick to It. Do not keep thinking how 
largo or hard it is, bub go at it, nnd little by 
little It will grow smaller and smaller until it 
Is done. 
- 4 -*-*-- 
FACTS IN FIGURES, 
Any number of figures you may wish to mul¬ 
tiply by 5 will give the same result If divided by 
2—a much quicker operation; but you must 
remember to annex a 0 to the answer when 
there la no remainder, and when there is a re¬ 
mainder annex a 5 to the answer. Multiply 404 
by 5 and tho answer will bo 2320; divide the 
same by 2 and you will have232, and as there is 
no remainder you add a cipher. Now take 359, 
multiply by 5, tho answer lx 1795, and dividing 
this by 2 there is 179 and a remainder; you 
therefore place a 5 at tho end of tho line and 
the result Is again 1795. 
®he flutter. 
ILLUSTRATED REBUS.-No. 3. 
»! A , 
£=_ 1 
Answer in two weeks. 
MISCELLANEOUS ENIGMA.—No. 3. 
I AM composed of 33 letters : 
My 24, 32, 26, 28, 22 Is a boy’s name. 
My 3,18, 4,17, 33, 28, 21, 14 is a capo in the United 
States, 
My 6,15, 17, 32, 28, 33, 23, 4 Is what most men like 
to get. 
My 30, 7, 3, 8,17 is to injure. 
My 1,16, 28, 4, 21 is merit. 
My 20, 29,10, 31 is a defense. 
My 12, 8,11,28,18 is a.girl's name. 
My 0,25, 27, 10 ts part of a web. 
My 17, 28, 23 Is what you will have to do to solve 
this enigma. 
My whole Is a saying worth remembering. 
1ST Answer In two weeks. R. t. j. 
- *** -— 
HIDDEN COLORS.-No. 1, 
1. I think those flowers are delightful. 
2. That was a bad rabbit which destroyed tho 
bulbs. 
3. How that boy does yell. O! what a nuis¬ 
ance. 
4. Was It hate or anger that caused him to 
do It? 
5. Here, Mab I Row No. 1 is the one assigned 
to you. 
6. Come, let us drag Raymond out of bed. 
E-ST” Answer In two weeks. 
• • - ■ 
CENTRAL POZZLE.-No. 1. 
1. An animal. 2. A city of France. 8. A city 
of Australia. 4. An herb to flavor. 6. A pri¬ 
vate estate. 8. A malo bird. 7. A sweetmeat. 
3. A military student. These are all words of 
five letters, and the central letters form a 
Southern State. 
Answer in two weeks. Little One. 
PROBLEM.— No. 3. 
If one man and one boy can do a certain 
amount of work in fifty days, and If three 
men can do as much work as five boys, how 
many men and boys will do an equal amount 
of work in sixteen days? 
Answer In two weeks. w. n. H. 
--444- 
PUZZLER ANSWERS.-Jan. 23. 
Illustrated Rebus No. 2.— Barnum’s great 
Roman Hippodrome. 
GeoorapuiCAL EniomA No. 1.—Punctuality 
begets confidence, and Is the sure path to honor 
and respect. 
Cross-Word Enigma No. 2.-Portugal. 
