64 
THE RURAL MEW-V© RIKER 
®j)t <$umst, 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
A. L. W.— Will th® Bubal in »1 h answerB to 
quoHtionn toll me whore T can got a cheap reliable 
barometer. la the one advertised as being that 
iiBed by the Government in tho signal Bervioe a 
reasonably reliable instrument? And. is it really 
used as advertised. 
Ans. —The barometer advertised as being used 
by tbo Government, is not, we are informed, so 
used. It i«, however, a very fair cheap instru¬ 
ment. McAllister, New York, will supply you 
with something trustworthy. 
Mrs. F. M. H. 1 would like to ask if the seed 
(Geranium) is alwayB slow in germinating. Mine 
were all the time from the middle of March un¬ 
til June, ooming up. 
Ans.—T his is just our experience. Some will 
germinate after lying in the ground a week— 
others not in lliree months. 
,S’. J). Italhbun , Wrights Co., Tnd.—l wish the 
RctuaIi would give a description of the European 
Larch and say whether it would bo a good kind 
of tree to grow on the Western prairies. 
Anb.— The accompanying sketch, which was 
published in the Rural, several years ago, will 
give a better idea of the European Larch than a 
mere vezba) description. This is a pendulous 
variety, though in othor respects the same. 
It is one of the most valuable trees for 
timber and has been quite extensively planted 
on the Western prairies with entire success, bo 
far as can now bo judged. 
J. A. Youngr inquires how to fence his flats 
that overflow every spring. Ha can do it by 
making a board and post-fence. 1 use boards 
12 foot long, 6 inches broad; bats 9% feet long 
2x3. Nail them about 16 inches from ends of 
hoards and’ hook them to posts by means of a 
hook in the post. If there are hard winds two 
hooks are hotter. This makes a good fence and 
is handy, for you can take off a panned and pass 
through anywhere.—A. It. B., Nun. Go., Pa. 
Old Hubseriber.— Iu Women’s Department of 
this issue (Jau. 2G) you will And answers to 
your queries about photographs and opaline 
painting, under head of Borne Picture Notes. 
8. T., Nno Medford, Mass.—In Rural of 
Doc. 22, one of your correspondents, N. It. of 
Syracuse, N. Y.. speaks of Betting iu black cur¬ 
rant buBhcs. 1 am very partial to them and 
would like to learn through the Rural where 1 
can get a few good duob. I have never seen 
any advertised iu any of tho catalogues. Per¬ 
haps your correspondent or Home other will in¬ 
form mo how to get Home. 
Anb.—Y ou may seud to any nurseryman and 
ho will supply them. 
COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVED COR THE WEEK ENDING 
Monday, Jan. 21st. 
J. W.—K. M. S.—T. B. M.—Violet—J. L. N.— 
II, 11.—J. B. O.—M. L. G.—S. it. M.—W. C. L. D.— 
May Maple—F. D. C.—B. J*. M.-J. M.-K. U.— 
T. B. M. — “ Grandfather” — A. C.—1C. 0. F.— 
T. II. 11.—D. M. J. — Mrs. D. W. B. — W. C.— 
M. IC. H.—' T. T. L — W. H. W.—K.—M. A. B.— 
Mrs. F. B. M..M.E.S. 
fUtos of tjjf oMfflt. 
CONDENSED NEW YORK TELEGRAMS. 
Tuesday, Jan. 15.—Some of the “boss” shoe¬ 
makers at Lynn, Mass., have yielded to the de¬ 
mand of their men On strike. Tho latter have 
been very orderly, and are hopeful of a favora¬ 
ble Issue to the present dispute, Italians all over 
the country are holding meeting® of condolence 
In honor of the late King or Italy. 
French Consuls have been Instructed to ascer¬ 
tain tho sentiments of Lie people of Groat Britain 
and Ireland iu regard to the Eastern cpicsUcib 
Widthn offers to capitulate, the garrison to be 
allowed to depart with I heir arms. The Servians 
have taken vranja and Gen. BUmarkovicta is 
marching on Prishtina. Server Pasha, Minister 
01 Foreign Affairs, and Namyk Pasha are the en¬ 
voys appointed to negotiate with tile Grand Duke 
Nicholas. They have been Invested with full 
powers to treat for peace. At least 20,000 fugitives 
from Roumella arrive weekly In Constantinople, 
mostly In a destitute condition. 
Wednesday, Jan. Ifl.— Senator voorheos made 
what opponents of the measure concede to have 
boon a very able speech. In t he Senate, yesterday, 
In advocacy of unlimited silver. Gen. McClellan 
was yesterday Inaugurated Governor of New 
Jersey with such unusual pomp and ceremony 
that most folks think It a strong hint that, an 
effort will be made to make him Democratic can¬ 
didate for President a! next election. 
Kr/croUtn Is an hospital and eharnol-house; 
100 soldiers die there dally, and two or throe are 
frozen to death every night. The Turkish fleet 
has shelled Sebastopol and oilier Russian sou- 
board towns. The Grand Duke Nicholas has 
been invested with full powers to make peace. 
If England engages In the Eastern war, she fears 
that Germany will seize upon Holland and Bel¬ 
gium and thus secure a seaport in her Immediate 
neighborhood on tho Atlantic. Bervla Insists on 
making aseparate peace, claiming Independence, 
the cession of Old Servla and an Indemnity. 
Thursday, Jan. IT.—Two engines attached to 
a long train containing about 600 visitors to the 
Moody and Hanky exercises at Hartford,Conn., 
broke through a bridge over the Farmington Riv¬ 
er on the Connecticut Western Railroad, and 
Turkish envoys and the Grand Duke Nicholas 
have met. 
Sunday, Jan. 20.—A strong effort Is being made 
to secure the admission of Utah as a State into 
the Union. The House Committee of investiga¬ 
tion Into the Naval Department 1 h of tho “ smell¬ 
ing order,” as no charges have been made, and 
the members are merely “smelling” about, to 
llnd some putridity. 
The Russian scouts are In sight of Adrlanople, 
and the garrison, with arms and baggage, are 
According to the Governor’s message, Kentucky 
owes only about $ 1 * 0 , 000 , and ample provisions 
have been rnado to meet this debt on Its becom¬ 
ing due. 
Of the fifty million!) of our population, the 
ten millions who are heads ot fain lilies, are t.nx< d 
less than ten cents a day for t he support of the 
Federal Government. 
As a rule the quality of the buckwheat raised 
In the Atlantic States Is much better than last 
year. At the mills the price rauges from $2.50 to 
$3 per hundred pounds. 
Last year a Chicago dealer railed, among his as¬ 
sets bclug $000 worth of Ice. Ttiejnarsbal kept 
watch over the estate till It molted away, and 
then brought In a bill for $.074 for doing so. 
From trustworthy figures Just compiled regard¬ 
ing the liquor traffic, It appears that there are 
nearly twice as many drinking saloons In Now 
York as in any othor Blate. Tho exact number is 
8 $ 984 . 
The entire mass.of tobacco which Is annually 
consumed In smoking, snuffing and In chewing 
on the earth is 4,000,000,000 pounds—manifestly 
too high an estimate for irom 1,200,000,000 to 1,- 
BOO,000,000 of Inhabitants. 
A correspondent, of t he Toronto Globe recom¬ 
mends licensing horsc-sboers. He takes the 
ground that thousands ol horses are ruined every 
yeax by Improper shoeing, and that the only way 
to correct tho evil Is to license slioers, 
Cranberry culture Is worth more to Cape Cod 
than are the flailing aud whaling Interests, which 
have greatly declined in the last, live years, cran- 
nerrles can bo easily cultivated by using the 
proper means, whore they are not indigenous. 
The Hussey Hill gold speculators Intend to 
make a search for tho "Cave of Ninety-nine,” 
which Is supposed to bo la tno Shiiwangunk 
mountains. This Cave was named alter an old 
Indian chief and Is said to contain au Immense 
amount ot treasure. 
William Black, the celebrated novelist, says of 
Nobraska:—“The wooden houses were stuck 
down anyhow on the grassy plain; without any 
trace of the old-faHhloned orchards, and walled 
gardens, and hedges, that bind as It, were an 
English village together.” 
The culture ot coffee tn Southern California Is 
becoming profitable. The plant grows as vigor¬ 
ously as In tho coffee countries of South America, 
aud yields a beau or a strong aromatic flavor. The 
central and southern porttousof tho State are the 
regions peculiarly favorable. 
Mr. P. T. Barnum writes to a friend that ho 
will undertake no new enterprises. He says ho 
la now sixty-eight years of age, and Is doing the 
work of ten men. He adds “ I am setting my 
houso In order, and shall be ready to pass in my 
checks whenever required.” 
EUROPEAN LARCH. 
the engines, together with the four cars, plungf V~ 
Into the frozen river. Loss, so far ns known, six¬ 
teen lives, at least twenty seriously Injured and 
many others, more or less severely. Cause, a cul¬ 
pable weakness of tbo bridge. Samuel Bowles, 
editor of the Springfield Republican, aud oue of 
the foremost Journalists or America, died at his 
homo to Springfield, Mass., at u o’clock last 
night. 
Ismail Pasha has offered to surrender Erzeroum 
It permitted to retire with Ids troops. A more 
friendly feeling seems to be springing up between 
Russia and Great Britain, the former having as¬ 
sured the latter that she will not threaten her 
Interests, and that Constantinople ought not to 
belong to any groat Power; Russia’s altl tUd® 
towards Austria la also conciliatory. 
Friday, Jan., 18.—The working men and hood¬ 
lums or Han Francisco have organized to extermi¬ 
nate the Chinese. The mayor has enrolled a 
number of special police while the entire milit¬ 
ary force In the city, has been placed under arms, 
and several an este made ot the ring-leaders am¬ 
ong the conspirators. Ex-Gov: Bullock of Ga., 
ha® been acquitted, at Atlanta, of all the charges 
brought against him. 
The Russian loss at Blilpka Pass was 6,464 men. 
li armistice negotiations fall, Turkey will declare 
a sacred war, and hoist the (tag of the Prophet. 
There Is a report, of a tierce battle near Phlilpp- 
opols, between the forces or Suleiman Pasha and 
the Russians, the former repulsing his enemies, 
and continuing bis retreat towards Adrlanople. 
SliiO® tbe capture ol Khlpka Pass, Russia’s terms 
have become severer,and her attitude more Inde¬ 
pendent ot tbe wishes of other Powers. The 
British Parliament was opened yesterday. The 
Queen’s speech, read by the Lord chancellor, 
was of a peaceable nature, and declared England 
neutral but watchful. .Supplies were asked for 
only on a peaceful basis. The remains of Victor 
Emmanuel were buried yesterday to the Panthe- 
nn at Rome with the greatest honors. 
Saturday, Jan. 19.—A strong effort Is being 
made to force Secretary of Interior, Schurz, out ol 
office. Geo. Williamson has been nominated Col¬ 
lector of Customs at New Orleans, a place for 
which ex-Oov. Packard was pressed by Republi¬ 
cans. State Senator John Morrissey has been 
dangerously sick at Jacksonville, Fla., but Is uow 
reported out of danger. 
Suleiman Pasha, having with lilrn the Division 
he brought from Bulgaria, the garrisons or Botla 
and othor towns up to Nlscli, and Chaklr Pasha’s 
army, on the ir.th, partly burnt PhlllppolJs, which 
was occupied by Skobcloff on the lftth, since which 
time nothing certain has been heard of Suleiman, 
and tho Russians under Hkobeloff, Gourkha, and 
others, are closing In from all sides on his lino or 
march. It is said that the armistice conditions 
arc too harsh to be accepted by the Turks. Tho 
tetreatlng towards Constantinople. Suleiman 
Pasha has noli been lately heard from, and It Is 
feared he may be cut off by encircling Russians. 
The Porte has Issued an H ade, ordering the en¬ 
rollment of all males. The mortality among 
Turkish prisoners Is awful. The Bulgarians mas¬ 
sacred the Turkish peasants who remained be¬ 
hind In the villages within tbe region abandoned 
by the Ottoman forces. At Paris, the Geograph¬ 
ical Society has given Henry M. Stanley a mag- 
ultlcent. banquet, at which all the French celebri¬ 
ties were present, to do the Intrepid explorer 
honor. Specie Is flowing from England to this 
country, $1,000,000 having been shipped yesterday 
at Liverpool. 
Monday, Jan. 21.—A vote on Senator Mathews’ 
resolution, advocating the remonetization of sil¬ 
ver Is expected to be forced la the Senate to-day. 
' Mouktar Pasha has been appointed to command 
the army for the defence of Constantinople. 
Colossal exodus of refugees from Roumella. Be¬ 
fore quitting Adrlanople the Turks burned their 
provisions, and blew up their ammunition. The 
Russian advance guard have entered the city. 
An Insurrection to Thessaly and Macedonia Is fos¬ 
tered by Greece, the latter having just ordered 
a portion of her army to the frontier. Au ar¬ 
mistice will probably be signed to day—(Mon¬ 
day) at Adrlanople, as a preliminary to ne¬ 
gotiations lor peace. The Turkish envoys are 
said to have Tull;power to settle the terms of 
peace, despite the. expressed wish or Great Brit¬ 
ain and Austria to take part In the settlement. 
As these won’t go to war to aid Turkey, she seems 
resolved to do t he best she can independently, 
having already suffered severely by her reliance 
on promises or hopes ot foreign aid. 
-■ •»»»- 
HOME NEWS PARAGRAPHS. 
Cuuada mutton Is largely used in New York 
city. 
The balance or trade to favor of this country 
for tbe last year Is $ 120 , 000 , 000 . 
Tbe wealth oflowa, equally divided, would give 
$601 ,78 to every person In tbo State. 
Horses are last taking the place of oxen even 
In tbe rougliesL portions or New England. 
Pennsylvania supplies one-flftb of the rye pro¬ 
duced in tills country, or 3,577,641 bushels out of 
16,918,795. 
Tho gold product of the Black Illlls for 1877 Is 
thus estimated ; From quartz, $ 1 , 000 , 000 ; placer 
mining, $ 1 , 000,000 ; total, $2,500,000. 
When a tramp arrives at Dallas, Texas, he Is 
taken to charge and put to work on a farm which 
tho city has bought for the purpose. 
In 1877 there were L890 insolvents to Canada 
with $20,000,000 liabilities, being three millions 
less than In ls76, when 1,968 merchants failed. 
•Since the 1st of January tast. year until the 1st 
ol January this year, there have been exported 
io2,l. 8,504 pounds or fresh beef at a value of $ 10 ,- 
063.302, and of 20,057 head of cattle at a value 
of $2,987,540, making a total value of beef export¬ 
ed amounting to $18,040,842, 
Snook’s boy beard him say tho other day that 
there was money in liens, and he proceeded to 
Investigate the old man’s poultry-yard. He bad 
gone through a dozen flue specimens when the 
old gent descended upon him, and the boy now 
wouders If there is a balm In Gilead. 
A California paper siiys: James English Is still 
at work on t he Redwood tree be felled at Russian 
River Elation some months ago, lie has already 
made from It 260,000 sliIngles, l ,000 fence posts 
6 , 000 stakes, lumber for dwelling house and out¬ 
buildings, and has lumber left for 800.000 more 
shingles. The tree was fourteen feet. In diam¬ 
eter. 
The expenses of Stanley’s great African Jour¬ 
neys, Just concluded, have been about $115,000, 
borne equally by the New York Herald and L 011 - 
dou Telegraph. These expenses have been 
heavier than those of any previous African expe¬ 
dition, private or governmental, but the discov¬ 
eries have been more Important than those of 
any other. 
Free labor Is doing a good deal more for the 
South, already, than was over accomplished in 
ah equal time by slave labor. In the eight years 
preceding the rebellion slave labor produced 
28,797,841 bales or cottou; to eight years since 
tho rebellion* from ismi to 1877, free labor lias 
produced 31,570,212 bales, showing an Increase of 
2,772,371 bales. During the same time there lias 
been a large Increase In the grain production of 
the south. 
Tho annual reports of the Commissioners of 
Emigration hIiowh more arrived at this port last 
year 54,536 alien passengers (or 17,729 less than 
during the previous year), and 42,036persons who 
had previously been In the United States 
making the total arrivals during lssi, 07,221 per¬ 
sons. Germany furnished 17,768 aliens; Ireland, 
8221 ; England, 6062; Sweden, 8710; Italy, 9882; 
Bohemia, 2325; Russia, 2391; Denmark, mill; Nor¬ 
way, 148ft ; Scotland, 1400; Switzerland 1828, and 
France, 1121. The following table shows the de¬ 
cline In Immigration at this port during the last 
few years: I860, 283,418; 1867, 243,781 ; ihks, 213 ,- 
680; 1869 , 258,989; 1870, 222,170 ; 18T1, 226,639 ; 1872, 
294,681; 1873, 266,818; 1874, 140,040; 1875, 84,600 ; 
1876, 71,205; 1877, 51,530. 
---- 
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Chronic, painful and prostrating diseases cured 
without medicine. Pulvermaoher’s Electric Belts 
the grand desideratum. Avoid Imitations. Book 
and Journal, with particulars, mailed free. Ad¬ 
dress Pulvkrmaoukh Galvanio Co., Cincinnati, 
Ohio. 
