256 
o \^\ HGTO/V ^ 
(SK-nfl 
in the house. I have been able to attend to 
my regular business, and am now. Of course, 
I am careful of myself. I do not expose my¬ 
self to storms, I walk with ease a few blocks 
every day, aud that without experiencing any 
great sense of fatigue.” 
“Mr. Clark, do you-still continue the treat¬ 
ment or are you independent of it?” 
“Once in a while if I have a return of throat 
trouble, I take a few inhalations, aud with 
positive advantage. I do not now need to 
take it for catarrh, for my catarrh is all gone, 
to my great 1 elief. I consider myself as thor¬ 
oughly caired as I can be. I have gained most 
of my lost flesh back again, and am increas¬ 
ing. Of course, I do not expect ever to be 
very stout.” 
“Are you then a believer in Compouud Ox¬ 
ygen as a restorer to health?” 
“Believer ? Whv.yes; most thoroughly and 
heartily. 1 cannot say too much for it. You 
cannot wonder that l have lost all confidence 
in the old systems. They could do nothing 
for me but tell me I was going to die, aud 
they blundered when they told me that. Com¬ 
pound Oxygen brought me ro wha' you see 
me now, and did it after they had failed. Yes; 
you may say that I believe in Compound Ox¬ 
ygen, aud that. I recommend everybody who 
is situated as [ was to make a fair trial of it. 
I don’t know what they make itof.and t don’t 
care; all that I know about it is that it pulled 
me through. That’s enough for mo ” 
Compound Oxygen is not an experiment, 
It is tried and true. Hundreds of others give 
similar testimony to that of Mr Clark. Mauy 
of those who have experienced the best benefits 
from it are those whom the old fashioned doc¬ 
tors had given up. To learn all about Com¬ 
pouud Oxygen, send to Drs. Starkey & Palen, 
1 ;09 & 1111 Oirard Street. Philadelphia, for a 
deeply interesting little work ou the subject, 
which will be sent you by mail. 
a pet bird, auntie gave it to us three years 
ago. He is a nice singer, his name is Dick. 
We have two Maltese cats. I like pets very 
much. I will close with much love to Uncle 
Mark. gertie avert. 
Howard Co., Iowa. 
fWhat a very cold Winter you have had; 
no wonder you are wishing for the Spring.— 
Uncle Mark ] 
papers; the Rural is our favorite. Our flow¬ 
er garden was brilliant, the poppies were very 
beautiful. We had 30 kinds of dahlias. Our 
bay window is full of house plant 5 , my mother 
takes care of them: some are in blossom My 
cousin gave me a sheep,and I feed it grain. My 
father gave me a calf. I take music lessons 
and get along very nicely. 1 have two sisters 
in Kansas; they are teaching there. I will 
close. Yours sincerelv, 
St. Joseph Co-, Mich, harry w. butler. 
MAKING PICKLES. 
HOWARD A. GIDD1NGS. 
# v method of making pickles 
I will tell you for the benefit of 
the Cousin'S. The cucumbers 
should not be larger than the 
little finger. In salting them, 
pur. a layer of salt in the bot¬ 
tom of the cask; upon this put 
cucumbers and salt in alter¬ 
nate layers at the rate of three 
vr quarts of salt to a bushel of 
cucumbers; add a little water to make brine, 
and weight the whole ; the cucumbers 
should be covered with brine within 24 hours. 
In freshening, place in a tub and cover wrth 
boiling water or. ce a day for three days, ornti- 
til fresh. Then place in tubs and cover witb 
vinegar. Add ODe teaspoontul of mixed spices 
to the gallon and a little alum. They are 
worth from 40 to 00 cents per hundred, ac¬ 
cording to the season. I hope the Cousins 
will rind tuese directions plain. I wrote you 
in my other letter a little about my hens. I 
have now 10 full-blood Brown Leghorn, and 
10 full-blood Laugshau pullets and two Lang- 
shan roosters. I have also a pair of big Pekin 
ducks. Ms Brown Leghorns laid, in 31 days, 
143 eggs, which. I think, was very good. 
Hartford Co., Conn. 
Pi;&’ceUaiuw §Mv’jertt,$in0 
to return. I dou’t care anything about rais¬ 
ing vegetables. 1 love flowers and like to 
raise them. We had some very nice flowers 
last year; everybody-that, saw our pansies 
thought they were superb, and we had some 
nice geraniums aud many other common 
flowers. I exchanged flower seeds with some 
of the Cousins last year and raised some 
beautiful flowers from the seeds I received. I 
intend to have a nice flower garden next 
year. Oh! how I wish I lived in Florida or 
California, it is so cold here. I would like to 
correspond with some of the Cousins. 
With best wishes to all. I remain, 
Your niece and cousin, mamie newby. 
Leavenworth Co , Kan. 
rooms ot the well Known nouse or mavis, uoua- 
more & Co,. Broadway and Twenty-first Sts,. 
New York. Mr. Clark is a somewhat spare 
and sinewy gentletnau of about 40 or over. 
He carries with him the marks of a severe tus¬ 
sle with disease, bur. shows, both in his counte¬ 
nance and his actions, that he has won the 
victory. 
We will let Mr. Clark tell his own story: 
“My trouble,” he said, “waschiefly with my 
lungs and throat. Originally I had a good 
constitution, and came of a healthy family, 
my mother having reached the advanced age 
of 82, and being still an active woman. During 
the war I could endure long marches aud severe 
fatigue, and could lie on the ground at night 
without being attacked by rheumatism. My 
first sickness was four years ago in a malai ious 
region in Connecticut. The malaria got the 
belter of me, and laid the foundation for ca¬ 
tarrh and all the other evils 1 have been afflict¬ 
ed with. 
“About a year and a half ago I caught a 
severe cold. My lungs became inflamed, and 
my whole system was prostrated. Boon I 
showed all the symptoms of consumption. I 
was entirely disabled and unfit to attend to 
busiuess. 1 was in the care of one of the best 
known physicians in the city, and one of the 
most expensive ones. But physicians could do 
little in reaching my case. The nearest they 
came to finding out what was the matter with 
me was when they told me that if 1 had any 
business affairs to Bettle, to see about it as 
eurly as possible, as I could not last long. It 
was understood at the store that l must die, 
and that my place would have to be supplied 
by somebody else. My weight, which had been 
187, ran down to 110. Yet I had a firm cour¬ 
age, with a sure hope that somehow or other 
1 would recover 
“After 1 got rid of the doctors, who had giv¬ 
en me up to die, I got a little better and was 
able to drag myself down to tbe store. A 
couple of lady customers spoke to me about 
Compound Oxygeu, and advised me to go to 
the New York office of Starkey & Paleo, and 
see Dr. Turner about it. I knew nothing 
at>out this remedy, but concluded to try it, 
just on a venture. On taking a few inbala- 
tious at Dr. Turner’s office, I was surprised at 
the effect on me. It seemed a light matter to 
inhale something which was without taste or 
odor; but certaiuly it did me a great deal of 
good. My benefit begau at once. I soon was 
able to walk up and down stairs I took one 
“home treatment,” which lasted me for three 
months; then 1 gota second. My appetite re¬ 
turned aud my sleep was good. When I first 
visited Dr. Turner, I had not in months slept 
in a bed. I had been compelled to take such 
sleep as I could get by recliniug iu a chair. 
My feet mid ankles were badly swelled, aud I 
seemed in all respects to be getting ready for 
the undertaker. After taking the Oxygen a 
while l began to enjoy refreshing sleep for 
two or three hours at a time; 1 could lie in bed 
and obtain rest aud comfort by doiug so. 
*‘i will here say that. 1 found great advan¬ 
tage in the use of the nose piece inhaler for my 
catarrh. I inhaled directly through the nos¬ 
trils, with the best effect. A yellowish pulpy 
secretion had been coming both from the nose 
aud throat. The effect of the Compound 
Oxygen was to cause this to stop, and with it, 
the pain and unpleasant sensation I had been 
feeling in my head. 
“Boon I found myself, to my great delight, 
able to attend to business, as of old. I had not 
all my former strength, nor could 1 expect 
it. But I was rapidly gaining, and have kept 
on gaining ever since. All last Wiuter I was 
on duty except a few of the wettest and most 
slushy days, when I thought it prudent to stay 
Dear Uncle Mark : How many of the 
Cousins have strawberries? I have a fine 
patch of young strawherries that I hope will 
bear this year. I also have several smaller 
patches I think the Mauche'-ter is a fine 
strawberry and l hope all tbp Cousins have 
pThnts nf this variety, it is one of t he best here, 
is immensely productive, the fruit is of large 
size and of good quality. Miner’s Prolific is 
another favorite, as its name indicates, it is 
very prolific. I am very favorably impressed 
with the behavior nf Windsor Chief. Among 
the other sorts I have Chas. Downing, Cinder¬ 
ella. Big Bob, Jerspv Queen aDd Glendale, 
but perhaps I had better not pass an opinion 
upon them for I have not tried any of them 
S' fliciently long to tell how they will adapt 
themselves to this soil. And then I want to 
have space to tell you of my potatoes. 
The O K.’s surprised me—they seem to be all 
♦ bat is claimed for them, they surpassed my 
most saoguine expectations They are a 
white skinned variety; the wire and grab 
worms did not seem to bother them; they are 
very prolific, the tubers are all of good size, 
and good quality. They took tbe first pre¬ 
mium at tbe fair at Springfield. The Rural 
Blush is one of the most valuable sorts I have. 
A remarkable feature of this potato is that 
there are few, yes very few tubers, that are 
not of marketable size. I have 15 or 20 
varieties and deem the Blush to be one of the 
best. Chicago Market is a valuable variety 
several days later than Early Ohio but of 
much better quality, it is a better keeper also. 
The Early Ohio has for a long time been the 
standard potato in this section, but in a few 
years it will so degenerate and ran out 
that it will have to be replaced by some other 
sort. 1 think that the Early Sunris% is in 
every way the superior of the Early Ohio. It 
is a trifle earlier, finer grained, of bettor qual¬ 
ity, finer appearing, and, last but not least, 
more productive. Vick’s Early Gem is au 
early potato, of fine quality: but, alas, it is 
not productive, witb me at least. 1 have 
Wall’s Orange, Mammoth Pearl. White Ele¬ 
phant, Grange, etc , of which I will speak 
some other time. As I like to experiment 
with new varietiesof vegetables l took churge 
of the ltural’s Distribution and planted the 
seed. 
We had the finest tomatoes we ever had. 
Both varieties of peas did very well; H. M. G. 
especially; the oats did well, but are rather 
late for this latitude. I planted the wheat 
according to the Rural’s method, it came up 
nicely. The flowers did finely. Wishing good 
luck to the Rural and all of its readers l am 
ever, Your Rural nephew, 
Christian Co., III. frank t. logan. 
BIRTHDAYS, 
aunt betq, 
We have, each one of us, a holiday all our 
own, coming once a year—our birthday. It 
is a plea?ant thing to be remembered bv our 
friends in some little kindly way on this day, 
and where some one has a bright birthday, all 
of his or her friends are made happy by shar¬ 
ing the pleasure. 
Any of the Cousins who have brothers or 
or sisters may make bright days for them by 
plaurnng aud carrying out some little surprise 
for their birthdays. Many of yon do this on 
every birthday and know already how nice it 
is. It is not uecessarv to make costly presents, 
or t) have a great many friends come to 
share a rich dinner to celebrate tbe day, and 
no one ought to feel that the birthday must 
pass unnoticed bec ause only something simple 
amt small can be done. 
If you canuot give your brother the knife 
with five blades that he wants so much, and 
cannot think of anytbiug else to buy for him 
with tbe twenty five cents you have earned to 
spend for him, get a pretty bird’s nest of 
last year, put the quarter in it, changed 
into one-ceut pieces if you like, and attach a 
paper telling him they are the nest eggs, to 
which be may add enough to buy tbe knife; 
with the privilege, of course, of spending it 
for something else if he likessomethmg better 
that it will buy. If the boys cauuot tbiuk of 
auy thing to buy for their siste s, a consulta¬ 
tion with their mother may be a help, and 
perhaps if she Is not too bu->y she will go into 
partnership with them aud suggest some 
iinaterials they can buy, for her to make into 
a pretty gift, somethiug ornamental, or, If the 
isister has a doll, somethiug pretty aud new 
for the doll’s wardrobe. When you are de¬ 
termined to think of something to please each 
(Other you will gtuerally succeed. 
Breakfast, dinner, or supper can be made a 
"birthday least, even if no one is invited out¬ 
side of home to share it; aud if the mothers of 
the little girls will let them bake a birthday 
cake for it, and put on it the name of the 
brother or sister whose birthday it is for, that 
will be an interesting way to learn cake bak¬ 
ing. I knew a womanly little girl of only 
eight years, who made a cake for her little 
four-year-old sister’s birthday. Of course, her 
mamma helped bor. but she did all the beating 
aud stirring, and poured the dough into the 
cake tin, and set it in the oven with her own 
little bauds, and bow happy she felt when it 
was done, and her mamma had said "It is 
very good.” There are many pleasant things 
that can be planned to make holidays of the 
birthdays, with only a little trouble. The 
evening can be spent playing favorite games 
in doors if in Winter, and out-doors if iu 
Bummer. It is very nice to plant a birthday 
tree, either a shade or fruit tree, or if you like 
small fruit*, a grape-vine, raspberry or black¬ 
berry bush will last a great many years to re¬ 
mind you of the birthday when it was planted. 
Make pleasant holidays for each other of the 
birthdays, little folks and larger ones, and en¬ 
joy them all you can. 
XVe do not claim that Ilood’a Sarsaparilla is the 
only medicine deserving public confidence, but 
we believe that to purify the blood, to restore and 
renovate the whole system, it is absolutely 
unequalled. The influence nf the blood upon 
the health cannot ho over-estimated, ir it be¬ 
comes contaminated, the train of consequences 
by which the health is undermined Is immeasur¬ 
able. Loss of Appetite, Low Spirits, Headache, 
Dyspepsia, Debility, Nervousness and other 
••tittle (?) aliments” are the premonitions of 
more serious and often fatal results. Try 
Hood’s Sarsaparilla 
Sold by all druggists. $1; six for $5. Made 
only by C. I. HOOD & CO., Lowell, Mass. 
IOO Doses One Dollar 
THE LINE SELECTED BY THE U. S. GOV’T 
TO CAREY THE FAST MAIL 
or via ivansas uuj aim /vouubuii in injiivcr, ouu- 
ueciluglu Uulou Depots ai Kansas City. Atchison, 
Omaha and Denver with Uiro.igb traJus for 
SAN FRANCISCO, 
and all points In tbe Far West, bhorteat Line to 
KANSAS CITY, 
Andul. poiuw lu the (South-West. 
TOURISTS AND HEALTH-SEEKERS 
Should not forget tbe fact that Hound Trip tickets at 
reduced rales can he purchased via llils Great 
Through blur, to all the Health aud Pleasure 
Resorts of the West and tiouth-Went, Including: 
the Mountains of COLORADO, the Valley of the 
Yosemlte, the 
CITY OF MEXICO, 
and all points la the Mexican Republic. 
HOME-SEEKERS 
Should also remember that this line leads direct to 
the heart of the Government and Railroad Lands lu 
Nebraska, Kaunas, Texas, Colorado aud Washing- 
ton Territory. 
ills known as the great THROUGH OAK LINK 
ot America, and Is universally admitted to be the 
Finest Equipped Huiltotol In the World for 
all clusses of Travel. 
Through Pickets via litis line for sale at all Rail¬ 
road Coupon Ticket OUloca lu the United States and 
Canada. 
T.J. POTTHR, 
Vice Pres. audGeu. Manager. 
PHUCKVAL LOWELL, 
Gen. Pass. Ag’t Chicago. 
JNO. U. A. RKAN, Gen. Has ter u Ag’t, 
.417 Broadway. New York, and 
AW Washington tit., Boston. 
Dear Uncle Mark:—I would like to join 
the Club and be one of tbe Cousins. I am a 
little girl nine years old; 1 go to school. 1 
read, and write, and study geography, spell¬ 
ing and arithmetic. I have four little sisters 
and four of us go to school: little sister Cora 
only five years old spelt the school down in a 
spellmg match on last Friday. She was so 
pleased she did not know how to act. Papa 
takes your paper and likes it very much. I 
help my Pa get the cows iu the barn and feed 
the little calves, and I carry in the wood; it 
has been very cold here this Winter, the ther¬ 
mometer has beeD down 88 degrees below zero 
It was below zero all one week I will be glad 
when Summer cotnes so we can have some nice 
flowers. Minnie, Katie aud I are going to try to 
have a nice flower garden; we want to set out a 
strawberry bed in the Spring. We have no 
brothers but we have the nicest little sister in 
tbe world; she is two years old. Mamma does 
her work all alone, except our help. We have 
LETTERS FROM THE COUSINS. 
Uncle Mark; I can not stand it to go to 
school like all the Cousins whose nice letters I 
read in the Rural, so 1 am in the rear. The 
seeds you sent me did nicely. We take five 
I I T) Tt O allperfumed, New <l<xlgni, little beauttw, * 
jAllUBChromtf, Verteft, UottoM and Hidden Name, 
1th an cUgaulprlto, 10c, Ivory Card Co., Clin ton villa, Ct, 
