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288 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
APRIL 25 
The Eye-opener has often warned readers 
of the Rural against W. H. Sizer alias the 
Warren MTg Co. and the Empire M’t’g Co., 
both ol this city , alias W. Sherwood & Co , 
of Brooklyn. This many-named fraud has 
just come to grief, mainly through the efforts 
of the Rural, which has sent to the Post- 
office authorities several bundles of the com¬ 
plaints it bad received against the fellow, with 
an urgent demand for investigation. Theotber 
day he was arrested in Brooklyn charged with 
defrauding the public through the U. 8 . 
mails, the specific charge being the palming 
off of a tin watch on the public as a stem- 
winder Sizer, or rather “Sherwood & Co.,’’ 
advertised this toy largely, especially in the 
Southern papers, as a silver plated watch, for 
35 cents, or three for a dollar. He scooped in 
the money always, but seldom sent even the 
“watch.”" As the Warreu M't’g Co. he swin 
died the public with a $13 gun; and as the 
Empire M’t’g Co., a musical doll was the bait. 
Under one alias or another he had a large 
number of nicely baited hooks out all the 
time, aud hauh’d in gudgeons at a great rate, 
as many as 874 letters to him having -been 
seized by the P. O. authorities in one day! 
Others of the same stripe are doing as lively 
a trade here and id other parts of thecountry, 
fir of follv and greed there is no scarcity m- 
this glorious Union. 
£01* Ukmax. 
CONDUCTED BY MISX RAY CLARK. 
GROWTH OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 
When Britain first became known to civil¬ 
ized Europe, it was an undisputed possession 
of the Celtic tribes- These tribes had crossed 
over from the mainland at some remote and 
unknown time, and had established their 
customs, manners, and language in the 
country. 
In the year 55 B. C., .T ulius Caesar, a Ro'man 
general, conquered the Celts, aud the Romans 
held the country under military subjugation 
for nearly five centuries. During this period, 
there were two distinct languages in the coun¬ 
try; that of the Celts, or original inhabitants, 
and that of the Humans. These languages, 
however, did not become corrupted, for the 
two races did not mingle. In the fifth century, 
the Romans were needed at home to defend 
their own country against the barbarians who 
were invading it, aud the Celts were again 
left to themselves. A few Roman words were 
left in the language, but these were principally 
names of towns, as Stratford and Strettou, 
from the Latin or Roman Strata, which meant 
paved roads. 
Shortly' after the withdrawal of the Roman 
troops from Britain, the country was invaded 
by a branch of the great Teutonic race. These 
people lived on the coast of the Baltic S<»a, be¬ 
tween the Rhine and Vistula Rivers. Being 
crowded in this their native country, they 
made war on the Celts, and conquered them. 
This was no; done for the love of conquest, 
not tor fiefs or for riches, but for land upon 
w hich to settle, where they might have more 
room, and still retain their old customs aud 
language. So they butchered or diove from 
the country all tne old inhabitants, aud took 
full possession. The surviving Celts took 
refuge in the mountains of Wales, or fled 
across the channel to Brittany. These sur¬ 
vivors continued to use theold Celtic language, 
but of this language only a few words re¬ 
mained in Britain. 
Of the races which crossed over from Ger¬ 
many, the most important were the Jutes, the 
Angles, and the Saxons. These languages 
being similar, mingled and made one language, 
which is called the Anglo Saxon, from the 
Angles and Saxon*, as they were of more im¬ 
portance than the Jutes. 
Britain was now called Eaglaud from the 
Angles or Engles. After the Saxons had held 
possession of England for about four centuries, 
the country was invaded by the Danes, but as 
the Danish aud Saxon languages were sim¬ 
ilar, and as the Danes did not remain long in 
England, the language was not much changed. 
It only received a few Danish words. 
In the year lUtffi, the Normans conquered 
the Saxons; instead of exterminating them, 
as the Saxons did the Celts, the Norm ms 
merely made the conquered Saxons their sub¬ 
jects- They spoke a corruption of the Norman 
and French languages. Tins they tried to make 
the language of the conquered country. It. 
was used by all nobles, and in court, but the 
Saxons refused to speak it, to the exclusion 
of their own language. 
In the first chapter of Ivanhoe, Sir Walter 
Scott shows very r plainly that anything com¬ 
mon or that had to do with the Saxons, as the 
animals which thay cared for, retained the 
Saxjn name, hut as soon as these animals 
were brought before the nobles as food, they 
received the Norman-French appellation; as 
' for instance, ox and beef, swine and pork, 
sheep and mutton. But these two races 
mingling so closely could not continue to 
speak different languages, and as there were 
more of the Saxons than ot the Normans, the 
Saxon language predominated, although it 
was considerably corrupted by the Norman- 
French; so we find that the authors who lived 
two or throe centuries after the Noruian con¬ 
quest, wrote neither Saxon nor French, but a 
combination of the two. 
These, however, are not the only elements 
in the English language of to-day; besides the 
few words left by tbe Celts, and the Saxon, 
and the Norman-French, there are many 
words from the Greek and Latin, introduced 
principally by scholars and writers, there are 
words introduced through commerce from 
Prussia, China, and India. 
Thus through the ages has the English lan¬ 
guage drawn unto itself the words and the 
idioms of other languages, until both in its 
character and pre-eminence has become liter¬ 
ally the language uf tbe world. But the same 
creative and developmental forces are still at 
work. Out of this marvelous accumulation 
of languages, which we term English, there 
is in process of formation another, and let us 
hope a better means of conveying thought, 
one which is slowly but surely' superseding all 
others, the one which we with pardonable 
pride may call our owu—the Anglo-American 
language. Let us do what we can to perfect 
and perpetuate it. E. f. c. 
PREPARING FOR LIFE'S WINTER. 
Waitxsg for dead men’s shoes is hardly 
more foolish than to put off enjoying all 
the good things of life until near its sunset. 
Yet what sight is more common than that of 
farmers’ folks in particular, living plainly aud 
pincbingly for a long term of j 7 ears, under 
the vain delusiou that after a time they will 
sit down and eat the fruit of their labors. 
They comfort themselves with the thought 
that tbe old rickety house can be replaced by 
the mausion later on. That meanwhile, it is 
hardly worth repairing, or adding to, in the 
way of pleasant porches and summer kitchens, 
aud commodious cupboards, and a door cut in 
a place where it would save the tir.d house¬ 
wife miles of travel in tbe course of a year. 
When the “new house is built 1 ' all these im¬ 
provements will be considered. 
80 the years come aad go and the frame 
grows bent and the limbs stiffened and the 
capacity for enjoyment diminishes with each 
added season of hard work. The “new bouse” 
so long in contemplation is sometimes built 
and sometimes not: and perhaps in the latter 
case tbe enjoyment is just as great One can 
grow attached to even the disadvantages of 
a situation by a loug familiarity with them 
and old people generally say “the old is bet¬ 
ter,” even where the facts are quite tbe 
reverse. I knew a bard working man aud 
his wife who had scrimped aud saved and 
lived in a wretched old house years after any 
necessity existed for such economy, who when 
their children were mostly grown up took a 
notion to build. It was to be no common 
place country-house, like most of their well- 
to do neighbors houses, but a grand building 
of brick and mortar. An architect drew the 
plan and they had a pretty 7 comfortable season 
of hard work boarding the workmen in their 
narrow quarters aud straining every uerve to 
get moved in before Winter. It seemed like 
the “good old times” when they were making 
their fortune. 
But wbeu once established in their large 
house they did not know what to do with 
themselves. The sitting room was almost too 
tine for company, the parlor was a super-nu- 
merary, aud it was not thought worth while 
to furnish that lor the present at least. The 
dining room was also useless as all their lives 
they had taken their meals in the kitchen. 
The kitchen was the only spot they did feel 
free to move about in, so there the family 
gathered day after day. But tbe last 1 knew 
of them they had pulled down a part of tbe 
old house and were building on an addition to 
the already over-large house, so they would 
have some place to do work iu aud “save” 
the new kitchen. 
As far as you can, make home happy, com 
fortalile. aad even elegaut, as you go along. 
It is just as well to appropriate some of the 
good tilings your Heavenly Father gives you, 
as to hoard them all up for your heirs, who 
may squander them much taster than you 
gathered them. They will be more likely to 
laugh at your pains than to hold your mem¬ 
ory in grateful remembrance. No one is re¬ 
spected after be is gone whoso course has not 
been of a sort to command respect. They may 
be glad that you “spared”so well,but they will 
not be grateful in proportion to the benefits 
received. 
A liberal, enlightened course is the best for 
all parties. H is bad fw children wbfo they 
cease to respect a father or mother. A great 
deal of inherited property cannot make up for 
the loss. Much less can it make amends for a 
pinched childhood when the mind and soul 
were starved and dwarfed and the spirit 
made bitter by injustice, that the hoard might 
be yearly increased which in the end was to 
be divided among them. olive. 
Baby’s Bib. 
MUSINGS OF A QUIET LIFE. 
ZEA MAYS. 
NO. VII. 
I arose in the night last night, and looked 
out of the broad awkward south window. 
The moon was high in the sky, aud over the 
tri-walnut tree. A train of cars passed; soon, 
aud as it were an echo, I heard the thump, 
thump of another train far away on another 
road. The cherry trees stood before me in 
crayon. Their dark shadows lay on the grass 
which looks in the moonlight a kind of green¬ 
ish gray. 
There were some clouds, but they seemed to 
lie perfectly still. I felt a bit of air on my 
face, but everything looked at rest. Even 
the insect world was very quiet. The frogs 
sing, but not loud. 
Why have we no nightingales here to stir 
tbe night air with melody? Can it be that 1 
am mistaken about once hearing one siugiug 
in Western New York’ 
It was long ago—far back in my girlhood. 
When I think of it, tbe scene that comes to my 
mind is a long narrow lake, wooded both 
sides. 1 had gone home to spend the nigh! 
with a French girl—a fellow pupil—had come 
dowu that long wooded slope. I think of a 
hush honeysuckle, I believe it was a laurel, that 
I saw growing then. That night, if I remem¬ 
ber rightly, I beard the nightingale, but 1 
have nevtr, that I know of, heard one since. 
When nightingales and larks were left out of 
our forest aviaries, tbe poor prospective poet, 
had he been here, might have lifted up his 
voice and wept. Only to think that he must 
cross the ocean to hear a lark! 
The owl is a sorry substitute for the night 
songster. 
1 have an owl story. Perhaps I will tell it 
by and by. But we do have fine morning 
birds, especially for choruses. I heard such 
wonderful concerts once upon a time, when I 
was a pioneer. It was one ot the best com¬ 
pensations of that trying time. But one 
bad to be awake early. From three to four 
o'clock was concert hour. There might have 
been some practicing before aud after. 
Speaking of owls, I was imitating an owl 
last night; not a very wise one perhaps, sitting 
down, en dishabille by that south window. 
But another owl discovered me and hinted 
that a Jong exposure to the night air would 
not he safe, lie asked me if I had read about 
the photographing of the moon. I said no. 
Then he told me that some one with an im¬ 
proved lens had discovered what had been 
thought mountaius were cultivated farms. 
That was news! Shall be delighted to know 
that the man in the moon is a farmer. I 
have a respect for farmers, aud am a “farm¬ 
er’s wife.” Won’t the photographer please 
strengthen hia lens a little more, aud tell us 
what crops the mau in the moon raises I He 
may have wheat with ears like maize, aud 
oats with a dozen kernels in one husk. 
Perhaps his potatoes are as big as pump¬ 
kins, and his sugar grows like squashes iu the 
garden. Won't he please drop us dowu some 
seed! 
We’ll monopolize the market for awhile, 
till we get rich. We don’t believe in big 
monopolies, but a little oue like this might 
answer. We are as bad off as Archimedes 
was for a fulcrum, or we would telephone tbe 
fellow—we can't stretch the line. 
I went back to bed, aud wanted more 
clothing on it. I sneezed. 1 coughed a little. 
I got up for more clothing. 1 thought about 
pneumonia. 1 courted sleep, the sand-mau 
was shy. The great labor problem was sug¬ 
gested to my vigil-lika brain. 1 couldn’t 
grapple with it. It was a Gordian knot; I 
had rather cut it. If I could only sharpen 
one edge of a good rule, which has become 
rusty from non-using—the Golden Rule. 
AUNT RACHEL’S SUGGESTION. 
“How disappointed Mrs. H. did feel over 
her new dress,” said Aunt Rachel, while mak¬ 
ing an afternoon visit to one of her neighbors. 
“You see she had told her husband to get her 
some print for a fresh wrapper, with never a 
thought that he was not ns capable of making a 
selection from the piles of print Upon the mer¬ 
chant’s counter, as she herself would be.” 
When he returned from the village store, 
he tossed the parcel into her hands, saying, 
••I’ve brought you the ‘daisy’ this time.” 
Undoing the bundle with nimble lingers, a 
look of lilauk surprise and vexation was plain¬ 
ly visible upon her tell-tale face. 
“What’s the matter Emma? don’t you like 
my selection? inquired John, as he noticed 
tbe cloud upon her face. 
“She answered ‘Yankee fashion . 1 by asking 
if he examined the fabric before making the 
purchase.” 
“Why no! he had taken a fancy to the bright 
colors, an I thi ref ore told tbe clerk to measure 
off a dress pattern: and when he found it was 
only five cents per yard, he thought he was 
mak.ng a bargain.” 
“Then 1 wish you would look at the fabric,” 
and she be’d it up to the light. 
“Well 1 leciare! how do they make such 
good for noihiug, shiftless stuff, and I believe 
the colors are paste,” said Mr. H. “1 never 
knew before but that calicoes were all alike, 
and I al’ays had a fancy lor bright colors, 
and thought this would be ‘lovely’ as you 
ladies say. Well, maybe I’ll know better next 
time.” 
“What a pity,” continued Aunt Rachel “it 
is that boys are not taught something about 
the qualities of cloth, as well as their sisters. 
Such a blunder as Mr. H. committed would 
not so often be made as it is now, and the boy 
who works for his clothes would not so often 
pay prices for good clothes, and wear ouly 
‘shoddy.’ ” may maple. 
Domestic CjC0B 01111) 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY MAPLE. 
KITCHEN TALKS. 
ANNIE L. JACK. 
“What are we to have for dinner?” The 
east wind was blowing, I felt peevish and tired, 
so looked up from my cutting out of spring 
PigrrUanfousi giflvfrtijsing* 
With the fullest 
confidence the manu¬ 
facturers of the Ivory 
Soap recommend it 
to those not already 
acquainted with it. 
They do not claim 
that it is the only 
pure soap; but the 
only pure soap to be 
had at a moderate 
price is the Ivory, 
(99 1 \U°/o pure.) 
Free of oh urge. A Tull size cake of Ivory Soap will be 
seut to anyone who can not get It or tlieir grocer, if 
nix two cent slumps, to pay posiuge, are sent to Procter 
& Gamble, Uluclnuali. Please uieuvluu this paper. 
