tox t()e TJcrmig. 
One of the hardest things for me, when I 
went to school, was to pick out a good subject 
for a composition. Of course all our Rural 
boys and girls are writing compositions,though 
I presume some of them would like to give up 
Hie work. I ad vise you, however, to take all the 
pains you can at this work. You will find 
some day that your compositions will do you 
as much good as your geography' will. The 
great trouble is, I think, that most scholars 
pick out a subject that is too hard. Let us 
take some easy subject, something that we 
can find right at home, and then think about 
it all we can. Let us write about our games, 
about our pets, what we like to do, and what 
we would like to be when we are men and wo¬ 
men. I have even known children to copy 
the words out of a book and sign their names 
to it as their own composition. Isn’t that 
something like stealing? It always seemed to 
me so. Let us make up our own compositions 
even if we have to make them short. 
This cat seems to be working pretty bard. 
That kitten does not 9eem to enjoy the journey 
at all. It is certainly remarkable how strong 
cats are. I know of a cat with seven kittens 
that made a long journey. The people wanted 
to get rid of them, so they put the old cat in 
ODe bag an i the kittens ia another, and car¬ 
ried them several miles away. They thought 
it possible that the old cat might find her way 
home, but they never expected to see the kit¬ 
tens again. But the cat was smarter than 
they thought. She not only found her way 
home, but she brought every one of the kittens, 
one at a time. And she worked so hard and 
so well to save her family that the people of 
the house let every one of them live. So they 
have cats enough and to spare in that house. 
I have often wondered how it is that cats 
and dogs can find their way home. They 
surely do it in places where many a man would 
be lost. Cats are said to have “nine lives.” I 
suppose that is because they are so hard to 
kill. Some of the poor things that prowl 
about the cities look as if several of their lives 
had been taken from them. They are really 
wild cats, and if they lived in the woods, they 
would be treated as enemies, I fear. Among 
the ancient Egyptians, cats were held as 
sacred animals. In Paris, to-day, there is a 
home for homeless cats, where they are fed 
and cared for. In old times, people used to 
think the cats were the favorite animals of 
witches. I suppose that is because cats have 
such peculiar looking eyes and are sometimes 
so sly and cruel. In Germany, to day, they 
think that if a black cat comes near a baby’s 
cradle, the baby will be sure to be wicked. 
Of course, we know that is a foolish way to 
think, A pretty little kitten makes a very 
nice pet indeed, and good children who mind 
their parents and try to do right will not be 
made bad by cats.. When cats are kept to catch 
rats they should not be handled much. A pet 
cat will know iu a short time that it does not 
need to work for its living, A cat that is kept 
in the barn and is fed nothing but milk will 
soon create a panic among the rats. Cats are 
good hunters too. The worst of it is that 
when they begin to hunt they are sure to kilj 
the chickens. 
THE fUiKAL NEW-YORKER 
; S 
LETTERS FROM THE COUSINS. 
Dear Uncle Mark: I have a plaut stand 
filled with pots of ivy (German and English) 
and wandering Jew. It looks very pretty and 
theplauts grow; but the leaves begin to curl 
at the edges and turn yellow. We saw a 
worm glide in under the roots at the bottom 
of one of the pots to day, and beg some of the 
Cousins will tell us how to kill them, also how 
to get rid of lice on plauts, and how to make 
Fuchias blossom. Ours bud, and then all the 
buds drop off. What is good to enrich the 
soil, and keep them thrifty? An answer from 
some who know about these matters would be 
a real kindness to M. c. rooLE. 
[Probably angle worms. You caD probably 
destroy them by pouring lime water iuto the 
soil, or better yet, by tapping the plants out 
of the pots, aud picking the worms away. Lice 
can be destroyed by washing the plants with 
whale-oil soap. Tobacco water or tobacco 
fumes or sulphur Rimes are sometimes used. 
You probably keep the pots too dry or too wet. 
Either extreme will hurt the plants. You had 
better repot them, and be sure and provide 
good draiuage. The soil iu your pots may be 
exhausted. Soils get worn out and tired just 
as men do. If you are near any greenhouse, 
perhaps you can get your pots refilled there 
Those of us who live iu the country know 
where to find the richest soil.— u. M.] 
Dear Uncle Mark: I thought I would write 
a letter to you aud ask if I can join the Y. H. 
C. I live on the prairie. We have not much 
school. I study arithmetic, reading, geo¬ 
graphy, and spelling. We have a cow and a 
yearling heifer. We have IS old hens and 40 
chickens, seven old hogs and 35 pigs. 1 have 
a dog and a jack rabbit. If the cousins want 
to see him I shall be glad to show him. Your 
nephew, t. h. Lawrence. 
Antelope Co., Neb. 
[We would all like to see him. I wish we 
could come.— uncle mark ] 
Dear Uncle Mark: I have beeu reading the 
letters in the Y. H. C., and I like to read them 
and write, too, but I am only eight years old, 
and can’t write very well. It is a mile to our 
school. In the Summer I have no one to go 
with me, for my brother has to work in the to¬ 
bacco, and in the Winter the weather is too 
bad for me to go regularly, but 1 learn some 
at home. My oldest brother is a teacher in 
Amity College, Iowa, and all the sister 1 have 
is there going to school. I have one brother 
teaching near home, and one at school in 
Georgetown, Ky. My youngest brother is here 
and we have lots of fun. My pets are five 
little spotted kittens in the baru. Oh, they are 
so playful! We had some nice flowers 
from the seed you sent us, but don’t know the 
namesofall. I love flowers and have agood 
many. We are going to have a pit dug for 
them this Winter. I hope Papa will take your 
paper nextyear, for I love to read it. This is 
a tobacco country and is called Jackson’s Pur¬ 
chase. Your niece, anna taylor. 
Ballard Co., Ky. 
[I hope you will be with us next year.— 
uncle mark.] 
Dear Uncle Mark: I am a reader of the 
Rural. Ma takes your paper, and I thought 
I would join the children and help Martha 
Daniels, of Helena, tell of Montana. We live 
iu what is kuown as Bridger Canyon. We 
have 040 acres of laud. We raise chickens, 
turkeys, pigs, cattle. We all have nice sad¬ 
dles and ride when we like. We had a splen¬ 
did garden and the finest potatoes you ever 
saw. 1 love Montana and would not exchange 
the pure water and air aud mountain scenery 
for all the apples, big sweet potatoes and 
malarial fever you have East. Montana is a 
lovely country, aud I think the time not far 
distant when every foot that can be plowed 
will be a garden or wheat field. 
Your niece, nannie creek. 
Gallitin Co., Montana. 
[We are glad to bear from you, Nannie. I 
hope your State will be filled up some day, as 
you say. I am glad you are so well satisfied. 
“There's no place like home,” you know.— 
uncle mark.] 
Dear Uncle Mark: I thought I would 
like to be a member of the Y. H. C. I am a 
little girl seven years old. I am going to 
Bcbool this Winter. I have a kitten named 
Topsy, and a bird named Charlie. 1 live in 
sight of Lake Erie. It is a beautiful sight to 
see the boats pass. I hope to see this iu tho 
Rural; grandpa takes it. I read all the 
letters. Your niece, MAY F. malick. 
[lam glad to hear from you May. That 
must be a black kitten I think.—u. M. 
Dear Uncle Mark: I am a little girl 11 
years old, and would like to join the Y. H. C. 
We never lived on a farm before; we always 
lived in the city, until last April. I go to 
school, and study geography, grammar, ar¬ 
ithmetic, reading, spelling and writing. I 
like country life very much better than city 
life. I hope that if you ever come to Fredonia, 
you will come to see me. We live about one- 
and a half mile east. My papa has one horse, 
three little pigs, one cow, one-huudred hens, 
and one big watch dog, half St. Bernard, and 
half Siberian blood hound. I have three lit¬ 
tle kittens, aud two old cats. Hoping to hear 
from you sometime, I remain your ever lov¬ 
ing niece, ethkl f. toles. 
Fredonia, N. Y. 
LYou area Cousin now, Ethel, I shall sure¬ 
ly come and see you if I go to that part of the 
State. If that dog is not tied when I come, I 
hope you will be there to introduce me. 
— UNCLE MARK.] 
PtetrUaufous: gUvcrtisittg. 
AMONG THE BANK NOTES. 
The American Bank Note Cdmpauy is the 
largest as well as the oldest corporation in this 
country devoted to the work of designing and 
engraving bank notes, coupon bonds and all 
that extensive class of fine art commercial lit¬ 
erature. It dates back as far as to 1705. It 
printed the work for Government securities 
as long ago as 1800. Oue of the oldest engrav¬ 
ing firms outside of this great concern was 
that of Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Smillie, 
whose name is familiar to all who handled the 
bonds and notes of 30 or 40 years ago. Mr. 
Smillie, of this firm, who achieved uational 
reputation as an artist, is now spending 
the years of a ripe old age at Poughkeepsie, 
New York. His son, William M. Smillie, 
Esq., is one of the Vice Presidents of the 
American Bank Note Company having charge 
of the detail of the artistic work in that great 
institution. 
A well known New York editor recently 
visited Mr. Smillie in his own office in the new 
building of the American Bank Note Com¬ 
pany. This building, by the way, 13 the most 
beautiful and ample in the world for the pur¬ 
pose of commercial art work. It is under the 
shadow of the spire of Trinity Church. Its 
offices are spacious aud elegant, and its work¬ 
rooms are equipped with a wonderful perfec¬ 
tion in everything pertaining to the designing 
and production of the immense quantity of 
fine engraving and choice printing sent out 
from there. 
“So your father is now seventy-eight years 
old, is he, Mr. Smillie? 
“Yes, and for a man of his age he has had a 
wonderful experience. Last winter he had an 
attack of pleurisy. We brought him from 
Poughkeepsie to this city in order to place him 
under the care of his old physician. He re¬ 
mained here two or three mouths, most of the 
time in very low condition. There was great 
ad besiou of the pleura and he could use only 
about half of one lung. He returned to his 
home and grew so much weaker that we all 
thought he would die. The pleura was tapped 
and three qnarts of water taken from it He 
suffered so that we determined to send him to 
my brother’s at Montrose, Pa., thinking that 
change of air might do him some good. The 
change was made last July. While at Mont¬ 
rose he suffered much from intense pain in the 
chest and suffocation. We gave him the best 
medical care that could be obtained. But it 
was of little avail. Ho wanted to go home to 
die. 
“in this condition he was brought to New 
York, wrapped iu shawls and blankets, for 
his feet were swollen and he could not get his 
boots on. I found him thus at the St. Cloud 
Hotel early in September. 
“When my father’s case had reached this 
point I said to him and my mother aud sis¬ 
ters: ‘Now you have all had your way as to 
medical treatment; suppose you let me have 
mine. I am a believer in Compound Oxygen. 
I want to try it on father.’ They agreed to it, 
although they said his case was hopeless. We 
got a nurse from Bellevue Hospital. She said 
she knew uothiug of Compound Oxygen, but 
would give it a fair trial. 
“I went to my old frieud, Dr. Turner, in 
charge of the New York office of Compound 
Oxygen, 148 Fifth Avenue. I told him my 
father’s feet were badly swollen; that his 
breathing apparatus was all out of order; that 
his stomach was in bad condition from twenty 
years of dyspepsia, aud that he was very low. 
The doctor said: ‘I hope we can help him; we 
will try.’ 
“So I took a ‘Home Treatment.’ Father 
was so weak he could hardly iuhale it at all. 
He could take the Oxygeu in short whiffs. 
The nurse gave it to him 10 or 13 times the 
first day. That night he slept, aud it was the 
first good sleep he had taken for weeks. It 
was on a Tuesday that he began the Oxygen 
Treatment. By Saturday he wusso much bet¬ 
ter that be wanted to leave the hotel and go to 
his home in Poughkeepsie. We lifted him aloug 
as gently as we could, and in a few hours he 
was sitting on his portico overlooking the park 
and the Hudson River and enjoying one of the 
most beautiful sunsets ever seen. Said he: 
‘The Lord has made this sunset especially for 
me. Now let me go to bed. I want to sleep.’ 
He slept nearly all night, and with almost 
eutire freedom from pain. 
“A week ago I spent a day with him. I ar¬ 
rived about lunch time and they gave my 
lunch in bis room. When he saw it set out 
on a small table he said: ‘That’s most appe¬ 
tizing. Why don’t they give me my lunch 
that way! I’m tired of gettiug sick folks’ 
dishes. I want some cold lamb and food like 
other folks ' Then he said that in order to eat 
solid food he must have his teeth fixed. He 
sent for a deutist who took out those lower 
teeth and made him a new set. Why, if those 
teeth had been takeu out before he began 
taking the Compound Oxygeu it would sim¬ 
ply have killed him. Now he stood it bravely, 
aud what is more he is getting along hand¬ 
somely with his new set and eating pretty 
much what other people eat. His improve¬ 
ment has been marvelous. Formerly he could 
sleep only by resting his head forward on a 
chair placed for tbe purpose. Now he can lay 
his head back on his easy chair and sleep com¬ 
fortably. Before he took the Oxygen he had 
not been in a bed in six weeks. Now he goe» 
to bed every night and obtains refreshing 
slumber. He walks about his room and is 
sometimes taken out for a short drive. He 
takes Oxygen several minutes at a time morn¬ 
ing and night.” 
‘ ‘Mr. Smillie, has your father’s improve¬ 
ment been steady and regular, or has he had 
interruptions.” 
“There have been occasional days of depres¬ 
sion, and two or three times we have almost 
feared that he was going to lose all he had 
gained. But each of these depressing periods 
had beeu less than the previous one, I shall 
not be surprised if such perio is return occa¬ 
sionally. It is natural in a man of his age 
that they should. But seethe improvement. 
His breathing was obstructed; his stomach 
paiu was great; his sleep was misery, and his 
skin was hard and dry. Now he breathes 
naturally; his stomach is free from distress; 
his sleep is refreshing, aud his skin is like that 
of an infant. Let me remark that, the use of 
the Oxygenaqua which accompanies tbe Com¬ 
pound Oxygen proved very anvantageous for 
tbe relief of his stomach and bowels.” 
“ Do you regard your father as an entirely 
well man?” 
“As well as a man of seventy-eight can be 
who has passed through the experience he has. 
To x-enew the youth and heal all the infirmi¬ 
ties of a man of his age would be an impossi¬ 
bility. Butyousee what Compound Oxygen 
has done for him. It has evidently prolonged 
bis life. And it has performed wonders in 
easing him of pains which made life a bur¬ 
den.” 
“And now as to your own experience, Mr. 
Smillie? You must have had good reason for 
falling iu love with Compound Oxygen to such 
an extent as to recommend it for your father?” 
“Four or five years ago I was badly over¬ 
worked . I bad been giving too close attention 
to business aud fouud myself breaking down. 
1 procured a “Home Treatment” and diligently 
followed directions. It brought me up. 
Since then I have never beeu without it, and 
I never will. My wife has been suffering 
from nervous prostration and she is now taking 
Compound Oxygen with excellent, results. 
“I have a friend who, three summers ago, 
was suffering with a dreadful cough. ‘That 
man can’t live loug.’said some of his friends 
who beard him cough. I persuaded him to go 
with me to the Compound Oxygen office. A 
few inhalations of Oxygen produced a marked 
efi’ect on him. He had beeu almost sleepless 
at night. He Boon began to enjoy restful 
sleep. All Summer bo kept on improving. In 
the Fall his cough was gone. He is now as 
lively aud hearty as any of us,” 
Is not this Compound Oxygen a wonderful 
thing? The doctors try to flud out what it is 
made of. Mr. Smillie’s physician asked for a 
vial from the “blue bottle” in order to analyze 
it. He reported that he couldn’t tell what it 
was, but he was satisfied that it bad done 
wonders tor Mr. Smillie. Its whole history is 
tbe history of the accomplishments of won¬ 
ders, which in many instances were more than 
its most sanguine believers had dared to hope 
for it. A little book which will be mailed 
free by Drs, Starkey & Falkn, 1539 Arch 
Street. Philadelphia, tells much that is of value 
and interest concerning Compound Oxygen. 
Make free to write for it. 
A^vms MILK FOOD * 1 
J For Children FAST Teething. 
Write uh for testimonials of the medi¬ 
cal profession regarding it. 
ANGLO-SWISS CONDENSED MILK CO. 
P. O. Box 3773, New-York. 
