THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
fox i\)t guutig. 
E must have all the* 
bean reports by Jan¬ 
uary 1st. We have 
received quite a 
number already and 
some of them are 
very good. Re¬ 
member there is 
one month 
more. 
Read what “Horti- 
cola” says about our 
department. Of 
course we will take 
him in. I am sure 
that every cousin will vote in favor of it. Shall 
we “make it unanimous?” I think so. Now let 
us consider “Horticola” a Cousin, and if he 
does not write his two letters every year, 
Uncle Mark will know what to do. I wonder 
what he is going to do next Spring. It is 
something nice I kuow. We can hardly wait 
to find out what it is. 
It is a good time now to begin to think 
about our Christmas presents. What are you 
going to get for your friends? It is a good 
thing to give little presents at Christmas. 
Don’t try to get costly presents. Something 
that you can make yourself will be much 
nicer than many of the valuable things we see 
in the stores. Christmas is not the time for 
trying to see bow much money we can spend, 
but it is the time for showing our good will. 
Let us all remember that this year. 
and to night the old inclination -seems to come 
back to me. So, then, as this is a farmers’ 
paper, perhaps the farmers’ little boys would 
like the song of 
THE DINNER HORN. • 
O! the sailor loves the sounding sea 
And the winds that wildly blow. 
And the bird-songs In the greenwood tree, 
The poet loves, 1 know. 
For me, I love the song to hear 
Of the lark at early morn: 
But ilie sweetest song to the farmer’s ear, 
Is the song of the Dinner Horn. 
A battle march for the soldier free, 
Or the call or the trumpet clear. 
And the rapid tramp of the cavalry 
The soldier loves to hear. 
But sweet to the farmer’s wearied soul: 
While he plows toe rustling corn. 
Is the sound that comes In the noon tide lull— 
'Tls the song of the Dinner Horn! 
Ask your papa if this is not true. Can you 
blow the shell dinner horn? It is not every 
one who can. I used to do it, and the blast 
would nearly knock me down. 
To change the subject: Do you love 
flowers, children? Have you a garden? In 
the Spring and Summer, do you love to plant 
and sow seeds, and hoe and rake and train the 
lovely flowers? What are your favorites? The 
morning glory and the rose are mine. And 
that reminds me: 
a rose, a rose, a lovely rosel 
There's not a flower so sweet to me; 
I watch it bud; and when It blows. 
I pluck It with a childish glee; 
But when 1 press It to my nose, 
T flud a thorn 1 didn’t see! 
As you go through life and partake of its 
pleasures, you will learn by “sad experience,” 
that thorns are hidden among its sweets. But, 
by careful forethought and prudence, you 
may escape many of the thorns, while you 
placidly sip the sweets. I believe that every 
mortal in this life has to walk in the furrow 
Fate has turned up for him, and the only way 
to get aloDg is to look behind as well as be¬ 
fore, so as to escape the pitfalls and snares till 
about him. aunt cynthia. 
[That character from Dickens is Mrs. Gum- 
midge. All who have read “David Copper- 
field” will remember her. The dinner horn 
has about given away to the bell now. Any 
sound that calls the farmer to dinner is 
pleasant enough. Yes, indeed, the Cousins do 
love flowers. They have some of the most 
beautiful gardens in the country. The rose 
has received the largest number of votes cast 
thus far. All of the Cousins are going to try 
to turn up “furrows” of their own. We believe 
we cm “make our lives sublime.” We shall be 
glad to hear from Aunt Cynthia again.— 
UNCLE MARK.] 
THE MAIL BAG. 
We have a long list of new Cousins this 
week. Jessie Morian is the first, she lives in 
New York State. She always reads the let¬ 
ters the first thing._ 
Ralph Sawyer has some white rats, and a 
Guinea Pig for pets. The rats are named 
Dick and Dill. 
Frank Williams lives twenty miles south of 
Helena, Montana. He saw some Indians a 
short time ago. Most of the Cousins want the 
Indians to keep out of sight, I think. 
Alfred Leak, lives in Ontario. They milk 
17 Cows, and have some thoroughbred Short¬ 
horns. Alfred helps milk night and morning. 
What do you think of this way of driving a 
pig? Poor piggy feels the sticks on either side 
of him, and thinks be is between two walls, so 
he goes straight ahead. Some pigs are pretty 
stupid. They are so fat that they can’t look 
around, so they go along just guessing at what 
is behind them. If they should turn once, the 
trouble would be to get them started again. 
It is hard to drive a pig over a bridge. I once 
saw a man drive one with a bushel basket. 
He followed close behind until piggy turned 
and tried to run off the bridge, and then the 
- basket was held so that Mr. Pig ran right into 
it, Of course he was frightened and began to 
back as fast as he could. The man kept the 
basket over his head, and before be knew what 
was being done, piggy had backed over the 
bridge—just what he didn’t want to do. Some¬ 
times they try to lead pigs by tying a string 
to their hind leg. This does not answer very 
well. Ou the whole, pigs are bard things to 
drive, and should be left alone as much as 
possible. For all, pigs seem so stupid, they 
can be taught many tbiugs if they are taken 
when young. There is one thiug, however, 
that a pig cannot be taught, and that is to eat 
properly. Piggy will always be pointed out 
as an example of what greediness will lead to 
—that is laziness, stupidity and selfishness. 
In the words of one of Dickens’s characters 
(I forget her name), I am “a lone, lorn cre- 
tur”in my latter days, Jiving the life of a 
recluse, almost. But, I like children (when 
they are good) and take pleasure in trying to 
amuse them. Once I was fond of “stringing 
a rhyme” now and then for their delectation, 
Annie Sheldon had bad luck with the beans. 
Some disease attacked them, and the chickens 
helped in the work. Annie has some beauti- 
full house plants. She has a red lily in blos¬ 
som. 
Ethel Noon lives in Illinois. She has to 
pass nn examination at her school, every 
third Friday in the month. The Garden Treas¬ 
ures did not do very well. 
Minnie Steves found that the cut-worms 
and the frost took her prizes away from her. 
Last Summer, while her Father was mowing, 
he ran into the dog and killed it. It was too 
bad to loose such a good dog. It would drive 
cattle, open and shut a door, and do other 
things. They have another dog now, a Shep¬ 
herd. 
DeWitt McLeath raised some sweet pota¬ 
toes and sold them for one dollar. He has an 
Amaryllis that has blossomed twice this year. 
LETTERS FROM THE COUSINS, 
Dear Uncle Mark: I would like to join 
your Y. H. C. I am 12 years old, and I live 
on a farm of about 100 acres. My father 
gave me a part of his garden and I ruised 
ouions, cabbages, suuflowers, beans, lettuce 
and potatoes. My onions, cabbages, sud- 
flowers and beans were very nice. We ruised 
strawberries and black raspberries. Father 
gave my sister and 1 half of the raspberries 
to sell if we would pick them all, and we sold 
about five dollars’ worth. We have a pond 
near our house so that we can skate in Winter, 
and we have a boat on it in Summer. If 
Uncle Mark and all the Cousins will come and 
skate with us next New Years we will have a 
gay time. Can Uncle Mark skate? 
ELI C, DICKINSON. 
Cincinnatus, Cortland Co., N. Y. 
[Uncle Mark used to skate pretty well. He 
might not do so well now.] 
Dear Uncle Mark: We bad a package of 
the Garden Treasures and we planted them 
and they grew very nicely. Papa has a 
market garden which was doiug very nicely 
until the Arkansas River overflowed and 
nearly ruined it. But afterwards came out 
very well, so he did not have to irrigate any' 
more. Uncle Mark did you ever see them 
irrigate when you were in Colorado? 1 gues s 
you would not know this country if you were 
to see it now, it has changed so very much. 
Come again Uncle Mark and pay us a visit 
next time. grace morev. 
Pueblo, Colorado. 
[Yes, I have seen farmers irrigate. I am 
glad the country has improved so much. Some 
of it was dreary enough when I was there. 
— uncle mark. 
Dear Uncle Mark; I am a little boy nine 
years old, and my pa is a farmer. He gave 
me a piece of ground this year to plant to 
corn. It was 13 rods long aud five rods wide, 
and he gave me some of the corn that he 
raised from the Rural corn last year for seed, 
and I raised 43 bushels of nice corn. I am 
going to 8ave some of it for seed corn; the rest 
I am going to fat a pig with and then sell my 
pig. I raised 0 D 6 bushel of pop corn this year 
and I have gathered over one bushel of hickory 
nuts. Uncle Mark, I wish you could come and 
eat nuts and pop corn with me this Winter. 
GUY BARNARD. 
Lake Co., Ills. 
[Well done, Guy. You are quite a farmer. 
What part of an acre was this piece of land? 
What breed ol pig shall you feed and what 
will you do with the money ? We all want to 
know. I wish 1 could come and see you. 
—uncle mark.] 
pUjSCfUanmtf 
A TREASURER’S SAFETY. 
An Active Screw Manufacturer has the 
heists taken out of his system. 
Once upon a time—and it was not so many 
years ago, either—gimlet-pointed screws such 
as we have to-day, were unknown. The 
screws of those days were finished off flat at 
the end, aud a hole had to be bored for each 
screw, so as to permit it to enter the wood. 
Some of the best inventions the world has 
known were by lazy fellows; and the gimlet 
screw was one of them. A mechanic, who 
was •" born tired” and who hated the labor of 
boring a hole in the wood for each screw, 
conceived the thought that if the screw were 
furnished with a little tail end in the shape of 
a pointed gimlet, much trouble might be 
saved. 
At first the manufacture of this screw was 
attended with difficulties, but machinery to 
overcome these was in due time invented. 
The gimlet pointed screw is one of the ne¬ 
cessities of the present age. Our great screw 
factories turn these useful little tbiugs out by 
tbe million and million. One of the greatest 
of the screw concerns is the American Screw 
Company, whose extensive works are at 
Providence, Rhode Islaud. 
The treasurer of this great corporation, and 
aud one of its most active managers, is W. 
H. Henderson, Esq , one of the most widely 
known business men of Providence. Mr. 
Henderson, who is uow well advanced in 
years, has had a long experience of invalid¬ 
ism, against which he bravely battled. His 
principal trouble was catarrh, which was so 
obstiuate as for a long time to defy all treat¬ 
ment, and so deeply seated as to cause a 
great degree of deafness. 
Our Rhode Island correspondent recently 
spent and hour with Mr. Henderson, who 
talked freely of his pasl and present exper- 
euce. “ My c&tarrh was of very long stand¬ 
ing.” said Mr. H. “ At an early age I had a 
severe attack of scarlet fever which left me 
with a variety of ailments. The most trouble¬ 
some and permanent of these wastbiscatarrh. 
The catarrh took a very strong hold on me, 
aud in spite of all that the Doctor’s could do 
for me, it increased from year to year to such 
an extent that my expectorations were so 
copious as to be very annoying. You may 
judge how they were when 1 tell you that I 
would often use up as many as half a-dozen 
handkerchiefs a day. In the night time the 
Catarrhal discharge was so great that I fear¬ 
ed to go to Bleep lest 1 should be choked while 
asleep. I would have to rise once or twice 
during the night and free my nostrils and 
from the accumulations. I am now over the 
worst of my trouble, however, aud my 
catarrh is so nearly gone that it gives me no 
inconvenience. One handkerchief a day is 
sufficient for all my needs in that direction.” 
“Then, Mr. Henderson, some of the treat¬ 
ment you have been taking has done you 
good?" 
“Yes; let me tell you about it, I tried a 
great many thiugs which were of no avail. 
One medicine after another failed me. 1 tried 
electricity, and thought I received some ad¬ 
vantage from it; but the relief proved only 
partial and temporary, I was ready to try 
almost anything that gave any hope of relief. 
Mr. Sullivau Fenuer, of this city, advised me 
to try Compound Oxygen, an article of which 
I knew nothing except what he told me. It 
bad been of great advantage to him and his 
son. This gave me practical and lasting re¬ 
lief. It was about two and a half years ago 
that I sent to Philadelphia for a ’home treat¬ 
ment’ of the Compound Oxygen, and at once 
began using it. You may judge of my sur¬ 
prise at its operation, when [ tell you that in 
a few days I felt it was doiug mo good, in 
checking the discharges and giving new life 
to tbe affected parts. I used the Oxygen 
regularly and persistently for several months. 
At first 1 could inhale only a few seconds at 
a time, aud that was with considerable diffi¬ 
culty. But as I continued the use of the in¬ 
halant, inhalation became easier, and re¬ 
lief was greater. The gain in my streugth 
aud general health was very satisfactory. I 
had been so much of an invalid that I was un¬ 
able to attend to my business with regularity; 
but as my improvement in health went on, 
gradually but surely, I found myself able to 
do far more than I had done for years. To 
indicate to you the extent of my improve¬ 
ment, I may say that I now rise early, and 
am at my office by nine or ten o’clock. I 
have nine clerks and keep them busy. I go 
out during the day and attend to great deal 
of out door business, down town. About six 
o’clock I go home and spend the evening in 
reading or otherwise, and go to bed about 11. 
I sleep well.” 
“Then you are entirely free from catarrh, 
Mr. Henderson?” 
“Quite as free as a man of my age 
can evei expect to be after such a 
protracted siege with so obstinate disease. 
For all practical purposes 1 am a well man. 
I still take Compound Oxygen occasionally, 
especially if I take cold, for there is nothing 
like it to break up a cold. I have visited 
Messrs. Starkey & Palen, in Philadelphia, 
and have talked with them over my case. 
They are gentlemen for whom I have a high 
esteem, and I am glad they have done so 
much good and relieved so much distress as 
they have with the Compound Oxygen.” 
“Some of your friends have had pleasant 
experience with Compound Oxygen, have they 
not, Mr. Henderson?” 
“Yes; I have recommended it to many. My 
wife has taken it with good effect. She was 
suffering with geueral debility. It vitalized 
her and gave her strength when nothing else 
did.” 
“Then there is an old gentleman, the father 
of one of my clerks, Mr. Tyler. This gentle¬ 
man is over 70 years of age. For many years 
he had suffered from asthma. For 25 years 
he had not beeu able to sleep except when 
sitting in a chair. He could not lie upon his 
back. He wrote to Messrs. Starkey ffc Palen 
for a ’Home Treatment’ in May, and by July 
he was able to lie on his back aud sleep like 
other people.” 
“I think it is asking a great deal of Com¬ 
pound Oxygen to expect it to afford relief in 
such old and obstinate cases as these. But you 
see what it has done. It can be depended 
upon. I firmly believe in its efficacy.” 
The Dumber of those who are firm believers 
in the remedial powers of Compound Oxygen 
daily and largely on the increase. It is a 
wonderful remedy for the relief of the suf¬ 
fering aud the strengthening of the weak. 
An interesting treatise ou the subject is 
published by Messrs. Starkey & Palen, 1529 
Arch street, Philadelphia. This will be Bent 
by mail free of charge to all who apply for 
it. 
Hood’s Sarsaparilla 
Tills successful medicine is a carefully-prepared 
extract of the host remedies Of the vegetable 
kingdom known to medical science as Alteratives, 
Blood Purifiers. Diuretics, and Tonic*, such as 
Sarbuparllta, Yellow Dock, SUUlngla, Dandelion, 
Juuiper Berries, Mandrake, Wild Cherry Bark 
luid other selected roots, barks aud herbs. A 
medicine, like anything else, can he fairly Judged 
only by its result*. Wo point with satisfaction to 
the glorious record Hood’s Sarsaparilla has en¬ 
tered for itself upon the heart* of thousands of 
people who have personally or Indirectly been 
relieved of tcnllde »utrerlug which all other 
remedies failed to roach. Sold by all druggists. 
$1; bIx for $f>. Made only by C. I. IIOOD & CO., 
Apothecaries, Lowell, Mass. 
IOO Doses One Dollar 
