THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
JME 30 
r.INCINNHTI CENTENNIAL EXPOSITION 
JULY 4 to OCT. 27? q£&\ OHIO 
X f f T 
GRAND JUBILEE, inn days * wichts 
CELEBRATING THE 
lOOth ANNIVERSARY OESETTLEMENTSCINCIWU ATI, 
Wrn NORTH-WEST TERRITORY. 
The OHIO VALLEY «_ 
ART-SCIENCE 
INDUSTRY 
MONSTER NEW BUILDINGS, 
in the heart of the city, 
within ten minutes’ ride of 
all hotels and stations. 
GOVERNMENT EXHIBIT 
of Treasures from the War, 
Navy and other Departments, 
the Smithsonian Institute, 
National Museum and Eisli 
Commission. 
TT^rSTTH-I*^. 
All Buildings brilliantly 
illuminated by innumera¬ 
ble Electrical and Gas Jets. 
Wonderful display of 
ELECTRIC LIGHTING. 
AN ART DEPARTMENT 
of the finest collection of 
Paintings and Sculpture 
SSED DISPLAY IN 
ever made in America, val¬ 
ued at $1,000,000. 
Horticultural Hall of un¬ 
equalled beauty. 
PIONEER RELICS 
from all parts of the North¬ 
west. The great 
MUSIC HALL, 
devoted to Music, Spectacles 
and Performances. 
MACHINERY HALL, 
1,500 Feet in Length, 
through which will ply gon¬ 
dolas from Venice. 
EDUCATIONAL, 
and numerous other De¬ 
partments perfectly ar¬ 
ranged. 
DEPAHTMERTTS. 
for i\)t J)oiW0. 
TALKS BY UNCLE MARK. 
Last week I began to talk about politics. 
Some people think we should never have any¬ 
thing to say about politics. I believe, as I 
have said several times, that our political sys¬ 
tem gets bad and dishonest when good people 
say they care nothing about politics and just 
keep entirely away from all political discus¬ 
sions. There is nothing that dishonesty is so 
much afraid of as investigation. Whenever 
the people really begin to study and think out 
these political questions, you may be sure that 
public rascals and thieves prepare to walk 
straighter than before. My experience with 
dishonest politicians leads me to think that 
they try to take advantage, of cither the ig¬ 
norance or the vanity of the people. Let them 
find a community where the people never read 
much and study still less, and these politicians 
are in clover. They think that any plausible 
statement they may chose to make will be be¬ 
lieved, and that an appeal to bigotry and pas¬ 
sion will answer as well as anything. Let 
these fellows go into a neighborhood where 
people read and study and are able to distin¬ 
guish between sense and nonsense, and you 
will see how quickly their tune will he changed. 
The great strength of this country lies in the 
fact that we are a thinking and reading nation. 
"When we begin to take things for granted and 
to believe political information just because 
somebody tells us it is so, there is danger in the 
air, according to my way of thinking. 
Now I suppose that every hoy and every girl 
too for that matter, has decided in favor of 
one of the big political parties. As a first les¬ 
son in politics suppose we ask—why are you a 
Democrat, a Republican or a Prohibitionist? 
Surely an intelligent person should have some 
reason for taking any stand. In what 1 have 
to say about these questions I don’t propose to 
argue in favor of any particular party. All I 
am after is to encourage investigation and 
study in the matter. So long as people decide 
this matter thoughtfully and without prejud¬ 
ice I am not at all afraid for our future his¬ 
tory. The black cloud that I see in the future 
is caused by bigotry and half-formed opinions; 
conclusions that are jumped-at and prejudices 
that warp facts out of sight. Now I suppose 
that 90 per cent, of our boys if they were ask¬ 
ed why they would vote on a certain side 
would say “because father does.” When a 
hoy loves liis father lie is pretty sure to respect 
his political opinions and to imitate them as 
he would imitate any other quality that was 
evidently honest and honorable. On tlie 
whole, J like to see a young man follow his 
father in politics; it generally shows that 
there is a good understanding between them. 
Until we can study these questions out and 
form a sound opinion of our own, I am in¬ 
clined to think that it is wise to think about 
as father does. Of course, I am talking now 
about the good fathers who are kind and con¬ 
siderate and who are just about the sort of 
men we want to he when we grow up. I 
say this because I know that if we can’t re¬ 
spect father, we will lie pretty apt to be what 
be is not, rather than what he is. Some 
people may think from what I said 
about the Mugwumps that I don’t think 
much of independence. This is a mistake. 
The fault 1 find with the average Mugwump 
is that lie is very conceited. He thinks a 
thing must he so just because he says it is. In 
his straining after independence he gets to a 
point where he can’t conceive of the possibility 
of his being in the wrong. This, to my 
mind, is the bight of bigotry; and the tend¬ 
ency to fall into it is very great when we set 
ourselves up as critical judges for all the rest 
of the people. 1 am a great believer in the 
power of the intelligent people to pick out the 
rightcourse, and lam generally willing to go 
with the majority of those who act after think¬ 
ing. Now I propose to tell in a few words, as 
simply as I can, what it means to he a Demo¬ 
crat, a Republican or a Prohibitionist. The 
party platforms will tell us what the parties 
propose to do, and history will doubtless 
help us too. I want to make these statements 
just as fairly as I can; then we can look them 
over and see wherein one differs from 
another. When we get the points of differ¬ 
ence we can tell where we stand. The Repub¬ 
licans will have their platform all ready 
by next week, and then I can get them all in. 
I have never seen so many toads about as 
there are this summer. My potatoes are 
about alive with them, and I am very sure 
l hey eat a good many potato bugs. They are 
wise fellows for all they are so uzlyin shape 
and face. They are good friends, and I am 
well satisfied that it will pay any boy to go to 
raising toads in the potato field. They will 
do as much good there as they will anywhere. 
When you find a toad, put him in a box and 
carry him to the potatoes. Pen him up for a 
few days and he will make that spot liis home 
coming hack to it when not out after food. 
A few days ago I found a toad that had fallen 
into a drain in my garden. He was about 
starved, hut when I picked him out he soon 
hustled about for food. I remember reading 
about an old negro in the South who was 
hoeing corn. He saw, as he supposed, a toad 
in the dust and started to kill it with his hoe. 
He aimed a heavy blow at it hut only cut 
off his big toe which was sticking up through 
the dust. There was no toad there! It came 
somewhere near serving him right, and is 
about the way some people do business too. 
It pays to follow directions, but it also pays 
to use sense about these directions. The work¬ 
men that get the best pay are those who use 
judgment of their own. I heard of a boy who 
carried out directions in a very foolish man¬ 
ner. His teacher told him about the circula¬ 
tion of the blood and what to do in case of an 
accident. The general rule given in case'of a 
bad cut was to tie a handkerchief as tightly 
as possible about some point of the body be¬ 
tween the cut and the heart. This would stop 
the flow of blood at once—it was said. Now this 
boy happened to be around when another boy 
bad the nose-bleed. He thought of this very 
wise remedy and started to practice it. What 
did he do? It occured to him that the neck is 
between the nose and the heart so he tied the 
handkerchief tightly around the throat. He 
nearly strangled the other boy and never 
stopped the nose bleed. Now here is a case 
where one spoiled a good remedy by not using 
sense in applying it. A machine may not 
need commpu sense, because its work is all 
blocked out for it—a man must use common 
sense or he will spoil something—probably 
himself. 
LETTERS FROM THE COUSINS. 
Dear Uncle Mark: I thought that I 
would like to join the Y. H. C. I am a little 
girl seven years old. Papa takes the Rural. 
We like it very much. I have a brother and 
a pair of twin sisters three years old. We 
live on a farm. We have three horses and 
three colts, three cows and two calves. 
Your Nieco, Fannie m. wilber. 
Gallupville. 
Dear Uncle Mark: I thought I would 
write a letter to you. I am a little girl 13 
years old. My father takes the Rural, and 
I thought I would like to be one of the Cous¬ 
ins with the rest. I have four brothers and 
no sister. Wo have a Holstein cow and a 
caff eight months old. They are very pretty. 
My brothers have some Light Brahmas and 
some Game chickens. We have five head of 
horses. I have three cows. I did have a 
horse hut she died My brothers have got 
some very pretty pigeons. I go to school. 
My little brother and I had a nice flower- 
garden and some of the flowers we got from 
the Rural. They were very pretty flowers. I 
did not go to school very much last summer. 
I had to stay at homo to help pick raspborries 
and blackberries. Your Niece, 
Weber Co., Utah. mary ann barnf.tt. 
Dear Uncle Mark: I wrote you a letter 
last fall and a man down on the Gulf of Mex¬ 
ico saw it in the Rural and wrote to me. 
When he read about the spruce gum he said it 
made him home-sick. He wanted me to send 
him some. I did so and he sent me a box of 
nice sea shells. We have written back and 
forth since then. It seems as if we had been 
acquainted a good while. Don’t you think it 
funny that he saw' it iu the Rural? I love to 
road theRuRAL.especially the Cousins’letters. 
Your Niece, 
Warren Co.,N. Y. gertie turner. 
[The Rural goes about everywhere, and is 
read in every State in the couutry.— U. M.l 
Piittriljrowtti* 
L.vlLAGE 
AND 
CUTTERS 
More 
substantial 
Easier to oper¬ 
ate and less 
liable to acci¬ 
dent than any 
Other cutters. 
IMPROVED 
for 1888 . 
ir treatise on Ensilage and Catalogue sent Free. 
TiVEIf <fc DEWING WFG. CO., Salem, O. 
IllkV e. Ill IMM.’l I 
rr v rii!«.i»a Ui.clnrii trrtc 
