42S 
THE RURAI WEW-YORKER, 
X 
Bv the meadow bars together, 
While the stln sank low, 
Mary dear and 1 were standing, 
In the long ago. 
Ah! her eyes were brown and tender. 
As she looked at me; 
Round us kindly dvopped the shadows— 
There were none to see. 
Well, Indeed, do I remember, 
Life was fair and young; 
Time’s ax had not left the grindstone, 
Trouble's song unsung. 
At my side her fair head rested, 
As I held the pail; 
Eagerly tier bright eyes glistened. 
As she switched her tall. 
Switched her tail? Why yes; I’ll tell you— 
Now I’ll make you laugh:— 
I -was but a dreaming milkman, 
She—a Jersey calf. 
Now for the plows, I have lieen hunting 
through the words pretty carefully. It is a 
great surprise to nie to learn that there were 
so many words locked up in those letters. As 
I figure, we have found over 105,000 words. 
This would fill 3t> pages of the Rural. The 
paper covered about 1,200 square feet. If cut 
into strips six inches wide it would reach 
nearly half a mile. 
The longest list of correct words from any 
boy came from 
James A. Leland. 
Kent Co., Michigan. 
The longest list from any girl came from 
Abbie Ward, 
Monroe Co., N. Y. 
These lists were very well prepared and 
there were few words to be taken out. 
Some of the Cousins sent in very long lists, 
but I found that many of the words were not 
allowable. The greatest trouble was that a 
double e or a double t would crowd in. You 
will remember that there is only oue e and 
one t in “Clinton Chilled Plow.” I had to take 
those words out, and that, made the lists short¬ 
er. Then some of you forgot what I said 
about using a word like “hide,” that is spelled 
in one way, but used with two meanings. 
Take it all together, though, tly? work was 
very well done, and I want to praise you all 
for the way you have worked. I have always 
thought my boys and girls were pretty smart, 
but 1 never was so sure of it liefore. I am 
soiTy we cannot send a plow to all who tried 
so hard. I am inclined to think Woodward 
& Son would feel like doiug it if they knew 
liow hard you have worked. All those who 
tried and failed should never be discouraged. 
We have learned a good deal about spelling, 
anyway. One thing I forgot to say is that 
the majority of the lists came from girls. • 
Be careful how you stand and where you 
stand. I saw a woman the other day who 
came very near killing her baby. She stood 
on a ferry boat, with the baby in her arms, 
near a swinging door. She thought the door 
was fast ened because it was shut, sosheleaued 
up against it. It was not fastened at all bu t 
opened beneath her weight and gave her such 
a start that she could not keep on her feet. 
She staggered a few steps and then fell, drop¬ 
ping the baby on the floor. The baby was not 
hurt, but it was almost a miracle that she did 
not fall upon it and crush the little thing. 
Be careful now about leaning up against un¬ 
stable things. It pays pretty well to keep our 
feet under us. 1 don’t, like to see these people 
who are always looking about for a good 
place to lean. When a boy once starts into 
this habit he never will get over it. All through 
life he will be looking out for a good place to 
rest, and while ho is hunting for somebody to 
lean upon, the good things of life will all rush 
by him. Stand up straight boys and be your 
own walking sticks. 
When I was a boy there used to be an old 
lady who gave me lots of advice. She had 
a very queer hobby; she thought people did 
not blow their noses half enough. Whenever 
she found a child doing nothing she would 
say “now just take out your handkerchief and 
give your nosea good blowing.” Some of you 
will laugh at this, yet it was very good advice 
as I have often proved. As a rule, people 
don’t blow their noses half enough. I am well 
satisfied that, t here would be much less catarrh, 
headache and other head troubles if people 
would keep their noses clean. Some people 
never cany handkerchiefs. .*_That Is a sure 
sign that they don’t care much for their health. 
Carry a handkerchief and use it. 
The fields and woods are at their best now. 
Make the best of this beautiful season. When 
Summer comes with its heat and dust we shall 
lose the freshness that now covers everything. 
The best way, after all, is to make the most of 
each season as it comes. Enlarge the good 
things of the present instead of wishing for 
something to come in the future. “Live for 
to-day 1” That is a good motto. 
Near a railroad over which I ride a good 
deal lives a dog. He looks something like a 
bull dog, black and white, aud not very large. 
Every time the train comes by be rushes out 
of the house aud runs a race with the engine. 
He runs with all his might at the side of the 
cars, and seems to feel badly enough when we 
shoot past him. Of course he can’t keep up- 
lie ought to know it by this time, but still out 
he comes and runs as hard as ever. AVhen he 
gets to be an old dog be will have more sense. 
His legs will get stiff and he will know enough 
to stay where he is comfortable and let the 
engine go. Did you ever see a boy or girl like 
this foolish dog? I have. They don’t try to 
race with engines, but they try, time after 
time, to do things which a little thinking 
would prove ridiculous. Think more about 
your work or play. Nothing of any value 
cau be done in a minute. We would have no 
respect for a cat or a dog that was caught in 
the same trap twice. What shall we say 
about ourselves if we do a foolish thing twice? 
NOTES FROM THE COUSINS. 
I noticed that A. E. Wakeman, fears he 
has failed to sprout the Caima seeds found in 
the Rural Treasures. I would say, this seed 
is almost impossible to start uuless it has boil¬ 
ing water poured over it aud remains in soak 
over night. I always treat them so, and now 
have two fine plants from as many seeds 
found in the Rural Treasures. aunt em. 
Dear Uncle Mark: I thought it was 
about time 1 wrote to you or you will forget 
me. My Brother Norman wants to join the 
Y. H. Club. He is nine years old. Thanks 
for the seed you sent me. A week from now 
it Is vacation. I like to go to school, though I 
am always glad when vacation comes. I take 
care of the school house now. I did not get 
but $5 for 10 weeks of school this term. We 
have had bad luck with our chickeus and 
hens. A skunk carried off 12 chickeus and 
five hens. Cau you tell me how to catch him? 
He is too smart for a steel trap. 
Yours truly, ralph sawyer. 
W. Medway, Mass. 
[Try the box-crap for the skunk. I used to 
“blow the organ” iu church when I was a boy 
and only got .?4 a year for it. So you are 
earning more money than I did.—u. m.] 
Uncle Mark: A little girl, Retta M. Avery, 
says “she wishes some Cousin would write to 
her.” May I be a Cousin, and luay I write to 
her through your paper? My Pupa takes your 
paper, and I sent in a list of words last. week. 
Mamma did not think I had enough words to 
get the ] irize, 1 iut thought my name would be 
among the others, as having tried. My little 
brother died the day he was six-and-one-half 
years old; and ray sister is too old to help 
me. I am the same age as Retta. Our school 
closes this week, and I intend to recite a piece 
from the Rural called, “A Primitive Churn.” 
I think it may make some fun. I, too, have 
been making a scrap-book. Our teacher gives 
us beautiful pictures, for perfect lessons. 
Mine is full now. If Retta will write to me, 
through the mail, I will reply. 
HATTIE BELLE HOTCHKISS. 
West Cheshire, Conn. 
Care of C. F. Hotchkiss. 
[I am glad you wrote, and I hope you will 
get au answer.—U. m.] 
Dear Uncle Mark: My Pa takes the Ru¬ 
ral. I read it with much pleasure aud some 
profit. We planted the Rural seeds. Some of 
them are growing nicely. The cutworms and 
moles destroyed the largest share, so we had 
to plant the ground to something else. My 
Grandma gave me nine duck eggs. I sot 
them under a lien, and she hatched them all, 
but one died. The eight are doiug nicely. I 
have two young crows. They are very mis¬ 
chievous. My Pa has a nice Arabian mare, 
aud she has a nice colt. We live on a small 
farm, 15 miles from Grand Rapids. I am 
learning stenography of my brother, who 
teaches it iu Oakland, Cal. He sends the les¬ 
sons to me on cards. james a. leland. 
Kent Co., Mich. 
Dear Uncle Mark: My sister Mary takes 
the paper. I am a girl, 13 years old. I live on 
a farm. Pu has five cows and live young 
calves, seven horses, two working teams,three 
colts aud six pigs. My sister has 30 nice little 
chickens, and she has three hens hatching on 
chicken eggs and two hens setting on turkey 
eggs. She has two turkey hens and a gobbler. 
One of her hens has laid 33 eggs, and the 
other one has laid three. She has a nice 
flock of chickens. nellie m. sankey. 
Clearfield Co., Pa. 
Dear Uncle Mark : Sister and myself 
have been reading the Cousins’ letters aud of 
their other doings, and we have become so 
very hungry to become members of the Y. H. 
C. If you will take us in we will write you 
often of our doings. Papa has taken the R. 
N.-Y. the last six years, and the whole family 
read it and believe in it. 1 am 11 years old 
next birthday, and sister Is eight. We go to 
school 1)4 miles. Papa carries on mixed 
fanning nine miles from Macomb. He lias 
horses, cows, hogs, turkeys, chickeus, ducks, 
aud we have a prospect for a large crop of 
all kinds of berries. There are seven in our 
family. mary .t. & nelly baymidler. 
Macomb, McDouuough Co., 111. 
[We want to Know more about your county.] 
Dear Uncle Mark: It has been a long 
time since I have written to you. I went on a 
visit to Indiana, and I liked it very well. I 
live in a mountainous country and I like it 
better than a level country: the water Is bet¬ 
ter. It is nice growing weather and every¬ 
thing looks nice. We raise all kinds of fruit: 
apples, peaches, pears, quinces, plums, cher¬ 
ries. grapes, raspberries, currants and goose¬ 
berries. and strawberries and blackberries. I 
would like to know what is good for currant 
and gooseberry worms. Pa has 15 cows, and I 
help milk them, and we have six horses and 13 
hogs and 15 pigs aud 50 hens aud 1.50 chick¬ 
ens and 21 turkeys, 40 young ones, aud 12 
geese and 15 goslings and eight ducks aud 10 
young ducks. We have two dogs, Jack and 
Towser, and two cate, Tom and Charlie. 
Your niece, n. e. Woodford. 
Alpina, W. Va. 
[Hellebore, powdered, mixed in water and 
sprayed on the bushes, will kill the worms.— 
u. m.] _ 
Dear Uncle Mark: I would like to tel] 
you a little about our home iu Nebraska. It 
is five miles south of Gordon, and the Niobrara 
River is about the same distance south 
of us. This country is begining to settle 
up very fast. Thei’tf are several persons who 
came from New York this Spring. My father 
came here about 18 months ago, aud took a 
homestead aud brought logs from the River 
auil commenced building a log house. It was 
the first t hat was put up in this township. I 
like to write letters, I write to my Pa, he is 
working in Mississippi and he says he likes to 
get my letters. We like this place, but it was 
the middle of A ugust before Ma aud the fam¬ 
ily came from Minnesota and it was too late 
for a garden. I expect to have a garden this 
year. My brother takes the Rural and got 
the seeds and will give them a fair chance. 
Your neice, mary julia murphy. 
Gordon, Nebraska. 
Dear Uncle Mark: I have long been 
thinking I would write to you, but I could uot 
get up OUOUgh courage. I am 13 years old and 
have a brother 10. We have been to school 
all the time, but have been sett ing strawberry 
plants for the last two days. We picked, last 
year, from 2 l .j acres, 19,000 quarts, and have 
three acres to pick this year, also three acres 
of raspberries, which look promising. My 
Papa kecj>s a yard of bees, containing JOG 
swarms, which were looking very well last 
Fall when we shut them up in a stoue house, 
but have died out some during the last dreary 
Winter. 1 have got one swarm and 32 chick¬ 
ens, 12 of which are Brown Leghorns and the 
other 20 Dark Brahmas. The cherry aud 
apple trees are in full bloom here and will 
have a good crop if we do not get a frost. 
Yours truly, johnnie R. gilks. 
[I don’t think 1 am so terrible that people 
must wait for courage in order to write to me 
—I hope uot, anyway. Too bad about the 
bees.—u. M.] 
THE TUSCARORA INDIANS. 
In reading accounts of the troubles lie tween 
the whites and the Indians in the far West, it 
is pleasant to hear about those tribes who live 
undisturhed on reservations in the Eastern 
States. Among these the Tusearora tribe, 
numbering 430 persons, may be mentioned, 
whose home is on the Mountain Ridge, aud 
some distance eastward, in the town of Lewis¬ 
ton, Niagara Co., N. Y. Here they own, 0,240 
acres of the most desirable land iu the State. 
History says, “The Tusearoras formerly 
lived in North Carolina. When obliged to 
leave their homes in that State, they turned 
their steps northward, and in 1712 came to 
Central New York, and built their wigwams 
on unoccupied ground near the Iriquois, a 
company of five tribes, who had united their 
interests for mutual protection and defense. 
The Tusearoras were kindly received, and in¬ 
vited to join them, which they did gladly. 
Afterward these tribes were called “The Six 
Nations.” Mohawks, Cayugas, Oneidos, Onon 
dagas, Senecas, and Tusearoras lived near 
each other contentedly until the Revolutionary 
War. Then some of the Tusearoras, who were 
in sympathy with the British, stole away to 
Canada, and were active in the great conflict. 
At its close, they set out to return to their 
former hunting grounds in Central New York. 
Stopping at Lewiston to visit some Senecas 
■who owned land on the Mountain Ridge, they 
decided to stay there, and a piece of land one 
mile square was given to them by their hos¬ 
pitable entertainers. Wisbi ng to own a greater 
tract of hunting ground, the Holland Laud 
Company kindly gave them two square miles 
of land adjoining their homes. Years went 
happily on, as then there were but few white 
men iu the country to interfere with their 
pursuits. Again the want of more land began 
to be felt by them, but it was now too valu¬ 
able to be given away: so they raised a small 
amouut of money, and bought the desired 
tract from the Holland Laud Company in 1808. 
It was densely" wooded, Rnd small game was 
abundant. The region was infested with 
wolves; consequently but few deer were found. 
It a deer went to the lake or river to drink, 
some prowling wolf would frighten it and 
make it take refuge in the water. Its enemy 
waited in the thicket until the poor, timid 
creature, tired with fruitless swimming, 
ventured to the shore, where it was soon 
killed and devoured. When the wolves 
were hunted and driven away, deer became 
plenty, bears were often shot and furnished 
food for the hunter. Occasionally' a panther 
crossed his path, and was regarded as a dan¬ 
gerous foe. Fish were unusually plentiful in 
the creeks that ran into Niagara River. 
Thickly shaded with woods, they did not dry 
up in Summer, as small streams do at the 
present day. In March and April that de¬ 
licious fish, the pike, was eagerly watched 
for and speared by the Imliaus. Flocks of 
swans, cranes and wild geese lived around 
Niagara River, and wild ducks and gulls were 
there in immense numbers. As the country' 
became settled and the woods cleared off, 
game gradually disappeared. Wild ducks are 
still abundant on Niagara River, but hunting 
them is laborious work, aud is oftou attended 
with danger. The Tusearoras no longer de¬ 
pend ou hunting for support, but are engaged 
in cultivating their farms. In this work 
many of them have been very successful. 
Land is allotted to the head of a family and 
subdivided among the members of the family. 
Where a family runs out. the laud goes back 
to the commonality, aud is again allotted 
to a new family. Some of the land is leased 
to white neighbors, who live near. A reli¬ 
gious society was organized among the Tus- 
caroras iu 1805. Various missionaries labored 
there, aiding them to acquire knowledge of 
the true God, the Great Spirit, who created all 
thiugs. The Rev. Mr. Rockwood was sent to 
them in 1837, by the Board of Missions, and 
lived on the reservation 30 years. As many 
whites attended the Indian church, the sermon 
was preached in English as well its in Indian 
language. The minister spoke a sentence in 
English, then paused a moment, during which 
it was quickly translated into the Tusearora 
tongue by an expert interpreter. Iu this way 
sentence by sentence, the sermon was trans¬ 
lated to the people, who gladly listened to the 
Gospels joyful sound. Now there are two 
churches on the Reservation, whose bells peal 
forth sweet tones that echo among ttie ravines 
that furrow the Mountain Ridge, proclaiming 
this to be a Sabbath-keeping people. The 
public schools, taught by native teachers, are 
well conducted. The older scholars are fre¬ 
quently sent to schools in the neighboring 
cities to complete their studies. These Chil¬ 
dren of Nature are gifted with fine vocal low¬ 
ers. One of thorn, Mr. Samuel Jacobs, taught 
singing schools amoug them for 30 years. 
They are lovers of song, and their singing is 
long remembered by those who hear it. 
Several of theru are favorites in the concert 
room. Great attention is given to instrumen¬ 
tal music, aud there are two well organized 
musical bands, whose services are often sought 
on holiday's. 
This tribe still has its chiefs, after the man¬ 
ner of the olden times. There are 15 chiefs. 
Chief John Mount Pleasant, elected iu 1827, 
when but 17 years of age, is the highest iu 
rank. The other chiefs ure his counsellors. 
Euch lias a tribal name, such as United States 
Eagle, French Beaver, etc. This trilie iseom- 
jx>sed of six classes, named as follows:—Bear, 
Wolf, Beaver, Snipe, Mudturtle and Eel. 
People of one class marry those of another, as 
each class is made up of relatives. Besides the 
chiefs, most every one has a tribal or Indian 
name. These are given to perpetuate the old 
customs of the race long before white men 
lived in this country. An annual picnic for 
the lameUt of the Sabbath Schools of the 
Reservation is held during the month of 
August in a flue maple grove, where saj>- 
trougbs, lying at the roots of the trees, indi¬ 
cate that maple sugar-making Is still carried 
ou in the Spring. This picnic is largely at¬ 
tended by the whites, who are entertained 
with speak iug, and also choice vocal and in¬ 
strumental music by these accomplished and 
happy aborigines. sophia c. garretx. 
