THE RUBAI KEW-YORKER, 
km 7 
for X\)t 1 )oiuTg. 
NOTICED a deformed leaf the 
other day, It was all out of 
shape, all twisted and crowd¬ 
ed. It seemed ashamed of 
itself, banging down and not 
standing up with the others. 
When it was young and grow¬ 
ing, a spider had thrown a 
web over it and drawn it to¬ 
gether. It had been drawn in 
and cramped so that it never got a fair 
start. The result was that it never had a 
chance to grow properly, and here it is now, 
all out of shape. Some men I know grow up 
in about the same way. They let laziness or 
some other fault, put a web over them, and be¬ 
fore they know' it they are tied up for life. 
There aro plenty of spiders all around you 
that would be glad to tie you up. They are 
all the time looking out for smart boys and 
girls that they can put. their webs upon. Look 
out for them; keep out of their way by doing 
what you know is right. Whenever you do 
something that you know is wrong, one of 
these spiders gets a good bite at you. 
How many of our boys and girls have to lie 
told to “sit up straight?” Some people never 
sit in a chair at all. They just rest on the 
shoulders and on the end of the spine. That 
throws the back all out of shape. We have 
lots of things about us that will fail if we do 
not attend to them. The teeth and the eyes 
are most important and they can be saved or 
destroyed, just, as we see lit. Boys and girls 
who do not wan t to have broken or false teeth 
some day. must remember to keep their teeth 
cleau. Good tooth-brushes are cheap and 
they should be used every day. It doesn’t 
take much time to brush the teeth, but the 
time so spent saves many an hour of the tooth¬ 
ache and much trouble at eating. Many a 
good pair of eyes have been weakened by 
reading in the dark or in a bad light, or read¬ 
ing while the eyes felt tired. I don’t think 
any of us will look w ell in spectacles, so we 
had better take care of our eyes now. 
When I was a boy I never liked to have 
my hair cut. The cutting w'as not as pleas¬ 
ant as it might have been. The old man who 
cut hair in our village could uot see very well, 
and sometimes he would get so interested in 
his talk that he would forget w hat he was do¬ 
ing, and the first you knew the shears w'ould 
come up against your ear. His shears were 
dull too, and they w'ould pull pretty hard. 
Sometimes when he was in a great hurry he 
would take a big tin basin he had, clap it over 
my head and just trim off the hair that came 
below it. You can imagine what a looking 
head I had then. It never seemed to matter, 
however, for nobody cared much how the 
“boy’’ looked. Whenever I wanted to let my 
hair grow, they would teli me a story about 
an old farmer w T ho lived a good many years 
ago. He was mow ing one day, and after us¬ 
ing his whet-stone he put it back of his ear 
and forgot where he put it. He blamed every¬ 
body for losing it. His hair grew long and 
covered his neck and ears, but he uever would 
have it cut, until one day he was takeu sick, 
and the doctor came and cut his hair. There 
behind his ear they found that wbet-stone It 
is a foolish story isn’t it?—and yet did you 
ever know people to do foolish thing', blame 
others for doing them, and at last have the 
proof of their own mistake come right back 
to them If I have. It is a good plan to see 
what we are doing. 
THE STORY OF A DISTRICT SCHOOL. 
A COLLEGE BOY’S DIARY. 
(Continued.) 
“Hog! oh hog! you hog!” 
Mr. Ezra Greening, the school insj>ector of 
Clay Valley township, still continued his con¬ 
versation with the occupant of the pen. My 
ideal school system had been badly shaken 
during the journey from town, but it did not 
stand completely paralyzes! till I w'alked up to 
the great black patch that appeared to stand 
guard while it« owner bent over the pen. 
Just as I came near, the great sow wdthin 
the pen rose lazily and came forward to eat 
her dinner. This desirable object accom¬ 
plished, Mr. Greening appeared free to devote 
his mind to educational purposes. He slowly 
straightened himself and the patch cautiously 
turned about until it was hidden from view. 
Mr. Greening looked like a horse in the face. 
He had the largo nose, bulging eyes, wide 
mouth and comparatively narrow forehead of 
that animal. Still there are horses and hors¬ 
es. Some have more intelligence than others. 
What they lack in intelligence they make up 
in obstinacy, and the ability to render their 
companions uncomfortable. 
£ shock of red hair stood up about the head, 
nearly lifting the hopeless hat in its efforts to 
deceive the observer by pretending to add to 
the size of the head. A blue flannel shirt, a 
red vest, brown overalls, and great boots ap¬ 
peared to be the costume in which education 
was clad in Clay Valley. The inspector held a 
large wooden paddle in his hand which he 
waved vigorously as he caught sight of me. 
“Go’way!” His voice was thin and high. 
“Go ’way! I don’t wanter buy no book, i’ll 
lay a hog you can’t sell me none. I aiut gut 
no money, crops is bad, sickness in the family, 
eyes is givin’ out an’ I ain’t gut no time fer ter 
read noway.” 
I made haste to assure him that I was no book 
agent, but had come for au examination. It 
seemed hard to convince him that I was not 
armed with a “sample copy.” He examined 
me critically, holding the paddle before his 
face to shade his eyes from the sun. 
“You look jest, like a book peddler, I declare 
ye do. We’ve jest shifted school books. I’ve 
gut me a Receipt book, a Lives of the Presi¬ 
dents au’ a History o’ Bible Times, an’ amt 
read none of ’em. They aint no market here 
at all.” 
It was a long time before I could convince 
him. I do not think he was fully satisfied 
during the entire conversation. I think he 
fully expected to see me produce a “sample 
copy” and proceed to tell my “story.” No 
doubt that fact tended to make my examina¬ 
tion shorter. 
“Gkrater teach school to Bear Crick be ye?' 
He asked after I had made my errand known 
to him. “Sorter rough place over yonder. 
I’low them big boys is whales. Licked the 
last teacher au’ drug him out au’ jumped on 
him. A feller to teach in that deestrict orter 
be jedged by his muscle. Folks over there 
seems ter sorter get the bit betwixt their teeth 
and all pull sorter cornerways. They fite liy 
sorter doggin’ the boys outer the teacher. 
When one side quits, ’tother picks it up. 
Where ye frum ?” 
“I came down from the agricultural col¬ 
lege,” I answered a trifle doubtfully. This 
man seemed the perfect picture of the exam¬ 
ining ogre we hail come to dread. 
“Oh, ye did? Wall, then, 1 ’spose ye must 
be putty well posted. Jest step up here an’ 
I’ll ask ye yer fust question in ’rithmetic. 
What do ye Agger thet hog’ll weigh ? I’ll lay 
the}- ain’t another such in this county,” 
1 saw my opportunity at once. There arc 
various ways by which the heart of man can 
be reached. The avenue in some instances 
lies through a hog. I walked up to the pen 
and examined the lazy animal, and made a 
few figures on my note book before rendering 
a report. 
“Well, sir, that is as fine a hog as I have 
ever seen. She can’t weigh an ounce less 
than 400 pounds.” 
A smile of pleasure spread over the exami¬ 
ner’s face at this answer. 
“Sho—you ain’t bad on Aggers, be ye? Like 
enough she dooes weigh that much, but I 
wouldn’t a put her down fer more than 375. 
Walk in! walk in!” and lie put down his pad¬ 
dle and led the way into the house. From the 
expression on his face I was well satisfied that 
I had made a “10” on the first question. Once 
inside the house Mr. Greening proceeded to 
dou a rusty black coat and to place a pair of 
spectacles ou his nose. The coat was too tight 
for him aud the spectacles sadly pinched his 
nose, yet he seemed to feel that the examina¬ 
tion would uever be a success without them. 
“Gonter teach to Bear Crick, bo ye? Now 
you’ve got quite a chore afore ye. I expect 
ye’ll go back ter college with quite an appy- 
tite fer stayin’ there.” 
“Why, what is the matter with it?” 
“Oh, deestriete all right ’n.,ff I ’low, if a 
feller sorter watches an’ keeps things sorter 
evened up. The general run o’ teachers don’t 
seem ter lit worth a cent. Putty strainin’ 
place, ’cause everylsxly gets a holt on teacher 
an’ yerks him all ways. A feller can’t get no 
chance fer ter pull back, an’ thar he is.” 
LETTERS FROM THE COUSINS. 
Dear Uncle Mark; I am a little boy 10 
years old. 1 live in Florida. I came from 
Tennessee nearly two years ago. We have a 
nice place here, on the bay, in sight of the 
Gulf of Mexico. We can stand in our yard 
and see the white caps of the Gulf. If you 
ever come to Florida you must visit us. W e 
have nice fruit here; we have ripe poaches 
now. The Peento peach does well hero. 1 
shipped some tomatoes this year. I want to 
ship some egg-plants this Fall to your City; 
can you send me a reliable house to ship to. I 
have a nice garden coming on. I help my 
Mamma. I have two sisters and a little bro¬ 
ther. If you come to see us I will give you all 
the tropical fruit that you can eat. Your 
nephew, manson t. dye. 
Clear Water, Fla, 
[You may be sure that I will see you when l 
come your way. I will write about the com¬ 
mission house.—D. m.] 
Dear Uncle Mark: I thought you all 
would forget me if I did not write before long. 
There are many raspberries this year here. 
Uncle Mark, I would like to have you see our 
(lowers. Do you love flowers' We have eight 
canary birds and four small cues just hatch¬ 
ed. We have eight horses, six little guineas 
and seven ducks. We have a large pond in 
our woods with carp fish in it. I don’t think I 
would like to live in the city these warm days. 
Here in the country we can go in the woods 
and lie oil the green carpets and hear the birds 
singing in the trees over our heads. We live 
a mile from town, 1 don’t believe Uncle 
Mark is very old. I read the Y. H. C., every 
week. Your niece 
Alexandria, Ohio. adah. 
[I love flowers. I am older than you think. 
v. M.] _ 
Dear Uncle Mark; 1 would like to join 
the Y. H. C. Father takes the Rural. He 
says he could not get along without it. I have 
four brothers besides mysdf; four of us go to 
school Father raises lots of celery to sell. We 
have lots of strawberries. Father has a large 
Seedling strawberry that looks like the picture 
of the Jewell strawberry we see in the cata¬ 
logue. Father gave me a little piece of ground, 
and I raised some watermelons and musk- 
melons. I sold my largest watermelons for 35 
cents each. My musktutdons were nice. We 
are all busy in the Summer. Father has been 
to Florida, to a place called Palmasola, on the 
Gulf coast. He was there three years ago. 
He stayed there a year. He says it is a nice 
place to spend the Winter, lusects are bad in 
the Bummer. Oranges and vegetables won’t 
grow everywhere there. Brother Harry is 
going to write aud tell you how father 
bleaches his early celery for market, aud the 
kinds he uses. 1 am 10 years old. 
Dover, N. J. willie byram. 
[We want to know all about the celery, and 
shall expect that letter.— u. m.] 
Dear Uncle Mark: I planted the Gar¬ 
den Treasures and they are growing nicely, 
some of them are in bloom. We have a very 
nice garden this year. We have a splendid 
pink. It is dark red and very double—had 49 
flowers ou at one time. I think the seed came 
with the Garden Treasures. W ill some of the 
Cousins tell me how to keep rose bushes from 
freezing down in the Winter? 1 have one 
that I cover with straw, but it always dies 
above the ground. I think Uncle Mark is 
right about raspberries being the best of all 
small fruits. We have bus iels of them here, 
and our cellar is always lined. We have 
about 800 cauliflowers set out. Wo would 
like to have you come and help cat them. 
Mamma thinks Ella Turner’s Mamma aud 
herself would agree, for Mamma is a temper¬ 
ance woman too. I have to stop for I have to 
help eet. dinner ready. kmily cockeram. 
Menominee, Wis. 
[Let us hear from our rose, friends.—u. M.] 
Dear Uncle Mark: 1 would like to join 
the Y. H. C. I am a little girl eight years 
old. I have a little flower garden. My 
mother gave me a few of the Rural Garden 
Treasures, but I did uot have luck with them, 
and ono Bird (’antelope seed, but it did not 
come up. I have six brothers and throe sis¬ 
ters. We have three cats aud two dogs. Wo 
have eight m'.leh cows. I have 10 little chick¬ 
ens. My Papa has five working horses and 
four colts, and nine yearling calves. 
Dubuque Co., Iu. kffie a. born. 
Dear Uncle Mark: As we all want to 
crowd that advertising column off of our page, 
I will add my mite. I received the package 
of sweet peas that you so kindly sent me. 1 
planted them April 23, and they came up real 
well and are now iu bloom. The Garden 
Treasures I planted April 21. I spaded the 
dirt all up, aud then I went to the wood-pile 
and got dirt from under the wood; then I 
sifted it through an old coal sieve and planted 
my seed. They came up slowly, but now 
they are in bloom. Wo have pink and white 
candytufts, ragged sailors, poppies, zinnias, 
marigolds, phlox, and many others of which I 
do not know the name. The blackberries are 
ripe now, but wo huve to look sharp for t em, 
or the city folks will come up very early iu 
the inoruing aud get them. My Bister-in law 
and I started out before six o’clock the other 
morning, but wo did not got many, because it 
began to rain and we had to scamper home. 
Your niece, bessik hope. 
Perth Amboy. 
[April 21 is my birthday. The city folks 
like berries.—u. M.] 
Dear Uncle Mark: 1 have been reading 
the letters from the Cousins and enjoy them 
very much. I am 11 years old. I live about 
a mile from Topeka. My Father and Mother 
are dead, but I live with some nice Christian 
folks. I have one pet, a cat; his name is Dan¬ 
iel. He is nmltese and white; and I have two 
dolls. I have a garden of flowers. Your 
affectionate niece, LUCY G. pikrson. 
[I am glad you have a good home.—u. m.] 
Dear Uncle Mark : I have sent the picture 
of the trail that I think is the best to have on 
the farm. It catches rats, mice, gophers, 
squirrels, etc. Onr cat (for that is the name 
of the trap) is well trained. She comes iu the 
morning for some new milk, and as soon as 
she has as much as sbe wants she goes off until 
noon; then sbe comes for her dinner. At 
evening she wants milk again. We have a 
very nice vegetable garden this year. We 
live where we can see the steamers go over to 
Monterey Point., and the cars go by. The grain 
is ready to thrash now. One thrashing ma¬ 
chine has started to work aud there are two 
more that have not commenced yet. 1 would 
like to join the Y. II. C. My brother and I 
have a watermel on patch; the vines are very 
young yet. I will write again and tell you 
how they get along. 
From your niece, lizzie smith. 
Santa Cruz Co., Cal. 
[The picture is very well drawn. She is a 
flue trap certainly. How she must make the 
rate aud mice run.—u. m.] 
Dear Uncle Mark: I am a girl 11 years 
old. I have been taking music lessons five 
mouths. I am improving very fast. Grand¬ 
pa lias sent me the Rural for two years. I 
received the seeds and planted them; they all 
came up but the flower seeds. I have no 
brothel’s or sLslers. AU the | >ets I have are 
two canary birds. We are living iu Kansas 
near Walnut. The timber surrounds us ou¬ 
tlie north and west. We live one mile from 
the school house. I went to school the last 
term seven mouths aud did uot miss a day. I 
studied reading, history, grammar, arithme¬ 
tic, writing, geography and spelling. I got 
the prize for attendance, a large book, Swiss 
Family Robinson, iiattie m. Culbertson. 
Crawford Co,, Ras. 
[That is a good book. I hope none of us 
will ever be cast away as that family were.— 
u. m.I _ 
Dear Uncle Mark: I wish to write to you 
about my rabbit. He was black. My uncle 
gave him to me four years ago. I hod a small 
park for him, where I kept him for three years. 
When he wanted to come out, he would bur¬ 
row in the ground till ho got outside of his 
park, then he would dig out. I let him live in 
the yard almost u year, but lie got so destruc¬ 
tive in our flower garden that, as the last, hope 
to keep him, 1 chained him with a long, very 
light chain, and put him where he had good 
shade, grass, and water, aud watched and fed 
him often. He seemed very- well contented 
and lively, but Sunday afternoon when I went 
to see him ho was dead. He was to all appear¬ 
ances quite well that morning. Now, do you 
think he grieved himself to death ? I think he 
was quite old, as he was getting some gray. 
Peutz, Cal. Alice snyder. 
[It may be that he did die of grief. The 
chuin must have seemed harsh enough to him. 
I am glad you wrote about him. We must 
have more to say about rabbits. They make 
good pets.—u. m.] 
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