372 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
May 13 
[ Woman and Home \ 
From Day to Day. 
A SCIENTIFIC GRANDPAPA. 
“ See, Grandpa, my flower ’. ” she cried; 
“ I found It in the grasses ! ” 
And with a kindly smile the sage 
Surveyed it through his glasses. 
“ Ah, yes,” he said, “ involucrate 
And *11 the florets ligulate. 
Corolla gamopetalous, 
CompositcB, exogenous— 
A pretty specimen it is, 
Taraxacum dens-leonls ! ” 
She took the blossom back again, 
His face her wistful eye on; 
“ I thought,” she said, with quivering Up, 
" It was a dandelion! ” 
—Margaret Johnson in St. Nicholas. 
* 
A Louisville dog that chews gum like 
a human being is now reported. This 
awakens doubt as to the educational 
value of human associations for animals. 
* 
It is said that an Oklahoma bachelor 
started to Joplin, Mo., not loDg ago 
with a wagonload of peanuts, and on the 
way he met a widow with seven children. 
It was a case of first-sight love, and mar¬ 
rying her the next day, he carried a 
wagonload o f family back home with him. 
* 
An Australian contemporary describes 
a courageous rescue from drowning per¬ 
formed by a feminine life-saver in Gipps- 
land. She was small, sunburnt and 
barefooted, while the person saved was 
a large excursionist who fell out of his 
boat. The small girl went in from the 
rocks in the most casual way, took the 
floundering fat man by the hair, and 
placidly towed him to the boat side. 
When the rescued stranger was brought 
ashore, he presented his small savior 
with a couple of sovereigns, to her great 
surprise. 11 Oh l please, sir,” she said, 
“ I only charge five shillings.” 
* 
The Philadelphia Record says that an 
old law of Pennsylvania required that 
every girl, when about to leave her 
father’s or employer’s home, where she 
had worked until of age, should receive, 
as her dower, one feather bed and bed¬ 
ding, one full suit of new clothing and 
one spinning wheel. This law has never 
been annulled, though in the case of 
girls indentured to service, it has been 
merged in a money equivalent when the 
girl’s time is out; and in the case of 
daughters, changed into an expensive 
trousseau and home furnishing upon 
marriage. 
* 
Even the delicious strawberry may be 
spoiled in the serving, and one glaring 
error is to hull and sugar the berries a 
considerable time before serving, allow¬ 
ing the sugar to draw out juice and 
flavor. It is never wise to hull the ber¬ 
ries any length of time before using, 
even though no sugar is added. Still, 
there are even worse methods. It was 
once our fortune to visit an Illinois 
farmhouse, where the surrounding prai¬ 
ries were rich in wild strawberries— 
deep-red, sugary fruit that filled the 
room with their fragrance. The chil¬ 
dren gathered a milk-pan full of these 
delicious berries, and we felt that there 
was a treat in store. Imagine our feel¬ 
ings when the housekeeper, after hull¬ 
ing the fruit, mashed them all with a 
spoon into a species of uncooked jam, 
mixed with a prodigious quantity of 
sugar, and allowed this mess to stand an 
hour or two before serving. This straw¬ 
berry-mash was served with rich cream, 
but the rich fragrance and flavor were 
entirely absent, and we think such a 
mode of serving an insult to the very 
best fruit that ever gladdened the face 
of the prairie. 
The charcoal wagon is still a familiar 
sight in city streets, but the mode of 
selling this inky commodity has changed 
greatly of late years. Instead of being 
turned out by the bushel or barrel, char¬ 
coal is now sold in paper bags, doing 
away entirely with dust and dirt. They 
are stout paper sacks holding a half¬ 
bushel, neatly tied up at the neck, and 
thus bagged, charcoal is sold in general 
stores. This charcoal is the residue from 
making wood alcohol, and is produced by 
the charring of hard woods, such as 
beech and maple. It is shipped from 
the point of manufacture in car-loads, 
and then bagged at the distributing 
point. 
* 
Three things especially strike the ob¬ 
server in the fashions this Spring ; they 
are gray gowns, purple or violet hats, 
and Eton jackets. Five or six years ago 
the Eton jacket had an enormous vogue ; 
now it has returned again, and is ex¬ 
tremely popular. As now cut, fitted to 
the figure, it is becoming to many stout 
women, while it is a real improvement 
to the slim and long-waisted. The gray 
gowns lead all other colors, and are es¬ 
pecially pretty in jacket suits, since that 
gives the opportunity to wear a con¬ 
trasting waist. Unrelieved gray is un¬ 
becoming to a great many women, espe¬ 
cially those who are pale or sallow. 
* 
Hockey has been the most popular 
Winter outdoor game among English¬ 
women for some time past, and many 
feminine teams have made a fine record. 
Queen Victoria has been present at many 
games at Windsor, though needless to say 
that this venerable ruler, within a few 
weeks of her eightieth birthday, does 
not play herself. Not only her grand¬ 
daughters, but her daughters and her 
daughters-in-law indulge in hockey, al¬ 
though quite secluded from the public 
watchful eye, of course. Ladies in wait¬ 
ing, women of the bedchamber, gentle¬ 
men in waiting, equerries and even 
ecclesiastical dignitaries are in requisi¬ 
tion for flying after a ball with a crooked 
stick. Like ordinary players, the royal 
ladies get thoroughly “whacked” on 
the shins and ankles, and members 
of the royal household have been seen 
limping about. 
* 
In the Ladies’ Home Journal for May, 
is an article descriptive of the educa¬ 
tion and attainments of Helen Keller, 
which has impressed us more deeply 
than any other magazine article of re¬ 
cent publication. Try to realize the 
apparently impenetrable isolation of the 
child, who is now a cultivated young 
woman. At the age of 18 months, she 
entirely lost sight and hearing; hence, 
though perfectly able to articulate, she 
became dumb also. It is almost impos¬ 
sible to realize the absolute isolation of 
such a life; it was solitary confinement 
in the outside world. The patience and 
skill required to teach was extraordin¬ 
ary. At the age of six or seven years, 
when instruction began, little Helen 
was a troublesome child, much given to 
kicking violently when displeased. For 
some time, her teacher appeared to make 
no impression whatever in teaching the 
child the connection between an article 
and the sign which represented it, until 
suddenly comprehension was aroused, 
and with it an intense desire to learn. 
To Helen Keller, her sensitive fingers 
supply the place of sight and hearing, 
like the delicate antennae of insects. 
She not only reads with her fingers, but 
with them she listens to one who reads 
aloud, and to conversation. It seems 
nothing short of a marvel that she has 
not only acquired a good English educa¬ 
tion, but has attained proficiency in 
foreign tongues as well. Any one pos¬ 
sessing the normal senses, who laments 
the difficulty of attaining knowledge, 
may well study the progress of Helen 
Keller. 
* 
Many clubs or circles of women start 
a current-events class, for the purpose of 
studying and discussing this busy world 
and its happenings. We are often im¬ 
pressed by the fact that the average wo¬ 
man, city as well as country, cares very 
little for current news, except social 
events and celebrated cases. For the 
purpose of cultivating a wider range, 
and of conversing intelligently, no other 
form of education equals the careful 
reading of good newspapers—not the 
“ jellow ” journals, which should never 
be admitted into the house at all, but 
clean papers which give, as one New 
York daily states on its headline, “All 
the news that’s fit to print”. We have 
wondered, sometimes, how many of our 
feminine readers glance through The 
R N.-Y.’s Events of the Week regularly. 
The news there given is boiled down to 
a concentrated essence, yet it gives the 
reader a clear idea of moving incidents 
all over the world. It furnishes a clear 
idea of topics to be discussed in a cur¬ 
rent-events club. Why not start your 
young people in this track ? 
* 
The New York papers sported re¬ 
cently an entertainment given in a Con¬ 
gregational Church on Long Island, 
which consisted of a mimic wedding, 
performed by children seven to nine 
years old. There were tiny bride and 
bridegroom, best man, maid of honor, 28 
little bridesmaids, and one little fellow 
of nine who acted the part of the clergy¬ 
man. After the mock ceremony, the 
juvenile actors and guests had a supper 
in the church parlors. The affair, we 
are told, was a big success, the church 
being filled to overflowing, while the 
children went through their parts with 
coolness and grace. We cannot conceive 
of any more scandalous travesty than 
this burlesque on a solemn rite which is, 
to many of us, a sacrament. How it is 
possible that any Christian church could 
permit it, we cannot imagine. The 
pastor, if a consenting party to it, de¬ 
serves the strongest reprobation, which 
should extend, also, to those who per¬ 
mitted such an exhibition to desecrate 
the church. Several years ago, Long 
Island gained notoriety for mock mar¬ 
riages entered upon by several brainless 
young people, which resulted later in a 
plentiful harvest of shame and unhap¬ 
piness for those concerned in these bur¬ 
lesques. Small wonder of these miseries 
in later years, if little children are thus 
encouraged in a desecration of the holy 
estate of matrimony ; they are hardly 
likely to feel the sacredness of this bond, 
as adults, when it has been regarded in 
youth as a suitable subject for irreverent 
mockery. _ 
The Catfish and His Family. 
HOW MRS CATFISH TAKES THINGS EASY. 
Papa Catfish as Nurse. —“If you go 
out at any time during the month of 
August in this latitude, you will see in 
the streams and ponds big catfish of the 
common sort, each one accompanied by 
a swarm of small fry,” says a member of 
the Fish Commission, in the New York 
Sun. In each case, the old one is a male, 
and he is engaged in taking care of his 
young, while the mother fish floats 
around and take3 things easy, not hav¬ 
ing the care of her numerous offspring 
to interfere with her pleasures. Should 
an intruder come near the little catfish, 
there will be trouble, for the old daddy 
fish will at once show fight. 
“How did we find out that the male 
fish always takes care of the young ? 
Simply by putting a pair in one of the 
aquariums, and watching results. At 
spawning time, eggs were laid, and one 
of the fish kept constant watch over 
them. When the eggs hatched and the 
little fellows began to frisk about, the 
same old fish looked after them, not per¬ 
mitting the mate to come near until the 
young were able to hustle for themselves. 
We then took the fish which had so care¬ 
fully hatched the eggs and guarded the 
young, and found that it was the male. 
This fact we have also found to be true 
in other species. Catfish, when in their 
native ponds and brooks, always find a 
quiet place in the water near the bank 
to lay their eggs, building a nest in the 
sand, and covering it with a thick spawn. 
The male fish will hover around the nest 
and force fresh water through the mass 
by rapid vibrations of his fins. This con¬ 
tinues for a week or eight days, when 
the eggs hatch. 
“In the sea, a species of catfish is 
found that will take the eggs in his 
mouth as soon as they are laid by the 
female, and there he will keep them 
until they hatch, and then they are 
looked after by the mother fish. There 
is a fish resembling our sunfish that does 
the same thing. Sometimes thi-ir jaws 
fairly bulge out with young. These fish 
are called the cichlids , and are plentiful 
in Texas and Palestine. They are so num¬ 
erous in the Sea of Galilee that the 
miraculous catch at the time when St. 
Peter fished there might be repeated at 
any day, it being the habit of these fishes 
to move along on top of the water in 
almost a solid mass, covering many 
square yards, and making a noise like 
that of a pouring rain. 
A Sunfish and His Nest. —“ The com¬ 
mon sunfish also takes care of his eggs, 
as do other species of the family which 
are peculiar to North America, such as 
the black bass, rock bass and croppie. 
In the Spring, a pair of these fish will 
come near the shore and carefully clear 
away a circular spot a foot or two in 
diameter, removing all the weeds and 
stones. In this clearing the female lays 
her eggs, and the male immediately 
takes charge. He will hover over the 
nest and drive away all intruders, and 
this he continues until the baby fishes 
are hatched and able to take care of 
themselves, when he is at liberty to 
roam around until the mother fish is 
ready for him again to go on duty as 
the ca r etaker of another hatching of 
eggs. 
The Pipe-Fisbes’ Pockets. — “The 
pipe fishes take care of their young in 
a manner that is entirely peculiar. The 
newly-laid eggs are taken charge of by 
the male, who has a sort of fold on each 
side of the body Beneath these flaps 
he keeps the eggs until the young are 
hatched and sufficiently grown to take 
care of themselves. While in the flap, 
they are fed by the mother, upon whom 
falls the duty of foraging a-ound for 
food. As you perhaps know, the luscious 
’possum carries its young in this way. 
But we are talking about fishes. Well, 
in the group which includes the sea¬ 
horse, the male has a pouch under his 
tail, wherein he retains the eggs until 
the little fish have been hatched a day 
or two, at the end of which time they 
make their way out and begin life for 
themselves. 
“In the case of all these species of 
fishes which take care of their young, a 
curious adaptation of natural law to 
circumstances is found. Those which 
take the greatest pains in sheltering 
their offspring have the fewest eggs, 
perhaps fewer than 100 at a lay, while, 
on the other hand, other sorts of fishes 
which pay not the slightest attention to 
their young, produce hundreds of thou¬ 
sands and even millions at a single lay.” 
About half the lamp-chim¬ 
neys in use are Macbeth’s. 
All the trouble comes of 
the other half. 
But go by the Index. 
Write Macbeth Pittsburgh Pa 
