Kansas Farmer from Topeka, Kansas • Page 8

KLAJSTS.A.S MAI 24, fie iiome ditcje. Over the Hill to tbe Poor-House. For Thomas' buildings cover the half of an acre lot; But all the childr'n was on me I couldn't stand their sauce And Thomas said I needn't think I was comln' there to boss. An' then I wrote to Iiebecca my girl who lives out West, And to Isaac, not far from her some twenty miles fit best And one of 'em said 'twas too warm there, for any one so old, And other had an opinion tho climate was too cold. So they have shirked and slighted me, and shifted me about So they havo well nign soured me, an' wore my old heart out; But still I've borne up pretty well, an' wasn't much put down, Till Charley went to tho poor-master, an' put me on the town.

Over the hill to the poor-house my childr'n dear, good-bye! Many a night I've watched you when only God was nigh; And God '11 Judge between us; but I willal'ays pray That you shall never suffer the half I do today. Will M. Carlctm. Over the hill to the poor-houee, I'm trudgin' my weary way a woman of seventy, and only a trifle gray who am smart an' chipper, for all the years I've told, As many another woman that's only half as old. Over the hill to the poor-house I can't make it quite clear! Over the hill to the poor-house it seems so horrid queer! Many a step I've taken a-toilin' to and fro, liut this is a sort of journey I never thought to go.

What is tho use of heapin' on mo a pauper's shame Am I lazy or crazy am I blind or lame True, 1 am not so supple, nor yet so awful stout, But charity ain't no favor, if one can live without. 1 am wiliin' and anxious, an' ready any day, 'To work for a decent llvln', and pay my honest way; IPor I can earn my victuals, an' more too, I'll be bound, llf anybody only is wiliin' to have me round. 'Once I was young and han'some I was, upon my soul Once my cheeks was roses, my eyes as black as coal; 1 can't remember, in them days, of hearin' people say, any kind of reason, that I was in their 'Taint no use of boastin' or talkin' over free, nut many a nouse an nomo was open tnen to me; Many a han'some offer I had from likely men, And nobody ever hinted that 1 was a burden then. And when to John I was married, sure he was good and smart, But he and all the neighbors would own I done my part; For life was all boforo me, an' I was young and strong, And I worked the best that I could in tryin' to get along. And so wo worked together; and life was hard but gay.

With now and then a baby, for to cheer us on our way; Till we had half a dozen, an' all growod clean and neat. An' went to school like others, an' had enough to eat. So we worked for the childr'n, and raised 'em every one; Worked for 'cm summer and winter, just as we ought to ve done. Only perhaps we humored 'cm, which some good folks condemn, Jlut every couple's childr'n 's a heap tho best to them. how much wo think of our blessed little ones! those afflicted with demoniacy.

Old women keep this water in trenches dug in the ground or In a hollow tree, but not in the house, where it will lose its force or bring some disaster on the household. It is also said that flocks should not be pastured where the bow rests, or they will fall sick. German peasants say the touch of the bow will render plants odorant. On the other hand, In some departments of France, the rainbow Is said to Injure plants on which it rests, io dry up vines and to ruin the harvest. In Bohemia also it withers up the herbage, say the peasants.

In the Ukraine, you must not put out your toDgue at the rainbow, or it will dry it up. In Hungary there is a Vila or fairy sitting on the water where the rainbow touches it, and whomsoever she sees first will die. Esthonians say the bow is but the scythe used by the thunder to chase wicked souls. In Austro-llungary the sick are not allowed to lie stretched at full length when the first bow of spring appears, for It is thought they would die if permitted to do so. Many ordinary tasks must not then be performed for fear of evH consequences.

Another strange belief has existed, that the rainbow ha3 the power to change the sex. This obtains in districts widely separated. A story from the Nango tribe in Africa relates the adventure of a young man so transformed. Slavonian peasants have a similar notion, and it is a general belief in modern Greece among the common people that any one jumping over the rainbow will have their sex changed. Among the Albanians, Servians and in Upper Loitre, France, it is by passing under the rainbow that the sex is changed.

The notion that the luminous bow possesses so great a power for good or evil ha3 probably led to another curious belief, that harm will come to any one pointing at it. The ancient Hindoo laws of Manou forbade this, and it is said in the Hartz mountains that God will punish any one who points at the rainbow. In modern Greece and in Amines you will lose a finger, and in Bohemia the same disaster will occur unless it immediately thunders. The Chinese say your hand will be attacked with ulcers, and German peasants tell you that you dig out the angel's eyes when you point at the rainbow. Ancient Peruvians said that the moifth must be kept shut when a rainbow was in sight or the teeth would be spoiled.

Exchange Fashion Notes. New tennis coats are made of gray striped serge, quite short, with fitted back, loose fronts and deeply rolled collar. Black lace dresses are now made up over slips of shot silk, either moss green with rose, pink wiih gray or red with blue. Flowers are now rrounted with their own leaves, or ferns or grass, as the tast9 of the moment is Against the mixture of blossoms. Close wreaths of roses, without leaves, either quite upon the edge or half way the brim, will be immensely stylish upon lace spring bonnets.

Very few handkerchiefs have not merely a colored border, but dots, blocks, bars and rings, even pompadour bouquets rioting over their whole surface. Both hats and bonnets grow larger though architecturally their lines are so much of the last season's that the effect is that of looking backward through a magnifying glass. Green, greener, greenest are the tints of the future and the hat or bonnet that escapes a green bow, upholding a spray of flowers, will be something in the nature of a rarity. New pompadour silks are printed in large designs and have so dull a surface that five yards away they cannot be told from cottons Indeed are by no means so silky looking as the fine sateens. New basques have pointed backs, stiffly boned throughout, and' though there is an effort to trim sleeves into untidiness, the favorite mode is yet the natty folds, held by closely strapped bow.

Pointed capes of black cashmere, edged with one or two deep frills of lace, the point held in place by a belt of watered ribbon, will be worn with spring gowns of all sorts as the season advances. How to Act in Emergencies. If an individual is endowed with common sense and can exercise self-control when necessary, a slight knowledge of physiology will enable him to act in emergency. A boy is brought home with a severe cut on his arm. The blood spurts out of the wound, showing plainly that an artery has been severed.

It is fortunate if a member of the family can come forward and bind two pieces of cloth tightly around the limb directly above and below the wound; the blood will cease to flow, and even if there should be unavoidable delay in the arrival of the doctor, he will be able to save a life that would certainly have been sacrificed if the prompt treatment mentioned had not been resorted to. A whole family were thrown Into a state of excitement by the youngest child rushing into the house, and declaring that a big black snake had "bited" him. The mother swooned, the father paced the floor frantically, while the rest of the family embraced the child and cried over him until, between the wound and the excitement, the little fellow came near being thrown into convulsions. A sensible neighbor, hearing the excitement, came into the room, and taking the child in her arms, murmured words of encouragement, then turning towards a member of the family she asked for carbonate of soda. Moistening a small portion of the soda with water, she applied it to the wound; when the soda became dry she moistened it again, and at the expiration of an hour was overjoyed to see upon the white surface of the application unmistakable evidence of snake virus.

Rusty nails make ugly wounds, which if not attended to at once may cause great suffering perhaps death. Smoke the wound with wool or woolen cloth fifteen minutes in the smoke will remove the worst class of inflammation. The terrible pain caused by being severely burned may be alwost instantly relieved by applying a mixture of strong, fresh, clean lime-water mixed with as much linseed oil as It will cut. Before applying, wrap the burn in cotton wadding saturated with the lotion. Wet as often as it appears dry, without removing cotton from burn for nine days, when a new skin will probably have formed.

Bleeding at the nose frequently causes extreme prostration. If the nose bleeds from the right nostril, pass the finger along the edge of the right jaw until the beating of the artery Is felt. Press hard upon it for five minutes and the bleeding will stop. A child who has a morbid propensity to force buttons, beans, Into his nostrils keeps his whole family in a state bordering upon terror, for they never know at what precise moment they may be called upon to perform an operation upon Master Harry's nasal appendage. Pressure against the empty nostril and quick, strong breathing into the open mouth will dislodge the foreign substance and send the suffering youngster upon his way rejoicing.

Good Housekeeping. Heroic Lives at Home. TheTieroIsm of private life, the slow, un-chronicled martyrdoms of the heart, who shall remember? Greater than knightly dragon-slayers of old is the man who overcomes an unholy passion, sets his foot upon it, and stands serene and strong in virtue. Grander than Zenobia is the woman who struggles with the love that would wrong another or degrade her own soul, and conquers. The young man, ardent and tender, who turns from tbe dear love of woman, and buries deep in his heart the sweet instinct of paternity, to devote himself to the care and support of aged parents or an unfortunate sister, and whose life is a long sacrifice, in manly cheerfulness and majestic spirit, is the hero of the rarest type.

The young woman who resolutely stays with father and mother in the old home, while brothers and sisters go forth to homes of their own, who cheerfully lays on the altar of filial duty that costliest of human sacrifices, the joy of loving and being loved she is a heroine. I have known many such. The husband who goes home from everyday routine and the perplexing cares of business, with a cheerful smile and a loving word for his invalid wife; who brings not against her the grievous sin of a long sickness, and reproaches her not for the cost and Curious Notions About Eainbows. As a survival of the serpent myth, we find almost universally a belief that the rainbow drinks the water from ponds and rivers. This idea Is found in antiquity, allusion to it being frequently made by classical authors.

Slovaks say of one who drinks much, that he "drinks- like a rainbow." Many Europaan people think the rainbow drinks up the water. Throughout Russia It Is generally believed to feed the clouds with the water thus drawn. In Little Russia it is called Yeselka, and is said to be a maiden, who, with her bucket, draws water from the rivers and waters the earth with it. Esthonlans say it has a bull's head, which it thrusts into the water when it would drink. In Finisterre it is said to drink up from the shallow ponds.

In Cornwall It Is said to be the devil drinking up the water of the ponds and streams. In the Tyrol It is called the "drinking bow;" iu Votiak the "drinker of water." Children are assured in the French department of Cotes du Nord that the bow drinks in the river or in the pond. In many places the rainbow is said to be a great puiup or tube, drawing water by mechanical means. So in parts of Russia it is called the "bent tube," and in Hungary "the pump," while in Slavonia dialect it is the "siphon." In one part of France It is said to come from the sea and to pump up the water in the streams. In the Charkov province of Russia the bow is likened to a tube, with one end in the sky and the other in the wells, while in the Sarotov government It Is said to be controlled by three angels, one of whom pumps the water, the second feeds the clouds and the third sends the rain.

In Lettonia, showers of fish, roes, are believed to come from the rainbow, which has sucked them up from the ponds and rivers. Similar beliefs exist among the Wends. In many parts of Russia it is compared to a water carrier, dipping his buckets into the ponds and streams. In the Charente department of Frarce they say the bow fishes in the streams, and prognostications are drawn from tlia selection it makes. Malay NIas say it is the net of Nadaoja fishing in 'the streams.

The rainbow Is frequently credited with great power for good or evil It is a widespread belief that it hides great riches, or brings fortune or good luck with it. In Swabla, His said to rest on bowls of gold; In Hungarla, that cups of silver will be found where It touches the earth or water, and the finder will divine the future. It is quite likely that a shoe cast over it will fall on the other side filled with gold, as it is believed in Brene and among Swabian peasants. The difficulty is to get it over. In Carinthla it is a hat.

Czech tradition says that if iron or other base metal be cast into the rainbow it will be turned to gold, and similar things are recorded of It In Tyrol. In many parts of Germany a golden key, or a treasure, is said to be found where the bow touches the earth in Portugal, a silver hen, and in modern Greece, a curious Bjzantlne coin, called a Constantino coin. Any one finding this will be endowed with marvelous power. In Norway, it is said that a cup and spoon, with a kind of gruel, will bo found where the bow rests. It Is also believed to bestow health.

Among the Letts, If you can reach the bow and touch It you will have the healing power. The water found immediately beneath the arch will, It Is believed, cure I have died for my daughters, I'd have died for my sons; And God lie made that rulo of love; but when we're old and gray, I've noticed it sometimes somehow fails to work the other way. Strange, another thing; when our boys and girls was grown, And when, exceptin' Charley, they'd left us there alone; When John he nearer an' nearer come, an' dearer seemed to bo, Tho Lord of llots He coino one day an' took him away from mo. Still I was bound to strugglo and never to cringe or tall-Still I worked lor Charley, for Charloy was now my all; And Charley was pretty good to me, with scarce a word or frown, Till at last ho wont a courtin', and brought a wife from town. She was somowhat dressy, an' hadn't a ploas- ant smile-She was quite conceity and carried a heap o' style; But if ever I tried to be friends, I did with her, I know; But she was hard and proud, an' I couldn't make it go.

She had an edication, an' that was good for her; But when she twitted mo on mino 't was carry! things too fur; An' I tolo her once 'fore company (an' it almost made her sick), That 1 never Bwallowcd a grammar, or ct a 'rithmatic. So 't was only a few days before tho thing was done They was a family of themselves, and I au-other one; And a very littlo cottage for one family will do. But I have never seen a houso that was big enough for two. An I never could speak to suit her, never could please her eye, An' it made me independent, an' then I didn't try; But I was terribly 6taggered, a' felt it liko a blow, When Charley turned ag'in me, an' told me I could go. rortmie's Favorites are those who court fortune those who are always looking out for and investigating the opportunities that are offered.

Send your address to Hallett A Portland, Maine, and they will mall you free, full particulars about work that you can do while living at home, wherever you are located, and earn from $5 to $25 per day and upwards. Capital not required. You are started free. Both sexes. All ages.

Some have earned over $50 in a single day. All is new. I went to live with Susan, but Susan's houso was email. And she was always a-hintin' how snug it was for us all: And what with her husband's sisters, and what with children three, 'Twas asy to discover that there wasn't room forme. An' then I went to Thomas, the oldest son I've got,.