Evening Star Newspaper, February 4, 1893, Page 10

THE CAMP. | They come and they goas they will, accountable |tonoone. They may meet here again next | year or they may be scattered all over the face of the country. They have men out around IN A GYPSY CAMP. horses, ‘as the 7 sprit is comin; 5 later they will Wanderers Who Winter on the Out-| sfart with them for the north. trading. salling : or buying wherever they get ‘a good chance. skirts of Washington. | They lay no claims to any great amount of education. though one man in the village whom - Tae Stan man met, a Mr. Evans, bad once lived for twelve years a stretch on Staten Island, where he practiced the profession of PROFITS OF PROPHECY. satin base ball piarer, and in that time had picked up an amount of learning that marked him as A Star Reporter's Visit to = Canvas Settle-| 4, important man in the tribe. He said he Fortane Telling | had a great respect for education, although he didn't have much of ment—Horse Trading “Yea, itis about as tougha job as aman often runs against. We are wandering here and there, picking up what we can come by honestly OME TO BE DOCK. ered?” “Orely. If you'd docker me di tateher.” | This looks like Vola- | puk, but it isn't. It'se| question and an answer | that passed between @ Stam reporter and true ‘Homany Rye, « genuine gipsy, « day horse deal if we can. But i and say, wasn't it cold last week! tent with a stove in it is about as I ‘sually warm asa house, but this time it wasn't. dime museum with a group of female fortune tellers, just in time to catch the worst of the cold wave. My bed was spread out on the floor lingo of Washington the gentleman of nomadic habits said, “Will and the writer for Tae Sr . “All right, if you'll | toll it to me straight.” It's a great thing to be able to carry on interviews in various languages, but in this case it must be admitted that the reporter had the assistance of a bystander who was aise a member of the tribe of wanderers. From ail time the gipsies and their uncertain babite have been objects of the greatest curi- enity to almost every one and the appearance of a band of that curious people ie a commun: ity always arouses an immense deal of interest, albeit it may cause an extra lock to be put on the barn door and give rise te an anusual amount of care in locking up the hen houses at ight with good straw under us snd plenty of blankets over us, and a stove booming beside us. But when we'd wake up in the mornin; there would be a cloud of frost over the blanke! from our breath. This business is all right in jammer time, but it's no cinch in January. And | it'sawful dull,too, justwaiting around for warm weather to come, though the women pick up a good deal telling fortunes in the city. I s’pose we'll clear out of here about the last of March. By that time we will have all our horses to- gether. Now we have only endugh to draw the wagons we need in winter time. You see, we don't bring our best traveling wagons this far south. They are too heavy for these roads in winter. One man here has a regular traveling wagon that cost him. €1,000 from a New Yor! wagon builder. It's fitted up like » regular house on wheels, but it woulda’t be of any use oa these muddy roads. ‘The tents were all roomy and, comparatively speaking, clean and comfortable, ‘They were fitted up with little stoves and as it was not avery cold day the temperature in most of them was unbearably hot. ‘There were plenty of 00d cooking utensils lying about and it was it that they did not have to go empty. A } a fascinating business | tary. and trying to get the best of a man ina square | g, an uncertain life | came on from New York, where I had been in a| jy, chicken filled with lusty fowls looked be ageet roast chicken were not an im- .. Cuddled up in an armfu) of blank- ets on the floor of one of the tents was a rosy year for @ number of have made their winter bended So sneer, tlectric cars on their way out to, the Catholic University have noticed in a grove of trees on the left-hand side of the road a was born when the Ocean poem wend = somedl deep. te were on yunding . be the seventh daughter of a seventh dangh- ter when she grows up. Her father, who when the horse-trading business is a little slow can at a pinch adopt the profession of a ceventh son seventh son, was tickled half to death when saw that the artist had made a sketch of Ocean while be aud the reporter were talking if H 2 & rt ii H ‘A ROMANY RYE. horse. “Yes, sir, that certainly is Ocean. You'd know it anywhere. And are you going to print that in Tux Stan? Well, I certainly will have to buy a copy.” “Dove kushda tana gri i come to purrove for your ‘This, Mr. Evans said, was the way one gipsy would tay to anot! ‘That's a good young horse; I would like to ewop for him.” There is s regular language, or,more properly epeak- ing, a dialect, among’ these nomads, though it is not much used and they speak it with difii- culty. There was a good deal of doubt ex- @ good horse when they see one, Those that wear skirts all the time are being taught the Dasiness of a seventh daughter of a seventh daughter. One often wonders what becomes of the other six daughters, ‘Tue Stam man had his informant say it over to the phonetic ‘vouched for. “Com to be dockered’ ‘ome again, please,” said the reporter. “I’m few chips shy on that sort of talk. You mean do I want to have my fortune Why, of course. ‘That's what I'm here for | So the line of march was taken up towai other tent i1 tem. Its authenticity is not AN INTERIOR. good fortune of birth, was able to unfold all the Itie a peaceful and on the whole a rather | Soo 4 fatnre. a x rent the grosnd from | mysteries of the past present and future eka Sener and pay the, bal ie heed ata ars | _ This was the part of the business in which the } + to '. they lef! they are not poor people at all, even if they do | HPa7 men had no part to play, so they left the live under canvas roofs when the mercury is | vise, ing lont somewhere down in the bulb of the | yer, nous. | But Mrs. Jon jometer. A STAR reporter recently was filled with curiosity to find out just how disa arecable life can be in winter time, and b made a tour of observation in company with Gran artist. [t was e muddy trip. It was made after the backbone of the cold spell had shattered, and the ground, which had been low parte ton indefinite depth. Floundering ‘long in the mud they reacherl the first tent on the outskirts of the village. There were no of life about, although voices could be aly heard within, and it was only a few mo- ments before the owner of the mansion stepped | warthy looking individual and | ‘geod figure ino gipey | Hn fact all of the members of thie Sees. did take part in the play of the “Romany Rye” when it was first presented in LEARNING HIS YATE. While country. They took the part of the crowd. | things that he might not like the other man to Acting wae not in their line, however, and they | kaow. So the artist went cut and made his Were soon back on the road, for a gipsy is a| drawings through the chimney hole. There always and no amount of education and | were four small girl babies in the toom; the will ever eradicate that inborn ten- | other three were probably in town, at work. wanderers on the | One of the children was a very recent addition most part these par- | to the Jones household and spent its time roll- Englieb origin, though, of | ing about on the floor or else grabbing for more | maternal nourishment, There were no chairs in the room. The boxes were covered with soiled jected to having a time, for she told the reporter that she might be able in her omniscience to tell some | the floor. reporter's left, from which all the facts in con- * | nection with his life were to be ex} ‘The mystic seventh, and a very young baby it was, alled for more milk, regardiess of the fact that Por mother's caller wane man, “I am the queen of them ail. I am the seventh daughter of seven generations, and I can tell you everything about yourself, but first promise me that you won't get angry at any- thing I tell you. Youdo? Allright In the first piace you make a great dea! of money, and haves ‘of money out; I su; you have lent it. You will iy be to | that you are to get it back. Havo w | you ever had bard py ee “Who is the head man of this village, or is | John? Yes, I thought vou had. Well, beware there « head man?” said Tar Stam reporter to| of a man named John and a mau named the Romany Rye. | William. is light haired and the other is “Every man is bead of his own Louse.” dark baired and they are both to do you ‘This was rather s sweeping statement to harm. Can you honestly swear lore heaven with end the reporter suggested that that you are not » married man?” RS. way in the brick | The reporter admitted that he was not guilty bovesss insiie the C4 limite. But he said on that count and could prove an alibi if neces- that wes their way and Sache snonieuiien, | ek woah rae a cok care nn wate. They have no definite organization. | good many of her h's and otherwise scribe and the artist at the fap door of the can- | dishes, #0 Mrs. Jones and the reporter sat on | Mrs. Jones held her seventh in her | left arm and with her right hand she held the | which was a Indy who, through | tune for 25 cents,” #0 she saw the color of « note on the treasury. Following in the foot- steps of Ananias the reporter said that what he wanted most of all in the world was to have money enough to the light-complected irl, for it was only empty pockets that was ‘eeping them apart. Mrs. Jones ted the Dill and said that if he would only let her fix up that magic potion within a month he would be making money easier than he could pick uj dirt, and it would only cost him $10. It look like'a good investment, according to the pros- ctus, but the deal was not consummated, though Mrs. Jones agreed to trust the reporter for part of the amount. “Have you ever thoughtabout going away from Washington? Oh, you have, have you? _ Well, Tcan tell you that you will go away from Wash- ington very soon, and that the farther you get away from thiacity the better it will befor you.” ‘This did not sound very complimentary, but perhaps it was one of those things “that one ould rather have expressed differently.” She to whom ail secrets of the future were unveiled ‘ed somé more about the advantages of hay- ing that love and money luck piece, for she sald that with it the, loving couple now kept apart by poverty might be brought together in bonds of holy wedlock within three weeks if so esired “And you will have more money than you will know what to do with. You can't spare the $10? Of course not. If you had $10 tg spare you might throw it out in that muddy road, jut this is an investment. It’s a good thing.” But he didn’t see it in that light, and they sep- arated with the agreement that if he ever had a chance to make the investment he would be back again. ——_ Written for The Evening Star, Aloha! Rythmic word of kindly greeting, Used alike by prince and peasant, ‘Stranger’s heart to set abeating With its welcome warm and pleasant— ‘Thrili my senses at the sound As my grateful pulses bound! Hear it spoke by children’s voices Gay at sport in grassy bywayst Hear it 'mong the merry noises Of the meadows and the highways Falling mellow on the air From red lips so ripe and rare! \ ‘When the moonlight glints the ocean With a sheen of silver splendor, And the waves with drowsy motion ‘To the sands thelr homage tender, ‘Then in dreams that word is breathed And a web of beauty wreathed. Let me listen to aloha From my gentle isiand-brother, For it seems a word of more Cordial cheer than any other As the salatation peals And upon my spirit steals! And aloha let me utter Ina friendstup true and faithfal, "Mid the leaves that fitful flutter And the clouds that darken wrathful, When the sea storm flings its foam ‘On the rocks where fishers roam! And atoha let me offer When the trade winds fan the Pali And a dawn refreshing proffer ‘To the green Nauanwvalley; ‘When the whittcaps kiss our deck And with froth the ocean fleck! ‘When the fleecy, downy masses In the heavens sweep the mountains, And the breeze that softly passes ‘Wakes to life its snowy fountains, ‘Will I give that grecting glad ‘To each langhing lass and lad— Who with garlands on their bosoms And bright lais about the forehead Of the gaudy, gilded blossoms ‘That adorn the Islands torrid, ‘Mect me dancing down the dels ‘To the chimes of chapel bells. ‘Yes, I love the winsome manner Of the peaceful island people "Neath the guava and banana And the palm tree's russet steeple! Open hearts and open doors Beckon to those tropic shores. Yield I back in greetings golden As I tread the coral islands ‘The Hawaitan salve olden Of the coast and azure highlands, An aloha from the soul Where Pacific's surges roll. Duicet tones of hearty welcome Fond alike to gay and dreary ‘Tomy memory like a bell come ‘With their music light and cheery, And I wish with loving smiles Warm atohas to those isles. —Davrp GRawaM ADEE. ——__+0- HE TOOK THE CONTRACT. pressed as to how this language was spelled, so | But It Was Too Big to Finish Before Break- fast. again very slowly and then spelled it according | From the Detroit Free Press. When the tramp came around the corner of the kitchen he observed a pile of snow in front of the door, but as it was not large he thought @ breakfast might be worth it, and so he knocked and a woman responded. “Can I geta bite of breakfast, ma'am?” he | said, very humbly. “There's a pile of snow there,” said the woman, significantly. “I know that, ma'am. It is small back yard, indeed, these days that don't have a pile of snow in it.” “Well, I don't want this yard to have one,” she remarked. He knew he had said the wrong thing then, and made no effort to escape. “It might be moved. ma'am,” he suggested. “Of course it might. If'you want your breakfast, tackle that snow pile first,” He did want his breakfast and he tackled the ite, and the woman went back into the warm itchen. ‘The pile was icyggd hard and after five minutes’ ineffectual Wraggle with it he knocked at the door. “Got the enow ‘Well, what is it?” she asked. y already?” adam,” he replied with severity, “that ain't snow; it’s ice, froze solid and stuck to the ground. It'll take me at least a week to git it moved, and I'm bound tf move it, fer I have said I'would, but IWant to know, before I commence, if a Christian woman ‘like you is goin’ to let me work here for seven days before You give me as much asa breakfast to stay my stomach’ He got hia breakfast and the snow pile isn't any smaller. ——+e+_—__ Women and Baldness. From the St. Louis Giobe-Democrat. “Did you ever seca woman that was entirely bald? Would you marry a bald-headed bt car were the two questions that Percy of Cincinnati fired at = Globe-Demoorat re- porter in the corridor of the Southern yes- y. “You haven't and you wouldn't, of | face. THE CHAFING- DISH. What Can Be Done With the Latest Cooking Fad. THE OUTFIT AND COST. PRESS ee = How the Fin de Siecle Young Man Makes an ‘Omelet, Cooks Eggs in Other Ways and Makes Palatable Dishes of Oysters—Some ‘Things to Be Avoided. EN Written for The Evening Star. HE CHAFING DISH has sprung suddenly into extraordinarily popular favor. A fash- fon magazine an- nounced recently that every — fin-de-siecle young man must know something about cook- ing in o chafing dish. Idoubt if this decree of fashion has given the impetus to chafing-dish cooking with most peo- ple, though it may have had a strong influence with some. What has made the chafing dish popular is undoubtedly its convenience for cooking Sunday night suppers when the maid is having her ovening off, for luncheons (possibly on wash days) and'with the bachelor for cook ing a late luncheon before going to bed. Cer- tainly the sales of the chafing dish recently have amounted to something enormous com- pared with what they were a year or two ago. You ean buy books which will tell you “what can be done with a chafing dish.” None of them will tell you (what is quite as important) what you ought not to do and what you can do easiest with your chafing dish when you get it. I ought to know, for I have given the apparatus & very complete test and have cooked break- fasts, luncheons and suppers on it for a long me. . If you are a bachelor and you wish to use the chafing dish regularly—to cook your breakfast, for example—vou will need an outfit which will cost you anything from $12 to $20, according to the quality of the things you buy. For ex- ample, you need knives, forks and spoons, emali ‘and large plates, a decanter, a flour dredger. a skimmer, two or three spice boxes, table cloths and napkins, one or two small bowls, one or two small pitchers and an egg ter. Possibly some houskeepers will see a great many things omitted from this list and Possibly many init which might be omitted. ut Chavefound ail of these necessary and they have answered all purposes with me. TEE UTENSILS REQUIRED. Finally you havo to get a chafing dish. I be- lieve that you can get one of tin for 50 cents. You can buy nickel-plated ones for prices rang- ing from #2.50 to $10, according to size and style. The price will vary also according to the place where you buy your outfit. I bought mine in New York. I found afterward that I could have got it in Washington and saved part of the cost of bringing it there by express, and when I was in St. Louis recently I discovered the same chafing dish (the Jewett) selling for Jess than I paid for it in NewYork. It is safer to get your chafing dish from a hardware merchant. They are sold at jewelers’, but the Jeweler charges usually a much higher price than the hardware man. If you want to get one that is silver plated you can pay anything from §43 to $153 for it, according to style. I have the catalogue of a big New York silver house before me now und the lowest price named for chafing dish witha hot water pan is $63, Probably if you bought one of these you would pay a great deal more for the firm’s name than you did for your chafing dish. Of course, like everything else made of the precious metals, chating dishes can be made as expensive as any one could wish. Doubtless many have been made to order which coat as high as $300 or 2400. But you can get one for $3 which will answer your parposes quite as well and look almost as ornamental. For supplies you will need salt, pepper and sugar; @ pound of flour,a tin box of soda crackers, a can of condensed milk for emer- genciee, half a dozen eggs, half a pound of but- ter, some cooking sherry and some milk, Your milk, of course, can be delivered fresh every morning and you will find thata pint every day wifl answer all purposes and usually leave you enough for a midnight luncheon. “If you live in a city where shell fish are plentiful you can have freshly opened oysters delivered to you by the half pint every morning for about JO centsa day. You willfind that oystersovery other day, or say three times a week, will be quite enough. Your bread, hot or cold, you can have served to you probably by the people in the house in which you live, or you can get fresh rolls on your way home’ in the evening, which will be’ still quite fresh for your break- fast the next day. But if you can have your bread delivered to you fresh in the morning it will be much better,for you need toast for a great many of your dishes, and while toast can be made over an alcohol flame it is much better if made over the coals. HOW TO MAKE AN OMELET. There is one breakfast dis pre-ominently good, which will never lose its favor, but which is more abused in the making than any: thing else that ever came off the fire, It is the omelet. Chefs have made their reputation fro: omelets, ‘The average restaurant or railroad omelet isa flabby and unpleasant thing. ‘The waiter who brings it to you will impress on you, if you complain, the fact that an omelet is a very hard thing to make. It is rather pre- sumptuous then for an amateur to attempt an omelet with any hopes of immediate success, Yet there is a way of making an omelet whi is both easy and certain if you exercue o dinary care. I can find “it in the common authorities on cooking, #0 I assume that it is not commonly known, Beat the whites of three eggs to n stiff froth. Beat the yolke separately for a fow seconds, and as you are about to mix them together drop & teaspoonful of butter m the chafing dich pan and put it the alcohol over ing dish, being careful that the melted butter is well distributed over the bottom of the pan. Do not stir or in any way disturb the omelet | except to raise the edge witn a knife blade to seo how nearly it is done. When the under surface is cooked toa light brown double the omelet half over and let it remain a few sec- onds longer in the pan to brown the under sur- Then turn the pan over quickly, letting the omelet drop on your plate. For a bam om- elet you can mix chopped ham with the beaten egg. For a jelly omelet you can spread jelly across the omelet just Before doubling it up. For absolute simplicity and a delicious result 1 commend to all lovers of egg food this form of omelet. Mrs. John B. Henderson, who published a noted cook book and who is an authority on cooking, says that the best flavored omelet is one made of oggs whose white and yolk have doen beaten together just enough to make them mis well ‘The beaten eggs are poured into a hot, well-buttered pan as they cook, the edge of the omelet is lifted with a knife blade so that the uncooked part of the egg can run under. ‘The quicker an omelet cooks the better. If a | Eress good deal of butter has been used, the omelet, after ithas been turned, can be shaker. free from the bottom of the pan withadexterousturn the wrist and tossed out on the plate which is waiting to receive it. The omelet pan should be very thoroughly cleaned if it be used for other cooking. Some cooks have a special omelet pan which is used for nothing else and which is never washed, but is carefully wiped out each time after it has been used. S OTHER WATS OF COOKING EGGS. Next toan omelet scrambled eggs are most delightful, and they are very easily cooked. Break throe eggs into a bowl. (You could break them into the pan ditect, but you might ‘| run into “questionable” egg, which would spoil your morning's cooking.) Do not whip © eggs. Put a teaspoonful of butter in the chafing dish‘ and when it melts pour in half a cupful of milk or cream. Slip the eggs into the milk and stir them coatinuslly unl they are set, seasoning at the same time with pepper and salt. You can stir them with a knife or a rhich is very desirable, bat ‘which 1s sol- dom found in the egg of commerce. ‘The chief fault with the scrambled egg of the rest that itis not stirred enough. ‘The spoils the ee. one of which is easy too, pe dish ‘very to prepare, ‘not costly. @ pound of Unless hs Pat a teo- . melts add and Fi a crear, into this simmer for ten Add two 22 L fy dish ‘beet is one of jokes sours Ge tellen of tee = cover the and care be taken that the yolks of ths gx are preserved Poached are ich ts aise solved, and the hot water is poured over the spoonful at a time so that it shall be cooked. A PAN ROAST. until they pu up and the e become frilled. ‘Then put them in a pan under cover to keep them warm and in the from which you have removed them, put a table- spoonful of butter, half a pint of milk, a salt- oonful of salt; dit Perper and mace, Prop. for a half pint of oysters. When the milk boils add the oysters without the liquor. (The broth can be saved and it makes a very delightful soup to be eaton Just before going to bed.) Let the oysters ‘cook two minutes. Then put little sherry (a ‘Wine glass full is the largest desirable quantity) in the dish in which the oysters areto beserved. ‘Tarn the oysters in the dish and they are ready tobe eaten. Oysters in this style can be served on toast, and in this she should be added while the orsters, are eS the pan. But according to Mr. Harvey should never be cooked with the oysters. An- other mistake which he says if very common with professional cooks as well as amateurs is to cook the oysters for a stew in milk. The oysters should be cooked first and then the milk should be added. The best oyster soup that I know is made by cooking the oysters first, drawing them outof tho liquor one by one with a fork, so as tohave them free from all impurity, and then pouring over them the oyster liquor (which has been strained) and an equal quantity of milk, which have been heated together almost to a boiling point. ' OYSTERS IN OTHER STYLES. Another form of cooking oysters peculiarly ‘adapted to tho chafing dish follows directions like those for the panned oysters described above with the exception that half a cupful of cracker crumbs is added when the milk begins to boil and the sherry is omitted. Oysters ale poulette are cocked not unlike mned oysters, After the oysters are lanched the oyster liquor is put over the fire again and a cupful of cream, some parsley and the beaten yolks of two eggs are added. ‘The oysters are seasoned when they are being | blanched. After the addition of the egg yolks atablespoontul of sifted flour is added to allowed to cook for two or three minutes. A very good imitation of a pan roast can be had from ‘the chafing dish end it is the most simple of all the oyster dishes. Put two table- spoonfulsof butter in the chafing dish, and when it is very warm put ina pint of oysters with lenty of oyster liquor. Season well and allow them tocook for three minutes. ‘These should be served on toast. The oyster liquor enriched by the butter soaks into the toast and makes it very palatable. The real pan roast as prepared at Hancock's (where it isa specialty) is first cooked in the pan and then put in an oven for a few minutes. THE WELSH RAREEIT. Finally comes the welsh rarebit (or rabbit I believe it is now called by authorities), which is considered the dish of all dishes for a late sup- per. Itlooks very simple, but when you can make a good welsh rabbit you will have aecom- plished ‘something in cooking. Sclect very carefully some fresh, soft American cheese, shave it very thin and put itin the chafing dish over a hot fire. When it begins to melt add Bass’ ale gradually, stirring occasionally. Half a bottle of the ale will be quite enough. When the cheese is all well melted and the dish is of a uniform consistency serve on hot toast immediately. ‘These are things enough to keep any amateur cook busy. He will find many other things suggested to him in the chafing dish books, but many of them, while practicable, are objection- xble.” Avoid above all things fried dishes— bacon, breast of quail, breast of prairie chicken. | &c. They will fill your room with smoke and burn out the bottom of your chafing dish pan. Ineed not tell you howto heat water in the “hot-water pan” for your coffee, which can be made in a drip coffee pot. If you get as much fun out of your chafing dish as I have you will feel amply repaid for your investment, Ericunve. —.__ A PEEP AT SOME STOCKINGS. Quaint New Styles to Be Worn With New Costumes. In view of the alarming certainty that our Aresses are becoming shorter and shorter the dainty woman looks at her footwear with new attention, for it is not at all beyond possibility that before spring winds whirl about onr skirts the fashions will have com- bined with them to give the world a glimpse of our hosiery. We may be prepared, however, to withstand the fires of criticism long before that day, for hints found in Paris have already reached our shores. They are to the effect that stockings decorated with gilt and silk embroideries in Russian blue, terra cotta, red, yellow, purple, green, are worn by our Parisian sisters. They done in geometric patterns, bave, patterns nd dower deigns, and the more striking the ‘ontrast between binck borders and gay uppers the better pleased the ultra-fashionable wearers will be. ‘The demurest stockings of them all are in the “ajour” or lace designe. ‘They are embroid- ered in very finely detailed patterns of colored silk, and are quite properly donned with any costume. Hosiery for indoor wear bears its | decoration massed xbout the instep and ankle. | Richt pretty are the sandal patterns in black nd white silk; and that of narrow ribbons of many tints woven about the foot. | , For summer days we will wear with our huge- | Qowered organdie: and our old-fashioned “prints” stockings of thinnest silk, embroidered with flowers in their natural colors. . One pairalready shown bears on a black ground morning glories in pink and lavender; another, a bouquet of forget-moe-nots, and a third, marguerites, with centers of gilt thread. ‘The gilt thread is beautifully used ina design of ingeniously embroidered dots in brilliant colors on black silk. Women with dainty ankles may reflect with satisfaction that their grace is glinting forth in evidence most fashionable. ———-+e-— Grass for Lawns. From Mehans’ Monthly. Where the locality desirable for a lawn is naturally free from weeds, the modern sugges- tion of making it by planting patches of one particular kind, which will run together in a fow months, is particularly desirable, Nothing can be more beautiful than a lawn which is wholly made up of one species only. For small gardens, especially where the new plantation can be hand-weeded during the summer, it is the best of all methods. No lawn made of grass seeds will be confined strictly to one kind, and on account of the different shades of green in the grass will always have a more or less patchy appearance. (‘Those who, supply mixed lawn seeds usually keep this in mind, and en- deavor to get their kinds so generally’ alike in tint of green as to avoid this objection. One advantage of the mixed system is that one can rarely tell by the description of a customer what particular kind of graes will thrive to best advantage. A mixture is, therefore, likely to best serve the purpose, in this that the one which is the most suitable will event crowd out those not so well adapted to the and circumstances. We have scen a lawn made of mixed grasses which had to be secured under the shad of largo trees’ eventually be- was come wholly 0. y the sheep fescue. the course of few years every other kind crowded ont, and this particular species alone occupied the land. Number of Bezzars in Paris, Correspondence London Standard. On certain high festivals and fetes, of which ‘New Year day is one, the beggars of Paris are, #0 to say, let loose on the capital They are allowed to worry pedestrians in the streets to thoir hearts’ content without any fear of being interfered with by the police, and, thanks to the fine wenther this New Year, they are said to have made an cnusually good’ harvest thicken the dish, the oysters are added and | our lilac-sprayed musiins | =/HAWKS AND OWLS. Uncle Jerry Supplies a Lot of New Facts About These Birds. THE FARMERS’ FRIENDS.| Popular Opinion Has Done Them = Great Injustice—They Are Mostly Desirable Vis- itors,and to Destroy Them is Folly—Odd Habits of Some Well-Known Species. —_-—___ HE LONG-PROMISED bulletin on the hawks and owis of the United States will be published four weeks hence by the Department of Agri- culture, It contains « lot of most curious and interesting information. Incidentally, it proves that a class of birds commonly looked upon as enemies of the farmer really rank among bis best friends. Instead of being indiscriminately should be preserved and en- couraged to take up their abode in the neigh- borhood of his home. Out of the seventy-three species of owls and bawks in this country only six are harmful, and of these latter three are #0 Yery rare that they need not be considered. But two—the sharp-shinned bawk and Cooper's | hawk—need be taken into account as foes to the husbandman. The rest of the hawks and all of the owls are either mainly or wholly beneficial, #0 that the folly of offering bounties for killi them, as has been done by teveral states, most egregious, In the course of the investi- | gation which has brought about these conclu- | sions the stomachs of 2,700 of these feathered creatures were examined. Nearly all of them | were found to contain mice, other small mam- | mals and insects, while the remains of poultry or game birds were only discovered in a very lew. | GIVING THE GRASSHOPPERS EVERY OPPORTUNITY. | Another plague of grasshoppers is threaten- | ing in Colorado, partly because that state put a price on the heads of hawks and owlsa few years ago, in consequence of which thousands of the | Prairie chickens, sage cocks, quail, ekunks, foxes and snakes, all of which'are kilied when- ever possible, so that they are fast being wiped out. Thus the grasshoppers, when favored by exceptional seasons, have a chance to multiply to an astonishing extent, whereupon they su denly assume the offensive and with their in- SHORT-FARED OWL. yading armies take possession of the country | and strip it of every green thing. One of the hawks which people who dwell on the | western plains have mn active in jt to exterminate is | hawk, which feeds exclusively on grase- | hoppers and crickets when it can get them | Each individual will consume 200 grasshoppers daily and it is reckoned that a fait-sized ilock | of this species will eat 1,000,000 of the hoppers | ina month. Sparrow hawks are great enemies of the grasshoppers. In parts of the west and south, where telegraph lines pass throgh miles of troeless plains and savannas, these little birds use the telegraph poles for perches for lack of better resting places. From the poles they make short trips at brief mtervals to pick up a grasshopper or mouse, which they carry back to the perch and devour. At times when grase- hoppers are abundant suci a line of poles is | pretty well occupied by the hawks. They some- times attack young poultry, but are too small to cope with any but chicks. THE BURROWING OWL An owl which should be prot the burrowing owl. It destroys immense num- | bers of scorpions, centipedes and noxious in- | sects, but its virtnes have not protected it from | being slaughtered for millinery purposes. It | inhabits the treeless, grassy plains in the abandoned burrows of prairie dogs, woodehucks, wolves, foxes, badgers, skunks and armadillos, as well’ as in those of |Iand tortoises’ and large lizards. It | goes ab®oad by day and is difficult to | approach. Ite alarm note is said to resemble | the ratile of the rattlesnake. Much nonsense | has been written about the relations of the prai- rie dog, owl and rattlesnake, which are said to lead asort of happy family existence in the same burrow. In this underground Uto- | pia the snakes give their rattles to the puppies to play with, while the old dogs cuddle the owlets and farm out their own litters to the grere and careful birds. | However, the fact is that the owls are simply attracted to the village of the prairie dogs as affording convenient | places for shelter and nest building. They un- | doubtediy live at case in the settlement and on familiar terms with their four-footed neighbors, but they do not inhabit the same holes. Prob- ably the young dogs often furnitha meal to the owls and the latter in return are frequently robbed of their ¢ As for the rattlesnakes, they wriggle into the burrows partly because there are no other holes to crawl into on the bare, flat plain, and partly in search of owls’ egg#, owlets aud puppies to eat. Za THE LITTLE SCREECH owL, well known in most parts of the country, is indefatigable in its work of destroying mice and extraordinary number seen in the streets that day has induced M. who is | ba musttiontiy cathe oukiocs te, acs hes he contains 10,000 individuals who Swainson’s | P' | birds have been destroyed, Among the natural | 2#™age on the enemies of these insects are wild turkeys, | BARRED owt. of food as @ provision against inclement weather. THE PARN OWL. Probably the most important from an eco- nomic point of view among owls is the barn owl. Its food is almost entirely made up of injurious mammals. In the west it feeds largely on pouched gophers. and the stomach contents of many individuals examined have revealed little else than the remains of these rodents. To appreciate properly the services of this owl it must be remembered that pouched gophers are ainong the most, if not the most, tructive mammals which inhabit this coun In the south this owl lives largely on cot- ton rats, another very destructive species. In various other localities it feeds extensively on the common rat. The great horned owl, which in the east is persistent in its attacks on poul- try and game, kills immense numbers of rab- bits in rabbit-infested parts of the west, where its assistance is invaluable to the farmer. It is much addicted to eating skunks, of which it de- Vours great numbers wherever those objection- able animal A story is told of rgia which s cat dozing on the roof of a smoke house, Sup- ing grimaikin to be some harmless rabbit- like beast, the bird snatched her up in talons. He quickly found that he had caught a tartar and let pus: On the whole owls are declared to. be among the most beneficial of al! birds, inflicting little terer and vastly befriending it eyesight is not eo defective the farmer. in daylight keenest in the twilight of morning and evening. Hunting during these hours, their food con- sists largely of those animals which hawks do not trouble much and their work supplementa that of hawks, helping to Prevent the undue increase’ of many ob- noxious rodents. The smallest owl in North America is the Elf owl, which is found in the southwestern part of the United States. Tt is Jess than six inches long, and it nearly always breeds in the deserted holes which wood- peckers have left in the giant cactuses, ‘THE BIRDS OF PREY. Of the birds of prey with which this country is 80 well supplied there are but few which de- serve to be put on the black list as injuriows to man. These feathered creatures are well fitted by nature to nt rt in the maintenance in the animal world. Possessed of amazingly acute eyesight, strong bills for tearing their prey and sharp talons that lock with a never- failing clutch and insure the speedy death of » victim by piercing its entrails, they are admirably equipped for their occupa- tion. supply of food is unlimited, most of the time. Their di the amount of food they ing. On the other bar at times, by re: are gorged e required on of inclement weather or other causes, to withstand great exposure and rotracted fasts. In the rapacious birds the indigestible portions of food, such as feathers, hair, bones and the hard coverings of insects, are ‘formed into balls by the mov the stomach. After the itious paris have been absorbed these “pellets” thrown up and disgorged before a new supply of food is taken. The movements of | the stomach so shape the pellets that every sha Piece of bone or other bard material whi might otherwise injure the mucous membrane is carefully enveloped by a fclty covering of hair or feathers. In the case of some of the owls which have regular roosting laces vast numbers of these pellets accamu- late on the ground, and examination of them gives a perfect mdex to the character of the food of the birds. One of the owls which are in ill repute with farmers is the barred owl. Nevertheless its reputation is undeserved, inas- | much as 97 per cent of ite food consists of rab- bits, squirrels, rate, mice, frogs and crawfish, ‘The long-eared short-eared owls also feed extensively on mice THE INSURIOUS SPECIES OF HAWKS, which feed mainly on animals that are useful to man, are the sharp-thinned hawk, Cooper's hawk, the goshawik, the duck hawk, the gyrfal- con and the fish hawk. The goshawk is com- paratively rare in most far: districts of the United States, being a bird of the far north, otherwise ' its destructiveness to poultry "would be great. Few species are more foud of poultry and game birds, the large size enabling it to carry off with ease a full-grown fowl. Ruffed grouse often fall prey toit, on which account it is sometimes “patridge hawk.” strikes is popularly supposed, but it is | They are all great eaters, and, when the | is rapid and | ¢ is axtonieh- | we | bleak and frost covered, remaived ible ‘The gyrfaicon, the largest and most powerful of the true falcons borders of the | nited &: Winter. It feeds largely water fowl, bares, and poultry when The duck Lawk is anot Mf fishes such irevat,, ictima to ite splendid TRE ROCAR-LE one of the Ingest species, feeds and the numl ORD HAWK | its long in which it prairies, marches it sei le a stray chic inconsiderab) elude nine slow of wing to birds or eve: | on | tr attacks f the most prey, eating with relish mice per cent of its fc maumals. It a without «ust hawk feeds Aloag the r j recent itapro hundred acres of lan¢ many places rank veg fording shelter and mice. are | ° the manner A bird of | of | nat erent it will wh of this ki . a bay, ake Ontario, bad tie bickched skull of a weee | wel cia from its neck, the teeth firmly set | in the ekin of its throw TME AQTIRREL a ne ive of ther | ne ta 101 for ground « re ter structive to in ti « of hawks, ae | Swi ticated. The rongh- leg is mi and, even when takee all gro pe tamed ina few that it food from the by will aliow iis head and back to be stroked. Whe d with hawks of other kinds tt w | not the food, but waits until finished before is it a gentle allowing desis the others hi The fish hawk t ler ti | Snd rear their 5 herons to bu: z in the All rapacions bably none of ear, ‘The young grow e nest and have enorm taxing the energy of to provide for them Ficher of the divimon of m mmalogy re two br ly, stay nithology in the Depa of Agri the author of the bulletin from wh | interesting facts are obtained. iir<r i FLIGHT OF THE Armies of Birds the South, From the St. Louis Giobe-Demo-rat “The preliminary gathering they tuke their flight to the « approach of winter is me,” said Prank cigarin the park that they take their flight from this « the country, as the winters here are not severe enough. But from the I em Canadian provinces they leave in numbers after the first severe fros cold frosty morning I arose and looked my bed room window in into a neighboring cornt by a rail fence, and from which even the dry shocks had been removed. Only the stubble, f crows 1 land “The viliags of famous for crows. Red Erie, I ‘They gather abo: large numbers and obtain considerable food Cooper's hawk and the inned hawk from a neighboring wild rice marsh. I noticed = roe yer Gn = on the of domesti- | that the tiers of rails, rising seven in mar When they find « farm where chickens can be captured with impunity they make daily excursions to it unless fa cat are y it after Cooper's hawk. ef 70 DESTROY THE EXGLISH SPARROW. In one direction the fondness of these two hawks for the flesh of birds promises to be of benefit to the country—namely, in the destruc- tion of the English sparrow. Both of thém have were thickiy sprinkled with crows about and cawing most vor rather amused at the spectacie, joying it, when I obser ‘approaching from over forest. These also sett closure. I watched for h tinually observed great flocks of crow from all directions and gatber in the { t there were bun Then no more came fore The denouement of the whole affair was great flapping of wings, and, division by division, the great gatherin, dreds of thousands. while. ‘the last flock or di sion tock wing I looked to the south and sw the line dimly fading «ay into space. Ther knew they were migrating. and I fally unde stood the beauty of that Rarmmouious simile, ‘Like the Sight of bird: