| Show DOUBTFUL JO SHUA lk I 1 BY ezra OLIVER WENDILL WENDELL the situation was this so far as it is not contraband to tell at once joshua badger had had a fall from a haycock when he was very young and nd it bumped his head some and ma made de him otherwise feel unpleasant but no serious consequences were supposed to have occur ed to him at the time as his pretty face was not marred and and he lie ate heartily and his sleep was sound immediately afterward but as lie he g grew rew up his grandfather said that that fall had ni made ade him over cautious and undecided his grandmother died and when his parents followed suit sult joshua th thought 0 aught he could do no better than to hire out to farmer daisy who had one wife and two daughters lena was two years older than joshua and fatima was two years younger and ana one day when joshua was twenty he leaned upon his hoe by the pigsty and thus considered let me see I 1 am a pretty fellow and which do I 1 love the best lena or fatima I 1 have lived for several years in the small family y and am a likely young man as I 1 am likely to live one year longer and then be twenty one but I 1 have my doubts which I 1 ought to marry of course I 1 could have either but which lena is older and leaner and fatima is younger and fatter but liere here I 1 am in doubt should a wife be older or younger than her husband if she is younger she likely to mind him better this is one set of doubts then here comes another set A wife ought lit to be healthy as it costs less But which promises most health fat or lean some say lean some say fat which would be Fatt Patt yin four years would she be as lean as lena perhaps leaner time tries all and again lena might pick up and grow fat again and then again she might not be so well off as s she sho eis ois is now they are about equal in other respects I 1 am much troubled to choose between these two balsys but perhaps love is the main thing and I 1 guess ill wait and have the one who loves me best but butt how to go to work and find that out I 1 must plan a plan when next the tile doubtful swain found them together he told them in confidence that he was going to get married but would not say to whom and now he lie watered waff bod bed the tile freet t upon therm thorn lena looked grave and fatima laughed at him this caused him a new set of doubts and he felt vexed at both this is harder work than farming what do these girls iris mean perhaps lena looks sour lecause because ashes jealous which shows she loves me and perhaps fatty laughs and pretends she dont care in order ta to hide her love and perhaps she snickered because she thinks I 1 am going to have her I 1 ou ought ht to be v very er careful however I 1 be rash r as h or I 1 ma may y taue take tak tal e the wrong one ibish J wish one NN would ou id die and then there would be no bother but which ofie one I 1 cant say I 1 wish I 1 in love but which do I 1 love best for that akgun amounts ts to something I 1 dont know I 1 shant understand myself till I 1 understand them and then perhaps the one I 1 loved would give me the mitten as soon as I 1 showed love iove and might love me better and perhaps thione the one that loves lovea me most would be the best for me and perhaps the one who said she loved me would only ohly say so to take the shine off her sister and so I 1 should be deceived this love is a very unpleasant piece of briness bu iness and already it has placed me in in a state of most doubtful uncertainty I 1 have tried gue que plan pian and am in more doubt than ever bilt but joshua badger kee keep on you ia g get geb W tei tel at the right of ubo it at bast last plan abnot another plan y the effects of haycock according t to his grandfathers prophecy became more and more visible in the cautious proceedings of th the doubtful joshua his next experiment was to ascertain which of th the e two sisters had t the ij e soundest soun aest dest steadiest mind so that she would be the less liable to change after he be had accepted her fi his idea was ingenious in its philosophy by he made each the present of a t ritten kitten itten that each pet might test the affection of their natures he watched the about equal degree of fondness bestowed upon the animals and whence thought love was established in that quarter he stole them away ardd arid found that fatima showed the greatest concern nio mourning for a week and tearing more clothes in the hunt but bui thu thy plunged him into more doubt As to kittens kittens may be no rule to judge by fatty may love kittens while lena may be more partial to dogs andeen and men this is a great consideration for a loss which is no loss should not be much cried about and besides perhaps those who are so wrapped up in dumb beasts may not have enough tenderness to spare for their partners it is fortunate that I 1 have such a thoughtful turn of mind for my good looks might be the ruin of me I 1 must plan another plan and I 1 will try their affection toward me I 1 will get up a little game gamo of jealousy between them and see seo which suffers most and piles in the victuals in the unhappiest manner I 1 shall pity them but I 1 am acting for tor their peace of mind in the future so I 1 will begin by taking lena to the horse race tomor to mor row I 1 lena saw the show and went home with joshua in high spirits while fatima delighted him by smashing d a plate at his feet when he returned and leaving his bed unmade and his handkerchief continuing his exclusive attention to the elder sister for a time the cunning joshua perceived by her increasing sulkiness that he was breaking the heart of the neglected one andio and so commenced upon the opposite taek tack by turning his baek back upon lena and going to a candy scrape and quilting party with fatima and pi eking picking so many posies for iler her lier ller alone that lena actually broke the vase and and refused to make the usual seven turnovers turn overs one for each day in the week when she superintended super intended the baking r 1 I dont mind the turnovers turn overs mused joshua gravely but its time to turn over a new leaf with these here two girls I 1 dont see that I 1 have proved anything yet which showed the greatest love r showed the greatest spite if the turnovers turn overs offset the handkerchief I 1 think the vase vaso about equal to the tho plate and its about nip and tuck tuek in other respects bot both hugly ugly enough when cheyl e mad and after all is spite a sure sign of love if either was my wife she be in danger of banging my lead head they got to harming me n ae yet but they might when they felt more intimate I 1 thinie think its no use to go all round robins barn when you can go straight in at the door I 1 think the best plan will be to ask them both together which is the deepest in love with me the old folks are going to prayer meeting tonight to night and ill do my moral duty at home by speaking 11 houart out i 11 I 1 k cox CON f I 1 IN T I 1 T SMOKING HAMS habis 1 11 I have no smoke house howe 11 exclaims mr smith how shall I 1 smoke my hams ills hia neighbor jones answered him 0 thana easy enoah enough I 1 put some ome strings through I 1 the head of a barrel and tie tr them fast to three ci or four hams then dig a little hole in the ground in which I 1 make a smudge of or sawdust over which I 1 set the barrel and keep the fire going pretty snug and they tift si smoke noke I 1 enough in three or four days davs j 25 the above ve Is an overheard rail road co conversation n with due deference to mr alir jones we reply publicly to his private rema remark ik that lie he knows no more about making good hams than tile the pig which produced reduced them I 1 would as soon sit awn down to a piece of smoked sole leather ieather as his barrel barret liams hams in the first place hams should be placed so far froni the fire that the tile smoke will be absolutely cool before it reaches them then they should be hung in a room open to the atmosphere sphere not ti tight lit like a barrel and they should a not be be smoked rapidly as they would be in the th e barrel until nearly black oli on the tho outside A moderate smoke made twice every clear day and twice as many days as a ham ivel irel weighs glis pounds will make good sweet meat never commence smoking until your hams have hung long lone enough after atter taking out of the pickle to be thoroughly dried the english dry their hams and use them without smoking they are far preferable that way to hams smoked as those recommended above in a barrel or any similar contrivance many persons have spare rooms about their buildings sometimes in the garret of a dwelling in which ham can be smoked by making in a fire outdoors out doors or ili in a stove and conducting 0 the tile smoke through a long pipe W wo have seen a very nice smokehouse smoke house where the fire was built 50 or CO feet from the building in a little oven dg into the ground and the smoke sk b being chig conducted through a covered t trench up a hillside hill side to the base of a building b ull uli ding and then though a wooden pipe ipe to the garret where the meat was hung ung upon the rafters during the tilo smoking 0 operation aeration a window was kept in each eni ens end odthe of the room remember as a rule the slower you smoke the meat the tiie better tile the best wood is green hickory then maple beech bee chash ash asb apple tree IN never ever use locust the bark imparts an un pleasent flavor to the meat several other kinds of wood do the same Coin coln cobs make very sweet bacon never use any wood that makes a black smoke never use rotten wood nor sawdust saw dust oust the last day of smoking itic it is a good plan to burn a few red pepper pods jv y tribune ablen ASiEn AMERICAN ican iCAX aristocracy HEROES OF tre THE revolution it maybe may bo a consolation sol soi ailon atlon to foolish people whose greatest boast is that they never engaged in 11 any useful employment to be told of the fol foi following lowin facts washington was a surveyor and a farmer franklin was a printer green was a blacksmith warren was a physician sumpter r was a shepherd roger sherman was a shoemaker marion wasa was vas a farmer as were also pu put nam alien allen and stark 4 hancock was a shipping merchant trumbull T was an artist I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 arnold who though a tr traitor altori was a braye brave and a good general was a bookseller and a druggist SAVED HIS PEACHES the stockton cal independent says during two n nights ga ts in succession when a strong ng frost rr 3 t prevailed mr meeker who wilo resides near neur the river on the road to mokelumne city saved his peach blossoms from injury by sprinkling the trees with cold water early in the mornings the young fruit on every tree which lie he showered vered with water remained apparently free from any n injury whatever while winie it was totally destroyed es troyed on every one neglected |
