With th« / Exception of That of the
Ernprc m Dowager It In Indeed
V ) a Miserable One,
In hWlecture on “Woman in China,”
Mr. Chester Holcombe defined the
status /of the woman in three different
periods of her life, and explained
i|'e influence which
thF preffe'n? dowager empress exer
cises over the affairs of her nation.
In all Chinese history probably no
circumstances liave occurred which
might serve to illustrate so completely
the natural position and autocratic
power of a mother as those of the last
few years in which the dowager em
press has played the most conspicu
ous part.
The dowager is the sole surviving
widow of Emperor Hsien Feng, who
died in 1861. in later years, by a
process of adoption known only in
China, the present empress dowager
became the grandmother of the pres
ent emperor. Actually she is of no
discernible relationship to him. But
by that process of adoption, constant
ly practiced and everywhere recog
nized in China, she is his only surviv
ing grandmother. And here is the one
source of power and authority, alike'
over him and over the Chinese race.
2sot as empress, but as mother, she has
the full right to rule under every
foundation principle of the Chinese
governmental system. However un
wise, absurd and disastrous to the em
pire any act or acts of hers may have
been, they have been well within the
limits of her authority, according to
the constitution and laws of the em
pire. Only death or an entire over
turning- of the entire system of au
thority can either relieve or rob her
©f her rights, not as empress but as
mother.
In early life many of the women
in China commit suicide. One has no
legal protection against her master,
man. He may abuse her and neglect
her, fail to provide for her wants, de
sert her and divorce her. In practice
husbands divorce their wives for any
reason and for no reas-on. Any scrap
of paper upon which the fact of di
vorce is w ritten, and stamped with the
impression oi tne mu mo oi me Hus
band, is all that is necessary. The
most serious of all hardships which
fall to the lot of the Chinese woman
come with her marriage. And these are
often so bitter as to be unendurable,
and to end in self-destruction. She
is betrothed in infancy or childhood
to a boy whom she has never seen,
and whom certainly she does not
know.
The betrothal is legal ceremony, no
less binding than marriage. She has
absolutely no choice regarding whom
or when she shall marry, and any ex
pression of opinion or semblance of in
terest in a matter which so vitally con
jjto^trns her would be as sadly immodest
as to ruin her reputation. The mem
bers of her own family take no part
in the wedding ceremonies; usually
they are not present. She has sep
arated from them forever, and her re
lationship is broken completely. She
is dressed by her mother and when
her toilet is completed and the ap
pointed hour has arrived for the wed
ding, a large bag, made of red satin and
brilliantly embroidered, is drawn down
over her head and shoulders to the
•waist, where it is tied, thus complete
ly binding her and pinioning her arms
to her sides.
Meantime a procession has come
from the house of the parents of her
future husband, headed by a band of
music, and in which the most con
spicuous object is a red sedan chair—
the wedding chair—borne by four or
eight men. This chair is brought close
to the door of her room and she is half
led and half carried to a seat in it.
The curtains of the chair are closely
drawn so that not a ray of light can
enter. When she has been placed with
in it the door is closed and locked by
the girl’s mother. Such precautions
ere taken that the wedding chair shall
fee tightly closed and no one given even
a glimpse of the inmate that, in hot
weather, at the end of the short jour
ney a dead bride may be delivered to
the waiting groom, the poor girl hav
ing been suffocated.
The average Chinese old woman, be
she the wife of a boor or the consort
of a prince, has one terrible weapon,
which long-continued exercise has ren
dered keener than a two-edged sword,
and nimble beyond belief. In force,
volume, rapidity of action and general
nastiness it is probably unrivaled upon
earth. It is her tongue. And when she
opens her throttle valve, turns on a
full head of steam and allows it to play
at full speed the boldest warrior who
ever led armies to battle will, if he has
a morsel of discretion mixed with his
valor, take at once to his heels. One
able-bodied old Chinese woman would
have routed Wellington or Napoleon,
caused Grant to retreat and settled
the Schley-Sampson controversy out of
hand.—Boston Transcript.
CHINESE BABY BOY.
He Is a Cnnnine Little Piece of Ha
ma nit y and Happy a* tl>c Day
la Lone.
“Isn’t lie cunning?”
1 have an idea that that is what
some of you will say when you see
the picture of this cunning little Chi
nese baby boy and his tiny mamma.
Did you ever see a healthy, clean,
happy baby that was not cunning?
I do not think that I ever did. There
is something irresistibly charming
about a baby, be it black or white,
yellow or red, and it is evident from
the look in her face that this little
Chinese mother thinks that her baby
boy is “just as sweet and cunning as
he can be.” It is to be hoped that
tlyit is her opinion of him, for every
child has the right to be loved by its
parents.
This little Chinese boy lives in
Santa Barbara, Cal., and he is an
American born boy. One will see
many more Chinese children in the
far west than in the east. There are
probably more Chinese children in
San Francisco’s Chinatown than in
any eastern state, and it is very in
CHINESE MOTHER AND CHILD.
foresting indeed to see these little
yellow people in their own homes.
I fancy that this little Chinese boy
and his mother ai'e out for a day, for
they evidently have on their “best
things,” and they look as if they had
some pleasure in store for them. I
think that many of our American
mothers might envy this Chinese
mother her neat and comfortable
style of dress, although 1 am sure
that none of them would envy her
tiny feet, the smallness of which
must represent many years of suf
fering.
Nothing in the history of the Chi
nese people represents more physical
suffering than their foolish and
wicked custom of binding the feet
of the little girls to make them small.
It is pleasant to think that this
smiling little Chinese boy, who will
probably be reared in America, will
have a happier and perhaps a better
life in our country than he would be
likely to know in the land of his fa
thers.—Detroit Free Press.
Women's College In Honduras.
The government of Honduras has
granted a subvention of $100 a month
to a college for women, and has given
it a building with accommodation for
some 200 scholars.
This college was established in 1899
by an American, Dr. Joseph L.
Jenckes. Honduras, while liberal in
educational facilities for boys, has
never made adequate provision for
girls. The college fills the need. Five
thousand dollars was obtained by
subscription in the vicinity, and some
help has been given by people in the
United States, and this, with the gov
ernment aid, puts the college on a
working basis.
The methods of education are Amer
ican, *he teachers are Americans, and
instruction is given in English. The
branches taught are: English lan
guage; Spanish language; grammar
and literature; geography, with use
of globe; arithmetic; botany; ele
mentary history; music; astronomy,
use of telescope; calisthenics; philos
ophy, natural and mental; plain and
ornamental sewing; domestic econ
omy, and deportment.
CAPONIZING CHICKENS.
Where Fowls Arc Raised for Market
Exclusively the Operation la
~ ' Profitable.
t aponi/.e is when
chicks are from t ree to five months
old. The organs are smaller and more
easily removed, and there is much less
danger from bleeding. The fowls
should be kept wihout food and wa
ter for 24 hours before the operation,
so that the intestines will be empty.
Instruments are made for caponizing
and full directions for performing the
operation go with each set.
The best plan for a novice is to kill
a bird and operate upon that first, in
order to learn the position of the
parts. Lay the bird upon the table,
and place the screw rings or weights
w'here they would be needed to secure
a live fowl. One or two rings will be
required to hold the wings, and one
for each leg; six is all that is neces
sary. Place the bird upon the table,
and fasten it down upon its side.
The spot where the opening* is to
be made is shown by the X in the cut.
The feathers are plucked and an open
ing is made through the skin with a
sr-bladed
scissors. We have found these better
than a knife. The skin is drawn to one
side and an opening is made with the
scissors between the last two ribs 1V4
inches long. Great care must be taken
not to injure the intestines.
The ribs are separated by the spring
hooks to expose the inside. The in
testines are gently moved out of the
Way with the handle of a teaspoon,
and the glands or testicles will be seen
attached to the back. The tissue
which covers them is torn open with
the hook, aided by the tweezers. The
gland is then twisted off by turning
the forceps. The other one is removed
in the same way.
When meat alone is desired, the
large breeds, as Brahma, Cochin, Lang
shan, etc., are best, but for carrying
chicks use the smaller and more in
dustrious. breeds, as Leghorn, Game,
etc. The Plymouth Bock, Dorking and
are useful for either purpose.—Farm
and Home.
DONCROSS BREEDS.
Good Advice That In Not Heeded as
Well by Some Dairymen as
It Should He.
in this country there seems to be a
recklessnessi concerning the crossing
of breeds that is truly astonishing. To
breed up is commendable, but cross
ing breeds is not breeding up. When
a man takes scrub cows and breeds
them and their femaie progeny to
males of some good dairy breed he is
doing a commendable thing, and help
ing both himself and the community
in which he lives. But when he tries to
cross two distinct breeds, such as the
shorthorns and Jerseys, and attempts
to continue that, indefinitely he is on
the road that does not lead to success.
The usual argument is to use the dairy
cow to get a calf that will have great
milking tendencies in her and to use
the beef animal in the same mating to
give the same calf great ability to lay
on beef. Poor, poor calf! How much
is expected of her! She must keep up
the reputation of both parents. It is
the old attempt to get something for
nothing, to cross so that the progeny
will make a certain amount of food
into butter and milk and also into
beef. Happy owner of such a cow!
He will be able to get two values out
of every pound of feed. After the first
cross he wrill probably keep on cross
ing and as a result will finally get—
i^othing or about that. The man that
goes into reckless crossing of the
breeds is simply undoing the work of
past generations, at least if he uses
the milk producing strains with the
beef producing strains. The mixing of
blood is like the mixing of color, the
more you have of one kind the less you
have of the other. Breed pure breeds
or breed up toward pure breeds, but
do not attempt to cross breeds for the
sake of getting the highest service of
each kind.—Farmers’ Review.
Farming is at high pressure in Kan
sas this season. A Franklin county
farmer committed suicide because he
could not get enough hands to take
care of his big crop.—Farmers’ Advo
cate.
i
EXCELLENT SHEEP RUN.
Sngracosllon for a Sheil Tlint Will Af
foi'd Protection to a Small
Sized Flock.
Sheep are naturally rather timid,
tender, inoffensive animals, and for
the safety and thrift of a small
flock a covered yaVd is valuable. It
is not necessary for it to be costly,
but it should be well protected from
the weather and have a dry floor.
If it can be conveniently built as an
addition to the barn, and have a door
opening into it directly from the
barn floor, so much the better; in
which case it should be made high
so that grain and the like
loft above, a a
SHEEP RUN OR SHED.
suggested in the accompanying cut.
A shed 20 feet square will afford
room sufficient for a flock of 40
sheep; it will give 60 feet of feeding
room or a foot and a half of rack
for each sheep, and that is perfect
ly ample. Occasionally the upper
part, if occupied with nothing else,
can be utilized to good advantage as
a lambing shed, in which the ewes
about to bring lambs may be safely
accommodated. If employed for this
purpose a gradually sloping passage
with bars across every nine inches
to give foothold, shoidd be used.
The front of the shed, as can be
seen, is half open, a thing most de
sirable for sheep, in that they r#etl
fresh air and are able to withstand
much cold if only kept dry. The
manure, too, may be left 5n such a
shed the whole winter, and if suffi
cient litter is furnished, the sheep
will trample it so hard that there
will be no disagreeable odors
from it.
The shed, of course, will need feed
racks all around, on three sides, and
there may be short racks on each
side of the doorway, which will add
something to the rack room. It is
desirable to have the open part, ff
possible, face to the south.—Fred O.
Sibley, in Ohio Farmer.
THESEED QUESTION.
If You Expect Good Results from
Poor Seed You Should Go Out of
the Wheat Business.
—
A good Kansas farmer says: “ ‘Any
thing will do to sow provided it will
sprout,’ is an expression entirely too
common.” No farmer would think of
keeping his scrub animals for breeding
purposes and selling his best to the
butcher. On the contrary he selects
with great care the best breeding,
buys the best males, imports, or buys
from importers, strains of established
merit, and purity, while with wheat—
a plant peculiarity susceptible to
deteriorating and injurious influences,
he is1 careless and sows what he can
not, sell. Seed wheat should be pure—
that is of one variety. It si >uld be
well matured, full grown and tree from
smut or other parasite or fungoid
growths. It should also be free from
weed seeds, especially chess or cheat,
which being exceedingly hardy and
prolific, will take the field if it has a
chance, and is exceedingly difficult to
eradicate when once it has infested a
neighborhood. Poor, shriveled wheat,
if sufficiently matured to sprout, will
under favorable conditions produce a
good crop, but will surely cause the
variety to “run out” in a few years if
continued sowing of the inferior stuff
is indulged in. Every farmer should
have a seed patch upon which he grows
wheat for seed. This he should give
the best care, should plow deep and
early, keep it free from weeds, use the
besit varieties and the purest seed, and
from the products of this pa.tch sow
his larger fields. He might, with much
advantage, plant different varieties,
and sow his general fields only with
such as have proved themselves suit
able to that locality. He could, at com
paratively small cost, exchange seed
with other farmers from time to time,
and in that manner grow the very best
quality and largest quantity.—Prairie
Farmer.
In farming, as in everything else, we
are largely the architects of our own
fortunes; we are mainly what we make
ourselves. Good luck is usually good
management; bad luck, bad manage
ment. The man who imagines that his
neighbors are trying to get the advan
tage of him, or that the world is
against him, seldom succeeds—Farm
ers’ Voice.
There are many things to consider
in the growth and development of a
crop besides the mere question of sup
plying the seeds or plants with toil
and water.
USE MANY WORDS EACH DAY.
Men Ordinarily Olve Utterance to
Many Thousand* of lMiranes
in Twenty-Four Hour*.
“I have been trying to figure out
how many words the average man
utters in every 24 hours,” said a
gentleman who has a penchant for
peculiar things, according to the New
Orleans Times-Democrat, "but 1 have
been unable to reach any satisfac
tory conclusion on account of the
different rates of speed ut which dif
ferent persons talk. Of course, I
have no reference to the different
kinds of words which may be found
in the daily vocabulary of the aver
age man, but I am talking about the
total numbef of words uttered,
counting repetitions and all, during
every 24 hours. There is the quiet,
melancholy gentleman, who will not
speak on an average of 500 words
a day, and there are many who for
one reason and another would not
utter anything like this number. On
the other hand there is the conversa
tional Gatling gun, not always a
woman either, who will roll off words
at a fearful rate of speed, and whose
aggregate for one day would run up
to dizzy heights. Then there is the
normal talker, who will strike a
good, decent average—the man who
will neither bore you with his indif
ferent silence nor tire you with his
meaningless verbosity.
But suppose we figure that the
average person will utter an average
of 40 words every minute, or about
57,600 words for every 24 hours. Of
course, no person will talk this much,
as the windiest of men and women
would probably break down before
they had talked as much as 57 col
umns in the average daily newspa-*
per. The only question is as to how
much time each person puts in tall?
• i • i i n ... __ _3
ju.g cauu uuj. kjwjjux; men «uu
women are situated so that they can
not talk during the day, except at
meal time, on account of the charac
ter of work they have to do. There
are others, such as traveling men, for
instance, who depend upon talk for
their living. I have figured that the
high man, probably the traveling
man, will talk five hour - out of every
24, which would giv$ nim a total of
12,000 words every day. I have fig
ured that most any sort of a man
will talk as mi h as ten minutes out
of every 24 hours, and this would
give him a total of 600 words for the
day.
“These are the two extremes. I
am satisfied that the normal man—
the man who strikes a decent average
between indifferent silence and dis
gusting verbosity—will talk probably
one hour, all told, each day, yhicli
would allow him 2,400 wordk. And
this, by the way, is considerable talk,
for it will fill two columns in a news
paper and a whole lot of wisdom can
be crowded into two columns.”
LAUGHTER AS STOMACH CURE.
Aids Dlarest Ion toy AsrltatlnK the Ab
dominal Organs and Increases '
lllood Circulation.
Worry is but one of the many forms
of fear, so that worry tends- t.c the
production of indigestion. Indiges
tion tends to put the body of the sub
"i no t in n rtiinrlitinn fliaf fti vnre wnrrv
- •/
There is thus established a vicious cir
cle which tends to perpetuate itself,
each element augmenting the other.
It is necessary to secure a cheerful,
wholesome atmosphere for the dys
peptic. He should eat his meals at a
table where there is good fellowship,
and where funny stories are told. He
should himself make a great effort to>
contribute his share of this at the
table, even if it be necessary, as it was
in one case, under my care, for him to
solemnly and seriously collect funny
paragraphs from the press, and at first
interject them spasmodically during
lulls in the conversation at the table.
The very efforts and determination of
the man to correct his own silent hab
its at table, to correct his feelings of
discouragement and worry, were in
themselves a promise of success. The
effort made was adequate to the ob
stacles to be overcome. He succeeded,
and the spectacle of that man trying to
be funny at table when he felt thor
oughly discouraged and blue is one we
shall never forget, says the London
Family Doctor.
Laughing is in itself also a useful
exercise from the standpoint of di
gestion. It stirs up all the abdominal
organs, it increases the circulation of
the blood, it increases peristalsis, it
increases the secretion of gastric
juices. Five minutes’ deliberate laugh
ing after each meal would be an excel
lent prescription for some people.
Lettuce Frlttcn.
Lettuce fritters while almost un
necessary, may still serve the purpose
of variety at breakfast and luncheon.
Select crisp, rather small leaves of
young lettuce and tear apart pieces
about an inch square, and stir into a
batter made from one egg, a table
spoonful of sweet cream, salt, and
flour enough to make it moderately
stiff. Drop by the spoonful in hot lard
or fry in olive oil just enough to keep
the skillet from b"rning. Serve them
on a folded napkin, with slices of
lemon —Detroit Free Press.