mighty chasm through which a wide river rolls and tumbles. Many
and strange are the shapes into which the water has carved the stone as
it has worn its course through the barriers.

Here and there are such strange rock formations as "The Old Man of the
Dalles," the "Devil's Kitchen," "Devil's Chair," "Devil's Pulpit," and
"Elbow Rock." In fact, the "Dalles of the St. Croix" (as the river here
is called) is full of the most wonderful stone formations.

The Devil's Chair is a massive vertical column which buttresses the
formation beside the river to a height of 150 feet. It has a tall back,
an ample seat and foot-rest, and seems peculiarly fitted to be the
resting-place of some mythical and colossal human shape. Other curious
features are the wells, varying in size and depth from a few inches to
thirty feet. These are shafts in the solid trap-rock a hundred feet or
more above the surface of the river. Their origin is due to the grinding
power of bowlders which, rolling into a depression or a hole in the
rock, the water whirled into the cavity with a spiral motion, thus
causing the bowlders to revolve, and in the course of ages the wells
have been bored as if by some titanic power, until the subsidence of the
stream has annihilated the force, and the work has ceased, leaving the
bowlders in the bottom of the cavity.

The village of Taylor's Falls is situated at the head of the Dalles. The
hunting and fishing here are excellent.

JOHN A. RAPUE.
ST. PAUL, MINN.

How to Cure Skins.

Here is an answer to the question "How to cure the skins of small
animals." After having removed the skin from the body, and having
cleaned away from it all adherent flesh, anoint it with arsenical soap,
for the making of which there are several ways, the following being the
most used: arsenic, 1 ounce; white soap, 1 ounce; carbonate of potash, 1
drachm (1/3 of an ounce apothecaries' weight), distilled water, 6
drachms, camphor, 2 drachms.

This keeps the skin supple and prevents decay and attacks of insects.
The larger skins are generally prepared with a composition called
"preservation powder." Gloves should be worn in the process to prevent
danger of poison from compounds. Some skins are prepared with alum only,
and others with oak-bark liquor of the tanner's pits.

E. H.

Take equal parts of salt, saltpetre, and alum, pulverize and mix. Dampen
the flesh side of the hide, and sprinkle the mixture on so that it will
jus