Decatur Democrat, Volume 50, Number 25, Decatur, Adams County, 23 August 1906 — Page 6

BANKS IN A FIRE CITI THE PRESSING NEED OF MONEY IN _ A STRICKEN COMMUNITY. *KperieMce ot * Chtcaao Fiaaaelsl Hoaie In 1871—Greed of Depositors and How It Showed Itself—An Cneipec ted Proposition. Whenever a great fire devastates a large city the first effort of those concerned with the work of restoration is to get the banks open so that the press Ing needs of a homeless population may be cared for. At such times business is done on a strictly cash basis, and everything sells at a premium. The consequence is an extraordinary demand for hand to hand money, since the merchant can use the poor man’s dollar to better advantage than the rich man’s credit in buying supplies to replenish his flame emptied warehouse. The struggle that ensues to obtain all the cash in sight is full of human Interest It has its picturesque features. On Monday, Oct 10, IS7I, when all Chicago trudged downtown to see what was left of the city, great crowds ' besieged the banks. Some men were crying, others talked incoherently, and everybody seemed half dazed. An officer of one of Chicago's greatest banks, who fought his way through the smoldering embers to the white marble hall which surrounded his vault, gave the following description of what occurred: “Although the iron door of the vault had been somewhat expanded by heat, I found that the combination worked perfectly. That reassured me, and after hunting about the debris I fished out one or two iron crowbars and by wedging them in finally opened the vault door. The inclosure smelled smoky, but I soon found that the cash was all right, and so were our books. That made me feel good, and I got down to work in short order. The first thing I did was to look at the balance sheet and see what our exact resources were. A glance showed me that by collecting what was due from out of town creditors the bank could pay everything it owed and declare a 10 per ' cent dividend besides, even if it lost every dollar due from its Chicago chants That was all I wanted to know. ■ “On leaving the vault I saw four men Waiting for me in what had been ths cashier’s office. They were among our largest depositors, and I knew well enough what they wanted. They were , of very different types—one a shrewd , money lender who had $30,000 to his credit on our books, another was a school treasurer in an outlying district ] .who would have been ruined had w» not been able to pay him $25,000, a third was an out of town banker with $150,000 to the credit of his institution In our bank, and the fourth was a man .who has since become one of Chicago’s , greatest capitalists and who had always professed his sincere friendship for me It was a trying ordeal and one calculat ed to make each of my visitors show the real stuff that was in him. As events proved, this did not take long. “The little money lender grabbed me first. With a strange little wink he forced me one side and said in a half whisper, ‘Do you know how much 1 have in your bank?’ A said, ‘Yes, about $30,000.’ • «‘Well, I will give you $6,000 if you I svill give me the cash right away.' | .“ T won’t do that,’ said I. ‘Your money is all right, but you will have to wait a week for it until we get in shape again.’ “ ‘What,’ he fairly gasped, ‘do you decline $6,000? That is a good deal of money in a city chat has gone to destruction.’ “I answered no, that I would not, and told him in plain English what 1 thought of him. I said: ‘I am not knave enough to take your bribe and give you an unfair advantage over the other depositors, and I am not fool enough to do it,- because I know as soon as you discover the bank paid its claims within a week you would sue me for the $6,000. Get out of here right away.’ ” “That was the last of him. He took his money when the week was but and kept clear of the bank after that Then the school treasurer came to me with a straightforward story of how his bondsmen were anxious to know how he stood. When I told him that his money was safe and that he would not lose a cent he burst into tears, saying the news was too good to be true. The out of town banker was also very nice, saying that he did not care to withRraw fais mopey so long as he knew it was case. Then the man who has since grown enormously wealthy accosted me with the remark that he had come down to see how things stood. That gave me a chance to test him, so 1 said brusquely: “ ‘You know how things are as well at I do.. Can’t you see the position wo are in?’ ‘Oh, yes, yes,’ he answered hastily. ‘I don’t care about the fire. We are all in the same fix. But I want to know bow you stand personally. Have sou plenty of ready cash? You cannot get credit these days, so if you need anything from the grocer’s you want hard cash. I brought you a little’— "With that the man threw open his Coat, dived down into his pocket and dragged out a roll of bills as big as his bands could grasp. Then he stralght- ; cned ttiem out and divided them into || equal piles, retaining one himself and handing‘ine the other. He was dread- | fully in earnest, but I told him I could 4 not accept the money and that I j- thought I could manage without it 1 He assured me that whatever he had §5? Would always be at my disposal That man has always been one of my best friends.”— New York Post H' - ■ J His Compliment. *’ "*!"■ U (j "What a lovely morning.” he said. i "It is a perfect morning,” she replied. El ■’ "True,” he said. “I haven’t seen any- < sting this morning that isn’t perfect.” ifind be looked her straight in the face. £• i L Then she blushed. ’•?

A Fir* In Rome. A lawyer who visited Rome telb how the fire department grappled witk' a blaze in the Eternal City. He says: “The fire was In what we would call a grocery store. It seemed a long time before the fire department responded, but after awhile I saw a hose wagon dash around the corner with a number of firemen standing or the running boards on each side. Th< wagon stopped at a hydrant, and eacl fireman jumped from the wagon with a little roll of hose. The first man coupled his to the hydrant, and then each man coupled his section to the preceding section. Finally they had water on the fire, and after anotbei long period a man with a plumed hai drove up in a victoria. He was th* chief. The captain of the company and the chief saluted with much cere mony. then shook hands and then held a long and dignified conversation Finally, I suppose, the captain told the chief the grocery was on fire, and the chief acknowledged it was and com pllmented him bn his perspicuity. Oh, yes, they finally put the fire out, and Borne still stands!” Difficult Haymaking. One of the most curiobs sights that one notices in the agricultural parts oi Norway is the peculiar way of drying out the hay. On account of the ex treme dampness the grass rots if left on the ground after it is mowed. Wooden drying fences that stretch for hundreds of yards across the fields are built, and every night the hay is hung out to dry, like the family wash, 'fhe sun helps along in the daytime, but it is only a half hearted help, and in the neighborhood of Bergen, where It it said to rain 364 days out of the year, the hay is almost always “on the fence.” In the lake districts, where the hilly country makes means of transportation very difficult, a heavy copper wire is stretched from the top of a mountain to the village in the valley l>elow. Down this huge masses of hay are sent sailing through the air, sometimes whizzing dangerously near the unwary tourist’s head. — New York Tribune. Yes, We Are Resiles*. “We are a restless people.” observes the Sedgwick (Kan.) Pantagraph. “Every thin woman longs to be tat Every fat woman wants to grow thin Every town man longs for the time when he can retire to the quiet of the country, and every fanner hopes tc some day quit work and move to town, where he can take life easy. Country newspaper men would like to try theii hand on a city dally. The fellows on the big dailies dream of a time when they can own a paper of their own. In youth we long for maturity. In age we yearn for the happy days ol childhood. There is no excuse for ii other than that we all seem to be buill that way. The grass seems to be jusi a little bit greener and thriftier most any direction from the place you occu py right now. Contentment is as neai to happiness as you can get in this world.” Boy Was a Good Listener. The Smiths were not overcautious ti discussing neighbors' faults in the presence of their little son. A van ont day backed up to the curb, and. much to Mrs. Smith’s disgust," her boy Tommy assisted an objectionable neighbor to move. The little fellow worked hard and made himself very useful When the last wagonload had been hauled away and the doors of the va cant house locked Tommy returned home, tired and disgusted. His mother could not reconcile the boy’s early enthusiasm with his present dejection, And she asked him what was the matter. “I worked and watched around the nouse all day,” whined the tired little fellow, “but I didn’t see them take any skeletons out of the closets.”--New York Times. Feminine Study of Man. Man is when all is said a vastly lovable being and even his faults—indeed, chiefly his faults—have a most unholy attraction for us. But man the conquered is a very different creature from man the conqueror. The first is always ready and longing to afford ut everything in the world we desireready to sell his immortal soul for oui pleasures. The second grudges us s kind word—A Spinster in M. A. P. Conkling’s Invective. Roscoe Conkling, like John J. Ingalls, was a master at invective. Conkling, it is said, once upon a tir in summing up to a jury thus attempted to belittle the testimony of a rummy faced, knobby nosed witness for the opposition: “Methinks, gentlemen, 1 can see that witness now, his mouth stretching across the wide desolation of his face, a sepulcher of rum and a fountain of falsehood!” Two of n Kind. a gentleman standing by, “It are time for the street car, ain’t it, or have ary one went out in the last few minutes?” The answer is said to have been, “If any have went I haven’t saw it’*—• Greensboro (N. C.) Record. Escaped Her Too. Elderly Man (greeting lady acquaintance)—l remember your face perfectly, miss, but your name has escaped me. The Young Woman—l don’t wonder. It escaped me three years ago. I am married now. The Gnlde’s Measure. ]l ave come t 0 a prett y pass* remarked the guide as he led Algernon and Percy into the Yosemite valley.Lampoon. I is a word wh ose origin nv j scholar can trace,

— "■ smuggling for fun. • fast For the Sake of “Gettia* Ahead” of the Government. Smuggling for fun sounds ridiculous, but customs inspectors who have spent the greater part of their life in ths service of the government say there are those who do it Persistent efforts to detect those who would de> fraud the government have been rewarded by the almost total extinction of the professional smuggler, but all efforts have availed little against the traveler abroad who purposely conceals some article of value simply fox the fun of “getting ahead” of the government The government detectives put smug glers in four classes. The first is th« thoughtless smuggler: the second, thf occasional traveler who tries to smuggle; the third, the professional smuggler, and the fourth, those who smug gle for fun. The professional smuggler has long since ceased to trouble the federal officers seriously. The odds against him are so great that be has turned his ingenuity to some safer method of dishonesty. The last, the smuggler for fun, te a bother. Usually the duty he is attempting to save is hardly enough to pay for the trouble of detection. What people smuggle covers everything that can be-hidden. Costjy gems and jewels form the greater part of the dutiable property seized by the customs officers. The few professional smugglers confine themselves to diamonds. The smuggler for fun Is as apt to try to get in a pair of gloves, a bit of lace, drugs or expensive cosmetics. Lace, silk and bits of bric-a-brac find their way ..into out of the way places in the trunks or grips of the occasional travelers whe think it perfectly justifiable-to avoid paying the duty. Trained agents in every European city know of every purchase of gems or costly cloth destined for this country. Weeks before the purchaser reaches this side of the Atlantic his name, address and the exact quantity of goods he has purchased are In the hands of the officers on this, side. His failure to mention an article of ths slightest value immediately brings him to the attention of the inspectors, and he is fortunate to escape with no more severe punishment than the confiscation of the dutiable property. To detect the amateur smugglers requires keen detective work on the part of the local customs officers. An especially quiet looking man who arrived a few months ago had concealed a beautiful diamond In the heart of a lump of tobacco. The customs officer, who had put this passenger down as one oj the honest travelers, had hit suspicion aroused when he saw him make a frantic grab for a half plug of tobacco that he had accidentally drop* ped. Before the passenger could reach the tobacco the officer had planted his foot upon it and of course discovered the stone. A smartly dressed woman who had' been abroad for the summer limped so painfully as she came down the gangway from the steamer that the customs officer who had been detailed to inspect her luggage was moved to ask if sha had suffered an accident on the war over. She replied that she had. Before he completed the examination of her score of trunks he had excused himself, sent another officer on board and learned from the purser that the woman had not limped at breakfast that morning. She was asked to accompany one ot the women inspectors to a private examination room, where a magnificent ring was found in the toe of her boot. Intuition more than anything else aids the federal detectives in theh work.—New York World. Little, but Immense. Although General Joseph Wheeler was a chieftain of tremendous force when in battle, he was, as everybody knows, small in stature, slight in build and of unassuming appearance as a civilian. Shortly after the United States had declared war against Spain and while the preparations for sending the army to Cuba were in active progress a stranger lb Washington observed a number of distinguished senators gathering around a little gray bearded man whom they had encountered at the steps of the eapltol and shaking his hand with enthusiasm. “Who’s that little old chap they’re making so much fuss over?” he said, addressing an elderly, stoop shouldered man Who was standing near him and looking at the group with kindling •eyes. “Little!” exclaimed the other. “That’s Fighting Joe Wheeler. If ever you’d been in a big battle and seen him coming toward you at the head of a galloping army of wild men, as I have, you’d know better than to call him lit tie! He’s as big as the side of a house!” Fishlfa* For Rattlers, Hunters have an ingenious method of capturing rattlesnakes, whose oil is .believed t° be a cure for deafness, and as such commands a big price. They go about on warm days, carrying a long fishing rod and a line, with a sharp scythe, and when the reptile is discovered, usually asleep near a loose edge of rock, it is prodded more or less gently with the rod. Like any other sleeper suddenly Interrupted, the snake wakes np angry, makes a dart at the nearest Irritating object, which Is the fish hook dangling near his bead from the end of the rod, and very accommodatingly allows the sharp hook to penetrate Its jaws. The man with the rod bolds the entrapped reptile at a safe distance while his comrade moves up and severs the snake’s head from, the body. The latter Is then deposited in a bag, and the hunters go in search •C fresh game. ll Mill *• • —* w. .. ' »

— ' Leather Breeches. A hundred and fifty years ago the farm bands and house servants of England were clothed in leather. A good pair of leather breeches was said to-pass from father to son as an heirloom. Then a boy went to school as well protected as an armored cruiser. The author of “Didisburye in the ’45” offers some observations upon these articles of common wear: The test of a good pair was to try if they would stand upright of themselves when no body was in them. If they would do so they were good, strong stuff and likely to last for many years. My father remembered a prentice lad coming to his father, whose fond mother had provided him with such a pair, and they were the means of a “vast of fun” in a game that is unknown in these days—that is, for the boys to set the breeches upright and then jump into them without touching them with the hands. It was probably a pair of suth leather breeches that the Windsor boy was wearing when George HI. asked him if he did not know that the man before him was the king. “Yes,” said the boy. “Then why don’t you go on your knees, and you might kiss the king’s hand,” said the king. “Because I’d spoil my breeches.” Queer Names. There are some queer nooks and corners in the state of Maine, and many of the titles of the smaller towns and localities are worthy of special mention. Near Otisfield is Pugleyville, While Hog valley is a certain picturesque retreat located near Raymond. Dog Corner, Hencoop cove, is a well known place in Winthrop, While out on the Coon road strange things have sometimes happened. A mile long is Pin Hole hill, the steepest ever, and all the way up are little rests “to bang the pins on,” people say. Over Poland way is the hunger inspiring name of Beeftown, while highly suggestive of negligee was the old name of Saccarappa. One does not have to die to pass through Purgatory, and some of the most prominent men in the state have hailed from this sinful region. Neither are the gates of Eden closed to all mortals, but nowadays one journeys via an ancient toll bridge that leads the traveler straight to this enchanted land.—Lewiston (Me.) Journal. The First Armored Ship. According to the best authorities on curiosities of the navy and warfare In general, the first armored vessel was launched in the year 1530. It was one of the fleet manned by the Knights of St. John and was entirely covered with sheets of lead. The accounts of the times leave us in darkness as to the thickness of this lead armor, but they are very positive in the statement that they were of sufficient strength to “successfully resist all the shots of that day.” At the siege of Gibraltar in 1782 the French and Spaniards used war vessels which were anmored with “light iron boom proofing over tbelr decks and to the water’s edge.” The very first practical use of wrought iron plates as a defense for the sides of vessels was by the French in the Crimean war in 1853. Jumpers of the Sea. Many of the inhabitants of the sea are good jumpers and some have become famous. Among them should be mentioned the tarpon or silver kiag, a huge fish with scales that gleam like silver. In the Pacific waters the tuna, an ally of the horse mackerel, is noted for its leaps. Sometimes a school sweeps up the coast, and the powerful fish, often weighing 800 pounds, are seen in the air in every direction. They dart like an arrow, turn gracefully five or six feet in the air and come down, keeping the water for acres in a foam, and, if not the greatest, they are certainly the most graceful of the jumpers of the sea. The Whirling of a Bullet. Bullets from the thirty caliber rifles of the United States army whirl with great rapidity. The rifling gives one revolution of the bullet about its axis in ten inches. At the muzzle the velocity of the bullet is 2,300 feet a second, which means 2,760 turns a second, assuming that the bullet does not ■trip in the rifling. The circumference of the bullet is .942 inch, which gives a peripheral velocity of 2,600 inches each second, or 13,000 feet a minute. The Solution. The bankruptcy court can boast some delightfully naive rejoinders. “How, sir, is it possible,” angrily demanded the opposing counsel of the bankrupt, “to live in the luxurious style you have affected on S2OO a year?” The witness replied, with an air of justifiable pride, that that “was a problem to which ,he had devoted considerable time in the Interests of social economy, and the results of his humble efforts were now before the court” T -Su*arpßtive, “Gee whiz!” said George for the twentieth time. “It makes me mad every time I think bf the $lO I lost today. I actually feel as If I’d like to have somebody kick me.” “By the way, George,” said the dear girl dreamily, “don’t you think you’d bettef speak to father this evening?”— Philadelphia Press. SospicioUß. “Some men are so suspicious,” Mid the pessimist, “that if they went into the organ grinding business they would compel all the monkeys to carry little cash registers.”—Philadelphia Bulletin. Happens Sometimes. A man and wife shouldn’t take 'themselves too seriously. There’s such a thing as falling out by sheer force of gravity.—Puck. Gliding the whistle will not raise the ftteam.

■■ ■ - 111 ■ - ■■ ■ ■ — "'FISHES ARE SENSITIVE. ' I And Yet, Apparently, They Are Capable of Buffering Pain. ' All fishes have nerves, and in some respects fishes are extremely sensitive A fish that has buried itself in sand oi mud so completely that only the tip ol its tail fin is above the bottom will feel even the slightest touch and instantly dart out of its sandy bed. A fish is very sensitive to movements in the wa ter surrounding it A shadow falling upon the water will startle a fish into flight. But, sensitive as fishes are in Borne respects, it is probable that they do not suffer pain from Injuries re ceived. ‘ . Fishes are extremely sensitive at the nose. A fish that bad in pursuit ol prey run its nose against a rock might shake its head violently, perhaps in pain, but fishes sustain serious injuries from actual wounds without showing any indication of pain. In fact, the Indications tend to show that they do not suffer. A fish' that has been hooked by an angler, but has escaped, perhaps carrying off a hook in its mouth, may a few minutes afterward bite again at an-other-hook. Such instances are not infrequent. In such cases the hook would probably be concealed by the bait and the fish would not be likely to see it, but the fact that it is ready to take the bait shows that it is continuing to feed, which it would scarcely be likely to do if it were suffering great paiu. A shark from whose body all the viscera had been removed has continued to feed. Sensitive as fishes are about the nose, many of them use the nose in pushing stones and gravel about in building a nest for the female to spawn in. The salmon notoriously often wears its* snout down to the bone in excavating a cavity for a nest, and often It wears off Its tail to a mere stub in brushing out stones and gravel. Yet such fishes frequently recover frftm their injuries and return to the ocean. Timid and sensitive as fishes are In some respects, they fight one another vigorously. In such fights th£y may receive injuries that might be described as terrible. To these injuries they may pay so little attention that after the fight is over they go on with their feeding or with whatever occupation they had been engaged in. Injuries which would throw a human being into a state of helplessness do not interrupt the current of fish life. The fish may afterward die from its injuries, but apparently it does not suffer pain from them. Fishes sometimes survive injuries of a remarkable character. The stomach of a captured codfish was found to be pierced by a spine of a flounder which it had swallowed. The sharp, thornlike spine projected about half an inch beyond the outer wall of the stomach into the fish’s body. Apparently the codfish had suffered no inconvenience, from this. The wound caused by the spine had healed around it, and the codfish was fat and in good condition generally. The Russian Translator of Dickens. Irinarch Ivansvich Vredensky was the son of a poor but intelligent village pope or priest who tilled his glebe to feed and clothe his large family of daughters, and this only son, to whom he still found time to impart the rudiments of education. Irinarch was a sickly and lonesome boy. cut off from all playfellows by his ascetic though well meaning father, and he grew up ; to manhood in' bitter poverty, having sometimes literally nowhere to lay his head. Tfet, in spite of all obstacles, he became a distinguished scholar, a versatile linguist and a beioved pedagogue In the military schools at St Petersburg. He was growing in fame and favor with the authorities and bad been called upon to undertake educational work of the highest importance when his blindness and premature death cut short his brave career. His. translations of Dickens, Thackeray, Fenimore Cooper, etc., are classical and laid the foundation of the wonderful popularity which their works still enjoy in Russia.—Notes and Queries. Without Counting:. « Archbishop Temple was noted for bls mathematical ability. A peculiarity of his power, not in computation or analysis, but in the ability to see a definite number of objects without actually counting them in the ordinary sense, is mentioned in Mr. Sandford’s memoirs of the archbishop. Everybody sees three objects, not as one and one and one, but as three. Most people can see four; some see five and even six. Many of those who think they simply see six would discover if they observed the process carefully that they really make a quick count. But Dr. Temple certainly saw higher numbers. ■ I tested him quite suddenly more than ! once. “How many sheep in that field?” Instantly came the answer, “Nine.” Once he saw thirteen. I think these were birds flying in a group. It was the same process with him to. see nixu. or ten volumes in a bookshelf aait was with me to see even five. Given ; time, without counting, he saw larger ' numbers. Derivation of “Whit” Suaday. l A perennial problem is that about the ■ etymology of Whit Sunday, and the supporters of Whitsunday could speak more confidently wlth thelr adversaries if they remembered that the Welsh call I the anniversary “Sulgwyn,” which ’ means “White Sun.” This title preI serves the Druidic tradition, that the * stih about this time turns white. No • doubt the old British belief arose from the peculiar wblte glare of the sunlight reflected from the hawthorn blossoms, ■ which must have been far more frap--1 pant when south Britain was one vast r forest and a thorn fence formed the fortification of every village. The pagan festival of the White Sun possibly » developed into the “Whitsun Ales.* Westminster Gazette.

AS WE USE OUR HANDS THE PREFERENCE FOR THE RIGHT AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE. I> Primitive Times It Is Probable That Both Hands Were Equally Used—What the Hieroglyphics ol the Egyptians Teach Us. The fact that some persons are left banded may start the question whether the human animal was always right handed, for abnormality often indicates a “trying back” to an ancestral condition. Now, when we look at our language, and that in the case of man is a fair test, we find how strongly the comparative force exhibited by each , , of the bands has left its mark on our commop expressions. The right is the "ruling” hand; the left is the “worthless” or the “weaker** hand if we regard t>> derivative meanings of the names, in words imported from the Latin a certain ability is called “dexterity,” or . right handedness, while that which has an evil or unsuccessful influence becomes “sinister” or left handed. In like manner if we look at words from a French source we find that a clever person is “adroit” because he ‘ has right handed qualities, but a clumsy person is “gauche” because his work is left handed. It is evident that when our race became so far advanced as to frarmr words for ideas and things the rule was that, the members of it were right And if we examine other lan- * guages we find proofs that such a rule • - among the people using them. There is, however, good reason for I thinking that man originally could use either hand equally well. “This seems a hazardous statement to make, about a remote ancestor in the age before the great glacial epoch had furrowed’ the mountains of Northern Europe, but nevertheless it is strictly true and strictly demonstrable. Just try as you read to draw with the forefinger and thumb of your right hand an imaginary human profile on the page on which these words are printed. Do you observe that (unless you are an artist and therefore sophisticated) you naturally and instinctively draw it with the face turned toward your left shoulder? Try now to draw it With the profile to the right and you will find It requires a far greater effort of the thumb and forefinger. ' “The hand moves of its own accord from without inward, not from within outward. Then again draw with your left thumb and forefinger another imaginary profile and you will find, for the same reason, that the face in this case looks rightward. Existing savages and our own young children whenever they draw a figure In profile, be it of man or beast, with their right hand, draw it almost always with the face or head turned to the left* in accordance with this natural instinct. Their doing s» is a test of their perfect right handedness. “But primitive man, or, at any rate, the most primitive men we know personally, .the carvers of the figures from the French bone caves, drew men and • beasts on bone or mammoth tusk turn*ed either way indiscriminately.. The inference is obvious. They must have been ambidextrous. Only ambidextrous people draw so at the present day, and, Indeed, to scrape a figure otherwise with a sharp flint on a piece of bone or tooth or mammoth tusk would, even for a practiced hand, be comparatively difficult” (Allen). Tn connection with this passage it is Interesting to examine the reports of the bureau of ethnology, where it will be seen that, although the majority off profiles executed by the North American Indians follow the rule, many faces also turn to the right, and It is found that left handedness, or, rather, ambidexterity, is very common among these, tribes. But doubtless the reader will notice that in writing his hand moves from left to right and not from right to left. Here is an apparent violation of the principle laid down in. the quotation given from Grant Allen. It te, however, more apparent than real. If ypu study Egyptian hieroglyphics you will find that profiles invariably look to the left. Hebrew, Arabic, Hindoostanee and other ancient languages reed from right to left. In these, as in some — modern tongues, we have to begin the book at what is to us the wrong end. The reason of this is that the early languages were inscribed, not written. A tablet of marble or«a brick formed the page. The right hand could therefore carve or impress the symbol In the natural way and pass on. With the introduction of wax tablets of papyrus and in later times of parchment and papbr, 1 a difficulty arose, for if’the hand began at the right and worked leftward It would obliterate its own work. Hence the habit of writing from left to right, so that not only may the writing be clean, but also that it may bevisible. With writing from left to right came also reading in the same direction, and one result of this is very curious. We have become so accustomed to moving the eyes from left to right shat we instinctively look at things in that way. Close your eyes In a room and then open them. You will find, un- . less you make a positive effort, that your eyes take in the objects on the left hand first and then move to theright This is the way in which we view a landscape or a picture. The painter follows the habit of the writer and works from left to right to avoid “smudging” his work, and it has been remarked that when several compositions enter into one picture, as In some of the ancient altar pieces, the chronological order runs from the upper left hand corner to the lower right hand ■B& -