Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 March 1891 — FOR THE LITTLE FOLKS. [ARTICLE]

FOR THE LITTLE FOLKS.

A Leslie, Mich., woman has a geranium four feet and one inch high. The Massachusetts Legislatuie has been petitioned to buy a sword of George Washington for $20,000. The petrified body of a man, which was found in a cavA near Fresno, Cal., has been sold for SIO,OOO. It is to be exhibited. A woman of Oil City, Pa., recently paid a dry goods dealer for a cloak which she said she stole ‘from him sixteen year ago. Two drops of creosote made from beech tar, given with a little warm water, is said to be a specific for hiccoughs arising from drunkenness. Mississippi has a girl’s industrial college. Columbia, Ga., has laid the corner-stone of a building to be devoted to the same purpose, and now Alabama is agitating the subject. There is a man up in Maine who is likely to cause some profanity among stenographers and mailing clerks. Mis name is Glorious Florious. George Washington Stout Peck. A floating rope has been invented. It has a core of cork, covered with cotton twine. It is very soft and pliable, as well as strong, and will be found very serviceable in case of shipwreck. The memoir of Jeff Davis, just published, contains the Confederater poclamation proclaiming Gen. Butler an outlaw and a common enemy of mankind, and ordering his execution immediately upon his apprehension. Egotism is more like an offense than a crime, though ’tis allowable to speak of yourself, provided nothing is advanced in favor; but I cannot help suspecting that those who abuse themselves are, in reality, angling for approbation. Truth is never to be expected from authors whose understandings are warped with enthusiasm, for they judge all actions and their causes bv their own perverse, principles, and a crooked line can never be the measure of a straight one. The oxide of lead found in the bread of the Chicago baker has been traced to the stencilling of the name of the miller on the bag containing the flour from which the bread was made, the color having been put on so heavily that it soaked through the cloth. It takes an old horse to have a war record. One died the other day that served through the rebellion under Col. Whittaker, of New Haven, Ind. He was 35 years old. The Grand Army posts of the neighborhood turned out and buried him with military honors. Some persons make their own epitaphs, and bespeak the reader’s good will. It were, indeed, to be wished that every man would early learn in this manner to make his own, and that he would draw it up in terms as flattering as possible, and that he would make it the employment of his whole life to deserve it. The American passenger car is in every way superior to the English, as every English railway official of any importance is ready to admit, but the English traveling public will not patronize them, and tfiey been taken off of almost all the lines. It is for the same reason that the Englishman sticks to a nine-pound ax and a fivepound hoe—because his father used them. The road to eminence and power from obscure condition ought not to be made too easy, nor a thing too much of course. If rare merit be the rarest of all rare things it ought to pass through some sort of probation. The temple of honor ought to be seated on an eminence. If it be open through virtue let it be remembered, too, that virtue is never tried but by some difficulty and some struggle. The Sultan is in constant fear of assassination. Some grand duchess, whom he received at his oourt, on his complaining that his health was indifferent, advised him to take more exercise and change of air and to drive about the country. On her departure, he is reported to have said: “What harm have I done that this woman should desire my death? Why does she advise me to run into such dangers ?” It requires great wisdom and industry to advance a considerable estate; much art, and conti ivance, and pains to raise a great and regular building; but the greatest and noblest work in the world, and an effect of the greatest prudence and care, is to rear and bnild up a man, and to form and fashion him to piety, and justice, and temperance, and. all kinds of honest and worthy actions. Charles and Augusta Thieke, an aged German couple, whose last abiding place was Jersey City, traveled the world over in search of u cure for rheumatism, with which first the wife and finally the husband suffered severely. They found no relief in Europe, Australia or America. In mutual despair they prepared two cups of poison, swallowed their respective draughts,

and their dead bodies were found in their home in Jersey City. The safe and general antidote against sorrow is employment. It is commonly observed that among soldiers and seamen, though there is much unkindness, there is little grief. They see theii friend fall without any of that lamentation which is indulged in security and idleness, because they have no leisurr to spare from the care of themselves; and whoever shall keep his thought) equally busy will find himself equally unaffected with irretrievable losses. England has a very thrifty govern ment« When a soldier dies in service $1 for funeral services is deducted fron whatever moiiey Tfiay be due him; or in case he has nothing, the officer com manding his company must pay th< expenses. When a sailor dies at sea he is charged with the cost of the can vas and the shot with which he is bur ied. A country that spends milliom in supporting royalty, and in pension ing royalty’s faraway connections, mus exercise economy somewhere. A shrewd lad dwells in Santa Rosa Cal. His father lost a colt, and th< boy asked what reward would be givei for finding him. “I will give you i dollar,” said the father. “But hov much would you give another boy?’ queried the son. “I would give an; other boy $2.50,” replied the parent It was not long before the neighbor’s lad appeared with the lost colt, anc the owner promptly paid the bo; $2.50. Then the neighbor’s lad wen around the corner, where stood th.< son of the man who owned the colt and divided with him.

A pleasant interchange of civilitie; was recently witnessed in Philadelphia A well-dressed Frenchman stopped a' the corner of Walnut and Broac streets, to wait for a street-car. Ar organ-grinder with a monkey started t< play the “Marseillaise.” The monkej tripped across to the French gentleman and held up his paw. The foreigner placed therein a coin, and tht monkey took off his little red cap Without a thought, the polite Frenchman immediately raised his own silk hat in return to the salute, and tht monkey ran to his master chattering with delight, a broad grin spreading over his little brown face. L. J. Crothf.rs has a 10,000-acrt ranch in Texas. He questions whethei electricity would not make a good fenc« —that is, taken in conjunction with i three-string barb wire barrier of tht usual kind. He fenced a thousand acre tract with one smooth wire anccharged the wire from the dynamo thai lighted his residence. Into the en closure separated from the tract con taining the main herd by this singlt wire, he drove some wild steers. The; broke for the main body. The leade: of the stampede met the wire, bel lowed, and retreated rapidly. Otheri tried the wire and did likewise. Henct Mr. Crothers thinks that one wire wil fence in the toughest quadruped ii Texas. The Duke of Bedford, who has just died, was one of the richest men ii Great Britaiu. Some years ago, he ad mitted that his income was the equiva lent of one million five hundred thou sand dollars a year. He was an excen trie man and a mean man. Ho has stood for years in the way of local im provements in London. Hit real-es tate holdings’ in that city were enor mouß, and he consistently fought ever l attempt to open the new streets de manded by the increasing traffic. Tin private thoroughfares under his contro he closed and barred at an early hou every evening. It is hardly probabh that the successor to the title and es tate will depart from the hard prac tices of his father. Lord Tavistock i a narrow-minded individual, purse proud, selfish, and egotistical.

The platypus, a small, molelik beast of Australia, lias been voted th' palm for being the most extraordinar mammal in the known world. For th last twenty years its skin has bee] highly prized as an article of com merce, yet during all of that timi scientists have been trying to settl the question whether it is born alive o hatched from an egg. Mr. Caldwel was sent out to Australia by the Brit ish Association for the express purpos. of studying the life history of this won derful creature, and was finally re warded by the discovery of the egg and nest of this contradiction of nature The body of the platypus resemble that of the mole, and is covered with i close, short, grayish brown fur. Lik the beaver, its tail is broad and flat tened. A horny extension of the jaw form a beak like that of a duck, thei margins being sheathed with horn an< supplied with transverse horny plates two in 6ach jaw, but these are not tru teeth. The toe 3 are united by a mem brane or web, so the animal is enablet to swim with great ease. It inhabit small streams and ponds, living prin cipally, if not wholly, on insects When the young are hatched they ar blind and quite naked. The metho< by which they obtain milk from th mother is still obscure, as the creatur has no nipples, only a flat surface; no is there any marsupial pouch. Th beak of the young is wholly unlike tha of an adult. It cost the British Assc ciation over SIO,OOO to ascertain th above facts. The Common Council of Cincinnati, at the suggestion of the health officer has passed an ordinance making it - misdemeanor to give public exhibi lions of mesmerism and hypnotism.

MAURICE’S ADVENTURE WITH A BURGLAR. He Induces tlie House-Breaker Not to Wake His Tired Mother—Oflei-in( the Contents of HU Savings Bank How Jack Was Keformed. One day Mr. Horn was called away to a neighboring town on business, which was to detain him all night. The house seemed lonely without him, and all were glad to go to bed early, especially Mrs. Horn, who had a severe headache. Maurice slept on a cot in a small room which adjoined hers. The town clock struck 12. It was a moonlit night and the boy’s room was flooded with the soft rays. He was not asleep, for he was having one of his seasons of pain, which were so sadly frequent now. Still he was as quiet as a mouse, fearing to waken his mother, who had at last fallen into a sound slumber. His thoughts were busy with every subject a good little boy ever thought of, and at last turned to the pleasant society. “It is very easy to be kind,” he thought, “except when my leg hurts uncommonly bad, for everybody is so good to me. I should realiy like to try beiDg nice to somebodv quite disagreeable.” Then, the pain ceasing for a while, he slept. He was awakened suddenly by the creaking of one of the boards in the floor, and opening his eyes he saw a man stepping toward his mother’s room. Maurice was not half so frightened as he thought he should be under the circumstances. If ever there was a chance to be pleasant when it was hard to be so this surely was that chance, and who could be much more disagreeable than a burglar? Quick as a flash he seized his little crutches and jumped out of bed. 1 “Mr. Burglar ?” he called, softly. The man turned. “Please, Mr. Burglar, do not wake my mamma. She has just fallen asleep. Her head aches awfully.” The man eyed the tiny figure standing there in the white nightgown. “Well, I’ll be blowed,” said he. Maurice hobbled swiftly by him and shut the door between the two rooms. “I’m cold, and my leg will be awful to-morrow if I don’t get back to bed.” Then, thinking he must be very, very pleasant indeed, he went on to the astonished man.

“I think you must be a nice man, and I am sure you only burgle because you are out of your head, or hungry, or something. Have you any little boys?” “Five,” gasped the man. “Well, there is $1.45 over in my tin bank on the mantel-piece, which I am sure you are welcome to. And now,” added Maurice, hopping into bed and making sure that his crutches did not fall upon the floor, “will you be kind enough to tuck me up ?” “ Well, I certainly will be blowed!” muttered Jack Jones again, but there was a moisture in his eye not often found in those of a burglar, as he tucked the bedclothes around Maurice as tenderly as his own mother could have done. “Thank you,” said Maurice, in a whisper. “The money is at your service—l give it to you.” “Take your money,” said the man, hoarsely. “Lord, I’d die sooner. Let me tell you—l’ll speak soft,” as Maurice held up his thin forefinger warningly; “it’s the first time I ever undertook such a job, and it’s the last. But they’re starving at home—you don’t know what it is to starve, lad—and the mill has Veen shut down for weeks, and there’s no work for an honest man.” “I knew you were out of your head, or hungry, or something,” replied Maurice. “Now, Mr.—l don’t know your real name—if you’ll come around to-morrow—without mentioning how you got acquainted with me, you know —my papa will get you some work, and you’ll never have to think of burglaiing for a living any more. He always does what 1 ask him, because he’s so sorry for me being a cripple. Nurse dropped me when a baby.” Jack drew his sleeve across his eyes. “I’ll be here,” he said; and was gone. “And he didn’t take my bank,” said Maurice, regretfully, thinking of the five little hungry boys, and hopping out of bed once more to secure the window, the fastening of which he found broken. “I’m so glad I was pleasant to him.” Then he opened the door into his mother’s room again. She was still asleep, so he crawled into bed and tucked the clothes around him as best he could. When he opened his eyes the next morning his thought was'that his adventure had been a dream, but the broken window fastening told its story. He found his father at home when he went down to breakfast. “Papa,” said he, “I got acquainted with a poor man while you were gone, and he has no work, and has five little boys, all very hungry; can’t you help him ?” “Where does he live and what is his name?” asked Mr. Horn, wonderingly. “I didn’t ask him many questions. He seemed sort of bashful,” answered Maurice, as discreetly as possible. Jack arrived about 10 o’clock, looking as unlike a housebreaker as could be. Finding that he was used to driving horses, Mr. Horn procured him a good situation as a teamster, where, from accounts, he was doing well. He and Maurice are the best of friends, and, although on all ordinary occasions there is the utmost silence maintained as to their first meeting, yet sometimes, Vhen the little lame boy is perched upon the wagon seat by his friend, he will say: “You were out of your head or hungry, I was sure, Mr. 8.,” and Jack will reply, with the same expression of wonderment: “Well, I’ll be blowed.” —Boston Globe. Children’s Talk. Father —“Have you seen with the microscope all the little animals that are in the water?” Tommy—“ Yes, papa, I saw them. Are they in the ’water we drink?” “Certainly, my child.” “Now I know what makes the

singing iij the teakettle when the water begins to boil.” Little Mabel described graphically her sensation on striking a dimplec elbow on the bed carving. “Ob, mv!” she sighed, “mamma, I’ve struck my arm just where it makes stars in my fingers.”— Baby hood. Little Hans (to his mother, who is anxiously looking for his smaller sister) —“O, don’t be worried, mamma; they will be sure to find Elsie when they clear up the rooms in the morning. ” Flieyende Blatter. First Small Bov —“Say, Johnny, don’t sling them old chicken heads over in ourfront yard.” Second Boy—“ Why not ? ’ “ ’Cause the minister is in the house, and if he should see ’em he’d stay to dinner, and there’s onlv one pie. ” The other day a little fellow entered a store and said : “I want a dog’s muzzle.” “Is it for your father?” asked the oautious shopkeeper, who saw that the boy made no offer to pay for it. “No,” said the customer, indignantly, “of course it isn’t. It’s for our dog.”