Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 June 1891 — LITTLE BOYS AND GIRLS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

LITTLE BOYS AND GIRLS.

THIS IS THEIR DEPARTMENT OP THE PAPER. Quaint Saying* and Doings of Little One* Gathered and Printed Here for Other Little Folks to Head. A Perpetual Walker. Quite often the ingenious makers o* toys hit upon some contrivance in' tended to amuse children which possesses genuine interest for those who are interested in mechanical combinations. Such a toy has late ly been invented in France. It consists of a puppet or small human figure iu metal which holds in its

hands, as a Bort of balaucing-pole, a metal rod bent in the form of an inverted V, or rather of a hairpin with the ends somewhat opened apart. By reason of the bringing of the center of gravity below the figure by this rod or balancing-pole, the puppet is kept in an upright position on any support which is narrow enough to be spanned by the two arms of the pole. Placed on a raised l>oard or strip, set at a slight inclination, this puppet, called le marcheur infatigable, or tireless walker, will march along, putting forward first one foot and then the other, and imitating the movements of a somewhat stiff-legged walker.

There is no propelling mechanism about the toy whatever, simply a jointing of the legs to the body upon a round horizontal pivot fastened at the ends, with another rod underneath this one and passing through two square holes made in the legs, as shown in the illustration. This second rod prevents the walker from taking too long steps. The key to this toy’s pedestrian talent is a simple mechanical principle. The walker rests the weight of his body upon one of his legs while he is putting the other forward. The axis of his body does not rest upon a vertical plane, and in order to cause him to move forward on the inclined support it is necessary in starting him to give him a slight shake sideways. This shake, increased by the oscillation of the balancing pole, causes the walker to lean first to the right and then to the left.

Suppose that he is, at a given moment, inclined to the right. All the weight of the body, that is to say, both

of the figure and the balancing-pole, rests upon the right leg; whereupon the left foot, not being supported upon the board, is forced forward by the weight of the object, tending to take a vertical position. At this moment the body oscillates the other way, and the figure leans to the left, bringing the left foot to the board. The right foot, now being free, it in turn clears

the board and takes a step forward. This movement will continue as long as the board holds out at a sufficient incline, which, by the way, need be only slight. There is no reason why the walker might not travel around the world, if the right sort of path were provided for him.

A Boy’s Presence of Mind. A number of boys were skating apd sliding in Yorkshire. On a snddeu the ice gave way almost in the middle of the lake and one poor little fellow fell in. There was no house near where thev could run for help; no ropes which they could throw to their struggling companion. The boys stood on the bank with pale, sorrowful faces, afraid to try to reach their friend, in case the ice should give way and swallow them all up. But one boy suddenly remembered that although you cannot stand a board upright on thin ice without its going through, yet if you lav the same board flat oa the ice it will be quite sflfe. Not only that, but he knew he could run along the boaid without fear of cracking the ice. It only took him a moment to remember all that; the next he spoke to his friends something after this fashion: “I will lie down oil the ice near the edge; then one of you must come so my feet and push me along until you, too, cßn lie down. If you all lie down in that way, and push the boy in front of you, we shall make a line long enough to reachßeubeo.” Thus, taking the post of danger himself, the brave boy was able by his living rope to reach his friend. He pulled him out, though he was not one moment too soon, for he was so exhausted with his efforts to keep his head above water that he would very soon have stink. —London Telegraph. U r >a her. The faith of little children in their fathers and mothers is one of the most beautiful things in the world, but its manifestations sometimes provoke the involuntary smile. The New York Tribune reports that a Broadway car ran into the rear end of an express wagon with such force as to tip it clean over. A little child about five years old was on the seat with the driver. The man was pitched head first upon the sidewalk but landed upon his hands and knees, and received onlv a few slight brui-es. The child, who clung to the seat, fell underneath the wagou. Fortunately the high seat prevented the weightof the truck from

falling on her, and she was drawn from under the wagon-box uninjured. One of the bystanders, as he stooped to brush her dress, asked if she was hurt. “Oh, no,* said the little girl, “my papa wouldn’t let me get hurt.”

THE WALKING POLL.