Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 September 1891 — Page 4

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

All eommnnkwttnni lor thi» paper should to sooomyr.iad fcjr the «o«s of the Mibor; n*t necssssrilj for publication, but as an evidence of good faith on the part of the writer. Write only on one aide of the paper. Be particularly careful, ta> giving names and dates, to have the letters and figures plain and distinct

Tennyson at 82 is in good health, prosperous and content. The people Of all lands salute the poet and wish he may live many more happy years. You girls who are pretty, and only 16 and 17 years old, remember that a time is coming when you will not be so attractive and popular. There are many things you may do now to help you when you are plainer and older; don’t neglect them. A Chicago woman is heading an association which declares that two garments only are essential to woman’s dress, but the dressmaker will probably go on with her business just the same. Dress reform, somehow, doesn’t seem to reform. If women would learn how to make better tea and coffee, there would be less occasion for them to fight the liquor question. And while they are turning their eyes to domestic reform, bad bread has sent as many men to the penitentiary as gambling. A successful Boston publisher was formerly a druggist. In the present state of the publishing trade it must be an inestimable advantage to know exactly what disinfectant will best destroy the noxious qualities of the latest translation from the French.

A volcano in active operation has been discovered in Washington. This refers to the State of Washington. The volcano in the city of that name will not begin to erupt until December, but when it does get under way It will greatly outdo its Western rival. The observant Boston Herald has found that a person’s character may be read by his elbow. But bless you, that is not half the story. You can even tell a man’s politics by his elbow —that is to say, if he’s out at trie elbow you know very well that his party is not in. He who has respect for the opinions of others is the safest member of society. When a man becomes indifferent to what others think of him, he is in a fair way to lose all self-re spect, and that lost, he is an unsafe man. It becomes every man to strive to meritthe good opinion of society. We are pretty well supplied with Jacks in this country. There are Jack the Ripper and Jack the Peeper fcnd Jack the Kisser, not to mention various and sundry jackasses with more or less leg formation. Now all we need is a Jack the Wood SaWyer to equip us for the coming cold season.

The situation in Europe is really growing serious. The price of schnapps in the German markets went up 8 marks per hectoliter. The German autocracy must beware how It interferes with the necessities of the people. If schnapps goes up much higher something is likely to schnapp.

It’s all very well to promenade the deck of the Atlantic racer and bet she’ll scale dowjpt to the Majestic’s time, but the boys that saw the wood and get no fame out of it are the stokers. It is not always the major general that wins the battle; it’s the grimy, stalwart unknowns that serve the guns.

General Butler not only did not die on his yacht, as was reported, but was not even on board that vessel. Benjamin has not been filling a large place in the public eye lately, but everybody would regret his demise. He is too picturesque a citizen and of too unique individuality to be willingly spared.

The versatile exchange editor has started a paragraph on the rounds to the effect that the last descendent of the Maid of Orleans died recently in Prance. The exchange editor reads history, but he reads it paragraphically and does not worry over an occasional Hibernicism. Besides, the exchange editor, like other mortals, is entitled to some amusement.

A furious drunken Chicago brute chased his wife up-stairs, brandishing a hatchet, hut she escaped him by jumping out of the second-story window. In court he stated that he was a victim of his wife’s violent temper, and his fine was suspended on condition that he would behave himself. The quality of mercy appears to have been badly strained in this case. Never invite a friend to dinner unless you intend to have something very good to eat. He may tell you not to go to any troble in cooking for him, but he does not mean it. People seldom mean the polite things they say. The dinner is what he is coming for. It will be a disappointment to him unless you give him something better than he can get at home. _ The committee of investigation of the Psychical Society has found a young woman in Boston who by means of psychic force can lift a chair with a person in it from the floor to a table without touching it That is one pretty good

test, but after all there is not as much practical ability in lifting chairs around as there might be in lifting—well for example, a Boston mortgage. '' Some of the most successful dramas recently presented on the American stage deal with the days when the wild throb of the war-drum thrilled the hearts of a whole people and the smoke of three million muskets obscured the light of the sun. In mimic warfare the Blue and the Gray strut the stage and, forgetful of past dissensions and mindful only of a common glory, the North and the South alike applaud. Dr. Ireland, in his “Life and Times of Andrew Jackson,” says that the ancestors of General Jackson on both sides were Scotch-Irish and that they had all been for generations Protestant in religion. He further tells us that both the General’s parents were Presbyterians; that his wife was a Presbyterian, and he was always a Presbyterian on general principles himself. About 1840 he joined the church and died in that faith. The Crown Prince of Italy threatens, to smash the royal conventionalities into smithereens by marrying a pretty little English girl whom he loves. This makes an American sovereign feel like patting him on the back, and it may make the Italian sovereign feel like doing the same sort of thing, only with more vehemence; and if the Crown Prince will refer to his map of Italy he will see that it is shaped significantly like a big boot.

An American who saw the German Emperor at the theater in London says he looks much more like a man than his uncle, the Prince of Wales, does. Well, he is much more like a king. Indeed, he is a good deal more king, but if this profoundly impressed American will not tell us what a king —a typical king—really looks like we shall know whether he has in mind the fierce, theatrical chap In the purple togs on the stage or the very meek and humble-looking king of clubs.

Everything seems to point to the fact that France and Russia have practically agreed upon a defensive and offensive alliance. But what an incongruous combination it is. France stands for the most advanced modern governmental ideas of any European nation. It is the very antithesis of Russia, which groans under the weight of a semi-barbaric, autocratic rule that is an eyesore to modern civilization. That alasting combination can be continued between the two seems hardly probable.

An Augusta citizen suggests in the Lewiston Journal that it would be a good scheme “to set up a lumber mill at Chicago as part of our Maine exhibit at the Columbian Exposition. If we could set out a boom on the lake and have a lot of river drivers' houses and men working the boom and chute, it would be a great thing. Maine is a lumber and pulp-mill State, and we ought to advertise.” The first little storm that came along would paralyze the whole Maine exhibit. Lake Michigan is no millpond.

It is related in the New York Truth that while the young German Kaiser was watching a sham battle between some Russian cavalry, he asked the Czar for permission to take charge of one side. It was granted, and the Kaiser proposed to show the Russians what a real soldier, who was not a shop-keeper or a tailor, could do. While he was following Rule 33 in his book on tactics, the Russians surrounded his army and he was captured. It is said he went to his tent and would tfot come out for the rest of the day.

Prof. Felix Adler’s proposition to appoint a board of judges with power to decide at what stage a physician might with propriety kill off a suffering patient opens up great realms of possibilities and of argument. Of course there are lots of people—and not all of them invalids by any manner of means—who would be better off dead. But at the same time it is an open question as to the right of any physician to administer a convenient and comforting potion looking to their removal. If a man’s sufferings are unbearable one might be excused in leaving a couple of morphine pills around loose, but it’s rather against nature that an outside party should administer them. It is a pity that grown people cannot be sent to school, like children, and sharply reprimanded. Grown people there are who pursue a foolish course in a community for years, and there is no one to point out theii folly. Could they be sent to school, the teacher would point out theii mistakes, and punish them if there was no immediate improvement. People are quick to notice the mistakes of others, but they say nothing to the face of those they would criticise. If a child is petulant, or greedy, oi whiny, or rough, or noisy, there are two or three members of the family to point it out. Grown people would be better off if their follies could be discussed in the same open and candid manner.

FOR OUR LITTLE FOLKS.

A COLUMN OF PARTICULAR INTEREST TO THEM. What Children Hm Done, What They Ara Doing, and What Thajr Should Do to Paaa Their Childhood Day*. Highway and By-way. Said Bouncing Bet to Black-eyed Sue; “Oh. leave your stupid meadow, do, And Just for once try my way; Pull up your roots, dear, every one, And plant yourself as I have done, Along the busy highway. “You see life here! and more than that, You’re seen yourself. It must be flat, Beyond all ccn'emplatlon. To grow unnoticed hour by hour—. One might as well be a flower— As win no admiration!” But Black-eyed Susan answered back That she'd never felt the lack And all her tastes were suited With birds and butterflies and bees, And such other simplicities, She’d stay where she was rooted. Now, listen, children, while I tell The fate that bouncing Bet befell, By highways dry and dusty; While meadow blossoms still were bright, Her pinky bloom bad faded white, Her leaves were brown and rusty. And people passed her where she grew, And went to look for Black-eyed Sue, As might have been expected; Her yellow blossoms In a vase Won everybody’s smiling praise— And poor Bet drooped neglected. —Mary Bradley In St. Nicholas.

The Homesick Boomerang. Of all toys, says E. H. House, writing in Harper’s Young People, the boomerang Is, perhaps, the easiest to contrive. City boys, however, can hardly find a convenient space for throwing the full-sized article. No one who discharges a boomerang for the first time has the faintest notion as to where it will land. If let loose in a thoroughfare it may navigate

POSITION IN THROWING PAPER BOOMERANG.

around a corner and take off the hat of an unsuspecting promenader. It may shoot into a carriage window. It may soar away over the houses. Worst of all—certainly most mortifying—it may come straight back upon the thrower, perhaps follow him with a persistence which seems almost to indicate a deliberate Intention, chase him about, no matter how nimbly he may try to escape, and finally may double him up with a thump in the stomach. But in the open suburban fields or in the broad country you may cast the crooked stick as often as you please. For trials within doors the most convenient substance is common carboard. Old visiting or playing sards will serve as well as anything. It may be as thin as you like, if your boomerang is small; but for larger sizes more solidity is required. Cut out pieces shaped like any of the models given, and you have your fantastic Australian weapon for use. You need not be very exact as to the form, nor is it requisite to trim the

edges; but you must see that the card is not bent and will lie flat on the table. For a beginning, No. lor No. 2 kind is the best. A boomerang with a sharp corner does its work more easily than one in which the curve is gradual or the angle obtuse, as in No. 8 and No. 4. The way to make it skim is to lay it upon a book, with one end projecting over the side. Hold the book up to a level with your eyes, and give the outlying edge of the card a smart rap with a small stick or a lead pen- , cil, taking care not to strike the flat i top, but only the side of the boomerang near the end. You can guide the stick or pencil by sliding it along the rim of the book as you strike. The missile will shoot forward five or six feet, and will then rise a little, turn in its course, and sail back to a place near that from which it was sent spinning. But the best way to become a good boomerang thrower is td practice throwing it, and skill will soon come.

Pastimes for City Boys. Another and more singular game has as its foundation an ash-barrel. Across the top of this is placed a board two or three inches in width which projects about the same distance over the rim of the barrel. On* one of these projecting ends a ball is balanced; the batsman then takes his bat and with all his strength -strikes the other end of the board. The ball flies up and away in a before-known direction, and the batsman, should it not be caught, attempts to run to a base and return before the ball can be fielded “home.” Interesting as we shall find this base-ball in its endless variations, and fascinating as are these miniature and expert players, we must not spend all our time With them. Look above you at the telegraph wires. Sooner or later they become the natural end of every kite flown in the street; and the tattered fragments with which the wires are adorned

bear witness that kite-flying Is a popular.pastime, even if disastrous to the kites. In this sport you may fairly claim superiority. Comparatively few of these boys know how to fly a kite; they never seem to be able to manage the tail. Kites -here can only be successfully flown from house tops and we will not leave our street for a visit to so dangerous a resort. Marbles we shall see, of every kind, “miggles” and “alleys,” “taws” and “agates.” Generally the games, are played in a ring, drawn with chalk, on the sidewalk, for holes are not made pr found here so easily as they are in your playground.—[Frank M. Chapman, in St. Nicholas.

Man’s Work and Tornadoes.

One class of superficial theorists would no doubt be very confident in expressing the opinion that the grow* ing use of iron for constructive purposes is conducive to the greater safety and longer endurance of the fabrications of man for which it is used. But that, it would seem, is not an unchallenged fact, however plausible the theory may at first blush seem to be. The New York Commercial Bulletin , a paper which devotes great attention to fire insurance topics, says: “Some scientists ascribe the frequency of cyclones to the network oi rails for railroads, barbed wire fences, telegraph and telephone wires; the theory being that cyclones took place, no doubt, years ago as frequently as they do now; but at present, because of the metal network on the surface of the earth, the disturbances are brought down by attraction, and wreck houses instead of spending their strength in the air and doing no harm to human beings or insurance companies, which latter are undergoing the hard experience of carrying tornado business at low rates.” When the Bulletin says “cyclones,” it no doubt has reference to tornadoes. But that is a small matter. A large matter is the question of the truth or falsity of the interesting hypothesis which the Bulletin adduces. If the multifarious employment oi iron upon the surface of the earth is really the cause of destructive tornadoes, it is a bad thing. But let us stop and think. Where was the iron before man mined it, and smelted it, and made use of it? Why, in ftie bowels of the earth. Exactly; and did it not then possess conductive and attractive power? If when the iron was below the surface, destructive electric storms, tornadoes, etc., spent their force high in the atmosphere, ought not the raising of the iron to correspondingly raise the sphere of meteorological disturbances influenced by its attractive power? Ought not the tornadoes to expend themselves still higher in the air than before?

Another thing: Is it not the irresistible impulse of overcharged electric clouds to seek the earth? Is not moist earth, indeed, so good a conductor of electricity that the current leaves iron conductors and lightning rods to enter it? There is evidence in the coal measures to show that tornadoes mowed down the trees of the primeval forests in the days before man had made his appearance upon earth. Man’s self-consciousness and conotlt need not lead him to take upon his shoulders the responsibility for their occurrence or their frequency. With due respect to the scientists who lean to the opinion which the Bulletin reproduces, it must be declared that their assumption reminds one of the story of the son of Abraham, who had transgressed the Mosaic law which forbids the use of the flesh of the pig as food, and who, when a deafening peal of thunder occurred at the moment of his coming out of the synagogue, exclaimed, “Vot a bik fuss aboud such a little piece of pork!”

Chicago Is a “Rival” of New York.

The London Daily News refers to this city as the “rival” of Chicago! It might as well refer to any secondclass English city as the rival of London, or any second-class French city as the rival of Paris. New York stands peerless among the cities of the United States.—New York Sun. Better make the last sentence read “has stood” instead of “stands.” London numbers 4,230,000 inhabitants. The next largest city in Great Britain Is Glasgow, with 800,000 —London being more than five times as large as it. Glasgow is therefore second-class and no rival of the capital. At the census of fourteen months ago New York and Chicago were returned as follows: New York. 1,537,000 Chicago 1,100,00 c Since then Chicago has added about 150,000 and New Yorkless than 50,000, making their present population, Aug. 1, 1891: New York 1,377,(XX Chicago .2,350,10: Majority now, only 3-17,00 C In 1880 the comparative figures were: New York... 1,906,295 Chicago 503,15: Majority eleven yean ago 708.114 Eleven years ago the “peerless” New York had nearly 2$ inhabitants to 1 of Chicago. To-day it has not 4to Chicago’s 3. Will not Mr. Dana admit on reflection that Chicago is becoming a “rival” pretty fast? She will have 1,500,000 of population before the Fair opens, and 2,000,000 before the century closes. New York must annex Brooklyn before 1900 or yield the first place to her Western peer. And don’t you forget it, Dr. Dana.—Chicago Tribune.

Our House of Cords.

Primus—What’s the political news? Anything important been passed in the Senate recently? Secundus—Yes, only yesterday. “What was it?” “The lie.”—Kate Field’s Washington

Always Placid.

The receiving clerks behind the Jesks at the telegraph offices are cool, placid fellows. They take your message of life and death with perfect Indifference, mechanically count the words, and look a bit bored as they reply: “It will be sixty-five cents, please.” I had my eye on a certain chap for several weeks, says a correspondent of the Free Press, before I humbled his pride. He insulted me. He insulted me by softly whispering to himself as he counted the words in the following message: “Grandmother died last night very suddenly. How many of you can attend funeral?” When I handed in that message I expected him to exhibit a little emotion. While he could not have been personally acquainted with my grandmother, he must have suspected that she was a nice old lady, and that her sudden death had greatly overcome me. Why didn’t he look, up with a bit of sympathy in his eye and say: “Too bad! I know just how you feel, and I’m sorry for you.” But no. He whistled and counted, made a scratch or two with his pen, and remarked: “Three words over—seventy cents.” And as he made change, he told one of the boys behind the counter that he be if he wasn’t going to the dog fight that night. Then he picked up my dead grandmother dispatch and banged it on a hook, shoved me over some change, and turned away to resume the perusal of a sporting paper. The next week I went in with a dispatch announcing that my grandmother’s will had been opened and that I came in for $25,000. That map must have seen by my face that I was highly elated. Hang him, he never had the fifth of that sum, and his salary had just been cut down $lO per mpnth, but when he had read the dispatch he calmly announced: “Forty cents, and you forgot to date it.” And then he began talking to one of his fellow clerks about a slugging match, and how he won $3 by betting on the right man. I don’t say he ought to have swung his hat and cheered over my good fortune, but why couldn’t he have extended his hand and said: “Eh, old boy? In luck, ain’t you? Well, I’m glad on it. Send around the cigars and we’ll smoke to your good health.” I made up my mind when I went out that I would upset that man’s equanimity or lose a leg. I’d tumble him off that pedestal of placidity if it cost a thousand dollars. I’d upset, unbalance, and unhinge him or die trying. I gave him two weeks to repent. It isn’t right to rush a telegraph man out of the world on a day’s notice. I went back one evening, and I felt a bit sorry for him as he glanced up and then let his eyes return to his Police Gazette., I <knew that his wife and child were in Ohio on a visit, and I stepped to the desk and wrote: Detroit, June «, 1885. J. H. Smith, Columbus, O.: Please telegraph us full particulars of the accident by which Mrs. George Taylor and daughter of this city were Instantly killed this afternoon. 8. P. I felt a bit sorry as I handed it in, not knowing but the man might faint dead away as he read the terrible news. Still, I had vowed revenge, and I would not forego it. He received the dispatch, whistled softly as was his wont, clattered the point of his pen along the words as he counted, and then he drawled out: “A dollar and twenty cents, and where shall I send the answer?” • “Did you read that dispatch?” I asked, after looking at him for half a minute. “Yes.” “Do you know the parties?” “Yes, sir.” “Isn’t your iiame George Taylor?” “Yes, sir.” “Aren’t the parties your wife and daughter?” • “No, sir. They returned home this morning. Here’s your change!”

Only One Chose to Be Farmer.

It is interesting to - note the choice of pursuits made by the 136 students who were graduated during the recent commencement from the four colleges of Maine. One has chosen farming for an occupation; two each have chosen chemistry aqd the United States civil service, five journalism, seven mercantile pursuits, twelve engineering, thirteen the ministry, eighteen medicine, nineteen the law, thirty-three teaching, while twenty-four are undecided. The large proportion of these graduates to choose teaching and the small proportion to choose business are significant feature of the shewing. In the large universities the drift is very different. The fact that thirteen out of 136 choose the ministry proves that the “set” against the ministry is not so strong in the small as in the large colleges. At Yale, for expamle, this commencement only eleven out of a class of 187 chose the ministry. The pulpit is largely recruited these days from the small colleges.—New York Post.

Progress and Poverty.

Mr. Bilgate (entertaining a Western friend at his suburban home) —I haven’t much elegance to offer you, but this modest little home is the result of years of self-sacrifice, and it is very dear to me. His Guest—Oh, this is delightful! By the way, who owns that elegant mansion across the way? Bilgate—Oh, that belongs to one of my traveling men.—Clothier and Furnisher. The wise husband never advises his wife to give the dry-goods stores the “go by,” for fear that she does not spell as he does.

GOOD FORM IN ENGLAND.

Numerous Ways In Which British Customs Differ from American Ones. To adequately indicate the divergences between the ways of English society and our own would require a volume, says the New York Ledger, but some striking examples may be given in a few paragraphs. To.begin with the names applied to servants. In England there is no such thing as a “dining-room girl.” She is called, a “parlor-maid.” What we term an “up-stairs girl” is a “housemaid." There are no “chambermaids” or “waiters” in an English private house. They are found only in hotels and restaurants; TtTspeak of a coachman as a “driver” would be very “bad form.“ Coachmen, butlers, housekeepers, and ladies’ maids are called by their surnames only, never by their Christian names. Americans who ape English usages almost always blunder in the use of crests. In England only men put crests on their paper, silver, clothing, carriages, etc. For a lady, and especially a young lady, to put a crest on anything would be considered bad form. To speak to a man of his wife as “your wife” would not be tolerated; you must say “Mrs. So-and-so.” The use of “sir” in conversation between equals would be thought very bad form. The railway terms in England differ markedly from ours. The “track” is a “line”; a “depot” is a “station” a “ticket-office” is a “bookingoffice"; a “conductor” is a “guard”; the “engineer” is the “driver”; the “car” is a “carriage"; “baggage” is “luggage," and a “baggage-car” is a “van." In English theaters, what we call “orchestra seats" are “stalls," and the “parquet” is termed the “pit." English newspapers you do not “subscribe for,“ but “take in.” An “editorial” is always” a “leader.” It is not good form for a young lady to go to school. She must be educated at home. We may also note that the abbreviation used for “bachelor of arts” and “master of arts" are “B. A.” and “M. A.,” whereas in this country they are “A. B." and “A. M.” What we call “public schools” are termed “national schools” in England. An English “publio school” corresponds to such American institutions as the Phillips Academies at Exeter and Andover. At Oxford and Cambridge the term “graduate” is not used as a verb to express the taking of a university degree. Glancing at games, we may remark that in England billiards is always played on a pocket table. You do not, however, say that you “pocket” a ball; you “hole” it. A “carrom” is a “cannon;” a “scratch” is a “fldke;” a “run” is a “break;” and a “shot” is a “stroke.” Croquet, which once was popular, is no longer regarded as good form. In England shooting is never called “gunning” or “hunting.” The latter term is applied exclusively to fox hunting. A horse good at jumping is called a good “fence.” All Jumps except ditches and “water” (brooks) are called “fences.” On the other hand, what we call “fences” are termed “timber.” All “races" in England are running races. There are no trotting races. All English races are run, not upon a dirt track, but upon grass; hence the expression, the “turf.”

A word about the etiquette of calls and cards. In England it would be the worst possible form for a gentleman to call on an unmarried lady and ask the servant if she is at home. He must always ask for the mother only. A gentleman is never asked to “call again soon,” but he is told: ‘T hope we shall see a good deal of you. “ In England cards are left only when the person called on is out. They are never sent in before the caller if the person called on is at home. For husband and wife to have both names on one card, as “Mr. and Mrs. Jones,” is very bad form. So it is for unmarried ladies to have separate visiting cards of their own. Their names should be engraved tinder the name of their mother or of some other married female relation. In England one’s address should always be on one’s card, in smaller letters, in the right-lower corner. We might enumerate a thousand other peculiarities, but we have cited enough to show that an American citizen could not easily acquire what in England is called “good form” without an expenditure of time that could be put to better purpose.

A Kind-Hearted Hunter.

I trust that I may not be considered hard-hearted in recounting such shots in detail and their results; I do so in the scientific interest of rifle practice, to produce examples of the actual, practical effects of certain weapons used against particular animals, writes Sir Samuel Baker in Wild Beasts and Their Ways. Had I been as I was in my younger days, without a life’s experience, I could have shot thirty or forty of these splendid aqimals with ease; but from the moi ment of this example I determined to kill no more, but only to admire. In accordance with this determination I took great pains upon many occasions to obtain a shot, and after long stalks, having obtained a magnificent position, I raised my rifle, took a most deadly aim, and touched the trigger, having carefully kept the rifle upon half-cock. Away went the buffalo, to live for another day, instead of being slaughtered uselessly to, rot upon the plains or to be devoured by wolves or buried in the soil by bears. This sort of stalking afforded me much pleasure, but it did not suit my American attendant. “Well, if you came all the way from the old country to shoot, and won’t shoot when you’ve got the chance, you’d have done better to stop at home.” This was the consolation I received for my self-denial when sparing buffaloes.