Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 October 1893 — FOR THE YOUNG FOLKS. [ARTICLE]

FOR THE YOUNG FOLKS.

pussy’s mishap. Pussy wanted his breakfast, Meow, meow, meow, And determined to get it, But how, how, how? For the cook had fastened the pantry door, And there was not a thing on the kitchen, floor. He looked on the table So, so, so, And discovered a milk pan, Ho, ho, ho! But it’s setting so very far back ’gainst the wall, That in order to reach it he surely must fall. There’s but one way to get it, Try, try, try, Don’t be a coward, Fie, fie, fie, So he climbed with a will from the chair to the table, And to reach that nice pan full of milk, he was able. He knew it was wicked, To steal, steal, steal, But so hungry and tired did he Feel, feel, feel, He fell into the pan with a hiss and aspat, And there the cook found him a sad looking cat —[Doll’s Diessmaker. THE SHIP OF THE DESERT. A camel has twice the carrying power of an ox. With an ordinary load of 400 pounds he can travel twelve or fourteen days without water, going forty miles a day. They are fit to work at five years old, but their strength begins to decline at twenty-five, although they usually live to forty. They are often fattened at thirty for the butcher, the flesh tasting like beef. The Tartars have herds of these animals, often 1,000 belonging to one family. They were numerous in antiquity, for the patriarch Job had. 3,000. The Timbuctoo or Meharri breed, is remarkable for speed, and used only for couriers, going 800 miles in eight days, with a meal of dates or grain at nightfall. Napoleon conveyed 1,500 infantry on camels across the desert from Cairo to St. Jean d’Arc.—[New York Telegrdtn.

WHY TEDDY didn’t GO. “I’m going to run away,” said Teddy to Dick. “I’m going to run over to my Aunt Nelly’s house.” Teddy was a little boy. He wore a kilted skirt, and he couldn’t speak all his words quite plainly, but he knew better than to run away, because hewhispered to Dick so mamma couldn’t hear. Dick was a great black Newfoundland dog. He was a year younger than Teddy, but he was enough bigger tomake up for that. He looked up at Teddy as if he understood, and followed around to the back gate. “Don't go far, dear,” called mamma after them. Surely Dick understood that. He stopped waving his plumv tail. “No—o, marm.” said Teddy. But he put his hands on the gate. Do you suppose he meant to go just the same? “Mamma said not to go far,” he whispered to Dick. “It isn’t far to Aunt Nelly’s. It isn’t more than a mile, Dick and she’ll make us some taffy.” Then Teddy pushed the gate open. And what do you suppose DicK did? Why, he laid himself down in the gateway, and when Teddy tried to step over him he growled dreadfully and showed all his white teeth. Teddy tried coaxing, but Dickwouldn’t be coaxed. Then he got a maple switch, but Dick wouldn’t be driven. Then Teddy tried to climb over the pickets; but Dick caught hold of his kilted skirt with his teeth, and held him back. So, at last, Teddy made up his mind that he didn’t really want to go to Aunt Nelly’s house. But he couldn’t help telling mamma all about it. It was so funny. Mamma smiled, and patted Dick’s great, black head. “Then it was my dog who minded, and not my little boy,” she said. “But I am going to all the rest of the time,” said Teddy, earnestly.

A ROYAL DINNER. It is not served in the grand hall, with troops of soft-footed, deft-handed waiters to attend upon the guests. But the names of the dishes are as long, and as difficult to pronounce, as if printed in Russian; and the viands taste as good as if cooked by the most famous chef who ever served a king. In fact, it is a king’s dinner to which we invite you to sit down, though his majesty’s royal robe is very scant at both ends, and his crown is a tall silk hat, that has once been worn by a United States Senator from the far West. But such small matters are of no account just now; we are hungry for our dinners! But first it must be cooked, and the cook is no other than our host, the Tahitian King of power and dignity. His first move is to dig a shallow hole in the ground. This he fills with hard and very dry wood, cut or broken into small pieces. Over this he places two dozen or so of round stones about the size of tennis balls. Then he lights the wood and makes a bright fire. While it i’s burning he has taken small pieces of beef, fowls, ripe and unripe bananas and the tops of a wild plant, which somewhat resemble asparagus, and made them up into many separate little packages wrapped in banana leaves. In about ten minutes the wood has burned out, the stones are hot, and the little packages are all ready to be laid between two layers of the hot stones, which are then quickly covered with fresh earth so tightly that no steam can escape. For about, fifteen minutes more we sit around the little mound thus made, in silent’ and attentive gravity. It would not be good manners to pay attention to anything else while the important process of cooking is going on. Our royal cook knows just how long to wait. Then he gravely removes the earth and stones, so carefully that the cooked food is not injured. Each little package is placed upon a fresh banana leaf, and then with knives, fingers and and bits of cocoanut shell, the dainty morsels are divided and eaten with the accompaniments of calabashes full of cocoanut milk, and cold water from a beautiful running stream. No better dinner was ever set before a king, or given by a king.—[American Agriculturist. The fiber of banana stalks is proposed as a substitute for jute in the manufacture of wrapping paper. The commercial possibilities of such an industry are being seriously considered in Nicaragua in view of the partial failure of the East Indian jute crop.