Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 June 1895 — FOR THE YOUNG FOLKS. [ARTICLE]

FOR THE YOUNG FOLKS.

THE WATBRKAI.L. How does the water come down, do you think. In Its rapid descent, when it reaches the brink Of tL«, precipice, fearful, rugged, and steep? It comes on a run, with a jump and a leap; It comes with a sputter, a swash, and a splash; It comes with a roar, a rumble, and dash; It comes in a way, which, after all, Is best described by the word, “Waterfall.” AN OCEAN POSTOFFICE. There are postoffices in the United States where the postmaster receives less than a dollar a year salary, but the smallest, simplest and best protected postoffice in the world is in the Straits of Magellan,and has been there for many years. It consists of a small keg or cask and is chained to the rocks of the extreme cape In the straits opposite Terra del Fuego. Each passing ship sends a boat to take letters out and put others in. The postoffice is self-acting and unprovided with a postmaster, and is therefore under the protection of all the navies of the world. CAT AND DOG. A Brooklyn man is the owner of a large, black Newfoundland dog and a little white cat. When the dog was only two weeks old he gave it to the cat to adopt, she having at that time an interesting family of six kittens. She made room for him at once. Of course he grew very rapidly and in a short time was bigger than his foster mother, but he evidently appreciated the care bostowed upon him, and was never rough or unruly toward his little companions. The old cat continued to watch over him tenderly, and it was very funny to seo her bristle up and fly at any dog that dared to approach her charge. Now that he is a year old, the big dog watches over the cat, and woe betide the dog that dares to snarl at her.

AN ODD HAPPENING. Once something very odd lndoed happened to a Topeka (Kan.) dog. He was a terrier, and a mighty rat hunter. One day as he was in his master’s store a mouse jumped down from a shelf and darted along the floor. Ipstaptly the tyrlor wus og Ids track. Mousle dodged In and out, and finally leaped Into a great earthen butter jar that had just noon emptied. There he was safe as in a stone tower; the dog could not get at him; but the mouse did not feel so sure of that; he couldn’t be comfortable with those fiery eyes glaring at him from above. He raced around and around his refuge, and tried to climb its walls, but, beside being steep, they were slippery with butter and could not bo souled. Suddenly one of the men looking on tipped down the jar and he darted—where to you think? down the dog’s throat 1 The terrier stood waiting, openmouthed, greody, and the moment the jar was tipped that buttered mouse went down his throat without either of them knowing it! The dog was confounded. VVhero hail that mouse gone? No game had evor before oscaped him so strangely. He hunted and hunted, and finally wont home with his tail drooping, perplexed and baffled. For days afterward his master laughed to catch him furtively searching about in that corner of the store for tho mouse he had swallowed I

THE RATTMSU'S FOE. The' rattlesnake is justly the most feared of the reptiles of North America. £ut ho has un antagonist in the king snake worthy of his steel. The king snake is a harmless snnke so far as man is concerned. Its bite Is not poisonous. Jiut it is the rattlesnake’s most deadly enemy. The following story illustrates this fact. A boy in Mississippi recently started out one morning to cut a small hickory for an ax bundle. Seizing his hatchet, he climbed tho hill, and all went well until just as the hickory was falling, when the lad, who had been keeping a sharp lookout, as he thought, saw a huge rattler almost at his feet. The strokes of the hatchet had prevented his hearing the warning rattle of the serpent, and it was preparing to strike. With a cry of terror he sprang wildly down the slope, stumbled and fell. Then there was a crash from above, and he was pinned to the earth, with the tree resting across his back in such a manner that he could not readily extricate himself. The noise made had been sufficient to arouse tho ire of all the snakes within hearing, and the lad saw them coming from all directions, hissing and rattling. At the same time the snako close by was evidently preparing to strike him full in the face. With a rattle of increased anger its head Hew back, but just as it darted forward a long, slim, brown spotted body shot across Hoover’s face, and in a trice was wrapped around the yellow throat, safely behind the deadly fangs. The rattler had met his master, the king snake. A short, sharp struggle ensued, and then the king snake leisurely uncoiled and crawled away, leaving its huge adversary dead. As for the remaining rattlesnakes they had glided swiftly into their holes, and tho boy soon released himself from his perilous position.