Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 August 1895 — FOR THE YOUNG FOLKS. [ARTICLE]

FOR THE YOUNG FOLKS.

‘SXYING GRACE.” ‘‘Gome, come, mamma, to the window!" Cried Freddie, with eager face; “Just look at my little biddies— They are drinking and saying grace” I quickly came at his bidding, And saw a pretty sight; Six downy little chickens Drinking with all their might. And as they sipped the water They craned their necks on high, As if their thanks were lifted To the beautiful blue sky. A.nd so I could not wonder, So rapt was his eager face, That to him the little chickens Were “drinking and saying grace.” STORY OF A STORK. A story of a stork is told by a German paper About the end of March, 1891, a pair of storks took up their abode on the roof of the schoolhouse in the village of Poppenhofen. One of the birds appeared to be exhausted by its long journey and the bad weather it had passed through. On the morning after its arrival the bird was found by the schoolmaster lying on the ground before the schoolhouse door. The man, who, like all Germans, considered' it a piece of good luck to have the storks next on his house, picked up the bird and took it indoors. He nursed it carefully, and when it was convalescent used every morning to carry it to the fields a short distance from the house, where its mate appeared regularly at the same hour to supply it with food. The stork is now cured; and every evening it flies from the roof and gravely walks by the side of Its friend from the sohoolhouse to the meadows, accompanied v by a wondering crowd of children.

THE RAINBOW. When the summer shower is passing away, and while the thunder is still rolling among the hills, we have often seen the rainbow. Every one admires the beautiful arch which spans the sky. It is caused by the striking of the sun’s rays upon the drops of water as they fall from the clouds. The rays are twice refracted and once reflected as they meet the transparent drops. If you look in the dictionary you will find that refracted means bent suddenly, and reflected means thrown back. The colors of the rainbow are seven in number, and appear in the following order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. The tints are most vivid when the background of clouds is darkest and the drops of rain fall closest. The continual falling of the rain while the sun shines produces a new rainbow every moment; and a curious thing is that each spectator sees it from a particular point of view; strictly speaking no two persons see precisely the same rainbow. WONDERFUL LITTLE FISH. The nine and the three spined sticklebacks are, without doubt, the most wonderful fish for their size that are common to our waters. They will live well in either fresh or salt water aquaria, building nests and raising their young under all discouragements. The male builds the nest for the female to lay her eggs in. The nest is composed of plants cemented together with a glue provided by the male, who also carries sand and small stones to the nest in his mouth, with which he anchors it. During the breeding season the male assumes the most brilliant hues of blue, orange and green; previous to this season he is of a dull silvery color. When an enemy approaches the nest, be he large or small, he will attack him, inflicting wounds with his sharp spine . Nor will he allow the mother of the young s icklebacks to come near, as she is so fond of her babies that she often forgets herself and eats them up. When the young “tittlebacks,” as they are often called, swim too far from the nest, the male takes them in his mouth and brings them back, throwing them out with such force that they make many somersaults before landing. Sticklebacks are the smallest known fish when first hatched out of the: egg, being nearly invisible.

. TWO LESSONS. Harold wa'S skipping and running all around grandpa’s big field picking daisies. At least he called them daisies. These big yellow daisies with their large brown eyes. In some places the grass was so tall that auntie could see only his bright red jockey-cap bobbing and bouncing beside the waving grasses. He gathered a large bunch, then over the stone wall he jumped, ran to the piazza, and sat down on the settee hot and breathless. “Aren’t those pretty daisies, auntie?” he exclaimed, as he placed th'e bunch in her lap. Auntie looked up from her sewing. “Yes, very pretty, Harold,” she replied. “But do you know, dear, they are not daisies at all!” Harold looked surprised. “Aren't they, auntie?” he asked. “Aren’t they oxeye daisies?” “No, dear,” auntie answered. "These are the real oxeye daisies 1” and she took a beautiful white field daisy from the bouquet at her belt. “Oh!” said Harold. “Jennie told me yesterday that these were oxeye daisies, because their eyes looked like grandpa’s oxen. ‘Brown and soft!’ she said. What are these, auntie?” “These are Rudbeckia!” auntie continued. “But many people call them daisies just as Jennie did.” “That’s a very hard name!” said Harold. “Not so hard to remember after all!” laughed auntie. “Think of Becky Lane and then think that she is rude, and —” "O auntie, she is rude, very rude!” interrupted Harold, “ 'cause she pushed me right off of the gate yesterday morning! That's very 'propriate, isn’t it, auntie?” 1 . “I’m sorry to say it is,” answered auntie. “But look, what have you here?” Harold saw two blades of grass with what seemed like a drop of soapsuds between them.

“What Is it, auntie?” he asked. ‘‘lt’s a cradle. A home, for what do you think? A bit of a baby grasshopper!” “An’ they are all over the field, an' I stepped on a heap of them!” said Harold, solemnly. “May I see this baby one, auntie?” He jumped up and took the grass in his hand. “Pull the grasses apart and —” “Oh, I can see him!” shouted Harold. “He’s got the littlest specks of hoppers, hasn’t he!” and he laughed gleefully as baby grasshopper lay motionless on his green bed. “Yes,” answered auntie, laughing too, “but you mustn’t pull any more cradles to pieces for it kills the babies and then there won’t be any grasshoppers for kitty to chase.” “No; I won’t,” answered Harold, “truly and truly, auntie!” “You’ve learned two lessons this morning, dear,” said auntie, “and what do you think they are? A botany lesson and natural history lesson.” “An’ the rude Becky was a botany one, an’ the baby grasshopper was a natural history, wasn’t it?” Harold said. “I like those lessons an' we’ll have some more to-morrow, won’t we?” lfe added. “Yes, indeed!” answered auntie as she picked up her sewing again.