Jasper County Democrat, Volume 8, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 January 1906 — FOR THE CHILDREN [ARTICLE]

FOR THE CHILDREN

Russian Riddles. Here are some riddles which the boys and girls of Russia puzzle their heads over. The answers are given at the end, but see first how many you can solve without looking: 1. I aui blind, but show others the way; deaf and dumb, but know how to count. 2. People pray for me and long for my company, but directly I appear they hide themselves. 3. I have four legs and feathers, but am neither beast nor bird. 4. There are Your brothers under one hat. 5. Four brothers run side by side, but never catch one another. 6. What walks upside down overhead? 7. What are the two brothers that live on the opposite sides of the road, yet never see each other? 8. A pack of wolves ran by. One was shot. How many remained? Answers; 1. A milestone. 2. Ruin. 3. A feather bed. 4. Legs of a table. 5. Wheels of a cart. 6. A fly. 7. Your eyes. 8. One—the dead one. Simple Science. If you have an opera glass it is an Interesting experiment to find out the magnifying power of it. This may very easily be done without harming the glass. Hold one barrel of the glass in front of one eye and with nothing before the other eye look at some object so that the image is seen with both eyes—with one In its natural size, with the other magnified. You can then judge about how many times larger the object looks through the glass than without it, and that proves that the glass has that much higher power than normal. If you wish to be even more accurate look at a yardstick Iq the same way. If one foot, for instance, in the magnified image looks as large as two feet eight inches in the natural the glass magnifies two and two-thirds times. You can also judge by looking at any object that is divided into regular sections, as a brick wall or a paling fence. How to Trots o Mouc. Ordinary house mice can be trained to perform little tricks if caught when very young. They grow up then with no more fear of their enemies than a cat or dog. Trained mice should be a feature of every home menagerie. They can be taught to race after each other, drag miniature carriages after them and to go through various drills and evolutions. They need to be treated with the same kindness and care as

the others. Cages with revolving wheels come for performing mice, and it is always amusing to see them turn the wheel, their bright little eyes shining like beads. With the agility of monkeys they can be taught to run up sticks and poles, jump from them through small circles and to chase each other back and forth over a table or in and out of holes formed with papers and cloth wrinkled up for the purpose. Bora end Tobacco. Dr. A. L. Gibson of the United States navy gives the following testimony as to the effects of smoking tobacco upon the .students: It leads to impaired nutrition of the nerve centers. It is a fertile cause of neuralgia, vertigo and indigestion. It irritates the mouth and throat and thus destroys the purity of the voice. By excitation of the optic nerve it provokes amaurosis and other defects of vision. It causes a tremulous hand and an intermittent pulse. One of its conspicuous effects is to develop irritability of the heart. It retards the cell change on which the development of the adolescent depends. Chestnut Popping. Chestnut popping is Jolly. Each player is given three chestnuts. She names them for three of her best friends. The nuts are then placed on the red coals. The one that gives forth a flame is a true admirer, the one that pops is an unfaithful lover, while the one that burns steadily is a faithful friend.