Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 June 1908 — FOR THE CHILDREN [ARTICLE]

FOR THE CHILDREN

' Queer Mrs. Kangaroo. Mrs. Kangaroo bus a pocket in which she carries her young ones. It is the coziest kind of a place for a little kangaroo, and sometimes you will find a whole family of brothers and sisters in the pouch at once. However, this is not the only way Mrs. Kangaroo has of carrying her children. When hunters pursue her she puts all her babies into her pocket and runs for dear life, but if she feels that the enemy is gaining on her and that she is in danger of being captured she seizes one little one after another with her forepaws and hurls it out of the pocket to one side of her pathway as far as she can throw it She takes care to do this only at times when the enemy is not in sight. In this way she is relieved of the weight of the youngsters, and she can run faster.

At the same time, says the Chicago News, her motive is qot a selfish one. She throws her babies out in so skillful a manner that it does not hurt them. They are soft little creatures, aud when they laud In a brush heap they are none the worse for it. The hunter loses ail scent of the little kangaroos by this movement.

Character Guesting. Ail the players sit around iu a circle. The player who first thinks of an Interesting character iu one of Grimm’s fairy tales or in “Alice In Wonderland” or any other book that is quite familiar to all the players sits on the floor within the circle and begius to describe the character. The other children listen carefully, and the first oue who thinks he has guessed the character sits on the floor beside tbe other aud continues to describe the ehnracter. If he has guessed rightly and is correct in his description, the first player allows him to go on describing, but if he is mistaken the first player shoos him out of the game. As a child thinks he has guessed the character he sits on the floor and tells what he knows of the character, and so it goes on till all the children are sitting on the floor except those who have guessed wrong, and they are all driven out of the game.

Menagerie—A Jolly Hoax. Secure a box four or five feet long and one or two feet across, at both ends. Put a sliding partition in the center and place it, covered with a dark cloth, on a table in a room adjoining the one where the company is assembled. Admit a boy and girl to this room, which is the menagerie. Tbe keeper asks them what animal they wish to see first They are then j placed at the opposite ends of the box ' and told to look within; then the partition Is suddenly drawn out, and they gase at one another. They remain in the room till all have been admitted sad hoaxed in the same .way. 1.. ' •

Crror In Grammar. There has been a good deal of discussion now and then as to the phrase “grammatical error,” but the best scholars hold that it is not good English. The adjective “grammatical” is active and not passive, or perhaps it might be better to say that It is subjective and not objective, and it means in accordance with the rules or principles of grammar. There cannot, therefore, be a grammatical error, for an error cannot be grammatical. The right expression is “an error in grammar.”— Chicago News. A Mighty Key. One of the oldest and most curious samples of the locksmith's art is attached to the door of Temple church, Fleet street, London. The key weighs seven pounds, is eighteen inches long, and, unlike other keys, it was not made for the lock. On the contrary, the lock was made for it. A Memory Test. A memory test which will trip up many consists in writing down the names of the books of the Bible in tbeir proper order. It is surprising how few persons will be able to name all the Scriptural divisions and in anything approaching regular sequence. A Few Riddles. When is a sailor not a sailor? When he is aboard. Wbat most resembles half a cheese? The other half. What sort of fruit is always placed in a letter? A date. What part of London is in France? The letter “n.” A Riddle. A child asked her father how old he Was, and the father replied. “I am just six times as old as you are, but iu twenty-four years you win be one-balf as old as I.” What were tbeir ages? Answer.—Six and thirty-six. A Shoe Song. Twenty little beds in rows of ten. Twenty little roily poly men. Little black men go to bed by day. I must put then in and make them stay. Naughty little black man, Go to bed. I say! Naughty little black man. Go to bed. I say! Deary me! There, you see. Now he’e run away! On the floor, by the door. See him try to hide. All the other black men Sleeping side by side. Twenty little beds in rows of tea. Only nineteen roily poly men. Tve a little bed to spare today. Naughty little man to run away! Naughty little black man Left an empty space. Never mind. He will And Some one takes his place. Nurse has got quite a lot Like the ones I lose— Little roily black men. Buttons on my shoes.