Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 56, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 December 1908 — FOR THE CHILDREN [ARTICLE]

FOR THE CHILDREN

A Clever Performance. Would you like to do sleight of hand? Most children like to fool their friends, so you are not the exception. Here Is * good trick and easy to do: All you need are a little soft wax and a dime. ■When your audience la not looking, stick a small piece of white wax on the nail of your middle finger and you are ready to tape the music. “Ladles and gentlemen,” yon begin, “I have a sliver coin, a dime, which X will place In the palm of my hand. At the word of command from me it will vanish. You will observe me carefully and note that the coin does not go up my sleeve. I will even turn up my cuffs to convince yon." Then you close your hand in such a manner that the waxed nail touches the dime and the dime will stick to It. Next you quickly open your hand and show that the palm la quite empty. “Now I will command again, and lo, M —this yon say as you bring the coin back in the palm—“the dime has returned.” Be sure to’scrape off all the wax before you pass the coin around the audience. Gusssing My Thought. A good guessing game is called “guessing my thought.” The leader thinks of an object in view, and then each player in turn has a chance to tell what he thought the leader thought. When they have all given their guesses the first player tells his thought,” and then each in turn must, show how his thought was like it. Another way of playing the game la to glje each player a slip of paper and a pencil, telling him to write the name of some object on the slip and fold down the writing. Then put the slips into a hat and mix them, after which each player should take a slip from the hat and write the name of some object different from what he first wrote below the fold. Again the slips should be folded down and put into the hat and mixed, each player taking one slip out. He must then write a few lines of doggerel, connecting in some way the two objects named on the slip he holds, and when all are ready they ars read aloud. It will be strange indeed If this does not raise many a laugh. Friends and Foes. Said a kiss to a smile: “Why, how do you do? I’m sure I should like to live always with you.” Said the smile to the kiss, “I’m sure I shall be Delighted to have you live always with me.” So they live and they love, and neither offends. They’re always together and always are friends. t Said a frown to a word: “Now. don’t look so sour. Let’s see if we cannot be friends for an hour.” Said the word to the frown. “I’m willing to try. Although I’m afraid of the look in your eye.” In less than a minute a quarrel arose. They fought, and they parted, and now they are foes. —Youth’s Companion. . • • Something About Peafowls. India is the real home of the peafowl. There the fowls are hunted, and their .flesh Is used for food. As they live In the same region as the tiger, hunting them Is dangerous sport. The long tall of the peafowl is really not its tall, but feathers that grow out Just above It and are called tail coverts. This bird has been known for ages. It Is mentioned several times In the Bible, The ancient Romans considered the brains of the peafowl a dainty tidbit and used to kill thousands of the birds to get the brains for their emperors’ feasts. Tha Salic Law. Tbp laws of the Salic or Salian Franks, committed to writing in the fifth century, are known lu history as the Salic law. One of the provisions of this law relates to the succession to the Salic lands, which —as restricted to male heirs, the object being no doubt to secure the military service of the chief proprietors. The rule of succession to the lands was afterward extended to the French throne, this principle becoming firmly established during the fourteenth century, so that womep and girls were rigidly excluded. Riddles and Answers. Which is the most peculiar animal in the farm yard? A pig, because It is killed before it is cured. Why is an elephant very different from any other animal? Because If you cut his head off from his body you don’t take It from the trunk. Why are poor jokes like monkeys? Because they are farfetched and full of Donsense. What Is the difference between an auction and seasickness? One is a sale of effects, the other the effect of a sail. Tha Liss of a Traa. How long will a tree live? Have yon ever thought of that? An eminent French botanist said recently that, barring accidents and the ravages of Insects, a tree will live on in definitely. Gray, also eminent authority, says that a tree Is virtually immortal. It annually renews Its youth, new layers being regularly formed at Its circumference. While this new formation goes on it matters not that the old central part of the tre© decayij. Riddla and Anawar. Come, read me this riddla without any bother: Five legs on one aide and three on tha other; Two ayes In tha forehead and four on th© back; One tongue that la silent and two that can clack. • <A man and woman on tha back of a horee.) A