Jasper County Democrat, Volume 13, Number 53, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 October 1910 — FOR THE CHILDREN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FOR THE CHILDREN

Capping Verses. In the gaine of “capping verses” one person writes a line of poetry and, folding down the paper to conceal the writing, passes it to her neighbor, at the same time giving the last word of her line. Number 3 writes a fresh line, which is rhymed by the next player, and so on until all have made a contribution. If preferred each writer may start a fresh sheet and pass it on as before described, which, keeping all busy at once, makes the game more lively. Still another way to play the game is for some one to quote a line of poetry, when the person next must promptly repeat another line beginning with the letter which concluded the last word of the previous line. It is continued from one to another until some one fails to respond, when he must drop from the game, which Is continued until some one alone has outdone all competitors. For such impromptu quotations it would be too much to insist upon the meter being alike, which removes the chief difficulty. For example: Come, gentle spring;’ ethereal mildness, ; -come. ■ ' .' ■. , England, with all thy faults I love thee Still. Love not,' love not, ye hapless sons of ' earth. He jests at scars who never felt a wound. Drink to me with thine eyes. etc.

Concentrate. Do you know how to concentrate? The habit of concentration is a fine one. - Here are a few hints: Concentrate on your work. Concentrate on your life’s aim. Concentrate upon making the most of your time. Concentrate upon being a good American citizen. Concentrate upon the improvement of your surroundings. Concentrate your brain upon something worth while. Concentrate your trust upon worthy friends. “ Concentrate your mind upon good books. Concentrate upon achieving a good character. Concentrate your attention to good health; Concentrate thought on spiritual matters. Concentrate upon the value of a good name. '• The Game of Cutting. A game of “cutting” always finds favor with boys and girls. Provide each person with an old magazine, a pair of scissors, a small cup of homemade paste and a brush, made by folding a piece of paper many times and then finely slashing one end. Besides these things give to each player several sheets of plain paper a little larger than a magazine page. Each person is to cut out any pictures or parts of pictures he chooses and mount them on the plain paper to make new pictures. After half an hour all of the pictures should be placed where they may be seen. Simple prizes should be given to those making the prettiest, the most comical or the most original sheets. Concerning Inks. The first ink used by the ancients was probably some sort of soot or lampblack rendered fluid with gum water. An ink of this sort is more or less flowing than the ink you use in school and not so well adapted to rapid writing. But it has the great advantage of being a solid body of one color and not changeable. This advantage appears In manuscripts dug up at Herculaneum, which, although burned to a perfect charcoal and buried for nearly eighteen centuries, are still legible. The ink remains as if embossed upon the surface and appears blacker than the burnt paper.

The Lead Pencil. Few people are awaie of the difficulties that were surmounted in the manufacture of the common lead pencil. In the first place, the graphite of which it is made is rarely found sufficiently homogeneous to allow pencil lead to be cut from it, so it is always ground to powder and then pressed into blocks. The great difficulty was to press the blocks until the graphite was hard enough to use, and for many years every effort in this direction was defeated by the crumbly nature of the material. Finally a device was employed that exhausted the air, after which the blocks were again pressed, and when* this was done the material was found to be as hard as when taken from the quarry. But thousands upon thousands of dollars were spent in experiments before the result was reached. ■ •. The Cook. , The fun in this simple game depends greatly on the majority of the players not knowing and being puzzled to find the catch. The leader begins, addressing the first player: “I have a cook who does not like peas (p’s). What shall I give her for dinner?” The person addressed. if acquainted with the catch, avoids the letter “p” in his answer, saying, for example, “I will give her an onion.” The question is then repeated to the second player, who is very likely to offer pie, pork, pepper or something which contains the letter “p.” His offense is not explained to him. He is siniply told that his contribution is not wanted, and he looks on while the others play. When a sufficient number have dropped out the secret is told. . V * • ■ '

Washington baseball critics have been ! showering all kinds of praise on Clyde Milan, the star outfielder of the Senators, this season. Last year they were hammering him for his poor playing. Great things were expected of Clyde early last season, but as the campaign i progressed he fell by the wayside, and last fall there was talk of the club parting with his services. But since the start of the 1910 campaign Milan has been playing grand ball. In fact, his all round playing has been the feature of many of the Senators’ games. Manager Jimmy McAleer thinks that Milan is one of the most promising ball tossers in the country today. In another year he will make other crack outfielders sit up and take notice, says the Washington pilot. Professional Running Boom Abroad. Professional running is receiving a great boom in England at the present time, and many of the best American runners have been appearing there during the last few months. The •English never before have shown such enthusiasm, and they are putting up the largest purses for sprint races ever given in the history of the game. The last big race was run before a crowd of 8,000 people and for a purse of SI,OOO. Holliday, the Yankee “pro,” ran against Danielson of England and was defeated twice by the Briton. The race was 130 yards, Danielson’s time being 13% seconds. Both men had previously defeated Postle, the Australian flier, and it was expected ■ they would make better time than they did. Boxing Gloves Replace Foils. The substitution of the boxing glove for the foils and pistol as the French dueling weapon of the future is said today to be the intention of War Minister Brun. Brun’s idea Is to establish a boxing school in the military academy at Haumur and to insist hereafter that when one of the military students wants his honor avenged he shall get into the ring and go about it a la Johnson. In the new order of things the combatant who smears his opponent’s nose all over his face, blackens his “lamp,” gives him a cauliflower ear or a mouthful of loose teeth will be declared the winner.

Football Rules Complicated, Camp. Walter Camp, head advisory coach of the Yale Football association and a member of the intercollegiate rules committee, says the new rules look somewhat complicated. The real test will come in the solving of the rules by the players and the officials, in his opinion. He believes the rules will work toward a lessening of certain injuries produced by the heavy mass plays of former years. Get of Spearmint Sell Well. The first gets of Spearmint, winner of the 1906 English Derby, were seen at the recent Newmarket stock sales, when $21,000 was paid for a brown yearling by St. Frusquin. A filly by Spearmint out of a mare named The Message brought $7,500. A number of horses from Clarence H. Mackay’s stock farm near Lexington, Ky., were disposed of. , Big Price* Offered For Trotter*. Trotting horses appis:ently are as valuable as ever. This was shown the other day when William Bradley offered $75,090 for The Harvester, the champion trotting stallion of the year Bradley is reported also to have offered $50,000 for Colorado E. But the owners of both trotters thought their horses more valuable even than the big ■n ms offered California Tanni* to Invad* East. Announcement has been made that the Pacific , coast will send'a big team to the all comers' tennis tourney next year. An invasion of twenty or more coast player* is planned.