Rensselaer Journal, Volume 12, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 June 1902 — FOR THE LITTLE ONES. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FOR THE LITTLE ONES.

Johnny's Composition on the Beaver and Other Things. The beaver is an animal with sharp teeth and a tail like a large omelet. It inhabits watery places and is very fond of its young, of which it usually has several. The beaver is very industrious and acquires great skill in the use of its tail, with which it plasters its dwellings. The way a beaver operates is as follows: It selects a large tree growing on the banks of a brook or some similar stream and then gnaws the tree till it falls across the stream, thus forming a dam. It is not wrong to say dam when you are speaking of beavers. We should never indulge in profane swearing if we can avoid it. We should ever remember the lessons we learned at the knee of our dear parents when we were little, but a beaver dam is far different. When my grandfather was a boy, he went to school where there was nothing but prairie, and the boys whispered because the teacher could not find any switches and had a boil on his hand. One day the teacher took a dried beaver’s tail out of his desk and spanked the whole school with it, and it didn’t leave a mark on the beaver’s tail, but there never was any more whispering. My grandfather is blind in one eye, but his memory is good. The beaver is becoming very scarce, and you have to go to the Field museum to see one now.—Johnny in Chicago Record. _ A Young Hero. When the water was high over its banks in Brush creek, near Deshler, 0., July 5, nearly all the boys in town went to the creek to take a swim. One of the boys, James Spangler, was pulled under by the current. Frank Michael, a boy of thirteen, made a dive after him from a bridge, bringing the drowning boy to the surface. Then a

struggle for life began. Spangler, being about twice as heavy as Michael, dragged his rescuer under the water. In some way the latter got away from the drowning boy’s grasp and caught hold of an iron rod that was a part of the bridge’s support. Bv this he managed to keep himseli and Spangler from going down again until men came to their assistance. It is reported that young Michael also saved the life of another boy in June.

FRANK MICHAEL.