Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 33, Number 189, 22 August 1908 — Page 6

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U3LZ Mm I N flowery, fair Cathay That kingdom far away, Where, odd 'as it seems, 't is always night when here we are having day. In flie time of th great Ching-Wang, In the city of proud Shi-Bang, f Xn do glorious golden days of old when sage and poet . There lived a nobleman who Was known as the Prince Choo-Choo. f Kit was long before the Chinaman wore his beautiful ilken queue.) A learned prince was he, As rich as a prince could be, i And his house so gay had a grand gateway, and a wonderful roof, sky-blue His garden was bright with tints Of blossoming peach and quince, ;And a million flowers whose like has not been seen before or since; And set 'mid delicate odors - Were cute little toy pagodas, . That looked exactly as if you might go in for ice-cream " sodas! A silver fountain played In a bowl of carven jade, And pink and white in a crystal pond the water-lilies swayed. But never a flower that gTew In the garden of Prince Choo-Choo ' Was half so fair as his daughter there, the Princess Loo-Lee Loo.. Each day she came and sat On her queer little bamboo mat 'XAnd I hope she carried a doll or two, but I can't be cure of that!) Sh watched the fountain toss, And she gazed the bridge across, (flUid she worked a bit of embroidery fine with a thread of silken floss. She touched her wee guitar. The gift of her prince-papa, jAnd she hummed a queer little Chinese tune with a Chinese tra-la-la! It was all that she had to do To keep her from feeling blue, Tox terribly lonely and dull sometimes was poor little Loo-Lee Loo. Her father had kites to fly Far up in the free blue sky j XFor a Chinaman loves with this elegant sport his leisure to occupy) ; And what with his drums and gongs, And his numerous loud ding-dongs, ille eould have any day. In a princely way, a regular Fourth of July. Her mother, the fair Su-See, Was as busy as she could be, (Slough she never went out, except, perhaps, to a neighboring afternoon tea; . She was young herself, as yet, ; And the minutes that she could get (She spent in studying up the rules of Elegant Etiquette. So the princess nibbled her plums, And twirled her dear little thumbs, ) And lent sometimes a wistful ear to the beating of distant drums; Until one April day Tsing Ming, as they would say tShe saw at the gate a sight that straight took Loo-Lee's breath away. Two dimples, soft and meek, , In a brown little baby cheek, yTwo dear little eyes that met her own in a ravishing -y glance oblique; A chubby hand thrust through The palings of 'bamboo A little Celestial, dropped, it seemed, straight out of the shining blue. A playmate, a friend, a toy, A live little baby boy v Conceive, if you can, in her lonely state, the Princess Loo-Lee's joy I How, as fast as her feet could toddle '(Her shoes were a Chinese model). She hurried him in, and almost turned his dear little -wondering noddle. ' "Oh, is it," she bent to say In her courteous Chinese way, " my very contemptible garden, dear, your illustrious wish to play?" And when he nodded his head She knew that he would have said, "My insignificant feet arc proud your honored estate to tread 1"

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Oh, then, but the garden rang With laughter and joy ting, tang! There was never a happier spot that day in the realm of the great Ching-Wang! And oh, but it waned too soon, , That golden afternoon, When the princess played with her Ray of the Sun, her darling Beam of the Moon! For when the shadows crept Where the folded lilies slept, HK TOKTOISX Out into the garden all at once the prince her father stepped, With a dignified air benign. And a smile on his features fine. And a perfectly gorgeous gown of silk embroidered with flower and vine. A fan in his princely hand, (Instead of a gentleman's walking-stick it was carried, you understand). In splendor of girdle and shoe, In a glitter of gold and of blue, With the fair Su-See at his side came he, the lordly Prince Choo-Choo, The princess bent her brow In a truly Celestial bow. Saluted her father with filial grace, and made him the giand kotow ;

AMD THE GIFTS THAT WEM BROUGHT FOR LITTLE FIMG-WZX WOULD FILL MS A CHAPTEK OR TWO

THE RICHMOND PALLADIUM AND SUN-TELEGRAM,!

XFor every child that 's b'riftn Knows well the rule that 's right, That to knock your head on the ground nine times is the way to be polite.) "And pray, what have we here?" In language kind though queer The prince observed. "It looks to me like a little boy, my dearl" "Why, that 's what it is !' in glee The princess cried. "Fing-Wce Most Perfectly Peerless Prince-Papa, a dear littli brother for me!" Loud laughed the Prince Choo-Choo, And I fancy he said "Pooh-pooh!" (That sounds very much like a Chinese word, and expresses his feelings, too!) And the fair Su-See leaned low. "My Bud of the Rose, you know If little Fing-Wee our son should be, your honors to him must go!" But the princess's eyes were wet, For her dear little heart was set On having her way till she quite forgot her daughterly etiquette. TEST, "Oh, what do I care!" she said. "If he only may stay," she plead, "I will give , him the half of my bowl of rice and all of my fish and bread!" "Dear, dear!" said the Prince Choo-Choo, "Now here is a how-do-you-do! Is there nothing, O Jasmine-Flower, instead? A parasol pink or blue? A beautiful big balloon?" But she wept to the same old tune, "I 'd rather have little Fing-Wee, papa, than anything under the moon!' Then the prince he called for lights. And he called for the Book of Rites, And all of the classical literature that he loved to read o' nights ; And he read till the dawn of day In his very remarkable way, IVssi end to beginning, from bottom to top, as only a Chinaman may.

limn, ;

CAROLYN WELLS.

There was a youthful genius once, a boy of thirteen years, Named Cyrus Franklin Edison Lavoisier De Squeers. To study he was not inclined, for fun he had a bent; But there was just one article he wanted to invent. "It 's a sort of a contraption which will work itself," he said; "And, without studying, will put my lessons in my head." He thought and puzzled o'er his plan, he worked with might and main To utilize the wondrous scheme within his fertile brain : Until at last the thing was done, and to his friends said he : "It is the Wonder of the Age! Success I can forsee! My great invention is complete, and 't is no idle vaunt I 'm sure that my Instructiphone will fill a long-felt want. "The action is quite simple I will try to make it clear: This funnel-shaped receiver I apply to my right ear Then in this hopper I will put "whate'er I wish to learn, A page of history or of Greek, and then this crank I '11 turn. "The topic goes into this tube, a sort of phonograph Which acts directly on my mind it does, you need n't "My father adopted a son, His father the same had done; Some thousands of years ago, it appears the custom was thus begun." He stopped for a pinch of nuff ; His Iojjic was sound, though tough; You may rightfully follow what plan you please, if it 's only antique enough! "A son," he thoughtfully said, "To serve me with rice and bread; To burn the paper above my grave and honor my aged head ! Oh, try me the tortoise sign With a tortoise of ancient line: If he turns his toes straight in as he goes, the boy is certainly mine!" Oho! but the garden rang On that wonderful night ting, tang! When a banquet meet was served the elite of the city of proud Shi-Bang ! And all who passed that way Might read in letters gay As long as your arm, "The Prince Choo-Choo adopts a son to-day 1"

laugh t I do not have to think at alt for as I pull this chain. My wonderful machine transmits the knowledge to mf brain." j The plan was good, the works were fine, and yet there! was a flaw; When Cyrus turned the crank around, the neighbor! watched with awe. He confidently pulled the chain with motion quick and deft ; knowledge entered his right ear it came out at hi left! i i He tried again, a page of Greek; he tried a theme occult, - A message and an errand, every time the same result!' Then Cyrus knew that somehow his machine had missed i;s aim ; j For though the works ran smoothly, It was always just: the same: No matter what the book might be, or what It was about, , ! It would go in at one ear, at the other 't would come) out! So, in his laboratory, baffled Cyrus, sitting lone. Strives to correct the sad defect in his Instructiphon. , But it is my opinion, there 's no fault in the machine : ' The trouble is that Cyrus is like other boys I ve seen.

There was knocking of heads galore; There were trumpets and drums a score; The gay pavilions were lit with millions of lamps front' ceiling to floor. And oh, but the chop-sticks flew In the palace of Prince Choo-Choo, And the gifts that were brought for the little Fng-We; would fill me a chapter or two. But with never a single toy. The princess cried for joy, , Nor cared she a jot that they all forgot it was she wbd had found the boy! Her dear little heart it sang Like a bird in her breast ting, tang! There was never a happier child that night in the realm j of the great Ching-Wang I And her mother, the fair Su-See, She looked at the little Fing-Wee There were mothers in China some thousands of yeirf I before you were born, trust me! She looked at the children two. And down in the dusk and the dew. With a tender mist in her eyes she kissed the Princess Loo-Lee Loo I