Democratic watchman. (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1855-1940, November 26, 1909, Image 2

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    SE
A
Bellefonte, Pa., November 26, 1909.
THE LION-HEARTED KID.
Have you heard of the kid with a lion's heart,
How he stood on the roof one day
And difiasntly railed ata grim gray wolf,
Who was passing by chance that way?
The incident happened in Esop's time,
And the old man wrote it down,
Eo that young and old ever afterwards
Might read this tail of renown.
The kid fairly pelted the old gray wolf,
With epithets fierce and strong:
Called him renegade, murderer, thiel and
knave,
Then vauntingly cried “Begone!™
“You are wise,” said the wolf, “that you choose
your time,
Aud a place that is high and dry.
Fare you well, valiant kid we will meet again,
Wten you fall from your eminence high.”
A. Fable Retold.
THE PONY PARADE.
It was pot a circus that was encamped
upon the driveway of Fairview, Elsie Ches-
ton’s home, although from the number of
asimals present a stranger might bave
thought it a very promising show indeed.
There were a couple of sturdy Hangarian
Joes, a span of Shetlands, a goat-carriage,
r dogs, and an Angora cat that eat on
the roof of Elsie’s striped play-tens and | w
kept a watohfol eye upon the non-resident
dogs. Bat the performers in a circus are
not usnally a group of little girls, and any
one who lived in the neighborbood wouid
bave explained that it was only Elsie
Cheston and some of her friends, who were
baving a pleasant chat together.
rounds of Fairview were a favorite mees-
-place for young and old, for there was
always plenty of room for everybody and
everybody's animale.
The girls were listening to Eleie, who
stood in the doorway of her tent and was
talking with some excitement.
*“The fete is to be here,’’ she said, ‘‘avd
our procession is to form in the big open
place in front of the stables and to come
down in front of the house, where the
judges are to sis, and then go down thie | had
way aod up sbhas,”’—her finger followed
the curves of the broad driveway,—'‘and
past the house again, and then she judges
will decide who base the prettiest turnous,
and give the prizes.”
““Are we all to be in it?'’ asked one lit-
tle girl.
“‘Every one who bas a pony or a goat or
any animal that can draw shinge, or that
she can ride,”’ answered Elsie. ‘‘And be-
cause it is for the Orphanage, the ers
thought it would be nice just to have chil-
dren in the parade, though of course there
will be lots of grown-up people in the
booths to sell candy, ice-cream aud fanoy
things. Mother said they could bave the
fete here because—hecause the drive is con-
venient for a procession,’ she finished has-
ily, afraid of seaming to brag about the
size of the grounds.
“‘Are we joss to walk our ponies in the
procession or are there going $0 be races
aod buordles and things?’ asked Priscilla
Parr, who, in spite of her prim name, was
known as the most daring rider of the
group.
*‘Just a procession, I think," said Elsie,
‘“for the ponies and carts are going to be
decora with flowers and we're all to
wear pretty dresses and hats.”’
“Priscilla, who was sitting on ber pony,
her finger on a certain spot on his
ok, and the animal gave a rapid listle
““That’s what Jerry thinks of flowers and
ty dresses avd hats,’’ said Priscilla.
‘“‘He’d rather run races and jump over
things. He bates being driven in the
oars !"’
“‘Has it got to be .just ponies ?'’ asked
, who owned the goat-oarriage.
“Ob, no! I'm sure goats are welcome,’
laughed Elsie.
“‘If goats are welcome I gness donkeys
are. I'll borrow the haby’s donkey-oart,”’
said Barbara, whose little sister took her
airing in that vehicle. “What will you
drive, May?”
May Olivant, who was sitting on the
grass pulling her dog's cars, shook her
head with a comical [little emile. “I'll
bave to look on,’ she said. *‘I’'ve nothing
to drive but Galliver and the phaeton.”’
They ail laughed ; no one could have
helped it who thought of Galliver in a pro-
cession of ponies. He was a tall, elderly
animal, with a brownish black coas that
no amount of grooming conld make glossy,
and a set of ribs that no amount of fat
could quite conceal. . His legs were long,
and be had a long, sober face. He was a
sedate, reliable horee, which was the rea-
son the Olivants owned him for the doctor
bad ordered Mrs. Olivant tv spend most of
the day in the open air, and she ueuall
spent it jogging about she village wi
Gulliver, who loomed up like a mountain
in front of the old Phasien, bat whe was
perfectly competent to a other vebioles,
whether Mrs. Olivant co' ld see to guide
him or not,
The girls, including May herself, were in
the habit of making fun of Gulliver, so it
was no wonder that they laughed as the
re of this giant towering above the
liputian ponies. Rat May. in spite of
her amusement, was sore at hears, for it
was father bard to be lefts out of her
talking
May joined in with a warm heart in place
of a sore one, and full of an affectionate,
though speechless, gratitade to ber friends,
especially to Elsie, who constantly asked
for ba opinion and talked about ‘“‘our”
arnont.
When the sun dropped bebind the hills, | Jf
the informal meeting broke up. The
off in one direction and the
olastered off
on the seat and
the swin owners, while Priscilla and
heside on Jerry,
who did not kick very when he
The big | bh
‘Every one was interested in the garden
Ome why Sa or
the y in
of is that was to he given *'By she children
anpouncement
Each child felt that the pony in the poster
was bis or her pooy (for the boys were to
take part also, ) and most of the listle girls
showed more interest in the grooming and
decoration of their than in their own
preity cossames, If yellow rosettes were
becoming to a black pony, yellow he must
children, anticipation was joined to a hap- | kept
feeling that were hel those
a EY helps not
fallen in such pleasant laces: and this feel-
fi
: £3
i
5
§
5
g
F
i
£
i
;
g
l
b
EH
2
F
;
g
g
i
:
:
g
Be
3
times, too, to judge from the noise
plas, nd, and she was glad that ber fan
ould go a little way toward helping
theirs,
The garden fete was to he held on Satar-
day, and on Friday, at reoess, Elsie Ches-
ton, who had been only just in sime for
sohool and who bad looked very sober all
the morning, gathered the girls around
er
“I've got something awfal to tell youn.”
she said, flinging her arm acrosa May's
shoulders. ‘‘Did any of yon hear the fire
belle last night? Well, it was Dolan’s
wagon shop ; it burned down with every.
thing in it, and my cart was there being
painted I’
do?" “I'm terribly sorry, Elsie I” May
said nothing ; she felt as if something cold
touched ber
‘‘Bat you have your two-wheeled oars,”
eaid Ruth hopefully.
Elsie’s arm tightened across May’s shoul-
ders. “Yes, I know, but—it only bolda
two, and there’s Maud and—"’
“Bas three of us have often squeered
in,” interrupted Barbara.
'*There’s Dorothy.” :
There was a moment's silence, and then
May spoke up bravely. “I I'l! have
to he contents with Gulliver, after ail,’’ she
said, trying to langh, although she had to
wink so keep the tears from her eyes.
Then everyhody talked at once, and each
girl bad a different scheme for rearranging
their plans in order to include May ; bus
when all was said, is was evident thas she
could not fis iv anywhere without making
the cart look overcrowded, besides spoiling
the color-scheme of the decorations. Her
pink ribhons and pink embroidered bat
were all ready and could not be
without more trouble and expense t
she was willing to bave her mother noder.
take, for she Olivants were not at all rich.
Nor would she accept Maud Cheston’s gen.
erous offer, conveyed through Elsie, to
yield her place to May.
“It’s awfully good of her, and I'll never
forget it,’’ said May with a listle choke in
her voice ; ‘hus she's your gueet, Elsie,
and of course she must drive with you.
I'll just have to look on, that’s all.”
“I wish somebody wonld wash Gulliver
in something that would make bim
shrink,’’ said Priscilla as the bell rang,
4a May tried to smile as they filed into
Miss Roduey, the English teacher, bad
overheard the whole conversation. She
bersell was to belp at one of the booths
and was as mooh interested in the fete as
any one, and she was not yet too old to re-
member how very disappointed a disap-
pointed little girl can be. She gave May
as many chances as she fairly could to re-
trieve the confused blunders in her recita-
pretended not to hear when
the listle girl, unable to disentangle her
Sisughis five her feelings, made the ae.
tonishing statement that Evangeline was
a young Indian warrior.
“I'm not in it after all. I
her broken exoclamations,
There wasa ring at the bell, and the
that Miss Rodney would like to
ise RA i
ne, , a little out
of hreath. y
“I called and called you, May, but I
Souids’e make you hear so Sharsied atu
you. Iam ever so sorry your
pointment, but I believe I know a i
which you can take part in the parade,
r mother
May wiped her eyes and Miss Rodn
continued : “In the first place, can Galli.
ver be ridden ? Salely, [ mean.”
“Why, yes, Miss Rodney,” answered
May: “I’ve ridden him lote of times,around
the yard and in the field. Priscilla and I
yed cirous with him all one afternoon.”
ou eee
would youn to being funny
ving people smile at you? I don’s
you know.” :
erence,
““Why,—no; I don’s think I would mind
that. I don’t think I would mind anything
if I could only be in the procession with
the other girls.”
‘‘Well, then, this is my plan, avd I hope
the result will be rather pretty as well as
amunsing; but it must be an absolute secres.
£3
tas | A little later
HH
2%
fit
Dg on
ery one was saying to every one else,
“Jost wait until you see the children’s
pony parade !”’
enly a bugle sounded, and around
the corner of she house rode a boy dressed
in the bine uniform of she Military Acad-
emy. He halted in front of the steps—the
bave, and if his little mistress ed to |} stand—and blew she assembly call
be a brunette, t00,—why, 80 much the bet- | sitting very stiff and bs, although
ter. With some of the more thoughtful | stealthy taps of the heel a tight rein
is horse prancing in av effective
manner. Every one burried to the edge of
the driveway or to the verands railing, and
bugler, after a final blast and a round
all to himself, cantesed off so-
the stables to inform tbe parade that
everybody was waiting.
Then the procession filed into view. First
y on
up at the side with a green
short sticks attached to the
cord proclaimed them the
the parade. Then came the
2f
drew their win owners—who looked equal.
ly well-matobed in their flofly white
dresses—in a low carriage that was a mass
of white flowers. Barbara's village cart,
overflowing with obildren, came next, roll-
ing on flowery yellow wheels with its bask-
et body out-lined in yeilow, and drawn hy
the placid donkey who seemed entirely un-
oonscions of his shining rosettes, Then
Harry Cheston, in was-paint aud feathers,
came sidling by ov a restless piebald pony,
followed by a rough bay Shetland decorated
in green and drawing a tiny jaunting-car
in which sat the dearest listle green-ciad
Paddy and Biddy ever seen. A small red-
shirted miner shounldering a pick and wag-
gling a long white beard jerked along on a
lissle burro, followed by Priecilla and a lis-
tle friend, driving the kicking pony, who
snorted and danced under bis red decora-
tions in a way that cansed one of the mar-
shals, Haivg pi + the line, to e . Privcitia
suspiciously. ty’s goats, r horns
twined with for-get-me-nots to match the
oart, alternately trotted and walked to keep
their proper distance behind a cow-boy
desperado who carelessly swung the loop
of his lariat to and fro and wished he could
ventare to take Priscilla’s ‘‘dare’’ to lasso
ber pony. There were other gay vehioles,
snd Elsie Cheston, driving her Hungarian
tandem, with cart and barness cov with
piok and white roses, was the last of the
ocession but ove, and that one was—
alliver.
Galliver, tall, lanky,and sedate, a bunoh
of flowers under each waggling ear, his
solemn face emerging from a huge wreath
of red and yellow roses thas jingled wish
hidden bells whenever be moved ; and on
his back, perched sidewise on a bell-trim-
med saddle-blanket, was the gayest little
Folly imaginable! Bells from the tip of
joe paslied on her curly dark bair to
her led shoes, bells dangling from red
and black ribbons over her yellow dress ;
clusters of flowers dosting the halter rein in
one hand and on the jingling wand in the
other, aud a dancing light in her dark
LT Rp
youtbfu sy, e t
ed and oy aotil it was a wonder that
some of she ponies did nos take fright and
The prosesion ud up and down th
wound up own the
shady driveway, looking more picturesque
than ever against the distant background
of green, and alter passing in final review
before the judges is broke ranks, and the
children were free to receive the congratu-
lations of their friends.
Of all the mothers and friends who bad
so successfully Pasved the decorations,
none were more delighted than Mrs. Oli-
vant and Miss Rodney; the former that her
little girl bad not been disappointed alter
all, and the latter at the triumphant suoo-
cess of her plan.
“It is just what was needed to give the
parade a finishing touch,’ said Mrs. Ches-
ton, cornically. ‘Everything is successful
when it ends in a smile. We were all so
glad that May conld take pars.”
‘May, dear, I congratulate you,’ h-
Te oar
0 ulliver, Dg & quaint
contrast with the sober, sleepy old steed.
came ber as fast
as Gulliver would sondescend to walk.
“Ob, Miss Rodney, have you heard?
. | Elsie bas the driviog-whip—it is the first
for the oarts, yon know—and the
udges have given me the first for the
i St eet
whip. tis in’s
I’m gladdest about—it is thas I conld be
io the parade. You were so dear to think
bave my doubts about Gulliver,”
Jaubed Miss Rees, Joivg the big
horse, who was apparently going to sleep
from sheer boredom
“Well, he ought to be obliged, if he
isn't,” declared May. ‘‘People can make
funny fan of him if they waus to, bat no-
body can make ridiculous fun of him any
more, for he bas belped the and bas
wen a prize !"’--By Eunice Ward.
When the Clock Stops.
IHL
|
il
i
ult
Hl
Eol
§
g
g
sugar syrups, pure goods at 40 cents and
60 cents per gallon, Bechler & Co.
—That the envious soul is never sat-
isfied with ite lot.
THE ROAD TO LAUGHTERTUWN,
Ob, show me the road to Laughtertown,
For | have lost the way!
| wandered ont the path one day,
When my heart was broken, my hair tured
gray
Aud 1 ean't remember how to play;
I've quite forgotten how to be gay,
v's all through sighing and weeping, they say.
Oh, show me the road to Laughiertown,
For 1 have lost the way.
Would ye learn the road t> Laughtertown,
Oh, ye who have lost the way?
Would ye have heart though your hair be gray?
Go learn from a little child each day,
Go serve his wants and play his play,
And eateh the Hit of his laughter gay
And follow his dancing feet as they stray,
For he knows the road to Laughtertown,
Oh, ye who have lost the way!
Katherine D, Blake.
Bermuda's Wealth of Liltes,
Few people who see the multitude of
lilies used on Easter Sanday in she adorn.
ment of ohurobes realize what has been
she labor of bringing these lovely flowers
from she places where they were grown, or
even whas care has been necessary to force
them into bloom for thie year. America
uses for all kinds of decorasions, bus es-
pecially for Easter, ten times as many lilies
aud flowers as any other counnsry. A flor-
ist haw said that this is uot an “imported
fad,’’ bat an original one. The lilies thas
are peculiarly Easter lilies are in bloom in
their nasive soil in Bermuda at this time
of she year, and yes there in the land of
flowers an American woman wa« astonished
a lew years ago to find thas no flowers were
placed apon the altars of the churches on
Easter, although the worshipers could look
out through open doors and windows to
whole fields white with lilies and so hedge-
rows showing a wealth of blossome.
Many of the lilies need hete have in
former years come from Bermada, the buds
baving been sent well packed in moss.
When put in warm water, these balbs will
quickly open, aud thus quantities of lilies
are obtained with little sronble. Flowers
raised io this coontry are grown from the
bulbs. Even vow, however, the greater
number of the lilies seen in the churches
of those cities which lie along the Atlantic
Coast are shipped in bloom from the is-
lands. The total area of the Bermudas is
scarcely more than swenty-four squats
miles, and yes because of the warm ourrent
passing by, things grow there to an aston-
ishing extent. Is is doubtful if anywhere
else in the world there is another swenty-
four square miles that produces ball so
much.
Everything seems anxious to get out of
the ground ahead of time. March has no
sooner appeared on the calendar than the
Bermuda hill slopes are covered with the
richest green toues of spring time. While
we in the North are suffering shrough the
‘“‘winter of oor discontens,’”’ the Bermuda
planter looks forth, sod feasts bis eye
over broad fields of blooming lilies. And a
pretty pioture they make. As far almost
as the eye can see they stretoh away like a
sheet of pure alabaster, the surface of which
sways lazily up and down in the breeze,
waltiog to you a perfame of heavy [ragrance
that suggests the possibility of your being
in the gardens of Paradise.
Bas it is one thing to see these acres of
exquisite blooms seven bundred miles ous | Peri
to sea, and quite another thing to sranspors
their beauty eafely to the shrines of wor-
ship in our American cities. No task in
the floral world bas proved so difficult to
accomplish. The trick of learning how to
land each spring on the Atlantic seaboard
at just the right moment these millions of
flowers bas been a costly one. Thousands
of dollars and blasted blossoms beyond
number bave had to be sacrificed. Most of
the responsibility, however, bas to be
shouldered nowadays by the grower in
Bermuda, although the express companies
must step up and settle if any nnnecessary
delay or any lack of proper care ocours
while the flowers are in transit. In ship-
ping their goods, the growers are called
upon to carefully inspect each plant and
bud, throwing out all those that are not in
prime condition, and forwarding only the
ones that are perfect in every respect.
te shese utionary measures
there is still left more of the speculative
element in the lily trade than in almost any
other branch of business. Even the moet
experienced and skilled Bermuda planter
will tell you that be has nursed his posies
along this year exactly, so far as he knowe,
the same way he did lass season, and yes
against all explainable reasons they have
refused to mature in time for the Easter
trade, or bave matured too soon. A few
days one way or the other in bringing his
lilies into condition means all she difference
between profitable sacoess and absolute fail-
ure with him. There are no half-way
stages in his bosiness. If his output is not
ready at the very moment he wants it, he
might as well bave raised scarecrows in his
fields as lilies.
Lily oulture is third in importance in the
list of Bermuda industries. For the most
part only smal! patches are given over to
their cultivation,snch patohes as would not
work in bandily for the other commodities.
Surrounding them are walls of coral stone,
ae the owners do not take kindly to despo-
liation of their fields by visiting vandals.
In these fields, which are virtually gians,
conservatories, the lily bulbs sre
ted in the months of July, August and
i, so that different harvests will
come along at different intervals during
the next spring. The bulbs are eet in rows
six inches apart, each aore counted
upon to hold sixty thousand tu —=The
Pilgrim.
Missed His Own Chance,
There once livel a woman who never
ve ber husband a ohance to say a word.
e moment be opened his mouth she
closed it with a torrent of words. Is bap-
pened that be fell sick when his wife was
out of town, and before she counid get home
death came and took him away.
“I would feel better abouts it,’’ she is
still saying between her sobs, *‘if I could
bave been with John when be died. There
must bave been some last words he wanted
to say to me.”
“And There Are Others, Like Onto
Him."
There was a man in our town who thought him
wondrous wise;
He swore by all the fabled gods he'd never ad-
vertise,
Alas, they advertised him soon, and thereby
hangs a tale.
His ad. was set in ponpareil and hedaed
“Sheriff's Sale.”
TT ———
—*“Doet be al the truth?”
‘I guess nos. he ids praise his
judgment.”
— You miss a good thing if you don’t
take the WATCHMAN.
Ah
Legends of the Chinese Wall,
Before resuming our journey I asked the
overnor of the inn abouts she Long Wall.
made answer thus:
¥%
or, was wept down.”
0 this village, untouched by civilization,
finamane of the camera, where a ph
8 beautiful young lady a the
them are as follows: Chin, borne trinumphb-
sotly soroes she empire on bis horse of
tivud, saimped thrice every li, Sud ou each
sprang up s tower. nD was
a was erected in
ove day, being 80,000 Ui loug. Is was
ruined when one woman gave a soream,
and it collapsed from the sea to Tibet.
There were suns when Chin built;
the men were working so long that
grass had time to grow in the dust whioh
lodged on their heads. The men worked
so long os they fell asleep and woke up
Chin bad mammoth shovel® that threw
up ali of wall as a scoop; the men were
twelve feet tall and broad in proportion;
nowsdays the men are small and could not
build the wall. A god looked down from
beaven and saw the e being thrown
into the wali for not doing the work, so he
came down avd gave a shread so she work-
men, who put it round 3beir wrists to in-
crease strength. When the king foond out
he took thie magio thread aod pleated it
into a lash for a whip. With the magio
whip be conld remove mountains or make
Yellow River stop. * * *
Not far away we halted at a hamlet of
four houses, known as the Water Cave
Ravine.
Here again we gathered a choice ocolleo-
tion of local legends, showing many variants
on a few themes of cruelty, love and magio.
One is that the line of the wall was marked
out not by Chin, hus by Chin’s White
Magic Horse. A saddle was tied to its tail,
and it was allowed to wander freely.
Whither it strayed, the architect followed
and out the line for the hailders.
And to this day stand the abandoned forty
li of wall to prove the story.—W. E. Geil,
in Harper's Magazine.
The First Alr Ship.
With the whole world watching the
flights of she Wright Brothers, Zeppelin,
Farman, and a host of other aeronaats, it is
interesting to turn back to a chapter in air
Bavigilivh whieh has an almost tragic ele-
ment in is. As long as twenty years ago,
Professor Langley began, in Pitteburg,
Pennsylvania, his experiments to master
the air. Like all those intrepid souls who
dare to do what never has been done he-
fore, Prof. Langley, a man honored by the
scientific bodies of Earope, was laughed at
aod harshly criticized for trying to do what
Darius Green and so many others bad tried
to do and failed.
William Thaw, the father of Harry Thaw,
was one who, instead of laughing at Prof.
Laogley, told him to go abead with bis ex-
ments and he would “‘see him through.’’
And be did, to the eum of fifty thousand
dollars, wish the result that these experi.
ments, althoogh conducted twenty years
ago, gave to the world she knowledge which
wor, in the field of air-orafs today recog-
nize as basic for their mechanisms. Prol.
Langley was the first to believe that a ma-
chine could, by purely mechanical means,
resist gravitation, and withous gas sastain
an aerodrome above the ground. In ocon-
nection with Prof. Langley’s work another
well known man was instrumental in fur-
thering it. Through she efforts of Theodore
Roosevelt, who, in 1898, was Assistant Seo-
retary of the Navy, the government voted
fifty thousand dollars for Prof. Langley’s
experiments, condusted on the Potomac
river, near the capital. These experiments
proved a disappointment. The areoplane
flew for seventy feet und then fell, sinking
below the waves of the Potomac. Professor
Lavgley was #0 burt by the criticism that
followed his exhibition, that he never did
anything forther with his invention, al
though be died secure in the belief that he
was working along the right track and that
he could bave easily made his *‘oraft’’ live
up to his claims for is.
Today be is vindicated, and his machine,
which for years has been neglected in an
out of the way corner of the Smithsonian
Institution, is regarded with serious consid-
eration. Many view it Aientiissliy, idle
many more, remembering its Progen tor,
regard it with a sentiment that is in sharp
contrast to the ridicule and censure that
was meted out to him only a few years ago.
How the Cows Escaped at Gettysburg.
Albertus McCreary, who was a boy at
Gettysburg when the great battle jwas
tought, contributes his recollections to the
July number of MeClure’s Magazine. This
the family for years, and the morning of
Sue Grvday at Soe gs we bad pat ber in
pasture as asual. is pasture was pear
the edge of town. Of course, we saw
nothing of her daring the three days of
fighting. Often one of us would say, ‘I
wonder what bas become of the old cow.’
The general opinion was that we bad seen
the last of ber. On the morn of the
fourth day, father, my brother I took
:
3
:
¥
4
i
3
3
2
g
one in ber side. She was not severely burt,
however, and both bullets came ont even-
tually. We found out later that all the
cows in that particular field bad got out in
some way the fires day of the and had
wandered off about ten miles town,
beyond the firing-line. After the battle
they all found their way back to town.’
~—Do you know that you can get the
finest, oranges, bananas and grape fruit,
and pine apples, Seohler & Co.
~ That the sinner does not always bear
bis own burdens.
Poisonous Honey.
ms Shao natural Roy free It
, free liom
all adolterations. The writer is not aware
that any fatal cases of poisoviog bave oo-
curred in Earope. They are reported ex-
clusively Irom America and Asia. Almost
all cases are cansed by the use of honey de-
rived from the flowers of plants of the Al-
pine rose and heath families ( Rhodoraseae
and Ericaceoe )
puzzling, because cases of severe poisoning
sre very rare. For example, the American
cases, whioh are attributed to Kalmaia an-
gustifolia and K. latifolia, are only two in
number, although thes eplants are common
in America. Even in Earope, illness is
sometimes noed by esting honey. I
have mysell witnessed several mild cases,
ove of which to throw some light
upoe the sabject. Some children, who
were watching sheir teacher cleaning hon-
ey-comb, asked him the nature of the dark
and acrid paste with whioh some of the
cells were filled. The teacher explained
that this was bee bread. The children
asked if is was fis to eas, and the teacher
carelessly answered, ‘‘yes.’”” The children
ate the bee bread freely, despite its un-
Jlessay ¢ taste, and all extremely
i".
The reader doubtless knows thas bees fill
certain oells y with pollen, which is
necessary for the development of the
young bees, as it contains albumenocids,
while honey contains only carbohydrates.
This pollen is known ae bee bread. Is is
usoally stored in certain special groups of
cells, which can be easily from
the honey cells. Sometimes, however, the
bee keeper, to his disgust, finds in the hovey-
comb, intermingled with the honey cells,
many cells whioh contain pollen. Often
the lower pars of a cell is filled with pollen,
aod she upper part with hooey. In the
case above cited, she poisoning was evi-
dently due to the pollen, for persons who
ate the honey from which the bee bread had
been femal experienced so ill effet =
w, from personal experience, the
eating of honey comb which contains bee
bread often produces unpleasant symptoms
and loss of appetite.
Several possibilities suggest themselves.
The pollen may be naturally poisonous, for
many pollen grains contain toxines, as was
proved by Prof. Dunbar in his investigation
of the cause of hay fever. It is possible,
also, that the pollen stored in the cells may
become decomposed, and thus produce dis-
ease germs and poisonous substances. If
the bees wish to preserve their stores of
lien, which are not usually protected by
additions of honey, they are obliged
to add large quantities of a secretion oon-
taining formio acid, and it is not impossi-
ble that, in this operation, large doses of
the alkaline poison of their stings may also
be added.
In view of these facts, it appears proba-
ble that the cases of poisoning attributed
to honey are really caused by pollen. If
this is true, the frequency of such cases
should be diminished by modern methods
of bee keeping, in which a compartment of
the hive is reserved exclusively for honey,
and the bee bread is almost entirely de-
posited in cells attached to the broodocomb,
in another compartment. Farthermore,
honey is now seldom pressed from the
comb, but is almost entirely extracted b;
centrifogal in which the semi-
lignid honey flows ous of the cells, leaving
the more solid bee bread behind. In the
case of bh in the comb, the of
bee bread cells is easily d by inspeo-
tion or by the taste, and a little oare in re-
moving will prevens any evil conse-
quences. —Translated from Promethean.
Fini Prof. Karl Sajo,in the Scientific Amer-
The Civil Service Reformed.
Twenty five years ago, the civil service
of the United States was a national dis-
grace. To the victors belonged the spoils,
and men were appointed to important offi-
ces, not because of fitness, bus for the bal-
lot box stufling and other political services.
Women employees were sowetimesanpoint-
ed under tions that wausld bear
investigation. The civil service reformers
were laughed at, the theory of rotation in
office was proclaimed, and every one be-
Revel that a jJoreramenteleck was Ne! heh
ter Ti ore he grew a
in the pi oy
Then came the lamentable assassination
of President Garfield by a disappointed
office-seeker, and the country changed its
mind. A oivil service reform law was
bas been . President Cleveland was
a civil service reformer and Roosevelt was
the of shem all. Before the lass
ent left the White House no fewer
than 206 637 positions were under compet-
itive examination. The law now works
automatically, and with a final v of
Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Talt over the
reformed sivil service,
It is a good work, well begun and almost
ended. thin a few years, the entire
oivil force will be reformed, and political
vasealage and the jobhing of positions will
have come to an end. The way to many
enterprises by the National Government
bas been opened by the victories of civil
servio reform.
The Lady Policeman.
When Dr. Anna Howard Shaw recently
proposed thas the city of Minneapolis swear
a hundred women policemen, the Amer-
nent broke into a broad grin, The
a hundred skirted and petti-
ITE
id
i
: -
:
:
:
2
5
E
H
;
scmething new about the criminal, and we
no regard bim as a bad man, to stars
with, but rather as a young fellow withous
an education, or a training, or a chance.
The man who holds you up on the publio
highway, or becomes attached to your watch
in a crowd, may be a grown up child w|
never bad a friendly word, and
|