Bellefonte, Pa., July 22, 1910.
ft Gave Columbus the Idea For His
Voyage of Discovery.
Mediaeval rurope knew but very lit-
of eastern aud northeastern Asia.
of the most learned cosmogra-
of the time taught that Asia
stretched eastward indefinitely, and no
iE
riously taught that eastern Asia was a
land of vast swamps, inhabited by
monster serpents and dragons. This
was the opinion that still prevailed up
to within 200 years of the time of Co-
|
At this time two Venetian merchants
of the name of Polo went on a vast
trading expedition to the uttermost
parts of Asla. They were gone many
years. Upon their return the son of
one of them, a young man named Mar-
co Polo, wrote out a full account of
their travels, described the empire of
the grand khan (the Chinese emperor)
and revealed the fact that Asia was
bounded on the east by a vast ocean.
He described this eastern coast mi
nutely, with all its vast cities and its
wealth of precious stones and spices.
It was from reading this book
the imagination of Columbus was
|
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Ail
g
E
1
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had gazed upon 200 years before.
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Still, ‘the Philosopher Didn't Like It |
When Death Called. i
A certain philosopher was in the |
habit of saying whenever he heard '
that an old friend had passed away:
“Ah, well, death comes tous all! Itis
no new thing. It is what we must ex- |
pect. Pass me the butter, my dear.
Yes, death comes to all, and my |
friend's time had come.” i
Now, Death overheard these philo- |
sophical remarks at different times, |
and cone day he showed himself to the |
philosopher.
“I am Death,” said he simply.
“Go away!" <aid the man in a panic.
“] am not ready for you." i
“Yes, but It is one of your favorite
trulsms that Death comes to all, and 1
am but proving your words.”
“Go away! You are dreadful!”
“No more dreadful than [| always
am. But why have you changed so? |
You have never feared the death that |
has come to your friends. 1 never
heard you sigh when I carried off your |
old companions. You have always
said, ‘It ie the way of all flesh.’ Shall
I make an exception in favor of your
flesh?
“Yes, for 1 am not ready.”
“But 1 am. Your time has come. Do |
not repine. Your friends will go on |
buttering their toast. They will take |
it as philosophically as you have taken |
every other death.” |
And the philosopher and Death de- |
parted on a long journey together. |
Charles Battell Loomis. |
About Sneezing.
Hospital nurses when assisting at a |
delicate operation have their own way |
of suppressing a cough or a sneeze. |
The operator's attention must not be |
distracted for a moment. Coughs and |
sneezes, too, spread germs on surfaces |
carefully rendered antiseptic. So ev-
ery nurse soon learns to press her fin-
ger hard on the upper lip immediately |
below the nose when she feels a cough |
| consented to give a performances in aia
Managing the Weather.
It may safely be suid that control
of the weather by sorcerers was al-
together @isbelieved in by very few
perncus lo the sixteenth century. But
if ihe Dellef was beld more strongly
along ope coast line than another it
was around the Baltic rather than
elsewhere. As late as 1670 a traveler
tells us how, being becalmed off Fin-
land, the captain sent ashore to buy
a wind from a wizard. The fee was
10 krooer (say 36 shillings) and a
pound of tobacco. The wizard tied a
woolen rag with three knots in it to
the mast. Untying the first koot pro-
duces just the wind they want, south-
west. That slackening, untying knot
No. 2 revives it for a time, but knot
No. 3 brings up a fearful northeaster.
which nearly sinks them. “Qui nescit
orare, discat navigare,” was a much
quoted phrase. True enough of one
traveler, it would appear. seeing be is
reported to have prayed during a
storm: “0 Lord. | am no common beg-
gar. | do oot trouble thee every day.
for 1 never prayed to thee before, and
if it please thee to deliver me this
once | will never pray to thee again
as long ax | live." - Atlantic Monthly.
Norway's Love For Bjornson.
What Hjornson was to his own
people Ix bext made clear by an inci
dent which occurred at his beloved
Aulestad not long before he was
forced to start on his final journey
to Paris in search of another letise of
bealth and life. A regiment passed
the place in the course of na manen-
ver. Its commareder sent word head
to the poet asking him to review the
soldiers ax they marched by. Bjorn-
sou stood ou the veranda of his house,
surrounded by his entire family—a
man whq had never held any public
office. mind you: As the troop ap-
proached on the highroad below offi-
cers and men gave the salute due to a
commanding genera! or a member of
the royal house. But this was not all.
From the rapidly moving ranks rose
one mighty shout after another-a
spoutaneous outburst of devotion and
gratitude such ax it has been granted
very few men the fortune to inspire.
—~Edwurd Bjorkman in American Ie-
view of Reviews.
Figures of Speech.
A well known veutriloquist who had
of charity heard that certul members
of his prospective audience were die
termined to watch the moveuents of
his mouth with the closest scrutiny
with a view of confounding tim. ‘The
nigkt came, the attendants carried in
three dummies on chairs, and the artist
made his appearance, His perform.
ance was unusually successful, the
muscles of his face giving no evidence
of his art. The changes of voice were
marvelous, and the astonished crowd
at the close of the exhibition gave him
a rousing cheer. Again and again
they called him back, and he express-
ed his pleasure by innumerable bows.
At last the cheering ceased, and he
was permitted to retire. Scarcely had
he done so when the three “lay” fig-
ures got up from their chairs and walk-
ed off the stage. The ventriloquist had
employed three friends to impersonate
his usual mechanical figures.
The “Bull”
The origin of the word “bull” as the
definition of a confused utterance is
doubtful. Some philologists say it
comes from the French boule—*fraud"
—and others that it is derived from
the Icelandic bull—‘‘nonsense.” Many
definitions have been attempted. but
the best probably is that of Sydney
Smith. Writing of the difference be-
tween wit and “bulls,” he says: “Wit
discovers real relations that are appar-
ib the course of some military evolu. | The pearl striuger's eye becomes
tions Frederick the Great of Prussia,
frrituted by sowe mistake of a captain,
ran after bim with bis stick in order
practiced iu the detection of real and
imitation pearls. Oue glance is usually
sufficient. A genuine pear! has a bard
to strike him. The captain ran away.
The next morning the commanding of-
ficer reported to the king that the offi- | This blush is so cleverly counterfeited
cer in question, vue of the most effi- | in wax imitations that even those who
clent in the regiment. bad sent in hi~ | are accustomed to handling pearls day
papers. “Tell him to come to me.” | after day are Hkely to be deceived.
said the king. Tbe officer, In great In one of the large New York jew-
perturbation. came. “Good morning. | elry houses last winter a customer
major.” he upostrophized the officer. purchased a hand painted miniature
who was speechless with surprise. “1 get in a frame of imitatiox earls.
wanted to tell you of your promotion. | Op examination it was found that sev-
but you ran so fast | could not catch | gral of the pearls bad been slightly
you up. Good morning.” | defaced. and the whole thing was sent
Annrslier time an officer attempted 10 | ¢5 the manufacturing rooms for re-
get a comrude into bud odor with the | pairs By chance it came under the
king by telling his majesty that be | eye of one of the pearl stringers, who
was a drunkard. In a subsequent bat. | instantly detected four genuine pearls
tle the latter's fitness was conspicu in the circle of imitation ones about
ous, whereux his xiunderer played n gpe picture. The frame had passed
very poor part. When afterward he cp.ough 5 dogen expert hands with.
jook. It presents a sort of shell-like
surface with an indescribable blush.
ent; ‘bulis’ admit apparent relations
that are not real. The stronger the
apparent connection and the more com-
or a sneeze coming on. A pressure in
the neighborhood of the ear, too, or a
hard pressure on the roof of the mouth | ota the real disconnection of the
will nip a cough in the bud. And the | jgeqg the greater the surprise and the
will bas great power to control a cough | patter the ‘bull’ ”
or a sneeze. |
There was a French surgeon who |
used to say whenever he entered the |
wards of the hospital, “The first pa-
tient who coughs gets no food today.”
This method was usually successful.—
Chicago News.
Where Looks Don’t Matter.
Apropos of a titled foreigner's mar.
riage to a rich and rather plain Ameri-
can girl a New Yorker said:
“The count has no cause to com-
plain. The ethics of such a marriage
What Came Up.
A young man wishing to have a bit |
of fun at a farmer's expense passed a
few remarks about his cattle and his
garden and then said he had set some
lettuce and cabbage which had not
grown up.
Then the farmer said: |
“Oh, that's nothing! 1 set some car
rot seeds, and what do you think came
up?
“Don’t know.”
man.
Farmer—Why, old Brown's donkey,
and ate the lot.—Newark Star.
replied the young
The Turnip. l
The turnip is supposed to be a native |
of Asia and Europe. It has been culti-
vated for centuries. The wild East
Indian turnip is said to be remotely
to the edible turnip. It is the size
walnut and first tasted is sweet-
but in
ERE
soi}
| as his are but the ethics of the matri-
monial agency.
“A man called at a matrimonial
agency.
“‘l am interested.” he said. ‘In the
young lady who has $250,000 in her
own right. Could you let me see her
photograph * |
“No; that is not the custom.’
agent replied. ‘In any case over $100.- |
000 the photograph is never asked |
for”
Working Him.
“1 want the office. of course,” said
the aspiring statesman, “but not unless
I am the people's choice.” .
“We can fix that. too.” said his cam-
paign manager. “only you know it's a
good deal more expensive to be the
people’s choice than it is to go in as
the compromise candidate.” Chicago
Tribune.
Friendship. |
Friendship is a vase which when it
is flawed by heat or violence or acci-
dent may as well be broken at once.
It can never be trusted again. The
more graceful and ornamental it was
the more clearly do we discern the
hopelessness of restoring it to its for-
wer state.
A Continued Story.
“What did your wife say when you |
stayed out so late last night?’ |
“I don't know. She hasn't finished |
telling it all to me yet."—Detroit Free |
Press.
In this world it is not what we take
! un. hut what we give up, that makes
us rich.—Beecher. i
defiled past the king at the head of
his regiment Lix majesty called out to
him in a voice of thunder, “The sooner
you take to drink the better!”
The O!d Time Surgeon.
Before anuestbetics were known the
surgeon's outy expedient was to abridge
his patient's sufferings by working
rapidly. In this the oid time surgeons
did wonders. They bad a control and
a surety in their hands that are now
seldom found. One day the celebrated
surgeon Maixonneure had to amputate
the leg of a poor devil, who begun to
bow! in advance. “I'll give you my
watch.” suid the surgeon, “if the oper
ation lusts more than a minute.” The
man accepted the offer. but was oblig
ed to forego the handsome watch, as
the operation took lesx “ime than it re
quires to describe. To amputate an
arm at the <honlder ix a moxt difficult
operation
many did it in two minutes. A young
physician who came to see him per
form :he operation adjusted hix spec.
taclex to hix nose =o ux pot to lose n
single movement, but when the spec
tacles were in place the operation was
over and the severed arm lay on the
floor. Times have changed much since
then.
Dr. Johnson's Church.
8t. Clement Danes hax never torgot-
ten the fact that Johnxon worshiped
within its walix
to the pulpity ix marked hy un brass
plate which was erected by the parish.
foners in 1851.
centenary of Dr. Johnson's death was
observed by a memorial service, when
a special address was delivered by the |
Rev. Dr. Lindsay. at that time rector
of St. Clement Danes. .Johnson's pew
was on thut occasion draped in violet.
Johnson was always constant in his
attendance at church on Good Friday |
and Easter day. On April 0. 1773. he !
“His behavior.” |
went with Boswell.
writes Boswell, “was, as | had imagin-
ed to myself, solemnly devout. | shall
never forget the tremulous earnestness |
with which he pronounced the awful
petition in the litany. ‘In the hour of |
death and in the day of judgment, good
Lord. deliver us!" —~London News.
Fine Art of Letter Opening.
In Russian one letter In every ten
passing through the post is opened by
the authorities as a matter of course.
Indeed. the postal authorities of every
country have esperts who have raised |
Some
letter opening to a fine art.
kinds of paper can be steamed open
without leaving any traces. and this
gimple operation is tinished by re-
burnishing the flap with a bone instru-
ment. Ib the case of a seal a matrix
is taken by means of new bread be-
fore breaking the wax. When other
methods fail the envelope is placed be- |.
tween pleces of wood with edge pro-|
jecting one-twentieth of an isch. The |
edge of the envelope is first flattened, |
then roughened and finally slit open. |
Later a hair line of strong white gum |
is applied and the edges united under
pressure.— London Chronicle. i
Charity and Prudence.
The contradictions of life are many.
An observant man remarked recently .
that he was prowling about a certain |
city square when he came upon a
drinking fountain which bore two con-
flicting inscriptions.
One, the original inscription on the
fountain. was from the Bible, “And
whosoever will, let him take the water
of life freely."
Above this hung a placard, “Please
i
the | do not waste the water.” — Youth's |
Companion.
Stewad Deers’ Horns.
Deers’ horns when young may form
a dish for human consumption. Sir 8S.
W. Baker writes, “When the large
horns of the sambur, or wapiti, are
growing they make an excellent dish, |
first scalded to divest them of down
and then gently stewed with a good
sauce and a few vegetables.”—London
Mall,
Her Description.
Muggins—Women have such queer
ways of expressing themselves! Bug-
gins—Such as? Muggins—Well, my
wife was telling me about Miss Yel
lowleaf and said she was a sight to
behold and in the very next breath
said she wasn't it to be seen.—Phila-
delphia Record.
Rural Amenities.
Fair Passenger—But, good gracious,
why didn’t the train stop here? It is
supposed to. Porter—Yes, miss, but
the engine driver has quarreled with
the station master.—Pele Mele.
A Conclusion.
“Her husband doesn't smoke, drink,
shew. swear or piny cards”
“Introduce me. Widows are my spe
salty.” —~Houston Post.
Dr. Langenbeck of Ger |
The pew in which
he sat (it ix in the north gallery. close |
In December, 1884, the |
. out any one's noticing the presence
of real pearls. No one could account
, for their being there. If they had not
been detected the purchaser of the
frume would have had a bargain, for
the four genulue pearls were worth
many times more than the picture
and the rest of its setting.—New York
Tribune.
Spirit of Young America.
| A teacher in a Philadelphia public
school parruted the following account
' of how an aspiring young Italian citi-
gen was beginning to show the effects
of an American environment. The
story. which was told at a teachers’ as-
sociation meeting, runs something like
this:
Tony bad been away from school
| about a week, and when ke showed up
| one morning the teacher asked bim
| where be had been.
“1 ran away.” said Tony.
| “Ran away: What ¢id you do that
; for?" asked the teacher.
“My father was going to lick me, so
{ 1 thought I'd run away.” was the re
1
| The teacher by further questioning
| brought out the fact that Tony for
| some trifling dereliction had been
threatened with a beating and had
| stayed away from home the best part
| of a week.
{ “But your father bas the right to
| whip you.” said the teacher.
“Yes, he may.” added Tony, “but I
was born in this country. and 1 don't
. want no foreigners to lick me.”-Pitts-
burg Chronicle-Telegraph.
Costa Rican \oicanoes.
| Costa Rica bas been subject to earth-
quakes for many years. Part of the
republic Is exceedingly mountainous,
| and in this part of the country there
, are more than a score of volcanoes,
| some of them dead, but a few that
break out periodically. There are
three or four that have been active
| for more than a century. Some of
these are near San Jose, the capital
Costa Ricans have always believed that
earthquakes, which the country has ex-
perienced ever since it was first set-
| tled by Spanish adventurers. were
caused by the volcanoes. There is
good ground for this belief, because it
has been noticed that earthquakes of
more or less intensity followed the ac-
tivity of these volcanoes. If the vol-
| eanic eruptions were violent the earth-
quakes were correspondingly severe.—
Washington Post.
A Witty Retort.
A good story is told of two great
Irishmen. :he late Archbishop Plunket
and Father Healy. the well known
parish priest of Bray. Making their
| way together to Bray railroad station
one morning. the priest urged that
they should hurry. but the prelate's
appeal to his watch convinced him
that they had ample time. They ar-
rived to see the train for Dublin dis-
appearing. The archbishop’s apolo-
gles were lavish, He pleaded that he
had always had unbounded faith in
his watch, “My dear Lord Plunket,”
was Father Healy's rejoinder, “faith
won't do without the good works.,”"—
i Blackwood's Magazine.
Alkarazza.
Alkarazza is the name given to ves-
sels cf very porous earthenware which
when filled with water are always
moist outside and owing to the evapo-
ration of the water on their surface al-
ways keep their contents cool. Alka-
razza can be made from any good pot-
| ter's clay by mixing with it 10 per
cent of its weight, dry. of very fine
sawdust and then working it. On
| burning the sawdust is destroyed and
the clay thereby left porous.
Started In Business.
“Father thinks 1 ought to go in for
business a bit." remarked the gilded
| youth,
“Made a start yet?’
“Oh, yaas. I've ordered three busi-
ness suits and had me name put up at
a onmmercial club.”=Louisville Cou-
vies dournal.
Her Instructions.
Conductor—Ticket, please. Passen-
ger—Certainly. sir. Here is the key of
my trunk, which is in the baggage car.
In the pocket of my second best dress
is my mileage book.—Harper’s Bazar.
Life and a Living.
Many a man has made a good living
who has made a poor life. Some men
have made splendid lives who have
made very moderate and even scanty
livings.
A Hard Task.
“Now, sir.” said an Irish barrister
“hold your tongue and give your evi
dence clearly !™
Happiness consists largely in belsg
{ too busy to be miserable.—Sheldon.
with severity to a loquacious witness,’ |.
Straw Hats
AT
HALF PRICE
2
The price on every
Straw Hat in the
store, Panamas ex-
cepted, are cut exact-
ly in half.
IT'S CHEAPER
to own a new hat at
these prices than to
get the oid one
cleaned.
FREESE ETE =ELE:EEER:EXEEEK
fe