Bellefonte, Pa., August 1, 1924.
SS —————————————
WHY THEY TWINKLE.
By Oliver Wendell Holmes.
When Eve had led her lord astray,
And Cain had killed his brother,
. The stars and flowers, the poets say,
Agreed with one another,
To cheat the cunning tempter’s art,
And teach the race its duty,
By keeping on its wicked heart
Their eyes of light and beauty.
A million sleepless lids, they say,
Will be at least a warning;
And so the flowers would watch by day
And the stars from eve to morning.
On hill and prairie, field and lawn,
Their dewy eyes upturning,
The flowers still watch from reddening
dawn,
Till western stars are burning.
Alas! each hour of daylight tells
A tale of shame so crushing,
That some turn white as sea-bleached
shells,
And some are always blushing.
But when the patient stars look down,
On all their light discovers,
The traitor’'s smiles, the murderer's
frown,
The lips of lying lovers.
They try to shut their saddened eyes,
And in the vain endeavor.
We see them twinkling in the skies,
And so they wink forever.
DO YOU DRINK ENOUGH WATER
OR TOO MUCH?
Six glasses a day is the right amount for
the average healthy person, unless hot
weather or violent exercise makes one
perspire freely—But it is possible to be-
come literally intoxicated by drinking
excessive quantities of water.
If I should tell a rabid prohibition-
ist that his health and even his life
itself depended on his being a “wet,”
he would be amazed and shocked. Yet
it would be absolutely true—although
not in the sense that he would under-
stand it. For the one thing that qual-
ifies a person to be the kind of “wet”
I mean is water.
People think that their bodies are,
literally, among their most solid pos-
sessions. But the human body is
composed largely of water, the av-
erage proportion being from 75 to 80
per cent! We are three-fourths wa-
ter, even including our brains.
I have heard people speak of a per-
son as having “a fluid mind.” They
did not realize how close they came to
the literal truth. From head to foot,
all of us are so “fluid” that it seems
almost a miracle when we continue in-
tact, year after year, apparently as
solid as ever.
You may think that we become
more solid, as the years go by; that
old people really are, as we call them,
withered and dried up. But they are
not “drier.” Human beings grow
even less dry as age comes on. It is
estimated that the water content of
the body in old age is from 81.2 to
84.8 per cent., as compared with from
75 to 80 per cent. in earlier life. So
the common expression, “a dried-up
old man” has no basis in fact.
When I say that health and life
itself depend on our being “wet” I
am not exaggerating. If the amount
of the water content in the body is re-
duced by only 10 per cent., it results
in very serious disorders. If it is re-
duced 20 per cent.,, death is almost
certain to follow. There have been
cases where a person has survived be-
yond this point; but a loss of 22 per
cent. is, I believe, a limit beyond
which human beings cannot live.
We doctors are always telling you
that you must drink a certain amount
of water daily. Well—the advice often
seems to go in one ear and out of the
other. Ask a man how much money
he earns a week, and he can tell you
without even stopping to think. But
ask him how many glasses of water
he drinks daily, and he can’t make
even a good guess. He could get
along if his income of money were cut
down almost to the vanishing point;
but he could not live at all if his in-
take of water were reduced to that
point. .
The three things we must have in
order to go on living are oxygen, wa-
ter, and food. Without oxygen to
breathe, we would die in a few mo-
ments. Without water to drink—or
to get in some form, as in the juice of
fruits—we could live only a limited
number of days.
The length of time would depend on
the temperature, the dryness of the
atmosphere, the physical exertion we
make, and so on, because the amount
of water evaporated from the body
would be affected by these factors.
On the desert, where the heat is ex-
treme and the air is very dry, death
usually occurs from thirty-six to sev-
enty-two hours after one is deprived
of water.
We could live much longer without
food than without water. Under ordi-
nary conditions, a person will not suf-
fer in health if he reduces considera-
bly the amount of food he eats. In
very many cases, he will actually be
better off physically. But he cannot,
with safety, cut down his “water ra-
tion” to any great extent.
As I said before, people seem to pay
little heed to the doctor’s advice about
-water-drinking. I think it must be
because they do not understand the
facts on which his advice is based. I
am telling you these facts, so that
you may know why you must have
water to maintain health.
Before going any further, however.
I want to put in a word of caution: I
have found that practically no one,
outside the medical profession, seems
to realize that water can be taken to
excess. A person, even in normal
health, could become intoxicated on
water! The chance of his taking
enough to produce this result is rather
remote, he is much more likely to err
on the side of taking too little. But
there is one group of persons to whom
excessive water-drinking is danger-
ous; and, unfortunately, they are the
very ones who are most likely to prac-
tice it.
People with chronic kidney trouble,
high blood-pressure, or heart trouble,
are the ones in whom symptoms of
“water intoxication” are most likely
to occur. Yet these very persons
often make a point of drinking an ab-
normal amount of water, under the
impression that it is peculiarly bene-
ficial to them. : :
Especially if there is anything
wrong with the kidneys, the average
person immediately thinks he must
drink all the water he possibly can.
He does this on the theory that it will
“flush out” the kidneys. I have heard
a man with chronic kidney trouble an-
nounce that he habitually drank twen-
ty or thirty glasses of water daily.
He evidently expected to be praised
for it! 1 have known many cases
where friends have advised people
who suffered from these chronic com-
plaints, to drink “gallons of water”
every day. These amateur doctors
meant well; but their advice was pos-
itively dangerous, under the circum-
stances. ;
The stomach, intestines, and kid-
neys are not lifeless receptacles and
tubes which can be “flushed out” as
we would flush sewer pipes. They are
composed of complex tissues 21d deli-
cate cells that have specific functions.
If you force an excess of water into
one of these cells, its function will be
paralyzed, just as surely as if you did
not give it enough water.
This is not mere guesswork. In or-
der to test the effects, water has been
given, in amounts up to ten litres a
day, to patients with chronic kidney
trouble. (A litre is a trifle less than
a quart). The effects were headache,
dizziness, restlessness, chills, abdom-
inal distension, vomiting, shortness of
breath, marked increase in weight,
and increased blood pressure.
This array of symptoms shows the
folly of asking an already disordered
kidney to perform work that would
tax even a healthy organ. :
The same thing is true concerning
people with heart trouble. An im-
paired heart has enough of a task to
take care of the normal amount of
fluid in the body. It will be overtaxed
if given still more work to do. Ama-
teurs should not take it on themselves
to prescribe even so apparently sim-
ple a thing as water for people who
may have weakened heart or kidneys.
Leave that to the expert clinical judg-
ment of the physicians.
I have given this explanation be-
cause it is needed in certain cases.
But the average person need not wor-
ry about his own chance of being in-
toxicated by water. He is in no dan-
ger, unless ht zoes to extreme excess.
That brings us to the question of
how much water the average man or
woman really needs; also, some furth-
er explanation of why he needs it in
order to be well and comfortable.
About six glasses, or the equivalent
of three pints, is considered by most
authorities a fair daily average. This
will vary somewhat according to the
individual.
Some people perspire freely on
slight provocation. Others perspire
very little. Those in the first class
lose more of the water content of the
body than those in the second. They
need a somewhat greater intake to
make up the loss.
According to Flack and Hill, a per-
son evaporates from his body almost
ten quarts of water during a ride over
the desert. That loss must be made
good. Six glasses of water in twen-
ty-four hours would not be sufficient
in those curcumstances, although it
might be ample for the same individ-
ual under normal conditions.
It is said that, among the people of
India, the fluid “output and intake” is
almost twelve quarts a day. But that
would be excessive among the inhab-
itants of a country with cool, moist
climate.
A person taking violent exercise
which causes profuse perspiration
needs to drink more water than when
he is inactive.
These are matters in regard to
which we must use ordinary common
sense. In fact, when we need an ex-
tra quantity of water we usually take
it without having to give it any
thought. For the conditions which rob
us of our normal supply are likely to
cause thirst; and this prompts us to
drink water.
Under ordinary conditions, we can-
not depend on the sensation of thirst
as a signal to us that we need water.
Let me repeat this, for it is very im-
portant: The mere fact that you do
not feel thirsty is no proof that you
do not need water.
It is very common for people who
drink only two or three glasses of wa-
ter a day to claim that they don’t
need any more. And the reason they
give for believing this is that they
“never feel thirsty.” People of this
type have what is known as the dry
habit. They are not conscious of
their dry mouths and throats; just as
people who gradually take on excess
weight are not conscious of the dis-
comforts which accompany that con-
dition,
Unfortunately, the body is not a
fool-proof mechanism. The signals do
not always work. Moreover, if we
habitually disregard them we lose our
keenness of perception.
There can be no question that these
people who have the dry habit will
pay the penalty in impairment of their
health. It may be a long time in mak-
ing itself manifest. But it will surely
come, unless the deficiency of water
is made up in some other way. In my
observation this very rarely happens.
The “drys” do not know how much
water they need, nor do they know
how much they are taking.
Your personal water supply is not,
and should not be, confined to the six
glasses I have specified as a fair dai-
ly average. We all need more than
that; and we get more from various
sources—from the other liquids we
drink, and also from the foods we eat.
People imagine they eat in order to
get the necessary proteins, carbohy-
drates and fats. That is true of
course; but one of the most import-
ant elements in food is the water it
contains—and most of them contain a
great deal of water. Cucumbers, let-
tuce, beans, celery, and similar vege-
tables are about 95 per cent. water!
Even boiled smoked ham is 51 per
cent. water. Melons and: fruits are
almost entirely composed of water.
Tea and coffee are practically nothin,
but water. Milk contains only a smal
percentage of solids; the rest is
water, o
The ideal diet for human beings con-
sists chiefly of fruits, vegetables, and
milk—all of them largely composed of
water! ¢
for food of any kind to be absorbed
and utilized by our body cells without
water as a vehicle. :
Now the daily half-dozen glasses of
water recommended by physicians is
to be taken in addition to the supply
furnished by the foods which make up
the average person’s diet. The only
way in which people with the dry hab-
it can preserve their health is to
make up the deficiency by taking a
very much greater quantity of watery
foods than they otherwise would need.
Liberal drinking of milk, eating large
‘quantities of fruits, of lettuce, and
similar vegetables would help fo sup-
ply the water they require.
But, as I said before, I have very
rarely found a dry-habit person who
did this. Practically, without excep-
tion, the deficiency is not made up.
“Well,” you may say, “why is it so
important that it should be made up ?”
The answer is that some of the most
essential functions of the body cannot
be carried on properly without water.
As I said before, food cannot be ab-
sorbed and utilized by our body cells
without it. A man deprived of both
food and water will starve much more
quickly than if he were deprived only
of food; because as the water in his
body becomes depleted he cannot
“feed” on the fat and proteins that
are stored up in his system.
The water in the body is the me-
dium by which all chemical changes
are effected. It brings nutriment to
the cells and it carries away the waste
products. It also enables the body to
store up heat; and, because it is a
good conductor, it equalizes the
amount of heat in the various tissues.
If there is an excess of body heat,
it must released; and one of the
principal means of doing this is by the
evaporation of water from the skin.
This is constantly taking place in the
form of perspiration. We perspire
visibly on hot days or when we exer-
cise violently. But there is, all the
time, what is known as “insensible
perspiration.” This is constantly be-
ing evaporated from the skin.
Perspiration does not, as many
suppose, carry off a large quantity of
waste products from the body. It is
practically nothing but water. Its
chief service is in regulating the body
heat. But that is a very important
function; and if the daily loss of wa-
ter from the body is not made up this
function is interfered with.
Professor Rosenau, of Harvard,
classifies water as a food. So does
the Life Extension Institute, which
calls it “a regulating food.” Water is
absolutely necessary to building up
the body and to maintaining its func-
tions. It is the most necessary kind
of food. Meat, for example, could be
entirely eliminated from your diet
without serious consequences. But it
would be a fatal experiment to at-
tempt to go without water.
I have said that people with chron-
ic kidney trouble often take water to
excess. On the other hand, if a per-
son in ordinary health does not drink
enough water, the body fluids become
concentrated and the kidneys are like-
ly to be irritated as a result of this.
Water does not carry off any per-
ceptible amount of waste products in
the perspiration, but it does play a
great part in carrying off these waste
and poisonous products through the
bowels and kidneys. It is absoltuely
necessary to the elimination of these
poisons.
Another important service which it
performs is as a lubricant. There are
many extremely delicate surfaces
within these bodies of ours. If water
were not supplied to moisten these
surfaces, the friction to which they
are exposed would injure them.
Water is especially necessary to the
process of digestion. It is estimated
that the amount of water which is dai-
ly poured into the intestines is several
times as great as the total amount of
fluid usually taken in by the mouth.
Most of it is reabsorbed into the sys-
tem when its work of aiding digestion
is done. But you can readily see how
important it is that the body supply
of fluid shall be kept always sufficient.
Water never exists, simply as wa-
ter, in our bodies. It is always a com-
plex salt solution. But it must be
there, if we are to go on living. It is
present not only in the blood, the sa-
liva, the gastric juice, and all the flu-
ids of the body, but in all the tissues—
even in the bones themselves.
All of us literally have “water on
the brain.” ‘Some have more than
others; but the average brain is 90
per cent. water! In the blood the pro-
portion is 79 per cent. The enamel of
the teeth contains the smallest
amount: only one-fifth of one per cent.
But the inner portion of a tooth is 10
per cent. water. The largest amount
is in the saliva, which contans 99 per
cent.; although the lens of the eye is
a close second, being 98. per cent.
water. The skin contains 72 per cent.,
the lungs 79 per cent., and the heart
79.5 per cent. An athlete, who claims
to be as hard as nails, is really more
like a sponge; for even the muscles
are 7 per cent. water.
"I have tried to give some of the rea-
sons why we need water. I have said
that a fair average supply would be
six glasses a day, in addition to the
water provided by the food we eat;
and that we should include milk,
fruits, and plenty of vegetables in our
diet. But there are two other points
to be considered also; when to drink,
and what kind of water ‘o take.
It was formerly supposed that if a
person drank water freely at meals it
would dilute the gastric juice and so
interfere with digestion. The contra-
ry seems to be the case. Water stim-
ulates gastric secretion. A good plan
is to take a glass of water at each
meal, one between meals—morning
and afternoon—and one at night.
This total of six glasses a day will be
sufficient, except in hot weather or
in case of unusual exertion.
People with small stomachs, or with
weak stomach muscles, should be cau-
tious about taking a large supply of
water at meals, because if too much
bulk is put into the stomach it will
produce uncomfortable distension.
Also, those who suffer from gastric
acidity will aggravate this condition
by free water-drinking at meals.
It should be remembered that chil-
dren require plenty of water; more,
in proportion ' to their weight, than
i
grown people need. Children’s bodies |
And it would be impossible
are growing, and water is needed in
this process. They are more active
too; consequently their heat output is
relatively greater. However, among
grown-ups, a large person requires
more water than a small one.
Many people think that it is harm-
ful to drink cold water when over-
heated, but this is a mistaken ‘idea.
One should use discretion and not
drink too great a quantity at once.
We should practice moderation in all
things. But there is no reason why
we should not drink cold water, slow-
ly and moderately, when we are very |
warm. Taken in that way, it will even
be beneficial. io —_—
I have been asked why ice water |
seems to taste better than tepid water.
The explanation is that the tempera-
ture of tepid water is very close to
that of the body. It therefore excites
practically no sensation in the mouth,
or as it passes down to the stomach.
Whereas, ice water gives a certain
thrill, or shock, which is refreshing
and stimulating to many persons.
Then there is the question of dis-
tilled water, a subject on which there
has been a good deal of controversy.
Properly distilled water, where the
first product of the distillation has
been discarded, is regarded by high
authorities as an ideal water to drink,
provided it has been aerated and so
made palatable. In the navy, such
water has been used on shipboard dur-
ing long cruises, without any appar-
ent ill effects.
Rain water, if caught in a clean re-
ceptacle, is usually harmless. It is
not absolutely pure, as it contains a
certain amount of organic matter de-
posited from the atmosphere. But
this is not of an injurious nature. The
chief trouble with rain water is that
it generally is stored in cisterns which
are not kept clean and properly pro- |
tected.
In the vast majority of cases, our
drinking water is supplied from wells
and from municipal supply systems, '
which receive the drainage from var- |
ious water-sheds. The most menac-
ing thing that can exist in this, or any |
other drinking water, is human waste
products. To escape this danger, the
area drained by the water system, or |
by private wells, should be carefully !
selected and closely guarded.
People have an idea that water
which is clean and sparkling and
pleasant to drink is sure to be safe.
But this doesn’t necessarily follow.
Water may contain organie matter, it
may be unpalatable and even some-
what offensive, yet be safe for drink-
ing—provided it does not contain
waste products from the human body.
On the other hand, it may be clear.
bright, and pleasant to drink—yet
contain typhoid bacteria. Appearance
1s not a safe thing to go by. Scien-
tific analyses and careful inspection of
the source of supply are necessary.
Ordinary household filters will re-
move some kinds of impurities. But
it must be remembered that they do
not screen out disease germs.
In connection with this there is an
interesting thing to be said about io-
dine. The prevalence of goiter in cer- |
tain regions has been hard to explain.
The people in these sections apparent- '
ly did not differ radically from those
in unaffected regions in their food |
It is now '
supply or their food habits.
thought that the disease may be the
result of a deficiency of iodine in the
water, or in the soil which produces
some of the foods, and which is drain- |
ed by the water supply.
Doctor O. P. Kimball, in an import-
ant report on this subject, enumerates
the goiter districts. Among them is
one including the entire basin of the
Great Lakes and of the St. Lawrence
River, as well as the portion of the
United States and Canada known as
the Pacific Northwest.
In parts of British Columbia and in
some of the valleys of southern Alas-
ka, all the domestic animals have goi-
ter! In one section, called Pemberton
Meadows, it was almost impossible to
raise young animals, such as calves,
lambs, and pigs. Since 1918, however,
the disease has been controlled by
adding a small amount of iodine to
the food and drink of these animals.
Naturally, distilled water does not
contain iodine. For this reason, al-
be a safe and sufficient drink for a
reasonable period of time, we cannot
be sure that it could be relied upon,
year in and year out, especially for
children and young people who are
still in the period of growth.
Doctor Kimball suggests that,
where goiter is prevalent, from five to
ten milligrams of iodine be given
weekly during adolescence. He pre-
sents very impressive facts in regard
to the prevention of this disease
among young girls in the public
schools of Akron, Ohio. I suggest,
however, that the family physician
be consulted in regard to the advisa-
bility of this treatment in individual
cases. There might be some special
reason why it should not be attempt-
ed, even though in general its effica-
cy seems to have been proved.
To sum up the case for—and some-
times against—water: It is absolute-
ly essential to life and to health. The
average person should drink six glass-
es daily; more during hot weather or
after unusual exertion. People with
chronic kidney trouble, high blood-
pressure, and heart trouble, should
have expert medical advice in regard
to the amonut of water taken daily.
No one should indulge in water to
great excess; I have seen people de-
cidedly impaired by taking very large
quantities—twelve to fourteen glasses
a day. If the average person drinks
only two or three glasses daily, he
will surely suffer from this “dry” hab-
it. He can improve his chances by
liberal drinking of milk, and by eat-
ing generous quantities of fruits and
vegetables; but as he is not likely to
make up the deficiency in thes= ways,
it will much safer for hin to in-
crease the amount of “straight” -—~ter
he drinks.—By Dr. Eugene Lvran
Fisk, Medical Director of the Life Ex-
tension Institute.
——They tell of a strange case in
a small Missouri town. A man com-
plained of pains in his heel. His phy-
sician removed his teeth, but the pains
continued. They removed his tonsils,
and still the pains remained. As a
final resort they removed his shoe,
and the X-ray revealed a long-embed-
ded needle in his heel.
p— ns —
| Proper Brewing of Tea
- Told by Chinese Poet
High tea would have been deemed
an abomination by the Chinese poet Lu
Wauh, who held that no food should be
taken in conjunction with the most de-
licious of all beverages. Lu Wuh
maintained that only three ingredients
are necessary for its. decoction—tea,
water and salt—but each should be
selected with care.
“The leaves of the tea plant must
have creases like the leathern boot of
i & Tartar horseman, must curl like the
dewlap of a mighty. bullock; must un-
fold like the mist rising out of a ra-
vine, must gleam like a lake touched
| by a zephyr; and be wet and soft like
: fine earth newly swept by rain.” Ac-
| cording to this authority a mountain
spring furnished the best water for
| tea making, with river water and or-
dinary spring water next in order of
excellence,
“There are three stages of boiling,”
Lu Wuh goes on to say. “The first
boil is when the little bubbles like the
eye of fishes swim on the surface.
The second boil is when the bubbles
are like crystal beads rolling in a foun-
tain. The third boil is when the bi
lows surge wildly in the kettle.”
Salt is put in the first boil, tea in
the second boil; at the third a dipper-
. ful of cold water is poured into the
kettle to settle the tea and revive “the
youth of the water,” after which the
decoction is poured into cups and
drunk.~—Manchester Guardian.
Paine Helped Create
and Named the U. S. A.
To the average American Thomas
Paine is known merely as an “infidel.”
| He has been told that Paine wrote a
book entitled “Age of Reason” that as-
| sailed orthodox Christianity. Me may
not know that two decades before the
“Age of Reason” Paine, a native of
England, wrote a pamphlet that started
the American colonists really to think
of separating themselves from Eng-
land and joining themselves together
as a new nation, says the Detroit
News. When the revolution first start-
ed it was only a revolt against oppres-
sive measures of taxation and unjust
political discrimination. Even Wash-
ington as late as May, 1775, declared
himself against separation.
Then, early in January, 1776, Paine
published “Common Sense,” in which
he not merely proposed an independent
nation to the dissatisfied colonists, but
raised the rebellion to the higher
plane of a war for liberty. Washington
| was converted immediately. Paine de-
' clined to accept any profit from the
work for himself, but gave all the
. financial proceeds to the patriot cause.
It was in “Common Sense” that the
present name of the nation, “the
United States of America,” first ap-
‘ peared,
Did Moliere Wear Iron Mask?
M. Loquin, a former president of the
Academie de Bordeaux, holds that the
man in the iron mask was none other
, than Moliere, whose disappearance the
Jesuits were supposed to have urged
| the king to compass after the great
triumph of “Tartuffe.”
“Moliere,” says this learned man,
“dled February 17, 1873; the captivity
of the man In the iron mask lasted 31
years, from February, 1673, to Novem-
| ber, 1703.”
The significant silence that prevailed
once Moliere was regarded as dead and
buried, the foul slanders that were
spread abroad shortly afterward and,
finally, the destruction of all Moliere’s
posthumous works and the strange
disappearance of every single line of
his writing point to a sinister object
~—Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Novels in a Nutshell
{| Much has been vritten in criticism
though properly distilled water may |
of English, French and Russian novels,
but never have their essential natures
been so crisply described as in these
paragraphs of anonymous origin:
| An English novel is a book In which
' two people want each other in the first
chapter, but do not get each other un-
til the last chapter.
A French novel is a book in which
two people get each other right in the
first chapter and from then on to the
last chapter don’t want each other any
more. :
A Russian novel is one in which twe
people neither want each other nor get
each other, and round that fact 450
profoundly melancholy pages are writ-
ten.~Youth’s Companion.
: Experienced
A victim of chronic bronchitis called
on a doctor to be examined. The doc-
tor, after careful questioning, assured
the patient that the ailment would re-
spond readily to treatment. “1 suppose
you must have had a great deal of ex-
perience with this disease?” said the
sufferer,
The doctor smiled wisely, and re-
plied: “Why, my dear sir, Ive had
bronchitis myself for over fifteen
years.”—Christian Evangelist.
Hobo Loyal to His Dog
A homeless hobo who was appre
hended the other day refused am offer
of $500 for his mongrel dog which ac-
companied him. The police sergeant
said that the dog's loyalty was already
proved, but he wanted to prove the
hobo’s. But the hobo knew that he
could easily lose the $500, but the dog
was worth more than that to him.
Their Own Fault
Keen, but Nervous Amateur—I say,
old chap, what shall I do if they ask
me to sing?
Qeandid Friend—Do?! Why, sing, ek
eocurse. I'll be their own faultl——
T.ondop Humorist,
{
i
| This Old Love Letter
Was “the Real Thing”
The man’s mother had given the
man’s wife a love letter which she
found hidden away in a mass of old
papers. It had been written to the
man when he was a8 boy and the writer
was his sweetheart, fifteen years old.
The man's mother laughed when she
handed it to the man's wife, and the
man’s wife laughed when she hande¢
‘t to the man.
But the man did not laugh.
“Aha,” said the wife in her merry
way, “see how the past rises up
against you.”
The man took the letter and slowly
unfolded it and softly read it aloud:
“Dearest boy,” he read, “I'm afraid
you are mad at me because I walked
with Johnnie Nicholson yesterday to
school, but it wasn't my fault at all.
You know I love you, dearest boy, a&
thousand million times more than I
could love Johnnie, and when you look
cross at me it breaks my heart. Ain't
you going to take me to the school
picnic Saturday—'cause if you don’t I
can’t go. I cried when I wrote this—
that's why it's spotted. Don't make
me cry any more, dearest boy.”
The man looked at the letter for
some time. His gaze softened and he
sighed.
“That was the real thing,” he mur-
mured, and he carefully folded the let-
ter and turned away.
And then the man's wife was sorry
she had given the letter to the man.
| Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Method Is Devised to
Seal Copper and Glass
Most metals will not adhere perma-
nently to glass after they have been
sealed to it while in a semi-molten con-
dition, and if they are in the form of
rods or blocks. Metal and glass ex-
pand when heated and contract when
cooled at different rates, so that after
sealing and cooling, Inevitable separa-
tion occurs. The one notable excep-
tion has been platinum, which expands
at very nearly the same rate as glass
and has, therefore, been highly prized
in the making of vacuum bulbs where
electric current must be led into the
bulb and the vacuum kept perfect and
free from leaks. But platinum is much
more costly than gold and so the elec-
trical engineers have found a way by
which copper may be sealed so closely
to glass that a vacuum may be maine
tained. If the metal is flattened out
into a very thin sheet with a knife-
like edge the thing can be done. This
is because the stresses which the joint
may have to endure are in proportion
to the thickness of either the copper
or the glass. A thin sharp sheet of
glass may similarly be sealed into a
block of copper. So again has neces-
i sity become the mother of invention.
Census Statistics’ Little Joke
Miss Mary V. Dempsey, junior statis.
tician of the United States census of
1920, who has recently completed her
task, believes that census reports as
made by enumerators over the land are
more comical in some essentials than
the latest joke book. Miss Dempsey
had 250 clerks under her classifying
the reports and found her diversion in
documents that classified “pigs’ feet
singers” under “musicians”; and listed
| among other occupations those of “as-
sembler of gravity”; “philosopher at
home”; “instructor In a school for
brides” (Niagara Falls); “instructor
in a vestibule school” and “laborer in
a hair mine.”
Raggedy Ann’s Funeral
When Raggedy Ann, the pet burre
of Battery F of the Twelfth field ar-
tillery, recently died at Fort Houston,
Tex.. the men gave their mascot ‘a
burial with full military honors. The
pet burro died in a battle against the
pack mules of the battery. The body
of Raggedy Ann was lowered into a
grave on Pershing field as field guns
fired a salute and the busier played
raps. At the grave a headpiece was
erected whereon were engraved testi-
monials of the love and affection
which the members of Battery F* felt
for their pet. A wrcath of alfalfa was
placed beneath it.
Mozart and Others
A certain music composer of much
talent and popularity—we will call
him Jiffers—has a happy appreciation
of his own work, as his friends all
know.
So highly does he estimate Jiffers:
compositions that some of his friends
were much startled the other day
when he said gravely: “Did you ever
notice that the names of all great com-
posers begin with M7?”
“Yes, M,” said the composer. “Mo-
gart, Mendelssohn, Meyerbeer, Mosz-
kowski—and Me!”
Pearls in U. S. Rivers
Through scientific propagation ox
fresh water mussels in the rivers of
America, experts in the United States
bureau of fisheries say it will be pos-
sible in time to make the rivers of the
country yield fabulous harvests in
pearls, Even now pearl fishing is con-
ducted in some rivers of the United
States, and during the last year more
than $15,000,000 worth of pearls were
found in the mussel shells at the bot-
tom of the Mississippi, Black and
White rivers alone,
Some Difficulty
A very stout and portly gentleman
was once asked why he did not play
golf, and this was his reason:
“I did try it once. but I found that
when I put the bail where I could see
it 'I could mot rewch it; and when X
put it where I could reach it I could
not see it.”