Bellefonte, Pa, November 4, 1927.
Literature of China
Preserved in Memory
Che Hwang-ti, emperor of China,
#26-221 B. C. evidently was a man
with opinions of his own plus an ex-
aggerated reverence for “the good old
times.” He issued an edict that all
hooks on the realm were to be burned
excepting those treating of medicine,
divination and husbandry. This in-
cluded all the writings of Confucius.
It was further ordered that anyone
who mentioned the Book of History or
fhe Book of Odes (the Chinese
¢lassics) should be put to death. -
This is sald to have been the most
drastic and comprehensive suppression
of a literature. While the destruction
‘of books was enormous, a few copies
of the most treasured volumes were
preserved. According to one tradition,
however, a large number of works
Were saved only through the mar-
‘velous memories of public reciters,
Even today it is said that if the same
literary tragedy should be enacted,
thousands of Chinese could be found
‘Who could rewrite from memory not
{only the text, but commentaries of
‘thelr nine classical works.
Pragon-Fly a Marvel
of the Insect World
The dragon fly is not one of those
Ings who have eyes and see not.
When this insect looks at you he seer
u well—71,000 of you.
! This most wonderful organ of vision,
|though no larger than a pin’s head,
has facets upon the lens of the eye
iand these facets have been counted as
{high as 17,000, each one more perfect ]
‘than any side of a diamond fashioned
'by the hand of man.
The dragon-fly usually is found nem
(water, probably the stream whence it
{first emerged, says London Tit-Bits.
Its wings, which are of the most ex-
'quisite and transparent gauze, move
(with incredible rapidity. It is the
{swallow among insects, and so swift
1s its flight, and so keen its vision,
ithat it will recognize, follow, and
catch on the wing the tiniest prey.
it can fly backwards or forwards, ana
qurn at a right angle at top speed.
Like the swallow, too, its flight seems
|Siveless, and it is seldom seen to
alight,
English Methuselah
Methuselah is reputed to have lived
to be nine hundred and sixty-nine
jyears old but there are no documental
instances as remarkable as that. Aec-
jcording to the parish register of St.
Leonard's, Shoreditch, England, the
gldest man of modern times was
Thomas Carn, who was born in 1381,
outlived many Sovereigns and died in
‘Queen Elizabeth's reign in 1588. In
'1724 Petrarch Czartan died at the re-
puted age of one hundred and eighty-
five, while Henry Jenkins, who re.
membered going as a boy of twelve
with a load of arrows to be used in
the battle of Flodden Fleld, died in
‘England in 1670 when he was one
hundred and sixty-nine years old.
Jonas Surington of Bergen, Norway,
«lived to be one hundred and fifty-
nine. Perhaps the oldest man living
48 Zoro Agha, a Kurd by birth, and a
iporter in Constantinpole since about
1800. He has been a widower four
times, can cite unimpeachable rec-
ords to show that he was one hundred
and fifty on his last birthday anni-
versary.—Kansas City Times,
eee ere
Poor Spelling Common
Poor handwriting and incorrect
spelling are faults not confined to the
Poor and ill-educated, asserts Will
West in Liberty. “As for styles of
writing, I'd say that bad handwriting,
‘like Chanel blue and reptile leathers,
18 very good this year, The better the
financial circumstances of the writer,
the worse, it seems, is the scrawl.
“Spelling—Ilet’s be kind,” the writer
continues, “but even the ‘grand dame’
stoops to ‘payed’ for ‘paid.’ ‘Arctics’
are almost invariably ‘artics,’ while
for ‘leggings’ the more Chaucerian
‘legging’ is usual. With ‘hats’ and
‘shoes’ and similar monosyllables
most women do well, but ‘sequins’ be-
come ‘sequences’ and ‘suede’ is repro-
duced as ‘swede.’ ”
5 She Should Know
Responding to an invitation to see
4he school principal and talk over the
question of her boy's transfer to a
School better suited to his sluggish
‘mentality an indignant mother ap-
‘peared with her unpromising off-
Spring.
' *P'm Mrs, Blank,” she snapped out
in fcy tones; “do I look feeble
minded?”
Never pausing for a reply, she con
dnued: ;
“This is my son Arthur; does he
fook feeble-minded? They say ' his
brain is three years behind his body.
I'm his mother, and he was all born
at one time!”
Vegetable Maturity
According to a publication issued by’
the Department of Agriculture, it re-
quires from 60 to 80 days for beets
to mature, from 70 to 100 days for car-
rots, 20 to 140 for radishes, 125 to 160
for parsnips, 130 to 150 for onions
grown from seed and 60 to 120 for
onions grown from sets, 100 to 140 for
peppers, 80 to 125 for tomatoes, 60 to
90 for lettuce, 40 to 80 for peas, 100 to
120 for watermelons and 120 to 150
for celery.
Formative Years May
Have “Made” Carlyle
One of the many great men of the
Victorian age was Thomas Carlyle.
He exerted a powerful influence over
his own age and molded the thought
“of his times as few writers have done.
‘He was a stimulating thinker, a bit-
ter critic of the materialism that has |
been so insidious an evil to every
generation.
He was born December 4, 1795, in
Ecclefechan, Scotland. His father
wus exceedingly stern and Thomas
childhood was, as he afterward re
marked, wholesome rather than joy
ous. He attended the village schools.
which he disliked intensely, ano
served as teacher. He saved aboui
$450, but with the frugality that life
had taught him, he walked to Kdin
burgh to continue his studies.
He stayed there three years, at.
Sending lectures at the university and
paying his expenses by tutoring. He
was not a sociable youth and he
made few friends, but at Kirkcaldy.
where he obtained a position as teach
er, he became intimate with Edward
Irving, a schoolmaster three years
older than Carlyle. This friendship
proved of inestimable importance to
Carlyle. Irving did more to rouse
him to think and to think hard than
any man he had met. In these forma
tive years Carlyle struggled against
despair. He never was physically
well and the illness that afflicted him
in later years was already making
him despondent, yet he persisted and
became recognized as one of the great
men of the age.—Kansas City Times.
Seafaring Men Long
Clung to Sea Serpen:
Since the days of the first seafarers
#ho peopled the ocean with mer
maids and mermen—as well as
with awful monsters, the beliet in
Sea serpents and similar marine won
ders has been firmly held by many
mariners.
im modern times sea serpents’ wer
reported to have been seen along the
coast of the United States and Can
ada in 1806, 1816, 1844 and 1846, and
in the latter years similar creatures
were reported to be prevalent along
the Norwegian coast. .
The first case which gained any cre
dence among scientific men, however.
was the report of Captain McQuhas
of the British navy, commander oft
the warship Daddalus, who declared
that on August 6, 1848, while en route
from the Cape of Good Hope to St.
Helena, he and his men saw a strange
monster of great size, having many
characteristics of the sea serpent of
the popular imagination. After long
discussion, however, the scientific
world decided that the “serpent” was
a species of seal inhabiting the South
seas.
Strawberry Tree
Apart from naturalists and botan
ists there are probably few people
who are aware of the existence of the
strawberry tree. as distinet from the
strawberry plant.
fet there is such a tree. It usually
oars flowers about the end of Sep-
tember or beginning of October, and
along with the flowers are found the
fruits of the previous year.
The fruit is a large orange-rea
oerry, closely resembling the straw
berry; hence the name of the tree.
The strawberry tree is not a native
of England, and in this country is se!
dom found outside parks and gar
dens, but in Ireland fit is frequently
found growing wild, especially in the
neighborhood of Killarney.
Nelson’s Column
The Nelson column in Trafalgar
square, London, cost the comparative
ly small sum of £28,000, including the
statue, but excluding Landseer’s four
lions, which were not added until
1868, nearly twenty-five years after
the completion of the memorial itself
This long delay in the delivery of the
Hons sorely tried the public's patience.
and when they were eventually forth
coming opinion was by no means unani
mous concerning their artistic merit.
Many cruel jests were uttered at their
expense, one heing that the old lion
on top of Northumberland house re.
fused to acknowledge them as breth
ren.
Reason and Instinct
The amount of conscious reason
that an ordinary man uses in his life
compared with the great unreason o
blind impulse and inborn tendency
that impel him. is like his artificial
light compared with the light of day
—indispensable on special occasions,
but a feeble matter, after all. Reason
is an artificial light in the sense that
it is not one with the light of nature
and in the sense that men possess it
in varying degrees. The lower ani
mals have only a gleam of it now and
then. They are wise as the plants
and trees are wise, and are guided
by their inborn tendencies.—John
Burroughs.
Predicts Earth Will Stop
+f the earth continues to slow up in
its rotation, Doctor Crommelin, Kng.
lish astronomer, says it will cease to
rotate in a “few millions of years,”
owing to the friction of the tides, ac-
cording to Capper’s Weekly. When
that happens one-half of the world
will be in sunshine and the other halt
in perpetual darkness—anything bu:
a pleasant situation. But that needn't
bother us now. Besides, there is a
bare possibility the doctor may be jg
few million years off in his calcula
tions.
to rest in
Pine Dresser Finally :
. Got Back to America
There is no telling how much an an.
ique plece may travel before it comes
0 e hands of an apprecl
ative collector or a museum, Recent.
ly a pine dresser was imported from
England with some English furniture,
The dresser stuck out like a sore
thumb among the English pieces, and
the dealer quickly spotted it. The
wood, the hardware, the workman.
ship, the style, all proclaimed it Amep
fcan. A wealthy collector purchased
it and then set out to find how the
| dresser had ever strayed from the
shores of America. He discovered.
after lengthy correspondence, that an
American family had gone to England
about 1875, taking considerable fur.
niture with them, -among which were
several pieces which had been handed
down from generation to generation,
and the pine dresser was one of those
pieces. Now it has an honored place
in the collection, and may finally be
returned to the descendants of the
original owners, who are residing in
a Middle Western city.—From the Ap-
tiquarian.
Dogs Lived Eight Days
Without Food or Water
The tenacity of animal life is an in.
teresting subject if it is tested by ac-
cident and not by design; and it has
had a test by accident in Wales,
Two dogs, a sheep-dog and a span-
fel, which had succumbed to the
temptation of rabbit hunting, were
missed for nearly nine days.
Then a little girl, hearing curious
sounds underground in a lonely place,
brought a party of rescuers to the
spot, and the dogs were dug out of
a rabbit hole from which they had
been unable to extricate themselves,
They must have been without food
and water for eight and a half days
yet they seemed little the worse.
Evidently the dog has lost, if it
ever had, the instinct of burrowing
toward the open air, which the under
ground animal possesses. x
Many Tomato Varieties
The ground cherry, musk tomato,
strawberry. tomato or winter cherry
grows wild in the Mississippi valley
and In other parts of the world and is
a member of the tomato family, It is
known ag the blue tomato by truck
gardeners, It grows in a small husk
which if left on will preserve the to-
mato through the winter. Although
this tiny vegetable, which is only a
little larger than a small cherry, may
be eaten raw, it is at its best when
preserved. This is only one of the
fifty-odd varieties of tomatoes. There
are red tomatoes, white tomatoes,
blue tomatoes and yellow tomatoes of
every imaginable size and shape. Be-
cause of their shapes, there are to-
matoes that are known as the pear
tomato, the peach tomato, the cherry
tomato, the plum tomato, the grape
tomato and the currant tomato.
Water Power Long in Use
The oldest water power gite in
America, more than 100 years old, is
on the Piscatauqua river at South
Berwick, Maine. Tt was established
on the site of the present Burleigh
blanket mills in 1620 by Ferdinando
Gorges, who obtained a grant from
the English crown giving him the
right to settle and develop the terri
tory from sea to sea lying between
fortieth and forty-eighth parallels
north latitude. The grant, however,
required him to develop water power,
and accordingly he constructed a log
dam, erected a grist mill and sent the
meal to England as preof that the
terms of the charter were being lived
up to. The water power site has been
in continuous use ever since,
Had Odd Accomplishment
Earl Russell has this anecdote in
his book, “My Life and Reminis.
censes” :
‘My grandmother, Lady John Rus-
sell, was a great favorite with Queen
Victoria throughout her life, Not
alone, of course, because she had the
peculiar and unusual capacity of wag-
ging her ears like a dog. But this
accomplishment intrigued the queen
and she suddenly called on Lady John
to show it off to an ambassador. My
grandmother was so taken back that
she lost for a long time the power to
move either ear, and only utimately
regained her power to move one,
which she occasionally did for my edi-
fication.”
Presumptuous
4 newly rich man once invited Beay
Brummell, the famous fop, to dinner,
and asked him to name his own party.
He accepted, and chose to the number
of eleven, including himself,
“That,” said his host, “will make
just an even number.”
“An even number?” queried the
beau. “How is that?”
“Your friends, ten: yourself and
myself—twelve in all.”
“Good gad!” sald Brummell, affect.
ing surprise. “You surely don’t mean
you are going to be one of the party!”
Hottest Spot on Earth
The latest official records show that
the hottest spot on earth is at Azizia
in northern Africa, It is on a plain
almost equivalent to ga desert. The
thermometer at Azizia has gone to
138.4 degrees in the shade, The aver.
age temperature during the whole
year is more than 70, Previously the
hottest known spo! was at Greenlang
ranch on the edge of Death valley,
Calif. The highest temperature re-
corded there was 134 degrees,
'his works. At the
{ings as stripes or dots,
Pond Recalls Many wa
Memories of Thoreau
For some two years and three
months Thoreau lived beside Walden
pond, and “Walden” is probably the
best known and most characteristic of
time the era of
snobbery in nomenclature began ia
Massachusetts and turned $0 many good
old ponds into “lakes,” Walden pond
was duly made “Lake” Walden. It
is about a mile south of Concord and
must look as Thoreau used to see it,
the New York Times tells us,
The scenery of Walden is on a hum-
ble scale, and, although very beauti-
ful, does net approach to grandeur,
nor can it much concern one who has
not long frequented it or lived by its
shore; yet this pond is so remarkable
for its depth and purity as to merit a
particular description. It Is a clear
and deep green well, half a mile long
and a mile and three-quarters in cir-
cumference, and contains about 6114
of pine and oak woods, without any
visible inlet or outlet except by the
clouds and evaporation, The surround-
ing hills rise woruptly from the water
to the height of 40 to 80 feet, though
on the southeast and east they attain
to about 150 feet respectively within
a quarter and a third of a mile. They
are exclusively woodland,
Bees Proved to Have
Keen Sense of Color
flowers attract insects by both color
and odor, while form, and such mark-
also help to
guide the visitors, in the opinion of in-
vestigators for the Carnegie institute,
who have conducted a series of tests
at the Pike's Peak laboratory for nine
years, They discovered that blue is
the most popular color among bees and
other insects, red the least. Even
when blue flowers were turned upside
down, the bees eagerly sought them.
Many bumble bees were baffled by the
new position and found difficulty in
mastering the problem of sipping nec-
tar from the inverted blossoms, Bees
showed evidence of the best memory,
recalling places, odors, shapes and col-
ors and knowing the time of day when
the nectar flows, They never touched
orange lotus blossoms, seeming to
realize that the nectar stopped flowing
after the flower had changed from yel-
dow to orange. Fragrance attracted in-
sects of various kinds from a distance,
but color only. within a radius of about
thirty feet.—Popular Mechanics Maga-
zine,
—
Judicial Sarcasm
One of the best bits of judicial sar
casm on record was presented by the
late Judge K. M, Wanamaker of the
Ohio Supreme court, who differed with
his colleagues in a revolver case. He
declared that if it is a crime for resi.
dents to have weapons in their homes,
then a large percentage of the people
of the state are criminals,
“The only safe course for them to
pursue,” he said, “is to hang the re-
volver on the wall and put below it a
large placard with these words in-
scribed ;
“ “The Ohio Supreme court having
decided that it is g crime to carry a
one’s home, even in one's bed or bunk,
this weapon is hung upon the wall thas
You may see it, and before You commit
any burglary or assault, please, Mr.
Burglar, hand me my gun.”
——— ee
Sincerity Is Invaluable
Sincerity is the foundation. With-
out this rare but basic element, al! that
follows will be insecure. Emerson
once said, “What you are Speaks so
loud, I cannot hear what you say.”
One of the prophets said, “The show
of their countenance maketh them
known.” A man’s real self rings out
in his voice, peers out through his
eyes, and stamps itself upon his face,
bearing, attitude and all that he does
and says. Value sincerity. You may
not conform to the ideas of others, but
whatever set principles you select as
your invisible code, be trwe to them,
believe in them and exemplify them, —
Psychology Magazine,
Work With Hands and Feet
Craftsmen who fashion trinkets
with their hands and feet stil thrive
in and around the Great Bazar, a little,
tomblike city of its own on one of the
seven hills of Stamboul, Turkey. Cop-
per and iron smiths hammer out their
wares in small recesses along the miles
of arcades in the great, irregular stone
building that is dark, smelly and dusty
with the dust of centuries. Wood-
workers in booths around this building
use a bare foot and one hand to hold
their cutting chisel in turning objects
on small lathes,
Anxious Seat
“Old Lem Sawyer is in a heck of a
fix.”
“How 80?”
“Well, he managed to marry a wid-
acr lady, and has just found out that
her first husband was a gent he had
helped to lynch about two months ago,
He ain't discovered yet whether she
don't know it or just natcherly mar-
rted him out of revenge. But, either
way, he is expecting something to hap-
pen any minute.”—Los Angeles Times,
———
Good in Introspection
This world would be a paradise
it every man were as good as he ex-
pects his neighbor to be. The trouble
is we see the faults of others quicker
than we see our own. Introspection
is more profitable than inspection.—
Grit,
Earth’s Surface Neve
acres; a perennial spring in the midst
concealed weapon on one's person, in.
Quite Without Motion
No portion of the earth's surface is
ever at rest, though all but the great
movements of earthquakes escaped at-
tention until recent years. The minute
vibrations are followed by J, J. Shaw
in Nature as an unending train of
waves, waxing and waning In ampli.
tude, that are unceasingly coursing
along the earth’s crust and reach to |
unknown depths. The wave period
ranges between 4 and 8 seconds; the
amplitude is between one 50,000th and
one 2,000th of an inch, but with a wave
length of 8 to 16 miles. ‘The speed of
the waves is believed to be about two
miles per second. Such local causes as
air tremors and the swaying of build-
ings and trees were formerly sug-
gested, but it is now known that they
are wide-spreading earth movements,
Earthquakes are easily followed on the
recording apparatus by the primary
and secondary phases and the long
waves rising to a maximum. "The mi-
nor movements—microseisms—are not
easily separated from one another, and
there has been mo means of studying
their propagation. But recently ecer-
tain tremors have been traced on re-
cording instruments 60 feet apart. Con-
tinuing the investigation, the range has
been extended to two miles, and it has
been made practicable to pick out indi-
vidual tremors on the two sets of rec-
ords. One result is the showing that
the travel of the microseisms is inde-
pendent of wind and weather, though
the source and cause of the move-
ments are still a mystery.
Vultures Do Work of
Scavengers in India
In my travels in India, writes a cor:
respondent, 1 was in the vicinity of
the Massacre Ghat, of evil repute in
the Mutiny of 1857, and saw a vulture
over the Ganges. This Scavenger bird
was apparently on the surface of the
water, and was flapping its wings, for
all the world as if a small crocodile
had gripped its talons and was trying
to drag it under. Then I observed a
white object come to the surface mo-
mentarily and bob under again. My in-
terest was aroused at the strange pro-
ceedings which followed. The vulture
flapped its wings as the weight of the
flotsam told on its strength, Again
the white broke the surface and as
It did so the huge bird, with fully
opened wing, appeared to be using
itself in the manner of a sail, and,
with the help of the breeze, which
was blowing, stirred its prey out of
the mid-stream, flopping every now
and then, till at last it ran the white
object right up on a gently sloping
shelf of sand on the near bank. By
this time the air was thick with birds,
and no sooner had the vulture in ques-
tion beached his capture than a cluster
of like birds swooped down, and the
whole commenced an orgy of feasting
and fighting. The next day a human
skeleton remained.
Unique Telephone Use
Surgeons have discovered that by
means of a telephone and an induction
balance particles of metal lodged in
human flesh can be detected instantly.
Thus the surgeon knows exactly where
to begin work without having to take
a “picture” in many cases.
For example, if one is so unfortunate
as to have a particle of iron lodged in
the tip of one of his fingers and is un-
certain whether it had been removed,
these appliances would locate it quite
easily. »
First the patient is asked to place
ais fingers, one after another, on the
balance. The moment the injured one
comes In contact with the device the
telephone proclaims the presence of
any metal in the finger, if by chance
any metal had been left,
Yodeling Swiss Custom
for more than a century Tyrolese
yodelers have been heard on the con-
cert and vaudeville stage of Europe
and America. The first Tyrolese to
popularize the yodel in the theater
made a fortune in England by so doing
and, returning to his native land, pur-
chased a castle and retired In wealth,
This form of vocalization was per-
fected at family concerts organized to
while away the long winter evenings
in the couniry. It thus became the
custom for groups of brothers and sis-
ters who were especlally noted in thelr
own valley to go together upon the
concert stage in family groups.--Na-
tional Geographic Society Bulletin,
Strictly Business
Masters was the meanest man that
ever lived and had never been known
to give anything away. He either sold
it or arranged an exchange,
“You've got a very bad cold,” he re
marked to a friend one day,
“The worst I ever had,” wheezed the
other,
“Well,” said Masters, *I know a
thing that will cure it in three days.”
“I'd be very grateful if you'll tell me
what it is,” cried his friend, 4
“Grateful!” snapped Masters, ana
nis eyes narrowed. “I'll tell you if you
know what'll drive away these warts
on my Rft hand.”
New Era
A friend asked Chauncey M. Depew
what he thought of women solons, As
usual, Depew was not at a loss for a
diplomatic answer,
“Well,” he said with a chuckle, “Y
Suppose the day may come when aif
the congressmen will be ladies, And
when that time comes, I expect we'll
have to call it “The house of Miss Rep-
resentatives.” ”
RE AE TE
RG, Seg
Weird and Wondertu:
Biskra Girls’ Dances
In Biskra one hears the sound of
the African tom-toms and the playing
of pipes, the tapping of the drums, ali
night long, writes Lillian Genth, fa
the American Art Magazine. The
street of the Ouled Nails is not only
the most Interesting street In Biskra
but the most interesting street I have
ever seen in my life. The green over-
hanging balconies, the many notes of
color in the dresses of the girls, the
gleam of the golg coins on their bodies
and the clank of their anklets and
bracelets as they walk down the Stree
make a barbaric spectacle,
At night when the girls have their
dances in the little coffee houses in
the street of the Ouled Nails, it is a
most interesting sight. Every one
Seems absorbed in the dance, The at-
tendants and the audience sit around
in a ring on their haunches. sipping
mint tea and coffee, calling to the
girls and dancers who sit on a plas-
form before you,
Each awaits her turn to coma down
to her dance with the confidence of a
prima donna on the opera stage. The
dance is very wonderful. First the
gyrations of the neck, the rest of the
body held absolutely rigid. Then the
quivering of the shoulders with the
rest of the body rigid. The hum and
the din of the little cafes become very
exciting. These Ouled Nails dancers,
daughters of the Nile, are often muyr-
dered for their gold.
Conceit and- Timidity
Bars to Advancement
Henry Ward Beecher once called
conceit “the most incurable disease
known to the human soul,”
Conceit, however, is not to be con-
‘used with pride, self-respect or self.
confidence. There is merit in these
qualities and many a man of limited
abilities has stamped and pounded his
way to the seats of the mighty.
But the conceited man moves fin
quite a different realm. His is simply
an unreasoning, unfounded opinion of
his own importance, He is a giant In
a world of pygmies.
Many men fail because of timidity
and modesty. They secretly tell them-
selves that they don't amount to
much, that they are mediocre and that
nobody is interested in their words or
deeds. They slink into the hidden ra-
cesses of obscurity of complete fafl-
ure,
There Is a sane middle ground upon
which those who get anywhere worth
while in life must ever stand. Neither
conceit nor timidity will carry anyone
very far.
Honesty is the best policy even in
appraising one’s own talents.—Thrift
Magazine.
Berlin’s Many Mills
1'he Berliner on the whole knows
little about his drinking water except
that it ranks among the best and
purest of any capital. Most people
living there think it is taken from the
many lakes surrounding Berlin, But
this is not the case. With the excep-
tion of 3 per cent, writes a Christian
Science Monitor correspondent, the
eitire water supply of Berlin is ob-
tained from wells, some reach as far
down into the earth as 100 meters.
The consumption of water in the
Summer reaches 500,000 cubic meters
daily, but the water works are capable
of supplying even more than that—
namely, 740,000 cubic meters daily, go
that an emergency can easily be met.
Next year they will even be in a posi-
tion te produce 800,000 cubic meters
daily. :
Books Must Have Air
Recent tests by the United States
bureau of chemistry analyzing a large
number of worn leather bookbind-
ings, show that leather books need
pure air and deteriorate when ex-
posed to harmful sulphurous and acid-
ic impurities. Backs of leather books
deteriorate quicker than the sides
because ordinarily they are more ex.
posed to light and impure alr, the
tests reveal. To prolong the life of
treasured leather bindings, steps
should be taken to prevent thelr
deterioration through the absorption
of atmospheric impurities, the bureau
advises. Certain coatings and fin-
ishes, notably neat’s foot and castor
oil, are stated to be excellent for the
purpose.
Hard to Duplicate
# a Colorado town was a man too
poor, to indulge in any luxuries other
than a superabundance . of children,
After the coming of a number of sin-
gles and doubles a loving but unrea-
sonable wife presented him with trip-
lets—three girls—and he sought for
some family to adopt them.
A neighbor was rather inclined to
take them, but his good wife thought
one would perhaps be enough. They
were talking it over before their t-
tle daughter, who said: “Why don't
we take one of them—or don't they
want to break the set?”
Inexcusable Mistake
There is a delightful old Irish wom-
an who keeps a corner fruit stand in
a Western town, One day a gentle-
man disposed to be facetious took up
a fine melon from her stall, and said
gravely: “You have pretty good ap-
ples in this state; but where I come
from we have them twice that size.”
The old lady looked up from her
stool, surveyed the joker coolly and
replied in a tone of pity: “Ah, what
for should I be wastin’ me breath to
talk to wan that takes our gooseber-
vles for apples!”