rm THE MEYERSDALE COMMERCIAL, MEYERSDALE, PA. Be —————— OPENING THE BIBLE When the President Takes the Qath of Office. NO PLACE FIXED Ii ADVANCE. The Passage of Scripture Upon Which the Chief Executive Presscs His Lips Is Entirely a Matter of Chance—The Bible After the Ceremony. The president before he eu! the execution of his ofiice takes an oaih or affirmation that he “will faith- fully execute die office of presigeat of the United 1 will, to the best of my ability, preserve. protect and | .defead the const (ion of the United i States,” and this call is usually scal- ed or coniirmed by the Kissing of the Bible. The kissing of the Bible as part oi the inauguial ceremony is perhaps iol Jéwinz a very in it custom. lie E finns wil wed tor iba ith Yo. yoveichif i ) sey: y. a avaitie. he custom re Iy after the pros.ded the oath, with haud on the Bille. clerk of the States sup couit shall throw open the book, and the incoming chief magistrate shall im- plaut a kiss on one cf its open pages. Doubting Thomaases have always thought that there was no element of chance in this performance and that the passage of Scripture is carefully selected in advance, and the book is held by the clerk of the court in position so that the incoming chief will kiss the passage that it is intend- ed he shall kiss, but this supposition is entirely wrong. James D. Maher, clerk of the su- preme court, said that the opening of the book is entirely “haphazard” and that no man on earth has the slightest intimation in advance regarding the passage of Scripture that will be thus brought into notice. Usually the Bible that is used in ad- ministering the oath is bought by the clerk of the supreme court and paid for out of his pocket and is a small Oxford edition costing $10 to $15. The United " late James H. McKinney, for many years clerk of the supreme court, once said, “You see, congress expends mon- ey only by appropriation, and if we were to wait for congress to appro- priate the price of the book we might never get a Bible on time.” There have been exceptions, how- ever, when the Bible came from oth- er sources. For instance, when James A. Garfield was inaugurated March 4, 1881, he carried in his overcoat pocket to the capitol a well worn, leather pound volume which had been pre- sented to him by his mother. The book was taken from the White House and in a few years found its way to the stall of a bookseller in San Fran- cisco. How it got there has never been known, nor is it likely it ever vill be. A few years ago it was uf- fered for sale at a very high price. Chester A. Arthur took the oath of office just after midnight at his home th New York city Sept. 20, 1881. The Bible used was one belonging to the then chief justice of thé state of New York. It is cherished by the judge's family as an heirloom. On March 4, 1885, when Grover Cleveland was inaugurated president for the first time, he, like Garfield, kissed the Holy Book which was given £o him by his mother. It was a small volume, bound in red leather, and was presented to him many years before. #T'he book 1s now in the possession of Mr. Cleveland's married gister at To- jedo, O. The Bible upon which he took the oath in 1893, eight years later when he became president the second time, was one presented by -his beau- tiful wife, and she became its pos- Sessor. When Benjamin Harrison was made president March 4, 1889, the Bible used was one that his wife bad given him on the day of thelr marriage in Ox- ford, O., where President Harrison spent ‘his achool days. The" Harrison Bible is owned by Mrs. James R. Mc- Kee, the daughter ¢f ex-President Har- mn. President McKinley used a Bible that fad, heen presented to him by the negro bishops of the country. It was the biggest Bible ever seen at the clerk's office, and Clerk McKinney in relating the incident said: “The day before the inauguration one ‘of the bishops called at my office with the Bible. It was a huge affair of the ype known as family Bibles. It rested -4n an ornate box lined with purple vel- wet and ornamented with ‘gold. The box was fastened by loek and key. “When I rea that it would be my ‘Jot to’ carry that huge Bible from the _genate chamber clear ‘out to the front of the capitol my knees grew wellk gnd I could mot Yefrain from asking the bishop Jjekifgly where the wheel- barrow was that should go with it” The invariable custom is that on the day following the inauguration the clerk of the court takes the Bible to the White House and presents it to the first lady of the land as a keep- gake.—Exchange. Re-enforced ‘Concrete. The ark in which Moses was placed in the bulrushes, we are told in the second chapter of Exodus, was an ark of bulrushes daubed with slime and with pitch. This is probably the first recorded instance of a re-enforced con- crete structure. matters of wnscience first ts a1 natters of pru- best: always | Spanish Dc: loons. | Should oie ind a pirate’s buried { treasure hé would have to dispose o-, Tis Spanish gold at its chien valpe. for singe Aag. 1. 1603, when the com- ! mon crier mdde proclamation from the steps of Lhe Royal Exchange of Lon- don that uiter tiat date ire Coubloon woud ceas2 to be legal cencer, in the Wost Indies, inelnding British Guiana {Le doulloon has not been the precious thing it was. In 1730 and for a cei tury a‘ter it was wor. $3, more or 1 to be coined in its sain. and since 1908 y unpopile i dies, wher a long time it fi fin a mixed cid tion, embracing Brit. e 101 ; ish, United Bt and Spanish coins. | { Ini the interes of rom . however. | { the name at least must survive. It} i signitics nothing maore than that the ! coin was double the value of a pistole. but the "doi * was never such a mouth filling mockery as “pieces ol eight,” which cests great riches. | but means only Spanish silver dollars, pieces equivalent to eight reals.—Roch- ester Post-Express. A Famous Mew York Streot, Av oof Lae Lauasais f poopee who 1 and Jem v early bis u strest. And tt is a bronze tablet which the fallowin: streets eve rigot j tory of Ne at that cor gives in concise forz historical information: Street, Known Originally i as ‘the Street That Runs by the Pye | Woman, Was La :t About 1695 and » Was Named In Honor of the ilouse of | Nassau, Whose Head at That Time | Was William the Third, King of Eng- “Nassau public. Nassau Street Became Identi- fied With the Jewelry Trade More Than Half a Century Ago.” The bronze tablet is on the exterior of the building at the nortawest cor- ner of Nassau and John streets. It was erected by the Maiden Lane His- torieal sccicty in 1916.—New York Sun. William De Morgan. In spite of himself Williom De Mor- gan became famous. He <eliberately violated all the rules made for the guidance of novelists who seek to be- come popular. None of his novels was addressed to the greater public that is avid for the latest thing of the moment in fiction, but nevertheless they reach- ed that public. He was a law unto himself in the novels that he wrote during his marvelous career that span- ned only ten years. It is doubtful if in English literature or in any other can be found a writer whose life and literary career are comparable to his. | He was an old man when the world of ! readers came to know him. and his age | was an asset toward celebrity. At | seventy he was hailed as eagerly as Kipling was hailed at twenty, and in his way he was no less a prodigy than the younger writer.— Bookman. eos msm —————- The Emerald. The emerald has been known since early timer both in Furope and in cer- tain parts of the orient, where its at- tractive color and rarity have. endowed i it with the highest rank and a varied i lore. Its name may be.traced back to an old Persian word which pnpeareC Jn Greek as “smaragdos,” mentioned by Theophrastus over 300 yeays before the Christian era, and again in Latin as “smaragdus,” séen ‘in the writings of Pliny, who particularized somewhat on its properties and supposed me- dicinal virtues and was even shrewd enough to suspect its identity with the much more common beryl, although eighteen centuries elapsed before this suspicion was verified by scientific proof. His Hard Luck: A small boy whose record for de- portment at school had always stood at 100 came home one day. recently with his standing reduced to 98. “what have you been doing, my son?” asked his doting mother. “Been doing?” replied the young hopeful. “Been doing just as I have been doing all along, only the teacher caught me this time.” — Philadelphia Inquirer. Where ls the Profit? “I understand they sold their house for $8,000 more than they pald for it.” “How lucky!” ] ! «lucky nothing! After they'd sold it they discovered that they've got to pay $2,000 more then they received for their house for another home to live in.”—Detroit Free Press. Books In Brszil. In Brazil, as throughout South Amer ica, French is almost universally read. Editions of the classics are found in most homes, and bookstores are filled with modern French writers of prose or verse, Sometimes fh]trénslation and as frequently in the original. . Went Further. «pidn’t I tell you ‘tbat when you met a man in hard luck you ought to greet itm with'a smile?” said the wise and good counselor. “Yes,” replied the flinty souled per son. “I went even further than that. T gave him the grand laugh.” Best Way of Taking Iron. When anemic persons have to take fron the best form in which to admin- ister it is spinach, cabbage, green chic- ory, asparagus, lentils, carrots and peas, all of which contain much iron. About the Same Thing. Scribbler—Can you suggest a simile for giving advice? Scrawler—How would pouring water on a duck’s back Go?— Philadelphia Record. Be —————— A “Sidereal Day.” In answering a COrrespos asked the meaning of the term réal time” the Irish Times that that is the only truly iA Rr, which astronomers and navigalor ‘ A “gidereal day” is the precise time taken by the earth in revolving on its axis and is twenty-three hours, fifty- six minutes and four seconds. Our sundials, however, record & very dit ferent day. If you set up a sundial in a garden and observe when it is noon t and again tomorrow you will find that it a=ceed~ the “sidereal day” by three minutes and fifty-six seconds. The difference is due to the distance that the earth has traveled on its orbit while it has been revolving on its axis. The orbit motion makes it necessary for the earth to turn nearly four min- utes longer in order to bring any place to the same position with regard to the sun that it ad on the previous i day. The Novice’s Mistake. In ‘“Tales of the Flying Service” C. | ¢. Grow tells about a strange entry in the olteinl resort of an o.deer who hac vocently joined the service aud was | sent to pass a seaplane through its test for the English navy. He had to | co up as a passenger with the con- | structor’s pilot and to keep a log of what occurred during the test. This is what he put down: 9:05 a.m. left slip; 9:10 a. m. altimeter shows 200 feet above sea; 9:12 a. m, curious phenomenon. Met a seagull backward!” That meant that the machine, flying land and Stadholder of the Dutch Re- {at the rate of about eighty miles an hour, overtook a seagull—which is not a fast flyer—going at about forty miles an hour, and that up in the air, with- out any background to give a proper sense of direction, the bird looked as if it were flying toward them tail first. Probably the officer knows better now. Teach Children Thrift. We Americans are notoriously the most thriftless of peoples. You have heard how much we throw away. We are too prone to think of thrift as stin. giness. We hate to hear about saving. Dorothy Canfield Fisher in her recent book, “Self Reliance,” gives parents a strong word of warning. She says: ! “Phere is nothing in the fact of being children which need cut off our & ; and daughters from a great deal of &c- curate information and considerable practical experience with the ini outs of wise money spending. there is a great deal in the fact of being Americans which will shut off from such information and ex ence unless parents make a very de mined effort to see that they get proper training, for the whole spirit: the effort.” The City of the Dove. When mighty Amru went to conquer Bgypt he camped on the east bank of the Nile opposite Memphis, that great twenty mile long capital of mud bricks whose western verge was the ps ramids and whose mud brick houses have all vanished. Amru crushed the Egyptizns and came back to get his camp to move over and occupy iiem- phis. A dove had built in the folds near the top of his tent. Blood bathed be disturbed. A mew city started about his tents. It grew northward along the Nile. It is today Cairo. Memph! is only a name. Can You? Here are a few things that you can- not do: You cannot jot‘down the square root of two. You cannot sneeze or yawn with your head under water. You cannot state the number of but- tons on your clothes. You cannot draw an envelope by only looking at the paper in a mirror. You cannot put your left foot and shoulder against a wall and then raise the other foot. And yet you think you are cleveri— London Answers. Theat Was Different. it must have been when there we only Adam and Eve in it! There wi nobody to say nasty things about the Mrs. Tattle—But, then, they had n body to talk about. Mrs. Tittle—We proved since their time.—Exchange. Ahead of the Times. : «The trouble with my boy Josh #8 that he’s always ahead of the times,” remarked Farmer Corntossel. “What has he done?’ / “Went to town to see about a posi tion.“ “He found a strike in progress and joined the strike before he got the job.”—Washington Star. Our Vanishing Forests. busy, chips are flying thick as snow- flakes, and every season thousands ef acres of priceless forests, with their underbrush, soils, springs, climate, scenery and religion, are vanishing away in clouds of smoke.—John Muir. Once Bitten, Etec. “Why did that brilliant woman mar- ry such a stupid man?’ genius.”—Boston Transcript. Preferred Fare. “What is the favorite fare of Wall street bulls and bears?’ “Supposed to be lamb chops.”—Balti more American. Nature knows no pause fn progress and development and attaches he: eurse on all inaction.—Goethe. manner of recording time and is that Amru, the ruthless, would not let her. Mrs. Tittle—What a beautiful wor@ I guess, after all, the world has hve “Because her first husband was a our country and age is against us in. Standard. The ax and the saw are insanely | day In Trying Do not aliew yourself to just drift 5 through life. Set before you an aim, Some real purpose. Cultivate hope and ambition to accomplish something. Do not be contented te let things hap- pen; make things happen. Whatever “your business or occupation alm to ex- cel in it. Financial gain is not all one gets from labor well performed. Your character is elevated and your mind is enlarged, and the satisfaction in hav- ing done well is the most real joy. Don’t be afraid to set your aim high. Gild it with your highest ideals. Let the hope of its attainment nerve your every act. Turn incidents and circum- stances toward the attainment of your aim. If you have no aim you reach nowhere. A life without a purpose is a dreary thing, without real joy. Sup- pose you fail to reach the heights you have set as your standard; you will have gone higher than if you had not striven. You will be more useful, of more worth, than if you had not tried. —Milwauke¢ Journal. An Expert In Motives. Cousin Henry is an expert in mo- tives. If you were reading off a list of "names and overlooked Henry Le wouid understand. exactly the motive that prompted you | to do it. If you don’t think to intro- duce him to the man who is with you! cenume CASTORIA Right now he! flying | is angry because his daughter was not he can see through it. He may have to go back four or five years, but he will make a complete case against you. In less than an hour he will know what your motive was. selected as valedictorian of her class. You may think that the other girl de- served to be selected, but you don't know all that Henry kfows. It is a long story, but he is willing to tell it to you, and after hearing it you will understand the motive—you will un- derstand that it is a case of spite work. —Claude Callan in Fort Worth Star- Telegram. How David Garrick Made His Fortune. If David Garrick had had no more than his salary as an actor he would have had little to leave at his death. He made his fortune as joint proprie- tor, and for a time as sole proprietor, of Drury Lane theater, so that the amount set down to himself as salary was practically nominal. When he re- tired from the stage in 1776 he sold half his share in the theater for £35, 000. He was prebably the only actor who consistently made Shakespeare pay, and, like Shakespeare, he was actor, author and proprietor. It may be recalled that Garrick, who had no enemies outside his own pro- fession, was the grandson of a French- man exiled at the revocation of the edict of Nantes and that his father was a captain in the army.—London Well Balanced Diet. One of the most common faults of the diet is the eating of too much pro- tein foods. In excess this is hard for the body to excrete and is likely to de- compose in the intestines with the formation of poisonous waste products. Green vegetables and raw fruit are important elewents of the diet. There is little enerey in these foods, but they supply mineral salts which the body needs and curious substances called vitamins, which are easily destroyed by cooking. One food expert has suggested a rule for securing a well balanced diet. It is: An ordinary family should spend about as much for milk, vegetables and fruits as for meats, fish and eggs and as much for milk and eggs as for meat and fish. Follies of Science. THe history of science has seven problems which men in all ages more or lesg have tried to solve, but which have finally been given up by all. To- day they are called follies. The usual list comprises the follow- ing: First, squaring the circle; second, duplication of the cube; third, trisec- tion of an angle; fourth, perpetual mo- tion; fifth, transmutation of metals; sixth, fixation of mercury; seventh, elixir of life. Some lists put the phi- losopher’s stone for the last three and then add astrology and magic to make the seven. Toe Much For Him. “I thought he was going to marry that girl?” ol “Well, he did think of it. But it seems. when he called the other night she threw him down.” “Well, if she’s .as good as that at wrestling I don’t blame him for quit- ting.”—St. Louis Post-Dispateh. ‘Not That Bill «f can’t tell a canyasback duck from a barnyard specimen.” “Experts say you can “How se? The bill for one is al- ways as high as the bill for the other. That's what’ I'm Kicking about.”— Courier-Journal. tell dy the Just’ a Chanss in Words. Youmg Clerk—Do you like to stand fn front of the store and see the crowds go by? Old Merchant—No, but I like to stand In the back of our store and see the crowds come buy.—Exchange. A Sticker. Howell—Rowell is a man of tenacity. Powell—Yes. If he werea dog and got | a grip on your trousers you would be perfectly safe in ordering a new pair. Pistols. Pistols were invented at Pistoja, Italy, and were first used by English cavalrymen in 1544. Gold, like the sun, which melts wax and hardens clay, expands great souls and contracts bad hearts.—Rivarol. _— He would know | The ind Yon Have Always Bought, and which has been for over 30 Years, has borne the signature of = and has been made under his per= sonal supervision since its infancy. Allow no one to deceive you in this. jtations and ¢¢ Just-as-good *’ are but .i:le wich and endanger the health of ron—Ixperience against Experiment is CASTORIA Jarmless substitute for Castor Cu, Pare= and Soothing Syrups. Ig is pleasant. It ncither Opium, Morphine nor otlicr Narecotie ee. its age is its guarantee. It destroys Worms and ailays Feverishness. For more than thirty years it Tas heen in constant ase for the relief of Constipation, yay * i. Ty Te ima 2CC. 1 { ¥ MN, Ye TIE . - g : » i It regulates thie Stomada Dowels, » assipilnies the #eod, giving healthy and ©» al sleep. | The Children’s Panacea The Iiother’s Fricnd. 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An [llustrated Book. : fr Hd - way ‘to ‘Roll ‘Your Gwan” - | oma Address Bull” Durham, Dx Cc _ ‘THE AMERICAN TOBACCO 08. yw | y O38 ~ . : Prompt Plumbing Service i The time that good plumbing egquip- i ment is most appreciated is usually when il the equipment is temporarily outof order. Then we see how necessary good plumbing is. _ “Then you want a plumber and want him quickly. For prompt service and quality fix- tures, the “Standard” make, call on us. BAER & CO. Meyersdale PA. © Children Ory Children Ory FOR FLETCHER'S FOR FL : CASTORIA CASTORIA
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers