The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, November 10, 1909, Image 2

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    THE CULTU11K-CIUZED.
We are raad for cultivntion
Ami refininz information.
re drinking pretty deeply at tie
pure Pierian streams,
Whether eagerly or dourly,
We're absorliinii culture hourly.
I we're Retting quite conversant with
quantity ot themes,
cnonus.
Oh, we're brenkfastinfr on Ilegel and we
dine on Socrates,
,W ftrre Professor James and Kant at all
onr formal teas,
And we spend a half an hour
Ciuncing over bchopenhauer,
Koting Nietzsche's Will to
his subtler theories.
Power,"
f Criticizing Aristotle,
' Mrs. Wharton, Emory Pottle,
Is enr favorite avocation, and we're able to
indite
Themes on Arnold versus Pater,
Demonstrating which is greater,
Or u write a dissertation on the fossil
trilobite.
cnonus.
Oh, it'i eulogize Beethoven, ahow the In
wardness of Liszt,
Take little whack at Wairner, and show
where Verdi missed.
Do not ask why that sonata
fwnnds like Lewis Carroll's hatter,
(After all, it doesn't matter).
IvVhst's the next thing on the list?
When it comes to Botticelli
We are very sure to tell "he
Vas affected quite profoundly by the early
Renaissance."
And we like ). G. Rossetti,
For we never can forget he
Baa produced his soulful shadings with the
most minute nuance.
cnoitcs. '
Oh, H't pass nloTig the Hauptmann and it's
rush that Maeterlinck.
Condemn 1'inero, Shaw and Wilde don't
try to stop and think.
At the sea of cultivation
And of thousht-assimilation
1 There's no time for rumination
Hot for trembling at the brink.
Irene Louise Hunter, in Saturday Even
ing Post.
DOCTOR HA'AM PISE.
0
1
There are Isolated rural districts
tn the West in which the vdoctorin' "
b largely in the hands of old women
Who, by virtue of their years, are sup
posed to be possessed of some occult
yower of healing. They are sup
posed to have secret knowledge of
Where certain rare "yarbs" grow and
tf how to compound these "yarbs"
Into medicine. These old women are
versed in nil kinds of signs, and of
some of Uiem St is believed that they
can charm away disease without the
se of medicine.
The writer remembers one of these
Id women who lived in the West a
rood many years ago. A higher de
cree of intelligence has been devel
oped in that part of the State, and
consequently Ma'am Pike, as she was
called, had fallen a good deal into
disfavor. This had not sweetened
er temper, and she was very severe
n the regular and really Intelligent
physicians who had moved into her
Malm from the East.
"What do them young snipes know
bout med'clne?" Ma'am Pike would
ay, scornfully. "I was healin' sick
folks 'fore they was born. I kin learn
fern more 'bout ourin' the sick than
they ever heerd in all their fine
chools. Folks 'rennd here had bet
ter look out how they take up with
leb ignerant young things as them
r they'll have fun'rais to pay fer."
It was a marvel that there were
not more funerals resulting from
Ma'am Pike's methods of healing the
. lck. Nothing but naturally strong
constitutions and. the healthfulness of
the climate could have saved some of
her patients after the heroic treat
ment she imposed upon them.
An uncle of mine was one day rid
ing ever the prairie when he came to
the log cabin of an early settler
amed Lewis. Three or four men,
aeighbors and friends of Lewis, were
In the bare little yard in front of the
cabin when my uncle rode up.
"Hello!" said my uncle, In the
asaal salutation of the West. "What's
the matter here?"
"Hi Lewis Is turrible bad off with
a sudden spell of sickness. He was
taken down while he was plowing la
the field. He's in awful mis'ry."
Groans from within the cabin gave
aroof of the sick man's "mis'ry."
"Has he had a doctor or any medi
cine?" "Ma'am Pike is with him now.
the'a bled him and blistered him and
put one of her purgatory poultices
11 over his back, but it hasn't done
SUm any good yet."
My uncle had heard of Ma'am
Pike's "purgatory poultices." In
deed, he had seen and carefully ex
amined one of them, and it was his
conviction that they would never do
any one any good.
No one could determine the exact
Ingredients of one of these poultices,
nt there was something in them that
fairly burned the skin from one's
ody worn for a short time. Poor
Hiram Lewis was writhing and groan
tag .from the effects of one of these
."purgatory poultices" when my uncle
jtmtered the gloomy little cabin.
Ma'am Pike was about to administer
dkalf a teacupful of some greenish
Squid with a vile odor. v
i "What Is that you are giving him?"
ached my uncle.
i "It's somethin' that nobody but me
.knows how to make, an' nobody but
jane knows where the ingrejents of it
air to be found," replied Ma'am Pike.
. The sick man swallowed the green
ish miiture with the utmost difficulty,
land immediately grew worse, which
was not to be wondered at. r
-xe got any black rooster tail
feathers?" asked Ma'am Pike.
"Ho, but we have a black tH6k
rooster," replied the anxious wife ol
the sick man.
"Send out some o yer younglns to
chast it down an' fetch me three or
tour of Its tall feathers."
Several of the numerous Lewis
children ran out to give chase to the
surprised rooster, and he was soon
deprived of a number ot his shining
tail feathers. Ma'am Pike took these
feathers, poured some liquid from a
yellow glass bottle over them, mut
tered some Jargon, and calling for a
fire shovel with some hot coals on it,
burned the feathers under the sick
man's nose.
"I think that'll fetch him "round
all right," she said. "If it don't, we'll
bleed him a leetle more an' put a cou
ple o' blisters on the soles of his feet.
There! See that man rldln' by on a
white hoss? That's a sure sign he'll
git well. I never knowed It to fall.
A stranger rldln' by a house on a
white hoss Is a sure sign that the sick
man will git well. It It was a black
hoss, it'd mean that nothln' could
save the sick person."
The sick man's sufferings seemed
to Increase, whereupon Ma'am Pike
ordered his feet soaked in water "as
nigh b'llin' hot" as he could stand It.
While this was being done she took
a tin box from her satchel. This box
contained a blue salve. Spreading
this salve thickly on a strip of cloth
Ma'am Pike wrapped it around the
patient's neck, saying as she did so:
"That'll be good fer him, no mat
ter where the pain is. I guess he bet
ter take this internal. It won't do
him no harm, anyhow."
She brought forth a brown pill al
most as largo as a marble. It nearly
choked the patient, and he called
eagerly for water to take away the
"awful taste."
During the next hour Ma'am Pike
administered three more different
kinds of medicine and tried another
"charm." The sick man was now too
much exhausted to do more than ut
ter feeble groans, and his doctor went
away saying that she would return In
the morning and "go at him agin" if
he were not better.
When she had gone my uncle pre
vailed upon the sick man's wife to al
low a new doctor who had recently
moved to a town four miles distant
to be sent for. He was a very intelli
gent young man, who declared that
the man was suffering from nothing
but a sudden attack of colic, which
had been much aggravated by the
medicines Ma'am Pike had given him. j
Ma'am Pike never forgave my un- j
cle for what she called his "meddle- '
someness," and she threatened to
"work a charm" that would blast his
crop3 and bring all sorts of disasters
on bis family. Her efforts were as
unsuccessful as her treatment of her
patients had been, and it was a good
thing for the sick of the neighbor
hood when she concluded to depart to
some locality In which, as Bhe ex
pressed it, "folks wa'n't willln' to
reesk their lives ic the hands of a lot
o' young snipes o' town doctors that
don't know beans when they got their
heads in the bag." Youth's Compan
ion. Mr. Poolcy on tlie Tower of Printers'
Ink.
"Printers' ink! A dhrop Iv it on
v.an littla wurrud In type," says Mr.
Dooley, "will blacken th' fairest name
in Christendom, or make a star to
shine on th' lowest brow. It will find
its way into mlllyons iv homes an'
hearts an' memories; it will go thru
stone walls, an' will carry some mes
sage that may turn th' current iv ivry
life it meets fr'm th' Imperor iv
Chlny to th' baby in th' cradle in
Hannigan's flat," he says.
"It may undo a thous' prayers or
start a miliyon. It can't be escaped.
It could dhrag me out iv me parish
house .to-morrah, an' make me as well
known in Pekin as I am in Halstead
shtreet an' not as fav'rably. To-day
th' Pope may give me no more
thought thin he gives Kelly, th' rowl-lng-mill
man. To-morrah he may be
readin' about how great or bad I am
in th' Popylo Romano. It's got death
beat a mile in lev'lin' ranks.
"Yes, sir," says he; "th" hand that
rocks th' fountain pen is th' hand that
rules th wurruld. Th' press is f'r th'
universe what Mulligan wuz f'r his
beat. He wux the best poleeshman
an' the worst I iver knew. He was a
terror to evildoers whin he wuz sober,
an' a terror to lv'rybody whin he wui
dhrunk.
"Martin, I dhrink to th la-ads all
over th' wurruld who use th' printers'
ink! ! May they not put too much It
th' r-red stuff in It, an' may it nlver
go to their heads."
Advantages of Electric Traction,
Sir W. H. Preece says that one
great . advantage of electric over
steam traction on railroads Is that It
Impresses a continuous and uniform
torque, or turning, on the shaft, while
the action of the steam locomotive Is
intermittent. ' The consequence Is
that wheels driven by an electric mo
tor get a continuous "bite" on the
rails, as Bteam-driven wheels do not.
By means of this constant grip, slip
ping on greasy rails is avoided. It is
also possible, with electric traction,
to apply the maximum torque at once,
and thus to bring a railroad train up
to its greatest speed much more
quickly than is possible with steam
traction. This advantage is especial
ly valuable on city lines, where stop
pages are frequent and distances be
tween stations short.
The Editor is a Busy Man.
J. A. Atwood, of Stlllman Valley,
111., is an editor, undertaker, justice
of the peace, township supervisor,
assessor for thirty .years, president of
the school board and for the last two
years a trustee ot the Geneva Girls'
ic.me.
PELLAGRA.
The Disease That is Now Found in Farts of the South.
From a Bulletin of th. United state. Public Health and Marine Hcxpltal Service
Pellagra has been known to Spain
since 1735 and was first described
by G. Casal, of Ovlendo, who, observ
ing the disease among the Asturian
peasants and finding nothing on the
subject in medical literature, called
It mal de la roBa (from Us character
istic erythema). He regarded it as a
kind of leprosy Later it was ob
served and described under a variety
ot names In Spanish literature.
It seems to have appeared in Italy
about 1750, but was first described
there in 1771, and Frapolli of Milan
first applied the name of pellagra
(Italian, pelle skin, and agra
rough) to the disease. Here, as in
Spain, the disease was described un
der several different names. By 1784
It seems to have become ot such im
portance that a hospital was estab
lished under royal authority for a
study of its nature and the elder
Stramblo was placed in charge. About
1810 Marzarl first called attention to
the relation between maize and pel
lagra, and in 1844 Balardinl first
suggested the theory that the disease
might be due to spoiled maize that
Is, maize which had undergone
change by reason of the growth ot
fungi on the grain.
The disease has been and is a ver
itable scourge to certain parts of Eu
rope. It seems to have followed close
upon the introduction of maize cul
ture from America, first In Spain in
1700, and later In other parts of Eu
rope. The original homes of maize
(American and Asia) have, however,
escaped, probably by reason of cli
mates better adapted to maize cul
ture. The pellagra zone is small
when compared with the area over
which maize is cultivated, yet pella
gra does not occur except where maize
is grown and extensively used as food
by the poorer classes.
Without quoting full data, some
Idea of the extent of the disease may
be gained from the figures which fol
low: Trlller states that there are
(1906) 30,000 pellagrins in Ruman
ia; that in certain parts of Italy as
much as thirty per cent, to fifty
per cent, of the population have the
disease, and that in 1899 there were
nearly 73,000 sick with the disease in
all Italy, this being upward of ten to
the thousand of the rural population,
Tuczek states (1893) that in Spain
two per cent, of the rural population
are affected; that in 1884 there were
10,000 pellagrins in Italian hospitals
and insane asylums. He also says
that about ten per cent, of the pella
grins in Italy are mentally affected.
Sandwith states that he has seen over
500 cases In the five years from 1893
98 In his wards at the Kasr el AIny
Hospital at Cairo. The disease was
not reported in Egypt till 1893.
It Is the accepted opinion of most
students of the disease that pellagra
is an intoxication due to using as
food Indian corn (maize) which un
DEPENDENCE ON VEGETABLES.
Plants Are, at Bottom, the Source of All
Nutrition.
The dislinclion generally drawn be
tween animal and vegetablo food is
apt to blind us to the fact that plants
are, at bottom, the source of all nutri
ment, and that if they were to cease
to grow mankind would starve. Says
a writer In the London Lancet:
"The modern chemist points proud
ly to his synthetic triumphs, but with
all his skill and knowledge he has not
yet succeeded in preparing in practi
cal quantities for his fellow men a
foodstuff from Its elements. The syn
thetic processes ot the plant are so
far inimitable, and the plant Is after
all both the direct and indirect food
of the animal.
"The relations between plants and
animals form a beautiful dispensa
tion, and for the vegetable kingdom
man should hold a deep revreence
and do his best to extend and promote
its faithful offices. Whether his
views are in favor of the exclusive
diet ot vegetables or of a diet con
taining both animal and vegetable
products he owes the vegetable world
more than one debt. He Is at the
mercy of the vegetable for his food,
whether It be animal or vegetable,
and he may be at the mercy of the
vegetable for a supply of oxygen,
without which the vital processes of
his organism could not be sustained.
"It Is thus conceivable that as the
animal kingdom exists only by virtue
of a continual combustion process, in
which air is taken up while carbon
dioxld is liberated, the loss of an
agency which not only removes this
product of respiration but sends back
oxygen in its place would be disas
trous. This agency is, of course, the
plant, and, in short, the animal and
the plant are interdependent on each
other.
"On this llne of reasoning animal
life would be extinguished if vegeta
ble life ceased and vegetable life
would fall if animal products were not
available for Its sustenance.
"This is an Interesting cycle of
events, but the performance of a cycle
implies a force and the motive power
of these alternate and great syntheti
cal and analytical processes is light.
"It ma happen, therefore, that a
horrible struggle for existence be
tween plants and animals might en
sue if for any considerable period the
sun was shut out from the world, for
then this agreeable interchange
der the Influence of unidentified para
sitic growths (fungi) has undergone
certain changes with the production
of one or more toxic substances of a
chemical nature. The relation be
tween Indian corn and pellagra was
noted as long ago as early In the nine
teenth century, and about the middle
of the century Balardinl first put
forward his "verdet" theory already
noted above.
The culture of maize In the United
States has been practiced since before
the discovery of America, and it has
always been a staple article of diet
over a large area of territory, yet,
with the exception of a few sporadlo
cases in Mexico and Central America,
the North American Continent has
been singularly tree from the disease.
This has been attributed by writers
on pellagra to a climate well adapted
to growing maize and probably to
better general hygienic conditions
among the poorer rural classes.
Exclusive of Sherwell's note on a
case of pellagra seen In a sailor
aboard ship in New York In 1902 the
first case of the disease in the United
States was reported by Harris of
Georgia In 1903. He reported one
case presenting the classic symptoms
of the disease and thought It possibly
true pellagra.
Searcy, of Alabama, In 1907 de
scribed an epidemic of pellagra oc
curring In the Mount Vernon Insane
Hospital (for colored insane of Ala
bama), There were eighty-eight
cases and fifty-seven deaths. He
states that a few cases ot such a dis
ease had been noted there as long ago
as 1901, but that their real nature
was unrecognized. He also states
that after attention was called to the
disease some cases were recognized
In the hospital for the Insane at Tus
caloosa. His cases generally ran a more or
less acute course and the mortality
was very high (about sixty-four per
cent.). He with McCafferty and Som
erville, of Alabama, and Dyer, of
New Orleans, regarded the disease
as pellagra.
Since his report Merrill has re
corded a sporadic case in Texas.
More recently in a report made to
the South Carolina Board of Health
by the medical members of the Board
of Regents and the medical staff of
the State Hospital for the Insane
several cases of a similar disease are
described, and the opinion is ex
pressed that while a pellagroid dis
ease Is undoubtedly present in South
Carolina It remains to be proved
whether It Is the true pellagra of the
Old World, the observations being too
few for a final opinion. Marked at
tention is also directed to the fre
quent presence of hook worms. This
report also makes reference to the
report of the Alabama hospitals on
the matter, but I have been unable to
see this.
mutually advantageous exhalation
would cease and with it all life.
"Were those who worshiped the
sun ignorant of these things? or did
they realize that It was the source of
both food and air?"
Nonsense Verses.
A bright boy, four years old, has
an uncle who teaches him "nonsense
verses," not unlike those with which
the late Edward Lear used to amuse
English children. The nephew went
to Sunday-school, and not long ago
his teacher was telling the class about
the busy bees, and asked if any of
the children could tell hor anything
concerning them.
"Waldo can," spoke up the little
fellow.
"Well, Waldo, you may stand In
front and tell us what you know."
And Waldo, rising proudly, steamed
away with these lines:
How doth the little busy bec
Delicht to bark and bite.
To gather honey all the day
And eat it up at night.
Trying to suppress a smile the
teacher asked: "Did your mother
teach you that?"
"No, my Uncle Arthur did."
The Resources of Siberia.
Under Government encouragement
it is said that Siberia is gaining 200,
000 farmers per year. Among its ex
ports are cereals, butter, wool, leath
er and dried and preserved meats.
Already this remote country, which
the popular imagination is apt to pic
ture as a vast waste, the abode of
frost and snow and misery, is becom
ing talked ot as a possible competitor
with the well known cereal producing
countries of the world. A member of
the French Bureau of Foreign Com
merce estimates that, on the basis of
the present population of Russia in
Europe, Siberia can sustain 80,000,
000 Inhabitants, although now it has
not one-tenth of that number. It
produces one-tenth of the world's
yield of gold, but owing to climatic
obstacles many of its mines are not
worked, and its immense coal deposits
have hardly been touched.
A Hoboken man accused ot giving
his wife only $22 in twenty-two years
declared, in Justification, that she bad
never acked for more.
bP o n n
HOW IT HAPPENED.
"Here is a pair of brand new gloves,
eaia my mamma, one day;
I put my fingers in their rooms
And said, "You'll have to stay."
Then I put on my hat and coat
And went out in the park,
And soon my fingers cried, "We won't
Stay shut up in the dark!"
They made some pleasant windows right
At every finger end;
And there were five big, dreadful holes
For my mamma to mend!
Philadelphia Record.
IDEAS OF A GIRL.
I would take a trip over to Asia
and see the Himalaya Mountains, the
highest In the world, It I had $1,000,
000. I then would like to Join a club,
and have a pony and cart, which 1
could use in going to the club. I
would have to buy food for the pony.
I would have a house with about
ten rooms In It, and have It all fur
nished, and all the nice clothes I
wanted.
I then would want to see Pike's
Peak and the Garden of the Gods and
Great Salt Lake and learn how to
swim. They say you can not drown
In Great Salt Lake. I would go South
and see them how they pick the seeds
out of cotton. I would give the rest
of my money to the poor. Dorothy
Wlegand, In the New York Times.
ON SHIPBOARD.
The funniest experience I had was
on a recent trip where there was on
board a little girl of about twelve
years ot age, writes a purser on an
ocean liner in the Tourist Magazine.
She struck up a warm friendship
with me, and would walk the deck
for miles if I would only accompany
her. She fell very ill during a storm
and refused to be comforted. Her
mother asked her If there was any
thing she could do which would ease
her Buffering, and the young imp
(she was an American child) said
there was. If she would only
"skldoo," and let the purser read a
book to her she would feel better.
And the Indulgent mother came to
me, stated the case, and well, I com
plied with her request, and read to
the child for a little while each day
until she was well enough to come on
deck again.
AT A REGATTA.
If you have ever attended a regatta
you will know what a pleasant time
I have been having. I have Just re
turned from Newbury, a Email town
on Lake Sunapee, In New Hampshire.
This lake is ten miles long and in
some places three miles wide. It Is
very beautiful, being hedged in by
mountains, with pines and birches
along the edge. The last day of the
regatta was devoted to rowing, canoe
ing and swimming races. The two
races that appealed to me most were
a canoe tilt and a greased pole race.
In the canoe tilt nearly always the
whole canoe was upset and the two
men had to tow the boat to shore and
empty it. After this they paddled
around as if nothing had happened.
For the "pole race, a long pole was
suspended over the water, and hav
ing been carefully greased a card was
placed on the end, the object ot the
race being to slide out on the pole
and get the card. Only three suc
ceeded In getting the card, and they
received cups, as did all the others
who won taces. Rosalind Dunwln,
in .tho New York Tribune.
TWO HOME-COMINGS.
Thursday; the maid already gone,
having left a simple meal for two
ready to serve; Mrs. Ashley Intent on
saving every possible minute for help
ing the little seamstress, who was
working at high tension on a gown
which Mrs. Ashley needed to wear
that evening; the telephone bell a
message to say that three friends
would drop in to luncheon and then
Daughter Dulcle, slender, sixteen and
competent, walking quietly In, home
from her vacation twenty-four hours
earlier than expected.
"What luck that I came!" was the
first thing she said on learning the
situation. "Things to tell you? Well,
rather! But they'll keep till this cri
sis is past. You sit down, mother,
and sew Just as If they weren't com
ing. I'll make omelet and whole
wheat muffins and cocoa don't you
give It a thought. Isn't it good that
I saved a clean shirt waist and
brought it in my bag? And now I
know why I lugged that bunch of as
ters home to have on the table at
our luncheon. Oh, but I'm glad I'm
here!"
That evening, while Mrs. Ashley
was paying the seamstress, Dulcle,
close by, was exulting over the pretti
ness ot the finished gown.
"Pretty? Yes, child," said Mrs.
Ashley, with a look at Dulcle that
made the little seamstress suddenly
homesick for her own mother, "but
it's thanks to you that I have it ready
for to-night, isn't it, Miss Brown?
What would we have done it Dulcle
hadn't come to-day?"
Before that week was over the lit
tle seamstress, in another home,
found herself realizing, as the morn
ing slipped away, that there was still
two days' work to be done before fin
ishing her engagement at Mrs. Brew
ster's that night.
"If I could have a few hours of
help this afternoon, Mrs. Brewster "
she had begun, when a cab rolled up
to the door, and the sentence was
never finished. Ethel Brewster, pret
ty and high-keyed, had come back
from a summer Jaunt,
"Completely strapped, moaisie!"
o a n n
I she announced gaily, at the threshold.
took the cab, counting on your pock
etbook at this end. Yes, I'm later
than I said, but we found there was
a faster train with a chair car, so we
waited. The laundress? Ob, mom
sle, I utterly forgot what you wrote
about having engaged her to do up
my things to-day! Been here all the
morning? Such a shame for every
dud I have needs washing. I could
have brought those things in my suit
case Instead of my trunk. Just as well.
And that Isn't, the worst. See this
frightful trap-door, right In front of
the only good skirt I have left and
school beginning to-morrow!"
By this time there was a veil on
one chair, a pair of gloves on another,
a hat on the table and a coat on the
couch. For the rest of the day, while
the little seamstress remolded the
torn skirt and Ethel pervaded the
house, pouring out continuous tales
of the good times s'he had been hav
ing, her motherswas following her
about, picking up and putting away.
When Mrs. Brewster paid the little
seamstress that night, she said, with
a weary kindness, "It's not your fault
In the least, Miss Brown, that you
couldn't finish my dress. If it hadn't
been for Ethel's coming to-day "
There she stopped, and the little
seamstress went away, thinking. She
was going home to visit her own
mother the following week. Youth's
Companion.
A FABLE FOR OLD AND YOUNG.
Once a child who thought well ot
herself was walking along the street,
and saw another child, who was poor
ly clad.
"How wretched It must be," she
said to herself, "to be poor and
shabby like that child! How thin
she is! And how her patched cloak
flutters in the wind; so different from
my velvet dress and cloak!"
Just then an angel came along.
"What are you looking at?" asked
the angel.
"I was looking at that girl," said
the child.
"So was I," said the angel. "How
beautifully she Is dressed!"
"What do you mean?" said the
child. "I mean this one coming
toward us. She is in rags, or at least.
It her clothes are not ragged, they
are wretchedly thin and shabby."
"Oh, no," said the angel. "How
can you say so? She Is all white, as
clear as frost. I never saw anything
so pretty. But you, you poor HttH
thing, you are Indeed miserably clad.
Does not the wind blow through and
through those flimsy tatters? But u
least you could keep them clean, my
dear, and mended. You should see
to that."
"I don't know what you mean!"
said the child. "That girl is a ragged
beggar, and my father Is the richest
man in town. I have a white dress
and coat, trimmed with expensive fur.
What are you talking about?"
"About the clothes of your soul, of
course!" said the angel, who was
young.
"I don't know anything about
souls," said the child.
"I shouldn't think you did," said
the angel. Laura E. Richards.
A WISE MONKEY.
In Barbadoes the monkeys fre
quently injure the sugar cane.- As a
general thing, however, they are In
offensive creatures, and the average
planter regards them with good-natured
tolerance. Once in a while,
however, they commit a little too
much damage on the growing cane,
and an example has to be made of one
poor culprit by shooting a member ot
any particular troop of monkeys that
may be found near the scene ot de
struction. Exposing the dead body as
a warning is usually sufficient, and
the cane Is no longer attacked.
On one occasion great damage had
been perpetrated, and the planter
Clarence Agard, now residing In St,
Lucy, Barbadoes went out with his
gun to act as executioner. He suc
ceeded In isolating one stray simian
In a tree that was detached from all
adjacent shrubbery. The poor ani
mal, realizing that It was trapped,
rushed up to the topmost end ot the
branch and looked in the most ap
pealing manner at the man below.
The latter finally raised his gun, and
was on the point ot pressing the trig
ger when the monkey suddenly took
a little Infantile replica of itself from
Its back and held it out in the most
supplicating way conceivable.
The planter, who is fond ot cnl
mals, had his heart quite touched,
and he promptly lowered his gun. A
companion, however, In his endeavor
to see what else the poor simian
would do, raised his gun, and appar
ently once more its life was In dan
ger. Then ensued a most striking
exhibition of animal reasoning. The
monkey at once grasped the fact that
her first claim for consideration had
apparently failed, and the only reason
her intelligence could suggest for the
failure was that the Infant simian
was not regarded as her own genuine
offspring.
What was to be done? How could
she convince these two human brutes
that she really was a sad and dis
tressed mother? A happy thought oc
curred to her. She plucked a leaf
from the tree, held it close to- her
breast and then pressed the breast till
a few drops of milk exuded. Then
she dropped the leaf, and again held
up her baby to the gaze ot tho as
tounded men below. Neeffless to say,
she escaped with her life. London
Globe.