The contrast between heathen and civilized men is indicated by this
incident:
“Why did we not think of heating the hard stuff,” the natives
exclaimed when they saw the welding of iron, “instead of beating
it with stones?”
(1489)
* * * * *
However wise a man may himself be, he does well to guard himself
against the ignorance of others:
Ah Wing Lee was walking down the street the other morning when a
dog ran up behind him, yelping and barking horribly. The end of
the Celestial’s pigtail rose in the breeze as he leapt aside in
great alarm.
A benevolent passer-by, seeing the terror painted upon the
yellow countenance, hastened to pat him reassuringly on the
shoulder.
“Come, come, my friend, you need not be afraid. The dog won’t
hurt you. Don’t you know the old proverb, ‘A barking dog never
bites?’ Surely you--”
“That’s all velly good,” interrupted Ah Wing doubtfully; “you
knowee ploverb and me knowee ploverb, but do the dog knowee
ploverb?” (Text.)
(1490)
* * * * *
Stauber, the Lutheran minister who first ministered to the five
villages in the Swiss mountains, which he afterward persuaded Oberlin
to take as his parish, tells this incident to show the character of the
people:
The Ban de la Roche, as you may know, is on a spur of the Vosges
Mountains about twelve leagues from Strasburg. The people are
very wild and ignorant. When I (Monsieur Stauber) first went
there I visited the only school. A number of children were
gathered together in a miserable cottage. As I entered I heard
an appalling noise of scuffling, quarreling, and shouting.
“‘Silence, children, silence!’ I cried. ‘Where is your master?’
One of the children pointed to a little old man who was lying on
a bed in the corner of the room.
“‘Are you the master of this school?’ said I, in some dismay.
“‘Yes, I be the master, sir--I be.’
“‘Humph! But don’t you teach the children anything?’
“‘No! I don’t teach the children nothing--for a good reason.’
“‘It must be a very good reason, indeed. What is it, my friend?’
“‘Well, I don’t know nothing myself, sir; so how am I to teach?’
“‘But, my good friend, why did they send you here, then?’
“‘Because, sir, I be too old to take care of the pigs?’”
(1491)
* * * * *
An English army officer and a foreign missionary met on an ocean
steamer. The army officer contemptuously said he had lived
in India thirty years and had never seen a native Christian.
Shortly afterward, he recited with gusto his success in
tiger-hunting, declaring that he had killed no less than nine
tigers. “Pardon me,” said the missionary, “did I understand you
to say that you have killed nine tigers in India?” “Yes, sir,”
pompously replied the colonel. “Now that is remarkable,” replied
the missionary, “for I have lived in India thirty years and have
never seen a tiger.” “Perhaps, sir,” sneered the colonel, “you
didn’t go where the tigers were.” “Precisely,” was the bland
answer of the missionary, “and may not that have been the reason
why you never saw any native converts?”
(1492)
* * * * *
An Italian tailor living at West Hoboken, N. J., appeared before
Judge Carey and made application for citizenship. He told the
judge he had been in this country twenty-two years.
“Do you know who Abraham Lincoln was?” asked Judge Carey.
“No, I don’t know who he was.”
“You don’t know who Abraham Lincoln was?” repeated the judge.
“No; does he live in West Hoboken?” asked the applicant.
“He is dead,” said Judge Carey.
“Well, I never heard of him,” continued the Italian. “Was he a
tailor?”
The judge advised him to go home and study up on history and
geography, and said: “No man who does not know who Abraham
Lincoln was is fit to enjoy the privilege of American
citizenship.”
When asked to name six of the United States, he answered, “New
Jersey, New York, Boston, West Hoboken, Union Hill, and Hoboken.”
(1493)
* * * * *
One day recently a hard-working woman, the wife of a New York
tailor in a small way, went out to market. In her hurry she left
the apartment door ajar. Moreover, she forgot to replace, under
the mattress, the red-flannel bag in which she and her husband
kept their savings of fifteen years--some diamonds, a gold
watch, and $1,400 cash.
Only a quarter of an hour later she came back--but the
red-flannel savings-bank was gone. At last reports the police
detectives had not recovered the money.
The pity of such a loss is more than personal. It is a national
calamity. The vague distrust of all banks follows the popular
ignorance of the difference in nature between a business man’s
bank and a true savings-bank. Ignorance was the root of this
small tragedy.--_Review of Reviews._
(1494)
* * * * *
Many of us are as foolish as a poor immigrant who was discovered
walking on the tracks of the Lehigh Valley Railroad in New
Jersey. On his back he carried a huge package containing
household utensils, as well as clothes. He seemed tired, tho he
trudged sturdily on. He had not, however, acquired the veteran
tramp’s skill in walking on the ties, and his journey was
evidently telling on his physical powers more than the same
distance by the roadway would have done. An agent stopt him and
ordered him off the track, telling him that he was liable to
arrest for trespass, besides incurring the risk of being killed
by a train.
The man, who was a Hungarian, demurred, and produced a railroad
ticket, good from Jersey City to Scranton, Pa. The agent looked
at him in amazement, and asked why he was walking when he might
ride. The Hungarian replied that he thought the ticket gave
him only the privilege of walking over the road. His right was
explained to him, and the tired man delightedly boarded the
first train that stopt. (Text.)--LOUIS ALBERT BANKS.
(1495)
See CHRISTIANITY AND CIVILIZATION; FEAR.