SUPERSTITION.
Do not hold to cowardice nor fear of death. The mad bull with
the spade stands near by. Look into this strange cup of figures
and graves. Some recent death and gloom has somehow filled
your mind with renewed horror. You have also felt that you are
about to die. Not a comfortable thought, madam, to be snuffed
out of all earthly hopes! Abandon your cringing fears. Dread
nothing. You must gain mastery over these crude forebodings,
or you will be seriously handicapped. Most discouraging is fear.
The spirit of conscious life cannot be annihilated. Man is
immortal. We should not doubt the word of God nor His prophecies.
Towers, trees, and large scenes are in evidence to aid you into a
larger life career.
See you now the rubbish by the grave! enough to hopelessly
entangle you. See the many wild animals in your path near the
dung heap. Again the tears and the fears. You do not stand
erect. Your ideas of the after-life seem to belie your professed
creeds. One of your sincere friends and true helpers requests my
candid service in your behalf as noting your vibrations. Thank
you.
I will now proceed further with your sanction. Listen well: You
belong to a class who would send dinamic heart-beats to disturb
your entire bodily system on the subject of death. Were it a
necessity to perform even some slight operation, your death in
this state might easily ensue from very fear.
Madam, how is one to overcome nature? I do not brag on my
heroism as others do. I do fear death, the devil and his imps. I
have often dreamed of him as pursuing me. There must be
something to it, as my father believed likewise. I want the good
time of life here. We don't know of the hereafter as promised.
Young man, your birth-right, your reason and education are at
fault, if nineteen years of life's action has brought you no
solace. You are not in life's true logic, nor is the profession of
law well chosen for you by your relatives, neither is the
ministry.
You now think you are in love with a good young girl. How
will you comfort her when sorrows come to you? She, too, fears
death and pain beyond the ordinary. A pair of simple young
folks, indeed, both of you.
See, in this last cup the flame of destruction has come. You
have both lost your heads. Death and loss have invaded the
home. Everything is scattered about. No reason nor care
remains. Indecision, crosses, and breaks are in promise. The
good symbols are yet distant, though inviting you to their ample
folds. You need first to be whipped into life's truer graces, as oft
we are. Your parents were weak, sympathetic and selfish.
There were five of you in family. The figure in first cup was
correct, though not an old man there, that is three years past!
and the one-armed man! that was long ago, too. Yes, but his
letters yet lie near your family thoughts. Do not lose them, there
is value attached. Yet there are imprisoned minds who do not
know their real possessions. Now, these bars and unformed
circles bespeak it. Behold the light on the obscure desk in the
old square.
Oh yes, he was cheated out of his rights, years ago, yet father
keeps the letters. There is nothing in them now.
Yes there is, several years hence, by the death of a child and a
lost woman from near an ocean city. News sudden will come to
you. Let your fancy concentrate a little on these letters.
How peculiar! There was one who died by water, that was a
family connection.
You have now had three readings. Hold your true texts in mind.
Fear nothing but injustice. You will be tested. You will yet love
the ocean, even the lightning's fierce flashes, though after
sudden peril and loss you will make acquaintance with your
higher self--not be so selfish nor material. Eight years of strange
wanderings with indecision and betrayal by a false black hand,
as shown you. Several gravestones and some sickness. After
these experiences you will awaken from some of life's medley
of dreams and fears. You will then meet a strong, true woman,
who will dominate much of your nobler, latent life, and aid you
into position, if you do not mar your life's course in about three
years. Your hand reads likewise. In this last cup of yours are
spears and weeds, with knives and hidden crosses. Your dangers,
as here read, are very many.
There are so many small lives filled with idleness, though some
useful objects could oft be reached. Yours is largely among
these. Yet I am pleased to state you could yet become a fine
mind and life trainer by the age of forty, if wise enough to select
your true helpers--good books. No one can work effectively
alone. My mind has traveled with you up to these years, viewed
the field of resource and its possibilities. You should win two
helpful friends.
Only one comprehensive life-course reading has shown this
entire evening. We do not gain the high art of holding the good
which we gain, so profligate are we. Then we like to blame our
friends or the fates for our poor judgment and our obtuseness.
Until we begin to work as though we belong to and believe in
an immortal life, as an inheritance, the great human family
cannot enjoy that useful cohesion that belongs to mankind as
God designed life's distributives--our higher attributes.
Again, shun the man with the fire-arms and bottles. Behold the
weapons. The dark pit lies near him with many cross-bars,
cages and clouds. An evil combination--_imprisonment_, though
your sunlight has only been dimmed. If so, your will, patient
labor and strong desire can yet win for you. The flag of
victory is now so limp. This fear of kindly death or hell is the
enemy of mankind. Do not again thus cringe to this fair angel of
life to all men eventually. You can live to old age and follow
streams, fishing as pastime. This old man symbolizes your dear
self now calmed in mind--not so dead as in youth. So, hold
your true texts for ready action, and become a brave man to
enjoy the true life here promised to you.
If we have stimulated in any heart some lofty resolves, which
will unfold their fragrance for other lives, we are then well
repaid, as trusting in the Infinite All Good.
A pilgrim on the path.
CLARA.
[Illustration: calligraphy flourish 3]
CUPOLOGY.
_Significance similar to Psychic Readings, Clairvoyant
Symbols, or Dreams_.
If high up in the cup--Early consummation.
If chained to the bottom--Delayed desires.
Uncle Sam--American matters. Statesmanship--Waving flags;
Hopeful signs.
Arm--Proffered aid
Accordion--Primitive talent
Apples--Health, Knowledge
Atlas--Sight, Seeing
Bats--Moral blindness
Bees--Thrift
Bed--Illness or need of rest
Birds--News, Singing, Joys
Bridge--Some event in life
Broom--Industry
Bread--To be sated
Cooks--Learning
Cake--Luxury
Cats--Jealousies
Children--Good omen
Cavern--Near danger
Circles--Fine realizations
Cow--Good nutriment
Crescent--Love token
Cattle--Thrift
Children at play--Universal good
Crosses--Some trials
Chair--To preside
Chicks--Cares
Chickens--Gains
Crowing Cock--Ambitious, Victory
Crows--Intrigues
Ditch--Dangers ahead
Dogs--Friends
Door--Some opening
Dots--Letters, Papers, News
Ears--Listen well
Elephant--Some imposition
Eggs--Gains
Eyes--To observe
Feet--Traveler
Feet, bare--Poverty
Fish--Money, Gains
Fish, headless--Losses
Flowers--Joy, Pleasure
Floods--Sickness, Sorrow
Fountain--Public benefit
Fruit--Health
Forests--Nature loving
Fox--Cunning
Hearts--Artistic love of Unity, Friends, Home
Hand--Friendship
Horse--Much news, Friend
Horse, vicious--Angry friend
Houses--Home building
Jewel-Box--Wealth
Jumping--Vitativeness
Lock and Keys--To be put in trust
Lion--Moral courage
Ledger--In accounts
Lighted Lamp--Great success
Lock--A secret
Moon--Honors
Monkeys--Evolution--Darwin
Medals--Diplomas
News-Boys--Public excitement
Nuts--Problems
Oxen--Patient toil
Palms--Restful victory
Palm-Trees--Tropical scenes
Park--Benevolence
Platform--Oration
Pitcher--To receive
Public seats--People's joy
Quills--Old parchments
Rats--Thieving
Ring--Contract
Near heart, Wedding
With child or flowers, Bliss
Road--An outlook
Rabbit--Timidity, Cowardice
Rainbow--Sublime promise
Saw or Scissors--Vexations
Scales--Love of justice
Star--Hope, Promise
Squares--Realizations
Sunlight--Vital life, Health
Ships--Commerce
Sinking Ships--Perils and loss
Spring--Wisdom, Peace
Snake--Enmity, Lies
Staff--Aid
Sofa--Social or Courtship
Spiders, or--
Scorpions--Illness, Venom
Sky-scenes--Sublimity and Peace
Tiger--Onslaught
Tall Shaft--Illustrious dead
Table Set--Feasting
Trees--Lofty thoughts
Tower--Strength
Urns--Veneration, Retrospection
Wells--Wisdom and drawing forth good
Wheat--Plenty
Whirlwind--Distraction
Wavy lines--Vexations
Weeds--Petty trials
Window--In a new light
Monks, Nuns, Priests or Ministers--betoken sectarian controversies
Scattered objects--Lack of harmony and no propitious time for action
Keep the mind well centered in reading. Thus only will the
transmitting powers of soul expand the descriptive faculties.
[Illustration: calligraphy flourish 4]
GIRLHOOD.
[AMELIA E. BARR.]
An exquisite incompleteness,
The theme of a song unset;
A waft in the shuttle of life;
A bud with the dew still wet;
The dawn of a day uncertain;
The delicate bloom of fruit;
The plant with some leaves unfolded,
The rest asleep at the root.
POPULAR TOASTS.
[Illustration: American flag]
_Our Flag:_ The beautiful banner that represents the precious
_mettle_ of America.
OUR COUNTRY'S EMBLEM.
The Lily of France may fade,
The Thistle and Shamrock wither,
The Oak of England may decay,
But the Stars shine on forever.
* * *
The standard of Freedom floats proudly on high,
It's the bright waving Banner of Light,
Fair symbol of Liberty born of the sky,
True emblem of Union and Might.
WEBSTER'S MOTTO.
Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable.
SHIP OF STATE.
Nail to the mast her holy flag;
Set every threadbare sail;
And give her to the God of Storms,
The lightning and the gale.
A TOAST TO OUR NATIVE LAND.
Huge and alert, irascible yet strong,
We make our fitful way 'mid right and wrong.
One time we pour out millions to be free,
Then rashly sweep an Empire from the Sea!
One time we pull the shackles from the slaves,
And then, quiescent, we are ruled by knaves,
Often we rudely break restraining bars,
And confidentially reach out toward the stars.
Yet under all there flows a hidden stream,
Sprung from the Rock of Freedom, the great dream
Of Washington and Franklin, men of old,
Who knew that freedom is not bought with gold;
This Land we love, our heritage,
Strange mixture of the gross and fine, yet sage
And full of promise,--destined to be great,
Drink to Our Native Land--God bless the State!
--_Robert Bridges in the Atlantic_.
* * *
Here's to the man who loves his wife,
And loves his wife alone,
For many a man loves another man's wife,
When he ought to be loving his own.
TOAST TO THE HORSE.
Dr. Kane, President of the New York Drivers' Association, at a
public dinner recently delivered the following toast to the horse:
"That bundle of sentient nerves, with the heart of a woman, the
eye of a gazelle, the courage of a gladiator, the docility of a
slave, the proud courage of a king, and the blind obedience of a
good soldier. The companion of the desert and the plain; that
turns the moist furrow in the spring in order that all the world
may have abundant harvests; that furnishes the sport of Kings;
that with blazing eye and distended nostril, fearlessly leads our
greatest Generals through carnage and the smoke of battle to
glory and renown; whose blood forms one of the ingredients
that go to make the ink in which all history is written, and that
finally, mutely and sadly, in black trappings, pulls the humblest
of us all to the newly sodded threshold of eternity."
OUR ABSENT FRIENDS.
Although out of sight we recognize them with our glasses.
FALSE FRIENDS.
Here's champagne for our real friends,
And real pain for our sham friends.
OUR INCOMES.
May we have heads to earn and hearts to spend.
Here's wishing us all more friends and less heed of them.
May we ever be able to serve a friend, and noble enough to
conceal it.
THE SPHERE OF WOMAN.
They talk about a woman's sphere as though it had a limit;
There's not a place in earth or heaven,
There's not a task to mankind given,
There's not a blessing or a woe,
There's not a whispered yes or no,
There's not a life, or death, or birth,
That has a feather's weight of worth--
Without a woman in it.
* * *
Here's to the friends we class as old,
And here's to those we class as new,
May the new soon grow; to us old,
And the old ne'er grow to us new.
A FEW TOASTS.
Woman. She needs no eulogy--she speaks for herself.
May we have the unspeakable good fortune to win a true heart,
and the merit to keep it.
May we never murmur without cause and never have cause to
murmur.
Woman. The fairest work of the great Author; the edition is
large and no man should be without a copy.
Happy are we met, happy have we been,
Happy may we part, and happy meet again.
May Satan cut the toes of all our foes,
That we may know them by their limping.
The man we love--he who thinks the most good and speaks the
least ill of his neighbors.
* * *
Our National birds--
The American eagle, the Thanksgiving turkey.
May the one give us peace in all our States--
And the other a piece for all our plates.
* * *
Here's to the girls of the American shore,
I love but one, I love no more,
Since she's not here to drink her part,
I'll drink her share with all my heart.
A little health, a little wealth,
A little house and freedom,
With some few friends for certain ends,
But little cause to need 'em.
* * *
Col. Lovell H. Jerome, who resigned as second lieutenant
Second United States Cavalry, in 1879, and now repels the
invading smuggler in New York City, brought a new toast to the
Hoffman House bar recently:
To the ladies,
Our arms your defense,
Your arms our recompense,
Fall in!
--_New York Sun_.
THREE GREAT COMMANDERS.
May we always be under the orders of General Peace, General
Plenty and General Prosperity.
We now toast the superb Electric Flag of the people with every
honorable Elk who has beautified and made memorable these
pleasures of the Queen City.--_Cincinnati, July, 1904_.
* * *
Though there's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip,
Yet, while o'er the brim of life's breaker I dip,
While there's life in the lip, while there's warmth in the wine,
One deep health I'll pledge, and that health shall be thine.
--_Owen Meredith_.
A HINT ON ENTERTAINING.
"The most successful social functions are those managed by a
host and hostess," says a society scribe, "not by either alone.
Leave a man to make up a party and he is sure to forget that
Mrs. B. was engaged to C. before she married D., and that Mrs.
C. is aware of the fact, and that the D.s and E.s have long been
at daggers drawn, and he will have no eyes to detect the designs
of Mrs. H. On the other hand, a woman gets nervous and fatigued
with the constant effort to keep the ball rolling, and fails
just where a man would succeed. What is wanted is a division
of labor, and if this were done oftener there would be less
disappointment on the part of entertainers and entertained."
LOOK AT YOUR CUP.
A cup of coffee, farmers assert, makes a pretty accurate
barometer:
"To make a barometer out of a cup of coffee," a farmer said,
"you must use loaf sugar. You drop a lump of this sugar exactly
into the middle of your cup, and then watch the bubbles rise. It
is by these bubbles that your prognostications are made.
"If the bubbles rise straight up in the middle, remaining there in
a cluster till they disappear, the weather is to be fair; if they rise
at the sides of the cup, adhering to the china, the weather will be
rainy. If they rise all over the coffee's surface, and move here
and there erratically, changeable conditions are to be looked
for."
ENTERTAINMENT SUGGESTION.
Here are some ideas for an entertainment, which is said to be
both amusing and instructive, as it makes one think, and the
time put into anything that makes men or women think is never
lost. Have an art gallery and invite your friends to it. Each
person is supplied with a catalogue and must pay a forfeit for
every piece of art he fails to find. Here is a sample of the
catalogue:
1. The Bell of the Season. (A dinner bell.)
2. Saved. (A bank containing a few pennies.)
3. An Absorbing Subject. (A sponge.)
4. A Drawing Subject. (A crayon.)
5. The Skipper's Home. (Cheese.)
6. A Young Man's Horror. (The mitten.)
7. The Light of Other Days. (A candle.)
8. Tears, Idle Tears. (An onion.)
9. Can't be Beat. (A turnip.)
10. The Four Seasons. (Salt, pepper, vinegar and mustard.)
11. A Regular Bore. (A gimlet.)
12. Family Jars. (Mason's fruit jars in three sizes.)
13. True to the Core. (An apple.)
14. A Prison Scene. (A mouse in a trap.)
15. A Switchtender. (A hairpin.)
16. A Bunch of Dates. (A calendar.)
Of course, no one speaks in the art room.
Every guest fills in what names he can, hoping that his friends
will miss many more than he does. Have ten or more "pieces of
art" than are on the catalogue. This is to mystify a little.
HAVE A PEANUT?
An original young woman of Lamar has invented a new kind of
social diversion. It is the "progressive peanut party." Four
guests are seated about each table, and on the table is placed a
crock full of peanuts. Each guest is provided with a hatpin, and
when the word is given all begin jabbing for peanuts. The
quartet that empties its crock first wins the game, and then the
sets of players change. It is needless to say that the peanut party
is strictly a "hen" function. A man couldn't jab a crockful of
peanuts with a hatpin in a week, but the young women of Lamar
played thirty games in a single afternoon.--_Kansas City Journal_.
WHAT THE EYES TELL.
The color of the eyes has hitherto chiefly concerned the novelist
and the poet, but lately the cold-blooded statistician has been
looking into them. It is announced that, taking the average of
Europe and America, 44.6 per cent of men have light eyes,
including blue and gray. The proportion of women having blue
or gray eyes is 32.2 per cent. In other words, blue eyes are
decidedly rarer among women than among men, says the _London Express_.
Men have light eyes oftener than women, but in the intermediate
shades between light and dark the percentage of the two sexes
is very nearly the same.
In this intermediate category are brown and hazel eyes. The
percentage of these among men is 43.1, and among women 45.1.
The percentage of black eyes is larger among women than
among men, being 20.7 per cent for the women, while among
men it is 12.3.
Blue eyes are considered to possess great attractions. This was
the case among the Greeks and Romans of classic times. Upon
the Goddess of Minerva was bestowed a surname to signify the
blueness of her eyes.
Gray eyes have ever been the ideal of all great novelists; among
the number Charlotte Brontë, George Eliot, Wilkie Collins and
Charles Reade. Most of the heroines in up-to-date fiction are
gray-eyed maidens.
Of the living great, as well as the famous dead, most have eyes
of gray blue.
Shakespeare had eyes of gray; so had nearly all the English
poets. Coleridge's eyes were large, light gray, prominent and of
liquid brilliancy. Byron's eyes were gray, fringed with long
black lashes.
Charles Lamb's glittering eyes were strangely dissimilar in
color, one being hazel, the other having specks of gray in the
iris. Chatterton's brilliant gray eyes were his most remarkable
features. Under strong excitement one appeared brighter and
larger than the other.
As to green eyes they are for glory. The Empress Catherine of
Russia had eyes of this hue. In Don Quixote green eyes are thus
referred to:
"But, now I think on it, Sancho, thy description of her beauty
was a little absurd in that particular of comparing her eyes to
pearls. Sure, such eyes are more like those of a whiting or a
seabeam than those of a fair lady, and in my opinion, Dulcinea's
eyes are rather like two celestial emeralds, railed in with two
celestial arches, which signify her eyebrows. Therefore, Sancho,
you had better take your pearls from her eyes and apply them to
her teeth." Green eyes are not popular, however. Cervantes
spoke of them as "verdant emeralds," that more usually they are
likened to the optics of the cat. Very few heroines have green
eyes. Jane Eyre and Rose, in Robert Elsmere, are the only two
we can think of at the moment.
REVEALED BY THE THUMB.
The thumb is a great tell-tale where character is concerned.
If nose, eyes and mouth decline to reveal the secrets or
temperament, you need not be at a loss. Notice the hands, and
especially the thumb of the person whom you are seeking to
read.
A broad and short thumb indicates lack of refinement. Taken in
conjunction with stubby finger tips and a thick wrist, it indicates
coarseness, even positive brutality.
A tapering thumb gives notice of extreme delicacy of perception
and refinement of character.
A thumb of medium breadth indicates balance between the
extremes mentioned, and denotes strength of character essential
to success in life.
If when in repose the thumb curls outward, its owner possesses
a sound constitution, much vitality and cheerfulness.
On the contrary, if the thumb naturally falls inward towards the
palm, a melancholy, despondent disposition is denoted, also
constitutional delicacy and lack of vitality.
CHARACTERS IN FINGER NAILS.
Broad nails denote a gentle natured person, inclined to be
modest and unassuming.
Narrow nails denote a studious but not very gentle nature, with
a desire for scientific knowledge.
White nails denote a fondness for society of opposite sex, not
overstrong in health and subject to fevers.
Round nails denote a desire for knowledge in general, apt to
take great pride in own accomplishments, rather hasty, yet fairly
good natured and forgiving.
Long nails denote caution, lacking confidence in human nature,
decided in opinion and strictly virtuous.
Eyes are cold, enticing, sympathetic or affectionate. The mouth
is kissable (as men say), cynical, cruel, sensuous or indifferent,
and so with all the features.
BEAUTY'S SEVEN NURSES.
Beauty, it is said, has seven nurses, which, if given full charge,
will make of the homeliest woman a picture of charm and
loveliness.
These magic seven are fresh air, sunshine, warmth, rest, sleep,
food and whatever stirs the blood, be it exercise or enthusiasm.
Be sure to get plenty of sleep. You can sleep yourself into good
looks. A long nap and a hot bath will make any woman more
attractive, and lift years from her shoulder.
Don't be afraid of sunshine and fresh air. They offer you bloom
and color. And deep breathing is surely the hand-maid of the
fresh-air nurse. Deep breathing gives a fine figure as well as
clear complexion.
Don't sit down to table as soon as you come in from work, or a
round of social duties. Lie down, or sit down, for ten minutes,
waiting until you can partake of your dinner with the physical
machinery rested and refreshed.
Don't bathe in hard water. Soften it with a little powdered
borax, or a handful of oatmeal.
Don't bathe the face while it is very warm, or very cold.
Don't wash the face when traveling, unless it is with a little
alcohol and water, or a little cold cream.
Don't attempt to remove dust with cold water. Give the face a
hot bath with soap, and then rinse thoroughly with clear tepid or
cold water.
Don't rub the face with too coarse a towel. Treat it as you would
the finest porcelain, tenderly and delicately.--_Philadelphia Telegraph_.
TO DISCOVER A WOMAN'S AGE.
Every man seems to be born with a desire to know the age of
the ladies with whom he comes in contact, and women also
appear to have an innate curiosity concerning the number of
"summers" which have passed over the heads of their female
friends. But there is nothing more difficult to discover than the
exact age of a lady who wishes to keep the fact a secret.
Now, here is a little scheme by which you can find out the age
of any person.
Having engaged that person in pleasant conversation, you
proceed something after the following manner--speaking very
innocently, of course:--
"There is a very simple problem in arithmetic which very few
people are able to see through, yet it is as easy as possible. I
wonder if you can do it?"
This sets the person on his dignity, and he or she wants to do it
at once.
Then you go on:
"Think of a number corresponding to the numerical order of the
month in which you were born. Oh, no, you need not tell me."
(To make the explanation clear, we will assume that the figure
is two--standing for February--and that the age is 30.)
"Now, multiply that figure by 2," you continue, "and add 5.
Done that? Well, multiply that by 50 and add your own age.--
From the total subtract 365, and to the total add 115. Now, what
figure have you got?"
"230," replies the person addressed, "Isn't that correct?"
"Exactly," you exclaim, "You are one of the very few persons
who have managed it."
And you turn away to hide your smile of satisfaction at having
discovered that your victim was born in February and that he is
thirty years of age. You have arrived at this result by separating
the figures 230 into 2 (February) and 30. And you can do this
with everybody's age. Try it on your sweetheart.--_Tit-Bit_.
HOW HE MAY BE WON.
Some men have been found courageous enough to express
themselves on the subject, "How to win a man." Here are the
requirements from a masculine point of view for winning a man
worth having. The summer girl should cut this out and paste it
on her mirror:
Be natural, be extremely fastidious in choosing friends, in
conversation, in manners, and in dress.
Be neat, for the well-groomed woman, though plain, is more
attractive than the slovenly beauty.
Be cheerful and fun-loving, be kind, unselfish, sympathetic and
affectionate.
Be interested in everything that will improve your mind and
broaden your views.
Be orderly, systematic, and industrious, but do not waste time
on non-essentials. Good reading is far better than useless fancy
work.
Be domestic and home-loving, secure as much knowledge as
possible concerning house-hold affairs, and do not be ashamed
to use it.
Be athletic enough to keep in fine physical condition and just
manly enough to be self-reliant and courageous, but not so
independent as to forget for one moment that you are a woman.
Cultivate a liking for children and old people, for you must
remember that you have been the one and will be the other if
you live long enough.
Do not appear to be superior, even if you know that you are, one
can easily be mistaken on this point.
Do not be conceited or vain, do not be silly or gushing, or too
eager.
Do not be late and yet do not waste time in being too early;
study repose of manner, it is so restful to tired nerves.
Do not nag either before or after he is won; the "I told you so"
has lost many a friend and lover.
Be frank, and truthful and forgiving, and remember that
forgetting must often go with forgiving. This, of course, is the
ideal woman, but the standard is not too high for any girl to
strive for.--_Philadelphia Telegraph_.
DEW DROPS.
Wisdom is the flower of experience.
Hope is good, but hustle is better.
Energy, however, usually follows encouragement.
A soft answer sootheth, but a wise one shameth.
The genius never regarded as a crank is yet to be born.
Do as I say, not as I do: Preaching love with a jealous heart.
To move through the world without the dissent of others: Be
temperate and pay your debts.
Happiness is not so difficult to obtain as to retain.
Who will not work without pay should also be consistent
enough to refuse pay without work.
Heart and head are two masters who may be served by one
hand.
Human deification, permitted or self implied, is an offense
against Deity.
BIRTH STONES FOR LUCK.
Do you want that mysterious thing that is called "good luck?"
Of course you do. Then in some form or another you must
always wear your birth stone. This is declared to be, by the
superstitious, a true talisman against all the ills that flesh is heir
to.
Upon her finger in a handsome ring the very modern girl wears
the stone that means good omen to her, and feels that she is
secure from harm. If it is not in a little golden circlet upon her
hand, then perchance she wears it at her throat, in one of the
little dingle dangles that are so fashionable. But about her neck,
in her fob, or bangle, the lass who wishes to cast a spell of good
fortune about herself, somewhere wears the stone that is
assigned to the month in which she first saw the light of day.
In what month were you born? Do you know what is your birth
stone? If you do not you better at once discover the stone and
begin to wear it. That is, if you wish good luck, and what
maiden ever lived who does not sigh for it.
Here is a list of the gems, and the months to which they are
assigned by those soothtellers who know all the signs for luck,
good or ill: For January, garnet; February, amethyst; March,
jasper; April, sapphire; May, chalcedony; June, emerald; July,
onyx; August, carnelian; September, chrysolite; October,
aquamarine; November, topaz; December, ruby.
KRUGER'S UNLUCKY DIAMOND.
When Kruger went to Europe he took with him a famous
diamond, which was said to have brought misfortune and death
to all its possessors. It had a strange history.
The diamond originally belonged to Meshhesh, a Basuto chief,
from whom it was extorted by T'Chaka, the Zulu King. T'Chaka's brother
killed him and stole the stone. The brother came to grief and the
gem passed into the possession of a Zulu chief, who soon afterward
was assassinated. The natives say that no less than sixteen of the
successive possessors of the diamond were either killed or driven
out of the country for the sake of the gem.
The diamond was then seen by white men who sought to possess it.
A party of whites attacked the natives who had the stone in their
possession, and a fierce fight ensued, in which 300 lives, mostly
natives, were lost.
Memela, a native chief, took the gem and concealed it in a
wound which he had received in the battle. Afterward Memela
was caught by the Boers and set to work as a slave. Kruger,
hearing his story, released him, and in gratitude Memela gave
the stone to his liberator. Some years passed, and then Kruger
met his misfortune.
Where the fatal diamond is now is not certain, though it is
certain that the ex-President of the Transvaal parted with it.
Some say that it is in the coffers of the Vatican, and some that it
was sold to the Emperor of Austria, and is now among the
crown jewels of Vienna.
The stone is said to be 200 carats in weight, but is not perfect.--
_Baltimore Sun_.
STRANGE WILLS.
There have not been many will makers more eccentric than Mr.
MacCraig, the Scotch banker, whose last testament will shortly
come under the consideration of the Edinburgh Court of Session.
Mr. MacCraig it may be remembered left instructions in his
will that gigantic statues of himself, his brothers and sisters,
a round dozen in all, should be placed on the summit of a great
tower he had commenced to build on Battery Hill, near Oban--each
statue to cost not less than $5,000.
* * *
A much more whimsical testator was a Mr. Sanborn, of Boston,
who left $5,000 to Prof. Agassi, to have his skin converted into
drum-heads and two of his bones into drumsticks, and the
balance of his fortune to his friend, Mr. Simpson, on condition
that on every 17th of June he should repair to the foot of Bunker
Hill, and, as the sun rose, "beat on the drum the spirit stirring
strain of Yankee Doodle."
* * *
A Mr. Stow left a sum of money to an eminent King's counsel,
"Wherewith to purchase a picture of a viper stinging his
benefactor," as a perpetual warning against the sin of ingratitude.
* * *
It was a rich English brewer who bequeathed $150,000 to his
daughter on condition that on the birth of her first child she
should forfeit $10,000 to a specified hospital, $20,000 on the
birth of the second child, and so on by arithmetical progression
until the $150,000 was exhausted.
* * *
Sydney Dickenson left $300,000 to his widow, who appears to
have given him a bad time during his life, on condition that she
should spend two hours a day at his graveside, "in company
with her sister, whom I know she hates worse than she does
myself."
LAUGHAGRAPHS.
It is related of George Clark, the celebrated negro minstrel, that,
being examined as a witness, he was severely interrogated by
the attorney, who wished to break down his evidence. "You are
in the negro minstrel business, I believe?" inquired the lawyer.
"Yes, sir," was the prompt reply. "Isn't that rather a low
calling?" demanded the lawyer. "I don't know but what it is,
sir," replied the minstrel, "but it is so much better than my
father's that I am rather proud of it." "What was your father's
calling?" "He was a lawyer," replied Clark, in a tone of regret
that put the audience in a roar. The lawyer let him alone.
THE MAN WHO CAN MAKE US LAUGH.
God bless the man who can make us laugh.
Who can make us forget for a time,
In the sparkling mirth of a paragraph,
Or a bit of ridiculous rime,
The burden of care that is carried each day,
The thoughts that awaken a sigh,
The sorrows that threaten to darken our way,
God bless the dear man say I.
QUEER BLUNDERS.
Illegible copy has caused innumerable amusing and not a few
serious blunders in print. A speaker quoted these lines:
O, come, thou goddess fair and free,
In heaven yclept Euphrosyne.
They were printed as written:
O, come, thou goddess fair and free,
In heaven she crept and froze her knee.
The reporter was following sound. Here is another illustration:
Those lovely eyes bedimmed,
Those lovely eyes be dammed.
A Congressman advocated grants of public land to "actual
settlers." It got in the paper as "cattle stealers." A reporter tried
to write that "the jury disagreed and were discharged," but the
compositor set it up "the jury disappeared and were disgraced."
The last words in a poorly written sentence, "Alone and
isolated, man would become impotent and perish," were set up
as "impatient and peevish."
A MYSTERIOUS TELEGRAM.
A certain church society in Vermont resolved on a Christmas
festival, and determined to have a scripture motto, handsomely
illuminated, in a space back of the pulpit. One of the deacons,
who had business in Boston, took with him the proposed motto
and the measure of the space to be occupied by it, but unfortunately
lost the memorandum. He therefore sent this telegram to his wife
in Vermont. "Send motto and space." She promptly complied,
but the Boston telegraph girl fell off her chair in a faint
when she read off the message, "Unto us a child is born four
feet wide and eight feet long." The deacon, however, thought
it nothing uncommon.
* * *
Mistress: Did the fisherman who stopped here this morning
have frog legs?
Nora: Sure, mum, I dinnaw. He wore pants.--_Cornell Widow_.
* * *
"Goodness," exclaimed the nervous visitor "what vulgar little
hoodlums those noisy boy are out there in the street!"
"I can't see them," said the hostess, "I'm rather near-sighted, you
know."
"But surely you can hear how they're shouting and carrying on."
"Yes, but I can't tell whether they're my children or the
neighbors."--_Philadelphia Press_.
FORTUNE.
A divinity of fools, a helper to the wise.
DEAD EASY.
Funnicus--It's a queer thing, but all the men employed at the
cemetery are historical characters.
Dullwum--How do you make that out?
Fennicus--They're mound builders, aren't they?
A BAD SPELL OF WEATHER.
Dear Paw--I am having a luvly time, so do not expeck me home
ontill next week. All are well and send luv. The wethur is brite
and fare. Yure sun, WILL.
FOR AN EVENING GAME.
At a club social the hostess proposed a game of "sobriquets,"
offering a prize for the one who would identify the largest
number of the assumed names.
She gave to each one a slip of paper on which were typewritten
the assumed names of numerous persons, mostly writers, and at
a signal allowed them twenty minutes in which to write the
correct names opposite. A few illustrations are here given, but
others may be added:
1 Currer Bell -- Charlotte Bronte
2 Mark Twain -- Samuel Clemens
3 Uncle Remus -- Joel Chandler Harris
4 Boz -- Charles Dickens
5 Bard of Avon -- Shakespeare
6 Peasant Bard -- Robert Burns
7 Poet of Nature -- Wordsworth
8 Immortal Dreamer -- Bunyon
9 The Traitor -- Benedict Arnold
10 Little Corporal -- Napoleon Bonaparte
11 Mr. Dooley -- Peter Dunne
12 Oliver Optic -- William T. Adams
13 Gail Hamilton -- Mary A. Dodge
14 Grand Old Man -- Gladstone
15 Poor Richard -- Benjamin Franklin
16 Swedish Nightingale -- Jennie Lind
17 Brother Jonathan -- Jonathan Trumbull
18 Father Endeavor -- Francis Clark
19 Tippecanoe -- General Harrison
20 George Sand -- Mme. Dudevant
21 Ian Maclaren -- John Watson
22 Timothy Titcomb -- J. G. Holland
23 Ik Marvel -- Donald G. Mitchell
24 Mrs. Partington -- B. P. Shillaber
25 The Learned Blacksmith -- Elihu Burritt
26 Peter Parley -- Samuel G. Goodrich
27 Autocrat of the Breakfast Table -- Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes
28 Uncle Sam -- United States
SOMETHING TO REMEMBER.
RULERS, PRESIDENTS AND MINISTERS WHO HAVE BEEN SLAIN OR ATTACKED
WITHIN THE CENTURY.
Napoleon I, attempted, December 24, 1800.
Paul, Czar of Russia, March 24, 1801.
Spencer Perceval, Premier of England, May 11, 1812.
George IV, attempted, January 28, 1817.
Andrew Jackson, President United States, attempted January 30, 1835.
Louis Philippe, of France, many attempts, from 1835 to 1846.
Frederick William, of Prussia, attempt, May 22, 1850.
Francis Joseph, of Austria, February 18, 1853.
Ferdinand, Charles III, Duke of Parma, March 27, 1854.
Isabella II, of Spain, three attempts, from 1847 to 1856.
Napoleon III, three attempts, from 1855 to 1858.
Daniel, Prince of Montenegro, August 13, 1860.
Abraham Lincoln, President United States, April 14, 1865.
Michael, Prince of Servia, June 10, 1868.
Prim, Marshal of Spain, December 28, 1870.
Richard, Earl of Mayo, Governor-General of India, February 8, 1872.
Abdul Aziz, Sultan of Turkey, June 4, 1876.
William I, of Prussia, three attempts, from 1861 to 1876.
Alexander II, Czar of Russia, six attempts and finally killed by
explosion of bomb, March 13, 1881.
Mohammed Ali, Pasha, September 7, 1878.
Humbert I, King of Italy, attempt, November 17, 1878.
Lord Lytton, Viceroy of India, attempt, December 12, 1878.
Alfonso XII, of Spain, two attempts, 1878-79.
Brattiano, Premier of Roumania, attempt, December 14, 1880.
James A. Garfield, President United States, July 2, 1881.
Carter H. Harrison, Mayor of Chicago, October 28, 1893.
Marie Francois Carnot, President of France, June 24, 1894.
Nasr-ed-Din, Shah of Persia, May 1, 1896.
Stanislaus Stambouloff, Premier of Bulgaria, July 25, 1895.
Canovas del Castillo, Prime Minister of Spain, August 8, 1897.
Juan Idarte Borda, President of Uruguay, August 25, 1897.
Jose Maria Reyna Barrios, President of Guatemala, February 18, 1898.
Empress Elizabeth, of Austria, September 10, 1898.
Edward VII, of England, attempt, April 4, 1900.
Humbert, King of Italy, July 29, 1900.
William McKinley, President United States, September 6, 1901.
Alexander, King of Servia, June 11, 1903.
Draga, Queen of Servia, June 11, 1903.
Governor General Bobrikoff, of Finland, June 16, 1904.
Von Plehve, Minister of the Interior, Russia, July 28, 1904.
THE FOUR LEAVED SHAMROCK.
"I'll seek the four leaved shamrock
In all its fairy dells,
And if I find its charmed leaves,
Oh how I'll weave my spells.
I would not waste my magic might
On diamonds, pearls or gold,
Such treasures tire the weary heart,
Their triumphs are but cold.
But I would play the enchanter's part
In casting bliss around,
And not a tear or aching heart
Should in the world be found."
* * * * *
"To wealth I would give honor,
I'd dry the mourner's tears,
And to the pallid cheeks restore
The bloom of happier years;
And friends that had been long estranged,
And hearts that had grown cold,
Should meet again like parted streams
And mingle as of old.
And thus I'd play the enchanter's part
In casting bliss around,
And not a tear or aching heart
Should in the world be found."