HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1924-03-27, Page 3For the
Boys and Girls
UNCLE PETER'S CHERRY PIE.
Of course you remember the valen-I
tine party given by the Bunny Hollow.
folks and the Squirreldale folks, for;
the benefit of Uncle Peter and Aunt I
Sally Thumpalong, and Uncle Tine
othy Greeneop?
• Well, up to that time Uncle Peter!
had, been as kind 'as possible; but;
suddenly he became so impatient that;
Aunt Sally couldn't do a thing, to
please him. She said it was because
he was worn out with his loug siege,
of rheumatism, and she didn't Mama
him until 1m demanded cherry pie -.-
made of flesh cherries; he scorned!
Aunt Sally's dried ones, In the niid-,
die of March, too, and bitter cold at:
that.
Poor Aunt Sally! She ran across'
the road to ask Granny Cottontail's
advice. "And Peter says," she re-
marked, "where there's a will there's
a way; that if.I wanted eherries my-.
self I'd end. a tree somewhere—boo
hool" And she threw her apron over
her, head and cried, he was so tired
out. •
"Well, well That's too bad," ex -
&aimed Granny soothingly. "Peter!
must have rheumatism right bad to
be so 'unreasonable! But never mind,
Sally—Peter shall have his cherry
pie"; site laughed.
"First," he continued, "you at
down by the hearth and take off those
thin wet shoes; I've a heavy pair for
you—and same woolen stockings, too.
And here's a cup of hot tea to comfort
you."
Then Granny bustled tosmother
room and in less'n no time returned
with the slices in one hand and the
stockings in the other, and she told
Aunt Sally to change at once or she'd
be sick. "And who'd take care of
Peter then?" she remarked.
"Now," she continued, "we'll make
a meek cherry pie and Peterel eever
know what's ,inside of it unless you
tell him."
• First she took a string of peach
kernels from the rafters, and told
Aunt Sally to pound one of them as
fine as possible. Then she spied
Quilly Quick scampering past the
house and she raised the window and
called to him and naked him if be
Would run round to 'Moses raV
house and borrow a cup of cranberries
for bar—she knew that they had
a -plenty.
In a very short time Quilly retune-
d! with the cranberries and Giteeray
thanked him and esked him how hie
Ma was—and gave him two delicious
seed cakes.
Then shewhiskee, up enough pastry
for a tiny pie --and filled it with
crtieberriee--and the peach kernel, to
make it taste like cherries. Such a
beautieui pie!
When Aunt Sally took the pie --
nicely browned—borne to Uncle Neer
and told him Granny Cottontail had
made it for him, he was perfectly de-
lighted, and said: "Granny's smart as
she can be—and I knew you'd find
cherries if you looked -for them,"
Aunt Sally had just opened her
mouth to say there were in cherries
in the pie when Doctor Pedley walked
in. He was ;the rabbit dotterand
had come to hanUncle Peter's
medicine.
After he had felt Uncle Peter's
pulse he asked him how was his ap-
petite.
Uncle Peter said, "Very poor—I
don't want anything but cherry pie
and Granny Cottontail made a fine
ono for me this very morning," Then
he told Aunt Sally to cut it—maybe
the doctor would like to have a piece.
I The doctor did want a piece and
he smacked bis lips over it and each
1 "Where under the sun did Granny
get cherries in March? They're out
of season." Then added: "It reminds
me of Maria Brown and Gobbler
Short. I as in the woods this morn-
ing getting calamus root and there
was Maria thrashing round at a
great rate, I asked Gobbler Short
what she.was doing. And he said—
behind his wing: 'Would you believe
it? That turkey hen's hunting a nest.
Did the same trick last year and every
egg was frozen. Goodness me, doctor
—I wish you could help me.'
"I told Min Pd see what I could do,
but maybe if Granny Cottontail knows
where to get fresh cherries in March
she'll know how to prevent a turkey
hen from laying in the snow." And
Doctor Pedley laughed and said good-
bye.
SCIENCE AS BALANCE
OF POWER IN WAR
DISCOVERY MAY DES-
TROY CIVILIZATION.
British Leaders Discuss Supre-
macy of New Methods of
Combat in Future Wars.
The perennial controversy as to
whether scientific inventions really
add to the happiness of mankind, or as •
to, whether they are perverted for de-
structive purposes, is, again agitating
British scientists.
It was revived by a. recent warning
by Sir Richard Gregory that "science
may soon place ,at man's disposal
forces that will destroy an army al-
most by the touch of a button."' He
anticipated the release of atomic en-
ergy which would offer to predatory
powers an almost incalculable weapon
of offense, and concluded by the warn-
ing that unless the progress of science
were accompanied. by the advance of
moral and ethical ideas, scientific die.'
cevery might end by destroying civilte
zation.
e
Sir Napier Shaw, R.F.S., in an inter -1
view witb. "The Westminster Gazette,"
echoes, Sir Richard Gregory's tears.
"It is monstrous—this use to which
the (Recoveries of the scientist are
put," he said. "'Unfortunately one can-
not believe that it will ever be other-
wise. The whole of history shows
•
that nations and peoples have always
lied to seek relief from pressure lip
two ways,. There is the Internal peees-
sure—the constant necessity to 9:Volvo
newer and more effective eeffichines
with which to conquer naenee. Th'ere
is the external presstirp from other
groups which finds itee outlet in war. I
"The work of ttlie scientist In one ?
direction can 04;0,s be utilized in the
other, luedisTrieelleve, always will,"
Union of Scientists.eel:ked whether there were any pos-
sibility of a trade union of scientists
to Insure that their discoveries would
be utilized only for peaceful ends., Sir
Napier replied:
"I done, see how it can -ever come
about. One inventor might stand out,1
but what then? Another would fill the
gap, or in some way the invention, be-'
lug of great importance tor war pure
poses, would be bound to -leak out.
Many inventions of the kind were kept
secret during the war, but only for a
time. .
"When people find themselves in a
hole they will do anything. I don't
• think they ever will hesitate to use
the lateseseientific discovery for self -
redaction," '
()thee peomenent scientists empha-
size other Onuses of the matter. Sir
Oliver Lodge says:
"The, scientist must go ahead ex-
perimenting and devising, absolutely
discoveries. That rests with you and
your public mon, your statesmen, and
you, the press. If you others make a
mess of things you have only your-
selves to blame. The scientist gives
you a fire for warmth and you go and
bunt the ileum down with it."
War Made Quicker.
Sir Ronald ROSS, the eminent bac-
teriologist, elm tends to doubt wheth-
er ?dentine luvention makes war more
terrible.
"The more terrible the weapon the
shorter the wax," he says. "Tee mor-
tality at old battles like Grecy and
Poitiers was far greater in proportion
than that of recent battles. In the
Thirty Years' War whole populations
were reduced, At Agincourt the
French were simply slaughtered and
the prisoners killed.
"The discovery of a new explosive
would render war more suddenly ter -
tibia that is all; bat I do not think it
would have any terrible effect on the
total mortality."
Dr. A. M. Low, speaking from the
more technical viewpoint, makes the
point that it may be ueceesary before
new atomic farces can be released to
utilize an almost equal amount of
force in releasing them.
"ti is a questionof mathematics," he
said. "I am not In the least surprised
or alarmed at Sir Richard Gregory's
remarks."
Dr. kIele-Shaw, F.R.S., deo sayss
"As an engineer I have no cause for
apprehension. We have not found the
means for releasing the energyeaf the
atom. The atom is new known to be
In simple langueeee an. electrical plane -
tar' spawn-, lillectrone revolve around
a suneMit as in the feeler system. Ie
We could break this system doubtless
4qe S11011141 release an enormous amount
of energy. But can you imagine the
solar system being broken up? Well,
no more can I imagine the planetary
system of the atom being split em."
Where is El Dorado?
Some time ago, when the ruins of an
Aztec city were discovered in the
Amazonian forest, they were popular-
ly supposed to be those of El Dorado,
the golden city to which Raleigh and
many other adventurers wore eaid to
have beeu lured, some to their death,
and a few to fortune, in Elizabethan
times when the wildest stories of the
New World found credeuce.
El Dorado sounds likethe fanciful
names whiehethe Spaniards and Portu-
guese gave to the cities they estab-
lished, such as Buenas Ayres, t`.5'n119g9
Los Angeles, and eo on.
But the fact is that El Dared° is not
a city at all, and never was, although
it would make, a line -sounding nano
for some new capitel. ' •
The story goes that Orellana, Ilia
lieutenant of the groat Pizerro, pre-
tended he had discovered a lend of
gold. between the 'Olinda() mark the
Amazon, but when thee() high hopes
eeroved delusive, the ruler was smeared
with oil and rolled in gold dust, and
dtebbed El Dorado, the guilteed tuan.
Whether there is any truth in the
difil It t letermine
chi 1 hat use is made of his
r.:77.q,A1-47741,F721,77.7
getteeeteseeeeetee
eeeeeeeeee
— —
Shorty Russick (right), star musher of the north country, won the an-
nual 200-inile non -step Pas Dog Derby recently, corning in ahead of eleven
other conipeting teams, He was also first in last year's race.
Romance of Makers of British Highways
So many great arterial roads are be -
1
ing planed in this country that Britain
will soon have regained her proud
position of having the best roe.desys-
tem in the world, says a London maga-
zine. Yet if it had not been for two
remarkable men—Thomas Telford and
john MeAdam—our roads might still
have been, in more senses than one,
insufferable.
The Romans were the most famous
of all road -makers. They .censtructed
a number of great main arteries due -
hag their eeeePatIOU Of Britain, some
of which still exist as monuments to
their thoroughness and ingenuity.
When they departed, our roads were
allowed to lapse into a more or less
neglected condition, until In the eigh-
teenth and nineteenth centuries the
art of making durable, well -construct-
ed highways was revived..., To -day it
may well be said that our roads are
paved with gold, for on an average it
costs £292 to maintain each mile of
highway.
Shepherd's Cottage to Westminster
Abbey.
Whet we owe to Telford's genius at
a time when most ot Britain's roads
were .in as sorry a state as they were
in pre.Roman times will never be fully
estimated, Telford contributed al-
most as much to the comfort and con-
eenience of modern road travel as any
highway authority of our own day.
The ion of a Scottish shepherd, Tel-
tord was forced at an early age to tend
sheep and to do odd jobs for a living:
When he was fifteen he was appren-
ticed to a builder, a trade wheal he
learned so thoroughir that at twenty-
three he was a master mason, in which
capacity he came to Loadon.
His work on the construction of
Somerset House brought lain an order
to build a house for the Resident Goin'
taissionr of the Portsmouth Dock -
Yards, and from this he went on to un-
dertake a lumber of more important
tasks, inaludieg the building of the
bridges over the Severn.
One of his greatest achievements
was the laying -out of the London to
Holyhead road, which covers a edis-
tanoe of 260 miles. He also undertook
the reorganization of the road, in the
Highlands, involving the construction
of 920 miles of highway. and 1,117
bridges, the task occupying nealy
twenty yee.rs, He left his mark on
many other roads in the 'United King-
dom, and when he died he was given
an Abbey burial as a token of the nee
tion's, respect.
Telford% name, in the minds of en-
gineers and highway experts, is linked
with that of John Loudon McAdam,
who invented what Is now well-known
an the mac,adamized syetem of road -
reeking. He was born the year before
Telford—in 1766.
While at school, McAdam modelled
a section of road -way in clay, and his
interest in the subject of road-maldng
was kindled at an early age. His first
efforts to improve the reads were car-
rled out at his own expense, and he
spent large sums in perfecting his
method, As. a result he was given the
past of Surveyor -General of British
Roads, and in this position he soon
found opportunities for putting his
theories into practice.
Briefly, a macadamized road Is made
by levelling and draining the ground
over which it is to run, and spreading
on the surface a quantity of broken
flints. The action of vehicular traffic
'causes the angles of the stones to
unite, and, finally, to be welded in a
solid gla4.50. A tarred "top dressing"
is then applied, and afterwards rolled
in.
Wepd-pavingeVeich is becoming in-
creasingly popular in towns, was in-
troduced into this country ninety
years ago, the first wood -paved road
being laid down in Breda. Formerly
the-blocke were laid in the manner of
bricks, on a serfaee of gravel. Later
is system of sand bedding was adopted.
a How many motorists, or, for that
mather, pedestritns, as they Progress
in comfort along our roads, give a mo -
manes thought to the two men who
literally paved the way for there?
Survey i g Within Arctic Circle
Delimiting Sites. of Police and Trading Posts—Coed and Iron
Outcroppings—Eskimo Villages.
That the southern part of Baffin Is- last survey in September. The 'work
Ind conteins two lakes comparable in at Craig Harbor in Lat. 76 deg. 11' is
size with Lake Ontario and that the probably the most northerlisurvey of
eland, whieh is almost one thousand a parcel of lend in any part of the
miles loeg from north to aouth, is near- world, certainly the most northerly in
ly five times, as large as Cuba, were Canada. • -
same ce the striking facto brought Mit In the intervals between survey'
In an address at the annual meeting work trips were made to inspect out-
er tee Dominion Land Surveyors Age croopings of iron and coal (one of the
sedation in Ottawa on February 7 by letter is used locally as a source of
Mr. F. D. Henderson; D.L.S., of the fuel sepree) and the candttlon of the
Topographical Survey of Canada, Eskimo habitations, the oharacter of
Mr. Henderson, in the capacity of the vegetation, etc., were noted, Mogs-
eurveyor and topographer, acoompan- e,s and lichens were everywhere in
led the 1923 Arctic expediUoii of the abundance, and flowers., the most con-
Noeth West Territories Branch, De- srpieuous of which was the yellow Are-
partnient of the Interior, under Mr, J. tic poppy, grew in all sheltered Places,
D. Craig, D.L.S. His duty was to sur- sometimes within a few feet of a gla-
vey lots, and posts for the Royal Cana- der, No trees were found, the nearest
dean Mounted Police, the Hudson's arepreaai being the shrub -like Arctic
Bay Company and ()thee private in willow, with branches half an inch in
tereets at the paints at which the diameter, The branches spread out
C.G.S. Artie called, and to take mag, horizontally close to tho ground: It 1
static obeervatione and make topogra- was sometimes possible to gather
Phical surveys wherever poseible. In enough of the wood to bail a kettle.
all eight lots were surveyed at Craig Blueberries ware found at Ponds Inlet
Harbor, Macias Harbor, Eskimo Point, butsmaller and not so sweet as in
Ponds Inlet and Pangnirtung, and sou ma Canada.
short traverses were run at the two At bath ?pads Wee and Pangnir-
latter places. As the governing lines twig there are native villages near the
of the Dominion Lauds Surveye sye- Royal Canadian Mounted Police and
tem have not been extended to the Hudson's Bay Company posts, contain-
Arctic elands all lots were classed and hag normally from seventy -fire to one
numbered as group lots. hundred Eskimos ,each, although at
The conditions were unusual, Con- theme as many as two hundred natives
tinuous daylight prevailed during part amenable at these points. Those at
of the period in which the surveys the former post live in permanent huts
were made, solar observations were which., under the direction of the au -
the only kind telten and Gieenwich thoeities, have been neatly arranged
time was ,obtained from the ship's in a line along the shore, whereas at
chronometer, checked up by wireless, the latter the natives still retain their
that great aid to the scientific worker Skid igloos,
in the field. Seem] of the surveys At many places there are remains al
were made at top speed while the Arc- Eskimo encampments and villages,
Saine 01 these are evidently very an
cient and it was suggested that these
would probably yield a rich store of
valuable material to the archaeolical
No Chance.
Mrs. Homebody—"Does yourhus-
band talk in his sleep?"
Mrs. Chatterton—"I don't know. lee
can't go to sleep till I'm through talk-
ing 10 hem, and 1 don't get through till
fall asleep."
Salesmanship.
New Assistant --"Gentleman asks 11
this Banal shirt will slirinke
Proprietor—"Does It fit dui?"
"No, it's too large,"
"Yes, of course it shrinks,"
An Oversight.
Sandy 1Vicentosh started to build a
small outhouse. He worked from the
inside, and as he had the material
close beside him, the Avails- were rising
fast when noon. arrived, and with it bis
son John, who brought his father's din-
ner.
with honest pride in his eye, Sandy
looked at John over the wall on which
he was engaged, and asked:
"How do you think I'm gettin' on?"
"Fine, father; but hew doe ye get
ont? You've forgot the door!"
One glance around him showed
Sandy that his son was right; but,
looking at him kindly, he said: "Oh,
but ye've got a grand held on ye, John!
Ye'll be an architect yet, as sure's yer
feythed's a builder!"
•
• • ,oeleleteeete,
The Origin of Some
Popular Phrases
"Who was this, Ring Melas?" wars
asked the other day by an inquirer
who had seen the name mentioned.
There are many legendary and hiss
toeicel people whose names have been
ITIOOTPOrSted in our language at; dea.
criptive of certain attributes, and King
Midas le one ef them. Thus to -day to
call anyone Midas means that lie 10
miserly, or has the trick of turning he
to,gold everything he touches.
King Midas was the ruler of Lydia,
a kingdom in Asia Minor, He did a
good turn to Bacchus, the god of wine,
who thereupon promised him anything
he asked. Midas, being a greedy old
person, begged that everything he
touched might be turned into gold,
Bacchus granted his VV1.1141, and Midas
went round touohing things to have
the pleasure of seeing them grow golds
an under his fingers.
The Fatal Gift
His jay was shorelived, however, foe
he preseutly 'found that directly he
touched his food it also turned into
lumps of gold, so that he could get
nothing to eat. Worse than that, when
his little daughter came to him and
he stroked her hair, to his horror she
turned into a gold statue. Filled with
agony, he besought Bacchus to take
away the fatal gift, and seeing his
misery the god relented.
Lrdla b the way, seems to have
Whatever would our grandmothers
say if they knew that women had
Slander expires at a good woman's club; as well as men?—Lady Loam -
door. field.
Photograph' shows
tish delutnbla which now has a telegraph and railway Usa aneeIng I:x*6113h
tie waited in the bay or made sheet
trips up the coast; one was finlshecl at
10 p.m., another at 11 p.m., of the long
Arctic August day, and eight inches of
snow fell during the progeess of the excavator.
er
PEONIES REJOICE
THE HEART
By A. P. Sounders
Well, I did not really choose it. It
chose me. I happened eerie in my
gardening experienee, twenty years
ago, to plant a few good peonies. They
did the rest. I have now in my garden
at about half an acre ever 2,000 plants.
And 1 never .caa have enough.
These are the claims oe the peony,
and if any other plant can put forward
better ones, I do not know of it:
The peony is incomparably the
grandest of all hardy perennials for
Northern climates, lt rejoices in cold
and flourishes in Winnipeg as well as
In Washington,
It is the plant that gives the greatest
returns for the least outlay in time
and cost.
It takes care of itself all the year
round, and needs neither spraying, pet-
ting nor coddling; it has no prickles,
no bugs and very rarely any diseases.
The finest forms of the peony are
unexcelled in beauty by any flower
that grows, It has richness and deli-
cacy ofecolor, elegance of form, mini-
mal; size, and in some varieties ex-
quisite perfume.
It is a grand flower for mass effects,
and yet it is incomparably lovely when
cut and brought Indoors, •
By a proper selection of varieties%
can be had in bloom for six weeks,
These are its clahns, and regarding
some of them I must take a little apace
to say something more.
The peony is a grateful plant. It
asks little and gives much. Rightly
pleated in a good soil it gives bloom
in increasing quantity and beauty for
five or ten years and wil go on then
far decades thereafter, producing Its
crop of bright flowers every spring. No
one knows haw long the peony will
live, At the Peony Society's Show in
London, Ontario, two years ago, there
was a large vase of blooms cut from a
plant which was said to have been
planted in 1885. A plant that is will-
ing to work so hard for you year after
yeas surely deserves that you should
work hard for it once.
And the time la when you p1001 11-
00, before you plant it, for your pre,
paratlons should be made in, advance.
The plant brings its great crop of
bloom to perfection all at one time,
and for that it needs food and mois-
ture. It you are on a strong heavy soil
your plants will do better than they
will on a light gravel or sandy eon,
But whetever your soil they should
have manure. Not on the roots, but
where the roots can gTO,,, into it as
they go farther down and spread far-
ther
ouwatIbplapted peony
will rejoice
your heart every spring by the in.
creased vigor of its growth. And do
not worry about the ants which some-
times elimb the stein to suck the
sticky sweet Juice that covers the
buds. They do no harm. The peony
COMCS as near to being immune to dis•
ease and death aS anything I know of.
One of my difficulties In getting peo-
ple to realize thb beauty of the peony
is that they form their judgment of It
from one or two bad eons that they
have seen in some neighborhood gar-
,
den. if yon would know the beauty of
the .peauy go to, some garden or
peteery where' yeti can see such varie,
• .0ee .u: :Marina ealot SeoShaIl
eedalialle Reeeseme No leimeleltra, lease
, • ova eiashea, Queee Vidtoria, Duchess
the old trail of '18 tesoegh the Weltelmet,e Ti ., Npmouts, 'Victor Hugo, Lady Brans -
well (Michaelis Rubra, La Tulips, I
should be willing to guarantee that I
could convert anyone into a peony en-
thusiast in five minutes provided he
had some natural appreciation of the
beauty of flowers, by almply showing
him one bloom each of any half dozen
of the sorts named.
Her Birthday Treat.
"Madame La Marquise, though then
i0 reduced circumstances, was a great
lady, a tiny creature, seventy -tour
years old, with most exquisite man-
ners and speech." So wrote Kate
Douglas Wiggin in her recent volume
of reminiscences, of the head of the
family with whom she once stayed in
Paris to improve her French. 3 learn-
ed to love the members of this family
very much and to win also the friend-
ship of Marlette, the cook, and gray-
haired Albert, the garcon, valet de
chambre, butler and all else."
Mrs. Wiggin was writing a book at
the time. My story, he says, was al-
most dans when my birthday came to
pass, September 28, and there was an
affectionate and delightful celebration
of the event I remember the flowers,
the delicious repitet and especially one
dame devised by Albert. He had ob-
tained—perhaps from the Paris Ex-
position of several years before—a
single ear at corn, a veritable antique.
Before the salad Albert entered bear-
ing with infinite elegance a sizable
platter; placing it before Madame la
Marquise and removing the cover, he
remarked with infinite pride: "Voila!
Behold the national dish of the cbarm-
ing American lady!" Thereupon Ise
handed madame a small carving knife
and fork and retired, blushing and hap-
py, to a corner to await the service.
The single ear of corn looked very
lonely on its platter and displayed a
very strange brown color ---whether sc.
quired by extreme age or by Marietta's
cooking I could not say. Madame took
the carving Imite and fork in her
dainty little ringed fingers and with a
bow said to MB, "Permittezenoi, ma-
dame?"
I bent my head and "permitted" her,
but, alas! my permission was futile.
With her until grace and destination
she first attempted to carve and then
to saw the unfamiliar object on the
platter, but nothing happened.
"Has it perhaps a bone that ahead
have Veen removed in the kitchen, Al-
bert?" was her question as well as I
code translate it,
"I think not," replied Albert, "but
pray allow nie to carve it on the side
table."
ele disappeared behind a screen and
struggled with my "national dish,"
which finally, as nearly as we could
judge by sound, parted under extreme
pressure and flew in two directions.
It was rather embarrassing for
everyone and particularly for the hon-
ored heoine of the occasion. She tried
to explain something a the nature of
corn on the cob; but "cob" was a
word for which she knew no French
equivalent, and when she resorted in
desperation 0 the word for the human
oar, "oreelle," her hearers were na-
turally astonished. Fortunately they
were also amused, and the incident
ended merrily in laughter aud jest.
But no elle got a taste of her birthday
'treat, boned or boneless!
Priceless.
The world Inc no Silo1i lioever in any
I lead,
I And no such pearl in any gulf tbesea.,
I as any babe on aayrnethera3 Itieee„
•
Life would be intolerable if it were
not foe its reconciliations. --Lord Birk -
been the home el ridb men, for Crem-
es, whom we commemorate when we
say "as rich as Croesue," was the Met '
monarch et that country, and amassed
so much wealth that it became pro -
Then who was Damoaes, of witose
sword we hear so often—"the sword
of Damocles?" He was a courtier who
heaped extravagant praises upon hts
ktng, extolling his happiness, and good
fortune. The king, Dionysius of Syne.
cuse, to teach him the unstable nature
of wealth and luxury, invited him to a
most sumptuous banquet, but he found,
on eeating himself at the table, that
over his head a sharp sword was. SUS.
pended by a single hair. Hence the
sward of Damocles has become typical
of any impending danger,
Man With Many Eyes.
Shakespeare mentions Hydra five
times In his plays, and "hydra-headed"
is a by no means uncommon expres-
sion for something which recurs with,
increasing viden,ce. Hydra was a
seven -headed aerpent slain by Hercu-
les. He found that whenever he cut
off one head, seven more sprouted out
in its place, until at last he bit upoxi
the happy expedient of burning the
severed neck with a hot brand before
the new heads had time to spring
forth. Hercules himselt has given us
an adjective — herculean — meaning
something extremely difficult and dan-
gerous..
When we speak of a. person being
"Argus -eyed," to indicate that nothing
memos leia notice, we are perpetuating
the name of a faithful servant, Argue,
a giant with a myriad ayes which he
used on behalf of his mistress, the god-
dess Juno. Mercury, the messenger
god, eleer him, and Juno gatheeed sip
his myriad eyes and soattered them
over the tail of the peacock, so that
she might have ever before her e
souvenir ot her devoter slave.
The Goddess of Revenge.
We often speak of Nemesis pursuing
someone. Nemesis was the goddese of
revenge, who mercilessly hurried to
punishment guilty souls condemned by
the goddess of justice. Her name has
become a synonym for retribution.
"As sure as Fate" is a common
phrase. Why is fate so sure? The
Fates were three sisters who control-
led men's destinies. The first sister
epun life's thrad, the second twisted it,
and the third cut it off with her shears.
They alone dared oppose the sovereign
will of the gods, and they issued ir-
revocable d
ecrees.
+
When Words Fail Us.
There are many things in everyday,
life which We find difficult to deseribe.
For instance, how many people eau
describe the difference in flavor
tween tea and coffee? It sounds
simple, but it requires the services of
an expert In beverages, to do eo.
Dictionary descriptione are eosee,
sidered to define an object so accurate.,
ly that no other description Is ethane
ible, and in most cases the information,
is conclusive. But take the word viol.'
10, which the dictionary describeas
"a four -stringed musical inatrument
played with a bow." If this informa-
tion were supplied to a Pitcairn Is -
lender and he were asked to draw the
instrument—aseuraing, of course, that
he had never seen a violin—the result
wOounildyam
be abattliiaraa
ming.tiaian can deaaribe
a spire1 staircase; anost people at-
tempt to do so by a circular movement
made with the finger.
Everyone who has seen a concertina
"knows" it, but the chances are that
an attempt to describe the instrumett
would hopelessly confuse ninety-nine
out of every hundred people,
I In most deseriptions one has to call
I in the assistance et comparison. The
description of Bowere Is impossible
.1without a standard—whlth must be
Weal-knewn---es a basis, Of aleual emu-
111.::e11:11:31:eaitce: 1acro1':^ne-ge:n1:"F•an''.a."771;Mst'
Only one couple out of every 1,1100
married people live, to keep their gol
den weddlag.