Newspaper Page Text
24 . TH
The Family
LITTLE DOLLY DIMPLE.
By Thomas Nelson Page.
Little Dolly Dimple,
In her green wimple,
Knows all the philosophers know:
THot firn Jo /-*
And ice is not,
And that sun will melt the snow.
She has heard that the moon is made of
green cheese;
But she's not quite certain of this.
She knows if you tickle your nose you
will sneeze.
And a hurt is made well by a kiss.
I wish 1 were wise as Dolly is wise,
For mysteries lie in her deep, clear eyes.
A TRUE ANIMAL STORY.
It happened on board the Braunfels,
the floating menagerie that lately
brouullt a load of new animals for the
New York Zoo.
On her decks, with canvass stretched
overhead as awnings, five timers, eight
leopards, two tapirs, weighing at least
a ton each, twenty-four cages packed
with chattering monkeys, twelve boxes
of snakes, some of the reptiles as thick
as a man's arm, and thicker, and twelve
water buffaloes sunned themselves as
the great ship plowed through the
tropical Indian Ocean, Arabian and Red
seas and the Suez Canal.
It was the jungles of wildest Africa
transferred to the deck of a vessel, and
fortunate indeed' would have been the
boy who could have seen the glare of the
big agate eyes, the hissing of the
enormous snakes and the comical antics
of the simians. Most of the animals,
especially the man-eating specimens,
were confined in strong wooden boxe3,
from which a paw, armed with sharp
claws, would be thrust at intervals to
catch one of the brown-skinned sailors
who manned the ship.
One day in the Indian Ocean two
boxes, containing a tiger and a leopard,
were carelessly on the deck too close,
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tiger rippped open the leopard's right,
foreleg to the bone, and the leg became
so swollen that tlfe trainer told the
captain and the chief officer that the
leopard would certainly die of blood
poisoning unless be had immediate and
heroic surgical treatment. As a leopard
is worth one thousand dollars to a
zoological garden, it will be seen that his
death would have been no small matter.
But the chief officer is a brave man,
and he promptly said that he would doctor
the injured beast. Then the question
arose how the thing should be done, and
the ship's crew was searched for men
brave enouah to hold the lennard's head
and fore legs, as any boy will readily
understand that one blow from a leopard's
paw would terribly injure, if it did
not kill outright, the strongest and bravest
man.
This is how the leopard's leg was
treated and the beautiful spotted animal
saved from an untimely death: A rope
was wound about the beast's neck. A
brown skinned sailor, known as a
Lascar, was given an end of the rope.
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[E PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SOU'
The trainer seized the uninjured foreleg,
just as the doctor grabbed the other
forepaw, and the captain and the
engineer gripped the two hind legs.
Then the doctor 6aid, "N'ow, men; if he
attempts to bite anybody, pull the rope
tight until it strangles him into submissdon,
and as you value your lives,
don't get raitled, and, above all things
don't let go his leg. It means death for
some of us, if not for all of us, if you
do. Are you ready?"
Then this brave German officer, soaking
a spcnge with the powerful cleansing
acid, applied it to the leopard's torn
leg. In a twinkle the jungle beast was
winning wun pain ana niaae furious
efforts to rend the men, but each heeded
the warning given him and maintained
their holds until the chief officer had
throughly washed the torn member.
Then the leg was soothed with ointments
and a linen bandage applied, just as the
surgeons do in a hospital.
Now, as boys and girls have read in
books, animals are capable of showing
gratitude for kindness done to them.
The leopard knew that oflicer Schmehl
had been kind to him, for, after the
ointment and the bandage had been
applied, he licked the hand of the officer
and in other ways showed how thankful
he was. Well, the leopard is as good as
well now.
Not all the animals which were put
aboard the ship at Calcutta lived to
reach this port. The two tapirs, which
were worth at least one thousand
dollars, died.
Both were buried at sea. One was
taken sick and died shortly alter the
Braunfels sailed t'rom Calcutta. A few
days later the second tapir thrust its
head through the bars of its cage anil
the rolling of the ship choked the big
and clumsy animal.
A great boa-constrictor, a snake that
can swallow a rabbit at one gulp, and
can squeeze the life out of a man, tiger,
lion or deer, also died on the way over.
Another constrictor arrived in flue shape,
but hungry, having eaten the last live
rabbit on shipboard, off the Banks of
Newfoundland.
Speaking of snakes, boys and girls, the
ship brought over a lot of cobras. A
cobra is a short, thick snake, with a
flat head, and is of an indigo blue color.
The bite of a cobra is deadly. If a cobra
should bite you, it is certain that you
would die in about fifteen minutes.
There are a lot of this kind of snakes
in India, you will know when you are
fold that about one hundred thousand
persons are killed every year by its bite.
It is sad to relate that several hundred
song birds died on the voyage.
When the ship was sailing in the Indian
Ocean and the Arabian and Red
Seas the birds, most of them a variety
known flc tha Tn^lon i V?m.nh
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through the day. There were nigh tin-,
gales, too. and every boy and girl knows
how sweet a nightingale can sing. An
Indian thrush can sing more sweetly
than a canary, so never a crew heard so
many or such sweet bird music.
Port Said is at the Red Sea end of the
Suez Canal It is noted among other
things, for its extremes of temperature.
When the winds blow from the hot sand
rH. March 3, 1909.
of Africa, the decks of ships blister the
feet. At other times, when the wind
sweeps over the snowy covered plains
from the north, heavy clothing must be
worn.
It happened that a cold wind struck
the Braunfels at Port Said.
in the morning not a song bird greeted
the rising sun. Little throats which had
throbbed during the lo'ng trip through
tropical seas were stilled* Not a
solitary note was heard.
Captain Wehlman, it is said, almost
cried when two Lascar sailors informed
him that the birds were dead. Ho
would not believe it until ho saw the
birds.?Reformed Church Messenger.
TEN WAYS TO HELP MOTHER.
Do you ever help mother? How many
ways to help her can you think of?
Would you like to know some others
besides the ways you now know, or
would you rather not know any more?
You may think there are too many
already. Below you will find ten ways
to help mother. If you know of any
others, or if you know of several others,
kindly tell us about them and w*> win
give them place on this page. Here
they are:
1. Keep the caps and hats hung up
where they belong, no matter whose
cap, or where you find it. Just put it
where you know It ought to be.
2. Keep the papers folded right side
out and piled nicely together on the
library table. It takes mother a good
many minutes a day to do just that.
3. Get into the habit of remembering
where you see things. This will help not
only mother, but everybody in the huose.
It is .such a comfort to the people who
lose things or forget where they put
them.
4. Qoo hnw mon? ? * *
man} uiues a aay you can
"save steps" for her by running
errands It is what little feet were made
for, partly.
5. Laugh twenty times every day. It
will help make others laugh.
6. Like things she does for you. Tell
her how nice they are.
7. Whisper in hei ear sometimes.
Whisper this, "I love you."
8. Watch for chances to do things
she hns snnVon ri " *
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her to ask yQU. It is such fun to surprise
people!
9. Notice when she is sick or tired
or headachy, and go about the house on
tiptoe.
10. Don't tell her you are going to be
this kind of boy or girl?have the fun
of seeing her find it out.?Exchange."
The highest seat in the kingdom of
God is the stool of penitence.
I look upon the simple and childish
virtues of veracity and honesty as the
root of all that is sublime in character.
Speak as you think. h? whn> -o . ??
pay your debts of all kinds.?Emerson.
* . *
There are two good rules which ought
to be written on every heart?never to
believe anything bad about anybody unless
you positively know It to be true:
never to tell even that unless you feel
that It is absolutely necessary.
. I
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