Newspaper Page Text
June 21, 1911 ] T fl E I
CHEERING THE SICK.
Flowers are the sweetest offering for the sick,
hut a part of the year they are practically out
of reach of the majority, and one may show a
proper interest in a sick friend without going to
an expense that can not be afforded. A* familiarity
with one's tastes will enable the caller to
concoct some sweet little surprise that will effectually
break the monotony of invalidism. Only
those who have endured long periods of pain
and weakness can truly appreciate these blessed
little ministrations.
"Nothing but plain boiled rice, we are having
for dessert today; I am sure you will be allowed
to taste it." It was brought in the prettiest little
dish and, of course, it tasted far nicer than
rice boiled upon our own range.
"I'm bringing my pink geranium to cheer
you up. It will look lovely for a week at least,
seven blossoms. Isn't it a beauty?" For a
week the pink beauty visited the dull sick room,
then was taken home. Wasn't that the expression
of a kind heart?
"I thought you would like to glance at the
new fashion sheet. I'm making Nellie a gingham
after this style," and long after she leaves
you are happily thinking how dainty your
neighbor's girl will look in the new frock, for
she had taken the trouble to bring you a sample
of the goods.
Would it not be a delightful reform, a choice
expression of love, if adults at least would reLetter*
Dear Fresbyterian: I am a little girl thirteen
years old. I live in the country, three miles
from "Williamsville, a small village. I go to
Sunday school every Sunday I can, but we have
to cross a river and sometimes it is up and we
pan '+ nmoo T /"ll, *1J 1 *
VU.U u \j*.\saa. JL 1CUICU luc U1111U S V^U ICCI11SII]
when I was five years old, and recited the Shorter
Catechism last spring and got a nice Bible,
and diploma. I have one brother fifteen years
old and a little sister two years old, and she is
just at a cute age. She says lots of cute things.
My mother and father take your paper, and I
enjoy reading the letters very much. I will
answer Jennie Ford Crawford's question:
"Which is the shortest chapter in the Bible? It
is 117th Psalm. As this is my first letter, I will
close. Your unknown friend,
Williamsville, Va. Ruth B. Wallace.
Dear Presbyterian: I will attempt to write
just a short epistle, as this is my first one.
I am living with my married sister, Mrs. Lucy
Henderson, and she takes your paper. I enjoy
reading your paper ever so much, especially the
children's letters. We live at Hat Creek. Our
Presbyterian pastor of Hat Creek church is Rev.
D. M. Stockard. But our regular pastor of
Roanoke Presbyterian church is Rev. B. F. Bedinger,
of which church we are members. We
like him fine. My sister has a very sweet little
baby. She is only five months old. Her name
is Flossie May. She is lots of company for us.
I have two sisters and two brothers. My youngest
brother is a Presbyterian also.
I will not continue to write very much, as I
am anxious to see this in print I will bring my
letter to a conclusion by asking two questions:
Which of the apostles was delivered out of
prison by an angel? Where were disciples first
called Christians?
Your unknown friend,
Flossie B. Collins.
R. F. D. No. 1, Brookneal, Va.
.
-
PRESBYTERIAN OF THE S G
member their friends during illness by the gift
they intend to make them at the more conventional
gift-making season ? To my mind the ebb
tide, when strength and courage are low, is the
perfect season.?Selected.
A VERY UNNATURAL ISLAND.
A little, uninhabited island of the Dutch East
Indies contains very remarkable plant and animal
life. There is a species of the fig tree,
which grows to a height of fifty or sixty feet,
whose roots start out eight or ten feet above
the ground and grow downward, fastening
themselves in the soft, muddy marsh. The
leaves resemble those of a rubber plant, and the
tree contains a white, milky juice such as that
in the milkweed. Since they grow very near
the sea-shore, fish are often seen crawling up
the roots and trunks of the trees, sometimes
forty feet above the ground.
The beach of this wonderful island seems
to be literally running away. Everywhere
there are thousands and thousands of hermit
crabs, some as small as a pinhead and others
as large as a horse chestnut. They are the
color of sand, and their constant motion gives
the effect of the beach moving.
In describing this island a traveler says,
"These moving sands, with a background of
trees, whose roots were apparently all above
ground, and which were covered by tree-climbing
fish, formed the most fantastic picture that
? From The CI
Dear Presbyterian: I see many nice letters
in. your good paper. 1 want to write one and
hope you will print it. I am a little girl just
seven years old. I have two pets, a colt and
my dog '"Brownie." Our pastor is Rev. J. M.
W. Elder; we like him fine. I will answer
John Marshall's question: Sampson was the
strongest man and Solomon the wisest. Now,
what little boy or girl can answer this: How
many plagues were sent upon the Egyptians
before Pharoah would let Israel go and what
was the eighth plague?
Your friend,
Spring Mills, Va. Jessie Harvey.
Dear Presbyterian: I am a litle boy nine
years old. I am in the third grade at school.
My teacher's name is Miss Kate Sexton. I like
her fine. Mother takes your paper and I enjoy
reading the letters from the children. I
have four brothers and three sisters. I am a
member of the Presbyterian church. I go every
Sunday I can. I will close by asking a question :
Who was the first man and woman on earth?
. Your little unknown friend,
Ilazlehurst, Miss. D. M. Strahan.
Dear Presbyterian: I am a little girl ten
years old. My grandmother takes your good
paper and I enjoy reading it very much. I have
a sister fourteen years old, and a little brother
seven. I have a little white poodle dog. His
name is "Snowball." I have some little chickens,
too. My sister goes to the Baptist Sunday
school and T go with her. As this is my first
letter I hope it will not reach the waste-basket.
I will close by answering Jennie Ford Crawford
'a question: "Which is the shortest chapter
in the Bible? 117 Psalm.
Your little friend,
Iron Gate, Va. "Wilda M. Lemon.
IUIH (583) 7
it has ever been my fortune to look upon."?
The Girls' World.
A PLANTER OF PEARLS.
We hear of poultry farms and bee farms,
of cattle farms and dog farms, and even cat
farms, but so far as is known, there is only
one pearl farm. It is a large farm, for it extends
over some five thousand square miles
and is covered by shallow water. The site of
this farm is Torres Strait, at the northmost
point of Australia.
It belongs to a capitalist known in that part
of the world as "the king of pearl fishers." He
stocked it with one hundred and fifty thousand
pearl oysters rather more than ten years ago.
It takes fifteen hundred men to gather in his
crop, of whom two hundred are divers. Two
hundred and fifty vessels are regularly employed.
In the shallow water that covers his great
farm the shells grow very large, and the divers
can operate well. The harvest is no mean one,
for the pearls, when sold in London, bring two
hundred thousand dollars and upward every
year.?The Way.
Straight thinking is not done by a warped
mind. Tortuous ways do not lead directly to
the center of things. A simple heart, square
life, and direct methods always lead to the
surest and happiest results. Other conditions
create suspicion and destroy confidence.
lildren
Dear Presbyterian: I am a little girl nearly
eleven years old. My brother takes your good
paper and he lets us read it. I have a cat
and a hen. She has lots of little chickens. I
have a little garden and I have lots of things in
it. I have four dolls and a Teddy bear. We
have no pastor now but we have Sunday school
every Sunday. Your friend,
Eunice Bigger.
Yorkville, S. C.
Dear Presbyterian: We are t.wn little
v?v WULO~
ins. We have a playhouse together. We have
four dolls. We go to Sunday school and
preaching every Sunday we can at the Presbyterian
church. Our pastor's name is Rev.
J. J. Brown; we like him fine. We will close
by answering Emily Sue Womack's question:
Who was Jesus' most beloved disciple. It was
John. If we are not right, we wish some one
would correct us.
Your unknown friend,
Lizzie Alford and Isabell McQueen.
McColl, S. C.
Dear Presbyterian: This is my first letter to
you. I once lived in Blackstone, but my father
and mother died, and my uncle, Mr. Guss Willson,
took me to live with him in Amelia. I
nave a pet cat, my pet dog ,Barton, died. Somebody
said Solomon had three hundred wives,
hut if they will look in Kings, 11th chapter, 3d
verse, it says he had seven hundred. Julia
McMillan asked whom did Elijah meet in Na*
hoth's vineyard? It was Ahab. I hope to se!
this escape the waste-basket.
Your little unknown friend,
Kempis, Va. John Randolph Tucker.
To steadfastly hope in the mercy of God, and
fear and reverence the Almighty, brings sure
blessings to the soul, for we are assured that the
divine Father "taketh pleasure" in them that
so do.?Sel.
0