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YOUTHS’ DEPARTMENT.
CHARADE.
The breath of tho morning is sweet.
The earth is bespangled with flowers ;
And buds in a countless array.
HaYe oped at the tonch of the shower* ,
The birds, whose glad voices are ever
A music delightful to hear,
Seem to welcome the joy of the morning.
As the hour of the bridal draws near.
What is that which now steals on my first
Like a sound from the dreamland of love.
And seems wand’ring the valleys among—
That they may the nuptials approve?
"Tas a sound which my second explains ;
And it comes from a sacred abode,
And it merrily thrills as the villagers throng,
To greet the fail- bride on her road.
How meek is her dress, how befitting a bride—
So beautiful, spotless, and pure;
When she. weareth my second, oh. long may it be
Ere her heart shall a sorrow endure.
See the glittering gem that shines forth from her hair—
’Tis my whole, which a good father gave;
’Twas worn by her mother with honor before —
But she sleep s in peace in her grave.
’Twas her earnest request as she bade them adieu,
That when her dear daughter, the altar drew near,
She should wear the same gem that her mother had
worn
When she as a bride, full of promise, stood there.
Eueeka.
POETICAL PUZZLE.
My first is in throat, but not in neck:
My second in spot, not but in speck;
My third is in baron, but not in knight:
My fourth in gay, but not iu bright;
My fifth is in comfort, but not in ease;
My sixth is in sickness but not in disease;
My seventh is iu sorrow, but not in sadness;
My whole what gentlemen love to madness.
Nannie.
St. Josej)h’s Academy, Columbus, Ga., May, 1868.
ENIGMA—No. 14.
ACROSTICAL.
My 1, 14, 11, 6, is a tax on house
keepers.
My 2, 10, 6, is a preposition.
My 3,7, 15, 5, is a malt liquor.
My 4, 14, 13, is a kind of fish.
My 5,2, 9,7, is a city iu Europe.
.My 6, 10, 11, 11, 15,13, is an excava
tion.
My 7, 13, 9, is a species of wood.
My 8, 10, 9,3, applies to mutes.
My 9,2, 5,4, is an adverb.
My 10, 5, 11, is a kind of vessel.
My 11, 2, 12, is what we do when
sleepy.
My 12, 1, 10, 9, is a musical instru
ment.
My 13, 10, 9,3, 15, 5, is necessary for
building.
My 14, 13, 13, 4, 11, is a girl’s
name.
My 15, 3,3, is an action of the tide.
My whole is the name of one dear to all
Southern hearts.
Answer next week.
Mattie.
New Orleans , May, 1868.
ENIGMA—No, 15.
I am composed of 21 letters.
My 1,5, 11, 9, is a French proper
name.
My 4,6, 13, 2,9, 10, is a rare jewel.
My 7,8, 9, is that, forthe loss of which
David wept.
My 9,2, 6,8, was a cruel Emperor of
Rome.
My 12, 2,6, 10, 5, is a cape on the
coast of Africa.
My 2,8, 6,5, 2, is the name of a river
in South Carolina.
My 14, 8,4, 11, is an article of furni
ture.
My 6, 11, 13, 7,8, 4, is the Frenoh for
“ write.”
My 3, 5, 11, 6, is unknown to the
brave.
My whole is the name of a true and
distinguished Southerner.
Answer next week.
Richard.
Selma, Ala., May, 1868.
Answers to Last Week’s Enigmas.—
No. 13.—-Rev. Bernardino V. Weiget, S.
J Dejanira— Venir— West—Green-
Rabbit —Yeni.
Rebus —Saturn, Love, England, Eve,
Plutarch —Sleep.
Conundrums. —1. When it’s madder.
2. Because it’s the grub that makes
the butter- fly.
3. Because bankrupts are broken ,
while idiots are only cracked.
Too Smart for the Minister. —An
acquaintance of ours, who lias a bright,
keen little girl in her family, related to
us yesterday the following incident: The
family were dining, when the conversa
tion turned upon an excursion about to
take place. A clergyman at the table
spoke to the little girl and asked her it
she could repeat the alphabet backwards.
She said, “No, sir.’ when the gentleman
remarked, “Then you can’t goon the ex
clusion.” She looked very demure for a
moment, when she asked. “Can you say
the Lord’s Prayer backwards?” “No,
dear.*’ “Then,” replied the girl, “you
can’t go to heaven.” Her interrogator
stopped.
[Pre«r>*rod for tho Banner of the South by Uncle Buddy. 1
FAMILIAR SCIENCE
ELECTRICITY CONCLUDED —THUNDER.
In our last week s remarks, we tieated
of lightning and its effects. This week
we continue the subject, and speak of
Thunder, for thunder is but the noise
made by the concussion of the air when it
closes again, after it has been separated
by the lightning flash, and by certain
’ physical and chemical changes produced
in the air by the electric fluid.
Thunder, sometimes, sounds like one
vast crash, because the lightning cloud
is at a great distance, and the several
vibrations of the air reaching the ear at
different times produces a continuous
sound. Those produced in the lowest
portions of the air, and those which are
made last will be heard first, because the
fla«li which produces the sound is almost
instantaneous, hut sound takes a whole
seeond of time to travel 380 yards.
if .a thunder cloud were 1.900 yards
off, the peal would last five seconds. We
should first hear the vibrations produced
in those portions of the air contiguous to
the earth, then those more remote, and it
would be five seconds before those vibra
tions could reach us, which were made in
the immediate vicinity of the cloud.
A popular method of telling how far off
a storm is, is in this way: the moment you
see the flash, put your hand upon your
pulse, and count how many times it beats
before you bear the thunder. It it beats
six pulsations, the thuuder is one mile off;
if twelve pulsations, two miles off? and so
on.
Thunder sometimes sounds like a deep
growl, because the storm is far distant,
and the sound of the thunder indistinct.
Sometimes the sound is affected by local
causes. Thus, the flatter the country, the
more unbroken the peal. Mountains
break the peal, and make it harsh and
irregular. Rolling thunder is caused by
the vibrations of the air (having different
lengths to travel), reaching the ear at
successive intervals; and the reverbera
tion, or echo, among the massive or heavy
clouds contribute also, in some measure, to
this effect. “Thunderbolts” do nut drop
from the clouds, as is popularly supposed #
This notion arises either from the fact
that lightning sometimes assumes a
globular form, or else, from the gaseous
lire balls which sometimes fall from the
clouds.
Thunder is frequently heard several
moments after the lightning flash, because
it lias a long distance to travel. Light
ning travels nearly a million times faster
than thunder. If, therefore, the thunder
is very distant, the sound will not reach
the earth till a considerable time after
the flash.
A thunder storm generally follows very
dry weather, because dry air, being a
non-conductor, will not relieve the clouds
of their electricity ; therefore, the fluid
accumulates till the clouds are discharged
by a storm. It rarely succeeds wet
weather, because the moist air, or falling
rain, being a good conductor, conveys the
electric fluid gradually and silently to j
the earth. '
A thunder-storm is generally preceded
by hot weather. The chemical action be
tween the oxygen of the air and any com
bustible substance as wood, coal, &c.,
will produce heat.
CATS.
With women it may be different—for
are there not witches in the world ?—but
1 never yet knew a wicked man who was
fond of cats. Children may be disliked
upon the ground of their being spoilt and
noisy, but no such arguments can be urged
'against my favorites ; the more you pet
them, the tamer, the more content, the
more charming elo they grow. As for a
noise, they don’t know how to make it. I
know there is a misunderstanding upon
this point, in connection with the nocturnal
disturbance called caterwauling, the ex
planation of which is as follows. (It re
quires a musical voice to state the circum
stances. but 1 hope to make myself intel
ligible.) Suppose you very much desired
to visit a friend—a female friend —a
lovely creature to whom you were paying
your addresses; only an immense wall —
which you could not blow down like the
Clerkenwell wall, because you had not
the Fenian carelessness of results—inter
! sered between you and the beloved object.
Well, that is exactly the case with these
poor maligned pussies. “Come over the
waur” (feline for wall, just as it is Scotch
for worse), “the waur, the waur,” cries
the imprisoned puss; “why dou’t you
come over the waur?” “Spikes, spikes,
spikes,” cries Tom, explaining the nature
of the obstruction, whereas we call it
“swearing.”
Now a cat is incapable of an oath. But
the fact is, there are so many false accu
sations brought against cats, that I scarcely
know, although prepared at all points,
where to begin my defence of them.
Their foes are legion, beginning with the
British boy, and not ending with his
grandmother. Their friends are so cowed
and disheartened by the number of assail
ants, that they are often*-silent when it
behooves them to put in their good word.
When 1 saw* advertised, the other day,
the Book of Cats, by 0. 11. Ross, my
heart leaped within me, and I cried: “O,
sacred mews!” I thought that Mr. Ross,
whose sketches have so much real humor
in them that genteel folks are united in
calling them vulgar, would do this noble
subject justice—would give us a mono
graph on cats that would put them right
with the public at large. The illustra
tions of the volume are of course excellent,
but I am far from satisfied with the lite
rary matter. Half the book is devoted
to the shocking scandals that have been
circulated about cats, and to repeat them,
even for the purpose of refutation, is not
the part of a friend. One chapter is
headed, “Os some wicked stories that
have been told about cats,” and, indeed,
they are most injurious and scurrilous. I
shall not, of course, defile my pages, as
Mr. Ross has done his, by quoting any
one of them. But what is worse, he has
introduced stories of his own, which do
not appear to me to be altogether in
favor of his clients. Perhaps, being so
fond of a joke, he can’t resist making one
even at the expense of those whose vir
tues it is his object to set before an unap
preciating world ; but that’s very wrong.
“Do you know why cats always wash
themselves after a meal ?” says he.
“A cat caught a sparrow, and was about
to devour it, when tho sparrow said :
‘No gentleman eats till he has first
washed his face.’ The cat, struck with
this remark, set Iho sparrow down, and
began to wash his face with his paw ; but
the sparrow flew away.
“This vexed pussy extremely and he
said: ‘As long as 1 live, I will eat first,
and wash my face afterwards.’ Which
all cats do even to this day.”
Now, I do hot believe a word of this
story ; cats are naturally clean, and wash
their faces at all times. I also object to
the word “devour.” We don’t say of any
gentleman that he devours partridges or
even larks. The whole narration of Mr.
R. exhibits an .irreverent spirit. Again,
there is an endeavor in this ill-judged
book to allow that a cat is superior to a
dog. “The lashed hound crawls back,
and licks the boot that kicked him.
Pussy will not do that (I should rather
think not). If you want to be friendly
(and who does not ?) with a cat on Tues
day, you must not kick him on Monday.
This really human way of behaving makes
pussy unpopular.” Yes ; but only with
tyrants. I dare say there are some
bigoted persons, who object to cats be
cause they are not among the animals
mentioned in the Scriptures' But it is
surely not worth while to mention such
people or their prejudices. I dare say
Mr. Ross means no harm ; but it is not
judicious to assist in circulating ridiculous
stories about these charming creatures ;
such, for instance, as is told of the gram
matical child, who had to decline (which
nobody should wish to do, by the by)
Cat, and when he came to the vocative,
said, ‘O Cat !’ in spite of being reminded
that if lie addressed the animal he should
say, ‘Pussy.’ ”
And, again, here is an unseemly jest :
“ During the progress of the late
American war, I was sitting one day in
the office of Able A Cos. ’s wharf-boat at
Cairo, Illinois. At that time, a tax was
collected on all goods shipped South by
private parties, and it was necessary that
duplicate invoices of shipments should be
furnished to the Collector before the per
mits could be issued. The ignorance of
this fact in majiv skippers frequently
caused them much annoyance, and in
voices were oftimes made out with great
haste, in order to insure shipment by
boats on the eve of departure. A sutler
with a lot of stores had made out a hasty
list of his stock, and gave it to one of the
youngest clerks on the boat to copy out
iu due form. The boy worked away
down the list; but suddenly he stopped,
and electrified the whole office by ex
claiming in ti voice of undisguised amaze
ment : “What the dickens is that fellow
uoing to do with four boxes of Tom-cats ? ’
o o
An incredulous laugh from the other
clerks was the reply; but ihe boy pointed
triumphantlv to the list, exclaiming :
“That’s what it is, T-O-M, Tom, C-A-T-S,
cats—Tom-cats, if I know* how to read.’
“The entrance of the sudor at that mo
ment explained the mystery.
“Why, you stupid fellow,” said he, “that i
means four boxes Tomato Catsup. Don’t j
you understand abbreviations V
j . i
There is nothing very objectionable in |
the above commercial incident; but 1 \
should like to ask Mr. Ross, upon his ;
honor, whether he thinks the following
narration calculated to breed a respect for j
cats or otherwise. It is the story ot a cat j
in a cellar, whose age—his very name ,
was Senior—one would have hoped, j
would have protected him from such
ridiculous experiments:
“Senior had the rare talent of being
able to carry a bottle of champagne from !
one end of the cellar to the other—per- J
haps a distance of a hundred and fifty j
feet. (Thus far the matter is to the cat’s
credit, for I know many human beings
who cannot carry a bottle of champagne ;
but just listen.) The performance (as if
he were an acrobat!) was managed in
this wise : You gently and lovingly ap
proached the cat, as if you did not mean
to perpetrate anything wicked ; having
gained his confidence, by fondly stroking
his back, you suddenly seized his tail, and :
by that member raised the animal bodily \
from the ground—his fore-feet sprawling
in the air ready to catch hold of any ob- i
ject within reach. You gave him the 1
bottle of wine, which Pussy clutched with
a kind of despairing grip. Then, by
means of the aforesaid tail, you carried
him, bottle and all, from one part of the
cellar to the other. Pussy, however,
soon became so disgusted with this ma
noeuvre, that, whenever he saw a friend
with a bottle of champagne looming, he
used to beat a precipitate retreat.” All
comment upon this infamous anecdote is,
I think, superfluous.”
Scarcely more judicious than the men
tion of these jokes on the animal, our
author affects to honor, are his quotations
from the poets in their praise. Every
body knows that Canning did his best to
sing their virtues, as likewise Gray and
Cowper. It is no such wonder, surely,
that men of genius, with a sympathy for
all good, should have eulogised one of the
attractive forms of it, namely, Cats.
Mrt Ross, indeed, contributes an original
ballad on this subject, illustrative of a
curious legend, but it is doubtful whether
even this—though narrating a hideous
catastrophe —may not be turned into
ridicule by the vapid and unfeeling. It
concerns a. certain Tom-Cat, the com
panion and friend of one Widow Tom
kins, but whom she left locked up in her
room, without either milk or mice:
“Poor Tlioma*, soon us daylight, came, walked up and
down the floor,
And heard the dogs’-meat woman cry, ‘Cats’-meat at
the door;
With hunger he got fairly wild, though formerly so
tamo—
Another clay passed slowly, another just tho same.
With hunger ho so hungry was, it did so strong assail,
That, although very loath, he was obliged to eat his
tail.
This whetted quite his appetite, and though bis stump
was sore,
The next day he was tempted (sad) to eat a little more.
To make his life the. longer, then, he made his body
shorter,
And one after the other attacked each hinder quarter.
Ho wiiked about on two fore-legs—alas l without be
holders—
Till, more and more by hunger pressed, he diued_on
both his shoulders.
Next day ho found (the cannibal!) to eating more a
check,
Although he tried and did reach all ho could reach of
his neck;
But as he could not bite his ear, all mournfully he
cried—
Towards the door he turned his eyes, cocked up hi s
nose, and died.
The widow did at last return, and o. how *he did
sh.ru!
She guessed the tale as soon as she saw Tom's head
lying there.
With grief sincerely heartfelt sli» owned his fate a hard
’un,
And buried it beneath an apple-tree just down her
garden.
To mark what strange effects from little causes will
appear,
The fruit of this said tree was changed, and strangt iv,
too, next year.
Tho neighbors say (’tis truth, for they are folks who
go to chapels),
This cat’s head was the sole first cause of all the cats’-
head apples!”
It is my belief that the details of this
shocking catastrophe will awaken heartless
mirth, rather than the pity which it was
our author’s object to inspire. There are
many persons who would be ashamed (so
much false shame there is hi the world,)
to shed a tear about a cat. To such i t
me narrate a classical story. Lieituus
Crassus so loved a lampicy that when it
died he put on mourning and wept for it.
But when Domini tins, his e Dengue, re
proached him with tlii.saveakuess, ho an
swered with animation : 1 And are not
you the man who has buried three, wives
without shedding a tear for one of them ?”
There are stories in Mr. Ross's book that
one would think would melt a millstone.
“One \ when repairing the organ in West
minster Abbey, a dal a e m was found
: recumbent in one of the largo wooden
1 pipes, that had been out of tune for some
time.” This seems to be a malignant, or
at least depreciating mode ot describing
the occurrence. Why out of tune ? and
our author prefaces this nairation
by the statement that cats are fond of
creeping’ into out-01-the-way holes and cor
ners, and sometimes pay dearly for so
doing. The intelligent animal soenis to
me to have fallen a victim to passion for
music. Again, another dried cat was
lately found on a shelf behind some hup*
volumes in the 1 oreign Office ; yet lo
government inquiry seems to have been
instituted, no popular feeling been
aroused ! Yet how feebio w ere the
pathos of the “Old Oak Chest,” compared
to that which might be«evoke 1 by a bal
lad upon this incident. This honest
animal evidently perished in pursuit of
facts; she wished to “get behind” some
Blue-books —probably cooked by the offi
cials and thus, as it were, breathed her
last in the public service.
I have shown that cats never swear ;
they sometimes, however, make a sort of
affirmation when the interests of justice
demand it. “A woman was murdered at
Lyons, and when the body was found
weltering in blood, a large wnite cat was
seen mounted on the cornice of a cu. -
board. He sat motionless, his eyes thud
on the corpse, and his attitude aud looks
expressing horror and affright. Next
morning he was still found there ; and
when the room was filled by police, neither
the clattering of their arms, nor their
loud talk, frightened him away. As soon,
however, as the suspected persons were
brought in, his eyes glared with (just)
fury, and his hair bristled. He darted
into the middle of the room, where he
stopped for a moment to ga r Zo on them
(for the purpose of identification), and then
fled precipitately. Then the faces oi the
assassins showed, for the first time signs
of guilt. They confessed, and were exe
cuted.”
In France, indeed, cats are much more
highly esteemed thau in this country —not
only, of course, as credible witnesses.
Yet this appreciation, curiously enough,
is the cause of delinquency Cat-stealing
is, in Paris, a trade, just as dog-stealing is
in London. “A certain dishonest owner
of a marked French cat, made quite a
nice little income by selling his i line
property to the iadies in his neighbor
hood. You see, pussy (thinking nuevd
of anybody), had no notion of what an
unprincipled ruffian he was, nor what was
I the nature of the contract between him
and her other owners. She loved him
very much, fretted in her new 7 home,
wafted impatiently for an opportunity,
and at last, finding the door open, always
returned rejoicing to her robber-master.
He, worthless creature, also rejoiced at
sight of her, and hugged her to his manly
breast. Then he gave her some nice
j warm milk and a large slice of meat.
: Next day, he sold her again, if he got a
chance.” At last, an old lady, who iiad
been one of the many purchasers of this
treasure, changed her residence unbe
known to this astute man, and when lie
called upon her, as a stranger, and offered
to sell her his cat, “some unpleasantness
occurred, and 1 believe the cat-merchant
got into trouble.”
I have now done with Mr. Ross’ “Book
of Cats.” I dare say he meant well, but
like most humorists, he has not a reverent
mind. He throws stones —or, at least,
snow-balls and roasted apples—at the
very idol lie affects to worship. There is
nothing told in the volume concerning
these admirable creatures half so remark
able as has come under my own person.,
experience. A great deal is made *'> a
cat ringing a door-bell, when it requires
admittance into a certain home. \ E.
there is a cat in Margaret Street, Cave. -
dish Square, who does that eve: y day
and (very much to the footman’s disgu
a good many times a da} 7 ; and that is on"
of the least Ot his accomplishments. It s
rather an exceptional sort oi cut —van ;
feline intelligence below the avt rage—
that does no! ring bells. Mr. i.» )>- -■
very superficial iv studied th’s great re -
ject.
Now, cats and l have always under
stood one another, i was a bad buy, * u
never so wicked as to torment pu y .
One of the saddest recollections of my
school days is of how a band of juvenile
ruffians once murdered a cat under my
very eyes. They were punished for
smoking, and for going out of bourn s
(boih comparatively 7 natural pleasure.-),
but for this fiendish act they g< t no r -
buke. It did not, indeed, need this im
punity To convince me of the union —a
of school discipline, but it a
glaring example of it. Lt is impo-.-d-a’
that these embryo Greenacres,
of Hare and Cos. . Neros, Caligula-. < un
have grown up good citizens. i ‘ lM, y
who can lift his hand to a cat, exovjn
the way of kindness. Bat. 1 forg-ai.
Who that evei’ know the Tooleu io ; >
but i >ved . her i Yes, 1 oaten “
Why not. Vrh-'u men are called id*l
- Connor Fun. ’he O’Donoghue, a* 1 ’*
Cluny ?